RobiNZ Personal Blog

Traffic Light Thought – A(X) real supermini (unlike MINI 1 2 3)

Reading about the new MINI being larger than its already obese predecessor reminded me of this recent sighting.

The Citroën AX was always pretty rare in New Zealand, to see one now even more so. Although the styling is incredibly Euro-drab, especially for a Citroën, the minimalist design is supermini at its best.

I remember the late great LJKS praising elegant efficiency of the AX design when released. Notice the 3 wheel bolts? All it needed, so all it got.

Quite a contrast to the bloated parody of ‘Mini’ the current MINI has become.

 

It was in the car park above one of my favourite West Coast beaches. Anawhata is a bit of a hike, especially back up the hill, but worth the effort. There were two cars in the car park, just 4 people and 2 dogs on the beach that day!

Flim & the BB’s live, 30 years later

My Dad discovered Flim & the BB’s before I did. Probably in a Hifi store as they were popular demo disc in the early days of Digital.

They were one of the first to use pure Direct Digital DDD technology on CDs. I’m sure the opening track of TriCycle has tested, perhaps to destruction, more than a few systems as the quiet piano opening literally explodes into the full ensemble. Flim & the BB’s are Jimmy "Flim" Johnson (bass), Billy Barber (keyboards, synth, piano), Bill Berg (percussion) with Dick Oatts (woodwinds) credited on the first album TriCycle.

They still sound (both technically and musically) brilliant today and I regularly listen to their work nearly 30 years after first hearing it. I also liked their album art, both typography and sketches or collage.

What prompted this post was stumbling on a YouTube video (below) which is the first time I’ve ever seen them perform live. I remember hearing their CD seeming magical all those decades ago. Never imagined a world wide network delivering on demand video to a wireless tablet in the living room!

No escaping Adventure South even when being lazy watching TV!

Watching NZ Story on TVNZ One, about Lydia Bradey the first woman to summit Everest, thinking about Bas's Tibet/Nepal ride next year.

Then they showed a clip from an old news broadcast which had (I'm pretty sure) Geoff Gabites, as NZ Alpine Club President, commenting about the feat being officially recognized.

Check out the episode, series 1 ep3, the Geoff bit was towards the end

NZ Story - TVNZ On Demand

No escaping Adventure South even when being lazy watching TV!