The Apocalypse will be catered

At the moment - Wellington is undergoing a major disaster practice. The situation is that Petone has been hit by a 7.8 scale earthquake. Operations are being run out of the Beehive bunker, known as the National Response Centre, and when I walked past the entrance I couldnt help but laugh that their catering trolley from Bellamys had been left outside. So dont worry when disaster strikes - Bellamys will be on hand with their concrete-muffins and disgraceful sandwiches!

In other news - Al Gore was in town yesterday, well Auckland at least and presented his slide show on global warming. Even though everyone present had seen it before it was still apparently very entertaining. The right wing are running the line that Gore is just a self-promoter who is deliberately misleading. (unlike the man they all voted for in the US?).

The stadium issue is still bubbling away. Former All Black Ian Jones summed it up well last night on Sky's Re:Union show. "This is a chance to completely re think the way Rugby is presented, we could have parades down Queen St, street theatre - have a real party atmosphere before the game begins and then carry on through the night at all the clubs and bars close by. Its a no-brainer."

Sir Ron Scott (the guy who organised the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games) has backed the new stadium also saying that this is a chance for Auckland to have an accessible venue, that not only hosts Rugby and Cricket, but like Wellington will host concerts, conferences and trade shows. Unfortunately Auckland seems divided on the issue and at this point seem to be against it - Talkback host Leighton Smith said it would encourage "lowlifes and unsophisticated types" to hang around the central city - eh?

Russell Brown has written a great piece on the Stadium issue here. Its worth a read.