Voting made easy: Mayor of Auckland

In what is perhaps the most boring race behind Howick and Orakei's, the race for Auckland Mayor has not managed to attract a field of credible candidates to challenge incumbent Len Brown. As an aside, you have probably noticed I like to use the word incumbent a lot, in fact I wrote a dissertation on the topic, it simply means "the guy who currently has the job".

Anyway, lets have a quick look at the "candidates" for Mayor:

• Stephen Berry "Affordable Auckland" - A former Libertarianz deputy leader, which places him somewhere right of the ACT party.
• Penny Bright "Independent" - Also known as "the crazy Watercare lady", Penny is a long time activist and doesn't pay her rates in protest.
• Len Brown "Independent" - The Incumbent mayor, Brown defeated John Banks in 2010.
• Jesse Butler - I'll let Jesse describe himself: "...Masters Degree. Unemployed. All Blacks Supporter. Your new Auckland Mayor."
• Tricia Cheel - An anti-fluroide activist from the North Shore, Tricia was angry in 2009 when her water was cut off two days too early.
• Paul Duffy - A former employee of a credit card company and the founder of duffyclub™, Duffy is campaigning on his business credentials.
• Matthew Goode - A failed local board candidate in 2010, this year Matthew is trying to run for Mayor.
• Emmett Hussey "Independent" - His billboards describe him as "Sane." I am worried that he actually needs to state that as an attribute. He was charged with threatening behaviour back in 1915.*
• Susanna Susara Kruger "Independent" - From Nambia, Kruger is currently setting up a "private global online entrepreneur university".
• John Minto "Mana Movement" - Made famous by his involvement in the 1981 Springbox protests, Minto is a long time activist and a member of the Mana Party.
• Phil O'Connor "Christians Against Abortion" - He is a christian and he is against abortions.
• John Palino "Independent" - An American chef and/or host of a cooking programme, Palino is generally thought to be the strongest challenger from the right.
• Reuben Shadbolt "Independent" - The son of the man who lost the Waitemata mayoral chains at a party. Which seems to be his main attribute.
• Uesifili Unasa "Independent" - The Maclaurin Chapel reverend, Unasa is mainly campaigning in South Auckland.
• Annalucia Vermunt "Communist League" - Ah, the Communist League. Why they still donate an entry fee to the council each election, I really do not know.
• David Willmott "Roads First" - A transport engineer, David would like us to build more roads. We would then need more transport engineers. Ironically, his website is all about government debt and the collapse of Western civilisation into a world of warlords and serfdom.
• Wayne Young "Working for the Homeless" - Made homeless by the leaky building crisis, Wayne would like to be mayor.

 Phew! Okay, that's all 17 candidates. What a eclectic field!
*this was possibly a different Emmett Hussey. Maybe.

Voting made easy: Waitakere

This October is local elections time again. Conducted by postal vote, you’ll be asked to vote for the mayor, the council, your local board, the district health board and (if you’re unlucky) the local licensing trust. Still confused? Maybe this picture will help?

Hmm...no that probably didn't work. Anyway, to make you more informed, I’m going to run through the candidates for the areas I live in. After all, it is all about me. If you're really that interested, a full list of the candidates can be found here. Anyway, without further ado, let’s start by having a look at the candidates for the Waitakere ward of the Auckland Council. In this ward, eight candidates are running for two seats on the council.

·        Peter Chan “Affordable Auckland” – A former Waitakere City Councillor, Mr Chan is running on the “Affordable Auckland” ticket along with former Libertarianz deputy leader Stephen Berry.
·        Linda Cooper “Independent” –A National Party list candidate and a former Waitakere City Councillor, Linda is an alumni of Massey High School.
·        Allan Fazaker – No idea. Google has nothing.
·        Penny Hulse “West At Heart” – The current deputy mayor of Auckland and, more importantly, Robert’s mum. Penny was also the last deputy mayor of Waitakere City and seems to clearly be the strongest candidate in the field.
·        Brian Neeson “Independent” – A former National MP who was replaced by John Key in 2002. This prompted Mr Neeson to leave the National party and run against John Key as an independent.
·        Douglas Robertson “Mana Movement” – Mr Robertson is standing for Hone Harawira’s Mana Movement.
·        Christine Rose “Independent” – A former Auckland Regional Councillor and Labour Party candidate, Christine has been endorsed by incumbent Sandra Coney who is stepping down from the Council.
·        Jason Woolston – Previously famous for being shocked after finding porn on a Vodafone loan phone, you can now find him on twitter at twitter.com/WoolstonNZ. He seems to be a fan of Shortland Street.

Spice of the week: Clove

Ah, cloves. Cloves!

Native to Indonesia, they are dried flower buds of an evergreen tree. They can be used in both sweet and savory dishes and are often found in Asian, Indian and African cooking. Apparently, cloves have a numbing effect to the mouth. Clove cigarettes were outlawed in the States in 2009.

Bizarrely, Zanzibar is the world's largest producer of cloves. It also turns out that Zanzibar is an island. Nuts! (or should that be Cloves!)

A clove of garlic is not the same as clove. Also, don't google cloves of garlic...things get weird...

The Music Box [Darius Rucker]

This week in a Music Box first, we have an extra special request from one of our favourite Dino Dandies in the whole world, Krystle! Here's exactly what she wrote, word for word:

Hootie from 'Hootie and the Blowfish' is now known by his actual name: Darius Rucker! His first single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", made him the first African American to chart a number one on the Hot Country Songs charts since 1983!! PS: Dinosaurs and Dandelions is the best thing on the internet!! I just can't get enough!!

Thanks Krystle, I did wonder what had happened to Hootie and your support means a lot to us! As requested, this is Darius Rucker with his song, Wagon Wheel. Have a nice day!

C3: International IPA day

As you may know, today is International IPA day. So to celebrate, today in Connoisseur’s Craftbeer Corner we are looking at the king of Indian Pale Ales, the Tui East India Pale Ale.

An IPA is a pale ale beefed up with more hops and a higher alcohol content. The style developed in England in the 18th century and these additions helped to preserve the ale on the ship voyage from Britain to India, giving IPA’s their name. The more recent craft beer movement in America has adopted the IPA and California in particular is noted for its aggressive IPA’s filled to the brim with hoppy goodness.

Tui (DB Breweries)

Brief
First brewed in 1889, Tui’s spiritual home is in Mangatainoka despite production having long since moved north to Auckland. Countdown lists this beer at $19.99 for a 12-pack.

Look 4/5
Well marketed, a wide variety of merchandise can be purchased in Tui orange (including Tuimato sauce). Plus, the factory is run by Tui girls. Honest.

Taste 2/5
Well…it is beer.

Summary 3/5
An IPA to be savoured. Yeah right.