Bike power
Larry Ogden has a full and fascinating story behind the motorbikes parked in single car spaces, as protest. He writes: "In the mid-1950s to the early 1960s the disenchanted youth of the day formed motorcycle clubs. The Rebels, Saints or the various Auckland suburban groups such as the 'Epsom Boys', the 'Onehunga Boys'. Most riders had nicknames like 'Sexy Rexy', 'Lumpjaw', 'Mack the Knife' or 'Little Johnny' and wore a uniform of a captain's black hat, blue jeans, black boots and a black leather jacket with fur collar. Even their bikes had names. 'Dowson's Diesel' (it smoked a lot) and 'Fireball' (it often burst into flames when started). All the boys met up in town on Friday nights throughout summer. This motorcycle trend started on the return of our soldiers from World War II and Korea. Many could not find regular work, and focused their attention on owning a 'flash motorbike'. They mostly had 500cc single cylinder bikes which made a tremendous racket when 15 or 20 of them took off at one time. They met outside the old Majestic Theatre in Queen St. There were no lined parking spaces, so the boys backed up to the kerb in a long row of bikes, sometimes hundreds. The police and council staff circled like vultures trying to move them on. In the mid '60s, the council painted white line 'single car' spaces parallel to the kerb. When the bikie boys parked in their usual manner, they got tickets. Ever resourceful, the boys came down the next Friday night and each bike took a lined car parking space. You can imagine the chaos that caused ..."
Bye-bye, bae
Lake Superior State University's 40th annual List of Words to be Banished for Misuse, Overuse and Uselessness includes "bae" (abbreviation of "before anyone else", used as a term of affection) "curated" (described as "a pretentious way of saying selected"), "skill set" ("why two words when one will do?") and "polar vortex" ("what's wrong with cold snap?"). The terms "foodie", "cra-cra" (meaning crazy) and "friend-raising" (fund-raising through friends) are also singled out for banishment.
