I came, I saw, I chundered - toga parade turns into drunken rampage

9:22AM Wednesday Feb 25, 2009

Beer-drinking students cavort on George St during their annual toga parade. Photo / Otago Daily Times


About 2000 drunken participants and onlookers at the Otago University Students Association annual toga parade smashed shop and car windows and hurled rubbish bags in Dunedin's main street last night.
The participants, some of whom were left bloodied by the action, were taking part in the annual four-block march on George St to the Octagon, in the city centre.
After the parade, George St was littered with broken glass, vomit, broken tables, smashed signs and damaged cars.
The students' behaviour was fuelled by residents living in apartments on the parade route, who threw eggs at them as they passed on the street below.
One participant said the students were going to "tear the city up".
George St bar worker and student Erica Gold helped clean egg off shop windows after the parade, and was horrified at the destruction.
"This is just taking it way too far. We shouldn't have to take it, just look at the streets."
Dunedin City Councillor Dave Cull was at a wine-tasting on the main street, and saw the aftermath.
AdvertisementAdvertisementvar adDiv = document.getElementById('adSpace3');if (adDiv) { document.getElementById('adSpace3').innerHTML = document.getElementById('INVadSpace3').innerHTML;d ocument.getElementById('INVadSpace3').innerHTML = ''; }

"Why should we tolerate this here? I don't think there would be anywhere that this would be tolerated."
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES

Oh yeah, show went great. Video soon... one of my best friends said I looked like thurston moore hah.

Strangeness...

So a little earlier, we hear some noise outside. Then a few gentle taps on our window's screen. Then a knock on the door. We are kind of scared. I answer the door. There's a little dude asking in broken English if I could give him directions. I was scared I was going to get robbed, but for some reason I trusted the guy. I tried to explain how to get to the right highway. Then he asks if he can have some "lechita" for his baby, then tried to think of the word in English, "mell? mail? mall? mill?", to which I said, "Milk?" I then got him some milk and he seemed to be on his merry way. A while later, he comes back and says he still can't find his way, and asked if it was alright for them to sleep in their van in our driveway, since they had been driving all day and were really tired (the little map he had drawn out showed that they started out in Albequerque, a drive I've tried doing in one day as well). I know that it's not legal to let people stay in our neighborhood at night, but I told him that I didn't think anyone would mind. He asked if there were any police, and I told him that I don't really think that they patrol much around here. These are all signs that something might happen, but he does have his wife and three year old kid with him, and I know how tough it is to drive that long and get stuck in a town like this late at night. So now they are just parked outside, next to my car, sleeping. I hope the rest of the night will be less eventful.

i got up early to make a doctor's appointment and she doesn't answer the phone. i get voicemail all the time.

my toe hurts

follow-up, por favor?

I want to write a letter.

I want to write so many letters that they make up a note.

Well, there isn't much to say really. They left some time between 6:30 and 9 am. I hope they got there okay. I wish I had asked them if they needed any water or food.

Holy hell, I'm actually up early enough for breakfast? Apple Jacks cereal? What the hell...I want some orange juice, toast and fruit.

I'm in Memphis right now... and it's snowing. Earlier today I ran into a tornado in Alabama. What the fuck?

WTF? Too bad I'm not in state, otherwise I'd head over there and we'd party up Memphis.

I sort of want to move to Mephis. But the reasons would take too much effort to explain. Just know that they aren't nearly good enough to make a valid argument, but certainly good enough to convince myself I'm right.

Now I'm in Arkansas. Blah. No longer snowing.. but I'm still in shock from the drastic change from 70F to 20F.

AND YES WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU JOSH?!?/1

Wrong with me? I was out of the area, please leave a message this weekend. Damn near got snowed-in in SC, luckily I managed to escape.

Epilepsy warning:

I have a headache the size of Tokyo in my head.

(no it wasn't induced by the Picasso)

I love Married to the Sea. I think its quite a bit better than Toothpaste and Natalie. Or if not better, at least more my taste.

good morning all you cute little wampums

I'm moving to Asheville NC in 2 weeks. Woo hoo. I love Asheville. Meanwhile my wife is moving to Portland. So it's bittersweet. But it's good. I'll be making money again. And we'll both live in groovy places. We'll rack up the frequent flyer miles for a while.

hey look, it's gmku. how are old man?

floUtingslowly was telling us about he met you at the zoo the other day.
rad stuff.

ashville, eh? still playing hide & seek with the police?

Um... huh?

And for the record, I believe you mean Floatingslowly, and no, we didn't meet anywhere that I'm aware of. And also for the record, it's spelled Asheville. And I would never play with the police. The Police, maybe, but not the police.

gotta shut this and get out of bed now. fuck the upcoming daylight savings time. what a fucking blight. kill it dead.

It shall be bittersweet. You can use those build up miles on extravagant jet-setting though... But, on the plus side, you're A) out of SC and B) Asheville has an OUTSTANDING music scene and is an all-around fairly nice place. I myself will be there at least twice in April. The Grey Eagle and The Orange Peel get great great acts.

PS. Not sure if they're you cup o'tea or not, but Dinosaur Jr are playing the Orange Peel on April 26th.

Dinosaur Jr?! Fuck, there really is a god, isn't there. Seriously, I am so going to enjoy Asheville. I would never tell my wife, but living there almost makes the separation bearable if not enjoyable.

Well, here's what I already know about Asheville:

a. Great music scene
b. At least a couple of great RECORD stores
c. There's a J. Crew
d. Many brew pubs
e. Many wine bars
f. Many great restaurants
g. Natural beauty
h. It's not South Carolina
i. I'll live 5 minutes from downtown, 5 minutes to work, and the bus line goes right past my place
j. There's a great independent book store
k. Many coffee shops
l. There's an independent/art house movie theater downtown

ahhh, the wonders of date rape drugs. :)



DISCLAIMER: I completely deny fishstix statements. I was speaking of a silverback gorilla and would never mistake you for one. orangutan, maybe, but not a silverback gorilla.

Well, as long as we both enjoyed ourselves, no foul, no harm, I say.

Now I'm in KansASS. Come to Denver sometime... we'll wreak havoc on the most awesome city ever in colorado kind of towards the center of the state that happens to start with a d.

Fuck...too cold. I seize up at around 25 degrees

Boulder > Denver

Let's destroy California.

its gonna be -16 C here tomorrow! Arg! But it goes to about +10 C on sunday or saturdays so that's all good.

Of course!

^ Very creepy with that "shalom, shalom" song in the background.

I somehow don't care much about this forum anymore though I love some of the people here. Why is that?

Maybe it's because in less than 2 weeks I will be a full-time resident of the grooviest place on the face of the earth. ASHEVILLE!