Smoke Signals
Monday 24: ISLAND SALESMANSHIP
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smokesignaller said he loves the unique approach taken by island marketers. “I recall a shoe sale a number of years back that said: ‘Buy one shoe, get the other one free’! Another chuckled after hearing this radio advert: ‘Buy your loved one your love forever. Get her a washing machine… (price etc). Get one […]
Monday 24: CLASSMATES
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A former Tereora College student was looking at a 1997 photo of her class online and counted that out of 22 students, three have died (just under 14 percent) since the photo was taken 12 years ago.
Monday 24: Our killer roads!
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
The Cooks has come second in the world, but it’s not a record we can be proud of. World Health Organisation figures confirm what the Cook Islands Road Safety Council has been warning all along – our roads are some of the deadliest in the world. WHO says the African state of Eritrea is the […]
Thursday 20: SHOPPING TIMES
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller who claims to have been turned away from a supermarket recently – along with others – at 5.45pm when it’s advertised they close at 6pm – wonders if this is the result of there being a monopoly on supermarkets in town? Another signaller who has a very accurate watch commented that at […]
Thursday 20: FAIR TAXI FARE?
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
“I had a great meal in town the other day with a friend from overseas,” one of our readers writes. “We decided we did not want to wait for the next bus, an hour away, so asked the waitress to organise a taxi. ‘Could you tell me roughly how much it would be to go […]
Thursday 20: ADOPTION COSTS
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Great idea and very successful says one of our readers of the adopt-a-country programme for the netball champs. “Indeed the school visits were seen as highlight experiences for just about all the visiting teams. Just one downer in all of this…while a very limited number of t-shirts were sponsored, all the school children had to […]
Thursday 20: OCH AYE
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
On the subject of the netballers, judging by the close-up shots in the filler snippets played on CITV, the Scottish lasses sure know how to swing their bums in time to the local drums!
Thursday 20: Copycat crime story
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller wonders whether two Polish prisoners who broke out of a German jail might have heard about our prison breakout on the coconut wireless. They escaped by tying their bed sheets together to abseil down a 15 metre wall. “The wall is pretty high,” a spokesperson for the prison in the southern city […]
Wednesday 26: RAINMAN FOR HIRE
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A weather watcher remarked yesterday that we should loan the Cook Islands’ weatherman Arona Ngari to countries like Australia where they need someone to break the drought. “Every time Arona predicts a weather pattern, or pronounces such and such, we usually get the opposite weather pattern. Like the other day when he said we were […]
Wednesday 26: BEST PRICES
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Since critics are always quick to slam CITC, someone ought to note how the Main Store’s prices for sports gear are among the best anywhere, a smoke signaller says. “Nike apparel, for example, is cheaper here for the same latest range as in NZ and Australia. Evidence of that was seen on Saturday when visiting […]
Wednesday 26: INITIATE, NOT REACT
Wednesday 26 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
In responding to Wilkie Rasmussen’s expulsion from the Democratic Party, one signaller says that he only wishes that “MPs like Rasmussen will get off their butt and initiate things, rather than just react to anything and everything”.
Thursday 13: SING OUT LOUD!
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Poor old New Zealand, our cousins and closest friends, seemed to draw a dud welcome at the airport when they turned up for WYNC. Observers noted that ‘Waltzing Matilda’ directed at the Australian players also coming off the plane drowned out other greetings at the time of their arrival, but the humble Kiwis just kept […]
Thursday 13: TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
A smoke signaller reckons both the PM and the DPM are embarrassing for the Cook Islands. “One because he never says anything, and the other because he says too much. The Constitution Day speech was nothing but a boring political mishmash and personal pat on the back….at least the PM, had he been here, would […]
Thursday 13: REALITY BITES
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
“I had to laugh when reading the DPM’s speech at the time the budget was presented to parliament, noting the Cook Islands has been affected by the economic downturn,” a reader said. “So much for the recession free Oasis gimmick!”
Tuesday 18: THE GREAT WYNC SALE
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Regarding the seating situation at the Telecom Sports Arena, surely the WYNC organisers could have come up with something like a $2 ticket sale to fill up all the seats at the back. “It just seems a shame that we can’t even fill up the 400-500 seats that are available each day,” says one volunteer. […]
Thursday 13: PARIS NOT HERE
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
The Cook Islands was spared a visit by American socialite Paris Hilton who has been busy jetting this week between Australia, Fiji and Tahiti, according to media reports. Voted the second ‘Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006’, behind Britney Spears, the Hilton hotel heiress is said to be in Bora Bora now. Paris fans will […]
Tuesday 18: A FREE LUNCH
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Talking about the number of police down at the Telecom Sports Arena last week, has anyone noticed the number of accredited ‘media’ personnel at the netball event? “It’s so hard to attract people to be reporters on the island but there seems to be heaps of wannabes at WYNC,” says one observer. “What’s the bet […]
Thursday 13: SELECTION QUESTIONS
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
And this smokie comes from a table full of disgusted locals after reading news of the new HoM appointments over the weekend. “How on earth can a string of people be appointed to these positions of responsibility when they have already failed audit investigations, and found to be guilty of mismanagement or misspending?” they ask […]
Tuesday 18: OVERKILL?
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
Where are the cops when you really need them, asked one lady at the World Youth Netball Championships at the Telecom Sports Arena last week. “When you want them, they are never there. But look at them here [at WYNC] – they are crawling all over the place!”
Thursday 13: Every HoM position should be re-advertised
Wednesday 19 August 2009 | Published in Smoke Signals
“Cook Islanders are so familiar with the process by which HOMs are chosen from a tiny pool of political shoe-ins that talented and experienced young Cook Islanders just don’t bother to apply,” a reader says. “Thus it is that Cabinet ends up with a short list from the tiny pool of those who are otherwise […]
