We're New Zealanders. We don't celebrate genius. We celebrate athletic goons whose claim to fame is moving a bull's bladder across a paddock for money. We celebrate celebrities. Here's hoping the Veitch incident is the straw that breaks the camel's back to this inane worship.
If you're looking for true heroes, you could do a lot worse than follow the story of Bill Phillips, kiwi extraordinaire. Alan Bollard spins an incredible story about the man who is not famous in his own country, in an interview on Radio NZ. Hat Tip St Bernard.
The Reserve Bank is holding a symposium to mark the 50th anniversary of the Phillips curve. For the plebs like me, there's the chance to witness the first working waterworks model of an economy at the Reserve Bank Museum. Made from recycled WWII parts, it's the ultimate mash-up of art, science, economics, and sustainability. Wonderful, wonderful, and again most wonderful.
UPDATE: Better picture nicked from Wikipedia:
