| 'Fair value' for NZ dollar is still below 60 cents
With the Kiwi dollar well above US70cents, the Government-sponsored 'Export Year 2007' initiative looks increasingly like a sick joke. Though some exporters have the ability to make money even at the current exchange rate, the rest of the sector is struggling. Expansion plans have been put on hold and offshore relocation is being contemplated by an increasing number of firms. This is not an environment for expansion or for enticing newcomers into the export sector. There is no doubt our dollar is overvalued and is being held up by New Zealand offering the highest interest rates in the developed world. The current account deficit of 9 per cent of gross domestic product is a reflection of the lack of international competitiveness of the tradables sector at the current level of the exchange rate.
Terry McMillan and Plummer still sniping; McCartney and Mills make ...
Yes, sometimes life can sure do you wrong, just like Blue Magic sang about in "Sideshow." But when it does, you know what you have to do. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. That's a song lyric, too, but it's also good advice. Remember, it's Friday. And if you just got paid, that makes it even better. On that note, we're gonna run to the bank. You check out this installment of the GBB.
Terry McMillan and her ex-hubby Jonathan Plummer just can't seem to stay away from each other -- in court that is. "The How Stella Got Her Groove Back" author is suing Jonathan, the inspiration for that book, for $40 million, reports AP. The film version starred Taye Diggs and Angela Bassett. The lawsuit claims Mr.
Greatness that's hard to find
Six seconds of drum roll, a saxophone's shriek, a fast-thumping bass, and the trio is off. Charles Gayle is blowing mad phrases out of his little white alto saxophone, Gerald Benson is walking up and down the neck of his bass, and Michael Wimberly is letting loose on his kit at breakneck speed. Someone is moaning along with the notes. There's just the hint of melody, but the music invigorates and lifts the soul. This is "Cherokee" like you've never heard it -- 5 minutes and 47 seconds of tension, anguish, and adrenaline. Before the hour is up, the trio will have turned the lovely standard "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" into 14 minutes of free jazz, ruminated beautifully on the old standby "What's New," conjured a hurricane out of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," brought out a few of Gayle's own fire-and-brimstone compositions, and ended it all with Albert Ayler's "Ghosts," as if to remind us who the group's forebears are.
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