Miss Pings

16/04/2014

07/02/2014

The Miss Pings' menu is undergoing a seafood revolution and it tastes so good. $15 for a Marinated Tempura Soft Shell Crab Salad, and $10 for our Tempura Prawns with Sweet Chilli (pictured with ping pong paddle, of course). Come down today and be the first to give these beauties a whirl!

01/02/2014

SUNNY SATURDAY SPECIALS: today's thirst quencher @ Miss Pings includes $2 off all drinks on tap including a refreshing cider, cocktail, beer and rosé, but this deal is only good as long as the sun is in the sky so get down here!!

29/01/2014

Serving from 17.30 tonight, Miss Pings' new cocktail... Pineapple, freshly squeezed lemon juice, coriander and Tromba Tequila. Only $10, but it is a small batch so get in, try it out and help us come up with a name!!

28/01/2014

As per the New Year, Tuesdays and Miss Pings = a great dinner decision. $2 off all alcoholic drinks and 3 starters for $20. COME ON DOWN!

23/01/2014

Decision made on toilet nudes.....

From: [email protected]
5:09 PM (2 minutes ago)

To: Stop Demand
CC: Josh, Nick, Judi, Tom

Hi Denise,

Thanks for your email and also for participating in our Facebook debate, although frankly I felt your personal abuse of individuals who were simply stating a different point was uncalled for. I see that you have now removed your abusive ‘airhead’ comments which we appreciate, as we’d like to talk to the opinions, not the people making them.

Now am I to assume that you are the same Denise that came into Miss Pings and spoke to our staff in an aggressive and bullying manner? Your final comment (relayed to me) was interesting – ‘we have never lost a fight’. You see that is where we differ. We are not looking for a fight. We are just four nice hardworking guys trying to have some fun and make Auckland a better city for having cool places to hang out with friends and play some ping pong.

As I have stated previously, during the course of our fit-out of Miss Pings we came across an old 1970s Pl***oy and one of us thought to fashion some wallpaper out of it. The out-of-date portrayals of many things amused us – the attitudes towards smoking, women, booze – and we thought it might be more interesting to look at whilst on the can that the plain old plywood door. Clearly we clearly didn’t realise what a powerful publication this was. Accordingly to you this old magazine and its naughty pictures are a root cause of r**e, s*xual exploitation and s*xual violence. Wow.

The point for us is not actually whether the images stay or go. We are about kick-ass Vietnamese food, ping pong duels, meeting good people and drinking nice cocktails, beer and wine. Taking the images down is not really a big deal for us. What is a big deal is letting a small but vocal minority dictate to the majority who are clearly not offended by the images. There are many examples in history of what happens when minority rule occurs, none of them good.

The thing those vocal minorities had in common – they didn’t care what the majority thought because they were so certain that they were right.

Just as right now you are certain you are right. And everyone else is wrong. You operate with the same conviction as a su***de bomber – that nothing must get in the way of the pursuit of your cause. Damn the majority.

I think what best sums up your worldview is your comment about not wanting to debate the issue on Facebook. I suspect this is because people like you don’t want to listen to other people, that deep down you know that most people don’t agree with you, in fact most people probably think you are a little mad. Your comment that those on Facebook are “misogynists, r**e apologists, young men of the Roast Busters ilk, p**n-using men, rapists, males who lack respect for women, and men like yourselves who are possibly quite decent but naive and insightless”. There are over 1 billion people on Facebook. I suspect the majority are normal hardworking people trying to live good lives and have a bit of fun along the way. Their opinions count just as much as yours, even if they don’t ram them down other’s throats.

However we have reached a decision what to do with the images. We will censor them to remove anything that might be considered offensive, and add some images of men to ensure gender equality.

We do this not because we agree with your opinion but simply because we don’t have the time and energy to continue faffing around with this. You may have all the time in the world to tell everyone else what to think and what (not) to look at, but we do not. If I’m walking down Queen Street and a bible-basher starts telling me to repent, I don’t stop to engage in an hour long discussion on religion. Not because I think their point of view is right, but simply I can’t be bothered and have better things to do with my time and energy.

So congratulation – you’ve kept your record of winning. But Denise don’t think that makes you right.

And finally can I offer some advice please. I understand you are a lawyer here in Auckland. Probably earn a bit of cash, live in a nice place – good for you. I had a look on your website and see images and words that tell of the fight against child trafficking and prostitution, r**e and war. Causes I think we all support. But what have you actually done to achieve these goals? From what I can see in the press you campaigned against B***s on Bikes. And you got Air NZ to take down an ad that said “airfares lower that your grannies boobs”. And now another victory – getting an old 70’s Pl***oy taken down from the toilets at Miss Pings. My advice is this – why don’t you actually do something important in the pursuit of these (admirable) goals rather than chasing these sideshows? You are clearly passionate about your chosen cause, but do you actually think that your campaigns have made any difference to child s*x slaves or r**e victims? I have a number of friends that work for charities in the developing world – actually helping people, not sitting at home sending threats and emails to people like us.

Best of luck Denise.

Anthony
On behalf of Josh, Tom, Nick @ Miss Pings

21/01/2014

The latest....
Stop Demand
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:26:43 +1300
Subject: Miss Pings - s*xual denigration of women
To: Miss Pings

To Nick, Anthony, Josh & Tom (could someone please forward this to Tom)

Stop Demand Foundation works to reduce s*xual violence, s*xual
exploitation and s*xual denigration of women and children
www.stopdemand.org Our Board comprises three men and three women.
We are writing to you in your capacity as directors of Miss Pings.



Last week we were copied in to an email thread between a member of the public and Miss Pings (emails below). To follow up, on Friday evening two of us from Stop Demand spent a couple of hours at Miss Pings over some drinks. We unsuccessfully sought out Anthony. During that time we used, and checked, the bathrooms.


We fully endorse the concerns, and questions, raised by Judi
Lambourne. More specifically,

1. Po*******hy: Your collages that feature images of women with their legs spread open, a focus on their 70's-style p***c areas, large breasts, etc. juxtaposed for the most part against fully clothed men is po*******hy, not nakedness. A number of your images reduce women, and their value, to their ge****ls and breasts for the male gaze, s*xual arousal and titillation. Some images would, legally, be classified "Restricted" (R18 or R16 material, legally required to be cellophane-wrapped).

2. Imposed po*******hy: Why do you/Miss Pings assume you have the right to impose Restricted material on unsuspecting patrons, men and women, uninvited? Doesn't that smack of arrogance?

3. Illegality: Miss Pings is in breach of the law to be displaying
p**nographic/Restricted material to anyone under the age of 18. (Judi Lambourne observed children present during her visit. Likewise, we note that one restaurant reviewer took her "tweenager" - a child 8 to 14 - to your venue.) For this reason alone, your collages should be removed immediately. We note Anthony's comment, "If people believe the images are offensive, especially to children, we will certainly take them down." The point about children is not up for debate; it's the law!

4. R**e culture: One image is particularly disturbing (attached).
Displaying a cartoon of a fearful-looking woman, naked but for high
heels, tied to a pole, and about to be s*xually assaulted (unwanted
s*xual touching = s*xual assault) by two Martians is puerile, twisted, r**e-fantasy and r**e supporting - and completely irresponsible. We note Anthony's trite, "I don't think we're trying to say anything specifically apart from 'aren't these cool to look at'. NO, Anthony, Nick, Josh and Tom. These images are NOT cool. This particular image is especially offensive.

5. Hostile workplace: Miss Pings can quite fairly be accused of
creating a potential hostile working environment for its female staff. Po*******hy in the workplace is odious enough and has been the subject of a number of Court cases. Adding alcohol to the mix
increases that risk of hostility. It is quite feasible for a patron,
already with unhealthy attitudes towards women, to have a few beers, use your toilets, have his views reinforced with your demeaning images, and view your female staff as nothing more than "t**s and fannies" (as Judi Lambourne puts it), whose only value is for f***ing.

6. Disrespect: Your deliberate choice of toilet decor implies you
have little, or no, respect for (a) your women staff; (b) your women patrons; and (c) women and girls in general. It also smacks of an unhealthy sense of male s*xual entitlement.

7. Commercial sense: It makes no commercial sense why you would risk alienating customers like Judi Lambourne.

8. Facebook: We would not support Anthony's suggestion to put the issue up on Facebook for discussion. There are countless misogynists, r**e apologists, young men of the Roast Busters ilk, p**n-using men, rapists, males who lack respect for women, and men like yourselves who are possibly quite decent but naive and insightless, who would support your current decor.

Guys - s*xual callousness, s*xual exploitation and s*xual violence
does not take place in a vacuum. They are underpinned and fuelled by a bombardment of cumulative messages and images, about power constructs, roles of men/women, s*xual entitlement/subjugation, etc. Miss Pings, right now, is adding to that mire, negatively. We urge you to think more deeply about these issues.

We appreciate that Miss Pings is a pop-up venue with a limited time frame. Nonetheless, we would ask you to remove this objectifying (in the case of under 18s, illegal) material immediately. If the material is still there on Saturday morning (25 January), then as a campaigning organisation we will be obliged to look at taking further steps.

Given Anthony's reasonable response to Judi Lambourne we are
confident, and hopeful, that this will not be necessary.

Yours sincerely
Denise Ritchie
Founder

How Evolved are You?
http://www.stopdemand.org/wawcs0156073/how-evolved-are-you.html
Did you know: Teenage girls of p**n-viewing fathers are now reporting a "yuk" factor? For many, a father's "parental gaze" has become the "p**n gaze".

Reducing male demand fuelling prostitution, po*******hy and s*x trafficking. Men, take action to stop s*xual violence.

21/01/2014

Check out our Tuesday specials, start loosening up, and come down to Miss Pings for dinner and table tennis.

18/01/2014

Come cure your BDO hangover with a refreshing drink in the sun and a game!

11/01/2014

It's doubles time! Get your team in, $100 Bartab to the winners. We start at 2 be there!

10/01/2014

And this young man is killing it on the decks too. Tom tom club anyone?