For some years now (perhaps as many as 20!!) SWMBO and the ol' probligo have promised themselves the opportunity to attend the World of Wearable Arts originally when it was held in Nelson but the desire has remained to this day.
Now, with the stars aligned as close as we could get them to 12/69 comes the opportunity. We booked about 8 months back. No problems at that time with getting tickets to the event, nor accomodation; fly down, and we train back.
To explain.
My father was "mad on trains". The reason for the quotes will be a mystery to all except those who have read "Anthony and Antimaccasser" and The Potentate of Raspberry Jam. Anyhoos. We had everything booked and then we get a message from TranzRail saying that our train will arrive in Auckland an hour late. This is 7 months before the trip and they already know it will be an hour late? But then the explanation. There will be an extra two engine changes. The first in Feilding, to replace the enormous Diesel with a far more interesting steam 'J' (Pacific Class for the spotters) and then again at Taihape to remove said very interesting engine and replace it with a more mundane electric. So that single event was enough to transmogrify a pleasant jaunt to an event which I have looked forward to for years into a double-header of pleasure and memories.
In the meantime, good ol' BE is at the tail of Granny Herald once more with his analysis that it is not a broadsheet but far more tabloid in nature. He points out as evidence the teasers and whatnot at the top of Page 1. Brian, me old mate, shurely it is the content, the writing, that is of far greater import than whether Pamela Anderson is pictured on Page 3? If you had applied some effort to the critique of "mass media news" - which term I think covers the intent rather than the means of broadcast - as published by Herald, Dom Post and the others rather than the very simplistic "It looks like The Sun" your point would have been far better made.
As it stands, Herald along with a very large number of "reputable" news media has become lost in the cost-cutting editors room where news stories are judged by cost rather than worthiness or content. You can find the same stories for free, by-lined PA and Reuters, even MSN and Fox can feature, spread over a very wide range of publishers. To get anything different, the Independent sometimes puts its own people on a story, Guardian likewise, but one has really to go to the likes of Aljazheera to get anything like a "different perspective".
That said, the picture of Auntie Helen, and more recently Jonkey, holding a mobile press conference whilst in transit to the House is truly a neat caricature of the relationship between news media and politics in this country. I doubt that it differs in others. In fact we might even be lucky to have reporters in the House, instead of a daily meal of government political party announcements and pre-recorded releases.
Come to think of it, TV1 and TV3 do little more at present than provide a free service in place of what would otherwise be paid for by the government.
As for knowledgeable analysis of that "news"? I dispair.
Until I turn on Maori TV that is.
Who watched The Aunties last night? They ran through the services provided to a woman with breast cancer and gave her a bit of jolly-up at the same time. All told 30 minutes of excellent tv; informative, critical when necessary, go with the flow presentation, co-operative and not antagonistic. Great stuff!!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
On carnivores and man-eaters -
I think that it was in the comments to one of TF's pieces that the idea of "liberals" being eaten by carnivores came out of the woodwork.
One of the local tourist attractions, first out of the blocks at Auckland International Airport if you go straight ahead as you leave the international terminal instead of turning left, is Butterfly Creek.
There has been a fair bit of publicity over the past couple weeks as they have introduced a number of new "attractions".
Among them is a number of wetapunga -
Thanks to Easter Courier for the picture. That is NOT shopped. That is how big these beasties are.
Fortunately for visiting Americans, they are very rare and are found on one or two outlying islands in the Hauraki Gulf.
Like all wetas, they feed on fungus and leaf mould in preference to human flesh.
One of the local tourist attractions, first out of the blocks at Auckland International Airport if you go straight ahead as you leave the international terminal instead of turning left, is Butterfly Creek.
There has been a fair bit of publicity over the past couple weeks as they have introduced a number of new "attractions".
Among them is a number of wetapunga -
Thanks to Easter Courier for the picture. That is NOT shopped. That is how big these beasties are.
Fortunately for visiting Americans, they are very rare and are found on one or two outlying islands in the Hauraki Gulf.
Like all wetas, they feed on fungus and leaf mould in preference to human flesh.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
On meeting old friends and having words -
Sunday was Father's Day here in NZ.
Sunday also produced some of the best weather so far this year. It was warm, bluedome sky, light breeze; perfect for the flying of small model aircraft.
Many of the other members of the club thought so as well. As a result there were an unheard of 14 cars parked along the fence at the top of our modest flying field (many thanks to the Butcher family for persistently putting up with this rather odd group of aging men who enjoy doing strange things in the middle of a cow paddock.
Among those I met and talked with was Rubber-band Ron. He is a delightful chap. Has about seven years on me, and has not been in particularly good health for the past ten or so years. He was enjoying the sun and fresh air sitting with the car door open. I sat and nattered with him for about an hour, topics ranging from family history, WW2 aircraft, modelling, and words.
One of the drugs I take is a diuretic to stop me from retaining water in outlying regions of the probligo anatomy. That requires the occasional departure behind a bush watching out for electric fences, the short-drop at the far end of the field, in general terms the khazi. Ron flicked up at this and we spent some time swapping some of the more esoteric of kiwi slang and their likely etymology.
Many came back to NZ after the wars, and particularly the 2EF from Egypt. Ron felt that that might have been the origin of khazi, as had some of the others we went through like bint and wally. I looked up khazi in some of the on-line dictionaries and while there is no question about the meaning, some of the origins were distinctly off-beam. Like from Italian "casa" or "case". No, sorry, I don't think that likely.
Most likely was from Urdu. Which takes the word to England during the 19th century...
And so it goes.
Sunday also produced some of the best weather so far this year. It was warm, bluedome sky, light breeze; perfect for the flying of small model aircraft.
Many of the other members of the club thought so as well. As a result there were an unheard of 14 cars parked along the fence at the top of our modest flying field (many thanks to the Butcher family for persistently putting up with this rather odd group of aging men who enjoy doing strange things in the middle of a cow paddock.
Among those I met and talked with was Rubber-band Ron. He is a delightful chap. Has about seven years on me, and has not been in particularly good health for the past ten or so years. He was enjoying the sun and fresh air sitting with the car door open. I sat and nattered with him for about an hour, topics ranging from family history, WW2 aircraft, modelling, and words.
One of the drugs I take is a diuretic to stop me from retaining water in outlying regions of the probligo anatomy. That requires the occasional departure behind a bush watching out for electric fences, the short-drop at the far end of the field, in general terms the khazi. Ron flicked up at this and we spent some time swapping some of the more esoteric of kiwi slang and their likely etymology.
Many came back to NZ after the wars, and particularly the 2EF from Egypt. Ron felt that that might have been the origin of khazi, as had some of the others we went through like bint and wally. I looked up khazi in some of the on-line dictionaries and while there is no question about the meaning, some of the origins were distinctly off-beam. Like from Italian "casa" or "case". No, sorry, I don't think that likely.
Most likely was from Urdu. Which takes the word to England during the 19th century...
And so it goes.
Monday, September 07, 2009
The business of jargon -
Just occasionally, there is the small piece on radio that really grabs the old funny bone and gives it a good tweak.
Yesterday, as I was driving through a fantastically first-rate funday morning (on my way to throwing things at the sky) was just such an instance.
Mediawatch has been running an occasional about reporting standards (as distinct from the direct critique of current event reportage) and language. Yesterday morning was one – concentrating on the use of “going forward”. Now reporters are not the most guilty here. It is without doubt the “mot d’an” if not “mot du decade” in business and politic speak.
The term is totally meaningless. It has nothing whatever to do other than to fill a sentence with two more unnecessary words or to detract from the import of what is being said.
Listen to Mediawatch’s piece and I hope that they have included in the MP3 the Irish writer’s version and interpretation of “going forward”.
Listening to that at 100kph is NOT safe driving.
Yesterday, as I was driving through a fantastically first-rate funday morning (on my way to throwing things at the sky) was just such an instance.
Mediawatch has been running an occasional about reporting standards (as distinct from the direct critique of current event reportage) and language. Yesterday morning was one – concentrating on the use of “going forward”. Now reporters are not the most guilty here. It is without doubt the “mot d’an” if not “mot du decade” in business and politic speak.
The term is totally meaningless. It has nothing whatever to do other than to fill a sentence with two more unnecessary words or to detract from the import of what is being said.
Listen to Mediawatch’s piece and I hope that they have included in the MP3 the Irish writer’s version and interpretation of “going forward”.
Listening to that at 100kph is NOT safe driving.
Friday, September 04, 2009
On television -
On Tuesday night, Maori Television here showed a documentary on Uighur leader Rebiya Khadeer, much to the consternation and distaste of the Chinese government. In the interests of "balance" Mtv followed the documentary with a Chinese government "press release" on the Xinjiang riots in July this year.
As a result, there has been considerable criticism of Mtv for showing "blatant Chinese government propaganda". That it certainly was, and in the ol probligo's mind that is exactly a very good reason why it should be shown. After showing some 15 minutes of street scene cctv of people beating up on others, breaking windows, and setting a couple of fires, police escorting some 25 "prisoners", and all of that without commentary, the film concluded that the riots had been orchestrated by the World Uighur Congress and Khadeer was the only individual named.
What many seem to miss is that showing this kind of government crap is so important simply because it is part of learning differences between factual (and there was fact in the CPR film; people were rioting) and the distribution of political cant based upon broken and missing logical conclusion. That the riots were Uighurs taking out their frustration on the Han is also factual. That is little different to the government here saying that Ngai Tuhoe live in the Urewera.
As I have posted to a couple or three fora -
"I also commend MaoriTV for showing the China Government film after the Uighur doco. NOT because I have any support or affiliation for the Chinese government; quite the opposite.
By showing the “press release” (about the most polite and desriptive appelation I can find) anyone watching it should be able to see through the propaganda to the underlying truths. If they can not, then that shows the importance of broadcasting this and similar propaganda releases.
Why? Simply so that we all can learn to recognise government propaganda when it appears on our screens. Whether it is government sponsored “analysis” of riots in China, or police action against Te Urewera in this country, we the general public must be able to recognise what we are being told for what it is."
Just because CPR says that the rioting was "orchestrated by the WUC" does not make it so, any more than the NZ government saying that there was a "terrorist training camp" at Ruatoria makes that so. I believe it is a technique that was sometimes termed "drawing a long bow".
While on the subject of television viewing, Brian Edwards (a broadcaster and man of many letters for whom I hold considerable regard) published a "Brickbats and Bouquets" list earlier in the week. One of his top bouquets was in praise of a locally produced soap "Outrageous Fortune". I have tried to watch this hour of agony a couple of times and given up on it. Totally. I expressed this opinion in support of another commenter who thought he might be the only person who does not like this particular "entertainment". BE took some exception to my opine that he would also enjoy Coro St. and Shortie St. and accused me of being somewhat "elitist".
Ah, the good old kiwi tall poppy syndrome again.
As a result, there has been considerable criticism of Mtv for showing "blatant Chinese government propaganda". That it certainly was, and in the ol probligo's mind that is exactly a very good reason why it should be shown. After showing some 15 minutes of street scene cctv of people beating up on others, breaking windows, and setting a couple of fires, police escorting some 25 "prisoners", and all of that without commentary, the film concluded that the riots had been orchestrated by the World Uighur Congress and Khadeer was the only individual named.
What many seem to miss is that showing this kind of government crap is so important simply because it is part of learning differences between factual (and there was fact in the CPR film; people were rioting) and the distribution of political cant based upon broken and missing logical conclusion. That the riots were Uighurs taking out their frustration on the Han is also factual. That is little different to the government here saying that Ngai Tuhoe live in the Urewera.
As I have posted to a couple or three fora -
"I also commend MaoriTV for showing the China Government film after the Uighur doco. NOT because I have any support or affiliation for the Chinese government; quite the opposite.
By showing the “press release” (about the most polite and desriptive appelation I can find) anyone watching it should be able to see through the propaganda to the underlying truths. If they can not, then that shows the importance of broadcasting this and similar propaganda releases.
Why? Simply so that we all can learn to recognise government propaganda when it appears on our screens. Whether it is government sponsored “analysis” of riots in China, or police action against Te Urewera in this country, we the general public must be able to recognise what we are being told for what it is."
Just because CPR says that the rioting was "orchestrated by the WUC" does not make it so, any more than the NZ government saying that there was a "terrorist training camp" at Ruatoria makes that so. I believe it is a technique that was sometimes termed "drawing a long bow".
While on the subject of television viewing, Brian Edwards (a broadcaster and man of many letters for whom I hold considerable regard) published a "Brickbats and Bouquets" list earlier in the week. One of his top bouquets was in praise of a locally produced soap "Outrageous Fortune". I have tried to watch this hour of agony a couple of times and given up on it. Totally. I expressed this opinion in support of another commenter who thought he might be the only person who does not like this particular "entertainment". BE took some exception to my opine that he would also enjoy Coro St. and Shortie St. and accused me of being somewhat "elitist".
Ah, the good old kiwi tall poppy syndrome again.
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