Dealey Plaza on Street View

How awesome is this?? It's all there - the book depository, the grassy knoll!


View Larger Map

B-Grade

After watching the very uh... interesting and nuanced Death Race recently I was over the proverbial moon to see the original - Death Race 2000 and its prequel Death Sport at Aro Video yesterday. Unlike the new prison based film, 2000 stars Caine himself, David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone as they race across the US pickng up points for killing pedestrians along the way - the elderly are worth 100 points, toddlers 75 points, women 10 points etc. Trailer below



Death Sport also starred Carradine but was based in the year 3000 - a time where prisoners are forced into a fight to death with gladiator types who ride 'death machines'... otherwise known as motorbikes with cardboard bits spray painted silver tacked on the front and sides. It is the sequel to Death Race 2000, but bears no real similarities other than on the quality front - its average rating on IMDB is 2.7 out of 10. Adding to b-grade flavour it features an awesome/irritating synthesizer soundtrack and also starred then Playboy Bunny, Claudia Jennings who naturally treats the audience to a full frontal... or two... as you do. Classic stuff.

One of my colleagues also lent me the first two episodes of iconic 1980s Knightrider wannabe, Street Hawk. Its basically about a cop who goes around fighting crime on his wicked bike - which if you look it up on Wikipedia, you find out was just a Honda dirtbike with a few bits tacked on... I wonder if that makes it a death machine?? Hmmm on second thought I think you need some Carradine for that. Trailer below



So if you feel like a cheesy b grade movie weekend - accept no substitute!

Taking over the asylum

I was planning on avoiding politics as a topic for the remainder of the year, but the happenings of the last week have meant I just can't bite my tongue any longer. Almost unbelievably our brand spanking new tory government has seemingly used its first week in the house to shoot itself in the foot and try to bring an end to its own honeymoon period.

They had widely flagged that tax legislation and changes to KiwiSaver would be introduced under urgency, but had not even hinted that the 90 Day probation period bill would be introduced - let alone passed. Personally I don't have a problem with probationary periods - and they were actually allowed for under the Employment Relations Act. Of course as most people know, my previous employer used the probation period mechanism under the ERA and they had actually used it to remove a previous employee, but only after they had gone through a process which identified what was wrong and provided a chance for the worker to get it together. But what this bill does is actually remove any avenue for recourse or mediation - basically if you're sacked at the end of the 90 day period and you feel you have been unfairly treated or that you received insufficient training to be able to do the job or no warning etc - there is nothing you can do, you're gone. There is no independent complaints authority - you're out of luck, sunshine.

Worse still, watching the debates it was abundantly clear that the government backbenchers actually had no idea about the implications of their tax changes for low income earners (naturally the cuts favour the rich and actually disadvantage workers earning under $45k). Is there anything more dangerous in a democracy than a government passing legislation that they haven't read and refuse to release until the debate begins under urgency, with minimal debate and no consultation?

This willingness to force through legislation under urgency - when there is no real need - does beg the question whether we need another check or balance on the Parliament. The Select Committee process was supposed to alleviate the need for an upper house by providing another check on the government. Given this government's perceived eagerness to avoid Select Committee's and the historic unwillingness of the Governor General to reject laws, I wonder if we do need to look again at the idea of re-establishing an upper house as a final check.

On top of all this big Gerry Brownlee's cringeworthy, shambolic performance as Leader of the House has been like watching some sort of David Brent/Manuel The Office/Fawlty Towers hybrid. It makes you really want Labour to pick up the Yellow Fever chant from Phoenix matches - "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING".

Meanwhile Brownlee has been the talk of the town for other reasons - with leaks flowing from all angles suggesting that because of his personal dislike for Nick Smith he has instructed officials in the Energy and Resources area that they are not to talk to or give any information to Environment ministry officials for fear that it will end up in Nick Smith's hands. That's right kids, if true - Brownlee has basically ordered by decree that officials working on things like, I dunno, Biofuels and electricity generation are not allowed to talk to the lead agency on climate change. I know right - WTF? how does that work?

And this is week one.

The knife also continues to hover over the public service with redundancies seeming almost inevitable. I only hope that National look at how ineffective the Rudd Labor government's cuts to the public sector have been in Australia. The public service over there is stupidly overworked and I know of people being expected to work 12-13 hour days, 6 days a week as a norm. Foreign Affairs has supposedly been a top priority of the new government with Rudd keen to be seen as a leader on issues like climate change, yet the budget cuts at DFAT has seen a 10 per cent staff turnover already in the first 12 months of KRudd.

I know this is what the people wanted and that this is the government the people chose. But I'm not sure anyone really thought it would be this messy quite so soon.

Sometimes borrowing is good

Watch this space I guess

Smart Stitch - the new BlackBerry?

Are you local?

One of the most notable outcomes of the recent election was how Labour lost every single provincial seat that it held, despite many of the areas being characteristically 'Labour' areas. For example previously safe regional seats like East Coast, Otaki, Tukituki, West Coast-Tasman, Invercargill, and Whanganui have all been lost over the last two terms. In Palmerston North and Rimutaka Labour also struggled even though they had both had long solid service from popular retiring local MPs.

Five-minute PM, Mike Moore recently suggested that one of the reasons for this was MMP. He said that the safety net created by the party list meant MPs were preoccupied with impressing their leader and party hierarchy to gain promotion and to secure a decent list spot rather than putting in the hard yards in their electorates. Moore suggested this was why MPs had lost touch with their electorates and why so many of Labour's caucus seemed non-plussed at the thought of life on the list.

I think he is almost right on the money. We are told that there are huge numbers of people signing up to the party - that the membership is growing and is the strongest it has been. But take all those electorates listed above - not one of them has what you would call a strong local committee with active members and supporters. The membership in these areas has stagnated and aged to the point that basic activities such as door-knocking could not happen and deliveries in many had to be contracted out.

As UK Labour Councillor, Phillip Glanville, succinctly put it in his recent piece on the Blairite site Progress Online talking about the UK party - local campaigns are vital or no seat is safe. The parallels to our local party are stunning -

"Campaigning in Crewe, I was struck by the lack of long-term organisation. The late, great Gwyneth Dunwoody was a formidable parliamentarian and much-respected MP, but the local party in Crewe seemed moribund at best. Sadly, it was clear that canvassing and campaigning had not taken place for a generation. No historic data, no personal relationships, no record of local campaigning.

In estate after estate, there was no sense that Labour had been talking to local people. We hadn't fostered a sense that the party was on their side - campaigning for better schools, safer streets and new homes."

Just swap out the MP and place names and you pretty much have NZ Labour.

"... Crewe and Glasgow are better after 11 years of Labour Government. Yet, for years it seems nobody has talked to local people about what we are doing and why.

Our supporters don't need Facebook, they want us to talk face to face: in their local pub, at the church fete, at a residents' meeting or on the doorstep. It may be old-fashioned or unsexy, but it works. You can't just turn up every four years (or, even worse, mid-term) and expect people to vote for you.

Clearly being in power is vital. We should never lose sight of that aim or hold the deluded view that we need to be in opposition to renew. Yet being in government can hold the party. Leaders inevitably start to listen to civil servants over party members and citizens. We get caught up in the idea that a good policy and a slick soundbite is all it takes to succeed."

Indeed.

However, what parts of the recent campaign also reinforced was that with real effort and a priority given to connecting directly - I firmly believe that most of the seats above can and should be won back in three years.

1005 reasons for a quiet Sunday

Yesterday the glorious Hobson St Posse spent its kitty of $1005 worth of Shepherds Arms bar tab vouchers - in one go.

We kicked the day off with brunch and a couple of rounds at the Arms before heading out to the Island Bay Bowling Club to break the day up.

Now what I havent mentioned is that on Friday night we had our work Christmas function at TSB Arena which was a belter - so my head was on the sore side and frankly I had no business being at a pub again on Saturday morning - let alone ordering $6.50 jugs of Macs at the Bowling Club (yes at those prices we are considering joining).

Then it was back to the Shepherds to polish off the remaining $700 - so we all went out of our way to order stuff that we hadn't had before - and I think we just about bought one of each menu item. After a substantial feed of mussels etc it was on to Long Island Ice Teas and other cocktails before I settled on Laphraoig single malt Whiskey.

I did walk home which managed to work off most of the effects - but it all caught up with me when I tried watching the All Blacks this morning with a massive headache.

The bartender, 'Ginga', challenged us to reach $1500 next year - so watch this space I guess.

You what?

I thought I would share a couple of moments of work place insanity I have experienced in the last week or two where senior colleagues have almost gone out of their way to mangle the english language. Today we had the word 'solution' used as a verb:

"Can you solution this issue?"

Maybe I'm being old fashioned, but I'm still quite a fan of the word 'solve' and even 'fix'. Also, I did wonder for a second whether they were actually referring to a 'topical solution' - as in can you apply a topical solution - but then that doesn't make sense either.

The other classic one was when one of our HR people said "I haven't got an optic on that." What? I think you mean - I haven't seen that.

Agenda gets struck off the uh... agenda

Ok so I wasn't the biggest fan of TV One's Agenda - but I'm pretty pissed that it has been canned.

One of my worries about our new tory government is that there will be very little critical analysis of what is actually happening as we are almost heading towards a perfect storm with minimal coverage from the media other than scripted set pieces. We have an ever decreasing media in New Zealand - our major dailies are continually downsizing, most actual journalists are either now in PR or working for government departments - if not running them! On top of that we have a new prime minister who, chances are, will adopt the Shipley approach of only holding fortnightly Cabinet meetings and no press conferences (he isn't great when put on the spot - so he's not going to chuck himself in the lions den like Clark did each week, is he?).

For all its faults it was the very show that tripped up several players in the last 12 months - Mike Williams on Owen Glenn etc and Maurice Williamson on tolls for example - and it was our only actual political show with in-depth interviews. It's also ironic that Agenda's Australian namesake on Sky News has made it's host David Speers one of the leading commentators in the country and the show has become central to political coverage.

I only hope that either Sky News or even TV3 look to fill the void (and ideally chuck it in a better time slot). What I would love to see is something intelligent and insightful without boring everyone to tears - much like MSNBC's fantastic Rachel Maddow Show. If you haven't seen it - check out some of the clips on her site - we have nothing like it here (probably the closest would be Media 7 on TVNZ7). Also it's quite funny how I came across the show too since we don't get MSNBC - the Palin Vlog #13 where Sarah Palin trys to pray away the gay from Dina after her sapphic desires of Rachel Maddow are exposed - so very funny - watch it here .

Cardinalogy

I picked up Cardinalogy over the weekend, Ryan Adams' follow up to last year's Easy Tiger. This time around the tracks a little snappier with most clocking in around the 2-3 minute mark, but unfortunately they have carried over that easy or dare I say it - 'nice' feel of Easy Tiger.

There are some high points though - I've found myself singing Go Easy and Fix It at work and he almost goes a little Ben Harper and the Blind Boys with track 6 - Let Us Down Easy.

it's a good solid album along the Gold and Easy Tiger lines, but like those albums, it never reaches the heights and innovation of the Cold Roses/Jacksonville City Nights/29 era.

Below is Ryan and the Cardinal's performing my favourite track - Fix It on Letterman.

Who let that happen?? The Sequel

Well the campaign might be over, but the Palin shambles rumbles on and they continue to provide examples for why you need to do a thorough advance.

Video below of Sarah Palin doing an interview in front of turkeys being slaughtered - the camera man asked if she would prefer to do it with a different backdrop -she said it was fine... So in answer to my question - she let that happen!

The Alaska Palin Massacre

Hey it's a world cup in rugby code - I'll take it!

The Kiwi league team pulled off what is unquestionably the upset of the century for Rugby League last night by toppling the Kangaroo's in the league world cup final. It was only 12 or so months ago when I attended the centenary test in Wellington where we got pummeled 50 odd nil (i did steal a souvenir ball though that day so it wasnt all bad). All throughout this 'World Cup' I had been bitching about what a joke it was and that only one team could win and that the whole thing was really a play off between England and New Zealand to see who would have the honour of losing the final to Australia. But I was sooo wrong and as the Sun Herald in Sydney have said - the Joke (of a tournament) became the Choke! Finally I have something to throw back at the Aussies when they bring up choking at world cups!

The All Blacks also went well against Wales and are only one win away from another Grand Slam. The most impressive thing so far is that in the three Grand Slam tests (Scotland, Ireland and Wales) and the Hong Kong test against the Wallabies, is that the All Blacks haven't conceded a single try - would be great to see them hold that against England this week. But anyway, aren't we just loving all the Haka hijinks - first we had Tipoki, Howlett etc doing a haka to the All Blacks before the Munster game and then we had the Wales stare down contest - loving it!

The Phoenix also did their darnedest to butcher a win against Newcastle tonight - with two red cards against Newcastle before half time you would assume victory was inevitable - especially since the star Phoenix recruit, Fred from DC United and formerly of the Victory (MVP of the 2006 A-League), was playing. But oh no - we had to fuck up as many opportunities as possible before spluttering to victory late in the game. I shouldn't be quite so harsh I know - but I'm losing enough hair as it is!

Speaking of harsh I could take the easy option and bag the NZ Cricket team for not taking their opportunity to beat Australia when they had the chance. But I'll be honest - I had incredibly low expectations and I actually thought the performance was an improvement - I'll explain what I mean in a second. But basically we don't have the batsmen to beat Australia - we have the bowlers - but not the batting so our chances were always fairly remote. How and Redmond are clinging on to their slots for dear life. Of the two (and I know Im kinda biased) How does look the most likely to get a score - but like Daniel Flynn - he needs to deliver on that at some point. Redmond is hopeless and out of his depth - but really we've tried all the other options (Bell/Papps/Cumming) so he may as well hang around. Ryder and Taylor look good but need to protect their wickets more, McCullum isn't a number 5 and doesn't look comfortable there - he should drop back to 7 with Flynn stepping up to 5 and being pushed for runs. I know Grant Elliot is only there to make up the numbers but he is just painful to watch and should not be there - he can't bat and he can only barely bowl - so why bother? Why not just throw Kyle Mills back in at 8 - at least he can bowl and his 15 or 20 runs late in the innings would be more use than another 6-ball duck.

But anyway as I said, I thought it was an improvement and I say that because we actually dominated a whole days play (day 1), which I can't remember us doing for a long time against Australia. We put Australia in, bundled them out for a low score and then didnt lose a wicket - all you could ask for out of day 1 of a test. Honours were split on day 2, we won the last session having lost the first and second sessions badly. Day 3 was Australia's and was enough to take the test. But despite a poor day 3 it was still better than the last time we faced Australia in a test. During that series we might do ok during the odd session - but we could never maintain that pressure throughout a whole day. We would either start well by picking up wickets only to butcher the game with a poor second session - with Symonds, Ponting or Gilchrist piling on runs or we would have another middle order collapse if we were batting. Either way we would be unable to maintain the pressure we had built up into the next session. But in Brisbane for a whole day we had the foot on the throat of Australia and we were competitive. So yeah its still disappointing to lose again, but it showed progress and hopefully during the next series against them we can start winning consecutive whole days... and who knows if we can start scoring runs - maybe even a test.

No way

I cannot believe that this is actually on the table - but the City Council is actually proposing to build a flyover at the Basin Reserve - ala the Victoria Park fly over in Auckland. The fact that it will still be bookended by the two old single lane tunnels make it hopeless from the outset - but how on earth could Kerry and the gang seriously propose building such a hideous monument at one of the worlds best cricket grounds.

Eye of the Fish have a good run down on how hopeless and costly the Victoria Park and Newmarket fly overs have been in Auckland here and you can read the full Ngauranga - Airport corridor report here. What really annoyed me though was how they tucked details of the fly over into the part about creating a 'grand pedestrian entrance' to the Basin with a new public transport hub - it was like oh and we could incorporate a motorway fly over.... you know, as you do. This is a stupid 1950s response to the congestion in this area and creates the real risk that we are going to have a shocking blot on the Wellington landscape.

The other shocking part for me is that the Council seems to have dismissed the idea of light rail in the short to medium term and also the idea of extending rail into the city. This whole plan is a shocker and its good to see Green Councillor, Iona Pannett holding public meeting this Tuesday on it. I'd love to see our new MP take a lead on this.

Below is a map of the plan that the Greens came up with for Wellington during the recent election campaign (click on it for a bigger version) - and I have to say - how cool would that be??

The plan Replaces the Johnsonville line with light rail, which then connects through to Courtenay Place, the Airport and the Hospital. Also they are suggesting a light rail line out to Queensgate from Wellington - just like a ahhh.... city! Longer term I'd love to see fast electrified rail of some description right through to Palmerston North, connecting the other centres along the way which would create a situation where people could live up the coast and commute to the City in good time.

Going Gig Crazy

Well Feb and March are now shaping up as exciting months with a stack of international acts actually coming to New Zealand!

We have the Top Gear Live Show in Auckland - with the full cast of Jeremy Clarkson, Hampster, Captain slow, and the Stig as well as an array of super cars and football-playing-Suzuki-swifts. On top of that The Who are playing the North Shore with Counting Crows, Neil Young and the Arctics are headlining the Big Day Out and just announced yesterday - Ryan Adams is coming to Wellington... EEEEEEEEE!

Here he is performing Magnolia Mountain from Cold Roses in Sydney a few years back


Rounding out the beginning of 2009, rumour has it that the Ringleader of the Tormentors himself, Morrissey is heading down our way... again EEEEEEEE!


Which reminds me of a funny conversation I had about Morrissey a year or so back - I was asked "is he still alive??" I was like no he's still touring to which they said "Oh well he's all shit then - moans on about it, but never actually tops himself." LOL classic.

Criminal Justice system

After watching a right wing government get elected over the weekend, I ended up watching a new doco-drama examining future justice system penalties and the sort of private prison management that may occur here. The film had a storyline that was very similar in many ways to the Shawshank Redemption. It featured a very nuanced commentary on the criminal justice system and alternative ways of dealing with prisoners and some of the possible outomes of the private ownership and management of prisons.

LOL the movie was of course called Death Race - trailer below. Yeah not exactly the most intellectual film I've seen - but great for an election hangover!



PS What the fuck was Joan Allen doing in this rubbish?

History

Well I was actually on the money with my call for the US elections - with Obama gaining 364 electoral college votes to McCain's 174 - and while Im talking myself up I will note that I did pick Obama as an outsider to watch over two years ago - mind you at the time I was hoping for a Gore/Obama ticket - but still!

I watched the results come in at the US embassy's event and I have to say I hadn't anticipated just how euphoric and emotional the occasion would be. The result was historic for so many reasons - not only has his election smashed through the 'bradley effect', but it has also quashed the notion of blue and red states with Obama winning states like North Carolina, Indiana and Virginia, its shown that the Democrats aren't only strong on the coasts and proven that the Democrats can be elected during an economic crisis not mention a war.

Anyway - fingers crossed im not too far off tomorrow.

Australia Day?

Well maybe Australian Labor Party Day might be more accurate. As we close in on election day, both parties seem to be ripping off the ALP.

Yesterday National Leader, John Key, launched his new schools policy which he said would "add rungs to the ladder of opportunity". Hmmm now that sounds familiar huh? Well that's probably because the 'Ladder of Opportunity' was Mark Latham's slogan throughout his ill fated 2004 campaign. I know Key is no fan of history, but surely he realises the wheels well and truly came off the 2004 ALP campaign (and Latham's career) not long after launching the catchphrase? Tempting fate a bit...

But anyway Key isn't the only one to be caught red handed stealing pages from the playbooks of recent ALP campaigns. Labour released its new TV ad yesterday, with an unsubtle and very personal - I can't trust you, John Key - message. But again this seemed familiar to many political hacks. Where have we seen a young mother talking direct to camera, criticising a tory leader while feeding their baby?? That's right - Australia!



Still I guess its better than stealing ideas from this guy or this Alaskan candidate. WTF? I know.

OOO I love a good sports metaphor

Most of you will realise that I love a good sports metaphor - but the one below by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was especially good as it nicely demonstrates how much of a big deal it is that states like Indiana and Montana are even potential battlegrounds.

Who let that happen??

You know some people I know don't see the value in having a campaign carry out advance checks ahead of the candidate's visit. Well let this little snippet be a lesson for you.

Clearly the McCain campaign don't believe in a decent advance either - unbelievably, a Palin impersonator appeared right behind McCain at a rally over the weekend. I love how she smiles, nods and waves to the crowd as McCain talks up his running mate. Who let her up there? Absolutely classic.

Yes you can can

I checked out Young at Heart tonight, the inspiring story of a choir made up of 80-somethings who sing rock songs. Not only was it absolutely hilarious to see oldies singing tracks by Bowie, The Clash, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, the Bee Gees, James Brown etc, but it was actually at time incredibly moving.

The doco followed the groups preparations for their new show - Alive and Well. Naturally given their age there are losses along the way and Fred's Johnny Cash-esque performance of Coldplay's Fix You that he dedicated to Bob and Joe, stole the show for me. Mind you Forever Young at the Prison was fantastic as was their video of the Ramones, I Want to Be Sedated and Bowie's Golden Years.

Young at Heart is the sort of film that is impossible to watch without smiling and I definitely recommend checking it out. It came out last year and was part of the film festival earlier this year - so it should be easy enough to find. Trailer below.

Having a good pick

This week at work we are going to do a combined US/NZ election sweep - in both cases it could either be a close win for the underdog or a landslide. We're going to pick the party vote percentages in NZ and electoral college in the states.

So here goes
NZ
National 44
Labour 38
Green 8
NZ First 5
Maori 2.3 and will win 4 seats
ACT 1.6 but will lose Epsom and be gone
UF 0.5
Prog 0.5

Ok so in Epsom I'm hoping Labourites actually use their brain and vote for Richard Worth (10-15% of Labour voters supported Hide last time FFS). On the Maori seats - I don't believe the hype that they will win all seven Maori seats, they talked up how they were going to get at least 2 new Maori seats last year when the Maori roll was open - and they were embarrassingly way off.

USA
Im going with my heart and picking a landslide - Im backing Obama to pick up Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana on top of the states Kerry won in 04. So that would make it Obama 364 votes to McCain's 174.

In saying that though - I dont think many of those will be big wins and the reality is that even if Obama picks up some of those states it won't matter if McCain can pick up Pennsylvania and hold Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida - he will win. But hey I'm a betting man and will go with the heart on this one.

Why don't we have coverage like this?

This year Sky News has stole a march on lame-o 3 news and TVNZ's election with their Campaign 08 coverage - they have actual in-depth interviews with leaders! Well the ones that show up anyway. All the same I think its great to see the more mainstream channels being shown again how to do their jobs.

Speaking of which, here is MSNBC's very excellent Rachel Maddow opening up a can on Palin over her abuse of power in the trooper-gate episode. Its annoying that we don't get MSNBC here, but hey the interwebs mean you can get your fix through the Rachel Maddow podcast on iTunes.

TV3 - One big family?

Just saw this over on the spare room - now I've thought at times that Campbell Live wasn't far off the ABC's excellent satire - Frontline, but TV3 seem to have taken it to a new level... They've actually ripped off Frontline's hammy 'One Big Family' promo - but not in an ironic way, they're actually serious. I wonder if the similarities extend to the stars not actually wanting to be in each others company - the bit where they get someone else to do Brooke's high-five with the weatherman after she refused to touch him was classic!

Spot the difference -

Credit crunch?

Last week a finance company offered me $7000 then today I got a text from a finance company offering me a pre-approved $5000 loan and when I got home there was a letter from the bank offering me a another credit card. WTF? I thought we were in some sort of crisis?

It would be rude to say no though right?

McCain accidently left on campaign bus

Rimutaka uh-huh

I think the Rimutaka seat is going to be way tighter than most pundits are picking. While Paul Swain held an 8000 strong majority, the seat has picked up the very tory Belmont hills and dropped the very red Taita suburb and with high profile NZ First MP Ron Mark standing, there is a real chance of a split vote.

So today I thought I would have a look at the tory candidate's website.... and I found this. Dude wtf?

He's an award winning Elvis impersonator - Upper Hutt's greatest in fact. I wonder if he does the Vegas-Elvis karate moves during candidates debates? I would vote for that shit.

The Enemies of Reason

After doing something incredibly irrational (watching the NZ Cricket team flail about in Chittagong) I watched The Enemies of Reason, Richard Dawkins' follow up to his fantastic documentary on organised religion - The Root of All Evil, to balance me out. The new doco examines how superstition and new age treatments and alternative therapies are being presented as cool, regularly filling column inches in magazines and newspapers, despite having no scientific evidence to prove that they work or that they are anything more than a sham.

As you might have guessed, I'm no fan of alternative medicine or therapies. In fact I think the term 'alternative' is a little kind and somewhat misleading - it basically means untested, unproven and unlikely to work. If it works - get it tested and proven. But they know its a sham and they know proper testing will likely prove that.

In New Zealand this whole hokum industry is a particular concern as people seem willing to give this crap a go and more so since the government failed to pass the Joint Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Products Authority legislation. So given there is no regulation you can basically bottle any old rubbish and chuck a label on it claiming it can cure cancer - and that would be legal. Worse still, utter rubbish like Sensing Murder seems to have a huge audience - despite the fact that its psychics have been exposed as sham with an Australian Current Affairs show finding that psychic Deb Webber can talk to dead people - even if they never existed.

I agree with Dawkins - like religion, these conjurers are actually dangerous and shouldnt be hailed by the media or idiotic celebrities (including Prince Charles and Hillary - Chopra). Rational people need to actually call this crap for what it is - false hope for those desperately seeking a cure or closure after the loss of a loved one.

Anyway below is a clip with Dawkins challenging an astrologist to test his readings and a psychic doing a reading.

Burn After Reading

I checked out the Coen Brothers new film, Burn After Reading, the other night. Its a return to their more unorthodox black comedy fare of the Fargo or Barton Fink kind and a welcome one at that.

It follows John Malkovich's character Osbourne Cox who ends up the victim of a weird blackmail attempt after quiting his job as a CIA agent after being demoted and losing his wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) to a wooden-floor-obsessed Treasury Department official played by George Clooney.

Throughout you are unsure where the hell the story is going as two inept gym bunnies - the depressed middle aged woman, Linda Litzke, played by Frances McDormand and the ultra camp himbo, Chad, played by Brad Pitt - try to extort money for Linda's cosmetic surgery from Cox after they find a disc containing classified material at the gym.

At the same time you have Clooney's character being followed throughout by sinister looking characters while he is also constructing something using menacing looking tubes in his basement - leaving you wondering when it is going to inadvertently turn dark.

Ultimately though this is a great satirical take on the CIA, espionage and how the US sees itself in the world. Its almost a wink to the rest of the world that the whole US intelligence thing is just as shambolic as everywhere else!

I won't say exactly what ends up happening or what Clooney is building, but this is a classic Coen work with a fucked up climax of Fargo proportions. Definitely check it out, trailer below

Feel good about yourself and all that

This seems to have flown under the radar a little, but that doyenne of the green movement, Mobil, has brought biofuels to Wellington. Yay.

Back in June Mobil began trialling the fuel at its Johnsonville station and a couple of weeks ago it arrived at the Karori station and 'two others' - which I assume means the Kilbirnie one and a Hutt one.

The 98 or super has up to 10% biofuels and the 91 has up to 3% - but anyway its a good start.

Lame

I'm actually starting to think the Brits might be on to something with not bothering with TV debates. They're a sham.

Every single debate I have seen this year has been a rock solid waste of time. Tonight's TV One debate between Clark and Key fell right into that category, I think I spoke for many when I shouted "would someone tell John Key to shut the fuck up?"

I can't have been the only one to get hacked off with Key constantly blahhing on while Helen was talking. The stupid thing is - if that was Biden shouting over Palin or Obama shouting over Clinton's answers, they would have been called sexist and patronising - but here, Key does it with a smile and Armstrong calls him 'prime minister in waiting' FFS.

Our lame media still seem to think repeating a couple of slogans with an earnest look on your face is enough - I ask you, what the hell were the Herald journalists watching?? Does Audrey get in trouble with her father and brother if she doesnt talk Key up? I don't normally agree with Fran but at least she is rational:

Clark scored best on the issue du jour - the international credit crisis. She has a post-election plan. Key doesn't.

Key was initially ineffectual letting Clark walk over him (shades of Don Brash). He recovered and successfully challenged Clark's rhetoric on climate change and crime.

But to win, he needs to come up with fresh material at the next debate to convince us he can deal with the crisis. Not just talk slogans.

Also while I'm at it - did John Key have more hair? Is he a male pattern baldness denier? Just putting it out there - but I'm suspecting some ruggage.

I think I would sooner watch hour long in depth interviews with someone like Kim Hill - or even someone new like Oliver Driver, who did excellent interviews on Alt and was all over that clown on the dopey new copyright law this morning. Hell lets get Katie Couric!

Uncanny

Well that was some weekend huh? Obviously someone forgot to tell Mr Key that the green light means go. So far he seems to be doing his best impression of Garth Tander's performance at Bathurst over the weekend - starting on pole, Tander butchered his race... just like someone else on the very same afternoon... As the title says - its uncanny. (only watch the first 40 or secs to get the idea)



Meanwhile Helen looks like she's trying to emulate Kiwi's amazing run in the 83 Melbourne Cup - within two days we have re-training policies, a universal student allowance announcement and an actual approach to the economic crisis!

Damn Aro hippies

I haven't really been enthused enough to talk politics on here in the last few weeks - despite the rapidly approaching elections! So far its just been a little same old-same old for my liking. But I do live in a neighbourhood where there is a relatively high amount of activism, so I thought I would take a look at what has been happening around these parts.

There was the now infamous 'meet the candidates' event in the living room of a flat down Aro St, but apart from that it has actually been the minor parties who have been loudest.

During the last City Council elections, I only received propaganda from the Greens, and as I result (and due to the poor selection of candidates) I gave my '1' vote to them for the City ward.

Now given the area I currently live in has a reputation for being a lefty/greeny haven, it's no great surprise that I get stuff from the Greens - but obviously with the developments down Aro St the right also seem to be thinking this is fertile ground.

We're four weeks into the campaign and this is what I have got so far and the number of hoardings they have in the valley:

Greens: 2 pamphlets, 0 direct mail, 4 hoardings
ACT: 2 pamphlets, 1 direct mail, 1 hoarding
National: 1 pamphlet, 0 direct mail, 3 hoardings
Labour: 0 pamphlets, 0 direct mail, 2 hoardings
Alliance: 0 pamphlets, 0, direct mail, 1 Hoarding
Workers Party: 1 painted sheet with logo (where else would you find that?)

Early days, but I think I might need to reassess my voting habits! The hard-right hippies might have a difficult choice??

Update: This week we have the more official Aro Valley Meet the Candidates at the Community Centre (Tues 14 Oct at 7pm), but it does clash with the Shepherds Quiz so doubt I'll be there.

Cactussing the night away

Last night ended up being quite a big one.

I checked out the Family Cactus at Mighty Mighty with all the cool kids. It was their first Wellington gig in about six months, having spent a shit load of time pulling together a debut album!

It was a great night - they sound a whole lot like the Phoenix Foundation but with country (Cardinals) influences and our Adam sounded a whole lot like the vocalist from the Strokes.

So keep your eyes open for their debut album.

First willing Chinese astronauts

Devoid of inspiration so more video!

Don't wake up with a hangover

Great ad from the UK Labour Party's 2005 campaign

Weekend of wins

Well other than Warriors - but they were always going to come up short.

But anyway having sat through some absolute shockers this year the Phoenix finally delivered on their promise at the weekend, the Lions defended the Ranfurly Shield (even if it was close) and Hawthorn won the AFL... you're wondering why I care that Hawthorn won right?

Well I ended up going down to Four Kings (the redeveloped Lab Bar) to watch the the AFL Grand Final with some of the Aussies and I have to say it was a gas. There were around a hundred fans there (who knew there were Aussie Rules followers in Wgtn?) and most seemed to be wearing Geelong scarves and jerseys so I backed the underdogs - the Hawthorn Hawks, who ended up winning after a large third quarter.

While I was at Four Kings (and admittedly after a few lagers) I put my money where my mouth was and put $10 on the Phoenix to beat the number one ranked A League side Sydney FC - meaning I banked $46! We're currently planning on watching the NRL final at the Four Kings too - they have a great set up with a row of 10 or so lazy boys in front of a wall of big screen TVs, booths with private screens (70 screens in total) and a solid range of beers. I hadnt been there before but its definitely a great place to watch the footy.

1000 Greatest Rock Songs

Daft radio station The Rock recently compiled a list of the 1000 greatest rock songs according to their fans. Hilariously they included easy listening acts like fucking Phil Collins and U2 as well as lame uber-stoner band Sublime and one hit wonders like Skid Row.

But I guess when you are doing a 1000 song list, you're really just going through albums listing absolutely anything that catches your eye.

But anyway here is their top 20 - no prizes for guessing who got number 1.

20 FOO FIGHTERS - Best of You
19 METALLICA - Fade to Black
18 PINK FLOYD - Another Brick in the Wall
17 PEARL JAM - Black
16 AC/DC - Thunderstruck
15 METALLICA - Nothing Else Matters
14 PEARL JAM - Better Man
13 GUNS N ROSES - Sweet Child O' Mine
12 PINK FLOYD - Comfortably Numb
11 SHIHAD - Home Again

10 LED ZEPPLIN - Stairway to Heaven
9 FOO FIGHTERS - Everlong
8 QUEEN - Bohemian Rhapsody
7 NIRVANA - Smells Like Teen Spirit
6 RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - Killing in the Name of
5 FOO FIGHTERS - All My Life
4 GUNS N ROSES - November Rain
3 AC / DC - Back In Black
2 METALLICA - ONE
1 METALLICA - ENTER SANDMAN

First of all I'm not convinced Foo Fighters should make the top 100 let alone have anything in the top 10. Shihad shouldnt be that high either - who are they kidding? Actually if you drop those three out and spread the Metallica out a bit its not a bad list by moving the next ones up - its ridiculous that Pink Floyd and The Who don't feature.

So here is my top 10

10. The Who - Baba O'Reilly
9. AC/DC - Back in Black
8. Led Zepplin - Stairway to Heaven
7. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
6. David Bowie - Under Pressure
5. Metallica - Enter Sandman
4. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
3. Neil Young - Hey Hey My My
2. Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O Mine
1. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Silverman on Obama

See more Sarah Silverman videos at Funny or Die

The Heart Attack Grill

Well at least they can't be criticised for pretending they're anything other than shocking for you.

The Heart Attack Grill in Arizona - "Taste worth dying for" - check out their menu here (pictured below is the Quadruple Bypass) it features a whole lot of meat patties, 'flatliner' fries and cigarettes. Nice.

Art for Art's & Victor's sake

Last night was the IHC Art Awards out at the Dowse. I was bidding on behalf of the chair for two or three in the main auction - only managed to get one, but we drove the price up in the others anyway!

But after the high of bidding we all got a bit carried away and started bidding in the silent auction (which we were running!) .

At first I tried to buy this one - which I like to call Shagging Penguins. But then Victor Bright came over to help sell his untitled painting - by the end it hadn't reached the reserve - so I chucked a bid in and ended up buying it (pictured).

URRRRRRRR

Another Empire List

Empire Magazine have done a vote for the 500 greatest films of all time... again. The Godfather has taken the top spot off Star Wars - but Empire Strikes Back still rated highly. Can only assume that the Godfather's renaissance is linked to its recent re-re-release on DVD, but all the same it remains in my all time top 5 and is great today as it ever was.

The top 10 is as follows:

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
3. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
4. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
5. Jaws (1975)
6. Goodfellas (1990)
7. Apocalypse Now (1979)
8. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
9. Pulp Fiction (1994)
10. Fight Club (1999)

So Spielberg (Raiders/Jaws) and Ford-Coppola (Godfather/Apocalypse) take two a piece - its a pity FFC has made a load of bollocks in recent years huh? I'm not sure what the hell Fight Club is doing in that company - its lightweight and shouldn't be there - all it is, is American Beauty for kids. Singin' in the Rain is the only one I haven't seen too so thats not bad.

The description of the Godfather is classic too: A wedding. A horse’s head. A gun in a restaurant toilet. Sicily. Another wedding. A car bomb. A toll-booth. Orange peel. A baptism. A closed door.

But anyway - other notables

100. Network (1976)
91. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)
85. Blue Velvet (1986)
68. Annie Hall (1977)
61. The Usual Suspects (1995)
46. On the Waterfront (1954)
45. Psycho (1960)
43. The Big Lebowski (1998)
34. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
31. Gone with the Wind (1939)
28. Citizen Kane (1941)
26. Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
22. Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
20. Blade Runner (1982)
19. The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
18. Casablanca (1942)
11. Raging Bull (1980)

Fanta Pants to perform in the Bay

Well New Plymouth might be many things but it has exposed its ginga-phobic attitude with Simply Red set to perform into the safe haven of Napier.

Mind you as God said to Tony Wilson - "You were right about Mick Hucknall, his music is rubbish and he's a ginge."

But anyway below is a video which shows the sort of refuge Simply Red may well be staying at in Napier.

Kubrick revisited

I ended up catching the end of 2001 the other day which brought on all sorts of nostalgic feelings for my two favourite Kubrick films - Full Metal Jacket and Dr Strangelove and so today I watched both!

It's easy to forget what a master Kubrick was and if you havent watched these for a while, you should definitely check them out. Either that or get your hands on some mind altering substances and freak yourself out by watching 2001 again. To whet your appetite I have the closing scenes of both - which of course are some of the most memorable sequences in cinema history.

Back of the net!

It may not be CNN - but all the same I think this is almost as good!

You will remember how we found a dumbass candidate who had set up an online poll and that we were ensuring accurately reflected the mood of the electorate?

Well it somehow got drawn to the attention of the local media and well... (click on it for a big version - its worth a read)

I just love how it quotes whole passages from the comments section like "I don't trust Nathan Guy" and how he acknowledges that his Facebook "hadn't had the big pick up that we thought." Brilliant.

McCain/Palin 08

Holy shit - they made CNN! - and to mark the occasion, here is my favourite campaign image so far.

First Church of Sarah Palin and Jesus Christ

Diana and co are doing some of the funniest shit on the interweb right now. This one just cracked me up.



You can see loads more of these over at Diana's blog

The Umbilical Brothers

I spent the evening at the Umbilical Brothers excellent first ever show in Wellington.

If you aren't familiar with the brothers - they are a pair of Australian comedians who combine Michael Winslow style sound effects with mime. Their tap dance routine was awesome as was most of the show. Below are a couple of clips - the first is the tap dance and the second is the 'Klaus' Solo Show' from their European humour bit.





The brothers have a couple of other dates on this tour, and will be back early next year with their other show - if you get a chance you should check them out.

Discovering the cutting edge

I had always bought into the idea that the 1970s was the golden age of cinema, followed by strong efforts in the 1980s and 90s that built on it. You had the greats - Jaws, Star Wars, The Exorcist, The Godfather I & II, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, All the President's Men, The Graduate, Apocalypse Now, Network, Annie Hall followed by the 80s greats Platoon, ET, Full Metal Jacket and so on.

But I've recently discovered a whole other time when cinema wasn't constrained by censorship and when the viewer was treated like an adult - a time that was probably the most liberal period. I'm of course talking about the 'pre-code' era of the 1920s and early 1930s.

So far I've only watched a couple but I'm loving them and if you can get hold of one in particular, Employees' Entrance, you should definitely check it out. Its the story of an amoral New York department store owner who takes delight in sacking his staff, driving some to suicide and shagging all the sales assistant, including one who uses his lust to work her way up the ladder.

The films of this era made bold references to everything and anything that was considered taboo - sexuality, prostitution, drugs, mixed race relationships, abortion, suicide, and so on and so forth. Naturally this raised the ire of the religious and morally conservative elements and the Hays Code or Motion Picture Production Code was introduced to rein productions in and indeed destroy copies of some works.

There is some mind-blowing stuff out there that would still shock today - if you're a movie buff I think its definitely worth taking look.

Fire up bitch!

What a weekend that was for NZ sport! Everything seemed to fall into place nicely.

Now if you're one of those who think sports events help political fortunes, you have to ask -are we heading towards a perfect storm? Its probably still too early to tell, but think about it - we've got interest rates dropping, petrol prices dropping, tax cuts roughly two weeks away, the All Blacks winning the Bledisloe and Tri Nations, the Warriors creating history by beating the minor-premiers, the Winston thing ricocheting off for the loss of 1 or 2 points at best and probably most importantly, dialogue reopening between Labour and the minor parties of the left.

I would also mention the Phoenix - they didnt lose tonight at least - but they gave it a decent shunt with their consistently shakey defence trying really hard to snatch another defeat.

But anyway, the grit and tenacity shown by Henry and his All Blacks last night was incredible. Henry is so similar to Clark its uncanny - dominant and successful for so long, yet widely panned for their arrogant demeanor and questionable methods. They also both face flash-harry opponents who originally hailed from Canterbury - so surely the All Blacks winning at one of the hardest venues (Suncorp) is a good omen?!?

Finally, just like Mark Gasnier's infamous phone message that the headline refers to, the Warriors sent an unwelcome but emphatic message to the other NRL finalists and Rugby League establishment - doing something no other side has done in the history of the competition - defeating the favourites and top ranked side in the first round of the finals.

So maybe the stars are moving into alignment - and it might just be on. So as Gasnier might say - Fire up bitch!

Another good idea/bad idea

Good idea - set up a facebook supporters page

Bad idea - run an uncontrolled web poll linked from that page...

Online Poll Powered By MicroPoll

UPDATE The gig might be up - links seem to have died - well at last count Darren Hughes was at 93% support and Nathan Guy 7% in the scientific poll to determine who people would prefer as Otaki MP.

UPDATE 2 Actually the link to the polls seems to be working again and the split is now 94/6 yus!

No you're it

Over the weekend One Moment Caller did the whole tag/favourite bit of art thing. So here goes nothing... no really.

I was going to take a picture of my 'Retard' plate, but then I wasn't sure where the line was for art... I then thought - well if we're going to broach that subject...

I give you a collaborative work from New Zealand's latest artistic collective - which I like to call the 'Key Chain Gang'.

The work:
Key Chain Gang, Untitled, 2008, found objects, dimensions variable.
Courtesy of Mister Minit.

The story:
We (as in the collective) bought this compelling work over the last three or four years. You will note the red key shaped element at its heart which is possibly a political symbol. The red hinting at a socialist core, being surrounded by representations of family through the placement of the keys to their homes with the large black Peugeot element almost demonstrating a cold industrial landscape behind everything. Also the representation of Master Yoda is an interesting comment on the guidance that the older members of our community provide (pointing any fingers, I am not... DO), while the Phoenix season ticket holder tag represents a cold sad hopelessness and utter despair.

Ok piss taken. Your turn.

Reason number 61425 to love the interweb

People seem to have way too much time on their hands. Makes me wonder what people did before the information superhighway enabled them to make stop motion videos of Metallica using Lego. Let's not question it any further and rock out.

Told you it was good!

Well I survived Beervana - although yesterday was incredibly dirty and fair to say we didnt make it back after a large night at the Malthouse afterwards.

I tried all sorts of beers including Wellington's newest - Yeastie Boys - Pot Black Kettle (a dark porter-esque brew), Epic's Pale Ale and Lager, Dunedin's Green Man Keller, Stout and Pilsener, Three Boys Golden Ale, Whitecliff's Lager, Renaissance Stout and of course the full range from Tuatara.

Now you will remember Tuatara from our trip out to their Waikanae brewery in May when I raved about it.

Tuatara were almost head and shoulders above many of the other breweries and it showed with the boys picking up Best French & Belgian style ales for their Ardennes and Best UK and other European style ale for their Indian Pale Ale along with the overall Gold prize being crowned New Zealand's Best Brewery.

After we finished up at Beervana we headed off to the Malthouse for a few rounds of Tuatara's limited edition Belgian Ale and Epic's range with Dion (Tuatara's master brewer) and Malthouse owner Colin (the dude serving on their homepage) talking hops and all things beer till the early hours.

All in all it was a ripper of a night - tried some great beers from right across the spectrum and waxed lyrical about beer all evening - what could be better??

Help a brother out

My hero, Larry David's bit for the Stand Up to Cancer thing - the chemo-induced baldness is stealing the limelight (and sympathy sex) from the rest of us bald brothers... so we need a cure for cancer. Enjoy

Linkages

Some new links on the side bar this week. I've added a link to Jacinda's campaign site - vote bro for ex pats. She got 20 on Labour's list so will become an MP later this year which is really great - and when I chatted to her the other night she seemed really humbled and overwhelmed by the ranking (ahead of several current cabinet ministers) which I think is a very good sign.

Also we have Sexy People - a site where people send in their hideous 80s portrait photos - funny stuff.

Finally its the next best thing out of Wellington - the Family Cactus, otherwise known as young Adam's band who have been recording at Lee Prebble's studio and will be mixing etc up at a certain Mr Finn's studio.

What I'm listening to at the moment

After loving The Phoenix Foundation's Happy Ending and the soundtrack they pulled together for Eagle vs Shark, I've been checking out Samuel Flynn (son of Tom) Scott's solo album Straight Answer Machine.

Its a good listen and I've chucked the first track, Llewellyn below. It has some really good tracks such as Stolen Egypt, the toe tapping - Leave Me Alone and All My Dreams. However it does lack the polish of the Phoenix Foundation andt at times it does seem a little underdone - even a little bit like a collection of b-sides.

If you haven't listened to Wellington's finest before, then I would suggest starting with an album like Happy Ending before jumping into Straight Answer Machine.



For a taster of the Phoenix Foundation you can watch the video of my happy song (directed by Taika Waititi) from Happy Ending - Bright Grey here or watch my favourite music video (obviously because of the cricket content and cameos by Dion 'hash-pipe' Nash and Lou Vincent - I love the Hadlee shrine too lol) Bleaching Sun below.

'That' Jim Hickey video

A classic moment from the TVNZ archives - The rain is a goneburger. But the showers and a bit of frost well they're ah...

Almost there

The Hobson St Posse has moved ever closer to the $1000 mark for the years work at the Shepherds Arms Quiz.

Another $70 to the kitty tonight with $50 for second place and two 10/10 rounds.

So all in all a good night taking us to $865 with about 5 weeks left for the year.

Your weekly pop quiz is - If you list all the names of countries in alphabetical order - which country is the fifth one beginning with the letter L?

Hmmm... we listed all the L countries we could and actually got this -

Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya (almost everyone answered Libya or Lithuania - even forgetting Liechtenstein!).

Possibly the scariest film ever

I'd heard about the cinema goer at the film festival who shat themselves when watching Spanish horror flick - [REC] - so I was quite excited about the prospect.

It's along the lines of the Blair Witch Project with a film crew following a fire crew on their call outs. Their first call out is to an apartment building where an old lady is locked in her house screaming and the Police need help breaking in. From there things go badly awry and it becomes a cross between Blair Witch and 28 Days Later.

Unlike the Blair Witch you see the source here and frankly it had most of the audience jumping out of their seats - and the friend I was with, screaming like a bitch. And what better promo for a film than the audience reaction - which was used in this trailer.

I won't say much more - but I definitely recommend [REC]. Trailer below.

Sweded vision

There is a new film coming out called Son of Rambow - based on the re-make Garth Jennings did of First Blood as a 10 year old. It's a similar story to that of the famous cult classic eight-year Raiders of the Lost Ark Adaptation project done by a couple of brothers and looks something like a sweeter version of Be Kind Rewind.

Empire pulled together a list of some of the best 'sweded' versions of films on the choob.

The Shining


The Empire Strikes Back: In 60 Seconds


Star Wars: A Cardboard Hope (the X-Wing v Tie Fighter scene is awesome - look out for R2 made from a keg too and the hub cap Millennium Falcon)


Jurassic Park


And finally Michel Gondry sweding his own trailer for Be Kind Rewind

Portrayal Of Obama As Snob Hailed As Step Forward For Blacks

In other news John McCain gave another speech today, attempting to distance himself from his policies.

Hell of a good song

Stunning Swedish folk version of an Aussie classic - cut to the 1:40 mark.

And I thought - what could I do?
And I knew there was no help from you, no help from you
Sound of the drums beating in my heart
Thunder of guns tore me apart
You have been.... Thunderstruck



Check out other great covers by Hellsongs from their album Hymns in the key of 666 - Jump, We're not Going to Take it, and their beautiful version of Black Sabbath's Paranoid

Hell of a good film

Oh its pun overload!

Went to see Hellboy II tonight and as expected it kicked ass. Guillermo Del Toro just plain rules and looks to be an inspired choice for the helm of the two Hobbit/LOTR prequels.

The only question is where will the eye balls pop up in the Hobbit? LOL - In Pans Labyrinth that dude had eye balls in his hand and in this the witch doctor type dude at the end had them in his wings.

If you enjoyed the first Hellboy - you will like this. Its funnier and way bigger with huge fight scenes, great new characters and stunning effects.

PS Del Toro's take on tooth fairies (little bug things in the vid below) must have his kids shitting it every time they get a loose tooth!

Trailer below

TFI next Friday

I'm taking next Friday off for the first 'boys' day I've had in over a year.

With a couple of mates I'm off to play a round of golf and then head along to Brew NZ's BEERVANA at the Overseas Terminal!

Basically all of NZ's best breweries come together under one roof including Dunedin's Emersons, Nelson's organic brewers Founders, Waikanae's Tuatara and my favourite - Epic from Auckland.

I'm sure we'll be able to fit in a dirty slab of cow and eggs at Crazy Horse or the Green Parrot before we start again for the Saturday session.

Vincent's sister

Not sure what made this come to mind - but it rules all the same.

There was a deleted scene from Pulp Fiction in which Mia Wallace asks Vincent what his last name is - he says Vega, and she replies - like the folk singer? and he says yeah she's my sister. But anyway here is Suzanne Vega with the classic Tom's Diner - just try to get this out of your head for the rest of the day!

Fizzle Quizzle

Two weeks in a row now we've been short of numbers which has seen us only taken home $10 at the Shepherds Quiz.

We were bloody close on the Jackpot at the end - but the ruling went against us meaning we didnt get the $160 on offer there - bugger.

There was a funny moment though when I recognised someone in one of the other teams - only to discover their team was the most hated team in the quiz - the Gambino Crime Family (they question answers all the time). They were shocked to find out that almost all other teams despised their constant moaning! lol.

But anyway I pulled out a big call in the jackpot round - so here is the question of the week:
Who won the bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 100m sprint race?

The answer is of course not Asafa Powell as my amateur team mates wanted to say (duh) it was Alto Bolden of Trinidad and Tobago.

Vote Bro

Labour announces its list placings in a couple of weeks - and fingers crossed new talent will be promoted ahead of the hacks.

And for our overseas readers - one of the three or four standout new candidates is Jacinda Ardern who is running the ex-pat campaign from London. God knows what that will exactly involve - but hey its exciting and like I say - she's one of the good candidates.

Check out the ex-pat campaign site www.kiwivote.co.uk

C'mon Phoenix

Had a little karma moment yesterday. In the morning I happily rejoiced in Arsenal's loss to Mr Harrods' Fulham, sending off a text to a colleague to rub it in, only to have it blow up in my face last night with Phoenix putting on their worst performance yet, going down 4-2 to Melbourne.

I thought the Dominion caught it quite well, noting the similarities between almost every game last year:

An enterprising start, the concession of a goal against the run of play, vulnerability on the counter-attack, a mini-fight-back and a wonderful Shane Smeltz goal, but then a lapse at the back gifting a soft but well-taken goal.

It was pouring with rain as well so there was basically no walk-up crowd, meaning it was the worst turn out in the club's short history.

The season started well enough with the Phoenix making the Pre-Season Cup final (which desperately needs a new name), but the first two games in the A-League have been ordinary to say the least. Our defence at times resembled the shambolic amateur hour that was the White Ferns at the Olympics. The strategies just don't seem to make sense - when it was a fine evening they played a conservative game with long balls, yet last night when it was bucketing down on a water-logged pitch, they played a short quick passing game.

I dunno, but they need to get it together as soon as possible - otherwise more and more people will choose to stay away.

Like the Phantom Menace... only worse

I went to the new Star Wars film over the weekend. Stupidly I thought - it can't possibly be any worse than Attack of the Clones or the Phantom Menace... Oh how wrong I was.

While the animation kicked ass and a lot of the action sequences were great - the script was absolutely diabolical. It was sooo painfully lame - almost every line you rolled your eyes. I can't explain just how rubbish it was - it was like some sort of cruel and unusual torture, akin to having your finger nails removed.

From the very beginning it was doomed to failure - they replaced the scrolling yellow text with a daft voice-over - WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT?

Unbelievable new Jarjar-like comic elements such as Anakin's Padawan learner, Asoka, and the lame slapstick bits with the battle droids just made it even more horrific, but the nicknames they had for each other really took the cake ('Sky Guy' and 'Snips') causing widespread involuntary groans at regular intervals.

I would normally talk about the story - but forget it - we walked out after roughly 45-50 minutes.

George Lucas can not write and he should not be allowed to do anything but act as producer in future.

This was probably the worst film I have ever seen - right up there with Battlefield Earth.

Limpuc Gory

Couple of Limpuc Choob moments - the nasty nasty vid of the Hungarian weightlifter fucking himself up - and the always awesome Happy Tree Friends take on the Olympics.





My favourite Happy Tree Friends clip is here - Flippy flippin out!

Big dividends

Well buying the Freeview box just just paid off!

The mens RS:X boardsailing medal race just finished - and NZ's Tom Ashley stormed through to take the Gold. But since the race kicked off after 6pm NZ time, TV One were busy with the news and Close Up - so only those with Freeview were able to watch it live on the Olympic channel!

Its been just about the best games ever for New Zealand - including a bronze for cuzzy-bro of One Moment Caller - right up there with the golden days of Seoul and LA.

And we still have the finals of the BMX to come (how kick ass was that today??) - lets hope World number 1, Sarah Walker, can get up for gold there too!

The ceremonies

The stink over the Milli-Vanilli moment, the blue screen of death moment and the fake-fireworks have made the Beijing opening ceremony a little controversial.

So with the help of the You Choob, I thought we would take a wander down memory lane to less controversial times at previous opening ceremonies and take a look at the lighting of the cauldrons

1968 Mexico
1972 Munich - no sign of the opening on the choob
1976 Montreal
1984 Los Angeles (complete with John Williams doing the music)
1988 Seoul (one of my favourites - and the first Olympics I remember)
1992 Barcelona (the best cauldron lighting ever)
1996 Atlanta (the shittest one with a cauldron that looked like a carton of McDonalds fries)
2000 Sydney
2004 Athens