Time and place

Today was of course ANZAC Day which saw lots of people get up in the early hours to attend dawn services. I missed the services this year to watch Sri Lanka slaughter NZ in the Cricket World Cup semi finals. Over the last few years there seems to have been a growing interest in remembering our war-dead and the deeds of our forefathers (as Americans would call them!).

However this year the Wellington Dawn Services was disrupted by idiot protestors who reportedly blew a horn through the speeches and one set fire to a New Zealand flag. Naturally like most extremist protests they had mixed messages as to what they were protesting, and were frankly ill-informed.

The protest was organised by rent-a-protest group Peace Action Wellington (that nutty American woman leads them) and a new group Radical Youth (how very). They were protesting (and I quote) "New Zealand's War Machine" and how they had "invaded" Afghanistan, Timor Leste (East Timor) and the Solomon Islands and also protesting that "Sedition" should be removed as a criminal offence.

Firstly, Timor Leste only exists as a nation because of the work New Zealand and Australia put in, and the force we sent there - it would still be part of Indonesia if we hadn't gotten involved FFS. Secondly the other two "invasions" by our "War Machine" are actually UN sanctioned Peacekeeping missions - aimed at reconstructing the two nations. Retards. What should NZ have done instead? Left the Solomons in turmoil? Just stand on the sidelines like Switzerland turning a blind eye to injustices?

What pisses me off more though is their timing. Frankly I don't care if people want to protest anything and everything the government does (or doesn't do). But how dare you use a solemn occasion like a dawn service to pull off some lame stunt like they did. The New Zealand forces in both World Wars made the ultimate sacrifice for us and to act like such ignorant fools in front of veterans make me sick.

If you want a laugh - go and read about our vicious "War Machine" on their daft site here

Dare I say it - Farrar actually had quite a good idea - locking the leader of Peace Action Wellington in a room with Fred Phelps (the extreme right-wing US "Rev" who goes around protesting the funerals of US servicemen - as the US army now allows gays - so all servicemen deserve to die). Farrar's right - what's the difference? Phelps aptly named website is here - godhatesfags.com

Empire Australia's 100

Empire Australia have done their 5-yearly top 100 all time films. These always tend to be dominated by the two trilogies - Rings and Jedi, but hey they're still fun.

I dont agree with much of this top 100, the top 10 is a little obvious and some of the films that missed out should have easily be in there - Raging Bull, The Graduate, Chinatown, Fargo, Easy Rider, Exorcist, Trainspotting hell even Blue Velvet missed out!

So here goes the top 20 of Empire Australia's 100 all time films 07 (2002 result in brackets)

20. Back to the Future
19. Fight Club
18. A Nightmare on Elm St
17. Braveheart
16. Grease
15. The Godfather
14. LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
13. POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl
12. American Beauty
11. The Matrix
10. Goodfellas (2002 - Shawshank)
9. Amelie (2002 - Gladiator)
8. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (2002 - The Godfather)
7. LOTR: Return of the King (2002 - Titanic)
6. Donnie Darko (2002 - Empire Strikes Back
5. A Clockwork Orange (2002 - Silence of the Lambs)
4. Aliens (2002 - The Matrix)
3. The Shawshank Redemption (2002 - Pulp Fiction)
2. Pulp Fiction (2002 - Schindlers List)
1. Star Wars: A New Hope (2002 Star Wars: A New Hope)

And the stats! (the best bit)
Number of Empire 100 films I have seen - 85 (Ive seen the whole top 20)
Number of Best Picture Oscar Winners - 20 (Note Return of the King is the only top 10 film to win this)
Number of Best Director Oscar Winners - 18
Number of films by decade - 00s - 21, 90s - 22, 80s - 25, 70s - 18, 60s - 5, 50s - 4, 40s - 3, 30s - 2
Actor with most films on the list - Harrison Ford (6)
Director with most films on the list - James Cameron and Steven Spielberg (4)
Number of new entries compared to 2002 - 38

Nevermind the Sex Pistols Here's the Bollocks

While grazing in Slow Boat Records yesterday the wonderful staff put on a new album by California band, Artichoke - which on the basis of hearing two tracks, I bought!

As you can see from the cover - its a full cover version of the Sex Pistols seminal Nevermind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols - in a kind of folk music style!

Their version of Anarchy in the UK is what sealed the deal for me - listen to a sample here. God Save the Queen is also an absolute ripper - sample here

Fantastic - check it out!

Armageddon

While on comic books etc, I went along to the annual Armageddon Expo at the TSB Arena today. Naturally I bought some merchandise that I didnt necessarily "need" but hey its all good! I picked up a hard-copy version of Frank Miller's 300, and a Voltron t-shirt. Kick ass

Also while there I wasted nearly an hour listening to the Q and A session with Billy Dee Williams. Billy Dee who? you ask?? Lando Calrissian from Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi thats who. Frankly the guy's a nutter. Apparently there was life after Lando (although his IMDB file might beg to differ) Lady Sings the Blues was "very sucessful" and then there was his art, and fragrances which he spoke at length about. Yeah, he claimed he had a fragrance a few years back and is "going to work on another" his first was as popular as Liz Taylor's Obsession (sic - I think he means Passion). He was entertaining on one answer - Q. Were you annoyed that you didnt get to use a light-sabre? A. No because I had a cape! Other than that he was incredibly boring and un-interesting so much so - we were literally laughing out loud at how painful it was!

Anyway not a bad one overall and less smelly than previous years - so every cloud eh?! (normally the abundance of teenage geeks tends to create a somewhat unpleasant aroma).

Prepare for Glory!!

Last night I checked out a film that after seeing the trailer some time ago I wasnt that excited about. Oh how wrong I was.

300 absolutely rules and kicks the living shit out of Gladiator! Stylish, beautiful, brutal I think best describes it.

Of course 300 is the famous (and true) story of the Battle of Thermopylae (of course if you dont know the story clicking that link could be a spoiler). Spartan King, Leonidas, lead only 300 men against around 2 million persians under Emperor Xerxes. Now its true there were only 300 Spartans, but modern consensus says there were around 6000 Greeks in total - the Spartans did lead them though and pretty much all that was left in the end.

Anyway Thermopylae is still looked at as the way for a small force to defend itself against a large army. Basically the Spartans positioned themselves in "the hot gate" at Thermopylae, which is essentially a gorge. They drew the Persians into the thin gorge, where the huge size of their numbers didnt matter.

Of course this film is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel (comic book), and while it obviously glamourises a lot of the action, and is pro-Spartan, you really appreciate the heroic element of the battle, and the idea of serving one's state before oneself.

I thought this was a great telling of one of the great heroic stories. I definitely recommend it.

Thats not mine... honest

Oh how unfortunate, the "suspicious" package that caused a bomb scare at the Auckland Airport international mail centre actually turned out to be a "harmless" sex-aid.
Herald story here

And in other news (and you know its funny) Heather Mills, formerly Mrs Paul MacCartney fell over during her routine on the US version of Dancing with the Stars (her latest money-making venture). Thats karma baby!
Stuff story here

Lastly, John Key showed his hypocritical side this morning on bFM in his interview with Mikey Havoc. Havoc was actually pretty good on the smacking bill stuff, but it was the party pills where Key really shone. Apparently we should ban them now as BZP is bad. However three or four weeks ago they were all the rage with Matt Bowden, the main party pill lobbyist in NZ "popping" up in almost all the gossip column photos of Key's fundraiser in Auckland for hip-young under 40 year olds. One can only assume that Matt didnt offer enough of a donation?
Listen to the bFM interview via Scoop here

You daft racist

The good old Herald eh? Their frontpage headline is a classic today (unfortunately theyve obviously realised so I can't link to a web version).

"Gunman who killed 32 people was a Chinese Immigrant"

The gunman behind the deadliest shooting rampage in American History may have been a 24 year old Chinese man....."

No he wasn't. Try Korean- or are asians all the same? Why not go the whole hog and just say "Chinaman" instead?

God we have a lazy media.

And then there were four

Havent been on here for a couple of days - been too busy with the Wii! Let me just say the Godfather game is a hell of a lot of fun. Nothing like beating the living shit out of virtual people huh?!?!

Anyway I realised this morning that I had neglected to talk about the great Cricket tournament that is rapidly drawing to a climax at the moment. Here goes!

The real Cricket World Cup begins now as we enter the knockout phase - New Zealand still has one game to go (against Australia) before the semis which we have already qualified for. We're pretty much through all the bullshit rounds, and left with only the games that matter.

England were again an embarassment this morning getting done by an underperforming South African team in what was effectively a quarter final. Meaning the top four will be Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

All going well we will overcome Sri Lanka, in the semis - they have stars but overall NZ is a better balanced side so I think we should win and then in theory we will face Australia again in the final.

Australia are of course head and shoulders above everyone else as favourites, but they arent unbeatable. If we forget about how great they are focus on the fact that we can beat them and that in reality we are only two good games of cricket away from being World Champions.

As the Chappell Hadlee series proved - anything can happen in the crazy nonsensical great game!

A moment of madness?

In one of those spur of the moment decisions that will shock some people - Ive entered the world of gaming... well kind of. Ive bought a Nintendo Wii!

What's more - I love it! Ive only played the free sports games that came with it so far, but loving the boxing and tennis. I got owned in the golf by a friend of mine though. Still, Ive recorded 5 knock outs in the boxing - 5-0 win-loss record so far! Kick ass.

Big ups to Nintendo too for broadening the gaming market by coming up with a console that anyone can use!

Im loving the Wii. If you havent tried one or hate conventional gaming consoles (like me!) I definitely urge you to check it out - You look like a prick jinking and jiving around your living room pulling off mac-daddy aces in the tennis - but its sooo much fun.

You just know its gonna be good

LaToya, Tito and Jermaine Jackson are going to be judges on some new show in the states based on American Idol - but looking for the next "family act". Brilliant! Michael and Janet aren't involved though... unless of course youre counting LaToya as Michael - It is a little hard to tell the difference!

Jermaine is my favourite Jackson, he's the one who always gives his opinion and "the family side" when ever Michael/LaToya or Janet fuck something up, he also looks like he sprays Armour-all on his face. Thats what we need on TV!

Top 5 Beatles albums

Angus laid down another of his challenges today - top 5 Beatles Albums, so here we go. Starting at number 1.

Chuck Maurice

Hat tip to the Spare Room for finding this little gem!

Jeans designed to have an extra hidden gusset between the legs so you can kick people in the face more easily! If only Chris had these back in 1994 - his huge round house on that poor little 8 year old might have come off and wouldnt still be a laughing stock to this day!

I just know Angus is cracking up in Japan just thinking about the roundhouse!

The Worst of Wellington

Todays Dominion has a feature on the Worst Buildings in Wellington. Most of them I agree with so I thought I would list them here with some of the comments from the paper and of course a few of my own!

11. Circa Theatre (adjacent to Te Papa), criticised for having its back to the city, and not making use of its 360 degree site. To be fair the new paint job makes it look worse than it did originally and I think there are worse buildings - the Museum Hotel! (Disagree)

9th Equal. Environment House and Defence House, these are awful and completely lack any sort of design at all - brand spanking new and are basically just boxes with windows - missed opportunities. (Agree!!!)

8. Lyall Bay Megacentre, I disagree with this, its better that buildings of this kind (Warehouse etc) are tucked away in an industrial area like this - if it were closer to the city I would agree but in this case its harmless. (Disagree)

7. Renaissance Apartments, these are probably better known as the weird plain box style apartments on top of Burger King in Manners Mall. So plain and boring on top of a stunning building. (Agree)

6. Galleria on Tory, the ugly building tacked on top of Harvey Norman and the gym. The balconies have picket fences - ridiculous. (Agree)

4th Equal. Marickian and City Lodge Apartments, ugly box-like characterless structures built very cheaply - targetting students. Cheap and nasty the sad thing is there are plenty of other examples - the ones next to the Southern Cross! (Agree)

3. Courtenay Apartments, you will know this by sight if not by name - the ugly mint green apartment building with its crude attempt at blending in with the heritage listed building below. Prime site - awful building. (Agree!!)

2. Queen's Wharf Events Centre and Shell Office Complex (previously the Retail Centre), I always think criticism of this is a little harsh - yes its not pretty as such, but neither are the old sheds in the same area! I like the way Shell are using the old retail centre as their NZ Head Office - all open plan, very cool. Still this could have been built elsewhere, or at least built in a way that wasn't quite so inward looking. (Agree but further down the list - Overseas terminal is worse)

1. Wellington City New World, criticised for being built the wrong way around. If you swapped the carpark and building around you would have a direct view from the Basin to the waterfront. Poor use of space, plain characterless warehouse on a huge prime site, just blocking views. A supermarket could have easily been incorporated into the bottom of another development. Just plain ugly. (Agree!)

A joke that got peoples heckles up

I just read an interview in this week's Listener with Ana Samways of the Herald's Sideswipe column and the Spare Room blog (see the links column in the side bar) . In the interview she tells a joke that apparently led to all sorts of outraged emails and letters - I thought the joke was fantastic.

Here goes: Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail, and with his odd diet he suffered from bad-breath.

This made him a super-callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

Apparently Gandhi jokes are a bit of a no-go area!

Pretty intense

I finally got to see Guillermo del Toro's much heralded Pan's Labyrinth last night at the Penthouse. Frankly I was blown away. It wasn't entirely what I was expecting - I was thinking it would be something 'magical' and a little Jim Henson-ish - kind of like Labyrinth. But this was on a whole other level.

Such intensity, I was litterally rivetted to the seat. This is an absolute must-see and makes a mockery of the Oscars - how on earth this didnt win Best Foreign Language Film I dont know - let alone Best Picture!.

At the other end of the spectrum I also recently saw Jonathan King's black-comedy/horror - Black Sheep. The trailer calls it the "Violence of the Lambs" - its kind of like Shaun of the Dead but on a NZ sheep farm - and with sheep as the Zombies. The effects were of course done by Weta. Hillarious - and very New Zealand, I really enjoyed it.

And finally yesterday I revisited a classic Aussie film - Hercules Returns. Its the story of a guy who buys a Cinema, and on opening night his competition sabotage everything by organising an Italian language version of the film Hercules. So the projectionist, cinema owner and their PR woman get a microphone and improvise the script. Its hillarious with characters like Labia from the town of Chlamydia and her lover Testiculi. IMDB calls it "Pant wettingly hiarious".

So on the whole three pretty good films. Pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Attention, attention all personnel

I went for a walk today down what can only be described as the coolest road in probably the whole world. (castle! radar! big fucking birds!)

I did the three km walk from the Brooklyn Windmill up to the Hawkins Hill Radar to mark Easter Monday (well kind of) - Anyway pics below








(Full marks to anyone who got the lame reference in the title - it's a Radar station and Radar used to say that on M*A*S*H.... oh forget it!)

Off to the Flicks

A new - New Zealand based film site has been launched - Flicks.co.nz and it actually looks pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

To mark the launch they are asking people to log in an list their most loved and most hated films. They have also asked high profile NZers to do the same - Helen said her favourite film was The Motorcycle Diaries, but she didnt name a film that she hates. John Key on the other hand picked an absolute cracker for his favourite - Johnny English. I kid you not. His most hated film - The Exorcist (probably one the best horrors ever).

One little gem that I did find on the site was this - deleted scenes from Borat! - you have to check out the Sexy-Drown-Watch piss-take of Baywatch. Fair to say both Borat and his manager feature running in that swim suit.

Anyway, make sure you log on and list your favourite films.

My Favourites:
Amelie, The Big Lebowski, Do the Right Thing, The Godfather Part I, Sling Blade, Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, Dr Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket, Chasing Amy.

My Most Hated:
Titanic, Magnolia, Mullholland Drive, Battlefield Earth, Tombstone.

A poll of sorts

I got an email this morning from Barack Obama. Well me and probably thousands of other people! But anyway I like this news style of "e-campaign" where the candidate "emails you" with an update of how things are going - and asking you to "join with them" (read - give some money!). Essentially its just a regular email newsletter - but from a voters point of view - it reads way better.

Senator Obama was just letting me know that they have raised over US$25million towards the campaign - an incredible amount of money! 23.5 of this is eligible to be used in the primary campaign. As an indication of how huge these numbers are - at the same point in the 2000 campaign, Al Gore had raised US$8.9 million.

How this compares to others is almost like a poll if you will. Heres how they stack up. (all USD)
Hillary Clinton (D) - 26 million
Barack Obama (D) - 25 million
Mitt Romney (R) - 23 million
Rudy Giuliani (R) - 15 million
John Edwards (D) - 14 million
John McCain (R) - 12.5 million

What makes Obama's haul all the more impressive - is that there were twice as many people giving money than any other campaign. Over 100 000 people gave to the Obama campaign, Hillary was next best with just over 50 000. Some other stats - over 5000 community meetings have been held for the Obama campaign, 50 per cent of their donations were online.

This is fantastic "grassroots" campaigning by Obama, and I continue to be impressed!

To finish I'll leave you with some words from Obama's email

"This milestone for our campaign proves something I learned as a community
organizer long ago: that together a whole lot of ordinary people can achieve
something extraordinary."

On this day - "free at last"

Just watching Campbell Live, they did their "on this day" thing - and I thought todays was worth acknowledging - in 1968, on this day Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated outside the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. So to mark the day - here's some words from his most famous speech in August 1963.

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

"This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

Not sure what the term is?

What sort of person would get their recently deceased father's ashes, mix them up with cocaine and snort it?

Apparently the lead guitarist of the Rolling Stones is the sort of person. Article here

Is there a term for that? Necro-crack?

The Reynolds

I finally got around to getting the free John Reynolds work from the Free NZ Art exhibition block mounted - and im pretty happy with the results!

Ive put it up in my office which given what it says (pictured) and its caused a few laughs etc around the office - and the boss got a kick out of it so thats a pretty good result too I guess.

More information on the philosopher - Soren Kierkegaard

Apologies for the picture quality, but it was only taken on my phone.

PS. Was anyone else shocked that Chris hasn't fallen for the story below?

Google continues the revolution

You may have seen this already if you use Gmail. Anyway Google have just launched another fantastic new feature on Gmail - Gmail Paper. Its basically a hard-copy version of your email that Google will send out to you for free. A great idea, especially for people who still like to receive proper physical mail. (and its environmentally friendly!)

Check it out here

Heroes and Villains

After finding out im the Green Lantern (by far the coolest hero) I thought I better do the Villain test as well.

Do the test here

Fair to say im less impressed by my Villain - Mr Freeze (more that he was the shittest villain in the movie versions of Batman, and played by Arnie). Oh well can't win-em all!

"young fashionable fun-seeker"

Research has been done by Nielsen Media Research into what sort of people buy what mobile phones - and while a little daft it is kinda interesting.

Im apparently a "young fashionable fun-seeker" since I own a Motorolla. Its funny cause I remember when Motorolla's were an embarassment - LV readers will recall Fenee Jeansen owning one! But no longer.

Nokia - likely to be middle-aged, health conscious, family types
Motorolla - young fashionable fun seeker
Samsung - career-oriented young women
Sony-Ericsson - go-getter young men
LG - mums

I love the LG one - just 'mums' - maybe its the modern pregnancy test?*

Stuff story here

* Note Im only suggesting ownership of an LG may indicate pregnancy - not that it is actually a pregnancy test - that could get very messy!

Ole, Ole, Ole

Ive always wanted to own a sports team which is why I was stoked when Wellingtonian Terry Serepisos saved the hopeless New Zealand franchise in football's A-League.

Up till now no one had supported the teams (the Kingz and Knights as they have been called) and frankly they have been hopeless. So when NZ was going to be turfed out - in stormed Wellington with a bid and a few million from property developer Serepisos.

Now, granted this probably won't work, but I think its fantastic that a corporate is actually giving something other than horrific archtecture back to the city.

Yesterday the new name and logo was unveiled - and they went with my pick. The Wellington Phoenix FC. Rising from the ashes and all that - its perfect!

The All Whites coach is on board too, and after not wanting Wellington to take it off Auckland (who failed to support the team) SoccerNZ is also supporting it.

Serepisos should be Wellingtonian of the Year this year - he has provided a lifeline for football in NZ and has set an example to other corporates - sponsorship isnt only about making a buck - there are huge branding opportunities and a chance to create a positive relationship with a whole city.

I hope people get in behind it - I fully intend to get along to a few games.

There is even a supporters club underway - sign up here

Top 10-athon continues

We seem to be in the midst of a top 10-athon. The latest challenge laid down by "Cosby" (its the nickname he gave himself... I know) is the Great Ryan Adams Top 10. This was the hardest so far, not entirely sure why but it was.

Counting down the top 10 as follows

10. Somehow, Someday
9. When the Stars Go Blue
8. Afraid Not Scared
7. A Kiss Before I Go
6. Sweet Illusion
5. Wonderwall (he won a Grammy for this performance, so it counts)
4. The End
3. 29
2. La Cienega Just Smiled
1. Blue Sky Blues

Masterclass

Today was the annual Diplomats vs MPs cricket game. I was representing the Diplomats XI.

Well I didnt get a golden duck, nor even a duck - i slashed, glanced, drove and cut my way to the emphatic opening score of 6. Which across both teams was the highest score by an opener.

The bowling went slightly better - finishing with figures of 1/8.

As for the game, we set 174/8 off our 30 overs, with the MPs only managing 129 all out in reply.

All in all a great day

Everything in its Right Place

Since it seems to have been a week of top 10s of this and that - it's time for the definitive all time top 10 Radiohead tracks.

10. 2+2=5
9. Everything in its Right Place
8. Fake Plastic Trees
7. There There
6. The Tourist
5. Street Spirit
4. Let Down
3. Creep
2. Airbag
1. Pyramid Song

There it is people - bring the noise!

Blair ain't bovverred

Zack Exley has blogged a hillarious video of Tony Blair hamming it up for Comic Relief in Britain.

Blair takes part in a skit with Catherine Tait in her role as Lauren Cooper - the smart ass teenage girl who gets out of awkward situations by just saying "I ain't boverred though" "Look at my face. Do I look Bovverred?" over and over - its funny stuff.

Classic stuff and reminds you what a great performer Blair can be (when he isn't helping George carry out coups!).

Check out the video here

The Ben Harper Top 10

Angus laid down another challenge - name your top 10 Ben Harper tracks. So here goes.

10. Brown Eyed Blues (Diamonds on the Inside)
9. By My Side (Fight for Your Mind)
8. Black Rain (Both Sides of the Gun)
7. Glory and Consequence (The Will to Live)
6. Ground on Down (Fight for Your Mind)
5. Take My Hands (There Will Be a Light)
4. Waiting on an Angel (Welcome to the Cruel World)
3. Where Could I Go? (There Will Be a Light)
2. I Shall Not Walk Alone (The Will to Live)
1. Forgiven (Burn to Shine)

A challenge - are you ready to rock like its 1985?

Hat tip to the Spare Room

Its guess the classy 80s rock ballad time! Youre amongst friends here - dont be afraid to own your passion for Toto and Foreigner... not to mention that guilty secret Phil Collins collection.

Complete the test - here and drop back and let the group know how "well" you did.

Take a look at me now - I managed a score of 9/10 - you'll be surprised (ashamed) how many you know.

UPDATE: As you may have noticed a picture has appeared. Karen wanted to show her true colours - so provided the photo. I thought it would be wicked not to share something like that!

Granted it is a little more Aerobics Oz Style than RTR Countdown - but hey it certainly captures the 80s-ness of the rock ballad test and definitely makes up for the two questions she dropped in the test.

The challenge is - can you match Karen's 80s goodness by beating her on the test??

Leftfield I know

I had a discussion about this yesterday - and just thought hey I know where I can chuck that -

Counting down the Top 5 Weezer tracks

5. The World Has Turned And Left Me Here
4. Island in the Sun
3. El Scorcho
2. Buddy Holly
1. Say it Ain't So

A little bit upsetting

Given Sky are only covering the Black Caps and key games at the Cricket World Cup, I was forced to follow the two games yesterday via Cricinfo's live score updates.

But that didnt make it any less exciting to follow the action as Bangladesh knocked off India (although Bangladesh have been consistently improving) and the game that has rocked the World Cup - Ireland, who are competing in their first World Cup, beat Pakistan by 3 wickets.

Pakistan had earlier lost to the tournament hosts, the West Indies, meaning they are goneburgers - knocked out in the first round. On paper the Pakistanis had a very strong side - Mohammed Yousuf has been averaging nearly 90 in the last three years (since he converted to Islam from Christianity - read into that what you will!). So this is definitely a shock.

India are also under pressure with their loss to Bangladesh, if they lose to Sri Lanka in their next game (and the Sri Lankans would be favourites) theyre also gone.

Todays Herald listed all the great Cricket World Cup upsets this morning - luckily none of them involve NZ - here they are..

1979 - Sri Lanka 283/5 (not a test playing nation at this stage) beat India 191.
1983 - Zimbabwe 239/6 beat Australia 226/7
1996 - Kenya 166 beat the West Indies 93
1999 - Bangladesh 223/9 beat Pakistan 161
2003 - Canada 180 beat Bangladesh 120
2003 - Kenya 210/9 beat Sri Lanka 157
2007 - Bangladesh 192/5 beat India 191
2007 - Ireland 133/7 beat Pakistan 132

Cunis - he's neither one thing, nor the other

I have just finished reading Harry Ricketts' "How to Catch a Cricket Match". The book covers the second day of the second test between the West Indies and New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in 2006. I was of course there on this day, giving me a slightly different perspective.

Ricketts book is a great read for anyone with a passing interest in the great game. He shares stories of how he came to love the game, and how he would analyse the game and machinations of what could happen with his friends - just like every cricket follower does. He also talks of how cricket lovers can at times talk in code, for example how a line like Flemming cuts Edwards through backward point for four would be meaningless to most people, yet cricket followers know exactly what you mean.

The title of this article of course is a line from the book, in reference to the NZ player of the 1960s Bob Cunis, Ricketts recalls how the line was delivered dryly by the BBC commentators of the day - fantastic.

To finish Ricketts names his all time New Zealand XI, and his all time World XI. These are often pointless exercises, but fun all the same so here's mine. (I dont honestly expect anyone reading this to actually pick their own as well!)

New Zealand Test XI
1. Stewie Dempster, 2. John Wright, 3. Bert Sutcliffe, 4. Martin Crowe (captain), 5.Glenn Turner, 6. John Reid, 7. Chris Cairns, 8. Sir Richard Hadlee, 9. Adam Parore, 10. Daniel Vettori, 11. Shane Bond

World Test XI
1. Viv Richards (WI), 2. Michael Slater (AUS), 3. Sir Donald Bradman (AUS), 4. Ricky Ponting (AUS), 5. Sachin Tendulkar (IND), 6. Sir Garfield Sobers (WI), 7. Adam Gilchrist (AUS), 8. Shane Warne (AUS), 9. Sir Richard Hadlee (NZ), 10. Courtney Walsh (WI), 11. Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)

and while im at it, ill pick a one-day team too

New Zealand One Day XI
1. Mark Greatbatch, 2. Nathan Astle, 3. Andrew Jones, 4. Martin Crowe, 5. Stephen Fleming, 6. Chris Cairns, 7. Chris Harris, 8. Brendon McCullum, 9. Gavin Larsen, 10. Daniel Vettori, 11. Shane Bond.

Tonight ill be a rock n roll star

Angus challenged me to match his top 12 Oasis tracks with my own, so here goes

1. Supersonic
2. Cigaretes and Alcohol
3. Some Might Say
4. Fade In Out
5. Live Forever
6. Wonderwall
7. Songbird
8. Force of Nature
9. A Bell will Ring
10. Shakermaker
11. Lyla
12. Go Let it Out (rules requiring at least one from each album means this makes it in, rather like quota systems based on race for South African sports teams - I think its a little patronising. Go Let it out knows it doesnt belong!)

and Top 5 b-sides
1. Half the World Away
2. Talk Tonight
3. Going Nowhere
4. Acquiesce
5. Headshrinker

Boys will be boys??

WARNING - this is pretty gross. Best not read this while eating your lunch - or especially while eating your lunch after taking a swim at the Thorndon Pool!

I just had to blog this. The Christchurch Press is today reporting that "Schoolboys are deliberately defecating in Christchurch swimming pools, apparently to score a free swim".

Apparently some of the pools have a refund policy for "faecal incidents" - which has led to kids bricking in the pool in order to get their money back!

Read the article here

By the power of Greyskull!!

What a weekend - well what a Friday and Saturday morning. As I said earlier, Hot Fuzz was having its NZ premiere in Wellington - and it was free for like 200 people who turned up at the right time.

After knocking off work at 3pm and standing in a queue for three hours (taking the piss out of the PR "guru" from Universal and discussing League of Gentlemen, Spaced etc with fellow queue-ers) - there was no holding me back baby. I'll put it out there - It fuckin ruled. Peter Jackson spoke briefly about his cameo and then introduced Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and the Director Edgar Wright, who all spoke briefly. It was great.

There isn't a lot to say about the film other than my rating - ***** (thats right the big 5!). Edgar Wright described the film during his intro as "If you ever watched Heartbeat or Miss Marple and thought there should be more shit blowing up - this is the film for you." Which basically captures the film. As funny, if not funnier than Shaun of the Dead - definitely check it out.

As for Saturday morning... the signing session... (pics below) Hell yeah - I got them to sign my 3 disc set of Spaced DVDs - I got them to sign one disc each, and Nick Frost wrote my favourite line from Hot Fuzz across the inside cover.

All in all - couldnt have kicked much more arse if we tried!

Growing up in New Zealand

This was forwarded to me today as an email. Inititally I was going to forward it around given I thought it was fantastic - but then I realised I hadn't posted anything, so here goes!

GROWING UP IN NEW ZEALAND
I'm talking about hide and seek/spotlight in the park. The corner dairy, hopscotch, four square, go carts, cricket in front of the garbage bin and inviting everyone on your street to join in, skipping (double dutch), gutterball, handstands, elastics, bullrush, catch and kiss, footy on the best lawn in the street, slip'n'slides, the trampoline with water on it (or a sprinkler under it), hula hoops, jumping in puddles with gumboots on, mud pies and building dams in the gutter. The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass.

'Big bubbles no troubles' with Hubba Bubba bubble gum. A topsy. Mr Whippy cones on a warm summer night after you've chased him round the block. 20 cents worth of mixed lollies lasted a week and pretending to smoke "fags" (the lollies) was really cool!.. A dollars' worth of chips from the corner take-away fed two people (AND the sauce was free!!).

Being upset when you botched putting on the temporary tattoo from the bubblegum packet, but still wearing it proudly. Watching Saturday morning cartoons: 'The Smurfs', 'AstroBoy', 'He man', 'Captain Caveman', 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', 'Jem' (trulyoutrageous!!), 'Super d'', and 'Heeeey heeeeey heeeeeeey it's faaaaaaat Albert'. Or staying up late and sneaking a look at the "AO" on the second telly, being amazed when you watched TV right up until the 'Goodnight Kiwi!'

When After School with Jason Gunn & Thingie had a cult following and What Now was on saturday mornings! When around the corner seemed a long way, and going into town seemed like going somewhere. Where running away meant you did laps of the block because you weren't allowed to cross the road?? A million mozzie bites, wasp and bee stings (stee bings!).

Sticky fingers, goodies & baddies, cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, riding bikes til the streetlights came on and catching tadpoles in horse troughs. Going down to the school swimming pool when you didn't have a key and your friends letting you in, drawing all over the road and driveway with chalk. Climbing trees and building huts out of every sheet your mum had in the cupboard (and never putting them back folded). Walking to school in bare feet, no matter what the weather.

When writing 'I love....? on your pencil case, really did mean it was true love. "he loves me? he loves me not?" and daisy chains on the front lawn. Stealing other people's flowers from their gardens and then selling them back to them...

Running till you were out of breath. Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt. Pitching the tent in the back/front yard (and never being able to find all the pegs). Jumping on the bed. Singing into your hair brush in front of the mirror, making mix tapes...

Sleep overs and ghosts stories with the next door neighbours. Pillowfights, spinning round, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for the giggles. The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team. Water balloons were the ultimate weapon. Weetbix cards pegged on the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle. Collecting WWF and garbage pail kids cards.

Eating raw jelly and raro, making homemade lemonade and sucking on a Rad, a traffic light popsicle, or a Paddle Pop... blurple, yollange and prink! You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents! It wasn't odd to have two or three "best friends" and you would ask them by sending a note asking them to be your best friend. You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas eve and tried (and failed) to wait up for the tooth fairy.

When nobody owned a pure-bred dog. When 50c was decent pocket money. When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for 10c. When nearly everyone's mum was there when the kids got home from school. It was magic when dad would "remove" his thumb. When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at the local Chinese restaurant (or Cobb'n'Co.) with your family. When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed her or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it. When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.

Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! Some of us are still afraid of them!!!

Remember when decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo" or dib dib's-scissors, paper, rock. "Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest. Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in Monopoly. Terrorism was when the older kids were at the end of your street with pea-shooters waiting to ambush you, or the neighbourhood rottie chased
you up a tree! The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was boy/girl germs, and the worst thing in your day was having to sit next to one. Where bluelight disco's were the equivalent to a Rave, and asking a boy out meant writing a 'polite' note getting them to tick 'yes' or 'no'. When there was always that one 'HOT' guy/girl.

Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot. Your biggest danger at school was accidentally walking through the middle of a heated game of "brandies". Birthday beats meant you didn't want to go to school on your birthday! Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better. Taking drugs meant scoffing orange-flavoured chewable vitamin C's, or swallowing half a Panadol. Ice cream was considered a basic food group. Going to the beach and catching a wave was a dream come true. Boogie boarding in the white wash made you the next Kelly Slater. Abilities were discovered because of a "double- dare". Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.

Now, didn't that bring back some fond memories?? If you can remember most of these, you're an Kiwi legend!!! Pass this on to another Kiwi legend who may need a break from their "grown up" life... I DOUBLE-DARE YA!!!!!

It just keeps getting better

I thought the rumours that it was the old man (that died 10 years ago) that fathered Anna Nicole Smith's baby were as weird as this would get but no no.

OJ Simpson now says it could be his! Brilliant - read all about it in the Herald here

Cue: girly screams of excitement

Sometimes the internet is really really cool. Wellington will host another film premiere this Friday, only this time - anyone can attend, and its free!

The NZ Premiere of Hot Fuzz will take place this Friday at the Embassy theatre, and is only being promoted through word of mouth over the interweb (its a series of tubes, otherwise known as the "Information Super Highway").

Hot Fuzz is of course the new film from the people who made Shaun of the Dead, and the very excellent (and worth downloading for those people in Japan) series Spaced. This time they are playing hard-core cops in a small English town. Whats more Peter Jackson has a cameo as Santa, and Steve Coogan also pops up.

But making the premiere world class is the fact that - Simon Pegg, Nick Frost (the two stars, and main guys in Shaun of the Dead), director Edgar Wright, and Peter Jackson will all attend.

How cool is that? Given its first in first served, I am considering taking Friday off...

Don't dream it - live it!

Angus in his latest post has been dissing the Hutt (don't worry Ive told him to stop being a hater) Well I'll admit it, I'll put it out there - Im quite a fan of the Hutt - Petone (Lighthouse Cinema, Chow, the beach etc) and also Eastbourne rock, sure some other bits arent that flash - but thats character isnt it? Admittedly they do also have a weird temple where people bow to the gods everyday - sorry its now called "Westfields Shopping Mall" but still its not all bad.

However, the best thing about the Hutt of course is their billboard campaign to encourage people to move out there. My favourites are below - you have to love a city with a sense of humour. I still think Levin should take the piss with a big signs saying "Sorry we're closed" "Back in 10" or "Last one out, turn off the lights". Of course my all time favourite is the Wellington suburb of Ngaio - "The end is Ngaio". Comedy gold.

Enjoy - You can see the rest of the Hutt billboards here

Kahukura

New addition to my walls - Gordon Walters' Kahukura (obviously not the original 0 but rather a print of it from Te Papa's fantastic redeveloped gift shop). This is to compliment Yvonne Todd's "Together" and the two Dick Frizzell cushions that I bought - but forgot to blog about last week. You can see them here in any case - Tiki and Tui are the one's I bought.

Sailing away

I spent half of yesterday sailing around Wellington Harbour on the Australian Navy's tall ship - Young Endeavour. The Young Endeavour scheme is kind of like NZ Spirit of Adventure ship or Outward Bound in NZ - except on a boat!

They took 40 or so of us for a sail around the harbour and we all had to help with pulling the sails up etc - it was a lot of fun! Below are pics - I forgot to take my camera, so the ones below are from my phone - and above is from their website (shows you what the thing looks like) We had the sails up just like it is above. A great way to spend an afternoon - smoking it around the harbour (well 17 knots anyway). The second photo is of the crew tightening the square sails after they were put away - fuck that for a joke!

World class

While its still early days, I think we may very well have found a winner.

You will remember the desk calendar that Tinks donated to the cause, where each day is a paper plane, well we have found the best one I think. The Gemini! (pictured)

The Gemini is a relatively simple design - only one cut, but it's fast, has a unique inverse nose, and has a number of folds at the front - increasing the weight etc. The best feature though is that - it goes far and straight - what more could you ask for??

Ive tried to take a photo ( I only have my mobile) of the instructions to allow readers to make their own - but frankly it isnt working out. This makes me think we need a downloads section! With daily downloads of paper planes to make... yes!

Tomorrow is the "Dragon" but frankly it will have to be something special to even equal the performance of Gemini.

When you don't know - be funny!

This is from David Farrar's tory blog - but I thought it was just so funny that I had to share!

And the winner is...

You will remember a month or so back I made my picks for the Oscars - so I know you're just wetting yourself in anticipation to know how it went - so here goes!

SCREENPLAY - ORIGINAL
Oscar - Little Miss Sunshine, My Pick - The Queen

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Oscar - Pans Labyrinth, My Pick - Pans Labyrinth

ANIMATED FEATURE
Oscar - Happy Feet, My Pick - Happy Feet

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Oscar - The Lives of Others, My Pick - Pans Labyrinth

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Oscar - An Inconvenient Truth, My Pick - An Inconvenient Truth (also won best song)

ACTRESS - SUPPORTING
Oscar - Jennifer Hudson, My Pick - Cate Blanchett (she was robbed! Although I had said I wanted Abigail Breslin to win)

ACTRESS - LEADING
Oscar - Helen Mirren, My Pick - Helen Mirren

ACTOR - SUPPORTING
Oscar - Alan Arkin, My Pick - Eddie Murphy (Although again I had said I wanted Arkin to win, I didnt think he would)

ACTOR - LEADING
Oscar - Forest Whitaker, My Pick - Forest Whitaker (incredible performance)

DIRECTING
Oscar - The Departed, My Pick - Babel

BEST PICTURE
Oscar - The Departed, My Pick - Babel (I had said I wanted Little Miss Sunshine, but thought Babel would win - wrong on both fronts!)

So 5 out of 11, frankly below par performance. Its interesting how a month ago when I made my picks, there was a lot of heat around Babel, but in the end it failed miserably! I guess like me, people were picking it before they had seen it! Basing their picks on all the talk and the cast.

Good lord

The good people over at When in Rome, well Chris, has done what can only be described as an accurate portrait of me.

Im not sure he quite gets my Afro-American complexion quite right, but all the same - its pretty funny. View here

One Woman's Mistake Is Another's Opportunity...

Last night I saw the Oscar nominated, pyscho-thriller Notes on a Scandal, which features Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. Normally im not much of a fan of Blanchett - she was the worst bit of Lord of the Rings and till now I thought she was frankly a little overrated, but this film changed all that.

Notes is the story of two teachers at a high school, Dench plays the matriarch of the school, as head of history, and Blanchett is the new Art teacher fitting nicely into the naive well-to-do chardonnay socialist mould. Dench's character is basically infatuated with Blanchett, and when she finds out that Blanchett is having an affair... with a pupil, Dench, while angry at first, realises she can use this to her advantage "I could gain everything by doing nothing," she muses - blackmailing Blanchett's character into spending more time with her "as good friends".

Naturally everything spirals further and further out of control, building to an intense closing chapter that will have you on edge.

Dench is incredible as the sinister, manipulative older woman, reminding me soo much of Kathy Bates in Misery. The story, written by Patrick Marber (Closer - and of course the guy in the wheel chair in Knowing me, Knowing YULE with Alan Partridge) is incredibly dark, yet funny and very witty at the same time.

It is just a shame that this film comes at the same time as The Queen. Often the Best Actress category can be won by films or roles that are frankly not that crash hot - Halle Berry for example, yet both the Dames (Mirren and Dench) deserve recognition for these outstanding performances.

Definitely see this film

**** 1/2

Together we can rebuild our lives

Today I got free art! Im just not sure whether to put it up at home or in my office.

In 2005 Artspace in Auckland ran an exhibition called "Free NZ Art" it essentially was stacks of posters of new works by contemporary artists including Gordon Walters, John Reynolds, et al among others.

From this collection I already had Dane Mitchell's "Bubblewrap" (which is a photo of bubblewrap), but now I also have Yvonne Todd's "Together" (pictured).

I love the ambiguity of it - there is something almost dark or sinister about it, dont you think?

Im thinking I will put it up at home, and then try to get the Reynolds one for my office - which has the text - "What Kierkegaard said about God - applies to politics too: whatever we think, we are bound, in the end, to be wrong." Which I think will suit my office.

Keep your hands to yourself

Today, Sue Bradford's "Anti Smacking Bill" goes for its second reading. Obviously im all for the bill, and it does look like it will now pass to the Committee of the Whole (which is the next stage of debate in the house), before it is read a third time (and becomes law). This is a Conscience issues for most parties, although Labour and the Greens are voting as parties. The expected Ayes are; Labour 49, Greens 6, National 6, Maori 4, NZ First 3, Progressive 1, United Future 1, and the expected Noes are; National 42, ACT 2, NZ First 4, United Future 2, Independent 1, meaning a 70-51 split in favour.

You will note that six National MPs are supporting the bill to the next stage. They have said they will attempt to water it down in committee - which could in effect kill the bill, by making it unacceptable to Labour and the Greens.

On a principle level I think it is abhorent that the law deems it ok for a parent to physically assault their child, but not fellow adults - or anyone else for that matter! Section 59 of the Crimes Act, which this bill seeks to repeal, was recently used by a South Island Woman to defend her use of a metal bar, jug cord, and swinging a clothes iron by the chord on her son, this is indefensible in my opinion - but legally she was protected. This bill removes that legal protection should a case be brought to court - of course just like assault between adults, not every case will be prosecuted nor reported.

This is about the state saying that actually, we don't condone violence, at all. Why shouldnt children have the same protection and human rights as any other individual?

JFK Video

The Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas has made public another video of the Kennedy Motorcade moments before he was shot. You can view the video here. It has probably the best footage (avoiding the word 'shot') of Jackie that is around, while also shooting down (I know its bad) one element of common conspiracies with a rare close up of JFKs back - showing his jacket bunched up, which is a plausible explanation for why the bullet hole was in a different place to the corresponding puncture wound in his back.

While it doesnt shed any new light on who might have done it, its fascinating all the same and gives a good impression of the atmosphere of the visit.

Oh you just can't beat Wellington on a good day

Couldn't go without mentioning this week we're having. The weekend was stunning - now check this out - the view from my office today, not a cloud in the sky!

Movie of the week

Ok ive seen some pretty good flicks of late - the fantastic - Last King of Scotland, the arthouse (read sex people film) Shortbus and the slightly disappointing but funny all the same For Your Consideration. But after a few beers on the weekend, there was no film I wanted to watch more than - Robocop.

Let me tell you, it was an absoute ripper. It ruled in the 80s, and it still rules now - he's a cop thats been transformed into an invincible crime fighting robot in the crazy late 1990s world of New Detroit! What could possibly be cooler? Ok yes Commando still ranks highly - but I fully recomend re-visiting Robocop - it will blow your mind!

Did I mention he gets transformed into a robot??

Good alround cricket really

I figure that while working for the Australians the chances of me getting to gloat over a series win in cricket will be few and far between - so its fair to say im making the most of it!

Friday night saw Australia lose by 10 wickets for the first time in a one dayer to NZ, and this was backed up yesterday with Aussie posting a ground record for Eden Park of 336, which NZ reached with 8 balls to spare! I watched the Friday game from the Air NZ corporate box at westpac stadium, was the first time I had been invited to a specific box, rather than just one of the bigger lounges - must say its nice to see how the proverbial other half live from time to time.

In other news - predictably im coming last in the Virtual Rugby, although I am only 6 points behind Nath (but well behind in the PMO challenge).

And lastly, while I was a big fan of the waterfront option, Eden Park has been confirmed as the venue for the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final with a new stand to be built. The Eden Park Trust Baord frankly caused all the trouble with this. When we got the cup - no one expected a $400-500 million upgrade of Eden Park, but realistically expected at least the Southern Stand being replaced - and this is what is now happening, with temporary seats to top up the remainder. Also before people start getting upset over scaffolding and planks of wood - 80 per cent of the seating at the new London stadium for the Olympics will be temporary, with the venue being reduced to hold 20 000 after the event, and also 30 per cent of the seats at Stadium Australia were temporary during those Olympics.

Retro madness

So far in my new job I have had to use the online broadcast of Radio New Zealand National (previously National Radio), but not anymore.

During my weekend shopping expedition I picked up the little gem pictured, for my desk.

Don't you just love the aerial in the middle?

Don't make yourself busy son

Australian Prime Minister, John Howard has mouthed off criticising Barack Obama, and the Democrats for saying that the US should get out of Iraq by March 2008.

The conservative leader said that Obama's pledges on Iraq were good news only for insurgents operating in the war-ravaged country.

"I think he's wrong. I think that will just encourage those who want to completely destabilise and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory"
"If I were running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."

To which Obama responded:

"I think it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced"
"I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is ... to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq.
"Otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric."

Kartel a go go

Check it out - my hot new bathroom cabinet, not the fish bowl now has a new home. (Two new fish to come later today).

Your ideas for the fish names would be appreciated.

But again how much does that cabinet rule?

A new campaign

Avaaz.org is a new global online movement and has been set up by the people behind MoveOn.org in the US. They are going to use the internet in much the same way as MoveOn to mobilise people at their desks.

First up they are going to be running TV ads and lobbying governments in the countries which are currently the worst carbon emitters - US, China, India, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, UK, Canada, and Brazil.

Show your support and sign their petition here.

Zack on Barack

Just a quick one today, Zack Exley, who was one of the people behind MoveOn.org and ran UK Labour's web campaign in 2005 (where I met and had a yarn with him over a beer), has done a great piece on what Obama needs to do in terms of his web campaign.

Zack compares this to the infamous Kennedy v Nixon TV debate in 1960. This was the first TV debate, and on substance it was even, but Kennedy was hailed as the winner, as he presented himself well - Nixon ignorred the visual aspect, was unshaven, his suit didnt fit etc etc. So Zack challenges Obama to begin a campaign that asks a million people to sign up on his site to support his run for the White House, in the next month otherwise he will pull out. This is a great idea, a million people will definitely sign up, and immediately Obama will mobilise the grassroots.

Well worth a read - check it out.

Poll of Polls Jan/Feb 07

As part of my new job I have begun doing a "poll of polls" and I thought - wait a sec! that would make a half interesting post!

So here it is. There have been two polls since the beginning of 2007. Roy Morgan on 30 Jan, and TV3/TNS on 5 February. The poll of polls is done by simply taking the mean results by party across all the polls in this period. Granted not that scientific, but avoids rogue polls and is quite a good gauge. Roy Morgan had Labour and National even on 41, while TV3 gave Labour a 3 point lead - the first poll Labour has led since August.

The poll with december rating in brackets
Labour - 42.5 (38)
National - 41 (43.5)
Green - 7.75 (8.5)
New Zealand First - 3.4 (4.5) - Would be a goneburger completely with no electorate seat
Maori - 2 (1.75) - Party would hold 4 Maori seats
ACT - 1.15 (1) - Hide would hold Epsom
United Future - 0.9 (1.75) - Dunne would hold Ohariu-Belmont
Progressives - 0.25 (0.25) - Anderton would hold Wigram

(Anderton and one of the Maori seats will cause the house to "overhang" by two seats)

On these ratings the house and government would look like this:
Government - 65 seats
Labour 53, Greens 10, Progressive 1 and probably United Future 1

Oppositition - 57 seats
National 52, Maori 4, ACT 1

The high rating the Greens are recording is a good sign, this is probably an indication of the coverage they have been getting over Climate Change in recent months.

While Labour and the Greens could govern alone, I would expect the PM to still involve Anderton and Dunne, as much to maintain those relationships as anything else.

Hollywoodland - bollocks

WARNING: Spoilers ahead - read it anyway you will be more annoyed going to see this knobcheese.

This was supposed to be my review of Hollywoodland, which had been talked up to me. Its the true story of George Reeves, who in the 1950s played Superman in the TV version. Reeves was typecast as Superman, and when that was canned he topped himself.

Hollywoodland follows a Private Investigator (Adrien Brody), who has been hired by Reeves (Ben Affleck) mother who suspects he was murdered! DA DA DAAA. So the whole thing turns into who-dun-it, which was reasonably enjoyable. Until the completely unfulfilling ending. He DID kill himself. So after finding out that he was having an affair with a big crooked studio boss, he seemed just the type to kill, and told all the holes in the case - and getting wound up in the suspense - oh no he did kill himself.

In short the film is: Oh my god George Reeves killed himself! But maybe he didnt?? Da Da Daaa. Oh no, he definitely did.

Dont bother with it, utter waste of time!

In other more exciting news, my package has arrived from Amazon! What was in it you ask?
- The League of Gentlemen: Are Behind You! (new live DVD)
- Little Britain: the interactive DVD game, featuring games like Name that Gay!
- Do the Right Thing - the only film from my top 5 that I didnt own, and...
- Spaced series 1 and 2 collectors edition (great show by the guys who made Shawn of the Dead).

As you can tell my week will be fairly full!

On our national day

Tomorrow is of course Waitangi Day, and to mark the occasion I will be making a purchase to finally complete the bathroom rennovations. I had been looking for a storage unit for my bathroom for sometime, and finally I have found something cool enough.

Backhouse Interiors stock the Commonbilli module range by Kartell (just nod and 'mmm' as though you know what I mean). Unfortunately they no longer do red, but all the same White will do me fine.

As you can see in the picture - they pretty much rule!

Its either the little two door or three door that im going for.

Twilight Cinema

As part of the Summer in the City programme, the Wellington Twilight Cinema is again up and running. Last year I saw the very excellent/trippy Triplets of Belleville at the Dell in the Botanical Gardens.

This year there is a change of venue - the Wellington Vellodrome of all places in Haitaitai, still theres a pretty good programme, so while the rest of Wellington is at the Sevens tonight, we're heading to the Twilight Cinema to watch kiwi classic - Footrot Flats!

Other films making up the programme - the animated Over the Hedge (at the Zoo!), An Inconvinient Truth, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Motorcycle Diaries, Little Miss Sunshine, Napolean Dynamite - plus quite a few others.

So well done to those people behind the outdoor cinema, Ive always thought that the film centre (now the Film Archive) should have set one up when they were looking for new premises.

Naive? Stupid? Right?

Ive been talking to some of my colleagues today who believe that the only reason Australia got an FTA with the US, is because of their partaking in the invasion and coup in Iraq. They also believe that while NZ continues its stance of being friendly while still mouthing off about the US, that NZ has no chance what so ever of obtaining an FTA with the US. What little chance we did have seems to have been scuttled when we didnt take part in the invasion.

So I guess the question is - was that the right decision?

Now, the Iraq situation is an absolute cock up of epic proportions. But Australia have managed to obtain the elusive US FTA, by being part of that. President Clinton identified in 1995 that regime change in Iraq was desirable, so even if things had have been different and we were in the last 2 years of a Gore administration - chances are at some point a US sanctioned coup would have happenned anyway. So I guess, while we all think things will be better once the Bush administration is gone in 2008, will it really? Theyre still the US, and the Democrats, while much better on the economy and their internal social policy, were still foreign policy bullies - blowing the crap out of a load of places.

So is it in New Zealand's long-term interests to remain one step removed from the US? Or should we look to re-establish ourselves as an ally of the US? I argued that if NZ were to take part in the invasion, it would have been electoral suicide for Clark, to which they responded that both Howard and Blair have both been returned since the invasion, and it is only now having an effect on Bush, and that Brash was pro-war anyway so voters would have stuck with Labour in anycase. (which I disagree with - people were unhappy with the govt, but wanted no part of the war more, so stuck with Labour on that basis, if war wasnt an issue, then they would have just been unhappy with the govt...).

So was it naive of New Zealand to think that we could still negotiate an FTA with the US after refusing to take part in their invasion? I think the answer is yes. Is it stupid to continually be nice one minute, and slag them off the next? Probably yes, but you have the problem of having one audience that wants to hear nice things, and another that doesnt (the electorate). And was it right to stay out of the invasion and lose that holy grail of an FTA? Yes it was. There was and still is no reason for an invasion of Iraq, and yes maybe Australia are laughing all the way to the bank - but it all comes back to the salient question - what is a human life worth? Is an FTA really worth the loss of thousands of young soldiers lives, let alone hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's? I think not, but still, it makes you think about the morality of war and politics.