Sing us a song, you're the piano man

Very cool subway stair installation

It's a virus - nothing we can do

Unruly Media in the UK have come up with some of the coolest campaigns in the last 12 months and I thought I'd share a few

Pot Noodle wanted to do a spoof of this -



So Unruly came up with this -



They came up with a yodeling XBox game - Alpine Legend - to promote a snowboarding festival in Austria



And of course my favourite - they pulled together T-Mobile's karaoke sing along in Trafalgar Square

Twit tweets

Agriculture Minister David Carter has a twitter and it's really, really... uh insightful?!

It's filled with gems including my favourite:

Hon David Carter is in the Christchurch electorate office today having important meetings.

I'm sure you were David... I'm sure you were.

The T-mobile dance

Hat tip to senor Weston for this.

T-Mobile's fantastic telly advert - give it two years and I guarantee Saatchi's come up with a 'great new idea' along the lines of this for another telco!

Watch the ad first, and the making is below it



Making of

Voltaire and Dauth

A recent article on current blog du jour, Kiwipolitico, talking about how the fifth Labour Government shouldn't be mourned by the true left because it didn't go far enough on several issues and condoned other 'evils' such as the anti-terror raids in 2007, the Foreshore and Seabed Act and not clarifying the legislation around abortion (the latter which I hadnt picked up as an issue at all btw???) has got a few tongues wagging.

This afternoon I was listening to a podcast of Air America radio which had a talkback piece on whether President-elect Obama was smart to be so inclusive of the right. One of the callers basically said because of some of Obama's appointments of republican figures - he was bad and his presidency will be a wasted opportunity. Essentially the same premise as the criticism that Kiwipolitico was making.

One of my previous bosses would often pull out his favourite Voltaire quote - The perfect is the enemy of the good. Like the host on Air America (who attributed it to his mother!?) who used it in the Obama context - I feel that it fits this argument around the fifth Labour Government.

What I think Voltaire was getting at was that attaining perfection becomes infinitely more difficult the further you go along. There are always going to be the unseen fish-hooks, pot-holes etc etc that trip you, so at some point, you have to cut your losses, and realise that doing tangible 'good things' is actually better than continually traversing a seemingly neverending road towards some sort of utopian perfection. If it's 'good enough' (so to speak) - then get on with it.

Was Labour perfect? Absolutely not. But it's simplistic to say that it was a government of missed opportunities just because Clark sometimes took a pragmatic approach rather than seeking leftist-perfection. The reality is, we now have the savings scheme that we should have had for over 30 years, we have an infinitely fairer tertiary student loans system, the lowest unemployment rates for nigh on a generation - especially amongst Maori and Pacific Islanders, cheaper and more accessible primary healthcare, a new pride in what it means to be a New Zealander, probably the most significant investment in infrastructure for 50 years and so on.

Sure it wasn't perfect - but it was pretty bloody good.

What about gay marriage?

An informational filim from 23/6

Sometimes borrowing is good

Watch this space I guess

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 .

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 -

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.

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!

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.

'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...

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!

Them again? Really?

Has anyone else noticed the very late 80s/early 90s look to TVNZs Olympic coverage?

Sure, Tony Veitch would have had a big role before he was found out - but still, they seem to dredge up the same tired old hacks every four years. Look at their frontline team - Geoff Bryan, Peter Williams, Keith Quinn, John McBeth and Peter Montgomery. I guarantee they were the nucleus of the team that presented the 1988 games in Seoul.

Yes, yes they're experienced and all that - but surely we could do better than this? All I have ever known is these boring grey old men mispronouncing names and dealing in cliches. Even just some of their other presenters would be better - Neil Waka? Bernadine Oliver Kerby? The grip? Camera Operator 1?

Mind you, on the flipside - what's with the two 10 year olds presenting Breakfast? I seriously don't think that the dude shaves.

The 20 Male Poses of Facebook

I have to say I'm guilty of some of these poses myself.

So so accurate - 2 bird, 1 blog has examples of the 20 poses guys use in their pics on the Facebook.

These include the "Just Hanging with my Bros" shot, the "high contrast photoshop" shot, "the wacky fun guy" shot. the "throwin a hand signal" shot and my favourite - the webcam or "future paedofile of America shot".

So funny - check it out here.

Peak Cyrus Crisis

The Institute for Sustainable Cyrus Use are calling it the "worst entertainment crisis humanity has faced".

A glass and a half... at the Vic?

Yes I am moderately embarrassed that I know what the Vic is.

Anti Piracy

Video below from the IT Crowd taking the piss out of those anti video piracy ads.

It reminds of a joke I heard - those ads say 'you wouldn't steal a car' and no I wouldn't. But if I had a friend who had a car, and had the ability to make an exact copy of that car for free - I'm not gonna say no am I?

Enjoy