Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: All this and more

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  • Charles Mabbett,

    That's a nice homage to Fela Kuti. Well chosen. It's interesting to hear a New Zealand group doing the afro beat thing.

    Since Nov 2006 • 236 posts Report Reply

  • Charles Mabbett,

    Wow. not only afrobeat. look at this eclectic list of influences on that myspace link.

    Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, Ornette Coleman, Burning Spear, Can, Jimi Hendrix, Harry Partch, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Neil Young, Lee Perry, Jo Jones, Tom Waits, Foisemaster, Einstürzende Neubauten, Ian & Carolyn, Duke Ellington, The Who, Fela Kuti, Nick Drake, The Residents, Johnny Cash, Space Waltz, Husker Dü, John Lennon, Split Enz, Hasil Adkins, John Lee Hooker, Straitjacket fits, From Scratch, Buddy Rich, Pere Ubu, Robert Johnson, Roland Kirk, Led Zeppelin, Chris Knox, Count Basie.

    Isn't Wellington cool?

    Since Nov 2006 • 236 posts Report Reply

  • Rogan Polkinghorne,

    Wow, not only is Wishart's book too explosive to reveal any details about, it's also his 'punchiest yet'...

    Is 'punchiest' even a word? Doesn't bode well for this mightiest of tomes...

    A-town • Since Nov 2006 • 105 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    Stop looking so smug.

    Never! You will have to cut the smugness off my cold dead face!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew Smith,

    Last week, when Russell mentioned John Key's sattement about wages, I thought I'd take a punt and email Mr Key about what was said/wasn't said. It sometimes helps to hear it from the horses mouth. I did post this reply last week, but here it is again:

    My question: "a Northern Advocate reporter was quoting you saying' "We would love to see wages drop.The way we want to see wages increase is because productivity is greater. So people can afford more. Not just inflationary reasons, otherwise it's a bit of a vicious circle as it comes back to you in higher interest rates. We really want to drive that out." To put this one to bed in my mind, could you clarify what you meant here.

    Answer from John Key: "The statement is simply not correct. I have been misreprted. The very next sentence they claim I said in a coffee shop in Kerikeri is how to make wages rise. The paper has no tape didn't ask any questions of me about the comment etc etc. Bottom line I came to politics to ensure wages conditions and opportunities for Kiwis go up- John"

    Make of it what you will...

    Since Jan 2007 • 150 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX,

    Keys is politically naïve and a spoon, his low wage comments are a Freudian slip that indicates how the economy is managed regardless of which coalition mix forms the government. The difference between Key and Clark or Cullen is that although they hold similar positions on monetary policy (which are just as adverse to working people and wages), Clark and Cullen would never make this slip.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    The Mardi Gras is truly something worth celebrating. And yet, the Australian Federal Government will only allow so many changes, already trying to strongarm the ACT out of legalising same-sex unions.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Anyway, New Telepathics have kindly allowed me to give away a track from their new EP

    Oh man, Robbery is not going to like this...

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart, Ornette Coleman, Burning Spear, Can, Jimi Hendrix, Harry Partch, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Neil Young, Lee Perry, Jo Jones, Tom Waits, Foisemaster, Einstürzende Neubauten, Ian & Carolyn, Duke Ellington, The Who, Fela Kuti, Nick Drake, The Residents, Johnny Cash, Space Waltz, Husker Dü, John Lennon, Split Enz, Hasil Adkins, John Lee Hooker, Straitjacket fits, From Scratch, Buddy Rich, Pere Ubu, Robert Johnson, Roland Kirk, Led Zeppelin, Chris Knox, Count Basie.

    Sounds like our music collection at home to be honest. Needs more King Tubby though.

    Oh, great shout out to Foisemaster too! My brother Tim mangled guitar for them for a few years.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Is 'punchiest' even a word?

    Yes, as in: 'Once Muhammed Ali became the punchiest boxer in the sport, he needed to retire or risk getting Alzheimers'.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    I have watched and been absorbed by the video "My Language" and been blown away. Given that she was writing her own explanation of her thinking, it would suggest an extraordinary wealth of ideas which are presumably locked up in many autistic people. How frustrating! Do autistic people hear the language of others around them? Thanks.

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    Funny about the American love for Canada. It must be newfound, because I distinctly recall widespread American dislike for Canada around 2001-04.

    Factors that helped to explain this: inaccurate and irrelevant claim that 9-11 hijackers "came through Canada" (made by one H Clinton, among others) + no participation in Iraq debacle.

    The antipathy was somewhat mutual I guess.

    Perhaps many Americans are now jealous of a federal government that can run a budget surplus and limit its involvement in dubious foreign wars? Oh yeah, and Canada exports barrel loads of oil, and with less 'attitude' than Venezuela.

    Upon further reflection is it possible the responses on "countries what we like" was skewed by the fact that only a select few respondents had ever actually pondered such an idea, and were able to give an answer?

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    That Baggs vid is amazing. She asks a hard question in "How many of you believe that I actually wrote this?". Being honest with myself, I find it hard to believe for exactly the reasons she says, that the non-language communicating autists have clouded my judgment. But then again, I was amazed by how many of the things she was doing that she called communication are exactly what my 2 year old does. Endless fiddling and playing with mundane objects, in ways that are quite ritualized. He also talks to them, so I can at least grasp that communication in the blanker slate of a child's mind is nowhere near as rigidly defined as is usually accepted.

    From what I've read of very early religions there is a great deal of similar thinking going on there too - the Vedic rituals are all about preserving some perceived balances in the world for no purpose other than themselves.

    Furthermore, I can honestly say I feel the same way about my own thoughts a lot of the time. Taking absorbed fascination in the mundane can be quite involving, even if it seems to others that you're just sitting there staring at nothing or fidgeting in an annoying way. Very often the fidgeting itself is an expression or even a part of the thought, and it can lead to conclusions all of it's own. The famous example of Sir Isaac Newton deriving a great deal of inspiration from observing an apple falling springs to minds. And Mozart relates that a lot of his music appeared directly to him in visual observations of the world.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Ian:

    I have watched and been absorbed by the video "My Language" and been blown away. Given that she was writing her own explanation of her thinking, it would suggest an extraordinary wealth of ideas which are presumably locked up in many autistic people. How frustrating! Do autistic people hear the language of others around them? Thanks.

    The extraordinary thing is that she's taken the trouble to translate for us; to learn our language. The interesting thing in the Wired story that a non-autist "expert" has doubted she could be capable of it, which speaks volumes about perceptions and expectations amongst people who apparently ought to know.

    Ben:

    Furthermore, I can honestly say I feel the same way about my own thoughts a lot of the time. Taking absorbed fascination in the mundane can be quite involving, even if it seems to others that you're just sitting there staring at nothing or fidgeting in an annoying way. Very often the fidgeting itself is an expression or even a part of the thought, and it can lead to conclusions all of it's own.

    To a greater or lesser degree, people on the spectrum lack the (as Kathy Sierra put it at Webstock) "spam filter" the rest of us take for granted. They experience everything with the same degree of intensity, at the same "volume". This is one of the biggest problems for AS kids in the classroom -- they're aware of human "noise" that everyone else simply ignores.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Luke Williamson,

    Agree that Baggs vid is fascinating. I'm reminded a little of the description (ironically) of friend's son who has ADD symptoms. The symptoms are opposite but he obviously picks up everything going on around him. His difficulty is in filtering out what is unnecessary for that particular point in time - he just gets overwhelmed by the environmental "noise" around him and tries to respond to it all.
    Quick note to on the musical influences - fascinating to see Nick Drake turn up on so many lists like these now. Poor bloke could scarcely sell an album when he debuted and ended up committing suicide. My dad had two of his albums and we heard them a lot as I was growing up, then suddenly he was rediscovered in the 90s-2000s. I think that's nice and wish Nick could pop back for a quick concert.

    Warkworth • Since Oct 2007 • 297 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    ...you will be going to see the L.E.D.s at Mighty Mighty tonight...

    So are they like LCD Soundsystem, but with less battery life?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    So are they like LCD Soundsystem, but with less battery life?

    I prefer to think of them as Kraftwerk crossed with the B52s.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall,

    if you are in Wellington, you will be going to see the L.E.D.s at Mighty Mighty tonight, won't you? There are people in Auckland who would love to see the L.E.D.s play on a Friday night, but it's only you people in Wellington who can do this. Just go. Don't even think about us.

    Plus you should all buy their bassist, Marcus, a celebratory drink, as he and the lovely Linda became parents a month or so ago.

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Leigh Kennaway,

    Hmmmmm, I skim-read the post, saw Ian Wishart and Colombians and immediately his headlines popped up in my head;
    Lesbian FemiNazis Go on Cocaine-Fueled Legislative Rampage, Further Undermining The Family, Traditional Values, Christianity and All That Is Sacred

    sunny Pt Chevalier • Since Mar 2008 • 40 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    To a greater or lesser degree, people on the spectrum lack the (as Kathy Sierra put it at Webstock) "spam filter" the rest of us take for granted. They experience everything with the same degree of intensity, at the same "volume". This is one of the biggest problems for AS kids in the classroom -- they're aware of human "noise" that everyone else simply ignores.

    :-) ironic, since I write spam filters, and it was no easy task to program them to ignore the irrelevant, the way humans do automatically. "Look you stupid computer, it doesn't matter if there's a 1 instead of an i, or if there's some gaps in the words". "Oh yes it does". "Sigh". It took a fair old while for us to work out that instead of forcing something that doesn't process information the way we do to emulate our behaviour by writing rule after bloody rule, that we could actually leverage the computer's talent by getting it to learn it's own way. And surprise, surprise, the computer starts discovering extremely powerful spam features that we have trained ourselves to ignore, like the color used in an HTML tag, or just exactly how often spammers use some fairly common word. And the nice thing about that is it's much harder for the spammer to notice it either.

    It would probably be more accurate to say that AS kids have different filters, rather than none. When they become absorbed in something, they probably are ignoring a lot of things. It's just hard to know exactly what they are ignoring. They may, for instance, be listening to the noise of talking, but ignoring what the talking is about, and focusing on the sound of it. Which might give them quite an acute perception of human communication on a totally different level, hearing emotion as conveyed in the voice, for example.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    And, given that no one is saying the transcript is actually wrong, an apparently superfluous one. Personally, I'd love to know exactly who has been saying what to whom …

    Personally, I'd love to know who told Cullen that "Key had tried to bully the newspaper into sacking the reporter" -- which is apparently something of a surprise to the reporter and editor concerned. If Cullen wants to call John Key a liar, it might help if he had a slightly closer relationship with the truth himself. As Tom Stoppard has one of his characters say, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but nobody is entitled to their own facts." Especially when the people having their professional and personal integrity attacked are in no position to respond promptly and in kind.

    And good on Audrey for pointing this out:

    There wouldn't be a journalist or news outlet in the country that has not been lobbied by politicians about a story they have taken exception to. Labour does it too.

    I have it on very good authority that Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey rang the chief executive of Radio New Zealand (yes, management) last year because he was so pissed off at an interview conducted by Sean Plunket.

    Indeed, and isn't it funny how Andrew Little had nothing to say about that?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    Craig, that would be news if RNZ offered a retraction, sorry, correction. People are always contacting media organisations to offer "clarification" and further comment.

    This has been very different. First the local paper stands by its journalist and story through thick and thin and then, all of a sudden, APN retracts on local paper's behalf.

    Given the "freedom of speech" mantra from that group you will pardon many of us for yelling - "hypocrites" in those directions.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but nobody is entitled to their own facts."

    Inspector Hound?

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    Colin Espinar makes this comment to DPF over on his blog:

    You’re not honestly going to argue with me that the Herald openly supports the election of a National government? Even its own reporters accept this is management’s position.

    That's a pretty big call.

    You will also notice DPF collecting stats for "media bias". Now there's an old canard about to rear its ugly head.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Bell,

    Ha, ha. This is going to seem like self-promotion, but Wishart's 'Colombians bump into Lennon in Hell' story rather puts me in mind of something else.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 49 posts Report Reply

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