Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Anatomy of a Shambles

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  • Hilary Stace,

    I think all the parties in this dispute should sit down together over a nice cup of tea and then symbolically wash each others' cups and saucers. Water is a great cleanser.

    (Otherwise this increasingly nasty anti-union, sexist rhetoric in the media will get even more depressing.)

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Comments from crowd members about what happened outside the Matterhorn (h/t Jack Elder).

    This is a lie - I was there - A group of workers waited outside to ask Mr Whipp why he had focused on the Hobbit and not other films and let our voice be heard - this was asked by one person (The camera man). These questions were asked by one person while the rest of us remained silent - There was no interest in Robyn in fact I only knew she was there when she pipped up for us to leave Mr Whipp alone at the end of the incident. The camera Man asked him questions until we got to Manners Mall...

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Grainger,

    my co-producer on Under the Mountain got 'told off' by the production staff for washing the coffee cups

    Um...maybe he didn't do them properly?

    Not fair! Those dishes were spotless.

    Wellington • Since Oct 2010 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    It was only a matter of time before a fake Twitter account materialised, which might help take the edge off .

    actorsequitypr
    We have agreed to call off the embargo. As long as Sir Pete has a shave.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Where's Sauron in all of this. Is he keeping an eye on things, maybe from Ireland.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    I think you would be far, far more likely to get something inducing diarrhoea from the food on the plate rather than any detergent residue.

    i can see i'd better find that journal article again then.

    and what are you saying about my cooking? hmmm?

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Pint taken...

    The Price of Mirkwood

    Hmmm, well they have a Ring in common
    and was there a quilt of invisibility?

    or was it the glorious Miss Myfanwy Price...

    From where you are, you can hear in Cockle Row in the spring, moonless night, Miss Price, dressmaker and sweetshop-keeper, dream of her lover, tall as the town clock tower, Samson-syrup-gold-maned, whacking thighed and piping hot, thunderbolt bass'd and barnacle-breasted, flailing up the cockles with his eyes like blowlamps and scooping low over her lonely loving hotwaterbottled body.

    Sprung... and moonless

    Starless and Bilbo Black . . .

    The Return of the Crimson King, too?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Clarke,

    You people making light of crockery-based hygiene are ignoring the far-greater danger from those who don't reset microwave oven timers back to zero when they've finished gently warming last night's leftovers.

    It's a huge, yet apparently unnoticed threat to our collective livelihoods.

    I can only encourage you, and your office microwaves, to get regularly checked. The alternative is chilling*.

    *Hmmmm.

    -36.76, 174.61 or thereab… • Since Nov 2006 • 164 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Yeah, I know. Really, it was a facetious comment about Helen showing back up to post a reply to someone else making a relatively minor point

    Yes, that was me, and I thought it strange to be the only person answered, and only about my "cheap shot". It must have cut deep. But a cheap shot was there for the taking.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    i'm freaking researching surfactants when i should be enjoying a book.

    damn you, compulsive rinsing!!

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Clarke,

    i'm freaking researching surfactants when i should be enjoying a book.

    Aaah, the curse of soap operas.

    -36.76, 174.61 or thereab… • Since Nov 2006 • 164 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

    OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Detergent-researching

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Marian Evans,

    Thanks Dean. Thanks Peter. Good to have those clarifications.

    Wellington • Since Oct 2010 • 6 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Latte Day Saints...

    I feel if I had never imparted my Cafe Slave Guild secrets to Mr Lee then the LOTR films could have been a farce.
    Hmm, then I kinda got fired. Damn daily contracts its an outrage!

    all that coffee... surely you had fine grounds
    for reinstatement?
    ;- )


    Dishing the dirt...

    On the other hand, if you can wash dishes without pustules forming, the residue on the plates at the end won't hurt you much.

    What? are people still going on about residuals?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Soapy taste? I'm testing this now. One spoon rinsed, another not. They'll be dry soon.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Anyway, I'm tapped. Possibly a sink joke.

    But thanks everyone, particularly Helen, Graham and Dean. I appreciate you coming into a discussion where the prevailing opinion might not be with you.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    @Gio

    An in insufficient doses, it still tastes of dish soap.

    What about the taste of lipstick? Yeech.

    And: Who the hell would 1) Want to work in the film industry? 2) Who the hell would want to be an actor?

    It seems to me that if the actors union was as strong as SAG then something would likely be negotiated to the actors union benefit.

    It has obviously worked in the US. I don't think there is much dispute that acting in NZ is not a good earner. Whether on international films or NZ TV. Why? Dare I say it is because any opportunity is..well..an opportunity. Even if it is done for free. And if I don't take it, someone else will.

    There is no doubt the LOTR and other "block busters" filmed here are done for the love of money rather than for offering enhanced employment for NZ actors. Oh.... And it has taken how many years to get residuals into the deals?????

    As for union bashing. I think one needs to take a good hard look at the benefits unions and unionism that once graced this nation. 5 day week, 8 hour day, minimum wage, social welfare. Then one needs to take an even longer look at the effects of union busting. 7 day week, X hour day, youth rates, and the real killer, part time work.

    This Hobbit dispute is pure and simply a power struggle and a classic one at that.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    And: Who the hell would 1) Want to work in the film industry?

    Lots of people. There are many worse things to do.

    Who the hell would want to be an actor?

    I think you'll find the top 20 actors make way more than the top 20 musicians in New Zealand.

    Which is still better than being one of the Top 20 authors.

    But, as the lady said, it's not about the money.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Done. There is no discernible difference. I had to actually taste the dish soap to remind myself what it tastes like, to be sure a minute trace hadn't been missed. Surprisingly, the dish soap itself had almost no taste, just a mildly unpleasant aftertaste. I'm not surprised that however much was on the spoon after all the drip drying had finished, and then evaporation had taken the rest of the water and anything else that evaporates, after being diluted 200:1, left a completely unnoticeable residue. The spoon itself had more taste.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • vangam,

    Peter Jackson on Campbell Live tonight seemed pretty keen to paint this as a case of the big Australian bully thang. This makes me suspicious of his motives.

    Rangiora • Since Jun 2007 • 103 posts Report Reply

  • Neil Morrison,

    ...it's not about the money.

    I've been trying to come up with something reasonably intelligent on that aspect of the debate. Haven't succeeded so far.

    Film, like other arts, is a strange world of negotiated obligation. They are different to other work situations and not easily reduced to boss vs worker.

    Since Nov 2006 • 932 posts Report Reply

  • Liz Tan,

    I used to think John Campbell was quite smart but he totally missed the point tonight. As have most of the media. It's not about when the blacklist was listed, or who was right or wrong, or that it's now over: the damage has been done. Break it down. Think of WB (and any other studio) as a tourist planning their overseas holiday. If you hear of unrest, civil war (i.e. actor's strike), you decide to go to Cook Islands instead of Fiji. It doesn't matter whether the problem is a storm in a teacup, or resolved or whatever. Perception is enough. WB - unlike PJ- have NO emotional attachment to shooting The Hobbit in NZ. That, now, is the challenge for the NZ film industry - changing the way we are seen in a competitive global market where budgets are shrinking across the board. And business is always looking to minimise risk and maximise returns. Is NZ now seen as a risk?

    Auckland • Since Oct 2010 • 3 posts Report Reply

  • Morgan Davie,

    Ben: even if nothing else good comes from this whole mess, we'll at least always benefit from your detergent-residue taste test. Thanks, MEAA/WB/Peter Jackson!

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 36 posts Report Reply

  • Angus Robertson,

    Ben: human taste sensitivity does vary a lot.

    Edit: we would need more data sets, anyone else tried Ben's experiment?

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 984 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Yes, I've reduced fears about at least one thing here that could give us all the shits.

    Edit: Angus, feel free to replicate. I suggest blind testing. Anyone who is seriously that sensitive has a good case for the extra rinse.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

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