Posts by Rachel Prosser
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update:
The meeting has had an effect.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/2962132/Government-World-Cup-broadcasting-backdown
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My chances of understanding what happens at the breakdown wouldn't be significantly diminished if the commentary ended up being in te reo.
Hee!
I'm surprised no-one has yet pointed out that 90-95% of the coverage will be in English, and then inserted a dig at the expense of various members of the Sky commentary team.
If you don't have SKY then you basically do not watch rugby fullstop. Seeing a sport once every 4 years (and often it's on in the wee small hours) is not going to have the effect I think you think it will have.
If you want kids watching cricket, rugby, league and other sports they have the chance to play in NZ then it needs to be on regularly and that dried up aside from the odd single delayed game once a weekend on at some late time donkeys years ago.
I agree with Yamis. When I came back to NZ after OE of 5 years,
I noticed two things particularlyFirst NZ Cricket audiences had plummeted after Sky got the coverage. I remember Canterbury filling Lancaster Park for one-dayers, we watched the first innings on the free to air staffroom TV (popping in for morning tea and over lunch, and then went down for the end of the second innings) . Now there's much less interest in games, and they can't fill the QE2 outer oval.
Second, was how standard NZ English included so much more Maori. Words like Whanau had come into mainstream usage. Maori use is increasing.
As for coverage - analogue is switching off soon, and people can watch rugby like they watched the moon landing - gathered to see it in one place. I can't justify a Sky subscription, given how much I'd watch it. It's much more sociable watching with friends and family in any case.
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My initial reaction to this was : Great! MaoriTV is the best free-to-air channel we have at the moment.
They do really good stuff on days like Anzac Day, Code and their coverage is intelligent and extended. They're like TV One used to be in the 70s, before it became a clone of Canadian/US styles.
I think they'd do a great job hosting.
How they fund that is a different issue. Is this a proper use of the $3million? Will it artificially inflate the price? Is it fair play in the market? There I'm not so sure.
As for their charter and mission - I wouldn't be surprised if general awareness/understanding/use of Te Reo increased afterwards.
As for public benefit:it wouldn't hurt that it would provide an incentive for those outside the analogue coverage area to switch to digital TV either (it's going to need some kind of incentive before the analogue signal is switched-off)
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It is as if WWII was the high point in British history. That may be because WWII was the last time Britain got to seriously flex its muscles on the international stage.
It's probably the last time the nation was united with a common goal, with the majority working for the common good (bar black-marketeers and profiteers of course) The Queen Mother looking the East End in the face and all that. WWII nostalgia is as much about belonging as it is about victory.
Or if they called the local rugby team Canterbury Blood-Soaked Murderers and Pillagers, as they have. Nobody objects to this (well I do, but I'm nobody).
My ex boyfriend objects as well. He refused to come to games. I could see his point, but by that time I 'd sat through rain, sleet and snow supporting the team, so I have only positive emotional associations with the name "Crusaders".
I'm surprised no-one has raised yet (i think) the trivialisation of the term "nazi" and it's use to denigrate causes, often liberal/socialist ones.
It seems to be used to denigrate any fervently pursued ideal or ideology - E.g. the categorising of Helen Clark and cabinet ministers as "feminazis" or "Eco-nazis" for the Green party.
Interestingly the word "crusade" is used in a similar , positive way. It's definition "an organized campaign concerning a political, social, or religious issue, typically motivated by a fervent desire for change : e.g. a crusade against crime."
The Lincoln kids - great grandchildren of those living in WW2 - will probably have heard that use of the -nazi suffix a lot.
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On the "Actor" v "Actress" thing.
I've sometimes thought that sexism might be better addressed by using gendered terms. By referencing the female and male versions you make it explicit that women are included.
Envisage an actor - what gender do you think of?
The thing is, if females take the male term, then women become invisible. Much as occurs when "he" is taken to include "she" in legislation.
Perhaps it's better to explicitly reference both genders. So "Hollywood's actors and actresses were out in force..."
Being Testatrix or Aviatrix sounds cool too.
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I've found that being short-sighted works in my favour as i can take out my contact lenses and indulge in the belief that I look just as fuzzy to everyone else as they do to me.
I worked on that basis a few years back when I got into swimming again. Then my optometrist told me I could wear my contact lenses under goggles, and now I get to see the beauty of life underwater.
I forgot my (blue) goggles one day, and a friend gave me her old pair of golden orange ones, with lenses that are likewise orange. Now every time I swim it's like a bright, bright sunshiney day. I can heartily recommend yellow-tinted lenses as a result.
My body is certainly not conventionally perfect, but I haven't noticed any of the "judgeypants" thing going on.
Although I did think it inapproopriate for a woman to bring her 7-8 year old boy into the women's changing room, when Centennial Pool has good family changing options.
She seemed to be deliberately challenging, wearing a T shirt "tell your boyfriend to stop looking at my tits" and with a large swastika tattoo on her arm.
So I judged her, but haven't felt or perceived others to be judgemental at Centennial otherwise.
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But then, I suppose when you hold it for such long lengths of time, you get a bit complacent with it...
The coaches and players didn't look complacent when I saw them (Bringing it with you when you go out for coffee isn't complacency but pride I'd say :-) And yes, I did get my photo taken with it too!
A long tenure isn't at all guaranteed, especially given that 8 of the team are in Hamilton - in addition to Slade and Crockett there are six or seven players in the All Blacks (most of the pack) plus Dan Carter and the Otago defence is no automatic win.
I do live in hope though. And, to be fair, if Otago were to win I wouldn't mind quite so much given that they haven't had the log'o'wood in over 50 years.
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Given that point 3 of "Things we can learn from Americans" is that All sportspeople are jerks, I thought I'd share a non-jerk story.
The cafe nearest my house (I work from home, and sometimes from the cafe) is opposite Rugby Park.
Canterbury's coaches, staff, and team members are sometimes in there, and a more courteous, pleasant lot would be hard to find.
Rob Penny and Tabai Matson brought the Ranfurly Shield in the other day and showed it off and took photos for people of it, and I've seen them clear their own cups from tables (most people leave them there) to make things easier for the waitstaff.
On a contrary note - Graham Henry's decision to keep Wyatt Crockett, Colin Slade and Tom Donnelly watching in the stands is seriously fan-unfriendly. Why can't they be playing Ranfurly Sheild rugby?
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When you fly every week, you start to notice the little things. On the "ingredients" section of the little bags of lollies Air New Zealand gives out: "Contents: Jelly-Shaped People"
I noticed that the Anzac biscuits weren't vegetarian. They have beef fat in them.
Every recipe I've seen used butter, but maybe beef fat is the original, or just an industrial-processing-quantity substitute.
At least it's not palm oil, but if I were Hindu, Jewish or vegetarian for religious grounds I don't think I'd be expecting to need to read the biscuit label.
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Re overseas funding. Have you seen www.nsanz.org.nz? It's the newly formed National Shooters Association. No idea where they get the money from, but at first sight I wondered if it was an NRA offshoot.
Their purposes include "taking such litigation in the Law Courts of New Zealand as may be necessary from time to time to challenge non-purposive and unlawful administration of arms control legislation by the administrative authority and the executive branch of government."
I found them because they've got the web address we wanted to have as a redirect for the National Speakers Association of New Zealand (www.national-speakers.org.nz)