Field Theory: How's that working out for you? Being clever?
445 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 … 8 9 10 11 12 … 18 Newer→ Last
-
Oh dearie dearie me. I have, of course, been reading the entire thread/twitter with interest. I am not passionate about rugby, so you'd think I wouldn't have any interest in the RWC. I'm a teacher and I don't appreciate the terms being mucked around, so once again, I would be anti RWC, right? And then there's the fact that I live in Mt Eden so certainly, I will be directly impacted by the games being held there. Another strike against the bloody thing, right? Wrong. On all counts. I sincerely do not care about rugby, but I am enjoying the vibrancy and sense of anticipation that the RWC is building up, at least in my city. Does it make up for the fact that we have had 3 very long terms? Not really. But that's okay. It means that the 4th term is wonderfully short, so I guess it's all about checks and balances. I like that we're getting smartened up, that the waterfront is starting to be as it always should have been. I think it's great that people are flocking here from everywhere else, even if more of them would be going to a concert at Wembley Stadium. I don't care about being like the rest of the world - if I gave a shit about that I wouldn't be living where I do. I do care about cultural cringe and naysayers who shit on stuff just because they can (I am really not talking about you, Gio) or because this is NZ and anything we do is shit. I care about that stuff because, quite frankly, I don't think we are shit. I like that we're little and isolated and fabulously unsophisticated in many ways. That's what makes us, us. It's why I like living here. And yes, the RWC will make me feel cheesily patriotic, but that's okay too, because I'm like that all of the time anyway.
And while we're at it - yachting is definitely a sport. And Russell, bores from the Shore, really? My family ain't bores, and our branch hasn't been from the Shore for ages, bruv. -
Gareth Ward, in reply to
if anyone wants to rent my house in wellington, for the duration so i can live in rarotonga, for a month drop me a line.
Actually, I've just realised I'm going to be away for the opening weekend. 2 bedrooms just off the Gt North Rd ridge? Eden Park easily walkable along lovingly laid new footpaths? Wyndham Wharf a simple Link bus away for fireworks and the whatnot?
Offers anyone? :) -
My daughter's in her last year at high school - the short last term thing seems to be really screwing them around, they have something like 2 weeks back then off for NCEA - at a time when they should be celebrating that transition from school to the wider world, saying goodbye to friends off to see the world etc etc it's all ending with a bit of whimper and is IMHO rather sad
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
Not readily, no - but you've seen them. More than just a game, our all is nothing without your something-something, I'm sure you can dig them up.
Okay, I tried. Couldn't find anything from Adidas matching that description.
-
giovanni tiso, in reply to
Arrggh. It wasn't "World Cup allegiance" -- it's not a culture war.
Of course it's a culture war. Tom has just reminded us of the historical reasons why. Being a "rugby person" in this country still comes with a lot of baggage, just as not being a rugby person does. And the insistence of a lot of supporters that it's not all about the rugby (cultural festival! visitors! fireworks! magical downstream economic returns!) belies that. In fact it is all about the rugby. The cultural festival and all those other things are being subsumed by the sport in the name of the national interest. And why shouldn't this elicit complicated feelings, including misdirected irritation?
-
giovanni tiso, in reply to
Okay, I tried. Couldn't find anything from Adidas matching that description.
I shall endeavour to locate them.
-
3410,
True, Gareth, except that the story made a premature getaway precisely because the campaign was so bad. When the TVC actually surfaced later in the day, it was - if anything - even worse than imagined.
#pinkfistcarwtf
-
James Francis, in reply to
-
Sue,
Tom you are officially my RWC hero
and i think the object Tom is referring to is a good symbol of what is wrong with some aspects of RWC and why it grates on people.BUT
The snow falling in Wellington made me realise something. you can look at the bad side of things, ice, cold, slush, unable to walk/drive, or you can sit back and enjoy the magic. I like enjoying the magic. So yes i am getting all pollyanna over this event, and am going to squeeze out every inch of free fun i can.
-
Sue,
Being a “rugby person” in this country still comes with a lot of baggage, just as not being a rugby person does.
it really doesn't.
i think there is a great perception that it does and for some people it might, but really no it does not. I think saying that is equivalent of saying all beneficiaries are bludgers -
Jackie Clark, in reply to
Your attitude is entirely magical in itself, Sue. I like it. A lot. It's a good reminder. Actually, I have to think that to myself most days. When I'm getting grumpy at the kids, I keep having to remember that they are 3 and 4 yrs old and their perception of the world is a somewhat magical one that we could all learn from.
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
And the insistence of a lot of supporters that it’s not all about the rugby (cultural festival! visitors! fireworks! magical downstream economic returns!) belies that. In fact it is all about the rugby. The cultural festival and all those other things are being subsumed by the sport in the name of the national interest.
And I'm sure you'd have have managed to conjure equivalent outrage if they hadn't been happening at all -- clearly, there is nothing that does not prove your point.
But could we perhaps not further patronise or insult the people from Whangarei to Invercargill who are actually getting involved in these events, and who are looking forward to their cities being host centres?
I will grant you that I have an interest in this, given that NZ On Screen will be showing New Zealanders their screen heritage with a traveling cinema (a rather stylish caravan) that tours the South Island, and installations in the fan zones in Auckland and Wellington. It has not been "subsumed" by the rugby -- it's happening because of the rugby.
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
Here are a few.
Yup, saw those. The first two are from 2007, and the slogan on the end of the last one is "Adidas is all in", which doesn't really amount to the kind of overbearing compulsory cultural nationalism being described.
-
recordari, in reply to
And me and Fiona and our friends and recordari. Let's organise!
Reckon. I'm so over this thread now, I might get under it, because I certainly can't get behind it.
Hello Emma. Hope you're doing Ok. ;-)
-
JackElder, in reply to
But with cycling, for example, and rowing, the equipment is mandated to be the same. So it relies on much much more of the skill/endurance/sheer madness of the sportsperson.
Nitpick: in cycling, the equipment isn't the same, but there are very strict regulations with which it must comply. For example, the UCI sets a minimum weight limit on bikes (6.8kg) - this is partially to minimise the role that equipment plays, but partially also a safety measure to ensure that people didn't use equipment that was so light it was unsafe. These days, the technology is at the point where you can walk into any bike shop and buy a lighter bike than that off the peg - in actual competitions, many team bikes have weights added so they reach the weight limit.
Within those rules, you're able to pick what you want to. So here, the gear selection is part of the sport itself - choosing the kit that you think best matches the event (for example, one rider may prefer a higher set of gear ratios than another).
-
BenWilson, in reply to
Nice, Jackie.
I care about that stuff because, quite frankly, I don't think we are shit. I like that we're little and isolated and fabulously unsophisticated in many ways. That's what makes us, us.
That cheers me up. I thought I was mad to think like this.
Sophistication is a good thing, in moderation. Being too sophisticated has always seemed neurotic to me. In the end, it often turns into simple prejudice, with extremely complex justification.
-
giovanni tiso, in reply to
And I'm sure you'd have have managed to conjure equivalent outrage if they hadn't been happening at all
Can I say, for the umpteenth time, that I'm not outraged? There are other things that outrage me to be honest. The rugby world cup is way down the list.
I will grant you that I have an interest in this, given that NZ On Screen will be showing New Zealanders their screen heritage with a traveling cinema (a rather stylish caravan) that tours the South Island, and installations in the fan zones in Auckland and Wellington. It has not been "subsumed" by the rugby -- it's happening because of the rugby.
Precisely - they are happening because of the rugby: so it's okay to define us as a rugby nation and a stadium of 4 million because it allows us to showcase the other things that we do, and thus justify more rugby funding, much like the subsidies to Warner Brothers are justified by the fact that they will entice more people to come here. They think they're coming to see the rugby/middle earth and then WHAM! we're going to hit them with a wallop of our culture.
But could we perhaps not further patronise or insult the people from Whangarei to Invercargill who are actually getting involved in these events, and who are looking forward to their cities being host centres?
Yes, that is totally what I am doing.
-
BenWilson, in reply to
And me and Fiona and our friends and recordari. Let's organise!
Indeed.
-
In yachting, there are classes where the equipment is rigidly specified, like the popular Laser or even supplied by the organisers, as in the World Match Racing Tour.
So you do have events which are entirely down to competitor skill.
-
3410,
Telecom's head of retail Alan Gourdie sez:
"...it's pretty obvious to all that we misjudged public opinion. So you may or may not be surprised to hear that following the strong reaction yesterday, we won't be proceeding with the 'Abstain' campaign," the email read.
In a statement issued by Telecom, Mr Gourdie continues: "No excuses. We caused offence to some people, and for that we apologise.
"Full credit to the opposition. We listened to your views, and we have acted quickly to change our game plan."
-
Don’t be silly. What it takes seriously is the proposition that the sporting victory of our rugby players is predicated on the sacrifice of the whole country, like in a war.
I’ll have to take your word for it, since I tend to filter adverts from my life, including these ones. Presumably then abstaining from sex was a metaphor for some other sacrifice they wanted us to make? Like putting up with school terms being dicked around, or having trouble finding a carpark, or paying way too much for a match ticket to cheer the team on? Or are we just talking things that will benefit the advertiser, like accepting that paying over the odds for Telecom’s services is for the greater good? I can see from a Marxist perspective that having a big Corporation explicitly telling the proles to “suck it up” is even more offensive than their usual consumerist propaganda.
So Fitzy in a pink fist-car is really all about Sky and Telecom telling us on behalf of McCully that we must cheerfully accept cuts to benefits and services so that the All Blacks can win. Bastards.
-
I’m torn. One the one hand, I’m in the 2/3 of NZ that either doesn’t care or actively dislikes the RWC. On the other hand, I’d say that the RWC is a cultural festival in its own right. Rugby is a genuine popular cultural expression here, no matter how commercial or professional, like football in Brazil. There are many people in Rio who dread Carnival too. On the gripping hand, I am tired of the presumption in much of the commercial promotion for the RWC that it’s somehow my duty as a New Zealander to give a shit.
-
Tom Beard, in reply to
Sophistication is a good thing, in moderation. Being too sophisticated has always seemed neurotic to me. In the end, it often turns into simple prejudice, with extremely complex justification.
It's a question of where you draw the line of too sophisticated. Personally, I'd draw it just below the Algonquin Round Table. But in the New Zealand I landed in at a tender age, it was drinking anything that didn't come in a can, speaking polysyllabically, or suggesting that you'd rather read a book than run around a paddock.
New Zealand, and New Zealand rugby, has come a long way since then, but there are certain aspects of the hype that suggest an atavistic irruption of bucolic blokiness, though now glazed with a sticky layer of corporate marketing.
-
giovanni tiso, in reply to
On the other hand, I'd say that the RWC is a cultural festival in its own right. Rugby is a genuine popular cultural expression here, no matter how commercial or professional, like football in Brazil... On the gripping hand, I am tired of the presumption in much of the commercial promotion for the RWC that it's somehow my duty to give a shit.
That's the crux of it right there, in the contradiction between the first and the second part of that statement. Can't we just make it about the game, and hope that our team wins, and hope that it's fun, without loading it with the nation's future and our sense of selves and smuggling the whole culture along with it? Although I guess the obvious issue with that view is that hosting major sporting events costs so much these days that nations really do have to stake far more than their passion for a sport into them, and mobilise so many resources that the whole thing becomes an existential threat by default.
-
Megan Wegan, in reply to
Can’t we just make it about the game, and hope that our team wins, and hope that it’s fun, without loading it with the nation’s future and our sense of selves and smuggling the whole culture along with it?
Most of us are. You can tell, because we're the ones saying the ad was stupid. We're not the ones blaming the tournament and every fan for something one company does.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.