Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Rain on his parade

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  • Tony Judd,

    That the pornographers are prepared to reject proper authority is not surprising. I most likely would not. But then again I am not likely to promote something they would disapprove of...

    Ummmm, I'm just guessing here, but I suspect that few pornographers share your "ban it if it isn't approved in the old testament" fundamentalistically nutty worldview. I suspect that they disapprove. As do many others born after the enlightenment.

    Perth • Since Nov 2006 • 63 posts Report Reply

  • Grant Dexter,

    Dylan. It is irrelevant what might happen in other situations. My point is that in this situation the council has been shown as impotent. If you agree that, even with such a trivial matter like deciding who can or cannot march down Queen St., the council is next to useless then what point even having a council?

    Would you like to address my point?

    Taipei, Taiwan • Since Mar 2007 • 256 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    the council is next to useless then what point even having a council?

    dexterbot, the council administers the city of auckland, which is it's actual job.

    moral outrage and sanctimony are the responsibility of someone else.

    although i'm sure you'd qualify

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

  • Craig Ranapia,

    If you agree that, even with such a trivial matter like deciding who can or cannot march down Queen St., the council is next to useless then what point even having a council?

    Would you like to address my point?

    Do you actually have one, Grant? I haven't seen anyone here arguing that "the council is nexy to useless"; what it's quite properly being mocked for is not having a particularly firm grasp on the law (and I don't share you apparent view that it is an exercise of "proper authority" to just ignore the ones you happen to disagree with -- I'm that kind of conservative), or the proper limits of local government (something else I used to think conservatives believed in) before seeking an injunction that got thrown out on perfectly legitimate grounds.

    Just for the record, Grant, I happen to "disapprove" of Boobs on Bikes, the Santa Parade, and the Hero Parade. But you want to know something -- I'm a grown up, and don't actually expect the whole damn world to revolve around me, my tastes and preferences.

    If that's been dumbed down to political correctness gone mad and some kind of tolerance for rapists, well... I give up.

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

  • Dylan Reeve,

    Dylan. It is irrelevant what might happen in other situations. My point is that in this situation the council has been shown as impotent. If you agree that, even with such a trivial matter like deciding who can or cannot march down Queen St., the council is next to useless then what point even having a council?

    Boobs on bikes is not the first and will not be the last parade or march to go ahead on Queen St without a council permit.

    The council is absolutely who can and can't march with permission. If people do so without, then it's up to the council to decide what action to take.

    The council, oddly, has a number of roles that extend beyond deciding who may parade on Queen St, I think writing them off entirely because some people didn't do what they were told is absurd.

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report Reply

  • Dylan Reeve,

    The council is absolutely abel to decide who can and can't march with permission.

    Edit function? Plz... Kthx.

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report Reply

  • Dylan Reeve,

    able - god. Not enough sleep.

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    A good question that depends on whether they're actual prosthetics, or cosmetically altered originals. Ether way, I prefer to exercise sensitivity. It's not like we point-out that transsexuals have fake parts, and are there for inviting snide remarks.

    Oh, Steve, I hope you don't think I was being 'snide' -- I have transgendered friends and know women who've had breast reconstruction surgery after the horrible trauma of cancer. They get nothing but an Aretha Franklin-style shout out of 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T' from these quarters.

    But I don't apologise for -- and neither does my friend, come to that -- for thinking there's something sad about people (not just women) whose self-esteem, and even livings, depend on what I can only describe as a grotesque surgical self-mutilation. My friend is a beautiful woman - body and soul - and the marks on her body are reminders of a life well-lived, not a surgeon's knife.

    I also adore and worship women in their glorious diversity of shape, colour and proportion. Having your chest hacked open and a pair of saline-filled barrage balloons shoved in the hole doesn't do a damn thing for me.

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

  • Russell Brown,

    @Tony:

    it if it isn't approved in the old testament" fundamentalistically nutty worldview

    No, Grant's a Pauline Christian. They tend to regard Jesus as a bleeding heart liberal, and the Apostle Paul as the he-man author of the faith.

    Paul was always instructing women to be subservient to their husbands, clean house and generally STFU.

    Some people have asked Did the so-called apostle paul hate girls, or was he just that ugly and stupid?

    While others just think he was totally in the closet.

    Grant offers us this on his website:

    **Poetry.**

    Roses are red,
    Violets are bluish,
    If it wasn't for Paul,
    We'd all be Jewish!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    No, Grant's a Pauline Christian. They tend to regard Jesus as a bleeding heart liberal, and the Apostle Paul as the real author of the faith.

    Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, Jesus, Michael Joseph Savage and Xenu save us! (Sorry folks, just covering my bases in alphabetical order.) Reminds me of the rather unpleasant "taditionalist" Catholic sect Mel Gibson belongs to -- anyone who thinks the late John Paul II is some kind of dangerous libertine, and not really Catholic at all, is not on the same cosmic plane as the rest of us.

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

  • Russell Brown,

    ... Jesus, Michael Joseph Savage ...

    I LOLd again.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    The more I examine my thoughts on this, the more I think I'm making aesthetic judgements. BoB = tacky and predictable commercial dodge by a known jerk. Hero Parade = grand community naughtiness after dark, with way better costumes.

    This is pretty much my view. I hate the name, hate the look and just find the whole thing dreary. It's too corporate for my tastes. Clichés and economics over art, surprise and fun. I don't begrudge or judge the women the right to live as they want and make money, if they enjoy the job even better, it's nothing to do with me. As for the audience, it's obviously popular so good luck to them but it does nothing for me.

    One other thing, I have a little sympathy for Auckland City Council. Steve Crow must be a huge pain in the arse to have existing in your city. Ignoring him is probably the best option but he's managed to play the media so well that I'm not sure this would have been an option for the Council. If they had come out with a statement along the lines of "..he's a dick, we're ignoring him" would they have been applauded for their common sense by ratepayers? I doubt it.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    If they had come out with a statement along the lines of "..he's a dick, we're ignoring him" would they have been applauded for their common sense by ratepayers? I doubt it.

    Well, it might be time to start firing off some OIA requests about how much ratepayers shelled out to waste the court's time -- because ratepayers really love that.

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

  • Tony Judd,

    No, Grant's a Pauline Christian. They tend to regard Jesus as a bleeding heart liberal, and the Apostle Paul as the he-man author of the faith.

    Ah - I didn't get that reference when you wrote it earlier. I assumed that you meant something like this.

    Perth • Since Nov 2006 • 63 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Well, it might be time to start firing off some OIA requests about how much ratepayers shelled out to waste the court's time -- because ratepayers really love that.

    Sure, but that's kind of my point. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    No, Grant's a Pauline Christian. They tend to regard Jesus as a bleeding heart liberal, and the Apostle Paul as the he-man author of the faith.

    Surprising, seeing it has such a girly name.
    I guess the usual bumph about ravening she-bears and prescriptions against lying with thy neighbour's ox must feature large in there somewhere. From Grant's tone of ponderous certitude he seems not so much a muscular as a musclebound Christian.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    Very interesting to read all these posts. But isn't there a distinction between Pornography (implies violence etc) and Erotica. The arguments seem to lump them all together. Lets have erotica if unharmful and fun.

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    guess the usual bumph about ravening she-bears and prescriptions against lying with thy neighbour's ox must feature large in there somewhere.

    sounds like the typical johnny-come-lately ideology. they're always more lunatic than the original strain.

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

  • Peter Darlington,

    But isn't there a distinction between Pornography (implies violence etc) and Erotica. The arguments seem to lump them all together. Lets have erotica if unharmful and fun.

    I always presumed that erotica was the cuddly nice stuff that women like while pR0n was the filthy dirty stuff that us blokes like? :-)

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I always presumed that erotica was the cuddly nice stuff that women like while pR0n was the filthy dirty stuff that us blokes like? :-)

    Nearly there, Peter. "Erotica" makes enlightened people (like us) who go to arthouse movies, visit art galleries and read "literature" purchased from classy book stores horny. "Pornography" arouses nasty, vulgar trash who can't afford to lower my property values.

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

  • Emma Hart,

    But isn't there a distinction between Pornography (implies violence etc) and Erotica.

    Functionally? No. In discussion I'd rather use the term 'sexually explicit material', because 'porn' has overtones of violence which is missing from most porn, and erotica sounds like it's sweet and fluffy, which it certainly isn't. Labelling is more dependent on the intended market than the actual content.

    Also, 'violence' can be a strong element in sexual fantasy. There's a sharp difference between 'violent' and 'non-consensual'.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Labelling is more dependent on the intended market than the actual content.

    But even that gets problematic. As I said in the context of another discussion, why is Robert Mapplethorpe photo of one man pissing in another's mouth "art" on the walls of Wellington's City Gallery; but the exact same picture printed in a commercially available fetish magazine is legally defined as automatically 'objectionable'? What assumptions are in play here?

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

  • Steve Barnes,

    Here ya go Grunt;
    Pornography.
    Writing intended to provoke feelings of lust in the reader. Such works are often condemned by critics and teachers, but those which can be shown ...
    www.informationaccess.com/free_resources/glossary/glossary_p.htm

    From a definition standpoint, pornography is anything that is created to cause sexual excitement or arousal. Most of us think of: erotic imagery that is considered obscene and offensive.
    www.coolnurse.com/sex_glossary/glossary_p.htm

    Sexually explicit pictures, writing, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal.
    choices-az.org/resources/glossary/

    Verbal or visual material or acts that embody violence, coercion, discrimination, force or brutality on women, men, children, or animals in sexual acts, and represent them in a degrading position.
    www.ifsha.org/glossary.htm

    This is probably Master Roshi's favorite hobby in the world, maybe even more than fighting. He spends countless hours of the day looking at it.
    www.myfavoritegames.com/dragonball-z/Info/Glossary/DragonballZGT-Glossary-P.htm

    Sexually oriented material that is not considered acceptable to the viewer; the same material when judged subjectively acceptable is often referred to as "erotica."
    www.4sexual-pleasure.com/definitions.html

    A work featuring graphic/explicit sex between characters.
    www.public.clunet.edu/~research/definitions.html

    creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire
    wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

    Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of sexual subject matter, especially with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer. It is to a certain extent similar to erotica, which is the use of sexually-arousing imagery for mainly artistic purposes. ...
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography

    You think you won? All you did was rant without coherency or any semblence of relevance. And your advice was ludicrous:

    Couldn't have put it better myself.
    Boobs on Bikes has nothing to do with graphics.
    And you're a plonker. :-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Grant Dexter,

    Che - if they can't even administrate who can or cannot march down Queen St. then there doesn't seem much point.

    Craig - I'm glad we can agree to some extent. :)

    Taipei, Taiwan • Since Mar 2007 • 256 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    www.coolnurse.com/sex_glossary/glossary_p.htm
    Erotica:Sexually arousing imagery that is not considered pornographic, obscene, or offensive to the average person.

    This suits me.

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

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