Public Address | Cafe | Random Play: The Age of Reason https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/ en-us Copyright (c) 2026 Public Address merc https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34142#post34142 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34142#post34142 Good move, though as it is usually quite difficult to bring the narrow to the broad. We keep trying though.
I just love the sound of Te Reo, for me it's the sound of home. And when Waka Huia interviews elders who know their whakapapa, it is sublime, to me.…

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:43:06 +1300 Bob Munro https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34130#post34130 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34130#post34130 today's New York Times encouraging Americans to watch Al Jazeera to help broaden their worldview. ]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:24:30 +1300 merc https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34127#post34127 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34127#post34127 Maori TV rocks my world. There are more sub-titles going on now. Last night Marae was most intriguing and the reporter/ interviewer was superb (must get his name).
The other channels need to step up. Maori TV frequently brings tears to my eyes, even when the delivery is dead pan.…

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:15:02 +1300 Bob Munro https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34126#post34126 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34126#post34126

Not only are you an elitist bastard Simon, but an incredibly intelligent one!

Although it was not aimed at me, I'm proud to call myself an 'elitist bastard' in this context. I don't for a minute forget when I'm watching TV news that I'm watching a carefully choreographed performance that…

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:13:05 +1300 graeme muir https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34123#post34123 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34123#post34123 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:59:40 +1300 Stephen Judd https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34100#post34100 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34100#post34100 It's weird, but whenever someone gets my name wrong, they call me Simon.

Anyway, Grant, what I mean by editorial emotion is that when you read an item with overt emotion, I see that as potentially editorialising. This is Bad. This is Good. This is Funny.

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:15:38 +1300 kmont https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34099#post34099 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34099#post34099 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:15:25 +1300 graeme muir https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34092#post34092 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34092#post34092 Keep watching Kyle, I'm finding that I'm absorbing stuff from context

Not only are you an elitist bastard Simon, but an incredibly intelligent one!

What on earth is editorial emotion?

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:46:00 +1300 kmont https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34088#post34088 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34088#post34088

Sorry – first line above makes no sense. Should be word 'book' in there somewhere.

Kind of cute tho, I can see an interpretive dance coming on.....

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:34:29 +1300 Stephen Judd https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34086#post34086 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34086#post34086 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:31:43 +1300 Kyle Matthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34085#post34085 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34085#post34085

Yes – they could all take a leaf out of the Maori Television frontpeople. Professionalism under fire, esp. in last few weeks.

I've only caught bits of Maori TV news and commentary recently, but I'd concur. Shaping up reasonably well overall. Now if only I spoke more than a few…

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:30:54 +1300 Bob Munro https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34084#post34084 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34084#post34084 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:30:43 +1300 Bob Munro https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34082#post34082 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34082#post34082

I am firmly in camp "dial down the emoting" when it comes to newsreaders. Bland is fine.

Yes – they could all take a leaf out of the Maori Television frontpeople. Professionalism under fire, esp. in last few weeks.

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:21:05 +1300 kmont https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34079#post34079 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34079#post34079 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:17:18 +1300 Stephen Judd https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34077#post34077 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34077#post34077 they have expression on their face and in their delivery because that's how people tell stories to each other

Call me an elitist bastard, but I don't want stories, I want information. I don't want newsreaders to convey editorial emotion.

Incidentally, here is a really heroicly stoic newsreader. I hope…

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:12:21 +1300 graeme muir https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34070#post34070 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34070#post34070 Fair enough Heather, take your point.

I don't agree though that newsreaders are "instructing" anyone how to feel; the cocked eyebrows and full-on empathy, etc, are from a gone-by era. I certainly don't think One News' readers are mugging the camera so you might react in a certain way. Yes,…

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:01:27 +1300 Heather Gaye https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34041#post34041 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34041#post34041 Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:47:32 +1300 Heather Gaye https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34037#post34037 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=34037#post34037 No comment on Graeme's PR puff, & you make a good point about the word "allegedly". However, choosing terms like "bashing" isn't information, it's polemic.

Watching BBC World, I've been struck at how unruffled – even bland – their newsreaders appear, in comparison to kiwi news. I want to know the…

]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:40:37 +1300 graeme muir https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33989#post33989 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33989#post33989 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:50:34 +1300 Rebecca Williams https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33593#post33593 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33593#post33593 i would have been one on the side of allowing us all to buy fireworks each year ... i've always enjoyed them and have never seen any accidents or other untoward events ...

... until last saturday night. i went to a bbq where no less than four of the…

]]> Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:36:45 +1300 Chockasunday https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33583#post33583 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33583#post33583 Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:25:44 +1300 Jeremy Andrew https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33426#post33426 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33426#post33426

PS Did anyone else have strange "don't go there" visions when Craig R wrote this

"And anyone who screws with my pussy is asking for a world of hurt — don't care how you do it."

Yup, but I didn't go there...

]]> Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:22:56 +1300 insider outsider https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33419#post33419 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33419#post33419 Ok so what are we going to ban next?

Hell the police have to work really hard on Labour weekend because of all those drivers, so let's ban that. Even better, ban new years eve because they have to work even harder then, and sometimes people even get in fights…

]]> Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:14:13 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33329#post33329 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33329#post33329

So do any other countries control fireworks quite as much as we do?

Wikipedia has a run down.

Interestingly, the UK bans fireworks being let off between 11pm and 7am, except on certain celebratory nights.

And it also looks like New Zealand is the only country outside of the UK…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:03:51 +1300 Michael Fitzgerald https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33326#post33326 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33326#post33326 Get a firearms licence and train in making your own. I was wanting to do the course myself.
The govt have only banned the sale not DIY. Then get to know the various communities who rightly love fire works and hire yourself out to those who don't use fire works…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:57:43 +1300 Jackie Clark https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33322#post33322 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33322#post33322 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:52:23 +1300 Joshua Drummond https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33302#post33302 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33302#post33302 Woop, mea culpa. The public displays definitely have a resounding crumpiness to them.
I'm afraid I just picked on your post as evidencing a "ban" mindset and had a little knee-jerk moment. Forgiveness, please!

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:22:35 +1300 Rob Hosking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33300#post33300 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33300#post33300 Joshua,

I wasn't arguing for a ban, actually..I'd feel very hypocritical if I were to do that, and besides, I'm jsut not keen on bans.....just saying they seem louder. And I'm at the age when almost everything else seems quieter, except the music being played by young people...Oh, and car…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:52:16 +1300 Joshua Drummond https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33299#post33299 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33299#post33299

They are louder than they used to be. Living on the south side of Mt Vic, heard a lot of the loud public display and some of the bangs came with that crump of compressed sound. That's new.

Not so. They used to be a great deal louder. Not to…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:36:09 +1300 Neil Smart https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33284#post33284 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33284#post33284

So, who is the 14-year old at TV One who has been writing Simon Dallow's scripts lately? In the past few weeks on the 6pm news there has been a breathlessness coming through more befitting the E! Channel. It is a bit alarming.

But I'm starting to think that's the…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:22:29 +1300 InternationalObserver https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33256#post33256 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33256#post33256 I think we got off lightly this year due to the rain everywhere. I suspect there's a lot of delinquent teens biding their time. Come New Years Eve it'll all be on.

I'm over fireworks and think they should be banned. Living in a high density area you have no…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:18:24 +1300 Gareth Ward https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33249#post33249 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33249#post33249 Well, I keep coming back to this question – don't we have perfectly adequate laws regarding destruction and damage to other people's property, cruelty to animals etc. No, I wouldn't be best pleased if some fucktard threw a sparkler through an open window into my house. But not more or… ]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:53:21 +1300 David Haywood https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33222#post33222 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33222#post33222 Ben Austin wrote:

So do any other countries control fireworks quite as much as we do? I've been scanning the papers here and have yet to see the kind of deep, bipartisan coverage we enjoy back home re the issue.

There are much stronger restrictions on fireworks in some states…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:01:29 +1300 Ben Austin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33219#post33219 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33219#post33219 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:46:22 +1300 Rob Hosking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33216#post33216 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33216#post33216 Done some dumb things with fireworks myself in my time, (blogged on it recently) so I'm sort of writing off as karma the fact they kept me awake on Monday night.

They are louder than they used to be. Living on the south side of Mt Vic, heard a lot…

]]> Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:14:16 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33178#post33178 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33178#post33178 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:44:22 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33175#post33175 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33175#post33175

I've seen some crazy shit over the years, including the guys from the local kebab shop who were standing out on the footpath letting off fireworks held in their hands, WTF.

If you can draft legislation to ban morons (or at least put them in some gulag on White Island)…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:29:02 +1300 Rich of Observationz https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33174#post33174 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33174#post33174 Well, as InternationalObserver points out, as of yesterday morning, and I haven't checked further, the majority of reported firework accidents were at public displays and the remainder were all due to product failure.

I analysed the incidents reported in a typically biased Herald article here. The only obvious dumbass accident…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:23:17 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33173#post33173 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33173#post33173

Even without the Khandahar analogy, it was a silly thing for Clark to say. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the issue's safety, and not an important person's right to read the New Statesman in peace ...

And very surprised to hear her on Close Up saying the…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:21:17 +1300 InternationalObserver https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33172#post33172 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33172#post33172 They were stopped by Police and taken back to the safety shoulder of the Motorway. A Police Officer then offered to drop the couple off at their home as they lived nearby. Before the couple reached their home a female Officer was allegedly assaulted and the couple ran… ]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:16:40 +1300 3410 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33168#post33168 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33168#post33168

Their lead story was viewer video of an accident at a 'Fireworks Display'

The TV3 website's "transcript" quotes a Mr. Maka Nuhisifa thus:

"You had to be there to see the fear," says a crying Maka Nuhisifa. "It was it terrifying... you had to be there... it was like something…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:32:07 +1300 81stcolumn https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33155#post33155 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33155#post33155 Guy Faulkes ? ]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:51:45 +1300 Jeremy Andrew https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33152#post33152 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33152#post33152

The firework thing is another branch of that maturity thing – the dividing line comes when you stop collecting notices from noise control officers and start phoning noise control...

Sounds like one of those "three stages of man" things – you know:
1) You believe in Santa
2) You don't…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:44:48 +1300 Keith Ng https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33151#post33151 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33151#post33151 Also in the news (top story, in fact):

Don't take cake from strangers.

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:39:39 +1300 Rob Hosking https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33148#post33148 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33148#post33148 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:34:59 +1300 InternationalObserver https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33141#post33141 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33141#post33141

I live up the hill from Helen Clark...

Don't diminish yourself. It's NOT called Eden Hill but Mount Eden! It's a small mountain!!

And since Graeme brought up TV News Bollocks, let me highlight this failure by TV3 on Sunday night to even cover the basics from Journalism 101.

Their lead…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:08:43 +1300 Kyle Matthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33124#post33124 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33124#post33124

Is this true? – so does that mean, hypothetically speaking of course, that if *someone I know* likes to host gatherings and socialise in the backyard around a glowing brazier, that person is actually breaking some by-law? Just curious.

I think lighting fires in public places has been banned in…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:36:42 +1300 Jeremy Andrew https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33122#post33122 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33122#post33122 I too enjoyed the shortened selling period. But some inconsiderate sods over our back fence decided to celebrate on the official date until well after midnight. I don't mind so much on the weekend, but when you've got work in the morning.
It was exacerbated by the way fireworks have…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:33:09 +1300 Heather Gaye https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33120#post33120 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33120#post33120

last night I caught a glimpse of Eden Valley and the suburbs of Auckland stretching out west, and there were all these pretty bursts of fireworks.

Same, I sat on my stairs for half an hour & watched all the skyrockets out west. It was really cool. I also noticed that…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:18:20 +1300 Gareth Ward https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33119#post33119 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33119#post33119 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:13:22 +1300 Gareth Ward https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33118#post33118 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33118#post33118

but I think the issue's safety, and not an important person's right to read the New Statesman in peace ...

HEY-O!


As always, this kind of debate comes down to the drawing of the line between funtimes and the externalities of harm to others. I've always put fireworks on the…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:12:13 +1300 Robyn Gallagher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33116#post33116 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33116#post33116 I live up the hill from Helen Clark, and every year the week around Guy Fawkes is filled with those darn kids and their fireworks. They go up Mt Eden and let them off, and the bangs echo around the valley.

I've seen some crazy shit over the years, including…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:07:47 +1300 Richard Llewellyn https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33112#post33112 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33112#post33112

But I love Guy Fawkes with all the noise and skyrockets and I still think it was sad day when we — “they” actually — banned bonfires.

Is this true? – so does that mean, hypothetically speaking of course, that if *someone I know* likes to host gatherings and socialise…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:54:46 +1300 Russell Brown https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33108#post33108 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33108#post33108 And I'm sure we probably annoyed the neighbours a bit last night, but not beyond a reasonable hour. I fancied that the fireworks were very good this year, although the big expensive ones didn't seem any better than the more modest ones.

Even without the Khandahar analogy, it was a…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:28:31 +1300 Rich of Observationz https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33096#post33096 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33096#post33096 They banned bonfires? I thought people just didn't have them coz it's too warm in an NZ November to want to stand around a fire?

I come from near Chiddingfold, Surrey, UK. When the cops tried to stop a bonfire celebration there in 1929, they nearly got thrown on it.…

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:50:11 +1300 Public Address https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33095#post33095 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/random-play-the-age-of-reason/?p=33095#post33095 Discussion from blog post.

]]> Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:50:09 +1300