Posts by Robyn Gallagher
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People are talking about the porno movies that Jones watched in his hotel room. But no one's picked up on something much more shameful than that - Toberlone.
Really, Shane Jones? Toblerone? Alone and bored in a hotel room, you chose a bar of Toberlone?
No one likes Toblerone, that hard, triangular chocolate that only seems to exist in duty free shops, hotel minibars and goodie bags.
Shame on you, Shane Jones. Next time go down to the local supermarket and get some Whittakers.
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And never ever tell a taxi driver.
Every time I've told a taxi driver where I work, I get a look of glee and "So what's Paul Henry really like?" And I have to explain that they've got their telly mixed up. Never fails to disappoint and bewilder.
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The NZ Herald quotes Paul Henry saying, "It all added up. There was a website, he'd put out press releases and then there was the newspaper story. He'd gone to more lengths than most people would."
So I took a look at the website, commercialwhaling.co.nz. While it has its own domain name, the site itself is a WordPress blog using the default WordPress theme.
There are only two entries, the oldest from mid-April, and the site claims to be "under repair". So that's already looking suspicious to me.
I also would wonder why a pressure group had a .co.nz domain name instead of .org.nz.
Running a whois on the domain name, the domain is registered to Jay Pryor, but with a contact email of radiorocco@gmail.com. And a quick google reveals that @radiorocco is the (unused) Twitter account of Guy Williams.
Investigation time? No more than 10 minutes, I reckon.
Maybe I should go into business as a consultant doing Interwebs 101 For Journalists training.
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The trouble with quoting dialogue from films is most people can't do it with the talent of the original actors.
I avoided Monty Python for years when all I'd heard was geeks saying stuff like "He's not the messiah!!! He's a very naughty boy!!!! lolz".
It turns out when the lines are delivered by professional comedy actors and not by snickering geeks, they're actually genuinely funny.
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Whereas the old licence fee was about $25 per year, I recall, for everything.
It was closer to $100 just before it was abolished.
(Annoyingly the relevant legislation isn't available online to check.)
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This hooha around the Cuba Street Carnival is very interesting. It very much seems that the decision to not go ahead with the carnival has been made by the carnival organisers itself.
For whatever reason, the carnival organisers decided they needed more than twice the amount of money from the council that they had in previous years. The reaction to not hold the carnival is an extreme reaction, a bit "Yeah? Well, since you're not going to give us the money we want, we won't have a carnival. So there."
If $200,000 isn't enough any more to throw the unusual carnival extravaganza, why not scale it back a bit?
Very curious.
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We got a VCR when I was about 5. It had a remote (attached by a cable).
That reminds me of our first VCR. It was a Beta - higher quality, you see.
It had a pause button on a cable, but not other remote controls. I remember when you paused it, it gave a really crisp click - like there were some serious mechanical operation going on in there, possibly steam powered.
But I still recorded songs off Ready To Roll by holding a tape recorder up to the TV speaker and telling everyone else to BE QUIET.
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I am off to pitch this show - it's going to be great! Just think about it.
Here are the opening teases for Boarder Patrol...
Tonight on Boarder Patrol:
- Mrs Watkins has words with Tony. "I know I said you could help yourself to the Weetbix, but half a box a day is too much!"
- The Williamsons face a tough decision. "We're actually thinking of putting Pam's overlocker on Trade Me and getting a boarder in the sewing room."
- And Dave faces his future. "It's been great staying with Noelene, but I probably will not be able to find a partner unless I have a place of my own."
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Books do lots of things. Television doesn't. It asks nothing of you except that you not think.
But what if one refuses to not think?
When I watch television, I get involved. I'll pause to study a particular shot, rewind to relive a moment.
Telelvision - both highbrow and trashy - gets me googling, sends me off to the library, gets me outside.
If television is meant to be intellectually unengaging, then maybe I'm doing it wrong. But this is the way I enjoy television and learn from it and get extra depth and value.
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So what do we all think of Coronation Street's new titles and -- gasp! -- re-recorded theme tune?
Completely outrageous - the jaunty undertones of the music and spots of bright colours in the scenes imply that life is worth living and that one needn't slit one's wrists.
Even the ginger cat seems to be coming down from the roof and join in the fun down in Weatherfield. They're probably having a street party.