Posts by Jeremy Andrew
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OK, I've missed something somewhere... What is FOB? I thought it was Fall Out Boy, but although I can see calling someone after a vaguely emo band could be insulting, I wouldn't have called it racist...
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By one of those cosmic coincidences, I had a marketer call from the Herald while I was cooking dinner tonight. Apparently if I sign up now I can get it delivered at home half price for a year. I told her "no thanks, I read it online".
I've done my bit to save a few trees today, how about you? -
I'd also note that "Chinese" as we use it in New Zealand is an umbrella term, referring to one or more of nationality, culture, language and ethnicity
Which has changed and is changing with more exposure to Chinese and Asian people and culture.
As far as my mother-in law is concerned, anyone from Mongolia to Indonesia and across to Myanmar is "Chinee". She's old school.
Kiwis of my generation are more likely to be able to distinguish Korean from Chinese, from Malaysian, from Thai, etc. If only by the food.My kids will be even more globalised, their school has more Korean kids than Maori, my youngest's best mates are boy from Pakistan, one from somewhere middle-eastern (I'm guessing northern middle-east, but I don't know - but we now know more about halal food than we used to - McD's ice-cream bad, but Wendy's is OK), a french kid and I think a kiwi lad as well.
We inherit a lot of baggage from our parents' generation as kids, then as we grow up, we either settle into the same ruts, or we compare that knowledge with what we find in the world, and build ourselves a new set of baggage to pass onto our kids. Hopefully a lighter set of luggage.
When I was at primary school 'Arab' was an abstract concept involving deserts & camels. 'Jew' was a derogatory term for someone who kept wanting a bit of your lunch. 'Chinese' was very exotic, and referred to sweet & sour wontons and chop suey.
Over time I worked out that Arabia hasn't been a country for a long time, but the region has a much longer history of civilisation than anywhere my ancestors have called home. I had several friends who after a while turned out to be Jewish, and bore no resemblance at all to Shylock or whatsisname from Oliver Twist. I met plenty of Chinese students at high school and Uni, both fresh off the plane and first gen (spent a nice few days canoeing down the Wanganui River with one, which his parents didn't quite see the point of when he should have been studying, of course I couldn't see the point of all that studying when he was already dux).Long story short, kids are dumb, but they can learn.
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Curious. You really think so?
I'd agree, but not quite so broadly. The more you get your news from the internet, the more stories you see on the Herald (& Stuff) that are just lifted verbatim from the wires. If NZH was to only use locally generated material, it would be an awfully anorexic publication.
OTOH the locally generated stuff, particularly those with the writers mugshot next to the piece, are much more likely to relate to the perceived 'Herald viewpoint'. Or the other way around, the perceived herald viewpoint is defined by the writers who have their names in big letters. -
Wonder if I can get refund on my ticket for 114Kph along that there Desert Road. The cop seemed slightly embarrassed to have to give me a ticket on a lovely clear afternoon on a fairly deserted, flat, straight stretch of highway.
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I'm with Stephen & Heather, when I was growing up in Tokoroa you didn't call someone a coconut because they acted like a palangi.
Actually you didn't call someone a coconut full-stop if you wanted to keep all your teeth.
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I was watching Not The Nine O'Clock News on DVD the other day, and I noticed how long the sketches seemed to be. No screaming rush to get to the punchline.
Attention spans were obviously longer in those days. -
Ben, I've seen a couple of mauled toddler stories on the beeb feeds lately.
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does that involve a dip in the harbour in your undies at 3am? Or is that something else...
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Is that the ad that pops up over the top of the article you're trying to read? If so I only look at it long enough to find the x to kill it. Lucky for them they don't have their band displayed where I notice it, otherwise the advertiser would be on my shit list as well as the site that allows that kind of crap.
I alternate between Stuff & NZH, Stuff seems to load more slowly, but I can flick between tabs to fill in the wait. If obnoxious popover ads become more prevalent, I'd be quite happy to avoid the site, or install ad-blocker software.
Note to advertisers, and sites carrying ads - obnoxious and annoying ads might get a few extra clicks here & there, but create a negative brand image for many more potential customers than you'd gain. I prefer the image of the Herald as a reliable source of news, not as looking like some dodgy warez site.