Thursday 30 June 2011

OF BOOKS AND BLOGS


The debate over the publication of a "tell all " book by the mother of the Kahui twins Macsyna has been interesting to watch.

I would not buy it - That's my decision to make.

I write a blog - its about my thoughts and it pisses some people off but I dont care if people read it or not. Thats their choice.

Someone can put up a facebook page and say that the retailers should not sell the book. That's their right too. And its the right of Booksellers to stock it or not.

Everyone can say what they think, say what they want to, say what they believe and say what they want people to believe.

Just as its everyone's right to think and read what they want.

That's a basic tenet of our NZ society.

The social media machine is the modern day equivalent of the persecutions of the witches of Salem.

And its up to us all to ensure that just because the platform for communication is a huge machine that can sow the seeds of discontent in a nanosecondm that we should not worship it and everything that it germinates. And what it germinates is a weed that induces an online form of mass hysteria.

We need to hold fast to our values. As individuals we are strong enough to make choices. And the less we are driven by our heads and hearts to make those decisions and the more we listen to the machine the weaker our society will become.

So we will not buy the book. But that's because our heart says its not the story we want to read. And not because of some "page" on an internet site.

Monday 27 June 2011

WHO IS WATCHING THE WATCHER??


Its all a bit dododododo Twilight Zone but what would you expect in election year.

However it seems we have made the list of "monitored" right wing blogs.

No one on the Right would bother "monitoring" the left wing blogs - they are too boring.

Funny thing is its called the Jackal. An ugly dog called a dingo in Aussie. Or a left wing fanaticist who murdered for islam extremists and communists.

And remember the real Jackals are crepuscular - They hunt under the shadow of darkness - how very socialist...



THE JUICE ON CACTUS


We are delighted our mate Cactus has started on that tough journey to become an MP for ACT.

We first got to know Cactus when we started blogging prior to the last election. Her ascerbic wit and clean writing appealed to us as did her ability to articulate difficult issues and she was also well connected despite living off shore.

She has a huge intellect and to her friends she is loyal beyond measure. However, even her best mates and people she actually likes are not spared her opinions. It just goes with the Cactus package.

We first met her at a MP's house, who was later to become a Minister, the day after the last election.

We have been mates ever since and in one way or the other communicate every day or so.

Cactus is very rightish on all issues but to count her as heartless is to do her a considerable diservice.

She is actually a very kind, generous young woman (the shadow of 40 has yet to fall on her) and her largesse extends to those who find themselves in shitty situations through no fault of their own.

And those on the left who think she is racist are just silly. She has no time for people who lack ambition or don't make an effort to support themselves. Her opinions are not based on race - she simply has no time for people who suck off the public tit. She has no time for Maori leaders who foster a grievance mentality and welfare dependence.

She enjoys political debate and she has given some of my union and Maori mates plenty of lip without fear . She genuinely likes them as people , enjoys their company but she just makes it very clear that their philosophies are shit.

So we think that she will make a bloody good MP. Her problem will be boredom. The pace in parliament is mind numbingly slow if you are not a Minister. She would need to be given some big projects and as David Farrar says - there is no - one more suited to sorting out the financial and tax sector than Cactus.

ACT has a big opportunity to win some public respect by putting forward some candidates that will resonate with the public. The younger members of ACT - who make up a strong core of the party machinery would be keen to see Cactus take her place on the hill.

Older members have considerable admiration for her intellect she is a confidente of many member of the Business Round Table and many top media commentators and journalists.

So we ask the ACT board and its members - choose wisely and you will see the party grow again.

Choose only men and really odd women like Hillary Calvert and you wont.


Sunday 26 June 2011

NOPE HOLD THAT THOUGHT - ALASDAIR THOMPSON IS A DICK


Okay he is a dick. This story in the Herald on Sunday will be his final undoing. What a big swinging dick - wanker.
We got it wrong yesterday.
But its not sexism that has been his undoing its the one thing that always undoes men and for that matter - arrogance. Blinds the powerful to reason and and good sense more than any other vice.

It will be very interesting to see who the EMA (northern) replace him with and when they replace him they should do something about their website- its a dogs breakfast.

But it does not excuse Campbell Live for its shameful reporting of this matter. No doubt they will use these latest revelations as a justification for what they did to Thompson in the Forbes interview.



Saturday 25 June 2011

WE OWE ALASDAIR THOMPSON APOLOGY AND SO DOES NZ


Someone suggested we take a look at the full TV3 interview between Alasdair Thompson and Mihi Forbes.


We did - it will shock you .

This is not ethical journalism - it shows bias and possibly malice and does not present the issue in a fair and balanced way. What TV3 did on Campbell live was shameful. It edited out the rational response of Thompson in the early part of the interview, which frankly shows he is an advocate for women.
Brian Edwards has rightly damned Campbell Live as practitioners of dishonest journalism.

We hope that Thompson takes them to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

Its the sort of gutter tactics we have come to expect from Campbell Live.



ROY WAS DUMPED


Heather Roy has gone hard out today to try and convince the country that she is quitting politics on her own terms. This is predictable behaviour from a woman who has always put herself before the party.

Thing is, Roy did not quit - that's bullshit spin- she was pushed by Brash and it wasn't a gently shoulder tap but a elegant boot up her skinny arse "push."

But Roy has sucked in the media and convinced them that she is leaving on her terms.

The most hilarious part of all this is we are pretty confident that Roy would not have considered leaving until Cactus Kate made it clear she was about to seek party nomination. We bought you that news first on Roarprawn.

That scared the crap out of Roy. Cactus is an intellectual articulate woman of the global village while Roy is a mumsy disloyal fluffy headed bint who wets her pants over soldier boys.

Having Cactus in caucus would have seen Roy reduced to a pile of menopausal detritus in double quick time.

Brash is clearly and rightly moving to strengthen the backbone of the party.

So there is no room for a spare ribs of no effect like Roy and that other seriously odd ginga Hillary Calvert. We are expecting Calvert will also announce that she would rather be back in Dunedin buying up more properties for the local sex trade soon.

Go Cactus - Your Country needs you.

Thursday 23 June 2011

FOR ALASDAIR THOMPSON



We reckon that there is truth in what Alasdair Thompson says - the modern workplace is very accomodating to women - as it should be but lets face it - we aint that flash to be around for a couple of days a month. And for some women the physical agony of the monthly curse does see some take sick leave.

It probably up there with Manflu for common reasons given for taking sick leave.

Thompsons career is in tatters - but the PR idiot who let him do those dreadful TV interviews tonight needs to be tied to a kauri stump so good women can chuck tampons at him.

Sad really - by all accounts Thompson is one of the good guys.

Friday 17 June 2011

CHANNELLING TAMMY FAYE BAKKER




















What has probably passed a lot of people by is the absolute dismay of some Hone Harawira supporters after their leader fronted up to the Destiny Church God bothering session for Maori politicians. Two of his strongest blogging supporters were gobsmacked to say the least. It appears that Hone has tried to justify his apparent support of Destiny but its not washing with them.

Now we have seen Destiny make an assault on one of the great Maori institutiuons the Maori Womens Welfare League.

We wonder what Hone has to say about that????

And lordy be - doesn't Mrs Tamaki look for all the world like she is a sista to that freaky fickle rip off femme Mrs Tammy Faye Bakker?

The Tamaki's are religious mudguards - all shiny on top and shit underneath just like the Bakkers were.









THE GREAT BALLSY BISCUIT MYSTERY


It seems that the prep for the Rugby World Cup is really underway.. But here is an interesting story in the Southland Times from the Deep South. A great Southland Institution - Kayes Kitchen is producing what will be yummy rugby ball bikkies - but they cant say for who... So we have a mystery. Pass it on.

ITS A COUNTRY KINDA MORNING



For Floyd

KELVIN DAVIS ENDORSED BY HONE


Our Hone - not the whingy whiny Hone - Hone Key.

John Key reckons that Kelvin Davis will win Te Tai Tokerau. And he will. We have no doubt that National will have been polling the crap out of the electorate and already know what way the cards will fall.

And we think that the Maori Party deliberately put up Solomon Tipene so that the focus would be on a two horse race.
We also expect in the final few days that Solomon will concede and tell his supporters to put their votes firmly in behind Davis.

Dover Samuels also makes a good suggestion and one that has in some part been actioned - and that is that the National party Maori supporters should be asked to vote Kelvin. Keys proclaimation on the likely outcome of Te Tai Tokerau goes part way to addressing that and Dover also underestimates something else - right leaning voters are smart - they will vote strategically as a matter of course.

And why do we think that Northern voters should vote Kelvin Davis? We he is simply the most exciting Maori MP Labour has in its ranks for decades. He is Ministerial material.

New Zealand washed away the political stain that was Winston Peters at the last election - We are confident that Maori in the Far North will see that by supporting Kelvin Davis they will have a better future - With Hone all they will get is a reminder of a bitter past.


Thursday 16 June 2011

THE REALITY IS


Woo. Gillard is an odd fish... so like Clark


JULIA GILLARD INTERVIEW ................







TV: “Before we start, as we stand here on Thursday afternoon, do you accept that tomorrow will be Friday?”


PM: “We have always supported the standard structure of the calendar and acknowledge that the public expect a regular system that provides the rhythm necessary for everyday planning and life structures. We feel very strongly about this.”

TV: “So you do agree that tomorrow is Friday?”


PM: “It isn’t important whether it is Friday or Monday. What is important is that unexpected changes don’t interfere with the normal expectations of the public - and this government has a solid record in supporting those expectations.”


TV: “But as today is Thursday, surely you can confirm that tomorrow is Friday?”


PM: “Everything is relative and whether the next day is Wednesday or Sunday is dependent on where you stand at the time. We have never challenged the current system and have the full support of the unions on this. Most intelligent people agree that changes are not required.”


TV: “Well then, what day is tomorrow?”


PM: “Tomorrow is the next day in our plan to further develop our marvelous country in many areas. We plan to continue providing better health care, reduced debt, reduced unemployment, controlled immigration and to be a world leader in controlling global warming.”


TV: “Returning to the question, can you not confirm that Friday is tomorrow?”

PM: “Friday is always around. It has been around many times before and will be around again many more times. Which is why we need - as a responsible government - to plan and organise for the future. Not just for tomorrow, but for our children and their children.

TV: “Prime Minister, the viewers are waiting for your answer on what day you think tomorrow is?”

PM: “We are dealing with bigger issues here. The Friday, Saturday, Sunday thing is not important or relevant to the scheme of things. They need to understand the critical issues and focus on the matters of concern, such as the condition of our nation and how we can continue to develop it so that all may reap the benefit.”

TV: “I’m sorry, we seem to have lost the point here again. Are you saying that it isn’t Friday tomorrow?”

PM: “The reality is that it is not important what day it is. What is important is how we handle the situation - and my government is handling it with solid policies evolved from the mandate the people gave us.”

TV: “But we just want to know if you agree that it will be Friday tomorrow?”

PM: “Let’s remain focused here. It is the nation that is important and we stand fast and rock steady in our dedication to the job in hand In closing, let me say this one more time – we are fully committed to the task and have commissioned a report that will enable us to develop the plans for the future. Thank you.”

TV: “Prime Minister .......??”

Wednesday 15 June 2011

IPREDICT ADDICTION


We now know why we haven't traded shares since the crash of 87 when we pretty much lost our shirt.

We have spent $40 on Ipredict - took us a bit to get how it worked but now we are fine.. Its a marketers wet dream.

At the moment all our attention is on the race for Te Tai Tokerau which we think Kelvin Davis will win.

And the stocks are climbing all the time.

Due in large part to some people finally realising that Hone's support does not run that deep and most Maori in the Far North are sensible enough to see that he is not the man to take them to the promised land.

In contrast Labours Kelvin Davis might be a bit pink for a Maori but he is by all accounts a very well respected bloke.

We are definitely not in the minority in thinking that Hone is toast.

So we think that Ipredict is easy money.







Tuesday 14 June 2011

HONE THE EGG


Yip. thats our prediction. We have consistently said that Hone's problem in the North is that is supporters are of the all Hat no Horse ilk. In other words they are the most moany groany, pack of whingy whiny, look back, look down, blame everyone else, take no responsibility - bunch of losers on the planet.

They might like Hone but they wont get out of bed to vote for him. On the other hand Kelvin Davis inspires. So people will go out of their way to support him.

We said to a well known commentator a while back that Hone was like a free range egg. Everyone says they eat them but the Egg industry sells more battery eggs. People lie.

In the North its fashionable to be Hone hugger. But that does not translate to actually making an effort to vote .

So our prediction ? Kelvin will win the seat. The Egg is showing his crack.



Monday 13 June 2011

RANKIN IS CRANKIN


Well well. It seems that outspoken Maori and media slut David Rankin has some supporters on his home turf.

Rankin hit the headlines the other day for doing a slam dunk on an issue that has itched us for a long time - that the King of Tainui had somehow morphed into the Maori King.

So today we see that his own iwi agree that Rankin can be abrasive but that he speaks the truth and is reflective of a larger body of opinion within the tribe. And that from no less than Sonny Tau.

"Let's not pussyfoot around. Ngapuhi has never been part of the Kingitanga. I don't think what he said was wrong. It was the way he said it.

"I sit back and giggle to myself sometimes - he's got balls the size of moa eggs."

For his part, Mr Rankin says he isn't going to change his "shock and awe" method.

"I realise that the media is our new marae. There are 126,000 Ngapuhi. If I was to call a meeting at my marae there'd be 50 people.

"People say Ngapuhi are wild but in reality we want everyone else to put their point of view across. This has started debate.

"Who is critiquing Maori society today? Nobody. You have to have debate otherwise you may as well be Pakehas."


Ngai Tahu have never had much love for Nga Puhi - something to do with them cuddling Te Rauparaha - Ngai Tahu's sworn enemy but today we want to tautoko Sonny. What he has done by publicly supporting Rankin is open up the way for some unedited, reasoned and forthright debate on some important issues facing Maori.

We expect that level of support will see Rankin develop bigger balls. And from a girly point of view he aint bad lookin either.

Let the korero begin.


THE SNOBBERY OF DEATH

When my son was about 16 - the town of Invercargill went through a time of great soul searching. Young people, who had promising futures were killing themselves. As a reporter at the time we wondered and worried about the dilemma of reporting it.

One of the young men who killed himself was a very close mate of my son. He walked in and out of our home anytime he felt like it. He was extremely bright and came from a well heeled family.

My son had left school to go fishing. He was running with a fast crowd who dabbled in all the dark arts on offer and his mates had the money to experiment with every substance on offer.

His mate was in that crowd.

While my son was away fishing the young fella called and asked to talk to him , I explained that he was fishing and wouldn't be back for a couple of days.

The next day he killed himself. He was so intent on killing himself that when the branch of the tree broke on his first attempt - he just found a stronger branch. The funeral was one of the most bizarre I have ever been to. His suicide letter was read out and he blamed his mates for not being there for him.

My son was distraught at his death but thankfully he was very very angry. At the time I didn't realise that his was a good emotional response.
He could not believe that his mate had been stupid enough to kill himself.

To this day I am convinced drugs played a part in his death.

We talked long and often over the following weeks and my son was adamant that for him suicide was not worth considering. He considered it a cowards option.
And for him life was tough but good.
In the wake of that suicide there were others. And they were all linked. The highly emotional state of some teenagers is fertile ground for self loathing and a warped sense of hopelessness.

The paper wrote about the deaths and talked to the experts and the parents about the deaths. The signs to look for. I think it helped. We didn't over dramatise it or the deaths - just focused on the issue.

So now we have a "spate" of suicides in Kings College and there is much wringing of hands.


This is a far more disturbing trend. But they are brown and they are poor. And you would think judging by the public and media reaction to their deaths compared to the deaths of the Kings College students that they don't matter at all.




Sunday 12 June 2011

The Trouble With Oranges



I have a lease on an orange orchard in southern Lebanon, about 25km from the Golan Heights. The lease is held in partnership with a Palestinian refugee who is one of Ramallah’s representatives for Palestinians to the Lebanese government. He describes himself as “un-factioned”. In fact he has a long time association with US approved Fatah. I think the US approval really only springs from a favourable comparison to Hamas.

People here often seem to be confused about Hamas and Hizbollah. Hamas controls the Palestinian Parliament and governs the Gaza Strip from behind a wall that Israel built. The US and Israel classify Hamas as a terrorist organisation, the UN does not. Unsurprisingly, Palestinians are a bit upset about the wall. It reduces Gaza to a ghetto comparable to the Warsaw ghetto. The Warsaw ghetto existed behind a wall that the Nazis built. Palestinians aligned with Hamas fire primitive rockets and homemade bombs at Israel from behind the wall. Israel strikes Gaza with some of the most sophisticated weaponry in existence today. Israel’s military is US backed and funded. Surgical strike technology notwithstanding, Palestinian casualties vastly outnumber Isreal's. It’s an entirely unsatisfactory situation, given that dead is dead regardless of your ethnicity, political loyalties or religion.

The Sunni and Shia branches of Islam are analogous to Roman Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity. Sunni and Shia have been known to get a bit fractious with one another through history, as have Catholics and Protestants. Most Palestinians are Sunni. Hizbollah is Shia. It finds its support from Iran and Syria. Iran is predominantly Shia. Syria's government is Shia dominated. The Sunni - Shia juxtaposition is not a specific problem in Lebanon, but it all adds to the tapestry and tension in the region.

Hizbollah is classified as a terrorist organisation by the US and Israel. That is not an opinion universally held. They hold democratic elections in Lebanon. Hezbollah and its allies hold 57 seats in Lebanon's 128 seat parliament. But, Hizbollah’s existence in Lebanon was Israel’s excuse for its invasion and veritable flattening of Lebanon in 2006. I say flattening because they took out most major infrastructure: roads, bridges, telecommunications - and the irrigation to my oranges. The Refugee and me lost 127 young trees. Remarkably in the circumstances, he managed to pay back most of the capital in the years since then. The lease will be sold later this year and I expect the small remaining amount will be paid back along with some capital gain. It was a business deal done on a handshake. It’s turned out quite well, especially when compared to some of my friend’s investments during that period, in Bridgecorp and the like.

The popular protests that have spread across the Middle East have reached Syria. At the moment, the Refugee can’t get our oranges across the Syrian border and through to Dubai where they are supposed to be sold. It’s a problem but he’ll find a way or another market. He always does. Resourceful people, Palestinians. I saw the Queen on TV visiting Ireland. Isn’t it amazing how things can turn around? Catholic France and protestant England were at war for most of the period between 1688 and 1815. They seem to get on pretty well now. They tunnelled through. I hope the Refugee and my oranges make it.

Friday 10 June 2011

NOW IS THE TIME - ACT


After we posted on the woeful Hillary Calvert last night - the phone started to go off.

It appears that deep within in ACT there is a realisation of an urgent need to revitalise the Party list.

Hillary Calvert is likely to disappear as it has already be decided she is too much of a liability. And it seems, that Heather Roy is likely to be asked to consider stepping aside for someone with more intellectual grunt and political nouse.

So the big news is Cactus Kate has been asked to become an ACT candidate.. And despite her being particularly hard to pin down as she swans around the world she did concede she would rule nothing out. In fact her first words when we asked her if it was true was

" How did you know wench?"

We just told her that our deep throat was bigger than her deep throat.

We would have to admit that her grey matter was awash in bubbles at the time and apparently she was smack dab in the middle of some Pacific Hunkfest which would account for the lack of sophistication of her answer to our political probe.

We also know that she has been considering, due to her advancing years and growing bank balance, that she needs to put down roots - not dud roots - real roots. Like buy a house or at least an apartment.

She has only just left New Zealand on a very low key visit but we know that she spent an awful lot of quality time with some key ACT decision makers and is due back again soon

So we hope that ACT pushes her hard to accept- she will increase the current intellectual depth of the party 10 fold.

If she gets to be an MP then we reckon you will see packed houses for question time.

And she will scare the bejeesus out of Key.


Thursday 9 June 2011

BARMY BINT NEEDS BOOT - ACT NOW.


























We have been living in fear and trepidation of telling Cactus Kate about Wednesday's Backbenches show.

It was a cringefest due to the mind bogglingly odd and inappropriate Hilary Calvert. There is nothing to commend this woman - someone has bent her social acceptability radar around her red curly bangs.

We breed chooks - for eggs and to eat. But until the moment of dispatch they live in a hen Hilton and have the run of the place. We understand that there is a need for intensively produced eggs and that there are good and bad points to all egg and broiler raising operations including free range and organic. A good battery operation is not a bad in the scheme of things - a bad one is well pardon the pun - fowl. We have seen both.

Calvert was crass, arrogant and just plain scary as she went on and on about chickens and cages and killing them.

But after Backbenches last night there is only one chook who should be looked up in a cage and its Hillary Calvert - and frankly it wold be no loss if someone chopped her head off as there appears to be little in it anyway.

-Now back to Cactus - as we said we didnt know how to tell her that yet another ACT member was shaping up to be a dud.

We didnt need to worry - she watched the show online and if you think I'm disgusted - read her comments.

We dont think Hilary Calvert will make the cut on the ACT list. And we dont think that will ruffle many feathers - apart from the headless Gallus herself.

EXCELLENT SERVICE FROM KIWIRAIL


We were feeling very stupid yesterday - somewhere in the meelee of the day we managed to flip our monthly train pass out of our purse and lose it. We didn't realise we had lost it till we went to retrieve it from our purse on the 4.30 train.

It is $390 and we are only a third of the way thru the month so it was shaping up to be a costly loss.





We had written our name and phone number on the pass so the conductors say they will be keeping an eye out on anyone trying to use my old pass if it comes to light.

The conductors told us what to do to get a new pass.

Firstly check if it was handed in. No it wasn't.

Secondly report the theft to the police - we did - an hour later and we had done that.
Thirdly the decision on a refund required proof of purchase - in this case our darling partner came in handy as he had the reciept and the bank statement and finally a copy of the police file number had to be sent to the retail manager of Kiwirail.

We had his contact details from one of the Kiwirail staff and texted him first.

Then we emailed him when we had all our details sorted.

We had our replacement pass to pick up by about 2pm this afternoon.

Two things did surprise us - the need to get a police statement - but I suppose that is to deter any fraudulent claims. And secondly - I would have been happy to pay - say $25 for the time of the Kiwirail staff to issue a new pass.

So "big ups" to Kiwirail and the conductors who happily guided us through the process.







BLOGGER MUFFLED


Robert Guyton has been given a serve by Environment Southland about blogging. Seems his fellow councillors were a bit miffed about him reporting about issues from an in committee meeting. Fair enough. In committee is used for sound reasons.
We like GuytOns gardening stuff but his lefty piffle is tiresome but we defend his right to blog. Indeed we think that blogging is a good way for councillors to stay in touch with their constituents.



Wednesday 8 June 2011

SAVE THE TANIWHA - STOP THE TUNNEL


Yup - Ngati Whatua and the Maori statutory super council board have served the government up a lovely excuse not to proceed with Len Browns silly folly the Rail Tunnel.

Some Maori still pay hommage to the old gods. So it is not without foundation that they have called for some cultural sensitivity around the the Taniwha issue. Just like catholics believe in the devil Maori believe that spirits reside in Taniwha.

So for once we support the Maori Statutory Board - they are doing God's ( or maybe the Taniwhas) work by ensuring that Browns ludicrous Train goes nowhere.

Puff the Magic Dragon rocks..

SHUDDER THE THOUGHT



We have been enjoying getting back in the saddle after an hiatus of about a decade.

Our new horse Floyd is very entertaining - Some horses lack for personality - not Floyd.

We have gone for some nice rides and Floyd takes a great interest in his surroundings.

We have been for a couple of gallops along the road as well.

It seems we are not the only big chick who rides a horse - Here is a blog devoted to fat chicks who ride horses!

Anyway we have been giggling all afteroon. Our mate the Irish Lass enquired politely how our body bits were coping with riding.

We explained that despite the ample padding on our derriere, that our arse bones were frikking sore and that was a source of great mystery to us.

She explained that, in her opinion, my arse was acting the same way buildings did in the Christchurch earthquake.

That the up and down movements caused a ripple effect of ginormous energy sideways and that meant that the fat was shuddering over my bones...

Yup - my pelvis is the epicentre of all that quaking cellulite I'm sure.

The other odd fascination I have is how we sit on our frilly bits yet after a ride they are still frilly despite the pounding they get after a sitting trot!

We got a mirror out just to check ( in the interests of medical research) and did a before and after and lo and behold apart from a slight plumping all is normal even after an hour in the saddle.

Who needs labiaplasty?

All those worried about how their frilly bits look need to do is head along to the nearest riding school for a half hour sitting trot.

Ah the wonders of the human body.


CLARE WHO THE NEW LEFTY CRUMPET IS


Yesterdays narcissistic turn by Clare "Puss in Boots" Curran to use parliament to show her displeasure at a commercial decision by a sporting franchise was odd.

What was odder was when Curran, dressed in over the knee muskateer boots, black trousers and the offending rugby top was backed up in her stand by one lone member of the Labour caucus. Trevor Mallard.

Or maybe it wasnt so surprising when a few blokes on twitter expressed delight and indeed lusty thoughts for Ms Curran and those boots. A few wished they could see Ms Curran sans shirt and only in "those" boots.

But it is surprising that she was not backed up by any other labour sheilas or indeed any other blokes. After all we thought the Labour movement was all about solidarity.

So we reckon what it shows is that Mallard gallantry means he obviously really, really, really likes Clare and probably loves her in those f**k me boots.





KING OF WISHFUL THINKING


There are as many people who like David Rankin as dont - He must be a thorn in the side of some Nga Puhi.

Today he has pulled a cracker out of the hat. He is claimed that the monarchial creep which has seen the King of Tainui become widely recognised as the Maori King is a crock of shit and a slur on other tribes.

Well, funny thing is that we wrote about just this issue a few weeks back - In all our time skittering around Southern Marae we were left in no doubt that Ngai Tahu were expected to respect the "Queen" ( the Kings mum)as the leader of Tainui but it was drummed into us that she was not our Queen.

So we reckon that Rankin has a good point. Go him.



Tuesday 7 June 2011

CLARE NO TASTE OR MATES?


Clare Curran seems to be as passionate about Otago as we are about Southland. I'm a sixth generation Southlander on one branch of the family tree and 5 generations on the other.

The maroon and blue of the jersey of the amalgamated Otago Southland team was fine by us but the kermit green of the new jumper is sick making and the players are hard to see on the telly.

So we get why Curran wanted to let her feelings be known about the crass verdant hue of the new southern shirt - but why in Parliament? Its not a political issue. Its a rugby franchise issue.

She is an attention seeker at the best of times but Currans latest effort was seriously off the mark.

Suddenly, she turned an inappropriate show of patriotism to a rugby franchise in parliament into a feminist issue over parliamentary dress standards.

Now we think the dress standards in parliament are crap. Its time to move away from the class chokers for men and "business attire" bullshit for women.
But Currans posturing was all about her - not about the team or indeed dress standards.

It was all so bloody stupid and facile. And that fact was recognised by her Labour Party colleagues - not one of them walked the plank with her as she left the chamber.

Which is outstanding really - it means one of three possibilities - the old feminist cabal of Labour has finally lost the battle within the party - or maybe - Clare is simply the most unpopular person in the party or the Labour boys were waiting for her to get her kit off.





Monday 6 June 2011

AIRNZ FACEBOOK DEAL CRASH LANDS


We saw a deal from Airnz via facebook a couple of days ago - its was touted as a fantastic deal that would only be accessed via a FB page for on hour on june 6
so we duly, along with thousands of others clicked at 7pm and the site crashed. then as Airnz scrambled to fix the problem they gave everyone the wrong code to access the deal. By all accounts ( we never managed to access it ) the deal was not that great anyway.
Al that would have been bad but the amazing thing was how fast people went feral.

This is known in the NZ Blogger world as a SMOG - Social media own goal.

Tens of thousands of people were seriously pissed off - pissed off to create an anti Airnz facebook page (450 followers in the half hour following the close of the deal) - and two tui billboards..

Will be interesting to see what AirNZ does to clean this mess up - also shows what an ugly beast social media can be. Its a cheetah on P.

GOOD FOOD SPOILT BY BAD SERVICE


We had a bit of a tiki tour yesterday - down the the West side of Lake Ferry and then finishing up at the Lake Ferry Hotel. Now the last time we were there was about 2 Christmases ago. We waited for an hour for service then. When the food arrived it was good - really good pub grub. Fish and Chips, burgers and flounders.

It was obvious 2 years ago that the place was quickly overwhelmed when there were too many people.

So fast forward 2 years. There was just two of us. The Restaurant was pretty full as was the bar. But as we arrived at 1pm , we could see that quite a few people were leaving.

So the Rock sat down at a vacated table and we did the ordering.

We asked for some garlic bread, just in case the service was a bit slow. And fish and chips and a beef pie. We orderd the "Lake Ferry Sauvignon" - the only wine they had by the glass and a ginger beer.
And we sat down and waited, and waited and waited. After about half an hour we asked if our food would be anytime soon an were told it would be 10 minutes- it was 20.

We never saw the garlic bread and we never saw a waitress to clean down the table. While we were not hugely grumpy - others in the restaurant were.

When the food arrived we had a giggle. the beef pies came out first.. to about 3 different tables then the fish and chips - five minutes later to the same three tables.
the fish, John Dory was very fresh. The green salad was over oiled and the chips a bit on the limp side.

The Rock liked his pie but said it was just a nice pie.

Now we asked for a refund on our garlic bread and as we explained we had never seen it a bloke from the next door table was also asking for a refund as well. And another table had not received the food it had ordered either.

So why should we worry about a popular end of the road restaurant? Simple - we have a Rugby World Cup coming - and those who visit our shores wont just stay in the cities - they will have a look see in all manner of places. Lake Ferry is well known. It is trading on the fact that it is the last place you can get a sit down feed after a good long car ride. Overseas visitors will head there.

Service of the woeful standard we experienced is not just bad for that establishment - its also bad for the rest of us. We are wanting the All Blacks to life their game after their last awful Rugby World Cup appearance but everyone else who offering a service to the tens of thousands of visitors will need to lift their game as well if we want them to go away with the best memories possible and a yearning to come again.


Friday 3 June 2011

SBW - BENEFICIARY BASHER?




















We blogged on the stories we had been hearing about Sonny Bill Williams sickly opponent a few days ago. Alipate Liava'a is under investigation for benefit fraud after it was revealed that he was on a benefit for a tennis elbow which prevented him from working but did not prevent him from boxing.

We also think this incident has ramifications for Sonny Bill. This was a charity match but SBW is a brand and its not good for a brand to be tainted in any way and the revelation that his overweight and by boxing standards - elderly opponent, is on a benefit is opening him up to all sort of ridicule.

The big fight is nothing less than whopper boy SBW fighting a sifty cripple.

His handlers and promoters need sacked.


New Zealanders have had enough of people ripping off the benefit system. Bring on the Welfare changes. There is little enough money to go around as it is these days and we would far rather it goes to people who are really in need instead of those who make a mockery of the system.

Thursday 2 June 2011

DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS

Apparently that what we are - high users of social media and digital communications. We are not as savvy as the younger generation - the digital natives. While we lived in a time without the internet the natives know nothing else And then there are the digital dinosaurs.. Those who just dont get it.
Our view is that social media has to be incorporated into the workplace in much the same way as other technologies have been. We remember the early days of the cellphone where our newsroom had one for the entire staff of about 15. We got our own. And we got the stories.
In the last week I have booked a meeting on twitter, regularly get tweets from journalists , and have bought stuff on line and taken part in a myriad of discussions.
To shut out social media in the workplace is to create an organisation of luddites.
There are some very funky, easy to understand rules and guidlines around social media use in the workplace that would be easy to institute.
Like this one ..

Wednesday 1 June 2011

SONNY BILL TO FIGHT A SICKNESS BENEFICIARY??



Well thats the story we keep hearing.. Man has tennis elbow apparently... So if you cant work - how can you fight?

Are people really going to spend good money to see a sham fight?

Or is SBW gonna fight with one arm behind his back to make it a fair fight like..

Can a journo pop the question to the crooning bruiser?

Actually we think that there is only one real opponent for SBW - thats Whale our own adored blogging cyco.

He's been trying to get Mallard to front him in the ring but lets face it if SBW's opponent is really on the bene then he's gonna have to find a new sparring partner real fast and Whale looks the ticket.