Politics 'n Space Cadets

Before I started my current role (and became a person who can almost name a NZ Minister's portfolio from the sound of their laugh) I was truly ignorant about politics. As far as I know, I got my (media-related) job due to my English skills, typing speed, and possibly work history. I believe I had a pretty great knowledge of global current events, but my results for a New Zealand-focused news test I had to sit were abysmal- fortunately this wasn't an essential hiring requirement. On my very first day in January this year we played a Cranium charades-type game as a team-building exercise, and one performance was alluding to Lockwood Smith. Even when his name was revealed, I silently wondered whether he was a rugby player.

Smith has been Speaker of the House in New Zealand since 2008, and until I returned to my desk, Googled, and internally died of embarrassment- I had no flipping idea.

Now, I'm not claiming that this fact is the be-all and end-all of political knowledge. But after very unscientific surveying of peers and relatives, I've realised that I wasn't alone in this ignorance, and more than that- many high school graduates and even tertiary students I spoke to don't know much about the New Zealand Government and don't have any interest in finding out more either.

According to this post on The Standard, over 600,000 eligible voters in the 2008 general election did not have their say on the leadership of our country. Currently 120,000 young people aged between 18-20 have not yet enrolled for the general election to be held this coming November 2011. The 2008 general election was the first one held after I turned 18, and I voted for the same reason I had purchased alcohol and cigarettes on my birthday the previous year- I'd reached the legal age, and it seemed like a rite of passage. Plus, it got me a longer lunch break from my shift in a Wairarapa cafe. Today, I have absolutely no recollection of who I voted for, and I certainly don't remember putting any great thought into it prior to election day- and at that point in my life I'd been through 13-years of schooling, worked both full-time and part-time jobs, and spent time on a government-funded sickness benefit.

From memory I was never taught about New Zealand politics or Parliament during my 13 years of schooling. If lessons on New Zealand politics were included in primary school programmes such as Newspapers in Education, then they have had no lasting impact on me. I definitely don't believe this is the case for everyone- asking several of my peers indicated some received some political education at state schools while others don't recall any at all, and this 2008 thread on a parenting forum also has mixed responses. A friend of mine who is a school teacher told me that lessons about politics are currently included in the New Zealand school curriculum from year nine (third form), but I don't know how thoroughly this is implemented.

One thing New Zealand residents from every walk of life have in common, is that we are all affected by decisions made by the New Zealand Government. Sure, the very well informed have the ability to strongly influence the votes of lesser informed people, but at the end of the day an adult is entitled to one voting card regardless of their employment (lack thereof) or highest level of education. At present, it seems to me that unless a voter has entered a job or tertiary study with a strong connection to Parliament, or is interested enough to learn about it in their own time, they can quite easily ignore the quadrennial year of schmoozing altogether. Which is understandable, because who wants to pay attention to something they don't understand the basics of?

Since I started thinking about this issue, I discovered a programme established last year by the Electoral Commission called Kids Voting which enables (mainly year nine/third form) students to participate in a mock general election and referendum. Interested readers can find out more information on the programme's website, so I won't repeat the details here.

I heard today that Secondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh has responded to the number of young people not enrolled to vote by calling for political education at year 13 (7th form) level, though I believe the Kids Voting target of year 9 or 10 is most appropriate to encourage voter engagement in the future. Teaching students about the structure of the Government, and roles of political parties could help in directing students toward adulthood in those NCEAless years, and also leave them with several years of schooling before they reach voting age, which would give them a chance to devlop their own opinions with the basics instilled in their minds.

I don't believe basic political knowledge for future voters should be optional, and I absolutely support a programme like Kids Voting being introduced as a compulsory part of schooling for all students.

I know, I know, blogging about political issues- ugh! But this is something that's been on my mind recently, and I wanted to share it.

If you're wondering about the title of this post, then allow me to introduce you to Kate.

Homebodies

Apologies for my lack of 'wordy' posts over this past week or so. I spent the long weekend at my parents' house, lounging around and catching up with old friends at a party. I came back to Wellington and got all cranky and PMSy- not the best frame of mind to be in for blogging! Don't you love being female? Apologies to any male readers for my overshare, you fortunate bastards. All's well now though, and in two days it will be the weekend again!

As you may have noticed a couple of posts ago, I got my new tripod from my Dad while at home, so I can now begin the daunting task of posting portraits of myself, wearing stuff. Exciting, huh? It's a little embarrassing and I feel like a bit of a dick, but at the same time I really want to do it. I think it'll be good for me overall, in terms of teaching myself how to dress nicely again, keeping an eye on my weight and what clothing is just not working for me (have already banished a shirt to the 'not-until-I-lose-5kgs' drawer after yesterday's attempt), as well as indulging my conceited self in growing a collection of pictures-of-me. Plus, people are definitely my favourite subject to photograph, and what better model to use than the always-available me? I have no delusional NZNTM aspirations, let me assure you. Mock all you want, but I hope some of you will offer support or constructive criticism in your comments!

In other news, Wallace has fully recovered after his trip to the vet, however the past couple of days he has been a big pain in the butt with his constant meowing. And I mean constant. When I first got him from some crazy farmer lady in the Horowhenua (he lived in a greenhouse) she assured me he was neutered, and being the naive sweetheart I am, I didn't bother to double check. His super-fluffy coat kept his boy bits hidden for a while, but after I'd had him a while it was obvious he was in fact all-male. Thanks, lady. It's no big deal, and since I corresponded with her through my now-dead Hotmail account, I couldn't send her a grumpy email once I realised. It means I definitely over-paid for him, but what can you do. He's worth it. So yeah, he's almost fully grown now and his meowing definitely seems to be mating-related. Have booked him in to get neutered on Monday, so hopefully that will settle him down. I'd always planned to get him neutered eventually, is just a bit of a pain that it's now urgent- obviously being an indoor cat there was no concern about him knocking up any sexy lady cats, so I hadn't bothered to get around to it.

I know many people are critical of my decision to have an indoor-only cat, and that's fine. But I thought I'd write down my reasons. Just, y'know, because I'm in a typing mood. My previous cat, Vodie (the one tattooed on my right leg), was an indoor/outdoor cat and he was run over at around a year old, while I was at work, when I lived alone just a few hundred meters away from my current residence. As anyone with a heart knows, losing your pet is just the worst, and Vodie was my second cat to be killed on the road. You can read more about what Vodie meant to me on the post about my tattoo here if you wish. When I decided to get a new cat, I'd been thinking about it for several months after Vodie died. I lived with Charlie in an apartment in the CBD, and though the apartment had a fire escape that spiralled down to the ground, there was no cat door and being in the central city it was impractical to have an indoor/outdoor cat. I'd read about people keeping indoor-only cats online, including over on The Dainty Squid blog, and started doing some more reading up about them. Basically I was absolutely desperate for a cat- I may dislike children, but my maternal instincts go into overdrive when it comes to fur babies. I knew I would have to either get a very young kitten, or a grown cat already accustomed to being indoor-only. It took a few weeks of scouring Trade Me before finding anything suitable. I found a pair of adorable full grown indoor-only cats, but they were only going as a pair which wouldn't work. I eventually came across a listing for the then-unnamed Wallace, and after I emailed the farmer lady I discovered he had grown up in a glasshouse... Obviously I ended up adopting him.

Since we've now moved out of the CBD to a house with a yard, a lot of people, including Charlie and Matt at times, don't understand why I still want Wallace to remain an indoor cat. I adopted ('bought' sounds so... commercial) Wallace with the knowledge that provided he remains healthy, I'll potentially have him for the next 15-20 years. I'm only young, and I don't see myself moving away from rental properties within that time period, so there's a very real chance that in the future I'll move back into an apartment. I adopted him knowing that my choice of rental properties will be restricted by having him, and I don't mind that at all. But in my opinion it wouldn't be fair to him to introduce him to the great outdoors here, only to move house again in the future, and make him indoor-only again. Obviously apart from his current desire for a lady friend, he has always been perfectly content with living in a confined space- it's all he's ever known.

Life is full of unforeseen events, but to the best of my ability, I never want to be a cat owner who has to rehome my cat because my living circumstances have changed. If I decide to travel in the future, I have decided that I will only do so if I can find temporary accommodation for Wallace- he's my priority. If I decide to move to Australia (or anywhere else I guess, but even Australia is a bit of a pipedream) during his lifetime, it will only be if I can afford to move him with me. I am definitely a crazy cat lady, and you're welcome to think that way! I just appreciate it when those who don't understand my decision at least accept it, as I do others' decisions to have children or get married or love roller derby.

Happy Wednesday, lovely readers.

Christchurch Clippings

It's honestly very easy to forget about Christchurch. I listen to national news literally as a full time job, and the mentions of Christchurch are becoming fewer, and rarely are any stories emotionally affecting. Today was slightly different in that I heard Media 7's Russell Norman talking about his recent trip to the city. I've just read his blog post too, which I recommend you find here.

"Back along the fenceline, a middle-aged workman takes pride in showing his younger colleague the smooth repair job he has done on a half-metre section of the gutter in front of the casino. It seems a preposterously small victory – but what do you do?"

A Telethon was held over the weekend, and raised a lot of money for the earthquake recovery fund. I watched about ten minutes of it- other things to think about. I kind of think it's both sad and comforting to know how quickly people move on with their lives.

On a light note, how pretty does our nation's pride and joy Anna Paquin look in the below photos taken in Los Angeles during the Telethon screening? Said with only a hint of facetiousness. You should've heard the media's excitement surrounding Rachel Hunter's involvement.

Read my earlier posts on the Canterbury earthquake here and here.
Christchurch image source.
Anna Paquin image source one.
Anna Paquin image source two.

The Final Testament of the Holy Bible

Warning: Possible spoilers. Depends how picky you are. And contains a touch of crude language. 

I first read James Frey's A Million Little Pieces in 2007, which was after the Oprah controversy (read about that here). I agree with Oprah that he was dishonest, but I didn't care whether it was fact or fiction- really, what difference does it make to me? Worse things than his invented experiences happen every single day. In saying this, I wouldn't name it among my favourite books (which are here, if you're curious). It was a great story, but did drag a big, and his writing style irks me a little- lack of punctuation especially, as well as left aligned pages. I know it's intentional, but unlike the brilliant sporadic punctuation and unconventional format in House of Leaves, I just don't see the point in omitting all quotation marks from character dialogue.

Despite these mixed views on AMLP, I was really looking forward to the release of Frey's latest novel The Final Testament of the Holy Bible. I ordered a copy from Fishpond a couple of weeks ago, and sat down to read it the moment it arrived. Before I get into the actual story, I'd be curious to hear from anyone else who has the paperback edition like me- the cover image is extremely shitty and pixelated (for want of a better technical term) though not so much that it seems intentional. Has anyone else seen this? Did I get a dud?

But hey, I refused to negatively judge the book by its cover... I did, however, make the mistake of getting excited over the synopsis, which shouts

THEY SAY THE MESSIAH IS ALIVE.

HE IS LIVING IN NEW YORK.

SLEEPING WITH MEN.

IMPREGNATING WOMEN.

EUTHANASING THE DYING.

HEALING THE SICK.

DEFYING THE GOVERNMENT AND CONDEMNING THE HOLY.

IF YOU MET HIM AND HE CHANGED YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU BELIEVE?

To give you some background on my lack of religion- I wasn't baptised, but did go to a Catholic primary school (not something I resent at all- I feel I recieved a brilliant education there), then grew up and realised I didn't believe a word being spoken in mass. I wouldn't call myself an atheist or an agnostic... I honestly just don't really care about religion, and in turn it doesn't really bother me what faith anyone else has. I do however love blasphemous art, I love a bit of controversy, and the concept of the Messiah returning to modern Earth sounded like a brilliant drinking-round-a-campfire conversation, extended into a literary work of art.

The book started off by meeting my expectations. Like the Bible, not a word is told from the "Messiah" Ben Zion's perspective, but through the eyes of twelve other characters. The initial mystery surrounding Ben Zion was effective, and chapters told through the eyes of Mariaangeles and Charles were brilliantly written. In Charles' chapter, Ben Zion is involved in a horrific accident... and everything starts to go downhill from there, until the final few chapters when the story becomes, frankly, ridiculous. Halfway through I could almost hear the screaming I am James Frey, and I got totally got off over offending people on Oprah! How to shock more people? Let's turn the second coming of the Messiah into a satyromaniac!

After about the fifth sexual encounter, it stopped being edgy and challenging and became desperate. The faux preaching dragged on so long near the end, that I started skim reading pages. It was so frustrating to me, as there were brilliant moments scattered throughout the book, such as the following quote (which I cannot be bothered finding in my copy right now, so am trusting the website I found it reproduced on is accurate):

"And that the Catholic Church, filled with celibate men who have no experience with it, has no right telling other people how to love or who to love or what kind of love is right or wrong."

What did I miss? I wanted to like this book so badly, but it was such a disappointment. I'm not one to return a book, whether I like it or not. But I think it's safe to say it won't be emerging from my bookshelf in my own hands any time soon.

D-d-dating

Earlier today I Tweeted that online dating is bad news. Like the majority of my Tweets, it was a flippant comment, but it received instant response from several people so I figured I better take my statement to a place where I could actually elaborate on my views and discuss them with anyone who is so generous as to care about what I think. I love Twitter, I do, but it's very difficult to get your point across effectively when you are limited to sending 140 characters at a time. No matter how speedy your typing.

Also. Please note, this is not a debating speech. I'm not excessively passionate about this topic, so I'm flip-flopping a bit on my views. Don't hate me; as I said, this stems from a Tweet. Never to be taken too seriously.

So. I made the statement after reading more about this story, about a former NZ public servant who has allegedly been busted smuggling cocaine in South America. Her family claim she has been conned by scammers through online dating. Obviously I don't know whether that's true or not, so don't go jumping down my throat, but it seems fairly likely considering the man she was 'dating' has conveniently disappeared from Facebook.

Regardless, this tale is the latest of quite a few online dating disaster stories I have learned of, both in magazines and real life. I personally know four people who have met lying dropkicks through online dating, and allowed themselves to be blindly led along by these people, until finally snapping out of the daydream and realising the sad reality of the relationship. One of those four people is myself, which is embarrassing to admit, but I think important in getting readers to realise I'm trying to be honest about my views, and not just be a judgmental bitch. I won't go into the specifics about that relationship- it wasn't a scam artist and it became an 'in real life' relationship, but the whole thing was completely unhealthy and the person was someone who would absolutely not receive a second of time from the 'me' I am today, regardless of our history.

And that's my point, right there. I was a different person- I was big time depressed. And I believe people use online dating services because, in some way, they are dysfunctional. That's the best word I can think of to describe the huge range of issues I'm referring to. By 'dysfunctional', I mean to include such minor issues as being super shy, or having low self confidence. I think people use online dating because they absolutely want to find someone*, where as people in the real world date because they've met someone they want to get to know more**. Online dating is therefore full of the most vulnerable single people around, and the perfect preying ground for those who are dysfunctional in a not-so-vulnerable way.

Of course, in some situations, two 'dysfunctional' people are going to meet, and work out, and be perfectly wonderful together. But that kind of situation is something I only hear about in 'a friend of a friend' anecdotes.

Maybe I just know too many 'dysfunctional' people?

* Yes, this is a euphemism for 'desperate', but please don't get too defensive. I don't mean this in a nasty way at all- I think I am sort of a serial monogamist, and I therefore understand the loneliness of singledom- it's not my preference either.
** There are, of course, exceptions to this- blind dating, speed dating etc. But how many dating success stories do you know that were born via these means?


Image source.

Attn: Bespectacled

Dear readers, I have a recommendation for you. Before I begin [what is, with hindsight, a rather rambly sort of post] I will just clarify that this is absolutely not a paid promotion (though I'm not opposed to the prospect) but merely a heads up from a satisfied customer [I'd probably have to omit the charming anecdotes found below if this were a paid post. You're welcome].

I went to an optometrist way back in primary school, when it was discovered I couldn't see the whiteboard. I remember being dumbfounded by how clear the world was after we picked up my new metal-framed glasses, which were adorned with a (questionably) subtle leopard print. As fellow vision-impaired readers will know, being a child with glasses means getting a bit of stick from your peers- the term "four eyed beast" still makes my fists clench in anger, and the particular bully who coined that phrase is actually now deceased. I digress.

When I got to around age 15, I was wearing my glasses as little as possible, and learning to recognise uniformed blurs as individual school mates. All was well. Then I finally got contact lenses! I've worn the 30-day contact lenses for the past few years, and found them super comfortable. I was prescribed the ones that you can sleep in due to being extremely lazy and irresponsible. Anyway, despite being 'breathable', leaving the lenses in my eyes so much has made the veins in my eyes grow over the whites a bit more than normal, and one of my irises has actually started to change colour a little. Not good, I know... I will schedule an optometrist appointment one other financial requirements are taken care of...

ANYWAY, a couple of years ago my Mum was recommended a website called Zenni Optical, which ships dirt cheap prescription glasses straight to your door. We bought three pairs, one of which I wore fairly frequently, to give my eyes a rest.

Recently I ran out of my supply of contact lenses, so I have been wearing my glasses all the time. They get a bit uncomfortable at work while wearing headphones over them, so I've just gone back to the Zenni website to have a look at what they have now. And boy, it's had a total makeover since my last visit! You can now upload a photo of yourself, and test out all sorts of both smart-and-sensible and bizarre frames (see above). The best part about doing it on this website is that when you find something you like, you can actually afford to buy it!

Now, I haven't bought anything from there in at least two years, so don't hurt me if you order and something gets messed up. But when I got my pairs, we had super speedy delivery. They are obviously not going to compete with glasses worth several hundy in an optometrist clinic, no. The ones I have purchased are plastic, and have minor (very minor) imperfections. But they give you perfect vision (you will need your prescription details handy when ordering online, but everything is well explained) and are amazing value even to just have as spare pairs, or to match different outfits. Most styles are also available with sunglass-tinted prescription lenses. Go have a look, and let me know if you order anything! I'll definitely be whipping out my debit card and clicking my way to a few new styles soon...

Social Media Media.

I have angry-Tweeted about this topic several times in the past, and did so again this morning. I'd be interested to hear anyone's thoughts on the issue.

In my opinion there is a lot of coverage in the media about social networking privacy- raising awareness of the permanence of Facebook uploads, and warning prospective employees that their future bosses may be checking out their online lives. I have things published online which are a bit cringe-worthy, but nothing I'm particularly bothered or threatened by at this point in my life. My Facebook is locked to friends-only, but this is largely due to avoiding people from my past, rather than related to potential employment. In fact, being such a quiet person in real life and so terribly nervous during job interviews, I think it's an extremely positive thing if people looking to hire me check out my online presence- this blog included. It's definitely a short cut to getting to know me, which is why my real name is attached to it. (On a slight tangent, I think people also need to remember that the employment warnings can be flipped around the other way- whenever I land a job interview, I always search Facebook to see what the interviewer looks like, and see if I can find out what kind of person they are. Calms the nerves a little if nothing else!)

Another issue surrounding social networking privacy is a little less obvious, and seems to recieve little attention from the public. How much of what you post on Facebook should be used by the media, and should that change in different circumstances?

This is the latest example I have come across, where information from Facebook is used by the media, though it is a pretty minor instance. Unfortunately I don't have the time to trawl back through Tweeted links to other examples. Anyway, what irritates me about this article about the death of Blair Titmus is that they have used such fluffy information from his public status, just to bulk out the article a little more. Even though the information is attributed to Facebook, saying he was riding the motorbike he had recently built is just speculation- why include it? He could have several bikes, or have been riding one that was borrowed. The article itself says the investigation is continuing, so why include this at all?

My own most recent Facebook status mentions that I have run out of contact lenses. If I dropped dead tomorrow in news-worthy circumstances, with my profile set to public, would that be included in my article? What if I was hit by a bus? "Miss Jones was not wearing contact lenses, according to her Facebook page, and may not have seen seen the pedestrian signal." (I will be exta careful for the next few days, guys.)

A couple of past examples that really bothered me were a couple of different fatal road accidents. Media outlets quoted messages posted on the Facebook walls of the deceased, written by their loved ones. I don't even like the idea of quoting from Facebook memorial pages, but I think taking personal messages of grief from the page of the victim is extremely rude, unprofessional and just plain going-too-far. To me, it's like going up to a gravestone, and quoting from a letter left there for the deceased. Any member of the public could go and have a look if they really wanted to, but it doesn't need to be included in public articles.

From what I have seen, in some cases where impromptu memorials are created following newsworthy deaths, TV broadcasts will often show close ups of notes and messages left on boquets of flowers. Yes, it could be argued that this is similar to showing glimpses of messages left on Facebook pages, but I think the big difference though is that print media needs to attribute these quotes to a source, and so the writers full name, as displayed on Facebook, is often attached to the message.

What about criminals? Here's a link to one recent example I could recall- the mentioned Facebook profile was set to private, but the grainy thumbnail of the girl's profile picture was still used to accompany the story. Should that be allowed? Is it acceptable because she is guilty of a crime?

Should laws be imposed surrounding this issue, before it gets out of hand? Are media outlets going to become so intent on scooping the latest story with pics, that a Facebook profile photo will be used for murder victims, before an official one released by the family? Would you find that acceptable?

What do you think? Does this kind of lazy reporting ever occur in the publications either online or offline that you read? Should the general public have to think about what would be reported based on their online presence if they suddenly dropped dead? Or should the media be forced to stick to official reports and statements only?

Image source.

The Social Network

Alright, so. I wasn't going to bother writing my thoughts on The Social Network, because I kind of figured that the ship had sailed. But people are still talking about it, and it's still number two on IMDb, so here goes… a brief blog of my thoughts (totally up the shit in terms of structure… and syntax… it’s bedtime).

Overall, I didn’t enjoy it. I had heard nothing but good things, and was totally looking forward to finally seeing it, and fully expecting to love it. But I just didn’t.

Before the film came out, I was already pretty well informed about the history of Facebook. From the get go, perhaps this is why I wasn’t impressed- I wasn’t really learning anything new. I do wonder if this is the exact reason why people love it so much- they didn’t have prior knowledge about the history of Facebook, so it was all new and interesting. I’m not trying to be a dick by saying that; if that’s the sole reason then the hype makes a lot more sense to me.

But regardless of that, technically I felt like it was filmed as a Ben Hur-length, intense, dialogue-filled drama… and then edited by Action Man.

The longest continuous dialogue (is that even a term? Sorry, it’s late) was the very first scene, which funnily enough was probably the most insignificant part of the whole film. From then on, everything kept chopping and changing, and flashing back and forward… this would be perfectly justified if there were huge amounts of action taking place, or a massive shocking twist at the end that pulled all the fragments together. There wasn’t.

Much like this blog post.

• As always, when I dislike a film, dear Rod at The Editing Room sums up everything quite nicely.

A Slice of... Wellington

Click your way over to Sometimes Sweet to check out a guest post I've done for Danielle's A Slice of... series. It's all about Wellington, and features a bunch of my own photos.

Brainspew

I just read this post by Danielle and decided to blog my thoughts on and related to it, in a very unstructured, chain-of-thought, rambley kind of way.

Danielle writes about thinking a lot. Me too. All the freaking time. In my interview for my job, I remember being asked questions about my personality, and launching into a nervous mini-ramble about how I’m always thinking. I guess it’s human to think and over think, though my difference is that I don’t speak aloud 99% of my thoughts. If you know me you’ll understand that, and if you don’t then yeah, I probably am as weird as that makes me sound!

I really love this lyric she quoted by Death Cab for Cutie: “And it came to me then that every plan is a tiny prayer to Father Time.” I’m not familiar with the song to be honest but wow, brilliant. Engrave it on my headstone please.

I have thoughts like she describes a lot too, but about the stupidest things. Like after the Dexter season finale last year, I had the most horrible thought- what if I die and don’t get to see season five?! Totally the end of the world.

Seriously though, as a child I had so much fear of something happening to my parents. My Dad used to drive a truck over the Rimutaka Hill every day, both ways (best video I could find here, 23 seconds long) and I was absolutely terrified that he was going to be in an accident, and roll the truck off the road. I know some people think that if they say some horrible fear aloud then it will happen, but as a kid I thought that if I said something aloud then it wouldn’t happen, because that would be too much of a coincidence. When I worried so much that I cried, I would go and talk to my parents, but say I’d dreamed it. With retrospect I was embarrassed and I think that I believed having these bad thoughts consciously made me a bad person.

I deliberately force myself not to think about stuff like that anymore, it’s too upsetting. Sometimes a storyline in a TV show will make me think about what would happen and how I’d react if it happened to my equivalent loved one, but in all honesty that’s usually in order to critique an actor’s performance!

Last year one of my closest friends lost her little brother in a totally random, ridiculous accident. I’d only met him a handful of times, but I went to his tragic, beautiful funeral for her, and I think it was the first time in my life that I’d actually realised how short and fragile life is. I’d already used up 20 years of my life before I understood that it really could be over, any day. I’d known people to die before, even known people who were murdered, and I’ve heard “life’s short” all the time. But I’d never truly realised until he died, that sometimes there are no warnings and it’s just over.

Since then, have I changed the way I live my life everyday, stopping to smell the flowers and dancing in the rain? No. I’m human, I’m fickle, I bitch and argue about stupid things, am too embarrassed to say “I love you” 24/7 and my hair frizzes up like an afro in the rain. But it has changed me in subtle ways; I’ll write things I can’t say out loud to my loved ones in birthday cards and emails, so they’re at least communicated. I spend more time doing things I enjoy. Funnily enough it’s made me worry less than ever about random tragic things happening, because I’ve realised there’s absolutely nothing we can do to stop them. I’m fortunate to be here, I’m fortunate that everything’s going so well for me, and I’m aware that this won’t always be the case. Life is so unpredictable, we can’t possibly prepare ourselves for everything, so why worry? Let’s just enjoy.

The Town: Film Review

I went along to the premiere screening at Reading last night with little knowledge about this film’s plot or cast. Despite knowing many intimacies of his personal life with Gwyneth and the Jennifers, I wasn’t too familiar with Ben Affleck’s cinematic career. However I developed an appreciation for his acting talent as the film progressed, and the revelation that he also screenwrote and directed the film when the final credits rolled was a pleasant surprise (to me, because I don’t research).

I love heist movies, so the opening scene grabbed me immediately. Doug (Ben Affleck), Jem (Jeremy Renner) and two of their friends storm in to rob a Boston bank, with Halloween masks hiding their faces. Claire (Rebecca Hall) is quickly introduced as the bank manager, who is forced to open the bank safe and then briefly taken as a hostage. My favourite aspect of this scene is the way it is fragmented with silent CCTV footage, giving each cut back to the bank a loud, violent, gunshot-like impact.

I enjoyed Hall’s performance as Claire right from this beginning (although it took me at least half the film to work out I recognised her from The Prestige which was distracting). I enjoy films that give the audience their first impression of a character in an extreme situation, and her fearful, slow walk to the water’s edge at the end of this (quite long) opening sequence was shot beautifully.

From the bank robbery onwards, The Town extends on the action, and also brings in a great deal of drama and romance.

Doug begins self-preserving surveillance of Claire, trying to make sure she has nothing on them to pass on to the FBI. They soon share a charming encounter in Claire’s local laundromat; she breaks down crying and he makes her giggle. A relationship quickly develops (which she says her friend described as a “rebound from the bank robbery” later in the film).

I felt the subplot about Doug’s mother was dwelled on too much throughout the film, considering how little value it added to the conclusion; and probably could have been cut out altogether.

I didn’t really like the character of Krista (Blake Lively), but this too was due to her weak ties to the central plot, and not a reflection on Lively’s performance. In her first scene I assumed she was Doug’s paid whore, though we soon learn she’s just a bit drug fucked, has a daughter and a history with Doug, and is also Jem’s sister. She had very little screen time with Doug throughout the film, so her emotional outbursts towards the end came across a little unconvincing.

The variety within the film kept a great pace- I found myself just beginning to tire of the ‘sap’ when another action sequence would begin. There are a few lackluster scenes, but overall I thought it was a great film, and I was impressed by it even before I knew the director. I definitely recommend you check it out.

Arthritis New Zealand Annual Appeal rant

Edit: According to Google Analytics I've had a few hits from people Googling "arthritis" "New Zealand" etc. If you wish to join our Wellington-based Facebook group you can do so here. All welcome.


You may or may not be aware of the fact that I have ankylosing spondylitis; an autoimmune disease with a ridiculously long-winded, tongue-twister of a name, and a depressing list of symptoms and outlooks. AS is a form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine. I was diagnosed a number of years ago now, and had my first symptoms of it around age 12.

At some stage I will definitely write a post on my personal experiences as a juvenile arthritic, but today I'm just writing my opinion on this TV advertisement for Arthritis New Zealand, and their annual appeal week which finishes tomorrow.

This year is the first time I'd seen it, though according to the YouTube upload it was also used last year. A trio of NZ "celebrities" fumble around in bright orange, over sized gloves, attempting to demonstrate the restrictions arthritis causes its sufferers.

Firstly, the elements of this ad that I commend are as follows:

• The use of locally recognisable celebrities
• Featuring Geraldine Brophy, who has arthritis herself
• Having a TV advertisement in the first place

However, that's pretty much where my praise ends.

I knew what arthritis was even as a small child, even though I wasn't aware that my own Mum had it (I'm talking primary school age). I recall the term being commonly used throughout my early years among my peers, "Don't crack your knuckles, you'll get arthritis!" We may not have known the finer details of the symptoms or causes of the disease, but we were all perfectly aware that arthritis was pain inside the joints of a person's body.

I personally don't think that the general population needs any eduction as to what arthritis is, on surface value, which is all this ad really covers. I don't imagine there's anyone in the country who doesn't know of somebody affected by it, and therefore knows the basics of what it is. However for the majority of people it will be an elderly relative with osteoarthritis, which is incredibly common, affecting almost all of the elderly population; a progressive breakdown of the joints. Elderly are already considered old and slow, and if I didn't have my own experiences with a different type of the disease, then I imagine I'd be quite oblivious to the degree of pain these elderly people are suffering from.

I don't like the advertisement's focus on the physical restrictions of arthritis, and the emphasis on the hands. This point is all very well outlined in Helen's blog post here:

"For one thing, these ads have absolutely no mention of pain. Personally, I have almost full function of my hands, but that doesn't mean that they are not extremely painful. Yes, arthritis does sometimes make my hands fumbly. There are times when I can't do up zips or find using a knife and fork difficult but this is a minor irritation compared to the long list of other symptoms and difficulties that come with the disease..."

"Then of course there is the pain and the things that go along with constantly being in pain. Lack of sleep, inability to concentrate, general exhaustion and floods of emotion..."

"Too many people already think that arthritis is just something you get in your hands..."

Lastly, I am irritated by the missed opportunity that could have been provided by the young celebrities. Where was the "I'm Drew Neemia, and arthritis affects people MY AGE"?

I realise there are two separate issues that Arthritis New Zealand supposedly advocate: the plea for support in the form of donations, and the plea for support in the form of public awareness and understanding. I just absolutely believe that this campaign could have achieved both to a greater degree if more emphasis was put on the how and the who, rather than just the what.

How to be a popular blogger

I’ve been lurking in the depths and shadows of this blogging business since my mid teens, when my visitor count consisted of the same trusted few, over and over, reading my completely moronic teenage musings. As Anonymous helpfully pointed out on my previous post, I still have a long way to go before reaching their own aged and educated level of enlightenment in all aspects of my life. However, after spending several months studying my peers, by means of Google Reader, I feel I do have the expertise to compile this “How to” list. My meager (though valued) followers, we too can be part of the elite “1000+ club”.

1. Have an Etsy shop.
2. Have a super-cute face, and preferably dimples. If they don’t come naturally, there’s a stud for that.
3. Get some tattoos. See FYT for inspiration.
4. Get a cat or a dog. Bonus points for having several of either.
5. Live with your boyfriend. Better yet, get married before graduation.
6. Possess a large collection of cameras, and ensure you hold one in each hand at all times. Bonus follower-points for using your cameras to take photos of your other cameras. (Those without the ability to collect cameras can source all images from WHI, at your own peril)
7. Be really, really organised. In your super cute little house, especially. And make sure to take a lot of photos demonstrating you organisational skills every time you clean up.
8. Those with incredible “thinking-ahead” skills, pre-arrange to be named a variation of Kayla upon birth. Alternative two-syllable first names are acceptable, though not favoured.
9. Allow your week to revolve around weekends, where you have 48 hours of thrifting opportunity (here we call it ‘op-shopping’, but let’s face it, no one in blogging-world is very interested in what words “arsy arsy little Alice” uses). Don’t forget your cameras!
10. Never ever ever post anything that could even remotely offend a fellow blogger.

Oh, fuck.

Nichola who?

This article (also the source of these pictures) says it all better than I could. But what a hilarious end result to come from this article.

Basically as it was, Nichola Romney from Nelson had her painting rejected from an art competition because it was just a bit too obscene. From what you can see in the tiny image accompanying this story, it doesn't look particularly graphic to me, but it still depicts ideas of rape and the oppression of women.

So yeah, now it's reported on Stuff that Nichola Romney is actually Nikki Huizinga, who is a far more well-known artist. As a commenter says on the latest article, it's all a bit fishy when it comes to the reporting; the two images to the left are very similar in lighting and background.

Regardless, I now think she's a bit of a douchebag, and by having a secret persona I think she's giving substance to the art competition's statement that they don't want the piece in their show because of it's content. She didn't want her name attached to it either, after her husband didn't like it. Whipped much? Now I see the source of her inspiration...

Day 10 of 30

Today's prompt is my favourite music to listen to when I'm feeling happy, sad, bored, hyper and mad.

Currently I'm listening to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' The Boatman's Call, and I'm feeling pretty happy, though a bit hungover. When Sarah picked me up last night Where the Wild Roses Grow with Kylie Minogue was playing, so this morning I was hunting through my CDs for more of him.

I think I'm happiest when I'm sitting at my desk, drawing. I usually have my iPod on shuffle, but my preferences include Kate Miller-Heidke, an Australian singer who is currently touring the USA. My favourite of her songs is No Truck. Unfortunately I can't find any videos with the studio recorded version on YouTube, but here is a live version with alright audio. I also love Rufus Wainwright, though for any mood. I absolutely adore him. We have two of his live DVDs and I have most of his albums on CD. You can tell I love an artist when I have their albums store-bought haha. We got tickets for his Wellington show earlier this year, but it was cancelled when his mother died. He's rescheduled for October 30th, and I have tickets to go with Charlie, Sarah and Jo. So so so excited. Will probably cry. His sister Martha I only started listening to this year, and my favourite song by her is Factory.

Backtracking slightly (this post may end up pretty long) I've just been letting No Truck play while typing that paragraph; she's so amazing. If you take anything away from reading this (possibly boring) post, make it that you look for more Kate Miller-Heidke music! She's so fantastic. She also Tweeted back at me the other day, so I'm on a bit of a buzz for her. Haha.

Anyway, back to happy artists... I like Girl Talk, who I first heard about from Dylan when he was going to see him at San Fran here in town. Sooo wish I'd known how awesome he is back then! I like some of Charlie's music, especially Kanye (mainly for the memories) and Big Sean (after Charlie had Supa Dupa Lemonade on repeat and I learned all the lyrics). My favourite music to listen to while cleaning is Panic! At The Disco, who I loved during my last years of high school. I think I appreciate their music even more now, however it's definitely only "home alone"... haha.

When I'm sad, like heartbroken, I listen to my favourite song of all time which is The Great Western Road by David Byrne. I first heard it in the credits of one of my favourite films, Young Adam. I absolutely love the Talking Heads too. I have a few of their albums on vinyl. Unfortunately I listened to them constantly during the worst phase of my life so far, so I have mixed feelings about hearing them now... definitely reserved for sad times when I just want to wallow and feel sorry for myself (which is not often at all!) I saw David Byrne live in Wellington at the end of 2008 which was fantastic. He's just incredible. I think we were the youngest people at the concert by at least ten years!

I don't think I have specific music I listen to when I'm bored. I'd just be searching You Tube for songs from TV shows and films to entertain myself. One of my favourites is Song to the Siren which is on the amazing Australian film Candy (two versions).

When I'm hyper, I'd be listening to much the same as when I'm happy; Girl Talk, P!ATD and top 40 type stuff.

When I'm mad, I'd pull out some old CDs I listened to in my early teens; Puddle of Mudd, Nirvana, Alanis... and a whole bunch of old mixed CDs I have. And definitely The Masses Against The Classes by Manic Street Preachers (although currently I'm playing it and it's just making me smile!)

Margerison-McCann Wheel

As this is my personal blog, I don’t want to write much about my work life in detail. However today my work team had a meeting after filling out tests for Margerison-McCann Team Management Profiles.

I was placed on the bottom right of the wheel; major role was Concluder-Producer, followed by Thruster-Organiser and Controller-Inspector. As I already was well aware of, I am on the extreme end of the “Introvert” scale. But it was so, so interesting to read through my profile, and more importantly, for my colleagues to read about my profile and for me to read theirs.

It’s amusing that I am such an Introvert considering my role as receptionist; however I’m fortunate that being on the front desk of this organisation is quite a minor element of my role, as most visitors to our office arrive for regular meetings and I already know them.

I haven’t always been such an extreme Introvert; I think during school I wasn’t too different in my working techniques to now, but I definitely spoke out a lot more, and contributed to all aspects of school life more verbally. I went through my most extreme stage of Extroversion during my first year in Wellington; meeting people, partying, attempting to be as outgoing as I could possibly manage. And that year ended with some messed-up stuff, which I think has affected me a lot, and it seems quite obvious now that I somehow associated the bad things that happened with the outgoing person I was. I’m now a great deal more self-conscious than I used to be. I think I’ve always had a tendency to blush, but when I was younger I had the confidence not to care, where as now, as soon as I feel myself going red, I get even more embarrassed, want to hide, and definitely don’t want anyone to look at me.

When I have a project to work on, I like to do it all myself, and only present the polished result. This is something I’m actively working on to fit in better with my colleagues, but it was really nice reading it written down, and made me understand why I work like that.

In my personal life, I am usually quite quiet (there are some friends who would disagree with that, but I think they’re people I’ve either known a long time/very well, and feel extremely comfortable around). I don’t like making small talk, I’m comfortable with silence when in the company of another person, and don’t feel compelled to fill silence unless I have something I feel is worth saying. A lot of people I meet at Tweet Ups are surprised at how quiet I am, because my Tweets can be a bit... er, “out-there”. Now I realise, that even the most fickle of my Tweets (man, I’m such a geek) have been thought out in my mind for longer than they would be if I said them out loud as I thought of them. They have a chance to be re-worded and polished. Additionally, I feel comfortable saying whatever I like on Twitter, because no one can see me as I say it. I’m constantly thinking in all aspects of my life, but I don’t voice many of my thoughts in person. For example, I’m happy to go away from a meeting, and compose an email of my thoughts, but in person; forget about it. I get nervous, I forget what I wanted to say... and if I do manage to get some words out, then I sit back, relieved the attention is off me, and suddenly remember a whole bunch of other points I wanted to make, that my nerves made me forget.

Today has made me think a lot more about where I’m heading in my career, and definitely made me go back to considering tertiary study for my near future.

One other thing I’ll mention is some of my colleagues who said they were deadline-driven, and gave their last-minute work for University qualifications as an example. One of them said how they’d realised that about themselves, that there was nothing they could do to change it, and that they’d just had to learn how to manage it. I found that really interesting, because we’re taught in school how to plan our time, research, not to leave assignments to the last minute. These are obviously great skills to learn about, but this makes me wonder whether there is too much emphasis placed on that method. Obviously some people are naturally inclined to leave things to the last minute, and if that contradicts all the methods being taught in school, subsequently some are going to feel like failures.

Sorry for the massive post (the Introvert venting her thoughts!)

Man vs. Wild

I don't know exactly where to begin in voicing my opinion about the monstrosity that is Zion Wildlife Gardens in Whangarei, NZ.

It's probably been five years since the park's existance first became common knowledge around the country, when it launched as a light-hearted doco series, in which the revolting theme song was followed by half an hour of the parks owner, Craig Busch, embracing his fully grown lion amigos, cuddling his tiger cubs, and placing his bulbous red nose in the shot at every opportunity.

There's been many a drama in the life of Mr. Busch, and controversy galore, since that initial series. Alleged threesomes, a wife-beating, alleged abuse of the animals by neglect, injuries to the big cat's handlers, et cetera.

And now the latest event, which will hopefully be the straw breaking the camels back and shutting Zion down for good; a white tiger is shot dead after mauling a handler to death.

Oh how awful, he will never see his 1 year old daughter grow up...

Fuck. That.

If this individual, who one would hope given his title of Senior Cat Handler would have a huge amount of knowledge about big cats and would therefore be aware of their ability to kill things, was stupid enough to work in an environment where wild animals are treated like pussycats, then he is worthy of a Darwin Award.

Perhaps I am thus far a little harsh, and insensitive. The latter I am pretty indifferent about, but the former can be explained by my fury over the dead man's colleagues' next action of fatally shooting the animal.

Zion is a workforce of shabbily-clothed publicity-seekers masquerading as environmentalists. How can Zion be a sanctuary for a variety of amazing and rare animals, when they shoot one of them for acting on it's instincts?

If Zion hopes to repopulate the world with domestic tigers, they needn't bother. Zion Wildlife Gardens is a circus, and the endangered status of tigers takes a backseat to human ringmasters' personal gains.

Link