Busytown by Jolisa Gracewood

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Busytown: Front, man

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  • Jackie Clark,

    I wonder if Mr 6 likes to swim

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    because Gracewoods en masse would be super awesome

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Jolisa,

    There will be swimming? We are so there!

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Pool. With fence. Pond. With ducks.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I visited said venue on Tuesday. My favourite bit was when Jackie said with some nervousness: 'so do you think it's all right?' and I was thinking 'who do you usually hang out with? Richard Branson? Even *he* would want to have a party here, and he owns an *island*!'

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Hey! You! Don't blow my cool calm exterior.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    Ben (Jolisa please pass on), the more I think about it, what you have done, this single act re-calibrates the poor behaviour of an entire organisation, right up to the PM, and for that I thank you.
    merc

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Jolisa,

    Thank you, merc - that's beautifully phrased.

    And thank you, sincerely, too, for sharing your exquisite writing and art over these past two years; talk about recalibrating the world.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Nov 2006 • 1472 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    /face heat/, thank you, poetry does heal :-)

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Tony Parker,

    And in breaking news Mr Henry is on the front page of our local paper. Apparently he is licking his wounds at his holiday bolthole somewhere in Hawke's Bay and was seen stocking up at a local supermarket and happy to pose for a photo with a shopper. Can you take him back please?
    On a related note I'm impressed with my own children for challenging their Facebook friends who have joined in on the FB support for PH pages.

    Napier • Since Nov 2008 • 232 posts Report Reply

  • Raymond A Francis,

    There must be something extra special about the Gracewoods
    I don't think this is news to readers of PAS

    But you did stand up to a bully Ben and of course we know about Jolisa's work against plagiarism

    It is easy to make noises about these things, harder when it might hit you in the pocket
    Unfortunatly I never got to see you Ben because the host always has pissed me off..sorry

    45' South • Since Nov 2006 • 578 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    he is singling out individuals to make cruel and personal remarks about which makes him a bully.

    Even worse, he never seems to talk smack about people who are in the studio and within arm's length. IIRC, even Stephanie Mills was in Wellington on the other end of a video link and he made the bearded lady crack after the interview was over. I believe she went straight into a meeting, and didn't even know about being abused by Henry until she was called by the media.

    So, Henry's not only a recidivist masturbator but a cowardly one.

    Too true. Seeing their suburban empires crumbling around them,

    Fuck that shit -- in this suburb, our next door neighbours are Muslim, the solo mother upstairs is from Chenai via Manurewa, and the folks two doors down are a perfectly agreeable family of third-generation Kimchi-munchers with a perfectly hale and hearty cat. (Sorry, Winston.) I'm dealing.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    Fuck that shit -- in this suburb, our next door neighbours are Muslim, the solo mother upstairs is from Chenai via Manurewa, and the folks two doors down are a perfectly agreeable family of third-generation Kimchi-munchers with a perfectly hale and hearty cat. (Sorry, Winston.) I'm dealing.

    It surprises people I talk to overseas when I describe just how non-white NZ truly is. It's about time "middle NZ" (whoever the fuck they are) woke up to the fact. Perhaps we could have more than the usual parade of suspects representing the country on television, in public roles, and all those places where real New Zealanders are so conspicuously absent.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    It surprises people I talk to overseas when I describe just how non-white NZ truly is.

    Then again, that cuts both ways. Had a truly bizarre conversation where I explained that Kazuo Ishiguro speaks English so well because... well, he is English.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    It's most peculiar how quiet the free speechers are when that free speech is coming from the mouth of Hone Harawira. Or Tame Iti. Or anyone not the white kind of outspoken.

    Genius, Sarah

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Running Wankerman

    roflnui

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I so admire what Ben has done and the way he has refused to fuel (unreliable) media coverage.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Gracewood,

    Between them, they also have more Lego than God

    100% fact.

    Orkland • Since Nov 2006 • 168 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Gracewood,

    ... the way he has refused to fuel (unreliable) media coverage.

    This is an interesting one. I have no idea why, but when I received that first call from Granny Herald about 5 minutes after my tweet, I just thought "No, this doesn't feel right".

    I guess that's my moral digital accelerometer on the go? I don't do compasses. So analogue.

    Orkland • Since Nov 2006 • 168 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Integrity is priceless (even if it's location-based).

    Dissembling cowards like Mr Henry just know they don't have it, and I'm sure that realisation drives a lot of his loathesome behaviour.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Maurine,

    Thanks for that great post Jolisa and bravo to Ben.

    I'm trying to convince myself that something good might come out of this (I despised PH before but now I can't help but hate him and the incredible number of supporters he has in this country), if it generates a healthy and intelligent public debate about what it means to be a New Zealander today.

    I am even more outraged by TVNZ's reaction. Andi B's resignation should have been accepted and PH and Rick Ellis should have done the same. If a public broadcaster treats this so lightly it does mean it is acceptable and they find it acceptable and within their values as a media company. We might as well bring on Fox News...

    Despite having lived in NZ for 9 years this in in times like this that I still feel French because my first reaction was: why are not people in the street demonstrating against this?

    Auckland • Since Oct 2010 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Not being rude, Maurine, but it takes an awful lot to get us out demonstrating on the streets. I loathe the words & behaviour of Paul Henry (and TVNZ et al) but if I went out on the street* right now, there are no street lights, most of the neighbours are already in bed (there is a very early tide for those of us capable of walking) and holding any kind of placard up would be - well, silly.

    Rural ANZ, which shitty little Henry probably thinks of as 'his' heartland**, are a various group of people. Yes, there are conservatives among us (not many here) and arrant racists (none here) but there are mainly reasonable folk who know how to get on with each other despite differences.

    *Big O normally has a population of just over 40. There is one major street, and 1 tiny sealed seawards road.

    **There were farming people staying here over the school holidays: a brief score-taking revealed none of us watched the Breakfast Show: people were either already out working ("couldnt stand that little wanker anyway") or still sleeping (and, for me, after one viewing, couldnt stand that little wanker anyway.)

    So, jocularity & a tiny example aside, most ANZers *wont* march in the streets for something like this. (The last time Coasters marched/demonstrated in this part of the world was over the Springboks tour: I was part of a tiny group who protested against it.
    Most other locals were hideously pro-)

    But what we all *will* do is continue to make our disgust at Henry's blatant nastiness known - and heard where it counts (including with local MPs.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Unfortunatly I never got to see you Ben because the host always has pissed me off..sorry

    I saw him plenty, although I never made the connection, mainly cause I'm a bit slow on the uptake sometimes. It was a highlight of the show, marred only by the inanity that Henry always tried to bring to it, his scornful dismissal of any number of gadgets which I'd have liked to hear more about, and his attempts to clown around when a lot the time the jokes were already made by the very selection of the items, and I just groaned. With Henry it was "If I don't immediately see a use for it for me then I don't want any air time spent on it". Or even more importantly, "If I can't put it on my head and get the camera back on me, I don't like it".

    It surprises people I talk to overseas when I describe just how non-white NZ truly is. It's about time "middle NZ" (whoever the fuck they are) woke up to the fact.

    Yup, I'm in Avondale, a traditional poor white west Auckland suburb. But that's just the tradition. As for the reality, my wife, just yesterday, was invited to a lunch by one of the other mums at my son's kindergarten, a lovely Indian woman, and some of her friends. My wife introduced herself as "Marcus' mum". One of the other ladies pondered: "Marcus? Marcus.....Oh, yes, the white boy".

    So far as I can tell, Marcus is totally unaware of race. I'm in no rush to point out the distinctions. He only really takes notice of different languages, and enjoys hearing them a lot, repeats them when he can.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • andin,

    Perhaps we could have more than the usual parade of suspects representing the country on television, in public roles, and all those places where real New Zealanders are so conspicuously absent.

    Its not the faces that need an update. Its the attitudes, deeply held beliefs and nasty tribalism.
    But the Rugby World Cup is next year , so expect exhortations to exalt those attitudes, deeply held beliefs and tribalism.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

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