Posts by Russell Brown
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I have a flatmate who disagrees. He asserts benefit from the placebo effect, even when he know's what he's taking can't work (e.g. near instant relief from anti-hay fever stuff). Immediate benefit, even though it cannot work that fast, and he knows it cannot work that fast.
I'm sort of down with that. I'm much happier thinking of homeopathy as magic than as "science", and maybe sometimes wilfully suspending disbelief can be useful, if you get my drift.
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Also you can't mention some deaths from people taking supplements while not also mentioning this. It just comes off as a little disingenuous.
I did link to the Public Citizen "wrong pills" stuff, which is very frank about some big pharma drugs (and I've written at length about the dubious practices of Roche and others in the past). But I think there's a clear understanding that medical drugs may have unpleasant side effects - that's why you do a risk/benefit analysis.
What annoys me is the blithe insistence from some quarters that this commercial industry shouldn't be regulated because its products are "traditional" and "harmless", even when there's clear evidence of harm. Some people with clear commercial interests seem to regard themselves as saints.
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How will TNVZ ondemand work in with Youtube? I mean, I can see how basically TVNZ could pass the cost of the hosting/distribution onto Youtube, but wouldn't that be slightly funny given their recent launch of their own tech/brand? To me, that suggests either 1) On Demand is costing too much, or 2) On Demand isn't doing well and they hope to feed off Youtube's success, or 3) in TVNZ the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is negotiating
Or ... none of the above and TVNZ helps with infrastructure and content for the regional YouTube.
I'm actually encouraged that they realise they can't sit there and expect everyone to come to ondemand for everything. With the recent changes to Google video search, it's quite clear that if you're not on YouTube, you're not discoverable.
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Be it a bacchanalian romp through the continent or a serious career development move, the big OE has been a rite of passage for young New Zealanders for a century or more. Feel free to file a report if you're on one now, or share the story of the journey that is but a distant memory. Was it the making of you? Did you forget to come home? Do tell.
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With Phil Judd on lead vox and weirdness.
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To be honest, as a teenage boy, this video really started when Zero took her coat off ...
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I've never been to Iceland, but a friend once called from Reykjavík to say that she'd spent €90 on a pizza. The trauma was such that she needed to phone someone in New Zealand for counselling.
And there was probably bloody tinned sweetcorn on it too. That's just wrong.
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On the cheering front, there really is nothing more uplifting for me at the moment than a husband getting around to doing long overdue tax paperwork.
Your husband does that? I regard tax as women's work ...
A few years ago, I had the terrible job of trying to shepherd Margaret Mahy around the Storylines childrens' book festival at the Aotea Centre. Absolute living legend, absolutely lovely lady, absolute bugger when it came time for moving to the next venue.
I almost inadvertently insulted Margaret when I met her, by saying that The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate was the bane of my life, or words to that effect. What I meant, of course, was that it was so brilliant that I'd read to my kids more times than I could count, and still they wanted to hear it again.
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I am but a sprightly 28 years young, but I would never go to a gig without earplugs.
I don't always wear them, it depends on just how close to eleven the amps are turned to, but having them as an option greatly increases my enjoyment.
In fact, I keep them in my purse, so I am always prepared for Unexpected Sonic Assaults.
I suggested to a friend this makes me very Rock 'n' Roll, but he responded somewhat in the negative.
Apparantly "being prepared" is not Rock 'n' Roll at all.
Who knew?!I know some people who use rollie cigarette filters, which, if you're a rollie smoker, are pretty handy. OTOH, I got caught once inserting earplugs by a roadie for Motorhead, before a concert by said band. He was most disdainful.
But yeah - rock 'n' roll should be loud, not deafening, and not damaging.
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So last night at 'the view' at the KA I thought of that . The kids were bouncing . The view were not bad .and the kids didn't seem to be bothered about us being there.
The KA's a brilliant venue in some ways. If you don't want to bounce around front and centre, you can still get a good view (and sound) from the Dad's grandstand in the porch. And if it's not raining, there's lots of fresh air in the garden.
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