Posts by Matt Nippert
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David,
I can't speak for Lucy, but I've been inside Pare (including D block and the child sex offenders wing), Rimutaka, Auckland Central Remand, and also the new women's facility down in Manukau. While the recently-build facilities have that "new building" smell, they are uniformly dreary places.
Even in lower security levels the basics of life are rigidly prescribed. You eat when you're told, you exercise when you're told, and contact with the outside world has more hoops than a seven-ring circus. Most inmates are terrified of each other and - as you point out - if they find this place better than home, serious questions need to be asked.
However, your answer to some inmates finding life better on the inside than on the outside seems to be make life on the inside worse. (Given you seem so jealous of their "central heating", would you let them freeze to death? Which, really, is the only alternative. Unless you want individual bar-heaters and a blowout of the electrical bill.)
When, really, if you did the alternative - trying to make improvements outside of prison - you'd achieve better results. The principle problem with the New Zealand prison system isn't its lack of harshness. It's the near-complete lack of follow-up rehabilitation. You're thrown in jail, then abruptly let out to live the same lifestyle and with peer group that led you to prison in the first place.
So, David, why is the recidivism rate so high again?
Cheers,
Matt -
Get any swims in?
I'm more of a sit beside the water man, preferably with bottle, book and ashtray
The ocean, IMHO, is purely for scenery - and sourcing sweet, sweet sea life for the barbie.
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The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes. The clearest explanation yet I've heard of atomic physics, tied up with a neat narrative that involves a fascist dictator and Jewish physicists competing to make some super-weapon. This is far-out sci-fi. Oh, and this guy Rutherford is quoted as saying anyone who believes in nuclear energy is "talking moonshine."
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. A dazzling blend of Nick Hornby nerdiness (I have to admit I got most of the D&D references), and Gabriel Garcia Marquez national narrative. The Dominican Republican wasn't a happy place in the 1950s, man.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chadon. Because the Yiddish Policeman's Union was so damn cool.
The Road , by Cormack McCarthy. Bleak as it is compelling.
Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, the Hyperion series, by Dan Simmons, oh, and something called My First Stabbing I nicked off my dad after I gave it to him for Christmas.
That was one good summer.
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Richard Irvine:
Has anyone tried Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace? I piked out at about 560 pages (of just over 1K). It's... kind of brilliant but yeah, really heavy on the seemingly irrelevant.
I actually got through that medical-encyclopedia of a novel, but in highly experimental circumstances I wouldn't recommend to anyone else. A six month stint on the dole, a dead cheap flat with dead things somewhere beneath a hole in the kitchen floor, and the mad ravings of critics gave me the opportunity.
Finishing the damn things was another matter altogether. Even with 8+ hours a day of dedicated reading, it took the better part of a month to get through. But it's still one of my favourite novels, mostly down to David Foster Wallace's explanation of conflict with Quebec: New Hampshire is turned into a toxic waste dump and the US and Canada go to war over who doesn't own that cursed territory.
And the man knows his Tennis. Check out his essay on Roger Federer.
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Kracklite: Come to think of it, that tinfoil armour concept should be be further investigated by the army
The US army has gone down this path already, as chronicled by Jon Ronson in The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson. I reviewed it a while back <gratuitious vanity-link alert>:
Given a budget and personnel, the army of tomorrow tries all sorts of bizarre, but cheap, experiments. There is a room with six men, ostensibly clairvoyants, who try to visualise where Saddam Hussein is hiding. In their spare time they entertain themselves by trying to find the Loch Ness monster. And there is Guy Savelli, a legend in occult military circles because he once stopped the heart of a goat simply by staring at the animal.
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Wishart's put out a trioka of books in the last year. In addition to Eve's Bite and Absolute Power, he also wrote The Divinity Code. A telling review of the latter from Christan News, an outlet with the (half-joking?) masthead line "Sponsored by the Elusive Brethren & Right Wing American Fundamentalists" and therefore friendly with his arguments, had this cracker of a line:
At some points in the book Wishart goes off on tangents not particularly relevant to the truth of Christianity e.g. the possible existence of Atlantis.
So, Lyndon, the big reveal is unlikely to be reptilian. My money's on amphibians.
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In honour of David Haywood (actually, ripping his wonderful child-birth novellas hardly is honourable, but...), I'd like to suggest: Breastapo.
In a similar calcium-rich vein, I've always been tickled by: lactivist.
But if you're wanting to describing the year of politics, the word must surely be dragonic
Dragonic [drag-ON-ic]: Used to describe the numerous hysterical protests this year, all complaining about nanny or police-state government policy, that turn out to be more virulent and have longer half-lives than whatever Iran is apparently (now apparently not) fiddling with.
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You think politicians have it bad with high-def, but will someone please think of the porn-stars?!?
Hollywood is dealing with similar problems, but they are more pronounced for pornographers, who rely on close-ups and who, because of their quick adoption of the new format, are facing the issue more immediately than mainstream entertainment companies.
Producers are taking steps to hide the imperfections. Some shots are lit differently, while some actors simply are not shot at certain angles, or are getting cosmetic surgery, or seeking expert grooming.
“The biggest problem is razor burn,” said Stormy Daniels, an actress, writer and director.
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Does anyone know what Hamish McKay's background in broadcasting or journalism is?
This I can answer. During the Lions tour, when Diana Wichtel was away, I compared the commentary teams of Sky and TV3 during a meaningless midweek match:
The Sky crew are experienced professionals, with Grant Nisbett having called every match for the network since it won live match rights in 1996. TV3’s Hamish McKay oozes enthusiasm, if not big-match experience: his CV lists calling Manawatu provincial games for regional radio as his chief asset.
Sports commentators tend to use cliches and puns, but this McKay blurt probably ranks alongside Mexted's most ridiculous clangers: “Questions over the Lions, have they lost their roar? They’re not too raw to show their talents tonight! There’s that children’s book Nobody Laughs at a Lion.”
To which Bunce responded: “Too many of those Red Bulls, fellah.”
More likely a lack of Ritalin.
Cheers,
Matt -
In other news, the website Rankin endorsed on air as a source of information about the therapeutic good bill has subpages on overcooked topics such as:
At least astrology can't give you cancer. Or claim to be a cure.
Jolisa: Thanks for jogging my memory. I'm sure the phrase would have come to mind eventually.