Posts by Pete Sime
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It's happening again. 6 months, Comedy Central, really?
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I wonder if the Bay of Plenty Times is regretting the decision to run a column in mid August arguing against emergency kits and disaster planning
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Yesterday you tweeted a map showing all the aftershocks after the big one with a time schedule since the quake, and just watching that made my hair stand on end.
You know, for extra effect you can go to that page and hold down your F11 key.
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And now there's been a plane crash killing nine people on the West Coast. It's a rough day for the south.
I've made a mental note to put together a disaster preparedness kit this week. It's a bit of a wake-up call.
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I really hope they have a story arc in mind. The best shows in the genre over the past decade have got over the idea of being episodic and have the whole story scoped out (ok, BSG and Lost are both criticised for weak endings, but you get my point).
Also put me onto a musician called Sufjan Stevens. His album Illinoise is fantastic.
I recall cataloguing a few of his CDs - including that one - when I worked at Dunedin Public Library and I was quite impressed by him. A couple of other bands I think you'd enjoy if you like Stevens are Beirut and Band of Horses.
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I feel another extended comment on the news considered as a serial drama (you know, recurring characters, narrative arcs, that sorta thing) coming on though...
That's why the tv media love doing crime stories. It's the same set narrative. You get some offence, film the victims (shadowed out with altered voices if it's a sex crime) or their neighbours/customers etc. Then there's the police hunt - the victims or a serious looking police officer may make a public appeal. The Sensible Sentencing Trust puts their two pennyworth in. The Police Association is asked for comment. The capture of the villain. The first glimpse of him at the courthouse - probably with a blanket or a jersey over his head (it's almost always a guy). If the network is lucky, they'll shove away the camera. Then there's the whole trial, which offers its own theatre. If it's controversial like Bain or Ellis it can be milked for years. They may try to expand out on issues arising from a single offence - should we license air rifles? Are there enough cops in South Auckland? How could people do that to their kids? Are you safe in your own house? The politicians get involved and have their say and muddy the waters in their own unique manner too.
It's the same lazy narrative all the time.
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I noticed the other night the 6 o'clock news on TV1 screened rowing footage sourced from the internet. It's quality was totally unacceptable - artifacting made it incredibly blurry and the sound was very tinny. It wasn't amateur footage, either. it had a network logo in the corner (from CNN or ESPN or something) so surely they could have got it at an appropriate quality. Copyright law allows them to screen this stuff, but are they getting too tight to license quality footage?
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Wow. I'm stunned, and I'm also a bit proud of my own workplace
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I forgot how awesome Idiocracy was until I watched it again the other day