Posts by Paul Campbell
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Or if you're James Cook Banks peninsula ....
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To be fair it's "nations' van" not "nation's van" .... we have to share it
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well here we are in this day and age with our third Jewish Prime Minister, you'd would think we'd be past it by now - mostly though I think this is an artifact of petty schoolyard behaviour - the same thing that does result in physical bullying in the extreme - school should be a safe place, probably one of the safest places in our society and we need to make the effort to make it so
Of course the current Minister could start by leading by example ....
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usually it comes up used as a slur in some disagreement, it's obviously seen as way to get at the kids and hurt them - 'jew' is also used in every day conversation much like 'gay' is - except that most gay teens aren't out yet
We've offered to (almost insisted) make a big stink at school but the kids have vetoed this so far.
My son did have one situation where another kid started writing him very offensive notes - however this kid had both heavy duty Aspergers and an over the top dose of christianity, we decided to let that one pass feeling that it really wasn't something for the school in that case.
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yeah schools have a long way to go as far as bullying is concerned - my kids are technically Jewish (culturally, not religiously) - you'd be amazed how often that comes up, out of context, at school in NZ
The weird thing is this is Dunedin - most of those stereotypes about Jews apply to the Scots as well ...
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It's not like there's a lot of things that rhyme with "Zealand" .... we're generally short of native eland which leaves them out and sort of leaves us stuck with double words where the second is 'land' - "wee land", "free land", "flea land", etc and word play that leaves an 'and' at the end of a line: "... eel and", "... surreal and" which gets old fast
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On the other hand there are alternate options for national anthems:
So if things are looking really bad
you're thinking of givin' it away
Remember New Zealand's a cracker
and I reckon come what may
If things get appallingly bad
and we all get atrociously poor
If we stand in the queue with our hats on
we can borrow a few million more
We don't know how lucky we are, mate
We don't know how lucky we are -
'guide her in the nations' van'
Always seemed like a thinly veiled sexual reference to me ... on the other hand:
From dissension, envy, hate,
And corruption guard our State,
Make our country good and great,seems like just the right thing to have in a national anthem.
However I've always been partial to the 70s greeny version:
Way back up in Cromwell gorge
Tons of co-on-cre-ete they-ey wi-ill forge
All our farmland they will drown
Right back up to Albert Town
Flood the Wilkins, Dam the-e Reese
Will their pla-a-ni-ing e-ever-er cease
We must know where danger lurks
Vandals of the Public WorksFirst the valleys, then the-e creeks
Next they'll flood our fla-a-mi-ing peaks
While for Auckland power abounds
Our South Island slowly drowns.
Climbers of the Alps unite
For our snow we now must fight
Keep it for our pleasure now
Not for making bloody power.Benmore, Roxburgh, Avie-e-more
Manapouri, how-w ma-a-ny more
Will our trees and forests last
When the waters top the Haast.
Halt Kawarau's mighty drop
Arawata they-ey mu-ust stop
When they reach Aspiring's top
God defend New Zealand!! -
Any instrument .... wow .... things seem so much more wonderfully tolerant these days .... being of a decidedly non-musical bent, cats flee when I attempt to sing, I was forever thwarted in my early desire to play air guitar in the school orchestra
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We're a rural nation, full of dairy farms - I'm sure something more appropriate, and traditionally kiwi, than custard could be found ...