Posts by Charles Mabbett
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The Berlin Games of our time. Interesting how people project the worst possible interpretations of foreign and domestic policy on China without putting the country's development and political evolution into context and without acknowledgement that China has changed in many ways for the better over the past 30 years.
While China is not where we in the West would like it to be, we need to contrast life today for many Chinese citizens to life under Mao (when the country could accurately be described as a dictatorship).
Observing the relative freedoms that many Chinese now have, there's been a quantum leap. Increased freedom to get an education, to travel, to make money, low level experiments in democracy, transition to an open economy - there has been rapid change and much of it would be making Mao's body spin in his mausoleum.
Russia has declared war on Georgia. The United States declared war on Iraq but some of us think the Chinese are the real bad guys. Strange old world.
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Jia you, Emma! Let's have some more. Beijing will be an awesome place to be tonight. Where are you going to watch the big event from?
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I like Bright Grey by the Phoenix Foundation and the way it begins always get me - especially when they play it live. But it's always been a mystery to me why they haven't made a video of 40 Years which is absolutely brilliant single material.
And ditto that about Sam Flynn Scott. His two solo albums are terrific - which also has to be said for Luke Buda's solo work.
It's funny. I've been revisiting The Chills and spent a weekend playing Heavenly Pop Hits compilation again and again. Original pop music that really endures and I can't help thinking that the Phoenix Foundation are the inheritors and now torch bearers of that sound.
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Well described, Craig. I'm looking forward to Ashes of Time too. It's on at the Embassy in Wellington this avo.
The one aspect of the film festival that I feel you've overlooked James and its an easy omission to make because the festival has grown so large.
This year there is an incredible contingent of Asian films after a disappointing Asian component last year. But Bill is back (after a year away) and he makes Asian cinema a real point of distinction.
And within that is the retrospective of Edward Yang films. I've seen YiYi which is wonderful. For me this is a fantastic opportunity to see his others. He's reputedly up there with Hou Hsiao Hsien another famous Taiwanese director (anyone who has seen Millennium Mambo will know what I'm talking about) but sadly we wont be seeing more films by Yang because he died last year. Bring them on.
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When Veitch came out with the Serena Williams slur, I was so annoyed, i sent an email to his TVNZ email address advising him to read about Jackie Robinson, the first black professional baseball player to player Major League baseball.
Robinson faced terrible racism - institutional and otherwise - in 1940s and 50s America.
And you've got someone like Tony Veitch belittling a black athlete like Serena Williams without having a clue about the kind of barriers that black sportspeople had to break through.
Even more recently Tiger Woods was banned by his local golf club when he was a boy because he wasn't white.
How someone even with a limited number of braincells could think the y were making a funny remark by likening Williams to apes, beggars belief.
He did have to apologise on air for that comment but it was hard to like or respect him after that.
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I'm just looking through Steven Price's wonderful book Media Minefield and here's a key point in the advent that you have to prove truth to avoid being found to have defamed someone.
If you've promised your source confidentiality, then they may not want to back you up publicly. One way around this is to try to get the source to agree at the outset to surrender confidentiality if the matter ever goes to court.
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Cecelia,
I think the Dompost decided to take a punt even though they only used unnamed sources. The journalist Bernadette Courtenay must have been very confident of her sources that the story was true. A publication can mount a defence that it is not defamation if it is the truth.
After the story was published (and it was a real doozy of a scoop - let's face it - it would be hard for any editor to decide not to run it), TVNZ revealed that Veitch was considering legal action but his lawyers might have advised that the defamation case wasn't going to fly hence the public relations managed 'apology'. That's my reading of it.
I'd be interested in hearing from others how they saw the events unfold this week.
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Shep, discretion is the better part of discression.
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Just to correct that, Semih Senturk scored against Switzerland and Croatia.
Serendipiditously, Senturk means 'happy Turk'.
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IMHO - The most interesting sport being played at the moment is happening in Europe.
Has anyone else noticed how one of the Turkish players at the centre of their late late late shows at Euro 2008 looks a lot like Damien Christie?
That's Semih Senturk the striker who has scored late winners in his team's matches against the Czech Republic and Croatia and is probably the single reason why they're in the semifinal against Germany later this week.
Separated at birth? Similar angelic face with receding hairline.
But probably a better finisher than Mr Christie.