Posts by Robyn Gallagher

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  • Hard News: The Short and Long of It,

    And on Twitter and teens, I've heard one really good theory for why Twitter doesn't appeal to teens.

    Twitter suits people who are sitting in front of a computer all day and/or have mobile internet on their cellphones. Teens don't have this. They're at school/uni during the day, and most can't afford mobile internet. So Twitter basically doesn't fit in with their lifestyle, so they use other online social media that does.

    All the teenagers I've seen on Twitter seem to post things like "wot is twitter i dont get it" and never come back. Which was approximately my experience with Bebo.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Short and Long of It,

    Some things I'd like to be improved:

    - When I get the daily PA email, all the authors have a little tagline, eg "Hadyn Green yells. A lot." But these don't seem to show up online anywhere - a pity, cos some Mr Slacks are quite funny.

    - In PA System, I'd like it to remember where I was up to with reading comments, so I can find click straight through to the newest page of comments.

    - Threaded discussions. Please. Let me add a comment in the discussion, rather than adding it to the bottom of the list.

    - What about more options to add links to user info, instead of just one URL and one email address (who uses email anymore?). I'd like to add my Twitter name.

    - Another through - integrating PA and PAS seems like the right direction to take, but maybe the slight barrier of the current front page of PA is actually good for shaping the community of PAS.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: A New Hope,

    our crowd was a little intimidated by the studio setting for most of the show. We will work on ways to lessen their inhibitions.

    The most uninhibited telly recording I've been to is Back Benches, filmed at the Backbencher pub. So it must be that having lots of politicians around lets people loosen up. Yeah, that must be it.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Island Life: The Guilt of Clayton Weatherston,

    The media are as complicit in the smearing of Sophie Elliot's name as Clayton Weatherston.

    But has her name actually been smeared? I mean, does anyone here actually think she's a provocative slut who deserved to be murdered?

    Everyone I've talked to about this seems to have horrified by Weatherston's claims about Elliot and seen right through them.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Seen Anything Good? Tales from the film…,

    I saw Moon yesterday, which involved rocking up to the sold-out Paramount and using my powers of awesome to get a ticket (and a really good seat, at that).

    It was a really satisfying film, sort of set in on Kubrickian moon of 2001. At first I was expecting it to be a bit spiritual, but the question of that was cleared up and it became a really good space-based sci-fi flick that constantly delighted me with its refusal to turn into a moronic action film (I'm not sure why I was expecting this).

    It's coming out on general release in a few months, but I couldn't resist seeing it on the 40th anniversary of there actually being a couple of guys hanging out on the moon.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Busytown: Cry me a river,

    Rex would have been too busy popping down the butcher's for some sausages and coming back three weeks later. Our cultural heroes did not tend to help much about the house...

    Heh, so true!

    One of the best pieces of advice I've had on writing came from a veteran Australian television writer. She said every writer needs a wife. (She never had one and ended up burnt out, unable to get out of bed for several years.)

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • New Charlie Brooker series,

    Fans of the acerbic television-watching Englishman will be interesting in his new series "You Have Been Watching". It's an hour-long quiz/panel show, where Brooker is joined by three guests, and they discuss the week in television.

    It has alerted me to the existence of "Deadliest Warrior" - an American programme which scientifically answers the age-old question "Who would win in a pirate vs ninja battle?"

    It probably helps if you have friends in England who regularly send you videotapes of British telly, but there are enough clips and context to enjoy the show on its own.

    Of course, you'll also need friends in England to get hold of episodes of YHBW, but I hear the YewChoobs might have it too.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Busytown: Cry me a river,

    It's interesting that a rather itinerant sort like Fairburn could have afforded that house back then, but now it would only be within reach of someone who makes money from money.

    I just rang up my mum. The house was owned by the Mays family (Fairburn was married to Jocelyn Mays*). Jocelyn's grandfather, Oliver Mays, was the "founder of Devonport" and also owned a grand old house further up the hill on Mays Street (guess where that name came from...). The house on King Edward Parade had been lived in by a number of disabled and elderly aunts, and the Fairburns moved in to help look after them.

    * My grandma's sister.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: Chocolate elitism,

    Long-time readers may recall the visit to these forums of Palm Oil Guy ...

    During the recent earthquake, my thoughts were with one of his friends, a South Islander who lived in the bustling metropolis that is Homer Tunnel.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Seen Anything Good? Tales from the film…,

    I'm taking the film festival day by day, checking out the programme and then deciding if there's anything I want to see.

    I'm also taking some advice from Dan Slevin and only seeing films that aren't going to be available later on general release. It seems much more fun that way.

    This weekend I saw...

    Best Worst Movie
    A documentary looking at the 1990 film Troll 2, which, after languishing in VCR obscurity, gradually found an cult audience. The doco is made by Troll 2's former child star, and takes a good-hearted look at the fans of the films and the actors who are embracing (sometimes reluctantly) their newfound fame.

    The Camera on the Shore
    Graeme Tuckett's documentary on the work of NZ film-maker Barry Barclay. Barry's life as a film-maker is allowed to be told in a fairly organic way. Rather than having a narrative thrust as us, we learn about the life and work of Baz from his friend and colleagues, and through interviews from the man himself. Moving, inspiring, and a great tribute to a significant NZer.

    Tangata Whenua 1
    A selection of Barry Barclay's films are being played in the film festival. Tangata Whenua was a 1974 documentary series with Michael King, talking to Maori and hearing their stories. The two episodes screened in this session looked at some kuia with moko (there were only about 30 left in NZ at the time), and the people of the Waikato (Tainui, I guess?) and their relationship with the river. Despite being as old as I am, the documentary didn't feel too dated, and had a real beauty to it, which is a hallmark of Barclay's direction.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

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