Posts by Mr Mark
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Spring Timing, in reply to Russell Brown,
The problem may be that less engaged voters still don't seem to like him (Cunliffe)
Far too much has been made of this putative trust and likeability gap between Key and Cunliffe. A lot of the comment over recent weeks seems to be grounded in a fairly dodgy reading of the February Fairfax Media-Ipsos poll.
Not entirely surprising given Tracy Watkins' less-than-accurate analysis. Under the headline Poll: Key most liked, trusted , she tells us that the poll reveals Key is "by far our most liked and trusted politician" And that "the bad news for Mr Cunliffe" is that only Craig, Harawira and Dotcom are more disliked. (Note: She's wrong - Peters also has a higher dislike % than Cunliffe).
That's led various Tory trolls on The Standard and elsewhere over recent weeks to talk of Key being amazingly popular and Cunliffe being roundly hated.
It's a bit of a surprise, then, to see from the actual poll results that Key is distrusted and disliked by 39% and 37% respectively, while Cunliffe's corresponding figures are only slightly higher: 43% and 45%.
-
Hard News: Spring Timing, in reply to George Darroch,
National won the last election and the one previous on the back of a lot of soft support, with a high concentration of votes from young women
I find that difficult to believe, George. Over the last decade, poll breakdowns have consistently suggested both (1) Women and (2) the Under-35s disproportionately vote for the Left (and hence, of course, are under-represented among Right Bloc support).
(My only caveat is that I haven't seen the NZ Election Study Statistics for the last 2 Elections, but I assume they confirm poll breakdowns)
-
Hard News: Friday Music: Both sides of…, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
My mother's old enough to remember the Shirley Temple phenomenon (born 1930). Suggests that, while there was certainly a good deal of fandom/adulation, this was by no means universal. Boys at my mother's primary school, for instance, tended to deride young Shirley as a bit of a spoilt brat and this apparently represented a somewhat broader feeling among a section of the community.
I tend to feel we've been living under a bit of a Boomer-centric orthodoxy over the last three decades (in terms of our understanding of inter-war and post-war social history). And there's no doubt pre-Boomer New Zealanders have been treated rather crudely and contemptuously. Some of the commentary in the NZ media following Temple's death has certainly been in that mould of condescension (haven't read your article yet, Geoff, so can't comment on it :-) ).
-
I see the old Nazi/Romantic Nationalist 'Blut und Boden' still burns brightly for roughly half of Germans and Austrians (according to the chart). Dear oh dear. Still, I guess you could say the same about ethnically-cleansing Israelis.
-
Hard News: Friday Music: Cinema 'Tron, in reply to Danielle,
I am woman, hear me roar !!!
-
Please not 'All out of Love'. For chrissakes, I beg of you, Alan, anything but that.
This isn't, incidently, some kind of Brer Rabbit: "Oh please, Brer Fox, whatever you do, please don't throw me into the briar patch" kind of subterfuge. The song really does make me nauseous. I have an all too vivid memory from 1990 of getting in the car to go to soccer one Saturday afternoon, all excited as I always was before a football match at the tender age of 26, turned on the car radio - 'All out of Love' - suddenly felt like chundering all over the place.
In terms of my earlier comment, I should also add Exhibit Three: Little River Band (has the same effect on my digestive system as Air Supply and the Reddster).
-
Public outrage following the release of the truly horrendous Delta Dawn in 1973, saw a team of security guards charged with the task of keeping the woman the hell away from any unlocked Australian recording studio for the rest of the 1970s. Unfortunately, they got drunk one night, Helen slipped in the back entrance, defused the alarm system and your Youtube offerings, Alan, were the result.
And now back to Sora Shima's 'Glass Coffins" - at the opposite extreme of contemporary music's evolutionary spectrum from poor old Helen. There's a good argument to be made, incidently, that the nadir of popular music tends most often to occur in Australia. Exhibit One: The Reddster, Exhibit Two: Air Supply. Need I say more ?
-
Hard News: Friday Music: Cinema 'Tron, in reply to Sacha,
Cheers, Sacha.
Incidently, Russell, LOVE the Sora Shima, only mildly taken with the Yumi Zouma and absolutely LOATHED the Helen Reddy, Alan Perrott. What's got into you, man ???????
-
My preferred version of Townes Van Zandt's 'Dollar Bill Blues'.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBjdR91rHzs
And, what the hell, seeing it's you, I'll throw in Donald Byrd's decidedly beautiful 'Cristo Redentor' (1963).....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2KvM2T40RQ
Not to mention Ry Cooder's pearls of wisdom (preach it to me brother !!! preach it to me !!!).....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHdjBd105IU
-
Hush Up, Hush Up !!! I thought you Rude Boys were tougher than this....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF3CGENBhn0