Posts by Steve Parks
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I'll never forget a teacher at intermediate school wasting about 3 hours of my life teaching me about apostrophes, by tearing up the work and making me write it again. She was actually totally wrong about apostrophes, but that wasn't going to stop her making her point about how important they are. Over, and over and over. Until the wrong way was totally drummed into my head.
Just on the apostrophy issue, Janet Holmes has this to say: Get rid of them altogether.
"I am sure those of you who disagree with me are even now working furiously to find words and phrases which (out of context) might be ambiguous without an apostrophe. Well, note how long it takes you to find examples, and then consider that your distant forebears complained when people stopped using capital letters for nouns (as the Germans still do), and not long ago people protested just as vehemently about deleting the full stops after Mr and Mrs.
The truth is that people who have learned how to use apostrophes have a vested interest in maintaining them. Its like correct grammar. Learning all those rules has to mean something doesnt it?"
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No, but Kyle was comparing the Bale outburst on the film set to what one might get away with in a "normal workplace" (Kyle's words), and Ben disagreed.
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I just don't make a habit of desperately avoiding rough people, when they seem to have a genuine point, or real talent.
Neither do I.
I don't see what 'real talent' has to do with Kyle's point about regular workplaces. As for having 'a genuine point', I think most or all agreed that Bale had a valid point: that the DP was not doing his job properly. The issue is whether he overreacted (obviously, yes), and whether people in regular workplaces would do the same or worse and get away with it (obviously, no).
-professional coaches
-artistsDon't want to speak for Kyle, but that's not what I had in mind when I used his term "normal workplace". I've seen artists have similar blowups, yes. But not in a situation I would think of as a "normal workplace". They certainly weren't in a position to be put through a diciplary procedure or be instantly dismissed by an employer.
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I have found meetings that have karakia are significantly more effective because you don't have the arsing about and small talk that typically brackets a meeting. You know when it starts and when it ends.
I wish we had karakia at my work, then. We have that problem all the time - needless chit-chat at the beginning delaying the start and worse at the end. It's most insideous as the meeting winds down, when I'm not sure the meeting has completely derailed and run its course as a formal meeting or not. If there was a clear cut beginning and end, I could get up and leave when the gossiping starts.
I used to get a bit of stick at work for not participating in karakia or powhiri. My excuse was "it's not culturally appropriate for me to mouth religious or cultural views that I don't share" and I still stand by that.
Hmm, which aspect of "we welcome you visitors to our place" or "thanks for welcoming us" do you find culturally inappropriate ?
To be fair, a few of us have obviously learned from your explanation of the real purpose of karakia. I think Mark's particular experience of karakia and powhiri included religious content, and it is that that he's referring to here.
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Try a building site...
...Or warehouses, even shops (though not where the customers can hear). The only reason I think it got any coverage was the liberal use of the F-bomb
No no, I don't think the swearing per se was the main attention grabber. And I have worked in those places before (well, not on a building site), and I don't think you would get away with wasting so much time, just for one.
Try academia
I accept your example, kracklite, but academia ain't a normal workplace.
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I am quite honestly surprised by how normal or justifiable some of you think this is.
Maybe it’s because Ben’s worked in some pretty tough work places, by the sound…
You wouldn't hear that 220 second rant in any normal workplace.
I not only would hear such things, I have heard them. And a lot worse too.
"a lot worse"? ... Yikes. I work in a pretty normal workplace (bank central office), and someone would most certainly not get away with such an outburst. Same with any regular workplace I’ve previously worked.
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Having said that, as an actor and as a lighting designer/rigger/operator, you don't mess with gear during a take, or even a rehearsal. It's incredibly unprofessional.
Absolutely. I'm surprised the DP needed to be told this once, let alone twice or more on set. The DP on a major movie will be getting paid pretty darn well - more than I get to be "professional". He should know his job.
But obviously Bale's reaction went way too far.
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I suspect ... that Titewhai Harawira had the balance sheet of her personal mana uppermost as she barked orders at a shaken Key ("Stand still John -- no, no, stand still ... ") in the seconds after the attack.
The focus of criticsm, naturally enough, has been on the attackers, but I'm glad to see someone else was annoyed by Harawira's hectoring approach there. I found her obnoxious, to say the least.
We've deluded ourselves into thinking the day at Waitangi has always been thus, but it's not actually true.
My dad was telling me that this weekend - that it was once NZ Day, but I brushed it off. "Nah, I'm pretty sure there's always been a Waitangi Day." Well, go to figure. The old coot was right. Interesting.
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When was the last time anyone buying a movie ticket gave a shit who the Director of Photography is?
I care who the DP is.
I wouldn't go to a film just because of the DP, but then I wouldn't go to a film just because of a particular actor either*. I'm more interested in who the writers/director and some crew are, than I am in the actors, generally.
(*Well, like this guy, I might, if it was Zooey Deschanel.)
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...geeks are fools with far too much disposable income and no impulse control...
I don't have too much disposable income.