Posts by Paul Litterick

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  • Hard News: The People's Choice,

    First

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Out of the Groove,

    I was never convinced by this public youth radio idea. We had publically-funded youth radio in the Old Country and it was trash. Radio One had John Peel but pretty-well nobody else. The other presenters were just as bad as the commercial stations.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    The cat playing piano has just been referenced by Jon Stewart. Its fame is assured.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dancing the DMCA,

    Larkin is a great poet. Unfortunately for his reputation, his estate on his death was found to include a vast hoard of porn and his correspondence with Kingsley Amis on racial issues.

    He had been considered for Poet Laureate, to the outrage of The Sun, which discovered High Windows and commented on its first verse:

    When I see a couple of kids
    And guess he's fucking her and she's
    Taking pills or wearing a diaphragm,
    I know this is paradise

    Nobody who wrote like that could possibly be Our Own Dear Queen's poet. Oddly, The Sun did not notice This Be The Verse ("they fuck you up, your mum and dad...") and Larkin didn't want the job anyway.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dancing the DMCA,

    So much to discuss; thanks for the link.

    Steyn came to public attention as a waspish commentator on musical theatre. He became a political commentator later and only became famous for that because of his strident tone after 9/11. He is popular with the Right because of his consistent anti-Muslim attitude and his jeremiads about Europe being overwhelmed by Muslims. He is not a journalist.

    Air New Zealand; doesn't copyright law protect parody as a legitimate form of expression? By identifying Dan's piece as parody, isn't You Tube admitting there are no legal grounds for their decision? Not that it is unlawful: they can do what they like.

    The Guardian: maybe, just maybe, a lot of its online success is due to content being free and also the paper encouraging discussion on its opinion pieces. I largely gave up on the Independent because so much was subscription-only and the Herald seems to have reversed its subscription policy. As Public Address System shows, readers want access and participation.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Awful in more than one way,

    a blogger at National Review on line is wondering why the kids weren't brave enough to rush the guy

    I am not surprised. Whenever something like this happens, rightist commentators sneer at the bystanders for not doing as Chuck Norris would have done. These people live in a fantasy world informed by action movies. I would be surprised if any of them had ever been in such a situation.

    In reality, when guns are fired and bombs explode, the smart thing to do is get out of the way fast. The actions of the student and lecturer at Monash were exceptional.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Art and the Big Guy,

    it is not about selling too cheap. Works of art increase in value as the reputation of the artist increases. Early works sold to a dealer for a pittance can become valauble as the artist becomes famous. The dealer has a part in this, since his reputation boosts that of the artist.

    The dealer is in a position to exploit the artist and there are many known cases of such. I am not sure of the position in New Zealand but dealers in Britain usually take at least half of the prices fetched by artists they represent. That is a big cut.

    There have been instances, such as Wildenstein's treatment of the estate of Mark Rothko, of outright fraud committed by dealers against the artists they represent. The government's proposed scheme will at least ensure that artists get a fair cut.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Kids these days,

    Have you ever seen Mary's belly button? Renaissance painting is rather modest about the subject. In any case, after the immaculate conception, she would have grown in St Anne's womb just like any other foetus, with an umbilical cord. Jesus had a belly button as well: you can see it in all those crucifixion paintings.

    The Immaculate Conception was conceived to get around a theological problem. If Christ's mother was an ordinary human, He would have inherited Original Sin. So the theologians said that Mary was conceived in heaven and so was without Sin. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception was instituted by Sixtus IV in 1476 but believing in it was optional until 1854.

    As for those chimps, we share a common ancestor with them.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Kids these days,

    OMG, I misused an apostrophe. Myspace is corrupting me.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

  • Hard News: Kids these days,

    And I don't believe we came from chimps because no species that's living now was descended from any other species that is living now (he says hoping that he can at least get something right today)

    Is that, like, irony? American's don't get that either.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report

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