Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Hell's Bells

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  • Andre Alessi,

    So to calculate the worth of their idea (as opposed to the implementation) you'd take the median revenue of any commercial attempt to implement virtual worlds?

    That'd be a nice round figure.

    That's what makes me think the whole thing is being driven by greed even if the basis of the lawsuit is legitimate. Given that Worlds.com's client list gives the impression of a once-up-an-coming company now struggling to find work, I can't say I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    Well blow me down:

    It's impressive incompetence tho'.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    And as I said at the time, I still think a lot of people in the media-political complex need to get their fucking heads around the idea that Maori aren't Te Borg on any subject, no more than quote unquote "Asians", "Christians", teh gayz or laydeeze are.

    And NOBODY (least of the all the Prime Minister) was trying to tell ANY iwi what flag to fly on their marae. That would have been an act of arrogant presumption that genuinely beggared belief.

    It's not too far from Hone Harwira trying to intimidate officials into calling it "The Maori Flag" though.

    The flag will fly over Premier House tomorrow. There are official Ministry of Culture and Heritage guidelines as to how it should be flown. But no one seems to know what public organisation should be flying it. Ngai Tahu and Ngapui find it offensive, and the Te Arawa respresentatives on the Rotorua District Council have rejected the idea of the council flying it.

    It's a shambles.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Fish,

    Laneways
    Interesting to see Ticketek having main gate problems after the fiasco at R&V gate due to problems with e-ticket. People I talked to implied you go with Ticketek or Ticketmaster to avoid those f***-ups!

    I thought Sam was starting to get a bit panicked at the end of their set when he was trying to remove the 'burqa', he was stumbling around and it looked like he could topple.

    The XX were great, a bit of Joy Division mixed with some Cure.

    I'd been blagged backstage to see my buddies, and the headliners didn't really make much sense to me from the side of the stage?

    drunk all their rider by then huh :)

    They hadn't finished drinking their rider at that stage, they were hard at it on stage. However Florence was fabulous.
    I'm slightly worried that my 8 year old daughter's favourite song is Florence's "kiss with a fist" - I think my fav song at that age was 'Crackling Rose' by Neil Diamond. Guess my parents had slightly different musical tastes to my daughters!

    Biggest letdown was was after about 15 minutes into the NASA set when they shut down the sound system, that was shaping to be a really good set.

    Even managed to bump into Russell in the queue for the toilets in VIP - Hi again - the toilets seem to be the main selling point for these VIP areas. We didn't even try to get food, was a complete waste of time. Having to buy a minimum $30 of drink vouchers (with no refunds) was taking the piss.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 19 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    reduce anything Maari-related to a black-on-black cat fight when the realities are a lot more complicated

    Paul fecking Holmes with Hone on Q+A was a classic - a torrent of aggressively ignorant racist claptrap, on Harawira's shoulders to deny without coming across as rude. His response to the crayfish line was classic though.

    It seems unlikely producers can moderate Mr Holmes' fatuous self-belief in the fearful colonial worldview he absorbed as a boy and has reinforced since through his choice of conversational companions. I resent public money spent spreading garbage thinking.

    Can see why some Maori leaders would just stay well away from non-Maori media. Which hurts all of us.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    It's not too far from Hone Harwira trying to intimidate officials into calling it "The Maori Flag" though.

    While I'll never miss a chance to give Honey a kick in the slats, I've know a few folks who work for TPK over the years and they're not that easy to put the wind up. Seriously -- he's not the most impressive shit-fit thrower out there.

    It's a shambles.

    Pardon me for being cynical, Russell, but I don't think there was any alternative, process or degree of 'consultation' that would have made it anything else. There's a whole lot of subtext (political, tribal, historical and to some degree very personal) here that has bugger all to do with the flag. There's some very interesting stories that could have been told -- and told intelligently -- if anyone was interested in looking.

    Never mind, life is full of wasted opportunities and I suspect the MSM got exactly the story line they were after. Bloody cheeky darkies squabbling among themselves again, and we always said that the Maori Party should never have gotten in bed with the Tories... (Though, to be entirely fair, Harawira is the proverbial gift that keeps on giving. You'd have to be inhumanly high-minded not to take the bait.)

    Could we hold a seance and raise a Zombie-ficated Michael King to whip at least one media outlet into shape?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    Holmes is just the wrong interviewer for that show, always has been.

    PAUL: And by the way, on the subject of colonialism, it hasn't been all bad, has it? I mean, if I may be flippant about it we now have refrigerators to put the crayfish in.

    HONE Thank you Paul.

    It's the kind of stuff you heard in redneckland 30 years ago. "The Maoris say they don't like colonialism but they like our beer/TAB/etc etc". Can't believe he gets away with this.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    Pardon me for being cynical, Russell, but I don't think there was any alternative, process or degree of 'consultation' that would have made it anything else.

    Telling Hone Harawira to stay clear would have been a huge help in avoiding the CoI stuff, which is the real wtf thing for me. The rest seems to me like someone else's argument which I have no interest in getting involved in, but the copyright thing is stunningly bad.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Holmes is just the wrong interviewer for that show, always has been.

    Simon Dallow's professional and substantive interviews on the old Agenda were a very pleasant surprise from somesone I'd written off as a pretty vacant autocue reader. His promotion to the prime time bulletin was a big step up in his career but the handful of us who actually give a shit about grown-up current affairs lost out.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Thomas,

    The major calamity was me getting stuck with four $6 drink tokens after the guest bar closed early.

    I was left with $12, and most of my friends with between $10-$20, after abandoning the 45 minute queues. That would add up - across 5000 people - to a pretty nice windfall for the promoters. On the other hand, the 3Ds were still worth it, even with the unadvertised surcharge.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 20 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Sorry - Totally off topic latest news

    Dogs get revenge

    For some inexplicable reason I am not upset........But I do have this overwhelming urge to pump my forearm down with a Petrie "YES!"

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    VW wanting dosh for the Kombi reference...and Kraft Corporation wanting their cut for the Vegemite namecheck?

    I'm surprised the BBC didn't demand a radio edit. They made Ray Davis change the lyrics of Lola to "we drank champagne it tasted like cherry cola" in order to remove a brand name. (The song predated the launch of actual Cherry Cola by some years).

    Possibly neither the Kombi or Vegimite were actively marketed in the UK at that time.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    \m/

    Is that a goat-throw?

    Damn right it is.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Simon Dallow's professional and substantive interviews on the old Agenda were a very pleasant surprise

    Totally. So who's going to be the host when Agenda reappears on TV3 this year?
    John Campbell?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    Will I be hauled through the streets and battered to death with tire jacks if I say that AC/DC are truly awful?

    I used to like the song Dirty deeds, partly because it took me a long time to figure out the lyrics.

    Then my wife pointed out that their lead singer is Donald Duck ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Isabel Hitchings,

    Someone once described AC/DC's sound to me as "five men belching in unison" and I've never seen cause to disagree.

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    So who's going to be the host when Agenda reappears on TV3 this year?
    John Campbell?

    Stephen Parker. He resigned from working as Brownlee's press secretary just before Christmas.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking,

    Totally off topic.

    I had a shirt like this in the 90s, it was my hang-over shirt. To be thrown in the corner so as not to agrivate my hangover in the morning.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    He resigned from working as Brownlee's press secretary just before Christmas.

    Must have been quite a relief.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Annointing a "Maori flag" without formally consulting major iwi just beggars belief.

    Can I just say that when I heard people referring to the Tino Rangatiratanga flag as "Hone's flag", I didn't realise they meant it quite so literally?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    Here is a totally random music joke for Friday:


    Q: How many PA muso's does it take to change a lightbulb?


    A: It's an obscure number, you've probably never heard of it.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Key was at his charming, self-effacing best on the Waitangi TV coverage just now.

    But they appear to have agreed to refer to the flag as "The Maori Flag" -- which does seem a bit weird given the number of major iwi who don't want a bar of it.

    Oh well. Not my argument, I suppose.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Best you can say of the tino flag - it's *a*'Maori flag.

    I like it's kowhaiwhai ancestry, is all.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Best you can say of the tino flag - it's *a*'Maori flag

    T'other half just said exactly that. Are you channeling Islander? ;)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Check the comments under the Stuff review.

    It appears she was a hard road back to Hamilton on the southern motorway that night ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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