Storm in a teacup on tape

23.11.2011/02.59

The ‘tea tape’ that’s been on the news for the last week or so seems like, if you’ll pardon the analogy, a storm in a teacup. PM John Key and Epsom candidate John Banks invited the media to record them chatting, then dismissed them. One cameraman, Bradley Ambrose, left a recorder on the table. […]

Behind the scenes: ‘St Elmo’s Fire’

18.10.2011/01.49

Of the videos we had access to use today, there was this intriguing one, about the recording session of ‘St Elmo’s Fire’: While it did not work with anything we publish, never look a gift horse in the mouth. Enjoy. You may also like A year of random thoughts: 2014 in review History of […]

I wanted to grow up and be the Dean Martin version of Matt Helm

15.07.2011/11.49

As a child growing up in Wellington, there were a few TV series that shaped my beliefs about being grown-up in the occident. The ﬁrst I’ve written about before: The Persuaders, which is in part where this blog gets its name. I’ve probably mentioned Return of the Saint elsewhere, not to mention the plethora of […]

Has it really been 20 years? Billy T.: Te Movie débuts August

14.07.2011/11.10

I still have a lot of the Billy T. James shows on video cassette, and I’ve avoided many of the compilations, since I just don’t feel right seeing the sketches in an order that Billy himself might not have had a say in. Silly reason, I know. However, this does feel right: a ﬁlm about […]

The land beyond Facebook

14.06.2011/09.53

Stowe Boyd wrote (and I re-Tumbled) the big drop in US and Canadian Facebook trafﬁc this week: Most prominently, the United States lost nearly 6 million users, falling from 155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at the end of it. This is the ﬁrst time the country has lost users in […]

Wellington Airport ﬂip-ﬂops again, but pennies drop more quickly in Queensland

01.06.2011/10.52

Today, those of us on the anti-‘Wellywood’ sign page got some welcome news: that Wellington Airport would reconsider. But, I had to point out, this is again déjà vu. Last time, the Airport ﬂip-ﬂopped as well, and said it would consult the public. Given that the resource consent for ‘Wellywood’ was for nine […]

The Paradise Club’s Facebook page (not an adult joint)

27.05.2011/06.41

Two years ago, I blogged about The Paradise Club’s unavailability on DVD and the reasons behind it. As a show nearly forgotten after 20 years, perhaps it isn’t surprising to ﬁnd there are no Facebook fan pages for it. There is the one that Facebook generates from Wikipedia, but that’s it, as far as […]

I had perfect scores but no “tiger parents”

15.05.2011/09.38

Now I see 60 Minutes New Zealand is on the act: how there’s supposedly something “different” about ‘Asians’. (God, I hate that term—I am neither Japanese, Sri Lankan or Kazakh. Prior to Winston Peters being on the scene, I thought I was Chinese, or a Chinese New Zealander.) The report surmised that it’s all about […]

It’s about content, especially when reality is more appealing than reality TV

10.04.2011/01.55

It’s shows like The Apprentice that have kept me away from watching TV. I was surprised to learn, in conversation last week, that TV viewership is up, while print is down. Shows you can’t base too much of what the general public does on your own experience. I estimate my magazine and book […]

And now, Ben Heck makes an ‘Atari’ Xbox 360 ‘1977 edition’

21.03.2011/09.32

A while back, I came across Benjamin J. Heckendorn (a.k.a. Ben Heck) and his Commodore 64 laptop. This is a quite a fascinating machine, considering the actual “portable” 64 Executive was a heavy beast that could kill if hurled at you. While Ben took the 64’s odd colour, keyboard and 64C’s motherboard, his is structured […]