Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

After crusing along in Government for the last few years, PM Hillin Cluck's Labour Party suddenly seem to be edging towards panic mode...

With recent polls putting National about equal, or even slightly ahead of Labour, they now seem a little concerned that a third term might not be a shoe-in, and are refusing to announce an election date until the last possibly minute.

Late last month, Finance Minister Dr Michael Cullen rushed out a Press Release ahead of National's annual conference, entitled Tax policy announcement from National on Sunday?. In the release, Dr Cullen called on Dr Brash to reveal his tax policy during the conference...

“National Party delegates are surely entitled to expect that Don Brash will announce this weekend the tax platform National will take into the election,” Finance Minister Michael Cullen said.

It seems Labour are anxiously hanging out for National's taxation policy, so they have time to try and come up with some legitimate sounding reasons about why they can't do it. (Despite the fact they just suddenly found an extra 1/2 a billion dollars, which they promptly committed to "transport"... and apparently $500 million translates to less than "the proverbial packet of chewing gum" for taxpayers, according to Dr Cullen's unique math!)

PM Clark's also getting rattled. She was upset that one of her bezza mates, Speaker of the House Margaret Wilson, kicked her out of the House recently for butting in while Nick Smith was speaking. She said the incident was "frankly, a little ridiculous". Apparently the rules of Parliament should apply only to everybody else.

She then called a Media conference to announce the 'apology' to Israel at 3pm on the Sunday afternoon of National's annual conference, forcing journalists to fly from Auckland to Wellington to catch the afternoon apology.

The reason for the unusually timed weekend media conference was (according to Ms Clark) because it was being "synchronised with the Government of Israel"... despite the notion that politicians in Tel Aviv were rising at 6am on a Sunday morning especially for a cabinet meeting to hear a statement from the New Zealand Prime Minister seemed highly unlikely. (That was apparently confirmed shortly after, with Israel saying the apology had been approved by their PM two months earlier!)

Finally, David Benson-Pope's happily back at work for the Labour Government, and seems unlikely to face charges following 'Bullygate'. Speaker Margaret Wilson ruled earlier this month, there's no question of privilege against Benson-Pope.

Apparently telling the House that you "didn't stuff tennis balls in students mouths, didn't tie students hands together, and didn't whack a student on the back of the head so his nose bled", doesn't constitute "lying in Parliament". Huh? Am I living in North Korea?!

Even some of Benson-Pope's supporters have said "well he might have done it, but lots of others probably did similar things back then... it's just how things were in schools". That's as may be. But any other teachers who did similar acts aren't now Associate Ministers of Education launching anti-bullying campaigns...

Just about finishing my quick stint in New York - it's the shortest time I've spent in Manhattan in the six years I've been here!

I spent the bulk of the time doing Broadway shows... saw Monty Python's new Spamalot musical, which features most of the well known routines from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail movie.

Waited around with crowds of others after the show to try and get autographs - got Hank Azaria's (Huff, Simpsons) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier), plus a few others. (Unfortunately, Tim Curry didn't come out for a signing session with the others, but Hank Azaria was the best of the bunch anyway - he did the French Taunter part brilliantly, plus Lancelot and Knight of Ni... however he leaves just after this weekend's Tony Awards to shoot the new season of his TV series, Huff).

Yesterday, I hopped on a bus and went back to my old summer-camp-day-off-stomping-ground, the Palisades Center Mall in Middletown... had to make the essential trip to pick up some new gear from Abercrombie & Fitch/Aeropostale/American Eagle/Steve and Barry's!) In the evening, I went to see the musical Wicked - saw it last year as well, but this time had a front row seats, and the cast was largely changed.

Today I nipped down to CNN to do a tour of the place there - pretty cool setup and studios, altho unfortunately there were no live shows going on while I was there. The rest of the day was spent doing a double header of shows - Altar Boyz at the new Dodger Stages in the afternoon (very cool setup - five small-mid size theatres in one converted cinema multiplex)... and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in the evening (great book/script - very funny - but the music was a bit crap unfortunatley).

Have an early morning start tomorrow to fly from New York back to LA to catch up with the Pheloung gang... we've got dinner at the Medieval Times theme restaurant/show at night, which should be fun, then Disneyland/Universal Studios for the next few days before I have to come back home, and back to reality again ;-)

I've finished my stint in England, and have just come off a long series of flights which ended up in New York.

I met up with Janine, Ted, and Vince Pheloung, plus Stuart Walker (all Operatic peoples) in London (Victoria) on Friday, to see a few shows and do a bit of sightseeing.

We all went to the new Mary Poppins on Saturday afternoon, meeting up with DrWeeSean at the theatre. WeeSean used to live in Dunedin, and I also used to board with when I lived in Luton. The rest of the gang went to The Producers in the evening (I'd seen it in New York previously), while Sean and I went to see the movie The Kingdom of Heaven in Leicester Square, which wasn't flash - started off pretty slow and was kinda confusing for a long while.

On Sunday, Stuart went with me to do the London Eye (massive slow-mo ferris wheel type thing)... It went up for the Millennium, and altho I did the Millennium Dome while I was living over there, I'd never actually done the Eye.

Also checked out an IMAX 3D film, Aliens of the Deep... great screen, as big as 5 double decker buses!

In the evening I caught up with some rellies in London - Uncle Paul and Rebecca, and my only two cousins on Mum's side, William and Max. It was good to catch up - the annual exchange of news from both sides of the family, as the rest of the kiwi bunch will never make it to London ;-)

On Monday, Vince and I headed down to Buckingham Palace to see Liz and the Lads, and to see the Changing of the Guards.

Got a fairly good spot, altho it started to rain heavily just as they came by us, so everyone taking photos had to contend with the moron tourists in the front row who stuck their huge brolleys up in the air.

After that, the boys all went to an English pub for a traditional meal of bangers and mash before seeing Guys and Dolls in the evening, starring Ewan McGregor and Jane Krakowski (Elaine from Ally McBeal apparently).

The UK leg finished with a tour of the the Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday, and seeing Andrew Lloyd Webber's newest show, the Woman in White in the evening. I was seeing it for the second time, after catching it in previews last year. I enjoyed it, altho the guy playing Count Fosco (Michael Crawford's old character) was absolutely shite. Very cool projection video-motion sets, and not a bad score from Sir Andrew.

The rest of the crew are now in Las Vegas, but I wanted to nip up to NYC instead. Had a strange and long-winded series of flights, which included a bit of backtracking. The leg from London to the States had a plane load of Indians on their way to Delhi, who seemed to be taking the entire contents of their homes with them, by the amount of big cases they were trying to squeeze into the bins as "carry on luggage"... However, for the internal flight from LA to NYC I had a seat with extra legroom, and noone beside me :-)

Unfortunately, I also had an envelope of american cash disappear from my suitcase, while it was in transit, somewhere between LA. I got some cash out in LA, but in the US they make you leave your baggage unlocked, so I had to take the padlock off before I checked it in. When I picked it up at the other end, the whole case was in a shambles, and my money bag had been opened, with only random coins scattered throughout the case.

Unfortunately, it seems my travel insurance doesn't cover it, and the Transportation Security Administration claim procedure (they do all the security bag searches) seems pretty complicated and unlikely to produce a result for the small value. Oh well, lesson learnt... I've now bought myself a brand new "TSA-approved" padlock, which means you can lock your luggage, but they can open it if they need to check inside with a special release key. At least it would stop any baggage handlers along the way being able to get into it?...

Had a relaxing few days out in Luton, catching up with old work friends from when I did my 2 year OE a few years back, and watching a bit of English telly, like the new series of Doctor Who...

Headed into London yesterday, and saw Billy Elliot the Musical. It's written by Lee Hall and Elton John. Booked my seat on the net, but was waiting in the ticket collection line at the theatre when a vaguely familiar face walked in beside me...

It was David Schwimmer (Friends), wearing a military-style cap to try and not look so obvious, with an attractive brunette by his side. He's just started a stint in the West End, performing in a play called 'Some Girls' at the Gielgud Theatre. He obviously doesn't have a midweek matinee, so was taking the opportunity to check out what else is on around the West End.

Also bought myself an England Football 'Away' shirt, with Gerrard's name and number on it, after he helped lead Liverpool to their 5th UEFA Cup win. Everyone's a scouser now... even the morning TV presenters were wearing big boofy scouser afro wigs and moustaches, and saying "calm down, calm down" ;-)

I leave Luton this afternoon, to meet up with the rest of the bunch I'm travelling around a bit with. Everyone's been doing their own thing in the UK, but we're staying together at a Hotel/B&B in Victoria through till Wednesday, then they head off to Las Vegas while I head over to New York for a few days, before meeting back in LA to do the theme parks...

Well, after many hours of sitting on aeroplanes (five to be exact), I've finally arrived in Luton for the start of my three week winter escape.

The journey here wasn't without its problems, beginning when I first tried to check-in at Dunedin. I was flying Air Nu Zillund through to LA (via Christchurch and Auckland), then switching to United to get to London (via San Fran - yeh, I know, huh?).

Anyways, despite the fact that both sets of tickets were booked with the same contact details, somehow on the Air New Zealand ones my first and last names were switched around...

They told me that would mean I couldn't check my bags right through to London (which would normally be okay, being Star Alliance), but would have to collect and recheck my suitcase at every stage... the reason being a "Mr David" was flying to LA, but a "Mr Goosselink" was flying the rest of the way.

Luckily the Air New Zealand staff in Christchurch saw sense and managed to get them checked right thru, altho I think it confused them in San Fran, as one of the stewards had to come up to me on the plane with a note of instructions to check they'd put the right bag on ;-)

I also got selected as one of the "lucky random travellers" to have go thru the extra security screening in LA... the delay wasn't too bad, so didn't miss my next flight like happened with a bunch of us heading to summer camp in '02. LAX is still a shite airport tho, full of grumpy people and a serious lack of signs pointing anywhere... The sooner Air NZ (or a real airline) fly direct from NZ to New York the better!

Got a few snoozes on the flights over, but I'm currently surviving thanks to my trusty XTZ tabs (caffeine, guarana, ginseng, ginkgo biloba, gotu cola, and kola nut... All the good stuff!!)

Prime Minister Helen Clark has accused TV3 of running a “sting” operation, in relation to the David Benson-Pope affair... What The?!

* RodneyHide.com: Labour Spin

State TV One, who came to the party late after trying to pretend it wasn't a story, have broadcast comments by one of the men behind the bullying allegations. He calls Benson-Pope "a liar for refuting the claims, and says he'll return from Australia to give evidence in an inquiry".

* RodneyHide.com: TV One News

Meanwhile, the Otago Daily Times are going with the theory that the whole thing's all made up. They've spoken with former and current principals, colleagues, and students who are backing Benson-Pope and say the allegations are rubbish. And if it's in the ODT, it must be true.

The emphatic denials by Associate Minister of Education, David Benson-Pope, that he assaulted and bullied students have encouraged his accusers to go public.

Following questions in Parliament about his behaviour while a teacher at Bayfield High School, Benson-Pope challenged those behind the claims to come forward if there was any truth to their accusations.

That seemed to be enough to persuade a couple of those students to go public, after earlier being too afraid to do so. The saga was broken by TV3 Political Reporter, Duncan Garner, and the initial interviews with the students behind the claims were broadcast on 3News last night (Monday).

Benson-Pope apparently watched the broadcast with Prime Minister Helen Clark and a few other senior colleagues, before announcing about an hour later that he was standing down from Cabinet while the inquiry ordered by the PM took place. His portfolios, including Associate Minister of Education, and Fisheries, were reallocated to other Labour MPs.

The inquiry could take months, which makes it unlikely Benson-Pope will return to Cabinet before the election. If the inquiry finds any validity to the allegations, it could spell the end of his Parliamentary career, based on his denials in the house.

However, PM Helen Clark says the fact the Benson-Pope is standing down does not necessarily rule him out of a return to Cabinet in the future. She claims the allegations are "the start of what is a rather ugly election campaign".

* NZ Herald: Benson-Pope steps down as bully inquiry looms
* NZ Herald: Benson-Pope allegations not political, says accuser
* Stuff: Minister stands down in bully row
* RodneyHide.com: D-B-P Round Out

Associate Education Minister, David Benson-Pope, has denied suggestions he bullied and assaulted students at Dunedin's Bayfield High School, when he worked there in the 1980's.

ACT Leader, Rodney Hide, made a series of allegations under parliamentary privilege yesterday, along with National's Judith Collins. It follows Benson-Pope's unveiling of an anti-bullying campaign this week.

In Parliament, National MP Judith Collins asked "Did he ever tie boys' hands together and jam a tennis ball into their mouths as punishment for talking when he was a teacher?"

Mr Hide then asked "Did he ever smack a pupil with the back of his hand sufficiently hard enough to make his nose bleed at a school camp in the Catlins and is this the reason along with throwing tennis balls at pupils in the classroom that he has the reputation of being a terrible bully and in fact the students to this day still suffer from his treatment?".

Benson-Pope denied the suggestions in Parliament, saying "I have not been guilty of, or involved in, any inappropriate behaviour in my 24 years as a secondary school teacher".

Rodney Hide today withdrew those allegations after Benson-Pope's reply, but said he'd spoken again to the students who made the initial claims, and they were sticking by their story. Hide called on the students to come forward publicly if they stood by their claims. He said "... the rules of Parliament mean that I have to accept the minister's word, but boy, if he's wrong he's a goner."

Meanwhile, National Radio's Linda Clark has interviewed a former Bayfield pupil today, who claimed Benson-Pope had "a very nasty and bullying personality and he knew which people he could pick on and he made a damn good job of it….. He chose the people who wouldn’t fight back… He caned me which he enjoyed doing and he laughed while he did it… enough to draw blood…. He shouldn’t be a minister full stop".

I found it interesting that Benson-Pope's Labour colleage, Jill Pettis, seemed to know about the allegations, with her comment "You sat on that for months"?

One to watch...

* NZ Herald: Associate Education Minister denies beating pupils

* NZ Herald: Hide withdraws assault claims against Benson-Pope

* RodneyHide.com: Linda Clark's Nine to Noon I/V

* Link to audio of the interview between Linda Clark and a former pupil

It's officially Mother's Day today in Kiwiland. Mom always gets the short end of the straw, as her birthday is always within a few days of Mother's Day. We went out for a family dinner last night, and then we had a suprise birthday party organised for her "significant" birthday.

Mom's sister and longtime school friend came down from Christchurch for the weekend, and they're taking her back next week to get away from Mr Goosey for a few weeks.

In honour of Mother's Day, here's an amusing email list of "Evening Classes" that Tara (Lake Greeley Camp) sent me a while back. (Warning: Some blokes may find it offensive ;-)...

NEW EVENING CLASSES FOR MEN...

* HOW TO FILL ICE CUBE TRAYS - Step by step guide with slide presentation

* TOILET ROLLS - DO THEY GROW ON THE HOLDERS? - Roundtable discussion

* DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LAUNDRY BASKET & FLOOR - Practicing with hamper

* DISHES & SILVERWARE; DO THEY LEVITATE/FLY TO KITCHEN SINK OR DISHWASHER BY THEMSELVES? - Debate among a panel of experts

* LOSS OF VIRILITY - Losing the remote control to your significant other - Help line and support groups

* LEARNING HOW TO FIND THINGS - Starting with looking in the right place instead of turning the house upside down while screaming - Open forum

* EMPTY MILK CARTONS; DO THEY BELONG IN THE FRIDGE OR THE BIN? - Group discussion and role play

* HEALTH WATCH; BRINGING HER FLOWERS IS NOT HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH - PowerPoint presentation

* REAL MEN ASK FOR DIRECTIONS WHEN LOST - Real life testimonial from the one man who did

* IS IT GENETICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SIT QUIETLY AS SHE PARALLEL PARKS? - Driving simulation

* LIVING WITH ADULTS; BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR PARTNER - Online class and role playing

* HOW TO BE THE IDEAL SHOPPING COMPANION - Relaxation exercises, meditation and breathing techniques

* REMEMBERING IMPORTANT DATES & CALLING WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE - Bring your calendar or PDA to class

* GETTING OVER IT; LEARNING HOW TO LIVE WITH BEING WRONG ALL THE TIME - Individual counselors available

"Broadcasting Minister, Steve Maharey, has announced a multi million dollar investment in New Zealand's regional television and Access Radio stations.

The Government's set aside $3.5 million for regional television, over the four years. Non-commercial radio will get another $900,000 over the same period.

It's the first form of Government funding for regional TV, since the State-owned Horizon Pacific Television Network was closed in 1997.

(Horizon Pacific TV was owned by TVNZ, and operated 5 stations - ATV (Auckland), Coast to Coast Television (Hamilton), Capital City Television (Wellington), Southern Television (Dunedin), and CTV (Christchurch) which they bought from Joanna McMenamin along the way).

Chairman of the Regional Television Broadcasting Association, Jim Blackman, believes it's a clear signal that the Government recognises the worth of regional television, and the role it plays in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, CEO of Allied Press's TV Division, Daryl Clarkson, says the funding has been a long time coming, and he's cautiously optimistic about the decision."
-------------------------

A small amount good news from the Government for local television in New Zealand... even if the announcement did have to come from Smarmy Maharey ;-)

Regional News was a key part of State TV's news coverage in the days before deregulation, with shows like The Top Half (out of Auckland), Today Tonight (Wellington), The Mainland Touch (Christchurch), and The South Tonight (Dunedin).

There are apparently 12 "regional" stations on air around New Zealand, however only four or five of these are broadcasting any form of local news and current affairs programming - surely the reason d'etre for any local television station?!
Even CTV in Christchurch (the market most capable of supporting a local station, based on population and location) decided to drop its nightly news programme this year, in favour of a basic headlines service... along with a weekly "News in Review" type programme, Southern Week, which compiles stories from CTV and Channel 9, and screens in Dunedin, Christchurch, and Auckland.

Hopefully, NZ on Air will see sense and set up a good contestable system for allocating this new funding... to help ensure the money goes towards serving local communities with quality news and current affairs coverage, rather than just giving out free handouts to anyone who happens to be operating a "local tv" transmitter in New Zealand.

Luckily, I live in Dunedin... However, I was still baffled that Aucklanders elected a guy whose claim to fame was making Breakfast Cereal as their Mayor last year. Of course, since then it's been apparent that the slightly-left-of-Jim-Anderton Bruce Hucker is actually running things these days in New Zealand's biggest city.

It's nice to see that it's not just the few politically aware that have noticed Dick's lack of achievements since he was elected...



* Dick Hubbard Tui Billboard image originally from Rodney Hide's weblog, Hidesight...

* Also check out Aaron Bhatnagar's thoughts on his blog...
"I'm not sure this is what Dick Hubbard thought would happen..."


In another good local blog, David Farrar has noted that this past Sunday marked "Tax Freedom Day" in New Zealand (the day where the income you've been working for all year stopped going to the Government, and was able to stay in your own pocket!)

The most shocking tax statistic he points out is that in Kiwiland, the top 50% of households effectively pay for 100% of public expenditure, as the bottom 50% receive more in social expenditure than they pay in taxes! Yep, they're the ones that are always protesting and whinging... when in fact they're already being propped up by half the country...

* David Farrar: Tax Freedom Day this weekendMore interesting statistics here...

* The New Zealand Herald: Teen sends 8,000 texts a month

Interesting story this one... about a 17 year old Christchurch teenager who somehow manages to send 8,000 texts a month on his mobile phone, and still hold down a job as a sales assistant!

His friends think he texts too much (ya think?!), although he's well down on the 15,000 a month when Telecom allowed for unlimited texts. The guy spends around $280 a month on texting, and calls it "the way of the future".

Okay... Rant ahead... ;-) Now, I'll admit it. I'm not a big fan of the whole text thing. I'm a crap texter, even with predictive text (which only tends to result in some strangly worded messages!) I usually get too frustrated trying to tap out a response, that I give up and just call the person who's texting me.

And that's the part I don't get. How can you call it "the way of the future", when what you're essentially doing is sending an electronic telegram... Don't people know you can actually use these phone things to speak to people with your voice? And they don't even have to be in the same town!

PXTing has been pretty much a spectacular failure so far, and Telecom's new 3G "third generation" mobile network, offering video services is likely to face a similarly slow uptake. Apart from the excessive cost for these services (even though they try to lure customers in by offering them for free to begin with), it's obvious that at this stage, people are happy with plain old black and white characters on a screen, and maybe hearing the odd voice in their ear.

Another reason I'm not a big fan of texting or internet "chat/instant messaging", is the new language that's developed... The long list of abbreviations to make it quicker and easier to send your friends messages. The trouble is, people are using them more and more in everyday emails, letters, and advertising. Teenagers who're already appalling spellers are now going through school believing that the likes of "wot" is actually the correct spelling of the word formerly known as "what", and "gr8" is an acceptable replacement for "great".

I work as a TV reporter, and have noticed a major fall in standards in recent years, as far as spelling and vocabulary goes. Many trainees, work experience students, and even full time journalists are unable to string a coherent sentence together, and have no clue about punctuation. A lot rely on spell checkers - a device I hate with a passion - I would prefer to see the occassional word misspelt, than to rely on a computer trying to analyse what you actually meant to type!

The excuse I often get in return is that "in TV you don't have to spell correctly" is a poor crutch. There's still a number of people along the line that have to be able to understand your work - newsreaders, producers, staff compiling stories for the web. The Radio Network station Newstalk ZB posts news stories on their website every day, complete with obligatory spelling and punctuation mistakes, and sentences of 'gobbledygook'.

I'm concerned the English language as we know it will be a shadow of its current self in ten to twenty years time, and we're on a slippery slope to regressing back into caveman communication.

I'm not usually a fan of documentaries on State TV, but a new ITV series hosted by Melvyn Bragg that began this morning is quite interesting. The Adventure of English traces the development of the English language, from an obscure Germanic dialect, to one of the most widely understood languages in the world. It looks to be an interesting and strangely informative series, but unfortunately you'll have to turn over to State TV One to catch it, at 10am on Sunday mornings for the next few weeks.

* The NZ Listener: Review of the book The Adventure of English
* Plain English Campaign: Home Page

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You Scored 75% Correct

You are an 80s expert You never confuse New Order with the Pet Shop Boys You know which classical musician Falco rocked When it comes to 80s music, you Just Can't Get Enough!

Kiwi-born TV personality, Phil Keoghan, was in Dunedin recently promoting his new book No Opportunity Wasted, based on his new TV series of the same name. He's best known by most people around the world as host of the Emmy award winning Reality TV Adventure series, The Amazing Race.

This is of course my favourite show on TV, so I was stoked to be able to interview Phil Keoghan during his short stop in Dunedin for his promotional book tour. Here's a transcript of the interview...
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You've been on your book tour here for No Opportunity Wasted for the last few weeks... What's it like to come home to New Zealand?

PHIL: Well I come home actually quite a bit, I have a place in the Coromandel, and I've been home every month since November... Any excuse to get home, I'm actually shooting a documentary as well about New Zealand being a great place to shoot movies. I've brought The Amazing Race here in Season 2 and Season 5, I've shot a few Discovery specials here... It's always good to find a way to get paid to come home - you know, when you're working.

You started your career in New Zealand in shows like Spot On and Short Sportz... and I understand it was a kiwi that inspired you to go overseas?

Yeh, well I had wanted to go overseas, but then I was on a shoot in Queenstown once, and I was talking to this guy about Sam Neill, and saying that I always admired what he'd done with his career... and while I was having this drink with somebody in Queenstown, he said "Oh, he's my neighbour. Why don't you write him a letter and I'll give it to him?". So I wrote him a letter, and he wrote back to me and gave me some pretty inspiring words... and I'd put in the letter to him that I admired the fact that he'd made it, and he wrote back to me and said "Well, in life you don't really make it... You shouldn't really feel like you're making it, you should just go out on a journey and see what happens". And so I've kindof tried to follow in that... Well, I would like to think that I'm on a journey, and that hopefully I'll never "arrive somewhere", that I'll always feel like there's something more to do... and I know that's how he's lived his life.

When you went off to the United States, you did a bunch of travel and adventure series' before The Amazing Race came along?

Yeh, I actually worked for Fox when I first went over... for four years travelling around America doing live news reports and things around the country - more like entertainment news stuff - and that was huge, you know, to do four years of live TV in the States... for a cable network at that point.

You're now heading towards your eighth season of The Amazing Race later this year... How many countries have you seen in the world?

Well, even before The Amazing Race, I had shot and travelled in 60 countries... and now, having done The Amazing Race I've revisited many, and I think I've pushed up over a hundred countries... I think there's some special club you can join if you go to more than a hundred countries!

You've been through seven series of The Amazing Race, with a whole range of different characters... Have you noticed a common thread in the people who do well, that do succeed in the competition?

I don't know what the secret is to doing well in The Amazing Race, because I've seen the most dysfunctional teams win, like Flo & Zac... I think my favourite winners would have to be Chip & Kim from Season 5. Prior to Season 7, Season 5 was definitely my favourite... I love Chip & Kim, I thought they were great... and they were probably the most popular winners that we've ever had on The Amazing Race... but they were totally different from Flo & Zac, and totally different from Season 1. Every season is totally unpredictable, and I think unlike a usual race where you're able to see people and know that, well you know, Dave is a really good runner or a really good driver or whatever, and chances are he's going to do well because he's won his last three races... On The Amazing Race when they start at the starting line, you have absolutely no clue... and that's part of the appeal of the race I think, because these so called "ordinary people" who are racing around the world for this million dollar prize... and we don't know anything about them... we find out along the way.


You're here in New Zealand promoting your new book, No Opportunity Wasted, which links in with a new series you've been doing in the States?

The book's essentially to help other people write their lists of things to do before you die - 8 ways to create a list for the life you want... It was a television series also in the United States, and I want to bring that to New Zealand. I've been getting people to go to www.noopportunitywasted.com
and find out all about the show, and just guaging people's interest. The way it works is we give people 72 hours and $3,000 to go out and do something that they've been procrastinating about... So people would apply... they don't know they've been chosen until we literally walk up to them, knock on their door, and say "Hey, is your name Dave, and was your dream to go ride a big, bad bull called Jack? Well you've got 72 hours and $3,000, so go make it happen... Stop procrastinating, Stop talking about some day, one day, wish I could've, would've, and should've... Go do it, Now!"

D: When you were 19 you wrote for yourself a pretty ambitious list of things you wanted to "do before you die", and you've managed to achieve a fair few of them?...

My list continues to grow, I continue to do new things... The whole point of having a list is that you should constantly be adding things, taking things off, moving them around, prioritising, that sort of thing... So it's not like you write one list and then you go, "Okay, I've got the list... done, finished, no more"... You should be adjusting it all the time.

So what's the main message you're trying to get through to people in your book and show?

The main message is that you can get more out of life if you focus on what you actually want out of life... And that if you write a list, you're writing a contract with yourself to set out to do the things you really want to do... and that there's no reason why you shouldn't be paid to do the things you really want to do in life. When I wrote out my list of things to do before I died, I decided early on that the best life I could have would be to actually get paid to do the things I wanted to do, like travel, meet new people, work in television overseas, and do different things. So, through design and focus you can come up with a list... and I think it's actually more difficult to write the list, than it is to do the things that are on your list... You know, it's just that you have to really focus, you've got to know what you want to do... Do you want to write a screenplay?, do you want to climb a mountain?, do you want to get married?, move to a new city?, travel?... What is the thing that is most important to you in your life? And your list should be very very different, completely different, from anybody else's... It should speak to what you want to do... And you might look at my list and go, "I don't want to go to the top of a volcano and eat dinner, I mean that's not what I want to do!"...

Yeh, I've seen the footage of you sitting on the top of a volcano having dinner... It must have been a pretty amazing sort of thing to do?

Well, for a while I was looking at doing different things in life... My list has kindof steered more towards helping other people live out the life that they really want... so I'm very focused on getting this book into people's hands, because I think it's a tool that can really help. When I test people about the things they want to do in their life, it's really interesting to me that... I'll say to them, "If you were to take your last breath tomorrow at 3.00, what's the one thing you would regret most not doing?"... And a lot of people sort of stop, and they go... "I don't know!"... And that kindof scares me, you know, it's like if you don't really know what you want to do with your life... then what is it you're living for?... What is it really that drives you?

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What was happening over at State TV today?!

Did they really drop the ball that badly on the day's top local story, or is just that the entire staff are fully paid up members of the Labour Party, and on the Government payroll?!

The Sunday papers came out with further revelations from Ian Wishart's controversial Investigate Magazine interview, where John Tamihere made some badly misguided comments about the Holocaust, while trying to explain the attitute of Maori claimants and activists.

TV3's evening news led with a story following up these revelations, with an item from Amanda Gillies featuring representatives from the Jewish Community, as well as other MPs. 3 News continued with a live cross to Amanda, who gave us the latest details, including Prime Minister Helen Clark's announcement that Mr Tamihere was now on "extended leave" due to "considerable stress".

However, over on State TV One, they led with Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles' wedding. Fair enough. Bernie then tried to convince us that State TV had "Breaking News", which consisted of a live cross to a Political Reporter who began by talking about the story from the morning papers.

He followed this up with the claim that there was a fax coming through from Helen Clark - the same one Amanda had already held up a few minutes before. However, there was no track at all to go with the top NZ story of the day... looks like TVNZ would have ignored the new revelations if it hadn't been for the late breaking fax.

State TV's "effort" follows the feeble attempt by TV One's Agenda programme to try and prove Ian Wishart's interview with Tamihere was in fact "off the record", with claims that staff at Soljans Cafe didn't see a tape recorder on the table, as Wishart asserts.

Ian Wishart promises more revelations over the coming weeks from his interview... just don't expect to see or hear about them on State TV!

* NZ Herald: Tamihere on extended leave after offending more of his colleagues

It's official... I'm apparently fairly normal, according to this test at Blogthings... (I'm still not convinced tho ;-)

You Are 55% Normal (Somewhat Normal)

While some of your behavior is quite normal... Other things you do are downright strange You've got a little of your freak going on But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself

NZ Herald: PM reacts to Tamihere's outburst
RodneyHide.com: Tamihere speaks out

Just when you thought John Tamihere couldn't dig himself any deeper, he goes and gives an interview (well, he thought it was "off the record", despite Investigate Magazine Editor, Ian Wishart, plonking a tape recorder on the table before they began their lunchtime meeting.

Tamihere then spent the next 70 minutes slamming his colleagues, and dishing a bit of dirt on the Government. (See the story above for full details, and a selection of quotes from the interview). Of course, he's not wrong about a lot of the things he mentions (like Steve Maharey being a smarmy operator, the PM's minder Heather Simpson being a dangerous woman, and what a load of bollocks Unions are ;-)

Here's my favourite pieces...

* "Unions, I can't stand them... It's always about threats and intimidation, and 'we've got big balls, what have you got?' "

* "They [Helen Clark and her mates] don’t have families. They’ve got nothing but the ability to plot."

* "So there’s operators like him [Maharey] who are very swarmy, very clever, but no substance."

* "But she’s [the PM] no good with emotions. She goes to pieces."

* "[The most powerful network in the Labour executive?] The Labour Party Wimmins Division."

* "I think we f…ked up with out 2004 amendments to the Employment Relations Act."

* "(The Parliamentary press gallery are) utterly and totally useless. And sycophantic. You know and I know there's no investigative journalism done in that bloody gallery."

* "I hear Maori talking about how they were burnt out of the Orakei marae in 1951 and so on. Big deal."

* "We wouldn't survive without (Finance Minister Michael) Cullen -- he can cut a deal on a piece of legislation, he can change a single word in a piece of legislation without those other b**tards (coalition partners) knowing about it."

I think I've changed my mind about this fellow... Keep him in Parliament, just move him to the other side! ;-)

SUNDAY STAR TIMES : Tamihere slammed over Nazi comments

TV3 is considering legal action against MP John Tamihere and the Labour Party over an attack by Tamihere on Labour's website likening TV3 head of news Mark Jennings and reporter Duncan Garner to Nazis.

Garner and TV3 broke the story of Tamihere's acceptance of a golden handshake and financial improprieties at the Waipareira Trust that led to Tamihere resigning as a minister last year.

In his weblog on the Labour Party website, Tamihere accused Garner and Jennings of telling lies and broadcasting allegations they knew to be untrue, and likened them to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and his propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark said she was aware of the weblog, but did not intend to have it removed. An hour after this comment yesterday afternoon, Tamihere's blog was pulled from the website.

As the 'publisher' of the weblog, the Labour Party is potentially liable if legal action is taken.

Jennings said the comments appeared to be strongly defamatory. TV3 would seek discussion about Tamihere's comments with Labour tomorrow, and was considering legal action.

'I think John has lost the plot a bit - it's time he regained the plot and settled down,' Jennings said.

'Normally we would be very reluctant to pursue legal action, but this is just getting silly, and if he doesn't stop we are going to have to do something about it.'

The weblog comments follow an attack by Tamihere last week in which he claimed improper conduct by Garner in reporting his dealings at Waipareira. Tamihere did not return calls."

* Buy your favourite TV Shows on DVD here

* ABC Sport - Football - Bowyer and Dyer disgrace Newcastle

Newcastle fans should know better... Whenever there's good news, it's always tempered shortly after by some equally bad news to balance things up ;-)

The good news came on Friday that Alan Shearer has postponed his retirement for another year, and resigned with Newcastle United FC as a Player/Coach, extending his contract by twelve months. Shearer will continue to play for the club, but will also have "coaching responsibilities", alongside Newcastle Manager Graeme Souness.

The bad news, as you can read above, is the full-on fight between Magpie teammates, Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer, as Newcastle were trailing Aston Villa 3-0 at St James Park. Both appeared in a news conference with Souness after the game, but neither actually really apologised to the other. They'll both miss Newcastle's next three games as well.

* National Business Review (NBR) - TV3 banned from Parliament

Little Maggy Wilson has gone and banned TV3 Cameras from shooting proceedings in Parliament for one week (from next Monday), allegedly because they breached rules by showing Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope fast asleep in Parliament.

It's her attempt to try and get a bit of revenge, after being quite accurately made to look like an ineffectual nutcase recently by ACT's Rodney Hide and Richard Prebble.

However, it seems Mags hasn't banned cameras from her bezza-mate Helen Clark's favourite channel, State TV One, despite the fact that they apparently also broadcast an image of Benson-Pope fast asleep on the job (albeit a copy of TV3's footage).

(Exchange in Parliament...)
Rodney Hide: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I wonder whether I could seek the leave of the House to have the bell rung in order to wake up the Minister of Education, David Benson-Pope, for question time.

Madam SPEAKER: That is not a valid point of order.

* Diary entry on David B-P's nursery time from Rodney Hide's blog

Here's hoping the media will now treat Mags Wilson with the respect she deserves ;-) Look for some sort of scandal involving Wilson to come out in the lead up to the General Election...

You've got to admit it... the real kiwi accent (as spoken by dodgy New Zealanders who live in the suburbs or out in the country) is pretty rank... ya know, kinda naff... but in a 'good to make fun of' kind of way ;-)

Aussie talkshow king, Rove McManus has spent his last Rove Live show taking the "puss" out of kiwis, and trying to pronounce a range of Maori placenames and phrases.

In his first lesson he learnt that in Maori, they pronounce "Whaka" as "Far-Car"... This of course way highly amusing, and he couldn't quite believe it was really true... "Far-Car?! That can't be right, surely... Far-Car?! - Are we still on the air?!"

He challenged kiwi tv legend, TV3's John Campbell to drop the phrase into conversation on air... Johnboy took up the challenge, and featured an interview with Rove on his new show, Campbell Live this evening... discussing what Aussie's really think of kiwis and their strange accent.

* Campbell Live website
* Rove Live website

John pointed out this great piece from Aussie paper, The Age, about Prince Charles' recent visit to NZ...

Would Prime Minister Hillin Cluck please control that Kiwi rabble! Poor Prince Chucky, still glowing after the Aussie hospitality he enjoyed on the more civilised side of the Tasman, was greeted yesterday by this underclad creature in Wellington, her sorry torso inscribed with the odd message: "Get your colonists' shame off my breasts".

This followed a report from our man in Dunedin where the rozzers rushed to a bus shelter on the royal motorcade route to tackle a chap who had bared his lower regions, a traditional Maori insult (and not looked upon too kindly elsewhere in the world).

Incredibly, after investigation, a police officer announced that it "just seems coincidental"! Just one of your random New Zealand bus-shelter trouser incidents, it appears.

Gotta love their phonetically-correct-spelling of New Zealand's Prime Minister - isn't it said when people can't even pronounce their own names?...


When I was at summer camp at Lake Greeley in the United States last year, there was another kiwi counselor who kept insisting his name was "Crick"... Crick?! Who TF calls their kid "Crick"?!

It took a while for Moray-the-Scottish-Guy to figure out his name was actually "Craig" ;-) The best trick was getting the kids to ask him to count to ten... (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Sux , Seevin, 8, 9, Tin)... Mighty Hilarious in an immature kindof way!

However, he didn't actually have the worst "Nu Zahlund ex-cent"... there was a girl called Laura who told her campers she came from Rotorua, but she actually lives close to the Thermal Village "Whakarewarewa", which sounds much funnier! (Far-Car-Ray-Wah-Ray-Wah) ;-)

She would spend hours on the phone talking to her friends and family back home about "eating fush in chups", how much she enjoyed 'The Bourne Supremacy' (It was a fentestic, eck-shun-pecked fluck, apparently), how she'd hut her hid on a disk, and how her alarm woke her up at sux toe sux in the mornung...

Admittedly, not all kiwis talk like Lyn-of-Tawa (NZers will understand), but there does seem to be quite a few who still think the capital city is "Wullingtun" (Wellington)... they like to drink "Muwk" (Milk), and think "Jiff Woowsun" (Jeff Wilson) is a great Cricket and Rugby player.

WE FEAR NO-ONE - Shearer - Football365.com

"Newcastle captain Alan Shearer believes his side 'can beat anyone', following their convincing 4-0 UEFA Cup win over Olympiacos at St James' Park."

Woo-hoo! Newcastle have finally come right this season, and seem to be unstoppable at the moment. Alan Shearer's been playing some right blinders recently, with the help of Keiron Dyer, who's come right after a pretty dodgy patch...

"Newcastle manager Graeme Souness may consider handing Kieron Dyer a regular striking role after watching him help dump Olympiakos out of the UEFA Cup.

The England midfielder partnered Alan Shearer in attack after Patrick Kluivert and Shola Ameobi were ruled out through injury. And he turned in an excellent individual display, scoring the opening goal with a cheeky backheel, as Newcastle won 4-0 to overwhelm the Greeks 7-1 on aggregate.

Shearer scored twice to move within nine goals of Jackie Milburn's club record of 200.

Dyer's performance capped a remarkable turn-around for a player who looked to have no future at St James' Park a few months ago."
(www.thisislondon.co.uk)

NZ Herald: MP ousted in TV film outburst
(A good summary of yesterday's proceedings, if somewhat lefty-biased in the traditional Granny Herald sort of way ;-)

It was like watching a spoilt only child on 3News tonight... New Speaker of the NZ Parliament, Margaret Wilson, getting increasingly agitated, as she tried in vain to get ACT Party leader Rodney Hide to eject himself from the chamber! ;-)

It all started with some innocent questioning by ACT, relating to the rules on what cameras could shoot in Parliament. (The NZ Government are trying to get rid of all network cameras, and replace them with their own state-run-and-sanctioned feed... We're not China for crying out loud!)

ACT's Richard Prebble and Rodney Hide asked whether TV cameras could film the empty Labour back bench seats... it seems a large proportion of the Government haven't been turning up recently, however those that do come to work are shuffled up to fill the frontbenches - hence making it look on tv like the Government's full of busy beavers.

In the end, Wilson (described by some as "possibly the least qualified Speaker NZ Parliament's ever seen") realised Rodney Hide wasn't going to listen to her rantings, and had to get some official security fella to escort him out of the house.

Today's activities follow a move by TV3 to broadcast a shot of Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope, fast asleep in the debating chamber, on its Wednesday night's news.

Interesting that State TV has been playing catch-up about the latest developments...

---
(Quote of the day from Parliament:
Hon Richard Prebble: When the Prime Minister says that Mr Benson-Pope is a hard-working and conscientious Minister, can she confirm the belief that he rises at the crack of noon each day, works hard until the early hours of the afternoon, and then comes into the House to have a well-deserved sleep—is that his general work pattern?)

Martin Stenmarck to represent Sweden | eurovision song contest 2005 at esctoday.com

What's happening with the world of music? A shock decision today in the world's greatest pop music nation - Sweden...

The final of the Melodifestival contest was held today (their competition to decide Sweden's entry for this year's Eurovision song contest) - and despite having a bunch of corkers to pick from in the Final 10 songs, they picked a dodgy bloke named Martin Stenmarck singing a dodgy Tom-Jones-lite rock number called Las Vegas.

Second place went to Nanne Grönvall (who represented Sweden a few years ago, and also tried for the UK contest). Her song Håll om mig wasn't the best slice of pop in the world, but wasn't as pants as Martin's track.

Third place went to the real deserved winners, Alcazar with their song Alcastar - maybe a tad self indulgent, but still pure pop genius, and currently Number 1 on the Swedish single charts. Little Shirley Clamp was fourth with Att älska dig (good wee pop song, but last year's effort Min kärlek was better).

The other song which was criminally overlooked was Linda Bengtzing's Alla Flickor, which sounded like a traditional Swedish Eurovision Abba-style pop stormer - a bit like Charlotte Nilsson's winning number from '99 actually.

Meanwhile the UK have chosen Pop Idol reject Javine (with her Turkish-R&B track Touch my Fire), over former glamour model Jordan - now known simply as Katie Price - who performed Not Just Anybody while wearing a tight pink PVC jumpsuit, despite being pregnant.

There's still 69 days until the real contest in Kiev, Ukraine...

We had a touch of Royalty in the city over the weekend... HRH Prince Charles flew into Dunedin as part of a five day tour of New Zealand.

While he was here, he went to a church service at St Paul's Cathedral in the Octagon, plus visited the Royal Albatross Colony at Taieroa Head to highlight the plight of the endangered birds.

Unfortunately, he decided to have an early night (at the exclusive boutique hotel Corstophine) after he flew in on the Saturday night... missing out on the Great Southern Stag Do organised in his honour, to mark his last weeks of freedom before he marries Camilla Parker-Bowles.

It was disappointing he didn't turn up for a good old knees up... I'm sure if Wills or Harry had been given a similar invitation, they'd be well up for it! ;-)

Anyways, here's a few pics from his quick 'walkabout' in the Octagon, after the Sunday morning church service...

"Hmm... well we could walk... It's only 30 km..." - Dunedin's Mayor Peter Chin meets Prince Charles at the airport, but suddenly realises he forgot to organise a car back into the city.

What-ho, you didn't all have to get dressed up for me

I've seen you on the telly mate!

welcome to cd:uk

A great day in the life of Dave's weekly tv viewing, as the legendary UK music show cd:uk finally comes to New Zealand tv on C4 (even if we are getting it just as VJ Cat Deeley has left the show ;-(

Kiwi TV has had brief flirtations with the UK music scene in the past, with a feed of MTV-UK for a year or two, followed by nothing until we got a weekly broadcast of the UK's Top of the Pops.

That was okay (although State TV's TVNZ would edit out 2 or 3 songs a week to make room for commercials)...

However things got worse when... 1. Andi Peters took over producing it and ruined the UK TOTP, and then... 2. State TV decided to steal some money from NZ on Air, ramped it up to an hour, got rid of most all the decent UK acts and filled the show with a pile of dodgy kiwi tosh instead.

So, Yay for C4 TV... And nice one for sticking cd:uk right up against State TV2's "Top" of the "Pops". Looking forward to watching the show on kiwi telly for a long time to come!...

C4 Music Television

The new University year is about to get underway, and tonight the annual First Years Toga Parade marched along George Street, as part of Orientation Week. Hundreds of first year students pulled sheets off their beds, for the easiest costume of them all - the Toga.

The students, led by a group of bagpipers (Yeh, sorry... It's a Scottish thing... Welcome to Dunedin ;-) The parade ran along George Street, from the New Edinburgh Way along to the Octagon, where the students were addressed by the Mayor, before heading into the Regent Theatre to watch a couple of films... Super Size Me, and the obligatory Scarfies...

Local Bagpipers lead the First Year Student Parade through the centre of Dunedin

"Hi Mum... look what I've done to your sheets"... A few of the students at the start of the First Year Parade along George Street tonight

Toga wearers with their Braveheart leader chant the praises support of Hayward Hall student hostel

Dunedin's Mayor, Peter Chin, addresses the First Year students in the Octagon

The Toga wearers gather in the Octagon

Just spent the weekend working for 3 News in Wellington. Had an interesting couple of days. I was on news, while Kevin was on sport covering the Cricket (1st ODI vs Australia).

Kevin had a late night on the Saturday, going to the game after work then hanging around for the Press Conference after the game, before having a few concilatory drinks until the early hours of the morning.

He made it into work on Sunday fine, but when I called up to get let in down below in the TV3/Radioworks building the lift electronics decided to die, leaving Kevin trapped in the lift just below the third floor. Mighty funny for the rest of us, but probably not as funny from his point of view. Luckily he was able to get someone to come out within about 45 mins, and just settled in to read the paper while he was waiting (a few pics below)...

I had a little problem getting home again however. Got to the airport 25 minutes before departure, but there were huge lines and by the time I'd got to the front, Air New Zealand's official "20 minute check-in" had passed and they wouldn't let me on. It was the last available flight of the night back to Dunedin... made worse by the fact the flight was then delayed by another 20 minutes because of the late arrival of the aeroplane! (still wouldn't let me on).

I flew out the next morning - well as far as Christchurch anyway - and then had to wait on standby for half the day, with all the flights full as students were all heading back to University. In the past, I could have just been switched onto Origin Pacific, but they unfortunately pulled out of Dunedin a few months ago, after being forced out by pseudo-monopoly tactics from Air New Zealand, and zealous over-charging by Dunedin Airport.

Jack shoots Kevin stuck in the lift, for the TV3 Wellington Christmas tape...

Smile for your close-up! ;-)

Channel 9 Television almost went off air tonight, after a massive twenty minute downpour caused flash flooding around Dunedin. The heavy rain started just before our News presenter Nicky began reading the weather, and as she continued, the picture from our transmitter got fuzzier and fuzzier ;-)

Outside, the short but heavy burst caused huge problems around the city. Roads were turned into rivers, with cars literally floating in some parts of the city.

Shops and houses around town also suffered flooding. At the Smiths City store in the centre of town, staff said beds and lounge suites were floating inside.

Local retailers are blaming the council, who they believe have done little since a similar incident around three years ago.

The zip-off trousers came in handy!, after flash flooding turned Dunedin's main drag into a river, with water over knee deep in some places.

A local worker tries to unblock one of the many clogged drains along Dunedin's one way system, unable to cope with the deluge.

The Fire Service had a busy night, following reports of broken rooves, and chasing false alarms around the city, triggered by the flooding.

Cars try to surf through knee deep water, after a spell of flash flooding in Dunedin.

After years in the planning and development, Dunedin's main indoor sports venue, the Edgar Centre, finally unveiled its multi-million dollar expansion.

The new Lion Arena features two modern wooden courts, with retractable seating able to house up to 3,000 fans. The Arena will be the new home of the Otago Nuggets Basketball team, and the Otago Rebels Netball team.

It'll hopefully attract more fans to come and watch the games, especially in the winter, with the new roof heaters (although it remains to be seen whether the Nuggets will have lost a little of their 'home advantage' with the loss of the 'freezer-dome' atmosphere?!)

Guests on opening day watch the Retractable Seating unveil a second Basketball/Netball court at the new Lion Arena.

Former Dunedin singer, Jonathan Lemalu, helps celebrate the opening of Dunedin's new Lion Arena.

Life's been pretty busy lately... been travelling around a lot doing stories for 3 News, as well as getting a new set and things ready for the new look 9 Local News.

We started back with the nightly news at Channel 9 on Monday, and everything went pretty smoothly for the first day back, especially considering we were still wallpapering and screwing together the flats for the set on Monday morning ;-)

I'll post a few shots of our new look in day or two, but for now here's a few shots that I've been meaning to get up from a story we did the weekend before last on flash flooding in the lower South Island.

It's been the most bizzare summer here in NZ, and these pics are from a little town called Heriot which suffered quite badly in the flash flooding. One farmer had thirty two fences down, lots of stock killed, and really soggy paddocks...

It's times like this when it's good to have a solid 4WD vehicle...

Only room for one lane traffic now! ;-)

The disappearing road, with a random farmer's bridge in the foreground that floated down from the hills!

Shay at work, filming the aftermath of the flash flood...

No play at the Heriot Golf Club, after half the road washes up on the fourth hole ;-) (Apparently the water washing through the course was up to 2m deep at its peak)

Just back from doing a stint working at the 3 News office in Christchurch. Now I'll hopefully have a few days break before I'm back on chasing stories around Otago/Southland until Channel 9 gets back in motion for the year.

Have been spending a lot of time in recent weeks getting engrossed in a range of Reality TV shows, from the biggies here, through to some less known ones which the networks here have buried in daytime telly. It is interesting tho the mix of people they have on these shows, and just many of these characters are in fact, phsychotic luntatics!

In honour of these strange characters, I have compiled a little list of recent Reality TV Psychos...

* Maria (Blinky) - The Apprentice 2 - Officially listed as a 'Marketing Executive', this woman was a prize psycho. Incredibly thick, incredibly lazy, highly incompetent in any task, and had this bizarre habit of blinking really quickly when she was under pressure or being criticised. (Honorable mention to freaky scary Stacie "I see dead people" J).

* Jonathan - The Amazing Race 6 - The supposedly male half of the husband/wife team Jon & Victoria. A majorly hot-headed psycho, who screams like a baby when the slightest thing doesn't go his way. Thinks everyone is against them (well, they probably are now ;-) Must have been a spoilt only child, surely?! Constantly screams and harasses his wife Victoria, who tends to burst into tears, before later announcing on camera "He loves me really".

* Aunt Donna - The Family - (The reality show where an Italian family live in a mansion in Palm Springs, and each episode one member gets 'denied access to the family fortune' by the secret board of trustees - actually their staff). Aunt Donna ruthlessly controls her extended family, along with husband Uncle Michael. Spits venom at anyone who dares oppose her, or fails to tow the family line. Might have a heart of gold somewhere, but it's buried in five feet of pure lead.

* Natalie "Stay home and eat cat food" - My Restaurant Rules - Partner of not-quite-so-psycho-chef-Simon in the Restaurant Mylk (My Little Kitchen). Acts like a snobby brat, with no people skills. Decided halfway through the series she didn't like the cameras, and that the result was pre-conceived. Couldn't believe that Australia didn't love her and Simon, and might try to take their restaurant off them. (Lady, it's called A Game... You signed up for it!)