Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

Otago Orientation season has kicked off in Dunedin, with the traditional First Day Toga Parade.

New students rip the sheets off their beds and raid their hostel gardens to create authentic-looking Roman head wreaths.

The annual Toga Parade begins outside the Dunedin Dental School, and then heads along George Street (Dunedin's main street) to finish up in the Octagon. The route is the same as the one most of these students will make in a few years time in a black gown, when they celebrate their graduation from Otago University...

The Otago Nuggets basketball team have confirmed two new imports for the 2007 season... one a friend of the coach's fresh from the Aussie NBL, while the other is expected to raise the roof at Dunedin's Lion Arena.

24-year old American guard/forward Jameel Pugh arrived in Dunedin this week, with a reputation as one of the best slam dunkers in the business.

(Check out this old HoopsTV video of the self-proclaimed Superman's dunking abilities, including what's labelled a 50-inch vertical... The sound's a bit out-of-sync for some reason, but the videos all good!)

"Human highlight reel" Jameel Pugh was drafted by the Dakota Wizards in the NBA's National Basketball Development League in 2006, but it's in US slam dunk contests that he's made his name. Pugh was named by Slam Magazine as the World's Best Dunker in 2000, and the 33rd best dunker of all time.

Otago Nuggets coach Rick Castle says he didn't choose Pugh purely for his dunking skills, and insists he has no intention of putting together a sideshow. However Coach Castle admits Pugh will "definitely be exciting to watch" and should give long-suffering Nuggets fans something to really cheer about this season.


Meanwhile, Castle's bringing one of his West Sydney Razorbacks over the ditch to fill the other import spot. 1.88m Point guard Justin Bailey played for the Australian NBL team this season (where Castle was assistant coach), and will be a key leader for Otago on the court.

PM Hillin Cluck's minority coalition Government just got a little shakier, a little more complicated, and took another step to the left.

Her decision to get Taito Phillip Field (an electorate MP) expelled from the Labour Party will mean Field will remain in Parliament (for the time being) as an Independent MP, and Cluck & Co will need to rely on the Greens or the Maori Party to push through legislation and stay in power.

Labour and the JAPS (Jim Anderton's Progressives) formed a minority coalition government after the 2005 election, and have been able to govern thanks to the support of the Winston First and Peter Dunne United (a total of 60 seats/121 when Field is expelled).

In interviews yesterday, Field was keen to point out his enormous majority in Mangere (I bet he says that to all the girls). Today he says his comments regarding standing against Labour at the next election were based on "a hypothetical situation posed by a reporter and were taken out of context".
However, with a majority at the last election (the largest in the country), Field could have a good shot at retaining his seat... either as an independent, or maybe as a candidate for the Maori Party (who have been very supportive of him in recent months).

* NZ Herald: MP Field could join another party
* Stuff: Field to go: how Labour will survive

Here in New Zealand, we get some of the most popular US Soap Operas, like Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless.

However they tend to be many years behind the United States, while others like General Hospital and Passions have disappeared from screens here in the recent years.

But for those keen to keep up with what's happening in your favourite US soaps, Soaps.com is one of the best places to keep tabs on the storylines, and all the comings and goings. There's also updates on the US version of the Colombian telenovela Ugly Betty.

The site has daily news updates on all the big Soap Operas, and is described as the "biggest soaps community on the web", no doubt helped by the popular message board section.

Unfortunately, one soap we don't get here in New Zealand is Guiding Light, which features a friend from my summer camp days, Caitlin Van Zandt, who plays the recurring character of Ashlee.

Soaps.com has a very good section on Guiding Light, and a page on Ashlee Wolfe played by Caitlin Van Zandt (although unfortunately they haven't yet got a picture of her up... I'll have to let her know ;-)

The 2nd Annual New Zealand Cheese Rolling Championships were held in Southland last week in brilliantly fine conditions (unlike last year's mudfest!)

Based on the popular UK Cheese Rolling Champs, this kiwi version was started by the Henderson family in 2006. The family open up their family farm in Waikaka, Wendon Valley for the event.

Described as a bit of an "extreme sport", runners must chase after a round block of cheese, which is let loose from the top of a very steep hill (resulting in a lot of faceplants on the way down ;-) First person to 'capture the cheese' at the bottom wins!

In the UK, competitors chase after seven kg wheels of Double Gloucester... but here in the deep south, it's a smaller four kg block of Whitestone Windsor Blue, which organisers reckon has been selected specifically for local conditions.

It's just a few days now till Valentine's Day... but that's not the only big thing happening on February 14 ;-)

That's also the day the 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue comes out (in the United States... other countries may have to wait a little longer for their copies!)

This is the 43rd Annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and there's the usual hype (and of course controversy) about it this year.

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue was first published in 1964. The magazine's biggest selling swimsuit issue was the 25th Anniversary Edition in 1989, featuring Kathy Ireland on the cover. New Zealand's own Rachel Hunter featured on last year's cover, alongside other all-star past cover models like Elle Macpherson.
One difference in these modern times is that US fans can download their favourite models onto their cellphones. SI Mobile offers cell phone wallpapers, taken straight from the Swimsuit edition photo shoots. ($1.99 each, available for all the major carriers)

All the big name supermodels are there (over 50 to choose from), including Victoria's Secret model Heidi Klum, Ana Beatriz Barros, and tennis star Maria Sharapova... plus Aussie model and 3-time cover girl Elle Macpherson. (The SI Mobile site also offers downloadable video clips from the photos shoots, and animated screensavers.)

Boo... The Rednex ft. rappers Ro-Mania have been disqualified from the Romanian Eurovision qualifying final, after a committee decided their song Well-o-wee broke the contest's rules.

The committee said the Rednex song, along with Dracula, My Love (Simplu & Andra) and Sinada (New Effect feat. Moni-K) were disqualified because it was discovered some sections of the songs were played publicly before October 1 2006. (In the Rednex case, it's understood it was part of Ro-Mania's rap section that was at issue, not the rest of the song).

Well-o-wee and Dracula, My Love were both favourites to win the final on February 10, and represent Romania at Eurovision 2007 in Helsinki.

As a consolation, here's the Rednex performing Mama, Take Me Home at last year's Melodifestivalen (Swedish Eurovision selection). They finished 6th in the final...

A bunch of students holidaying in the central North Island of New Zealand captured these great images the other night while out jetboating... a tornado spiralling above Lake Taupo.

From their view on the boat, the tornado appeared to be well over ten metres across, and up to a kilometre high in the sky...

Swedish group the Rednex rocked the world in 1994, with their smash hit debut single, Cotton Eye Joe... a catchy novelty track, mixing Country Music with Eurodance.

Nearly everyone has heard the song (and probably danced to it), but they were written off by many outside Europe as a one hit wonder group, after followup singles from their debut album Sex and Violins failed to repeat the massive chart success in markets like the USA and UK.

However after a few years break, the group returned to the European charts in 2000, with the hit single Spirit Of The Hawk, and followup album Farmout.

The Rednex had another surprise comeback last year, when their song Mama Take Me Home made it to the finals of the Swedish Melodifestivalen (Sweden's qualifying competition for the Eurovision song contest.) The song finished sixth and was another hit single for the group, as was followup single Fe Fi (The Old Man Died).

This year the Rednex are having another stab at the Eurovision Song Contest... but the Swedes are hoping to compete in 2007 as the Romanian entry.

They've so far qualified for the Romanian national final in the pre-selection for Eurovision, performing Well-o-Wee together with rappers Ro-Mania...

The popularity of Free Running or Le Parkour (l'art du déplacement/ the art of movement) has skyrocketed since being featured in a number of commercials, TV shows, music videos and movies... the most notable being the opening sequence of the recent James Bond film, Casino Royale.

The aim of the extreme sport is to cross obstacles in the fastest and most direct way possible.

Parkour has its origins in France, but it is Eastern Europeans who have become some of the most proficient at the sport, traceurs (participants) scaling apartment buildings, walls, and railings with enormous agility.

Here's one of the best examples I've found...

With Valentines Day coming up, you might not to wait by your mailbox this year... many people may have more luck waiting by their computer.

E-Greetings have become more common as people use email and text messaging in place of snail mail. Last Christmas, many people chose not to mail out traditional cards, opting instead to send festive greetings via email (some businesses donating the money they saved to local charities).

Egreetings.com is a great website for funny, animated, and "talking" eCards, with a good range of unique cards perfect for a range of occasions, like "CSI Cake Division" for Birthdays, and an unsettling "Cupid" one for Valentine's Day.

The site lets you personalise your ecard with a message and your own images. They have a selection of cards for free, but offer a much larger range with a yearly subscription of just (US)$13.99 (which is a lot less than buying all those paper greetings cards).

A subscription also lets you schedule eCards to arrive it on a set date in the future. Right now they're offering Free 30-day trial memberships, which lets you send unlimited eCards.

Wow!... Has it really been that long?? No wonder Bill Ralston wasn't willing to commit to another 3 years heading State TV News! ;-)

(undoctored screen-cap from Stuff.co.nz website)

A few days is a long time at TVNZ... News chief Bill Ralston officially quit New Zealander's state broadcaster before he was more unceremoniously dumped in the next month or so. The former journalist was originally brought in by former CEO Ian Fraser in 2003 to bring "a bit of mongrel" to the TV One newsroom.

He refused to censor himself, making infamous comments like suggesting former Prime TV's Chris Taylor should be "throwing himself off Auckland's tallest building" (after poor ratings for Holmes), and TV3 had cocked-up and must be "wetting themselves" (after moving John Campbell & Carol Hirschfeld from 3 News to Campbell Live).

Unfortunately for Ralston, ratings for State TV's flagship One News hit a fairly steady slide during his reign. In mid-2004, 809,200 viewers (aged 5+) watched One News... last week that had slumped to just 487,300.

However, media commentators are quite rightly pointing out that Ralston shouldn't shoulder sole blame for the ratings slide, noting the poor marketing campaigns (Text Yes or No now... It's not about us... It's about You! It's Your News!"), and the major controversy over salaries.

He also seemed to struggle to change entrenched habits and working styles at TVNZ, and while the news has changed a lot during his reign, not all the changes are what I would have expected given his background as a top notch journalist. (Former TVNZ employees Paul Cutler and Trish Carter are being tipped as possible replacements.)

Meanwhile, investment bank Goldman Sachs JBWere is encouraging the New Zealand Government to take advantage of the current shake-up in Australasian media ownership, and sell State TV2.

The bank reckons TV2 could fetch $436 million, based on recent media deals. Last week, Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media made a bid for full control of APN News & Media (NZ Herald, Radio Network).

CanWest Global Communications is also preparing to sell Australia's Network 10, and is reviewing its stake in CanWest MediaWorks NZ (TV3, C4, RadioWorks).

Selling TV2 is a great idea that is well overdue, although I'm less convinced by their suggestion that TV1 be "transformed into a BBC-style, commercial-free, public channel fulfilling TVNZ charter obligations".

However Goldman Sachs JBWere does admit that privatising key assets is "not within the psyche" of the Labour-led government. It may take a change of government to see a change in attitude towards state-owned broadcasting, but by then the NZ taxpayers may have lost the opportunity for a decent return.

An increasing number of "Web 2.0" sites have been hitting the internet recently, and one of the interesting ones I've come across is Encyclocentral.

The eclectic site hosts an alphabetised library of thousands of articles covering a huge range of topics, with an emphasis on products and services available online. The main page lists the most recent articles, as well as ranking them by how popular they are.

Starting with the A's, there was an article on Antique Jewelry which gave me a quick lesson in period piece jewellery through the ages.

But it was an article on the front page of the website that proved more intriguing... Elite Titles. I discovered I could actually become a legitimate Lord, Duke, Baron, or Count (for a small payment ;-)

The non-seated titles are sold on a "first come, first served basis" (they apparently check there is not "an existing person with a similar Title granted by Royalty, Government, or Inherited by birthright").

Seated titles are rarer and more expensive, but include a named area of land, and give you the legal right to be called the Lord and Lady of (for example) Westminster. (I might start saving!...)

Kiwi blogger Blair Mulholland has brought an important point to the attention of local readers... To quote Blair, "Kate Middleton is HOTTTT!"

Those in the UK are probably well used to seeing photos like this (taken back in September, while the pair were holidaying in Ibiza) and reading about Middleton, but she is less recognised overseas. (And is it just me, or does she look a little like Ms Victoria "Posh" Beckham??)

Tipped by many Royal watchers as a future Queen of England (actually 'Queen consort' to be precise), there has been much media speculation recently that an engagement between Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton was imminent.

British retailer Woolworths has apparently already commissioned Wills & Kate engagement memorabilia, despite any evidence of royal plans. Bookmakers William Hill have stopped taking bets on whether the pair will get engaged... although you can still have a wager on the exact date.

William Mountbatten-Windsor and Kate Middleton began dating in 2003, while they were students at St Andrews University in Scotland, and have been together ever since.

Earlier this month, Prince Williams asked the press to respect 25-year old Middleton's privacy and stop taking her photo, after she was mobbed by photographers outside her London home on her birthday.

Britain's main tabloid newspapers have now agreed to stop printing paparazzi photos of Kate Middleton.


* Full Photo Gallery (circa Sep '06) at exposay.com

* Hat Tips: Blair's Mulholland Drive and DPF's Kiwiblog

The Maori Party are a very interesting party on the New Zealand political landscape. On the one hand they've got socialist activist and loose cannon Hone Harawira (son of veteran Maori activist Titewhai Harawira)... but on the other hand they've got the more sensible and straight talking Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples.

While the National Party tries its best to "redden" up its "true blue" image, Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples is talking tough on welfare dependency, with calls to make work-for-the-dole mandatory.

The party wants to see all beneficiaries in some sort of compulsory work or training scheme, to help "attack entrenched attitudes of state dependency".

Sharples admits its a hardline stance, but rightly points out "It's our people trapped in that whole benefit package idea. If we are going to break it, then that's how we do it." (Latest figures reveal Maori make up 36.5% of those on the unemployment benefit).

The current minority coalition Government has seen youth unemployment drop over the last few years. However there's still a massive number on the DPB, Sickness and Invalid benefits.

(The figures: Sickness beneficiaries increased by 569% since 1981, from 7,104 to 47,527 in September 2006; Invalid beneficiaries increased by 348%, from 16,961 to 75,988; and those on the Domestic Purposes Benefit increased by 155%, from 39,412 to 100,579).
Tariana Turia says the Maori party was "very keen to have a look at the whole benefit system... we don't think it's healthy for [our people] to be beneficiaries of the state." However it is worth noting the party is "not promoting a crackdown on the domestic purposes benefit".

Meanwhile, Blair Mulholland notes that the National Party's ideology of supporting private property rights is also looking shaky, as they prepare to back away from supporting the Maori Party's Foreshore and Seabed Repeal bill.

* NZ Herald: Make work-for-dole mandatory to break habit, says Sharples
* Mulholland Drive: Unbelievable!
* NZ Herald: National denies it's ready to help Turia on foreshore bill

The much-hyped Apple iPhone was all over the media recently, but its just one of many cool uber gadgets being released this year.

The internet is the best way to keep track of what's hot, and a new website Techzoogle promises to be one of the best places to read about the latest cool gadgets, technology, and trends.

The site features reviews of the latest and upcoming products, and news on new developments in the world of technology, computers and software.

One great new gadget they've been looking at is the Bluonyx. Its about the same size as an ipod or cellphone, but lets you share your videos (as well as music and other files) with others, simply by connecting it to a TV, phone or PC.

Techzoogle's story says the Blueonyx will host almost any media file, which makes it great for sharing those downloaded tv shows or movies in formats like Divx or Xvid. It can even access the internet. There's no word on when it'll be available to buy, but expect a price tag of $100-$200 depending on the storage size you want.

Recent media reports have looked at how the cost of property ownership has put owning a home out of reach for many New Zealanders. The reality is there is high demand for too few properties, but red tape here causes huge delays for developers.

New Zealand is ranked 75th in the world in terms of total Land Area (out of 232 countries). That's slightly larger than the United Kingdom (including outlay territories for both countries), which comes in at #79.

However when ranked by Population, New Zealand sits at #122 (with a little over 4.1 million people) while the slightly smaller UK comes in #25 (with 60.5 million people). Why then are property prices so high here, when there is so much empty land around?

One big reason is the so-called Environment Court and the Resource Management Act. Both are strangling development and progress in New Zealand, and both need to be abolished now. They are anti Property Rights.
The Otago Daily Times newspaper today reports that two appeals have been lodged in the Environment Court, against a 15-unit residential apartment complex planned for the Oamaru Harbour in North Otago.

The Comorants on Waterfront redevelopment was granted resource consent by the Waitaki District Council last month (after considering 18 submissions on the proposal, most against).

The two groups holding up the apartment development are the Whitestone Civic Trust and the New Zealand Historic Place Trust, which is trying to get Oamaru Port nominated for World Heritage status.

A free-thinking, progressive Government would abolish the Resource Management Court and its trusty sidekick the Environment Court. Developers and businesses could then grow and invest in this country, without wasting time, money, and resources fighting pointless bureaucracy and red tape.

Then we can look at changing our attitude to immigration, and encourage more skilled workers to move to here. New Zealand needs strong growth to help turn our low wage economy into one that rewards hard work and individual responsibility, but is still internationally competitive.

* This old NZ Herald column by Auckland architect Peter Cresswell has some compelling arguments on why the RMA should be abolished

Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, and the South Park gang capture on camera Conclusive and Irrefutable proof that the conspiracy theorists were right... and that US President George Dubya Bush and his government were really behind 9/11...