Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

The Speights Great Beer Delivery was one of the more inspired marketing ideas of the year... picking a bunch of "regular" kiwi lads to help take a genuine Speights pub (full of beer) to the UK, by sea.

The pub reached its London destination in early October, having travelled via Samoa, Panama, the Bahamas, and New York City.

I was lucky enough to have a quick trip onboard the boat before it departed Dunedin, NZ on its voyage, but unfortunately I was still going to be travelling when the guys were due to arrive in London.

However, through no intentional planning whatsoever, my own arrival in NYC from London happened to coincide with the lads' arrival in port.
The original plan for a welcome party at the Speights pub onboard the boat was nixed by the US Port Authority, but everyone had just as good a time at the New Zealand-themed bar/restaurant Nelson Blue, down in Manhattan's South St Seaport district...

The final cut of one of the most popular and widely viewed documentaries about 9/11 - Loose Change - has now been released online and on DVD in the United States.

The documentary follows the events before, during, and after September 11 2001 and reveals how much of what the US Government and "mainstream media" have been selling the public simply doesn't add up...

Loose Change includes startling interviews with high level insiders, original TV footage which contradicts the later "official story", and alternate theories on what really may have gone on.

Were the Twin Towers really brought crashing to the ground by two aeroplanes? Or was it really a "Secret Controlled Demolition", with bombs and internal explosives set to go off in the basement and lower floors of the buildings?

And did a Boeing 757 really crash into the Pentagon that day? Really?? Loose Change aims to uncover "the truth of 9/11"...

"The central premise of Loose Change is that the United States Government was - at the very least - criminally negligent in allowing the attacks of September 11th 20011 to occur.

However, when one looks deeper into the evidence, one might come to the conclusion that our own Government might have been directly responsible for the attacks themselves."

* Loose Change 911 - Official website

The issue of Police Tasers has hit the headlines recently, after a video surfaced showing a 40 year old Polish immigrant being tasered by Canadian police at Vancouver International Airport, just minutes before he died.

The amateur video shows Polish man Robert Dziekanski writing and screaming in pain as he is hit repeatedly by a taser gun. Four police officers then piled on top of the traveller to try and control him. The officers have since been "reassigned to different posts".

Canadian federal police have defended their use of Tasers as being "safe and effective in most cases", despite 18 people having died in Canada in the past four years after being struck by a taser.

Now it's been revealed that three American men died over the past weekend in seperate incidents, after being zapped by Tazers during police confrontations there.

Police are worried that incidents like this will increase public pressure to ban or further limit their use of taser guns. Police in New Zealand have been trialling tasers for the last year, but they have yet to be approved for use by frontline officers.

Maybe the public would be more receptive to tasers if the NZ Police bought models like these ones...
This innocent looking pink baby seal toy is actually a deadly taser, capable of delivering a pretty respectable 195 volt charge!

It's very cute and small enough to double up as an ordinary keychain, making it a great Christmas gift for any concerned parent or partner!

* Source: OhGizmo!: Be Nice To Baby Seals (Or Else)

Yeh, I know I got back home from my month-long vacation in early October, but things have been flat out with work and Grease and everything ;-)

Here's the start of my promised updates about where I went and what I saw during my annual break this year...

Prominent NZ blogger David Farrar from Kiwiblog has raised the idea of forming a new political party, with the specific aim of campaigning against the draconian "Electoral Finance Bill". The Labour Party is trying to ram the very dodgy bill through, with the help of their equally dodgy partners including Winston First, the Greens, and United Future.

David Farrar (with perhaps a hint of 'tongue in cheek') points out that a party aimed at seeking publicity against the EFB would have a spending limit of $1 million, rather that the ridiculous level of $60,000 which Labour want to introduce.

The Labour Party was (not surprisingly) in the extreme minority during submissions to Parliament's Electoral law and justice committee.

The other groups strongly backing the EFB were The Alliance (who?), CTU, PSA, Campaign Against Foreign Control of New Zealand (is this a NZ First vehicle?), and a Community Law Centre in Whitirea (where?)

* Kill the Bill - The Free Speech Coalition
* Kiwiblog: Some Electoral Finance Bill ideas for election year
* Whale Oil Beef Hooked: PM stands firm - election law won't be axed

I meant to get this up last week but life was a bit hectic, but it's still worthy of promoting if anyone in the country did happen to miss it... ;-)

Television News is the ultimate in "live tv", because so much of it is "live and unrehearsed" and there is so much scope for things to go wrong.

Here's a strong contender for "Best NZ TV Blooper of the Year"... State TV's One News cross back live to Suva for some 'Breaking News' from their hard working Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver...

Former Channel 9er Jared the Mason was the cameraman keen to appear on telly... (He apparently sees the funny side of it now ;-)

Jared says they received no calls from the control room, so he assumed Barb was just practising her script as he went about checking the lens, sorting out a microphone, and framing up his camera shot just as the "live cross" ended...

I also love how composed Wendy and Simon are after the cross... Wendy looks down intently at her "notes" as she recaps Barabara's info, and pretends like nothing went wrong ;-)

* Hat tip to Dan News for the clip...

The Popular and competent Labour MP for Dunedin South, David Benson-Pope, now faces four challengers keen to win the Labour Party nomination for the seat next election.

Local PR woman Clare Curran was the first name to surface earlier this month, although she was reluctant to officially put her name in the hat until the EPMU announced they were putting up their president, Don Pryde, to get the competition going.

High profile but failed Dunedin mayoral campaigner Olivier Lequeux was next to announce his aspirations for the safe red seat, while Dunedin union organiser Keith McFadyen was the fourth to add his name to the list.

Dunedin South is a very important electorate to the Labour Party, responsible for around 5% of the party's total membership, and significantly more in terms of financial backing.

Blogger Clint Heine (via Insolent Prick) has some very interesting details about Labour Dunedin South's healthy property portfolio... including Benson-Pope's own electorate office in South Dunedin (which is rented by Parliamentary Services by way of the unsuspecting taxpayer). The local electorate also makes generous donations and "loans" to the national Labour Party organisation.

David Benson-Pope now faces a tough battle to retain the Labour nomination, after a series of embarrassing sagas (Tennis-gate, Nightie-gate, Panty-gate).

He was forced to resign from Cabinet after revelations of political meddling into staff matters at the Environment Ministry (leading to the sacking of Madeleine Setchell). Even his Popular and competent Prime Minister has refused to publicly back his plans to stand again.

Benson-Pope has been a Dunedin electorate MP since 1999, after a short stint on the City Council. He became Labour's Senior Whip (no pun intended ;-) in 2002, and then gained a raft of portfolios in 2004 including Associate Minister of Education.

More recently, he was appointed Minister of Social Development (including responsibility for the 'Child, Youth & Family' department) following Labour's return to the Government benches in 2005.

The MP told the Otago Daily Times this week it was simply "democracy at work" and he is "delighted so many people are prepared to serve the electorate". Good news for Dunedin South voters too then? ;-)

** Update: DBP seems to have changed his mind, and is now a bit grumpy about the five-way race for Labour Dunedin South, claiming "a small group of people have taken their eye off the ball". However, he's ruled out the option of standing as an Independent candidate if he isn't selected by the Labour Party...

I'm getting ready for the opening night of the musical Grease in Mosgiel (just out of Dunedin). It's being staged by Taieri Musical Society, although the majority of the cast and crew come from Dunedin city.

The show started rehearsals in early September while I was still overseas on a month's vacation, but I was able to get a cameo role which I slotted into when I got back home again.

It's quite a different production from the revival version of Grease the Musical which I saw with Rachael and Anne on Broadway recently. The leads for that show - Max Crumm and Laura Osnes - won their starring roles as Danny & Sandy after competing on the US TV show "Grease: You're the One that I Want".

The new Broadway production of Grease, directed by Kathleen Marshall stays fairly true to the original, with the addition of the popular songs from the hit movie (Grease is the Word, You're The One That I Want, Hopelessly Devoted to You, and Sandy.
(The New Broadway Cast Recording of Grease, featuring Max Crumm and Laura Osnes and the Broadway revival cast, is now out on CD).

Here's something a little different though... West End and Broadway star Denise Van Outen (who co-hosted the US version of the TV talent hunt) leading this very sexy modern remix of Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee, featuring a few other favourite Grease tunes...

This tv advert doing the rounds about a newbie German coastguard made me laugh...

Now I know us english-speaking people aren't really no good at attempting to speak other languages [sic]... but I think the moral of the story in this case is, "Never trust the Germans" ;-) (awaiting hate-mail...)

This little video's for all the lamers who insist on using the most extreme versions of "text speak", can't/won't use real words in their text messages, or can't use apostrophes properly...

(As one Facebook group notes, "If You Can't Differentiate Between "Your" and "You're" You Deserve To Die!")

Buy Lynne Truss's excellent book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation here, through Amazon UK or USA...

I'll bet this was the last time they tried selling this product on TV...

Check out the dwindling enthusiasm of classic american Infomercial salesman Harold McCoo, as he demonstrates just how "easy and safe" the amazing Flex-o-Ladder is... Honestly, it really is "easy and safe"!...

The long talked about and highly anticipated sequel to the classic 80s movie The Goonies could finally be back on the slate. Actor Sean Astin believes the sequel is now an "absolute certainty".

Astin points to the success of the original Goonies movie on DVD, which has been heavily promoted by Warner Bros. He believes they're "softening up the ground for their animated show" that was mooted a few years ago.

But he's hopeful that will be proceeded by a new generation movie sequel. A number of potential scripts for The Goonies 2 have been written over the years, but for some reason the studio has never had the confidence to go ahead with the project.

Astin (who played Mikey in the classic movie) and co-star Corey Feldman ("Mouth") is keen to see a sequel involving the kids of the original Goonies, and most of the original cast have indicated they'd be interested in reuniting for a new movie.

(They last reunited just before The Goonies DVD was released, to record the bonus commentary).

Original Goonies director Richard Donner is said to be keen to return for The Goonies II, along with Steven Spielberg as an Executive Producer.

Fans are hoping Warners opt for a live action sequel to the classic film, before spinning the franchise off into an animated series. (Check out these concept drawings made last year by cartoonist Stephen Silver)...

Warner Bros have also been licensing the Goonies logo and characters recently for a range of "retro" t-shirts, games, toys and movie memorabilia.

They also recently signed a high profile deal with American car maker Jeep, who have launched a new website Return to Astoria and a playable online game featuring all the popular Goonies characters (and of course, the new Jeep Wrangler vehicle ;-)

"It's been more than 20 years since the Goonies found One Eye'd Willy's treasure in the quiet coastal town of Astoria.

Now, join them one more time on a new adventure in the all new 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited as they evade the wrath of the recently released Fratelli family, and follow a new adventure by seeking the lost second treasure that's wrapped in a story of pirate betrayal."

You can also download a cool Goonies - Return to Astoria desktop wallpaper at the site, plus a few original songs. The site even asks fans to vote on whether they should make The Goonies 2! - Hopefully the studio is watching the results closely...

And for a real retro experience, fans should download a great remake of the classic 8-bit Konami The Goonies video game... It's freeware, remains true to the original MSX version of thgame, and was created by the Brain Games crew for the 2006 Retro Remakes competition.

(And btw, go and see Sean Astin's latest movie The Final Season, if you spot it playing in a cinema near you... The "inspirational baseball movie" is based on a true story, and stars Astin, Tom Arnold, Powers Booth, and Rachel Leigh Cook. Sean's also an Executive Producer, so is keen to see positive numbers ;-)

While many New Zealanders are finding it tough to get into the property market with the huge boom in recent years, prices here are still very attractive to investors and prospective new residents.

New Zealand's "clean green" image and more relaxed way of life is proving a drawcard for many workers in the likes of Europe and the United States, keen to get out of the daily grind of the big cities.

A new site has recently been launched in the UK, aimed at helping people research the new zealand real estate market and discover what's on offer, with details of the newest property developments around the country.

Property New Zealand has buying guides for most regions, including what they describe as "Iconic NZ" type locations overlooking mountains and lakes. NZ property prices are still very reasonable when matched with the buying power of Pound or the Euro.

New Zealand has the added benefit for many overseas buyers of having no land tax, property purchase tax, wealth tax or death duties.

The new site is aimed at more than just regular property investors though, with good information for people looking to become permanent residents... with topics like Finding work in NZ, Emigration, Shipping your belongings overseas, the country's weather, and New Zealand's Government, schooling and healthcare systems.

It was revealed late last week that the Labour-led minority coalition Government is sitting on a massive operating surplus of $8.7 billion.

But still Finance Minister Michael Cullen continues to act like a spoilt child with too many toys, blatantly lying to uninformed journalists about the benefits of a huge tax package unveiled this week by Australian Treasurer Peter Costello.

Cullen claimed "there was nothing in the Australian tax cut package for those earning under $30,000 a year".

Either he is seriously misinformed, or seriously mathematically challenged. For most low income workers in Australia, their first $20,000 of annual earnings would effectively be tax-free once the full package is implemented. (The tax-free income level for senior citizens is higher again).

David Farrar over at Kiwiblog has calculated that someone earning "$30,000 a year" (whether single or married, and with or without children) will pay just $1,500 in tax... which translates to an average tax rate of just 5%. (A NZ worker on $30,000 currently loses $5,730 in income tax each year!!)


A generous tax-free threshold is something New Zealand's next Government needs to address as a priority. Forget the arguments from the left that "tax cuts benefit the rich"... introducing a 0% tax rate on the first portion of income means every single workers start off on the same footing.

A 'Personal Tax Allowance' is common overseas... in the UK the tax free amount is currently £5,225 (~NZ $14,000). Even the Green Party (at the last election at least) are in favour of a 0% tax rate for all New Zealanders... for the first $5,000 of income at least.


On top of the tax-free allowances and lower tax rates, Australian workers also get an extra 9% of their gross salary (minimum) paid by their employer directly into their personal superannuation plan (by contrast, New Zealand workers enrolled in KiwiSaver can look forward to a whopping 1% contribution from next April, rising to 4% by April 2011).

Again, check out Kiwiblog where David Farrar has done a great breakdown and analysis of the relative potential tax bills between New Zealand and Australian workers, based on Costello's plan...

The Cereal King's reign at the helm of New Zealand's highest profile city has ended, with Dick Hubbard being well beaten by the man he deposed at the last election... John Banks.

Former mayor Banksie has promised an all-new gentler style this time around, including consultation with ratepayers and new policies.

Hubbard was upstaged early on in his term by grumpy Deputy Mayor Bruce Hucker, and was forced to work with the big spending City Vision/Labour team, and the opportunistic Action Hobson councillors, who together achieved massive rates increases and spent big on overseas junkets.

In Christchurch, former Mayor of Banks Peninsula (and TV host) Bob Parker has scored a solid victory over the left's candidate Megan Woods, with another TV personality Jo Giles (CTV) in a creditable third place. Woods' left-wing grouping Christchurch 2021 also failed in their bid to regain dominance of the city council, with just two successful candidates.

STV voting again meant very slow counting at electionz.com HQ for Wellington and Dunedin elections. In Dunedin, Mayor Peter Chin comfortably retained his job ahead of nearest rival, outspoken former councillor Lee Vandervis.

Two main groupings tried to bring back party politics this election - Greater Dunedin and Open Democracy. The latter was headed by the high profile Lee Vandervis, but the group failed to get anyone onto council, with even Vandervis losing his seat by just 4 votes (after special votes were counted) to longtime Greenie campaigner Fliss Butcher).

The Allied Press/ODT-funded ticket Greater Dunedin meanwhile succeeded in winning three council seats, including TV personality Dave Cull.
The proposed new "Carisbrook" stadium was billed as one of the big election issues in Dunedin, but unfortunately there really weren't any strong candidates willing to campaign on the bold idea of cutting council spending, and offering residents a lower rates bill.

(I see the North Shore has a new Mayor in Andrew Williams, who scored an upset win over George Wood after campaigning under the banner of "Don't Waste the Rates".

Williams claims to be against "wasteful council spending, red tape and bureaucracy, mounting council debt, and ballooning council staff numbers and consultants". We need a few more of these types of candidates!)

As Kiwiblog's David Farrar notes, that leaves New Zealand's five main centres in the hands of Centre/Centre-Right Mayors.

Congratulations also to former ACT MP Penny Webster, who is the new Mayor of Rodney... while another former ACT MP, Gerrard Eckhoff, picks up a spot on the Otago Regional Council. And I guess the opposite is due to sitting Labour MP Di Yates, who failed to even pick up a council seat in Hamilton East ;-)

* NZ Herald: Banks ousts Hubbard
* Dom Post: Local election results summary

I'm back home in Dunedin again, after my month-long vacation to various spots in the UK, Sweden, and the USA. Worked a 9-day stretch as soon as I got back (hence the lack of posting), and having to reinstall Windows this week after a few drive hassles hasn't helped :-{

Got home to not much food in the house, so it was probably a good thing that I've mostly been working out of town... altho this little cartoon neatly sums up this evening's menu... ;-)

Am aiming to process the photos from my trip over the next few days, and will post some of the pics up here over the next week or so (and a wider range over on Facebook).

Okay, now that the All Blacks have failed to win the Rugby World Cup for fifth time in a row, can we please stop having to refer to them as "the best team in the world" and "the hot favourites" to take out any particular rugby tournament.

They apparently won the cup back in 1987 - Isn't that enough? Let's give some other New Zealand sports teams a bit more coverage instead.

(* Hat tips to Clint Heine and Whale Oil respectively)

(On the good news front, the Breakers won their first home game of the season, and Kirk Penney looks like he's nearly back to form after his injury...!)

My favourite All Blacks/World Cup joke of the day came courtesy of email newsletter Popbitch...

Q: Did you hear about the new All Blacks bra?
A: It's got great support, but no cups!

The Million Dollar Homepage was one of the first to do it, and since then many other sites have tried to follow in that website's success. English university student Alex Tew came up with the idea of selling 'blocks of pixels' on his website (to advertisers and other sites) to help pay for his education.

The idea proved a massive success, and now a new website is trying to update the concept for 2007. Video content is now the biggest thing fueling the huge growth in internet use, and the website Million Dollar Web TV is banking on that trend for success.

Most casual browsers will understand what the site is about - and how it works - as soon as they land on the homepage. The website is targetting advertisers with internet video sites, and surfers looking for video content. It claims to offer advertisers 10 years of exposure to hundreds of thousands of visitors each month.

New advertisers need to register before buying advertising space, but the owners also promise a 'profit sharing' incentive if the site takes off.

A site blog encourages people to Join Our Web TV Ad-venture at MillionDollarWebTV.com, and will update interested advertisers and browsers on the growth of the website, and report back success stories from 'pixel advertisers' on the new site.

Focusing on the growing market of web video is a new twist which could help this site avoid being just another pay-per-pixel page. However, it remains to be seen whether people will still be attracted by the familiar "pixel block" style layout, or whether a new design or concept is needed to capture the attention of savvy surfers. Mark it as a site to watch.

Good news for humankind... Genetic scientists are predicting Redheads could be extinct in less than 100 years!

Latest figures reveal natural redheads are becoming rarer, and they now account for less than two percent of the world's population.

The National Geographic magazine says red hair was caused by a genetic mutation in northern Europe 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.

However, "global intermingling" has reduced the numbers of redheaded couples, although little carrot tops can still be produced when only one parent has red hair.

The mutant gene is still strongest in Scotland, where 13% of the population have red hair, and up to a massive 40% carry the rare gene.

Some genetic scientists believe gingers could be extinct on Earth within the next 50-100 years, although the gene could potentially lie dormant for generations before returning.

Scientifically, red hair appears in people with two copies of a recessive gene which causes a change in the MC1R protein. Redheads are more prone to skin cancer with a higher sensitivity to ultraviolet light, as well as a higher sensitivity to heat and cold.

* News.com.au: Gingers extinct in 100 years, say scientists


The International GingerKids Foundation is working to find a cure for Gingervitis, which is a serious disease affecting millions of people. The group is working to achieve equality and understanding for ginger children, until a cure is found.

The Redhead motto is "We Are People Too (even if we don't have souls)". Find out more about their work here...