w h o a r . c o . n z

“..Is reality TV finally living up to its name?

Most of what we are served up under that rubric is actually the farthest thing from reality.

The exploits of Snooki, Jake the Bachelor, and all those Real Housewives hardly reflect life as most of America knows it and lives it.

The real America is hurting — not jetting off to an exotic location for Fantasy Suite canoodling.

But no matter how sobering the statistics we are getting on a regular basis (and I’ll offer up some bracing ones in a moment), ..

.. the hardships and suffering tens of millions of Americans are experiencing are almost entirely absent from our popular culture.

Which is a shame, because drama and narrative have the ability to move people’s perceptions in a way that raw numbers never can.

Enter Undercover Boss, the new CBS reality show in which corporate CEOs don disguises and spend a few days experiencing what it’s like to be a low-level worker at their companies.

Watching the show — including the episode in which the CEO of a waste management company vacuumed out port-a-potties ..

.. and learned that one of his employees, a woman who drives a garbage truck, has to urinate in a cup ..

.. because her productivity requirements leave her no time for a bathroom break — I thought of Benjamin Disraeli.

Before becoming Prime Minister of England, Disraeli wanted to issue a wake up call about the horrible state of the British working class.

So, in 1845, he wrote a novel, Sybil, which warned of the danger of England disintegrating into “two nations between whom there is no sympathy, as if they were inhabitants of different planets.”

The book became a sensation .. and the outrage it provoked propelled fundamental social reforms.

In the 19th century, one of the most effective ways to convey the quiet desperation of the working class to a wide audience was via a realistic novel.

In 2010, it’s through reality TV.

And Undercover Boss has clearly touched a nerve with viewers.

Last week, only the Olympics and American Idol scored higher in the ratings.

It’s the kind of popular entertainment that can start out as one thing — a fun, high concept reality show —

– but morph into something that affects the zeitgeist .. by turning a spotlight on just how out of touch America’s corporate chiefs are.

And their cluelessness is not just about the jobs their workers do — it’s about the lives their workers lead.

Ever since Roseanne went off the air, network TV has not been the most welcoming place when it comes to telling the stories of working class Americans.

But now, week in and week out, millions can see what downsizing and Wall Street’s demands for ever-greater productivity and earning margins did to the lives of so many Americans, even before the economic crisis.

The chasm between America’s haves and have-nots has reached Grand Canyon-esque proportions.

Thirty years ago top executives at S&P 500 companies made an average of 30 times what their workers did —

– now they make 300 times what their workers make.

That’s the kind of statistic a show like Undercover Boss can put flesh and blood on.

Here are a few others:..”

go to source/story>>Arianna Huffington: Is Undercover Boss the Most Subversive Show on Television?

“.. People are already saying you “pulled a Kanye.” What happened?

BURKETT: What happened was the director and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court.

But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn’t invited to any of them.

And he’s not speaking to me.

So we weren’t even able to discuss ahead of the time who would be the one person allowed to speak if we won.

And then, as I’m sure you saw, when we won, he raced up there to accept the award.

And his mother took her cane and blocked me.

So I couldn’t get up there very fast..”

(how about that mother/cane action..?..eh..?..)

go to source/story>>The story behind Oscar’s “Kanye moment” - Oscar Nominations, Academy Awards 2010 - Salon.com

“..In her latest collection of essays, novelist and essayist Arundhati Roy turns her critical eye to her home country of India.

Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers is published by Haymarket Books.

In this UtneCast conversation, Roy challenges the mainstream media story of “India shining” ..

.. and describes the recent laws and military operations inside the country that she says challenge India’s image as a great democracy..”

go to source/story>>Arundhati Roy on Democracy, India, and Writing

“..As Scorsese’s new film, Shutter Island, opens .. our critic picks the great man’s 10 best scenes

Scorsese’s uncanny ear for dialogue was evident from his first masterpiece, Mean Streets ..

.. which is set in the heart of Little Italy among debt collectors and small-time hoods.

Characters were called by names such as Johnny Boy, Joey Clams and Giovanni Cappa.

In one classic pool-hall scene, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and David Proval start a fight -

- over the jukebox sounds of Please Mr Postman -

- after a barman calls one of them “a mook”..”

go to source/story>>Martin Scorsese best movie moments | Jason Solomons | Film | The Observer

“..A budget Lord of the Rings prequel put together by hundreds of people working for nothing .. has recorded nearly a million hits on video streaming sites

On the eastern flank of Epping Forest, a short walk in from the town of Debden, there is a huge tree, lying on its side, upended by a storm.

It was in this clearing that independent film-maker Kate Madison, along with dozens of game volunteers, filmed Born of Hope, a homemade prequel to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy that has caused a great stir since its release in December.

A production pulled together over four years with a budget of a mere £25,000 – about a tenth of one per cent of the cost of Jackson’s epic –

- it has impressed critics and recorded close to a million views on video streaming sites.

The upended tree seems a fitting place for it all to have begun.

Born of Hope tells the story of Arathorn, the father of Viggo Mortensen’s character in the Hollywood films.

There’s the odd crude moment (a lady, just about visible in the background of a love scene, walking her dog through the trees); ..

.. and this time Middle Earth is represented by oft-drizzly Essex, not the luscious Ruapehu district of New Zealand.

But Madison’s film makes an entirely plausible, if unofficial, addition to the franchise.

There are epic battle sequences, pitting man and elf against orc and troll; ..

.. there are stirring original orchestral scores; there are special effects; horses; severed heads; ..

.. even a thrilling glimpse of the Tower of Mordor .. where Jackson’s trilogy has its climactic scenes..”

go to source/story>>Born of Hope, a budget prequel to the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, has been lauded by critics | Tom Lamont | Film | The Observer

“..Yoko Ono is forever associated with the Beatles, yet her aristocratic family life in imperial Japan, long before she met John Lennon, was equally intriguing.

For the first time, she opens up the Ono family album

She may not look it, but Yoko Ono, a woman who has survived three decades of tragedy, debunking and myth, is now 77 years old.

For many of those years, she has been blamed, perhaps unfairly, for the break-up of the world’s best-loved musical partnership: ..

.. she was the woman who came between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, insisting on being in the studio as the band disintegrated.

She also cradled Lennon just a few seconds after the fatal shots from a revolver rang out on a cold New York night in December 1980.

As she has grown older she has become — perhaps inevitably — more reflective about her past.

She has mellowed and in recent years visits to Japan have become more frequent.

She returned with Lennon several times in the 1970s at a point in his life when he had all but disappeared from public view.

Yoko is back in Japan for a three-week trip and, for the first time, has agreed to a journalist accompanying her to write about this side of her multi-faceted life.

This is also the first time she has agreed to open up in depth about her childhood, her awkward, distant upbringing in a quasi-aristocratic family in Tokyo, and Lennon’s relationship with her parents.

Only now is she truly comfortable returning to Japan.

The journeys back with Lennon were sporadic, and sometimes difficult.

When Lennon came here with Yoko for the first time in 1971 — just a year after the break-up of the Beatles — he was surprised to find that his monumental fame cut no ice with his in-laws.

The couple had known each other for four years, but Lennon had only the smallest inkling of Yoko’s social status .. and made no effort to ingratiate himself.

“He just went to my parents’ place unshaven, and wearing an army-surplus coat,” she says.

“Just the most hip outfit, very rock’n’roll!

I mean, rock’n’roll can be a performance in a theatre, a beautiful, gorgeous thing.

But he was just looking like a bum.

This kind of ‘here I am’ attitude.

“My family was not enamoured.

If some families had a son or a daughter involved with the Beatles, maybe they would say, ‘We’d like to meet that guy, we’d like to be invited to a Beatles concert.’

There was none of that, of course.”

Yoko explains that she came from exalted, upper-class stock to whom the Beatles were irrelevant.

Both her socialite, feminist mother and banker father were scions of families with high-level imperial, political, industrial and financial connections..”

go to source/story>>Yoko Ono: Back to where she once belonged - Times Online

“..Jimmy Wales, 43, co-founder of Wikipedia, on the chaos of his life .. and being an IT geek

If I can, I like to sleep late.

I’m a naturally lazy person .. and it also helps me get over the jet lag.

Wikipedia is a truly global concern, which means I travel to dozens of countries every year, and I wake up at strange hours in different time zones, different hotels, different aeroplanes.

My life can be chaotic, so sleeping till 10 or 12 helps me sort out that chaos.

Recently somebody asked me how many times I log on to the internet each day.

I honestly don’t know.

I’m usually online before I get out of bed.

First thing every morning, I check my emails and my Wiki messages.

If anything’s urgent I try to sort it out straight away.

Item two is coffee.

Espresso, cappuccino… I don’t care.

I’d take it intravenously if I could.

Breakfast is light and healthy, and always contains fruit.

When I’m at home in Florida, I try to do a little exercise — there’s a swimming pool in my apartment complex and I like to go rollerblading, listening to Dr Dre on the headphones — but when I’m travelling, I just don’t get the time.

I like to feel fresh and clean in the morning, which isn’t always easy when you live in planes and hotels.

I am pretty obsessive about grooming. I have my little luxuries… like my Gillette five-blade razor.

Having that with me is a big deal.

Is it better than the three-blade razor or the four-blade razor?

I don’t know and I don’t care!

I just love it.

Being on the board of directors of Wikipedia is not an office job.

My office is my rucksack.

In it there’s my MacBook, spare batteries and a few bits of random junk.

Most of the work I do is conducted via email..”

go to source/story>>A Life in the day: Happiness is my computer - Times Online

“..95bFM Summer Series

March 7th, 12-7pm
Albert Park
FREE

TIMETABLE

12 - 12.30 - Bandicoot

12.50 - 1.20 - Rackets

1.40 - 2.30 - An Emerald City

2.45 - 3.30 - O’Lovely

3.45 - 4.35 - Bang Bang Eche

4.50 - 5.35 - The Naked And Famous

6.00 - 7.00 - The Mint Chicks

2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the iconic free summer music event in the CBD and the 40th anniversary of Albert Park.

On March 7th, a quintessentially ‘bFM’ lineup will take over the park from 12pm-7pm:..”

go to source/story>>95bFM Summer Series | 95bFM

“..Bickering couples, celebrities making fun of each other, Madonna and Larry David.

What’s not to love?

Critics hate “The Marriage Ref” (10 p.m. Thursdays on NBC).

They say it’s condescending, awful, wretched, unfunny, canned, corny.

Some viewers seem to agree: ..

.. One tweeted during Thursday night’s premiere, “Now Jerry Seinfeld has been on both the best and the worst TV shows of all time.”

Are we watching the same show?

Because what I’m seeing is married people bickering over something ridiculous and trivial ..

.. (see also: being themselves) while celebrities crack jokes, tease each other, and reveal odd details about their personal lives (see also: being themselves for a change).

What’s not to love?

Let’s consider the portrayals of marriage on TV available to us up until now: ..

.. Angry couples about to divorce on “Dr. Phil,” ..

.. cutesy couples guffawing over their adorable children’s goofy shenanigans with homemade explosives on sitcoms ..

.. and exhausted couples squabbling over who lost the map on “The Amazing Race.”

In all of these cases, you provide the commentary .. and the laugh track .. (especially on Dr. Phil).

On “The Marriage Ref,” Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais and Jerry Seinfeld do it for you.

Now let’s consider the portrayals of celebrities available to us: ..

.. We can gaze at photos of them in sweatpants taking their kids to the park, we can listen to their stilted attempts at warmth and spontaneity on the red carpet ..

..or we can endure their longer, even more stilted attempts at warmth and spontaneity on late night talk shows.

When celebrities speak instead of just standing around and looking pretty ..

.. they tend to speak at great length about whatever movie or show they’re promoting ..

.. then titter nervously through the balance of the interview.

On “The Marriage Ref,” stars finally have something fun and concrete to banter about: the absurd quarrels of married couples.

Here’s a husband who wants his stuffed dead dog displayed in the house, a wife who would like the dining room only to be used on Thanksgiving ..

..(the rest of the year it sits, fully decorated, but untouched) ..

.. a husband who gets pedicures instead of spending time with his kids ..

.. a wife who wants her husband to stop taking off his wedding ring when he plays basketball or goes out with his friends.

“I think if you’re going to stuff your dog, you should stuff it in either a useful or attractive position,”..

.. Alec Baldwin remarks in the show’s sneak preview..”

go to source/story>>Ignore the haters, “The Marriage Ref” rules - Heather Havrilesky - Salon.com

“.. Tony Fuemana – a former radio broadcaster and movie director –

..said the family were still awaiting an appointment with his brother’s doctor to get answers as to why he died so young.

“We have no new answers.

We heard from a lot of experts at the time he died and they said what they thought it was ..

.. but none of the information was concrete.”

Tony Fuemana said knowing why his brother died will allow the family to move on.

“We want some headway on this, especially for Kirstine.

She needs peace to know if it could have been reversible or not.

I’m happy to let it lie .. but I want to find out for Kirstine.”

go to source/story>>Pauly’s Legacy: A new baby - national | Stuff.co.nz

“..Much-hyped digital recording device TiVo has had a disastrous launch, despite a $10 million dollar investment by Television New Zealand.

Multiple industry sources estimated there had been fewer than 2000 sales since the product was launched by Hybrid Television Services on November 6.

Hybrid said at the time it hoped to sell 120,000 boxes within five years.

A spokeswoman called the 2000 figure “completely inaccurate” ..

.. but said the company had a policy of not disclosing sales numbers .. and would not comment further.

TiVo boxes are sold exclusively through Telecom stores.

Telecom’s retail chief executive Alan Gourdie said on February 12 that sales had been modest.

“We set some quite high targets for Christmas that we didn’t deliver.”

But Telecom spokeswoman Julia Bell said Telecom was comfortable with TiVo and sales figures were not a concern.

“We’re pretty happy with the numbers .. and we really like the relationship we’ve got with Hybrid.”

The slow uptake of TiVo will have consequences for taxpayers because TVNZ paid $10 million last year for its stake in Hybrid.

A TVNZ spokeswoman said the state-owned broadcaster was happy with the decision to buy into the company.

“We have no concerns .. and are completely comfortable with the investment.”

A spokesman for broadcasting minister Jonathan Coleman said he had no comment on the TiVo investment..”

go to source/story>>Kiwi viewers shun TiVo - Business - NZ Herald News

“..Mickey Rourke has had his share of women, but who knew he had 14 of them in one night.

“Forget Ashley Cole, his behaviour has nothing on a film star,” he told British TV host Lizzie Cundy, according to UK’s Sun.

“WAGs [wives and girlfriends of soccer stars] get an easy time - they should try living with Hollywood hellraisers.”

Ashley Cole is a UK soccer star at the center of several sex scandals including a gay orgy.

“I once spent a weekend in the UK and had 14 women in one night,” Rourke said..”

go to source/story>>Mickey Rourke’s Sex Marathon: 14 Women, One Night

“..Every month, Utne Reader presents free, downloadable music gleaned from current and upcoming releases on independent labels..”

go to source/story>>Utne Reader Music Sampler March 2010

“.. The Government’s threat to freeze Radio NZ’s funding has prompted a fresh round of voices calling to protect the state broadcaster’s “DNA” and fight against commercialism.

Its bosses say less money risks meaning less quality.

When the red emergency phone rang at Radio New Zealand’s Wellington studio last weekend, the broadcaster was handed a golden chance to silence the critics.

Amid vociferous debate about whether the organisation needs or deserves more public funding, they couldn’t have engineered a better illustration of the value of a public service broadcaster.

Morning Report presenter Sean Plunket was dragged in from his leisurely Sunday morning and programmes were ditched for fulltime, up-to-the minute coverage of the tsunami threat after Chile’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake.

Civil Defence Minister John Carter even applauded their coverage on air.

Meanwhile, TV3 was broadcasting stirring hymns followed by Julie Hadden’s impressive weight loss story ..

.. and TV1 squeezed half-hourly tsunami updates between scheduled programming ..

.. at least once including a map featuring long-past wave surge timings..”

go to source/story>>Radio NZ: Endangered species | Stuff.co.nz

“..Crime books have been around for a long time, and this list features some of the best.

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One of the most popular of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, this one takes the case to the English countryside.

2. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. This classic mystery takes place on a train where a murder is committed during the night. The conclusion has that trademark Agatha Christie twist.

3. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Considered one of the earliest and greatest crime novels, read this one if you haven’t already.

4. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. Anarchy and espionage in the streets of London are at the heart of this classic crime tale.

5. The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s detective, Auguste Dupin, solves murders in these three tales that are as captivating today as when they were written over 150 years ago.

6. The Three Coffins by John Dickson Carr. This “locked-room” mystery is a classic worth tracking down.

7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This classic book explores race issues in the American south..”

go to source/story>>Court Reporter » Blog Archive » 100 Best Crime Books Ever Written

“..In 1965 he published an explicit book about his sexual experiences across the age divide.

As the erotic classic is reprinted, Stephen Vizinczey tells John Walsh why he still believes that every man needs a Mrs Robinson..”

go to source/story>>A lover’s guide to older women - Features, Books - The Independent

“..The 2010 Vancouver games are over, but the athletes sure did leave a lot of wrappers in their wake

Another Winter Olympics has come and gone.

The torch has been extinguished, the ice skates packed up, the giant beaver costumes presumably stolen by wily Canadian teenagers.

And Vancouverites have been left with a heap of medals, an enormous Molson’s-fueled hangover, and, over at Olympic Village, over 125,000 condom wrappers.

Maybe it’s all that ice, or just the thrill of victory .. but it seemed like the real action this year happened off the rink..

Canada’s National Post reported last week that the supply of 100,000 free condoms distributed to about 7,000 athletes and officials had been dangerously depleted.

That’s right: 14 free condoms per person?

Not enough!

Either there were some serious water balloon fights .. or the athletes in Vancouver were champions in the sack as well as on the ice.

An emergency shipment of another 25,000 johnnies sped its way to Vancouver, courtesy of the Canadian Foundation for AIDS research.

Rocketing down icy slopes must be pretty good for the libido..”

go to source/story>>Another Olympics, another 100,000 condoms - Broadsheet - Salon.com

“..A new Vanity Fair article, by Mark Seal, takes a closer look at the circumstances surrounding the alleged attempt to extort David Letterman over an affair he was having with a staffer.

The resulting scandal, which led to Letterman admitting to multiple liaisons with “Late Show” staffers, put the spotlight on the atmosphere around the show’s set ..

.. which one former staffer describes as “like a cult.”

The late night host is an out-sized presence, to say the least.

His charisma is apparently so powerful it could physically affect you, according to one female staffer who described the hair on the back of her neck raising on end when Letterman would come up behind her.

Seal also examines what led alleged extortionist Joe Halderman to break down and confront Letterman with his bizarre threat to write a screenplay about the affair unless the host paid him to keep quiet.

The case is heading to trial and Letterman is said to be willing to testify..”

go to source/story>>Vanity Fair David Letterman Article: Late Show Set ‘Like A Cult’ (VIDEO)

“.. David Bowie is spending his Golden Years in anonymity.

The 63-year-old rock icon last released a new album in 2003, and stopped touring in 2004 after suffering a heart attack during a European trek.

The early Internet enthusiast has not even updated his official blog since October 2006, when he proudly revealed he would voice a character on the kids cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants.

Last year, he attended a few red-carpet events to help promote his son Duncan Jones’ movie Moon.

But otherwise the musical chameleon seems to be savouring his latest metamorphosis into married father of a 9-year-old daughter in New York.

“He’s just being Dad, I think, laying low,” said bass player Gail Ann Dorsey, who started working with Bowie almost 15 years ago.

“I can’t imagine he’s not writing or doing something, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Dorsey said she e-mailed him a birthday greeting in January, but resisted the temptation to ask if he was working on any projects.

“I never pry into an artist’s life, or process either,” Dorsey said.

“I don’t write to him and go, ‘What are you doing?’ Or call and go, ‘Why aren’t you playing?’

You let people be and you see where it falls.”

Bowie biographer Marc Spitz is slowly losing hope that the singer will make a comeback, even as peers such as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop keep recording and touring..”

go to source/story>>David Bowie’s new makeover | Stuff.co.nz

“..Forty years after his death, a new album featuring the unreleased recordings of Jimi Hendrix is about to hit shelves ..

.. but you can have a sneaky early listen ..

To mark the 40th anniversary of his death Valleys Of Neptune will be released on March 8.

The album, which has already received plenty of hype, making it onto the cover of Uncut and Rolling Stone magazines, features twelve previously unreleased tracks.

Hendrix fans will have the chance to hear songs that have never seen the light of day.

Listen to the album by using the media player below/in link:..”

go to source/story>>Preview of new Hendrix album | Stuff.co.nz

“.. The Rolling Stones, who have long resisted releasing archival material, will include 10 previously unheard songs in an upcoming reissue of Exile on Main Street, the group’s representatives said on Thursday.

The original 1972 release, a sprawling two-disc set regarded by many observers as one of their greatest works..

.. features such notable tracks as Tumbling Dice and Happy.

It was recorded in the grim basement of a French villa once used by the Gestapo.

Guitarist Keith Richards was consumed at the time by a heroin addiction .. and singer Mick Jagger was distracted by his new wife, Bianca.

The reissue, due out in the United States on May 18 and a day earlier internationally through Vivendi’s Universal Music Group ..

.. will be supplemented by new tracks with such titles as Plundered My Soul, Dancing in the Light, Following the River” and Pass The Wine..”

go to source/story>>Rolling Stones unearth 10 new tracks | Stuff.co.nz

“..Mid-morning on Wednesday: my wife and I are on the train.

Seated near us is an agitated guy, late twenties, on his mobile; he’s arguing with his live-in girlfriend, Carol.

Apparently, she’s accusing him of being overfriendly with a barmaid.

We, his fellow travellers, are obliged to digest this tale in all its intimate detail.

I offer a stage-whispered heckle: ..

..“Dump him, Carol!”

Can’t be sure if he heard.

Now here is a paradox.

I still believe it is discourteous to use a mobile in a busy train compartment.

Others, however, have no shame in conducting private phone conversations in front of strangers.

And if you object, that could well be an infringement of modern etiquette.

I am not a grumpy Luddite.

As a musician, I couldn’t tour as I do or make records without advanced technology.

I have a website where I upload an infrequent diary .. and I take a mobile on awaydays and holidays.

Use, however, is one thing; abuse something else.

There is surely no more ill-mannered act than twiddling with a BlackBerry while in conversation at dinner.

What can be so crucial that you must divert your attention from real people to check your in-box?

Handheld electronics, anthropologists would probably say, are a kind of validation.

A shiny box with twinkly lights .. shows the owner is modern and important..”

go to source/story>>Grow up. Cut this antisocial networking | Steve Harley - Times Online

“..The BBC plans to axe two radio ­stations – 6 Music and Asian Network – cut spending on imported shows and halve the size of its website, it is claimed today.

The Times says the measures are part of the BBC’s strategic review to be unveiled next month.

Under the plan, the BBC intends to shrink overall services and focus more on quality over quantity.

There have already been reports suggesting that the BBC will axe the digital radio stations 6 Music and Asian Network.

Quoting BBC Trust sources, the newspaper states that the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, is also being pushed to slash the budget for imported shows such as Mad Men and Heroes by a third.

Thompson reportedly will also introduce a cap on spending on broadcast rights for sports events of 8.5% of the licence fee, or about £300m.

The Times says the BBC’s web pages are to be halved, backed by a 25% cut in staff numbers.

The web operation’s £112m budget will also be cut by 25%.

It also plans to include more links to newspaper articles to drive traffic to the websites of rival publishers..”

go to source/story>>BBC ‘to axe radio stations and halve website’ in strategic review | Media | The Guardian

“.. On the small screen, anything is possible: ..

.. The hooker can have a heart of gold, the cloud can have a silver lining, the tunnel can have a light at the end of it.

In real life, the tunnel is dark, the cloud dumps rain for days, and the hooker is indifferent .. and has Chlamydia.

No wonder we turn to our televisions for novelty ..

.. to see if the lovely downhill skier weeps tears of joy or disappointment ..

.. to find out if the patient’s heart surgery saves his life or kills him..

.. to discover if the castaways live happily ever after.

.. or spend another week wandering through the jungle..

.. searching for more clues..”

go to source/story>>Zen and the art of serial-drama maintenance - Heather Havrilesky - Salon.com

“..I thought Bill Nye was awesome when I was a kid, and he’s still awesome now.

Take this video clip, for example, in which the onetime (and always!) Science Guy keeps a cool head while explaining the science behind global warming to Bill O’Reilly ..

.. and the frantic TV meteorologist/denier shill Joe Bastardi:..”

go to source/story>>Bill Nye Schools Bill O’Reilly in Climate Change « SpeakEasy

“.. Let’s all means shag about with National Radio.

For one thing, it’s there.

It’s always there.

Isn’t that a drag?

For another, let’s do it just because we can, and because so many other things we’ve tinkered with – railways, telecommunications, building regulations, stuff like that –

- have been such triumphs .. that we can proceed with confidence .. whistling.

Let’s have a go at it because it makes some pretence at responsible coverage of matters of public interest, doesn’t play for laughs between commercials, and because Mary Wilson sounds so snappy on Checkpoint.

Snappy sounds kind of serious.

Who wants serious?

A few screaming jocks could replace National Radio’s news and current affairs tomorrow, and we’d all be loads better off.

Let’s shag about with it because it’s taxpayer-funded.

That’s part of being a service to the old, the sick, the lonely; the people who lie awake at night while the clock ticks, and are comforted by the human voice.

Don’t get sentimental about people like that, whatever you do.

They can always get drunk.

Service is a boring word.

It makes you think of the old public service, when people who worked for the government didn’t get paid a hell of a lot ..

.. and consequently didn’t have monstrous egos.

That was a regrettable state of affairs.

Monstrous egos are far more amusing.

And let’s call National Radio elitist.

Let’s assume that real people don’t appreciate radio without ads, and that waking up to Sean and Geoff on Morning Report is some kind of terminal agony for them.

Let’s take it that intelligent questioning – as opposed to frenetic babbling or raucous opinion – is something proper people place no value on.

We killed serious current affairs on television long ago, so let’s follow through with its last hideout.

Serious current affairs can be embarrassing for so many reasons to so many people: ..

. let’s pause to admire TV’s endless forensics, celebrities, chefs, degrading competitions, and soap operas – with tons of ads.

They’re a far, far better thing.

And let’s romp after the Concert Programme again.

Barking at that always attracts an appreciative crowd.

Let’s mock the people who listen to classical music because they’re pointy-heads ..

.. and because we have a sneaking suspicion they’re on to something.

Make them swallow advertising like everyone else.

Bach, Blondie .. it’s all good news for vacuum cleaners.

It costs a whole, wild $45 each for National Radio every year, a fact we should exploit.

Why, if everyone had that extra $45 to spend they could park in downtown Wellington for 10 hours – nearly an hour a month – or buy a lipstick.

We could run amok..”

go to source/story>>Quality radio easy target for the barbarians | Stuff.co.nz

“.. And what of the Enz?

Chunn says he hasn’t spoken to any of his former bandmates about Judd’s predicament, nor to Judd himself.

Neither of the Finn brothers would be interviewed for this story, but Tim, who wrote a song about his difficult relationship with Judd on his last album, appeared to extend a public olive branch last year.

“Maybe the two of us should just get in a room together [and play],” he said in an interview with The Age, Judd’s hometown newspaper.

“I don’t know if that’s possible because so much has been lost. Still, I think it would be a fascinating prospect. But who knows? We’ll see what happens.”

Not interested, says Judd.

“They’re all business and all money.

I don’t think they’re particularly interesting musically; they’re not progressive.

I’ve only got time for people who try to be original and do something different.”

Besides, he says, he and Tim “were never great friends”.

Judd’s situation only seems to have intensified his resentment of his former bandmates.

He is still bitter about his treatment over the years: not being invited on stage at a hall of fame induction (”Totally disrespectful”) ..

.. nor to play at a 2006 reunion:..

.. “I would have declined anyway.

But you’ve got to remember, I’ve got family.

It was kind of humiliating, like, `How come you’re not invited?”‘

Regular recipients of his emails describe him as being obsessed with the Finns; many of his missives end with some slur on the brothers.

The more success they enjoy, the more bitter and darkhearted Judd becomes.

He says: ‘I could open my mouth and tell you things about the other Enz that would make [my situation] pale into insignificance.’…”

go to source/story>>Phil Judd: Fallen idol | Stuff.co.nz

“..Sid Bernstein orchestrated the British Invasion of America by getting bands such as the Beatles, Stones and Kinks to tour.

He also gave the world large-scale outdoor rock concerts back in the 60s.

These days, the 91-year-old is broke - but happy.

That’s according to director Jason Ressler, who has been working with Bernstein on and off over the past 10 years during the making of his documentary, Sid Bernstein Presents … , about the concert promoter and music man’s life.

“I last saw him a couple of months ago,” says Ressler, who is in Auckland for the Documentary Edge Festival which starts today, “and he’s still promoting, he’s still going out every night and getting home at 2am, and he has no idea of his age.

But when we were filming him he was being kicked out of his apartment and he has no money.

But he’s always okay. That’s his personality. Nothing bothers him.”

And no, Bernstein has never been a drinker or into drugs so he hasn’t wasted his money away.

But his music-loving lifestyle came at a cost.

While Bernstein is stubborn, says Ressler, he is also “the most gentle guy you would ever meet.

“So his family suffered from not having the money they should’ve had because he wouldn’t be harsh with people ..

.. and he wouldn’t deal with the bottom line.

His son Dylan described him well: that he’s more of an artist than a businessman.

He’s poetic. He’s a dreamer.

If Sid stands for anything, he stands for the artists.”

As well as putting on the first big outdoor rock concerts - most famously the Beatles’ 1965 show at Shea Stadium where more than 55,000 fans watched, cried, and screamed as the Fab Four opened their North American tour -

- Bernstein also helped kick down racial barriers in music.

He helped the likes of Ray Charles and James Brown (the doco features the last interview with Brown before he died in 2006)..

.. into mainstream venues that were off limits to black performers..”

go to source/story>>Bernstein at 91: Broke and partying until 2am - Entertainment - NZ Herald News

“.. A new book highlights how progressive media has achieved more influence than ever before.

But there’s still work to be done.

While the journalistic establishment, and even progressives like Bob McChesney and John Nichols wring their hands over the demise of advertising-driven corporate journalism ..

.. activists and journalists Tracy Van Slyke and Jessica Clark have chosen to tell a different, more positive story about the future of media in America.

In their book Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (New Press), the authors take us on a celebratory journey through the relatively recent (over the past eight years) surge of independent, progressive media.

The conclusion they reach is undeniable: by every measure, what we know as the progressive media and the netroots, “reaches far larger audiences — millions of people every day — and is decidedly more influential than ever before.”

In the old days, it was considered a big success when a progressive magazine had 200,000 monthly subscribers.

But today, there are a dozen or more blogs, magazines and online news sites that have enjoyed more than a million unique readers in a month..”

go to source/story>>Is the Future Bright for Progressive Media? | | AlterNet

“..The media studies lecturer who set up the popular Save Radio New Zealand campaign has a little experience in commercial radio.

In 2002 Jake Quinn worked for six months at radio station Central FM in Waipukurau, Central Hawke’s Bay.

“But it was not my cup of tea,” said Quinn, nowadays a lecturer at Auckland University.

Quinn studied politics and communications at university.

He worked in Parliament as a press secretary for Labour Party ministers.

He says that from 2006 to 2008 he worked with Michael Cullen, Judith Tizard and Steve Chadwick.

He had an internship in Chris Carter’s office and Chadwick’s.

Quinn is a passionate supporter of public radio and the campaign has revealed a groundswell of support for an advertising-free RNZ.

But like many of the supporters for the Facebook campaign - and others criticising Government calls for RNZ to look at new ways to meet budgets -

- he does not see the previous Labour governments as culpable in RNZ’s default status - in a cash crisis.

At midday yesterday, the Facebook campaign had 14,500 signed up to the proposition: “The Government appears hell-bent on driving Radio NZ into the ground.”

The campaign says: “This simply cannot be allowed to happen. Radio NZ is the last true provider of public service broadcasting in NZ.”

go to source/story>>Media: Facebook to the rescue of public radio - Business - NZ Herald News

“..Anyone caught breaching copyright by downloading films and music from the internet will face large penalties and could even be disconnected by their internet service under new legislation.

A three-strikes system will hand out formal warnings to offenders, and further illegal downloads could prompt copyright owners to apply for up to $15,000 compensation from the user.

The copyright owner could also ask the relevant internet service provider to cut off the customer’s internet connection for up to six months.

The ban could happen only after a copyright owner, such as a media company, applies for a district court order for the internet service provider to suspend the user’s internet access..”

go to source/story>>$15,000 penalty for web downloads - National - NZ Herald News

“..For anyone who’s paying attention, this New York Times article might contain the single biggest piece of vegan news this decade:..

.. vegan advocate Ellen DeGeneres is poised to become the next queen of daytime TV.

We’ve already seen here, here, here, and here what Ellen can do with her platform.

And, while Oprah was willing to go vegan for 21 days ..

.. Ellen seems to have made a lifetime commitment..”

go to source/story>>Vegan Ellen DeGeneres Poised to Become Next Queen of Daytime TV

“..WI-FI as we know it is reaching the limits of its usefulness.

It just can’t keep up with our appetite for services, such as new video formats, that gobble up bandwidth.

So what’s next in the world of blisteringly fast home-based wireless technologies?

For clues to where Wi-Fi is going, it helps to delve into the soup of standards that will shape the future of wireless communications.

To date, most Wi-Fi hotspots use one of three connectivity standards, 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g - the current favourite. Wi-Fi devices connect to the internet over the radio waves in bands around the 2.4 gigahertz and 5 GHz frequencies, as defined by the international standards body, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Last year, the IEEE agreed the specification for a new Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n, which operates in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands (see table).

This standard is theoretically capable of transmitting data at 300 megabits per second - up from 802.11g’s paltry 54 Mbps.

The new Wi-Fi standard should make streaming high-definition video a less jerky experience than it has been so far.

And further changes may take speeds up to 600 Mbps.

Even so, based on past experience, additional bandwidth will soon get eaten up by data-hungry services, so what are the prospects for even faster wireless transmission?

One method being considered is to transmit data in a different band of frequencies - generally speaking, the higher the frequency, the more data can be shifted.

Several consortiums are already building systems which can operate around the 60 GHz band, including the IEEE’s proposed 802.11ad standard.

In mid-2009, the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), a consortium of technology companies including Microsoft and Intel, published its specification for 60 GHz wireless communication technology.

Ali Sadri, president of WiGig, says that its protocol will support data transmission rates up to 7 Gbps.

At that speed, you could download the equivalent of a Blu-ray disc onto your laptop in seconds..”

go to source/story>>Wireless speed freaks set to leave Wi-Fi standing - 24 February 2010 - New Scientist

“..Documents from talks on a secret global copyright deal have leaked online, various sources are reporting.

The documents discussed are said to confirm that internet service providers could be compelled to constantly sift through their customers’ data looking for copyright transgressions.

The European Union’s data protection chief has said that such requirements could curtail individuals’ civil liberties.

It’s the latest twist in the tale of ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement ..

.. which has been swiftly and secretly negotiated by the 27 nations of the European Union, the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Jordan, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates..”

The leak, detailed by PC World magazine, covers ACTA’s “enforcement procedures in the digital environment”.

The draft being circulated says that ISPs operating in nations that have signed up to ACTA would be forced to operate “automatic technical processes” to detect copyright-infringing activities.

Translated, that means they must examine data transferred by their customers for signs of copyrighted material, using the kind of deep packet inspection technology more typical of security services.

ISPs told New Scientist in December that such technology will not only slow downloads, but puts in place technology that could be used for snooping and censorship.

The leaked draft being circulated also says that those who ignore two warnings about infringing may have their internet connections severed by the state under a “three strikes” rule..”

go to source/story>>Global treaty may make your ISP spy on you - Short Sharp Science - New Scientist

“..All Television NZ programmes will be up for constant review as the state broadcaster faces tighter budgets and falling advertising revenue.

Figures released yesterday show TVNZ’s profit halved to $8.9 million in the six months to December ..

.. compared with the $18.3 million of the previous year. Total operating revenue fell 16.6 per cent to $186.9 million.

Revenue from advertising was $152 million, a fall of $22 million or 12.7 per cent on the previous year.

Chief executive Rick Ellis said TVNZ was likely to record a loss by the end of the financial year in June, as most advertising revenue came from the Christmas period.

Spokeswoman Megan Richards said: “Everything is under review in these circumstances. It has to be.”

A review will likely spark intense interest from within as to whether the station goes ahead with a new Paul Henry show.

It is keen to use the polarising Breakfast show co-host ..

.. and producers say TV One needs something for the 5.30pm timeslot to compete with TV3’s Home and Away in the run-up to One News.

The station has already axed or suspended a number of flagship shows in an effort to save money, including Dancing with the Stars, Mitre 10 Dream Home and Wheel of Fortune.

It also sold the rights to this year’s Commonwealth Games..”

go to source/story>>Axe hovers over shows as TVNZ finances take hit - National - NZ Herald News

“..Listening to Finance Minister Bill English on TVNZ’s Q and A current affairs show on Sunday, he seemed to be accusing Radio New Zealand of planning a ritual self-mutilation of its extremities ..

.. solely to cause embarrassment to the Government.

“What you saw last week was a bit old-style civil service politics where they wheel out something unacceptable and try and get pressure back on members of Parliament. I was pretty disappointed,” said Mr English.

His remarks followed the Radio New Zealand board’s declaration that if the Government carried out its threat to freeze or cut its funding..

.. the public broadcasters would have to consider such options as vacating its Auckland building, finding sponsorship for classical Concert FM, killing night broadcasts ..

.. and reverting to AM frequency broadcasting for most of the country - Auckland excepted.

But, given the ultimatum the RNZ board received .. what did Mr English expect it to come up with?

Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman had told state radio that, like all government-funded organisations, its grant was to be frozen for up to five years.

TVNZ’s ONE News reported Dr Coleman’s warning board members to come up with a plan for this sinking-funds policy, or be replaced with more malleable substitutes.

If anything was “unacceptable” and “disappointing” it was this bullying.

Not that Mr English saw it that way.

He told Q and A his advice to Radio NZ, and to the Department of Conservation, which has a similar battle with the Finance Minister’s razor gang, ..

.. “is they can’t wait this out, they’re capable of being creative and flexible and providing better value for money and if they focused a bit more on the services and a little less on the politics, I’m sure they’d get ahead”.

The cheap shot about poor service was badly timed.

Last year, Radio New Zealand National was named New Zealand’s best radio station in the NZ Radio Awards ..

.. the first time a non-commercial public service broadcaster has won the industry’s top award.

It won a raft of other prizes, from best coverage of a news event - the 2008 USA election, through to winner of the best broadcast recording for “Salmonella Dub/New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Live at Aotea Centre.”

As for providing value for money, a KPMG review of RNZ funding in 2007 said the broadcaster was already on stale bread rations, was understaffed ..

.. and needed more than $10 million extra in annual income..”

go to source/story>>Brian Rudman: English strangles our cultural airwaves - Opinion - NZ Herald News

“..Yes, it’s called “The Ricky Gervais Show,” but the real star is that guy, Karl Pilkington.

Billed as “a series of pointless conversations,” the show mostly features the animated faces of Gervais, Merchant and Pilkington talking into microphones.

Occasionally, as the three hosts discuss monkeys flying to the moon or history or Pilkington’s strange stories, those things are animated, too.

“And you’re thinking, well, why are we doing a podcast?” asks Gervais during the first episode.

“It’s because I’d like to be in a room with Karl Pilkington.

You know how people go and help chimps? Karl Pilkington is an ongoing experiment for me, because I’ve seen him sort of blossom from an idiot to an imbecile.”

The madness always begins with a classic That Guy statement from Pilkington.

For example: “We’re in that era where we’ve invented most of the stuff we need, and now we’re just messing about.”

What about airplanes, says Gervais.

“Yeah, but, is that a good thing, planes and that?” Pilkington replies.

“Do you need a plane, really?”

Planes only allow you to fly to places that you need an injection just to visit, he explains.

What’s the use of that?

He wants to know.

If we’re going to invent something, he says, we should invent a way that people could live to the age of 78, die, and when they die, there’s a little baby inside to take their place. Um, right.

In another episode, Gervais brings up Benjamin Franklin, and the fact that he coined the phrase “Waste not, want not.”

Pilkington doesn’t know who Franklin is, and when Gervais tells him and explains the meaning of that phrase, Pilkington replies..

.. “So, he was a bit of a hoarder, then.”

While countless sensitive readers will probably leap to the conclusion that this is yet another British comedy with a hopelessly abusive slant and a disastrously unkind central goal of shaming Pilkington over his lack of intelligence, think again, friends.

Pilkington rather enjoys the hullabaloo and also, he’s as dismissive of what other people think of him as he is of facts and science and history.

You cannot hurt this man with words, because he doesn’t believe anything you say.

In other words, Karl Pilkington is a hero to confused but outspoken amateur theorists — and all dumb people, for that matter — everywhere!

Take the conversation in which Merchant and Gervais discover that Pilkington believes that humans and dinosaurs were “knocking about” at the same time:

Merchant: You know that “The Flintstones” is only partly based on fact?

Dinosaurs and man did not coexist.

Dinosaurs had long gone before man arrived.

Extinct, kaput.

What, you don’t believe us?

Pilkington: Why couldn’t that have happened?

But why weren’t there dinosaurs back then just like we have dogs now?

Gervais: He’s watching “The Flintstones.”

Pilkington: I just think that there must’ve been a crossover point.

Gervais: Exactly.

Why didn’t Hitler meet Nero?

There’s must’ve been … they must’ve met somewhere!..”

go to source/story>>- Salon.com

“.. Olympics advertising is an orgy of sugar and empty calories .. thanks to the athletes who shill fast food for cash.

Maybe you thought that junk food and soft drinks would take a hike during the Olympics, the world’s largest celebration of bodies at the peak of health and fitness.

But if you thought that, you’d be wrong.

McDonald’s and Coca Cola are almost as ubiquitous as the five rings up here in Vancouver.

We’re drowning in evidence of the detrimental effects of soft drinks, and being crushed under the weight of research about the consequences of junk food.

Yet these Olympics seem to be setting records for the number of billboards and TV commercials selling sugar-filled and empty calorie food and drink.

And also for the number of athletes shilling them, and even equating them with national pride.

If you believe what you see and hear, you’d think junk food and soft drinks are the stuff Olympic and other dreams are made of.

In one McDonald’s TV commercial, played dozens of times, for example, snowboarder Brad Martin says he “gives into temptation” to eat French fries every chance he gets.

To him, that’s a “golden moment.”

Martin is sponsored by McDonald’s..”

go to source/story>>The Olympics and Its Stars Pimp for Junk Food | | AlterNet

“..Learning an instrument enhances the brain’s sensitivity to all sounds, including speech, say researchers

Parents may not appreciate the screeching of violins and recorders during the hours of practice, but new evidence suggests music lessons help children improve their language skills.

Scientists have discovered that playing an instrument significantly enhances the brain’s sensitivity to speech.

Schools which fail to make music a core subject are making a mistake, because it has advantages for the growing brain and would help all children, including those with dyslexia and autism, neuroscientist Professor Nina Kraus said yesterday.

“Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice,” she told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego, California.

“Cash-strapped school districts are making a mistake when they cut music from the curriculum,” she warned.

Professor Kraus’s team at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, have shown that the nervous system responds to the acoustic properties of speech and music with sub-millisecond precision.

The effectiveness with which the nervous system interprets sound patterns is linked to musical ability..”

go to source/story>>Music has the power to shape a child’s mind - Science, News - The Independent

(this is a book promo…but it sounds good..)

“..Created by a Parsons design graduate who’s obsessed with navigating the intersection of art and technology ..

.. here are 62 ingenious projects that are irresistibly geek-chic.

An iMac Terrarium—how cool is that?

A laptop Digital Photo Frame.

The impressively green Scanner Compost Bin.

Plus a power strip Bird Feeder, Walkman Soap Dish, My First Squiggle Bot, Qwerty Hair Tie..abd..

.. Flat-screen Ant Farm..”

(heh..!..ya gotta love that ..!..eh..?..)

go to source/story>>62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer: Main Description: $14.95: Workman Publishing