I've been meaning to post something about Maori TV for a while but last night's line-up has impelled me to finally say something. I tuned into a program on Tapu last night and couldn't move away from it. I thought I knew something about the subject and realised, by the end, that I knew sweet FA.

Then there was a great doco about the Sisters of Compassion, founded in Jerusalem on the Whanganui River, and returning on pilgrimage. What can I say except I was captured for the night. It was great New Zealand television.

On other occasions there have been pig hunting shows and old films and international films that have unexpectedly drawn my attention. It's well worth a look though sometimes the newspaper listings can be less than informative - with the program names written in Maori. There is much more info online here.

Radio Birdman flitted through Auckland last night with a gig at the King's Arms on their way to the US. On a whim, I went along. And found them worthy.

Retreads the Psychedlic Furs passed through New Zealand a month of so ago and the Buzzcocks are coming. Right in the middle we have these mid-70s Aussie icons. For those who haven't heard of them, Birdman are one of a small group of bands who can really be said to have anticipated something new, something that would come to be characterised as punk.

In my mind, they are up there with The New York Dolls, Dr Feelgood, The Saints, The Ramones and Graham Parker and the Rumour. Judging from the crowd, of very mixed age unlike at the recent Furs concert, others must agree with me.

These pre-punk punks do not cringe at being musicians - they can play. Last night they rolled out some great riffs, harmonies and melodies beneath all the thunder and noise.

Heavily inspired by The Stooges, Birdman developed their own anthemic sound and wrote some great, great rock songs. Last night they showed nothing had been lost. They were loud, dangerously loud, and extremely tight.

Asked to come back twice at the end they covered all the old bases with Descent into the Maelstrom, Hand of Law and the surreal Man With Golden Helmet (Drinks Water from the Faucet) as well as, I guess, some stuff off their new album. A very good night.

Okay, breathless homies, we have our usual bunch of hot links coming right up. But first, don't forget to vote.

As we were talking about great first lines last week, here's The Guardian's John Sutherland "pondering the enigma of beginnings". It's Call me Ishmael vs Call me, Ishmael.

Mark likes the four word film review. Like you know for Snakes on a Plane: "Boeing constrictors". He also points to Christopher Hitchens on the hypocrisy of Günter Grass:

For all this, one was never able to suppress the slight feeling that the author of The Tin Drum was something of a bigmouth and a fraud, and also something of a hypocrite. He was one of those whom Gore Vidal might have had in mind when he referred to the high horse, always tethered conveniently nearby...

And this on the dreaded baby boomers. Hey, man, talking 'bout my generation.

Chris reckons it's hardly suprising the second most popular blog in the UK is the sex diary ‘Girl With a One Track Mind’ written by Zoë Margolis under the pseudonym Abby Lee, according to HitWise's Top 10 category covering "blogs created by an individual".

What's next for the stars of the very good comedy Peep Show, screened in New Zealand on Prime? Find out here.

Anyone who cares about Britain, “or indeed about the survival of Judeo-Christian civilisation”, should read Melanie Phillips’s brave and disturbing book Londonistan, claims Daniel Johnson in this piece in Commentary, "America's premier monthly magazine of opinion".

From lil ol me, while some rail at the New York Times' liberal bent, could there be a closet conservative calling the shots? And as the November Congressional Elections loom, the fighting Democrats emerge.

Ciao.

This just in from Stephen: Polar bear genitals are shrinking. It's George Bush's fault.

The cricket ball-tampering furore goes on with news umpire Darrell Hair sought a $500k golden handshake. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but the way the news was released could lead you to believe Hair could be about to carry the can for this incident.

Cactus Kate can be relied on to come up with the most offbeat views on a lot of things. She comments on the state of the Pakistan team's fingernails:

One thing I noticed about EVERY Pakistani and Indian cricketer of that time – they sported the longest fingernails of any racial grouping of men I had ever seen in my life. Legendary spin bowler, Abdul Qadir could barely sign his name such was the impediment. Girls notice these things. Some had a selection of nails beautifully manicured to obviously optimal length for cutting up leather cricket balls. The other nails were cut to normal length.

Of course the Poms have not been immune to a bit of ball-tampering themselves.

Me? Forget hair and nails - this is all about balls. Why has it taken so long for us to see the fricken ball and the supposed damage caused by the alleged tampering?

The Herald this morning has done some more good work on the Taito Field scandal, uncovering seemingly conflicting statements by the Fields about Sunan Siriwan's employment in Samoa.

Of all the issues this government has faced, this is the one that has really set me wondering. Not only has it not been investigated properly, despite the best efforts of the Ingram enquiry, but everything about the episode should offend, perhaps especially offend, the most traditional of Labour's supporters.

And watch TVNZ's Sunday for more revelations.

Several new theories have emerged about the kidnappers of Olaf Wiig today. One is that the Holy Jihad Brigades is a splinter of Yasser Arafat's Fatah Movement and, despite their demands, the kidnapping is about internal Palestinian politics - specifically about discrediting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Another, from analysis of yesterday's video, is that they are actually connected to Al Qaeda and the kidnapping is unlike others carried out in the territories.

Another is that the kidnappers are just unemployed and looking for a job in security. Kidnapping in lieu of a CV, as it where.

Should the Boobs on Bikes parade be allowed in Auckland next year?
	Sure. I like boobies
	No way! It's disgraceful
	Don't care. Not really into boobies
	Sure, but bring them to Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin as well!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

I've always been a sucker for a great opening line in a story and came across a beauty this weekend. It's from a story called "Until Gwen" by Dennis Lehane in Best American Short Stories 2005. Here goes:

Your father picks you up from prison in a stolen Dodge Neon, with an 8-ball of coke in the glove compartment and a hooker named Mandy in the back seat.

How can you not read on? If any of yous fullahs out there have one you like, or want to make one up, share it in the comments.

Anyway, speaking of things literary, the Telegraph has an interview with the prolific Peter Ackroyd - biographer, novelist, historical writer extraordinaire who insists he's "not one of those people who have ideas."

Chris offers this on Rembrandt, via Arts & Letters Daily. who accepted so many commissions and worked so fast that his paintings looked "as if the paint had been smeared on with a trowel".
"They" (literary critics, that is) call her "a pioneer of New Journalism in the Sixties". If you’re not sure what's she's written, read this for a potted history of Joan Didion.

Most right-minded people hate what's going on Lebanon, but the Bats in Space blog (although typographically not pretty), is worth a look for its stand against anti-Semitism. And more on the Florida English student being harassed by police for publishing what was clearly a work of fiction on LiveJournal (via Boing Boing).

Mark has more good news on coffee, and for its devoted drinkers. And, as MTV kicks off in NZ, here's some things it can do for us all including giving everyone ADD:

"The MTV style" of quick cuts and whipsaw cameras—known among veteran film editors as “frame-fucking”—is now the de facto visual language ofAmerican culture, from Michael Bay summer blockbusters to commercials for Sunny Delight.

From me again, Indonesia is starting to face up to the reality of its invasion and occupation of East Timor, thanks to an insider's account from former foreign minister Ali Alatas. And, finally, Cheezy makes some interesting connections between Albert Camus, George Bush and The Cure?!?

Ciao.

I have a vague memory of someone online referring to me as a "Constitutional absolutist" - I think it might have been Gordon King. If so he was absolutely right.

So yes, I'm cheering the latest news out of the US overturning yet another ill-thought program threatening that great document. A federal judge, in what will no doubt be but the first round of a very long case, has ruled the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program is illegal and unconstitutional. The judge notes:

The Government appears to argue here that, pursuant to the penumbra of Constitutional language in Article II, and particularly because the President is designated Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, he has been granted the inherent power to violate not only the laws of the Congress but the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution, itself.

We must first note that the Office of the Chief Executive has itself been created, with its powers, by the Constitution. There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all "inherent powers" must derive from that Constitution.

It's a victory for freedom and for the free press with kudos once again going to The New York Times, which had the courage to run with the story. So it looks as if charges of treason against the paper's editors and journalists, advocated by some wingers, will have to wait.

The "unconstitutional" part of the verdict also makes it extremely difficult for Congress to now pass enabling legislation to legalise the program, as others predicted.

In January, AL over at Sir Humphrey's followed Michelle Malkin in making some play of a connection between bulk purchases of cellphones by people of "middle eastern appearance" and the New York Times story on warrantless domestic surveillance.

Turns out there's nothing in it. (Hat Tip BoingBoing).

Alert readers may have noticed the odd copyright question coming up in our ‘Five minutes with...’ interviews.

They may also have spotted a vague interest among the NZBC board in economic issues.

Because we are writers and editors and photographers, we are interested in understanding how to best protect individuals’ intellectual creations in a world that can instantly duplicate them. And what constitutes “fair use” and what “a big fat rip-off”.

So we spent a few online moments with a Uni of Canterbury Uni academic who specialises in the economics of copyright. Great that someone does.

There are some quite extraordinary things happening across the ditch. Despite the Libs winning control of the Senate last year, in the space of two days they have had to:

a) Abandon planned asylum seeker legislation under threat of it failing in the Senate

b) Allow a conscience vote on embryonic stem cell research; and

c) Agree that David Hicks be returned home if the US continues to fail to give him his unfair day in court

I guess on the last count John Howard and his Attorney-General are, as I was dubbed for pointing out the same thing, "traitors to the west".

It's unusual to pick up good web tips from TV, or the mainstream media in general. Word spreads so quickly online you've usually already been there by the time the media starts talking about it. But this week I've got two items as seen on TV.

First there is Lovelock's dream run. It's the seventieth anniversary of Jack Lovelock's Berlin Gold and TVNZ's Sunday program has posted the original film of the 1500 metres dubbed with Harold Abrahams' (Chariots of Fire guy) amazing BBC commentary. They had an item on it last night and all the time I was going: "Show the film! Show the film!" but they've gone one better and posted it.

Secondly, via Seven's Today show on Prime we have the blog of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here, story here.

Stephen sends Falafal man John Birmingham looking for the left's Mark Steyn, and the latest drug sensation down on da street. I've tried it and it's very good indeed.

From Chris we have the Times on New Zealand's dark secret, which he finds a curious article. "And now there is another painful truth to confront", it reckons. The Observer Music Monthly sent comedian Russell Brand for an audience with Rolling Stone Keith Richards.

Via Arts & Letters, the San Francisco Chronicle says the differences between women's and men's brains are very real, "and the sooner we all understand it the better".

Mark sends this on the foreign influences on US and British Middle East policy. He also finds the years have not been kind to The Goodies.

And, yes, we are all very excited about Scarlett being in town - if she'd only lose that no-hoper guy she's hanging around with.

Ciao

Aren't we all Gen Y now? Or to put it in a different way, can we now finally dump these Gen X, Y, Z labels for being a load of old stripey pants?

I only say this because I came across this incredibly complicated table on Wikipedia, which notes 31 generations since 1700. If that's not the best example of revisionist history urged on us by shiny-eyed marketers, then I'd encourage you to tell me what is.

This July story from Stuff talks about youngsters who "come in, think they know it all, want a promotion and leave six months later because they got a little bored.

"They are gadget-obsessed and great on paper, but lack basic life skills. A job application might be a two-line e-mail written in text shorthand."

Well, to those of us theoretically from Gen X or, were we Americans, the Consciousness Revolution generation, or from the Boomers who still do much of the hiring, these people sound like hopeless wastrals not worth spending time talking to.

Or just young people. Like we all were.

But, the article goes on to suggest, bosses are better off reshaping their business practices to take advantage of the Ys. They will be the majority of candidates in coming years. Something between 30 percent and 70 percent of business costs are the people. And if they are all you've got, you'd better start sucking up to them. "Hey old guy. Get me a latte, can you?"

Ever had the overwhelming urge to ring up Oki’s call centre and tell them you’re having a problem with the print quality from one of their printers (even though you don’t own one), just so when they ask you what’s up you can say, “It’s the colour of business”...?

News this morning of what seems to be another case of journalists faking their stories, this time an interview with Bill Gates. Following on the faked Reuters photo the other day, you really have to wonder whether these incidents are a sign of a recent lowering of media standards or whether fakes have always been with us and are just being uncovered more often by bloggers and other watchdogs.

I found this the other day cataloguing famous photographic fakes, including allegations about the death of a Spanish Civil War soldier by Robert Capa and the raising of the US flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal (both still disputed, see full stories in link above). The allegations here weren't digital manipulation but that the pictures were posed.

Ethics are a funny thing. W. Eugene Smith is my favourite documentary photographer who had notably high standards, even refusing to use flash unless absolutely necessary. When he took this photograph of a Spanish funeral he reputedly replaced a candle with a bare flash bulb so the lighting would be exactly the same as he found only bright enough for a shot. Yet even he says he would pose a picture "if it was absolutely essential to the truth of the story." From there you go into some very deep waters indeed about the nature of truth.

If shooting on film could be so problematical, digital photography really asks some questions about what is a real, truthful, ethical and fair news photograph. The barrier between digital processing and manipulation is very narrow.

The word "honesty" comes to mind here. In the first instance it is important for media people to be honest about where stories and pictures come from and how they were obtained.

In the end these recent incidents, including some here, are a wake up call to media people to lift their games and to already stressed editors and subs to be even more vigilant and questioning. If something is too good to be true (like running into Bill Gates on a plane) then it may not be. In some cases it may require publishers to pay a lot more than lip service to issues of ethics and standards.

Update 22/8: Joe Rosenthal, who took the above Iwo Jima photograph, has died. His story and that of his famous picture is here. I like the guy's humility:

Yet he never saw himself as a great photographer, but liked to call himself "a guy who was up in the big leagues for a cup of coffee at one time".

At the NZ Society of Authors Legal Advisory Committee lunch last week at the Mai Thai, between the satay and the Gai Pad Med Mamuang, our guest, a distinguished QC from Christchurch, observed of one who shall remain nameless that he was “funnier than Mike King”. A silence fell as Kevin, Graeme and I admired this example of damning with faint praise.

Is it the best possible damning with faint praise, though? Is it really a world-beater? Mark and I have come up with:

overheard about a homemade cupcake: “It tastes just like a bought one.”
of The Vintner’s Luck: “The best novel about a gay angel.”
more coherent than Mike Moore
shyer than Charlotte Dawson
not as irritating as Jason Gunn

Then we got stuck. So it’s time for another NZBC competition – who can supply the best example to knock our Christchurch QC off his precarious perch? No prize, just the usual smug feeling of being cleverer than the rest of us.

Does booze make you say things that you don't really believe? No and yes, scientists suggest.

Mel Gibson may not "fully believe" that Jews have caused all the wars in the world, but it was a view waiting to come out when his defences were down. He may, however, think they've played a rather provocative role in the current Iz/Hiz conflict.

Alcohol suppresses the prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum regions of the brain, said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who declined to comment specifically on the Gibson case.

The cerebellum governs motor coordination, which explains the drunk’s weaving walk and iffy driving skills. The prefrontal cortex “is normally making an assessment of the appropriateness of your acts,” she said, modulating desires and urges. After a couple of drinks, Dr. Volkow said, suppressing such impulses becomes much harder.

“Alcohol brings you back into adolescence and childhood,” she said, the time before the prefrontal cortex is fully developed.

This leads to a condition that researchers call the “alcohol myopia effect,” in which someone who has had too much to drink reacts to immediate cues without regard to consequences or the broader social context.

Those of us who drink - 80-something percent, I read at the weekend - have all said something we regret that we really don't mean. Sometimes, of course, it's an excuse to say something we do mean.

Perhaps more often, as is noted, it's as the Italians say when one misspeaks: “mi è scappato" - “It escaped from me.”

It was the best of times it was the worst of times. It was the end of times.

My man Mark sends this about the origin of the word Armageddon. While it has come to signify "the end of times" or the arrival of catastrophic events. Har-Mageddon originally meant "the mountain of Megiddo" - Megiddo being a site in Israel close to the border with Lebanon.

My man Chris asks whether Terry Gilliam is stuffed? And how did he get hold of £12 million to make a film with corpses, heroin, a talking squirrel, and a bedroom scene between a retarded man and a little girl?

The great man's answer to the question of human survival: Er, I don't know — Hawking's conundrum draws 25,000 responses. BoingBoing: Blogger Josh Wolf was jailed for capturing "vandalism to a police car" in film footage.

Chris also points out Captain Beefheart's house is for sale.

Who is the man behind Hezbollah? And what does he want? His name is Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, and he views himself as the jihadist leader who can finally unite Shia and Sunni. The New Republic provides a profile (subscription required).

From me, just the usual stuff. It's ironic that Iraq was going to be the place where the legacy of Vietnam was finally forgotten and the catalyst for the restoration of US executive power. Instead Iraq looks like the rock that will sink that neocon dream. Rather than troop reductions there have been increases. The military solution may actually be damaging hopes of democracy in the region. And the paleocons want their conservative heritage back.

Hillary and others have called for Rumsfeld's resignation. It is long overdue. More and more he seems disconnected from reality. The administration says Americans should "stay the course" - but what course is that? I said Rummy should go over two years ago and also argued this isn't about who is strongest on terror, it's about who can execute a policy effectively. Rumsfeld cannot. He is hopeless.

Anyway, here Rusty Brown on Lebanon and fellow Public Addresser Tze Ming Mok, in the Sunday Star-Times, cutting up Don, who sounds more and more like Winston Peters each day. And this, via Sir Humprey's, another score for bloggers over the mainstream media - this time a clearly faked picture.

Arm a geddon outa here.

There's an interesting tale of the ABC on the Sydney Morning Herald site this morning. Aussie's national broadcaster has pissed off the Liberal government something huge in recent years. The Libs reckon it's biased. But here Alan Ramsay recounts how Bob Hawke and Paul Keating thought, and said, exactly the same thing.

Now this is what I call a fishing yarn! Man impaled by marlin.

Cuba's economy is on the up, with at least 8% growth in 2005 thanks to a bit of free market reform and some help from Venezuela. They've also found oil, which they plan to exploit with the help of Canadian, Norwegian, Spanish and other non-US companies.

Al-Qaeda are threatening to retake Falluja. Looks to this layman that it's an attempt to stretch an already stretched coalition further.

Oh, and my first was a girl, and so was my second.

It is a closely kept secret but NZBC has a silent, extremely silent, partner called Michael. He is the director of the NZBC World Service, a very busy man indeed.

Anyway, as Michael is so busy, and spared me some of his valualble time for lunch, I thought I'd share some of his unique insights.

Michael insight 1: Michael had a dog called Boris. Boris was an old dog, but Michael's partner at the time introduced a female dog, aka a bitch, into the household. After Boris fathered a litter it was decided he should be dealt to. Michael took Boris to the vet and they discussed the options, well, the option: castration.

"Can't you give him a vasectomy?" asked Michael.

"Nobody's ever asked me that before," said the vet.

Pet vasectomies, people! Looks like Pet Rights is on to it, Michael.

Michael insight 2: (somewaht related to Michael insight 1): Michael reckons there are two kinds of sperm. Fertiliser sperm and KILLER SPERM. As you get older you get less fertiliser and more KILLER, sperm that kill other sperm.

( Good pub story but disputed. The illustrious, but thankfully unillustrated Theory and Practice of Masturbation has a section on sperm warfare, while these killjoys reckon there's nowt in it.)

Michael insight 3: the War on Terror is a Crock of Shit. Why? Because murder is a crime. A terror attack that kills a few people is a murder investigation. A terror attack that kills a lot of people is a bigger murder investigation (unless you have to invade Afghanistan, maybe).

By declaring war on terrorists you simply give them status (and publicity, the oxygen of terrorism) they do not deserve. It's a loser strategy.

Rob insight: One of the great things about the media business is you can go to the pub and talk total crap for 2, 3, 4 hours, then publish it and it's all tax deductible!

End of Michael wisdom. Have a good weekend and watch out for KILLER SPERM (alleged).

Amnesty International is organising a global vigil calling for an immediate and effective ceasefire to the conflict in Israel and Lebanon and to stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors on both sides. On Monday 7 August Amnesty members across the world, including in Israel and in Lebanon, will call for an end to the violence. Amnesty has created a web page to help local groups, activists and members of the public to organise their own vigils. You’ll also find a petition that will be passed out and sent to Condoleeza Rice calling for a ceasefire.

Stephen points out MTV UK will premiere the Virgin Diaries in August, a series of video diaries from teenagers as they prepare to lose their virginity.

The strategy in the Middle East is failing, due to an excessive emphasis on military solutions. So says Tony Blair.

The only way to defeat the "arc of extremism stretching across the Middle East", he said, was to build an "alliance of moderation" that "paints a different future" in which people of all faiths can live together. He added: "We will not win the battle against this global extremism unless we win it at the level of values as much as force and unless we show we are even-handed, fair and just in our application of those values to the world.

Tragically for everyone it takes some people a long time to wake up. More here. This guy made a similar argument yesterday