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  • "Under the sky, under the heaven, there is but one family" - Bruce Lee

    please fan me only
    I don't accept friend requests from people I don't know and it takes more than leaving one or two comments in my guestbook to get to know someone.

    Currently reading : The Zone of the Marvellous - all the fantasies and stories about the mysterious southern lands / antipodes before they were discovered and settled (by Europeans, of course there were already people living there).

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  • John Cleese' letter to America

    Friday, Aug 31, 2007 12:22PM / Standard Entry

    Okay, I got this email yesterday and I thought it was funny, I hope it doesn't offend any American's on this site.  The British make fun of the antipodes too and I don't like Bush.  It is obviously not very recent - NZ is behind the times always (well mostways).....

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA :
    In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

    Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.

    Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

    To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
    1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
    Then look up "aluminium," and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

    2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise."

    3. You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra'; you may elect to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you find you simply can't cope with correct pronunciation.

    4. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels (look up "vocabulary"). Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

    5.There is no such thing as " US English." We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'U and the elimination of "-ize."

    6. You will relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out Task #1 (see above).

    7. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but to be celebrated only in England . It will be called "Come-Uppance Day."

    8. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

    9. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

    10. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

    11. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric immediately and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

    12. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling "gasoline") - roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

    13. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with mayonnaise but with vinegar.

    14. Waiters and waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

    15. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all.
    Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer,"
    And European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager." American brands will be referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

    16. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

    17. You will cease playing American "football." There is only one kind of proper football; you call it "soccer". Those of you brave enough will, in time, will be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body Armour like a bunch of nancies).

    18. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the "World Series" for a game which is not played outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.

    19. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

    20. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due backdated to 1776.

    Thank you for your co-operation.


  • Black Sheep and Red Moons

    Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 4:41PM / Standard Entry

    Got to rent a couple of new release dvds on the weekend to watch with my girl.  We watched Black Sheep and 300.  I'm sure you all know 300, I didn't expect to enjoy it, and it was a bit gory and macho for me, but that said, I did enjoy it ! (David Wenham rocks, as do Spartans with Scottish accents )

    Black Sheep is a NZ black comedy, its supposed to be a comedy horror, but it is not very scary (or I wouldn't have watched it) and the gore (and it is gory) is not very realistic.  It is about genetically modified sheep that develop a taste for meat and the people they eat turn into weresheep.   It was really silly and I really enjoyed it.  I think also I just enjoy watching NZ stories in movies, there is only 4 million NZers, not many of us globally speaking, so we don't get to see alot of our stories, most of our telly and movies is British, American and Australian.  I like watching other peoples stories too, its just nice to see your own sometimes.

    Tonight my daughter is at a JD (Junior Dance), I go and pick her up soon, it will be about the time tonight's lunar eclipse is at its most viewable.  I am looking forward to seeing the moon red, I have never seen it red before.


  • Rape is not just a women's issue...

    Monday, Aug 20, 2007 9:41AM / Standard Entry

    okay, when I signed up to this site, I really didn't want to do the political blog thing, but this myspace bulletin that I received was so good that I have to put it on here and on bebo too. 

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A lot has been said about how to prevent rape.

    Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn't have long hair and women shouldn't wear short skirts. Women shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all.


    instead of that bullshit, how about:

    if a woman is drunk, don't rape her.
    if a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her.
    if a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her.
    if a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her.
    if a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don't rape her.
    if a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her.
    if a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her.
    if a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her.
    if a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her.
    if a woman is in a coma, don't rape her.
    if a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her.
    if a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her.

    if a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her.
    if your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her.
    if your step-daughter is watching tv, don't rape her.
    if you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her.
    if your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not.
    if your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
    if your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and tell the guy he's a rapist.

    tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it's not okay to rape someone.


    don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x.
    don't imply that it's in any way her fault.
    don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl.
    don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.


  • Art for arts sake

    Sunday, Aug 19, 2007 4:05PM / Standard Entry

    I was lurking in the trademe (NZs version of ebay) forums today and came across an interesting plug for a discussion about a sculpture (and for the sculpture itself) that is up for auction now.

    This sculpture is of three police batons that are shaped like penises, one red, one blue and one white.   To understand the premise of this sculpture some knowledge of NZ history and current social and political issues is required.  Just briefly; in 1981 the South African rugby team (The Spring Boks) toured in NZ.  The resulting clashes between anti-aparthied protesters and rugby fans split the nation in two.  Two special police squads, the Blue Squad and the Red Squad were established to deal with the protestors who were trying to stop games.   These specially formed squads were the first NZ police be issued with the long baton which became associated with state power and an abuse of power through its use in violent clashes with anti-apartheid protestors.  Furthermore the baton of the second in command of the Red Squad went up for auction on Trademe in 2005.   It created controversy in NZ and was sold to a South African collector for $20 000 (NZ).  Furthermore, recently in New Zealand there have been several police rape trials, with the baton an alleged modus operandi. 

    I like art, but would I hang a sculpture like this in my living room - not blimmin likely. 

    Do I like this piece as a vehicle for discussion about serious issues facing modern society - yes

    Do I have concern that it may negatively impact and offend those already traumatised by police brutality - yes

    Do I believe in freedom of expression - yes

    Do I believe in the rights of victims not to be exploited for pecunairy gain - yes (in this instance the proceeds will be going to charity).

    Where does all this leave me - totally confused!   I really like art, for it's own sake and for it's ability to provoke discussion and challenge conventional thinking.  Where does the line get drawn, for surely somewhere it must?  Mustn't it?

    (If you wish to see what I am talking about, it can be viewed at http://www.emilmcavoy.com/)


  • A guiding star

    Sunday, Aug 19, 2007 7:49AM / Standard Entry

    In the velvet darkness of the blackest night

    Burning bright, there's a guiding star.

    No matter what or who you are.


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