Hobbit Politics

I was enchanted with Lord of the Rings when the first film came out in 2001. I saw Fellowship in cinema literally a dozen times, and let's be honest, where do you think I got the idea to move to New Zealand in the first place?

So it's been interesting to live here during the filming and production of The Hobbit and realise just how much political maneuvering goes on in New Zealand's film industry these days - including the Prime Minister signing autographs on the red carpet, because he all but made these movies himself. And won the Rugby World Cup! Read it and weep, Labour.

You can get a sense of the behind-the-scenes lobbying and PR scandals from this political round-up by Bryce Edwards at the New Zealand Herald.

"Hollywood, by and large, swung in behind Barack Obama in the recent US presidential elections," Mr Edwards says. "Our own leader's relationship with the 'dream factory' is somewhat different, involving John Key swinging the Government, its limos, our taxes and even our laws in behind Hollywood."

Sex and Infotainment

Today our journalism tutor Jim Tucker started the class with “Well, we’re famous, maybe for all the wrong reasons” – kicking off an argument that lasted all morning.

He’d just been interviewed by RadioLive’s Marcus Lush over a poll he’d posted to Whitireia’s news website, NewsWire, asking readers “Which politician would you like to go to bed with?”

The poll went viral after conservative blogger David Farrar tweeted the link and posted it to his Facebook page, and soon the comments were flooding in.

Journalist and former ACT MP Deborah Coddington was furious. “I find that so bloody offensive. Is this what this country has come to? The people we vote for are nothing more than something to consider mating with?”

By this morning the sex poll story had only gotten bigger (ha ha) with coverage from RadioLive, Newstalk ZB and the New Zealand Herald.

Jim insisted that the poll was meant to show the superficial nature of political reporting, to get NewsWire some attention and to “have a bit of fun”. Half the class thought the whole thing was hilarious and couldn’t see why anyone was complaining.

Sports vs Science

With all the Rugby World Cup coverage going on at the moment, which I'm more interested in than I thought I'd be, I keep coming back to a point made by physicist Sir Paul Callaghan on Radio New Zealand's "Mediawatch" (at about the 22 minute mark):

You could imagine what would happen if a sports commentator made a mistake about a score, or the track record of a particular player. They'd be deluged with complaints, because they're dealing with an expert audience out there, and sports commentators treat their audience with respect.

And that's why sports commentators are some of the smartest people in the media. They're the ones who have to think on their feet, and they've got to get it right. That's kind of a benchmark. If we could all be as good as sports reporters and commentators, we'd really have a fantastic media.

What he doesn't say explicitly is that we also need an "expert audience" for science - people who are interested in and educated about science issues - which underlines the need for good science education.

Inside the Beltway

Beltway.

The May 14-20 edition of the New Zealand Listener ran a profile piece on Gerry Brownlee, our rather tactless Minister for Economic Development and the man in charge of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA). When questioned about some of the rumours and criticism surrounding his performance so far, Brownlee replied that the media fuss is "Wellington beltway rubbish".

As someone who watches a fair amount of American cable news, my first reaction was "Ha ha, Wellington has a beltway." As someone who lives in Wellington, my second reaction was "Wait, no we don't."

Not so much.

Of course I had to fire up Google Maps and Wikipedia and get to the bottom of this pressing issue. Sure enough, it turns out that “inside the beltway” is often used by Kiwi commentators to describe out-of-touch political squabbling in Wellington, despite the fact that our capital city has nothing similar to Interstate 495 in Washington D.C.

We have the Wellington Inner City Bypass. We have the InterIsland Ferry Terminal. We have the Terrace Tunnel, and numerous other examples of transportation infrastructure. But no beltway.

It’s a bit silly to pretend that New Zealand politics are anywhere near the influence and self-importance of American politics, but it doesn’t bother me too much. I suspect that the phrase is used in that tongue-in-cheek way that Kiwis are so good at – our tiny capital taking the piss out of Big Bad Washington.

It’s certainly much better than pretending that Wellington is Los Angeles. “Wellywood”, you guys? Really?

Writers & Readers

I'll be writing reviews and covering the festival for The Lumière Reader again this year, so I've got a frantic but interesting weekend coming up. 

My main assignments are Paul Gilding, former head of Greenpeace International whom I interviewed last month; Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish from Palestine, whose book I really ought to start reading; and my biggest challenge, Fatima Bhutto from Pakistan, who has some opinions about America's foreign policy that she'd like to discuss. I'll probably try to sit in on a couple of the panel discussions as well. 

One day I'll do stuff like this for a living.

Sometimes you just need a picture of a kitty.

the smallest, originally uploaded by christinelinnell.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) runs a volunteer programme that includes providing foster homes for animals recovering from illness or surgery. They provide all the food and supplies and help the volunteers take care of the animals until they're healthy and ready for adoption.

While I was in Paraparaumu I helped my friends take care of four sick kittens. They all looked pretty miserable when we got them - this little girl had us worried for the first few days - but by the time I moved back to Wellington they were climbing all over the place.

It was hard work but I loved taking care of them. You'd be surprised how fast you get the hang of administering eye drops to a grumpy kitten before she can get her needle-sharp claws into you, and how exciting it is when she finally starts eating on her own. And then, of course, cuddles!

If you've got the time and space to be a foster care provider I would totally recommend it.

Christchurch

I was at a science conference in Auckland when I heard the news. The announcement silenced everyone in the room. It didn't make sense; Christchurch had already been through a major earthquake six months ago. They had been recovering from the scare, learning their lessons and thanking God that damage had been minimal and no-one had been killed. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

The thing I've learned about New Zealand is that all tragedies are local tragedies. This isn't a distant city we only see in the newspaper. We know this place. If we don't have family and friends in Christchurch, then someone close to us does. We've been there; we remember what the streets were like, where we felt the most at home. When something like this happens, it hits all of us.

And so we have this instinct to support each other - open our doors to strangers, share information, be kind to each other - that I haven't felt in quite the same way anywhere else. Help will come from all over the world, but New Zealanders will get through this the way they get through everything: by getting back on their feet and standing together.

On the Kapiti Coast

butterfly kite, originally uploaded by christinelinnell.

I spent Christmas, New Year's and most of January living with friends at their beach house in Paraparaumu. The town is a bit shabby and suburban but the beach is excellent, wide and flat with smooth white sand. I spent my time there going for runs, taking the dog out to chase seagulls and photographing the sunsets.

Beyond the farm and the theme park

Wellington-based physicist Sir Paul Callaghan was recently named New Zealander of the Year. I had the opportunity to interview him about his latest book in April 2009. Originally published on the Futureintech website.

As a boy growing up in Wanganui in the Sixties, Paul Callaghan saw physics everywhere. “It was the age following Sputnik. There was a big emphasis on science. And physics is beautiful – it was always a part of my life. I got up to stuff, basically. I built my first crystal radio set when I was ten or eleven, and I was able to pick up two radio stations. It’s life-changing for any young boy.”

Fifty years later, Dr. Callaghan is one of the leading physicists in New Zealand, author or co-author of three books and over 200 scientific articles, and the founding director of the Wellington-based company Magritek. But while he views scientific innovation as the key for New Zealand’s prosperity, he feels that we’re held back from our full potential by a myth of our own making.

In his latest book, Wool to Weta: Transforming New Zealand’s Culture & Economy, Callaghan makes the case that New Zealand needs to shift from its overreliance on tourism and agriculture, and invest in a new economy based on science, technology, and intellectual property. As he notes in the book’s preface, “David Lange once said, cheekily, that New Zealand’s destiny was to be a theme park, while Australia’s destiny was to be a quarry. This book tells the story of how we must move beyond the farm and the theme park if we are to build sustainable prosperity in New Zealand, protecting our natural environment in the process.”

Paraparaumu Line

Not bad for a fifty-minute commute to work.

An Expat's View of Arizona

Last week in Tucson, Arizona, 22-year-old Jared Laughner opened fire on a crowd of people who had gathered to meet U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in a Safeway parking lot. Fourteen people were injured and six were killed, including a nine-year-old girl. Giffords was shot through the head but survived and is expected to recover.

For an American living in a different country, events like this one are especially difficult. There’s an exhaustion that sinks over me, along with the shock and grief, as headlines of yet another shooting in the United States dominate the local media. I know that my friends and colleagues are going to have questions for me. Because to them, America’s gun culture is not just controversial but incomprehensible, something they can’t get their heads around.

Pohutukawa

New Zealand's Christmas tree, blooming right on schedule.

What Not To Do at a Q&A Session

Last month I attended the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival, and one of the sessions I went to featured Adrian Wooldridge from The Economist (who I interviewed later that day, but that's for a different post). After Mr. Wooldridge finished his talk about American exceptionalism and evangelical religion and the current state of the Republican Party, the moderator opened it up to the audience for questions.

And you know that one guy (or girl, but it's usually a guy) who always seems to get his hands on the microphone at these things, the one who doesn't really want to ask a question as much as he wants to impress everybody with his super awesome rambly argument for five minutes? That Guy?

Yeah, so this time That Guy was an American (go team!) and he stood up and announced to the auditorium, "Well, of course, as you know, we are finally beginning to realise that despite all his soaring rhetoric Obama is just as bad as Bush. With his continuation of the imperialist war in Afghanistan and his use of secret CIA prisons, it's clear that the military-industrial complex has..."

And it was just about here that a perfectly sweet-looking older lady at the back of the room rolled her eyes and yelled, "This isn't a question!" To which half the audience muttered, "Seriously!"

For a moment he stood there chuckling and trying to pull his dignity together, and then, bless his heart, he actually tried to pick up where he left off and ramble on some more. This time everyone slumped in their chairs and groaned out loud, and Mr. Wooldridge started laughing and waving his hands, and the moderator asked if the gentleman could please get to the point already, until That Guy mumbled "So, uh, had you considered that?" and sat back down.

And that is why I love New Zealanders.

Wellington, NZ

by Dinah Hawken

In the world of
possibilities why
am I here?

This view has an island
and half a heavenly
harbour in it

If I'm here to give
an inkling
of it with the sky
so finely featured
by mute explosions
of feathers and flowers
I think I'll settle under them
for no reason

I'll fling open my home
to any type of joke
or blessing, to any
random selection of the changeable
and simultaneously
occurring cavalcade
of supra-worldly
worldly
and under-worldly events

that exhibit here

Kia ora Aotearoa

Today is Waitangi Day. It is also the three-year anniversary of me arriving in New Zealand. I can't describe how much this country is leaving its mark on me. Thanks for everything, Aotearoa.

Official Spokesbird

Okay, name me another country that would take a joke like "shagged by a rare parrot" and embrace it so completely that the FREAKING PRIME MINISTER gets in on it. Hint: You can't.



Rachel Maddow has been all over this story today, so I have to tell you, it's a proud day for all New Zealanders.

More information about Sirocco, our Official Spokesbird for Conservation, can be found at www.spokesbird.com.

Wellington

It's very easy to love Wellington, as long as you don't mind the weather. Personally I think the wind is one of the best things about it, even while I complain mightily along with everyone else. It's a city shaped by wind, by the harbour, and by the hills, and so it's a city full of cheerful sturdy strong-legged people.