What's been happening of late?

Last night Parliament voted 80-40 in favour of Louisa Wall's The Definition of Marriage Amendment Bill. It was expected to pass easily but the margin of victory was something else.

It still has to go through select committee and then another two votes, however I find it hard to imagine it not passing now. If anything I would expect it to pick up more votes as MPs start to think about whether they wish to be on the right side of history or not. So hurray!

In other news the Dowse Art Museum has been coming under a bit of criticism for having a women's only exhibit. Personally I don't see the big problem. The women in the photographs allowed them to be taken, in the understanding men would not see them. Men are not banned from the Dowse itself, rather they are not allowed in one tiny curtained off area. I can't help but wonder if the person complaining to the Human Rights Commission even wants to see the exhibit or is just miffed that he is excluded.

NZ film maker Summer Burstyn made some insensitive and inflammatory comments on Facebook about the death of the three New Zealand soldiers in Afghanistan. Now I don't agree with their presence in Afghanistan and you can quite easily argue that they lost their lives for no reason. But Summer Burstyn is a complete muppet and while some of the responses to her comments were over the top she was never in any real danger.

I have also just come across a fantastic new show. It's called Bored to Death and has all the hallmarks of a comedy classic. It stars Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifinakis and Ted Danson. Schwartzman plays a writer who has recently broken up with his girlfriend and begins to pose as a private detective. I call it a new show, however it has already broadcast three seasons in the states. You can catch it on Soho as reruns or download it for viewing when you want.

Finally, tonight MPs will vote on whether to raise the Alcohol purchase age. Let's hope the common sense from last night flows on and they keep it 18.

Sports Broadcasting Revolution

TVNZ reports:

Sports broadcasting is on the brink of revolution in New Zealand, as the Oceania Football Confederation considers the launch of a new free-to-air TV channel.

This could be absolutely massive for the coverage of football in New Zealand. But it isn't just about football:

It is understood the Oceania plan is for 24-hour broadcasting, including live events, built around football but also encompassing other sports - many of which struggle to meet the financial demands of subscription satellite provider Sky TV.

The financial demands of Sky have been a major problem for many NZ Sporting Organisations. Hockey NZ was reported to have been charged upwards of $100,000 by Sky to broadcast the Champions Trophy earlier this year and anything that opens up the field to more competition is great news.

Gordon Campbell

Gordon Campbell's latest blog post is on "the lack of context (and love of tears) in our news bulletins".

It includes this fantastic summary of the average news bulletin:

The average news bulletin consists of a series of talking heads standing in front of the latest footage of weeping crime victims/storms/plane crashes/war carnage punctuated by the day’s flying cat light relief, some exhaustive coverage of the weather …and a few clips of the latest sporting highlights, the latter presented with a lover’s confidence.

I particularly like the mention of the exhaustive weather coverage. If you are relying on the news for your weather report you are truly living in the 20th century.

He could have also mentioned the ridiculous advert for ASB Bank in the middle of the news which masquerades as financial news.

Additionally I love the fact that the screenshot I found of the news includes the caption "Cat-astrophe"!

Out of touch, maybe just a little bit!

I have just been watching Back Benches on TVNZ 7 (Tboxed). At the end of each show they have a segment called I've been Thinking, where each guest is given thirty seconds to speak on a topic of their choice. The guest from National this week was Tim Macindoe, MP for Hamilton West. I have never met Tim Macindoe or heard anything from him before, but I can now comfortably say he is an idiot. To quote:

I've been thinking that it's time we got on top of our major problem with welfare dependency in this country

We have a number of major problems in this country, welfare dependency is not one of them. I am not stupid enough to argue that there is not a problem with welfare dependency but we need to keep it in perspective. Macindoe also states that we are spending twenty million dollars a day on welfare. I don't know if that figure is correct but the vast majority of it is being spent on people who genuinely need assistance.

Macindoe also wants to put in place the right support structures and the right incentives. The major incentive to get people off welfare is jobs. The lack of high wage jobs in this country is a major problem, it would be nice if Tim focused on that.

More Fantastic TV

Another of the reasons I wanted to get Soho was so I could watch the fifth season of Mad Men which has just launched in the States last week. I don't believe it shows on Soho until the 14th so I have succumbed to temptation and got my hands on an "advanced" copy.

The consensus online seems to be that people were very satisfied with the opening episode but I felt the second was even better (Maybe it is simply because Betty got fat!). It is shaping up to be a fantastic season, the conflict between Pete Campbell and Roger Sterling could be comedy gold.

I finally heard back from TelstraClear about getting Soho set up and it won't be until the 9th of April. Which equates to a week and a half to get one channel added to my package, which really isn't good enough. I am starting to think we might move to MySky as soon as our contract is up

Game of Thrones

Just watched the first episode of season two of Game of Thrones. Bit of a scene setter rather than full of action but still very exciting.

I decided for this season to get Soho. I don't mind pirating stuff but a show of this magnificence deserves to be paid for.

Unfortunately it doesn't start on Soho till the 16th of April and I cannot wait that long, so have downloaded it anyway. HBO will still get the dosh though so it works out I reckon.

Although I ordered Soho last Wednesday and it still isn't going (Despite two follow up phone calls), so maybe they won't.