Posts by Geoff Lealand
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Papamoa has some of the most hideous mansions in NZ. Great,thundering monstrosities with a view of the dunes across the road or, alternatively, their neighbour's bathroom window.
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The biggest failing of many IT graduates is their lack of empathy and understanding of what the people they’re working with are trying to do
I agree. Many IT people are very poor teachers and worse communicators. They are over your shoulder, bashing away at keys and talking techno-talk, whilst you are sitting there, still wondering how to turn the bloody thing on!
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David: Oh,dear. But Cooks Beach is sort of in our neck of the woods so if you are passing through Hammy, do drop by for a cup of tea and piece of cake. We promise no sirens or sundry alarms and only the occasional cat meow. Best to avoid 15-18 April though, as there is considerable din from the V8s and blokes wearing silly hats, roaming around in packs.
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NZ on Screen is an excellent resource that could probably do with a bit more promotion
Well, I guess that is the job for Russell and myself (we are both NZ On Screen Trustees). I am particularly interested in encouraging teachers to make NZOS a core resource in teaching, so I welcome any suggestions or ideas.
A bloody great concert! I wonder if this a growing trend in music, seeing that big live venues is withering somewhat. We have had the Grassroots Festival* cancel with nary a whimper of complaint, and the fundraiser in Auckland for Chch do the same. Too much choice and too little money around, maybe?
* I was tempted to go just to see The Felice Brothers but what has happened to their scheduled King’s Arms event?
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That’s quite an unlikely talent… ;-)
Sorry, that does sound a trifle confused. Two quite unrelated casting decisions.
I have just been reading through the page proofs of the Te Papa Press New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History book, due out in July. It looks wonderful and will most likely be the definitive book on New Zealand film.
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Up Front: Where You From?, in reply to philipmatthews,
Chch on film – the lost city.
Whilst I was at UoC I was recruited to help with filming GPP in Christchurch. I found the bloke who was willing to take out his teeth and eat an pie, and organise a string quartet to play in the Arts Centre. I think those scenes are still in the film. It all happened because I was a friend of the former wife of Roger Donaldson.
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Was that the blue house, Geoff, or the one next door?
Emma: a big, two-storey wooden house and, I think, a very faded blue. There were a great bunch of people living there and it was rather sad when it all fell apart (I set off to do postgrad studies in Ohio). The roof-top water-tank collapsed and water poured over the verandahs and no one did anything about it.
I recall biking across Hagley Park in the foggy early hours, after washing dishes in a poncy restaurant in Bedford Row.
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@ cayco. I have more loyalty for Waikato than I do to the Chiefs. Went to the Blues game Saturday, which wasn’t great due to bloody rain and a bloody pedantic ref.
One notable house I lived in during my years in Christchurch was on the sweeping bend of Carlton Mill Road, which acquired some fame for the ever-changing graffitti on our garage door. The wittier ones often appeared on the front page of The Press.
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An interesting conversation, indeed. I get the feeling that fuzzy notions of 'home' is something very particular to Pakeha folk; Maori would have a much clearer notion of location.
Do you have to have minimum length of residence for a place to qualify as 'home'? I was born and brought up in Taranaki but attachments are now very few, with all whom I used to know there now dead or somewhere else. Nevertheless, I did have a small moment of connection recently when I found a little personal diary in an antique shop in Huapai (en route to Jackie's PA knees-up). It recorded the daily life of a young nanny /governess for a farming family in South Taranaki in 1924. Investigations revealed that she lived in Mokoia, a tiny burg south of Hawera; a place where I had boyhood friends.
I have donated the diary to Pune Ariki in New Plymouth as it is a treasure to be shared. -
@Tony. Me too. Dance music to me was Pump It Up or Tainted Love or reggae before it got humdrum .