Papatoetoe is not Compton (NZ Gang Culture)

Yet another shooting in South Auckland. Maybe it has nothing to do with what I have to say but I am going to say it anyway. "Papatoetoe is not Compton"

South Auckland is full of people from a wide variety of respectable backgrounds and rich cultures, including Maori, Tongan, Fijian, Chinese, the list goes on.

But what culture do many people in these areas try to identify with?

Hip Hop "gangstas" from south Central L.A.

Are people so ashamed of their culture that they need to follow and identify with another one based thousands of Kilometres away in a foreign country?

Don't get me wrong, I personally love Hip Hop, I am a huge fan if it and personally think Ice Cube's "it was a good day" might be one of the best Hip Hop singles ever made, but mate, I don't go dressing up like him, might be a bit embarrassing if I did.

I am from Scotland and have my own culture which I am proud of. One day long ago, yes I admit I may have attempted a bit of Americanisation of my own style, cap on backwards, baggy jeans, swagger etc, but that was when I was 13! not 27! and I wont be doing it when I am 35 years old!!!

Its embarrassing and cringe worthy, if you do this...

People are laughing at you.

"Westside" "Fa Fa North!"

New Zealand Needs Fighter Planes !

Current Royal New Zealand Aircraft : Photos >>>

OK here is my rationale. I know this is a touchy subject among Kiwis but yes, I do think New Zealand needs to get its own Fighter Planes for the RNZAF after labour scrapped them a few years ago.

here goes,

EEZ: Exclusive Economic Zone, we need to patrol it and indeed we do, but with Orions and maybe the Hercules, but they are too slow for all the jobs they will be required for. Orions and Herc's are great for incidents where endurance is neccessary, but sometimes high speed is the top priority.

Shipping Accident / Air Accident: If there was a shipping accident, an airliner went down or perhaps a naughty Japanese whaler in our waters and we needed to get MK1 "Eyeball" on it as quick as possible to assess the situation, then the NZ Prime Minister would be quicker to call up the Australian Prime minister and ask (very very nicely) if he doesn't mind getting the RAAF to take a look, because they would get there quicker than we could by scrambling some F111's or F-18's.

Air Support: We have warships, we have a Royal New Zealand Navy, but no air support? Would any NZ leader risk sending a $200 Million Dollar warship into harms way without air cover? Probably not. So whats the point in having a Navy anyway?

Skills: I am sure that most Kiwis would agree that New Zealanders are at the cutting edge of most industries and NZ skills are regarded highly by international standards, however we do not have a single person in NZ who could call themselves a highly skilled modern fighter/fast jet aviator (unless they are a tourist), or support engineer because they have all ran away! to work for other nations.

Insurance: we all have insurance on our cars and houses and that's what a piece of military hardware is, insurance. Full stop. We may never need it, but the fact that it exists says something about our capability to defend our country or simply secure our airspace if we need to do so.

Airshows: An Airshow is not complete without the roar of a fighter jet squadron overhead. Sorry but it just isn't.

Pride: Also what can instill national pride more that seeing our skies screaming with the sound of our very own Defence force doing their stuff?

Pacific Neighbours: if we needed to help a Pacific neighbour with fast Air Support, "well um, Australia, hello can you do it for us please?"

So that's my rationale why I think NZ needs to get fighter planes back into the RNZAF. Perhaps we should ask the UK if we could grab a few Harriers when they flog them off, they would be awesome in NZ, no need for stealth but still formidable in the air and look amazing at Airshows :-P

Current Royal New Zealand Aircraft : Photos >>>

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Die Loud Adverts! DIE!

Yep, No doubt about it, I have been ding some digging and people are pissed off about this issue.

Now maybe I am wrong, but I thought because I own my TV, in my own house that maybe only one person should be in control of the volume on that TV, me!

I don't mind ads, sometimes they are funny, but if I am relaxing in my own castle and suddenly WHAM! "buy a McDonald's Meal NOW!!!!" ad comes on at about 50% higher volume than the programme I was watching, then guess what? I hit the Mute button.

Shooting themselves in the foot they are. As far as i know, ads work best when they are not shoved in your face! they work best when they are subtle and amusing... surely the people who do the research on this must know that?

unless if course, this is just a burden for those of us with sensitive hearing, which I admit I do have...

1. Ads Too Loud!
2. Channel 5 Ads too Loud !
3. BBC too Loud !
4. NZ Herald too Loud !

From the NZ Herald....

[Rick Osborne, chief executive of the Communication Agencies Association, the advertising industry's body, said UK-style guidelines were not warranted at this stage, and any future decision on their introduction should be left up to the Advertising Standards Authority.

TESTING RESULTS

TV ONE: TEN YEARS YOUNGER IN TEN DAYS
Volume - Ads played on average 20 per cent louder than the programme.
Range - Programme loudness ranged over a factor of 1:4.77.
Ad loudness ranged over a factor of 1:2.95.

TV3: CAMPBELL LIVE
Volume - Ads played on average 50 per cent louder than the programme.
Range - Programme loudness ranged over a factor of 1:4.42.
Ad loudness ranged over a factor of 1:1.72.

The range is the "loudness difference" between the background sound level and the maximum loudness of a track. The smaller the range, the louder a track will sound.]

Blog Search this Post I am not ALONE!

Loud Adverts

Hello reader, I don't know what its like in your area but here in NZ the TV companies thinks its cool to ramp up the volume whenever the ads come one.

So basically they are saying,
" if we make the volume on the commercials loud enough to grab attention, people will buy stuff ! "

This kills me, I get my TV to a comfortable level then suddenly BAM! "Its the ads, everyone come quick! the ADS ARE ON!! "

Whatever.

I now mute the TV every time they come on and I refuse to watch them. In fact I will make every effort possible to deliberately boycott the advertisers.

Grumpy I know but, hey what you gonna do?

Muzzerino

Winston is Gone, for now....

I like Winston Peters, but a lot of big wigs obviously don't.

Here he is being slammed by John Key among others for lying to the "public" about party donations when the National Party are just as bad! What about the recent recordings? $50 a week toll on roads, Lets sell Kiwibank!

The media have been blowing it all out of proportion with those National Party scandals and they are doing the same here with Winston Peters in the so called interests of "the public".

Well this member of "the public" doesn't give a crap!

The parties probably all get donations via shady dealings, they are all as bad as each other. What I care about is, policy! and what the hell are the parties going to do for the country?

I support Winston and I am voting NZ First this coming election, I think that this minor issue aside he would make a great Prime Minister, who's with me?

Muzzerino.

More from TVNZ

The Russians are Coming !

C'mon its not as if the West has not gone and recognised independent states of their own, ummm Israel, Kosovo, Panama, the list goes on.

There are numerous reasons why a state could be supported in its autonomy and the Russians are doing just that with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Either for economic benefit, cultural pride or maybe just to flex new Russian muscle to piss people off.

I don't know the history of that region well myself, but it appears quite clever on the Russians behalf to declare recognition of those regions into independent states from Georgia, thereby validating the Russian presence there, presumably under the pretext of keeping Abkhazia and South Ossetia safe from Georgian reprisals. (peacekeepers)
One thing I do know, the Russians don't take any shit. They will be much harder to deal with on this level than any other nation would be and concessions from the west will be almost certain to guarantee any favourable outcome.

Sneaky Clever Ruskies! :-P

Team GB Football Team for 2012

Awesome idea, and why not?

Sir Craig Reedie has backed the idea of an Olympic Football team for Team GB!

“Of course, there should be a British team. The fears of the Scots, the Welsh and the Northern Irish of losing their independence are in my view groundless,” Sir Craig said. “They should simply join a British team. There will be a UK football team. We have the most magnificent football footprint ... better than any other Olympic country.” The Tmes

I dont think that an Olympic UK team will threaten the SFA or Wales and Northern Ireland at all, I mean it only comes around every 4 years!

it would be amazing to see the UK kick some arse in football during the Olympics.

Fingers Crossed!

Proud to be a British Athlete

Chris Hoy has said it,
(quoted from the Scotsman Newspaper )

Speaking in Beijing, Hoy said: "Before there are any discussions of Scotland going it alone at the Olympics, he would have to look at the facilities and the resources that have been put into Scotland in the first place.

"At the moment we don't have an international facility for cycling and we don't have the coaching structures in place. In fact, we don't have anything in place, so the whole idea is ridiculous.

"I wouldn't have three gold medals hanging round my neck if I wasn't part of the British athletic team. I'm a Scottish athlete in a British team, and I'm proud to be a British athlete."

Absolute legend. If Scotland wanted to get its own Olympic team, then with enough money, time and effort then I am sure we could easily do so, but that's not the point.

We can keep dividing nations by culture, dialect, whatever and then 100 years from now we would then have the Scotland Olympic Team dividing up into the "Scottish Gaelic Olympic Team" and the "Geez-yer-wallet-right-noo! Glasgow Olympic Team"

whats the point in continuously separating everything? Unless of course a nation has a genuine gripe about some foreign occupier.

England is as independent as Scotland, less in fact, at least we have 2 votes! they only have 1! We have our own Parliament, England does not. As I keep on saying to other Scots, remember, England surrendered it status as a sovereign nation in 1707 just as we did.

Autonomy within a greater union is a great idea, diversity is also a great idea. Unity is the natural way to go, I think eventually nations will combine in Unions, Federations and Alliances. There are approx 195 countries in the world, is that not enough?

To promote splintering, fracturing, and separatism will only create a world with far more division in it and we all know what that leads to don't we?

All Eyes on London for 2012

So its all up to London now. Its a big city, with plenty of money so theoretically there should be no problems putting on some excellent Olympic games however, one thing will be for sure, money and budgets will not go as far to build what London needs than it did in Beijing.

Minimum wage, costs of materials, stricter regulations and safety standards will all contribute to a bit less glamour and extravagance than Beijing 2008.

Maybe I am being pessimistic, I reckon that London will do a great job, but its going to be extremely hard to top the standard of the stuff we saw at Beijing.

I do think however that similar to China, London and the rest of the UK also have something to prove too.

We need to show the world that we are an awesome place to hold the Olympics, a place of rich history and character with natural beauty a plenty ( although most of that is in Scotland :-P )

Being an expat I often hear the general opinion of the UK as a bunch of fish and chip eating, warm ale swilling grumps all gathered in the local pub keeping dry from the persistent grey skies and rain.

Is this true? I think that we put ourselves down so much ( UK people ) that we don't realise the amazing country we have. As an expat I know what its like to live abroad for a time and it took a while, but eventually I started to appreciate home, even though it is not really home anymore.

The UK has a responsibility to show off at the next Olympic games in 2012 by any means necessary, even if the weather doesn't co-operate, we need to show the world our music, humour, friendliness, pride and culture.

Just as China has the Great Wall, I am sure the sight of Olympic cyclists riding past famous London landmarks such as Big Ben, The Tower of London and Buckingham Palace will also provide a great backdrop.

If for no other reason, we need to remind ourselves just how "Great" Britain is.

Good Luck London, from an Expat Scot living in New Zealand, eating fish and chips and moaning about NZ.

Olympic Closing Ceremony

So its all over and I don't know about you but my interest in the Olympic games has been raised quite a bit over the last 2 weeks.

I never really watched the Sydney or Athens games but I was tuning into Beijing almost every day for these ones. Perhaps it was the controversy of it being held in China but either way I think China did an amazing job!

The Telegraph.co.uk describes as-it-happened last night with the awesome closing ceremony and handover to the UK of the Olympic Flag for London 2012

Scottish Olympic Team

Chris Hoy will carry the Union Jack during the closing Olympic Ceremony! There is simply no better choice than a proud Scot and true Brit.

This photo sums it up for me, Chris Hoy a triple gold medal winner and absolute legend for Scotland and the UK. He competes in Team GB, he is Scottish but lives in England.

I don't know the guy, but I would like to think that he is proud not only to be Scottish, but British as well.

To me this is a perfect example of why Scotland should be proud to be in Team GB, proud to be part of the UK, proud to show that we can shine even if the vast majority of the UK is English.

Scots Rule! No Separatists please...

Beijing Closing Ceremony 2008

I dont know I will get to stay up for it, since the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing happens around Midnight NZ time, Darn!


I am sure they will put on a great show but I really want to see the segment where they hand over the reigns to the UK for London 2012. Apparently the UK BOC gets an 8 Minute slot to plug the 2012 games to the world.

read more at the bbc >

Spaghetti Cat Mystery is Solved

It appears the mystery of the spaghetti cat has been solved.

The "Morning Show with Mike and Juliet" is a programme in the states and they featured the bizarre cut-away during an interview about binge drinking.

When I first heard of this, I thought it was sabotage by some disgruntled technician wanting to get fired. It turns out it was deliberate! I was a blooper picture! Read More >

47 medals!

19 Gold
13 Silver
15 Bronze
= 47 Total.

Australia? lol

Should I Include the Union Jack on my Tattoo ?

I have been pondering this for a while now,
here is my dilemma.

If a Canadian wanted to get a Maple leaf tattoo or a Canadian flag inked onto their arm, they would, and they would probably reap praise and approval from their peers. The same goes for an American, Australian, New Zealander or almost anyone else barring those nations that are in a bit of upheaval regarding their political situations.

But myself, as a Scot I want to get a Tattoo which includes the Scottish Flag, My family shield and the Union Jack. Why? Not because of any religious or political reason. I am not an "Orangeman" and I am not a fan of the Rangers football club. However I have been accused of being an Orange Rangers supporting Royalist in the past when I wore a shirt with a Union Jack on it in my home town of Edinburgh.

Yes I am Scottish, but does that automatically preclude me or anyone else from being British too? My passport says I am British, Scotland occupies about 1/3 of the island called Great Britain and the blue and white part of the Union Flag is mostly the Scottish saltire.

Sounds fine to me. However there are issues. Many Scots see the Union Flag as the English flag, either through ignorance or just because they prefer to label it that way out of some kind of traditional we-are-occupied-by-a-foreign-power kind of mentality.

Many English do it to, I have seen the Union Jack often alongside the name "England" for example in England's Barmy Army logos.

An English mate of mine also has a big fat Union Jack tattoo on his arm with the word "England" underneath it. I asked him, "Why didn't you get the English Flag on there?" his reply, "Eh? This is the England flag" It took the better part of an hour and several beers later to convince him otherwise.

So naturally I feel pissed off about this. I do not feel dominated by the English, after all both Scotland and England surrendered their status as sovereign countries back in 1707 at the same time to form a new country, Great Britain. Even if there were injustices ( and surely there were ) that was 300 years ago for gods sake. Can the Scots and English not move on?

At this moment, Great Britain is doing spectacularly well at the Beijing Olympics, with Scottish, Welsh and English athletes all competing together as ambassadors for our little wind swept island. It seems as though unity is possible indeed, yet I am still hesitant to get the tattooist to chuck a nice Union Jack on my arm as part of my tattoo. My family, friends, or anyone else who sees it will either quietly grumble about it, or ask "why the hell do you have that English flag on yer arm?"

Its a shame that I should have to worry about it, or feel the need to explain should a gripe occur.

I am sure a Vancouverite has never had to explain to a Nova Scotian as to why he has a maple leaf inked into his left arse cheek. And I bet a Texan has never felt the need to choose his words carefully while telling a New Yorker that he has some Stars and Stripes tattooed around his left nipple.

Anyway, that's all from muzzerino for the moment on this subject, I think after writing this blog post I have convinced myself, I am going to get that goddamn tattoo!

Go Team GB!

Team GB Wallpaper

I made this up for Team GB, Its not great but its the best I could do with what I could find.

If anyone has a grump about copyright, let me know.

Its Raining Medals and Australia Sucks.

Team GB has racked up another 2 Silver medals, David Davies the Welshman snapped up the open water Silver and Tasha Danvers grabbed the Bronze for the 400m hurdles bringing Team GB's total to 16 Gold, 11 Silver and 11 Bronze.
See, all it took was a wee bit of money and support for the Brits to show that we are actually good at something.

To any Aussies reading this, you suck. :-P

36 Medals for Team GB!!

RULE BRITANNIA!!

Team GB is Bathing in Medals! , well not quite but still, Great Britain is doing amazingly well at these Beijing Olympics, maybe because we are used to the smog? perhaps conditions are just right for us.

As of writing, we have 16 Gold, 10 Silver and 10 Bronze !!!

What legends, all those people who thought GB was crap at sport, well we have just proved you wrong, go and spin. :-)

Whats particularly incredible is that Chris Hoy has just gained 3 Gold medals in Cycling, how awesome is that? and he is a Scot too which definitely propels Scotland's contribution to Team GB into the spotlight for all of you who think that GB means England.

Can Team Great Britain be stopped !?!

Olympics Closing Ceremony

I am really looking forward to the Closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, I just hope that those nasty terrorists don't get up to any nonsense.

( hope they go 100% real this time too! ) I can spot those CGI's a mile away.

Team GB what makes Great Britain Great!

Its been a long time coming but finally GB is on the right track, at the time of writing Great Britain has won 27 medals! 12 Gold, 7 Silver and 8 Bronze, That's more medals in one weekend than have been won in 3 separate decades last century according to the BBC Magazine .

This is why I am proud to be British ( although I'm sure you would not think it by looking at the Saltire at the top ) I think its best to compete together, instead of fractured states. I know that many people would much prefer that Scotland Wales and England has their own Olympic teams and I know plenty of people who talk up independence at the mention of Team GB but I guess I am the black sheep. Go Great Britain, go all the athletes! especially the Scots but I support them all!

Adsense, does it work?

I have had AdSense on my sites for a while now and only a wee trickle of money has dribbled in over the last year or so. When I mean a wee trickle, I mean a "Wee Trickle!"

but its getting better, I get around 10,000 Page Loads a month on my widescreen wallpaper site and its increasing, but still only about 0.3% - 1.0% of visitors click on my ads, resulting in a terrible Click Thru Ratio (CTR).

How does one improve this situation? These guys reckon they have it down and these guys too have a variety of tips on how to do better.

I have read them both but still lack in a decent CTR.

I will persist however, I think basically high quality content (text) + high quality keywords = High quality ads.

Fingers crossed!

Olympic Ceremony, Fake Fireworks

When I was watching the Opening ceremony last week, I was in awe of the overall show, it was amazing. The fake fireworks did catch my eye good CGI, but for some reason it did not bother, or surprise me. I am an avid Science fiction viewer and a huge fan of visual effects, I can spot a good one from a mile away.


Maybe there is so much fakeness going on these days in the world that it just doesn't bother most of us in the west, although I see many people are talking about it as if it is a scandal.

What interests me most though is that many people saw it as real. This makes me ask the question, what other things do people believe when they watch TV? News reports, documentaries, indeed anything can easily have some faked / staged footage thrown in but 99.9% of people will probably think its real.

Keith Quinn said it @ TVNZ

Convince people of what they are seeing on their TV and you have lots of influence over them.

Aw well, if more people watched Sci-fi, the world would be a better place anyway.

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

Well, it was 8 minutes past midnight before the opening ceremony got underway NZ time, took a bit of effort but I managed to stay up for most of it. Those Chinese sure know how to throw a party, I couldn't believe the precision with which they executed the whole show, not a single person was out of step and of course the Chinese invention (fireworks) were put to grand use, I have always loved the Olympics, but this is the first time I have been really excited about it. Controversial yes, but still, I think China has gained its place in the world as a true powerhouse of a nation and not just in business, but entertainment too.