Kiwi TV as we once knew it – Part 4
“There’s nothing to watch on TV,” many people moan. And so it may be timely to remember what TVNZ used to be:
Paul Holmes: a victim of his own fame.
Jennie Goodwin: The first female network newsreader.
Category archive: Information
Miscellany – February
Bushfires still burn in Oz; Brexit vexited the Brits, and in America a new King was crowned by Republican Senators. You could sense an uprising to the elevation of President Donald to King Donald. Tears flowed and jeers echoed on both sides of the Atlantic, courtesy of television. These were passionate issues and sometimes you had to pause to wonder who, or what, lay behind them.
But no worries, because Down Under the Aussies showed that their sense of humour couldn’t be extinguished….
High noon
High Noon, informally, is the when time the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. It is traditionally regarded as a time for high drama, as in the 1952 movie High Noon. At High Noon in New Zealand on Saturday, 1st February 2020, it will be 23:00 GMT. It will be the moment the UK inflicts upon itself, perhaps the greatest self-harm in its long history. It will break its 46 year membership of the EU.
Kiwiosities: The Largest Polynesian City in the World
Excerpts from Kiwiosities, a book by Gordon Ell on the traditions and folklore of New Zealand.
Auckland’s ‘largest’ claim relates to the comparative size of its Polynesian minorities. Since the 1950s many rural Maori have moved to the cities to find work, as have many more Polynesians from the Pacific Islands.
Superstitions – Spilt milk
Back in the days when fewer household conveniences were available, if hot milk was required it was boiled over an open fire. A superstition grew that if the mild boiled over and some fell on the coals, then bad luck would come to the house – unless someone very quickly sprinkled salt on the area.
Indian Cinderellas
Understanding India from a distance, or even close-up, is not easy. The variety of warring ethnic groups, tribes, languages, religions, casts, class and political grouping complications is bewildering. Just one of those factors, social class, makes 1920’s England look like a classless society.
The future is now
It took the devastating Australian bushfires to bring home to the country’s politicians that perhaps, maybe, they had to update their thinking on climate change. Perhaps, because that thinking remains dominated by an ideology which increasingly looks untethered to present day realities. Below are some of those realities:
Kiwi TV as we once knew it … Part three
Watching television was now beginning to be ingrained in the 60’s household social routine not entirely due to the magnetism of Ena Sharples and the Coronation Street’s Rover’s Return!
Waiting in the wings was Networking, the move of News to Auckland, the advent of colour and the famous Philips K9 TV set and TV2’s first Telethon.
In the secure ward
We sat on a wide verandah and looked out on a backyard. Backyard? This one was huge, park-like and its green flowed past crimson flowered jacarandas on both sides for more than an acre. Finally it gave way to a to a lily-covered billabong under the shade of towering ghost gums.