That Was The Weekend That Was

The Rugby World Cup is underway. I watched the first half of All Blacks vs. Italy, then lost interest when it was apparent that it would be a thumping, but not an epic thumping. Other teams in the Kiwi pool will have drawn a crucial lesson, though: do not disrespect the haka. It just makes ’em angry. And you won’t like them when they’re angry…
Yes, I do indeed watch the rugby sometimes, and try in an offhanded way to keep track of it. This interest emerged about when I was twenty. The Sunday Star Times magazine had an interesting bit about this, looking at the rise of the Alternative Rugby Commentary in which the one true game just isn’t taken so seriously. I remember listening as a school student to Radio Active’s alternative rugby commentary, not while watching the game of course because I didn’t care at all then, and being very entertained as the po-faced angry macho culture was thoroughly skewered. (Turns out one of the culprits was John Campbell, NZ’s trusted face of current affairs journalism.) That probably played a part in turning me on to the game a bit – although I think it was watching Christian Cullen work some magic that really got my attention.
(The SST mag also it had an interview with the Real Hot Bitches, who are both real, hot, and bitchin’. Yet another reason to love the Wellingtown.)
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Zinefest was a blast. Spent some money and got some zines. It was well-attended, which made me very happy, as the word on the street is that it’ll be back next year. I hope so. Isn’t it neat that the rise of the internet is somehow also bolstering the revival of old-school craftiness and DIY culture?
On a related note: those people who see the new MySpace/Blogger/YouTube culture as undermining society? They really don’t know what they’re talking about, especially if they have written a book about it. Seriously, the ignorance on display in these newspaper columns and books and so forth, it just astounds me. I’m not talking about errors in ethnographic detail here, I’m talking massive misconceptions that are just plain ridiculous on their face. Prime example: anyone who talks about “the blogs” as if they start and stop at “political blogs engaged in left-wing/right-wing rhetorical warfare”. I’ve seen that one a half-dozen times already this year.
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Rumpus07 on Saturday. It’s gonna be really quite good.