7#

well, i've had a nice break from blogging.  as summer rolled in, the words emptied out of my mind, and while there were a lot of things that were going on, i just didn't feel the need to say anything about them.  i managed to write a serious post last week at the hand mirror, about waitangi day.

not feeling so serious today, so i thought i'd write about the replacement current affairs show on tv1, 7#.  clearly not a serious news show, but then, from what i heard, it wasn't meant to be.  i watched the first episode last week with low expectations, and wasn't overly impressed.  i managed to catch the one on the kawhia food festival, which is reasonably close to home for me, especially since i have totally fallen in love with ocean beach this summer:

i enjoyed hearing from temuera morrison as well, and am totally looking forward to watching mt zion soon.

i thought tonight's episode wasn't bad actually.  which is good, because i do actually want to give this programme a go.  i do want it to succeed.  probably because i like the presenters, and because i really never was a fan of close-up.  i think the latter was infotainment pretending to be news, and at least this is honest and up-front about being infotainment.  there is no duplicity here.  and because i never looked to close-up for my news, i don't miss it at all.

i have been watching a lot more of campbell live over the last year, especially because they have been doing a lot of serious news - on kim dotcom, on novapay & the closure of christchurch schools and on poverty.  if i'm planning on watching news, then yes, campbell live are doing the job reasonably well.  and if i want infotainment, then 7# aren't doing it very well, but i think they're improving.  and i think there's potential.

today's story about sexting was quite a sad one, particularly in terms of the pressure young women were feeling to send images, and the rather callous views of the young men who didn't seem to care at all about these women as people.  the thought that one of them thought it was ok to have these images in case the young woman "turned mean"? ugh.  there is plenty they need to learn about basic humanity and the real question is who is going to teach them.

they're clearly not getting it from their parents, and the internet doesn't seem to be of any use at all.  so how exactly do we teach young men that women aren't a thing to be used and manipulated, and humiliated just because they can. 7# never gave any answers, but it did ask the questions.  it's a start.

oh, and if you're ever planning to visit ocean beach, be warned there is a huge sand hill to climb before you get to the beach.  and wear solid closed shoes until you get near the water, because black sand.  but once you get there... enjoy.