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Still enjoyable—seen it half a dozen times, but still enjoyable. And, critically, the editing was very good. As Prime had to trim some 13 minutes from the broadcast, what they chose this time made a lot of sense (e.g. Alex’s self-made phone call, Ray’s singing cut by two lines). They left in the entire scene with Tim Price turning into the Pierrot clown and from that point it ran (as far as I could tell) uninterrupted. On my four-by-three TV screen, however, I did miss that freaky final scene where the Pierrot clown appears on the mural at Luigi’s, which does bring into question what exactly is going on with Alex Drake.
   Also, the BBC has made announcements about the next series. SFcrowsnest has information on it.
   I saw about four minutes of Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles on TV2. Nothing kept me glued to that channel, other than, ‘Hey, that’s Shirley Manson!’
   Manson and Lena Headey do very, very good fake accents.

Got back from the celebrations for the Republic of China’s anniversary. And what to watch? Second season of Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles or the Prime TV ad-spoiled finalé of Ashes to Ashes (thanks for giving away three major plot points in the ads, guys)?

When I was a kid, a cabbie living on Colombo Street had a Ford Cortina Mk II for his or her work.
   This was a far smaller car than the usual Holden Belmonts and Kingswoods and Ford Falcons that formed over 95 per cent of the taxi fleet in Wellington.
   I don’t know if (s)he got much business as part of Capital City Cabs, easily the minor player in a town that was dominated by Wellington Taxis and Black & White and Grey Cabs Ltd.
   Today I tailed a Toyota Belta taxicab. This was a Japanese import, and is better known as the Yaris Sedan or Vios in other nations.
   The funny thing is, it didn’t look funny.
   (Those darned Prius taxicabs look funny. They are even funnier on the motorway lugging hundreds of kilograms of batteries and hurting the environment. Especially in a city where cabs have largely been running clean natural gas since the early 1980s.)
   The reason the Belta didn’t look as odd as the Cortina is more testament to how little cars have grown over the years.
   Cabbies in Wellington have been defecting from the Australian full-size sedans to Nissan Cefiros and Teanas for a while, and Toyotas are, as in Dunedin, filling up the taxi ranks.
   Ford diehards are going for the Mondeo, which is larger than the Falcon anyway in most key measurements (width, rear legroom)—just it has a smaller engine and there’s a diesel option.
   If one considers that the Belta comes from the lineage of the Publica and Starlet, then it is tiny.
   But if one considers that the Belta has a very long wheelbase and that it is as wide as mid-sized cars were a decade ago, then no wonder it didn’t look small.
   Small cars are actually quite big, and big enough for most families these days. The only thing that keeps us thinking of them as small is snobbery.
   In fact, the only thing that would look really funny in 2008 is an overly large car, such as a Ford Fairlane, being a cab, especially one not converted to LPG.

From Autocade

Toyota Belta/Toyota Vios. 2005 to date (prod. unknown). 4-door sedan. F/F, 996, 1296, 1495 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC). Essentially a booted second-generation Vitz, but designed at Toyota’s Japanese studio rather than its French one, predominantly for Asian markets. Sold also as the Yaris sedan in the US and Australasia; Vios in most export markets. Interior duller than Vitz; handling acceptable for a reasonably tall car.

I can’t believe it. According to my friend Tanya, the Prime TV ad for tomorrow night’s Ashes to Ashes finalé gives away two major plot points.
   If you don’t want to know what they are and don’t want to read me whining, then stop here. Picture inserted to stop your eyes from taking in anything accidentally:

Ashes to Ashes: Keeley Hawes and Philip Glenister

I believe I am right when I say that the sending of junk faxes is illegal in New Zealand.
   Living HQ, you have been publicly dissed for sending me one through your FaxAd contractor. Here’s hoping this post comes up in Google for people searching on whether they should deal with this company.

[Cross-posted at Lucire] Doug Rimington has a few behind-the-scenes shots from Tuesday’s shoot with Miss New Zealand Samantha Powell. I snapped one to finish off a roll of film myself, which is below. This was shot in pretty dark conditions, f5·6, 1/30 sec, on my Voigtländer Bessamatic. Rebecca Connor, the reigning Miss Wellington and a top-five finisher herself at the national competition, is doing the make-up on behalf of her own business, About You Artistry. It’s very lucky of us to have two beautiful women in the same frame. (This is a scan, and our office scanner is doing a few funny things, so please bear in mind that the original print is a tad sharper.)

[Cross-posted at Lucire] The weather is delightful today, but we had to wait till the late afternoon (i.e. after working hours) to see any sun yesterday during Miss Universe New Zealand Samantha Powell’s shoot. She was already suffering from food poisoning so she wasn’t in the best health, but was an absolutely wonderful sport despite our dragging her out. Douglas Rimington photographed, having flown back from Sydney, and Rebecca Connor of About You Artistry (and Miss Wellington 2008) did her make-up. Simon Wolyncewicz assisted us. Some of our behind-the-scenes shots are below.

Time for some patriotic posting! I came up with these :D

• You felt like crying when the All Blacks lost to France
• You also felt like crying (or maybe you DID cry) when Valerie Adams won gold
• And you also were wildy patriotic in supporting the Olympics. Go New Zealand!!!
• It's not normal to NOT go to the beach in summer.
• Stubbies. Need I say more?
• You think L&P deserves more than just being world famous in NZ. It should be world famous EVERYWHERE
• You have Marmite in your cupboard. And actually like the taste. Not Vegemite - Ewww!
• The Briscoes lady irritates you
• It's normal to be walking down a street and see people from the Pacific Islands and Asia. 
• It's also normal to have a meals with origins from at least three different countries. Or have curry, pasta, pizza, sushi, stir-fry and perhaps a kebab all in one week.
• When someone says "Yeah Right" you immediately think of Tui Beer
• You either love NCEA or hate it
• Vogel's Bread... it might not be a staple food but you still love it!
• You've probably been to either Australia or Fiji on a holdiay
• The importance of Anzac day always gets to you
• You get used to the fact that New Zealand has lots of hills
• It's normal for the weather to be sunny one minute and pouring down the next 
• You either have a bach, or you have at least stayed in one.
• Evermore, Dave Dobbyn, Crowded House, Anika Moa, Dame Kiri, Hayley Westenra, Brooke Fraser, Fat Freddy's Drop, Kora are all bands/musicians that you have heard of.
• Kia Ora is a standard greeting
• You love living in a multicultural society
• It's funny to think of sheep roaming the city streets. Not here, sorry.
• Flight of the Conchords. End of story.
• You think Pohutakawa trees should replace Christmas trees.
• You firmly believe that Pavlova was invented by a New Zealander.
• It's terribly exciting to see an All Black in McDonald's
• Netball and rugby are the best sports to watch on TV
• You probably played either netball, rugby, soccer or cricket at primary school.
• You're proud to say to people overseas that you're a Kiwi. And they either know what you're talking about or wonder why anyone would be proud of being a hairy fruit.

I'm not going to lie to you. I love watching The Amazing Race. I didn't see the first episode of the new season yet, but I will. When I figure out a way to just skip to the pit stops, I might just do that.

Seriously. I would like to go on the show, too. If for no other reason than to fling myself on Mr. Phil Keoghan every other day. One more reason to love New Zealand. 

From the Fairfax Press:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4706912a11.html

Apparently, the dates changed as of this year. So at least I know I wasn’t going mad about the original legislated dates.
   As usual, however, the clocks at this office will not change from Greenwich Mean Time.