FEMINISTA

Well, Helen has finally signed off and good luck to her. The media still couldn't resist one last dig as Guyon Espiner worked up an Ice Queen headline to attract people to his blog...it's a pity they couldn't for once just honour this amazingly intelligent woman who has done so much to raise the profile of NZ internationally as well as be an incredible role model for women in this country. She will do an excellent job at the U.N. although I'm sure it will be challenging for her to shift into a new mode of living. Anyway, despite the misogyny and homophobia of the NZ media, she got to where she was heading and noone can ever take that away from her. I ordered a copy of the full video speech from the Parliamentary library for free... it is supposed to be on the government website but takes a week because of the Easter break! Good luck and Kia Kaha Helen...we'll be watching.... Photo of Helen from The Dom Post...

A most awesome concert.

I went to Mighty Mighty last night and outside the venue was a robotic drumber, The Drumber. This was put together by local Wellingtonian, Rupert... The gig began with the robotic drummer, then was followed by Doteyes and then The Trons , an awesome robotic music experience. Check them out on Myspace.

I spent the day at ANIMFX 08 today listening to amazing artists and technologists talking about everything from creating light within computer games to puppeteering for the feature film Waterhorse. Local and international speakers sat together on panels discussing future trends in film, animation, sfx and games and the recurring theme was the effect of social networking, user generated content and new forms of digital cinema and distribution. Last year I interviewed Warren Franklin , Producer and founder of Rainmaker Productions. He was also involved in the early days of animation and sfx at Industrial Light & Magic and worked with George Lucas for many years. In the meantime its back out into the fray to party at the Sidhe Interactive party.

Well, it's finally happened. NZ On Screen has gone live today in preparation for a formal launch tomorrow. The site features short film, television and feature trailers to begin with, and more diverse content will follow. Check it out NZ On Screen , register and enjoy the show. The project began at NZ On Air in late 2007 when Aileen O'Sullivan was asked to scope an online television project. She visited Australian Screen and wrote a report to the board. I got a contract at NZ On Air iln 2007 to develop their digital strategy and this project was one of the things to scope. I wrote a paper to the board and they were very into the whole idea. This was in addition to a broader digital strategy for NZ On Air which I worked on and this also resulted in the Digital Content Partnership Fund which was established. The project really took off once the NZ On Air board okayed the budget and Brenda Leeuwenberg was contracted to manage the design and development of the site. We both ...

This week we were the basecamp for touring musos, Sandra Bell and Azalia Snail with drummer from The Vibraslaps, Dianne Civil. Both artists are signed with local record company Powertool Records . They were supported by the breathy solo voice of John White who later also played violin with Sandra and Azalia. The other support band was the eclectic showman, VORN. Mighty Mighty was the perfect venue for the night and it was the early hours of the morning that we finally made it home.

Sr Paula Brett-kelly died this week after a long struggle with cancer. She was an amazing woman and Catholic nun who devoted her life to service in the community. Sr Paula worked for the AIDS Foundation for several years and established the first Womens Support group for women affected by HIV/AIDS, initially this was women whose partners were diagnosed with HIV, or family members and friends. Over time it grew to include women also diagnosed with HIV and Sr Paula's love and affection spread throughout the queer community. She was actively involved in supporting the sex worker community and encouraged other churches to work together for the decriminilisation of the sex industry. She also worked closely with Tom O'Donoghue who established the People Living with HIV/AIDS Union. Sr Paula spoke to many church and community groups to open peoples eyes and hearts to those living with HIV/AIDS and to accept family members from the queer community. Her work lives on in the people ...