I drove late last night, and slept at a rest area. What road trip is complete without a few nights like that? I surfed the late night radio as I drove across the North Island. Some items of interest.
1. Item. There are Maori radio stations. They speak in a mixture of Maori and English, and play a lot of reggae and R&B. What's with that? Relatedly, what's with all the LA-looking gang tags on rural bus shelters in this country? I should try to get a picture of one. Interesting.
2. Item. NZ is crazy for the NZI sevens tournament this weekend, in Wellington. Which is why the ferry across from Picton yesterday was so crowded that there were no seats. I sat on the deck. They love their rugby. A lot. And talk about it, too. At least I more or less understand when they talk about it, whereas when they talk about cricket, I can barely figure out that it's a sport, and not some kind of abstruse mathematical recreation.
3. Item. Racism and rants, part 1. There seem to be a lot of Limbaughesque clones ranting on the radio about entitlements and lazy, freeloading Maoris and the need to limit immigration and the like. It's depressing.
4. Item. Racism and rants, part 2. On the other hand, I heard a story about a Cambodian grocer / reataurant owner in New Plymouth who had another local businesswoman who owns a pizzeria handing out blatently racist literature in front of his establishment, urging the community to boycott his business. The hurt was compounded by the fact she is a member of the town council. But… the community rallied around the grocer, and he says business has improved a huge amount, because of the many people coming to his establishment to protest the councilwoman's protests. "I think everyone needs a racist. It's been so good for business," he comments, good-naturedly. It's uplifting.
What I'm listening to right now.
Kanye West – Runaway. This thing is getting almost constant airplay in NZ right now. So in this way, Kanye West becomes permanently associated in my memory and imagination with rural New Zealand. Is that wierd, or what? [I added this youtube link later (2011-07-21)]