Oh, you were thinking of naming your son “Anal,” and you live in New Zealand? Too bad! The country’s Internal Affairs department vetoed the name, along with 76 others, claming they were inappropriate, bizarre or offensive. A sampling of some of the verboten names?
Yes, somebody wanted to name their child the punctuation symbol for “period.” Keep reading »
Today New Zealand became the 14th country (counting France, which will make it official with a final vote next week) to legalize same-sex marriage, and they rang in equality in grand style. Once the vote was announced, the gallery cheered, and then a voice from the balcony started singing the traditional love song, “Pokarekare Ana,” which includes the following lyrics (translated):
“I have written you a letter, and enclosed with it my ring. If your people should see it, then the trouble will begin… My poor pen is broken, my paper is spent, But my love for you endures, and remains forever more.”
Skip to 1:20 to see the joyous moment! [YouTube via Think Progress]
There’s a joke about how there’s more sheep than people in New Zealand. And now, there’s more driving dogs than anywhere else in the world, too. Members of the New Zealand Society For the Prevention of Animals wanted to prove how intelligent their shelter dogs were — so they taught them to drive. Like, really. Three dogs were taught how to drive stick shift. I can’t even drive stick shift! [CBS News]
Breaking news for the female anatomy! In New Zealand, it was deemed safe to use the words “vagina” and “discharge” in TV commercials. An advertisement for Carefree Acti-Fresh Panty Liners, which aired in July, was the first to drop the V-bomb on the country. Naturally, the Advertising Standards Authority received many complaints from “disgusted” viewers.
K Spice said, “I have a nine year old who is up until 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and he definitely does not need to hear words like that.” God forbid he should know the anatomically correct name for a body part! Another outraged viewer complained that pairing of a naked woman (no genitals showing) and the word vagina was “overly sexual.” Gasp! Keep reading »
It’s a sign of the times in South Auckland, New Zealand, where local prostitutes are being accused of destroying street signs by using them for pole dancing routines designed to attract customers.
In the last 18 months, more than 40 poles have been bent, buckled or broken in the past 18 months and the signs, which include notices of parking restrictions, cost taxpayers thousands of dollars to replace.
Elected officials such as Donna Lee say the culprits are local prostitutes who use them like stripper poles in a dance club.
“The poles are part of their soliciting equipment and they often snap them,” she told The Telegraph. ”Some of the prostitutes are big, strong people.” Read more …
The penguins living on the shores of New Zealand’s north island have been suffering of late, thanks to a disastrous oil spill that occurred there earlier this month. But! Now there’s something we can do to help the little guys — knit ‘em some sweaters. It seems that penguin sweaters are needed to help keep the birds warm and prevent them from ingesting too much oil as a result of preening their feathers. Also, they are super cute.
This isn’t the first time penguin sweaters have been employed. Rescuers have actually been using surplus sweaters from a 2001 penguin sweater initiative. But supplies are running low, and the penguins need our help! You can download a penguin pullover pattern online. More penguins-in-adorable-sweaters after the jump. [Grist]
A notorious topless Ukrainian feminist group turned out to protest the New Zealand radio show “Win A Wife” contest that matches up a Kiwi man with a “mail order bride” in Ukraine. Nine women from Femen were outraged — rightly so — about The Rock FM’s “Win a Wife” contest, announced on Valentine’s Day, in which the winner would be flown to Eastern Europe with interpreters to meet a woman from a “matchmaking” web site. Keep reading »
Wash your eyes after reading this post: A New Zealand radio station is on blast from human rights groups, the international community, and the entire Ukraine for announcing a “Win a Wife” contest on Valentine’s Day in which the winner is flown to Eastern Europe, with interpreters, of course, to meet the mail-order bride of his dreams. The Rock FM — whose charming tagline is “Bands, Babes, Balls ‘n Bull” — will let the guy choose a woman from the database of Endless Love, an online “matchmaking” service between Ukrainian women and Kiwi men. After two teleconferences and as much instant messaging as they can handle — all translated for free, of course — they will then fly him from New Zealand to Ukraine on March 23 with a dozen roses, 12 nights of accommodation, and $2,000 spending money.
You know, I would be more offended by this if it didn’t sound so much like the plot of “The Bachelor.” Keep reading »
Something else to dislike about beauty pageants: they create expectations about what women from different cultures “should” look like. Spectators booed Kiwi model Jacinta Lal, 21, when she won the MissIndiaNZ pageant in Wellington, New Zealand, because she told the New Zealand Herald some “small-minded people” thought she wasn’t “Indian-looking enough to win the pageant.” But despite her blond hair and blue eyes, girlfriend is part Indian: Jacinta’s father is half-Fijian and half-Indian, while her mother is a white New Zealander. Thankfully, the pageant organizer has got Jacinta’s back and said it’s a shame pageant fans cannot accept her as just another lovely Kiwi/Indian girl. Keep reading »
Logan Campbell, a cash-strapped Olympic hopeful, recently opened a gentlemen’s club in New Zealand so he could raise money and continue the intensive training that he needs to make it to the 2012 London Games. Campbell reportedly needs to raise about $190,000 over the next two years to prepare to compete at the Olympic level in taekwondo. Keep reading »
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