You've Got Money, You Donate!

This is some pretty nonsensical logic. I mean, what the hell? As if this social scheme wasn't unfair enough already.

I suppose that you can guess already that I once again made the mistake of watching television news. I always think that perhaps it'll be good to catch up on the day's/week's activities, but no, it's always just a mishmash of talking and only-slightly-related-but-not-very-helpful The only difference between New Zealand's TV news is that TVOne remains nostalgic of the time in which they were BBC-influenced, and TV3 tries to be fresh and hip and liberal and then forgets what each of those words mean right before they go to air.

Somebody in New Zeaand apparently complained, once upon some time ago, that television news would be "just like radio, but with pictures." Well that would be accurate now, if the news was short and concise and informative like radio has to be. Instead, television news has become farcical. It is just a story, albeit a poorly constructed story, about whatever they feel at the time is the most important item of the day. However, because they are in so much competition with the opposing channel, they tend to just report as much as possible as fast as possible.

Occasionally, things won't even make sense from an editing perspective. Yes, Brisbane/Queensland are in strife due to flooding. This is something of which I want to be informed. Tell me what you've got. Except when what you've got is some nobody staring at the camera saying "Oh no! My precious persian rug! Gone forever!" over and over because you have actually run out of decent footage and information. And upon realising that you have dragged out this segment of non-information for about five minutes now (which is ages in news time), you quickly flick to your anchorman and let him say the equivalent of "Oh, yeah, there's some flooding in Chile and Brazil. Lots of people are dying. But look at this dog we found, it's no bigger than a teacup!"

So I despise television news. So watching it is pretty silly, but every now and then I hope for something better. I no longer have access to sky tv, though that's not to say that international news stations are not just as ridiculous as our news stations here.

Anyway, what I saw which bothered me so, was the what I am going to call "The Celebrity Donation Situation." It sounds like an episode title from The Big Bang Theory, but unfortunately nothing so witty follows. Now I have so many issues with celebritydom, but here's the latest one.

Why is it, that when there's a huge disaster that endangers a large amount of people, why is it that some celebrity with millions upon millions of dollars at their disposal pops up on television to ask us regular joes to open our pockets and give generously?

Especially when said celebrity is most probably getting paid for the task of asking?

You have millions of dollars, you donate! You could give ten million dollars, more money that I will ever see in my lifetime, even if I live for one hundred years and have several generations of very successful children! Not only that, but that ten million dollars wouldn't even make a dent in your bank account.

Yet you have the audacity to ask me and my fellows to donate? I usually give what spare change I have to people on the street asking for help whilst waving buckets at me furiously. I am no miser. But this is just rude!

Though I suppose what gets me even more is that in these situations, celebrities like to hold auctions for stuff they've worn/used/chewed and ask us to bid for the item, with the highest bid being donated to the charity/country in need. So not only do they get positive publicity, but they don't even donate any of their money! They donate ours!

Also, with so much money, why do they wait for a situation like this to arise? Why don't they make giving a habit? Why is it that they only ever "donate" during a crisis (some select few excluded)? I mean, I figure there's only so much you can buy, before shopping gets boring.
In saying that, I don't like shopping as an activity anyway, but still!

It bothers me. Considerably. More than TV news bothers me.

Also, on a side note while I think of it, does the Cancer Society seem like a strange name to anyone? To me it sounds as though they support cancer, like the Aged People's Society supports elderly people. At least the SPCA were careful enough to add an important word like "Prevention"! Surely the Anti-Cancer Society would be better?

I Have Returned

I am back in Wellington.

I have moved into this itty bitty flat in Newtown, which is very clearly a house that has had some identity issues in the past ands thus decided that it would be better off being two separate flats, rather than one disagreeable house.

There is a door that leads to a tiled hallway, which leads to a carpeted hallway *ahem* lounge on your right. The three little bedrooms come off that. Jessie's is the middle one and is the tiniest. It fits a bed, a free standing wardrobe and a set of drawers. Which she then has to climb over in order to get to her door due to a lack of floorspace. I discovered last night that the walls are thin, so I am glad I brought earplugs. The kitchen is bigger than everything else, probably bigger than all of our rooms combined. It's impressively unnecessary.
That said, I'm paying $90 a week to live here, so I expect it.

Soon I shall be knitting. I don't know how yet, but I know it'll be taught soon. The other two flatmates do so we shall see. We have 20GB of broadband *woot*.

I have inexpliacable anxiety, but I suppose that's to do with having a considerable lack of money whilst needing to spend more of it; trying to fit into someone else's routine; trying to find my own routine and from having a considerable lack of sleep. Hopefully it will pass.

Studylink is pretending that they don't know who I am, despite several years of giving me loans and allowances anyway. Silly Studylink. Albeit, they have now started sending me my mail electronically, thus saving some of those trees that would be destroyed due to their needing to send at least two of every letter. That said, they promised they would email me when I have mail to check, but they don't.
Of course.

I am going to try and accomplish things today. Starting at 12pm, when my bed arrives. Until then, I shall try to keep my anxiety to a minimum.