Rewind....

Okay, so I am in the process of writing two blogs at the moment. The first is this one which is about a super awesome weekend I had like 3 weeks ago and then second will be about my trip this past weekend. I know what you're thinking...."3 weeks ago! It couldn't have been that great if we are just hearing about it now." I have been super neglectful on the ol blog front as of late. I honestly just haven't been into writing it. So I have a rule, that if I don't feel like doing this, I don't. I get a ton of comments about how well written these things are and it is because I just sit down and write it out as if I was telling you the story of my weekend. If I am not into it and force it then you guys are left with a sub-par blog and I don't want to tarnish my writing reputation. I need all the virtual street cred I can get. So, be rest assured, that if anything exciting happens you will hear about it eventually it just may not be right at the moment it happens.

So rewinding to about 3 weeks ago I had a super awesome weekend! This is mainly because of my friend Graham, who it would seem is the Maori mayor around here. Not seriously, but every where we go he knows someone. Friday night Graham picked me up from work and we went to the Maori television station. There they were broadcasting a live karaoke competition and we got to be in the audience. Whoo, what a lot of fun that was! So every Friday afternoon hopeful singers both young and old line up outside the station and audition for a chance to be on the show. Then the selected peeps get their 15 mins of fame on a live broadcast around the country. Unlike shows like American Idol, they don't televise the shitty ones, so they could all carry a tune. They film live with a studio audience made up mostly of family of the people performing. The mayor there knows a couple people that work at the station so we got to go in before everyone else and got the 'VIP' treatment, it was great! There were ten performances in total and then the viewers at home txt in to vote a winner and it all happens right there in front of us. Being in the audience was a lot of fun, and it had a great atmosphere. During the commercial breaks they play music, they give away things to keep the crowd pumped and of course I was there with the nutbar Graham so he made his own fun. Like playing the 'who can start a clap' game. The rules being you have to single handed (well double handed because you can't clap with one hand) start a studio wide applause at a time of your choice. He was actually really good at this, and successfully started probably about 5 applause's in total. I tried once, and failed miserably, lucky Graham picked it up for me and finished the job Haha! I just couldn't commit,

I started the clap and and chickened out so it was a weak spastic sounding clap from the corner! Several times the crowd was clapping along to the song the person was singing, as you do. Then he started with the 'clap off beat and see how many people fuck up' game. Needless to say this experience was filled with laughs! After the show one of Grahams friends invited us into the editing room while they wrapped up. Only more laughing ensued there! It was very cool to see all the behind the scenes stuff but it was hilarious listening to those guys talk and harass the floor manager. Graham's friend Rei is the floor manager for the show so the editing guys talk to him through a headset while he is on set. The contestants and people around him can't hear what they are saying and these guys were hilarious! I don't know how Rei could keep a straight face with the people out on set with the behind the scenes comments. He said afterward that all he could hear was those guys giving him shit and us laughing our heads off in the background. Rei is super nice and totally gave me a T-shirt from the show with the name of the show on the front. The only problem with that is..... the name of the show. Sooo, the name of the show is Homai Te Pakipaki, of course it is in Maori it is aired on Maori television. The problem comes with the literal translation in English,  Pakipaki is clap, Te means the.........and Homai is to give to someone. Have you figured it out yet? Are you laughing? Here let me help you. I now have a shirt that says on the front (in Maori) "Give me the clap!" Hahaha! Maori is one of those languages that not everything can be literally translated.

Rei and Piripi (Grahams friends that work on the show) invited us out to have beers with some of the staff after the show, and more good times followed. Rei, Piripi and Graham have been friends for a long time and they are really good friends. So listening to their stories of each other was a riot. I don't think I stopped laughing all night! They had also told us about a rugby game that was happening the next day it was New Zealand media personnel versus New Zealand politicians. Obviously this game may be more exciting for the people who actually knew the people playing but I was game!

After a side splitting Friday evening it was on to Saturday. I have been warned by people here in New Zealand and Auckland to stay out of South Auckland. I was telling this to Graham and he said, he was going to take me there. So Saturday morning we took a little trip to South Auckland. Don't worry we weren't just going to the ghetto to hang out on the doorstep with a bottle of malt liquor. Graham wanted to show me another side of South Auckland, the side with vibrant culture that often gets missed. He took me to a place called the Otara markets. This place was great! There were rows and rows of vendors, music in the air, smells of food trucks on one side etc. It is a massive market held in South Auckland every Saturday morning. It has a heavy Polynesian and island influence, as most of the people in the area are. He was right, the culture was vibrant and awesome! I am so glad he took me there, and I do want to go back some day soon. After walking around the markets for a while we went to a Vietnamese place in South Auckland and got something to eat. Then it was off to watch the media vs politicians game in Orakei.

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day! We got a box of beer and went to hang out on the grass and watch the men clobber each other. Did you ever have those times when you are just happy? You know, those times when you are just happy inside, outside, upside, downside just feeling on top of the world? That is the feeling I had sitting in the sunshine with Graham, Mahaki and Ngaire sipping on a beer, listening to Graham play the guitar and taking in the rugby game. During the game one of the reporters got a penalty of sorts and had to sit out for 10 mins. Turns out, Graham knows him too, so he came over and was having a sideline beer with us. He told us to go up to the clubhouse for the prize giving after the game. So after the game we went up to check it out. Gee did I feel like a NZ VIP hob knobbing with the politicians and media peeps of Auckland. Of course I didn't know any of them from Adam, but Ngaire and Graham told me who some of them were. I even got my picture taken with a right wing controversial politician named Winston Peters. This was a lot of fun, and the beer drinking continued on downtown with them for a while too. Needless to say Sunday was a bit of a write off, but it was such a fun and awesome weekend!

A great big huge thank you to Graham for one of the best weekends I have ever had in New Zealand!