AmeriNZ 319 – From Overseas

amerinz_podcast_150x150This is my second podcast episode for March, which is nice, but it turns out that I’ve been posting two new episodes every month so far this year, which I think is a fantastic improvement on how things have been the past couple years.

The first actual topic today is the the Democrats Abroad Global Primary, the results for which have just been released. I talk about those results in a little depth, and I also blogged in more depth about it (link below).

The second NZ Flag Referendum ends on Thursday, and the number of ballots returned has been much higher than for the first referendum. In fact, as of yesterday, roughly 60% of registered voters had voted, with three more days to go. I tell you why I think that’s important

New Zealand’s next Governor General has been announced. I have no idea who she is.

Easter Weekend includes two public holidays, so this is probably the last episode for March. Maybe. Finally, some personal updates, including non-news from the Tooth Tales saga, and an update on things I’ve talked about before.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Links for this episode
” The DA Global Primary and realities” – My blog post on the Democrats Abroad Global Primary results
“Dame Patsy Reddy to be Governor-General”NZ Herald


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

AmeriNZ 317 – Progress-ish

amerinz_podcast_150x150Today, the first topic is polling about the New Zealand flag referendum. There are some surprising results. I talk about the details of the results, and also about how to evaluate polls.

After that, I talk about some updates since the last episode, including some progress-ish. I also mention that my Dad’s 100th birthday was Feb 25. I blogged about that, of course.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Link for this episode
”Flag Referendum Update – February 2016” –UMR Research
”Polls steady for a ‘no change’ flag vote” – Radio LIVE
”My dad would be 100” – My blog post on my dad’s 100th birthday


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

AmeriNZ 316 – Vampires

amerinz_podcast_150x150Today I talk about things I’ve been up to since my birthday, including the conclusion to an earlier story. It kind of clears the deck for some New Zealand topics next time.

First up today, I reached an important decision and made a change. Recently, I visited the dentist, doctor, and vampires, all of which relates to the first topic, in a roundabout way.

We also had two Monday Public Holidays in a row. I tell you why that was new for New Zealand, and a little bit about public holidays in New Zealand.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Link for this episode
”Needed to go” – my blog post about visiting the vampires.


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

AmeriNZ 315 – Birthdays

amerinz_podcast_150x150My birthday was yesterday—and today. But first, I have some small updates about the upcoming referendum on the New Zealand flag.

I talk about my birthdays (plural) and what a great day it was. I also talk about my latest “Tooth Tales” adventure, which relates to other topics.

Also, if there’s anything about New Zealand (or me…) you’d like to know more about, let me know in the comments. It doesn’t matter if it’s an audio or video thing—I have multiple platforms now.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.
The background music in the YouTube audio is “Sheep May Safely Graze – BWV 208” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Links for this episode
”The final flags” – my blog post about YouTube videos of the two flags.
”What the flags mean” – my blog post about the latest Flag Consideration Project video.
“Alternative flag will fly on Harbour Bridge “NZ Herald
“The annual increasing number: 57” – my annual reflective blog post on my birthday
“Tooth spaces” – my blog post about the latest adventures


Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

AmeriNZ 314 – New Year

amerinz_podcast_150x150The country’s pretty quiet this time of year, so there’s no real news to talk about. So, instead I focus on updates to what I’ve been up to since my last episode. The old year ended ickily, the new one began quietly.

I’ve also been making more YouTube videos—three so far this year! At the end of this episode, I play the audio from my latest video as a kind of experiment: I was thinking that in the future I could release the audio of these videos as special podcast episodes (I’ll talk more about that in the months to come). Let me know if you have strong feelings about this idea. I notice that the music track is a lot louder than it is in the video. Weird.

Also, if there’s anything about New Zealand (or me…) you’d like to know more about, let me know in the comments. It doesn’t matter if it’s an audio or video thing—I have multiple platforms now.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

The background music in the YouTube audio is “Sheep May Safely Graze – BWV 208” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Links for this episode
• My blog post about my latest YouTube video, including the narration and the relevant links to the sources.
• The AmeriNZ YouTube Channel

Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

AmeriNZ 313 – Results

amerinz_podcast_150x150First up today, the results of New Zealand’s first flag referendum. Then, an update to a story from last time about John Key. More evidence the incident did Key no harm. We had some stuff to deal with, but got to see the new Star Wars before most people we know.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Link for this episode
“Official Result of the First Referendum on the New Zealand Flag” – Electoral Commission
“How did the second most preferred first pick win the referendum?”Stuff
“Now it’s final” – my blog post on the final results
“The winning alternative” – my blog post on the preliminary results
All of my blog posts on the NZ flag referenda
“‘I have reflected on my comments’: Key admits ‘murderers and rapists’ outburst was wrong”ONE News
“John Key apologises for ‘backing rapists’ comment”NZ Herald
“National set for happy Christmas as Key Government retains strong lead over Labour/Greens opposition” – Roy Morgan Research
“Police house raid on investigative journalist Nicky Hager found to be unlawful”NZ Herald
“Seeing ‘Star Wars’ (no spoilers)” – my blog post I mentioned

Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

AmeriNZ 311 – Springy

amerinz_podcast_150x150This episode is a bit of a catch-up—except that I mainly skip over the updates (you can ask in the comments about anything you want an update on). My first main topic is the controversy, reported internationally, when women MPs were expelled from a session of Parliament when they shared their personal stories of sexual assault, arising from NZ’s gutless prime minister, John Key, saying outrageous—and outrageously offensive—things in Parliament.

When I move on to personal topics, it’s the story of the recent medical challenges of our furbaby Sunny, and also why I talked about it at all.

A few other minor things round out this episode, and possibly set the stage for future episodes. And, yes, there will be future episodes. Sooner or later.

Be sure to Like the AmeriNZ Facebook Page for all things AmeriNZ!

There are several ways to send me an audio message—this earlier post lists them.

Link for this episode
No Kiwi rapists or murderers on Christmas IslandNZ Herald
Female MPs’ protest over John Key ‘rapist’ remarks make global headlinesStuff
John Key doesn’t care about rape victims (he doesn’t much care about women and children at all) By Hadassah Grace
6 Times John Key Lied This Week – NZ Labour Party
John Key’s do’s and don’ts list when it comes to detainees By Gordon Campbell

Get AmeriNZ Podcast for free on iTunes

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Rainy Auckland Winter Day


The video above is a short video I made this evening as an experiment. I wanted to see how easy it was to make a video using iMovie on my iPad. On the whole, it was pretty easy.

I shot some video of the rain this afternoon with an idea that I might make a YouTube video with it. This evening I was playing with my iPad, remembered that it had iMovie on it, and I wondered how hard it would be to use.

The first problem was figuring out how to get my footage onto my iPad. It turns out, my videos don’t automatically share to iCloud (probably a setting I made at some point). So, I uploaded them to Dropbox, then opened Dropbox on my iPad and saved them to my photos on my iPad (often called a “Camera Roll”)

After that, it was just a matter of figuring out how to assemble everything. I expect phone and tablet apps to teach me how to use them as I use them, but sometimes I get stuck. Apart from having to Google how to get video onto my iPad, this time I had very little trouble figuring it out.

However, there were a few things I haven’t figured out yet, like how to shorten the duration of onscreen titles and how to adjust the level of the music track (the levels in the video were automatic; the music was included with iMove, by the way).

If I’d edited the video on the Mac, I’d have no trouble with any of those things, and I would have edited out the camera shake in a couple spots. But I wanted to see what was possible—or, at least, obvious—to do on the iPad. Some day I may shoot some video and want to get it uploaded quickly (interestingly, one of the templates was for CNN’s uploaded videos from amateurs).

So, all in all, it wasn’t too bad, though I’ll use the Mac for editing nearly all the time. Still, it was kind of fun.

This was my second video so far this year, and this video is actually part of the “soft re-launch” of my YouTube Channel. I’m posting similarly short videos up until the actual relaunch, which is coming soon.

And all of that will be shared here on this blog. Of course.

The Technical Stuff: The video was shot using a 20.3MP Samsung DX 1000, and the still shot of water drops at the beginning and end was shot with an iPhone 5c. The video was edited on an iPad2 using iMovie, a built-in template and built-in music. The final video was saved as a 1080 HD video, then uploaded to YouTube directly from the iPad (which takes a lot longer than from a desktop computer, BTW).

This is one of those rare crossposts with AmeriNZ Blog, something I forgot to share here, too.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail