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.

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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

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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

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AmeriNZ 312 – Flag it

amerinz_podcast_150x150This episode follows up on a few things from the previous two episodes, starting with talking about New Zealand’s flag referenda. I explain how we got to this point, and what happens now. Voting in the first referendum ends on Friday. A few other stories in the NZ news round out this episode. I hope to do a few more episodes over the next couple of weeks, as I’ll definitely be busy over the holidays.

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
All of my blog posts on the NZ flag referenda
‘Rapist’ comments don’t dent National – pollNZ Herald


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Visting Takapuna’s Beach


Earlier this week, I was in Takapuna for awhile, so I went and visited the beach there, which is the subject of my latest brief YouTube video. I haven’t been there in awhile, so it was nice to stop by.

Being winter, it was a little cooler than I would have liked, but the beach was still quite busy, anyway. The clouds were moving pretty quickly, so an area of beach that was in full sun one moment could be in shade the next. I didn’t realise that was happening until I edited the video.

I’ll let you in on a secret: At one point in the video I have a title that says it’s looking toward the Pacific. The truth is, on the eastern side of Auckland’s North Shore (where Takapuna is), everywhere one looks toward the east is looking toward the Pacific, though there may be islands in the way.

I used that phrase to give some sort of geographic orientation to foreigners, and so they’d know what ocean they were looking at. But that part of the North Shore isn’t really directly open to the ocean (because of islands). So, the label I added is a little misleading: It’s true, but probably not quite in the way some viewers will take it.

It was one of those times when simplicity was better than strict accuracy, something I’ve run into before when I’ve made these videos. Actually, I’ve learned a lot of things since I started making them. I’m sure that as I continue to learn more, and as I get more confident, I’ll make longer videos.

At any rate, making the videos has been fun. And, it’s always nice to have an excuse to visit favourite places.

This is another crosspost with AmeriNZ Blog, something I wanted to share here, too, because it gives some behind-the-scenes information about the video.

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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.

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AmeriNZ 310 – Winterish

amerinz_podcast_150x150After a little bit of weather talk, I begin the first topic, a recap of my periodontal procedures. More recently, I had a gout attack in my hand. Sigh. Then, I talk about a couple things in the New Zealand news and one from Australia, too.

Check out the new AmeriNZ Facebook Page!

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

Links for this episode
“Tooth tales” – My post on the first procedure
“Root of my problem” – the second procedure
“Dictating the future” – My blog post where I talk about the gout attack
“A crime in the neighbourhood” – My blog post last year on the murder
“Blessie Gotingco trial: Guilty of rape and murder”Stuff
The NZ flag – your chance to decide – NZ Government page on the referendum
“[Australian] Labor [Party] to introduce bill legalising gay marriage”The New Daily


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AmeriNZ 309 – Nine

amerinz_podcast_150x150Things I talked about last time have resolved themselves, and that’s where I begin today. New Zealand’s result in the ICC Cricket World Cup is first, followed by the Northland By-election. A peculiarity in New Zealand law caused some issues when I posted the previous episode. I have a personal development in NZ politics to share. Then, I talk about a couple new items in the news.

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

Link for this episode
Daniel Vettori – the NZ cricketer I mentioned
“’Super eight’ Auckland suburb values up 17.9pc”NZ Herald
“Australian-New Zealand dollar still controversial” – Stuff


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AmeriNZ 308 – Eight

amerinz_podcast_150x150So much has happened since my last podcast that “I scarcely know where to begin.” I start out with my own news (hey, it IS my podcast…), more tooth drama. Sigh. Then, a more serious health issue that wasn’t mine. I also talk about the By-election in the Northland Electorate. I was interrupted at one point by a salesperson knocking on the door. Can you spot it? Anyway, in happier news, we’re all excited about the New Zealand Black Caps making it to the ICC Cricket World Cup Final for the first time ever. We play Australia on Sunday. Finally, an explanation of the title of this episode and related topics. Cryptic enough?

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

Link for this episode
I can’t handle the tooth – my latest blog post on the tooth drama that has relevant links (and tags)


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