Rock 'n' roll, drop, cover and hold

The last five days here in sunny Hawke’s Bay, Godzone, were unusually full of exciting, absoludelly unique occurrences that have made life a tad more interesting than the norm.

It started last Thursday September 26@9.26 am. Approximately 1.3 million New Zealanders participated in ShakeOut – the first nationwide earthquake drill anywhere in the world! The aim was to be better prepared to “Get Thru” an earthquake.

Organised by New Zealand Civil Defence Drop, Cover and Hold was, and still is, the mantra. I did drop, cover and hold, only to discover my desk is too small to provide adequate cover, or could it be I just need to lose weight? Jocularity aside, I’m sure the exercise stimulated discussion nationwide, and more importantly action to prepare for the big one as Hawke’s Bay is one of the most seismically active regions in New Zealand.

On Sunday morning two other significant events occurred - the clocks went forward heralding NZ summer time AND Hawke’s Bay was the first area in NZ to switch to digital TV!! I believe the two events were simultaneous and occurred at 2am. Now that’s really tempting fate.  I was bracing myself for an event akin to the mayhem predicted as the clock ticked over to the new millennium. I slept through that particular milestone and also last weekend’s historic moment. There were no hitches, as far as I’m aware.

I have no idea why TV needs to go digital but there we go it’s here. I expect it’s called progress? And on Sunday morning I’ll swear the birds were singing for joy at the top of their voices, the temperature soared to something incredible in the 20s and the Hawke’s Bay flies returned. They’re the only negative about living in The Bay as far as I’m concerned. Are the flies and extreme temperature attributable to the remarkable confluence of adjusting our clocks at exactly the same time as TV goes digital?

Going digital doesn’t seem to have affected profanity on TV. I’m certainly not alone in being dismayed with the use of certain ‘F’ and ‘C’ words. From India to London, California, Canada and beyond, the same concerns about profanity on TV are consistently raised in the media.

Thirty-seven per cent of respondents to a recent Mail online survey thought that rants from “stars” like Gordon Ramsey were too frequent. Elsewhere Jamie Oliver also comes in for some stick for using too much profanity. What is it about food that brings out the worst in personality chefs? Is cussing the norm for them? I suspect it is, having worked in the hospitality industry many moons ago when I encountered several bad tempered chefs. It’s the unbearable heat in the kitchen you know! High stress and tight deadlines - it’s not unlike being a journalist.

Apparently surveys suggest there’s also too much sex and violence on TV as well – obviously I’m watching the wrong shows as I rarely get to see sex, except on the oft repeated The Tudors which was sex, sex, sex with a bit of gratuitous history thrown in for good measure. Sex and profanity are bed partners aren’t they? But let’s leave violence to another day.

It appears that as society becomes more politically correct that our standards or permissiveness, tolerance, call it what you will, degenerates. We, the public, don’t call the shots. But did we ever? There are broadcasting standards but they soften over time, as they should to a certain extent, and some people, especially women over 55, are likely to be more offended by profanity than youngsters.

Welcome to my world.