They all look so happy and contented together!

There are a very small number of people who have that file. Bradley Ambrose and the senior staff of the Herald on Sunday and TV3. Will any of them be brave enough to admit they did it? I will say I don’t think it is anyone from the Herald on Sunday. To be fair to them, they didn’t publish the tape originally, and it was TV3 that turned it into a daily circus.

I said before the election it was inevitable it would come out at some stage.

The recording is on You Tube (uploaded by 2Johns2Cups), plus two other locations. I’m not providing a direct link due to the questionable legality, but I do not believe saying where it has been published (as I have done) makes me a publisher, anymore than when newspapers reported Whale Oil had broken a suppression order (which sent everyone off to his site).

The irony is that the recording is quite benign, as the PM has said. The media beat this up into a nonsense, that just lowered their standing with most New Zealanders.

Hopefully this release will mean that we can all move on now, except of course we await the Police decision on the legality of making the recording.

Please do not post a direct link in the comments.

Stuff reports:

A hopeful groom-to-be suffered the most public of rejections when his proposal at a basketball game was blocked in front of hundreds of fans.

The young man got down on one knee at the UCLA game in California and pulled out a ring live on the stadium’s “mistletoe cam” just before Christmas.

“I knew I was going to do this the first day I met you, so I know this is going to sound corny but … will you marry me?” he said.

But rather than a happy yes, the young woman shook her head.

Her boyfriend could only watch in horror as she grabbed her bag and left the area to jeers from the crowd.

In politics there is a saying, that you should never ask a question that you do not already know the answer to.

I think the same maxim should apply to marriage proposals – or at least public marriage proposals.

A successful public marriage proposal can be sweet and endearing and a memory to last a lifetime. But you should not be doing it unless you are absolutely sure what the answer will be.

This video from overseas is even better. Watch the lion literally try and get its mouth around the little toddler, but stopped by the glass. The toddler is quite sanguine about the lion trying to eat him.

A very good compilation. Lots of old footage. Hat Tip: Stuff

Stuff reports:

A choir of wives of soldiers serving in Afghanistan topped the British singles charts this week, beating X Factor winners Little Mix to the Christmas No. 1 spot and outselling the rest of the top 12 put together.

Wherever You Are by Military Wives, a song written using excerpts from letters sent between military couples, sold 556,000 copies, the Official Charts Company said.

All proceeds from the single go to The Royal British Legion and the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families Association.

A nice reminder of how so many military families have to spend Xmas apart, doing their duty.

I was reading up about buffalo after seeing some, and how they were often quite altruistic. That lead me to this story about an amazing eight minute video shot in 2005 called Battle at Kruger.

You see the lions sitting in wait on the small group of buffalo. As they get close, they pounce and the lions chase a couple of adult buffalo and a young buffalo. One of the lions tackles the young buffalo knocking him into the water. Three or four lions start mauling him and pulling him out of the water.

At this stage a crocodile grabs the young buffalo, who becomes the meant in a tug-of-war sandwich between lions and the crocodile. Eventually the lions win and drag the buffalo onshore.

Just as they start their meal, well have you ever seen a film where the cavalry charge in and save the day? Just watch this video. Incredible sights and amazing someone was there to record it.

Whale shows us what Middle Earth would look like under Labour’s industrial relations policy. Enjoy and share.

I honestly don’t know what to say.

I just hope the poor bastards are being paid at least the minimum wage for that.

Perhaps Labour could use this as their televised opening address? Hell, I think National should use it as their televised opening address!

TV3′s political reporter Paddy Gower lost a bet to the Green Party about who would win the USA versus Russia Rugby World Cup match. Paddy reckoned Russia, and the Greens had their money on the USA.

This must be the first time in history that Keith Locke backed the USA over Russia

Unfortunately for Paddy, the USA cleaned up 13 points to 6 so he had to came along to the Greens Caucus meeting and sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Someone has edited many different clips of Nigella Lawson together to form a rather x-rated clip. NSFW but rather funny.

Heh some nice music to the North Korean military parade.

Heh. Someone has done a Downfall mashup about the Rugby World Cup organisation. Not the best Downfall parody out there but still pretty funny in parts, and topical.

It’s a video that has melted the hearts of hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Laboratory chimpanzees at a research facility in Austria were filmed stepping into daylight for the first time after decades in captivity – and they did not hide their joy.

They peered out of an open door, uncertain at first, before hugging each other and taking their first steps around the sunlit outdoor compound, climbing to the top of the trees to look at the views outside.

German television network RTL broadcast the footage on Sunday, and different YouTube versions of the 10 chimpanzees exploring the outside world for the first time have since attracted more than 130,000 hits.

The chimpanzees, who were part of tests for a pharmaceutical company since they were infants, were freed from captivity after a 14-year battle, the Daily Mail reported.

The video is below. Very moving and wonderful.

Note the video is now the English language version.

Came across this by chance. It’s the cast of Hogan’s Heroes in a Xmas show with Bing Crosby. Schulz and Klink singing in German is superb.

Ignore the ad for the first minute.

Brings back great memories.

Am amazing video showing Catherine Destivelle climbing cliff faces with no ropes or safety gear. Incredible strength and agility.

Family First have done this video to bolster their argument that some parents have been prosecuted for trivial acts of parental discipline.

While I have to say I’m largely over the debate (and I think most Kiwis are also), my view is the same as in 2007 – that the law should be changed in line with the Borrows amendment which would actually define reasonable force, and apply it to all situations where parents may need to use some force.