Backbencher

The magazine North & South, which was the Newsstand Magazine of the Year in 2006, has a number of interesting articles, and also gives a person a feel for the country of New Zealand. This March 2007 issue was titled Sour Grapes: Inside The Wither Hills Wine Scandal. Since I don’t care much of grapes and wine, I chose to read a few different articles. The first article was written by Virginia Larson and was titled Crime & Again. The article talked about the frequency of crime in New Zealand, and how a person is robbed by their staff, customers, and at least once a year by thugs. This article really got my attention because I am a Criminal Justice major, and also when I think of New Zealand, I think of a calm, peaceful, crime-free country. The author also talks about the police force and how it is basically non-existent. She says that cops will not respond to shoplifting calls, and will actually chew a person out for using the emergency line for something so little. According to the cops, an agreement has been made that insurance investigators will take care of such cases so cops don’t have to worry about it. Another article I read was titled River Wizz and was written by Mike White. This article was about Peter Gordon, a white water rafting legend who has been at the sport for twenty three years. Gordon’s nickname is Wizz, and he is just that when he is on the water rafting. The article basically talked about Gordon’s love for rafting and how enjoyable a time it can be. The North & South magazine also had a number of scenery pictures along with a ton of ads. The magazine was weird to look through because many of the people wear different clothes in the pictures that we would in the US, and also the writing in the articles was worded differently. The issues were also very different than issues you would find in the US. Talk about grapes & wine, horse racing, and international polo tournaments filled the pages. It was very interesting to read, but the sports were very different, and the whole feel of the magazine was quite different than something you would find in the US.