Two Ticks

Like most people, I get notifications of new videos posted to the YouTube Channels I subscribe to, and one of them, the video “Two Ticks” (above), was posted to the NZ Electoral Commission’s YouTube Channel. I instantly thought, "hang on, I’ve seen that guy somewhere…” I worked out where, but then realised I’d forgotten to post it on this blog at the time. Oops.

I recognised the guy and his singing from an earlier video of his, “Family Lockdown Boogie” (below), and I was sure I’d shared it when he released it, during our lockdown. On April 6, I shared the video to my personal Facebook and said:

This is a real Wellington family. The song was written by Jack Buchanan (the son), who talked about the video on TVNZ's "Breakfast" programme this morning. He said that his parents and sister didn't need any persuasion to take part. He also said there was a LOT of rehearsal but that wasn't a problem because everyone has a lot of time on their hands at the moment. He also said that the choreography is by his friend Anna Robinson, who videoed herself making the moves, and then they all watched that to learn the moves—lockdown was not violated nor bubbles burst.

There are a lot of videos (of varying quality…) being made to entertain/amuse during this difficult time, but this one made me smile, so I'm sharing it.

Yeah, well, “sharing it” turned out to mean on Facebook only. I may have skipped it on the blog because on April 6 I published a post with the Queen’s broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth. Maybe I thought the Queen’s broadcast was too “serious” to be posted the same day as a lighthearted humour video?

As it happens, I posted that video to Facebook after I’d started a blog post with some lockdown videos from around the world, and “Family Lockdown Boogie” was to be at the top of that post, which is probably why I thought I’d shared it. I put the draft post aside, intending to return to it at some point. Unfortunately, I kept forgetting, and then it eventually seemed kind of pointless.

In any event, we’re here now, eh? I think the video up top really does help explain New Zealand’s MMP electoral system, though I realise it’s not for everyone. Still, I saw a comment on the YouTube post (yeah, I ignored my own advice and read the comments) that said, “As an American in New Zealand, I genuinely learned a lot about a system I previously knew nothing about! Not that I can vote here anyway…” Clearly not a Permanent Resident or Citizen, then.

I don’t think there are absolute “right” or “wrong” ways to talk about or explain MMP, but some are more effective for some people than for others who, in turn, will find other methods better. It’s how we humans work for pretty much everything. Nevertheless, I like the video, though I wish it was in higher resolution, but maybe that would’ve been contrary to the homemade aesthetic he seemed to be going for. I do like the video down below better, though (Arthur's Law, of course).

In any event, kudos to the Electoral Commission for posting “unconventional” videos to their channel. It’s a good thing to do, and it will hopefully increase interest in voting. We hope.