Back in my young tear away days, everything is relative, when I worked for Television New Zealand and was in the Head Office [Wellington] Newsroom [ Bowen Street opposite the Reserve Bank] [ Richard Prebble's swimming pool at a later stage] there was a ceremony at Government House and later around lunchtime the Gov Gen was to visit the actual Station WNTV-1 [ or was it WNTV-2 ... long time ago 1964 or so ] Dowling Street rings a bell.
Anyway the idea was that as the editor responsible for cutting the film I had to go out to the National Film Unit in Miramar [ Where I gather Peter Jackson enterprises now hangs out ] and pick up the film and bring it back to TV News next to Parliament Buildings. Of course things ran late and I had been given a false early deadline by my damm fool supervisor, no names no pack drill,so I was in a hurry. Actually innitially I was doing 60 in a 60 area and approaching an intersection at the end of the runway. In front of me was a cop car indicating a left turn so I charged past him across the empty intersection. Clear visibility in all directions. [ If you cannot trust a B&W to go where he was indicating who can you trust? ] Of course my car was a TV one and the other younger tearaways [reporters] were always speeding on news stories etc so it was a red rag to the traffic cop. [ In those days TVNZ had just two staff cameramen, one doing doco's and one for News, I was part time cameraman too when not editing] He came after me and I foolishly, or maybe in the long term sensibily, kept my speed at 35mph until the Haititai [?] Tunnel when he pulled me over. Gave me the option of dangerous driving across the intersection or speeding at 45mph. I took the latter and went to court, never thinking to get a lawyer and perhaps having the cop on.
Judge Scully on the bench, his daughter had worked for HOTV News with me before going on OE, and I listened to a lawyer defending a truck driver with ten years driving experience and first time up. My turn came and I started that I had more years experience and Judge Scully quipted " But not the first time you have gone over the limit ". Obviously correct and I didn't know what to say.... Jeez! ... the Court had a good laugh and I then made my excuse of not wanting to keep the Gov Gen waiting to see the film of him and was fined three pounds and thirty shillings costs.
Pretty light I guess but I think I earnt about 20 pounds a fourtnight in thos days.
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2 comments:
Bloody hell - you are ancient! I started my chequered career as a "copy boy" in that same building across the road from No. 1 The Terrace, only it was Radio New Zealand in 1977!
Were you in the news business in Wellington on 10 April 1968?
No I had left for AKTV-2 and in actual fact had subsequently been transfered to DNTV-2 by '68 and had married on $30 a fourtnight. Yes long ago :-)
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