Posts Tagged fiji

Flash Mobs. Now in Fiji.

Posted by Wilson in advertising, suva, Vodafone on November 29, 2011

There’s a certain barometer to judge the progress of a country’s awareness to pop culture and the like. Inserting ‘lol’ in your conversation, Chuck Norris jokes, hating on Twilight, Jersey Shore quotes, and Star Wars in all its prequel and original glory. While certain points of awareness pass without much fanfare and/or recognition, with the advance of the internet, it’s becoming easier to crow about your achievements to the (online) world.

Flash mobs are a particularly tricky feat. There’s people to organise, a venue to be chosen and scoped out, security to be noted, a crowd to appreciate your antics and not least of all, not having someone crash your carefully rehearsed play.

Vodafone has stepped up and claimed the country’s ‘first’ ever Flash Mob title, if ever there was one, done at the 2nd floor of MHCC in Suva City.

Using what looks like a combination of Zumba dance swings and country step movements, the ‘brought to you by Vodafone’ flash dance squad catches the MHCC food floor crowd by surprise when a girl initially starts the action, prompting worrying glances of ‘Friday Night party rockers still on the loose’. Thankfully when the rest of the mob joined in (albit a bit too quick I reckon, the video does stretch for awhile when the whole group forms up) it became a bit more obvious this was something planned.

Although, if it wasn’t for the ‘VODAFONE!’ screaming at the end with their shirts ripping open to reveal (thankfully) Vodafone shirts, then it could have been a Bollywood movie come alive. Now that’s a proper flash mob.

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Blast from the Past: A Photographic Past

Posted by Wilson in Blast from the past, fiji, history on June 7, 2009


Blast From The Past is a weekly (or somewhere around that timeframe, as I claim ‘Fiji Time’ as my defendent) post of scans from a 1969 Fiji Times paper which also doubled as a 100 year anniversary issue look back at 1869. Every week one page scan will be posted, allowing you to have a read of issues, politics and topics that was the Fiji of the past.

Most of you may be aware of one of the oldest photography studios in Fiji (it was opened in 1904), Caines Jannif Limited, located opposite Suva Central in town. But what I wasn’t aware of was another photography company that operated back in pre-independence days, and seemed to be the major photo studio of its era. Of course, I say seemed to since buying a full page advert is as expensive as it was back then as it is now. If your company can afford a full page ad, then its safe to say that you’re a big player in company circles ;)
Stinsons Ltd comes out with all guns blazing in this ad that’s meant to pull at your ‘old is gold’ heart strings. Starting in the old days of 1869, thanks in part to Fiji Times, they’ve come a long way, photographing historic moments and places of Fiji, with their most prolific era around the 1940s and 50s, where they were official photographers for the movie “His Majesty O’Keefe” as well as the devastating hurricane that left 35 people dead, and 1,109 people injured.
Here’s one of their pictures of Victoria Parade in Suva. For more of their pictures, check out the Just Pacific’s website.

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Blast From The Past: Fiji and 1969/1869

Posted by Wilson in Blast from the past, fiji, history on May 31, 2009

1869 is a very long time ago. A very, very long time ago. During that time, celluloid was invented, the Suez Canal is opened in a grand ceremony, and Night at the Museum’s playground ‘The American Museum of National History’ is founded. More closer to home, the Fiji Times newspaper had just started out, a fledgling little newspaper, and as newspapers go, had much to report on, with history in the making. In those days, Levuka was still the centre of Fiji, Civil unrest is on the rise, Britian starts to take a very strong interest in the islands, and powerplay amongst the chiefs reached new heights with the introduction of weapons and foreign powers.
Pretty heady times indeed.
While being of long ago, copies of the papers have been kept over the years, and as luck would have it, I’ve managed to secure a scanned copy of an issue of the Fiji Times all the way from 1969, which is still quite a long time ago. As in, I wasn’t even born long time ago. In this particular issue, they’ve brought out the archives and reprinted the Fiji Times as per 1869, and as such, have granted the readers a chance to peer into the past and see what Fiji was like, in both 1869 as well as 1969.
Blast From The Past is going to be a new weekly (or somewhere around that timeframe, as I claim ‘Fiji Time’ as my defendent) post, and will go through 1 page a week, allowing you to have a read of issues, politics and topics that formed the news in those days. To read the page in detail simply click the picture to load a close up version.

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Fiji is cool…really

Posted by Wilson in fiji, funny on March 30, 2009

Yet another abuse (or free marketing? You decide!) of our country’s name.

Earlier I scoffed at the idea of placing a copyright symbol on “Fiji“, but after seeing this, I’m starting to get slightly nervous. If Fiji can be used with air conditioners, whats next? Fiji Woopie cushions? Fiji replica katanas? Or…God forbid – Fiji FijiansTM – Straight from the islands of Fiji!
Scary thoughts indeed.
PS: Yo dawg I heard you like fijians, so I put a fijian in your fiji, so you can have a Fiji while in Fiji. Dawg.

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Lost in Fiji

Posted by Allen in fiji, lost, music, natadola on January 28, 2009

Yesterday I was involved in a discussion about the TV show Lost. I ended up mentioning how I “lost” interest in the show after Season 1, ok it was actually Season 3 but only because I was intrigued about the monster.

Further discussion led to myself staking claim that the survivors from the plane crash were actually stranded on an island in Fiji. Interestingly enough, I relied on google to help me search online for much needed evidence i.e. conspiracy theories from fans, to support my claim. It was through that search that I came across a band called “Lost in Fiji”, which is …a brand spankin’ new pop band based in London.

What a pleasant surprise, since it is a band from the UK and their sound is different to that offered by our popular local artists. The mainstay of music in this country is reggae.

I am not quite sure as to how the band’s name came about. Updates and information on the band can found on their MySpace and Facebook profiles.

As another google search bonus, I also came across a cool video which is a parody on Lost made on Natadola beach (in case you didn’t know) in Fiji.


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