Now we've lost the most important NZ Knight what about creating another?

Come on Liz what about Sir Neil Finn - the greatest living Kiwi?

OK I'm English but I'm not a huge fan of the English Honours system. Its far to skewed towards goverment officials getting honours for just doing their jobs or celebrities for being celebrities. Personally I think honours should go to people who really go out their way to serve their communities and to help others: community leaders, scout leaders, youth leaders etc. People who commit their lives to helping other and never expect any finacial reward.

So yes Neil is great and all that but Sir Neil? Personally I'd completely abolish the Honours sytem or complelety rejig it. Currently it sucks.

Sir Neil?! Completely unnecessary + pretentious.
Neil is an astounding, genuine human being in his own right. He has the overwhelming love and respect of his family, friends and fans. No title required!

Could be wrong here but i thought that Neil and Tim were already OBE's

We no longer have the knight/dame system here in NZ. The powers-that-be decided a few years ago that it wasn't relevant to us anymore. Neil would have to receive one directly from the Queen. But yes, Flat Four, Tim and Neil do have OBEs.

I'm glad to see the back of the old imperial honours system. But your avatar, Semi-Detached, almost makes me almost wish it was still around so I could see the investiture of Sir Hamish, Sir David, and Sir Robert. Anything Could Happen, as the Clean AND Neil Finn both said in their very different ways.

Why sully his image by making him an irrelevant Sir?

Overfed plonkers in the main IMHO

quote:

OK I'm English but I'm not a huge fan of the English Honours system. Its far to skewed towards goverment officials getting honours for just doing their jobs or celebrities for being celebrities. Personally I think honours should go to people who really go out their way to serve their communities and to help others: community leaders, scout leaders, youth leaders etc. People who commit their lives to helping other and never expect any finacial reward.

So yes Neil is great and all that but Sir Neil? Personally I'd completely abolish the Honours sytem or complelety rejig it. Currently it sucks.

Agree - It's all elitist bull***t - I've always wondered why anyone would accept anything from a family who come from a long line of Robber Barons

I think the "Sir" bit is pretty dang cool for some people, but I don't think it fits Neil's personality. When you've got someone whose persona has been swaggering like nobility for ages already, it's kind of a neat tongue-in-cheek joke for the royals to slap a "Sir" on him. Like David Bowie would be perfect, for instance (or has he already got one?).

I do agree that the celebrity-heaviness of knighthoods of late has made it a rather dubious (or at least, frivolous) honor.

Not everyone in New York would pay to see Andrew Lloyd Webber, but they still gave him a knighthood didn't they? :-) If Neil ever does receive such an honour, let's hope his trousers don't fall down as he bows to the queen and the crown.

quote:

Not everyone in New York would pay to see Andrew Lloyd Webber, but they still gave him a knighthood didn't they? :-) If Neil ever does receive such an honour, let's hope his trousers don't fall down as he bows to the queen and the crown.

LOL

"It was no sacrifice to get rid of the MBE because it was an embarrassment" - John Lennon

It's the least the Empire can do now.

Afterall they gave Kylie Minogue an OBE.
Please!!



Gentle hum
Lucky Lady

A suggestion of Sir Neil Finn?

Isn't this taken fandom to it's immediate lunacy?

Had the same reaction with Kylie receiving an honour. Obviously these people haven't heard her latest album called "X". It should have been called "XXXX" as this is usually the reaction when people hear it. And surely she would've been aware that INXS and Def Leppard had already used that title!

No, Sir Neil Finn is a sad suggestion and Not Going To Happen.

I have a very faint memory of the Finn boys turning down honours in the very early ninties. For some reason I recall Tim pointing out that O.B.E. are the first three letters in 'obedience.' Anyone else recall this?

Greatest Living Kiwi?

I love Neil to bits and constantly admire his incredible talent and not forgetting the fact that he is genuinely a really nice man, but I beg to differ here.

I'm sure New Zealand has it's fair share of wonderful human beings like those that save lives daily, continue research that leads to life saving treatments, continue the fight for a nuclear free world, continually donate their time and effort to look after the poor and needy, sick and dying - look I could go on but you get the general idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Zephyr:
For some reason I recall Tim pointing out that O.B.E. are the first three letters in 'obedience.'

That is classic!

The prince says he pushed wheelbarrows, filled trenches and worked up a sweat, saying: "It would be wrong for a patron of a charity to not get involved." seen here helping to revamp a school for disabled children in the impoverished African kingdom of Lesotho.


I'm not a fan of the Monarchy at all - but I must give credit where credit is due,I think Harry has his mothers heart,and he must cop a hell of a lot of flack for purely being a royal.It does appear that he really does care.Yes it is fair to say that I admire Harry for his efforts.

I guess it's also fair to say that the caring people amongst us try to do what we can to make life better for those who do not have even the basics of life's necessities ... clean water/enough food/decent shelter/education.Things that we all take for granted.I seem to recall a certain Photo of Neil standing among a group of wafer thin starving people,that must have affected him profoundly.And how great it is to see him support Peter,like many of us here with the Frenz fundraiser.If people were to be chosen for a Knighthood purely for their charitable work .. that would be more than ok for me.But to be selected for a Knighthood because one is a Movie/Rock star,and because one filled up the chest with siver and gold ... that to me is just plain crass.

It certainly seems the criteria for knighthood have changed. It's perhaps unavoidable that its associations and mystique have suffered a bit for it.

Explorers are thin on the ground these days. Some might say the world has run out of explorers, in consequence of there being no place left to explore. I say that our greatest artists and musicians are the pioneers of the human heart!

That could be seen as a bit of devil's advocacy there. I admit that when it comes to knighthood, I'm not the biggest booster of the institution. But I'm sincere in my belief that in terms of their contributions to humanity (or whatever..."The Realm"), there are great musicians who are every bit the equal of explorers, scientists, and military greats of yore who customarily got Sir'd.

I'm not in agreement with that.
Music is so subjective. As far as "contributions to humanity" go, there is a very long line of musicians, singers, actors - where does the criteria line go?
Great songs/songwriting? Well who's opinion is that going to be based on?
Musical sales? Give Britney Spears one then.(I know she's American, just making a point)

I'm not saying they shouldn't be recognised but there are awards for entertainers already. They are recognised in their fields.
Even great entertainers who have contributed to helping the needy and suffering have a long way to go before they reach the status of Sir Edmund Hillary (who wasn't just an explorer).

And then on the other hand, thinking back to the classic tales of Arthurianisms and such in days of olde when Knights were bolde...you could pretty much cop a "Sir" just for kicking the right guy's a**.

And then pledging to continue to do so on behalf of the King, of course.

I just thought that a necessary counterbalance. When discussing the depths to which knighthood has fallen, we should consider the depths from which knighthood has sprung.