By Jon Bridges

There is a New Zealand Music Month, but there is no New Zealand Television Month. I'm not sure if this is because we don't think our television needs as much help as our music does, or whether we think NZ TV is beyond help.

Either way, Helen's much-reported pride in the government's contribution to the success of New Zealand music has its television analogue in this speech by broadcasting minister Steve Maharey - given at the end of last year to the Screen Directors' Guild.

In it, Maharey takes credit on behalf of the government for an improvement in NZ TV from a bad time in the nineties, citing increased audiences and funding, the establishment of the charter, the invention of Maori TV, TVNZ's new channels, and Freeview. Like Helen's claims, Steve basically says "the nineties sucked, then we came along".

And I'm sure if there was a New Zealand Television Month to bring attention to the issue, some Finn-like TV statesman (like John Clarke, if he cared about NZ TV) would have a go at Maharey about it. And then John Clarke would no doubt get hit with a bottle from a disgruntled fan who wished he'd shut up and let Rage Against the Machine take the stage.

Perhaps the analogy went one step too far there, but you get the point.

In my last column I told you all about the great internet radio station Pandora. Now I have to take it all back because this week they suddenly, and very apologetically, turned off access to international listeners. Nightmare.

Pandora has been told that its license to broadcast music does not extend beyond the US borders. In an email, founder Tim Westergren said: "There's no way for a webcaster to stream legally in other countries right now, unless they have direct deals with EVERY single rightsholder, for EVERY single song, for EVERY single country to which they're streaming. Without that, they're violating copyright law. We've been told in no uncertain terms by the rightsholder organizations, to block access."

Now, some blogs I have read recommend doing the dirty with a proxy server in the States to get around this. But I don't know how to go about it, and I would also be afraid of getting anyone in trouble. (By 'anyone', I mean me.)

Other US internet radio stations, it seems, are actually streaming to New Zealand illegally, so if you listen to an internet radio station out of the USA, then you might not be for much longer.

If the international streaming issue doesn't kill our listening, then a new schedule of fees that increases the royalties that internet radio stations pay to RIAA (America's RIANZ) will most likely spell the end of many or most of them when they are brought in this July. There is a huge furore over these new royalties: internet radio stations in the States already pay more to the artists than FM stations and the new fees will treble that.

In the meantime, to cure your Pandora withdrawal, you can do what I did and sign up to Last FM. I don't like it as much as Pandora, but it does tailor a playlist to your likes and dislikes as Pandora did. And for now at least it has the advantage of still streaming to the bottom of the world. I like it for that.

The French, however, I love to hate as much as any other New Zealander who was old enough to read the paper when the Rainbow Warrior was sunk. And to my shame I share that love-to-hate with Americans. They dislike the French because of their vocal opposition to the war in Iraq, and because they have an undeniable claim on one of their most sacred institutions - the French Fry. Ironically the French and the Americans both loved to test nuclear weapons in the Pacific, but only the French took it too far in Auckland harbour. For some sensible American writing on the current Franco-American friction, see this new article on Salon.com from the brilliant Bill Maher.

And finally this week, a plea. Spencer Tunick is the famous photographer of nudes who gathers groups of nude people in special places and photographs them. On May 6, in Mexico City he gathered almost 20,000 people - his largest undertaking yet. This Washington Post story has a picture of the event - which looks brilliant.

What I think is that we should bring him to New Zealand. Surely it would be worth more good publicity than the America's Cup? Just think - you are checking brochures and wondering where in the world to visit. Do you go to the place where they have a fast boat, or the place where the people are famously and artistically in the nuddy? It's a no-brainer.

The only question is where Mr Tunick would choose to set his shot. In front of the Beehive? On a snowfield? All over an America's Cup boat on the sea? A hundred of us all with our gruts off, riding a whale? Filling up a rugby field with bodies? To me, these are all great ideas. Or what about making a Gordon Walters painting by filling the Domain with carefully-arranged dark and pale bodies? Now that's almost too much art! If the good Mr Tunick doesn't want to come, I'll do it myself.