This seems to be a bit of a week for government ministers being snippy on the socials. On the heels of Judith Collins unloading on her critics on Twitter comes this today from arts minister Chris Finlayson: ¶ Admit it, @grantrobertson1,…

Last week, I saw Lawrence Arabia play solo on a Tuesday night. This week I saw SJD play solo on a Wednesday. And I didn't have to go into the CBD or stay up stupidly late to do it. I…

As part of the deal with the government announced this morning, SkyCity will -- along with a range of other concessions and favours -- be allowed to install 230 more pokie machines in exchange for building and operating an international…

I doubt that anyone would have anticipated that one of 2013's television hits would have been captured by the cameras of Parliament TV, yet that is what happened. In concert with a level of social media chatter usually reserved for…

Fiona and I celebrated her birthday on Tuesday night with dinner at Coco's Cantina (free-range veal Milanese ftw!) and then Lawrence Arabia's show at Golden Dawn. We literally walked into the venue just as he started playing, and gee, it…

It was never likely that Len Brown would stand unopposed for the Auckland mayoralty this year. Indeed, he wouldn't want to: being a consensus candidate is all very well, but it's a lot easier to claim a mandate when you've…

The recent Boston Marathon bombing and the events that followed it were a predictable, unpredictable news phenomenon. More people died in another soulcrushing purge in Syria and in the bewildering series of assasinations that were engulfing the Pakistani elections, but…

Statement of the obvious: New Zealand Music Month, May of every year,  plays no role at all in the current government's political branding. The New Zealand Music Commission is pretty much left to get on with it. Although Arts minister…

Last week was both a bad week and a good week for 22 year-old Ben Uffindell, the founder of the fledgling (eight weeks old!) satirical website The Civilian.  It was bad because he was threatened with legal action by Conservative…

One of the things I try to do when I blog is to know what I don't know. I don't always keep to that maxim, of course, and when I  do it tends to limit the scope of the blog.…

Heavy metal has a dread secret: the majority of people who play and enjoy the music are actually really nice. But please don't tell anyone. And especially don't publish any career-ending tweets like this one from John  Campbell. ¶ Dear All,…

As most of you will know, Maori Television's Anzac Day coverage has become one of its broadcast taonga -- and they're all lined up to do the job again tomorrow. Note that at 7am tomorrow, they'll be screening Cameron Bennett's…

I understand why London Mayor Boris Johnson pitched his city's near-billion-pound plan for cycle infrastructure as a bid to "de-Lycrafy cycling". The idea that cycling takes special clothing isn't particularly helpful in emphasising riding a bike as a normal, everyday…

Tomorrow is Record Store Day and I need to make a confession. I don't go to record stores. Well, not much anyway, and more often to browse than to buy. Which is odd given that over the years I've not…

For the great majority of those celebrating last night's marriage equality vote -- those who can already wed their chosen, or who have no wish to do so -- the victory in the House was symbolic. And that is appropriate.…

There is rising concern about sexually explicit material in new media forms to which teenagers are exposed. An official report sounds the alarm about unprecedented sexual precociousness among girls and makes a string of recommendations to government … ¶  That was in…