On March 5, New Zealand held its census. And for four months starting next Monday, 25 March voting-age New Zealanders of Māori descent will have the option of switching between the Māori and general electoral rolls. The results of the…
The following is my column for the November 2012 issue of Red Bulletin magazine. In the context of the Cultural Hero walls (reach in and give!) and a fairly lively related debate on Twitter (not to mention our Capture blog's…
Askew One's painting of the late Ralph Hotere recently brought alive a dull wall in the Auckland suburb of Kingsland -- and, indeed, lifted the whole neighbourhood. ¶ There was an extra resonance that most won't have been aware of. Askew's…
If you hadn't noticed -- and there's no particular reason you should have -- the launch of the new foodie service My Food Bag, was accompanied by a lot of social media chatter last week, some of it organic and…
It's not unusual these days for the chief executive of a television company to be new to broadcasting. Rick Ellis came from an IT background to head TVNZ. His protege Jason Paris, a marketing guy, had only two or three…
I don't know if you've ever played around with DJ software, but here's the thing: for ordinary home use, most DJ apps suck. I'm not saying they're lacking features, I'm saying they are weighed down with way too many features,…
Millions of words have been spent on secrets, lies and Wikileaks in the past three years, but we have had to wait a long time to hear from the quiet man at the centre of it all: Pfc Bradley Manning.…
Shortly after this year's Laneway Auckland, I received an email from Auckland Tourism Events and Development (ATEED) asking me how my day had been. I'm not sure how they got my email -- I hope it was in the fine…
Five years ago, we lived in a house over the fence from Middleton Grange's school auditorium. Some mornings, when I went to hang the washing out, I'd hear the cheerful strains of Queen coming from that hall, and it really…
So stupid. An instinctive act of dumb that lead to one of the most shameful and powerless moments of my life. ¶ There I was, passing a couple of bucks over the counter at a cinema in downtown Lima when a…
Last week I ventured south, starting in Nelson, and then a wonderful weekend in Christchurch, where several of the Public Address massive provided excellent hospitality. Cheers Emma, Lilith, Stephen J, Isabel and Ian D (and friends). Was great to meet…
Hello! I wrote up the following for this week's Media3, but it didn't make the cut. I thought it might make for a conversation-starter here ... ¶ Blade runner and murder accused Oscar Pistorius made the cover of Time magazine last…
Here's a game I play with friends: we talk about ministers of broadcasting and who has actually been any good. in the past 20-odd years. It gets hard quite quickly. ¶ The longest-serving Minister of Broadcasting in the present era has…
To my knowledge, I have only met one gay member of the New Zealand defence forces: a young soldier I spoke with a couple of years ago. He was handsome, poised and confident. Inevitably, I asked him whether his sexuality…
The last time I went to see my hairdresser, Shayne, I had something in mind -- apart, of course from having my hair cut. Shayne is a music fan and we always talk about music (amusingly, my tastes are reliably…
"Can America Be Fixed?" asks the cover line of last month's Foreign Affairs magazine. Inside, Fareed Zakaria's essay of that title faults the US -- and other Western economies for failing to address and adapt to changign economic circumstances, positing…
No one expected outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderon to make the speech he made to the UN General Assembly in September 2012. Calderon, the staunch drug warrior, called time on the Drug War. ¶ He begged member states – and in particular…
Some time later this year the Criminal Procedure Act will enter into force. There are major changes to the procedure, many (I suspect most) for the better. It also contains the first amendment to the New Zealand Bill of Rights…
There is some kind of slow slide, between the first anniversary of something and the tenth, where it gradually loses significance. It becomes less fraught, impinges on your consciousness less. This is particularly striking for me because every anniversary of…
British indie legends The Wedding Present play their first New Zealand show at the King's Arms tonight, then the San Francisco Bath House in Wellington On Saturday. Our in-house Wedding Present superfan Renee Jones caught up with singer Dave Gedge…
The call by Wellington coroner Ian Smith last week for a law change to make hi-viz clothing compulsory for all cyclists, just as helmets are now, got a lot of coverage but precious little scrutiny on Friday. ¶ In his report…
As you would expect, Counties-Manukau police get a good rap in the new series of Crime Exposed on TV3. Such is the practuce of reality cop shows. But it can be a different matter when the police aren't in control…
The Auckland Pride Parade took to Ponsonby Road today as part of the Auckland Pride Festival. While it differed in many ways from the Hero Parades I remember from 1992 and beyond, it was still a great day, and I,…
One of the skills of releasing music independently in the present age is getting your hype right. Home Brew did it right last year when, after a highly visible build-up, their self-titled album went instantly to the top of the…
Richard Prosser's belated apology for his mad, racist "Wogistan" column in Investigate magazine this morning capped the retreat commenced by his party leader Winston Peters and his editor Ian Wishart. But while everyone's washing their hands, it's worth noting that…