While most of us will be easing down today thought a few nerds will still be interested in the fact that I have written to the Speaker following Brownlee’s Hobbit comments and the release on the facts.
Will continue to look at Key’s comments but to date his most blatant misleading appears to be of the media.
Letter below (more…)
Clare’s link to the Coldplay Christmas song was nice and everything, but for a real, true and gritty Christmas tune there is no going past The Pogues and Kristy McColl’s Fairytale of New York. I have even been known to belt this out on Christmas Eve in the odd pub or two. Enjoy.
In the debate on the legislation to merge Archives New Zealand and the National Library, which we have strongly opposed, the Minister responsible Nathan Guy quoted from a Crown Law opinion about the impact this would have on the statutory roles of the Chief Archivist and National Librarian. When Ministers quote from official documents in the House they have to table it for others to read.
Initially Nathan Guy did not want to table the documents, then when he had to do so, he started to alter the document with a twink pen. This is a big no-no. Once a document is tabled it should be available to other members. Not to mention the irony that this was all happening in a debate about the independence of the Chief Archivist, the person responsible for the depositing of government documents.
In any case it has now given Nathan Guy a new nickname. Minister Twinky is born.
As previously discussed here, the merger of the National Library and Archives New Zealand into the Department of Internal Affairs is a piece of epic back to the future nonsense. The report of the Select Committee is out, including an extensive minority report from Labour.
Now it is out I wanted, and the submissions made to the Committee are public I wanted to highlight two comments from those who were involved when Archives NZ was last part of DIA. A former Chief Archivist said
“thousands of unique items that have relevance today have been lost by fire, water, vermin and indifference”.
Another said
“the past management of the archives function has an unfortunate history, characterised by arrested development, lack of resourcing, poor understanding, litigation, rancour and distrust”
and that ladies and gentlemen is what the government want to take us back to.
{Please note this post was written London time last night and scheduled to appear several hours later well before we knew of the second blast at Pike River. It does not seem appropriate now, but as it is up I will leave it. See next post for thoughts on Pike River. Grant} (more…)
Yep, you read that right. That title is the headline of a story on the NBR website (subscribers only). Essentially the story is that the contract for organising the opening ceremony and some other events have gone to an Australian company ahead of several New Zealand companies who were bidding. This apparently includes the firm who are responsible for the Tourism NZ giant rugby ball that has been touring the globe promoting the Cup.
This is a shocker. As a country we pride ourselves on having some of the best creative talent in the world, with a proven track record of delivery. The creative sector is a growing and important part of our cultural and economic life. Here was a chance to showcase that talent to the world at the fourth largest sports tournament in the world, and its gone off-shore.
The other element to the story is that the Minister’s paw prints are apparently all over the decision. This comes as no surprise. His reputation gained in the 90s for interfering in operations (think Tourism) is back again. Stories are rife from MFAT about his role, in addition to his part in the Party Central debacle.
This certainly re-enforces my view that giving McCully the right to veto or overturn the decision of the authority being set up to make urgent decisions around the Rugby World Cup (as the Bill before Parliament effectively does) is absolutely the wrong decision and potentially dangerous to the success of the event.
UPDATE: 3News are reporting that Martin Sneddon is saying that a final decision has not been made yet, but that creative content of the ceremony will be mostly if not entirely from NZ. McCully’s office are telling NBR he was not involved in “awarding” contracts.
And just to make the point, Wellington hosted a very cool musical weekend this past couple of days. Saturday saw Rufus Wainwright and Sunday (and again tonight) Leonard Cohen. I did not make it to Rufus, but I did see Leonard last night. He was simply stunning. I would not class myself as a fan, at least until last night. I have heard plenty of Leonard songs over the years, and spent many of my Friday nights as a student warbling along to So Long Marianne played by the house band (Bits of Spaghetti) at the Robbie Burns, but seeing him in person was something else. A fitter 76 year old you would struggle to find. Intense, captivating, amazing.
In any case, to celebrate, here is Rufus playing Leonard. I dont class myself as religious in any sense, but this song has it all.
Just got back from the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. These awards were created a few years ago to acknowledge senior New Zealand writers. They are prestigious awards that recongise New Zealand writers for their careers, and have a significant monetary component to go with the honour.
This year’s recipients were James McNeish (non-fiction), Cilla McQueen (poetry) and my dear friend Joy Cowley (fiction). All thoroughly deserved. It was interesting to hear McNeish say it was his first ever award. Hard to believe for a writer of such talent. Also great to have the Michael King Fellowship award formally handed over (already announced) to Kate De Goldi. Kate is using the fellowship to write about the incredible work of Susan Price from Wellington of giving books to children from her vast children’s book collection.
These awards are clearly very special for those who receive them, and their families and friends. It is therefore incredibly disappointing that for the second year running the PM was a no-show. Worse still this year there was not even a message noting his apology or absence. I know he is a busy man, but these awards are in his name, and part of the reason they were created was to elevate New Zealand writing to a higher level in the public consciousness.
Anyway, a huge congratulations to all the winners. Here is one of Cilla’s poems, no doubt written from her home in Bluff.
FOVEAUX EXPRESS
Diesel sounds aromatic
magenta, oxblood,
mineral smooth
any how as boronia
swivel that levers
a shoepolish lid,
key curls oily metal.
Poetry takes you apart,
puts you back different
as this day’s passage
on shapeshifting water,
one to another island
swift as the stroke
of a pen the toothed strait
on the whale’s path
chewed through, islets
scattered between,
text in motion
gimballed on muscling
swells, word-ware, cargo.
Today I had a real privilege at select committee. We were hearing submissions on the government’s bill to, among other things, merge Archives NZ and the National Library into the Department of Internal Affairs. Now, sometimes hearing submissions, while great for the democratic process, can be tough going. But not today. We heard from some of foremost former public servants; a former Chief Archivist, a former Parliamentary Librarian, plus people who care about Archives and Library and give their time to support them.
Their submissions were coherent, passionate, challenging and had practical suggestions for changes to a Bill that they all oppose in principle. Have a listen to the piece from Checkpoint today (at 18.54)
The key message we got was that the Bill and the proposed structure that will see the Chief Archivist and National Librarian as third tier managers at DIA will undermine the indepdendence of these key constitutional and democratic institutions. This is not just opinion. Archives was part of DIA in the 1990s, and the Chief Archivist at that time told us today that he had little influence over decisions and wasted a huge amount of time trying to be heard internally.
There is more to come on this issue next week, but the government has just plain got this one wrong. There is no justification for the change in terms of savings, or improved quality of service. The only reason seems to be to reduce the number of government agencies. The problem is these are agencies that are doing a good job and are well supported in their community.
Chris Finlayson is increasingly seen around Parliament as a policitian who used to have a future. He needs to sort his Te Papa team out and very very quickly.
Pregnant and menstruating women banned from Te Papa tour. Herald reports:-
An invitation for regional museums to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of some of Te Papa’s collections included the condition that “wahine who are either hapu [pregnant] or mate wahine [menstruating]” were unable to attend.
Jane Keig, Te Papa spokeswoman, said the policy was in place because of Maori beliefs surrounding the Taonga Maori collection included in the tour.
She said the rule was one of the terms Te Papa agreed to when they took the collection.
“If a woman is pregnant or menstruating, they are tapu. Some of these taonga have been used in battle and to kill people.
“Pregnant women are sacred and the policy is in place to protect women from these objects.”
The policy is not in place for the general exhibition.
The idea that woman are in danger from weapons in a one off tour but not in general exhibition says it all.
The person who agreed to the conditions is an idiot and anyone who condones such an approach by going on one of the tours lacks principle.
If Finlayson doesn’t sort this today then he is as useless as he appears to be.
I was all set, after last night’s NZ Music Awards to do a post about the health of the NZ music scene, when I heard about the passing away of Ian Morris. He was one of Th’ Dudes with Dave Dobbyn and Peter Urlich, and also helped shape the sound of When the Cats Away, which included his wife Kim Willoughby. It seems like a sudden death, and my thoughts are with his friends and family.
Ian would have loved last night’s NZ Music Awards which I had the pleasure of attending. It was a tribute to the increased confidence of the NZ music industry. I have my own cynicism about aspects of the music industry, but last night was a brilliant event that showcased the real talent we have. As is often the case in New Zealand it takes someone else to tell us that we are good, and Ronan Keating did that last night, noting the talent across the genres.
I trace some of the increased confidence to the introduction of the music quota (or code of practice as we had to call it). When the last Labour government came to office the percentage of NZ music played on commercial radio was languishing in single digit percentages. By the time we left office it was at about 21%. I rate that as one of the things I was the most proud to be part of when I worked for Marian Hobbs as Minister.
One of the great aspects of last night was that 7000 members of the public paid to come along to the awards. Some top peformances (including the Shihad super tribute group) and I was rapt to see the terrific Phoenix Foundation take out the best group award.
Anyway, in tribute to Ian, here is one of his songs that Th’ Dudes made famous. RIP Ian.
Opening the Taste of Japan 2010 festival in Auckland, we had the opportunity to firstly taste the pure and fresh Japanese sake (??). Photo credit: Paul Stevenson
Congratulations to the New Zealand Japan Society of Auckland on its 50th anniversary!
Thousands of Aucklanders enjoyed the Logan Campbell Centre event on Saturday, where the organisers “walk you through a unique time” from Oshougatsu (New Year) through to Oomisoka (End of Year).
I conveyed Labour Leader Phil Goff’s regards in my speech by starting with “Go sh?tai itadaki arigat? gozaimasu!”
My efforts to try to deliver a short speech in Japanese seemed to have met the approval of both the Consul General Ishida and the Society’s President Stephen Duxfield.
Special features of the one-day event included visiting musicians, dancers and calligraphy artists from our sister city in Japan, Haiku (poetry) competition, Japanese art exhibition and Tatami workshop to make our own miniature tatami mat.
The Society was established in March 1960 in Auckland by the former Ambassador of Japan S. Ishiguro and A.G. Hardy Hon. Consul of Japan. Mr Hardy was known as Captain Hardy a member of the Northern Steamship Co, which was an agent of Nitto Line (later Nippon Line). Mr Hardy was Hon. Consul for Japan for a long time until the appointment of the first Consul of Japan, Mr Isaburo Mukumoto in 1968. The first President of the society was Mr Owen Rainger (see www.nzjapan.net).
As Mr Duxfield said that “the society stood the test of time and gained credibility as we adhere to our core aims to serve the broader community.”
Arigat?gozaimashita!
The Request dance crew from Auckland has won the Gold Medal in the Adult Division at the World Hip-Hop Dance Championships, held in Las Vegas yesterday. This was a fantastic effort in a competition that includes 200 crews from 28 different countries.
The video above has the routine, a great emotional reaction to winning and a haka from supporters and other NZ competitors. Last year they won the Varsity (Under 19 Division) title, and this year they stepped up to the Adult Division. They hail from Penrose, and are multi-cultural group, featuring dancers of Samoan, Tongan, Rarotongan, Chinese, Japanese, Maori and Pakeha descent.
Awesome effort.
(Hat Tip, I love this, Hamish Keith)
Richard O’Brien, creator of the cult classic the Rocky Horror Show appears to have being granted residency in New Zealand, so Sue Moroney and I took a few minutes out in Hamilton today to celebrate with his alter-ego, Riff-Raff who has been immortalised by the city.
He has been granted an exception to policy, and while some people might have concerns, on the face of it seems reasonable. O’Brien lived in New Zealand for about 12 years during his adolesence and early twenties. He returned to NZ often as his parents remained here until they passed away a few years ago. His siblings still live here, and he owns property.
The Rocky Horror Show was a huge part of my growing up. Along with a group of friends we were kind of obsessed with the show, and to this day I can just about remember almost all the words (sad I know). We saw sit live a couple of times in the 80s with Rob Muldoon and Billy T James fulfilling the roles of the Narrator. I also remember a particularly boisterous screening of the film one Friday evening, that culminated in a mass confetti and water fight both inside and outside the theatre.
It is a total classic, and fantastic that it was written by a New Zealander. Richard O’Brien once said it was based on his experiences in Hamilton and Tauranga in the 1960s. Who knew they were that interesting….
The godfather of NZ music, Chris Knox is a terrific performer, song writer and lover of music. From the anarcho greatness of The Enemy to the polished punk of Toy Love, the DIY alternative noise of Tall Dwarfs and the box of chocolates that is his solo work, he has pushed boundaries, and found the mainstream all at the same time. “Not Given Lightly” is the reason I was allowed to play annoying alternative music in the seventh form common room, and having Chris play it at our civil union was brilliant. His music has sold bread and beer, but he has never ever sold out. You are my favourite all time musician Chris, and you and the lovely Barbara are very special people.
The actual video for Not Given Lightly is not on You Tube, but you get the gist from the version below, and you can watch the real thing at Amplifier. UPDATE: As Brenda helpfully pointed out in the comments, there is a great collection of Chris videos at NZ On Screen, including the real Not Given Lightly video, as shown below. And the bonus video is to show you just how far Chris has reached. “Its Love”, a fantastic song of his solo album Beat, was used by Heineken for a commercial, and inspired this person from Detroit to express his love for the song in his own unique way.
Thats it for Music Month. Apologies for anyone who found the posts annoying, but I hope it has reminded you of the great Kiwi music that is out there- old and new. Please keep buying the CDs, paying for the downloads and going to the gigs. Its part of us all, and the musicians need your support to keep going.
The Mint Chicks powered through the latter part of the first decade of the century with some terrific ‘noise-pop’. Hailing from Auckland the band had a huge year in 2007 and swept the music awards, before promptly re-locating to Portland, Oregon. There have been a few line-up changes but the Nielsons are still the core of the band, and their album released last year, and EP this year show they are still going strong.
And because its nearly the end of the month, a bonus track. The Mint Chicks doing Ray Columbus and the Invaders classic She’s a Mod.
The infectious groove of Fat Freddys Drop has defined the “Wellington sound” of recent years. They bestrode the first decade of the century with a mixture of dub, reggae, soul and funk that seems to never fail to deliver, both on record and live. There have been a few line-ups changes, but the great songs just keep coming. They are currently touring a theatre show, which by the sounds of things is a fantastic event. They are touring Europe with the show later in the year, and further international success awaits them.
and for the benefit of any Dom Post journalists reading. I think FFD are awesome, I really did enjoy Shihad at the ACDC concert, does that make me ‘young and hip’ again? 
Where it all began. The Clean (David and Hamish Kilgour and Robert Scott) provided the impetus for Flying Nun and the inspiration for a whole load of bands who drove the so-called Dunedin sound and alternative music around the world. I just love this comment on you tube
The Clean is the Velvet Underground of the Southern Pacific! I’m from Finland and The Clean was my favorite band in 1986 and still is. Your tiny little part of the world touched very much my tiny? little part of the world in the far north. Strange, eh?
They continue to make great music, collectively and through solo projects and Robert’s leadership of The Bats. This song is 29 years old, and it still sounds as fresh and spikey as ever. The first time I heard it live was at Sammys at the Flying Nun 10th anniversary party. I am not sure you could call what followed dancing, but my god I loved it!
I have to confess I never really got Shihad. They have an incredibly loyal following though, and have consistently sold well. When they opened for ACDC at Westpac Stadium I thought they were great, and they did incredibly well in a huge stadium. In any case, this song is good and punchy, and just a little loud if you are about to hit play.
Opensouls have been around since 2001/02 with a funky, soul, Motown feel. They won NZ music awards along the way, and have been steadily building a fan base. They got great radio play with the release of their album Standing in the Rain last year. This was the big single, but there is heaps more to like on the album as well so check it out.
