Posts by Donald Reid
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I have two pre-school daughters. The only thing they know of their father's shadowy day-habits is that one day he'll have a PhD in (gasp!) media studies (oh God!).
We are a shameful mess of a family and deserve all the derision we get.
NB In possibly the most horrible example of our sad domestic life, my eldest daughter said the word "discourse" before she ever saw the Wiggles. (Actually, I don't think she's ever seen the Wiggles).
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I think, perhaps, that rock'n'roll is dead. I miss it, but it's dead.
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There's something a little bit cosy and comforting about this whole global recession hoopla. A feeling that we're all in this together and if somebody looked like they're sinking we'll try and all pull them up together. (I'm sure there's an army of naysayers and number crunchers who can calculate the exact amont of rose-tinted bollocks that sentence contains. But, hey, it's looking on the bright side, even just the perceived bright side).
Buying less stuff, but trying to by better quality stuff from local indie shops provides a dual feelgood factor 1) it's more of a treat, 2) you're doing your bit to help the store owners pay their bills. Of course here is Dunedin you're hard pressed to find many independent stores now. Jonathan's Cameras is gone; we're still bitter about the whole Echo-Real Groovy-zilch record shop situation and besides Plume, chain clothing stores dominate the main street.
There are a couple of great wine shops though, and I'm trying to not buy any grog from the supermarkets now in favour of these guys. When I'm in town i go to 26 Moray (at 26 Moray Place - go figure) and in the weekends, when I'm in my home 'burb of Mornington I'll go to Darren at Castle McAdam wines in Mailer Street (lots of beers too). I love both these shops, those places where shopping is a pleasure not a chore. -
You're probably aiming at teams rather than individuals... but i hate Naas Botha. I can't remember ever seeing him play, but he's always got on my wick anyway. Also have a bit of a dislike for the Denver Broncos after they stopped being useless (odd, because I quite like them when they were/are useless).
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I have a terrible tattoo. The design was poorly chosen (by my 21 year old self), the artists was inept and we were both drunk. But I love it, because, 17 years later, it takes me back to that moment, those days, that place and time. It's like a great song or scent.
Tattoos are great. Sure, having 'Justice Sux' covering your forehead (self-applied, in the mirror and, therefore, backwards) is probably not the best way to get a job at the National Bank. But rock'n'roll lives in ink and skin.
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I, to, attended a fascist boys school and probably around the same era (I've never been much of a historian, but how did the Victorian age extend so far into the 1980s?).
School was, for me, totally absurd, extremely violent, strange, sad, but also sometimes quite funny. I think this is why so many men of our generation have such an affinity for Monty Python and punk rock.
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Flying Nun memories:
The Bats playing the Wanaka Rugby Club rooms, August 1985. Crazy farm boys hanging off the rafters, drunk 13 year olds puking in the car park and in the middle of all this… The Bats, playing their own brand of gentle-jangle pop. Fantastic incongruity.
What about… Straightjacket Fits blowing The Jesus and Mary Chain off the stage at Sammy’s in 1988. Or a few years later at Mountain Rock (one of SJF’s last gigs) when Shayne sang with fire and fury as he faced sheets of horizontal rain.
Radio With Pictures memory: arriving at school on Monday morning after seeing the brilliant video for ‘Randolph’s Going Home’ on RWP. I remember Arthur Fulton being pissed off he missed it.
Another great video: Snapper's ‘Buddy’. Remember when Kevin Smith’s character in Gloss played ‘Buddy’ on his tape deck – a moment when the underground collided with the mainstream.
Interviewing Alec Bathgate after the release of Gold Lamé – what a bloody charming fellow… (with possibly the most underrated masterpiece in the FN catalogue).
Seeing King Loser channel bizzaro Nancy and Lee.