Posts by Mark Cubey

  • Hard News: Cannabis research: there's a…,

    Russell, is there any way you can block ritawgoodman12 from spamming your site? I first saw the unwanted message just above on Radiation (it's still there).

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Cannabis reform is a serious…,

    Here’s Janet Wilson channeling her Inner Karl and seemingly happy to present as an uninformed and patronising numpty on RNZ’s The Panel today. No idea why she gets a forum.

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Music: Indeed a good one,

    The Massey facilities are awesome, with much thought and expertise (and $$) behind the install. Even better, the vision behind the commercial music course is truly next level. You really should get down here for a walkabout.
    And... putting down the work tools right now to head off to the big Rhian Sheehan gig at the MFC. That should be next level too.
    Still processing the passing of Jane Walker. The coolest member of that unbelievable band . Chris Bourke's tribute is pitch perfect - what a terrific writer he is.

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Music: Aretha and the…,

    I teared up just READING that account.
    Like I did with Let it Be on Morning Report this morning, sentimental old fool that I am.
    Epic post today, thanks Russell. Such an important part of Fridays.
    I'm about to buy the Tom Scott recording and may tip for Dudley as well.
    Looking forward to Music 101 tomorrow which has features on both i believe (also on RNZ tmrw: Kim Hill returns from holiday to tackle Nigel Farage).

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Music: a New Zealand story, in reply to Ken Double,

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Music: Just William,

    New Horizons now also plays on the RNZ National airwaves: 7.35pm Thursdays on Nights with Bryan Crump.

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Music: Down at the…,

    Shayne P Carter will be talking to Kim Hill between 11am and midday on the Saturday Morning programme tomorrow, playing tracks off his forthcoming album Offsider, and a few... classics.

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: DNC 2016: Beyond weird, most…,

    This New Yorker piece on Gary Johnson is fascinating.

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Up Front: Reading Murder Books,

    The detective series I enjoyed most last year was a six-part epic by CJ Sansom (his standalone title Dominion, an alternate WW2 thriller, is also exceptional). Set during the reign of Henry VIII, the six books (start with Dissolution) follow hunchbacked lawyer-turned-detective Matthew Shardlake through a compellingly evoked historical England.

    This year, on the police procedural front, Belinda Bauer is still going strong, but my UK discovery this year was Harry Bingham, and his series set around an extraordinary character: DC Fiona Griffiths. Go back to Talking to the Dead; if you like that there are three more (to date) to enjoy.

    I rate Deon Meyer as the best crime writer in South Africa (translated from Afrikaans). I haven’t read his new one, Icarus, yet, but I’ve read the other nine, and they are all great, featuring an interwoven gallery of protagonists (most notably Benny Griessel and Thobela Mpayipheli).

    Ken Bruen is the unconventional dark king of Galway Noir, and I love his Jack Taylor series, which starts with The Guards, and continued this year with _Green Hell_.

    On the Australian front, all the great things said here about Peter Temple are true. I’m also a big fan of Garry Disher, and his Wyatt novels.

    If I can stretch the crime blanket out from detective fiction to a wider expanse, you have GOT to read the 1994 thriller Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson, republished this year with an introductory rave by Philip Pullman. It leaves everything else in the shade, even the unbelievably assured American Blood from young New Zealander Ben Sanders, which ticks every great summer beach reading box.

    And finally, the new epic from Don Winslow, The Cartel, takes all that was fantastic about his previous Mexican/American drug war novel The Power of the Dog and ratches it up by a factor of ten. If you loved movie of the year Sicario as much as I did, this is deeper, darker and even more disillusioning.

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

  • Field Theory: It's about time,

    Really disapponted that Hadyn hasn't had time to critique the RWC team kits in this year of peak design engagement.

    Wellington • Since May 2008 • 66 posts Report Reply

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