Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Lucinda Williams made me cry

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  • Russell Brown,

    Essence ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    as if she were singing an old Atlantic soul tune

    Ooooohhh, want.

    Tyrant or crusader against corrupt democracry?

    Apparently there are murmurings from exiled former military leaders that Mr Bananarama doesn't enjoy quite 100% support within the barracks. However the natural and rather bloody end to that sort of intra-army clash is not one that Fiji deserves

    We've runout of teenagers to sell iPods to.

    It's the duty of every creative black-collar to henceforth breed a captive market.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    You might be able to think of a product that enjoyed such utter dominance this far into a market, but I'm stumped.

    Someone told me about their dad in the late 70s who attended a meeting of TV folks, advertisers, manufuacturers, etc., to address the problem that anyone who was ever going to buy a TV had already done so.

    That must have been shortly before an ad campaign I recall with Selwyn Toogood promoting the idea of owning a second, smaller TV in those heady days of two channels (count 'em! Two!).

    But that was an industry-wide thing. Nothing like the single brand dominance of ipod. Kinda spooky.

    92 percent of students said they currently own a digital media player ... Of these students ... 86 percent reported owning an Apple-branded iPod

    86% share of 92% of a (student) population. Aspirational over-reporting on the part of the students, maybe? And does that figure include apple phones?

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Rik,

    Hey Russell - you've pretty much put in to eloquent words exactly what I felt about Lucinda's concert (although no tears but I know what you're talking about). I was like 5 rows from the front and right in the centre and there was this distracting and ugly battle going on between all these old folks (I'm 40 myself and felt young at this concert) and the handful of people who came up to dance at the front. Why don't they just all stand up and we could all enjoy the show (probably because they can't stand for that long at their advanced years)?

    Like you I bailed for the side, not that I'm a big dancer but just to get away from all the moaning and also because I just can't sit down at a live show.

    Little Rock Star was a cracker on the night, probably my fave but then I also had to rate Buick 6's cover of the Television classic "Marquee Moon" as an absolute surprise and delight. I think I will track down their instrumental disc on the web.

    Let's hope she does come back soon!

    Since Jun 2007 • 130 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Little Rock Star was a cracker on the night, probably my fave ...

    Oh yes. But Russell Baillie didn't think so:

    She and her backers produced plenty of guitar-scorched thrills but just occasionally turned bludgeoning plod on some of her lesser numbers like the Amy Winehouse/Pete Doherty-inspired Little Rock Star ...

    Lesser numbers?

    Ahem. Really.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Pah. When will Baillie stop recycling the same hack phrases. What does "guitar scorched" even mean?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Don Christie,

    From DHC

    I never realised I was supposed to choose which camp I belonged in. I thought I was just a journalist.

    About time, Deborah. Unfortunately not all journalists share that view, yet.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    I was back in row N for Lucinda and the best I could do was wriggle my bum around a lot. It was a tremendous concert. I could see Tim Finn a couple of rows ahead of me and he seemed to be enjoying himself. (I was crass enough to go up to him in the second break and ask for an autograph for my daughter, which he graciously provided--and which she is very pleased with!)

    I had that catch-in-the-throat moment too--the song with the refrain "unlock my heart" (can't remember the song title). But there were puzzling moments: Buick 6 coming on unannounced and playing forever (although I did like their version of Marque Moon); the little huddles Lucinda got into with her minder; the music stand she kept consulting.

    Thanks for organising the Thursday night soiree, Russell. I met some interesting folk.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Hill Cone on the other hand turns a nice phrase like "Jarvis giving the bird to bastard bigwigs" but still doesn't get it. Read some Shirky, love.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I had that catch-in-the-throat moment too--the song with the refrain "unlock my heart" (can't remember the song title).

    'Unsuffer Me' from West .

    Spine-tingling.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • horse,

    I saw the same thing 6 weeks ago at the Eric Clapton concert - I was in the nosebleed seats up the back, from where I had a great view of people who'd paid top dollar for the floor seats being repeatedly told by Vector staff to sit down whenever they tried dancing in the aisles. At least they gave up on that for the encore.

    Palmerston North • Since Feb 2007 • 32 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I understand Campbell's argument, but I wonder how long we can dwell on the apparently laudable intentions with which Bainimarama seized power in 2006, over his bullying and destructive actions of the past week and a half

    And I wonder how many pundits will note the irony of presenting themselves as brave "realists", while sitting behind a keyboard thousands of miles away?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I remember when the 1980's home computer industry mined out the seams of teenagers. It took years, and new technology in the form of the PC and the 32-bit video game console to recover.

    The console biz seems to have conquered that cycle, though?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Thomas,

    And Trotter? I'm astonished. Quietly deleting your own posts when they don't suit your present argument doesn't work in the age of the Google cache, and advancing a rationale after you've been caught doing it doesn't help.

    I don't quite get the outrage about this from various quarters. Trotter wrote a piece that made sense to him at the time, that he later thought better of, and he decided to take it off the page where resides the writing that does reflect his views.

    Not everyone sees a blog as a diary, or real-time Ulysses-style representation of their synaptic processes. It's hardly "censorship" deciding as a writer what you want to represent your body of written work. Most writers don't display their drafts, notebooks etc - why should something on a blog be treated differently?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 20 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    Most writers don't display their drafts, notebooks etc - why should something on a blog be treated differently?

    Well, once you've blogged something, it's published. Anyone can read a blog. If you want a private blog, you can restrict login, but short of that your thoughts are now public property.

    I do feel some sympathy for him; I've changed my mind on various issues over time, sometimes a few weeks or days later, on the basis of new information or just thinking it over more.

    But when that happens, and you've published the former opinion, the only thing to do is admit you've changed your mind, and say why. I respect that, and I suspect most right-thinking people would too. Pretending you never had the previous opinion is just lame.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Ben, most writers don't publish their drafts, notebooks, etc. Different model, different expectations.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    But when that happens, and you've published the former opinion, the only thing to do is admit you've changed your mind, and say why. I respect that, and I suspect most right-thinking people would too. Pretending you never had the previous opinion is just lame.

    Exactly. It's not that you've changed your mind -- that's often a noble thing to acknowledge -- but that you've acted as if you never held the original opinion.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Jeff Rowe,

    The Lucinda gig at Wellington was all seated as well. It was a very frustrating experience! She was great but we wanted to dance!

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 3 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Thomas,

    Trotter has defended the coup a number of times in the past. I don't think he's trying to re-write that history at all.

    I understand the point about the platform. I just don't understand what significance attaches to his decision to pull a piece he was unhappy with. Unless what concerns readers most is the moral status of the bloggers themselves, more than the content of what they write.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 20 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Ben, I doubt it's the decision to pull, more the way he went about it.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    Well, in Trotter's defence, not everyone is as familiar with the way blogging is understood to work as a platform. If he's thinking of it not as a whitewash but simply no longer distributing a particular (internet) publication, then what he's doing makes a manner of sense.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    It does seem like different expectations rather than any ill intent.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    If he's thinking of it not as a whitewash but simply no longer distributinga particular (internet) publication, then what he's doing makes a manner of sense.

    I suppose so, but as everyone else is pointing out, it's the manner of it. He's terribly fond of denouncing other people ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Nothing like a good denunciation!

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Thomas,

    George: I think that's about right. If Trotter sees Bowalley Road as a cheaply hosted site for his writing, and not part of a larger shared consciousness of the blogosphere, there's nothing in the terms of use that says he's wrong.

    I don't want the thread to get bogged down in this, and I really am more curious than argumentative about this, so I'll just finish here - what should he have done as the proper protocol ?
    - Added a note in place of the original post?
    - Sent a copy of the original to National Archives for safe keeping?
    - Committed his mea culpa to print?
    - Emailed all PA readers so they would know?
    - Sought out TV3 and One News so that no-one would miss the momentous news that someone, somewhere had deleted a post off Blogger?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 20 posts Report Reply

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