Posts by Robyn Gallagher
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Hard News: When the Game is Over, in reply to Russell Brown,
Nah, not racist, but ... it seems unusual to take on both race and religion in such a tune.
Yeah, I guess more racial than racist. You don't really hear songs any more about "black and white" people, but then race and civil rights were fairly big topics at that time.
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Let's watch the "Join Together" video and marvel in the slightly uncomfortable, almost racist lyrics that seemed pretty ordinary in the mid '70s:
I'm kind of glad that the RWC didn't really have an official theme song.
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I thought he was wearing fake comedy teeth, but they're real.
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Up Front: Casual, Shallow and Meaningless, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
The worse small talk starter ever (and one I use distastefully often) is "And what do you do?" How the hell do you answer that?
"Well, I do lots of things."
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Field Theory: The Black Sand, in reply to Emma Hart,
Aw geez, dude. This hadn't really touched me emotionally until that.
True. Hadyn put a lot of himself into this, which makes it hit home even harder.
I spent a few summers at Mt Maunganui as a child, so it also has a special place in my heart. Eventually the oil will go away (both through humans and nature), but until that happens, it really really sucks what's happening all along the coast.
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My hairdresser gives me Tatler and Vanity Fair, doesn't trouble me with endless small talk and gives me fab haircuts. That's all I need.
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There are some local attempts to get this happening here - Occupy Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and, er, New Plymouth. It seems to have a fairly broad set of goals, encompassing pretty much all the issues that people of a leftist persuasion currently care about.
2, ,4, 6, 8! Stop the [your cause here] before it's too late!
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I bought my first Mac (a white iBook) in 2001 and christened it writing a 50,000-word novel for National Novel Writing Month. After putting up with the adequate world of Windows, life with a Mac was just that bit easier, smoother, prettier.
The iPod changed my life. No longer did I have to carry a bulky CD Walkman and clattery CDs, but I could listen to anything I felt like. This reached it apex when, cruising down the Queensland coast with my bro last year, I downloaded and played a weird old rockabilly song we'd always remembered from when we were kids.
And, yeah, the iPhone, the tool that's opened up my world to all sorts of new social experiences, got me out of the house, and got some fun again. Also, it's quite nice having a hot photo of [redacted] as my lockscreen wallpaper.
Farewell, Steve. You made the world a prettier place.
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I'm surprised at how sad and wistful "It's Rugby" sounds. Like someone taking a long look back and realising they've forgotten to pay tribute to rugby. Rather than being an anthem for rugby supporters, maybe it's better suited for those of us who aren't really into the game, but yet can't escape the massive role it takes in New Zealand culture.
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For a long time I’ve been vaguely homesick, like a low-grade fever. Now I think I’m feeling a little time sick.
The New Zealand you left is not the New Zealand you're returning to. But that's not a bad thing.
I noticed that some expats who I follow on Twitter cling on to a kind of New Zealandness, but it's not the New Zealand I know as someone who lives here. It's the New Zealand based around symbols like hokey pokey ice cream, jandals, mince and cheese pies and caravan holidays at the beach. It's not about grilled halloumi brunches or Hop cards or spirulina smoothies.
I guess the advice I'd give is to think of it not as "returning home", but rather moving to a totally new country that you've never lived before. Eventually, though, you'll wake up one day and it will feel like home again.