Posts by Robyn Gallagher
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I saw a guy on Twitter complaining that the 6pm news was being patronising by explaining what 9/11 was. But for, say, an 18-year-old, 9/11 could very well feel like a fuzzy childhood memory.
And these kids are growing up with all the annoying anti-terror restriction and loopholes, but because they haven't known how things used to be, taking your shoes off at the airport will seem as normal as presenting your passport.
In the 1960s, a lot of Baby Boomers were disrespectful of World War II. Gee, Mom and Dad, why do you keep going on about the war? It's over. Get with the '60s, you squares. It's the age of Aquarius.
I have a feeling that in another 10 year's time, we'll start to see teens being disrespectful of 9/11. Why are you guys always going on about 9/11? It was decades ago. It's the '20s now - move on!
But then when those teens grow up, their children will rediscover 9/11, like the kids of today getting up at the crack of dawn on Anzac Day to honour their grandparents.
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Re “Down in Splendor”. In 1996 I refused a date with a boy after discovering he regarded Andrew Brough to be the better songwriter in the Straitjacket Fits, and considered Bike’s album to be an absolute masterwork.
I do not regret this. It’s a painfully dull song.
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In 2000 I was working at a job that had mutated from a quite cool job into a less-than-cool job. The days were long and complicated, and by the late-afternoon I needed something to prop my brain up and give me a reason to keep on working (if not a reason to live).
The Straitjacket Fits best-of CD had been released a couple of years prior, and one afternoon at lunch I bought it, took it back to the office and slid it into the CD tray on my computer (man, this is starting to sound as ancient as "I wound up the old gramophone").
The selection of songs was great, and a perfect gateway drug into the world of the Fits. But what captured me was the bonus CD, a selection of songs played as part of Triple J's Live at the Wireless series.
Particularly it was the opening track, a live version of "APS" that got me. The original, from 1990 album "Melt", is plenty fine, but the live version is next level, baby. The guitars are noisier, chiming and jangling and oozing, the bass has the perfect Fits-ian stealth groove, and the drums are nice and cymbally - and I like good cymbal action.
And then the vocals. Shayne Carter has the sneer and the attitude and the sex. Yes. The lyrics, enigmatic on the album version, actually seem to make more sense on this version, and yet the sense that's made is not that of the official lyrics.
Such is the intensity and ferocity of this performance that at its conclusion, Shayne deadpans, "Phew. Is everyone's strings intact?"
So I'd sit at my desk listening to "APS" on repeat through my crappy headphones. It made the afternoon, and life in general, tolerable.
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So, around the time of Charles and Di's wedding, there was a novelty song called "Charlie's Getting Married at Last" by a group called the Men of Harlech. Its chorus went:
Charlie's getting married at last
To a pretty girl without a past
Her Majesty's so happy
The Duke's a happy chappy
'Cause Charlie's getting married at lastThat's right, a pop song celebrating Diana's virginity. How utterly vile. From memory, it made it to the top of the charts in New Zealand :-(
This time around, there's nothing like that in the charts, but there's something even better online. The fabulous, extravagant MajelaZeZeDiamond, YouTube queen of dancehall songs about vaginas, has written a song with the chorus "Kate Middleton, she's a prostitute; she's a harlot." She also implores the prince to choose her vagina over his bride's.
Most likely NSFW, so perhaps save this one for the later hours of your royal wedding shindigs.
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The Prime Minister's wife will be there as "Mrs John Key" (better than "John Key +1", I guess).
I had a good look at the invite list and have figured out the naming conventions. It's all down to whether the partner of the dignitary is a woman who has taken her husband's surname.
Bronagh Key = Mrs John Key
Bronagh Dougan-Key = Ms Bronagh Dougan-Key
Bronagh Dougan = Ms Bronagh DouganIf Bronagh was the PM and John was her invited partner, they'd be listed as "The Prime Minister of New Zealand and Mr John Key".
Is it a bit sexist or charmingly old fashioned? If a woman changes her surname to that of her husband, should she be prepared to sometimes be referred to Mrs [husband name]? Also thinking about Kim Deal's tongue-in-cheek credit as "Mrs John Murphy" (her married name at the time) on the first two Pixies recordings.
Meanwhile, after William and Kate are married, unless the Queen gives them a duchy, Kate will be Princess William of Wales.
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Best thing about the Gregory Brothers interview: one of the Gregory brothers says "dag", which I haven't heard since the '90s. (That's the US slang dag, not the NZ slang dag.)
Second best thing about the Gregory Brothers interview: Jose's Aotearoan gift. No bullshit chocolate fish or L&P. Jose gets real deal with a lined refill, a NZ Fishing magazine and the aforementioned photo of the PM.
I also enjoyed the article about Shamus Culhane. There's much more to his story than a bored animator sneaking a few cock-n-balls into a cartoon.
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Muse: Hey Greg O'Connor, Krup You!, in reply to richard,
Odd. No-one has mentioned Dave Dobbyn yet.
Let's refresh our memories with regards to the 1984 Queen Street riot and Dave Dobbyn's allegedly incendiary remarks.
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Muse: Hey Greg O'Connor, Krup You!, in reply to Joanna,
I think it sounds like Tiki was being a bit of a dick, to be honest.
Ever been on the street and a cop car drives past and some dude quietly chants "fuck the po-lice"? That's what this reminded me of - only problem, Tiki had a mic.
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Will the fear of rap ever end? Fuck tha Police is over 22 years old. That's old enough for an entire generation to grow up with it and - surprise - not turn into civilly disobedient, popo-hating scallywags.
Like Gwyneth Paltrow, I can recite Fuck tha Police, but also like Gwyneth, that just means I'm a dorky white girl who discovered some electrifying new music in the early '90s and listened to it too much.
A young nigga on the warpath
And when I'm finished
There's gonna be a bloodbath
Of cops dying in LA
Yo, Dre, I got something to say
Fuck the police.Have I started a riot yet?
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Hard News: Fridays are still for the music, in reply to Danielle,
In the toddler sense
What is toddler cruising? I am intrigued!