Posts by philipmatthews
-
PA readers of a certain age might enjoy this story by Charlie Gates in the Press about the time The Fall ("the mighty Fall") played Christchurch in 1982, and somehow found themselves on the front page of the paper. That photo of "happy Fall guitarist" Marc Riley was on the cover of Flying Nun's Fall in a Hole and so on. It's all legendary now. I think there's an entire chapter in the Roger Shepherd book.
The bit I love is the detail from Bruce Russell about some friends spraypainting "bang fucking bang, the mighty Fall are coming" on a billboard in Chch. I wonder if anyone took a pic?
-
Hard News: About Chris Brown, in reply to Russell Brown,
Yeah, it is. And you come up against absolutes very quickly.
I was thinking yesterday that one of the problems with Twitter is that it forces you to take sides when you really want to be in the grey area in the middle.
-
Hard News: About Chris Brown, in reply to Danielle,
I think my larger point, which I ranted about on Twitter earlier, is: we all have to accept that we are soaking in all manner of horribleness like misogyny in ALL pop culture. Because it reflects AND inspires us, it’s hard to draw causal relationships.
Thanks Danielle. That is what I wanted to say yesterday when I got into an ill-advised Twitter discussion on this. Twitter is probably too rushed and chaotic a medium for it.
There was a line in Andrea Vance's column about both Chris Brown and the Lorde revenge video, which is that "pop culture defines acceptable social norms". That seems utterly wrong to me. There is a place for violence in entertainment; pop culture is not a set of instructions for everyday behaviour. Sometimes that violence might be fantasy or catharsis.
-
I've also been surprised at the number of entirely reasonable people who have said today that would stop watching 3 News if Campbell Live was axed. From the days of Ralston and Nightline on, 3 News always felt like the underdog and I think a lot of loyal people are feeling betrayed.
-
Serious question: who here regularly watches Campbell Live? And by that, I mean the full episode, live to air. Not occasionally watching a video someone has shared on Facebook.
I do, most nights. Have been a steady TV3 news watcher since the 90s and Campbell has just naturally followed on.
-
Hard News: Media Take: The Easter Show, in reply to Alan Perrott,
there is not even the teeniest tiniest jot of evidence (in a time not exactly short of written records) aside from the self-serving, chosen for purpose, books of the bible, that jesus ever existed.
No, the majority of historians would say that he did.
-
A very interesting show, thanks. As someone who sometimes covers religion as a journalist, I can see the value in what Francis Ritchie is doing with NewsLeads. It's a bewildering area to write about if, like most reporters (I guess), you are generally secular or actively atheist and you're either trying to prop up a routine, seasonal "Christianity is in decline" story or you're writing about the Tamakis or Catholic child abuse. More ordinary religious stories don't get a look in and the churches haven't been very good at communicating beyond their own communities. There is often a defensiveness and wariness, and I don't entirely blame them.
Interesting too to see the Tamakis in a Maori context. I think they have mellowed and what they do is more nuanced and positive than has been depicted by an often negative media. But Brian continues to be a pretty terrible spokesman for the church; Hannah is much clearer and more articulate. It's like watching the Clintons in action.
-
Hard News: Friday Music: It's good to…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Chris Knox's hair!
-
Songs that make people cry. Well, this one gets me anyway.
-
Hard News: Friday Music: Love Unknown Orchestra, in reply to Patrick Xavier,
Also the thing about Shayne not being especially clear in his enunciation. Until this week, I thought it was "And I quietly count with a gun ..."