We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Calum Henderson reviews an old pack of rugby cards. These days Oamaru is known as the steampunk capital of New Zealand, but back in the late 1980s and early 1990s it had a much better claim to fame. For … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: José Barbosa reviews the ubiquitous one sheet publication, the Coffee News. Print is dead, they say. Publishing models are falling out of the sky while adverting spend exsanguinates like a gushing toilet cistern. That’s what they say, but I don’t believe … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman finally gets to experience a toy fad. On Sunday I took my hangover for a walk around Sylvia Park and found myself in front of a stall selling the latest pointless toy, the Fidget Spinner. The young … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Simon Wilson orbits a State Highway One showpiece. Ah, the Waikato, where NZTA sends its maddest roading engineers to do their worst. Which they certainly do: absurdly over-engineered exchanges at Te Kauwhata and Rangiriri, giant new motorways leading in and … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: the deepest, dearest road project in New Zealand was meant to have opened over a month ago. Toby Manhire critiques it. There is so much to like about the Waterview Tunnel. The subterranean nucleus of the Waterview Connection, “New … Read more
Duncan Greive watches Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore weave sketch comedy songs and new material into a choreographed, heavily produced pop powerhouse. The line between perfect pop and its parody is incredibly thin. Joseph Moore, one half of Two Hearts, the fake band currently playing Q Theatre, knows this well enough to argue persuasively in … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Don Rowe reflects on Shaun Johnson’s clutch kick against the Roosters. It takes a special kind of masochist to devote Sunday after Sunday to seeing the Warriors ritually humiliated at home and abroad. But pleasure and pain are two sides … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman caught the latest musical in town with the longest name. When I was younger, I watched a DVD of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat almost every day during one school holidays. And in all those viewings, … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman reveals where to find the best chocolate hot cross bun in New Zealand. Karori is pretty bad. I lived there from birth until I went off to university and I loved every moment of it, but it’s … Read more
We normally review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time etc. But today an anonymous Spinoff writer was in Denver, witnessing NBA history. Russell Westbrook has been tied with Oscar Robertson for most triple-doubles in a regular season at 41 apiece since the Thunder wasted the Bucks at home on … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today we present an excerpt from the e-notes of Lucrecia the Arm Flapper, dated 2189, third quarter of the holy Stocktake Clearance, as discovered by José Barbosa. “And so, on the fourth day after our sloop was destroyed by the two … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Calum Henderson plugs into the All Blacks’ new official podcast. Some All Blacks news: the all-powerful New Zealand men’s rugby team now has its own podcast. Something about this is extremely funny to me, but I can’t quite put … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: José Barbosa reviews RNZ broadcaster Paul Brennan’s hair. If I think of what RNZ sounds like (at least the bits I like) I always think of Paul Brennan’s voice (and also, it must be said, the authoritative, no mucking … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Alex Casey reviews H2Go’s new chocolate-flavoured spring water. Ever since Lewis Road Creamery set New Zealand on fire with their quite tasty choccie milk, companies everywhere have been shitting the bed with reckless abandon trying to reach the same … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman reviews food delivery service Uber Eats. The simple concept of Uber Eats makes you immediately wonder ‘do we really need this?’ An Uber service that delivers very specific food to your door. Seems unnecessary. Before we get started, … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. There once was a Countdown in central Hamilton. It lost it’s ‘o’, and became C-untdown. How we laughed. That laughter, and the store in question, are dust in the winds of time. Judging by the quality of their wares, Countdown … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. It ended exactly as you’d imagine it would: with the Prime Minister and Richie McCaw on stage while ‘Poi E’ boomed out across the room and Toni Street and Scotty Morrison clapping on. The night had been long, though unlike … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Of all the streets I regularly drive on, Patteson Ave is the worst. Not for its condition or quality, but for the danger it puts you in by combining off-street parking, a hill, poor visibility and double yellow lines. I … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Last year I was a Sandringham resident and caught the 233/243/249 to and from work. There’s nothing special about this route or those buses. Once a week I would need to get to the North Shore after work and I would … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Domino’s Korean Sticky Wings If you’re cheap and carb-friendly, you probably know that Domino’s is dominating the cheap pizza wars. Its pepperoni pizza is worth at least $2 more than the $5 it costs if you pick-up (though definitely not … Read more