The Chiefs have finally been toppled off the top spot, only to be replaced by another New Zealand team in Scotty Stevenson’s latest Super Rugby power rankings. 1. Crusaders Rd 9: 40-14 v Brumbies Last week: 3 (up 2) Have you noticed how much fun the Crusaders are having? Me too. And that’s why they … Read more
A kind of Barry Crump of the sea, AJ Peach has written a ripping memoir of his fishing life in his self-published book Roughy: Fishing the Mid-Ocean Ridges. The following excerpt sees our hero hook up with his old mate Stu, stop off at a stripclub in Wellington, and sign onto a Ukrainian fishing vessel. … Read more
Jack Joyce is given time powers while at ground zero at a time travel experiment accident caused by his bestie Paul Serene. It’s only the bloody end of time, innit? The Spinoff wraps up its Quantum Break coverage with a musing on the AAA game’s most interesting element: the story. The ubiquitous visual motif of … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Tim Murphy: What happens when you appear before a judge you called a c*** on Facebook? “A man named Troy LaRue found the story on social media, and made an uncomplimentary remark about Roberts’ appearance. Unluckily, he was summonsed to the court for unpaid traffic fines a few … Read more
A huge global drug summit has just wrapped up at the United Nations. Was it the turning point that many hoped for? The NZ Drug Foundation’s Cameron Price was there. In 1998, member states of the United Nations gathered in New York and ambitiously declared a commitment to achieving a drug free world by 2008. … Read more
Joseph Harper lives among the quietude of Stardew Valley and finds a place where even those with the darkest of hearts can find a place to be. I love almost everything about the Steam gaming platform. I love feeling part of a community in the wake of a big, bolshie blockbuster release. I love the … Read more
New verse by Wellington poet Claudia Jardine, who previously thrilled and disturbed Spinoff readers with her poem ‘My Iron Cervix.’ Ode to Goon So there’s me, sprawled across the bed eating bits of biscuit like Bacchus, and you, half out of a suit, looking at me as if I’m street-art you scraped off a wall … Read more
Madeleine Chapman and her Aunty Henga assess the skills, builds, and tattoos in Game of Bros, Māori television’s reality quest for the ultimate Polynesian warrior. Last night was the penultimate episode of Game of Bros. The semi final. The final bend. That last spoonful of palusami before you’re left with the perfect ratio of taro and coconut cream. Sticking to … Read more
Guest host Ali Mau and a high-calibre panel discuss ideas in New Zealand and abroad to reshape drug laws in an edible event on Tuesday April 26. We at Spinoff Enterprises are excited to be joining Laila Harré’s Ika restaurant to present Table Talk, the monthly event combining intelligent conversation with food and drink. Drugs … Read more
A Herald report says young people could buy houses in Auckland if they stopped spending on BMWs and trips to Bali. The Spinoff is stepping in to help these mythical big-spending Millennials. Over the last few years, several people have argued that Auckland has a problem with “‘housing unaffordability”. But today, the Herald printed a report … Read more
During the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, ‘Behind the LOLs’ will reveal the inner workings of some of our finest comedy talent. First up, 2016 Billy T nominee James Malcolm writes a list of his prenuptial conditions for Shortland Street‘s Chris Warner. This year I’m taking advantage of the festival to stage my elaborate wedding to Chris Warner … Read more
The latest episode of our bi-weekly pop music chat for umusic, shot and edited by The Spinoff’s own José Barbosa. It involves two pop rookies – The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and bFM’s Joseph Harper – listening to state-of-the-art pop music and having a chat about it. Simple. This week they discuss Alessia Cara, DJ Snake, Rihanna, … Read more
The latest installment in the Doom franchise is just around the corner. Over the weekend Liam Maguren tried out the open BETA and found it great fun to play, but disappointingly ordinary. The first trailer for the new Doom punched its way onto the scene with a fuck-you-flavoured fist through the zombified jawbone of E3. That’s an … Read more
Want to binge-watch an entire series without signing away the next four months of your life? We’ve assembled a selection of the best shows on Lightbox that you can knock out in one sitting. Firefly Like Guardians of the Galaxy but without the talking tree and Bradley Raccoon Cooper, Firefly takes place 500 years in … Read more
Opinion: Last month’s early-morning street brawl has renewed police calls for earlier closing times in the Auckland CBD and beyond. That’s precisely the sort of overreaction that has decimated the nightlife industry over the ditch, says Tom McGuinness. At around 4:30am on Sunday 20th March, a street brawl erupted on Fort Street in Auckland’s CBD. … Read more
A mysterious TradeMe listing offering a GOLD MINE of a magazine for potential investors piques Steve Newall’s interest – but why won’t they tell us its name? A mysterious listing on Trade Me teases an “Iconic Magazine for Sale”. Beside it, an image alluringly screams GOLD MINE. Oddly, there’s no mention in the listing of what it’s actually … Read more
In town to promote the new Xbox game Quantum Break, Canadian actor Shawn Ashmore also lifted the lid on his early acting career on Animorphs. José Barbosa gets the scoop on how to portray a teenage alien invasion fighter with the power to change into animals. For a larger group of people who existed as teenagers in … Read more
Hayden Donnell looks back on one of New Zealand’s most iconic interviews. In December 1997, two teenage girls gave Paul Holmes the sternest test of his storied interviewing career. The Ingham twins, both 18, had gone to extraordinary lengths for love. Sarah had fallen for a sailor. Her sister Joanna decided to help her pursue … Read more
The Beauty Spot is Zoe Scheltema’s weekly column that dissects the world of beauty and fashion. This week she reviews the new unisex clothing range by Zara. The market for gender neutral clothing is expanding, and retailers are catching on quick fast. The largest fashion name to recently do so was Zara (who are coming … Read more
The Australian comedian, performing in Auckland and Wellington next week, does toilet humour with a difference. She talks with Catherine McGregor about making comedy out of mental illness. “God bless toilets. They’re a games room, they’re a prayer room, they’re a confessional, they’re a lounge room. They’re whatever you want them to be. I’m a … Read more
There’s been a major push to keep the Pop-up Globe in Auckland. Sam Brooks says it’s deeply misguided. If you’ve been lucky enough to walk around Central Auckland over the past three months, then you’ll have seen a large white silo building sitting in the carpark that you might’ve tried to park in when the Civic … Read more
Going off like a frog in a sock, the third edition of the Spinoff politics pod, featuring Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas with Toby Manhire A brand new Gone By Lunchtime is here – unless you’re reading this some time in the future, in which case it will no longer be brand new. On the … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her power rankings for week seven on The Bachelor NZ, including the rise of Naz and Kate’s shocking ocean release. What’s the point in trying to rank, predict, or follow anything to do with The Bachelor NZ anymore. Let’s all just go to Waitangi and get plastered in elaborate gowns, because apparently … Read more
After two days of ‘cunts’ on The Spinoff, Jessica Williams has had enough. You can always rely on Steve Braunias to start a conversation. This week The Spinoff published a column of his that was too outrageous even for Metro to print. It was about the word “cunt” – and how Steve had suffered as … Read more
The era of MS-DOS games may have been a bizarro haze of hit and miss, but for the burgeoning millennial they were the last vestige of PC innocence. 35 years since their debut, Katie Parker reminisces. Once upon a time, when the internet was still barely more than a twinkle in some weirdo’s eye, the … Read more
Guy Somerset reviews Goodnight and Good Riddance: How 35 Years of John Peel Helped Shape Modern Britain by David Cavanagh When I was a boy, culture was delivered on a Thursday by Mr Pavitt. Or was it Pavett? Perhaps even Pavit or Pavet? If you had a name like Pavitt/Pavett/Pavit/Pavet, you’d be used to people … Read more
There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. This week sees a shock … Read more
The front runner for Auckland’s top job has been a Labour politician for three decades, but now he’s embracing independence. And the ticker is good for another 20 years of toil, he tells Tim Murphy Phil Goff is shedding his tribal Labour Party skin. He is starting to like his new look and feel as … Read more
After week seven on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including Jordan’s poor connecting skills, that mannequin, and life after The Bachelor. Anny Ma on Connect Four Never trust somebody who can’t play Connect Four. Never trust Beyoncé when you lose to her in Connect … Read more