The TPP roadshow kicked off in Auckland yesterday with luxury muffins and pointed questions at an inner city Auckland hotel. Former Herald editor-in-chief Tim Murphy takes in the explanatory slides and the giggling infiltrators. The real TPP roadshow occurred on intersections and motorway on-ramps about four weeks ago. There was noise, blood and guts. The public noticed. … Read more
Alex Casey reviews the first episode of The Bachelor NZ, including bliss balls, gongs and a whole new meaning to the word “throw pillow.” “He could definitely be my future husband… I think.” And so the second season of The Bachelor NZ opened with a perfect “yeah, nah” blend of sincerity and trepidation. Almost instantly, the show … Read more
Two of the most exciting stars in the UFC lost last night, badly. Don Rowe describes what happened and pays homage to the omnipotent power of chaos in the sport of sanctioned violence. If UFC president Dana White had any hair left on his shining bald dome, it would have been violently pulled out by … Read more
Scotty Stevenson takes stock of Super Rugby after a round where the Blues went stumbling back to their home in the loss column, the Highlanders inflicted more pain on the Hurricanes, and the Lions remained on track for a perfect season. 1. The Brumbies Rd 2: 32-15 v Waratahs Last week: 1 (N/C) This team is 80% machine, 20% Stephen … Read more
Victoria University Chancellor Sir Neville Jordan is in a fight with Salient magazine over a “disgusting” 96-word satirical article about him, but is his anger evidence of a deeper issue? Sir Neville Jordan’s life story is inspiring. He started his working life at age 13 as a child labourer at a freezing works, and went on … Read more
A lavish new book of photographs by artist Fiona Pardington. “Taking a photograph is like tilting at windmills. It’s taking on the universe,” says Fiona Pardington. Yes, that sounds like a load of pretentious and boring old tosh to us, too, but she’s a pretty amazing artist and her exquisitely produced new book Fiona Pardington: A Beautiful Hesitation … Read more
Tara Ward brings you her Shortland Street Power Rankings for last week, including Stevie’s evolution into Houdini, Nicole’s exhausting workload and Esther’s incredible phone-based breakthrough. 1) Stevie is the amazing disappearing baby Boyd lost it when he remembered he’d left Baby Stevie alone in the hospital car park. By the time he’d retraced his steps, … Read more
New Zealanders need to stand up for refugees today, just as we did in the past, writes Dame Susan Devoy Seventy-two years ago our Prime Minister and our country took in more than 700 child refugees when no one else would help. They had survived the Third Reich, endured life in Russian work camps and … Read more
Stop blaming TV commissioners for the quality of our local output, says Chris Hooper, who last year left TVNZ for a role at the BBC. It’s time to hold the Government’s feet to the fire. Part of an ongoing series assessing our publicly funded television. Read part one, covering the role of commissioners, here. People look upon … Read more
Whau the People is an arts collective based in Avondale, Auckland. They are currently raising funds to run a creative community hub, which will be home to exhibitions, performances, talks, parties, workshops, and other various events. Their aim is to make creative events part of the normal everyday life of a suburban area. Avondale gave … Read more
The acclaimed author and academic Ranginui Walker was farewelled over recent days by hundreds of mourners at Auckland’s Ōrākei Marae. Among those who spoke at the tangi was his former colleague Dame Anne Salmond. Ko te wai e hora nei, ko Waitematā, Ko te marae e takoto nei, ko Tumutumuwhenua, Ko koutou āku rangatira kua … Read more
James Dann scales his personal Everest, power ranking all 45 Warriors jerseys from transcendent best to horrible worst. The Warriors head into their 21st season tonight after a number of ups and downs. Probably more downs, to be honest. Since 1995, the Warriors have been known for their unpredictability, their thrilling highs and depressingly common lows. The same mercurial nature … Read more
In which Steve Braunias selects the winner of the great Spinoff ‘colouring in thing’. “Very exciting” and “FFS” were among the remarks made by judges of the first ever Spinoff Review of Books colouring-in contest held yesterday on Twitter. Readers were asked to colour in a drawing I made based on various New Zealand books. … Read more
Listen to the bold return episode of the The Fantasy Suite, The Spinoff’s weekly podcast all about The Bachelor New Zealand. There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old group of plonkers talking about it for far too long. It’s The Fantasy Suite, The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ hosted … Read more
New verse by Paris-based writer Andrew Johnston. Deuteronomy South of the past, dreaming she was still alive, Echo came in low, under the dateline, over the mud flats, mirroring. To see the plane kiss its shadow she would have to be somewhere else but she sees it, she sees everything kissing everything. She was … Read more
You might have noticed an increase lately in the amount of news stories about half-naked men fighting in a cage. You might also have noticed one man in particular seems to get a bunch more air time than anyone else. Don Rowe explains just who he is, and why everyone is talking about him this … Read more
Our Spinoff writers remember Martin Crowe: an old-school batting technician who became the headband-clad hero of the 1992 Cricket World Cup, the inventor of Cricket Max, and a regular antagonist to the cricketing establishment. Sonia Gray, TV presenter, Black Caps tragic I first met Martin Crowe in 2000 when we filmed a promo for Sky Movies together. There were camera … Read more
I’ve never met Bradley Ambrose but he’s been on my mind a lot recently. He’s the journalist and cameraman whose recording device remained on the table during the utterly preposterous cup of tea John Banks and John Key shared in a café before the 2011 election. Remember it? The politicians, for their own reasons, invited … Read more
“I am not a political person but what I am is hurt,” says Bradley Ambrose ahead of his teapot-tapes defamation case at Auckland High Court. A crowdfunding campaign has been launched in an effort to ensure freelance camera operator Bradley Ambrose’s defamation suit against John Key makes it to court. The case, which is likely … Read more
Natasha Hoyland spends some surprising time at sea with one of her underrated childhood heroes from Hi-5. If I went back in time and told six year-old me that she’d one day be witnessing a sweaty Nathan Foley from Hi-5 rip his shirt open whilst singing Lionel Richie’s ‘All Night Long’, she would’ve shaken her head. … Read more
The Beauty Spot is Zoe Scheltema’s weekly column that dissects the world of beauty and fashion. This week she brings together some of the weirdest trends from February including fake freckles and Gaga glitter. It’s a fast paced game, the beauty world, so to keep you up to speed here are the top crazy trends, … Read more
Our impossibly torturous flag change process has left us with two terrible options. Design industry professional Simon Pound explains why he’s sticking with the status quo. You know someone’s in real trouble when they have to call in their popular, tough mates to help out. So I feel sorry for John Key, having to get Richie and Dan to … Read more
One of the best cricketers New Zealand has ever produced died today after a losing battle against cancer. Scotty Stevenson remembers Martin Crowe. For people of my generation, Martin Crowe was everything we wanted to be. He was a calculated-yet-cavalier, disciplined-yet-dashing batsman who feared no attack. He wore headbands under his helmet, and stood tall on … Read more
If there’s one rule game designers should take into account, it’s this: bullshit simply will not fly in the internet age, at least not for long. Ubisoft should have known better, writes Don Rowe. Creating game worlds from scratch is hard and expensive. Every blade of grass, every bird, every blood-soaked temple to the sun … Read more
Alex Casey revisits clips from Miss Popularity on NZ On Screen, the reality competition where women were called “Boomerang Babes” and left at the mercy of the Australian Outback. 2005 was a strong year. I met Neville Longbottom at Armageddon whilst wearing a ‘Vote for Pedro’ badge, everyone at my school was either in love … Read more
Former criminal lawyer Ross Burns assesses Ian Wishart’s new book on the Marlborough Sounds killings, Elementary (Howling at the Moon, $38.99) Nothing about the Sounds murders has been elementary. Following the disappearance of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope from Furneaux Lodge on New Year’s Day 1998, there was a huge, albeit apparently flawed, police investigation. … Read more
If Tana Umaga didn’t understand how much scrutiny he will face as Blues coach, he sure does now. And all it took for him to create mass hysteria was to make a few changes to a winning team. Adages die harder than John McClane, and that’s especially true of those that apply to rugby union. One of them … Read more
In the second installment of Gone By Lunchtime, the Spinoff’s politics podcast, Toby Manhire is joined by Annabelle Lee, producer of The Hui, and Ben Thomas of political PR company Exceltium to discuss Ranginui Walker, Judith Collins and gangs, Pharmac, the flag, and Auckland’s unitary woes. Oh, and John Palino, naturally. Have a listen below, or download … 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 the ghost of The … Read more