Filed under: Music | Tags: Andy Strachan, Auckland, Big Day Out, Chris Cheney, Melbourne, Music, punk, Scott Owen, The Living End
Mt Smart stadium, that’s where! If the first announcements are anything to go by, this should a sweet Big Day Out! Yeah, Neil Young should be cool, Prodigy are kind of cool live and the Artic Monkeys should be fun, but there is one reason why you should be at next years festival.
The Living End!
E-boogie/Second Solution
Filed under: Journalism, New Zealand Election 08, Philosophy, Politics | Tags: Austria, democracy, Education, Helen Clark, John Key, Labour, Media, National, New Zealand, Politics, School, Voting age, Youths
Austria became the first EU country to drop the voting age to 16, in a move to counteract the influence of the country’s aging population. The new voters will be given their first taste of democracy this weekend, granted the right to vote in the country’s general election, which is forecast to be a close race. The move to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote has been controversial and provoked criticism from many who believe the young people do not know enough to vote. Even many young voters do not believe they are ready to participate in democracy.
“I don’t agree with the idea of teenagers of my age being given the right to vote,” said Julia Tauschek, a 16-year-old high school pupil from the Austrian town of Linz yesterday. “We simply don’t know enough about politics and we are not taught much about them at school either.” (From the Independent)
But doesn’t involving young people in the democratic process encourage them to become politically aware? And since when are older people so politically knowledgeable? Are some voters not already suffering from political amnesia when they refer to the ’90s? (more…)
Filed under: Books, History, Journalism, Politics, Quotes | Tags: Auckland, Foreign Correspondent, Gaza, Independent, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Journalism, Lebanon, McCain, Middle East, New Zealand, Newspaper, Obama, Palestine, Reporting, Robert Fisk, Te Waha Nui, War, West Bank
A couple of years back I finished my BA in History and Sociology and had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Disillusioned, I spent two years working full time in a book store. I flirted with the idea of secondary school teaching until I read Robert Fisk’s Great War for Civilisation. People had suggested I look into journalism as a career before, but it was not until I read Fisk’s book on the history of the Middle East that I felt compelled to get into journalism. I loved the passion with which he writes with, the attention to detail, the sympathy he has for those who suffer in the troubled region. His knowledge on the area is unparalleled. I found his reporting inspiring. I feel I owe Fisk a lot, so imagine my delight when I was given the chance to interview my hero for Te Waha Nui.
This is the transcript from my 45 minute interview with the Independent’s Robert Fisk. Please forgive any grammatical errors – it took me eight hours to transcribe! Enjoy. (more…)
Filed under: Philosophy, Politics | Tags: Conservative, Fear, John Hibbing, Liberal, Right wing, Science, Threats, University of Nebraska
I found this BBC story amusing. According to research published in Science, people who are inclined to support “right wing” causes and have conservative views are more “sensitive to fear or threat”, whereas those who perceived less danger in a series of images and sounds in the study were more inclined to support liberal policies. So next time someone from the right calls you a pussy for opposing war, harsh penalties for crime or torture, point out that they are more “sensitive to fear” and therefore pussies themselves! I suppose it just confirms what many of us have always believed. (more…)
Filed under: Music, Philosophy, Politics | Tags: punk, anti flag, bad religion, Politics, New Zealand, Strung out, No use for a name, America, Election 2008, Vote, Rise Against, Strike Anywhere, NOFX, Mad Caddies, Suicide Machines, Propagandhi
As elections loom in New Zealand and the United States, some songs become particularly relevant. Before I cast my vote on November 8th, my MP3 player will probably be playing Bad Religion’s “I want to conquer the world”, or “You are the government”. I fear the following day it might be “Fuck Armageddon, this is hell”! I think American’s would be best listening to Nofx’s “The idiots are taking over”, with a line that could almost refer to Sarah Palin. Hopefully they will be playing a more optimistic song the following day!
Alright, here are my top ten (modern) punk songs to vote to: (more…)
Filed under: Music | Tags: punk, anti flag, New Zealand, Australia, Fat wreck chords, Me first and the gimme gimmes, Lagwagon, Joey Cape, May 16
Sure I’m a little slow on this, I have been slack, but I’m keen to draw people’s attention to what should be a killer show. Hot the heals of the announcement Pittsburgh punkers Anti-Flag are heading to our shores later in the year, Fat Wreck’s Lagwagon are touring in November. I haven’t seen these guys, so I am really looking forward to this one. From what I’ve heard they are awesome live and totally went off when they were here a few years back. I wasn’t that keen on them then, for some reason, so I’m something of a late convert to these guys. Anyway i saw the Gimmes in January and Joey has a lot of fun on stage, so I assume they should be a blast to see as well. They are touring in support of their latest EP “I think my brother used to listen to Lagwagon”, which I have to get my hands on and possibly review (or Amberleigh). Hell I only have “Hoss” and the “live in a dive” album, but I’m pretty stoked for this one. Should make for a pretty sweet summer, especially if we get some good genre acts turn up for the BDO ‘09. (more…)
Filed under: Journalism | Tags: AUT, Election 2008, New Zealand, News, Newspaper, Politics, tame iti, Te Waha Nui, University
Wake up at 6. Read the news online for about half an hour pour myself one of my trademark milky coffees, maybe even have breakfast. Hop in car, drive to park and ride, pray for park, stand on bus, try not to spill freshly purchased excrutiatingly hot coffee. Walk up Queen St, buy another coffee, get in lift, push button for level 15, hold back screams as lazy bastards get off at the first few floors. Release comment under breath, “Use the f**ken stairs you lazy sh*theads”. Make my way to production room, slump in seat, stare at screen. Place stories on page, concieve witty headlines, struggle to write average captions. Scream at story that needs cutting. Crop a few photos. Wait for politicians to call you back for that brilliant story you are trying writing. Resign yourself to the inevitable failure of your stalled story. Frustrated, go to pub. Return to tower refreshed. Back to work. Get incredibly stressed and take it out out on the wrong person. Eat something (expensive) at some point in the day. If lucky, leave uni before midnight. Repeat process from Monday to Thursday, culminating in a massive piss-up on Thursday night, too many beers, too much tequila. Feel dead to the world the following morning.
I assure you, it is all worthwhile when you see how awesome the paper is when it comes out on Friday! (more…)
