tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21315148114838880262024-03-14T19:37:44.797+13:00Quote Unquote“essentially a literary gossip column” – CK Stead, 18 April 2010Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.comBlogger1881125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-84061766495764461262020-08-24T18:03:00.000+12:002020-08-24T18:03:51.686+12:00Waikato Times letter of the week #92<p> From the edition of Saturday 22 August. As always, spelling,
punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as printed in the <i>Waikato Times.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b></b></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Driver licensing<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some readers may recall when the (now) Dame Shipley reneged
on the permanent NZ Driver’s Licence paper one being changed to plastic with
driver photo.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Part of the changeover involved being told to look into a
hooded telescope and asked to alert what they viewed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It seemed you were supposed to pick up on flashes of light
coming from all directions.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many took it as faulty equipment, as you do with new gear
and failed to pick up on what was wanted.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This resulted in huge numbers being referred to opticians,
who made a financial killing in fees, before being declared OK and fit for
licence.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now the LTSA seem determined to deny licence renewals for
the over 75s.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They may pass the standard medical, blood pressure, eyesight
and answer yes to the usual range of medical requirements but the new factor is
the demand to visit the family doctor yet again and have a psychiatric
confirmation. The latter will relieve your back pocket of up to $700. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am reminded of when in the 1960s I flatted in Lower Hutt during
the 6 o’clock closed Sundays pub days.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sunday flagons were the order of the day and the group of
flatters next door and our group combined. A convivial pint or two did cause
some arguments to arise between neighbours and one of our team, quarrelling
with Reggie next door, asserted . . . ‘You are mad you bugger’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Whereon, said Reggie pulled out a psychiatric report which
declared him sane and Reggie then demanded of us all ‘where was our sane
document’?<o:p></o:p></p>
<b><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A R Baker,
Morrinsville</span></b></blockquote><b><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></b>Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-50613360713799212692020-07-08T19:39:00.000+12:002020-07-08T19:40:44.046+12:00Waikato Times letter of the week #91<div class="MsoNormal">
From the edition of Wednesday 8 July. As always, spelling,
punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as printed in the <i>Waikato Times</i></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Water rights 1</b><br />
Having just read my copy of the <i>Waikato Times</i>, June 20, mine is just a small voice – so – I would
like to call on your considerable force.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Asking you to endeavour to get “the powers that be”
to see some common sense regarding the fate of our mighty Waikato River.</blockquote>
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I’m seeking protection from man’s shortsighted curse, surely
we can learn from other’s folly – The Snowy River comes to mind – The Aussies’
folly. She must be pleading to us Kiwis – before it is too late to reverse.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">K A Campbell,
Whitianga</span></b></blockquote>
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Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-67319370697472350242019-12-16T22:34:00.000+13:002019-12-16T22:36:22.814+13:00A curated mix of artisans<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">From </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Cuisine</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">, January 2020 issue, p50:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you fancy a yoga class followed by a
cleansing organic juice (sipped through a bamboo straw) and then maybe a
hand-crafted Paris Brest pastry oozing with hazelnut cream just to keep the
balance right, head straight down to The Welder, a complex in the progressive
South Town neighbourhood of Christchurch where the hospitality and lifestyle
brands share a philosophy of holistic health and sustainability. This is retail and food therapy that’s good at
heart and good for you – but none too precious. “We were prescriptive about the
types of businesses we wanted within The Welder,” says James Springer,
associate at Box 112, the developers behind the project. “It’s a curated mix of artisans that tie into the
wellness theme.” </span></blockquote>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-85857800164273366392019-12-10T19:52:00.001+13:002019-12-10T19:53:28.232+13:00Holding patternI am to attend <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/11/18/912298/gower-to-address-the-end-of-news-media-at-the-hamilton-press-club">the next meeting of the Hamilton Press Club</a> on Friday the 13th – speaker: Patrick Gower – so should have a report to post next week.<br />
<br />
Also there is very good news about the new fellows for the Randell Cottage and Grimshaw Sargeson residential fellowships – I am on the selection panel for both – but until they are announced, it’s all a bit Wittgenstein: whereof I cannot speak, I must remain silent. But not for long.
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-3009289894313042542019-09-07T17:51:00.000+12:002019-09-08T22:30:02.606+12:00Bert Hingley<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LvI1OERovWQ/XXNDYZJvYJI/AAAAAAAACBk/3WypfFtl_A0QDFwhO7rs2n-oPLjdazgkwCLcBGAs/s1600/Bert%2BHingley%2B1987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LvI1OERovWQ/XXNDYZJvYJI/AAAAAAAACBk/3WypfFtl_A0QDFwhO7rs2n-oPLjdazgkwCLcBGAs/s320/Bert%2BHingley%2B1987.JPG" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Sad news that Bert Hingley, the legendary New
Zealand publisher at Hodder & Stoughton in New Zealand, died on Tuesday 3
September. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">In his publishing days here he was a rock star,
publishing Sue McCauley, Russell Haley, Philip Temple, Pat Hanly and many
others. I watched from a distance – I was merely a book reviewer – but was
astonished to find that a person could be bookish and also worldly, witty,
commercially minded and, frankly, sexy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">The photo above is from my book <i>The Dirty Decade: New Zealand in the 80s</i>
and is undated but the hair is a clue. I captioned it: “The Peter Frampton
years: Bert Hingley of Hodder & Stoughton (seen with Sebastian Black).”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">When he moved to Australia he tried his hand as a
second-hand bookseller at Darling Street Books in Balmain, which he passed on
to his son Benjamin when he took up the publisher’s position at the very classy
literary publisher Hale & Iremonger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">There will be obituaries by people who knew him
better and were closer to the action. I always admired what he did at Hodder –
but my favourite memory is from before that time, of him coming in to the <i>Listener</i> office in Auckland to deliver
his “Bookmarks” column (1979 maybe?), mid-winter, with a heavy cold, wearing
jeans, boots and a thin muslin shirt that showed off his curly chest and
medallion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">There hasn’t been a publisher like him since – it’s
not just the bravery, the commitment to his authors, the commitment to
production values, not just the conversation, not just the commitment to lunches.
But what a combination!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For those of you who are in or can get to
Sydney, the funeral will be held on Thursday 12 September at 2 p.m. at </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://palmdalegroup.com.au/greenway-chapel-memorial-gardens/"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Greenway
Chapel and Memorial Gardens</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> at Green Point, Central Coast. It will be a lay
funeral of one hour, conducted by the family. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-64240105270691737592019-08-31T17:34:00.004+12:002019-08-31T17:34:50.976+12:00Waikato Times letter of the week #90<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
From the edition of Saturday 31 August. As always,
spelling, punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as printed in the <i>Waikato Times</i>.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="background: white;">Swainson cops a thrashing</span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white;">In reference to the opinion
piece by a 53-yr-old Richard Swainson on August 24: “Alan Jones gives old men a
bad name”.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white;">Really? I question such envy
driven and virtue signalling self indulgent social drivel, masquerading as
recompensed objective commentary. Reinforcing and illustrating what the writer
accuses Alan Jones himself of having “his own mass of neuroses and repressions”.
Richard Swainson’s opinion piece from his academic bubble, should elicit the
Rattus, Rattus derriere: response.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: white;">As another of many not
unique graduates from the University of Life capable of seeing beyond the
village, who waited almost five years in 1945, for our fathers and loved ones
to return from World War II. Observing loathing or loving him, Alan Jones’
achievements continually far outweigh that of the journalism integrity
exhibited in the article.</span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jack Wells, Raglan</span></b></blockquote>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-69013597489330682852019-02-21T16:19:00.001+13:002019-02-21T16:19:32.461+13:00Mark Amery on Laura Solomon<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rb-PikuHgnE/XG4X0L2qCjI/AAAAAAAAB-U/LJbXZN-wK_YOUqKibFT5X-JysDEifTq8QCLcBGAs/s1600/QUQ%2Bcover%2BMarch%2B1997%2BLaura%2BSolomon%2Bcrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1246" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rb-PikuHgnE/XG4X0L2qCjI/AAAAAAAAB-U/LJbXZN-wK_YOUqKibFT5X-JysDEifTq8QCLcBGAs/s320/QUQ%2Bcover%2BMarch%2B1997%2BLaura%2BSolomon%2Bcrop.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
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The writer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Solomon">Laura Solomon</a> died on
Monday, aged 44, of brain cancer. Her first novel, <i>Black Light</i>, was published in 1996; her second, <i>Nothing Lasting</i>, in 1997. Since then she
was incredibly prolific in fiction, poems and essays: the last book I have is the
2017 short-story collection <i>Alternative
Medicine</i> but there is much more listed at <a href="http://www.laurasolomon.co.nz/">www.laurasolomon.co.nz</a>, where the
first two novels are available as free downloads.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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She was on the March 1997 cover (photograph by Bruce Connew)
for winning a Denis Edwards comedy writers-as-league players competition (the
previous year’s winner was Vincent O’Sullivan). But in the September 1996 issue
there was a proper interview. The intro read:<o:p></o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Mark Amery talks to Laura Solomon, the new Wellington writer
who makes Emily Perkins look like a grande dame.</blockquote>
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<b>THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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“I don’t want to be easily digestible,” says Laura Solomon.
“I want to go down like a cup of cold sick, and I think I’m achieving my aim.
Now, next question?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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No more questions. Solomon (whom the press is enjoying
describing in bold type as “only 21”) is speaking about been seen and read
about in the media since her first novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black
Light</i>, was published by Tandem last month. You couldn’t say, in this sort
of situation, that she’s reserved.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“In interviews I just say anything. To be honest I don’t
care. I don’t say anything important in an interview, I just hope that it will make
people read the book, because that’s what I’ve put a lot of effort into saying.
But then, for someone who declared three weeks ago, quote: ‘she had nothing to
say for herself,’ I’ve certainly managed to blather on to every Tom, Dick and
Harry!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Solomon says she doesn’t see the point of paying too much
attention to what’s written about her. Besides, she says, there are almost always
mistakes. For instance, she notes, the stained threadbare carpet in the living
room of her flat was described in one story as shagpile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“As Joan Armatrading said, why use your army to fight a
losing battle? Fighting the media and the way you come across is a losing
battle. Just get it over and done with, and write another book.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Someone called Barry from Timaru, she says, called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Light</i> “a little cracker”. “I’d
love Tandem to put that on the reprints: ‘A little cracker. Barry from Timaru.’
That’s much better to me than the height of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quote
Unquote</i> or the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Listener</i>. It’s much
better to me that Barry from Timaru liked it than the chief editor of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Listener</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Black Light</i> was
written while Solomon was completing a degree in English Lit at Otago last year.
She’s written two books since, one of which, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing Lasts</i>, will be published by Tandem early next year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The day we talk she’s all packed to move to Melbourne,
where, she says, she’ll wash dishes if she has to in order to keep writing.
“I’ve always written and I’ll continue to write. I wrote my name when I was
three and never looked back. In fact, I’ll tell you my little story about my
taste for the macabre,” she adds, starting to show her mastery of the interview
game.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“People have always said I’m a little black. Apparently,
when I’d been at school for about two days the dental nurse handed us out
pictures of nice little bunny rabbits and said, ‘Now kids, colour in the bunny
rabbit,’ and I grabbed a black crayon and went ‘eghhhh’ on its teeth. She said,
‘What have you done?’, and I said, ‘Bunny rabbit’s got fillings.’ I was just
like that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Solomon, however, didn’t want to be a writer when she grew
up. She wanted (“seriously”, she says) to be a fighter pilot. “Then I did
sixth-form physics and that was the end of that. I was better at maths than
English at school. But I think that comes into play, because when you write a
novel you have to structure it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Solomon may have a black side to her (as the title of her
book suggests), have the ability to write well and the motivation to do lots of
it, but she doesn’t want to be seen as anything but ordinary. She got
published, she says, quite simply by writing a book, sending it away and getting
it accepted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“If there’s some 14-year-old looking through a magazine, I
just want to appear normal. If among the over-glossed anorexic Amazons there’s
one decent-looking normal woman there, that’s a healthy way to appear. No make
up, no silly poses. I’m just not doing it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“No one’s making me up into some trumped-up dolly bird!” she
dramatises. “Ideally I would be just sitting at my computer in my jammy top with
my coffee cup. That’s what I’m like — crusty as! Why can’t you just be there
looking grotesque?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Grotesque, maybe. But like a cup of cold sick? The things
people say in interviews.</div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-19770882499660051292019-02-20T14:44:00.003+13:002019-02-20T14:44:56.972+13:00Stephanie Johnson on Peter Wells<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sAvIPZ_nqko/XGyvKAtfbzI/AAAAAAAAB-A/KRnkfVoHYjYtJ-fB70oVMo0CA0KG52CsgCLcBGAs/s1600/Peter%2BWells%2Bportrait%2Bby%2BSimon%2BYoung.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1141" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sAvIPZ_nqko/XGyvKAtfbzI/AAAAAAAAB-A/KRnkfVoHYjYtJ-fB70oVMo0CA0KG52CsgCLcBGAs/s200/Peter%2BWells%2Bportrait%2Bby%2BSimon%2BYoung.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g_mzFjB0rSI/XGyvN0EmzNI/AAAAAAAAB-E/PEJWY6VFm5U57J8HWOIvz560zLpEepikACLcBGAs/s1600/QUQ%2Bcover%2BSeptember%2B1993%2BPeter%2BWells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1258" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g_mzFjB0rSI/XGyvN0EmzNI/AAAAAAAAB-E/PEJWY6VFm5U57J8HWOIvz560zLpEepikACLcBGAs/s200/QUQ%2Bcover%2BSeptember%2B1993%2BPeter%2BWells.jpg" width="155" /></a><br />
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To mark the death of writer and film-maker Peter Wells on
Monday, the 103rd in this occasional series of reprints from <i>Quote Unquote</i> the magazine is from the fourth
issue, September 1993. The photograph and cover shot are by Simon Young: this
was possibly the first time a mainstream New Zealand magazine sold in
supermarkets had an out gay man on the cover. The intro read:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Piano</i> wasn’t
the only New Zealand film to make a big splash at Cannes this year. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desperate Remedies</i>, directed by Peter
Wells and Stuart Main, was in the prestigious “un certain regard” section and
sold spectacularly well around the world, including the all-important US
market. But the Film Commission wasn’t so enthusiastic, at one point deciding
that the film shouldn’t be made. Stephanie Johnson talks to Wells about his
sensuous fairy-tale. </blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BREAKING THE RULES<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the last decade Peter Wells and Stuart Main have made a
number of remarkable short dramas and documentaries, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jewel’s Darl</i> (based on a short story by
Anne Kennedy) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Death in the Family</i>,
which won awards here and in the US and Canada. Their first feature is the
startling, sensuous and liberating <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desperate
Remedies</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wells is also a successful writer of fiction. His short-story
collection <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dangerous Desires</i> picked up
the Reed fiction award and rave reviews at home, and will soon be published in
the US, with potentially lucrative sales to the large gay market there.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Main loathes being interviewed, so while his shadowy
presence lurked about their lovely Ponsonby villa, I talked to Wells in his
study, from which you can see the glinting harbour and the puffing chimneys of
the Chelsea sugar works. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SJ:</b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> What are the logistics of co-directing? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PW:</b> People always
ask about the co-directing. It’s not as strictly demarcated as one of us
directing the camera crew and one of us directing the actors. The film can
break up in different ways — like in this film-I worked more with Lisa Chappell
[who plays Anne Cooper] and Cliff Curtis [as Fraser].<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What a find! He was
wonderful. Such a decadent face. Had he done much work before? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A bit. He just appeared out of the blue. Watching him last
night [at the premiere], I think he’s the first Maori actor we’ve seen on film
who isn’t self-conscious. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The common wisdom is
that co-directing can’t be done.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because Stuart and I have been it for quite a long time it
crept up on people before they could make a judgment. In some of the films
we’ve made together I’ve directed, Stuart’s been first assistant director and editor.
In other films I’ve been writer and set director and he’s been director.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I suppose you and
Stuart had the odd disagreement? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, we would’ve. I suppose with this film Stuart was much
more remorseless than I was in terms of style. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But you were remorseless
about the actors keeping to the text? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[He laughs] With the partnership, people are always
fascinated by the technical processes of it. I think <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s allowed both of us to investigate all
sorts of areas which individually would have been very difficult to have
brought off. Like creating a kind of queer cinema. Because we've been able to
do it together there’s been support and a kind of push/pull relationship.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think if we’d been doing it individually, almost
inevitably we would’ve gone overseas. As it is we’ve created our own sort of island,
and now there’s Garth Maxwell and all sorts of other people, and so it gets
bigger and bigger. That’s been the most creative aspect of the partnership.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who yells out
“Action”? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stuart does normally. But we talk a great deal before we begin
the project. We do quite a lot of rehearsal, an unusual amount for film. With <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desperate Remedies</i>, as with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death in the Family</i>, we did our
rehearsals with a video camera there, so we were planning our shots at the same
time. It’s: only in rehearsal that you start to discover what you’re doing. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desperate Remedies is such
a vision — it has such a look — that I wondered how you’d arrived at a vision
like that together. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was worked out really with Stuart, me, Michael Kane and
Glenis Foster, who are the set and costume designers. We’d sit down in this room
and we’d talk forever. The basic starting point was we didn’t have a big budget
so we could be as extreme as possible.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How much did it cost? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
$2.1 million. In terms of international budgets it’s tiny.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do you think the costs
of it were kept down because it was shot indoors? If you’d actually gone down
to the wharfs, you would have had to dress them and park a sailing ship there. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’d decided we didn’t want that kind of film. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There were jokes in
that scene that I think only New Zealanders or possibly people from colonial
countries would appreciate — from both sides of the fence. Like “Natives No
Problem" on a placard. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
New Zealanders will have different readings of the film to others.
People have said to me it doesn’t have any point of view of history, and others
say it’s revisionist. I see the film as an escape from history, although it has
a point of view on history.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was doing research I read about a family who lived in
New Plymouth at the time of the land wars. They were such desperate times then,
when people had to withdraw into a stockade and their houses were burnt down and
they lost absolutely everything. They had to stay in the stockade and try to
eat whatever was in the cupboards, and then when that <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>disappeared and they were all sleeping in a
room, it was all sort of desperate. And it really appealed to me as a
philosophical territory. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desperate Remedies</i>
is not as desperate as that, but we wanted the feeling of a stockaded town where
everyone’s pushed in and so people are going to do all sorts of things, even though
it’s all sort of exaggerated and mad and wild. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I would call the film a queer take on Mills and Boon. Stuart
and I as little poofters growing up loved all that sort of Mills and Boonie
historical romance kind of thing. A lot of the pleasure came from the fact we were
able to take Historical Romance — the great heterosexual genre — and change it around
so that what is always meant to be the great ending is subverted.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The language in the
film is striking, archaic in a way. Like “those who light the fuse may live to
be blinded by it”. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I enjoyed writing that dialogue. I worked with Debra Daley
on the second draft. She was the script editor. We had a great deal of fun with
that duelling dialogue. You don’t really know what anyone is thinking, but
they’re duelling back and forth all the time.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The high-flown nature
of the film is so refreshing. In New Zealand we still seem to believe that you
don't blow your own trumpet — you make films about what you know about, your own
life’s experience. It’s a death of the imagination. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a very easy screenplay to write even though it took
five years. But the five years were really spent in the politicking.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Film Commission
asked you not to talk to anyone at Cannes about how they’d first knocked you
back. What was the story there?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If something like this comes along, which is out of the
context of all the films that have been made up to that time, of course it’s
high risk. I’m so pleased we’ve got a Film Commission, and it’s absolutely
essential that we do, but the voting situation on it is a strange one whereby
there are always producers and directors on it. In a way, whatever project
comes, it has to be fitted within the profile of their own projects. If your
project comes up at the same time as one of theirs . . .<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We went through a terrible stage when they’d spent something
like $70,000 developing the script. We were going for production money and they
said no, we’ve decided this film can go no further, it’s not on, it won’t work.
So we just had to say you’re wrong, it’s going to be made. I talked last night
to the people who said this film won’t work and they said, oh, we didn’t
understand the way you were going to make the film.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Was it the style of
the film that confused them?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think so. In a way we also had to educate a lot of the
actors. Stuart and I grew up in a time when on television there were a lot of
old films on a Sunday afternoon, so you grew up almost unconsciously learning a
history of cinema. These days the films are on at such terrible times nobody
watches them, so everybody loses that history. So we sat down with the core
cast, the six main actors, and we watched those fast-talking films of the 30s and
40s. Something that’s been lost is the speed at which people talked, the way
they cut in on each other. When they watched them they suddenly clicked into
the type of performance we wanted from them. In a way it was quite liberating
for them to actually be bravura and to be able to walk right up to a camera. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There are lot of close
ups. They’re all such beautiful people. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s part of the language of the melodrama genre. All the
main characters are incredible-looking and all the extras are character faces.
Everyone who isn’t part of the main drama is a kind of character face that you
can read at a glance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I kept thinking it was like a fairy-tale too. The
opium-smoking caterpillars reminded me of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alice
In Wonderland</i>. [He laughs] I think it’s a fairy tale in both senses of the word.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Because you’d
rehearsed the actors such a lot, how many takes did you do, on average, for each
scene? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It varied. Not many with Jennifer [Ward-Lealand, who plays
Dorothea].She has an almost faultless technical ability. It was interesting
working with Jennifer and, say, with Cliff, because they were so different in
their approaches and they challenged each other. Cliff is such a method sort of
actor. He would charge all over the sets working himself up into a complete lather
before a take.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Had Anne and Dorothea
escaped so they could be lovers here without the eye of England on them? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They had no relation to England, really. Calling her
Dorothea Brooke was a totally conscious thing. She’s the heroine of George
Eliot’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Middlemarch</i>. In a way we wanted
to take a certain kind of Victorian independent woman of sensibility and place
her in a quagmirey colonial situation.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The house that she
lived in was extraordinary, with all the reflected surfaces and the feeling that
at any minute it was all going to shatter. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They were the first scenes we did, the drawing-room scenes.
It was wonderful for the crew and cast, because the first rushes we got back
looked so staggering. We were all on a complete high. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’ve never seen a New
Zealand film as sumptuous as this. I remember after seeing it feeling relieved,
as if a barrier had been broken and we were at long last allowed to make films
that don’t have all the way through them: “This is a community announcement.” <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Making such a theatrical film is a good thing, because I think
New Zealand actors on the whole have had to be very <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>throttled in their kind of emotional range,
more throttled than New Zealanders actually are.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Is that possible? Now,
the other thing I wanted to talk about is the music. It really stands out, it’s
one of the aspects of the film you remember. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Peter Scholes composed the score. He did a wonderful job.
Music is another part of the language of that genre. We used the Auckland
Philharmonia — 70 pieces, right down to a wonderful Russian violinist. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Writers who want to
write films have got to deal with the fact that film-makers have often got such
literal minds. It’s such a struggle that in the end many good writers think, I
can’t be bothered, I’ll go and write a book. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me as a writer I really like the fact that I’m involved in
the film world. I notice for some writers that they see it as some form of
prostitution. I think it’s a good combination to have. Financially it makes
your life so much more possible, because writing for film brings in a lot more
money. There are also craft considerations with whatever you’re doing. When I
go back to writing fiction I find it very pleasing because it seems so limitless.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Have you started
another screenplay yet? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve got two I'm slowly working on. The ideas are just
forming. I had a lovely conversation with Shonagh [Koea] about the rituals of writing.
You know, how it’s such an important thing to have a routine and a rhythm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I really underestimated how easy it would be to go from
doing a film back to fiction. I just thought, oh we’ve finished, I’ve had a holiday
now, so I can sit down and work. I’ve got back into that way of thinking that it’s
a lucky thing, even though at times it feels like hell.</div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-72069808495492603212019-01-11T15:42:00.000+13:002019-01-11T15:42:45.026+13:00Waikato Times letter of the week #89<div class="MsoNormal">
From the edition of Thursday 10
January. As always, spelling, punctuation, grammar and logic are
exactly as printed in the <i>Waikato
Times</i>.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="background: white;">New measures for drones<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">The impending
danger to society was evident from the moment that private drones became a
marketable commodity, but politicians world-wide have done nothing to manage
their use. How must they act to recover this situation? Could they make some
unpopular decisions; like grounding all private drones until compulsory
countermeasures such as onboard transponders (like aircraft IFF) enabled them
to be identified instantly? Or insisting that drone manufacturers provided
authorities with the means to countermand the instructions sent to drones by
their operators. Unfortunately, we already need measures to curb the activities
of fools who cause danger with fireworks, alcohol, drugs, motor vehicles,
bikes, and scooters. While they are curbing these antics, they could have a
serious campaign against the low-lifes that litter our streets with fast-food
and drink containers. Political success would be more achievable if they
concentrated on things that they can fix, rather than melodramatic panic over
climate change; which has been cycling on for millions of years. Could it be
that stone-age mankind would have averted this if they had built cycle tracks? Do
not hold your breath, the polling agencies that politicians rely on, continue
to provide services that do not reflect reality or societal needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hugh Webb, Hamilton</span></b>Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-53481426500144271082018-12-31T20:59:00.000+13:002018-12-31T20:59:05.302+13:00Hamilton Press Club #2Sadly I was unable to attend the mid-year meet of the
Hamilton Press Club, when Land Wars historian Vincent O’Malley was speaker. Press
Club meets are usually decorous and respectful but apparently that one got a
bit raucous when perma-polite Don Brash asked a disobliging question. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Herald</i> journalist Kirsty Johnston was
there and tweeted (since deleted but the Internet doesn’t work like that) the
only account of that event I have seen:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
So expectations were high for the end-of-year meet with Green
MP Golriz Ghahraman as speaker. Disappointingly Don wasn’t there but there were
a bunch of writer friends; a bunch of journalists, mostly harmless; political
operatives such as Simon Bridges, Sean Plunket, Matthew Hooton and Richie
Hardcore; and one I do know, Hamilton West MP Tim McIndoe, whom I sat next to
at lunch. He was admirably frank about Certain Things, but, you know, Chatham
House rules. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At a front table sat Kirsty Johnston, Lizzie Marvelly and Noelle
McCarthy. At the table behind them sat Sean Plunket, star of 2017’s end-of-year
meet. My report is <a href="http://quoteunquotenz.blogspot.com/2017/12/wintec-press-club-sean-plunket-edition.html">here</a>.
I thought his best line then was, “After 32 years in journalism you could
probably use my ego as tiles on a space shuttle.” He also asked that there
be no live-tweeting during his talk “because it’s fucking rude”. Was he
live-tweeting through Ghahraman’s talk? Yes, he was. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Steve Braunias, MC of the event, clad in a tropical shirt
appropriate for the humidity — a thunderstorm was imminent —.kicked off by
declaring, “We’re here to be nice.” Like hell we are, I thought — we’re
journalists and politicians. Next, he threw to the floor the nametags of people
who were invited but had not turned up : “some c—t called
Jamie Strange.” Strange is a Labour list MP and avid writer of letters to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waikato Times</i>. “The Labour Party begged
me to invite him but the fucker didn’t turn up.” <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He acknowledged the presence of Marvelly, author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The F-Word</i>, but was critical of Marama
Davidson, “author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The C-Word</i>”, for
being another non-attendee. More positively: “Hamilton Press Club is a search
for meaning — and what is Hamilton but a search for meaning?” Then, sternly, to
Richie Hardcore: “Stop texting or we’ll tell Paula Bennett. Won’t we, Simon.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More positively still, he announced the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wintec Journalism School awards: Donna-Lee
Biddle won the Alumni Award<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> </span>for
her brilliant <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waikato Times</i> series on life in Huntly East. Rising Star was
Horiana Henderson (open to employment offers, editors!). Best writer in New
Zealand journalism was Madeleine Chapman who, as Braunias said, broke the story
on “those wretches from World”. She expressed appreciation for his tutoring, his
praising certain pieces and how much it meant: “Steve won’t hold back if he
doesn’t like something we wrote.” How Matthew Hooton laughed. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A prize of a rainbow trout was presented to Noelle McCarthy
and her husband John Daniell (author of the excellent rugby novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Fixer</i>) on the occasion of their
moving to the Wairarapa. Lucky them, on both counts.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Braunias then uttered the magic words, “I think this is
probably an excellent time for me to shut up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ghahraman spoke mostly about identity politics. There was an
awful lot about Donald Trump. An edited version of her speech notes is <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-12-2018/we-do-not-shed-our-skin-why-all-politics-are-identity-politics/">here</a>,
mercifully Trump-free. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some highlights:<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have a degree in sex. We’ll have time for questions
later.” (She doesn’t really, and we didn’t.)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s time to load our shotguns.” (I think this was about
Twitter.)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Metiria Turei was savaged by every Pakeha male in the media “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">including</i> at RNZ”. (Astonished emphasis
speaker’s own.)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At question time first up was: “That was fucking awesome.
How do you not cry when you’re speaking like that from the heart?”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next, Braunias to Hooton: “Matthew, it’s interesting having
a man of your calibre here. Do you have a question?”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next, Sean Plunket, the angry white man’s angry white man, banged
on at length about Metiria Turei. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lizzie
Marvelly spoke for us all: “Was there a question here?”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ghahraman, calmly: “He’s just demonstrating my point.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An uproar ensued, led by Marvelly and Johnston, I think, with
Plunket shouting “Oh, fuck you!”, at Marvelly, I think. As angry white men go,
Plunket is a large specimen. Like Walt Whitman, he is large, he contains
multitudes. The sight and sound of him swearing shoutily at a woman half his
size was unpleasant. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Braunias calmed it down well from the stage and questions
resumed. All those that touched on Turei started from the assumption that any
criticism was based on her being a woman and a Maori, not on anything she had
done. Ghahraman: “Even if it’s aimed at an individual we know where it’s coming
from.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At 3.05 Richie Hardcore, the back of whose T-shirt read “Call
My Lawyer”, asked a question. As soon as Ghahraman ended her reply he was back
on his phone. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The last question was from Marvelly: “How do you sustain
your humanity?”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ghahraman replied, “Thank you. That means a lot, especially
from someone who maintains a standard of composure online. . . <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because you’re constantly fighting for
humanity, how can you lose it?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stuff’s non-eyewitness report on the event is <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/109382419/plunket-marvelly-let-loose-on-social-media-after-rising-tension-at-hamilton-event">here</a>;
Newshub’s is <a href="http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/everything-descended-into-chaos-media-figures-involved-in-hamilton-incident/ar-BBQYOPV">here</a>.</div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-30287995991286691042018-12-13T18:50:00.000+13:002018-12-13T18:50:06.983+13:00Waikato Times letter of the week #88<div class="MsoNormal">
From the edition of Friday 13
December. As always, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, grammar and logic are
exactly as printed in the <i>Waikato
Times</i>.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="background: white;">Whale
stranding theory 101</span></b> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">What a sad catastrophe, the beaching of so many whales
around the coasts of NZ. No real reason for this periodic disaster appears to
be officially found. I’d like to suggest a possible reason.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">Whales send and receive sounds underwater that
allow them to navigate their marine terrain and to keep in contact with their
mammalian community. So one can understand their confusion/disorientation when
their delicate hearing is assaulted with an enormous blast </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">of sound from which there is no escape. Could
this be from the navigational system of a nuclear submarine which has the
capability of circumnavigating NZ under water? Our nuclear-free policy would
stop any call into a port, and homeland security would stop any connection
between whales beaching and a nuclear submarines presence. It’s just a
suspicion not a conspiracy theory.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Peter H Wood, Thames</span></b></blockquote>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-79655050722457989172018-12-08T17:20:00.001+13:002018-12-08T17:20:43.025+13:00Waikato Times letter of the week #87<div class="MsoNormal">
From the edition of Saturday 8
December. As always, spelling, punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as
printed in the <i>Waikato Times</i>.<br />
<br />
This
one concerns the Waitaha people, who according to Barry Brailsford were here
before the Maori. Michael King demolished Brailsford’s first book about this in
<i>Metro </i>in 1995 (and later in his 2003 <i>Penguin History of New Zealand</i>). Soon
after, Bob Harvey, then Waitakere mayor, made me spend two hours in Brailsford’s
company being harangued about the Waitaha and the evils of Michael King. Until
then I had considered Bob a friend.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="background: white;">History
teaching backed</span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">Pou brings wars to school yard. Guest speaker Sir
Harawira Gardiner status – “a fundamental building block of any civilised
society is an understanding of its history.” For 150 years, the New Zealand
wars had “Danced in the Shadows” of mainstream learning”.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">If we are to teach New Zealand history, be it war
history, or general history, then it is our responsibility to start at the
beginning, not halfway as mentioned. Go back to when man first set foot on New
Zealand soils. The real tangata whenua of New Zealand, the
Kahupungapunga/Patupaiarehe/Waitaha peoples.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">W</span><span style="background: white;">hat became of them, and why are these people and
their history being deliberately suppressed even today. “Who are we to deny
them their rights to be heard, and to be remembered”.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">Many of their descendents are still living here
today.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">G B Burling, Wahi</span></b></blockquote>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-64515157307329666112018-11-05T20:31:00.000+13:002018-11-05T20:31:53.717+13:00The Warwick Roger-Stephen Stratford chronicles<span style="background-color: white;">My 14-year-old daughter wants to redecorate her
room so I dug out some photos of Murray Grimsdale’s exhibition at the Denis
Cohn Gallery in 1977.</span> <span style="background-color: white;">Murray painted the
walls with fruiting bananas, agapanthuses and portraits of his wife May,
subject of most of the paintings on show, one of which is outside the
daughter’s bedroom. Rooting these photos out, I discovered a correspondence
between me and <i>Metro</i>’s founding editor <a href="http://quoteunquotenz.blogspot.com/2018/08/in-memoriam-warwick-roger.html">Warwick Roger</a>. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">I was a contributor to <i>Metro </i>from early on.
Memory has it that I had a freelance piece in issue #3 in 1981 but that can’t
be right (I have never kept clippings) as I was at the <i>Listener</i> then. At least,
I think I was. I do have a clear memory of visiting Warwick in the magazine’s early days in his tiny office perched perilously above
Grafton Road: his knees were almost up against his chin while I sat in a canvas
chair opposite his desk. Later we would sometimes meet by chance in Airedale
Street near the <i>Metro</i> office and gossip, as journalists do. Almost as much as lawyers. Eventually I received
this letter:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><i>11 November 1985</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Dear Stephen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Sorry it has taken so long to come back to you –
busy time of the year and all that. Sorry too that I have no need for brief
book reviews. Kingi [Michael King, then the main book reviewer] seems to be in good
heart and you well know that Metro never does anything briefly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Yes, you were right about Laurel & Hardy
(Mannion and Adams). What happened? [This is about the magazine <i>New Outlook </i>I
edited when it was left-wing but had since become a cheerleader for Michael Fay.]
Please tell. The Ferret (to say nothing of our lawyers) needs to know. I’ll
call you in a day or so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Regards<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Warwick Roger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><i>4 April 1986</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Dear Stephen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">How nice of you to offer me the chance of gracing
my organ with the Vincent O’Sullivan short story. I would be happy to do so
provided that Mr O’Sullivan doesn’t have a contract of any kind with the
litigious Mr Mannion. Could you please confirm that in your capacity as
literary agent to the stars?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Incidentally, do you have any information for The
Ferret about what happened in the bitter internecine struggle between Mannion
and Adams? Answers on a postcard to : The Editor, Metro, P.O. Box 6842,
Wellesley Street or in a secret phone call. You will be rewarded in another
life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Thank you for your kind words about North and
South.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">When you’ve convinced me that there is no legal
impediment to publishing your client’s story and when you furnish me with his
personal address, I will write and formally accept the story and send him a tax
form.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Warwick Roger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><i>12 May 1986</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Dear Stephen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Do you want a job?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Warwick Roger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><i>22 May 1986</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Dear Stephen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Thank you for your distracted letter of May 17.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">I am pleased to learn of your desire to become
involved with my organ and although your demands, especially for money, are
absolutely outrageous, Mr Palmer and I have reluctantly decided to accede to
them except in the matter of the BMW.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">As Mr Palmer is unable to write coherently at
present you will, I am afraid, have to do with a letter of appointment from me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Yes, we’ll pay the amount you suggest. Four
weeks’ holiday a year to be taken at times that are mutually convenient. I
intend to take a week off in August and three weeks in January during which
times you are welcome to be me, so it wouldn’t be convenient for you to take
your holidays then. By the time you get this letter you may have learned of
certain developments in the ownership of Metro department. These developments
will ensure the continuation of your fortnightly paycheck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">If it’s convenient for you, why don’t you start
on Monday 21 July?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">I look forward to getting a call from you
confirming the start date.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">I think you’ll enjoy being associated with this
organ. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Yours faithfully,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Warwick Roger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">P.S. I don’t mind you doing the occasional
Listener book review.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">I stayed at <i>Metro </i>as deputy editor until early
1993 when I left to start the books/arts monthly magazine <i>Quote Unquote </i>and lose
all my money. The <i>Metro </i>days were good times, mostly. Every morning I looked
forward to going to work, and that was because of Warwick, mostly. He could be
a total prick at times, but he was brilliant. I’ll take a brilliant prick
over a competent dullard any day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">And here is one of the photos of that Murray
Grimsdale exhibition:</span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ytbVAejmRM/W9_tfTmlE9I/AAAAAAAAB8M/9RyRHIAd5yU-jMXZJs6BUhMvaVhRfS-6wCLcBGAs/s1600/Grimsdale%2BCohn%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1146" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ytbVAejmRM/W9_tfTmlE9I/AAAAAAAAB8M/9RyRHIAd5yU-jMXZJs6BUhMvaVhRfS-6wCLcBGAs/s320/Grimsdale%2BCohn%2B3.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">Sadly it is in black and white so you miss the lovely delicate
colours, but you do get to see a rear view of Peter Wells descending the
stairs. Peter worked at the gallery then; neither of us can recall who the
photographer was. Possibly Sally Tagg: the photo is identified only as
“05997/34a”.</span></div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-92185134330939445632018-09-26T22:20:00.000+12:002018-09-26T22:20:43.811+12:00Money for writers #7<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;">A new foundation established by the Auckland
Writers Festival offers up to 10 one-off grants of $2000-5000.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">The <a href="http://www.matatuhifoundation.co.nz/">Matatuhi
Foundation</a> will provide opportunities for writers to develop and promote
their works, and will fund activities that contribute to literacy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">Festival chair Pip Muir says, “When the Festival
began almost 20 years ago, meetings were held around a kitchen table.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">Yes, they were. The first few were at Tessa Duder’s
kitchen table in Herne Bay. Subsequent subcommittee meetings – we had a lot of
subcommittees – were held at, among other places, Sarah Sandley’s kitchen table
in Parnell and Sarah Fraser</span><span style="background-color: white;">’s</span><span style="background-color: white;"> kitchen table in Balmoral.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">“Since then,” says Muir, “the appetite to engage
with writers from New Zealand and around the world has grown exponentially and
with it the opportunity to deepen our commitment to our literary landscape. It
is absolutely fantastic that the Festival has reached a point where it can
further contribute to the national reading and writing community.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">Yes it is, given how we struggled financially in
the early years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">Inaugural chair Anne Blackburn says, “I very much
look forward to receiving applications from groups that seek to engage more
readers and also from our writers, whose words and ideas enrich our lives.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">The Foundation website says it will fund projects
that:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Relate to New Zealand literature (fiction,
non-fiction, poetry)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Demonstrate innovation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Deliver broad community benefit outcomes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Use innovative and cost-effective platforms
including digital<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Are new or business expansion projects rather
than business as usual<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Represent well considered, robust propositions
with identified, achievable and measureable deliverables<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">It says it will generally not cover: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Business-as-usual activities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Ongoing operational or staff overheads</span><span style="color: #636466; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">International travel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Projects that can access full funding elsewhere<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Projects connected to the annual Auckland Writers
Festival.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white;">The deadline for applications is 31 October. </span></div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-9022953279255083882018-09-18T23:07:00.000+12:002018-09-18T23:07:50.722+12:00Money for writers #6The Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship invites applications for 2019. This offers the opportunity to write full-time, free from financial pressure with a stipend of $20,000 for the full year (less if the fellowship is shared, obviously), and stay in rent-free accommodation in the Sargeson flat in Albert Park, between Queen Street and the University of Auckland. Any published New Zealand writer is eligible.<br />
<br />
When I was on the Sargeson Trust fellows had access to the university library as well as the nearby Auckland Central library: I am not sure if this still applies.<br />
<br />
It is a great fellowship and I can strongly recommend the accommodation, having lived in the flat one August. Back then it was the same bed that Janet Frame, the first Sargeson fellow, had slept in, but we replaced it years ago. This involved me and Graeme Lay test-bouncing on double beds in Farmers at St Lukes Mall. Eyebrows were raised.<br />
<br />
Applications close on Friday 5 October, with the tenure due to start on 1 April 2019. You can download the application form <a href="http://www.grimshaw.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Literacy-Fellowship-Application-Form_2019-tenure.docx">here</a>, and there is further information on the fellowship <a href="http://www.grimshaw.co.nz/about-us/grimshaw-sargeson-fellowship/">here</a>. There is also a very good book about the whole thing available <a href="https://www.wheelers.co.nz/books/9780908561957-affair-of-the-heart-an-a-celebration-of-frank-sargesons-centenary/?author=Lay%2c%20Graeme&view=gallery&bic=ZSPB">here</a>.
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-87027990658495414692018-09-13T18:32:00.000+12:002018-09-14T16:50:48.539+12:00Money for writers #5<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">The University of Waikato invites applications
for the position of Writer in Residence for 2019. The salary is $52,000. Yes,
$52,000. Hooray for the University of Waikato, and also for Creative New
Zealand, which is joint funder of the residency. (Hooray for Lotto, too,
because that’s where the CNZ money comes from.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">The position is open to writers of serious
non-fiction, dramatists, novelists, short story writers and even poets. It
helps to have a record of previous publications of high quality and, in my
experience of assessing similar applications, it really helps to make a good
case for why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this</i> particular
residency would help with your project. Associate Professor Sarah Shieff, who
runs the programme, tells me: “We’re especially interested in applications from
mid-career writers with strong track records in creative writing and creative
non-fiction.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">As well as the $52K you get an office with computer
in the School of Arts and access to the university library. There are no
teaching or lecturing duties, but “it is expected that </span><span style="background-color: white;">the Writer will participate in the cultural life
and vibrancy of the university”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Also, you can stay at the Michael King Writers’
Retreat in Opoutere for up to two weeks. A fortnight in Coromandel all paid
for!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">On the other hand, “The Writer is expected to
live in Hamilton during the tenure of the award.” So, swings and roundabouts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">The link to the vacancy is <a href="https://hr-wss.its.waikato.ac.nz/plsql/wss/wk8227$VDC.download?p_file=7F9BD0FE1B2084BB603BD80FA7C195BEC82E36EBDF79E4B616399D4865B4F5A841E3F551D80286300B2751820EA74FE31C836DA87604DF29B542110694EBEB15949545734DCE9B4D0A546AA51844AFC69F8E696AAAF15B5D5A5F72EF83CAD8ECF33E52C065BFD5155CEA630294AB776833A068BCF3CAC32832BF47151EF41E63DFD0D1A2B446FA52"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">here</span></a>. Full
information (including a profile of the current writer in residence, Therese
Lloyd) is <span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/about/school-of-arts/english/writer-in-residence">here</a></span>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-39056756664621439062018-08-28T22:15:00.000+12:002018-08-28T22:15:21.952+12:00In memoriam Warwick Roger<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6-gROBzW4R8/W4Ua0TWEDUI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/8zdYj7e2jQMvNWqI0HBBCSB-3-u4jPHoACLcBGAs/s1600/Warwick%2BRoger%2Bwith%2Bcat%2Bby%2BAnnelies%2Bvan%2Bder%2BPoel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="671" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6-gROBzW4R8/W4Ua0TWEDUI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/8zdYj7e2jQMvNWqI0HBBCSB-3-u4jPHoACLcBGAs/s320/Warwick%2BRoger%2Bwith%2Bcat%2Bby%2BAnnelies%2Bvan%2Bder%2BPoel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Portrait
by <a href="http://www.anneliesvanderpoel.co.nz/">Annelies van der Poel</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For family reasons I was unable to attend the funeral in Devonport
last Friday of Warwick Roger, who died on 16 August. His death was not a surprise but knocked me sideways all the same. My plan had been to write
a report of who was there and what was said in the eulogies, and write a bit
about my experiences as an early contributor to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metro</i> and later its deputy editor for seven years, because I
thought the published obituaries (apart from <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/106517315/warwick-roger-audacious-combative-and-hugely-influential-journalist">this
one</a> after the event by Karl du Fresne) were rushed and didn’t do him justice. Fortunately Adrian Blackburn
was there and posted this account on Facebook the next day, which does do Warwick
justice. I reproduce it here with his kind permission. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A banner of Auckland bylines at Warwick Roger’s
funeral on a bleak Devonport afternoon. Just in my short row near the back of
the crowded rugby club: Geoff Chapple, Donna Chisholm, Louise Callan, Armin
Lindenberg.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hundreds more there, colleagues, rivals, friends,
family and acquaintances, for the most satisfying such occasion I can recall, a
well-structured, literate and bracingly honest tribute to a difficult, quirky,
brave and meticulous man whose talents and drive changed New Zealand’s media
landscape and, more importantly, the way Auckland sees itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Longtime friend Spiro Zavos, in loyalty and
grief, over-egged the omelette of Warwick’s talents to the point where I
suspect the man himself would have cringed. But from Nicola Legat, Rhys
Harrison and Warwick’s daughters came a more balanced and thoughtful clarity
about his complexities and qualities as a professional, a father and a friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Warwick Roger’s wildly successful <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metro</i> of the Eighties was not diminished
in its impact by owing much to established American city magazines, especially <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New York</i> magazine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He built on that formula, making Metro an
individual creation which another editor, without Warwick’s sense of being an
outsider from the wrong side of the tracks and needing to prove himself, could
not have achieved. It gave him that drive to see his city in the whole, to
clearly assess its faults and glories, and with a big fingers to the
establishment to tell other Aucklanders the uncompromised stories of its
reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The timing was perfect. An expansive and
excessive Auckland was feeling its oats. And Warwick was the journo for the
job. His words as a feature writer always wanted more space than the 1500 to
2000-word limits dictated by newspaper features sections. In a swiftly bulging <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metro</i> he was able to give his talented
writers — mainly women — room to roam on the toughest stories, then edit them
with taste and precision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Long before the supercity was formalised he gave
the Rangitoto Yanks a sort of perverse licence to now welcome characterisation
by those south of the Bombays as Just Another Fucking Aucklander.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think he would have been pleased, and perhaps a
little astonished, at the turnout yesterday. But journalism is a strange trade
which, if you ply it long enough in a city, brings you into contact with
thousands. Many have been touched by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metro</i>’s
stories, or have worked for it or rival publications. Acquaintances mainly,
much more often than friends, though the work often brings you into a brief
sort of intimacy with colleagues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I got the impression yesterday that this was very
much the case for Warwick. I only ever knew him as a fellow feature writer,
though a few years back, when his Parkinsons was already quite advanced, I
recall sitting beside him for quite a spell and chatting at an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Auckland Star</i> reunion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We did share a passion for running. We both ran
our first marathon, a lap of Lake Rotorua, on the same mid-Eighties day. In
running terms Warwick was a gazelle, I a warthog. But I fancied he was likely
to write a piece for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star</i> on his
experience, so I raced to do my own for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Herald</i>
and have it published a week ahead of his. A spurious sort of victory, I guess,
but satisfying at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Warwick was intensely competitive. Parkinsons
must have been doubly cruel, robbing him of that wonderful freedom running at
peak fitness can give, and then of his capacity to write.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The terrible toll that prolonged decline, over
more than 20 years, also took on the love and loyalty of his family — and
particularly his wife Robyn Langwell — in keeping him at home until the end
became clear yesterday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had come direct to the funeral from over an
hour with a friend now facing a similar toll with a wife just diagnosed with
terminal cancer. He was keen to have me share some of my own experience in a
similar case. I said to him: “Life can be a bastard.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m sure Warwick would have felt unfairly picked
on by life. But I’m also sure that if yesterday something of him was hovering
above that plain coffin, his outsider’s eye would have picked up on all sorts
of detail he might have put into his notebook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He would have approved the photo on the screen of
him and one of his beloved cats, their shared expression. He would have noted
who was there. But more importantly who was not. He would have seen poet and
fellow Devonport resident Kevin Ireland and winced at the thought of the letter
of apology he once sent to Kevin. (I urged Kevin later at drinks that he frame
the letter and hang it above his honorary Doctorate of Literature: “That letter
is much more rare than any doctorate.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He would also have winced at being described as
“useless” at his much loved cricket but appreciated his former
president’s-grade team mates carrying his coffin out to the hearse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He would have grinned when the female hearse
driver opened the vehicle’s side door to check the casket was secure, revealing
she had her handbag stashed in the gap below the coffin’s platform.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His literary self would have appreciated the
single clang of what looked like an old-fashioned school bell to attract the
attention of the crowd before the hearse glided slowly away. “For whom does the
bell toll? It tolls for thee.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And then, as the rest of us made our way around
the road to the cricket club nearby for the after-match, I imagined him, miraculously
restored, running again, striding out freely, almost floating, away from us,
over the winter grass of the park, destination unknown.</span></div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-46816852024493606712018-08-07T19:19:00.000+12:002018-08-07T19:19:21.984+12:00Waikato Times letter of the week #86<div class="MsoNormal">
From the edition of Tuesday 7 August.
As always, spelling, punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as printed in
the <i>Waikato Times</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><br /></span>
<span class="MsoHyperlink">There haven’t been many of these
recently: I apologise for this break in service, but since the paper adopted a tabloid
format there has been a reduction in letters printed. Post hoc ergo propter
hoc, I assume: I shall ask the editor when I see him at the second meeting of
the Hamilton Press Club on Friday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="background: white;">Response
to letter writer</span></b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">If I understand Hugh Webb (letter to the editor,
July 21), there are four reasons to call for a more balanced reporting
misdirected. First, Donald Trump, of course! Then the fact that all information
can be found anyway. But where and why would anyone try to find willingly such
atrocious accounts of failed humanity? Third, half of the population is too
dumb to deserve some quality news. Really? And fourth, people are too selfish
and self-centred to be given a chance to make “an intelligent assessment of
political issues”. But isn’t the right to vote given to those who are 18,
whatever their IQ or their ability to get interested in other people’s lives
and problems? Even if there were a certain amount of truth in all these four
points, isn’t it worth it to play the democratic challenge of informing people
properly and then letting them decide what action to take? Indeed, bashing
people with half-cooked analysis and uninteresting facts that waste the public
time and the hard earn right to give and be given valuable elements of
reflection won’t help shape our society for the better, but might do it for the
worse.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Michael Bahjejian, Hamilton </span></b></blockquote>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-28427519568631345402018-07-29T19:48:00.000+12:002018-07-29T19:48:45.693+12:00Digging a hole<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">This letter from the latest issue of the <i>London Review of Books</i> ticks every box
for me: it is from the Orkneys; it is about a vegetable garden in Takapuna; it cites
Hera Lindsay Bird and Frank Sargeson; and it quotes Maurice Duggan and Kevin
Ireland. The <a href="https://www.bwb.co.nz/authors/rod-edmond">Rod Edmond</a> who
provoked this is Lauris Edmond’s nephew.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="background: white;">What
to Do with a Quarter-Acre<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><a href="https://www.bwb.co.nz/authors/rod-edmond">Rod
Edmond</a> suggests Hera Lindsay Bird is pulling my leg when she claims not to
know of ‘New Zealand’s old Labour Day custom of digging a hole in one’s back
garden’ (Letters, 5 July). I reckon it’s Edmond who’s doing the leg-pulling.
I’ve never seen mention of such a custom in any literary or historical context,
and none of the New Zealand writers with whom I have discussed ‘The Hole that
Jack Dug’ has heard of it either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Jack was based on a friend of Sargeson’s called
Bill Anso. ‘Anso used to dig holes everywhere,’ the poet Kevin Ireland wrote to
me. ‘He would see a spade and he’d grab it and dig. If all men shared Anso’s
compulsion, the planet would be like gruyère cheese.’ Anso’s obsession was
briefly normalised in the early years of the Second World War, when fears of a
Japanese attack drove many New Zealanders to dig bomb shelters in their
gardens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Another ‘Son of Sargeson’, Maurice Duggan, wrote
vividly about Labour Day on the North Shore in the postwar era:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white;">Up and down this crumbly hill the lawnmowers are
whirring, the radios are chanting comments, winners, prices, from the ‘tots’;
the glare strikes up, the dust blows: the air is rich with the smell of all
those roast dinners eaten at high noon; “dad” is undoubtedly off somewhere,
sleeping with the newspaper over his face: the pubs, like any football scrum,
one knows, are packed tight.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">So no hole-digging.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Contrary to Edmond’s further suggestion,
Sargeson’s garden was far from the norm. Quarter-acres in up and coming suburbs
like Takapuna were typically laid out to lawns, with only limited flower and
vegetable beds. Sargeson was extremely unusual in cultivating every square inch
for food production. His garden literally kept him alive at many points. So
desperate was he to wring every ounce of goodness from the land that he even
treated the council-owned berm between the front of his section and the roadway
as an opportunity to grow long grass for scything and composting. This was yet
another irritation to his tidy-minded neighbours, who felt that New Zealand’s
greatest writer was lowering the tone of Takapuna.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="background: white;">Duncan
McLean<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Stenness, Orkney<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">For some years I grew capsicums that were descended from Sargeson</span><span style="background-color: white;">’</span><span style="background-color: white;">s plants, as Kevin Ireland had collected and saved the seeds. I have lost them and their descendants now, but it was nice while it lasted.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-27892492134612100242018-05-26T21:57:00.000+12:002018-05-27T18:56:57.442+12:00Hamilton Press Club #1: Alison Mau<span style="background-color: white;">The Wintec Press Club is dead. Long live the
Hamilton Press Club!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">The full story of the change is </span><a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/13-04-2018/wintec-press-club-is-dead-long-live-hamilton-press-club/">here</a><span style="background-color: white;">.
Full credit to Steve Braunias for the revival, fuller credit to Sri Lankan
dynamo </span><a href="http://www.asianmirror.lk/news/item/27288-loveinceylon-hashtag-for-fairytale-kiwi-sri-lankan-wedding-ranked-trending-02-on-twitter-in-new-zealand">Chamanthie
Sinhalage</a><span style="background-color: white;"> and fullest credit of all to Brian Squair of </span><a href="http://www.chowhill.co.nz/">Chow:Hill architects</a><span style="background-color: white;"> who has stepped in
as sponsor to keep alive the idea of a national press club in Hamilton.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">The new premises are <a href="https://www.gothenburg.co.nz/">Gothenburg</a>, a restaurant on the
riverbank beside the museum with two fully glazed walls looking over the
Waikato river. It is a lovely room – or, as architects say, “space”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">The speaker was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunday Star-Times</i> columnist Alison Mau: here is the </span><a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/104041459/alison-mau-at-last-the-royal-family-allows-the-heart-to-triumph-over-habit"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">column</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> she published next</span></span><span style="background: white; color: black;">. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Trigger warning: contains Meghan Markle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">In his introductory speech which strived to
praise Hamilton, Braunias said the city had two safe Tory seats – here he glared
at Tim McIndoe, MP for Hamilton West – and a succession of “deadshit mayors”.
Bit harsh on Julie Hardaker, the previous incumbent, I thought, but then I am
not a ratepayer there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Playing to the groundlings, he made several slurs
against Tauranga. Steve is from Mount Maunganui, not that there’s anything
wrong with that, but I have never understood the chippiness of those from that
side of the Tauranga harbour against those of us from the better side, but here
we are. Chow:Hill has long had an office in Tauranga, not the Mount, and
designed the <a href="http://architecturenz.net/Find-an-Architect-Project-Detail/Tauranga-Police-Station-i41bd7717-b5d8-484b-9655-495d5e523811-1115.htm">Tauranga
police station</a>, so I feel the sponsor is with me on this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Jonathan Mackenzie, genial editor of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waikato Times</i>, introduced me to Sinead
Bouchier, Fairfax CEO: she seemed nice but then I don’t work for her. I praised
his paper’s new look and he praised my old magazine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quote Unquote,</i> wondering if his collection of magazines might be
worth a few bob now. (I wish.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">There were eight tables of 12, possibly one or
two extras squeezed in, so perhaps 100 guests. At my table were the poet
Therese Lloyd (current Waikato University writer in residence) whom I heard <a href="http://quoteunquotenz.blogspot.co.nz/2018/03/report-on-experience-vup-edition.html">read
beautifully</a> at the launch of Vincent O’Sullivan’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All This By Chance</i>), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>short-story writer Tracey Slaughter, editor
Vanessa Manhire, and what seemed to be the entire staff of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunday</i> magazine. Also present: Mihingarangi Forbes, Annabelle Lee, Te
Radar, Rachel Stewart, Lisa Lewis and half a dozen or so journalism students
from the Wintec course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">We had canapes (e.g. “Arancini, turmeric roasted
cauliflower, smoked gouda, confit garlic aioli”), tapas (e.g. “Spicy Kim Chi
and pork dumplings, Octovin, peanuts, coriander”) and dessert (“Chocolate cups,
Belgian chocolate mousse, banana toffee, hazelnut praline”). All this, and
constantly flowing Prosecco.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">The invitation said that speaker Alison Mau “will
discuss the Stuff #metoo investigation. A freewheeling Q&A session will
follow, also drinking.” After Braunias’s introduction, Mau’s opening words were:
“Thank you Stephen but fuck, the inaccuracies in that speech!” Well, she is an
Australian by birth and upbringing so I suppose some coarseness was to be
expected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">She couldn’t tell us much about Stuff’s #metoo
investigation<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because, understandably,
her bosses had told her not to. They want the story, when published, to be a
scoop, not live-tweeted in advance by every non-Fairfax journalist in the room.
But she could – and did – have a crack at David Cohen for his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NBR</i> column about the project. She kept
calling him “Dave”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is no more a Dave
than I am a Steve. He had been invited but sadly could not make it. Pity. Would
have been a livelier Q&A session. David is one of those rare people who can
dish it out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> take it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">But Mau did say – or as Stuff would say, “reveal”
– that 400 people, some of them men, have contacted her team in the last three
months, most of them terrified of losing their job if identified, even if only
their company was named. And she made the very good point that only support
from a large media firm can make this kind of long-term investigative reporting
possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Question time. Jarrod Gilbert asked if Mau
thought that Blackstone’s formula, “the foundation of Western democracy”, no
longer applies. It all got a bit Auckland Writers Festival from here, frankly:
no one understood the question, Mau tried to answer and He Would Not Give Up.
Kept banging on about Blackstone’s principle or, occasionally for variation,
Blackstone’s formula. Mau explained that what she and her team were doing was a
journalistic investigation, not part of the the justice system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Mau hinted darkly that one newspaper columnist
had accused her of offering counselling to people who contacted her. She
wouldn’t say who, but it was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a woman</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Like its much-mourned Wintec predecessor, the Hamilton
Press Club was a convivial occasion and I met poets, journalists, editors,
academics and some normal people. Best of all, I met </span><a href="https://sciblogs.co.nz/blogs/lippy-linguist/"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lippy Linguist</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black;">
who writes about language at SciBlogs. Here she is on </span><a href="https://sciblogs.co.nz/lippy-linguist/2018/01/16/deep-history-number-words/"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">the deep
history of numbers and counting</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: black;">So here is </span><a href="https://weaverofgrass.blogspot.co.nz/2009/01/how-to-count-sheep.html"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">how to count
sheep in Yorkshire</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="IT" style="background: white; color: black;">Yan, Tan, Tethera, Methera,
Pimp, Sethera, Lethera, Hovera, Dovera, Dik (10);</span><span lang="IT" style="background: white; color: black;">Yan Dik, Tan Dik, Tethera
Dik, Methera Dik, Bumfit (15); Yan Bumfit, Tan Bumfit, Tethera Bumfit, Methera
Bumfit, Jigget (20).</span><span style="background: white; color: black;">When the shepherd got to twenty he would raise
his index finger and start again. When he had all five fingers up it would mean
he had got to 5 x 20, or one hundred. Then he would put a stone in his pocket
and start again.</span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Harrison Birtwistle got an opera out of that, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yan Tan Tethera</i> (sadly not recorded so
not on CD, DVD or YouTube). <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">The one musical guest I spotted was James Milne,
aka Lawrence Arabia. So here, as a place holder for Harrison Birtwistle, is
Lawrence Arabia with “The Listening Times”:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZJuFAKG7XWc" width="560"></iframe></div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-80112012199774791622018-05-04T14:25:00.000+12:002018-05-04T14:25:45.165+12:00Spectator sentence of the week<span style="background-color: white;">I can’t decide between these two from the 28
April issue so here are both.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">A.N. Wilson writes in the <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/04/enoch-powell-wasnt-racist-he-just-craved-attention/">Diary</a>
about his friend Jill Hamilton, who died recently:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">When she fell in love with a younger man who was
a Catholic priest, a hitherto dormant interest in religion was born, though it
became a little bitter when she learned he was two-timing her with a nun.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;">Daniel Hannan in a </span><a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/04/britain-was-utterly-wretched-in-1975-no-wonder-europe-seemed-a-better-bet/">review</a><span style="background-color: white;">
of Robert Saunders’ </span><i>Yes to Europe: the
1975 Referendum and Seventies Britain </i><span style="background-color: white;">quotes this</span><i> </i><span style="background-color: white;">on a county cricket match in a cold snap before polling day:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">When play resumed the next day, conditions were
so treacherous that one batsman removed his false teeth, wrapped them in a
handkerchief and handed them to the umpire, Dicke Bird, for safekeeping.</span></blockquote>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-91602251702592712272018-04-17T19:03:00.000+12:002018-04-20T20:44:52.065+12:00Waikato Times letter of the week #85This is for Jillian Ewart: from the edition of Tuesday 10 April. As always, spelling, punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as printed
in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waikato Times</i>.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">Trump’s
morals<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">I see you are still publishing reports of
President Trump and his apparent poor morality. What about our prime minister
who is going to have a baby out of wedlock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where are her morals.? What kind of example does she set for other
women. But I would just imagine that her “partner” thinks that “why buy the cow
if the milk is so free”. If she had told the New Zealand voters she was
pregnant when she ran for office how many would have stayed away from her? So
it’s best if we clean up our own backyard before we criticise others. Isn’t
this supposed to be a Christian country or has that just gone by the wayside
too? I know you won’t print this as it’s the truth and not “fake news”.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">Jim
Crain Sr<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Hamilton <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">So here are the Band in 1983 with “Milk Cow
Boogie”, Levon Helm on vocals, Richard Manuel on drums.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://youtu.be/lrYh_MsnkuM">ttps://youtu.be/lrYh_MsnkuM</a></span></div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-30047010213365707882018-03-09T21:00:00.000+13:002018-03-09T21:06:03.836+13:00Report on experience: VUP edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OXo0SI_aCAM/WqJAWqyW5wI/AAAAAAAAB5Y/szA50eUFeR0Ixa7PVENBkrVBHaMppsfLgCLcBGAs/s1600/All%2BThis%2Bby%2BChance%2BVincent%2BO%2527Sullivan%2BVUP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="659" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OXo0SI_aCAM/WqJAWqyW5wI/AAAAAAAAB5Y/szA50eUFeR0Ixa7PVENBkrVBHaMppsfLgCLcBGAs/s320/All%2BThis%2Bby%2BChance%2BVincent%2BO%2527Sullivan%2BVUP.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
<span style="background: white;">To the capital for the launch last night at the
Wellington Festival of three VUP books: <i>All
This by Chance</i>, a novel by Vincent O’Sullivan (see my 2011 report </span><a href="https://quoteunquotenz.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/hour-of-terror-with-vincent-osullivan.html"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An Hour of Terror
with Vincent O’Sullivan</span></a><span style="background: white;">); <i>Feverish</i>,
a memoir by Gigi Fenster; and <i>The Facts</i>,
a poetry collection by Therese Lloyd.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;">This was held in the Spiegeltent. Last time I was
in it I was on-stage at the Tauranga writers’ festival: my view of these events
is that they are for appearing at, not attending. But for Vincent I will always
make an exception and even go to Wellington. The Spiegeltent is a splendid
venue, and this night it was packed: my spy on the door said there had been 190
acceptances, which is pretty good for a book launch.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">At the back of the stage was a band’s gear all
set up – drums, amplifiers, keyboards, the works. Damien Wilkins was in the
crowd – would he and his band the </span><a href="http://theclosereaders.com/"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Close Readers</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black;">
perform, I wondered. Sadly, no. He was just there to introduce the authors.
Bah.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">After Damien’s speech there were readings by
Fenster and Lloyd which were a) good and b) brief. Then along came Vincent.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Damien had talked about how the novel conveys<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>“the wildness of experience, its
uncanniness”. Well, yes. Then: “We see how ingratiating so much contemporary
fiction is – it wants to be our friend. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All
This by Chance</i> is only interested in its own material.” I’m not quite sure
what he meant by that but probably also well, yes.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Then Vincent spoke. Mercifully, he did not read.
He thanked his publisher, Fergus Barrowman: “This is the 12th book we’ve done
together and it’s almost too late to stop.” He said nice things about his
editor – that would be me – and especially Steven Sedley who was his adviser on
the cultural background: many of the novel’s characters over several
generations are dealing with how to live in New Zealand after the Holocaust, and
Steven sure knows about that. (Older readers may remember his Horizon Bookshop
in Lower Hutt – one of the great independent booksellers.) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">Afterwards I talked to Fiona Kidman about
editors; I met my favourite New Zealand composer Ross Harris; I hung around the
Unity Books desk and saw that sales of all three books looked to be brisk. And
then I went to Little Penang for dinner. Can recommend.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">For what it’s worth, I think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All This by Chance</i> is a great novel. Maybe the best New Zealand
novel ever. So here is Led Zeppelin in 1970:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-_kZE7MSlLw" width="560"></iframe></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br /></div>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-18329297315242594302018-03-02T21:19:00.000+13:002018-03-02T21:19:42.797+13:00Gramophone letter of the month #1From the February 2018 issue.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Speedy Debussy?</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I was so disappointed to read Harriet Smith’s review of Stephen Hough’s wonderful new Debussy CD (January, page 64). She seems to favour fast, bright Debussy over a more romantic approach. We should never forget that Debussy composed on an upright piano covered with blankets. He didn’t like bright, virtuoso playing of his music. I heard Mr Hough on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune telling of a backstage conversation with a pianist in the 1950s. ‘My father said everyone plays L’isle joyeux too fast,’ said an elderly lady to the pianist. ‘Who was your father?’ asked the pianist. ‘Claude Debussy.’</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>John Kawasaki, by email</i></blockquote>
Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2131514811483888026.post-31541152096819862632018-02-27T17:06:00.000+13:002018-02-27T17:06:27.744+13:00Waikato Times letter of the week #84From the edition of Wednesday February
21. As always, spelling, punctuation, grammar and logic are exactly as printed
in the <i>Waikato Times</i>.<br />
<blockquote>
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Media merger</b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="MsoHyperlink">The appeal to the NZ Court of Appeal
by NZME (NZ Herald and Stuff) to reopen their attempt to allow the two
corporations to merge their media interests, is a threat to our democracy. This
merger, if it goes ahead, would allow most of the newspapers in this country to
be under one editorial direction with owners all being offshore.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="MsoHyperlink">Profit to shareholders would be the
news filter. Censorship by the oligarchy.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="MsoHyperlink">The arguments that will be put
forward to gain this monopoly is a “media plurality” and/or “media diversity”
which seems to mean that the corporations own most of the TV and radio stations
as well. So big is not better than democracy but it is better for the ruling
plutocracy. The loss of democracy to capitalism will exacerbate climate change
and is a threat to humanity let alone democracy. Good on the Commerce
Commission for closing the gate.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="MsoHyperlink"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peter H Wood</b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="MsoHyperlink">Thames</span></blockquote>
<br />Stephen Stratfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426799380228308536noreply@blogger.com1