#like that is a thing that happens here! that is a reference to nz cultural and political events that informs john's character and actions

[ignitesthestxrs]

there's something about the way people talk about john gaius (incl the way the author writes him) that is like. so absent of any connection to te ao māori that it's really discomforting. like even in posts that acknowledge him as not being white, they still talk about him like a white, american leftist guy in a way that makes it clear people just AREN'T perceiving him as a māori man from aotearoa.

and it's just really serves to hammer home how powerful and pervasive whiteness and american hegemony is. because TLT is probably the single most Kiwi series in years to explode on the global stage, and all the things i find fraught about it as a pākehā woman reading a series by a pākehā author are illegible to a greater fandom of americans discoursing about whether or not memes are a valid way of portraying queer love.

idk the part of my brain that lights up every time i see a capital Z printed somewhere because of the New Zealand Mentioned??? instinct will always be proud of these books and muir. but i find myself caught in this midpoint of excitement and validation over my culture finding a place on the global stage, frustration at how kiwi humour and means of conveying emotion is misinterpreted or declared facile by an international audience, frustrated also by how that international audience runs the characters in this book through a filter of american whiteness before it bothers to interpret them, and ESPECIALLY frustrated by how muir has done a pretty middling job of portraying te ao māori and the māoriness of her characters, but tht conversation doesn't circulate in the same way* because a big part of the audience doesn't even realise the conversation is there to be had.

which is not to say that muir has done a huge glaring racism that non-kiwis haven't noticed or anything, but rather that there are very definitely things that she has done well, things that she has done poorly, things that she didn't think about in the first book that she has tacked on or expanded upon in the later books, that are all worthy of discussion and critique that can't happen when the popular posts that float past my dash are about how this indigenous man is 'guy who won't shut up about having gone to oxford'

*to be clear here, i'm not saying these conversations have never happened, just that in terms of like, ambient posts that float round my very dykey dash, the discussions and meta that circulate on this the lesbian social media, are overwhelmingly stripped of any connection to aotearoa in general, let alone te ao māori in specific. and because of the nature of american internet hegemony this just,,,isn't noticed, because how does a fish know it's in the ocean u know? i have seen discussions along these lines come up, and it's there if i specifically go looking for it, but it's not present in the bulk of tlt content that has its own circulatory life and i jut find that grim and a part of why the fandom is difficult to engage with.

#tlt #the locked tomb #i don't really have an answer lmao this is more #an expression of frustration and discomfort #over the way posts about john gaius seem to have very little connection to the background muir actually gave him #like you cant describe him as an educated leftist bisexual man #without INCLUDING that he is māori #that has an impact! that has weight and importance! #that is a background to every decision he makes #from the meat wall to the nuke to his relationship with the earth #and it also has weight and importance in the decisions that muir makes in writing him #it is not a neutral decision that he's known as john gaius lmao #it's not a neutral decision that the empire is explicitly of roman/latin extraction #it's not even neutral that this is a book about necromancy #it's certainly not a neutral fucking decision that john was at one point a māori man living in the bush #when the nz govt decided to send cops in #like that is a thing that happens here! that is a reference to nz cultural and political events that informs john's character and actions #and with the nature of who john is in the story #informs the narrative as a whole #and i think the tiresome part of this experience is that #in general #americans are not well positioned to understand that something might be being written from outside their experience as a default #like obviously many many americans in online leftist & queer spaces are willing to learn and take on new information #but so much of the conversation starts from a place of having to explain that forests exist to fish

[uselessheretic]

i feel like i see the thing relatively often where someone will say that ed's not actually that mentally ill, fans are just racist and also somehow this is izzy's fault because the only time he shows symptoms of mental illness is through izzy supposedly. even though in episode four alone we see him talk about suicide ideation, how discontent he is in life, and how burnt out he is.

but when people urge others to add an antiracist lens to their analysis and point out the historical racism within the psychiatric system it seems like?? they think that the only explanation is for ed to just be a lil depressed and that poc who are otherwise perfectly fine are constantly being slapped with extreme diagnoses. which, that is a thing that happens btw. people will call the cops on and forcefully institutionalize black folks who they have disagreements with and weaponize psychiatry against them.

that said, when talking about something like the uneven diagnosis distribution between poc and white people of schizophrenia (since that's something that's been researched) it's not that doctors are talking people who are otherwise perfectly mentally healthy and attributing their behavior to mental illness (although again it does happen.) usually though what people are referring to is how doctors are quick to diagnose poc with schizophrenia before doing their proper diligence and going over the other possibilities including histories of depression, trauma, and abuse. certain traits they exhibit are overemphasized and others minimized or ignored. a black person and white person may show the same exact symptoms, but the doctor will first have the white person tested for PTSD or BPD and try alternative treatment plans, while marking the black person off before considering other possibilities.

it's dangerous and disturbing where poc will be put through a series of medications that do not help, receive no treatment for the actual root of the problem, and then in the process often be criminalized as well since there is a much greater social stigma and forced state control over people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

i just feel like if you're gonna talk about ed and misdiagnosis through a racial lens, it'd be more accurate for him to immediately get diagnosed with something like schizophrenia without the doctor doing anything more to look into him. ignoring things like his history of child abuse and how trauma can cause certain responses. or for something he said metaphorically to be taken as literal where he might describe himself when angry as "the kraken" and the doctor marks that down as a sign of delusions. overemphasizing verbal expressions of angers as signs of violence. hearing ed say "it feels like my boss is out to get me" where he means that the boss keeps picking on him and it feels racially motivated, and the doctor puts on the record that he suffers from paranoia.

also just saying but there is actually a LOT out there you can read about māori mental health and the issues surrounding NZ's system. about 1 in 3 māori adults meet criteria for a mental disorder and this is a result of a racist health system, poverty, and, very importantly, colonialism. but like? i promise you don't need to create your own theories on how ed's identity interacts with mental health as if you're the first person to considered that. kaupapa māori mental health services are literal resources in place to address māori mental health needs within a cultural context. like! it's very cool actually for these things to be made available through hard community work that rejects colonialist psychiatric systems and instead utilizes a holistic and indigenous approach to wellness.

idk it's just so much more complicated than ignoring ed's very real mental illness and writing it off as no biggie. tbh it feels very um american centric as well to make assertions about relationships to mental health and race without ever acknowledging the specific community history here and that this isn't a new conversation. if you want to say you're examining ed through an anticolonialist framework then it would help if you did literally any work to find out what that looks like currently.

#ofmd #psychiatric abuse cw #institutionalization cw #edward teach #that tag is for me to find this later if i need

[learningnewways]

“How’s Your Heart?”

One of my best friends back home has this phrase they use often, “How’s your heart?” It’s very cheesy, but it refers to the deeper level of the soul, spirit and heart of how I am doing. It goes past all the fluff of what I’ve been practically doing, past the “Yeah, it’s really hot all the time which is tiring” chat, and digs deep to what’s going on internally. Sometimes I know what’s going on internally, what I’m feeling and struggling with, and other times I don’t know. Here’s my attempt at answering that question today, “How’s your heart?”

I’m officially halfway through my 4 month overseas journey, and I can’t believe it’s only been 2 months. It feels like it’s been at least 6 months! So much has happened in the last 2 months, it’s actually ridiculous... I left my incredible life back in NZ, my friends and family, church and community, all the comforts, security, familiarity and safety, for 4 months of travel and ministry work. It’s hard to believe I went to The Middle East only 2 months ago... It feels like a lifetime ago... Then to Scandinavia... Spain... They all feel like forever ago since I’ve arrived in The Gambia, and I’ve only been here 3 weeks so far. Over the last 2 months, with all the places I’ve been, the things I’ve seen, the people I’ve met, the emotions I’ve experienced... I’m not the same person that left NZ. In some ways I’m exactly the same person, and in other ways I’ll never be the same.

I had a wee cry last night when I realised I’d reached the halfway mark. Part of me was so proud of myself, and part of me was upset I still have another 2 months to go before I come home. I know the next 2 months will have their own challenges, fears and unknowns... It’s honestly still hard to imagine how I will make it through the next 2 months. Part of me is settling in fairly well, and part of me still wants to run to the airport and never come back! I know once I am home, my brain will take a very long time to process everything that has happened, not just in The Gambia but also during my travels, particularly my time in The Middle East. They say that the reverse culture shock you experience coming home and adjusting back to normal life can be the hardest part of missions trips...

Anyway, in terms of The Gambia, I am constantly confused about how I feel. Which is actually quite unusual for me... Normally I’m pretty good at knowing how I feel and why. As I’ve said before, sometimes I feel like I was born for this, like everything in my life has equipped me for this moment. I’ll be in certain situations or having conversations and I’ll think about experiences from my past and how they have all shaped me into who I am today. Then other times I feel like I want to run to my life back home immediately and never take it for granted ever again.

Sometimes I enjoy the work I do and thrive, and sometimes I hate it and feel like I’m faking it. That I definitely am not cut out for this sort of work. Then I wonder if it even matters if I enjoy it or not? We live in a culture that glorifies happiness and enjoying your work, but is that even realistic or Biblical? I believe God has given us all giftings and skills that we will flourish and find joy in when they are utilised, but at the same, we are definitely not promised an easy or comfortable life. If anything, we are promised the opposite. Yikes.

I absolutely loved working at Bridge Valley over the past year. I’m not exaggerating when I say that every single day I went to work, I thanked God for the privilege and joy of working there. It was so clear to me that God provided that job and community for me at the perfect timing, that He went before me and provided it before I knew how desperately I would need it. And I enjoyed every day of working there, getting up at 6am every morning to make 100+ school lunches, and even the one time Sam made me clean the men’s horrifically dirty toilets all morning... Being over here is not like that! I don’t come with a joyful and willing heart. I try, but it’s hard. 

Paddy has been talking to me about his belief that we are all called to go where there is the most need, and that is overseas in third world countries. He talks about serving overseas being a command from Jesus, not a “calling”. I’m not sure that I agree... I believe there is a need for Jesus everywhere, including first world countries. Third world countries are even starting to send missionaries to us! Wow! I think there is of course a need for overseas ministry work and that we do not send enough resources or people. That’s obvious. The humanitarian and justice work needed in third world countries is overwhelming to say the least. There’s a really great video I watched earlier this year that had some scary statistics on Christian missionaries and funding, or rather the lack therefore, I’ll link it below, it’s a short but powerful watch.

I believe that God asks different things of different people. Of course as Christians we all worship and serve the same God, but He will ask different things of us because He knows the purpose He has created us for. He also knows our desires, good and evil, and where we need to be pushed or challenged. For some people, going overseas and doing mission work is their deepest desire, I know a few people back home who that is true for. They get excited about the idea of going into the frontline, into dangerous places if it means God is glorified, whereas I’m like, “uhhhhh no way!” But for me, getting up and MCing or running a camp with hundreds of young people for a weekend excites me so much, whereas other people couldn’t think of anything worse! God places desires, dreams and giftings inside us for a reason.

But God can also have purposes for us we are totally unaware of, expect or even want. I for one never ever saw myself at 27 being alone in West Africa for 3 months!One of my best friends back home is currently feeling like God is asking them to become a teacher/preacher, yet they are often silent and don’t share their thoughts, even in small groups. It has been a struggle for them for years, but they sense this is where God is leading them... Wow! Hard stuff... We know that Moses did not want to be the voice of God to the people, but God had other plans. So where do we balance leaning into our obvious giftings and skills, the things we enjoy doing and flourish in, and stepping out into the unknown and difficult things?

I’m very futuristic, one of the most futuristic people I know, and often that can be really paralysing. I’m constantly looking at all the possible futures I could have, the pros and the cons, and wondering which life would be best. This city or that city, this job or that job, this relationship or that relationship, this ministry or that ministry... Except it’s not option A or B, it’s like a thousand options for each category! It is hard to explain, but it is paralysing and stresses me out! Why can’t we live multiple lives?! I think I have a fear that I’ll choose the wrong path, that God has a plan for my life and I might step out of it, which is not true, I know that... But somehow it’s still ingrained into my thinking and fears...

I have learnt as a futuristic person that I have to grieve the lives I cannot live. It’s hard to explain... But take for example living in Christchurch vs living in Nelson. I equally have fabulous friends, family and community in both cities. Either city would provide me with a safe, loving, fulfilling life. But at some stage I had to choose one or the other, or somewhere completely different! I chose Nelson and I had to take time to grieve the life I wouldn’t live in Christchurch. I wouldn’t get to live in the same city as my two incredible siblings, to babysit my future nephews and nieces on a weekly basis, to hang out with one of my besties Jess every week... So many wonderful things that simply won’t happen.

How is this relevant? I guess I’m struggling with the same questions now around life in The Gambia and life in Nelson. I know what I want, but I’m still not sure what God wants. I’m not sure if there will be a “big reveal” where one day I will just know, or if He will let me decide... I’m trying to remind myself just to take it one day at a time... I know God asked me to come here for this moment, so here I am. I’m trying to just follow each step, step by step, as He reveals it... I just want to skip ahead and see the outcome! But that’s not how life works... Darn...

I want to live in New Zealand. God knows that. But why do I think my plans are better than Gods plans? My life has shown me time and time again that my plans are not the best! God knows what’s best and if we refuse Him, we bare the consequences. I want to be open to what God asks of me, I want to be so madly in love with Jesus that I am willing to go anywhere, do anything for Him. But I don’t think I am... Yikes! That’s scary! I want to be, but the key word is “want”... How do I get to the point where I actually would do anything and go anywhere for Him? And would He still love me even if I said no? John 12:25 “The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Things to ponder as I enter the second half of my journey, getting stuck in to life here in The Gambia...

#Youtube

[goosedawn]

linguistics pog????? :D :D :D i will admit I didn’t do as much thought into the aus/nz language changes as I really should’ve (mostly because my understanding of the regions is basic at best ^^’) and I am 👀👀👀 at your tags……….. if you have more thoughts I would be FASCINATED to hear what you say :D!!! -bio nerd anon

LINGUISTICS POG!!! YEAHHHH

my knowledge of linguistics is limited but its so cool and ur HELLA valid, australia and new zealand are pretty isolated so like. fair (relatedly, most of my thoughts are nz based, i cant really talk much abt australian linguistics) but basically i absolutely have more thoughts >:3c

also im assuming this is still in the context of how language could develop in @possiblyaperson03​‘s strangers on the internet au, so im just gonna clarify this is all purely speculation based on what we know abt the au and my own knowledge + lived experience :D

... i also just keep on going about language development in this au in general so i put it all under the cut :’>

tl;dr: australian and new zealand accents are likely to converge, but also might have a mix of different languages mixed into the way they speak, with pockets of non-english speakers. humans in australia and new zealand might not have as nuanced terms relating to giants, and may not have the same level of understanding regarding the giants language.

....... tl;dr TWO: wild humans might develop “alarm calls” that are shared with other human groups even if they cannot understand each other otherwise, and might even mimic giants. sign and written language could also become more prevalent in giant inhabited areas.

-

SO, in new zealand theres already quite a mix of cultures, although. yknow. colonialization ended up in a largely westernised culture/language, with english being the ‘main’ language, however nz sign language and Māori are also considered to be national languages.

nz accents specifically tend to be quicker and kinda. slur some words together, but that also depends on the location around new zealand. people who are surrounded by more Māori influences tend to draw out some vowels a bit longer, which ends up with a slightly different cadence.

im not really sure how to describe the aussie accent kshdfksjd but i think generally its a lot sharper than nz accents but also has more of a drawl, and some vowels are more drawn out/accentuated

i think it would be likely that australians and new zealanders would probably keep these aspects but depending on how much people cross between the two (in lieu of traversing elsewhere, and interacting with other countries) its more likely for the accents to converge.

however!! differing languages would also kind of. stick to how they sounded when they split, with the language spoken by immigrants not only sounding more accurate to the original due to shifts in language in their original location (due to simplification and dangerous situations) but also because of people wanting to preserve their culture.

in new zealand currently (especially in places with a lot of mixed cultures/immigration, in big cities compared to more rural areas) there is already a lot of mixing in terms of accent and language, and even more so with outside influences due to media and such

people do whats referred to as “accent matching“ which is basically changing the way you speak to match other people around you (psychologically, its kinda like mimicking other people so they are more likely to like you/become attached to you because you are similar to them) and so people mimic accents around them and thats part of how you pick up accents when you move to a new place.

so in an isolated space, with a variation of accents, how does that work? honestly i think it would be similar to how things are in big nz cities currently, and because its even more packed together with a whole variation of people who may not necessarily be english speaking is that something that may happen is a mix of language, with people dipping in and out of other languages based off of what specific cultural influences an individual is surrounded by.

this is something that can be seen in places like malaysia, where there is often a mashup of languages and cultures, resulting in a variance of dialects depending on geographical location, picking up some words from other languages depending on who your neighbours are (or at least. thats what i’ve been told by relatives from there, and have seen reflected in the way they speak- they tend to mix english with at least 3 different dialects of chinese as well as malay and indian words)

like i mentioned in my tags on the other post, nz already has quite a few pockets of areas where there are immigrants who either have trouble speaking english or rely on relatives/friends to interact with english speakers, and this is something that is likely to develop in this au as well i reckon. i cant comment on how this might work in australia though.

-

also, if isolated with little contact from giants, it would be unlikely for australians/new zealanders to develop terms relating to giants, or at least not terms similar to other countries. they might be more abstract or scientific, with less nuance due to less interaction.

its unlikely humans in australia and new zealand would pick up much accenting from giants and perhaps depending on how long it would be after The Event, may even not be able to say certain words/hear certain differences in giants accents as well!

However, it should be noted that young babies (like a few months old) are able to identify variance in human accents that children and adults cannot, because we learn what sounds to listen out for based on what languages and cultures we are exposed to, so technically we are biologically built to understand a variation of languages, but quickly learn specificity and thus lose that ability.

(RELATEDLY: if this was also true for giants, unless they were brought up around humans when they were very young it would be unlikely that they would be able to tell some subtle differences in human speech, FURTHER solidifying what you said about giants just. not being able to hear human intonation).

in terms of language in countries inhabited by giants, you mentioned that humans might have more simplified language and such, which could result in varying “alarm calls”, much like modern animals have now, which vary depending on where a threat is coming from (e.g. different calls for birds compared to land based predators) these might transcend other language like words, if there was a larger difference between geographical areas.

on top of that, some groups of animals also reciprocally respond to other groups of animals alarm calls due to both being pressured by biological and environmental threats, and i wouldnt be surprised if something similar developed between wild human colonies. humans are great at mimicking, so it could be possible that a series of animal-esque calls, or heck even calls mimicking giants could be something that is used.

furthermore, it might also be likely for some groups of humans to rely more on visual (signed or written) languages to symbolise things, especially if they dont get to interact with other groups, perhaps out of fear of being caught in large numbers. on top of this, having visual signals would be useful for not notifying giants of your presence if you need to be quiet.

warning signs and such would probably be developed pretty quickly, with certain groups maybe having defining features depending on what materials they have (maybe some groups burn warnings into things, vs others who carve the symbols in)

there might also be varying ways of referring to directions that are easier to identify quickly. OH in the alternate universe with wilbur having a guitar, maybe music could be used for communicating certain things also?? idk ive gone on long enough jkfhsdfjhsdf

- 

thanks for reading all the way to the end! if you got here i appreciate you!! 💛

#goosegoes #gooseanswers #bio nerd anon #linguistics POG #i have. way too much material on hand ksjdfhksjdfh i was lookin up stuff abt new zealand accents/language the other day already #also i was literally learning abt language in my lectures recently cos my classes this sem were on development and cognition ksjdfhsdjfk #im legit sittin here like #'wait i learnt abt that the other day what??? this is useful now????? POG' #AND also an anthropology paper focusing on primates and conservation which is surprisingly useful #wait would there be conservation efforts for humans #BRUH #i had to take a break and go eat skjfhsdfnsjkdfksjdfh #ANYWAY THIS IS DONE AND ITS LONG IM SO SORRY #this was. 1300 words. help

[shemakesmusic-uk]

INTERVIEW: Estère

At the start of 2019, Estère set about writing a new album, where each track depicts a different archetype. A concept album, each song is a tale that is at once fantastical and familiar. The resulting sound is a mixture of folk, R&B and electronica, blended in a unique fashion that has become unmistakably ‘Estère’.

Her talent for creating epic, other-worldly soundscapes is one for which she has become increasingly renowned, having been twice nominated for New Zealand Music Awards. But her new album Archetypes sees a departure from the bedroom beats of her previous two albums. Archetypes, co-produced with Massive Attack producer Stew Jackson in Bristol, is the sound of a bold artist actualising their full creative potential.

Breathing life into narratives that marry the acutely human to the achingly mythic, Estère’s album brims with imagery and sonic amalgamations that merge culture, language and legend.

We sat down with Estère and discussed Archetypes, her upcoming tour, the music industry and more. Read the interview below.

Hi Estère! How have you been?

"Hello, I’ve been pretty good and pretty hot - it’s summer in NZ so the rays are cascading down."

You've just released your new album Archetypes. Can you please tell us more about what inspired you to write such an album and a bit more on the different archetypes?

"Firstly it was my grandmother. She is interested in Carl Jung which prompted my acquaintance with his ideas on ‘Archetypes’. I then read a lot of his books - and got into post-jungian literature which are more inclusive of different cultures/ ways of being. I should note I was also doing my masters - so nerdy research was the plat du jour. I really resonated with the idea of ‘Archetypes’..that we all subconsciously access collective themes that manifest differently based on our experiences in life (or something like that). The archetypes I’ve written about go into childhood, metamorphosis, fear, sexuality and death to name a few."

Musically, how is Archetypes different (or similar) to your previous releases? Were there any musical influences or sounds that you were able to incorporate on this record that you hadn’t previously?

"I was influenced by quite a lot of folk music, particularly from Algeria and Mali - as well as some alt/ contemporary pop that’s been coming out of late - Rosalia to name one reference. I’d say this album draws a lot more heavily on live instrumentation than some of my previous releases which were heavily MPC based."

You worked with Stew Jackson on the album. What sort of things have you learned from him and vice versa?

"From Stew I learned that there is an art to collaborating which mixes humour and graciousness. I’m not sure what he learned from me… I haven’t asked him yet haha."

What was your favourite part creating Archetypes? And were there any parts you found particularly challenging?

"A lot of creating Archetypes was new for me. I was used to sitting alone at home in my bedroom with my MPC and banging out songs that way. I really enjoyed being in the studio and recording instruments like pianos, cellos, vibraphones. I also found the unfamiliarity of the process challenging. It was a learning curve working with so many other musicians and trying to be clear in my vision. Finding the right words could be challenging!"

What do you hope fans will take away from Archetypes?

"I hope they take a way a sense of discovery. Like they’ve learned something new about the world or about themselves."

Here in the UK there is still no live music due to the pandemic. Things seem to be a lot better in New Zealand! You have a handful of gigs coming up in February. Which of the new songs are you excited to debut live and why?

"Yes in Aotearoa we are very privileged to still be able to play live shows. I’m excited to perform all these songs live, but perhaps some of the more tender ones like ‘Night Crown’ and ‘Mad About Your Sea’."

What do you love most about being on stage and performing live?

"I love connecting with the audience and feeling the energy in the room. It’s a great feeling to create an experience for people - and for them to put their trust in you like that. It’s a gift."

Based on your musical journey so far, what’s been your biggest takeaway/piece of advice?

"It’s probably pretty age old advice but I would say - and still often say to myself - follow your creative instinct, don’t succumb to external pressures. Make your decisions purely based off of what feels right instinctively."

Finally, If there was one thing you could change about the music world today, what would it be?

"I’d like to see more women of colour in industry positions of power. We all know who’s been running the show for ages - and it’s boring. Change is happening though!"

Archetypes is out now.

Photo credit: Bayly & Moore

#estere #interview #archetypes

[lumpkinboi]

Hey man, I'm not here to shit on you but it's an objective fact that a lot of death was involved in this pewds thing. Far be it from me to remind a fellow user that Tumblr would've come for your throat for much less, but we're talking about sarcasm-levels of ignorant misunderstanding on your part, trying to exonerate this dude. You're either gonna have to make a public apology or move blogs.

okay listen

we all know how fucked up what happened in NZ was. i am in no way condoning what happened. what i wrote back on that post was waaay before this shooting even happend in the first place.

but still, let’s think about it for a second, can you really blame this guy for this? this shooter wrote a manifesto filled with memes and internet culture references. hell, there was fucking fortnite in there. you’re not gonna blame fortnite for this shit to have happened, are you? of course not.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/pewdie-pie-new-zealand-mosque-shooting-youtube-808633/

in this article by the RollingStone, it says the shooter engineered this to have the biggest virality possible. it’s very likely he said Pewds name solely for that purpose.

just think about what you’re saying right now. people are putting the blame of 49 deaths into the hands of who didn’t even commit the crime to being with. just think about it for a second, do you really think a youtuber who does meme reviews is really enough for someone to snap and kill 49 people? do you understand how ridiculous this sounds?

let’s be realistic here, this guy has 90 million followers. there’s absolutely no way he’s going to be able to control all of them. he’s stated multiple times that he’s disgusted by a lot of the acts his followers made, like vandalising memorials and other areas, but it’s 90 million people. not everyone is gonna listen.

i understand the situation i’m in right now. i am defending a guy who’s named was uttered by someone who shot 49 people to death. i will not make an apology and i will not move blogs. i 100% believe Felix to be innocent and if people are gonna come for my throat in this stupid website, then so be it.

[dustedmagazine]

“1, 2, 3, 4!”: Jennifer Kelly’s 2018 review

Jennifer Kelly is a frantic romantic.

Rock and roll forever, sure, but it’s hard to avoid the fact that the guitar/bass/drum idiom has been pushed way off to the side in the cultural conversation. Mainstream sites list “best rock records” as a weird, subcultural genre, with a slightly bigger audience, perhaps, than best cumbia records or top Hawaiian slack key recordings (but not much). Worse, to come up with a reasonable size list they include all kinds of things that don’t belong. I mean, really, is Mount Eerie rock by any definition?

Rock isn’t dead, but it’s been made to sit in the corner. The only time in 2018 when everybody thought at once about a guitar band was when Pitchfork’s Jeremy Larson dropped his scathing, hilarious review of the Greta Van Fleet. For a moment, we all snickered as one.

Big rock was terrible in 2018. It almost always is. Yet there’s something disingenuous about the genre of year-end write-ups that laser in on the absolute worst and most bloated of rock bands to make a point about the art-form as a whole. Sure, Imagine Dragons suck. Yes, “Africa” is a soul-destroyingly awful song no matter who sings it. No, I’m not wading into the whole 1975 thing. Who has time? Who has the heart for it?  

Because this year, against a tide of commercially viable horse shit, against a backdrop of monolithic indifference, rock bands of all configurations, from all countries (but really especially Australia), continued to make great punk and rock records. And, I, for whatever reason, heard more of them than usual, and it made me happy. And maybe that’s the secret to being happy in music, in any year…find your niche, listen to the best in it, forget about what the mega-corporations are trying to sell.

Also see it live. My big highlight this year was seeing the Scientists in October (with Negative Approach, too!), but it was a pretty great 12 months for live music. It started with a fantastic show comprised of Mike Donovan, the Long Hots, J. Mascis and his Stooges cover band and Purling Hiss (with J on board for one song) at the Root Cellar, a venue I’d never heard of before that show, and that ended up putting on a string of great events. I saw Marisa Anderson, Paul Metzger, Speedy Ortiz, Howling Rain, Trad Gras Och Stenar with Endless Boogie, that Scientists show and Gary Higgins at the Root Cellar this year, and I missed a lot of shows I would have liked to see. Other great shows happened outside the Root Cellar – The Thing in the Spring in Peterborough with William Parker, Bonnie Prince Billy and others, Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric at the Parlour Room, Messthetics at the Flywheel. Western Massachusetts has been in a commercial chokehold for years, with one organization controlling most of the venues, but there were a lot of options this year.

So, here’s to the drummers with their sticks in the air, counting off the four. Here’s to the guitar player wrecking his knees jumping up and down as he/she furiously slashes away. Here’s to the sweat and muck and black humor of $10 shows with four bands on them, two of them still in high school. And here’s to the people (me at least and possibly you) who like these things. Eddie Argos of Art Brut, who used to top these lists and now merits a footnote, spoke for this tiny, beleaguered sub-cult when he urged “Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s rock out.”

Indeed. Let’s.

Amy Rigby—The Old Guys (Southern Domestic)

The Old Guys by Amy Rigby

Let’s just set aside the fact that the first and best song on this album is an imagined email exchange between Philip Roth and Bob Dylan on the eve of the Nobel ceremony or that Rigby namechecks three of my favorite ever TV characters in “New Sheriff.” Let’s forget, too, how rare it is for a woman of roughly my age to be making her own music and controlling her own destiny even now in 2018. No, let’s focus on the songs which are sharp, smart and full of hooks, the clean, romantic chime of Rigby’s electric 12-string, the viscous pleasure of the arrangements. This is the very best kind of rock record, one that doesn’t attempt to remake the genre but somehow makes it bigger, brighter and more necessary. The songs sounded great, live, too, with the great Wreckless Eric in tow, and the two of them bickering like old married couples do, and Rigby glowing with triumph by the end of the show.

 Shopping—The Official Body (Fat Cat)

The Official Body by Shopping

Bubbly in a hard way, strict and minimal in a manner requires body movement, this album arrived early and stayed on my go-to list all year. For Dusted, I wrote, “You could bounce a quarter off the bass lines in this third Shopping full-length. They’re pulled hard and tight against minimalist syncopated drums, the leaning, waiting, anticipating space between the thwacks as important a character as the beats themselves. The London-based trio harks back to the funky, stripped down post-punk of bands like ESG and Delta 5, with hints of the boy-girl bubble and pop of the B-52s and Pylon.

 Salad Boys—This Is Glue (Trouble in Mind)

This Is Glue by Salad Boys

Always weak for NZ lo-fi and equally a fan of the early R.E.M., so of course I fell for this buzzy daydream of a record. “Psych Slasher” bursts with immoderate, glorious joy in the chorus, then cuts back to uncertainty in the verse, the ideal blend of rambunctious rock and wistful pop. “Exaltation” is a gentler sort of classic, just as radiant but moodier, its murmur-y vocals disappearing into cloud banks of fuzzed guitar tone. The whole record sits on the knife edge of rock and indie pop, leaning one way and the other, but never falling over.

 Patois Counselors—Proper Release (Ever/Never)

Proper Release by Patois Counselors

I went all in for “So Many Digits” in my Dusted review this year, but the two great punk songs on Proper Release are “The Modern Station” and, especially, “Target Not a Comrade.” This latter song chugs and lurches on guitar and bass, trembles with wheedly keyboards and crests in a massive, hummable refrain. It’s a catchy, twitchy punk tune that’ll hit you in the part of your brain where you keep Wire and the Buzzcocks, hooky as hell in a weird, distorted way.

 Bodega—Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture)

Endless Scroll by BODEGA

Flipping the gender cliché, Bodega is an all-woman band with a male singer. Its tight, nervy, jangles wrap around themes of internet-age dislocation and movie references. Smart, sarcastic, ironic, sharp, Bodega bristles with what you want from a garage punk band but reveals a surprisingly soft heart uncovered round about “Charlie,” a wistful song about a boy who died too soon.

 Bardo Pond—Volume 8 (Three-Lobed)

Volume 8 by Bardo Pond

The eighth in a series of improvised albums, this year’s Bardo Pond record towers and surges with monumental heaviness. I wrote at Dusted that, “The sound, vast and muscularly monolithic as ever, seems more like a demon summoned periodically from a ring of fire, than the product of any sort of linear development.”

 Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore—Ghost Forests (Three Lobed)

Ghost Forests by Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore

This year’s most beautiful album, Ghost Forests undergirds lyric folk melodies and angelic pizzicato harp plucks with roiling, violent darkness. My Dusted review observed “The best and most interesting [tracks] juxtapose the muted violence of electric guitar with a harp’s serenity. A guitar howls from a distance throughout “In Cedars,” pushing a simmering turbulence up under sun-dappled lattices of harp picking. Later “Painter of Tygers” does the same trick of joining muscle to fairy dust, the electric guitar raging from far away, while harp and voice spread delicate magic over the tumult.”

 Seun Kuti & Egypt 80—Black Times (Strut)

Black Times by Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

Fela Kuti’s youngest son inherited his dad’s fierce political commitment, his rhythmically unstoppable Afrobeat style and a few of his band members, but this wonderful album is more alive and present than a tribute. “Struggle Sounds, “ with its hard-bounce of a beat, its blurting sax, its ecstatic backing chorus, its swagger of horns and fever-dreamed keyboards dances through history right up to the modern day. “Last Revolutionary” enumerates past African heroes and connects them to the now. I wrote, “Kuti extends his father’s legacy, its tight rhythmic interplay, its fervent political engagement, its relentless exhilarating uplift, while bringing it a bit further into the present.”

Ovlov—Tru (Exploding in Sound)

TRU by Ovlov

I first noticed Ovlov at the Thing in the Spring Festival, on an eclectic Thursday night in a book store, where the sweet surge of guitar sound felt solid enough to body surf on. Later, for Dusted, I said of Tru that “Ovlov churns a monumental fuzz, a wave of surging, undulating, feedback-altered sound …. You can almost poke it with your finger, this onslaught is so palpable. It stirs your hair like an oncoming breeze.”

Speedy Ortiz—Twerp Verse (Carpark) 

Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz

There’s something so bendy and unpredictable about Sadie Dupuis tunes. They hare off in unexpected ways. They stop and start. They interpose weird little intervals of pop and noise. They refuse to behave, and end up exactly as they should be, though never what you’d expect. Twerp Verse takes more pop turns than other Speedy joints, but in the tipsiest, most eccentric way, with acerbic asides in the lyrics that catch like fishhooks and stay with you. “Speedy Ortiz offers a serrated sort of pop pleasure, full of rhythmic complexity and gender confrontation,” I observed in my Dusted review.

 Had enough rock? Me neither

Here are some more punk rock and garage records that I couldn’t squeeze into the top ten overall, mostly in the order that I thought of them, but Constant Mongrel and Richard Papiercuts are pretty great and that’s probably why I thought of them first.

Constant Mongrel—Living in Excellence (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Richard Papiercuts— Twisting the Night (Ever/Never)

GOGGs—Prestrike Sweep (In the Red)

Hank Wood & the Hammerheads—S-T (Toxic State)

Obnox—Bang Messiah (Smog Veil)

Zerodent—Landscapes of Merriment (Alien Snatch!)

Sleaford Mods—Stick in a Five and Go (Domino)

Ethers—S-T (Trouble in Mind)

IDLES—Joy as an Act of Resistance (Partisan)

Bad Sports—Constant Stimulation (Dirtnap)

Lithics—Mating Surfaces (Kill Rock Stars)

Art Brut—Wham! Bang! Pow! (Alcopop)

 Whoa, slow down!

Also a shout to the musicians who made more than one really excellent album this year. Ty Segall made five, I think, but I didn’t love all of them as much as Freedom Goblin and Prestrike Sweep.

Obnox—Sonido del Templo/Bang Messiah (Astral Spirits)/(Smog Veil)

Mount Eerie—Now Only/(After) (Elverum & Sons)

Ty Segall—Freedom Goblin (Drag City)/GOGGs—Prestrike Sweep (In the Red)

Ryley Walker—Deafman Glance/The Lillywhite Sessions (Dead Oceans)

  Nevertheless, they persisted

And finally, hats off to the bands and artists that have been going forever and continued this year to produce great music.

Kinski—Accustomed to Your Face (Kill Rock Stars)

Low—Double Negative (Sub Pop)

Loma—S-T (Sub Pop) (Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg plus Cross Record)

Oneida—Romance (Joyful Noise)

Wreckless Eric—Construction Time and Demolition (Southern Domestic)

Messthetics—S-T (Discord) (The great Fugazi rhythm section plus a young guitar ripper—one of the best live shows of the year for me.)

Charnel Ground—S-T (12XU) (This is Kid Millions from Oneida, Chris Brokaw and James McNew from Yo La Tengo, and as you’d expect, it’s really good.)

#dusted magazine #yearend 2018 #jennifer kelly #amy rigby #shopping #salad boys #patois counselors #bodega #bardo pond #meg baird #mary lattimore #seun kuti #ovlov #speedy ortiz #scientists

[disaffectednotes]

Corona & culture / cultural studies - Scattergun virus thoughts

Putting some scattered thoughts down, largely inspired by a steady diet of high-fibre podcasts in recent weeks. These notes are fragments, really, and hardly add up to more than passing thoughts, given the unfolding situation and the partiality of any knowledge right now. I’ve noticed in myself the will to “master” the situation by consuming as much information as possible – even as I know this will inevitably fail. Perhaps the following can be read in the same spirit of failed mastery, or to sublimate the anxious energy that’s all around...

“We’re all in this together.” The virus as the “great equaliser.” Such appeals to the common good and common ground have been… common. War mobilisation rhetoric is also doing the same work of unifying the disparate population. At the same time, disgruntled jokes are made about celebrities and royals getting tests when frontline medical staff cannot. It’s also clear that this virus will rip through some communities more than others, as reporting this weekend about effects in black communities in the US has made clear. Arundhati Roy also made this clear too in her excellent piece for the FT this weekend. India is only just at the start of this. The economic crisis has reached many poorer countries before the virus itself hits.

On the cultural level, some of this mobilisation of fellow-feeling and resentment has been played out through celebrity culture (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/arts/virus-celebrities.html). There will be people on this list more expert in celebrity culture than me (paging Celebrity Studies scholars), but commentary is engaging in the cyclical argument about how this will be the end of celebrities. As if seeing in 1080p the smooth interiors behind celebrities cocooning at home will rupture the culture industry and the star system. And yet, the hatred is real. “The film Parasite, in which a poor South Korean family cleverly cons its way into the home of a rich one, has been converted into a well-worn social-media retort whenever celebrities offer glimpses inside their own manses; the reference succeeds partly because so many superrich people have such blandly similar minimalist homes.”

More abstractly – how do the universal and the particular interact in this moment? We seem to have the interaction of universalism in the sense of appeals to and mobilisations of public health (with its birth as a discipline in Soviet healthcare, no less) and the particularity of suffering.

Closer to the question of Cultural Studies as an intellectual formation: what reconfiguration of economy, culture, society etc might follow from this. After the financial crisis a decade ago, there was, no doubt, a new opening onto political economy in cultural studies. As Randy Martin put it in 2015, “the very architecture by which knowledge of the social has been made legible – the grand trinity that partitions economy, polity and culture – has come undone, and from these ruins issue all manner of challenge and possibility.” Of course, this pandemic event adds another dimension to the broken trinity – or, put differently, where do quasi-natural factors like novel viruses fit in the trinity? Chuang and Rob Wallace suggest the historic spread of pandemics cannot be untied from urban development, intensive agriculture and capitalist markets. If there’s no unsullied “nature” outside global capitalism, this also suggests the open question of whether this is an exogenous or endogenous shock to an interlocked world system.

Another plank of this concerns the status of the “economy” as an object, and what its abstract claim is on politics (in our really-existing world of market-dependence, obviously). E.g. the increasing attempts to weigh up the economic cost of lockdowns vs care of population. Already as part of a wide-spread legitimacy crisis post-2007-8, there was a growing sense, I think, that people did not see their lives reflected in GDP figures (see Will Davies on this). Sure, the numbers are going up, people seemed to say en masse, but I’m not seeing that in my life. Wellbeing budgets (e.g. NZ and UK) were one attempt to deliver a fix for this gap between lived experience and economic indicators.

What is being asked for here is an unprecedented global demobilisation and isolation, almost concurrently. There’s anxiety about this. It’s unknown territory. Above all, those clamouring for a return to the Service of Goods right now seem to be desperately ensnared by the oikodicy that Joseph Vogl talks about. “A theodicy of the economic universe: the inner consistency of an economic doctrine that—rightly or wrongly, for good or ill—views contradictions, adverse effects, and breakdowns in the system as eminently compatible with its sound institutional arrangement.” Nothing needs to change; just get the people back to their stations and everything can carry on. The hangover from this governmental largesse will surely come in the form of austerity lashings for many.

On the conjuncture in which this virus appeared – it seems important to remember the crisis of legitimacy that has been underway (at least) since the last financial crisis. This has had several effects, I think, on trust in politicians and trust in experts. Lockdowns have played out in rather draconian ways, I think, because flows of trust between citizenry and state are at low levels. (Equally in those countries that English-language media are lumping together as “Asian” or “East Asian”.) The US and the UK have fumbled their management terribly, and lost a lot of time to quell the virus in the process. Aside from the obvious political disaffection and so on surrounding elected officials, there was already an epistemological crisis surrounding the “expert” and expertise, the media and information sources — and now? It seems to be going in two directions. In some ways, epidemiologists and other public health actors seem to be trusted; in part, they seem to be figures of faith for acting in the best interests of the public / society / everyone. Goodwill seems to be carrying their message through, helped by endless news reports of deaths. And yet conspiracy theories continue to be rife – 40% of US Republicans believe the virus is a Chinese concoction from a lab; on the weekend, we’ve seen 5g mobile towers burned in the UK in some sort of anti-tech connection with China. It will also be interesting to watch the anti-vaxxer groups in the wake of this, themselves one of the chief symptoms of a rear-guard response to the epistemological crisis around science.

At the level of everyday life, it will be interesting to experience the new tempos and rhythms of everyday life that will come out the other side of this. Obviously, people are right now being enlisted in a series of new habits around social distance, but time is also being enlisted too. We check the news to see updates on the length of lockdowns, the next meetings, the rise over the past 24hours. Morbid scoreboards measure out days and deaths, for our fascination and horror. We hear that lockdowns will come ago. Six weeks, two weeks, maybe six months, up to two years, maybe five years. Yet the future as a space of projection feels utterly blank. Who can plan anything, other than as a coping mechanism with an asterisk of a disclaimer (to be confirmed)? Epidemiological metaphors, otherwise describing dynamics visualised on graphs, have slid into the language with almost universal recognition. Flatten the curve (even in German they say this, auf Englisch). Now people speak casually about “the hammer and the dance.”

Another cultural question of everyday life – what will survive of neighbourhood businesses, given the economic ruin that is already evident in unemployment statistics and massive companies going on rent strike. In Berlin, neighbourhood places like cinemas, bars, restaurants and cafes, unable to open for weeks, have taken to asking people to support them by buying vouchers and merchandise online. Cancelled gigs and events ask people who can afford to ignore refund, so that music venues and theatres and promoters and artists can come out the other side. I’m sure similar things are happening elsewhere. But there’s a chance this could alter the face of local communities (in places already changed by gentrification, no doubt, and other processes).

Equally – what will cultural policy and support for cultural industries and artists look like? Responses already seem divergent. Germany has trumpeted a huge package of money for operators at all sizes (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/berlin-senate-bailout-process-1820982 & https://news.artnet.com/art-world/german-bailout-50-billion-1815396). In Berlin, bookshops are essential services and remain open. In Australia, the other case I know something about, anxiety was rising before the lockdown that this could decimate those artists already struggling with high costs of living and piecemeal work (https://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/anwen-crawford/2020/19/2020/1584580982/coronavirus-cancelling-culture). I don’t know that any systematic response has emerged to this situation from the Australian government(s). Meanwhile, Jerry Saltz suggests the art world could look different after this – https://www.vulture.com/_pages/ck8ivxorc0000yeyerntsmxxj.html. By that we can also include the mass sackings of culture workers with barely any hope of reinstatement anytime soon – https://hyperallergic.com/551571/moma-educator-contracts/

I wonder if there might be a new “paranoid style” in culture and everyday life. What does life look like after we have been so thoroughly inculcated into logics of the other (and self) as virus vectors? It seems hard to imagine that sociability will not be affected by this sustained mentality. I imagine there could be an ecstatic return of sociability? Matched with paranoid moments? Prevailing at different points? Except, I think we already being prepared for a staged return to normal social mixing. So the ecstatic moment may not come. People wonder out loud too about parallel epidemics of loneliness and mental health from weeks of limited social contacts.

In cultural production, it will be interesting to see how this paranoid style might play out in formal and generic novelties, rather than simply the pandemic *content* that will be pushed through the Netflix pipe. The “bottle episode” format might become even more of a mainstay. And the lockdown nostalgia genre (like the “blitz spirit”) is probably already in the making. Will “flatten the curve” become “keep calm and carry on” kitsch?

It’s interesting to watch what Adam Tooze called a clumsy rewiring of globalisation – where Zoom comes to the fore as platform, where relations to flying around the world become more fraught and second-guessed. This ad hoc reconstitution of institutional and individual practices is obviously apparent at universities. It will be fascinating to see what the afterlife of this moment will be in the sector. Again, like the ecstasy of reunion with friends (and strangers), will the metaphysics of presence reassert itself as a thousand and one postponed conferences are launched onto the market for papers and academic attention? Or will the convenient and environmentally sustainable virtual conference finally become more acceptable? For those at a distance from the conference centres of the northern hemisphere, there’s been a certain obliviousness among, e.g., European academics about the many costs involved in travelling from, e.g., Australia for a conference. The Fridays for Future movement and others had already instilled greater awareness about this; so perhaps this accelerated acquaintance with these technologies will make the option viable. I’ve been part of several online reading groups already in the past fortnight, and their decentralisation has been inspiring. For example, one group hosted in Ireland had its largest number of participants in India and Israel. Obviously cultural, symbolic and financial capital will continue to accrue among the big-name academic cities and campuses, but these initiatives have opened onto new constellations of community, discussion and collective endeavour.

What are the subjective effects of all this? Some psychoanalysts co-wrote a letter a couple of weeks ago about their patients with some striking insights.

“And yet, against the predominant narrative of trauma and the dangers of isolation, we find many patients who are doing fine or even doing better, who like externalized chaos, or whose melancholia is abated by the nearness of death and reproach; those who are used to doing their own thing and who find their anxiety and sadness contained and cohered by the pervasive force of a virus that shuts all down. We hear those who have longed for everything to be cancelled, for life as we know it to be paused, hushed and stopped, even to the point of daring to express their own desire to, in fantasy, be one of the affected, which is to say, infected. Many admit that they are feeling strangely fine—no more FOMO—and even a few are looking forward to enjoying the spiteful reality that the virus effects all, rich and poor. Beyond this, there might seem very little worth saying. Some now don’t talk at all in session, while indicating that they are talking all the time, like the run on social media. Symptoms, despite so many breaks in the fabric of reality, persist, sometimes blindly and deafeningly so; it feels crushing. The continued contact can be important, but perhaps only for that—to know the analyst is still there.”

Other things to say… but I’m running out of steam and you’re probably running out of patience… so now in the form of suggestive promissory notes for further thoughts…

These ideas all came from listening to Adam Tooze talk about the current crisis and how it compares to 2008: Incoherent American power — soft power and culture yet literal bankruptcy of American social model, meanwhile Fed is efficiently fighting spotfires and Trump is a clown show; running 2008 playbook but at high speed; public balance sheet taking over from private again; fiscal conservatism as cross to nail progressive politics to cross for years; expansionary fiscal policy nationally vs contractions and austerity locally; emerging markets pressure (South Africa — immunosuppressed HIV population + downgrade of currency); timing of crisis with oil shock and uncertain global supply chains; car-making is dead right now; VW is worried about liquidity; what might bailout conditions be?; German governments talking about mass buying VW electric cars to ensure work when factories can reopen, while aiding in VW’s need to increase electric sales.

Media companies — some experiencing a massive boost in visitors right now, but with drop off in advertising. Who wants to sell stuff next to death charts? Who is in mood for big spending? Media outlets cutting staff or closing.

Mutual aid groups and solidarity networks have sprung up informally – and been mirrored formally by state calls for volunteers. This puts me in mind of the anarchist / horizontalist moment of Occupy a decade ago. Then, since, the return to state by activists for Corbyn and Sanders. What now?

Also, what do social movements do to respond to what will be inevitably be an uneven roll out of crisis response? Plus, the draconian enrolment of police and military, with powers for six months to two years? How do groups organise against that? What are the forms of creative protest in times of physical distance? Cementing affected and affective communities somehow – maybe seeding these online to go “live” when restrictions are lifted. Thinking also about ACT UP and other social movements – e.g. How to Survive A Plague. Those movements, internationally, put their bodies on the line, staged die ins during AIDS-HIV crisis. Militant disobedience might be demanded to get better crisis response. (Sidebar: Fauci and Birx, both experts on HIV and AIDS; Fauci was targeted by ACT UP but was sympathetic.) Some small protests in Berlin on the streets in recent weeks, using social distancing. Calling on politicians and population not to forget refugees at EU’s borders. Others occupying empty apartments (& Airbnb) to call for homeless relief. Also, what could cultural protest look like right now? (https://hyperallergic.com/550091/illuminator-covid-19/).

What might the crisis do for an ethics of care – and awareness of social reproduction too. Some public health thinkers have talked about “social immunity,” particularly in the US. And the flipside seems to be the social contagion that Chuang invoke. (No doubt here all the biopolitical debates come up again, e.g. Esposito on immunity)

And there’s been interesting work on geographies of movement and exclusion. Various visualisations of how the virus moves around the world and what this illustrates about travel, business, leisure etc today. But also the unevenly distributed luxury of working from home – the NY Times piece about poorer workers in NY moving around the city much more than the knowledge workers who could “shelter in place”. Five bus drivers have died in the UK. Meanwhile, in Germany, the former socialist eastern part of the country has far fewer cases. This once again underlines a deeply sensed feeling of stasis – both a distance from the cosmopolitan cultural power of an EU-level project but also the literal (comparative) lack of infrastructure for things such as fast-speed rail links between cities from eastern German states into western states and beyond into other parts of Europe.

No doubt these reflections are parochial and limited, drawn from what has most captured my attention – selfishly – in a truly global crisis, and one with many months to run….

For rolling lists of good discussions on these topics:

https://the-syllabus.com/coronavirus-readings/

https://yourpart.eu/p/QuarantineSchool_COVID19

#covid_19 #covid-19 #coronavirus #corona

[quentinquaadgras]

118 --- An Educational Manifesto

Preface

I know there is no image this post, I spent all my time writing it this evening and I could not think of a good image for this. If you have a view on education in NZ, please read this through. It is an important topic and I would love to hear some input/contrast on my ideas. There is a TLDR (too long didn’t read) at the bottom.

Introduction

The current education system in New Zealand is inadequate and old-fashioned, students are not taught how to think, they are taught how to pass tests. The system needs to be built upon principles of purpose, engagement, creativity and productivity so it is prepared for the future. Preschool and primary schools start off well, I do not have any critique for that sector of education but when children get to intermediate school and high-school, issues arise. At a time of their lives when students should be preparing for what they will be doing in life, they are pressured by the expectations from school and their peers.

I have heard from too many students who find it difficult in High School, bullying, peer pressure and expectations plague our students. Instead of learning how to become productive people with creative skills, hobbies and interests. Students spend too much of their education “studying” for their next test. This is not real “studying”, students are disengaged from the subjects that they are being required to learn. 

This is not the fault of the teachers, they are doing the best job they can do with the policies and structures in place, in fact the current high-school education system is almost as much of a burden on teachers as it is on students. This is not a financial issue, it is not an issue of under-funding, throwing money at schools will not resolve the issues being outlined here.

The majority of the education system in New Zealand is still based on the industrial era style education, where students are put through like products on an assembly line. In this system, each student is tested for quality control and then stamped with a level of competence.

I cannot believe that with all this time spent on discussing progressive policies, climate change and social equality and equity. Nobody is talking about progressing the education system. Sure, there is plenty of talk that the education system needs to be improved but I do not see any real substance of how to actually do it.

Maybe this is because the majority of the people in this country have gone through the education system, it is normal, they cannot think of how it could be any different. This is where I may have an insight, I am one of the small percentage of people in the country who was homeschooled. I had a very different sort of education than what is found in school. This allows me to look at the high-school education system as an outsider, as someone with a fresh perspective.

A good education system needs to be based on principles. These are the principles I think an education system should incorporate.

Purpose Students need to have the opportunity to discover their purpose at High School.

Engagement Students do not learn what they are forced to learn. They need to be given the chance to learn by doing what motivates them.

Creativity All subjects involve creativity. It is essential for innovation. Mathematics and STEM would be picked up by many more students if they were given the opportunity to be creative within these subjects at school.

Production Being productive starts at school, students need to work on projects, hobbies and become producers of wealth rather than consumers. With the internet, being a consumer has never been so easy, people can watch any movie at a touch of a button. Production, creating content and solving problems is also essential for the healthy emotional state of a person. I would argue that a lack of production and purpose are two of the factors for increasing rates of depression and anxiety in young people in this country.

How to do it

I am not going to explain how to build an education system from scratch, I understand that any change to the education system needs to be built on top of what already exists. The steps outlined below explain how I would change the education system.

Redefine Tests Tests should not be something students prepare for, this sounds like a crazy idea but its not. The purpose of a test is to measure a student’s progress. It’s not a target or goal for a student to reach. The culture of exams and the pressure that they impound on students is incredibly unhealthy for a student’s well-being. It contributes to the rising Anxiety and Depression rates in this country.

Redefining tests is easy, tests can be changed so they surprise students and they should not be based on the ability for a student to recall information like a computer. They should be either open-book or based on measuring the understanding of a student and not their short-term memory. End of year external exams need to be removed and replaced with reoccurring tests throughout the year (these already exist, they are called internals).

The tests do not need to be radically different, the infrastructure is already there, it boils down to a change of process. To clarify, national standards should not be removed, they should simply be used as a measuring tool instead of a target that students aim for.

Replace credits with CV/Portfolios The credit system in schools is a bit like the tax system, it is complex. One of the problems with the school system is that it does not reflect adult life. Credits do not exist after students leave school, companies do not give people credits when they change job. It doesn’t make too much sense.

Students don’t get it, they almost need professional advice in order to navigate the credit system. What can happen is that there is a portfolio system where students are able to keep a record the skills they gain from their education. Whether this is done on an NCEA web-platform or on a personal level can be decided upon.

The important aspect here is that with a portfolio/CV system, students will be getting ready for work, they will be learning how to present themselves, they will be keeping a record of their achievements. They will know where they stand. Depending on the method of record keeping, this may or may not need some infrastructure changes (such as a government website).

Compulsory Productivity Taking numeracy and literacy is compulsory and this is a very good thing. There is another thing which needs to be compulsory (there is an upside to this one as it does not require more teachers). Projects should be compulsory at school. Students should be required to complete personal projects and be given allotted time to spend on these projects. 

There shouldn’t be any restrictions on these projects, for example students may wish to create a game or a movie. They may wish to create a robot or experiment with electronics. They may wish to compose a song and complete a performance. These projects will inspire the students, give them a direction, a purpose and look great on their CV’s. It will encourage individual learning and students will have the resource available on the internet in order to educate themselves on their projects. Again, this change will not need major infrastructure changes, I am sure most highschools have internet availability and/or areas where students can work on projects either together or as an individual, it will require students to have the time at school to work on such projects. Encourage Creativity & STEM Out of the all the modifications which have been proposed in this manifesto, this is probably the most difficult to implement. There is a reason why students are losing interest in STEM and it is not because the subjects are boring. It is because the way they are taught is. One of the most common misconceptions about STEM fields is that they are not creative fields. This could not be any further from the truth. Creativity is an essential part of STEM, in fact without it, there would be no STEM, scientific innovation is based upon creativity and exploration. Although the type of creativity is different to what is commonly referred to such as Art, Music, Literature and Film. A person who is passionate about STEM can be just as creatively brilliant as individuals in the more traditional arts. The only reason this is difficult to see is because such creativity is hidden behind jargon and specific knowledge of the subject. STEM subjects in schools need to be taught in a way which encourages exploration of the subject without sacrificing the facts and knowledge which is required for them.

Conclusion

Education is the foundation of our society, with better educated students, they will grow up and fix the problems we are currently stuck with. Significantly improving the current education system in New Zealand is not difficult. The changes here do not require significant investment, all they require is a change of policy.

I do not proclaim to be an expert on education, I only proclaim that I am lucky to have had a great, meaningful education and I wish that every other New Zealander can have one too. I want young people to have the opportunities I had, the opportunity to personally explore, discover, create and develop. 

I mean DIY, it’s in our DNA [1].

TLDR

I outline the issues with the New Zealand education system and four simple steps on how to improve it. Footnotes [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVwYnPge8wQ

#education #creativity #newzealand #politics #system #productivity #projects #oppurtunity #learning #students #engagement #stem #tests #exams #redefine #policy #purpose #ctec500 #ctec503

[curtiskyle]

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[topfygad]

Travel Daydream: The Ultimate New Zealand Road Trip

It may very well be stated that the true pleasure of a highway journey is the sensation of freedom because the wind whips by your hair, your favorite tune performs on the radio, and also you’re in full management of your future.

It’s simply you, the wheel, and the open highway.

I’ve by no means let a small factor like my lack of a automobile or a driver’s license cease me from having fun with the highway journey expertise, even going as far as enlisting assistance from my good friend and someday wingman, Hogg for this 12 months’s Nice US Highway Journey.

In reality, whenever you’re a journey blogger who can often get stuff free of charge, you’d be stunned how rapidly pals come out of the woodwork to ask if they’ll drive you round a rustic…

Now that I’ve achieved my life lengthy dream of doing a highway journey throughout the US, I’ve needed to set my sights on new highway journey conquests.

One nation I’ve been that means to revisit and take my time with is New Zealand and, as luck would have it, it’s the proper nation for a highway journey.

With automobile rental in New Zealand being reasonably priced and there being no scarcity of highway journey routes to select from, it’s the proper place to spend per week, a month, or longer exploring at your individual tempo.

I used to be fortunate sufficient to go to New Zealand on a ten day ‘break up tour’ with my first travelling girlfriend, Fallon. Whereas the journey itself was clearly a bittersweet one understanding that we’d say our goodbyes at journey’s finish, we nonetheless managed to have a memorable Christmas interval travelling by the land of the lengthy white cloud.

Our journey packed within the highlights: Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch, Queenstown, Franz Josef, and Milford Sound.

We even discovered time to cease off at Nelson for Christmas Eve.

As superb as that journey was, it left me with a thirst to see all of it once more at a extra sedate tempo and in additional element.

Beneath, you’ll discover my dream New Zealand highway journey. I’m positive there are some obvious oversights, so be happy to let me know the place I’ve fucked up.

Auckland

I’m not alone find New Zealand’s largest metropolis to be nowhere close to as charming as Wellington, Christchurch, or just about another sizable inhabitants centre within the shaky isles.

That isn’t to say that Auckland isn’t with out its charms, not the least of which is that it’s often the most cost effective place to fly to from Australia.

Auckland Museum is a enjoyable wet day exercise. Picture courtesy of Siyamalan.

It’s fairly telling that TripAdvisor’s checklist of prime issues to do in Auckland appear to be day journeys out of the town, however there are galleries, museums, and memorials aplenty within the metropolis for many who are focused on such issues.

Once I was final in Auckland, I stayed within the very quaint Verandahs Backpackers. It’s a bit flashier than the standard hostel, with a Colonial really feel that makes it a superb deal extra ‘grown up’ than my regular backpacking digs.

Paihia & The Bay of Islands

A 3 hour drive north of Auckland, the subtropical Bay of Islands is a pure playground that I utterly missed on my earlier journey to New Zealand.

Whether or not it’s sedate cruises between the islands, serene scuba diving, adrenaline pumping sandboarding excursions, scenic biking, or hardcore mountaineering – the world is one among many examples of New Zealand’s unmatched pure magnificence.

It’s the form of place I’d like to spend just a few days exploring and simply soaking all of it in.

New Zealand’s east coast is an space of rugged magnificence. Picture courtesy of Graeme Churchard.

Matamata

One among my greatest causes for outrage on my final journey to New Zealand was that my then girlfriend wouldn’t acquiesce to my want to go to Hobbiton.

Don’t inform me you wouldn’t like to in a single day in your individual hobbit gap. Picture courtesy of Tom Corridor.

Perhaps she hadn’t grown up as enamored of the Lord of the Rings books as I had, however I used to be greater than just a little bummed that we wouldn’t have the ability to make a short cease in on the filming location that launched the world to Peter Jackson’s imaginative and prescient of Center Earth.

The filming set has been stored in good order for vacationers, and a chilly beverage on the duplicate Inexperienced Dragon Inn can be a should as properly.

When it’s all achieved, a farm keep at one of many native farms can be a pleasant option to see what rural life is like in NZ.

Rotorua

Onwards to the stinkiest metropolis in New Zealand – Rotorua.

I spent Christmas Day of 2010 exploring Rotorua; taking the scenic gondola to the highest of Mount Ngongotaha for a Christmas feast earlier than racing again right down to the underside with the Skyline Luge.

The following day, we’d enterprise out for some Boxing Day zorbing, earlier than ending our time within the space with a go to to the world well-known Waitomo Glowworm Caves for some blackwater rafting.

My submit zorb leap of pleasure after attempting it in Rotorua, New Zealand.

The world has a lot to see and do, and even with a reasonably packed three day go to, a short have a look at Rotorua Tourism showcases kayaking, white water rafting, Maori cultural excursions, treetop walks, geothermal springs, and a lot extra to be achieved within the space.

Wellington

Our final cease on the North Island is the Kiwi Capital, Wellington. A much more engaging prospect for vacationers than the capital, the Windy Metropolis has some properly regarded museums, galleries, and points of interest to go with its pure magnificence.

For me, Te Papa (New Zealand’s nationwide museum), the Zealandia sanctuary, and the WETA Cave are all on the to do checklist.

On the pure magnificence facet of issues, Mount Victoria affords up unparalleled views of the town and Oriental Bay – and the town itself is a famed haven for foodies.

Trying to find symmetry in Wellington. Picture courtesy of Gregory Bodnar.

It’s right here we bid farewell to the North Island, taking the ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island. At round $300 NZD (together with a automobile) and taking three scenic hours, it’s an journey all of its personal.

Marlborough Wine Area

With Picton being the spot the place the ferry docks, it is sensible to spend just a few days within the Marlborough area to pattern a few of New Zealand’s greatest wine.

There’s one thing completely magical about wine nation. Picture courtesy of Peter Burge.

I first developed a love for the grape once I took a wine tour of Broke, and have since added to my restricted information with wine excursions in southern California.

With greater than 150 wineries answerable for greater than 75% of New Zealand’s wine output, spending just a few days soaking within the ambiance (and the wine) seems like heaven to me.

Franz Josef Glacier

I used to be fortunate sufficient to climb Franz Josef Glacier on my final go to to New Zealand, and it stays one of the vital outstanding experiences of my travelling life.

Having fun with my lunch on Franz Josef Glacier

We opted for the complete day mountaineering expertise on my unique go to, and I’m so glad that we did. Standing atop such an historical and highly effective power of nature was a humbling expertise, and the view was simply surreal.

The close by city of Franz Josef is a quaint little mountain city with out a complete lot happening, but it surely’s laborious to match that serenity.

Queenstown

Nestled on the shores of lovely Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown stays one among my favorite cities on earth. It’s simply epitomises the idyllic mountain city, and its tourism business means it packs so much to see and do right into a small package deal.

Along with native actions like zip-lining, mountaineering, and water sports activities, Queenstown is the unofficial capital of maximum sports activities in New Zealand. It’s right here you’ll discover world-class bungee leaping, canyon swings, and rather more.

Queenstown is likely to be essentially the most picturesque city I’ve ever visited. Picture courtesy of Andrea Schaffer.

Fiordland Nationwide Park

Whereas it’s actually attainable to see and expertise a fraction of Milford Sound’s majesty with a day journey from Queenstown, the park itself warrants way over a cursory examination.

At over 1.2 million hectares, the Fiordland Nationwide Park is way over simply its eighth Surprise of the World contender – though you’d be forgiven for pondering it is likely to be laborious to prime the hovering cliffs and deep waters of the well-known web site.

Uncertain Sound (generally amusing referred to as the Sound of Silence) is a magnificence all of its personal, and the park’s legendary mountaineering tracks vary from the picturesque to the downright grueling.

Like one thing out of fantasy, proper? Picture courtesy of Andy Maw.

Invercargill

From the Fiordlands, it’s the Southern Scenic Route right down to Invercargill on the very foot of the nation.

Not a lot a vacationer spot as a spot to unwind away from the hustle and bustle of the vacationer path, it’s additionally an vital cease on the aforementioned Southern Scenic Route.

Dunedin

With a number of the greatest preserved Victorian and Edwardian structure in the complete southern hemisphere, Dunedin may simply be confused with its northern hemisphere equal.

There’s one thing very interesting concerning the concept of wandering the streets and laneways of Dunedin, visiting New Zealand’s solely fort, and exploring the encompassing land on foot or on the well-known Taieri Gorge Railway.

There’s seashores, breweries, and an entire lot extra. I’m truly ashamed we didn’t hit Dunedin first time round.

Like one thing out of the Scottish Highlands. Picture courtesy of Sally.

Christchurch

I’ve saved one among New Zealand’s greatest for final.

Regardless of its continued dangerous luck with pure disasters, Christchurch stays one of the vital lovely cities within the nation. Whereas it’s undoubtedly displaying indicators of wear and tear after its dangerous run with earthquakes, there’s nonetheless a way of peace and artistic vitality to the Backyard Metropolis.

Christchurch was truly my very first backpacking vacation spot.

Commonly ranked extremely in tourism journals as one of many world’s should see cities, Christchurch is inventive, bohemian, resilient, quirky, and splendidly serene. It properly and really gained my coronary heart first time round.

It’s from right here we’d fly on residence or to our subsequent cease.

What can be in your dream NZ Highway Journey? Have you ever made one earlier than?

Did I miss something that you just’d have included?

Have I included one thing that you just suppose is woefully overrated?

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source http://cheaprtravels.com/travel-daydream-the-ultimate-new-zealand-road-trip/

[kazlifeadventures]

N.O.L.A... ♥️

New Orleans 23 - 28 Sep

Oh wow...the food, the people, the things to see and do!

It’s incredible. The history here is amazing. The architecture of some of the old creole homes, the weather (how hot ? Not too hot, 90s and up every day with humidity) Yep I have finally given up trying to convert it back to Celsius, there’s a formula, but it involves maths and fractions so, yeah, mid nineties is how its gonna go.

After a late arrival due to flight delays, we got serenaded by the head flight attendant when we finally landed in New Orleans..... those videos that you see are obviously real ( I often thought they were just clever advertising). Had us all in stitches and a great end to a very long day we ended up 3 hrs late and had sat on the tarmac in San Antonio for nearly 2 hrs....

I was starving by the time I got to my hotel, and was pointed in the direction of a nearby 24hr place and recommended to have one of the local specialities - a ‘Po’ boy” pretty much a sub with the addition of your choice of either deep fried shrimp, crawfish, alligator, meats, you name it. It was tasty and whatever the sauce was that came with it added another dimension

New Orleans, or NOLA as its often referred, was founded in 1718. The city lies along the mighty Mississippi River, with the area also surrounded by vast lakes and swamp/bayou systems. Hurricane Katrina devastated large sections of the city in August 2005 when some of the man made levies broke, flooding large parts of downtown, the city still bears the scars today. NOLA is renowned for its music culture (oh the Jazz and blues!) Creole and Cajun cuisine, and its festivals. It has been described as the most unique city in America, a description that totally fits, and can only be understood by those who have visited this place.

My first day I decided to wander around and ended up jumping on a St Charles streetcar. The St Charles line is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world and has been operating since 1835. I ran into an expat Aussie (who now lives in NZ) on the streetcar and wound up doing a mini walking tour with her. Lucky for me she had guidebook detailing the history of the houses we were looking at. The Gardens area is fantastic and houses some amazing architecture. FYI you can get a “jazzy pass” for the public transport here - $3 gives you 24hrs of transport anywhere in the city.

It’s been great meeting other tourists and locals as I am compiling a list of food places I need to try to visit. Not sure my waistline is going to appreciate it though!

Day 2 saw me head out for a meal at a local cafe, (catfish, smothered potatoes, eggs, and biscuits) another walk down Bourbon street, a wander around the French quarter, a tarot reading in one of the crystal stores there, beignets from the famous cafe du monde.. more walking... then a jazz and dinner cruise on the Creole Queen paddle steamer along the Mississippi River. As I boarded and was set at my table for one, a lovely lady came over to ask if I’d like to join their group. These 3 ladies had been in town for a massive administration professionals conference and it turned out to be an even more fantastic night, as its always better when your have company! The jazz trio were fabulous and the trip along the river gave stunning views of the city skyline.

The next day I was up for a late breakfast in readiness for my trip out to the swamp and bayous. This tour was fantastic. Somehow I ended up at the stern of the boat next to the captain (unfortunately he was married!) anyway it turns out, the lady the other side was another person who had been in town for the conference. Great fun to meet a new friend, and share some of our pics with each other. A swamp is classified as an area that has water running (to some degree) through vegetation. Capt Stefan explained how the ecology of the area operated and the impacts that introduced species of flora and fauna have had, as well as how they are combated today. This company is big on ecological tourism and only feeds the alligators, racoons, pigs etc special vegetable based pellets. They also ensure that the alligators have a healthy respect and fear of humans to make sure that they are not reliant on them for food. We saw many smaller alligators, huge fish, birds, a feral pig, and a gorgeous raccoon family. I had no idea that raccoons hands were so sensitive. Apparently they hunt for mussels and oysters in the mud of the swamps with their hands, sensing their location. Apparently that is where the term “cooning for mussels" comes from, the locals get on their hands and knees in the swamp mud feeling for them like the raccoons. I also didn’t know that the oysters here grew that way .... see there is always something new to learn! The raccoons were so cute climbing up the tree trunk to get to the pellets...It was a great trip and a heap of fun. I then headed out to another recommended spot to try the local oysters. Yep, those who know me I’m not a fan of this one seafood item.... but hey when in Rome, or in this case, New Orleans, you have to try them and the staff were great helping choose a version that was grilled with a garlic parmesan butter (ummm yum?). I had a lovely turtle soup, which was surprisingly meaty . Not sure what I was expecting, but gosh it was tasty! Then I grabbed a blackened alligator, nice flavours! Don't panic they were all appetizer sizes! Was stuffed after them though....

As I don't plan ahead alot, I then made a snap decision to try my luck at a show at preservation hall. The current preservation hall runs 45 min jazz shows every hour 5 or 6 times a day. They are designed to preserve the old jazz hall culture and raise money to continue the preservation. A small, intimate venue with same fabulous music, a must see in New Orleans, and worth the queue time to get in!

Plantation tour day was next, and wow. I'd chosen to spend the day visiting 2 of the main plantations. It was an educational and incredibly sobering experience. Whitney plantation was our first stop. This plantation has been set up as a memorial to the slaves and details life as it was during both periods of slavery. An emotional and haunting series of memorials intertwined with details of the processes used for slavery, how they lived, how they died. It included examples and documented memories of the slaves. On such a hot day it was incredibly emotional to think of what these people endured, while processing the 'white gold' for their masters. Even sadder to think that slavery is still perpetuated in parts of the world today (just in other guises like economic slavery). Researching the full details and timelines of what happened here is something well worth the time!

After Whitney we headed to the beautiful Oak Alley plantation. This one was picturesque with its 250 yr old oak trees lining the path to the main house. The slaves here had slightly better living conditions as their owner apparently paid them. Even money won't help if your freedom is not there. This plantation gives a respectful balanced approach to the details of the time, and the story told by our guide as we moved through the great house intertwined the impact of events on the plantation owners as well as their slaves. The area is also very set up for tourists and they make an awesome mint julep! I met two beautiful Californian ladies on this day trip (believe it or not they had been in town for the professionals conference 😂😂). We ended up out for dinner that night ticking off a place we all had on our must do list. I love this part of travelling, meeting new people and finding that connection. It was right at a time that I needed it...my heart is full!

New Orleans you have been amazing. I have met so many people here, learnt so much, eaten way too much, listened to some fantastic music and pretty much had an incredible time.

More photos to come!

I'm off on a train today (28th) to Memphis, the home of rock n roll and blues....

[emoryfierlinger]

CFM week 6: Public toilet spaces

Jounral entry 1

Lee mentions that his topic in the interview - male sex in public toilets - has never been the focus of popular or dominant histories in this country.  From Lee's discussion, what are some of factors that make this topic a difficult history to write in New Zealand?    From Lee's discussion and the photos (above and below) are there any other communities we might consider in relation to the toilets?

I think one of the biggest reasons behind male sex in public toilets has been left out of New Zealand history is because it was illegal at the time to do such a thing. Lee mentions how it was highly frowned upon at the time, which is why the public toilets were used. Not many folks went into the public toilets, so it quickly became the spot to go. Lee said “you never knew what who was going to walk in” I think he was referring to this as a bit of a thrill. 

Another factor I think this has been left out of history is that I assume there’s not many folks like Lee who are brave enough to talk about this is an open and public context, I think a lot of people looked down on themselves that they had to resort to public toilets and so they don’t openly talk about it. I’d be curious to ask Lee if he thinks that could’ve been a factor.

As far as different communities involved. I think obviously people who were homeless should be considered here. Reading this page by the NZ government sheds some light on the homelessness situation in New Zealand around 1980 which states there was a pretty serious housing crisis across the country.

My notes on the article here: http://www.abladeofgrass.org/fertile-ground/artwashing-social-practice-social-reproduction/

Basically, artists help developers and real estate people gentrify an area, which means middle and upper class citizens move into these areas. Often times the artwork and architecture brought into the area covers and conceals the heritage and the authenticity of these areas.

Often artists move into these areas and argue against gentrification and for diversity and authenticity, but the real problem is them. They’ve moved into the area and they’re the ones contributing to this problem. This is a massive problem is San Francisco at the moment, since it’s the hub of technology for the United States. A lot of designers and developers are moving there to work for Apple, Google, Facebook etc and in doing so, raising housing prices and causing more gentrification. To the extent in San Francisco I heard about a story where people threw stones and smashed windows of the double decker busses that take tech employees from the city to the valley.

I was watching a video on the “Defend Boyle Heights” facebook page and came across a clip of someone’s speech about white people moving into lower class neighbourhoods like Boyle heights. She says that white people moving into these neighbourhoods should do two things: Realise they have privilege, even if you’re a single mother or a poor artist, you have more privilege than people of colour in the same situation as you. Two; you need to put the wishes of your neighbours before yours. You might want a nice organic cafe or an art gallery to move in, but your neighbours are desperate for Laundromats and child care centres. Respect that their need is far greater than your want. Especially since you’re moving into their community. Artists create galleries in Boyle Heights to try and show off the gentrification, but really all they’re doing is helping the gentrification.

Another person doing a speech recalls something that happened in the community: One of the art galleries was tagged by a 14 year old boy. The people who owned the art galleries called the LAPD who murdered the boy, Jesse Romeo. When the galleries call the police against tagging, they’re pointing a gun against the youth in this neighbourhood. By collaborating with the police these galleries have decided it’s more important to protect their monetary value and real estate investments than to help the people of this community.  

Week 6, journal entry 2 - write, record, draw or use photos

Define 'rasquache'.  Although the term is specific to a culture very distant from New Zealand, can something similar to rasquache be found here? What would/does it look like?

From what I read, rasquache seems to be the feeling of doing the best with what you’ve got. Which I think is entirely relevant to New Zealand culture. In New Zealand there’s a total “can-do” and DIY attitude that you can do anything with the resources you have. I don’t think this text was talking about the rasquache style which indeed can’t commonly be found in central cities in New Zealand.

Week 6, journal entry 3

Pretend that you want to change a 'vacant' building in Wellington.  Brainstorm how you might investigate: 1) who currently uses it and how is it used?  2) What is the social history of the site (who used it and how in the past)? 

When asking questions, ask the what if, how come, what did, how did, who was. Asking people if they might know people who knew anything about the vacant space. There’s guaranteed to be people who know. Especially in the concerning area/community.

#communicationformakers #communicationformakersweek6

[samvea]

Get out a book will ya! (Integrated practice assignment)

Here is my  Five things that interest me

cars/mechanics

War/ non-fiction

Mysteries

Nazi/History WW2

Spiritual/ God

Publications that I chose ?

Cars

Cars that owners love and hate

War/ Non-Fiction

The american Sniper

Nazi/ History of WW1 & 2

The diary of Anne Frank

Alan Turing the enigma

Spiritual/ God

Heaven is for real

Mysteries

The Quiet American

Other books i considered?

I thought of trying to do a review of the bible but it is a massive book with 738,137 words which people take years to study. Personally i have not studied the whole book but it is an interesting thing i would like to look into in the future.

American sniper

This book is based on an American soldier who is a strong patriot who becomes a navy seal. He trains hard and becomes the ‘American Sniper’ who has more than 150 confirmed kills. Throughout the novel Chris Kyle talks about his journey to becoming the most deadliest sniper in history. Chris Kyle was a Texan who served in the military for 10 years. In the first chapter we are told about the history of Chris Kyle and how he was brought up. The next chapter then talks about meeting his wife Tanya. The rest of the chapters are situations and life experiences of the deadly soldier. He mainly talks about the stress and effects of death. The main points i got out of the novel is that Chris was a hatred filled killer which lead to his intense motivation with saving his fellow Americans. The novel also talks about the stereotypes of war and how people underestimate the effects of war and how death never leaves the mind.

Main points

That war is a never ending nightmare

There are two different worlds

Death

Chris shows no guilt

Heaven is for real

Heaven is for real is an intense story about a family who encounters an experience with God. The novel follows the Burpo family who are involved in a church. The Burpo family is about to go away on a holiday when the youngest son, Colton begins to feel sick. Throughout the trip Colton is vomiting and feeling extremely unwell. The Burpo family then rushed to the nearest hospital and finds out Colton has an intense issue which requires surgery as soon as possible. A few months later Colton fully recovers and he randomly shared with his family his experiences in the hospital. At the beginning the family struggled to believe the things coming from their young son but he was so confident in what he was saying it was hard to believe. The boy shares that he saw his own body in the hospital and went to heaven with Jesus. This novel is an emotional story about a family and spiritual encounter.

Main points

The effects of one's life can affect a whole lot of people around them

The Quiet American

The quiet American is about a American (Alden Pyle) and Englishman (Thomas Fowler) who are in vietnam. The two men are good friends but have many conflicts which results in the murder of one of the two men. Fowler was dating a Vietnamese girl during the time and he happens to meet Pyle who has much interest in Fowler's girl. Over time Phoung, the girl in high demand becomes in love with Pyle. Although there is not much conflict over the girl Fowler and Pyle clash over their different opinions on the war going on around them. Pyle is a strong believer in democracy and he tries to implement this in the vietnamese society. He does this as he has been sent to try and calm down the conflict in the area. Pyle is a strong patriot who believes in America first. Pyle supplies a rebel force with bombs which kill many people in a village. Fowler finds out about Pyle being responsible and more and more conflict grows. In the end Pyle gets murdered under Fowlers control.

Main points

Morality, everything changes but you can not escape death

Guilt after being responsible for death. Pyle shows no guilt

Death and jealousy is within us

Alan Turing the enigma

Why I chose this book? Its an interesting story of how a normal person became the greatest mathematician in history. I love this story because behind every success there is a struggle and this novel talks about the struggle behind cracking the uncrackable.

This book is about World war 2 and the drama behind Alan Turing's road to creating Enigma.  Alan turing lived from 1912 - 1954 and in those years he was and still regarded as the greatest mathematician of all times. Alan turing was an oxford student who got invited to join a highly classified program decrypting the german communications system. Throughout this journey he suffers from homosexual persecution, investigation by police, betrayal and a relationship with who he called his wife. Alan was on the edge of being stopped as most people observing his thought he was insane for putting so much effort into a machine when he could be decoding messages. He completes the machine but it fails on his first attempt, this is where things start going downhill. After getting back on his feet he makes a second attempt at speeding up the process and he cracks the code. He is the greatest mathematician who not only saved the allies but he was the founder of computer science. Alan turing invented the computer and artificial intelligence. The enigma was the foundation for the future of computers and artificial intelligence.

Main points

It doesn't matter who you are or what you do anything is possible if you set your mind to it

Jealousy can stop good from happening

Cars that owners love and hate

Why i chose this article?

I love cars and i love reading about the history and how they are so important to us. I also love buying and selling cars as a hobbie.

This article is about cars and which are the most loved and hated by their owners. Cars are something which pays a very important part in this generations. Last year in New Zealand alone 43000 new cars were registered for nz roads. The roads are getting busier so that means there are a wider range of cars for owners these days to choose from. Buying a new car is important, it is an investment into your future and that's why it takes so much thought, effort, consultation and testing to find your new buddy. This article has surveyed many car owners to find the needles in the haystack. The survey goes through driving experience, styling, value and comfort. What were the high and lows of cars ? Electric/ hybrid cars were very popular especially the toyota prius. Affordable luxury is what most users look for but realistically the more you pay the more you expect to get. Entry level SUV’s and luxury cars were the most low scoring cars. So what were the most hated and most loved cars? Here are what the article shows. # 1 Tesla (91% would buy again), #2 Porsche (84%), #3 Audi (77%), #4 Subaru (76%), #5 Toyota (76%). The most hated car was the Fiat with 53% would buy again.

Main points

More you pay the more you get

You can't be a affordable luxury, either you are cheap or luxurious

The diary of Anne Frank

Why i choose this book?

I Love reading WW2 books and articles about how people came together and united to fight the evil happening around them.

This is one of the most emotional books you will read. This book is structured differently to others as it is a diary instead of a story. Although Anne Frank's diary is almost her youth story growing up during the war. The novel talks about Frank's fears, joys, insecurities, doubts and all her personal thoughts. The only thing that differs this diary from any other is the setting. Anne Frank was a jew during the WW2 holocaust. Although she doesn't talk just about the horrors of WW2 or the death in the concentration camps as she was growing up and she didn't understand the death man could bring. This was WW2 from a child's perspective while she hides from the Nazis. During the novel, Anne goes into hiding with her family while the Nazis take over Holland. Her family plus a few other hide in their father's office. Throughout living behind a swinging bookcase she grows her knowledge with their large book stock. The diary then goes to talk about her thoughts about other boys and the struggles of hiding from the outside world. Unfortunately after her diary ends, the room gets raided and they get captured so it wasn't all good for the Jews.

Main points

Good people suffer

Similarities?

After reading and studying these 6 novels and articles many ideas, themes and messages there have been similarities in they way that they all talk about us always wanting more. This can be seen in the American sniper as Chris Kyle stresses while off duty when he has nightmares about all the death happening. Chris Kyle wants to be able to protect as many people as possible , he just can't accept the fact that people die all the time. In heaven is for real, the Burpo’s want to be happy and have a normal life when really all this extraordinary things are happening around them that a lot of people would love to experience. The quiet american talks about power and how Pyle just wants Americans to have power in Vietnam. He is not satisfied with different cultures and societies happening. Pyle just want democracy and won't stop no matter how much death is involved. Alan Turing in the enigma story Alan just wants to complete the machine. He is not satisfied with a normal life and settling down with a girl, but if it means he will complete it he will do whatever it takes to finish his goal. Cars that owners love and hate talks about SUV owners wanting more of a luxury from their cars while paying for something cheap. Affordable luxury. The diary of Anne Frank talks about the things she thought she should have in order to have a better life, although I don't think it could of had gotten any worse for Anne Frank's so she has a proper reason for wanting a better life. In conclusion us humans are needy and we always want more, without being completely satisfied with the life and belongings we have.

References

https://wordcounter.net/blog/2015/12/08/10975_how-many-words-bible.html

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=c4127a19-5d58-43dc-b047-a47cb061c31b%40sessionmgr4010&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=120215775&db=anh

#ctec500 #getabookoutwillya

[newzealandabortion]

The Villainesse Guide: How to get an abortion in New Zealand - Part One

First published on Monday the 15th of February, 2016, this piece comes in at number 5 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016.

In 2014, 13,137 women underwent a termination of pregnancy in New Zealand. While abortion rates in NZ have been in steady decline since 2007, let’s just get it out of the way that as long as there is sex (and, sadly, rape) happening between men and women there will be abortions. Until there is such a thing as an easily accessible, 100% failsafe form of contraception there will be abortions. Until we live in an ideal world where every pregnancy is planned and therefore wanted, where every woman has access to the resources and supports required to be able to carry, give birth to and raise a child without fear, isolation or risk of harm then there will be abortions.

Termination of pregnancy is a fact in New Zealand, and yet it remains one of our most controversial social topics; so controversial, in fact, that we as a society seem quite unwilling to talk about it. The experience of abortion itself is often considered too intensely personal for everyday discussion, and the issues surrounding it are so publicly divisive — so highly charged — that it also continues to be a political hot potato that few are willing to handle at policy level.

This tacit “don’t ask don’t tell” position is arguably why New Zealand’s abortion law has remained unchanged for the past 38 years — termination of pregnancy is still a criminal offence, except in the case where two certifying consultants approve the termination on one of ten grounds, which include cases of incest, foetal impairment and risk to a woman’s physical and/or mental health. It’s worth pointing out that rape is not one of these grounds.

The thousands of abortions performed under the current law each year would indicate that this decades-old legislation is not entirely restrictive and does allow for women in Aotearoa to access safe, legal abortion where necessary, however, this is not to say that getting an abortion in NZ is as easy as rolling up to the clinic and asking for one. Any woman who has experienced the wait times, the numerous appointments and, in many cases, the travel involved will tell you that current law throws up a number of procedural hoops and barriers to access.

Further to this, our society’s fingers-in-ears approach to the issue also creates a cultural environment that keeps women too ashamed, uncomfortable and scared to openly discuss experiences of abortion — further feeding the stigma and making the experience more mystifying than it needs to be. The basic facts may be there, but firsthand accounts and advice appear to be sorely missing from public conversation.

And that’s why this guide has been put together — a guide for women who have already made the informed decision to terminate a pregnancy and who are perhaps wanting to know more about what to expect when they’re (unwantedly) expecting. If the system isn’t about to change then let’s at least create some honest dialogue around how to navigate it safely. Let’s broaden the conversation beyond clinical-speak and emotionally charged rhetoric.

This guide has been put together with help from contributors who have had first-hand experience of getting an abortion in NZ. All contributors had first trimester terminations (prior to 12.6 weeks gestation). The New Zealand Abortion Supervisory Committee considers it best practice for abortions to be given at under nine weeks gestation, and around 56% of terminations in New Zealand are performed at under ten weeks gestation. As a reflection of both statistics and contributor experiences, this guide is largely aimed at the majority of women who are seeking first trimester terminations. Second trimester and late term abortions are a reality for some, however, and we hope to explore this topic at a later date.

This guide is also split into two parts: In this first installment we’ll discuss how to go about accessing an abortion. The second part will explore the experience of having a surgical abortion, and will discuss self-care both prior to and following a termination.

Each experience of abortion is different and the emotions attached to your decision are very much your own. This guide does not assume anyone’s situation to be traumatic, nor a walk in the park. It’s just some firsthand, practical advice and info from a group of women who have had an abortion and who have bravely and kindly chosen share their experiences.

So let’s begin…

So you’ve decided to get an abortion

For many women it’s a late period (and then desperately trying to take back every time you ever complained about ruined knickers, cramps or “SURPRISE!” blood flow), for others it’s a “not right” feeling, or a constellation of random symptoms — itching skin, strange sleep patterns, unfamiliar twinges in the lower abdomen. Something made you suspicious enough to buy a pregnancy test, and you’re now looking at two double lines on a flimsy plastic stick. If you’re still unsure about how to proceed then please don’t look to this guide to help make your decision — your choice is your own and should not be influenced by anyone else, including this here random woman on the internet. If you’ve already made the decision to terminate your pregnancy then read on for an overview of getting the process underway.

Getting started

Your first step is to book an appointment with a doctor, as you cannot self-refer to the hospital. This appointment can be with your regular GP, Student Health Services, or Family Planning. Although it’s uncommon, a doctor can refuse to give you a referral based on conscientious objection — if a doctor does refuse a referral then they have a legal obligation to tell you that you are free to go to see another doctor who will be able to arrange this. The website My Decision also provides a list of GPs who are known to be conscientious objectors, so you may want to check in advance.

Family Planning clinics — with the fine work they do — often get really busy and this can mean waiting anywhere from a couple of days to over a week for an appointment. Many do offer a walk-in service on certain days though, so call your local clinic or look online to see when these days are.

At your first appointment the doctor will ask you some questions and possibly get you to take another urine pregnancy test. The questions are fairly standard — just things like when your last period was and if you’ve been pregnant before. Once a positive test is confirmed they’ll then take a cervical swab (or provide you with the tools and instructions to take one yourself, as is becoming increasingly common) to test for STIs, before referring you for bloodwork and ultrasounds. Maternity healthcare is free in New Zealand, even if you are not continuing with the pregnancy. This first appointment and all subsequent appointments, scans and any other related appointments shouldn’t cost you anything, although an Auckland doctor reported that some Auckland radiology providers like Auckland Radiology Group, Ascot and SRG (Specialist Radiology) may charge a fee (sometimes called a ‘part-charge’) for the ultrasound scan. Double-check this with either your referring doctor or directly with the radiology practice to make sure you’re aware of any unexpected costs up front.

For those who live in or near Auckland there are two private clinics. The first is called Auckland Medical Aid Centre (AMAC), while the second is Surgery on Shakespeare, on Auckland’s North Shore. These are the only private abortion providers in the country. Although having the actual procedure in these clinics costs money (more on this later), they do offer a free referral service for NZ residents, though you should double-check this at the time of booking, in case of any policy changes since this article was researched. This service allows you to get an initial consult, bloods, swabs and ultrasound onsite in one half-hour appointment. From there you can either book in with them or ask them to refer you to the public service.

You’d think that finding out about a pregnancy early = getting a termination early, however, as one contributor found, this is not the always the case:

“I found out I was pregnant just before my period was due — I just knew something was up. I literally went to the doctor that day but was told that it was too early to be certain (the test was only showing a very faint positive) and that I had to come back in a week to take another test before they would book me for an ultrasound”.

While there’s no specific law stating that an ultrasound must be performed, the majority of DHBs do insist on the pregnancy being confirmed in this way. This is both to establish gestational age and to rule out the possibility of ectopic pregnancy. Unfortunately a pregnancy only becomes visible on ultrasound at around five to six weeks, so if you’re earlier than this you may have to wait. If your pregnancy test is showing positive (no matter how faintly; modern pregnancy tests almost never display false positives) then do go to a doctor to get the ball rolling. If they deem an ultrasound to be necessary then insist on them making a booking that day, or giving you the details to make the booking yourself, even if it’s for one or two weeks away. Any unnecessary delay at this end may cause further delays down the track.

The fact that we have a safe, free abortion service in New Zealand does not mean that this service is not without its hurdles — the biggest being access. Access (including wait time) in the public system is, frankly, quite shit, with our abortion laws necessitating a rigidly held sequence of appointments, and also appointing only a small number of clinics to service the entire country. Contributors to this story spoke of waiting up to a month to receive their abortion; experiences reflected by a 2009 study that found that New Zealand women waited an average of 25 days between their first contact with a medical professional and the abortion procedure itself.

Abortion.org.nz has a great resource that allows you to locate your nearest abortion provider, and you can also reach them on 0800 ABORTION. As one representative of the site explains, however, for many women access to both ultrasound and abortion means having to travel:

“Living somewhere that doesn't have a provider is really problematic. Recently started services in Tauranga and Dunedin have made a huge difference, but there are still big gaps on the map. For example, women in Whanganui or Palmy [sic] don't have a local provider, and have to travel to Te Mahoe clinic in Wellington.”

*Editor's note (19/01/17): Women living in and around Palmerston North can now access abortion through The Women's Clinic. Medical abortions are performed in Palmerston North, while surgical abortions are referred to Wellington. Women can access The Women's Clinic by self-referring through 0800 ABORTION or by obtaining a referral from their GP.

If your local DHB cannot provide the service, and you’re unable to arrange transport to the nearest provider, then discuss transport with your doctor. Free transportation and accommodation is often available and can be arranged through your DHB social worker. If you need to take time off work or uni then a medical certificate can also be provided — this will NOT mention the reasons for your absence and you are in no way required to give your employer or education provider any details beyond what is stated on the note.

Back to that ultrasound: you are not obligated — legally, morally or otherwise — to view the ultrasound image. Obviously this choice is up to you and ideally the technician should give you the option to view the image or not, however, as one contributor writes, this is not always the case:

“[The technician] just kind of went straight into it and was like ‘there it is!’ like she assumed it was a wanted pregnancy. It was pretty awkward because she started talking about me coming back later to confirm the heartbeat and I had to tell her that no, I wouldn’t be because I was having an abortion.”

If you don’t want to see the ultrasound image then make this clear at the start of your appointment. Many of the contributors to this story did choose to view the image, for reasons ranging from general interest to “feeling like it was the right thing to do.” One contributor recalled this as an emotional experience, however, others reported feeling relief or surprise to see “not much more than a small, dark blur,” as one woman described it.

It’s worth pointing out that all contributors to this story were between five and eight weeks gestation at the time of their ultrasound, and at this early stage there’s very little to discern unless you know what you’re looking for. If you’re further along in pregnancy then the ultrasound may be a more confronting experience so, again, the choice of whether or not to view the image is 100% up to you.

Once the pregnancy and gestation date is confirmed via ultrasound your doctor will be able to book you in for “Appointment One”. This is a consultation with the first of the two certifying consultants, both of whom must independently approve your abortion in order for it to be performed legally. Again, there is a often a waitlist for this appointment — amongst contributors the wait time between the ultrasound and Appointment One ranged from 7-16 days. Wait times may also be affected by public holidays, in particular around the Christmas/New Year period.

Appointment One

The appointment usually takes place at the clinic where the termination itself will be performed and you’ll need to set aside at least half the day (longer if you’re having to travel), as there is a fair bit of waiting around.

Before seeing the first certifying consultant you’ll meet with a nurse, whose role is to gather all the relevant information around your circumstances, including your reasons for wanting a termination. Around 98-99% of all legal terminations in New Zealand are approved on the ground that continuation with the pregnancy would cause “major risk to a woman’s mental wellbeing”, an exception that falls under section 187A of the Crimes Act 1961. This requirement is a major point of contention within our current abortion law, with advocates for change — such as the Abortion Law Reform Association —arguing that it’s hypocritical and demeans women who have made a conscious, informed choice to terminate, by putting them in a position of having to lie about their own mental wellbeing.

If your situation falls under this ground (which, statistically speaking, it’s likely to) then it should be made clear that you do not have to have existing mental health issues to have an abortion approved under this part of the law — the premise is basically that being made to carry, give birth to and potentially raise a child when you don’t want to would cause extreme emotional and mental distress, whether there are existing mental health issues or not.

With that said, do be prepared for some probing questions around both your physical and mental health history, as well as your employment status and current living situation. You will also be asked about your relationship with the other person involved in all this — are you in an ongoing relationship with this person? Is the relationship stable? Would this person be supportive if you chose to continue with the pregnancy? You may be asked to give some details of the “father”, such as his first name, age and occupation.

Contributors said that they found some aspects of this questioning to be unexpected or uncomfortable — one recalls being worried that her partner’s “good” job would somehow exclude her from being eligible for a termination, another felt like she was “seeing all [her] current life failures basically listed out,” an experience she found “fairly demoralising.”

“They’re not really there to chat about what’s going great in your life.”

Where mental health risk is used as grounds for approval (which, again, is in 98% percent of cases) there does appear to be a lurking and unspoken onus put on women to lay bare the ways in which their lives are too shitty to bring a baby into. An allusive question here, a nursely head nod there; as far as the law is concerned this is the maximum level of trust given to a woman in deciding what’s best for her own life.  

Realistically, however, the key, deciding factor in all of this is that the decision to terminate is one a woman has made herself and that she is sure of. The only likely way you would be denied a termination is if one or both of the certifying consultants feel that you are unsure of your decision, or that you are being pressured or coerced into your decision. It’s for this reason that your partner or support person will be asked to remain in the waiting room during both your initial consultation with the nurse and subsequent consultations with the two certifying consultants—your decision must be yours and yours alone.

During this meeting you’ll also be asked if you want to speak with a counsellor. Abortion providers are legally obligated to offer this and, as Dr Margaret Sparrow from ALRANZ told me, at least one clinic — Te Mahoe, In Wellington — will insist that you do. If you are unsure of, or struggling with, your decision then this is a good opportunity to talk it through with an impartial party, however, if you don’t want to, and your abortion provider does not make it a requirement, then you are not obligated to take the offer up.

Following this consultation the nurse will hand over their notes to the first certifying consultant, which they’ll go over while you sit in the waiting room. The meeting with the first certifying consultant is much shorter—they’ll basically just go over the same info and also discuss contraceptive options with you. If you choose to have an Intrauterine Device (IUD) inserted immediately following your abortion then they may give you a script and ask you to pick it up yourself prior to the date of the abortion.

Once the first certifying consultant has signed off on your decision you’ll be given a date for Appointment Two, which encompasses consultation with the second certifying consultant, followed by either the surgical procedure or the first stage of the medical procedure. Te Mahoe (Wellington DHB) and Epsom Day Unit (Auckland DHB) do not allow Appointments One and Two to be completed on the same day, nor on consecutive days — this is a hassle in general but is particularly problematic for women who are needing to travel, as wait times between Appointments One and Two range between two and seven days.

Lyndhurst Clinic (Canterbury DHB) does offer a one-day service for women who are travelling from out-of-town. The aforementioned Auckland Medical Aid Centre also offers a one-day service (to all patients), however, this is a private, non-funded clinic and there’s a fee of $1100. Obviously this fee will be prohibitive to many but for those who can access the money the cost may be worth it in terms of being able to get life back to normal as soon as possible.

Author/Source: Katie May Rusco, Writer at Villainesse

Next up in Part Two: Getting prepared for Appointment Two, the actual procedure, and what happens afterwards.

#storiesweb #abortion #abortion new zealand #reproductive rights #feminism #feminist #lyndhurst clinic

[night-speak-blog]

Jennifer Shennan has a history of performing as a dancer on Courtenay Place.

Jennifer Shennan (JS): Can I say this? I’m not a party girl. I’m too busy with books and such. But I’ve been on Courtenay Place many nights and there are two buildings I can talk about, The Opera House and the St. James Theatre.

lr: And you performed in both of them?

JS: I’ve both performed in them and I’ve watched and reviewed what I’ve seen. I’ve been to thousands of performances in those two buildings. Let me say, I saw a performance in The Opera House before I was born. What on earth do I mean? In 1926 Anna Pavlova toured with her own company to NZ. Little woman, wore size one shoes. This tiny little person took a company on a ship all around the world…India…Survived all that. In the 1920s. She escaped from Russia, escaped from Diaghilev. Apparently she believed in only the beautiful and the good to lift people up. But if you danced the seedy, sexy, dirty, dangerous, murders and such—well, she just didn’t want to know about the dark side. She would have known about it—I mean Russia, Diaghilev, Nijinsky...That was the boiling pot of things. And she opted out and ran her own company. Diaghilev was frightened of the water so he wouldn’t get in a boat to go anywhere and there were no planes. He was a big, extraordinary man, and a bully and a coward. Pavlova was none of those things. So she toured the world and came here to New Zealand. And by bus—I suppose—they went up and down the country. She sent her dancers to Ngāti Pōneke Māori Culture Club. They learnt haka. Incredible. My father paid sixpence to see Pavlova in 1926. I said “Dad! What was it like? What was it like?”, and he said “I don’t remember anything about it but I know I paid sixpence.”

My dad didn’t go to any ballet really but she was billed as the greatest dancer in the world and so everybody went. I mention this because it’s something I know happened there, in The Opera House. I also know—and this is going to break your heart—that a young dancer burned to death in that theatre. Because it was the gaslight era and the stage is lit by a fire—a live flame in the wings. And the dancers wore tulle skirts, just below the knee, very fluffy and full. And you run off stage after dancing and you get too close to the light and—whoosh!—and her skirt was on fire. And she ran so as not to enflame the other dancers she was with...Outside into the alleyway, and it fed the flames, and she was a ball of fire. So they grabbed her the best they could and bundled her up in blankets and she was terribly burnt. And they take a slow ambulance to the hospital [in 1923, all forms of transport would have taken a long time to get from one place to another]. And the hospital has a mile of yellow stripe on the floor to lead you to the children’s ward.

lr: She was a child?

JS: Well the ambulance medics thought she was. She was so tiny. And they took her all the way along this yellow road to the children’s ward. It was a long, long way...Don’t ask me how long, but I do remember it, only just. You didn’t know where you were going, no windows, you just follow this yellow path...And they got her there and unwrapped her, saw that she wasn’t a child, she was a little woman. So they bundled her back up and took her to the adult’s ward, and she lingered in agony for two or three days and then she died. There should be a statue to that dancer, right outside the theatre. There is one in Paris for Emma Livry—exactly the same thing happened to her. Burnt, miserably, then died. And there’s a statue, and a headstone and pilgrims go there from all over the ballet world to see Emma Livry. Well they could come here. It’s beautifully written up in an early issue of Music New Zealand [written by Peter Averi]. Peter Averi the broadcaster? The dancer was his Aunt or Great Aunt. And I know her name but I can’t bear to remember it [The dancer’s name was Phyllis Porter.]. It’s unfinished business for Courtenay Place. We need to get a photo of her or tell her story or something. I mean people go on about there being a ghost in The Opera House... The Opera House turned 100 two years ago. The authorities did absolutely nothing to mark it…Sometimes you can do a guided tour, go out the back and look at the ropes and pulleys, the stage door…And they tell you “ooo there’s a ghost”. You know, it’s the old Phantom of the Opera thing. Well get off, get away. You’ve got a real live dancer who died in this theatre. I don’t think we should make a shrine for sentimental reasons but for proper historical reasons. The architectural, social, artistic. history of this town. So there’s that lovely little woman who died. I’ve seen performances galore, I’ve performed as an extra with the Royal New Zealand Ballet (before it was Royal). I performed in Air for the G String, Bach...Doris Humphrey’s choreographer, New York, one of the most important of the 20th Century. Exquisite work. It’s a piece you might dance at a funeral, to remind people that spirits live longer than bodies. It’s an extraordinary work, a dance so well set for that building, you’ll never see a better example. I’ve danced in the St. James Theatre…Well never mind dancing…Even being in there…Yes, in 1983, I suppose, when the company turned 30. It’d had extraordinary beginnings with Poul Gnatt. He was my first teacher, who was the artistic director. He formed that company. When the company turned 30 the artistic director at the time held a gala…I danced in that production.

lr: You mentioned the blue silk garment [earlier]. Was that when you wore it?

JS: No that was in The Opera House, and that was actually The Dance of Blue Silk. It’s just five women, all wearing blue, saari-like garments. But the train (when you walk), the train, you leave behind you is longer than you by along way. And your train crosses the other dancers’ trains. And you turn and it’s a whole pattern of the silk tails. [Jennifer discusses planning a public memorial after the death of Poul Gnatt...]JS: I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. We were going to keep talking until we got it right. There’s got to be a public farewell for Poul Gnatt. Where—and when? So a week later...The St. James Theatre—it was black for many, many years. It was crumbly and had to be restored and people would say, ‘Demolish! Build a 96 bed boutique hotel!’ or all this crap they go on about. But it was black in the meantime, no shows could play in there. Douglas Wright persuaded the powers to let him have the key and he put on a work in there when nothing else was going on. They’d Cellotaped up the gargoyles to stop them falling down and hitting you on the head. Anyway I knew the man who had the key, Peter Frater, and I said, “Peter, could we use the St. James for a farewell to Poul Gnatt, it would be most appropriate wouldn’t it?”—“Couldn’t agree more.”—got the key so in we went. And we danced Air for the G String that day too. I wasn’t—it wasn’t the older women, it was the current students at the school of dance. And I’ll never forget, you get the taller one in the centre and then two that match, and then another two that match. And as she came walking slowly down the stage (at the very forefront of the stage) and then turned, she starts to walk back her long train dripped down over the edge of the stage and into the orchestra pit. And I thought Mother of God, don’t let there be a rusty nail down there in case it catches, pulls, rips and she’s exposed...I prayed...Didn’t know to whom but I prayed. And the silk came back up as slowly as it had gone down. Perfect. It looked like God had choreographed this work. For decades I have seen performances in these venues and reviewed for the Dominion Post. To do that you don’t even wait for the curtain calls—you run out of the theatre and you run to your car and you rush home, and you hope the lights are green because if they’re red you’re wasting time. And you have about 40 minutes to get your review in before the deadline at the newspaper. In the early days of the Evening Post, I could write all night. Something like, five or six in the morning was the cut off point. And if it’s a challenging thing to review, it could take all night to write. The courier came to pick it up as the sun was rising and then I would go to bed or not if I was teaching.[Jennifer goes on to discuss dance writing].JS: You’ve got to look up this reference: New Yorker, January 16, 2017. Simon Farley says, “Classical ballet is this elevating form. You have to rise to meet it, whether you are the dancer or the audience…The thing is, the audience possesses the same instrument. The audience members have the same body—it’s like a cello playing for an audience of cellos.” What a thing to say! A cello playing for an audience of cellos. Not a cellist playing for an audience of cellists, but a cello. And that’s the most profound truth of how you know if it’s good or not. Does it allow the audience in?

Jennifer Shennan (b.1945) is a dancer, choreographer, dance critic, historian for the Royal New Zealand Ballet. She has a history of performing on Courtenay Place.