#Dunedin

[travelbinge]

By David Steer

Dunedin, New Zealand

[henk-heijmans]

Ethel King adds the finishing painterly touches to a large specimen of groper in preparation for display at an international exhibition in Dunedin, New Zealand, ca. 1926 - by G.C. Clutton (1885 - 1947), Australian

[oceaniastuff]

Tunnel Beach, Dunedin, New Zealand: Tunnel Beach is a locality 7.5 kilometres southwest of the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located just south of St Clair, Tunnel Beach has sea-carved sandstone cliffs, rock arches and caves. Wikipedia

[drhoz]

#2780 - Waimanu manneringi

The name of the genus comes from the Māori wai for "water" and manu for "bird". The epithet honours Al Mannering who found and collected the first specimen in 1980. A second species, Waimanu tuatahi, was moved to Muriwaimanu in 2018. There were at least two other species of early penguin in the Basal Waipara Greensand, too.

A large (1m) extinct penguin from around 62–60 million years ago, when bird diversity was exploding after the extinction of all the non-avian dinosaurs. The extinction of all the carnivorous marine reptiles was probably a nice opportunity, too.

University of Otago Geology Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand.

[bluedesignwall]

We visited the butterfly house at the Dunedin Museum. It is well worth a visit.

[shutterandsentence]

If November were a city, it would be Edinburgh.

Photo: Edinburgh, Scotland

[polwarth]

Red-billed Gull & chicks

[postcard-from-the-past]

View of Dunedin, New Zealand

British vintage postcard

[spencerhall]

New music video I made for Ōtepoti band Bunchy's Big Score

[dec0mposing]

So my neighbourhood flooded last night. We got three months of rain (and its still going!) in about 30 hours, I evacuated my home about 10:30 last night when water started pouring into my street from the road above, my home was fine when I left and is still fine, thankfully, but my community has been really devistated by this event, and my heart is hurting for our hapori.

[ayamsgallery]

I miss driving around and listening to music

[jarredspec]

Eye. Pro.

Ran some errands this morning and while I was at it I went for a walk with the new Fujifilm X-M5 with the 27mm bolted on.

Welcome to the only photo I took before some people looked at me funny and I cowardly ran away back to the car 😂

📷: Fujifilm X-M5 & XF 27mm. Reala Ace film sim with some minor Lr Mobile tweaks.

[extincto]

Posters seen in Dunedin/Ōtepoti today

[drhoz]

#2776 - Aturia sp.

A genus of Nautiloid that hung around from after the K-T mass extinction until the end of the Miocene, over 60 million years later. They didn't leave any living descendants.

Many of the fossils have been found in shallow-water sedimentary deposits, but that doesn't mean much - as with their relatives the Nautilus, dead Aturia would float around supported by the gas inside their shell chambers, until they wash ashore. However, one extraordinary fossil site has over 500 Aturia fossils, including some newly hatched, and it was an oxygen-depleted habitat. Oxygen-isotope analysis of the fossils proved they lived at that depth for their entire lives. Like Nautilus, it would appear Aturia could tolerate low oxygen levels - unlike Nautilus, juveniles lived in the same habitat as their parents.

University of Otago Geology Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoa NZ.

[bandcampsnoop]

11/13/24.

You all know that either Micah or I will post something directly or tangentially about David Kilgour (Dunedin, New Zealand) pretty regularly. It would be interesting to count how many times he's been mentioned over the past 10 years (10th anniversary is coming up in December).

I bought the "Left by Soft" LP (Arch Hill Recordings) off of Discogs the other day and it's been fun listening to this Merge release again. Kilgour can always hit the sweet spot. I also read the AllMusic release and loved it. It's one of Ned Raggett's reviews (you can follow him on Bandcamp). I thought I would just include his review:

David Kilgour's way with music over the years is the kind of gift of talent that maintains its own pace; without being demonstrative about it, he just seems to release one excellent album after another in group, collaborative, and solo contexts, where one listen is all it takes to remind someone of just how good he is. Such is the case with his latest album backed by the Heavy Eights, Left by Soft, where the opening instrumental title track has not one, but two brilliant solos that seem to float above the energetic, crisp chug of the main arrangement like birds skimming over a lake. It's a hell of a start, and from there Left by Soft maintains an easy grace song for song, Kilgour is still in good voice and creates lyrics that are often gently unusual in their understated metaphoric impact. Little surprise, then, that he grapples with the subject of lyrics directly on the understated, country-flecked "Pop Song" and does so with his typical skill, promising someone that "I'll write you a pop song one day," then following it up with the question "Did you swallow a bucket of words?" When he combines that kind of gift with his playing the results can be lovely; thus the idea of "A Break in the Weather" may seem like a well-worn comparison point, but when, again, his solo comes to the fore toward the end of the song, it really does feel that the sun has come out through the clouds. The soft flanging and chimes on "Steel Arrow" and "Diamond Mine" show that the New Zealand reputation of melodic rock remains strong, while the concluding instrumental "Purple Balloon" balances a quiet but energetic band performance with a simply lovely Kilgour lead that is a spotlight moment if there ever was one. The group's overall gift for handling their arrangements in contrast shows up throughout: thus, "Way Down Here" starts with what sounds like a gentler tune, only to turn more tightly wound and almost manic toward the end, Kilgour's singing gaining a suddenly sharper edge as the band rips into a surging crunch at once triumphant and, as with the song lyric, sliding on a descent. "Autumn Sun" plays up that melancholic/glam-derived musical sense even more; if anything, it almost sounds like a song by the Church, not a bad place to be at all. But given the the Heavy Eights' strengths throughout, it makes more sense to say that Kilgour's definitely found his own personal Crazy Horse.

Also, RIP Tane Tokona (drummer in The Heavy Eights)...not sure if Micah or I mentioned that back in 2020.

[shutterandsentence]

Happy First Day of Spring!

Photo: Edinburgh, Scotland