#nz stuff

[setnet]

the entomological society of NZ is running a bug of the year competition, based on the bird of the year competition (famously won by a bat in 2021)

[setnet]

apart from a couple things now out of date this is a pretty accurate summary of the crap that's been happening. and it's not just that labour was voted out, it's that a lot of people who would normally be labour supporters didn't turn out to vote.

however, comma, the coalition govt is not doing fascism. a great stew of right wing nastiness for certain - including elements of conservatism, economic liberalism and neoliberalism, libertarianism, populism, nationalism, and deeply reactionary in many ways - but fascism is a specific ideology and this ain't it.

USA please listen to me: the price of “teaching them a lesson” is too high. take it from New Zealand, who voted our Labour government out in the last election because they weren’t doing exactly what we wanted and got facism instead.

Trans rights are being attacked, public transport has been defunded, tax cuts issued for the wealthy, they've mass-defunded public services, cut and attacked the disability funding model, cut benefits, diverted transport funding to roads, cut all recent public transport subsidies, cancelled massive important infrastructure projects like damns and ferries (we are three ISLANDS), fast tracked mining, oil, and other massive environmentally detrimental projects and gave the power the to approve these projects singularly to three ministers who have been wined and dined by lobbyists of the companies that have put the bids in to approve them while one of the main minister infers he will not prioritise the protection of endangered species like the archeys frog over mining projects that do massive environmental harm. They have attacked indigenous rights in an attempt to negate the Treaty of Waitangi by “redefining it”; as a backup, they are also trying to remove all mentions of the treaty from legislation starting with our Child Protection laws no longer requiring social workers to consider the importance of Maori children’s culture when placing those children; when the Waitangi Tribunal who oversees indigenous matters sought to enquire about this, the Minister for Children blocked their enquiry in a breach of comity that was condemned in a ruling — too late to do anything — by our Supreme Court. They have repealed labour protections around pay and 90 day trials, reversed our smoking ban, cancelled our EV subsidy, cancelled our water infrastructure scheme that would have given Maori iwi a say in water asset management, cancelled our biggest city’s fuel tax, made our treasury and inland revenue departments less accountable, dispensed of our Productivity Commission, begun work on charter schools and military boot camps in an obvious push towards privatisation, cancelled grants for first home buyers, reduced access to emergency housing, allowed no cause evictions, cancelled our Maori health system that would have given Maori control over their own public medical care and funding, cut funding of services like budgeting advice and food banks, cancelled the consumer advocacy council, cancelled our medicine regulations, repealed free prescriptions, deferred multiple hospital builds, failed to deliver on pre-election medical promises, reversed a gun ban created in response to the mosque shootings, brought back three strikes = life sentence policy, increased minimum wage by half the recommended amount, cancelled fair pay for disabled workers, reduced wheelchair services, reversed our oil and gas exploration ban, cancelled our climate emergency fund, cut science research funding including climate research, removed limits on killing sea lions, cut funding for the climate change commission, weakened our methane targets, cancelled Significant National Areas protections, have begun reversing our ban on live exports. Much of this was passed under urgency.

It’s been six months.

[suburbanlegendstv]

yes another artist coming to Australia but skipping NZ 🥲🥲🥲

[mihotose]

[setnet]

Detailed rebuttals of the claim by Wehi et al that Polynesians discovered Antarctica from scholars associated with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu are at the links below:

http://abeltasman.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Anderson-et-al-Antarctic-Wehi-response.pdf (I'm not sure why this isn't linking properly but it's the most easily accessible summary.)

In summary, their view is that the claim Polynesians visited Antarctica arises from dubious sources: an 1860s inference (that a journey 'beyond Rapa' was a journey to the south not for eg the east) based on a probable mistranslation (in which bare rocks growing out of foaming seas were interpreted as icebergs in frozen seas) of a legendary history (the boat, in the same story, was said to be constructed of men's bones).

The voyager, Hui te Rangiora, was a Rarotongan who lived about seven centuries before Polynesian settlement began in New Zealand. That places the story in the realm of what Te Maire Tau calls mytho-history - stories based on actual people, but so distant in time that their stories are encoded in mythic templates and often overlaid with symbols.

A story about Tamarēreti, who is also said to have reached Antarctica, may be entirely legendary - the Ngāi Tahu scholars note no whakapapa (genealogy) connects to him, and 'te waka o Tamarēreti' (Tamarēreti's canoe) is a name for the constellation Scorpio.

The authors also note the implausibility of boats fashioned for tropical sailing, with sails that are fragile in wet weather, being able to survive the circumpolar westerlies.

They conclude that 'Southern Māori interests have extended into the Subantarctic Islands for 800 years but there is no reference to Antarctica in our historical traditions. Our archaeology and history document a southern boundary to Māori occupation at Port Ross (Auckland Islands), despite habitable islands existing further south. We think it is very unlikely that Māori or other Polynesian voyaging reached the Antarctic.'

i literally think of that "polynesians first to discover antarctica, not news to maori" headline so much it's so fucking funny

[setnet]

this transmission tower over here with its feet in the air all casual knocking out power to a decent chunk of the country. you'd think a fuckup on this scale would at least concertina

[setnet]

sex work was decriminalised in NZ in 2003. Afaik NZPC/nz sex workers collective is not formally a union but it provides similar services in terms of advocacy legal and practical advice and representation and its made up almost entirely of current or former sex workers.

The NZPC were big advocates for the decriminalisation and have a lot of research about its effects - their website is well worth a look:

if sex work was legal the workers could unionize

[turnaboutstar]

autistic people when there's collectable things with tv shows with multiple generations of them:

[setnet]

[ajarofpickledtears]

Wisst ihr noch, wenn man in der Schule im Geschichtsunterricht so von dem Nationalsozialismus und Hitler und so gelernt hat, Lehrer oft nichtmal den gesamten Text des Deutschlandlieds gezeigt haben, jeder sich gefragt hat "wie das alles denn passieren konnte", und man voller Überzeugung was, dass sowas nie wieder passieren wird, weil wir Deutschen es ja besser wissen?

War schon witzig.

[setnet]

greenpeace cold caller referred to the coalition government's policies as a 'banquet of inedibles'

[bugsb1te]

๋࣭ ⭑๋࣭ ⸙ My therian heart ᨒ↟ ⋆｡°

a poem by me :3

In the quiet hours, when the world softens to whispers, I feel them stir within me— The untamed echoes of my soul, Where I am a dog, barking, biting, gnawing.

There are days when my skin prickles, With sensations of fur on my naked skin— My maw stretching out, in a wide yawn Phantom paws padding softly on the edge of my mind.

In the heart of a moonlit night, My mind slips the leash of human form, And I am dog, bounding free, Chasing the scent trails of my memories.

Yet, there are mornings tinged with a feline grace, Where every movement is a languid stretch, And my eyes catch the dance of shadows, Pupils narrowing in predatory focus.

I am both and neither, yet wholly immersed, In the symphony of instincts that hum beneath my skin. A howl echoes in the chambers of my heart, A purr rumbles in the depths of my being.

For in this world, where the human mask slips, I am dog. I am cat. I am the wild spirit, Roaming the landscapes of my mind, In search of the untamed truths that bind.

So let me run with the wind, Let me curl in the sun's warm embrace, For in this tapestry of existence, I find solace in the pulse of my therian heart.

[rhysdarbinizedarby]

Rhys Darby has ‘not an ounce of scaredness’ about son’s band dreams

NZ actor Rhys Darby and his musician son Finn interview each other. VIDEO CREDIT: David White/Stuff

Rhys Darby is proudly listing career moments - but they’re not his own.

He’s recalling watching his son Finn’s band, Great Big Cow, “absolutely rock” iconic LA venue Troubadour to sold-out crowds.

As a parent, “you worry about a bit of nepotism,” he admits.

“Are we just ‘yay, our boys!’ when really they’re dreadful?”

But, he says, the band’s indie folk rock is “brilliant”, and keeps getting better. And, he insists, people are paying attention.

“We’re shocked as parents a little bit,” he jokes.

The band, Rhys and I are nestled between a Street Fighter arcade game and a pinball machine, in a dark corner of Auckland’s Whammy Bar. The US-based teen band has been sound-checking for their first international show.

Rhys has donned weathered jeans and a plaid jacket - approved by Finn. His son is wearing Dad’s socks for the night. While Rhys talks, Finn pulls faces and shares quiet in-jokes with his band mates. There are plenty of laughs.

Finn, Paolo Pesce, Will Angarola and Wyatt Nash originally played together in a school jazz combo, and went on to form Great Big Cow in 2022.

Rhys Darby, left, watches his son Finn’s band dreams without “an ounce of scaredness”. DAVID WHITE/STUFF

Now, Rhys insists, they have a growing fanbase. Some of whom “[do] that thing where you dance really closely … Moshing”. He points to my notebook.

“Put down there that I did know what moshing is.”

Sure, Rhys Darby - one of New Zealand’s most well-known comedy exports - helped the band get bums on seats and lock in bigger venues, but they were also recently featured on LA public radio station KCRW’s Young Creators Project, can be found on Spotify and their mainstay is house parties.

“I think because I'm a bigger deal [in NZ], it might have been a little different. In LA, no-one really gives a shit about who I am,” he laughs, looking over at Finn who’s patiently had his hand raised while Dad spoke.

There are people and groups in LA that have helped the band too, says Finn, and he’s not sure those opportunities would have happened back in NZ.

“I would have got you on bFM for sure,” Rhys quips back.

He looks on at Finn’s creative path with, “not an ounce of scaredness”.

“Obviously as a child I had many different dreams, but at the base of everything was art and performance,” he says, describing his younger self as a “dreamer” who wanted to entertain.

Rhys Darby with son Finn before Great Big Cow played Auckland’s Whammy Bar. DAVID WHITE/STUFF

“When it comes to [my kids], I see different ambitions, but they have the artistic talent - I’m completely open to whatever they want to do. I’ll always be there for them.”

Where New Zealand has a bit of a reputation for tall poppy syndrome and an air of negativity, LA is hugely positive, says Rhys - especially for fostering young talent.

And it was in LA, at a house party, that Finn recalls being caught up in the “electric energy” of playing live.

“The whole audience was moving. And I think two people got lifted up above the crowd and surfed around above the crowd,” he says.

Finn’s not the only Darby putting in some work while in Aotearoa. Following Rhys’s joint 50th celebration with wife Rosie, he’ll be returning to the local stage, performing his Rhys Darby 25 Years stand-up show at Waiheke Island’s Wild Estate on April 3.

It encompasses the best bits from his previous shows, but performing it at Waiheke is “just another excuse to put on a show, really”, and to show his US mates another part of Auckland.

Rhys Darby, following a stint in the army and then university, kicked off his career with stand-up, before becoming a household name with an impressive TV and film CV, including Flight of the Conchords, Yes Man, The Boat that Rocked and Our Flag Means Death.

As for whether he still loves stand-up, “love is a strong word”, he laughs.

“I still enjoy it. But it's it's less of a thrill than it used to be.”

What he’s really loving is throwing himself into acting, and challenging himself with more dramatic roles - different to the very physical, crazy “shenanigans on stage”, requiring more focus for the comedian and “not just being a silly bugger”.

Plus, he’s 50 now.

“It’s much easier to do the stuff where I'm just sitting down,” he laughs.

Still, there’s no denying he’s been part of a movement that threw New Zealand comedy into the wider world, and he speaks proudly about his own work, but also that of other Kiwis such as filmmaker Taika Waititi and actor Rose Matafeo.

It’s a type of comedy, he says, that “has a signature” and can’t be copied.

Rhys Darby and son Finn at Auckland’s Whammy Bar. DAVID WHITE/STUFF

“I think it’s that positivity thing, which is ironic coming from a place with tall poppy syndrome. We don’t like each other but you guys love us, eh?”

It’s one of the reasons Darby is still living in LA, “still waving the flag [and] not changing my accent”.

And while Darby’s big break may have been the role of band manager Murray, when it comes to Great Big Cow he and Rosie “don’t want to be helicopter parents too much”.

“We're there when they have a question.”

And while Rhys says he can’t talk about any of his own projects, Finn interrupts with a quiet word about vague plans for a comedy musical theatre show featuring Rhys and the band.

Looking back at his own career, the highlight was breaking into the US market - name-dropping X Files and Our Flag Means Death as highlights.

“What's next? It's all peaks and troughs,” he says - mentioning Hollywood is turning to AI, but “thankfully, there's no one that can do a better robot impression than me”.

Still, the changing industry is worrying.

“People are losing their jobs, and AI is having a lot to do with it,” he says - dropping the quips and gags for a moment.

“After the strikes, I know, it's taken a while to get the industry back on its feet, but I'm hoping that it will get there,” he says.

“But it is worrying. It's really worrying the moment.”

Source: Stuff NZ