Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love, and a Hard-Boiled Egg!

Sometimes you are buying a book at Arty Bees and then halfway through the conversation you spot a different book on the shelf behind the counter and end up giving yourself a very lovely present.

Go back to full-time work on Monday after almost exactly 6 months of under/unemployment. I feel like I should maybe be a lot more refreshed and rested, but mainly I just feel like I'm back at zero. Which is much better than I was when I quit my last job, to be clear. But that's burnout for you.

She arrived at just one week old – traumatised, crying, pacing her stable through the night. Today, Kaikai turns one. And she's been running Kaluku ever since she arrived. Extremely intelligent, and utterly convinced she's the centre of the universe. www.swt.bio/kaikai

One tiny silver lining of the Incoherent Transphobe Legislation Bill getting its first reading now is that the report back date isn't til well after Parliament rises for the election. This means that if it gets voted down at second reading in the new parliamentary term, no substantively 1/2

Anyway it's a real challenge to be newly (publicly) apolitical today, so here's a Hester instead. Support your friends, support your political party, make sure to vote, and get engaged however you can.

Looks like I'll be starting a new job next week, so my six months of mainlining anime is winding down. Since quitting my job in November, I've watched all (or all currently released) episodes of: - Ya Boy Kongming! - Mayonaka Punch - May I Ask For One Final Thing - Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc 1/

Whaddup it's Dankmus Monday

People imagine picking up and finding *something better* is an easy solution. But how is that supposed to work, when all your time and energy goes to staying alive? You have almost nothing to set aside to actually fight your way out.

Grappling with a moderately difficult choice, distracting self with pasta.

#NZMusicMonth #NZMM I've been waiting years to post this one as a jazz album of the day, but it's finally online. New Zealand's first official jazz concert (Jazz at the Philharmonic style) took place 7 August 1950 and was recorded for posterity: open.spotify.com/album/3MC5Gf...

Happy Piccolo Day to all who celebrate

Happy Piccolo Day to all who celebrate

Part 1 is out now (10m 35s) www.patreon.com/10Bux

Hmm, I wonder if they'll deliver it.

Racism aside, it's... interesting that ACT's policies are going to piss off everyone who rely on visa workers: more red tape for accredited employers, more hoops to jump through on the English language requirement, and more costs for everybody.

I just realized that I've inadvertently left the house wearing two bits of Star Wars merch. Which means I'm accidentally a day early for May 4th and, perhaps slightly more embarrassing, I'm in public wearing a shirt with the text "Jizz Machine" on it.

ACT's immigration policy includes "a $6 per day infrastructure surcharge on temporary work visas, on top of existing charges." This is a tax. Which applies, per head, only to immigrants. I.e. a head tax. Just leaving the record of the last time we did that, and the official apology for it, here.

This weekend's culinary project

I wonder if the deeply creepy framing stems from trying to find some weird business angle to push an analytics service. If so, let me say, "stay safe when the weather is bad, and use open public data yourself" (open NZ traffic counter data by the same metric).

This is unhinged. This is an unhinged thing to say. "Let's not warn people about potentially deadly weather, so that instead they go out and spend money*" *"And maybe die, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make on behalf of business, who are the real victims here."

*Embattled Prime Minister etc etc

Drinking a Martini and digging through historic Hansards at 2pm on a Friday. This may, in fact, be peak Dave.

Yeah you really can't beat it on a good day, huh

I know it's a bit trite to pick up politics from your media, but Disco Elysium really helped me reframe my personal approach to leftism. And so on May 1st, I am again (perhaps as I always am) thinking about La Revacholière.

trying to play peekaboo with my child but he's a European diplomat: me: where'd daddy go? baby: we must articulate a post-daddy vision of strategic autonomy me: peekaboo! baby: my historic relationship with my father is stable despite recent troubles

While I'm not generally a huge fan of Labour's current "don't say anything" approach to election policy, I do think this is exactly the right amount of thought to put into a differing view on such a stupid bit of proposed legislation.

I do just have to say, despite this joke, I have generally been having a good experience with my work and income case manager(s). I understand a big part of that is the privilege of being middle class/educated/a public-servant type, but credit where it's due.

Unrelated to Kahu's bill, but the slow degradation of Hansard publishing times is a real sign of the cost/staff pressures that the parliamentary agencies are under. Hopefully the Parliament Act can fund a restoration of the lost capacity, because it'd be a real pity for it not to bounce back.

STAG! STAG! STAG!

And the winner of the Taite Music Prize is Marlon Williams - Te Whare Tīwekaweka — Marlon Williams Music :)

And even more good news from Parliament, Kahurangi Carter's second members' bill this month - the Drug Overdose (Assistance Protection) Legislation Bill - has just passed its first reading. #NZPOL

But in a less miserable piece of political media, this interview with Lan Pham is extremely charming. (I generally quite enjoy One MP, One Pint, but this one's especially nice) #NZPOL

Man, if that candidate should withdraw can you imagine what the leader of a party would say with an MP like this? thespinoff.co.nz/politics/31-...

No, you see, it's free speech when the leader of the ACT Party fantasizes about sponsoring terrorism against the State, but it's the path to political violence when a private citizen (far before he became a candidate) uses a curse word. #NZPOL

Me at a Work and Income appointment

I just wrote a long piece on how I did The Animorphs covers. Please check it out, and subscribe to my Substack, “My Adventures as an Illustrator.” myadventuresasanillustrator.substack.com/p/how-i-did-...

Got my 2027 calendar all sorted

Sixty-four episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood in a week. Unemployment has SOME benefits, it must be said.

"Transformation comes in many forms." Fables opened up about the ideas & feelings behind every song on her new debut album Change Is A Slow Moving Beast (Home Alone Music) 🙌 Catch Fables this week in Dunedin, Queenstown and Lyttelton with special guest Mali Mali! Get tickets via UTR.

Whenever I can, I try to go into Parliament and sit in the gallery during the third reading debate of any bills that I've been involved with in some capacity.

That's right #nzpol

Can't stop spinning the new @amamelia.bsky.social album this week, it's such a goodie. Go listen! amamelia.bandcamp.com/album/the-jo...

Alert! New Wellington Sea Shanty Society EP next month! Alert! Alert!

Hi this joke is for me

Alert! New Wellington Sea Shanty Society EP next month! Alert! Alert!

I read Fullmetal Alchemist over the course of a single weekend nearly ten years ago. I don't really remember much of the plot, but I vividly remember the experience of staying in my room just inhaling the story, only occasionally surfacing for food and water.

It's soup season, e hoa mā

Blandly reading a prewritten statement and refusing to take questions will surely put all this behind us. A masterful gambit, sir.