You can tell I've been extremely unwell because I haven't had a coffee since Thursday morning.

Portishead reunited and did a pre-taped gig as part of Brian Eno's Together For Palestine benefit concert. 1. Free Palestine 🇵🇸 2. Hot damn they've still got it.

Portishead reunited and did a pre-taped gig as part of Brian Eno's Together For Palestine benefit concert. 1. Free Palestine 🇵🇸 2. Hot damn they've still got it.

Obviously as an aging hipster I have opinions about the Laneway line-up announcement, which is to say: Oh yeah that's not bad. The line-up of acts from Aotearoa New Zealand is particularly strong this year, and that's cool to see.

My piece on how this moment calls for a broad-based movement for Māori liberation, based on solidarity with other indigenous peoples, oppressed minorities, and the working class.

I thought this was a very good piece by Lyric Waiwiri-Smith, who is — for my money — one of the strongest journalists at the Spinoff right now. Clearly articulates a lot of the underlying tensions in TPM without sensationalising anything. #NZPOL

When you're a Greek philosopher in favour of both city states and oral hygiene

When you're a Greek philosopher in favour of both city states and oral hygiene

I knew I'd use these #BOTY Wrybill memes again.

It's #BOTY time again lads

Did I almost miss the train this morning because I stopped to watch this magpie singing for a bit? Yes. Was it worth it? Also yes.

The rumours are true - @cityvision.bsky.social is endorsing Tara Iti, the Fairy Tern, for @forestandbird.bsky.social’s Bird of the Year! Vote Fairy Tern AND Fair(e)y Turn(er)! Thanks to the very talented @emmamcinnes.bsky.social for this great graphic 😍💚❤️

That's right

Extremely good pizza shop name

It absolutely does

Imagine giving a speech so interminable that you have a sick burn dropped on you like a bolt of lightning by Maureen Pugh. I think I'd resign immediately out of shame.

Two out of three of the best meals of my life have involved a bottle of wine with a dragon on it. So that's going in the ol' mental rolodex of personal folk beliefs ( @magicaljohan.bsky.social and I went out for our anniversary dinner last night and it was phenomenal).

Our local body candidates' hoardings spotted in the wild! Local election voting is open now, so make sure to vote! #nzpol

Drawn from the Biscuit Tin: Drug Overdose (Assistance Protection) Legislation Bill in the name of Kahurangi Carter! bills.parliament.nz/v/1/37a34427... #NZPOL

Leopards! On! Maaaaaars!

It's Government-by-Thought-Terminating-Cliché #NZPOL

It may not be contempt of the House, but it's spitting in the face of the public — who she is accountable to — when the Minister in the chair completely fails to answer specific, evidence-based questions in favour of shallow, empty simple-minded catchphrases. We deserve better. #NZPOL

To be clear mistakes happen and in general I'm not aware of a notably high error rate with local elections in NZ. My concern isn't about how they're doing the job - I have no evidence it's not basically fine - it's that elections are so axiomatically public; why are public officials not responsible?

My perpetual hobby horse is that it is A Problem that a private company runs almost all local elections, esp when something goes wrong. Something has gone wrong here. What are the lines of public accountability? Who is responsible? Do we hold the company to account or the Council for hiring them?

Sorry friends, this is all I am going to be thinking about for the next 7-12 months.

so while we're announcing stuff I probably ought to tell you about this. if you want to get a presale code as soon as it's ready, here is a link for that. been a while! Freo Social let's do this! laylo.com/mountaingoat...

HOT FUCKIN' DAMN @themountaingoats.bsky.social are coming back to Aotearoa.

Oh, this is interesting. I guess we'll see later on today (or whenever they get around to it) exactly what the wording is, but it looks like Parliament is going to say "actually, we're not going to host hideously bigoted petitions on the Parliament website anymore". #NZPOL

This is disturbingly similar to the shitty painting of the duke in Dishonored 2 dishonored.fandom.com/wiki/Regardi...

Petition to replace the bad IRL Stuart Nash with the bad painting of Walter Nash. (Image source: natlib.govt.nz/records/2303...) #NZPOL

Celebrate hops, hmm? Go on, twist my arm then, I guess I'll get a beer on the way home.

I finally started working on my submission for the Standing Orders Review this morning, and I'm pleased to announce that my fears I wouldn't have anything substantial to say have been thoroughly dismissed.

I may be leaving parliament, but I’m certainly not leaving the kaupapa. Ka whawhai tonu mātou, ake ake ake! 🌿💚

There’s a bright future for passenger rail in NZ and, once we get past some of the unfortunate preconceived ideas about road vs rail and allow reason and economics do the talking, we will be able to offer more and better transport options for people that greatly improve their everyday lives. 2/

There truly will never be another Elixir :(

*Cue the theme song*

God damned transphobic Winston Peters loving conspiracy racist fuckwit 20% off respecting human rights piss country www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Living Wage Hutt Local Government Election Forum Thu, 11 Sep, 6pm - 8pm Treadwell Street Hall Lower Hutt, New Zealand Register here: events.humanitix.com/copy-of-livi...

Hmm. Another over-egged policy paper from #NZInitiative, no doubt for ideological aim of promoting smaller govt. Problem “diagnosis” purports to paint picture of fragmentation/confusion etc. Yet fails to refer collective coordinating role of Cabinet. 🤷🏻‍♂️ www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-...

You know what they say — When in West Auckland... (Always go to a political event if there's one available) #Nzpol (featuring @maramadavidson.bsky.social and @abelsteve.bsky.social, and several other very cool people who may or may not be on Bluesky)

Collective agreement negotiation by Beehive Press Release is so distasteful. #NZPOL

First day of pre-production!

PPS, the story of how I first found Elixir is very on-brand. @hadyn.nz posted that he'd found this great bar that had opened that very day, and they had a barrel-aged Negroni and hand-cut ice cubes. I went in the following day, and have been there an average once a week ever since.

My favourite bar is closing this weekend, and I'm just devastated. I'm the sort of person who likes to have a regular, and have had something I'd describe as that, on and off, since I was 18 or so. Never has there been a bar I love as much as Elixir.

I accidentally spent like 30 minutes of my afternoon trying to figure out what "Polyamory" would be in Quenya. Mostly what I learned is that I'm still totally baffled by declension.

Gary Chiles, National Hero ( @testtubeone.bsky.social )

A Ray Chung poster plastered in the window of a vacant shop front. It's a bit on the nose, isn't it?

A Ray Chung poster plastered in the window of a vacant shop front. It's a bit on the nose, isn't it?

This morning I have a (rather long) review of Katabasis up at @nerdsofafeather.bsky.social. In many ways, it’s a book quite similar to Babel, but those differences (and degrees) really tell, and turn things that worked for me in one really much less successful in the other. You can read it here.