Debate Issue 25, 2010

issue 25 2010

Paul henry debate issue 25 2010

why aussies kick our butts

online bargain feature

Austen found 1

Rating: TBC

5HGB1= 6KW LQGG

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this issue of

on the cover Emperials Ivan the Terrible Alexandra Pople

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Samantha McQueen samantha.mcqueen@aut.ac.nz

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Nonavee Dale nonavee.dale@aut.ac.nz Deanne Antao

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Jared Van Huenen

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Mike Atkins | Jo Barker | Nureete Burnie Ben Carroll | Alicia Crocket Nina Donaldson | Shannon Forester Tenani French | Frances Gordon Natalie Hampshire | Benjamin Hope Zoe Kitson | Elana Kluner | Amy MacKay Katie Montgomerie | Ashleigh Muir Alexandra Pople | Heather Rutherford Catherine Selfe | Mystery Shopper

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ISSUE 25

5 Editorial 6 Letters 8 Creative Corner (Red Bull Edition) 9 News 10 Sport 11 How To / Recipe 12 Prez Sez / AuSM Update 13 Paul Henry debate 14 Blues Awards 16 Summer Lovin’ / Sick of Paul

Henry 17 Re: Something for the Guys 18 Daily Deals Feature 20 Rant from a Gisbornite 21 Agony Aunt / Quiz 22 Austen Found 24 Columns 26 Suggestions / Horoscopes 27 Fashion 29 Reviews 32 Movie Promo 33 Spot the Difference 34 Micro-celebs

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L

ooking at my bank statements for the last few months, it’s depressing to see how much of it is spent on material possessions (and food) as opposed to sending it off into growing savings accounts. But I’m not the only one; the majority of today’s society lives from pay check to pay check, and only manage to save that involuntary two per cent that disappears to Kiwisaver every pay day. We want the latest gadgets immediately, not because we need them, but because we want to show them off and say “yes, that’s right, I’m a technology trendsetter”. Don’t believe me? Look at the people around you while you are reading this delightful editorial and take note of all the gadgets people are playing with. One point for every laptop you spot, two points for smartphones (three if it’s an iPhone), and five points for an iPad. And technology is just one aspect of the consumerism tank. We thrive on bargains, sales and anything that might make our dollar go further. I know I light up every time Briscoes has an once-in-a-lifetime sale (which happens about 52 times a year) and when the words “final reductions” or “175 thousand per cent off” pop up I swear I hear my credit card cry a little. Even my grocery bill is filled with (mainly) discounted items, which in reality costs me more because I would have never have bought three litres of Just Juice normally.

But despite all these sale tricks, I’ve managed to stay away from shopping online. Call it old-fashioned paranoid, but I can’t help but think that I am handing my precious bank details over to a Hungarian internet scammer every time I see the words “buy now” on the web. I know heaps of people who can’t live without internet shopping; they buy all their clothes from overseas fashion giants like TopShop and Urban Outfitters, book and pay for movie tickets online, and have a well-versed history on websites like 1-day.

Sites like the latter have exploded onto the New Zealand scene in the 12 months, with more than 40 websites dedicated to red-hot deals. These range from the unnecessary, like 3kg of lollies for $15, to the luxurious, such as a 45 minute Swedish massage for $29, to the unexpected treats, like a $4 ticket to the movies. Even I, the internet shopping phobe, couldn’t resist such bargains. I quickly set up an account and made my first internet shopping purchase – a $4 movie ticket. It wasn’t until the ticket had safely downloaded into my email that I realised the obvious: I get to see movies for free most of the time. I had once again been swayed by the spell of sales*.

This realisation – and the fact that I couldn’t go a day without jumping on at least three different sale sites – lead me to pen this week’s feature (p. 18) about these recent one day deal juggernaut. Whether it’s recession, convenient or the need to grab a good bargain, these one day only websites are taking New Zealand, and their credit cards, by storm.

My wallet quivers in fear.

* But it’s not all bad. I managed to get a half price bungy jump as part of a birthday gift for the boy, which I had planned on getting all along, and one of my super awesome workmates bought six lip balms for $10. Sounds excessive, but those small bastards always disappear once you chuck them in your handbag.

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Sue Higgins General Manager 921 9999 ext 5111 sue.higgins@aut.ac.nz

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Veronica Ng Lam AuSM Student President 921 9999 ext 8571 vnglam@aut.ac.nz

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Nick Buckby Liaison Manager 921 9999 ext 8379 nick.buckby@aut.ac.nz

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Rebecca Williams Marketing Manager 921 9999 ext 8909 rebecca.williams@aut.ac.nz

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Melita Martorana Sports Team Leader 921 9999 ext 7259 melita.martorana@aut.ac.nz

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Zane Chase Vesbar Manager 921 9999 ext 8378 zane.chase@aut.ac.nz For a full list of contact details plus profiles of AuSM staff and student executive visit: www.ausm.org.nz

issue 25 2010

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LETTER OF THE WEEK: Debate, Reply to Something for the guys by Brendan Kelly.

I enjoyed Brendan’s piece for the New Zealand blokes last week, what AUT and New Zealand in fact need are a bloody sight more!

Addressed also in this snappy and wellwritten article (and it is an article because it’s educational) is the rightful damnation of those who chose to contribute to debate by writing in. I’m with you Brendan, if you aren’t educated in writing or particularly articulate, keep it to yourself.

What really blew my mind is your expose on the decline of NZ males through the timely ridicule of those who take interest in their appearance. Finally I can enjoy the comfort of knowing another wears the same clothes for three days in a row.

It’s funny that only you and I can see that all these ‘hygienic fresh attire wearing girls’ obviously do nothing with their time other than colour match. Let alone those keratinous males, prancing around in their liberal jumpsuits, lefty bastards.

You know what, I have been looking for a guy like you to hang with, someone who really appreciates a good man. We could do stuff like bag on others going against the grain, or even write one of those concise articles you do together.

But most importantly don’t stop what you are doing Brendan, it’s your work that gets guys like me up in the morning.

Sincerely Your fellow MAN EVERY WEEK I READ THROUGH DEBATE and every week I find something that I want to reply to but have also made excuses to myself and eventually forget about it. Well this week is different. I’ve read Brendan’s article about fashion in issue 24 of debate and even though I am a heterosexual male, I would have to disagree about the men’s fashion part.

What I often see nowadays which makes me go w.t.f?! on a daily basis is seeing 2 lovebirds walking down the street but their outfits are totally from opposite worlds. The female looking very beautiful with a flowery just-above-theknee length dress and elegant high heels with a hat, straightened hair+slight make up and white handbag BUT the male looks like he just got out of bed! fluffy hair, ragged denim shorts, a white T and a very old and dirty pair of Vans vault. I mean come on! Can’t the guy put some effort into looking good for their loved one too? It’s not very fair for only the girl to go through all the trouble of getting up earlier to put on make up and looking good! The only reason that I could come up with for guys not caring about their

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appearance is LAZINESS unless their girlfriend don’t want them to as it might steal her spotlight.

I know you readers are probably thinking “What?!

You’re nuts! What about money?!” The reason why I didn’t count money into it is because it doesn’t cost a lot of money to look good! If the average guy’s wallet is so thin, then maybe it is time to cut down on unnecessary things like paying for online games and actually make your own lunch instead of buying it (trust me, you’ll save heaps) For those guys that criticise how a girl takes ages to get ready and get out the door while they wait in the car, please have some patience and perceive things from a girl’s point of view. It is considerably harder to wash long hair and it also takes a longer time to blow dry it. And after blow drying it the hair will be fluffy so girls may need to iron it, all of these take time. Then there’s the make up which for the inexperienced can take quite a while (especially the eyeliner) and then putting on ear rings and painting the finger/ toe nails and the list goes on. It is not just about deciding what clothes to wear and girls do it so they can impress their man so why can’t the guy step up their game a little and have better appearances? When you look good, you’ll feel good too Toby Zhou Dear Debate, Brendan Kelly, I salute you good sir. That was an incredible page to read. Nicely done. You make an excellent point about the getting made up and with matching colours. Hell, I used to do Comms (now doing business, WAAY better), and the ratio of girls:guys was about 8:1. Hence there is more of a femine influence, because lets face it, uni is pretty much like school, you have cliques who follow cliche’s, and the rest follow. Secondly, I love Paul Henry. And Michael Laws. Fucking good on them!!! Why should we have to fear what we say? Isn’t that our right as free speech? And isn’t the governor general elected by the queen?

Why would the Queen make a slave (which is what India was before their independence) head of New Zealand, a predominanently white country? I back them and their views up completely. And finally, everyone go to Chopper, its going to fucking kick ass :D Anon Hi Brendan Kelly, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this or not, but a large part of AUT is it’s art and design department, which includes a fashion major.

So while you might not think that fashion is worth while for yourself, to tell others that their pursuits are meaningless is a bit of a stretch. I’m also curious about your vendetta against nonstereotypical New Zealand males? Last time I checked, the bros are still alive and kicking, so no

need for the hatin’. I’m also going to let you in on this little tidbit, pertaining to your quote about fashion: it’s a very well kept secret, but chicks don’t necessarily dress up to look hot for guys. In fact, a lot of the time it’s “what do I think looks nice?,” or, “what’s on the floor?” as opposed to “dayum I’m appealing to the male gaze today! My life is complete!” But shh, keep that to yourself (I know, I know, you’re saying that guys don’t notice clothes, but you’re also saying “we don’t care so there’s no point in it! Do things that we like! Only teh gays like fashion! Herp derp” (sociological analysis, how I love thee)).

-Chloe

Haiku Letter There was an error Last week in the veg debate The mistake was this Yes and no are wrong Both words should be swapped around Then they`ll be correct But other than that Last week was a good issue Here are two thumbs up PS: Paul Henry He sucks very very much He laughs like a girl Toby Waud I just want to apologize to aut as I have been blaming them for the bad wifi system that has been implemented since semester 2 this year. I’ve found out tonight after talking with the tech guy at the helpdesk (I’ve talked with other tech guys early in semester but they couldn’t figure out why) and he discovered that it was Firefox being too secure hence disconnecting me every minute.

The wifi works fine with Internet Explorer.

Thanks Aut Tobyz2

hey debate!

I transferred from the University of Auckland to AUT at the start of the semester and the change has been so refreshing! Pretty sure AUT kicks UoA’s ass.I’m so glad I changed universities and am finally in a course I enjoy.Oh and good work on all your debate issues this semester - they are an enjoyable read and totally trump Auckland University’s Craccum.

You guys are awesome! :) Satisfied Debate Reader

BUY A BDO TICKET IN OCTOBER AND GO INTO THE DRAW TO WIN A TRIP TO THE MELBOURNE BDO!

ES O S G O ASC NE US R O T FI TO MO HE D J s S N I HE PE DEF FA OT D E CSS 60 D E ST D T •LU LIVE• & LFMH A OS• SIX OR NT F M M AN TEM CTRIC ED .•WOA S ZER IE!• TWOGIA O O ES A • R GY SYS L ELE AK W.K O K IC ! D AN M T P R STL CED L NW O • I G D NERA O NET DIE DIE •I A L E CA OUN O B .

N E E E T .A U G H R E • G E! 7• AT U L AL ANN I O E I T T D A D M.D S TH AN•S•AN E V UE M IVE•DEW 7 TAT E • B RYSE TO BE N A M D N C L LC IHA ERM KEY S R TH ELICA L CR 8•RAU R NT• S MOR K U S, E A SH INDACK O N PE &EAMAD ATH F 8 R B O CH PLU AUC DIOUT1LE9T99, Y R • STA TE 11 V A I EET G RE BL M JHARM SCRS DEDS O • Y AS 800 ROOOM M O R R T TICKEINTGSR0EALYOGUT.CION A TH E J I D S REA OOTB•KI T R I O•ST RROM OOKO.NZ,IGDA RMAITNGS U A Y R C H R B N R B F T WA L S EET AN L E OK FO K TE M W ARD ER.CWW. A IN BOOEBSI O T S T J C N W S W T W T m A D O E LE IT 1 T ED IMA Y B •PL B U OF SH TICK THE t.co N SACREDKETM A L 2 u T L S I T N o C U C S E METS ONE &W.TRI BECK FOR FTERN VI gday I PROOD ALI H N DS R i K O W A IN F & TIC PH W M w.b 7 w BL VIT J O BIR w issue 25 2010

THE BIG DAY OUT IS FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY (MA15). CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 15 ARE NOT PERMITTED.

Red Bull Edition

Nina Donaldson

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Ben Carroll

Amy MacKay

Kim Wigmore

Night of glamour for AUT sports stars AUT celebrated its top student athletes and acknowledged outstanding achievement at the 2010 Blues Awards on Saturday, October 9.

The glamorous occasion saw AUT’s top sportspeople, including Tall Blacks, Black Ferns, Football Ferns, Black Sticks, Iron Blacks and New Zealand number ones, rub shoulders with Vice Chancellor Derek McCormack, Tasman Trespasser Shaun Quincey, AuSM president Veronica Ng Lam and AUT sports council members.

Major award winners on the night included AuSM vice president Cameron Leslie, who took the Sportsman of the Year award. The award is given to students who not only achieve in the sporting world but are at the top of their course and give back to their community.

This year Leslie set the world record in IPC World Short Course swimming champs in Brazil. He also came first in IPC Long Swim Course swimming champs in Netherlands, 150 individual medley in Rio and first in Eindhoven with the 150 individual medley (he was 0.4 seconds off the world record pace he set in Beijing).

Cameron is currently studying for a Bachelor of Communication Studies and will continue as AuSM vice president in 2011.

Sportswoman of the Year was rugby player

Huriana Manuel, who has been a member of the Black Ferns since 2005, member of the NZ Women’s Sevens Team in 2009 and NPC Representative for the Auckland Storm since 2005.

She is currently studying for a Bachelor of Maori Development, majoring in Maori Media.

Athlete of the Year Brent Newdick was unable to attend the event as he was too busy winning silver in decathlon at the Commonwealth Games. Brent fought off cramping and tiredness near the end of the two-day event to take the medal. The Athlete of the Year award looks purely at athletic performance over the last year.

Guest speaker for the evening was Shaun Quincey, who entertained the crowd with tales of

his adventure across the Tasman in a boat he built himself. Shaun acknowledged the sacrifice student athletes make to succeed in their sport while juggling work, study and relationships.

Although he did not meet the criteria for a Blue Award, Shaun was given the Outstanding Achievement Award this year by Vice Chancellor Derek McCormack.

The rarely given Contribution to AUT Sport award went to Sam Luteru in acknowledgement of his years of service to AUT Sport. In his many years at AUT, he developed the university’s relations sports strategy, including the SHINE program.

This has included facilitating and brokering major partnerships between AUT and the Warriors (rugby league), NZ Breakers (basketball), North Harbour Rugby and the NRL (Australian rugby league).

Sam recently left AUT to be with his family in the Gold Coast.

The Blue Awards are sponsored by AuSM, Vesbar, Montana, Lindauer and NZ Pure and organised by Bruce Meyer, AuSM and AUT event services.

For a full list of Blues Awards Recipients, go to our website: www.ausm.org.nz

AUT students mimic The Apprentice to raise funds for charity

AUT students channelled “The Don” last month and raised around 200 items of clothing for a new Botany charity store.

The Apprentice-style challenge had the Te Ara Poutama management processes students split into three groups – Team Clarity, Resilience and Toi Tu – to organise a charity event for Changes, a second-hand store run by Te Waipuna Puawai (TWP).

TWP is a charity organisation “committed to working with and alongside women and children living on the margins of society”.

They had to channel various advertising methods to get the word out there, and while they were met with more no’s than yes’s, they didn’t stop putting the word out.

issue 25 2010

“I think the hardest part for us was making the follow-up calls two weeks after sending out our letters. It’s so much easier to be an author than having to make a cold call… When we struck a “yes” it was like winning the lotto,” says Resilience team member Maea Sefuiva.

“Word of mouth was one of the most effective forms of communication. Direct communication is always more likely to work than relying on posters,” says Team Clarity member Selena Johnson The collection day was held on AUT’s city campus on September 28, and the donations ranged from designer dresses, to handbags, and even two brand new tie and cufflink sets.

While they exceeded the number of donations they were expecting, some people turned up expecting to take clothes away.

“One funny moment during the day was the amount of people wishing to buy the clothes we had been collecting rather than donate any,” says Johnson, who is quick to point out they didn’t take anyone’s money or give away any clothes.

The donations were handed over to Mandy, the manager of TWP, on October 11 during a powhiri.

grabone dailydo bargain janeausten improv

buried paulrudd australia bluesawards summer

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Down Under Plunder Jared Van Huenen on why the Australians are so damned good.

Kiwis are born big. Aussie babies drink XXXX Gold instead of breast We’re supposed to hate Australians. milk and they eat steak for breakfast. That, coupled with their In our odd “we actually love you” way, I think we do hate them – instinctive aggression, means they know how to work out. They and they us. It’s not like the English/Irish hate, where they actually get huge. Indians on the other hand have quite a different lifestyle. used to kill each other. They’re like our big brothers; they always They tend to be quite skinny and, in the case of some of the Indian have cooler stuff than us, more friends and more money, but we try fucking hard and sometimes pull out an upset. The Commonwealth gymnasts, downright ungainly. Same goes for skinny British folk.

Key point: big = winner. I’m sure the lack of vitamin D in the British Games doesn’t really work like that unfortunately. Instead, they camp also plays a part; Aussies and Kiwis have to deal with a hole turn up on Kangaroos and kick the shit out of everyone. in the ozone layer while Poms constantly get shat on by snow and We’re kind of excused – they have about five times our drizzle. population, and more people means the best get better and the Secondly: money. With an economy as fragmented as India’s, mediocre get good. Per capita we win for sure, but nobody cares where the rich are rich and the poor are how many people your country has, which is poor, there’s not a huge amount of money kind of shit because England have about three So what makes them so good? available unless you play cricket. Compare times as many people as the Aussies and they still You could speculate on the that to Australia, which (currently) has one of can’t win. Especially embarrassing considering the strongest economies on the planet. Even the whole ‘Commonwealth’ idea was theirs in origin of Australians. Being this fucks with my head, because there are the first place. banished to a massive hot 1.2 billion Indians and a majority of them (in So what makes them so good? You could island because of your criminal my experience) love cricket, and yet they still speculate on the origin of Australians. Being don’t beat everyone by miles. More proof that banished to a massive hot island because of your tendencies is bound to it’s athlete quality, not quantity that leads to make you feisty. criminal tendencies is bound to make you feisty success.

– perhaps represented in their often unnecessary And success and Australia aren’t strangers. aggressiveness – a stereotype which (when They’re good at nearly everything. In fact, observed in the company of Australians) rings they’re so good at everyone else’s sports that true all too often. That feistiness translates well they invent bullshit ones just so they can win some more (AFL into sport. They’re cocky, arrogant and they back it up with almostanyone?). They’ve won the last six Commonwealth Games. Easily. religious training and massive (compared to ours) sporting budgets.

And the scariest part is that a lot of their athletes are really young, They have an Australian Institute of Sport with specialist like we’ve got decades of sporting terror ahead of us. training facilities in every state, a specialist cricket institute At least we’re quite good. I’d hate to be English right now, that’s been around for 20 years, emerging talent centres and 700 considering the fact that they pretty much suck at every sport – athletic scholarships a year – all filtered through a $A400 million especially demoralising considering they invented half of them. Like government department set up specifically to make Australians football. awesome at sports.

So there are a decent number of Australians, they have a fair Compared to that, New Zealand looks like a couple of 12-yearwhack of disposable cash floating around and they’re naturally olds using rolled up newspapers and an onion to play badminton born to win. As far as sporting success goes I don’t see how you can on the driveway, but just before they get good, they have to stop possibly beat that. But despite the innumerable reasons that make playing because it gets dark, and the spotlight by the garage is Australians such prolific winners, despite all the gold (and not the broken and Dad won’t fix it. uniform kind) and the trophies and champagne, I would never want And don’t tell me that it’s not about money. If it went on to be an Australian. Because Kiwis know how to win. With grace, populations, India would win every medal by a mile. As it stands, and the kind of self-assured confidence that makes us look badass. they’ve struggled to even host the event let alone dominate it, and I And if I was good at anything sporting, that’s the kind of winner I’d can only see two reasons for that. Firstly: physique. Australians and want to be.

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How to barbecue without the spew

Apparently it’s coming into summer – though you wouldn’t believe it looking outside. Summer means the barbecues will be coming out soon and we’ll all be enjoying our holidays in the sun. Or will we (cue dramatic suspense music)?

Unfortunately there will be a significant number of people stuck inside, on the toilet hoping like anything that their guts start behaving so they can resume a normal life. So what can you do to make sure that you get to enjoy your summer without getting stuck in a port-a-pot at the Big Day Out? There are three simple words that will get you through the summer: clean, cook, chill. Sounds simple doesn’t it?

Clean hands are one of the most reliable ways of beating bacteria. Wash and dry your hands before you start cooking and after handling any raw foods, meat especially.

If you’re handling food you need to be especially careful and clean your hands after blowing your nose, doing your hair or coughing. Clean equipment and surfaces are also important; tea towels and dishcloths should be changed regularly (every one to three days depending on use). Bacteria can grow anywhere that’s moist and warm; don’t leave puddles of water on your bench or you’ll have a bacteria public pool on your bench in no time, ready to infest the next thing you put down.

Cook is the next key word. Have you ever been at a barbecue and seen someone go to take a bite of a piece of chicken that has red near the bone. When I see that it’s like something from The Matrix; time slows, my hand goes out and an agonisingly slow “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” comes out of my mouth. Before I realise it I’m over the other side of the room ripping that piece of chicken out of my mate’s hand. Barbecue cooking is great (I personally love it) but you must make sure the food is cooked. If you’re cooking chicken pieces pre-cook them first so they’re totally cooked and then pop them on the barbecue to get that crispy, charcoal finish. To test if a chicken piece is done, pierce the thickest part and if the liquid that comes out is clear the chicken is cooked. If you’re doing sausages that aren’t pre-cooked cut the biggest one in half to make sure there isn’t any pink left. You don’t want to give your guests (or yourself) a take-home prize of some Campylobacter. Yum yum.

by Alicia Crocket

Finally chill – if it ever gets warmer than a fridge outside, you need to start thinking about covering and putting your food away in the fridge. Every single minute your food is out at room temperature those dirty little bacteria are having a great old-fashioned orgy; dividing and multiplying faster than you can say “rabbit”. As a general rule try to have food covered and back in the fridge within about 30 minutes. And don’t leave chicken or meat defrosting on the bench all day; defrost it in the fridge or in the microwave.

Don’t become another statistic this summer. Clean, cook and chill so your summer remains free from those embarrassing “oops, gotta run” moments.

Spaghetti alla puttanesca (aka whore’s spaghetti) Serves 6/Cost: $1.84/ Dairy free.

1 packet of pasta 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 onions chopped 4 cloves OR 4 teaspoons minced garlic ½ - 1 teaspoon minced chilli 8 sundried tomatoes, chopped 1 cup vegetables, chopped (carrots, capsicum, mushrooms you choose)

½ cup of olives (optional) 500g tuna in spring water ½ bunch of parsley, chopped finely Juice of 2 – 3 lemons Salt and pepper to taste

The story goes that whores in 15th Century Italy weren’t allowed to do their grocery shopping on the same day as other women so they often had to make their dinner out of whatever they had in the cupboard. So began spaghetti alla puttanesca. In true Italian style this was passed on to me by a friend and I’ve adapted it even further for my own tastes. The traditional one has tomatoes but this one is tomato free because they’re so expensive at the moment. It is really good without tomatoes. This dish tastes slightly different each time I make it, so if it’s not quite to your taste first time, try again until you get it right! This is really easy to make in smaller amounts, one x 185g tin of tuna makes the perfect amount for dinner and lunch the next day.

issue 25 2010

DIRECTIONS

1.

Chop vegetables, drain tuna

2.

Put pasta on to cook

3.

4.

Add remaining vegetables and tuna to the pan and heat through

5.

When the pasta has cooked put it into a bowl and mix in

While pasta is cooking sauté onion, garlic chilli and sundried tomatoes until soft

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AuSM President Veronica Ng Glam 921-9999 ext 8571 veronica.nglam@aut.ac.nz

What a sad time it is for student politics!

With capped enrolments, conditional links of your allowance and living costs to your academic progress and potential loss of student association services… it’s a little overwhelming to take it all in. But no matter how difficult the politics of student life gets, we are all in this together and I can guarantee that I am at the forefront of advocating for all our student rights and, importantly, our student voice!

As I sit here trying to figure out what to say to our student body it occurs to me today that come 2012 there might never be an opportunity to speak to the student body as we currently do. Some of us here are oblivious to the many issues surrounding the framework of a student association that exists today and sometimes many of us take our student associations for granted. We (AuSM) usually don’t pop up in your minds unless a) you’ve done something really naughty and only we can stand up for you or b) you need tickets/ passes to catch the train or bus or c) you want double passes to all the free and cool events we bring to you throughout the year. No matter what reason you use AuSM, my fellow Titans it is quite sad to say we might never be the same again!

Now, without getting too technical and slandering our government, I want you all to know it is my job to inform you of the issues that are facing students of today.VSM (Voluntary Student Membership) might sound philosophically appealing and it might even imply that we have take your ‘choice’ away or your right to freely associate BUT that is undeniably incorrect. At any time during your study you are allowed to opt-out of being a member of AuSM and on two grounds: 1) Conscientious objection whereby we donate

Action from AuSM Letter received last week!

It would be great to have the computer rooms cleaned in WE fourth floor. There are finger prints and smeared filth all over the screens and keyboards, and dust and rubbish all over the tables. For this semester I have yet to see them cleaned (and running a vacuum just inside the doorway is not cleaning!). I am allergic to dust so this does become a liability when attending lectures and doing work. The nature of using keyboards is that they need to be touched, however this also becomes a breeding ground for germs and bacteria which is nearly impossible to protect yourself from the flu. One would think in a time of swine flu there would be alcohol swabs and wipes present to use in the class rooms to reduce the spread.

This feedback was passed on to ICT Services and they rallied a number of AUT staff to address the problem. Here is some of the feedback we received: The cleaners clean during the night but often there is mess left behind by students using the labs after hours.

AUT have a policy regarding food in the labs during the day. Students caught eating in the lab have their accounts disabled for one week.

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your membership fee to a charity or 2) Financial hardship where we reimburse your fee back to you. Therefore my AuSM (pun intended) comrades, we have not taken your choice away, nor have we violated your right to associate. If VSM does go through who will listen to one voice compared to the 26,000 we have right now? Who will represent you when you academically stuff up? Do you think AUT staff will advocate against AUT on your behalf? No, it’s your student association’s job to do that! More so, who will provide the social activities we all know brings students together and defines the “experience” of student life here at AUT? Who will provide the food banks for the many of our students who struggle financially? Where will our clubs (who by the way influence the culture and inclusion of students) go and who will fund the cool Milo days? Many uncertain answers to the many questions, but I guess the most important question is WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT? What can you honestly say you did to help keep your student association around? We need your help guys and girls and so for that I have the answer and it is this!

Come along to our free feeds and get your photo taken or place your hand print on our banners to send down to Parliament to continue showing them that taking our student voice away is NOT cool! See you all there.

I wish you all the best for this week, study hard and don’t forget to have fun!

Your president in solidarity and peace,

Veronica Ng Lam

The cleaners dust and clean all desktops during the recent semester break. The cleaners will only act to throw this away when requested.

Previously when the cleaners disposed of material, there were some very upset students who had been here all night and had left for a period of time for some R&R. Technicians will be asked to clean screens and keyboards when they can. AUT is also looking into possibility of providing screen cleaners and wipes for students to use.

The majority of students do respect their fellow student and the facilities provided; unfortunately there are always some who do not.

AUT are considering options to improve the situation including sign-in sheet, added security, staff on night shifts and restricted access.

AuSM will continue to work with ICT and facilities management on this issue. We have suggested a promotional campaign to educate lab users. It appears that a few people are making it difficult for the majority of users and it could impact 24 hour access to the labs.

If you have feedback on this or any other issue around the university, please let us know. We have an online feedback box on our website or you can email: rebecca.williams@aut.ac.nz

Should Paul Henry have quit Breakfast?

Mike Atkins

Benjamin Hope

yes

no In nations that have had

more contentious or chequered histories of race relations, and that have faced them, the populace comes out more sensitive to what may or may not be hurtful. But in nations where those chequered histories never happened, or were swept under the rug, the sort of child-like naivety that leads to schoolyard bullying prevails.

Perhaps that not be an entirely accurate explanation as to why we’re even considering forgiving Paul Henry, but it’s the only one that I can come up with. We simply don’t grasp the seriousness of what happened. There would be no “oh he’s such an irascible, lovable old scamp” in a place like America, that had gone through the trauma of the civil rights movement, or in South Africa, which had its truth and reconciliation commission result in a great cathartic national purging.

But in New Zealand, where these things either haven’t mattered as much, or they’ve never been allowed to matter as much, everything remains buried, only to be said by our raging national ID. That’s also why we’re very protective of that raging national ID. Paul Henry’s been an important release valve for some of our baser feelings, but wouldn’t it be better to be without those feelings?

Which is why Henry needed to go. New Zealand needed that cathartic purging. The sad thing about this whole sorry saga is that all those people who said “he was saying what we were all thinking” kind of had a point. A lot of us were thinking that and that was a problem. We needed a big deal made out of this, to remind us that it wasn’t ok. If Henry was an outlet for all of our racist feelings, it’s only appropriate that he pay the price for them too.

I have a friend who is Indian, who has complained that this incident has made it harder for Indians to be taken seriously. Had Henry said something whose wrongness was universally accepted, then perhaps there would be an outpouring of sympathy toward minorities. But all this minimisation and coyness is making racism more acceptable. Had Henry’s remarks been milder, they’d have been the love tap that reminded us that no hitting was OK, but they weren’t milder.

As I’ve said before, I’m not going to claim that he was not reflecting a popular sentiment. New Zealand is a racist place, which is exactly why we need to crack down on these things. Had Henry’s remarks been milder, he still should’ve gone. His departure is a token gesture that New Zealand needed; to get this out in the open and begin the process of facing these things.

Had Paul Henry not resigned, I fear TVNZ would’ve let him carry on.

Let us not forget that Henry fell on his sword, and by doing so, conducted himself with more dignity that most of the people involved in this (a darkly ironic scenario, since he made the comments in the first place). Now that Paul Henry has resigned, he at least has done the right thing. Now all we need is for TVNZ, and the New Zealand public to accept their responsibility.

issue 25 2010

No. Of course he shouldn’t have.

The pressure and hype on the whole situation just seems excessive. There were couple of faults, such as the PR woman backing Henry, TVNZ bosses changing tack every hour and people rehashing events past. It seems Henry’s decision to quit was from pressure from above. Maybe the suits at TVNZ felt they couldn’t fire him after leaving it so long, so Henry had to bite the bullet and “resign”. The amount of publicity and talking the public sphere about the entire Henry fiasco just seems excessive. Front page of the Herald three days in a row, first story on the TV news. Every media commentator, ethic and morality professor, and Joe Bloggs has had their opinion voiced as to whether or not Henry should have left.

TVNZ is a state broadcaster. TVNZ is an SOE (State Owned Enterprise), which makes them a state broadcaster in the loosest of terms. It has to return a profit. Profits aren’t made by being nice (think Sunrise); they are made by having big ratings, pulling in listeners and polarising people. The entire Dikshit saga was older news, and I know for a fact that a few radio stations mispronounced her name and had a good old laugh about it. Did they get in trouble? No. Michael Laws made a comment that was a personal attack on Satyanand, talking about his weight and eating habits. He has apologised, but continually makes startling unnecessary commentary. Even our quality prime minister, John Key, said on Monday that Paul Henry’s decision to leave should make TVNZ, not Henry, look at how they push presenters and hosts to make comments, to push the proverbial envelope. It has been argued that Henry is a racist. A man, who is 50 years old, and has been in the media for more than half of that can’t realistically “hide” racism that well.

A vast amount of the media coverage has deemed Henry a ‘shock jock’.

A presenter who pushes the boundaries of good taste and decency, making comments that will cause outrage just for the sake of it. The Herald on Sunday put Henry among a group consisting of the infamous Iain Stables and American Howard Stern. But is Henry really that shocking? When I think shocking, I think Bill O’Reilly or Glenn Beck.

O’Reilly once said: “I just wish Katrina had only hit the United Nations building, nothing else, just had flooded them out, and I wouldn’t have rescued them.” – on his radio show, September 14, 2005.

Beck dropped this pearl earlier this year: “There are a lot of universities that are as dangerous with the indoctrination of the children as terrorists are in Iran or North Korea. ... We have been setting up re-education camps. We call them universities.’’ - Glenn Beck, Glenn Beck show on FOX News Channel, September 1, 2010.

These are people who shouldn’t be able to talk to anybody, let alone have their own show.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say something a bit shocking.

Maybe India are a bit on the back foot with the whole Commonwealth Games thing and because they are a bit down (though they have yet to admit it) a joke about a woman’s name was just a bit of a kick to shift the blame away from New Delhi to the racist New Zealand. What the Satyanand comment really brought up was the discussion of what makes a New Zealander. In such a young country that can be, let’s face it, at times blatantly ethnocentric and jingoistic, what can we define a New Zealander as?

But, in the interest of balance, maybe Paul Henry leaving was a good idea.

Currently TVNZ is loving the publicity, but with Henry leaving maybe he’s sticking it to the corporate big wigs who were hoping to ride the outrage wave for as long as possible.

13

Blues Awards Photos

14

Blues Awards Mini Profiles Cameron Leslie Why swimming? Because I enjoy it. If you’re going to compete at the highest level you need to enjoy what you do. It’s also one of those sports where if you put the effort in you get the results. And those results are a reflection on you as a person whereas other sports can be a combination of other people’s hard work and not necessarily your own.

If you could meet any athlete (living or dead) who would you choose and why? I’d love to meet Andre the Giant just because he’s so massive, it’d be amazing! I’ve always had a fascination with him for some reason.

Complete this sentence: The 2010 Commonwealth Games are ... a great opportunity for young athletes to put themselves out there and they are a chance for me to see younger athletes who I’ve crossed paths with succeed.

Goals for 2011? 2011 is a relatively quiet year with it being the year before the Olympics/Paralympics. I have a couple of swim comps overseas and a couple in New Zealand. There is a wheelchair rugby event on in Korea at the end of the year where we have to pretty much kick some major ass to even have a chance of making the Paralympics for wheelchair rugby. So goals would be to work towards the Paralympics for swimming and play some good rugby for NZ. It’s basically the year to build a platform to work from in 2012.

What does receiving a Blue Award mean to you? Receiving a Blue Award is recognition for being part of AUT’s sporting community, which is one of the best in New Zealand, and continuing the legacy that AUT is in the sporting arena. It’s always a boost for me to have my achievements compared and respected the same as the able-bodied athletes at AUT.

Goals for 2011? (Darcel Apelu) I would like to win against Australia in the three test series that are held at the Royal Sydney Easter Show and win the single saw championship and double-handed saw with my sawing partner Sheree Taylor.

What does receiving a Blue Award mean to you? Receiving a Blues Award isn’t just great for me but great for the sport itself because it helps promote it to more people that are unaware that it exists.

Sally Greenwood Why Netball? Netball was the first sport I ever played. I have older sisters who played when I was growing up; apparently I have always been super competitive with my older sisters. Netball is fun, (even more fun now that it’s more aggressive).

If you could meet any athlete (living or dead) who would you choose and why? Mohammed Ali, because of this mental toughness and ability to get into his opponents heads by being confident.

Complete this sentence: The 2010 Commonwealth Games are ...a chance to prove your ability to your country and the world...... and they mean ... great expose and experience... to me Goals for 2011? Mystics squad, train hard and get some exposure through NPC.

Alexis Pritchard-Todd Why boxing? Because it challenges me both mentally and physically and it pushes my boundaries If you could meet any athlete (living or dead) who would you choose and why? There are so many inspirational athletes. If I must pick then... Andre Agassi.

I have just finished reading his book and I admire his mental strength. And of course Mohammed Ali; he is a living legend and transcends the sport of boxing.

Complete this sentence: The 2010 Commonwealth Games are... frustrating to me as women are not yet allowed to box in them.

Goals for 2011? Start practicing as a physiotherapist and start my 2012 Olympic build up. I aim to have between 10 and 15 international fights.

What does receiving a Blue Award mean to you? It is great to be recognised for the work I do at university in conjunction with the time and effort I put into my sport. I appreciate it.

Darcell Apelu

issue 25 2010

Why timbersports?

Timbersports isn’t conventional and I think that’s why I’m drawn to it. There is always something new to learn and it never gets boring.

15

Summer Lovin’

by Ashleigh Muir As we all know, Sandy and Danny spent their summer lovin’ days at the beach, but with up to four months of uni-free freedom ahead of us, here are a few more ideas of where you could head for that carefree, cheap summer date.

Mission Bay Now this immediately springs to mind overpriced cafes and restaurants, really good ice cream and half of the Auckland population sitting on the beach or the grass. But this time it’s time to dust off the bike from the back shed and take your other half out for a cruise around the bays. Not only is it good exercise but the ice cream will taste exponentially better when you get there. There is also the possibility of a quick dip to cool off.

One Tree Hill It can be a bit of a climb, but the view from the top is spectacular! While it may be no tree hill at present, One Tree Hill is full of Auckland’s history that you can embrace or leave. Plaques on the way up, and at the top, give enough of its history before leaving the landscape to wow you. Quiet enough to enjoy each other’s company without families of eavesdroppers surrounding you. On a windy day you will definitely need to huddle together for warmth, especially once you reach the top.

The Auckland Museum Museums may sound old and crusty, but Auckland’s landmark museum fully exceeds expectations. The Outrageous Fortune exhibition is due to open in mid December and the Rudell Hayward exhibition; perfect for the avid media buff. The museum is now permanently FREE for all Auckland

residents – the perfect price for student dates! The Auckland Museum may not seem like the most romantic spot for your summer date but follow it up with a picnic lunch in the Domain grounds and you will be talking about it for weeks!

Goat Island day trip This one does require a good half a tank of gas and fishing out the snorkels from a dark corner of the garage but is definitely worth the trip. Again, take a packed lunch of homemade filled bread rolls, chips, Farmbake cookies and some lemonade. Don’t forget the sun screen and towels! After an hour and a half drive north, you will be free to snorkel your way around the island at your own pace, explore nooks and crannies and spot the largest snapper you will ever see. Unfortunately you’ll have to stick to the packed lunch as it is a marine reserve. Perfect for a hot, sunny summers day!

Milford to Taka beach walk North Shore beaches generally have walkways between them and the next bay. So head down to your local beach and clamber around the rocks. See where you end up, but be sure to watch the incoming tide! Girls, this is the perfect excuse to play the damsel; make sure he helps you down from a large rock you somehow managed to get “stuck up”. Guys, be the gentleman and lend her your hand for balance. Great chance to get to know a new suitor.

Paul Henry

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t a h t f o Pro y l l a u t c a e l p o e p read After reading last week’s uber-manly article, I decided it would be pretty awesome for me to help balance the female-male ratio. Then I decided it wasn’t. There are many reasons that I shouldn’t accidentally send this or even write this, so I will quickly go over them.

Firstly, it’s because I’m not even studying a subject that remotely involves writing (let alone journalism, ew) so I’ll probably screw up and that Samantha editor will laugh at me like James Jamerson. Another good reason is I’m not really that manly to be honest, so I won’t be dynamically changing the male-female demographic too much. I’ll try to lift the bar an inch or two but will soon get tired and take a break with a cup of tea. Considering the facts; I have a girl’s name, I hardly swear, I don’t own any plaid or ‘Megaultradeath’ band t-shirts, and I don’t know left from right when it comes to cars, I find it unlikely I’ll be writing about beer, tits or Godzilla. Sorry guys (well maybe Godzilla... we will see).

So, if people are actually reading this they might be wondering what’s this dude got to say about anything, or even more likely wondering what’s on page 26. To answer that question, I hear there are some horoscopes on page 22 telling you to watch out for porcupines this week, and as far as I know I fit into the following niche markets:

by Shannon J. Forrester (a non-plaid wearing male)

Fish and chip shop – On Karangahape Road, otherwise known as K Road, so maybe best to only get chips for lunch or use a car (I only found that out yesterday K Road isn’t actually named K Road!)

Pizza/Burger place – Closest is Heat on Mount St, which has taken my fancy lately, go past AUT tower and keep going up up to hill until you hit Mount St on the left.

PB tech – For those who don’t know, PB tech is a well-priced store specialising in computer stuff. There’s one very hidden at 105 Queen street, inside an old fancy building which seems to only contain a women’s gym, however if you go up to level one, lo and behold, a misplaced computer store!

Well, with that all written up I will save it to my C drive, and definitely never/ not accidentally attach it to an email that I can’t/won’t send.

Though I do encourage any other guys to man up and contribute to debate if you read your favourite sections of debate weekly like I do, because I doubt you could sound any goofier than me.

Geeky pop culture references (see above ‘James Jamerson’) Reviews on the music only me and your mum (or possibly grandmother) like Things to do in Auckland for unsocial folk like me I am currently learning mandarin, so I could teach people how to wang chung tonight Nuff’ said I think, but I’ll continue onwards to try and write something semi-useful anyway.

Well, I moved to Auckland CBD from Papakura a fortnight ago, to be closer to my classes. I would advise this to anyone, because it means you can sleep in for longer and still be as late to class as you were before you moved. When I came here I seemed to missed a lot of shops I had in abundance before; the op shops, bakeries, and fish and chip shops had been replaced with overpriced food court meals, fast food restaurants or fancy clothes shops.

Now if you’re like me, you only need one cheap cafe and no expensive clothes shops because you bought all your clothes from the op-shop anyway. There are however shops people need, and I had to wander extensively to find said shops because there’s nowhere seems to tell you where to find them. Fortunately, I like wandering but if you don’t and are also in need of these shops I’m going to point them out for you ‘cause I’m needlessly nice.

The Warehouse – directly across the road from Britomart, on level two.

Countdown supermarket – It’s on Quay Street; if you take the bus up Symonds street to Anzac Ave, you’re pretty darn close to it.

Only costs 50 cents too.

Mini supermarket – Down a side street on the right, at about 180 Queen Street.

Real Groovy – Awesome music store, you’re probably a hermit if you don’t know this store. If so get out of your tree/swamp/hole and rock on down to 438 Queen Street.

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17

The internet: where everyone can now get a bargain Samantha McQueen looks at the sudden explosion of extremely discounted deal websites.

T

wenty years ago the internet was barely a megapixel on the radar. It was reserved for only the richest of households and it would take minutes to load a single website. Fast-forward 10 years and people were starting to embrace this new phenomenon; you could communicate with friends on the other side of the world through this handy product called MSN Messenger. Young generations, who would unknowingly become the forefront for the digital age, were busy creating usernames like urbanangel007 and sxckitten69 for their new hotmail account, and would then spam their computer-literate friends with chain-mail that promised death if you didn’t email 14 people in the next 12 milliseconds. And of course, back then you believed it, because everything on the internet is true.

Nowadays, most Generation Y-ers can’t imagine a life without the internet. When they’re not updating their status to let people know they had toast with jam for breakfast this morning, they’re creating viral hits on YouTube, reading blogs from people around the world, or updating themselves on the latest news, scandal, pop culture and fashion. You can do almost anything online now; get ordained as a minister, book movie tickets, do your grocery shopping or purchase the latest handbag in America and have it shipped over to your doorstep in New Zealand.

It seems that internet shopping has only recently become a craze in New Zealand. I, for one, only made my first internet shopping purchase this year, and this includes paying for movie tickets online.

Yes, I’m behind the times of many of my technological counterparts, but I’m still slightly sceptical when it comes to putting my credit card details into cyberspace. But, like most of the technological generation, I have quickly fallen in love with the ease of online shopping. Nowadays several of my bookmarks are online shopping sites and my credit card constantly looks tired.

It seems New Zealand has capitalised on this, and has managed to include our love for a bargain as well. Look at your browsing history; do the names dailydo, GrabOne, 1-day or Groupy pop up at all? These are just a few of the “one day deal” sites that have exploded in New Zealand over the past 12 months. Every morning, thousands of New Zealanders browse through all these sites are more, checking what best possible bargain they can get today.

From the needed – like cheap return trips to Waiheke and $50 sheet sets, to the luxury – half price massages and two-for-one meal at exclusive restaurants, to the over the top –three kilograms of lollies or a remote controller helicopter, Kiwis are buying them all in bulk.

18

Why anyone would ever need three kilograms of lollies is irrelevant; I still found myself clicking “buy now” anyway.

So why the sudden influx in bargain sites? Well, like most things, these daily deal websites have been adopted from American counterparts. Campbell Brown, marketing director for GrabOne. co.nz, says they were watching American site GroupOn.com, which was one of the fastest growing websites in the States and thought a similar model would work well over in New Zealand.

“Obviously we’ve taken our business model from the States, but we’ve built massively on that and there are certain Kiwi intricacies that you have to deal with. There are various ways which Kiwis use the web. I think we’ve just kind of had to mould that experience to make it the easiest way to purchase as easy as possible,” Brown says.

Launching in early July, GrabOne is one of the newer deal websites to jump on board. Dailydo.co.nz were the first servicebased site to launch in New Zealand, putting their first deal into cyberspace in early February. Dave Healy, one of the three dailydo founders (and also an AUT student), saying being the first was challenging, not only because they didn’t have any corporate experience or existing businesses to fall back on, but because businesses had no idea what they were trying to promote. So it came down to good old-fashioned door knocking; Luke [Hamilton, another founder] would approach businesses with his laptop in hand and saying “this is what we want to do, do you want to be a part of it?”.

It took a couple of months once they launched their site to get the word out there, but now it’s hard to imagine businesses not wanting to get on board. Both Brown and Healy say they get calls from businesses every day of the week, either from seeing a similar deal to what they have do well on the site, or from the power of money can’t buy word-of-mouth. Either way, it’s meant they can afford to be picky about who they have on board.

“At the end of the day we want to produce the best deals for people out there, because if we’re not producing the best deals, then you’ll see the site degrade,” Brown says.

So what exactly are the best deals? Aside from an extortionate amount of lollies, the only deals I’ve “grabbed” on these types of sites are a $4 movie ticket and a half price bungy jump for a friend.

There’s hardly a pattern of spending evident, even if I am a novice in this department. But it seems people have similar buying habits across the board; food deals, cheap movie tickets and health and beauty always do well on both sites. People are balancing the luxury

deals they would usually not purchase for themselves, like a $29 massage, with exploring more of their city, like a two-for-one deal at an untried restaurant. And of course, the essentials like haircuts and WOFs seem to do pretty well too. But Healy remarks that tourist attractions, particularly in bigger cities like Auckland, often pull huge numbers, because all the locals decide to finally check it out.

“You could live in a city for years and never do [the tourist activities]…. There’s all these little things that you might do, but it’s always there to do forever, so some of those ones end up being our big sellers, because that’s the incentive to finally get to do it.”

Brown agrees, having sold more than 4,000 deals to Auckland’s Snow Planet in a 24-hour period, and regularly featuring deals for bungys, trips up the Sky Tower and surfing lessons. “If it’s quality, and it’s a good price, people buy quickly.” That was the case with their launch deal, the $4 movie ticket to Event cinemas, which sold 13,000 tickets all up; 3,000 on their test day and 10,000 more in a three hour period on their launch day. That’s around 20 tickets per second. These are some big numbers, and GrabOne even has a counter on the bottom of their website saying how many deals have been bought since they launched, and how much people have saved.

At the time of writing this article, that was more than 190,000 deals bought, and $4.8million saved, and that figure is rapidly growing.

It’s not just the daily websites that are getting in on the action.

Big Little City recently ended a 12 week promotion called “Big Little Vouchers” which had weekly “grabs” of extremely low deals, like 50 cents for a Big Mac, or two tickets to Paramore for $2. Unlike many of the other voucher promotions, their grabs included several deals once a week, rather than one deal a day, and they were released sporadically; it was a different time and a different day each week so that everyone had a fair chance of trying to grab it. Alerts went out via email 15 minutes before the grab and simultaneously around Auckland, work productivity plummeted as people hovered over their keyboard, constantly hitting refresh. The voucher numbers were small by comparison – a minimum of two tickets and a maximum of 99 – but marketing manager Michele Dodds says it didn’t deter thousands of people scrambling to their site to score one of these money-can’t-buy specials.

“In the very first grab they went within an hour. We thought ‘that’s great, they all went within an hour, that was very orderly’.

The second week they went in 55 seconds. It was like this feeding frenzy,” says Dodds.

With such popularity, it seems my initial scepticism I had of buying online was archaic thinking. Everyone seemed to be doing it.

But it does make you wonder – just what type of security do these sites have in place?

“That was one of our most important priorities,” says Healy.

They’re using PayMark, one of the most widely used payment issue 25 2010

portals in cyberspace. “We did the research behind that; we’re not coders or techies ourselves so we just got the right people and outside opinion on this stuff.” GrabOne also did research; they’re with DPS, another leading transaction account.

“People do get worried about [internet security], but rest assured we apply everything to the upmost to make sure their details are safe.” Both sites haven’t had any security issues as yet either, which is a relief for newbie buyers like myself, who were worried their details would be used as part of a Nigerian scam.

They’re pretty coy on the demographic that subscribes to their site, but looking at their social media followers, the demographic is that vital 18-49 age bracket, with slightly more females whipping out their credit cards for a bargain.

“I think you will have people in the household that are females that are basically holding the purse strings. That may be a sweeping generalisation, I don’t know, but from what we see and from the people commenting on our Facebook page and getting back to us, it is generally a female skew,” Brown says.

The young and technology hungry are the ones fuelling the recent explosion in these websites, and despite the huge numbers, not one service-based deal site has blown out its first candle yet, or even gone through the Christmas holiday period (which will certainly be an interesting time for last-minute present buyers).

This sudden explosion happened almost purely through wordof-mouth, which has escalated tenfold due to the reliance on the internet. One person sees a great deal, perhaps in a city of a friend or family member, and is on the phone telling them to buy that bargain. No wonder subscribers are signing on in the thousands.

All websites have the same goal – to produce a quality product at a great price to the people of New Zealand – but surprisingly, even in a community as small as New Zealand, the abundance of websites offering similar products isn’t worrying either of them.

“I think in the New Zealand market there is room for a few.

There are 120,000 business in New Zealand, in terms of small businesses, and of those, 70,000 are relevant. So there will be room, it just comes down to quality… At the end of the day, the results speak for themselves,” says Brown.

“It’s been a success, but we’re not driving around in Porsches or anything. We’ve got a lot of confidence in what we’re doing; it’s not that we’re creating it just to get a buck this week or whatever, we’re creating a site that people like and enjoy and that’s going to be around,” Healy says.

With each website slowly taking over each region with deals not thought possible since the recession, bargain hunters will continue to droll over their keyboards and punish their credit cards for a long time to come. Oh look, a $20 manicure. I don’t have nails to paint, but it’s going into my online shopping cart anyway.

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by Natalie Hampshire

O

n the amazing website that is Wikipedia, there is a piece written on “New Zealand words”. This is a compilation of words which are unique to the New Zealand language. Among this list are the words “au”, “bei” and “skux”. When doing a quick review of this list, it turns out that in the regions that these words are most favoured, Gisborne crops up a lot. Needless to say, it certainly has its own special language.

This may or may not have something to do with both the small population (43,971) compared to the 1.4 million currently inhabiting Auckland, and that it’s almost 115km from Gizzy to any other city worth note. What I’m trying to say here is that Gisborne is small.

But every year over the time period of around December 26 to January 2, it turns into a tourist hub.

As a resident of the wonderful city of Gisborne (and yes, it is considered a city!), my summer is greatly affected by this amazing three-day festival. One of the biggest things is of course the actual event itself. For most people, the idea of going to Rhythm and Vines is daunting and overwhelming – often the decision to go or not is based on organisational motivation and money. However to the humble dwellers of “Giz-zay”, the only decision is whether or not you should ask for your ticket for Christmas or your birthday.

Either way, the only money spent is on copious amounts of alcohol and a plastic anorak in case the weather turns to shit (in 2008/09 Gisborne actually sold out of gumboots due to the bad weather on the first night). We have the luxury of a warm, private shower and clean toilets. I will wake up in the morning and no one will have urinated on my tent door or stolen my jandals.

However before I put off all you readers who have not yet had a guest experience of Rhythm, I must admit that I have always been curious about the full on “R&V Experience”. Meeting hundreds of like-minded people ready to party and just have fun, and having them as your neighbours for about five days would be legendary.

Camping out in the sunshine is always totally amazing, but to do it right beside the beach, in a city so small you can easily walk into the town for delicious restoring of beverage and nutrient supplies would be heaven. I’ve heard people literally just shower in the ocean every day, Ke$ha styles. I like it. Similarly, when you have friends interested in coming to stay, it is very exciting to inform them they

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are more than welcome to camp-out on your lawn. Being able to help friends save on accommodation money in order for them to come and enjoy the festival experience with you is really awesome, because not only do you get to show off how much potential Gisborne has to not be a hole, you get to have an extra buddy or several with you at the festival!

It’s fascinating to watch your small city turn into a crazy party central, and apparently the population swells by an extra 25,000 people (more than half our original population!). This is incredibly exciting. I wouldn’t go as far as to say you always see the same people in the street everyday in Gizzy, but a bit of fresh talent certainly doesn’t go astray. This is also a serious bonus for all local businesses; there is a huge increase in income over the summer holidays for cafes, supermarkets, clothes stores and accommodation – in 2005 it was approximated about $120million was spent by guests to the city.

Another thing about having such a huge music festival in your hometown is the excitement when you turn around in the crowd and see a fellow “Gisbornite”. I can imagine it would be similar for anyone at these festivals; the chances of seeing somebody you know is highly unlikely. But there is such a pride in knowing that all of these other people here have come all the way just to enjoy being in your city, that seeing someone who shares the same pride is awesome. The vibe at Rhythm and Vines is always so relaxed – everyone has spent the whole day chilling and drinking in the sun, there isn’t too much energy going around (although in saying that, there are some hilariously wired people too). Everyone just wants to appreciate some decent music with their friends, and due to this the number of arrests and serious crimes is incredibly and encouragingly low. Such positive results are quite likely a factor as to why the festival has been so successful. As long as you steer clear of any dodgy stuff, I will 87.39 per cent guarantee your trip will be totally drama-free.

Gizzy is small. But it is beautiful. Living in this coastal city is one of the most amazing ways to spend summer, and with it holding one of the biggest music festivals of this time, it becomes even better. It may take people several hours to finally reach it, but when you get here I will guarantee to you it’s worth it. Bei.

Dear Agony Aunt, I am on the pill and I often don’t take the sugar pills so I can skip my period. I have done it a lot lately because I have things to do when my period is due and the last thing I want is to worry about that. My friend says this is really bad for me. Is that true?

From MIss Worry

Agony Aunt, My boyfriend and I have got this rash all over and it’s really itchy. My friend said she thought it could be scabies. What do you think it could be?

From Itchy and Scratchy

Dear Miss Worry

Dear Itchy and Scratchy

Relax, you do not need to worry. It is not bad for you to miss having a monthly bleed when taking the combined oral contraceptive pill. Bleeding that occurs while you are taking the “sugar pills” is really a withdrawal bleed and not a proper period. This is why your periods become shorter and lighter when you start taking the pill.

There is no harm in running your packets together if you would rather not have your period for whatever reason. Some women can do this with no problem, others will experience break through bleeding (bleeding in between periods) sometime during the next packet. This can be annoying and can make running packets together pointless if you are going to bleed anyway. You won’t know what will happen until you try.

The rule of thumb is that you run no more than three packets together. You should have a bleed approximately four times a year to stop build up of the lining of the uterus (endometrium).

It is also a good idea to run packets together if you have missed any hormone pills in your last week before your period is due to start. This will keep you safe from pregnancy.

If you are taking a triphasic pill (you will have three different coloured pills in your packet) then you need to speak to a nurse of doctor before running packets together.

If you are not sure that you are taking your pills correctly speak to a nurse at Health Counselling and Wellbeing. We will be happy to go through everything with you. If you have a good understanding of your pill and how it works then you are less likely to make a mistake and risk pregnancy. To make an appointment call Health Counselling and Wellbeing on (city campus call 921-9992) or (North Shore campus call 921-9998.)

Yes, it could be scabies but you should see a nurse or doctor for a diagnosis before starting treatment as there may be another explanation for your symptoms.

Scabies is caused by tiny insects which burrow under the skin and lay eggs. This causes small blisters and red patches to appear on the skin that can be very itchy, especially at night.

Scabies is spread very easily through close contact like holding hands, hugging, sleeping together, sex or by sharing clothes and bedding Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you are a dirty person because you have contacted scabies. Anyone, even the cleanest people, get scabies.

Washing in soap and water or swimming in the sea will not prevent or cure it. Scabies does not go away on its own and can cause other problems if it is left untreated.

It is important that everyone living in the house or whom you have shared close physical contact with should be treated at the same time even if they are not itchy. You will be prescribed a special cream or lotion which you will need to rub into your body (head to toe) and leave on overnight. The next morning have a shower or bath and put on clean clothes. Wash all bedding and all the clothes that you have worn in the last week, in hot soapy water, dry clean or put them in a sealed plastic bag for four days.

For more information and advice you could speak to a nurse at Health Counselling and Wellbeing. Call 921-9998 for North Shore Campus and 921-9992 for city campus.

debate quiz 1. How many days were the 33 Chilean miners underground before the first one was rescued? a) 28 days b) 37 days c) 51 days d) 69 days

6. How many Harry Potter films will there be in total once the final one hits screen next July? a) Six b) Seven c) Eight d) Nine

2. Who is the mayor of Wellington? a) Kerry Prendergast b) Celia Wade-Brown c) Bob Parker d) Ross Bly

7. What medal did the New Zealand women’s hockey team receive at the Commonwealth Games last week? a) Gold b) Silver c) Bronze d) None

3. Who is the New Zealand Sevens’ coach who led the team to a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games? a) Gordon Tietjens b) John Mitchell c) Steve Tew d) Robbie Deans 4. Which celebrity couple did not split last week? a) Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman b) Ben Harper and Laura Dern c) Courtney Cox and David Arquette d) Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols 5. Which of these buildings is the oldest? a) Empire State Building b) Statue of Liberty c) Eiffel Tower d) The Pentagon

8. Who is the minister of sport and recreation? a) Murray McCully b) Nathan Guy c) Chris Carter d) Shane Jones 9. Which artist or band has an album coming out this month? a) Kings of Leon b) Taylor Swift c) Michael Buble d) All of the above 10. What was the rate of GST on September 30, 3010? a) 10 per cent b) 12 per cent c) 12.5 per cent d) 15 per cent 1d 2b 3a 4d 5b 6c 7b 8a 9d 10c

issue 25 2010

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Austen Found: The Undiscovered Musicals of Jane Austen

by Katie Montgomerie

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Improv is all about not holding yourself back and just going for it. Imagine if you were standing at an intersection and a little girl went to run across the road and you went to go but then you pulled yourself back and she dies. So every time you don’t take your impulse, a little girl dies.

Leigh, 2010 (Someone who was at an improv workshop with Penny Ashton.)

A

ddicted to Darcy? Lost all Sense and Sensibility? Bonkers for Big Balls? Well, put down your cross-stitching and join Auckland’s leading improv troupe, ConArtists, as they swoon, romp, and pianoforte their way through an entirely improvised Austenian Musical. Charming suitors, meddlesome mothers, tight breeches and surprisingly well educated girls will all paint a vivid picture in song, dance and passionate hand holding.

Austen Found, created by Penny Ashton is an improvised show based on none other than Jane Austen’s novels. Although you may be familiar with theatre sports, Austen Found differs from the theatre sport-improvising format because it actually has an entire story arc; a beginning, middle, and “then it all comes together for a satisfying ending that’s about 60-70 minutes long” (and isn’t full of idiotic middle aged men who aren’t funny enough to do stand-up).

In fact, Austen Found was accused of being scripted when they were in Adelaide. Apparently they are just that good at creating a show on their feet.

But it can’t be that easy, can it? Ashton has been doing improvisations since 1987 so she’s had a bit of practice! But has there ever been a time that she has drawn a blank on stage? “No, not really.

There might have been a few times on the side of the stage before I go on but when I’m on stage I don’t really do that...” However Chris Neels, one of the new cast members for Austen Found, has had a different experience. “I jump out there and start to do something and realise ‘I don’t quite know where I’m gonna go with this...’ But that’s the whole point, it’s the whole danger of it, the audience love it when you make a mistake.”

To make it even harder, the cast doesn’t even have individual stock characters they can play for each show. The entire company has a pool of Austen’s characters that anyone can play at any given time.

This means that the men might come out on stage as Jane from Pride and Prejudice, and the women could be anyone from Elizabeth to Mr Collins. But that’s just one book; not only do they draw from Pride and Prejudice, the characters from each of Austen’s novels all interact and even find romance in the most unusual of places. So how do you rehearse a non-scripted, entirely improvised, 60 to 70 minute musical?

“We rehearse a lot; we rehearse the archetypes, like the 24-yearold who thinks she is so old that she will never find a husband, the mothers and the vicars... I’ve played dirty disgusting vicars and strapping men...,” Ashton says.

The musical element in Austen Found also has to be rehearsed; it can’t be easy thinking of a song to sing on the spot in keeping with your character, the period and the key, but they do it, with the help of their great pianist Robbie: “He’s brilliant, he’s such a good improvising musician, he can change all his keys around, you can just sing something at him and he can play it right back.” Chris believes that the musical element in the show is what gives it that something extra. “Musical shows in long form [entire show improvisation] are often just better, it’s just another thing, if you nail a song, people love it. If you rhyme

people just go ‘oh, wow!’ I think that, on top of the concept itself, gives it [Austen Found] a very good foundation.”

So there is improvised singing, one choreographed dance and much silliness on stage, all based around Austen’s novels. But how do the avid fans react when they see their much loved Mr Darcy’s and Miss Dashwood’s being performed in a blatantly comedic way? Ashton pegs it in one when she says that Austen Found is “still reverential but not deferential, it has songs, dancing and romance usually”. But the constraints around the social period Austen’s novels were written in still have to be respected. “In improv, you have a world of possibilities but in Jane-improv you don’t... The etiquette is so constricted you can hardly say anything, like in Persuasion, they longingly look at each other throughout the entire book where they could just say ‘I like you’ and the book would be over! And that’s kind of tedious to live through but fun to take the piss out of nonetheless.”

Essentially, that’s what this improvised musical is all about, having a bit of tongue in cheek fun with audiences and Austen’s novels.

Ashton says it’s “quite silly ultimately, it’s very charming... It has moments that are a little dirty but it’s not really. You could bring your 12-year-old daughter to it”. However it isn’t just for Austen fans (although some turn up to the show in full Austen-esque costumes that they make themselves). It has something for everyone and even if you don’t know Austen’s novels the characters are laughable nonetheless.

So shall we perhaps see you in the evening for this splendid event?

I do hope so for it would be marvellous to partake in the witty and awfully silly romp into Miss Austen’s novels.

Yes, maybe you should ignore that poor attempt at Austenian English... But bear with me because this show sounds very funny and even has $20 student tickets (aren’t they nice to us!) and $15 tickets on student-rush Tuesdays. So head down to the Herald theatre between the October 21-31 and see what all the fuss is about.

Tickets for Austen Found: The Undiscovered Musicals of Jane Austen can be booked on www.the-edge.co.nz or 0800 BUY TICKETS

PHOTOS: Penny Ashton (jumping on left), cast member Lori Dungey (with Shetland pony on right). issue 25 2010

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This is my final column of the year.

I don’t think I have enough great material to recap. But here’s something that will really freak you out. If you read the 64th word of every column from the start of the year it will tell you about a very special lady in my life.

So in closing I would just like to say thank you to those people who read my meandering thought on nothingness. Sure most of you who read this know me, and read it to give me shit and talk about how much it sucked, but maybe you got to know a little bit about me and unwrapped a layer of mystery from the enigma that is Ben. This allotted period of time in my human existence, in both the broadest and shortest sense, has been pretty wonderful.

I have travelled, met some awesome people and for those of you in the know dated someone who is pretty much a supermodel. I love my life. I did however have a dark spot. The day after I turned 21 I had a six hour quarter life crisis. I looked back on where I had been at a similar time last year and comparatively I may have gone downhill. But I moved through it, without the help of John Kirwan.

I ate Toblerone and watched some classic episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway. I really like scenes from a hat or when Wayne and Brad duet. Improvisation is a wonderful tool for life. In comedy it creates laughs; when you’re locked in a bomb shelter with a thermonuclear device, a pocket knife and MacGyver it’s lifesaving.

The weekend of my 21st I discovered some awesome and wonderful things. I also discovered how much I enjoy a playlist consisting of the dulcet tones of David Gray, Coldplay, Michael Buble and Snow Patrol. Sure, I had to sacrifice my manhood and/ or testicles but hey, for crooning versions of Home, who wouldn’t?

I discovered that the lyrics of The Scientist aren’t very long, yet it is somehow a five minute song. I felt an overwhelming urge to go sailing for a month, or to leave Auckland for a week and live in the bush. This was weird. But as aforementioned I moved on with it quickly, looking at the sweet job interview I have lined up, how rich I am going to be and how much of an adult I’m truly becoming.

I’m sure many people reach a stage where they find themselves doubting, and worrying and contemplating so it must be a healthy thing.

In summation of a column about nothing, look at people around you more; they’re celebrities. AJ Jacobs is a good, funny man.

Appreciate him. Monopoly is awesome. Celebrities suck. Somebody should pull up Jake Gyllenhaal on how bad he is at life. Small things, when juxtaposed with big things, will always be interesting. And really there is only one way this can end… did you know that “The second button is the key button. It literally makes or breaks the shirt...”?

Peace out!

P.S. I’m bullshitting about the 64th word thing. There is no way I had that much foresight.

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ea ls

M

ls

by Ben Hope

, s l Hee

gD ea

li n

But hey! That’s just what I think

&

Se a

by Elana Kluner

I thought it was just my cynical side

speaking when I told my friend how turned off I was when a guy showed me too much interest, but was surprised to find out she felt the same way. I talked to a few other girls about this to see their views and they all had the same answer. If a guy falls before the girl, it’s trouble. We all hear those stories about the cliquey obsessive girls boys always roll their eyes about, but no one has ever mentioned the other side of that story. It’s so engrained in society for girls to find a guy that falls madly in love with her and romances her until the cows come home. Girls are brought up thinking that flowers, chocolates, love letters and jewellery are the way to her heart. We are supposed to melt when a boy calls us beautiful and jump up and down on our beds when we get home from our first kiss. We are supposed to gossip on the phone for hours about how dreamy he was when he looked into our eyes and how caring he was when he wiped our hair out of our face and behind our ears.

If we’ve been brought up with fairytale lenses, then what has made this new age female generation so different? Why is it that when a guy tells us how amazing we are and how much he really likes us after our first date, we just want to grab a bucket and puke?

Sure, when we’ve been in a three year committed relationship, we expect our partners to remind us of every single reason why he is still with us. But for some reason, when we’ve just started seeing a guy, we want the complete opposite. About three weeks ago my friend started seeing this guy who she met through her work. He was one of those guys you could bring home to meet your family and not have to censor the whole conversation. He was so good on paper. He ticked every box. But after the third date, he said to my friend that what they had was really special. Special? That’s something you say to your wife on your 50th anniversary. Even the word “special” makes me cringe. So of course she didn’t respond and rung me right away to tell me the horrible news.

Everyone has heard the phrase “you want what you can’t have”.

That is so relevant with this situation. If the guy makes you feel like you have him wrapped around your finger by the second course of the meal, then you’ll lose interest. We need the chase. It’s in our nature to be competitive, so boys, give us some competition. Yes, fairytales are lovely, but save them for the one year mark. If it’s love at first sight, keep it in your head until we say it first. Keep your hands to yourself at least 50 per cent of the time and resist the urge to send “sweet” text messages because all they do are leave sour tastes in our mouth. I hope all men take this advice and learn to make all you women as happy as you can be, for the long run.

neet's totally metal As I said in the previous column,

this one was supposed to be a However, I decided that was a going to be an awards column bands and individuals for things

look at the highlights of 2010. little boring, so instead this is of some sort, giving awards to that happened in 2010 (mostly).

Best Nightwish-lite Band award: Epica. Originally I was going to award this to Epica because Design Your Universe was so great, but then I remembered it came out in 2009. So I went through other albums from Nightwish-lite bands that had come out this year, and then decided I still liked Design Your Universe better and that because Epica were playing songs off it in 2010 then it still counted.

Honorable/Disappointing Effort: Tarja. You were in Nightwish for nine years and yet Epica still took the title of Nightwish-Lite. Better luck next album.

Band I Shouldn’t Like But I Do award: Indica, the makers of happy hippy Finnish pop rock music. I defend this by the fact they are signed to Nuclear Blast, and by being Finnish they are automatically more metal than any other pop rock band outside of Finland.

Saw That Coming award: Jesper Stromblad leaving In Flames. The only original member of the Melodic Death pioneers, Stromblads interest in In Flames decreased at the same rate as the quality of their music. He jumped from the sinking shop, just before it hit the icy cold water.

Biggest Dick Move award: Mike Portnoy in a landslide victory.

Apparently being in the biggest, most influential prog metal band for longer than I have been alive was not enough, and he would rather play drums for Avenged Sevenfold. Dick. A shit slinging contest has since ensued between Dream Theatre and Portnoy, making both sound like two teenage girls who need to be locked in a room together in order to sort out their differences.

Not Another One award: The world/god(s)/mother nature/karma etc. In the last column I looked back at everyone in the metal community that had passed away in the last year. I believe I expressed my desire for there to be no more of these deaths and that the metal community had had enough. Then Steve Lee from Gotthard was killed in a motorcycle crash. Seriously, not cool. No more please.

That finishes up this column for another year. This is the second year I’ve been writing this and two years is a long time. A lot of awesome things have happened in this time (meeting Arch Enemy ranks highly) and a lot of kinda shitty things (once again, Dio and Peter Steele dying). Next year is sure to be another great year, with lots of bands set to release new albums which mean more touring, and more concert opportunities for New Zealand. Here is hoping I can finally get to a Nightwish concert... Stay tuned next year to see if I finally do!

issue 25 2010

by Frances Gordon

Being my final column for the year,

I feel like I should say something meaningful about my time studying abroad. But to be honest – I have nothing. While you all may be wrapping up your school year and hurtling toward that little light at the end of the tunnel we all know as summer, I am only one weeks in to my semester and there are so many things I am yet to experience and discover about this country whose culture is as vast as it’s geography. Though, the longer I am here, the more certain aspects of American life become more apparent.

For one, this ain’t no fashion show. People here just don’t care.

In fact, if need be 95 per cent of the student population would have the potential to spontaneously work out if they ever felt the need. Honestly though, I’ve seen it all here, from your run of the mill running shorts through to polar fleece penguin pyjama pants. Fashion is not considered to be an important part of school here, and you know what? I really enjoy it; it’s a liberating feeling knowing that people aren’t actively judging you based on whether your hair is in a top knot.

At first, this lack of fashion sense perplexed me, but now I understand. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s just that they are literally running around 24/7 and sneakers and running shorts are just more practical than Docs. College here is not just a facet of a person’s life, it’s a lifestyle in itself – these people have weekdays full of class, group meetings, club meetings, intramural sports then they have weekends of football and tailgating (which as you know from my last column is an experience in itself). Students here live and breathe college life, especially where I am in the School of Journalism.

Needless to say, I came in to this adventure with some very solid ideas of what I thought I was getting myself into. Of course all of those expectations have been blown to oblivion. America has surprised me, I definitely didn’t expect Americans to be so welcoming and to be frank, I didn’t expect them to be so normal.

Yes, you get your crazies – like the homeless guy downtown who plays the Didgeridoo, the old musician in Beverly Hills who tried to follow me back to my apartment, or the children in Dallas on the street corner who told me I was going to hell for my sins – but every place has its crazies, and in all honesty it makes our world a more interesting place to be.

I’m sad I can’t share the rest of my journey with you – my first real Halloween, or learning how to shoot a gun over Thanksgiving, or the first day of snow (ETA approximately four weeks – furry hat and boots have been purchased). But I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about just a few of my experiences. Studying abroad has certainly been hard at times, but I don’t regret one moment of it.

So for now, I’ll leave you trying to do what I said I would in my first column. I’m going with the flow, rolling with the punches and taking every day as it comes.

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by Tenani French aries (March 21 - April 19)

Get ready for it!

New mayor: big spending

Right, so we have a new mayor and a new council set up starting up on November 1 and Mayor Lenny has promised some big projects to get the council off to a good start. The word of the day: rail. I love trains, and I’ve enjoyed the redevelopment of Auckland’s rail network over the past few years, and I think it’s pretty obvious that if we want to reduce traffic and pollution then the best way is to give people alternatives to driving cars. Len Brown seems to agree and has promised a $1.8 billion inner-city rail loop from Britomart to Mt Eden (like a mini subway system), a $1 billion rail link to Auckland Airport as well as an expensive-as-hell rail link across the North Shore all the way to Albany. Sounds like we better start liking trains a whole lot more and mayor Brown is pushing us along swiftly. What do you say… do up the ferries next?

Like it!

2degrees gets bigger

We’ve grown up in the monotonous world of a mobile duopoly. For as long as I can remember it’s only ever been Telecom vs.Vodafone and, compared to my friends around the world, we’ve been paying an arm and a leg for pretty average service. In comes 2degrees a little while ago and suddenly it seems like mobile prices are going down and flash phones are cheaper than ever. Hurray for the underdog! While 2degrees hasn’t revolutionised the market in New Zealand it sure has shaken it up a bit. With the opening of the first 2degrees store at Sylvia Park last week the next chapter of the little company that could is about to begin. Bring it.

There’s trouble ahead for you in the form of a snake and/or pit full of snakes or a giant snake.Your hat of the week? Beret.

taurus (April 20 - May 20)

The stars are predicting some below average Sky TV reception on Wednesday.Your hat for the week is the fascinator.

gemini (may 21 - june 21)

Your luck will change if you start being more creative with your pants. Sequins are in.Your hat for the week?

Flat peak gangsta cap.

cancer (june 22 - july 22)

You will be challenged to a fight before the weekend.

Will you be responsible and walk away or are you a real man? Just kidding. Hat of the week for you Cancerians is the beaver fur fedora.

leo (juLY 23 - AUG 22)

You’ll have a nasty run in with some poisonous plants this week. Remember to wear undies every day. Leos, your hat for the week is the sombrero.

virgo (aug 23 - sept 22)

While the weather is still a bit shitty, it won’t be for long so if you own a farm make the most of the rain.

Your hat of the week is a blue ice cream container with feathers sticking out. Nice.

libra (sept 23 - oct 22)

Seriously?

Justin Bieber launches nail polish line

File this under “What The Fuck?”. The Biebs is launching a range of nail polishes named after a few of his songs. The androgynous boy-child hopes fan girls around the world will kill their mothers to get hold of the new JB products (and they probably would) and in doing so filling up the 17-year-old’s pockets even further.

With names like One Less Lonely Glitter and Prized Possession Purple why would you not want to buy them? Oh, and a 3D Justin Bieber concert movie is coming out next Valentine’s Day (complete with carefully crafted shirtless scenes). Control squeals. Barf.

With the end of uni just around the proverbial corner, make sure you tighten the proverbial straps on your proverbial horse-drawn cart. Hat of the week: Lace bonnet!

scorpio (oct 24 - nov 21)

This week will be markedly similar to every other week in your life. Nothing interesting will happen except for the tornado.Your scorpiolicious hat for the week is the classic ‘beanie that is way too big’. Hipster.

sagittarius (nov 22 - dec 21)

You’ll become acquainted with a brand new car this week. That’ll teach you for crossing the road without looking. Sagittarians, your hat of the week is a couch cushion with a hole cut out for your head.

Watching it?

capricorn (dec 22 - jan 19)

Has the Commonwealth Games’ move from TVNZ to Sky/Prime affected your viewing habits? Actually, did you ever really have Commonwealth Games viewing habits? Apart from Netball and Rugby they’re basically just fancy practice sessions for the Olympics huh? Pity. Oh well, the good news is that Sky also has the rights to the Olympics so look forward to 139 channels of live, HD, 3D, interactive coverage complete with smell-ovision of the London Games. “Unrivalled comprehensive coverage”. Mobile, internet, Sky TV, Prime, how bout just beam it into our heads? Technology these days...

aquarius (jan 20 - feb 18)

Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games

If there’s something you think the student masses of AUT need to know about, send us an email to debate@aut.ac.nz with Suggestions in the subject line.

26

Someone will become very interested in you this week. The stars recommend that you stop writing letters to the prison.Your special hat for the next seven days is a bucket!

The Aquarian constellation predicts that a big wild cat will eat your dinner this week. Ward it off with your hat of the week – the classic NY Yankees bucket cap.

pisces (feb 19 - march 20)

You will be a winner before the week is out.You will either win a prize or an election or an STD. The future is in your hands. And so is your hat of the week, the old McDonalds bag with eyes cut out.

Chanel

Donna Karan

Resort wear

for summer all year long

Every year, fashion designers release a multitude of clothing collections. No longer are we limited to just spring, fall, summer and winter anymore. There are quite a few fashion “seasons” that manage to slip their way into the fashion calendar. One season in particular is the annual ‘resort’ or ‘cruise’ collection which has become an annual milestone for many of the big fashion houses around the globe.

“Resort wear” was born out of desire for light weight, easy care clothing, ideal for resort living that was also fashionable at the same time. For many the idea of “easy-care” holiday clothing consists of t-shirts and shorts; the uniform of the international tourist. Well, for those looking to be a bit more elegantly dressed, but with the same lightness and ease, the resort wear fashion sub-category was created. Typically, resort wear consists of lighter, natural fabrics and shapes such as kaftans and long flowing dresses.

Chanel for their Resort 2011 put out a collection of typical resort wear that consisted of free-fitting silk dresses and the models carrying their shoes as if they were walking on the beach. And Kenzo had a resort collection of oversized shirts, casual dresses in clashing prints, with the models wearing head bandannas reminiscent of the contestants of reality TV show Survivor.

However while many designers adhere to the idea of “typical” resort wear, for many it is just an excuse to loosen up their usual design aesthetic.

Take Alexander Mc Queen for instance: after the death of the label’s namesake earlier this year, designer Sarah Burton has taken the reigns and her Resort 2011 season was her first collection for womenswear under the label. For her “resort” collection the clothing doesn’t go anywhere near the idea of typical resort wear, but is simply more wearable versions of the label’s fall and spring seasons. For many fashion designers, the resort wear collection is merely where they present more wearable versions of what you see on the catwalk. The resort wear market is a lucrative one that fashion houses cannot afford to miss out. While not necessarily considered “couture”, a lot of Alexander McQueen winter and spring collections are a bit expensive and adventurous for many, thus alienating a large portion of their client base. The resort wear collection is where they make a lot of their sales as it is more accessible to people without the fanfare of seasonal collections (resort wear does not typically have a fashion show but is just presented as a lookbook).

Balenciaga

Resort 2011 collections by various designers

by Heather Rutherford

Fashion designers in New Zealand, such as Karen Walker, have expended their repertoire to include resort wear in recent years, as well as many labels being imported from Australia and overseas. La Madu (translates into “The Honey”) is a store on the corner of Ponsonby Road and Richmond Road that specialises in resort wear clothing.

I asked AUT business student Emma Shand, who works in the store, to explain about their take and perspective on “resort wear” fashion.

What sort of styles do you have in this season?

Emma: We have a lot of cotton voile and silk dresses and tops. We are very big on print this season, with a lot of animal prints and dramatic florals.

We have a lot of clashing prints, or a mixture of fabrics in each garment which has been a big trend in Europe. We consider our style as “bohemian glamour” with a lot silk, beaded kaftans and dresses. We also have an eclectic mix of t-shirts, as well as a range of summer footwear and jewellery.

We have just begun selling this Australian brand called “One Season” which we have exclusive rights to sell in New Zealand. They do a higher end of resort wear in amazing top quality fabrics. We are very excited to have them in store this season.

Where do you source most of your styles from?

We get most of our styles from Bali; we go on most of our buying trips there.

We also sell furniture and have a range of furniture from Bali made from recycled boats washed up after the Boxing Day Tsunami. We have a few labels from Australia as well.

Who are your target customers and what are they mostly buying for?

We target a younger market from teens to late 30s. We are the only resort store in Auckland so we get a lot of people buying for overseas. We are also a good store for if you want to get away from black! The clothing in our store is quite unique and we only get a few sizes in each style. We consider ourselves very “Auckland beach-y” but still smart at the same time.

Resort wear at La Madu

issue 25 2010

27

Chikara Green 1st year Fashion

Whitney Barnes 1st year Fashion

Pants: Made herself Cardigan: Cotton On Top: Glassons Necklace: Diva

Pants: Country Road Cardigan: Vintage

Emma Shard Bachelor of Business (3rd year) All clothes from La Madu

Retail Mystery Shopper Sussing it out for you first.

Mighty Ape

www.mightyape.co.nz For?: DVDs, books, computers, toys, games and electronics.

For guys or girls? For everyone!

Mightyape.co.nz is a recent find of mine, though I suspect I may be a little slow off the mark in this case. The website’s been around for a couple of years now, and has won some prestigious awards in that time.

It’s basically a massive online store which stocks a variety of products, at competitive prices. I’ve personally purchased several things off this site recently, and one thing I’ve noticed is the impeccable service they offer every time. I’ve ordered items and had them in my hands the very next morning, which I reckon is pretty great as far as online shopping goes. Pre-ordering soon-to-be-released items is a service offered as well. They pride themselves in fast delivery, so the site is great in both saving you the hassle of getting down to the shops, but also not leaving you waiting on the edge of your seat for days on end (Just me? Ok...). When you go to order, the site will tell you how long you have before the shipping for that day cuts off, so you know when the item will be shipped and when to expect it. They’ll also tell you if there’s only a few left in stock.

Anyway, apart from great service, I could spend hours on that site looking at their stuff. Their DVD and book collections are just huge, and

when looking for that hard-to-find DVD or book, I’d recommend a look on here first. Products are separated by categories and then sub-categories, making it a pretty easy site to browse. They also have the usual sort-by-price, sort-by-title arrangements also. When you’re looking through categories, you can also browse by ‘best-sellers’, ‘specials’, ‘new-releases’, and other such criteria. You’re given suggestions for products like the ones you’re looking at.

And if you lose the page you were on, navigate back to the homepage where it will show you your recently viewed items. Overall, it’s a very easy site to navigate.

The prices are usually pretty reasonable, with some really good specials available. Most categories have items which are further discounted, but the regular prices aren’t too bad in general anyway. They also do ‘Daily Deals’ which are a few heavily discounted products on special for one day only.

Annoyingly for my bank balance, a couple of today’s deals look too good to pass up, and as I’m writing this review I’m adding more items to my shopping cart…

This review was written by a graduate in Retailing. If you are interested in retail and why people buy, take a look at papers in the Retail major in the Business School.

You don’t have to be a business student to take the papers, so check out the website today!

28

Buried

Telephantasm

Directed by Rodrigo Cortes

Soundgarden

Film Review by Jared

CD Review by Mike Atkins

It’s too easy to judge movies by their trailers these days.

With sites like apple.com showing trailers for films that aren’t set to hit our screens for months, it’s a little bit hard for good films to sneak up on you – and it’s even harder for anything to look half decent when it’s compressed into a 45 second clip. On that note, I didn’t really want to see Buried. Mainly because the trailer showed Ryan Reynolds in a coffin (post-burial) for the whole time and that seemed boring to me.

But if single-set films are your thing, Buried is for you. Reynolds’s character Paul Conroy is a truck driver captured in an ambush and buried underground in an attempt to score a ransom. While the kidnapped/ransom movie isn’t exactly unchartered territory, Buried couples it with a claustrophobic element that acts as an interesting and untraditional filter for Reynolds to shine through.

And shine he does. I really should hate him for his blatant and public theft of my girlfriend Scarlett Johansson in 2007, but the guy is magic. Ninety-five minutes is a lot of minutes when there’s only one visible actor in a film, and my shock at Buried’s legitimate excitement was soon superseded by unadulterated appreciation for an actor who has always kind of snuck under the radar. His character encapsulates us from the outset, despite a relatively slow start. It’s all in the way he cycles through the same emotions that the audience are feeling; hopelessness, fear, sadness and eventually acceptance of his situation. Reynolds makes the film, and turns it from what could have been a cheesy monolgue-style piece into a frightening encounter with loneliness. It reads like a documentary in many ways, and remains more involving than some of the most globetrotting films out there.

The writing is brilliant and the storyline succeeds in spite of its geographic limitations, with a genuine sense of urgency as Conroy attempts to escape. The majority of the plot comes from the fact that he still has a working cellphone, though explaining the seriousness of his situation via a phonecall proves problematic, as does the Iraqi wildlife (in one of about three unneccessary scenes).

The only other one-set film I can recall is Phone Booth, which relies on heavy, explosive-laden action to tide audiences over an otherwise mediocre story. It’s interesting but not involving, exciting but not emotional. Buried picks up that slack and turns it into a noose. Inspired character writing and paradoxically expansive cinematography creates a world within a box, and it’s that world and the humanity that Conroy explores that makes Buried one of the most interesting films you’ll see all year. It’s that same humanity that kind of nullifies whatever happens at the end – the fact it presents this horrible situation and makes us ask ourselves what we would do – that’s where the real ending is.

Buried is a relativity small budget intercontinental production, and it’s only at the movies for another week or so. It’s definitely worth checking out before Due Date comes out and you spend your $13 elsewhere.

I wrote a piece earlier this year about all the reasons I didn’t like the trend for reuniting every musical act that ever existed, whether or not they were any good to start with. It all boiled down to the fact that if most of the band members were still alive, those musicians were just waiting for someone to drive a dump truck full of cash up their driveway and mail them a touring schedule.

At the time that I wrote that, Soundgarden had just announced their reunion with the so-stupid-it-had-to-have-been-stupid-on-purpose twitter post: “The knights of the soundtable ride again!” Soundgarden seemed like the perfect example of a pointless reunion. They still exist on rock radio and in the form of back catalogues that sell very well, so why did they have to come back?

I never liked Soundgarden. That has nothing to do with the above rant, but it has a lot to do with the below review, and not just because it’s my job to give you my opinions. As much as people not liking them might get to bands, they very rarely make albums for the people who don’t like them. Except I suspect that that’s what Telephantasm is; the deluxe edition anyway, is for all the people who never liked them. Soundgarden’s legacy is one of the worst songs of the grunge era (Black Hole Sun), and a song that sounds like the song Charlie wrote in that episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, where he tried to write a song, but got hooked on huffing spray paint and drew homoerotic hieroglyphs instead. So of course they want me to hear everything else that they ever did, so that I have a chance to reassess that legacy. Don’t let it be said that Soundgarden had no reason to reunite.

The deluxe edition is three discs: a double greatest hits package and the complete videos on DVD. This, I’ll remind you, is for a band that only existed for a mite over one decade. If I were to ever get an opportunity to give them a fair chance it’s this. True to that, there is a lot that I like. Jesus Christ Pose just plain rocks, and Blow Up The Outside World has the sort of against-all-odds charm that mid 90s post-grunge sometimes had.

But it’s the first disc of music that’s more likely to lead to Soundgarden being remembered more fondly. Any band that had written these songs, but weren’t well known for them would want to remedy that situation. At that stage in their career, Soundgarden sounded like a cross between the Stooges and Guns ‘n’ Roses, but recorded on a broken tape recorder. Beyond The Wheel quite consciously mirrors the Stooges’ We Will Fall, but with a tearing start-stop guitar part to give the song an extra sense of epic climax. Actually, I’m only assuming this is an earlier stage in their career, but it sounds like it. The band on this disc is one that has consistent promise.

Before this, Soundgarden wasn’t exactly lacking people who thought they were great, even if I didn’t. Those people would’ve been perfectly happy with a more conventional greatest hits album. But now die-hard fans, casual fans, and non-fans alike can have the only Soundgarden album they’ll ever need. Even if they do have to carry it home in a brown paper bag, so as not to be embarrassed by that stupid cover art.

issue 25 2010

29

Rise

Dinner for Schmucks

Complexions Contemporary Ballet September 29 – October 2 ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre

Directed by Jay Roach Film Review by Samantha McQueen

Live Review by Elana Kluner

Complexions is a contemporary ballet company from New York that travels the world putting on productions. The show was choreographed by a man named Dwight Rhoden who has been with the company since its birth, 15 years ago. I, like everyone else, went into the show expecting to see something spectacular. Since the company is from New York, one of the world’s homes for the most highly trained technical dancers, I thought the show would be flawless. Unfortunately, a good majority of the performance was packed with flaws.

There were three sections to the show with intermissions in between. The audience was more than ready for the first intermission, but luckily, the show picked up by the second act. The third act just barely fulfilled my expectations and I wish the entire show possessed the power that the ending held. There were parts of the show that were very impressive, but in comparison to the negative components, it’s hard to level them out.

The dancers had incredible technique; I won’t critique them for that. Their bodies were all extremely fit and with every movement they made, you could see each individual muscle working. But as an ensemble, it was almost as if they had been thrown together the week before with no time to clean the piece. They were extremely out of time, so much that at one point I thought it was supposed to be a roll off (one after another in non-dance terms), but surely it wasn’t. The first act was the worst in this department. By the end of the show they were a little more in time and I was able to focus on the performance as a whole rather than being distracted by each dancer who moved to a different count.

Another thing I was shocked about was their lack of professionalism. Sure, these dancers are human and humans make mistake, but haven’t they heard the universal phrase “the show must go on”? Instead of hiding their mistakes by caring on as if it didn’t happen, they made it more than obvious that someone messed up. In one of the partnering sections, one of the female dancers did a kick and accidently kicked the male dancer in the back of the head. She immediately laughed and for the next eight count, you could tell that what had just happened had impacted her and she continued laughing about it and slacking off on the next couple of moves. It was very distracting. At another point, one of the other female dancers tripped and she laughed and looked at one of the other dancers to see if they noticed. This is not acceptable to do on stage, by any means, and it made you feel like you were watching a dress rehearsal rather than the final performance.

On a good note, the music in the third act was lively and got the crowd interacting and clapping. The dancer’s energy picked up tenfold and the costumes became more colourful and vibrant. There was more emotion and feeling involved towards the end and the dancer’s expressions really portrayed what they were feeling. There were some tricks that the male dancers did that were very impressive and by the time I stood up to join the crowd in a standing ovation, I found myself very inspired.

30

With a cast known for their comedy, a director responsible for the Austin Powers franchise, and a plot revolving around laughing, Dinner for Schmucks should have been one of the funniest films of the year. And it does provide some laughs – but not enough to keep audiences satisfied through its excruciating long 112 minute length.

The film opens with Tim Conrad (Paul Rudd), a man pining to get out of the cabbage-smelling sixth floor of the private equity firm he works for. After managing to secure a lucrative meeting with Swiss millionaire Mueller (David Walliams), his boss Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood) offers him a chance to get that desired seventh floor spot. All he has to do is come to an exclusive dinner with an idiot, so they can make fun of them. It’s a crude concept, but when Tim accidently hits Barry Speck (Steve Carrell) with his Porsche and discovers he turns dead mice into imitations of famous artworks (“mousterpieces”, he calls them), he finds himself inviting Barry to dinner.

Despite the film’s bizarre title, the proposed dinner doesn’t happen until about three quarters of the way through the film, following a series of mishaps Barry created. Starting with a fight between Tim and his art curator girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak), Barry is determined to rectify this relationship. This involves Barry inviting a stalker to Tim’s house, breaking into the apartment of one of Julie’s artists, Kieran (played by Flight of the Conchords funny man Jemaine Clement), getting Tim in trouble with the IRS and ruining a business brunch with Mueller. All these situations create superficial laughs, but the reality is sometimes painful to watch.

Rudd (who looks exactly the same as he did in Clueless) and Carrell are no strangers to the comedy genre; they were in Anchorman and The 40 Year Old Virgin together. But while Carrell’s character was clearly supposed to be the one that brought the giggles, it is Rudd’s sardonic portrayal of Tim that is the funnier of the two. The real laughs, however, come from the supporting cast; Clement is hilarious as artist Kieran, who talks about animal magnetism and dresses up in hooves and horns to create art, and Walliams’ Mueller has the woman beside me in tears at one point of the movie. And no comedy is complete without Zach Galifianfakis, who has a small role as Barry’s boss Therman, who wears a cape and believes he has mind control.

Sadly, by the time the dinner finally rolls around, the laughs have petered out and been replaced by anger and bewilderment. The “mousterpieces” Barry creates are actually pretty impressive, despite the bizarre subject matter, and it’s hard to see why this qualifies him as an “idiot”, especially when he’s surrounded by a woman who talks to dead animals and a man with a dummy for a wife.

If you’re in the mood for shallow laughs and absurdism, Dinner for Schmucks should tickle your funny bone, but comedy fiends looking for the next Knocked Up, Anchorman or Date Night will be disappointed in what Dinner for Schmucks tries to deliver.

F1 2010

Flamingo

Produced by Codemasters

Brandon Flowers

Game Review by Jared

CD Review by Zoe Kitson

I love Codemasters. In the kind of way that no person should love a multi-million dollar game production house. But it’s not weird, because if you don’t love Codemasters – you’re wrong. Shane Warne Cricket remains one of the best vintage sports games ever, rivalled only by Jonah Lomu Rugby. Codies made both of them and countless numbers of other classics, including all of the Colin McCrae Rally series – solidifying the brand as one of the best indie-houses in the world.

For that reason, the developers at Codies could have shat in their hands and smudged a picture of Louis Hamilton’s face on a piece of A4, called it F1 2010 and I would have been excited. That excitement isn’t just about the developers though. The Formula One games of the past have been shit, and the expiration of Sony’s deal with the FIA meant there was a hefty gap between the last instalment and this one. A wait worth it? Definitely.

Straight off the blocks, F1 2010 is a game for F1 fans only. It’s not fun unless you’re playing it with all the computer assists off, and without them it is HARD. Cracking 300kph through a chicane at Melbourne isn’t easy when you’re manual shifting with the brake and line assists off, and it gets even harder in first-person view with rain blurring up your visor – but fuck it’s fun.

In the last few years, racing games have really tried to capture the essence of extreme speed, starting with the NFS Underground games (remember the shitty blurred lines as you whipped past lamp-posts in your ’94 200SX?). F1 2010 does it better than anyone ever has. Sitting less than a metre off the concrete in one of the fastest cars in the world is a scary thought, and F1 grabs that fear and makes it real – you actually feel like you might die if you’re half a second late on the brakes heading into a sharp right.

In the same token, it’s that realism and that intensity that makes it so inaccessible to the mainstream. F1 is already a pretty obscure sport outside of England/Spain/France, and unless you truly appreciate the cars, the drivers and the tracks you’ll hate this game for its one eyed simulator feel.

The campaign mode begins with a press conference – a theme that continues through the season with regular optional and routine pressers, and you pick a team and go on your way. The addition of full race weekend is immersive, you can complete an entire Grand Prix from the practice driveout to a full 70 lap race with tactical pitting, tyre and engine wear and team tactics (all adjustable pre-race too).

With downloadable content for next year’s teams, drivers and schedules, F1 2010 has that rare quasi-timelessness that has the potential to create some real hardened fans. In a game season including Gran Turismo 5, FIFA11 and CoD Black Ops, Codemasters has thrown down a real gem of a gamer’s game.

The first thing to note about Flamingo is that it is definitely not another Killers album. The Killers are an American rock band that have built their reputation on strong guitar solos and powerful ballads.

Even though it was announced on The Killers official website, the album, which is a first for The Killers front man Brandon Flowers as a solo artist, is a very different.

Guitar solos have been replaced with subtle tambourines and piano melodies. The only strong similarity is Flowers’ unique voice, which has always has a distinctive somewhat whimsical quality to it. This is particularly well suited to the softer genre. The way that he hits certain notes is far from standard, but it is that quality that keeps him interesting to listen too. From the very start it is clear that the album was written with lyrical composition in mind. This can be seen a lot in the second single Only The Young, where Flowers manages to harmonise and create a duet-like feel with his own vocals.

The album was produced by industry heavyweights Stuart Price, Daniel Lanios and Brendan O’Brien, who have an impressive combined catalogue of artists in their repertoire, including Rage and AC/DC. This is apparent in the production value of the album, which is particularly notable for its seamless quality and the well-balanced vocal combinations, which manages to assist Flowers as a singer, rather then going over the top which happens a lot these days.

The first single Cross Fire is one of the highlights of the album, with a strong chorus that is very suitable as a mainstream radio hit. Hard Enough is a particularly impressive duet sung with Rilo Kiley front woman Jenny Lewis. Lewis’s voice works perfectly with Flowers and they create a sound that is reminiscent of Johnny and June Cash. Synthetic rhythms are a constant reminder that the album is one artist experimenting and crossing boundaries without angering The Killers loyal fan base.

Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts does possess hints of The Killers’ most recent album, with a faster chorus that seems to have more life then some of the other slower tracks. The album becomes a bit monotonous in the centre, with a few too many slow building ballads that all seemed to contain Grandiose choruses which overshadow the rest of the music. Swallow It breaches the boundaries between singing and preaching, which was a bit distracting and disjointed compared with the rest of the album.

Overall, Flamingo moves between a range of different genres, including a bit of country and synth pop and finally settling into something similar to soft pop rock. The experimental nature of an artist’s first solo album is obvious, but Flowers manages to create a sound that gets a bit bland after listening for a while. If you plan on buying this album with Mr Brightside in mind, don’t bother. However, if you want average-ish background album for a Sunday morning with no shocking drum beats or swear words, Flamingo is definitely a viable option.

issue 25 2010

31

32

e h t t Spo nce e r e f f Di Correctly identify the FIVE differences in the two photos then circle the and drop your entry into your nearest AuSM office, or the box on the side of the red debate stands, or post to debate PO Box 6116 Wellesley St before 12 pm Thursday. What’s up for grabs?

A $10 voucher for one of the cafes at your campus: the Counter, Beanz Cafe, Lime Cafe, the Hub Cafe or Manukau Cafe.

spot

Congratulations to Issue 24 winner, Maddie Drake! (North Shore)

BDO-DEBATE HPH-14_10_10:BDO-DEBATE HPH-14_10_10 15/10/2010 11:30 Page 1

WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO BIG DAY OUT 2011!

TO GO IN THE DRAW TELL US:

WHICH ACT LIVING OR DEAD WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SEE AT BDO? EMAIL YOUR ANSWER TO: debate@aut.ac.nz with subject line BDO 2011 COMPETITION CLOSES 22ND OCTOBER AT 4PM

issue 25 2010

S VE GE IC LI NES O R STO ELECT EFTOH E R E L TH ENERA YS•DM O T ROS E F D G ZE AN THE CK K O L ETIC I X 6 0 7 A .•W N •S GY IG HAD E BLW . K MAG E D J s E W 7 T • .

D N R I.A HI TH HE M. M •S AN• R E W E & T S H AT H C G I A I E !

• N E TEI Y S T DERMA N DHARP O K A D E AI A ME ! D NT S A • S MMN D RIN U S RD S E • B O O T ST A T • D I CH CED A V A O !

G O U • •R LI T R T A D I E ET OUN OL S O CO A M EDW I C A TO D FIAS & F VUE• M A D E L B E EB • R AN E • STREANN D N L C PE D RE C R E A D Y A N U R YO• BE S A O S E LU A K E ON M L O • P L R B O TOK E TO KL IUM R S, C N IM J R E A D • B 8 8 • A I F O LET U J SC M UT 999 E O D R O F E O A I T H S•TH A L TER 11 D O O S O T R S LUS Y• STKA AS 00 1 CTE R ETMS 08 SELE OM CS I M N T W K I D E R BIRDES P .C IC NG VY, UT N I LT UA AROT P R E A I C • T L OF • STL AL OOK ROO AYO ATIO S M G GD N U B I A M G L L O R I B PR L C D TA B O KIN TE FR ARD REA A .

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Kelsey Renwick

Bachelor of Business Who do you think should replace Paul Henry on Breakfast and why?

Hmm, not sure about replacing, but he should return How do you plan to spend this summer?

Laxing out wherever and road tripping. Enjoying freedom When do togs become undies?

When you can’t see the beach/sand they are undies What was the best moment of the Commonwealth games?

Alison Shanks or Nick Willis Plans for Labour Weekend?

Dont have any

Matthew Berridge

Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) Who do you think should replace Paul Henry on Breakfast and why?

I think Jack Tame should replace him. He’s the Delhi Games reporter on TV1; he’s covered Paul a couple of times.Very cheeky.

How do you plan to spend this summer?

I’ll be working over the summer to get some extra money When do togs become undies?

As soon as you’re off the sand and walking away from the beach What was the best moment of the Commonwealth games?

The opening ceremony, because it was the moment you knew they had managed to pull everything together and the games were on!

Plans for Labour Weekend?

No plans yet, hopefully it’s sunny!

Rahul Naidu

Bachelor of Engineering Technology Who do you think should replace Paul Henry on Breakfast and why?

They should definitely bring him back How do you plan to spend this summer?

Finding a job, drinking excessively, find true love When do togs become undies?

When you dont have sand between your toes What was the best moment of the Commonwealth games?

Beating Australia 24-17 Plans for Labour Weekend?

DRINK! Just kidding, study :(

Sameer Hussein

Bachelor of Engineering Who do you think should replace Paul Henry on Breakfast and why?

Jessica Alba. Everyone will wake up in the morning just to see her How do you plan to spend this summer?

Working on my Playstation tan, but I don’t have a Playstation... Hopefully getting a summer engineering job and going on a long deserved road trip!

When do togs become undies?

When you can’t see the water anymore What was the best moment of the Commonwealth games?

The feather light boxing match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka Plans for Labour Weekend?

Cracking open the book

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Malcolm Turner

Bachelor of Social Sciences Who do you think should replace Paul Henry on Breakfast and why?

Rhys Darby, I’d eat breakfast with him How do you plan to spend this summer?

Spend some time with my niece who is not yet one year old and let the sun soak my skin until I’m medium rare When do togs become undies?

When they have Spongebob Squarepants all over them What was the best moment of the Commonwealth games?

Watching the disabled 100m men’s final, the aussie won and when he realised it he just went to another dimension Plans for Labour Weekend?

Study or cry because I haven’t studied enough and end with some cricket practice in the nets definitely

Missy Keu Who do you think should replace Paul Henry on Breakfast and why?

Jono off The Jono Project, Because I think he’s a tamer version of Paul Henry and it’ll be funny How do you plan to spend this summer?

Going to summer school and studying. Take my kids out When do togs become undies?

When there is not a sign of water around What was the best moment of the Commonwealth games?

That lady who was second to last in the 800m won silver Plans for Labour Weekend?

Complete GBE essay and study for my exam

issue 25 2010

35

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