In Unison, pop culture Issue - 2009 by USU Students' Association at Unitec

The Pop Culture Issue Issue 09

FREE www.usu.co.nz/inunison

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O B S E S S E D FA N S / WA N N A B E A C E L E B I N N Z ? UNITEC’S POP CULTURE IDOLS / RAINBOWS END

THE POP CULTURE ISSUE AT

13/08/2009 4:49:44 p.m.

LECTURER OF THE

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VOTE FOR THE BEST LECTURER AT UNITEC IS YOUR LECTURER: APPROACHABLE / KNOWLEDGEABLE / ORGANISED AND DO THEY GO THE EXTRA MILE FOR YOU?

VOTE FOR THEM FROM AUGUST 17TH AND BE IN TO WIN

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The Pop Culture Issue, 17th August 2009

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regulars

Contents

features

So You Wanna Be a Celeb, But You Live in New Zealand...

Death by Celebrity

Pop Tart, Photo Feature

Editorial

Comics/Poll

Tirade

Fashion on Campus

News

Photos

17 23

Gig Guide

23 24

Newsbot

Sport/Dear Barbie

Student Art

Reviews

Band/Grad profile

Recipes

Whakarongo Mai USU Columns

USU STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION AT UNITEC

EDITORIAL INQUIRIES: ph. (09) 815 4321 ext 7927 inunison@unitec.ac.nz PO Box 44016, Pt Chevalier

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: ph. (09) 815 4321 ext. 7384 usuadvertising@unitec.ac.nz

CREDITS: EDITOR: Stacey Knott DESIGNER: Erin Gaffney COVER DESIGN: Hazel Davies

CONTRIBUTORS: Joseph Harper / Megha Kehar / Stephanie McColl / Ravi Bhat Savannah MacIntosh / Greg Powell / NMA / Nicholas Mark Aimee Walker / The Goose / Newsbot / Barbie / Matt Alpe

DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Submission and contributors are welcome, but the publisher reserves the right to select and edit the material submitted. Materials submitted will remain property of the publisher, unless alternative arrangements are made.

haze_ruby@hotmail.com

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editorial

POP LIFE...

History...

Pop-culture is a big part of my life, you can probably tell this every time you flick through In Unison. This year we’ve looked at fashion, fame, pop-music, the internet, contemporary art, and have examined the role of celebrity in modern day culture. Such an emphasis on pop-culture may be due to the fact the majority of the staff here at In Unison are under the age of 25.When you are young, like us, pop-culture is a huge part of your life. Popular culture, in a nut shell, is something that is widely popular for a certain era, or sector in society and what is popular is spread by the mass media, if not defined by it. I mainly associate the idea of pop-culture with youth and how into it you are is probably linked in with your media consumption. I, like many others of my generation, consume a lot of media, and have since a young age. I was born in 1985 and so have been heavily influenced by pop-culture ever since.

I started to make my own tapes from the radio stations, hovering over the record button while listening to the Top 10 at night.

”

My first memory is of the big red curtains at an old theatre in Auckland, where we were going to watch the Carebears Movie, I would have been about three. A few years later I started noticing music, especially my Dad’s records; I particularly loved the Village People, but developed some real taste when I found Michael Jackson. TV wise, my afternoon ration was spent on Jem and the Holograms, Rainbow Bright, Captain Planet and the Carebears. At about seven I started to make my own tapes from the radio stations, hovering over the record button while listening to the Top 10 at night, usually looking out for pop, hip-hop or RnB. Coolio, TLC, Brandy, MC Hammer, Will Smith, Janet Jackson, 4 Non-blonds, Peter Andre, Backstreet Boys, Whitney Houston, and more embarrassingly, Cotton Eye Joe and the Macarena made the grade. Shortland Street was in its early years, and from about ten, I watched it religiously. I even had a tee-shirt with the star’s faces on it; my sister had one too, but refused to wear if it I wore mine. My other pop-culture loves in the 90s were Friends, The Simpsons and all music videos- Juice TV had just started up, and the TVNZ Top 40 was part of my Saturday ritual. Up until about 10 I didn’t care too much about what I wore but my mum dressed me in the clothes that reflected what was popular at the time-tights, big tee-shirts, slouch socks, bangs and side-ponytails. In the late 90s, when I was 12-14, I really started to obsess

over pop-culture and its icons of the time, it was still MJ, but the Spice Girls, the Friends cast, Johnny Depp, Hanson, Brad Pitt and Devon Sawyer lined my walls, pulled from my Teen Hits magazines. Everyone at school was influenced by the teen movies of the time, we all wanted to work at a music store like on Empire Records, and to be able to chose our daily outfits from a computer like Cher did on Clueless. I went to Romeo and Juliet at the movies three times. It was around 1997 that I discovered my sisters’ CD collection she kept so well guarded, and so my introduction to grunge began. Nirvana, Silverchair and the Smashing Pumpkins were my staples as I started to become a moody teenager, dressed in plaid. I painted my favourite lyrics all over my ceiling. Later the Chilli Peppers, Sublime, and Rage crept in to my collection. In 2000 I momentarily took on a hip-hop culture lifestyle - 26 Red Jeans, hoodies and attempting to break dance with my friends. We named ourselves after characters on Street Fighter, perhaps a phase better forgotten. Next came my hippy phase where I went vegan, got facial piercings and red dreads, started wearing home-made clothes (made from various pieces of paisley linen) and rediscovered the music of the sixties, borrowing aspects of the pop-culture of that decade (which also helped shape my political views). Punk soon followed, where NOFX, Bad Religion and Fugazi played on my Discman. I rocked big black baggy shorts, skate shoes, studded belts, and hoodies with patches and played in girl punk bands. There were the four years at uni with variations on the above coming back to play, with the added discovery of indie music and film and better fashion, but mostly, what I’ve been into in the later part of this decade is basically what has come to define it, and it’s kind of embarrassing. We have let rich American kids be followed around by cameras and lapped it up - I’ve seen every episode of The Hills.We’ve forged drinking games at parties to sit around and watch ironic music videos, like ‘On a Boat’.We’ve put down our books to catch up with Hollywood’s most hated blogger Perez Hilton, not to mention the millions of other blogs there to distract and entertain, to keep us chained to our computers and away from normal human contact. We’ve spent more hours on Facebook than talking on the phone and obsessively posted inane updates on Twitter. But that’s the thing with pop-culture it does suck you in whole; hopefully with age we’ll come to realise it’s not the be all and end all and will pick those books up again. Stacey Knott In Unison Editor, 2009

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1.WHO IS YOUR POP-CULTURE IDOL? 2.HOW WOULD YOU/DID YOU FEEL IF THEY DIED? 3.WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE RECENT SPIRITUALITY WEEK AT UNITEC?

CHRIS BURKE

1 2

Michael Jackson

Really sad, but it doesn’t take affect on my own life

I didn’t notice it

I don’t really have one (does dismissive shrug)

2 3

No (mumbled)

Did notice it, not much (another dismissive shrug)

WHAT’S HOT

1 2 3 4 5

Daffodil Day is totally hot! August 28th Notting Hill Carnival (London) Lumber Jackets and Sequins Ponsonby Food Court on a Tuesday night Habitual Fix – fresh food

VIV “THE BOOK LADY”

WHAT’S NOT

The woman who died dancing on the dancefloor of Studio 54

1 2 3 4 5

1 ROBIN BARTLE

HOT AND NOT

2 3

A little sad

I felt it was good for people to have a look at what spiritual options there are. They need more next time.

etc. etc.

VOX POP

Getting your car clamped at Unitec Paula Bennet – her changes to the TIA Jude Laws new Kiwi baby Globe Bar Low-riding pants

POLL

SHOULD IT BE ILLEGAL TO USE PHYSICAL VIOLENCE WITH YOUR CHILDREN?

4% I’M NOT VOTING 2% UNDECIDED 30% YES 32% NO 4% UNSURE 30% TO AN EXTENT SOURCE: www.usu.co.nz

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usu president’s tirade

AHOY…

Tirade

Kia Ora I truly hope that you have all enjoyed the first month of semester two. I have enjoyed meeting all the new faces on campus and love to see the old faces still present. Once again thanks to you all, we have beaten the other students’ associations by having the most students attending our Reorientation events, with the Concord Dawn and Antiform event selling out. You all rock! The Tertiary Challenge was held last week with 50+ students attending and representing USU and Unitec. I will let you all know how we did in the next In Unison. Pop culture on campus can only be gauged by you. So what is popular to you? What would you like to see happening here at Unitec? We are always keen to know your thoughts, so leave your comments on my Tirade online – I’ll always check them and listen to what you have to say.

WANKER OF THE WEEK…

Former Mangere MP Taito Phillip Field was found guilty of 26 out of 35 charges, 11 for bribery and corruption and 15 for attempting to pervert the course of justice. To you Taito for bribing and holding under thumb the people of New Zealand, for waving the proverbial golden carrot in front of immigrants and taking advantage of them; YOU ARE A TRUE WANKER…

present in standing up and having a voice. This voice has never been for their own gain, and has generally been for the environment, and the better resource of students. To Rose, the flower of the village, we are lucky to have your passion for others on campus, you are definitely the dudette of the day!

DUDE OF THE DAY…

Until next time

Over the last year and a half of being president for the USU I have had the privilege of spending time with, and hearing from Unitec students. But one in particular has been very

Greg Powell USU Student President 2009

ADAM

General Exec usu@unitec.ac.nz

TOGIA

General Exec usu@unitec.ac.nz

PETE

General Exec usu@unitec.ac.nz

Treasurer usu@unitec.ac.nz

THANINDU

MANUAL

Post-Graduate Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

Maori Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

HANELLE

NATASCHA

International Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

DIANE

Waitakere Rep usu@unitec.ac.nz

AJAY

Vice President usuvp@unitec.ac.nz

THE USU EXEC

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Does Automotive studies. His yellow shoes brighten our day and the comic book hoodie fits right into the Pop Culture Issue!

caption competition

JOSE VILLAFLOR

fashion on campus

FASHION ON CAMPUS

CAPTION COMP

THIS WEEK’S PIC COME UP WITH A CAPTION FOR THIS PHOTO AND BE IN TO WIN A DOUBLE SKY CITY MOVIE PASS! Email your caption to: inunison@unitec.ac.nz Competition closes: 24th August

EMMA WILLIAMS

Studies visual arts and design. Cute outfit, liking the ruby red slippers and patterned stockings.

LAST WEEK’S WINNER “When this photo surfaced on Facebook Jane knew that she shouldn’t have had that last jug of beer...”

SUDOKU

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.

PAUL NOVAK is doing Foundation Studies. Sweet casual style.

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news

Read me...

CHURCHES TEMPLES AND THE REST OF THEM AHOY

By Joseph Harper

God was almost certainly in the house (or should I say the Hub?) last week. Thanks in no small part to Unitec’s seventh annual Spirituality Week. The event saw the Hub transformed into a figurative sample platter of the world’s religions, allowing students to taste test whichever religious sects took their fancy in the form of pamphlets, literature, friendly chats, and in some cases aura readings and light massages. Participating religions included, but were not limited to, Baha’i Faith, Sukyo Mahikari, the Church of Scientology, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

One of the event’s organisers was Unitec’s chaplain, Ricky Waters, who said that Spirituality Week exists and is important for two primary reasons: “To encourage students and staff of Unitec to recognise that spirituality exists, and is a part of some people’s lives. And secondly to act as a platform for the participating faiths to showcase what they offer.” The majority of the feedback on the event from Mr Waters, as well as organisations involved has been extremely positive. Cecilia Lindsay of Sukyo Mahikari stated that they had been busy all week and had “given a lot of students light.” Marta Guttierrez of the Baha’i Faith

was the only stall person who seemed unimpressed with the event. “We haven’t seen a lot of student interest. Seems like they’re all in another world, I wonder if they have been advised [of the event]?” The other stalls In Unison spoke with were singing its praises; Reverend Sancia Rooney, of the Church of Scientology, said,“It’s been really good.We’ve enjoyed being here.” Overall, Mr Waters described the week as a success, and also said that it was “very useful”. He also told In Unison that he is extremely interested in hearing feedback from students about the event.

UNITEC HELPS OUT IN TELETHON By Nicholas Mark Unitec students were involved with the bach that was crafted from scratch and sold at New Zealand’s first Telethon in over 15 years. About 30 students from the Master in Architecture course were involved with it, under the guidance of lecturer Dave Strachan of Strachan Group Architects. Mr Strachan first started the project because he wanted to get his students involved in a significant project with a focus on the industry. “We wanted to give our students the opportunity to work on site, and do something for an important cause,” he says. The first stage of the project was completed last year on campus. The living area which included three of four rooms and one of two bathrooms were completed before it was shifted to Sea

Breeze Road, Mangawhai for completion by KidsCan ambassador John “Cocksy” Cocks. Approximately 118m2 in size, the house has three double bedrooms, a semi outdoor bunkroom, and one bathroom. This environmentally friendly building is valued at $150,000. Mr Cocks admits it was a fanatical race to finish but worth it, he hoped it would help generate some well needed funds for KidsCan. KidsCan is an organisation that works in over 153 schools to provide raincoats, shoes, and school breakfasts. The bach was auctioned on the KidsCan telethon on TV3 on August 8-9. The proceeds from it will go towards assisting children facing poverty in New Zealand. Currently there are over 30,000

children around the country in need. KidsCan Executive Director Julie Helson says it cost $180 per child each year to provide the sponsored programmes. She was thrilled with this innovative idea that boosted fundraising this year. “By bidding, someone has the opportunity to walk away with a great new home and the rare opportunity of knowing that they have made a very kind donation to the struggling children in our own backyard.” The Mangawhai bach sold on August 9 for a grand total of $160,000, enough to help just under 900 children for a year in the KidsCan programme. Over the course of the 23 hours the TV3 star studded event raised a total amount of just under 2 million dollars.

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By Nicholas Mark

By Nicholas Mark Unitec performed well at the recent Tertiary Challenge, but was hampered in the point’s category due to low participation. Unitec has always featured quite highly at the Tertiary Challenge with some outstanding players from soccer, touch and basketball, however, this year’s registrations were low partly because of the high cost involved for students to travel. On August 7 the Unitec delegation attended the Northern Tertiary Challenge at Hamilton’s University of Waikato which was the first time host of the competition. The event involves 11 northern tertiary institutes, over 700 people coming together to compete over six hours in seven categories of sports. Competition points are won through participation in each event but the reduced registrations for the rowing, volleyball, and ultimate frisbee categories meant Unitec automatically missed out on points. Narissa Fale, USU sports coordinator believes the key to a winning formula is having people present, “one of the biggest contributors to winning

Tertiary Challenge is numbers.” Despite this Unitec still managed to produce a competitive team in each code. Miss Fale, a past competitor herself says the calibre of the competition was very high and has risen from previous years. “The standard of competition was raised this year, pretty much every institute had quite strong teams,” she says. While official results have yet to be released, both the Unitec touch and football teams took third place and the basketball team narrowly missed the number one spot coming in at second place. Unitec has a very strong sport culture present on campus and will continue, Miss Fale believes, “students are getting a lot more into sport and the culture is starting to build up and around it.” Next year the tournament is due back in Auckland which may help registrations increase and help keep costs down. The USU will publish details of the final placings once confirmed.

news

CLIMATE CHANGE’S HEATED TALKS

Me too...

SWEATY SPORTOS BATTLE IT OUT IN HAMILTON

Keisha Castle-Hughes may just have her meeting with the Prime Minister following events where John Key told a congregation of 500 Australian business people “My advice to Keisha is this: Stick to acting.” Castle-Hughes, a young New Zealand actress, was involved with an expedition to the Cook Islands to see the impact of climate change on Pacific Island communities. On return she was eager to meet Mr Key to put forward her concerns but was told she should make a submission to Climate Change Minister Dr Nick Smith. Castle-Hughes wrote on her blog, “I think it’s derogatory to state that it’s not okay for New Zealanders to stand up and take interest in the world around them. “Discouraging New Zealand Youth to participate, think and speak out is not on for the Prime Minister of New Zealand.” “I am just doing what I can as a good global citizen”, she says. Castle-Hughes is one of many celebrities involved with Greenpeace’s Sign On Campaign which hopes for a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Mr Key now says his comments should be seen in perspective rather than dismissive and although his schedule is tight would be happy to meet with the young actress at some stage and talk about her concerns about climate change. Leading up to the December United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen Mr Key says he expects that although emissions targets are to be debated, it is more likely it will “spill over into 2010, a more watered down commitment from developed countries.” Mr Key says it remains important to remember the 40 percent cut target sought by Castle-Hughes and others would be catastrophic for the economy. On August 10 Dr Smith announced that New Zealand will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. Lower than what had been expected, but in a statement, the Minister defends this target as being, “both environmentally and economically responsible.” This figure was presented at the UN Conference held in Bonn earlier last week.

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news

Read me...

KIDS COMING OUR WAY. (STI STATISTICS POSSIBLY TO RISE.) By Joseph Harper The Government’s Budget may have included its fair share of cuts to the tertiary sector; but it also included a new initiative which will have an unabashed positive effect on tertiary institutes, and in particular institutes of technology such as Unitec. The new Youth Guarantee initiative will get into gear later this month, and will usher in a whole new set of possibilities for the students who it will apply for it, and the tertiary institutes that will accommodate them. The initiative has been put into action in order to help out 16 and 17 year olds who are not currently engaged in any form of education, by providing them with new options in terms of tertiary education. Eligible students must be under18, have completed year 11 of high school, but have achieved NCEA level one or less. The courses offered by the initiative will be vocation based and will all lead into higher levels of training. The scheme will see approximately 2,000 new students added to tertiary institute rolls next year. On top of this; the education providers will receive funding bonuses at the rate of $4,500 per Youth Guarantee student enrolled in their institution. Unitec’s chief executive Dr Rick Ede sees the new initiative as a good one.“It means more students, and with funding attached to them. It’s positive.” He also stated that Unitec will definitely be looking to get involved with the new scheme; “We’ve been invited to submit a capabilities statement to the TEC (Tertiary Education Committee) ...potentially this represents a chance for Unitec to play a role in the problem that is disengaged youth.”

Cartoon by Joseph Harper.

EXECUTION, 06 AUGUST: By Stacey Knott The most recent exec meeting managed to gather a full house as they debated cake and funding the Unitec marae. The evening kicked off with Adam Brakey requesting the last meeting’s minutes to change from him being absent to an apology for being absent. He said he did give a verbal apology about his planned absence but this was not relayed last week. The exec let it pass this time but student president Greg Powell said no more verbal apologies would be accepted, he “wants a paper trail.” Next it was revealed Powell had promised the exec a cake for a failed bet, but forgot to bring it. So they spent a good while debating the kind of cake they wanted for the next meeting, some wanted black forest, while others said it doesn’t matter “as long as it’s moist.” The real business followed this debate. The funding of the Unitec marae was on the cards. USU general manager Richard Neal suggested the exec could donate $25,000 each year for three years to the marae project. However, Powell admitted the exec knew “mediocre to little” about the marae, so Neal set about explaining its funding issues, which it has been plagued with. He said it was very unusual for Unitec to ask the students’ association to help with funding a capital project because the fees students pay, fund such ventures anyway; he likened it to having to pay twice. However, the exec had earlier indicated it was politically important they support the marae. They talked about the funding issues and time constraints the marae has faced, Powell noted “Maoridom had bent over backwards for the institution because of the time and costs associated with building it.” However Maori representative Hanelle Harris asked to “interlude and add here” stating Unitec had not asked for the money in a direct way from the USU, rather they were trying to figure out some external funding. She delivered a lengthy explanation about the background of this funding idea, and later an explanation of the importance of a kitchen and dining room. Between her two speeches, Powell revealed Unitec had a gapping hole of $616, 000 to fill because of the marae, and this hole needed to be filled before work on the next stage could begin, which is building toilets that Powell said are expected to cost at least a million dollars because they will be designed with no straight lines. A kitchen/dining area is also in the plans for stage two. Powell told his exec “I’ll give you some choice of where you take it or give it” about this funding issue. The exec bought up other issues that could hinder their funding, such as the recession and whether they will get more students coming soon, and so more money. Alluding to insiders knowledge on the recession,Waitakere representitive Diane Monteith asserted “I know for a fact the recession is going to last longer than people think.” So, the exec decided the issue was too big to decide on then and there. Powell put forward a notion that some people find out the answers to all the questions the exec want to know, which Harris and general exec member Pete Hodkinson put their hands up for.

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Staff and students are being asked to start collecting presents to send to Pacific Island communities to remind children they are “precious to God.” The Operation Christmas Child appeal kicked off in the recent Spiritually Week. This is a venture organised by Christian group the Samaritans Purse who ask people to fill a shoe box with gifts that can be sent to children. It is a global project and in the past, boxes have been sent to over 100 countries. Boxes made in New Zealand will go to South Pacific countries. Unitec chaplain Ricky Waters is organising Unitec’s collections. Last year was the first year Unitec was involved. Mr Waters says they managed to send 158 boxes to Fiji and the Solomon Islands. This year he is hoping to send 250 boxes. However, despite its Christian origins, there are strict rules that the boxes must not contain any religious paraphernalia. Other restrictions include

food, second-hand items and items that could be used as, or look like weapons, such as toy guns. The boxes are distributed through schools and community centres in villages. Every box is opened and checked before it is sent. If there are inappropriate items, they are given to other charities. Mr Waters says “I think it’s an opportunity to think beyond ourselves, about others who have less than us and we can do something about it.” He also says the happiness the gifts give to the children makes it worthwhile. He stresses gifts do not have to be expensive, and suggests six items from the $2 Shop should suffice, or getting a class to bring one item each to put in one of the shoe boxes. The boxes will be collected at the end of September. At the time of print they had not received any boxes but Mr Waters say some people had expressed interest in donating.

The proposed changes to the Mt Albert Campus

By Stacey Knott

news

By Stacey Knott

FUTURISTIC CAMPUS, NO HOVER CARS INCLUDED

Me too...

SHOEBOXES FOR CHRISTMAS

Last week Unitec chief executive Dr Rick Ede released a proposed map of what the Mount Albert campus is going to look like in the future, with the news health science students will be moved to Waitakere. The plan, complete with hand drawn arrows and handwritten instructions is going to go before the Unitec Council on Monday August 17 for approval. Dr Ede says the new campus is about improving student services, growing UATI and Waitakere and cutting operating costs by consolidating the north and south end of Mt Albert. The plan is supported by Unitec’s key decision makers, and has gone through some heads of departments. If Council approves of the stage one of developments some study areas will be relocated. The plan says the Department of Communication Studies will move from building 111 and 112 to 172. Education will move from building 180 to 112, Health Sciences (with the exception of the Osteopathic Clinic) will relocate from 115 to the Waitakere campus and Natural Sciences will go from buildings 23 and 28 to building 115. Unitec marketing and communications and the corporate offices will be moved to building 48. The student services will move from 48 to 180 and 111, and Te Punka Ako from 111 to 180, to go with the new learning commons in the Hub. Course Info will be moved from building 48 to building 172 to make is easier to access from Carrington Road. Dr Ede says they will also start creating a prospective student centre in Building 172 and a learning commons in Building 1, and will start consolidating Design and Visual Arts to the north end of Mt Albert. The work is set to begin in September and is anticipated to be finished by the beginning of semester one next year.

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feature In these modern times of mass media saturation, the role and impact of celebrity is a massive one worldwide. Whether it’s influencing trends in fashion, allowing a charity or cause to capture the world’s attention, or just making lots of people lots and lots of money; celebrity culture and the star system is hugely prevalent on contemporary planet earth. Joseph Harper set out to report on celeb culture in Aotearoa, and the ways in which you could become a part of it. We’ve all been there. We’ve all strolled out of a movie theatre thinking, “gosh I’d love to be Mister Johnny Depp.” We’ve all walked past the magazines in our local superette and thought for a moment, “gosh I’d love for people to idolise me the way they idolise Brad/Angelina.” And of course we’ve all been leafing through the Herald’s weekly television listing magazine, only to accidentally wind up in Rachel Glucina’s gossip foray, SPY, and thought to ourselves, “gosh. Wouldn’t it be great to see my face in here, between Shavaughn Ruakere, and TK from Shortland Street.” We’ve all flirted with the notion of celebrity. There’s nothing

shameful about that. Unfortunately; while in the USA it seems that almost any chump with an ounce of willpower can manage to strangle out his own fifteen minutes of fame by way of many avenues, in New Zealand it’s a little tougher. We’re a small nation, and we can only allow so many of ourselves to rise to the level of genuine Kiwi celeb. The way I see it, in New Zealand, to become a celebrity, you only have two options. Option A: Become an All Black, develop a hot bod, and model for underwear companies.This option is the more difficult one, and becoming an All Black is actually quite difficult. If you’re willing to

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Option B: Shortland Street. Since it first invaded our televisions in 1992, no other aspect of popular New Zealand culture has had the same level of impact on our celebrity scene. If you can make it onto the Street, and manage to work your way from some paramedic/bit part to a full blown genuine doctor/ nurse/CEO /bar owner, you’re almost guaranteed to become something of a household name. With this in mind, I decided to do some investigation into the ways in which someone, firstly becomes part of the Shortland Street institution, and secondly uses that position to establish themselves as a fixture of the New Zealand celebrity scene. Getting on Shortland Street in the first place is tough. There are thousands of actors in this country and most of them will be struggling to find work, and Shortland Street has long been established as one of the few places where actors can get regular television work. So, if you manage to ruffle yourself up an audition you’re going to have to stand out. Then of course there’s always the chance your character will never develop from tadpole to frog, i.e. your role may never develop out of its Tuesday Warner stage and into something substantial. You’re going to want to go from a bit-paramedic part to at least some form of genuine doctor/nurse or even CEO. After all, those are the faces people recognise.Those are the genuine celebs. I ask Andrea McKellar, Shortland Street’s casting director, about what it takes to land a role, and also about how you can stretch that role into something big. “We have what is called a casting brief which lays out the qualities of each character I need to cast. The brief covers the age, ethnic background, and sometimes special skills like skate boarding, golf, tennis, horse riding…I try and get actors who really can do the sports they are supposed to be good at.” I ask if there are any universal qualities which might help an auditionee succeed. “Fresh faces, good teeth, shiny, clean hair. Energy, enthusiasm, and love of the work” she says. Sounds easy enough. Get a comb or a bottle of shampoo, some Saint Ives facial scrub, and a tube of Berrocca and you should be sweet. Surely there’s an easier way though, I mean, if you’re going spend that kind of money getting yourself all prepped up; why not just fold all your Hillarys into little squares and have a wee ’golden moment’ between the casting director and yourself. Wink. Wink. “Sorry we don’t take bribes, turn up on time, know your lines, dress appropriately and if you get an audition you are already on the casting directors’ shortlist so give it your best shot!” Okay, so if I manage all that and land a role, chances are it’s not going to be a very big one. How can I change this? Is there anything an actor can do to increase their line-load/screen-time? “We have had small part performers who have inspired the writers to write a bigger story due to their amazing presence on screen. Our writers are writing about 13 weeks ahead of what is screening and when they watch the show they think he/she was great! We could bring them back to play that bad guy we have coming up …So if you do get a chance at a role just be the best you can be …you never know who may be watching!” So getting that part may prove to be more elusive than was first speculated. And becoming a major player unfortunately seems like it relies on luck, charisma, or good looks - maybe even genuine talent. Because developing the aforementioned qualities would take years of hard work, and because I refuse to lower myself to the level of writing some appalling Midnight Youth-esque song (another

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put in the years of necessary training, and if you have been gifted with some copious amounts of athletic prowess, then by all means go for it. But if you’re like me, and you’re a bit on the weedy/female side of things, you’re probably going to have to pursue the second avenue.

simple way of establishing ones self in the realms of New Zealand celebrity - for a while at least) I decide to alter my hypothesis. Surely some large aspect of the creation of celebrity is cerebral right, like having the right attitude, and believing in yourself to the extreme. Just look at Paris Hilton. She’s a celebrity, yet all she had to do was have a father who owns some obscure chain of hotels. With this in mind I decide my new route to celebrity will be one of self-fulfilment. After all, I have an uncle who owns a motel in Motueka. And my great grandfather was mayor of Hokitika. I’m basically Aotearoan royalty already. All that remains is for me to let Auckland (club-central) know it. Friday night rolls around and I’m lacing up my longest, brownest, Italianest, leather kicks, and buttoning up a shirt with a collar so crisp it makes my neck feel like an origami installation. Needless to say, I’m hitting the town. I had done a Google search during the day for, “Auckland’s hottest (non strip) club”, I learned that the place I need to go is a joint called the Pony Club. Pony of course being an ex-male strip club now transformed by quasi-celeb Brook Howard Smith into the most happening spot in Auckland. The club also has a notoriously tough entry code. However I feel confident that my new found level of self-assured celebrity will allow me to sail past any questioning bouncers. 12:26am – Outside Pony Club. Joseph: Sup brah. Bouncer:Yo. Joseph:Yo back. Move aside pardner. Bouncer: (lols a little) Wha? Joseph: One side brah. Bouncer: (full lol) Move along son. Joseph: What? Bouncer:You heard me. Joseph: I’m going inside though. Bouncer: No you aren’t. Joseph: Good one. Bouncer: No joke. No single guys. Move along. Joseph: Do you know who I am? Bouncer: No. Move along. Joseph: (impressive scoffish lol in the face of authority) I’m Joseph Harper. Bouncer: Good for you. Move along. Joseph: I’m Joseph Harper. I write for In Unison, bitch. My granddad was the mayor of Hokitika. Bouncer: Where? Joseph: Hokitika. It’s on the West Coast. Bouncer: In the Naki? Joseph: No. On the South Island. Coal country. (Pause) Bouncer: Move along. At this point I flick up my collar in disgust, and stalk off moodily. So I was wrong. Celebrity is not created in the mind of the celebrity. It’s created through society’s basic need to worship. As far as I can tell people look at celebrities because they are either: a- unsatisfied with their own life and therefore choose to seek escapism by living through someone else or b- have had such voyeuristic tendencies ground into them by the social climate in which they were raised to the point where it’s the normal thing to do. Neither of those seem particularly healthy to me. My advice for those who crave that celebrity feeling is to take twenty bucks to Las Vegas bar on Karangahape road and get treated like genuine royalty.

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In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 13

13/08/2009 4:50:25 p.m.

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d n E s ’ w o b R a i n still relevant? is

I was highly surprised Rainbow’s End didn’t make it onto C4’s list of 100 pop-culture moments, to me; it has been an icon of pop-culture since it opened in 1982. I hadn’t been since I was 8-years-old so decided to investigate this travesty with three friends and a camera in tow, asking the question, is Rainbow’s End still relevant? Globally, amusement parks have always been an icon of popular culture, right through the decades. New Zealand’s answer to amusement parks is small scale and quaint compared to its older brothers and sisters in the USA. Nestled between a mall and a motorway in South Auckland, it’s often touted as one of New Zealand’s biggest attractions. It opened 28 years ago with only a few attractions, but since then has added attractions, each new addition more high-tech than the last - easy enough considering the earlier attractions were video games and bumper boats. In 1986 it added New Zealand’s first rollercoaster but little was added to the park from then till 1992- standards slipped and it looked like it was going to go into oblivion, but then new owners pulled it out of its depression and kept adding to it, bringing it back as a relevant form of entertainment. I asked the park’s general manager Chris Deere if it is still relevant. “I definitely think so…it’s reached an iconic status everyone knows about it, it’s gone through a lot of challenges but it is here to stay.” Mr Deere believes its ongoing popularity is down to the fact it can appeal to everyone. “It’s generational, people that came here when it first opened, when they come back they notice it has changed and evolved and they bring their kids.” He says it’s a good family day out, and for some a form of escapism from these gloomy times. For some in my group it was escapism from hangovers. Our first destination was the Pirate Ship. When I was eight, I was the kid who demanded the ship stop so I could get off trembling. So it was with great satisfaction I conquered the ship this time round. My favourite ride has always been the not-so-scary Log Fume, which was built in 1984. It made my friend Jo nervous, but all was forgiven when we went through the Enchanted Forrest inside the tunnels.This is another one that brought back memories of my sister teasing me by rocking the log and making me think we were going to fall out and drown. The bumper cars were another highlight, especially the charming man who waited in front of us in line, telling his kids “I’m gonna smash yous”. The worst experience of the day was on the Power Surge, proving people’s obsession with cheating death has gone too far. I was convinced I was going to die; it’s like being picked up and thrown around carelessly by a big robot.While on the ride, Dave pointed out if you were plummeting to your death that would be how it felt. I could have gleefully spent the whole day at the park, but with time limitations we managed to fit in most things in three hours. So is it still relevant? Well the crowds there on a winter’s Sunday afternoon would say yes, and it wasn’t just kids, there were bum-bag and Bermuda shorts wearing tourists, groups of teenagers and groups in their 20s, including us who all decided, despite all the other offerings we have for entertainment, if you can afford the entry fee, Rainbow’s End is definitely on our top pop-culture entertainment lists. 14

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In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 14

13/08/2009 4:50:31 p.m.

USU TAG TOURNAMENT

FRIDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER UNITEC RUGBY FIELDS - 10AM 8 a side - Maximum 12 people per team G e t t oget h er, c h oose a te am nam e and re gis te r at U SU R ec eptio n (b ld g 180). R egi st ra t i on clo s e s 2nd Se pte m b e r $ 3 0 en t ry fee i s p ayab le at the tim e o f re gis tratio n P l a y i n g of f icial kiw i tag ru le s MORE DETAILS AVAILABLE FROM USU RECEPTION OR EMAIL USUSPORT@UNITEC.AC.NZ usu In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 15

WWW.USU.CO.NZ 13/08/2009 4:50:31 p.m.

photos

U S U R E - O R I E NTAT I CONCORD

DAWN & ANTIFORM

PHOTOS BY: Sanji, Raymie and Grant Armishaw MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS OF THESE EVENTS AT WWW.USU.CO.NZ AND ON USU TV

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In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 16

13/08/2009 4:50:53 p.m.

UPFOLD HYPNOTIST WESLEY GIG GUIDE

gig guide

TION 2009

FEATURED EVENT / 20TH AUG USU PRESENTS

B AC K TO S C H O O L PA RT Y

7PM, C ARRINGTON’S, MT ALBERT C AMPUS VISIT WWW.USU.CO.NZ FOR MORE DETAILS

AU G U S T 1 7 - 3 0

17 MON Object and Jewellery Auction The students from fourth year object and jewellery design are holding an auction from 17th - 21st August outside the Building One Library 5.30pm start for a 6.30 live auction.

THUR

COMEDY

SHOW

Career Centre Volunteering Day Come to the Hub between10am and 1pm to see a wide variety of organisations looking for volunteers and attend free workshops on volunteering.

THUR

USU’s Back to School Party Dust off the school uniform and get ready the USU Back to School Party! Featuring: DJ Taktix, DJ Joe Sik, DJ Reminise playing all your favourite high school classics. Tickets only $5 from USU Reception. At Carrington’s from 7pm.

2FRI8 Village Football Match If you live in the residential village, get a team together and register to play by emailing usuclubs@ unitec.ac.nz or register at USU Reception.

22 SAT Flamingo Electric Nights electro, house, indie, Toto Bacco & Montecristo Rooms, CBD

29 SAT Chemistry Auckland’s largest all-local-DJ dance party featuring a huge line-up of the country’s top, trance, hard dance, house and electro DJs. Special student ticket price ($24.90 + booking fee) is available to students with Student ID cards from the Aotea Centre Box Office.

In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 17

13/08/2009 4:51:17 p.m.

feature

Death By Celebrity… According to an arbitrary forecast, the next month is going to be miserable as no celebrity deaths are predicted. Not really, but it just means that the hipsters will have a little less to talk about for a while and there won’t be a media blitzkrieg. The so-called “celeb experts” will not be throwing painful bits and pieces of dead celebrity’s lives out in the public. More importantly, could this mean we would also have fewer numbers of obsessed fans taking their lives? Megha Kehar investigates.

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In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 18

13/08/2009 4:51:19 p.m.

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Recently, after pop icon Michael Jackson’s death, media reported that at least 12 bereft fans committed suicide. I wonder if other deaths related to the news went unreported. If so, it was a bit pointless, wasn’t it? At this point, and before I get flamed for blasphemy, it is utterly important that I clarify that I – being a child of the 80s– am a huge fan of MJ. Growing up, a huge chunk of my pocket money went towards building my personal museum of Jackson’s musical art. Having said that, no matter how hard I try, I struggle to understand what drives people to such extremes. MJCommunity, an online forum for all Michael Jackson fans, has been tracking such gruesome reports coming in from around the world since his death. It claims that one of the 12 Michael Jackson devotees was a Russian who had been obsessed with Jackson since the age of nine. Soon after Jackson’s death, Pável Talaláyev was found bleeding in his Moscow home: a paramedic on the scene reportedly heard him uttering his last words, “It’s all the same to me. I’m going to kill myself. It’s the worst tragedy of my life and I don’t want to live any more. I don’t know why you saved my life, I want to be with him.” Many Jackson online communities soon launched several videos in an attempt to reach out to grieving fans who may be considering taking their lives. Death by celebrity goes back to the birth of rock and roll. One can only wonder what pushes people to the point of ending everything when someone they don’t personally know or have even met in real life dies. Psychologists say such behaviour stems from the tendency to ignore the obvious. Doctor Tony Coates, psychiatric medical officer at Conservation Services in Grey Lynn has been trying to understand the complexities of the mind and helping people with psychiatric disorder for over 30 years. He says celebrity deaths are “a bit of a grey area”. “Celebrities are admired for what they are, they are celebrities because of the way they look, dress, their success stories, their talent or some other reason,” Coates says. He says there is always this tendency to try and emulate them in some cases. In the event of celebrity death fans are left distraught – some more than others – because it may mean it’s time to get back to reality. “It starts with ‘here I am. this is my life. I go to school or university, these are my friends and we go to dance parties.’ However, when they [fans] look at celebrities, they start admiring them to the point of emulating them,” Coates says. The fans start living in a make-believe world. “I can get somewhere in life now, they think,” he adds. “All they see is the glamour, success and the good life. In reality no one knows what the life of a celebrity is like – constant pressure, phone calls, constant stage performances, living up to a public image. But these fans aren’t aware of that. “When these celebrities die, it’s back to reality for the fans. It’s a real affront because suddenly they have to start reconsidering where their own life is going. The truth is their life is still going where it was going before. Just that they weren’t aware of it while they were living in their imaginary world,” Coates explains. Even though all of us admire celebrities, the separating factor between us and the extreme cases is merely the state of mind. It may be said that people suffering from delusion are more likely to act in such a manner in such circumstances. What kills them is “the deception”. He however adds that the problem with that theory is,

“the notion of a disorder is in retrospect. After someone has done something. When that someone was listening to the same music over and over again, obsessing over a celebrity, everybody thought he was wonderful,” He adds there is an element of escapism attached to such behaviour. He explains it is very easy for people to escape the harsh realities of their everyday lives and live like a rock star. “They are living the celebrity’s life,” Coates says. Before Jackson, deaths of several other celebrities caused similar outbursts. I remember some of my mates becoming distraught after they heard of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain’s death 15 years ago. His death shocked several fans around the world, pushing some to the point of killing themselves. Dave McKay, a 29-year-old student, still remembers the day he heard the news about Cobain. “It was the Eighth of April, 1994. Me and my friends were depressed for a week,” he says. “Hard to believe it was ages ago.” “Looking back now it does seem a bit stupid but at the time it felt like a personal loss.” McKay says as an “angsty teen” he found it very easy to relate to Nirvana. “He [Cobain] was like a mate who said just the right things,” he says. “I could not eat for days. And I couldn’t bring myself to play any Nirvana. It was too painful.” Cobain’s death put him in the league of other famous tortured souls – Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison – who took their lives at the age of 27, battling drug addiction. Lucy Mullinger is a student in Auckland. 25 years ago, she moved to Whangarei from England with her family. She recalls how the death of Princess Diana, or Di, as her mum still affectionately calls her, came as a bit of a rude shock. “I had just come back from spending the day at the beach. I put the radio on and heard the radio jockey talking about Princess Diana’s death. I thought the DJs were joking and I remember saying to myself, ‘that’s not very funny.’ Now I wish they were joking,” she says. “I was a bit upset, not massively distraught or anything but a bit like, ‘that’s sad.’ My mum was heartbroken though,” Mullinger says. “She was crying. Obviously she’s English and a royalist. She pays a lot of attention to the royal family,” Mullinger says. Mullinger went to a memorial for Princess Diana at a local Anglican church in Whangarei. Deaths of hip-hop heavyweights Tupac and the notorious B.I.G caused a massive furore among their fans. Tupac fans were a bit too hardcore. After his death, members of his hip-hop clique, Outlaw Immortalz, mixed some of his cremated ashes with marijuana and smoked them. As disturbing as it may sound, a bit of Tupac now probably resides somewhere in the dark innards of their lungs. Was fandom any different in past generations? A quick phone call to mum reveals their generation too bred an unhealthy relationship of obsession with the stars. A case in point is Elvis Presley, who died of cardiac arrhythmia at the age of 42. My mum was 17 when he died – a bit too much of a shock for someone so young to handle. She said, soon after, that she heard rumours of people jumping off the buildings to express their ultimate love for “The King”. In fact, The King’s death is so shocking that 32 years later, many of his fans still continue to be in denial. Every now and then, news about mysterious spottings of The King emerge in tabloids. We wait with anticipation for Michael Jackson to meet the same obsessive fate.

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In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 19

13/08/2009 4:51:20 p.m.

Pop-culture creates many memorable moments, as In Unison finds when we ask three Unitec students to share who they admire in popular culture.

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I remember the movie

fastforward and rewind when

we used to

Milo fell off the cliff, very funny at the time. 20

In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 20

13/08/2009 4:51:23 p.m.

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He is one of the few people in this world whose image or reference can immediately make

anything cool.

The infamous picture with turned up collar and cigarette is the epitome of badass and he died like a Rockstar.

In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 21

13/08/2009 4:51:25 p.m.

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My first TV memory is probably Lots of bright colours, rainbows, and a girl in charge of everybody!

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not to like!

She even had her own rainbow horse to ride on rainbow ribbons!

In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 22

13/08/2009 4:51:32 p.m.

column

Whakarongo Mai WITH THE JOSEPH News-Bot WITH HARPER NEWS ROUND UP

BABY, WHERE’S OUR FONZIE?

Yu Gi Oh!

Hello my inferior students! Did ypu know John Key decided to do something about that whole unemployment problem? Namely converting glue sniffing mall-rat teens into educated upstanding citizens. He announced a youth package to get businesses to take on low-skilled young people for six months, get them to work on community projects and give students summer research scholarships, to get them away from a life of crime, which you know, is where all the unemployed hooligans are heading. Some British MPs waggled their fingers at advertisers for their excessive use of airbrushing pictures of celebrities, so teenagers can feel better about their own awkward looks. The MPs want bans put on airbrushed beauties aimed at under 16s and for advertisers to tell the truth about their airbrushing antics. Fair enough I say, I hate it when advertisers put fake glistens on the movie star robots, it makes me feel like a dirty pile of junk. Those naughty Back of the Y boys got in trouble with the BSA over a character named pooman throwing shit at people and Santa Clause giving Jesus the smack down. The guy who complained to the BSA over it said the show contained “scenes of simulated masturbation, cursing, bare bottoms, excrement, excrement hitting the face of a person’’ and “references to sodomy’’ this show makes by steel tummy churn but over-zealous old men who complain about it are even worse. Christchurch lived up to its raciest name when a Fijian-Indian immigrant was attacked at his high school by some hick children, no doubt. The kid’s mother said they had left Fiji to escape the escalating violence. Goes to show, moving to Christchurch is never a good idea. If I saw those little punks I would totally pull out my metal rod and give them a good spanking. Speaking of metal, an obese inmate in a Texas jail with a moustache and a baby face, (that made him look like a lady pretending to be a man), managed to smuggle a gun around the Mexican prison he’s locked up in. How, you ask? He hid the gun under flabs of his own flesh. Urg. Another thing that made my metallic skin crawl recently, was hearing about the kids who found a badly decomposed woman’s body up north and for nearly two weeks thought it was a dead crocodile and played with it. Since learning it was a human, reports have said they are traumatised. Lesson? Crocodiles don’t live in New Zealand creeks. The greenies got pretty angry with National last week when they revealed their lack-lustre efforts to battle climate change. Some of the greenies said climate change is going to be the biggest humanitarian crisis pretty much ever; I’m a robot so I’m immune to weather, however you suckers are going to have to pay $27 a week to make sure the world doesn’t implode from climate change. Till next time, stay out of creeks, you never know what you may find!

People in the 50s were cool. They spent a lot of time in tailored suits with plain cloth shirts, and dresses that were a bit poofy. The women wore aprons, and the men chugged pipes. Elvis was a sex machine, Marilyn was a babe, and James Dean didn’t give a damn. In the 60s everyone was high/wearing so much tiedye/jammin’ out on electrical guitars and were therefore cool as cucumbers.The 70s saw the rise of corduroy, cocaine, a new golden age of cinema, and pastel palettes.The 80s were outrageous! Flocks of Seagulls! MJ! Drum machines! The Breakfast Club! The 90s will be remembered for massive leaps forward in communication (the internet), entertainment (Pokemon) and not giving a shit about anything and killing oneself (Nirvana). So where does that leave us? As we near the end of the first decade of the 21st century, as far as I can tell, people of the future will probably look back at us scornfully. How will we be remembered? Probably as a large (morbidly obese), over-affluent mass which wiled away the days watching Youtube videos and repeat viewings of Jake and Amir. Are laziness and procrastination the virtues with which the ’naughties’ will be painted in the future? Yes. Certainly, there may be talk of a recession which went down. There may be murmurs of a black man who conquered the USA. Planes hitting buildings may get a mention. But probably our internet folk heroes will be our pop-culture icons. How do you feel about this? Are you okay with Justin Tsimfuckis acting as your Fonzie? I am not. I feel there are aspects of our era which require immediate and massive resurgences, so that they will be our defining characteristic.Things like Yu Gi Oh! Why isn’t YGO! popular anymore? Surely I am not the only person who would be proud to be remembered as the ’blue eyes white dragon generation’, a part of a decade of master duellists. I would absolutely love it if my grandchildren would arrive home after a long day of hoverboarding, come inside, grab a soylent green bar, jump on my knee and say, “oh Grandpa Joe. Please. Tell us again the story of the Dark Magician. Please tell us. Then cook us cabbage soup.” And I would enthral them for hours with tales of trap cards and water themed decks. I know what you’re thinking; that’s ridic. Joseph. We could never return Yu Gi Oh! to mainstream popularity and thus recrown it as rightful king of naughties pop-culture. You’re wrong. We can! You (the reader (not you personally)) and I can do it together (figuratively. I don’t actually want to meet you). I’ll start the Unitec Yu-Gi-Oh! Club. Send me a comment and I’ll let you know how to join. Trust me; it’ll be radical. A chance to socialise, a chance to meet babez/broz, and most importantly a chance to change the way future generations will look at us.

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In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 23

13/08/2009 4:51:37 p.m.

usu columns

USU

Waitakere Petition UPDATE THE POWER OF STUDENTS UNITED

Waitakere students may have noticed a sail covering the courtyard. This is the result of a petition which USU received near the beginning of semester one highlighting deficiencies in the resources available at the Waitakere campus. 236 students signed the petition that was created by Togia Lanefale, a USU general executive member. There are 2947 students enrolled at Waitakere in 2009. Issues raised in the petition included the lack of study space, the shuttle bus leaving students behind, the cost of parking, the state of the hygiene and lack of regular cleaning and the inability of the campus to deal with the influx of new students enrolling at Unitec. Before Easter a meeting was held with two members of the Unitec Leadership Team, the Director of Facilities Management, Greg Powell (the USU President) and the USU Student Advocate, Aimee Walker.The issues discussed were those brought forward by students in the petition and an action plan was put in place for Semester Two. The following actions have since been taken by Unitec as a result of this student action:

Fyi...

- A sail has been put up in the courtyard, providing cover. - One of the Mt Albert shuttle buses will be used to transport students from Waitakere to Mt Albert, if the last shuttle bus has had to leave some students behind. - Unitec has been working with the cleaning contractors to ensure the cleaning is kept to a reasonable standard. - The Executive Director of Student and Community Engagement (David Coltman) is in discussions with Wai Health about the provision of services for Unitec students. - Unitec has made submissions to the Waitakere City Council about the opening hours of the library, and the cost of parking on Ratanui Street. The Council is currently considering these submissions. - Classrooms on the ground floor of building 510 are now available to students for group study when they are not in use by lecturers. Timetabling is in the process of creating a room booking system for all students at Unitec, which will be notified to students soon. This is a perfect example of the type of changes that can be made when students join together and form a strong voice. For some of these actions it is an ongoing process and we still welcome feedback from Waitakere students about this. If you have any feedback or issues in general please email usuadvocate@unitec.ac.nz for advice, or speak to your Student Rep. If you don’t know who your Student Rep. is, email usueducation@unitec.ac.nz. By Aimee Walker

UPDATE ON

USU

Clubs

USU

GAMING CLUB

USU GAMING CLUB As part of Re-Orientation the Gaming Club put on free gaming at the uni lounge in The Hub on Thursday 23rd July. The competition was fierce on the Xbox360 and Nintendo Wii consoles. Legends were made, thumbs needed healing and time will tell who can back up their champion titles! USU

POOL

CLUB

USU POOL CLUB With a few competitions under their belt, the USU Pool Club has been developing some really good players over the last couple of months. There are competitions Friday afternoons fortnightly and you can register to play or just check it out in the uni lounge.

USU

OUTDOORS CLUB

USU OUTDOORS CLUB 21 Outdoors Clubbers spent a day at Muriwai on Saturday 1st August, and had fun checking out the Gannet Colony, beach, blowhole and other features of the beautiful environment. The rain settled in around lunchtime so we set up all our food under a shelter and huddled together to eat. After lunch under the small shelter we ran to the cafe 50 metres away and hung out drinking coffees and milkshakes while the rain came down. It was a great day, email usuclubs@unitec.ac.nz for heads up on future trips.

USU FREE FILM NIGHTS This year we have had huge attendance for our free film nights, with Twilight being the biggest so far with over 100 people! Other notable films have been Quantum of Solace, Bedtime Stories and recently Slumdog Millionaire. Come along to the Gold Lecture Theatre at Mt. Albert or Student Services at Waitakere and watch a film with us – keep an eye on the In Unison gig guide for screening times. usu

Village Club

USU VILLAGE CLUB On the first Monday of semester 2 the USU Village Club put on a welcome back party with music, prizes, beer, food and good times. The Village Club football match is coming up on Friday 28th August, so if you live there get a team together and register fast! There’s heaps more happening on campus, to get involved email usuclubs@unitec.ac.nz. Also check out our photo gallery at www.usu.co.nz and USU TV on youtube! By Matt Alpe

In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 24

13/08/2009 4:51:39 p.m.

GANDER AT SPORT NEW ZEALAND RUGBY PUBLIC ARROGANT!

Dear

BARBIE

Hey Barbie, My boyfriend fingered me 2 days ago and I was supposed to get my period yesterday but I didn’t. Am I pregnant? Girl, you are nasty! Too much information for Barbie. I feel like every question I get leaves me musing over how we can make people infertile. I think I’m going to write a letter to that balding man who runs you plebs; he could surely make a law about selective breeding…anyway, if you think you can get impregnated from this filthy act you described then it would be for the best if you got yourself stitched up down there, so there will be no confusion in the future. My mother made me read this vile book when I was little so she didn’t have to give me “the talk.” It was called ‘Where Did I Come From?’ The man had a small penis and the woman was very fat. It scarred me, but now at least I know what it takes for dirty girls like you to get knocked up. Find this book at your local library for your answer. Xx Barbie

Dear Barbie, I noticed a band in The Hub the other week, they were Christians. I’ve heard a few bands like this recently but I am confused. They all sound the same with their fake American accents and whiny voices. Is this how they pray? What are they actually saying? Ear-bleeding boy

xox

The recent losses by the All Blacks to South Africa have highlighted one thing about New Zealand’s rugby public; they are an extremely arrogant bunch of people. After an All Black loss I normally try and avoid listening to radio sport talkback, because of the uninformed, ridiculousness and stupidity of most of those people who call in to “have their say”. Now I’m not saying you need to be informed or even have a marked bias, but some of the vitriol directed at coaches Henry, Smith and Hansen is unbelievable and some callers would love to have the three wise men hung, drawn and quartered in a public ceremony. The coaching team can only do so much to prepare a team to go out on to the park and you can’t blame Henry and Co for bad judgement in kicking, passing and ball handling. However, in the case of the last two tests against the Springboks, the ‘run at all costs’ plan, which we saw evidence of when winger Joe Rokocoko tried to run the ball out from under his own posts while confronted with 15 angry South Africans trying to rip his throat out, was probably not the best option. A simple dot down and take the drop out would’ve sufficed on that occasion. Anyway back to the arrogant, vitriolic callers on radio talkback. What some or most of these callers seem to forget is that the All Blacks were playing their oldest traditional rival, who had just come off a commanding 2-1 series victory over the British and Irish Lions, who are the current world champions and are probably playing the best rugby to come out of the Republic since they were re-admitted to world rugby in 1992 following a 16 year absence due to South Africa’s apartheid regime. This all seems to be forgotten by callers, who expect the All Blacks to win every game they play. The reality in this day and age of professional rugby is it is not going to happen that way. South Africa has the best record against the All Blacks than any other rugby nation on the earth (the ABs have won only 55 percent of all tests against the Springboks, as against a winning percentage of 67 percent against the Aussies). So it just goes to show, tests against the Springboks are always going to be close and we will lose nearly half of all tests played between the two countries. So a plea from this writer is, please think before you call Radio Sport. Form a good solid argument and back up your statements with fact, not vitriolic rubbish aimed at the coaching staff. Despite what many say, Graham Henry and Co have a fantastic record with the ABs and a World Cup win on home soil in 2011 will hopefully go someway to proving that to New Zealand’s arrogant rugby public.

dear barbie

The Goose’s

Dear Anon, I once went out with a Christian, he was in a metal band so I thought he was, like you know, red blooded, rough and rugged but one day I listened to the lyrics and they said “God is my love, God it my life, Sex is the work of the devil, I will abstain for the rest of my life.” Each to their own, I thought, but the abstaining thing just wasn’t for me. Even though I’m plastic, I’m all about having the choice. It’s hard to know what they are singing about but if they are obviously Christians and brand themselves as a Christian band then it’s safe to say they would have most of their gigs in a church so their songs would be full of themes like not having sex, helping poor people, Jesus dying, and not being greedy etc, so I guess it is a form of praying. My only advice is don’t date them unless you are one, at least then the sexpections are equal.

I’m the Goose and You’re Not.

usu

In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 25

13/08/2009 4:51:40 p.m.

TO ! .nz ER ALL c.ac T IS ST unite G RE N Alubs@ RUusuc l

THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 10 – 2 IN THE HUB (BLDG 180)

COME ALONG AND EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT CULTURES AND TANTALISE YOUR TASTE BUDS OR

RUN A STALL AND REPRESENT YOUR COUNTRY BY SHOWCASING YOUR CULTURE’S DELICACIES LEARN MORE ABOUT STUDYING ABROAD AND TALK TO STUDENTS WHO HAVE DONE AN EXCHANGE

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EMAIL USUCLUBS@UNITEC.AC.NZ IF YOU WANT TO RUN A STALL. AT

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student art

STUDENT DESIGN 2. 3.

5. - 7. FIONA HENDERSON

1. - 4. KENNITH MERRICK Kennith is currently doing the certificate in Design and Visual Arts. He is interested in drawing, painting and model making. His recent paintings were inspired by the masks of different cultures and were painted on materials found in the inorganic collections. These paintings can be seen above in Tri Tondo (1) and Mysterio (4). Also featured are sketches from other projects, Manimal (2) combines

Design

animal and human attributes into character design possibilties. Arms (3) is a selection of arm studies, done as part of a continuing investigation into the muscular workings of various parts of the human body and how it functions as a whole. Check out his blog at www.klmerrick.wordpress.com for regular work updates.

Fiona also studies the certificate in Design and Visual Arts. Coming from a background in Horticulture she brings her interest in plants into her art. The featured works are explorations in print making, playing with colour and composition. In the first print (5) a lace curtain was used to create the texture in the background and the flowers were drawn over in a monoprint process.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS: Fourth Year Object and Jewellery Auction, Live Auction on Monday 17th August, 5.30pm, Building One Library Foyer. Exhibition KFM Gallery, 208 Karangahape Road, Newton. One Night Stand, Graphic Design Fundraising Auction, live bands and stalls. Weds 26th August, 6pm, Building One Library Foyer.

DO YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR ART IN IN UNISON? DO YOU HAVE AN EXHIBITION COMING UP THAT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?

Email usugraphics@unitec.ac.nz, or call 815 4321 ex. 7928 and let us know about it.

usu

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13/08/2009 4:51:51 p.m.

reviews

PUBLIC ENEMIES

BRUNO

Director: Michael Mann

Director: Larry Charles

FILM

FILM Michael Mann has made his name in the world of big budget glamour flicks by carving out a sort of gritty-crime niche. His scrupulous attention to detail, and at times revolutionary handling of a genre overrun with hackney, made him the obvious choice for a film about one of America’s most legendary depression era outlaw/anti-heroes. Unfortunately, for all its authentic costumes and set dressings, elephantine cast, and socio-realist/Ken Loachish cinematography, Public Enemies fails to be the movie it promises to be. Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger, arguably the most famous bank robber of all time, and he plays him well. Depp’s performance is the stand-out feature of the film. He shines with charismatic cheek, and his Dillinger is thoughtful and sympathetic. Dillinger’s antithesis, FBI man Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is less impressive however, and Bale’s wooden portrayal is dull as shit. The film’s real enemy is its film making apparatus though. Visually, its palette of greys and blues gives the era a nice cold feeling; however the camera and editing work leaves a lot to be desired. Hand held digital video and jump cuts aplenty may work when the director is using it to get inside their character’s world, and create a sense of roughness or turmoil; but in Public Enemies, it feels like a bizarre stylistic choice which is completely at odds with the ’cool’ depiction of both the times, and Dillinger. Easily the worst thing about this film though, is the sound design. The score is dreadful. Total paint by numbers tunes which is cheesy, clichéd and obnoxious all at once. There are some sound effects which sound like their straight out of Goldeneye on the N64. A rather disappointing affair.

Reviewed by Stacey Knott

Reviewed by Joseph Harper

Views

I held out a good while to go and see Bruno.With all its hype and my flatmates saying it wasn’t worth the trip to the movies, I mainly went for lack of anything else to do so kept my expectations minimal. Last time Sasha Baron Cohen graced the big screen he was Borat, a journalist from Kazakhstan where he set out to show the world’s prejudices by setting up unsuspecting interviewees for ridicule. He sticks to the same formula in Bruno, where he takes on the persona of a gay Austrian fashion TV presenter who goes to America in search of fame. Crude is an understatement for this film-it was usually grotesque, but also had its times of total hilarity, definitely at the expense of others. Satire at its best. A highlight early in the movie is when Bruno crashes Milan Fashion Week wearing a Velcro suit, and ends up on the runway. He interviews a young model about the complexities of the runway; remembering to walk left then right, and then the dramas when it comes to the turn. His search for fame leads him to believe he must turn straight. He visits a Christian preacher who earns his bread by leading sinning gays to the straight path. Bruno also goes to karate lessons to learn how to defend himself from gay men wielding dildos. Later he reinvents himself as Straight Dave, hosting a wresting match, yelling about the joys of being heterosexual to homophobic red necks. I was surprised Baron Cohen survived this scene when Bruno reverted back to his homosexuality, surrounded by the chair throwing, chest pumping trailer trash he was duping. Once again, Baron Cohen has managed to get people irate both in and over this film; he holds up a mirror to the fashion industry, Christians, feuding Middle East countries, red necks, homosexuals and homophobes, terrorists and pretty much everyone in-between. Not a first date movie, but worth seeing if you haven’t already.

THANKS TO:

for more info on movies showing now and coming soon visit www.skycitycinemas.co.nz

In Unison, Pop Culture Issue.indd 28

13/08/2009 4:51:52 p.m.

24th July

MUSIC

CURLY WURLY Cadbury

SNACK So I was in a central city New World supermarket desperately trying to choose a snack to review. I was about to settle for a bag of pick n’ mix cheeses, when I found myself standing in front of a shelf which was jam packed with foreign (British) novelty items. So obviously I decided to take home the delicious choccaramel treat known as the Curly Wurly. A bit of a Cadbury classic, the Curly Wurly has declined in commercial viability and overall popularity in New Zealand since its zenith in the mid 1970s, to the point where they are genuinely difficult to find in this country now (especially the extra long foreign edition, available in certain New Worlds and the Cadbury factory in Dunedin). Obviously I’m hoping to bring about a bit of a revival, because that’s what these little beauties deserve. They are an almost perfect snack. Big enough to massage that sweet tooth, but not so big that you have to feel bad about wolfing one or two. Anyone who tells you that they aren’t delicious is a liar and a dickhead. The chocolate to caramel ratio is just right. And the curled/wurled up shape makes it really fun to eat. The price is fair enough too, I picked up my extra long Curly Wurly for $1.25. My only concern would be the portability of the treat. You can’t really carry them around in your pocket because they’re likely to get all bent out of shape, and the chocolate will almost certainly experience some meltage issues. That’s okay though. They’re just not that kind of snack. The fact that they’re reasonably difficult to acquire sends them more towards the delicacy end of the snack spectrum, but if you can get your hands on one, I’d certainly recommend it. Reviewed by Joseph Harper

Views

Ladi6 has grown into an artist with unique and distinguished vocals accompanied by silky, irrefutable lyrics. ‘Time is Not Much,’ her debut album released in October 2008 is proof of this. I decided to check out Ladi6 and Recloose at K Road’s 420 where I was not alone in anticipating an elating performance from New Zealand’s premiere soulstress. The crowd responded ecstatically to her as she opened the night with I’ve Got to Get Up. The liveliness of the track was mirrored by the crowd’s reaction and deservedly so. It was pretty clear from the get-go why she has a reputation for a dynamic live performance. Her energetic track Give Me the Light showcased her lyrical skills and kept the euphoric mood up before her signature glasses were lowered to the more traditional hip-hop ominous sounds that are present on her album. Parks (MC and partner) showed skilled MC work on the track, Call You Out. With Parks on the decks and Ladi6 at his side, the duo are a lethal combination dropping explosive tracks through a diverse set displaying tight mixing, cutting and dicing of the vinyl always keeping the punters wanting more. Bringing the mood down a tad with Danger, a dub-infused track laced with poetic brilliance, before NZ’s very own lady of hip-hop concluded the hyped evening with Walk Right Up. Ladi6 certainly has come a long way since the release of the single; If I Gave you the Mic with Sheelaroc. Her accolades since, both here and far are deserved, including the 2009 Best Pacific Female Artist award. Recloose was overshadowed by Ladi6 who owned the night, understandable considering the intimate rapport she has with her audience who respond to her smooth, Erykah Badu like tones and her commanding lyrics emulating the true art of hip-hop. Whether it is her effacing demeanour, her transcendent vocals or her incisive lyrics, there is an aura of enticement when Ladi6 takes to the stage. It’s no wonder she is New Zealand’s Lady of Hip Hop.

reviews

LADI6 AT 420

Reviewed by NMA DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE CAFE OR SNACK THAT YOU THINK WE SHOULD REVIEW?

Email inunison@unitec.ac.nz and let us know.

usu

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13/08/2009 4:51:53 p.m.

band profile

BAND PROFILE: CONNAN MOCKASIN

Profile

CONNAN MOCKASIN IS A MUSICIAN FROM WELLINGTON WHO IS NOW BASED IN LONDON. JOSEPH HARPER CHATS TO HIM ABOUT LAGER AND SOFT HAIR.

You go under the moniker, ’Connan Mockasin’, and I guess it’s because you used to always wear moccasins, but do you still wear moccasins? No I haven’t been wearing any lately just because I’m bored of making them. And they take time. I’m actually quite busy now. Oh that explains that. I went to a film in the film festival, it was called Unmade Beds, about three quarters of the way in, I saw you in it. How did you get in that movie? The director Alexis Dos Santos came to one of my shows at Durrr in London and he liked it. I want to do more film related projects, especially soundtracks. I just did my first soundtrack for a short film in the film festival called Six Dollar Fifty Man. Now I want to do more. James (Lawrence Arabia) and I want to make a short film called ’Don Dicaprio’ about a four year old who is only into actor heart throbs. One thing I always notice at your gigs/concerts is that pretty girls always seem to comment on how nice and soft your hair is.What is your secret? Just shampoo - sometimes conditioner. I love getting head scratches and pats. It’s the most relaxing thing. You’ve been based in the UK for a few years. How’s that? Go to many soccer games? Drink much ’lager’? Haven’t been to a game yet. The last year or two I’ve mostly been touring so I haven’t been staying long stints in the UK now which has been nice.That makes me appreciate places like London more when I might only have one week there a month. I heard on the radio that you like to make instruments, and also that you like making things in general. Please elaborate. I do. I got a welder for Christmas,.When I was a kid and my parents let my brothers and I turn our backyard into a dump as we’d collect pipes and bits from the vineyard next door. I appreciate that a lot now. My friend from UK band Late of the Pier and I are starting to build mechanical instruments to perform with together as a two piece. New album? Yes. My first full length album called ’Please Turn me into the Snat’ will be out October I believe. Also Liam (Finn), EJ, Lawrence Arabia, Seamus and I are writing and recording an album together as a band at the moment at Liam’s parent’s studio Roundhead.We don’t have a name for the band yet. Ladyhawke and I want to do a record together when we’re both back for summer too, so maybe a few new albums!

STUDENT PROFILE: JENNY WALKER

FASHION DESIGNER JENNY WALKER NOT ONLY DESIGNS CLOTHES, BUT SHE ALSO MANAGED TO DESIGN HER DEGREE THE WAY SHE WANTED. NICHOLAS MARK CATCHES UP WITH HER AT YBE FASHION GALLERY DOWN POINT CHEVALIER ROAD TO TALK TO HER ABOUT ENTREPRENEURSHIP, INNOVATION AND LIFE AS A DESIGNER.

Designing is something Jenny knows a lot about, she is a past winner of the Style Pasifika Supreme Award in 2003. The Tiki dress which won her the coveted award has featured on the red carpets at the lead-up event to the Academy Awards worn by Keisha Castle Hughes. Jenny first started her label in 2005 after returning from an impressive trip to fashion house Versace in Italy where she visited the esteemed workshop and distribution centre ahead of the buyers’ release of the 2005 Versace collection. Jenny custom makes unique designer garments for special occasions and events. Her work is artistic and encompasses the elements of nature and blends this concept into visual wearable art. The concept of YBe, is about life, asking questions like why are we here? What is it all about? What does life mean to each of us? Her belief that what you wear is how you express your own individuality, is what she hopes her work embodies. Her time at Unitec has been very worthwhile, although officially this will be her third qualification Jenny is a keen advocate of the degree she has been able to tailor to meet her needs. An aspect she is really enthused by is the ‘real world’ applications that her course work allows. She applies all assignments to her business and how she can promote her work and create innovative initiatives. One such initiative is the launch of her newest product, the Obi-panel which is a ”fusion of an Asia-Pasifika influence”, which is stimulated from her passion of Japanese and Kiwi heritage. This will be launched on the 21st of August at the YBe Fashion Gallery - 506 Pt Chevalier Road. For more information visit www.ybe.co.nz

usu

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recipes

RAV’S

STEPHANIE MCCOLL’S

Life Lessons

LEARNED THROUGH BAKING With anything in life you can learn lessons – so why not when baking and eating wonderful treats?! You can think of baking as intensive therapy and personal growth, all of your friends and flatmates will love you for it! LIFE LESSON # 8 – SPICE IT UP!

CARDAMOM-WALNUT COOKIES Taken from Bon Appétit (2000); Makes 48 This recipe can have two different looks! Half of the cookies can be rolled in sugar mixed with cardamom; the rest can be sprinkled with a powdered sugar-cardamom mixture. Ingredients: • 1 1/2 cups sugar • 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom • 1 1/2 cups icing sugar • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 2 cups all purpose flour • 1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted, finely chopped

1.Mix 1 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom in large bowl. Mix 1/2 teaspoon cardamom and icing sugar in medium bowl. Set mixtures aside. 2.Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom, butter, vanilla extract, lemon peel and salt in another large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat at medium-high speed until well blended. Add flour and chopped nuts. Beat until smooth dough forms, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Gather dough into a ball and wrap in plastic; chill for 1 hour. 3.Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper. Use 1 tablespoon worth of dough for each cookie. Roll the dough into 48 2 cm inch balls; transfer to baking sheets. Bake cookies until golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on sheets. 4.Add 12 warm cookies to large bowl of granulated sugar and cardamom and toss gently to coat. Repeat with 12 more cookies. Let remaining 24 cookies cool completely on sheet. Sift powdered sugar and cardamom mixture over. *Can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container.Yum!

FOR THE STRESSED STUDENT

This column is about taking you on a food odyssey that provides you with simple recipes for what I call “student grub” but with a variety of tastes including Kiwi, Italian, Chinese, Indian and Mexican. The previous recipe was Mexican and below is a simple pasta dish that again uses easy to buy ingredients. A few simple hints that you must follow are: First, prepare the sauce in a saucepan and add the cooked pasta to the sauce and not the other way round. Second, take a few tablespoons of the water used for preparing the pasta and add to the sauce. Third, the water used for the pasta preparation should have sufficient salt in it so that it tastes like sea water!

Yum Yum

Add a little spice to your daily routine, whether that’s trying a new clothing style, dance class, or this wonderful cookie recipe! Cardamom is one of my favourite flavours and I jump at the chance to include it in my baking and cooking, so when I found this recipe I just had to share it! So take some time to enjoy spicing things up!

Easy-Peasy Meals

SHREDDED CHICKEN PASTA WITH CREAMY SAUCE Ingredients : • 1 500gm packet of pasta spirals • 300mls of fresh cream • 250gm shredded cooked chicken • 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables • 2 cans whole and peeled tomatoes • 1 onion diced • 1tsp garlic (chopped or paste) • 2 Tbs olive oil • 2 Tbs any mix of dried Italian herbs • 1Tbs of chilli flakes • 2Tbs Salt

1.In a saucepan, fry the onions in oil on medium heat for 5 minutes or till they are translucent, then add garlic, herbs and chilli flakes along with the tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes but keep stirring occasionally so that the tomatoes do not stick to the bottom of the pan. On another burner, empty out pasta from packet into sufficient boiling water along with the salt in a large dish and follow packet instructions till al dente.

2. Now back to the sauce - add the chicken and vegetables and cook on low heat for 5 minutes and add the cream. After one quick boil remove from stove, add the cooked pasta to the sauce and serve with any salad mix on the side. usu

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13/08/2009 4:52:47 p.m.

USU PRESENTS:

THURSDAY 20TH AUGUST 7PM, CARRINGTON’S, GATE 3, UNITEC, MT ALBERT

DJ TAKTIX DJ JOE SIK DJ REMINISE Playing all your favourite high school hits

$5 USU M E M B E R S (U N I T E C S T U D E N T S ) $10 N O N - M E M B E R S & D O O R S A L E S

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