Posts by Matthew Littlewood
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Back to the original post, but it appears that Mr Trotter has racheted up the rhetoric in regards to how he views the "liberal left"- which in turn has led Grant Robertson to respond- in pretty good faith and with none too little dignity, too. It's making for interesting reading.
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@ Dave and Emma:
Aww. Thanks. Rest assured, when the opportunity arises, I'll make a beeline back to to ChCh to meet you two. Good luck with the launch! -
Man, I thought I might be able to come to this, but it looks like I'll be stuck in Timaru doing the regional round. Damn shame. Anyway, it would be grand to catch up with the ChCh PASers some other time. And I wish you two all the very best for your launch!
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It's the turf scientists, acting on instructions (a guaranteed 5 day test... TV etc) that are ruining not only test cricket but also the shorter versions.
Absolutely. The series against India, while entertaining solely for the sheer talent of the tourists, was also oddly depressing in that the pitches offered very little for the bowlers and thus lessened the chance for a genuine contest- even in the second test, when NZ forced India to follow on still trailing in their second innings by close to 300 runs, a draw still seemed the most likely result.
The Dunedin pitch was great- there was clearly enough for the batsmen if they applied themselves (as Umar, and to a lesser extent, Taylor, proved), but enough stuff in it for the bowlers to give the batsmen a fright.
Both Asif and Bond swung it like crazy, while that delivery Martin bowled to Yosuf in that second innings was an absolute peach. For it to still be that lively on the fifth day was a credit to the groundsmen.
It was absolutely a proper test match and you could tell both sides enjoyed the hell out of it. I was actually in Dunedin this weekend and managed to catch most of the last day. I also saw quite a few of the cricketers out on the town, Taylor, Guptil and Martin were unsurprisingly swamped by people, but the Pakistani cricketers were no less popular. Which was good to see.
It dawned on me it may have been quite a culture shock for some of the younger Pakistan players, such as Umar and Annear, though they seemed to be enjoying the attention.
Bond's injury is depressing because this was shaping up to be a classic series and he was the key.
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I agree with everything you said there, Andy. While I thought Fulton deserved another chance (despite his poor showing here), the makeup of the team left our resources dangerously stretched.
Actually, a swap of Elliot for Franklin or Tuffey would've been enough- having Tuffey there may have even provided a touch more force to the bowling attack, and while Franklin hasn't yet convinced as a no.6, he he's good enough in both the batting and bowling department to cover some cracks, as long as you've got Bond and Martin at full pelt.
Bond bowled nearly 50 overs, never once dropped his speed below 138km/h., and regularly got up close to 150km/h. I think that in itself gives an idea of how much he put his body through during that match.
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More Oram on Nine to Noon: the report is "absolutely devoid of any analysis of what's gone on in the New Zealand economy or the world economy in the last 20 years."
This thing really is shaping up as a waste of public money.
I can't have been the only to read all the 35 points with an increasing sense of open-mouth horror only to get to the last one...
35. Zespri’s monopoly on the export of kiwifruit to markets outside Australia should be removed.
...and decide that it actually was some sort of bizarre joke.
The punchline could have been better, though.
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You know, as soon as I saw the post's header, I immediately thought "this is going to be about that test against Pakistan" rather than the (admittedly satisfying) All Blacks victory.
So I'm going to be disingenuous and talk about the test match. Christ, it was a beauty, the only bum note is the news that Bond injured himself again in the aftermath. This time it seems more explicable, though, he pretty much bowled himself to a standstill. Some of his spells- particularly his first one on Day 2, and then in the final session of the test match- were as good as any I've seen by a NZer bowler. He really managed to put the fear of god in the opposition and there was a sense that he was always only one delivery away from turning the match back in the Black Caps' favour.
Jeez, the players made hard work of it, really, it should've been a canter after setting up the 100 run lead, but you've got to hand it to the Pakistan bowlers' in the second innings- they were tight, sensible and attacking- as well as the young Umar Akmal, who was just astonishing.
But Bond- along with the astute captaincy of Vettori (and his first innings with the bat)- was the difference. It's been a while since test cricket has seen proper fast bowling, too- him and Steyn aside, there really isn't anyone around to match the giants of the 70s, 80s and 90s- which may be the reason (along with the advent of 20/20) as to why the match has become so depressingly batsman-dominated this decade.
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Worst sound - main stages at Big Day Out, every time I've been, no question. But then I saw Neil Young and was gobsmacked. They can have sound of that quality???
Talking to some of the BDO technicians before his set, I think it's mainly down to the fact that Neil Young is a notoriously unrepentant audiophile. They were pretty surprised he still used analogue soundgear (the same goes for the lighting too, apparently), but in this case, it was perfect- as you say, everything about that set was perfect, and the sound played a huge part in it.
The loudest gig I've ever been to was the Dead C a few years back at Arc Cafe in Dunedin- it was painful, but worth it. I saw HDU shortly afterwards, I'm not sure whether my ears fully recovered from that double-wammy.
Regarding Sleater-Kinney, I didn't get to see them in 2002, but in 2006 in Auckland they were amazing- that band really listens to oneanother, and the way everything pivots around the drummer is pretty startling to watch. She's a machine. I think they get the visceral thrill rock can provide if its rooted in the ground.
Rudest crowd was for Bic Runga at the James Cabaret, I think she was touring her first album. The songs were fairly low-key, but beautiful and I was so angry when the punters treated it like background noise.
The only time I've seen Bic Runga live was back in 2004, at Knox Church. I had to review the gig, and one thing that I pointed out was how respectful the audience was. It was a really strange atmosphere, but the choice of venue was perfect. It was just a lovely set.
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There was some good banter when Dimmer played AL's in Christchurch a few weeks back. Shayne introduced his cover of The Gordons' "Machine Song" like this:
"A song by a Christchurch band. No, might be from Ashburton actually. Bit of an Ashburton classic, this."
That gig was filled with great little moments like that. I seem to remember him engaging a conversation with a heckler about his shoes.
Dimmer gigs tend to have their moments like that, my favourite was back in 2004, at the Otago University Union. It was the "You've Got to Hear the Music" lineup with Anika Moa, and the two just bounced off oneanother brilliantly. Shayne's mother was also in the crowd, and so naturally he pointed her out to everyone.
Also, his retort to the heckler who kept on (ironically) requesting him to play "She Speeds" was great:
"We'll play it at 1am. Just for you. Stick around."
Followed with an ear-shreddingly loud rendition of "Powerchord" from the first album.Which also reminds me of a wonderful Phoenix Foundation gig, where near the end, the band, clearly starting to feel the effects of free liquor tried a narcoleptic cover of Prince's Purple Rain, that fell apart in slow motion, prompting Luke Budda to retort "it's only fucking three chords" in slow motion.
At the same gig, they did a great version of "Bruiser" that segued into the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" (Budda again: "see, it is the same song!")
Nice that Reid mentioned the Wilco/Jeff Tweedy line at the Big Day Out, I had forgotten about that.Along similar lines, Wayne Coyne's remark that "Metallica had never played the Peach Pit" ( a reference to the Lips baffling performance on Beverley Hills 90210) got a huge cheer at Big Day Out 2004, especially from people like myself who had spent the whole day getting squashed by Metallica meatheads.
As an aside, I think the reason why live albums rarely live up to their promise is down to the fact that being there is so important, you miss things that sometimes can't even be captured visually. Which is why even live DVDs don't quite capture it either.
That said, I have a few fave live albums, off the top of my head, - John Coltrane at Village Vanguard, Bob Marley Live! __at the Lyceum 1975, Curtis Mayfield's __Curtis!/Live, Charles Mingus At Antibes, Bill Withers at Carnegie Hall. All of those get pretty close, and all seem to capture artists at their spiritual and musical peaks. -
The Gang of Four re-recording was mostly about business, I think. This from Simon Reynolds' review in Slate in 2005:
Oh, thanks for clearing that up. It reminds me of the byzantine contract the guys behind Spinal Tap have- apparently they have to perform or record "in character" every three years or else they lose their ownership rights to Warners Universal. Which is strangely fitting, really. I could imagine that being discussed in the film after the infamous "None More Black" scene.
Not sure why it reminds me, but I was thinking also of Paul McCartney's Let it Be...Naked as well in regards to that, which only proved what Lennon felt all along- Spector or no Spector, the songs weren't up to scratch. Then again, Lennon always felt that "Help" (the song) was badly recorded, so he's not always the best judge of his own material, either.