Laura Williamson
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A gig in a hut
On stage and off the grid in the Pisa Range. A single bulb hangs from the roof, casting direct light on the musician below, his eyes closed, his face contorted. The crowd, if you can call it that, sits on wooden benches in near darkness just a few metres away. They are completely silent. At
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Like bucks to water
The 1964 guide to the flora and fauna on the banknotes of Aotearoa. Since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II we have, like Snoop Dogg, had our minds on our money and our money on our minds. Specifically, we’ve got our minds on the prospect of being confronted by King Charles III’s sad bewildered gaze
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The smell of uranium
“HOLD YOUR BREATH JUST FOR A MOMENT. I CAN SMELL THE URANIUM ON IT.” PRIME MINISTER DAVID LANGE TO HIS AMERICAN OPPONENT AT THE OXFORD UNION ‘NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE MORALLY INDEFENSIBLE’ DEBATE, MARCH 1, 1985. One evening in November of 1955 a pair of long-in-the-tooth miners rolled out of a West Coast pub. On the
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Rest ye merry gentleman
Has Santa lost his head? THERE IS A SANTA HEAD THE SIZE OF A BUILDING MOUNTED OUTSIDE A HANGAR AT WĀNAKA AIRPORT. I PASS HIM ON MY MORNING COMMUTE. DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER AND/OR MY STATE OF MIND, ON ANY GIVEN DAY HE’S A CHEERY REMINDER OF CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS PAST OR AN UNHAPPY METAPHOR FOR
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Business time
bon ton [archaic] Sophisticated manners; class. Stylish or fashionable society. French for ‘good tone’ or ‘good taste, stylish.’ “IT TURNS OUT THERE ARE MANY COUPLES WHO COME TO QUEENSTOWN FOR ADVENTURE IN EVERY SENSE. IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE HURTLING DOWN A MOUNTAIN IN THE AFTERNOON, IN THE EVENING YOU MIGHT WANT SOMETHING THAT MATCHES
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The lions of Lawrence
THE ANIMAL ATTIC IN DUNEDIN’S OTAGO MUSEUM IS ONE OF THOSE PLACES THAT IS BOTH MAGICAL AND UNSETTLING AT THE SAME TIME. DATING FROM 1877, IT IS ORGANISED LIKE A VICTORIAN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OR THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF A GENTLEMEN OF MEANS WHO HAD THE INCLINATION TO PURSUE THINGS SCIENTIFIC. IT IS AN ODE
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Music Review: Change, For a Fiver
Barry G Barry G is an Irish singer, songwriter and impressive strummer of strings who is a familiar figure on the Southern Lakes music scene. His first album, Change, For a Fiver, showcases everything his audiences love in his live performances to great effect. There’s his voice, which has an endlessly listenable Passenger vibe, except
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Book Review: Dirge Bucolic
By Jasmine Gallagher (Compound Press, 2022) Jasmine Gallagher’s debut collection is like a series of fractal prisms. She takes moments, spaces and stories, then breaks and turns them so we see them from all sides. As implied by the oxymoronic title, there’s a lot here. Dirge Bucolic delves into and through Jasmine’s personal experience of
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Book review: Fossil Treasures of Foulden Maar – A window into Miocene Zealandia
By Daphne Lee, Uwe Kaulfuss and John Conran (Otago University Press, 2022) This generously illustrated book takes the reader through the story of, and significance of, the Foulden Maar site in Otago. Formed by a volcanic eruption 23 million years ago, the Maar’s undisturbed sedimentary layers are chocka with rare, well-preserved fossils. It’s an extraordinary