It is with much sadness that I wish to announce that Goodbye Blue Monday is over. It is strange that something that I put my heart-and-soul into over two years has suddenly ceased to be. I think the building is still there – standing sadly with rain getting in and ruining those toilet walls I [...]

Old Irish Drunks Getting Wankered on Free Piss played its reunion gig last night in Ashburton. In news that makes us more like the Carter Family, Pam (the Mammy) also played a wee cameo on the tenor guitar. True to form, Tim got too drunk and passed out early. Pam was worried he would die in [...]

In worrying news, I have seen police pulling people over all around town. I think the fuzz that get the suburb patrol are angry at missing the glory of the central city shift, and take it out on poor souls who thought a State of Emergency meant they were immune from prosecution. Today I spent [...]

Pam and Garry have lived at Warrington St. as long as I have been alive. It’s the house I grew up in. It’s a big old weatherboard job that Garry says handles earthquakes like an aged belly dancer. “It flips and flops and moves all about the place before settling back into its relaxed state.” [...]

This season’s must-have fashion accessories are B.O. and gumboots.

I have always harboured a desire to be part of a vigilante mob. After discussing this with my homie James Allen, we got talking about the fact that nobody besides the Police and the Armed Offenders Squad are protecting our neighbourhoods. So, this is a role-call for our new venture – Eastside Justice. We are [...]

Through this whole terrible ordeal, do you know what has consistently put a smile on my face? The Yamaha TY50 that I stupidly went back into the bar and grabbed after the quake. I have driven up roads flooded to my waist, over mud and up steep hills. I have skipped around traffic backed up [...]

Anyone that has ever smoked, now smokes again. Lighting your next cigarette off the last one you’ve just finished smoking is once again socially acceptable and 25s are the new 20s.

Each night, my earthquake nightmares are interrupted by aftershocks, some still aggressive enough that they get me out of bed and into the doorway. My days are full of shovels and sunshine, silt and dust, blowing in my eyes and ears and crackling between my teeth. Here’s a picture of my shovel gang. We are [...]