My play WINTER about living on the Kapiti Coast and being seduced by the sea will premiere at BATS Theatre July 31, featuring Melissa Billington and Nigel Edgecombe. Director: Sally Richards.

As I post this I just felt an earthquake. A good sign -- I think.


Melissa Billington & Kapiti Island, Pukerua Bay, NZ

What I do

Photo: Guler Ugur, Summer New York 2007

Hello to anyone who reads my blog.

In the interest of how little time is left in this present reincarnation, I will continue to document my work and stuff as it occurs here there and everywhere in photos and writing.

Coming up on my two year blog anniversary, (May, 2006), I can see how not much has changed with my approach of photos and musings about where I'm at at the moment.

I am always interested in showing other artists' work as well, with links and photos of your work, or a poem. (Still working on linking stuff to the website.) Those who are in the archives: Petruska, Beens, Dombrowski, Sumaya, Cordula, Guler Ugur, and many more.

This pic of me by Guler is what my flatmate Helen says is a "pretty good pukana" but it was in fact taken last year in New York. I wasn't trying to do a pukana. It was the hottest day of the summer and we were dripping in sweat. The haka, a traditional Maori dance is one of the things that gives me goose bumps in NZ.

SPITZER - Politics the best drama

Governor of New York Resigns.

Can you believe it? A man caught in a sex scandal? While Governor Eliot Spitzer was representing millions of New Yorkers and working towards cleaning up the state by getting rid of those pesty prostitutes as if he was Mad Max he was doing private research. With his wife by his side, Spitzer said he was sorry and resigned. Mrs. Spitzer looked medicated and tired standing by her man. It was a sober thought about men.

Picture this: Hillary Clinton caught with a 23 year old prostitute who wants to be a singer.

Chaplinopera - a review

In college we used to watch movies with the sound off and the stereo full blast. It was hilarious. Does it work when the music is live by The New Zealand Stroma Ensemble to the Charlie Chaplin movies projected over the musicians' heads? Created by British composer Benedict Mason it was different because I couldn't lie on the floor, I wasn't high and I couldn't believe that everyone in the room paid $85 tickets to be there. Check out full review in The Lumiere Reader: http://lumiere.net.nz/reader/arts.php/item/1594

30 Horses Killed by SPCA New Zealand

30 horses were killed today by the SPCA at a New Zealand farm because the horses were so neglected they could not be saved, including a colt who saw its mother killed and then was killed later. The man responsible, who owned the horses, is not being charged with any crime. A world where people abuse those who have no voice, is not a world I want to live in.

The Book of Longing and Philip Glass

"A" took me to see the Philip Glass opera "The Book of Longing" (Leonard Cohen) at the Fowler Centre (as part of the NZ International Arts Festival). It was great fun, prior to which Glass made a free appearance at the Town Hall. The place was bulging with people in the aisles, hanging from the walls. Glass entered the small stage looking like a frumpy old man in his rumpled casual attire (but very handsome in black during the show). I took this photo of him from the third row. He sat very still but every time I tried to shoot him, he moved. The New Zealanders wanted him to talk but he said, ask me questions. And so they did.

He talked mostly about working with Leonard Cohen over many years because Cohen was up at Baldy Mountain meditating and he had to wait till he came down, which he did after five years, (because of a woman).

He said English is the hardest language to sing -- too many words end in consonants. He consulted singers David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Paul Simon and Susan Vega to learn how to use the voice with Cohen's poetry in his opera, which he entitled, "The Book of Longing" The same title of a book of drawings, poems and this and that by the Canadian poet/singer. Glass also said he was really grateful when he asked Cohen about his contribution to the opera and Cohen said, me words, you music.

After the show, I wondered why Glass used professional opera singers when in fact a little of Susan Vega would have been closer to Cohen and maybe give the show a bit of a kick. I said to "A" Patti Smith or Deborah Harry would have been a nice addition to the show. "A" gave it careful thought and then said, "They would have been too expensive." Yeah, I guess so, but everyone wants to go to New Zealand, the other alternative is using people here. There is a strong music scene here.

Motown is everywhere I go

The Four Tops. New World Suupermarket, Willis Street, Wellington.

USA oranges in New Zealand

New World Supermarket, downtown Wellington
From the "i don't get it" file

USA oranges are $3.99/kg, which is less than New Zealand oranges at $4.99/kg.
1 kg = 2.2 pounds.



How does that carbon footprint calculation go again? Some writers from America refused to come here for "Readers and Writers" week, claiming the best thing anyone can do for the planet is not fly. That may be true but it doesn't apply to New Zealanders. The Kiwis have to fly.

So which America, eh?
Sometimes the sign says "USA...oranges" Sometimes it says, "American..."
Why does everyone assume "American" always means USA. It doesn't!! More on this 'americanismizin in new zealand' in a new essay.....April 1 2008.

The Songs of Kurt Weill - a review

New Zealand International Arts Festival.
The ensemble of New Zealand musicians opened with "Mack the Knife." I hate this song, never understood the attraction of singing about a man who slices up people. But then I never heard the song sung in German before by a beautiful woman wearing boots reminiscent of the SS.
Read the full review in Lumiere: http://lumiere.net.nz/reader/arts.php/item/1584

Ruthie Bird & The King of Hearts - Review

Ruthie Bird and the King of Hearts
Written and directed by Ellie Smith
Fringe 2008, BATS Theatre, 29 February - 8th March 2008
photo: courtesy Ellie Smith

"Ruthie Bird and the King of Hearts," may be Ellie Smith's first play but it is a very mature work. Smith, a well-known New Zealand actor and singer brings her theatrical experience to her writing and directing. "Ruthie Bird" is about Ruthie and her son, the King of Hearts who are homeless and living their lives on the street. Two other characters, Ginna, the photographer and Rostyn Kemp, a drugged out sweet talking weirdo weave in and out of their lives.

Read the full review published in The New Zealand Performing Arts and Directory: http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=1307

Zarathustra Said - a Review

Alan Brunton's Death Song
"Zarathustra Said," by Alan Brunton, Directed by Lilicherie McGregor, at Happy, Wellington Fringe Festival, 2008
photo: courtesy Lilicherie McGregor

"Zarathustra Said" began in the dark, the space softly illuminated by candles around small rocks near pillars. Sounds of live music filled the space as three musicians in white suits entered playing their instruments: a clarinet, a horn, and a plastic toy horn. They marched and strutted, followed by three characters: a nymph in white rags who climbed the bar, her face, arms and legs dusted by white clay; next the Master of Ceremonies in a tux and white face with painted red cheeks and bow lips who greeted the audience with a stance as if she could swallow us whole; the Butcher menacing and proud; and walking on her hands a sexy blonde wearing a very short dress. This was just the beginning of "Zarathustra Said."
To read more see full review at New Zealand's Performing Arts & Directory, Theatre Review:
http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=1274

Tama Tu Tama Ora Review

Photo: publicity shot for the Festival (very old photo)
Maori Music from New Zealand International Arts Festival, Feb., 2008
Tama Tu Tama Ora performed popular Maori songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s to an enthusiastic audience, many who were familiar with the songs. In between songs, an MC read from a clipboard facts and dates about Maori history, repeating that the songs are an expression of Maori anger, pride, protest, grief, optimism and hope. I don’t know about the anger part; the musicians looked like they were having far too much fun.
To read more see my review published in The Lumiere Reader: http://lumiere.net.nz/reader/arts.php/item/1540

Newtown Festival and Motown

We were walking down the street when we heard the beat
Man, I can't go anywhere without hearing Motown. The Four Tops' Sugar Pie Honey Bunch was coming in loud and clear and I looked up at the stage and there was a man with a guitar singing my hometown blues, but he was white. Next to him two female singers, backed by the usual rock and roll instruments. They call themselves HEATWAVE, the name of which of course comes from a song by Martha and the Vandellas, a Motown group! They were good so V and I stuck around. The blonde singer introduced the next song by Aretha Franklin, "Think." Aretha was not with Motown but she was from Detroit! I was getting whoozy.

By this point I was so homesick, I just wanted to sit down on the curb and cry. The funny thing is I haven't lived in Detroit since 1981, but here in New Zealand any Detroit reference makes me homesick like crazy.

That's the thing with good music, if you grew up with it, you were lucky because it lives forever. The blonde, who looked to be in her 20's belted out the Motown sound as if she was Cris Clark, the only white chick signed with Motown. She had the hit, "Love's Gone Bad" in the 60's. She was also Barry Gordy's girlfriend; tall blonde, beautiful and she had soul. I guess the Motown sound will never die, people keep performing and recording the songs over and over. I do a mean Love's Gone Bad myself.

American Woman at Newtown Festival

American Woman in the Newtown Festival.
Moving on, leaving those memories behind we came across a large crowd surrounding a woman alone on top of a soap box, Bruce Springsteen came out of very bad speakers and she was threatening to tear up the Wellington phone book, dressed in red white and blue stripes. First she reminded us that she was from the u s of a, and this was how she made a living and please please please put a ten or a five in the hat.

Big Wall Big Hit

As part of the International Arts Festival, this wall at the side of the Te Papa Museum was a big hit. Total strangers interacted with each other's shadows, dancing and chasing and in one case, someone reaching down for my camera.

The Beckoning of Hope

Marjorie McKee
The Beckoning of Hope by Michael Burton adapted by Marjorie McKee for solo actor, from Michael Burton's "It's not permitted to Hope"

A play in four movements. A solo performance with live accompaniment on cello by Sebastian Morgan-Lynch, directed by Andrew McKenzie from an original concept by L'hibou Hornung.

Phew, so many names for a solo show. That is theatre. A solo show is never a solo show. Marjorie McKee embodied two characters: Nadezhda Mandelshtam, widow of the Russian poet Osip Mandelshtam and Becky, a "Western" woman; "a stupid Western Woman," as Nadezhad refers to her in a voice over, admonishing her attempts to write anything worth while since she will never be able to come of anything because she and her country has not suffered enough. But she has, for who can know how much any one person suffers, it is not for others to judge. Toward the end Becky writes her poem on the floor in chalk white, a beautiful testament to her belief in herself, she is enough.

McKee played each character throughout the performance, individually and with strong conviction to living a full life and writing; both women struggle with memory, their writing, and the men, both real and some perhaps imagined. One director's choice of Nadeshda moving down stage placing her husband's poetry on the floor as she moved towards us, blessing it with water from a crystal bowl was very engaging. Marjorie McKee can probably play any role, her performance was simply flawless.

Jay Yager's reply to "Cat Jokes"

Jay Yager behind the camera, Belle River, Ontario, 2006.

Jay Yager wrote to me after reading my blog on Cat Jokes. With his permission I'm posting his response because it has the word vulture in it.

From Jay:
I read your piece about cat jokes on your blog. While I agree that such jokes are abusive I do think that there's another big issue involved. I recently read Alan Weisman's book "The World Without Us" which elaborates on my longstanding view that human overpopulation is wrecking the planet. An important part of that condition is the parallel overpopulation of dogs and cats and in the case of the latter the serious reduction in population of birds. I certainly don't advocate cruelty to these household pets but neither do I subscribe to the large scale favoring of some species over others. A couple months ago when Leda and Mark were here a turkey vulture landed in our next door neighbors yard and was eying one of the wild cats that live in the woods around our place. Leda ran out and chased the vulture away, a seemingly humanitarian reaction. My view is that that was a pretty even match and I would let nature take its course. It's likely that the cat would have survived anyway but the point is that our human intervention at all levels in the environment (now including the dramatic change of the very atmosphere of the planet) is causing a huge imbalance in the worlds natural systems. Of course we are part of nature but our success and overabundance, if it continues unchecked, is likely to lead to our own extinction along with that of a large number of other species. This prospect troubles me more than any of the other (and there certainly are many) humanitarian disasters in the world. But enough of the heavy stuff.

Mr. Skid

Cat Jokes?

I like to use this space to be supportive of other people and their work.

However, there are things I read about that I don't get. So I like to use this space to put them out there to see other opinions. Like dead animal jokes. I find them harmful and hurtful. I don't believe in censorship, and I realize I don't always get Kiwi humour (for example the Grammy for best comic album to Flight of the Conchords), but what is so funny about dead animals?

When I read Linley Boniface's essay in Wellington's Dominion Post 11 February, about returning from vacation, I did not laugh at her dead cat joke. She wrote about finding rancid dairy products in the refrigerator and lamented that her cat was still alive: "…(I) … discovered … the vicious and much loathed family cat that had again ignored our instructions to get run over while we were away."

Abandoning cats and dogs while going on vacation is too common in New Zealand. Many homes have cat doors and cats like to roam. A neighbor's cat often comes for a visit in our home and hangs out on the sofa, but the owner would never take off for two weeks abandoning their pet. It's against the law. Boniface may have made arrangements for her cat while she was away, but the intention in the essay is to say otherwise. Why? To be funny?

Why is it funny? What if you substitute another word for cat? Like child. Not funny? Where do you draw the line? While reading this essay I realized how common it is to see and hear dead animal jokes in the media. By laughing at these jokes we are adding to an acceptance of this type of humour which reinforces our already shameful neglect for those who can not speak for themselves. Many years ago I read a book that I will never forget: "The Dreaded Comparison," by Marjorie Spiegel, which shows how slavery was (and is) only possible because of our tolerance to oppress animals. Perhaps Ms. Boniface doesn't realize her own contribution to a long history of cruelty to animals and it's connection to slavery of people of color through mindless jokes.

If she truly has a "...much loathed and vicious cat..." perhaps she should look at her own environment and family. Pets often exhibit the personality of their owners. Maybe her cat needs to be rescued by the SPCA!

Chrysler sells to Men who want to be Pimps

Pics of car dealership on Courtney Street
Ad reads: Confident Woman seeks muscular American with bad-boy attitude and a hint of bling....

At first I thought the message was directed to women. On a second look it's clear: Chrysler is selling to Kiwi men who want to be imitators of American rappers and gangsters? I know it's supposed to be hip to say bling but the name came from rappers and gangsters who wear gold and silver in a gaudy display on their teeth and body while eating at fast food restaurants with menus with pictures of food because they can't read. The real message? Confident woman seeks illiterate pimp who will treat me bad?

Waitangi Park

Waitangi Park.
New mural of Bob Marley, the caption says "Don't Forget Your History. Know Your Destiny." Waitangi Day is the same day as Marley's birthday, and so the connection.

Walking by the park the day after Waitangi Day I saw this new mural. What's up with the spliff? Is this a pro drug promotion? In a public park? Sponsored by the government?

I heard a radiio interview with Kerry Pendergast, Mayor of Wellington, on Waitangi Day. She said she has no memories of pop music growing up because it wasn't allowed in her home; and she was too scared to listen to the Beatles, even at a friends, because it was forbidden. I can't imagine growing up without music, or living without it now. How can anyone escape it?

Not that she missed much. The Beatles were okay. They built their sound by imitating (stealing) the melodies and sounds of Motown (Detroit) until The Sargent Pepper's album, which was original; although they were completely stoned on acid, so it is said, when they recorded it. John Lennon on the other hand created beautiful songs on his own. Imagine is one. Although it was written with Yoko Ono, the record company refused to allow her name on the record. Nice of Yoko to agree to that. Of course she owns the song now! To her credit she has refused every major corporation's offer to pay for the song to sell stuff, until she said yes to Greenpeace.

The trouble with women is other women

Now that Super Tuesday is over, it looks like McCain will be getting the Republican nomination. It's neck to neck for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and the Republicans are hoping for Clinton because Barack would be harder to beat.

Harder to beat the more qualified candidate? Harder to beat the less experienced?

Come November if Clinton is the Democrat candidate, then women will turn out in record numbers to vote against her. As Betty always says, 'the trouble with women is other women.'

Waitangi Day

Native Fern, Stokes Valley, New Zealand

Waitangi Day February 6, 2008. National holiday since 1974 in New Zealand commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February, 1840 between the British Crown and some Maori Chiefs. On what the agreement actually says though is disputable. There are two versions, in two languages: one in English and one in Maori. According to various New Zealand government websites, the treaty gave Britain sovereignty of New Zealand while granting Maoris the same rights as the British citizens. Sounds good but the treaty was ignored by the courts until sometime in the 1970's. This fact explains a lot about social conditions here that remind me of the black and white problems because of racism in The States. The USA didn't sign the Civil Rights Act until 1964.

Do the Right Thing - Super Tuesday

Gandhi. Wellington Train Station, New Zealand

I asked my mother who she voted for in the Florida Primary and she proudly said, Hillary. And Dad I asked? Hillary she said. But we don't tell anyone she added. Mom and Dad, 80 and 85 years of age respectively, live in Florida where they find themselves in a minority. Keeping your mouth shut Mom says saves a lot of arguments. Everyone they know, those they play tennis with, play cards with, chat over the back fence with, and share an occasional meal with are all Republicans. Mom says: "It's a status thing they are proud of. It's prestigious to them. They think they are better than anyone else and only vote in ways that affect their own pocket and don't care about anyone else."

Mom's analysis of Republicans sounds as good as any I've heard by political experts. Thinking about our conversation while being here in Wellington, New Zealand, on Super Tuesday (actually it's Wednesday morning here since we are 18 hours ahead of US time) I am proud of both my parents.

I remember eight years ago when many friends and political analysts said we had to vote for the Democrat who could win and not THROW away our vote. This irritated me and I had many discussions about this issue. (Because my vote was going to Nader). Friends were angry with me. But I believed I had to do the right thing since both the Republicans and Democrats were in the same corporate bed. We had to vote independent. Bush won two elections by bulldozing people down with terrorist rhetoric instilling fear into the hearts of the people. What if all the people including independents and democrats had done the right thing and voted independent? Isn't doing the right thing how we create change? We could have had a political revolution if people had voted for the right 'person' rather than throwing their vote away by voting against Bush.

This is not hindsight saying, "if only we knew...." No. Most people believed they were voting the right way and people like me were throwing the vote away. They are wrong of course. No matter the consequences, we must not believe others, we must not believe what polls say, we must not be persuaded by anyone else. We must always do the right thing. We have a conscious. It is our responsibility as citizens of the US to look at people's records and vote for the right person, who will represent ALL the people, not just 'our own pocket' as Mom says. Voting against someone is throwing the vote away. Not the other way around.

This voting against rather than for has now come to a new level we could never predict four years ago. A woman and a black man! I suspect that racism and sexism will be so strong come November, that no matter who gets the Democratic nomination, the people of the US will vote AGAINST women and blacks both. No one will have to steal the election this time. If we admire people who do the right thing, who make sacrifices for the good of others, can't we do the same? What is the alternative? There is talk of a recession. I remember the Detroit riots of 1967. I was there. So were Mom and Dad.

Money & Writers & Bush

Bush, New Zealand

Writer's Strike.
Looks like a deal is in the making so the academy awards can go forward. What a relief. I really didn't know what I was going to do without the academy awards.

Give me the money! According to the BBC (February 5 2008), "The Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation says the strike has cost the region's film and TV industry at least $650 million (£330 million) in lost wages, with the wider economy losing over $1 billion (£508 million)." I know journalists are part of the union, so how is stuff getting written and published in US papers every day? What is the loop hole here? Lawyers must be doing very well.

Pic: Hudson Street, Manhattn "Your Closet's Scarier Than Bush's Agenda."

President Bush's new federal budget is $3.1 trillion. He's asking for the biggest increase for the military since World War II. He's cutting back Medicare and Medicaid (health care for the poor). He's cutting out 151 programs including 47 that involve education.

The federal debt was $3.3 trillion when Bush took office. It's expected to reach $5.4 trillion this year. This is the worst situation for the USA in its entire history. Looks like trouble ahead.

Bush wants to stimulate the economy by offering incentives to spend money. The next time I'm in New York, I'll take the subway instead of walking. That $2.00 one way should help. It was 60 cents when I moved to NY in 1981. In '81 the minimum wage was $3.35/hour. Now it's $5.85; however, New York state has it's own wage at $7. Of course undocumented workers, employed by the wealthy and government servants are paid whatever their employers feel like. The presidential candidates have not said much on immigration. The person I was going to vote for, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, has dropped out. He was the only one who voted against the war. I can only hope that people vote for the right candidate not the one they think can win, which is why the republicans took over 8 years ago in the first place.

Fly Nude

I don't care what people wear but I know I don't want to sit in a seat that was previously occupied by a naked person, squirming in a tight space. According to the BBC, there is a big demand for this new nude air flight in Germany where people will board with their clothes on and then take their clothes off. What is the point? Once seated you can't see anyone (the stewards and stewardess will keep their clothes on for safety; and no tea or coffee as a safety precaution.) And what about those seat belts strapped across your lap and the large metal clasp cutting into naked flesh? As I recall that clasp sits right about the center of my body just below the naval, where, well let's say, it could be dangerous, especially for men?

And what about the life span of a crab in the upholstery? I don't care if they say there will be a cloth on the seat. Nothing stays put in an airline seat.

My TV is dead. I'm so Sad

My TV is dead
I'm so sad
we took it apart
and tried and tried
but it died
but it died

Burning Memories

Lake St. Claire, Belle River, Ontario, Canada, 2006

Comedy Night at San Francisco Bathhouse

January 24, 2008 the Wellington Comedy Club, San Francisco Bathhouse.


THE STAGE











The MC, Benjamin






Steve Wrigley, Billy T Nominee






The Lonesome Buckwhips (Also Billy T Nominees): Gareth Williams, Miriama Ketu, Arthur Meek, Ben Hutchison

The Wellington Comedy Club presented two of the 2008 Billy T Nominees, Steve Wrigley and The Lonesome Buckwhips, hosted by MC Benjamin. Transforming the space with tables and candles for this stand up event was audience friendly. But you have to book a table in advance or sit on the side, which is okay, unless like my friend Kazz Funky Blue, you have no where to put your drink and wedges.

Wedges? That is funny to a North American like me because we call them fried potatoes. Or French fries. That is until the Iraq war in 2003 when France would not support the US, and in retaliation some restaurants changed the name of this carcinogenic food favorite to Freedom Fries. That's funny too. Why? I don't know. Eating grease-soaked potatoes named freedom as a patriotic act is just silly.

Comedy must be the hardest art form. The best comedians just tell the truth. We laugh despite ourselves, sometimes we feel uncomfortable and are relieved some one is saying what we know, what we feel. Like Lenny Bruce in the U.S. He wrote about everything, calling his scripts "bits." In 1964 he went to jail on an obscenity charge. But that was just an excuse, Lenny was a political artist and, after all, he was Jewish; and, he was jailed the same year the US passed the Civil Rights Act. Bruce died two years later at the age of 40 from an apparent accidental drug overdose.
To read more: go to Lumiere: http://lumiere.net.nz/reader/arts.php/item/1489

Another Anti-American Ad

Walking down the street in Central Wellington I noticed this ad and how it's obviously anti-Starbucks. This is because the 500 cafes in this town of population of approximately 450,000 make and serve one cafe at a time. Fair enough, there are enough Starbucks in the world.
The ad below it though once again shows Kiwi ingenuity by using women as sex objects to sell something men want. It never ends, the most sexists advertising I've seen is right here in the country that prides itself on giving women the right to vote first.

John of God - Comment

I received a comment from Linelle, the woman I wrote about in my review of a documentary about John of God in Brasil. Scroll down to 16th January and click "comment". Linelle says she felt 'completely safe and happy' with her John of God experience and still does. Linelle said, "...don't feel sad i'm exploited on national tv, cause i was there, in brasil and it was the most fab experience of my life."

I am grateful to Linelle for her kind words. It was after all her experience. Read the full comment below.