Salient Issue 1
People
Vol. 79
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Contents Features
18
Know your VUWSA Executive
20
Your Very Accurate, Very Specific, Annual Horoscope
24 Doing Good Well: Martin Shkreli 30 Beyond the Container
News
7 Get your rosaries off my ovaries 10
Toga party a sweet success
14
“We are not drowning, we are fighting.”
16
White House tenancy applications closing soon
Regular Content 5 Editorial 16 Māori Matters
38
Reaching Out
42
Creative Writing
43 Digitales 45 Visual Arts 46 Music
16
One Ocean
17 Gee-mail 17 VUWSA 34 Token Cripple
34
Being Well
48 Film
35
Brodie Helps You Figure it Out
51 TV
35
Adventures of Dildo Baggins
52 Books
38
Women’s Space
53 Theatre
50 Games
Editors: Emma Hurley Jayne Mulligan
Editors’ Letter and cross-examined because, as Finn explores, capitalism protects the principle of individual success even when it is unethical. But then there are those who work on a small scale to reset the effects of a system that hasn’t worked, and are trying to be a tide of change in narrowing waters. We talked to Benjamin Johnson of The Free Store, about the work he is doing. What struck us was they way in which he saw social justice being redistributed along with the food. He describes his attempts to remove the boundaries and labels that segregate our society, between rich and poor, between well and unwell, between deserving and undeserving—between us and them. There are people who have more power and influence than others, and wield it to their own whim and to the detriment of the people they perceive to be below them. We’ve probably all felt it at some time, that feeling of being a small bug under a large shoe. People are doing wonderful work for other people every day. Think of the volunteers at the Women’s Refuge, doctors, nurses, VUWSA volunteers, lecturers, tutors, teachers, there are many people who devote parts of their lives to help others. People are the driving force of this magazine. We make it for you people, and it’s done by an extraordinary team of people, nearly all of whom volunteer countless hours of their time to make Salient happen every week. Salient would not exist without the passion, love, and hard work of all of the people who contribute to it. Good or bad, people are people. We hope you enjoy the people issue (do you reckon we have said people enough?).
People are great. People are everything. People are everywhere. People make great things happen. People can become your whole world, the object of your adoration, and they can make everything feel worthwhile. Yet sometimes people who mean everything to others, can become very small against larger structures. A person can feel powerless in the face of nonpersons. For example, a student struggling with their landlord feels they have no power to act. A person who is unable to work, or unable to find work, becomes just a statistic or a piece of data to be dealt with by Work and Income. Time and time again people are faced with faceless institutions. bell hooks, an academic, author, and activist, theorizes that as a society we live in a “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” Her statement highlights perpetuated institutions, that obstruct people from being equal. Until they are eradicated we will remain unequal. Recently the internet has been full of discussion around Kesha and the court case that didn’t rule in her favour. The ruling dictated that, despite her allegations of abuse, mistreatment, rape, and the general risks to her wellbeing, she was required to keep producing music for Sony, under a producer who was also her abuser. Kesha’s safety and rights as a human, as an individual, did not override the legal agreement she had with her recording company. Not only is it scary because of the real life threats it poses to Kesha, but Sony’s win represents a ruling for the supremacy of big business over people’s livelihoods. Following this same line of inquiry, Finn Teppett takes a look at a modern day villain—Martin Shkreli. A man whose profit instincts override those in need, whose actions are somehow unable to be properly pulled apart
xoxo Emma & Jayne
05
salient.org.nz
Going Up
Richie McCaw •
Courtney Barnett.
•
Swiss balls.
•
Visible panty lines.
•
Thursdays in Black campaign. Wear black on Thursdays to join a movement showing support for a world without rape and violence.
•
Plants.
What do you do now that you’re not an All Black? I call up people at random in the Yellow Pages to remind them that I am the most-capped player in rugby union history, with 148 caps.
Going Down
What was the best part of being the captain of the All Blacks? Shaking sweaty hands at the end of the match, and all the cheeky bum slaps.
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Public shaming.
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Patriarchy.
Kendrick Lamar or Kanye West? Dave Dobbyn.
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Saying “ja feel.”
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Sony.
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Flat hunting.
Who are your best friends? John Key and Kyle Lockwood. As Nu Zulander of The Year, what award would you like to win next? No more awards plz, leave me alone.
Apology
Humdingers Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce has made headlines again, and this time for something way less cool than a flying sex toy. Joyce’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment have spent $200,000 on an app that has been downloaded a mere 1600 times. WTF man. Salient can confirm the app is very beautiful, but not worth the space on your 16GB iPhone.
It’s official, the world’s oldest cat is better at social media than you. Corduroy—who is 26.5 years old—has thousands of followers on Instagram, Facebook, AND Snapchat. The secret to his longevity? According to his owners it’s nothing more than a low protein diet and plenty of time spent outside. Interesting.
06
Last week, we published a satirical profile of Sir Neville Jordan. The editors wish to emphasize that Sir Neville Jordan was not interviewed for or involved in this profile. Salient unreservedly apologises for the offence and confusion caused. Causing damage and offense was not our intention. We see now the error of our ways and sincerely apologise for any harm caused. Sincere apologies, Emma Hurley & Jayne Mulligan
22.02.16
news@salient.org.nz
News “Get your rosaries, off my ovaries.”
07
Sarah Wilson
Although 1222 women have been denied an abortion through this system since 2010, Prime Minister John Key says that it “broadly works.” Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond has also criticised the “outdated law,” saying it doesn’t recognise changes in healthcare and is not fit for modern use. “I think it would surprise many New Zealanders to know that abortion is still in the Crimes Act when instead, it should be part of a comprehensive health policy.” Currently, Edmond says there are no plans to change it in parliament. Parliament has so far ignored a recommendation to review the law from the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). When asked about the anti-abortion vigils, Edmond says Family Planning respects that everyone has their own views, but they take issue with picketing outside hospitals as it impacts women accessing services. “We believe in choice, the choice to have an abortion or the choice not to. Picketing is just a bit sad really.” Mary Rainsford and Samah Seger, two Victoria University students also taking part in the pro-choice protest, are reaffirming the right to choice, and the need for law reform. Rainsford, who is studying english literature and criminology, says she is putting herself in the position of someone going to the hospital for a termination. “No matter how strong you are in your belief that it is the right thing to do, the anti-abortion vigils would still be a very difficult thing to be greeted with.” Speaking on law reform, Rainsford says a woman has the right to control her own reproductive system, and it is imperative to maintain those rights. “There are all sorts of reasons why abortion needs to be readily accessible, and safe. We don’t want to go back to the days of tabletop abortions by any means.” Seger, who studies law, philosophy, and arts, says from a very basic legal perspective you can’t interfere with people’s bodily autonomy. While she empathises with the religious group, who believe they are doing the right thing, she says forced pregnancy goes well beyond this interference. Wellington Young Feminists spokesperson, Rachael Wright, says she doesn’t want to make the hospital a battleground, but wants to remind patients they are supported in their decision.
Victoria University students are rallying behind a prochoice campaign in solidarity with the many women who choose to visit Wellington Regional Hospital for pregnancy terminations. This comes as another round of antiabortion protests kick off outside the hospital, run by the religious group Family Life International. The internationally funded group is staging peaceful prayer vigils from 8.00am–8.00pm until April 13, in the lead up to Easter. Among other things, Family Life International opposes sex education, contraception, and marriage equality. A number of pro-choice retaliation protests have been staged by the Wellington Young Feminists Group and the Abortion Law Reform Association New Zealand, with the support of many students, including VUWSA Equity Officer, Chrissy Brown. Brown says taking part in the protest aligns with her role as equity officer, because it’s about supporting women in making their own decisions. She also says the activist in her wanted to go to the protest, so any women visiting the hospital for an abortion could see the support. “I don’t think it’s radical to give women the choice to decide if they want to have a baby or not.” Anti-choice groups are also no longer apart of clubs week, and Brown says this is because they do not represent all students. “If anything, they cause more harm because they believe in something that doesn’t give women the autonomy over their own bodies.” The pro-choice protest is also sparking conversation around current legislation which holds abortion in the New Zealand Crimes Act. Brown is also weighing in on the law reform debate, saying that the amount of “stupid legal loopholes” women have to navigate in New Zealand to get an abortion is horrendous. “It leads to more abortions being carried out later rather than sooner, and the sooner the abortion, the better.” Brown adds that women shouldn’t have to lie to get an abortion, and that it needs to be normalised in our world. According to the Crimes Act, abortion is only legal when two of the country’s 167 specially certified consultants are satisfied the foetus is severely handicapped, a product of incest, or that its birth would endanger the physical or mental health of the mother-tobe. Lacking financial or social resources to raise a child is not considered grounds. Nor is rape, although many would qualify on mental health grounds.
News
22.02.16
VUW bank job, but with no Jason Statham On February 18, it was made public that a Victoria University staff member had resigned after an investigation into possible fraud was launched. Chief operating officer Mark Loveard said that internal financial processes had brought to light “unexplained financial transactions which are being fully investigated,” and are being taken “extremely seriously.” There has been no confirmation as to whether to the police are involved, but Loveard noted that “the university’s general practice is to refer evidence of criminal offending to the police.” The identity of the staff member is currently unknown and the university will not be able to make any further comment until the investigation is complete. It is also unknown how much money has disappeared or where it came from, but let us pray it came from a bank account which probably doesn’t exist, full of money put aside for redecorating the decrepit von Zedlitz building—baby needs a paint job.
On January 18, Ngatokotoru Puna was arrested at Auckland airport for not meeting payment requirements on his student loan whilst living overseas. Mr Puna—a mathematics teacher at Rarotonga’s national college— was arrested after refusing to pay the $135,000 debt he had accrued when studying in New Zealand two decades ago. He is the first person to be arrested under sections 162A and 162B of the Student Loan Scheme Amendment Act 2014, which enables IRD to sanction the arrest of an overseas defaulter. Approximately 16% of New Zealanders are in debt to the government, with the Ministry of Education reporting that students owed $14.2 billion as of June 30, 2014. The National-led financial advisors attempted to tighten the purse strings in the 2013 budget, introducing stricter terms for loan repayments for overseas borrowers whose debt accounts for $850 million. Provided an application is lodged with the IRD, a student loan debt can remain interest-free if you are living in a country that has a free association with New Zealand, such as the Cook Islands or Niue. In Puna’s case, his Rarotongan residency could have prevented him from being arrested and accruing $90,000 interest had the terms and conditions of the loan been read by him. Former NZUSA President Laura Harris spoke of the arrest, voicing her concern that “this will turn those who are overseas with student loans into permanent refugees, and do little to encourage further compliance with the student loan scheme.” NZUSA is urging overseas borrowers to get in contact with the IRD, after being inundated with calls from concerned students. Harris believes that the government is taking too drastic a measure to get their point across, telling media “we’re not disputing that people should pay back their loan, it should just be easier for them, instead of scaring them into not coming home.” The IRD is adamant that this sanction would only be used if there had been no compliance by the defaulter to make regular repayments, and had been notified by the government department of their financial situation.
Kate Robertson
Jennie-Louise Kendrick
This happened while you were on holiday, but it’s still relevant
news@salient.org.nz
It’s time to choose an ugly flag
08
Kate Robertson
On Thursday, March 3 voting will officially open for the final stage of the $26 million flag referendum. Voters have the option of keeping the current flag or opting for Kyle Lockwood’s silver fern flag. Flag Consideration Panel chair and Victoria University Professor John Burrows has released a statement telling New Zealanders, “we have the unique opportunity to consider all the perspectives before making our own personal choice and I encourage New Zealanders to exercise their vote in this historic decision.” The silver fern flag has received support from a number of public figures, including Prime Minister John Key, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Colin Meads, and Sir Richard Hadlee. Public figures hoping to keep our current flag include Paul Henry, Parris Goebel, and actor Sam Neill. On a local government front, Lower Hutt mayor Ray Wallace and Kapiti mayor Ross Church are the only Wellington region mayors opting to keep the current flag. Those enrolled to vote should receive voting papers by Friday, March 11. Voting will officially close on Thursday, March 24. R.I.P. Red Peak. Gone, but never forgotten.
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Salient Quiz
News
Toga party a sweet success
Joshua James
1. Which famous New Zealander would sing, “see you see you later, it’s time to say goodbye. See you see you later, I’ve really got to fly...” at the end of their TV show?
3. Amid much controversy, which young New Zealand celebrity has started as a DJ for the radio station George FM?
Last Tuesday hundreds of students dressed up for the annual toga party, the first of the social events VUWSA has on offer. The party was held at the Hunter Lounge, and from 7:00–10:30pm first-year students raved, drank, and screamed to top-40 club bangers provided by Sweet Mix Kids and Jupiter Project. Welfare Vice President Rory Lenihan-Ikin spent the night literally making it rain, watering people on the dance floor like little pot plants; while Equity Officer Chrissy Brown was in charge of the sick bay for those who’d had a few too many. VUWSA President Jonathan Gee told Salient he thought the event had gone incredibly well and looked so happy he might burst. At 9.27pm the event’s promoter said only three people had electively left the premise, a statistic which might be a record for VUWSA events. On the menu was the sophisticated combination of cheese toasties provided by VUWSA and waffles provided by ARISE Church. Some students enjoyed the food so much they chose to stay in the foyer and not rejoin the party, with one cumberland resident going as far as to state that the chocolate chip waffles were “the best waffles ever.” As the night wore on and more students crowded onto the dance floor, the heat of hundreds of bodies in one room became too much for some students to handle—some resorted to ripping off their togas. Thrown them in every direction, one toga even made its way onto the stage causing the crowd to erupt in cheers. The consensus from students of an older age was that this year’s toga party was busier and less awkward than it has been in recent history, with many complaining that this year’s event was “way better than their toga party.” Even Salient’s news editor and a reporter were seen vigorously dancing like tragic old people, as though re-living their younger days. Salient apologizes for any emotional damage caused by such behaviour, and would like to add that only one student tried to use the Salient offices as a bathroom.
4. What is the name of the café that the characters from the popular TV show Friends spend a lot of their time in? 5. Which head of state was nicknamed “the smiling assassin” when they worked for a banking company in the 1990s? 6. What will most New Zealanders receive in the mail on the third of March? 7. Who is the current president of VUWSA? 8. If I was a dendrophile, what would I be sexually attracted to? 9. How old was Lydia Ko when she became the number-one ranked woman professional golfer? 10. How many more albums will Ke$ha have to produce to fulfil her contract with Sony in collaboration with her rapist-accused producer Dr Luke?
Answers: 1) Suzy Cato 2) True 3) Max Key 4) Central Perk 5) John Key 6) Part two of the flag referendum 7) Jonathan Gee 8) Trees 9) 17 years old 10) Eight
Matthew Collier
2. True or False? Most of those who will be attempting NCEA level one this year were born after the 9/11 attacks.
10
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News
22.02.16
Ain’t no party like a PM party
news@salient.org.nz
“We are not drowning, we are fighting”
Prime Minister John Key recently visited Australia to discuss trans-Tasman matters with his counterpart Malcolm Turnbull. One of the main discussion topics—among refugee detainment and rising tensions in the South China Sea— was the citizenship rights of New Zealanders who have relocated to Australia. After a few busy days of kayaking, wine tasting, and luxury accommodation, the PMs reached an agreement, giving New Zealanders who have lived in Australia for five or more years, and are earning more than $54,000 per annum, easier access to citizenship. According to the 2013 Census, roughly 650,000 people—15% of New Zealand’s population—live in Australia. After moving to Australia, New Zealanders are given temporary resident visas, which in layman’s terms, means they are not eligible for medical benefits, emergency government aid, public housing, and disability support. The limitations imposed on New Zealanders who relocate to Australia are a concern for tertiary students considering postgraduate study abroad. There is no student assistance for New Zealanders studying in Australia, so the cost of studying at a postgraduate level could dissuade those who want access to higher education. The temporary visa also applies to the children of New Zealand migrants born after February 27, 2001. This means that if the child’s parents aren’t yet citizens or holders of permanent visas, normal citizenship benefits are unavailable. Those wanting live permanently in Australia are able to apply for a permanent resident’s visa or citizenship, but the Australian government advises that only those looking to stay for several years or more to seek out this option. Before the meeting, Labour leader Andrew Little urged Key to use the opportunity to push for the rights of New Zealanders in Australia and, “urge the Australian Parliament to treat Kiwis living in Australia better.” “Since 2001 New Zealanders across the ditch have been treated like second class citizens. They have lost basic rights such as access to social support, student assistance and the ability to become citizens of the country they live in.” Maybe in between braiding their hair and making friendship bracelets, Turnbull and Key did lay down future plans for fair access to citizenship, but then again, the Australian government is full of hardliners and people who love running rings around us New Zealanders—so who bloody knows.
In the calm before O-Week, Victoria University hosted an event which was kind of a massive deal—the Pacific Climate Change Conference 2016. For three days, attendees heard from leaders in the climate change field ranging from professors, entrepreneurs, and journalists, through to the president of the Republic of Kiribati, Anote Tong. Representatives from 16 Pacific Island nations were also in attendance. President Anote Tong gave the keynote address of the conference about the fate of his country. Tong appealed for those in attendance to stand up to those ignoring the climate change. With scientists believing Kiribati could be uninhabitable as soon as 2030, Tong added urgency by telling attendee that the low-lying islands and atolls making up Kiribati were already experiencing “extreme high tides and more severe storms on [an] unprecedented magnitude.” The final day of the conference focused on the future of climate politics, and saw Australian National University Climate Change Institute director Will Steffen tell those in attendance that if changes aren’t made now, a 6.0°C temperature increase by 2100 is possible— something which could “collapse contemporary civilisation.” By the conference’s close, a memorandum of understanding had been signed by Victoria University provost Wendy Larner and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme’s (SPREP) director general Kosi Latu. The memorandum has created a framework for future co-operation on activities of mutual interest such as climate change research, coral research, and the enhancement of biosecurity. Following the signing, Larner said “the university has a long-held role in the Pacific and recognises we must work hand-in-hand with our Pacific neighbours if we are serious about facing the issues arising from global warming.” Victoria University is the first New Zealand university to formally sign a memorandum of understanding with the SPREP. The conference came off the back of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference where the Paris Agreement was signed by delegates from 195 countries. In ratifying the treaty, states are agreeing to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to aim to keep global warming below 2.0°C by 2030. State’s will be able to review each other’s contribution to decreasing emissions every five years. There is no word yet on when New Zealand will ratify the treaty.
14
Kate Robertson
Alexa Zelensky
Kiribati is about to fucking sink
SCOTUS passes away
White House tenancy applications closing soon
The US is facing a possible constitutional crisis following the death of supreme court justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia died on February 13 of natural causes while staying on a luxury ranch in West Texas. The 79 year old was the leader of the conservative justices, and the longest current serving supreme court justice after being appointed in 1986. Scalia’s passing leaves a large gap in the supreme court and creates a deadlock, with an equal number of liberal and conservative judges. The new justice will need to be approved by a senate majority, which is currently Republican controlled. Obama is in talks with his staff about potential nominees, but there have been calls from Republicans to postpone the appointment of a new justice until after the 2016 presidential election. On Tuesday, February 22, during the first sitting of the senate after the Scalia’s death, majority leader, Republican senator, McConnell confirmed the senate would block any attempt by Obama to appoint a new supreme court justice before the presidential election. McConnell told reporters, “presidents have a right to nominate, just as the senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent. In this case, the senate will withhold it.” McConnell went on to give reference to the upcoming presidential elections, saying, “the senate will appropriately revisit the matter after the American people finish making in November the decision they’ve already started making today.” McConnell has support from fellow Republicans, with high profile members of the party such as senator Ted Cruz stating they will not support Obama’s nomination. This situation contrasts precedent, as eight supreme court justices have been appointed during presidential election years. According to the constitution, the president nominates justices to the court, and the senate uses its “advice and consent” powers to confirm or reject that person. The Democrats have struck back at these statements, brushing off the Republican reluctance to appoint a new supreme court justice as political game playing. White house spokesman Eric Schultz described the Republican actions as “a lot of bluster, only to have reality ultimately sink in,” giving reference to past battles over the debt limit and the nuclear deal with Iran.
With each passing day it is looking increasingly likely that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be fighting it out to be president of the US. Both candidates are ahead in their party’s nominating contests and have recently seen wins in the Nevada caucuses. Trump was able to pick up the third win in a row after earlier beating Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in New Hampshire and South Carolina. South Carolina saw the unlikely front runner gain 32.5% of the vote, to Rubio’s 22.5% and Cruz’s 22.3%. Cruz’s third placing in South Carolina was seen as a failure and could mean the end of his campaign, one which has been based on Cruz’s supposed ability to capture the evangelical and hard core conservative vote. A further blow to the Republican Party‘s establishment was made in the Nevada caucuses with Rubio losing to Trump by double digits—Trump gained 46.7% of the vote, to Rubio’s 23.5%. Following the withdrawal of Jeb Bush from the race, Rubio was pegged to be the establishment’s ticket and had received big endorsements from the likes of 1996 Republican nominee, Bob Dole. Going by last Tuesday’s Nevada results, Trump has a strong lead with 79 delegates to Cruz’s 16 and Rubio’s 15. A total of 1237 is needed to win. On the other side, the Nevada caucuses called into question the candidacy of senator Bernie Sanders, who lost to Secretary Clinton—52.6% to Sanders’ 47.3%. Secretary Clinton’s support was boosted by minority voters, with whom Sanders has polled poorly in the past. Sanders had previously performed well in states where the Democratic base is predominantly white, but as the makeup of the democratic voters in the primaries diversify, polls suggest Sanders’ support may be slipping. Clinton is currently sitting at 503 delegates to Sanders’ 70. To win the democratic nomination either candidate will have to win 2383 delegates. Tuesday will give a clear indication of who the Democrats and Republicans will elect as their respective presidential nominee. Republicans have 595 delegates at stake and the Democrats have 1004.
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Charlie Prout
Charlie Prout
Politics
Maori Matters
One Ocean
Rakaitemania Parata Gardiner & Raimona Tapiata
Laura Toailoa
Fondly known by the moniker of Gran, 2016 marks Kathy Samuels’ 25th year of service at Victoria University. She has proudly served the university in her role as the senior kaiarahi of Te Herenga Waka marae. In talking with Māori tauira who work with or know Gran well, many anecdotes have come to light that speak volumes about her status as a core pillar of the Māori community here at Vic. An awesome seamstress, she has come to the aid of many of our tauira in their sartorial times of need. One student recounts the time she hemmed his pants and ironed his shirt to prepare him for his first job interview, another recalls discovering her ball dress was too big—on the day of the event. Gran took-it-in in record time and the tauira swanned off to He Matarere, our first official Ngai Tauira ball. Coincidentally, the same night Gran was presented with the inaugural super-gran award. Despite the appearance of a hard exterior, she has worked her way into the hearts, and stomachs, of people from all walks of life with her no nonsense words of advice, and caramel bananas. The marae is forever receiving visits from current tauira, former tauira, and friends of the university, the likes of which include High Court judges and famous authors, all of whom drop in to see Gran for a cup of tea and some goss. Many current tauira credit their success at university, and in life, to her guidance and influence. She acts as a bridge between tauira and lecturers, and has been responsible for facilitating life-changing opportunities. Gran is the epitome of an excellent work ethic, and leads by example through the embodiment of tikanga Māori in everything that she does. She personifies all of the tangas that we, as Māori, hold to the highest degree of importance—manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and rangatiratanga. Nō reira e te tuhi māreikura, nei te waha ake i ngā mihi manahau ki a koe. Ka tika kia whakanuia koe me āu mahi i ngā tini tau i a koe i konei, i te whare wānanga e mahi ana. Kua whairawa te whānau o Te Herenga Waka, otirā te whare wānanga whānui i tō nohonga mai hei pou mō mātou. E kore e ea i ngā kupu te whakatauira i te nui o te aroha o te whānau mōu. Ko koe te whakatinanatanga o te herenga kōrero, te herenga tāngata, te herenga waka.
The Pacific Ocean is the home of an insurmountable number of islands, each with their own complex histories, cultures, and languages. It might seem like a superfluous protocol in the beginning of Pacific events to list greetings from as many languages as possible, but this small gesture is so important to establish that we may be from one ocean, but we are very diverse. This complexity is often brushed over. It is very easy to think of the Pacific, and Pacific people, as a discrete group of hip swaying, frangipani wearing, coconut drinking, brown people (according to Google images anyway). We might also be seen as the lazy diabetic drop-outs that are disproportionately feature in every negative statistic. However, both extremes ignore the complicated reality (but simple stories are easier to pass on). Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Hawaii, and Fiji are islands spoken of often. We see them in sports, on TV, in movies. We hear them in our music, and we see them around university. The voices less heard come from islands such as the Solomon Islands, Rapa Nui, Tokelau, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, West Papua, Tuvalu, and many more that I have failed to acknowledge. This I genuinely apologise for. I understand the frustration of the invisibility some of our Pacific people feel under the shadow of the more well-known (often Polynesian) islands. Even, or especially, when it’s easier to refer to Pacific people as one group, we must remember that within that small name (that was given to us, based on a skewed perception of our people and places) lies a richness and complexity that is often brushed over. We are bonded by our shared experiences and we mustn’t forget to acknowledge and even celebrate our differences that keep us from being one mind. We are from one ocean, but we are many people.
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Gee-mail
VUWSA Exec
Jonathan Gee
Nathaniel Manning Engagement Vice President
Hey everyone! For those of you returning for another year at Vic, welcome back! The campus has been bustling as we welcomed new students last week. The annual toga party kicked off the new students’ orientation, and we brought you G-Eazy (all the way from the US!) to round off a spectacular week. The start of the uni-year is always exciting, you feel that little bit older and wiser than the year before. I always tell myself that this year I’m going to be more organised, work out a good lecture note-taking system, and do all my readings. But lol, it never seems to happen. But it’s the intention that counts right? One of the few luxuries we get as students is that the new university year starts two months after everybody else’s. It doesn’t feel like the year has really started until we get back into the rhythm of university. I came across a really good quote at the end of last year, which made me think. It said, “the new year doesn’t exist if you’re still in love with your comfort zone.” With the university year starting at the end of February, we get a second chance to carry through with those new year resolutions that we broke in early January. I get a second chance to actually get a gym membership, and try and hang out with my non-VUWSA mates at least once a week (VUWSA Prez = no social life). But we don’t get that second chance if we’re not willing to get out of our comfort zones and try something new. At VUWSA, we’re trying to niggle our way out of our comfort zone this year. The government is introducing new minimum housing standards to make rental housing warmer, drier, and safer. Over the last few weeks we’ve used this as an opportunity to tell the story of student hardship, whether it be dealing with the mould crisis in our flats, or not having enough support to live each week. We’ll be exposing the latter this Wednesday, the day when student debt reaches a whopping $15 billion. There are many adverse consequences that result from having mountains of debt, and we want you to tell your story this week. In the meantime, make sure you take this week to think about your *new* new year resolutions. They can be as small as trying to say hello to the person sitting next to you in lectures, or as big as joining all 130+ clubs during clubs week (Tuesday–Thursday this week!). Good luck, and all the best for the first week of class!
Welcome to the first week of lectures! I’ve been to a lecture or two over the past three years I’ve been at Vic, so here are a few things I’ve learnt over my time: • Victoria is big. Like, really big, with lots of buildings. Even now, when I get asked where a building or a room is, I don’t know the answer. There is, however, a useful map you can use on Victoria’s website—it even tells you what those abbreviations mean! Type ‘map’ into the search box on the university’s homepage. • Places also get easier to find when you realise the first number of a room is the floor it’s on. KK203? Easy! Room 203, on level 2 of Kirk! • Not all PASS classes and tutorials are held on Campus. Some are held across the road in the ‘houses’ of Kelburn Parade and Fairlie Terrace (I told you, this place is big). • If you sit down in the wrong class, don’t feel bad for walking out. That being said, ask any second or third year and they’ll probably tell you at least one time they sat through an entire class for some subject they didn’t know, just so they wouldn’t have to do the walk of shame. Also, non-stop studying can also get pretty boring. Take a break, and get involved in University life! This week is Clubs’ Week, so check out a selection of the 130+ clubs here at Victoria! You’ll see the stalls in the hub Tuesday to Thursday. Go to gigs! This Friday night, VUWSA is hosting a show at San Fran, but there are shows happening all the time. Visit vuwsa.org.nz/events-calendar for more info. Keep up to date with VUWSA online: Snapchat (vuwsa), Twitter (@vuwsa), Instagram (@ vuwsagram), Facebook (fb.com/vuwsa) If you haven’t yet, come sign up for VUWSA at our stall this week. Plus, arrive there at 12.00pm for tacos! Til next time, Nathaniel
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Know your VUWSA Executive
Annaliese Wilson— Education Officer
Rory Lenihan-Ikin— Welfare Vice President
What the heck is a faculty delegate? Faculty delegates are the next step above class reps. They are student representatives on the governing body of their respective faculty, i.e. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. They help make decisions that affect teaching and learning, research, and the student experience. They ensure that students have a strong voice when decisions are being made. They report back to VUWSA so that key decisions are carried into university-wide committees and boards such as the Academic Board and University Council.
How can students avoid going hungry? Our Community Pantry service has free food parcels available if your cupboards are looking bare, and we give away free bread every Friday morning at the Kelburn reception. For cheap fruit and veges, the VUWSA market runs on Wednesdays from 10.00am–6.00pm in the Tim Beaglehole courtyard (outside the hub). The Free Store serves free food every weeknight at 6.00pm, and The Soup Kitchen serves free breakfast and dinner six days a week.
What advice do you have to people who are tutors for the first time? Tutoring is a great part of the student experience at Victoria, it’s awesome that people are willing to do this. As a tutor you will be supported by the university, they provide a number of courses and workshops for firsttime tutors. Also, make sure you’re approachable and create a dialogue with the students. It will make it more enjoyable for you and students.
What needs to be done to improve student welfare? HEAPS—here’s a few things: A universal student allowance would mean less time working and a guarantee to pay for the basics while studying. A rental warrant-offitness for all flats would mean we wouldn’t have to put up with cold and mould. We need free, or discounted public transport, throughout the city—high school students get it, why not us? We need more support and prevention around issues that often go unnoticed: sexual violence, suicide and mental health, and accessibility for disabled students, among many others.
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Jonathan Gee—President Your job is pretty full on. What are your top tips for stress relief? Always have perspective and never lose your cool. Things often don’t go according to plan. Remember that it is usually not the end of the world, no matter how much it feels like it is in the moment. Often when something goes wrong or if you’re feeling stressed, it’s very hard to stop thinking about it. Never underestimate the power of just stepping away from the problem for an hour by doing something you enjoy (i.e. going for a run, watching Netflix). Then come back to it with a clearer mind. Perspective is everything! Describe your favourite pair of socks: My favourites are the ones that are talking points in meetings, or those that get lots of likes on Facebook. There’s a sock war going on at the VUWSA office at the moment and I am determined to win!
Jacinta Gulasekharam— Academic Vice President Your job involves constantly going to meetings, how do you do it? I drink good coffee. Also, feeling confident that you know the right questions to ask at the right time. Knowing what I say counts and makes a real difference, like when VUWSA stopped the university taking away a week of trimester two holidays. It’s not how, it’s why that keeps me going. That I’m here for students because VUWSA cares. What’s your favourite nightclub? That’s tricky! I’m loyal to Boogie having worked there last summer. However, at third year I’d say Dirty Little Secret rooftop bar.
George Grainger— Treasurer/Secretary How do you stay awake in meetings, such as ‘the Audit and Finance Committee’ meeting? Deeply held smouldering passion. It might make me the most boring person alive, other than a meninist, but my personal taste for responsible fiscal management, balanced budgets, and transparent reporting sustains me. How are VUWSA’s finances looking? (It’s just between you and all Salient readers) There’s organisations that enjoy prosperity, and then there’s VUWSA. We’re keeping our head above water and providing the services students need and deserve. But the reality is everything costs money and we don’t have enough to keep serving an evergrowing student population unless we get more money coming in.
Chrissy Brown—Equity Officer What is Thursdays in Black? A nationwide student campaign lead by Tertiary Women NZ to raise awareness of sexual violence by wearing black on Thursdays! The campaign was popular during the 90s (led by Jan Logie when she was Women’s Rights Officer of NZUSA) and this year we’re back in black— bringing it back! Thursdays in Black is a movement towards changing the rape culture that exists within life at university—we need to make sure universities care about our safety, and provide adequate services to help survivors. We need more research, and better education, about how we can prevent rape and violence in our communities. Who’s better: Kim, Khloe, Kendall, or Kylie? Kim. I’m sorry. I love Kim forever and always.
Anya Maule—Wellbeing and Sustainability Officer
Nathaniel Manning— Engagement Vice President
What is the Victoria food co-op? It was started by Gecko, the Vic environmental group. Dried food is bulk ordered, and then we have ‘packouts’ where members come along, weigh up products they want, and pay online afterwards. The idea is to provide access to affordable organic food (and Ecostore products) on campus. Members are encouraged to bring their own bags and containers, to reduce waste.
What’s the best event you’ve attended while at university? By the time this goes to print, I will have attended G-Eazy, so I’m going to lock in G-Eazy. I’m writing this at 1.00am after the Toga Party, so I’m gonna go with the Toga Party (despite smelling of stale sweat and other people’s vomit). Jupiter Project and Sweet Mix Kids smashed it—so much better than the Toga Party I half attended in first year before stumbling to Hope Bros.
What can students do to be more eco-friendly? Bring a KeepCup to uni for your caffeine fix (VicBooks and Louis’ do a discount for this), walk or cycle where possible instead of catching the bus (you’ll save money and get fit), and hang out your washing instead of using the dryer.
How much fun is too much fun? There’s no such thing as too much fun! Anyone who says so either has FOMO, or is better at attending their lectures than me.
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Tori Sellwood—Clubs and Activities Officer Why should students join a club? Clubs are one of the best ways to meet like-minded people, make life-long friends, and get a glimpse of life outside of lectures. Vic has a crazy amount of clubs (over 135!), so there is an awesome community and something for everyone! What is a Faculty Students’ Association, how many are there? Faculty Students’ Associations are student-led representative groups for their corresponding faculties. There are four well-established Faculty Students’ Associations: STUDiO (Architecture and Design), VUWLSS (Law), VicCom (Commerce), and The Science Society. I highly recommend joining your Faculty Students’ Association, they offer great services that are tailored to what you study!
Alice Lyall—Campaigns Officer What is a campaign? It sounds fun. It is fun! A campaign is how you get a message across. The best campaigns are creative and original. I have a worryingly large collection of costumes I have worn to campaigns. Last general election I wandered around campus dressed as an elephant (yes, that was the highlight of my first year). Why should students care about the local body election campaign? The local body election is a way to get student voices’ heard. It’s an opportunity to make progress on issues like housing and public transport. It only happens once every three years and I’m excited to work on it.
Your very accurate, very specific, annual student horoscope Before astrological signs, before the Chinese zodiac, before Delphic oracles, what did people consult when predicting the future? What they studied at university, of course:
Sharon Lam
English This is the year that the great New Zealand novel is going to be penned. But by who? By you? Perhaps. Maybe. Conceivably. Perchance. But first, beforehand, earlier, prior to that, you need to invest in what automatically makes one a great writer—a thesaurus. But wait, stop, pause, what’s this? Someone’s stolen, filched, swiped, bagged the only thesaurus left in town! If only you knew who…
Law The year begins with a rocky start, with most people not liking you because you have that insufferable law student thing going on. You don’t mind though, because you’re soon going to be a hotshot lawyer like Ally Mcbeal. You will also find yourself becoming irrelevant, much like an outdated television reference that no one gets. To remedy this, repeatedly remind people of all the readings that you have to do and just how terribly difficult your degree is, make some ‘waah-waah’ noises too.
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Chemistry Smoke. A lot of smoke. Perhaps from smokers, perhaps a certain eye makeup technique. But where there’s smoke, there must be fire. You’ve started a fire. Why have you started a fire? Oh god, you’re going to burn down the entire campus because you were making popcorn with a Bunsen burner. Congratulations. Every student is going to love you very much, except, sadly, for the one student that you love very much.
Physics A big year for physicists. Quite literally. In your studies you will make a huge breakthrough and discover a way to not lengthen time, but to widen it. Yes, somehow, you will manage to bump up the BMI of every 24 hour day, making it no longer than 24 hours, but definitely wider. Your time widening discovery will make you a very rich person, and therefore a very happy person.
Media Studies A chemistry student will try to woo you by making popcorn for your lecture/movie watching class. Unfortunately, a terrible accident will befall them and you won’t ever see them again. Fortunately, you weren’t at all interested in them in the first place. You know who you will be interested in? Someone else in the science faculty, and the romance will involve a lot of worms.
Biology Things will go very well between you and a media student. But just as you think that they could be The One, something gets between the two of you. You can’t quite put your finger on it. It’s because the ‘something’ keeps moving. Suddenly there are a lot of somethings. You can’t even see your media lover anymore. After time you will realise that they are in fact under a pile of squirming worms. Please remember to properly close lids this year. 21
Commerce It’s hard to know what is emptier—the degree that you’re pursuing or the hole in your heart. Yes, something is definitely missing this year, but what? Love? No. You’ve already learnt to replace that with dairy products. Gloves? Also no. You bought that surprisingly nice pair from the Warehouse last winter. Dove? Several doves emerging from your waistcoat? Yes! It is clear that commerce is merely a façade you’re using to hide your one true passion: amateur magic. Why else would you study such an uninspiring topic?! No-one will suspect a thing!
Music Clothing appears prominently in your forecast for the year. In particular, pants. Further in particular, fancy pants. That’s right fancy pants, you are still not tired of telling people that you spend all day playing the harp, but be sure that everyone else is tired of hearing it. Why don’t you try talking about other things at parties this year fancy pants? Also please stop calling parties ‘soirees’.
Architecture It’s no coincidence that the building you spend all your time in is the colour of blood. Yes that’s right, this year you are going to be menstruating a lot. A heavy flow for everyone. Even if you have a penis. It’s going to be a hella weird year. Work with your strange, perhaps newfound, ovaries by incorporating sanitary pads and tampons into your designs, either as a modelling material or as an abstract concept. Just don’t be too literal.
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Political Science Ooh you think you’re clever don’t you— sneaking “science” into your degree title while doing a BA. You’re so clever you could probably get away with not going to the majority of your lectures, not owning a laptop, or having a flat. But why stop there? Push the boundaries of what you can get away with. Never recap a Sharpie. Never tie your shoelaces. Never bend a bendy straw. You’ll be amazed at what happens next.
Design You too, reside in the red coloured building full of menstruating architecture students. But for you, red represents not blood but tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes, that crazy vegetable-fruit. They have been sorely neglected in previous years of your life but now is the time to fully embrace them. Collaborate with tomatoes, snort powdered tomatoes, make a sex toy out of tomatoes. Just be careful not to get any tomato juice on your overpriced monochromatic outfit.
Education Isn’t it funny how your education is education. No, not really, and neither are you. It is very important that you somehow become much funnier this year. You could try watching more comedies, or incorporate a funny hat into your wardrobe. When that inevitably fails, accept your complete lack of humour and write regularly for your university magazine.
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Doing Good Well: Martin Skhreli
Da ra pr im 25 m g
30 Tablets
Da ra pr im 25 m g
30 Tablets
Doing Good Well: Martin Skhreli Finnius Teppett
hike, he had the air of a high intellectual, stooping to explain the basics of pharmaceutical economics to his interviewers. He nods and smirks along to questions, and occasionally catches himself furrowing his eyebrows in a condescending expression he would go on to refine and own. Commenters online suspected him of being a robot that was having a go at expressing human emotions. But he at least engaged with questions. In a near monotone, he gave in-depth arguments for the price increase; a mixture of pre-worked PR-speak and genuine responses. During the interviews, though, something else became apparent. With his nervous laugh and awkward, shifting posture, you can’t help but feel something underneath his performance—he is incredibly self-conscious. Shkreli is only thirty-two years old. He entered Wall Street as an intern, and worked his way up, Wolf of Wall Street-style, to manage his own hedge fund—MSMB Capital Management. A medical textbook-memorising prodigy who, according to a former colleague, is “the smartest guy in the room;” Shkreli is undeniably nerdy. And with a chip on his shoulder from dropping out of an elite Manhattan school for the intellectually gifted (he recently made a million-dollar donation to the same school), it’s no surprise that he felt the need to prove himself. The route he appeared to take, though, was an interesting one. Abandoning earlier attempts to cast himself as the good guy, he embraced his villain status wholeheartedly. He started using every opportunity he could to remind people of his personal wealth, knowing full well the natural connections people would make between his money and his price-gouging as CEO of Turing. Soon after the Daraprim increase, Shkreli was the winner of an auction for the only copy of the new Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. It cost him two million dollars. Then Shkreli took a dive into deep weirdom. A spat with Wu-Tang rapper Ghostface Killah, that started with Ghostface calling him “that shithead” in a TMZ interview (for apparently both the Daraprim increase, and for withholding the new Wu album from the public), led Shkreli to post his own diss video in response. In the
Martin Shkreli rose to fame last year when, as CEO of drug company Turing Pharmaceuticals, he bought the rights to the drug Daraprim and jacked up the price by over 5000% overnight. When the news about Daraprim, a drug used to treat toxoplasmosis (a parasitic infection that can develop in young children and some cancer patients, as well as, most notably, people with HIV/AIDS), was reported in the New York Times, Shkreli became the smug, weaselly face of America’s opportunistic pharmaceutical industry—and a real-life super-villain in his own right. Epithets sprang from a media anxious to quickly paint a caricature for their readers and watchers. ‘Pharma Bro’ was an early one, and later on he became, a little less imaginatively, ‘the most hated man in America’. Even the presidential nominees ragged on him. Hillary Clinton used the case of Daraprim as an example of runaway corporate greed, before announcing a policy that would try hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for price gouging. Bernie Sanders turned down a $2700 campaign donation (the individual donation limit) from Shkreli, opting instead to pass it on to an AIDS clinic in Washington. In justification, Sanders’ spokesman called Shkreli a “poster boy for drug company greed.” The most infuriating thing for the masses of haters was that, far from being humbled, Shkreli seemed to revel in the attention. After the first wave of public outrage, Shkreli told NBC that he would cancel the increase and lower the price again, citing his wish to appease a misunderstanding public, but the price never went down. He cancelled the cancel. In fact, he later went on to tell Forbes that he regretted not raising the price even higher when he had the chance (that is, before he resigned from Turing), so that he could’ve made more profit. What happened in between the promise to lower the price and the resounding rejection of the idea, amounted to Shkreli’s transformation into full troll. — It became super easy to dislike Martin Shkreli. In his first appearances on television following the price
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Americans have come up against the natural result of the unregulated market capitalism they are so proud of. And they are upset, it would appear, that the people who make use of the market aren’t nicer. but a nerd who has finally, suddenly, found himself on top, and is toying with the idea of a values system.
video Shkreli, flanked by three masked goons, swills a stemless glass of red wine and warns Ghostface, “don’t ever fucking mention my name again.” His next stop was a congressional hearing, where he appeared in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to answer questions for an investigation into rising drug prices. Pleading the fifth amendment, he refused to answer any questions bar one (“is it pronounced ‘Shkreli’?” “Yes, sir”), and spent his time before the committee smirking and giggling, and rolling his eyes in the face of questions and pleas. In one of the only places that he might’ve found a receptive, and important, audience for his claims—that the raising of the price was to cover research costs for a new, better drug that would supersede Daraprim—Shkreli scoffed his way to an early exit. Shkreli claimed that his obnoxious behaviour was a “social experiment.” And while certainly a lot of it appears to be a put-on, it’s harder to tell whether it’s a guy playing up his own assholism in order to make a point, or whether it’s the performance of someone who has never been comfortable in their own skin, trying to find some kind of identity. Not a robot trying on human feelings necessarily,
— Shkreli was arrested in December last year on securities fraud charges. He posted his five-million dollar bail straight away, but the early-morning march through a crowd of photographers, in the hands of FBI agents, managed to make a dent on his ego—if only temporarily. The charges relate to his time in the hedge fund game, where he is accused of running a Ponzi-like scheme in paying off investors of one fund (MSMB) with assets from another (Retrophin), and lying to others about losses he was making. He denied all the charges, instead posting the tweet (that sounds like it was wrung out by a gauntlet of expensive attorneys), “I am confident I will prevail. The allegations against me are baseless and without merit.” For most people, separating the dodgy hedge fund guy from the pharmaceutical CEO is hard, if they see any point in trying to separate them at all. But the truth is there seems to be a few distinct Martin Shkrelis in operation. At times it’s really hard to reconcile
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ties himself into knots trying to frame his question. “I’m a huge advocate for capitalism” he says, and “you’ve done well for yourself, congratulations on that, I have no issue with it, but….” He goes on to say that Shkreli has effectively withdrawn an essential drug from a poor community, and he would like him to explain his reasoning behind it—to justify himself. But the question is a non sequitur. A responsibility to any group, especially poor communities, has never been part of succeeding in capitalism. The cognitive dissonance churns in the guy grilling Shkreli: he clearly has it in for him, but how could he really be that bad a person, if all he’s done is play by the rules to make himself a tidy profit? In fact, shouldn’t Shkreli actually be applauded for fulfilling the American dream? The son of Albanian immigrants who worked janitor jobs to support him, he capitalised his way to a multi-million dollar fortune. Americans have come up against the natural result of the unregulated market capitalism they are so proud of. And they are upset, it would appear, that the people who make use of the market aren’t nicer. Ghostface Killah made another video in response to Shkreli’s goon/wine one. After a few insults that seem pretty lightweight coming from a gangster rapper (like “that fake Peter Pan cat” and “the man with the twelve year old body.” Interestingly he also touches on the slipperiness of Shkreli’s character, pointing out “he ain’t got a real bone in his body”), Ghost brings up the Daraprim increase. “You a killer, man” he says, “you don’t do that to the people, man. They need that.” Ghost then pleads him, as much as a founding rapper of the Wu-Tang Clan can, to lower the price of the drug. Then he turns the camera to his family members, who continue the message in custom T-shirts that have Shkreli’s face and the words “2 MIL SUCKER” printed on them. At the congressional hearing a Republican congressman asks Shkreli, his voice nearly cracking, “what do you say to that single, pregnant woman, who might have AIDS, no income, she needs Daraprim in order to survive… What do you say to her?” (He pleads the fifth). Another member of the committee tells him solemnly, “I wanna plead with you, to use any remaining influence you have over your former company, to press them to lower the price of these drugs.” But their appeals are flawed, if heartbreaking. They talk to a single person, a small player at that, as if he is their only hope of changing an entire system. The idea of regulation is almost taboo in American politics, even in the wake of the devastating 2008 financial crisis that was the result of years of banking deregulation. These people of power, congress folk and rappers alike, are hamstrung to stick up for humanity in the face of a huge, uncaring economic system. But it is that system— the freedom for people to do whatever they want—that defines what it is to be American.
the different versions of him. In one of his least guarded interviews, on conversation streaming site Blab, he talks with a man who is HIV positive and, unbelievably, Shkreli comes across as a genuinely nice person. Maybe because the stakes are low here, no national media, no emblazoned epithets to perform under, he is relaxed and sincere. He patiently waits for the man to work through his emotional statement and question, and then goes about responding to him with real empathy. It actually seems important to him that the guy understands where he’s coming from. He goes on to say that a few people close to him have HIV, including his publicist. He says that toxoplasmosis is a rare disease, even for people with AIDS, and that Turing gives away 65% of its drugs for free. In a similar point, made in an interview with Vice, he says that the $750 price tag of Daraprim isn’t for individuals, but for rich insurance companies, and huge corporations, like Walmart. He encourages anyone who needs the drug but can’t get it to contact him. In that Vice interview, while the line he sticks to isn’t new, the character he plays is maybe the most bizarre of all. The interview takes place in his Manhattan apartment, and he goes to great lengths to put on the most pretentious show he can muster. He refuses to walk anywhere, choosing instead to whiz around on one of those stupid two-wheeled hoverboards. He and the interviewer drink a 2005 Petrus magnum (“let’s open a really nice bottle” he says — average price about $6000NZD), and the interview literally happens over a game of chess (“so you play the Sicilian defence frequently, or…?”). He is totally unbearable. What is blazingly obvious is that, while he is keen to broadcast his shining generosity of spirit in the murky world of greedy big-pharma corporates, what he really wants people to know is that he’s cool. His two-million dollar Wu-Tang album sits prominently on the coffee table. — For most people, the headlines were enough. Shkreli was “The CEO That Hiked Price Of HIV Treatment Drug” or the “AIDS-Drug Price Gouging CEO.” It made sense to us that sooner or later someone like him would emerge out of the demented orgy of corporate America. While the consequences of this particular price rise probably won’t be as severe as the coverage made it out to be (though there are still valid concerns about the effect on insurance premiums, and whether hospitals will still be able to stock the drug. Also it is part of a wider trend that sees old, cheap drugs being bought solely to ratchet up the price, which freaks out pretty much everyone without a state drug-buying agency. Viva Pharmac), Shkreli will likely live on as a villain, in his role as the honorary Face of Big Pharma. And this brings a really interesting problem to the American people. In the Blab conversation, the man talking to Shkreli
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‘A Series of Rectangles’ Tyler Jackson tylerjacksonart.wordpress.com
The Ghuznee–Willis St. intersection comes alive during peak-hour traffic, people in cars, on bikes, and on foot, look on at the crowds gathering in the carpark of St Peter’s Church. Within this parking lot, people are waiting for The Free Store to open. We met with Benjamin, the operations manager, to find out about this place. As we walked away, we felt moved by the stories we had heard, and the people we had met. The Free Store is more than just a container in a parking lot—it’s a community. One that crosses the boundaries of social stratification, and focuses on the individual people of this place. One that refuses to label and categorise, and treats everybody as a somebody.
Beyond the Container Emma Hurley & Jayne Mulligan Photo Credit: Benjamin Johnson
Tucked into the corner of a carpark, beside Old St Paul’s church in the city, sits a repurposed shipping container. It’s the after-work rush hour on a Tuesday, and pedestrians in corporate wear stream past, some holding shopping bags, intermingled with the more casual commuters in active wear. The Ghuznee–Willis St. intersection is bustling with cars, buses, and scooters carrying people home. The church doors are wide open, and people filter off the pavement and into the carpark space. The carpark is empty but for one car, which people lean on as they wait. The Free Store is run out of a sleek, well designed container. It is decorated with varnished slats of wood and an ornate white iron sign—bringing a touch of warmth and homeliness to the otherwise sterile industrial feeling one would typically associate with a container. Inside the container, volunteers are lining the shelves and getting the portions ready. As a few people begin to gather outside they are given tea and coffee, while they chat. Volunteers pop in and out, bringing in supplies that have been gathered from cafés around the city. A volunteer leaves the container, their shift over, and takes some salad with them as they go. Slowly the space becomes busier and a crowd of people builds. You can’t pin down a particular type of person here: from fedoras to leather jackets, to skateboards, to beanies, to hoodies, and backpacks. The crowd that gathers is a complex and varied bunch of
individuals. Some look like they know this place well, as they walk and talk comfortably, and others look like new visitors, shy and standing close to the periphery. A woman peers through the window, her hands on the ledge, as she hoists her body up to get an unencumbered view of the goods lining the shelves. As she balances on her tiptoes, her shoes slip off the back of her heels, and the people behind her wait patiently for their moment to gaze at the stocks within the container. The project had its first life in in 2010, when times were tight as the after-effects of the 2008 financial crisis rippled across the country. People were struggling to afford to eat well, while paradoxically there was a crisis of surplus, a huge wastage of food—being chucked out when it could be eaten. They had found the gap that they wanted to fill, and Benjamin Johnson and his team set up their first site in an unused commercial space in Left Bank. They approached local cafés, taking on board all who agreed to give them their surplus food at the end of the day. Eventually, the space they were using was needed by someone else. They had to move on. At first they were planning on finding unused sites around the city to occupy until a paying customer came along, but they soon realized that if their concept was to work, they needed stability. The people who were using the store could not chase it across the city, it needed a permanent home.
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His energy is intoxicating and makes you wish that you cared about anything as much as he cares about The Free Store.
customers than expected, or there was an oversupply of food, leftovers are taken to the Wellington night shelter. There is a rhythm to the store. Summer is always busier, and things slow down in the winter. Monday is a big night, as people fuel up after the weekend, and Thursdays are the quietest. Fridays are always busy, and people take extra to get them through the weekend. We met with Benjamin, and over a cup of coffee he told us all about The Free Store. His conversation was thorough and considered. Listening to the stories you get a snapshot of the community that has grown around the store. Benjamin tells us about a customer who came in regularly while he tried to get on top of his finances, living on a low wage, and paying big power bills. This same customer now volunteers. He organises the tea and coffee station that runs from 5:30–6:00pm every night. The stories don’t fit one mould though. Each is individual—like the customer who loves collecting things, veering on hoarding, but also loves taking photos, and often takes photos of his collection. Benjamin is impassioned and not in an obnoxious way. His energy is intoxicating and makes you wish that you cared about anything as much as he cares about The Free Store. While it started as a sideline project, it became a much larger part of his life than he anticipated. He and his wife run a photography business, one which saw them travelling overseas regularly to shoot weddings and other contracts. Despite their perceived success, Benjamin was aware that it didn’t count for as much on a personal level. “I have found the deepest joy in life in losing my life. It’s hard, but it’s worthwhile... I’ve only truly found life when I lost it.” His sacrifice is not a burden in any sense, in fact, to him as a Christian, living a life that is full of doing things for others is a full and satisfied life. While he loved photography and travelling the world, “when that becomes the focus of everything in my life, my world shrinks to myself and my own desires, and my own needs.” He sees the inherent value of Wellington, and the people of this place. Benjamin sees that this project has become a vehicle for something bigger. In everyday life people are “naturally segregated through the virtue of social connections.” The Free Store promotes a diverse and inclusive world. In doing so it allows worlds to overlap and barriers to be broken down. Benjamin tells us about throwing birthday celebrations for customers, the creation of a community has had a profound impact on the individuals who attend the store and those who volunteer for it. As the food lining the shelves reduces, the crowd starts dispersing. The customers have their hands full of food, some take extra, others will take less, because they plan to come back tomorrow. Some of them grab their food and head home, others wait and linger, getting the most out of the crowd of people. Others walk with someone, maybe they even met them here and now always walk back together. Some sit and eat in the carpark. As food runs out, the volunteers close up shop. Their windows are closed, their lights turned off, and the night is done, by about 7.00pm.
Benjamin noticed there were rows of containers along the waterfront quay, sitting unused, and knew that a container would make an ideal space. He managed to get one donated, and so began the fit-out project. Quality of design was vital to the members of the team, they wanted a beautiful and sustainable structure for the store. Because they had little money, they accepted that it would take a long time. Architects Stapleton Elliot helped them with the design. They had to go through a complex resource consent process, and had to negotiate with heritage site limitations (being based on the Old St Paul’s site). Countless local businesses donated materials, and tradesmen donated their time, working after or before work to complete the store. In its entirety the project took a year and a half to complete. In 2014 it opened, and remained open five days a week, closed on the weekends and public holidays. Currently there are 42 cafés around Wellington that donate their leftover food to the group, and they have about 600 volunteers on their database. The food is varied and constantly changing, from curries and soups to muffins and scones, to wraps, pastries, and slices. You never quite know what you might get. On an average night there are 50 visitors, and about 25,000 items of food pass through in a year. There are no restrictions on who can receive the food, and no presumptions about who the store caters for. It works on the assumption of the good faith and humanity of the people who visit. There’s an understanding that you won’t take too much, because it’s open every night, and if you need more—come back tomorrow. It’s a simple philosophy. Food is never stored overnight, and most days it runs out before the container closes. If there are fewer
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He aha te mea nui o te ao What is the most important thing in the world?
“It is a beautiful thing, that you are getting a degree.” I stared at the woman seated across from me at the trestle table at the Italian restaurant. She looked back, taking me in—my wheelchair; my imprecisely moving hands—probably thinking she’d said nothing worth raised eyebrows. I however, was floored. She was flanked by disabled people. The host of the party on one side had Muscular Dystrophy, her own daughter, on her other side, had Cerebral Palsy like me. Our disabilities, to my mind, were having little impact on the conversation. Up to this point it had been sensible, engaging—I’d felt treated like an equal. Then I was reminded. I remembered the occupational therapist who had objected to my move to Wellington, the best place to pursue my study interests: “But there are hills there!” I remembered every cab and bus driver, every stranger in the street who felt the need to stop and call me inspirational. I remembered the way my efforts in Physical Education had warranted awards that none of my able-bodied friends received. People are trying to make things easier because by being disabled there are certain things I have to contend with. I don’t deny it, there’s the whole not-being-ableto-walk-deal. But on a daily level their comments irk me more than my body does (I quite like her, tbh). Comments that imply I am doing something exceptional in using my brain betray dangerous ideals we have about achievement and independence: that my achievement should be valued differently because I sometimes ask for help. That under “normal” circumstances we get there on our own, and moreover that we should want it that way. Perhaps a useful note for the beginning of the trimester is, that we will not get to graduation on our own. We shouldn’t try. We will need help and should be working together as a community. Where my achievement, or yours, is recognized as a communal effort. That all these diverse paths towards our goals will feed into each other and take us somewhere good.
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata It is the people, it is the people, it is the people The above whakataukā is a perfect way to introduce the people of Mauri Ora on the Kelburn Campus. The people of Mauri Ora include: administrators, clinical psychologists, counsellors, a dermatologist (medical skin specialist), doctors / general practitioners (GPs for short), an endocrinologist (medical diabetes specialist), health-care assistants, nurses including a mental health nurse and a wellbeing nurse, physiotherapists, a psychiatrist (medical mental health specialist), a psychotherapist, and of course, receptionists. There are some important people missing. Do you know who they are? Tauira! Students! Because without tauira the team at Mauri Ora is incomplete. If you would like to see any of the people at Mauri Ora contact one of our friendly and knowledgeable receptionists who will arrange an appointment to talk about your health. Call (04) 463 5308 or visit Mauri Ora on Level One of the Student Union Building. We also have appointments available at Student Services Te Taunaki on the mezzanine floor of Rutherford House on the Pipitea campus. The telephone for Te Taunaki is (04) 463 7474. As well as the team at Mauri Ora, there are many people and services available on campus and in the residential halls to provide help and advice. Visit any Victoria Info Ihonui location for guidance, and ask questions about anything to do with Victoria, including student services. Other people to meet on campus include the people at VUWSA, who provide support, advocacy, and advice for tauira. Mauri Ora will have a fun and informative table including displays at clubs week in the hub on the Kelburn Campus on Tuesday the 1st, Wednesday the 2nd, and Thursday the 3rd of March, between 11.00am and 2.00pm. Drop by as it would be great to meet you. When we all help each other on campus everything will be ka pai.
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Brodie helps you figure it out
Adventures of Dildo Baggins
Brodie Fraser Kia ora whanau! Welcome to my column. I’m Brodie (obviously), a postgrad student, here to hopefully help you make sense of uni, adulthood, and life in general. I’m by no means an expert at this whole ‘adulthood’ thing, but I’ve gotten pretty good at pretending I know what I’m doing. This week’s theme is people, so I want to talk about some crucial people you’re going to meet at uni—lecturers. This sounds obvious, right? You’re paying shitloads of money to learn the ways of the world from them, of course they’re important. But bear with me. Lecturers are so much more than people who drone on about things you never knew existed, and people who cannot for the life of them figure out technology. They’re passionate, intelligent, and generous people. So befriend them, ask about their research, current projects, and what-not. Chances are they’ll see your excitement and will be willing to discuss their work with you. There’s definitely no need to try and befriend them immediately after your first lecture, but if you find yourself getting more and more interested in their work as the class progresses then go have a chat! Befriending lecturers I admire opened up a world of opportunities, interesting discussions, and Dad jokes about my field. Especially the ones I had academic crushes on. I’ve been known to take a course purely because I’d read a lot of research from the lecturer, and y’know what? It worked out well—I had a great semester, learnt heaps, and gained support and friendship from the lecturer. A tipsy banker recently encouraged me— repeatedly—to find a mentor, and while the advice was very earnest and well meant, my initial reaction was to have a bit of a giggle about it with my flatmates. While I am uncomfortable with the idea of formally asking someone to be my mentor, the academics I have befriended all fill this role in an informal sense. They have given me invaluable advice about academia, which is really great when you’re about to enter post-grad and have a million questions such as: “How do I format my thesis?” / “What if I get bored of my topic?”
I think I’m stating the obvious here, but movies don’t depict sex very realistically do they? Nine times out of ten it’s all pleasant moans, vanilla positions and flattering shots of toned, grinding bods. Where’s the “fucking spank me”s?! The “play with my balls!”? The handcuffs? The nipple clamps? The nitty-gritty, dirty, sweaty side of sex? For a sizeable chunk of my sexual career I felt weird about wanting to try things I’d only seen in porn. My kinks weren’t extreme. I liked it rough, and I wanted to be tied up too. Sexual preference is a complex thing and can change depending on your partner, phase of life, self-image, and even the substances that you’re dabbling with. If you’re curious, don’t tie yourself up in knots (pun intended) about whether what you’re into is weird or gross. Sex takes on a whole new dimension of greatness when you can explore it in the way that properly tickles your fancy. Start by educating yourself. There’s loads of information online, from how-to’s, anecdotes and tips. It’s worthwhile to read about articles to find out how bits go into/onto/around other bits before you go diving. Many an embarrassing moment has been avoided by being prepared. It’s also key to talk about what you’d like to try. I know it’s embarrassing to ask someone to put their finger up your bum when you’re boning, so you need to be able to talk about it. You should establish a) whether you’re both comfortable trying new things, and b) whether you’re both being satisfied in the sack. Plus, you might find out that they want to do similar things, or that they have their own fantasies they want to try and were too embarrassed to tell you. Win-win! Ultimately, the only way you’ll know if a kink is your thing is if you TRY IT. Be prepared for hiccups. It might be awkward, embarrassing, painful, or all the above. It might be the best sex you’ve ever had, or just a bit cringe. Chalk it down to experience, get back on the sex-horse and ride on!
P.S. I’m still seeking answers to these questions, let me know if you can help. 35
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Adam Art Gallery — your gallery on Kelburn campus. On now:
26 February – 24 April 2016
MATTHEW BARNEY DRAWING RESTRAINT 26 February – 24 April 2016 www.adamartgallery.org.nz Tuesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm FREE ENTRY The entrance to the gallery is beside the Student Union building
Adam Art Gallery Te Pataka Toi Victoria University of Wellington Gate 3, Kelburn Parade PO Box 600 Wellington New Zealand 6140
Women’s Space Reaching Out
Lily McElhone FEMINIST ANGST SUPPORT GROUP I would like to have thought that by now all my feminist stances would be set in concrete—but about a week ago I found myself sitting half-naked in the Lonely changing rooms, stressing the fuck out over whether I was genuinely about to spend $150.00 on underwear purely for my own enjoyment, or if I was subconsciously catering to the ~male gaze~. This led to a horrid spiral of the dreaded (spooky voice) FEMINIST ANGST. In the end I resigned to the fact I am an awful feminist and decided to buy the black lingerie set. Mostly because I’m crushing on a dude who exclusively wears black and white. Fuck. Over the past four or so years since engaging with feminism, I have come to realise that there is no cohesive set of beliefs that all feminists follow. And I’m not even sure whether we will ever find some sort of universal enlightenment, where everyone’s feminism is totally productive and we are all in happy feminist harmony. It’s likely that for as long as feminism exists, we will be pondering Sasha Grey’s feminist credibility, and whether or not the female gaze is a concept in itself, or just a more glittery version of the male gaze—with a slight improvement in representation of marginalised groups. So while we’re waiting for feminism to reach its enlightened state, I’m metaphorically walking towards all the conflicted feminists out there with arms outstretched; giving you all a lil kiss on the forehead, and telling you that losing sleep due to the fact you kinda want to become a stripper for the $$$ and GSTfree makeup but are worried you’d be doing feminism a disservice by encouraging objectification of women, doesn’t necessarily make you a shitty feminist. Enjoy this column? Relate to these feelings? You should become a member! During Clubs Week (1st to the 3rd of March) the Women’s Group have a stall in the Hub from 10-3pm. Come by and say hello and you can sign up with us to become a member! (it’s free and doesn’t take long). By being a member you support what we do and also become involved with us as well! We are looking forward to meeting all your faces. Can’t make it? On Wednesday, March 16th at 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM we will be hosting a meeting for new members and also to elect the new executive :) we will also have snacks and drinks. Hope you can make it!
Kia ora tātou, I hope it is not too late to wish everyone a happy new year. May this year be a great year of joy, peace, and blessings. The are different ways of wishing happy new year, like “Felice Anno Nuovo” (Italian), “Xin Nian Yu Kuai” (Mandarin), or “Bonne Anneé” (French). That is the beauty of cultures, having unique ways of delivering the same greeting. Integration of different cultures requires time, respect, understanding, and initiative. Studying overseas is a journey fraught with uncertainties. It is daunting for international students as they need to overcome challenges such as culture shock, language barriers, and unfamiliar environments. Give yourselves a pat on your back for making that brave first step! If you are struggling to adapt to a foreign environment or simply seeking some fun, find the VUWSA International Students’ Association (V-ISA). We aim to help you make your time at Victoria a memorable one. We are a representative group that speaks on behalf of the interests of international students, and we promote an international student culture at Victoria. V-ISA was established in 2014 to address issues and concerns faced by international students at Victoria. We organize a range of social events to foster a community spirit amongst international students. V-ISA strives to make international student feel home, away from home. The V-ISA team is made up of 12 students. Deon will lead the team this year, Esther is secretary, and Sonia is treasurer. Amalina, Corrine, Faris, and Vaelyn process feedback and comments, and plan exciting activities for international students. Ashraf, Zamir, Ravin, and Yanisa are the backbones of the team. We invite all international students to participate and register with us by emailing vuwvisa@gmail.com. Stay up to date on our initiatives and activities by liking our facebook page: V-ISA, VUWSA International Students’ Association. We have exciting events planned, such as The Amazing Race (Day-at-the-Bay), V-ISA Sport Carnival, and V-ISA Survival. Finally, while it may be challenging to adapt and integrate, it is not impossible. For all the international students out there, say “hi” to the friendly kiwi next to you; for all the local students out there, don’t let the conversation stall at “where are you from!” Step up, reach out!
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Stat 193 Flat 193 Daniel Ralphs
Location, price or space to move, Pick one of three, it’s all on you. You want a flat that’s warm and clean? There’s one in Waikanae you’ll see’s pristine. Under 200? We can work that out, It’s an ex p-lab, but the smell’s almost out. Does it fit a double bed, why of course it can! Getting it into the room? That wasn’t part of the plan. You and four friends want a place to stay? If three share a room you can move in today. You’re all social drinkers? You’ve got me sold, Just finish by six—the neighbours are old. None of you work, but still want a flat? Sell off some organs and we’ll get you in stat. Paperwork’s done, but which was your hall? Oh you’re from KJ??? Sorry we’re full.
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Digitales Matt Plummer interacting with technology, and what would your life be like without it? Or to put it another way, how often is your cellphone out of arm’s reach? If the answer is not very often, it begs the question—just how close is this to having a radio transmitter installed in your arm? Facebook stats from last month reveal that nearly half of the site’s users (47%) have only ever logged on from a mobile device, a staggering figure when you stop to think about it. This suggests that as technology has become ubiquitous, more advanced, and infinitely more portable, it has inched closer to being an extension of our body. It’s no wonder Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her, in which the central character’s most important relationship is with an operating system, seems so plausible. It’s why a quick Google search reveals articles in which people describe ‘breaking-up’ with everything from Apple Watches, to internet browsers. There’s an intimacy that’s crept into how we feel about, and how we describe, our connection to technology. It’s worth noting that this intersection of technology and body can be traced to the very origins of the terms digital and technology. Digital is derived from the Latin digitus, meaning “pertaining to fingers;” while techne, the Greek term from which technology originates, has been interpreted as meaning “cunning of hand.” A couple of thousand years later (give or take), and perhaps to the disappointment of Warwick and Harbisson, our hands are still the key interface between our bodies and the vast world of technology. Until smart-phones are routinely implanted into our wrists, and our nervous systems directly plug into the web, there’s a good argument that setting aside some time to develop digital capability— getting cunning with both hand and mind in order to to master technology to your best advantage—will be one of the most strategic decisions you can make. Want to become a better cyborg/student? In this fortnightly column I’ll aim to show you how, often highlighting research done right here at Victoria. Matt works in the ITS Learning and Research Technology Team. You can email questions to matt. plummer@vuw.ac.nz with ‘Salient’ in the subject line. This week: Send in a short description of who your favourite cyborg is and why, and be in with a chance to win a $20.00 Vic Books gift voucher.
On August 24, 1998, British engineer and cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick implanted a radio transmitter in his left arm. The device gave him the ability to manipulate computer-controlled heaters, lights, and doors—but this was just the beginning. He later extended the experiment by developing a neural interface which hooked him up with his wife. They installed matching implants which apparently enabled them to sense what the other was feeling 98% of the time. A few years later, in 2004, colour-blind artist Neil Harbisson had an antenna permanently attached to his skull. Comprised of four separate implants, the antenna purportedly allowed him to hear colours (including infrareds and ultraviolets), receive phone calls, and go online without the need of an external device. Directly fusing technology with biology, both Warwick and Harbisson have claimed to be the world’s original cybernetic organisms. Warwick may have got there first, but Harbisson holds the distinction of being the first cyborg officially-recognised by a government (Britain). Why would these men go to such extremes, literally risking life and limb? Were these efforts motivated by a desire to be at the forefront of scientific discovery; to extend the limits of human experience; shameless selfpromotion; or, all three? Whatever their reasons, both men believed in the potential for technology to augment, enhance, and even transcend existing human ability. They represent a vital intersection of people and technology. Two extreme cases, you might say. From another point of view we are all cyborgs, and have been for a while. In Natural Born Cyborgs, writer Andy Clark provocatively suggests simple acts such as telling time with a watch, or writing with a pencil, qualify us for this description— as these are interactions with technologies that have extended human experience, and fundamentally shaped the way we’ve conceived the world and our place within it. Clark argues the portability of watches, for example, turned time from an occasional reference to a nearconstant value. The ability to write allowed us to record experience and shape narrative in a new way—that’s why the term prehistory refers to the time before writing came into existence. If it seems farfetched to think of yourself as a cyborg, ask these simple questions: How much time do you spend 43
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Visual Arts
Ruby Joy Eade
Julian Dashper, exhibition invitation (detail), Teststrip, Auckland, 1997. Courtesy Julian Dashper Estate.
invitation, filling the space with a proposition/request; to forgo the public ritual of an opening, the party, the banter, the networking, the free wine…for something more intimate. To spend the hour from 6.00pm–7.00pm on the day of the opening “developing with [a loved one] a deeper level of communication, vulnerability, openness and conscious nurturing of the relationship.” It turns the opening from an art world game, into an intimate performance for two. As he has done throughout his career, Dashper works the line between tongue-in-cheek and absolute sincerity. He simultaneously pokes fun at the gallery and the rituals that make it exclusive, whist inviting an intimate, sincere response. This isn’t the only piece of ephemera-turned-art in the show. Dashper often appropriated collateral material from the art’s signage, advertising, packaging material, documentation, and hanging mechanisms. Directly next to the inconspicuous exhibition invitation, hangs an enormous banner which shouts JULIAN DASHPER AT NO.5 GALLERY, an absurdly grand gesture created for a show in a relatively small space in Auckland. The proximity of the tiny invitation and the banner was perfect, each intensifying the other’s difference in scale and intention. One work shouts from the rooftop, with an expensive and indulgent banner calling all attention to the artist as brand, the artist as hero. In the other, he turns any focus away from the gallery, the artist, the artwork, and the ‘scene’, asking the audience to find meaning in the intimate, the personal, and the private.
On finding an unexpected moment of intimacy at the cool art party that is Julian Dashper and Friends. If you have already been to see the City Gallery Wellington’s latest group show—Julian Daspher and Friends (on until May 15)— you may have come across a small piece of text. But probably not. Almost everyone I have spoken to who has attended the show has missed it. The exhibition focuses on the late Julian Dashper and a star-studded list of his friends, influences, students, and contemporaries. The majority of the work is conceptual and abstract. Curator Robert Leonard admits freely in the exhibition catalogue, “Daspher’s work was full of in jokes. For outsiders, it could seem dry and arcane.” Even as somewhat of an ‘insider’, the show feels a bit like being in the midst of a very-cool-party where you know no one. Amongst the loud, well dressed, witty, and aloof party go-ers (slash artworks), I found something that surprised me—a small (A6) invitation, printed on creamy paper, with tiny inky text, mounted on a badly installed floating white shelf, at an awkward height, on a large white wall. From certain angles it blends away, easy to miss around the other works in the space. It is presented with very little context and no explanatory note, unlike the rest of the works in the show. Apparently it was forgotten during installation, only to be reinstated a few days post-opening after an eagle eyed host noticed the discrepancy. What can I say…all this made it all the more endearing. The slip of card is an invitation to attend an exhibition at Teststrip, an Auckland based artist run space active in the mid 90’s. Dashper takes over the particulars of the
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Anti Rihanna 3/5 Review by Justin Kim
transitions between the tracks are barely noticeable— kudos to the album’s production team. So whilst there are some duds, overall the album’s singles and progression are deceptively damn impressive. Rihanna dropped the singles “Bitch Better Have My Money” and “FourFiveSeconds” in 2015; both were met with a huge reception from the media and the public alike. Yet, while “FourFiveSeconds” was met with continual praise and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Bitch Better Have My Money” only really became popular after the release of it’s momentous music video—ultimately neither song made the cut when the album was finally released. These singles didn’t need the album to be successful, but maybe the album needed the singles. Anti provides a cohesive modern album experience with old-school influences and good development. Unfortunately, the end product falls flat. By no means is it bad, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of anyone’s to-listen list.
Prior to the official release, Anti was ‘leaked’ online for two minutes and launched the internet into a frenzy. For the first week of actual release, Anti was solely available on Tidal, and Samsung paid Rihanna $25million for Anti promotions—a marketing campaign to rival Trump’s. Rihanna’s latest venture is a departure from the big club-sound of her last efforts. Anti is almost a return to the Rihanna of old, with old-school influences like those of her previous seven albums. In “Consideration” Rihanna opens with line, (in her native Barbadian accent no less) “I come fluttering in from Neverland / Time could never stop me.” There is also the 80s-inspired “Kiss it Better” and the ballroom-influenced “Love on the Brain”. Rihanna is trying to be timeless, and it kind of works. Kind of. Filler tracks like “James Joint” and “Woo” are irritating at best; Drake can only do so much to make “Work” better; and “Never Ending” is simply boring— there are more duds than hits here I’m afraid. Overall Anti’s progression works on its own, starting from the melancholic “Consideration” and “Kiss it Better”, moving to the more hopeful “Never Ending” and “Higher”. The
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Life of Pablo
Music
Kanye West op-ed Review by Robert Barratt
could no longer be the captain of the ship in a tornado. In some cases, the concerns are justified. Not in a negative manner; it feels like Kanye has taken more of a back seat role in this album, allowing for his younger counterparts to have input (#blamechance), making this the most collaborative album he has ever made. It shows in the guest features. Sure on MBDTF there were guest verses, but on TLOP there’s a guest performance on almost every track, and Kanye truly brings out the best in all of them. Chance the Rapper delivers the best verse of his entire career; relatively unknown newcomer Desiigner, with a molasses dripped voice reminiscent of Future, goes harder than Future has on his latest mixtapes. Kendrick performs exceptionally well even by Kendrick standards, and the plethora of gospel singers enlisted as back-up are absolutely spot on. Make no mistake, this is a brilliant album. Why then, are so many people trashing it? Is it the Tidal-only stream? (Don’t lie to me you fuckbois, it takes five minutes to download from there, and with half a million pirates already I suspect that Tidal wasn’t an issue for anyone). Was it the fact that this isn’t old Kanye, that this isn’t ‘College Dropout 2’, that he’s not biting drums from Dre anymore? Or is it simply that it’s Kanye?
It’s been three years since the release of Yeezus, and six since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (MBDTF). One thing remains constant: Kanye West is a fucking genius when it comes to music. Especially when it comes to the progression of a genre. Every album he has released has shifted the rap scene by leaps and bounds. College Dropout led to the revival of the soul sound; Late Registration influenced the use of heavy sampling; Graduation impacted the fusion of pop and rap; 808s saw the creation of the emotional rapper (paving the road for artists like Drake and Frank Ocean); MBDTF expanded the types of sounds rap uses; and Yeezus incorporated musical white-space as a way to force the listener to feel uncomfortable. Progressions are immensely healthy to a musical genre. Without progression, a genre grows stale and old, and what was once a classic can become painted in a new, worse light. The advancement of a genre introduces the listener to something new, and preserves older tracks allowing them to sound like a relevant moment in time. With Kanye’s new album, The Life of Pablo (TLOP), there were concerns that with so many things on his plate, Kanye was no longer in a place where he could continually and wholly dedicate himself to his craft. Concerns that he could no longer rework “Stronger” 72 times until he had a version he was happy with; that he
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Room
Deadpool
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson 4/5
Directed by Tim Miller 4/5
Review by Cassie Richards
Review by Alex McGill
Room is a powerful, affecting story of the love between a mother and son. Adapted for the screen by Emma Donoghue and based on her much-lauded novel of the same name, which drew inspiration from the Fritzl case in Austria, this is one of the most talked about films of the Oscar season. Ma and Jack live together in a single room, equipped with a bed, toilet, bathtub, TV, and small kitchen. The film opens on Jack’s fifth birthday. Their isolated situation becomes apparent when we meet Old Nick, the man who abducted Ma (otherwise known as Joy) seven years ago. Old Nick keeps Ma and Jack, the son he sired, locked in his garden shed. For Jack, the shed is all he has ever known and the images on the TV are magic, not things that actually exist. When Old Nick tells Ma that he has lost his job, and threatens that he may not be able to keep bringing them supplies, she realises that time is running out and concocts a risky plan for their escape. First, she must convince Jack that there is something outside of “Room”, the small world she has built for them. Room is up for several awards at the 2016 Oscars, including best picture and a nomination for Brie Larson (Ma) as best actress. Larson’s performance as Ma is stunning, shifting between strength and vulnerability, aptly capturing the stress of caring for a young son in an unimaginably bleak reality. The chemistry between Larson and the young lead, Jacob Tremblay, is what makes the film such a convincing portrayal of love—it’s hard to watch the pair under threat. In writing her story, Donoghue wanted to focus on the bond between mother and son, rather than the evil that is perpetrated by humans. It is this relationship that stays with you long after the credits have rolled.
In the latest installment of the X-Men mutant-centric branch of the Marvel Universe, Ryan Reynolds gets a chance to prove himself as the super-anti-hero— Deadpool. Deadpool, an action-comedy, tracks the journey of Wade Wilson—a fast talking mercenary who beats up stalkers for free drinks. Wilson’s dodgy cancer treatment results in the acquisition of extraordinary abilities, the side effects of which further damage his mind, and leave him disfigured. A basic plot of revenge and redemption ensues as Wade/Deadpool seeks vengeance on those who disfigured him. The film works not because of its story, but in the way it tells that story. Its self-awareness permeates every line, shot, and sequence, allowing a personal connection with the audience. The humour begins in the opening credit sequence, and the opening scene is a show stealer. I’ve rarely seen films excel so strongly in introducing the audience to its tone and essence. Deadpool’s action is slick and over the top, the humor is aggressively funny, and the production values are top notch. While Ryan Reynolds is on top of his game in this movie, and the flawless Morena Baccarin matches Ryan’s energy and eccentricity; the rest of the cast is a mixed bag. The two X-Men members who join the proceedings serve as little more than cannon fodder for Deadpool’s acetic wit. The villains are neither truly terrifying or dangerous, detracting the tension and suspense that could have helped the film’s climax. However, Wade Wilson’s elderly coke addict house-mate is a great addition, I’d pay good money to see a spin off series on what happens next between her and Wade/Deadpool. Overall it’s an amazing debut for what is looking like a big new franchise, and what may be the new standard for action comedies moving forward.
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Film
The Danish Girl Directed by Tom Hooper 4/5 Review by Dana Williams
The Danish Girl is a powerful, yet sensitive, portrait of the transgender pioneer, Lili Elbe. Based on David Ebershoff’s novel of the same, and loosely inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, the onscreen adaptation of this unique book is director Tom Hooper’s latest film. He is renowned for his cinematic adaptations of historical events (see Les Miserables, 2012). The tale that unfolds is a thoroughly English bio-drama that follows the life of Lili Elbe, and her long and difficult transition into life as a woman in the 1920s. The journey isn’t easy for either painter, and we are submerged into their story in Copenhagen circa 1926. Struggling portrait artist Gerda (Alicia Vikander) asks her successful husband (an artist too) to pose for a portrait she is painting. After donning an elegant dress, stockings, and slippers, Einar (Eddie Redmayne) begins to reveal a lifelong struggle with identifying as a woman. This sets off a sequence of events, first tentative then irreversible, leaving behind the identity of Einar and instead transforming into Lili Elbe. What is perhaps the most enjoyable part of the film is the stellar performance from lead actor, Eddie Redmayne. Only a year after he proved his ability for reinvention in The Theory of Everything, Redmayne undergoes an ultimate identity overhaul in his role as the first person
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to have a sex change via surgery. Surely, for an actor there can be no more alluring challenge, in which the complexity of sexuality is the hinge for the film’s entire diegesis. Fortunately, Redmayne delivers, and his performance can be regarded as another sterling example of just how deeply he can immerse himself into a role. Leaving aside legitimate complaints from the LGBTQ community about the lack of authenticity or courage in having a straight, white male portray a transgender experience; the film’s reluctance to shock or offend will no doubt boost its appeal to a wider middlebrow audience. Credit must also be given to Redmayne’s co-star, and onscreen wife, Alicia Vikander. Vikander graciously wrestles attention away from her co-star. With Hooper’s assistance, she makes the film just as much about her transformation as it is about Lili’s. Whenever Danish Girl punctures through, it’s because of the first-rate performances by Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander. Their chemistry generates incredible tension, frustration, and anger, at Gerda and Einar’s predicament. Einar’s conflict pulls at your heartstrings by making the difficult choice to leave one life behind and embrace another. This leaves Gerda in a situation in which she could lose everything, and it is within this painful truth that she unearths a beautiful and memorable turn.
Games
Gathering Sky Developer/Publisher: A Stranger Gravity Platform: Steam (Windows/OS X), iOS, Android
5/5 Review by Wellington Tremayne Get through the game quickly by jumping into the fast lane and guide your birds through undulating currents; or, go slowly and explore. The background is beautiful, even in the darker levels. Watercolour and acrylic striations curve in harmony, creating a sense of a sculptural landscape. In my favourite level, you begin in blackness until suddenly, you’re soaring through purple and pink hued star-waste. You then direct your flock into odd, four pronged and metal-ringed orbs, which sing as they turn colourful. All of this is accompanied by an original orchestral score composed by Dren McDonald. It’s these aspects which are indicative of Gathering Sky’s conceptual underpinnings as the exact opposite of simple. We’re dealing with spirituality, transcendence— the philosophical journey to embrace one’s immaterial essence. The birds serve as mediators between the supernatural realm and reality; as ‘vehicles’ for the inspiring, uplifting feeling that comes from the aspects of art in the surreal experience of this game. The design is dictated by recourse to metaphysics and bird mythology, two thematic aspects that are unified by the abstract painting and orchestral composition. What was it Nietzsche said about art and music? The human capacity to experience music was a transcendental precondition, and that the creation of art and music was the primary reason to exist? Something like that. Accordingly, Gathering Sky’s purpose is to illustrate the individual’s transcendental journey and to show that despite their fellows, they are still alone—their experience of flight, like the player’s experience of the game, is solitary. The game strengthens this by way of its intense beauty, and its complementary frank realism.
If you’re looking for a non-traditional game, Gathering Sky is the ticket to a brief but good time. Developer A Stranger Gravity states that Gathering Sky was their attempt to reject conventional aspects of contemporary video games. Such games often become philosophically or tactically complex through plot, but maintain a typical inherent structure. However, Gathering Sky is designed for a single purpose: to guide a migrating bird through the heavens. As it flies, more birds join your fast-growing pack and you guide them too. Think of it like being God. You have an aerial view of a flock and the space around it; you control it with your index finger and a simple mouse-click. It seems like you have all the control in the world, but really you don’t. You can’t hold your mouse or finger over the birds, otherwise they rock around and begin to spin about each other. If you don’t do your job, the birds will turn white; they seem to say “Did you lose me?” Perhaps it’s just the game’s perspective, but when these birds come into danger it’s extremely disconcerting. You care for these defenceless creatures without spending more than 30 minutes playing. That’s actually a big feat, considering how some games never manage to create a player-character bond. Still, no matter how long you spend in any of the six levels, the result is the same. Stranger Gravity wants players to experience the dangers of bird-life. Unavoidable hawk attacks punctuate the atmosphere; the the worst part is when you lose your flock in a storm and only one bird emerges. The music and visuals contribute to the pervading feeling of loss, desolation, and make you crave shelter from the unhappy constraints of destiny. 50
TV
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson S01E01 & E02 5/5 Review by Katie Meadows like a virtual stranger next to a tight faced John Travolta as celebrity lawyer Robert Shapiro, whose stiff camp tone seems possibly more suited for Murphy’s Scream Queens. AHS alumni Sarah Paulson finds another strong female character in district attorney Marcia Clark, and shines in spite of an absolutely terrible wig. Early antipolice brutality advocate and high profile lawyer Johnnie Cochran is played by a powerful Courtney B. Vance. He guides viewers as the show examines the heated racial tension of a post Rodney King America, and the influence it poses for the trial and its eventual outcome. I am particularly excited for further scenes with an excellently cast Selma Blair as Kris Jenner, ex-wife of Robert Kardashian, close friend of Nicole Brown Simpson, and current reality television matriarch. American Crime Story is only two episodes in but a high contender for my series of the year, quenching a thirst for true crime after the success of shows like The Jinx, Making a Murderer, and the podcast Serial. Though we know the outcome, American Crime Story promises a smart and detailed retelling for a new audience that wasn’t there for the white Bronco car chase, or the disastrous and frustrating court proceedings. The ensemble cast and writing is so strong that any small mistakes—or the big ones made by Travolta’s surgeon—can be forgiven to allow for a thoroughly entertaining and engrossing ride. And yes, a young Kim Kardashian appears. Maybe you’re sick of them on your television, but take a chance to explore the beginnings of modern day celebrity scandal, and the crime that absorbed mid-90s America in this so far beautifully done mini-series.
It’s hard to imagine a world without the Kardashians. For most of us their origin is traced to a certain sex tape. However the true beginning lies in the events of June 12, 1994 when the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ron Goldman were found slain at her house in Brentwood, LA. At the scene of the crime, a single glove that would eventually acquit the prime suspect—O.J. Simpson: Nicole’s ex-husband, and a sporting hero whose prowess on the football field would be eclipsed by an infamous police chase, and the ensuing live televised court case that captivated an entire nation. But back to that Kardashian connection via Robert Kardashian Snr, father of Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, and Rob Jr, and a longtime friend of O.J. Simpson. At the time of the murders he was a retired lawyer but quickly had his license reinstated to join his friend’s defense team. The O.J. Simpson trial was the original celebrity scandal, catapulting all involved to instant household names. It can be seen as the beginning of the reality television genre, with the Kardashians as a reigning dynasty. FX has teamed up with executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck (American Horror Story (AHS), Nip/Tuck, Glee) for this new true-crime anthology series, though Murphy’s input is limited so hopefully this series won’t dissolve into chaos as AHS has been known to do. Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as the titular O.J. Simpson, with an energy that teeters on the edge of overacting but fits with his character’s extreme ego. A grey-streaked David Schwimmer takes on the role of Robert Kardashian—he declined to meet with the Kardashian family before filming—and does a good job despite it being hard to separate him from his iconic role as Ross Geller (Friends). However he seems 51
Books
Tell You What: Great New Zealand Nonfiction 2016
Fates and Furies
Edited by Susanna Andrew & Jolisa Gracewood Auckland University Press 5/5
Lauren Groff Penguin Random House 3/5
Review by Cassie Richards You may have heard that investigative journalism is endangered in New Zealand. Funding cuts to television and print publications mean we see more Masterchef and less hard-hitting journalism. Despite this problem plaguing mainstream media, there are still a plethora of voices speaking truths and sharing knowledge—if only you know where to listen. The second iteration of Tell You What: Great New Zealand Nonfiction has collected some of these voices for our reading pleasure. Gathered from blogs, memoirs, travelogues, and independent journalism, the stories included speak of wildly different experiences: from Sylvan Thomson writing about transitioning genders with the aid of testosterone; to Ali Ikram’s misadventures in interviewing the reclusive and obstinate Keri Hulme; and Jenni Quilter sharing her experience of undergoing IVF treatment. Plus, Lynn Jenner’s piece on recovering her mother’s heirloom ring from a wayward jeweller in the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes reads like a gripping Antiques Roadshow-esque thriller. Many of the stories are deeply personal and emotionally honest. It is a privilege to be able to share in them. Others go beyond the personal, and demand urgent attention: Nicky Hager on the importance of whistle-blowing and protecting sources so that important stories continue to be told; Joe Nunweek on justice in the school system, and how an unfair expulsion can alter the course of a young person’s life; Charles Anderson’s piece on the Easy Rider boat disaster in Foveaux Strait, the greatest loss of life at sea in New Zealand since the Wahine tragedy. These are stories of national significance. Tell You What is an important bastion of New Zealand nonfiction. It brings important voices to a wider audience, and encourages us to share our stories. Read it and discover for yourself.
Review by Cassie Richards Lancelot and Mathilde meet at the close of college, locking eyes across a room at a wild party. He is the handsome and popular thespian star, destined to soar to great heights; she is a strikingly beautiful recluse, an anomaly to everyone around her. Two weeks later, they are married. Fates and Furies is the story of that marriage, told from both sides. Lancelot (Lotto) Satterwhite is a failed actor turned famous playwright. Haunted by the loss of his father as a child and unable to shake the hold of his domineering mother, Fates tells of his failure and triumph, and of the insecurity of genius. Mathilde is there at every turn, quietly pulling the strings along the road to her husband’s success, but as a character she is shadowed by his brilliance. It’s not until the Furies portion of the novel that her history is revealed, and we learn the secrets she’s been keeping. Groff’s prose is lyrical and evocative, but chasing so many strands of metaphor that at times it can be hard to follow. While her characters are richly layered, there is nothing too likable about them. Lotto and Mathilde are surrounded by duplicitous friends who perhaps represent Groff’s dislike for the two-faced people of the art world. These characters are offered a counterbalance, however, by Lotto’s aunt Sallie and his sister Rachel, who pop up throughout the story with a refreshing charity and kindness. There is a soap-opera quality to the novel, and combined with Groff’s style produces an incredibility that is hard to ignore. Would anybody really behave the way these characters do? It seems unlikely, and yet the dramatic twists provide compelling reading, if you can suspend your disbelief. 52
Chats with Ryan Knighton
Theatre
Ophelia Wass, Adeline Shaddick and Ruby Hansen
Least favourite thing about Wellington Theatre? I don’t like one-hour plays. I think we can all push ourselves a bit further.
The people of theatre, from the directors and practitioners, to the lighting operator, are the backbone of this dynamic art form. Ryan Knighton offers frank insights into his profession, and we plug some must-see Fringe shows for your consumption.
Most difficult thing about being involved in theatre? Everyone says this… but there’s no money. The most difficult thing is balancing a job that lets you live your artistic integrity and work against the perception of the world; what you ‘should’ be doing. The hard thing is the lifestyle. The way other people will comment and judge you on it. You just have to have the courage to stand by your own core and artistic integrity.
Ryan Knighton is a member and director of improv-theatre company PlayShop, emerging playwright, recent MA graduate in script-writing, and choice guy in general. Why do you ‘do’ theatre? Basically I feel like it’s an important medium for art. It’s one that can create change. Personally I just do it because I want to create things that will affect people. That somehow their lives will be improved. Offering something that can tease or change feelings in others—for the better.
Advice for theatre students at Vic? Find people you like working with and make stuff!
What do you enjoy most—performing, directing or writing? I don’t know. It changes every day when I wake up.
Must-see New Zealand Fringe Festival shows for March: The Owl and the Pussycat—Company of Giants 1 March–5 March, 7.00pm–8.00pm; 5 March, 3.00pm–4.00pm BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace www.bats.co.nz or 04 802 4175
Who do you look up to in Theatre? Gary Henderson and Ken Duncum are very good New Zealand playwrights. They encapsulate the thing of a New Zealand play in a very intelligent way. I’ve been sitting in shows of theirs and I’ve left like Oh man. What was that? Then churned it over for a week and gone, that was amazing. These men are good at seeing something in society and managing to delve deeper beyond that layer to the core, communicating it in a really beautiful, meaningful way. Directors Leo Jean Peters and Kerryn Palmer make some of the best work in Wellington.
“Endlessly inventive, charming, full of surprises.” David Stevens, Theatreview. Enter the New World—Binge Culture Collective Your closest New World supermarket. There are no set viewing times, instead download the audio-file from www.bingeculture.co.nz/audiotours
Most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about Theatre? This is real simple. It was the phrase, can you see the thing? When you’re trying to communicate something to an audience, trying to build a thing (sorry, I say ‘thing’ a lot). Is it there? Can I see that thing? And if it’s not, try something else. You’ve got to be really honest with yourself.
“The very first audio-driven-first-person-adventureof-your-own-local-New-World-Supermarket in New Zealand history.” Binge Culture. Banging Cymbal, Clanging Gong—Barbarian Productions 29 February–3 March, 6.30pm–7.20pm BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace www.bats.co.nz or 04 802 4175
Favourite thing about Wellington theatre? I find Wellington is quite tasteful compared to other parts of the country. We’re quite sophisticated in what we do and what we’re putting on. Years ago, we were quite brave and we’re sort of having a resurgence of that now, which is quite exciting.
“Includes gruesome battle renditions, piano recitals of Bach and readings of Robert Frost. A wake-up call for those who have fallen asleep.” Eventfinda.
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Puzzles Crossword: ‘Playing Pool’ ACROSS 1. Area under a house * (5,5) 6. Famous first name in animation (4) 10. Pizzeria herb (7) 11. Black Widow, for one (7) 12. Escalating series of events, said to cause hurricanes * (9,6) 18. ‘Rocky Horror’ weapon (3,3) 21. Fungi hunted by pigs (8) 22. Torrent (8) 23. Cleaned out some dead cells (6) 26. Someone who might be spitting at a battle * (9,6) 32. North American reindeer (7) 33. Underlying message (and an anagram of ‘buttsex’, which is kinda funny) (7) 34. ‘The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me’ author Roald (4) 35. ‘Reptilia’ band... or something that links the first words of the answers to the starred clues (3,7) DOWN
Notices Toastmasters Tuesdays 12.00-1.00pm, Room 219, Student Union Building Because communication isn’t optional, Toastmasters is a club dedicated to helping people practise all kinds of public speaking in a fun and supportive environment. Great for job interviews, giving presentations, and speaking concisely and articulately. Everyone—no matter what your current public speaking ability—is welcome. Come along and see what Toastmasters is all about. Visit us on Facebook—https://www.facebook.com/VicToastmasters/ 2016–17 Internships and 2017 Graduate Jobs Recruitment has STARTED! Many applications closing at the end of March 2016. See graduate recruitment application closing dates for details: http://bit. ly/1zGNacY. Connect with employers via recruitment events (presentations, workshops and careers expos): http://bit.ly/1DOS0WK Check in with a careers consultant during our daily drop-in sessions! http:// bit.ly/1A1ORgv. For more info, login to www.victoria.ac.nz/careerhub with your student computing login! Pucker Up at Pecking Space Wednesday, March 9, 8.00am–6.00pm, Cuba St., near Swan Lane, (Asteron Centre in case of severe weather). A group of hopelessly romantic Victoria University architecture students are engaging with the urban environment as part of PARK(ing) Day. The event, organised by the Wellington Sculpture Trust, in association with the Wellington City Council, sees 17 groups take an ordinary car park and transform it for the day. SANNZ’s installation, ‘Pecking Space’, is a wall that is part kissing booth, part love locked structure with which you declare your love for the city. Send your notices to editor@salient.org.nz with ‘Notices’ in the subject line. 54
1. Hit hard (7) 2. With a keen eye (7) 3. Embark (5) 4. Mathematical explanation (5) 5. Unhinged (5) 7. It might be obtuse or reflex (5) 8. You might draw The Chariot from it (5) 9. Sheet from a book (4) 13. Doesn’t have in stock any more (4,3) 14. Not metaphorical (7) 15. Country whose largest city is Guayaquil (7) 16. Instruments seen being played by some Civil War reenactors (5) 17. Island at the centre of the Minoan civilisation (5) 19. Love, French-style (5) 20. Group of similar films (5) 24. Three-layered Cadbury chocolate (3,4) 25. Chips whose ‘Roulette’ edition may cause breathing difficulties, apparently (7) 26. Confronted (5) 27. Kwame’s power on ‘Captain Planet’ (5) 28. Cries loudly (4) 29. Kids these days (5) 30. Abates (5) 31. Where John Hammond found the preserved DNA to make those sweet raptors (5)
Contributors
About Us Salient is published by, but remains editorially independent from, the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association (VUWSA). Salient is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA) and the New Zealand Press Council. Salient is funded in part by Victoria University of Wellington students through the Student Services Levy. The views expressed in Salient do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, VUWSA, or the University. Complaints People with a complaints against the magazine should first complain in writing to the Editor and then, if not satisfied with the response, complain to the Press Council. See presscouncil.org. nz/complain.php for more information.
Editors Emma Hurley and Jayne Mulligan editor@salient.org.nz
Rutledge, Robbie Whyte (Visual Arts) Cameron Gray (Games) Katie Meadows (TV)
Design and Illustration Ella Bates-Hermans designer@salient.org.nz
Feature Writers Finnius Teppett
News Editor Kate Robertson news@salient.org.nz Chief Sub Editor Tim Manktelow Distributor Joe Morris News Reporters Charlie Prout Jennie-Louise Kendrick Alexa Zelensky Matthew Collier Section Editors Cassie Richards (Books) Dana Williams and Isaac Brodie (Film) Harri Robinson (Music) Adeline Shaddick, Ruby Hansen, Ophelia Wass (Theatre) Ruby Joy Eade, Lucy Wardle, Louise
Other contributors Tyler Jackson, City Gallery Wellington, Rob Barratt, Wellington Tremayne, Benjamin Johnson, Tom Danby, Sharon Lam, Postgraduate Students’ Association, Matt Plummer, Joshua James, VUWSA International Students’ Association, Lily McElhone, Chrissy Brown, Henrietta Bollinger, Jonathan Gee, Nathaniel Manning, Laura Toailoa, Rakaitemania Parata Gardiner, Cathy Stephenson, Daniel Ralphs, Alex McGill, Justin Kim, VUWSA Executive, Russ Kale Contributor of The Week Wellington Tremayne—because her game review was beautiful and made us want to fly like a bird (and play video games).
Read Salient online at salient.org.nz Contact Level 2 Student Union Building Victoria University PO Box 600, Wellington 04 463 6766 Printed by Inkwise, Ashburton Advertising Jason Sutton jason.sutton@vuwsa.org.nz 04 463 6982 Social Media fb.com/salientmagazine @salientmagazine @salientgram
A Les Mills student membership is the perfect way to stretch your brain and your bod without stretching your budget! Only got 30 minutes? Go for it! Our timetable has heaps of classes to fit in between your classes. Our high intensity workouts, hot music mixes and awesome choreography will get your blood pumping and your brain blasting.
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Join now and score a great student deal No joining fee Option to put your membership on hold twice a year (means you’re not paying through the holidays!)
Join now at lesmills.co.nz/student or get into your nearest club today. Every day counts. Offer ends 27 March 2016.
LES MILLS HUTT CITY 7 Pretoria Street, Hutt City LES MILLS LAMBTON QUAY 86-90 Lambton Quay, Wellington LES MILLS EXTREME Hope Gibbons Building, 52-70 Taranaki Street, Wellington *Terms and conditions apply. See lesmills.co.nz/student