A Magical Time of Year
Our Christmas and some festive words from the politicians.
Because you're magic
You're magic people to me
Song: Dave Para/Molly Para.
Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.
A Rockel Xmas
Christmas morning was spent with the five of us together, a rare occurrence these days as usually, someone is missing or, more likely, accompanied by a partner. Thea was our Fairy handing out presents, a combination of things people wanted and some treats. Nothing too major this year—renovating bathrooms is an expensive business.
Our dogs, Sprocket and Fraggle, joined us for Christmas Eve with Fi’s family, but since my family are cat people, they weren’t invited yesterday. I must confess I gave them Scotch Fillet to tide them over until we got home and to assuage my guilt, which sounds worse than it was.
Woolworths has been selling whole pieces of beef at a good discount per kilo, and I bought one. Having sliced some steaks the previous evening, I had an end piece left. I assumed one of the boys would have made it disappear, but it was still in the fridge, and their omission was the dogs' gain.
After my standard jokes about my wife’s fine sticky buns made for the shared brunch, cinnamon scrolls this year, we headed off to Mt Eden. My parents bought this home more than thirty years ago when they left Rotorua, and my sister and her husband bought it when my folks downsized some years back.
It is lovely to go there still where we’ve had so many Christmases over those decades. With my first wife Maria and our children Alex and Emma, then first Christmases with Fi, the arrival of our children, Johnny, Thea, Matty and all of their cousins who came along like London buses.
We wore silly hats and played a game called Principles, in which you had to draw five cards and rank them from your most to least liked, and then others guessed the order.
Anything from snuggling to diarrhoea to Piers Morgan. Political answers were given, which smacked of being things people thought others wanted to hear and were called BS—mostly by that person’s partner.
Christopher’s Pyjamas
Meanwhile, our Prime Minister, fraught from a year in which he surely must be aware that he has come across as out of touch and entitled, decided the best way to dispel such concerns was to post a photo of himself, his wife, and their adult children in matching silk pyjamas—just like regular folks were doing.
Except, of course, that nobody does that here in Aotearoa - certainly not anyone I know. I’m guessing it must be an American thing or at least one used in Hallmark Xmas movies.
Don’t get me wrong, if Christopher Luxon and his family enjoy dressing up like this, then all power to them; knock yourselves out - no, really.
Surely, one of his army of media advisors must be telling him, for goodness sake, not to post them. I find it hard to imagine who they’re supposed to appeal to, but in any case, I edited his one to clarify the message I think he was trying to convey. See which you prefer; Christopher’s is on the left:
Commenters on my page were unenthusiastic about the image of Christmas with the Luxons. Erin captured the sentiment well, saying, “Oh, fecken NO! Just fecken NO!”
Speaking of things that are a hard “no”…
Love Actually
In another game of Spot the Difference, here’s the ACT party offering and the original movie poster. I'm sure you know that Christmas classic in which Alan Rickman plays the villain, not Hans Gruber, but the breaker of Emma Thompson’s heart - the rat.
So we have David Seymour as the romantic lead instead of Hugh Grant; easy there, ladies. This sounds far-fetched until you see Simon Court has replaced Colin Firth, and you get Nicole “Big Guns” McKee rather than Emma Thompson.
See you in 2025
New Zealand First showed a curious video with their collection of lobbyists for fossil fuels and tobacco and the conspiracy nuts and bigots on their back benches.
Shane Jones hangs a bulldozer ornament on the tree, sneering at any Greenies in the spirit of the season, probably disappointed that he can’t take a chainsaw to it and then set it alight. Casey Costello curiously adds a cop car when I’m sure she’d rather hang a carton of ciggies instead.
Winston intones a dreary message about their achievements in a tone reminiscent of the King’s Speech. He thanks our essential workers for their service without a hint of irony at how the coalition has treated such people this year.
You’ve been hacked
Unfortunately, it appears that someone other than Chippy—or anyone associated with him—has been posting on his Facebook account. Initially, I thought he was involved in some sort of charity fundraising in PNG, but it looks more like a crypto scam, with appeals like, “Enjoy your profit and invite more friends to start earning money here.” It’s not exactly the seasonal socialist spirit I was anticipating.
Yeah, maybe not.
Before his page was taken over, the posts were more like you’d imagine. Chippy giving blood and encouraging others to do so, dressing up as Santa for a Barnados morning tea, and decorating gingerbread with nary a pair of silk pyjamas on display…
Sometimes, it’s easy being Green.
I might be biased, but I always enjoy the Green Party images at this time of year, and this one was no exception. They are unashamedly Kiwi:
If you haven’t seen Chlöe Swarbrick’s end-of-year speech to parliament, it is well worth a listen:
Meri Kirihimete
The words of Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi really resonated with me:
Ngā mihi o te kirihimete me te tau hou ki a koutou katoa! This year has been a bloody difficult year for a lot of us, not only in the house with this government and the backward legislative changes they make but also for so many of us who have lost loved ones this year. I’m thinking of you all as we navigate Christmas and the holiday season without our beloved whānau members and with so many changes to make sense of.
Don't give up, though! Keep pushing through and being Magic! The best present we can give this year is presence e te whānau! Take the well-deserved rest you need and come back well-rested. If you don’t get to have the break and have to keep working, please stay well and do what is necessary for you and your whānau. Arohanui ki a koutou katoa, ngā mihi mo te kirihimete, and please stay safe!
Many things have happened this year, some of them pretty bloody awful, but my strongest memory will be of the protests against the Treaty Principles Bill, especially the day the hikoi arrived at parliament.
As a pakeha, proudly tangata Tiriti, I felt great acceptance and belonging. It was remarkable to see the peaceful determination and solidarity of so many who were united against our government. I won’t forget that, and I’m sure many Kiwis will think of it as we contemplate things over the Summer break.
One of the songs often heard during the year as crowds gathered was the one below. Have a great day, all you magic people, Māori and Pakeha.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
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We watched Charlie's speech. We were curious about that chapel I've never heard of, and also to see if he would be any different, remembering how our parents and grandparents used to huddle over the radio to hear the Queen. I thought it wasn't a bad effort. What I liked was the message we can all relate to about peace on earth, the need for compassion and love and his thanks to those who give so much in caring for others. And the thing about people of all faiths, or none, and those who come from different ethnicities and parts of the world. Somehow, as humans, we find common ground in this. I just wish it was for more than one day a year.
Looks like you had an excellent day in the sunshine.
I must say that the sight of the Luxon family in there pyjamas did not add anything positive to my Christmas. Luckily many other things did.
Have a relaxing and peaceful day Nick.