Q&A with Nick

Interplanetary, good vibe zone

Everything is good and brown
I'm here again
With a sunshine smile upon my face
My friends are close at hand
And all my inhibitions have disappeared without a trace
I'm glad, oh, that I found ooh
Somebody who I can rely on

Songwriter: Jay Kay

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Good morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a bit of a cold—I blame the weather. I hope you’re wrapped up warm for Summer.

There really isn’t much going on in the world, and what there is… damn, it’s pretty grim. Thoughts of little angels taken in violence, the murder of wee children, things that are beyond comprehension.

I’d thought to write about Amanda Luxon, our First Lady, as RNZ refers to her.

You’ve probably seen the headlines with interviews and articles on RNZ, further dissected on Stuff, telling us, among other things, what a good dancer Christopher is. A rich mine for satire, and yet…

And yet, even though Mrs Luxon is in the limelight, a prop for her husband’s photo ops, speaking at the party conference and doing interviews in her own right, I just don’t want to go there.

Even though she is being used to promote the PM, and given how she has been rolled out, I can’t help wondering if it’s a last-ditch effort to boost his rating, as everything else associated with him is viewed negatively.

You see, I think she is probably a perfectly nice person. Even if I find the thousand-yard stare a bit disconcerting and the matching pyjama parties all kinds of weird, it’s just not my place to say. So, I’m going to leave her out of it.

When I scanned the papers, there wasn’t much else. Trudeau has gone, no doubt to be replaced by someone dire, but I didn’t think any of us were that interested in Canadian politics. If you are, feel free to tell us what comes next in the comments.

Mind you, the Canadians might just give up their stubborn independence and be consumed. This was the actual response by President-elect Trump:

"Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this and resigned. If Canada merged with the US, there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!"

There you go, how easy is that - eh? Just lie back and think of Donald.

Anyway, since there is not much newsworthy, I thought we could have a bit of a kōrero today. Is there anything you’d like to ask me or the community of readers? Or is there something you want to get off your chest or tell us about?

One request: Can we try to keep it positive? There seems to be so much that is negative; let’s talk about the good stuff.

What are you excited about in 2025? Is there something you’re looking forward to? An event or a family celebration?

You’re most welcome to ask me anything you like, but if we could, as I say, focus a bit more today on upbeat things and a bit less on the boo hiss, make-it-go-away already variety, that would be awesome. 🙂

In that spirit of positivity, if you’re not a paid subscriber but would like to be today, anybody can use the gold card special—because you’re all golden, and I’d love to have you on board as a reader for 2025 and beyond.

You can subscribe for 20% off forever if you click the following link. That is $80 per year or $8 per month, which will never increase.

I can’t continue to give my work away, as I did over Christmas, so most of my writing this year will be behind a paywall, like yesterday’s newsletter.

If you’d like to read my newsletters and have them arrive (almost) daily in your inbox, subscribe today and save yourself 20%; no introductory period, no free steak knives, just that discounted rate for good. 🙂

So what are you waiting for? Send us your questions, and let’s make this a good one.