World Domination

Ten Sentimental Moments.

Just one year of love
Is better than a lifetime alone
One sentimental moment in your arms
Is like a shooting star right through my heart
It's always a rainy day without you
I'm a prisoner of love inside you
I'm falling apart all around you, yeah

Songwriter: John Deacon.

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Morena folks, it feels like it’s been quite a big week, just for a change, so it’s nostalgia time again. If you’re new around here, this is where I share some memories from this day, or close to it, over each of the last ten years and ask related questions.

The questions are repeated together at the end, and you’re welcome to answer as many or as few as you like. For simplicity, if something is in italics, it’s from back then; if it’s not, then it’s not. Easy. Ok then, let’s be off…

10 years ago

I updated my cover photo with my old band, commenting that it had been 25 years, which I guess is now 35 years—yikes.

Navigator (Terry, Justin, Nick, and Phil).

Question 1: What’s the worst hairstyle that you ever had?

9 years ago

Gareth Thomas died.

“Blakes 7 was my absolute favourite programme as a kid. I'm very sad to hear of Gareth Thomas's death. RIP, Roj Blake.”

Question 2: Did you have a favourite programme when you were growing up?

8 years ago

I wrote:

Hope the incoming cyclone Cook isn’t too rough on the eastern BOP, especially Edgecumbe. A quarter of a century ago, my band used to play all of those towns, although I only recall playing in Edgecumbe, the once, the end-of-year college ball. I was probably two years older than the senior kids there and not a big fan of school authority.

I remember popping out between sets for a ciggie where all the ‘kids’ were and a teacher wading through them telling them off for this and that until I got a tap on the shoulder – “Boy, put that cigarette out”, it still makes me grin to remember turning around, with a full beard, and saying “no, I don’t think so”.

Question 3: Have you ever been to Edgecumbe?

7 years ago

This one was from a bit earlier in April…

If you were to listen to Mike, Audrey, Heather, John, Fran, Claire, etc., all shrieking from the same song sheet (hmm, I wonder who the lyricist is?), you might believe that the new government is on the rocks and the opposition is pummelling it.

The reality is more like this: if you listen carefully, you can hear Gerry Brownlee having to explain to Soymon how to ask questions as he gets the snot kicked out of him:

Question 4: Do you miss having a PM capable of answering questions?

6 years ago

I wrote:

We've all got those movies you've watched many times, which you put on when you should probably go to bed. Some are damn good movies, and some are of seriously dubious quality. But they strike your mood or perhaps take you back to when you first saw them.

Here are my top 5 (in no particular order)—I am not ashamed—what are yours? Hmm, it might be time to put on a movie.

Good Will Hunting - Robin Williams and Matt Damon, every scene is great. First saw it with Fi in Cambridge in the UK when it had just come out. Robin Williams!

Dazed and Confused—(Linklater, not Led Zep)—I first saw it when I was at University. It captures the freedom and rebellion of youth more than any other movie I've seen, and what a soundtrack!

Goon—I love ice hockey movies, but I have no interest in the sport. It's like a redo of Youngblood but without Rob Lowe. It's epically stupid and sappy.

The Wedding Singer - that 80s soundtrack, the classic geek wins girl over douchebag like any good 80s movie - which, of course, it wasn't. I first saw it in Brighton with Fi on a day trip to see the ocean.

Braveheart—my favourite comedian, Frankie Boyle, has a routine about his country, Scotland, in which he says, "People doubted Mel Gibson could play a convincing Scotsman—but look at him now—an alcoholic racist!" I first saw it between lectures at Uni. It used to be really cheap that time of day as a student—even the gummy bears were a reasonable price. Freedom!!

Question 5: Is there a movie you have watched far more times than its quality would merit? If so, can you remember the first time you saw it?

5 years ago

Covid had struck, and I was busy tweeting with my parody account of the leader of the Nats that I ran before I had this outlet:

Question 6: Do you believe the inquiry into the handling of Covid should consider the unhelpful, contrarian stance of the opposition at that time?

4 years ago

I wrote:

Another school shooting in the US - this time in Tennessee. Each one makes you wonder how Americans can vote for politicians bought and paid for by the gun lobby.

Fortunately, the only equivalent here is the minor party ACT. Having said that, the way National is performing, ACT may well become the largest opposition party at the next election.

Still, maybe this time will be different, and the US politicians will actually take action...

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who just days ago signed a bill allowing most adults in the state to carry a handgun without a permit, started his press event for the school shooting in Knoxville by asking for prayers.

Oh, so thoughts and prayers again. Jesus wept.

Question 7: I think it’s possible that in time Labour and the Greens may draw level, but do you think ACT will ever surpass National as the largest party on the right?

3 years ago

That Twitter account was still going, having transitioned through Todd Duller and Crusher Collins by that point:

Question 8: Would things be better or worse if either Soymon or Crusher were in charge now rather than Christopher?

2 years ago

Six months out from the election, I was covering the policies of one party in particular; this is a subset of them:

• Immediately raise the minimum wage to $25 per hour and legislate for an annual increase to keep up with cost of living increases

• Raise abatement rates for benefits and student allowances

• Introduce free public transport for students at all levels

• Universal student allowances, including restoring full eligibility for postgraduate, part-time, and long-course students

• End new onshore oil and gas permits and withdraw existing onshore and offshore oil and gas permits within five years and aim to decommission sites by 2030

• Phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser on farms by 2025 and bring methane emissions from agriculture into the ETS to disincentivise intensive methane-emitting agriculture.

Question 9: Whose policies do you think those are? And would you vote for them?

1 year ago

I shared a comment that my friend David had made on Gerard Otto’s page.

“This is why your voice is so important in this country. You might think it's not, but it surely is. Yours and others like Nick Rockel are the only voices who actually put out decent, properly researched, factual material and articles. While the Atlas Boogie men close their fists around the throat of this planet, some of us have to keep fighting back. Words are powerful; they cannot be killed. End of story.”

While receiving such feedback is nice, I’ve found it incredibly frustrating trying to reach a wider audience. As I’ve mentioned, new paid subscriptions dropped off significantly four months ago, and while that’s important to me in terms of earning a living, it’s also really important when it comes to getting my writing out there.

If you use the Substack App, you might have noticed that newsletters are divided into different content categories. For example, Business, Technology, Sports, etc. Nick’s Kōrero is in the “World Politics” category, the only political alternative to “US Politics.”

These categories allow readers to find writers, and I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that after three years and three months of writing, Nick’s Kōrero is at #45 on the best-seller list—so yay!

Unfortunately, the bad news is that I'm not on the other list that tracks rising newsletters.

So here’s the thing: in order to reach a wider audience, I need to start going up that list, and I can only do that through people subscribing. So, if you’d like to see Nick’s Kōrero reach a wider audience, please consider subscribing - I literally can’t do it without you.

Questions:

Question 1: What’s the worst hairstyle that you ever had?

Question 2: Did you have a favourite programme when you were growing up?

Question 3: Have you ever been to Edgecumbe?

Question 4: Do you miss having a PM capable of answering questions?

Question 5: Is there a movie you have watched far more times than its quality would merit? If so, can you remember the first time you saw it?

Question 6: Do you believe the inquiry into the handling of Covid should consider the unhelpful, contrarian stance of the opposition at that time?

Question 7: I think it’s possible that in time Labour and the Greens may draw level, but do you think ACT will ever surpass National as the largest party on the right?

Question 8: Would things be better or worse if either Soymon or Crusher were in charge now rather than Christopher?

Question 9: Whose policies do you think those are? And would you vote for them?

Question 10: Will you help me reach a wider audience?

To end today, my favourite band, Queen, with One Year Of Love. Have a great day, all you lovely people; after a crisp start, it looks like being a cracking day. 🙂