Archive

Editorial | Issue 02

Posted 5:18pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 by Callum Fredric

Cricket makes life worth living. There’s a test match between NZ and England at the University Oval next to Logan Park, running from Wednesday to Sunday. Every Otago student should go. That’s why I’m not writing this editorial about politics, ticking “no religion” in the census, or Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 01

Posted 2:52pm Monday 25th February 2013 by Sam McChesney

Welcome back to “ODT Watch,” in which we track the more notable stories peddled by the illustrious Independent Voice of the South. The Otago Daily Times is home to some of the country’s most provincial, prudish, and puntastically-titled news items. This year got off to a great start: despite only Read more...

Get Out Of The Ghetto | Issue 01

Posted 2:52pm Monday 25th February 2013 by Phoebe Harrop

Unbeknownst to most Scarfies of the fresher variety, there exists a magical, unexplored and exotic land outside the heady confines of the North Dunedin student ghetto. You may not believe me, but south of the Octagon, north of Knox, and uphill beyond the Bog, a world of possibilities awaits Read more...

The Leek | Issue 01

Posted 9:54pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Campbell Ecklein

As hangovers wore on and STI rates soared, a slightly sinister twist emerged during an otherwise sensational O-Week. Acclaimed rapper Macklemore, age 29, met with an unfortunate fate following his sold-out concert at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium on Thursday night. Macklemore rapped the Read more...

Kant Stop Husserling | Issue 01

Posted 9:54pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Erma Dag

In the classic 1985 film Back to the Future, Marty McFly travels back to 1955 and accidentally interferes with the mishap that brought his parents together. With his mother suddenly lusting after his Calvin Klein-clad hiney instead, Marty spends the remainder of the film trying to bring his parents Read more...

The More Things Change | Issue 01

Posted 9:54pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Jessica Bromell

Kia ora and welcome to “The More Things Change,” a sojourn into the coming week’s news per the annals of history. Formative moments of today’s affairs and milestones of the human race will abound, as well as a few things from which people have hopefully learned by now. If nothing else you might pick Read more...

Hi Dr. Nick | Issue 01

Posted 9:54pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Dr. Nick

Hi everybody! For many of you, this is your first year of University. Welcome – you’ll love it here! For some of you, this is your last year of University. Welcome back! Savour these moments – what a blast the past three or four years have been! For a few of you, like me, this is your sixth Read more...

Lez Feminables | Issue 01

Posted 9:54pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Glitter Grrl

Hey there, new and returning Scarfies! I welcome you to my patch of rainbows and equality! I’m here to give counsel on everything LGBTQ and feminism. Many of you will have just left home or moved in with a flat of strangers; or maybe you’re just starting the year afresh, rising like Madonna, reborn Read more...

Daily Grind | Issue 01

Posted 9:40pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by M and G

Just inside the Oamaru stone tomb that is St David’s Lecture Theatre is where we spent the majority of our time as freshers, the ideal procrastination centre. You can sit in the cheap silver outdoor chairs with a weak coffee and people watch, use the uni internet or browse St David’s Café’s Read more...

Love Online | Issue 01

Posted 9:40pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Lovebirds

Critic created a female internet dating profile expecting a low standard of suavity. But not even we could be prepared for the barrage of sheer ineptitude that followed, each new suitor representing a new nadir in the evolution of mankind. This column is a word-for-word transcript of an Read more...

Science, Bitches! | Issue 01

Posted 9:40pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Elsie Jacobson

Congratulations, you’ve survived O-Week! But this is Dunedin, and the year has only just begun. So for your liver’s sake, I’m going to tell you the most important thing you should know about hangovers. They are not friends with Panadol, and the two should never, ever hang out. When you Read more...

For Fuck's Sake | Issue 01

Posted 9:40pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Elsie Stone

Welcome to another year in our own little rat-infested corner of Paradise, where carpets are stained orange from the spilled Cindy’s of years past and itʼs best to just walk on by if you see a strange woman taking a poo on someone elseʼs car. As our sticky pavements begin to fill with Read more...

Love Is Blind | Issue 01

Posted 9:40pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Lovebirds

Critic’s infamous Blind Date column is back for another year of shutdowns, hilariously mismatched pairs, and the occasional hookup. Each week, we lure two singletons to a bar and ply them with alcohol and food (in that order), then wait for their reports to arrive in our inbox. If this sounds like Read more...

Editorial | Issue 01

Posted 9:40pm Sunday 24th February 2013 by Callum Fredric

At my work Christmas Party, I found out that the previous summer a guy had been fired for ordering a $200 Wagyu steak on the company tab. Wagyu cattle enjoy a standard of living far superior to that of the average Otago student. Massaged daily, plied with beer and sake, and fed only the very Read more...

Tumuaki o Te Roopū Māori 2012!

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Lisa Pohatu

Time has passed by so fast and that the year is ending. What a journey it has been. The role of Tumuaki has had its ups and downs, and this year it has been a challenge to balance my study, work, and TRM duties. People can warn you about the workload and the level of commitment, but reality does not Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Callum Fredric

This week in ODT Watch, the ODT continues its totes-impartial-journalism campaign against the new brand of synthetic cannabis, K2. The ODT’s neutral interviewer resisted the urge to ask leading, emotive questions to get the answers he wanted: Meanwhile, a sentient fox has apologised Read more...

In 'da House | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Holly Walker

I must get my column in on time. I must get my column in on time. I must get my column in on time. I must get his column in on time. I must get my column in on time. I must get my column in on time. I must get my column in on time. I must get my column in on time. I must get his column in on time. I Read more...

Poetry | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Maya Turei

send me your kisses, and send me your love - i’ll post mine back to you no matter what. manila envelopes circulate the floor, telling all the secretaries how office politics can not eclipse our love, - how post it notes stuck to the fridge mean nothing to Read more...

Sex at The Dinner Table | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Checker-out St Flat

At this point in the year, dinner-time conversation has been replaced by the sound of highlighters moving across course materials. It’s exam season, and the air is pregnant with chaste frustration. Or so I thought. On our final Friday writing up this column, I would have never guessed that we had Read more...

Diatribe | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Ethan Rodgers

I’ve never voted in the OUSA elections before, I didn’t vote in the last one, and I am not alone. “Why?” you ask. “What about democracy and students’ rights and StudyLink and our ability to freely write chalk messages on the asphalt?” I don’t know what the answer is. Perhaps it’s because I like to Read more...

Microbiographia | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Toby Newberry

At its peak in the 13th century, the Mongol Empire covered 16% of the Earth’s total land area. That’s more than twice the size of the USA, or around 90 times the size of New Zealand. It is the largest empire in human history. Subutai was a Mongolian general, serving first under Genghis Khan and then Read more...

For The Record | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

For the record, I feel a strong sense of pressure with this particular column, my final one of the year. I want to find just the right words to end with. I want this conclusion to be satisfying. It’s hard to believe the year is almost at its close, and that we’ll soon be free from the confines of Read more...

Straight up | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by La Dida

I’m sure many of us have noticed that queer columns often plumb archives of feeling which include anger, sadness or pride, or some combo of these. Which is fair enough, I think, since queer/trans people have lots to be angry, sad, and proud about. However, for this column I thought I’d Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Brittany Mann

For many, if not most (going by the sheer number of bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked freshers in the first flush of academic fervour), med school is something of a holy grail. But in reality, to milk the biblical metaphor, this cup can be very difficult to bear, to the point of sacrificing one’s own life. Read more...

Yes We Might! | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Creepy Uncle Sam

I have only once watched a US daytime talkshow. In my defence, I was severely incapacitated at the time. Rachael Ray, or whatever the fuck it was, proved a suitably bizarre experience: for instance, the audience would cheer madly whenever the host said the word “bacon”. Funnily enough, the dulcet Read more...

Me Love You Long Time | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Lovebirds

Well shit kids, it’s been a good ride, but this is the last Critic Blind Date of the year. We’ve got some people laid, had some very popular lesbian shenanigans, and created some of North Ds most awakward moments of 2012. To end things with a bang we had six guys and six girls speed date, and if Read more...

Editorial | Issue 27

Posted 5:59pm Sunday 7th October 2012 by Joe Stockman

Fuck ay. This is it, the last Critic of the year. This place has a strange effect on you. It’s high-stress, amazingly fun, and always, even to the end, completely seat of your pants. You turn up having no idea how to do the job, you leave having no idea how you did it. I think, I hope, Read more...

Year’s End

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Staff Reporter

In many ways, your time in Dunedin is a gift. I am especially aware of this when former students make contact and share that as they look back on their years in Dunedin, they feel very grateful. A core part of this Otago experience is the friendships we have here. Every now and then, we need to look Read more...

In 'da House | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Holly Walker

Regular readers will know that I am always looking for excuses to visit Dunedin, so I was delighted when my former POLS lecturer and academic idol Janine Hayward invited me to speak to her POLS102 class about life, politics, and everything else last week. I took that brief pretty literally Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Staff Reporter

Holy shit. We’re getting pretty close to the end of Critic for the year, only one more to go. And I really didn’t think that we would get some of the ODT’s greatest work this close to the end. But they literally stopped me in my tracks this week, and in the business section, no less! (yes, I take Read more...

Sex at The Dinner Table | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Checker-out St Flat

It’s hard to draw boundaries between art and pornography when representing sex. Erotica seems to go back forever - the earliest known man-made sculpture is the 26,000-year-old “Venus of Willendorf”, widely interpreted as a fertility symbol with its large breasts and accentuated vulva. In our Read more...

Microbiographia | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Toby Newberry

Last week we chronicled the rise of Heshen, a Chinese official who became absurdly wealthy in the late 18th century. This week, we bear witness to his fall. Last week ended at Step Two of “Heshen’s guide to amassing inappropriately large stashes of treasure”, and we’ll pick up at Step Three after a Read more...

For The Record | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

The xx are three British twentysomethings who dress in black and create stripped-down minimalist pop with haunting melodic precision and a zealously apathetic atmosphere. Read that last sentence again. Now go and beat your head against a fucking wall to get that PR-spun marketing dross out of your Read more...

Straight Up | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by La Dida

In this one short sentence, I will possibly extinguish what’s left of my queer cool cred: I’m a country fag, and I like it. I am not hard country. I’m more the soft, lifestyle block, grow-heirloom-roses kind. I like the smell of silage, flower shows, and shingle roads. I like to Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Brittany Mann

When I was getting travel vaccinations recently, the nurse administering them said she had not heard of the recent Ebola virus disease outbreaks in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I made no real effort to veil my scorn (hello, she is a nurse at a travel medicine clinic…) and wasted no Read more...

Yes We Might! | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Creepy Uncle Sam

Last week, Mitt Romney pulled out of the presidential race, to be replaced by a fresh-faced Tea Party ticket of Paul Ryan and a Dalek. The latest scandal to hit the Romney campaign proved too damaging: Mitt was caught on camera dismissing the 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax as Read more...

Me Love You Long Time | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Lovebirds

None of you read this anyway. It’s just that little weird standfirst bit above the action below. But anyway ... The Blind Date has been at Metro bar for the last few weeks, and it sounds like they’ve been putting on quite a show. Great feed, good drinks, excellent service etc etc. If you want in on Read more...

Editorial | Issue 26

Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Joe Stockman

And so just like that, the Logan Edgar era comes to an end. Francisco Hernandez – a career student pol if ever there was one – has come down the middle of a Scarfie vote split by Ryan Edgar and Zac Gawn to claim the OUSA student presidency for 2013. You have to wonder how Gawn and Ryan feel Read more...

Te Roopu Māori Elections

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Lisa Pohatu

José Maria de Eça de Queiroz said that “Politicians and diapers should be changed frequently, and for the same reason.” Thank you to all those who turned up to the SGM, and for providing some constructive feedback to the proposed changes within the management system of Te Rito. Hopefully you Read more...

The Room (2003)

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Sam McChesney

It was a question of defining importance. For decades, the debate raged. What was the worst film of all time? The contenders came from far and wide – Plan 9 From Outer Space, Robot Monster, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Troll 2, Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras, Howard the Duck, Battlefield Earth. With Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Staff Reporter

In honour of the 24hr issue, we took all of this week’s ODT Watch out of Wednesday’s issue. You might worry that one day’s worth of ODT isn’t enough to make an entire ODT Watch. Oh, how wrong you would be … You’ve all heard the saying “What happens in Milton, stays in Milton”, right? No? Read more...

Poetry | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Staff Reporter

Her name was Elizabeth She wore glasses and cashmere We held hands by fireside and teased about childish things It was raining, and quick. Her name was Ashlee She sat next to me in white dresses We walked without speaking around mountaintop monasteries in flaming summer Read more...

In 'da House | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Holly Walker

As I write this, it is 119 years to the day since New Zealand became the first country in the world to recognise women’s right to vote. Thanks Kate Sheppard. Heart you. New Zealanders are rightly proud that we were the first to do this. Smug, even. And fair enough; it’s awesome. It is Read more...

Diatribe | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Dan Benson-Guiu

You may have heard that the Islamic world has been set alight again, but this time, not by a revolution – a truly crap movie has upset Islam, and I urge anyone with an eye for Z-grade films to watch Innocence of Muslims. The film whatever you want to call it mocks the Prophet Mohammed, calling him a Read more...

Sex at The Dinner Table | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Checker-out St Flat

The plan for this week was to do a sex position review and details of how I got a blowjob in Bill English’s bathroom, but Joe’s dictatorial order that every measly word of this week had to researched and written from within the Critic office would have made at least the position review mega awkward. Read more...

Microbiographia | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Toby Newberry

Heshen was a corrupt Chinese official who lived during the second half of the 18th century. Corrupt officials, one might think, are a dime a dozen. What separates Heshen from the pack is his remarkable success. Though estimates are conflicting, it is believed thatwhen he died aged 48, Heshen’s Read more...

For The Record | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

I’ve always liked Thursdays. A distaste for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays really doesn’t have to be explained; Rebecca Black has forever ruined Friday for me; Saturday is all about anticipation, and the day itself is generally lost in the buildup to “the night”; Sunday Bloody Sunday is a day of Read more...

Straight Up | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by La Dida

6.45 am Wake up. Shit. Face creased from sleeping on top of Foucault. 7.00 am Look at face in mirror. Cleanse. Scrub. Tone. Moisturise. Eye cream. Foundation. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh no concealer! Eyebrow pencil. Sunblock. Perfume. Hair product. Perfume. Try on wig. Take off wig. Try on wig with Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Brittany Mann

I saw a group of people doing a tag-team keg stand in the middle of the Cumberland/Dundas intersection on Saturday, while the Cumberland lights were red. It pretty much made my life. If you were one of those brave, carefree whippersnappers and you’re reading this, well, I take my hat off to you. I Read more...

Yes We Might! | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Creepy Uncle Sam

You know why Cracked still exists? Because lists are fun and easy, that’s why. So here’s a compilation of the 17 best quotes of the election campaign so far: 17. “I love the women’s movement – especially when walking behind it.” – Rush Limbaugh, responding to accusations of sexism. 16. Read more...

Me Love You Long Time | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Lovebirds

None of you read this anyway. It’s just that little weird standfirst bit above the action below. But anyway ... The Blind Date has been at Metro bar for the last few weeks, and it sounds like they’ve been putting on quite a show. Great feed, good drinks, excellent service etc etc. If you want in on Read more...

Editorial | Issue 25

Posted 4:25pm Sunday 23rd September 2012 by Joe Stockman

Wow. This week’s issue of Critic is the 24hr issue. We started work on it at 6am last Wednesday, and we’re just now about to send it off to print at 6am on Thursday morning. All of the content and design has been completed within 24hrs. Needless to say, we’re all pretty exhausted. As far as Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Staff Reporter

You may have missed it, what with the snow and all, but the NZ Herald moved from a broadsheet to a tabloid format last week. To celebrate this first step on the road to obsolescence for NZ’s largest newspaper, we’ve let the pun-seeking powers of ODT Watch loose on the Herald’s hallowed pages. The Read more...

Scary Vengeful God

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Greg Hughson

Last week we held our University and Polytechnic Chaplaincy Annual General meeting. It was a chance to pause and reflect on all that we have been trying to do as a Chaplaincy team here on campus over the last 12 months. Primarily what we are here for is to offer pastoral care and spiritual support. Read more...

Poetry | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Staff Reporter

Round and round it turns, Taking its time as it rolls uphill; Turning so slowly that You’d need to etch A groove upon its circumference To track its progress. You visit the site, Where the wheel is, Once—or maybe twice—a week And record the position of the groove, Read more...

In 'da House | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Holly Walker

In my second year at Otago, I went to bed each night wearing thermals under my flannel pyjamas, and slept under two duvets and a sleeping bag. In my third year, ice formed on the inside of my bedroom windows overnight. In my fourth year, strange black liquid ran down the hallway wall. You Read more...

Sex at The Dinner Table | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Checker-out St Flat

Our student poverty has reached a new level: we bake our own bread. “Shane, shouldn’t you get the bread out of the oven?” Louise asked. “Good point,” I said, checking my watch. “It’s basically due.” “Ha!” Louise yelled. “It’s in the oven and it’s Jew!” “Well, they are Read more...

Microbiographia | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Toby Newberry

Roughly 500 years ago, Nicolaus Copernicus wrote a book, the gist of which was: “Hey guys, the Earth isn’t the centre of the universe, it actually goes around the Sun, lol.” Good job Copernicus. But wait, there’s more: 1800 years before Copernicus, another chap wrote a book (or scroll, whatevs) that Read more...

For The Record | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

Mentioning Nickelback is a surefire way of attracting attention. It worked, didn’t it? You saw the title and immediately dived into this column with knee-jerk cynicism, eager to mock and insult my music taste. But why, exactly, do you hate the world’s most hated band? No, I don’t love Read more...

Straight Up | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by La Dida

This week I met my former high school principal while I was speaking at a seminar. I had been fantasising for years about what this moment would be like. In my fantasy I would do something outrageous that would make her deeply uncomfortable. Or, perhaps equally outrageously, I would tell the Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Brittany Mann

This is a bit of a departure from tradition – I’ve suddenly gone all PETA on yo’ asses. But as they say, animals are people too. Elephants, for example, mourn and bury their dead, and can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Given the current situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo Read more...

Yes We Might! | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Creepy Uncle Sam

I don’t care what you say, Timothy Dalton was a great James Bond. As I watched Obama’s – let’s face it – boring speech at the Democratic National Convention, the same thought kept running through my mind. Is Obama George Lazenby? Or is he Timothy Dalton? We all know that Obama’s been a Read more...

Me Love You Long Time | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Lovebirds

ChrisI know I shouldn’t have eaten dinner, but the aroma of fresh curry was too alluring. Justifying it to myself by saying that the food at Metro would just be “nibbles” I tucked into one-and-half helpings of flat-made Thai and half a small glass of Jim Bean bourbon in an attempt to combat nerves. Read more...

Editorial | Issue 24

Posted 4:57pm Sunday 16th September 2012 by Joe Stockman

It’s OUSA Art Week this week, so Critic have turned the laser beam of our attention to the art world. Zane Pocock explores the local art world and where it might be headed, Katie Kenny takes a look at creativity and its place in tertiary education, and Books Editor Josef Alton compares the two Read more...

Te Roopu | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Lisa Pohatu

“With your basket and my basket the people will live” This whakatauki refers to the co-operation of all in order to get things done. This was exemplified during the mid-semester break at Te Huinga Tauira. A small contingent of 50 tauira of the 1600-plus Māori students enrolled at the Read more...

Poetry | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Staff Reporter

The pieces, they project into the hearts of those surrounding me. Slicing through their thin delicate chest cavities. And when my heart-pieces collide with their whole hearts, they explode, and so do the hearts. And then their pieces fly Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Staff Reporter

The ODT sometimes struggles with the difference between the literal and the figurative. See, when someone says something like “I could literally eat a horse”, they actually mean “I could figuratively eat a horse”. You can see how things get confusing. But when ol’ Justin Stonelake got figurative, Read more...

In 'da House | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Holly Walker

One of the cool things about being an MP is that you get to do stuff you would never otherwise do. If you express an interest in something, usually someone is only too happy to show you around, provide you with information, or host you for a visit. It’s a privileged position, and it still Read more...

Sex at The Dinner Table | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Checker-out St Flat

Tearing apart the terrifying yearnings of a middle-aged woman that make up the novel Fifty Shades of Grey is an endlessly amusing pastime for my friends and I. The novel’s pages, which ooze with post-pregnancy-sexually-repressed fantasies and E. L. James’ overuse of the terms “inner-goddess” and “oh Read more...

Diatribe | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Dan Benson-Guiu

Political shit happens every day at uni. The views, debates, and petitions are endless, but most students shy away from issues that truly concern them. “For fuck’s sake”, you’re thinking, about to turn the page. No, stop! I’m not telling you what political party to vote for or what to believe Read more...

Microbiographia | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Toby Newberry

Royalty, some might think, ought to be excluded from the class of “obscure historical figures” by default. Ruling an empire, nation, duchy, or whatever no doubt entails a fair measure of celebrity during the time that you rule, but the caveat “during the time that you rule” is important. The sheer Read more...

For The Record | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

As a society, we’re obsessed with labels. So it’s no surprise that we’ve given names to the past few generations. We’ve pigeonholed and generalised, using war as a simplistic reference: the “Greatest” lived through it, the “Boomers” protested it, and “Gen X” ignored it. I recently read an Read more...

Straight Up | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by La Dida

It seems like rape has been all over the news recently, and often in ways I find problematic. I don’t want to write about Julian Assange or Hell pizza; others have done a brilliant job of tearing those two issues apart already. Instead, I want to look at rape from an intersectional queer Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Brittany Mann

I once did some volunteer work for a guy who was a thalidomide victim. In a departure from my usual linguistic prowess, I came home from my first day and announced with appropriate gravitas, “He was a formaldehyde baby, you know.” Whilst I still struggle to pronounce the name of the infamous Read more...

Yes We Might! | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Creepy Uncle Sam

Tonight, after finishing my politics reading (yes, I study politics – just thought I’d drip-feed a small teaser of the wildly popular “Who Is Creepy Uncle Sam?” meme that I’m sure will exist one of these days), I found my brain utterly wearied – the result, no doubt, of trying to infer the existence Read more...

Me Love You Long Time | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Lovebirds

None of you read this anyway. It’s just that little weird standfirst bit above the action below. But anyway ... The Blind Date has been at Metro bar for the last few weeks, and it sounds like they’ve been putting on quite a show. Great feed, good drinks, excellent service etc etc. If you want in on Read more...

Editorial | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012 by Joe Stockman

It’s not unusual to hear people say that they don’t care about politics (“don’t give a fuck” might be a more precise quote). However many times I hear it said, it never ceases to amaze me. Failing to care about politics is a fundamental misunderstanding of how we control our lives. Politics Read more...

Dunedin’s Hebrew Hood

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Matthew Shrimpton

The bottom of New Zealand’s South Island is not the first place that springs to mind when you think of Jews, but Dunedin has been home to some familiar and not-so-familiar Jewish names. In the 1800s, Bendix Hallenstein moved from Germany to Dunedin. Finding it hard to source quality menswear from Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Staff Reporter

You probably don’t realise just how good the ODT is. In fact, it’s so good that it’s been nominated (again) for Newspaper of the Year at the upcoming New Zealand Media Awards. But there’s more — it’s been nominated for the “Young readers” category. That’s right — the ODT, the oldest, whitest, most Read more...

Poetry | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Dan Luoni

A poem is an animal. You can love an animal too much, Like when my brother hugged His kindergarten hamster Too hard. When you love it too much It dies. You squeeze out the Eyes and blood and shit and soul, And then you are covered In shit and blood and you have a Read more...

In 'da House | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Holly Walker

I recently survived a live interview on Morning Report, head-to-head with Winston Peters. I figure that has to be some kind of political rite of passage. The topic was MMP and how to improve it. When 58% of New Zealanders voted to keep MMP, we triggered a review of the system. Over 4,500 Read more...

Sex at The Dinner Table | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Checker-out St Flat

The flat was empty last Friday, as my other flatmates both decided to go away for the weekend. My vagina and I were left alone for some quality time. However, after some serious sexual pondering, I started to think less about the practical and more about the theory of what it takes to pleasure a Read more...

Diatribe | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Rape Crisis Dunedin

SlutWalk originated in 2011 in Toronto when a police officer told a group of women that if they didn’t want to get raped they should avoid dressing like “sluts”. SlutWalk was a response to the attitudes expressed by this officer and the culture which blames survivors and excuse perpetrators. Read more...

Microbiographia | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Toby Newberry

Today we focus less on the “historical” side of the column and more on the “lesser-known/interesting” side. Christophe Rocancourt, still alive today, is a real-life gentleman thief. He spent most of the last 40 years swindling rich Americans out of their riches. Rocancourt was born in Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Brittany Mann

This week’s column is about what you might call a Frankenconflict (a word I made up just now). The details read like Auschwitz, Nanking, and Srebrenica rolled into one. Without further ado, I’ll let you in on this dirty secret going down in our own backyard. West Papua is in the western half Read more...

Yes We Might! | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Creepy Uncle Sam

The wires have been abuzz over the last two weeks, with a series of headlines in the vein of “Old White Republican Man in Misogyny Shocker!” Rep. Paul Akin and his groundbreaking gynaecological theory (which, in case you missed it, was that in cases of “legitimate rape” a woman’s ovaries shut down, Read more...

For The Record | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

Music and movies are a great pair — some might even say they go together like cocaine and waffles. While film scores and musicals are the most obvious spawn of this relationship, I’d like to turn your attention towards the technique referred to in industry-speak as “needle dropping”: when a score is Read more...

Straight Up | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by La Dida

This week I was pleased to see Jonah Lomu on my TV screen raising awareness about the Live Below the Line campaign, which seeks to raise awareness about the experiences of the approximately 1.4 billion people worldwide who live in extreme poverty. The New Zealand equivalent of the extreme poverty Read more...

Me Love You Long Time | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Lovebirds

None of you read this anyway. It’s just that little weird standfirst bit above the action below. But anyway ... The Blind Date has been at Metro bar for the last few weeks, and it sounds like they’ve been putting on quite a show. Great feed, good drinks, excellent service etc etc. If you want in on Read more...

Editorial | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 by Joe Stockman

“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” – George Orwell A country in central Asia is wracked with violence. The police and army are attacked in the streets, and the rebels, funded with profits from narcotics, Read more...

Te Roopu Māori | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Lisa Pohatu

With the mid-semester break fast approaching, most of us will use the time off to make a dent in that pile of assignments or get ahead on those exams. However, this mid-semester break we have approximately 50 Te Roopū Māori students hosting 200+ Māori students for the national Read more...

Poetry | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Staff Reporter

ACTION DEVOTION ADDICTION EXPECTATION REJECTION REFLECTION INTROSPECTION INACTION APPARITION ATTRACTION INFATUATION INTENTION DETERMINATION INTRODUCTION DECEPTION NOTION OPTION PROPOSITION NEGOTIATION INVITATION SEDUCTION POSITION FUNCTION MOTION JUNCTION Read more...

ODT Watch | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Staff Reporter

If you really need the “dangers” of euthanasia explained to you before you try it out, you’re probably failing to understand the general concept: The ODT put this right next to an image of Ostapchuk wearing her gold medal. I think that might be the motivation right there, Read more...

In 'da House | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Holly Walker

Students and Members of Parliament have one thing in common: everyone knows they have a drinking problem. It’s not uncommon to hear rumours of “legendary” escapades float along the corridors of power, involving past and present national figures, excessive alcohol consumption, extra-marital Read more...

Sex at The Dinner Table | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Checker-out St Flat

Again, we found ourselves around the dinner table. This time, Nina was treating us to spaghetti carbonara and hearty servings of wine and gossip. I noticed Shane seemed a bit preoccupied with his crotch. Every few minutes his hand would venture down there, then he’d make a quick visit to the Read more...

Diatribe | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Caleb Wicks

In case you missed the memo, zombies are the new big thing. They have appeared in fiction, movies, games, poetry, and a few of my sexual fantasies. Screw werewolves, vampires, and fairies who claim they are vampires (that means you Eddy Cullen you sparkly bastard!). Zombies are the new wet dream of Read more...

Microbiographia | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Toby Newberry

Today we pay a visit to medieval Germany*: a land of kings, nuns, and rampant mysticism. Resident there for most of the Twelfth Century was Hildegard of Bingen. She was, among other things, a musician, healer, writer, and mystic. The tenth child of a minor noble, Hildegard was given over to Read more...

For The Record | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Lukas Clark-Memler

I will begin with a confession, perhaps even a blooming one. I came up with the title of this column long before I sat down, tired and aching after a particularly gruelling and ultimately pointless economics tutorial, and wrote the piece. I often do that — dream up a title first, that is, not waste Read more...

Straight Up | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by La Dida

From the moment Louisa Wall’s Marriage Equality Bill popped up on Facebook, I began preparing myself for the worst. The first thought that elbowed its way into my consciousness was not a celebratory “Oh yay, marriage – finally!”, it was a defensive “Shit, how ugly is Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012 by Brittany Mann

Three weeks ago I attended my first-ever protest, organised by the Organisation for Global Nonviolent Action (OGNA) on campus. I figured it’d be rude not to go, given that my academic raison d’être is ostensibly nonviolence. Also, as I’m in the twilight years of my university career, it was about Read more...