Archive
Which Famous Artist Are You?
Posted 2:18pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Otago Art Club

What do you study? Muscles Numbers Green things (includes shrek) 2D shapes Society How much do you like to get naked? If it were legal, I would not wear clothes My birthday suit is the only suit I own I wear clothes in the shower Towel runs give me a rush of Read more...
Daniel Vernon: Artist, musician, bird conspiracy theorist
Posted 2:15pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Elliot Weir

Pōneke-based Daniel Vernon is a man of many talents. He’s an artist, a podcaster, and is in a band. He writes and plays music in Dartz, makes political satire comics as yeehawtheboys, and talks about sex, love, and relationships on the Just The Tips podcast. Daniel took some time out of Read more...
Local Produce: Tom Sharp - Going Solo as beatvandal
Posted 2:14am Monday 9th August 2021 by Sean Gourley

Tom Sharp is a musician well-acquainted with the Dunedin scene. For his latest project he has decided to go solo and give Dunedin a taste of his own unique style. He has released two singles and an EP under the name beatvandal. Tom started taking law at Otago after a gap-year in 2018, but Read more...
Which Study Spot Are You?
Posted 2:12am Monday 9th August 2021 by Critic

1. It’s a Thursday night. What are you doing? a. Getting wasted and heading to a gig b. Read more...
Mako Road: On their upcoming tour, the makings of ‘Stranger Days,’ and post-show rituals
Posted 2:06am Monday 9th August 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

Four-piece indie rock band Mako Road have been making festival headlines and blasting through radio airwaves across New Zealand for a couple of years now. Their debut album, ‘Stranger Days’, has just been released and the group is set to tour around New Zealand this month. Critic Te Read more...
Cook Islands Language Week: Time to Learn About the Cook Islands
Posted 2:04am Monday 9th August 2021 by Susana Jones

Kia orāna all! Last week, from Sunday 1 August to Monday 7 August, was Cook Islands language week. To celebrate, we bring you this piece about one of the few places you might be able to travel to within the next year or so (thanks Miss Rona). To learn more about the Cook Islands, I Read more...
DSC Voted Best Bar
Posted 2:00am Monday 9th August 2021 by Fox Meyer

Well, here we are. DSC won Critic’s inaugural Bar Bracket. We started this bracket because we thought DSC’s third-place ranking by our staff was too high, and now it has come out on top. Democracy doesn’t always lead to the results you want. The bracket system and bar selection Read more...
What’s Hiding On Top Of University Buildings?
Posted 1:45am Monday 9th August 2021 by Asia Martusia King

When you’re a teenager, you hide your questionable content beneath the bed. When you’re a university, you hide them on the roof. Here are some of the things lurking above you right now. Microbiology — Covid Do you love scrumptious diseases? Wish you could Read more...
Local Produce: Emerik Wallace - The Fade Master
Posted 5:33pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Sean Gourley

Emerik Wallace is a very chill guy, who loves cutting hair. He runs @fat_emz_cuts cutting hair on weekends for customers and a few mates. Alongside this, he studies physio right here at Otago. Emerik started out cutting his own hair, he says. “I used to try to do short sides and fades Read more...
Huzur Kebab: Why have abs when you can have kebabs?
Posted 5:30pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Sean Gourley

Huzur Kebab is the newest kebab place in town. They opened on June 12. Owned and run by Mustafa Boztas, Huzur is located just north of fatty lane. It has provided much-needed, late-night Turkish food north of the Octagon, and brings something to the table that fatty lane has always been lacking: Read more...
Mother I’d Like to Fathom: The MILF Conundrum
Posted 5:28pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Asia Martusia King

May 19 2003 should be a national holiday. Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne was released and the MILF was born. But, what defines a MILF? The dictionary definition, if Merriam-Webster had the balls, would be “mother I’d like to fuck”. A hot woman with kids. A yummy mummy. Oh, Read more...
Dunedin Bar Bracket
Posted 5:25pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Fox Meyer

I love numbers, and I love beer. Here’s a bit of both. Behold: The Bar Bracket. We realized that allowing one reporter to rank the bars of Dunedin was a terrible idea, so we gave the power to you, the people, to decide which bar ranked supreme. As you may have noticed, not every Read more...
Water Into Wine: The Tasting Notes of Otago's Water Fountains
Posted 5:22pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Susana Jones

Water fountains are a staple all around campus. They are one of our most reliable and vital resources. There’s just one problem: They all seem to taste different, despite being on the same campus, and presumably being attached to the same pipes. I put my scientific skills to the test, and Read more...
Secret Ingredients to Spice Up Your Flat Cooking
Posted 5:19pm Sunday 1st August 2021 by Elliot Weir

Stuck in the same dull routine of pesto pasta, nachos, KFC and Domino’s? Looking to take your flat cooking up a notch and go outside your comfort zone? This list is for you. Critic has compiled a few secret ingredients that you can use in everyday recipes to give them some extra flavour, all Read more...
Local Produce: Rezzy Crooks
Posted 5:44pm Sunday 25th July 2021 by Sean Gourley

Image credit: Rosa Nevison Rezzy Crooks are now one of the OG bands on the Dunedin scene well established by many a pint night. There are four members Sam, Jamie, Toby and Josh in a classic two guitar, bass, and drums set-up. We checked in with them to see what it takes to make it to the Read more...
How Otago students got it on in the 19th century
Posted 5:41pm Sunday 25th July 2021 by Runze Liu

The lads and lasses of Dunedin have a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to dating and hookups. But how did students do it back in the day, before the technological lubrication of Tinder and Snapchat? Critic did a deep dive into old school dating, circa the 1800s, and here’s what we Read more...
Where were you conceived?
Posted 5:38pm Sunday 25th July 2021 by Critic

You can tell a lot about a person based on where they cum from. Go through these questions and select as many answers as you feel apply to you, and then total the score. For example, if answers 1, 2, and 4 applied to you, you’d score 7 for that question. Get out your calculator, and Read more...
A pai mai ki te mārama, Bring it into the light: Approaching the taboo of sex in Pasifika cultures
Posted 5:34pm Sunday 25th July 2021 by Susana Jones

“Kissy kissy, huggy huggy, but no fucky fucky.” My strong, brown mum’s words echo through the empty depths of my brain as she sends me off to Dunedin from Auckland at the prime age of 17. For all I can remember, this is the complete extent of my at-home education about sex, Read more...
I Tried Retro Cosmopolitan Sex Tips So You Don’t Have To
Posted 5:31pm Sunday 25th July 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

If there is one thing that all students can universally agree on, it’s that sex is one of life’s greatest pleasures and priorities. Sex can be fun and exciting, or icky and underwhelming. One source of information which has always offered a wide range of sex advice is the sex tips column Read more...
Wrapping Up the History of Condoms
Posted 5:22pm Sunday 25th July 2021 by Sean Gourley

Condoms could be a lot worse. The colourful history of humans trying to find a way to have sex without consequences highlights how appreciative we should be of current advances in technology, which have allowed us to have sex without dipping our penises in tar. It really makes you Read more...
Local Produce: Alex Dykes
Posted 4:28pm Sunday 18th July 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

Singer-songwriter Alex Dykes is loud, full of life, and new to the Dunedin music scene. His upcoming album, The Dunedin Study, is set to be released this summer. Critic sat down to chat with Alex on his upcoming projects, his time at Otago, and his creative process. Alex started playing Read more...
Recycle A Device: Otago students are running one of New Zealand’s raddest social enterprises
Posted 4:23pm Sunday 18th July 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

If there is one thing every student has, it’s an old laptop or phone collecting dust in a drawer. Maybe you just don’t know what to do with it, or the thought of recycling it seems like too much admin, or maybe you’re hoping one day your old device will suddenly come back to life. Read more...
OPINION: Middle Aged Drunks Are the Problem, Not Students
Posted 4:21pm Sunday 18th July 2021 by Asia Martusia King

There’s a rugby match tonight. Shona’s left Xavier with a babysitter, and she’s going fucking rogue. For one night and one night only, her pent-up midlife chaos will be free. Her husband, Murray, is also gearing up for the game. Murray and his corporate buddies will indulge in too Read more...
Hot Chicken & Spicy Bants with Ocean Alley’s Mitch Galbraith
Posted 4:19pm Sunday 18th July 2021 by Elliot Weir

Aussie psychedelic rock band Ocean Alley have jammed their way into our playlists, festivals, and hearts in recent years with hit singles like ‘Confidence’ and ‘The Comedown’. In light of their upcoming tour across Aotearoa, guitarist Mitch Galbraith sat down with Critic Te Read more...
Kiribati Language Week
Posted 4:17pm Sunday 18th July 2021 by Susana Jones

Mauri everyone! Kiribati language week was from Sunday 11 July to Saturday 17 July, and is a time to celebrate and engage with the language of our Pacific neighbours. (We’re a week late, but still committed to bringing you this celebration of Kiribati language). Kiribati is a three Read more...
The Great Annual Critic Bar Review: Part 2
Posted 4:15pm Sunday 18th July 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

We’ve established that it is impossible to agree on the best bar. But here a washed-up fourth year with an alcohol problem continues to assess the general vibes of our most iconic drinking spots. This is Part Two of the controversial Great Annual Critic Bar Review. (If you think everything Read more...
The Great Annual Critic Bar Review: Part 1
Posted 1:27pm Tuesday 13th July 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

In this issue, we begin a review of all the bars in Dunedin assessing the general vibes with some first-hand experiences. Until we put together a scientific ranking, who better to review our bars than myself, a washed up fourth-year with a mild drinking problem? Dunedin Social Club Going Read more...
The Cultural Phenomenon That Is Dunedin Shitposting
Posted 1:23pm Tuesday 13th July 2021 by Daniel Fitzpatrick

Ah, shitposting. Nothing compares to opening Facebook and seeing a low quality attempt at humour brightening up your newsfeed. Dunedin is fortunate to be home to a number of shitposting pages, each varying in size, audience, genre, and quality. Some of Dunedin’s most iconic Read more...
Reading Croak: A Book of Fun for Frog Lovers and Remembering Phil Bishop
Posted 1:21pm Tuesday 13th July 2021 by Asia Martusia King

Croak is a “book of fun for frog lovers”, compiled by Phil Bishop and published by Exisle. Phil was a beloved Zoology Professor at Otago, the Co-Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission Amphibian Specialist Group, and the Chief Read more...
Aquanauts: Diving has never looked so good
Posted 2:31pm Friday 11th June 2021 by Erin Gourley

From 11 June to 20 June, the Screaming Rooster will play host to something a bit different. Aquanauts, a pop-up art exhibition about the history of diving, has been set up by eight Communication Design students from Otago Polytech. Rosa Nevison, Hanna Anstiss, Emily Bell, Emily Montgomery, Read more...
Samoan Language Week: Time to Learn About Samoa
Posted 7:55pm Sunday 30th May 2021 by Susana Jones

Talofa lava you beautiful things. This week, from Sunday 30 May to Saturday 5 June, it’s Samoan language week. To learn more about Samoan culture and the importance of our Pacific neighbours, I caught up with Fa’ataumamatemalesoatau, a Samoan student at the Polytech and a cultural rep on Read more...
Music Venues of Dunedin: Reviewed
Posted 7:52pm Sunday 30th May 2021 by Barney Connolly

Dunedin venues have slowly been disappearing thanks to the boomer-fearing bureaucrats who run this city. There is current controversy surrounding these venues and noise control and it’s now more important than ever to support our local venues and musicians. So here you have it, a definitive Read more...
TRAMP STAMPS: TRASHY OR ICONIC?
Posted 7:43pm Sunday 30th May 2021 by Molly Willis

Love them or hate them, lower back tattoos are back. But is there a justified reason for the ink’s bad reputation, or is it just good old-fashioned sexism? Worn by the biggest and best icons of the 2000s – Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Kate Moss to name a few Read more...
No Redemption for Sunk Pong Star
Posted 7:33pm Sunday 30th May 2021 by Fox Meyer

Once on top of the world, beer pong star Barry BonGlover has had quite the fall from grace. Ever since a manicure-gone-wrong rendered both of his hands useless, Barry has gone through alcoholism, jail, and divorce. And we were there for all of it! Let’s take a look back at some of his greatest Read more...
Goop on a Budget
Posted 6:47pm Sunday 30th May 2021 by Erin Gourley

Disclaimer: Do not follow any of these recommendations. Please. Accredited health guru Gwyneth Paltrow has realised that Goop, her alternative lifestyle brand, isn’t accessible to people on a budget. What a shock! She advertises things like gold-plated vibrators for the low, low price Read more...
Local Produce: Man Ray
Posted 12:45am Monday 24th May 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

Named after the famous surrealist photographer and the Spongebob villain, Man Ray is one of Dunedin’s newest live bands. Man Ray sat down with Critic to talk about what it’s like gigging around Dunedin, the process of creating music, and their goal to create safe spaces for everyone Read more...
Period Pain: The best drugs for combatting that time of the month
Posted 12:42am Monday 24th May 2021 by Runze Liu

Period pains, medically referred to as dysmenorrhoea, are annoyingly painful and are an all too real struggle for people who menstruate. Here is a guide to combatting those cramps. But remember, always read the label, not all products work and if you’re concerned, consult your health care Read more...
I Miss The Fun Facts on Libra Pads
Posted 12:38am Monday 24th May 2021 by Asia Martusia King

If you’ve ever menstruated before the year 2021, you might remember sharting bloody chunks into the toilet while learning that oysters are ambisexual. Libra pads used to have fun facts on the inner packaging called Odd Spots. I recently decided to buy them for the first time in yonks, Read more...
Tag yourself: Menstrual Brands
Posted 12:36am Monday 24th May 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan
Libra The popular one in the group Spends all their money at Glassons Only drinks vodka RTDs Wears Nike Air Force Ones everywhere U by Kotex Will help you out with an assignment last minute Outfit repeater Is everybody’s friend Only Read more...
Mad Lib: How Does Menstruation Work?
Posted 12:33am Monday 24th May 2021 by Fox Meyer

Ask a friend for words to fill in the blanks. No matter how much you fuck it up, you’ll still receive a better menstrual education than anyone born before 1970. Menstruation is the regular discharge of (LIQUID) and (NOUN) from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. It Read more...
What do MEN know about MENstruation?
Posted 12:01am Monday 24th May 2021 by Fox Meyer

Men don’t talk much about periods. Some think women wear tampons all the time “just in case”. Most think the pad sticks to the inside of your thighs. The idea of talking about periods seems to make men instantly flustered. We took to the streets and designed a little competition. Read more...
Mythbustin’ Menstruation Myths
Posted 11:51pm Sunday 23rd May 2021 by Susana Jones

Menstruation myths have been around for yonks. The term menstruation originates from the Greek words men and menus, with men meaning month and menus meaning moon and power. Menstruation has always been symbolically tied to power, both good and bad. It’s not surprising then, that many a myth Read more...
Local Produce: Sam Charlesworth: A Bedroom Is All You Need
Posted 4:58pm Sunday 16th May 2021 by Sean Gourley

Sam Charlesworth is a fresher studying Studio Production, Marine Science, and Te Reo Māori here at Otago. With just “a few mics and an interface,” he has recorded a huge amount of music and has recently started playing gigs around Dunedin. Sam records all of his songs without Read more...
“You feel that instant connection”
Posted 4:30pm Sunday 16th May 2021 by Elliot Weir
Kiwi artist Mark Perkins, known by his stage name ‘Merk’, has made a name for himself in recent years releasing two successful albums to critical acclaim. Critic Te Arohi spoke to Merk about his most recent album, Infinite Youth, which came out in February of this year. Merk has been Read more...
What’s the Deal With Dunedin, Florida?
Posted 4:28pm Sunday 16th May 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

If you’re on Facebook or part of Dunedin News, chances are you’ve come across Dunedin, Florida. Every now and again on Dunedin News, boomers will post things like “I don’t know how I ended up in this group, I’m looking for Dunedin, Florida.” It is then accompanied Read more...
What RTD Are You?
Posted 4:26pm Sunday 16th May 2021 by Alex Leckie-Zaharic

Question One: Best place to buy booze? Liquorland SuperLiquor New World Centre City Henry’s Big Barrel Question Two: What’s the best budget pizza? Pepperoni Hawaiian Beef and Onion Vege trio Cheesy Garlic Question Read more...
Behind the Scenes: The cast and crew of Capping Show tell all
Posted 4:24pm Sunday 16th May 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

The annual Otago Capping Show is back for its 127th year, with shows running from May 13 to May 21. Critic sat down to chat with some of the cast and crew to talk about what went into creating this year's performance and everything in between. Actor Lucy, Video Director Alex and Stage Read more...
Behind the Scenes: The cast and crew of Capping Show tell all
Posted 2:54pm Thursday 13th May 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

The annual Otago Capping Show is back for its 127th year, with shows running from May 13 to May 21. Critic sat down to chat with some of the cast and crew to talk about what went into creating this year's performance and everything in between. Actor Lucy, video director Alex and stage Read more...
University Conspiracy Theories: Fact or Fiction?
Posted 4:07pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Critic

1.Bill and Bill are holograms 2.There is a specialist Ghostbusters division of Campus Watch, which is why there have been no ghosts on campus since 2007 3.Archway looks fucked because it’s a UFO that crashed into campus, and the government covered it up by inventing brutalist Read more...
Local Produce: Jess Clarke and Just Friends Jewellery
Posted 4:05pm Sunday 9th May 2021 by Annabelle Vaughan

Jess Clarke is a history and performing arts student who produces all kinds of weird and wonderful earrings. Finding success at the Radio One Market days, she has managed to turn her summer holiday hobby into one of Otago’s newest trends. Jess’s work features all kinds of Read more...