Archive
Gonna Take Pollution Down to Zero
Posted 1:11am Friday 1st July 2011 by Students for Environmental Action Otago (SEA)
You don’t have to buy a hybrid or deck your flat out with solar panels in order to save the world. There are many inexpensive ways that students can minimise their impact on the environment. Students for Environmental Action Otago present twenty tips that will both make the planet a better place to Read more...
Clean’n’Green Costa Rica – a True Tropical Paradise?
Posted 1:07am Friday 1st July 2011 by Phoebe Harrop
Lucky Phoebe Harrop spent her summer in Costa Rica, and looked Costa Rica’s own environmentally friendly image. Bill is the man. He can only be described as a real-life Costa Rican Rafiki, down to his Jamaican-esque lilt, missing-a-few-teeth grin, Dairy Milk chocolate skin and the wisdom that Read more...
God Save the Queen
Posted 6:52am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Phoebe Harrop
The Royal Wedding was a smashing occasion; a time for the females of this country to live out (vicariously) their girlhood princess dreams; a time to gobble scones with jam and cream; a time to sip tea with one’s little finger extended. It was a time to giggle at Eugenie’s choice of hat and to Read more...
PDA: What is it and why you should stop doing it
Posted 6:50am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Josh Hercus
PDA stands for “public display of affection”. It’s not PDF, that’s a computer file you moron. A PDA has absolutely no place in civilised society because it is distasteful and rude. Not only that, it’s absolutely unnecessary. It’s not a big deal that you have a partner and love them. But touting it Read more...
When the Double Down came to Town
Posted 6:45am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Lozz Holding
When the Double Down landed in little old New Zealand, Julia, our editor-in-chief, was inspired by the beauty of such a creation and came up with a fantastic idea for a feature: someone should eat only Double Downs for a week and see what happens. Obviously, anyone stupid enough to volunteer for Read more...
Divin’ to Survive
Posted 6:39am Thursday 26th May 2011 by Oscar the Grouch
With food prices sky rocketing, Oscar the Grouch gives dumpster diving a try. People are getting hungrier. It’s becoming more difficult to walk into a supermarket and buy food, and alternatives are becoming more attractive. At the OUSA Food Bank, they’ve noticed a recent upswing in Read more...
Out of the Closet
Posted 7:40am Thursday 19th May 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield
A History of the Queer Community in New Zealand When Chris Brickell began to research New Zealand’s gay history for his book Mates and Lovers, people told him “I don’t know if you’ll find much prior to the 1970s”. In fact his research led him to unearth a world that Read more...
Born this Way?
Posted 7:14am Thursday 19th May 2011 by Siobhan Downes
We all remember t.A.T.u’s “All The Things She Said” video – you know, the two Russian chicks in school uniforms kissing in the rain. Not long after that, Britney and Madonna were sucking face in a highly choreographed public stunt at the MTV Video Music Awards. Then Katy Perry kissed a girl – and Read more...
Tunes about Town
Posted 11:08pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Critic
We may be at the bottom of the world, but there’s still a sort-of-happening music scene. Sometimes the tricky part isn’t knowing what’s on, but where to go. With that in mind, Critic gives you a run down of the music venues you should be frequenting. Most aren’t “cool” in the traditional big city Read more...
Antipodean Elite
Posted 10:49pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Sam Valentine
It’s that time again. New Zealand Music Month. A time to reflect on the good, the bad and all that is ugly in New Zealand music. In half celebration, and half disgust, we here at Critic thought we’d put together a list showing you that New Zealand Music isn’t all sales projections, Autozamn, Kids of Read more...
7 stupidest song lyrics ever
Posted 10:43pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Josh Hercus
There are a lot of stupid lyrics about, from the nonsensical to the downright disingenuous (Rebecca Black’s “Friday” comes to mind). An avid listener of music with “inspiring” lyrics, Josh Hercus rates the 7 stupidest song lyrics. Song: Hootie and the Blowfish – “Only Wanna Be With Read more...
Cinderella Has A New Name: KATE MIDDLETON
Posted 10:39pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Siobhan Downes
Once upon a time there lived a band of women’s magazine editors, who ruled the media empire with their weekly chronicles of gossip and slander. One day, a fair young maiden named Catherine appeared in their midst – for she was courting the handsome Prince William. In November 2010, a royal Read more...
You wouldn’t steal a handbag
Posted 10:29pm Monday 9th May 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield
The recent Copyright Amendment Bill was created to protect artists’ copyright, and ensure that the money for their ideas went to the right person. But how effective is the legislation? Will the change encourage people to buy CDs? Charlotte Greenfield asks the million dollar question: is it possible Read more...
Four Ridiculous Things that Sparked Wars
Posted 4:19am Monday 9th May 2011 by Josh Hercus
A golden stool Throughout history, the British are well known for not giving a flying fuck about the customs and traditions of natives. Back in 1900 an African state called the Ashanti Empire had a sacred golden stool that essentially embodied the spirit of nation as a whole Read more...
Silent Casualty
Posted 4:15am Monday 9th May 2011 by Phoebe Harrop
In general, war isn’t good. And it’s especially not good for the environment. “The environment?” I hear you say. “What about the innocent victims, the countless civilian lives lost to bloodshed, the ghastly conditions, the hate, the fear, the violence? I mean, sure, no one wants Read more...
Breaking Dawn
Posted 4:04am Monday 9th May 2011 by Siobhan Downes
My first experience of an Anzac Day dawn service was cold, wet, and about the only time I’d ever been up early enough for the McDonald’s breakfast menu. Suffice to say it was the thought of hotcakes rather than heroes of war that had gotten me out of bed that morning. Anzac Day had always seemed Read more...
iD Dunedin Fashion Show
Posted 5:19am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Julia Hollingsworth
After begging the previous two editors for a ticket to iD to no avail, I wasn’t letting go of my seat. Finally, I was in a dream scenario. I was Anna Wintour without the entourage or expensive clothes, armed only with a notebook. I had expected the crowd to be comprised primarily of antipodean Read more...
Size Her Up
Posted 5:09am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Siobhan Downes
“I don’t think you ready for this jelly,” chants Beyonce, waggling her voluptuous hips. Kim Kardashian poses seductively on the red carpet, her ample, orb-like backside splashed across magazine pages. “Real women have curves!” screams the slogan of a marketing campaign. It is the Plus Size Read more...
Men’s fashion...um what?
Posted 5:05am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Rueben Black
What a strange and treacherous place men’s fashion can be. When flannel-loving Al Borland becomes a hipster style-god, you know some weird shit is going down. With a few tweaks, the look has now become suitably pretentious for our beloved self-obsessed Auckland hipsters. So, over summer the shirts Read more...
Rachel Easting of Twenty-Seven Names
Posted 4:59am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Grace Averis
Rachel Easting is one half of Wellington label Twenty-Seven Names, for which she designs with childhood friend Anjali Stewart. Twenty-Seven Names have gained a cult-like following worldwide, drawing praise for their airy carefree aesthetic. Their most recent collection “Fearsome Five”, which showed Read more...
Sara Aspinall of Company of Strangers
Posted 4:51am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Hana Aoake
After working alongside NOM*D designer Margarita Robertson for six years, Sara Aspinall formed Company of Strangers in 2008. Company of Strangers’ third collection, Strangelove, which focuses on the notion of obsessive love, was recently shown at the iD Dunedin fashion show. Aspinall has reworked Read more...
Lela Jacobs of Lela Jacobs
Posted 4:45am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Grace Averis
Lela Jacobs is the brain behind her eponymously named label. Although only 30 years old, Wellington-based Jacobs has become a New Zealand fashion staple, known for her dark, moody looks which focus heavily odetails. Jacobs’ love of quality fabrics, draping and contrast is evident in her most recent Read more...
iD International Emerging Designer Awards
Posted 4:39am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Grace Averis
“LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED” These were the fabulously cringe-worthy words (courtesy of Her Royal Highness Carol Hirschfeld) that opened this year's International Emerging Designer Awards. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the Emerging Awards show is an annual event run as part of Read more...
5 Iconic Fashion Trend Setters of our Time
Posted 4:34am Tuesday 26th April 2011 by Josh Hercus
5 Iconic Fashion Trend Setters of our Time Lady Gaga: Lady Gaga is a true fashion inspiration. Her style is diverse and difficult to pinpoint, but clearly contains vibrant elements of what 8-year-old girls use to play dress up in, mixed with a heavy dose of Marilyn Manson’s wardrobe. This Read more...
Fake or real?
Posted 6:15am Thursday 14th April 2011 by George Harrison
George Harrison discusses the pros and cons of weed and its legal counterparts Availability and risk To those of us who have often struggled to find real weed, fake weed of the “puff”, “illusion” and “chronic” varieties have been a revelation. Well, Read more...
INTELLIGENCE ON DEMAND
Posted 6:11am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Christopher Ong
It will be a few more weeks before most university students experience the soul-crushing pressure pot that is the examinations period, but scarfies typically appear to labour through with the “tried and true” methods. Multiple doses of V or Red Bull will be ingested, coffee addictions will be Read more...
Getting Above the Influence
Posted 6:08am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Siobhan Downes
The homeless bum, shooting up with a dirty needle in a dark alleyway. The street-walking prostitute, snorting cocaine between each fuck. The old man with blood-shot eyes, staggering along the street and swigging from a bottle in a brown paper bag. Our perceptions of addiction are tainted by Read more...
Fear and Loathing in the N.E.V.
Posted 6:04am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Dr. Z
When Critic decided they needed a first-person account on the effects of the legal and/or easily available highs found around Dunedin for their upcoming “Drug” issue, I volunteered for the task immediately. I had never tried any of the substances that follow, but as an aspiring Read more...
SIX INSANE OLD -SCHOOL USES OF DRUGS
Posted 5:59am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Josh Hercus
Everything has a history. Josh Hercus looks at some of the past uses for modern day drugs. Giggle party Most of you know that nitrous oxide is used in a wide range of things, from anaesthetics to speeding up cars. But it’s better known as “laughing gas” and back in the Read more...
Around the World Drug Tourism
Posted 5:53am Thursday 14th April 2011 by Anonymous
Travelling is one of life’s greatest joys. However, for many the intrepid explorer, cheap and available ways to elevate that joy well beyond the body’s already soaring levels of dopamine and serotonin remains a primary reason for the journey in the first place, and with that I bring you...drug Read more...
Wanna be on Top?
Posted 3:02am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Phoebe Harrop
It was an afternoon that left me feeling decidedly average - in both height and hotness – yet strangely entertained. Nevertheless, the first round of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, Cycle Three, Dunedin chapter, was disappointingly devoid of drama. The most exciting thing to happen was when the Edge’s Read more...
Back to the Future
Posted 2:52am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield
We’re all curious about the future. We can guess at it, make inferences about it, and hope or fear for it, but some people take this a step further and - or claim to belief - that they can tell the future. And people believe them. According to a recent study, 48.8% of New Zealanders believe in Read more...
FAR OUT, MAN
Posted 2:37am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Siobhan Downes
As Calvin and Hobbes said, “the surest proof that there is intelligent life out there is that it hasn't tried to make contact with us”. In December last year, New Zealand’s Defence Force uncovered fifty years’ worth of its documents on UFO sightings. These include claims that extraterrestrial life Read more...
Ghostbusters
Posted 2:12am Tuesday 5th April 2011 by Josh Hercus
Wellington-based paranormal investigators Strange Occurrence started off as an idea for an art project, which was meant to be “a bit of a joke” until they started getting actual enquiries. With all the members having a lifelong interest in the paranormal, they realised that they would need to get Read more...
R.I.P. Journalism
Posted 4:56am Monday 28th March 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield
Charlotte Greenfield discusses the effect that the fast paced internet and the rise of “churnalism” have had on the art of journalism. Try telling someone you want to be a journalist. In my experience the most common response is “but journalism is dying.” As much as Critic hopes this Read more...
Duckface, begone.
Posted 4:48am Monday 28th March 2011 by Josh Hercus
A Public Service Announcement by Josh Hercus There are many, many problems in the world. We have uprisings and corruption. We have climate change and natural disasters. We have war and mass starvation. However there is one problem that needs to be addressed immediately. A problem that has spread Read more...
Duckface, begone.
Posted 4:48am Monday 28th March 2011 by Josh Hercus
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The Arab Spring
Posted 4:35am Monday 28th March 2011 by Joe Stockman
Fuck this shit, I’m lighting myself on fire. Way back in December 2010, while future freshers waited patiently for useless NCEA results, and the rest of us prayed for twelve weeks of living with the olds to come to an end, something big was happening. Something really big. In Tunisia - a country Read more...
The annual BYO review
Posted 3:48am Monday 21st March 2011 by Anonymous
There’s more to student life than just downing Southern Golds on Castle Street and eating fish’n’chips on Fatty Mile. Indeed, the past few years have seen the rise of a new tradition: the BYO. Nowadays there’s no need to wait for a birthday or graduation in order to fill a bottle with goon and Read more...
Red Card 101
Posted 3:38am Monday 21st March 2011 by Phoebe Harrop
For more on the history of Red Cards in Dunedin, check out: How The Red Card Became a Dunedin Cultural Phenomenon An introduction to, and critical appraisal of, a Dunedin student tradition The red card is a mysterious phenomenon. No one knows quite where it came from, but I like to imagine Read more...
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
Posted 3:33am Monday 21st March 2011 by Josh Hercus
Josh Hercus reviews Dunedin ice cream. Critic ice cream review criteria Ice cream type: how good it tastes. Obviously, some places use the same stuff. Price and quantity: is it a good size for the price? Standard size = two scoops, always on a cone. Structural Read more...
The Great and Glorious Annual Critic Fish and Chip Review
Posted 3:28am Monday 21st March 2011 by David Milner and Cory Dalzell
Critic’s been reviewing fish and chips for yonks and yonks, or eleven years to be exact. It seems there’s nothing as universal, nor as all-embracingly glutinous, as consuming a greasy packet of deep fried goodness. And so, at least for the sake of keeping tradition alive, we’ve taken it upon Read more...
Wikileaks; Freedom, Law and Politics
Posted 4:58am Monday 14th March 2011 by Charlotte Greenfield
The New Yorker's George Packer calls him "super-secretive, thin-skinned, [and] megalomaniacal." Sarah Palin claims he's "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands" whom we should pursue "with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders." Meanwhile, he is the darling of left Read more...
System Overload
Posted 4:53am Monday 14th March 2011 by Georgie Fenwicke
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt But being season'd with a gracious voice Obscures the show of evil? - The Merchant of Venice III.II At any time of the week, Courtroom One in the Manukau District Court is a busy place; in the half-hour or so before lunch, it gets pretty Read more...
Bizarre Crimes
Posted 4:44am Monday 14th March 2011 by Josh Hercus
If you’re gonna get locked up, it might as well be for something that will make a good story. Josh Hercus has done his research, and come up with eight of the most bizarre crime and court cases from around the world. Something smells off A man in Singapore was sentenced to 14 years in prison Read more...
Sam Johnson
Posted 2:29am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Georgie Fenwicke
On a normal day, Sam Johnson is a Canterbury University student majoring in Law and Political Science. Unleash a natural disaster onto his city, however, and Sam becomes one of the co-ordinators of the army of student volunteers working tirelessly to restore Christchurch to its former glory. Each Read more...
O Week
Posted 2:20am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Charlotte Doyle and Georgi Hampton
Each year, Critic conducts a review of OUSA’s O Week - the highlights, the spew-y lowlights, the great bands and the bands that sparked hateful scarfie chants. This year, however, we did things a little differently. For a while now Dunedin bars have been offering up “alternative” OWeeks, often Read more...
Face Value
Posted 2:16am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Siobhan Downes
As of 2011, over 500 million of us are living our lives within the cornflower-blue-and-white themed webpages of Facebook. For most of 2010, Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited website. We’re over searching porn, celebrities and LOLcats. We’d rather search each other; our friends, families, Read more...
Seven irritating ‘friend’ types on Facebook
Posted 2:12am Tuesday 8th March 2011 by Josh Hercus
There’s a good chance some people are going to defriend me as a result of this piece... The Liker: Known for: ‘liking’ everything and anything What they think they’re doing: I’m really bored so I’m just gonna like all this stuff cause it’s just so Read more...
I know what you did last summer…
Posted 4:01am Monday 28th February 2011 by Phoebe Harrop
If the extent of your summer current events knowledge came from: a) doing the occasional Stuff quiz; b) checking the Facebook statuses of your socially-conscious friends; or c) reading the ODT; then this alphabet of Important Summer Happenings, compiled by news-savvy Phoebe Harrop, will bring you up Read more...
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