Rating: 8/10
Reviewer: Sarah Dolan
Okay, before I start, I’ll have you know that I am a fan of the horror genre. I force myself to stay up until 11.30 pm EVERY Sunday night, just so I can enjoy the weekly horror screening on Channel 2. It’s enjoyable. When I went to see this particular movie, I was expecting it be of the norm, you know, predictable and all. I was wrong. I freaked out. A lot.
Greetings, fellow students, staff members, and other various readers of this fine publication, and a happy 2010 to you all. The name’s David, or, unless you’re a close relative or are employed by the Ministry of Social Development, you can simply call me Dave. As part of my contribution to this magazine I will be bringing you mostly music reviews of old-school albums every fortnight, as well as a couple of noteworthy contemporary works now and then to cater for those who aren’t stuck in the old times, unlike me and my consuming fixation for all things musically nostalgic.
But first, a little background information on who I am. I’m a 27 year old Bachelor of Communication student majoring in Media Studies, with a minor in Journalism. I’ve recently transferred from Unitec in Mt. Albert to what I think is the Megan Fox of university campuses, Massey University Albany. It really is a fantastic place to study, with the Italian-style architecture and the laid-back lifestyle and culture. As I write this, I hope that my time here will be a memorable one, unlike the trauma induced by some of the other toilets the New Zealand tertiary education system has to offer, none of which I shall name. As well as enjoying my analysis of each record, both favorably and unfavorably, I also hope that you, the reader, will gain some deeper insight into the album reviews featured in this column.
F**k You, Penguin: Telling cute Animals what’s what
Matthew Gasteiner
HarperCollins Publishers
Rating: 5/5
Reviewer: Analiese Jackson
Juvenile anti-animal humour? Yes. Worth a look? Definitely.
For the past year or so, Matthew Gasteiner’s regular blog, fupenguin.com, has been one of the first webpages that Aidan and I open in the office as soon as we get into the office. Basically, fupenguin, which stands for, unsurprisingly, Fuck You Penguin, is Gasteiner’s daily rant at cute animal pictures that he’s uncovered online. His first post, aimed at a harmless picture of a baby penguin reads like this:
“GODDAMMIT penguin. You think you are SO FUCKING CUTE. I’ll show you, penguin. Maybe not today. But soon, penguin. Watch your adorable fucking back…”
Since then, no animal has been spared from his bitter, anti-animal tirade. Everything from pugs to penguins, baby rhinos and everything in between has been on the receiving end of his abuse. And, quite frankly, it’s hilarious.
Imagine our astonishment, then, when a complimentary copy of Gasteiner’s debut book, F**k You, Penguin, landed on the editors desk. There was an all out brawl; three of us desperately wanted to take this book home with us, but there could only be one winner. Being the editor and all, I wielded my editorial control and won. Muwahahahaha…
The book is primarily a collection of Gastenier at his best, interspersed with trivia about various animals that may or not be true. Apparently, after launching a tirade at a particular bird called the Blue-Footed Booby (I know, I sniggered too), Gasteiner informs us that the name Booby “…comes from the Spanish term ‘bob’, which means ‘idiot’”, after which he informs us that “…the booby’s name for people is ‘asshole’, which comes from the English word for ‘asshole’.” Crass? Perhaps, but if you’re not into profanities, the cute and often hilarious animal pictures make up for it.
If you’re not keen on purchasing a hard copy of Fuck You, Penguin, I’d definitely look at Gasteiner’s blog. It’s hard trying to explain how funny this blog actually is without showing it to you personally. Perhaps you may appreciate his off-the-wall sense of humour when you actually experience it for yourself
Smith’s Dream
C.K. Stead
Penguin Books RRP $12.95
Reviewed by N. Green
CK Stead’s first novel – a short book that was also intentional anti-Vietnam war fiction published in 1971 and later adapted for the screen in Roger Donaldson’s 1977 feature film “Sleeping Dogs” – whisks the reader back to the imaginary (and not so imaginary) world of New Zealand in the 1970’s where the eponymous Smith gives up his boring average life as a librarian to become a reluctant freedom fighter.
Adrift when his wife commits adultery with his best friend, takes the kids and leaves, Smith tosses in his old life and decides to relocate to a small island refuge in the Coromandel where he establishes a quiet existence living off the land, fishing and basically having nothing to do with the outside world.
Unfortunately, the outside world has not finished with him as he is accidentally swept into a ring of conspiracy and intrigue as part of a guerilla movement intent on overthrowing the American-backed fascist regime that has ousted the New Zealand government and now patrols the country and cities with its own Special X taskforce.
Headed by a charismatic right-wing politician called Volkner, who has swept to power through a mixture of political acumen, and brutality, ably supported by the army and his special police, Smith is an unexpected thorn in the side who refuses to accept his role as an unwilling spokesperson for a violent guerilla movement that may be as much Volkner’s fantasy as a reality.
Forced to work with the man, Bullen, who cuckolded him, Smith is the everyman faced with a series of difficult choices that become more desperate and difficult as the book progresses in this cautionary tale of abrogating responsibility to those in power. A reminder similar to Alan Moore’s ‘V for Vendetta’ – “Governments should be afraid of their people.”
Part of Penguin Books recent ‘classic’ reprints – it is nice to see that a series of NZ authors are receiving the treatment and Smith’s Dream is definitely worth a read as the starting point for NZ’s most decorated and respected writer. 7/10
What is an education? Is it merely the devouring of countless academic books and hours spent in characterless classrooms, lectured on concerning subjects that seem irrelevant to your existence? Being forced to free your mind in a decidedly conformist way? Or is it, in fact, actively partaking in the many wonders of the world; experiencing first hand what at school you can only read about- actually living in the moment without abiding anyone’s rules and regulations? An Education gave the impression that it may just be both but that, ultimately, the sequence in which we experience these two integral life components that might just be the real lesson.