Max Johns (MxDEJ)

Some days I think that I'm less insane about my CD collection than I used to be. Other days I am genuinely drawn to the idea of paying underground rapper Sage Francis to ship an unplayable 2004 CD-R from the USA to NZ, just so I can shelve it.

That strange and heartwarming feeling when you hear from someone who really, truly believes that Hamilton deserves nice things. hamiltonundergroundpress.com/features/hom...

Good news for anyone who doesn't like the idea of hobbies.

There was a time when everyone just knew that entering your payment details into a website was a terrible idea. We were right in ways that we didn't even realise.

It feels right to me. I personally got murdered far more times than that under the last Labour government.

This reminds me of the time I was entrusted with tides computation for the PN Evening Standard and was often out by quite a large factor

Spiders McBody, who has been murdered 5,569,700 times, is an outlier and should not have been counted.

I'm no demographer nor a criminologist, but I reckon that the Herald probably has Auckland's murder rate wrong here. I reckon it's probably lower than 3.6 per person.

The hardest thing about reviewing Jon Toogood's book, and probably every NZ rock autobiography from now until forever, is not using Shayne Carter's incomparable 'Dead People I Have Known' as a yardstick. hamiltonundergroundpress.com/features/boo...

Great news for everyone making sweet sweet cash in the massive tobacco black market that NZ conjured out of good intentions and shit ideas.

You just know that someone in that caucus meeting was all like, "well, okay, but only if you promise not say a bunch of stupid shit the very next time you're in front of an audience". I wonder how they're feeling now?

ME: I wish there was more music news in mainstream media. *Monkey's paw curls* www.rnz.co.nz/life/music/t...

How'd the monkey get there?

@danxduran.bsky.social Putting out a call to people with memories of JBC/Nivara Lounge for a new HUP series. You seem like the sort of guy who might be able to throw together a few paragraphs... hamiltonundergroundpress.com/features/niv...

Narcissists have a history with reflecting pools

Capitulation at Versailles (disambiguation)

So ... it appears US negotiators were told to sign a text of the "peace deal" in Farsi, that they could not read, and did not refer it to the Dept of State's own translators, but ran it through an AI. And they've given away everything. Presumably, to try and do it on the President's birthday. Okay.

Ok but if you mention this very predictable fall in passenger numbers as a reason to cancel Te Huia next year, we all get to kick you in the kneecaps. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/te-huia-t...

That's...that's not what polls do.

Well that's my reading list sorted for the next year. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

Hey @danxduran.bsky.social, look what's back from the dead (again): hamiltonundergroundpress.com/features/hto...

Second year in a row that the Aotearoa Music Award have had heaps of next-day news coverage, nearly none of which is about the actual awards.

"If New Zealand’s cultural life was lacking one thing in the 1990s, it was a primetime TV series featuring two singing, strumming, yodelling, cross-dressing, wisecracking lesbian sisters." Can confirm. RIP Jools. www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainmen...

Very happy to have used the phrase "OnlyFans with clothes" in this one. www.hamiltonundergroundpress.com/features/lum...

Good morning

Impeccable reporting, no notes. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland/...

Gee, it's such a shame that we're about to stop paying people to make important decisions like this. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/bsa-clear...

If you don't want me to login, just say so man.

The president of the Norwegian football association has called for the abolition of the FIFA Peace Prize, which was awarded to U.S. president Donald Trump, and says she supports an ethics complaint against Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing body.

Here it is, New Zealand. The ultimate achievement of our greatest musicians: A Silver Scroll, a Taite Music Prize, an Aotearoa Music Award, and a Gold record. The STAG.

*That we know of

Inside the Department of War are two wolves: "We've shut down the Colleges of War because book learnings are woke, gay, and irrelevant to war fighting." "How come no one told us the Strait is important, there are different kinds of Kurds, Iran is big, and air power historically doesn't win wars?"

POV: 46 years after you overthrew your country's monarchy.

Remember this when you hear "we shouldn't charge GST on food."

*House building occurs* NIMBY: "You can't do that" Council: "Yes they can" NIMBY: "Can't" Council: "Whatever, sue me. And the developer. Go on." *Lightbulb appears above NIMBY's head* Cut to... JUDGE: "Yes they can, and you owe them tens of thousands of dollars." www.stuff.co.nz/home-propert...

Can't tell if bug or feature

You can search the world for "possum". And you can search only New Zealand... We are not the same. 😁

YAY

They make it hard to find the exit on purpose.

Reminder to all NZ musicians who released an album in 2025 that you have about 4.5 hour left to nominate yourself for the TAITE MUSIC PRIZE. You probably won't win, but you will get reviewed in The Spinoff when I do my annual thing of listening to the entire list. Do it. Do it now.

Only the left could convince itself that very public, internal shitfights are a good way to sharpen your policies without losing votes. Galaxy-brained, 5 dimensional chess shit. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...