Niamh Hollis-Locke

The fucking irony of someone with “fix your hearts or die” in their bio making fun of the loss of a disabled elder to an infection after years of pleading for people to help keep her safe.

You know your hero David Lynch died alone because nobody cared to protect him from COVID, either?

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

It's fucking horrific, but the McSkimming case is very much beyond 'bad apple' territory into "how many others did McSkimming enable" and I'd be unsurprised if it reached beyond just the police as well, given the kompromat potential over him.

The rotund Canterbury elephant

The battle-ready North Otago packaderm

Christchurch's playground elephant: demure, unassuming, shaped like a friend

Oamaru's playground elephant: ready for the next Punic war

Alt text has me in tears

Now there's a cage fight I'd pay real human money to see

That quake last night was decent! Haven't moved for a doorway like that in a few years. Good reminder to refresh the emergency water - very aware that we've got holes in our emergency supplies though (lacking vital things like a means to heat food/water...)

Chch city council recently kicked a bunch of homeless ppl out of a church car-park - the church had been letting them use it as a safe place to camp to give them some longer-term stability, but the council ruled they weren't allowed to then didn't provide other options for the ppl they kicked out 🤢😠

This is so lovely 💌 Title is great bait though

I live with a musician so I hear a lot about all of it 😅 Personally just going to dig out my old CDs and rip the files off them like I used to in high school I think

Oops misread "what are torrenting sites" as "what torrenting sites" (earthquake kept me up late) - file-sharing essentially, can be used for piracy but some people just put their stuff up on them for free. Bandcamp is a music-distribution site which is all above board, pay-per-download type thing

Lots of people seem to be using Soulseek again! I know someone who put their stuff on Piratebay as well lol 😅 And there's always Bandcamp if you'd prefer to pay for stuff to download, I think they still do Bandcamp Fridays where 100% of the payment goes to the artist (but don't quote me on that)

It's because people's immune-systems have been wrecked by covid, a virus proven to deplete t-cells &lymphocytes much like things like HIV. My own white-blood-cell counts took almost 18 months to return to normal after my only-known infection, and now I have an autoimmune disorder. Quite concerning!

Came here to say exactly this. I know people in their twenties who have caught a cold or flu every single month this year - they're the sorts who previously were never sick and would've been strange for them to get sick more than once a year. It's really depressing

Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given

"Europeans recognize his vision about free public transit and universal childcare. We expect our governments to make these kinds of services accessible to all of us,” said Verbeek. “We pay higher taxes and get civilized societies in return."

Yes, also when you are meeting an artist at an opening, or a musician at a concert, an author at a book event, etc., you're meeting their public persona, which is (usually) a distinct and modulated version of themselves. Not fake! But designed to help them get through being the focus of attention.

I've gone back to the old ways and bought a 5th gen ipod off trademe. I know some local musicians who are putting their stuff on torrenting sites for free and just requesting people send them some money if they like the music, because it's not like they were getting paid by Spotify etc to start with

Yep I've done it for scones specifically! Can't remember the ratio off the top of my head but it works fine :)

Not only is Tom Hanks protecting his own health, by masking up he’s protecting everyone else on public transit.

Many people taking the subway don’t have paid time off.

They don’t have the good healthcare someone like Hanks can afford.

Masking is community care.

Discussion of lots of people being on long term sick leave since 2019 without mentioning covid is like talking about wwii without mentioning bombs or guns. And yet....

the Cuomintang has lost the mandate of heaven

Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.

Reader, I was wrong. I now have a very good cup of earl grey tea to go with my chocolate, thus making the day even better

Cheney died, my favourite band played live for the first time in about 8 years, NYC elected a 34 year-old socialist for mayor, the sun is out in Wellington, and I have hazelnut chocolate. Very few ways this day could improve much more

Don't forget that Zohran Mamdani spent his entire campaign standing proudly beside the trans community. He went to trans rights rallies just to show support. He proudly waved trans rights flags without hesitation. He refused to back down in support of trans rights. That makes me happy.

Okay now nz labour stop looking at uk labour and look at Mamdani instead of

Except it is relevant, even down in New Zealand. The far right have been pushing hard, and other parties continue to move right to keep the middle voters. When people like Mamdani win a major election like this, it shows the Dem/Labour/etc parties that you can win without pandering to fascists.

My brain doesn't know what to do with itself after twelve straight months of The Dread

Finally some good news out of the States

I think I have discovered why young republican men cannot get a date