Craig Robertson

And this did zero for rugby’s US profile. It was buried on a steaming platform while sports fans were watching college (American) football on all the major networks and ESPN (I watched it at an Irish pub in Boston where at most a 1/3 of the pub cared - the rest were there on a Hallo-weekend stop)

and we can let them riot on an empty street

Thanks Simon (we need to catch up) - those very positive words mean a lot coming from a legend like Simon Grigg

I’ve always thought of my filing cabinet book as a material history of Taylorism (with a focus on information)

To be fair the text is “only” 389 pages. There is another 70 pages of notes, timeline and discography. But it’s still a lot of words! We know Chris was partial to a lot of words.

'Cause, when it all comes down to dust Can I say that Craig Robertson's bio of Chris Knox is anticipated? It is, and it's arrived.

I said I'd write a few words about Craig Robertson's much-anticipated Chris Knox bio, which I love.

These are personal reflections on what will likely be the definitive history of a man who changed indie/alt music globally

opdiner.substack.com/p/cause-when...
#aotearoa
@audioculturenz.bsky.social

We were born in the right time

I also have about a dozen turnpike postcards but that one went nowhere so to speak

A few years ago I went on a post office vintage postcard collecting kick. I have about 100 postcards including a post office from all 50 states (which took a bit of hunting).

www.instagram.com/polesofcambr...

I have no memory either. It can be first on the list of things that aren’t in the Knox bio!

In hindsight not a great idea to have your hobby be writing a book when your day job is writing books but a decade in the making my bio of Aotearoa NZ musician Chris Knox is coming out in a few months.

Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly The story of the man, the music, the art, the attitude.

What a year for the legends of NZ music. The Don McGlashan doco. The Shayne Carter doco. And now the Chris Knox biography, out in Oct. aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/chris-knox/

Is this parody?

Not this way (package of letters tied higgledy-piggledy) -knot this way! (package tied neatly and in order of size).

"Not This Way- Knot This Way!"
Internal GPO poster advising on the correct knotting method. Unknown artist, September 1964.
Ref POST 110/1569, Royal Mail Archive

You were robbed by an uncaring public

Some more background on the history of passports & free Black people pre 14th Am. States could issue passports & abolitionists exploited this to use ppts to argue for citizenship. And while numbers are low the State Dept did issue more than 2 passports (1)

Naturalized citizens could get a US passport, including Chinese. From 1903-5 a disclaimer on US passports issued to citizens of Chinese descent said their ppt did not guarantee them entry to the US.

For more see my book The Passport in America: The History of a Document global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Key to remember: in mid-19c passports were a novelty and not clearly linked to citizenship. Debates over the citizenship for free Black people were important to the US passport taking on its role as a certificate of citizenship (4)

In 1856 Congress declared only the Secretary of State could issue passports but governors continued to issue them for the next few decades. The same act also clarified that a passport could only be issued to a citizen (3)

A free Black woman Sarah Remond was issued a US passport in 1859 initiating a controversy when the US embassy in London refused ti recognize it. Usually free Black people got a special certificate that recognized their birth in the US and the right of protection (2)

Some more background on the history of passports & free Black people pre 14th Am. States could issue passports & abolitionists exploited this to use ppts to argue for citizenship. And while numbers are low the State Dept did issue more than 2 passports (1)

This is content you need - an Instagram account devoted to poles www.instagram.com/polesofcambr...

This is content you need - an Instagram account devoted to poles www.instagram.com/polesofcambr...

The Clean!!

Screenshot of the website with a description of the project and a photo of a woman sitting at a large wooden table, looking at a few file folders while, behind her, stand several wooden cabinets with messy mounds of paper on top

I don't know why I hadn't heard before about Jan Banning's Bureaucratics project — documenting the material culture of civil administrations in Bolivia, China, France, India, Liberia, Russia, the United States, and Yemen janbanning.com/2022/07/01/b...

As many of you know Jonathan Sterne is in hospice. If you would like to send a message to Jonathan and Carrie please send an email to heyjonandcarrie@gmail.com
Carrie is receiving these messages and sharing them with Jonathan

Transgender Americans Challenge Trump’s Passport Policy in Court The A.C.L.U. filed a lawsuit after the president’s administration stopped issuing passports that reflect the gender identity of transgender and nonbinary people.

If a passport is an ID document for citizens you don’t need to include gender. But a passport has always been a tool to manage citizenship & behavior of citizens that’s why it has a gender marker.
(see quotes)

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/u...

Transgender Americans Challenge Trump’s Passport Policy in Court The A.C.L.U. filed a lawsuit after the president’s administration stopped issuing passports that reflect the gender identity of transgender and nonbinary people.

If a passport is an ID document for citizens you don’t need to include gender. But a passport has always been a tool to manage citizenship & behavior of citizens that’s why it has a gender marker.
(see quotes)

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/u...