art and culture
Spending locally
This is a ludicrous amount of money for a website - but I’m more outraged this wasn’t spent within the Wellington region. Its time for our local councils to focus more on spending locally.
Who Wore It Better?
Mandatory Menswear entry for Rainbow Windows of Wellington (part of the Wellington Pride Festival 2026)
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
So much fun at Fieldgays 2026
Fantastic hosts Hamish & Alistair, amazing crew of Sam, Emile, Mark, Andy & Ross.
Book Critic (RNZ Afternoons)
Bill Hastings joins Jesse Mulligan to review three books:
- Margaret Atwood, Book of Lives, A Memoir of Sorts (Chatto & Windus, 2025)
- Nigel Latta, Lessons on Living (Harper Collins, 2025)
- Erik Kennedy, Sick Power Trip (VUW Press, 2025)
RNZ Afternoons - Book Critic 2:20pm 3 February 2025
‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian’
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
20 years of LibraryThing
A very Happy 20th Birthday to LibraryThing and congratulations to everyone who has made this happen - Tim, the team, and all of the readers and users who have been part of the community for the last 20 years.
I joined LibraryThing in April 2006, and in my first month I added 423 books (mostly history books). I’ve now catalogued 2681 books (1259 of which are tagged ‘history’), so my tastes have broadened!
You can access my personal Library here: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/jeremybakernz
Thank you LibraryThing, for everything. You are a key tool in enabling my obsession!
New coat Love this new coat from Mandatory.
Pairing this year’s Okham Prize winner for Best Illustrated Non-Fiction, the extraordinary “Toi te Mana - an indigenous history of Māori art” with “65000 years - A Short History of Australian Art”.
#art #indigenous #arthistory #aotearoa #australia #bookclub
Birthday book haul
Thanks to Mum, Dad, and Bill for the Unity Books vouchers 🥰
- Atlas of the New Zealand Wars (Vol I) (Derek Leask, 2025)
- The Monastic World: A Thousand Year History (Andrew Jotischky, 2025)
- The Revelation of Ireland: 1995-2020 (Diarmaid Ferriter, 2024)
- Bodies of Men (Nigel Featherston, 2019)
- Patria: Lost Countries of South America (Laurence Blair, 2024)
Bill Hastings: Book Critic
Bill casts his eye over two books he recommends for good reading. The books discussed are: Orbital by Samantha Harvey and Ted Lasso and Philosophy.
Ode to empty can of Kingfisher found on a windowsill at Middlemore Hospital
In shaded light, up in the corner
Royally perched on a sill
Not in the middle, to the side
A pale resemblance of itself
The sparkle’s gone; the fizz, no more
It’s empty now, its job is done
This one won’t fish for compliments
But don’t kick the can
Just let it rest a while,
Respite; in dusty repose
(Requested by Victoria Luff)
