Kia ora and welcome to The Weekend, your Saturday morning source of The Spinoff’s best stories from the week. I’ve been trying to maximise the amount of time I spend reading in the sun and eating ice blocks in a possibly futile attempt to stave off end of summer melancholy. It can be difficult to square enjoying the heat with one of the impacts of warmer weather: the fire still smouldering in Christchurch’s Port Hills as I write this. I was introduced to the idea of the “pyrocene” earlier this week: is it possible to love days of sunshine and know that the way we live is being inevitably reshaped by global heating? I’m not sure, but at least I have lots of good reading material for the sunshine this weekend.
Tara Ward recently attended an event where some of the country’s greatest athletes, and maybe greatest minds, competed for glory: thejigsaw racing at the New Zealand Master’s Games in Dunedin. “If you think doing a jigsaw is relaxing, then think again. Speed puzzling events are feats of endurance, persistence and problem-solving under huge time pressure, and the puzzlers in Dunedin showed there is nothing more intense than trying to match up tiny pieces of grey sky while the clock ticks down,” she told me. “This two day sporting extravaganza had humour, heart, controversy and a nailbiting race to the finish. Best of all, it was a celebration of the art of puzzling, making order and beauty out of a thousand pieces of chaos.” It’s a story that will make you want to dig out the puzzles from the cupboard.
“Several councillors were bemused,” writes Joel MacManus, reporting on responses to Wellington’s hearings panel that consulted on housing. “The panel refused to consider census data showing the areas where Wellingtonians walk to work, because the census had only asked how people get to work and didn’t ask how they got home.” The panel has been criticised for completely ignoring economic evidence. Joel also has a recap of the Wellington City Council by-election. By-elections may be like Cherry Ripe (over-looked, underappreciated, left deep in the bottom of the box while greedy fingers claw at bigger and more attention-grabbing things) but the winner of the election may have the ability to cast a deciding vote on the District Plan.
The Spinoff’s War for Wellington coverage is being funded by The Spinoff Members. Support us here, and follow Joel’s coverage here.
Asia Martusia King has compiled a list of 10 things she’d consider heisting from Wellington’s museums. Here’s her thoughts on one of my favourite’s – Te Papa’s avant-garde film Sheep Cam. “Plug yourself into the Matrix and become a sheep. The Sheep Cam is a series of videos filmed by sticking a camera on top of a sheep’s head. There are many immersive adventures you can undertake, such as “Little lamb lost” (you are a lamb who gets reunited with the flock) or “Bossy dog!” (a border collie is barking at you). Imagine the mindfulness of chewing dandelions and cud with your flock, the gentle warmth of sunshine in your wool, the aroma of fresh-cut grass and clover.” Read more on her other picks, including a pair of tiny togs and a shabby lion, here.
The Spinoff and Boring Oat Milk with the support from Coffee Supreme proudly presents Boring Breakfast - Wellington.As a compact city with an outsized culinary reputation, Wellington has always taken hospitality very seriously. But as the city moves forward from the disruption of the early 2020s, how do those within the sector feel about its current state? Join us as Boring Breakfast visits Te Whanganui-a-Tara for the very first time, with host Sophie Gilmour (Delicious Business) welcoming guests Douglas Johns (Coffee Supreme), Juno Miers and Thomas Adam (Margot) to discuss what they do, why they do it and their hopes for the city's hospo future.If you would like to attend, please RSVP to: commercial@thespinoff.co.nz by February 26
Loveni S Enari left Aotearoa in the ‘90s. Last year, he came back. In a poignant essay, he reflects on conversations with friends and family reminding him how the country has changed. “When I left the country, Michael Jones, Va’aiga Tuigamala and Jonah were the only Pasifika brownies in the headlines. Nowadays, apart from the many sports people, there are any number of people in the arts, top government positions and making a name for themselves as successful professionals in the private sector,” he writes. But there’s still violence, and there’s still racism. “It’s the brownies who are committing and suffering from the violence. I’m getting a clear feeling that the lines between the two New Zealands – that of brown as opposed to white New Zealand – though more blurred and shared in many work and social situations, unlike the past, are more marked in other areas.”
23 years ago, then prime minister Helen Clark formally apologised for the poll tax, one of the forms of legislative discrimination against the New Zealand Chinese community. From 1881, a fee equivalent to $20,000 today was imposed on every Chinese person who entered the country. Today, Chinese New Zealanders connect with their history and mana whenua in Mitimiti, where people of Te Roroa and Te Rarawa looked after the remains of Chinese New Zealanders damaged in a shipwreck. Eda Tang talks to the community about this connection. “If you don’t know history, you can feel lost … for new migrants, the long history of Chinese in Aotearoa can help them strengthen their identity,” one teacher tells her.
What is National Lamb Day? Thursday 15 February marked National Lamb Day, and Beef + Lamb New Zealand encouraged everyone to celebrate. But what is National Lamb Day and what can we do to show our support? The Spinoff asked Beef + Lamb New Zealand CEO Kit Arkwright to explain. (Sponsored) Read the article, in partnership with Beef + Lamb New Zealand on The Spinoff now.
How two Irish businessmen used international arbitration to nearly leverage $11bn out of the Nigerian government (in case you’re wondering if international arbitration can be thrilling, the answer is yes)
And finally some fun/weird music for the weekend featuring lots of my favourite instrument, the viola 🎻
