Two nice shout outs this week - one from Brando over at cjsd about his recent visit to New Orleans with TLB. The other is from Bookman Beattie, who has posted one of the rudest bits from Trendy But Casual on his blog.
In less happy news, New Zealand music icon Neil Finn is in hot water back home for daring to criticize Prime Minister Helen Clark's behavior at the local music awards. Check out the outraged readers responding in the Herald. They include Trish from Phoenix, Monsta from Valencia, Chris from Invercargill, and Ray Columbus (OBE, CM) of Matakana. If you're a New Zealander, you'll know that Ray Columbus is a national treasure. If you're not a New Zealander, click here to listen to "She's a Mod". Ray says: Helen Clark is "The Minister of Rock 'n Roll in my book. God help Kiwi Music when she retires!"
My favorite of the comments, by the way, is from one Nick (no known location) who contends "Kiwi music is not worth the CD that its recorded on! Apart from Neil Finn and a few others many NZ groups and singers are a joke and will never make it anywhere not even in a Solomon Island bar!"
Now Neil Finn knows how book reviewers in New Zealand feel.
Despite my heretical dislike of live music, we went to see Neil and Tim Finn perform at the House of Blues here in New Orleans in 2004, just weeks after we arrived. They were fantastic. After he heard them perform Six Months in a Leaky Boat live, T.Middy discovered why it's such an anthem at home. Once I even persuaded my mother to work lyrics from that song ("Aotearoa, rugged individual/Glisten like a pearl/At the bottom of the world") into one of her ITC speeches.
At the brilliant NZ History web site, you can also listen to one of my favorite songs from 1974 - "Join Together," the official theme for that year's Commonwealth Games in Christchurch. Although I haven't heard this song very often, if at all, since 1974, I am proud to say I still remember ALL the lyrics. Listen and you'll know why.
