Author: Richard Irvine

I watched 62 movies this year – 19 at the movies (Yes, I keep a list and the nerdometer has just exploded). Here’s my top ten, again, this is for films I saw in 2006.

10. Metallica – Some Kind Of Monster Too many funny bits – the psychiatrist’s interesting knitwear choices, Dave Mustaine’s venting, Lars saying anything… it made me want to be in a band
9. Enron: Smartest Guys In The Room Those ASSHOLES!
8. Primer Time travel with a couple of very smart geeks, well worth tracking down
7. Little Fish First of three Aussie films in my list – fantastic performances from everyone in a pitch black story. And where did that 21 Jump St guy come from?
6. Candy Another bleak Aussie druggy movie
5. Match Point Urban brit horror that makes you squirm and scream ‘don’t do it!’
4. Brokeback Mountain Heath Ledger again – he can really act
3. Thank You For Smoking So many quotable lines
2. Kenny If you’re a fan of the Aussies’ colorful way with words (“That’s as silly as a bum full of smarties”, “Have you ever seen a dog have a crap? It’s like he’s trying to root a cricket ball”, “What, do you think everyone that works on Virgin Airlines is a Virgin too?”, you have to see Kenny
1. Sione’s Wedding More fantastic dialogue from the extremely talented Oscar Knightly in a tale about the importance of yer mates. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, etc, and he made Auckland (and even Grey Lynn) look so pretty.

Bonus list: Listening in 2006
I bought a pathetic amount of new music this year, being a) too cheap and b) more interested in buying older LPs and the like, but mostly, it was being a) too cheap. For the record, my fav 2006 album I enjoyed the most was Samuel Flynn Scott’s The Hunt Brings Us Together. Here’s what I’ve been listening to, though:

Top Ten most played on iTunes
1. In My Life – The Beatles
2. Do You Realise? (Acoustic KCRW) – Beck
3. Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles
4. Drink To Moving On – Grand National
5. Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
6. Golden Dawn – Golden Horse
7. Real Love – John Lennon
8. Sing It Again – Beck
9. Talk Amongst Yourselves – Grand National
10. Dark As A Dungeon – Sparklehorse

I read a pathetic 19 books this year, here’s my top 5. They’re not all new books, but I read them in 2006, so they go on my list – geddit?

5. Kitchen Confidential / A Cook’s Tour – Anthony Bourdain.
Probably the coolest guy in the world – writes how he talks, and is really funny. I love reading about garlic and knives, and picked up a few tips about cooking for nothing. I loved the chapter about his trip back to France with his brother, and was extremly jealous of his Mexican feast.

4. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs – Chuck Klosterman.
Klosterman reminds me of the two guys in Human Traffic talking about how Yoda was a stoner (hence the reason he had the power and spoke back to front)… not that that’s a bad thing. Chuck is the US indie kids’ darling right now and in these essays, he comes across like a neurotic first year arts student with a wardrobe of alphabetically arranged band t-shirts. That’s not necessarily a bad thing (ahem), but I’d like him to lighten up a bit. He can really write, and I particularly enjoyed the essay about his trip to see a Guns n Roses tribute band play.

3. Southern Style – Craig Marriner.
I always thought there was a really good book to be written about the Antipodean UK experience – I’m not sure this is it, but it’s bloody close. The ‘Tri-nations’ characters are all utterly believable, with a few cockney wide boys and random gangsters thrown in for good measure. From his detailed knowledge of the London party scene, and the rock and roll bio, you’d say Marriner’s done some serious time in pubs, bars and dive-y flats around the world, and made his dirty London really come alive. I really enjoyed Southern Style, and just felt it was a little long in places – it’s a very DENSE read. I’m definitely tracking down Stone Dogs, his first novel over the hols, though.

2. Departure Lounge / Electric – Chad Taylor.
Chad Taylor fuckin ROCKS, his Auckland is dark and humid, where shady characters lurk in the Westhaven Marina, or the Stanley Street gully. Mt Hobson, K Road nightclubs and art galleries, and even the Chelsea sugar works feature in these books, almost always at night, and I was thrilled every time these places were mentioned. These are the best Auckland books I’ve read, evoking the beauty this town offers, but making it dangerous and cool, too.

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay – Michael Chabon.
This is a fantastic book (thanks Mum!). It is the story of Joe Kavalier’s escape from WWII Prague to New York, where he and his cousin Sam Clay create a comic book super hero. The Escapist becomes a huge smash, and we follow their rise to stardom, as they meet Orson Welles, Salvador Dali, and Stan Lee, amongst others, as they find fame and (some) fortune, until America enters the war and it all starts to unravel. This is a bit of an epic (over 600 pages), and a fantastic, ripping yarn. Very highly recommended.

Recommended: A year in Provence – Peter Mayle, Underworld – Don Delillo, The Life Of Pi – Yaan Martel, The Liar’s Club – Mary Karr
Meh: Lunar Park – Brett Easton Ellis, John – Cynthia Lennon

Bonus list: Top three meals

3. Pork Belly @ Craggy Range, Napier. Crackling.

2. Roast Beef Yorkshire Pud @ Earl Spencer Pub, Southfields. Rare.

1. Fish and Chips @ Terrace restaurant whose name I’ve forgotten, Bol, Croatia. Salt and Garlic.

1. Getting Alister Parker to sign my Swervedriver T-shirt after Bailter Space played Gurus. He thought it was funny, I thought he’d had definitely had one or two whiskeys.
2. 3Ds at Ward Lane Tavern – a great band at a great venue.
3. King Loser supporting the Verlaines in the Lounge Bar at Mount Maunganui Tavern. Bizzare venue, but we did get to play air hockey between sets.
4. Driving up to the 10th anniversary concert @ the Powerstation. I got a really cool (actually shit) hooded long sleeve t-shirt that I then wore every day for the next year.
5. Dave Yetton offering the crowd beers at a JPSE show at the Riv. Me mate yelled “WHAT A WANKER” when we missed out, and Dave totally got the wrong end of the stick. (sorry Dave, I loved ‘Blow Out Your Candles’, though)
6. Bailter Space at the Riv. We showed up at about 9.30 to see them already on stage. Luckily they were only sound checking, and they didn’t come on til at least 12. Rock n Roll eh.
7. Going to see JPSE at the Hilly, and getting booted out for being underage before they’d even played a note. Real sickener.
8. Going to see Straightjacket Fits at the Hilly the week of the “eye-gouge” Waikato v Otago NPC final, and Shayne Carter hassling John Mitchell for being bald, which caused Flying Nun cool kid / Mighty Mooloo Man identity crisis for weeks afterward.
9. Seeing Snapper at Oranga, and thinking they were the loudest band I’ve ever seen.
10. My friend and I racing home from school on our bikes to listen to his brother’s DoubleHappys Needles and Plastic EP – then leaving it on the record player in the sun. Cue irreparable warpage, and World War feckin Three when he found it. I always felt really guilty about wrecking a pretty rare bit of vinyl, and almost bought him the re-issued CD… I’m sure he’s over it now.

I DO love coffee, like many Kiwis. At home, I have a stove top to really get those jitters happening, and when I’m out, I like Allpress, which is served at loads of Auckland cafes (Velo is great, too). Me and my girl even got a cup of Allpress to go with our hot chips at the Bethell’s Beach pie cart thing after a day’s lazing in the sun. Probably my fav cup of coffee ever.

Here’s the coolest airport photo I’ve seen for a while, complete with totally rad banking manoeuvre from a disgruntled Air New Zealand pilot.