A Look At the Week That Was

In This Week's Bits : Auckland gets a hikoi; the P scare gives the Prime Minister the willies; North Korea struts its nuclear stuff on the world stage giving everyone a coronary and Hamish looks ahead to the Budget.

Kim Choe talks to award winning photo journalist Jim Macmillian about getting the story in a war zone.

Charlotte Ryan talks to Ryan McPhun from The Ruby Suns who also plays some new stuff.

Conal Coad

One of New Zealand's most in demand opera singers is back in the country to appear as Mustafa in Rossini's comic opera The Italian Girl In Algeirs.

It's a bloody mad romp and has been regularly performed since its debut in 1813. This production takes place on the set of a euro trash soap opera and features some good use of green screen projection and, more to the point, is a good laugh.

Further reading

A synopsis of the two act opera

Gioacchino Rossini biography

NZ Opera page for The Italian Girl in Algiers

Listen to Audio
MP3, 18m33s, 4.2MB

Trouble Is My Business

Juliette Veber is the director of Trouble Is My Business a documentary currently showing in Auckland at the Academy Cinema.

The film was shot every day for six months and follows Gary Peach, also known as Peachy, the then assistant principal of south Auckland high school Aorere College. The camera captures the busy life of Peachy as he tracks down truants, deals with troubled students and does his best to help the kids who need it the most. It's possibly the most heartfelt and honest depiction of teachers and how important they are to a person's development outside Chris Lilley's Summer Heights High.

Further reading

The film's website

Aorere College website

Screening times at the Academy Cinema

Listen to Audio
MP3, 19m51s, 4.5MB

It Came From ...

This week Benji Jackson looks at Epitaph Records, the home of Bad Religion.

Tracks played:

Bad Religion – Land Of Competition (Suffer)
Offspring – Come Out And Play (Sma