Laneway V2.0

The last time I went to Laneway, I called it 'Lineways'. Last time I wasn't entirely impressed. The acts were awesome, the festival experience was not.

But this year there is a new location, and the acts are intriguing, so I am headed down soon to go to Laneway 2012.

I hope it's cool. But, being honest, I'm not overly excited right now - I am clearing memory-cards and checking battery levels, as well as putting together all the usual festival faff I tend to take, getting ready to wander down but I'm not excited about it.

Hopefully I'm really blown away, and the location and everything is amazing, but if not, I'll take some photos, see some bands, and wander back home again. Maybe I'm just bummed about a festival season without the Big Day Out. I'm planning to report back in the next couple of days. Wish me luck!

The Active Giver (Part 4)

Carrying on from my last post, here are charities 11-20. Having gone back to work, this is taking a bit longer now, but I assure you, I'm still working on this.

11. Koanga Institute. Saving seeds and heritage plants. Membership-only options. Membership entitles free seeds and plant propagation. No social.
12. World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Campaigning and working for change in all areas of conservation, including marine, forests, species and climate change. No information on payroll giving, but there are plenty of donation options. They can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
13. TerraNature. Part of an international organisation which protects native habitats and wildlife. Difficult to join and donate (you need to print a webpage, fill out a form and post it. The internet does forms guys, and if this is your preferred method, a PDF is a better way to print a form). No information on regular giving at all. No social.
14. NZ Native Forest Restoration Trust. Acquires land and restores native forests to protect habitats and improve waterways. No social or information on payroll giving, but they do provide all the information you need to donate via payroll giving.
15. Shakespeare Open Sanctuary Society (SOSSI).  Involved in restoration, monitoring and pest control in the Shakespeare regional park. Membership and volunteer opportunities available. No information on payroll giving. Have Facebook.
16. Connected Media Charitable Trust. Promotes sustainability through media. Donations are only sought as one-offs through the website, and do not provide information for ongoing donations or payroll giving. There are no social media sites, which seems a little ironic considering what they do (they have an extensive film catalogue, but no YouTube account for trailers, for example).
17. Bushland Trust. Creating filtration zones around the Sweetwater lakes of Northland. Involved in planting and clean up projects. Seem to rely entirely on corporate and central/local government support. No information on donations at all, no social media channels.
18. Kea Conservation in New Zealand. Assisting in the conservation of the New Zealand Kea in it's natural environment. This is the only charity to provide information on payroll giving. They are on Facebook, but the link is hidden at the bottom of the homepage.
19. 350 Aotearoa. Working to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere to a 'safe' level (defined as 350 parts per million by providing information, education, inspiration and practical tools. They use social media (you can find them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), and provide information on both one-off and ongoing donations, but once again, payroll giving is overlooked.
20. Environment and Conservation Organisation (ECO) of Aotearoa New Zealand. Umbrella organisation for over 60 national and international environment and conservation charities. They can be found on both Facebook and Twitter. They have a range of donation methods including automatic payment, but no payroll giving.

As I've been revisiting their websites, I've been extending the information I've got on each charity. I have now narrowed the list down to 5 charities which I would support via payroll giving. The next step is to contact the 4 charities who haven't said they support payroll giving and ask if they do. Needless to say, this is a step I could skip if the information was provided on the website.

It's also worth noting that every charity that has made it to this shortlist has social media channels. I'd like to see where my money is going. I want to be educated, and the best way to get that information to me is by putting it into my timeline and Twitter feed.

In Part 5, I'll relay the responses of the top 5 and hopefully end up telling you who I'll actually be supporting!

Dresden Dolls at the Auckland Library

I've never been to a gig in a library before, but I can see why they don't happen all that often if today's Ninja Gig at the Auckland Public Library is any indication. They're awesome, but they certainly disturb the quiet.

I'd say the audience was sitting at around 300. The content was a mix of things from both The Dresden Dolls and Amanda Palmer's solo catalogs.

Like the last AFP gig I attended, Amanda didn't begin with a setlist, instead asking what the audience wanted to hear.

One of many highlights was singing Map of Tasmania. Every time Amanda said "oh my God", the audience responded with "fuck it!". Think about that for a second. 300 people saying "fuck it", in unison, in a public library. Even if everyone says it quietly, it still comes out loud! By the end of the song we were significantly more confident as well, given that no librarians had come in to shush us (in fact I saw a few saying it themselves).

We got to hear the original version of New Zealand (minus the new verses about Christchurch), Ukelele Anthem, and Creep, among others, and the crowd at one point managed to get Amanda "sitting down crowd surfing" (which, it turns out, goes directly against the laws of physics).

It was the perfect amount of nerdy and naughty. Fantastic!

The Dresden Dolls are playing with support from Princess Chelsea tonight (27 January 2011) at The Powerstation, Auckland. Tickets are available on the door for $55.

Books, Art and Music

I've been rather quiet lately. I've got a few blogs I'm working on, but the daily blogging seems to have dried up a little bit. I am on Tumblr though. You can follow me there. I'm keeping it separate to this blog because I tend to use them for different reasons, but there's usually something from me each day.

Just wanted to say that if you live in Auckland, and can get to the CBD at 2pm this Friday, you should totally come to the Dresden Dolls ninja gig at Auckland City Libraries. I'm definitely going. Amanda Palmer still holds my #1 spot for 'best opening to a concert', and who doesn't love things like ninja gigs? At a library?

In other news, inspired by BookShelfPorn, I reorganised my bookshelf. I can't work out where to put Harry Potter though.

2002 Big Day Out Scrapbook

SOPA, Piracy and Good Business Sense

So half the internet (and by that, I primarily mean Wikipedia) is going offline as a protest against SOPA. For the record, this has made researching this blog really, really difficult.

This topic is actually so big, and I have so much to say, that I don't know how to organise my thoughts, so apologies if this isn't very articulate.

First of all, SOPA is a really, really, really bad idea. It will kill this wonderful thing we know as The Internet. It will kill innovation. It will kill creativity. It will kill progress. Think of the Arab Spring. If there were no Twitter, and no Facebook, countries such as Egypt and Libya would still be under the rule of dictatorships. SOPA would kill both of those mediums.

Sure, we would still survive without the internet. We might get a little bit smarter, and a lose a few kilos, but we would also lose much of what is brilliant about living in the 21st century.

Communities I have become involved in on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter would wither and die when faced with the restrictions they are facing under the acts currently being debated in the United States. This isn't like New Zealand's piracy bill, it is much bigger, and has global ramifications.

Do I believe piracy is a problem? Yes and no. I believe that content creators deserve credit and income where it is due. But I also believe that the problem does not lie with the general public. I believe the problem lies in the large corporates who are still clinging to old definitions and business models.

The internet (and, in particular, high speed broadband) has fundamentally changed the way we consume media. We can 'try before we buy' and we can pirate. We can watch US TV the day it is screened, we can download movies, we can watch music videos and comedy sketches on YouTube. We can share and spread the word. We can laugh, cry and be outraged together even though we are thousands of miles apart.

President Obama recently issued a challenge to the internet community:

"Washington needs to hear your best ideas about how to clamp down on rogue Web sites and other criminals who make money off the creative efforts of American artists and rights holders. We should all be committed to working with all interested constituencies to develop new legal tools to protect global intellectual property rights without jeopardizing the openness of the Internet. Our hope is that you will bring enthusiasm and know-how to this important challenge."

A great response to this challenge can be found here.

The fact is, Mr. Obama, is that every tool you need is already at your fingertips. Rather than challenging the internet community to come up with ideas, why don't you challenge the corporates to harness this ready and willing audience and give us an affordable and easy way to get what we want? America is founded on the principals of the free market, and yet right now it is completely ignoring a ready and willing one.

We know that the internet can turn people such as Susan Boyle and Justin Beiber into multinational, top grossing stars overnight. We know that the internet is a faster and cheaper distribution medium than traditional music, book and entertainment stores. The internet is global. Business models need to be global too.

When FOX releases Glee on Hulu, it needs to be available globally. The studios need to realise that the spoilers are available immediately - even when you are not looking for them. Today I was hit with a massive one while just looking at my Facebook feed. You want to know why we pirate? Because the information is there, and because the borders of our country still matter to the business process, even when the Internet has completely blurred them.

There are many case studies of content being made available at a low price and making an absolute killing. Here's one, here's another. When you remove the red tape - the promotion channels, the physical printing, distribution, stocking and retail process - you can afford for the price to be low. If the content is good, word will get out, because that is precisely what the internet is designed to do. If you remove the high prices, people will pay. If things cost less, we can buy more. If we buy more, we support more artists. $5 an album might not sound like much, but when you think about half a million people (which, in the context of a global distribution method is a small percentage of people) paying $5, and at least $4 of that going directly into the artist's pocket, it sounds to me like it might be more than they get now.

On the flip side, to buy a top-10 album on iTunes costs around $18. That's very near the same amount I would pay for a physical disc at my local music store. Why? There is still room for a physical product to live in our digital world, but it's highly likely we will reserve these spots for our very favourite things. In this age - where we are worried about food miles and resource availability, why are we still encouraging physical goods where a digital medium is appropriate? Why is it that the only way I can buy a digital copy of, say, Harry Potter, is to buy the DVD and the BluRay as well? Why on Earth do I need three copies, when a single digital copy would suffice?

Further, there are many, many cases of the internet creating new fans. Take John Green. He's a young adult fiction author and a vlogger. He has a whole community of fans who have sent his career into the stratosphere. He works hard, but there aren't many fans who would even consider pirating his material, or making it available to piracy. Why? Because he understands his mediums, and his fans. He respects us, he works hard to entertain us - whether that be in a video blog or in a book - and we reward him with income from his YouTube channels and by buying hundreds of thousands of copies of his books.

Smart people have the ability to make a lot of money via the internet and it's endless possibilities for media distribution. It seems wholly unfair to both them, and their legions of loyal fans, to pull the plug on everything we have created in the last 20 years.

The average age of a senator at the beginning of the current Congress (the people making these laws) was 62.2 years of age. While I hate to sound ageist, would you trust your grandparents to regulate the internet? While some of us know people in that age bracket who have taken to the internet like ducks to water, I'm sure we all know many, many more who just don't get it. It's reprehensible that a bunch of people who don't understand this beast, can't use it, and don't care to learn, can legislate against it and cut out it's very heart.

In summary, regulation is not the answer to this problem - or at least, it's not the answer right now. The answer is to change the business model. To look at the internet for what it fundamentally is - a global web of connectiveness. Stop enforcing regional boundaries and begin thinking bigger. Create to your heart's content and encourage people to share your creation. Charge the global community a fair and reasonable price, but most of all, just make this stuff available. When you have done all that, look to see if there is still a problem, and then make legislation that makes sense.

Because, quite simply, the reason I pirate is because there is no other reasonable, timely, and affordable legal alternative.

RIP BDO

So, this year is the last ever Big Day Out.

Despite all my moaning, I managed to get three tickets this year (I won two), and I had every intention of going - even though I still believe the line up is quite weak and the ticket price ridiculous.

And I'm really glad I'm going.

To Campbell Smith, Ken West and Vivian Lees, I want to say thank you. Thanks for giving me the best day of the year each January. Thanks for giving me some of my favourite musical moments. Thanks for enabling me to see a huge number of my favourite bands, and thanks for helping me to discover tonnes of acts I would never have found without the Big Day Out.

I know I moan about it, but as much as I call the organisers on what I think is not good, I also make a point of defending them as well. Despite everything, the Big Day Out has been my favourite day of each year for 9 years.

I see lots of bitter comments on social media sites. Some are still mumbling about the lineup. I got over that a while ago. Ultimately, it is what it is, and there has never been a year I have gone to where everyone loved the lineup. Never. And even if the Big Day Out went on for the next 100 years, there never would be.

The Big Day Out is what you make it. If you believe there are no bands you want to see, there won't be. Chances are, there is at least one band you'd kinda like to see each and every year, and that's always been enough for me, because each and every year I have discovered new artists and made memories regardless.

I've eaten the best burger I've ever had, I've had my entire conceptualisation of music flipped on it's head in 40 minutes by someone I'd never heard of, I've seen pretty much every major act I wanted to see, I've been pissed on, I've lost my hearing, I've freaked out in mosh pits, I've been in several publications and I've always, ALWAYS had an amazing time.

I know people who have rushed stages, lost their pants and seen Wes Borland fart (not the same person, and not in the same year). It is what you make it. The Big Day Out is a day for fun.

So the line up is kinda weak this year, and the tickets are expensive. It is what it is, and despite all the problems, I'm planning to have a fantastic time at the last Auckland Big Day Out.

2001 Big Day Out Memories

Constructivism

The other day I drove out to Thames to see my mother.

I quite like driving long-distance, and because people were beginning to head back to work the roads were quite clear, but I did catch a few drivers being morons, and I found myself doing a few stupid things now and again too.

As I drove, I kept to the 2-second rule. This is primarily because of the car accident I had last year where I went up the bum of another car - I can still see that in my mind and I (obviously) don't want it to happen again, so I keep my distance.

Then I thought about where that little piece of information came from - TV.

I learn a lot via the television, and millions of dollars are spent every year telling me that I should be in control of my vehicle, that I shouldn't drive drunk and that I should tell my mates not to drive drunk.

I get all that. I don't drive drunk, and I'm pretty scathing if I find out my mates have done it.

But what I think is lacking in our television ads is an element of education. Rather than make a silly 'mantrol' ad where all we're told is we should change our driving styles to meet the conditions in order to stay in 'mantrol', why don't we offer practical tips to drivers? Why don't we make defensive driving something we educate our population about via the mainstream media?

I know for me, if I saw an ad with a tip which I found easy enough to incorporate into my driving, I would probably use it. I want to know how to drive safer, and I want others on the road to know how to drive safer as well.

Is this just me? We all love the Ghost Chips ad. Many of us can quote it word-for-word. Ads and television have an impact on the way we think. Surely there is a way to use that to it's best advantage. With the very high road toll over the last holiday period, I think it's pretty safe to say that we are not in 'mantrol', and that it is not just the men who need some tips on their driving.

Tidy Kiwi

For the last year I have been looking out my window at a whole bunch of rubbish.

We live on a really busy road in town. It's close to many pubs and fast food restaurants, and it would seem that the greater Auckland area chooses to leave the trash generated at these establishments outside my house.

After spending a few days on Twitter moaning about it through the holidays, I eventually took the plunge, gathered a Big Black Sack and a recycle bin, and I headed out there to clean the shit up.

I spent an hour out there picking up paper, wrappers, glass bottles, plastic bottles, miscellaneous decomposing plastic doodads, various car parts and the occasional piece of furniture. During that hour I ended up sweating like a pig, and all that work resulted in three days worth of sore muscles.

I walked back with the black sack 3/4's full, the recycle bin completely full, and a three-legged chair which I'd been looking at for the better part of 18 months from my bedroom window. All up, I found 3 1/2 hubcaps - almost an entire car's worth on one corner.

Several people on Twitter encouraged me to get in touch with, or dump it at, the council, but I've got a slightly different take on the problem.

You see, I don't think it's the council's problem to pick up our trash. I think it is our responsibility as members of a society not to drop it in the first place. It actually wouldn't kill anyone to hold on to any of this stuff until reaching a rubbish or recycling bin, it is laziness.

On the way back from Coromandel a couple of days later, we were stopped in the usual return-to-Auckland traffic, and at the painfully slow pace, the amount of rubbish - most of which is recyclable - which is just sitting on the side of the road is absolutely incredible. There are bottles and cans gathered all along the sides of our roads, they gather in big piles and just sit there. It's disgusting, and it makes me ashamed of my country.

I'm going to try and make this a regular thing. I'm just one girl, and I can't cover a lot of ground, but if I can keep a few streets around my house clean, that's a start. I'd love to see others pick up the mantel (or, rather, a Big Black Sack), head into a public place and see what turns up. We can't just keep expecting others to pick up after us. We're big kids, let's take some pride in our surroundings.