Something Elsewhere

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THE MESS THAT IS THE MIDDLE EAST: Guns and rhetoric, again

19 Jun 2002  |  11 min read

The image resonated with a depressing deja vu: Israeli tanks rolling through the streets of Ramallah, rumbling past destroyed, deserted or barricaded homes, on their way to the compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Again.We saw this in April when Arafat was similarly isolated, so we know what will come next: Palestinian teenagers throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers and tanks, more... > Read more

NORTH KOREA: Diplomacy beyond the wire

4 Aug 2001  |  10 min read

From this hilltop the mysterious, mute country across the river possesses a rugged beauty, its towering mountains crumpling to the far horizon, shimmering hazy blue in the heat.Through powerful binoculars you can see farmers moving about their back-bending work in picturesque green rice paddies sculpted into hillsides. The river glints silver under the sun, your camera points towards unknown... > Read more

THE POLYNESIAN PANTHERS REFLECT (2001): Three decades on from the dawn raids

22 Jun 2001  |  9 min read

For anyone who lived through the period, the iconography and images still resonate: the clenched fists in leather gloves, the lines of civilian-soldiers in empowering uniforms of black polo-neck sweaters, impenetrable shades and black berets. The language was of black pride and the images defiant and confrontational. The times they weren't a-changing, they'd changed - and in the early... > Read more

JIMI HENDRIX (2000): A slight return to the Experience

5 Jan 2000  |  2 min read

To fully appreciate the impact Jimi Hendrix had, you need to forget the decades of myth-making and t-shirts since his death. Try to imagine the music world in 1966. When Jimi crashlanded in London in September that year the Beatles were still a pop band, the Stones had released Paint It Black and Bob Dylan was confusing people with the sprawling double album Blonde on Blonde.... > Read more

STARS WHO WANNABE OTHER STARS (1999): Vanity projects for the self-regarding

1 Nov 1999  |  3 min read

News that broadcaster Paul Holmes is recording an album has been greeted with derision in some quarters, but the collector's group of Vanity Incorporated Products can't wait until this album —- apparently including such classics as Witchita Lineman — hits stores in time for the lucrative Christmas market.Not because it's especially welcomed for its own sake but some are seeing it as... > Read more

OLD FORGOTTEN SOLDIERS? (1999): But not in South Korea

27 Apr 1999  |  14 min read

The undistinguished town of Kap'yong, 90 minutes' drive north-east of the South Korean capital Seoul, isn't on many maps. Even the young man at the desk in Seoul's Tower Hotel can't say where it is, although he served in the Army in the district eight years ago.As an ordinary country town nestled in a wide valley between towering hills, it is a quiet place, the only regular noise coming from... > Read more

DAVID MARKS OF THE NEW ZEALAND SKEPTICS (1998): Spoon bending made easy

5 Feb 1998  |  8 min read

David Marks paces furiously around the small room, giving a good impersonation of a caged animal. It's disconcerting.His arms flail as he says that if we doubted his ability he'd accuse us of being negative thinkers who would rob him of his psychic powers.And then he stops to quietly perform a piece of magic. It's an old trick, but a good one. With a little gentle rubbing, the silver spoon he... > Read more