Hawaii’s volcanic spectacle and Pele the Fire Goddess

This sky-level satellite image above shows how most of Puna is covered in a lush green canopy, with some visible lava flows in the District of Puna. Puna is one of the smaller islands in the American states of Hawaii. At around 1,300km2 Puna is slightly smaller than the island of Kaua.  It’s subtropical climate andContinue reading “Hawaii’s volcanic spectacle and Pele the Fire Goddess”

<3 The Internet: Get music, book, art and film recommendations

Marek Gibney is the creator of the Music Map, the Film Map, the Tech Gadget Map, the Art Map and the Book Map. These ingenious web based apps allow you to get recommendations on books, music, films and art by typing in your favourite artists. It’s sort of like a cooler and less annoying versionContinue reading “<3 The Internet: Get music, book, art and film recommendations”

Every Picture Tells A Story: New York’s Cinema Marquees

There is something magical, glittering, exhilerating and even at times slightly menacing about theatre and film posters and theatre districts around the world. These are places where people go to be vacuously entertained and transported to another realm they ordinarily can’t reach. Posters and signs call out to patrons, beckoning them and cajoling them toContinue reading “Every Picture Tells A Story: New York’s Cinema Marquees”

Every Picture Tells a Story: A Surreal Midnight Dream

This etching by a Reddit artist called JDrift01 reminds me of the Google Deep Dream generator which ran amok on the internet about 2 years ago. Suddenly the online world was jammed with ten eyed dogs and sushi that had faces on it. Infact this art reminds me of a post from a few yearsContinue reading “Every Picture Tells a Story: A Surreal Midnight Dream”

Travel: Five Brilliant Off the Beaten Track Restaurants Around Edinburgh

From writing for several years for the Edinburgh Food and Drink Guide I have gathered together some personal favourites of the Athens of the North. Here are a selection of Edinburgh restaurants that require some pounding of pavement often through beautiful scenery to get there. These eateries are worthy of recommendation because of their beautiful ambience,Continue reading “Travel: Five Brilliant Off the Beaten Track Restaurants Around Edinburgh”

Film Review: Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey (2016) Terrence Malick

The other night Terrence Malick’s new film Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey screened at the New Zealand International Film Festival Autumn events in Auckland. Although I’ve found Malick’s films a little too long and ponderous, this one I enjoyed more than his others because of its sparseness and its lack of human narrative and human characters.Continue reading “Film Review: Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey (2016) Terrence Malick”

Flying Nun Records: The Chills

Haling from Dunedin, The Chills are a 80’s and 90’s band with aural stories that recall childlike wonder and a free-wheeling and expansive youth in the South Island of New Zealand. There’s a happy-go-lucky psychadelic pop and folk sound that (possibly) found its way into the sound of Split Enz and Crowded House later on. TheContinue reading “Flying Nun Records: The Chills”