2006: The Upham Boomers
By AHNZ
Captain Charles Upham (died today, 22 Nov, 1994) was survived by his children, Baby Boomers. The way the Boomers treated the memory of the ‘Greatest Generation’ who came before them is instructive. A story from 2006 re-told…. The main street in Amberley, North Canterbury, is a big wide straight and flat affair with…I dunno, tractor […]
Read more..November 22, 2020
2010s: Baby Boomer Self-Entitlement
By AHNZ
Rob Rattenbury, or “Rats” as he calls himself, is getting a bit defensive in his latest Baby Boomer Entitlement Press Release. The Boomers. They burned the world down, spent up what their fathers had given them and then went on to spend against the wealth of the unborn children and grandchildren. They refuse to die […]
Read more..November 11, 2019
1925: Maori Boomerang Discovered
By AHNZ
Along with the Tamil Bell, the Korotangi, and the Coberg Stump comes this Muriwai beach boomerang. Discovered in 1925, it’s one of those amazing and seemingly anachronistic objects that defy mainstream understanding of New Zealand history. William Powell, the discoverer, was a self-taught naturalist who gave himself an Anarchist education like all the best Kiwis do. […]
Read more..June 26, 2019
1970s: Road Warrior Boomers
By AHNZ
George Miller, film director and producer, was a young doctor in 1970s Australia. His work was full of crash victims, bloody young men who had been injured and maimed on Queensland roads. The pain, desperation, loss of limbs and general human carnage caused by speed and impact on Australian roads ate into George’s consciousness. But […]
Read more..May 19, 2019
1944: No serotonin for you, Boomer!
By AHNZ
The early infancy parenting of the Baby Boomer generation explains a great deal, or all, of who they grew up to be. This image from c.January 1944 shows babies being wheeled around in a trolley like stock by government staff. An absolute disaster for parent/child attachment. It’s great, New Mum, if you don’t want to be […]
Read more..February 24, 2019
The Boomers: Kiwis vs Frogs
By AHNZ
Opinion Civil war in France within 6 months? I say non, monsieur. The French are revolting, especially in Paris, against their State. Main complaint being the punitive tax (real and hidden) harming their standard of living. They have no leaders and no particular demands. They are destructive and civilly disobedient toward the State’s forced called to […]
Read more..December 6, 2018
No serotonin for you, Boomer!
By AHNZ
Date: [ca 26 January 1944] An absolute disaster for parent/child attachment. Great if you don’t want to be with your newborn for 14 days during that crucial bonding time. No serotonin for you! Just visits from the wheelbarrow to be used as a milk machine. Not great for more old school mothers (and new school […]
Read more..August 22, 2018
1925: Burke Street Harbour Project
By AHNZ
Today in history, 21 November, Thames Borough had an historic election which unseated Sidney Ensor from the Mayoralty he had held for an unprecedented 28 years. Not gone though, Sid was still serving as deputy mayor at the time of the goldfields centenary in 1967. An interesting thing about the slogan of this losing campaign […]
Read more..November 20, 2024
1998: Bill Maher Hall
By AHNZ
Visitors to the West Coast passing down State Highway 6 a little south of Greymouth might rightly wonder why there is a Bill Maher Hall here. Of course you would resist the thought of it being named for the famous American commentator-commentator named Bill Maher. Except…there’s a huge cartoon on the building facing the road […]
Read more..October 14, 2024
1865: Native Rights Act
By AHNZ
Today in New Zealand history, 26 September, 1865, the Native Rights Act became law. It is seldom, or never, mentioned in government history books yet has huge significance to our constitutional history. “An Act to declare that the Maoris shall be deemed to be natural-born subjects of Her Majesty and to declare that the jurisdiction […]
Read more..September 26, 2024
1989: Idiot Played Rachmaninov
By AHNZ
The New Zealand dystopian novel genre was already thriving in the 1980s when Michael Brown (1948-) capped it off with The Idiot Played Rachmaninov. We already had C.K. Stead’s Smith’s Dream (1971) and Craig Harrison’s The Quiet Earth (1981) and Maurice Gee’s Under the Mountain (1979) which all made it to screen as well. Brown also had […]
Read more..September 21, 2024
1951: ANZUS Treaty
By AHNZ
The ANZUS Treaty was signed in San Francisco on 1 September 1951 by Carl Berendsen on behalf of New Zealand’s National 1.0 Ministry. With Australia and the USA we now had a tri-tripartite defence treaty. Then, on 8 June, 1987, Labour 4.0 quit that deal. The Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 […]
Read more..August 29, 2024
