1936: Days of Physical Culture
By AHNZ
November/December, 1936: Jack Lovelock (died today, 1949) tours New Zealand on the back of his success at the Berlin Olympics (August ’36.) He has made a great celebrity of himself for his achievement during a time when The West was in the midst of one of our periodic romances with Physical Culture. Physical Culture “In Action […]
Read more..December 28, 2018
Cycle of Moral Cultures
By AHNZ
Having discussed and derived the 4 Moral Cultures, the next thing to know in the Theory of Moral Cultures is that each cultures takes its turn in a defined order. Honour Culture is followed by Dignity Culture which in turn is followed by Victimhood Culture then Slave Culture. Slave Culture is succeeded by Honour Culture […]
Read more..December 14, 2020
Derivation of Moral Cultures
By AHNZ
The Theory of Moral Cultures is a handy framework by which to view humanity. It’s simple yet sophisticated. It’s bounded, yet contains and explains most anyone you’ve ever met or who has ever lived. There are just four Moral Cultures: Dignity Culture, Victimhood Culture, Slave Culture, and Honour Culture. Your personality, dear reader, is as […]
Read more..December 11, 2020
1899: New Zealand’s First Aviation Fatality
By AHNZ
Today in history, 2 November, 1899, at Christchurch’s Lancaster Park, 25yo Captain Lorraine blew out to sea in his balloon never to be seen again. I’m delighted as a freedom lover that a man could take his life in his own hands without being stopped. And, that he could be ‘captain’ without some government or […]
Read more..November 2, 2023
1903: Dusky Sound to Lake Manapouri Road
By AHNZ
In early 1903 the Liberal Government initiated a surreptitious roading project to link the west coast at Dusky Sound with Lake Manapouri. Facts are sketchy as to whose idea this was or what goal was in mind but despite a good start the job was called off and abandoned. According to Lloyd Esler in the […]
Read more..January 4, 2023
1953: Conquest of Everest
By AHNZ
Today in New Zealand history, 29 May, 1953, Edmund Hillary and his Napalese companion Tenzing Norgay were the first men to reach the top of the world’s tallest mountain: Mt Everest. Hillary came of age in the 1930s as part of a generation re-discovering Physical Culture. The Depression had been hard on the young because […]
Read more..May 28, 2022
1898: Easter Encampment at Westport
By AHNZ
Today in history, 11 April, 1898, a great gathering of Nelson Defense District volunteers were camped at Westport. A sort of scouting jamboree but not for kids, for adult men. And not just scouting, but all aspects of kicking arse and defending our nation. Similar encampments were simultaneously occurring at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. […]
Read more..April 11, 2022
1873: The Wiltshire Pedestrians
By AHNZ
The Wiltshire Pedestrians were Joseph and Catherine Wiltshire, an English migrant couple who arrived in New Zealand in December 1872. Their ship was Pleiades which, by coincidence, was made into New Zealand’s 12th public holiday under the translated Maori name Matariki by the Wiltshire’s direct descendant Jacinda Ardern. The pair were soon married became the […]
Read more..September 20, 2021
1934: Whale Hunting With A Machine Gun
By AHNZ
On 6th January 1934 an apex predator, a killer whale, started patrolling Nelson’s Tahuna Beach looking for something (or someone) to eat. Being that this was New Zealand in the 1930s, Nelsonians took to the waves and machined gunned the orca dead. Threat eliminated. How much of a threat the orca posed in the first […]
Read more..January 17, 2021
1935: Pickering Follows Cosmic Rainbow Home to New Zealand
By AHNZ
William Pickering, who died yesterday in history (b. 24/12/1910, d. 15/3/2004) was “New Zealand’s greatest gift to America.” Like fellow physicist Ernest Rutherford, Bill was also from Havelock in Marlborough. When Bill’s father started at Havelock School, Rutherford was already a student there. Young Bill’s pathway led him from New Zealand to gain his PhD […]
Read more..March 16, 2020
1902: Modern Santa
By AHNZ
An enduring myth that Coke invented Santa keeps coming up. We’re living in ‘Mauve’ times, a prelude to a Physical Culture history cycle which ‘grows up’ to become Honour Culture. As such, masculinity and femininity are questioned and confused merged these days. For a little while yet, we are living in experimental and uncertain times. Out […]
Read more..December 17, 2019
1941: Riverside
By AHNZ
What becomes of the Social Justice Warriors when their wave crests? History’s wheel keeps turning and those who were once in the sun grab hold of each other as it sets. Perhaps that is what this logo for the Riverside Community at the top of the South Island shows? Two figures reach out to one […]
Read more..April 23, 2019
