Here's a real classic from YouTube - the 1984 Radio With Pictures documentary on the general music scene, and Flying Nun in particular, in Christchurch and Dunedin during that era.

Half an hour of non-commerical (remember, no ads on a Sunday?) music doco footage bought to you by people who actually know what they're on about. Enjoy...

(And thanks to YouTube user Duncster for uploading this in the first place. Respect!)

It had to happen, I suppose - a Muppets Swedish Chef mash-up, in this case with a song called "Shakaron (Shark around)" by Andy Val's Gourmet (apparently).

Oddly enough I was just listening to Radiohead when I stumbled across this on YouTube.

Big band versions of Radiohead's 'Airbag', 'Paranoid Android', 'The National Anthem' and 'Optimistic'.

Pretty awesome.

Well, can ya...?

Penn and Teller interview an alien abductee, and get her to describe the process of being 'probed'...

Stephen over at Spleen is breaking new ground for the NZ blogosphere, being the first person (I can recall of, anyway), who has been served 'cease and desist' papers for publishing disparaging comments about a commercial product.

The product in question is this - the Shield Meâ„¢ Electro-Magnetic Field 'earthing' card - a product which supposedly 'safeguards users from the electro-magnetic field of their cell phones, cordless phones and computer', but which Stephen pretty mercilessly exposes as snake oil in this post on Spleen.

Which has led to this...

I have 21 days to remove said statements or face unspecified legal action.

I'm considering my options here. If you know any friendly physicists, please send them my way.

Hugh, by the way, seems like a nice chap. I recommend him for all your legal document serving and rude-person-locating needs. Or at least I would if he'd left me a card.

So, yes, anyone out there who can offer Stephen any legal or scientific help, just head this way...

[h/t: wanda]

The 'hip-hip' music is obviously just a typo made by the paper (one would hope), but it's kinda hard to know just which other bit of this story to start with.

I suppose the most startling part of the story is National wanting to use Auckland clothing/music label Dawn Raid as a way of appealing to the 'yoof'. As Labour's Trevor Mallard points out...

Shame on the National Party, the party of the dawn raids (in the 1970s) trying to use Dawn Raid's collateral and merchandise for their own promotion.

But what really made me choke on my coffee was this line...

[National] MPs are also being urged to associate themselves with groovy bands such as The Feelers...

Yes, groovy. Probably the only time in history that 'The Feelers' and 'groovy' have been used in the same sentence, and clinching proof as to why the National Party will never appeal to the yoof.

(Ironic, really - wanting to namedrop a 'groovy' band, but actually choosing the most conservative, boring and uninspiring rock act that NZ has produced in the last decade. I suppose, in retrospect, The Feelers and the National Party are actually a pretty good match.)

Seriously, as soon as you're sitting down to a slide presentation, one of which contains the title "We Must Make National Cool" then you must know the battle is already lost.

Some Aussie guys from a show the name of which I couldn't be bothered to find out decided to test security around the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with interesting results...