Bruce Springsteen tackles Lorde's "Royals" to open first show in New Zealand in 11 years

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yesterday, Bruce Springsteen, with the E Street Band, performed in New Zealand for the first time in over a decade, and he chose to open the show with a cover of one of the biggest songs ever to come out of that distant land (to us, not them), one of the biggest songs of 2013, the recent Grammy winner for Song of the Year, "Royals" by Lorde. (From what I understand, Lorde is a teenaged hobbit with a bit of an eccentric goth look who sings about things well beyond her years and the pastoral peace of the Shire.)

It was an unambiguous nod to New Zealand, of course, but also a really fine cover of a song that actually isn't that bad, that may actually be quite good, if overplayed and overhyped and overrated, as is usually the case with such global pop tunes, not to mention also simplistic and repetitive. And with its critique of our generally hyper-materialistic and narcissistic culture, and particularly as that culture is reflected in contemporary popular music, it's actually a very Springsteen-ish song thematically, and in his stripped-down acoustic version Bruce brought depth and intimacy to it, even a certain anger, of sorts, like he actually knows what it's all about, like he's actually seen it all before, because of course he does and he has, and doesn't like it at all.

Anyway, here it is, the opening song of his March 1 show at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, a show that featured Born in the U.S.A. played in its entirety along with some of his very greatest songs, like "Atlantic City," "The River," "The Rising," and "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (along with "Born to Run" and "Thunder Road," of course), as well as Wrecking Ball highlights like the title track, "Death to My Hometown," and "Land of Hope and Dreams," instead of focusing on his most recent album, High Hopes, from which only "Tom Joad" and the title track made an appearance. Enjoy!

Sperm donation, Republican-style

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'm not sure this is what being fruitful and multiplying was supposed to be about:

A conservative Christian politician has a secret life as a sperm donor for lesbian couples -- even though he has campaigned against gay marriage.

American politician Bill Johnson has spent most of this year in Christchurch helping run the earthquake recovery, all the while using the online persona "chchbill" to meet women who want help to get pregnant.

Under that persona, he has discussed making donations to at least nine women without the knowledge of his family in the US.

Three of the women are now pregnant, and Johnson has assisted another three with donations in the past month. It is believed he has been in communication with at least another three women to discuss sperm donation.

Johnson, a Republican (of course), ran in the 2010 Republican primary for Alabama governor, finishing a distant fifth with just 1.7 percent of the vote. So he's hardly a major figure in the party, though he actually seems a bit less crazy, and a bit less ideological and partisan, than many of his right-wing ilk -- if certainly as smug and self-righteous, and certainly as much of an anti-gay bigot. (And his wife, Kathy, has worked to help children, seniors, and persons with disabilities, "seeking to motivate, inspire and bring hope to our vulnerable populations." There's undoubtedly a Christianist element to that work, but it's rather admirable nonetheless.)

As it says at his website:

Growing up in low-income families of 8 and 7 respectively, Bill and Kathy learned hard-work and contributing to family and community early in life. The lessons gained during their formative years have led to their passion for community service and a compassion for others. Both feel very fortunate to have risen to leadership positions -- not through family rights nor heritage -- but through hard-work and perseverance. 

Who knew that "contributing to family and community" meant egotistically spreading his seed far and wide -- and being such a fucking hypocrite?

New Zealand energy company shuts off power, woman dies

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Seriously:

A New Zealand woman on an oxygen machine died after an energy firm switched off her power supply because of unpaid bills, her family claims.

Folole Muliaga, a 44-year-old mother of four, died within two hours of the electricity being switched off at her home in the northern city of Auckland.

The company, Mercury Energy, claims not to have known about the machine. The woman's family claimed it told a company representative about the machine and what would happen if the electricity was shut off. One is tempted to believe the family, though of course the representative -- i.e., a technician -- was probably just doing his job. But who knows? Maybe the company, as it put it, was indeed "simply unaware that loss of electricity to the household was putting a vulnerable customer at risk". And since the woman, a schoolteacher, was on leave for medical reasons and behind on her bills (likely well behind on her bills), one wonders why she, or her family, didn't prepare for this possible eventuality with a back-up system.

Regardless of who knew what, it's a pretty awful story.

One smart octopus

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I came across this photo at the Globe today: "An octopus named Octi attempts to open a bottle using its tentacles to get to the food inside at the National Aquarium of New Zealand in the town of Napier."

Curious -- who wouldn't be? -- I did a little research and came across an article at The New Zealand Herald. It seems Octi can use two of her tentacles "to twist the lid off a bottle to get to her dinner". It takes her "2 1/2 minutes when there's a tempting crab inside". And that's not all. She "has also learned to rise to the top of the tank, eye up the keeper and squirt water in his face".

"A lot of people don't realise octopuses are very intelligent," said the aquarium's manager. "They are observant and extremely interactive." And friendly.

All pretty amazing, if you ask me.