If you haven't been there yet book your ticket for the next asap your calendar willl offer because the 20s are fucken happening. Get there during the first third if you can coz our forthright narrator Mr Nick is still a teetotaller and therefore in no way can be trusted to offer us the truly decadent view of Mr Gatsby's parties that we generally deserve.

if you stay you will get candid deconstructions of not only the riches of a society gone low interest rate riot but the self pity of one who was born to only trade in words, and that, as another nick once inferred, is reward in itself.

when everything is quiet

a slug creeps onto the kitchen bench

probably not in search of a salty suicide

but sometimes life surprises

Mark Latham. A name it seems all are trying to forget, but why? The man worked his way from humble roadie to become the ALP's lead singer and songwriter.  He flirted with the top of the charts before crashing into a protected Tassy pine and burning up a pancreatic fever that briefly woke a proud nation from its apolitical January slumber. This is a story worth hearing from the inside.

Part boofhead, part possum-in the headlights, they never used to make them like this and definitely won't start now. In these 400-odd pages you can gloriously succumb to a revisitation of Keating's metal shredding, the rise of Howard's crickled-crooning-seduction, and Latham's own flirtation with leadership schizophrenia.

There's the push and pull behind the songwriting. The goss on who slept with who and who suffered factional impotence. Learn how it feels when the middle band fucks with the settings after you've turned up early for a soundcheck. And enjoy some glib comment on the evolving relationships between modern rock, the media and talkback radio. Two humbuckers out of three for this, whilst confessing I'm yet to read any of the multitude of bios on our once-proud star.

Hot quote: "The media honeymoon is over. The tory establishment is out to get me".



The Latham Diaries: borrow it off your girlfriend's dad before he realises you're a no-good dirty rotten son of a.

He was there at the birth of rock n roll savouring Elvis, Bo Diddley and the like, watched The Beatles play early gigs in Liverpool, became an acid-dazed roadie for Hendrix, pioneered octane space rock with Hawkwind and used his speedfreak bent to invent thrash metal with Motorhead. Dude's a legend.

Highlights: Lemmy piling tirade on tirade on venemous tirade upon Sony. Drummer Philthy Animal Taylor getting trapped in his hotel room and trying to climb out a mirror he thought was a window. Lemmy speculating it may have been his one night with Girlschool's Kelly Johnson that sent her over to the other team. Hawkwind's noise generator - designed to procure epileptic fits or sudden bowel movements amongst audience members...

Only takes a weekend to read. Two hours if you're on what Lemmy's on.

pour those tunes into the sun nuclear sheen let's get undone

...as heard during Drive on Sydney's highest-rating station, 2GB, this day in August 2005...

Caller, Kris, says she finds it ironic how Islamic extremists will murder and commit suicide for their countries but not actually live in those countries. Presenter Philip Clark agrees and suggests they like cable television. Kris says she likes living in 'Christianity land' where there is air conditioning.

 

In a country where rugby union is the dominant religion it's hard for any other sporting code, let alone Allah, to get a look-in from the NZ media. Nicknames help - joining the All Blacks there are the Black Cap cricketers, Silver Fern netballers, Black Fern female rugby players, Tall Black basketballers, All White soccer players (slightly unfortunate neo-Nazi implications there perhaps) and more.

But right now Dregs From Darlo is proud to offer muchos favourable media coverage to the elegant, the dashing, the daring... NZ BADMINTON team! The self-annointed Black Cocks. 

The mighty male members' battle with Australia continues.