An astute and erudite future Prime Minister, Jacinda doesn't waver in her passion and is "relentlessly positive" even when discussing thorny topics.
The diverse audience, hundreds waiting outside (Hunter Centre was chocka), joyously clapped when she spoke optimistically about solving horrible problems.
Jacinda laughed about Annette King's attendence on her campaign trail, saying that she was like an aunty, but Annette said, jokingly, that she felt like the Queen Mother.
This is something to this.
I struck me several times, during my wait for the address, that there was a feeling in the air akin to a royal visit.
Nobody can ignore how attractive and lovely Jacinda is. This is part of her, just another piece, but it is definitely a large aspect if her appeal.
It isn't only her winning smile or her glorious dark hair, it is that thing they called aura. She ouzes authenticity and fun. Her teeth are her tiara.
I get a similar feeling with Kate Middleton. She always has a natural smile and there is no hint of mean girl about her.
As Bernie Sanders showed stateside, positive and polite appeals far more than anger and aggression, when speaking to people.
Jacinda's main promise was to rebuild, not fix but rebuild, the Dunedin Hospital, and not in 10 years but in Labour's first term.
She spoke about surgeries being held-off due to rain and staff struggling with inferior and inadequate tools and conditions.
Like Sanders, she didn't doom and gloom us, she made us look to the postivity of a wonderful new hospital.
Duck boot sighting/shooting (!) in Dunedin!! So rare are these glimpses of Prepdom downunder that I took a sneaky photo. I really wanted to talk to wearer but that would have been a bit sad and pretty pointless really
I'm a Charlotte girl. The Sex and the City straight-and-narrow sweetheart knew a bloody good tailor. Even her running gear had perfect shape, no stretched out tees or bobbly cardies in her 5th Avenue closet.
SATC alludes to her preppy persona, with a flashback showing her in a pink and green Lilly skirt. She is prissy, has Emily Post ettiqutte standards, and worries about "a tea-bag situation." Sister wears a lot of white and you better believe that it is snowy white.
Her makeup is just right, nothing like the garish confections of 'real housewives.' Her brows are groomed but not rectangles. Her type A fussiness understands to work with the curve.
She sells art and studied art history at university. Lisa Birnbach's True Prep, the ultimate authority on prepdom, cites study of art history (and working in a gallery/museum) as a prep career choice.
Whilst tongue-in-cheek, it rings true to these ears. Preps appreciate aesthetics, academic study for intellectual sake, and have a thirst for history. Be it on our walls, in our closet, or around our necks- our love for history and tradition surrounds our daily lives.
Bruce Springsteen at AMI Stadium (21/3/17)
The Boss was a Long Time Comin' to Christchurch but he blast into town like a Wrecking Ball.
Despite the Garden City's quakey concerns and recent fires, Springsteen brought some rhymic relief with My City of Ruins, the city's unofficial post-quake anthem.
An artist of God-like standing- Jon Stewart called him the musical "birthchild of James Brown and Bob Dylan"- people come to a gig like this with very High Hopes (!).
One of the qualities of artists like Bruce is the breadth of their catalogue. A lot of his audience come wanting three things:
*Born in The USA
*Glory Days
*Dancing in the Dark.
It seems as if Bruce has left his audience back in the 80s and they cling to those Glory Days and refuse to catch up with his recent material.
Springsteen's distaste for Trump saw a deliberate exclusion of Born in the USA, conspicuously missing, and I don't think fire-ravaged Christchurch would have appreciated I'm on Fire.
I genuinely see "Born To Run" (1975, ironically too old for his general audience) and "Wrecking Ball" (far too fresh for most fans half his age) as his finest albums.
After watching older Springsteen shows online, I really missed the late Clarence Clemons (saxaphonist ie. the most exciting bit of Born To Run) but his nephew rides that sax like Ella shatters glass. Very good fit.
If the popularity of Augustine (NZ) is anything to go by, Kiwi women would love Lilly Pulitzer!
Kelly Coe's Auckland-based label is overtly fun, flirty, and girly!! all words associated with Lilly.
Coe saw a gap in the NZ market for bright fun fashion and started Augustine with her husband Nathan in 2008.
My Facebook feed is ablaze with "ISO Augustine" and the other lines under its umbrella- Stella Royal (plus size!) and Charlo (casual, versatile pieces)
We are known as a nation obsessed with black and navy fashion, as seen with Nom D and Zambesi, and visitors often comment on this! Before Augustine, the only established designer to use bright colour was Trelise Cooper but her pieces can be pricey.
*Stolen images are Augustine from malletts.co.nz and
bottom image is Lilly Pulitzer from katiesbliss.com
Just like JFK's beloved Camelot, Jackie Kennedy's life was a show, with all the salty tragedy necessary to create her triple-strand Princess America pearls.
She wore his head on her sleeve after JFK's death, but was a secret smoker, and hid all-seeing eyes behind dark sunglasses.
Reviewers are gushing over Natalie Portman's portrayal of Jackie but I found it to be caricature-like and too thickly frosted.
The film's recreation of Jackie's White House tour was a highlight as it showed the artiface of her image and the great trouble she went to to appear so poised. I rewatched the original tour and, as I suspected, her speech was not as cartoonish as the reinactment suggests.
Mica Levi's dramatic soundtrack, coupled with Portman's bold portrayal, painted this film as almost pantomine but much more watchable than the standard cookie-cutter biopic.
(my tea towel, handed down from my Aunt)
