When talking to people, it doesn’t take long before I get asked where I’m from. My thudding American accent, still firmly attached after nearly 20 years in New Zealand, gives it away. “California,”…

An American living in New Zealand, I write whenever I get the urge about life, music, books, comics, movies, and more.

ALT: Mel Brooks: Say What's In My Heart

There were a lot of fantastic comics that launched in the 1980s – your Dark Knights and Watchmen, your Maus and Love and Rockets – but one of the closest to my heart is Paul Chadwick’s …

Mel Brooks from the film “Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!” (HBO Max via AP) The lives of comedians are a funny subject for documentaries, but I find I can’t get enough of them.  R…

Explainer: The government and council are planning to charge drivers for going into parts of the city. Here's what we know so far.

Explainer - HBO Max has announced its prices before its 16 June launch. How does it compare to competitors, and which streamer is right for your home?

Doctor Doom is, of course, the greatest comic book villain of all time.  Forget the Joker or Darkseid – both way too overexposed – or figures like Catwoman, Magneto and Loki, who’ve all…

Explainer - A new bill would define gender in the law, and there's a month to make public submissions on it. Here's how.

Australia is far weirder, bigger and louder than compact little ol’ Aotearoa. I love the place, but it always seems like the swaggering older brother.  The gloriously profane and funny TV series De…

For a band that’s been making hit records for over 50 years, Sparks still feel a little bit underrated.

Explainer - Everybody knows what a stalker is. But until this month, it wasn't officially a crime. What will that mean?

Explainer - Where can you get your flu vaccine this year, and what will it cost? Here's what you need to know.

May is New Zealand Music Month, and as always, I’m all for celebrating the towering cultural footprint little ol’ Aotearoa has made in the music scene with everything from Flying Nun Records to Lor…

When I was an ’80s kid, I guzzled down all the sci-fi that was coming our way. Star Wars was king, of course, but I was also all about Flash Gordon, Battlestar Galactica, V, that scary adult …

Explainer - You're reading this in English right now - but should English be an official language? Parliament is soon set to decide.

Explainer - Could government reforms lead to increased development in the ranges? Here's why locals are concerned.

The Human Fly’s brief run in Marvel Comics never really got a lot of buzz back in the 1970s, but I still have a soft spot for this oddball stuntman-turned-comics hero. The first issue – relea…

Explainer - What's going to happen in America after Trump? A former National Party leader says the 'MAGA' movement may continue.

Friends, romans, countrymen – brace yourself – it’s time for Amoeba Adventures #38, the latest issue of the small press comic series I’ve been bravely publishing on and off ever since 1…

Explainer - Has climate change made weather forecasting harder to do - and how is technology changing the game?

Explainer - Who decides who's a broadcaster, and who regulates the media in New Zealand? It might all be about to change.

In an effort to be cool, I watched a fair bit of Coachella streaming on YouTube over the weekend. There’s an awful lot of bands an old geezer like me doesn’t know, to be honest, but there were stil…

Explainer - A third of the city's recycling ends up in a landfill. What are we doing wrong, and how can we fix it?

I’m so damned jealous of John Darnielle. The Mountain Goats, Darnielle’s band, have been one of my favourites for years, and like all the best artists, I’m kind of astounded at how on earth he does…

I’ve been a journalist for more than 30 years now, and even as I work these days for the website of the national radio station here in New Zealand, a healthy dose of printer’s ink still flows in my…

Explainer - What is the 25th Amendment and could it be used to remove a US president from office?

Explainer - As the war in Iran enters its second month, New Zealand is feeling the pinch at the petrol pump. But what other everyday items could face possible shortages if the conflict escalates?

Explainer - Cocaine isn't cheap, but its use is skyrocketing in New Zealand according to new figures. What's driving the snowstorm?

…And so I was off in Tasmania, perched at the hinterlands of Australia, an inverted triangle hanging over the far-flung reaches of Antarctica thousands of kilometres south. If New Zealand feels nea…

Explainer - Pain at the pump is rising, but you still need to drive. How can you get the most out of your petrol tank? Here's some options.

From the very first Prometheus strip, March 11, 1986 “People have been so busy relating to how I look, it’s a miracle I didn’t become a self-conscious blob of protoplasm.” – Rober…

Frankenstein’s Monster is dead, but he’ll also really never die.  I love it when a character hits the cultural level of a Sherlock Holmes or a Batman, and can be endlessly reinvented for new e…

Explainer - The world is an increasingly dangerous place. What do you do if you're caught up in a conflict like the one raging in Iran and the Middle East?