iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

If you see this, post a vampire thag isng Dracula

Yuen Wah as a jiangshi in Mr. Vampire (1985)

pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Finished my 100th book of 2026 the other day, The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate. It retells the voyage of the Demeter in Dracula from the POV of the unnamed Russian captain, who Zárate portrays as a gay man viewing the experience through the lens of the homophobia he experienced.

The cover of The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate, translated by David Bowles. First published in Spanish in 1998, I think it's the first full-length retelling of the voyage of the Demeter from Dracula by Bram Stoker. Several books, comics and movies have done it since.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I'll pick up any book by or about an Aotearoa political figure if it's cheap enough, even if I find them loathsome. Found this one for $1 at a book fair some years ago, and just opened it for the first time. Prebble had recently won the Wellington Central electorate over Labour's Alick Shaw.

The front cover to What Happens Next by Richard Prebble, from 1997. The cover (by caricature artist and former cricketer Murray Webb) shows Prebble with a small crystal ball.

The title page of What Happens Next by Richard Prebble. He has inscribed it:

"To Alick, I read in the paper that you won't buy my book - so I thought I would give you one! I would have you to miss out. Richard Prebble 21/11/97"

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Never thought I'd voluntarily read another book by an economist, but Escape From Capitalism: Economics is Political, and Other Liberating Truths by Clara Mattei was an inspiring & surprisingly breezy read, basically a manifesto for alternatives to austerity. Can't wait to dig into The Capital Order.

A photograph of my copy of Escape From Capitalism: Economics is Political, and Other Liberating Truths by Clara Mattei. The cover is that text in a black font against a yellow background.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

If you see this, post a vampire that isn't Dracula.

A dark-haired woman gazing at a glass of red wine in her hand and saying, "I love this red wine." She's Countess Nadine Carmody, played by Soledad Miranda, in Vampyros Lesbos (1971, directed by Jess Franco).

I'm slightly cheating because this movie is an inverted version of Dracula, changing Gothic night into summery daytime, bats to kites, men to women, good to evil, and in this scene changing the Count saying "I have dined already and I do not sup," (or "I do not drink... wine," if you prefer Lugosi) to the Countess enjoying a wine with Linda Westinghouse, the movie's equivalent to Jonathan Harker.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

New Zealand First has announced a new candidate on their list

Funeral urn with plaque:

Sir Robert Muldoon
25 September 1921 - 5 August 1992
New Zealand First Candidate
2026 Election
Forever Remembered

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Not impressed with the selections made by those luvvies at the Penthouse for "Cult Cinema." A cult movie is something outside of the mainstream, a movie that does things its own way, which most people don't like but the people who do, really really REALLY like it. Not a universally beloved classic.

Penthouse Presents "Cult Cinema" advertising Casablanca (a universally beloved classic), Only Lovers Left Alive (a popular and critically acclaimed indie movie), The Princess Bride (a modern classic) and Fallen Angels (a foreign-language arthouse hit). The big picture advertising it is Janet Leigh screaming in Psycho (another universally acknowledged classic of cinema). No wonder they put "Cult Cinema" in quotation marks.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

How come nobody ever talks about Simon, King of the Witches (1971), which I'm confident I will rewatch at least once every five years for the rest of my life? More character study than horror movie, it's anchored by a literate script by Robert Phippeny and a charismatic performance by Andrew Prine.

Theatrical poster for Simon, King of the Witches, depicting star Andrew Prine in ceremonial robes and holding a knife, over several an unclothed woman (probably Kimberly Hyde) on a ceremonial altar. The movie is far wittier and less horrific than the poster suggests.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Pass it along - please let us see your pfp in its full sized glory. Nancy comic by Ernie Bushmiller where Sluggo decides to become a beatnik.

Nin-panel Nancy Sunday strip

Panel 1: "Nancy by Ernie Bushmiller"
Sluggo: [bored with hands in pockets] The same old thing, day after day

Panel 2: Sluggo sitting with head in hands
Sluggo: I'm bored -- I think I'll become a BEATNIK

Panel 3:
Sluggo: [dressed in dark glasses and a beret, with a goatee] Hi, cute snoot -- tune me in -- I'm way out in orbit

Nancy: [trimming a bush with shears] Is this something new?

Panel 4:
Sluggo: New as dew -- I'm a daddy-o who's in the know

Nancy: That phony beard looks silly

Panel 5:
Sluggo: Who cares about stares from squares? I'm not dumb, chum

Panel 6:
Sluggo: And I don't blab any drab gab -- I chatter hep patter

Panel 7:
Sluggo: Quit that trimmin' -- let's go swimmin' - the pong is brimmin'

Nancy: Okay -- I dig your speech -- let's reach that beach

Panel 8:
Sluggo: Now yer talkin' -- let's start walkin'

Nancy: [throwing down her shears] I'm droolin' fort a coolin' - no foolin'

Panel 9:
Aunt Fritzi: [poking her head out of the house, annoyed] Just try skippin' for a dippin' if you want a whippin' that'll be a pippin'

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

It's May 3, so Happy Dracula Day to all who celebrate! Here's the cover of one of the less-known Draculas in my collection.

The front cover of "Dracula's Spinechillers Annual," from 1982, showing Dracula, a ghostly woman, a guy manacled to a dungeon wall, a raven, a snake coiled around a skull, cultists surrounding a cowering figure, and a gravestone that says, "Scary strip stories to tremble by!"

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Here's the definition of "blurb" from the Penguin Books website. I would expect that Britain's biggest publisher knows what it means in the UK. www.penguin.co.uk/about/compan...

Blurb
The short quote or paragraph of text on the back of a book, giving the reader a flavour of what the book is about, as well as any other information or quotes from other authors/ press printed on the cover. Blurbs can also be used to pitch a book, and can also referred to as ‘cover copy’.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

At the start of his prepared statement, Luxon listed the things he believes he was elected to do. He hasn't actually done any of them. So when he said, "That is what I'll keep doing," did he mean keep not doing them?

"Kiwis elected me to deal with the cost of living, to get our economy back, creating jobs and lifting incomes and improving the education of our kids. That is what I came to Parliament to do, and that is what I’ll keep doing."

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Just spotted a copy at Aro Street Video in Wellington. Turns out it was a specifically New Zealand release rather than an Australian import, that's rare! It puts Freaked in the same category as William Friedkin's Rampage, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and Death Bed: The Bed That Eats.

The front cover of the NZ Hoyts vhs release of Freaked

The back cover of the NZ Hoyts vhs release of Freaked.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

The most terrifying villain of all

The first page of Defenders #33, written by Steve Gerber and penciled by Sal Buscema, depicting a snarling baby deer looking into a crystal ball at the Hulk lying on an operating table surrounded by concerned members of the Defenders.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Clifton Terrace Car Park, run by WCC, no longer takes cash. The website still claims that they do as of this morning. The only reason I used them, instead of the slightly cheaper Wilson one closer to my work, is because I could pay cash. I do not like this transition towards a card-only society.

Sign at Clifton Terrace Car Park saying they no longer take cash, dated 14 December.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

From the linked article. They could make a lot more of this. E.g. asking "if those previous bills were so vitally important, why did you abandon them once the headlines dried up?"

Marcroft’s latest cause

Given that MPs can have only one bill on the ballot at any time, Marcroft’s fireworks bill seems set to replace her existing members bill, the Definitions of Woman and Man Bill – which itself replaced her earlier bill requiring binding referendums on local fluoride decisions. When put forward in April, Marcroft’s gender-definition bill also replaced the short-lived Fair Access to Bathrooms bill, with Peters explaining Marcroft’s bill was a more “comprehensive” approach. At the time, Labour leader Chris Hipkins accused Peters of pursuing “any populist cause” to keep his party in the news and above the 5% threshold at the next election.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Let me throw in one very late recommendation, well outside of the '80s - Loop Track (2023). A very twitchy inexperienced tramper (writer/director/star Tom Sainsbury, usually a comedian) becomes even more paranoid than usual in the bush. Best to know nothing more about this one. Very very low budget.

Poster for Loop Track (2023) shows Tom Sainsbury wearing a backpack and looking rather nervous. The ad line is, "Trust Your Fear."

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

6. Jack Be Nimble (1993). This is unique. Alexis Arquette stars, with a flawless Kiwi accent. It's a wild Kiwi Gothic tale of abuse in foster care, weird gore, a genuinely frightening set of four spooky sisters, weird sibling relationships. Bruno Lawrence pops up again in a very different role.

Poster for Jack be Nimble (+993), my favourite Kiwi horror movie.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

I'm out of '80s recommendations that aren't cheats! Next of Kin (1982) was made in Australia when the Kiwi writer/director teams couldn't get it funded here, and Dead Kids (1981) is Auckland standing in for Galesburg, IL with an American cast & crew. They're both good but not very Kiwi.

Poster for Next of Kin (1982) shows a spooky little girl on the lawn in front of a Gothic aged care home.

Poster for Dead Kids (1981, aka Strange Behaviour) shows a spooky old house, a scared face and a hand wielding a syringe.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

5. Mr. Wrong (1986) A woman buys a car haunted by a murder victim, and is also menaced by a stalker. This one is as much about how some men make life terrible for women as it is conventional horror. The director sells & rents it on her Vimeo page. vimeo.com/271792174

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

4. The Lost Tribe (1984) - this one isn't really a recommendation but if you liked the isolated, atmospheric bush element of Bridge To Nowhere, this has lots more of that. But it's way too long and nowhere near eventful enough.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

3. Bridge To Nowhere (1986). I gather you've already seen this, in which bushman Bruno Lawrence (definitely THE 1980s Kiwi actor) wants revenge on some kids. This one really sells the isolation of being lost in the bush.

The poster for Bridge To Nowhere (1986) showing Bruno Lawrence with a rifle and some worried-looking kids on the titular bridge (which is a real place).

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

2. Death Warmed Up (1984). Truly weird movie combining mad science, revenge killings, zombie mutants, a post-apocalyptic vibe, plenty of gore, etc. I canyon say it's good, but it's unique.

A VHS cover for Death Warmed Up (1984) showing a skeleton dressed as a doctor, about to operate on a woman.

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

1. The Scarecrow (1982), based on a Kiwi Gothic novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, this is the closest we get to Ray Bradbury with a rural coming-of-age tale that has a razor killer lurking. The storytelling is a bit wonky but there are some good atmospheric parts. Not quite a slasher.

The poster for The Scarecrow (1982), which features an ad line taken from the incredible first line of the source novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson: "The same week our fowls were stolen Daphne Moran had her throat cut."

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pearce @pearced.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

The Battle of Algiers is justly getting some attention because of being featured in Paul Thomas Anderson's latest, but writer/director Gillo Pontecorvo's next film Burn! is also well worth a look.