Tag: Spotify

  • The New Zealand Gown of the Year

    Between 1960 and 1964, in the Spring of the year, a trail of silver caravans travelled across New Zealand on behalf of “gaiety and glitter, chandeliers and champagne”. The New Zealand Gown of the Year Contest was truly “Fashion on Wheels”, the name splashed across the caravans. It took glamour across the country, although it…

  • The Spotify playlist

    Each week a playlist of audio is curated on Spotify. The playlist reflects the items on the blog, although sometimes the link may be somewhat obscure! To listen click on the player above or search for “Music to read a blog by” in the Spotfy app or website. If you are pay for a subscription…

  • Releasing kiwi

    Kiwi are the icons of Aotearoa New Zealand but, like many of the native birds, are in danger from introduced predators. Since people arrived in the country, kiwi have been under attack. Although they are a taonga (a highly valued treasure) and their feathers were used in the making of kahu kiwi (Māori kiwi feather…

  • What is on Spotify this week?

    This week the playlist features… Southern Alps by Gary Daverne Gary Daverne is a composer and conductor with the distinction of being New Zealand’s most prolific arranger and composer of music for accordion. This piece, Ka Puke Maeroero, is a tone poem that evokes the mountains of Te Waipounamu/ The South Island of Aotearoa. Driving…

  • This week’s playlist

    Each week a playlist of audio is curated to go along with the blog. The entries on the playlist have something to do with the articles on the blog although it is not always obvious what that link might be. To listen click on the player above or head over to Spotify and search for…

  • The listening tracks this week

    The playlist this week features: Safari by John Barry. British composer, John Barry, was known for his prolific output for film music. This track comes from Out of Africa, the cinematic rendition of Karen Blixen‘s famous memoir about her life in East Africa in the first decades of the Twentieth Century. That Happy Feeling by…

  • Spotify – the playlist

    Each week a curated playlist of audio goes along with the blog. A separate blog post about has been reinstated this week that describes the tracks and why they have been included in the list. Paying subscribers to Spotify, the platform that hosts the list, can hear all the tracks by clicking on the player…

  • The Safari Suit

    I am looking to add a 1970s safari jacket or suit to the textile collection. This iconic piece of fashion history has mostly fallen out of favour but was once sported by film stars, royalty, men and women. If anyone knows where I can find a vintage one made locally please get in touch.

  • The blog this week

    This weekend we are going to a high-country farm, Mount White Station, for a tour of the operation and to meet some of the people who work there. Mount White is in the central part of the South Island, roughly midway between the East and West Coast and lies across the Waimakariri, a river that…

  • Black History Month

    February is Black History Month, a celebration that is marked by the birthdays of famous abolitionist Americans: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Black History Month is recognised in the North America, Europe and Africa, and in the USA the annual event has a theme. This year it is “African Americans and Labor“ The music, fashion…