That was the year that was 2005
(RO: Rob O’Neill; MB: Mark Broatch; SS: Stephen Stratford; CB: Chris Bell).
Personal achievement of 2005?
RO: “Joining the diminishing ranks of the unemployed to take up my hobby (fact-checking Sir Humphrey’s) full time.”
MB: “NZBC, and finally making a start on my novel.”
SS: “Am still here — too many friends didn’t make it even this far. Runner-up: Getting closer to nailing the guitar solos in Comfortably Numb.”
CB: “Contributions to NZBC, in particular this one; finishing my short story Shem-el-Nessim, which has taken me over a year to write.”
Event of 2005?
RO: “Probably the London bombings.”
MB: “Happy births and sad deaths, private and public.”
SS: “Winston Peters loses Tauranga, thereby ending years of shame for us locals, and becomes Minister of Baubles. Runner-up: Pink Floyd at Live 8.”
CB: “Hurricane Katrina; 25th anniversary of the death of John Lennon.”
Song of 2005?
RO: “Haven’t really been following that closely, but quite like the Kaiser Chiefs’ one about a riot. It’s got balls.”
MB: “Hung Up, Madonna. Pop genius, shame about the arse.”
SS: “The Ocean, Richard Hawley, from ‘Coles Corner’. Runner-up: Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now by Mitch Benn and the Distractions.”
CB: “The Banality of Evil, Nine Horses, ‘Snow Borne Sorrow’.”
Person of 2005?
RO: “David Hicks’s dad. He’s lucky to have him.”
MB: “Peter Jackson.”
SS: “A tie between Helen Clark and Rodney Hide, who both did the seemingly impossible. Runner-up: Bob Clarkson, National MP for Tauranga. The man has balls.”
CB: “Rod Donald.”
Book of 2005?
MB: “The Insider, Piers Morgan.”
SS: “Watch of Gryphons by Owen Marshall (Vintage), more short stories from our finest, and one of the world’s. Runner-up: The Insider: the private diaries of a scandalous decade by Piers Morgan (Ebury), hugely entertaining memoirs of a tabloid editor.”
CB: “The Yes Men: The True Story of the End of the World Trade Organisation.”
Anti-climax of 2005?
RO: “The Clash of civilisations.”
MB: “The adventurousness of NZ journalism.”
SS: “Dick Hubbard, mayor of Auckland. Runners-up: the Hong Kong meeting of the WTO and the EU budget. Budget, smudge it.”
CB: “The NZ General Election.”
Mr Stratford was still alert enough at the time of questioning to add to our feeble list ‘Website of the year’ (“The missing category, you fools!”): “Mark Steyn, ‘the one-man global content provider’. Witty, informed comment from the right. He has met the people he writes about and has been to Iraq and Syria, unlike our local experts at the Listener and Public Address. Runner-up: DGM Live, a model music website with diaries, free downloads, chatty news, photo galleries, etc. Everything for the obsessive or casual fan. On the other hand, it’s about King Crimson, which narrows the appeal slightly.”
Happy screggans and best wishes for 2006, from all at NZBC.
Personal achievement of 2005?
RO: “Joining the diminishing ranks of the unemployed to take up my hobby (fact-checking Sir Humphrey’s) full time.”
MB: “NZBC, and finally making a start on my novel.”
SS: “Am still here — too many friends didn’t make it even this far. Runner-up: Getting closer to nailing the guitar solos in Comfortably Numb.”
CB: “Contributions to NZBC, in particular this one; finishing my short story Shem-el-Nessim, which has taken me over a year to write.”
Event of 2005?
RO: “Probably the London bombings.”
MB: “Happy births and sad deaths, private and public.”
SS: “Winston Peters loses Tauranga, thereby ending years of shame for us locals, and becomes Minister of Baubles. Runner-up: Pink Floyd at Live 8.”
CB: “Hurricane Katrina; 25th anniversary of the death of John Lennon.”
Song of 2005?
RO: “Haven’t really been following that closely, but quite like the Kaiser Chiefs’ one about a riot. It’s got balls.”
MB: “Hung Up, Madonna. Pop genius, shame about the arse.”
SS: “The Ocean, Richard Hawley, from ‘Coles Corner’. Runner-up: Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now by Mitch Benn and the Distractions.”
CB: “The Banality of Evil, Nine Horses, ‘Snow Borne Sorrow’.”
Person of 2005?
RO: “David Hicks’s dad. He’s lucky to have him.”
MB: “Peter Jackson.”
SS: “A tie between Helen Clark and Rodney Hide, who both did the seemingly impossible. Runner-up: Bob Clarkson, National MP for Tauranga. The man has balls.”
CB: “Rod Donald.”
Book of 2005?
MB: “The Insider, Piers Morgan.”
SS: “Watch of Gryphons by Owen Marshall (Vintage), more short stories from our finest, and one of the world’s. Runner-up: The Insider: the private diaries of a scandalous decade by Piers Morgan (Ebury), hugely entertaining memoirs of a tabloid editor.”
CB: “The Yes Men: The True Story of the End of the World Trade Organisation.”
Anti-climax of 2005?
RO: “The Clash of civilisations.”
MB: “The adventurousness of NZ journalism.”
SS: “Dick Hubbard, mayor of Auckland. Runners-up: the Hong Kong meeting of the WTO and the EU budget. Budget, smudge it.”
CB: “The NZ General Election.”
Mr Stratford was still alert enough at the time of questioning to add to our feeble list ‘Website of the year’ (“The missing category, you fools!”): “Mark Steyn, ‘the one-man global content provider’. Witty, informed comment from the right. He has met the people he writes about and has been to Iraq and Syria, unlike our local experts at the Listener and Public Address. Runner-up: DGM Live, a model music website with diaries, free downloads, chatty news, photo galleries, etc. Everything for the obsessive or casual fan. On the other hand, it’s about King Crimson, which narrows the appeal slightly.”
Happy screggans and best wishes for 2006, from all at NZBC.
posted by Chris Bell at 9:30 PM
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