Werewolf Edition 21 Now Available! - The Super-Moon Edition

Hi and welcome to the March edition of Werewolf, which focuses on how this generation of students and would-be entrants to the workforce are being burned by economic policies that, in the main, benefit only a small gerontocracy of their elders. As US Business Week magazine recently pointed out, youth unemployment is set to reach epidemic levels in the developed world over the next decade - amidst an ageing population who will expect the same generation to shoulder the cost of the pensions and healthcare they will be seeking in their dotage. No way ! Elsewhere in this issue, we compare a couple of recent court judgements on free speech - from the High Court in Wanganui and the US Supreme Court - and find both decisions have surprisingly similar aspects.

Talking of the US, James Robinson heads into the heartland of Dartmouth, Massachusetts and finds how the US has been coping - now, and back in the 19th century - with the mysteries of cricket. In the process, James shows how the old imperial game of the British colonizers has become an identity marker for migrants from the sub-continent, as they grapple with life in the USA. In Left Coasting, Rosalea Barker completes the triangle of how the earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan have been perceived in California, which has been through its own learning curve about such disasters. Earthquakes - and the humour appropriate to them - are Lyndon Hood's means of escape from earth gravity this month in his satirical column. In a reprinted article, Philip Pullman discusses a disaster of a different kind - namely, the destruction of library services by the rampant free market fundamentalism of David Cameron's Big Society. Back in New Zealand, we discover that Finance Minister Bill English's free market zeal for cutting government services hasn't so far extended to the Parliamentary Library's purchase of crap airport novels for MPs.

This month, regular contributor Brannavan Gnanalingham has two offerings. We feature an excerpt from his recently published travel 'novel' called Getting Under Sail, and in his usual Milestone Movies slot Brannavan analyses the ballet melodrama Black Swan, and contrasts it with a couple of different cinematic treatments of the creative impulse. The Classics children's book column this month features Lynn Reid Banks' highly popular The Indian in the Cupboard - while in The Complicatist music column, we turn the spotlight onto instrumental tracks, from rock'n'roll era one hit wonders to acoustic guitar legends to modern indie rock favourites. (Sorry, no dub - but if we had included it, the emphasis would have been on Niney the Observer and the flying cymbals of Bunny 'Striker' Lee, rather than the omnipresent genius of King Tubby.)

In Cartoon Alley, Tim Bollinger reconsiders the evolution of graphic novels in NZ, reviews Ant Sang's Shaolin Burning and works by the South African underground comics artist Joe Daly - and with many fascinating links, Tim applauds the trails blazed by the manga magazine Garo, and by Osamu Tezuka's classic Vampires story. We also feature images of some massive Soviet era dream buildings that never got built and publish new work by Brent Willis. As always, thanks to Al Thompson for helping me post this online. Werewolf is a thank you to Scoop readers and an outlet for local writers and artists. If you want to be involved, contact me at gordon@REMOVETHISBITscoop.co.nz

Gordon Campbell
Werewolf/Scoop
gordon@werewolf.co.nz

The contents of this edition are:

Failure to Launch
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/failure-to-launch
The government hopes that voters won’t notice its failure to provide jobs for the young
by Gordon Campbell

Away Games
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/away-games
The challenges (and consolations) of trying to play cricket in America
by James Robinson

From Wanganui to Washington
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/from-wanganui-to-washington/"
Free speech can be hard to defend – with a Bill of Rights OR with a written Constitution
by Gordon Campbell

Larceny, Lace and the Legislature
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/larceny-lace-and-the-legislature/"
Does the public realise it is funding the racier reading habits of its MPs?
by Gordon Campbell

Library Carnage in David Cameron’s Big Society
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/library-carnage-in-david-camerons-big-society/
Observations on free market fundamentalism, by the author of the His Dark Materials series
by Philip Pullman

From The Hood : You Have Been Mooned
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/from-the-hood-headline-goes-here/
The Lunacy of Earthquake Satire
by Lyndon Hood

Left Coasting : On Edge
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/left-coasting-on-edge/
Earthquakes, insurance and building codes – home, and away
by Rosalea Barker

Getting Under Sail
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/getting-under-sail/
Tripping on the Third World, a book excerpt
by Brannavan Gnanalingham

Classics : The Indian in the Cupboard (1981)
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/classics-the-indian-in-the-cupboard-1981/
Indians are people, too
by Gordon Campbell

Milestone Movies : Black Swan (2010)
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/milestone-movies-black-swan-2010/
In giving your life to art, the dying is the easy part
by Brannavan Gnanalingham

The Complicatist : Look Ma, No Words
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/the-complicatist-look-ma-no-words/
Doing it lyrically, but without lyrics
by Gordon Campbell

Cartoon Alley : Reviews and commentary #21… Tim Bollinger
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/cartoon-alley-reviews-and-commentary-21-tim-bollinger/
Comix Reviews (Part 1) Tim Bollinger : A brief history of the New Zealand graphic novel, Ant Sang – ‘Shaolin Burning’, Garo
by Tim Bollinger

Cartoon Alley : Reviews and commentary #22… Tim Bollinger
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/cartoon-alley-reviews-and-commentary-22-tim-bollinger/
Comix Reviews (Part 1) Tim Bollinger : ‘Vampires’ by Osamu Tezuka – French edition, Joe Daly
by Tim Bollinger

Cartoon Alley : Reviews and commentary #23… Gordon Campbell
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/cartoon-alley-reviews-and-commentary-23-gordon-campbell/
My Favourite Cartoons (this month) by Gordon Campbell
by Gordon Campbell

Cartoon Alley
http://werewolf.co.nz/category/cartoon-alley/
Reviews, commentary and comics from local artists
by Werewolf

* * * * * WEREWOLF ISSUE 20, February 2011 * * * * *
http://werewolf.co.nz/2011/03/werewolf-issue-20-february-2011/
The February 2011 Edition of Werewolf
by Werewolf

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from Scoop General Manager Alastair Thompson

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