Long to reign over us

60 years. 12 British Prime Ministers, starting with Winston Churchill.  35 Royal Variety Performances. Countless hands shaken and shoulders tapped with swords. I think we can agree Queen Elizabeth II has performed some onerous duties in an exemplary fashion.

She will never write an autobiography (much to my disappointment – what tales that woman must have to tell), but her well-documented life is featuring in some lovely books in her Diamond Jubilee year.

I’m particularly looking forward to Elizabeth: her life, our times – it even includes Her Majesty’s Christmas messages through the ages. If you dozed off during any in the last 60 years, here’s your chance to catch up.

A Flat City – Cool stuff for NZ Music Month #2

Local radio station RDU 98.5FM has produced a documentary podcast series called A Flat City.

It’s a fascinating piece of work produced by Jonny Pipe, interspersing music with personal stories and observations. It is all pretty frank and honest stuff:

A Flat City records the impressions and experiences of Christchurch’s creative community following the February 2011 Earthquakes …  Covering 13 episodes, A Flat City covers the emotional, social, financial and creative aspects of the disaster, highlighting the creative responses of those affected, and discusses the rebuilding process from the alternative/creative community’s perspective.

Here is episode 1 – on Country downbeat and the Lyttelton scene
RDU 98.5FM A Flat City Documentary Episode 1 – Country Downbeat And The Lyttelton Scene by Rdu on Mixcloud

Listen to more episodes on Mixcloud.

More NZ Music Month:

• Find out more about New Zealand music stuff
• Explore NZ Music Month events at Christchurch City Libraries
• Enter our NZ Music Month competition and go into the draw to win an iPod Nano.