New Zealand’s winners and losers from the week of January 23.
- It was a good week for Kiwi space photographer Max Alexander, who had an asteroid named in honour of his work. Alexander said the exposure was great but he’d still prefer to be paid in cash.
- It began as a bad week for the 20 people who were stabbed with spiked needles at the Soundsplash music festival. However, those people’s weeks got better when it turned out they probably don’t exist.
- It was a good week for people who use tragic natural disasters to lecture their followers about climate change. They were once again right in the most exhausting way possible.
- It was a bad week for the children of the future, who will learn the concept of “1-in-100 year storms” by experiencing them annually.
- It was a good week for fans of Flight of the Conchords, who announced a comeback show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on May 9. Let’s hope it ages better than this one:
- It was a bad week for Willie Jackson, who was asked to introduce the party’s newest MP, Georgie Dansey, but drew a blank when describing her experience and credentials. He eventually settled on: “We’ve got Georgie here, who has a background”.
- It was a good week for the people of Wanaka, who will soon be able to enjoy the exotic international cuisine of McDonald’s thanks to David Seymour’s campaign for greater individual property rights
- It was a bad week for people hoping to build, buy or rent an apartment in Epsom, thanks to David Seymour’s campaign against greater individual property rights.
- It was a good week for Ryan Bridge, whose online morning news show Herald Now is making the leap to Three where it will be renamed Ryan Bridge Today. Finally, media executives are listening to the hordes of Ryan Bridge superfans who think the problem with New Zealand breakfast television is a lack of Ryan Bridge.
- It was a bad week for Labour, who caught heat on social media for blatantly copying design elements from Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral campaign.
Mamdani’s font was based on popular signage styles from local bodegas, so a more accurate New Zealand version might look like this:
