Dan Slevin
@danslevin.funeralsandsnakes.net
Gentleman of Silverstream. Writer, broadcaster and sometime CEO. Reviewer of films at substack.funeralsandsnakes.net and RNZ.
Pinned
Here's a quick pinned intro post for all those welcome new arrivals. I'm a film and tv critic for RNZ in Aotearoa New Zealand, broadcasting every Friday on Nights with @emiledonovan.bsky.social, and occasionally as a reliever on At the Movies.
“wasterwater”
November 28, 2025 at 10:40 AM
“wasterwater”
Remember the days when a “cancelled export order” meant you could just buy a leg of lamb on impulse? Piled high they were.
November 28, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Remember the days when a “cancelled export order” meant you could just buy a leg of lamb on impulse? Piled high they were.
At a loose end so I’ll play.
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve been to:
Spandau Ballet
Mandy Patinkin
The Ranchsliders
Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls*
Ry Cooder with Nick Lowe and Joachim Cooder
*I really miss that band name.
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve been to:
Spandau Ballet
Mandy Patinkin
The Ranchsliders
Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls*
Ry Cooder with Nick Lowe and Joachim Cooder
*I really miss that band name.
November 28, 2025 at 4:30 AM
At a loose end so I’ll play.
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve been to:
Spandau Ballet
Mandy Patinkin
The Ranchsliders
Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls*
Ry Cooder with Nick Lowe and Joachim Cooder
*I really miss that band name.
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve been to:
Spandau Ballet
Mandy Patinkin
The Ranchsliders
Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls*
Ry Cooder with Nick Lowe and Joachim Cooder
*I really miss that band name.
As I’ve said here on a number of occasions, this is the “how hard can it be” government and they are finding out but they still don’t care.
Sadly, details are what governing is all about. Not caring about details is why the current government has put us in the ditch.
November 28, 2025 at 4:24 AM
As I’ve said here on a number of occasions, this is the “how hard can it be” government and they are finding out but they still don’t care.
Reposted by Dan Slevin
PickPath has been chosen by Creative Capital Arts Trust (the people behind CubaDupa and NZ Fringe) and Wellington City Council to help encourage active transport options for Wellingtonians of all ages to get to this year’s Glover Park Christmas Market on Saturday 29 November.
1/7
📸Jinki Cambronero
1/7
📸Jinki Cambronero
November 28, 2025 at 1:04 AM
PickPath has been chosen by Creative Capital Arts Trust (the people behind CubaDupa and NZ Fringe) and Wellington City Council to help encourage active transport options for Wellingtonians of all ages to get to this year’s Glover Park Christmas Market on Saturday 29 November.
1/7
📸Jinki Cambronero
1/7
📸Jinki Cambronero
Just finished the final episode of Tangata Pai on ThreeNow. What a great series. Deserves a big audience but I fear it hasn’t had the promotion it needed. Going to review this one with @emiledonovan.bsky.social on RNZ Nights tomorrow.
November 27, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Just finished the final episode of Tangata Pai on ThreeNow. What a great series. Deserves a big audience but I fear it hasn’t had the promotion it needed. Going to review this one with @emiledonovan.bsky.social on RNZ Nights tomorrow.
Reposted by Dan Slevin
There’s a staggering amount of money being spent in Wellington at the moment supporting Avatar (and the Gollum films are recruiting craft crews now). We would be an even more impoverished industry and culture without the rebates.
November 26, 2025 at 10:04 AM
There’s a staggering amount of money being spent in Wellington at the moment supporting Avatar (and the Gollum films are recruiting craft crews now). We would be an even more impoverished industry and culture without the rebates.
Reposted by Dan Slevin
This is the Bond we could have had.
November 26, 2025 at 8:52 AM
This is the Bond we could have had.
I dare Doocey to Google “AI” and “Mental Health”. He’ll see the stories we are reading today about AI encouraging self-harm.
📢 A new AI tool will be a "real game changer in providing faster and real time access to support", says the mental health minister.
👉 Report issues, make suggestions
👉 Report issues, make suggestions
Mental health data won't be misused by new AI navigation tool - minister
www.rnz.co.nz
November 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
I dare Doocey to Google “AI” and “Mental Health”. He’ll see the stories we are reading today about AI encouraging self-harm.
Many users feel like they're looking at an angry little guy. Does this octopus really want to fight me?
November 26, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Many users feel like they're looking at an angry little guy. Does this octopus really want to fight me?
Today was my work Christmas* function.
*We don’t specify a particular end-of-year celebration.
*We don’t specify a particular end-of-year celebration.
November 26, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Today was my work Christmas* function.
*We don’t specify a particular end-of-year celebration.
*We don’t specify a particular end-of-year celebration.
Actually Netflix, not DocPlay. Bloody good all the same.
For once, The Untold Story Of Ed Sullivan really does lift the lid on the life of a man who had the brains and the balls to make it in a profession that would have seemed highly unlikely for someone who had started out as a sports announcer.
#DocPlay #TVReview #WatchNow
https://tinyurl.com/2fe58zr3
#DocPlay #TVReview #WatchNow
https://tinyurl.com/2fe58zr3
November 26, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Actually Netflix, not DocPlay. Bloody good all the same.
This is the episode of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show where Maria the maid is being deported to Guatemala.
November 26, 2025 at 6:36 AM
This is the episode of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show where Maria the maid is being deported to Guatemala.
Reposted by Dan Slevin
In the hawker food markets in Singapore, the protocol is to leave a pack of tissues on your table to indicate that the table is occupied. There are people who wander around selling tissue packages.
November 26, 2025 at 5:11 AM
In the hawker food markets in Singapore, the protocol is to leave a pack of tissues on your table to indicate that the table is occupied. There are people who wander around selling tissue packages.
Pal talking to the editor on Avatar who casually drops that his brother used to be in a band. Were big for a while. Turns out his brother was the drummer for The Revolution!
November 26, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Pal talking to the editor on Avatar who casually drops that his brother used to be in a band. Were big for a while. Turns out his brother was the drummer for The Revolution!
One of the most harrowing documentaries I have ever seen. Crucial to understanding the Ukraine situation.
November 26, 2025 at 4:48 AM
One of the most harrowing documentaries I have ever seen. Crucial to understanding the Ukraine situation.
In NZ you can call your book a number one bestseller just by inviting lots of people to your book launch.
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 26, 2025 at 4:47 AM
In NZ you can call your book a number one bestseller just by inviting lots of people to your book launch.
Pub etiquette: having a beer alone after work at a busy pub. Leave coat on a chair at your table so you can get another beer. Stranger takes table and, when you point out your coat, says “I don’t think that counts.” He has been vanquished but FFS!
November 26, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Pub etiquette: having a beer alone after work at a busy pub. Leave coat on a chair at your table so you can get another beer. Stranger takes table and, when you point out your coat, says “I don’t think that counts.” He has been vanquished but FFS!
Anyone who gets this reference is entitled to comp sub to the newsletter.
“I recall a time when a guy who is now a meat wholesaler and I once emptied a bag of flour into the school air conditioning system during the annual reenactment of the Easter Passion.”
November 22, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Anyone who gets this reference is entitled to comp sub to the newsletter.
Reposted by Dan Slevin
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:52 AM
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Reposted by Dan Slevin
The thing about a mixtape is that you absolutely did not want your crush to make inferences based on your song choice and the extremely important song sequence. But also you absolutely *did* want them to make inferences.
Back when the Deep Magic was written, including REM’s Nightswimming or more than 3 Peter Gabriel OR Indigo Girls songs was code for “I love you.” The tape could be placed in the crush’s locker or “accidentally” left behind in their car, to be experienced in absentia so as not to ruin it.
November 21, 2025 at 9:28 PM
The thing about a mixtape is that you absolutely did not want your crush to make inferences based on your song choice and the extremely important song sequence. But also you absolutely *did* want them to make inferences.
The most expensive streamer I pay for, Sky Port Now, has added another tier. For an extra $5 a month you can get a UHD channel (currently showing the Ashes). The big joke is that they say their current offer is “full HD” but the Phoenix right now looks as crappy as always.
November 22, 2025 at 4:21 AM
The most expensive streamer I pay for, Sky Port Now, has added another tier. For an extra $5 a month you can get a UHD channel (currently showing the Ashes). The big joke is that they say their current offer is “full HD” but the Phoenix right now looks as crappy as always.
Reposted by Dan Slevin
The "liver, fava beans and a nice chianti" line in Silence Of The Lambs is a little joke for psychiatrists in the audience - those foods cannot be consumed with the meds (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) that Lecter is supposed to be taking.
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 6:48 AM
The "liver, fava beans and a nice chianti" line in Silence Of The Lambs is a little joke for psychiatrists in the audience - those foods cannot be consumed with the meds (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) that Lecter is supposed to be taking.
Highlight of my ZMFM career was getting She Bangs the Drums playlisted. Lasted a week.
November 21, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Highlight of my ZMFM career was getting She Bangs the Drums playlisted. Lasted a week.
Aside from the messages on the banners, a reminder that the Kings Cinema on Dixon St was a magnificent edifice, that Wellington Repertory Theatre were promised a venue in exchange for the replacement building exceeding height limits and the site is now a strip club. #progress
Pro-abortion rally in Wellington, 1976.
Photo by Ans Westra.
Ref AW-1512, Te Papa.
Photo by Ans Westra.
Ref AW-1512, Te Papa.
November 21, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Aside from the messages on the banners, a reminder that the Kings Cinema on Dixon St was a magnificent edifice, that Wellington Repertory Theatre were promised a venue in exchange for the replacement building exceeding height limits and the site is now a strip club. #progress