Donald Trump has successfully turned American politics into one giant reality show. There's been high drama, vicious arguments, tweet wars, backstabbing, frontstabbing, outright crazy talk, outrageous guest stars (anyone remember, Scaramucci?) and a never ending succession of eliminations from the White House. Just last week Trump took two high-profilescalps, one of which found out he was fired via Twitter while sitting on the toilet. It's crazy town over there. So thank goodness the fast talkin', highly excitable, occasional Kiwi baiter John Oliver has returned with a new season of Last Week Tonight on SoHo (Mondays, 10.30pm). His genius political punditry is hilarious but he's certainly got his work cut out for him as he tries to make any sense at all out of Trump's ongoing madness.
Blood Ice, synthwave's "first hockey themed slasher soundtrack", has been frozen in place near the top of my playlist since it was released. It's the latest from Jupiter-8, the French musician who makes genre soundtracks for 80s flicks that don't exist but really sound like they should. I'd certainly watch Texas Werewolf, Downtown Justice, Terror Lake or The Dead Squad. Those are just a few albums from his vast discography, all of which are available on his Bandcamp page. These all perfectly recreate that synthy 80s goodness and are full of bubbling arpeggios, thundering drums, driving bass lines and nostalgic melodies. Blood Ice is as good a place as any to jump in. It's dramatic, suspenseful and mixes high octane themes with slasher frights. If you like the sound of Stranger Things, then def check this one out.
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If you're looking for something to do this Saturday arvo but are also keen on not spending a lot of money to do it, then pencil this in. Dream pop star Chelsea Jade and indie rockers Racing are playing a show downtown in Fort St. The best part? It's entirely free. The show is part of the 4 Days of Fashion in the City event and kicks off at 1pm. It's a helluva double bill and a rare chance to see the LA-based Chelsea Jade perform. Race down there.
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Just this week I made the mistake of reinstalling Hearthstone after getting a new phone and needing to fill it with apps and now it's all I've been doing. I hadn't played for a couple of years and I was dubious it would hold my attention. But hot damn was I ever wrong. The game, if you haven't played, is a 2-player card game for your phone or tablet. You have a deck of cards which is full of wondrous creatures and powerful spells and proceed to battle your opponent, which can be either a real person online or the computer if you're on the bus and not wanting to rinse out your data. It's fairly simple to get to grips with but mastery will be a long and winding road as you begin to earn new card packs and start customising your own personalised battle deck. The game's as satisfying, brain tingling and addictive as ever. In fact it's even better than I remember thanks to all the refinements, new single player modes and oodles of new cards that have been added. On top of all that, it's completely free to play. Find it on the app store.
