Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Convoluted versions of history from Dargaville


I have the permission from my friend Liz to post this here, in mirror to her own post over at the Mad Bush Farm blog (where there's a better res version), and do so in support of her and the rest of the concerned historians and history buffs who dare to speak up about the trend toward alternative "histories". There's more at Reading the Maps. I had my say about the editor of "Dargaville Online" who, it would appear, likes to accuse critics of anonymity, while using a pseudonym himself. 

Great work, Liz. Keep it up!

[Update: 18 December 2010] Unfortunately, and mysteriously my opinion and comment, revealing what I had found out about McDonald's post and that it had originally appeared as an editorial in his "Dargaville Online" newsletter on 13 November 2010, seems to have been deleted from the Reading the Maps blog. Six days after publishing the newsletter issue, "Dargaville Online" repeated the editorial on the Dargaville site here. Sadly, it's created some unfair confusion between John McDonald's "Dargaville Online" and the community newspaper the Dargaville & District News, who are not involved in this latest dust-up.

15 comments:

  1. Hi Lisa thanks for the support on this. Anyone could have picked up that article as we both know on the internet and instead there it was on a website with the conspiracy theories. Crazy.

    By the way I'm missing my 10 metre high Moa Transmission unit seen it walk by at all. Last I heard it was down at the Viaduct living it up.

    The day they prove in the archeological record these claims of Greeks, Spanish and Portugese then perhaps I'll believe them. For now it's utter rubbish in my view

    PS watch out for those evil historians they're..dangerous...

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  2. We've hidden the Moa. If all this blows over, it might make a great auction on Trade-Me.

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  3. Darn! It means I'll have one less Moa Transmission station to use now. If you need me I'll be off conniving with an evil archeologist at the Kaihu Pub waiting for the next Moa to walk in

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  4. It's your fault leaving it down here. You know what us evil Aucklanders are like, plotting our next critique session based around Dargaville and environs. We'll need some tea-and-bikky money for the next dark plotting session. Can't have plotting sessions without tea and bikkies. That's against the Code.

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  5. Since scientists have found Moas used to fly the damn silly things are determined to take to the air once more just to prove that if Icarus, who leisurely fluttered over from Greece, could do it, so can they.

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  6. "Since scientists have found Moas used to fly ..."

    Oh good lord, that's as bad as the consequences of crossing pigeons with cows ...

    If they had jerry-rigged wings like Icarus had, that's even worse consequences ... unless the crash-landing happens somewhere near Noel Hilliam's house. And the moa's bearing a "Made in Greece" label. Let the fun begin ...

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  7. If they had jerry-rigged wings like Icarus had, that's even worse consequences ... unless the crash-landing happens somewhere near Noel Hilliam's house. And the moa's bearing a "Made in Greece" label. Let the fun begin ...

    Ah not my Moas they were made by the Aliens.

    Meantime on Reading the Maps an Anon is asking who wrote this post. Heh your name is there? HELLO!

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  8. Whereabouts was that, Liz?

    By the way -- no new issue of Dargy Online, last before Christmas? Mr McDonald havin' an early festive season, is he, after putting his spoke into the debate and stirring all this up? Jolly good for him. Happy Lenaia festival, Mr McD. Careful of all those Wild Women ...

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  9. Sorry the comment disappeared Lisa - it certainly wasn't due to any intervention on my part! I'll stick your comment at the top of my post as it clarifies things. I don't think that the editorial was originally credited to Dargaville on-line: am I right in that, or did I just miss the name?

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  10. Hi Maps,

    No worries. All a case of Blogger indigestion, I reckon!

    I think you did miss the bit pointing to McDonald. The name beside the 19 November editorial on the Dargaville website you spotted is given as "Dargaville Online". Which made me have a think, and then check back on Mr McDonald's publication. I found the 13 November issue, two days after the dust-up, and lo and behold -- there was the same piece!

    McDonald obviously posts to the Kauri Coast website. "Dargaville Online", I note, has made previous posts there. All under a pseudonym!! So -- yes: although he seemed conciliatory to you by email after the senior citizens award debacle, I have my doubts as to true intent. How, for example, could he spout on about "Reading the Maps" being anonymous, when he actually emailed you?? Bizarre on bizarre ...

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  11. I like the drawing, btw, Liz - they're getting denser and denser and achieving an effect a little like that of the canvases of Cy Twombly or the paranoid novels of Thomas Pynchon, I reckon - conspiracies within conspiracies and walls behind walls and all that...

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  12. Thanks Maps. I'll copy your comment across to Liz's blog.

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  13. Hi Lisa and Scott thanks for the copy over onto my blog Lisa awesome

    Scott I've viewed Cy Twombly's works fascinating to say the least. Conspiracies within conspiracies and walls behind walls that includes the evil archeologists secret beer fridges. They have triple setups then conspire to nick off with the entire years supply of home brew every so often.

    Well I'm off to find that missing moa those AUCKLANDERS have swiped. Heh heh heh

    Cheers guys
    Liz

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  14. LOL this is like Days of our Lives.... done my head in...i started to read and got lost...however...you are all clearly having fun and i'm enjoying seeing that! :D

    Cheers
    Sandy

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  15. T'is indeed like that, too right, Sandy. "And now, as the sands pass through the hourglass ..."

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