BOOK REVIEW: Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg.

The Auckland Festival launched this week with a couple of great shows – one an international pyrotechnics group, the other an innovative Pacific theatre troupe.

John Key has paid tribute to Ralph Hotere (81) who died earlier today.

Ending one of the longest-running commercial deals in music history, Sir Paul McCartney has terminated his contract with EMI.

The musician has been with the UK-based label since the 1960s, with EMI releasing both the Beatles’ and Sir Paul’s solo work.

Sir Paul is believed to have been unhappy with Terra Firma, the troubled private equity company that borrowed billions to buy EMI – and which recently breached the covenants of its teetering $US4.1 billion loan deal with Citibank.

May 22nd

While there was a lot of sluggish bidding at the latest Art + Object sale there were some reasonable sales with most works getting close to the expected reserve although there were a few which were passed in while some only just managed to make it.