Take Pam Ayres, add a dollop of Cosmo Magazine, a slurp of Ruby Wax, a pinch of glitter, a good splosh of silliness and a nice sturdy bra and Voila, you have The Hot Pink Poet. After writing a weekly column for four years on various New Zealand Websites, I've foolishly decided to go it alone. Stay tuned for reviews, articles, poems and ramblings of a pink nature. Arohanui Penny Ashton
Sunday, August 16, 2009
You tell me I look good….
For 35
And I tell you to go fuck yourself
I mean of course it’s nice to be told that I look good
But you say 35 like it’s amazing that I’m Alive
That any minute now a blood vessel in my brain will burst
Rigor mortis posing me in my hearse in my last act of knitting booties
Beloved lawn bowls timetable clutched to my chest
Which now rests at my knees
Sent there with the velocity
Of age
A tattoo of my favourite zimmer frame adorning my skin which resembles a leather suitcase from 1927
Oestrogen levels at minimum
Osteoporosis, necrosis, Alzhemiers, Parkinson’s closing in
Metabolism plumbing the depths and plumbing well let’s just say… inept
A road map of varicose veins solidifying in my remains
At 35
And we wonder why women disappear from our TV screens once they’ve been smacked about by 4 decades of misogyny
Alpha Male can bang on til he’s blue in the face and little blue pills are mandatory for banging the intern for his trophy case.
Bruce Forsythe is 81 and hosting BBC TV, born in 1928, when JFK was elected he was 23, When Charles and Di got married he was 53 and when his co-star was born, he was 43
People say Mick Jagger is still sexy and Keith Richards looks like an SUV did burnouts on his face
But it still graces the cover of rolling stone, no photoshopping required just an a glowing tribute to a man who has inspired a thousand riffs
And I’m not taking away from this
I just wonder where Wendy Petrie will be when she’s 80
Why Judy Bailey was removed at 53 despite massive popularity
Why there are not really any female presenters on C4 currently
Why radio shows never boast 2 females and one male generally
And why Jason Gunn is the host of every fucking thing
I saw a 94 year old woman in a documentary recently
That means she is 59 years older than me
And I’m looking good despite my age?
Newsflash …..women do not disappear at age 50
I’ve got a hell of a lot of living left in me
So thank you for saying I look nice, but ditch the coda
Lose the addendum, the footnote and start over
You may think you’re complimenting me but you’re not
Because I know I look good….but I look good fullstop.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
On the possibility of a suitable mating
I have decided to abandon all internet dating
And all maternal advice
Instead leaving the remainder of my life
To be written by Jane Austen
Then I can abandon all thoughts of what’s in
Store for my nuptial match
And place all faith in the fact that
Although I’m penniless with a meddlesome mother
And all the family fortunes have gone to my half-brother
I’m charming and actually quite bright for a girl,
Skin radiant like a lustrous pearl
Though compared to my sister I’m somewhat plain
I can discuss Ovid, Shakespeare, Madame Bovary
I can cross-stitch and play the pianoforte
And I’ll be one and twenty years again
I’ll not hold a man’s hand unless we are engaged
Je parle un petit peu de Francais
I’ll speak my mind and wear an Empire Line dress
Which will look fine as I’ll have much smaller breasts
And then I’ll spy you at a Regiment Dance
All strapping and breeches, an aspiring Lance
Corporal, who at first sight I am certain is AWFUL,
Stuffy and rigid with a sword in your sphincter
I’d die rather than rely on you to end my spinster-hood
So to clear my head I take a brisk walk in the woods
Where in a manner entirely feminine
I fall and twist my ankle much to my chagrin
Which is a word I’ll use quite often
And just when the F word comes to my lips
Which as we all know is fiddledee fiddlesticks
You’ll swoop me up onto your trusty steed named Triton
On which I’ll perch side-saddle so as not to rupture my hymen
And I’ll suddenly realise you are the one
And that you’re a distant cousin of Richard Branson
With a staggering two squillion a year trust fund
And a gorgeous brother for my sister, two for the price of one
SO we’ll have a combined wedding garlanded in flowers
Dance Cotillions, Reels and the Macarena for hours
And then start on our new no doubt blissful life
You as my husband and me as your wife
A beautiful English Country Scene
But with one marked difference…..
Better oral hygiene

Auckland based Improv troupe ConArtists are delighted to announce the world premiere of Austen Found: The Undiscovered Musicals of Jane Austen for the New Zealand International Improv Festival. They are equally delighted to be invited to this inaugural festival at Bats Theatre and thinks it’s a simply super idea.
Come November 28 the cream of Auckland’s Improv talent will be swooning, romping, weeping and cross-stitching their way through Regency Shenanigans in an entirely unscripted and never before seen, or again seen, hour of Austen excitement. Suitors, meddlesome mothers, breeches, lower classes and surprisingly well educated girls will all paint a vivid picture in song, accompanied of course by the charming pianoforte.
Daintily treading the Bats boards will be veteran performer Lori Dungey, one of the founding players of Theatresports in New Zealand. Lori has performed all over the World and has represented both New Zealand and Canada in international tournaments including the World Cup of Theatresports in Germany in 2006 and was victorious in the Improvaganza Masters of the Universe Tournament in Edmonton in 2003. She has also just returned from yet another stint at OneRing.Net in Germany where she represents for the Hobbits.
Greg Cooper has been improvising from the tender age of 13 and was a member of the Court Jesters in Christchurch before moving to Auckland and Conartists. He is a veteran of hundreds of improv and dramatic performances and has also represented New Zealand overseas most memorably as a member of the World Cup winning team in Los Angeles in 1994. He can also be seen in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe representing for the Fauns.
Penny Ashton also began improvising at 13 when Greg’s team regularly beat hers. She is a comedienne and actor and has performed both Improv and her solo comedy shows in Australia, the UK, USA, Canada, Singapore and Germany. She too represented NZ at the World Cup in 2006 and at the Improvaganza in 2003. She can also be seen in three Shortland St episodes in 2000 representing for the Gynaecologists.
Stayci Taylor is a graduate of the John Bolton Theatre School in Melbourne and has trained with Phillipe Gaulier in London and Paris. She has travelled extensively throughout NZ and the world with improv and also with her comedy troupe The Rhonda Movement. She was a founding member of an all female group in Vancouver called Those Chicks Who Do Improv and is a senior writer for Maori Programming in NZ, recently receiving a complaint that her writing is too saucy, of which she is proud. She represents for the Lesbian Marathoners.
Bats Theatre, November 28th, 7pm
Bookings: book@bats.co.nz
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
ADELAIDE FRINGE FESTIVAL – Pastry Bakery – The Old Balfours Pie Factory, Elizabeth St
Feb 22nd – March 16th (No Mondays) 10.30pm $22 / $18 ($10 Previews Feb 22nd and 23rd and $15 Sunday Nights)
Bookings at Fringe Tix: www.adelaidefringe.com.au or 08 8418 8666
MELBOURNE COMEDY FESTIVAL – Comedy @ Trades – The Quilt Room – Corner Lygon and Victoria St
March 19th – April 13th $22 / $18 (No Mondays) 9.15pm ($10 Previews March 19th and 20th)
Bookings: https://www.comedyattrades.com.au/ or (03 9659 3569 Noon - 6pm Tuesday – Sunday)
Monday, January 07, 2008
So I'll dispense of that now, here's some poetry:
For the holiday season next year
I think I'll just save time
Fill a drip and IV with Festive Cheer
And shoot it up mainline
And another malaise of this season goes like this:
It’s official there is no god
If there was a benevolent one
One who watched over us and secured our peace of mind
One who protected us from the daily dealings with the devil
Then at no time would any woman
Ever have to go
Swimsuit shopping
Yes well, I do need a new swimsuit and believe I found one online. When you are blessed, as I am, with Kate Mosses missing bits from her breasts, finding a swimsuit that doesn't make you look like you're polishing your knees with your mammaries is difficult. All the charming, dainty fabulous costumes are wildly unsuitable unless you simply don't care that your areola pokes out the side.
Therefore Bravissimo.co.uk is an hourglass' 20/20 sight perfect shop. And I highly recommend it.
Christmas and NY's were lovely thanks for asking. Christmas was spent with a great family up the Sky Tower, gorging on a buffet and ripping the heads off prawns which is something I have discovered I don't like at all. I don't like having to prepare my own food in a restaurant, I mean the next thing they'll be asking me to fillet some steak and slaughter a Hummus. Honestly.
NY was spent luxuriating in frankly gorgeous weather on the Coromandel at Whitianga and various beaches surrounding. Matarangi was truly stunning, and not only for being the beach that killed Nicky Watson's dog. Poor wee Cricket, but his demise got more media coverage than Benazir A Buto's so enough of him.
NY's itself was spent pogo-ing at Mickeys The Irish Bar at the School Disco. Yep it was all 70's and 80's so we shook our groovethings, were dancing queens (literally) found our Sweet Dreams and Thrilled the locals. I think the younguns were a bit scared of the crazed townies fuelled by Turbo Shandies which are Becks and a Smirnoff Ice in a pint glass. Sounds hideous, tastes just like lemonade and makes you dance like crazy bitches. Sweet.
Back to the real world now of preparing for the Adelaide Fringe and the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Buuuuut I just might make it to the Coromandel one more time before I go.
Here's paradise............
Matarangi
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Lashings of Bullshit
Today in breaking news a man in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 200 lashes
For daring to be seen with a woman who was not his wife
And so was set upon by a marauding group of she extremists with a knife
And forced to perform indecencies, as the woman had become frenzied at the sight of his uncovered knees
It was stated in court that he was asking for all he got, that women can’t be expected to be uninfected by their primal urges, that their deity made them that way and their carnal surges are a result of man’s original sin, because when Adam bit the apple, he got a taste for skin, and his whole existence became consumed by tempting.
When the man appealed, that he was the victim in this case, the judge in her wisdom decided that this disgraceful behaviour shall be made respectable, by the removal of the man’s penis and testicles.
That the “operation” shall be conducted by an elderly man with a rusty tin can, that at its completion there will be a small opening where urine can escape, and that if he ever managed to be married and find a mate, his wife and master shall rip it open at her discretion and he shall take it and be thankful because of his transgressions
When Amnesty International appealed for sanctions to be utilised
To try to stop brutality against men in everyday life
The superpowerful women were in fits, entered free trade agreements and awarded Saudi the Olympics
They then winked at their boy secretaries
Told them to wear tighter trousers to show of their knees
Ordered their husbands a nice bunch of daisies
Then headed down to Sexy Love you Longtime Ladies
For lapdances with solo dads trying to feed his babies
Coz their Mum buggered off to sew her wild oats
Left him stranded and pregnant, battered and broke
And convinced he’s worth nothing just a stupid dumb bloke
Then the superpowerful went back to work the next day
And illegalised Abortion, sodomy and foreplay
And homos and dildos and buttplugs and bi’s
Because their deity told them to despise
Difference
But they congratulated themselves that they were superior to the Arabs since
They never sentenced people to lashes
Just slaughtered thousands in black gold-digging clashes
SO the boys were pinched on their tight little butts, and men were raped because they dared to suggest it wasn’t good enough
That women abdicated control of their bodies
Because they were powerless in the face of hot male totty
And men everywhere suffered and their bodies were sold
And at the Olympics America won 58 golds.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007

Oh my word what you must think of me! Lackadaisical to say the very least but I promise I have a good excuse.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Jet Planes
I love London, the West End, Leicester Square
Covent Garden, luke warm beer
Prostitutes’ postcard’s in telephone boxes
“It’s my blaaaardy right to tewwwworise foxes”
Culture oozing from foot-worn stones
Westminster Abbey packed with famous bones
Page Three buxom bimbo bints
The Thames twinkling with effluent
Strobe lights pumping drum n bass
Diamond geezers, rain for days
The Sun Screams “Prince Willy’s Orgy with Aunty Anne”
The Guardian “Vegan Gay Whales Saved Again!”
The Tate, the National the V&A
Trafalgar, Regent’s, Kew, St James
New Look, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins
Lloyd Webber, Les Mis, a bloody great gherkin
BBC, Top of the Pops, ITV
Posh n Becks, kinky Sex with Tory MP
Millennia Domes of culture ……just waiting there
But you know what, right now, I just don’t care
Coz it’s the first warm nearly summer’s day
And London’s half a world away
From my grassy knoll on Point Chev Beach
Clean(ish) salt water drying off my feet
Sucking on the season’s first Pineapple Fruju
As toddlers in Gumboots toddle in the nude
Ozone's hole plugged by Pohutakawa
Wishing I’d worn my jandals, as I gaze out on the harbour
Munching on milk bottles and jet planes
Smiling in the light breeze, coz it’s nearly summer again.