the wellingtonista - a blog about wellington, new zealand

A South Wellington Sat'day of Arts (and Music)

stephen clover — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:39:53 +0800

It's all going on this Saturday afternoon in the southern suburbs. For a start, at Solander; works on paper in Lyall Bay is the opening of the show Near and Far: New prints by Kyla Cresswell and Inge Doesburg.

Black Swan by Inge Doesburg

If any further inducements are required to guarantee your attendance, we have been assured that bubbles will be being served between 1 - 3pm.

Click on the image (above) to view the full invite, including a map to the gallery.

More after the jump

To the Editors of the Capital Times and the Wellingtonian

llew — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:05:46 +0800

A question of comprehension:

A sign saying "Addressed mail only" on a letterbox means:

a) only items specifically addressed to an occupant of the premises to be posted in the letterbox?

b) who knows? Bung the junkmail in anyway?

Please note, we'll be mailing any further copies dropped in the Wellingtonista letterbox (just below the "addressed mail only" sign) back to you without postage. Until it stops.

Free the Weed, Dude!

Hadyn — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:49:25 +0800

What you see here is Mary Jane, the Cannabus. She is "parked up" outside of Parliament for another one of NORML's protests.

So if you're looking to score, I guess, head there. But I ask you, was it just too much of a coincidence that they protested today, the same day as graduating students were marching down the road?

Salivate over Cellar Vate's winemakers' dinners

Joanna — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:38:18 +0800

Remember that time that I went to Capitol for a Serisen wine dinner that cost $85 and was fricking amazing? Well it turns out that there's something similar happening every month at Cellar-Vate, but for only $35! Holy crap! So, in order to investigate this phenomenon for you, my dear reader, my fearless dining companion Karen and I subjected ourselves to six courses of food matched with Clearview wines last night. Oh the humanity.

It's such a hardship to sit down to dine with new people just waiting to become your friends, Rachel from Cellarvate who took the time to explain her menu selections, and two people from the winery to chat to. Food was served on communal plates, and while it wasn't huge amounts of anything, even Karen and I, who do like our food a lot, left satisfied. You need to go to Cellar Vate on Molesworth and ask them to put you on their mailing list so you can come along to the next diner. The menu after the jump.

This Is What it Sounds Like When Nuns Fly

mitch — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:12:00 +0800

For the last few weeks there's been an air of rockin' excitement passing around Capital City... and lots of flights being booked down here from that place up north that houses the Aucklandista. Reminiscing on social networking sites has reached a frenzied peak and the rumours have been proved true - the Hasselhoff Experiment are reforming for a once-only show this weekend in Wellington.
More after the jump....

Fight's The Power

Robyn — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:49:40 +0800

Everyone loves a good apostrophe catastrophe. I was delighted to find this one at a chemist near the train station:

ORLY?

I was thinking maybe it's a product name, like "Dr Fight's Cold & Flu Remedy", but realistically it seems like just another sad case of a horribly misplaced apostrophe.

duz no1 prfrd ne mor?

Bikes free on trains from July 1

llew — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:28:01 +0800

In an effort to encourage people to leave their cars at home, Greater Wellington has announced that from July 1 this year, bikes can ride on trains for free.

At the moment, travelling by rail with your bike will cost you another adult fare.

Sounds like a good idea to us. There is a caveat however, if the train is full, your bike cannot ride at all.

Stuff coverage here.

Electro-rock overload

Tom — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:53:44 +0800

Expat Wellingtonian keytar-toting fashionista sexpots Charlie Ash are back in town and playing at Bodega this Saturday.

There's the usual huge line-up of support acts, including MC Stormtrooper, Trimasterbate and Heat Like Me, who some of you may remember from the recent L.E.D.s gig. They're a little bit Eighties electro and just a little bit late-Nineties techno (not that there's anything wrong with that), and they should complement Charlie Ash's punky lycra-glam just so.

But for those who want their rock with a little less glitter and a whole lot more feedback, Saturday night may be better spent at Happy, where Wellington's favourite post-prog-drone-noise outfit The Stumps take on Melbourne's Elise & Jem and Huttite ambient-art-metal superstars Black Boned Angel. If you're undecided and brimming with stamina you might try making it to both: but good luck trying to find an outfit to suit both gigs.

62nd is better than 63rd

Hadyn — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:27:39 +0800

Motel is apparently the 62nd best bar in the world. Which is nice, though we would've gone there anyway no matter what the rank.

Auckland's Crow Bar was 63rd. And they are the only two New Zealand bars on the list (no luck for the Loaded Hog again!).

I assume the list is this one (although it has Crow Bar at 65), so I'm not sure what kind of authenticity it has. Oh and the number one bar in the world? Baristi in Dubai.

UPDATE: it was definitely the list from that website because TVNZ used that same picture of Baristi in their video.

Dog Gone

Hadyn — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:39:20 +0800

The Dog and Bone pub on Lambton Quay (at best a lackluster fake English Pub, at worst a price-gouging sub-standard eatery) has now gone the way of the Dodo.

Brown paper obscures the windows and this sign has been posted (and photographed with my astoundingly poor quality phone-camera):

For those that can't see it, it says that the "staff at the Dog and Bone would like to thank..." blah blah blah. It continues: "as of May 12 the Dog and Bone has been sold, and is closed."

The message ends with a cryptic reference to the return of a "Wellington Icon". Earthquakes? Bad Weather? Fat Freddy's Drop?

Hmmmm, rampant speculation in the comments I suppose.