Didja feel that one?
Well, did you?
More info once every other man and his dog stops hammering the GeoNet website.
Update. Well, there ya go: a 4.8 shake, focal point 50km deep, 30km west of Porirua, out in Cook Strait. A decent rattle.
(And if you did feel it, report your experience here. Do your bit for science.)
The Cook Strait Rollercoaster Ride
Shot by an ex-workmate of Wellingtonistas Tom and Noizy, presumably spread by the magic of email, and now shared to the world thanks to someone in the UK, here’s some footage to rival that of our previous YouTube hit ‘Classic Landings at Wellington Airport’.
This time it’s some serious weather doing its thing in Cook Strait, with the captain of the ferry Suilven deciding no gigantic swells were going to stop him from getting his freight and passengers to the South Island. Much, one thinks, to the horror of his passengers, who probably spent most of the trip in white-knuckled terror as the ship pitched and yawed its way across this particularly hostile stretch of ocean water.
Details on just how horrific the weather conditions (and a few stills of the Suilven making its way over some mountainous waves) can be found at the MetService site.
[hat-tip: spare room]
Bloggies 2007
As both Mike and Wanda have pointed out, nominations for the 2007 Bloggies are now open, but close this Thursday (NZ Time). Feel free to nominate the Wellingtonista in the ‘Australia/NZ’ and ‘Group’ categories, and likewise any of the other worthy Wellington blogs you see listed on this site, particularly those found via our About Page.
First Wii Fatality
Some nice viral internet action is going on over at Webweaver, with the ‘First Wii Fatality’ video she was involved with making, getting close to 70,000 views at time of writing…
Here’s some background…
Last week Ross spent a few hours making a couple of paper Wiimotes, with all the features printed on the paper, which he cut and shaped to match the real thing. He packed the three-dimensional shapes with tissue paper to give them a bit of strength so they wouldn’t collapse when held, and put a coin in the end of the one he was going to use, to weight it. He attached the other one to the back of Brian’s shaven head, and decorated Brian’s skull with tomato sauce (which sadly didn’t end up in shot because it was on the wrong side!).
Bar None
Well, he’s done it. Wellingtonista Tom has completed his mission to visit every bar in the central city, with all these fine establishments hosting our roving martini expert at one time or another…
Arbitrageur, Arizona, Atlanta, B4, Backbencher, Ballroom, Basement, Beaujolais, Big Kumara, Bisque On Bolton, The Black Harp, Blend, Blondini’s, Blue Note, Bodega, Bohdans, Boogie Wonderland, Boulcott St Bistro, Boulot, Breakers, Brewery Bar, The Bristol, Brix, Bull & Bear, Cabaret, Calzone, Cambridge Hotel, Capitol, Caronia, Caucus, The Cavern Club, Chameleon, Chicago, Chow, Club K, Concrete, Confidential, Copita, Courtenay Arms, Coyote, Crazy Horse, Cue Room, Curve, Dockside, The Dog & Bone, Dojo, Downtown Local, The Dubliner, Eclipse, Electric Avenue, Endup, Ernesto, Establishment, The Feathers, Ferrymans, Floriditas, Flying Burrito Brothers, Gibbon’s Bar, GoGo, Good Luck, Green Room, The Grill at Duxton, Happy, Harem, Havana, Hawthorne Lounge, Hope Bros, Hotel Willis Lodge, Hugos, Hummingbird, Imbibe, Imerst, J’aime Bordeaux, Jet, The Jimmy, JJ Murphy’s, Juniper, Kazu Yakitori and Sake Bar, Kitty O’Shea’s, The Lab, The Lab Underground, The Last Supper Club, Latinos, Leuven, The Lido, Liquidate, The Loaded Hog, Logan Brown, Lone Star, Lone Star Lounge, Lovelocks, The Malthouse, Matterhorn, Maya, Medina, Mercure Terrace, Mercure Willis, Mercury Lounge, Mezzaluna, Mighty Mighty, Milk, Mini Bar, Ministry Of Food, Mixjah, Mojo Invincible, Molly Malones, Monsoon Poon, Motel, Museum Hotel, MVP, Occidental, The Old Bank Bar & Café, One Red Dog (Blair St), One Red Dog (Kumutoto), Orchid Lounge, Our Bar, Paradiso, Paramount, Parlour Bar, The Pit, Pod, Ponderosa, Portland Hotel, Pravda, Rain, Red Square, Sandwiches, San Francisco Bathhouse, Scopa, Seam, The Shack, Shed 5, Shooters, Sojourn, Southern Cross, Speight’s Ale House, Spice Island, Sports Cafe, Stadium Bar, Stellar, St Johns, Sweet Mother’s Kitchen, Syn, The Tasting Room, The Thistle Inn, Toast, Trax, Tupelo, Urbane, UU, Valve, Vespa Lounge, Vintage, Vivo, The Wellesley Cafe, Welsh Dragon Bar & Scorpio’s, Whitbys Piano Bar, Zibibbo, Zing
Tom needs a new challenged for 2007, so head over to WellUrban to make a suggestion.
But, the gutters are part of Aotearoa!
Ben Hana, aka Blanket Man, and the inaugural Wellingtonista Wellingtonian of the Year, has been ordered to stay out of bus lanes, after complaints that he was sitting in the middle of Dixon St, forcing buses to steer around him.
Blanket Man remains adamant he will not obey the court order, claiming that the bus lanes and adjoining gutters (where he also spends a fair amount of time) are part of Aotearoa, and that, to quote him: “I represent the whanau of Aotearoa”.
This case follows another brush with the law in September, when Ben was cited for drink-driving. His defense that time was equally inventive, this time claiming that the vehicle he was driving was not a car but a “waka”, and thus he was not bound by normal road rules. Not surprisingly he lost the case, but not the war, as his punishment of community service was unable to be enforced, as he had no suitable footwear to complete the work in.
[hat-tip: somewhere along the way…]
Ghosts at Futuna Chapel
Andrew Brettell, theatre visuals designer extraordinaire, turns his hand to something a little more ethereal this weekend, when he’s planning to ‘haunt’ the renowned Futuna Chapel up in Karori. Just what this entails we’re not sure, but there’ll almost certainly be a few ghosts floating around the place, and there’s also a talk at 8:30pm each night from Nick Blake about the chapel’s architecture.
When: Fri Dec 15th – Sun Dec 17th, 10am – 10pm
Where: Futuna Chapel, 62 Friend Street, Karori
How much: Free!
[Hat-tip: No Right Turn]
What has happened to the youth of today?
Brilliant. Some generous soul has started transcribing Ronald Smythe and H. Westfolds’ “letters to the editor” to a blog.
Between them, Westfold and Smythe have cornered the market on curmudgeonly grumpiness, making their output, naturally, some of the best comedy writing to be found coming out of our fair city. Says Smythe…
What has happened to the youth of today. It is a rare occasion indeed when I am shown politeness and respect by the younger age groups. Good manners have flown out the window, along with dress sense and decency.
I presume today’s public schools are partly to blame, although parents are no doubt shirking their responsibilities also.
…and H. Westfold, channeling, it would seem, Grandpa Simpson…
Your March 15 item about that lovely 1963 Studebaker and its manufacturer evoked memories of my adolescence in the late 1940s. You see, it was Studebaker which pioneered the “New Look” analogous to that of women’s fashions just then. It was in late 1947 or early 1948 that just a few of the latest Studebaker model appeared on our Taranaki roads, one of those cars being owned by a farmer near my hometown, Inglewood. For a short while, their profile made heads turn – a car’s front and rear ends both looked like front ends as we’d known cars for many years!
…and so on.
Read more at the aptly named I am of the Opinion.
[Hat-tip to Alan for actually un-earthing this.]
Crazy Intersections of our time: #31
This week, the stretch of Adelaide Road where it intersects with Britomart Street/Herald Street, and then, a little further up the road, with Luxford Street.
As you can see on our hastily assembled little map on the right there, North-flowing traffic splits into two lanes once it gets past the Britomart/Herald intersection, so right-turning traffic gets its own turning lane into Luxford.
Now, this would work fine if there weren’t a couple of 5 minute parking spots (outside a dairy) in the straight-ahead lane (photo 2). Cars parked in that 5 minute spot (indicated by blue in the graphic) act as a roadblock, so once the turning lane hits a red light, traffic quickly backs up to the point where no-one can actually get into the straight-ahead lane (photo 3).
Wellington Lions set to Roar
…and if I had a cent five cents ten cents for every time that pun has been used…
Anyway, the Wellington Lions are indeed headed North this weekend to take on Waikato (who, like Hadyn in his Dropkick’s guise, doesn’t have an ‘official’ nickname) in the final of the NPC Cup. There they’ll be confronted by a very in-form team, a stadium full of fantical cowbell ringing Waikato supporters, and their own capability to implode in spectacular fashion.
Wellington haven’t won the NPC tournament since 2000, and Waikato fourteen years back in 1992 (the only time they’ve won it, in fact). Ominously though, it had been fouteen years since Wellington won their last trophy, and in this year’s round-robin play, Waikato were convincing winners over the Lions.
So, whadda we think? Are Wellington up for it? Will the fast and flashy Lions turn up? Or the bumbling and clueless Wellington team that occasionally takes their place?