Webstock Mini was last night, and for those that weren’t there: sorry. You missed out on a treat.
There was a room full of smart, cool, clever and passionate people; a couple of very interesting headline speakers: Rod Drury on User Centred Design as applied to both Aftermail and Xero.com; and Peter Gutmann on the ludicrous but for real Copyright Amendment Bill [PDF, 1.4Mb] (get submitting – there’s a couple days left); and later, ten others for two minutes each on “How the Internet changed my life”, interpreted rather loosely but very entertainingly.
We were there too: or more correctly 40% of the Wellingtonista collective (because you can’t be called a Wellingtonista and not belong to a collective, right? It goes with the faux left-wing chic of our name, you know). And we had lots to think about. Especially the one of us that was speaking.
Others have already written about last night in a much more structured way. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we’ll link to them instead.
Phewf, that was easy. And a good use of the internet, too.
And then we’ll resort to namechecking William Burroughs as a pathetic excuse for dumping the pooled thoughts of this 40% randomly as follows:
We all know that Wellington is a great place to take photos: its natural beauty, public art, lively street life and eclectic architecture all contribute to a visually stimulating city. The busy Flickr-ers of the Wellington Flickr group know this, and they’ve decided to take their best photos into the real world.
“Online to On the Wall” opens at the Paramount Theatre tomorrow night at 6pm, and runs until the 28th of March.
The genius minds behind Heavenly Burlesque are back again for the Fringe and this time it’s free. Gravity and other Myths is a spectacular outdoor new circus showcase inspired by the stars!
Vist Queen’s Wharf at night this week and you see some of the country’s best new circus, performing on a purpose-built outdoor circus rig, combined with pyrotechnics, spectacular lighting, sound and AV design.
I’ve been promised acts will use fire, trapeze, bungy, hula hoops, dance and object animation, all to the locally grown music of Rhian Sheehan, Module and more. This is proper circus people, not with evil clowns.
Plus here is your chance to run away with the circus in your lunchtime – Wellington Circus Trust are running introductory circus workshops at lunchtimes (12.30 – 1.30) on the days of the show performances.
Gravity and other Myths
Queen’s Wharf, (under the sails)
Wellington Waterfront @ 8.00pm
Thursday 1st – Sunday 4th & Wednesday 7th – Saturday 10th
March, 2007.
Entry by donation / Koha
and bring a cushion
If you’ve had enough of pretending to be Latin American, The Mighty Mighty now give you an opportunity to pretend to be from a very different part of the world with ten days of The Berlin Bonanza.
Much of this appears to involve a highly traditional Teutonic leisure activity: mass games of ping-pong with a country music accompaniment.
If that doesn’t appeal (and why on earth wouldn’t it?) there’s a bewildering array of other acts and activities on offer. Vodka ice slides! Beer and sausage! Polish/German chansonettes! Krautrock! More photos here and here, excited gossip here, and the urban semiotics of cowboy capitalism here.
So, remember how much fun we all had at The Great Blend? Or how much of a crush you have on Martha? How about you combind those two things into one event and come to Webstock Mini on Tuesday night? There are, after all, few venues nicer than the Paramount, and if it’s good enough for the Queen of the Bloggers to pay her own administration fee rather than trying to do the paperwork for the Wellingtonista to cover the $75 cost (it’s amazing how quickly the thoughts of an open bar will get her to pony up), it should be good enough for you too.
The next five weeks are going to be tres busy for the discerning shopper. There are fairs galore. Here is a quick run down:
15th February – Craftwerk is on at the Southern Cross. An almost all new line-up of stalls will keep it fresh and interesting, and it is on from 5-9pm with bands.
17th February – Petone Fair. Jackson St will be chock full of everything from sausage sizzles, bouncy castles and ethnic food, to fab jewellery, clothes and gifts. Starts 10am. I recommend parking along the Esplanade and walking a couple of blocks to the fair.
17th February – The Big Bang is on at the NewDowse. This signals a month of exciting activities. A highlight will be The Real Hot Bitches performing a danceathon at 4pm.
3rd March – The second of the Martinborough Fairs is on. This is a repeat performance of the fair in February, with all the same fabulous food and stalls. It is a great opportunity to scope out some wineries while you’re over the hill. Martinborough Square.
10th March – Gay and Lesbian Fair, Newtown School. An array of stalls and activities. 9am-4pm
17th March – Whoop! Craft2.0 is going to be on at the NewDowse in Lower Hutt. This fabulous fair is the culmination of a month of activities at the NewDowse to celebrate its renovations. There will be the finest craft from around the country and hot bands. More information on this exciting event will be updated every 2 minutes (heh).
TheNewDowse is due to re-open on February 17th. There are exciting activities planned for the 4 weeks following, culminating in da da da dah! Craft2.0.
Craft2.0 is going to be on the 17th of March, and will be a craftacular, a spectacraft, if you will.
There will be bands, and a terrific array of local crafty goodies. I will be there with Babylicious, SuperVery will have fabulous jewellery, magnets and badges, tres talented Sam Broad will have some of his delicious prints and frames, and the original John Campbell t shirts by Hadyn will have a starring role. It is all dead exciting.
If they** are correct then it’s gonna be a weekend of indoor activities this weekend and here at Wellingtonista Towers we are great advocates of NOT sitting around and merely watching the goggle-box.
And so, how could you entertain yourselves, little people under your command and those out-of-town visitors you’ve been supplied with? How about these to get the creative juices flowing:
And if none of these grab you by the fancy parts then check out the following excellent “what’s on” sites
Want to know what the New Year holds? Well, come along to What’s UP – 2007 on Thursday the 24th to hear predictions for 2007 from a group of infallible experts: or “bloggers”, as we like to call ourselves.
A group of more-or-less well-known local bloggers (including the (in)famous DPF, Tom “WellUrban” Beard, techno-prophet Hamish McEwan and Mr Geekzone himself, Mauricio Freitas), will make rash forecasts about the Internet, gadgets & games, business and telecommunications, technology and (my particular field) Wellington & NZ.
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]