Wir darn darn darn auf der Autobahn
Okay, so that’s a lame song-lyric pun, but you try coming up with something wittier when you’ve just spent 48 hours chained up in fluffy handcuffs and you’re writing a post about a craft fair called “Craftwerk”. Since this is from the people who brought you BitchCraft, it’s not the usual raffia mafia and dodgy doilies: expect more along the lines of Cleavage Girls buttons, knitted posters for Disasteradio, self-published ‘zines and teddies with entrails. Yummy.
I could try rewriting the press release, but my brain is still busy recaffeinating, and besides, I have to get the candlewax and lipstick off my tux. So, here’s the press release in its entirety.
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CraftWerk is a bi-monthly craft fair featuring the best and brightest of the Wellington craft scene. The inaugural CraftWerk launches at The Paramount Theatre on the 13th of July from 5.30pm.
CraftWerk will feature a diverse range of: art, handmade items, and indie designer fashion, representing New Zealand’s handmade revolution. What sets CraftWerk apart from any other fair is our intention to foster and inspire kiwi crafters without profiting at their expense. Simply think traditional fairs with a twist and you have CraftWerk.
The Paramount Theatre Wellington’s oldest Cinema and now its hottest events venue is where CraftWerk calls home. The Paramount’s lounge bar is stocked with a wide range of beers and wines as well as soft drinks, snacks and Kapiti ice-cream. This relaxing atmosphere, in the middle of Wellington’s hub of entertainment and nightlife, Courtenay Place, allows vendors and shoppers alike a break from the bustle and a chance to absorb the CraftWerk experience.
Connan & the Mockasins @ Slowboat
The ‘next-big-thing’ out of Wellington (if you haven’t heard that before, then you heard it here first) Connan & the Mockasins have just released their debut EP ‘Uuu, It’s Teasy’, and are celebrating with a free instore concert down at Slowboat Records tomorrow (Thu 25th May) from 5pm. For those who have yet to witness […]
Luxxury
Well, it’s all on tonight. If you’re not exhausted after seeing the rugger at not-the-Cake-Tin, listening on National Radio to performances by unlikely permutations of small animals, hearing the pipes calling at the Opera House or seeing some obscure up-and-coming band at what I think is still called Indigo, then Sandwiches has a party night for everyone. Electroluxxe is billed as “TechnoElectroRockHouse”, thus pretty much covering every genre other than dub, jazz and country. You know how it is: you’re with a bunch of people, all with different tastes in music, and no-one can agree: someone likes 80s New Romantic, another one goes for dirty punky electro, someone else likes indie rock and some sad bugger (probably me) prefers 90s techno. So Electroluxxe comes to the rescue with a play list that includes the likes of Duran Duran, Peaches, Bloc Party and Carl Craig. The word “mashup” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Those with especially capacious reserves of energy (and cash) could then explore the most decadent dishes and deranged decor of culinary Wellington or try to track down the latest mystery bar. Here’s a hint: one of the commenters has already got it. Here’s another: this is possibly the only bar to have actually become classier when it was taken over by Brian Le Gros.
Eat and eat and eat some more
At last those of us who are not sportingly inclined have a reason to visit the Cake Tin, and what a reason it is! The annual food show is upon us again, and I hope you’ve been training. There really are few things that match drinking large amounts of tiny little cups of wine and […]
Giblets, grooves and the guards themselves
Many Wellingtonistas have already discovered the goodness that is Kazu: an oasis of dark wood, mind-bending rice-based beverages and unmentionable innards on sticks, tastefully hidden away from the Courtenay hordes. In the unlikely event that beef tongue and chicken cartilage aren’t enough to tempt you up the staircase, Radio Active’s The Jewel School will be […]
NZ Music Month at the Library
Wellington Public Library is getting into the spirit of NZ Music Month with a series of free concerts of the course of this week. Our pick of the bunch is the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, featuring the talents of Flight of the Conchords Bret McKenzie and local songsmith Age Pryor, as well as an ever-expanding […]
Armageddon – down to the event centre…
Wow! Want to meet… Kaylee from Firefly? The very hot Ivanova from Babylon 5? One of the (original) Dukes of Hazzard? and the General Lee? Not to mention this person (no idea who, but I think you’d like to meet her, no? All you have to do is dress up like your favourite sci-fi character, […]
Bunny boiling
Shadows grow longer, leaves turn to russet and fall to the damp earth, and an autumnal chill settles upon our fair city. So what better time to celebrate the new life and fruitfulness of spring?
Yes, Easter is upon us, so we should prepare ourselves for serious contemplation of the greatest miracle of all. Chocolate.
The good people at Truffle are always ready to help celebrate the abundance of nature, or at least the edible portion of it, and they have some special goodies for the season. Bags of Piedmontese chocolate eggs by Venchi are a snip at $14.95 for 135 grams, and they’re also stocking some special items from Wellington’s favourite alchemists of confectionery, Schoc. Those with a farmyard fetish can pretend that they’re in a Cadbury’s ad and gorge themselves on chocolate rabbits and poultry, while aesthetes might prefer the one-off hand-painted hollow eggs. In the same vein as their Christmas bars (real gold, frankincense and myrrh), they offer Easter chocolate bars flavoured like hot cross buns. What sorcery is this?!?
Of course, when one thinks of Easter, one thinks of cabaret. No? Must just be me then. But it seems that others think the same way, since on Good Friday Sandwiches will be home to “Sheba’s Dirty Thirties Cabaret”. Anyone who’s seen one of Sheba’s cabaret performances (such as at last year’s Midnight Burlesque) will know that “dirty” won’t be an exaggeration.
For those who prefer a more sedate cabaret experience, Eateria de Manon (by all accounts the best French restaurant south of Majoribanks St) is having a tribute to Edith Piaf on Sunday night. For $55 you get a three course meal and live music from local Piafophiles Sans Souci. I’m not sure what will be on the menu for the night, but they are known for such dishes as squash and pork trotter soup, brioche-crumbed lambs brains and squid stuffed with wild goat. While those of a sentimental persuasion can ooh and ahh over cutely gamboling easter lambs, isn’t it nice to think that some of us will be eating their brains?
2THICK2 Spell
According to a Creative New Zealand survey (3.5MB PDF) that was released last night, Wellingtonians are over 50% more likely than the average New Zealander to regularly attend arts events. Census data shows that Wellington City has the highest proportion of households that live without a car. So obviously, Wellington is the natural place to […]
Idea city
Who says that Wellington is devoid of intellectual debate? Certainly not the people behind the 7x7 Ideas Forums, who organise regular presentations where 7 people each get 7 minutes to promote, demonstrate and discuss their ideas. There’s no indication on their website of who will be speaking during this series, but the previous series (some […]