It is reassuring to know that the salon did not die in 18th century France, gathering together in RL to converse, spar, eat, connect and display our intellectual charms has not gone out of style.  Recently we have had Pecha Kucha, Ignite and more BarCamps than you could throw a pack of PostIt notes at.  Today the open source inclined have been playing with their toys at Software Freedom Day and this week is full of occasions to be witty and pretty and geek (slash nerd).

This week brings Nerdnite#2, another Tuesday night dinner and Webstock will be bring us mini-marvels and the big unveil of the speakers for 2011.

All of these events are non-geek friendly (plenty of room for fraghags), all you need is an eclectic mental diet and a love of creativity and innovation, so don’t be shy.  Nerdnite looks to be taking eclectic to a whole new level with geoengineering, stories, witchcraft, and food on the menu at Bettys Bar this Monday.  It seems the case that people self-identify as geek but get twitchy when refered to as "nerds", well perhaps this word is going to be reclaimed as well if this Nerdnite thing catches on.

Besides, geek appears to be contested term, this week we have had @BR3NDA tooting about privilege and computers:

Tonight at the Burgundy Room at Bodega you can witness the third live outing of a new band fresh from recording their demo.  Be there so you can brag to your friends that you were into them before they hit the big time.  Simon Sweetman doesn’t hate them, so that is some kind of endorsement 😉

The Good Words is made up of:

•  Nik Jarvie-Waldrom – Vocals
• Takumi Motokawa – Keyboard (composition prize winner)
• Mike Duffy – Bass
• Nick Hensman – Drums

These guys are all kinds of awesome, they kick off at 9.00pm with support from Old Time Enemies $10 on the door.  All the dets are on the invite here.

Their bio says it as well as I can:

Take one soul-jazz template, elongate it, daub in bits of funk, traces of pop and the energy of a rock band to create 21st-century Diva blues. Proudly Kiwi, defiantly original and with enough quirk to keep them far from the labels of any particular ‘scene’, The Good Words live in the moments within songs, sidestepping the obvious comparisons by offering just enough spontaneity in the performance, enhancing the crafted tunes. Hooking the audience from start to finish.

[Disclaimer: The author lives with super talented Takumi Motokawa but it ain’t just her that thinks they are shit hot, the demo is getting plenty of play in the office.)

That’s what the calendar is telling us. As is the wind howling through the trees, and shortly, a string of cold south-westerly thunderstorms and gales. Stay classy, Welly Weather God!

Leaving that aside, the our eternal optimism finds expression in the celebration of growing things that is the Spring Festival, to start at the weekend (through to 3 October).

The first event is the annual Otari-Wilton’s Bush Open Day & Plant Sale, which any aspiring suburbanite should be advised to attend early if they want to pick up the really good stuff. Early bird catches the hard-to-find horoeka variant and all that. But even if you’re not a gardener, the ‘Bush is a very nice place for a stroll, especially on Open Days when afterwards you can reward yourself at the sausage sizzle (and the last couple of years there’s been a coffee cart there too).

The recession may be grinding on, but it seems there are plenty of hospitality operators willing to take a bet on a new venture. In recent weeks, we’ve heard of the following (re-)openings and upcoming rumours:

• Keenan’s (formerly New Orleans)
• Wasabi Sushi (formerly Beaujolais)
• Capri (formerly Koi)
• Victorian Ale House (formerly Stanley Rd)
• Ancestral (formerly United Video in Courtenay Pl)
• Ozeki (brand new, on the corner of Tory St and Francis Pl)

The first three have already opened, with mixed results. Capri has had at least one very good review; Wasabi is part of the respected Kazu empire; and Keenan’s … not so much. If any of you have experiences to share about those, or juicy gossip to share about the others, let us know!

So many good things on this weekend. Maybe Wellington’s about to put its head up out of the winter slump….? 

One highlight is art-poppers Xiu Xiu who are playing SFBH with Siamese (Grayson Gilmour) and talented duo Glass Vaults. Phew.

And here’s a girl in an apple. Tickets$26

Creating content on the interwebs is all very well, but sometimes one has the need to express oneself in IRL.

Fortunately the council have forseen this need and erected giant triangles of expression around town. There’s one under the umbrella sculpture at James Smiths Corner, and other by the tripod sculpture down the other end of Courtenay.

So what incindiary messages will we see? People sticking it to the man and/or lady? Telling the politicians where to go?

Or perhaps something charming and delightful.

So, the Canterbury earthquake. Our thoughts are with our friends and whaunau in the area, and we’re so glad that there haven’t been any fatalities *hugz*

But, of course, living in the shaky city of Wellington, it makes us aware of the importance of being prepared should such a big one hit our fair city. Remember – parts of the two roads out of the city run along the fault line.

Resources for preparedness in an earthquake:

• Wellington City Council’s basic preparedness guidelines
• The Government’s Get Ready Get Thru guide
• The Greater Wellington Regional Council’s earthquake information

In the meantime, let’s count our blessings – we have electricity, telecommunications, running water, sewerage and a roof over our heads.