Te wiki o te Reo Maori is drawing to a close, with the finale being held at the markets on the waterfront this Sunday. This year’s theme is ‘te mahi kai’ (the language of food) and what better place to celebrate than the food markets on Wellington’s waterfront. 

So go grab your fruit, vege and gourmet goodies from Harbourside and City Markets and live the language of food in te reo.  There will be biligual signage, haka, waiata and the release of the a biligual CD of songs Tipi Haere Te Reo.  

Formalities kick of 8.00am at Harbourside Market and there will be entertainment until midday. 

Over at the City Market (inside the Chaffers apartment building) they will be doing what they do best: making us drool with treats from their kitchen.

Te Kihini Makete i tenei wiki: Kau tunuumu Greytown, hupa paukena Pinehaven penu ma te mina-auahi, he paku hirikaka me te kokonati,Wairarapa pai ika, pai kaimoana, Kawakawa parauni.
Market kitchen this week: Braised Greytown beef, manuka smoked mash Pinehaven pumpkin (paukena) soup, hint of chilli & coconut Wairarapa fish pie, dill mash. Kawakawa brownie.
 

Kaua e whakama ki te korero maori.

(Again apologies: macrons give our site indigestion)

So many presentations are like really really weak broth, with only a hint of actual content floating around in far too much weak sauce. If only we could turn up the heat on that soup and simmer it down to a concentrated jus bursting with flavour and taste. Wouldn’t that be awesome? No filler, just killer! That’s what the Ignite series of talks aims to do: 

Have you ever been to a 60-minute talk and lamented that there was only five minutes of good content?  Imagine if you could hear only that five minutes…

that’s Ignite Wellington!

Come along to the second Ignite Wellington and be inspired, amused, educated and amazed!  We have an array of talented Wellington speakers, who will each speak for five minutes on topics that range from couchsurfing and Ernest Rutherford, to OutdoorKnit, wallpaper and building the dream!

At the heart of Ignite is its fast-paced format.  All presenters must give their talks in just five minutes – using 20 slides that appear on screen for only 15 seconds.

The evening will start with an Ignite Contest, which will help participants unleash their inner creativity.  The last event had teams building the tallest possible structures out of spaghetti and marshmallows

Ignite is happening on Tuesday August 3, at the Paramount Theatre from 6.30pm-10pm. Ignite is free, but you need to register in order to guarantee a seat. For more information, including the full list of speakers, check out their site. You can follow also them at @ignitewelli and become a Facebook fan

 Congratulations to Nicole and her fantail for winning our Rata competition. This week, to celebrate Wellington on a Plate, thanks to the lovely Positively Wellington Tourism, we have a $100 voucher to the General Practitioner on the corner of Willis & Boulcott to give away.

The restaurant gets its name from the building’s original purposee – it was constructed for Dr. Henry Pollen in 1902, with his family living on the top floor and surgery on the bottom. Legend (or just hearsay?) has it that not too long after that moved in a troop of ladies to take care of other needs of the body besides medicine, before eventually it was refurbished as a posh restaurant we once took my grandmother to, but I can’t remember the name of it.

So, speaking of sticking things in buns, part of Wellington on a Plate is Burger Wellington, in which over 30 Wellington restaurants and cafes are creating special burgers and you get to vote for the winner. The General Practitioner’s contribution sounds especially good:

An unfortunate number of Wellingtonistas are rather fond of making rather terrible puns quite frequently, which means a lot of my time is spend making "Badoom chish!" sounds. Imagine how much cooler it would be if the jokes were better and instead of me, there was a whole damn band playing the rim shots. Wait, you don’t want to have to imagine it? You want it to be real? Well, have we got the gig for you then!

Remember TAWA-nominated Robbie Ellis and the bus lane you put through his heart? Well, he’s been working on a new show called Band Substances:

It’s musical stand-up comedy with a full band!

Join some of Wellington’s favourite musical comedians:

• Gabriel Page
• Sarah Harpur
• Carlo & Cynthia Wakefield from Young and the Witless IV
• The Fringe Bar Opera Soloists and more!

It’ll be Band to the Bone! (Jo’s note: BADOOM CHISH!)

The show has with Jerome Chandrahasen as MC and Robbie as musical director.

You know how there is often cool free stuff happening at lunchtime if you have your ear to the ground (actually Twitter may well be the modern digital jungle drum or smoke signal if you know how to fossick and filter, you could just just follow us on Twitter).  We have had complaints in the past about posting juicy tidbits a little too close to the time for ya’ll to cram into your busy diaries. 

Well, suck it up people, you may have missed the free titi (muttonbird) tasters at Midland Park on Monday or the noodles today at Wagamama but at least you have time to make a packed lunch for a free lunchtime concert tomorrow for Te Wiki o te reo Maori in the Illot theatre, Town Hall.  This concert will feature the spine-tingles of Ria Hall who bought the house down at the Seven Sisters concert at Te Papa last month.  There will be a range of performances, including the Ngati Poneke maori club juniors and fresh back from the world expo in Shanghai Elena violinist, with her world-class kapa haka classical fusion and impressive mohawk. 

So BYO kai and enjoy this celebration of the Maori language and culture.  This is what living and working in central Wellington is about people: free access to cultural treasures, excitement and happenings everywhere, even on your lunch hour. 

Where: Illot Theatre, Town Hall

When: 12.30 – 1.30 Wednesday 28 July

Cost: Free

Not that it needs any pimping by us, but thought you should know that Wagamama in the Meridian building on the Waterfront is giving away free noodles today from 12 – 2.00pm.  We are talking don buri, udon and beef noodle salad here people, well worth waiting in line for if you have the time.

Behold the line at 11.30am last year….

 Remember the good time y’all had last year at the TAWAs? Sure, a lot of that was us up on stage, but also, it was the Klezmer Rebs, playing rollickingly good tunes. So we imagine you’d like to see them again, yes?

Good news, friends! They’re playing a gig next Friday July 30th at the Bath House, with Rodrigo Bros, The Charcoal White, Sam Manzanza Africa Rhythm Band, Rose’, Russell Self, Hannah Howes, oSka and more yet to confirm. The gig is to raise money for the Sea Sheppard and Pete Bethune. 

Come out and show your support for opposition to whaling.  All bands are donating their services and all proceeds go to the Sea Shepherd Society to help them continue their direct action against whalers in our oceans.

Yes, there are divided opinions on the Sea Sheppard’s techniques and Pete Bethune in particular. What’s not up for debate? How much fun it is to have a jolly good dance. 

Crossposted from Pretty Pretty Pretty, because I can.

It’s been a while since our last Pretty Pretty Party clothing swap, and given my current homelessness, it’ll probably be ages until the next one, but never fear! If you need to freshen up your wardrobe, you can still get your swap on, next Sunday:

The Big Shwop

• Sunday July 25
• Venue: The St James Theatre, Courtenay Place, Wellington
• Time: 10 am – 2.30 pm
• Tickets: $20 from our website or just turn up on the day
• R 18 event as alcohol is being served
• Bring up to 20 items of clothing

Tickets are $20, but because there are strict rules for what people can bring in, you know that the clothes will be good. Also, there’s all kinds of added goodies on the day.