A plan for 2012
So imagine if the worst thing in the world* happens, and Wellington loses its bid to continue hosting the Sevens. What should we do?
Simple! Just don’t tell anyone. Richard Maclean at the council is great at communicating truths so surely he’d be even better at telling lies. We just pretend that the sevens are still on. Hire a couple dozen students to run up and down the field in the stadium, and who’d know the difference? No one actually goes along for the rugby do they? People will still get dressed up, there’ll be glass and vomit and extra amounts of hate crimes (hey bogans who threw cans at my friends who dared to hold hands in public: you’re fucking losers) all over the streets as usual, and we get to keep that 16 million dollars or so that the games bring to the city. This fly would be well-happy, because I do love to live in shit, after all.
*Not really
Boganwatch
AC/DC – the greatest band on the planet – are playing in Wellington tonight and Saturday on the Black Ice tour, and the city has been overrun by bogans, glorious bogans.
Stuff reports on the invasion, including a quote from one fan who reckons, "I’d say every bogan from around the country will be there."
Meanwhile, the arrival of our black-T-shirted brethren has not gone unnoticed on Twitter:
@CUSTOMSBREWBAR ghuznee street is crawling with old bogans… so many black jeans and metal tshirts! "Throw your goats up"
@meganhuddleston There are a ridiculous number of bogans in town. THUNDER!
@bnolan Lol at all the bogans outside. It’s awesome how you can just tell they’re going to ACDC. Super nice people so far too! Rock on! #acdc #wlg
@Narelle_NZ Saw at least 15 bogans and 2 mini-bogans on the way to get lunch #acdc #wellington
@bradgallen Today wellington = So. Many. Bogans…
@missannajane The black holey jumpers and ACDC t-shirts are out en force on the streets of Wellington. Apparently, bogans drink Starbucks.
We welcome any comments or observations of the bogan invasion. Man, Wellington is gonna go off this weekend!
Davis Food Market: an investigation
We noticed Davis Food Mart pop up on the corner of Taranaki Street and Karo Drive a little before Xmas, so we decided it was time to check it out to see if Mt Cook now has a proper supermarket to call its own.
It doesn’t.
But, we did find some very interesting things anyway, and you can read more about them after the break.
A new dialogue with Julia
So, Julia Deans, singer in the TAWA-nominated Fur Patrol and all-around pretty lady has a solo album coming out this year. The first single off it is called "A new dialogue" and it has a rather lovely video. Enjoy!
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCFHkYYK_4Q]A teatowel coffee guide to Wellington
NZ History have recently added an amazing tea towel, thought to be from the mid-1960s, listing the coffee houses of Wellington.
It’s very cool to see such a list of classy joints that our forefathers and foremothers ran, making Wellington such a good coffee town.
Only a couple of these places are still in existence today (and the Matterhorn’s specialty is no longer "Continental cakes"). I wonder what businesses can now be found in these locations.
(And it’s interesting that in the days before the Beehive and the Fern Ball, the icon of Wellington was, er, the National War Memorial, and National Museum and Gallery.)
Getting slayed at the Customs Brew Bar
There’d been a bit of tooting over on Twitter about Customs Brew Bar, a new cafe from Coffee Supreme, so when it opened the Wellingtonista paid a visit.
It’s not your run-of-the-mill cafe – as well as a lush woodern interior, Customs also sells a range of single-original coffee beans and uses less than ordinary methods of brewing the beans.
So I had a chat to Coffee Supreme’s Justin, who kindly explained the concept behind Customs Brew Bar.
Ouch My Face & East Brunswick All Girls Choir
Hello! No time no blog. Hope you all had a good break. Just a quick note for those of us who are not attending Campus A Low Hum – there are a handful of great side shows happening but these two Melbourne bands are definately my pick of the bunch after catching them at Camp last year. Both are doing shows all over the country, and a few all ages shows as well.
East Brunswick All Girls Choir (Melbourne)
Wed 27th Jan, Dux De Lux, Christchurch
Fri 29th Jan, Wunder Bar, Littleton
Sat 30th Jan, Chicks Hotel, Dunedin w/ Ouch My Face
Wed 3rd Feb, Mighty Mighty, Wellington w/ Batrider
Fri 5th Feb, St Barnabas Scout Hall, Auckland, w/ Batrider, Ouch My Face and Nevernudes(ALL AGES)
Ouch My Face (Melbourne)
Thur 21st Jan, Mighty Mighty, Wellington w/ Thought Creature
Thur 28th Jan, Goodbye Blue Monday, Christchurch w/ Nevernudes and more
Fri 29th Jan, Franz Tormers Art Space, Christchurch w/ Nevernudes and The Body Lyre (ALL AGES)
Sat 30th Jan, Chicks Hotel, Dunedin w/ East Brunswick All Girls Choir and Nevernudes
Thur 4th Feb, Whammy Bar, Auckland w/ DHDFD’s and more Fri 5th Feb, St Barnabys Scout Hall, Auckland w/ Batrider, East Brunswick All Girls Choir and Nevernudes – ALL AGES
Sat 6th Feb, Happy, Wellington
Quality time with the family at Osteria Del Toro
Annoyingly, Osteria Del Toro doesn’t appear to have a website. However, what they do have is an awesome alternative to yum cha on Sundays (and I think it’s only Sunday afternoons) called La Famigia.
For $29, you can experience their menu highlights "family-style". What this means is that you can help yourself to the lush antipasto table, piled high with salads, olives, salami and amazing foccacia, and then the very nice staff will start bringing food to your table, and they won’t stop until you ask them to. You get pizzas from their woodfired oven, paella, pasta and roast chicken with crispy skin. It really is a carb-lover’s paradise.
One kind of pasta has meatballs, and the other is pesto, and we got both vegetarian and meaty pizza. The paella had both chorizo and seafood in it, so it might not be the most cost-effective & welcoming option for vegetarians (and vegans – forget about it!). We were all people who love us some gluten, so we didn’t ask if it was possible to get their gluten-free pizza bases instead, so I can’t advise you about that. I can, however, assure you that their white wine sangria made with apricot brandy and ginger beer is a perfect accompaniment (their PDF menu says it features a "Make your own Bloody Mary bar" but I didn’t see that!), and that you probably DON’T need to order churros afterwards, but perhaps you will anyway!
Bloggers predict: 2010
We’ve written about UP’s Bloggers Predict event before, but this time, I’m one of the people doing the predicting on January 28 from 5.30pm to 8pm. I’m supposed to be making predictions in the following areas:
- Gadgets & Games
- The Internet, Web 3.0…
- Business & Technology
- Wellington/NZ/the Universe (open slather)
I’m allowed (and encouraged) to solicit suggestions, so have at it in the comments and I’d encourage you to focus on Wellington-ish suggestions in particular, since I’m representing the Wellingtonista, after all. Oh, and make sure you register to come along to the event, there’s FREE BOOZE and food, and you’ll be done by 8 so you can go along to any other events that might be happening that night afterwards.
Unicon XV – Last chance to check it out
The Unicon XV has been in town since the 28th of December, with one wheelers decorating the waterfront and what feels like the whole damn inner-city, saving us from that ghost town feel over the holiday period. The Wellington flickr pool and the papers have been packed with photos of the action. There is something pretty photogenic about the sheer range of unicycle enthusiasts of all nationalities that have decended on our fair (but windy) city.
Today is your last chance to check out the action, the Best Trick Contest will be held outside Mac’s Brewery Bar at 2.00pm weather permitting.
See you down there.