As Wellingtonians, we love dub, right? ^{[citation needed]} Sometimes to a fault, even? ^{[citation needed]} Anyone else remember that famous review a few years back in Pavement magazine of some local outfit that read:

More effing trumpet-dub from Wellington

Anyway if its to your taste, there’s some serious dub trickery coming down in the next couple of weeks…

[the details after the jump]

So today is the official start of Matariki, for some time now there has been a push for Matariki to become a public holiday, Minister of Maori Affairs Dr Pita Sharples last week announced the Maori Party had drafted a bill to make Matariki a public holiday.  See what the Prime Minister thinks of the idea here.

Some accounts have Matariki as a mother and her 6 daughters assisting Te R? as he turns around and heads south.  I like this story better than the Greek version of Pleiades which has the seven daughters of Pleione and Atlas turned into stars to ‘save them from Orion’s dishonourable intentions’.  Where are the kick-arse goddesses of legend when you need them?  In Japanese legend the sun goddess Amaterasu was lured out of her cave by a good old bit of burlesque dancing and silliness performed by the voluptuous goddess of merriment Ama-no-Uzume.  That is certainly one way of coaxing the sun out of a funk.

There are a range of things around Wellington planned help get the Matariki celebrations rolling:

Some of us at the Wellingtonista are rather fond of the old Snapper card. We worked through its teething troubles and are now happily tagging on and off as we bus about the city.

So when Miki Szikszai, CEO of Snapper, asked us if we’d like to visit Snapper HQ and learn a bit about what’s new in the world of the magical talking fish box, we (well, Alan and I) jumped at the chance.

After the jump – what we found at Snapper.

Well today there is time to squeeze the out the last of solstice by squeezing out a quick post to mark the occasion.  Mid-winter is officially here with the end of the shortest day, the end of the growing power of cold and darkness and the start of the growth of warmth and light.  While there is plenty to celebrate about mid-winter (mulled wine, boots, hats and scarves spring to mind) there is something heartening in the knowledge that the days will be getting longer and us hardy Wellingtonians can give ourselves a pat on the back for surviving the worst of it with our love for Wellington intact.  After all, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.

You may or may not have noticed but the energies of the Wellingtonista have been diverted into the twitterstream somewhat of late, but hey we find plenty of our readers there these days too!  Solstice is getting a few a mentions around the place and I found  this charming tweet:

@RowanSmith Went to Druids’ solstice do at Stonehenge Aotearoa. Druid: "We give thx to the powers of the East and to the guy holding this light for me"

So we are curious, do you mark Solstice?  Are you planning anything for Matariki this week?  Let us know in the comments or on twitter @wellingtonista, a post on hot tips for Matariki is planned for tomorrow.

This Thursday the 18th of June, Deidre Brown’s "Maori Architecture: from Fale to Wharenui and Beyond" will be launched at the School of Architecture in Vivian St.

The celebrations will start with a mihi at 5:45pm, followed by a lecture at 6 and drinks at 7. If you’re interested, please contact Christine McCarthy (04 463 6164 or christine.mccarthy@vuw.ac.nz) to RSVP before the end of tomorrow (the 16th).

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra have flicked us a couple of tickets to give away for their upcoming show at the Michael Fowler Centre (Sat 27 June). 

To be in to win, watch their new ‘It’s a Heartache’ video, then email info@wellingtonista.com with the subject line: WIUO Competition, and in the body of the email, answer this question: what is the flavour of the tart that features in the video?

Competition closes Noon, Wed 24 June.

Winner has been notified! Thanks for all the entries.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqynAAYdLW8]
 

Hey, Mr Bus Driver, that person running down the footpath, waving at you, just ten metres or so from the bus stop? They probably want to get on the bus.

And the guy who’s just got on and tells you to "wait, there’s someone just coming" – he’s probably wanting you to wait, ‘cos there’s someone coming.

I understand you’re the ‘Express’ – but, really, no-one is going to be put out if you wait an extra 5 seconds to let a straggler catch up (especially if you spend a minute haranguing a passenger for daring to try and pay their fare with a $20 note.)

I’m sure most Wellingtonistas would agree that Aro Video is the best video hire place in town, so when our subscriber newsletter included the heading "We interrupt our regular program for this important announcement…" we couldn’t ignore it, and in fact we felt it was our duty to pass on this important message:

CAMPAIGN FOR CENSORSHIP REFORM

We are spearheading a campaign for censorship reform and are calling upon the support of our valued customers and the wider film-loving public.

We believe that the current legislation is seriously outdated and unfairly disadvantages the medium of DVD. As such, it has severely impacted on what titles can be made available for rent, sale or trade within New Zealand.

The main reason for this are the ‘prohibitive’ costs of classification fees, and particularly the criteria for which titles are subjected to the costly examination process. For example, it would cost over $2200 to classify the highly acclaimed original BBC mini-series of "State of Play" (the Hollywood remake of which is currently playing in cinemas).

This campaign is not "anti-censorship" but we insist that the current levels of regulation are no longer appropriate for today’s media and cultural environment. We simply would like to be able to provide you with a greater range of quality entertainment, and help eliminate the ridiculous double-standards that currently prevail.

For more information, please visit our online forum at www.lumiere.net.nz/censorship-reform, where you can also register your support, comments and suggestions.

Also, if you know of others that would be interested in this cause, please pass on this e-mail or the forum address, or spread the word by Facebook/Twitter, etc.

A serious "show of hands" will make a difference, so don’t be shy! Thank you for your support.

Kind regards,

Andrew Armitage
proprietor
AroVideo Online

Yowza – what on earth could that be I hear you wondering….. I’m a little unsure myself but this week/end from 11-13 June the Film Archive cinema (corner of Taranaki and Ghuznee Sts) is going to be exploding with the best of experimental film from Australia. 

Three of the leading lights of the genre –  Sally Golding, Joel Stern and Dirk de Bruyn – have been brought over with help from the Australian High Commission to present three nights of mind-blowing entertainment.

Each night promises to be something a little different, kicking off with the historical then the godfather of Australian experimental film, followed up a riotous conclusion of handmade and hand processed film, feedback systems, incongruous foley noise, sprockets and flicker, trumpets and strings, specially prepared screens and alienated narration.

You’d be crazy to miss this calibre of performance in a live setting. As NZFA Project Developer Mark Williams says…