Cinephilia: Opening This Week
At last I get some time to preview this week’s new releases and, frankly, it hardly seems worth it. I’ve just got in from two of the most dispiriting experiences I’ve had in a cinema in some time. Full reviews will come when I’ve had a chance to find the right kind of language to describe precisely how unambitious Fast & Furious and 17 Again are, a challenge I must rise to before Capital Times deadline on Monday night. Fast & Furious is the fourth in the series of petrol-head thrillers and original stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are both back. That fact might mean something to someone, somewhere.
Meanwhile, High School Musical star Zac Efron gets a vehicle of his own as the young version of depressed 37 year old failure Matthew Perry. Some not quite explained magic gives him his young body back and the chance to put things right. Both Readings and Sky City Queensgate.
[The rest of this week’s new releases after the jump]
Create your own Video Game!!!!
Put simply, Wellington artist Douglas Bagnall is an artsy computer-nerd genius (hopefully he won’t mind me saying so).
Tomorrow eve, Wednesday 15 April at 5:30pm the Film Archive’s mediagallery is unveiling his interactive project:
A MACHINE THAT TRANSFORMS CRAYON PICTURES INTO UNIQUE VIDEO GAMES THAT YOU CAN PLAY!
I kid you not. Take your kids during the school hols, take your Nana. The exhibition is free and runs until May 16.
Take whoever, and most importantly, take yourselves for a drink on Wednesday eve!
Film Archive, corner of Taranaki and Ghuznee Sts
Craft2.0 is all about the Free
We all know Craft2.0 is very much a shopping mecca for those who love handmade.
But Craft2.0 is not just another craft fair, it’s also an all-day crafting party. Thanks to Hutt Valley Community Arts you can unleash your inner crafter with an entire dedicated space set aside for freestyle making. Share your ideas and learn from others in a laidback and relaxed environment that’s 100% free.
Turn up at 10am and you might be one of the lucky 100 people to win a free Cafe Reka Gift bag. Inside are tasty treats from Cafe Reka and a heaps of crafty and yummy extras.
But don’t worry if you miss out on a gift bag – until 2pm you can enter the prize draw to win loads of beautiful things from the Craft2.0 Crafters, TheNewDowse, World Sweet World and Felt. Added up it comes to about $100 worth of crafty goodies.
There will also be free face painting!
So get your shopping shoes ready and come along for a stress-free day of local craft and fun activities. All stalls accept cash, or CraftCash is available on the day. Remember to check out TheNewDowse exhibitions while you’re here, and stimulate your own creative impulses. See www.craft2.org for crafter profiles and blog updates.
Win a Nokia 5800 worth $899, courtesy of Vodafone!
EDIT: We’ve changed the entry criteria to make it easier to enter. Details over here.
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Thanks to our pals at Vodafone, we at the Wellingtonista are giving you the chance to win a super sweet Nokia 5800 smart phone worth $899.
First, some background:
Vodafone plans to complete its rollout of 3G coverage to 97% of the places New Zealanders live work and play by 31 May. With 3G coverage it means Vodafone customers can do heaps more with their mobiles – including mobile internet, video calling, music downloads, mobile broadband and more.
To get people excited and involved in 3G, Vodafone has set up a mini site called 3G made easy www.Vodafone.co.nz/easy
Vodafone has also created some tutorials on how to get to know your 3G mobile. But they think that their customers could probably do better, so for every video that gets posted on the Vodafone website, Vodafone give that person $10 airtime credit and the top 5 most viewed videos will also get a Nokia N85 and $500 credit. The most viewed tutorial will also get a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and 1 year free mobile broadband (1gb/month plan).
So that’s a lot of ace prizes already up for grabs over at www.Vodafone.co.nz/easy, but a Nokia 5800 smartphone could also be yours if you give it a Wellingtonista twist.
What do you need to do to win? Find out after the jump!
Enigmatic
Die-hard Espressoholic fans seem to be happy that it will continue in a new location, taking over from Dorothy’s Patisserie in Cuba St. There are still grumblings about its previous location being taken over by "another godawful Courtenay Place bar", but there are signs that its replacement, "Enigma", might not be another Shooters or Electric Avenue. For a start, the sign in the window describes it as a "café/bar", and the painting going on inside seems to have a similar graffiti theme to the old place. Some have even said that there are links to the old Espressoholic management, so perhaps some of whatever it was that people saw in the place will remain, for better or worse. But are we to expect a soundtrack of Gregorian chants and shakuhachi samples?
There are plenty of other changes going on in the bar and café world, and it’s not all doom & gloom. I’ll keep you in on the gossip after the jump.
A million(ish) parties in our big city
Greenland’s having a party! Pretty Pretty Pretty’s having a party! Craft2.0 is having a party! Eateria De Manon is having a party!
Item! Although it’s hard to believe, both because it feels like we’ve been going there forever and because it still seems so shiny and new, our beloved Greenland Cafe is turning 1 next week!
Green Land cafe on Kate Sheppard Place in Thorndon will celebrate their first birthday with some really sensational giveaways next Thursday, April 16. Why not visit for a coffee and a piece of their brilliant and famous ginger crunch (it is crunchy)? You also might actually win something, which would be nice. These super snazzy prizes include:
- Teza iced teas and t-shirts
- Havana coffee
- Trade Aid treats
- Zany Zeus feta
- Pandoro bread
Paul and Jane really, really appreciate your custom and wit over these past 12 months. They say: "Thanks ever so much and do come again, and again."
Item! Wellingtonista-affiliated Pretty Pretty Pretty is also turning 1, and to celebrate they’re having a big old girlie party with clothing swaps, makeovers, facials and all kinds of good stuff to give away. You should check it out, if you are prettily inclined.
Wellington reclamation animation
From the ‘Reclamation of Wellington Harbour‘ Wikipedia article, here’s an animation by Matt Lane that shows the various stages of the city’s expansion seawards over the last century and a half.
The reclamation of Wellington Harbour was a phased approach (starting in the 1850s) of land reclamation from the Wellington Harbour. The original goal of the reclamation was to increase the amount of usable flat land for Wellington City. The motivation of latter reclamations in the 1960s and 1970s was as a response to container shipping (containerisation) and new cargo handling methods. Today, reclamation has added more than 155 hectares to the Wellington
[Via Mirarmar Mike]
Reggaeton on a boat
Jinetero MC is a locally based Cuban reggaeton artist (yeah, one of those) and part of Olmecha Supreme.
But as a solo artist, he has a new song called "Wellington", his danceable ode to the city.
Sample lyrics:
I say thank you, thank you very much.
Wellington, you have give me lotta lotta luck.
But more importantly, the video is AWESOME. It manages to transform this windy city into a subtropical paradise, including a sticky carnival parade, hot city streets, and the highlight – Jinetero dancing with booty girls out in the harbour on a mothertruckin’ boat, y’all.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKwwEq0xtlM]One lap Dick Johnson
The Nissan Mobil 500 may be a distant memory, but it still has made its mark on the city – check out the way that Jervois Quay feels more like a chute designed for cars to hurtle along at high speed than a pleasant harbourside city street.
But those wishing the relive the glory days can do so over at YouTube, where petrolheads have uploaded a selection of choice clips. My favourite is "One lap Dick Johnson" from 1990. While this would be a perfectly good name for a porno, it’s actually a dashboard cam of driver Dick doing a lap of the circuit.
It ends up being a really good snapshot of Wellington’s waterfront environment before the big regeneration of the ’90s – no Te Papa, the Museum Hotel is still down by the water, Waitangi Park is full of warehouses, no Meridian building, no Kumutoto stream revival, no City to Sea bridge, and no lovely pleasant harbourside walk.
Vrrm vrrrrrm:
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWx4sljvFVI]Demon Woman – Flight Of The Conchords
The ‘nista have been too busy hitting the town this week to actually make any posts. We’ll try harder next week. In the meantime, since it’s Friday, here’s some Conchords…
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnU62CUevn4]