On my way home the other night, I happened to walk past a young woman & man sitting on a grass verge at the Botanic Gardens. The woman was, I think, recounting a friend’s Valentine’s Day experience. Here’s what I made out:

… halfway through dinner, the guy asks, "What’s your policy on sex on the first date?"

And she says, "Never".

And so then the guy says, (and she gave a hearty & throaty laugh at this point) "In that case, I refuse to pay for dinner…"

She was still laughing and grasping for the next words when I passed out of earshot. But I was impressed already, and my interest was piqued – like where were they? Had the guy picked a lovely eating house of a quality he thought guaranteed some energetic post-prandial exertion? Or what? And is there a place in town so fantastic, your date’s knickers dissolve somewhere between the entree & dessert? If there is, I would have expected the Masked Barfly to have reported back already.

Or should the guy maybe invest his precious funds more pragmatically in future, in someone more likely to deliver? Like a hooker.

So you’re not attending Webstock or you’re willing to skip lunch tomorrow? From the Creative Freedom Foundation:

Public Demonstration

In Wellington on the steps of Parliament on Thursday 19th at (edit) 12pm with a petition handover at (edit) 12.30pm. This is a postive event where we will hand out hundreds of CDs and thank the politicans that support us – so please keep it friendly and polite. While we appreciate people arranging their own demonstrations it might be best if we don’t dilute our numbers with multiple events.

We want everyone reading this to email everyone they know in Wellington about this. We can’t let this be another internet protest that results in few people turning up. This is important so we need to prove it in numbers.

NOTE: Please don’t wear all black as that has negative associations with other demonstrations but instead come along with bright clothes and BLACK PLACARDS!
—
No Guilt apon accusation!
http://creativefreedom.org.nz

No wearing all black? Are they aware that this is Wellington?

Downstage Theatre are offering Wellingtonista readers a special deal for tonight’s performance of Turbine at 7.00pm.

Mention the word "Wellingtonista" at the box office or over the phone (04 801 6946) and you’ll get as many tickets as you like for only $20 each.

The link between local musicians and the "fine arts" is stronger than you may suspect and goes back several decades in this town.  Often, through necessity, DIY musicians need to head into new territories to produce their own artwork, as they lack the funds to outsource design work. The resulting artwork, e.g. CD artwork and posters, is a genre in its own right.

Until its recent closure, Christopher Moore gallery seemed to have representation for everyone from Alistair Galbraith to Stuart Porter; the adjacent Bowen Galleries still occasionally shows work by Kim Pieters and Susan Ballard from down south.  Other collaborative efforts had the famous Wellington Media Collective designing and producing posters for the Braille Records crew.

Now DAF106 gallery on Aro Street is running a show of musician self-portraits.  EGO, The Musician as Artist deliberately explores the way creative people express themselves through different art forms.  EGO will draw together a host of local and national musicians, who are also visual artists, as they lay their souls bare and present a self-portrait in their chosen medium.

Self-portraits cause the artists to think laterally about their work and the difference between performance and visual representation of the self.  Submissions may include painting, graphic art, multi-media, photography and sculpture. Size restrictions will apply so as to avoid the possibility of various egos battling for space.

The new Phoenix Foundation video, directed and starring Academy Award®-nominated director Taika Waititi is a wee gem, following our energetic protagonist in a one-shot piece of filming that takes him around the western coastline of Lyall Bay.

So you can’t sleep right?  If the Fringe festival has left you all over stimulated and you are in need of night time novelty may I suggest that you head to the Watsui tonight for the start of a frenetic 24 hour art gumball rally around Wellington.  Welsh artist Bedwyr Williams is going to give us his spin on the ONE DAY SCULPTURE series by taking a used station wagon around 24 locations in 24 hours, aiming to stack up 24 works on the roof rack by  midnight tomorrow.

Planned itinerary after the jump

Downstage opens its doors for the first time this summer with three new shows opening in less than a week!

This time last year Tim Spite’s SEEyD Company thrilled audiences with the paua poaching action adventure Paua (netting Spite the Chapman Tripp Director of the Year Award in the process). Now they’re back with a re-working of earlier success Turbine, which blew people away at BATS in 2006: An environmentally conscious family have their principles tested when a power company wants to build a wind farm in their ‘back yard’.

Turbine opens officially on Friday but early birds (or the price sensitive) can see previews on Wednesday or Thursday night for only $20.

Percussion-monsters Strike are back for one night only on Sunday, playing favourites and showcasing tracks from their forthcoming CD. Guests Lisa Tomlins (The Eggs) and Mana (Rhombus) collaborate and DJ Samu adds breaks. Strike Soundsystem is on Sunday at 8.00pm.