$100 paintings!!!
For a limited time Wellington Arts Centre-based painter Elisabeth Vullings is having an online sale of her sweet paintings here: www.elisabethvullings.co.nz
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Small scale and only $100 each they’re on sale from today and will be updated throughout the month. It’s well worth checking out her site for a piece of local art – the perfect gift and a great way to support our creative community. You’d better be quick!
The Old Shebang of Cuba Street
The National Library has joined the Flickr Commons project, whacking up many of their photos on Flickr. At the moment, there’s not much from Wellington, but we’re hoping that will change as more are uploaded.
One particular Wellington delight, however, is a set of photos of a ramshackle house on Cuba Street called the Old Shebang (shebang in this instance means dwelling).
And as well as that, Google are in the process of putting Life magazine’s archive of 10 million photos online. So far, searching for Wellington brings up slim pickings, but it’ll be worth checking back on as the archive grows.
But until then, you can browse Life’s New Zealand photos. Or, um, check out this photo of Madonna looking all cool in 1984.
Splish Splash: Bucket Fountain Update
There’s been a bit of action going on at the old Bucket Fountain, icon of Cuba Street.
First, it mysteriously disappeared:
We initially thought this was a retro ’80s David Copperfield-style magic trick, but it turns out it was just taken down for maintenance.
The fountain returned, with a fresh coat of paint, ready to splash the good folk of Cuba Mall once again.
But then a hand-written sign appeared up the top. It’s not so legible from the street, but zooming in revealed this message:
"Prove your hunter-gatherer skills by finding food in the forest at Te Papa."
Perhaps, with the Current Economic Situation, Te Papa is right to put the emphasis on natural history and away from art.
And if you’d like to escape the misery of modern life, you can now journey back in time to when the Bucket Fountain was first installed in 1969, thanks to the WCC’s The Cuba Street Memories Project.
From this, we learn that the Bucket Fountain was originally nicknamed the Sugar Shovel Fountain and it was painted yellow and black (so 2000s!).
Cinephilia: Opening This Week
So, this is the week I come out of hibernation to resume posting and what do I have to report? Only the bleeding obvious information that the new Bond (Quantum of Solace) is everywhere this weekend and that the only cinema daring to go up against the behemoth is plucky little Paramount which is playing American Teen from today.
QoS is the middle film of an expected trilogy so don’t expect much in the way of resolution. And despite being the most expensive Bond film in history it’s a welcome half an hour shorter than the previous Casino Royale: More sessions = more money. Playing at Readings, Empire, Penthouse, Regent-on-Manners, Embassy and Lighthouse Petone.
A big winner at Sundance this year, American Teen is a documentary surveying a cross-section of current US young-adult-hood in the town of Warsaw, Indiana. The characters are stock (which is sort of the point): the Jock, the Nerd, The Queen and the Outsider. You’ve got to love a film with this poster though. Paramount exclusive.
Quantum of Solace was reviewed this week at Funerals & Snakes and American Teen will join it next week (and in the Capital Times if you prefer ink and paper).
I can taste the celebration already and it’s making me cellar-vate
Just quietly between you and me and everyone we know, there’s something tasty for tasting at Cellar-Vate on Molesworth Street this afternoon.
Today is all about holiday drinking! We’ve got some festive bubbles and a refreshing rose. How could you miss the opportunity to sample a quick glass of Champagne on the way home?
See you there 4.30 – 6pm at Cellar-Vate.
Water Metering & User Pays
Two of Wellington’s leaders are backing debate on a user-pays water system to reduce Wellingtonians’ reckless consumption – now more than twice the national average.
Apparently we’re using about 400 litres of water per day, per person.
The bulk of it gets flushed away.
And one answer, to drive the correct behaviour of course, rather than make you behave as "they" want you to, is to install water meters on homes & charge for the usage. Just like Auckland.
Kind of makes that 6 litre per minute shower head that Nanny was going to make us get, attractive.
There are pluses & minuses to this plan & we’d love to hear what you think in the comments
Full story here.
The TAWAs: For Sponsors
So, as you may be aware, we’re going to have one heck of a big party on December 18 when we announce the winners of our awards. We’re going to have spot prizes for people who’ve voted, and we’re also hoping to have swag bags. And this is where you come in. We’d like prizes to give away. We’d like stuff to fill the swag bags with. We especially like things if they’re related to Wellington, but if they’re awesome, it doesn’t really matter where it comes from.
Want to reach our audience of smart disposable-income-having consumers? Want to get promoted on our site at our most trafficky time of year? Want the eternal love of the Wellingtonista?
Get in touch with me – johubris@gmail.com.
Award Season – “Chappy” Nominations Announced
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As Hadyn rightly points out, it is "Award Season" and the Wellington theatre community is no exception. The list of nominations for the annual Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards was announced yesterday and they demonstrate once again that live theatre in Wellington is in very good shape.
The judges (critics and reviewers from The Dominion Post, Capital Times, Theatreview, Salient and The Lumiere Reader) all watched more than 90 productions during 2008 and the nominations are spread across 29 of those.
[Details of the nominees, and a special opportunity, after the jump]
Wellington Pecha Kucha Night #4
Hey, it’s time for another Pecha Kucha evening! Pecha Kucha works like this: 14 speakers involved in a creative industry each get to present a slideshow of 20 images, for 20 seconds per image. No two speakers are the same, and every PK evening is informative, fun, stimulating, thought-provoking and inspiring.
The previous two I’ve been to were both sold out, so get there early to ensure you get a ticket.
Tuesday 25 November
Paramount Cinema
Doors open 7.30pm, starts 8.20pm
$9 cash only
After the jump, the fabulous line-up of speakers including Roger Walker’s Irreverent Insertions.
A Hiding to Nothing
I was planning a mystery bar post about the big new place in town, but somehow I just wasn’t inspired. Let’s just say that Osteria del Toro is to the Mediterranean what Monsoon Poon is to Asia. Make of that what you will.
But after dinner I ran across this paste-up in a dark alley:
Something gives me the impression that this was not intended as a finished work of art: more as a canvas for further creative intervention. Make of that what you will.