People’s Empire
Newtown may or may not be a bit shit, but their right-on coffee company People’s Coffee (sorry, I couldn’t resist adding the apostrophe) certainly know their shit. Their presence in central Wellington is expanding, and two recently-opened cafés proudly stock the People’s brand: Meow and Mon Ami.
Meow has taken over the space of the former (and much lamented) Roti, next to Quoil in Willis St. The decor’s only had a mild makeover, but the retro kitschy kiwiana theme is pretty consistent, with the usual Tretchikoffesque prints, orange lampshades and ’70s TV augmented by some nice chunky crockery. I haven’t eaten there yet, but the brunch menu included some interesting variations on the standards, such as pinenut & saffron scrambled eggs, cashew & cranberry rosti with haloumi and rocket, and all sorts of things with "wild" bacon.
In Bond St, a French café called Mon Ami has also recently opened. It’s interesting that while many French places in downtown Wellington emphasise the stylish urban theme (e.g. Simply Paris, Le Metropolitain), Mon Ami is full of outdoorsy magazines, and their website goes on about "tramping, sailing, kayaking, biking, paraglyding". The decor manages to look both rustic and sterile at the same time, but even if that’s not your thing, dishes such as rabbit terrine and roquefort & sultana loaf (at reasonable lunchtime prices) should be enough to tempt you in.
All stitched up
Rose Marie Salmon, who makes these weirdly erotic and witty "sewing machine drawings" using a household sewing machine, has a solo show opening this Thursday 23 October at Daf106 in Aro Valley at 6pm.
A self-taught artist, Rose works as a costume assistant on films (most recently Second Hand Wedding) but originally studied Organic Horticulture (?!!). She also has a text message based series of sewing machine drawings which are very cool and will be included in the exhibition.
Least said, soonest mended
Rose Marie Salmon
Daf 109
109 Aro Valley
23 October – 16 November
Flower (political) power
We’ve already seen political signs bringing out the worst in people, but check this out: floral tributes to support signs for good political parties:
More please!
Wine from the other side of the world
We’re regulars at Cellar-Vate’s Winemakers’ Dinners, because we love meeting the winemakers, we love New Zealand wine, and we love having it matched with tasty tasty food. But we’re not just patriotic racialists, oh no. We’ll drink wine from anywhere! And that’s why we’re excited about the upcoming European Wines Tasting in the Cabinet Room above the Backbencher next Wednesday October 22 at 6pm:
The thriving wine industry in New Zealand and Australia has provided us with a vast array of superb wine to savour or cellar, but it’s easy to forget about the ancient viticultural traditions of Europe. As imports of European wines grow steadily, there is now a great selection available. However, the regional denominations and classifications can be intimidating, and the New Zealand wine industry’s focus on single varietals means we are often cautious about buying European wines because we don’t know what they are made from. This is a shame, as European wines often represent great value, and due to their food-friendly nature are great to enjoy with friends and family. This tasting is an opportunity to learn about some unfamiliar grape varieties, which grapes you should expect to find in wines from different regions (and therefore how the wine should taste), and to navigate some unaccustomed flavours.
Tickets are $40 for seven wines matched with six small courses with matched wine, and bookings are still available if you email becs[at]cellar-vate.co.nz. We’ll see you there – we’ll be the ones holding out our glasses for a top-up.
UPDATE: Here’s the menu for tomorrow:
WBL 2008 Round Three Results
I wasn’t drinking last week at the bowling, so consequently, I forgot to pick up the score sheets. Ridiculous, I know.
But I can tell you that while a Dom Post photographer snapped merrily away, the Mighty Boost beat the Bowlingtonista AND got the slowest bowl, that the Purple Cobras beat Xero, and that Ferals showed up just to drink and cheer us on, so they got a league point. That means the scores stand as:
Bowlingtonista: 4
Furry Ferals: 16
Mighty Boost: 15
Purple Cobras: 15
Xero: 4
Things are looking as tight as the holes in a number 8 ball right now, so tonight will no doubt be full of excitement and sabotage. But, if you’ll just let me put on my teacher’s hat for a minute here, I was made aware of some rather unsportsmanlike criticism last week, and that is not cool. By all means, talk yourself up, and put down teams as a whole, but repeated calling out an individual player’s technique, especially when you don’t actually know them is for chumps. And there aren’t any chumps in our league, right?
Howe About Some Alt-Country?
“If there were only one person allowed to contribute further to the over-stocked pool of recorded music on this planet it should be Howe Gelb” – John Parish
What else can you say about Howe Gelb after that? Well how about how his band, Giant Sand, spawned a rhythm section that became Calexico? And how about the killer solo shows he played here last time he visited in 2005? And what about the fact that he writes an insightful, kooky and straight out sweet tour diary here, and currently a lot of it is about touring with Neko Case, who also guests on the latest Giant Sand album, along with M Ward and Isobel Campbell, amongst others (not the Calexicos, though, they’ve moved on)? And how about the fact that he’s coming back, next week – Friday 24th – to play for us again?
You know the drill: San Fran Bathhouse, Friday 24, tickets from Slowboat Records. See you there!
Kingpin: There Can Be Only One
The Wellingtonista season of NZ feature films continues this Wednesday with Kingpin (1985), the predecessor to last week’s film Mark II.
Starring much the same cast but with the addition of the wonderful and greatly-missed Wi Kuki Kaa, Kingpin tells the story of a provincial borstal: a world where only the strong survive and The Kingpin is the biggest, the meanest, the toughest, the boss. And, there can be only one.
Tickets $8 or $6 concession – which includes a complimentary glass of wine (with ID) unless you can tell us which Hollywood blockbuster pinched its tagline from Kingpin, and we’ll give you a double pass. Film commences 7pm.
More details on The Film Archive’s website…
Some YouTube clip goodies after the jump!
Vintage alert!
Now this is the kind of information I’d usually keep close to my chest but it feels too mean to keep secret.
Put these dates in your diary immediately: 15 and 16 NOVEMBER for the ECLECTIC JUMBLE SALE!!!!
The brilliant Maria from Eclectic in Nelson (you may remember her from various Cuba St Carnival stalls, she has exceptionally plaited hair and impeccable taste) is having a clear-out.
She has over 3000 items to get rid of:
linen, lace, textiles, fabric (alert all your crafty friends!!!) shoes, bags, hats, clothes, jewellery, scarves and more! And it’s ALL VINTAGE.
Not like a dodgy garage sale but a complete vintage jumble sale!!!! And most things priced between $5-$20! There will also be some furniture depending on how much she can load in the truck.
It’s going to be somewhere in Newtown. Will post the details when I know them (or maybe not so I can guarantee I’m first in line – heh heh).
Te Papa’s new Our Space exhibit
Recently opened at Te Papa is the Our Space exhibit. It cost $6 million and is apparently aimed at the 15- to 25-year-olds – you know, the sort of people who’d rather be texting or updating their Bebo page or saying “woteva” than visiting a museum, etc.
At its most basic, Our Space is a photo album. More specifically, it’s an electronic database of photos and short video clips of New Zealand places and events. It’s a bit like Flickr, but rather than just relying on media submitted by the public, it also taps into Te Papa’s archives and the TVNZ archives.
The exhibition is made up of three parts: The Map, The Wall and The Rides, and in the interests of proper grown-up blogging, I made visits to Te Papa to do a thorough review of Our Space.
Magic wands, surly teens and motion sickness after the jump…
Mystery tiki
The Craftsman didn’t take long to identify: not surprising given its prominent position. Here’s another quick one, which should also be pretty obvious.
The Watusi pretty much counts as Wellington’s first Tiki Bar, but this place has a few touches of tikitude as well. There’s this little guy, of course, and the animal print cushion helps. It has a smattering of tiki masks and ukuleles, an outdoor area with lush foliage and torches, and most importantly, a drinks list titled “Tiki Cocktails”. Heaven! Or is it?