So, Wellington is currently the recipient of a whole lot of bad-ass weather and you may have received an email with an alarming list of all the damage the storm has done, like this:

Public access to the Basin Reserve has been closed. Approximately 15 windows in the RA Vance Stand have blown out.
Fulton Hogan working on Airport roof which is lifting Council Parks staff have closed off the walking tracks on Tinakori Hill due to the danger caused by many falling trees. Power poles are in danger of toppling on the seafront at Lyall Bay.

Slips! Buses and trains closed! Power outages! Pretty bad, huh?

Except it’s not. Find out the truth after the jump!

While today’s gale-force winds and rain isn’t much fun, there was much water-related fun last night on Abel Smith Street.

Late last night a water main on The Terrace burst, sending a torrent of water gushing down Abel Smith.

Rather than snuggling up under their duvets, local residents instead leapt out of bed and turned the infrastructure malfunction into an inpromptu waterslide, using recycling bins, deckchairs – anything they could get their hands on – to slide down the street. Awesome!

Even better – a video was made!

Thanks to _june’s Twitter Tweets for the reportage.
Video by MrJudkins.

WOW season is over for another year (for the 20th year in fact) with the last sold-out show last night. So now it comes time, dear readers, for the cold hard assessment. Our streets have been festooned with banners, the sponsors have been flinging free bubbles about eager for a photo op, merchandise has mushroomed and various shop fronts have been requisitioned for the cause.

So whadda ya think? “World-class”? Fab? Fug? Meh? Find out after the break.

The graveyard’s alive and dancing…..

Spacething presents the third annual Zombie Prom at Happy (cnr Tory and Vivian Sts.) On Saturday October 10th open the crypt door and shake your dead moves to fleshed-out tunes.

Zombie Prom III features live dead music by Voodoo Savage and His Savages, Knife Fight, The Death-Rays, Newtown, The Ghastlies, Market Value and DJ Bride of Pinbot, as well as the crowning of the best-dressed Zombie King and Queen of the Prom with prizes galore gore!

Happy. Friday 10/10/08, 8:00pm.
Tickets $10

Read more after the jump…

We all know that the only good part of the Capital Times is the film reviews, but this week, it’s also fun to play “what exactly is their sub editor smoking?”.

Exhibit A: a story about choreographer Michael Parmenter, diagnosed with HIV nearly 20 years ago,titled “Still pegging away“. Nice work.

Exhibit B: a piece about the Worser Bay School celebrating Dance Your Socks Off unofficially. The title? “Kids do it better”. Umm……..

… and if you like movies, then why not come along to Wednesday nights at the Film Archive and check out the season of films that the Wellingtonista fought over democratically chose from the Archive’s collection of NZ features – all 6 movies are roughly related to, shot or set in our fair city.

7pm Wednesdays from tonight until the 5th November, tickets are $8 on the door (or $6 concession), and if you’re over 18 you get a free glass of wine with your ticket purchase. Because we like wine with our movies. ‘Nuff said!
Tonight’s movie is I’ll Make You Happy… the rest of the season’s details are after the jump.

There’s a particular kind of person who likes to watch movies for 24 hours in a row, and it’s quite likely that you’re that person. Luckily for you, Ant Timpson puts on a festival to provide you with exactly what you need. Unluckily for him, and ultimately for you, tickets for the Wellington event aren’t selling as well as they should, so unless you hurry up and buy your tickets for the December 13 event now from Ticketek, it may not happen at all! Full email after the jump.

This week should see an influx of visitors in town to WOW and be WOWed at the Montana Wearable Arts Awards being held at TSB Arena from the 22nd of September until the 5th of October.

The show was Nelson’s baby for 16 years but shifted to Wellington in 2005 because, according to WOW founder Suzie Moncrieff, “We knew we needed to be in a city with more production opportunities, audiences, corporate partners and an international airport.”

So much love to everyone who showed up last night (and especially to X who bowled for the Bowlingtonista as we were a member down).

The Furry Feral Black Balls of Fury from Clicksuite (bid on their auctions!) ended up beating the Bowlingtonista by just a couple of points at 462 vs. 281, and the Purple Cobras took the Mighty Boost 402 vs. 338. The league point for top score obviously went to the Ferals, and although the Purple Cobras had sashes, in the end the Ferals won best dressed too, for their ties and one player’s gold satin shirt. Xero were on their by-week, and as I hadn’t decided until now that you can get a league point in your by-week by some member of your team showing up to hang out with the other bowlers, they’re currently at the bottom of the league, but I’m sure they’ll pick up next week when the extra league bonus point will be for the single fastest bowl on the night.

So this is how things stand at the moment, pointwise:
Bowlingtonista:2
Furry Feral Black Balls of Fury: 8
The Mighty Boost:2
Purple Cobras:6
Xero: 0

After the jump, there’s a new table of games, since Xero have joined, including by-weeks, in which you’re encouraged to experiment with your sexuality, or come along to cheer for the other teams.

Nip in quick for one of those rare Downstage-Wellingtonista specials. The 10th Anniversary season of Toa Fraser’s Bare is in Wellington for a very short time and Wellingtonista readers can go tonight for a discount somewhere between 100% and 25% (depending on how quick off the mark you are). As time is short, it’s a phone offer: The first two callers to (04) 801 6946 are eligible for a free double-pass to tonight’s performance, the next two callers can get two-for-the-price-of-one and the next two callers can get a fourth ticket free if they buy three. Bare stars Curtis Vowell and Morgana O’Reilly and this production was first performed at Auckland’s Silo Theatre last year. The original production of Bare in 1998, launched the careers of Toa Fraser and Madeline Sami and won the Best New Play and Best New Playwright Awards at the Chapman Tripps. More information can be found here.