Their Myspace headline is “If someone says they play with us, they do!”, a reference to the list of thirty-odd musicians that take the stage and/or record at various times with the musical collective known as Willard Grant Conspiracy. The loose group revolves around songwriter Robert Fisher, who sounds a little like Nick Cave, a little like Johnny Cash singing Leonard Cohen, and a lot like a good time; with a strong folk vein running through the sometimes-rockin’, often-orchestral arrangements and accompaniment that bring to mind Cave-affiliated instrumentalists the Dirty Three (listen to Ghost of the Girl in the Well and you’ll see what I mean).

Fisher is gracing us with a visit as the solo incarnation of Willard Grant next Wednesday, October 1st, at the San Fran Bathhouse – and before that Island Bay crab comes out of his shell again to call vested interest, I declare my bias, my band The Wrongdoings are proud to come out of quasi-retirement to play support at this gig. We’re very excited!

Tickets from Slowboat Records on Cuba St, or online at Under The Radar. Check out promoter Galesburg’s list of upcoming gigs for a bit of sunshine too – I’ll be posting more about them soon.

If you haven’t been down to Breaker Bay lately to get yourself a lump of whale oil (I’m not sure what’s more disgusting – whale vomit or the bile that the same-named blog splurts out) and you’re not the type to buy such a thing on trademe, the Wellingtonista would like to make the following cheesy suggestions:

• “I nominate that Mexican place down Left Bank that did that diabollically cheesy thing (quesadilla?) I had that one time. It was like a cheesy soup. I believe I stared death in the the face. The delicious, plasticy face.”
• “The ooozy oozy brie as part of the fantastic antipasto at Gusto in Petone
• Any cheese from the Dutch Shop in Petone (but I have a particular fondness for the cumin gouda)
• Fromagerie at Kirk’s
• Truffle (small but interesting selection)
• Saganaki (ouzo-flamed Greek cheese) at Duke Carvell’s
• Quattro Formaggio pizza at Scopa (and no doubt elsewhere)
• Chow’s blue cheese & peanut wontons
• “Oh, and Arbitrageur has some fantastic cheeses to chose from for their antipasto selection.”

So there’s a few starting points for you. Just don’t get too cheesed off if you have crazy dreams afterwards…

What:Envirotainment

Where:Oriental Parade (Freyberg Pool/Mural end)

When: 2.30 till 4.00pm Facebook event page

Spring has well and truly sprung but the universe is sending mixed messages as usual. Lambton Quay is decorated with slightly over-ripe kowhai trees in full bloom; the petals trampled into the street by the suits, and what’s left on the trees disheveled by the spring rains. Confusion reigns, walking down the street one day sans woolly hat, thinking to oneself, "there is nothing like Wellington on a good day" while looking up at the unimpeded blue sky. The next day remembering you still haven’t kicked that damn cold, the election date means tis the season for political hoardings to be littering the streets has begun and you really shouldn’t be wearing open toed shoes yet because it is raining again. Sigh.

• If you’re in town before 6pm today, sneak into the Software Freedom Day at the Michael Fowler Centre for a free Havana coffee. Don’t tell them that I sent you though.
• The previously mentioned Kayu Manis (you’re a manus!) – the Indonesian/Malaysian restaurant on Cuba Street is now BYO, which makes its $18 mains much more palatable. Also, the food is super fresh tasting, and the atmosphere is much nicer than your standard Malaysian joint, so we suggest that you check it out.
• The frequently apostrophe-catastrophic Electric Avenue now sports a banner advertising its music quiz on Thursday nights as being the only music quiz in town. Apparently Abel Smith Street, home to the music quiz on Thursday nights at the Cross is a suburb.
• Radio Active 89FM’s Handle the Jandal, the nationwide DIY music video competiton, is back for 2008 and is calling for entries for this year’s competition, to be held November 27 at Wellington’s St James Theatre. Go to Radio Active’s site for more information.
• Don’t forget to sign up for Bowling League.

Forgive me for sharing a couple of Wellington sights, recently captured on handy cell phone camera. Firstly:

It may not be immediately apparent but that is an Aston Martin DB9 (beloved of Top Gear-heads everywhere) parked in the top floor car park of Moore Wilsons. This means that there is someone in Wellington who takes a $430,000 car grocery shopping. It was also covered in concrete dust as Moore Wilsons is having some work done.

Next, Newtown United Video: keeping it real:

No further comment required.

Renowned choreographer, dancer and teacher Daniel Belton is bringing two programmes of award-winning dance films by Good Company screening for over two consecutive weekends at the Film Archive.

The programmes – Choreographing the Screen Programme 1 & 2 begin this Friday.

There are double passes up for grabs. www.filmarchive.org.nz

Send an email to information@nzfa.org.nz with the name of the second programme which screens on Saturday 20 & 27 September to get your hands on your own double pass.

Oh my stars, we are so very excited to announce that the Wellingtonista Bowling League for 2008 is about to start. Next Thursday September 25 to be exact, at 6.30pm at The Lanes on Wakefield Street. What does this mean for you/your organisation/social circle? It means that you have to find three friends to form a team (or more, members can rotate in and out at will), come up with a name and register here before next Tuesday 23 September so we can come up with a table and you can start insulting your competition.. The league will last for as many weeks as there are teams (with a maximum of eight teams due to the space I’ve booked), minus one, as we’ll play round robin.

The rules on the night are as follows:

• If at the end of the game your team’s sum total (total of all four players) is higher than your opposition’s then you get four competition points.
• If your team consumes more than four beverages (or averages more than one per player) you get a bonus competition point
• The team with the highest sum total on the night gets an extra bonus point.
• There will be one random league point awarded on the night in an area of our choosing. The first one will be for the best-dressed team.
• Trash-talking AND fraternising with the enemy are both highly encouraged.

So if you booze up and roll like a god your team could come away with seven points.

We really did have a tremendous amount of fun last year, made new friends, business contacts and drinking buddies, so what are you waiting for? Sign up already!

I’m having flashbacks. There’s three courses of delicious food. There’s an auction with amazing goods to be won like a stay in a French villa, a 32 inch TV and an assortment of wines. There’s a commitment to raise $6000 for Save the Children and cycle 400km in Vietnam.

Hang on a second, it’s not a flashback at all! It’s an upcoming event – a Vietnamese banquet and charity auction on September 29 at Restaurant 88. Tickets are $50 and are available from their website, and you should get one. If you don’t like Vietnamese food or good causes, do it purely because ClickSuite won the most outgoing award in last year’s Wellingtonista Bowling Awards, so you’re guaranteed good company on the night.

The Wellington City Council is seeking public input on how to guide the future growth and change of the Adelaide Rd area. This is a vitally important part of town (especially now that the Wellingtonista seems to be turning into the Newtownista), and I invite you all to have a look at the detailed draft framework and imagine for yourself what this currently somewhat neglected district could become.

But first, let’s clear up a few of the misconceptions which could have been gleaned from the brief articles in the press:

Software Freedom Day (SFD) is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to be held this year on Saturday 20th September, 2008.

Our goal in this celebration is to educate the worldwide public about the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business — in short, everywhere!

So what’s happening in Wellington? Well, there’s a hackfest, a bar camp and free coffee all day long. Check out the software freedom day site for more information…