Star Boating Club Rowathon Tonight.*
Here’s a bit of fun to be had – the Star Boating Club (that’s that cool place by the lagoon that you’ve probably attended more than a few weddings at, or other occasions & got yourself completely trashed & may or may not have ended up in the water in your dinner suit or ball gown…) in conjunction with Wellington Girls College, Queen Margaret’s College and Wellington College, is holding a 20 hour Row-A-Thon to raise funds for the current season of races, regattas & camps.
It takes place at the Reading Complex Foyer (Courtney Place) between 6pm Friday February 22 (TONIGHT!!), and Noon Saturday.
And what is a Row-A-Thon when it’s at home? Well… they’re putting 2 ERG machines (that’s shorthand for Rowing Machine apparently – I’m not sure if it is acronymous, or if it represents the noise the average person makes while being subjected to operating it), one will be operated continuously for 20 hours, and the second, dear reader, is for you to have a go at.
The rowers have been diligently scouring their neighbourhoods, families, and families’ business colleagues getting sponsorship, and on the day, those not ERGing will be shaking tins & persuading punters to part with a little Xmas dosh. All for a good cause – those ERGs & the boats don’t grow on trees you know.
So head on down for a look – 91FM & the Black Thunders will may be down there at 6pm Friday dispensing cheer & freestuff – or if you happen to be passing, please do donate a little spare ping for, as I may have mentioned, a very good cause.
And of course, you have the opportunity to try an ERG for yourself. It has to be good for you right?, and there is almost no chance you’ll end up in the lagoon. Bonus.
Wellington City Council ARE supporting Earth Hour (8pm, 29th March)
I love this city and this country when you can email the Mayor of the capital, get a reasoned (if delayed) response and have things happen.
This is the follow-up from Kerry Prendergast regarding my question of how Wellington City Council is going to participate in this year’s Earth Hour:
Dear Mike
Thank you for your email of 10 January regarding Earth Hour.
I’m sorry it has taken a while to reply. We needed to wait until everyone returned from holiday to discuss the idea and make a decision.
You will be happy to hear that the Council is going to participate.
Big Moments on screen tonight
Come check out: Life in NZ from the 1950s to the 1980s!
The Friends of the Film Archive are launching their 2008 season with a 70-minute romp through pivotal moments in New Zealand’s recent history.
Beginning with the glorious coloured trailer hailing Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, through to David Lange’s brilliant oratory declaration of New Zealand’s Nuclear Free status in 1985, it all adds up to give a picture of the culture that has shaped the Baby Boomer generation.
Tonight, Thursday 21 Feb, 7pm
70 minutes
Entry by koha
My picks are the New Zealand Primary Schools at Work– A five-year-old arrives with his mother on his first day at school and joins activities in the new entrant’s class.
But even better is Miss New Zealand, NZBC, 1973 (excerpt)
Miss Southland is introduced and totters onto the stage in her platforms!!!!!
Fire! Explosions! Twitter!
Sometimes, we receive our news about Wellington from Twitter:
And then we follow it up with emails:
10:05 am (7 minutes ago) llew:
Quay Corporate told me that something near them is on fire – they’re very near Real Groovy
And more emails:
10:06 am (6 minutes ago) James Guthrie:
yep. 2m flames coming from a bust pipe.
10:08 am (7 minutes ago) Hadyn Green:
that’d be why power was out everywhere*.
blog it!
And now we need you to fill in the details for us!
* That explains why the bus wires were down this morning. Sigh. It’s hard to be passionate public transport advocate sometimes.
Cinephilia: Opening This Week
In 1998 Werner Herzog made an acclaimed documentary called Little Dieter Needs to Fly about German-born Vietnam hero Dieter Dengler and his adventures as a US Navy pilot. He obviously had a big connection to that story as he has now gone back and made a feature about the most amazing chapter of Dengler’s life: the escape from a jungle-bound Viet Cong prison camp after 6 months of near starvation. The Dark Knight’s Christian Bale stars. Rialto exclusive.
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star together as two old men on their last legs in The Bucket List, directed by Rob Reiner. It opens today at Readings, Empire, Lighthouse Petone and Penthouse. Also, from the commercial department is teleporting adventure Jumper starring Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson. Rumours that the proposed sequels to Jumper will be called Sweater and Pullover are simply reckless. Readings, Empire, Regent-on-Manners.
More Malty Media Chillax Yo!
In the fifth of their Malty Media Chillout Sessions, homebred Wellington electronica gurus Jet Jaguar (home after a long spell o’seas) and Aquaboogie will be playing delectable tunes and delightful compositions this Wednesday night, at Katipo Café.
Introducing: The Masked Barfly
Who (or what) is The Masked Barfly? Maybe the primly pinstriped connoisseur sipping Viognier at Arbitrageur? The earnest beer geek debating Saaz hops and top-fermented ales at Bar Edward? What about the tight-panted hipster knocking back deeply ironic cask wine at Mighty Mighty? Or perhaps all of the above and more?
We at the Wellingtonista have never been shy about our love for the delicious demon drink, but now we can introduce to you our newest and most disreputable writer: The Masked Barfly. She, he or it (it’s hard to tell with invertebrates, especially when they are inveterate inebriates) will be brought in as a specialist correspondent to bring you the latest hospitality news, the hottest drinking tips and the most salacious gossip that the libel laws will allow.
The fly has eclectic tastes, so expect everything from decadent new cocktails to cheep beer nights, with even the odd morsel of food and coffee info thrown in. It will be buzzing around the city, bringing the news on boozing in the ‘burbs as well as the fleshpots of Courtenay & Cuba. And of course if you have tips to share, or vile unsubstantiated rumours to spread, send them our way and we’ll make sure it gets to our new correspondent.
Solace in the Wind – Max Patte
Say hi to my new favourite statue.
I edited out his privates.
Eva Dixon’s to get the boot from the Zoo
The DomPost reports that Eva Dixon’s Cafe is being given the old heave-ho from Wellington Zoo. The contract for the running of the Zoo’s cafe came up last October, and, as co-owner John Heald said…
We were under the impression it wouldn’t have been a problem and were waiting for the paperwork to come through …
But no! The Zoo weighed up their options, and have decided to go with faceless, characterless corporate catering outfit Spotless.
Says Karen Fifield, chief executive of the Zoo…
We wanted to make a commercial decision which was going to result in value for the zoo.
Given that Eva’s is ‘predominantly family-run and locally owned’, and Spotless, well, aren’t (and hardly have a, err, ‘spotless’ reputation with regards to treating their staff well), it might be argued that the Zoo is flying in the face of one of their own stated goals, which is to “generate lasting community support by raising the profile of the Zoo and making the Zoo relevant to all Wellingtonians.” (Admittedly, it does fulfill their goal of increasing “…financial sustainability by increasing revenue…”).
Whatever the case, if you’d like to vent your opinion on this particular issue to someone who has some sway in the Zoo’s affairs, drop Celia Wade-Brown a line – she’s the WCC Councillor in charge of the Zoo Trust.