Have your say – busker & husband charged for dog hair in room
Talkback time – or type-back time to be more accurate.
This is the nice lady who sometimes busks near Woodward Street on the Quay, with her faithful guide dog at her side. Been a while since we saw her there.
Olivia and Jonathan Godfrey spent their honeymoon in a professed guide-dog friendly hotel in Palmerston North Wellington. When leaving, they were presented with a bill for an extra $85 for cleaning up unwanted dog hair.
I’m inclined to the side of the couple here, it seems the hotel refused the opinion of a guide-dog minder who was sent in to view any damage on the couple’s behalf.
Besides… the hotel spokesman said:
“There were two big dogs in a one-bedroom apartment … You can imagine the smell…”
I can actually, I imagine you could hardly smell them at all & that 5 minutes with the windows & doors open would have clinched it.
And even if the dogs were moulting, how long does it take to vacuum a one bedroom apartment? Nice hourly rate.
Full story here
Go for your life with the outraged comments either way.
Update:
The hotel has apologised to the couple & offered a couple of free night’s accommodation.
Firerockets at Night
Explosions in the Sky!
The latest instalment in a semi-regular Wellingtonista series on the thriving local touring circuit for international bands sees the instrumental rock goodness of Explosions in the Sky hitting Wellington for the first time tomorrow night, bringing their firecracker of a live set to the San Fran Bathhouse.
Praised for the cinematic grandeur of their albums and the intensity of their live shows, the Texans have come a long way since their inception as a post-rock four-piece in 1999. The band has also been appointed as the curators for the 2008 All Tomorrow’s Parties festival line-up.
Fusing bittersweet guitar melodies with crashing bouts of noise, Explosions in the Sky have garnered a strong following among fans and critics alike, with Tiny Mix Tapes labelling them “the only instrumental post-rock band that mattersâ€. Rolling Stone compared their most recent album, All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, to the music of the Kronos Quartet, but with “big amps and John Bonham in the backâ€, and internet giant Pitchfork Media touted 2003’s The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place as “the perfect testament to art-rock mastery.â€
Show details after the jump…
A lovely trim
It’s upon us, Fringe Festival time.
I always love this time of year becuase you never quite know what might be happening around the corner. But you do know it’s a celebration of creativity that’s truly unique to our lovely Wellington.
Driving home today i saw art installations being installed, and i can’t wait to go visit them tomorrow
My cellphone sent ‘SECRET’ to 2343 along with my name and email so i could find out more about the Footnote Plus fuse secret production.
My ears and eyes are preparing for a 3D film plus octophonic sound at the Paramount courtesy of SpartacusR.
Do let us know what you’re looking forward to over the next few days and weeks!
Sculpture Garden
This is one of my favourite places in Wellington:
… and if anyone ever tries to do it harm, as I’ve heard rumours of happening in the past, well… they just better watch out.
Sorry for the crappy photo. Stupid phone. Looks like I also managed to catch a flying rat in full, uh, flight.
Cinephilia: Opening This Week
It’s a quiet week for quality releases so you can all go to No Country for Old Men. Alternatively, if you’ve already done that or want a palate cleansing in advance of There Will Be Blood, you can check out comedy-thriller-romance Fool’s Gold at Readings, Regent or Sky City Queensgate. Matthew McConaughey reunites with Kate Hudson (How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days) as an estranged couple who reunite to search for sunken treasure (as you do). Donald Sutherland and Ray Winstone are the good actors lending their name to the project.
John C. Reilly goes from sidekick (Talladega Nights, The Aviator) to front and centre in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Reilly plays the eponymous rocker in a biopic that follows his up and down career across five decades and spoofs classics like Ray and Walk the Line. Written by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin), Walk Hard opened yesterday (Waitangi Day special) at Readings, Regent-on-Manners, Empire and Sky City Queensgate.
What to do on Waitangi Day this year
I’ve long thought that we should all (hospitality, police, emergency services & health workers not withstanding) have Wednesdays off to break the week into easily digestable chunks.
But if the thought of sleeping in, sleeping in even longer & enjoying a hearty holiday brunch, followed by more lolling around & maybe even a trip down to a cafe or pub… leaves you feeling slightly guilty, then I suggest you get into the spirit of the day & check out the official Waitangi Day Celebrations down at, where else, Waitangi Park:
Wellington will be celebrating New Zealand’s national day in style, thanks to Meridian Energy Summer City.
Wellington City Council in partnership with the Wellington Tenths Trust has organised a Waitangi Day Celebration — Te Ra o Waitangi at Waitangi Park from 9.45am to 4.00pm. Featuring kapa haka, drumming, dance, multicultural acts, food and stalls, it promises to be a great day out for the whole family.
Much, much more info is here.
One year on…
This posting brought to you by Sandy Mamoli (deeply honoured inaugural guest blogger).
Have you got something to say about Wellington? Would you like to guest on the Wellingtonista? Drop us a line and we’ll add you to the door list.
I discovered the Wellingtonista on day two after my arrival. It took them almost year to discover me …
In fact, it took them exactly a year. I celebrated my one year New Zealand anniversary last Friday with the contradictory emotions of someone who simultaneously feels like a true long-term Wellingtonian and a rookie who has just stepped off the boat.
I am still struggling with a wee bit of culture shock – complaining about Wellington’s provinciality and second-world infrastructure while marveling at the vibe, friendliness and genuine feeling of community one can only find in Wellington (I think).
Apart from being with a Kiwi partner who has been too long out of the country to remember anything useful and having read halfway through a travel guide I didn’t know much about New Zealand a year ago. And my former life in Vienna, Copenhagen and Amsterdam proved to be way too limited an experience of the world to shelter me from the surprises I was in for.
If you can use some exotic booze…
…there’s a bar in Cuba Mall. Okay, so that doesn’t swing quite as well as the original, but those with a longing for outrageous costumes and hard drinking, but who can’t stomach the Sevens, ought to know that it’s Tiki Bar weekend at Matterhorn.
That’s right: you have one more night to savour concoctions based on classics by Trader Vic and Beachbum Berry; bar staff dressed as Hawaiian deities; bubbling cauldrons of lethally refreshing punch; and some of the cheesiest slices of lounge exotica ever committed to vinyl.
Te Papa turns TEN
Wholly schmolly, has it really been 10 years … yes, it has!
In my early days in Wellington it was a goal of my ex-wife and I to at least stay in Wellington for the opening of Te Papa .. and now, here we both are able to celebrate its 10th Birthday.
Who remembers the mural-ed fence around the building site with the wee holes to check out progress?
I love Te Papa and it is just awesome to be able to take my son and daughter along to it as well (of course they adore the place). Mind you those coloured panels facing Cable Street are still a bit crap in my mind.
Te Papa (that’s “(y)our place”) celebrates its first decade on Saturday 16th February with a host of events including:
(after the break)
Art-Stalker: Man on a mission
Well, you’d really have to know your way around to guess today’s piece just by the photo here.
One of the things I’ve been enjoying is not having to wander too far from the apartment to find some amazing[ly weird] stuff around for you to look at.
This piece is in Jack Ilott Green. You know, the little garden just off Jervois Quay, the one where they’re constantly promising to build something useful. At the moment it just seems to be a refuge for pot smokers.
OK, since I’m keeping you in suspense, here’s the side view!
Yeah, the Wellingtonista are thinking it too. Bloody strange bit of art.
It has this same bias relief on all four sides, and although the entire sculpture seems to be getting a little knocked about it’s still in good form.
Problem is, no-one is certain what in the heck it’s supposed to be. If you have any suggestions, fell free to leave them in comments.
But first! What is it!