I’m sure you know by now that tomorrow the fantabulous Craft 2.0 fair is happening again at the NewDowse tomorrow from 11am-3pm. And even though this does mean you’ll need to venture out to the Hutt, you’re willing to make that sacrifice. Plus, since you can also go see the exhibitions that are on at the same time, you can take advantage of this:

When you travel by bus to see Becoming King Kong – get a free ride home! Simply bring in your bus ticket to TheNewDowse and you’ll receive a voucher for a free ride home. Must show a valid ticket from a Cityline Hutt Valley, Stagecoach Wellington or Go Wellington bus service.

And if you need even more of an incentive to get along other than just the great range for stuff for sale, Wellingtonista members Martha, Sue and Joanna will all be there in the flesh signing autographs selling their wares, which you can sample for free if you get there at 11am for the giftbags. Hurrah!

Just remember to take cash along for all your shiny purchases as there is no ATM.

PS. Wellingtonista Che will be selling someone else’s wares.

P.P.S. 101 gift bags get handed to the first people through the door at 11am.
You can check out Craft2.0 before 11am, but the the gift bags get handed out with the official fair start of 11am.

There are a couple of things that we’re universally fond of here at the Wellingtonista. Bars. Being entertained. Experiencing different things. Sexual perversity. If only there was a way we could combine all those things together… Hang on, there is! David Mamet’s one-act play Sexual Perversity in Chicago starts tonight at 6pm (doors at 5.30) at the San Francisco Bath House, and we’re guaranteeing* it’s going to be a good time. If you need more convincing, here’s five good reasons you should see it.

1. David Mamet‘s plays and screenplays for things are generally witty and hilarious.
2. It’s one act only! This means it starts at 6pm sharp and you’ll be out by 7.15pm, which is perfect if you’re not much of a theatre-goer and you just want to dip your toes in.
3. You can drink while you watch!
4. It’s only $15 a ticket (or $10 for students), and is a great way to see some seriously talented up-and-coming talent, like the lovely Laurel Devenie (pictured).
5. SFBH is one of our most favouritist venues (not just because of how late they’re open) and the play has been specially staged to fit the space, which will be very interesting to see.

It runs from Thursday 16th – Saturday 25th August 2007, so we’ll see you there, right?

* Well, not technically. But we are giving you our word as a gentleman.

EDIT: And now I’ve actually seen it, I recommend it like, ten times as much as before. Cabaret-style shows where you can sit at a table and drink and eat while watching hilarious dialog and pretty convincing mid-west accents and also hott boys in their panties are alright by me!

Since the rest of the Wellingtonista are doing it, here are a few things about Damian Christie’s article about Wellington that I disagree with.

• He advocates avoiding Courtenay Place. Don’t do that. Yes, it’s horrible on Fridays and Saturday nights, but without Courtenay Place there would be no beloved Wellingtonista institutions Sweet Mother’s Kitchen, the Paramount, Arashi, or access to Boulot on Blair St.


• He says “A real city should have at least one bar that stays open 24 hours a day.” Well, The San Francisco Bath House is often open until 6am, and Sandwiches until 7am, and after that, you can jump in a cab and go get a pie from the Hataitai Bakery, and eat it in the laundromat, both of which are open 24 hours. Perhaps you’ll find some anonymous sex there while you’re at it.


• He mentions that Wellington lacks celebrities. Hello, don’t you know who I am? The Wellingtonista are socialites. Llew in particular bears a striking resemblance to Glinda Kirkpatrick.


• Damian’s mentioned before how all the girls in Wellington wear skirts over their trousers. I know I do every day, but I don’t know anyone else who does. And I know everyone.


• Seriously, talking about Fat Freddy’s and Fly My Pretties? Yawn. It seems like he just googled ‘Wellington Music’ and took those names from a Wallpaper article. For someone seen around town as much as he is, you’d think he might have realised that there’s a lot more going on in our music scene.

The final question that ends all discussions or post mortems of Wellingtonista events:

also, did someone pick up our bar tab?

I like it for its simple, if plaintive, optimism.

Bret and Jemaine channel the Pet Shop Boys circa “West End Boys”…

Real Art Roadshow is a mobile exhibition of original work by more than 60 leading New Zealand artists. It’s currently parked right outside the Beehive.

More details, incl. list of artists, after the jump.

This years’ Cuisine Restaurant awards have seen three Wellington restaurants receive gongs, including the supreme title for Martin Bosley’s at the Port Nicholson Yacht Club. Bosley’s restaurant also took out the Best Fine Dining Award.

Other local winners were Pravda, who won the Best Casual Dining, Metropolitan award, and The Martinborough at Peppers Martinborough Hotel, which took Best Casual Dining, Regional.

There’s plenty of room at cuisine’s top table – Stuff.co.nz

Wellington gets a chance to say a fond farewell to All Black legend Tana Umaga on Saturday afternoon when he plays his final first-class game in New Zealand before heading off to start his coaching career at Toulon in France. The Wellington Lions play Manawatu at 2.35pm hoping to put their atrocious performance of last weekend behind them and give Tana the send off he deserves.

I was at Christian Cullen’s farewell, as well as the Auckland send-offs for Michael Jones and Zinzan Brooke. They were all amazing occasions and this one probably will be too.

My prediction (and feel free to ridicule me for it in the comments): Tana to be New Zealand’s first Samoan Prime Minister within 20 years.