Does Harbour Quays suck?
You’ve probably seen the articles and full-page ads in the Dominion Post by a group opposing the Harbour Quays development, and may have looked at their Vibrant Wellington website. I’ve written about Harbour Quays several times before, and while I’ve always been sceptical of the “office park” concept, I must admit I was a little wary of the opposing campaign, since it seems to be driven by a group of property developers and commercial landlords worried that cheap competition might undercut the soaring office rents that they’re currently enjoying. But last Thursday’s “open letter to the city of Wellington” was also signed by retailers, restaurateurs and three of Wellington’s most prominent architects, so clearly there’s a broader base to the opposition.
Espressoholics – The Final Countdown
Hadyn wrote about the National Barista Awards a few days ago.
At the edge of cutting edge blogging is the intrepid moi to report on action at the scene.
It is tense – well, not really, but it seemed an appropriate thing to say.
It is black. Well the people there are all in black, without exception, competitors and spectators alike.
It is free.
So get down there NOW. Have a coffee (free), listen to the DJ (free). Have a ball (priceless).
Level 3, Te Papa
Back on track: why submit?
Submissions on the North Wellington Public Transport Study close on Wednesday, and while this is obviously of major interest to those who live in that area, everyone else could be forgiven for thinking it irrelevant. However, there are many reasons why other Wellingtonians should care.
Wellington JAFA?
The Generation XY crowd are having a competition to find an equivalent for the phrase used to describe a certain type of Aucklander: the JAFA.
It took about 35 or so comments before someone finally conjured up something for the JAFA’s age-old ally in movie-theatre tooth-decaying crime: SNIFTA (Suited Nominal Intellectual Funding Terrible Arts Snivelling Nerds In Flash Terrace Apartments).
But my personal favourite is…
AGENDA
Another Government Employee Not Doing Anything.
Which naturally leads to the ‘Hidden Agenda’ which are the New Govt Employees that are artificially holding the unemployment rate down.
Brilliant. Add your own suggestions to the Gen XY comments thread over here.
Mystery bar number 35
There are plenty of issues I could be writing about today, such as whether the Harbour Quays development will suck the life out of the CBD, the merits of the new Cathryn Monro sculpture planned to go outside the Musuem Hotel, and of course the endless transport debates. However, I seem to have got into a pleasantly intoxigenic mode this week, so it’s time for another mystery bar.
Craftwerk
Only a week until Craftwerk hits the town.
Where: Paramount Theatre
When: Thursday 13th July, 5.30-8.30
What: Where to start? There will be a fabulous range of craft items created by oodles of clever people. From badges to crochet, from jewellery to a rather special range of children’s screenprinted shirts (bit of self promotion never hurt anyone eh?).
There will be music and Atari games, a fantastic mix tape swap, and all in a licensed venue.
Truly, does life get any sweeter?
Photo Credits
Thanks to the photographers responsible for allowing us to use their work as the background image at the top of each page. If you weren’t aware, the image rotates for each individual browser every 24 hours.
The images are…
- Inside of the Embassy Picture theatre: ???
- Mephisto Jones grafitti collage: ???
- Flat White and a Cheese Scone: coffee photo by Taniwha. Not sure about the scone, to tell the truth.
- Wellington from the Turbine: noizyboy.
- Wellington Cityscape at Night photo by ???
- The City-to-Sea Bridge Icons: Taniwha.
World Cup Alter Ego: Take Two
Well, our initial short-list of potential under-achieving teams to support through the World Cup has proved somewhat too accurate: site favourite Holland weren’t in such Ruud health; personal pick Spain went down the drain like rain on the plain; and the poor old Mexicans wave goodbye to their cup hopes for another four years.
Of the initial shortlist, only Portugal remain. And of the other quarter-finalists who meet any of our criteria (under-achievers, exciting players, erratic form), you can’t consider the Ukraine, who are really too boring by half, as are one-time winner England, who might have come away with our sympathy vote if it wasn’t for the fact they’re playing such dour football.
Italy, Brazil, Argentina and Germany are all multiple winners, so that rules them out, leaving the other one-time winner France as our outside pick. They might be the go, actually, as on closer analysis, they certainly meet the criteria: only the one Cup championship in 1998, but then had the form-reversal of the tournament’s history when they couldn’t even score a goal in defending their title at the 2002 tournament. And plenty of flash players: Henry, Zizou, Saha, Vieira…
So, who’s it to be? Portugal, France…?
A Snark at the Park
A guest post from Kenno…
Waitangi Park, yeah, sigh, it leaves me flat. Be warned, that will become the most overused description of the next few years. It’s an urban space surrounding the marvellous Te Papa and thereby it’s not simply a Wellington space but a space that should mightily reflect the national character.
Well, if the idea was to reflect bland conservative conformism and lock-step simple mindedness with all the individuality and self expression of a schoolgirl uniform, then it will succeed. I, for one, thought we might want to reflect other, perhaps more appealing aspects of the national character. Don’t get me wrong, this place would really wow them in Nelson or Timaru, but, this city is a little beyond that, a bit more mature, slightly more cosmopolitan and farther away from pig-dogs and paddocks. Right? God, I was really trying to understate the case.
(not-so) secret Wellingtonista handshake
Okay, here it is.
So, you start with your hand in the ‘W for Wellington’ shape. Connect with your partner following the Welly footpath rule of staying left (ie. your leftmost finger should be on the outside of their rightmost finger). The join should be made up to the middle knuckle. Then (the coup-de-grace!) curl the ends of your fingers over. You’re now making a symbolic representation of the hilly Wellington landscape. Slide the fingers apart (symbolic representation of a catastrophic earthquake, if you’re so inclined), and you’re done.
So cool.