Celluloid architecture
These days it seem like there’s a specialist film festival for every taste and interest: human rights, vegetables, silent films and even Phoenix dactylifera. There’s even one for architecture buffs, and the Wellington season starts at the Penthouse this Friday.
[Read on…]
Dear Fellow Bus Passenger,
…if you find yourself halfway down the bus, during rush-hour, with the entire rear of the bus’s aisle not only empty, but with half a dozen seats still there for taking, please don’t just stand there, acting as a dam against the ever-increasing human stream forcing its way up against your inconsiderate arse.
Moving back, and up that one small step is all that divides you from a possible seat, and from allowing another ten or so people onto this bus, instead of causing them to wait 10 minutes until the next (probably also overcrowded) bus arrives. Arsehole.
Newtown words
Tomorrow night, the Newtown Community and Cultural Centre hosts Newtown Spoken Word Winter 06, an open mike event organised by the Word Collective, the people who brought you Sk8board Poets, Karaoke Poetry and the Word Festivals. It starts at 7:30pm at the corner of Rintoul & Colombo streets, and entry is by koha. For more information, call Craig on 027 242 3453.
Snakes! On a plane! In Wellington!
Not that long ago, the London Time Out ran a feature on pirates in London to celebrate the release of Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Way to be hip, Time Out. Everyone who’s anyone knows that the actual most important movie this year is Snakes on Plane – or as some like to call it “Motherfucking snakes on a motherfucking plane”. So, in tribute to this movie that opens on Thursday, the Wellingtonista is proud to present this very special activity guide to recreating snakes on a plane in Wellington:
Musique Non Stop
(right, that’s the obligatory Kraftwerk reference out of the way)
This weekend’s a busy one for followers of electronic and dance music. Tomorrow night, Module’s live band (including Rhian Sheehan and Raashi Malik) plays the late set at Cabaret. From there, it’s just a quick jaunt along Courtenay Place to Sandwiches for Rhombus, who will be starting at about … oh, whenever gigs start at Sandwiches these days.
After a late night like that, on Saturday you might be in the mood for something more laid-back, so try out While_you_were_sleeping’s explorations of ambient and experimental sounds at Room 101 (under Bar Bodega) from 8pm. To get a preview of the sounds on offer, listen to The Session on Radio Active tonight, featuring tracks and interviews from some of the artists involved (inclding Pang, Panoramica and Anaesthesia Associates).
So So Modern, Disasteradio and Chairman Miaow, will be playing an Amnesty International benefit show at Indigo The San Francisco Bathouse from 9:30. And if you’ve any pills energy left, Concord Dawn and Minuit are playing not one but two gigs at Subnine: all-ages from 7pm to 10pm, and grown-ups only from 11pm.
It’s not my bag, baby!
Posted in the window of a certain shop in Cuba St:
I guess he won’t be trying that again.
Dancing in the streets
Amnesty International are looking to recruit street performers to support human rights as part of Freedom Week 2006(their annual awareness and fundraising week 31 july – 6 august)
Money collected on the streets this year will support their crisis campaigning work, in particular their work to stop human rights abuses in Darfur, Sudan.
To help raise the profile of Freedom Week, and boost public donations, for the first time this year, they’re asking artists, buskers and performing arts students to give up half an hour or an hour of their time to busk on Freedom Day, their street appeal day. In Wellington that’s Thursday 3rd August.
This is an invite to dance for love in the street to support Amnesty International’s Freedom Day.
What: Freedom Day street performance with Wellington Batucada (for Amnesty International’s Freedom Week)
When: Thursday 3rd August, between 5 and 6pm
Where: Corner of Lambton Quay and Featherston St (in front of Old Bank Arcade)
Costumes: To be advised
Other: There will be no practices, so you will need to be confident in following carnival/samba reggae moves as lead by a teacher and freestyling as well.
Shake it for a good cause, or just go along and show your support.
Tom’s Martini on National Radio
For those who missed Tom discussing his Wellington Martini mission on Kim Hill’s Saturday morning National Radio, here’s a streaming mp3 link of the show. (Just click on it – it should fire up your default mp3 player and play the file. Don’t know how long the link will stay active, though.)
If windows media format is more your thing (and, if it is, may we recommend you review your digital media usage options), then head over the National Radio site and try changing the settings there.
Williams Gallery
There is a great exhibition at the Williams Gallery in Petone featuring a range of prints by Michael Smither. Most of the art uses fairly abstract forms in a limited palette. I rate them highly. Don’t be put off by the boat picture on the Williams website, because frankly I think there are far stronger pieces than that.
Very appealing too are the prices. Plenty to be had for under $1000, and if you’re in the market to spend more, you can get a lovely big print.
And for the more sensitive amongst you, I didn’t notice any paintings by Patrick Williams starring lady bits. Praise be.