the wellingtonista - a blog about wellington, new zealand

Play Four Square in Wellington!

Alan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:09:56 +0000

Foursquare has arrived in Wellington - and we're one of the first Australasian cities to be included!

But, you say, "I thought Four Square was a chain of over-sized dairies with a charmingly retro Dick Frizzell logo!" To which we'd say, "Ho ho, you cheeky post-ironic urbanites, we mean Foursquare, the location-based social networking game that's taking the world by storm!"

You may remember back in September we wrote about Twitterplaces, which rather sadly shut up shop almost immediately thereafter. Well, Foursquare was the inspiration for Twitterplaces: when you go to a new place; a bar, restaurant, park, anything, you "check-in"; and then you can see who of your friends are there.

And that's just the beginning. There's an overview of it all here, but here's the basics.

You can leave tips for things to do at each place, or add other people's tips to your list; you earn points for check-ins outside work hours, and you can earn badges for various "achievements", like the Bender badge (when you are out for four nights in a row), or the Gym Rat badge (when you are a regular at places tagged as a "Gym").

And: you can become Mayor of a spot by being the person checking-in most often in the last 60 days (though perhaps one should exercise discretion as to where one checks-in if one doesn't want to become Mayor of a supermarket or shopping centre, like <coff> some of our readers—whom we are too polite to name).

One of the nice things that's happened in other cities is that Mayors are often rewarded by the proprietors of their places - and that's what's happened here already at Mojo Old Bank, where Matt will stand a free coffee to the newly crowned Mayor. We can think of a few other places that we'd like to see extending this sort of courtesy! (Especially the ones we go to often.)

Foursquare depends on having some sort of internet capable mobile device: there's a mobile web version, as well as the inevitable iPhone and Android apps - and by design these are the only ways you can do check-ins.

So sign up, get out there, and see if you can unseat Pablo G. from the top of the Wellington Leaderboard!

Zinefest Saturday

sue — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:18:48 +0000

Zinefest is approaching fast!

It's this Saturday November 21st from noon till 5pm at Mighty Mighty, home to other such great events as the Annual Wellingtonista Awards

So if spending a day surrounded by Zines, browsing the Stonkingly awesome Wellington City Libraries Zine collection or taking a workshop, tuning into a talk or panel discussion sounds like you, well you know where to go.

There will be a zine swap box which is a great way to get new zines that you have never seen before! And of course at some point during the day the trophy for the Zine-of-the-Fest will be handed out.

You will also be able to pick up exclusive Zinefest Schwag including Wellington Zinefest T Shirts 2009 edition.

One month until #T4WA!

Joanna — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:48:28 +0000

Ooooh boy, we are very excited little puppies inside the Wellingtonista Towers today because it's exactly one month until the Fourth Annual Wellingtonista Awards (or the TAWAs for short, and specifically #T4WA on twitter).

Nominations will start appearing this week so you can go and check out who we're recommending, and then voting will be open from December 1-14.

On the night of December 17, you'll want to get your ass down to Mighty Mighty, pay your $10 on the door, and let the good times begin. The awards presentation should be happening around 7.30pm, and then at 9.30pm we are very excited to have the Klezmer Rebs playing tunes for us all to shake our tuchasses to!

If you'd like to help us make the night even more awesome by providing goodies for giveaways to our lovely readers, flick me an email - johubris at gmail.

And if you're feeling nostalgic or you didn't manage to make it along last year, relive the Third Annual Wellingtonistas event here.

Woven Tales of Ink, Silver and Silk

kowhai — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:51:02 +0000

Tonight is the opening night of a very special - and I suspect somewhat whimsical - art/fashion show at Thistle Hall.

Jewellery, fashion, illustration and photgraphy will be exploited for the purposes of storytelling and fantastic escape. Craft 2.0 goers will recognise Minu from the stalls and I for one am looking foward to seeing her "interdependant and interconnected metal city and night forest".

When: 17th November 5.30pm (fashion show at 6.00pm)

Where: Thistle Hall on Cuba Street

"Come, Venture into a tale of fantasy; Where mysteries unfold, Illusions take hold,.

Explore hidden meanings, trapped beauty, In the depths of Escape..."

Details from the press release after the jump...

Fabric Frenzy descends on Brooklyn

sue — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:11:09 +0000

This is certainly a Wellington weekend for everyone! I'm sure other Wellingtonistas have more to say about the soccer, the Santa Parade, the potential All Whites parade and the Kirk's Christmas windows.

But for me the weekend is all about fabric, crafting supplies, and adding to my craft stash.

My eyes and wallet are all prepared for Fabric-a- brac at the Brookylyn Community Center this Saturday from 12 noon till 3pm.

Wellington's crafters have gone through their craft stashes and are selling them off.

At Fabric-a-brac you'll see modern fabric, vintage fabric, threads, buttons, patterns, trims, notions and so much more.

There is also a fabric fundraising table for Mary Potter Hospice, which means spending money and doing good thigs all at the same time, YAY!

There will be coffee, tea and sweet treats all day long. So you can shop, take a breather and then shop some more. As any good bargin hunter knows often the most prized items in a crafter's stash don't hit the tables till near the end of the fair.

Remember to bring cash, it's the only currency accepted at Fabric-a-brac.

Fundraising event at the Paramount featuring Guilliermo Del Toro

sue — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:16:35 +0000

Tonight at the Parmount you can sit down for two hours with Guilliermo Del Toro.

He'll be talking about his life in film, and includes clips from films he's worked on, like "Pans Labyrinth" and "Hellboy". Plus it's a question and answer session, so if anyone finds out who is playing Bilbo, please report back.

This is a fund-raising event, so it's $45 a ticket! Money riased tonight will go towards Wellington producer Bonnie Slater and director Sam Kelly's first feature film, "One for the Road".

And don't forget the Paramount's movie quiz night on Thursday nights, starting at 9 o'clock sharp.

So if Guilliermo Del Toro is not your thing, quiz probably is. And if both are, I think the choice is obvious: you'll be spending every night at the Paz.

Short Film Workshop

kowhai — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:58:34 +0000

This year the Show Me Shorts film festival is offering a half day workshop in Wellington open to anyone interested in short films. The workshops are a unique opportunity to meet experienced and up and coming filmmakers, see some great films and learn more about the craft of developing a good short film.

When & Where: Saturday 14 November at Paramount Theatre
Cost: $10

Registration: 9am

Session One: Script development 9.30am – 11.00am
Filmmakers Louis Sutherland (Run, The Six Dollar Fifty Man) and Paul Ward (The Graffiti of Mr Tupaia, Choice Night) will screen and talk about one of their own short films and discuss with producer/director Paul Swadel (Poppy,No Ordinary Sun) what makes a great short film. There will be time for Q&A at the end of this session.

Morning Tea: 11am – 11.30am (food and beverages provided)

Session Two: 11.30am – 1.00pm: New Shorts Showcase
Filmmakers Sally Tran, Andrew Campion, and Rollo Wenlock screen recent work and discuss the pleasures and challenges of making shorts.

Register for the workshop online here.
Or contact anna@showmeshorts.co.nz for more information.

Show Me Shorts

kowhai — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:07:37 +0000

Show Me Shorts Film Festival rolls into town this Thursday for 6 days with a fine selection of the New Zealand and Australian short films that were contenders for the 8 awards.

Tomorrow is Wellington's opening night at the Paramount kicking off at 7.30pm. Opening night showcases the 8 winners in each category, tickets are $20 and include a glass of wine.

Full details of the Festival, including the full schedule, themes and details of each film can be found in the pdf linked to from this page. (We will report back with suggestions about the best sessions to attend.)

Come celebrate the short form and see if you can spot the next Taika Waititi.

West Hollywood lounge experience

The Masked Barfly — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:40:29 +0000

Today's Dom Post reports that the Loaded Hog will, intriguingly, be redeveloped into a "west Hollywood lounge experience".

Los Angeles's West Hollywood area is best known for its large gay village and its notorious nightlife.

It's the home of the Chateau Marmont (where John Belushi died and numerous stars did very bad things), the Viper Room (where River Phoenix died), the Roxy (where the first American run of the Rocky Horror Show was performed), the Whisky a Go Go (the club that invented go-go dancing) and the Sunset Strip, where dreams are made and crushed, daily.

And it's also known for being the home of the second wave of hair metal, spawning such masters of mascara as Poison, L.A. Guns and Mötley Crüe.

So will we see the 'Hog transformed into a sort of late '80s theme bar - a faded 1960s nightclub with chipped paint, used needles and the aroma of hairspray wafting from both the men's and the ladies'?

And - more importantly - will we expect to see a nu hair metal scene evolve, with a local version of Mötley Crüe?

One can only hope the answer to all these questions is, "Hell yes, please".

Spartacus R rounds off Soundstage for 2009

Dan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:04:28 +0000

The debut season of Downstage’s Sunday music programme ‘Soundstage’ has been a tearaway success. The formidable line-up of bands including The Woolshed Sessions, Little Bushman, Sam F Scott and The B.O.P and Rhian Sheehan have all thrived in the theatrical environment playing to capacity audiences.

We’re now at the last Soundstage gig for 2009 and Wellington six piece psychedelic psychonauts Spartacus R are the perfect band to close out the season. Their theatrical credentials are impeccable having built a reputation for unique and innovative performances at the NZ Fringe Festival. At the Fringe 07 they presented Spartacus R in Octophonic, and the following year at the Fringe 08 Spartacus R in 3D, combining live music with 3D visuals in the Paramount.

Based on a foundation of blues, rock and funk, Spartacus will deliver a captivating and electrifying performance that explores new musical and visual territory. For Soundstage on 15 Nov Spartacus R have crafted a completely new show combining 100% new musical material with projected visuals, actors and even live poetry.

More about Spartacus R and Soundstage after the jump.