Our Wellington

Stories

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  Cook aims to set record straight

  If re-elected Lambton Ward councillor Stephanie Cook wants to start a community garden and help set up more youth venues. A local panel’ s hard-hitting assessment in August, which looked at the merits of incumbent Lambton Ward councillor Stephanie Cook strongly… Continue

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  Let’s talk about sex, baby

  EVERYONE remembers the first time they had sex. In 1998 a website was created that allowed people to share such experiences, which inspired American theatre producer Ken Davenport to write My First Time. We asked the cast and crew of the play, directed by Ross… Continue

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  Return of the Kang

  Miae Kang was the first Weta Digital artist to exhibit at Monique and Calvin Rowe’s Eyeball Kicks store and gallery, now the gallery sells the works of three other Weta artists with an exciting addition on the way. CANADIAN artist Miae Kang moved to Wellington… Continue

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  Buy Wellington made

  Voted Best Artist in last year’s Capital Times Best of Wellington Readers Survey, Tommy Ill has released a debut album that is proudly Wellington-made - from the beats, the recording and mixing, right down to the artwork and the mastering. “I was also surprised… Continue

• Not in Wellington

  THERE won’t be an Auckland-style supercity here, avers Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon. “One of the things that differentiates Auckland from Wellington is that our mayors talk.” McKinnon says that one of the reasons a supercity was imposed in Auckland was because the… Continue

• First time lucky?

  Debutant mayoral candidates Al Mansell and Bernard O’Shaughnessy are extreme personalities with big plans for Wellington. One’s a pothead who will work for free, the other will give away a third of his salary to charity and campaigns to restrict the number of… Continue

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  Futsal Brothers

  Phoenix midfielders Diego Walsh and Daniel Lins Côrtes grew up playing futsal in their native Brazil and have set up a school in Wellington to share their skills with local kids. FUTSAL has always been part of everyday life for Phoenix players Diego Walsh and… Continue

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  Clothes make the man

  The arts capital of New Zealand boasts a vibrant and edgy shopping experience. Capital Times celebrates entrepreneurs with a passion for fashion. MANDATORY are perfect fit specialists. The men’s clothing store on Cuba Street produces casual, work and occasion… Continue

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  Cyclists on the footpath

  BICYCLES do not belong on footpaths, say cycle and pedestrian advocates. Cycling on the footpath is illegal in Wellington, and cyclists can incur a $55 fine if caught in the act. However the Wellington City Council proposes to introduce a shared footpath in Karori.… Continue

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  Sexy Rexy

  The arts capital of New Zealand boasts a vibrant and edgy shopping experience. Capital Times celebrates entrepreneurs with a passion for the city. RETAIL boutique and fashion gallery Rex Royale started out as a small vintage store at the St James Markets.… Continue

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  Taste the difference

  With Beervana just around the corner, Capital Times discovers there are more people drinking craft beers than ever before. Cash-strapped backpacker Martin Baptiste says New Zealand craft beers can’t be beaten. “Cheaper alternatives just don’t do it, you really… Continue

• A cyclist's jewel?

  Makara Peak is one of the best mountain bike tracks in the world, according to a travel website. But experienced biker Nick Kemp disagrees. Seattle born Nick Kemp has ridden mountain bike tracks on the west coast of America, Asia, Europe, and New Zealand,… Continue

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  The Sky is the limit

  Without the support of Wellington-based venture capital technology company No 8 Ventures, Kiwi jetpack inventor Glenn Martin wouldn’t have been able to afford to keep his machine in the country. When Inventor and engineer Glenn Martin was only four he “repaired”… Continue

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  Pep in his step

  Capital Times talks with mayoral hopefuls in the lead up to the Wellington City Council elections in early October. COUNCILLOR Bryan Pepperell is a man on a mission, and he is not afraid to use technology to spread his message to his constituents. The Southern… Continue

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  Tunnel vision

  MANY Hataitai residents are unhappy with Wellington City Council proposals for the Hataitai bus tunnel. They feel the council is not listening to them, particularly over tunnel safety. In particular Kent Duston of the Mt Victoria Residents Association says he… Continue

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  Sadist inspires teenager

  TOI Whakaari student Chris Parker felt liberated when he became an erotic novel and short story writer who enjoys bizarre and violent sexual fantasies. The 19 year old is stoked to play the role of French aristocrat and revolutionary Marquis de Sade, after whom… Continue

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  Clothes bake the man

  STEVE Woolcott doesn’t wear his suit to work to impress his clients, but to keep warm at work. The painting contractor for Wellington company House Coating attracted the attention of giggling female pedestrians while he waterblasted a house in Mt Victoria. Woolcott… Continue

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  Explosive cocktail

  WHEN a huge artillery shell was delivered to Calem Chadwick’s home last week, the courier looked at him sideways. “Don’t ask,” Chadwick said as he signed for the delivery The award-winning barman has devised an ingenious way for Wellingtonian’s to get fired up… Continue

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  Offaly close to the bone

  CHEF Kit Foe has always loved eating entrails and organs. The St Johns Heineken Hotel head chef says it was natural for his family to use every part of an animal when cooking and it’s a tradition he has continued to this day. “When you don’t have a lot of money… Continue

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  Superleague superfan

  REGIONAL Superleague Finals competitor Olivia Dunn is a huge Silver Ferns fan. She goes to all their Wellington games, her favourite players are Temepara George and Grace Rasmussen, and she hopes to play for the team one day. So it was a dream come true when… Continue

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  Disable fable

  Lucy O’Brien’s third play, Katydid, exposes the reality of living with someone with a disability, and deviates from the corny and simplistic formula of films like I Am Sam and The Other Sister. PLAYWRIGHT Lucy O’Brien’s 28 year old sister Sophie has the mind… Continue

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  Getting heat from the freezing foreshore

  REST home workers are testing each other’s courage at this month’s Petone Winter Carnival. Upper Hutt Wesleyhaven retirement village staff have dreamed up a “sponsorship scorecard” for the Petone foreshore “Polar Plunge”. Village manager Karen Rhind says the… Continue

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  Tawa girl at heart

  Capital Times talks with mayoral hopefuls in the lead up to the Wellington City Council elections in early October. MAYOR Kerry Prendergast loves her job. It’s not hard to tell why, as we are served bottles of NZ spring water on a silver platter in the palatial… Continue

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  Schlong time no see

  MUSIC awards don’t guarantee financial success. Just ask Kiwi metal band El Schlong. The Battle of the Bands and Handle the Jandal award winners regularly lug their own equipment on the London underground on the way to gigs. They don’t own a car. “Our gear… Continue

• Sophie’s choice

  CAPITAL Times is sad to farewell journalist Sophie Schroder and her work and life partner Jamie-Melbourne Hayward as they jet off to Spain next week. Schroder was a journalist at Capital Times for more 18 months, worked tirelessly as the acting editor for the… Continue

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  Rosa Doyle meets two exPMs

  A framed Capital Times illustration by Rosa Doyle will be given to ex-Prime Minister Helen Clark this week. The image of former Wellington Central MP and Prime Minister Peter Fraser created for our OK, Clever Dick… quiz (see pg 17) will be presented to Clark at… Continue

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  No debate: Wellington is best

  THEY may be quiet and reserved when you chat to them face to face but on stage they are confident and eloquent – not to mention winners. Wellington College’s Tom Mitchell and Duncan McLachlan teamed up with Scots College’s James Gavey to secure Wellington’s second… Continue

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  Building bulldozed

  THE former Tattoo Museum and Underground Arts building on Abel Smith St has been demolished to make way for Tattoo Apartments. The complex will contain 36 units, 18 on the ground floor and 18 on the first. “Not many apartment blocks are going up, so it’s a positive… Continue

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  Set to take on the world

  WADESTOWN student Kate McCaw is the only Wellingtonian competing at the Youth Olympic Games this month. The 17-year-old Samuel Marsden Collegiate School head prefect is one of 16 young New Zealanders chosen to join more than 3,600 athletes from around the globe… Continue

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  Wellington set for Risqué performance

  “THE Queen has sex too”, says “Drag King” Andy Harness. In the past Harness has done the full monty on stage, performed a skit which sexualises the Queen and caused people to storm out of his shows, but he promises his new show Risqué is for everybody, not just… Continue

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  A good story

  A stint living in a zoo inspired David Elliot to pursue a career as an illustrator. The award-winning illustrator of favourites such as the Redwall series by UK author Brian Jacques, was living in Edinburgh and had run out of money. “I went to get a job at a… Continue

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  Behind the crafty mind

  Our lives are filled with the enjoyment of treasures. Capital Times talks with crafty people from around the Wellington region. ARTIST Arlo Edwards who has recently opened his new studio gallery on Dixon Street wants to expand the cultural hub of Wellington.… Continue

• Top wine award

  ENTRIES are open for the 2010 Air New Zealand Wine Awards. All vintage wines must be 100% sustainably produced. “Sustainability has been a focus of the Air New Zealand Wine Awards for several years with the introduction of pure medals in 2007,” says NZ Winegrowers’… Continue

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  Cheeky cow

  BEEF cheeks are the new lamb shanks, says Zealandia head chef Craig Dunshea. Rata, the Karori sanctuary’s new terrace cafe, is doing a main of braised beef cheeks for this month’s food festival Wellington on a Plate. “I wanted [to make] something a little different,”… Continue

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  The life of Spite

  Actor, director, and writer, Tim Spite delves into not only his own family life, but also that of the Bain family, in his latest production. TIM Spite and his cast and crew spent three months as a sort of jury in the Bain family murder case. The multiple… Continue

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  Every Penny counts

  A Wellington band’s clever music video that shows them making their own instruments has won them a showing at a big film festival in London. THE Thomas Oliver Band’s video has been selected from over 1,000 entries to show in an international competition alongside… Continue

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  Human fireflies up the butterfly

  IF you are running through native beech forest at night, the last thing you expect to come across is a half-drunk rugby team. Eastbourne’s annual night race up Butterfly Creek was made more difficult than usual last year when the local rugby team decided to wet… Continue

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  Feeling merry

  IN the build up to the Rugby World Cup, old booze hags The Feelers are excited about their upcoming winter tour because they are returning to their roots: the pub. Drummer Hamish Gee laughs, “I don’t really remember the first five years of The Feelers. We were… Continue

• Council spending scrap

  THE business community wants the Wellington City Council to tighten its belt. The Government heard final submissions on Rodney Hide’s Local Government Act Amendment Bill last week, and former Wellington Chamber of Commerce president Charles Finny says the bill… Continue

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  Hip hooray for Kura

  KURA gallery on Allen Street is turning 10, and its celebrations will bring its opening a decade ago full-circle. Its celebratory dinner later this month at the historic Robert Orr House in Lower Hutt is appropriate because it was also the location of Kura’s original… Continue

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  Kapai for Northern Ward

  KAPAI owner Justin Lester has just become a father and wants to be a city councillor. When Capital Times contacted Lester about his just announced bid for the Northern Ward, he was in another kind of ward, a post-natal one, celebrating his new-born girl Madeleine.… Continue

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  Lycra lovin’ pays off

  A local group of Lycra enthusiasts has picked up a national award for promoting safe streets. Cycle Aware Wellington (CAW) has been rewarded for its “Cruise the Waterfront” campaign and video, nabbing the top award in the Best Walking Promotion category at the… Continue

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  It’s Warr!

  THE hounds are still out for the unpleasant people who assaulted John Costa last weekend and stole his special guitar – one of only about four in the country. Costa’s friends have put up a $500 reward for the return of the extraordinary instrument called a Warr… Continue

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  Scott free in New Zealand

  WHEN Broadway singer Jacqui Scott was two, she had the loudest singing voice in her church’s congregation. The youngster’s love of belting out a tune convinced her parents to enrol her into singing and piano lessons when she was only six. Four years later Scott… Continue

• Ah, Paris!

  WANDERLUST has captured Capital Times’ past correspondents, who are now wide-eyed and abroad, taking their wee bit of Wellington to the world. John Watson has lived in France since April this year, and has spent most of his time in Antibes, doing day work… Continue

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  Behind the crafty mind

  Our lives are filled with the enjoyment of treasures. Capital Times talks with crafty people from around the Wellington region. WEAVER Kohai Grace is in the frame. Grace leads the Maori weaving group Whare Tukutuku who received the last round of funding from… Continue

• McMurrayMon wins top gong

  YOUNG Wellingtonian Jessamy Murray’s initiative and experimentation has paid off, as her creation was awarded the 2010 Zumwohl cocktail of the year. For the competition, participants were asked to create a cocktail recipe with Zumwohl schnapps as the base ingredient.… Continue

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  Taking Stock

  HOW are NZ’s key environmental assets stacking up in comparison to the world? Here is a Green / scientific view. KIWIS love to go bush and eat fresh kai. We have a direct interest in protecting the country’s wildlife, landscapes and coastlines, so the Department… Continue

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  The dog is dead

  LORI Leigh reckons it was no coincidence that she brought the award-winning play Dog Meets God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead to New Zealand. The American director saw the play about the much-loved Charlie Brown characters all grown up, in New York City,… Continue

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  Sea Shepherd stop whale sushi

  LOCALS are giving up time and money to support the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s next operation on the high seas. A charity concert “Rock the Boat” and a forum with controversial Sea Shepherd captain Pete Bethune have been organised for this weekend. Pete… Continue

• It’s a Council money grab

  Thousands of locals could be stung with large yearly fees if Wellington City Council’s policy is changed. THE council is consulting residents on a draft of the Road Encroachment and Sale Policy, which will determine how to charge the 6,000-odd Wellingtonians who… Continue

• Hey kid, thanks for the wine

  WELLINGTON College should stand by its pupils. Mount Victoria resident Bridget Dunn says public criticism is unfounded and it’s no big deal under 18 year-old students are selling wine to raise funds. She bought a case of wine through a student last week. “He… Continue

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  Probert for councillor

  MIRAMAR vet Allan Probert has decided to bow out of the mayoral race and hone in on his Eastern Suburb. Probert, who made the announcement last week, says he endorses Wellington City Councillor Celia Wade-Brown in her fight for mayoralty. “Celia and I see eye-to-eye… Continue

• He's a stayer

  THESPIAN Ginette MacDonald, has shopped in Kilbirnie for years and often been served by Pramod Patel Impressed by his politeness she suggested to him “You must have worked here for five or six years now” . “No, Madam” replied Patel, “I’ve worked here for thirty… Continue

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  Return of the broken pitcher

  RISING softball star Zane Siolo has conquered the tournament that crippled him. Last year Zane ruptured three ligaments at the Men’s Friendship Tournament in Sydney, but this month he was dubbed the tournament’s Top Pitcher as the NZ Junior Black Sox took out… Continue

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  Let's Korero

  Learning Te Reo is a perfect fit for the professional and home lives of two pakeha Wellingtonians. ISLAND Bay resident Charles Barrie’s favourite Maori word is whakawhanaungatanga. The word means “building relationships” and because that’s what he does for… Continue

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  No pain, no gain: no brain

  WINTER is the season for aching bodies to play up. People are looking to get fit and beat the winter blues, but movement educator Elke Dunlop says many conceptions of how to “stay in shape” are based on faulty logic. “Actions and movements that leave the body… Continue

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  That's poetry, man

  Sam Hunt: Poet, drunk, or genius?  A documentary featured in the New Zealand International Film Festival sheds a light. WHEN filmmakers Jim Scott and Tim Rose applied to the Film Commission for financing their documentary about poet Sam Hunt, they were… Continue

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  Stop, drop, and roller

  LOOK out for skimpily clad roller skating girls hitting the streets of Wellington. Rusty Stiletto and her team mates Kiri Te Karnage, and Rita Anguish will be promoting the Richter City Roller Derby’s first “bout”. A “bout” consists of two teams of five girls… Continue

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  The grass is always Grenier

  THE lead actor in the TV series Entourage, Adrian Grenier, says the best way to avoid the paparazzi is to be “boring”. Grenier is relaxing in a hotel somewhere in Auckland, a far cry from his Hollywood haunt where stars are hounded daily by “paps” intent on filming… Continue

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  A mayor for light rail

  Capital Times talks with mayoral hopefuls in the lead up to the Wellington City Council elections in early October. MAYORAL candidate Celia Margaret Wade-Brown is proud of her golden $17 suit jacket. “It’s from the expensive rack at the Salvation Army shop… Continue

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  Cleaning windows to striking images

  WINDOW washer Richard Bigwood has always admired the art on the other side of the glass. By day he cleans windows at buildings like the Wellington City Gallery and government and corporate foyers. “Some of the exhibits have been very interesting. The government… Continue

• Get turfed

  WELLINGTON could soon be home to quite a collection of artificial sportsfields, says Wellington City Councillor John Morrison. His comments herald the July 24 launch of the artificial turf in the old Wellington Showground car park. For many, the opening provides… Continue

• ‘Yee-Hah’ let’s Barn Dance

  THE solution to Wellington’s most notorious pedestrian crossing could be a ‘Barn Dance’. Earlier this month residents called for a safety audit after the removal of pedestrian islands from the Taranaki Street and Courtenay Place intersection. Statham Consulting… Continue

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  By the horns

  PAMPLONA’S Running of The Bulls is a rite of passage for many. A former Massey University student is among nine injured there last week. Joel Stirling, 26, studied transport and yacht design at Massey, and travelled to Spain with two of goals: to make the news,… Continue

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  Getting the pitch right

  SHE’s a school girl who can sing, run riot on the rugby pitch, and wants to go to France to get better at both. Sixteen year-old Fa’asua Makisi will perform in a Wellington concert alongside her opera-star uncle Ben Makisi, in a bid to raise $4,000 for a six-month… Continue

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  The art of war

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  Take a great gulp

  ACTRESS Miranda Manasiadis calls herself a “book geek” and read The Great Gatsby when she was 17. “The last paragraph just left me sobbing and sobbing – I was surviving those heightened teenage emotions, and it was such a tragedy,” Manasiadis says. Ken Duncum,… Continue

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  Inside the churches

  MAORI church design in the mid-1800s has interested an American professor so much that he’s written a book about it. Dr Richard Sundt will launch Whare Karakia: Maori Church Building Decoration and Ritual in Aotearoa New Zealand 1834-1863, with a series of lectures… Continue

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  Through Mt Vic by the busload

  MOUNT Victoria residents are feeling cheated. In response to concerns about safety after a pedestrian was seriously injured by a car in the tunnel last year, Wellington City Council sought to legally designate it “bus only”. But a seemingly positive change to… Continue

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  Spilling the beans

  THIS one is for real, swears Costa Botes, the director of hoax documentary Forgotten Silver, about his latest, Candyman, The Rise and Fall of Mr Jelly Belly. Candyman received a standing ovation at world-renowned documentary festival Hot Docs in Toronto. … Continue

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  Local cleats for Cake Tin carnage

  HOMEGROWN All Blacks are set to hustle the boks. The line up for this weekend’s tri-nations clash against South Africa will be named tomorrow morning in Wellington, July 14. Local heroes Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Cory Jane, and Piri Weepu, who helped dominate… Continue

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  Paint the town in rainbows

  Paul “Budgie” Jacobsen is living up to his title as “Mayor of The Crescent”. His Roseneath home overlooks Wellington Harbour, and Budgie says the view of the new paint job being done on the Museum Hotel is a “glorious sight”. Not so glorious was the “ugly” concrete… Continue

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  Dance Your Socks Off no more

  THE old dance socks are in the bin. There will be no Dance Your Socks Off Festival this year as Wellington’s dance community works out a new festival for 2011. “It won’t return in its present form, but a prototype festival will launch next year,” says Linda Lim,… Continue

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  Groms get rec’d

  SKATERS may have a love affair with concrete, but wet concrete gives them the flick. For the sanity of board enthusiasts in the winter, a new competition is being launched at Kilbirnie Recreation Centre. The first ever under 12 year-old Cheapskates Grom Skateboard… Continue

• Making Manuel changes

  SPORT Wellington’s Coach of the Month has taken up a leadership mantle in one of the city’s toughest neighborhoods. With his wife Yvonne, Naenae rugby coach John Manuel has set up a rugby academy to assist students – and there will be no swearing. Manuel has… Continue

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  A group of Kiwis are doing it French-style

  In preparation for Bastille Day, Capital Times finds out why many Wellingtonians are going French. WELLINGTON interest in French culture is on the rise, thanks to an increase in the number of French restaurants that give New Zealanders a taste of the country,… Continue

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  Events to keep our sirens free

  Wellington Free Ambulance, which wants to keep its service free, is expanding its coverage. In the past four months is has doubled the number of events it attends. Wellington Free Ambulance is suffering an identity crisis. “A survey last year showed that… Continue

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  Our Wellington Victor

  THE parents of Wellington rugby star Victor Vito are as proud as they come. “I don’t deserve to be his dad, that’s how good he is. He has made me proud ever since he was a kid,” says father Joe Vito. Last month, while the 23 year-old Victor was preparing for… Continue

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  The tale of a portrait

  AVENAL McKinnon is glowing as she chats about the latest portraits adorning the walls of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. JUST days prior, the gallery’s director received the news she’d been so badly hoping for: The Portrait Gallery doesn’t have to move again.… Continue

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  Town Hall shape shifts to stadium soul

  DRUM and bass lyrics master PDigsss is “chuffed” that out of the vampire nature of the music industry; New Zealand music has found its way. This month, the front man of New Zealand’s premier electronic group Shapeshifter is returning to the capital after a three… Continue

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  Twain is back

  AFTER its success at the International Arts Festival, Mark Twain and Me in Maoriland is back, new and improved. The hard work is far from over, however. The production from Taki Rua Maori theatre company has been several years in the making. It uses American… Continue

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  Willis Street manager flees upset workers

  Wellington JB Hi-Fi staff say they are sick of being “treated like commodities” and are increasing pickets against “poor work conditions and low wages”. Weekly protests began at the Willis St store in April, after six months of fruitless negotiations between JB… Continue

• Booked for rugby

  TWO books on important past and present rugby legends are set for release. The Legend of Beau Baxter by Ivan Dunn hits the shelves on August 1, and is set in the 1920s. It follows a fictional “Flashman” Baxter as he plays for the Maoris and – after some questionable… Continue

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  Super cuber

  EVERYONE has their obsessions, and for local man Sebastian Krueger it’s the Rubik’s Cube. “It’s a bit of an addiction, some people smoke – I solve Rubik’s Cubes,” says 29 year-old Krueger. He is competing at the 2010 Rubik’s New Zealand Speed-Cubing Championships… Continue

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  It’s La De Da for the Capital

  ALANA Estate’s concern about hosting a new music festival over New Years was that people might buy more beer than wine. “I told them they just need to price their wine cheaper,” laughs La De Da festival organiser Josh Mossman. “They’re going to do their own La… Continue

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  Competition, colour, and Collier

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• Cuba Street king keeps crown

  Peter McLeavey is not retiring, in spite of rumours to that effect. The greatly respected Cuba Street gallery owner smiles gently at the speculation. “I will continue to work with my artists and clients until I am unable to crawl up the stairs, he says.” His… Continue

• Almost the worst enrolled city

  TRANSIENT youth get the blame as the enrolment drive for local elections gets underway. Wellington has one of the lowest voter enrolments in the country – only Palmerston North is worse with 14% unregistered compared to our 10%. Out of a potential 154,000 eligible… Continue

• Safer bikers to convene

  GRISLY advertisements showing people being “de-gloved” after falling off motor scooters may not be on the cards for New Zealand, but increased rider safety is. From July 1, ACC’s motorcycle negotiations include a $30 safety levy, which will go directly towards… Continue

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  Are our leaders going green?

  Victoria University’s Masters of Business Administration are facing up to the global financial crisis. Capital Times finds out how serious they are. STUDENTS at the Victoria University’s Master of Business Administration lay rat poison. The business school… Continue

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  Mongrel Mob moves into Newtown

  MONGREL Mob ex-presidents are not used to taking direction from short, blonde, white girls. When filming started for Day Trip in Newtown, former mob boss Tuhoe Isaac didn’t know what to make of 26 year-old director Zoe McIntosh. “Tuhoe grew up in a culture that… Continue

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  The brink of the rink

  WHEN Olga Sharutenko was 11, she was ice-skating six-days a week, for two sessions a day, leaving just enough time for school. She’s now a world-top ice skater, and will skate in Wellington as Odette, the swan princess, in Swan Lake on Ice. Sharutenko who is… Continue

• A lingering smell

  STRATHMORE resident Stan Andis is sick of the bad smell around his neighbourhood. Andis lives 400 metres away from the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant, and has been fighting to get the smells it emits under control for the past 12 years. “We’ve experienced… Continue

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  Sighs of relief

  DEPUTY Mayor Ian McKinnon is glad Wellington won’t get a citywide liquor ban, but was surprised by the way some of the councillors voted. McKinnon thinks public reaction and the facts speak for themselves. The council received 604 submissions on the proposal… Continue

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  New city space to create

  STEPPING inside the old Frederick Street Church in Te Aro is like entering a scene from Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Acid Kool-Aid Test. In the book, Ken Kesey and his eclectic band of Merry Pranksters trip across America in 1968 introducing people to the recently… Continue

• Madness at the Church

  The old Frederick Street Church in Te Aro is now an experimental music machine. New lessee Daniel Beban has given the Church a breath of fresh air and encourages DIY music making. Beban’s band The Orchestra of Spheres was born in the Church, and last week released… Continue

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  Buckwhips buck up

  THE Lonesome Buckwhips have had albums banned, every member has spent time in jail, and one member is pregnant to her half-brother. The band is coming to Wellington to perform a one-off show, Buckapapa, at Downstage Theatre. Staying true to their knack for bad… Continue

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  Hell for Rugby World Cup kitchens

  A top hospitality trainer says Wellington will suffer a culinary shortfall for the World Cup. Capital Times investigates why there is a shortage of hospitality, IT, electrical, and nursing staff while Wellington’s youth unemployment sits at 22.5%. THE Wellington… Continue

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  Wrestling with make-up

  ANYONE who rings the National Bank call centre might be greeted by with Matthew Wilson, aka Max “the Axe” Damage. Last year Wilson became the NZ Kiwi Pro Wrestling champion on the TV show Off the Ropes, and will defend his title at Wellington High School in two… Continue

• Gnome swings a butcher’s knife

  THE gnome’s gone walkabout! In time for the school holidays, a wayward gnome has made it to Circa Theatre, and is subject to the wishes of children. Wellington man Pete Doile is playing Norman the Gnome in the children’s production, Gnome on the Roam, and says… Continue

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  ACC hike a sore

  MOTORCYCLE owners in Wellington are questioning the government’s ACC levy increases. Bikers Rights of New Zealand Wellington president Brent Hutchison, who owns three large motorbikes, says the National government has added $600 onto his yearly bill. Increases… Continue

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  A resident ink addict

  CONTROVERSIAL artist Wayne Youle is returning to the Capital in style to take up the Rita Angus Residency. The award has been dormant for the past two years until WelTec worked with the Thorndon Trust to resurrect it. Youle who arrives in August, now lives north… Continue

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  Don’t wait for Godot

  SIR Ian McKellen was recently mistaken for a homeless man. The actor, best known to many Kiwis as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, was not offended. McKellen was taking a breather on a Melbourne park bench between rehearsals for his role of homeless… Continue

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  Strung Out Outsiders

  WELLINGTON band The Outsiders have only been around a couple of years, but they’ve already toured the world, and will open for a major US punk band. The band is to play alongside Strung Out, an 18-year-old punk rock band from California, which is set to grace… Continue

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  Let’s settle this outside

  “Lambton Quay barristers blow each other away in a Thorndon Quay duel.” This story was unearthed by a research team from Victoria University’s Faculty of Law. Research team member Dr Shaunnagh Dorsett says the story is about two Wellington barristers. In New… Continue

• To ban or not to ban

  A large majority of Wellingtonians don’t want a citywide liquor ban, but Wellington City Council officers do. The council received 604 written submissions on the proposal to amend the city’s Liquor Control Bylaw, which presented three options: to have a citywide… Continue

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  An award winning Relief

  FIRST time author Anna Taylor was downcast when she found out there was no shortlist for the Best First Book Award. “I thought ‘that’s me out of the running’, so I was really surprised and amazed when they told me I’d won,” says Taylor. The New Zealand Society… Continue

• Too many taxis?

  IN 1989 there were 400 taxis in Wellington, and now there are over 1,200. Numbers have exploded since the industry was deregulated in 1989, and many locals, like Petone resident Dave Stonyer, are sick of taxis taking up car spaces in the city. Stonyer travels… Continue

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  Bring your blanket

  IT’S 6.30am, and Brazilian supporters at new bar Estadio in The Temperance are far from sleepy. When I arrive, members of Wellington Batucada are already beating their drums (including Brazilian percussion guru Carlos Ferreira from Melbourne-based band MelSamba),… Continue

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  Smeltz like team spirit

  Capital Times’ roaming editor Dawn Tratt is in South Africa to watch the Football World Cup, and renew her acquaintance with the African lifestyle. She tells us about watching the Kiwis play. ALL WHITES fans pashed local women, danced on hay bales and got… Continue

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  Gallant banana’s Antarctic odyssey

  Have you heard about the banana that split to Antarctica? The short film Fruitless Journey is based on Robert Falcon Scott’s fatal expedition to be the first person to reach the South Pole – with one difference – it’s seen through the eyes of a banana. Directing… Continue

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  The drug rules in Wellington

  DRUG related crimes in Wellington are on the rise, and authorities on drug prevention are calling for an overhaul of the Misuse of Drugs Act. In the Capital, drug related crime has gone up 18% from 2008 to 2009, and cannabis offences are up 19% (295 offences).… Continue

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  The hidden masks of tapa cloth

  TAPA cloth is coming to Wellington on a seismic scale. Te Papa will host New Zealand’s largest exhibition of Pacific tapa cloth in 30 years, including massive masks that rarely make it out of the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Tapa cloth is made out of beaten bark… Continue

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  Down the pan

  Wal Gordon is not just angry at the way the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board is managed. He is a seriously upset plumber, and he believes the Board should be disestablished. Capital Times (May 26) reported that Wellingtonian Paul Grant was furious after… Continue

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  Leave it under the mat

  MANY Kiwis’ mispronounce musician Luc Arnault’s name “Luck”, (say Luke)but luck is an appropriate title. When Arnault arrived three years ago, he and three French friends spent six months busking their way around the country. “We were busking on Cuba Street,… Continue

• BNZ Whale Watch advertisements a ‘farce’

  THE BNZ Whale Watch TV advertisements distort history, says Wellington resident Tuari Potiki (Ngai Tahu). He is angry the adverts depict BNZ as a “benevolent benefactor” for Whale Watch. Potiki, now an operations manager in Wellington, calls the adverts a “farce”… Continue

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  Royal crown jewel

  TIMES are a changing for the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, which plans to change from a “private” yacht club, into a space everyone can enjoy. The club has been working on a master plan, which will see its environment revamped dramatically. Until now, the… Continue

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  Jack Yan wants Wellington wired

  The 2011 council faces many hurdles: ballooning council debt, controversial roadworks like the Basin Reserve flyover, pedestrians’ concerns over Manners Mall, increasing calls for light rail, and demands for more transparency and community participation in local… Continue

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  Freezing water improves performance

  THE health impacts of winter swimming extend to the bedroom. “It’s a great way to boost your chances, your fertility,” says Freyberg Beach mid-winter swim co-organiser Lindy Young. Young knows because she works at a fertility company. She says a technique recommended… Continue

• A magnetic book

  ALMOST everyone has picked up a compass at some point in their lives and wondered why the needle points north, says Victoria University lecturer Gillian Turner. Her book, North Pole South Pole explores what causes the Earth’s magnetic field, (without which we… Continue

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  Enter the quirky quilter’s lair

  NOWADAYS it’s cool to be in stitches. City fences are adorned with knit graffiti, and quilting groups talk about sex and hang their quilts in galleries. Nowhere has the resurgence of the knitting needle been so publicity acknowledged than by this year’s winners… Continue

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  The Aotearoa show

  A theatrical showcase of uniquely New Zealand productions is hitting the capital. Three shows at BATS, Downstage, and Circa, delve into our past, present, and future.   Maori tales are prominent, with the New Zealand International Arts Festival highlight… Continue

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  Wanda’s a wonder

  THE best piece of advice Elvis Presley gave Wanda Jackson was that if she wanted to sell records, she should be a rockabilly singer. She listened, and now not only is Jackson hailed as “the Queen of Rockabilly”, but she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall… Continue

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  Manners Mall matters

  EXTENDING Cuba Mall through Dixon Street is on the cards after work on Manners Mall is finished. Mayor Kerry Prendergast says, “The extension of Cuba Street Mall might be a long-term option but it would depend on a number of factors; for example the population… Continue

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  Burning passion

  DANCER Ryan Di Lello’s parents met and fell in love through dancing. As the saying goes, history repeats, and Utah-bred Ryan met his wife Ashleigh through dancing as well. “We met at a dance studio. She immediately stood out, and I said to my friend, ‘wow – who’s… Continue

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  Get some Vibrators in ya

  U.K. Punk legends the Vibrators like their name. “It’s a good name. It probably held us back a bit in terms of success and radio play, but it kept us subversive,” says lead singer Ian “Knox” Carnochan. Staying true to their punk roots has paid off and these days… Continue

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  “Nank” the mountain man

  AS a boy in Karori John Nankervis looked at his mother’s newspaper clippings of Edmund Hillary’s ascent of Mount Everest, then “climbed” up Johnston Hill. “My mother has this giant scrapbook of Hillary’s climb. She met George Lowe who was on the Everest expedition… Continue

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  Become a Centaurian, if you dare

  WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS EXTREME CONTENT VIDEO game developer Simon Peter is pushing ahead as the ‘days of unemployment’ counter on his website ticks over to 3324 days. Peter finds mainstream video games boring, so he decided to come up with something very… Continue

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  Mind blowing observations

  THE universe is getting a lot of press. Op Shop singer Jason Kerrison thinks the planets and stars will align in 2012, so he’s building a shelter for the apocalypse forecast by the end of the Mayan calendar. And, top physicists in Europe have discovered the B-meson… Continue

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  A mean brew

  CAPITAL Times beer columnist Kieran Haslett-Moore will be the first individual to brew his very own beer at Emerson’s Brewery in Dunedin. The Regional Wines & Spirits beer specialist will spend three days in Dunedin brewing his own recipe. Haslett-Moore,… Continue

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  Move all the Jews to the moon

  “TO solve the problems of the world we need to take all the Jews to the Moon,” laughs Wellington’s favourite Rabbi. Rabbi Chaim Dovrat is returning to his home in Israel next week after four years leading the orthodox Wellington Hebrew Congregation. His jest… Continue

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  Down-size me apartments

  WELLINGTON City is in danger of becoming a modern ghetto, say concerned residents who live by the new Soho apartment development on Taranaki Street. Gus Charteris is the president of the Wellington Inner-City Residents and Business Association, and lives behind… Continue

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  Her only regret: not killing more Nazis

  WHEN Oriental Bay resident Peter Hatfield spoke on the telephone with 97 year-old Nancy Wake from London she said her only regret was “not having killed more Nazis”. Nancy Wake was a British agent who became the most decorated service woman of WWII, and she was… Continue

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  Taking stock of school sensations

  AT Wellington’s colleges the creative season is in full swing. Stage Challenge, Rockquest, Shakespeare, and theatre productions are drawing in expressive, innovative and enthusiastic pupils. The intimate nature of Wellington means a top Rockquest singer-songwriter… Continue

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  A pitching phenomenon

  FOR a 16 year-old softball star, being confined to a wheelchair is tough going. In July last year Island Bay resident Zane Siolo was devastated to be struck down in the middle of a fantastic run of representative play. While playing in Sydney, he ruptured three… Continue

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  Votes: The people - 48, Council - 1. Council wins!!

  THE public are paying again and again for the same unpopular decisions by Wellington City Council, says Wellington Waterfront Watch president Pauline Swann. Waterfront Watch has been fighting to protect Wellington’s waterfront from big development for 15 years… Continue

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  Awaken the silence

  WELLINGTON artist Rhian Sheehan makes music that he says ‘sounds like a slice of nirvana’. Not the band, but the Buddhist concept of a state of being free from suffering and weighty thought. However, Sheehan doesn’t meditate in the conventional way. “I should,… Continue

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  Bring in the big guns

  WELLINGTON has the first-ever comprehensive display of muskets intricately decorated by Maori and Pacific Islanders. The exhibition, held at Pataka Museum of Arts and Cultures, displays the carved weaponry held by museums around the country. Curator Pat Stodart… Continue

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  Vapour tales

  The Beatnuts aren’t keen on Jennifer Lopez. Lopez pirated the beats from Watch Out Now for her 2002 hit song Jenny from the Block so the hip hop and production duo from Queens, New York, took her to court.  She lost and now pays The Beatnuts royalties. “She… Continue

• A card solution

  SOME Wellington men have dreamed up a way to beat those hated ticket scalpers, and eliminate ticket forgery. It saves paper, because it’s quicker, it can disperse the long lines at festivals. And it was started in Wellington. Last week, the five entrepreneurial… Continue

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  What a waste

  AT Kelburn Shops the leftovers aren’t going to waste. Antique shop owner Peter Wedde has extended his enthusiasm for reusing things to the local florist and café. Uncooked waste from Café Mode and green waste from Juliette Florist now go into three compost bins… Continue

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  Manners Street stumble

  THE first works towards building a new Manners Street has resulted in outrage and the Council calling for a safety audit. Removal of the pedestrian islands at the Taranaki Street and Courtenay Place junction has drawn criticism from the Automobile Association,… Continue

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  Times are a changing for NZ Post

  Is Kiwi Bank the hope for the local post office?  CRITICISM of the “Post Office” has been heard in the Capital Times offices of late, with customers complaining about slow mail delivery, and huge queues at Post Shops the most common. Post Shops were… Continue

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  Capital Blend

  To celebrate the end of New Zealand Music Month, Capital Times caught up with some of the local artists who featured on our 2002 compilation Capital Blend. The CD reflects a time when Bret McKenzie was part of the Black Seeds, and Flight of the Conchords didn’t… Continue

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  Bieber beats Buffalo

  “IT’S just a bummer about Bieber fever,” says The Phoenix Foundation singer Luke Buda. Justin Bieber, the teen star who sends teenage girls into hysterics, beat the Kiwi band on the Radioscope Album Chart. But Buda’s not complaining. The Phoenix Foundation’s… Continue

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  An awkward social scene

  IT’S a history lesson, but not as we know it. The New Zealand Film Archive is producing of three films called TalkShow which shine a light on early Wellington, television’s growth, and dance hall experiences from the 60s and 70s. These shows explore the themes… Continue

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  She done me wrong

  WOE is Alexander Sparrow; he has lost count of how often he has strangled his girlfriend. The Hutt International Boys School pupil brutally murdered as Julius Caesar in last year’s Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival gets revenge in this year Othello. His girlfriend,… Continue

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  The opera virgin

  BEFORE The Marriage of Figaro, I’d never been to an opera. I’d never been inclined to go either. I’d heard all the usual comments, “long”, “in Italian” and “bourgeois”. The Marriage of Figaro at the St James Theatre last week was all of these things, but it… Continue

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  Not a tall cowboy tale

  MAORI cowboys were always an old wives tale for Northland artist Faith McManus. “My mum told me her Papa (father-in-law) was a cowboy of the Red Manuka, it was just a local phrase to me,” says McManus. That was until a 1920s photograph of the cowboys appeared… Continue

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  Instant gratification

  Researcher Dr Brent Caldwell used to call himself “the living dead” after he suffered a recurring brain tumour. Caldwell has never been a regular smoker but knows the attraction of nicotine and is looking for 1,600 guinea pigs to trial his mouth spray that provides… Continue

• Dodgy doggy fees

  Are dog owners getting value for money from the $1 million Wellington City Council brings in from dog fees, charges and fines? Why do we pay more than Hutt, Christchurch or Hamilton dog owners to keep a dog? The Wellington City Council’s dog budget doesn’t stack… Continue

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  Bad plumbing

  IN 2006, the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board was sacked by Michael Cullen, after a report said it was dysfunctional. Four years later, the board that exists to protect the consumers of plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying work is still not doing its… Continue

• Artist's family thought he'd be a bus driver

  WHEN Mu Yuming was 15 years-old he rode up the Himalayan mountainside near his home with the intention of killing himself. Now he travels the world and creates art in public places wearing a silver space suit. In Wellington he has been painting the portraits… Continue

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  Blade Control

  LAST year Raynia Pikari-Kaiwai couldn’t fly a radio controlled helicopter, but now he flips his upside down and “mows the lawn” with it. A year ago, the man known as Ray or Raynman to his mates went to a Fun Fly at the Wellington Model Aeroplane Club based in… Continue

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  Double dose of the live drop

  KEEPING Fat Freddy’s Drop moving is a mission, says trumpet player Toby Laing. “It’s a challenge every day keeping this massive monster together. There are 30 of us on the road, it’s like the Roman Army, we can’t stand still, we just keep marauding on.” The work… Continue

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  Using poo

  THE people of Paraparaumu are involved in a poo pilot. Wellington-based clean tech company SpectioNZ is developing a leading-edge system, which converts organic waste like sewage into useable products such as electricity. CEO Mike Henare has been involved in… Continue

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  More loose change

  CITY bus fares are on the move. The cost of inner city and one-section trips could increase by 50 cents in September. Greater Wellington Regional Council recommended a 50% hike for inner city travelling, which currently costs $1 and will go up to $1.50, and a… Continue

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  Thriving in the community education graveyard

  UKULELE night classes are rocking at Wellington High School. But 16 out of the former 20 providers of Adult Community Education (ACE) have closed their night classes. Surprisingly, Wellington High School’s adult programme has survived and attendance is skyrocketing.… Continue

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  Exhibiting the heart of darkness

  PAINTER Liz Maw grew up in a fundamentalist Catholic household. “My mother would speak in tongues … I was completely bewitched by it,” says Maw. The elaborate Catholic ceremonies of her youth filled her with a sense of beauty and the bizarre. Now an atheist,… Continue

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  Skating on synthetic ice

  RUNNING an ice-skating rink is slippery business. The events manager who brought the last temporary ice-skating rink to Wellington says if a conventional rink is constructed at Queens Wharf it is doomed to fail. Phil Sprey managed the construction and maintenance… Continue

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  Hark, hark the art

  THE noise that Wellington’s newest sculpture makes “is halfway between a hum and a whistle”, says Sculpture Trust chairman Neil Plimmer. Akau Tangi, (the sighing sound of the wind) created by renowned artist Phil Dadson, is the fifth and final installation in… Continue

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  So Many Volunteers

  Volunteer Wellington has so many volunteers arriving they are using them to interview other volunteers. The charity, which links non-profit and community organisations with volunteers, is seeing a massive influx. Two hundred new volunteers are arriving every week… Continue

• Free rider

  THERE should be free buses in inner Wellington. This is a suggestion from Greater Wellington Regional Councillor, Paul Bruce, who would like to see the move incorporated into the Wellington City Council’s 2010 climate change action plan. Submissions closed last… Continue

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  Futsal takes flight

  THIS is the beautiful game. It’s Wednesday night and the game between Capital City Futsal and a Brazilian select side is nearing half time. The Brazilians are drifting like phantoms across the indoor court, fully immersed in a game they have played since childhood.… Continue

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  Comedian cancels

  UK funny man Jason Cook has canceled his Wellington Comedy Festival shows and has flown home. Fellow UK comedian Tom Wrigglesworth has saved the day, with his show Open Return Letter to Richard Branson. Wrigglesworth was the winner of the Chortle Comedy Award… Continue

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  WAI ORA for the renaissance

  MAORI electronic band WAI travelled the world for eight years on their first album. The band, Mina Ripia and her husband/producer Maaka McGregor, mixes organic Maori sounds with electronic definition. “For 10 years I have been singing the first album,” Ripia… Continue

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  Björn to rock

  ROCKERS Dave Grohl, Lionel Ritchie, Bon Jovi and Rod Stewart rate them, and they’ve played over 5,000 shows in 70 countries. It’s little wonder then Björn Again has a cult following. Björn has put on satirical ABBA shows for 21 years and is coming to the capital.… Continue

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  Small and steady

  BOUTIQUE vineyards are the way to go, says Martinborough vineyard owner Katherine Jacobs. She will display wine from her Big Sky vineyard alongside 14 other small vineyards from Martinborough at the upcoming “Unique and Boutique” tasting in Wellington. To be… Continue

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  Wellington through the oarsman’s lens

  THE capital’s first rowing crews raced in pink and white. This year the Wellington Rowing Club revived the traditional racing colours to celebrate its 125th anniversary, and is launching a limited edition book on its history this weekend. Club member Michael… Continue

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  Save parking fines

  FRANK Lawton has racked up over three thousand dollars worth of parking fines over the past couple of years, and is still paying them off. Lawton, who runs a scooter hire business, accepts responsibility for the fines, but sympathises with Wellingtonians who get… Continue

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  Emerging talent

  TO compete with the big boys, you have to be smart. That’s exactly how Wellington all-girl hip-hop dance crew Emerge managed to secure a spot at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship in Las Vegas. Even more impressive, all the members are still in school. Emerge… Continue

• Classical music an international force

  OPINION - An occasional series By Charlotte Williams Wellington hums with the presence of the NZ Music School, the NZSO, the Wellington regional orchestra, and established choirs. There are also many Wellington-based musicians with international reputations… Continue

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  Too much liquor

  GUS Charteris is sick of waking up to find someone has vomited outside his house. The 30-something year old president of the Wellington Inner-City Residents and Business Association says he likes a good time as much as the next person, but enough is enough. The… Continue

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  Monk to rock for happiness

  ANCIENT sanskrit and guitar are Doug Jerebine’s passions. You may remember Jerebine as Jesse Harper, who played in bands Human Instinct, The Embers, and The Brew. Nowadays, he’s a monk who combines the classical Indian language with performance, and says the… Continue

• End to casual Sundays?

  WELLINGTONIANS could kiss goodbye to whiling away lazy Sundays in the city. People might be restricted to two hours parking after next week’s Wellington City Council meeting, which will discuss implementing Sunday parking time limits.   Matterhorn bar’s… Continue

• The future of Wellington water

  PRIVATISATION of water is not the answer, but a region-wide council controlled organisation could be, says the CEO of Wellington’s water delivery company. Currently, Capacity (a council controlled organisation) is responsible for the delivery of water, stormwater… Continue

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  Fish pulp

  WAYNE Barrar has an unusual photograph – it shows tonnes of koi carp fish being ground up in a blender to make bait, after a clean up in the Waikato. The acclaimed Kiwi photographer with an interest in the effects of globalisation on native species has been snapping… Continue

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  Tough, whisky flavoured human flesh anyone?

  COMEDIAN TJ McDonald has been told tall tales all his life. But one story that circulated at family gatherings seems to have struck historic truth.  Following some seriously in-depth research, TJ came to the conclusion that a Maori truly did eat his great… Continue

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  Knock to indie in the windy

  Indie rockers enjoy themselves like it’s no one’s business, but the opportunities to do so will be few and far between after Galesburg, Wellington’s only indie music promotion company called it quits this week. JIM Rush and Gordon Campbell put Wellington… Continue

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  Memphis Belle flies with Fair Trade coffee

  WELLINGTON seems to have an endless supply of young guns who like a good coffee. Nick Clark, 21, and Bink Bowler, 19, have turned the rundown Quick-E-Mart on Dixon street into the Memphis Belle Coffee House. Clark decided sustainability was a path he wanted… Continue

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  "Blatant overcharging"

  For many, the deregulated electricity market leads to a lack of transparency around pricing. MOA Point resident Valerie Bruggemans joined Nova Energy because “they seemed to care”. Last December a door-to-door salesman convinced her to switch from Contact… Continue

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  Representing Wellington

  EMMA WEENINK is the only Wellingtonian to make the New Zealand Secondary Schools netball team, most are from Auckland and the rest from all over the country. “I was so happy,” says Weenink, who received the good news last week amid a flurry of congratulatory… Continue

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  Collector's Heaven

  Could the painting granddad left you be worth $100,000? Capital Times talks to one of the assessors of the Museum of Wellington’s version of Antique Roadshow. IT’S not surprising Simon Manchester finds most people’s homes “utilitarian and boring”. His… Continue

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  The Real Deal

  GOSIA PAITEK is so committed to sustainability; she travelled to India to check on the working conditions of the farmers and producers behind her fashion label. The Wellingtonian started Kowtow, an organic and Fair Trade clothing label, in 2007 with her graphic… Continue

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  Outward Hound

  DOGS SMELL. That’s why I don’t like cuddling them too much, and why I prefer cats. But last week a friend of mine joined her sister who regularly walks SPCA dogs once a week through the SPCA and Paws in the City – a day care for dogs. The walks have been running… Continue

• Mayoral Candidate on Owhiro Bay rezoning

  WHILE water-quality at Owhiro Bay has been given the all clear, “council-quality” remains dubious, says mayoral candidate Allan Probert. Last week the Environment Court rejected a proposed housing development in Owhiro Bay after residents challenged the Wellington… Continue

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  Waiting in the wings: Privatisation of your water

  WELLINGTON'S WATER could be privatised before residents are aware of what’s happening, say local representatives. “The government’s land and water group is slowly working its way around [the country]. It’s not a public exercise at all,” says Greater Wellington… Continue

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  Library Cull?

  “SUBURBAN libraries are under threat,” says a Kingston resident. After reading Wellington City Council’s 2010 Draft Community Facilities Policy and Implementation Plan, Marie Russell became concerned. Reading between the lines, Russell says libraries in areas… Continue

• Wet hostel not so bad

  PUBLIC objections and problems with funding have plagued the proposed Wet Hostel in Island Bay, but living next door to one isn’t so bad, says a London-based Wellingtonian. Carmen Allnutt moved to London five months ago, and is renting a house next-door to St… Continue

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  Told you so

  “THE tunnel option must be considered for the Basin Reserve,” says the CEO of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. Charles Finny has got behind the idea of a “cut and cover” tunnel to solve the Basin’s traffic congestion, after it was revealed the government would… Continue

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  The $400,000 toilet

  WELLINGTONIANS may not be able to have a say over proposed developments on the waterfront. The 2010/11 Waterfront Development Plan is being discussed by the Wellington City Council on Thursday. Councillors will then vote whether or not to open it up for public… Continue

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  Lake of Weirdness

  Music is blind and photography is deaf, but the union is a harmonious one according to photographer John Lake and musician Mark Leong. PHOTOGRAPHER John Lake is an impulsive risk taker, fascinated with death and music. He tattooed his birth date in a barcode… Continue

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  Danish design

  Danish architect Jan Gehl was asked by the Wellington City Council how to improve Wellington urban design. Are his recommendations still of value? World-renowned urban design specialist Jan Gehl visited Wellington in 2004. He said the city needed greater… Continue

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  WCC angers residents

  COUNCIL officers don’t listen to residents, says former Wellington City Council officer Jarrod Coburn, following New Zealand’s first conference for residents’ groups. “People are angry that in many situations council officers don’t want to listen to what the community… Continue

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  Better work stories

  “KIDS like blood and guts,” says Erin Flanigan of the newly upgraded New Zealand Police Museum. Flanigan is the brains behind a number of the Junior Detective school holiday programmes the museum holds, including last year’s success “Stumped”, which surrounded… Continue

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  I can't stop loving you

  CATHY Finau is obsessed with Elvis Presley. His face is tattooed on her right arm; she visited Graceland in 1997 for the 20th anniversary and is going again in 2010; her car number plate is “ILUVEP”, and her cell phone message says: “Hi this is Cathy, sorry I… Continue

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  Legend of love

  WHAT a fitting name for a show – Dance of Desire. Performer Katrina O’Donnell fell in love with fellow dancer Kienan Melino shortly after getting involved with the production. She giggles and goes quiet whenever Melino is mentioned, and when we ask to talk to… Continue

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  Inspired by TV

  COMPOSER John Psathas noticed a marked improvement in his children’s behaviour when he got rid of the family television. “They stopped asking for crap. Their conversation got so much more interesting, it wasn’t all about Hannah Montana anymore. They seemed more… Continue

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  What's the right time?

  A Wellingtonian was so sick of waiting up to half an hour for his bus, he investigated. Lyall Bay resident Shane Hickmore was surprised to discover that all the bus timetables he could find, both at the bus stops and the take-home leaflets, were last updated as… Continue

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  Save the Sevens

  FORMER All Black Christian Cullen and Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson have joined a campaign to keep the Rugby Sevens in Wellington. Save the Wellington Sevens was set up by Mount Victoria resident, Sevens-fanatic and Media 5 owner Graham Bloxham, after… Continue

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  Beautiful India

  WHEN Jacinta Lal tells people she’s half Indian, they don’t believe her. The beautiful 21-year old looks strikingly European, with light brown hair and blue eyes. “When I tell people I’m Indian they think I’m making it up, but once they see my dad they realise,”… Continue

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  Love is all you need

  American ukulele singer Heather Marie Ellison, who’s supported James Brown, Huey Lewis, and Ray Charles, has funded a trip around New Zealand playing her unicorn ukulele. She fell in love with Wellington, and a local boy. WHAT’S a doink? It’s what Heather… Continue

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  Footpath fury

  NORTHLAND residents are angry that the Wellington City Council has demanded they maintain a public walkway between their houses and Northland Road. A week ago, some residents received a letter from the council saying the council would either organise an engineer… Continue

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  In the Sanctuary we trust

  As Zealandia celebrates the opening of its new $17 million education centre, Capital Times discusses the Sanctuary’s name change, more than a year on, and asks how rebranding has affected visitor numbers. THE success of a business hinges on its trademark… Continue

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  A gay life

  FREYA Desmarais was “absolutely terrified” of going to her first Out in the Square fair in 2008, because she’d only just realised she was gay. “I went with a bunch of straight guy friends who were really supportive, and an old dyke gave me a figurine from my favourite… Continue

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  My soul is nomadic

  ON March 16, 2003, a 23-year old American woman activist was crushed to death by a bulldozer while protecting a house to be demolished on the Gaza Strip. The death of Rachel Corrie caused international outrage, and the differing accounts of the tragedy between… Continue

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  It's all in the family

  DEIRDRE Tarrant has one talented family. She’s mum to Flight of the Conchord’s Bret McKenzie, and Jonathon and Justin McKenzie, the owners of successful Wellington bars Hawthorn Lounge and Hooch. Jonathon and Justin have just received a Capital Award for each… Continue

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  Guess who's back

  HOLLIE Smith is back in business. After a “hellish” two years in which her international record deal with Blue Note Records, the parent company of EMI, failed to come into fruition, the singer is now managing her own music. “I couldn’t have done it any differently.… Continue

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  The phone is dead

  ACTOR Gavin Rutherford is a “chunky fellow” who looks uncannily like Oscar winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (Truman Capote). “People also say I look like Peter Helliar from Rove,” laughs Rutherford, who toyed with the idea of sending a letter to the show saying… Continue

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  Coombe rider

  ATHLETE Nadia Coombe enjoyed a “Screaming O” last week despite falling off her bike three times. The race, in Wainuiomata is one of many that keep the mountain biker fit and bruised. Just the way she likes it. The triathlete, second dan black belt in karate,… Continue

• Redesigning Wellington

  The Venus Project man, Jacque Fresco, a 94-year-old industrial designer will visit Wellington in April to discuss his idea for redesigning society as a way out of recession. Fresco and his partner Roxanne Meadows will lecture at Massey University on the benefits… Continue

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  Get switched on

  INTERNATIONAL bigwigs will highlight Wellington’s need for investment into electric car and biofuel technology at an upcoming conference. The top dogs at companies such as Suzuki, Toyota, Honda, Meridian Energy and the UK-based Renewable Fuels Agency will speak… Continue

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  It's bigger than...

  It’s taken a while, but hip-hop in Wellington is finally getting the recognition it deserves. ONE two three…it’s Jean Grae and Talib Kweli. One of the most critically successful hip-hop artists of our time is coming to the capital, and bringing with him… Continue

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  Furious filmmaking

  THE stress of the V48HOURS film festival can destroy a marriage. The founder and organiser of the weekend-long event, Ant Timpson, says one year a couple who entered the competition together broke up during the course of the weekend, and went on to enter separate… Continue

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  Empire down under

  SHANE Cornwell has dressed as a Star Wars Storm Trooper for four years, and attended eight Armageddon Expos. He’s watched all original Star Wars movies at least 20 times “for enjoyment and research”. As a member of Outpost 42, a group of Star Wars fans who organise… Continue

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  To ban or not to ban

  WELLINGTON could waste up to $200,000 on a proposed Liquor Control Bylaw if Central Government policy overrides it, says Wellington City Councillor Iona Pannett. The idea of a national public place ban was floated in Geoffrey Palmer’s Alcohol in Our Lives report,… Continue

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  Why keep the public out?

  “‘PUBLIC-excluded meeting’ is a grossly misunderstood term,” says Wellington City Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon. Last week an article in Capital Times questioned the need for the Audit and Risk Subcommittee’s council debtor’s report to exclude the public. But McKinnon… Continue

• Read between the lines?

  A “real” rates increase of 2.8% for the coming financial year may sound ok, but for homeowners it will be more like 6.5%, says Wellington City Councillor Bryan Pepperell. He says the council has been quoting the lower “global” figure, a combination of commercial… Continue

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  Fire and water

  CHESTER Burt comes from a long line of funeral directors. But he was “too out there” to follow in the family business – a tradition kept by his grandfather, father, and step brother – and instead became a firefighter. “I am Chester Burt IV or mark 4 in the family… Continue

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  How to beat the bottle

  Wellington City Mayor Kerry Prendergast has said Wellington has a binge-drinking problem. The council says it’s had success with the “Stay Safe in the City” campaign, a Kiwi take on popular programmes Sex and the City and Friends, but a group of young Wellingtonians… Continue

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  Carr drives Kiwi sound

  MINUIT continues to impress international music industry heavyweights while keeping their loyal fans happy, if not a little choked up. The Newtown-based electro pop three piece set off on a delayed album release tour this week to promote Find Me Before I Die A… Continue

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  Middle aged but still on stage

  Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School is turning 40. Director Annie Ruth revisits old memories and discusses future ambitions. THE pictures of two striking women hang on the wall behind Toi Whakaari director Annie Ruth. She hangs them there to honour their memory… Continue

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  Holland backs UK and All Whites

  FOOTBALL fanatic Matt Holland has been to every FIFA World Cup since 1998. The English-born Tuscan Raider (Fidel’s Café team), sometimes-Miramar Ranger, and five-a-side Nations United team player has tickets to all the English games in South Africa, and hopes… Continue

• Charitable councillors

  WELLINGTON City Councillors look set to receive a pay increase. Last year councillors decided not to accept a pay increase (from a pool the Remuneration Authority sets each year), because of the economic situation. A saving of $20,503 was made. This year however,… Continue

• Tunnel vision

  REFURBISHMENT of the Mount Victoria and Terrace tunnels will begin later this year, confirms the New Zealand Transport Agency. “Ventilation, fire suppression, internal fixtures/fittings, lighting, drainage and operational systems need to be brought up to current… Continue

• Witch-hunt at the council

  WELLINGTON City Council has gone into lockdown, following a spate of leaked information to the media and rumours about substantial unpaid rates. At the council’s Audit and Risk Management meeting last Friday, five reports were publicly excluded, and information… Continue

• Dr Phil talks Aids

   IT was a nightmare being gay in Wellington pre-1986, says New Zealand Aids Foundation life member Phil Parkinson. “People today have no concept of what it was like before the 1986 Homosexual Law Reform Act. It was considered a criminal act for two men to… Continue

• Mayor's travel costs

  FORMER Wellington City Councillor Jack Ruben will make a public submission at a full council meeting on March 24. Ruben hopes for “fireworks” over his claims the mayor has failed to declare all her airpoints accrued on council business to date. Wellington City… Continue

• Not sure about the sound of this

  SOME might say it’s enough to put you off renovating your home. The New Zealand Transport Agency has suggested anyone undertaking new developments or renovating an existing home near a state highway, would need to do so using an acoustical engineer to meet specified… Continue

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  Artist with conviction

  SARAH Maxey is prickly. City Gallery’s press release calls Maxey a type designer which infuriates her. And don’t ask her about Kiwi poet Vincent O’Sullivan, even though her latest work at City Gallery’s Hirschfeld Gallery is part of a group exhibition whose title… Continue

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  Cup talent

  FOR three young Kiwis, hospitality isn’t just a job. It’s a passion and a career for life. Wellington boys Calem Chadwick and Josh Crawford, and Aucklander James Goggin, are representing New Zealand in the 42Below Cocktail World Cup. The three were selected after… Continue

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  Will we be eliminated?

  FRINGE Award-winning young theatre group Binge Culture Collective has unfinished business. Not completely satisfied with two of their successful productions, the collective has combined them to create Elimination Rounds, a satirical piece on Generation Y. The… Continue

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  Scooters not wanted

  Is the Wellington City Council trying to drive people out of the city? SCOOTER riders say the council is heavy-handed on scooter parking in the city. Former Caffe L’affare owner Jeff Kennedy, his partner Bridget Dunn, designer Gary Stewart and art and film… Continue

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  Voice of a saint

  SHE has the face of a saint, and the name and voice to boot. Annie Erin Clark, better known as St Vincent, is in Wellington this week to promote her latest album, Actor, which saw the multi-instrumentalist and member of the Polyphonic Spree open for bands such… Continue

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  NZ Transport Agency “arrogance” angers

  AN “arrogant” submission by the New Zealand Transport Agency to the Wellington City Council’s District Plan Change 72 has angered Wellington residents and associations. Heritage houses could be demolished, and residents will have to pay for acoustical engineers… Continue

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  Fourmyula for the Cure

  CHRIS Parry is the A&R (Artist and Repertoire) man who discovered English band The Cure, and signed them to record label Fiction. But he’s not comfortable with the suggestion that: “if it wasn’t for [Parry] there would be no Cure (or The Jam or Siouxie and… Continue

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  Kapai food

  THE bedraggled Hungry Kiwi café on Courtenay Place has gone, and been replaced by a vibrant café where you can eat the containers your food comes in. Kapai opened this week after several weeks of renovations. The café is the third Kapai instalment in Wellington… Continue

• Why not the Basin too?

  WELLINGTON City Councillors were aware of the planned $50 million trench under Memorial Park. The plan, prematurely leaked to media last week, would see Buckle Street being lowered using a covered trench design. A landscaped Memorial Park would sit on top of it.… Continue

• They're doing up the tunnels

  THE Mount Victoria and Terrace tunnels are to get an upgrade, and indications are they will be closed for a period early next year. The New Zealand Transport Agency is driving the project, and the website earmarks construction to begin in January 2011. The refurbishment… Continue

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  Never give up

  MAJOR back injury didn’t stop the Royal NZ Ballet’s Kate Venables working with the company. The former principal dancer (Dracula and The Nutcracker) performed with the Ballet between 2003 and 2007, but a year and a half of that time was spent in pain due to the… Continue

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  Gold Smiths?

  SPEED equals danger when powerboating. Wellington’s Kelly Smith and dad Grant feared for their lives when their Rayglass superboat flipped at speed. “We hit a rogue wave and did 180 degrees,” says Kelly Smith. “My hatch wouldn’t open. I was petrified. We were… Continue

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  Talking art

  The great thing about the New Zealand International Arts Festival is the accessibility. The free talks with artists involved are a good way to enhance any Festival show. PEOPLE sat perched shoulder to shoulder like hot sardines inside City Gallery’s Adam… Continue

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  Catching imagination

  WELLINGTON author Fleur Beale recently caught a piranha. She and her daughter holidayed in Brazil for a month, and travelled to the Amazonian basin. “I can now say I’ve swum in the Amazon River and gone fishing for piranhas,” she laughs. “There are three different… Continue

• New Newtown cafe

  MONTEREY, a new dining and cocktail bar, will open in Newtown this weekend. Kreuzberg summer café owners Joe Slater and Mike Stewart are behind the venture. Like Kreuzberg which serves coffees and cakes from a caravan in an empty parking lot at the top of Cuba… Continue

• A tatse of the South East

  THE Chinese have Chinese New Year, Indian’s get Diwali, and now the South East Asian community has an event to look forward to as well. Through a partnership between Asia New Zealand and the Wellington City Council, the capital will host the second ever South… Continue

• Latina love

  PAULA Caporalini makes food for her customers with the same love and care she would her family. The chef from Argentina arrived in New Zealand three years ago, and always dreamt of opening her own restaurant. Last week, she did it. Caporalini opened the Buenos… Continue

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  Medal citizen

  Tawa boy James McKie, a hero after saving his commanding officer from a hand grenade, is the son of a former New Zealand soldier and “war bride” who try not to worry about his safety in Afghanistan. “I hope I don’t come off as some complete douche bag,”… Continue

• Startling staff turnover

  WHY do so many staff leave Wellington City Council? The turnover figures outlined in the council’s 2009 Annual Report show that on average, over the past three years, 23.3% of staff– almost a quarter of the organisation – have resigned every year. The cumulative… Continue

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  Mountain Kate

  TRIATHLETE and mountain running champion Kate McIlroy was fast asleep when Capital Times called to talk about her chances of winning the New Zealand Cup Championship and Oceania Championship titles in Wellington this weekend. Training at high altitude is really… Continue

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  Break the farce

  THE Walworth Farce looks creepy. A father makes his two sons put on moustaches, wigs and ill fitting suits and do a farce. Since they were kids they have done this every day all the while cooped up in a rundown council flat in London. “That to me is a strange… Continue

• Season of concerts

  THE St Andrew’s Season of Concerts will bring interesting performers to Wellington. Building on a long history of lunchtime concerts at St Andrew’s on The Terrace, the organisers hope to recreate the buzz and camaraderie of previous festivals. The NZ International… Continue

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  There’s a hole in my  bucket

  DUNCAN Sargent admits the sculpture he’s entered in this year’s shapeshifter exhibition at TheNewDowse was a “bit of a science experiment”. The Newtown-based furniture maker decided to use green wood – wood that has been recently cut and not treated – to create… Continue

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  Festival fanatic

  HOT old guy Geoff Dyer has more going for him than fine boyish features, a smooth speaking voice and a gentleman’s manner. He can write. Imagining 53 year old Dyer in a hallway hunched over the receiver trying to hear each question (the house he takes the call… Continue

• Jack chat

  The 2009 NZ Post Junior Fiction winner has just released another book, The Haystack. Jack Lasenby chats to Capital Times about his life and love. RAMBLING vines that droop from the veranda of a darling little townhouse are an appropriatley storybook welcome… Continue

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  All good in Wellywood

  IT’S official. We must be the Hollywood of the South Pacific because Wellington International Airport will erect a 28m long Wellywood sign to celebrate the capital city’s film industry. At least seven film-related companies are based on the Miramar peninsula.… Continue

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  I am an anarchist

  Anarchism is not a euphemism for chaos. According to Wellington anarchist Sam Buchanan, it’s a very small group of people living in the burbs, working in the head offices of banks and community gardens. ANARCHISM belongs in the community, says anarchist… Continue

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  The Fringe Cut

  ONE was a secret Spice Girl’s fan, and the other fell in love. Both are stoked to be named Downstage Theatre’s Pick of the Fringe. Fringe festival productions Wannabe and Back/Words will be reworked for the big stage, and enjoy a one-and-a-half week season at… Continue

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  Naked and free

  Guests buzzed around the National Portrait Gallery looking at the 93 portraits in wonder. Who was the winner of the career-changing 2010 Adam Art Award? Capital Times speaks to the lady behind the prize. WHEN artist Harriet Bright heard she’d won the prestigious… Continue

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  Horsey handstands

  IT’S hard enough executing a neat handstand or cartwheel on terra firma let alone on horseback. The Kapiti Equestrian and Vaulting Club will demonstrate the art of performing tricks on trotting or cantering horses at Waitangi Park this weekend, and the club’s… Continue

• STOP Wellington

  A GO Wellington bus incident last Wednesday badly frightened some Wellington College girls. The girls were taking a bus back to school from Newtown Park after athletics, when the bus knocked the entrance gates of the park, badly cracking a window. The girls were… Continue

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  Variation11 in court

  WELLINGTON Waterfront Watch is confident it will win its appeal against Variation 11 in the Environment Court. The group is one of three challenging Wellington City Council in the Environment Court after it passed the controversial Variation 11, which will restrict… Continue

• Caledonian goes upmarket

  THE old Caledonian Hotel on Adelaide road by the Basin Reserve is being transformed into an accommodation facility. Work to convert the downstairs area of the old hotel began at the end of January, and is expected to finish around June, says Robyn Green of Newman… Continue

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  A Te Papa mystery

  LAST Friday a student artist infiltrated Te Papa Museum. A small blue painting was first placed next to the Peter Trevelyan mirrored work outside Te Papa, and then underneath a Judy Millar artwork in a fifth floor exhibition. The work featured the words: “I Believe… Continue

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  Miss you, bro

  MIKE Eager promised his poet friend Simon Williamson that he’d turn a selection of his poems into a book one day. The result is Twenty-five Cars. Sadly, Williamson killed himself in 1999 after a battle with mental illness, and didn’t get to see the book. But… Continue

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  Free love

  JAMES Coyle loves Newtown so much he will perform in the suburb’s annual festival for free, is helping organise it for free, and gave up his day job for six weeks in preparation for it. The Newtown Rocksteady band member, who fittingly performs a song with the… Continue

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  Write a letter

  I have a large TV-sized box filled with letters that friends wrote me while I was at school, stored in the roof of my parents’ house.  I can’t bring myself to throw them away. Playwright, producer and director Juliet O’Brien loves letters too. She can’t remember… Continue

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  Life is a skate park

  Go out to Waitangi Park on a sunny day in the weekend, and you will hear the swish of wheels rolling on concrete, crack of wood hitting the ground, and the occasional grunt of pain. Mostly though, you will hear cheers of triumph. Skateboarding is more than just… Continue

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  Cooper trooper

  In the lead up to the Hurricanes’ second home game of the Super 14, coach Colin Cooper comments on the irony of captain Andrew Hore playing hooker, and the likelihood Wellington will win the competition. COLIN Cooper is cool as a cucumber. Fresh off the field… Continue

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  CBD has it all

  Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon says the variety of attractions in Wellington mean CBD businesses will thrive in spite of the proposed revamp of Johnsonville Mall. “IN a mall all you can do is shop,” says Deputy Mayor Ian McKinnon. He says “sterile” malls lack… Continue

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  Empty talent

  As MTYLAND unfolded, I watched happiness, sorrow, regret, despair and pure madness. I was left feeling empty, but strangely ready to be full again. I couldn’t believe it had been an hour. CLAIRE O’Neil cried after watching a rehearsal of her own dance production.… Continue

• How to be an activist

  MOVING into Mount Victoria turns people into activists, says Mount Victoria’s new acting Residents Association president Kent Duston. He will take the reins from Jessica Closson, who moves back home to America in March. “Jessica has been a fantastic president,… Continue

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  McPhun with dogs

  AS a child, two of Ryan McPhun’s best mates were dogs. The lead singer of the Ruby Suns said one of the most difficult things about moving to New Zealand from America 10 years ago was saying good-bye to his pets. Fortunately they found a good home with dog-friendly… Continue

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  Stylish theatre

  ANYTHING can happen in a site-specific show, says theatre director Paul McLaughlin. During Hotel, the multiple award winning Fringe Festival show (2008) set in a hotel room, All Black Rodney So’oialo walked in. He was staying at the Museum Hotel at the same time… Continue

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  No bus stop here

  SHOP owners in Island Bay are fed up with bus drivers illegally parking, taking up customer parking spaces, and being abusive. The last straw for hairdresser Robyn Mouzouri who works on The Parade, came when a bus ripped the bumper off her car. “I was parked… Continue

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  Keep Wright

  Homegrown ticketholders get ready to trek: this year the Dub and Rock stages are a 15 minute walk apart.  “IT’S a bit of a pain,” says Homegrown’s Kelly Wright referring to the new layout of the music festival on Wellington’s waterfront. “It was so… Continue

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  Floating homes for Wellington

  Wellington City Council asked residents where they’d like to see Wellington in 2040, so a group of experts told them. IMAGINE a Wellington with floating houses, rooftop gardens, light-rail, rentable electric cars and a waterfront haven where Jervois and… Continue

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  Bubble boy

  KOREAN-BORN artist Seung Yul Oh is strange. “I’M not that wacky,” laughs Aucklander Oh, who says his friends often describe him and his art as “random” and strange”. Almost all of Oh’s solo and group shows, during the past 10 years, either have weird names or… Continue

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  Gloom and Doomadgee

  CHLOE Hooper hadn’t heard of Palm Island in Australia before she got buried in a court case that was meant to go for two weeks, but is still continuing six years later. The writer admits she was naïve about Aborigine issues before she embarked on covering one… Continue

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  Funny girls

  SARAH Harpur and Jim Stanton recommend wrapping your child’s head in gladwrap. “I find it locks in essential moisture and keeps those nasty flies at bay. It is frowned upon in today’s society to have flyblown children with crow’s feet and liver spots,” says Harpur.… Continue

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  Go West

  PHOENIX FC and the Hurricanes have much in common. Not only are they our regional sports teams – in soccer and rugby – sharing the Westpac Stadium as their home turf, but both will face-off against Perth at the stadium this weekend. The Hurricanes play their… Continue

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  A healing walk

  GRAHAM O’Gorman walked a long way to turn up at the Capital Times office last Monday. Eight hundred kilometres to be precise. O’Gorman has walked from Rotorua via Ruapehu and Parihaka, dragging his rickshaw style trailer. He arrived in Wellington on Monday with… Continue

• Hub hub, hooray!

  AN initiative that will help Wellington retain the title of “Arts Capital of New Zealand” will be launched on Thursday. Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast will open the Toi Poneke Hub at the Toi Poneke Arts Centre on Abel Smith Street. The Hub will be the focal… Continue

• Get Creative

  CREATIVE New Zealand’s board and committee members could be reduced from 28 to just 13. A review of Creative New Zealand’s governing legislation has revealed the need for a more streamlined service to allow staff to concentrate on responsibilities “rather than… Continue

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  Will it fly?

  LOCAL residents are concerned that decisions being made for the Basin Reserve ignore national design protocol, and the result will be a $97 million flyover. The New Zealand Transport Agency, which signed up to the 2005 Urban Design Protocol, is discussing preliminary… Continue

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  En-light-ened

  EVER been frustrated by the traffic lights at Pirie Street, Vivian Street and Cambridge and Kent Terraces? Capital Times has received many complaints from drivers irritated by the timing of the lights, particularly the short duration of the green at Pirie Street… Continue

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  Wellington warrior

  Charlie Gubb has had a happy time growing up in Wellington, playing rugby at Wellington College and league for the University Hunters. Now he’s spreading his wings. NINETEEN year old Charlie Gubb had a big decision to make before Christmas. The New Zealand… Continue

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  A mortal makes the most of it

  Capital Times movie reviewer Dan Slevin is a busy man for a mere mortal. He talks to us about how he does it, and The Immortals, his latest project. CAPITAL Times reviewer Dan Slevin has watched every commercial movie released in New Zealand since December… Continue

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  Wheel love

  LOVEBIRDS Verity Carroll and Ingo Schommer will celebrate their second anniversary this Valentine’s Day, on wheels. The capital couple started going out on February 14, 2008, and plan to spend part of their anniversary at the Frocks on Bikes – Love to Roll event… Continue

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  Pea hoarders and skin pickers

  BRIGID Costello jokes that people may need a massage after watching the Fringe Festival dance production she is directing about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Already, one of the dancers is displaying symptoms scarily like the character she is portraying, who… Continue

• Island Bay Festival wreck

  DID you know Owhiro Bay is home to four shipwrecks? The Maritime Archaeological Association of New Zealand (MAANZ) and DOC will have a marquee up at the Island Bay Festival, with information and pictures of Wellington’s wrecks. “There’s nothing much left of… Continue

• The hills are alive

  ONE of New Zealand’s finest jazz composers has his fingers crossed the weather will be good so he and his 18-piece Big Band can let loose for a loved-up audience. Jazz trumpeter Vaughn Roberts is performing a free show on Valentines Day at Williams Park in Days… Continue

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  The cat that got the milk

  BEING given 60 days notice to vacate the premises was a blessing in disguise for Willis Street café owner Damian Jones. Meow Café’s landlord decided he wasn’t keen on the café being there any longer. “The only reason he really gave was that he’d found someone… Continue

• Can we park here?

  A Fringe Festival theatre group are shocked that businesses helped them with a parking dilemma, while Wellington City Council refused. The group planned to perform their show Who’s Neat? You! from a five-tonne truck parked outside BATS Theatre from February 17.… Continue

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  If it smells like a scam…

  PHILIP Bentley says the Tory Street car park outside the Warehouse and Exodus Gym “smells of a scam”. Bentley, a member of Exodus Gym, had to foot a $240 bill, after his car was clamped for over parking on two separate occasions. He thinks the clamping is unfair… Continue

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  The Don with dreadlocks?

  One Love organisers hope to broaden the music festival’s reggae-focussed appeal by adding Kiwi singer songwriter Don McGlashan to the bill. WHEN Don McGlashan heard he was to headline Radio Active’s One Love music festival he was sure there had been a mistake.… Continue

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  Sailors at the Sevens

  THREE Wellington City Council employees are swapping their day attire for “flirty” sailor uniforms at the much-anticipated Rugby Sevens. Anita Denzel, Jodi Turton and Hanna Stephen came across five sailor-girl outfits on Trademe, and decided they would be the… Continue

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  Waitangi Day raises future questions

  ARETI Metuamate left his holiday in Dubai a week early to fly back to New Zealand so he could meet Prince William. Despite this, the young Kiwi to watch out for doesn’t think the Prince should be our Head of State. “We had a great time chatting with him and were… Continue

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  Mana and Tramways back in court

  MANA Coach Services have taken the Tramways Union to court for damages for an unspecified amount of money due to an alleged breach of a settled employment dispute. The Investigation Meeting was heard by Employment Authority member Gregory Wood at the Employment… Continue

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  Why flyover when you can flyunder?

  A group of architects, artists and designers have come up with an alternative proposal to the basin flyover, and it’s been met with community approval. The Architectural Centre submitted its Basin Reserve proposal to Wellington City Council’s Wellington 2040 plan,… Continue

• Public "nuisance"

  A man with a vendetta against liquor licencing has frustrated a group of café and bar owners who have the intention of applying for or renewing their liquor licences. Newtown resident Bernard O’Shaughnessy has lodged a formal objection against outlets that publicly… Continue

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  Stirring writers

  A controversial author who thinks those who are disabled are not “people” will make an appearance at the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week. Australian philosopher Peter Singer has generated outcry from a variety of disability groups over his eugenics-laden… Continue

• Why should I pay rates?

  BERNIE Harris refuses to pay his rates. The Brooklyn resident is in arrears $686.98, as of December last year. “The mayor says if we don’t pay rates then we won’t be able to pay for services. If I’m not going to use the services why should I pay for the rates?”… Continue

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  Lifecycle of a house

  For the third time since Duncan Sargent and Kim Young bought their home in Constable Street they have received a letter relating to one of the previous residents – shedding more light on the history of their home. DUNCAN Sargent and Kim Young have hidden… Continue

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  Move over Hayley

  IF all goes to one young man’s plan, Wellington City Council will have a 21-year-old councillor representing the Lambton Ward in October’s Local Body Elections. Local politics enthusiast Jevan Goulter has announced his candidacy in the elections, and says the… Continue

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  Sir Peter

  PETER Jackson was appointed a Knight Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Zealand New Year Honours list. The Seatoun resident has continued to contribute to the New Zealand film industry since he was made a Companion of The New Zealand Order… Continue

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  Is it Supreme?

  SOME say it looks like a prison, while others marvel at its architectural finesse. Whatever they think, you can now check out the inside of the just-opened Supreme Court in Wellington for yourself, and hopefully not for the wrong reasons. Built on an $80.7 million… Continue

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  Into the wild

  Professional photographer Rob Suisted has a catalogue of around 50,000 incredible images taken around the world, some of which feature in his latest book Majestic New Zealand, and photography isn’t his passion? ROB Suisted has been to Antarctica 12 times… Continue

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  Walk on the high side

  The boat sheds in Oriental Bay are Wellington icons, and the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, which has been open for 126 years, even more so. Capital Times joined a harbour sail and saw Wellington from the sea – one of the best ways to get into summer. … Continue

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  Summer Magic

  THE ASB Gardens Magic Concert Series will celebrate 30 years in business this summer. The free musical event, which started in 1980 and was simply called Summer City, was originally held in the dell at the Botanic Garden. The programme then included a frog puppet… Continue

• Patience please

  KIWIRAIL is taking advantage of the quiet holiday period to work intensively on Wellington’s rail upgrade. Construction will start on Boxing Day and will continue through until January 6. Buses will replace some trains during the upgrade. The main focus will… Continue

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  Give us a green light

  CO-ORDINATING Wellington traffic flow is the aim of a consultancy firm, which is working with the New Zealand Transport Agency. It plans to implement a roading programme in Wellington, which links the phasing of traffic lights, and has already been tested in Auckland.… Continue

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  Christmas stocking filler

  BARNEY Montgomery is a Wellington doctor who enjoys stripping down to his Superman undies, or “supies”, in odd places around the world. It’s something that he and a group of mates have always done during their travels for a bit of a laugh. But when one of… Continue

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  This is not an advice manual

  Is there a way I can reuse or recycle my sex toys while still showing respect for my past relationship? Wellington author Noel O’Hare asks the hard questions in his new book. ENVIRONMENTALISM has become a religion, says freelance journalist, columnist, blogger… Continue

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  Beyond the Figleaf

  A Wellington urologist has released a book on some of the odd, interesting and horrorfying surgical practices associated with the urinary tract. IT’S filled with all the elements that make a juicy novel – sex, gruesome bits and tender moments. It’s a… Continue

• Manners bus-ted

  WELLINGTON City Council votes are in. Manners Mall is set to be a bus lane. Capital Times looks at which way the councillors voted. IONA Pannett says she supports the revocation of Manners Mall because she sees it as an important first step for light rail.… Continue

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  Fans run off with pieces of Bones

  A band set list is to a music-lover what a street sign is to a movie buff. An Irish architect was spotted walking down Kent Terrace with a large street sign from The Lovely Bones New Zealand premiere this week. Michael Landy, 22, and many other red carpet revellers… Continue

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  Waitangi whimper

  BANNING dogs from Waitangi Park isn’t fair, says Wellington City Councillor Iona Pannett. From a personal opinion, Pannett is critical of parts of the just-passed Dog Policy, which includes the surprise Waitangi Park rule. “That was a controlled area, and it’s… Continue

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  What a Tripp

  ACADEMY AWARD nominee Taika “I think I’m hilarious” Cohen stole the show as the “last minute” MC for the Chapman Tripp Theatre awards on Sunday. His endearing forgetfulness had the audience cracking up at the St James Theatre as he repeatedly neglected to read… Continue

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  You’ll get a charge out of this

  You’ll get a charge out of this? A New Zealand company has created a clean technology that will “take the world by storm”, and Wellington will be one of the first cities in the world to trial it. UniService, a branch of Auckland University, led by Dr Anthony… Continue

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  A bee in their bonnet

  ARTY Bees chose their Manners Street location because car parking outside the shop was available, but it will all be removed if Manners Mall becomes a bus lane. Owner Pippa Burch feels like the shop got a raw deal. Arty Bees expanded the shop at the beginning… Continue

• Branch out for Christmas

  WELLINGTONIANS are branching out from pine trees. Paul Mallinson, who runs Classic Christmas Trees based in Greytown, says he’s noticed increasing popularity in more European-style trees. “We’ve had a move away from pine. Fir trees like the Douglas Fir have become… Continue

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  Lovely computers

  As Wellington prepares for the New Zealand premier of Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, Capital Times talks to Weta Digital’s James Ogle about geekiness and ghosts. THERE are benefits to being a geek. Just ask James Ogle, who works in the digital models… Continue

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  Shame New Zealand

  “THERE is no planet B”, says the controversially sacked NIWA scientist and shared winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Jim Salinger. The world-class scientist has been rallying up support on climate change issues since he was abruptly fired from NIWA after “talking… Continue

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  A park load of your money

  THE re-development of Cobblestone Park is a waste of ratepayer money, says a local businessman. The man, who doesn’t want to be named, is unhappy the Wellington City Council is spending $1 million of borrowed money to revamp the park on Vivian Street park, which… Continue

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  Wellington to be an electric city

  WELLINGTON may become New Zealand’s leader in the introduction of electric cars. Wellington City Council will discuss the capital’s Draft 2010 Climate Change Action Plan on Thursday, and will vote to include five new initiatives, one of which is the introduction… Continue

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  Charity box bandit

  A bandit who steals charity boxes is on the loose in Mount Victoria. The Welsh Dragon Bar had their second charity box stolen last week. This one had been for Mary Potter Hospice. A month ago Capital Times revealed the bar’s blind box was stolen from on top of… Continue

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  Meek creation

  COLLAPSING Creation, written by Arthur Meek, has received the most Chapman Tripp theatre award nominations for 2009. His play about Charles Darwin has been nominated in nine categories, including Best Production. “I honestly think I deserve it,” says Meek. “Downstage… Continue

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  Vet for mayor

  WHEN she’s grumpy at him, Allan Probert’s wife calls him a “politician”. The dig may become the truth if Probert is successful in his bid to become Wellington City Mayor at the next election. The Wellington veterinarian, who has clinics in Miramar, Khandallah… Continue

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  Twilight fever

  A blood-related disease is spreading through Johnsonville Medical Centre. At least five nurses and two receptionists there have Twilight fever. They’ve read Stephanie Meyer’s vampire series multiple times, watched the first film in the saga, Twilight, and all… Continue

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  See red on Courtenay Place

  WELLINGTON City Council plans to ditch the three pedestrian crossings on Courtenay Place in favour of traffic lights. The first, which will be placed on the crossing near Reading Cinema, is expected to be functioning by Christmas. But councillor Celia Wade-Brown… Continue

Columns

• French footy fans

  THE French and passion have been inextricably linked in literature, politics, interpersonal relations, and sport for many years. Eric Cantona’s karate kick into the crowd while playing for Manchester United, Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt in the World Cup final, French… Continue

• Wine Bloggers Awarded

  LAST week US wine judges awarded Riedel Crystal wine glasses to wine bloggers deemed the best in their field. Check out this list of winners for some truly opinionated pieces on the ups and downs of the global wine industry. Best Graphics, Photography, & Presentation:… Continue

• It does matter, actually

  I don’t mean to be picky, but... Last Friday night, as I was languidly listening to some late-night RNZ news, something stuck out. They’d been going on about some brand-new, “technologically advanced” school that had just been founded in Queenstown. No dirt floors… Continue

• Don't Rob Roy

  LAST week’s abysmal treatment of our Assistant Minister of Defence sent the willies up every spine in Wellington.   Apparently, as Act Party leader, Rodney Hyde feels it’s his right to just “go through the Minister’s drawers” (as some hack put it) and uplift… Continue

• To BYO or not to BYO

  SHAKESPEARE never had to worry about whether he could bring his own wine to a restaurant or not. The bard thought wine was for the court. He preferred ye olde English ale. As Autolycus sings in The Winter’s Tale: “The white sheet bleaching on the hedge, with… Continue

• Morons designed Dunedin white elephant

  “WHAT?” thundered Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin.  “We’re spending $200 ****ing million to build a concrete box with a ****ing plastic roof and nothing else?” “The grass.  We’re paying for grass.  We’ll have grass…” said Dunedin Venues Management Ltd… Continue

• Make a film about Jean Devanny

  ONE of my absolute favourite writers is Jean Devanny (1894–1962). Although she only lived here for seven years (and is far better known in Australia), Wellington is where she really got into writing. Sadly, you’d be lucky to find any of her books around nowadays,… Continue

• Bonkers come what may

  THERE’S trouble at mill. In the last few years the government’s annual expenditure on “policy advice” has grown by $400 million, so they’re planning to cut back.   By my calculations, if you truly wanted to chop out all that new expenditure, it means shedding… Continue

• It’s just not cricket

  NICE to see cricket boss Justin Vaughan and soccer boss Michael Glading reaching out across the sporting divide to condemn the “drinking behaviour” of New Zealanders at sporting events. Of course, I’m kidding. These two wowsers have put the hype back in hypocrite… Continue

• Drinking to globalisation

  HEY, wine lover. Bored? Thirsty? Nothing good on TV? Fill in the evening with Mondovino (2004), a film best enjoyed with a glass of vino so that you can drown your sorrows as you discover the impact of globalisation on the wine world. The undercover documentary… Continue

• Just remember the dismembered

  WE are heartless animals. Perhaps that’s not strictly true.  Strictly speaking, humans are totally heartless animals.  Instead of real hearts, we have holes.  And the holes register nothing and remember nothing. Our TV newscasters are great at reporting… Continue

• By the throat

  IN keeping with all the other enactments being, well, enacted for some big sporting event in September next year, New Zealand-born press photographer Scott Barbour has given the sporting powers-that-be a golden opportunity. According to sources close to the aforementioned… Continue

• How can anyone lose to Australia?

  THERE are some mad buggers in Nelson who believe the US Government is part of a shadowy conspiracy to wipe out part of the world’s population by using jets to dump aluminum, barium, strontium, and whatever else via those wispy vapours you sometimes see high in… Continue

• Cut to the chase!!!

  THERE’S nothing like a horn in your ear to get your heart pumping. That goes without saying.  But where does all the excitement of running and hunting come from? For me, it started in my childhood when we used to go on holiday up to the King Country. … Continue

• Dynamite wine

  YEARS ago I passed a vineyard way up north.  I was on my way to Ahipara at the south end of Ninety Mile Beach.  I wish I’d been able to convince my driver to stop – We’d zoomed right past Okahu Estate.  This week I had a chance to make amends when… Continue

• Re Joyce! We’re outa here!

  BASTILLE Day always brings out the best. On 14 July 1789, a mob “stormed the Bastille” in Paris.  The Bastille was an old prison and all the prisoners inside were liberated.  This has gone down in history as one of the great symbols of the French Revolution,… Continue

• Don't bet on it

  ONE from the “Nanny Knows Best” file…or perhaps the “Ban Everything In The Hope Of Creating A Mindless Utopia” file comes this little gem: “The National Rugby League is under investigation after repeatedly advertising an Australian gambling game on the Warriors’… Continue

• 'K Syrah

  ON recent visit to Woolies I had a peek at the latest Cuisine and discovered that Aussie Shiraz and Kiwi Syrah were flavour of the month.  By a happy coincidence, Syrah is also the most popular drink to have with dinner during these chilly nights according… Continue

• Something you can give me

  HOW can we beat off the boat people? There have been a lot of decisive responses lately, first from PM Julia Gillard (and the Opposition) in Australia, and more recently our own PM John Key.  Thousands of asylum-seekers have reached Australian shores in recent… Continue

• Vying for Paul the Octopus

  WHILE it might appear the All Blacks have got their collective mojo together for the Rugby World Cup (although like a certain Lower Hutt barrister, I’m still planning on dragging out the rosary beads come next year), there are disturbing developments elsewhere.… Continue

• Affordable Martinborough Pinot Noirs

  LAST night I learned a new word, ‘pinosity’, as I huddled with 26 other pinotphiles around tables laden with Riedel glasses trying to keep our samples of Martinborough pinot noir warm as southerly winds howled over our heads. My new favourite word was coined by… Continue

• Let the Riff Raff in!

  How did we let these two get away? First, someone in Waikato opened a very old suitcase and made a mind-blowing discovery:  inside were the 200-year-old diaries and artwork of officer and artist Denzil Ibbetson.  The handwritten papers included impressions… Continue

• Sport rules

  SOME of my best friends are accountants.  OK, so I have some friends who are accountants, but they’re not my best friends.  OK, so they’re more like acquaintances. As the old joke goes, accountants in general are renowned for using their personality… Continue

• Chardonnay all white

  I love drinking chardonnay in winter, especially when the wine has spent some time in oak.  Contact with the wood adds texture and complexity, but sometimes those layers of flavours can come at the price of fruit purity.  Winemakers love to play around… Continue

• Like licking an ashtray

  YOU can’t forget the truly gross things of life. Despite my ingrained scepticism, I once fell victim to an absolutely repulsive piece of craven propaganda. While still young and impressionable, I stumbled on an anti-smoking poster some embryonic health-Nazi… Continue

• Pushed to the limit

  IT was interesting to read of Sir Peter Snell’s heart issues at the weekend.  I remember reading an article years ago about the effects of high intensity activity on the body. Essentially, it stated that some people were putting themselves at risk by continuously… Continue

• Pull the plug now!

  SOME of the outflow from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has reached our shores. I don’t mean there’s tarred pelicans hobbling around on the beach down at Oriental Bay.  Rather, there are important lessons for New Zealand that must not be ignored, both… Continue

• Red hot

  THE annual Hot Red Hawkes Bay wine tasting hit town last week.  I took a break from exam study and headed down the to the Michael Fowler Centre to see what’s hot in the world of red wine. It’s best to approach these big roadshows with a tasting tactic, rather… Continue

• Cruel jokes

  Sport is cruel.  One only had to witness the flood of jokes hitting the interweb thingy after England’s World Cup football match with the USA. Before the game, the jokes were all aimed at the Americans  (“Tim Howard, the American keeper, better watch… Continue

• Pugs with no bears

  WE live in grim times. In more ways than one.  For a start, the weather in Wellington would drive anyone crackers.  I just can’t believe so much wind, cold, rain, sleet and narrow, hilly streets can be packed into such a small city.  And it must… Continue

• Love eggs and football

  I should note that I stole the following, holus-bolus, from an eminent English newspaper. Mainly because I couldn’t put it better myself. The England Scoregasm. Where to begin with this wildly uncalled-for sex aid? Perhaps with the blurb, which informs us:… Continue

• They shall not pass

  Time is running out. We often realise the debts we owe to others long after the sacrifices have been made.  Even then, we’re lucky if we appreciate all that was involved.  And, of course, there are some unsung heroes who give just about everything (or,… Continue

• A warm drop

  ONCE upon a time, the only thing Gimblett Road had going for it was its drag strip.  But now the arid paddocks just off the beaten track on the way to Hastings grow some of the best wine in the country. Chris (CJ) Pask was one of the first to discover the… Continue

• A pox on Auckland!

  WHAT were they on?! I’m still spewing after reading the 2010 Quality of Living rankings from the New York-based Mercer firm.  For businesses (and governments) it’s always a big call as to how much to pay your employees when you send them to work and live… Continue

• Sport workaholics

  ONE of my rugby players came up to me on Saturday and said that he had seen me helping organize another sporting event on Friday night and wondered if I ever slept. “What do you mean?” I asked, having got a decent night’s kip all last week. “Well, you had a hockey… Continue

• Juggling balls and booze

  SCHOOL balls aren’t strictly ballroom. Students going to their annual school balls have been drinking to excess at pre-ball and after-ball parties.  There have been many unfortunate incidents and, as the record shows, intoxicated young people are easy prey… Continue

• It's not what we're thinking

  THE law around drink-driving is hard to swallow. And horribly mangled car wrecks, like the one Greater Wellington regional council and the Police are currently towing from school to school, are hard to look at without gulping deeply.  In that car, a 26-year-old… Continue

• Is there no room at the inn for Blair Peach?

  PEACH is the Kiwi teacher who was bashed to death by a London policeman during an anti-fascist demonstration in April 1979.  It was shortly before the General Election in which Maggie Thatcher first came to power.  At the time, I think most New Zealanders… Continue

• Thar she blows

  WELLINGTON took a body blow recently. And it came from an unlikely quarter: our own people. Hon Murray McCully, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Sir Geoffrey Palmer, our delegate to the International Whaling Commission, have put forward the idea of allowing… Continue

• Security cameras outside toilets

  THE party’s over, buddy.  It’s time to clean up your act. You might not think you’re a public health risk, but you most certainly are. Just living here makes you pretty sus.    I think half of us are quite hygienic in our habits, and the other… Continue

• Keeping up with the Jones's

  AS the rain lashes our fair capital, I wish I was on sunny Waiheke Island, where the wine flows freely and the views are breathtaking.   Robyn and Nicholas Jones, a couple of Auckland accountants, had similar thoughts when they bought a chunk of land on the… Continue

• Onions at Easter

  I adore onions. When I visit Wellington supermarkets, I love it when the staff heap red onions in those long freezers with mirrors, and a frosty mist rises from their purple, glossy skins. With my eyes closed, I lean over them in a state of deep euphoria and savour… Continue

• Electric cars

  I can’t work out why the Wellington City Council wants to bring in electric cars in time for the Rugby World Cup next year.   Is the real goal to showcase to the world Wellington’s commitment to green technology, or is it just a deal with car manufacturers… Continue

• The handball goal

  I’M not sure why Ricki Herbert and the Phoenix got so upset after Chris Payne’s handball goal last Saturday.   Everyone knows you can’t trust Australians to do the right thing, and the Aussies are known for omitting the phrase “fair play” in favour of “whatever… Continue

• More dough than Terry Serepisos

  I was unsure about whether I would go hear Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife speak in Writers and Readers Week.  After all, her work is so gifted and so different from the usual formulaic dross that she could never measure up to my expectations,… Continue

• Your absolute breast

  I don’t want to be labelled a knocker. But I want to deal with one or two big issues that have been thrust in our faces lately. Yes, I’m talking about the wild, wanton display of breasts during the scintillating win by the Wellington Phoenix over the Perth Glory… Continue

• Driving you mad

  All the letters that poured in from cyclists about last week’s column really deserve a response. I appreciated the comments (and humour) and genuinely apologise if I in any way suggested that bad behaviour by motorists towards cyclists is acceptable.  It is… Continue

• Leave Well enough alone

  PITA Sharples has suggested a few wee changes. And those changes might be coming to a land near you. And, if we don’t really mind, to a city near you as well. The co-leader of the Maori Party thinks it’s time for a new bilingual anthem. Also the national flag… Continue

• Re-cycling

  A plague of bicycle-riding is affecting thousands of young Wellingtonians who would otherwise be healthy, happy individuals. It can strike anyone at any time. I’ve known many people who have fallen victim to it. One minute they’re hale and hearty bon vivants… Continue

• Pull your pants up

  Today I’m getting into your pants. What I mean is that I’ve got into so many different things about you over the months in this column that it’s now time to get into a particular topic that genuinely needs urgent attention:  the length of your trouser legs. … Continue

• We need more HER-story

  PETER Jackson Airport never got off the ground. All the same, the mere fact Mayor Prendergast aired the idea of renaming our aerodrome shows someone somewhere is starting to have ideas.  And that’s good.  It should be encouraged.  But instead of… Continue

• Dunedin Stadium fuzzies

  IN BETWEEN going outside and getting rained on, I’ve spent some of my break working on a new professional sports franchise, only to come to my déjà-vu conclusion that sport in New Zealand, were it a private sector business, would not exist. It’s only thanks to… Continue

• Holiday horrors and hurrahs

  I tasted some of the nastiest and nicest wine over the hols. My worst experience was at a music festival where the bottle proudly boasted “wine made from the vines you’re peeing on”.  I should have known then to expect a killer hangover. On a happier note,… Continue

• How to party with wine

  THE holidays are a time of silliness, happiness and good times. Here is the best way to get yourself in the mood for those long nights partying with friends. Start with something light and bubbly, like Brown Brothers Zibibbo ($16.99).  Named after “zabib”,… Continue

• Holmes sweet Holmes

  SHERLOCK Holmes is a cot case. When he first came to literary life in 1887, he was a revolutionary breath of fresh air.  Readers found him entrancing, victims of the justice system saw him as a beacon of hope, and forensic science really took off. The most… Continue

• On good sports writing

  IT’S 20 years since I was discharged into the world of journalism and quickly discovered that a) sports reporters get double time (it was 20 years ago) and b) a press pass can get you into every possible thing you want to go and see. I used to enjoy covering events… Continue

• Stranger in the manger

  Jesus wasn’t there. But to be honest, I knew he wouldn’t be. Every year round this time, I visit St Mary of the Angels in Boulcott Street to see their beautiful crib set up in one of the side chapels. As you walk down the majestic gothic nave, your eyes go up… Continue

• Topsy turvy twins

  NEARLY 30 years ago, Andrew and Cyndy Hendry bought land at Huapai west of Auckland, planted grapes there and founded Coopers Creek winery.   Now they have vineyards dotted all over Aotearoa. Chief winemaker Simon Nunns creates one of the most diverse wine… Continue

• The faithful are coming

  WE’RE on a countdown to Christmas. Christians call this time Advent. The word refers to the “coming” of Christ to us.  It is derived from two Latin words: “ad” meaning “to”, and “venire” meaning “come”.   There is even a delightful thing called an Advent… Continue

• Air NZ Cup decision

  To: Paddy Lewis From: NZRFU media HQ Subject: Please Don’t Mr Lewis – We are aware that after today’s decision on the Air NZ Cup you are probably going to make up some sort of utterance about “flip flops” or “lack of leadership”. Can we suggest, in the spirit… Continue

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  This should not be a movie

  WHERE the Wild Things Are is a children’s picture book by New Yorker Maurice Sendak.   It tells the sobering story of an angry brat called Max who goes on a trip to an island of demented Wild Things, before making his peace with the world again. Although… Continue

Reviews

• Stroma scores

  Stroma – Living Toys, 10 Year Anniversary Concert, Ilott Theatre, reviewed by Garth Wilshere I first reviewed Stroma at the time of their inception 10 years ago and they remain at the top as a cutting-edge contemporary music ensemble. This innovative concert… Continue

• Disappointing Bat

  Die Fledermaus, Wellington G&S Light Opera, Opera House, reviewed by Garth Wilshere THIS year the Wellington G&S Light Opera tackled Viennese operetta in the popular Johan Strauss II work Die Fledermaus (The Bat). This is a difficult repertoire while… Continue

• Poor theatre at its best

  Shipwrecked!, directed by Peter Hambleton, Circa Two, reviewed by Lynn Freeman WOULDN’T the world be a boring place if the truth was always clear cut? We need people like Louis de Rougemont – a real life 19th century adventurer/self promoter who was very… Continue

• Sink your teeth into Piranha 3D

  At the movies with Dan Slevin THE unhappy bard of Hawera, Ronald Hugh Morrieson, died in the sure and certain knowledge of his own failure. Only one of his four novels had been published (and only in Australia) and the others languished in obscurity. He… Continue

• Magnificent Monteverdi

  Musica Sacra – Monteverdi Vespers, conducted by Robert Oliver, St Mary of The Angels, reviewed by Garth Wilshere TO hear Monteverdi’s Vespers, almost exactly 400 years after it was written (in 1610), was a life-affirming event. This was director Robert… Continue

• Silent murder hard to watch

  The December Brother, directed by Tim Spite, Downstage Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman A SeeYd production is always an event. For more than 10 years the company has held true to its belief that theatre should be meaningful and provocative, and that it… Continue

• Pilgrim's regress

  YOUR correspondent is a big fan of young English director Edgar Wright. His first two features, in collaboration with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, were the entertaining Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. There’s a wonderful percussive energy to Wright’s filmmaking… Continue

• A drop of Majesty

  LAST year Wellington’s Yeastie Boys Brewing Co released their first bottled beer. Named His Majesty, it was the first of two annually released bottled beers presented in 750ml champagne bottles. Last year His Majesty took the form of a strong hoppy India Pale… Continue

• Song's praises sung

  Parlour Song, directed by Susan Wilson, Circa Two, reviewed by Lynn Freeman YOU can see playwright Jez Butterworth’s reverence for Pinter in the fractured dialogue and oddness of the story. It’s done well, mind you, a homage from a skilled young writer who… Continue

• New heights for Catherine

  Pianist Catherine Norton’s Farewell Concert, St Andrew’s on the Terrace, reviewed by Garth Wilshere PIANIST Catherine Norton will be greatly missed. The well-known and respected accompanist is off to study at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.… Continue

• Ugly unitard appeal

  The Fierceness - Real Hot Bitches, Downstage Theatre, reviewed by Deirdre Tarrant THIS was so appalling it was actually appealing. A partisan audience greeted friends in the cast by name with cat calls and encouragement. Onstage The Real Hot Bitches (27 including… Continue

• Sidestep

  TURKISH-GERMAN director Fatih Akin has long been an arthouse favourite around these parts. Head-On (2004) and The Edge of Heaven (2007) were Festival successes so it was odd to see his new film Soul Kitchen skip this year’s event and go straight to general release.… Continue

• Let’s get festive

  AT the end of this month Wellington will play host to Beervana: the biggest event in the New Zealand beer calendar. On August 27 and 28 the Town Hall will be a bustling hub of activity as the country’s finest brewers, publicans and retailers combine to showcase… Continue

• The Red Violin

  The Red Violin, New Zealand School of Music Orchestra, Wellington Town Hall 30 July, reviewed by Garth Wilshere. AIMED at showcasing performers and tutors from the New Zealand School of Music concert opened ambitiously with the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s… Continue

• A Cup of Old Stingo

  FOR the last 18 months contract brewing has been the leading trend in New Zealand craft brewing. With the release of their first beer “Stingo”, the Malthouse has now entered the beer brewing game.  To modern ears Stingo might seem an unusual name for a… Continue

• A future at stake

  Vector Wellington Orchestra, Wellington Town Hall, July 24, 7.30pm, reviewed by Garth Wilshere THE Creative New Zealand paper released this week looks at reorganising the funding it gives to the Vector Wellington Orchestra and other major arts bodies around… Continue

• In your dreams

  At the movies with Dan Slevin I was really enjoying Inception until I woke up. Actually, that’s not true.  Unlike my companion, the Sandman didn’t come to rescue me from Christopher Nolan’s bombastic blockbuster and I had to sit through all two and… Continue

• Great culinary experience

  LAST week there were two events that celebrated how beer can have a place at the table. On Tuesday night I was involved in The Emerson’s Degustation Dinner at Logan Brown.  The event showcased just how well fine food and craft beer can work together. Logan… Continue

• Are there moose loose aboot the hoose?

  A (nearly) Complete History of the Moose in New Zealand by Ken Tustin, Halcyon Press, reviewed by John Bristed. IT’S a hundred years since the immigrants: ten crated pony sized immature moose were unloaded off the Government steamer Hinemoa  at Supper… Continue

• No karate in the kid

  THE first thing to know about The Karate Kid is that there is no karate in it. This remake of the eighties favourite sends twelve-year-old hero Jaden Smith to China where they hurt people with kung fu instead. It was originally going to be called The Kung Fu… Continue

• Extra Special

  MY favourite beers tend to have rich malt flavours balanced by tangy earthy hops and fruity yeast characters, and most of them tend to be brewed in England or in the English tradition. Like many home brewers I have often day dreamed about what beers I would brew… Continue

• Marvellous

  Josef  Špaček (violin) and Michael Houstoun (piano), Wellington Town Hall 5 July reviewed by Garth Wilshere. THE brilliant 23 year old Czech violinist Josef Špaček who won the Michael Hill International Violin Competition last year performed with the… Continue

• The best of the bunch

  Young & Hungry, Bats Theatre, reviewed by Adam Burgess (15) and Lynn Freeman (a bit older). THIS is one of the best crop of Young & Hungry shows in its 16 year history – I reckon I can say that having seen almost every single one. They get the tick… Continue

• More films than you can handle

  At the movies with Dan Slevin IT’S never been a tougher time to be running a film festival. In addition to the usual commercial considerations of just selling enough tickets to stay afloat, each year brings with it fresh wrinkles to be accommodated. The… Continue

• Gripping and unsettling

  Mauritius, directed by Ross Jolly, Circa Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman A death in the family brings out the best or worst in people, and Theresa Rebeck takes the latter tack in her comedy/suspense. Here two half-sisters, one sent away who then chose… Continue

• Toy Story 3 is THAT good

  At the movies with Dan Slevin For those readers tuned into these things, clear evidence emerged this week of the “end of days” and our impending annihilation - culturally at least. Simply out, Twilight: Eclipse is playing around three times as many… Continue

• Winter Festivities

  AT the end of June the New Zealand beer consumer group the Society of Beer Advocates, or S.O.B.A. for short, successfully held their first beer festival. The Matariki Winter Ales Festival was held at The Boatshed on the Waterfront to celebrate winter beer styles.… Continue

• Rock a Bill

  Bill Bailey – Live, Michael Fowler Centre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman. MAD hair, bulging eyes, very fine musician, the only lovable character on the TV show Black Books, and a comedian popular enough to book out the Michael Fowler Centre, not once, but twice.… Continue

• Sounds exotic

  New Zealand String Quartet and Richard Mapp (piano), Wellington Chamber Music Society, Illott Theatre 20 June 2010, reviewed by Garth Wilshere. THIS was another successful Sunday afternoon chamber music concert. The New Zealand String Quartet beguiled us… Continue

• I heart Shrek forever

  LOVABLE ogre Shrek (Mike Myers) is having a bad day. Instead of being a terrifying bringer of fear and bad smells, he is a mild-mannered father of triplets and pillar of the Far, Far Away community and it’s getting him down. After one particularly stressful morning… Continue

• A rich performance

  New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Michael Fowler Centre 12 June 2010, reviewed by Garth Wilshere CONDUCTOR Alexander Lazarev always whips up a storm in his concerts in New Zealand and this time with popular pianist Freddy Kempf, who had impressed on his last… Continue

• A Greek Brand

  Forgetting Sarah Marshall was one of the surprise pleasures of 2008. An Apatow comedy that was relatively modest about its ambitions it featured a breakout performance from English comedian Russell Brand, playing a version of his own louche stage persona. As… Continue

• The A-Team deliver

  At the movies with Dan Slevin Last week your faithful correspondent reviewed a big budget Hollywood film, based on a beloved television series, featuring four friends who went to a foreign land with no knowledge or empathy for the inhabitants and continued… Continue

• Keeping our Jack Frost

  WITH winter hitting hard over the last weeks the time for hearty warming food and drink is most definitely upon us. While in New Zealand, beer has traditionally been used as a summer refresher served chilled and highly carbonated, more and more brewers are turning… Continue

• Natural and charming

  Venetian Carnival with The Wallfisch Band, Chamber Music New Zealand, Wellington Town Hall, reviewed by Garth Wilshere. THIS was a Chamber Music New Zealand innovation and proved a most interesting concept. The Wallfisch Band, Elizabeth Wallfisch; violin… Continue

• A stiff drink

  The Davenport Files, by Philip Marshall, Riverstone Books, review by Abby Cunnane. IT’S not uncommon for a novel to give you the sense of eavesdropping on a conversation. At best this is delightful, absolving you of all need to participate, or feel guilty,… Continue

• Best years back

  Te Kaupoi, BATS Theatre, Reviewed by Lynn Freeman. THIS production feels like a flashback to the best years of Taki Rua, when we were regularly treated to gutsy, meaningful and unashamedly political Maori plays. Whiti Hereaka integrates the recent so called… Continue

• Sex in The City 2: Pure evil

  At the movies with Dan Slevin IT’S been a weekend made for movie watching with cinemas across the city groaning under the weight of patrons escaping the filthy weather. It’s been so busy, in fact, that I failed to get in to either screening of The Last Station… Continue

• International flavour

  Carmen, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, St James Theatre, June 5th, reviewed by Deirdre Tarrant TRULY a ballet of many influences this production of Carmen (Northern Ballet Theatre production) is essentially a story told in dance –with French music by Bizet,… Continue

• A top note

  Footnote Dance’s Made in New Zealand, The Opera House, May 26, reviewed by Lyne Pringle. FOOTNOTE Dance Company gets better and better. Their NZ Made Season at the Wellington Opera House has become a must see event on the capital’s cultural calendar, and… Continue

• Still bad

  At the movies with Dan Slevin THERE’S something quite interesting going on with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time that isn’t immediately apparent from the publicity. Somehow, screenwriters Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard (there’s also a story… Continue

• American Styles

  FOR a city that prides itself on leading the way in craft beer consumption Wellington has precious few breweries. With the loss of Mac’s there is no longer an active commercial brewery within the city limits. While we can almost lay a claim to Yeastie Boys, as… Continue

• A brave piece

  Lullaby Jock, Directed by Tim Spite, Downstage Theatre, Reviewed by Lynn Freeman. ONE of the great sadnesses in families is when children don’t get to know about their parents when they were young and full of ideals and promise. As kids we can be so… Continue

• A bright future

  One Way, New Zealand School of Dance Student Choreographic Season, At Te Whaea, May 22,  Reviewed by Deirdre Tarrant. AN empty space, dimly lit with a scaffolding structure. The stage fills with students in a melange of style and clothing. Retro is… Continue

• Forgettable loser

  At the movies with Dan Slevin This week’s review comes to you from sunny/rainy Auckland where your correspondent is catching up with old friends and enjoying the Auckland cinema scene. The first thing to report is that audience behaviour in the 09 is as… Continue

• Girls rule

  Comedy Festival, reviewed by Lynn Freeman THE Comedy Divas were the perfect start to the second week of the comedy festival. Just as physical and psychological fatigue sets in, the girls put on a great no holds barred show. Justine Smith had us in fits, Irene… Continue

• A downer ending

  Cantoris  – Motet Perpetuem, St Peter’s Church, 1 May, Reviewed by Garth Wilshere THIS concert of religious motets covered 250 years, and was a mixed bag featuring music by Bach, Brahms, Bruckner, Poulenc and Rubbra, discretely accompanied by organ… Continue

• Prepare for Antichrist

  At the movies with Dan Slevin GOD is in the house this week. He turns up in the values of a wealthy Tennessee family who adopt a poor black kid and turn him into a champion, He features in a big leather book carried across a post-apocalyptic America by enigmatic… Continue

• Lovely pianists

  Classical Expressions 2010, Expressions Upper Hutt, 27 April, Reviewed by Garth Wilshere THE first of this imaginative series brought together two of our excellent pianists in piano duet and solos. Their solos were Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A flat major from… Continue

• A mixed bag of funny

  Comedy Festival first week, by Lynn Freeman. It’s a ferociously tough call, having 5-6 minutes to win over an audience and wow them with your brilliance, amidst a dozen or so other comedians from near and far. I still hadn’t expected First Laughs , the… Continue

• That's Epic

  BACK in February I attended a very special tasting. Kelly Ryan, an ex-pat Kiwi and head brewer of English craft brewer Thornbridge, presented a range of his beers at The Malthouse. Having studied food science and brewing for DB in New Zealand, Kelly set off on… Continue

• Devilishly good

  Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and Los Amigos Invisibles, Pacific Blue Festival Club, reviewed by Garth Wilshere AFTER the recent “Southerly Buster” storm had quietened I ventured to The Pacific Blue Festival Club for the deliciously, dark quirky… Continue

• Kisses in the theatre

  From Here to There, The Royal New Zealand Ballet, St James Theatre, reviewed by Deirdre Tarrant ENDING their triple bill tour in Wellington in order not to conflict with the NZ International Arts Festival has worked well for the Royal New Zealand Ballet.… Continue

• Doubly good

  The Second Test, directed by Andrew Foster and Toby Leach, Skungpoomery, directed by Phoebe Smith, Bats Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman AFTER the Fringe and International Arts Festivals, critics really want a cup of tea and a lie down for a few weeks.… Continue

• Sad Boy

  TAIKA Waititi’s Boy may well be the saddest comedy I’ve ever seen. Hmn, maybe I should put that another way: For a comedy, Taika Waititi’s Boy might be the saddest film I’ve ever seen. Consistently hilarious throughout, Boy steers a very careful course once… Continue

• Haunting farce

  The Walworth Farce, The Opera House, reviewed by Lynn Freeman WHEN a farce ends with an image so sad it haunts you, you know you have experienced something remarkable.   The Walworth Farce, an Irish Edinburgh Fringe Award winning production, was most… Continue

• Children and chamber

  Chamber Music Weekend, NZ International Arts Festival, reviewed by Garth Wilshere THE Borodin String Quartet presented their Russian Legacy programme last Saturday in association with Chamber Music New Zealand. They play with brilliant musicality, although… Continue

• Happy and effective

  Happy as Larry, TSB Arena, reviewed by Deirdre Tarrant THIS high-action, high-colour work began with an intriguing and universal premise that “happiness is our most singular human pursuit” and it is an objective to explore human happiness. Nine performers… Continue

• Surreal and spontaneous

  Connan Mockasin, San Francisco Bathhouse, reviewed by Janina Nicoll CONNAN Mockasin’s debut album Please Turn Me Into The Snat requires some research, and an imagination. According to online reports by Kyle Hugall, the alleged main “snat” who wanders onstage… Continue

• Mostly good

  NZ International Arts Festival Theatre, by Lynn Freeman THE Arrival , honed and polished after its Auckland Festival premiere and some overseas appearances, shows just what New Zealand theatre practitioners can do when given the chance and a decent budget.… Continue

• Suitable for adults

  Hicksville, by Dylan Horrocks, Victoria University Press, reviewed by Martin Doyle WHAT hits you when you read this book isn’t just the content.  It’s the fact it’s even a book.   Horrocks labels it a “comic book”, but if you stripped away the… Continue

• Remembering 9/11

  At the movies with Dan Slevin STARS are important. Despite their supposedly waning influence on box office (Avatar managed perfectly well without a marquee name and Bruce Willis hasn’t carried a film in years) the charisma of a leading man is still a key… Continue

• Gonzo Brewing

  ASPEN Colorado is an affluent ski resort town and attracts the rich and famous. However there is a darker more creative side to this alpine city. It was home to author Hunter S Thompson, the graphic genius Ralph Steadman and one of the most original American breweries.… Continue

• Lucky 13

  13 Most Beautiful, Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, Town Hall, reviewed by Garth Wilshere WHAT a fascinating look inside the cinema images From Warhol at the Silver Factory in New York circa 1964–66. The 13 Screen Tests chosen are a cross-section of… Continue

• Like an onion

  The Letter Writer, Circa Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman. A world weary man who emotionally closed off himself, helps people find the right words to express their own emotions, finds himself the keeper of a terrible secret. This man, who can manipulate… Continue

• A perfect tail

  Fringe Festival wrap, reviewed by Lynn Freeman WOW, pick of the Fringe so far for this critic is A Love Tail written and performed by Toi Whakaari grads Aroha White and Matariki Whatarau with director/co-writer Kate McGill. It’s not only a new twist on… Continue

• Shutter speed

  At the movies with Dan Slevin THERE’S something very odd about the opening scenes in Shutter Island and it takes the entire film for you to put your finger on it. Shots don’t match between cuts, there’s a stilted quality to the dialogue (too much exposition… Continue

• For Real grunty theatre

  Fringe Festival Wrap, by Lynn Freeman IN the mobile classroom/container that hosts Who’s Neat? You! , we become primary school students. We are told to believe in ourselves, to practice our tolerance skills, not to crumble to peer pressure, ka pai! But… Continue

• Beer from the wood

  IN the sun drenched wine country of California there is a brewery that has taken the Victorian technology of rainy Midlands England and replicated it on a smaller scale. The English brewing town of Burton-Upon-Trent became renowned for producing fruity hop accented… Continue

• Byrd song

  The Tudor Consort, Sacred Heart Cathedral, reviewed by Garth Wilshere IN this first concert of the choral year, The Tudor Concert made glorious sound from just 10 voices. The clarity of vocal line was impressive as they sang a selection of motets from 16th… Continue

• Slevin passes with flying colours

  The Immortals, directed by Geoff Pinfield, Pit Bar, Bats Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman WHETHER or not he is what he claims to be, immortal, Martin Amis’ character is far seeing and his pessimism well founded, based on human history. Theatre doesn’t… Continue

•  

  Bloody good

  AC/DC, Shihad, The Checks, Westpac Stadium, reviewed by Dawn Tratt “IS there blood on my face?” a guy asked my mate before AC/DC started playing. Not only was there a circle of blood seeping from his cheek, but the wound was surrounded by little teeth marks.… Continue

• Freak show

  THE first thing you need to know about It’s Complicated is that it isn’t very complicated at all. The plot, the characters, the gags (dear God, especially the gags) are all perfectly comprehensible – even to those of us with only modest intellectual faculties.… Continue

• The fantastic and the yuck

  At the movies with Dan Slevin WHAT a lovely summer we’ve been having – for watching movies. While the Avatar juggernaut rolls inexorably on there have been plenty of other options for a dedicated seeker of shelter from the storm. Released at any other… Continue

• Hot Wired

  8 Wired is the youngest of the new breed of contract brewers to take New Zealand by storm. Contract brewing companies like 8 Wired brew their beers in other people’s breweries meaning they can concentrate on producing striking character full products without… Continue

• A killer play

  Mo + Jess Kill Susie, directed by Murray Lynch, Bats Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman GARY Henderson’s play about two women who kidnap a police officer is as deeply disturbing and provocative today as when I first saw it a decade or so ago. Since it was… Continue

• The must-see movies of 2010

  At the movies with Dan Slevin WELCOME to the 2010 “cut out and keep” guide to video renting (or downloading or however you consume your home entertainment these days). I suggest you clip this article, fold it up, stick it in your wallet or purse and refer… Continue

• Whoah Avatar

  THE two most common questions I have been asked this week: “Have you seen Avatar?” and “Is it any good?” Thanks to the helpful people at Readings I can say “Yes” to the first one and thanks to James Cameron I can say “Whoah” to the second. Like many Wellingtonians,… Continue

• Why so angry?

  Why?, with Grayson Gilmour, San Francisco Bathhouse, reviewed by Dawn Tratt THAT tool who stood on my foot as hard as he could then growled at me when I squeezed to the front of Why? ruined the start of the concert. Then some weirdo screamed at my mate,… Continue

• Can you Handel?

  Handel’s Messiah, conducted by Guy Jansen, Sacred Heart Cathedral, reviewed by Garth Wilshere THIS year’s Messiah in Wellington was an imported presentation from the Kapiti Chamber Choir. This performance was augmented by former members and friends of Bel… Continue

• Delicacy on a Plate

  Plate Restaurant, 75 Featherstone Street. PLATE Restaurant serves my new favourite dessert, so I’m going to start at the end. If you’ve never tried pannacota with amaretto jelly and amaretto granite, please do. The combination of the amaretto, a white, custard-like… Continue

• Loud music

  Dick Whittington and His Cat, directed by Susan Wilson, Circa Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman ROGER Hall, panto, Circa. A winning end of year combination for the past few years and with big houses. It is again. Dick Whittington is a much less known story… Continue

• Best Indian

  Masala, 2 Allen Street I’VE yet to meet someone who doesn’t love Masala. A two-time winner in Capital Times’ Best of Wellington Readers’ Survey this year, Masala is a must visit for anyone in need of a spice up. Voted Best Indian Restaurant and Best Take-Away… Continue

• Brilliant death

  Death and the Dreamlife of Elephants, directed by Leo Gene Peters, Bats Theatre, reviewed by Lynn Freeman THIS second of Bat’s commissioned STAB productions has had maximum hype, with masses of pre-show marketing – on radio, in print, on Twitter, on the streets,… Continue