Animals related newsitems

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    How Did I Get Hear? #17 - Alan Gregg on Ed Cake's "Downtown Puff"

    • 6 May 2025
    • Slow Boat Records
    • Behold the Golden Man! Some time in the mid-1990s I was sitting on a sofa in Auckland watching a Saturday morning kids’ TV show called What Now? A band came on and played a song which featured the lyric “If I go to hospital / Will you administer my pill?” I had no idea who they were, but the song was brilliant, and one of the band members appeared to have springs attached to the soles of his shoes. A few weeks later I met two members of that band, Edmund McWilliams and Geoff Maddock, at a Supergroove show at Auckland University. We talked about our shared enthusiasm for the music of Jonathan Richman, and they gave me a cassette(!) of some songs they were working on. When I got home and played the cassette it was a revelation. It contained intensely melodic songs with absurd lyrics and unusual arrangements. I felt like I’d stumbled upon some kind of secret treasure. They were pop songs, but not like anything I’d heard before. The songs on that cassette later turned into the eponymous Bressa Creeting Cake album (Flying Nun Records 1997), which is still spoken of in reverential tones in certain circles. The three piece Bressa Creeting Cake band, with Joel Wilton on drums, came on tour around New Zealand with The Mutton Birds (who I played bass with), and it felt like a privilege to watch them play these amazing songs to baffled audiences each night. By that time Edmund McWilliams was becoming better known under the moniker Edmund Cake. In 1999 Edmund and I played together in Bic Runga’s band, when she supported Paul Kelly on a tour of Australia. On that trip I saw first hand how Ed’s approach was not like other musicians I knew. At one show Bic’s band was invited to join Paul Kelly and his band onstage for their encore, and during the song Ed played Paul Kelly’s acoustic guitar with such intensity that his hand bled all over the body of the guitar. At soundcheck the next day Paul Kelly’s unimpressed guitar technician greeted Ed with the guitar and a cleaning cloth. Ed set to work making it spotless, and we weren’t invited onstage for the encore again. Bressa Creeting Cake split up around that time, and Geoff Maddock formed the band Goldenhorse, which went on to become hugely popular in New Zealand. All of this is a very longwinded way of getting to the point that after the demise of Bressa Creeting Cake, Edmund Cake made a solo album called Downtown Puff (Lil’ Chief Records 2004), which I consider to be a masterpiece. Around the time Bressa Creeting Cake ended, an A&R man from the Dreamworks record label in LA came to visit Ed in New Zealand and gave him an advance to make some demos. Ed recorded three songs and sent them to the label. After not hearing from the A&R guy for a while, Ed called him in LA to ask what he thought of the songs. He replied that they were “Quite great”. Dreamworks did not sign Edmund Cake to the label in the end, but they did sign a little-known artist named Nelly Furtado. In the meantime, Tim Finn had become a supporter of Ed’s music and lent him some recording equipment for a studio Ed had assembled in a building in Gore Street in Auckland. Neil Finn had also become a fan and gave Ed time to complete Downtown Puff in his own studio. Edmund Cake is an unusually talented songwriter. He has a gift for composing melodies and chord changes which are both surprising and breathtakingly beautiful. He’s also able to write lyrics which can be funny and strangely affecting at the same time. And he doesn’t sound like anyone else. On Downtown Puff Ed played most of the instruments, and he engineered and produced the songs himself. It’s an album that constantly treads the line between the sublime and the ridiculous, and sometimes does both at the same time. "You’re Watching Me” and “Beautiful Sleep” are ballads as melodic and effortless as any I can think of. The song "Gunga" sounds like Captain Beefheart jamming with Devo on the set of Sesame Street. “My Son the Harpist” tells the story, over an Omnichord drum beat, of a young harp player who meets a tragic end. Ed was improvising the lyrics the first time he ever recorded the vocal on that song and he never changed them. As a result, there are some spontaneous words in that song that you won’t find in any dictionary. The song “Oh Baby Bear” is the catchiest song you’ll ever hear about the Auckland Public Transport system. Ed sings “She’s got a cuppa tea and sandwich, she’s feeling fine / She just crossed the Pukapuka line,” all delivered in a fair dinkum Kiwi accent. Perhaps Downtown Puff’ s master stroke is the track “Golden Man”, which sounds a bit like a 1970s psychedelic folk band singing a gospel song. The poetic lyrics, swooping melodies and Ed’s trademark falsetto vocals all contribute to the song’s eerie beauty. “He commands the cats to claw / He commands the boats to shore / He commands the gulls to fly / He commands the crops to die”. Sometimes Edmund’s music can evoke the genius of Brian Wilson in the way he can take really unusual chord changes and make them seem completely natural in a pop song. But this music doesn’t sound like Brian Wilson. Ed often adopts different character voices for the songs. One moment he’s singing in a sweet falsetto, and in the next he’s growling like Tom Waits. Each song has a distinct vocal identity, almost reminiscent of the way Prince used completely different voices for some of his songs. But this music sounds nothing like Prince. Sometimes I wonder why the Downtown Puff album isn’t better known than it is. It certainly has some devoted fans, but I can’t help thinking more people would like it if they knew about it. For me it’s the work of a visionary musical artist, and it's a collection of songs that contains just the right balance of beauty, mystery, playfulness and outrageously good tunes. It’s also worth mentioning that Edmund Cake released another album under the name Pie Warmer a few years later called The Fearsome Feeling (2009 Lil’Chief Records), which is every bit as great as Downtown Puff. Alan Gregg last year released a superb album under the name Polite Company, entitled "Please Go Wild" - first single "Circulation" is here, we have copies on LP and CD, and his website is here
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    Slow Boat Records, Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
  
  
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    Memorial Garden ready to bloom

    • 3 May 2025
    • Cats Protection Wellington
    • The Memorial Garden behind the CPW has historically housed the ashes of cats who passed away at the shelter or in foster care, and includes a collection of stone plaques and statues.
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    Turning wool into gold for kitties

    • 3 May 2025
    • Cats Protection Wellington
    • Gail is one of the unsung, invisible heroes who has been knitting items for the good of the CPW cats for years.
    • Accepted from Cats Protection League feed 2021 4 days ago by feedreader
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• • Wasabi: Big recovery for a small cat

    • 3 May 2025
    • Cats Protection Wellington
    • In December 2024, tabby girl Wasabi was surrendered to CPW by her family as they’d been unable to find a pet-friendly rental.
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    Microchip leads Ninja back home

    • 30 Apr 2025
    • Cats Protection Wellington
    • Late in January, the CPW shelter team took a call from an 82-year-old lady, who had a cat making himself at home at her place.
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    Rosie Posy’s new lease of life

    • 20 Apr 2025
    • Cats Protection Wellington
    • Rosie Posy came to us in a bit of sorry state after the death of her elderly owner.
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    Te Herenga Waka community supports tuatara research at Zealandia

    • 7 Apr 2025
    • Victoria University of Wellington
    • More than 700 people from the Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington alumni community attended a friends and family event on Saturday 22 March.
    • Accepted from VUW News feed 4 weeks ago by feedreader
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    Zealandia, Lake Road, Highbury, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
  
  

• • Proposed dog control updates – are we barking up the right tree?

    • 26 Mar 2025
    • Hutt City Council
    • Hutt City Council is updating its Dog Control Policy and Bylaw—and wants to hear from you.
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    Mid-Waiohine Hut and Pizza – Tararua Forest Park

    • 23 Mar 2025
    • Wellington Tramping and Mountainneering Club
    • Date: 28 Feb – 2 Mar 2025Trip type: MediumLocation: Tararua Forest ParkAuthor: Georgia Trampers: Sara (leader), Georgia, Tawera, Brianna, Chrys, Callum (and Sophie) Friday – 28 Feb Five of us and Sara’s lovely dog (Sophie) met at the Wellington Station and drove up to the Wairarapa with the EM group. We met up with Brianna ... Read more
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• • High levels of toxic algae at Silverstream Bridge – dogs and people should avoid contact with water

    • 18 Mar 2025
    • Greater Wellington Regional Council
    • Accepted from GW news 2022 1 month ago by feedreader
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    Silverstream, Upper Hutt, Upper Hutt City, Wellington, 5019, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
  
  

• • Toxic algae in Lake Wairarapa Moana – dogs and people should avoid contact with water

    • 13 Mar 2025
    • Greater Wellington Regional Council
    • Accepted from GW news 2022 1 month ago by feedreader
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    New training programme helps protect world's smallest penguin

    • 25 Feb 2025
    • Wellington City Council
    • Wellington’s coastline is home to many kororā (little penguins) who often choose to nest on the beaches. Sadly, off-leash dogs that roam the area are one of the biggest threats to these mānu, with 11 kororā lost to dog attacks in the past year.
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• • Toxic algae blooms in Wairarapa catchments/rivers – dogs and people should avoid contact with water

    • 15 Jan 2025
    • Greater Wellington Regional Council
    • Accepted from GW news 2022 3 months ago by feedreader
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    Sniffing out seabirds on Mana Island

    • 13 Dec 2024
    • Te Papa's blog
    • Te Papa vertebrates curator Colin Miskelly recently spent 3 days on Mana Island following a conservation dog searching for well-concealed petrels in the lush vegetation. He kindly agreed to share a ‘blog with a dog’ with us. Miro is a 4-year-old German short-haired pointer cross. He is one of the
    • Accepted from Te Papa blog feed 3 months ago by tonytw1
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    Mana Island, Porirua, Porirua City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
  
  
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    The Trojan War

    • 26 Nov 2024
    • Circa Theatre
    • The Trojan War Written and produced by A Slightly Isolated Dog Directed by Leo Gene Peters The...
    • Accepted from Cira shows 2021 5 months ago by feedreader
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    Circa Theatre, Taranaki Street, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
  
  
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    Kainga No More

    • 30 Sep 2024
    • Eye of the Fish
    • The Luxon-lead government continues its attack on anything that the Labour Party ever managed to do, with the release today of news about the Kainga...
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• • Open Whanganui

    • 13 Sep 2024
    • Architectural Centre Inc
    • In (unofficial) conjunction with Here’s Open Home Whanganui event – September 28 – the Center will be opening a few more doors for Centre members. The Here programme will visit the Dog Box (2013 – Ben Mitchell-Anyon, Sally Ogle, Caro Robertson and Tim Gittos)… … and the Payne House (1960s, Michael Payne). The Here event […]
    • Accepted from The Architectural Centre Inc 2024 7 months ago by feedreader
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    Help kororā fight their living crisis 

    • 10 Sep 2024
    • Wellington City Council
    • Wellington City Council is putting its might behind the plight of the kororā in this month’s Bird of the Year, but we all need to flock together to really take them under our wings. 
    • Accepted from WCC news HTTPS 7 months ago by feedreader
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    How we’re protecting one of Wellington's smallest residents

    • 5 Sep 2024
    • Wellington City Council
    • We’re backing the kororā for Bird of the Year 2024 – here’s what Council and our partners are doing to protect our penguins and restore their habitats year-round.
    • Accepted from WCC news HTTPS 8 months ago by feedreader
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    Don’t flipper coin, vote kororā for Bird of the Year

    • 28 Aug 2024
    • Wellington City Council
    • As Bird of the Year gets ready to take flight, Wellington City Council is proud to be supporting the kororā little penguin in 2024.
    • Accepted from WCC news HTTPS 8 months ago by feedreader
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    • wellington-city-council
  
  
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    Salient Backs Kororā for Bird of the Year: A Campaign to Support Wellington’s Little Blue Penguins

    • 28 Aug 2024
    • Salient
    • Wellington, 2 September 2024 — Salient , Victoria University of Wellington’s student magazine, is rallying behind the kororā, or Little...
    • Accepted from Salient 2024 8 months ago by tonytw1
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    Trainee service dog Pippa is part of the Council whānau

    • 22 Aug 2024
    • Hutt City Council
    • It’s a dog’s world at Hutt City Council, or at least it is for trainee service dog Pippa who often accompanies Council’s Chief Digital Officer Lyndon Allott to work.
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    A nose for kiwi

    • 16 Aug 2024
    • Zealandia
    • While normally any furry mammals are kept well out of the sanctuary, this month we opened the gates for some very special working dogs. These dogs are part of the Conservation Dogs programme which ...
    • Accepted from Zealandia HTTPS 8 months ago by feedreader
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    Zealandia, Lake Road, Highbury, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
  
  
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    2024 Annual General Meeting

    • 15 Aug 2024
    • Cats Protection Wellington
    • Our Annual General Meeting will be held at the CPW shelter on Sunday 25 August at 3pm. It will be at 29 Vancouver Street in Kingston, upstairs in the West Wing meeting room.To vote at the AGM, you must be a financial member for 2024/25. You can rejoin or become a member by completing the online form on this website. ...
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    Zuko’s superstar life

    • 13 Aug 2024
    • Cats Protection Wellington
    • Of all the cats who have found their homes through the CPW shelter in the last year, Zuko would have to be voted most likely to star in his own TV show.
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    Milo's happily ever after

    • 30 Jul 2024
    • Hutt City Council
    • Each year, dogs from all walks of life fall into the care of the Animal Services team. One extra special dog who came into their care is a lovely GSP called Milo, who now lives the life of luxury.
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    Little blue penguins live – and die – on our coastline

    • 7 Jul 2024
    • Wellington City Council
    • Kororā live all around the coastline of Te Whanganui a Tara, from the rocky beaches and coastal scrub to the waterfront – unfortunately they are dying in there too.
    • Accepted from WCC news HTTPS 10 months ago by feedreader
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    Wall St Journal: Inside New Zealand’s Mission to Wipe Out Predators

    • 5 Jul 2024
    • Predator Free Wellington
    • This article was written by Mike Cherney for the Wall Street Journal and was published on 5 July 2024. Read the full article here. Armed with a .22-caliber rifle, a GPS tracker and a dog named Scmack, Jason Millichamp set off into the hills here with a license to kill. His mission: find and eliminate…
    • Accepted from PFW news 9 months ago by feedreader
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    REVIEW: Blunt Dog: Bullet Train to Dunedin

    • 26 Jun 2024
    • Salient
    • In addition to playing an Eyegum Wednesday at San Fran, Blunt Dog spent the weekend recording their upcoming album at the Massey University studio. The album, titled Bullet Train To Dunedin, promises a warm and unpolished sound reminiscent of old home recordings. This album marks a significant departure from their first album, How is a Dog So Honest?. The new tracks, primarily derived from guitarist and vocalist Dom’s demos, are both harder and softer, expanding on the range of their earlier work. The album concept originated from drummer Logan’s whimsical idea of a Japanese bullet train travelling from Britomart station in Auckland to Dunedin, described by the band as “a moment of genius and a passage of jest.”
    • Accepted from Salient 2024 10 months ago by tonytw1
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    San Francisco Bath House, Swan Lane, Te Aro, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6040, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
  
  
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    Nearly gobbled: turkey at the dog pound

    • 24 Jun 2024
    • Wellington City Council
    • It was March when Steph Simon, Animal Control Officer and Colin Feral’s manager, got the call about a quirky turkey.
    • Accepted from WCC news HTTPS 10 months ago by feedreader
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