Tags

Blogs / September 2007

October 2007 | August 2007
    • Intense, man!
      • I've been blathering about it all over the place, but the Wellingtonista has thus far remained staunchly unblathered about IntensCITY week, which started yesterday. Downtown Wellington is full of exhibitions, posters, shipping containers, lunchtime talks and video installations, all celebrating and/or critiquing our urban spaces. The official site is on the WCC website, and brochures are available in cafes, libraries and council places, or as a big juicy PDF.
      • Tagged as:
      • events

    • The Hollow Men at BATS
      • Just a quick note to recommend Dean Parker’s theatrical adaptation of The Hollow Men, which is on now at BATS. My position in the theatre industry prevents me from doing a proper review which means I can't tell you how funny and pointed it is, nor how expertly directed it is (by Jonathan Hendry) or how good many of the performances are (particularly Stephen Papps as Brash).
      • Tagged as:
      • theatre

    • Wharf Plaza
      • The public spaces at Kumutoto are gradually being reopened after their revamp. This week the area between the Steamship Wharf and Meridian Energy buildings, which according to Wellington Waterfront Ltd is to be called "Wharf Plaza", is having the last finishing touches applied. While the "spring" weather may not exactly be conducive to lingering outside, the green lights under the new benches look especially good at dusk.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • waterfront

    • All at sea
      • I'm disappointed by the outcome of the Environment Court decision that rejected the Marine Education Centre at Te Raekaihau Point. I've never been a hard-core supporter of the project, but I was convinced that for the particular vision the proponents had in mind, there was no better site.
      • Tagged as:
      • marine-education-centre
      • karori-sanctuary
      • Zealandia, Lake Road, Highbury, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Rock the vote Wellington
      • While 90 percent of eligible Wellington City voters have enrolled to vote and will be receiving their voting papers, approximately 16,000 eligible voters are not enrolled. Of these people, about 8000 are aged 18-24, accounting for the largest portion of unregistered voters."Although electoral rolls have now closed, people can still enrol to vote. However, they will need to request special voting papers and should contact me if they want to cast a special vote," Mr Bly says.
      • Tagged as:
      • elections-2007

    • Time to veg out
      • October 1 is World Vegetarian Day, so we'd like you to comment and tell us about your favourite vege-friendly places to eat in Wellington. We'd also like to encourage you to check out the Wellington Vegetarian Food & Lifestyle Festival on Saturday Saturday September 29 at St Johns in the City, Cnr Willis and Dixon Streets.
      • Tagged as:
      • restaurants-and-bars

    • Save the point has won in the environment court
      • In 2000 I began one of my longest political battles . Yesterday it finished in the Environment Court with a ruling that the South Coast is not an appropriate place for an Aquarium. In that time I was supported only by Cr David Zwartz. In 2004 I was joined by Cr Jack Ruben in my opposition. This proposal divided the community. While the political battle was raging and we were overwhelmed by a developer friendly Council, Save Te Rae Kai Hau Point was formed. It was this group that in the end won the day.
      • Tagged as:
      • island-bay
      • marine-education-centre
      • Island Bay, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand/Aotearoa (OpenStreetMap)


    • How is the air up there?
      • Urban turbines seem to be catching on. This vertical-axis turbine has recently popped up atop the "i-Centre" at 50 Manners St, there's a smaller one on top of the already environmentally-advanced Conservation House down the road, and the Vector Energy trial turbine that I wrote about in June will be installed on The Terrace.
      • Tagged as:
      • conservation

    • Ahoy me hearties!
      • So it's one week until that most beloved of all days - International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I bet you're wondering how you can celebrate it instead of going to the Driving Government Performance - the development goals at work conference. Luckily, the Museum of Wellington City and Sea has the perfect solution: The Great Pirate Corporate Challenge! The challenge takes place between 12.30-2pm on the day, and will see teams of five compete in a treasure hunt on Somes/Maitu Island, a peg-leg race and a tug'o war.
      • Tagged as:
      • events
      • museums-and-galleries
      • waterfront

    • Lebensraum
      • I've had a go at the Q on Taranaki proposals several times before, and while the version currently being submitted for resource consent has been cut back from the original design (I won't call it architecture), it's still a dreadful piece of crap.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture

    • REVIEW: Cornerstone Roots
      • tThe vibe was right and the crowd were perfectly warmed up by The Midnights’ reggae fusion - enjoying the tight ska and jazzy shake up. Clearly another great night was in store for the San Francisco Bathhouse. Cornerstone Roots took to the stage with great presence, ready to educate the crowd with the delights from their new album Free Yourself.
      • Tagged as:
      • music
      • reviews

    • RWC: Where to watch the 'breakfast games'?
      • This is a cry for help! Can someone out there leave ideas, suggestions and even actual locations for those people, of a rugby following tendency, that wish to watch the Monday morning pool games. Within the Wellington CBD we mean. The games tend to start around 6am and the Wellingtonista has discovered that most 'rugby-type' venues aren't opening until their normal time of 7am due to licensing restrictions.
      • Tagged as:
      • rugby

    • Pass mark for the park
      • Among the various items on the agenda of the recent Waterfront Development Subcommittee meeting was a review of Waitangi Park. There are five separate PDFs to download there, including a survey of park users and an interesting quantitative study of which sections of the park were being used and when, but the guts of the report is a large tabular Design Quality Audit.
      • Tagged as:
      • waterfront

    • Bus woes
      • I've avoided it as long as I can but I'm going to have to start laying into the Wellington buses. This will serve two purposes -- to gather a weight of evidence with which to construct a platform from which I can launch a series of more formal remonstrances; and possibly more importantly, to make me feel better. I have begun a journal of woe -- chronicling my problems and frustrations -- and you can join in too, if you want.
      • Tagged as:
      • transport

Archive

Newsitems tagged with Blogs have been published during: