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Blogs / October 2008

November 2008 | September 2008
    • Tae Kwon Do World Champs
      • Wellington has secured the rights to host the 2011 Tae Kwon Do (or Taekwondo, Taekwan-Do, or other variations, depending on where you look) World Champs. New Zealand finished 3rd at the 2007 World Champs (note, link is to a PDF of the medals table), and, with the sport thriving in NZ, the home team is expected to do well with the next event on home turf.
      • Tagged as:
      • self-defence

    • Samurai Store Coming
      • Almost in order to prove that rumours of the death of genuine, good quality music retailers in this country have been greatly exaggerated, on November 6 Wellington will have a new specialist music retail store.
      • Tagged as:
      • music
      • retail

        • 151 Willis Street, Wellington


    • Anti-racism rally and picnic
      • Remember a few years ago when a bunch of punks dressed up as fairies chased the National Front guys around the Railway Station beating them up? LOLarama. Anyhow... Anti-racism activists will be holding a rally and picnic at the Wellington Cenotaph at 10am on Saturday October 25. The rally and picnic is in opposition to plans to hold a "Flag Day" rally by the "Nationalist Alliance", a coalition comprising the National Front, New Right and National Democrats. More about these asshats after the jump.... read more
      • Tagged as:
      • events

    • Seriously good.
      • There's a great line in a Simpsons episode (well there's a plethora of them really) when C. Montgomery Burns is viewing the less-than-flattering nude portrait of him which Marge has painted. In his typically non-plussed manner, he states "I don't know much about art, but I know what I hate; and I don't hate this."Now, I don't profess to know much about art either, but Adagio-Seriously Sophisticated Circus had me enthralled and not thinking about hate one bit. From the opening minute, when each of the performers was introduced to the audience in a sequence which had us in a quandry as to which performer to focus on, to the mirror-image closure, I was amazed, amused, and just plain entertained in a way that I'm not generally accustomed to. But I liked it. A lot.Without being able to properly dissect the performance, to verbalise the nuances of the techniques deployed, or even identify the performers correctly, I'll at least have a crack and break it down to a Monty Burns-esqe critique. Adagio combines live music, comedy, pantomime, dance and most of all (as the name implies) amazing feats of gymnastic ability on an array of 'equipment' (chairs, swings, ropes etc). The two main protagonists were a diminutive male and a blonde female whose pure strength and incredible poise was so immense and impressive that you would think it looked so easy, but then you'd digest what they were doing and imagine trying to do it yourself, summising with a mental "no way!". This was my second experience at Downstage, after the also brilliant Strike earlier this year, and if the quality of these two shows is an indicator of the fare on offer, then I can see myself making more regular visits. And I'd recommend that everyone should get along and experience Adagio... it's been extended, so there's no reason not too. Might even make it back for seconds myself.Thanks to Markus at Downstage.Brett Kennedy
      • Tagged as:
      • fares

        • Hannah Playhouse, 12, Cambridge Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Greens launch Wellington Transport Plan
      • The Greens have just launched their new Wellington Transport Plan, complete with Green MP Sue Kedgley as their Wellington Transport Spokesperson. Wellington has a pretty kick-arse public transport system as it is, with a well used network of buses, trolley buses, trains and the good ol' cable car.
      • Tagged as:
      • transport

    • Rare fern rediscovered.
      • I’m one of the Botany Curators at Te Papa, and ferns are one of my specialties.  New Zealand has about 200 native ferns, and some of them are very rare.  We recently rediscovered one rare fern that had been ‘lost’.  I was beginning to wonder if it had become extinct, but fortunately it has not.  Still, the known total of individuals is still only 9, and this population is only a goat-lunch away from extinction! Me, on top of the Ruahine Ranges. No rare ferns sighted up here, but interesting nonetheless. The rediscovered fern is a maidenhair spleenwort.  It had been definitively identified from just three New Zealand sites, all in Hawke’s Bay, and all dating to the 1950’s.  The localities of these three sites were not precisely recorded, and no one I talked to knew of a living population.   I enlisted the help of the Manawatu Botanical Society to search one of these sites (the most precise one, which involved searching several square km rather than several tens of square km).  I wasn’t very optimistic, given the amount of time since it had been previously collected and that I had already looked at a number of similar Hawke’s Bay sites.  But, we found it - 9 plants in one very small area.  There is another maidenhair spleenwort in NZ, and it is quite common.  These two maidenhair spleenworts look similar, but they have different chromosome numbers; the common one has six sets of chromosomes while the rare one has four sets.  This kind of difference is usually treated at the subspecies or even species level in ferns.   Unfortunately, the present taxonomy, or formal scientific naming, for these ferns is not adequate.  We hope to sort this out in the next year or so.  They have both been called Asplenium trichomanes, but this fern does not occur in NZ (at least when interpreted in a narrow sense).  The rare maidenhair spleenwort in NZ has also been called Asplenium trichomanes subsp. quadrivalens; whether this is correct remains to be established. Maidenhair spleenwort. This is the rare species, but the common one looks very similar. The two maidenhair spleenworts usually occur on or near limestone.  They can be distinguished from all other ferns in NZ by their undivided, black, almost smooth stems, and by having their reproductive structures in lines away from the margins of the undersides of their leaves.  This particular arrangement of the reproductive structures characteristics all of the spleenwort (Asplenium) species, of which there are about 20 in NZ (and some 600 in the world). I’d be interested in learning of additional maidenhair spleenwort sites in Hawke’s Bay.  Both species of maidenhair spleenwort have been recorded from the Hawke’s Bay, so any new finds may be the rare or the common species.  I would need to closely inspect them to be sure.  But, please, do not remove them from the wild!  Email (leonp@tepapa.govt.nz) or phone (04 381 7261) me the locality details. Te Papa’s Collections Online includes a photo of a maidenhair spleenwort specimen collected from the Hawke’s Bay in 1881 (it’s the common species, rather than the rare one).  The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network also has more information about maidenhair spleenworts.       
      • Automatically tagged as:
      • blogs
      • te-papa

    • Mounting a squid
      • Work is underway preparing the mounting system for the colossal squid in its display tank. Mark kent and Robert Clendon preparing the squid for exhibition. Image copyright Te Papa Unless the squid is supported by acrylic mounts it will remain a collapsed heap on the bottom of the tank - not very appealling! To display it in as realistic pose as possible a series of supports will be manufactured to splay the tentacles out so the beak can be seen, and to expand the mantle from its collapsed position. The squid will be slightly angled to one side in the tank, so it will be possible to see the eye and even the funnel, which is on the under side of the mantle. lighting inside the tank will illuminate the specimen from the sides - eliminating any glare or reflection from the surface of the preservative. Te Papa conservators Mark Kent and Robert Clendon have to work with the specimen partially supported by the liquid preservative. The arms are held in the desired position using plastic food wrap while they prepare the template. The template will then be used to cut the final acrylic mount. Once the templates are completed and the mounts made, the specimen will be moved to the museum building at Cable Street and mounted properly, before the lid is placed on the tank it is filled with the preservative solution. Preparing the mount template. Image copyright Te Papa   Museum conservators and mount makers have to deal with objects ranging from artefacts to fine art sculptures. The colossal squid is a new challenge!       
      • Automatically tagged as:
      • blogs
      • te-papa

    • People's Empire
      • Newtown may or may not be a bit shit, but their right-on coffee company People's Coffee (sorry, I couldn't resist adding the apostrophe) certainly know their shit. Their presence in central Wellington is expanding, and two recently-opened cafés proudly stock the People's brand: Meow and Mon Ami.
      • Tagged as:
      • newtown
      • restaurants-and-bars

        • Newtown, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Adagio extended till 1 Nov
      • Good news! Downstage and Awkward Productions are proud to announce that ADAGIO’s season at the theatre is extended by popular demand till 1 November. The show, which takes circus out of the tent and into the theatre, features a blend of syncopated circus acts and music from Jonathan Crayford. Directed by Deborah Pope, ADAGIO received excellent feedback from both audiences and reviewers.Downstage also introduced a family pass for the 6.30 pm performances from Monday till Wednesday and the 3 pm matinee on Saturday 25 October. The family ticket is available at a price of $100 at the Downstage box office and on the phone and includes admission for two adults and two children.ADAGIO is a combination of physical theatre, circus, contemporary dance, music and comedy. With Mason West, Rowan Heydon-White, Angela Green, Jenny McArthur and Asalemo Tofete the show features five highly skilled physical performers, unique in their approach to theatre making, joined by New Zealand Symphony Orchestra double bassist Vicki Jones and jazz musician Rosie Langabeer.ADAGIO is playing at Downstage Theatre till 1 November, Monday to Wednesday at 6.30 pm and Thursday to Saturday at 7.30 pm, with an afternoon matinee at 3 pm on Saturday 25 October.Ticket prices range from $20 to $42. Tickets can be purchased online at www.downstage.co.nz, by phone at (04) 801 6946 or in person at Downstage’s box office.For more information on the show please visit www.downstage.co.nz/adagio“Adagio offers a beautifully crafted hour of existential physical theatre. Perfect spring fare."John Smythe, Theatreview.com“What a circus, what a show. Go see!”Laurie Atkinson, The Dominion Post“By far the most entertaining seventy minutes I had experienced at the theatre in a very long time. Just superb.” Texture.co.nz
      • Tagged as:
      • fares

        • Hannah Playhouse, 12, Cambridge Terrace, Mount Victoria, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6011, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Athfield rolling on
      • If you’re an architect or architectural groupie in Wellington, waking up this morning with a hangover, then you must have been at Athfield’s party last night. By all accounts, it was a “ripper of a night” and a great time was had, drunk and eaten by all.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture

    • Coffee you Feel !
      • Yes, that’s right - Havana Coffee, home to some of the best roasted beans and some of the choicest cuts of real estate too. The guys at Havana seem to have a handle on all their senses: a feel for what makes a great bar, a good eye for catchy graphics, a fine nose for roasting, and an ear out for some choice sites. Here’s three that we know of. First up is the original, the former roasting shop in Wigan St, composed of two little dwellings that are now home to a good bar.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • restaurants-and-bars
      • coffee

        • Wigan Street, Wellington


    • Whats happening on Holland?
      • Down here on Holland St, construction is definitely nothing new. Of late we’ve seen the Century City development starting to shape up, as well as the smaller additions of the oh-so-contemporary product spec office and the always-vibrant fuel expresso HQ. I had assumed that the construction site present on the first floor of the ‘zebra hostel’ was just simple renovation or the like; but the additon of an interesting catipillar-like lighting trail has picqued both my curiosity and expectations.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture

        • Holland Street, Wellington


    • Squid - the inside story
      • It’s a lovely spring Friday morning in Wellington. What else would we (Pamela, Chris and Judy - our brave and newest squid team member) be doing other than dissecting a couple of nice fresh squid from the local wholesale fish supplier? It’s all in the interest of bringing you a bigger and better exhibition on the colossal squid, as we come to grips with squid anatomy (literally). We quickly discovered that not all squid are the same on the inside (surprise) and that once inside them it can be a messy business. Note to self - try to avoid puncturing the ink sac until the end. We started with an arrowsquid. We checked the arms and the tentacles - all eight arms and two tentacles present and correct. The suckers on the arms had hard little circles, which pop out - who needs to pop bubble wrap? Cutting through the mantle was hard work - you need a sharp pair of scissors or a good scalpel. Pulling back the folds of the mantle reveals the inner organs. Working out what they all are is a challenge but we think we identified the gills, the stomach and caecu,m and what we thought was the hearts. Yep, that’s right, a squid has three hearts. The eyes were exciting to dissect. It was a thrill to extract the lenses and find that they come in two parts - just like the colossal squids, and indeed all squid. The arrowsquid lens is a lot smaller - around 0.5cm across - compared with the huge orange-sized lens of the colossal. It was also really exciting to remove the beakfrom the really dense muscular tissue surrounding it. First we got the lower beak out, then the upper beak and we could see how they fit together. Then we came across the radula - it’s a bit like a tongue - with it’s amazing rows of sharp, raspy teeth. Stomach contents of our squid were examined. We could feel the crunchy bits inside, and these turned out to be fish vertebrae. Last but not least we cleaned away all the messy bits to expose the mantle - and extract the gladius, or pen. This incredible structure just glides out of the mantle and looks for all the world like it’s made of plastic. So I’m hooked on squid anatomy - there will be photos and more on the broad squid we examined next, shortly.       
      • Automatically tagged as:
      • blogs
      • te-papa

    • Design for the sun
      • Following on from the previous post, where we had observed how good Wellington can get on a nice day (not so good today, unfortunately), there were a few photos left over that we just had to use. There seems to be a few simple principles at work here for successful public space design in general, but throughout the waterfront especially.
      • Tagged as:
      • architecture
      • waterfront

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