What to do in Wellington when the Southerly hits

• Visit Animates - either Ngauranga Gorge or Melling Bridge
• Don’t miss the 1pm cultural flick at the Lighthouse Cinema
• Don your parka and buy garden plants from Moores Valley Nursery past Wainuiomata.
• On your way, drop into Hutt Hunting & Fishing - possibly my favourite store on planet earth!
• Tour the Seaview and Evans Bay marinas looking for stray yachts to rescue
• Surf Trade Me for a new dehumidifier
• Stock up on hardware at Petone’s crazily big Mega Mitre 10 (don’t miss their charity sausage sizzle at the main door)
• Drive to the South Coast and knock a few years off the life of your automobile.
• Join Twitter and discover the favourite nightwear being worn by local celebrity journalists

My past enthusiasm for Elements is waning after an extraordinarily long wait for latte + bubble ‘n squeak this morning. It’s been discovered, monopolised and isn’t the better for the experience. My favourite restaurant rediscovery is local winebar, Vivo (closed on Mondays). Putting aside some forgettably poor table service, the kitchen team have won me over again.

Polarising commentary on the use of Twitter is starting to tire me. I’m reminded of a friend who bought a mountain bike, used it once and left it propped against a garden shed wall, vowing that biking isn’t fun. You’ve got to use Twitter to get the most out of it. Just following people is voyeurism. From the outside, looking in, I can see how people might think it’s a little weird but I guess I’m the same about new age churches. Different strokes. For those converts, try twittersheep for something different.

[I fear my version of WordPress is slowly decaying. I've lost my wysiwyg option which, I guess, is great for learning html. It might be time to download a new FTP client, dump it all into quarantine and treat it to an autumnal spruce up. A good time to move over to www.michaelgregg.co.nz perhaps. Oh, lamenting the loss of link love.]

I went to an auction at the Wellington Zoo last evening. John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld from TV3 did a brilliantly awful job of auctioning five experiences that money can’t buy. It was so hilariously funny, The Improvisers were outstanding. The Zoo has refreshed itself. Denise Church, Trust Chair, was a delight to wander with. Her passion for the revitalisation of this community asset and the value of the massive capital programme was clearly evident. I joined the Big Bite Club, and am booking in for a close encounter. I strongly encourage you to do the same. It’s so easy to give-a-little.

Tamati Ellison should be given the permanent full-back role for the Hurricanes, despite a bungle on his defensive goal line which gifted a try to the Sharks in the overnight Super14 match in Durban. Jane’s simply not up to it.

If you’re bored and have nothing to fill in the extra hour Helen generously gave us today, try starting a chat at http://omegle.com/. Just say hi. But remember to sign off with ‘Peace’. Well, that’s my spare sixty minutes used up. Enjoy the first week of not saving daylight and remember to turn off the lights when you’re not using them. There was a point to Earth Hour!

The Institute of Directors is running an Aspiring Directors dinner series in Wellington.  I’m thinking of rocking along.  Will have to dust off the dinner jacket though.  I can definitely make the first two: 8th & 25th June.  These cover Requirements of Directors and Competencies.  Unfortunately I can’t attend the final one on 8th July which is on Marketing Yourself but reckon I’ve got that one covered!   There are some who say he …

Anyway, there are a few people I know who should consider coming too … Damas, Alex, Christine, Ben, Nigel, Matty B.  The Zoo (and other local/central govt entities) needs you.  Numbers are limited to 16 so get in quick.  Please let me know if you’re attending.

The World Push Ups Championships are coming to Wellington on 28th March ‘09.  Check out the current competitors.  

Will you enter?

Brian and Jan have relaunched 7X7. Five weeks of illuminating inspiration kicking off at 6pm, 22nd July at the Ilott Theatre, Wellington Town Hall. Book at Ticketek.

I was a regular attendee back in the (e)-vision days from 2000 - 2004 and recall that the presenters were spectacular, awe-inspiring and very kiwi-connected. I suspect it will only be better this time around.

You really can’t beat Wellington on a good day and what a lovely morning I enjoyed today.

First I bumped into Andre Russell, newly from Provoke (who was off to feed the ducks by Te Papa) and we shared coffee at Mojo. Then I visited Elements again. They had flat mushrooms. And they kindly made my favourite brunch - brushetta with pesto, grilled flat mushrooms, goats cheese feta, chopped mint & flat leaf parsley, with grated potato hash browns on the side. Divine.

I made time to drop in and chat to Michael McCormack. I bought a couple of his pieces last year. He’s showing some lovely new works in his Island Bay Gallery and has an exhibition coming up soon. I’ve borrowed one of his images below. I hope he doesn’t mind.

The harbour is calm - going diving/fishing tomorrow if it stays like this.

Normally I’m camped in a hotel room in the City of Sales on a Thursday night so hanging in my favourite city was a novelty this week. I got along to Circa Theatre to watch ‘The American Pilot’, thanks to Chapman Tripp. There were mixed reviews after the lights came up. Some thought it a little slow with a simplistic plot. To me, it was deliberately paced, with intelligent observations of American foreign policy, their lack of assimilation into offshore lands and the resultant heavy handed reactions. Plenty of humour, skillful acting and great timing with cleverly orchestrated sound effects (well done to Marmalade Audio). A lean-forward kind of play. You should get tickets and support Circa.

Over at The Wellingtonista, there’s a banquet of Awards to be voted on. Yup, you guessed it. It’s the Second Annual Wellingtonista Awards which have been running for, ummm, two years. And the categories are … here. So please vote.

And Blam Blam Blam is playing at the Awards night on 6th December. The Downtown Community Mission will be the big winner on the night with donations, and an auction, to raise money for this worthy cause.

The Wellingtonista & Public Address elves have been burning the midnight email so congratulations to all the organisers. You are all rockstars - may your bosses never audit your inboxes! And a big congrats to Ponoko and Freeview for their insightful sponsorship.

It was good to see some of my personal favourites (such as Mojo, Elements, Scopa, Citron) in the nominations. Make sure you vote for yours.

What’s Hot
St Johns Restaurant - don’t go past the crayfish ravioli entre; bursting with flavour, you’ve just got to try this dish!
Gourmet Family Food Parcels from Baby Angel, Wellington’s hottest site from which to shower proud new mums and dads with treats (when you’ve exhausted the supplies at Martha’s Babylicious, of course).
Aangel reminder services - a very clever idea for anyone on Vodafone - sign up, then dial 808 to get appointments, tasks and contacts into Outlook.
Doubleclique - brilliant local web company behind both the Baby Angel and the Aangel sites, although they do need to update their portfolio.
The South African Springboks. See you in the finals, dammit.

Ins & Outs
It appears that the recent catastrophic fires in Greece which killed 64 people could be linked to developers seeking title on bare land which cannot be claimed if forested. Whether the fires impact Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis’ re-election hopes will be known overnight as the country heads to the polls today.

TVNZ 6 launches on 30th September. Highly targeted to kids and families during the day and adults at night, it’s advertising-free and only on Freeview. You have to wait until March ‘08 for their other (Freeview too) news & doco’ channel, the equally cleverly named TVNZ 7.

Spring is looking to deliver more than daffodils and lambs to many of us - with a thawing of mortgages rates - designed to kick-start a frozen housing market. Here’s an Island Bay beauty.

For your entertainment
I wish I could get a copy of the speeches from Run the Red Founder Ben Northrop’s wedding on Saturday - absolutely priceless. Someone post them to YouTube! All the best to the beautiful Kirstie and the irrepressible Ben.

Completely unrelated, and for all my single friends, this comic (below) is worthy of study. Ironically, I’m sitting at home on a Sunday evening … doing graphs!

And finally the place to find your next inspiring brainy quote on the ‘net.

Didn’t the Wellington Phoenix FC have a sensational debut yesterday? Catch some Yellow Fever and let’s break more stadium records.

However I’m struggling to agree with Mayor Kerry Prendergast that the Wellington City Council’s $500,000-odd investment to bring David Beckham’s Galaxy team here is needed for this “… stunning opportunity for our city“. It surely stacks up as a private sector-only initiative, given that the Cake Tin’s 34,500 seats will be more than filled. If the maths is as simple as every dollar spent on events bringing in $20, bring on our Olympics bid. Winning this should ensure the ill-conceived congestion tax can be binned!

The warmer weekend prompted thoughts of the Extended Daylight Saving starting a week earlier on Sunday September 30 and ending two weeks later on Sunday April 6, 2008. Make sure your company and home computers are sorted. I suggest double checking your recurring appointments after reading this from Microsoft’s Outlook Update posting:

Microsoft Outlook obtains daylight saving information from the host Windows operating system to determine the correct start time for future appointments. Consequently, it is important that Windows is updated to reflect any changes in daylight saving, including the introduction of daylight savings to a particular timezone for the first time.

However, when updates are applied, appointments which were created in the daylight saving period prior to application of the update will appear one hour later than originally scheduled. Consequently all-day events will span a 24 hour period across two consecutive days.

The rising thermometer sure perks everyone up - even Stephen’s raving about the place.

Although I don’t know much about these things, I’ve been pondering on picking up a new Canon to post better photos of Wellington, but this short review has me rethinking things. Any views? I like the idea of Canon’s new Wireless File Transmitter function (the WFT-E3 enables rapid wireless image transfer to remote FTP servers, along with two-way communication through PTP and HTTP. In HTTP mode, remote users can trigger the shutter button or download images from the camera via an internet browser window. PTP mode is used for wireless remote shooting with the EOS 40D and supplied EOS Utility software), although I would probably never use it! Appreciate feedback on the lenses too.

There’s more evidence that the RMA needs rethinking after 30 year veteran Marlborough mussel farmers, Terry & Jill Schwass, have finally thrown in the towel and are heading off to Port Lincoln, Australia stating that “Aquaculture knockers should visit Port Lincoln and soak up the atmosphere…. it’s roughly three times the size of Picton and has more multimillionaires than anywhere in Australia.” Prospective tuna farmers might like to browse this Forbes article.  I loved these quotes: “If I could be 30 again, I reckon I’d give Bill Gates a shake,” says Hagen Stehr, the 62-year-old chairman of Clean Seas Tuna, whose family is worth at least $60 million. “The future is not the Internet, it’s aquaculture.“

What’s Hot
The Gingerbread Haka stormed the web last week generating over 2000 visitors and 3000 page views to the video on this website. The Baking Industry Association’s treatment of our haka was destined to be controversial. Read some of the comments to see for yourself. I wonder if the new Adidas television commercial promoting the All Blacks for the World Cup will generate the same vitriol, or it is ok if it’s for rugby?

Gabriel and Bob from Wellington restaurant Boulot rocked last Friday. The pork is to die for and the service is just sublime. Speaking of cooking, the blatant use of Hayley Holt’s image in a David Farrar’s post caused a stir amongst that blogs’ readership.

Ins & Outs
It was good to see Andy Ellis made the AB World Cup team but a bummer for Piri Weepu. And it seems David Benson-Pope is on the way out if he did know in advance about the sacking of Madeleine Setchell.

And Wellington has an lively undercurrent of exhibitionists if this dogging article on the Wellingtonista is anything to go by. The new lingo makes me feel old.

For your entertainment
You can now see your favourite MP on the net. Tickets to live narrowcast viewing of the Parlimentary Circus are now available. But to do something much more useful, design a teeshirt with The Hinitiative and the Wellington City Mission.

Finally, Raglan artist, Karla Stevenson is an up ‘n comer to collect and enjoy. This piece is called ‘The Old Bach’.