Nov/093
How to Win a Man
Finding a man in a City like Wellington can be the ultimate struggle. Would you believe me if I said I knew a girl who won a boyfriend of two years in a raffle? Raffling men worked so well for her in fact that she’s bringing this unique fundraiser to man-drought-stricken Wellington. Men in the City matches 33 lucky bachelors with classy Wellington ladies. Brook is the gal who has seen first hand how well these auctions can work and we caught up with her on C Zone this week. All comments about objectifying males aside- it’s a unique and courageous way to raise money that will hopefully ignite sparks left, right and centre.
We also had an awesome chat with Diana about the German Film Festival. Yen and I often talk about the glut of Film Festivals in our fair City- but there are so many interesting, important events running alongside this one- it’s a real stand out. Next week will mark the 20th anniversary since the Berlin Wall came down. Reunification has left a whole lot of powerful, compelling stories to be told (as anyone who’s seen The Lives of Others is sure to agree!) and the German Film Festival is a sure to be a hit. I’m just about to hit the opening now, can’t wait to see a couple of the films Diana mentioned.
This week is also Foster Care Awareness Week. There are some fairly amazing people out there who dedicate their lives to looking after kids who haven’t been treated right. It’s really a chance to say a big thanks Foster Families but in an awesome, positive spin- Child Youth and Family have also held an award ceremony for exceptional young people as part of the celebrations. We caught up with Debbie to find out more.
A charity raffle with a difference!
02:05 Diana about New Zealand's first German Film Festival
18:35 Debbie about Foster Care Awareness Week
29:14 Brook from Men in the City
Aug/090
Film and dance for the rest of 2009
The last couple of weeks have been somewhat crazy for Laura and myself, so this post is a little late.
But it's not at all too late to find out about a couple of cool events happening in the later half of 2009, if you're wondering what's going on in Wellington as winter phases into spring. We spoke to Lee last week about the upcoming Reel Brazil Film Festival that will be taking place in November, and then to Lauren about the Dance Your Socks Off Festival.
Jul/091
Free tickets to Nighttime Madness for adventure buffs
We played some beautiful songs by Maori artistes this week, to fit with the theme of Maori Language Week. Discussing issues of culture made me wonder what else the rest of Wellington is doing for Maori Language Week. It certainly led to an extended conversation about wider cultural issues for Laura and myself after the show. So, how many of you out there - we wonder - are currently committed to learning Maori? In what ways are you using Maori in your day-to-day life?
Luke Paardekooper spoke to us earlier in the day about a very exciting fundraising event that's set to happen on 8th August at the popular Butterfly Creek in Eastbourne. If you're into tramping, we have free tickets for two pairs of participants to the Butterfly Creek Nighttime Madness (entry fees ranging from $30-$95 per pair). Write in to us or leave a comment here to get your hands on these vouchers soon!
If you are late to find out about these free tickets however and are still keen to take part, just print "Access Radio" at the top of your application form and the late fees will be waived for you.
The Film Festival is obviously taking very well with Wellington, so look out for next week's show, when we'll have Hannah on with us to chat more about that.
8:53 Luke Paardekooper, Butterfly Creek Nighttime Madness
19:52 Huhana Rokx, CE for Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori
Jul/098
World Peace and Tree Planting
Bringing peace to the world through music. It’s a big aspiration but if anyone can do it, softly spoken jazz musician Louis Baker might just be the one. Listing Joni Mitchell and Jeff Buckley among a string of influences, Louis is the talented local songwriter who joined us for a live set this week. Even if you’re not the type to buckle at the knees when you hear a love song, these songs might just soften you- Yen melted all over the sound desk. Note my gushingly excessive use of the word “beautiful” throughout the interview… If you are more apt at describing the stunning sounds of Louis Baker, drop us a comment and we’ll send you a prize. We have gorgeous organic beans from Peoples Coffee and passes to the next Vector Wellington Orchestra performance to give away.
This weekend the Island Bay community will be out in force to help with the continued replanting of Oku Reserve. Ted joined us to discuss the future of the Reserve. The ongoing support of the community with planting and tending to the trees is hugely admirable and another awesome example of Wellingtonians pitching in. If you’re keen to get your hands dirty this weekend, take the whole whanau down to Severn Street from 9.30am. They provide the spades and barbecue lunch. Email Ted for more information.
Khandallah Arts Theatre is celebrating 50 years in the game and as part of the festivities they’re bringing Christmas five months early! Twelfth Night is currently showing at Cochran Hall- complete with Christmas trees, snow and mulled wine. Margaret shared a little about the play with us- it’s often described as the most approachable of Shakespeare’s works and their version sounds fabulous. They’re already getting packed houses so make sure you book tickets before they finish this Saturday.
The NZ Film Festival is in full flight and film reviewer Hannah is appearing on every Community Zone programme throughout the festival. She popped in to give us a brief run down of her top picks- make sure you give it a listen- it sure beats wading through the overwhelming Film Fest brochure!
And next week is Maori Language Week- don’t miss the next programme if you’re keen to learn a couple of handy phrases. Tuesday 5pm on Wellington Access Radio 783AM!
Local songwriter Louis Baker
5.30 Ted tells us about the Oku Reserve planting this Saturday.
11.27 Margaret from Khandallah Arts Theatre fills us in about Twelfth Night.
24.30 The sweet sounds of Louis Baker. You can purchase his music on Amplifier.
39.58 Film reviewer Hannah
Jun/094
Not Paid to Act
I thought I had seen plays, lots of plays - even had "views" about them - but as it turns out, those that I had seen in New Zealand were only one small sliver of the entire heap.
Did you know that there are many, many more theatre groups in Wellington, distinguished mainly by the fact that the actors are not paid to act? Hence, amateur theatre. There are some other characteristics that distinguish amateur from professional, and you will find many of them out in this show. I'm sure someone or other that I know in the theatre circles had once, or perhaps even twice, explained this to me, but it just didn't click that these actually comprise the majority of the theatre scene.
Laura suggests that there are "hundreds" of amateur theatre groups out there - is this figurative? Someone give me some numbers!
In this show, we spoke to the cast and directors of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg by the Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe, Darling Buds of May from the Wellington Repertory Theatre, and I love you, You're perfect, Now change by the Porirua Little Theatre. We also had our fortnightly film review by Hannah on an Italian film that's now showing at the Paramount called Gomorrah.
Or Gomorrah - for those of you who make it a point to pronounce foreign words as authentically as possible, trill your tongues please. I read a bit here and there about the movie, like on Wikipedia, and I think it would particularly appeal to those who love gangster movies. It has also been chillingly dubbed the "real Godfather". If somebody has seen it, please tell us why that is. We'll give you a free People's Coffee for the grassroots film review.
Not that I won't see it myself, but I'm eagerly awaiting the New Zealand International Film Festival , and Hannah's reviews on those films! Truth be told, I've already booked my ticket to the Coco Chanel one. What about you?