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
Oct/090
Women active in all kinds of business
Laura and I interviewed a bunch of quite admirable women on our show this Tuesday.
First, we had award-winning local artist Jane Kellahan talk about an auction event coming up just over the weekend, Molly from Refugee Services tell us about organising a jazz fundraising event for refugees and Sally from Her Business Network who was just brimming with passion about fostering local women entrepreneurs.
It is truly a reflection of the many creative, multi-tasking, bustlingly busy women who live in Wellington. In fact, if you know of one whom you think particularly deserving, quickly scroll to 26:34 to find out how you can nominate her for the Wellington Women in Business Awards!
2:36 Jane Kellahan
14:30 Molly from Refugee Services
26:34 Sally, Her Business Network
Oct/090
Grassroots Activism is Dead
Grassroots activism is dead right? Been swallowed up by a big pit of self loving, consuming, Gen X/ Y apathy… right? Us younguns have nothing worth fighting for, all the good battles have already been waged. Struggles for free love, nuclear free and feminism were sorted out by our parents (and their parents) right before they created this whole user pays debacle, ruined the environment and let capitalism take over democracy.
Or so I thought until a couple of weeks ago- when suddenly everyone started organising and attending events about Climate Change. It was awesome to catch up with Lizzie and Ruby- they’re part of an umbrella organisation which is a collective environmental of student groups at Victoria University. Proving students still have a heart and rebellious fighting spirit, they’ve organised huge marches under their new brand- 10- 20% Pure NZ.
It was also the two year anniversary of the State Terror Raids- Explosive Expression is an incredible, commemorative exhibition- over 60 NZ artists have come on board to help support those grassroots activists who were labelled as terrorists. Robin popped in to tell us more about creative resistance.
Also in was Tony from the Italian Film Festival and Sylvia who’s organising a unique Belly Dancing fundraising event.
350 kiwis form a human kiwi on Global Day of Action for Climate Change
00.05 Robin about Explosive Expression
13.30 Lizzie and Ruby talk student activism
20.00 Robert from the Italian Film Festival
31.35 Sylvia and Belly Dancing
Sep/090
Death by chocolate and live jazz with Blackbird
We found out about Death by Chocolate, an interactive murder mystery that will run from 4th to 27th September of this year. It's very much for those of you who believe that drama isn't meant to be a performance by a cast of actors, but an interaction between the audience and the actors. It's also for those of us who believe in chocolate.
And then, we had live jazz again, which always gets us excited. Blackbird, a local jazz trio, was so amazing with their saxophone and guitar combo, the guys listening to the show outside of our studio exclaimed with admiration. If you like tear-jerking classics like 'What a Wonderful World', you'll really have to catch this segment. I can't wait for the world to discover how wonderful Blackbird is, really.
1:40 Death by Chocolate
11:36 Blackbird
Aug/091
A sandwich with all kinds of fillings
I was just thinking this week that, if I had to think of a metaphor to describe our shows so far, it would be that of an hour-long sandwich crammed with all kinds of fillings. I mean all kinds. We don't strive to create any harmony in the sandwiches we make. In other words, we don't do 'chicken and cranberry', or 'baked beans and cheese on toast'. We do the Everything Sandwich.
For instance, we had a chat with Ravi from Urban Fusion about Indian Independence Day, which is this Saturday. It was also Islam Awareness Week this week, so we had a meaty conversation with Hanif and Shamim about Muslims living in New Zealand. They've recently contributed to a beautiful photographic book- The Crescent Moon- which is well worth a look.
Sandwiched in-between is a quite hilarious interview with Hot Club Sandwich about hot club jazz, who play every Friday at the Old St Paul's on Molesworth Street, and the namesake of this post. Andrew London was such a ball of sunshine.
And to end it all off, an interview with Luit Bieringa, director of the successful New Zealand-made film 'The Man in the Hat'.
If we had managed to get the simulcast going this week, you would have been able to see the state of chaos that sometimes happens behind the scenes with us. Not sure yet if it is a bad or good thing that all the carry-on in the studio was all hidden from the view of listeners. I guess we'll find out after I figure out why the USB port refused to detect my camera.
0:21 Indian Independence Day. Check out Urban Fusion.
6:37 Islam Awareness Week
20:08 Hot Club Sandwich
32:06 The Man in the Hat
Aug/092
Want to Meet Some New People?
This weeks programme tossed up a couple of great ideas on how to get more social in the City- so stop complaining you find it hard to make new friends. Instead try carpooling or improv classes. Or talk to the person sitting next to you in the theatre.
Carpooling is being made easy by Ping’s crew at Greater Wellington. Let's Carpool is a government initiative to encourage people to try a more sustainable kind of transport. Cheap, social and a great way to show off your environmental awareness, carpooling is due for a revival- so jump on and make it more than a trend. The website makes it easy to match up with people in your area who keep a similar schedule. According to Ping it’s not exactly like a dating service but it is a great way to meet someone perfectly matched to your transport needs! And nice work Wellington- first region to get a carpool scheme up and running.
All the World’s a Stage is back by popular demand. Twinkle eyed Ray Henwood joined us in the studio for a truly fascinating chat about the never waning appeal of Shakespeare. A Round-the-Bard trip in 90 minutes, Ray’s solo performance promises to showcase the many facets of Shakespeare’s genius. I’m constantly in awe of the way people can recreate these scripts which have been played over and over for 400 years. Ray is setting it Elizabethan style, as it would have been played in the Globe Theatre- so be prepared to have him look straight in your eyes while he talks! We have a double pass to All the World’s a Stage- drop us a comment below and it’s all yours.
Derek Flores, Wellington’s comedy darling, popped in to help us up the WIT. Wellington Improvisation Troupe is a grass roots theatre class for comedy newbies. There seems to be a comedy explosion in Wellington and this is a chance for every Joe Average to get on board. What’s the draw of standing up in front of strangers and risking total humiliation? Improvisation scares the pants off me but Derek convinced us it’s a confidence booster. I imagine mucking up over and over again with a group of new classmates is one way to ensure a close bond. Want to try something new and meet new people? As Derek says, the Greek class at Wellington High is full- so maybe try improv!
If you’re keen to learn a little radio history jump to the end of the podcast- Yen’s been on Wikipedia! And advance warning- you might be seeing a little more of our faces here soon. Perhaps time to set up a firewall?
Ray Henwood- All the World's a Stage
1:15 Ping on Carpool Day
9.25 Derek from WIT
16.50 Ray about All the World's a Stage
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
Jul/090
On drag kings and local heroes
If we were ever asked to put in nutshell just what is going on Wellington - right in the middle of rainy winter, no less - this show is what we would whip out.
I mentioned in last week's show that Wellington is now the place in New Zealand where the hottest new music is being made. We are really talking about a wide range - there are jazz musicians offering lunchtime concerts in churches right in the heart of the city, and there are little ensembles creating tapes (!) and CDs in their bedrooms, complete with recyclable covers.
This week we featured some beautiful jazz by Ruth Armishaw. Check out her myspace page and you will know what I mean. But maybe you're into something a little more left field, then fast forward to 34.04 to get a dose of some angsty, liberating sounds made in and named after our 'hood - "Newtown".
If you have the time over the weekend, you could even catch a marathon of innovative plays by local drama school talents at affordable prices. We have been thinking about the homeless a lot lately, thinking what it would be like if the homeless people in Wellington came up to Access Radio and created their own little gig in the studios? So, it was great talking to Sophie and Tim about their inspiration for one of their plays in "Go Solo" about the homeless in Wellington. How do you portray the homeless as realistically as possible? Become kind of one yourself, of course.
Wellington's grassroots culture is even more active than that. Laura and I were impressed talking to Emma from the City Council about everyday heroes who champion safety in the city. Even more so talking to Scott about recruiting big buddy mentors for fatherless boys. If you think you could be a good male role model for these younger boys, or if you are a single mother looking for some mentoring support for your young son, do contact Scott at (04) 384 4888 or check out his website now.
You couldn't see us - we know, it is the nature of radio - but we were beaming from ear to ear chatting about local heroes with Emma and Scott. But really, I would include as our local heroes anyone in Wellington who is bold enough to go with their true selves and make things happen.
This includes drag kings.
I should just stop here and let you listen to our last interview with Greta about the Drag King Contest that's taking place this weekend. You have to email her as soon as possible if you are interested. Why miss the chance to win a pair of matching handcuffs and a big, delicious vegan cake from Midnight Espresso? The proceeds from the contest will support the Clitfest that will be happening in about 2 months - so it's all for the greater good.
Even if you're not going to take part, don't you just love their poster?
1.02 Ruth Armishaw's lovely voice. Catch "Crazy Love" on Wed 15 July, 12.10-1pm at St Andrew's on the Terrace
8.03 Toi Whakaari's "Go Solo" with Sophie and Tim
17.02 Big Buddy mentoring programme with Scott
21.50 "Safety in the City" Awards with Emma
26.35 Drag King Competition with Greta
Jul/090
Mixed Bag
A wonderful mixed bag on the programme this week! Consider it an education; I sure enjoyed learning about sharing stories and saving them for future generations to enjoy. That’s the field of Community Archivist Kylie Ngaropo. She and the team at Archives New Zealand have just launched The Community Archive - an interactive, user generated archive to replace the piles of paper they used to have lying around their offices in Thorndon. Hugely interesting and user friendly, the site is set to become a veritable trove of taonga from the past. It’s worth perusing- I jumped on and learnt a little about the first European to settle my home town.
Baden interviews Clayton Curnow from Starlight Express and we sample a little music from Wellington locals The Great Hoax - bluesy and funky, these songs prove the power of sound to ignite your imagination. Cheers to Nick for letting us podcast them.
Do we have a thing for brothers? Perhaps! We’ve stumbled across a couple of talented siblings again this week. Joel and Jake from Binge Culture popped into the studio to introduce us to reality theatre. Described as a live experiment, Animal Hour promises to solve what ever Darwin couldn’t. Joel directs and Jake performs and with sax in tow they attempted to explain how a game show involving animals might work on stage. For the highlight of my week scroll along to 42.10 in the podcast. Binge Culture is another fabulous example of the best thing about Wellington Theatre- if people in this city don’t find theatre that works for them, they just get off the couch and start devising their own. The results are often spectacular. So cancel what ever you have planned this weekend, take our give away tickets and head along to Animal Hour for “lots of laughter, lots of awkwardness, a bit of fear”. It’s a little ludicrous, but Joel promises they take it all very seriously.
And with a poster like that you can’t say you’re not curious!... The animal on the poster is also the symbol of the worlds largest and most experienced independent conservation organisation. Click comment, tell me what (that) WWF stands for and two tickets to opening night of Animal Hour are all yours. You’ll probably get bonus Peoples Coffee too…
