Capital 9

New Zealand Festival Rocks!

Destination Leader Partner of the 2014 New Zealand Festival. www.wellingtonairport.co.nz

CONTENTS

5

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Produced by Capital Publishing Ltd

M

usic has been on our mind over the past few months and appropriately in this March issue Melody Thomas looks at changes in the local music scene.

There is a fresh young look across the jewellery pages and young people feature inside from top level skateboarders to filmmakers.

Sarah Burton talks to the people behind the Wellington spoof Capital Culture, and about the change wrought in all our lives by the internet, and its offshoots such as crowd fundraising that enables this whole new form of entertainment.

As we go to press, the Basin Reserve has shown itself at its charming best on a beautiful day, hosting one of the high moments in New Zealand cricketing history (302 runs scored

by Brendon McCullum), and the policy hearing on the much lamented flyover has begun. Ought the quirks of history and local preferences to be set aside in favour of roads?

That has lead me to ponder (lightly) the issues raised by the definition of progress and how differently new projects were greeted here in New Zealand, say, 70 years ago, and whether there is or will be a consequent change in our national characteristics.

Have we become inimical to change?

What do you think?

Thank you for your letters and comments, they are all helpful and we are delighted by your interest. Sales and subscriptions are growing by leaps and bounds. I know I have said that before, but it continues.

Again I thank all the outlets that have been eager to stock Capital.

Alison Franks Editor editor@capitalmag.co.nz

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CONTENTS

S OU N D S L I K E C HA NG E The Wellington music scene is changing – we talk the hows and whys with influential people in the industry.

32

WEB OF L AU G H S

C A N DY C RU SH

Capital culture

Indulgent local jewels

21

40

10

LETTERS

52

CHEERS

12

CHATTER

54

A HELPING HAND

14

NEWS

57

BY THE BOOK

16

BY THE NUMBERS

58

SEEKS BRUTAL HONESTY

19

TALES OF THE CITY

62

HOME

21

WORD ON THE STREET

66

INTERIOR

24

WHAT THE FLOCK

68

WELLY ANGEL

25

CULTURE

70

SPORTS

40

FASHION

72

TORQUE TALK

44

STREET STYLE

75

BABY, BABY

46

EDIBLES

76

DIRECTORY

48

BEER JIGGLES

78

CALENDAR

7

CONTRIBUTORS

S TA F F Alison Franks

Managing editor alison@capitalmag.co.nz

Diane Clayton Haleigh Trower Lyndsey O’Reilly John Bristed

Campaign Coordinators sales@capitalmag.co.nz

Shalee Fitzsimmons

Art direction and design shalee@capitalmag.co.nz

Jeremiah Boniface

Design

Craig Beardsworth

Factotum

Gus Bristed

Distribution

General Factotum john@capitalmag.co.nz

CONTRIBUTORS Emma Steer | Melody Thomas | Kieran Haslett-Moore | Anna Jackson Scott | Sophie Nellis | Paddy Lewis | Sarah Burton | Sarah Lang | Janet Hughes | Daniel Rose | Sharon Greally | Larissa McMillan | John Bishop | Connie McDonald | Harry Culy | Jonathan Kay | Karen Shead | Ashley Church | Ben Laksana | Mark Sainsbury | Benjamin & Elise

ASHLEY CHURCH Ph oto g r aph er Ashley is Creative Director of Dinosaurtoast and one sixth of Wellington’s all girl art collective Holla Graphix. Full of wanderlust, she loves to travel and often explores fashion, culture and people in her work. When she’s not photographing, she sleeps.

TA M A R A J O N E S Ph oto g r aph er Tamara is a photographer and fashion blogger addicted to composing images that push the norm. She loves soft light and falling shadows. tamarajonesphotography.com

STOCKISTS Pick up your Capital in New World and Pak’nSave supermarkets, Moore Wilson, Unity Books, Magnetix, City Cards & Mags, Take Note and other discerning greater Wellington outlets.

Ask for Capital magazine by name.

Distribution: john@capitalmag.co.nz.

SUBMISSIONS We welcome freelance art, photo and story submissions. However we cannot reply personally to unsuccessful pitches.

THANKS Madeleine Wong | Stem Creative | Islay | Kirsty Bunny | Maia Renner | Emma Steer for our columnist illustrations | Nina Flash Gordan |

MELODY THOMAS C olum n i st an d j ourn a li st

PA D D Y L E W I S C olum n i st

Melody Thomas is a writer and producer for radio who lives in a haunted house in Island Bay with a musician, a cherub, a playwright, a mad artist and a lion-sized cat called Freddie.

Paddy Lewis is a former sports journalist who now works as a journalism tutor and PR mouthpiece, making him the ultimate hypocrite but a perfect sports columnist. He divides his time between yelling at live sport on the television and writing this column.

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elysian fields E L I Z A B E T H T H O M SO N 1 6 F E B RUA RY – 6 A P R I L

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Cnr Norrie & Parumoana Sts, Porirua Tel: +64-4-2371511 / www.pataka.org.nz Mon–Sat: 10am–4.30pm Sun: 11am–4.30pm Image: Lady North Star Parterre, 2010

LETTERS

CRIMESTOPPING SUCCESSS Your article on the establishment of Crimestoppers (February issue) contained some interesting material on the establishment in New Zealand of this crime-fighting organisation, but insofar as the history of Crimestoppers as a world-wide entity is concerned there was one notable mistake in the article which I believe should be corrected, and this relates to a homicide in the USA which prompted the start of Crimestoppers – and it was not the killing of a policeman.

Crimestoppers began in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA way back in 1976 when the police in that city were investigating the unsolved murder of young student Michael Carmen who had been working in a service station. He had, by all accounts, been shot by a 12-gauge shotgun without provocation, and despite repeated calls for public assistance no clues as to the identity of the offenders had come to light.

Enter Detective Greg MacAleese – who incidentally had worked for a local newspaper before joining the Albuquerque PD – who realised that something new and innovative had to be done if Michael’s killers were to be caught.

So MacAleese came up with the idea of making a video re-enactment of the crime, and ended the video with the screening of an 0-800 number that anyone with any information could call and give information – and, crucially, with their anonymity guaranteed.

MacAleese’s plan worked. Within hours of the broadcast of the video on a local television station the 0-800 number

received a call from a member of the public who pinpointed the location where one of the offenders lived. Within 72 hours of the broadcast two men were in custody charged with Michael Carmen’s murder – and other serious crimes, e.g. armed robbery.

More calls were also made to the 0-800 number, one resulting in the solving of the rape of a young woman – and Detective MacAleese knew he was on to a winning crime-solving strategy.

25+ years later Crimestoppers still “catch crooks” worldwide – and the memory of Michael Carmen lives on.

Trevor W.A. Morley.

(Former Detective, NZ Police 1961–1977)

BEAUTIFUL SPACE We have recently opened a store on the waterfront at Shelly Bay where we sell and make our designs. It has been a revelation! We live in Strathmore and have often wandered around the Bays but until we began working there full time I hadn’t realised what a great community of artists and makers work within the old Defence buildings along the shore. The buildings may look a bit dilapidated but there is a lot going on. The environment is beautiful in all weathers and Wellingtonians make the most of it, kayaking, fishing, picnicking, cycling and swimming, visiting galleries and relaxing at the cafe.

It’s great to have your mag around, great visual appeal, great content and a great celebration of Wellington.

Michelle Whirlwind Designs

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ALWAYS ENCOURAGING I was saddened to read of Gaye’s death (Issue 8). I only ever spoke to her over the phone but she was always jovial and very helpful and encouraging.

Having worked for such a long time with your company, I’m sure she’ll be greatly missed. What a lovely, brave woman. RIP. Terry Binding

LIGHT GLO OM I am surprised at your letter writer, B Chesney, (December – Lighting demands) asking why we would want lighting designed to light up the city tunnels and walls. Why wouldn’t the city be better with a brightly lit rainbow of colour at night ?

Surely anything to make it warmer, friendlier and more alive would be a good thing.

Liz Cramond, Lower Hutt

SUMMER COVER I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy the Capital covers, particularly this month, February. Not to go on about the weather but a great Wellington summer cover. Beautiful images and always surprising. Keep up the good work.

S.M Floyd, Wellington Letter to editor@capitalmag.co.nz with subject line Letters to Ed, or scan our QR code to email the editor directly.

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C HAT T E R

LIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TUNNEL Wellington cable car’s top tunnel will become the Contact Light Tunnel for the duration of the New Zealand Festival. In support of Power Plant at the Botanic Gardens, Contact Energy has created what General Manager, Nicholas Robinson, calls “Wellington’s answer to the Waitomo glowworm caves”.

Artist Angus Muir used 45 lighting strips and around 15,000 individual lights to transform the tunnel, which pulse and change colour as the cable car passes through. It’s kind of like being in a warp tunnel with optical illusions,” Muir said.

The display will be seen by anyone using the Wellington Cable Car up until Sunday 16 March.

Contact customers can claim a free trip by showing their Contact Energy bill at the ticket office.

DREAMS OF THE FUTURE Intercontinental Wellington is leading the way in technological hotel gadgets in their latest refurbishment of the Deluxe Guestrooms. All rooms feature electronic doorbells, electronic “Do not disturb” and “please clean my room” signs, as well as Bluetooth audio receivers. Next to be refurbished is the Guest Lounge in May, and the hotel’s restaurant, Chameleon, in June. Perhaps electronic robots will be taking orders by then?

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THERE’S SOMETHING I N T H E WAT E R The debate over potential secondary poisoning from aerial 1080 drops continues.

David Haynes, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers, says Kevin O’Connor, DoC Deputy Director General, may have confused research on the effects on eels of 1080 dissolved in the water column with trout eating poisoned mice. “As a Graduate of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a former research scientist and, more importantly, being blessed with a modicum of common sense, I can tell you they are not the same,” says Haynes, who recently urged fisherfolk not to eat their catch.

Haynes acknowledged the 2005 research undertaken by the Royal Society of New Zealand on the effects of eels eating poisoned possum flesh which, whilst showing relatively marginal effects within a laboratory environment, concluded that the eels had over 12 times the permissible limit of 1080 residues as specified by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

Local fisherman Richard Kemp nevertheless endorsed the use of 1080, saying it gives native birds and forest the chance to recover from possums and stoats.

Haynes continues to discuss funding and resources for research into this area with Lou Sanson, Director General of DoC. New Zealand uses about 80% of the world’s 1080 supply.

C HAT T E R

WELLY WORDS

ENGAGE LAUNCH SEQUENCE Wellington touts itself as the art capital - there are more launches, openings, unveilings and champagne previews than any socialite could hope for.

Wellyword understands there is a yearly meeting between institutions to plan and avoid clashes so the art cognoscenti can attend everything. So why was it that the Biennial Adam Portrait Award and Wellington Sculpture Trust Four Plinths unveiling both happened on the same night and same hour?

Couldn’t they be staggered so we can er…stagger between them?

NEE NAH NEE NO? One of our favourite jobs here at the bustling Capital HQ is dreaming up witty headlines to go with news briefs / articles. When ‘By the numbers’ (page 15) was submitted work ground to a shuddering holt in the design department while people argued whether the Wellington Ambulance entry should be titled ‘Nee nah’ or ‘Nee nor’. The issue is more polarizing than the Vegemite/Marmite debate when it comes to perceived ambulance sounds but you’ll be pleased to know your trusty Wellyword correspondent won out. Eat my dust designers.

GYPSY JIVE Andreas Lepper is a very happy man because his band The Balkanistas, 20 plus musicians and singers who play “crazy raucous Balkan Gypsy music” will be the only Wellington band playing at Womad this year. They also play at Meow on the last Monday night of the month.

DAT E R S H O P E F U L AT C E N S U S R E S U LT S If you want to meet single men and women who aren’t allergic to housework, Wellington is the place to be.

The 2013 census shows Wellington has the highest proportion of men and women who have never been married or entered into a civil union in the country – 39.0 percent compared with 35 percent nationwide. They are also more likely to do volunteer and unpaid work; 85.3 percent of Wellington men, and 90.2 percent of Wellington women, helped at organisations and in their own household with activities like cooking, repairs, and gardening, compared to 82.4 percent of men, and 88.8 percent of women nationwide.

For your very own house-trained man or woman, head to a Wellington suburb near you!

ANGRY BIRDS The downside of a varied diet? Bird colonisation. It sounds strange to us too, but new research shows that birds with adaptable diets, such as kaka, pukeko and gulls, are the species most likely to invade cities for the plenitude of novelty foods. “Ironically the success of nature restoration projects in urban areas may well raise the chances of conflict as more birds re-colonise our cities,” researcher Dr Wayne Linklater says. Kerry Charles, another researcher, says that the kaka is already causing contention in Wellington by damaging, and occasionally destroying, trees.

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NEWS SHORTS

AN UNFORGET TABLE EXPERIENCE

MUTUAL BENEFIT The Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) has endorsed the suggestion that Wellington Phoenix make the Petone Recreation Ground the team’s home base. WelTec fully supports the $48 million proposal released by Hutt City Community Facilities Trust, which includes plans of a 10,000 – 12,000 seat boutique stadium at the southern end of the Petone Recreation Ground.

Council Chair Roger Sowry says the project would bring a whole new dimension to WelTec’s campus life. “This will greatly enhance the student and community environment making it a more vibrant place to be. There are a lot of synergies that we will continue to explore with Phoenix and the CFT,” Mr Sowry says.

NEW BEGINNINGS Emma Ng (above) has new beginnings on her mind. A new job as Manager/ Curator of public art space, Enjoy Gallery and a new exhibition at the Dowse Art Museum are taking centre stage right now. Emma curated Everyday Fiction, showing at the Dowse until May as part of her 2013 Blumhardt Curatorial Internship at the gallery. The exhibition explores the human compulsion to know the unknown, become familiar with the unfamiliar and to see the unseen.

“For many people in New Zealand, the memory of when our families made New Zealand our home, and why, is central to our history”, Emma says.

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Wellington’s pervasive caffeine obsession may temporarily keep our brains sharp, but Dr. Helena Popovic has another idea. The Australian doctor, author and speaker lectures in Paraparaumu on the many ways to optimise brain function and reduce the risk of dementia. Her lecture is part of the Neurological Foundation’s Brain Awareness Week programme. Her book In Search of My Father tells of caring for her dementia-stricken father.

10am–midday, 12 March, Southward Car Museum, Paraparaumu

S ENCETW IO S NS H HOE R A TDSE R

MAKING LIGHT OF RAIL

SPEAKERS FOR STUDENTS

WAITING FOR THE BAVARIANS

Victoria University hosts the first university-licensed TEDx event in New Zealand on 29 March. Law scholar and head of the Victoria Entrepreneurship Club, Grace Liang, leads the event, run almost entirely by current Victoria University students, or alumni under 25.

The event is open to 100 Victoria University students, and is themed “locally engaged, globally inspired”.

It looks at themes of sustainability, sailing, electronic music, diplomacy, social-entrepreneurship, architecture, climate change, and piano cabaret. Speakers include Matt Dagger of Kaibosh who rescue food from retailers and redistribute it to Wellington charities.

TEDxVUW, 29 March, Hunter Lounge, Kelburn Campus.

Wellington will increase its technological efficiency in the next five years, having joined forces with a German university. The collaboration allows specialist lecturers from the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg (OTH Regensburg) and Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) to share expertise and curriculum, and perhaps a beer. Both institutes describe themselves as excelling in engineering, science and IT.

15

A Bus Rapid Transit system is the best option for Wellington’s public transport future, according to the Wellington Public Transport Spine Options Hearing Subcommittee.

More than 500 people supported Generation Zero’s proposal for Light Rail as Wellington’s best public transport option, but the subcommittee deemed it too expensive.

Generation Zero proposed the “Constable Connection” to the Wellington Public Transport Spine Options Hearing Subcommittee July last year, as the most carbon - and route - efficient method of public transport. It would provide a single line congestion-free light rail connection from the city to Newtown and Kilbirnie, and a Copenhagenstyle safe cycle way.

Generation Zero has continued to lobby for a cost reassessment, and encouraged the public to do the same. Generation Zero’s spokesperson Paul Young says the proposition incorrectly evaluated. The final proposition went before the Regional Transport Committee on 4 March.

BY THE NUMBERS

NEW ZOO CREW number of Tasmanian Devils who moved in to Wellington Zoo, in December

80

percent of the wild population has been wiped out by a facial cancer

550

devils are kept in captivity across Australia, as an insurance policy against extinction

60

62

wind turbines at the Project West wind farm at Makara

62,000

number of homes powered per year (142 megawatts)

40

length in metres of each turbine blade (3 per turbine)

440

cost in millions to build the farm back in 2007

years since Taz first appeared as a Looney Tune (Warner Brothers are now helping support the fight against extinction)

G O T TA G O TA GOETHE

350

number of Wellingtonians who learn to sprechen Deutsch each year at the Goethe-Institut

45

events organised each year in the region

36,642

number of German speakers in NZ (2013 census figures)

42

letters in the longest classic German word – Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän which means “Danube steamship company captain” (that’ll come in handy)

NEE NAH NEE NAH

21

cost in millions to keep Wellington Free Ambulance free to the public.

258,000

combined amount donated by Ryman Healthcare, Meridian, BNZ and Z Energy to purchase a new ambulance last month

24

number of ambulances in the fleet

87

years since the service began (the only free service in the country – woohoo Welly!)

STEAKING A CLAIM

ROLL OUT THE BARREL

9

specialty cuts of meat on the Portlander menu

21

years since Emerson’s first brew hit punters lips

200

grams of mince in their Moolander hamburger pattie (that’s rather a lot)

1,200

bottles produced per hour

5,000

size in litres of the largest brewing kettle they use (the other is 1,200)

12

number of styles in the range (four core, three seasonal and five limited editions)

81

number of places in greater Wellington you can find it

1,175 75

Moolander burgers sold during Wellington on a Plate (that’s also rather a lot) Scotches and Bourbons at the bar (yep, also a loooot)

Compiled by Craig Beardsworth

www.emersons.co.nz 17

creative 6398

4

GUST LUST

OUR PEOPLE

ACTING UP When Nova Waretini-Hewison was five years old she broke a bottle over her Dad’s head, and he couldn’t have been prouder.

Performed as a stunt for a music video, it was the beginning of a successful collaboration between the director dad and eleven year-old actress Nova.

The director/actress dynamic is not always known to be smooth sailing. Dean Hewison and Nova, however, have trust in each other and communication that sets the benchmark for any working relationship. “Dad knows how I feel and when I’m feeling pressured, he knows to take it easier on me. He’s just plain awesome.”

The last Blue Harvest Shorts funding round recently allocated Dean $90,000.

Dean’s script Judgement Tavern was one of six chosen from more than 180 applications.

It was written with Nova in mind, and they are looking forward to working together again. It is the story of a young girl, carrying around her father’s living head as they search for his body. On a stormy night, they take shelter at a tavern, where a retired witch-hunter is waiting to finish a job he began years ago.

This stylised environment will be the audience’s first introduction to a world which Dean is looking to expand in the future into a feature film script.

The family duo are now a formidable team. Dean directed Nova in the recent 48hours Film Competition film, The Sleeping Plot. It went on to win them Best Actress and Best Director for the Wellington and national heats.

“The success of The Sleeping Plot meant that we’ve been able to share some amazing experiences together,” Dean said.

“I enjoy working with Nova and of course am incredibly proud of the job she does.”

Written by Larissa McMillan 18

TA L E S O F T H E C I T Y

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TA L E S O F T H E C I T Y

CAFFEINE FIX

FAV E M U SIC Gustav Mahler

A RT I ST

Karl Maughan

FA SH IO N Kate Sylvester

WEEKEND

My six-year-old

CITY

New York City

Coffee marketing freelancer JESSICA GODFREY

J

we’ve got a Charlotte Handy – they’re all Wellington artists but a recent purchase was a really gorgeous copper work by Auckland artist Gidon Bing “I’m a web reader, not a newspaper reader. I surf the web all the time. I wonder how magazines, newspapers will ever make money online. But I think we’ll slowly get used to paying for content, because we can’t generate free content for ever.

“If my partner and I had lots of free time we’d both do an architecture degree and then design a house for us to live in and see who gets the best marks – he’s quite a talented self taught designer/builder and he’s quite confident he’d win, but I’m quite confident I’d win because I was quite swotty at school.

“Fashion is my passion that makes me haemorrhage lots of money … I sell my old clothes to my sister to finance more purchases. I love New Zealand designers like Kate Sylvester who just made me a VIP customer because of how much I spend there, and Helen Cherry and a little bit of Karen Walker, but ....if I could afford it I would wear Dries van Noten every single day of my life.

“He’s got the most beautiful shop ever, and whenever I’m in Paris which makes me sound slightly pretentious, I always go there. The last time I was there I came out and my partner said “Why do you look upset” and I said “I will never be able to afford it but it is just the most exceptional clothing.

“If I coveted anything it would be the life that comes with the dress from Dries van Noten.

essica Godfrey is head judge this month (and for the past three years) at the Huhtamaki Barista championships which she helped organise. She’s a World Barista Championship certified judge, and judged at the past three world champs in London, Vienna, and Melbourne.

“The work is voluntary, but to be a judge you have to go through all kinds of tests showing your ability to taste acidity, sweetness, and so on, and then they give you coffees laced with odd flavours which you have to be able to recognise – chocolate, grassy notes, herbal or whatever. There’s lots of sensory testing, and lots of written exams”.

“At work I am possibly the world’s only coffee marketing freelancer. I contract to the NZ Specialty Coffee Association, and to Acme, and write training manuals for coffee machine manufacturers, which gives me time to go off and judge competitions.”

“I’m one of the few people who have an espresso machine that’s worth having at home. I think the expression “cafe quality espresso at home” is bandied about far too much for machines that can’t make it.

“Alternative brewing such as Chemex, V60, filter brewing, also attracts me. So weekends I always go to Customs Brew Bar because they’ve lots of extraordinary coffees there.

“The hospitality industry is a hard thing to make any money out of; most people do it because they love it even though the odds are only making 4%...

“My partner and I are into art and I really like to know the artist, so we’re about to get (I’ve seen it half done) a Karl Maughan; we’ve just purchased our first Ben Buchanan,

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F E AT U R E

THE WORD ON THE STREET WRITTEN BY SOPHIE NELLIS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN D’ATH

City councils and businesses have begun commissioning murals to enliven streets and reduce tagging, and established cultural institutions such as the Canterbury Museum have showcased the work of graffiti artists; it’s clear that street art is growing in popularity and becoming a more socially acceptable art form. But what’s life like when you’re holding the spray can?

Sophie Nellis gets the lowdown from artist Milarky.

A

fter some years living in Wellington Milarky recently moved back to his hometown in Taranaki.

He has been involved in several large-scale murals in Wellington, including the eye-catching Shark Wall on the corner of Chaffers and Cable Street. This mammoth mural was a collaborative work by Milarky and Wellington street artists BMD, done during NZ Shark Week, to raise awareness about shark finning.

“What I enjoy about street art is the scale and the fact that it’s temporal,” Milarky says. “And as soon as I’ve finished the work, it’s no longer mine. It belongs to everybody.”

It’s a very different creative process from the artworks Milarky does for galleries, private collections and charity auctions. “With street art, the artwork has to fit the shape of the wall. I usually find a wall and then find an idea that will work with it. Then you start the game of trying to get permission.”

From the number of murals and street art around the city, this might seem easy. But for every yes there are nine no’s. And then there’s the money required.

Sometimes artists are commissioned to paint a wall by its owner but often they fund their murals themselves.

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“It’s very expensive to do this,” says Milarky. “We call it a ‘Get Poor Quick’ scheme.”

Milarky and BMD had to self-fund the Shark Wall, which emptied their pockets and depleted their paint stocks. So they asked for financial support on crowdfunding platform Pledge Me after the mural was completed – to buy more paint and pay back the loans people had given them – and managed to raise $6,008.

Despite the no’s, Milarky says more people are opening up to street art and that the perception of this young art form is changing. But does that mean it’s less street than it used to be?

“Everything is better when it’s rare”, admits Milarky.

“If a place is flooded with street art, there is a risk that the work becomes less cool. On the other hand, it would be amazing if Wellington opened up and allowed huge amounts of walls to be painted. It could become the street art capital of New Zealand.”

He is busy with an anti-shark culling wall in Taranaki, getting artworks ready for this year’s New Zealand Art Show and designing wrappers for the Wellington Chocolate Factory’s chocolate bars. Never a dull day in the life of a street artist. http://milarky.com/

OPINION

CULTURE

C U LT U R E S WA P Maike Wetzel and Kate Camp swap cities in their recent writer’s residencies, and will share their experiences at Hannah Playhouse on 11 March. They will be joined in conversation by Kevin Kuhn, a German Auckland-based lecturer in creative writing and cultural journalism.

Berlin-based Wetzel takes her place at Wellington’s Sexton’s Cottage in the Bolton Street Memorial Park from March to late May at Goethe-Institut’s invitation. She will conduct readings and workshops during her stay, and is working on her first novel. She has two award-winning collections of short stories: “Lange Tage” (2003) and “Hochzeiten” (2000).

Wellington poet Camp returned a few months ago from Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency, where she wrote her fifth collection of poetry, Snow White’s Coffin. The collection was a finalist in the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards.

Goethe-Institut is holding an artist meet and greet on 7 March.

SLANE IN THE SPIRIT The youngest winner of the Adam Portrait Award was announced in February.

Henry Christian-Slane 23, (right) beat many older and more experienced artists to take out the $20,000 biennial prize. Avenal McKinnon, Director of the NZ Portrait Gallery said the painting of Christian-Slane’s cousin Tim (left) was the result of three paintings his grandfather Sir Bruce Slane had commissioned in order to help Henry finance a trip to the UK for further study.

Nicola Kalinsky travelled from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham to judge the award. All works were technically proficient so the narrowing down process required the portrait to give a sense of the subject. “Ultimately I need to want to know more about the sitter.” said Kalinsky. “Tim, [the winning portrait] had such a level gaze.”

Kalinsky thought the portraiture on display was similar to what she sees in Britain with as much variety in painting style. The only real difference was the landscape and bright light portrayed. Perhaps we aren’t such a gloomy bunch?

Sixty-two finalists were selected from 336 entries and are now showing at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery until May 25.

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W HAT T H E F L O C K

MASTER YELLOWHA MMER Name: Yellowhammer Status: Introduced from Britain by acclimatisation societies between 1865 and 1879. Now widespread and common throughout most of New Zealand’s mainland, although scarce on the West Coast of the South Island. Also present on most offshore islands.

Habitat: Yellowhammers are lovers of open country like farmland and scrubby fields, although not uncommon in suburban environments too. They are one of the several species commonly mistaken for a sparrow, being roughly the same size, but once you’ve spotted one you’ll find them fairly easy to identify.

Look for them: A good place to start with spotting your first yellowhammer (or goldfinch/chaffinch/greenfinch/cirl bunting) is to look more closely at birds you assume to be sparrows! If you see a flash of bright yellow about the head, you’ve got yourself a yellowhammer (mostly yellow for males, striped yellow and brown for females). A closer look will reveal a long tail, a back streaked light and dark brown, and a deep chestnut rump.Yellowhammers are most often found flitting about in farmland ditches and anywhere grass seed has been sown, but they also do well in coastal areas. This particular birder often sees them where the Owhiro Bay stream meets the sea. Outside of breeding season (October-February), you’ll also spot them in city gardens and parks.

Call: Apparently the yellowhammer song sounds like the phrase, “A little bit of bread and no cheese” (a belief made popular by Enid Blyton in her children’s novels). It takes a bit of imagination, but you can see where the idea comes from! Visit nzbirdsonline.org.nz to hear for yourself.

Feeds on: Seeds, weeds and invertebrates.

Did you know? The yellowhammer has several fantastic alternative names – yellow bunting, yellow yowley, yeldrock, yolkring, goldie, yoit, skite and scribbler among them. And that’s just in English!

If it were human, it would be: A Wellington Phoenix FC supporter, decked out in club colours and off to a match.

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H

er sister Virginia O’Connor laughs off camera as ‘Lennon’ approaches her victims.

The sisters plus childhood friends Martine Harding and Isobelle Walton are the four beauties and brains behind new web series Capital Culture, a mockumentary satirising the hipster scene in culture hot spots like Wellington and Melbourne.

“Essentially we are having a laugh at elevated versions of us and our friends and acquaintances!” said Miriam.

Accompanying Lennon is Toi Whakaari drop out – wannabe filmmaker Frankie, mixologist Imogen and singer/songwriter/D.J Willoughby.

The girls had been thinking about it for years and finding themselves all living in the same city again

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was the push they needed. “We are just amateurs who find day to day, overheard conversations and situations hilarious and relatable. So we decided to make a web series,” said Virginia.

Thanks to the internet it is now completely accessible for anyone with only the slightest technological know how to upload and share their creations on platforms such as YouTube. Pair that with cinema quality digital camera gear becoming cheaper, and the process of creating watchable content has become increasingly democratised.

“The Internet is the most commonly used form of accessing well, pretty much everything. And your target audience is the one who uses it the most. We are really lucky. We can make whatever

CULTURE

WEB OF LAUGHS WRITTEN BY SARAH BURTON | PHOTO BY ASHLEY CHURCH

It’s midday on a Saturday outside Havana Bar on Wigan Street.

Miriam O’Connor is flouncing around in a vintage shirt, tight leather trousers, a shiny black camera and a giant reflector board. Followed by a small film crew, shooting her fly-onthe wall style – she is playing her alter-ego, the irrepressibly self-involved fashion blogger Lennon, and is on the prowl for stylish Wellingtonians worthy of her street style blog.

we want, how we want, without it being under the thumb of any sort of bosses and rules,” said Virginia.

The girls used a successful Pledgeme campaign, and with their shoestring budget they cobbled together a crew of friends and family to help them out. Virginia said they often tried to find people who were similar day to day to the character they had in mind for them. “It made for not much acting and felt quite genuine.”

Miriam agrees. “Man we love our friends!

They were so epic at jumping on board whether they were actually keen or not!

They work for free! They get the humour!”

Which brings us back to Wigan Street where they have dressed up reluctant male friends in draped black women’s clothing to replicate that moody androgenous look so seen so often on Wellington streets.

There are of course some disadvantages with using friends. One stand-in has just texted to say they were too hungover and wouldn’t be able to make it to their segment which meant needing to find last minute substitute.

And the girls are funny. Years of being friends and honing their certain kind of brash but self deprecating humour means they can riff with each other and improvise which works perfectly in the mockumentary

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format. And they’re obviously having a ball doing it. Now they’d love to make some kind of an impact so they can get funding for further series.

“As much as it’s been the most hilariously stressful learning and rewarding experience, none of us are in the position financially and mentally to do it again the way we did it. We have so many more ideas that want to produce. We just want to see how receptive people are to it and go from there. We think its kind of funny! We hope others do too.” youtube.com/user/capitalculturewgtn

CULTURE

HIGH FLIERS Award-winning New Zealand authors Lloyd Jones and Steve Braunias will join other New Zealand high fliers on Kapiti Island as part of Kapiti Island Lit Fest. The experience combines nature and writing in a guided nature tour and lunch with the authors, who will then speak about their work, read, and answer questions to an intimate audience of 60 per tour.

Jones’ novel Mr. Pip won several awards in 2007 and 2008, and Braunias’ book Civilisation, an exploration of New Zealand’s nondescript towns, won the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Award for non-fiction.

29 March 2014.

OPEN HOME

COMING OF AGE

The Wellington Museums Trust has opened The Hannah Playhouse for hire to multiple theatre companies, after taking over tenancy from Downstage this year. The NZ Festival is the first to hire the space followed by Capital E National Theatre for Children’s production of Mr McGee & the Biting Flea in April. Capital E will be the resident company while it’s own space is earthquake strengthened.

The Playhouse, which was purpose-built in 1971-1973 and, interestingly, contains no right angles in its plan, was gifted to Wellington by the Hannah family with the condition that it always remain a theatre.

Ross McCormack’s new dance work (above) showcases three generations, and everything in between. Wellingtonian Harry Eathorne was eight when Age was conceived, and will be 10 when it premieres at the New Zealand Festival this year. Luke Hanna, 26, and Claire O’Neil, 42, comprise the other two generations, in a performance concerning changes to our aging bodies. It invites the audience to consider where they fit into the generational scheme. Age is the debut show from dance company Muscle Mouth, which was formed while working on the project, producer Melanie Hamilton says.

13–16 March, Soundings Theatre, Te Papa.

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CULTURE

BON CINÉMA A new partnership with Tahiti’s FIFO Film Festival imparts a distinctly Pacific flavour to this year’s French Film Festival. One of the films, La Flabuleuse histoire de la tête Maori du Museum de Rouen, explores the refusal of one museum director to return a Maori head. The French Film Festival is New Zealand’s largest French culture event, with attendance increasing almost five-fold over the past two years.

19 March – 6 April, Embassy Theatre.

A GOLDEN PERFORMANCE

A MUSICAL MYSTERY

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will perform the rediscovered works of AustroHungarian American composer Erich Korngold in their first national tour of 2014, Visions of Happiness.

Korngold’s academy-award winning work on film scores, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), partially eclipsed his reputation as a concert hall and opera stage composer, but his Violin Concerto has recently become internationally popular.

Russian violinist Mikhail Ovrutsky, who last appeared with the NZSO in 2011, will perform the solo.

5 April, NZSO.

Duncan Sarkies says he got the greatest buzz reading his stories to his Dunedin classmates, and in essence nothing has changed. In The Demolition of the Century, he reads a sequence of passages from his new novel of the same name. “Even though I am a writer reading my stories I come from a theatre background and really engage with the material on stage so it has a very ‘live’ feel. I’m excited about the music aspect of this piece, and presenting a jigsaw puzzle of a mystery that is very evocative and moody,” he says. The readings are interspersed with live performances of the music that inspired the novel, such as that of Tom Waits, Nina Simone and Charlie Feathers. There’ll be a few laughs along the way, and there may even be a duet.

11 March, 6pm, Hannah Playhouse.

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F E AT U R E

Wellington likes its reputation for a vibrant music scene, but with San Francisco Bath House closed, and Mighty Mighty and Puppies set to close later this year, the question must be asked is this the end of Wellington’s reign as live music capital? Or is the closure of beloved old favourites an unavoidable necessity if the scene is to continue revived and refreshed?

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F E AT U R E

MUSIC FEATURE PORTRAIT

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F E AT U R E

BY MELODY THOMAS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH BURTON

I

an Jorgensen, aka Blink, has been heavily involved in the local live music scene for more than a decade, as everything from photographer to band manager to promoter. The past few years have seen Blink launch the wildly successful music festival Camp A Low Hum - which sells out every year despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that no line-up details are released ahead of time - as well as touring more than 100 bands nationwide and last year launching the brand new electronic music festival Square Wave.

A year and a half ago Blink opened live venue Puppies – which will close later this year.

Puppies’ closing is not necessarily reflective of the state of the music scene – from day one the bar was only a temporary project – but Blink’s assessment is still bleak.

“It’s not that there’s a lack of bands. I think the [current] live scene is the strongest it’s ever been in that regard. It’s the people. There’s just no longer much of a community that’s interested in going out and seeing new music,” he says.

It’s a common catch cry that downloads are ‘killing’ the industry - but as Blink sees it, it’s not necessarily music downloads doing the damage.

“I think the biggest danger to the entire world right now is TV... [It’s] so good, who doesn’t love watching these amazing television shows? There’s no point going out,” he says.

“There’s always going ot be that audience of first year students, the 19–23 year olds who don’t mind getting home at three in the morning. But for me, it’s about trying to get back people who’ve stopped going to shows,” he said.

Like many teenagers, Blink’s love for live music was once directed entirely at well-established international artists - but that all changed when he saw US alt rock band Everclear play the James Cabaret in 1996.

“I was such a massive fan … and I was so excited. At the gig, I saw [Wellington support band] Weta. I’d never even heard of this band and they blew Everclear out of the water... It destroyed everything I thought I knew about anything,” he says.

Blink’s eyes were suddenly opened to the multitude of fantastic bands playing in his own neighbourhood, and it seems he wasn’t the only one. The mid 90s and early 2000s was a great time to be a live music lover in Wellington.

Bands like Shihad, HLAH, Fur Patrol and Weta filled venue after venue with sweaty, writhing crowds. Later on, the initally loved and later reviled term ‘the Welly sound’ was coined to describe bands like Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Black Seeds and Trinity Roots - whose skanking guitars and soulful voices filled rooms with grateful audiences; glassy-eyed and grinning ear-to-ear. And

Blink

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F E AT U R E

while many will jump to defend the current local scene, it’s hard to imagine three local bands these days having to announce a second show at the Town Hall because their first sold out so quickly - as happened with Shihad, Weta and Fur Patrol in 2000.

Blink is adamant: “It used to be that small local bands could pull a few hundred people, easy. That doesn’t happen anymore,” he says.

Mighty Mighty co-owner and manager Sally Thomson will close the bar’s doors in May, but says the loss of a few live music venues in Wellington is more coincidence than a sign of the times.

“How strong a scene is can fluctuate... [but] I believe that if some spaces shut down it just means there’s an empty part of the market until someone else gets a genius idea and puts that into play. Just because a couple of venues have shut people aren’t gonna go, ‘I never wanna hear another live band again’,” she says.

Thomson says the decision to close Mighty Mighty has been one of choice and not necessity, but she does recognise these are tough times for venues and punters alike.

“Look at the economy. For bars, the cost of buying booze in has risen... and people have less discretionary money to spend. I’ve tried really hard not to increase prices too much, but you can’t avoid it altogether or you won’t have a business,” she says.

Its capacity of 160 makes Mighty Mighty a small venue but its loss will have repercussions within the music scene, partly because of their focus on keeping live music affordable to the public - nearly all gigs there have a cover charge of $5 or

$10 - but also because they’re known for treating bands with respect. Up until last year, Mighty Mighty still offered a guaranteed fee to every band that played there, regardless of how many punters they pulled, and helped fund countless tours and recordings as a result.

Cushla Aston, manager for successful local artists Estère, Louis Baker, and Thomas Oliver, is one person who feels the loss of these live venues.

“Every time I hear of another one closing it makes me want to cry a little because it’s tough enough finding venues. There are few in this country that know what they are doing, and when they don’t know what they are doing it simply costs you more to play there,” she says.

Involved in the music industry since the early 90s, Aston came to Wellington in late 2010 and says that in 2011, the scene was “bouyant and energetic and ticket sales were solid”. But Aston has noticed changes in the years since.

“In 2012 the market became saturated with choices of international touring artists, which was amazing, but it affected the local market and the smaller venues because people were more likely to spend their money on an international act then a local act,” she says. Aston too believes the economic climate is having a huge effect on the music scene – hitting ticket sales, bar revenue and the ability of bands to tour.

“I have great respect for the acts that are out touring, I know how hard it is to tour and I hear too often how they are just covering costs,” she says.

Sally Thomson

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Y L L A S

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F E AT U R E

Blink doesn’t pin all the blame on the punters – the way he sees it, it comes down to miscommunication and a lack of respect between all those involved.

“At the moment... there’s a serious lack of trust. And promoters can’t blame anyone other than themselves. They put on shit shows, bands didn’t play at the right times and audiences got jaded... it just got worse and worse until it got to a point where everyone stopped caring,” he says.

“There’s no longer much of a community that’s interested in going out and seeing new music... people don’t flick between scenes and only go out if their friends are going, and their friends are going, and so on... so you can either have a hugely successful show or an unsuccessful show. Either everyone’s coming or no-one is. People are not willing to just go out by themselves to a show.”

Event organiser and live music lover Anna Dean says the high cost of living and subsequent difficulty of touring is stifling the potential of local artists.

“A band on tour know they probably won’t get their money back, let alone come away with money in pocket, plus they have to take time off from part-time jobs to do it. So why would you bother going on tour?” she says.

Traditionally, touring has been viewed as the primary way to build a following. There is an argument that the importance of touring has lessened with new technology - opening artists up to audiences that were impossible to reach before - but there’s one other important side effect of the old model.

“Touring is how bands get better. If you’re only practicing in your room or playing to your mates or doing one gig at Mighty, you’re not actually going to get any better. Gigging

and practicing and touring are how you improve,” says Dean.

One facet of music that continues to grow in strength both here in Wellington and all around the world, is electronic music. While the divide isn’t as clear as it once was, with many bands using elements of electronic music production, good producers and DJs (and a fair few not-so-good ones) are still pulling in healthy crowds.

Haydn Middleton runs music production and touring company Madcap Music, and is responsible for touring ‘indie electronic’ artists like Baths, Gold Panda, Tokimonsta, The Gaslamp Killer and Hudson Mohawke.

Middleton got his start in the business touring international and local electronic artists and in 2011 kicked off the Wellington arm of The Nark Collective, which ran for two years.

When it started, The Nark Collective featured live bands as well as DJs and producers, but Middleton’s focus shifted when the live audiences started showing up less and less.

“Electronic music has grown heavily in the last five years and as a result... last year was my best year yet,” he says, “I don’t think that live music’s dying, just that maybe the type of live music has changed.”

So is it time to say goodbye to the Wellington live music scene as we’ve come to know and love it? To clear away the clutter of guitars, drums, keys and leads to make way for forward-thinking one-man-bands and their shiny laptops? Blink doesn’t think so. “We’re in a massive lull, but the great thing about a lull is that you always come out of it... and I’m really excited because it can’t get much worse.

It’s always times like this that bring about a punk reaction... and I’m looking forward to that revival here.”

Haydn Middleton

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MORE THAN THE DAILY GRIND Jesse Abolins-Reid received his first skateboard at 10 years old, and he hasn’t put it down since. He says the excitement generated then was the best feeling he has ever had. .

The Wellington-born-and-raised skater of Maori, Samoan, Latvian and Scottish heritage had a productive 2013: he starred in Jason Gallant’s skate film Let it Roll, won Manual magazine’s New Zealand’s Best Skater of the Year 2013 and the Reader’s Choice Award. “I couldn’t believe that so many people were supporting me,” he said. “I was so caught up and not thinking about publicity, I didn’t realise I was actually doing some amazing skateboarding.”

But it’s more than just a sport. “It covers a huge range of life’s lessons,” he says.“That plank on four wheels is constantly teaching me about how I want to live. It has carved me into who I am and is continuously carving lifestyles for anyone who is addicted to the game.”

Abolins-Reid embarks on a European tour later this year, to give exposure to the New Zealand skateboarding scene and to his sponsor brand, DEF Manufacturing Company. He’s also shooting a film for DEF, which will come out after the tour.

On a regular day the 24-year-old works as a sign writer before skating and filming with friends. The self-confessed film nut would film everything if he could, whether in front of, or behind, the camera. “Just seeing the happiness someone gets if they do something great and I capture it on film gives me the best feeling,” he says. He puts out a monthly skate video for his web series HDB. And as for the future? He plans to travel with friends and skateboard everything their eyes can see.

“Whether it’s to go pro or not I don’t really care. If I’m not travelling I want to open my own indoor skate park and help and inspire young kids. That’s another dream of mine.”

Written by Anna Jackson-Scott 39

FASH ION

y d n a C crush

– ind w e ng o th me bli t e n o whil utio f to s e a k c a w el f c to Thro ours lice o y ime t t s a e s a ’ tr . It have t i d n t a re a e. ns you’ indulg mmo zsi urch t i r F Ch ove ee ley hal S Ash ner by nny by ed y l Ren sty Bu h y p a a St i r r i Ma tog ong m K Pho -up by fro line W y e a k Ma Isl y Made el Mod sted b i Ass 40

Moonstone pendant $420, Heavy sterling silver chain $326, Lazule | Pink ring, Magnolia | Moonstone ring, Lazule $248 | Pink Mabe pearl bracelet, Lazule $359 | Flash cuff, Flash $159 | Silver-plated Druzy necklace, Matchbox $44 | Darren Creed gold forged earings, $350, Quoil $350| Jeremy Leeming shell brooch, Quoil $325 | Flock layered resin triple drop necklace, Matchbox $48 | Purple freshwater pearl earrings $135 & pale pink freshwater pearl clip on earrings $325, Lazule | Silver-plated D ruzy space ring, Matchbox $45 | Bone necklace, Matchbox $29

FA S H I O N

TOP: Flash ring, Flash, $125 | Amethyst ring, Lazule $225 | Silver-plated druzy space ring, Matchbox $45 BOTTOM: Rose quartz ring, Lazule $270 | Flash goldie necklace | Amethyst chunk necklace, Matchbox $49 | Citrine bow ring, Tory & Ko $695 | Gold-plated rose quartz necklace, Matchbox $44 | Pacific pearl ring, Lazule $155 | Rose quartz ring, Lazule $259 | Freshwater pearls, Lazule $553 | Amethyst bow ring, Tory & Ko $500 | Photo freshwater pearl, Lazule $350 (comes with matching braclet) | Pink fresh water pearls, Tory & Ko $520 | Shh By Sadie chunky gold chain bracelet, Matchbox $32 | Confetti bead necklace, Matchbox $39

FA S H I O N

TOP: Amethyst chunk necklace, Matchbox $49 | Bribiesca Ring, Frutti | Vanessa Arthur Street shifts ring III, Quoil $310 | Vanessa Arthur, Street shifts ring II, $320 LEFT TOP: Cresent crystal necklace #2, Madame Fancy Pants $89

LEFT BOTTOM: Shh By Sadie chunky rainbow quartz necklace, Matchbox, $69

STREET STYLE

LAUREN HO OPER

SIMON MILLER 1. Wellington fashion needs more: Local designer recognition; it seems quite hard for New Zealand designers to get a foot in the door.

2. The best store in Wellington is: Op-shops for sure. Always bound to find a little gem.

3. My fail-safe fall-back outfit is: Probably just a plain tee and jeans.

1. Wellington fashion needs more: Stores supporting new, local designers.

2. The best store in Wellington is: The fabric warehouse!

3. My fail-safe fall-back outfit is: Black jeans, t-shirt and boots 4. My best fashion accessory is: My favourite at the moment is my new Deadly Ponies ostrich wallet.

4. My best fashion accessory is: Shoes, can never have too many shoes.

5. The one thing missing from my wardrobe is: Warm waterproof jackets. Not such a big issue at the moment but heading into winter will be a different story.

5. The one thing missing from my wardrobe is: More colour, more sequins.

By Ashley Church 44

FASH ION

EDIBLES

LA B O CA ES LO CA La Boca Loca brings sustainable, organic Mexican food to Miramar, combining seasonal ingredients with traditional.

The Mexican, Californian and New Zealand team behind the restaurant also treks every Sunday at City Market, and the last Saturday of each month at Hill St Market if the trip to Miramar is too far and the need for Mexican food is great!

MARTIN B OSLEY’S Martin Bosley will still be doing his sauces and hosting the City Market, despite the liquidation of his restaurant after 13 years of business. Former assistant manager Ryan McKenna said the closure was sudden. “The lease went up for renewal, the tender went public, and Martin didn’t put in a submission. He knew he wouldn’t get it even if he did,” McKenna said. “The Yacht Club wanted more casual dining, which required a refurbishment, and he didn’t have the money for that”.

THE TRUTH AB OUT TRUE BREW

TAWA T U B S Making gelato is a creamy business, and founder Alberto Tuason makes sure to stay health conscious. He’s brought out a single-serve range of his handcrafted gelato. All flavours are now purchasable in 120ml tubs, including new flavours black sesame, bestseller crème caramel, and passionata. And to stay fit? Tuason plays badminton and basketball to balance out his gelato obsession.

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If you were searching out a cold caffeine infusion from True Brew, but got a bit lost, it may be because you were in the wrong place!

We mistakenly directed you to Dukes Arcade last month, but it’s Grand Arcade that you’re after.

True Brew, Level 1, Grand Arcade, Willis Street.

EDIBLES

WAKE AND BAKE James Whyte’s new bakery, Gramercy, is set to open in Berhampore in early March, bringing hand-made products to the area. He will be selling breads such as baguettes and sourdough, making and baking everything on site.

HE’LL BLEND RIGHT IN Wellington’s Chameleon restaurant sources local ingredients wherever possible, including their new Chef de Cuisine, Paul Limacher. Limacher was born in Wellington, and shares a philosophy of food consistent with Chameleon’s local focus. He won’t be making major changes to the current menu, but will impart his belief in using “seasonal fresh ingredients with techniques that marry flavours and textures, creating delectable innovative dishes, made with passion and gusto.”

H AV E Y O U BEAN?

LIT TLE GOES A LONG WAY

Hola amigos! (Sorry, that was corny.) Pan de Muerto is swapping sandwiches for salsa and opening their new lunch menu, Mexican street food-style. Your midday Mexican spice fix arrives as “bocaditos”, or small bites, with gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian options available, with a changing taco special daily. Vamos!

LITTLE is a café true to its name.

It favours quality local and seasonal ingredients over quantity. At LITTLE, “there won’t be upsized food items like doorstop wedges of cake, palmsized pieces of slice or “mega-muffins”, manager Frances Speer says.

Zany Zeus, Bees Blessing cordials, and Hardie Boys Gingerbeer are among the local companies used. A Hutt City Council operation, LITTLE café can be accessed from the Little Theatre entrance or inside the Lower Hutt War Memorial Library.

mirage oasis

170 Cuba St 802 5266 info@oliverestaurant.co.nz

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EDIBLES

BEER JIGGLES WRITTEN BY SHARON STEPHENSON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ASHLEY CHURCH

C

A year ago Lindy created Beer Belly Jellies, a range of savoury jellies made from local Parrot Dog craft beer. Not jellies in the wobbly, childhood dessert sense, but artisan, spreadable pastes that can be used for dressing up everything from a cheese-board and steak to cakes or even casseroles.

“The flavour profiles of the jellies are so versatile they can be used in any number of dishes,” she says. “Plus the alcohol is burned off during the cooking process, so they’re suitable for anyone.”

Once punters can get their head around the fact that something they’d normally put into

ards on the table: I don’t really like beer.

It’s partly because of the taste and partly a legacy of two Munich Beerfests (personal best: four steins in one day) which left me with an unexplained scar on my knee, a brain that felt like boiled marmalade and a lifetime’s distrust of anything involving hops.

I expect Lindy MacLennan’s lip to curl when I tell her this. Instead, the long-time Wellingtonian laughs the laugh of someone who’s heard it all before.

“As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!’

I always encourage people who say they don’t

“Not jellies in the wobbly, childhood sense, but artisan, spreadable pastes used for dressing up everything...” their body in liquid form has been turned into food, that is.

“For some people it’s a big leap to make, but once they try the jellies, they get it.”

Holidaying on Vancouver Island a few years ago, Lindy and her cousin stopped at a brewery for a cold one. On the cheeseboard was a pottle of jelly, made from the brewery’s own beer.

It was, claims the former nurse, a classic

like beer to give it another try – perhaps with a craft beer, which has lots of interesting flavours going on.”

She would say that: despite growing up with teetotal parents (“they don’t like the taste of alcohol”), Lindy has never met a yeasty beverage she couldn’t be friends with. In fact, the 50-something loves beer so much she turned it into a foodstuff!

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SECTION HEADER

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A-ha moment. “I’d never tasted anything so delicious. I think I may have even licked the bowl! I definitely brought a jar home for a friend who’s a fan of craft beer.”

Back in her Island Bay kitchen, Lindy tried to recreate the jellies. It helped that she had years of jam-making experience and already owned some of the equipment.

However it took a little more doing to figure out how to make the jellies: a trawl through the internet yielded only one recipe and sadly her friend had thrown out the jar of the Canadian jelly so she had no way of cross-referencing ingredients.

However, in the time-honoured Kiwi tradition of giving it a go, Lindy boiled up beer and apple juice, adding a dollop of the setting ingredient pectin.

Encouraging feedback from family and friends prompted her to experiment with different flavours and before long, Beer Belly Jellies was born.

But making a good product and, as those TV talent show judges like to say, “taking it to the next level” are two different things, as Lindy discovered.

“I didn’t know anything about getting a food production licence or whether I needed a commercial kitchen. It was a bit of a steep learning curve.”

The Food Safety Act allows the making of jam for sale at home; all Lindy’s kitchen had to do was fulfil certain food safety requirements and she was away.

Not only after, her good friend Jenny Grainger came on board and Jenny’s husband Andrew designed the company’s logo (because Jenny now lives in Auckland, she focuses mainly on the governance side of the business).

Try a Mexican wave

There has been a Mexican wave developing in New Zealand and Pan de Muerto, with dynamic design and modern cuisine, is at the forefront of this wave.

Pan de Muerto, Mystic Mexican Cuisine and Tequila Bar, in Tory St is the second version of the original concept first opened in 2010. The restaurant is named after the sacred bread eaten by Mexicans during the annual celebration of the lives of their deceased loved ones.

While still preparing authentic Mexican dishes, the restaurant is experimenting with a modern twist on some traditional Mexican dishes.

These days, the pair produce four jellies – Blonde (made from lager), Pale Ale, Malt and Hot Belly, which is basically the love child of lager and chillies. Each has a distinct flavour profile and, according to Lindy, their own fans.

“People who aren’t big beer drinkers usually like the Pale Ale or Blonde jellies, while Malt goes down a treat with craft beer fanatics who like what we call ‘hairy chest’ food.”

It’s labour intensive, taking about two hours to produce 35 pots, and Lindy tucks production, labelling and distribution around her day job as an education contractor.

But with the jellies now being stocked by everyone from Farro Fresh in Auckland and Kirks, On-Trays and the Island Bay New World in Wellington, Lindy could soon be saying goodbye to her desk job. Future plans include a beer drizzle and she’s also been experimenting with soft-drink jellies.

The day we meet an Auckland chef had told her the Malt jelly had become a fixture in his kitchen.

“He serves it with chicken livers and customers love it. Feedback like that makes it all worthwhile.”

I know what he means: Lindy arrived at our interview laden with jellies,cheese and her homemade beer lavash and as the cheeseboard shrank and the afternoon wore on, I overcame my distrust of beer.

“If you have an idea, then give it a go. With tenacity and the support of family and friends, you can make it happen.”

advertorial

Food is meticulously prepared and executed and the chefs make the most of seasonal ingredients.

Pan de Muerto is not just known for its flavoursome food. The décor speaks volumes about the passion that has gone into the development of this restaurant. Enter the restaurant and step into another world. Friendly human-size skeletons are scattered throughout the restaurant. Affectionately named “Pedro”, the smiling sugar skull takes pride of place on the restaurant’s logo.

Friendly South American service gives a truly authentic dining experience.

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And of course, we must mention Tequila. New Zealanders are often hesitant to try a shot. A tequila tasting board is a great way to have fun getting to know tequila and Pan de Muerto has the city’s largest selection of imported tequilas and Mexican beers.

EDIBLES

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CHEERS

BIG C OLOURFUL CHAR ACTER

BY KIERAN HASLETT-MOORE

The driving force behind Wellington’s new regional beer festival has worked in IT, corporate governance, wedding planning, sports management and as a business change consultant before she stumbled upon the much cooler job of running a beer festival.

T

hink Martinborough and think wine, then think again, think Martinborough and beer.

The second annual Greater Wellington BrewDay Festival, organsied by Karen Aitken, takes place in Martinborough on 8 March.

Fourteen Wellington-region breweries join one distillery and three soft drink producers alongside local food, tutored presentations, pub quizzes and music to create a positive rustic country vibe.

It all began in 2012 when Karen was sharing a beer with friends in her Martinborough home when the idea of running a beer festival in the town was raised. In the tradition of Earnest Hemingway Karen decided to do sober what she proposed under the influence and miraculously three months later the 2013 Greater Wellington Brewday festival took place.

Her initial vision for the event was to hire a country hall and have three or four brewers set up in the corner but things quickly spiralled out when all the major Wellington region brewers wanted to take part and she secured a large paddock as a venue.

I was involved in the festival serving beer and running tastings and at the time I was amazed at how smoothly the event ran, something that is even more amazing now I know how quickly it was put together.

This year in addition to bars serving the year-round great beers from local brewers including the Yeastie Boys,

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Garage Project, ParrotDog, Tuatara, Baylands, Kereru, Martinborough Brewing Co, Panhead, North End and Funk Estate, there will be a festive brew theme.

This year has been declared “Summer of Saison” with local brewers being asked to brew sessionable Belgian farmhouse-style beers especially for the event. Karen decided to introduce the festive brew theme to add a deeper level of interest for the converted craft beer drinkers.

While some beer festivals feel like a case of preaching to the converted, last year’s BrewDay festival was definitely an introduction to craft beer for a lot of people.

Like many before her Karen has fallen for the beer industry, lured by the big colourful characters and cooperative way the industry does business. Her next challenge is Lush Logistics, a company that will handle the tracking, delivery and return of kegs, a major headache brewers have in trying to keep track of their valuable stainless steel kegs when they are dispatched around the country. Karen sees both Brewday and Lush Logistics as helping to grow the local craft beer industry and help more people discover the quality beers produced here.

And she said, “If the two businesses allow me to avoid the commute over the Rimutaka’s then that is a major added bonus.”

For Karen, 8 March will be the culmination of a year’s work as a “Beer Festival Organiser”, to my ear a much better title than “Business Change Consultant”.

ADAM PORTRAITURE AWARD & EXHIBITION 20th Feb - 25th May 2014

Admission Free

Come along and vote for People’s Choice New Zealand Portrait Gallery Open Daily Shed 11 10:30am - 4:30pm Queen’s Wharf

Wellington Waterfront nzportraitgallery.org.nz

BUSINESS

A HELPING HAND WRITTEN BY JOHN BISHOP | PHOTOGRAPHED BY TAMARA JONES

What do an Irish dentist, a hairdresser, a wood-recycler and a retailer of handmade goods have in common?

All of them have stronger and more successful Wellington businesses after they brought in a business mentor.

T

hey can each point to better results in their business because a more experienced businessperson has helped them to see what changes they needed to make.

While they are all coy about revealing how much extra revenue and profit have resulted, each of them talks of improved performance, better structure, more confidence in what they are doing. In short, mentoring worked for them.

Defining mentoring isn’t easy. Generally in a mentoring relationship, a person with more knowledge and experience guides a person with less, but exactly how this is done is very much left to the mentor and the client.

Last year Business Mentors New Zealand says its 1,900 mentors helped 4,300 businesses and not-forprofit organisations, who paid a one–off fee of $150 for the service.

BMNZ is a community trust funded by major companies and government agencies, and run locally by chambers of commerce and economic development agencies using volunteers, usually experienced business people, as mentors. Mentoring is recognised as one way of helping local businesses to prosper.

Mary McBride is an Irish-trained dentist practising

on her own in Tinakori Road, Thorndon.

“I saw an opportunity to be a sole-charge dentist so I set up there.”

“I had about 100 patients locally because I had delivered flyers advertising my presence in the area.

She had worked in dental practices as a contractor but “found it difficult to work as a solo operator.”

She sought a mentor and got Miles Maitland, who used to run the Harcourts real estate chain nationally.

Mentors are expected to use their experience, insight and knowledge to help clients.

“I took on board what Miles said. I increased my prices. He made me appreciate value. Working smarter not harder.

“One of the things I had to do was to get a structure to the business and that took some legal advice and some help from an accountant.

“I am touchy feely. He was more evidence-based. I go on gut feel. With his guidance I saw the patient list filling up and people coming back.

“I have now got more clients and more revenue, and I feel better about my business and my life.”

Mentors don’t tell business owners what to do, nor do they do the owners’ job for them.

Top: Mary McBride of Tinakori Road Dental Practice Bottom: Kelley Braddock of Headstart Salon 54

BUSINESS

55

BUSINESS

Kelley Braddock, the owner of HeadStart Hair Design in Kilbirnie, left school at 15.

“I fell into the job. I’d worked in salons since I was 14, and I had no skills as a business owner, but I’d been at it for nine years and had done all right. After nine years I was a qualified hairdresser with two salons, a husband and two kids.

“But it wasn’t enough. So I took charge of my future. My accountant didn’t speak my language and I read about being able to get a business mentor to assist, especially as I had opened a second salon in Island Bay while I was still working in the first one in Kilbirnie.

“Miles made me question what I was doing and why, made me realise that I needed more structure in the business, for example formal policies for staff matters which led to the development of employment contracts.

“Miles held me accountable for what I was doing to strengthen the business.

“I learned that I had to become a boss, and needed to take the responsibility for that. If I wanted to see results I had to make them happen.

“I now work much more on the business rather than in the business, although I am still doing a hairdresser’s job two days a week.

Another to get the benefit of Miles’ advice was Chris Northmore, the managing director and co-owner of James Henry Flooring, a small wooden flooring and wood recycling company in Upper Hutt.

“I was having board meetings on my own. I tried to find a business coach, but I didn’t like

Sue Dasler - Potter

After having studied ceramics at NMIT, Sue became a studio potter working in the Nelson province for 20 years, focusing her work around the intermit relationships we form with the domestic ware we use daily.

Sue moved to Wellington with her partner in 2012 and established a new studio and gallery in Lyall Bay, were she can be found daily, producing her mainstay range of “tapa” ware, along with inspired one-off individual pieces exploring other avenues of form and decoration which are on display throughout the gallery.

the business model that coaches use, particularly the high monthly fees.

The company has 6–7 staff including his wife and himself. The factory and head office are in Upper Hutt and there also two contractors to lay floors, based in Tauranga and Masterton.

“Miles recognised that I was reasonably experienced in business. He never looked at the financials. I said that I wanted help in leading people and in selling and negotiating.

“Often I struggle with my time. Miles offered some useful techniques to help me use my time better.

“He sat on an interview panel and helped me pick a new staff member – a different and better person than the one I would have picked alone.

“I wanted a wise head. And I got one. He made a difference. A mentor is more informal than other forms of assistance – like an advisory board. He doesn’t hold you to account like a board should do. He’s there to assist, but it is still your business and your responsibility.”

Another mentor, Maree Smith, helped Made.it, a design store and gift shop selling clothing, jewellery, stationery, and accessories.

Two and a half years ago Made.it began as a co-operative of four creative people focused on making and selling locally made craft goods through a shop in Wellington’s Victoria Street.

Co-owner Elisabeth Neilson says their experience with a mentor made a big difference.

“We were struggling to break even. We were missing some important skills.

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Patterns and colour are applied freehand, finding inspiration in both natural and cultural cues of the pacific. www.suedaslerpottery.co.nz 56

BY THE BOOK

THE BREAKDOWN The Mighty Totara: The Life and Times of Norman Kirk by David Grant, Random House, $44.99, out March 7 Who: The latest in a long line of books – largely political histories and biographies – by David Grant, a Wellington historian, lecturer, author and book reviewer.

What: This is no dry political history about one of New Zealand’s most-admired political leaders and it’s “last working-class Prime Minister.” Rather, it’s a beautifully written and surprisingly entertaining read about Kirk’s difficult Depression-era childhood, the many obstacles he had to overcome, and his ability to get things done.

Why read it: A ripper read about a working-class hero who died too soon, aged 51.

Key quote: “More than 30,000 people of all ages and occupations braved rain to file past the casket over two long days [at Parliament], and again in Christchurch, in a commemoration that matched only that for Michael Joseph Savage in the power of its emotion.”

Convincing detail: “Thousands of sorrowful New Zealanders paid their respects: dark-suited businessmen, labourers in work-boots, office workers, pensioners wiping tears from their eyes, students in corduroy trousers and duffel-coats, and schoolchildren in sandals, some carrying sprigs of flowers, all stood in the rain, mostly under umbrellas, or queued for an hour or more to file past Kirk’s flag draped coffin… A gang member left a Black Power jacket complete with full regalia.”

BIG SUBJECT

WRITER HEAVEN

BWB Texts, an imprint of Bridget Williams Books, are short books on big subjects. During March, a year after its launch, BWB Texts will publish four key texts as paperbacks. A book of essays Paul Callaghan: Luminous Moments and Maurice Gee’s childhood memoirs Creeks and Kitchens were first released as e-books; the other two are new releases. The Inequality Debate is a shorter, updated version of Max Rashbrooke’s 2013 book, while Kirsty Gunn – winner of New Zealand Post Book of the Year 2013 for her novel The Big Music – has penned Thorndon about the suburb she grew up in. Also on March 11, BWB Texts publisher Tom Rennie speaks at the Born Digital session at Writers Week (March 7–12).

Wellington publishers Victoria University Press and Gecko Press are all over Writers Week (March 7-12). VUP authors Eleanor Catton, Elizabeth Knox, Dylan Horrocks, Caoilinn Hughes and Damien Wilkins take part in sessions, and Pip Adam (above) and Emma Martin, chair.

VUP’s publisher party on March 8, 7.30pm at the Atrium Exchange on Blair Street doubles as a launch for two new books – Caoilinn Hughes’s debut poetry collection Gathering Evidence, and Dylan Horrocks’ short-comic collection Incomplete Works. Meanwhile, Gecko’s overseas authors Ulf Stark, Leo Timmers, and Daniel and Aleksandra Mizielińsky are in town, joining locals Gavin Bishop, Elizabeth Knox, Jack Lasenby and Mary McCallum.

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BUSINESS

58

BY THE BOOK

LIKES BRUTAL HONESTY WRITTEN BY SARAH LANG | PHOTOGRAPH BY GRANT MAIDEN

I

n Kerry Donovan Brown’s debut novel Lamplighter (Victoria University Press, $28), the gay teenage protagonist, Candle, talks to his grandmother for the first time about his sexuality. Concerned but supportive, she gives him a kimono and costume jewellery “‘for your dress-ups’. ‘Oh, Granna, I don’t – I’m not a....’.”

It’s a humorous, poignant scene drawn from the Wellington author’s life. “I was half-asleep,” he recalls, “and my grandmother, who was visiting, sat on my bed and talked for the first time about me being gay.

She said ‘I do worry’ – I think lots of people of her generation think gay people will have a really hard life because that’s what used to happen. She said ‘I want you to be sure’ and I said ‘yeah I’m sure’ and she told me she loved me and would support me, and sheepishly handed me a $20 note and, later, some costume jewellery.” Telling the story, he laughs, and his eyes moisten just a little.

The 28-year-old has a baby face, a blond quiff with

While Donovan Brown was “bamboozled” to win, MA co-convenor Damien Wilkins was struck by the originality and freshness of the manuscript. “Kerry’s writing has elements of folklore and fairytale, but the real amazement here is how vividly rendered the imagined world is. All this invention is also tied to a compelling story about a young man asserting his independence.” Just over a year later, after some revising and editing, Lamplighter hits bookstores this month.

The coming-of-age tale with its leisurely pace, otherworldly names and striking imagery is set in fictional beach settlement Porbeagle in modern-day New Zealand. It’s our world, but not quite as we know it. It’s a world where devilish beasts and ghosts are as real as the corner store. A world where streetlamps don’t just illuminate the village but protect it from the darkness and dangers beyond.

Blending folklore with the real world is starting to look like a trend in New Zealand fiction, judging

“people justify their actions or their prejudices by telling stories,” a floppy fringe, a soft voice, and a habit of looking sideways to think. He’s excited, having just laid hands on the first copy of his first novel, written during his MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) in 2012.

From the 20 students in the fiction and poetry streams, he won the $3,000 Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing; previous recipients include Catherine Chidgey, Paula Morris and Eleanor Catton.

by recent novels including The Luminaries, Wake by Elizabeth Knox, and The Wind City by Summer Wigmore. But folklore stalks this book simply because Donovan Brown reads it avidly. “What I love about folklore is it has a supernatural quality but still happens in normal domestic settings. Graft supernatural elements on top of that and the tale becomes something else, but still very familiar. I wanted to write a story straddling those worlds.”

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BY THE BOOK

He drew a map to help picture Porbeagle, imagining it much like the coastal village he grew up in, Waikuku Beach in North Canterbury. “As I wrote, I felt nostalgia for my own childhood. I grew up in the 90s so there was all this crazy technology happening but I was right on the perimeter of the natural world as well: the river, the wetland, the beaches. One of my favourite filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki makes films where the technological human world intersects with the natural world. I love that crossover in storytelling.”

Another crossover in the novel is the tension between past and present, tradition and modernity.

Porbeagle has clung onto the Old World ritual of lighting streetlamps by hand well into the age of electricity. “The lamps are comforting, like kids’ plug-in

because I was internalising everything. At high school, I was still battling with my own internalised homophobia: ‘okay, I’m gay, but I’m not flaming, I’m not like this or that, I’m normal.’ I used to practice speaking ‘normally’ on the way to catch the bus. But now I’m so proud to be part of a community that has rebelled, worked and suffered for the cause of love and joy, in all its variety and abnormality.”

Today he often compares his “trials and tribulations” growing up gay to the struggles of those living in a time of state-sanctioned prejudice against homosexuals. “It’s still something I can only really begin to fathom. It wasn’t until I moved to Wellington, and started to look for queer friends and find out more

“You just don’t get that brutal honesty from people you’re working with closely.” nightlights,” Donovan Brown says. But now the town’s last lamplighter, cantankerous old Inglis, is about to be replaced by electric lights, leaving his apprentice grandson Candle jobless.

Inglis makes sense of the world and his past through his pantheon of tales about beasts and ghosts.

But, as Candle discovers, these stories mask secrets of violence and bigotry. “I wanted to tell a story about how people justify their actions or their prejudices by telling stories,” Donovan Brown says.

Candle’s sexuality was no narrative device to pit him against his grandfather. “Candle was never straight. I told the story that way because of my experience in growing up gay. I wouldn’t know how to begin to write about, say, racism or misogyny because I’ve never experienced them.”

In the book’s acknowledgments, the author pays tribute to “the LGBTQ people, from Aotearoa and abroad, who navigated less friendly seas than I, and who have persevered and fought for the freedoms I enjoy today”.

As Donovan Brown points out, he was born in 1985, the year the Homosexual Law Reform Bill decriminalised homosexuality and polarised New Zealanders. “I was once really blind to that [queer] history

about queer history and my gay ancestors in Aotearoa, that I was able to let go of old fears and prejudices I had against LGBT people.”

Donovan Brown moved to Wellington in 2006 to do a Bachelor of Performance Design (set-and-lighting design) atToiWhakaari. After two years he realised he most enjoyed reading the scripts, and cross-credited various papers to a BA in English literature at Victoria.

For one course, he did the IIML short-fiction workshop, writing the short story that would evolve into Lamplighter during his MA. Wildlife sanctuary Zealandia was a muse for the manuscript. “I’d take my laptop to the café, and I was a member so I’d take study breaks in the valley – such a fertile and creatively nourishing place.” Now he actually works there as part of the front-of-house team, also volunteering by monitoring nest boxes.

He’d like to write full-time, but knows it’s a rare freedom. “If I don’t make a living off it, that’s fine as well.” Right now his focus is Lamplighter’s release – and he’s not nervous about its reception. “I’m interested to hear someone’s take on it, and weirdly looking forward to the first scathing review. You just don’t get that brutal honesty from people you’re working with closely.”

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HOME

BUILT ON SCENT WRITTEN BY STACEY KNOTT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JONATHAN KAY

A chance meeting at a Wellington party 17 years ago resulted in an Aro Valley house that’s been described as Mondrian after a few too many Martinis.

F

rancesca Brice and Kate JasonSmith’s tale is an interesting one of valuable encounters, Aro Valley controversy, a Mermaid, passion for good scents and a dedication to love the space you live in.

The couple live in a three-story home that stands apart from its Victorian neighbours on Epuni Street.

They built the house ten years ago, using Wellington architect John Mills, simply telling him they wanted something that was totally new and different from the traditional Victorian homes in the area.

Rolling back a few years, to the start of their tale, it

a niche business just for women travellers and corporates.” She was running it until about two years ago, but still owns the house. Her mother and daughter now live in it.

Soon after she bought the guesthouse, she met Kate.

Chatting, they found Kate had been to Santorini in the 80s and bought one of Francesca’s small perfumes.

Kate encouraged Francesca to get back into the perfume business, and eventually they developed Pacific Perfumes.

Next they wanted to build a house, leading Franc-

“I created Mermaid Guesthouse, a niche business just for women travellers and corporates...” was perfume and a mermaid that is to thank for their futuristic home. Francesca lived in Greece for 20 years and began a small perfume business “out of desperation to work.” The perfumes were a success, but New Zealand was calling. Eventually she returned.

“I came back to New Zealand with my four-yearold daughter and bought the house next door (to her current home) and created the Mermaid Guesthouse,

esca to consider selling the Mermaid Guesthouse. She asked a property developer if he knew of any land where they might build.

Looking over to the Mermaid’s garden he said “I’m looking right at it.”

“The Mermaid garden grew a house. In a way it’s an interesting evolution for this house to come out of what was happening next door. I think they work

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HOME

Trinkets and furniture gathered from their international travels are spread throughout the house, from the Shoji- inspired screen in the bathroom, to the Greek urn in the corner of the lounge which is visible from Epuni Street. Next to the urn are the African drums Francesca plays in Wellington’s Batucada group, and upstairs are Chinese lattice windows.

The polished concrete floor in the kitchen and lounge is in deep blue hues, designed to evoke standing in the shallows of the Pacific Ocean – team that with the birds chirping outside, and the earthy perfume scents around the house, and it’s easy to forget you’re just a few minutes’ walk from bustling Cuba Street.

The kitchen bench and coffee table, both designed by Wellington furniture maker John Calvert, use colours to complement the floor, while the coffee table is reminiscent of a huge piece of paua shell.

well together, even though they are a century apart,” Francesca muses.

The home, built in 2003, is 165 square metres about 11 metres by six metres, three floors with a roof top, two bathrooms, four bedrooms, an open plan kitchen and lounge room, deck with a garden, and the perfume storeroom downstairs. It won top place in 2006’s NZIA Resene Local Award. It sits on the sunny side of Epuni Street, in iconic Aro Valley – known for its concentration of the environmentally and community minded.

They used John Mills because Francesca had worked with him on the Mermaid, and found him “so personable.

He brings architecture into your life in a real way, that if you’re not an architect you understand it. He’s very respectful as well, he understands your own design and feelings of creatively and works well with that.”

“There were a few people up in arms, they were worried it would look terrible and drag down the neighbourhood.”

And from the outside, the house stands out. A comment on an online architecture discussion board once referred to the house as being “Mondrian the painter after a few too many Martinis,” something Kate couldn’t agree more with.

“How exactly appropriate that is. I love it...I also love how all the windows are different shapes. Each window frames the view outside which makes the outside looks beautiful as well.”

Asked what their favourite parts of the house are, Kate is quick to point to the stairwell that leads from the ground to the middle floor, with vibrant red walls.

Francesca is a fan of the semicircle-screened wall in the bathroom, which protrudes into her bedroom, and when the bathroom light is on, it reflects into her bedroom and “it glows, it’s like being in a spaceship,” she jokes.

“I love the roof; the 360-degree view of the valley. In the summer I would wake for the birds, go up there and listen to them. It sounds like I’m in the rainforest. They all come down from Zealandia. They are gradually working their way down into town. We see kaka parrots, I’ve never heard them before, they are all flying into the valley now. It’s so hard believe we are just six minutes from Cuba Street.”

It sparked controversy, and is polarising in its appeal, Kate and Francesca’s home is rich in colours and design, has an open, easy feel to it, makes optimum use of its natural surroundings and is unconventional – all traits that suit its Aro Valley environment completely.

The brief was open, just saying they had a tight budget and wanted something different, new and modern.

What resulted was a three-story, timber structure, in contrasting greys, with weatherboards and windows in different shapes and on angles.

John says “we were experimenting with the typology of the weatherboards and twisting and evolving it.”

“We placed the windows where there are good views rather than in the middle of façades symmetrically. The windows’ positions were specific for specific views.”

But, in an area that favours Victorian homes, their new and modern plans came up against much opposition in the community.

“There were a few people up in arms. They were worried it would look terrible and drag down the neighbourhood.

“I had about 20 letters sent to me about people being concerned, some blatantly rude, insulting and off the point,” Francesca recalls.

However, after it was built the praise came, with one neighbour saying it was his dream house.

It’s certainly Kate and Francesca’s dream house, and the house reflects the couples’ business, where they make fragrances to reflect their surroundings.

A scent they have developed for Pacific Perfumes is Tui Loves Kowhai, inspired by “all the birds coming down the valley. When the kowhai flowers, the tui go crazy fighting over them,” Francesca says.

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INTERIOR

MARCH HA RV E S T Time to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of your labour with beautiful kitchen equipment for peeling, scrubbing, cutting, spicing, whisking and enjoying.

Wallpaper background: Palermo from the Parade Collection by Elitis, Libby Beattie Interior Design Multicoloured whisk, $14.90, Iko Iko Laguiole knives, from $12.50, Magnolia Vegetable peeler set of 3, $59.90, Corso de Fiori Vintage beech horse hair epousette blue, $39.99, Corso de Fiori Jam jar, $4.90, Iko Iko Tin mug, $9.50, Magnolia Spice grinder, $129.00, Corso de Fiori Floral napkins set of 4, $35.00, Magnolia Pink spatula, $18.90, Iko Iko Ceramic condiment pots set of 4, $40.00, Magnolia

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INTERIOR

Styled by Chloe Mehrtens of Libby Beattie Interior Design Photography by Ashley Church Assisted by Madeline Wong

Wallpaper background: Moko from the Parade Collection by Elitis, Libby Beattie Interior Design Laguiole knife, $15.00, Magnolia Wooden pastry brush, $17.90, Iko Iko Wooden pot scrub, $9.90, Iko Iko Pantone sugar pot, $39.90, Iko Iko Jacquard hand towel, $19.90, Corso de Fiori Wooden chopping board, $59.90, Citta Ceramic measuring scoops, $16.90, Iko Iko

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W E L LY A NG E L

WHAT WOU L D DE I R DRE D O? DISTRESS FLAGS

have no actual confirmation. As a friend what do I do?

Anxious, Porirua

I have a friend who hits (not badly) and yells at her kids – I’m firmly of the thought “each to their own”. But she goes as far as yelling at my kids. I’ve mentioned my distress a couple of times, but she’s always confused – she doesn’t even know she’s doing it half the time. Is it time to chuck in the friendship?

Mother of four, Ngaio We live in a country in which this is illegal behaviour and defining hitting as “not badly” is as bad as actually doing it.

A friendly talk would be a good idea, but more importantly, lead by example with your own behaviours. She needs you as a friend, so “chucking” the relationship seems a bit radical.

Two wrongs do not make a right, as my mother used to say.

SERVICE ISSUES What do you do if you receive poor service in local shops? My children are horrified if I comment (politely) at the time, but how else do I let people know that I am unlikely to come back?

Narky, Kelburn Children are always mortified and perpetually embarrassed – it’s called parenting and gets worse as they get older. Then they grow up and are suddenly your best friends and have the same the same views and start complaining about the same things and you will be the one who is horrified. It’s simply genetics!

Butt out! You do not know, and if you are her friend behave like one, and be there when she needs you. In the meantime, don’t gossip.

HUSBAND IN THE SHED My husband and I have two children – a son and daughter. My husband works hard and rightly deserves weekend “shed time” but he does so at the expense of our family life. Apart from meal times we rarely see him, and even then his attention is taken by the computer! He snaps at the children if they want his attention or to spend time with him. This is particularly tough on our son who likes nothing more than shed time with Dad. He seems to have lost his mojo and I’m really starting to feel like a solo parent! Help!

Irritated, Upper Hutt It takes two to tango, so you need to work out a deal.

Make sure you all have regular meals together, even picnics in the shed! Find times when being together works and make them pleasant...do things and talk about them so he wishes he had been there...then work towards a compromise that suits all. A family council might work if the children are old enough, or send emails and communicate his way? BUT, actually I am with you and he should be making the effort. He certainly needs to be aware his behaviour is upsetting you and affecting his family. Does he realise?

TELLTALE A friend (children at the same school, similar ages etc) has asked me to confirm whether her husband is having an affair. From what I hear, it is likely that she is correct but I

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SPORTS

PA PER , RO C K SISY PH US

BY PADDY LEWIS

T

he past month has been one of those that leave sports fans feeling like someone who backs racehorses by picking random numbers.

Some days you are up, other days you are down.

We had the ups for the Black Caps besting India in all formats of the cricket game, including a marvellous Test at the soon-to-be-overflown Basin Reserve. The downside to the tour was the confusing debacle that was Jesse Ryder and Doug Bracewell drinking before the first test.

Ryder and Bracewell should not have gone out. They still hadn’t been properly left out of the Test XII. Had Ross Taylor’s wife’s water broken, or Trent Boult woken up with a case of dysentery, either could have been called in.

Nevertheless, the opprobrium heaped on Ryder in particular was quite something.

No-one noticed that another of his recent late-night drinking partners, fellow Black Cap Jimmy Neesham, managed to avoid any selectorial issues and made the team for the second test.

Ryder, on the other hand, has been sent to cricketing Coventry. Yet, other than going out, he hasn’t done anything wrong. He didn’t punch anyone, grope women (or men), break windows, or spew in a taxi.

I have mentioned before that while players need to assume some self-responsibility, as a former sports team manager myself, I made sure I went knocking on players’ doors from about 9pm onwards when we were on tour to make sure everyone was following the coaches’ instructions.

The Black Caps not only have a top-heavy management team, but they also have a security officer (who is no doubt looking for a new job about now). They know Ryder is a potential booze bomb, so why wouldn’t they have him on a tight leash?

It’s a little incongruous, if not somewhat hypocritical (maybe even hypercritical) to have the New Zealand cricketing-journalism complex fall on Ryder like rabid dogs.

Maybe there’s something more to the story…which leads to another up and down.

The up is that I’m vaguely excited by the forthcoming Super 15 season. I don’t know why. The Sisyphean-beast that is the rugby season has been doing my head in.

I know I am excited at the thought of the Chiefs going for the three-peat, and I want to see John Kirwan do well with the world’s most dysfunctional sporting franchise, but the rest of it really leaves me cold.

The Hurricanes are a team we can never get excited about now unless they look destined for the playoffs, the Crusaders are just boring, and the Highlanders are like a United Nations rugby refugee camp.

Big rugby games used to be something to look forward to. Now, with it happening for ten months of the year, even the most ardent rugby fans are wishing for something different by mid-July.

I know the arguments about the economics of it all.

Yet I don’t see too much in the way of explanation of how all this moolah benefits the game at the bottom. And (a further yet) I don’t begrudge the players what they earn for being beaten up week in, week out.

Perhaps it’s not an up or down, maybe I’m just getting cynical.

Speaking of being cynical and rational at the same time, here’s a tip for the NZ Olympic Committee – don’t select a Winter Olympics team unless the participants have regular top six finishes in their respective events at selected pre-Olympic qualifying meets. Sochi was a massive waste of NZOC cash, and a bit of a Ryderesque national embarrassment (without the alcohol).

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T O R Q U E TA L K

WHO’S FOR S CR ABBLE?

BY MARK SAINSBURY

I’ve had an embarrassment of riches lately. General Motors through my old colleague Neil Waka put a top of the line Calais at my disposal, but I’m waiting for the V8 SS to arrive next month to do a comparison. So I checked out Honda’s $63,500 Accord V6 NT Sport).

I

t’s slightly disturbing to drive models that were around when you had hair, then to see how they have matured and flourished and definitely got better with age. As a kid my dad had a Holden Belmont, three on the tree, rubber floors and bench seats. You almost need a science degree to bone up on modern cars. And same with the Honda. But the Accord has been around for decades and the 2014 model is literally a beauty.

Its styling looks European without being over the top. It’s a good looking car. Of course there’s the argument it’s hard to make a bad car these days. Technically the days of the lemon are over. Sure, some of the really cheap, and by that I mean under $20k, cars arriving from China have a little way to go with the NCAP ratings but look at everything else. It appears impossible to make a really dodgy motor any more. Even basic factory practices keeps most rust at bay and the brands that in the past you might have had a slight chuckle about, say Skoda and Hyundai, are now setting the standards.

So a Honda, which was great in the 80s, is what now? The thing I like about the Accord, and what I suspect attracts a lot of buyers, is that it exudes class. They haven’t succumbed, like so many others, to the temptation to use so many different fabrics and surfaces in the interior that it feels like a showroom. It is comfortable, tasteful and reassuring. And of course it’s bristling with acronyms.

Before we play scrabble with the spec list there is the engine. On opening the bonnet there it was staring at me, emblazoned across the three and half litre motor: EARTH DREAMS ENGINE TECHNOLOGY. It reminded me a bit of those Japanese imports which had the spare wheel cover sporting some piece of pop psychology such as “LIVE YOUR SUNSET FREE”. The good news is this engine actually has a dipstick for the oil. Previous readers may recall my horror at its being deleted from the new BMWs. Now, back to the acronyms. Let’s start with the engine. It is a great piece of engineering. Honda have had VTEC (variable 72

valve timing and lift electronic control) for a while; now they throw in VCN (variable cylinder management) which means part of the engine shuts down when it’s not needed. And don’t forget the AMC (active control engine mounts) LKAS (lane keep assist system) to stop you drifting into neighbouring lanes, CMBS (collision mitigation braking system) which puts the brakes on for you when you’re going to drive into the car in front, and works also with the ACC (adaptive cruise control), and then there’s the the LC (lanewatch camera) . This was a actually a good little trick. A camera mounted on the passenger mirror shows on the screen inside an 80-degree view of what’s going on, supplementing the 22-degree view the mirror gives you. It sounds gimmicky but if you’ve ever had a bike or a pedestrian suddenly heave into view this is fantastic.

So it’s got all the fruit and while it might take a little time to get to grips with it, (no different from a new phone I guess) it’s reasonably user friendly. But what I liked was the “feel” of the car. It feels substantial, and extremely well built. The finish was superb and the leather seats on this top-of-the-range model were supportive and perfect for a long trip.

To be honest I’m getting a bit worried. This is starting to sound like a traditional motoring column which is what I was determined it wouldn’t be but I blame the car. The Accord is a bit traditional in its own way. It’s not screaming “look at me”.

It is a car you would imagine never giving you a moment’s trouble. It’s reliable, classy and surprisingly quick. By that I mean it’s not a car you would associate with speed but the VTEC actually does its job. My one wish list item: A “heads up display”. Yes the one acronym the Honda − and all cars in my opinion − need is a HUD. For those not in the know, an HUD projects a sort of hologram over the bonnet giving you the speed and usually the local speed limit. It means you can monitor it without taking your eyes off the road. Brilliant! A bit like the Honda which for a lot less money than its European rivals gives you a lot of the same.

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B A B Y, B A B Y

L ION ROAR

BY MELODY THOMAS

H

aving just celebrated Sadie’s first birthday and the completion of an entire year as new parents, Baby Daddy and I have found ourselves in the precarious situation of appearing to know what we’re doing. It wasn’t long ago that I was pregnant, awaiting the end-of-life-as-I-knew-it, and I remember looking at friends with their babies and wondering how on earth it all worked. To us, parenting was a foreign country that even came with its own language (“BLW”, “AP”, “ferberising”... WTF?); a world of nap schedules and nappy changes and breastfeeding that completely defied our understanding and yet seemed second nature to every parent around us. In the last months before Sadie was born, when this information was still as alien to us as ever, our bewilderment grew to panic. When was someone going to come round and fill us in on how to do this?

And of course they never do. Labour starts, then a few hours or days later you find yourself holding a baby that’s apparently “yours”, and the nurses at the hospital or the midwife at home are leaving you all alone with this teeny tiny creature that’s completely reliant on you for its survival. It’s all fairly intense and on paper it looks like the kind of situation likely to end in disaster, but most of the time new parents figure out how to keep their baby alive and happy, and one day they wake up and their once-helpless infant is a chubby, toothy, cheeky one-year old. And they probably won’t be able to tell you how they did it – just that there was no other option but to get on with it and do the best they could.

As with anyone trying their hardest at something huge and scary and new, there will be mistakes. We have some pretty excellent Funniest Home Video-style footage of Sadie’s first trip to the swings at the park...

Baby Daddy strapping her in proudly, pulling her backwards and releasing; Sadie’s face innocent and joyous for all of a second before it slams full-force into the camera. She’s rolled down stairs, bitten her lip, been swallowed by a rogue wave and eaten food that was way too spicy – but while the parenting fails feel huge at the time, their importance fades until they’re barely remembered. And the successes, unrecognised and uncelebrated as they are, add up and grow in importance, contributing to a feeling of confidence and ownership that has no discernible root, but is stable and strong and unwavering.

I still find myself staring wondrously at those with older children – at the mother harrying her three school-aged ratbags into the car or the father walking through town with his scowling teenaged son. I might be a parent but I feel worlds away from where they are, and at a complete loss as to how I’m going to manage when that time comes for me. But at least now I know that I will manage; that if I’m lucky and I try my hardest and trust in the process, everything will turn out just fine.

And should the next few years bring fail after fail after fail, I can at least relax knowing that Sadie probably won’t remember any of it anyway. We can thank evolution for that.

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CALENDAR

CAFFEINATION NEW ZEALAND FESTIVAL OF COFFEE

THE COLOUR RU N Also known as the Happiest 5k on the Planet.

Get painted and get going!

30 March 9am, Trentham Memorial Park, Upper Hutt

BIG DAY DOWSE 2014

A two-day coffee tasting and educational experience as well as the Huhtamaki New Zealand Barista Championship competition.

An annual event of music, performances, visual arts, and activities for kids. There are food stalls and lots of grassy space for picnics.

22 March 10am, Shed 6

23 March, 12–6pm, Dowse Square

LITTLE SPARKS

NZSO CONCERT: LA DOLCE VITA

Interactive art day for children Introduce your four-year-old to The Dowse with a fun-filled session looking at and making art. Bookings essential. $5 per child.

11 March 1pm, The Dowse

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra performs Ottorino Respighi’s three Roman tone poems and Gareth Farr’s new commission, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, with Tony Lee on piano.

28 March, 6.30pm, Michael Fowler Centre

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CALENDAR

HAIER PULSE V THUNDERBIRDS

NZCT WELLINGTON DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL 2014

The first home game for the Haier Pulse in the 2014 ANZ Championship season.

Teams and schools from New Zealand and Australia will race

3 March 7:40pm, Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua

8 & 9 March, Frank Kitts Park

SUNDOWN SNORKEL Snorkel in the Taputeranga Marine Reserve led by Marine Reserves staff and volunteers.

6 March, 5–7pm, Island Bay Surf Club

SALSA AT SUNSET

Free salsa lesson and social dancing until sunset, with live Cuban/New Zealand band Calle Cuba.

6 March 5:45pm, Odlins Plaza

SPLASH AND DASH A swim and run event for all levels.

26 March, 7:30pm, Freyberg Beach, Oriental Pde

PHOENIX V ADELAIDE The Wellington Phoenix v Adelaide United in round 25 of the 2013/14 Hyundai ALeague season.

30 March 7pm, Westpac Stadium

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A L L IA NC E FRANÇAISE FRENCH FILM F E S T I VA L 2014 New Zealand’s largest French cultural event featuring recent French cinema.

Opens 19 March, Embassy Theatre

TOP DOG

Sue Dasler’s furry friend Bella keeps her company in her Lyall Bay workshop and store. When Bella’s not asleep under the table in her china shop, she’s encouraging her boss out for fresh air along the beach. Bella happily strides around among the fine china, but Sue says she’s astonishingly sure-footed and has never broken anything Photographed by Ashley Church 80