Child of the Planet

I really like small theaters, and the BATS ( Bane and Austin Touring Society ) is a brillent little venue right in the middle of Wellington. I hear from my young cousins that local Kiwi soapy stars sometimes appear in the BATS manning the ticket counter.The entrance looks like it was originally a shop front, and is just down the road a bit from Pete Jackson's Embassy cinema (I hear that PJ stepped in to rescue the BATS when they fell onto hard times recently). The tiny theater is wonderfully shambolic includng a cozy bar where one can get a drink, and take it in with you to the theater. While it's nice to not have to empty your glass before enjoying the performance, unfortunately on the night we were there, someone lost control of an empty. The poor actors valiantly tried to ignore the bottle as it clunked about on the floor. Into the Uncanny Valley Alice in physics land This is the second time I've experienced a production at the BATS. First time around I saw 

Discovered a new cider while out in Wellington last night. Nice big bottle! Great label which ordinarily would indicate sub standard contents, but in this case the pretty wrapping was matched by a very quaff-able drink. Fruity taste with a bit of colour. kjdbrewing.co.nz Review... www.stuff.co.nz/Cider-on-comeback Other bits... its-becoming-cider-world.html politics-of-cider

Eggs laid almost on the path Saturday morning I was woken by the door to the bedroom shaking in it's frame. Gradually the vibrations spread through the whole room. I don't ever remember experiencing an earthquake before and I was struck by the noise. I thought that the 'all encompassing rumbling tone' that I've heard at the movies was an Hollywood affectation. I was lying warm and comfy under the covers thinking 'I don't want to get out of bed so I'll just see how bad it gets'. If the coffee doesn't stimulate enough! As the vibrations continued I started to formulate a plan for what I was going to do if I decided that it was worthwhile getting up. Possibly bits of plaster falling from the roof would have been a decent indicator? Makara beach is a twenty minutes from the Wellington CBD. The small village sitting on the coast is typified by it's cafe. Weathered and grey, but eventually humming with activity. Our group arr

Summer day in Wellington and I discovered that a new diving platform has been installed in the wharfs surrounding the harbour. These are a series of photos of people enjoying the rush of air and the stinging slap of the waters surface...

I feel much safer knowing this The hike had a good start in front of the large modern sculptures in the grounds of the Parliament buildings. Then we walked through some atmospheric old cemetery's. The scenery wasn't very inspiring as we wound through the grounds of Victoria University and surrounding suburbs. The sign posting wasn't that great either. Things picked up as we entered the cities outer suburbs and headed towards the beaches. Dodgy signposting We passed by cricket fields, a golf coarse,  rabbit infested hill sides and was buzzed by a chopper which we joked was probably up there searching about for marijuana plots. A lunch stop in a featureless field  but a much more interesting short photo stop at a native stone carving . I discovered a handy Tsunami level warning, and a strange little pie shop. citytosea.pdf

The big sliding doors that open out into the courtyard are open tonight. Well they were, until some old biddies arrived and complained. Once again I'm locked in a stuffy room. As the band was being introduced, a local 'crusty ol barstad' suddenly stood up, as though it was a town hall meeting. He announced that he Didn't like 90% of music, and that he usually didn't stay for the entire show, but that he felt the Douse music should be more widely advertised! Did he feel that the community coming together was important? Our small group occupying a table up the back, included a guy who had driven up from Wellington. This is novel as it's said that the trip out of the city is much longer then the trip in. The music Jessy James and the Outlaws Ambient. No drums! Waltz timings used a bit. Thoughtful music. Dude in the band makes Guitars. At first I didn't think that this was much of a 'live band'. Not really suited to a r