Saddlebacks: back in the saddle
You could say it’s just a tree stump; or you could say that it’s a hallowed place, a spot where something truly special occurred. For in this stump, on a […]
Fanfare for the Commons man
Jeremy Commons used to put on drawing-room operas. He doesn’t now, but for 14 years he ensured that these intimate dramas were regularly re-enacted, for a small audience of the […]
The cat guardian
One day last year, when I was poking around the grounds of the big semi-derelict house on the corner of Abel Smith and Willis Street, I noticed a sign that […]
Every machine is different
Simon Haxton was once an operator. If you played a pinball machine in Wellington any time up until about 2008, there’s a good chance it was one of his. You […]
Here for an iconoclastic time, not a long time
“Most of my friends”, says Nicola Young, “are screaming lefties.” This is apropos of the view in some parts that the city’s newest councillor — one who happens to have […]
Secrets and ties
On the wall behind me, a long-hidden secret is being brought into the light. The secret is a tiled mural of Māui fishing up the North Island, and it was […]
Of pagan gods, backyard cricket and invented traditions
“It is,” says Kelvin Aris, “a serious business, being funny.” Which is to say, the more seriously you frame something, the more opportunities there are to be silly. Kelvin and co-conspirator […]
On the trail of the short-jawed kōkopu
Under our feet, the fish are swimming. Under the Basin Reserve, under Kent and Cambridge terraces, under Vivian and Aro streets, they make their way from the harbour, up stormwater […]
Life in counterpoint
“I like art,” Robert Leonard says, “that plays counterpoint with me.” Partly this is the love of contrasts, of having two melodic lines that play at once, but fit together: […]
Getting over the whoopsie
At age 60, when most people are contemplating retirement, Mark Peck flung himself back into the arena of conflict that we call politics. The decision to run for Wellington City […]
