Taken with my iPhone. Yeah you heard me. My iPhone*
*Not actually my iPhone yet as I haven’t paid my friend for it. She lent it to me to try out for a couple of weeks and now she’s never getting it back. It’s been like giftmas ever since she handed it over.
I’m such a dweeb.
I love rum. It’s my favourite alcoholic beverage. So when Jo put out the feelers for someone to accompany her to a Monday afternoon rum cocktail championship at Bettys my hand went up immediately.
10 of the top bartenders from around New Zealand competed for a chance to be flown to Cuba and represent NZ in the Havana Club final next year. I expected to see lots of interesting ingredients and fancy tricks and I wasn’t disappointed.
Arriving at 1 when the event was supposed to start meant we were unfashionably on time, but it also meant we got in on the free drinks (!) from the first round. Ginger beer, lime, and dark rum to start with. Yum.
Nearly all of the contenders were as good at entertaining as they were at bartending. With 10 minutes to create 3 drinks they still found plenty of time to make crude jokes and banter with the presenter. With cocktail names like butter my nuts, and one of the contestants claims that his pina colada will make 18 year olds putty in his hands, it didn’t take much more encouragement for Jo, Laura, and I to giggle loudly things like “give it a wet shake” and “it’s all about shaking the flesh”. More free cocktails probably helped. Jo’s twitter hashtag for the event was proving more and more accurate – #cockchamp.
Christchurch competitor Charles injected a kiwi flavour into his drinks and his humour. His first cocktail being a brojito which contained watercress and L&P and came with a side of fry bread in the shape of a pig face.
My award for most entertaining went to the final competitor of the day who was running very late due to being held up in customs. He arrived in a red bow tie and butchers apron claiming he was late because he was 3 cigars and a bottle of rum over his limit and had to “dispose” of them before he could get on the plane. He ended up going 4 minutes over his time allowance and said he’d have to share his photos of Cuba with the winner because there was no chance he’d get to go again.
In the end it was the sole female entrant – Claire Harlick of Matterhorn – that won. Girls just do it better.
Most entertaining trick – Pouring flaming liquid between jugs
Coolest looking drink – Pina colada in an old fashioned milk bottle
Tastiest cocktail (from the few samples we got)- A chocolatey porter beer concoction from Johnny of Hawthorne Lounge
Most impressed by – How many ingredients these perfectionists make from scratch!
While you could call me biased – I know a few of these guys personally and have been a big fan since I first heard them – there’s really no need to doubt my word though.
Afternoon Raj is a five piece band that mixes prog rock with reggae, dub, and ska influences. I love to skank so I have a huge amount of fun dancing to these guys! The Raj’s ringleader James Mason draws the crowd in with a huge smile and a genuine love for what he’s doing. Bede, Matt, Andrej, and Nick impress with guitar solos and great beats.
The crowd grows every time I see them play and more than a handful of us have learnt the words to their older songs. They know it and use it to their advantage! Their show on Saturday, at Wellington’s cool kid venue Mighty Mighty, kicked off with number one crowd favourite Lickity Split, a song that creeps up and kind of explodes. After a few originals guitarist Bede Eagle stole the mic to sing a cover (turns out it was another original!), I’m not sure what song it was but Brandon Boyd (of Incubus fame) could easily have been the one singing it. And then the short set concluded with a few newer originals.
Quite frankly I was relieved when the set finished, I was about to pass out from heat exhaustion. In a matter of 30 minutes I managed to go from tipsy and excited for the music, to AHH WOoo *dance* *dance*, to omg I think I’m going to drown in my own sweat, to I need fresh air and a chair or I’m going to throw up. It was awesome.
Afternoon Raj is the sound of Hawkes Bay in the big city, it’s the sound of summer, and it’s for dub and rock fans alike. These boys may work in offices by day but they’re drunk musical hippies at heart, singing at concerts bringing awareness to global warming and generally trying to save the world.
They’re yet to record an album, an album I’m looking forward to having on repeat, and I’m nervous about how they’ll capture their perfect live sound. They’re smart guys though, I’m sure they’ll figure it out.
Check out Afternoon Raj on Facebook and MySpace. (Don’t take the recordings on MySpace as an indicator of their talent, just an indicator of the style.)
Hear them in real life on the 6th of November at Watusi for a gig I am sadly going to be out of town for. :[
Photo credits to James Schollum
Does anyone else ever get the pleasure of greeting couriers, and on some occasions 3 young electrical company salesmen, in your dressing gown or an equally embarrassing state?
*****
Just as I was about to post this a courier showed up at my door. I was in my robe, and socks.
*****
Cupcakes and Mace has been down the last 12 or so hours. First the server ran out of space and then I found that my database had been deleted. If you commented yesterday afternoon it has been lost sorry.
Backup your data on a regular basis!
After spending the weekend at the Mt Victoria Bowling Club attending the first New Zealand WordCamp I feel a bit anxious about all the things I could be doing to this site that I haven’t done yet. I should have a store! I should have better menus! I should be pitching to the media! But I’m a terribly lazy girl and I probably wont do anything to improve until I feel like it’s worth my while.
Being away from my computer for two days while surrounded by geeks and technology gave me some withdrawals and I don’t know how to feel about them. I always consider myself a bit of a fraud when I claim to be a geek, I don’t know how to program or put a computer together, I just like the internet a lot and can follow instructions. If this weekend was anything to go by I’ve got nothing to be ashamed about, sure there were plenty of uber geeks running businesses dealing primarily with code but there were many like me as well. I felt welcome and comfortable.
I went in to WordCamp unsure how much I would get out of it. I was keen to hear more about the WP e-commerce plugin, and listening to Matt Mullenweg (one of the founders of WordPress) talk was bound to be good, but apart from that I had no expectations. I got more than I could have hoped for. For a taste of WordCamp I suggest you watch Matt’s Q&A session where he talks about the future of WordPress, his thoughts on opensource, and how he got to where he is now. It’s great, there is a reference to bunnies on crack.
Hearing everyone speak in such an organised yet informal setting confirmed I was in the right place. Not once did I feel like an unworthy imposter, almost all of the talks were relevant and interesting, with the exception of WordPress for iPhone and one or two others purely because I’m not interested in hardware and I don’t have an iPhone. Talks on keeping out of trouble with the law, being a media darling, and doing business were interesting to me as a blogger and business owner (it sounds so fancy saying I’m a business owner, I feel like a fraud again!).
The bonus came when my name was drawn out of a bag by Matt to win a 250Gb shock resistant hard drive. It came with NTI shadow backup software so I can backup my files automatically! Now I can be quite secure in the knowledge my photos and music are backed up in approximately 4 hard drives, all of them in the same room.
The best thing is that it doesn’t need an external power source. The Boy and I recently bought a one terabyte HD deciding to choose quantity over quality we got one that needs an external power source. I’m very stoked by this win. Look how tiny it is!
The two days were filled with geeky learning, sheep jokes, sunny weather, and free (sponsored) coffee (hot chocolates for me and Chickie Little). I would attend again in a heartbeat. And I encourage anyone trying to decide on a platform for their site to choose WordPress. Both the .com and .org options are fabulous and can handle amazing sites of all kinds, it’s not just a blogging tool.
If you get a chance to attend a WordCamp I suggest you do it. And for those of you still on blogger, make the move already!
A couple of weeks ago I learned through the blogging grapevine that WordCamp is coming to New Zealand for the first time. And I immediately thought what the hell is Wordcamp?
From the WordCamp NZ site:
WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. WordCamps are open to WordPress.com and WordPress.org users alike.
There should be interesting speakers and networking opportunities for both bloggers and developers. Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress, is a keynote speaker for the event! Early bird tickets are a steal at only $75+GST for both days and the price includes a tshirt. If you order before the 23rd of July your tee will be ready on the day so you can be an über nerd. Kinda like wearing a band’s tshirt to their concert. Except the only people likely to draw similarities between going to a concert and going to a geek gathering are the type of people that go to WordCamps.
Anyway…when I found out the event is being held only a few blocks from my house in Wellington, and after I convinced Chickie Little to come with me, I lost any excuses for not going. So on the 8th and 9th of August you’ll find me at the Mt Victoria Bowling Club attending WordCamp NZ. If you’re a WordPress user and you can get to Wellington on the 8th and 9th it would be great to meet up. Let me know if you’ll be around!
The results of the survey are telling me you want more photos. And seeing how the point of the survey is to give you more of what you like…here’s a summary of what I’ve been doing the past month.
Note that all of these photos look better when they’re bigger, if you’re interested. And they haven’t been messed with apart from the occasional crop.
10-17 May 2009 – Had a great trip to the Gold Coast of Australia and enjoyed a repeat of the rides at Dreamworld.
31 May 2009 – Back in New Zealand the weather is shit. It snowed in Wellington! Albeit the kind of snow that lasts only 30 seconds on the ground. But it’s not supposed to snow in Wellington making it a photo worthy occasion. I also kicked a glass right on the only hard surface that was close by causing it to shatter. :[
2-3 June 2009 – My last two days of sucky corporate office work. I was treated to a Tempt cupcake on the second to last day, and a whole bunch of Chickie Little’s cupcakes on my last day after a boozy long lunch.
5 June 2009 – After one day off work it was straight into 6am 8 hour drive to Hamilton. Thankfully I still don’t drive so while I slept and sang at the top of my lungs The Boy drove. I got some pretty sweet photos of the landscape by accidentally leaving the previous nights white balance active on the camera. Everything turned blue.
5 June 2009 – We had headed up to Hamilton for my sister 21st, it was a really short visit. My sister got wasted and I look terrible in all the photos, so instead I’m treating you to a couple of photos of the three eldest siblings when we were littlies. Aren’t my little brother and sister adorable in the left photo!?
7 June 2009 – And just like that it was time to go home again. Thankfully driving long distance in NZ is pretty.
June 2009 – Somewhere along the way I sold my first Cupcakes and Mace jewellery wholesale order. It was just a small one but very exciting to get. I came up with some new designs and took heaps of jewellery photos too.
15-16 June 2009 – Monday was beautiful and sunny, I nearly winded myself walking up the big hill to get to the trees near our house. I’m so unfit. Tuesday it all turned to shit again though, so fucking cold! I wish New Zealanders believed in insulation and central heating, our houses are ridiculous.
22 April 2009 – It’s the boys mums birthday and I think this bracelet I made suits her style a bit more than the cupcake necklaces.
24 April 2009 – The Boy and his friend led me on some crazy tiki tour to get to the I’m On A Boat party. We ended up not lost, and with some good photos. Choice. This is Wellington Harbour.
24 April 2009 – And this is the view of Petone from Oriental Parade.
24 April 2009 – Some crazy hippies spitting fire at the party.
25 April 2009 – The Boy’s dad is in town and takes us to Lone Star for dinner. This steak is absolutely humongous.
25 April 2009 – My plate of Lone Star mussels, and my other plate with potatoes and salad. Too. Much. Food!!
26 April 2009 – And then the weather turned to shit and it’s been raining pretty much ever since.
27 April 2009 – It’s that time of year when everyone remembers that they didn’t fix the leaks from last year, and they still haven’t gotten around to resealing the doors.
You may not be able to beat Wellington on a good day but when you walk home in the hot sun wearing a black dress, thick tights, socks, sneakers, and a back pack it makes you feel like walking into the sea!
That’s right, you heard it here first, Wellington will finally get JB Hi-Fi on Monday the 8th of December. I won’t get to see it on it’s first day as I’ll be in a rather compromising situation (more on that later).
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence 2008-2012.
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