Lawrence Arabia - Live at Crystal Palace, Auckland

From Friday night’s performance at the Crystal Palace with a harried looking Sean Donnelly on the undercard.  "He’s right up there amongst the best this boy Lawrence", reckons photographer Trevor Villers.  "Not only is he a damn fine musician he’s something of a patriot too, exhorting us all to stand for the playing of the National Anthem at the beginning of his set.  Lots of flag waving and patriotic fervor!  All good stuff!"  

Also see the review at http://www.13thfloor.co.nz/?p=71177

 

Photos by Trevor Villers;  Email:    trevor@villers.co.nz  / Web:     www.villers.co.nz

Photos by Trevor Villers;  Email:    trevor@villers.co.nz  / Web:     www.villers.co.nz

NZ International Film Festival - NZ’s Best Short Film Winners Announced

Congratulations to the winners of the fifth annual New Zealand’s Best short film competition. The winning shorts were announced on stage at the Civic Theatre in Auckland on Saturday night. The Madman Entertainment Jury Prize for the Best New Zealand Short Film at NZIFF 2016 was awarded to Wait, directed and written by Yamin Tun. The jury noted in their citation that they were particularly impressed with the film’s authorial vision and use of visual language to carry the emotional story. Writer and Director Yamin Tun receives a cash prize of $5,000. Wait was also selected as the recipient for Wallace Friends of the Civic Award. The finalists for this award were assessed by Sir James Wallace and ​Associate ​Producer/Director Grae Burton. The filmmaker receives a cash prize of $3,000 and is the recipient of the re-introduced Golden Elephant, formerly a tradition when receiving the Friends of the Civic Award at the Festival. The 2016 Audience Award, which will take home 25% of the box office takings from screenings in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, was awarded to The King. In 2015 the prize was valued at $4,800. Carthew Neal, producer, Emily Perkins, author, and Buffy McKinnon, representative for donor, Madman Entertainment, judged the six short films selected by Lee Tamahori. The six short films in the competition were Spring Jam (dir: Ned Wenlock), Cradle (dir: Damon Duncan), Wait (dir: Yamin Tun), Shmeat (dir: Matasila Freshwater), Judgment Tavern (dir: Dean Hewison), and The King (dir: Ursula Grace Williams). The New Zealand’s Best 2016 shorts programme will screen around the country with NZIFF. NZ films at NZIFF are proudly supported by Resene. Read more about the jury's notes on our website.

Ugly Bagels are Cool! - Al Brown's Best Ugly Bagels hit Cuba ST (Swan St, to be precise)

Parked in a former workshop just off upper Cuba Steet, behind the Floridita’s is Al Brown’s latest venture – Best Ugly Bagels. This is the Wellington version of his successful business modeled on the legendary bagel bakeries in Montreal  Until recently the site had provided storage for a second hand bookseller.  Gone are the shelves and ephemera and instead the space has been increased to a cavernous size incorporating a 12 tonne wood fired oven.  In homage to it’s former life, the restaurant sparsely decorated in an industrial style, walls painted but not fixed.  Even the toilet still looks like a garage WC, albeit much cleaner and no grease stains on the hand towel. The bagels are made by hand, boiled in honey water and laid out to cook in a massive stone oven like pizzas being paddled into a basket and sold almost immediately.  Fresh is key. To get the technique just right, Brown and team actually legged it all the way to the  St Viatuer, a store in Montreal,l to train with local bakers and learn the craft.   

Brown got the idea for these sweeter styled bagels from an early OE visit to his Aunt in Toronto many years ago.  The story goes that the Jewish bakers of the city could not get hold of enough kosher salt, essential in the baking process.  The result is a slightly more cake-like texture, softer on the inside, than the traditional chewy New York style bagels, but with a crunchier exterior.   Brown knows his market, too, and as a point of difference off a number of ‘Kiwi’ toppings including organic peanut butter, hazelnut butter, jams and Marmite alongside more exotic offerings such as banana, nuts and maple mars alone or cream cheese, tomato and lemon fennel oil (known as a White Rabbit).

Today, at a private opening for friends and whanau I got to try the schmeer, a bagel with Moera’s Zany Zeus cream cheese, which highlights to light texture and the crunch factor, emphasized by plenty of tasted sesame seeds, providing a wonderful long-time memory on the palate.

 http://www.bestugly.co.nz/

Ugly Bagels are Cool! - Al Brown's Best Ugly Bagels hit Cuba ST (Swan St, to be precise)

Parked in a former workshop just off upper Cuba Steet, behind the Floridita’s is Al Brown’s latest venture – Best Ugly Bagels. This is the Wellington version of his successful business modeled on the legendary bagel bakeries in Montreal  Until recently the site had provided storage for a second hand bookseller.  Gone are the shelves and ephemera and instead the space has been increased to a cavernous size incorporating a 12 tonne wood fired oven.  In homage to it’s former life, the restaurant sparsely decorated in an industrial style, walls painted but not fixed.  Even the toilet still looks like a garage WC, albeit much cleaner and no grease stains on the hand towel. The bagels are made by hand, boiled in honey water and laid out to cook in a massive stone oven like pizzas being paddled into a basket and sold almost immediately.  Fresh is key. To get the technique just right, Brown and team actually legged it all the way to the  St Viatuer, a store in Montreal,l to train with local bakers and learn the craft.   

Brown got the idea for these sweeter styled bagels from an early OE visit to his Aunt in Toronto many years ago.  The story goes that the Jewish bakers of the city could not get hold of enough kosher salt, essential in the baking process.  The result is a slightly more cake-like texture, softer on the inside, than the traditional chewy New York style bagels, but with a crunchier exterior.   Brown knows his market, too, and as a point of difference off a number of ‘Kiwi’ toppings including organic peanut butter, hazelnut butter, jams and Marmite alongside more exotic offerings such as banana, nuts and maple mars alone or cream cheese, tomato and lemon fennel oil (known as a White Rabbit).

Today, at a private opening for friends and whanau I got to try the schmeer, a bagel with Moera’s Zany Zeus cream cheese, which highlights to light texture and the crunch factor, emphasized by plenty of tasted sesame seeds, providing a wonderful long-time memory on the palate.

 http://www.bestugly.co.nz/