Havana Coffee Works - By Geoff Marsland and With Tom Scott

 Havana Coffee is a New Zealand institution. In the last twenty five years, Geoff Marsland built a business, a brand and several ways of life around late-night coffee houses, importing Cuban coffee, setting up plantations in the Pacific and bringing Coffee U Feel to the people.

The Havana Coffee Works Story is a biography of a home-grown business, from its beginnings in Cuba Street, Wellington to its current coffee empire status. A visual symphony of cars, cigars, cafes and coffee roasters. It is also a social history of Cuba Street and Wellington over the last three decades, with larger-than-life personalities, guts, determination and turf wars. 

If you’re after an energetic, inspirational business story, this autobiographical work will leave its mark.

After a challenging childhood and some tricky teenage years, Marsland spent his youth at sea on fishing boats and then in the fashion trade, before a visit to Vancouver changed his life for good. ‘Hooked by the aroma of strong coffee’, Marsland returned to New Zealand. In 1989, he opened Midnight Espresso Café and launched real coffee into the bloodstream of Wellington, kickstarting a nationwide cultural revolution around espresso machines and flat whites that continues to this day.

From Cuba Street to the island of Cuba, Marsland and his then business partner decided to buy and roast coffee beans themselves and, armed with a letter from their bank, set off for Havana. As the story goes, years later the son of Fidel Castro, also called Fidel, paid a visit to Marsland in Wellington at the HQ of Havana Coffee Works.What makes this book fun is the small details like nameing the chapters after Kiwi songs like 'Six Months in a Leaky Boat" and 'Take Me To The April Sun In Cuba' (obvious choice) and the intro by Scott himself (who describes his first time in the Havana empire building in Tory St.) This is a book with so many memories.  I personally remember the first year, as I rolled down the hill to Midnight Espresso after my sessions on Radio Active, drinking coffee long into the night and watching the interesting nightlife in Vivian Street (especially the street walkers). 

Packed with personal photos and annecdotes, this gives the full roast on the success of Geoff and the empire that is Havana.

The Groove Book Review - Hand Coloured New Zealand - The Photographs of Whites Aviation

Before Google maps, computers or even colour photography Leo White was in the air taking some of the most iconic aerial photographs of our beautiful country.
Leo White was born in Auckland on 4 July 1906. His lifelong love of photography was sparked as a young boy when he acquired a Brownie box camera. Before he turned 20, White was a photographic contributor to major major New Zealand periodicals - The NZ Herald, The Auckland Star and The Christchurch Weekly Press.
He also knew the importance of being first off the mark in publishing. When he covered important events outside of Auckland, White would always take his 'baby Austin' car to seal his chance at the first image. It meant he could race home and beat the competition, who generally travelled by train.
White captured some of the first images of Auckland from the air in 1921, beginning a lifelong passion for flying which he combined with his love of photography. By 1945 White established the now famous Whites Aviation Ltd.

In the early 1950s, White began shooting photos for a book he published in 1952, Whites Pictorial Reference of New Zealand. The book became a bestseller and encouraged White to take more photographs in various sizes as artworks for New Zealand homes and businesses.
Today the hand tinted photographs captured by Leo White are highly sought after and are a great reference to the history of New Zealand. Every single photo coloured by hand? Using cotton wool? Yes, such was the era of hand-coloured photography – a painting and photograph in one – the way you got a high-quality colour photo before colour photography became mainstream.  Some of New Zealand’s best hand-coloured photos were produced by Whites Aviation from 1945. For over 40 years, the glorious scenic vistas were a sensation, adorning offices and lounges around the land; patriotic statements within New Zealand’s emerging visual arts. Now, despite massive changes in society and photography, the stunning scenes and subtle tones still enchant, as coveted collectibles; decorations on screen; and as respected pieces of photographic art.

But, until now, the inspirational story has not been told; nor have the full stories of Leo White (company founder); Clyde Stewart (chief photographer and head of colouring); and the mission-critical ‘colouring girls’. Hand-Coloured New Zealand also presents New Zealand’s first published collection of hand-coloured photography, and the most extensive published collection of such photography in the world.

Whites Aviation Ltd was established 1945 by Leo White (1906-1967) to produce a series of popular illustrated publications of aviation history and aerial photography. White began to freelance as a photographer in the 1920s, and later worked for the Weekly News. He was closely involved with aviation in Auckland 1920s-1930s, and pioneered aerial photography in the region. He compiled Wingspread, a history of New Zealand aviation, in 1941; and served as a photographer with the RNZAF during WWII. During the early 1950s he covered New Zealand by air, taking photographs for Whites pictorial reference of New Zealand. In 1988 the business was purchased by Air Logistics.


http://www.pottonandburton.co.nz/store/hand-coloured-new-zealand

What an absolutely fabulous book.  A large coffee table format, biographical information about not only White, himself but his 'ladies' in the studio.  I learned that to further his company's income many of their commissioned photos were used not only for commercial and civic purposes but also recoloured for display on the walls of good homes all around New Zealand.

The photos of both iconic and lesser known landscapes are simply breath taking if you consider the planes used at the time - many not much more than what Jean Batten would have flown.  This book presents in A3 format many famous images including mountains and landscapes from the South Island and cith scapes like Christchurch - now forever changed.  This is the kind of book that will never date and you'll treasure it to return again and again to look and discover new things.  I'd recommend reading with a latte and a good record.  it's that kind of book, Groovers.

WOMAD 2017 Taster

Link to WOMAD 2017

Time to get up - 1951 cartoon

Real men prefer coffee!

Gentlemen, Get Your Daks on for the weekend

Groove Book Report: The Annual - edited by Kate De Goldi and Susan Paris (Gecko Press)

When I was a kid we had 'annuals' on our bookcase shelves in our cribs and holiday houses.  Normally they were Girl's Own or Boy's Own or The Scout Annual.  If you were really lucky you might get an old Andy Capp comic strip collection' or perhaps a Footrot Flats collection.  I spent hours pouring over these.  A real treat was a Christmas present from someone with connections to the Mother Country who bought me that year's Wizzer and Chips Annual or Buster.   The Beano was considered to risque and possibly too dodgy, too. ' Whatever the case, all of these were a collection of that year's work, with special emphasis on new or unreleased pieces or stories designed especially for the Christmas season.  Each Boy's Own or Girl's Own featured adventure stories, stories of bravery, some history and contemporary reference, activities and so on.  They were great.  As a kid they were really the internet in one book! Ok - so that's never going to happen again.  Times have changed.  But the idea of compiling as much variety into one book is still appealing.  And that's just what Gecko Press have done with  Annual.

 Mind you, as a parent I was a little reluctant to let my 7 year old put her greasy paws all over this wonderfully compiled collect.  Even the end papers, decorated by cartoonist Dylan Horrocks, are a work of art.  Gecko have long produced wonderful, thought provoking books tat are more artifacts than consumer items and this one is no exception. 

It all starts with The Tailor's Tale by Renata Hopkins, a short story about a girl, her grandfather and a 'treasure they made from things he stole'.  This is a wonderfully provocative little tale in that tradition of Storytime on RNZ Saturday Mornings.  It treats the reader with real care, engaging them with respect and teasing them to read on to completion.  Fear of missing out lurks under the surface.  

The next piece is one by Horrocks.  A bit of a twist on the old 'spot the difference'.  This one has two diversely different bedrooms, with the challenge: Spot the similarities.  Some are literal.  Some are referential or metaphoric.  Either way kids will love comparing the two fully illustrated pages.  Parents will enjoy comparing the clean with the messy room and using it as an example of good house keeping.  Back off, parents.  These kids are on holiday!

Tim Upperton offers us a little 'alternative' poetry with Kill List.  He wickedly writes about the secret plans to knock off the chimpanzees.  It's a funny and beautifully 'un-PC' take.  Deliciously, it challenges kid's own moral sensibilities in a world where such things cannot exist anymore.  He kidding, of course. But they know they are being manipulated and love it!  

Jonathan King's cartoon Holiday is a classic bit of Kiwi comic strip, the kind of thing that hides in school journals.  It starts all positive and clean but soon wanders into X-Files land pretty quickly. 

 

There are some dd 'adult' moments.  Such as the inclusion of a illustration of Tony Fomison's The Ponsonby Madonna, which sits opposite Catharina van Bohemen's description of the painting (Mother and Son).  This is an attempt to bring adult ideas into a child's world.  It may appeal to the more 'bookish' kids but some how I feel this is just a bit too intellectual for this kind of publication.   

Whiti Hereaka's story Stargazing is a nice touch and the illustrations by Rebecca Ter Borg bring his coming of age story to life subtly.  My 7 year old got some real insights out of this one, perhaps without  really grasping everything.  But that time will come.

Kate Camp gives us a poem about the 'Bloody Weather', accompanied by the most obvious choice cor reproduction Richard Warnock's illustration of birds and animals in a beautifully rendered black and white illustration.     

In all those old Boys Own there was always a story about a real person.  Some hero of science or politics.  Bernard Becket weaves mathematicians like Hungarian-American John Von Neuman, German Carl Gauss and American cosmologist Carl Sagan into his story Let Me Count The Ways, accompanied by some very stylish (Boy's Own) illustrations of the period. Boy did I learn a lot about the contribution of math (my worst subject at school) to the world! 

Like all good annuals there's plenty of crafts.  We learn how to make own 8 page book, how to recognize plants (Seeds - Joanna Orwin), and how to make dolls and rockets out of plastic bottles. 

For those with a mobile phone (and who doesn't have one) Jo Randerson's written a short film script for five players - Tahi, Toru, Rua Mum and Stick Monster (don't ask).

There's a bit for teenage girls from Steve Braunias call Selfies, a satire piece involving Richie McCaw, John Key, Lorde and Taylor Swift. What would it be like if Richie was a substitute teacher; John was the lawn mower guy; Lorde did the dishes: or Taylor did the washing up?  What if a zombie (not John Key) turned up for lunch, or if the whole lot turned up at a birthday party?  This was definitely the nuttiest piece.  I'm not sure it works though.  A bit contrite?  My 14 year old thought it was a bit lame? "John Key, Dad.  Really?"  True.  Shouldn't One Direction be there? ("Seriously, Day.  So last 5 minutes!")

Spray Can Renaissance was an interesting addition, incorporating an article and story about new street art popping up on Christchurch buildings. 

For Boys, Damien Wilkins writes a story about softball and Sally Bollinger rewrites the Hansel and Gretal story in a rather twisted cartoon. There's also a very cool treasure map.  Have a look below:



Edith Amituanai goes retro with a short piece and photo from 1978 about Pacific tattooing practices - another throwback to earlier annuals.

And then there's Barbara Else's Tingirl and The Crying Time.  This is a crazy sci-fi story based on those old novellas that you'd get in the Eagle, perhaps updated for kids of today.




It all finished with the most twisted board game, Naked Grandma, about a rather bizarre holiday programme and various (good and bad) activities along the way from the first day to the end of the hols.

All in all, I'd have to say this is a great collection.  All genre encompassing, inclusive, diverse and challenging.  A bit intellectual at times - adults get the kids involved in the selection - but overall a really strong timeless collection. 

Join the Coffeebar Kid and the rest of the Kids for a family Christmas special on Christmas Day!

Starting 10.00am NZ time and repeated 12 hours later for our overseas listeners :)

Thanks for tuning in over the year!

PS. The phone number above is no longer live.

On the 21st of Christmas Groove gave us the late Zsa Zsa Gabor

on the 20th Day of Christmas Groove Gave to us - Classic Xmas Commercials

Announcing the day schedule for WOMAD NZ 2017!

 

For the first time ever, the WOMAD schedule is being released prior to Xmas, helping you to make that early decision to postpone your holidays and head for Taranaki in March, when the weather's better, rather than suck it up in the January rains under wet canvas.  The schedule, link below, will shows all three day's line ups and where they are on the stages (subject to organiser's changes).  The full stage schedule including Nova Energy Taste the World, Kidzone, Te Paepae workshops and the new World of Words programme will be released on January 24th, 2017.
                        

Click HERE to be redirected to our website where you can download a PDF of the day schedule

On the 15th Day of Xmas Groove gave you Groovy Santa