Nico's Journal

This afternoon we went to see a ground-breaking and wordless NZ film, This is New Zealand, made in 1969 for the 1970 Expo in Japan. I saw it many years later in the UK, but till now it hasn't been shown that much because it needs three screens. I thought it might have dated, but damned if it didn't give me goosebumps all over again as we soared over the Alps to the intermezzo movement of Silbelius's Karelius suite. It's only 20 minutes long, but it is a magnificent, glorious, emotional experience. My Irish friend who came with us said it gave her chills up her spine too. We got to talk to the director, Hugh McDonald, afterwards too which was fascinating. The film is only being shown now because Peter Jackson's company remastered it to be shown digitally without the specialised equipment once needed. If it's out on DVD next year as they hope, I'm so buying it.

The film was preceded by two other films from the era: a doco about the 1980 Expo by the same director (domes! monorails! living in the future!) and a travel film from the 70s made for Australia and shown for laughs, I think (bad puns, mini skirts, female tourists in elaborate hairdos, glittery blue eye-shadow, enormous false eyelashes, and what looked like fake tans).

Oh and I bought a coffee from Stark's Bar.

( For the Farscape fans )

I went into town yesterday because the Civic Theatre, the magnificent 1920s theatre used in King Kong, was open for the Auckland Heritage Festival, and I love it. I used to go there when it was a cinema, which it still is during film festivals. It's an amazing place: the auditorium is like a sultan's palace open to a starry sky, and I've always adored what I thought were lionesses with glowing eyes crouched either side of the stage. I found out yesterday that they are in fact Syrian panthers. The rest of the cinema is an extraordinary mixture of Hindu, Buddhist, and African themes. I took two more pictures to add to my Civic Theatre gallery.

[Edit:] Thanks to glitterboy1 for finding this: very cool virtual tours of the Civic Auditorium and Wintergarden.

It was not a good day however. As part of the festival, I did some painting which was stolen while it was drying. No one else's was taken. Just mine. Someone is passing it off as theirs now.

I was so upset that the Aotea Square craft market failed to cheer me up. I just got some lunch (Indian) and some hand-made chocolates and some coffee and went home -- but not before taking a picture of the new espresso coffee van there that Stark's Bar run, complete with what I can't see as anything but a Stykera logo. :-)

( Buddhas, elephants, and Stark's )

I'm off to Hamilton for the day, so I'll catch up with my f-list when I get back.

We're meeting a friend for lunch, then we're all going to the Hamilton Gardens, which are done in different styles (Japanese, Egyptian etc) and very beautiful. I shall get pictures.

And in the evening, it's the Vilagrad Winery for dinner and a show: comedy with Gary McCormick and Tim Shadbolt, though only trixieteitz and imhilien will know who they are.

'Vilagrad', incidentally, means 'hometown', but it's perfect for our Vila--they do a lot of parties--and he could supply Stark's Bar in Auckland. :-)

The annual international film festival starts here next week, and I've booked 10 films in three weeks. This is up on last year but I've been to as many as 17 in the past. I'm especially looking forward to the three Miyazaki films I haven't yet seen.

In the back of the festival catalogue is an advertisement for Stark's Bar which I've mentioned here before because both the name and logo fascinate me.



You'd swear by both that it was owned by a Farscape fan but it's named, as I suspected, for Freda Stark who was a famous dancer at the Civic Theatre (which the bar is right beside) and a gay icon. I'm not sure what the logo stands for, but for those who are interested in Freda, a fascinating woman with an equally intriguing life, here's a bit about her biography.

Or a few hours anyway, in which I pick up my car, go to the market, see Stark and Tarrant (in a way) and get my tickets to the UK.

( What I did )