Friday randomness
Tonks for the memories
Among the exhibits at the Architecture School graduate exhibition (at the Vivian St campus until the 20th of November) will be a few "Architecture in the Community" projects specific to Welington. Matthew French has designed a New Zealand Human Rights and Development Centre for the northern end of the waterfront. Charlotte Goguel proposes an autism day-care centre for the former defence camp at Shelly Bay.
And, perhaps most intriguingly, Ruth Wivell presents a scheme for the relocation of Te Aro buildings on the completion of (read "in the aftermath of") the bypass. Are we to read anything into the fact that the contact person for the exhibition has the very Te Aro name of Amanda Tonks?
Lounge against the machine
This is completely unrelated to Wellington, but I couldn't resist. The new album by Richard Cheese (horrid pun obviously intended) is out now: Aperitif for Destruction. Of course, lounge covers of contemporary rock songs are nothing new (where are you, Mike Flowers?) but anyone who can bring the swing to Guns 'n' Roses, carry off a bossanova version of Sunday Bloody Sunday and make Alanis Morrissette sound almost half decent deserves a tip o' the fedora.
I've been waiting for this since I read Mr Cheese's interview with Modern Drunkard magazine (yes, I do own a collection of back issues - why do you ask?). Which reminds me: can the lounge revival revival be far away? And to bring it back to Wellington, where would be the best local venue for this revival to occur?
Mystery bar revealed
Oh people, I had such faith in you. No bar, pub, club or booze barn could open in this burg without one of you (yes, you) identifying it from the blurriest of photos. But mystery bar number 9 had you completely baffled, so I'll have to put you out of your misery.
It's Mojo Invincible, the Willis St branch of the coffee chain which has been taking over Wellington. Until recently, this was a daytime café like the rest of them, but a few weeks ago it started opening late from Thursday nights, with a wine list from sommelier extraordinaire Stephen Wong (formerly of Matterhorn and Rouge fame) and some very acceptable tapas. The name comes from the Art Deco building (Invincible House) that it shares with what must be the most impressively named convenience store in the world - The Invincible Dairy.
posted by Tom @ 2:15 pm
4 Comments:
Not much chance at this branch: it's up near the corner of Willis and Dixon (opposite Eclipse and near D-Vice, if that's the sort of landmark that is most memorable...), safe from the Parrot and associated Winstonian happenings.
I wasn't aware that the lounge revival needed a revival. Then again, I was until recently unaware that the current mod scene is a different wave to the 90s mod scene (which was a revival of etc etc), so consider me to be hopelessly out of touch.
Fear Factor stunt to try: go into a heavy metal pub near a UK housing estate, and put on Mr Richard Cheese's version of "Enter Sandman". Bask in the glow of perplexed faces for a few seconds, and then run like hell.
I think that place used to be called The Brix?!
Like Jo I thought it was the Mojo next to Green Parrot, but was thrown off by the vino.
Do the same boys make the tapas served at the Mojo in the State Insurance Building? (ex BNZ Building on cnr Willeston & Willis Sts)
I think thet Mojo Invincible occupies a space that used to be a little Vodafone shop. It's next to a kids' clothes shop, and just up from the old Settlement (which is currently in some strange sort of limbo).
I haven't been to the State Insurance branch (I still want to call it the BNZ, too!), so I'm not sure if they're the same tapas. It's all very simple stuff (smoked salmon, olives, cheese etc), really just a selection of ingredients, but sometimes that's all one wants.
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