swimming, Hataitai Beach

Hi there

Well, J and I have had a little bit of a glitch re our swimming, but we're now happily back on track.  Today we went to Hataitai Beach.  It was weird having to do the long wade (trudge?) into the water instead of plunging straight down from the steps.  The steps leading from the changing shed deck down into the water are no longer at Hataitai Beach because of The Storm. I hope Wellington City Council will rebuild them before summer. Wouldn't it be awful if they decided swimmers didn't need them any longer?  We didn't stay all that long in the sea because I think I have a bit of a cold coming on.  Usually, after my swim, my hands and feet usually turn into ice blocks for, at least, two hours.  Today, though, not at all.  Maybe we should look seriously at cutting down on the length of our swims at this time of the year?   Or not....   The trouble is, J and I are so competitive. Neither of us can bear (bare?) to be outdone by the other one.  It only needs one of us to wonder aloud about doing another width of the bay, and the other shouts something like "You're on!" and is off like flying fish.,

One of the regulars was there.  But he's not a swimmer.  He washes his clothes in plastic bags from the tap on the deck, then hangs the clothes somewhere to dry.

I went to the New Zealand annual science fiction convention last weekend.  I was roped in to sitting on a panel and when I agreed to do this I didn't realise that, time-wise,  the one session I wanted to see was  directly opposite my panel:  this was the session given by the guys at Weta!   Drat....  So, I was grumpy the whole weekend.  Especially when it also meant that because of the convention, I missed on hoofing down to see the NZ premiere of "At the World's End", with guests Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman, and Benedict ('Sherlock' and 'Star Trek') Cumberbatch .

Here's a pic I took of  a a guy from The Shire of Darton, the Medieval and Renaissance Society.

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Martin Freeman Q & A session at Roxy Theatre, Miramar, Wellington

Hi there

Yesterday I attended a movie screening of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".  I prefer the original tv series where the story, because of length, was explored more leisurely.   I also love the audio version which I still listen to on long car journeys.  Having Martin Freeman (Bilbo, "The Hobbit"), however, in the film version was great casting.  I don't think anyone else could have done filmdom's Arthur Dent better

We were not allowed to talk to Freeman about "The Hobbit" or take photos of him during the Q & A session, sorry.  I did have a chance as he walked in the door, but by the time I dithered, he had taken a seat two rows in front of me.  During the Q & A session, surprise was expressed to Freeman that he would want to sit through the movie yet again but he admitted, with a grin, that he never passed up a chance to watch himself on tv or movies whenever he could.   He told us he hadn't seen "Hitchhiker" in a few years and before that occasion, not since the London premiere.  

Freeman told the audience that the only job he had ever had was acting, He went into the theatre straight from drama school, and was seriously thrown by lots of stagey directions, eg."banana the table" and "favour the wall".

There is a scene in "Hitchhiker" where he and others are running toward the "Heart of Gold" spaceship, and this was all before the days of CGI.  Pyrotechics were being used and, for some reason, the cast were being shot at with hard pellets .  Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) got shot in the back and yelled out to stop filming.  It was so highly dangerous.

Freeman said he so admired the scenery in the south Island, and he loved Stone Street Studios. 

He told how he loved working with Ricky Gervais, and that filming with the guy was hilarious.  Gervais had the cast in fits of laughter so much it was surprising they put out as much work as they had.

One (silly?) audience member asked Freeman who would he go for if he was gay.  Answer (tongue in cheek) : Bill Nighy!

He was also asked how a young person could make it in the business.  "You must love it  Love it!", Freeman shouted   He said a person must seriously want to act, and not just want to be famous.

I'm Singin' in the Rain, lah-de-dah-dah ....

Hi there

This week, I went to The Roxy picture theatre in Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand to see "Singin' in the Rain".  This is such a well-known picture to me that I was mentally chanting all the dialogue with the actors.   I couldn't get over the fact that the picture was in pristine condition.  Wonderful colours, so vibrant-looking.  "An American in Paris" will be on later this month.

I went to the matinee and, goodness, there couldn't have been one audience member under the age of 60!  Ah, nostalgia, it's a wonderful thing.  We were obviously all reliving earlier days.  I do believe the 20-somethings went to the night-time session.

The Roxy put on a devonshire tea before-hand for us.  Movie and devonshire tea came to only $12.50.   Good on ya, Roxy.

This coming Sunday, there will be a matinee of "Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy", another movie I know almost intimately.  And with the added bonus that Martin Freeman, the star of that picture and also Bilbo in "The Hobbit" movies will be doing a Question and Answer session afterwards.  I hope the audience will be given five or so minutes before the discussion to take photos.  And I mustn't forget to take my towel!

Here are two pictures.  1)  our devonshire tea.  2)  a small portion of the Roxy's 1st floor ceiling (2nd floor, for the benefit of my one American reader).  

The Roxy decor is art deco mixed with robotic!  If you want to go upstairs and see the ceiling, just ask the kind folk at the box office or in the cafe.  The ceiling is definitely worth a look.  The Roxy often have Weta staff exhibits on the 1st floor, too.  A 'Thunderbirds' exhibit will be featured soon.

"The Hobbit" World Premiere in Wellington, New Zealand

Okay, yes, I've now learnt that premier has an 'e' on the end of it so, henceforth, I will try to remember to type the word 'premiere!

I got down to Courtenay Place about 9.45 a.m.  Most of the front rows were taken but I managed to find a front row possie just around the corner from the red carpet and opposite the stage which was all done up to resemble a hobbit burrow in the side of a hill, and had two hobbit doors.  The band playing a couple of times during the wait was Neil Finn's who is singing the 'mountain morn' song on the soundtrack of "The Hobbit".  He's one of NZ's favourite top evergreen singers.  Check out his pedigree.

It was very very very hot.  There were over 100,000 of us squashed together.  There were lots of people dressed up, mainly as hobbits.  They looked so good.  Thousands upon thousands of tourists who had come expressly for the premiere.  Red Carpet Tours had a group there and they seemed to be really enjoying themselves.

 I sat on the ground, then stood up, then on the ground, then stood up... and it continued like this until 3 pm.    After the first few hours  a maintenance crew came out with ladders, tools and posters.  They immediately transformed the traffic lights in front of me into a giant Gandalf monolith , thereby blocking half my view.  I managed to squeeze sideways a couple of feet away from the monolith. After another couple of hours, a very very big camera on a crane took up residence in front of me in my new position,  blocking a lot of the stage.  Then some security guys stood in front of the one bit of stage that I could now see.   From 3 pm until 7.30 I stood up, and please remember I had a sore foot!

I hardly saw a celebrity on the red carpet because right beside me on the corner was a group of PETA animal rights campaigners complaining about mistreatment of animals on the movie set (this is complete rot because the SPCA was on the set all the time and they said the animals were treated very well) and they waved placards. They did not reveal themselves until the last second.  Naturally the stars scooted away from these people, so no star really came near where I was standing.  After a while, a group of security people stood directly in front of the PETA people holding up their own (Hobbit) placards trying to block off the PETA ones, but not before the press had had a field day taking pictures of the PETA folk.

I did spot James Cameron, director of "Avatar" for a brief moment.  He's a NZ citizen now and lives in the Wairarapa, somewhere near Peter Jackson's estate.  All the 'dwarfs', too, were there, but honestly, there were so many of them that I got all muddled up with who was who.

At 6 pm, the speeches began and I managed to get some photos (well about 50 actually and here's just a few of them) but by now the sun was lowering and it was shining in the wrong direction. Oh dear. I truly don't believe I'll go to any more premieres. It's just not worth it anymore, what with the long wait, the heat, and having waited 8 hours I only got to see folk on the stage for a short time and by then I was almost on the verge of collapsing (hey, old person here, remember?).

 Elijah Wood  (See a PETA placard being held a-high over to the left?)

 James Nesbitt

 Peter Jackson emerging out of hobbit burrow onto the stage.

 Peter Jackson with MGM and Warners reps.  Thank you reps for finally letting us make "The Hobbit" in New Zealand.  But you almost gave us all nationwide heart attacks for a week or so!

 Peter Jackson with Hugo Weaving

 Peter Jackson greets our Prime Minister, John Key.

 James Nesbitt and Martin Freeman.

 Cate Blanchett emerging from hobbit burrow.  She showed a leg first!

 Sylvester McCoy and Barry Humphreys.

 Andy Serkis

Richard Armitage (Thorin) in centre

 

 

 

Russell Crowe and me (plus Hobbit stars)

I felt sad when it was announced that film actor Russell Crowe and his wife had split.  I never used to think much of Crowe's telephone-throwing and tantrum antics.  In other words, I paid attention to the press who must hound Crowe all the time. 

A year or so ago, he appeared at a charity cricket match at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, in aid of the Christchurch earthquake victims  (his cousin is a New Zealand top cricketer).  Crowe was also born in New Zealand.  Many of the Hobbit cast took part in the cricket match.

I was standing by an enclosure when Crowe went past.  I asked the woman standing next to me if she would take a photo of me with Crowe in the background.  From halfway up some steps, Crowe noticed what was going on.  He came back down and over to me.  He asked the woman to take a proper photo of us.  After she'd done that he said, "Let's take another one, just for luck.".

He was a true gentleman.  And here's a photo.

I also took this very (very) long-range photo of  Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Mark Hadlow (dwarf), and Martin Freeman (Bilbo).

and just for your viewing pleasure, here is picture I took of Ian McKellen.