Wednesday, November 28, 2012

scenes from middle earth...








it was an interesting day for the city of wellington, new zealand as it hosted a massive Hollywood, er, Wellywood style world premiere for the upcoming Hobbit film which opens in this country on December 13th.

The Hobbit and all the politics surrounding it has been a source of controversy for a number of months.  These issues were well encapsulated in a recent NY Times article from this past week (see here). The contradictions and feelings evoked for the film, the premiere, the politics and the hoopla (the premiere closed down Wellington's major artery, Courtenay Place, which happens to be just down the street from where I live) were evident in two interactions I had early this morning.

The positive energy was present around the 500 metre red carpet, where fans decked out with elves' ears, hairy feet and long travel to get here for the premiere (I met three sisters who had travelled here from san diego on a tour that brings them around New Zealand to visit many of the film's locations) were everywhere.

On the flipside, the local barista and the customers picking up coffee at a local cafe were mocking the whole affair, joking that they'd grab some water and stand there in the hot sun for the next 5 hours until the stars walked the red carpet.

I disregarded the sarcasm and spent a couple hours getting my vitamin d on, taking some photos, running into random friends and people watching. It was an interesting cultural get together that had tens of thousands of people hanging out, watching big t.v. screens and waiting to glimpse the stars of the film, who coincidentally aren't the biggest of the big "superstars."  It had me think that Hollywood is quite remarkable in the way it self props itself up and creates such spectacle. After all, the red carpet was by them and for them. As a neighbor muttered in the elevator back up to my apartment, "Hmm, makes you wonder why we don't do this kind of stuff for doctors saving lives..." True indeed.

The people tended to love it, me at times too. It was great people watching as I stood in the sun eating a cone of after 8 ice cream (mint chocolate chip) and just watching in awe the hordes of people... A sociologist from the planet Jupiter or the city of Hoboken would've had a field day.

So above are some scenes from this land of mythical fables and film premieres, the middle of middle earth as it is affectionately known as and re-branded for next month or so...

love and health to all...

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

a view from paekakariki, new zealand...


november 2012.

love and health to all...

Friday, November 23, 2012

last days in the states...


walking along the santa cruz cali shores in late september with a crane...

kids playing in the sand, ships aground, piers and life...

love and health to all on this stateside day of fams...

Friday, November 16, 2012

newtown troopin'





this morning, i woke up and had to upload a presentation to that website dropbox.  it took me some time to figure out how to upload the file to the specific folder it needed to be in.  that process had me clicking on folders i had had in my dropbox for some time, including a long time curated folder that has most probably the best name for any digital folder in the entire world.

as i thought, hmm, what's in here, i found an album had been placed there by one of the folks privy to its contents. it was a short album by the harlem based rapper azealia banks, whose music i have always liked though i'd never had the chance to listen to more than one or two of her tracks. so between a few emails and texts, a greek salad, a ring from the auto electrician about my fixed car windows, a phone call from brooklyn, and sifting through these photos, i listened to that album titled, 1991. ah yes, those we're the good old nyc days...

yesterday, i trooped up from where i live to the small and very diverse wellington neighborhood of newtown.  it was a lovely walk and a lovely day. i headed up the hill, past the hospital and on my way stopped to snap some interesting murals i saw along my way.  the main street in newtown, riddiford road, was full of folks from all over the world and the public library was a wonderful melting pot of continents and colors...

snaps from a november thursday morning in wellington, new zealand.

love and health to all...

Thursday, November 15, 2012

a southern hemisphere solar eclipse...


yesterday mid-morning, the landscape turned an eerie dusk-ish auburn yellow as the northern tip of the north island of new zealand experienced an almost complete solar eclipse...

i don't know if i had seen a solar eclipse of such clarity and even my digital camera was confused, "what time of day is it?" it wondered and "what colors are those?" the technology was baffled as i took a few snaps into the sky, sure not to look into that sun...

what must have the peoples navigating these ancient south pacific seas wondered back in the day...

love and health to all...

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

democracy.


it's moments like these when i'm reminded that democracy is such a beautiful thing...

barack obama and abe lincoln repping down here in wellington a few months back...

love and health to all...

Friday, November 02, 2012

cap city to ny city...

wellington at night on the last day in october, looking from oriental parade to downtown city centre...

roaming the harbour way but thinking about nyc...

love, health and strength to the big apple...