Over this whole process, there have been many times we've had occasion to think, 'there but for the grace of <insert deity here> go I'...
In January, I wandered through a couple of open homes - inner city apartments - that turned out to be poky, overpriced and lacking in natural light, but darn they were cute! They don't look quite so cute now... I've seen some pictures on the news and they don't look nearly so purty as they used to. Not nearly so intact either...
I haven't got any pics of the building itself, but they were in this area... you can just see the end of the building (known to us old-timers as 'High Para') at the far right of this pic.
Sunday marked one whole year since this seismic shittery began disrupting our lives. As it was a year ago, the day was warm and sunny... although the objects at ground level don't always look the same as they did then.
Once upon a time, this was a grandstand at Addington Raceway...
...now it's just another demo job.
The raceway is across the carpark from the CBS Arena, where I was working that evening for "Christchurch Sings" - an Arts Festival event that took place on September 4th. A crowd of over 3000 gathered to bathe in the sounds of combined local choirs, backed by the CSO. The crowd seemed to have a lovely evening - hardly anyone even noticed the aftershock we had during the concert (4.4M at 7.41pm).
Last Thursday I wandered down to Sydenham (next suburb over!) to catch a live-to-air performance by The Unfaithful Ways - one of the bands that feature on the Harbour Union album.
This is how we roll in C-city these days... this converted horse truck - the rdunit - is currently home to student radio station, rdu, who lost their studio & office when the UC Student Union building was red-stickered after February's quakes.
I've been collecting a few interesting links lately, and it hardly seems fair to keep them all to myself. Today's collection is largely focused on the ground beneath our feet. Of course, it could just be me (& most other locals) with a fascination for geotechnical & other scientific information...
Christchurch has become a magnet for seismologists, geoscientists and other curious earthy science folk. I'm not sure we should let Kevin Furlong back into the country though... earthquakes seem to be following him around...
Being an audio person in a visual world makes life interesting at times... For example, the easiest way to share the promotional trailer for my radio documentary on the interwebs was for it to become a video. Given that my visual editing skills are zero, it is fortunate that I could commission the talents of my digital-native teenage son to do all that image splicing stuff for me :) I must say, he coped very well with his demanding client...
In some aspects, the radio doco I've just completed is like this blog... it started out with a simple purpose but along the way it became something a bit more than that. When I started writing about the process of rebuilding of my house in early February, it was supposed to be just that - the rebuilding of my house, not thousands of houses, not the entire central city or large chunks of suburbia. Instead it became a much bigger topic, a much longer storyline. It's been over six months since I started this journey and I'm nowhere near where I thought I would be. The path that, in February at least, looked so straightforward and short has turned into the mother of all marathons that none of us have trained for.
And so it was with this documentary - a simple idea that became something bigger.
With a long history in the arts & events industries here in C-city, I know what it's like to entertain this place... or I used to. But I have plenty of friends who are still active entertainers - playing gigs, putting on shows, trying to find somewhere to have (or create) a night out. That was my plan, to go and talk to some interesting characters about the year that was, and about finding & making entertainment. My friends are musos, artists, actors, venue managers - they'd have stories to tell, right?
Oh they sure did... and those stories took me somewhere I hadn't really planned on going, but I think it's a story that needs to be told. When I was chatting with Adam McGrath, he said that "these are interesting times and I'm glad that we're living in them". I couldn't agree more...
Entertaining Shakeytown features the musings of Adam McGrath, Lindon Puffin, Darryl Cribb & Robin Judkins and is intertwined with music from Delaney Davidson, Marlon Williams, Adam McGrath, Lindon Puffin and the Harbour Union.
It's been a bit like deja-vu all over again round here lately...
In a carbon copy of July's snowstorm, we were inundated once again with massive amounts of the white stuff. Just like July it arrived on the Sunday night and carpeted the city once more in a massive white duvet (that's a doona for you Aussies). There didn't seem to be quite so many snowfolk this time around, but there were plenty of people who put in the effort, with some impressive results.
Some great snowfolk in these pictures from The Press - the Dalek is my favourite (of course!)
It's been a busy time for the council lately - for the elected councillors and their hard-working staff. Let's just say that some things are going, and being handled, better than others.
Back in July, Vbase was ready to release the engineers' reports on the battered & broken AMI stadium. The council however, had other ideas and kept the report out of the public eye for a few more weeks. Ostensibly this was to give councillors a chance to read the reports & make decisions and, as mere plebs, we can only guess as to the accuracy of this stated position. I still can't get rid of the image of Jack Nicholson shouting "You can't handle the truth!" from my head... I hope our elected officials aren't withholding information on the basis that we the people can't handle knowing the awful truth.
