Public Address - Field Theory (Home)

The second test and the first test | Mar 18, 2010 11:33

I like drinking with Dan because he always tells me interesting stories. Sports stories usually, ones that I've never heard, that sound dramatic and theatrical. And so it was the other night.

We were in the basement beer house Hashigo Zake, and Dan (with the West Ham wallet) was telling the story of the 1953 Christmas cricket test between South Africa and New Zealand. If Christmas 1953 sounds familiar, it might be because that's when the Tangiwai disaster happened.

The story is deeply moving. It has it all: drama, action (the pitch was terrible and players like Burt Sutcliffe were hospitalised), and lost love. It also has the best part of any good sports story, an underdog fighting back against adversity.

When Dan had finished his story all I could think was: why isn't this a movie? Fuck Invictus.

Jonathan Brugh had the same thought and without a Clint Eastwood sized budget instead wrote a stage play. I strongly urge you to go and see The Second Test in its run at Bats. To be honest I got emotional just reading the press release, the story is very powerful.

"Out of the gloomy tunnel beneath the stand, into the clean white sunlight, Blair walked slowly, fumbling with his gloves, and as a man the spectators in the huge stand stood for him, stood in complete and poignant silence. Grown men, among them the New Zealanders in the pavilion and the South Africans on the field, shed tears at this moving moment, and they were not ashamed."
R.T. Brittenden

The run is timed to coincide with the test at the Basin which starts on Friday.

And speaking of that, we'll be there! By "we" I mean me (under strict instructions not to talk lest it disrupt some mystical cricket mojo), Emma (who promises not to ogle too much, well, maybe too much) and Keith ("I'll be there but don't expect me to cheer, and if I do, don't expect me to mean it"). And of course you're invited to join us. There was talk of a sign at one point, but I'm sure you'll find us either way.

Afterwards we'll be finally having those Wellington Public Address drinks that y'all love so much. The official start-time is 5pm at Hooch, so pop along after work and meet some folks from the Public Address System in "real life".

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A post about art (sort of) | Mar 16, 2010 10:05

I might be the only one who actually likes the idea of Weta making a rugby statue for Wellington. However, I do have two issues with it:

1. what it is, and
2. where it is.

Anyone who has been to The Caketin (or as it's affectionately known, Westpac Stadium) will know that the approach is rather, well, empty. The Fran Wilde Walk is a vast expanse of concrete designed solely for getting a large amount of people the fuck out of the stadium after an event.

The only bit of artistry to break up the grey is the Māori art work on the front that includes a mountain form that relates to Wellington for some reason. I actually quite like it. It's nice to see it as you approach along the "walk".

So it surprised me to find that the Weta sculpture was going to go on the Wellington waterfront. Why not on that long stretch of featureless pavement that most people hate walking along?

It's one of the many things I love about American sports, the honouring of history. Imagine if the pathway into the stadium was filled with statues of the great players from Wellington's sporting past (across all codes). The pillars for the lights already exist, so it wouldn't too hard to change it up with some sports-related artwork.

Making statues that are strongly-related to the city's sporting history also means that you can dispense with the symbolism that's been hastely stapled onto the Weta sculpture. "It's representative of the fault line…" I like Richard Taylor but he really lays it on thick sometimes.

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It's a summer get-together | Mar 09, 2010 12:07

First an announcement: Wellington Public Address Get-Together on Friday March 19, Emma and I (and possibly Keith and Graeme) will be at the Basin Reserve in Wellington to watch the first day of the first test between Australia and New Zealand. And we would love for you to join us. And if cricket (or lying in the sun enjoying the day) ain't your bag then well be heading to Hooch afterwards (from 5pm) for many, many drinks.

Go write it down in whatever you use as a calendar or diary. Done? Choice.

Watching the cricket on Saturday, at Beerfest, was rather strange. It was bit like the world's biggest pub. We were staring at a massive image projected on a concrete wall, drinking some of the best beer brewed in New Zealand, and there were still people chanting "[Aussie bowler]'s a wan-kah!"

Did I mention, that beer was goooood!

While Jed (who you may remember from last year's Beerfest shenanigans) went to see the beer-food matching seminars I wandered off to get my first beer of the day. I'm still unsure how fortunate it was that Epic was the first stand I went to.

It was definitely fortunate in that I got to try Luke's new Thornbridge Stout (seen above) with it's thick coffee flavour and Epic's trademark hoppiness. Then, at Luke's insistence I washed it down with an Armageddon. I was glad I had decided to cook myself a large breakfast that morning.

This was beginning to feel like last year's event. In fact the streams were crossing substantially. I even bumped into the same journalism students.

I talked to Stu the Wellington Yeastie Boy (that's the brewery, not a horrible nickname) over a His Majesty 2009, of which only a few rare bottles remain. I wanted to know if my music industry analogy of a year ago was correct. He confirmed that it was except that he was quite happy with his distributor.

And these guys are a bit like rockstars. From the Kiss-like stage show of Epic (including a tweet-wall) to the quieter surrounds of Renaissance. And in front of each stand, a mosh pit full of drinkers wanting to either try something new or to pick the brains of the brewers.

Beer nerds. That's they're called. Stu had just done a tasting in the Waikato for a group of agricultural scientists who were dying to get their hands on his yeast. But it's not just real scientists; it's also the home chemists who want to know what goes into each mash. Some want to be the next Renaissance or Crouchers or Epic others just want to create that one great beer they can share with friends.

And there are always niches. Brian Thiel at Renaissance told me about their unusual bottles. Naturally bigger bottles (a glass and a half) make the purchaser feel better for buying an expensive beer. But the real trick is keeping them short. Three Boys make tall bottles which means supermarkets have them on different shelves (too high, or too low) whereas the Renaissance stays at eye height.

I did eventually make my way to the tasting sessions. Sadly Brian's venison never showed but the beer was good (and when I later tried a full glass against the venison it did go well, but the meat was too bland). Luke matched his Armageddon with Rogan Josh perfectly while Stu's Nerdherder went with vege pizza nicely (quietly I think it would've been perfect with Hawaiian pizza because it needed a tiny bit of salt that the ham would've provided).

I also had a chat with Dave Cryer of Cryer Malt and head of the Brewer's Guild. We talked about where beer was heading in New Zealand and the news seems to be good for everyone.

We're heading for the age of the session beer. Alcohol levels are coming down without losing that strong taste that drinkers enjoy. The brewers are keenly aware that the World Cup is coming along and that there is going to be a lot more beer drinkers in the country and beer tourists. Beer is now competing with wine for the tour business. But beyond that drinkers want to try more than one beer in a sitting, and if they are all full-flavoured 8% beers then that is going to be a very short session.

Beers of note:

• Epic Stout – a thick coffee flavoured hit that's not officially for sale until the 5th of May, but there will be a preview keg at the Malthouse in Wellington on the 15th of March(?) to go with the seasonal release of Epic Mayhem.
• Yeastie Boys His Majesty –wow, I can see why there isn't much left of it. At 6.4% it's not as strong as it seems either.
• Renaissance Paradox Blonde – always a nice drop in the sun
• Golden Ticket Summer Babe – this was a surprise and I didn't know quite what I was getting when Stu poured it. A nice light summery beer and well worth it if you can find some. And Jed told me later it's named after a Pavement song.
• Croucher's Cherry Bock – It looked like a stout but tasted like black cherries mashed into a spicy beer. My surprise favourite

Enough with the serious beer stuff. Beerfest is only partly about beer nerdery, it's also a summer festival (hence "fest"). I managed to catch the Checks in full rock strut. And the crowd were lapping it up. And there no grumbles about sitting on the concrete or the lines for the food (although, as always the food was the biggest let-down).

The best part was the lack of munters. I saw one guy being escorted out at the end of the day (while we were watching the cricket) and one other guy was asked to leave Paul Croucher's tasting session. And even as we left the crowd was better behaved than most rugby crowds.

Congratulations to Andrew for another great event, and the sunshine didn't even ruin it.

Mike's full gallery is here.

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An Australian show but a Wellington game | Mar 08, 2010 12:10

Twenty ten is all about football. Forget rugby, we can worry about that next year.

The All Whites victory over Bahrain to get to the World Cup was the just the start of what has become a true movement. At yesterday's Phoenix game against the Newcastle Jets there were over 32,000 people, a club record. The true fanatics, the casual fans, the people who follow football but never got to many games, the people who were curious about what this was all about, the people who wanted to see what it was like being in this crowd, and the people who actually supported the Jets.

Compare that 32,000 to the 24,000 that watched the second fixture of Melbourne and Sydney, or the 4,000 that watched Newcastle play Gold Coast last week. In fact the 32,792 who watched the Phoenix beat the Jets was the biggest crowd all season by over 2,000.

Click the photos for a prettier size

The hoardings were all Australian ads, the big screen played ads to bolster support for the Socceroos, the loud speakers blasted Wolfmother and all the money went to Football Australia. What did the home ground announcers control? The volume. This was an Australian show, but a Wellington home field.

As Newcastle made their first break they ran towards the Yellow Fever corner and hit a wall of sound that clearly spooked them and they turned the ball over. Yeah man, it was loud. Newcastle scored first, causing the only moment of silence. It took three seconds before the "Fee-Nix!" chant came back.

Not long after coming Daniel screwed up a good chance. Instead of dropping his head he walked towards the Fever and pumping up the crowd. The louder the better and the better the noise the more chances the Phoenix had.

I sat next to Michael Burgess up in the press booth and consummate professionals that we were, we swore and yelled and cheered along with the crowd just outside the window. The Aussies at the other end were a bit grumblier.

I know it'll be in every media piece about the game but the crowd really was bloody loud. And there was a distinct lack of munters. On twitter after the game there was a fair amount of bah-humbugging at the supporters driving about with horns going and jerseys hanging out the windows but really it was Cuba Carnival level excitement.

And it was truly fun to be part of. From where we sat you could watch the Fever corner slowly change from yellow to the colour of sunburnt Caucasian.

How long will this excitement last? Will hordes of New Zealanders catch the football (ahem) fever and book tickets to South Africa? Will they be drawn in their hundreds down to the public big screens to watch the team? A dry-run for Party Central perhaps? I hope so, but I'm a wee bit pessimistic.

Then again the World Cup is a big event here when New Zealand isn't playing. If anything Nike can expect to sell a few more plain white shirts (we must be the easiest team to make uniforms for).

I'm not going to talk rugby, but Cory Jane and Jason Eaton attended the first Phoenix play-off game and couldn't believe how amazing the crowd atmosphere was. They marvelled at the songs and wondered why their fans weren't like this. So they put out the call for Hurricanes supporters to come along and sing and chant. The CEO of Wellington Rugby asked for the same thing during yesterday's massive win. So basically they are asking them to not be New Zealand rugby fans.

I'm not placing a value judgment on this, but New Zealand rugby fans just aren't the chanting, singing type. Maybe the Welsh and English will belt out a few tunes but New Zealanders watch the game with their arms crossed and tell you to "bloody siddown" if you get in the way. It's not all that, naturally, but in general the crowd isn't a singing/chanting one.

You can't simply change a community by telling them to be more like another one. Sorry rugby.

It should also be noted that this is the first play-off appearance in the history of New Zealand's only pro football club. And football, while popular, isn't the dominant sport in New Zealand, and is traditionally a sport we don't do all that well in. So the crowd is probably going to be a bit more raucous than they are during the opening rounds of a tournament where the team is playing fairly easy opponents.

Now the question is going to be, who is flying to Australia to help fill the stadium over there?

All of Mike's photos can be found here.

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The Wonder Years | Mar 04, 2010 10:17

I sat eating my late dinner of meat and three veg and drinking a beer from an old Lion Red pint glass while, on the television, New Zealand played Australia in the cricket. The nostalgia damn near pushed me out of my chair.

I was surprised to be honest, but I really was taken back to those days in the 80s. On a warm summer evening in the suburbs of Tauranga you could ride your bike around and hear the cheers from the houses as we got a wicket or hit a six. Or alternating between lying on the floor in front of the TV and running outside to practice bowling against a wall.

Of course back then there wasn't someone on the couch doing the grocery shopping from a laptop while I checked the stats on my CricInfo iPhone app. But something about it felt all Wonder Years-y.

I have to admit I missed the end of the game, and that I also assumed we would lose after Ross Taylor was out. Turns out we didn't. Saved by the man I once described as looking like a Grizzly Bear when he bowled, Scott Styris.

And what do you NOT do to a Grizzly Bear? Head butt it. You probably shouldn't head butt a guy in a helmet and carrying a large bat either. Heck you can't even kick him in the nads, silly Australian.

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There is also a Public Address/Cricket/Wellington announcement coming up, so keep an eye out for that.

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