www.osocio.org

Social advertising and non-profit campaigns from around the globe. This website is brilliant, check it out!

ILLUMINATE Paint party! August 2010

★ ★ILLUMINATE PAINT PARTY 2010 NZ TOUR - (AUCKLAND) ★ ★

I haven't been to one of these but it looks like a lot of fun - and mess!

On Saturday August 14th Illuminate will be transforming Ellerslie Racecourses Stables into a 2-Zone, Mega Scale Party venue, with MASSIVE Sound, Flooded UV's and killer visuals, enhanced with Illuminates theatrical setup. WEAR WHITE!

★ Stunning Light Show and Amazing Visual Displays

★ Hot Illuminators fully armed with Paint Pumps as well as heaps of paint bottles thrown out to the masses!

★ OFFICIAL PAINT-DROP 12am Sharp

★ Now featuring a full merchandise outlet with Shutter Shades / White Boiler Suits / Extra paint bottles in case you HAVE to have more

Check out www.facebook.com/paintparty for more info

Whitianga Scallop Festival! August 28

28th August, 2010. Tickets available at www.iticket.co.nz now

Tickets are selling fast so get in there quick!

Eddie Raynor and Paul Crowthers from Split Enz have a new Band called the Con-Rays and they are playing at the Festival

For the quick and the undead.. daily deals, get your credit card ready!

All of these sites are brilliant. Join their mailing list for emailed daily specials, I've bought loads off them! And I'm saving money with their wicked discounts... right? I think..

www.dailydo.co.nz

www.1day.co.nz

www.grabone.co.nz

www.dealaday.co.nz

Waiheke's Island of Burlesque festival 22-24 Oct 2010

Waiheke has been chosen to host a high end Burlesque festival this year.

The exclusive event will showcase international stars of Burlesque alongside some of New Zealand’s most recognized and up and coming performers including Venus Star of Wellington and Sugar Le Brun of Melbourne.

13th Annual Monteiths Wild Food Challenge is ON

Monteith's Beer & Wild Food Challenge judges will visit and judge the top 27 outlets to select the five finalists who will compete in the live "Cook Off" in Auckland on 23rd August, 2010.

The winning restaurant or bar takes home the title of National Winner Monteith's Beer & Wild Food Challenge, along with a cash prize of $10,000

Check out their website for participating restaurants and get along to try some of their crazy creations
http://wildfood.monteiths.co.nz/

Auckland Food Show 2010, starting July 29th

It runs for 4 days, 29 July – 1 August at the ASB Showgrounds from 10am to 6pm Thursday Friday and Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday.

It's their 11th year running, and in 2008 and 2009, the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia named The Food Show Auckland as the Best Consumer Show Under 10,000sqm and the Best New Zealand Show overall.

Tickets are $22

Really yummy sushi at Bian!

Bian at the top of Symonds St has probably the best sushi in Auckland. Its fresh, plenty of variety - and the most incredible home made sauce that I can't help but pour all over everything. Its kinda like a tartare sauce - that must have cocaine or something else highly addictive in it cos you could seriously eat the entire bowl and still want more.

Their fried salmon sushi is my favorite but they're all really good, its hard to choose just a few when you really want one of everything - and there's 16 different flavors so good luck with that!

They have these amazing deep fried potato corn balls. You must try, YUM

You can eat in or take out, their cafe is pretty cosy, seats about 20

183 Symonds St

http://www.biansushi.co.nz/menu.html

Russell Brand, hopelessly loveable nutjob. Love ya

He's got a style all of his own that lad. Girls jeans, eyeliner, mesh tops, ripped clothes that look like they were stolen from a homeless person.. I don't know how he pulls it off, but he does - every time.

Anyway, I digress. His latest film which is an adopted storyline from the epic 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' had me in stitches right through. I haven't seen a movie this funny in way too long, in fact I saw it twice because I had to drag my boyfriend along to it as soon as I possibly could. Don't want to rave on too much and give you ridiculous expectations but go see it, damn you. And if you don't laugh your ass off maybe you're missing your funny bone.

Vvvvvvvvvvibratrain

I call it magic. Its my favorite form of exercise because its quick, effective and works wonders on cellulite. What more could you ask for!

Vibration training has been around for a while now and a while back when it was a fad in Auckland there were studios sprouting up all over the place. Most of them were rubbish and have closed down but Vibratrain has stuck around. They rock.


Their main studio is at 7/192 Victoria Street West. Go talk to Lloyd, he'll probably hassle the crap out of you and talk your ear off but he's pretty good value. First time is free, after that it's about ten bucks a sesh. Best to go 3 times a week, you'll see results pretty quick

Phone: 09 309 6874
Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday 6.30am - 10.00pm
Saturday - Sunday 9.00am - 6.00pm

The Girl Who Played With Fire - in cinemas July 29th

If you haven't seen the first one yet - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - GET IT OUT. A couple of brutal scenes so girls don't watch at home alone on a cold stormy night.

The second one in this trilogy will be out in NZ on July 29th, and is getting rave reviews in North America where it was just released.

Kiddies movies worth seeing

Shrek 4 - pretty decent! Love the fat ass Puss n Boots.

Toy Story 3. Also on in 3D for those of you who aren't totally sick of EVERYTHING being in 3D these days...


Despicable Me is out in North America but not here till September 16th. Its getting wicked reviews and looks damn good, I will be there with bells on

International Film Festival 2010 - on in Auckland July 8 - 25

You can buy tickets to any of the films on Ticketek.

Went and saw 'Splice' at the Civic Theatre last night, made by the director Vincenzo Natalio who also did 'Cube' a few years ago, excellent film. This is equally good and very provocative, I haven't stopped thinking about it since we left at the end of the movie.


http://wwwnzff.co.nz

Whats that? Your face!

If you're thinking about freshening up your appearance, winter is the time to do it while the sun isn't so intense. Get beautiful before the crazy Christmas season!

The Face Place on Vulcan Lane is a well regarded Medi-spa that has been open for 8 years and specializes in all kinds of non-surgical skin solutions.

The initial consultation lasts for about an hour and they go through everything with you. They were definitely customer satisfaction oriented, rather than just getting money out of you. This was refreshing, some clinics are all about the kizash and getting people to spend as much as possible.

Their doctors are quite aware that too much Botox is never a good look, nobody wants a frozen face a la Nicole Kidman.

http://www.thefaceplace.co.nz

Auckland City
Level 2, 4 Vulcan Lane,
Phone +64 9 358 5860
NZ Freephone 0800 2BOTOX (0800 226869)

The Black Sheep backpackers in Queenstown, cheap 'n' cheerful!

No, the rooms don't come with a sheep to keep you warm. I know some of you will be disappointed but you have to take your own. Baaah.

Other than that, it's a great little spot. If you're down there for a few days and you don't want to be kept awake every night by the party animals in the village, its perfect. Still only 5 minutes walk from the action and there's free parking if you rented a car like we did.

It has an outdoor spa, perfect to soak in when you've spent all day up the mountain and you can feel every muscle aching in your body. Unfortunately some moron left the lid off it when we went to jump in and it was barely lukewarm but thats ok, we put snow in all his boots.

The showers had wickedly strong pressure and I managed to have a nice long hot sesh every time without the water ever going cold. I've been in hotels with far worse showers so I was stoked with this.

Staff were pretty friendly and we all got involved in the WII ten pin bowling game they play on Wednesday nights. Costs nothing, everyone who plays gets a free drink and the winner gets a $30 bartab. Yeehah!

Don't bother bringing your alcohol, they're not licensed for it and their bar is ridiculously cheap. Happy hour from 6-8pm gives you $3 beers and $2 wines (cask, but you get a large plastic cup.)

Promoters from the nightclubs come round pretty much every night and give you 2-4-1 drinks vouchers, plus with your room key you get that deal any time at Buffalo Bar. Drinking in Queenstown is generally damn cheap, especially when you're used to Auckland prices!

My pick of the Queenstown/Wanaka ski-fields

I lived in Queenstown for a few years so I know the area pretty well. In my opinion Coronet Peak is the best ski-field for various reasons.

The road there is in great condition and you're generally sweet as in a normal car - it's infrequent that you need a 4wd vehicle or chains. It's the closest to Queenstown of all the fields, 18km (about 20min drive) from the village. Big in my books because I hate driving for ages just to get to the damn place! It's only 7km from Arrowtown but while this is an awesome little town to visit, screw staying there. It's in a freezing cold gulley that gets very little winter sun.

Carparking is plentiful and only a short walk from the lifts, or there are shuttles to take you lazy bastards up.

The ski hire, ticket booth and shops are set out really well and are all undercover. There's plenty of room and hardly ever cues.

The restaurant and cafe are spacious with plenty of options and the food was decent. Generally ski-field food is as rubbish as airports and other places with a monopoly on the area!

The bar served the best mulled wine I had anywhere in Queenstown/Wanaka. Mmmm mm.. nothing like mulled wine when you're getting amongst it in the snowy mountains!

If you prefer to take your own lunch with you there are loads of tables outside with braziers to keep you warm.

Its one downfall is the tendency to be quite icy because of its low altitude. We struck it lucky on our trip down, the snow was perfect but it ain't nicknamed 'Con crete Peak' for nothin'!

See their website for weather reports and snow conditions, lift passes and facilities etc. http://www.nzski.com/

Queenstown!

I recently went to Queenstown for a week during Winter Festival for a bit of a holiday and to do some snowboarding. It's been about 3 years since I last made it down there, and it was bustling with energy. I always loved it down there, it might be cold but the sun is almost always shining and it's incredibly beautiful with the blue lake entirely surrounded with snowcapped mountains. Did not want to leave!