And there's the Autumn/Winter things to do:
LATE at the Museum at the Auckland War Memorial Museum has become a significant highlight in the cultural calendar for us over the last couple of years. It's great to leave the house to go to a beautiful building filled with our nation's taonga and listen to clever people talking about things that matter.
Throw in some wine and some excellent music - this really is the best date night ever! The 2012 season kicks off in style this coming Thursday, May 3, with a session called Seven Deadly Sins, chaired by Backbenches' and streetandcityphotos' Wallace Chapman, with Denise L'Estrange-Courbet from World, artist Reuben Paterson, whose art is currently delighting children in the children's area of the renovated Auckland City Gallery, and noted theologian Sir Lloyd Geering, whose last appearance at a LATE, at the end of 2010, was a highlight for us. With music from Don McGlashan's The Bellbirds, and performances of extracts from Othello - a play all about envy and jealousy - this promises to be an excellent night out. Tickets are $20, or you can buy a season pass, enabling you to go to all seven scheduled for 2012, for $100. We'll be at every one.
Also approaching is another absolute gem - the Auckland Writers' and Readers' Festival, which takes place 9-13 May at various locations within the Aotea Centre and the University. We love festivals - the buzz, the surprises, the panel discussions, the feeling of intellectual excitement. This year's guests and groupings offer something for everyone - but I'm particularly excited by the presence of a favourite of mine, the American author Jeffrey Eugenides, whose 1993 debut novel The Virgin Suicides remains one of my favourite books.
I also enjoyed Middlesex, and am currently reading his latest - The Marriage Plot - ahead of his arrival here. I'm trying to drum up enthusiasm on Twitter for a group of we Eugenides fans to dress in 70s white dresses a la the Coppola film version of The Virgin Suicides' gorgeous aesthetic, but I'm a little worried that everyone else is all just talk ...
Lane is looking forward to the various sessions involving Rolling Stone journalist and author Michael Hastings, whose 2010 article 'The Runaway General' resulted in the removal of General McChrystal from command in Afghanistan.
He bought Hastings' latest, The Operators, on his iPad yesterday and is already more than halfway through it. What's great about Hastings' presence at the festival is the various panel discussions organised with him present - Getting the Story, which will see him discuss the practise of embedded journalism alongside Sean Plunkett and Caroline Moorhead - is my pick for a though-provoking session. Rifle through the programme and look for these panel sessions - they are often the best part of a festival. There's also always a bunch of free events at festivals - check them out and plan to go!
So neither of those are particularly kid-friendly - but they are date night worthy - so finally, my autumn/winter pick for kids and parents: the Auckland Art Gallery. We love this place - the building, the new favourites and old friends to visit, and the shows. Take the small people to see Degas to Dali before it closes in June. Kids go free, and adult tickets are $20. It is worth it. My guys loved seeing paintings and sculptures by people they've read about in books - the Degas dancer bronze is a must-see for any wee ballerina, while Roy Lichtenstein's, In the Car will be a hit with comic-lovers.
Tonight, we're off to Sky City to meet the trimphant Breakers and hopefully - finger crossed all - get some signatures on Felix's basketball. Then to Western Springs College for the regional Sheila Winn Shakespeare Festival competition - our Bella is playing Olivia in her school's performance of Twelfth Night. We're planning on finishing the evening at Sal's.