Rather than having a birthDAY, Graziella has a birthWEEK. This is genius. Her one yearly special day is now 7 times longer. I am definitely going to adopt this next year when it’s my turn. Her week commenced with a delightful dinner and a movie at Toto’s restaurant. She chose “Grease”, and dressing up was mandatory. I was surprised at the number of gents that knew all the words to all the songs, in particular Chico and Braidy who both sang lustily.

Just before 11 that night I perked up by downing 2 Red Bulls and was interviewed live on national TV. It was all about this guide and how it came about. It went well but I know which areas to alter for next time. For instance, don’t waffle at 100 miles an hour (damn those RB’s), look at the camera from time to time, and do a bit of preparation. But it was a fun thrill. I’ll put it on Youtube this week for you all to critique.

For the 7th time in 31 months I moved house, this time the reason for the move was that the landlord wanted the property for personal use, or that’s what I was told by my flatmate. Luckily most of my things were still in boxes from the last move so it wasn’t all that strenuous, but still a hassle however. I felt my hard work required rewarding so I checked into The Eden Cloakroom, Mt Eden’s latest bar and eatery. The indoor/outdoor flow is superb with both areas being a similar size. The service was smiley and helpful, and the Erdinger beer I chose did the trick, labelling me unsuitable to drive after 3 of the blighters.

The Kingslander had their maiden dinner and a movie night on Thursday. It was a pilot for the public launch late January next year. From what I experienced, tasted, viewed and sipped it’s going to be a $30pp night not to be missed. I zoomed into Coco afterwards for a quick look at Miss Carter’s “Caddy” business launch. It was quite an eye-opener, a selection of her alluring girlfriends were dolled up, bribed with $50 bar-tabs and acting as flirty hosts for the platinum card wielding sleazy businessmen who have an interest in golf.

From here on possible R&R was out of the question. There was just so much on that my FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) dominated. The Kingslander had their Mid-Movember bash after work on Friday with some very hairy blokes brandishing some grizzly grins, while others had tailored some true Picasso masterpieces. Going on nearby at The Kings Arms was a radical hip-hop night featuring Dam Native and Manual Bundy. The greeting on the door was friendly, as was the crowd. Dam Native finally hit the stage just after 11pm to a relieved uproar. I have never seen live hip-hop before and this 7 piece group seemed to me to be an awesome initiation. I bopped at the back before heading out and over to Newmarket to see two of my favourite hard dance DJ’s perform at Space.

Sharkey (John) and Kevin Energy have to be the most approachable, mad, energetic and adaptable DJ’s on the planet. They were already well into their marathon drinking session when I arrived, mingling, signing anything and posing for photos. Before I knew it they were on, the crowd erupted, the volume got pegged up a couple of notches and the lasers hit Guy Fawkes mode. What surprised me was that their entire set was totally ad lib with no obvious structure but boy did it sound amazing, a style you only get in the UK. Back2back, front2front, these guys were going crazy, MCing and manipulating the throngs at will. At one stage they even stopped the music and made everyone sit cross-legged on the floor and play patty-cake, patty-cake. John and Kevin were supposed to play for 3 hours; they ended up doing almost 6. When the lights came on I tried my level best to get them involved with an after party, but like true big-time DJ’s they had a plane to catch. I filmed most of the party and watching it the next day sober was bamboozling, a true “you had to be there” party.

There wasn’t much time to dwell and recoup as The Grey Lynn Festival started at 9am. The festival had been rained out the previous two years, so the blue sky above this time around had us all smiling with expectation. When we arrived “The Managers” were performing on the main stage, an upbeat funky soul band who rocked the party. The gypsy acid-heads that followed with their tambourine and piano accordian did not, and many left.

Some relaxing drinks with friends in a Parnell spa pool came next, a brief freshen-up second, then on to the launch of Brown Teal Ale, the latest organic beer to hit NZ. It tasted great but I didn’t recognise anyone so stopped by a friends place to catch the end of the netball world cup final. Not happy with the result I went to “Famous”, a mellow dance party held at Opium. I got carried away and was there far longer than I had planned, but it was just so social and fun that I had no choice. This though let me hit the “Deep, Hard & Funky” party at the height of its intensity. Moving along we had a drink, or 2, at Flight, Forte, Coco, Pony and Spy before nesting and calling it a night well into Sunday. There were more treats and trouble that night, but that can stay under wraps for now.