The top ten ideas for Wellington
May 18th, 2010 at 4:00 pm by David FarrarWellington Airport have released their list of top ten suggestions, after backing down on the proposed Wellywood sign. They are:
- Lord of the Rings sculptures
- MIRAMAR
- WELLYWOOD
- Middle-earth or Frodo’s Land
- Absolutely Positively Wellington
- A film sculpture
- Wetawood
- WELLINGTON
- A wind sculpture
- A weta sculpture
The Dim Post comments:
Nothing says ‘film’, ‘global’ and ‘Wellington’ like a ‘MIRAMAR’ sign. And ‘Frodo’s Land’ made the top 10? What was number eleven? A word that burned out your retinas and made your eyeballs run down your face?
Have to agree.
My favourite is still a weta sculpture, and it even has a Facebook group in support of it, if you agree.
Of the ten suggestions, which are the better and worse ones? I’ll try and rank them in order.
- A weta sculpture
- Absolutely Positively Wellington
- Lord of the Rings sculptures
- Middle-earth or Frodo’s Land
- WELLINGTON
- Wetawood
- A film sculpture
- A wind sculpture
- MIRAMAR
- WELLYWOOD
What do you think?
Tags: Wellington, Wellington Airport
May 18th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I have a radical suggestion, how about not blowing ratepayers money on more pointless bollocks and try and keep the rate increases down to something akin to inflation.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Or is it just Wellington Airport being try hards?
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Apparently Wellington isn’t even the film capital? But I’d go the weta if the option is between that and something else, rather than not wasting money on something that is unlikely to have a significant impact in promoting the city.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Maybe this is radical:
Two things:
#1: “Absolutely Positively Wellington” sign (this is too good to leave out); and
Vote:#2: Weta Sculpture
May 18th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
A trough?
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
“What do you think?”
I think that Kiwis should just get over themselves and grow up.
Our inferiority complex and desperation to be noticed on the world stage (remember the national cringe that was the whole LOTR, “it was filmed in NZ you know”) is holding us back.
Whatever they put there will look tacky, just leave the fucking thing as it is.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
How about
1. Leave it as it is
Vote:2. A big arrow pointing at the runway
3. PULL UP, PULL UP!
4. An old 747 tailplane poking out of the hill
May 18th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
“GPT1 I have a radical suggestion, how about not blowing ratepayers money on more pointless bollocks and try and keep the rate increases down to something akin to inflation.”
Vote:Don’t be silly-the next thing people will be expecting councils to concentrate on core services instead of buying lovely sculptures to keep jobless artists employed. You are so right GPT1 it is all BOLLOCKS. Wellington is a perfectly good name-stupid signs on a hillside are purile and add nothing. Wellington is beautiful just the way it is!
May 18th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Lisa Lewis’ tits.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
11. A wind driven feriss wheel.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Just leave at the correct name for the island Pig Island which is well known to all mainlanders
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
What GPT1 says. I vote: Leave well enough alone, you stupid w*nkers.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Love it. Let’s do it
… um, but 100% agree with GPT1 re rates.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
“Please like us – PLEASE”
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
rouppe says:
I got treated to a free go on a professional 737-800 flight simulator (a proper cockpit, a trained & experienced commercial pilot as co-pilot etc, not some PC game) and turned down all their suggestions of exotic airports and insisted on Wellington.
I learned two things. 1, it is very hard to see the runway at Wellington from the cockpit of a Boeing, and 2, “pull up, pull up!” occurs at least once on each descent, at which time the commercial pilot sitting next to you just switches off the alarm and says “disregard”… later explaining “if you kept within the parameters of that alarm you couldn’t land in Wellington”.
Nice to know that when I’ve been sitting in the back of one of those things for real, wondering if it was time to abandon agnosticism as the crosswinds hit, the guy at the pointed end was probably also fighting to control his bowels.
Oh, and I also learned that whatever we pay airline pilots, it’s not enough.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
11. NIMBYWOOD
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
i still think a nth korean/’great-leader’-style statue of peter jackson…
..straddling the harbor entrance….
..has potential to be ‘a wonder of the world’..
..eh…?
he could fly between his own legs..eh..?
whoar…!
(‘holy channeling howard hughes..!..batman…!’..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
A large, pointless picture of Phil Goff.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
“Welcome to Fiji” (just to mess with people)
[DPF: Heh]
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
#1 should be “stop wasting my money on stupid signs”
Frodo’s land must go below Wellington, and probably Miramar as well. Although god knows why anyone would want a Miramar sign on the hillside.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
“I have a radical suggestion, how about not blowing ratepayers money on more pointless bollocks and try and keep the rate increases down to something akin to inflation.”
This.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Wellington.. already has a top ten lettered word..
Wellington.
It goes well with Capital, Windy, and means gumboot… which is what you became if you live there.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
A MASSIVE PAPERMACHE OF CHE GUAVERA ROLLING A DOOBIE !!!!!
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
I’m not sure about the large weta on the hill any more. If you really want something that speaks the capital’s cultural reality, I suggest a sign saying “Beware of the hill.”
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Mission Impossible
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Snow machines and a ski slope. No more need to sit in traffic on SH1 North on winter Friday nights.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
When will Wellington get it? The rest of NZ does not give a shit about Wellington. It just happens to be where the Government is. Other than that there are the Arty Fartys and whining protesters. The whole lot spending taxpayer’s money on themselves.
Vote:Get a grip Wellington, there is other life
May 18th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
WELLINGTON
Vote:Eastern Suburbs…. Added
MIRAMAR
Absolutely Positively Wellington
WELLYWOOD
Middle-earth or Frodo’s Land
Wetawood
A wind sculpture
A weta sculpture
Lord of the Rings sculptures
A film sculpture
May 18th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
If they have to put a sign up, it’s got to be MIRAMAR.
It was Miramar before Peter Jackson set up there and it will be Miramar when he’s feeding the worms.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
How about:
“I PAID THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN RATES AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS F*CKING SIGN!!!”
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Hate the Weta sculpture, much prefer the Wellywood sign. Gore has a Trout sculpture, Ohakune a carrot, L&P a giant fizzy drink bottle. What does a giant weta say about Wellington?
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Oh shit Steve’s right…
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
What Wellington really needs is a 1km high black tower with a red searchlight that sweeps over the landscape at random: http://insidetheasylum.blogsome.com/2010/01/05/eye-of-sauron/
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
How about the mounted heads of all the councillors and airport committee members who thought that WELLYWOOD would enhance the capital’s skyline.
Alongside it, a giant bar-graph showing the “cringe factor” felt by the rest of us could be constructed.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Hey Wellington, we got a ‘bridge’ wanna buy it. Actually Wellington you can have it free, on condition that you get the Govt to finance some REAL bridges for Auckland, and some fucking motorways and roads, and a fast link to the Airport.
Vote:All of the TAX and GST the comes from Auckland is wasted on PET PROJECTS. When does AUCKLAND get something back??
We are sick and tired of financing shit ideas.
May 18th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
“Middle-earth or Frodo’s Land” ???
Really?
“Land of the one track dopey cunts” gets my vote.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
While I vent my spleen,
Vote:Auckland population is increasing faster then ever before (more tax payed) and don’t give me the shit about Benifits payed to Auckland, it is proportional to the other cities.
Auckland has one huge TIT and the rest of the country is sucking on it
May 18th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Oh shit I forgot, that huge TIT sticks up quite high, it’s called the ‘Bombay Hills’
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Steve, chip on your shoulder there mate?
Last I looked a huge proportion of NZ’s terms of trade come from agriculture, wine, mining, tourism. None of those things come from Auckland. In terms of NZ’s actual wealth, as defined by our exports, Auckland would be the one sucking on that tit. Of course, that doesn’t exactly let Wellington off the hook, as they produce none of those things either…..
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
From a agriculture, gas , and oil area I would have to agree… what does Auckland do but import ready made goods and sell them on to the rest of the country.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
PaulL, the grape does not export itself and neither does the cheese. The infrastructure is there, not a lot of world transport going out of Cromwell
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
WELLYWOOD
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
RKBee,
Auckland manufactures products for the local NZ market on a scale that no other city in NZ can match.
Vote:See you at the Field Days
May 18th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
“Windy, 14 degrees, clearing later”
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
How about a “If you can read this you haven’t crashed” sign. Then you could add the “yet.” sign a bit further down the road.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
I”m generalising Steve… but in terms of NZ’s proportion of trade Auckland’s produced exports are little… the Field Days don’t change that.. it would help if Auckland upped its manufacturing in the world markets… but it still wouldn’t catch up with NZ agriculture etc.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Is the Lord of The Rings still a big deal in Welllington.
A bit dead and buried isn’t it by now?
I was driving from CHCH to AKL once with a very hot American friend of mine who insisted we pull off and find that river in the first one.
I would have said no had she not been hot and so I readily agreed.
First of all, it was like almost impossible to find it.
This was 2002.
Secondly, there was nothing there just the river.
I was a little disappointed and so was she I think.
I think Wellington should celebrate being different and let’s face it a bit arty, like Melbourne perhaps.
So, I guess none of them are good for me but Absolutely Positively Wellington would get my half hearted vote.
I am sure even here we could come up with a better suggestion.
Why don’t you run a contest here DPF?
Good idea?
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
A complete waste of time, energy, and cash.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Wellington is just fine as it is, and where it is.
However all Government Departments and associated infrastructure should be moved to……………..
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
@Rex – I tried the work-in-akl-live-in-wlg gig for a couple of years. Mon/tue in akl, wed in wlg, thu/fri back in akl. Think I flew through most of the best and worst wellington could dish up.
The most insane aborted landing I can recall had us over the runway at about 50 feet when we were suddenly and violently blown sideways (so I was looking out the window directly up the runway!). The pilot gave our little 73 the gas and we went back to for another go – from somewhere near Kaikora it felt like. 2nd attempt was less dramatic and more successful.
Turns out the chap sitting next to me was a pilot dressed in civvies. He was the coolest person on the cabin, but even he looked a little green.
He felt the need to enumerate to me the risks of an overrun at the north end for Wellington airport: first through a fence, then down a steep bank, through two sets of high voltage trolley bus wires and across four lanes of traffic, through rocks and then into the sea. Survival prospects: Not too flash.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
1. “At least it’s not Palmerston North”
2. “More culture than a pot of home-made Yoghurt !”
3. “This IS Wellington, what were you expecting ?”
4. “Bored of the Rings”
Seriously, I know Wellingtonians like to think they’re sophisticated and clever (snort), but a sign, a gigantic sign by the airport, celebrating a badly executed film ten years or so ago. Get over yourselves already, OK ?
Krazykiwi, survival prospects, one big flash ?
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
I also go for #1 Giant weta
Vote:I don’t like Wetawood because that is too commercial (wonderful company though Weta is)
Also, though I love LOTR, there are actually many who would not understand “Middle Earth” or (yuk) “Frodo-land” though LOTR sculptures would be striking even if people don’t understand them.
Absulutely Positively Wellington would be good (great slogan)
Miramar? Huh?
Wellywood? Just a rip-off of Hollywood that says we have no creativity
If all else fails, nothing wrong with WELLINGTON!
May 18th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
A giant Weta?
I could not think of anything worse, or scary.
Anyone who has chopped old gorse bushes knows what a Weta is actually like.
They remind me of the Alien movies and probably had something to do with the depiction of the aliens in the movies?
Imagine the squeamish Chinese, they would be too scared to get off the plane!
Is that the plan?
Haha.
Vote:May 18th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
@Ed Snack, quite. But Akl doesn’t get off scott free. The heaviest landing I experienced over those years was at Akl. 737 again, and we hit the deck so hard that every tray-table crashed open (where the seat in front was occupied) !
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 2:02 am
You really have to let go of this Lord of the Rings addiction. It’s a fucking movie for goodness sakes. Wellingtonians are making themselves look stupid and desperate for clinging onto the past. Save ratepayers some money and leave it all alone. You don’t need to chuck a bloody big sign up just because you have a hill to put it on.
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 5:42 am
People went to LOTR to blow off nine hours or so losing all sense of proportion before they had to go back to their shitty lives. How about a big sign that says:
“Wellington: we have shitty lives, but we have also permanently lost all sense of proportion.”
Or how about making all tourists sit through a 20 minute educational video about how a film trilogy was directed in New Zealand. Once.
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 7:01 am
How about a giant bust of Lenin??
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 8:18 am
How about not piss the money away?
Radical concept.
Or just man up and admit that you want to rename Wellington “Jacksonville”.
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 8:35 am
It seems unwise to tie Wellington’s identity to one particular commercial operation that may or may not be there in the future.
Art is what makes a city and gives it identity. It seems churlish and small minded to simply cry: “what about the ratepayers”. It also assumes that all ratepayers think & feel the same way.
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 8:39 am
People who comment on blogs are , in an odd way, experts on identity as they have mostly chosen a precise identity to post under. If Wellington was a blogger what would it’s pseudonym be ?
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 8:54 am
1. WELLINGTON
Vote:2. A weta sculpture
3. Lord of the Rings sculptures
4. Absolutely Positively Wellington
5. A film sculpture
6. A wind sculpture
7. Middle-earth or Frodo’s Land
8. MIRAMAR
9. WELLYWOOD
10. Wetawood
May 19th, 2010 at 9:47 am
“Art is what makes a city and gives it identity.”
No, geography, architecture and people are what gives a city its identity.
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 10:20 am
I’ve said it before, and likely will say it again:
Those _towns_ used as examples (the trout, the L&P bottle, etc.) are for _towns_ that are trying to differentiate themselves from other towns around NZ. Wellington is our _capitol_ _city_ and doesn’t need any more differentiation than it already has. What a f***ing stupid idea to have ANYTHING there.
That said, I do like the “PULL UP, PULL UP” sign.
Vote:Once (_only_ once) I managed to fly into Wellington ahead of a big front and it was calm as. That certainly wasn’t “normal” for a Wellington landing. My friends who came in later said it was an interesting ride coming in behind the front!
May 19th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Don’t do anything, whatever they do it will be tacky. And Wellington is tacky enough as it is, lets face it, its just an oversized version of Palmerston North
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Wellington, where the grey is.
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Yes, if money must be wasted it should be on things that are cool and or amusing so I am all for a pull up pull up sign.
Vote:May 19th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
yes and art
Vote:May 20th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
redbaiter “How about a giant bust of Lenin??”
That would be appropriate ‘cos Lenin was the world’s biggest TIT
Vote:May 20th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
How about “Gridlockwood” that at least would remain true; the film industry will eventually move on if they haven’t already left.
Vote: