Our society has become accustomed to getting "the news" right here, right now.
We have done so through the advent of the instant replay button of digital communication. And what we see and get from it frequently amazes. Sometimes it adds value to our lives. Or offends.
iPhone, iPod, iMac, and for that matter i-almost-everything-else, are more than just accepted; to their makers' eternal joy – I am sure – digital technology's progeny have become seemingly indispensable survival items for today's young person. And through them all the world has become a stage.
There was a time when my parents – each typical post World War 1 conservative, hard-working, community-focused individuals – observed and studied the times in which they lived through newspapers, radio, and our fabulous local library in Petone.
Then, suddenly, in the 1950s their world went to rack and ruin. Rock 'n' roll arrived.
Good taste seemed, to them at least, to fly out the window. I was forced for reasons of self-preservation to keep my lime green and burnt orange party garb out of Mum's sight. After-school homework collaboration "sessions" with peers up at Elbe's Milk Bar in High St with its shiny Wurlitzer jukebox assumed a place in our lexicon of those times.
War raged in Vietnam. Protest barged off our university campuses on to the streets. And rock 'n' roll was the glue that bound us together as we struggled to make sense of it all, and get through.
Pat Teal, a Rose City rock and roller, recalls of her teenage years: "Never will forget that jiggly stiletto-heel walk. Train to town and tram up to the [Wellington] Town Hall. The huge sounds of Johnny Devlin; and the coffee bars, especially Suzie's in the old Majestic Theatre building. It was both magic and amazing, and we lived it for all it was worth."
Capturing and re-creating the colour, noise and excitement of those vibrant and challenging times is what Palmy's Rose City Rock and Roll Revival Club will be leading, as members celebrate its 25th anniversary next month.
And you can get to party along with it too, at the Retro Dine and Dance with its '50s era party theme in High Flyers on Friday, April 22, then again at Square Affair's Rock and Roll High School Hop on Saturday, April 23, in the Ballroom, B&M Centre at the Arena. Those attending the hop will be entertained by Gerry Lee, in what promises to be a full and exciting evening's programme.
Tickets for both the Retro Dine and Dance and High School Hop are available from i-SITE in The Square.
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