Okay. There's a lot of stuff to get through this week. Let's get straight to it.

There are gigs this weekend, which I should probably have written about last week to give you a chance to prepare. I'll run down a few of those first in case you want to immediately dash out of the house and hear some groovy music.
Firstly, bluesman Watermelon Slim is in the area as part of a national tour. You might have caught him being interviewed by Kym Hill on National Radio a couple of weeks back, where he resolutely proved himself to be the 'real deal”. As well as being able to bust some serious moves on the slide and the lap dobro, he also revealed a fascinating array of talents and experiences from – naturally – farming watermelons to being former Mensa member, fencing scholarship recipient, Vietnam veteran and 240-point bowler.
His is truly a remarkable story. (You can hear it again on the National Radio website).

Blues Music Awards
Perhaps more relevant to the upcoming gigs is that he's received 17 Blues Music Awards nominations in the last four years and performed with the likes of Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt and the late John Lee Hooker, whose style he is not a million miles away from.
He's doing two gigs in the general area – unfortunately the promoter couldn't find a suitable venue in Tauranga – tonight (Friday, April 26) 7.30pm at Ohope International Golf Club and Saturday, April 27 at Diggers Bar in Hamilton at 3.30pm. Tickets cost $25, available from the venues.
But, if you don't feel like going to Hamilton on Saturday, there's a gig closer to home and it's free!

Concerts continue
The cosy concert Winter Series is a continuation of the Summer Series twilight concerts and takes place in the Mauao Performing Arts events room, 11 Totara St, Mount Maunganui. The first session is this Saturday, April 27 from 5-8pm and you can hear the sounds of up-and-coming blues guitarists Kale Manson and Calum Smith along with seasoned blues band Beasley St and more. While the music is playing you can also appreciate live art being created from local mount artists Jamie Harkins, Ana Mendina and Constanza Nightingale. Bring refreshments along if you like, relax on the couches and enjoy a free community concert.
Like others at the Mount, Mauao PAC copped it pretty hard from flooding last weekend. Teams of students, friends and volunteers helped with the clean-up. They had a lot of music equipment damaged by leaks in the roof, rising flood water and the floor in the Music Academy is likely to be replaced, but music lessons are continuing as normal in the upstairs area not affected by flooding. Go along and support them, and check out some great music at the same time.
Moving from music to the movies, the Tauranga Film Society is going strong and there is never a bad time to join it. If you consider yourself a 'film buff”, don't even hesitate. The society shows films every second Wednesday at Rialto Cinema. They are, to put it mildly, an eclectic selection, the sort of films you rarely get a chance to see on the big screen, or – in many cases – at all in New Zealand.
There are classics (the next film up on Wednesday, May 1 is Leo McCarey's 1935 ‘Ruggles of Red Gap'. Other sessions offer documentaries, European and Eastern films, and things like Terrence Malick's ‘Badlands' and Claire Denis' ‘Beau Travail' which just scream out to be seen at a cinema. A full 12-month membership costs $90, during which time there are 16 films. Not a bad deal at all. If you join halfway through the year, the membership still offers 16 films by running into the next season.

A recommendation
I asked Neale Blaymires of the society what he was particularly looking forward to, and he recommended ‘The Last Bolshevik', a documentary by Chris Marker about Soviet filmmaker Alexander Medvedkin. Neale also highlighted new Chinese film ‘The Piano in a Factory' and Bertrand Blier's 1974 French flick ‘Going Places', starring Gerard Depardieu. Told you it was an eclectic mix!
For full the programme and contact information, check them out online at
www.nzfilmsociety.org.nz/tauranga.htm.