Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

It was such a rookie mistake.  

I was tramping in the Kahurangi, last summer. The Douglas Range, 1000m above sea level. And after we’d pitched a tent, as the sun got heavy and the surrounding hills cast their shadows long and deep, I realised I’d screwed up, big time.  

Zzzzzz. Zzzzzz. Zzzzzz.  

What made the error so much worse was that it wasn’t a bit of absent-minded forgetfulness. I’d carefully considered my opti...

The Widow by John Grisham 

The new incredible legal thriller and first ever who-dunnit from John Grisham. She needs a lawyer. He needs a payday. Simon Latch is a small-town lawyer struggling with debt, gambling issues and an impending divorce. 

Last One Out by Jane Harper 

He had been here, that was clear from the marks in the dust. And he had been alone. In a dying town, Ro Crowley waits for her son on the evening o...

When it comes to grand gestures, painting your entire city in the one colour is quite something. So much for painting the town red. How about pink? Jaipur beckons as one of India’s most enchanting destinations, where the Old City is harmoniously bathed in the same pink hue. The elegant capital of Rajasthan was painted in pink stucco in 1876 to welcome Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, who was the son of Queen Victoria and later b...

Building on Jack’s love of birds and bird-feeding in his garden – new research shows that listening to birdsong may actually benefit your mental health and improve sadness and depression. 

Researchers took people with and without depression and then made them feel sad in the laboratory by playing movie clips. Sidenote – I read another study where they made people feel sad by playing a piece of Russian classical music slowed do...

When I arrived in New Zealand as an immigrant (in 1978), the Asian Paperwasp arrived here too. I remember I was impressed by the New Zealand obsessions to keep these invaders out of the kiwi ecosystems.

A few years later I started working for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Asian (or Chinese) Paperwasp was still being pursued; unfortunately without success. We tried to create some pro-active techniques to stop unwanted critters...

Immigrant's Vineyard Sparkling Méthode Traditionnelle NV, Central Otago 

RRP from $38.00

Roland and Lucienne moved to New Zealand from the Netherlands 1986, ultimately settling in Central Otago’s Alexandra area. 

Some years later Lucy studied viticulture in Hawke's Bay and after working in hospitality and retail for many years took the leap of faith and passion and acquired our vineyard. Their first vintage was in 2015 la...

ChatGPT has launched a browser 

It's only for Mac though. I tried it and was a little underwhelmed. The first two things I tried to get it to do it failed at. I asked it to get headlines from CNN and the NYTimes but those sites are restricted -- which may be a common issue as you start using it for your every day. Publishers and Apps are thinking about their AI access strategies after being burned from giving so much of their ...

The Ridge - (Neon and Sky Open) A psychological thriller set in both Scotland and New Zealand, about a doctor who flies to New Zealand to attend her sister’s wedding, only to arrive and discover her sister has died under mysterious circumstances.

Nobody Wants This - (Netflix) A second season of the charming American rom-com starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, about the unlikely romance between an agnostic podcaster and an eligibl...

John Boyega has legendary status for his ability to say that he’s fought with a lightsaber, stood up to the Empire, and been an integral part of a brand-new generation of sci-fi. 

John shot to fame as former stormtrooper Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and has since carved out an incredible reputation as an actor, producer, activist and storyteller with real purpose. 

This weekend, John is in New Zealand for the Arm...

This is the perfect shoulder season meal – not too hearty but not too fresh either, perfect for these interim months between Winter and Summer.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 6 chicken thigh portions, bone in, skin on
• 500g red seedless grapes
• 6 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup stock
• Sea salt and black pepper
• Handful of thyme and rosemary

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C on fan bake.

In a large roasting ...

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere - (in cinemas)

Starring Jeremy Allen White (of The Bear fame). On the cusp of global superstardom, New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past as he records the album "Nebraska" in the early 1980s. 

Four Mothers - (in cinemas from October 29 as part of the British & Irish film festival)

 An author is saddled with c...

"An amusing story about the lengthy & complex arrangements around an appointment with an oral (dental) surgeon this week. Spoiler alert: My tooth fell out before I got there."

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