Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some TV picks for the long weekend. Firefly Lane: Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke star in this sentimental drama about the lives of two very different women bonded by a friendship lasting three decades (Netflix)    Soulmates: This anthology series takes place 15 years in the future, when science makes a discovery that changes the lives of everyone on the planet - a test to show who your soulmate really is. (Amazon Prime Video, from Monday)  Holey Moly: Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Holey Moly takes self-proclaimed mini-golf lovers from around the country and puts them head-to-head through an epic obstacle course. In each episode, contestants put their miniature golf -- and physical -- skills to the test and face off in never-before-seen challenges on a supersized miniature golf course (Three, from Monday). LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kevin Milne can't work out how legendary NHS supporter Sir Tom Moore was allowed to get covid. Sir Tom became well known after raising $NZ60 million dollars for the NHS by walking laps of his garden ahead of his 100th birthday.But this week, he died of covid, and Kevin's wondering how that happened. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summer has well and truly arrived, and Nici Wickes has been celebrating with an epic ice cream sundae. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Kiwi-directed action thrilled Shadow in the Cloud, and new Netflix drama The Dig. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After sitting on their completed album for a whole year, the Foo Fighters have just released their 10th studio album “Medicine at Midnight”.  It would have been released in 2020, which was their 25th year as a band, but we all know what happened there. Lead guitarist Chris Shiflett has been talking to Jack Tame. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Movie reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching Kiwi-directed action thrilled Shadow in the Cloud, and new Netflix drama The Dig. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the plural of Nissan Leaf?Is it ‘Leaves’? Is it ‘Leafs’? Should we lose the ‘S’ all together and call more than one Leaf, ‘Leaf’? As in, ‘Look at that car yard, filled with Nissan Leaf”.This is something we need to consider, because if you take the time to spot them there are unmistakably more and more Nissan Leafs on our roads, and regardless of how you feel about electric cars, they’re only going to become more abundant.The Nissan Leaf, of course, is basically the Toyota Corolla hatchback of electric cars. It’s far and away the World’s best-selling electric vehicle and I’m not afraid to say I quite like them. They’re not as sleek and sexy as a low-slung Maserati, or nearly as tech’d up as a Tesla, but I reckon they’re not half bad. I’ve driven a few on a few different occasions now, and but for the silence you’d think you were driving any other mid-range petrol hatchback. The Climate Commission’s report makes for a humbling read with massive changes needed in almost every part of our economy. And it

Book reviewer Catherine Raynes has been reading The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous and The Devils you Know by Ben Sanders.LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former one-directioner Zayn Malik’s just released his third album ‘Nobody is Listening’. So far, it hasn't done so well on the charts. So is that warranted? Music reviewer Estelle Clifford's been taking a listen. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music reviewer Francesca Rudkin has been watching singer Sia's new movie Music, Danish drama-comedy Another Round, and World War 2 drama Summerland. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our traveller Mike Yardley has been checking out Glacier Country: South Westland.LISTEN TO HIS TIPS ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watering Techniques After a week with Temps of 37.7 degrees in the afternoon, it got quite hot for us on the Port Hills. Of course other parts on NZ had similar Australasian drifts of wonderful hot air and soil and plants dried out very quickly.  How to Water? I’ve never been a fan of sprinklers. I try to keep my leaves dry as much as possible; wet leaves often give fungal spores opportunity to settle on the plant, causing leaf-spots, rots, downy mildew and powdery mildew. Try to water the root zone of a plant, by depositing the water – gently – on the soil. A fierce jet of water can clog the porosity of the soil (not so good either!), so a nice shower-setting of your hose hand-piece is perfect  Evening or Morning? It doesn’t really matter a lot, I think. The water cools the soil remarkably and in the morning (when it’s cooler) most of the water will actually penetrate the soil. In the evening (with warmer temperatures) a proportion of the water will evaporate, become a “cloud” of H2O gas and meet its mates,

Trading up There's been lots of focus on first home buyers, for obvious reasons. But for most people, your first home is not your dream home. With lots of anecdotes about the $3m house being the new $2m house, moving into the next house bracket might mean taking on an extra $500k or even $1m+ in debt. So what do you need to do if you're thinking about taking on a significant chunk more debt? Hannah McQueen has been giving her tips to Jack Tame, and if you want more detail you can get hold of her at enable.me – financial strategy & coaching.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the internet vs Wall Street You've probably heard of this story. Millions of amateur traders, wanting to teach Wall Street a lesson, have poured money into certain companies to push their stock prices up. That affects traders looking to 'short' the companies. That's when they bet on a stock going down. One of the app based trading platforms has got caught up in the fight. RobinHood sells data on the transactions to the third parties executing the deals, then these Market Makers can then make money off the spread - the difference in pricing during the time between buy and sell orders. It might be just pennies of profit, but when you do that at volume there're serious money to be made.Amazon is ready to distribute vaccines The company sent President Biden a letter on his first day in office offering to help with distribution using its vast delivery network. They're uniquely suited to this task as in New York City, for example, they can deliver you almost anything in less than two hours. They can get packag

Green sun safety  With the high temperatures of the past week, we've all been flocking to the beach. But what are the most environmentally-friendly ways to keep sun safe at the beach? First off, stay out of the sun between 10am-4pm, September to April. The beach is wonderful early in the morning or late afternoon. If you’re at the beach outside of these times, sun shades you put up are a good idea. Make sure you get a good one, not a cheap throw away.  If you need more protection, you'll be slapping on the sunscreen. But which kind? There are two varieties: chemical and physical. Chemical sunscreen absorbs UV light to prevent it from causing damage. But the chemicals; like oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, octisalate, avobenzone and homosalate, have been identified as being particularly dangerous for eco-systems. There's evidence they have been making coral more susceptible to bleaching, deforming baby coral and degrading its resilience to climate change. Hawaii is now looking at banning these chemicals. T

Screentime Queen Tara Ward has some picks for this weekend. It’s a Sin: Five 18-year-olds move to London in 1981, where they all meet and form a gang and move into a flat together. They begin exploring their identities and become who they truly are, but a distant disease threatens their future (TVNZ OnDemand).  Critical:  Inside a major trauma centre, top surgeons work to save the critically injured and seriously ill in this British drama from Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio. Shot in real time, in a world where every second counts, life and death sits on a knife's edge (TVNZ OnDemand).   Blown Away: a new series of the gentle reality show about glassmakers competing to blow away the competition (Netflix) LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2020 took Aussie-born actor Simon Baker from a life in Hollywood, where he’s best known for his starring role in TV series The Mentalist, to laying low with his family at his second home on Sydney’s Bronte Beach.  The move also meant he took a break from the US, coming home to star in Higher Ground which a movie that’s being described as an Aussie version of a Western.   He plays Travis, a former cop who left the Northern Territory after his superiors covered up a massacre of Aboriginal people that left all but a little boy dead.   He's been speaking to Jack Tame about the impact the movie had on him as an Australian.  LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Portuguese Piri Piri Chicken  Few countries do BBQ better than the Portuguese with their frango piri piri, chicken cooked over the coals with a spicy lemony sauce to go with it is just the best!  Seves 4-6   1.5 kg whole butterflied chicken 1 bunch thyme 2 lemons, halved 4 potatoes, boiled and cut into wedges  Piri piri marinade  100g melted butter  3 red chillies, seeds discard and roughly chopped 4 garlic cloves, crushed with 1 tsp salt  2 teaspoons smoked paprika  1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 bay leaf ½ cup olive oil To make the piri piri marinade, simmer the ingredients together in a small pot or pan. Allow to cool.at chicken dry with paper towel. Score breasts and thighs with a sharp knife. Rub marinade all over and into the cuts and place in a large shallow dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight if you can,  removing from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. If you can’t do this stage, not to worry! Heat barbecue to high. Place the chicken, skin-side down, and cook

With some schools back next week, Kevin Milne's been thinking about sending his kids to school for the first time. Forget the kids, they'll be fine, he's got some tips for parents. LISTEN TO AUDIO ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few years ago, I asked my Grandad about his impressions from when he first set foot in New Zealand. It was the mid-1960s. He’d sailed from the U.K with his wife and two boys on an Italian liner, when they drew up and docked in Auckland. Together, the Tame family went for a look up Queen Street.  ‘It was horrible!’ said my Grandad. ‘Just awful. We couldn’t wait to get out of the place.’ His midlands accent added an additional level of disgust at the state of Queen Street, back then. And needless to say it was all he could do to get on a train and make his way to the South Island. Queen Street must have been really bad. He’s held onto a grudge for almost sixty years and as far as I know, he’s never been back since.But to be fair to my Grandad, when was the last time you heard someone gushing with compliments for Queen Street? When was the last time you heard someone say, ‘Queen Street’s amazing! It has all the buzz and intrigue of a street befitting the centre of our biggest city!’.The Herald is reporting thi