Are we exclusive?
Rec Room #10 – Things we’ve been enjoying this week
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
We’ve reached the 10th edition of Rec Room, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for subscribing. Every new sign-up brings us closer to our ultimate goal: securing a Nando’s sponsorship. (Also open to other sponsors, especially if there’s free food involved.)
It’s also about time we had a talk. I was just wondering – are we, like, exclusive? Or do you subscribe to other newsletters too? Totally fine if you do… I just want to know who they are. Seriously, please recommend me your favourite newsletters!
My one’s Edith Zimmerman’s Drawing Links. Maybe you already know Edith from her writing or illustrations in places like The Cut or The Hairpin – this year she started a newsletter where she draws comic diary entries and shares interesting links. I just realised that’s why it’s called Drawing Links.
Anyway, I love her drawing style and the way her comics manage to capture a sense of magic and wonder in the most mundane everyday things. This one the other week made me really want to try a Peloton exercise bike. Can you get them in New Zealand? Maybe they’d make a good sponsor for Rec Room.
Thanks again for reading.
–Cal
Leonie recommends Baumgartner Restoration on YouTube. “It’s slow TV ASMR – an art restoration expert voicing over videos of his restoration projects in very soothing tones. Sometimes he’s cleaning a 500-year old Renaissance painting a centimetre at a time with cotton buds, or retouching an oil painting by Winston Churchill. There’s an amazing range of machines and techniques involved, and you end up having opinions on the best solvents to remove fish-based glue.”
Toby Morris recommends People Just Do Nothing on Netflix. “It's an English mockumentary-style sitcom from the mid 2010s, but instead of sad workers at a depressing paper company in a grey English office block, it's sad lads at a depressing pirate radio station in a grey English tower block. Whether you know anything about the world of British garage or pirate radio doesn't matter – the show's motley collection of skeezy chancers is super well observed, very funny and the perfect balance of cutting and affectionate.”
Mad recommends Las Culturistas podcast. “Two comedians, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, speak to funny people about pop culture. There are a lot of episodes so I suggest starting with 'The Top 200 Moments in Culture History' for all your pop culture nostalgia needs. My personal favourite duo in the list is #174 The Big Bang (largely believed to be the beginning of our universe), and #173 Cate Blanchett in Notes On A Scandal saying ‘You wanna fuck me, Barbara?!’ If you like your high next to your low, you'll love this podcast.”
Duncan recommends the 2008 movie Never Back Down on Neon. “It’s basically The OC if Ryan Atwood was the star and never met Seth Cohen, and instead fell in with some savage street fighting MMA-heads in South Florida. It stars Sean Faris as Jake Tyler, a teen with anger issues, pitted against (actual OC villain) Cam Gigandet, who is nominally a teen but clearly about 45 years old, playing his bully rival. Unaccountably, the great Djimon Hounsou slums it as Tyler's trainer, over a soundtrack of perfect 00s angst. The whole thing is just incredibly stupid and basic, but I recently watched it for a third time and can confirm that it is a trashy modern Karate Kid and an absolute blast from start to finish.”
Lucy recommends the Breville Smart Toast (TM) toaster. “It’s a toaster so smart you don’t need to waste energy pushing down the lever, you just press a button. It’s super quiet too – when it’s done, it gently raises the toast up and beeps, and if your toast isn’t quite done, you just press the “a bit more” button and back down it goes. Genius. I would however recommend getting this toaster on sale.”
Finally, Alice recommends having a scroll through the post full of dogs at polling booths she lovingly curated on election day. In fact, there were so many dogs (plus a lizard, some chickens, a donkey and a cat) in The Spinoff inbox that she had to do a second post on Monday. Truly an unprecedented election.
On the Rag
For some of us imposter syndrome is a constant whisper, for others it’s a screeching megaphone at the most inopportune moments. It’s that voice in the back of our head telling us we’re not good enough, a fraud, a phoney, and any second now we’re going to be found out. So how do we tell it to shut up? This month’s new episode of On the Rag hears from some very successful New Zealand women to find out.
Election 2020 – live TV’s biggest night of the year
Whether you watch JC and Hils on One or Dunc, Tova and Paddy on Three (or one of the other channels), election night was an absolute treat of chaotic live crosses and bizarre studio banter. José Barbosa heroically ingested it all and condensed it into this seven and a half minute highlight package that we can enjoy for years to come. There’s also a standalone two and a half minute supercut of Paddy Gower’s spectacular performance on Newshub if that’s what you’re after.
Gone By Lunchtime
Podcast manager Jane recommends going back and listening to all the Gone By Lunchtime election coverage. “Start with the latest episode, which features a post-match chat with Chlöe Swarbrick. Also, Toby, Annabelle and Ben fighting extreme exhaustion to share their hot takes from the big night. Full disclosure, Gone By Lunchtime has been having a lovely time floating about near the top of the Apple Podcast charts and we'd like to keep it that way. So please listen on all your devices and get your mum to as well.
The Fold
The Spinoff’s political editor Justin Giovannetti came up to Auckland for election night, walking straight off the plane and into the podcast studio to record an episode of The Fold with Duncan Greive. They talked about his first six or so months in the job, which also happened to be his first six or so months in New Zealand. It’s been quite a ride, learning the ins and outs of another country’s press gallery while covering a marathon election campaign as well as a global pandemic.
Business is Boring
Who’d want to be a restaurant owner in 2020? Josh Emett, that’s who. The Masterchef judge and Michelin-starred chef from his time working with Gordon Ramsay has just opened his second new restaurant of the year. He joined Simon Pound on Business is Boring to talk about his career up to this point and what it’s been like opening his first restaurants of his own in such uncertain times.
That’s all for this week. Please reply to get in touch if you’d like to share a rec and of course feel free to share with any friends you think might like to subscribe.
See you next Wednesday 👋
