The Single Object – Heka Horcy – Soviet Lord of the Rings
...and other recs this week!
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
If you were alive and watching the news in 1994 – or indeed if you read last week’s Rec Room – you’ll remember the plight of the tree on One Tree Hill. What you might not remember is why it was the target of activist Mike Smith and his chainsaw in the first place.
Basically, if there was a New Zealand version of the podcast You’re Wrong About, this would make a great episode. But better yet, the first episode of new video series The Single Object is out now, and it features Smith telling the story behind his famous protest and what it represented.
Have a watch, and stay tuned for the other very different but equally great episodes in the series over the next four weeks.
–Cal
Pods pods pods
This week on Gone By Lunchtime [Apple | Spotify] the team hold a 45 minute silence for Prince Philip (edited out of the podcast) before getting stuck into all the latest New Zealand politics news. On When the Facts Change [Apple | Spotify], Bernard Hickey and guests discuss the global economy’s “doom loop”, and in a bonus episode Michael Andrew speaks with Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year Shannon Te Huia. On The Fold [Apple | Spotify], Duncan Greive speaks with broadcasting minister Kris Faafoi about supporting local journalism. On Business is Boring [Apple | Spotify], Simon Pound speaks to Tradespeople founder Emma Kaniuk about how to get more women and gender diverse tradies. Remember When… [Apple | Spotify] relives the emo era and the best Big Day Out moments. And The Real Pod [Apple | Spotify] has a new episode recapping another wild week of MAFS AU and the arrival of Popstars coming tonight. Subscribe and listen to them all now!
Heka Horcy
Leonie says: “AP of Church & AP and longtime collaborator Kamahumble dropped the Pasifika bounce anthem last week. Heka Horcy combines Tongan and Sāmoan pride, ukulele, siren and hella beats by Fracx. The karaoke-style vid is genius too. To quote Duncan Greive: “That is the new sound. All other sounds are now the old sound.” I added it to my favourite Spotify playlist ‘Grab aunty’s smokes’ (feat. Ardijah, the Doobie Bros, Spawnbreezie, Brother Love, Dalvanius – you know the ones) where it will live on high rotate forever. Siva mai!”
Soviet Lord of the Rings
Josie says: “Get lost, Peter Jackson! Some absolute hero has uploaded the best Tolkien adaptation in history: the 1991 Soviet made-for-TV film of Lord of the Rings. It’s called Khranteli, and this is not Frodo and the gang as you know them. This is the fellowship moving through an extremely sketchy special effects set and muttering lines in between bursts of rock music. You can turn the subtitles on if you like, but it won’t help. Give in to the vision.”
Vegging Out
Charlotte says: “Having one American cook dishes for four British guests isn’t a popular format for a cooking show – and this episode from the 2001 series Vegging Out proves why. It features Celia Brooks Brown, a chirpily frantic American living in London preparing “vegetarian Tex-Mex” meals for a group of exceedingly dour British guests, each of whom seem suspicious of nearly every ingredient she picks up. Are they guests, or a police interrogation squad? It’s a delightfully awkward show and might even provide accidental commentary on historic US and UK relations – fun!”
Popstars (1999)
Sam says: “You can – and should – watch the whole first episode of the original 1999 Popstars on NZ on Screen. This is reality TV at its finest: edited and produced to within an inch of its life, while still feeling like a raw, unfiltered look at what it took to make a successful pop group in the 90s, which was a lot of hairspray apparently. It’s a better use of an hour than the first episode of another similarly titled, completely different, reality show which is airing at the moment.” (Alex Casey caught up with Popstars new and old in this great feature on The Spinoff today.)
Arrowroot biscuits
Alice says: “They came dead last in Madeleine Chapman’s controversial biscuit ranking last year, and I admit they’re no chocolate butternut snap, but I recently ate three Arrowroot biscuits in one sitting and found the subtle sweetness and distinct lack of any discernible flavour strangely comforting. Chapman compares them to an oval-shaped piece of cardboard, but I counter that the dryness of the dry ’root (as they are known in my exceedingly odd family) is a pro, not a con.”
That’s all for this week! Please reply to get in touch and share with anyone else who might like to subscribe too. See you next Wednesday 👋