Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

As the son of jazz legend Don Cherry, Eagle-Eye Cherry seemed destined for a life in the creative arts. His song Save Tonight is a boneafide classic, storming the charts upon its release. 

He leads a much more low-key life nowadays than he did back in the 90’s, but he’s still writing and performing live, and is set to visit New Zealand alongside the legendary UB40. 

It’ll be the first time Cherry has visited the country, and he told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame he’s very much looking forward to it. 

“It’s been on my bucket list for my entire life,” Cherry revealed. 

“So I’m really excited to come there and get to play for my fans, and to get to hear UB40 live, which I’ve never done.” 

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Should we be tipping in New Zealand? 

The question has arisen once more with a new proposal to encourage the practice in the hospo sector. 

Kevin Milne has been thinking about the proposal, and he’s not sure about the idea. 

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"Don’t you love it when you venture to new territory which knocks your expectations out of the park? I’ve just had such an experience when taking a cool change from North Queensland’s tropical coastline for a highlands escape. Just over an hour’s drive from Cairns, the Atherton Tablelands is a bucolic and woodsy delight, where elevated fertile farmland and ancient rainforests set the stage for rewarding outdoorsy exploration. As I made my way over the twists and turns of the Gillies Highway, a nonchalant Southern Cassowary briefly brought the road traffic to a grinding halt. These birds are not to messed with and I happily gave him the right of way as he intimately ambled past my gleaming rental car, casting an imperious glance my way, as if to say, “you’re in my territory, now”. After that brief brush with the birdlife – and thankfully no rental car damage, the warm embrace of Yungaburra soon shuffled into view, 750 metres above sea level."

Read Mike's full article here.

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Coming seven years after the release of her last album, ‘7’ is the 7th studio album by Nelly Furtado.  

When announcing the album in July of 2024, Furtado said she had written “400-500 pieces of music in 4 years", fourteen of which were chosen for the album. 

She likened the album to a collection, the songs being more like “random seashells that may be similar but not all alike”. 

Estelle Clifford joined Jack Tame to give her thoughts on the release. 

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Frankie by Graham Norton 

Frankie Howe has lived a long life, her small flat is crammed full of art, furniture - and memories. Damian, her young carer, listens as she gradually tells him parts of her story - a story that takes us into a progressive, daring world of New York artists on the brink of fame, aspiring writers and larger-than-life characters. 

Always just on the periphery, looking on, young Frankie is never quite sure enough of herself to take centre stage. But the outsider holds certain advantages, sees things others don't, can influence without drawing attention. And when the map has been lost, it's anyone's guess where you may end up, or the accidental choices you find you have made. Frankie discovers that life is not always the one we hope for, or the one others expect of us. 
 
Travelling from post-war Ireland to the dazzling art scene of 1960s New York by way of London, Frankie is an immersive, decade-sweeping novel about love, bravery and what it means to live a significant life. 

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig 

“What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don’t understand yet…” 

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan. 
 
Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past. 
 
Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning. 

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On the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast for Saturday 21 September 2024, Eagle Eye Cherry joins Jack to discuss his bonafide classic track Save Tonight, his love for performing live, and what he's expecting for his first time ever touring in New Zealand.  

Jack talks about how stiffer competition from across the ditch will help New Zealand's rugby improve too.  

Chef Nici Wickes has the perfect recipe for new season asparagus, right as it is springing into stores. 

Man of many talents, Graham Norton has a brand-new book out and book reviewer Catherine Raynes delivers her verdict.  

And tech expert Paul Stenhouse explains why the US government is looking to force cars to have AM radio. 

Get the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame Full Show Podcast every Saturday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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A new phenomenon has emerged: dreamscrolling.  

The opposite of doomscrolling, dreamscrolling has people looking at dream purchases or things they’d one day like to own – houses being a common choice. 

It even seems to have some benefits when done in the workplace, both to those doing it, and the organisation. 

Dougal Sutherland reveals a couple of the key benefits it can have:

- Dreamscrolling gives us that little psychological “hit” of joy, even if it’s about something imaginary! When we fantasize about the “what-if” it’s like, for a moment, we’re living our best life in that dream house – and it feels good. 

- Overseas research has shown that dream scrolling can help some people with financial planning as it serves to motivate and inspire them to actively save for, or invest in, that thing they’re dreaming about. So it can help motivate us and change our behaviour for the future. 

- At a time when many of us might be feeling a bit down in the dumps, particularly if you live in Wellington or work for the government, it’s probably not surprising that a good chunk of dreamscrolling happens at work. That might not be a bad thing though as the boost in positive mood you get can flow through to how you engage with your work and people around you. And it’s certainly better than doomscrolling! 

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A week or so ago, a wonderful kids book couriered its way to my front door. It’s a book about our native bees in Aotearoa, written by Rachel Weston. It’s titled “Kiwi Bees have tiny knees”. 

How refreshing to finally read a book about our native bees, not the introduced pollinator from Tropical Africa which migrated through Europe and all the way to Asia. Our native bees are from Aotearoa and there are 28 species in our land, most of which have not been studied well at all! 

After Spring has started this year (that will be from tomorrow morning 12:43 am onwards) I shall come back to this magnificent book in detail, simply because it deserves a lot more entomological attention. 

For now, I will alert you to page 21: Clever little bees: Pollinating Mistletoe. 

That simple line grabbed my attention immediately, and on the day I received the book I started a complete week of Mistletoe frenzy; and it is all to do with Gardening! 

Our tiny bees pollinate mistletoe? For Real? 

Rachel’s book has a QR Code on page 21 which allows you to see them at work, check out the video here. 

A Leioproctus native bee (pretty small insect!) chews open the red mistletoe’s flower and harvests nectar and pollen. When it does the same trick with the next flower of the bunch, the pollen will fertilise that neighbouring flower. 

Bellbirds and tui are probably the main pollinators of these mistletoes, but those tiny bees also contribute to the reproductive system. That is just as well, seeing our native birds might be locally under pressure from predators etc – so if bees can take over some of that pollination job from the birds, the mistletoe might have better chances for survival. 

We have 8 species of Mistletoe in New Zealand (number 9 is presumed to be extinct), but browsing by possums and loss of habitat or host trees puts the species under pressure. Mistletoes are “parasitic” plants that live on their hosts and extract nutritious liquids from these host plants. This doesn’t seem to harm the host plants or trees in a major way. 

Once the mistletoe started flowering (some have very small flowers, other species have beautifully coloured flowers that stand out!) the pollinators will be attracted and do their job. That leads to the formation of fertile mistletoe fruit (seed inside the small, juicy berry) that will draw in the bird species that enjoy those fruits. 

As soon as they pick off their snacks, the birds may suddenly realise that the seed is surrounded by a seriously sticky glue. Some birds try to take the glue off their beaks by wiping the fruit and the seed over the branches of the host plant on which the mistletoe grew. 

Some birds will have a go at swallowing the fruit and seed regardless, ending up defecating a very sticky poo that the bird will wipe off its “bottom feathers”, usually on the same branches that grew the mistletoe. And that is how Nature distributes the mistletoe through the landscape. 

As gardeners, what can we learn from that? 

A few years ago, I managed to adhere some green mistletoe seeds on a native host plant: kowhai!  

It hasn’t flowered or seeded as yet but my neighbour is a few years ahead of the game and I got some seeds off him – now it’s all on! 

Ileostylus micranthus seeds in abundance. The tiny green bits of growth are the flowers on this species. 

I have stuck heaps of seeds all over the neighbourhood in an attempt to find out what kind of trees would work as hosts of this green mistletoe (Ileostylus micranthus). So far we know kowhai and divaricating Coprosmas (C. virescens), as well as apple, pear, peach, and plum!  

The way to attach the sticky seeds is no surprise: the sticky seeds are squeezed out of the fruit and positioned on the "collar" of the branch. Tag it with some colourful wool or something like that, to keep an eye on progress for the next few years. I reckon this is the way to spread our native mistletoes back into their original habitat. There’s quite a bit of info on these plants on our internet: here and here.

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Bob's Best Buys: Rimapere Baron Edmond de Rothschild 2024 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, $30 

Why I chose it:                      

- Top vintage 
- Best of Marlborough with a French accent 
- Sauvignon doesn’t get much better than this 
- Delicious now but no rush 
- It has great purity and power 
- Due to be released, but buy it while stocks last 

What does it taste like?  

A delicious sauvignon blanc with real finesse. Flavours are a medley of passion fruit, lime zest, guava, and a suggestion of feijoa. A vibrant and refreshing wine with appealing purity. It has a strong Marlborough signature with a subtle French accent.  

Why it’s a bargain:  

It’s not the cheapest sauvignon around, in fact as sauvignon goes it is moderately expensive, but is also very, very good. In my book it offers good value. 

Where can you buy it? 

It is just about to be released so check out your nearest fine wine retailer. When ordering in advance, don’t forget to enquire about a discount. 

What’s a good food match?  

The folk at Rimapere recommend pairing it with salads, white meats, or fish in sauce dishes. I can’t argue with that. 

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How do we power the rise of AI? 

The answer at the moment seems to be nuclear power. Microsoft has partnered with a shuttered nuclear power plant called Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania to bring back its Unit 1 facility. It was shut down in 2019 because of increased competition from cheaper sources such as natural gas, solar, and wind power. 

Microsoft says it'll purchase all the power from the plant for 20 years. So, Constellation says it'll spend $1.6 billion to get it back up and running by 2028 – as long as the regulators allow it.  

You may know the name Three Mile Island because of a nuclear meltdown at the "Unit 2" site, in 1979. 

The US Government could soon force cars to have AM radio 

With the rise of internet connected electric vehicles, AM radio has been phased out. Tesla, BMW and Volkswagen promised to remove AM radio saying the electric engines can interfere with the sound of AM radio.  

Plus, why do you need it if you can stream Spotify, Pandora, or iHeart? Well, what happens if you're out of a coverage area? What happens if there's an issue with the communications systems? How do you get emergency information? Well, US lawmakers believe the answer was, and is, AM radio. It's got a huge coverage area, even in rural areas, and is integrated with emergency alerting systems. The AM for Every Vehicle Act was overwhelmingly approved by a house committee and will now go before the house for a vote and, if successful, will go to President Biden to sign. 

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