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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

“stress away ” It takes the

Life presents a lot of curly questions! “What’s going to happen when I get older still? How can I feel safe and secure without being a burden?” Liz found that seeing truly was believing in putting to rest anxieties about retirement villagess. “What I did know was that I did not want to live on my own anymore. It was my decision.’’ Liz has always lived witth lots of people around. From boarding school at age 10, to raisiing four children, Liz’s life was always busy. It still is. She enjoys the companyy of other residents, and the luxury of choosing from a menu fo or a freshly-prepared midday meal which Liz eats surrounde ed by friends. The meal provides an important daily social outing and there is a lovely buzz and vibrancy about the place. “We talk about life in general, but we stay away from politics,” Liz chuckles. While Liz points out that she is still ﬁt for her age, her decision to choose serviced apartment living was based on wondering what the future might bring. Her serviced apartment – which she has set up exactly how she likes it – allows Liz the balance of maintaining her indepe endence, whilst having the security of extra help if she needs it. “It makes me feel years younger to know help is there if I need it. It takes the stress away.”

To see Liz’s full story or for more information about the Ryman difference visit www.rymanhealthcare.co.nz or phone Josie on 0800 000 290

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

INSIDE +PLUS

Three days in Melbourne p5-p6

Accidental adult p4

Restaurant review: Huami p13

It’s all rock’n’roll, baby p9

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Matilda hits town The Royal Shakespeare Company’s criticallyacclaimed Australian Production of Matilda The Musical opened at The Civic last Friday to rave reviews. The winner of more than 85 major international awards, this RSC production of Matilda The Musical has played to sell-out houses across Australia. Matilda The Musical is based on the beloved novel by best-selling author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox). Tickets from Ticketmaster.

Retirement living, your way

Editor Greg Fleming gregory.fleming @nzme.co.nz Advertising enquiries Ben Trethewey ben.trethewey @nzme.co.nz Contributing writers Greg Fleming, Diana Clement, Paul Casserly, Sarah O’Neil, Alan Perrott, Joanna Mathers Cover design Xanthe Williams. The next issue of +Plus will be published on September 26. +Plus is a NZME Commercial Publication

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Accidental adult The generation of the Slacker gets wrinkles, writes Joanna Mathers

lannel shirts, army pants, laziness and cynicism. Cigarettes in dive bars, dirty guitars, philosophy and flares. Don’t think about the future, fight the establishment, quote Camus, Burroughs and Bukowski at every opportunity. And never grow up. For the left-of-centre, the early 90s were halcyon days. The heroes were anti-establishment pauper princes and priestesses — Kurt Cobain, Kathleen Hanna — and cynicism was order of the day. The Slacker by Richard Linklater (1991) gave our movement a name. Following a day in the life of under30 bohos in Austin Texas, it was the ultimate peon to misfits and weirdos. It wasn’t just okay to be unemployed and aimless, it was desirable. If you were a young, “alternative” kid in the early 1990s you had a free pass to do bugger all. University was the best place to drown in inertia — you could attend a lecture here and there and scrape by with a BA (“bugger all”) and spend most of your time hunting out rare Steve Albini side projects on vinyl. Nights were spent in a haze of cider and live music. Live venues abounded; dark and dirgy music spilling out of grimy bars as lank-haired kids queued to see their favourite Flying Nun bands. It was exciting, scary, fun and short-lived. As with many of my contemporaries, the ethos of the Slacker generation was branded on to my subconscious. As my 20s became my 30s I continued to embrace non-conformity, anti-capitalism, and a healthy disrespect for authority. But as more of my friends acquired

kids and well-paid jobs, the gilt edges of my idealism became tarnished. Adulthood crept up slowly and I fought it for years. A friend of mine, upon seeing where I lived, exclaimed “you live like a student!” I was appalled but it was true. I was 35 at the time. Resisting adulthood involved alcohol, night life, expensive travel and a lot of sleeping. When I moved into my flat in a central Auckland suburb there were a lot of people my age doing pretty much the same thing. When I left (10 years later) I was becoming the local weirdo in a street of rich, white people 10 years younger than me. I started to ask myself ‘how does

a nice house and a constant stress headache. Responsible adulthood is not something I ever thought I’d tackle, and I have to confess to the (recurrent) desire to run for the hills. But I haven’t and I won’t because I’ve grown up. How did I get this way? And why are so many of my friends having the same issues? American thinkers William Strauss and Neil Howe are best known for their work around generational theory. While their books Generation and The Fourth Turning were based on the history of the United States, their fourstage analysis is used to understand generational traits worldwide. The archetype they use to describe

It’s hard being a 40- of 50-something in 2017, especially when Millennials are so clean and focused and assured. Cynicism is no longer cool in an era of social media, where everything’s shiny and perfect and fresh a person who was raised to question authority, be pessimistic about the future, and celebrate oddness move happily into middle age with their values intact’? So I resisted until I couldn’t resist any more. Pregnant at 43, adulthood finally caught up with me. I was transformed from the world’s oldest adolescent to the world’s oldest parent. It hasn’t been easy. I have a job and

Gen Xers is “the Nomad”. Children of people raised in eras of social cohesion (in this example Baby Boomers in the late 40s and early 50s) Nomads are typified by their sense of alienation, their resistance to authority and individualism. It’s somewhat reductive (and Steve Bannon is one of Strauss and Howe’s biggest fans so that’s a mark against them) but it makes sense. Children tend to rebel against their

parents; Baby Boomer parents favoured conformity and stability, so their kids went for individualism and chaos. No great surprise there. The threat of nuclear war also contributed to the overriding nihilism of my generation. In 1983, at age 11, I had to sit through the horror The Day After at intermediate school. It remains the Joanna Mathers highest-watched television movie of all time — 100 million people in the US tuned into watch it. Based on the lead up and It’s hard being a 40- or aftermath of a nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union, it was 50-something in 2017, especially a nightmarish apocalyptic vision that when Millenials are so clean and was guaranteed to scare the bejesus focused and assured. Cynicism is no longer cool in an era of social media, out of such young kids. Along with Mad Max, who rode where everything’s shiny and perfect through a post-nuclear wasteland and fresh. But we still have each other and throughout the late 70s and 80s, The Day After was a cultural touch point we still know how to party. Our musical heroes are still in for a generation. No wonder adulthood seemed like bands and we still flock to see them. Mikey Havoc is back on mornings a pipedream for so many of us. But here we are, three decades on and at BFM, Flying Nun is still going strong, and vinyl is undergoing a massive the world is still — just — intact. The same can’t be said for our resurgence. E-books never took off youth. Generation X’s midlife crisis and you can still pick up Camus isn’t hard to spot: problem drinking, paperbacks on the cheap. pill popping, dancing to Underworld It’s a cliche, but time catches up in pine forests; we’re growing old with all of us. We may have worse hangovers disgracefully. The only difference between our and less hair than our 20-year-old midlife crisis and that of our parents selves, but at least we lived through is that our behaviour hasn’t actually a time when music was great and changed. We’re doing the same rebellion was sexy. things, but can no longer get up in I’d chose my middle-age over the morning. youth and Ed Sheeran any day.

+PLUS TRAVEL

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Three days in

Melbourne The Twelve Apostles — limestone stacks that rise dramatically from the Southern Ocean. Pic Greg Fleming.

Greg Fleming takes a caffeine-fuelled, whirlwind trip to Australia’s cultural capital

t had been 12 years since I’d visited one of my favourite cities, and the rapid rate of change was evident from our taxi as we drove in from Tullamarine airport. A swathe of new buildings and cranes littered the skyline (there’s a threeyear wait to hire them apparently, such is the demand). The Eureka Tower, one of the tallest residential buildings in the world at 91 floors, towered above them all — the winter sun glinting off the top 10 storeys’ gold-plated windows; a visual representation of the city’s new found confidence and a tip to its goldrush beginnings. Sydney might be bigger — and it has that harbour — but Melbourne is its younger, smarter, bookish sister, and she’s growing up fast. By 2030 it’s predicted Melbourne will overtake Sydney populationwise.

Its mix of colonial history, immigrant verve and up-to-the-minute fashion, food and art give it an air of adventure and daring, and mean it’s a great place to visit all year round. DAY 1 Perfect Pasta First thing on the agenda was food. I wanted to check out the muchlauded Attica, featuring Kiwi superstar chef Ben Shewry, and considered one of the best in the world — but you need to book six months in advance. Of course, there are many more affordable and accessible options. Melbourne’s a great city for food. Tipo 00’s reputation for serving great pasta had us strolling across Princes bridge, stopping for the obligatory photo against the Melbourne skyline, and up to busy Little Bourke St.

We lucked out and managed to secure seats at the bar after a brief wait. It’s a great spot to watch the action unfold on the large plating table; chefs garnishing plates, meat being sliced. The house-made warm focaccia, served with a generous dollop of fresh ricotta, got things off to a great start. But we realised why this small, 40-seat pasta bar was heaving with diners at 4 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, when our mains arrived. Pasta is so simple we often take it for granted. Tipo 00 does not, but they don’t fuss with it either. Named after the flour with which pasta is made, Tipo specialises in rustic Italian cuisine with a modern twist and was voted the 7th-best restaurant in Australia at the Australian Financial Review 2017 awards.

Their most popular dish is Gnocchi di patate ($28), braised duck, porcini mushroom and pecorino, but I couldn’t go past the classic tagliatelle with Gippsland rabbit, olives and oregano ($29). It was so good I went back a couple of days later for more. DAY 2 The Great Ocean Road Early the next morning, we boarded an AAT Kings coach and set off for The Great Ocean Rd. This 12-hour round-trip tour takes sightseers out through the Westgate Freeway and on to the magnificent coastal road, with stops at Apollo Bay, Anglesea (a popular holiday town in summer — the equivalent of our Whangamata) and Port Campbell. Our guide Mark kept up an engaging commentary much of the way, pointing out places of significance,

and gave us some info on the history of the road, which opened in 1932. The coastline is beautiful but treacherous, and he also covered some of the famous shipwrecks the coast has claimed, as well as some of the surfspots; Keanu Reeves’ Point Break was filmed at one of these beaches. The sightseeing highpoint is The Twelve Apostles, limestone stacks that rise dramatically from the Southern Ocean. There aren’t 12 any longer — thanks to the sea’s erosive power — but it’s an impressive sight nevertheless. The tour then continues inland through rainforests and farmland back to Melbourne, where we were dropped back at our hotel in time for a late dinner. It was a great day out of the city, continued on D6

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Three days in Melbourne continued from D5

the coaches are clean and modern, and expect that Instagram-friendly coastline to claim many megabytes on your phone. Melbourne city offers so much it’s easy to forget the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. For our next trip we’ve pencilled in another AAT Kings tour to trendy Mornington Peninsula to the south-east. Beauty of a different sort greeted us back at The Langham when we pulled back the curtains of our 17thfloor room to the dazzling spectacle of Melbourne’s city lights. DAY 3 Hidden Secrets, Gozleme and The Cup of Truth First we had a quick coffee at The Cup of Truth — located underground at Flinders Station, another great nobells-and-whistles coffee spot— where you simply throw your coins in a giant tea cup (no Eftpos available) and pick out your correct change. Then after a quick breakfast of Gozleme ($10) (spinach and feta in Turkish flatbread) from a food truck in Federation Square, we joined The Hidden Secrets Tour. This guided tour explores Melbourne’s laneways and historic arcades in groups of no more than eight — there’s plenty of gossip, historical intrigue and culture. And no, these aren’t games arcades but beautiful retail arcades built in the early 20th century. Our guide Amy was a passionate local and the three-hour tour took in food, culture, street-life and architecture and fun facts, such as how the large windows from one historic arcade were shipped from England covered in molasses to keep them from breaking. Once the cargo arrived safely, the lucky horses were tasked with licking off the molasses. Our sweet treat mid-way through the tour was artisan chocolates and coffee from a local chocolate shop. You also see some of the vibrant street art in Degraves and Union St and Hosier Lane, the artwork, which is ever-changing, and keep an eye out for masked artists with spray cans crafting their temporary creations. I always enjoy tours like this as they reveal another layer to a city — there’s not a whole lot of walking involved and there’s also a coffee and chocolate stop. Amy’s commentary deftly brought to life a city with a rich, colourful history and complicated past.

ALTITUDE Also new since our last visit was the Melbourne Observation wheel. It’s in the new Docklands waterfront area — shops, restaurants, cafes — get there on the free City Circle tram. Altitude’s a great way for newcomers to get their bearings on this expansive city and in hindsight, we should’ve done this on arrival. You travel as high as a 40-storey building and get incredible views that extend from the city and surrounds, right out to Mount Macedon and the Dandenong Ranges. Although it looks like a ferris wheel, the cabins are fully enclosed, and an audio commentary points out sites of significance as your cabin slowly ascends. A full rotation takes about 30 minutes. The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping (for them) and eating (for me). We tried Chin Chin in Flinders Lane for lunch, often described as Melbourne’s busiest restaurant. It was, but we got a table after a short wait and my egg noodle with pork mince was excellent. The Asian theme even

Sydney might be bigger — and it has that harbour — but Melbourne is its younger, smarter, bookish sister, and she’s growing up fast extends to the bathrooms, which play continuous taped Thai language lessons. Fun fact — each week, the kitchen staff hand-pick around 7000 bunches of coriander, Thai basil and Vietnamese mint. Why? To avoid the bruising, imperfect work of a machine. More Asian cuisine was to come when we hit the new-to-Melbourne Din Tai Fung Taiwanese dumpling franchise in the Emporium shopping centre for dinner. This is high-tech fast food that doesn’t forget the flavour, even Parts Unknown’s Anthony Bourdain is a fan; he reckons the soup dumpling is the one dish he would travel halfway around the world for. It’s all done with scientific precision and the servers who bring the dishes from the glassed-in kitchen wear facemasks. Their kung pao chicken is excellent I hope they bring a branch to Auckland. All this food was interspersed with frequent visits to Dukes for coffee — which meant I was up looking at those city lights from the 17th floor till the early hours. Plenty of time to sleep on the plane.

Clockwise: The Yarra River (top); View from Melbourne Observation Wheel; Hosier Lane street art. All pics Greg Fleming.

Details FOOD There are so many great places in Melbourne but try these affordable, family friendly spots: Tipo 00: Rightly celebrated Italian pasta bar, Little Bourke St, CBD Chin Chin: Asian, try the egg noodles. Flinders Lane CBD. Din Tai Fung: Dumplings, noodles. Fun and delicious, Emporium shopping centre top floor, CBD COFFEE Melbourne’s coffee culture is second-to-none, so when locals recommended Dukes in Flinders Lane, I listened. Good choice — great coffee, though you will have to queue. Also expect to wait at Brother Baba Budan in Little Bourke St — and like Duke’s it’s all about coffee. Yes, they

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NICK CAVE’S NOTEBOOKS Check out the Melbourne Arts Centre. While looking for a restroom we stumbled on a display of Nick Cave’s songwriting notebooks — it turns out Cave donated a large collection of these to the Centre in 2007 and the display is semipermanent. A pasta dish from Italian pasta bar Tipo 00 (left); the grungy Cup of Truth (above).

sell a few cakes and pastries but their stock-in-trade is great takeaway coffee. But to be honest, it’s pretty hard to get a bad coffee anywhere here, the standards are so high anyone serving sub-par jafa wouldn’t last long. The grungy Cup of Truth in Flinders Station is good, too. You’ll find the odd Starbucks, but the sheer quantity of great coffee spots means there’s simply no market for the rapacious global chain.

GETTING ROUND Melbourne’s grid layout makes it an easy city to navigate. There’s a free tram that runs every 10 minutes in the CBD and Docklands circling the inner-city. WHERE TO STAY The Langham, a 5-star hotel right in the centre of things on Southbank. The views out across the Yarra River to the city are spectacular. AAT Kings https://www.aatkings.com/ Hidden Secrets Tour http://hiddensecretstours.com/

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

HEN James Noble went on a three week sightseeing tour around Europe with his wife and four friends, little did he know that his life would change forever. Not only did he discover a miracle for painful feet but it also led to him starting a new career selling these ‘miracle’ Foot Cradles in the UK. He told us, “It was a trip I had always dreamed about, I had recently retired so I had the time and money to go where I wanted and to see what I wanted.” Unfortunately, rather than a dream trip, it turned into a nightmare. He told us, “I soon learnt that all the time and money in the world mean nothing when your feet hurt too much to walk. After just a few days of sightseeing my feet were killing me so much I just wanted to go home.” It started on his first day. James told us how painful his feet were, “Oh, I tried to keep going. Our first stop was Paris and I limped through Notre Dame and along the ChampsElysees. My feet were so sore, tired and swollen that my whole body ached. By the afternoon I was so worn out and in so much pain, that whilst everybody else was out having a great time, I was back in my hotel room laid out on the bed.” A few days later, when they arrived in Hamburg, James was so fed up that he was on the verge of booking an early flight home. Then, by luck or fate he stumbled across an old shoe shop in the heart of the city. He told us what happened, “I was at my wits end, I was hobbling along the old streets of Hamburg trying, unsuccessfully, to keep up with everyone else when I passed an old shoe shop. The shop owner

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I walked around Hamburg for the rest of the day with no pain at all. We went on to visit Prague, Budapest, Venice, Rome and Madrid all with no pain, it truly was a miracle.” This moment changed James’ life. Not only was he now pain free but he also came out of retirement to start on a new career path. He said, “Imagine how dumbfounded I was to discover these miraculous insoles were only sold in Germany, so right then and there I determined that I would share the miracle with my own countrymen.” Since then James has become the UK distributor for Foot Cradles and sales have gone from strength to strength. He told us that he now has “hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers, many with aching feet far more severe than mine. They have all experienced this blessed relief for themselves.” Talking to James, it is clear to see how passionate he is

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+PLUS GARDENING

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Rich and colourful produce A

Sarah O’Neil

fter months of sodden weather, we can finally look ahead with excitement. The new season is one of growth and life. Even better, it brings with it warmer days and extended daylight hours so we can linger longer outdoors. But what it also brings with it is the start to the vegetable growing season. If you haven’t already thought about it, now is the perfect time to get ready to grow fresh produce. The benefits and rewards from having a veggie patch are numerous. From the cost savings in today’s expensive economy, a $3 packet of salad leaf seeds can supply many meals with a crunch and flavour that can only come from homegrown produce. The diverse variety of crops available can ensure your diet is rich and colourful all season. The taste of homegrown is incredible. Kids can see for themselves where their food actually comes from and be a part of the growing process. Families can step away from their screens and their busy lives and enjoy working with each other to achieve something beneficial. The exercise required to maintain a garden can bring about health and wellbeing, and if that isn’t enough, it

is a fun thing to do. Spring officially starts — depending on who you ask — on September 1 for the calendar followers, or on September 23 for the Spring Equinox. However, spring can still bring blasts of freezing weather and buckets of chilly rain leaving our bright daffodils positively bedraggled and our good intentions undone. Patience is still required for the keen gardener. Take the time to find out what your plants need and what they like and meeting those needs will result in healthier plants in the long run. Trying to ‘get a jump on the season’ doesn’t really work with plants, as they have their own sense of timing and know what they like. Most are awakened by factors such as day length and ground temperatures. The date considered warm enough and safe from frost for most plants is Labour Day in October, although there have been frosts beyond this date. Most plants only need six to eight weeks to get from a seed to being big enough to plant outside once the risk of frost has passed. The majority of vegetables don’t mind being started in September and a handful will even wait until October before being started from seed. Pumpkins, zucchini and cucumbers don’t mind waiting until then, but will

Sarah O’Neil in her garden at her Waiuku property.

also be just as productive if they are planted directly in the soil after the risk of frost has past. Beans and corn prefer to be planted directly in the soil, but the temperatures need to be 18C or warmer for the best germination success. You don’t want to be managing a determined zucchini plant contained on your windowsill against its will for a couple of months, when it is actually a large, fast-growing plant that needs about a metre square in the garden and will be fruiting prolifically in six to eight weeks when planted out at the right time. There is no need to hurry, even if you start your garden in November or even December you will still get a harvest. If you are starting your vegetable garden from seed indoors or in a

Picture / Brett Phibbs

greenhouse, to keep them in good health you may need to feed regularly once they get going, to ensure they don’t exhaust the soil nutrients in the pot. It is almost like having a hungry teenage boy — growing fast and always looking for something to eat. Move them into bigger pots once you see roots poking out the bottom. If plants are left in pots too long they can become root bound and can also become stunted in their growth and once these plants are liberated into the soil they struggle. Even if you don’t want to grow from seed, just pop in a few preprepared seedlings into your garden or even into a few containers, and try not to be lured by the vast array of seedlings available on the first sunny

day. We aren’t in spring yet and when we get there, there will still be a few freezing days that will undo all your efforts. Wait until the risk of frost has passed. Planting a garden isn’t a race. It is a slow process and it is important to slow down to the rhythm of nature and just enjoy the journey and you will reap the rewards for all your efforts. ● Sarah O'Neil is an author, blogger and passionate gardener writing about the trials and tribulations of growing food for her family. Her books The Good Life and Play in the Garden and the recently released Growing Vegetables are available at all good bookstores. sarahthegardener.co.nz

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+PLUS MUSIC

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

It’s all rock’n’roll, baby One of our great cultural chroniclers is now on a musical mission

Alan Perrott

he accidental publisher is now the accidental exhibitor. Okay, that’s how Murray Cammick would tell his story, but then if self-deprecation was a sport, he’d have a string of Olympic golds to his name by now. So let me start again. Murray Cammick, the man who turned a time waster into Rip It Up, New Zealand’s most seminal music magazine, before championing and recording such acts as Upper Hutt Posse, Shihad and Head like A Hole — then becoming a sought-after DJ — is once again proving himself to be one of our great cultural chroniclers. He started with Flash Cars, a photographic celebration of 70s, streetlevel, petrolhead culture, which came about when an old friend felt it was time to repay an old debt, and now he’s back with AK 75-85. This time, he’s on a musical bent with live punk gigs, live punk crowds, then-alive music legends (RIP Bob Marley), and the odd shot of Graham Brazier (again, RIP) taking a slash in a sink. It’s all rock’n’roll baby and an awful long way from running around with his trusty Instamatic taking photos of the girls next door or school sports days, even if the underlying sentiment remains the same. “Well, it was kind of what you did to collect memories, wasn’t it?” Except that it’s now clear he ended up collecting much more than he knew. As with his favourite photographer, American Stephen Shore, what he did was capture the essence of a time in all it’s unflinching banality. As he says with regard to a candid shot of famously difficult guitarist Johnny Ramone, he saw a punk legend when many others now can't see past the wall-mounted telephone he’s hanging off. So sure, stone-age technology and all that, but the underlying point here was that a man who seems hellbent on talking himself down was even there to take the picture. Which may be why it happened. Stuart Broughton, who runs Black Asterisk, the gallery exhibiting 46 of Cammick’s photographs agrees. “We’ve included a fair number of portrait shots and they are all very confident, everyone is completely at ease, and I think that is because of Murray. He wouldn’t have strutted in

Clockwise: Bob Marley (above); Graham Brazier; Iggy Pop; and photographer Murray Cammick (below).

I went to Elam and have an approach to photography that’s in some senses art-based, but I’ve always been cynical about even using the term ‘art’ Murray Cammick

as some brazen sort of photographeras-artist man, he’d be very casual and I think that puts people at ease straight away. So yeah, the success of those images relates back to him really well.” In a roundabout way, Cammick’s view of his work bears this out. He might have been backstage on assignment, but regardless of how intimidated he was by the visiting rock star (think George Benson, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sue), his approach remained as downhome as that employed with his neighbours: “I mean, sure, I went to

Elam and have an approach to photography that’s in some senses artbased, but I’ve always been cynical about even using the term ‘art’. “Of course, if I travel, I’ll go hang at an art museum, I love to see photographs being presented at their best with beautiful prints and frames and all that. But I also love the art of baking and I’ll try to find the best doughnut, croissant or whatever, so yeah, that’s where you get confusion over what is art and what isn’t. “Like if you see food made by an amazing chef, people may not call that art, but if I see an exhibition in

Pictures / Murray Cammick; Jason Oxenham

a flash gallery where someone has draped a banana skin over a chair, some might say ‘look, art’, but I don’t think I’d be a great fan of their work.” Even Stephen Shore falls foul of this philosophy. “As I say, I just love his work, so I sat down to watch one of his lectures on YouTube, and it was all these intellectual justifications for why he was doing what he’s doing and, well, I almost like his work less now.” So it may be that it’s the reality or, more accurately, lack of artifice in real life that grabs Cammick first and foremost. After all, he first fell in love with music through a live soul album — despite the punk connections, he’s a soul man at heart — but there is an irony in being enraptured by live spectacles with all their movement, unpredictability, noise, and energy while seeking to freeze them into silent stills. Yet that’s the lot of a documentary photographer. No matter how chaotic the goings on, the job is to capture a moment in such a way that, hopefully anyway, someone looking at an image anywhere and at anytime will feel something of what it was like to be there. The effort leaves a mark too. Cammick now finds that his memory

of a gig comes down to quality of photos he took. If the lighting was good, he’d likely get good pics, therefore it was a good gig, regardless of how the band performed. Which is why he doesn’t think all that kindly on the Split Enz gigs he’s seen, and there were plenty. As for the best lighting? Easy, Bryan Ferry at Sweetwaters. Louche Rock stars aide though, he would like to think someone might see enough in his everyman approach to have a crack themselves. What could be more punk? “Yes, there’s the big concerts, Bowie at Western Springs and all that, but really I’d rather be at a noisy suburban gig, some band playing their first gig and you’re having to brace yourself in the mosh pit. “I mean I wasn’t the right age, but I really hope someone got amazing shots at something like The Checks, having a great time playing to their mates at their local pub. “Because you don’t have to go out looking to discover some deep, universal truth, just saying “it’s good to be alive and it’s good to dance ”, nothing more profound than that, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that message.” ● The exhibiton runs at the Black Asterisk Gallery 10 Ponsonby Road until Sunday, August 27.

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Politics as entertainment Paul Casserly TV review

s the election creeps up on us with its mix of dread, excitement and deja vu all over again, the media comes alive. Opinions and talking points fill the airwaves like pollen, and we all go a little insane, giddy, allergic. Perhaps it’s with the prospect of change? The love of a scrap is probably the thing. The signs are there already, Patrick Gower transforming into a version of himself that is, as improbable as it sounds, even stranger than normal; the werewolf in early transmission. But he’s not the only one frothing. You may notice Hosking attacking the enemies of his friends with more intensity than usual. At these times even the Trade Me message boards light up with political reckons. A recent search found these insights on our political superstars. Gareth Morgan: “Has he lost his marbles?” John Key: “Congratulations on your Uncle Tom medal first class. Arise sir John!” Winston Peters: “Easiest way to shut him up is to elect him. Then you won't hear peep out of him about anything until the next lolly scramble — I mean election.” No one seemed to care enough about Bill English or Andrew Little to have a go at them but Jacinda Ardern’s looks are already getting traction: “She had too much makeup on. She doesn’t need that much … sometimes less is more,” wrote Craftylady1, before all hell broke loose. Partisan politics make for lively debate and our screens have a shedload of opinionated opinionwhores to keep us well satisfied. I caught the bug watching the legendary Ralston Group on TV3, back when the channel was more brash than Block. We had seen very little like this on our three TV channels. Thrusting egos fuelled by wine, having a good old barney about the fractured politics of the day. Hosted by Bill Ralston in a period Escena suit, it remains the show with the rep that it has never been bettered. Ralston had an air of bemused menace and a knack for creating a party vibe. The timing was also important, the neoliberal utopia was still under construction and this engorged the guests, who typically favoured right wing/free market views, perhaps not surprising given the Muldoon years were still clearly visible in the rearvision mirror. NZ On Screen has an episode from 1991 in which Trevor de Cleene, Leighton Smith, and Robyn Langwell argue against the ACC, with then-RNZ political editor Richard

Partisan politics make for lively debate and our screens have a shed load of opinionated opinion-whores to keep us well satisfied

Tim Batt in Banter (top); Bill Ralston in The Ralston Group (above). Pictures / Supplied

Griffin standing alone to defend the socialist institution. I’d forgotten about the Barney Rubble appeal of de Cleene and his walking stick, the man was TV gold. The DNA of The Ralston Group can be seen in panels that assemble today on Q&A and The Nation, but the best post Ralston Group televised argument on our shores was provided by Willie Jackson’s Eye To Eye, which ran on Sunday mornings on TV1 for six years. Jackson, a natural know-it-all and occasional bully, was the perfect ringmaster,

dragging in left-winge-ers, like Chris Trotter, and right-ranters, cue Michael Hooton. The show bubbled with energy. The right/left divide may be reductive but it’s been durable for a reason. Best served up by protagonists with bloated egos and black-and-white politics, there can be no better, nor more entertaining example than the time Gore Vidal and William F Buckley Jr slugged it out during the 1968 US convention season. Vidal was a snooty leftist and cultural satirist, Buckley a high priest

of the Republican Party and human sneer. The battle was epic. The story of the encounter is told brilliantly in the documentary Best of Enemies, which I watched again last week (Netflix). These were intellectual prize fights on prime-time TV and they are credited or discredited with changing political discourse forever, turning debate into a spectacle. Perhaps it did begat the likes of Fox News and CNN’s Crossfire and all that, leading us to all the way to Trump? Or maybe we just love a good fight,

some sizzle in all the dribble. It’s early days, but TVNZ’s new latenight show Banter is showing good understanding of schoolyard fight appeal of the argument. It’s not the Ralston Group but it’s a refreshing addition. Hosted by comedian and podcast maverick Tim Batt, the show I saw recently fizzed with energy and argument as the right wing artist formerly known as Whale Oil jousted gently with left-leaning comedian James Nokise and TV1’s Jack Tame. But for all his sins (he’s an intolerant arsehole), the host of Real Time With Bill Maher (Soho) is my favourite of all the ringmasters of discourse. Bill’s part old-school comedian, (Bill Hicks + Don Rickles) and a political obsessive. He’s also a champion Trump baiter, in fact Donald sued him a few years back, unsuccessfully, after Maher alleged that Don’s dad was an orangutan and demanded to see the birth certificate. His jokes are harsh, mean-spirited and often brilliant, and most importantly, he runs a good argument, bringing high-ranking conservatives to his extremely liberal show. It’s like throwing red meat to the studio audience, and who doesn’t enjoy that? ● The Ralston Group (NZ On Screen) Banter (Duke, Tuesdays 8.30 and On Demand), Real Time with Bill Maher (Soho), The Nation (TV3)

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

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Ticks all the boxes HUAMI 87 Federal St, Auckland Open 7 days, 11.30am-3.00pm; 5.30pm-10.00pm Rating: 4.5 out of 5

uckland’s Chinese dining options have had an upgrade thanks to SkyCity’s recently opened Huami. Located in SkyCity’s dining precinct, Huami aims to highlight the best of provincial Chinese cuisine, with dishes from Canton, Sichuan, Huaiyang and Beijing. The menu has something for all — ranging from affordable, hand-crafted Dim Sum favourites such as steam barbecued chicken buns ($9 for three) , to special-occasion dishes such as the clay pot of abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, dried scallop and shiitake mushrooms ($288). Traditional Chinese desserts — steamed ginger soy bean custard ($14) — rub shoulders with chocolate banana beignet ($16), one of a number of dishes reflecting the influence of the French Concession district in old Shanghai. There’s even a kids menu. Certainly it ticks the boxes for SkyCity; Huami was heaving with

diners when Plus visited for lunch. Our neighbour, a Gucci-jacketed Chinese high-roller barely touched his abalone soup ($68) but seemed glad for a break from the tables, but Aucklanders with a hankering for fresh, authentic Chinese cuisine also have reason to celebrate Nic Watt’s latest project. Two kitchens There’s a theatrical aspect to Huami as there is in Watt’s nearby Japanese restaurant Masu. Huami’s two kitchens operate in full view of diners. Our table faced the wood-fired duck oven; the busy dim sum and wok kitchen occupies the adjacent corner and watching the action is part of the fun. Our waitress Penny told us she’d tried every dish on the menu and steered us gently to those we might enjoy. We started with the Dim Sum menu (good; the only misstep was a rather dry chicken/spring onion pancake ($12), the best was the sweet chicken buns) before veering off into the a la carte. Here’s where things got interesting. My deep-fried soft-shell

greens ($18) a perfect complement.

The interior of Huami restaurant, SkyCity (top); The Dim Sum platter (left); Pictures / Ted Baghurst; Babiche Martens. Getty Images and Mapo Tofu with crayfish .

crab in an oatmeal and egg-yolk batter ($26) was excellent, and benefited from a squeeze of lemon. Also good was Huami’s much-vaunted Peking Duck, which is served with executive chef Jeff Tan’s own plum sauce, a side of sliced leeks and cucumber, and a bamboo basket of warm pancakes. The duck — sourced from a farm in Cambridge (like the green tea they serve here) — comes pre-sliced, and is prepared the old fashioned way; stuffed with a mixture of

ginger, garlic, licorice, sugar, salt and spices then sewn and dried in a specially prepared room before being cooked over plum and manuka wood. The end-product is meat that’s tender and sweet, with a moreish, crispy skin. Then it’s up to you — arrange the duck, vegetables and condiments, fold your pancake and eat. Half a duck ($36) was sufficient for two and a simple plate of stir-fried

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Renovation costs run over I

Diana Clement

t’s a rare homeowner who can say hand on heart that their renovation was completed within budget. In some cases costs run over by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. But there are ways and means of keeping that over-run to sensible figures. Devonport homeowner Paul Cornish has completed four renovations on his home over the past two decades. The erstwhile villa Cornish bought had been transformed by a previous owner in the 1980s into an ugly mockTudor dwelling with all manner of undesirable features. Cornish has learned a lot of lessons about renovation budgets from his home transformation, having done two kitchen renovations, a bathroom, added a deck, removed cladding, replaced weatherboards, reinstated a veranda and rebuilt the garage/ sleepout. Managing the budget has become easier each time thanks to the lessons learned. The biggest one has been to focus on the detail and not expect tradespeople to make the right decisions. That goes hand-in-hand with being decisive. He also recommends going the extra mile wherever possible. “Retrospective additions are far more expensive.” Plan, plan, and plan again During the garage renovation Cornish wasn’t prepared for the sparkie and learned how this lack of preparation could add to costs. The experts agree. Many homeowners get into serious strife because they haven’t done their numbers. Architect Natasha Cockerell of Re-

owners make sure they can borrow if necessary. Look for heritage grants as well if, like him, you’re returning a property to its former glory.

Devonport homeowner Paul Cornish has completed four renovations on his home over the past two decades.

spond Architects says cost overruns are best prevented by preparation. “I would be saying you need to figure out how much money you are going to spend. “Everyone ends up spending a lot more than they expect, if they are doing more than a house paint and

putting new carpet down,” says Cockerell. “Allow an extra 10 to 15 per cent for what you don’t know about.” On Cornish’s fourth and final renovation, the 10 per cent contingency was used up quite literally on day one when the concrete slab cracked. The builder was extremely efficient, dili-

gent and customer focused, however, and the overall budget was only exceeded by a very modest 1 per cent. The experience taught him that having a good rapport with the builder was worth its weight in gold. Cornish made provision for cost overruns, but recommends home-

Experts pay for themselves If you have never done a renovation, says Cockerell, consider using a quantity surveyor (QS) to cost out the job, get good prices from the builders and monitor the progress. A QS will often cover their own cost in savings. Cockerell says there is often reluctance from home owners to spend money up front on design and quantity surveying. But it can save a lot of money. If, for example, it’s found part way through the renovation that you need a geotech survey, you could be paying a couple of thousand dollars a week unnecessarily for tradespeople to sit idle while the report is done. What’s more, if you go direct, builders will give you a low estimate in the hope of landing the job, says Senthil Arumugam, QS at Prendos. However, Arumugam says that builder may have done no investigation and has given you the rosy picture to clinch the business. “A lot of people do that and run into trouble,” says Arumugam. As well as building costs, don’t forget to make provision for indemnity insurance, says Cornish. “The builder will insist upon [it even though it] appears disproportionate to the risk involved, particularly on small renos.” Changing your mind along the way is another no-no. There is a rule of thumb, says Chris Caiger, director of Refresh Renovations, that changes at the concept stage will cost $50, but $500 after the plans are drawn up or $5000 during construction.

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017

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nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, August 22, 2017