NEWS IN BRIEF Nesting box building continues
Ron Eckman assembles a penguin nesting box. Photo: Supplied. SUBMITTED BY CYNTHIA MCCONVILLE
With the Covid-19 lockdown in place, the work our volunteers do building the research nesting boxes for Port Tarakohe ground to a halt. Ron Eckman is the Penguin Shed coordinator, phone 021 351 595 if you would like to talk to him. During lockdown, I have picked up a hammer and joined Ron (we are in the same bubble) in the shed. We have 100 research nesting boxes to build. The Trust wants to replace between 50 and 60 existing nesting boxes at the port as well as add enough new boxes to bring the total there to house 100 pairs of little blue penguins.
FROM THE LIBRARY
CrossFit’s lockdown programme RONNIE SHORT
To enable their members to maintain their strength and fitness during lockdown, I a n G a d d e s o f C r o s s Fi t Mohua, together with his wife Samantha, are continuing their daily programming throughout lockdown via an online Workout of the Day. Prior to lockdown they gave out bundles of equipment such as barbell pack ages together with weights; kettlebell, dumbell and medicine ball mixes; and conditioning packs such as rowing machines and assault bikes. “There was still equipment left over, so we divvied out everything that was left. So basically the gym’s empty; there’s nothing left,” said Ian. He sent members an email suggesting strengthening and pre -workout warmup exercises for the daily workout. The gym uses a software programme called Boxmate, on which Ian sets out the five-day-a-week plan. All CrossFit members are joined to it. It is interactive in that people can log in their scores and see how others are doing. “Members can go online, do the workout and figure how to scale it, then put their score up. The site keeps track and they can see what other people have got, so it keeps them motivated to keep going.” Ian can keep an eye on how people are doing and suggest how and what they
Crossfit continues despite lockdown: Kate Breault, left, demonstrating with a makeshift kettlebell and Joy James, right, demonstrating using milking-shed equipment. Photos: Supplied.
can improve. “Not everyone will be doing it,” he says. “But it’s there to do once they have done the strength work.” His suggestions via the initial email include variations or alternatives to weights if people don’t have them - such as different household objects. One member, Joy James, has been doing her gymnastics on a bar in the milking shed. Another member, Kate Breault, has made her own makeshift kettlebell by filling a bag with rocks. Ian has also suggested different approaches to muscle loading, such as isometrics, eccentrics and “super-sets”. “Most people took their own skipping ropes home, so I might say, as part of the workout that they are to do 50 skips or go find a step and do 50 rebounds off a step as another option.” Ian is always work ing to keep the
programme varied so as to not overwork the same muscle groups and to prevent boredom. Six Mohua CrossFit members have entered one of the competitions put out by gyms around the world to keep people training. Some members video themselves doing their workout and post that online. Others come up with challenges such as a handstand challenge, which Samantha and a few others undertook. “We’re just trying to keep the community together and motivate each other,” said Ian. “Sometimes it’s hard to remotivate after a holiday, so if people can keep up a level of fitness it’s a bit easier to get back into it.” Ian’s analogy of a “strength mountain” says it all. “It takes years and years and years to build your strength, but it’s very easy to slip back without doing anything.”
Home viewing: What to watch ALISTAIR HUGHES
Skinny Jump is a new service for those who don’t have a broadband connection at home because cost is a barrier. Public libraries all round New Zealand have partnered with Skinny to provide access to this service. If one or more of the following sounds like you, then you would probably be eligible: • Families with children • Job seekers • Seniors • People with disabilities • Refugees and migrant communities • Those in social housing Skinny Jump is flexible prepaid broadband: the modem comes free of charge preloaded with 30GB of data. After that you top up as you go: $5 for 30GB of data, no contracts or credit checks. You can top up five times every month. You can get up to a maximum of 150GB every month (and it will only cost you $25). Skinny Jump is a not-for-profit service and they don’t use your information to promote or sell other products. First you need to check whether Skinny Jump is available where you live. Go to www.skinny.co.nz/jump/ home/#availability Normally you would come into the Library to sign up, but while we’re closed go to: • www.tasmanlibraries.govt.nz • Click on About Us • Click on Services • Click on Community Services • Click on Skinny Jump • Fill in the Skinny Jump order form and a modem and instructions will be delivered to you. 16
Takeaways are now available in the Bay again, a wonderful first step back towards normality which has left us cheering loudly from inside our bubbles. And there’s always been something wonderfully indulgent about leaving the oven off, cutlery drawer closed and tucking into a hot meal someone else has made, in front of the TV. As streamed viewing has become an even larger part of our viewing lives recently, this time we’re looking at the original New Zealand-owned service: Lightbox. Starting life in 2014 with five exclusive shows including Suits, (starring the future Duchess of Sussex), Lightbox really came into its own when it gained sole rights to air sweaty historicals Outlander and Vikings. Outlander follows former WWII Nurse Claire Randall, who finds herself transported back to mid-18th Century Scotland. The Jacobite rebellion against the English Crown is in full sway, making this an extremely dangerous place to be, but Claire finds protection in the form of dashing highlander Jamie Fraser and his clan. Despite the slightly “Mills and Boon” premise this is actually a hard-hitting depiction of survival under brutal oppression. The tartan-tinged adventures of Claire and Jamie have begun a fifth season, with more to come. Vikings began its odyssey in 2013, initially meeting the then in-vogue demand for historically-themed bloodlust, which shows like Spartacus and Game of Thrones catered for. Based on the 12th century sagas of Ragnar Lothbrok, Vikings proved itself to have a scope and appeal all of its own and lasted for six seasons. And armchair Norsemen and Shield Maidens need not despair, a sequel series called Valhalla is already in planning. Moving away from all this blood and thunder, Lightbox also has much for the younger viewer. Peter Rabbit is a vibrantly kinetic computer animated adaptation of the beloved Beatrix
Potter books. Combining exciting adventures with problem solving and developing life skills (which are fortunately applicable to growing humans), this multi-Emmy-winning programme is a delight. Homegrown animation for the whole family is also available in the form of the perennially popular Bro’Town. Another mainstay of this Lightbox’s exclusive content has been Better Call Saul, the highly acclaimed prequel/spin-off to the phenomenal Breaking Bad. Featuring several characters from the original series, it is held by many to even surpass it. Personally, I’m dubious; Breaking Bad is a very high bar for this lawyer to approach. Stephen King enthusiasts may have already discovered Castle Rock, an extension of many of King’s novels and set in this titular fictional town. The first series was merely OK, but the second is quite a revelation. Those who remember Cathy Bates’ career-defining movie performance in 1990s Misery would understandably doubt that anyone else could ever play the dangerously unhinged Annie Wilkes. But Lizzy Caplan is utterly electrifying as a younger Annie, even managing to win our sympathy, in this gripping prequel story. No discussion of Lightbox is really complete without mentioning A Handmaid’s Tale. Actually first adapted from Margaret Atwood’s novel as another 1990 film, this dystopian series (featuring a totalitarian future of female subjugation) has a huge following, which is puzzling to those of us who don’t “get it”. However, lead actress Elisabeth Moss is brilliant, as always. Lightbox also offers movies for hire and the standard subscription is included in many Spark customer plans. However, the service has recently been sold to Sky, which plans to merge it with its own streaming service Neon. Let’s hope the outcome might be a win-win for us all.
THE GB WEEKLY, FRIDAY 1 MAY 2020