An expansion on her second studio album, Bewitched: The Goddess Edition features four new songs from singer-songwriter Laufey. 

In her own words the album is “a love album, whether it be a love towards a friend or a lover or life”, Bewitched dealing with a variety of romantic themes.  

According to Estelle Clifford it could’ve come straight out of the 1935, an old-school movie quality to the first four songs on the album, the rich jazziness of her complimenting the vibes. 

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Earth by John Boyne 

It’s the tabloid sensation of the two well-known footballers standing in the dock, charged with sexual assault, a series of vile text messages pointing towards their guilt. As the trial unfolds, Evan Keogh reflects on the events that have led him to this moment. Since leaving his island home, his life has been a lie on many levels. He’s a talented footballer who wanted to be an artist. A gay man in a sport that rejects diversity. A defendant whose knowledge of what took place on that fateful night threatens more than just his freedom or career. The jury will deliver a verdict but, before they do, Evan must judge for himself whether the man he has become is the man he wanted to be. 

The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson 

This is the astounding true story of one of the last female special operations agents in France to get out alive after its liberation in WWII.  
Born in 1921, Pippa Latour became a covert special operations agent who parachuted into a field in Nazi-occupied Normandy. Trained by the British, Pippa was lauded for her fluency with languages and her coding ability - attributes she put to remarkable use when she posed as a teenage soap-seller, often selling her wares to the German soldiers and sending back information via code to England. 
 
Incredibly brave - Pippa knew she could be instantly shot if her cover was blown - she concealed her codes on a piece of silk that she threaded through a shoelace and wore as a hair tie. She bicycled around the region, often sleeping rough and foraging for food. 
 
During her time in Normandy, Pippa sent 135 secret messages conveying crucial information on German troop positions in the lead-up to D-Day. Pippa continued her mission until the liberation of Paris in August 1944. 
 
For decades, Pippa told no one - not even her family - of her incredible feats during WWII. 
 
Now, for the first time, her story can be told in full. 

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The Lie  

Grace Millane was a twenty-one year old British tourist whose disappearance in Auckland after a Tinder date in early December 2018 sparked international attention. A 26-year-old man, Jesse Shane Kempson, was subsequently charged with her murder on 8 December 2018 after a highly publicised investigation. Grace’s body was found in the Waitakere Ranges to the west of Auckland the following day. Millane’s case was a turning point in history – an appalling 21st century dating app crime investigated to a live, fascinated, audience (in cinemas). 

The Fall Guy  

After leaving the business one year earlier, battle-scarred stuntman Colt Seavers springs back into action when the star of a big studio movie suddenly disappears. As the mystery surrounding the missing actor deepens, Colt soon finds himself ensnared in a sinister plot that pushes him to the edge of a fall more dangerous than any stunt (in cinemas). 

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Thank you, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story 

Follows the history of Bon Jovi, featuring personal videos, photos, and music that provide a look at Jon Bon Jovi's life and the band's journey from New Jersey clubs to global fame (Disney+). 

The Dry 

After living it up in London, Shiv returns home to Dublin, where she must navigate new relationships, family drama and her own questionable life choices, all while trying to stay sober (TVNZ+). 

Food Rescue Kitchen 

A new heartwarming New Zealand show that sees six top chefs create a three-course meal for the community out of rescued food (ThreeNow, Three at Saturday, 7pm). 

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"Crisp, clear days sets the stage for cracking autumn adventures in Sydney. If you’re planning a fresh fling with the Emerald City, here’s a roundup of some winning picks to rev up your city-break, from bucket list classics to seasonal treats and in-the-know gems."

Read Mike's full article here. 

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This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Fashion Revolution movement, a week-long fashion activism campaign. 

The campaign was prompted by the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, killing over a thousand people and injuring around 2,500. 

It aims to bring awareness to the way fashion and clothing are created and consumed, promoting sustainability. 

Kate ‘Ethically Kate’ Hall joined Jack Tame to discuss the campaign and this year’s Fashion Revolution Week. 

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Do you want something to think about? Something that sets fire to your garden? 

Go and visit your local Botanic Gardens, they’re everywhere in Aotearoa! 

I know… we are really lucky in Christchurch. 

Best Autumn performers: liquidamber, smoke bush, Japanese Maple, ash, sycamore, poplar, birch and even some willows. 

To me, all these autumn colours remind me that our planet has been on the re-using bandwagon for 3.8 billion years,and the display is absolutely dazzling! 

This is the time for Dahlia flowers. 

Dahlia Joal Jay Jay. Photo / Supplied 

Julie’s pick of the bunch – it just about hurts your retina! 

Talking about bright colours: a Yellow Ginko biloba (the maidenhair fern tree); ancient gymnosperm 

When leaves form a carpet, it looks pretty impressive. Oh… use male trees only as females smell!!! 

Here’s a great native; always providing colour, so needed in winter too. 

Pseudowintera colorata – pepper plant 

Sequoiadendron giganteum, the giant redwood from the USA. Yes you’ll need to wait a few weeks for it to grow massively, but you’ve got to think “long-term” in this game. The bark is lovely and soft. 

This particular one (in Christchurch botanic gardens) has been host (for many, many years) to one of our most rottenest pest weed in the garden: Poison Ivy!! 

But have a look how stunning this turned out to be… as long as someone takes the time to control that ivy! 

And then, for folk with a decent-sized and shallow water feature (a lake or “lakelet”) this caught my eye a long time ago when visiting the Okefenokee swamp (on the border of Georgia and Florida) 

A Taxodium distichum (Swamp Cypress) can live in water and has pretty knobbly knees or pneumatophores that allow the roots to breathe air above the level of the water. 

These swamp cypresses also take a long time to age, but their Pneumatophores will show quite quickly when the tree(s) start to settle 

One word or warning: don’t fall over them, keep an eye on where they are, otherwise you’ll end up pretty wet. 

Sometimes you encounter a tree that you’d never expect in Aotearoa: 

The Wollemi Pine! (Wollemia nobilis) 

This Conifer species belongs to the Araucaria Family of trees (Araucariaceae) and was considered extinct in Australia some 2 million years ago. 

It was re-discovered in 1994 in a canyon NW of Sydney. Fewer than 100 mature specimens still exist and propagation and planting of new trees in suitable habitat is aiming to save this species from extinction. 

Your Botanic Gardens are involved in exactly this kind of restoration of endangered species! 

And collaboration is the key to these projects – even gardeners can be involved! 

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BOB’S BEST BUYS 

Wine:
OTU (Otawhero Estate) Chardonnay, 2023 Hawke’s Bay $20

Why I chose it:  
- Discovered it in a recent blind tasting 
- Excellent wine from a challenging vintage (La Nina, wet) 

What does it taste like?  

- Silken texture with grapefruit, green apple, lemon curd and a touch of whipped cream. 

Why it’s a bargain:  

- $20 or less 

Where can you buy it?  

- New World

- Devonport

- Shop around 

Food match?  

- Versatile  

- Seafood pasta dish  

- Creamy chicken fettucine 

Will it keep?  

- Drink up 

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The NZ International Comedy Festival is kicking off next week, and to kickstart the shenanigans Chris Parker will be hosting the annual Comedy Gala. 

The kiwi comedian has cemented himself as one of the country’s favourite comics, having done everything from stage shows and stand-up to podcasts and books. 

He’s just returned home from the Melbourne Comedy Festival where he did a total of 22 shows alongside line-ups, a podcast, and various other gigs over the course of a month. 

He told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame that there’s a lot of people, and a lot of kiwis looking for something familiar. 

“I’m doing sort of customer service, sort of trying to figure out where my audience is,” Parker said. 

“And I’m like, ‘oh I see. They’re mostly kiwis who are feeling homesick and want to hear an accent again.” 

The set he performed at the Festival was titled ‘Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn't Throw My Phone Off This Bridge’, a title he said was a dramatic reaction to being on his phone too much. 

“I keep sort of having those like, ‘what if?’ moments. I don’t know if you feel like whenever you’re driving over the Harbour bridge and you’re just like, ‘what if?’” Parker asked Tame. 

“I have that with my phone every morning, or I just want to crush it, you know? Just because I’m just done with it.” 

Parker appreciates that he built his audience through social media, but he does worry about the impact social media and technology has on those who use it, their attention spans, and the way they connect with others. 

“When we first had the internet, which is such a joyful place where we talk to men in their forties in chat rooms, and now it’s sort of dissolved into this, you know...”  

“This actually unpleasant place,” Tame chimed in. 

“It’s very interesting,” Parker agreed. 

This is the crux of the show, he explains, the relationship and dependence we have on social media, Parker even saying that he might go cold turkey on it. 

He compares the assortment of media consumed in one moment to canapes at an event, a chiropractor video next to world news next to a pasta recipe similar to a bao bun, a prawn twizzler, and a burger all on one plate. 

“That’s a lot of different stuff to be consuming in one moment.” 

Speaking of canapes and events, Parker rejects the notion that hosting the Comedy Gala is a rough gig. 

“I am, you know, a serial showoff,” he told Tame. 

“So, all I’m gagging for is the stage time, and I get more than anyone else! No other acts, it’s me for an hour.” 

The awards are a beautiful thing, he said. Being able to see his colleagues at their best in a four or five minute act, six if they go overtime, it’s wonderful. 

“It gives a real gauge on how we’re going as a country in terms of our, you know, comedic landscape, which is like, we’re sharper and funnier than ever." 

“We were storming Melbourne,” Parker revealed. 

“They were getting angry at how good, at how funny New Zealand was.” 

In Parker's opinion, this is an amazing time for New Zealand comedy, and while we do celebrate it, we could be better.

"Please go out and support live comedy."

"Stop watching comedy on your phone, get out, put your phone in the bin, get out of the door and go take a punt on a comedian that you've never heard of before."

The International Comedy Festival begins May 3rd in venues across Auckland and Wellington, with select shows occurring around the country. 

‘Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn't Throw My Phone Off This Bridge’ will be touring New Zealand from June 20th, visiting Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland, Wellington, and Rotorua. 

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The TikTok clock has started, and TikTok is saying it's not even looking at it. 

Parent company ByteDance posted overnight that it doesn't have any plans to sell TikTok. Reuters is reporting that a source says it would prefer to just shut the app down in the US, their algorithm is their secret sauce, so selling the app would be selling the algorithm.

Get ready for a showdown. TikTok's CEO says the law and the US Constitution is on their side.

The US says it has concerns TikTok could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans, which TikTok strongly rejects. To complicate matters, 60% of Bytedance is owned by investment Firms including large (and likely influential) US investors. 
 
Meta's pumping billions more into AI 

The company had planned to spend up to $37 billion this year but now says it could be closer to $40 billion. They certainly have the cash though, profit was $12.4 billion for Q1, more than double Q1 last year. 
A staggering number of people are dependent on Meta, with Zuckerberg saying at the earnings call more than 3.24 billion people use one or more of its apps every day. WhatsApp is a big driver of that usage. He also made a plea to shareholders to trust that the money will come at some stage with AI & Metaverse products, just as it has for Reels and Stories which initially didn't make any money. 

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This dessert is an easy French classic and any fruit can be used really – feijoa, peach, plum, prune or the original, cherry. I’m only using raspberries as I’ve recently been late-season raspberry picking! Serves one 

Ingredients: 

Butter 

½ cup fresh raspberries 

1 medium egg 

2 tablespoons caster sugar + extra 

1 tablespoon plain flour 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

¼ cup milk 

Cream to serve 

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 180°C and generously butter a small ovenproof dish. 

Scatter raspberries into dish. 

Whisk egg with the 2 tablespoons sugar, add flour and whisk until smooth. Whisk in vanilla and milk. 

Pour batter over fruit, dot some butter over the top and bake for 20 minutes or so until just set in the centre and golden. 

Serve with a final sprinkle of sugar over the top and drizzle with cream. 

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