The Weekend for Saturday 26 December 2015

08:12 50 years of Country Calendar

City and country dwellers have loved Country Calendar for almost 50 years. It’s TV's tribute to the ingenious and hardy people who make a living off the land. 2016 marks its 50th year on our screens, making it far and away New Zealand’s longest running TV show. It wouldn't have lasted if it didn't continue to rate highly, surviving the onslaught of more channels and more competition for viewers' time and attention.

Country Calendar's 50 Golden Years opens at Waikato Museum in 2016. Lynn Freeman spoke to two of the show's veterans - cameraman Richard Williams and sound recordist Don Paulin.

08:43 The Secrets of RNZ: Audio Oddities

From time to time this summer we're sharing clips of radio going weird or wrong. Some bloopers, some not; all of them though Audio Oddities. Although most of our on-air talent would rather forget the worst of them, behind the scenes studio operators and producers save these dreaded moments.

08:45 Regional Panel – Waikato

RNZ's Waikato reporter Andrew McRae and Tamahere Forum journalist Philippa Stevenson talk about the issues facing their region.

 

 

09:06 Gardening: Roses

Lynn Freeman talks to Eileen Wilcox from the New Zealand Rose Society and Hamilton Gardens rose specialist Alice Gilliams.

09:28 Antartica: A Year On Ice

Anthony Powell has spent several years photographing Antarctica, heading down there for months at a time since his first trip back in 1997. He's just spent another icy Christmas on Scott Base with the rest of the current team of hardy souls. You can get a feeling for what they get to experience there in his feature film Antarctica: A Year On Ice where he uses time lapse photography to dramatic effect.

09:40 Musical Siblings - The Clevedonaires aka The Cleves aka Bitch

In the early 1960s, in small part of greater Auckland, in the farming community of Clevedon, came the folk indebted band The Clevedonaires, a group chiefly made up of the three Brown siblings - Gaye, Graham, and Ron. Over ten years that band became rockers The Cleves, and then both bafflingly and briefly… Bitch. Shaun D Wilson spoke to Ron and Gaye Brown for The Weekend.

10:07 Astronomy panel: Stargazing in New Zealand

2015 will be remembered as one of the great breakthrough years in our understanding of Mars and beyond.

Indications of liquid water on Mars, new insights into black holes and the dwarf planet Pluto, plus the early results of the lander on Comet 67P offering tantalising information on the composition and evolutionary history of comets.The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of the first-ever predicted supernova explosion.

New Zealand may not be part of these deep space missions but we still have a vital role to play in research into outer space.

Three of our keenest astronomers are based at Auckland University of Technology: Sergei Gulyaev is Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Institute for Radio Astronomy and Space Research - Professor Steve Pointing is the Director of the Institute for Applied Ecology New Zealand and Jordan Alexander is a stargazer and lecturer in Computer and Mathematical Sciences.

10:25 Live The Dream - Siobhan Patia

It will take some time before the world learns if the Paris climate change agreement is worth the paper it's written on. 25 year old Auckland law student Siobhan Patia is not content to wait. Siobhan's parents came to New Zealand from the Cook Islands and now she's determined to make sure people are fully aware just how climate change is already hurting Pacific nations.

Shiobhan is one of a select group of young people taking part in an accelerator programme called Live the Dream that is taking place over summer. Live The Dream is part of Inspiring Stories which encourages young Kiwis with big ambitions.

10:45 Sport: Yips, chokes, slumps

Are you being put off your stroke by the yips, the chokes or the slumps? Clinical Psychologist Karen Nimmo has worked with high performance sportspeople, like Black Cap Jesse Ryder, to help them get past mental roadblocks.

 

 

11:06 Archeology in Dunedin

Dunedin is a treasure trove for archaeologists. Lynn Freeman recently visited one of the busiest, Hayden Cawte from Heritage Properties. He and his partner Sheryl Cawte have set up shop in an historic part of the city where crumbling old warehouses are being turned into luxury apartments and shops.

11:20 Around The House: Painting

Uncovering lead paint and toppling off insecure ladders are two of the hazards DIY house painters face, and across the country over the summer there will be thousands of homeowners making the most of the sunshine to spruce up their biggest investment.

Stanley Marshall is a house painter and tutor at Wellington High School's Community Education Centre. Lynn Freeman went to see him on a job in the hillside suburb of Strathmore and asked Stanley about mistakes people often make when painting a house.

11:38 Te Papa: The Fishes of New Zealand

Each year Te Papa's curators are sent photos and samples of fish which people can't identify, and sometimes that's because they haven't been seen before. So if you come across something fishy, and mysterious, what should you do? Andrew Stewart from Te Papa co-authored the four-volume compendium The Fishes of New Zealand which catalogues all 1262 known species of fish in our waters.

11:50 Buskers - Looking For Alaska

Our first buskers are Hamilton band Looking For Alaska (Aaron Gott and Amy Maynard). They've been going for a couple of years, and as well as busking around Amy and Aaron have supported Fly My Pretties and Herbs.