Experience Mid Canterbury
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The 1964 guide to the small town cinemas of the South Island
Where going to the movies is as it should be. WAS A TIME, MOVIEGOING WAS AN EVENT. GOING TO THE CINEMA WAS AN EXPERIENCE, ONE YOU MIGHT DRESS UP FOR, SAVE FOR, BOOK IN ADVANCE. THOSE WERE THE DAYS. WHICH SOUNDS CURMUDGEONLY, BUT ALSO, MULTIPLEXES ARE TRASH. Fortunately, despite industry turbulence caused first by the…
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Poetry Review: Everyone is Everyone Except You and Meat Lovers
Meat Lovers by Rebecca Hawkes (Auckland University Press) Everyone is Everyone Except You by Jordan Hamel (Dead Bird Books) Both of the poets featured in the last issue of 1964 (Issue 9, Autumn 2022) have recently released their debut full-length collections. One word: Yay! Two words: Cows and Timaru! Rebecca Hawkes’ Meat Lovers is “a…
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Poetry Review: Everyone is Everyone Except You and Meat Lovers
Meat Lovers by Rebecca Hawkes (Auckland University Press) Everyone is Everyone Except You by Jordan Hamel (Dead Bird Books) Both of the poets featured in the last issue of 1964 (Issue 9, Autumn 2022) have recently released their debut full-length collections. One word: Yay! Two words: Cows and Timaru! Rebecca Hawkes’ Meat Lovers is “a book of poems on…
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All roads lead to snow
The 1964 guide to the ski roads of the South Island. WE HAVE TO DRIVE TO THE SNOWLINE HERE, UNLIKE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, AND THE ROAD UP TO ANY NEW ZEALAND SKI FIELD IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF ITS FOUNDING STORY. Early paths carved by bulldozers, winches and good keen humans opened…
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Flare – A Ski Trip: A NZ ski film by Sam Neill
Laura Williamson looks back at Flare, a classic New Zealand ski film directed by Sam Neill. Warning: Contains ski ballet. “FREESTYLE,” THE NARRATOR TELLS US, “BEGAN AS AN EXUBERANT REACTION TO THE CONSTRAINTS OF CONVENTIONAL SKIING. NOW IT HAS STRETCHED THE LIMITS OF WHAT’S POSSIBLE ON SKIS.” It’s 1976. Six skiers (five Kiwis and one…
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Firstborn son of the sky
The point of return. NIC LOW’S NEW BOOK UPRISING IS THE ACCOUNT OF NINE EXPEDITIONS INTO THE NGĀI TAHU HISTORY OF KĀ TIRITIRI-O-TE-MOANA, NEW ZEALAND’S SOUTHERN ALPS. GUIDED BY ORAL HISTORIES, NIC TRAVELLED ON SKIS, ON FOOT AND BY WATER TO REVISIT THE STORIES OF HIS ANCESTORS. In this excerpt, he visits Aoraki / Mt…
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A history of bats
When mammals fly. A BAT CAN’T SEE IN THE DARK, BUT A BAT CAN FIND ITS WAY. TO BATS, EVEN THE BLACKEST NIGHT IS THREE-DIMENSIONAL. THEY CAN CATCH TINY INSECTS WHILE FLYING AT 60 KILOMETRES PER HOUR USING NOTHING BUT SOUND. WE THINK THINGS ARE AS WE SEE THEM, BUT BATS KNOW OTHERWISE. THE WORLD…
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Food Review: Royal India, Geraldine
Yes, you read correctly, Geraldine. And for those keeping score, this will be the third mention of Geraldine’s culinary scene in 1964 (Al’s Hot Pepper Sauce, The Running Duck Cafe). For those traveling between the Queenstown Lakes District and the East Coast, Geraldine (population 2,800) is the spot for a snack, a meal or a…
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The truth is up there
A brief history of space junk in, and above, Aotearoa. IN JANUARY 2019, CRICKET FANS AT A NEW ZEALAND-SRI LANKA MATCH AT THE BAY OVAL IN MOUNT MAUNGANUI WERE STARTLED BY A CLUSTER OF LIGHTS TRAVERSING THE NIGHT SKY. TURNS OUT THEY WERE BITS OF KOSMOS 2430, A RUSSIAN MILITARY SATELLITE, HEADED FOR THE SPACECRAFT…