Afternoons for Thursday 16 September 2010
1:10 Best Song Ever Written
Drowned played by Pete Townshend at the 1979 Secret Policemen's Ball live as chosen by Malcolm Thompson of Tauranga
1:15 Your Place
A community located east of Kaitaia, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula - Taipa, just west of Cooper's Beach. It's a place with a rich history - and a present that connects with the sea and its Maori heritage.
2:10 Feature stories
For the first time in 80 years, legendary race horse Phar Lap's hide and skeleton are together again. This magnificent wonder horse had 36 wins from his last 41 starts. Te Papa has loaned the Melbourne Museum the Phar Lap skeleton and this morning opened a special Phar Lap exhibit opened.
A 1937 Studebaker hearse is back from the dead thanks to a Company based in Stoke that gives new life to old vehicles. The sleek black hearse was imported new by a Hamilton undertaker in 1937 and has had several incarnations since then.
2:30 NZ Reading
Mick Rose reads the final episode of The Distant Man by Carl Nixon.
2:55 He Rourou
Last month Ngati Porou couple Wiremu and Jossie Kaa were recognised for their contribution to strengthening the continuity of Maori culture through their support of the Maori arts.
In He Rourou today, Wiremu Kaa talks with Wena Tait about his early days growing up on the East Coast..
2:50 Feature Album
Curtis Mayfield, Curtis.
3:12 Arts Report
As the World of Wearable Arts Show approaches Sonia Yee discovers that it's not what you wear but how you wear it.
3:33 Southern story
Ambergris bits: Ambergris is excreted by only 3-4% of Sperm whales and washes up on beaches all over the Southern Hemisphere. Mature pieces are prized for use in some perfumes. Fresh ambergris is black with the consistency of asphalt. It could be worth $1.80 per gram. Mature 'griss' is white, aged in oceans or sand for over 20 years, and fetches up to $18 per gram. The white pieces shown below are tallow and plastic - the vast majority of finds. A scratch and sniff will tell you if you're in the money - sniff for an animal-musky aroma.
Leon Fowler (below left) moved from Motueka to Bluff seven years ago. He learned to 'hunt the griss' on wild southern beaches, and is also a buyer, selling to the French market.
3:45 Our Changing World
Artificial joints like hip implants usually last about ten years before they begin to damage the surrounding bone, but tiny sea creatures like kina and paua may soon help to extend the lifespan of orthopedic implants.
MacDiarmid Institute investigator Kate McGrath and her team are exploring biominerals made by sea shells, some of which have already been used by dentists as fillers.
Veronika Meduna catches up with the team to find out what biominerals are
4:06 The Panel
Rosemary McLeod and Bernard Hickey.