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Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Dawn-lit dance of moon, stars
If you're up early on Monday wrap up warm and step outside. Look northeast just before 6.30am and you'll see something quietly beautiful: the crescent moon drifting close to Matariki, the star cluster, also known as the Pleiades. It's a slow celestial conversation, one that unfolds above frost-covered roofs and sleeping streets. From here in Otago, with our crisp, dark winter skies, the view is magnificent. Through binoculars, the moon will appear barely five degrees from Matariki — close enough to feel intimate. And just to the right, bright Venus blazes away, unmistakable in the constellation Taurus. Jupiter, still low, will just be rising. Matariki isn't just a pretty knot of stars. It's a cluster of hot, young suns around 440 light years away, born together in a stellar nursery and now slowly drifting apart. Māori see it as a mother and her children, each with a role in sustaining life on Earth. The cluster's annual return to the dawn sky marks the New Year in the Maramataka — the Māori lunar calendar — and invites us to reflect, remember and reset. Western mythology calls them the Seven Sisters, the daughters of Atlas, pursued by Orion. To their right shines Aldebaran, a red giant star — Taurus's eye — burning steadily just 65 light years from here. Although it appears close to the Hyades star cluster, Aldebaran isn't a member. It's just passing through our line of sight. There's a quiet synchronicity in the date. Fifty six years ago, on July 21 1969 (New Zealand time), Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon. This same moon — now older, pocked and luminous — will be keeping company with Matariki in the still before dawn. I've seen this sky from sea and summit, city and rural, and it never fails to move me. There's something about watching the moon brush past ancient stars that puts things in perspective. So, boil the kettle, pull on your coat and look up. The universe is doing its thing, and it's worth watching.
NZ Herald
14-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Why Raiatea, French Polynesia is a must visit for New Zealanders wanting to trace their lineage
Roughly twice the size of Waiheke Island, Raiatea is believed to be the ancestral homeland of Māori and the starting point for migratory journeys that followed the track of Matariki – the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) constellation – and led to the settlement of other Polynesian islands, including New Zealand. Home to the most significant marae in the Polynesian Triangle, the Marae Taputaputea (a Unesco World Heritage site since 2017) it's a must-visit for Kiwis wanting to learn more about their ancestral roots. Part of Marae Taputapuatea, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Photo / Getty Images To make the most of the experience, we met with a Tahitian guide through Aroha Experiences, who took us through Marae Taputapuatea and Raiatea's surrounding natural treasures. Our guide Naiki Lutz explained a bit more about the marae, Taputapuatea - 'tapu' meaning sacred and 'atea' meaning faraway. She's guided many New Zealanders through this same journey, many of whom she says are impacted deeply by a sense of connection felt to their ancestral roots. The marae was once a centre of power where high priests and chiefs gathered, and today still has an incredible presence, commanding respect. But visiting here hasn't always been a guarantee, as Lutz said many generations before her were scared of visiting the site, which was considered taboo and a no-go zone due to a mass wave of Christianity and large-scale attempts to cull the ancestral stories that had come before it. Christian missionaries had a significant influence on Raiatea, starting in the early 19th century, leading to conflicts and even the destruction of the traditional Marae Taputapuatea in 1828. While the people of Raiatea initially resisted, Christian missionaries successfully converted many and managed to gain political influence. Now, Lutz and many others on the island are on a mission to preserve the Tahitian culture, retell the stories, regenerate the land and bring back parts of what was lost. While some of the stories and traditions may never be recovered, Raeatea is in itself a history book in landscape form. One of the beautiful lagoons of Raiatea in French Polynesia. Photo / Getty Images It is home to many amazing natural features, such as Mount Temehani and its Tiara Apetahi flower, which grows nowhere else in the world and blooms at dawn. The island also boasts its magnificent lagoon, rivers bathed in rituals, and lush, unique vegetation. Lutz took us in her truck through the centre of the mountains, stopping to pick a fresh mangosteen and visit a river, used by locals for centuries to bathe and fish. There she prepared a coconut scrub for us using fresh coconut husk and coconut meat, and we bathed in the same river many generations of Tahitians have. We took time to appreciate all that the land has to offer as we gave back to the eels and shrimp around us as they feasted on discarded coconut. For a quick snack break, we detoured to a local market and tried mapé chaude for the first time, a fruit that's gruelling to harvest and cook and looks like an organ, but is a delicacy among locals. The taste is somewhere between a kūmara and a banana. Mapé from the local market. Photo / NZ Herald Time felt slower on Raiatea; nobody was rushing, and there was a knowledge everywhere we went that this place was special. Connecting to it for a moment in time was an honour not to be taken for granted. Although less famous than its neighbours Bora Bora and Moorea, Raiatea captivated us with its mana, spectacular landscapes and stories. At the end of our time there, we wove harakeke with our guide and dropped it into the ocean as a gift to Ta'aroa (the Tahitian supreme creator god), thanking him for our time at such a special place. Checklist Raiatea, French Polynesia GETTING THERE Fly from Auckland to Tahiti with Air Tahiti or Air New Zealand daily. Tahiti to Raiatea is a short 45-minute flight with Air Tahiti or Air Moana. DETAILS New Zealand Herald Travel visited courtesy of Tahiti Tourism. Jenni Mortimer is the NZ Herald's chief lifestyle and entertainment reporter. Jenni started at the Herald in 2017 and has previously worked as lifestyle, entertainment and travel editor.
Scoop
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Wolf Alice Unveil New Single 'The Sofa'
Beloved British band Wolf Alice share new single, 'The Sofa' - another dimension to their highly anticipated fourth studio album The Clearing confirmed for release on August 22nd via Mushroom Music. Following a triumphant return to the stage with headlining festival performances at Primavera and a history-defining Glastonbury set on home soil, this new era announces Wolf Alice as a band who are in a league entirely of their own. 'The Sofa' is the album's psychological portrait which is a microcosm of the wider themes it reckons with: falling in love with your life for exactly what it is and finally letting go of unrealised dreams without shame, guilt or disappointment as you grow older. Unspooling like a daydream on an idle afternoon, 'The Sofa' is a piano ballad fortified by the best songwriting of Ellie Rowsell's career - radical in its unflinching honesty. 'Didn't make it out to California / Where I thought I might clean the slate / Feels a little like I'm stuck in Seven Sisters / North London, oh England / And maybe that's ok,' Rowsell sings. In abandoning the self-consciousness which weighs down your twenties, Wolf Alice reach a point of hard-won serenity. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading 'It's about not trying so hard to figure everything out, reflecting on getting older and trying not to agonise over things that have or haven't happened in your life. It's also about trying to get to grips with the polarising aspects of one's life when you're in a band. You've just played a huge tour - and you come home, and you have your dinner on the sofa. For me, it's summed up in how I treat TV. I used to never watch the same thing twice because I thought I've got so much to discover! And now I'm like, It's okay if I just want to rewatch Peep Show for the thirteenth time.' – Ellie Rowsell Shot on the streets of the band's native North London in homage to the lyrics, the video for 'The Sofa' captures the day-dreamy spirit of the song in boldly-coloured slow motion. Ellie is transported on a surreal fantasy through the euphoric messiness of British summertime street life while never leaving the comfort of her sofa. Inspired by classic street photography, these vignettes capture the blissed-out interactions of people from all walks of life, celebrating the shared joy we feel with strangers on a sunny day. The video was directed by Fiona Jane Burgess (Christina Aguilera, girlinred, Gucci) and features numerous easter eggs for the band's upcoming album. The single release follows Wolf Alice's victorious return to Glastonbury Festival this past month, performing a razor-sharp set of hits to a sunset crowd on the Other Stage on Sunday afternoon. Combining fan favourites such as 'Bros' and 'Don't Delete The Kisses' with jubilant new singles 'Bloom Baby Bloom' and 'The Sofa' - the slot felt like a victory lap for a band truly at the peak of their powers. Written in Seven Sisters and recorded in LA with Grammy-winning, master producer Greg Kurstin last year, The Clearing reveals where Wolf Alice stand sonically in 2025, delivering a supremely confident collection of songs bursting with ambition, ideas and emotion; The Clearing is a truly timeless record.
San Francisco Chronicle
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Book Review: ‘Hotel Ukraine' wraps up Martin Cruz Smith's detective Renko book series on a high
Arkady Renko now fumbles with his keys at the door as his Parkinson's disease gradually grows worse. The legendary Russian detective has struggled to keep his declining health a secret, but the worsening symptoms have become impossible to hide. Still, Renko is determined to crack the case of a Russian defense official mysteriously murdered in his Moscow hotel room as Russia's war on Ukraine rages. The murder takes place at the Hotel Ukraine, a well-known hotel in the heart of Moscow, one of the towering Stalin-era buildings known as the Seven Sisters. 'Hotel Ukraine' is the 11th and last installment in the popular Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith that he launched in 1981 with his blockbuster 'Gorky Park.' Books like 'Red Square,' 'Havana Bay' and 'Stalin's Ghost' followed. We don't find out until we get to the acknowledgments at the book's end to learn that Smith, like Renko, has also been concealing a Parkinson's diagnosis for years until it was clear he had to step aside. The revelation is sure to sadden Smith's loyal fans who have followed the fictional detective's career from Moscow's Cold War days to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the rise of the Russian oligarchs But the aficionados of the Renko novels will still have a gem in Smith's latest, which upholds Smith's reputation as a great craftsman of modern detective fiction with his sharply drawn, complex characters and a compelling plot. It's also a well-informed personal look at how the worsening effects of Parkinson's can affect an individual, as Renko finds he can still drive, and he can still talk on the phone, but he can't do both at the same time. When Renko's superiors discover his health problems, they place him on paid sick leave. But that doesn't stop the intrepid detective from continuing his investigation, alongside his lover, journalist Tatiana Petrovna. Renko discovers a Russian military group was involved in the killing and is being helped on the sly by Marina Makarova, a government official and former lover who he is working with on the official probe. After a somewhat slow start, the action in the novel speeds up as the story advances, and the end approaches with multiple twists and surprises. 'It is surprising to think that I have had Parkinson's for almost 30 years. For most of that time I have been remarkably well,' Smith writes in the acknowledgements. 'But this disease takes no prisoners, and now I have finished my last book. There is only one Arkady and I will miss him.'
Al Arabiya
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Arabiya
Book Review: ‘Hotel Ukraine' Wraps Up Martin Cruz Smith's Detective Renko Book Series on a High
Arkady Renko now fumbles with his keys at the door as his Parkinson's disease gradually grows worse. The legendary Russian detective has struggled to keep his declining health a secret, but the worsening symptoms have become impossible to hide. Still, Renko is determined to crack the case of a Russian defense official mysteriously murdered in his Moscow hotel room as Russia's war on Ukraine rages. The murder takes place at the Hotel Ukraine, a well-known hotel in the heart of Moscow, one of the towering Stalin-era buildings known as the 'Seven Sisters.' Hotel Ukraine is the 11th and last installment in the popular Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith that he launched in 1981 with his blockbuster Gorky Park. Books like Red Square, Havana Bay, and Stalin's Ghost followed. We don't find out until we get to the acknowledgments at the book's end to learn that Smith, like Renko, has also been concealing a Parkinson's diagnosis for years until it was clear he had to step aside. The revelation is sure to sadden Smith's loyal fans who have followed the fictional detective's career from Moscow's Cold War days to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and the rise of the Russian oligarchs. But the aficionados of the Renko novels will still have a gem in Smith's latest, which upholds Smith's reputation as a great craftsman of modern detective fiction with his sharply drawn complex characters and a compelling plot. It's a fresh international detective tale with a backstory pulled straight from recent headlines referencing world leaders like presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Joe Biden of the US. It's also a well-informed personal look at how the worsening effects of Parkinson's can affect an individual, as Renko finds he can still drive and he can still talk on the phone, but he can't do both at the same time. When Renko's superiors discover his health problems, they place him on paid sick leave. But that doesn't stop the intrepid detective from continuing his investigation alongside his lover, journalist Tatiana Petrovna. Renko discovers a Russian military group was involved in the killing and is being helped on the sly by Marina Makarova, a government official and former lover who he is working with on the official probe. After a somewhat slow start, the action in the novel speeds up as the story advances and the end approaches with multiple twists and surprises. 'It is surprising to think that I have had Parkinson's for almost 30 years. For most of that time, I have been remarkably well,' Smith writes in the acknowledgments. 'But this disease takes no prisoners, and now I have finished my last book. There is only one Arkady, and I will miss him.'
