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Graeme Hill - Weekends 10am - 2pm

Weekend Variety Wireless features

Richard Dawkins live and taking calls, Buzz Aldrin and Grant Marshall

SATURDAY March 13

11:30:- Environews. Graeme visits Tiritiri Matangi Island open wildlife sanctuary. Take a virtual tour and hear some of the richest birdcall in New Zealand, and hear the story of this outrageous conservation success that is totally accessible to the general public and is the crowning achievement of scores of dedicated volunteers.
Join friends of Tiritiri Matangi Island here.

Reubens Water Taxi
Many thanks to Reubens Cruises Water Taxi service. You can go just about anywhere any time and these boats were built to withstand the rigours of the North Sea. For Water Taxis and many more services click here.



Click here to view Astronomy picture of the week: NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge.

Richard Dawkins
12:30- Professor Richard Dawkins. Champion of the public understanding of science, one of the world’s foremost evolutionary biologists and author of hugely influential books The Blind Watchmaker, The Ancestors Tale and The God Delusion to name a few.



SUNDAY March 14

Fourmyula
10:30:- Chris Parry of The Fourmyula. Another reunion by a classic Kiwi band? Yes, and the Fourmyula were brilliant. They play Upper Hutt's Riverstone Recreation at Expressions on Saturday, March 20 and The Montecristo Room 51-53 Nelson Street, Auckland March 18th.

Buzz Aldrin
11:15:- Buzz Aldrin. A member of the most exclusive club on Earth. 40 years ago he and Neil Armstrong were the first people to walk on the Moon. He discusses his thoughts on Barak Obama’s scaling down of manned lunar ambitions, the future of space travel, Moon Hoaxers and his time on the lunar surface. Here’s a real bonus.. check out the video of Buzz pointing out to Graeme his footsteps around the Apollo 11 landing site that are still visible today, and will be for millions of years. We’ve also included a recent fly-over of the landing site - click here to watch it.

Grant Marshall
1-2pm Grant Marshall, one of the founding members of the hugely influential Bristol band Massive Attack. They play at the Vector Arena in Auckland on Thursday 25th March.

Grant Christie's Astronomy Picture of the Week

This is what our Milky Way would look like from 40 Million light years away.
Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. An assortment of other galaxies is included in the pretty field of view. Neighboring galaxy NGC 4562 is at the upper right. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant, spanning some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.
NGC 4565: Galaxy on Edge
This is what our Milky Way would look like from 40 Million light years away. Magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 4565 is viewed edge-on from planet Earth. Also known as the Needle Galaxy for its narrow profile, bright NGC 4565 is a stop on many telescopic tours of the northern sky, in the faint but well-groomed constellation Coma Berenices. This sharp, colorful image reveals the galaxy's bulging central core cut by obscuring dust lanes that lace NGC 4565's thin galactic plane. An assortment of other galaxies is included in the pretty field of view. Neighboring galaxy NGC 4562 is at the upper right. NGC 4565 itself lies about 40 million light-years distant, spanning some 100,000 light-years. Easily spotted with small telescopes, sky enthusiasts consider NGC 4565 to be a prominent celestial masterpiece Messier missed.

At the Movies with James Croot

9 Official trailer
Feature length version of Shane Acker's 2005 Oscar-nominated short of the same name. Breathtaking animation, impressive sound design and dystopian visuals that will excite fans of Terminator and Matrix. Also nice parallels to 1930s Germany although the story's mystery dissolves into series of chase and fight sequences. Vocal cast includes Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Christopher Plummer, John C Reilly, Elijah Wood and Martin Landau.
Alice in Wonderland Official Trailer
A mash up of Alice's Adventures and Through the Looking Glass reenvisioned with Alice as a 19-year-old. Amazing imagery, nice soundtrack (Danny Elfman) but veers too close to Narnia and Rings territory. Great cast including Helena Bonham-Carter, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp as well as Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Matt Lucas, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall. Addition of 3D also a boon. Not for young kids but thank the lord it is not Hook.
Charlie & Boots
A recent example of an awful movie starring Paul Hogan and Shane Jacobson
Bright Star
Jane Campion writes and directs this take on the life of poet John Keats especially focusing on his love affair with Fanny Brawne. Beautiful costumes, lots of use of poetry... kind of like a less mucky version of 'The Piano'. Abby Cornish is the new star, but well cast all round.
Balibo
Aussie political writer-director Robert Connolly presents his version of the events in East Timor in 1975. Anthony La Paglia plays Roger East, a journalist trying to track down what happened to five Aussie-based journalists (including a Kiwi cameraman) in the region. The real Jose Ramos Horta had particular ideas about how he wanted to play Roger East.
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Graeme's stuff

Win a year's subscription to NZ Geographic Magazine and The Best Of New Zealand Geographic book   

We are offering a year long subscription to New Zealand Geographic Magazine and one copy of this gorgeous award-winning hard-cover book, The Best Of New Zealand Geographic...
Read article >>
Water Warriors Tarantula

Graeme's Water Pistol has arrived!   

Packing a gun this well-designed almost feels like cheating...
Read article >>

Scientists ask for public help with tsunami research   

GNS Science is asking people who experienced last weekend's tsunami to send in their videos and fill out an on-line survey outlining their observations...
Read article >>

Saturday Regulars

Sunday Regulars

Graeme Hill's Video Picks

High Noon at Tranquility Base: Apollo 11 Landing Site
A recent fly-over of the landing site of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
Qi taster: Stephen Fry puts Alan in his place
A taster of the best TV quiz show ever, Qi. For some unknown reason it starts at series 5 on Prime, Sunday March 7th at 9:55pm.
Qi taster: What's the difference between a cake and a biscuit?
A taster of the best TV quiz show ever, Qi. For some unknown reason it starts at series 5 on Prime, Sunday March 7th at 9:55pm.
1974 Volkswagen Beetle and Camper
Have a look at this for an invention!
Qi taster: They say of the Acropolis
A taster of the best TV quiz show ever, Qi. For some unknown reason it starts at series 5 on Prime, Sunday March 7th at 9:55pm.
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Graeme's Galleries

Charlie
Cats that look like Hitler
The reason for the internet. Cats That Look Like Hitler.
Photos ©2010 Stuart Page
Busker John Hartles in Memoriam
For many years a familiar fixture on Auckland streets, John Hartles, the atonal busking guitarist with a remarkable belting voice died last August.
The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript
The ancient text has no known title, no known author, and is written in no known language: what does it say and why does it have many astronomy illustrations? The mysterious book was once bought by an emperor, forgotten on a library shelf, sold for thousands of dollars, and later donated to Yale. Possibly written in the 15th century, the over 200-page volume is known most recently as the Voynich Manuscript, after its (re-)discoverer in 1912. Pictured above is an illustration from the book that appears to be somehow related to the Sun. The book labels some patches of the sky with unfamiliar constellations. The inability of modern historians of astronomy to understand the origins of these constellations is perhaps dwarfed by the inability of modern code-breakers to understand the book's text. Can the eclectic brain trust of APOD readers make any progress? If you think you can provide any insight, instead of sending us email please participate in a fresh online discussion. The book itself remains in Yale's rare book collection under catalog number "MS 408."
Mars near opposition
Mars is at opposition tonight, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. Of course, it will be easy to spot because Mars appears close to tonight's Full Moon, also opposite the Sun in Earth's night sky in the constellation Cancer. For this opposition, Mars remains just over 99 million kilometers away, not a particularly close approach for the Red Planet. Still, this sharp view of Mars recorded on January 22nd is an example of the telescopic images possible in the coming days. The planet's whitish north polar cap is at the upper right. Mars' tiny red disk is about 14 arcseconds in angular diameter, less than 1/100th the diameter of the Full Moon.
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