You're listening to the Marcus lush Night's podcast from News Talks.
A'd be.
I'll tell you one thing about Trump, right, he says things that prompt interesting investigations. I've spent some time today reading about Alcatraz, because well, he's ordered to reopen it, according to the articles. Some articles are saying he has announced that Alcatraz will reopen, and some says he's ordered it to reopen. Some say that probably was watching Escape from Alcatraz on HBO last night and saw that and thought that's an idea. But what is staggering to me
A couple of things about Alcatraz. One, how many prisoners, not many. How many prisons Alcatraz hold it held, hold it anywhere between two sixty and two seventy five at a time, so in terms of the incarcerated American population,
and that would be almost next to nothing. And I don't think it was one of those extremely high security presents you'd want to put the extremely high highly dangerous people in, because it's not a it's not one of those modern prisons where they see in the UNI bomber of people, because I've read articles about those, and they're in the middle of nowhere, and they are incredibly hard to get out of. But Alcatraz, of course, people to
escape from it. I know about this because I've watched episodes of MythBusters and they used and made kind of rafts and dummies and all sorts of stuff. And from time to time there are articles that say they asked it alive and what happened to those people because no one quite knows if they got to shore or they drowned or eaten by sharks. In fact, I know a lot about Alcatraz. Also know about Alcatraz from the America's Cup with Peter Lester always saying, oh, that's right. There
are the lee of the winds behind Alca trees. You don't want to go there, or it might have been the tide. The lee of the tide behind Olca Trees was also something you didn't want to go. And the other thing that I'm frstinated about with Alcatraz is that it's one of only two prisons in the world that also ran a lighthouse. The other one is the prison
on Bluff Hill in Napier. But the one Bluff Hill, I believe, if memory serves me right, was occupied by the prison wardens the lighthouse, whereas Alcatraz they had designated lighthouse keepers and they were called the Wikis, which I quite like, and there was three of them on eight hour shifts and they would keep the light burning. There is still a lighthouse now in Alcatraz, but it is automated and it's just a tourism venue. Brilliant. So all that he sees some interesting stuff, not always in a
good way. And then he dressed as the Pope didn't go down well. Some were wondering what he was going to do for Star Wars Day, but that didn't have anyway. You might have been drug trays. Want to say something about that, because I'm in festinated by that. You might you might want to go with the whole angle of what building in New Zealand would you like reopen? I don't think anyone wants any of those old prisons reopen,
do they They're ghastly. I went to an escape room the other day and that President and Eden it was quite foreboding. Actually, we're terrifying kind of a place. Put us off of scape rooms. Really, it's almost like the prisoners had just walked out about a day ago and they've retro fitted it but if you want to, maybe you've visited Alcatraz recently. Got some interesting facts about that,
because I'm festinated by that. But just three hundred and thirty six visits, prisoners were there in fact over time, and Alcatraz right, only fifteen hundred and seventy six prisoners were there in the prison's lifetime, including al Capone. But yes, that's what Trump's done today, wants to well, he's ordered Oatrez to be reopened presidential order, and he's also trying to get a one hundred percent tariff on movies. I've got no idea how that works, no idea at all.
I would imagine that's on your price of admission. You'd pay twice. Is that right? If your movies were ten bucks, you'd pay ten bucks go to the US government. I guess that's how it would work. But as Christopher Luxon says, let's wait for the details because they are scanned. I'm looking through the list of prisoners now that worried Alcatraz.
Is not many I can remember, although a lot of them had nicknames, Basil the al Banghart, Tamoy, Meatball, Kawakita, Herbert Allen, Defy Farmer, Joseph Paul Dutch, Kretza, Robert Birdman of Alcatraz Stroud. I think we know about him, our scarfaced Capo, Irving Wexley, Gordon Wixler, Forest Woody Tucker. Great nicknames in prison. Anyway, if you're to talk about that'd be fested. If everyone's been to Alcatraz or thinks it's a good idea, I don't know why it's a good idea.
In fact, I don't think it is a good idea. It holds so few prisoners. Anyway. Oh, by the way, too, let's just acknowledge the Warriors for their victory over the weekend. I was at the basketball and I just look at my cell phone for updates. Even watching it with just the updates was nerve wrecking. I can't believe they managed to pull that one off, but well done them for that. Quite likely, but of magic rounder the weather was apporting. Anyway, get in touch if you want to start the whole
ball rolling tonight thirteen past date. Shame about McDonald's pocket anger, although that fire seems to have closed now, but for a long time also too, there was a and I'm saying this because these might be things you want to talk about earthquake Livin today. There might be some aftershocks about that. I don't know how widely felt it was, but you might have something to say about that. I'll check on geoone for that one. Big on the breaking news.
You might have some breaking news where you are two in the next four hours. Bring that through. Always big on the old b in the breaking news. Let me just look at those quakes four point one at five sixteen ten k's northwest of Levina, the depth of thirty six kilometers. So I've seen no subsequent after shocks from
that yet either either. Anyway, do get in touch eight hundred and eighty Teddy and nine two nine to detext if you want to start the whole war fast dating to about Alchelizic if someone's been there, because I'm sure you win one of those tours with festating information about it. Now I'm thinking about you. There might be some old building in New Zealand you want reopened. I can't imagine what that would be. I can't imagine anyone want to
reopen any of the psychiatric facilities. Are rules all terrifying. I think the old prizzoners are well beyond the use by date. I'm actually still surprised they managed to keep in the cargo or prison open. That must be over one hundred years old. Sometimes you go to McDonald's at midnight after work, the prison wardens are there having their feet It's quite interesting. I think it's when the shift ends.
Actually it's quite interesting having a prison. Quite often there are outside the present of an evening there are partners or wives on the street just sort of I don't quite know what they're doing, sort of signaling to their partners through the windows. It's to an interesting kind of fresh on to a city, to have your prison inside it where actually can see them in the little windows. In fact, one of them told me once my lights were left on it subway, which I thought was good mate,
your lights are on. And I guess what was probably a significant thing for their day anyway, fifteen past day, looking forward. Duke called here till midnight, oh eight hundred and eighty Telly. A lot of other stuff we probably need to talk about tonight. I'm not quite sure the order that will go with, but I'll take the initiative from you if you want to come through, by the way, Mother's Day Sunday, second Sunday of May and the new Pope.
They've got the new chimney in. It'll begin May the seventh. What's today, the fifth sixth begins Wednesday. Well, if that happens on our show, we'll drop a break in news sting and tell you the new pope will be. It'll be one of the Italians of the Filipino, I would imagine. I did watch a lot of the coverage from SkyTV. It was the only channel I could get for the coverage of the American election. Boy oh boy with a
sour faced panel. In fact, they crossed to Albanese's headquarters before he arrived, right, And this is how split the media. In Australia. There was a couple, an old guy, sort of a Colonel Sandal looking guy with a goady beard and glasses, and a woman and they walked around the gathering of the Labor Party supporters. No one would talk to them. It was like watching the Red Sea part. They'd walk through there and people were just falling over
themselves to get away. Here to go figure anyway, here to a midnight eight hundred and eighty. Oh, by the way, the budget, of course that's happening, not tonight, not tomorrow night, Thursday, twenty second of May, so just under three weeks for that. Also, so we've got the Pope, we got the Mother's Day, we've got the budget. She's going to be a pretty busy May. But get in touch. You want to be a part of the show. Taty and nine two nine
to detext looking forward to what you talk about. It seems to be a bit of heat on Erica Stanford. I think this was a similar thing that happened to clear Karen. Also. They started attacking her, chipping away with her about the emails, and this seems to be some sort of a yeah, I don't know what it is, but certainly that seems to have got a lot more attention than you probably think it would demand. But go figure,
that's politics anyway, Get in touch. Eight hundred eighty forty five years since The Shining, the scariest movie ever made. I always saw it actually in the end of the thing that put me off scary movies. That damn one with the Anthony Hopkins terrible, terrible, absolutely terrified me. And I never really gone back to scary movies since. Absolutely terrifying because almost but I don't even know if you
call it a horror movie, wasn't absolutely terrifying anyway. Silence of the Lambs is what I'm thinking of a twenty four past eight and there's something different. You want to go on about a here for your eight hundred and eighty ten eighty Marcus. Because of Trump's hundi hi hype on making movies, New Zealand used it a good excuse for renouncer Brad Pitt was swimming in Queens and that's what has been there for a while with that one. The old railway station is a shadow. It's the old
Orcand railway station is a shadow of itself. As budget accommodation could be reopened as an open boutique mall. I was gonna say it could be open as a railway station. It was always a terrible place for a railway station, far too far out of town, Marcus. With all the chainsaw cuts going onto the States, how are we to
know that the imported pork from there is safe to consume? Yes, I spent a day on Alcatraz during my eighteen months to the United States, and yes, it wouldn't take much to put it back in service, as it's so well preserved mark from Fittianga. I think you can buy shirts there too, can you? What can you buy from the Alcatraz gift shop? I think I might like something from there. It's not a bucket list thing for me, by the way, I've got no desire or the other thing too that
I probably need to mention. Also tonight, there's been a bit and this is probably quite a good topic. It's probably as good a topic as any. There's been quite a bit of fuss over the last forty eight hours in the news cycle about colony eggs. Now. I wouldn't buy colony eggs because I've always thought that was a
bit of a sketchy word. But a lot of people have probably thought that all the eggs are free range now and animal rights groups are saying that produces egg produces are misleadings in this by not declaring that colony laid eggs are laid by caged hens. So battery caged hens have been banned, but colony cages are still a thing. So as anyone out there kind of concerned about what colony cages are like, I've never seen one, so maybe they ought to put a word on that's not as
misleading because colony to me doesn't sound caged. So apparently battery hen cages could hold about six hens and we're barren with nothing much in them except wire, and colony cages apparently are not much better. Colony cages can hold up to eighty hens, and each bird is given a space about the size of an a four piece of paper to living highly and ten of conditions. The hens never step outside and they only feel metal bars under
their feet. Yeah, so eighty percent of news in as according the survey, did not know that colony eggs came from caged hens, with half the people mistake any feeling that they are brought from they were buying barn or freewaying eggs. I don't know what a barn egg is either. I tried to read the writing too much. But you want to talk about that also, I'm up for that discussion. Eight hundred and eighty Saddy Marcus still twelve eggs colony? Do you know what that means? It's kind of a
sketchy word. They did say they publicized a lot about what the word meant when they went from cage to colony. I don't remember that colony eggs, by the way are thirty percent of the sales colony eggs. That is so, yes, it's why are cages? Doesn't sound like a colony, does it. Colony sounds slightly more fancy to me. Yes, Steve, this Marcus welcome, good evening, Good.
Evening, Marcus. Marcus.
My dad is eighty eight.
He got home help three months ago.
Home help rules.
First thing the home help is not allowed to.
Do is the dishes.
Second thing home help is not allowed to clean his stove. Third thing, home help is not allowed to clean his fridge. Marcus, Would you believe it?
What's the reasons for that?
Is that?
Because this can you tell me a bit more about it?
Roughly? I take it as that My dad's pretty savvy, so he's filled me. This is home help across the country rules. You're not allowed to do the dishes because the bacterial transfers. I think the fridge thing is about like I'm tampering with other people's food. And I don't know what the bloom and stove thing is, Marcus. But I knew no one else to talk to you. Otherwise if I had to go and sit in the office and hit them up about it, and you know, I'd
probably lose my temper. They're not allowed to what the wall four and half feet high anyway?
Who's this? This is provided by the Area of Health.
Apparently it's the same rules countrywide for home help, Marcus, for all elderly people.
And your father is living in his own home.
No, he's in a pension of flats in the far.
North, Okay.
It's a general rule, I believe.
I would imagine with some of the home help that my mother had used, that that the home help would be quite appreciated by your father, would it not?
With with the dishes not being able to be done?
What are they?
What are they doing?
Well?
They're allowed to clean the toilet, mop the floor, and vacuum the floor, and they're not allowed to wipe the wall above.
Four and a half foot Is that they don't fall.
Something like that? But I mean the first things of an elderly person, Marcus, is the dishes. Often for for an old brooke anyway, the dishes need doing a so I do his dishes. The fridge needs cleaning, so I clean his fridge down with their vegetables go in the lower parts, and things like that. And the stove of an old bachelor, I mean can look like a second world wall's gone through after a few days. Yeah, okay, some sort of MP needs to have a look at
the rules again. I think Marcus and I haven't heard it talk. The other thing was wasp a couple of weeks ago. You boil a jug is the greenest way to kill the wasp?
Five?
Yeah, I'm into that's what you're going to say about because you'rebviously passion about this, Steve. So I will see if some other people can ring up, and maybe they are people that work in that situation. They might explain, because it seems to me it's not so much what they can't do. It doesn't seem as though you've heard a good enough reason why they can't do that. Is that fair?
Well?
The the transfer of bacteria for dishes does sound reasonable, But however the most likely an additive like a specialized.
But I just wonder, if I just wonder, is there another Is there another provider that provides home cleaning that your father could access.
Put it this way, he has had a couple of them in the last three months, he said, one every three months, and he wants to fight this one. The first bloke used to do the dishes and then but it was not foul outside the rules. Eh.
Okay, Steve, thanks for ring. We'll see if we get some information about that. Janet's Marcus, good evening.
Oh hello Marcus. A bit of a change of subject from that. I've been to Alcatraz.
Wow, thank you for colling.
But not as a prisoner.
I don't think women went there. But anyway, yeah, okay, good, okay, But it was.
Way it was back in nineteen ninety two, and it just it just reminded me. You did remind when you started speaking about it, because when I went, I bought the Birdman of Alcatraz book. Oh yes, while I was there, because he was the reason I went, because I'd seen the movie with Burt Lancaster played the part.
And look, can I just say, as soon as I saw that, a lot went through my mind. Did he fly to like a bird? But it wasn't. He was someone that fed birds.
Is that right?
Yeah?
No, he raised birds and he studied bird diseases and all that, and he was incarcerated there for about fifty years. He was he was guilty of two, you know, quite bad crimes, but he was obviously quite a gentle I don't know what led to the crimes, but he just took it upon himself to look after birds and he it seys I'm just reading the back of the book.
He raised hundreds of birds and cages in his cell and became an authority on bird disease and wrote the definitive book on the subject, which remains in print to this day.
Wow, m.
Little book.
Is it a good read?
I did well. I bought it in nineteen ninety two and read it, so it's a wee while ago. It was good and the movie was good. I remember. That's what prompted me to buy the book. Was, as I say, boot.
Land And could you go and see the actual cell which was his.
Yes, Yes, we got a boat over and we were told about how how anglis it was. It's got terrible currents and things like that. And I think only a few people ever made it to the other side because they'd be swept away. And yeah, and we were shown around. This was you know, it's a think going way back before you had all the devices to walk around and look at things nowadays, so you had sort of a guide showing you. Yeah, so we saw the cells and where he was and things it's not a very pleasant place.
No, no prisons or the prisons. I've been to a fairly drum place. No, I think I might have. I think I might have seen that movie a long time ago, so I'm pretty interested in that.
I would see Its interesting to see it again, wouldn't it.
Yeah, and look, I appreciate you coming through, Jen. I'll reread that on the strength of you coming through with that, of course, for those that don't know. As I was listening to Jen, I thought, why is it called Alcatraz. It's Spanish for the island of the Pelicans, so to Spain. It couldn't work out the derivation. I thought, surely it's not American Indian? Why was it on the Chase Brenda? It's Marcus Welcome.
Yeah, Hi Marcus, good show every night. Thank you. I'm just responding to the chat with his dad in a pension of flat up North, Yes, and his home help. I looked after pension of flats where I live for three years, and yeah, is quite very limited as to what home help they get. Home help usually only relates to them needing showering, okay, anything over and above that. I would suggest that he rings age concern because they are very, very helpful with pensioners.
Okay, so it seems that there's miscommunication. They have given him home help for help with showering, and he's thought, oh, well, the person's there, I'll get them to clean the fridge, clean the oven. Well, they can't do that because they've got to go from place to place.
Age Concern will advise them that they can through the Ministry of Social Development or WINS what you're going to call them, they can get some extra funding so much a year. So I just thought I'd just swing there in there.
Is there a situation, is it Brenda's a situation? Is it called home help?
Yeah, it's called home help.
That's very limited.
Because it should be it should be called showering help, shouldn't it. So what do they do it? Is it just is it showering? Is it remaking the bead or is it just showering?
Just basically showering and then any other that they need tacked on that Age Consume can step in and help them as with their needs.
Yeah, okay, so they don't help with shopping for groceries or anything like that. It's just the very basic things of show.
It's usually up to the far now members.
You do that.
Yeah, appreciate that. Brenda thinks so much. That's helpful for me. Nine to ten, nine to nine, don't know what'll back on old daylight savings. I'm back on Karen time. Actually, if I was back on the year, it would be an hour later, wouldn't it. What has happened to me? Yeah, are on Karen's time now, I'm back on summertime. Hold your horses, people within two shots nine a way. I'm fast dated about the Birdman of Alcatraz. When you see bird Man, you think, well, hang about But I'm sure
I've seen that movie. I read the book on that. I guess this. I reckon. There's probably some fantastic books written about out and I am first dated by it. Love a Lighthouse, Love a Prison to a Good Age seventy three, Robert Stroud. I'll read about having to report more for Rose. It's Marcus good.
Evening evening markets.
How are you good?
Thank you?
Hey, Michael.
I just wanted to speak about the guy who spoke about his father getting the home help. My mom here in Auckland actually went to a medical misadventure and SEC sorted it out for her and it's a healthcare New Zealand that was looking after her. But what they do is they only provide like cleaning of the shower, toilets, the vacuum and mop the floor, but they do not even lift a carpet. They were asking mon to lift
the carpits are actually called and complain to them. With this medical adventure, Mom's living off by herself and then we just decided to move Mom away from the Kayangora house and bring her home with us so that she doesn't have to do the extra work.
Yeah, I can understand from a boss's point of view, because if you go you've got to have your roles. Quite clearly, Ring finds. Otherwise people would be going into houses and people would be asking them to do all sorts of things, and they could become ever ending. And of course they've got time restraints and travel restraints and all sorts of things.
Exactly, Yet they go to houses they only have to spend I believe, forty five minutes per house and they treble time and all that. I mean, we had three lovely ladies coming over to look after Mom. Even though they could do all the stuff within the timeframe. We were quite great well but then, like the guy said, the friegia, the washing of the dishes and all that, it's actually quite hard on the elderly is doing it
by themselves. Yes, so I strongly believe there should be moved into with healthcare New Zealand, especially when it's a medical misadventure by the medical our own medical system.
What I what I shod The medical misadventure happened for us.
Mom was just around sixty. She had a triple bypass and unfortunately up at Oakland Hospital she the superbug of pseudo mounder scot Her Tatum infected and after sagery a week after sagerty, they had to remove the whole sternum. Okay, so yeah, so i'nfor that was quite unfortunate.
Is it to get the stateam infixted? Is that medical misadventure or is that just an unfortunate.
I'd say medical misadventure because it was the hospital's failure when she got pseudomonus, which is a superbug in the theater. So we had a big or legal battle on that.
But aren't superbug something that they try very hard to get rid of but they do a cur o Yeah?
Okay, yeah, I mean honestly, I'm not I'm not medical. I mean, yeah, so I wasn't sure because the doctor or the surgeon was a medical student from India who performed it on mom. So there was where we were upset.
I don't think students would be performing operations.
Could be I was wrong, I could have been an exchange doctor or something from me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's extremely regular. I don't think they just check a student for something as serious as that. But yeah, that's that's by the bye. But I appreciate that for us. Thanks for coming through. Marcus an Alcatrox and Alcatraz factoid. Fresh Water is scarce on the island, so building design has made the fatal are of choosing seawater for the flushing the toilet, which caused rapid rusting in the teration of the concrete. We did a tour
of the old Melbourne Goal really interesting and scary. Each cell had a desk mouth of notable prisoners. There were casts of the person's head. They were hanged in the place Ned Kelly was hanged there and his death mask was displayed. They shot everyone into a cell and turned out the lights. It was small and terrifying. Marcus when a person gets showered, it's called personal care. That does involve making the client's bed and tiding up around their
chair or bed. It's usually only for an hour. Then some people get h em home management that involves vacuuming, benches, wipe, toilets, cleaned, and shower. They are not allowed to do any lifting. Someone says home help. Coffee in the yarn bugger, All help, there we go. That's what's happening if you want to talk about home help. In relation to the caller about his father and the Far North and also the Birdman
of Alcatraz, a psychopath. But they did say over his incredibly long time and which was pretty much his whole life, he did turn his life around. And I think it's one of the great examples ever of someone turning their
life around. If we're talking a home help and yeah, and I think, like all those things, when people excess services, it's often helpful to explain what they are there to do, because it seems with the previous caller, Steve and his father, it wasn't really explained what the person was there to do. And I guess that's where the confusion starts. And then people saying things like you've got to pick us up
with the pick us up with a member of Parliament. Well, I don't know if that's the case, but thank you also to about Alcatraz and the Birdman of Alcatraz and anything Alcatras related. Also, let's broaden that to prison tourism. You might have visited some of the prisons around the world. You might have been to rob An Island. I'm sure there's plenty of other prisons around the world you can go and see, right. I don't know a lot of
them are still being used, aren't they. But there's plenty of old ones, I think where old prisons have never got no use for them. But getting touched Marcus till midnight tonight eight nine is the text number, Helen. It's Marcus.
Welcome, good evening, Marcus.
I I get home helped once a week for an air.
Do you know now you go.
The day A young lady comes in, very very good. She makes my bed. I've already taken the sheets off. She makes my bed, She hoover's out the whole house. I've only got a small unit, two bedroom, small unit. She wipes down cupboards if they need wipe and down. She would clean out the fridge of I ask her, but I don't ask her very often. I do it, try and do it myself. And she does the bathroom with the toilet and bath and the showers over the bath, which is a dangerous thing. And she's not allowed to
shift nothing, okay when hoovering or anything. And if I say to her, I'll shift the cheirs, would you hoove round the table? And that that's fine, But they're not allowed to. They're not allowed to. And the other thing is she signs a piece of paper at the end of the air. Now, a lot of places don't do this, but some do. Access doesn't because my sister gets an
there once a fortnight because they've cut it back. They haven't cut me back because I'm under acc And the other thing is now and again and my sister it takes a month for someone to come back, and she wrings them and they say they got no one to come. And if my lady goes away, I ring them and say, is someone coming you know by late after?
Oh no, we haven't gotten there, I.
Said, anybody will. What I said, well, why do you take this contract on if you can't deliver people to come out and do their job. I said, the doctor's put the doctor's put this through spoiled at you. And I said to my doctor, she said, we don't hear about what's happening out of me open with the home help. We don't hear that. You don't get any thing for a month or so. And my sister's got bad, bad she can't hardly do anything, and she only gets in there and she got it now the other day, and
that was a month ago. But are they're only sending them out fortnightly?
Okay, Well that's a good explanation about what they can and do, Helen. So I do appreciate that you start of the hour strong rose ats Marcus, welcome.
I think Marcus, go Helen. I just wanted to say, I also get home help and wait a fortnight for one hour, which is sort of ridiculous. But you have to go with the flow or you don't get help at all.
So what's ridiculous about it?
That's not enough, no, Marcus, not at all. And the dishes things. I've got to agree with them on the dishes things, because I they've got a thing that I can't do, dishes, and I there's a lot of things I can't do, whereas I thought that they can and do the things that I can't do, that they don't. They come and then they'll broom or mop the floor, maybe vacuum and do bathroom. Yeah, and then they do have to rush because there's really quite a lot to do in one hour.
I would imagine there's all sorts of people that asked them to do things that they're not allowed to do too. I imagine there'd be quite a lot of people saying, oh, well, while you're there, I can't do this, I can't do that, And people would be quite persuasive because you'd see them. They look quite helpless. But I guess you got to stick to your mission.
Yeah, well I have called that, actually I can't continue do that, and some of them will go sure, and some of them will go, no, I can't.
No, it's not part of my brief. Rose, Thank you appreciate it. Thirteen past nine hit or twelve that texts, good calls, good emails, good Johnny Marcus, welcome.
Oh believeing Attendant Kiers different from home help, but I'm calling about the bird Man of Alcatraz and Robert Robert Stroud. I recently watched the movie again with Burt Lancaster, and I'm reminded of what an intense and actor he is.
He's very good for the character. Stroud was a guy that had gone to jail very young for something like manslaughter, and straight away as soon as he got there, he got on the wrong side of the warden and the skuy shoemaker and him and Jiman Stroud locked horns from that moment, and there was a bit of game plan going on, and Sir Stroud wanted to see a visitor and the prison officer denied the visit because he got put in the hole from the warden, and so he
ended up killing that prison officer and getting a massive sentence of death. And so he without spoiling the movie for people who haven't seen it, this guy in the warden over the four decades have this terrible relationship where one guy's in solitary and you know, when you're on solitary, you know, if your food gets pushed through the door,
you're alone. You get a couple of changes of close a week and you get to shower once a week sort of thing, and you're always in their cell, and you know, and like that was in nineteen sort of sixteen area and hearing your challenge. Like in similar presence, we had people in solitary for up to six hundred days just thirty years ago, twenty five years ago. So I could relate a lot too.
Were allowing Johnny, were we allowed birds?
No, no down among it all. They did have a big farm though, and in some presents you work in the bush. But yeah, the really old style presence that you're talking about that you can you can you can visit what I can related to. It's like Napier on the hill there now that was built by the Her Majesty's Navy and it has the Navy crest on it and it's on the Bluffhill and it was quarried by Hans Ewan Stone by the first Presidents who were brought in by the Navy around eighteen forty five. It's probably
one of the oldest presidents. Mount Eden is like I've been in the Condemned Man's cell, so that's where was and been through what they call the ice cream parlor, which is the hanging gallery. And waik Aria is another Victorian style prison which has a big gallery and these institutions. Wikia itself is stolen, youw successful the part the oldest partner. But yeah, there were ones like Mount Crawford is another very very old institution, and so yeah, there's there's a
lot of them. As a young person was in most of them, and they are very Victorian.
Never you don't hear I don't even know what Mount Crawford. I presume it's still that. They haven't knocked it down yet, have they never hear about any use for it.
Well, my great great great grandmother from a Vicargo, Grannie Kelly. Her cousin was Minnie Dean, and so she was in Liffey Street, and yes, that's that's in the family history.
But that's not asked about Mount Crawford. You don't know what's happened to that now.
No, no, no. I was in Mount Crawford in nineteen ninety and it was a very scary looking place with a Victorian style gallery up on this hill of course, and it had in those days there was no separation between people who were vulnerable and people who were at risk and mainstream people, so they're all up together and Mount Crawford they had one wall down this gallery of people who were so dangerous and bad they were kept away from everybody else, and when you walked past and
they all would yell out to you, and you know, come up to the peephole was dead and some of the glasses were missing from the people, so you'd see these tongues poking out at you. And it was very, very very unique experience.
Nice to hear from you, Johnny. Thanks so much that one line free eight, Good evening, Ben, this is Marcus. Welcome.
Hey, Marcus, hows it hanging tonight? Brother?
Good, thank good, Thank you. Ben yeh Lat's call.
That was quite informative on.
The Yes, he's been a lot of prisons.
And the lady before that, who was quite I thought you were going to start yelling over the radio there she's talking about the home help and all that sort of thing.
Ben, What did you rig up to say?
I reckon at home. My mum gets it, and okay, I know that the state pays for here all night, but it's just rubbish, absolute rubbish. I mean, it's very limited in what they can do. And she's just a typical old country farm lady, you know, over retired, and I reckon it's substeary myself.
I reckon you reckon it's what.
I don't think it's up to standard. I really don't, but that lady, that's why I was getting to that. Lady actually brought up a good point. Mm hm, is there aren't there outfits that do this? Why is it that the one outfit had to do it?
If you know what I think people contract for, I think it's just fretty hard to get stuff these days.
Yeah. Well, the thing about it I don't like is each way, each fortnight, there's always different people. But she's always explaining the different people. There's there's fifteen minutes, she's going to go around showing ay it, there's the shore, and that, there's that and needs that and every fortnight because I know that's one things. She always thinking different people coming. And Yeah, I don't know, but I just think it's pretty crap myself, because I've got my own
personal pinter. I do a lot of as, so I get one in my way out every couple of weeks. They do three airs and they do everything. They do the roof, they do the walls, they do everything.
There's different different things. This sounds like that these people are there for a very specific requirement.
Yeah, but it's a very basic requirement. Marcus, Well, you know stuff like mush been fools. They won't even take that out.
But that's not their job. They're there to shower the people and make sure they're right, to keep them from not having to go to hospital into a home to enable them to continue to live there.
No, we were talking about cleaners markets. We're talking about the home house that comes around and looks after them. No, we're talking much personally.
We're talking about the people that are therefore I forget the word, but they're therefore personal assistance for that. That seemed to be what the woman that rang up that was one of them said. They are there to help to shower the people.
Yeah, sorry, I heard that wrong. I thought it was talking about the ladies that come around and do the actual cleaning and looking up.
No, because origin the original caller was saying, why don't they do all that, and the point was made they can't because that's not their job because their job has cleaned. Their job is to shower them. That seems to be the case. You might have something else to say about that, and you are more than welcome. Sue's Marcus, good evening.
Hi, markis I'm just shrogging up about the home care. I don't know why people are moaning, because when you get a cess for home care, you get a care plan and it stays in their house. So every time a care it goes, the care can look at the care plan to see what she's there for. And personal care and home care are cleaning is totally two different things.
So I think I know what happens. I think someone who hasn't engaged with these facilities before, now someone's father gets these services, the son who has engaged with these facilities before. You know, conversations can become scanned on detail and the son will be saying, well, why they're there, why don't you get them to clean your oven? Not fully understanding the person that don't there under this care plan to shower the person. So yeah, it is just about communication, isn't it.
Yeah?
It is, And you know, I mean, there shouldn't be any squbbles. What are there to do because they're supposed to have a care plan which they get given and if so, anyone can look on that to see and that's done through DSL and the nurse from maybe Visual West or access or wherever go around and they get reassessed every year to make sure that they get in the right care.
What do you sell, Oh, that's the.
Hospital, that's where the funding comes from.
So what does it stand for?
THESL. It's it's just a part.
That Okay, we part of country.
You and I'm just Oh, I'm in Hamilton.
A giver for thirty five years, so I do know.
How you're from that angle. You're from the key giving angle.
IP sure, yeah, liked itself. Where the money for the funding goes to access or Vision West or whoever you know, and they allow the time. It's not up to Access or Vision West say how many hours of client gets us up to the day sell it because in the time I.
Do appreciate that. So thank you. If you want to talk more about this, good Oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty be nice to hear from you, Allen. Good evening.
Yeah, good, Marcus. A very important topic that you're discussing tonight. So I'll wrung up because of two reasons inputs. I am a elderly man with a paired vision and I receive home care from the agency called called Lavender Blue. There are no agencies throughout the country who have set up and organize a response to provide home care support services.
Now the lady previously was dead right what he was saying about the annual assessment and the NASK or Needs Assessments coordinator, he or she will assess and agree on the level of service that you need and will benefit from. The other major player in the equations is a group which operates out of Palmerston Law called nable Enable Services. There's very help information there for folks.
Okay, just and just back to the situation with the guy that started the whole discussion, and I think his name was Steve.
I can't recall.
Should he contact someone if he thinks his father requires more help? Who should he contact?
He should contact the needs assessment person who visited him initially.
And that would be for the fact, that would be for the local Health board or the local health distriction.
From a DHP. DHP will be the one or another thing. But the other safety malvet is there is your own or their own local GP.
Correct.
They need to make that. The GP people may say, why do you have this is me? Why do you need to allen?
Well?
As I say, I'm myst by myself. Now my wife died suddenly just over two years ago and with my own pad vision.
Yeah, I understand all of that. And it seems to me that most of these people are engaging with these services for the first time, so it's new, and there'll be speed wives they won't they won't all know what's available, what the people are there to do, and what's required, and what other services are available. So it does a learning curve for people, isn't it. But the GP can help them through that.
Yes, absolutely, the GP's practice nurse is possibly the one to have a conversation with.
And understand twenty seconds before the news headlines. But it all works well for you now.
It does very much, So I'm very fortunate indeed, and.
I'll leave it there, Alan, but nice to hear from you. We've got a fever bit of feedback about this, which I'm finding really interesting. I think it's gonna be good for people to hear what is available available. Evening, John, welcome the air waves of yours.
God they Yeah, I get home help every Wednesday for an air maybe seven, and it's magic. They just do what I want them to do.
Sure, are you there?
Yeah?
Do they clean the oven? Do they clean the oven?
No? No, we don't get them to do that sort of stuff. They they just do household. They clean the floors, clean the bathroom, wash his hair, make your bed. I usually make my own, but on the on the day they've come here, I pull the blankets back and they pull them up and they change the main sheets and everything. No, they do great job. They're doing a good job, these people. And they they can't be the same people all the time.
Mostly I have got the same person, but because of circumstances that just can't be avoided, they have to have changed. So CROPS is great service they do and much appreciated to all those nurses and doctors.
And yeah, please it's working out well for you, John, thank you for that. Livingston A's Marcus good evening?
Ah, good easy, Marcus.
Now are you the.
Good things of it? And has yourself all good?
I'm pretty well.
There's been tames my life in the last four years. I've been so well. I've had several fractures, I've gotti process. However, I've had an access home health services and fortunately they were funded by a CEC. A SEC would send me a list of providers and it was my choice which one.
I would go with.
They would send and the service I chose was care on call. They would send an assessor or they'd sit and interview you, ask you what your limitations were, your abilities, what your goals were at the end of care, and a list of things that I might need assistants with lots of what was personal care, like help help with my shower and applying creams because I couldn't use my left arm, and then another time I could use.
My right arm, and so that was all good.
But they also included they would strip my bed sheets and remake my bed. They were to hang my washing on the line. They did do the washing in the kitchen, like dishes and things, and there's quite a few things that other people are saying that their services wouldn't do. One thing that was certainly often limits was cleaning the oven, and I think it was health and safety because of
the chemicals. But I was fortunate that the z times I used them had the same carecaters come on three different occasions over four years, so I was very fortunate with that. And yeah, I can only say positive things about that particular service and living Stone.
I know that you have geographically changed, that you have moved did you have yes? Was it seamless engaging in those services at your new location?
No?
All of these incidents were when I lived in Auckland.
But do you still exist those services now?
I don't.
I only need to.
Oh that's a good thing, that's a very positive thing.
Okay, Yeah, so enjoying this. Aw Marcus, thank.
You so much.
Nice to hear from your livingstone. Always love your voice. Seventeen to ten high Hazel.
I hallo, Marcus. I haven't rung you before, but I was quite interested in your topic tonight. I've been a home help for forty six years and I'm ninety two now, and I wouldn't mind a home help myself, but no, I'm not going to. I've got my walker and I'll manage him quite well. But I loved every bit that I did in those forty six years, and when I went into everyone's home, I did exactly what I could
see they needed doing. And I can say honestly, when I've walked away, I felt happy in my own self that I had left some month's life a little bit better than what it was when I walked in. And I don't say that to get a bouquet. I say it from my heart. And now I'm ninety two, ninety four.
Yeah, I mean for giving a memory.
Yeah, yeah, that's not bad. But it kind of seems wrong ironically that you're not getting home help yourself. I have to spend so many years doing But that's all right, you clearly don't need it yet.
No, not yet.
I'm managing. And actually, when I sum up life, really, even retirement villages and reesed homes, they're only as good as this staff. And that's life. You're only as good as what you're putting in yourself, being satisfied and attitude.
Hazel, what year did you stop doing home help?
Well, I'm I worked. I was seventy.
Five, Okay, so that's twenty years ago.
I'm ninety four.
Did it change much in those years? Did your brief or what the bosses wanted you to do? Change? Were you doing?
Absolutely?
Well, You've got a little bit more time for one thing.
Yeah.
The way just we're relevant to that error.
But the point is, Haze, I'm saying that these days people say they can't lift stuff, or they can't do dishes, or can't cleave oven ovens, But there's good reasons for that.
I think of course, Sarah. Yeah, you don't know what people's ability is, and everybody has a different reason for having a home help. Yes, but hopefully I think it all comes down to attitude. When you walk into someone's home, you can see the need and you get on and do it to make that life a little bit better.
Love you to hear from you, Hazel thinks so much, Marcus. I have done home care. The family normally visit there and leave the kitchen full of dishes, et cetera. We are not servants for the whole family. There you go, Marcus. I have helped once a week for an hour, organized by age Care. She's always on time and very good. But she doesn't do windows. That's okay, cheers Frank Marcus. Talking of prison tourism, there's an amazing book called Marching Powder.
I have read that. That's the Bolivian prison where you go in and stay. Yeah, that's quite interesting. That to a point fourteen from ten. If you want to talk home care and the Birdman of Alcatra, anything Alcatraz related. There was that very good MythBusters episode when they recredit the escape the three men. They made a raft and when do they make that? I think they made the
raft from details are sketchy. I think they made the raft from old raincoats, but I will research and they got asure, they think, because they found the raft on Wikipedia as we speak, and mates sh now what's the raft? That's right? That the papier machet images of themselves that were in the beard for the bead check. That was the famous bit. Now just to work out what they made the raft of men and they shed their plan raft raft raft raft raft raft raft draft raft raft.
Oh no, remembe they use a raft. Maybe they use life preservers here using over fifty raincoats to make other stolen aid materials. They constructed life preservers away, let me read more about that during the news No, during the ad breaking back to ts. Yes, I think they did mate, well they mate. I think they did make a rubber raft out of the raincoats, like an oil skin raincoat
or something seats on Wikipedia. A two thousand and three MythBusters episode on the Discovery Channel, You and We tested the feasibility of an escape from the island a border raft constructed with the same materials and tools. The inmate hosts Jamie Heineman. He's the annoying one and Adam Savage He's the even more annoying one, along with a crew member, successfully made landfall on the manhatt Marin Headlands at the north end of Golden great Bridge. The show's conclusion that
the escape was was that the escape was possible. A twenty eleven documentary on the National Geographic Channel in title Banige from Alcatraz report to the Contrary to the official FBI report, a raft was discovered on Angel Island on June twelfth, the daut escape with footprits leading away from it. Same day, a blue Chevrolet was stolen in Marion County. The following down, motorists in Stockton, California, east of San Francisco reported to the California Hope Dolly was forced off
the road by three men in a blue Chevrolet. So it's one of those great things. Like also like dB Cooper, no one quite knows of it, but I think probably Trump likes these films and likes these stories. And I'm sure late at nineties watching the TV HBO, and he thinks lip Thy over and Alcatraz, let's put tariffs on movies. Lit throy over Alcatrez. Marcus went to Alcatraz a few years ago while on a holiday in San Francisco. Was the whole of our holiday for a piece of rock
and a cup, so have our merchandise. The place is aerie. It was extremely harsh. He's going need to spend a fortune on the place as it was falling down. Certainly not somewhere I wanted to spend the night. DIBs Marcus twenty years ago visited Statesville Maximum Security Prison and it was horrendous, with a noise of thousands of men, open bars with their privacy, a circular wing with armed guards and a tower and three guards to move prisoners who were handcuffed and chained to its feet. We had to
show idea at each grill. Trump's plan to open Alcatraz ridiculous and would cost billions. Jezniki careers pre set times for peace or keras preset times for personal care or home management. Housework instigated through the DHB or GP, who are then assessed prior to kiras going to the home. Keiras only get paid for the stipulard time must stay within the guidelines. Pre Set home management includes basic housework, vacuum washed floors and bathrooms, and unless otherwise stipulated, that
is all. They do, not sprinkling. If time allows, the bed can be changed and dishes may be done, but once the time that must leave and not be enticed by a client to do any other work. PC Personal Care is showered, dry and dress the client and make the bed, not change. All clients have a care plan in house that the care must follow. They do not
tidy up after any other people in the home. Clients can get PC care up to seven days a week from half to one hour a day, depending on level of their disability, but house week once a week for half is the normal, but can stretch out to one hour a week dependent on the level of assess assessment. Jan, thank you very much for that. Jan free fullsome text. Malcolm.
Hello, good evening today, Marcus.
How are you good?
Thank you?
Malcolm.
Yeah, Hey, you've been talking about Alcatras. What a bit of luster from you know who?
It's great. I mean, it just floods. Its only just you just can't stop talking about it because there's always something different.
Well, the thing about it is and I follow it pretty as I think you probably knows. But George Conway, who's a very conservative Republican and never trumpet and former wife of Kelly M. Conway. Today, Well, you're going to take five plus years to rebuild it and you're only going to get two hundred people because it's a row and it what a lot of rubbish, you know. But to sidetrack.
Malcolm, I was surprised how tardy the prisoner is.
Well, yeah, but you see the thing is, it's all bluster. It's his way of deflecting from a whole lot of other things.
Well, stop people talking about his favorability, hasn't it.
Well, you're right, and the one that's really got me going is his latest one, which is now over the news, but I've picked it up this morning. But he wants to with tariffs and all movies that are made outside of the US. I mean, Hollywood is just apart from the fact that The Maid not all but a lot of rubbish in the last five to ten years, Hollywood is a guest and it's an attack on them for there. I've spoken this on heatin and the fact that any
foreign film I shouldn't say this, and I'm not. I've got no proof of this, but he will come out probably tomorrow and say, oh, well, you know James Cameron, you know a great American directory. By the way, it's Canadian. He doesn't do any research on anything. It all comes off.
I don't you understand. I don't think you understand how it works. I presume, because I mean if you look at a movie like the Minecraft movie, which was filmed in Huntly but very much an American movie. If you if you if you went to see that movie, I presume you've got to pay so how much a movie? How much of a movie in the States twenty bucks?
Ah?
Well, put it this way, it would mean that not just zeal movies, but movies all around the world.
That's right.
But I might be shown in the States. Well, get one hundred, Tara. Put on the cost I show which.
Which would be the ticket cost? Wouldn't it wouldn't be what It wouldn't be what networks pay to screen that movie, would it.
Well, it just means well, I'll sidestep again to the greatest director of all time, in my opinion, was Stanley Kubrick, who was an American but who lived in Britain for forty years. And there will be the actors all just said, well stop her, Okay.
I'll live at there, Malcolm, But thank you appreciate your call. Shuld I visit Alcatraz. That's a god forsaken place that gave me bad vibes. I'm sure that place is haunted. So did they hang people there? Was there a cheer?
Oh?
His interesting text, Marcus, I've always been intrigued by the vacuum cleaner drill? How did that work? And how did they know to build it? How did no one hear it running at night? Did no one miss a vacuum cleaner? So many questions. This must be about their escape from Alcatraz. I haven't heard about the vacuum drill. Vacuum cleaner drill, so something might know about that and Alcatraz. Yeah, it would take five years to get that up and running,
and you've still got a limit. And prisons are quite easy to escape. Prisons on islands must be quite easy to escape from because you can't fence the ocean. Well maybe you can, Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, And I think the birdman guy had Yeah, anyway, what I had something else I wanted to say then, but I just kind of forgot what it was. Oh well, home help is the other topic for tonight. Sixteen past ten. Get
in touch. Oh, that's what I was going to see about whether they had the whether executions, because I think they always had. Tbgbis to places where executions carried out at Alcatraz, some of them. Alcatras had no facility for capital punishment, and no one was ever sent to the island with a death sentence. Alcort rezidentmates too committed to capital offense as well on the island were tried in federal court sentence to death and transferred to San Quentin
State Penitentiary for execution in the guests chamber. Sort of a cheery post from AI in it. Oh the other thing, the other bit of information that I haven't mentioned on the show. Are people aware that this will terrify you, that they reckon microplastic small bits of plastic which for some reason end up mainly in the brain. They reckon The average person has a plastic spoon wordth of plastic in their brain. Yeah. I don't know what to do with that information because there's no way to get rid
of it from your brain. But yes, microplastics have been the great discovery the last five years. But yes, in your brain, the old plastic spoon. I was a terrible one for chewing pens in my school. I'm sure I've got a huge amount of plastic in my head.
Now?
Am I right? That they are unveiled? A did the White House unveil a picture of Trump with a lightsaber for May the fourth? That's pretty amazing, isn't it? The pope? And now they veiled him as the pope, which Catholics found very offensive. And now he's now he is? Who is he?
Dan?
Is he a sith? He's got a red who's got the red lightsabers? Says a sith? Overlorder?
Is he?
Or is he?
Yeah? Could someone tell me who he is? Because I spend a long time studying Star Wars. That's all a bit abstract on me. Now Trump with red light saber? Yeah, I think he'd be a sith, wouldn't he? But why wouldn't he do himself as one.
Of the.
If you know anything about that, it's pretty out there. Isn't it anyone predict that that Trump would be dressed as the pope? Because that's extraordinary. I think I think they didn't post it to a fen Field. I think he posted because he generally thought he'd be a good, good pope. Star Wars fans point out telling details and ai image of Trump. Now for me the fourth, May the fourth be with you.
Now?
Fans of the sci fi film and TV Fred just pointing out that Trump's red light saber marks him as the villainous sith Lord himself. Yes, I thought so. So that's the red lightsabers a sith lord are red as the color of the Sith, while you're holding a red lightsaber though, So there we go, Lowell. At least you correctly portrayed him as the bad guys. Only the Sith have red lightsabers. Fake nerds the lack of self awareness and hypocrisy by calling the Left the Empire while showing
Trump with a Sith lightsaber. In the film series that heroic characters use blue, green, and purple lightsabers. The Jedy have blue and green except for Mace Windu, who has purple because Samuel Jackson wanted one, and the Sith have red lightsabers. So the White House is making Trump look like a Sith because of the red lightsaber, which are the bad guys? Good evening, Dean, it's Marcus welcome.
Yeah, good evening, Marcus.
How are you I'm going to do.
Started listening and you're talking about prisons. Has anybody called you about the old Melbourne Jail.
I got a text from someone who said it's quite airy because there are death masks in each cell. Is that correct?
Yes?
Okay, tell me more.
Well, it's an old style jail, two stories. It's fairly near the center of Melbourne. You can walk to it from the Melbourne CBD. I would say the cells were quite spooky. They were, I would say from memory, about two meters wide by about two meters long. They were very small, window high up. They were bare when I was there, but maybe you know they had a chamber.
Pot and a bed.
Well they would have had a bed, but they had the gallows there. You can actually stand on the spot the gallows where they hung ned Kelly, were you.
When you were there? Were you in cast writer or as a tourist?
No?
It hasn't been used for years.
Oh okay, when was it? When was it used?
Oh?
I don't know when they stopped using it actually as a prison. But it's a real old style prison. You wouldn't want to go there for any length of time.
It was.
Well, you know, they believed in punishment in those days, I guess. But as I say, you can you can stand on the actual spot on the trap door and hope nobody pulled the lever where Ned Kelly was saying, oh, and not only him, other people as well, where they used to hang people.
And that's out in the courtyard type thing, is it. No, it was inside, Okay, I didn't know that.
Okay, inside, As I say, it's two stories, so it was on the second floor. But because you know, when you drop through somewhere in the first floor on the ground.
Floor, it's pretty good.
Yeah, but you you know, it was just a bit nine mirrors. I felt very unsettled for a long time after that, you know, thinking about the people spending long sentences in such a miserable pace.
Did they let you put on the caller coo hood.
No, that would be a bit much for me.
Too much for me too.
Yeah.
Yeah, I've been at every every old prison I've been into. It sort of freaked me out. They're going with the hebgb's but.
Yeah, not like these days.
They've got gyms and all sorts of things.
I'm yet to see the gyms or maybe they have got them, But be nice to talk to. Thank you for the keep your calls through people. Oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty. Your present's a psychiatric, old psychiatric and it's also given me the hebgb's like Seaclopton all those ones. But yeah, do come through if you want to talk. Hen till twelve o'clock tonight. Oh, I've got finally the Mate. I googled them. I emailed them Mate and Oubod about the power cut and Barley they have
it on Friday. He's just emailed me back and it's out again for the last two hours. Hope the show is going well. Yeah, so I think probably the world's power infrastructure does not there appear to be that robust anyway, A twenty away from eleven if you want. If there's something I want to talk about tonight, I don't really mind what it is. Actually, I'm just kind of curious to hear from you, So get in touch. If there's something different, that's good. Also, we can handle that. Eight
hundred eighty eight. Gosh, I'll tell you what has been the story for me for this year for the headlines is Liam Lawson crashes out early. If it's luck or skill, but it hasn't been much of a year, has it. I've already become slightly nonchalant about that. I don't know how long he's going to be in that seat for, but you need to start performing, doesn't he resting? Good Marcus. My girlfriend and I went to a restaurant in London called The Clink. It's actually located inside a working prison
where inmates cook and serve a three course meal. It was definitely unique experience being waited on by prisoners. One of them forgot one of the cup of teas I ordered, but I figured it was best not to complain to the kitchen. Marcus. Do you know if there's another Marcus Lush in the world. There's a story in one US about two guys born days apart in the same month and year, but unfortunately for one of them, both were given the exact same first and middle names with the
same surname. What is a career criminal? The other of the straight arrow and fed up. You'd be surprised how common this is in New Zealand. Of five million people, I know fifteen other people who's in those share the same full name with but with different birth dates. That's from mac Marcus Good evening. Marcus years ago, we were surfing down Orapuoki for a few weeks. We got rained out and ended up pitching tents and the horse tables at the showgrounds in Vicago. We would go out at
night for a few beers. We'll always remember walking back home on those nights past the prison inmates could be shouting out and banging stuff on their bars as we walked past on our way home. A few of them, once released, made the showgrounds home. We met a few of them always in the TV lounge take control of the TV remote. We watched what they watched, Greg and the Three. It's amazing how accessible the prison is in
in Vicago. You do have people going and sort of parking outside of the prison to communicate.
Well.
I don't know if there people that aren't und visiting with quite what it is. The main topic for night is home care and what you can expect those people to do. There is some confusion about that, but I think we've cleared that up fedwell. Also to Alcatraz, the prison that Trump wants to reopen, it takes five years
to get up to scratch. I don't know how many people would be in America and castle, that there would be millions, would there be millions, there'd be millions, and Alcatrez only holds two hundred and fifty people, so it's kind of crazy that they even talk about that. But we're talking about that, and that's what probably Trump wants anyway, and tariffs on the movies, the prison muster two million people one point eight including Tiger what's that guy's name,
the Tiger guy? Anyway, he's in there, isn't he? Kathy Marcus? Welcome?
Hi Marcus, How are you good?
Thanks? Kathy?
That's good.
You just ask for a different topic, and I thought, well, good opportunity to call and just ask. And it's a random topic and a topic and probably a quiz question, and it's not really that important.
But of all, always.
Wondered why in the South Island our farming fences are metre apart with the stake, and then you hop over the fence to the North Island and the only three seeds are sorry ten or twenty ceed meters apart all the stakes. And I've thought, why are the stakes so close together in the North Island and you in the South Island are not? So If anybody can answer that, I'd be really gratefully interested.
Why, Well, first we have to work out if it's true.
Well, you only need to travel up the country and see how close all the stakes are together in the North Island the South Island are.
Like, I don't necessarily know that you're right. So you're between the two posts you mean the batons, Yes, and you're saying that twenty is a part of the North Island.
Well, you look when you travel up the North Island and say go for a tour, are so close together, and yet in the South Island like meters and yet in the North Island if you have a look, they're so close together. And anybody where have you locked Parmerster north right through Auckland, right through Meno Tuo from Wellington right up to rot Or. Yeah, I'm interested and intrigued, and I've seen it quite often on country calendar, and I've wondered.
Why so, I mean, character, I don't think you're right.
Let's see, let's see if other people call and say maybe, but.
They wouldn't be twenty ceent to be disapart, would they.
Well, but they're really close. The beatons into the ground are really close together in the North Island. But they're not in the South Island.
But the bends don't go on the ground, do they. They just hang on the wires, don't they.
Well, the what do you call them?
Their where it has so really right? Yeah?
Posts?
You dig those unright and then you've got your fence post, your wires. And I like to me her apart. But why are they so close to the North Island?
Okay? If some yeah, okay, Katy, thank you. I don't yeah, I don't know some of my that seems strange to me. But get in touch if you've got something to say about that. Someone said, oh my god, so true. Different to northide of South and I think correct. Go figure Marcus. When I went to Alcatreez, one of the last inmates had written a book and was on site selling signed copies of his life and incarceration. Who says crime doesn't pay lull. I don't think you'd say that's crime paying,
would you. It's a writing pays probably some as that might have to do with predator prevention. Northold Fencing has several close batons, but not in the South hobby has farmed with both. It's do with the climate and more prone to slips. Do you know what the dropper is evening, Sean Marcus. Welcome.
Yea. You can build a fence anyway you like, but there is a legal standard fence and it's four posts of the chain and twenty batons to the chain.
And the.
Those farms you'll see that because that's the way. It's all legal. And you can even in town between neighbors and that's illegal fence.
Four posts of the chain and twenty batons to the chain. Yes, appreciate that, sewn Margaret, Good evening.
Good evening. They also have traveled the country, and not just the North Island has more stoppers between the posts than the South Island does?
How many more?
Or I didn't stop and count them that we're just quite noticeable level closer.
Okay, we'll get more information, Margaret, thank you. Okay, I guess it will depend on what sort of farms they were, Marcus. The reason is because the South Island is bigger than the North Island, Tony Marcus. The South Island farms seem to use a square mesh type fencing wire. It covers post to post with no battons properly for sheep farms. Yes, it's what I have that might be what we're talking about.
There's also why fences too, So if you have that mesh, with that mesh fence, you don't have the batons on it. It just goes from posters, just noil from post to post. So probably what you notice is between mesh mesh fencing on some farms and why I don't know why they have mesh fencing and why fencing. It might be because of well, originally the big stuffs for deer. I think maybe that's what it's got to do with Marcus Damn Trump. I've always had Alcatraz on my bucket list to visit.
Now I have to do the some heenous crime and San Francis is gonna see it.
Lol.
I don't know.
Maybe I think you probably commit a crime anywhere to go there. Welcome just coming up to the headler to the news people, we are talking well, fence for Anything's tonight, Chris and Ouboard is now listening through the fourgy connection Alcatraz. Leave it as a tourist destination. Have been twice with visiting San Francisco and love this place fence post Jawn, Yeah,
I was surprised about that, but there we go. You'awn, you'll o waite hundred eighty to tenny and nine two nine too de text with this break and usual hear it here first enjoy your show. Over forty years ago my father in law gave me this reply. Well, in the south it's mainly sensible Scottish English heritage, more kenny and thrifty than up in the north about the Strait. But if you are noticing that square mesh fencing here, that you wouldn't have the batons on that, and that's
something you might be noticing as well. Also here till midnight's like manam, miss Marcus, welcome eight hundred and eighty ten eight if you want to talk nine to nine to de text with it till twelve o'clock tonight, looking forward to your calls. You got something different you want to talk about. I can handle that. I'm here for it all. Get in touch. Alcatraz and home help and fences.
It's of interest. Oh, eight hundred eighty ten eighty and v celebrations in the United Kingdom because it's the eightieth. It's just coming up to the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War Two, which I believe was in the eighth of May, of course the fifth of May, but it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I think of the celebrations there, having concerts and all sorts of thing. They're
pushing the boat out with that one. I don't think that's traditionally something we've commemorated or celebrated in New Zealand with it's so short, it's so close to Ndsac Day. That's my understanding, but I might be wrong with that. There might probably be some gun salute. I don't think we do gun salutes as often now, do we. That's a worry Funny enough, I've always quite enjured a gun salute.
Maybe we just don't get them in Southland. Maybe it's still a major city thing, now that I think about it. I have swum from a boat anchored just off Alcatraz Island to Golden Gate Bridge as part of the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, one of the most significant bucketless items ticked off so far in my life. It was like swimming across the river due to the current. Oh yes, we know that. From the America's Cup. They talk about
the sharks and the cold, but neither got me. An interesting test text the North Island had more tortala forest to make posts and batons out of, and the ground in the South Island is rocky, so more warretaz and netting. I was actually watching's talking about different styles of fence, the netting fence versus the wire and baton fence. So that's of interest. But if you're to any of these things more than and also home helps. But all the
lines are free here Tel twelve. If there's something different you want to talk about, I'm good on that too. I'm happy with that, looking forward to that. Make you move people. Eight hundred and eighty ten eighty have real bad weather projected for Southland from Thursday. A river of water is coming down. Good evening. Vallet's Marcus, Welcome high Marcus.
Here's my husband and I did the trip to Alcatraz and there's three hundred steps to get from the ferry up to.
The po is that I'll look at on Google Maps. Okay, wow, okay, yep, oh wow, yeah.
Of course my husband had had a heart attack it you know stage two years before that. I was worried, sick, you wouldn't make it. I was terrible. Prenfil place.
Is it why you went Did you go to San Francisco? Was that part of the was it the main reason for the trip?
No, no, no, we were in America for three months, so it's just happen to be one of the places my husband wanted to go, so we did it. But that's you know, nineteen fifties we went there. It scared the last for me.
What year did you say you went there? Nineteen?
We went thirty years ago.
Okay, okay, well I can't see where all the steps are, but that must be where the boat comes in as well.
You get off the boat, and then you had I think, you know, it's a long time ago. Now, I'm pretty sure they were almost straight up the hill, a slope that they didn't big zag or anything that I can not that I can remember.
Did you buy tours Did you buy any tourist mementos?
No?
No, we didn't know. My husband did. Be He went into the cell, you know, they they could only take two or three or something at one time, and shut the door, and he said it was absolutely pitch black. I'd have gone here. I would go on it and they into one of the rooms. But yeah, it wasn't my idea of a great exhibition, but there you are. It was something he wanted to do, so.
We did it very good and he got up the steps all right, eh.
Yeah, yeah, we made the steps. Yeah, but oh well, I mean you've got to come down again. Of course, it's only one way up, one way down.
How long was the tour?
I suppose we were there for an hour. By the time we you know, zig zagged up the lease, walked up the steps and back again, we would probably have been inside for about half an hour forty minutes, but I think there would have been about forty of us, so, you know, by the time they spoot you up into little groups to look at this and look at that and lock you in the cell, and that would have I couldn't have done that.
That was the.
Security one, you know, when they wanted to punish them, and you could only get about three people and at one time, and it was my husband went into. It was absolutely pitch black. It was only I think about three of them went and was standing room only, you know, it was a punishment room.
Were the guides former prison guards by any chance?
Sorry so again, were.
The guides former prison guard.
I'm not quite sure about that. Memory's gone Okay, long time ago, thirty years, a long time ago.
Yeah, I suppose it's one of those things you only do once. Say.
Yeah, well we were in our fifties, you know, I say, and getting up I was worried about my husband getting up that hill because he had a heart problem.
He had a heart attack, young, did he?
Yes, it was only forty five when died at seventy three.
So wow.
Yeah, but it was one of those things he wanted to do, so we did it.
Yep.
What else?
What else was on his American bucket list?
Oh?
We went to Oh, we went to a vineyard that used to be a TV program on which was a wine vineyard. I can't remember the name of it now. And we bought some bottles of wine. Thought we were great, but oh the wine was terrible.
Was it was?
It?
Falcon's crest On Dynasty? Got it sounds like a character. Yeah, wow, okay, were no surprises. The wine was rubbish. Okay, yeah, it was terrible.
Well to our taste anyway. Here ye, yeah, that's one of those things you do, you know. And all went over the San Francisco Bridge of course, Yes, that's where the winery. You had to go over the bridge to get to this winery that we went into wanted to go to.
I wondered that videyard still there, because it's a long time ago that Sarah dynasty. Dynasty wasn't it was a long time ago.
It's a long time ago here. But I mean when we went there, they wondered what we were going there for, because I think we had only seen the program, you know, quite a long time after it had been filmed, and that they were quite surprised that we knew anything about.
Did you not try the wine before you bought it?
No, I don't think so. They didn't have a wine tasting the day we went. There was no wine tasting, but they were prepared to sell us a bottle, which we did. I think we bought two bottles. I thought we'd have a party when we got home. Everybody said it was terrible in comparison with New Zealand lines.
Of course, good to know.
Well, thanks very much for that, granted's Marcus. Welcome, Marcus.
I just thought put things right.
On the day.
It was actually May eight here in New Zealand, but in Europe it was May seventh.
Okay.
The actual signing of the surrender okay, And the next topic I'd like to mention is crime and punishment. I don't know if you read in the New Zealand here all the about a week ago an inquest about concerning a girl, a young woman who was murdered in christ Church by a cat named Brider.
He was on.
Parole.
Yes, so I think that in quest is still ongoing.
Is it quite likely it is?
Yeah, I'm not happy talking about that with the inquest still going. Yeah, but I think people are aware of the I think people are aware of the reporting of that.
Yeah, well it was in Monday's Herald, page A nine.
Yeah, there's been quite there's been quite a lot of and I think it's ongoing. There's been quite a lot of reporting of it.
Yeah.
Well it'll wait until until the inquest is over there.
Yeah, I think it's I think it's I think it's the fair thing to do.
Okay.
Then, well about fencing, I don't know what quaite to say about it, but in the North on the line it was a state of the art for containing sheep, not so much for goats because they're pretty good at bleeping over fences. But you know, thirty forty years ago it was all sheet fencing.
It was.
Like that person said, for posts per chain plus twenty battens plus probably seven or eight wires, that was only boundary fencing. You could do whatever you wanted for internal fencing. Sure, the law took effect with boundary fencing. And of course they fenced for deer and goats. What else do they fence for cattle? No problem really, just two or three wires, one of them electrified, particularly dairy animals as they went much of a bother didn't have to do internal fencing
to a high standard for them. But that's the reason for the differences.
I just been grospeck to VD.
Yeah.
New Zealand's never really celebrated that, have we, because there was other war theaters were involved with it was continuing. Is that correct?
Oh, in recent times we haven't celebrated, but sure was a big event in nineteen forty five.
Yeah, but since then it's not something that we mark, is that right?
I don't think so we concentrate on and that day probably a bit of celebration for the invasion in nineteen forty four.
D Day, Yeah, and Armistice Day gets a bit of notice too, doesn't it.
It did when I was a kid, we were in classroom and the teacher would have everything stopped for two minutes and pens down. That kind of thing. That was when I was at primary school. Last year at primary school was nineteen sixty four. We didn't market in high school though, that I can remember.
You know, I've always remembered Armistice Armistice DA being commemorated by I almost think it was commemorated by gun salutes as well.
I don't remember, but in the thirties and forties, I think even a traffic stopped for Armistice Day. Yeah, buses, trolley buses and all that sort of thing. They all took it really seriously, and probably rightly so. After the horrors of the First World War, I've just been resepting a relation of my father's. He was killed in Bomber Command and twentieth of May nineteen forty four. I never met him, but I knew his parents. Never came home
to New Zealand, of course, and no known place. I don't know where the plane came down, somewhere between England and Germany. And yeah, he almost got to the end of a tour of operations, which was thirty odds wow. And they probably would have leaned on them heavily to do a second tour because they lost so many killed and POWs. And who knows whether he would have done a second tour. He got to about twenty six offs.
He just fell short by a few, but it was a pretty dangerous thing to do in the early part of nineteen forty four. I'm just trying to just trying to find his parents place in Auckland because we were invited to go inside the lancast obomba because he was a relation and man that was We just did that two weeks ago, and that was a seriously sober experience. And hell hence he flying over enemy territory and this thing all those years, no such things comfort.
What do you mean you're trying to find his parents place in Auckland.
Oh? Well, I used to visit his parents place in Western spring That It's fifty years since I've been there, and I've a feeling that Northwestern Motorway might have taken the house.
Yeah, must have taken up a fair bit of land there, coming right through were they Western Springs or point sheheer of Western Yeah.
Okay, just near the bullet track just about two hundred meters from the bullet track the bottom of the bullet track across from there the motorway cuts through. And I don't know how the motorway affected Bannerman Street that I see on the map. It takes a severe turn.
I would I would imagine Benan. I would imagine Western Springs Street road went right through. Were they on Bennerman Street?
Were they.
It was?
Wasn't it you? And I would imagine half of that? And was it a wooden villa type house?
Was it?
Yes?
Yeah?
I think I would know it if I could see it. I had one lock recently the day we went inside the land. I'll have another lot. It's time I go to Auckland.
Just try and did you did you know a street? Know that you would have? You would have known the street address, wouldn't you?
Number four. I believe that we didn't spot it on that day because it was raining and we didn't know exactly what we were looking for. I thought I saw saw the property. I thought that doesn't look because I've had a circular window face in the street but unusual and didn't see that. So just not satisfied that we've wrung it out totally. So I'll go back there and look.
I don't know, because I image it's something one of our listeners could could know. But it's not like that bit was cut off as the You can't tell from the street numbers either, can you, because the numbered from the other way. You thought it was number four, didn't you.
No, I'm not certain of my situation now but regarding the street. But I will have another look at it, and then it's one couple of months, I'll go back into Auckland.
What was their name in case anyone knows.
Brown?
Yeah, and.
Yeah, his name was ped Howard in his name that was his mother's maiden name. My cousin put out a request on online to see if anything will come to the surface because when I was a kid going there, his log was sitting there, but I was too young to read his handwriting. And you know, Obama commanded Center effects back from Britain, and it sat there and until the uncle died.
And then.
What's probably your interest just because you thought there were things that you hadn't found that you.
Oh, just the fact that he was a relation that never came back from the war. Yeah, Okay, my cousin's been doing stuff online and that prompted my interest. So the two of us decided to get ourselves an invitation to see the Lancaster. It was very sober and actually nothing exciting about it.
Did you say the house had a round window?
Yes, about two foot diameter maybe.
Mmm?
Have you okay?
I'll keep looking, Grant.
Thank you.
Haven't seen it on Google Maps. Someone might know something. Marcus. I drive a green milk tank and have just driven down Stateho twenty seven towards Mutter Mutter and most of the farm. Most of the posts on the farm each are close and in the farm a lot further apart. That's from Rick. Thank you Rick.
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