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But is it art? Terrifying “hand man” divides locals in Wellington

<p>Many New Zealanders were shocked when a five-metre-tall hand man appeared overnight via helicopter on the roof of the City Gallery Wellington.</p> <p>Despite the appearance, some aren’t fans of the nonchalant expression that appears on the face of the art piece.</p> <p>The odd piece was created by New Zealand-born but Melbourne-based artist Ronnie van Hout who modelled the 400kg “partial self-portrait” based off scans of his body.</p> <p>City Gallery Wellington couldn’t be more thrilled with its new resident, tweeting:</p> <p>“Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No – Qausi has landed!”</p> <p>“His work explores the freak, the outsider, the reject. It’s as if ‘the hand of the artist’ has developed a monstrous life of its own,” it reads.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> <p dir="ltr">Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No—Quasi has landed! This morning, Ronnie van Hout’s Quasi was installed on our roof. Quasi is a joint project with Wellington Sculpture Trust, with support from Wellington City Council, Wellington Community Trust, and Richard Burrell. <a href="https://t.co/9MaHc9gB71">pic.twitter.com/9MaHc9gB71</a></p> — CityGalleryWgtn (@CityGalleryWgtn) <a href="https://twitter.com/CityGalleryWgtn/status/1163220028449263617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">18 August 2019</a></blockquote> <p>The artwork has been secured at a $70,000 cost to the city, including transporting the hand across the country as well as weather-proofing the structure.</p> <p>Gallery chief curator Robert Leonard told<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115047061/ronnie-van-houts-quasi-art-installation-makes-a-new-home-in-wellington" target="_blank">Stuff NZ</a></em><span> </span>about Quasi.</p> <p>"Quasi suggests something that's fake, or wrong. But also it's a reference of Quasimodo, the hunchback, in <em>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</em>," Leonard said.</p> <p>"In Wellington, Quasi will be looking out over Civic Square where so many of the buildings have been closed ... and I think that will affect the way people interpret the sculpture.</p> <p>"It's really interesting how the work plays off its loathsomeness, its disfigurement, its hideousness and almost asks to be loved."</p> <p>Leonard is aware of the unusual nature of the statue and think this will play into people’s own fears and anxieties.</p> <p>"It drew such a bizarre range of interpretations when it was on display in Christchurch and that's really quite intrinsic to the meaning of the work, that people don't know how to interpret Quasimodo. They project their own fears and anxieties."</p> <p>The portrait was initially commissioned in 2016, and Wellington Sculpture Trust chairwoman Sue Elliot says he’s not going anywhere, at least not for the next four years.</p> <p>"Quasi is not a pretty work and that is part of what Ronnie was trying to achieve. It's very unusual, it's of a really large scale and will sit over the Square and be on the Wellington skyline.</p> <p>"I think people will be arrested by it."</p> <p>Scroll through the gallery to see more pictures of Quasi.</p> <p>Photo credits:<span> </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/115047061/ronnie-van-houts-quasi-art-installation-makes-a-new-home-in-wellington" target="_blank">Stuff NZ</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/CityGalleryWgtn/status/1163220028449263617/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1163220028449263617&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenewdaily.com.au%2Fnews%2Fworld%2F2019%2F08%2F20%2Fthe-monstrous-hand-man-statue-terrifying-locals-in-wellington%2F" target="_blank">CityGalleryWellington</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://citygallery.org.nz/blog/the-persecuted-freak-and-the-outraged-torch-wielding-masses/" target="_blank">City Gallery NZ</a>, <a rel="noopener" href="https://twitter.com/zenpeacekeeper/status/1163680482573164544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1163680482573164544&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenewdaily.com.au%2Fnews%2Fworld%2F2019%2F08%2F20%2Fthe-monstrous-hand-man-statue-terrifying-locals-in-wellington%2F" target="_blank">Marianne Elliot</a></em></p>

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Mini beef wellingtons

<p>Encased in delicate pastry like a gift begging to be unwrapped, there are few dishes more elegant or impressive than the beef wellington. Make your own individual beef wellingtons with this easy recipe – demonstrated in the video above if you want to see how easy they are to make.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Serves</span>:</strong> 2</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients</span>:</strong></p> <ul> <li>2  pieces beef tenderloin (filet mignon)</li> <li>1 tablespoon vegetable oil</li> <li>3 tablespoons unsalted butter</li> <li>200g mushrooms, finely chopped</li> <li>1/3 cup onion, finely chopped</li> <li>1 large clove garlic, minced</li> <li>½ teaspoon salt, or more to taste</li> <li>Freshly-ground pepper, to taste</li> <li>¼ cup dry sherry</li> <li>1 large sprig fresh thyme</li> <li>1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley</li> <li>1 sheet puff pastry</li> <li>1 tablespoon Dijon mustard</li> <li>Egg wash (1 beaten egg and 1 tablespoon milk)</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method: </span></strong></p> <ol> <li>Heat a stainless steel pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat until just starting to smoke.</li> <li>Rub the meat generously with salt and pepper.</li> <li>Once the pan is very hot, sear the two filets very briefly on each side. You don’t want to cook the interior of the meat at this point, so it shouldn’t be more than a minute or two per side. Remove the filets from the pan and place on a plate in the freezer while you make the filling.</li> <li>Let the pan cool slightly and turn the heat down to medium. Add the mushrooms, onion and garlic to the pan, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms release all their water and the onion is translucent.</li> <li>Add the sherry and thyme. Cook until the sherry evaporates. Taste for salt and pepper, and season as necessary.</li> <li>Remove from the heat and refrigerate until cold, then stir in the chopped parsley.</li> <li>Roll out one puff pastry piece and cut in half, so you have two rectangular strips of dough.</li> <li>Remove the steaks from the freezer and brush with the Dijon mustard on both sides.</li> <li>Put a quarter of the mushroom mixture in the middle of one piece of the puff pastry. Top with one steak, then add a quarter more of the mushrooms. Repeat with the other steak, puff pastry piece and mushrooms.</li> <li>Fold the long sides of the pastry over the steak, tucking in and tightly sealing all the edges so the juice doesn’t escape. Wrapping it all in plastic wrap can help.</li> <li>Preheat the oven to 220°C and line a sheet pan. While the oven preheats, put the wrapped beef in the freezer.</li> <li>Once the oven is hot, remove the beef from the freezer and put on the lined sheet pan. Coat with the egg wash.</li> <li>Bake for 25 minutes until meat is cooked through and the pastry is a deep golden brown.</li> <li>Cut in half so you can see the intersection of steak, pastry and mushrooms, and serve.</li> </ol> <p><em>Source: Tip Hero</em></p> <p><em><strong>Have you ordered your copy of the Over60 cookbook, The Way Mum Made It, yet? Featuring 175 delicious tried-and-true recipes from you, the Over60 community, and your favourites that have appeared on the Over60 website, head to the</strong> <strong><a href="https://shop.abc.net.au/products/way-mum-made-it-pb" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">abcshop.com.au to order your copy now.</span>k</a></strong></em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/01/chicken-mushroom-macadamias-stir-fry/">Chicken, mushroom and macadamia stir-fry</a></span></em></strong></p> <p><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/12/piri-piri-chicken/">Piri piri chicken</a></span></em></strong></p> <p><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/11/slow-cooker-pulled-pork/">Slow cooker pulled pork</a></span></em></strong></p>

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Wellington’s Aro Video set to close doors

<p>The end is coming for Aro Video. The only question left is when the axe will fall.</p> <p>The Wellington shop, widely regarded as one of New Zealand's best video shop, survived the switch from VHS to DVD.</p> <p>It faced down video piracy.</p> <p>But owner Andrew Armitage said the rise of video streaming sites, such as Netflix and Lightbox, "is the straw that broke the camel's back".</p> <p>"We are closing - it is inevitable where it is going."</p> <p>He could not say when the final day would come.</p> <p>"Things are so precarious financially. I'm looking at ways I can [continue] short-term."</p> <p>He also had long-term hopes for the collection of videos the store held, which included a vast array of New Zealand films. While no discussions had yet been held, he hoped it could make its way into a film museum, that had long been proposed for Shelly Bay on the Miramar peninsula.</p> <p>It is a collection he has spent 26 years gathering, starting with just 180 VHS videos in 1989 and growing to pack the two-storey Aro St building top to bottom.</p> <p>In a newsletter about to go out to customers, he suggested his collection could become part of a public or private collection.</p> <p>"I can officially declare us open to all offers and possibilities."</p> <p>Other options included moving out of the shop and focusing solely on online orders.</p> <p><img width="497" height="280" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/11524/old-video-shop_497x280.jpg" alt="Old Video Shop" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p><em>Aro Video in 1989.</em> </p> <p>He pointed out that his collection of 22,000 titles was up to 20,000 more than some streaming sites and he still had a loyal customer base. There just wasn't enough of them.</p> <p>"We are too busy for me to run it by myself... but we are not doing [well enough] to sustain the team and business model."</p> <p>The shop employed four part-time staff as well as Armitage.</p> <p>"My job security is important to me - I have to keep earning from somewhere."</p> <p>Internet NZ chief executive Jordan Carter said the rise in legal streaming, through sites such as Neon, Lightbox and Netflix, meant illegal downloading was dropping.</p> <p>But the convenience of being able to choose movies and programmes from home was the death knell for the humble video store, with the exception of some niches ones or others who managed to successfully adapt their business model.</p> <p>"The days of people visiting a physical store are probably a bit limited."</p> <p>Statistics New Zealand figures show that the number of video stores numbers are dropping.</p> <p>The data, which lumps video rental stores with other electronic media rentals such as gaming, show nationwide in 2005 there were 516 stores. That was down to 330 this year.</p> <p>In the Wellington region, the number had dropped from 63 a decade ago to 39 this year while in the city they had halved to just 15.</p> <p>Over the years, the Aro Video had attracted celebrity fans. In 2008, musical duo Flight of the Conchords hosted a surprise concert in the store, cramming the small space with fans. When Viggo Mortensen was filming Lord of the Rings, he would wander in with bare feet and saunter back out with stacks of movies.</p> <p>Written by Tom Hunt. First appeared on <a href="http://www.Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Stuff.co.nz</strong></span></a>. </p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/movies/2015/12/child-stars-now/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>What your favourite childhood actors look like now</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/movies/2015/11/best-kids-movies/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>10 of the best movies to watch with the grandkids</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/entertainment/movies/2015/11/hilarious-james-bond-gadgets/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>The most hilarious Bond gadgets ever</strong></em></span></a></p>

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