I grabbed him last Friday and he jumped on our Flip camera and recorded this quick promo on the fly.

Monday came and Paul’s first show carried an interview with Brummie immigrant Tracey Blunn. Tracey and her partner Mark Reyes had made headlines over the weekend as apparently New Zealand “made them fat”. Henry burst straight in referring to his phone guest as “Fat Tracey”.

His interview with Kronic inventor Matt Bowden brimming with determination.

Wednesday reared its head and I found myself thrust into the studio once again. This time with Marcus to talk about being English and learning Te Reo as part of Maori Language Week.

Image gold was struck on Friday when an unwitting Northland council worker managed to hit send on a jokey FWD email – only sending it to a healthy chunk of the country’s journalists. We cracked the story and the image up online, much to a lot of Kiwis’ amusement.

Graeme Hill came up trumps on the video-front once again. This time, he provided an old off-air clip of two Brisband puppets, erm, going at it. Very funny. To me.

It just happened. Now into my 30s, I am well and truly mad about chilli. Heck, I even planted some chilli seeds today.

Despite this affection, I only had/made my first vindaloo the other week. I’ve spent a few weeks twiddling with it to make it spot on, but I think I now have it right.

Something I never knew about vindaloo, is the ‘vin’ part refers to the vinegar used in its making. Not many vegetables, either.

As always, you’re welcome to comment/suggest your improvements down below, but for now here is my hot vindaloo recipe.

To make a hot vindaloo for 4, you’re gonna need:

Some meat (Roughly four chicken breasts, or around 1kg of beef – I don’t mind what you put in your vindaloo, go for your life)

2 onions, diced

6 gloves of garlic (I crush my garlic for that authentic ‘crushed garlic’ flavour. You are most welcome to chop yours if you wish)

1 tsp of turmeric (Good for the Alzheimer’s so I use two)

3-4cm of ginger, shredded (I crack mine through a cheese grater – be careful not to take a bit of your fingers off if you do this!)

1 tsp chilli powder (Really do do this part based on taste. I actually have more like 4. Or 3 plus an actual red chilli. Chilli is a very personal thing. Like underwear)

A stick of cinnamon, crumbled (Watch out for splinters! That’s my ass covered…)

2 tsp of ground cumin seed

A splash of clove powder (I never go too nuts with cloves. I think it’s to do with my huge orthodontic problems as a child. I suffered from an abscess or two as a child and quite distinctly remember the taste of cloves as mum tried to anaesthetise her young, noisy boy!)

2 tbsp of vinegar (I use cider vinegar, but white will do)

1 tbsp of brown sugar

1 can of tomato paste or tomatoes

Some water

To make your hot vindaloo for 4, you’re gonna need to:

1. Wash your hands. There is no excuse for poor hygiene in my kitchen, so there certainly ain’t a place for it in yours.

2. When you’re done washing your hands, and only when you’re done, may you begin preparing the hot vindaloo marinade. Mix in a bowl 1 of your onions, garlic, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, chilli, cumin, clove powder, vinegar and sugar.

3. Prepare the meat. Slice it up however you want it. I do chicken in thin strips and beef in cubes. Sling it into the marinade and leave it covered in the fridge for as long as you have time for. 4 hours is good. Overnight amazing.

4. When you are good to start cooking, slice up the other onion. Use a dollop of ghee or olive oil to brown it in a pan or wok on a medium-high heat. Nice, sugary onion!

5. Next add the contents of your marinade bowl. Be sure to scrape every last drop of your vindaloo marinade into the pan. Stir fry the mixture until the meat seals nicely.

6. Next add your tomatoey can contents. Top up with a splash of water, say 250ml. Give it a good stir and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, for around 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

If all goes to plan, you will have made a great-tasting chicken or beef vindaloo using just spices and other basic ingredients. I always enjoy mine with brown rice and a helping of home made mango and apple chutney and a chilli and garlic naan (recipes to follow!).

These days, along with my three resistance sessions a week, I spend at least 20 minutes per day doing some form of cardiovascular exercise. Some days this will be the 12km round trip to and from work on the bike; in summer it will be a swim down the beach and back (1km approx); the rest of the time I will spend it running, usually on the beach.

I first ran on the beach at the end of Southern Hemisphere summer 2010 and I absolutely adored the experience. It’s true, here in New Zealand we are spoilt for nice beaches, so putting yourself in a truly stunning location while you do your cardio work sure helps the experience.

It was at a house party a year ago that I really started to learn of the benefits of jogging on the beach. A guy I met there had once been quite the runner. Sadly, however, his knees had given in on him and he had been forced to stop. He spoke of the doctor telling him that he should never have run so much on concrete and that softer surfaces are the way forward.

I took myself out for another jog on the beach the very next day and I loved it even more than the previous times I had been.

Here are five reasons why I love jogging on the beach barefoot and why it is good for you:

1. Intensity. The loose and uneven surface of sand on the beach means you get a higher intensity workout than you would from a normal jog of the same distance or time. Essentially, it requires more calories to jog on the beach.

Sure, there is an increased chance of injury from barefoot jogging on a beach, which is why I would always recommend you start slowly and on the wet, harder sand. When you have got a feel for the beach, you can raise the stakes by moving in to the softer sands. Do this for a small part of your run to begin with then work in more as your get more experienced.

_{Te Henga beach, Auckland, is a great place to jog}

We’re quite lucky in New Zealand as a lot a of our beaches are kept very clean and rubbish-free. However, I would never recommend running barefoot on a beach where there is likely to be a lot of rubbish – the potential for injury really is not worth it!

2. Good for both your feet and your joints. This was the closer for me. I already loved running on the beach, but when I started reading up on benefits of running barefoot I was totally sold. Essentially not wearing trainers and running on a soft surface combine for a very healthy experience indeed.

3. Cost. Yet another benefit of jogging barefoot on the beach – this time a fiscal one: Not having to eat through dollars for running shoes is another fine selling point for me.

4. Less foot odour. Stinky feet are caused by tiny little bacteria that live on the feet. Firstly by running barefoot, you are giving these bacteria less of a chance to hide away and multiply inside your socks and trainers. What’s more, the constant abrasive action of your feet against the pumice-like sandy beach helps remove the dead skin that helps trap bacteria. It’s like a double win!

5. Fun. Jogging on the beach barefoot is fun. The beach I frequent is actually two beaches split at a point by huge sand dunes – I just love building both beaches into my run and the feeling of success having scaled the dunes twice!

Also, on hot days, your can end your run with a straight dash into the ocean to cool off. Or why not build up to your ocean swim with a barefoot jog along the beach beforehand?

Give jogging on the beach barefoot a go and you will not be disappointed!

Wednesday and news of the emperor penguin rocking up on the North island beach of Peka Peka had made it round the world. Initially in a good state upon arrival, Marcus Lush had the pictures.

Thursday started out all about the Christchurch announcement. The NZ government offered to buy all the red zoned properties in the city at 2007 prices during a press announcement at 1.30pm. The announcement seemed to please most people, although we did receive a few emails and comments that were anti.

By the end of Thursday, however, the news media’s attention was on the head of the Employers and Manufacturer’s Association’s comments about ladies taking time off work. 3 News took the decision to publish their full, unedited version of the interview with Alasdair Thompson. The video showed some quite interesting body language towards Campbell Live journalist Mihi Forbes.

In anticipation of the Te Tai Tokerau by-election, Lush hosted a debate on Friday between Hone Harawira (Meet The Harawiras, Mana Party) and Labour’s candidate Kelvin Davis. Both candidates had been polling with just a cat’s hair between them, so people listened to the double header with great interest. The debate flared up with Harawira telling Davis “shut your fat mouth”.

The end of the week came and Graeme Hill and I finally got this amazing video piece converted for the site. I’ve seen some pretty amazing football misses in my time, but nothing beats this from Kiwi player Noah Hickey. It’s a truly astonishing miss and, at time of writing, has gone viral. Watch it.

Fruit strudel with ice cream… for breakfast; I’d arrive at my 9am lecture clutching a bucket of coke; chips, beans and cheese for lunch; culminating in a fatty burgery mess from the student bar for dinner.

OK, so that was my student diet. It improved in my late twenties. Slightly.

Miraculously, I managed to remain thin-looking throughout this ordeal, although I have since confessed that I was carrying it in a place where nobody could see it: My waist. Yes, due to many genetic factors, my body chooses to store its fat in one place and one place only – my gut.

If I’d carried on like that, I’d have had one heck of a bowling ball down my t-shirt top come my late thirties. I’d probably be heading for all sorts of nasties such as diabetes as well. I needed to improve my diet and I needed an exercise and workout plan.

I stumbled across Scooby’s Home Bodybuilding Workouts and seriously have never looked back.

Packed into Scooby’s site are loads and loads of workout plans, from beginner to expert, complete with demonstration videos of each suggested exercise. What’s more, and the clue is in the title here, the exercise and workout plans are designed for you to do at home, using minimal and cost-effective equipment. It’s like a double-win and really is a resource to behold!

The site is nicely laid out, with heaps of content – from exercise tips to low-fat recipes on the cheap. Sure, he makes affiliate commissions on some click-through sales, but he’s pretty honest about that at every step of the way, which counts as a plus I feel.

My exercise and workout plan, devised from the site, currently consists of:

- 20 minutes of cardio per day. In winter either bike to work or run the beach after work. In summer and parts of spring and autumn, swimming in the sea joins the options. Beach running is my favourite type of running – I go barefoot at every opportunity. More on that at a later date, though!

- Three sessions of resistance training per week. Up until recently, I had been focusing on different muscle sets per session, but now I am moving on to three full body workouts a week. Essentially the Intermediate plan from Scooby’s website, but with a couple of minor changes. For instance, I prefer the best scientifically proven abs exercise from Greg Brookes over crunches.

If you’re looking for some decent exercise and workout advice for free, then you have found it. This is truly the place to go.

When I lived in London, we used to order a similar dish to this as a side with our Indian meal, so it’s a bit of a favourite.

You’re gonna need:

Some potatoes (4 large should do it – depends on your eyes:stomach ratio)

A tin of peas (You may, if you wish, use some frozen ones – that’s cool by me and it’s cool by the lord of peas)

A tin of tomatoes (Check the sugar and salt content! You can always use fresh if you like/can afford)

One capsicum (What’s your favourite colour? Ever had a purple one?)

An onion (peeled and chopped)

Oil of your choosing (preferably suitable for cooking – I use olive as I’m a good boy)

One chilli (I use a teaspoon of this crushed paste stuff – amazing!)

Ginger (The real stuff, grated. Powder if you must)

Turmeric (Helps prevent Alzheimer’s, among other culinary benefits)

Ground coriander seeds (I am not aware of any health benefits to adding this. I add it because it tastes nice)

Ground cumin seeds (See coriander seeds)

You’re gonna need to:

1. Wash your hands and wash them good. Scrub or peel your potatoes, depending how much you like eating skin. Cut them into quarters, or whatever size looks manageable to your mouth, and par-boil them in water for 4-5 minutes. You can add salt to the water if you like.

2. Place some oil in a large frying pan or wok and heat up, adding turmeric and stir until the oil is like a paste. Add the onion and ginger and fry to taste (I like mine sugary and brown!) Lower the heat slightly, add the potatoes and stir well, covering them in the paste well. Cook for a minute or two before adding the capsicum and giving a good twice-over with the heat.

3. When you feel you are ready, add the tomatoes and the chilli (pretty important that you only add chilli to taste) mix well and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Next add the ground coriander seeds and ground cumin, stirring well. Simmer for around ten minutes on a medium heat.

5. Add the peas and keep on heat for a further 5 or so minutes.

When you’re happy that the potatoes are soft, serve. Alternatively, when you’re so flipping starving you cannot wait any longer to eat, serve.

Peas aloo is great as a vegetarian main with fluffy white rice or as a side dish with other Indian dishes.