Riding High
New Zealand riders let their legs do the talking for the Pittsburgh Cycling Club.
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Tough Fight
New Zealand Maori “arguably the most committed and technically sound rugby race on the planet” threaten world champions Australia on their home turf. Also, NZ Maori match a focus for Sydney’s Maori community.
Founder Found
The lost grave of Denis Hoben, founder of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, uncovered in Sydney.
And to Wash it Down…
Serving salad? Drink New Zealand Sauvignon, also just the ticket with artichokes and asparagus. National Post features refreshing Fairhill Downs Sauvignon and classy Palliser Estate Pinot.
The Mouse Who Roared
New biography on New Zealand-born WWII hero Nancy Wake (the White Mouse), who “although the most feminine of women, fought like five men”.
The loved one
Yale University based NZ playwright Julie Mckee’s one-act play about death and two maidens, Invitation to a Funeral, well reviewed in NYT: “a wonderfully wry trip to the funeral parlor” about two women…
Edge Composer
Douglas Lilburn “gave the music of New Zealand its own distinctive voice”. His fine work brought him international recognition as a significant composer. Douglas Lilburn: 2 November 1915 – 6 June 2001
Thought for Today
“I do believe one ought to face facts. If you don’t they get behind you and may become terrors, nightmares, giants, horrors. As long as one faces them one is top dog.” –
Pregnant pause
Hold the show, my wife’s having a baby cried Jeff Knight of Christchurch’s Court Theatre.
Lost at Sea
June 8 is the anniversary of the death by drowning of Richard Seddon, Prime Minister of New Zealand 1893-1906.
If You Can’t Beat ’em, Eat ’em
“We need to take millions of possums out of circulation, not just nibble at it,” said Tauranga farmer Bryan Bassett-Smith promoting Possyum, the possum meat dog food he hopes will solve New Zealand’s marsupial woes.
Dawn Ceremony
Maori dancers performed a traditional dawn ceremony opened by a conch shell in St Mark’s Square, Venice, to celebrate New Zealand’s participation in the Art Biennale.
Boyish Blair
Ex-Labourite, New Zealander Bryan Gould comments on the man who runs Britain: “When I see him on television now, he still seems very young to me – just as he was in 1983, refreshingly boyish, wet…
All that is golden…
The Lord of the Rings (the book) – boyish fantasy or “true myth” that is a modern masterpiece?
Foxing the censors
“Marvel at the ever-brilliant Kerry Fox” in style bible i-D mag’s guide to the ‘future of cinema’. Fox’s raw performance in Intimacy won her best actress at the Berlin Film; i-D suggests that the…
Intimacy and anguish
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox’s award-winning work in Intimacy continues to generate curiosity, awe and pursed lips: Getting Intimate in the Sunday Times; Truely, madly, explicitly in The Observer and Hanif…
Architectural Taste
Te Mata Estate’s Buck House included in a review of good winery architecture – buildings that, like the wine, reflect and are inspired by the region. Designed by Ian Athfield, the “series of honest, non-fussy buildings” fuses…
Jumped
A.J. Hackett – the edge entrepreneur and adrenalin junkie who took bungee from a bridge in Queenstown to the world – profiled as pioneering legend of ‘American'(!) adventure sport in this month’s Vanity Fair.
Don’t Bank on British Security
NZ is light years ahead of Britain for banking security. “I don’t want to sound like a homesick Antipodean”, writes Charlotte Denny, “but ever since I arrived here 10 years ago, the true awfulness of the British…
Lego-ality of Language Hi-jack?
Intellectual property Lawyer and “defender of Maori culture” Maui Solomon challenges the right of Danish toy-maker Lego to use Polynesian words in its new game Bionicle.
Doctor Nurse
“There is not many people I take my hat off to, but I take my hat off to Olly. She is one of the best sisters we have ever had,” says Wanaaring local Jimmy Skinner…
Radio Innovation
Christchurch innovators Tait Electronics make product development company PTC’s annual Awards short-list with teched-up radios, the Orca 5000 series.
In the Xbox
Set to revolutionize gameplaying, Microsoft’s up-coming Xbox will have tools and middleware developed by Auckland-based Right Hemisphere. The New Zealand company has signed with Microsoft to create custom versions of its Deep Paint 3D and Texture…
A Piece of Martin
Ex-Shortland Streeter Martin Henderson toplines indie A Piece of My Heart and plays opposite Nicolas Cage in Windtalkers, currently in production. Register and search under Archives
Best Breath? No Breast!
Breast-feed infants may have a greater chance of developing asthma in later life according to a study conducted on over 1000 New Zealanders.
Britain’s Brain-drain
Young educated people are leaving Britain for the good life down under: “There’s both a pull of countries like Australia and New Zealand and a push from this country, where there are too many…
Top Talk
Up there with the big events in Washington: Ken Gutschick presents a talk on New Zealand at the Long Branch Senior Centre.
Life full of words
Alison Waley, Hokitika-born poet, artist and writer died aged 100. Most famous for her marriage to Arthur Waley, Waley also had “strength of purpose and character, and a way with words, written and spoken,…
Bugger Knocked off for Nearly Fifty Years
It’s 48 years since Sir Edmund and Tenzing put themselves on the roof of the world.
At home on the edge
Sam Neill talks acting, wine and why New Zealand is home: “I just love going back – I feel comfortable there, I am entirely relaxed there and I feel I do much my best…
Right Ball’s Up
New Zealand funny-man and sideways thinker Burton Silver presents the oval golf ball, for those times when round is just too tricky.
Pinetree Speaks
Colin Meads on touch judges: “Boy do they give you a gut ache. Last year when there was a bit of a fight in a test match a touch judge ran on the field to break it…
Fishing for a Decision
The urban Maori/traditional iwi dispute over fisheries reaches the Privy Council in London, New Zealand’s highest appellate court.
Get it right
In the unsettled paradise that is the Pacific, accuracy and local knowledge are a reporter’s only hope says seasoned island-hand, New Zealand journalist David Robie.
A day in the life
Margaret Mahy’s 24 Hours confirms her place among the “world’s best”. Her books for young adults “are not easy reads, but they are hugely rewarding, emotionally and intellectually”. Also, Mahy at The Hub…
Wellywood
Dead oliphants at Plimmerton, hobbit cities and epic battles: just the beginning for “Wellywood”.
Lego Language Insult
New Lego trading cards feature words like “toa”, “kanohi” and “whenua” – sound suspiciously familiar?
Rings Actors Awestruck
“It seems that those involved are only starting to realise just how big a movie project with which they have been involved. The actors were awe-struck by look of the movie and the spectacular…
Bravery Remembered
Sixty years ago New Zealanders fought and died on Crete. Veterans and locals commemorate the battle. Also, Helen Clark pays tribute to the 671 New Zealand soldiers killed at Galatas.
Sailing to Meet the Past
“You get your guy sailing with us and it kind of changes things. It makes them want to come back,” says master waka builder Robert Busby, with his father Hekenukumai at Hawaii’s fourth annual In Celebration…
Altitude Stable
A bit of turbulence on the ground, but Air New Zealand still makes the top ten in the air.
Five Dollar Bird
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins, literally noise-shouters) catch the attention of an international money man.
Tohu Sauvignon
“The only wine in New Zealand (as far as I know) that’s made entirely by Maori. If you’ve grown tired of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, this gooseberry and passion fruit white, with its fresh acidity and real…
The Ghost of Rob
“A late but not widely lamented New Zealand prime minister once introduced strict currency controls. When asked if the fixed rate was not out of line with market reality, he responded that the value of the…
Mahon’s Final Stroke
“Laconic, grizzled New Zealander” Harry Mahon, legendary international rowing coach dedicated to creating the perfect stroke, died of cancer aged 59. Mahon took team after team to the top, including the British gold medallist eight at Sydney…
Kiwis On Skid Row
New Zealanders Bridget McIver and Vaughan Smith live in a trendy San Francisco loft – but the neighbours don’t reflect the price tag.
Top Price Drinking
Three Rivers shiraz is Australia’s most exclusive wine, an in-crowd signifier with the big money crowd. New Zealand wine-maker Chris Ringland is the man behind the thousand dollar bottles.
Top Dollars Man
The Australian Treasury head-hunted Ken Henry from Canterbury University in 1984: now he’s the head of the outfit.
Bachelor of the Game
Training? How about a degree in rugby (Certificate in High Performance Athlete Management) from Massey University and the New Zealand Rugby Academy.
Drawing Blood
David Low: outsider, radical, New Zealander. Last century’s greatest political cartoonist.
