TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
TO GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF
NEW ZEALANDERS
Merry Christmas from
the city of Middle- earth-on-the-edge, if I can mix metaphors. Hit your
printers for holiday reading:
NEW HERO STORY: Te
Rangi Hiroa/Sir Peter Buck’s achievements are astonishing for their
diversity, reading more like a list of possible careers than a biography -
a pioneering and internationally renowned anthropologist, the first Maori
medical doctor, a politician, administrator, soldier, sportsperson and
leader of the Maori people. Through exploring the Maori/Pakeha
cross-cultural advantages of his birth and exercising a scientific rigour
that was largely self-taught, Peter Buck extended the edges of knowledge.
The story has been written by May-ana Tirikatene-Sullivan, who by various
turns has been scholar, international fashion model, preacher and high
jump champion. We thank her for her research, interpretation and
storytelling.
http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/buck.html
and a new newzedge.
http://www.nzedge.com/media/index.html
New Zealand pays tribute to Sir
Peter Blake
Peter Jackson crowned Lord of the Screen
This is your life Jonah Lomu
Kevin Roberts appointed Cambridge CEO
Reagan Cameron dubbed photographic master
Shellia Laxon breaks the glass ceiling
Frances Howie takes top honours
Peter Hunter creates 'virtual heart"
Shakespeare goes Maori
Toa Fraser tours the world
Ken Gorby and Nigel Cox continue to revel in praise
Tim Finn takes matters into his own hands
Russell Crowe tipped for Oscar repeat
Otago Polytech stay on the ball
John Milner passes away
All Blacks back to their best
Reg Mombassa speaks his mind
Kate Sylvester features in Spruce
Frucor continues ascent
Matt Goodman and Steve Westlake conquer Atlantic
Japanese adopt NZ lambs
Anna Weinberg and Paul Masters serve up the goods
New Zealand remembers John Platts-Mills
Tui Flower cooks up a storm
Bill Sharplin is rough as guts
NEW PICTURES 52 fresh
pictures of Edge country: landscapes, urban, sea, signs and symbols. http://www.nzedge.com/pictures/index.html
NEW EDGE MAILBOX 80
plus messages: affirmations, meditations, raps and a few roastings. This
is New Zealand identity discussion and storytelling you won’t find
elsewhere. http://www.nzedge.com/mailbox/21_novdec01.html
NEW SPEECHES
Commencement and graduation. Kevin Roberts gave a speech “Nothing Is
Impossible” in October to a careers evening at the Waikato Management
School Te Raupara, University of Waikato; and I was invited to address the
Long Bay High School prize- giving, North Shore. It’s called “Golden
Weather” (after Bruce Mason). http://www.nzedge.com/speeches/index.html
NEW YEAR We’re very
happy with the performance of NZEDGE in 2001. The metaphor and the website
have been the access points for many conversations about the
who/what/whereto of Aotearoa New Zealand. Site traffic has doubled;
downloads of our Hero stories are up 400% (to over 100,000 for the year).
We’ve done probably half the number of things I had intended; Sept 11
rocked the momentum to one’s core and recalibration has been extenuated
in the working through of the various tributaries of 911. My response is
crystalised in: “Step up, face out, act now.”
2002 has much promise;
we have a beautiful shopping experience sitting on our server almost
finished for an early February opening; a community networking and profile
service in its software cut; some offline publications in train…02 will
be a time when we hit our first point of critical mass. I feel like the
Van Morrison song: “I’m a dweller on the threshold/And I’m waiting
at the door/And I’m standing in the darkness/And I don’t want to wait
no more.”
As I write the Lord of
the Rings New Zealand premiere has just taken place. Peter Jackson and
Fran Walsh and their cast and crew of 2,500 have graced us all and we
thank and applaud them for their vision and chutzpah. This, in the
reflection of our other Peter-Hero: Capt Blake, taken away on the Amazon
December 5 2001. I took a picture of him in Wellington early last year on
the occasion of the America’s Cup victory tour. It’s just a snap, but
it caught him, shouldering ticker-tape, receiving the accolade of a fan.
Salut Peter Blake.
http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/index.html
My thanks to our
NZEDGE team especially senior editor Paul Ward, who combined working with
us and completing his MA (1st) at Oxford University; web publisher Carla
Hofler and web producer Lynda Robinson. I thank everyone who has written
messages to us and contributed in a whole variety of ways.
Kevin Roberts and I
wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
BRIAN SWEENEY
Co-founder, Editor
The New Zealand Edge
www.nzedge.com
brian@nzedge.com
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