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From Brian
Sweeney, Producer,
www.nzedge.com
 Follow
nzedge.com headlines twice daily on Twitter. Register at http://twitter.com/nzedge
SAMOA
AND TONGA TSUNAMI RELIEF
– Help NZ's Pacific neighbours by donating to World
Vision or Oxfam,
both working on site with local organisations, or bid at the Artists
for the Tsunami Relief art auction at Webb's.
Pictured: Sir Howard Morrison, Ohinemutu Maori village in
Rotorua, Hayley Westenra, Toast Martinborough, Caitlin Smith
NEW
ZEALANDERS IN GLOBAL HEADLINES
New Zealand headlines in this sampling of
global media appearing in Bradenton Herald, WA Today, Daily Mail,
Telegraph, Scottish Sun, The Times, The Salt Lake Tribune, Horse &
Hound, The Korea Herald, ESPN, Billboard, Courier Mail, Examiner, The
Herald, The Independent, Time, Frankie, Earth Times, Northern
Territory News, Star Tribune, CNN, Guardian, New York Times, The Independent
on Sunday and The Age include:
• Sir
Howard Morrison, beloved entertainer and man of the people dies,
aged 74 – Courier Mail
• Rotorua,
“the centre of Maori culture” with hangi pits of smoky kumara – Examiner
• Hayley
Westenra, 22, pips UK glamour mezzo to become Forces Sweetheart
– Daily Mail
• Toast
Martinborough now in 18th year; 10,000 tickets sell in minutes
– WA Today
• Caitlin
Smith, singer, included in 10-day Queenstown JazzFest line-up –
All About Jazz
• 100%
Pure campaign tops United Nations international branding survey
• David
Tua, boxer, 36, K.Os Shane Cameron in “smashing fashion”– ESPN
• Ladyhawke,
30, delirious after scooping six Tuis at NZ Music Awards – Billboard
• Sir
Edmund Hillary still the “greatest living New Zealander” – Earth
Times
• Sacha
Jones, tennis player, 18, earns biggest career win at ITF Darwin
– Northern Territory News
• Peter
Jackson, director, grapples with lofty expectations − his
own – Star Tribune
• Margaret
Moth, pioneering camerawoman, ‘Fearless’ in CNN
documentary
• Kerry
Fox, actress, ‘Jane’ and ‘Sarah’ in Lantana
adaption, London – Guardian
• Ben
Ruffell, cameraman, to make film about US journo come Alan Scott
vintner
• Kate
Sylvester “the country’s best kept fashion secret” – The
New York Times
• New
Zealand’s island ecology intrigued Hitchhiker’s
Douglas Adams – The Independent on Sunday
• Bryan
Gould, NZ former UK Labour luminary, counsels Party members – Guardian
• Robert
Fair’s juvenile pranks inspiration behind Beano boy Dennis The
Menace – Telegraph
• Daniel
Vettori, captain of Black Caps; a team “punching above its
weight” – The Age
• Cliff
Curtis, actor, 41, plays daredevil flight medic ‘Rabbit’ in
NBC’s Trauma – Bradenton Herald
• Kathryn
Wilson, Auckland shoe designer, opens 1919 apartment to Frankie
• Glenn
Martin, jetpack inventor, auctions flight on eBay; starting bid
US$30,000 – Telegraph
• Kauri
Cliffs, "Pebble Beach but better"; “coolest perk ...
possum hunting”
• Graeme
Solloway, trade commissioner, Seoul, promotes technology ties –
The Korea Herald
• Fashion
Week “not an edgy fashion scene so much as on the very edges”
– Daily Mail
• Stanley
Makuwe, nurse and playwright, premieres latest work in Zimbabwe
– The Herald
• WOW,
Wellington, 21st year, “glorious rebellion against the mundane” – Time
Magazine
DENIS
O'REILLY: BLOG #35, BREATHE THROUGH THE NOSE
While this website charts the achievements of the nation's go-getters, we
also provide breathing room to those who are dispossessed and socially
excluded. Of the 238 nations in the world, New Zealand slots in at #125 in
population size, yet in the top quartile (#57) in terms of our (racially
skewed) prison population. New meaning to the cliché “punch above our
weight.” The eloquent rage of Hawkes Bay's Denis O'Reilly – protestor,
priest, and poet rolled into one – is felt in each of the 35 Nga
Kupu Aroha columns he has written for nzedge.com since September
04. Not much stands in the way of Denis this month – our nation's thinking
(“dominated by talk-back rant, angry invective, intolerance, and
sensationalist tabloid journalism”), Whanganui Mayor Michael Laws (”a
populist white knight, clad in vitriolic armour”), the triviality of
political life (“an appearance by the PM on Letterman's talkshow is
accorded the significance akin to a huge oil find in the Southern Basin”),
white collar criminals (“whilst we call these Maori gangs 'organised
criminal groups' they're a far call from the really organised criminal
groups, particularly those 'banksters' in the Pakeha financial
sector"), and our “criminal justice industrial complex” (“What we
are doing now is dumb. It's wrong economically. It's wrong in terms of the
human wealth and health of the nation. It's wrong in terms of social
justice, and our international obligations around human rights. It is going
to poison our society.”) I met Denis in 1979 at Waikato U, giving stage to
his views and voice. In my pol sci studies I became aware of one of New
Zealand's great civil servants, Secretary of Justice John Robson, whose work
is archived in the Napier Public Library. Robson was significantly
responsible for the abolition of the death penalty in New Zealand, and was
the leading voice for restorative justice and prison reform. In many ways
Denis is channeling Robson in his advocacy for strong communities and a just
society. Den is a radical optimist; his latest column is Breathe
Through the Nose (6,500 words).
BIRDS
OF PARADISE
Jeremy “Newsboy” Wells (Eating Media Lunch, The
Unauthorised History of New Zealand) tackles unfamiliar territory
in a new TV series Birdland (TVOne Saturdays, 7pm), which has
him celebrating New Zealand’s unique bird life and, true to form, it
is not your typical wildlife show. Wells freely admits that he’s no
expert when it comes to birds and his reasons for undertaking the
project are typically atypical. “Sadly every other subject for a
television show had been taken. Lush took trains, Hamish Keith stole art
and Radar mucked about on a farm. As far as I'm aware birds were the
last subject of national importance left to milk,” says Wells. The
show takes viewers on an unconventional yet informative journey that
soaks up some of our most beautiful scenery, our most glorious birds and
some wonderfully eccentric characters of the birding world. During the
series, Wells visits the Moa graveyard of Karamea (found only after a
eight hour underground caving expedition), meets Woof Woof, the talking
Tui of Whangarei, and explores the arcane world of poultry and pigeon
breeders at their annual competition. “After six years scratching
around insulting minor celebrities on late night television it’s been
a revelation to get outdoors and rub shoulders with people passionate
about something other than themselves.”
Here are the Top 10 titles for September:
- This
Is Your Life – Sir Howard Morrison, TV 1989 – Tribute
to 'The Sinatra of New Zealand'
- Flare
– A Ski Trip, NFU short film 1977 – Funky promotional
doco featuring snow 'ski ballet'
- Heavenly
Pop Hits – The Flying Nun Story, TV 2002 – Run-down
on iconic indie music label
- Best
of The Billy T James Collection, TV 1992 – Swansong for
much-loved comedian
- Moa's
Ark, TV series 1990 – Investigation into our unique
flora and fauna by David Bellamy
- Woolly
Valley, TV series 1981 – Low-tech children's puppet
show with rustic charm
- Britten
– Backyard Visionary, TV 1993 – Homage to maverick
DIY motorcycle designer
- Open
Door – M.E, TV 2008 – Community-based show looking at
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Peter
Snell – Athlete, NFU short film 1964 – 800m gold
medalist's lead up to Tokyo
- Kaikohe
Demolition, feature film 2004 – Florian Habicht's 'far
out' Far North demo derby
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THE NEW ZEALAND EDGE
is a new way of presenting our identity, people, stories,
achievements and our role in the world. Home to a global
community of New Zealanders. Aotearoa whanau whanui kite ao nui
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Top image, Raumati South; above, Wellington's
central cityscape. More pictures at www.paradiseroad.com.
Fern symbol via www.nzflag.com.
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