Dispelling the dark 
An exhibition featuring New Zealand designers Nom*D, Doris De Pont, World and Zambesi is on now at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. The exhibition, entitled, Together Alone: Australian and New Zealand Fashion, highlights the practices of eight leading New Zealand and Australian fashion houses. The diverse approaches to fashion represented through these fashion houses at once dispels the stereotyped references to the 'casual and carefree' nature of Australian fashions and the 'dark and gothic' label frequently attached to New Zealand design. With over forty works on display, the exhibition spans the period when independent fashion design from New Zealand and Australia moved beyond regional boundaries, influencing how fashion from the area has been perceived in the last decade. Together Alone runs through April 18. 
(December 2009)

Quality not quantity 
New Zealand's wineries are "fighting to preserve their reputation as premium wine producers, even as bumper harvests and thrifty drinkers pull them in the opposite direction," writes Alexandra Harney for The New York Times. The introduction of Cloudy Bay's chief winemaker Kevin Judd's first vintage label Greywacke comes at a time of reckoning for New Zealand's wineries. New Zealand is desperate to avoid the fate of neighbouring Australia. A surge in investment drove that country's wine exports up from 151 million litres in 1996–97 to 786 million litres in 2006–07, but bulk sales to supermarkets have lowered both prices and cachet. Exports slipped to 750 million litres in 2008–09. "We can't compete and remain viable if we are producing bulk wine," said Marcus Pickens, marketing manager for industry association Wine Marlborough. New Zealand's smaller size, high labour costs, and cool climate make it harder for the country to sustain the big yields that volume production requires, Pickens added. Greywacke, then, could be seen as Judd's attempt to keep New Zealand wine small but beautiful. 
(10 December 2009)

O'Brien to Middlesex 
Black Caps seamer Iain O'Brien, 33, has retired from international cricket and joined Middlesex as their overseas player for 2010 having spent last season at Leicestershire. The right-armer, who is also a prolific blogger, made his Test debut in 2005, taking a career-best 6–75 against West Indies in Napier in December 2008. O'Brien has said that "being on the road for 11 months of the year" was something he could no longer cope with. "I've placed cricket in front of everything else, but it's now time to put Rosie first and start a family. Since we married two and a half years ago, we've only spent nine months together," he explained. "I intend to keep playing the game I love, and have an opportunity to finish my career with Middlesex which is very exciting." Captain Daniel Vettori said: "I don't think people quite realise how much the team will miss him in terms of his bowling and the intensity and energy and desire to want the ball at every stage." 
(6 December 2009)

Model of all things 
"People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things." So said the mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary. In the pursuit of the extraordinary, the dean of private business school INSEAD Frank Brown has always believed a business leader and a mountaineer share certain traits. In order to succeed and reach their goals, both must be determined, focused, brave, sceptical and understand the importance of teamwork. "Hillary, the man who conquered Everest in 1953, was a leader and innovator who was inspired by the idea of adventure," Brown continues. "He was a real model for our leaders of tomorrow. But it's the fact that Hillary remained modest and responsible towards society and the environment that makes him inspirational to today's business leaders. As the dean of a business school, it is my job to mould tomorrow's leaders; leaders who not only want to develop viable businesses but who also genuinely want to contribute to a better society. For me, Edmund Hillary is a model of all these things." 
(4 December 2009)

Aotearoa soul infectious 
"There's a place far from Jamaica where old-school reggae still rules: New Zealand," writes Cary Darling for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Such traditionalists as Katchafire and the Black Seeds, as well as more electro acts such as Salmonella Dub and Shapeshifter, have kept the flag flying. But it's Fat Freddy's Drop which, after topping the charts at home, is making waves in the US. The band just finished dates on the West Coast, and its latest album, the boomingly infectious Dr Boondigga and the Big BW, was just released here. While the new disc has a more varied sound than its 2006 predecessor, Based on a True Story, reggae remains the Drop's musical pulse. '[New Zealand] very much has an island culture like Jamaica. The pace of life and culture have a lot of parallels,' says DJ Chris Faiumu, also known as DJ Fitchie and Mu, by phone from Wellington, the group's hometown. 'When Bob Marley came here in the late '70s, the Maori people drew parallels with their own struggles.'" 
(3 December 2009)

Place for NZ in Chile 
The New Zealand government has gifted the Chilean capital Santiago a new plaza in the municipality of Providencia. Plaza Nueva Zelandia aims to represent New Zealand culture, landscape, flora and fauna, and to provide a green oasis in an urban environment. "New Zealanders and Chileans are forging strong links through education, at all levels, and a working holiday scheme enables young people from both countries to travel to the other for tourism, with the possibility to study and work," said New Zealand Ambassador Rosemary Paterson. The plaza was constructed with the support of the New Zealand government, the Municipality of Providencia, and with the sponsorship of the Chilean Bicentenary Commission. 
(2 December 2009)

Miniature by might 
A 25-hectare replica New Zealand city, dubbed "Little New Zealand" is being constructed in the northern Chinese city of Qufu. The $400 million New Zealand Gardens initiative will come with its own Maori village and education complex. Anthony Wilson from Awataha Marae, who is a partner in the project, says the development is part of Qufu city's overall expansion plan. Wilson says the "Little New Zealand" project will create hundreds of jobs for Maori people. "As part of the deal we will be providing all of the cultural performers, we will be also providing labour staff and also providing all the carvings," he says. The project's most ambitious goal is for Chinese to enjoy the New Zealand Gardens experience so much, that they want to come and visit the real thing. Spokesman for New Zealand's Ministry of Tourism Bruce Bassett says while the government has no formal links to the project, the initiative could potentially boost long-haul tourism. "The China market is New Zealand's fourth largest market in terms of in visitor arrivals so it's pretty important and a fast growing market," Bassett says. 
(26 November 2009)

Blissful ending 
The Phoenix Foundation's latest album Happy Ending has been given five stars by The Independent's Andy Gill who says the Wellington sextet "are surely the most potent band to come out of New Zealand since the far-off days of the Chills". "Happy Ending has already secured glowing praise from such compatriots as Neil Finn and Flight of the Conchords, and it's easy to see why: this is a gorgeous, sustained series of blissful psychedelic pieces in which swoonsome melodies and tender harmonies are beautifully balanced with a sort of salty lysergic fizz, full of gentle echoes of classic hippy groups like Procol Harum and King Crimson, but with an affectionate outsider's ear for detail." The Phoenix Foundation was founded by Conrad Wedde, Samuel Flynn Scott, and Luke Buda in 1997 while students at Wellington High School. Happy Ending, released on Flying Nun, is their third album. 
(27 November 2009)

Books come to life 
Colenso BBDO are behind a stop-motion animated film developed for the New Zealand Book Council called Going West, which was created by UK design team Andersen M Studio and launched on YouTube in November aiming to "promote and inspire the love of reading and books". Entertainment Weekly's Thom Geier writes: "Trust me, it's worth two minutes of your time." "Try doing that with a Kindle! Electronic readers may be popular, and they may even shrink my cumbersome wallful of literary treasures into a single portable hand-held device. But the book remains a pretty efficient content-delivery system that's served us well for centuries." Auckland-based actor Craig Walsh-Wrightson is the film's narrator, reading a passage from Maurice Gee's 1993 novel Going West. 
(25 November 2009)

Slink into style 
The Wairarapa's Wharekauhau Lodge & Country Estate is one of five "sexy and stylish retreats" recommended by the Observer's Mr and Mrs Smith who travel throughout New Zealand and Australia looking at the best. At Wharekauhau the pair stayed in a standalone cabin which "was pure modern farmhouse in style: high ceilings with exposed beams, a canopied bed, a romantic gas open fire and a stunning and private view from the bathroom window." Also listed is The Boatshed on Waiheke Island, "nautical chic, bayside bliss"; Mollies in Auckland, a "bohemian boutique hotel something you won't soon forget"; Azur Lodge in Queenstown, described as "sublime"; and Hapuku Lodge in Kaikoura, the rooms "luxurious, with ridiculously impressive views and very sexy bathrooms". 
(22 November 2009)

Win on the wind 
Nelson-born sculptor Phil Price, 44, has won the Allens Arthur Robinson People's Choice Prize of AU$5000 for his sculpture "Morpheus", which was part of the 18-day exhibition "Sculpture by the Sea" in Bondi. Price is recognized as one of the finest wind-activated kinetic sculptors in the Southern Hemisphere, and his work Morpheus has drawn much attention. Showing its international appeal, Morpheus was also the winner of the Kids' Choice Award at the inaugural Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus — Denmark held in June earlier this year. "It's a great pleasure to be back in Sculpture by the Sea after 4 years away, and to be welcomed back with the People's Choice Award is fantastic," said Price. 
(17 November 2009)

Bevan honoured in NY Queenstown-born, London-based Academy Award-nominated film producer Tim Bevan will be presented with a career tribute at the 19th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York on November 30. Bevan has worked as producer or executive-producer on more than 40 films including: Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Love Actually and Atonement. In the early eighties, he co-founded Working Title Films in London with Sarah Radclyffe, now owned by Bevan and Eric Fellner, who will also be presented with a career tribute in November. 
(November 2009)

Welcoming business nous 
New Zealand's migration policy has been relaxed in an effort to allow potential investors and entrepreneurs to gain permanent residency. Currently the majority of Brits hoping to live permanently in New Zealand must have a skill that is in demand, such as a medical qualification. But the new investor policy, announced in the summer, gives people with substantial capital the opportunity to emigrate and boost the nation's evolving economy. Senior investment manager at Investment New Zealand Catherine Tlapek said that the country offered a much more diverse range of investment opportunities than people realised. "People can think we're just an agricultural shop, but we're much more than that. We have a strong ICT [information and communications technology] industry, a strong multi-media industry," Tlapek said. Although New Zealand is in itself a small country, Tlapek pointed out that it enjoys free trade agreements with Australia, Singapore and China. "We are a gateway to Asia," she said. 
(9 November 2009)

Study proportionate 
In a University of Otago study of over 500 women, researchers have found abortion "leads to significant distress in some" and that those reporting adverse reactions were up to 80 per cent more likely to have mental health problems. The study, reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry, found the risk of mental illness was "proportional to the degree of distress" associated with the abortion. Professor David Fergusson, of the department of Psychological Medicine, and his team, studied data from women who had been interviewed six times between the ages of 15 and 30, each time being asked whether they had been pregnant and, if so, what the outcome of that pregnancy had been. More than 85 per cent of women reported a least one negative emotional reaction, including sorrow, sadness, guilt, regret, grief and disappointment. A similar number reported at least one positive reaction, including relief, happiness and satisfaction. It said the findings were "not consistent with strong pro life positions that depict unwanted pregnancy terminated by abortion as having devastating consequences for women's mental health" nor did they "support strong pro-choice positions that claim unwanted pregnancy terminated by abortion is without mental health risks." 
(2 November 2009)

All the way south 
Online reality show The Gap Year: Challenge New Zealand began in November and follows the adventures of five British travellers battling it out over four weeks to make it to the final. Model Kimberley, student Anton, upcoming director Emma, male model Chris and show jumper Holly have been selected from hundreds of applicants to jet off to the ultimate adventure destination. Each weekday, they will post short videos and updates documenting their amazing adventures on The Gap Year homepages which currently have nearly 12,000 followers across Bebo, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and You Tube. Viewers will also be able to get actively involved with the show by interacting with the travellers and influencing their journey. Every Friday, a traveller will be sent home leaving just two worthy finalists to battle it out during the concluding week. The show is part of a Tourism New Zealand campaign encouraging young visitors to "Go All the Way" to New Zealand. 
(6 November 2009)

Union purgatory 
"If we need any proof that God is a New Zealander," writes The Australian's Bret Harris, "it is the hell that Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is going through." "Deans' mortal sin was leaving New Zealand where he coached the highly successful Crusaders to join forces with the arch enemy across the Tasman. It is as if Deans has died and gone to hell and his punishment is to endure seeing the Wallabies put themselves in potentially match-winning positions against the All Blacks only to have victory taken away. The All Blacks were in seventh heaven when they came from behind to beat the Wallabies 32–19 in Tokyo. The Wallabies can get their grand slam tour on track with a win against England, but Deans will not be freed from his purgatory until the Wallabies find a way to beat the All Backs — and they need to do it before the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand." 
(3 November 2009)

If it ain't broken 
New Zealand has been named by travel gurus The Lonely Planet as one of the ten top countries to visit in 2010. The travel bible named New Zealand on the basis of the adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The authors said the last time they checked "the land of Maori and hobbits certainly didn't need repairing". The annual guide, which draws on the knowledge of Lonely Planet's staff, named the country's most inspiring activities as flying over Fiordland, kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park and paragliding over Queenstown - all South Island activities. But the North Island's Tongariro National Park, prized for its iconic one-day crossing hike, also rated a mention. Other countries named in the top 10 were El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Portugal, Suriname and the US. 
(2 November 2009)

Carbon paw-prints 
Wellington-based eco-architects Brenda and Robert Vale, authors of Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, include in their controversial book figures for carbon footprints of pets compared with other more well-known energy guzzlers. "A typical medium sized dog eats 164 kilograms of meat and 95 kilograms of cereals every year. It takes 43.3 square metres of land to generate 1 kilogram of chicken per year and 13.4 square metres to generate a kilogram of cereals. This gives your dog a footprint of 0.84 hectares, more than twice that of a 4.6-litre Toyota Land Cruiser." The couple has assessed the carbon emissions created by popular pets, taking into account the ingredients of pet food and the land needed to create them. "If you have a German shepherd or similar-sized dog, for example, its impact every year is exactly the same as driving a large car around," Brenda Vale said. The Telegraph's Peter Wedderburn says he is all for making good use of the planet's limited resources, but would stop short at eating the family pet. "What about getting rid of architects? Surely at this stage of civilisation we've already created a wide enough selection of dwelling places? And think of all the paper, ink and hot air that could be saved." 
(28 October 2009)

Best shape yet 
Jonah Lomu, 34, returns to rugby this month playing for French amateur side Marseille-Vitrolles and he says he is in the best shape ever. Once the most feared man in world rugby, Lomu, who played 63 tests for the All Blacks between 1994 and 2002 before his career was cut short by kidney disease, has also not ruled out playing for the All Blacks again in the future. "That is still a dream," he insisted. "You never lose the desire to play for your country." "I'm stronger than I've ever been," Lomu told Reuters after being unveiled by Japanese rugby officials as an ambassador for the 2019 World Cup. "I'm running the 100 metres in 10.9 but I'm even more surprised by what I'm doing in weights. I can dead-lift 300 kilos with my eyes closed. I am beating my previous by a country mile." 
(28 October 2009)

Antipodean partnership 
Director Jane Campion's Bright Star is "almost certain to be among this year's leading Oscar contenders" and, according to The Times' Tom Charity, "one of Campion's best films, on a par with The Piano, The Portrait of a Lady and An Angel at My Table." The film's star, Australian actress Abbie Cornish, who plays John Keats' muse Fanny Brawne, says of Campion: "When we started rehearsals, [she] said to me, 'Abbie, this script is my baby and I'm handing my baby over to you to hold for a little while.' That's how precious it was to her." Fellow director Quentin Tarentino has said of Bright Star that "Never has heartache been so realistically and movingly portrayed…" 
(25 October 2009)

Tourist bucket list 
The six best things to do in New Zealand are, according to The Observer: attending Gisborne's Rhythm and Vines Festival for New Year's Eve; walking the four-day Hillary Trail; staying the night at Franz Joseph's five-star eco-hotel the Te Waonui Forest Retreat; freedom camping around the Eastland; digging a hole in the sand at Coromandel's Hot Water Beach; and taking a "Small Five" wildlife trip. "The New Zealand tourist board is turning the concept of the 'Big Five' upside down by developing its own 'Small Five' list. This aims to promote awareness and conservation of five of its smallest and most endangered indigenous creatures: the kiwi, the Hector's dolphin, the yellow-eyed penguin, the tuatara and the kea. If you've ever wanted to go kiwi-spotting on Stewart Island, or swim with the Hector's dolphin in Porpoise Bay, this may be your very last chance." 
(25 October 2009)

Instant appeal 
"Pinot noir from New Zealand is gaining a foothold in America because of well-made wines like the 2007 Stoneleigh Marlborough Pinot Noir," writes John Foy for New Jersey's largest local newspaper The Star-Ledger. "Stoneleigh's vineyards are in Marlborough, New Zealand's best vineyard region. This cool-climate area is ideal for growing pinot noir, a grape that thrives in other cool regions such as Champagne, Burgundy, Sonoma, Oregon's Willamette Valley and selected sites in Italy and Germany. While the 2007 Stoneleigh Pinot Noir possesses the structure for aging, its appeal is so instantaneous that I doubt it will ever see the darkness of a wine cellar." 
(15 October 2009)

Talking to the trees 
New Zealand business and IT consultant and author Claire Bulman, 41, has released her first book, aimed at children aged seven to ten, The Answer Tree. Maldon-based Bulman is hoping her target audience will have fun reading the modern morality tale, enjoying the story about ten-year-old Henry who discovers a magical, talking tree. She said a walk along a canal near the British town's Paper Mill Lock got her creative juices flowing. "I was just sitting out in the sun and I saw my tree. I could see all the faces in it and the story came to life," she said. Bulman was one of the first female riflemen in the western world. She also stood for Parliament in New Zealand. 
(17 October 2009)

Reed takes crown 
Palmerston North-born triathlete Matt Reed, 34, now based in Boulder, Colorado, has won the Toyota US Open triathlon and the Toyota Cup series crown having taken first place in the Dallas Triathlon on October 11. Reed raced in classic form by swimming just off the heels of the leaders, dispensing with all but one hard charging cyclist and then finally, established an early lead on the run and never looked back. Reed's dominating performance in Dallas along with a 3rd place in New York and wins in Minneapolis and Chicago won him the Toyota Cup series, earning him a total of US$40,000 in prize money. 
(12 October 2009)

Power to the people 
Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Worldwide and nzedge.com co-founder, Kevin Roberts, appeared in an interview with Alixis Glick on FOX Business  during the recent World Business Forum at Radio City Hall in New York, talking about the power shift from brands to people and his predictions for the advertising industry in 2010. "It's been tough this year … like everybody else consumers are feeling a recession. There are reframing and resetting their lives — so I would say there will probably be 10-11% drop in ad spend," said Roberts. "Next year will be flat for the ad guys, and we'll see money moving into screens — TV, the Internet, mobile — and away perhaps from newspapers and magazines, as you see consumers interact more with screens rather than the more static media." 
(07 October 2009)

Rugby's Adonis 
"Ladies and gentlemen — introducing the new Jonah Lomu," announces Alison Kervin in an article for The Sunday Times. "The awesome New Zealand wing who tore the England defence to pieces on a memorable afternoon in Cape Town 14 years ago is not in the early stages of gender reassignment but has become a competitive body-builder. 'Oh man, I enjoyed it,' admits the 34-year-old, who came second in the Wellington Open Championships a few weeks ago. Lomu's surprising decision to train for a new sport came after he heard about the plight of Tracy Toulis, a body-builder eager to rebuild her career after an operation for breast cancer. "She needed a partner for the pairs event so I thought, 'Hell, yeah, I can do that'. I like a challenge," he says. He is re-launching his rugby career in November when he starts playing for the French second division side Marseilles Vitrolle. 'Man, I feel like a little kid at the candy store waiting for it to open,' he says. 
(11 October 2009)

Cold-blooded chic 
New Zealand clothing manufacturer Rodd & Gunn have designed the country's priciest piece of luggage ever made, from the skins of ten crocodiles. With the price for the large bag set at AU$30,250 and the small bag at AU$24,750 it raises the bar of excess. Over 150 hours of design and craftsmanship were put into the crocodile luggage and with only two being produced, they're about as limited edition as it gets. Even the managing director of Rodd & Gunn Mike Beagley admits he isn't sure who would buy such a bag. "I think it will be a hereditary piece that someone will buy and hand down to their children, and then their children's children. It has a lifetime guarantee so it will be a family heirloom," The bags will take pride of place in Rodd & Gunn's new Sydney International Airport store, hoping to catch the eye of a "discerning traveller". "If it doesn't sell within a month, we'll move it to another store," Beagley said. "If it doesn't sell there, I guess I'll have two great pieces of croc luggage to add to my collection." 
(8 October 2009)

Amidst the peach trees 
"My favourite destination in the world will always be Coromandel in New Zealand," says British author Fay Weldon in an interview with the Telegraph. "There I can go back to my golden age and find very little changed: it is as magical and mysterious a place as ever. I was conceived in New Zealand, born in England, and then spent my first 14 years in the South Island with my mother and sister before we moved permanently back to Britain. But my sister and I spent those early golden summers in Coromandel, where my father was the medical superintendent. During the school holidays we ran free, barefoot among the peach and apple trees." Though "it's still a good few hours' drive from Auckland today, the fact that it takes quite a long time to get there is partly what's kept it so nice."
(5 October 2009)

Our feathered friends 
"New Zealand's island ecology - from the kauri trees to the kiwi, the country's emblematic bird — is unique," writes The Independent on Sunday's Ben Ross. "Twenty years ago, Douglas Adams — the man behind the comedy science-fiction epic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy — arrived with naturalist Mark Carwardine. The writer was intrigued by the peculiarities of the birdlife. With no cats, dogs, ferrets, or other mammalian land predators, there was little for the birds to fear, so many lost the use of their wings. Douglas Adams suffered a fatal heart attack in 2001, aged just 49. But his affection and concern for New Zealand's strange wildlife is celebrated in the Last Chance to See television series currently being broadcast on the UK's BBC2, in which Carwardine and Stephen Fry take up the kakapo's tale." 
(3 October 2009)

Fox treads the boards 
Wellington actress Kerry Fox stars in the Andrew Bovell play Speaking in Tongues on at Duke of York's Theatre in London. Fox plays Jane, who witnesses a possible crime and struggles with her decision to report it; and Sarah, who is seeing a therapist about relationship problems. In every role, her wide-set eyes and wolfish mouth seem to shift, and a brand new character appears on screen. Fox's other new work is the film Bright Star, a biopic of John Keats and his love Fanny Brawne, whose mother Fox plays. The project reunites her with Jane Campion, director of An Angel At My Table, in which Fox hiked, rotten-toothed and bubble-haired, across the hills of New Zealand. In Campion's new film, she strolls, strong but crumpled, through the bleached skies and brilliant green grass of London's Hampstead Heath. I wonder whether Fox and Campion, both from New Zealand, share a sensibility. "There is this idea that New Zealand women come from pioneer stock," Fox says. "And that obviously produced a certain type of people, in the middle of nowhere, creating their families and culture from scratch. So, yes, I think there's an openness to the world, a fundamental interest in what makes people tick." Speaking in Tongues runs until December 12. 
(29 September 2009)

Pressure for the best 
All Black coach Graham Henry has told The Independent that though New Zealand's national team has a much smaller resource than the majority of countries, this is what makes his job so interesting and stimulating. "The hunger among the players and coaching staff ... to succeed ... is as deep as ever, that's for sure. We probably had another team of injuries this year and while that is the way it goes sometimes, hopefully it won't be the same next year," Henry said. Henry insists the All Blacks' targets on their spring tour to the northern hemisphere will be clearly defined. "We want to play some decent rugby. We have some big tests ahead of us and it will be highly competitive. But we want to be proud of the rugby we play, that's the first thing. Then there is the fact that 2011 is coming up and it's going to be a very important tour for the players, either to further cement themselves as candidates for the World Cup squad or play their way out of contention. I think the New Zealand media expects top class performances from us every time we go out there. That has got positives and negatives. It puts a lot of pressure on people but the positives far outweigh the negatives. Pressure brings out the best in people." 
(24 September 2009)

Seoul mates 
New Zealand's trade commissioner in Seoul Graeme Solloway, who is responsible for promoting bilateral trade and investment, has been in the South Korean capital promoting technological ties between the two countries. "Both Korea and New Zealand are very innovative countries, and we can combine some of our innovations and put them into products," Solloway said. Solloway stressed that New Zealand has more to offer than its high-quality and safe agriculture products, grass-fed beef, timber and other natural resources. He said the technology industry also plays a big economic role, while standing as a fast-developing sector offering much promise as a future growth engine. And to the trade master, Korea, his home country's sixth-largest trading market, is "very important." 
(25 September 2009)

Flights of fancy 
Christchurch engineer Glenn Martin, inventor of the Martin Jetpack, recently offered a test flight of the machine on eBay at a starting bid of US$30,000 for six flights. The bidding was open to anyone over 18 who held a current driver's licence and weighs less than 90kg. The company says it is "a flight system where we can bring almost anybody in and, with just a small amount of training, they can be flying the Martin Jetpack with high levels of confidence and safety." "This is your chance to make aviation history," they add. "Your own 'Wright brothers' moment." Christchurch strip club Calendar Girls won a TradeMe auction for a test flight bidding $5700. Martin Aircraft Company has signed a non-binding agreement with an unnamed foreign government to supply at least 500 jetpacks a year for search and rescue purposes. 
(22 September 2009)

Best of both tribes 
Linda White Wolf, a member of the Chickasaw Tribe from Oklahoma and host of Arizona Native News on the Pat McMahon Show on KAZ-TV, never knew about her Maori heritage until she happened to come in contact with a Maori cousin. Manny Down, a Maori, was leading a Maori group to Phoenix for an alternative health care conference so White Wolf contacted him. It wasn't until their second email that they learned that they were related. From there, everything fell into place for White Wolf to go to New Zealand to meet with her Maori family and they welcomed her with open arms. "There is a difference between Maori and American Indian. With Maoris, all that matters is where you come from and who your ancestors are. You don't have to show any blood quantum," White Wolf said. "All you have to prove is that you have family."
(19 September 2009)

He takes the long road 
Originally from Takaka, Ewan Kingston has been travelling from the UK to New Zealand by any means possible save for flying since mid-2008, posting his adventures on the Ecologist site, the world's leading environmental affairs magazine. Flying as little as possible on a limited budget, Kingston most recently took a ferry from China to Japan, "unsure if he's taken the most eco-friendly option". Kingston writes: "I've made it from the middle of England to the middle of China without getting in one of those flying metal things. But how could I just trundle through China, closer than I've ever been to the home of another of the world's major civilisations? Seriously, the uncertainty about CO2 emissions from ferries and the physical distance of the trip meant it was a hard decision to make. In the end I took the ferry rather than a plane largely out of principle — to demonstrate that there's a market for slow travel, and because I believe that the journey can always be as rich and wonderful as the destination." 
(September 2009)

Waving mad by camper 
The first rule of campervanning around New Zealand is to wave every time you pass a fellow camper, according to the Daily Mail's Charlotte Gill who travels in a Kea beginning in Christchurch. "The penny only dropped a few days into our road trip around the South Island, but for the rest of our ten-day trip, we went waving mad," writes Gill. "In Kaikoura, we met Maurice Manawatu, a Maori from the Ngai Tahu tribe, whose ancestors settled in New Zealand 800 years ago. Maori culture is everywhere in New Zealand, and his fascinating tour taught us about their customs, beliefs, history and their love of music … [After] a final stop in pretty Akaroa, a former French settlement on a peninsula 50 miles south of Christchurch, we'd covered 1,000 miles— and what felt like at least three dazzling countries: one day Scotland, next the Alps, then through a rainforest to emerge in the Lake District." 
(17 September 2009)

Gorgeous melodrama 
Niki Caro's film The Vintner's Luck, based on Wellington author Elizabeth Knox's novel of the same name and starring Keisha Castle-Hughes is, according to entertainment news site Moviehole, "Gorgeous in all facets of visual detail and also a fascinating romantic melodrama." The review continues: "Though from New Zealand, this lush, erotic and passionate film is more European with its frank exploration of sexuality and eroticism, yet the film's lyrical beauty and intelligence makes it something quite unexpected." Hollywood Reporter was less generous, calling the film "an overblown work of amazing silliness." "It's difficult to believe that the same director who made the simple and affecting Whale Rider in 2002 and the underrated North Country in 2005, is responsible for The Vintner's Luck. The novel upon which the film is based could very well be a masterpiece, but angels, alas, are a lot more convincing as words than as characters in a movie." The Vintner's Luck screened alongside other New Zealand productions, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls and Under the Mountain, starring Sam Neill, at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. 
(15 September 2009)

Ancient mystery solved 
The now extinct giant Haast's eagle ruled the skies over New Zealand 750 years ago attacking moa from mountain perches and capable of killing small children. Because of their large size — these eagles weighed up to 18 kg — some scientists believe they were scavengers rather than predators. But the new study showed that not only was Haast's eagle a fearsome predator, it also evolved over a relatively short period of time from a much smaller-bodied ancestor. Researchers Paul Scofield of the Canterbury Museum and Ken Ashwell of the University of New South Wales used computerised CT and CAT scans to reconstruct the size of the brain, eyes, ears and spinal cord of this ancient eagle. "This work is a great example of how rapidly evolving medical techniques and equipment can be used to solve ancient mysteries," Ashwell said. The study was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 
(11 September 2009)

Such deep silence to hear
Christchurch poet Ursula Bethell's 'Rock Crystal' was a recent Guardian 'Poem of the Week'. 'Rock Crystal', travels beyond the garden and celebrates wider nature. It's a "holiday poem" but one that takes a metaphysical turn, and invites us into the process by which a refreshing new vista expands into the visionary. Bethell is one of the seminal figures in 20th-century New Zealand poetry. She was born in Surrey, England, in 1874. When she was two, her parents returned with her to New Zealand, and she spent most of her childhood there. Bethell is a highly original artist. Yet in her work and life are several elements that may remind us of Elizabeth Bishop: the dream-house shared with a woman lover, the keen delight in daily things, the sense of life-long displacement. Bethell died in 1945. 
(7 September 2009)

Tui time at the Vector 
Auckland band Midnight Youth and London-based Ladyhawke — aka Pip Brown — have both been nominated for a number of awards to be presented at this year's New Zealand Music Awards held at the Vector Arena in Auckland on October 8. Modular artist Ladyhawke has picked up six nominations, including album of the year for her self-titled debut, and single of the year for 'My Delirium'. Warner Music's Midnight Youth gathered six nods as well, with the rockers similarly nominated for best album (The Brave Don't Run) and single ('All On Our Own'). Both Ladyhawke and Midnight Youth are also nominees in the people's choice category, together with two other multiple-award nominees — Move The Crowd Records' Smashproof and Fat Freddy's Drop (The Drop label), who picked up five and four nominations respectively. 
(3 September 2009)

Family affair 
Neil Finn, his brother Tim and sons Liam and Elroy are just four of the 21 songwriters, 14 backing musicians and a dog collaborating on the album The Sun Came Out just released in the UK. Finn also invited new faces including Wilco, earmarked as "likeminded, besotted with music". Ranging from harmonic pop to campfire folk to West Coast guitar fuzz, the album's 24 tracks all have the same unforced, elemental air. That's due, Finn says, to the proximity of the Auckland coastline ("very fertile for the imagination") and a three-week recording period, which precluded superfluous polishing. The Telegraph's Neil McCormick writes: "If you are an admirer of classic, melodic, lyrically poetic, slightly left field post-Beatles songwriting, then there is at least an album's worth of real gems to be uncovered here." 
(28 August 2009)

Anchor marks the spot 
Hamilton Niwa ecologist Aleki Taumoepeau went to great lengths to retrieve a wedding band which after only three months of marriage slipped from his finger into Wellington harbour while he checked for invasive plant species in March last year. And though there were no evil wizards to battle or violent orcs to slay, Taumoepeau's 16-month quest for the ring was just as epic and certainly more romantic than anything JRR Tolkien churned out. Moments after losing the ring, Taumoepeau tossed an anchor overboard to mark the spot, noted the position and promised his wife Rachel he would find it. She offered to buy him a new ring. He refused. Undeterred, Taumoepeau returned to the harbour a year later and plunged into the freezing waters armed with new co-ordinates garnered from Google Earth and his day job at Niwa. After an hour in the water, and a little prayer, Taumoepeau saw the anchor, and there, centimetres away, the wedding ring. 
(20 August 2009)

Bond is back 
After a two-year break from international cricket Christchurch fast bowler Shane Bond, 34, is ready for a comeback starting with a one-day tri-series in Sri Lanka on September 2 and 4. Bond is currently in Chennai with New Zealand 'A', featuring in an Indian domestic tournament to gain useful match practice in sub-continent conditions. He took three wickets in his first outing last week. "I pushed myself as hard as I could in terms of my training, in terms of all the preparation and build-up," he said. "I feel I'm really in good shape. I figure because I've had two years pretty quiet and I have got a couple of years left I don't want to spend most of my time watching guys play, I want to just play." 
(23 August 2009)

Mongolia on horseback 
Tekapo man Dave Murray, 29, now based in Perth, is one of four New Zealanders taking part in the 1000km-long Mongol Derby, which began on August 22 and runs for two weeks. The race follows Genghis Khan's communication system route to get messages from Mongolia to Eastern Europe in a fortnight, which is the 26 riders' time-limit. The other three New Zealanders participating are: South Seas Film and Television School director Dave Coddington of Helensville, and London-based women Charlotte Davison and Hannah Ritchie. Murray, who had to lose 12kg to meet the 85kg limit for riders, is raising money for the Christina Noble Children's Foundation which helps homeless Mongolians by providing them with a ger - a traditional Mongolian felt tent. Prior to the race Murray said he was eagerly anticipating the challenge. "I love setting these sorts of goals and throwing myself in the deep end. It's the sense of adventure, a great opportunity to do something pretty extreme."
(19 August 2009)

Afghan Warrior signs up
Seventeen-year-old Afghan refugee Omar Slaimankhel has signed a two-year contract with the Vodafone Warriors and "after surviving the kind of dangers his family has endured, playing rugby league must seem like a stroll in the park," writes Steve Kilgallon for The Sydney Morning Herald. Omar's family found refuge in New Zealand when he was three. That period of torment has opened up a life of opportunity for Omar, who hails from a family that is now something of an unlikely sporting dynasty. Omar's uncle was a 100m sprint champion in Pakistan. His cousin, Khalid, is a champion bodybuilder and powerlifter preparing for the Australasian championships next month. His older brother, Sabir, has also been a competitive weightlifter and played premier rugby in Otago. Omar has four brothers, while Khalid is one of six and almost all of them have played in first XVs. The NRL believes he's the first Afghan to become a professional league player. He says with a laugh: "I reckon I'd be the first Afghan professional sportsman." 
(16 August 2009)

Tasman union imminent 
Flights between New Zealand and Australia will soon be as cheap as domestic flights under new efforts to streamline trans-Tasman travel. Following talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, travellers could benefit from no departure fees, the scrapping of duplicate quarantine, customs and security checks and allowing planes to land at domestic terminals. The two countries would recognise each other's security, immigration and quarantine checks, effectively setting up a "high ring fence" similar to that in the European Union. Open border air travel is not unprecedented. A similar model has been operating between the US and Canada for about six years, where customs and security clearances at the end of the journey were abolished.
(16 August 2009)

Massive comparisons 
Wellington soul collective Fat Freddys Drop released their second album Dr Boondigga & the Big BW earlier this year, an album which according to Guardian reviewer Neil Spencer has an "infectious mix of retro-soul and dub reggae, heavy with brass and fronted by the silky falsetto of Dallas Tamaira." Spencer continues: "The default style remains the relaxed, loping groove, as on 'Pull the Catch', but 'Shiverman' is a 10-minute, trance-style thriller, and there are excursions into hip-hop and jazz on 'The Nod', while the embattled positivism on 'Wild Wind' casts them as an antipodean Massive Attack." Fat Freddys Drop formed in 2001. 
(16 August 2009)

Back to Blacks 
World champion Black Ferns will play a rare double-header with the All Blacks against England at London's Twickenham on November 21 — something Black Ferns coach Brian Evans believed would inspire his players. "Twickenham has such great rugby history so it will be fantastic for the Ferns. Also getting the opportunity to play after the All Blacks versus England test is a great honour," Evans said. The England women's rugby team are the chief rivals of the Black Ferns, having played them in the last two women's World Cup finals — in 2002 and 2006. The Black Ferns won both those finals. The Black Ferns are playing two Tests against England and one international against England A as part of their build-up to the 2010 World Cup. 
(12 August 2009)

On the fringe 
Rhys Darby heads to Edinburgh for his sixth Fringe Festival and a new stand-up show which includes some "very different little unique New Zealand characters" including the "man's man" Park Ranger, amateur whale-watcher Ron Taylor and obsessive UFOlogist Steve Whittle. It was Darby's long periods of time spent away from home — in the UK and now the US — that made him want to start exploring these different New Zealand archetypes. "You can really look back at your country and get a completely different scope on how the people are," Darby says. "When you're living with them and amongst them, you're just part of them, but when you look back from a distance you can pinpoint characters and abnormalities and funniness that they wouldn't really see." 
(8 August 2009)

Clark enjoys anonymity 
Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) former Prime Minister Helen Clark, 59, has told the Dominion Post that "New Zealand is just not quite big enough for me at the moment" and that it is not her nature to sit on the sidelines. Clark took over the reins at the world body's global development network in New York last April, the first woman to do so. Today she oversees an annual UNDP budget of six billion dollars and a global army of thousands of highly motivated people tasked with spearheading the UN drive to achieve eight poverty-reduction Millennium Development Goals by 2015. "I was looking for a new challenge commensurate with what I had been doing," she told AFP. "I was the only person who came forward with my sort of skills," she said. Clark also chairs the UN development group. 
(7 August 2009)

Disney's newest princess
Orewa-raised actress Emily Robins, 21, is enjoying international success starring in the Disney Channel's latest tween hit The Elephant Princess, where she plays Alex, a regular suburban girl who discovers she is a princess in the magical kingdom of Manjipoor. Robins started her career as Clare Solomon on Shortland Street — "that was my drama school" — and scored the part in The Elephant Princess after producers extended their search across the Tasman, finding Robins and casting her just days before filming commenced. One of her co-stars, Liam Hemsworth, has already been elevated to the status of Hollywood heartthrob, playing Miley Cyrus' onscreen boyfriend in her latest movie The Last Song. 
(13 August 2009)

No thanks to Sir 
Actor Sam Neill has turned down a knighthood saying the title was "just far too grand". His views were echoed by other well-known New Zealanders, including Maori activist and author Ranginui Walker, who said there was "a certain snobbishness" attached to knighthoods. "All modesty aside, I find the idea of a title for myself just too grand at this time of my life," Neill said. Neill stars as last surviving benevolent alien Mr Jones in the film adaptation of Maurice Gee's acclaimed book Under the Mountain, which screens in cinemas from December 10.
(2 August 2009)

Digging a little deeper 
The work of Auckland-based digital and multimedia artist Lisa Reihana is deconstructed in the winter 2009 issue of Art & Australia by feature writer Jon Bywater. Titled 'Mana and Glamour', the article looks beyond well-catalogued ideas that have dominated past readings of Reihana's work. "The clarity and power with which Reihana's work speaks to these large, perhaps deceptively obvious-seeming concepts [ethnicity and gender], however, may have distracted critics from other features of her distinctive aesthetic." Her current major, ongoing work 'Digital Marae', for example, "is beyond simply Maori, of course, and is non-traditional (so, in one sense, non-Maori) in more ways than through asserting a female role in constructing a formal meeting place. The work's central, critical expression of traditional concepts in new media intersects in complex ways with other characteristics: its lush, glossy surfaces; its dimmed light and digital brightness; its fantasy art and fashion connotations. These are some of the qualities necessary for a fuller account of the work's power." 
(July/August 2009)

Bledisloe Cup memories 
All Black Evan "Ted" Jessep, who was born in 1904 and died in 1983, debuted for New Zealand in 1931 at Eden Park against the Wallabies as the second hooker in a two-man front row before taking the position of prop in helping Australia win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time against New Zealand in 1904. Jessep hooked for New Zealand in the first Test of the 1932 series, helping his adopted country claim the Bledisloe Cup in its inaugural year of trans-Tasman competition, and when New Zealand lost the trophy two years later, Jessep was there again, on this significant occasion propping in the Australian front row. Australia and New Zealand had played Test rugby against each other since 1903 without any trophy awarded, and the Governor-General of New Zealand, a rugby buff named Lord Bledisloe, decided the situation had to be changed, donating a pure silver metre-high cup. It is of such value that the winning team and its captain have borne the trophy on a triumphant circuit of the Test ground, drank their champagne from it and then surrendered it to its guardians, who rush it back into its security in a jeweller's safe. 
(24 July 2009)

Pretty as a pair 
The newest and most adorable additions to the Auckland Zoo arrived last month with the birth of two baby Asian Otters. Asian otters are closely related to ferrets and skunks and are the smallest of all 13 species. The babies, who are small enough to fit in your hand, were introduced to the public on July 23. 
(24 July 2009)

Lifetime of history 
Dunedin historian Hew Mcleod, world-renowned for his work researching Sikh history, has died aged 77. McLeod first travelled to Punjab in 1958 as a Christian missionary. Soon after settling down in Batala, 40km from Amritsar, Mcleod found his interest in Christianity waning and was drawn to Sikh history. "Mcleod played a major role in establishing and popularising the academic study of Sikhism outside India. He leaves behind a body of work on Sikhism which will be a source of reference to the coming generations of Sikh scholars," Roopinder Singh, author of Guru Nanak: His Life and Teachings said. Academic I.J. Singh said he was an international authority on the religion and perhaps the best known outside Punjab and India. "It is because of a few writers and Hew McLeod above all, that the world has any inkling of Sikhism as an independent religion, with a unique, universal and timeless world view. He brought Sikhism to Western academia," Singh said. A recent documentary called Hew McLeod: A Kiwi Sikh Historian by Manawatu Standard writer Jasmine Pujji and produced by Asia Downunder tells McLeod's story of a lifetime researching the Sikh people of India.
(21 July 2009)

Flying doctors 
New Zealand hospitals and medical clinics are attracting American doctors hoping to find "adventure, fulfillment" and a change. Kathryn T. Starkey, MD, a gynecologist in a two-physician practice in Auburn, N.Y., liked providing medical care but didn't want to see more patients in less time. She wanted to eat lunch at a table rather than in her car while driving to the hospital, if she ate at all. "Something had to give. I wanted to try something else, and I was willing to be far away from home." About 9,000 miles from home, as it turned out — in New Zealand. "It's different than just traveling to a country for a week or two. You really change the way you live," said Bruce M. Lovelace IV, MD, a psychiatrist in Portsmouth, Va. "There's a lot of things you need to get used to, but it's a lot of fun." Lovelace completed a one-year position in Wellington arranged with Global Medical Staffing in Murray, Utah. 
(20 July 2009)

Extolling winged virtues 
A New Zealand manufactured turbine-powered bush plane, the P750 XSTOL is being promoted in Alaska by a Californian dealer who says the aircraft rivals the traditional Cessna turbine aircraft for travel in the American state. Ray Ferrell, a demonstration pilot with Utility Aircraft USA, which is the distributor for Hamilton-based Pacific Aerospace Ltd., said the XSTOL would work well on rural Alaska's short runways, and it has the capacity of carry heavy loads. The aircraft is a basic nine-place, low-wing, single turbine plane powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6. It can haul a combined 4,428 pounds of cargo and passengers, and is designed as an alternative to the Cessna Caravan. Local pilot Lars Gleitsman flew the XSTOL and said the visibility from the cockpit was excellent. "It is much like a helicopter canopy below your legs, which gives the pilot good view of the ground, even at high angles of attack," Gleitsman said. "And it is much more roomy than the Cessna 208 cockpit."
(17 July 2009)

Paddock to plate  
New Zealand chefs and consumers are increasingly embracing diverse homegrown produce, with Queenstown's Saffron restaurant at the forefront of this "quiet revolution" explains Australia's Special Broadcasting Service. Sourced from the restaurant's surrounding environs is an extravagant, imaginative menu featuring such delights as risotto of Dunedin coast crayfish, Queen scallops and paua from the Caitlins. In addition to sourcing from local suppliers, Saffron owner Pete Gawron hand-harvests wild produce from the nearby mountains, including snowberries, birch boletus (a fungal relative of porcini) and puffball mushrooms (considered a delicacy in Europe). Gawron is far from the only chef being inspired by native produce. Another is Jason Dell, former executive chef for the exclusive Blanket Bay at Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown and now Corporate Executive Chef for AC2 International, a privately owned hospitality company. "As in many other countries, 'paddock-to-plate' is increasingly more common," says Dell. 
(8 July 2009)

Pakiri paradise 
Horse-riding on a secluded North Island beach is one of the activities included in the series and accompanying BBC book Unforgettable Things To Do Before You Die; examiner.com reporter Jenna Voigt decides to complete the challenge on the Island's east coast amidst the sand dunes of Pakiri Beach. "Trail guides tell the story of the area while winding along forested paths on the short ride to the beach. Cresting a high dune, a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean spreads out below. Over nine miles of white sand stretch along the water, unmarred by commercial development. There is nothing but surf, sky, and the sound of horses' hoofs drumming softly in the sand." Unforgettable Things To Do Before You Die is the second in the BBC series. 
(6 July 2009)

On show in Melbourne 
New Zealand jeweller and artist Warwick Freeman is exhibiting his new work, 'Spring Collection', at Gallery Funaki in Melbourne until 1 August. Freeman has been making jewellery for over 25 years and is credited with helping revolutionise the contemporary practice in Aotearoa in the 1980's. His work, according to the Arts Foundation of New Zealand "has an air of distilled simplicity, a considered response to the imagery and aesthetic of our collective culture, jewellery that speaks about the complexities of living in Aotearoa New Zealand." Freeman regularly exhibits in New Zealand and Australia, as well as in Europe and the USA. His works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; Auckland Museum; the New Dowse, Lower Hutt; the Danner Stiftung, Munich; the Helen Drutt Collection, Philadelphia; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand, Wellington.
(20 July 2009)

Sting in UK market 
Family-owned business Nelson Honey is seeking approval to market its bee venom honey in Britain, claiming the product alleviates the symptoms of arthritis. Britain's Food Safety Authority has to approve the marketing of any "novel food" to check it is safe. More than 13 million pots of bee venom honey have been sold in New Zealand over the last decade. Nelson's most popular bee venom honey is called Nectar Ease, which sells for $21.95 (£8.95) for a 500g pot. It contains a blend of honey derived from the native manuka and dried venom harvested from the Apis mellifera honeybee using electrical milking machines that send impulses to stimulate worker bees to sting through a latex film onto a glass collector plate. 
(3 July 2009)

Revered geochemist dies 
Port Chalmers-born Smithsonian scientist Brian Harold Mason, who was internationally known for his study of meteorites and moon rocks and who was the first to discover that a rock found in Antarctica came from the moon, has died at his home in the United States, aged 92. "Brian Mason was probably the best known and most revered geochemist of his generation," said chair of the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History Sorena Sorensen. "He was one of the last polymaths of the earth sciences that we'll ever see. He could look at a rock and know something important about it. He could pick it up and elicit its story." While examining meteorites collected by US expeditions to Antarctica, Mason wrote in his notes that they seemed to be rocks from the moon, an idea that astrophysicists had said was impossible. Unwilling to show up other scholars in the field, his published comment was that they "had a passing resemblance to certain Apollo 15 lunar rocks." Within a year, other scientists agreed. It wasn't the first or last time his work forced a reconsideration of an entire field. In recognition of his accomplishments, an asteroid appearing between Mars and Jupiter was named 12926Brianmason. Two minerals, Brianite and Stenhuggarite (from the Swedish "stenhuggar," meaning "mason") also carry his name. Mason graduated from New Zealand's University of Canterbury in 1936, from which he later received master's degrees in chemistry and geology. He became a US citizen in the 1970s. Among his many honors, he won the Leonard Medal from the Meteoritical Society in 1972 and the Roebling Medal from the Mineralogical Society of America in 1993. 
(9 December 2009)

Return to form (momentarily) Christchurch fast bowler Shane Bond's return to Test cricket has seen the Black Caps score a 32-run win over Pakistan in the first Test at Dunedin's University Oval. Bond, 34, took eight wickets and the man-of-the-match title. "It was perfect really, it's why you want to play Test cricket because it is a true test and it has mental highs and lows," Bond said. Asked what his expectations were for his first test in two years, a tired-looking Bond, whose bloody, nailess left toe told the story of his tireless efforts, summed it up with one word — wickets. "My expectation is always to bowl well and take wickets," he said. "I firmly believed we were going to win the test match and that we were good enough to win it. I'm pleased to have come through it." (NB: Shane Bond has just announced his retirement from test cricket — heart willing, body not). 
(28 November 2009)

Return to self 
Flight of the Conchords duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement have ended their HBO series after two seasons. On their website, the pair said: "We're very proud of the two seasons we made, and we like the way the show ended. While the characters Bret and Jemaine will no longer be around, the real Bret and Jemaine will continue to exist." Flight of the Conchords won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album for their Distant Future EP. 
(10 December 2009)

Working to live 
New Zealander Michelle Clark-Smith, 32, who is now based in Durango, Colorado, is "building a semi-professional ski career for herself in tandem with her partner-in-crime and husband, longtime local photographer Scott DW Smith". In the autumn of 2007, Clark-Smith came to "check out Durango" and never left. First it was a Purgatory season pass, which she worked off as a ski model for the resort. Then came other sponsorships from Wagner Custom Skis, BCA, Leki, Smith Optics, Flylow Gear, Hestra and Osprey Packs. She has also been seen in Colorado Ski Country USA, Durango Magazine, Pagosa Magazine and various catalogues and resort marketing publications. This winter, I-70 commuters will see her on a billboard ad for Chicago Ridge Snowcats. Clark-Smith grew up around New Zealand's Southern Alps. In 1999, she secured a job as a chef at a club field in Castle Hill Basin near the Craigieburn Range where at the age of 20, she taught herself to ski. By 2003, Clark-Smith was turning out notable results on the New Zealand freeskiing competition circuit. 
(10 December 2009)

Smooth operator 
New Zealand-based bus manufacturer DesignLine, which already has three 37-seater vehicles valued at $784,000 operating as part of a pilot scheme in New York City, may be joined by 87 more buses by the end of the year. The newest addition to New York City's formidable bus fleet — the experimental DesignLine turbine hybrid — is notable mainly for a feature it does not have: noise. "Quiet as a tomb," declared Doreen Frasca, an appointee to the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who has taken the bus several times in the last month. Silence, that rare commodity on the city streets, is achieved by throwing out the most basic element of automobile design: internal combustion. Instead of a noisy, piston-based engine, the DesignLine operates on a spinning turbine that recharges a lithium-ion battery, a green energy source more commonly found inside laptop computers. That means fewer moving parts, and fewer ways to create a racket. DesignLine International Holdings employs between 130 and 150 people in Ashburton and last year set up a second manufacturing plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. New Zealander John Turton started the business 23 years ago but sold out to a North Carolina-based investment group in 2006. 
(6 December 2009)

Eastern tastes approve 
Many newcomers drawn to New Zealand's quality of life are of Asian descent observes Ming Wong writing for the Chinese publication Global Times. "This explains why cities such as Auckland and Christchurch now offer a variety of decent Asian cuisines. In Riccarton, a working class suburb of Christchurch, I had authentic-tasting xiaolongbao. In Lake Tekapo, surely one of the most scenic locations in the country, I ate silky smooth salmon sashimi at the Japanese Kohan restaurant. New Zealand cooking as a whole has gone both gourmet and upmarket, with a lot of emphasis on organic ingredients, sophisticated cooking and pleasing décor. Even in a small place like Arrowtown (population 2151), we had the choice between Thai, Indian, a lovely-looking English pub lunch and a chic Italian place." 
(8 December 2009)

Pinot pleases 
New Zealand pinot noir Craggy Range is surpassing its American equivalents in blind tastings for critics. This autumn, at New York restaurant Eleven Madison, six top pinot noirs from California, Oregon and Burgundy (the most expensive of which was US$425 per bottle) were served blind alongside six of Craggy Range's pinots. The two dozen or so tasters were asked to guess where each wine was from, then rank them on taste from one to 12. In the final scoring, an average among all the tasters' scores, Craggy Range dominated, claiming tasting spots one through five. Its sixth entry came in eighth place. A similar thing occurred at a tasting, a few weeks prior, for several critics and writers in San Francisco. There, Craggy Range's Bordeaux-style merlot, called Sophia (US$50), bested a range of top Bordeaux wines as well as some other entries from New Zealand. The Château Mouton-Rothschild Pauillac 2006 (US$695) landed in 11th place out of 12. 
(3 December 2009)

Arias for chanteuse 
Ladyhawke picked up two awards in the breakthrough single and album categories at the recent 2009 Australian Music Awards (Arias). The 30-year-old singer, originally from Masterton, performed her single 'My Delirium' live at the awards in Sydney. Ladyhawke, aka Phillipa Brown, said it had been an amazing year for her since releasing her self-titled solo album. "I wanted to write exactly the sort of music I would want to listen to myself," she said. "I've always been huge pop fan and I wanted to experiment with pop and push myself and see how far I could go. "I think it's really cool because I never thought of myself as a pop star or a pop type person." In early December, Ladyhawke participated in the UK No Surrender Charitable Trust celebrity auction. Her work was exhibited alongside the likes of Placebo, Friendly Fires and The Crave in a show called Art of Music '09 at Proud Gallery in Camden. 
(27 November 2009)

Planet Earth is blue 
From Great Mercury Island, 18km off the Coromandel Peninsula, Mark Rocket and Peter Beck of privately-owned company Rocket Lab successfully launched the 6-metre rocket Atea-1 into space. The rocket, which was carrying a 2kg payload of nearly 23,000 messages to dead people from family members around the world, reached an altitude of 100km before falling into the Pacific Ocean. It is the first time a privately-owned rocket has been launched in the southern hemisphere. Rocket was the first New Zealander to make a booking on Richard Branson's proposed Virgin Galactic first flight. He changed his name by deed poll from Mark Stevens about seven years ago. Rocket said the feeling after the launch was "profound" and one of "pure elation, incredible". "A lot of people were crying. It was really dramatic. The power of the rocket is just incredible," he said.
(30 November 2009)

Catton shortlisted 
Wellington author Eleanor Catton, shortlisted for the 2009 Guardian first book award for her debut novel The Rehearsal, talks to the newspaper about the book's beginnings, its inspiration and the "hardest bits". "In my honours year at university I'd become massively excited about the idea of the performativity of selfhood, particularly with respect to gender. The Rehearsal grew outward from these ideas, I think — the characters and the plot really came second. Teenagers are so wonderfully self-conscious about their own selfhood, and this hypersensitivity turns everything into a performance of a kind. In this way the high school setting provided me with a good platform to explore the ideas I was interested in. Also, the experience of adolescence was still fairly fresh in my mind — I was 20 when I started writing the book." The winner of the award will be announced in December. The award comes with a £10,000 prize plus an advertising package in the Guardian and the Observer for an author's first book published in 2009. 
(28 November 2009)

In living memory 
"Three decades ago, New Zealand was a mass of tears. The country suffered its worst air tragedy ever when, on November 28, 1979, an Air New Zealand plane on a sightseeing flight over Antarctica slammed into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 on board. And given New Zealand's 1970s population of just three million, it's not surprising almost everyone knew someone who was on the Erebus flight, or at least knew someone who knew someone on the doomed jet. Two hundred Kiwis, 24 Japanese, 22 Americans, six Britons, two Canadians, one Australian, one French and one Swiss were dead. The national grieving was overwhelming but the extreme sadness was soon replaced with bitter anger as the country's national carrier fumbled in its dealings with victims and the public. But after 30 years of hurt, the country has finally started to mend its Erebus wounds thanks to an apology from the airline many believed was very belated. At an October ceremony in Auckland, company boss Rob Fyfe admitted the carrier had made mistakes. 'I can't turn the clock back. I can't undo what has been done, but as I look forward I'd like to take the next step on our journey by saying sorry.' It was a huge step forward for the nation, which has not allowed a single tourist flight to Antarctica from New Zealand since the disaster. But recovery is still in baby steps." 
(29 November 2009)

Out damn pests 
New Zealand's possum population has halved over the last 20 years down from 70 million in the 1980s to approximately 30 million. Possum control is carried out over 13 million hectares, which is about half the total area of vegetation in New Zealand. Landcare Research says it is working. Around Wellington the possum population has reduced by almost 90 per cent. Possum hunter Stu Bennett says controlling possums helps reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis and protects New Zealand's forests. "It's about $NZ100 (per kg [of possum]) at the moment. People can make a living off it." Bennett says possums might be cute, but that does not cut it in New Zealand. "Well, 70 million possums speaks for itself," he says. "They've made a huge, huge mess to our forests. But there's also video evidence of them eating our native birds, eating the eggs. They've really had a huge impact."
(26 November 2009)

Pursuing world domination 
The Christchurch-designed YikeBike has been named one of Time magazine's 50 Best Inventions of 2009, making the cover of the publication's Asia edition. "It's like getting your first Big Wheel all over again — and you don't even have to pedal. An innovative bicycle-design concept derived from the old-fashioned penny-farthing, the YikeBike is a folding electric bicycle invented by Invercargill man Grant Ryan. The rider sits on the seat, holds on at the sides and zooms around at a top speed of 20 km/h. You lean left or right to steer, and it even comes with electronic antiskid brakes. The first 100 YikeBikes will be road-ready by mid-2010 in New Zealand as well as the UK and selected other countries in Europe. The YikeBike weighs roughly 9kg and runs on a lithium phosphate battery that can be charged to 80 per cent capacity in 20 minutes. "Our big, hairy goal — which is so crazy it is laughable — is to design something that could be the most commonly owned transport device in the world. At the moment, it is bikes," says Ryan. "We're after world domination." 
(November 2009)

Common southern goal 
Twizel pilot Kylie Wakelin, 36, is one of eight women skiing to the South Pole in a trek to mark the anniversary of the Commonwealth grouping of 53 former British colonies. Skiing six to 10 hours a day, they expect to travel 800km across the frozen southern continent to the pole in about 40 days. Each is towing a sledge with food and gear weighing some 80kg. The Commonwealth Women's Antarctic Expedition will face blinding blizzards, winds in excess of 130km/h, hidden crevasses and temperatures that plummet to minus 40°C. In recent years, Wakelin has taken part in ski-touring and mountaineering expeditions to Norway, Greenland, Alaska, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. She has also previously worked in Antarctica for the British Antarctic Survey. Wakelin says an all women's expedition has always been a goal. "I hope to inspire women in the 30's-plus age bracket that 'anything is possible with a dream, a plan and a lot of determination,' Wakelin says. 
(23 November 2009)

Hawaiian theories 
New Zealand may have been settled by sea-faring Hawaiians according to a new study of Polynesian canoe designs by Stanford University. The idea that ancient Hawaiians could have made the 4,400-mile journey south shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with recent travels by modern-day voyagers using traditional navigation methods, according to the University's lead researcher Deborah Rogers. New Zealand, or Aotearoa, was the last Polynesian island group to be settled, and it's not clear who got there first. Various theories, including a direct Hawai'i link based on similarities in language, mythology and oral history and genealogies, have been promoted and dismissed over the past century. Most experts now believe New Zealand was colonised from the Cook or Society Islands around 1000 A.D. The study, "Inferring population histories using cultural data," appears in the November 7 journal of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 
(15 November 2009)

Least bent 
New Zealand is the least corrupt country in the world according to the annual Transparency International index which ranked 180 countries on a scale of zero to 10 with zero being perceived as highly corrupt and 10 as having low levels of corruption. New Zealand topped the table with a score of 9.4 after coming second last year. In second place was last year's leader, Denmark with 9.3 followed by Singapore and Sweden tying at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0. "Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well-performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society," said chairwoman of Transparency International Huguette Labelle. 
(18 November 2009)

Digging for a tipple 
Next year, a team of New Zealand explorers led by Glenorchy man Al Fastier will head to Antarctica to try to recover 25 crates of rare McKinlay and Co whiskey gifted to Ernest Shackleton for his 1909 expedition to the South Pole. ABC New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie talked to Fastier about his forthcoming trip and whether or not the whiskey will taste any good a century on. Fastier said: "We will be spending some time at Shackleton's Hut and the purpose of going there is to excavate the whisky from under the hut. We found it in 2006 and due to weather conditions and the excavation has been delayed until this year. So we are very excited to get in and do the work this season." The Glasgow distillers which made it, Whyte and Mackay, had asked the explorers to bring back a sample of the whisky so it can carry out some experiments. The company's master blender Richard Paterson believes if the corks have stayed in place and the whisky has been airtight, the taste might not have changed and the distillers might be able to recreate it. 
(17 November 2009)

All Whites make history 
The All Whites have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa beating Bahrain 1–nil at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. Striker Rory Fallon, 27, scored the only goal of the game to help New Zealand qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1982. Fallon, who plays for English Championship side Plymouth Argyle, scored the decisive goal just before the half-time break when he headed home from a Bertos corner. New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen paid tribute to the 35,194 fans — a record for a football match in the country — for their inspirational support at the match. "The crowd was incredible and I don't know if we could have won it without them," the Blackburn Rovers defender said. "They were our 12th man today and they got us home. I've played in some incredible atmospheres but this is right up there." New Zealand Football could earn up to $10m just for qualifying for South Africa and that money will bankroll the development plans. 
(14 November 2009)

Modest wrecking ball 
"Put simply: when Richie McCaw plays, New Zealand tend to win; when he doesn't, they don't," states Telegraph sports writer Paul Ackford as part of a week-long debate in the publication to decide who really is the current greatest rugby player in the world. "I brook no argument on this," Ackford continues. "You can trumpet your Jonny Wilkinsons, your Brian O'Driscolls, your Bryan Habanas, your Victor Matfields, even your Dan Carters, as long and as loud as you like, but McCaw is the man. McCaw's success rate is phenomenal, not just as a hunter of midfield backs but as a wrecking ball who forces turnovers. And he has done this for nine seasons in an area of the game that has become brutal to the point of masochism, and over a period where the techniques for retrieving and protecting the ball have been subject to a multiplicity of interpretation. It would be very wrong, and a serious misreading of what's important in and around big rugby matches, to let his innate modesty or this generation's puerile demand for simple and instant gratification to undermine his claim to greatness. In a complex game, McCaw does the difficult better than anyone." 
(31 October 2009)

Shifting the spotlight 
New Zealand's national soccer team, the All Whites, stole the limelight from its better-known rugby compatriots the All Blacks Saturday by securing a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa — a refreshing change for a country whose sports pages are usually dominated by the oval-shaped ball. New Zealand defeated Bahrain 1–0 in the return leg of the Oceania-Asia playoff game, after the first leg had finished in a scoreless draw. According to the Wall Street Journal's Gabriele Marcotti, the All Whites can thank two countries for their spot at the World Cup next year: Australia (who successfully petitioned to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), leaving New Zealand as "Oceania's default juggernauts") and USA — four of the players in the squad played college soccer in the United States, including captain Ryan Nelsen, who went to Stanford. 
(15 November 2009)

Auckland's happy herd 
In January 2010, the California Department of Food and Agriculture will film a new series of 10 California "Happy Cows" commercials in Auckland, taking advantage of New Zealand's low production costs, but much to the chagrin of local union officials angry to learn that the state milk board was farming out television work to foreign locales. The latest series, which began last year, features New Zealand cows representing bovines from around the world auditioning to be the next California Happy Cow. Like American Idol, viewers can then go on the board's website and vote for their favorite cow. Although Los Angeles remains the bread-and-butter capital for commercial shoots, it faces growing competition from foreign locales, including countries such as New Zealand and Argentina that offer substantial financial incentives. 
(13 November 2009)

Future bright in print 
The future of New Zealand's 23 daily newspapers is bright and not likely to follow international trends of downsizing. Wairarapa-based publisher and writer Ian Grant said the country's small regionally-based newspaper market continued to make papers relevant and the most cost effective way to reach consumers. "You can't obviously look out into the far distance. But I would think that in the foreseeable future it is strong here," Grant said. He said newspaper revenue was still higher than any other mediums and very few had closed in recent years. Grant's findings are part of a book he is writing, which looks into the history of New Zealand newspapers from 1840 to the present. 
(10 November 2009)

Creative in Cardiff 
Fly half Dan Carter "played sublimely" against Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff despite jeers from the capacity crowd, writes the Guardian's Eddie Butler, "showing no sign of the calf injury that had persuaded some in Wales that he would not be fit to play". New Zealand beat Wales 19–12 and Carter was named Man of the Match. "Jerome Kaino did a huge amount of work too at the tackle area, driving players off their feet. Ma'a Nonu heaved opponents out of the way. Richie McCaw did the rest, slipping the ball away from Welsh arms. Carter, curse him, felled another Welsh attacker with a ruthlessness that partly explains why Wales haven't beaten New Zealand since 1953. They are better players, which helps." 
(7 November 2009)

Not taking punches 
New Zealand-born Charlotte Dawson, 43, co-host of Australian reality boxing show The Contender, talks candidly to The Age about the programme and what she knows about the opposite sex. "Women want to be open and communicate; they want closure," Dawson says. "Men can just walk away." Dawson then describes Contender: "Look, it's a contact sport, and it's about inflicting violence physically on someone with your fists. That's the mindset, and it must be extremely hard on their wives and girlfriends [she calls them BAGs, the boxing equivalent of football's WAGs], for eight weeks before a fight, because that's the preparation time. They go into some crazy zones." In New Zealand, Dawson has hosted Getaway, How's Life? and Charlotte's Lists. She was recently a judge on Australia's Next Top Model. 
(3 November 2009)

On the Conchord cult 
Actor and Conchord Jemaine Clement talks about his latest film Gentleman Broncos and the future of 'Hiphopopotamus' and 'Rhymenoceros' with Paul Fischer in an exclusive Moviehole interview. Fischer asks Clement about his reaction to the cult-like status of The Flight of the Conchords amongst Americans. "Well, it's made the live shows a really pretty amazing experience for us, because we started off playing to about ten people a week and — for a very long time," Clement responds. "Our biggest audience was, like, 20,000 people." Though the pair have decided not to continue with a third series, Clement says they haven't ruled out a film or a "finale". Clement has recently finished recording a voice for the computer-animated Despicable Me and New Zealand film Predicament, based on the novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, which was published posthumously in 1975. Predicament will be released in New Zealand and Australia next year. 
(2 November 2009)

Monaco reigns supreme 
New Zealand businessman and philanthropist Owen Glen's three-year-old colt Monaco Consul, raced by jockey Corey Brown, has won the $A1.5 million Victoria Derby at Flemington, one of the most prestigious races in Australia. Monaco Consul is trained by Michael Moroney, who trained Second Coming to win the Derby in 1997 and who also has stables in Matamata. "We trained [Monaco Consul] in the English style and sent him out with a pacemaker a few times and it worked," Moroney said. "He hadn't raced for a month but he has had some very good gallops and eats really well. He has such a good turn of foot and when Corey went for him he put it beyond doubt." The 2500m of the Victoria Derby is regarded as the toughest test for early three-year-olds, but Monaco Consul made it look simple when he and jockey Corey Brown ranged up and went past Extra Zero to beat him by a length. 
(1 November 2009)

Sweet solutions 
Researchers at the University of Auckland are working with dairy company Fonterra to develop a "medical dessert" which is proving to be useful in reducing the side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer sufferers. The ice cream, called ReCharge, is using active ingredients from dairy products to relieve diarrhoea, anaemia and lack of appetite in people undergoing chemotherapy. Participants in a trial have been eating a 100 gram tub of the strawberry-flavoured ice cream each day. "The two bio-active milk components developed for ReCharge have the unique potential to assist the body in coping with the side effects of chemotherapy," Fonterra's chief technology office Jeremy Hill said. 
(29 October 2009)

Dengate Thrush translates 
New Zealander Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of the board at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has been in charge of reviewing what is being touted as the "biggest change" to the internet "since it was invented 40 years ago". The body said it that it was finalising plans to introduce web addresses using non-Latin characters. The proposal — initially approved in 2008 — would allow domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts. Plans for IDNs were approved at a meeting in June 2008. However, testing of the system has been going on for much longer, said Dengate Thrush. "You have to appreciate what a fantastically complicated technical feature this is," he said. "What we have created is a different translation system." ICANN is headquartered in Marina del Rey, California. Dengate Thrush was appointed as chairman in November 2007. 
(27 October 2009)

One for the history books
Renowned New Zealand historian and writer, James Belich, has his latest book Replenishing the Earth: The Settler Revolution and the Rise of the Anglo-world reviewed by The Times' Bernard Porter, who believes Belich's fresh approach to old ideas have created a provocative and compelling read. "This is one of the most important works on the broad processes of modern world history to have appeared for years — arguably since Sir Charles Dilke's pioneering Greater Britain introduced a concept very like Belich's "Anglo-world" to his Victorian contemporaries in 1868," writes Porter. The crux of the book sets out to uncouple the terms 'setterlism' and 'imperialism' ("the most valuable insight of the book"), "to free the former from some of the stigmas attaching to the latter'" Belich deals with most of them, and one in particular: the injury (to put it mildly) done to most of the indigenous races that stood in the settlers' path. "[Replenishing the Earth] is written with verve and wit. Reading it is almost bound to undermine old assumptions, and to suggest radically new ways of thinking about why we are where we are (many of us), in the "Anglo-world", today." 
(23 September 2009)

Discovering risk 
Dr Rob Young, director of New Zealand-based Respiragene, developers of a genetic test designed for smokers, says that fear is a powerful motivator for smokers to quit the habit. The Respiragene test gives smokers a susceptibility score for lung cancer ranging from "moderate risk" to "very high risk". Receiving a personalised assessment can help smokers to overcome complacency about their risk, according to Dr Young, who says the "it won't happen to me" mentality is frequently a hurdle to quitting. Smokers can dramatically underestimate the risk of their own likelihood of contracting lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases, he said. Since the test was launched, Dr Young said that about 100 tests had been sold in New Zealand. Eventually, he said he hopes to market Respiragene to public health programmes. 
(24 October 2009)

Best role of all 
Rotorua-born actor Cliff Curtis, 41, talks to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about his role as flight medic Rabbit in NBC show Trauma. Curtis says it is "the most fun character" he has ever played. "He's got endless possibility, he's heroic, he's a bit of a goofball, [he's] masculine … [and] a character I've not had the opportunity to play in film," Curtis says. He has shocked the makers of the series shunning the use of a stunt man or special affects, including performing a medical procedure on himself while filming on a cliff-face. Executive producer Dario Scardapane described Curtis as a "super hero". He next stars in the M. Night Shyamalan fantasy film The Last Airbender as Fire Lord Ozai. The film is due for release in 2010. 
(25 October 2009)

Funksters release second 
The Flight of the Conchords have released their second album in the UK, I Told You I Was Freaky. The Guardian's Will Dean says "we told you they were funky" and offers readers some of the album's lyrical high points, which include in the track 'You Don't Have to be a Prostitute', a "'Roxanne'-like warning about the dangers of being a gigolo": "He's selling cheap thrills/To pay expensive bills/ But check your résumé/ You must have some other skills/ Do you have any other skills/ Like typing?". The Distant Future won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2007. 
(24 October 2009)

Basically extreme 
An image of a New Zealand base-jumper against a backdrop of Kuala Lumpur's skyline is one of the BBC's 'Week in Pictures'. Ninety-eight base jumpers took part in the annual International Tower Jump leaping off the 421m Malaysian building; the fifth tallest freestanding structure in the world. The extreme sport involves wearing a parachute and jumping from fixed objects. The word base stands for the four types of surface from which you can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (i.e. cliffs). Malaysia hosted the first base jump back in 1999. The numbers of spectators and participants in this annual event continues to increase every year as the sport grows more popular. 
(23 October 2009)

Bilingual in Kansas 
Auckland exchange student Fallon Simchowitz, 17, is spending a year abroad in Olathe, Kansas with a local deaf family. Simchowitz is deaf as are host family Ron and Kim Symansky and their three children. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem because they all communicate through sign language. But sign language, like spoken language, differs from country to country and even though New Zealanders and Americans speak English, many words have different meanings and spellings. Because of the differences in the languages, Simchowitz who is a senior at Kansas State School for the Deaf has become bilingual - in sign language. Though Simchowitz misses her homeland and family, she loves being in the United States. "It's wonderful here," she said. "Deaf people are more socialized into the general culture. And the shopping is great." After tertiary study back in Auckland, Simchowitz would like to attend Gaulladet University in Washington, D.C., which is one of the leading universities for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. 
(23 October 2009)

Conceptual costs 
Professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury and author of The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution Denis Dutton writes an opinion piece for The New York Times on the surprises conceptual art, and its link with money, continue to generate. Using the example of successful living artist Damien Hurst and the recent "impressive" estimate of one of his medicine cabinets at US$239,000, Dutton writes that the price tag is "rather more impressive than the work itself". "The pricey medicine cabinet belongs to a tradition of conceptual art: works we admire not for skillful hands-on execution by the artist, but for the artist's creative concept." Dutton continues, examining "why works of conceptual art have an inherent investment risk" and "look[s] back at the whole history of art, including art's most ancient prehistory." He summarises: "Future generations, no longer engaged by our art 'concepts' and unable to divine any special skill or emotional expression in the work, may lose interest in it as a medium for financial speculation and relegate it to the realm of historical curiosity. In this respect, I can't help regarding medicine cabinets, vacuum cleaners and dead sharks as reckless investments. Somewhere out there in collectorland is the unlucky guy who will be the last one holding the vacuum cleaner, and wondering why." 
(15 October 2009)

Bones for the Queen 
Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones has been selected to screen at November's Royal Film Performance in London's Leicester Square. Jackson said he is "honoured" it has been selected, adding its making has been "an extraordinary journey". The movie, based on Alice Sebold's 2002 best-selling book, stars Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz, and Mark Wahlberg. The charity premiere is the only time in the year the Queen visits the cinema. The Lovely Bones is released in the United States on December 11 and New Zealand on Boxing Day. 
(15 October 2009)

Compensation comparisons 
New Zealand "has some good ideas" when it comes to tort reform writes Newsweek blogger Katie Connolly, who uses this country's government-operated Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) as an example of a system the US ought to consider "within a comprehensive health-care reform package, particularly when the political upside is so evident." "In the US many patients' claims fail because they can't prove negligence. Many Americans harmed during their treatments are simply ineligible for compensation because they weren't victims of negligence. In New Zealand anyone who has suffers a medical injury, irrespective of whether it was the because of negligence, can receive compensation. They just need to prove a link between their treatment and the harm. New Zealand's commission is also significantly cheaper to operate than American's malpractice system. Instituting a commission-type system in the US would increase the number of people receiving compensation for poorly administered care, while decreasing the financial burden on the health-care system." Following the 1967 'Woodhouse Report' the Accident Compensation Commission was established in 1974 to operate the 1972 Accident Compensation Act, and the 1973 Amendments. 
(13 October 2009)

Accuracy under fire 
The Silver Ferns have won the inaugural six-nation Fastnet World Series against Jamaica in Manchester 32–27. The world number-two seed beat off stiff competition from an ever-improving Jamaican side to take the trophy at the MEN Arena. Coach Ruth Aitken lauded her team's ability to adapt to the new rules after her team lost round-robin matches to England and Australia to qualify third for the semifinals. "We were certainly slow starters in the tournament but probably in the end it's not how you start but how you finish that makes the difference," Aitken said. "A big difference was our confidence in each other and therefore a bit more accuracy in our passing," she said. "Earlier in the week we were turning over a bit too much ball, but yoday there was some real quality netball." The Silver Ferns went on to beat England in a one-off test 65–59 in extra time at Bath University. 
(12 October 2009)

Winning pair 
New Zealand showjumper Samantha McIntosh, 34, has won the closing class of the day at Britain's Horse of the Year show in Birmingham. McIntosh, who lives near Cologne, Germany, took the Zinc Management Trophy and £5000 with Loxley 38 riding in her first indoor show of the year and in a return to riding for New Zealand. McIntosh has been based in Germany for 14 years and rode for Bulgaria for nine of those before taking advantage of a rule which gave riders one last chance to revert. She runs her own business from the Hirtenhof stable of Patricia Luthi and Gunther Orshel in Aach, southern Germany. 
(9 October 2009)

Homemade impresses 
Wellington reggae seven-piece Fat Freddy's Drop is compared to 70's funk groups the Average White Band and War in a Guardian review of their latest nine-track album Boondigga & the Big BW. The group  — who took home two Tuis at the New Zealand Music Awards for Best Aotearoa Roots Album and Best Producer  — is a Gilles Petersen favourite, their previous 2005 album Based on a True Story voted worldwide album of the year by Petersen's BBC Radio 1 listeners. "Calling them a reggae group does not do justice to the range of genres they bring together, but 'The Raft' is a wonderful demonstration of their adventurous use of reggae studio techniques to deliver a song about survival through the challenges that lie ahead. Burning Spear would have been happy to sing with these horns behind him." 
(4 October 2009)

From serious to sassy 
Actress Anna Paquin says she was the "most serious 15-year-old ever" but she has certainly grown up with a vengeance. "Oh, [True Blood] is a really full-on sexy show," Paquin agrees easily, taking a sip of latte and fixing me with brown boot-button eyes. We are at Café Rouge in Highgate, north London. To play Sookie, Paquin, 27, has transformed herself, bleaching her brown hair and sporting a spray tan and a series of sexy outfits. It suits her, though; with her strong cheeks and mouth, and lack of vanity, she doesn't come across as remotely Baywatch - more Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich. Her work days are often 18 hours long, on location at the Warner Bros sound stages in West Hollywood, or Louisiana, and almost all her scenes are with co-star and fiancé Stephen Moyer, 40. Paquin also stars in horror film anthology Trick r' Treat as Laurie, a "22-year-old virgin" who turns into a werewolf. 
(5 October 2009)

Home in Iraq 
New Zealand's family-run Atconz Real Estate Development will spend $100 million on a housing development in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, near the regional capital Erbil. Plans for the "New Azadi" project call for the creation of 1565 houses ranging from modest, low-income homes to luxury villas. The project, announced at Dubai's Cityscape property expo, also envisions schools, a hotel, a supermarket and other facilities. Atconz chief executive Dean Michael said Iraq is the biggest emerging market in the region and will be for the next 20 years. "We believe in partnership with the government investment authorities in Iraq who have identified the need for 1.5 million new residential units across the country," Michael said. Construction is expected to start by the end of the year and to be completed in three years. Michael said the company would look to expand to Basra and Najaf in the south of Iraq if opportunities arose.
(5 October 2009)

Secret chic 
Air New Zealand Fashion Week held in late September in Auckland, is reviewed by The New York Times' blog 'The Moment', which deemed designer Kate Sylvester "the country's best-kept fashion secret". "Especially noteworthy were the oversize sweaters and chunky merino knickers at Stolen Girlfriends Club and Stitch Ministry's merino wool bodysuits, trimmed in 'eco fur.' Areez Katki, the week's biggest revelation, is also a knitter. His one-off dresses made using oversize knitting needles were spotted on local 'It' girls in and around the tents and were showcased for fashion week in the window of Auckland's coolest new store, Children of Vision." 
(1 October 2009)

Back in the ring 
Heavyweight champion David Tua, 36, returned to the ring in "smashing fashion" knocking out fellow countryman Shane Cameron, 31, in the second round after seven seconds obliterating his opponent with combinations, crushing him with a right hand and a fight-ending left hook knocking the bloody Cameron down near the ropes. ESPN's Dan Rafael continues with the roundup of the Hamilton fight: "Tua, who amazingly only fought for a world title once when he was dominated by then-champion Lennox Lewis in a lopsided decision loss in 2001 — has had multiple long layoffs in recent years for various reasons, including a severe falling out with his previous management and an ensuing court case. Maybe the time off will put him back into a fighting frame of mind, which would be great for the division. With Tua you know what you're going to get. He's a one-dimensional pressure fighter, but when he lands his left hand, he can knock any man on Earth out cold. That's what we like to see in heavyweights. Hopefully, it won't be another two years until Tua is back in the ring." 
(5 October 2009)

Looking at Labour 
Former New Zealand Rhodes Scholar and Vice Chancellor of Waikato University Bryan Gould writes in the Guardian that "barring a miracle, and miracles seem likely to be in short supply, [Britain's] Labour will lose the next election." "The question is not the survival of the Labour government, but the survival of Labour as a force in British politics … All is not lost. Political parties can and do recover from electoral wipeouts. My own native New Zealand provides a good and encouraging example. The New Zealand Labour government elected in 1984 confounded opponents and supporters alike by embarking on a ferocious revolution that saw New Zealand become the test-bed for a daring experiment in far-right, free market economics. By 1990, it was thumbs down, ushering in nine years of conservative government. By 1990, it was thumbs down, ushering in nine years of conservative government. Labour's return to office in 1999 competent and well-regarded government that not only won two further elections but also restored sense and order to New Zealand's political scene. Even after an election loss last year, Labour remains the government in waiting. Voters know that, if they want a left-of-centre government, Labour will deliver. Even in opposition, Labour remains identified with left positions and attitudes and is widely seen as where voters will go when they tire of the new conservative government." 
(3 October 2009)

Southern celebrations
Auckland-based singer-songwriter Caitlin Smith will perform at this year's ASB Queenstown JazzFest, a 10-day live music celebration from October 17 to 26. A sensational line-up of more than 50 bands and 200 local and international performers form a four pronged programme of free gigs, ticketed headline concerts, musical development and youth competition designed to involve, encourage, entertain and inspire all ages. Other acts include: Rodger Fox and Ray Woolf, the Neil Cowley Trio direct from the UK, the Baden Project, Batucada Sound Machine, Tambolele, and Tahuna Breaks. The ASB Queenstown JazzFest attracts approximately 21,000 visitors to the region over Labour Weekend and injects approximately $6 million into the local economy. 
(23 September 2009)

Artistic revolution 
For the first time in its 21-year history, the Montana World of WearableArt (WOW) competition, held in Wellington from September 24 to October 4, saw an international artist take the supreme award. Alaskan carpenter David Walker's Lady of the Wood was comprised of mahogany and lacewood with 52 strips of maple and cedar veneer for the hooped skirt and a wig made from wood shavings. WOW founder and director Suzie Moncrieff said there was no sign of a recession at the awards show, with 37 designers from all over the world attending. "It was very exciting for an international designer to win, reflecting how truly global the event has become." Time magazine's Stephanie Stephens described WOW as "a fabulous event that's equal parts couture, choreography and craziness." "WOW, Moncrieff says, "is a glorious rebellion against the mundane." First time Wellington entrants, Hayley May and Fiona Christie were runners-up in the supreme award and won the creative excellence section, themed fold, with their intricate garment, Second Skin. The piece, designed by the film-maker and architect, resembled a reptile as it sheds its skin. 
(17 September 2009)

Feast for the eyes 
"If it's culture you're after, make a beeline for the North Island," writes the Examiner's Molly McCahan, suggesting in particular, a trip to Rotorua, "considered the centre of Maori culture." "Today around 35 per cent of the population here is Maori; their traditional settlements abound. Attending a Maori performance and indulging in a hangi, the traditional Maori feast, is a highlight of any Rotorua visit. The local 'chefs' dig a pit in the ground, place heated rocks inside, set the food on top (these days, it's often wrapped in foil), and then cover the pile and slowly roast the whole concoction for hours. The result is deliciously tender meat and smoky kumara (sweet potatoes), a local staple." 
(21 September 2009)

Toronto's triple treat 
New Plymouth-raised, Los Angeles-based actress Melanie Lynskey, 32, has roles in three of the most talked-about movies at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Her roles in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air, Tim Blake Nelson's Leaves of Grass, and Steven Soderberg's The Informant! are "small, but pivotal" reported the Los Angeles Times' Mark Olsen who also believes her film commitments could increase in the wake of these latest performances. "With her current run at the Toronto Film Festival and her onscreen mix of innocence and knowingness, sadness and hopefulness, it is likely that audiences may finally put together whatever became of that girl who did more than just hold her own opposite Kate Winslet in Heavenly Creatures," reported Olsen. In The Informant! she plays the incredulous, loving wife who stands by her corporate whistle-blowing husband (Matt Damon) even as it becomes increasingly clear that he's in over his head. For Up in the Air, she plays the sister of George Clooney's troubled corporate hatchet man, her upcoming wedding causing him to reevaluate his priorities. And her character in Leaves of Grass is married to one of two brothers (both played by Edward Norton) and she persuades her husband to try to stop dealing drugs and go straight. 
(15 September 2009)

Into the void 
Photographer Robert Pearson was the sole New Zealander, and one of 18,000 entries, to make the International Photography Awards (IPA) final selections winning second place in the Fine Art: Abstract Pro section for 'Entrophy & the great Void'. In his artist's statement on the IPA site Pearson writes: "These pictures are mostly taken in museums, galleries and at monuments. I am intrigued by the weird juxtaposed narratives contained within these spaces. These pictures are a celebration and extension of that artificial dialogue. This series began in New York, November 2008 as Wall Street began to implode. These are 'digital photo paintings'." Pearson is a film designer and is currently in Detroit working on the American film Highland Park and has recently completed designing the Random House book The World's Fastest Indian with New Zealand director Roger Donaldson. His website carries a portfolio of international images and photographic abstracts.
(September 2009)

This way through love 
"The Topps defy logic," writes Variety in a review of The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls — winners of the audience award for best documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival. "'On paper,' says their comedy-writer friend, Paul Horan, 'yodeling lesbian twins don't really work.' But for the better part of three decades, the Topp sisters have been gleefully defying accepted wisdom about mainstream entertainment and homophobia, and have become crew-cut demi-goddesses in a country where the national character includes a warped sense of humour. The documentary, Variety's John Anderson says, "has you falling in love with two of the crazier people you've never met … gifts from New Zealand to a world that usually doesn't pay it any attention." "Without belaboring it, [director Leanne] Pooley lays the evidence before us and lets us draw our own conclusion: that the indefatigably cheery and witty Topp Twins got that way through love. Which they spread around, most generously through those comedic characterisations, which both puncture and massage various elements of New Zealand identity, but never without affection."
(12 September 2009)

Chopping champ
Thirty-six-year-old West Auckland lumberjack Jason Wynyard has won the overall title at the Stihl Timbersports Championships 2009 in Brienz, Switzerland. All participants were among the world elite, but the fastest and technically most perfect in the race was Wynyard, who won four out of six disciplines. World champion Wynyard was delighted with his victory: "After a weak start in the first [discipline] I was pretty well beaten. It was hard work but a great race. Brienz is beautiful, the people were wonderful and I am proud that I've won here. It is a special moment for me." The win in Brienz caps a big year for Wynyard, who took out the Stihl Timbersports series in the US in June. "It's probably the closest event we get to the Olympics in our sport, really, so winning was a really special moment to me," he said. 
(15 September 2009)

Preoccupation with love 
Jane Campion's Bright Star, which recently opened in New York, won much praise at Cannes, some from unlikely sources. "I'm not really into poetry," said Quentin Tarantino, who also said he believes Bright Star is Campion's best film. Though Campion purists were less persuaded, and the film may disappoint female filmmakers emboldened by her David Lynch-inspired early work, for her part Campion is following her heart and her imagination wherever they take her. "I think the job when you're a young person is to be wild," she said. "I think I did my job." It's love that preoccupies Campion these days, but she remains exhilaratingly tough-minded about the trouble love can get you into. Which may be why her next film will be an adaptation of the title story in the Canadian writer Alice Munro's collection Runaway. Few artists grasp the unintended consequences of passing passion better than Campion and Munro. 
(10 September 2009)

Black is the new black 
Fashion directory FTape celebrates the work of 23 independent style publications, including New Zealand's Black Magazine, inviting each "style bible" to "showcase a selection of their most iconic fashion editorials to date". Black Magazine emerged in a flurry of black and white as a quarterly fashion, beauty, arts and culture magazine back in 2006, publishing bi-annually from 2008. People often ask Rachael Churchward and Grant Fell, the founders of the magazine, about the title 'Black,' and their thinking was simple: "Black is the colour of New Zealand, black is the staple colour of fashion, black is the colour of the sand on the beach where we live at Muriwai, West Auckland, Aotearoa. Our national rugby team is called the All Blacks and our cat Oscar is, you guessed it, black. As Rad Hourani said in issue nine of the magazine 'Black is mysterious, chic, sleek, modern, simple and eternal.'" (September 2009)

World Odyssey continues
South Seas Film School graduates New Zealanders Julian Hanton and Camilla Andersen joined forces to film Travel Channel-commissioned television series Julian and Camilla's World Odyssey; the show's first season was one of the British network's top rating shows. Now in its second season, London-based Hanton and Andersen have just returned from Kenya, where they filmed the seventh instalment of the series. World Odyssey is set to screen across the channel's extensive network, which broadcasts to 117 countries throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Travel Channel's Steve Fright said: "There's a great sense of fun running throughout the show. It does make me laugh out loud. Julian and Camilla are certainly unique personalities. I really like the dynamic of their relationship. They have that laid back, inquisitive and fearless nature that appears to be common in so many New Zealanders, so they are happy to follow anyone they meet, no matter where they might end up." 
(8 September 2009)

Bright football star 
New Zealand striker Kris Bright, 22, has signed a two-year contract with England's League Two Shrewsbury, and according to the BBC's sports blogger Paul Fletcher, "in an era when many footballers are regarded as pampered and luxuriated individuals, nobody could accuse Bright of an easy ride." He has played in Holland, Norway and Greece, had trials at Kilmarnock and Norwich and spent several months as a 16-year-old at Gillingham. Bright has finally fulfilled his long-held ambition to play in England. As Bright told Fletcher: "If there was a Champions League team on the moon that wanted to sign me, I would go there." Bright's impressive goals-to-games ratio invited comparisons to Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that the modest young New Zealander was keen to avoid. "People were saying stupid things, comparing us," said a clearly embarrassed Bright. "The boys at the club gave me a bit of stick about it so I wanted it toned down a little bit. My aim is to play in the Premier League and it is all about stepping stones. I am feeling good and waiting for my chance." Kris Bright is the son of 1982 World Cup defender Dave Bright. 
(2 September 2009)

Travellers' top spots 
New Zealand took second place after Italy in a Condé Nast Traveller readers' poll for best destination in the world. Each country was given a mark out of 100, with Italy scoring 95.55 and New Zealand 95.18. Air New Zealand was named second-best airline for long-haul leisure travel and also as having the best in-flight catering of all the long-haul carriers. Luxury Glenorchy hotel Blanket Bay was named the best leisure hotel in Australasia and the South Pacific, with Taupo's Huka Lodge, the Wairarapa's Wharekauhau Lodge and Country Estate and The Farm at Cape Kidnappers also making the top 20.
(September 2009)

Small screen project 
Waikato-born executive chef de cuisine, head of Gordon Ramsay's North American operations and New Zealand's first Michelin star winner Josh Emett, 36, will document his rise to culinary fame in a documentary called Chef De Cuisine Project. The three-part series will document the roots of Emett's career, beginning at the Est Est Est restaurant in Melbourne. It will be filmed in New Zealand, the United States and Britain early next year, and will see Emett working with Queenstown-based producer Mark Gillings. The documentary will chronicle Emett's early life, his rise to fame within the Ramsay empire and his feelings on returning home to see how much has changed since he's been away. "This documentary is about getting back to cooking because that's really what it's supposed to be about. Cooking's why we got into this in the first place," Emett says. 
(6 September 2009)

Out with the old 
Invercargill inventor Grant Ryan, 40, unveiled his YikeBike — an electric 10kg mini penny-farthing for the 21st century — at the Eurobike international trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The Daily Mail's Paul Harris takes the bike for a spin declaring that though "it might look like a collision between a praying mantis and a child's scooter; it's the result of five years of work to reinvent the wheel." "True, it takes a little while to get used to riding it, especially if you've been raised on the kind of configuration that has so far proved perfectly adequate for everyone from Miss Marple to Sir Chris Hoy. But there's one word which summarises the sensation of blatting along so quickly and so effortlessly on this rather clever piece of engineering: Yikes! Why change a design which has been around since Victorian times and is preferred by an estimated billion cyclists around the world? 'We're not trying to compete with traditional bikes,' Ryan says. 'We aimed to produce an electric bike that was portable, lightweight, compact, practical and fun. We wanted something you could ride to the bus stop in the morning, take to the office and charge up under your desk.'" Ryan went to Southland Boys' High School, graduating runner-up to dux before completing a degree in engineering and PhD in ecological economics at Canterbury University. 
(2 September 2009)

Big cheers for Danielle 
Auckland dancer and Warriors rugby league cheerleader Danielle Miller, 22, has been named Big League's 2009 Cheergirl of the Year — the first time it has been awarded to someone outside NSW or ACT in the 10 years that the competition has been running. Miller received hundreds of votes and enormous support from Warriors fans to win the 2009 title, and was shocked to hear the good news. "I didn't realise it had closed! I wasn't sure, especially being so far away, but the Warriors really backed me," she says. "The Warriors really promoted it at their last home game and the Vodafone One Tribe ran a forum as well. It was really neat!" Courtesy of Big League and GoDo.com.au, Miller won a $2,000 leisure adventure voucher which she plans to use on "crazy things like jumping out of a plane".
(September 2009)

Green, green grass 
New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra's "secret weapon is vast acres of clean grass." "What we're very good at in New Zealand is growing good, high-quality grass," says area manager of Fonterra's South Taranaki site Rod O'Beirne. "We have high-quality dairy cattle to eat that grass. And we're very efficient at managing that process. It's the cheapest feed by far for animals. That's our competitive advantage." Over at Fonterra's Innovation Center in Palmerston North, researchers spend NZ$100 million a year looking into new ways to deliver dairy and figuring out how to reduce Fonterra's carbon footprint. That's the biggest private sector R&D budget in New Zealand. "Here in New Zealand, Fonterra's core strategy is to remain efficient, sustainable and low-cost so we'll have dairy farming in the long-term," adds Fonterra's CEO Andrew Ferrier. "We also recognise that you can't just be a supplier from one country, because the buyer will say, 'What if they have a problem with cows, or biosecurity?' So where it's been practical, we've invested in other countries so that we can supply customers with milk from those countries as opposed to just New Zealand, so it becomes very complementary." Fonterra was founded in 2001. 
(25 August 2009)

Single-minded 
New Zealander Mahe Drysdale, 31, has won his fourth consecutive men's single skulls title at the world rowing championships in Poznan, Poland. "I still can't quite believe it," Drysdale said. "This is the first year I've ever gone unbeaten in a season. It's a nice way to start the new Olympic cycle." The shocking images of Drysdale, visibly ill after his brave bronze medal row at last year's Beijing Games, will not be easily forgotten. It is a source of motivation for Drysdale, who thrived being back on the podium's top spot. "It's nice to remember what the winning feeling is like." Eric Murray and Hamish Bond also earned gold in the men's coxless pair, while Emma-Jane Feathery and Rebecca Scown took bronze in the women's coxless pairs. 
(30 August 2009)

She's no Barbie doll 
True Blood star New Zealander Anna Paquin — "who has an Oscar and a cool accent" — talks to Nylon magazine about the show's phenomenal success, those nude scenes and going blonde for the role of Sookie Stackhouse. "I don't think a naked body is particularly shocking or interesting… It's not the culture I was raised in," Paquin says. "I was not brought up in the United States. I don't share the [attitude] that you can have graphic violence, but — God forbid — you see someone's nipples." "I don't look like a Barbie doll, and probably never will. People are incredibly literal in how they view you. You have dark hair and pale skin? You must be brooding. The second you dye your hair blonde and get a spray tan, people treat you as if you're a bit stupider and happier. Suddenly, it's like you're hot and sexy." 
(24 August 2009)

Strengthening relations 
New Zealand's outgoing ambassador to Vietnam James Kember has received a medal from the Vietnamese government for his contributions to relations between the two countries. Speaking at the award presentation ceremony in Hanoi, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong said during Ambassador Kember's term of office for the last three years, friendship and co-operation between Vietnam and New Zealand have seen progress in all areas from politics to economics and trade. Kember said it was an honour for him to receive the award and reaffirmed that no matter what position he takes in future, he will continue to play his part in strengthening and developing friendship and co-operation between the two nations. Kember's foreign service includes postings in China, New York, New Caledonia and the Cook Islands. 
(22 August 2009)

Opportunity knocks 
Napier teenager Rachel Reid, 17, has won a four-year scholarship at Pittsburgh's Duquesne University and is now able to stay in the United States to be with her younger sister Matisse, 8, when a donor becomes available for a transplant that includes a stomach, the small and large intestines and a pancreas. The Reid family has been living in Richland for about two and a half years while waiting for an organ donor. When a donor does show up, Rachel Reid will be up the road rather than across an ocean. Craig Tumas, 30, of South Fayette, who befriended the Reids upon their arrival, decided to see what he could do at his alma mater. "Rachel was in a tough spot," Tumas said. "For her to get student loans or grants is really difficult." "Even just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes," Rachel's mother Jodie said. "When I thought about Rachel being 8,000 miles away in New Zealand when her sister is here waiting for surgery, I felt awful. Now, Rachel has the most incredible opportunity. We know what a gift she's been given."
(20 August 2009)

Soprano for life 
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is profiled in the Guardian's 'Portrait of the Artist' column in which the soprano says opera is sung by performers from "very ordinary backgrounds". "I'm not an elitist, so I think it must come from the people who go to the opera," Te Kanawa says. "Perhaps the fact that most of it is sung in a foreign language makes people feel detached from it." She bemoans the rise in popularity of television show Britain's Got Talent saying, "Contestants don't put in the effort we have to, even to get to the first rung of the ladder. Opera is for a lifetime, not just a minute." Te Kanawa says her favourite museum is Te Papa: "They have a lot of my own artefacts there, including the dress I wore to perform at Prince Charles's wedding to Diana." 
(17 August 2009)

He's lippy 
Wellington actor Jemaine Clement is included in Bust magazine's 'Fall Preview' film section showing off "his sugar lumps on the big screen" in Gentlemen Broncos. In the film, directed by the folks behind Napolean Dynamite, "our favourite cleft-chinned comedian plays self-serious sci-fi author Ronald Chevalier, a fellow who steals an idea from a boy who has spent his life being home-schooled." Gentlemen Broncos is released in October. In Flight of the Conchords news, a Washington Post article titled "Tips for Dressing like Bret & Jemaine", explains how you can ape your favourite of the two. In Clement's case it's about plenty of denim, leather jackets and short shorts. Unlike Jemaine and his well-maintained sideburns, Bret McKenzie's style really only requires a man not to shave or comb his hair for a few days. 
(August/September 2009)

Hands up for a smack 
New Zealanders have voted overwhelmingly to overturn a law that prohibits parents from hitting children, according to the results of a nationwide referendum, but the government says the law is working and won't be changed. Opponents of the 2007 law won the right to hold the referendum — which is not binding — by signing up 300,000 eligible voters in support of it. They also drew up the question. In a postal vote that closed last week, 87.6 percent of voters responded 'No' to the question: "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offense in New Zealand?" But the ballot measure has drawn widespread criticism, with Prime Minister John Key and opposition leader Phil Goff refusing to vote. Both said the question was so skewed as to make the results meaningless. Key said he would take note of the referendum result but won't change a law "that is working." Deborah Morris-Travers, a spokeswoman for the Yes-vote coalition, was "unsurprised" by the result. "We always expected it would go in favor of the no-vote because of the way that the question was phrased — it was loaded and misleading ... suggesting that good parents are being criminalized when in fact they are not," she said. 
(21 August 2009)

Communing with quiet 
Owner of Roxborough Farm Lloyd Watkins invites Toronto Star correspondent Adrien Veczan to spend a weekend on his 210ha property in Tirau. Veczan writes: "The feeling of being in the middle of nowhere can never be stronger than when you're watching the sunset in the middle of a field, in the middle of an island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I don't have to look at the photographs to remember that evening. I just close my eyes and I can feel the slight breeze and hear the sheep conversing with one another. Peaceful is the best way to describe it: no cellphones or email, just a "baaaah" here and there." Roxborough Farm was founded in 1911 and has been passed down from generation to generation. 
(15 August 2009)

Teddy on shortlist 
Director Christopher Banks' film Teddy is the first New Zealand-made film to make the shortlist for the sought-after 2009 Iris Prize Festival, the winner of which receives the largest prize for a gay and lesbian short film competition in the world — a package valued at £25,000. Teddy is one of 30 films competing for the award in Cardiff from October 7–10. Teddy is about Tony, a dyed-in-the-wool Londoner who has travelled over 10,000 miles to rural New Zealand for a holiday with his ex, the man who abandoned him for a life on the other side of the world — Neil. The 13 minute short was filmed in Helensville and Kaukapakapa, in the Rodney district over two days in late November 2008. It stars Brian Moore as Tony, Chris Tempest as Neil and Alan Granville as Phil. 
(11 August 2009)

Harold in space 
The Life Education Trust's iconic mascot Harold the Giraffe, is set to become the first New Zealander (and giraffe) to go to space. Harold will be part of the NASA's Mission STS-128, lead by Commander Rick Sturckow, pilot Kevin Ford and other members Patrick Forrester, José Hernández, John "Danny" Olivas, Christer Fuglesang and Nicole Stott. While Harold is in space, children can email the space station and ask questions via an educational website (www.haroldinspace.co.nz). Life Education Trust Chairman, Angus Fletcher, is confident the exercise will go a long way to encourage children to be the best they can be. "Harold's trip is a huge deal for the children who know him. They love him and respect the values he brings into the classroom. The fact that he has achieved his dream will reiterate to children that no matter who they are, or where they come from, they are special and if they work hard to make their dreams come true then they will," says Fletcher.  
(11 August 2009)

Neill the ruthless 
Actor Sam Neill stars in the made-for-television Canada-China co-production of Iron Road as ruthless Canadian railroad baron Alfred Nichol. The historical mini-series purports to tell the story of the thousands of Chinese labourers who built the trans-Canada railway in the late 1800s. Nichol's ambition knows no bounds, imagining the coolies he's hauling in from China by the shipload — one Chinese worker is said to have died for every mile of track — are so many replaceable cogs in his unstoppable machine. "It's a part of Canadian history I knew nothing about till I saw the script," Neill said. "The other day I walked by that rather magnificent memorial to Chinese railroad workers by Eldon Garnet and Francis LeBouthillier, and I was impressed to learn how large a story it is." Work seems to keep coming Neill's way, said the one-time documentary maker. "There are no guarantees in this business, and there's nothing worse for an actor than being out of work. I like to keep busy." He's also starring — along with Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe — in the sci-fi vampire flick-with-a-twist, The Daybreakers, as part of September's Midnight Madness series at the Toronto International Film Festival. 
(9 August 2009)

Deco pride 
Napier's annual Art Deco weekend celebrates the most complete Art Deco city on earth, writes Times Online travel writer Dan Cruickshank, where even street furniture and signage consistent with the style have become policy and authentic colour schemes have been re-created. Here, in a way, was the European tribe of New Zealand celebrating its history and culture through Art Deco architecture. Cruickshank particularly admires the National Tobacco Company Building by Louis Hay, a marriage of Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and the Daily Telegraph Building by E. A. Williams — modest in scale, but monumental in its aspirations. Napier's Art Deco Weekend is more than a mere fancy dress party — it is, in its own way, an expression of pride and identity.
(8 August 2009)

Promise at Piha 
The world's top young surfers will take to the waves at Piha from January 20–28 next year competing in the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. The event will attract 250 of the world's best under-18 surfers. "It is an amazing location with perfect waves and a great surfing culture. It's really important to notice that this is the first time after more than 25 years that the ISA holds an event of this magnitude in the Australasia zone," said ISA president Fernando Aguerre. "Securing this top ranked world event is fantastic for the city of Auckland, and for the sport of surfing in New Zealand," said the CEO of Surfing New Zealand Greg Townsend.
(4 August 2009)

Sidhe's smashing game
Wellington-based game production studio Sidhe Interactive has launched its self-published title Shatter onto the Playstation Network, a game which combines classic brick-breaking with the latest effects and a fully scored soundtrack by Wellington multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah Ross aka Module. Colorado news site examiner.com reviews the game and says that Shatter is a "must buy". "Older generations of brick and paddle gamers will enjoy Shatter along with casual gamers. Innovative ball manipulation and boss stages presents a new depth to a once un-dimensional genre." Sidhe Interactive has also worked on games such as Speed Racer (Wii/PS2), Melbourne Cup Challenge (PS2/Xbox/PC) and King Arthur (PS2/Xbox) amongst others. 
(28 July 2009)

Vili victorious 
World champion shot putter Aucklander Valerie Vili, 25, took the women's title at the 12th World Athletic Championships in Berlin with a final throw of 20.44m. "I'm satisfied I could defend my title. Tonight the German [Nadine Kleinert] pushed me a lot but I wasn't worried, we spent proper time preparing to get the right things done," Vili said. The victory caps another remarkable year for Vili, who in May broke her New Zealand record with a heave of 20.69m in Brazil. Vili joins German Astrid Kumbernuss and China's Zhihong Huang as the only multiple world shot put champions. 
(17 August 2009)

Ready for battle 
New Zealand's national softball team, The Black Sox, feature in the 'Freeze Frame' segment of ShortList magazine, performing the haka prior to their game against Denmark at last month's World Men's Softball Championship in Saskatoon, Canada. "The ceremonial dance seemed to do the trick," writes Andrew Lowry. "Coming off a four-strong winning streak, the world champions three years running gave Denmark a 16–0 mauling." However, in the final on 27 July against fellow Antipodeans Australia, the haka did little to disquiet their opponents — Australia ended the Black Sox' three-year reign, winning the final 5–0. 
(6 August 2009)

Lights, camera, action! 
Wellington film director Peter Jackson is gearing up for an extended run at the box office, ending a four year hiatus from the big screen. Working with a stable of filmmakers, from fellow Oscar-winners to first-time directors, Jackson is turning out a horde of new movies from his New Zealand-based production hub — entering the territory of a small group of directors like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg who control their own movie-making empires. Projects on the go include; District 9, a soon-to-be-released sci-fi drama that Jackson produced and seeded with his own money; a two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, of which he is co-writing and producing; directing of The Lovely Bones, a US$65 million adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel of the same name; producing a remake of World War II classic The Dam Busters; and involvement with Steven Spielberg in two Tin Tin films, the second he will direct. 
(8 August 2009)

Walker looks to London 
Kawerau BMX rider Sarah Walker, 21, took first place at the World BMX championships in the cruiser class (large wheel diameter) and the elite women's title indoors at the Adelaide Showgrounds. Walker, a bronze medallist at last year's world championship at Taiyuan in China, claimed gold in 31.879sec to beat French rider Eva Ailloud (32.991) in the final. It was Walker's second world title in the cruiser class (larger wheel diameter) after her victory in Canada two years ago, which was secured 24 hours after she won the world elite final with similar ease. Walker was on top of the world and already eyeing the 2012 podium in London after last year's disappointment of a fourth placing in Beijing. "This hasn't sunk in yet. This morning I really didn't have the time to think that I had become a world champion because I had to prepare for today," Walker said. "This is a huge confidence boost for me." 
(26 July 2009)

Karaoke star is born 
New Zealand Herald travel writer Jim Eagles describes a Korean karaoke as "dangerously addictive". Eagles recently visited Jeju City on a business trip. When his work was done, his Korean host invited him as well as some other foreigners, to a "Singing Room." Conscious of his ineptitude for singing, Eagles strongly yet peacefully resisted. But his host insisted. "You must try karaoke," she said. "It is part of our culture. It is what we do when we go out. If you want to understand Korea, you have to try this." Gradually things did liven up. And he also got to sing. "I took the mike, stared at the screen and started, 'In the town where I was born ...' It wasn't great but I didn't think it was too awful either. Then the karaoke machine gave my score: 97, the highest of the night so far. Cue applause. I was a star." 
(1 August 2009)

Pam does Auckland 
Air New Zealand Fashion week, which runs from September 21–26 at Auckland's Viadiuct Harbour Marine Village, could see Pamela Anderson and Richie Rich's eco-friendly swimwear line Muse participating in the line-up. It's an interesting move by the festival which last year had more of an urban street flavour than a bouncing Baywatch-vibe. "If there is one thing we've learnt at Air New Zealand Fashion Week it's to adapt and change in difficult times," says ANZFW managing director Pieter Stewart. Fortunately heavy-hitters such as Kate Sylvester, Karen Walker and Nom*D are also on board. Stolen Girlfriends Club, Trelise Cooper, Zambesi and Huffer will also show. 
(31 July 2009)

NZ wines on top 
New Zealand's reputation as one of the world's leading producers of high-end wine was reaffirmed at this year's International Wine Challenge in London where it won international trophies for both Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc. Kennedy Point Vineyard, a tiny winery started 10 years ago on Waiheke Island, won the International Trophy for its 2007 Syrah, while Marlborough's Clifford Bay Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2008 was awarded the International Sauvignon Blanc Trophy. The International Wine Challenge (IWC) is considered one of the world's largest and most influential independent wine competitions. This year's competition received over 9,500 entries from a record 41 countries. The rigorous three stage judging process involves more than 300 judges including Masters of Wine, winemakers, senior wine buyers and wine writers. 
(26 July 2009)

Behind the foliage 
Dr Kevin Burns and a team of researchers from Victoria University of Wellington have discovered that New Zealand trees have evolved a camouflage defense mechanism to protect themselves from extinct giant birds. "Plants are attacked by a bewildering array of herbivores and in response they have evolved a variety of defences to deter predators such as thorns and noxious chemicals," said Burns. The team studied the leaves of the Araliaceae tree (P. crassifolius), which is a heteroblastic species native to New Zealand. This species goes through several strange colour transitions during the process from germination to maturity and the reason for these changes is now thought to be a defence strategy from an extinct predator, the moa. 
(25 July 2009)

Wellington for women
Wellington's "glam beer hall" Mighty Mighty, "funky little" BATS Theatre and the "legendary" Slow Boat Records are included in a suggested itinerary for "ladies of the world" in the June/July issue of American popular culture publication Bust magazine. Writer Gemma Gracewood describes Wellington as a cross between San Francisco and an Italian fishing village. Gracewood also suggests a visit to the "magnificently restored" Embassy Theatre and then a coffee downstairs at Deluxe, "a tiny café with a South Pacific-kitsch-meets-Day-of-the-Dead aesthetic." And "for two-wheeler gals, there are the twenty trails in Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park" to navigate, "some of which afford awesome views of the city. Rent a bike from Mud Cycles and pedal straight there." 
(June/July 2009)

Flirtatious fins 
Kaikoura's Dolphin Encounter marketing manager Jo Thompson says the acrobatic and sociable dusky dolphin is the "big tart of the dolphin world" and "unique for travelling in pods of up to 1000." The Sydney Morning Herald's Louise Southerden dons a wetsuit and snorkel and climbs aboard the tour boat at South Bay. "It takes us 45 minutes to find the nearest pod but it's a sparkling day and there's plenty to see en route: wandering albatross, mountain views, cape petrels, New Zealand fur seals. Then we see it: a pod of about 300 dolphins, moving south. One blast of the air-horn and we're leaping like lemmings into the open sea. There are dolphins everywhere: fins breaking the surface all around us, shiny grey bodies launching like mammal missiles beside us." 
(19 July 2009)

Stopped making sense 
Former Christchurch model Jenna Sauers, 23, has revealed that she was the face behind feminist website Jezebel's correspondent "Tatiana", who acted as a mole during the 2008 New York Fashion Week. "She's smart! She's thin! And she's beholden to no one," the site had exclaimed. And, over the ensuing months, this pseudonymous insider developed a cult following with her explosive, brilliantly written accounts of what really happens to models in the fashion industry. Last week, though, "Tatania" finally revealed all and that she was done with the sneaking around and the furtive copy filing; done with modelling altogether, in fact. Sauers spent two years modelling for magazines such as Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour and InStyle, and her Jezebel posts left little doubt that this is a world that pledges (and, in some cases, delivers) so much, but is also governed by a moral compass so "screwed up", as she puts it, it's frightening. Sauers was a 2003 graduate of Rangi Ruru Girls' College.
(29 July 2009)

New beginnings in Alaska 
Former director of natural environment at Te Papa Carol Diebel will begin a new role overseeing the University of Alaska Museum of the North in October. In addition to her work leading Te Papa's natural history research, curatorial and collections team, Diebel also served as the curator of marine biology collections at the Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand and has more than 20 years of experience in grant-funded scientific research. Diebel will serve a joint appointment with UAF's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences as professor of marine biology. Diebel's background is in biological oceanography, including the sensory biology and behaviour of open-ocean and deep-sea animals. 
(20 July 2009)

Closing time 
The All Blacks head to South Africa for the Tri-Nations Tournament as the best closers in rugby. In the last five meetings between the All Blacks and the Springboks, the All Blacks have dominated late in the game, with four wins coming thanks to try-scoring sprees in the final quarter of those matches. Backline coach Wayne Smith attributes the All Blacks' strength to their profound depth. "If you want intensity in a Test match for 80 minutes, you've got to have 22 players able to contribute. You can't have 16, 17, or 18 because at some point you're going to lose intensity." 
(24 July 2009)

Best in show 
Rural New Zealand is explored by Canadian freelance journalist Judy Schultz who stumbles upon a Pukekohe A&P show, explores the historic community of Waiuku and samples local wares at Awhitu Country Market in Matakawau. "Getting lost here is half the fun. Backroads are chock-a-block with vineyard cafes, jazz festivals, great beaches. The A and P in the town of Pukekohe lasts the weekend, rain or shine. Every prize pumpkin and domestic animal in the region is trotted out in its Sunday best, cattle all sleek and shiny, from enormous Belgian Blues to hair-in-the-eyes Highlanders. Competition is cutthroat, but there's coffee and meat pies while you wait." 
(20 July 2009)

Mobile bach adventure 
A Christchurch Classic Camper Volkswagen Vanagon is rented by Los Angeles Times' reporter Mary Engel and her husband who says the rented vehicle makes for an "experience still more up-close and personal". No taller or longer than an ordinary van, a VW camper — or Kombi, as it is known in New Zealand — is more fuel-efficient than an RV and far easier to park. And for the price of wheels, you get a bed and meals. "Our van, we decided, would be our mobile bach," writes Engel. "Imagine the most beautiful places you've ever seen — Grand Teton, Big Sur, Alaska's Inside Passage — cram them all into a skinny strip of land, and that's New Zealand." Classic Campers is owned and operated by Auckland couple Bevan and Andrea Beattie. 
(17 July 2009)

Challenging tradition 
Wellingtonian Felicity Lusk, 53, has been appointed head of the prestigious 753-year-old Abingdon School, in Oxfordshire — the first female to ever run a boys' public boarding school. "I don't know why they chose me," she says, with a modesty that belies her appearance. No doubt her CV — 30-odd years in teaching, success as head at Oxford High School — had something to do with it. But let's not ignore the obvious: no other head in the country dresses like Lusk. How can there be discipline problems when the head wears red patent leather high heels? Her future pupils may be making jokes about "Miss Lusk: coming to a private school near you", but they are getting a head who means business. Despite her purple-painted nails and flashing jewellery, Lusk is practical rather than flirtatious. She talks in a brisk manner with just a twang of her native New Zealand to match the stuffed kiwi on her desk. "I'm a great believer in letting children try things out," she says. "If it doesn't work, let go. If a child hates piano, why do it? Don't force a child to study medicine if the child wants to go to drama school. Ambition is the great motivator." Lusk, who plays the organ, attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in Karori then studied music at Victoria University, before becoming a music teacher. She moved to England in 1990. Lusk takes on the role in September next year at Abingdon, which puts a strong emphasis on sport and extracurricular activities. 
(26 November 2009)

Liddell to Detroit 
General Motors, #4 on the Fortune 500 and now US-government-owned following a 30 year decline, has named Chris Liddell as Chief Financial Officer at possibly the most critical time in the company’s history following its recent bankruptcy and restructuring. Liddell recently announced his resignation as CFO of Microsoft, citing the desire for a bigger role. Matamata born and educated at Mt Albert Grammar and Auckland and Oxford Universities, Liddell was CEO of Carter Holt Harvey in New Zealand and CFO of International Paper in Connecticut. He is a founder of the New Zealand Institute and recently awarded university scholarships to former Mt Albert Grammar students. In his new role his first challenges are reorganizing GM’s finance operations, repaying billions of dollars of government debt, and potentially launching an initial public offering. 
(22 December 2009)

Tough cherub 
Auckland singer Gin Wigmore, 23, is included alongside Little Boots, Peaches and Megan Washington in Australian magazine Yen, in an article called 'All the Single Ladies' , which says: "They may not have rated a mention in Triple J's 'Hottest 100 of All Time', but we say the girls have got it going on". Wigmore's debut EP, Extended Play, went gold in New Zealand and her current album Holy Smoke has some serious cred, having been recorded at the iconic Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. She's also now being backed by The Cardinals. "You have to be really strong, confident and determined as a girl in this industry to make any headway," Wigmore says. Also mentioned in this month's edition of Yen are accessory designers Liam Bowden and Katie Smith of Deadly Ponies. "You never thought a leather bag could drip, right? You've not felt a Deadly Ponies creation then." (December 2009)

Gimblett amongst the best 
"New Zealand has been one of the great success stories of the Noughties," writes the Telegraph's Jonathan Ray in a wine trend review of the decade. "It's a country that I simply adore and I can't get enough of its wines. The figures speak for themselves: in 2001, New Zealand sold 15.2 million bottles; this year it sold 55.7 million (of which 45.2 were sauvignon blanc). Notoriously mean, we British spend an average of just £4.30 on a bottle of wine (and £4.82 on French wine). Yet we're happy to spend an average £6.25 on New Zealand wine. Most exciting in the past 10 years, though, is the rise of the merlot-based reds of the Gimblett Gravels, a 2,000-acre sub-region of Hawke's Bay on the North Island. I was at the remarkable blind tasting in London earlier this year when six 2006 Gimblett Gravel wines were put up against six of the best 2005s from Bordeaux. The results were astounding: Bordeaux grabbed the first three spots with Châteaux Lafite, Mouton and Angélus, which was no great surprise. But Sacred Hill Helmsman was fourth and Newton Forrest Cornerstone sixth, behind Château Haut-Brion. Not bad when you consider that the six bottles of claret on show cost a total of £3,060 and the Kiwi wines just £108. Watch this space." 
(9 December 2009)

Boondigga takes on US 
Wellington band Fat Freddy's Drop recently played three sell-out shows on the West Coast of the United States. The seven-piece dub outfit has been together for nearly a decade, yet only recently released its second album of studio material Dr Boondigga and the Big BW and, up until last week, had played just one gig in North America. "We are an indie group — we have to crack the whip on ourselves," the band's trumpeter and unofficial spokesman, Toby Laing, says with a laugh. "It would have been good to be quicker, but we have to be really happy with the production side of it as much as the music." Laing promises that Fat Freddy's Drop will return early next year and that the wait for the third album won't be nearly as long. Fat Freddy's Drop features at the Parihaka Peace Festival on January 8. 
(8 December 2009)

Meeting of minds 
New Zealanders director Jane Campion, 55, and actress Kerry Fox, 43, tell The Independent on Sunday how they both came to meet. Fox recalls: "I walked into the audition for An Angel at My Table nervous but very determined, knowing that I had to figure out what the director was looking for but also feeling overwhelmed by the other people and the camera in the room. It took a while to dawn on me that this woman with the dark-red beret, who I hadn't seen at first, was the director. I kind of remember her now as a shadow." And Campion: "Then this young woman came in. One of the characteristics of girls in New Zealand at that time was that they didn't shave their legs, so like the rest of them, Kerry had lovely hairy legs. She was quite strong, 'I'm me' and all that — great. She started to audition, and for the first time I saw someone real. She was this true spirit. I remember thinking 'and you're beautiful'." Campion's Bright Star is in UK cinemas now. Fox is also in Speaking in Tongues at the Duke of York's Theatre, London WC2. 
(6 December 2009)

Watch out for Laulala 
New Zealand centre Casey Laulala, 27, signed with the Cardiff Blues in July, having turned down Magners League champions Munster. Samoan-born Laulala is described by many as one of the hardest players to contain in broken-field play in the New Zealand game and was schooled at Wesley College in Pukekohe — the same place that helped develop Jonah Lomu. Laulala, who made his debut for New Zealand against Wales in Cardiff in November 2004, signed off the season Down Under in Canterbury's 28–20 Air New Zealand Cup win over Wellington in Christchurch in November. What impact do you think Casey Laulala will have at the Cardiff Blues? "It was good to leave Canterbury on a high having won the Air New Zealand Cup but I was ready for a change," he said. "I wanted a change of lifestyle and living in Europe certainly appealed." 
(2 December 2009)

Dishy beef cakes 
Wellington waiters Strip-of-Meat are a company with "a dress code that involves a lot of skin" writes website Inventorspot. "Yes, we've seen plenty of businesses of this sort lately, but with a name like this as part of their marketing plan; they offer something that just can't be passed over." Wellington entrepreneur Christian Newman said the idea for the company came after he was asked by a friend to be a waiter at her hen's night in Taupo. "I wasn't even wearing an apron, just a pair of underpants and a bow tie. It was a bit raunchy and made me realise there is a market out there," Newman said.
(December 2009)

Phar Lap home to rest 
A bronze statue of Timaru's most famous resident Phar Lap has been unveiled at the entrance to the city's raceway on State Highway 1. Timaru Herald sports editor Stu Piddington talks to the ABC's New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie about the ceremony and Timaru's pride in being the birth place of this very famous horse. Three years ago locals came up with the idea of getting a life-size statue of the thoroughbred. Piddington says today the dream becomes a reality. "In the build up to [the unveiling] there's been a lot of talk, a lot of, I get publicity around it. Last week they launched the specially labelled beer for $10 a bottle, a souvenir edition. So you can't go anywhere in Timaru or South Canterbury without hearing about Phar Lap," Piddington says. The 850kg statue was sculpted by South African born equine specialist sculptor Joanne Sullivan-Gessler who lives in Auckland. 
(25 November 2009)

Claim to fame 
Napier antiques dealer and former New Zealand hockey representative Kevin Percy, 74, is claiming to be the rightful heir to Alnwick Castle, the family home of the Earl of Northumberland, on an estate conservatively valued at $685m. He has written to the Queen to seek her support for the exhumation of the 5th Earl of Northumberland, who died in 1560, to see if the remains match his own DNA. Percy has spent years working with genealogists and the London College of Arms to try to gather evidence for his claim that his family has been denied their rights to one of Britain's most famous dynasties. Percy said: "I can think of nothing worse than going to my grave without knowing I've done my best for my family and our bloodline. I and my New Zealand family are not trying to cheat and deceive." Alnwick Castle, which celebrated its 700th anniversary this week, was also the backdrop for the film Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett, and the television series Blackadder. Percy represented New Zealand at hockey at the 1960 Rome Olympics. 
(21 November 2009)

Arguing the green 
"Sometime in the 2020s, New Zealand will become responsible for a massive surge in emissions from its forests," writes Fred Pearce in his Guardian series 'Greenwash'. "The central problem seems to be that when it comes to carbon, Middle Earth is a scientific minefield," Pearce continues. "And the Kyoto rules give the government considerable potential to pick and choose which carbon emissions and which carbon sinks from forests it declares for the purposes of meeting its targets. In a nutshell, the Kyoto protocol allows New Zealand to ignore what is happening across the wider landscape and simply report the growth of its 600,000 hectares of new forests, planted mostly during the 1990s. That sounds dodgy, though within the Kyoto rules. Even so, if these 'Kyoto forests' had been specifically planted as part of a genuine policy to cut the country's long-term contribution to global warming — we might still applaud. Unfortunately it is not quite like that."
(19 November 2009)

Return to the homeland 
The remains of 12 Maori — known as koiwi tangata — were recently returned to New Zealand having been part of the Welsh national collection at National Museum Cardiff. Research has shown that the remains were originally obtained from Ahuahu, or Great Mercury Island, which is the largest in the Mercury Islands group, located off the north-east coast of the North Island. Te Papa's repatriation manager Te Herekiekie Herewini said it was important to return the ancestors to their original community in New Zealand: "This is significant for Maori as it is believed that through the ancestors' return to their homeland, the dead and their living descendants will retrieve their dignity, and also close the hurt and misdeeds of the past," he said. Meanwhile, officials from two museums in Sweden have handed over the remains of five indigenous Maori people to their New Zealand counterparts in a ceremony held at the Natural History Museum in Gothenburg. Museums across Europe have been repatriating human remains taken from indigenous burial grounds during colonial times. 
(16 November 2009)

Traits of an auteur 
Ahead of this month's release of Peter Jackson's latest cinematic offering The Lovely Bones, The New York Times' Terrence Rafferty takes a look at Jackson's body of work over his 20-year career as a filmmaker. "Things that go bump — and much, much worse — in the night have never fazed Peter Jackson," says Rafferty. "Far from it. At this point in his career, a film without some form of ghoulie, ghostie or long-leggedy beastie (preferably in quantity) just wouldn't seem like a Peter Jackson movie at all. So it's reassuring, in a disquieting sort of way, that his latest film, The Lovely Bones, is a ghost story." Rafferty believes that Jackson has avoided the fate of being stuck as a 'horror' filmmaker by concentrating, since The Frighteners, on films in which the fantasy and horror elements allow him to use some of his funkier gifts but don't necessarily dominate the story. "He is, like so many good filmmakers, himself a bratty teenager at heart, drawing his creative energy from an irrepressible urge to be rude to stuffy grown-ups." The Lovely Bones is officially released in the US on December 11 and New Zealand on Boxing Day. 
(1 November 2009)

Teaching top form 
Kiri Te Kanawa, who recently gave a recital at Washington, DC's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, also has a speaking role as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in Donizetti's comedy The Daughter of the Regiment at the Metropolitan Opera in February. As Dame Kiri reduces her performance schedule her teaching activity increases. Five years ago, she formed the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to foster New Zealand singers. She's also founding artistic director of the Solti Te Kanawa Accadamia di Bel Canto, a summer program in Italy for young vocalists. And she frequently gives master classes, as she did for members of Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. "Giving lessons is perfect for my voice," she says. "After six hours, I'm in top form." Te Kanawa, 65, sums up her own career of four decades simply. "There were many, many sacrifices," she says, "but I've been very blessed in every single way." 
(10 November 2009)

Green mirage 
The Guardian newspaper's 'greenwashing exposer' Fred Pearce uncovers a number of offending countries who have succeeded in raising their emissions from 1990 levels despite signing up to reduce them. "Step forward Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece — all with emissions up by more than a quarter ... US and Australia, which both reneged on the protocol after signing it. And Canada, which never reneged but still has emissions up by a quarter… But my prize for the most shameless two fingers to the global community goes to New Zealand, a country that sells itself round the world as 'clean and green'." "New Zealand secured a generous Kyoto target, which simply required it not to increase its emissions between 1990 and 2010. But the latest UN statistics show its emissions of greenhouse gases up by 22%, or a whopping 39% if you look at emissions from fuel burning alone." 
(12 November 2009)

Distance makes special 
New Zealand "is the ideal destination to gain maximum distance from everyday life" describes German magazine Geo in a special edition about this country, which includes stunning photographs of Fiordland, Nugget Point and Hoopers Inlet amongst other locations. The supplement covers the kakapo, rugby, Christchurch boy-racers, cuisine, Maori moko and in association with Wellington's Goethe Institute, presents a photographic insert of Cuba Street portraits. The publication is sold with a DVD. (October/November 2009)

Finals footy 
Canterbury has won what could be the final Air New Zealand Cup 28–20 against Wellington in Christchurch. Two tries to Colin Slade helped Canterbury to an 18–3 half-time lead and that deficit proved too big to overcome for Jamie Joseph's side, despite their improved showing in the second half which saw them reduce the gap to 25–20 with five minutes to go. Canterbury captain George Whitelock said the plan had been to put their opponents under pressure early. "We'd talked all week about starting well and putting a lot of pressure on them and get that self-doubt into their mind," Whitelock said. "We put a bit of pressure on ourselves but that's finals footy. Wellington came back really strong and showed what a classy side they are. They wanted it pretty badly but we wanted it more." The New Zealand Rugby Union meets on December 13 to decide the fate of the championship. 
(7 November 2009)

Angelic sequel 
Wellington author Elizabeth Knox's latest — a sequel to her 1998 prize-winner The Vintner's Luck entitled The Angel's Cut — has been "published to strong praise" writes the Courier Mail's Kathleen Noonan. The Vintner's Luck, which was published in seven countries, won numerous prizes and was long-listed for the 1999 Orange Prize. Knox's success has come from anchoring her audacious imagination in earthly reality; she bowerbirds things from the everyday. In The Angel's Cut, young smart Flora is burnt horribly at a fancy-dress party when her boyfriend mischievously touches a cigarette to the grass skirt she is wearing. "That happened here in New Zealand," Knox says. Now she is writing a science fiction horror book, set in a small town near Nelson in contemporary New Zealand. Then she has a young adult fiction to complete, before turning her attention in 2011 to the final in her Xas trilogy, The Angel's Reserve. "I know it's taking a long time but the living I do in between each book, and lessons I learn, I apply to Xas in learning how to be human. And there's been a lot of learning this year." Niki Caro's film adaption of The Vintner's Luck is currently in cinemas. 
(30 November 2009)

Luxury on tap 
New Zealanders — the Telegraph's Lisa Grainger and her partner came to learn on a recent trip — "are masters of the understatement". "They're dry. Quietly confident. Down to earth, capable and can-do. And, despite their no-nonsense attitude to life, they really understand luxury — of the underplayed type. The kind of luxury that makes you grin from ear to ear because it's so simple, so refreshingly unpretentious. The late English wit Sir Clement Freud once observed that he couldn't give an opinion on New Zealand because when he was there, 'it appeared to be shut'. That was obviously decades ago. The new, modern New Zealand is open — and in some style." Charter the "perfectly restored" 1935 wooden launch Lady Gay or an Over the Top helicopter excursion; book an Allan Scott Marlborough vineyard tour; rent a private ski chalet in the Southern Alps; or indulge at Lake Whakatipu's Matakauri spa — Grainger's "favourite place in the country". 
(2 November 2009)

Safety first 
As of November 1, it is an offence in New Zealand to use hand-held cellphones while driving. The ban on making or receiving calls from a cellphone, texting and e-mailing is one of a raft of new road rules under the Land Transport (Road User) Amendment Rule 2009. Motorists can make calls legally if they have a fully voice activated phone, or the device is secured in a fixed mounting. Genuine emergency calls are also allowed. Those caught breaking the law may be given an $80 infringement ticket and 20 demerit points. And you won't get away with the creative methods the Americans are employing to avoid cellphone bans, like wrapping giant rubber band around your head and sliding a hand-held phone underneath. The ban is being introduced here after years of disquiet about mobile phone use by drivers. From 2003–08 there were 482 injury crashes and 25 fatal crashes on New Zealand roads where use of a mobile phone was a factor. 
(1 November 2009)

Poetic challenges 
Bright Star director Jane Campion, 55, says she was always terrified of poetry. "It wasn't poetry that brought me towards this story; it was my ignorance about the subject. I hit 50 and decided to educate myself about it. I read a biography of Coleridge and then I found Andrew Motion's book on Keats. I could not believe that I hadn't heard of this great love story before. It was like Romeo and Juliet, only it was true." Perhaps the few years in the wilderness have done Jane Campion some good. Though imperfect in many ways, Bright Star looks like the work of an auteur back in firm control of her material. Unlike Holy Smoke or In the Cut, the picture is very acute and precise in its focus. Bright Star has brought her back into the world. Now let's see what that world makes of it. "Yeah, you never know what wave you'll catch — a small swell or a big fat one that will carry you all the way to the shore," Campion says. What an appropriate metaphor for someone born under the Southern Cross. 
(30 October 2009)

Tracking Morrison 
Actor Temuera Morrison stars in the Ian Sharp film Tracker, set in New Zealand in 1903. Tracker also stars Ray Winstone (The Departed, Nil by Mouth) who plays Arjan, an ex-Boer War guerilla sent out to bring back Maori man Kereama (Morrison) accused of killing a British soldier. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer, is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang. Empire's Alex Billington said: "This is the first time I've heard of this film, but it's now on my radar, and I'll definitely be seeking it out at an upcoming film festival, most likely. I like both Winstone and Morrison enough to be interested in seeing how this story plays out." Tracker is a UK/New Zealand co-production by Eden Films and T.H.E. Film in association with Phoenix Wiley & Liberty Films. Filming began in early November. 
(26 October 2009)

Top 50 title for Wright 
Ghost Dance, the 2004 memoir by dancer and choreographer Douglas Wright, has been selected in Richard Canning's Fifty Gay & Lesbian Books Everybody Must Read (Alyson Books, New York, 2009). 'This untypical autobiography is utterly idiosyncratic, utterly urgent, utterly beautiful…[a] finely contoured digression: Buddhism, bird-watching, immune deficiency, Janet Frame, the London tube, a difficult adolescence, Nijinsky, paganism … Ghost Dance displays a most beguiling critical intelligence. For Wright is that rare thing: the prodigy who won't be schooled; the self-taught, polymath individual." Other authors in the selection include Arthur Rimbaud, Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Mann, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, Evelyn Waugh, and Gore Vidal. Craig Potton has just published an account of the 2006 New Zealand tour of Wright's opus Black Milk, centred around John Savage's photographs and Leonard Wilcox's text. Picture: Adrian Malloch
(November 2009)

Symbol of renewal 
"If you believe clouds have silver linings, Napier's is surely rimmed with neon and chrome, the shiny new materials of the art-deco age," describes the The Observer's Nigel Tisdall. "For this was an earthquake that also gave back, tilting the coast up by a couple of metres and draining a huge lagoon that is now filled with fertile farmland, the city airport, and some choice stretches of 30s and 40s suburbia. Downtown Napier, meanwhile, was quickly rebuilt in a colourful, confidence-raising art-deco style that married symbols of renewal — sunbursts, fountains, flowers — with robustly quake-proof buildings limited to two storeys. Lovers of art deco will find plenty of individual gems to swoon over in metropolises such as Paris, New York and Shanghai, but Napier is exceptional because it offers such an engaging and strollable concentration of provincial 30s edifices." 
(25 October 2009)

Lunchbox aesthetics 
Christchurch art commentator Denis Dutton is invited by The New York Times to discuss beauty and the Japanese bento box. What does the care devoted to the visual details in a packed lunch suggest about the culture? Why is such value placed on aesthetics in everyday life in Japan? Dutton begins: "While preparing attractive bento box lunches is an honorable and inventive craft, the travelling lunch box is not unique to Japan." "Take a look at the history of the lunch pail and the lunchbox in America, with an efficient Thermos bottle tucked in the lid. By the middle of the 20th century, children's versions were decorated with the likes of Mickey Mouse and Hopalong Cassidy." "Is a cleverly assembled bento box lunch a work of art? Such elevation of decorative crafts to the status of 'art' seems superfluous to me. Call it an art form if you wish, but such words add nothing to the pleasure of the bento lunch." 
(19 October 2009)

In hot water 
Despite New Zealand's growing prosperity, the country's natural beauty has been preserved says Hindustan Times travel writer Vir Sanghvi, who describes his seven-day adventure from Rotorua, by chopper to White Island and then across Lake Tarawera on a 50ft catamaran. "The high spot of the cruise for me is when we came to one of the edges of Lake Tarawera. Presumably there is some volcanic activity below the water because the sand at this edge is hot. The captain makes me put my hand in the water. It is ice-cold. He takes the boat a foot away and asks me to put my hand in again. Now the water is scalding hot! A few feet further, there is actually steam rising from the lake. That's a first for me!" 
(16 October 2009)

Streak down south 
Dunedin is promoting itself as New Zealand's quirkiest city in a bid to encourage more visitors to the southern centre. The wackier tourist activities include the June staging of the nude rugby international tournament that marks the beginning of the Test season. "It's a mixed event with an international team taking on the unbeatable 'Nude Blacks'," says Tourism Dunedin's Heather Mollins. "The obligatory (nude) haka starts proceedings. And during the match a fully clothed 'streaker' runs on to the field. It's not too exciting, though, to play with nothing on during the middle of winter." Or: "A week-long celebration of chocolate takes place from July 10–16 next year, including a race involving 30,000 Jaffas marked with numbers down the 'world's steepest street'". And over the Easter weekend is the running of the "love train" that takes single ladies from Dunedin to the country town of Middlemarch where eligible farmers await.
(15 October 2009)

Quietly heralded 
Tauranga-born peace campaigner Alyn Ware, 47, has been awarded what is commonly known as "the alternative Nobel prize" for "his effective and creative advocacy and initiatives over two decades to further peace education and to rid the world of nuclear weapons". Ware was one of four winners of The Right Livelihood Award 2009, worth €50,000 ($100,000). The awards were founded by Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull in 1980 to recognise deeds he felt were being ignored by the Nobel Prizes. Ware told The New Zealand Herald from New York that his quiet, considerate approach as a teacher, and later as an activist, had allowed him to be successful in negotiating peace deals. "Some people are loud, shout-in-the-street, ban the bomb types. I'm the softly-softly type of person. When I'm with children, I try and sit down with them and not lecture them. The same applies for politicians and congressman," he said. Ware has recently drafted a model treaty for the United Nations on the abolition of nuclear weapons, which is being circulated by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ware is director of the Peace Foundation Wellington Office, global co-ordinator of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament network and director of Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace. He is the second New Zealander to receive the award after the late David Lange, who received an honorary prize in 2003. The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish Parliament on December 4, six days before the Nobel Prizes are handed out. 
(13 October 2009)

Distinguished discourse 
The New Zealand accent has been declared the most attractive and prestigious form of English outside Britain. In the BBC survey, Britons responded to an online survey rating the prestige and social attractiveness of 34 different accents of English. The New Zealand "fush and chups" came seven places ahead of Australia's "sex and Seedney" — and nine ahead of the American accent in terms of attractiveness. Director of AUT's Institute of Culture, Discourse and Communication Professor Allan Bell said that the survey has shown that New Zealand English is relatively close to the prestigious British accent. "On the social side, it seems to represent generally positive British attitudes to New Zealand and New Zealanders," The New Zealand Herald quoted him as saying. Bell also said the fact that British rate New Zealand English so highly is ironic, because studies of New Zealanders' attitudes show they prefer British English to their own accent. 
(12 October 2009)

Designing winner's wares
London-based New Zealand jewellery designer Jessica McCormack, was recently invited to design the 2009 winner's trophy for Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden. The trophy (pictured above) featured an architectural rose as a symbol of hope with petals in sterling silver and gold surrounding a domed bud centre set with diamonds. "I am incredibly honoured and excited to have been asked to design the 2009 winner's trophy for Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden," explains McCormack, a relatively new face to London's design scene. "As a new business I can empathise with the challenges of industry that the applicants face and I have huge respect for the support and platform that Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden provides to new talent to showcase and encourage their creativity." The trophy was presented to design duo Jenny Holmes and Dimitri Theocharidis aka JENA.THEO, at a ceremony on September 21. 
(15 September 2009)

Burt's fine wine 
"It was 1962 and Burt Munro had somehow managed to get his suped-up Indian motorcycle from New Zealand to the Salt Flats, where he hoped to set a record," writes Tom Wharton for The Salt Lake Tribune. "'I passed this old guy pushing his motorcycle across the salt,' recalled 75-year-old Jeff Shipley of Upland who first came to Bonneville in 1958 and has more or less been involved in seeing how fast his vehicles can go across the salt ever since. 'I asked him where his crew was. He didn't have one. So I took the front wheel of his motorcycle and helped bring it back to the pit. He made three runs after that.' Shipley suggested Munro try a blend of nitro fuel, a concoction that increased the speed of the Indian by about 10 mph. He gave his newfound friend about five gallons to take back to New Zealand. Airport security, of course, had a bit of a problem with that, so Munro drove to Shipley's California home to return the fuel. That was near wine country, so Shipley talked to a friend who put the fuel into bottles and placed it in a case labeled, 'Fine California wine,' which was shipped back to New Zealand … Greg Carlson, another Salt Flats veteran remembered another New Zealand racer named Rollie Free who in 1962 raced across the Salt Flats in a Speedo swimsuit on an ironing board in order to cut down the friction and get more speed." Edendale-born Munro set an under-1000cc world record, at Bonneville on 26 August 1967. The record stands today. 
(8 October 2009)

Progeny of genius 
New Zealand musician Liam Finn, 26, recently performed in Wisconsin at Madison's Majestic Theatre with his childhood friend and current musical collaborator Eliza-Jane Barnes. In a review of the performance on Madison.com Aaron Conklin writes: "Ah, the agony of the progeny of the established musical genius. All their lives, gents like Julian Lennon, Jakob Dylan and Liam Finn have had to pursue their musical muses while dancing in the shadows of their famous fathers. And endure countless articles by reviewers who can't avoid the comparisons any more than they can. A shaggy beard helps distinguish Finn from his dad, but he's blessed with the same tenor-falsetto, and every now and then you could hear hints of Neil, in particular when he dialed up a heartfelt cover of Neil Young's 'Harvest Moon' in honor of the fall equinox. It's odd how a man with such a knack for vocal harmony can be so in love with musical distortion and chaos. Call it Finn forging his own path —  and stand back and be impressed." 
(5 October 2009)

Dances with fish 
New Zealand marine biologist Sunil Kadri, co-founder of Optoswim Technologies, is the O2 X Male Entrepreneur of The Year, awarded in London for technology Kadri created to improve the production of farmed salmon, dubbed the 'fish disco' or 'fish gym'. Optoswim's products use a special LED light to stimulate the fish into swimming, making them leaner, healthier and tastier. The business has been operating for nearly two years and its technology will soon be used in fish farms across the globe. Glasgow-based Kadri explains that "essentially it's a system for providing exercise to fish in farms. This encourages the development of muscle over fat — leading to leaner, healthier and tastier fish." Kadri discusses his "fish gym" in a podcast on British site SmallBizPod. 
(28 September 2009)

With eyes wide open 
Pioneering New Zealand camerawoman Margaret Moth is the subject of a CNN World's Untold Stories documentary 'Fearless: The Margaret Moth Story', in which former colleagues — including New Zealand photographer Barrington West and correspondents Christiane Amanpour, Matthew Chance and Michael Holmes — recall the events of 1992 when Moth, then 41, was seriously wounded in a sniper attack while filming in Sarajevo. Diagnosed with terminal cancer two years ago, Moth speaks about the attack and about her life at the frontlines of journalism. Moth joined CNN in 1990. She covered the Persian Gulf War, the rioting that followed Indira Gandhi's assassination and the civil war in Tbilisi, Georgia, for CNN before volunteering for the dangerous mission of filming in Sarajevo. As Amanpour sums up in the programme: "These days we're very liberal with the use of the word 'hero'. We're very liberal with the use of the word 'courageous'. But I think Margaret, more than anybody I've ever known in my whole life, lived those two words. She was heroic in how she kept going. She was heroic in how she didn't consider herself special or a hero." Moth says: "To me it is no different if I die in six weeks or in twenty years. I don't think it matters how long you live as long as you can say that you have got everything out of life."
(September 2009)

Still the greatest 
Adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary is the "greatest living New Zealander" according to the results of a recent Research New Zealand poll. Despite his death in January 2008, Sir Ed was named by 15 per cent of the 500 respondents. Research New Zealand director Emanuel Kalafatelis said it showed how beloved Sir Edmund was. Sir Edmund conquered Everest in 1953 and so many of us either remember the historic day or grew up with tales of his amazing achievements and the good work he did for the Nepalese people. To find a new hero to match his legendary status is tough. While just over a third said they couldn't name one, former Prime Minister Helen Clark, now at the UN was second with 9 per cent, bucking the trend of sports people dominating our list of icons, Kalafatelis said. Others on the list included Prime Minister John Key on 2 per cent, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Willie Apiata and Peter Jackson. 
(28 September 2009)

Hopes on Bahrain 
If New Zealand's All Whites beat Bahrain on October 10 they will compete in their first World Cup since 1982 in Spain. Dunedin-born defender Andrew Boyens, 26, who currently plays for the New York Red Bulls, is interviewed by the New York Times' Jack Bell ahead of the match. "I guess it's the same thing it means to all footballers," said Boyens, who has made 12 appearances for his national team. "That's the pinnacle. That's what you dream of when you're a kid growing up, waiting to be a footballer. We're a couple of games away from it. You don't want to get too excited." "It's hard," Boyens said. "We're always going to be in the shadow of rugby and cricket. But I think if we were to go to a World Cup, the same way as the smaller countries really get behind their teams in the World Cup kind of environment, I think New Zealand is going to come out and do that for us as well." 
(2 October 2009)

Down and dirty 
A group of New Zealanders are making a film about the US journalist Eric Arnold who spent a year in Marlborough learning how to make wine at the Allan Scott vineyard. Based on Arnold's 2007 book First Big Crush: The Down and Dirty on Making Great Wine Down Under, the film is to be led by cameraman Ben Ruffell. Arnold, who worked as an editor at Wine Spectator after writing the book and is currently an editor at Forbes, said he was "thrilled" Ruffell had taken on the project. "He and his partners share the vision of telling a story that truly conveys the rugged, rural lifestyle of New Zealand winemaking. Which, I suppose means they appreciate gross-out humour as much as I do," Arnold added. 
(30 September 2009)

Jones hits big 
Auckland teenager Sacha Jones has earned her biggest career win securing the US$25,000 ITF Darwin Challenger tournament with a 6–4, 6–1 win over Western Australian Bojana Bobusic. Showing a cool head in the mid-afternoon Darwin heat, Jones was able to hang in the contest and, like a top player does, capitalised fully when her chance arrived at 5–4. Bobusic, who had served quite well, gave Jones one break-point opportunity and that was all the 18-year-old New Zealander needed to claim the set. "It's just a fantastic feeling, this was my first final of a $25,000 event and to win it is so rewarding," Jones said. "I had fond memories of Darwin when I won back-to-back ITF events here in 2005 and I've got a few more now." 
(28 September 2009)

Westenra joins forces 
Christchurch soprano Hayley Westenra, 22, will top the bill at the Royal British Legion's annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 7, replacing glamorous Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins as the Forces Sweetheart. Westenra, who has been a staunch supporter of Forces' charities since she shot to fame as a singer six years ago, has also been recruited by the British Legion to be the face of this year's Poppy Appeal. Westenra, who last year travelled to Basra to perform for British troops, has a deeply personal interest in the work of the British Legion, thanks to a long family tradition of wartime service. Her great-uncle, Squadron Leader Jerry Westenra, was one of the bravest RAF aces of the Second World War, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and bar in dogfights with the Luftwaffe and the Italian air force over Greece, North Africa and France. After discovering her great-uncle's military history Westenra became involved in supporting the armed forces. "To appear at this year's Festival of Remembrance is such a great honour." She is also scheduled to perform live at the National Theatre in Taipei, Taiwan on October 3 with Taipei Symphony Orchestra. 
(20 September 2009)

Pure success 
Tourism New Zealand's 100 per cent Pure campaign has topped an international branding survey published by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and European Travel Commission. The survey asked 165 national tourism organisations which countries they considered to be good at destination branding. Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said the result was a "fantastic" reinforcement of the effort and perseverance that had gone into building the 100 per cent Pure New Zealand brand. The Australian's Departure Lounge column called the campaign "mega-successful". In the article, titled 'Pure waste of money', The Australian ponders "the effectiveness of tourism slogans and the Australian federal government's plans to spend $20 million over four years on a brand campaign to promote Australia's investment potential and tourism drawcards. Given the ever-competitive nature of trans-Tasman tourism, how about 'Australia. It's not New Zealand.'" 
(21 September 2009)

Model mayhem 
Air New Zealand Fashion Week saw former Baywatch bombshell Pamela Anderson, 42, strut the catwalk in a transparent scarf leaving little to the imagination promoting her eco-friendly label A*Muse, developed with designer Richie Rich, who took to the runway on roller skates. This year, 38 designers attended the event in 26 runway shows held over four days, including Kate Sylvester, Annah Stretton, Nom*D, Stolen Girlfriends Club and Zambesi. Former fashion model New Zealander Jenna Sauers, who recently revealed that she was the face behind feminist website Jezebel's correspondent "Tatiana Anymodel", blogged during New Zealand Fashion Week for news website Stuff, writing: "A certain fluidity of roles seems to set New Zealand fashion apart whether because the smaller market precludes too much specialisation, or because of cultural inclinations that entitle New Zealanders to do, or at least attempt, pretty much everything that crosses our minds. This isn't a fashion scene that's edgy so much as out on the very edges of things." 
(25 September 2009)

Daring new role 
Rotorua-born actor Cliff Curtis, 41, stars in the NBC medical drama Trauma as daredevil flight medic Reuben 'Rabbit' Palchuck. The show premiered in the US on September 28. Acting was always a hobby to Curtis. "You don't take these things seriously in New Zealand," he shakes his head. "Men are men, real men. This whole idea of getting into the arts — no, no. But my job wasn't challenging for me intellectually or creatively, and I saw a play, John Osborne's 'Look Back in Anger' and the lead character from that play is called Cliff. I just thought, 'Wow! I'm going to try that.' and I just did." Though he's worked in the US for 15 years, he still commutes. "One little television film I did with Anthony Quinn and they flew me here to L.A. to do my pre- and post-production. I thought, 'What am I doing here? I don't want to be here. I want to be home I'm homesick.' A couple years after that I started getting gigs." He's played everything from an Arab to a Chechen and costarred in films like The Whale Rider, The Piano, Training Day and Three Kings. Curtis trained at the New Zealand Drama School before attending the prestigious Teatro Dimitri Scoula in Switzerland.
(21 September 2009)

Holy dedication 
This month, Auckland singer/songwriter Gin Wigmore, 23, releases her debut album Holy Smoke which was recorded in Los Angeles with the American band The Cardinals. Wigmore is signed to Universal in Australia, where she has lived — on the Gold Coast and in Sydney — for the past few years. But it was a hip-hop track by New Zealand group Smashproof that got her noticed by Motown. A New Zealand record executive took a copy of the track, 'Brother', to Motown Records head Sylvia Rhone. It was a No. 1 smash hit in New Zealand, staying at the top of the charts for a record 11 weeks. Rhone liked what she heard. It wasn't the heartfelt rapping that got her attention, but the soul-stirring voice of the back-up singer — Gin Wigmore. Wigmore has dedicated Holy Smoke to her father who lost his battle with cancer when she was a teenager. "It comes from such a cool place — it feels like Dad's literally come down, given me his hand and walked me through this whole career," Wigmore says. 
(13 September 2009)

Consonant clash 
The New Zealand Geographic Board has announced the River City, Wanganui should be spelled Whanganui, after considering an application by Whanganui iwi, Te Runanga o Tupoho. This single letter has raised the ire of the city and divided the nation as it has moved from an innocuous spelling debate into a divisive issue at the heart of New Zealand race relations. Though it's no Bombay to Mumbai, the local Maori tribe, which formally proposed the change, says it's important to right a historic wrong made when the name was incorrectly recorded by 19th-century white settlers. 
(20 September 2009)

Wireless lifesavers 
Auckland University scientists have developed the technology to power a wireless heart pump which could eventually be an alternative to heart transplants. Scientists from the University's Bioengineering Institute, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Physiology developed the pump which uses magnetic fields to transfer power through a person's skin and can pump on average seven litres of blood per minute and operate 24 hours a day. Auckland Bioengineering Institute technology development leader Dr David Budgett said the technology has the potential to save many lives worldwide as few donor hearts are available. "The objective here is to make this alternative much more attractive than a heart transplant," Budgett said. He said the technology for the wireless heart pump, which has a price tag of $122,000 had been licensed to the US medical company MicroMed with a view to starting clinical trials within 18 months. 
(16 September 2009)

Lomu gets ripped 
Former All Black great Jonah Lomu, 34, stepped back into the limelight coming second in the Men's Open over-90kg class at the NZFBB Body Building Championships in Wellington, an exercise in weight-loss before making a comeback in France playing with second-division Marseille in November. Lomu played 63 tests for the All Blacks between 1994 and 2002 and was the headline performer at the 1995 and 1999 World Cups, but his brilliant career was cut short by kidney disease. His weight ballooned to 142kg but after getting back to the gym he tipped the scales at 114kg when he made his bodybuilding debut coated in tanning oil. "You do look in the mirror at your body and it's amazing how critical you become," he said. "I'm seeing myself in a different shape. It's been hard work but anybody can be a bodybuilder, it's all about discipline." 
(15 September 2009)

Flawless performance 
Palmerston North Formula 3 driver, Brendon Hartley, 19, won his maiden European Championship race at Brands Hatch in England last week, and is delighted to be back on the top step of the podium after a grueling first season in the world's toughest junior racing category. "Scoring my first win in the Formula 3 Euro Series is just great. I didn't make any mistakes during the race … but we were also lucky because I picked up a slow puncture and the tyre was almost flat by the time I got back to parc ferme after the finish," said Hartley. It was Hartley's first victory since the British Formula 3 race at Spa in 2008 and he led from start to finish. Not only did the result mark the former Red Bull Racing Formula 1 test driver's maiden triumph at the level, but it was also his Carlin Motorsport team's breakthrough success as the 19-year-old produced a flawless performance to stave off Mücke Motorsport pairing and home favourites Alexander Sims and Sam Bird for glory. 
(7 September 2009)

Making to last locally 
New Zealand-based furniture designer David Trubridge is profiled in Australian art and design magazine Dumbo Feather, pass it on sharing "his story and ground-breaking ideas that could revolutionise the way we buy and consume design, and in turn significantly lighten the load on our environment." "One of the things I've talked about with a few people in different parts of the world is building a network of manufacturers so that, rather than shipping stuff to Italy and Italians shipping stuff to New Zealand, we make each locally," Trubridge says. "I'd send files to them and they make my stuff there, and vice versa, so that all the materials and energy is as localized as possible." Trubridge and his wife Linda sailed to New Zealand via the Caribbean and the Pacific on a yacht called Hornpipe in the mid-eighties. 
(September 2009)

By hoki but not forever 
Hoki, found in the dark Pacific depths around New Zealand, is the favourite fried meat for McDonald's Filet-O-Fish burgers, and a fish "whose bounty it seems, is not limitless," writes William Broad for The New York Times. "The hoki may be exceedingly unattractive, but when its flesh reaches the consumer it's just fish — cut into filets and sticks or rolled into sushi — moist, slightly sweet and very tasty. Better yet, the hoki fishery was thought to be sustainable, providing New Zealand with a reliable major export for years to come. But arguments over managing this resource are flaring not only between commercial interests and conservationists, but also among the environmental agencies most directly involved in monitoring and regulating the catch. A lot of money is at stake, as well as questions about the effectiveness of global guidelines meant to limit the effects of industrial fishing." 
(9 September 2009)

Living with fur 
New Zealand researchers, including Professor Malcolm Sear of the University of Otago, have found those who lived with dogs and cats for significant periods of time were less likely to develop allergies, compared with those who lived with either a dog or a cat. The researchers, who tracked more than 1000 people over 30 years, used skin-prick tests to measure reactions to common allergens, and found that 35 per cent of children with both pets had developed allergies by age 13. This compared with 43 per cent of those with no pets and 52 per cent of those who had either a dog or a cat. The study is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 
(10 September 2009)

Wall Street suggestions 
"The findings of the 'Emissions Trading Review Committee' … is green PR gone wild," writes the Wall Street Journal. "New Zealand already boasted one of the world's most pristine environments before it passed cap-and-trade last year. The law, if anything, has made the country less green, not more so." The article goes on to suggest that: "The best advertisement for New Zealand isn't to support ideas that make the country poorer. Instead, Key's government would do better by focusing on encouraging strong economic growth to support a vibrant, entrepreneurial society. That way, tourists may want to come to New Zealand and stay." 
(7 September 2009)

Henderson signs with ABC
Auckland-born actor Martin Henderson, 34, has reportedly signed a six-figure deal with network ABC. According to Hollywood Reporter, Henderson is expected to topline an hour-long project for the network. The former Shortland Street star is meeting with writers to discuss potential starring vehicles. Henderson, repped by WME and Management 360, already has headlined two ABC pilots: 2007's Mr and Mrs Smith, in which he played the male lead, and last season's Inside the Box, in which he played the male heartthrob. He also recently starred in Battle in Seattle, a film based on the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity. 
(1 September 2009)

Cheap shots for seats 
Air New Zealand recently used social-networking site Twitter to seek opinion on a new Grab-a-seat campaign, which featured six advertisements poking fun at six local destinations. The 9000 followers of Grab-a-seat were asked to "tell us what you think of these new ads." Grab-a-seat is a website that offers heavily discounted airfares for those quick enough to snaffle the available seats up when they appear online. Adweek blogger David Griner said of the posting: "So, you've made some travel ads that blatantly mock the destinations you're promoting, and possibly Christianity as well. How do you know if you've crossed the line? Why, just ask Twitter! It's a commendable way to get easy input on ads before they launch more broadly, but I'm a bit surprised Air New Zealand would be ones for caution, seeing as how their flight crews are frequently naked and slathered in paint." 
(2 September 2009)

Inspired by wings 
New Zealand choreographer and Rambert Dance Company's artistic director Mark Baldwin is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth with The Comedy of Change, a new work inspired by Darwin's theory of the evolution to life. Fiji-born Baldwin wasn't completely new to Darwinian Theory, having studied a little biology at Auckland University. The films of bird behaviour used by avian scientist Nicky Clayton to illustrate her Cambridge lectures were a fertile source of imagery and humour for Baldwin. "I've been able to steal loads of movement from the birds," says Baldwin. In 2005, Baldwin won the TMA Theatre Award for Achievement in Dance, for the creation of Constant Speed and the high calibre of his artistic directorship of Rambert Dance Company. He has recently completed touring the highly acclaimed work Eternal Light. The Comedy of Change tours England September 16 through December 4.
(2 September 2009)

Topps in Toronto 
Much-loved New Zealand entertainers Lynda and Jools Topp (aka The Topp Twins) will join the likes of Canadian rocker Neil Young, Joan Baez and horror film king George A. Romero for free public performances as part of the Toronto International Film Festival which runs September 10-19. "New Zealand's top yodeling comedy duo" are in Toronto to accompany their documentary The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls which has been selected to screen at TIFF and will play a concert on September 13 hosted by Elvira Kurt. Untouchable Girls has received a mountain of praise since its release in May, winning the Audience Award for Documentary at the recent Melbourne International Film Festival last month and becoming the No. 1 Box Office Documentary ever released in New Zealand. The film has also been selected to screen at the largest documentary festival in the world, IDFA in Amsterdam in November. 
(12 August 2009)

Tall Blacks thump Boomers 
New Zealand have beaten Australia 100–78 securing the top spot in the Oceania rankings and a place at the 2010 World Basketball Championships. New Zealand's 22-point margin — its largest-ever win over Australia — outweighed an earlier seven-point loss in Sydney and marked a coming of age for the unheralded young team. "These guys deserve this win," Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic said. "No-one gave us any credit, no-one respected us. They thought because some of our top players were gone we were no good but we had better wins than this in Europe this year." 
(25 August 2009)

Cinematic claims 
New Zealand-born director Jane Campion's 1993 film The Piano is included in Vogue Australia's 50th Anniversary edition featuring alongside Picnic at Hanging Rock, Strictly Ballroom and Lantana as examples of "seminal moments in Australian cinema". Award-winning Australian film-maker Gillian Armstrong writes: "I was blown away by Jane Campion's The Piano. She has such an incredible eye and you just knew that this was someone who was going to be a great, great world film talent. Everything about it: the look, the photography, the costumes … there was a strong director's voice, with real bravery in the storytelling and in the story itself. There was a lack of sentimentality about the woman and the child, which, in some ways was great coming from a woman. It was also wonderful that the person receiving accolades around the world was another female director." 
(September 2009)

At home on the edge 
Artist Judy Millar, 52, explains to the Financial Times that she lives "at the end of a seven-mile dusty road on Auckland's west coast and overlooks perhaps one of the most untouched beaches on the planet." "It's a place where the rest of the world ceases to exist," Millar says. From a table in the garden with a tree growing through the middle, Miller contemplates her view. There is nothing quite like it in the world. You never see a ship go past, there are no islands in view and you feel you've come to the edge of the world. I'm on the edge of the cliff, about 200ft above sea level. I don't see any houses, just the view down the cliff to the beach. Jane Campion's film The Piano was shot a couple of beaches away. My beach has black sand that sparkles in the summer because it is full of iron. It looks as if it is alive. And though the surf on the west coast is very dangerous it is the closest thing you'll get to swimming in slightly chilled champagne." Millar is currently representing New Zealand, with Francis Upritchard, at the Venice Biennale. 
(29 August 2009)

Tour of the tropics 
Wellingtonian Jan Nye, 59, who is currently based in Dili working as an international development adviser for the East Timorese Ministry of Education, was one of nearly 300 cyclists who competed in the inaugural Tour de Timor, a 450km, 5-day race held in late August. The oldest female competitor in the race, Nye said day four was the most challenging leg of the race demanding a climb from sea level to 1835m over a distance of 70km. "Some parts were so steep we had difficulty even pushing our bikes and were amazed that people could ride up these hills," she said. The Tour de Timor is part of celebrations commemorating the 10th anniversary of the petition seeking independence from Indonesia. It is hoped that it will become an annual event attracting high calibre cyclists and cycling enthusiasts from around the world. 
(August 2009)

Looking to the sun 
New Zealand power company Meridian Energy Ltd has purchased a Californian-based solar power facility Cleantech America for $8.1 million enabling the electricity generator to explore the potential of solar power in New Zealand. "Hydro has formed the backbone of our electricity supply for the best part of a century, and we are now seeing wind taking an ever-increasing role," said chief executive Tim Lusk. "It is a natural progression from there to start looking seriously at how this country can harness its solar power resources." The purchase also has the added benefit of "providing Meridian a toehold" from which it will seek opportunities to invest in renewable energy projects in the U.S., he said. Meridian is New Zealand's largest state-owned electricity generator, accounting for about 30 per cent of the total electricity generation. It operates hydro and wind generation projects that supply around 200,000 residential and business customers in New Zealand. 
(19 August 2009)

Sailing back to form 
Emirates Team New Zealand "are back to their best" according to the Telegraph's Kate Laven, dominating the 2009 Audi MedCup circuit with 23 podium positions from 35 races. With a maximum of 16 races left in this year's circuit, Emirates Team New Zealand are firm favourites to take the title in their first attempt. The Team has now made it three regattas in a row winning the Portugal Trophy. Grant Dalton's team was back to their best despite some dramatic wind shifts in the coastal waters off the Algarve. "We are back on track, making really good starts and sailing fast upwind — we definitely have a speed edge in those conditions," said navigator Ray Davies. 
(20 August 2009)

Robotic travel plans 
Victoria University associate professor and tourism futurologist Dr Ian Yeoman predicts self-cleaning hotel rooms, sleep deprivation tablets to fight off sightseeing fatigue, robot prostitution and hotel rooms so clever they'll be able to detect moods and change wallpaper colour accordingly. Speaking at the Tourism Futures conference on Australia's Gold Coast, Yeoman said that travel in 2050 will be shaped by an older population, food, water, jet fuel supply problems and technological advances. Robot waiters at cocktail bars, remote-controlled camera-carrying guard dogs in hotel lobbies and hotel rooms that self-tidy are all likely, according to the expert. "Robotics will become important, because you're going to have labour shortages in the future,' Yeoman said. According to his latest book, Tomorrow's Tourist, Earth will not be the only destination tourists flock to. Although China will be world's largest tourism destination, holidays in Outer Space will be considered the ultimate luxury experience. 
(17 August 2009)

Sun out soon 
Crowded House frontman Neil Finn has collaborated with the Smiths' Johnny Marr, Radiohead's Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien and new additions Wilco to produce a double-disc collection called The Sun Came Out, proceeds of which will benefit Oxfam. Eight years after the first 7 Worlds Collide project, the latest album was recorded over a three-week stretch in New Zealand around Christmas 2008 with British singer/songwriter KT Tunstall, Finn's brother Tim and son Liam (who recently opened for Eddie Vedder, who appeared on the 7 Worlds Collide album in 2001), Lisa Germano, Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg and Augie March guitarist Glenn Richards all contributing to the sessions. Rolling Stone says the central figure of the album is Neil Finn, who features on most tracks. "It's Neil. It all comes from him. There's something about him that made everyone open up creatively," Tunstall said of Finn. The Sun Came Out is due out September 29. 
(29 July 2009)

Chopper pilot mourned 
New Jersey-based pilot Aucklander Jeremy Clarke, 32, died after the tour helicopter he was flying crashed in a mid-air collision over the Hudson River. Clarke was a certified commercial helicopter pilot an flight instructor, and had worked for two companies, including Los Angeles Helicopters, before he was hired by Liberty Helicopters in February 2008. He had more than 2,700 hours of experience flying helicopters, including about 900 hours with Liberty, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Clarke grew up on Auckland's North Shore, attending Rosmini College, but had lived in the US for several years. He had begun a flying career in 2004. Liberty Helicopters said Clarke was a "skilled, professional instrument-rated commercial pilot with more than 3100 total hours flying helicopters". A colleague of Clarke's told The New York Post the New Zealander was the nicest guy he had met. "Every time I heard his voice come on the radio, I would just feel good, no matter what happened earlier that day. He had that kind of effect on people." 
(9 August 2009)

Badtown do Brighton 
West Auckland six-piece ska-punk band Badtown sold their worldly possessions to tour the UK seaside city of Brighton inspired by the city's own legendary punk rockers Peter and the Test tube Babies. Badtown's bassist Matt Daniel said: "Myself and a friend brought the Test Tubes over to New Zealand for a tour at the start of this year and we got to know the boys really well. Their tales about Brighton inspired us. One person remortgaged to come here while others took out loans and two members lost long-term relationships. I don't know if some of us can go back because of the havoc this journey has caused." Earlier this month they played in Worthing and then hit Brighton, appearing with another legendary Brighton band, rockabilly outfit Long Tall Texans, at The Albert in Trafalgar Street. Badtown play the Engine Rooms with Subhumans and Brighton band The Fish Brothers on August 27. 
(11 August 2009)

Easy in the back paddocks 
Fielding farmer David Short has invented a battery-powered shearing handpiece that can be used in the yards or paddocks, and for minimal cost. Short has spent four years perfecting the design and now the machine has hit the Australian market. He has sold 430 sets so far in New Zealand, mostly to large-scale farmers. As a lamb trader, he said he wanted something light, quick and easy that he could take into the yards to clean up the sheep before putting the sheep on the truck. Made from steel, the tool is the first portable, low-voltage mechanical handpiece. Short said it was a low-cost alternative to other traditional electric clippers that relied on mains power or a 12-volt battery. The motor of the handpiece can be battery pack-operated, attached to a belt, or connected to a vehicle. "It is ideal for out in the back paddock scenarios where otherwise you'd have to get a generator," he said. 
(10 August 2009)

Adamson meets Mister Pip 
New Zealander Andrew Adamson will direct his own adaptation of Wellington-based Lloyd Jones' award-winning novel Mister Pip. Producer Robin Scholes, who was behind Once Were Warriors and The Tattooist, plans to film Mister Pip in Australia, post-produce in New Zealand, and complete the sound in the UK. Mister Pip will be principally set in the Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville during an ongoing war between soldiers and rebels over copper mining. It tells the story of a young girl who becomes transfixed by the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, which is being read at school by the only white man in the village. "The overarching theme is the power of the human imagination to be used for both good and evil," Scholes told ScreenDaily. A production start date has yet to be confirmed but casting is said to be under way. 
(29 July 2009)

Small screen shenanigans 
Actress Lucy Lawless, 41, who stars as gladiator camp owner Lucretia in the American network Starz's epic series Spartacus, told the crowd at Los Angeles convention Comic-Con that it was "big fun back on the small screen." The premium channel unveiled the trailer during a Comic-Con panel, and indeed the series looks gory. And full of naked bodies! Imagine the nudity of HBO's Rome, the violence of Gladiator and the look of 300, and you'll have a good idea of what Spartacus is like. The nudity, meanwhile, forced Lawless to hit the gym. "I do have to work out," she said. "Being naked on-screen is no fun." Craig Parker also stars in the series as Glaber, a Roman legate, who blames Spartacus for his failed military campaign. In May 2009 Lucy Lawless became a 'climate ambassador' for the Greenpeace 'Sign On' campaign. 
(24 July 2009)

Holding them accountable 
New Zealand academic and Professor of international political economy at Oxford University, Ngaire Woods, may have the answer to preventing another economic crisis with a new book The Politics of Global Regulation — the culmination of a five-year study with Oxford colleague Walter Mattli. At its crux, the book addresses why, with globalisation having taken off, the global economy has such a lack of effective regulation. It's a groundbreaking study because it's the first time scholars have looked at what Woods calls the theory of global regulatory capture, which is effectively what has happened in finance. "Those parts of the financial sector that are global and highly leveraged very effectively avoid the kind of regulation that is required, because these institutions are too large to let fail," says Woods. Woods and Mattli's solution to the conundrum of how we "prevent this happening again", is two-fold. First, there needs to be better monitoring by whomever supervises banks and the financial sector. The second, more ambitious solution calls for a global adjudication mechanism, similar to the disputes settlement mechanism at the World Trade Organisation. 
(19 June 2009)

Saving fish stocks 
Research from an international team of scientists, including Pamela Mace of the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries who helped write the study, shows that a handful of major fisheries across the world have managed to reduce the rate at which fish are exploited. "Fisheries managers currently presiding over depleted fish stocks need to become fast followers of the successes revealed in this paper," Mace said. "We need to move much more rapidly towards rebuilding individual fish populations, and restoring the ecosystems of which they are a part, if there is to be any hope for the long-term viability of fisheries and fishing communities." Agencies in New Zealand and Alaska have led the world in the fight against overfishing by acting before the situation became critical, says the study, which is published in the journal Science. 
(30 July 2009)

Bombs away in 3D 
Peter Jackson has told the Telegraph he thinks "a World War Two bombing raid in 3D would be neat". While it may be pushing the boundaries of good taste, Jackson, the director of The Lord of the Rings films, wants bouncing bombs to leap out at audiences in his hi-tech remake of the classic 1954 film The Dam Busters. The director is currently shooting experimental three-dimensional aerial footage in New Zealand. Providing the trials go well, the plan is to make The Dam Busters, which commemorates the raids on key German dams during the Second World War, the first war film to be shot using the new technology. Jackson wants his film to be "as authentic as possible and as close to the spirit of the original as possible". 
(30 July 2009)

New Zealander in NY 
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, now in the role of administrator for the United Nation's Development Programme (UNDP), talks candidly to TV1's Breakfast show host Paul Henry in New York about "fitting in" as a New Zealander in the Big Apple. Helen Clark admitted that she doesn't miss the "bubble" which is New Zealand. She loves the fact that she no longer makes the front page of the newspaper if she trips over in the street. Clark said her job would not be completed in her lifetime but she had a positive attitude and expected to make a difference. "In the end what matters is what results you get on the ground." Asked about the slow moving nature of the UN Clark said it was understandable. "I've come to appreciate that what happens in … the general assembly and the security council, it's a democracy of 192 countries so we are sometimes frustrated that the UN can take its time reaching a decision but it's very difficult to corral 192 countries or the 15 on the Security Council from a wide range of countries for that matter." Clark became the first woman to lead the UNDP on April 17.
(27 July 2009)

Roots of laughter 
New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby, 35, is returning to the UK and standup comedy performing a number of London gigs at the Bloomsbury Theatre and a stint at the upcoming Edinburgh Festival August 6–15. The new show deals a lot with the strangeness of Hollywood as seen from a New Zealand perspective; since being "plucked from a damp gig at a Welsh arts centre", Darby has bounced from Conchords glory playing 'Murray' to steal scenes from Jim Carrey in Yes Man and clown for Richard Curtis in The Boat That Rocked. "I used to do really physical comedy, nothing like Murray at all, but this show is more grown-up. It's about the culture shock and the weird things that happen out there, but it's really not quite as weird to me as I make out," Darby admits. "The way things are in the US — well, it's kind of like Australia. The same sports, the same go-for-it attitude and the same patronising approach to the little island way across the water." He grins. "That's how the Yanks see you guys, isn't it?" 
(26 July 2009)

Keeping it to himself 
Recent émigré to New Zealand, British media-specialist David Jeffries, 43, says he misses nothing about England in his new hometown of Auckland where he runs the award-winning company Mere Mortals, which also has an office in Newcastle, UK. "Some people might see my move as a backward step: I hear the stereotypes about New Zealand loud and clear," Jeffries told the Financial Times. "It's uncultured, it's at the end of the world, it's Hicksville ... 'Good', I say. I want people to believe that. I don't want them here to spoil the place. I spend my spare time beach walking most days, swimming, going out fishing on a friend's boat, driving my convertible in the sun or having weekend trips away in the camper van. The UK could never offer me what I have here. [Auckland] lifts my soul. It means I'm home, it means I made it, it means "I'm living the dream". Mere Mortals has worked on computer graphics for films including Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Weeks Later and Sunshine. 
(25 July 2009)

For the big spenders 
A St Mary's Bay, Auckland home, on the books at Boulgaris/Maguire Properties, is advertised in The New York Times' international real estate section, which also provides an overview of Auckland's current property market. Foreign buyers are more likely to purchase a house than an apartment, director Michael Boulgaris said. Many expatriates look to buy in the best school districts, which are in central Auckland. Boulgaris said houses with harbour views in the affluent neighborhoods of Auckland cost two to five million dollars. Homes in the South Island cost about half as much as homes in the Auckland area. A typical vacation home with mountain and lake views in Queenstown would cost about $1 million dollars. 
(21 July 2009)

Sustainability ninja exits 
UK Green party member, adviser and Treasury antagonist Jonathan Porritt, 59, has left his post as chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) after nine years "trying to crash the gears of the machine of state". When Porritt started in 2000, the SDC was a titchy £350,000-a-year operation with a unique licence to be independent, provoke, criticise and scrutinise government as a "critical friend". But it has since grown into the government's "most authoritative and provocative quango and has challenged it on everything from climate to roads, equality, housing, economics, consumption and health." "The watchdog role, especially, has been impossible for governments to ignore. Whitehall is a heaving bureaucracy and you make it work for you," he says, "only by making its systems friendly to sustainable development." Porritt is the son of New Zealand's 11th Governor General and Olympic bronze winning athlete Arthur Porritt. 
(25 July 2009)

Roberts honoured 
nzedge.com co-founder and Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Worldwide, Kevin Roberts, received an honorary degree of Doctorate of Laws at a colorful ceremony at Lancaster University on 16 July. The honorary degree was awarded for "contributions made to the field of creativity and innovation in business and education". He is also currently Honorary Professor of Creative Leadership at Lancaster University. The award is extra special for Roberts having been born, raised and schooled in the district. He is also CEO-in-Residence at Cambridge University and holds Honorary Professorships from the University of Auckland's Faculty of Business and Economics, and the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences in Lima.”
(20 July 2009)

Shaking us all a little closer 
The strongest earthquake in 78 years has left New Zealand and Australia a little closer — 12 inches to be exact. The magnitude 7.8 quake on July 15 struck the South Island as the strongest earthquake this year. The quake was strong enough to push the Western Coast of the South Island about a foot closer to Australia. "They're just that little bit closer to paradise," said Rob Valentine, the mayor of Hobart in Australia's island state of Tasmania. "As neighbors, we're really close, we can work together to take on the rest of the world." 
(27 July 2009)

Papped in Venice 
"Anna Paquin arrives at Gjelina's, her favourite LA restaurant, on a pale pink pushbike, asks for her usual lemonade, smiles and starts to chatter," writes the Daily Mail's Lorien Haynes. "Not nervous, over-your-head chatter, but wry, offbeat, barbed wit. She rarely gives interviews and even more rarely talks about her private life. Her reputation is, she confesses, 'Being incredibly serious about my work.' Since it first screened in the US last autumn, True Blood has become HBO's third highest-rated series after The Sopranos and Sex and the City, and Paquin, 26, is now constantly recognised and papped. Paquin is based in Venice, Los Angeles. She loves the laid-back there, and the beach: 'It reminds me of home in New Zealand.' Paquin's older brother, film producer Andrew, 32, lives in LA too, 'So there is family,' she smiles. Together they have formed a production company, and produced the indie film Blue State in 2007." 
(19 July 2009)

This is really a dog 
Gisborne dog owner Cheryl McKnight believes her 6-month-old Maltese puppy Scooter, which stands at just 8cm tall, is a Guinness World Record potential for the smallest dog by height. McKnight says he hasn't grown at all since he was 2 months old, and she believes he won't grow any taller — certainly no taller than the current record holder, an American Chihuahua. Scooter eats from an egg cup, weighs less than a block of butter, sleeps in a shoebox and apparently has his share of challenges as a result of his stature. McKnight fashioned a regular purple sock into a jersey, which Scooter wears so he is easily seen around the house. "It really is quite something. I can't take him for a walk or put a leash on him." 
(14 July 2009)

Radio with pictures 
New Zealand-born DJ, radio host and television personality, Zane Lowe, 35, is piloting an initiative by BBC's Radio 1 to make radio a visual medium, with Lowe's antics being filmed by no less than six television cameras at any time. Lowe is pivotal to Radio 1 — "the bridge in the schedule between the daytime and specialist output, somehow incorporating a spectrum of music ranging from pulsating rock to electronica and grime" — which is why he was chosen to pilot the visual adventure, along with breakfast show presenter Chris Moyles. Initially however, he was far from convinced by the idea. "I like the idea of mystery in radio, and I took a bit of convincing on this TV thing," he says. "I'm trying to not be too conscious of the cameras. Every now and then you might throw a shape or do something to acknowledge that it's there, but I try not to." A star in Britain, he hopes the internet will spread his insight internationally. The music business could do with the support. "People say they don't make records like they used to," he says. "I'm trying to say, 'Well, actually they do'." 
(13 July 2009)

Battle commences 
The All Blacks have won their first match in the 2009 Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations series against Australia 22–16 at Auckland's Eden Park. With skipper Richie McCaw back to lead the way, the All Blacks shrugged off their indifferent early-season form to come from behind and lay down a marker ahead of Tests in South Africa in the coming two weekends. All Black Stephen Donald slot his fourth three-pointer of the night six minutes from time to put the home side 22–16 in front and super defence ensured in the dying minutes that was a close as the Australians would get. The Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden wrote of the Australian defeat: "The Wallabies showed they are not yet mentally up to beating the All Blacks on home soil. They are too easily intimidated. The skills and fitness have improved in the past year but the killer instinct is not there." 
(18 July 2009)

Pastry mad in the Bay 
Aucklander Alka Patel has taken the New Zealand pie to the streets of San Francisco, selling the pastry goodness at Stonestown farmers' market. "I sold out of everything both days," Patel told SFoodie, including pies filled with lamb curry ($US5.95), butter chicken, and bacon and egg (both $US5). Patel is strict about ingredient purity: She uses organic New Zealand lamb, mostly organic vegetables sourced from farmers' markets, and Canadian-style bacon she buys at Whole Foods. Alka Patel was a process engineer at a South City biotech company before realising she had a calling in pie-making. 
(7 July 2009)

Cheap but cheerful 
New Zealand tourists are among the most fiscally tight travelers in the world according to a survey by online travel company Expedia, who asked more than 4,500 hoteliers around the globe their opinions on the best travellers overall, as well as other specific categories including behaviour, spending habits, fashion sense and willingness to try to speak the local language. According to the survey New Zealanders are the sixth stingiest travelers out of 27 nationalities, and were ranked 14th equal with Austria in the best overall tourists category, which was topped by Japan. Compared with Australians, New Zealanders were less likely to attempt the local language — in 14th place — or to tip — in 19th place. Australians were ranked fifth in both categories. The French were regarded as the worst tourists, rated the most frugal and the least polite. 
(10 July 2009)

Perfect for picking 
Andrew McKenzie's mid-orchard home is featured in this month's Dwell magazine as the perfect example of a marriage between economy, sustainability and design. The house earned Architects Cecile Bonnifait and William Giesen a regional award from the New Zealand Institute of Architects, for what was a called a 'disarmingly simple' form and execution. "This very direct interpretation of the bachelor pad proves that architecture is not dictated by budget," said judges' convener Ezra Kelly. "A lot of New Zealand architecture is these colonial houses people plonked in without any thought," says Giesen. "For us, we want it to look good and we want it to be a contemporary building, but if its not a sustainable piece of architecture, well, its just a fashion statement really, isn't it?" 
(July 2009)

Everyman's house 
Artist Dick Frizzell's Haumoana home 'Faraway' — "a sky blue, maritime-themed house that is surrounded by an olive grove, an orchard and a flower and vegetable garden" — features in the real estate section of The New York Times. "From the kitchen window Frizzell can look out on a gravel beach and the South Pacific Ocean beyond. 'There's something ionized about the atmosphere, it just seems to pick up the fresh salty tang of the ocean,' Frizzell said, who, like his wife, Jude, is 65. The 206 square meters house was designed in the Cape Cod style, inspired by Martha Stewart and the architecture that Frizzell saw on a trip from New York to Canada in 1998. Frizzell is proud that he designed the new house 'down to the very last millimeter,' working with Graham Burgess, an Auckland architect, to bring about his vision. In recent years Frizzell, with the agreement of the Four Square company, has adapted Charlie to represent a kind of New Zealand Everyman. His artwork of the character is sold in many galleries around the country and it was used on the cover of The Great New Zealand Songbook, published early this year." 
(6 July 2009)

Back in the hot seats 
All Blacks head coach Graham Henry and his two assistants Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen have been re-appointed for an extended two seasons until the end of the 2011 World Cup. "Graham, Wayne and Steve are outstanding coaches. They have a formidable record and we hold them in very high regard," NZRU chairman Jack Hobbs said in a statement. "We agreed the time was right to consider the next two years, and the re-appointment reflects our confidence in them." The trio were first appointed in 2004 and have built an imposing record, winning 57 of the 66 test matches they have been in charge of. Under their guidance, the All Blacks have won the Tri-Nations four times, completed a 3–0 series win against the British and Irish Lions and twice achieved the 'grand slam'. 
(9 July 2009)

Walker the Idol 
New Zealand-raised eighteen-year-old Stan Walker has been crowned Australian Idol winning a AU$200,000 artist's development fund and a recording contract with Sony. Described as a soul singer, Walker, who is a shop assistant in Coolangatta, Queensland, was the favourite to win the grand final of the Network Ten singing contest and said he felt "blessed" to win. "I just want to thank God, man. Hey, I want to thank my family for coming and supporting me. My family they came from New Zealand," he told the crowd on winning. Judge Jay Dee Springbett said to Walker after performing: "You're Stan-bloody-tastic — you're a star in the making." Of all the Idol contestants, Walker reportedly took the most risks, delivering songs as diverse as 'Purple Rain', 'It's A Man's World' and even Beyonce's 'Single Ladies'. Walker attended Hamilton Boys' High School before moving to Melbourne where he was born. 
(23 November 2009)

Hatchery to home 
In the last eight years, 89 chicks have been returned to the wild by the Whakatane Kiwi Project, and on a recent holiday to New Zealand, Vancouver-based freelancer Jennifer Laidlaw joins a crowd of 200 to watch Te Kauhoe, or the Paddler, make his own trip from box to burrow in the Mokorua Scenic Reserve. Conservationist with the Whakatane Kiwi Project Kerry Oates pulls back the top of the box, and carefully lifts out the brown, chicken-sized kiwi. "Come on, come on," he clucks softly as the kiwi frantically shoves his long beak into Oates' armpit. "Come on little guy, it's time to see your new home," Oates says. 
(12 December 2009)

Icy conundrum 
New Zealand is one of the dozen founding members of the Antarctic Treaty, along with the United States, Russia, Britain and others, and is among those leading the push for shipping regulation — particularly considering controls on cruise boats visiting the frozen continent — in order to reduce the growing threat of human and environmental disasters posed by exploding numbers of tourists. A proposal for a code to ensure ships plying the world's southernmost seas could withstand hitting an iceberg and other measures were discussed at a recent meeting in Wellington of more than 80 experts from signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, the international accord to oversee the region. Annual tourist numbers have grown from about 10,000 a decade ago to 45,000 last year. Head of Antarctic policy at New Zealand's foreign ministry Trevor Hughes said the sinking of the ice-strengthened Explorer was a wake-up call to Antarctic Treaty nations, and experts from all key members of the Antarctic Treaty now want a tough new code for shipping in Antarctica. "Without regulations, we are going to have a disaster where a lot of lives are lost and where oil spills out into the environment, and we see penguins being smothered and poisoned by fuel oil in their rookeries," Hughes told The Associated Press. 
(9 December 2009)

Picking up the protocol 
"New Zealand may be best known for adventure tourism including sky diving, bungee jumping, gliding and 'Zorbing' — rolling downhill in a 10-foot-tall inflatable sphere cushioned with water." Yet the most enriching part of Seattle Times reporter Kathy Matheson's trip was the cultural tourism that taught her about the Maori. "Don't be fooled: 'Meeting' a Maori tribe at a heritage centre can be just as intimidating as thrill-jumping off Auckland's Skytower. What's the proper reaction when a tattooed, spear-carrying warrior bounds out of a house, shouts something in Maori at you, makes menacing faces and throws a leaf at your feet? Think fast, because that spear is pretty sharp. My adrenaline got pumped enough by the spear-carrying Maori at the heritage centre in Rotorua who threw down the leaf. The proper reaction, by the way, is to pick it up. They'll invite you in. Stay a while — they make a mean feast." 
(6 December 2009)

Chain reaction 
New Zealand-invented coffee the flat white will now be offered to British Starbucks customers from December 7, the first new type of coffee the company has offered to British consumers since it opened up shop in Britain more than a decade ago. Alan Hartney, Starbucks's coffee ambassador in Britain, said: "I love the taste. The quality of the milk gives it a sweeter taste and velvety texture. And it brings out the caramel taste of the espresso." New Zealander Eric Hiakita, the manager of Soho coffee shop Flat White, is considered to be the first man to start serving the drink in London. Hiakita said he did not feel threatened by Starbucks's move. "It all comes down to the quality of the coffee. And frankly the big chains just can't train up their staff to the high standard needed. "Comparing us with Starbucks would be like comparing Gallo wines to Petrus." Flat White opened in September 2005. 
(5 December 2009)

Pricey contest 
A New Zealand sauvignon blanc was the biggest selling wine in Australia last year, with three out of the five top selling wines coming from this country. New Zealand Winegrowers data shows the country's exports to Australia have more than quadrupled in the past five years from AUD$46.3 million in 2004 to AUD$222.31 million last financial year. So why are Australians choosing New Zealand whites over the home grown product? Part of the reason is price. New Zealand sauvignon blancs are noticeably cheaper at the bottle shop. The President of the Wine Industry Association of Western Australia John Griffiths said the visibility of New Zealand sauvignon blanc in the retail market has contributed to its success. "What New Zealand did across Australia, and around the world a little bit, was show how much people like fresh, crisp, aromatic lighter styles of wine and this is the new direction of wine," he said. "I think the New Zealanders did a good job of highlighting that demand." 
(2 December 2009)

Home to rest 
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans heads home to Christchurch for some jet boating and a family catch-up having been at the helm of the Australian team for two seasons. Deans and the Wallabies flew out of London optimistic about their future prospects after signing off from their spring tour of Japan, the UK and Ireland with a resounding victory over Wales at Millennium Stadium. With his new-look side averaging just 24 years a player, and featuring outstanding talents like James O'Connor, Quade Cooper, Will Genia, David Pocock, Benn Robinson and Ben Alexander, Deans is hopeful the Wallabies are on the up heading towards the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. "But you never arrive to that end. You've got to keep attending to all the detail, but we know from within that we're tracking in the right direction," he said. "You can never take your foot off the pedal. You've got to keep going." 
(30 November 2009)

Armed with laughter 
"Going to a Topp Twins gig in New Zealand is a bit like going to a thousand-strong family reunion," writes Stephanie Bunbury for The Age. "Up front are Jools and Lynda Topp, 51-year-old identical twins singing country harmonies in unearthly stereo. The fact Lynda and Jools are gay, look gay and talk about being gay when they're on stage doesn't faze the grannies, the children or the country-music rednecks. Partly thanks to the Topps, they're over that. Audiences at the Toronto Film Festival may not have heard of them but they voted the film best documentary. "But every single country in the world has had its own version of these struggles," Jools says. "We've just been lucky to live in a small enough place to be able to make a difference." Not that anybody has ever sent them hate mail, Lynda assures me. "Of course," Jools chips in, "we've got this fabulous weapon called laughter." 
(27 November 2009)

Televised aliens 
Wellington-based Weta Workshop is working with Disney XD on a television movie called Skyrunners creating, what the star of the show American Kelly Blatz describes as, a "unique and frightening … transparent" alien "with a mouth full of teeth". The 22-year-old actor-musician talked about coming face-to-face with the Weta-created alien creature in Skyrunners. "It was amazing," Blatz said. "We walk in there and it's all dark. This thing — no matter how close you are it still looks completely real. So everyone [steps back] — it was really eerie. Just the lighting and everything." Skyrunners is the tale of two brothers who stumble across a downed UFO and decide to keep it and then proceed to uncover an alien plot to take over Earth. 
(24 November 2009)

Parliamentary eyesore 
The Beehive has been rated among the world's ten ugliest buildings, coming in at number three on a list decided by editors and members of the popular online Virtual Tourist travel network. Virtual Tourist's list is its second annual compendium of ugly structures around the world. The network described the 70s-era building, the Executive Wing of New Zealand's parliamentary precinct, as: "A slide projector that fell on a wedding cake that fell on a waterwheel." "Its proximity to the neighboring Edwardian neo-classical Parliament House only accentuates its unattractiveness." The ugliest building was the Morris A Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. Virtual Tourist general manager Giampiero Ambrosi said the structures were awful. "Many of these buildings don't have the warmth of an ice cube while others don't even seem completed," Ambrosi said. Credit for the design is usually given to Scottish architect Sir Basil Spence, who made a rough sketch in 1964 while dining with Sir Keith Holyoake. 
(23 November 2009)

Together in recovery 
Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, a benefit compilation for the Auckland musician who suffered a debilitating stroke in June, has been released in New Zealand on Knox's own A Major Label, proceeds of which will go toward his recovery. Knox, 57, can now say only a few words but has still provided some vocals on the album. The first track with The Nothing was made up as it was recorded, Roy Martyn, who spearheaded the album, said. "Chris just joined in and had a great time vocalising along with the band. It made him very happy." The tracklisting for the compilation is full to the brim with indie heavyweights covering classics from Knox's solo work and work in Tall Dwarfs, the Enemy, Toy Love and The Nothing. Artists involved include The Chills, The Verlaines, Boh Runga, Yo La Tengo, A.C. Newman, the Mountain Goats, Stephin Merritt, Jay Reatard, Lambchop, Portastatic, Will Oldham, Lou Barlow, Bill Callahan, and many others. 
(November 2009)

Marlborough in Seoul 
Head winemaker at Jackson Estate Mike Paterson was recently in Seoul promoting the winery and hosting a wine-tasting event at the hotel W Seoul, which was interested in matching their food with Jackson wines. Rather than strong-flavored wines, Jackson Estate, according to Paterson, focuses on making wines that compliment food and fit in as a part of an occasion rather than dominate one. It also aims to bring out a natural taste while building depth of texture and balance, he said. "Jackson wines are very balanced. As a chef, this is good. Too much of one kind of taste is difficult to match food to," said W Seoul's cuisine director Ciaran Hickey. Seoul's leading hotels, restaurants and wine bars, which used to be dominated by French and Italian selections, are now showing a growing presence of New Zealand wines. 
(21 November 2009)

Haka and the birds 
The origins of New Zealand's Ka Mate haka are traced and birds discovered by the Telegraph's Sue Attwood who travels to Kapiti Island, the composer Te Rauparaha's stronghold in the mid-1800s. Hunted by a rival tribe, Te Rauparaha took refuge in a kumera pit near Tongariro, south of Lake Taupo. A wife of the local chief, wearing a voluminous cloak, squatted over the pit until his pursuers had gone. Te Rauparaha then emerged from the pit performing the Ka Mate haka in celebration of his reprieve. Kapiti Island is New Zealand as it was a hundred years ago. There are only about 250 of takahe left in the world, but on Kapiti they graze like contented prehistoric chickens. There are also saddlebacks, stitchbirds, kaka, kokako, weka: the winding paths to the top of the island are thick with birds. Te Rauparaha died in 1849 and was buried at Otaki on the mainland. There's a rumour, though, that his remains were exhumed and taken across to Kapiti. Attwood asks Kapiti resident John Barrett if he knew where his grave was but he wouldn't say. "If I told you," Barrett said, "I'd have to kill you." 
(16 November 2009)

Kanohi ki te kanohi 
Whale Watch Kaikoura has been named overall winner of the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009. The Telegraph's Mark Chipperfield travels to the seaside town to spot some southern cetaceans. Whale Watch Kaikoura is now the region's biggest employer, with a full-time staff of 77, a custom-built marina, a fleet of six purpose-built catamarans and an annual turnover of $10m. On Chipperfield's second day in Kaikoura, a family of humpback whales was spotted frolicking offshore. Within minutes the Esplanade was crowded with excited onlookers, locals and tourists alike, craning to catch a glimpse. Bound in the moment. "In our culture we have a saying: kanohi ki te kanohi — face to face. My breath, your breath," says director Marcus Solomon. "A destination is more than just a place on the map, it's the people you meet there and the experiences you share. So tourism has a huge responsibility — its arms reach far and wide." The Responsible Tourism Awards judges said of the company: "Rarely do we see a tourism initiative developed from the ground up by a local community to such a successful and grand scale — growing from modest beginnings to securing in a joint venture with Sea World on the Gold Coast of Australia to provide their whale watching." Wellington's YHA won the award for best large hotel/accommodation (more than 50 rooms). 
(11 November 2009)

Travel trailer legacy 
New Zealand-born entrepreneur Wade F. B. Thompson, who made his name reviving the American Airstream brand of travel trailers, has died at his Upper East Side home, aged 69. Raised in Wellington, Thompson dreamed of living in New York City, which he knew only from photos in an old family encyclopedia. After college, Thompson made his way to the U.S., where he studied business at New York University while working as a salesman at Brooks Brothers, the men's clothier. After graduation and in deference to his father's wishes, he returned to New Zealand to open a clothing store in Wellington, to be called Shirtmasters. But after customs officials refused at first to allow him to import a crate of new Gant shirts from the U.S., Thompson decided to leave New Zealand. "I couldn't live in a socialist system like that," Thompson told the Dominion Post in 2004. "I thought, how in the world can this system work here?" In the midst of a business downturn for recreational vehicles in 1980 together with Peter Orthwein, Thompson formed Thor Industries — named using the first two letters of their last names — and bought Airstream, then a money-losing subsidiary of Beatrice Foods. The brand had a long history and a revered line of products: ovoid-shaped, aluminum-side trailers that were originally based on the design of the Pan Am Clipper, one of the early trans-Atlantic passenger planes. The company went public in 1984 and eventually branched out into making motor homes and transit buses. At the company's peak, in 2006, it sold more than 100,000 trailers, buses and motor homes. "As long as there's a Grand Canyon, there will be an RV industry," Thompson was fond of saying. Although one of his companies produced an RV known as a Land Yacht, Thompson preferred to zip around in a red Mini Cooper. 
(18 November 2009)

Rare privilege 
Napier-born Dr John Hood has given his retiring Vice-Chancellor's Oration at the University of Oxford after a five-year term. In his final address, Dr Hood reviewed the 2008–9 academic year and reflected on "aspects of evolution and change" at the University during his tenure. In conclusion, Dr Hood said his role was "a rare privilege". "I am but one among many and have been supported by the knowledge and skills of all those around me. I am humbled, thrice humbled, to have been able to be of service to this institution." Dr Hood has been appointed president and chief executive of The Robertson Foundation — a major grant-making body focusing on education, environment, medical research, and religion — in the United States. He will take up his new post at the beginning of next year and will be based in New York. Dr Hood was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2004, the first time in the institution's 900 year history a vice-chancellor was elected from outside the University's current academic body. 
(October 2009)

No hope for French 
The All Blacks "overwhelmed" France 39–12 at Stade Velodrome in Marseille completing their four-test campaign in Europe without conceding a try. A rampant All Blacks wearing white jerseys to avoid a color clash scored five — shared by Sitiveni Sivivatu, Mils Muliaina, Jerome Kaino, Cory Jane and Conrad Smith — in their best display of a mediocre year, and shut out the French in the second half. "It was a great game with two teams wanting to attack," All Blacks coach Graham Henry said. "It was really good to see two teams wanting to play attacking rugby football. That victory is a special one. We've had a challenging year and we won the last six games. I'm delighted by the players' performance, they can now enjoy the summer." Dan Carter tallied 14 points and the man of the match award, and Richie McCaw afterwards received the IRB Player of the Year, becoming the first person to earn it twice since the award began in 2001. 
(28 November 2009)

Saving grace 
New Zealand-raised cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh is praised for his work on the Mira Nair-directed film Amelia, about pioneering American aviatrix Amelia Earhart. The Observer's Philip French writes that the film is "beautifully photographed" by Dryburgh and the California Chronicle goes as far to say that: "It's not the stars of the movie who shine in this dull biopic about Amelia Earhart — the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic — it's Stuart Dryburgh, Stephanie Carroll and Kasia Walicka-Maimone. They are the cinematographer, production designer and costume designer, who earn their wings and most of the praise. Top marks go to them for making a technically sumptuous looking movie but in terms of story and direction Amelia fails to take off." Dryburgh earned an Oscar nomination for The Piano. His credits include The Perez Family, Lone Star, The Portrait of a Lady, Bridget Jones's Diary, Kate & Leopold, In My Father's Den, The Painted Veil and Nim's Island. Dryburgh's next film is the 2010 American production of The Tempest, starring Helen Mirren and David Strathairn. 
(15 November 2009)

Starry bid approved 
New Zealand's bid to have the Tekapo-Aoraki night sky declared a World Heritage reserve site has been accepted at a UNESCO meeting in the Canary Islands before final approval at the UNESCO world heritage meeting in Rio de Janeiro next year. Former Labour cabinet minister Margaret Austin told the conference the area around Tekapo, in the South Island's MacKenzie District, has pristine, dark unpolluted skies with one of the most accessible observatories in the world. Austin said she was overwhelmed New Zealand's bid was approved. The other sites also to be considered for world heritage status are from Austria, Spain, Chile, and Hawaii. Only the New Zealand and Austrian locations have been recognised as "mixed sites"  — acknowledging not only their pristine night sky but also their surrounding landscape and the opportunities for astro-tourism. The move to formally recognise night skies as World Heritage sites was a big move for UNESCO Austin said. "It's almost like an evolution. They've gone from monuments to landscapes to cultural landscapes and now they're taking another step." 
(12 November 2009)

Vili one of the best 
Rotorua-born shot putter Valerie Vili, 25, has been shortlisted as one of five female finalists vying for the 2009 World Athlete of the Year award. The winners will be announced during the 2009 World Athletics Gala, which will take place in Monaco, on November 22. Vili is the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth champion. She also currently holds the New Zealand, Oceania and Commonwealth records for the shot put with a personal best of 21.07m. 
(10 November 2009)

Ski season success 
New Zealand's 2009 winter ski season was the best it has ever been with 1.5 million sets of skis and snowboards hitting the slopes, including over 100,000 skiers from across the Tasman. New Zealand tourism operators are sending a big thanks to Australian PM Kevin Rudd for "stimulating" the winter ski season, and have a suggestion — please do it again. "We're all writing to Kevin Rudd to see if he'll do it again next winter," said Lake Wanaka Tourism manager James Helmore. 
(10 November 2009)

South Island sauropods 
Proof that dinosaurs did roam the South Island 70 million years ago has been found with the discovery of 20 footprints across a 10km stretch in northwest Nelson. The footprints were found by geologist Dr Greg Browne in the remote Whanganui Inlet, and though he made the discovery a decade ago, it wasn't made public until now. Browne said the dinosaur link only emerged after several years of study. "The structures show evidence that they were formed by something large and heavy that depressed the sand downward because of the load," he said. The round markings, up to 60cm across, would have been made in beach sand and preserved by "wet sticky mud" washed in by the tide. Browne believes the footprints belonged to sauropods plant-eating dinosaurs which were among the largest animals to have lived, growing up to six metres in length and weighing several tones. The latest find will be published in the New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics in December. 
(7 November 2009)

Park's plinth a triumph 
A statue of revered New Zealand airman and Battle of Britain hero Sir Keith Park has been unveiled on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. The unveiling was a triumph for the veterans who have campaigned to have their leader commemorated in the capital. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, compared the efforts of the Sir Keith Park Memorial Campaign to the aerial struggle to defend Britain against the Luftwaffe in the summer and autumn of 1940. "They have shown a dogged persistence and a refusal to accept defeat against overwhelming odds that could have been inspired by the Battle of Britain itself," he told a crowd of 400 people who had gathered for the unveiling. "If it had just been down to me, I would have renamed Hyde Park 'Keith Park', or possibly 'Park Park', in his honour. Indeed, there were times when it looked easier to rename Hyde Park than erect a statue in Trafalgar Square." The statue, which was made in New Zealand by WETA Workshop, will be moved to the RAF Museum in Hendon, northwest London, after its six-month stay on the plinth. A smaller version will be placed permanently in Waterloo Place, South London, on September 15, 2010, to mark the battle's 70th anniversary. 
(5 November 2009)

For the pros 
The New Zealand company behind Europe's first artificial surf reef at Boscombe in Bournemouth, ASR Limited, has said the reef, now opened to the public, would provide a "substantial benefit" to the beachside community in terms of coastal protection. New Zealand managing director of ASR Ltd and the designer of the reef oceanographer Dr Kerry Black has travelled the entire Pacific Rim and measured 44 of the world's best surf breaks, to find out what makes a world-class wave and, ultimately, how to replicate it artificially. According to the Boscombe Surf Reef website: "Mimicking nature, the multi-purpose reef provides the same beach protection benefits of natural reefs - acting as a protective barrier to the coastline to help decrease sand erosion on beaches, as well as creating a new marine habitat." 
(2 November 2009)

With a hiss and a roar 
When visiting Rotorua, "think Yellowstone or Lassen, but with some key differences," describes The Sacramento Bee's Mike Melnicoe. "For one, the mud pots, hissing vents and hot springs do not, for the most part, erupt as geysers. But they make up in sheer size and diversity what they lack in spectacle. You want big? Here you will find the world's largest hot springs. For another, you're in New Zealand, so you have a rich array of fun and fascinating attractions nearby. Once you've had your fill of inner Earth's relentless capacity to amaze, you can go bungee-jumping, zorbing (rolling down a hill inside a huge ball), riding a land luge, jet-boating, caving or partaking in the area's myriad other adventures." 
(31 October 2009)

Tokyo tactics pay off 
The All Blacks extended their seven-match unbeaten record over the Wallabies with a score of 32–19 watched by a crowd of 44,030 at Tokyo's National Stadium. Dan Carter kicked 22 points to add to tries from Sitiveni Sivivatu and Conrad Smith on either side of halftime. "It is great to have some momentum," said All Blacks head coach Graham Henry. "The game as a spectacle was excellent, and I'm sure the people who watched it will have enjoyed it. It was outstanding to hear the Japanese people calling out 'All Blacks, All Blacks,' and to have a game like that and a full house and people going away with smiles on their faces can only help the game here." The match was only the second time the Bledisloe Cup has been contested away from home, following last year's spectacle in Hong Kong. 
(1 November 2009)

Slump looks likely 
New Zealand economist Robert Wade, a professor at the London School of Economics, predicts a further slump into global recession in 2010 or 2011. Wade, who made his name analysing East Asia's economic "tigers", advocates re-regulating finance by strengthening financial consumer protections, raising capital requirements for financial institutions, separating commercial and investment banks, international co-operation on exchange rates, and temporary taxes such as a 2 per cent tax imposed by Brazil recently on foreign portfolio investment. He said that the past year's crisis was partly because of relaxation of controls on international financial flows and domestic banking capital ratios, fuelling huge imbalances between overspending economies, such as the US, and under-spenders, such as China. But he believes tackling the other side of the problem, inequality, will be "very problematic". "The people at the top have now got enormous political power and would be extremely resistant to any serious increase in the progressivity of income tax which is one obvious way to do it," he said. Professor Wade was in Auckland to deliver the annual Bruce Jesson Lecture at Auckland University.
(28 October 2009)

Soap's Scottish success 
Wellington opera director Colin McColl was interviewed by The Scotsman on the eve of the opening night of Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers at Glasgow's Theatre Royal. Has Scottish Opera lost its marbles again? Is it about to do to Rossini what Jerry Springer the Opera did to Jesus Christ? If the popular success of McColl's original version of this production in New Zealand earlier this year is anything to go by (Scottish Opera is collaborating with New Zealand Opera on this one), then it may not be as sacrilegious as it seems. McColl openly admits to going down an "outrageous" route, but presents a rationale that is genuine and sound. "I wish I could say I was laying down a gauntlet, but this is just my response to the opera." McColl acknowledges the greater freedom he enjoys in the southern hemisphere. "We are not so bound by the European tradition. Like our wines, we do it our way, so there's scope for exploration." The Guardian gave the Glasgow show four stars, calling the modernist production "delightfully irreverent", "a lot of fun and not to be missed". McColl has won three Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for Best Director. He co-founded Wellington's Taki Rua Theatre in 1983 and was artistic director of Downstage Theatre from 1984–1992. The Italian Girl in Algiers tours to Inverness on 7 November, Aberdeen on 14 November and Edinburgh on 21 November. 
(21 October 2009)

Txtn2quit 
A New Zealand study has shown providing motivational support through daily text messages may help young cigarette smokers kick the habit. It is estimated that only about 5 per cent of smokers are able to kick the habit without any help, but after 22 weeks, 16 per cent had stopped using a service that sends texts to smokers trying to quit. Kicking the smoking habit is notoriously difficult, and text messaging is no magic bullet. Most of the roughly 2,600 smokers across the studies did not succeed in quitting, regardless of whether they had text-message help. But text messages could serve as one more tool in the smoking-cessation arsenal, according to University of Auckland lead researcher Dr Robyn Whittaker. "We know that stopping smoking can be really difficult and most people take several attempts to quit successfully," Whittaker told Canada's National Post. "And so I think it is important to be able to offer lots of different options for extra support." One of the programs in the study, called Txt2Quit, is already up and running in New Zealand, with government funding. Smokers seeking to quit can sign up for the free 26-week program, which automatically sends users two to three text messages per day shortly before their designated "quit date," and for one month afterward. After that, they receive three text messages a week. 
(26 October 2009)

Jurassic Park tramps 
"One of the best and most economical ways to see New Zealand is to tramp your way through it," suggests Canadian freelance writer Vawn Himmelsbach, whose favourite tramps include: the Northern Circuit & Tongariro Crossing, the Abel Tasman Coast Track and the Routeburn, "arguably one of the best alpine tramps" in the country. Tramping in New Zealand means "you'll find a little bit of everything, from mountains to volcanoes to fiords to glaciers to beaches — all surrounded by primeval forests. With some of the oldest plant forms on earth, you'll feel like you're on the set of Jurassic Park." 
(22 October 2009)

Big and buzzing in NY 
Auckland band Surf City played six shows in New York as part of the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon. The Washington Post's David Malitz writes: "For a band with just an EP to its name, it doesn't make fiscal sense, especially these days, to come all the way to the US to tour. But playing CMJ is like condensing an entire east coast tour into a single week, without incurring any of the travel expenses. Sure, it's only New York, but the band isn't playing only for New Yorkers. And just by virtue of being one of those groups that's playing six shows, they automatically enter 'buzz band' territory." Music site Brooklyn Vegan writes that Surf City "is really big, and really loud" and at one of the CMJ shows, the "drummer [Logan Collins] was possibly the best of the night, or at least, played the fastest and with awesome crescendos." Originally called The Fibs and then Kill Surf City, the band's influences include fast guitar pop and the early 80's sound of Dunedin. 
(21 October 2009)

Spontaneous breeze 
"In person, Campion is neither gorilla nor goddess," writes Guardian correspondent Peter Conrad. "The breeze derives from her quirky humour and the mercurial play of expression on her face; her greying hair and her black clothes suggest severity, but the woman herself is a riot of frank, flushed emotion. 'I found myself sobbing,' she said about reading John Keats's letters to Hampstead seamstress Fanny Brawne, on which her latest film Bright Star is based." Conrad remembered [Harvey] Keitel's description of Campion as a friskily spontaneous breeze. "'I'm someone who loves to play,' she said. 'I make films so I can have fun with the characters.' At the very least, she is a breath of fresh air, reinventing an art staled by commercial cynicism. The wind she stirs up is also a manifestation of the creative spirit, which in less grudgingly democratic days was known as genius and in even remoter times was attributed to God, or perhaps to a goddess. During our conversation, she described herself as 'a visual person'. But New Zealanders are modest to a fault and I'd prefer to call Campion a visionary. On the set of Bright Star, she told actor Ben Whishaw that for her poetry means 'openness to the divine'; her films open us all to that possibility that such a realm might exist." 
(18 October 2009)

Anniversary apology 
Air New Zealand will apologise to relatives of the victims of the 1979 Mt Erebus plane crash which killed all 257 on board in Antarctica during a sightseeing flight. Chief executive Rob Fyfe is to use the 30th anniversary of the tragedy to apologise for the way the families were treated after the accident. But he will not apologise for the accident itself or the controversial subsequent investigations, which at first attempted to blame pilot error for the crash. Jackie Nankervis, who was 15 when she lost her father and uncle in the accident, said an apology would be "a step in the right direction". The Erebus disaster, which also killed six Britons, was New Zealand's biggest single tragedy. Sightseeing flights from Auckland to Antarctica were popular day trips at the time, with DC-10s taking passengers on a low-flying sweep over McMurdo Sound before returning to New Zealand. In a recent letter to the Erebus families, Fyfe wrote: "It was the experience of that accident ... that caused me to reflect on many of the gaps and failings that occurred in the days, months and years after November 28, 1979." 
(15 October 2009)

Appreciating the green 
Second generation Zimbabwean immigrant Myfanwy van Hoffen describes her move to Auckland leaving behind her citizenship, her vote, her passport and her husband, "cancer taking its too-early toll" . "I landed in a clean, green island country which reminded me of England. I joined everything in which I had a remote interest. I learnt to walk into rooms full of strangers and make new acquaintances. Mostly I was accepted and appreciated the kindness and genuine concern of New Zealanders. They are the sort of people who will always cross the road to help you." Upon receiving New Zealand citizenship van Hoffen said: "My feelings were overwhelmingly of relief and gratitude that this little country had provided me with a new beginning. Having had my Zimbabwean citizenship taken away from me (because my father was born in Britain) — courtesy of Zimbabwe's president — I was more than a little moved to have a country to which I now belonged and a nationality that would not be taken away from me. In short I had a new home. I am a Kiwi and inordinately proud of that." 
(13 October 2009)

Worth his weight 
"Daniel Vettori is a prime example of what talent coupled with hard work can achieve," writes Partab Ramchand for DreamCricket.com. "A cricketer is obviously gifted when he is thought good enough to make his Test debut at 18. The place in the final of the recently concluded Champions Trophy was a fitting tribute to his leadership qualities. He proved that a team without big names can still deliver while playing as a fighting unit. But led admirably by Vettori New Zealand not only made it to the semifinals but also topped the group and then got the better of favourites Pakistan before going down to the more fancied Aussies in the final. How much the non-availability of Vettori for this match affected their chances will continue to remain a subject for debate for he is worth his weight in gold in his triple role — doughty batsman, skilful bowler and shrewd skipper." 
(12 October 2009)

Digital industrialists 
David ten Have, the 34-year-old CEO of Wellington company Ponoko features on the cover of Inc. Magazine, as part of an article called 'The Future of Manufacturing'. "Ponoko did not invent the laser cutter. The machine has been around for a couple of decades … But Ponoko is the first company to hook a laser cutter up to the Internet and let anyone, anywhere, take control of it," says Inc. senior writer Max Chafkin. Asked what Ponoko is trying to achieve, ten Have shares, "We're trying to take 'Made in China' and smear it across the globe. We're designing a factory for the 21st century." If you log on to Ponoko's website, you can find some 20,000 items available for purchase. The items for sale are not held in inventory; they exist digitally as design files on the company's servers. "What Ponoko really sells is access to rapid fabrication machines allowing people to make stuff for themselves or buy stuff that other people have designed." Ponoko was established at TechCrunch40 2007, with a vision to reinvent how goods are designed, made and distributed worldwide. 
(01 October 2009)

Parrot's love affair 
Sirocco the kakapo has caused a stir in cyber space after he was captured on camera mating with the head of a British zoologist. The footage, which has received more than half a million hits on YouTube, was part of a BBC Two programme, Last Chance to See, in which Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine travel the world in search of animals on the edge of extinction. Sirocco was hand reared and as a result is very relaxed with humans. He is used as an advocate for his species and has most recently been at Auckland Zoo where people could get up close and personal with him. But zoologist Carwadine got more personal with Sirocco than expected when he encountered him with Fry. Sirocco is one of only 124 kakapo in the world.
(8 October 2009)

Youth will prevail 
"Of the finalists in this year's Champions Trophy, though, it should be New Zealand that England look to for a degree of inspiration and not without a little shame," writes The Times' chief cricket correspondent and former English captain Mike Atherton. "It is, surely, a ridiculous state of affairs when a country as small as New Zealand with meagre resources, both playing and financial, has a better record than England when it comes to international one-day competitions. When Andrew Strauss last found himself out of the England team, he took himself off to New Zealand to play for Northern Districts. He was struck by the age of the players "primarily under 25", by the fewer number of games played and by greater time spent in skill-based practice breeding more dynamic and athletic cricketers." 
(8 October 2009)

Dressed in art 
World of Wearable Arts founder Suzie Moncrieff, 60, was a single mother on the DPB and a struggling sculptor when she decided she wanted to "take the art down off the walls" of her gallery in Nelson and put it on the body instead. A musician with no formal theatrical or business training, Moncrieff went through the phone book looking for sponsors, literally knocking on the doors of "big business". "I didn't even know you needed to make an appointment," Moncrieff says. She was knocked back; back then, business was interested in sport, not arts. Finally she told a Nelson cafe owner, Eelco Boswijk, of her troubles. How much did she need? Boswijk asked. A lot, Moncrieff told him —  $1000. "He came back with a cheque and handed it over," she says. "He is a great supporter and is now a patron." WOW now operates with a multi-million dollar budget and appears to have its pick of New Zealand corporate sponsors. It generates an estimated $10 million for Wellington traders over its ten day run. Moncrieff and her team are now concentrating on building the event's international presence. International designs made up 55 of the 165 entries this year, and came from India, Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates, among other countries. 
(6 October 2009)

Taking home the loot
Masterton-born singer Ladyhawke has won six Tuis at the New Zealand Music Awards. Ladyhawke, aka Pip Brown, won the album of the year for Ladyhawke (Modular/Universal) and single award for 'My Delerium' at the ceremony in Auckland. She also took out the international achievement award. Ladyhawke's other awards were for breakthrough artist, best female solo artist and best dance/electronica album. She said she was "humbled" by the acknowledgment. "I feel like I don't deserve this award," she said after accepting the Tui for Album of the Year. "This is blowing my mind ... I'm not very good with words ... I'm so stoked." RIANZ chief executive Campbell Smith says the awards once again showcased the great wealth of New Zealand music talent. "Ladyhawke is a terrific artist and her debut album is an incredibly strong record. To see an album scoop six awards is rare, but an outstanding work such as hers is worthy of all the plaudits that it has received." The evening's other main winner was Warner Music rock act Midnight Youth, who walked away with best group and best rock album for The Brave Don't Run. Label mates the Feelers' The Best: 1998-2008 picked up the award for highest-selling album of the year. Sony Music-signed solo artist Brooke Fraser was the other winner of this year's international achievement award. 
(9 October 2009)