Ever since Columbus didn't dip over the precipice and disappear into the cosmos,
or the first images of the earth's circumference from space were beamed back
out to TV screens, people have taken easy comfort in the spherical outlines of
planet earth - but no more - every week across (not around) the planet,
thousands of New Zealanders are - upsetting assumptions, rocking equilibriums
and putting the edge back into the globe.
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Newzedge Researchers:
JEREMY MACEY
CLARE MARSHALL
newzedge@nzedge.com
Web
Publisher
CARLA HOFLER
carla@nzedge.com
Editor
PAUL WARD
paul@nzedge.com
Executive
Producer
BRIAN SWEENEY
brian@nzedge.com
Reforging Paradise
"No one likes snapshots of one
sitting on Mother's knee being shown at one's 21st birthday, especially if the
snaps were taken at age 19." Novelist Emily Perkins reviws James Belich's
history of NZ: If we, "are to confront previously unexplored realities of
the past 150 years, and approach the future accepting the positive outcomes of
this history - transnationalism, cultural hybridity - without the collective
amnesia that perpetuates a national identity crisis, this is the book to show
them the way." Buy
Paradise Reforged in the NZEDGE emporium.
(6 July 2002)
One Giant Leap
"New Zealand
newcomer Whiri Mako Black's haunting and silken soulfulness" joins Robbie
Williams, Horace Andy, Michael Stipe, Michael Franti, Nenah Cherry and Grant Lee
Buffalo in a celebration of world music on the collection One Giant Leap:
"an uncommonly well balanced smorgasbord" ... "Every other
'ethnic sounds over chilled
beats' album appears pretty tawdry in comparison"
(30 April 2002)
Gondwanaland Farming Co.
Trans-Tasman dairy giants Bonlac Foods (AUS) and Fonterra (NZ) have merged
consumer food lines to create a new company - Australasian Food Holdings Pty Ltd
(AFHL). AFHL will incorporate leading brands including Tip Top, Mainland,
Ferndale, and Cadbury Ice Cream in NZ, Australia & Oceania. Fonterra is the
major shareholder.
(1 July 2002)
From strength to strength
Boston Globe finds the UV rays result in intense expression in Lower Hutt
writer Catherine Chidgey's latest novel, Strength of the Sun: "a
meticulously constructed novel of true imagination."
(9 June 2002)
Louder than words?
Michael C. Corballis, Auckland University psychologist, is "the latest
proponent of a controversial idea known among language experts as 'gestural
theory.'" His most provocative idea: the inception of speech was a
"cultural invention, like writing" rather than "a cognitive Big
Bang."
(June 8 2002)
Where is New Zealand again?
Doing
the Billie's Kiss PR, Elizabeth
Knox pauses and reflects on the exotic settings for her books with a wry comment on
her cultural identity:"I know I'm a New Zealand writer, but I'm not writing about
New Zealand, and that in itself is very New Zealand. We just have this culture
that tells you who you are before you've grown into yourself, and that's kind of
repulsive for artists. So some of us run away, physically or mentally.'' Place that on
the New Zealand literary map.
(June 2002)
No dodo
New Scientist features the Kakapo's claw-back from the brink of
extinction:
"What's green, nocturnal, looks like an owl, smells sweet and fruity, and
makes strange noises from growls and "skrarks" to metallic
"chings" and deep resonant booms? The answer is the kakapo, New
Zealand's extraordinary giant parrot. Before people reached New Zealand a
thousand years ago, there were millions of kakapo. By 1995, there were only 50
left. But this year the kakapo staged an astonishing comeback."
(1 June 2002)
Ludic love
Harry Sinclair film Toy Love applauded in Indiewire: "I love
how deftly it hides surprisingly dark themes beneath its very sexy and funny
depiction of love and lust. It's a screwball comedy that's quite
twisted."
(4 June 2002)
Mount Taranakiyama
Taranaki's eponymous mountain is a suitable double for Mount Fuji, or so thinks
Edward Zwick (Glory, Legends of the Fall) who will direct Tom Cruise in
The Last Samurai later this year. New Zealand's pristine looks make it the
spitting image of 19th century Japan, the setting for the story of an American
Civil War veteran who travels to Japan to teach them the art of war and comes
away learning a thing or two himself.
(22 May 2002)
Chop till you drop
NZ axemen Jason Wynyard and David Bolstad came out ahead in the points race at
the 8th Annual Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival
in Memphis, Tennessee.
Over 72,000 people attended the Festival, with the Stihl Timbersports stage on
which the Kiwis chopped their way to victory reportedly steeped in "the
intensity and drama of close athletic competition".
(June 2002)
Young man and the river
Fly-fishing enthusiast Andy Pietrasik raved about his recent trip to the rivers
of the South Island. Following his guide up the river in search of fish made him
feel like "Ernest Hemingway's shadow," so perhaps culture and the
outdoors can be united in New Zealand after all.
(25 May 2002)
Earthworks
Ceramic work by New Zealand artist Edith Slee was on show at the Balance House
in Glenavy. The "Dwelling" exhibition featured 150 pieces made of
earth from her native Otago and clay from the Thames as well as found objects
gathered from the foreshore. These pieces are a way of "honouring the land
we live in".
(20 June 2002)
Wool-rest edge
inspired
Montreal-born designer Brent Cordner uses NZ wool felt in his debut furniture
collection for Keilhauer. The chair and ottoman set is made from entirely
natural and biodegradable materials. Cordner's chairs smoothly reference Frank
Gehry's 'edge' chairs from the 1970's - made from corrugated cardboard.
(10 June 2002)
God defend your freeland
"This is your country and you have the power to change it and uphold all
that is good and right. I am saddened to know that many do not vote and still
complain about America…" Although Kara Smith's NZ citizenship prevents
her from voting, it didn't affect her having her say as the NZ student scooped
first prize in a US democracy essay contest.
(6 June 2002)
Move over Sheep, More Kiwis Needed
There used to be five million kiwis in New Zealand but their numbers have fallen
to roughly one hundredth of that number today and declining, according to Eric
Pyle of Forest and Bird. He estimates that 95% of chicks are killed within a
year of hatching, and the kiwi may soon be restricted to heavily managed safe
havens.
(6 June 2002)
Boondoggle playtime
Featured in the April edition of Fortune magazine's 'boondoggle' section:
Wall Street billionaire Julian Robertson has built Kauri
Cliffs, a "remote, lush getaway on more than 5,000 acres at the
northern tip of New Zealand." "Three private beaches, tennis courts,
spectacular walking trails, and a gym" means that this isn't your average lazy
Sunday hack ...
(April 2002)
We're All Royalists Here?
Miss representation? Put that portrait of the Queen back on the lounge wall: "All New
Zealanders are royalists, not like the Aussies," proclaims the Dame (Kiri
te Kanawa). Perhaps this is not surprising coming from someone who sang for the
Queen at her recent Buckingham Palace Jubilee. Kiri recently performed at Edinburgh's newly refurbished Usher Hall and
she told The
Times she enjoys singing to people in places like "Turkey, Estonia, places where
they've never heard me sing".
(28 May 2002)
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Substance wins
And this web award
actually means something: the Webby's are the internet Oscars. All the
more glory to Christchurch-based Arts and Letters Daily which was awarded the
People's Voice award for best news site. University of Canterbury Professor
Dennis Dutton's site was given the prize by the International Academy of Arts
and Sciences whose members include Bjork, Beck and Branson and IT gurus from Larry Ellison to Mark Tribe - entrusted with sorting out the worthwhile bytes
from the chaff. Vicki Hyde's Scitech
Daily was a finalist in the science category.
(18 June 2002)
Windies wiped out
Confirming their 3rd
place ranking in the ICC World Test Cricket Championship the
Black Caps achieved a remarkable milestone with their first ever test series
victory against the West Indies on West Indian soil. NZ won the first test
by a
dominant 204 runs, Fleming
and Styris
performed, with Canterbrian Shane Bond being named player of the series
after another impressive wicket haul and display of fast bowling.
(June 2002)
South Pacific
"A major new talent destined for greatness". Samoan Jonathan Lemalu, continues to
stun the UK music scene. As well as
featuring on the cover of the Sunday Times Magazine, the bass baritone
received the Young Artist Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society and shared
first prize in the annual Ferrier Awards. He also received acclaim for his
performance as Bottom in the Benjamin Britten International Opera School's
production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Upcoming engagements include a
debut recital CD with EMI (recoding of the month in Gramaphone
magazine) and his first appearance at the Royal Opera House in
Covent Garden.
(2001 / 2002)
To GE or not to GE?
As the ethical, economic and emotional problem of how to
approach GE shapes to be a central issue in the upcoming NZ election a high
profile group has formed to argue for caution and the extension of the
moratorium on field trials of GM organisms. Actor Sam Neill, squash player Susan
Devoy, former Federated Farmers head Sir Peter Elworthy, chef Annabel Langbein
and Auckland University Professor of Bio-chemistry Dr Garth Cooper form the Sustainability
Council of New Zealand.
(8 July 2002)
From here to eternity
"Tinkling ivories, crashing waves, visit volcanoes, rainforests and
surf-pounded beaches where you can re-enact scenes from The Piano." The
Independent's "one hour from ..." series spreads its compass around
Auckland and as well as soulful beachscapes in the Waitakeres finds America's
Cup racing courses in the Hauraki Gulf, Devonport, vineyards, and more.
(23 June 2002)
Generation Jackson
LOTR wins over the youth vote: The Fellowship of the Ring takes out Best
Movie at the MTV Awards. Orlando Bloom received the Male Breakthrough
Performance award for his role as Legolas.
(15 June 2002)
Dancing from the ceiling
"Start off by swinging from the chandeliers." Mark Baldwin has
been appointed artistic director of the prestigious Rambert Dance Company. The Fijian-born Baldwin, who danced with Limbs Dance Company and New Zealand ballet before moving to
London, performed with Britain's oldest dance company for nine years. He is
already thumbing through his address book with a view to commissioning work from
young composers, and noted that his dancers are "hungry, hungry,
hungry" for original choreography.
(1 July 2002)
Luck of the Irish?
Michael Campbell rose to 16th in the world rankings and received a timely boost
before the upcoming British Open by winning the European Open and half a million
Euro winner's cheque. But the Maori-NZer with the Scottish last name
had jitters
on the final four holes as he hacked and bogeyed his way to victory. Campbell
followed up with a 6th=
in the Scottish Open.
(7 July 2002)
Critique of Pure Fay
Fay Weldon's autobiography (up to year 32) continues to entertain. The
Guardian is seduced by the lure of biography: "her fiction suddenly seems a whole lot less
peculiar ... much of the work reads as if it had been dictated, in high
spirits, after dinner". The
Irish Independent: "self-invention and self-reinvention are much of
what this very entertaining half-life is about." But luckily, "to her
credit, Weldon doesn't try to tie it up all too neatly." Of course not ... we
have to have a reason to hang out for 32+.
(June 2002)
Scarfies in Shanghai
Five recent NZ films - Once Were Warriors, Scarfies, The Price of Milk,
Magik & Rose, and Jubilee - hit Chinese screens June 8 - 22 in
China's first NZ film festival.
(5 June 2002)
Give Me Your
Skilled, Your Entrepreneurial
Immigration issues are foremost in a feature interview with Helen Clark in The
Bulletin. Clark contributes to the discussion about immigrants' contribution
to growth, or lack thereof, and muses on NZ's wider place in the world. "The
challenge remains, however, to convince New Zealanders that they can easily
become irrelevant in a world that is constantly striving to outperform."
(22 May 2002)
The Native Post
Connected
to Congo at 56000 bps, former NZ TV reporter Moana Sinclair has been hired
by the UN to coordinate the newly-formed Indigenous Media
Network, largely
linked via the web. Her experience overcoming obstacles and achieving mainstream
success reinforces her commitment to the project which "originates from
there, from having been on the outside".
(27 May 2002)
Maximus vs. Hannibal
NZ-born Russell Crowe has beaten Hollywood heavyweights including Anthony
Hopkins, Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, and Robert DeNiro to be voted favourite Best
Actor Oscar winner of all time, according to a poll by US magazine Biography.
(5 June 2002)
Wild West Coast designs
production
Sam Neill films in NZ for the first time since The Piano on South
Island's rugged West Coast. Perfect Strangers, directed and produced by
noted NZ documentary maker Gaylene Preston (Bread and Roses), also stars
Australian actress Rachael Blake (Lantana). "It doesn't get
more beautiful than this", Neil remarks on the setting of the romantic
thriller.
(6 June 2002)
Pacific mix
Jazz has been described as the "original dance music" and one of the
genre's legendary labels, Verve, has dipped into its vaults and commissioned new
mixes for contemporary dancefloors. Kiwi Mark de Clive Lowe joins MJ Cole,
Thievery Corporation, Masters at Work, Tricky and Richard Dorfmeister in
remixing the great vocalists of jazz, including Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald,
Billie holliday and Nina Simone.
(June 2002)
"In a faraway land ...
... the left prospers." According to British Labour MP Austin Mitchell
(author of The Half-gallon quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise) writing in the
'Observations' section of the New Statesman. "New Zealand stands out
in the blue horizon". says Mitchell, portraying NZ under Clark's Labour
government as a flagbearer for social democracy worldwide.
(15 July 2002)
Celebrations on ice
NZ and US scientists in Antarctica recently celebrated the
centenary of the first midwinter stopover by British explorers. Fun and games
included swimming naked in an ice hole and hurling a (frozen) turkey in Scottish
Highland-style games. Staff at Scott Base can look forward
to their first peek of spring sun on August 19th, the same day as their next
scheduled supply flight. "Don't toss that turkey just yet professor."
(12 July 2002)
Down the straight
Ronnie Bartlett's
eight year old gelding Ironic is "a very genuine and honest horse,"
according to Blyth Tait who rode him to victory in the Arena Leisure Windsor
International Horse Trials. This was the first win by a NZ rider in the ten
years the event has been running. Ironic took the title despite the rain-soaked
field becoming a quagmire of squelching mud.
(27 May 2002)
Kaiwhekea Katiki-saurus
A new species of dinosaur has been discovered on a North Otago beach. The 70
million year old fossil is believed to be a type of plesiosaur - a giant,
swimming reptile resembling "a snake threaded through the body of a
turtle." The newly discovered version has been named Kaiwhekea Kaitiki by
Otago University's Ewan Fordyce and Arthur Cruickshank from Leicester
Museum.
(5 June 2002)
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Design for life
Please be seated: Wellington's Formway Design won a 'best of show' gold award at
the important NeoCon trade fair in Chicago for its NZ-designed "Life
chair." The office chairs will be made and distributed by major New York
furniture company Knoll, and sold for US$600 - 1300 each. The irresistable
by-line? "Life tailors itself to the individual".
(14 June 2002)
Making myths
Lower-Hutt author Lloyd Jones gives the Aussies something heavier than Pavlova to think about:
"Now and then someone will write a book in the smaller country that demands
the bigger country sit up and pay attention […] in this starkly beautiful book
[The Book of Fame -
about the 1905 All Black's tour of Britain] he tackles the origin of myth,
the creation and nature of man-made beauty, and the sense of self New Zealanders
have both as individuals and as a nation.
(10 June 2002)
Thinking inside the box
NZer Chris Moller is one wall of expat architecture firm, Amsterdam's S333
Studio for Architecture and Urbanism. The firm has won several international
competitions. A winning entry currently being completed is a housing project in
Vijfhuisen, Holland, which takes a diagonal view on Dutch density and the
parodoxical relationship between customization and uniformity, privacy and
openess, the urban and suburban.
(30 March 2002)
"Oh the shame"
Crys the Sydney Morning Herald. In a great weekend for trans-Tasman
rivalry the All Blacks put one hand on the Beldislode Cup with a tough
12-6 victory
over the Wallabies in atrocious conditions in Christchurch and the All Whites
"humiliated"
the Socceroos 1-0 to win the Nations' Cup and gain entry to next June's
Confederation's Cup against such global heavyweights as Brazil and France. The
ABs followed up with a convincing
win a week later, over-powering
the Springboks 41-20 at Wellington's cake-tin.
(15 July 2002)
NZ
press-ganged in The Australian
Greg Sheridan, using some sobering cliches, gives his views on the
trans-Tasman relationship: as well as comparing NZ to Tasmania he invokes ghosts of ANZUS
past and our "unreliable" unwillingness to join Australia in
Pax-Americana, as reasons why NZ won't be part of a joint free-trade deal. "NZ is a place of infirmity and irrelevance [...] the Howard
Government is well advised to keep its distance from the eccentric Kiwis."
Read one way it's a decent snapshot of how some Aussies see us through the
corkscrews; read another, it's a strong provocation and affirmation of the edge metaphor.
(20 July 2002)
Cheers, Digger
A Kiwi beer has won at the Australian beer awards. Founders Brewery
from Nelson won the accolade
of Champion Small Brewery for its organic
range including Tall Blonde, Red Head and Long Black.
(June 2002)
Pharmaceuticals and Fox Boys for the summer
The Guardian/Observer surveys what's hot on reading lists for the warmer months up over. Jim Crace
(Being Dead, Quarantine) is looking forward to Damien Wilkins's Chemistry
amongst writers he's "encountered and enjoyed before", and NZ actress Kerry
Fox will be digging into Peter Walker's gripping The Fox Boy.
"It's so much to do with where I come from in New Zealand, and is about a
Maori boy who is taken into the white world." Wilkins is an occasional
contributor to NZEDGE. click here
for his excellent piece on Katherine Mansfield and here
to buy The Fox Boy.
(29 June 2002)
Evolutionary Edge
Victoria University philosopher, Kim Sternley, climbs out of the primordial mud
of academia with his survey of the frought battlefield that is evolutionary
theory. In Dawkins vs. Gould he "exploits the real-life
'punch-up' evolutionary theory has become as a result of the two differing
thinkers." Time will tell (!) the outcome of the debate, but "the real
payoff of his [Sternley's] book, in any case, is its precise outline of the
debate's logic."
(26 May 2002)
Masters class
Jazz legend Ian Chaplin was joined in concert by the Gerard Masters Trio. Young NZ pianist Masters was hailed as an "imaginative deconstructionist" and his
trio "a highly individualistic unit." The Trio released their debut CD
in Sydney on June 11.
(10 June 2000)
Heavenly pop hits
Aotearoa musical ambassador Neil Finn's One
Nil launched in the US as One All, and draws in at No.2 on Salon's
audio charts. New songs and collaborations with Wendy and Lisa of Prince and
the Revolution fame, see Finn in fine form: "Finn sticks to his trademark
sweet melodies and atmospheric arrangements [...] He's always played beautiful
pop tunes, but at the same time his lyrics are full of doubt and darkness."
(19 July 2002)
Poi eh?
New to New York: Village Voice features an "industral performing
arts collective" remixing Dante's inferno using flaming poi. "Poi are
a Maori tradition, and backpackers often try spinning on the beaches of
Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. At homeofpoi.com
dozens of international
burners trade tricks, tips, and rants."
(11 June 2002)
Rain brightens
reviews
Christine Jeff's "sexually potent yet understated" feature debut Rain
continues to make splashes as it opens across North America. The Boston Herald
reports that Jeffs "easily captures the rhythm of a summer break
where drinking through lazy days leads to raucous parties at night". The
review's warning on content could also serve as a pithy plot summary: "sexual suggestiveness and frequent scenes of
drunkenness".
(24 May 2002)
On the edge of your ...
chair
Following in the Popstars tradition of ghrand contributions to global pop culture NZ's gift to the gameshow format has former tennis star
John McEnroe signed on with the BBC to front a ten-series run of The Chair.
Developed by Touchdown the gameshow has also sold in
Germany, France and Spain and a copycat version is being produced in
the US. Contestants have to answer questions correctly and keep their heart rate
below a certain level to keep their winnings.
(16 May 2002)
Compelling texture.
Big finish.
If you can't afford The Ivy's 60 quid for Sam Neill's pinot noir, alternatives
are Malcolm
Gluck's affordable favourites: Church Road and Villa Maria, while
across the Atlantic, Leslie Sbrocco's
vote goes to the Lawson's Dry Hills
"palate-perking" pinot rose. And March New York's wine director, if
forced to chose only one wine for the summer, picks Pallisser,
"It almost has a honeysuckle quality."
(June 2002)
Some like It hot
Volcano enthusiasts were recently treated to a bonanza 500 kilometres north east
of New Zealand. They discovered three new hydrothermal fields along the Ring of
Fire which marks the boundary between the earth's Australian and Pacific plates.
One vent was discovered by accident after the captain of the research vessel was
mistakenly given swapped coordinates.
(27 May 2002)
Domination
"It is apparently not enough that New Zealand have just waltzed away
with their third successive World Sevens Series title. So complete was their
domination of the Emirates-sponsored London leg of the International Rugby
Board's season-long tournament that it is difficult to envisage anyone ever
beating them again." Bring on the Commonwealth Games ...
(27 May 2002)
Sirs and Dames or Sheilas and Cobbers?
Four NZers received our country's highest award via the Queen's jubilee year
honours list. Those admitted to the Order of New Zealand were; ex-Governor
General Dame Catherine Tizard, Auckland anthropologist and Maori leader Sir Hugh
Kawharu, former Court of Appeal president Lord Cooke of Thorndon, and
Christchurch justice campaigner and activist for the disabled Dame Ann
Ballin.
(5 June 2002)
Xenites unite!
7th Xena Fest held at the University of Hawaii-Manoa June 9. Activities
included martial arts demonstrations, auctions, and battle-cry contests. See the
NZEDGE hot story on Lucy Lawless for the person behind the breast plate.
(7 June 2002)
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Black and white or rainbow nation?
Kathy Marks visits
Waitangi and gives an outside perspective on the state of the nation 162 years
after the treaty: "New Zealand is truly a bicultural nation, and the sense
of two races living side by side is reflected in the structures and institutions
[...] telephone calls are often answered with "Kia Ora" instead of
"Hello"." Contrasting Aotearoa's relationship with its indigenous
people with Australia's, she finds the edge a place of reconciliation,
integration, and diversity.
(01 June 2002)
Georgie girl
"Quintessentially NZ story" highlight of Sydney Film Fest. Annie
Goldson's "Georgie Girl" follows the edgy life of Georgina Beyer - the
world's first transsexual MP - from her days as a sex-worker and drug user, to
her inauguration as Mayor of Carterton and eventual election to Parliament:
"the stallion who became a gelding, the gelding that became a mayor, and
the mare who finally became a member".
(9 June 2002)
Aotearoa adornment
Auckland artist George Nuku's mother-of-pearl pendants draw inspiration from his
Maori cultural heritage and feature on the cover of June's American Vogue.
"Pile on multiple pendants for a modern, urban edge", Elle's
'make it your own' special on tribal jewellery tells fashionistas. Nuku is also
featured in 1 Giant Leap bemoaning that Maori kids in Aotearoa often know
more about Michael Jordon than their own culture. Just own it.
(June/July 2002)
Postcard-spotting?
Lynn Barber leaves the trains at home and follows the postcard route through godzone,
finds it to be "truly paradise" but also close to 100% boring. "To
appreciate NZ you need to be all the things I'm not - outdoorsy, non-smoking,
sports-loving, uncynical and culturally undemanding." Do you fit the above
description? Lynn finds justification for the 24hr flight in Auckland, the
food and wine and Roto Vega's thermal baths, but warns: "if your brain
clamours for a bit of stimulus now and again, be sure to take a good book. Katherine
Mansfield would do nicely."
(27 May 2002)
Best haul
Ironically for Lynn, NZ was once again voted "Best Long Haul
Country" over Australia, Cuba, Japan, Thailand et al by Guardian and
Observer readers - they must have got off the bus and visited at least one market,
gallery or Cuba Street/K-Rd. It may be about as far from home as a Brit can get, but
boosted by LOTR, NZ continues to attract. Auckland was 8th in the favourite
overseas city chart and Air New Zealand was 4th best leisure airline.
(27 May 2002)
The Datsuns: the future of rock'n'roll?
dotmusic revs up Kiwi rockers The Datsuns. "four stick-thin,
long-haired, fresh-faced, sinful-souled boys from Cambridge, New Zealand, and
the latest genius rock'n'roll band to swarm on London". Accompanied by the
same feeding frenzy that welcomed The Strokes, The White Stripes and The Hives,
"the Datsuns are a tremendous night out: a heavy metal band for people who
didn't think they liked heavy metal any more." The Datsuns were recently
signed by Branson's V2 label and recently appeared on John Peel's legendary Radio
1 show. "There was so much testosterone
flying about that stage, if they'd played one more song, I think I would have
fallen pregnant just watching them."
(29 April 2002)
Voice of rugby's all-time XV
Great rugby commentator Bill Mclaren names his all-time greatest XV for The
Times. Featuring three All Blacks: the "New Zealand totem" Colin
Meads, the legendery skills of Zinzan Brooke, and "one of the great
international captains" Sean Fitzpatrick. Click here
to visit The Times' special, including extensive and passionate
debate over the selections. McLaren uttered many memorable comments including:
"and it's a try for Hika the hooker from Ngongataha."
(2002)
Real-life Charlotte
Gray
"The exploits of Nancy Wake, who fought with the French Resistance, make
the plot of the film Charlotte Gray look tame." A new biography of NZ-born
Wake by Peter Fitzsimons celebrates the life of the woman who ate caviar and
Germans for breakfast. Dubbed "The White Mouse" by the Gestapo, Wake
evaded capture for the duration of the war and now resides in London. See the
fascinating NZEDGE hero story on Wake.
(5 May 2002)
Club Edge
Saatchi & Saatchi's London office went on a Euro junket to win Agency of the
Year at the industry's top awards at Cannes. Their infamous inuendo-laden and
intricately art-directed campaign
for Club 18-30 won a Grand Prix Award. AdAge
applauds Saatchi' s "creative dominance". There is a strong edge
influence in the win with the agency helmed by NZer James Hall (left, below) and
led globally by NZEDGE co-founder Kevin Roberts.
(19 June 2002)
The novel is dead, long live the novel
Keri Hulme joins a list of postcolonial booker people ratttling the bones of the
form: "The years the Booker Prize doesn't go to an English novel the
winning book tends to be an interesting one. The most interesting books have
been by a Nigerian (Ben Okri), a Maori (Keri Hulme), two Indians (Salman Rushdie
and Arundhati Roy), a Trinidadian (VS Naipaul) and a Canadian (Margaret
Atwood).
(26 May 2002)
Do you remember?
Why are our early years a blur? Otago University's Gabrielle Simcock and Harlene
Hayne have found a clue. According to their research, so-called "childhood
amnesia" is ultimately informed by language development. After conducting
controlled memory experiments, the researchers concluded that "children can
only describe memories of events using words they knew when the experience
occurred."
(9 June 2002)
Scene stealing
The LA Times surveys an "invasion of American films by directors and stars
from Down Under. The biggest star now working in American films who began in his
native New Zealand is Russell Crowe [...] . New Zealand's Temuera Morrison has a more
important role as Obi-Wan's foe [in Star Wars]. It was perhaps only logical that Peter Jackson,
a native New Zealander, would celebrate the beauty of his country, Australia's
neighbour, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy."
(June 2002)
Counted the
neighbours yet?
Statistics New Zealand is making census data available online free of charge.
Formerly $3,300 to $25,000 for special software, now users can simply transfer data and use their own software. The
US, UK and Canada all provide census info online, but none of the coverage is
as complete or versatile.
(June 2002)
OE to go UN
Kiwis will have plenty of fellow travellers when they travel to the UK for the
two year woring holiday scheme. In the past, 96% of applicants came from New
Zealand, Australia and South Africa, but the scheme is being reformed to attract
more people from black Commonwealth nations as well as a possible dozen East
European countries.
(30 May 2002)
Will they be drinking
their tea out of saucers?
From Wellington to Wagga
Wagga it's Bledislode
time again. The All Blacks come to July's Tri-Nation series against Australia and South
Africa with a string of wins under their belts, some less than convincing.
They'd better win warns Zinzan. Mitchell's mob head to the business end of the season with victories over
tourists Italy and Ireland, followed by a 68-18 defeat of Fiji at Wellington's
Westpac Trust Stadium.
(June/July 2002)
Surfing on the web
Sailor Graham Dalton (older bro of Grant) has set up an educational website where children can watch his yacht
"Hexagon" circumnavigate the globe as part of the Around Alone race yacht race
beginning
15th September. Hexagon was built in NZ and the launch was accompanied by a
performance from London's Ngati Ranana Maori Club.
(1 July 2002)
Salted venison
Sydney's premier restaurant Salt brings NZ venison to Aussie palates via their
latest menu.
(6 June 2002)
And God created ... the
chainsaw
Tiny farming/forestry town of Tapawera holds church service in
honour of chainsaws. Churchgoers "brought their chainsaws with them, placed
them on the altar, and afterwards performed an impromptu 'chainsaw orchestra,'
complete with Mexican wave … One child drew Jesus holding a chainsaw."
(24 June 2002)
Where are the Kingswoods?
The PMs of NZ, Australia and Canada, all of whom look to the Queen as
head of state, were (apparently) extended "the minimum of courtesy" at
her mother's funeral. Seating plans, travel arrangements, and entry times were,
according to John Lloyd, designed to emphasise that "royal blood precedes
election."
(26 June 2002)
Rogernomics resurfaces
He engineered some of the most radical and controversial reforms in
New Zealand history, where efficiency clashed with social affect, and Roger
Douglas is still a believer, giving his tuppence worth on the English health
system in The Independent: "Ministers must let go, giving
doctors and hospitals freedom to compete and empowering patients as the
purchasers of care."
(18 June 2002)
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