Constantly Gardening
Auckland greensman Robbie Penny has worked on Bridge to Terabithia, 10,000 BC and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian arranging on-set nurseries, sourcing Belgian lettuce ferns and relocating apple orchards. Feet are…
Tag Archives: Los Angeles Times
Colonial Space Rockets
First published in New Zealand in 1881, the second volume of science fiction novella The Great Romance lay hidden on the shelves of Dunedin’s Hocken Library until the 1990s when the work was discovered….
Art of Ice
New Zealand artist David Trubridge features at San Francisco’s Natural World Museum in an exhibition entitled Melting Ice: A Hot Topic, which addresses the theme of climate change from a global perspective. Trubridge’s…
Masterpieces in Ink
Ta moko is more than aesthetics, it is writes the Los Angeles Times, a solemn declaration of Maori identity and dignity. With a little ink, some stinging pain and a helping hand from the…
Rose’s Web Comeback
Mt Maunganui former lonelygirl15, Jessica Rose, returns soon to Web-only-TV in a US-made horror-thriller Blood Cell. The show follows Rose’s character, Julia, as she contends with an unseen murderer who will talk to her…
Twain’s Tramping Track
Motatapu Track, which cuts across a Central Otago high country property owned by Canadian country singer Shania Twain, has officially opened. The 28km track is part of Te Araroa/The Long Pathway – a walkway…
Kiri’s American Valedictory
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa performed in Orange County, California, in what is being billed as her North American farewell tour. Michael Rydzynski praised her engaging presence, pure tone and comic touches in a review…
A Sweet Alternative
An LA Times health feature discusses the healing properties of NZ Manuka honey, which is becoming increasingly accepted in international medical circles. Manuka honey has been cleared for use as a wound dressing and…
An Icon Re-imagined
NZ-born director Andrew Dominik has followed up his award-winning film Chopper with a psychological Western epic starring Brad Pitt. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford debuted at this month’s…
Emotions running high
Crowded House were praised for their “emotion-drenched performance” at The Greek Theatre in an LA Times review. LA Times: “he group’s exquisitely crafted songs are infinitely rich with melodic and harmonic invention but lyrically…
Queen Bee Uncovered
A University of Otago study has unearthed the secret to queen bees’ dominance in the hive. According to its findings, queens keep their worker bee subjects calm and obedient by secreting a scent that prevents them…
Crowded House on Love and Loss
An LA Times review finds Time on Earth, the new album by the recently reformed Crowded House, to be a moving exploration of love and loss. “Pop music reunions are, more often than not,…
Incredible Journey
After decades of international debate, Auckland University researchers have found the first concrete evidence that Polynesian explorers reached South America before Europeans. The research team, led by archaeologist Elizabeth A. Matisoo-Smith, used genetic analysis…
Piece of Cake LA
Times food writer Amy Scattergood introduces Americans to the humble pavlova: “a dessert with an unexpected, rustic elegance.” As well as providing a step-by-step recipe, Scattergood details the historical and cultural background of the…
Pure and Simple
NZ mineral water Antipodes was reviewed by Michael Mascha, author of Fine Waters: A Connoisseurs Guide to the World’s Most Distinctive Bottled Waters, in the LA Times. “The soft, light bubbles (it’s artificially…
Pole Position
Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) has won the Louis Vuitton challenger series, crushing American rival BMW Oracle Racing by 1m 34s. The victory gave ETNZ the right to choose its opponent for the best-of-nine semifinals. Skipper
DreamWorks nets Jackson
DreamWorks SKG has won a week-long Hollywood bidding war for Peter Jackson’s latest film. Jackson made his screen adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones available on the open market last week,…
Hunter retains her edge
NZ-born Alexis Hunter features in the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution exhibition at LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Hunter moved to London in 1972 aged 24 and has lived and worked there…
Auckland Pioneers Landing Technique
Auckland International Airport is leading the world in trialling a landing method designed to reduce fuel use and emissions. Beginning April 18, the test landings will see selected Air NZ and Qantas jets glide into the…
Monster Haul
A NZ fishing crew has caught an adult colossal squid, one of the world’s most aggressive and mysterious predators. The 450kg monster, with eyes the size of dinner plates and razor-sharp hooks on its tentacles, is the…
Political Force Remembered
Auckland-born Leo McCarthy, a prominent figure in Californian state politics, has died of a kidney ailment aged 76. A lifelong Democrat, McCarthy was the state assembly speaker from 1974-80 and went on to serve…
Don’t Dream it’s Over
A new album and world tour by Crowded House, has made headlines across the globe. According to chief songwriter Neil Finn, he and bass player Nick Seymour have been considering regrouping since the tragic death of…
Bay of Wonders
The LA Times offers a brief guide to NZ’s Bay of Islands, home to “some of the best scenery in the country.” Visitors are advised to check out the arts and crafts centres at Kerikeri, take…
Great Southern Land
American travel writer Marcy Barack spent Christmas with her family on the northern beaches and parks of the South Island last year. She relates the experience – location by idyllic location – in a lengthy feature…
Lonely no more
A young NZ actress has been outed as global internet sensation LonelyGirl15. Otherwise known as Bree – a naive home-schooled 16-year-old – LonelyGirl15 has captured the hearts of teenage boys the world over…
Free at Last
Kiwi Fox News cameraman, Olaf Wiig, has walked free after being held hostage for two weeks in Gaza. Wiig and Fox correspondent Steve Centanni were captured by a previously unknown militant group, the Holy…
Queen Mourned, King Crowned
The Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu died on Tuesday 15 August aged 75 after a 40-year reign. Dame Te Atairangikaahu was the sixth monarch of the North Island tribes who formed the King movement…
History Maker Remembered
International archery associations and Olympic committees have paid tribute to Neroli Fairhall, who has died aged 61. Fairhall won a gold medal in archery for NZ at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in…
Keoghan Living Large
LA Times interviews Phil Keoghan, the Kiwi host of Emmy Award-winning reality series The Amazing Race. The “savvy NZ native” discusses everything from his lucky break into TV (“there was no degree that you…
Kiwi Story Rings True in US
Roger Donaldson’s World’s Fastest Indian, with Sir Anthony Hopkins playing NZ motorcycle legend Burt Munro, has been largely praised in the US. Hollywood Reporter: “A pleasingly whimsical and slyly mischievous road movie that features…
From LA to the Bay
From Waimarama Beach to Napier, the Hawke’s Bay region gets a fantastic write up in the LA Times. The writer had organised a family holiday to her mother’s place of birth, in honour of said mother’s…
Hot Stuff
LA Times asks local restaurants which “obscure and esoteric wines have become sudden hits” on their wine-lists. Eric Espuny, sommelier at Patina, names the 2003 Brancott Gewürztraminer Patutahi Estate’ as the hottest bottle on his.
David Lange 1942-2005
Former Prime Minister David Lange died on Saturday 13 August aged 63 after a long battle with ill health. He was regarded as “the best loved New Zealand political figure of the last 20 years” (Guardian Unlimited). Elected…
The “Little Airline that Could”
Air NZ’s ongoing $800 million overhaul has not gone unnoticed in the US, with lengthy articles devoted to its new look 747’s in the LA Times and FirstClassFlyer. Upgrades include fold-out flat beds in business class, personal…
Kiwi-fight
The LA Times explores the history of Gridley, Kiwifruit Capital of the USA and sister city to Te Puke – Kiwifruit Capital of the World, thank you very much. Of note is the trade war between…
Trail-blazing Twosome
LA Times feature charts the rise of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, courtesy of forward-thinking brothers Bill and Ross Spence who first planted the grape – against conventional wisdom – in the early 1970s. Their vineyard, Matua Valley, is…
Front Row Seats
7 middle-aged American couples travel from Queenstown to Christchurch by bike, running out of synonyms for awesome in the process. “If you’re in good enough shape to walk six or seven miles, you can handle the bike…
The Price is Right
NZ’s booming tourist industry has received another string to its bow with the introduction of free city tours. Financed by local tourism operators wanting to promote their services, the tours are now available in Auckland and Christchurch.
The Taste of Success
42 Below Manuka Honey Vodka is the main ingredient in star bartender Loren “Lola” Dunsworth’s current favourite cocktail – The Taste of Honey – which gets an impressive plug, complete with recipe, in the…
A Man of Two Halves
LA Times profiles Ricky Ellison, a NZ-born NFL linebacker turned US defence advisor. “His team-mates called him ‘Fruit Loops,’ but this was also a guy who read the Foreign Affairs journal at lunch and spent his…
Edge Hero Remembered
The science world – and the Edge community – lost one of its brightest stars with the death of Maurice Wilkins on October 5. Born in NZ in 1916, Wilkins was awarded the Nobel…
Custodian of the English Language
Eminent lexicographer Robert W Burchfield has died aged 81. The Wanganui-born scholar rose to fame as editor of the 4-volume Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary. The massive undertaking took nearly 30 years to complete -…
Pioneer Storyteller
The death of ground-breaking NZ filmmaker Mike Walker was noted in the Scotsman, Miami Herald, and LA Times. Walker worked asa director, co-producer and co-writer on the films Kingi’s Story, Kingpin and…
Go Fish
Fish la Boissonerie – co-owned by Kiwi Drew Harre and American Juan Sanchez – features in an LA Times guide to dining well (without breaking the bank) in Paris. “Here’s a place to go,…
Smells Like Green Spirit
A Californian company claims to have captured the essence of Aotearoa in a bottle. The Demeter Fragrance Library produces scented candles and room sprays ranging in weirdness from Chocolate Chip Cookie to Fuzzy Navel. The recently released…
Roughing It?
Base Backpacker’s newly launched Sanctuary facilities – luxury, women’s-only levels in its Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch hostels – featured in the LA Times‘ Youth Watch column. “With bungee jumping, backpacker buses and some of the best…
Uggly in pink
LA Times profiles that old Kiwi staple, the Ugg Boot, which thanks to appearances on Sex & the City and Oprah has been elevated from surfer’s necessity to fashion accessory. “They’re selling…
South Seas style in Costa Meca
Noel Turner’s epoynmous LA eatery continues to raise the flag for antipodean cuisine and produce along the US West Coast. “The climate produces some of the world’s cleanest foods, most notably from Noel Turner,…
Wetawood
Two LA Times features look at the phenomenal success of Peter Jackson’s Miramar-based empire; Weta Digital, Weta Workshop, and the Film Unit. The challenge meeting Jackson’s business is keeping the world-class staff he amassed…
Land of Milk and Honey
The NZ economy is currently on a high, with the lowest unemployment rates since 1987, 26,000 new jobs created in the last 3 months, and a $1.2 billion surplus in the first 3 months of the…
Go West … to the Edge
“There is another great shining land out there across the Pacific, far from the madding crowd. And it is all the things the Golden State once was. Onward then, to the New Eden, the New California!” LA…
Coca-Cola University
LATimes reviews The University in a Corporate Culture by NZer and Denver University professor Eric Gould. Pondering the commercialisation of higher education it explores how goals of education and the path to happiness have changed: “enlightenment is…
Designs for Edge Living
A group of NZ artists are currently on display at the Gallery of Functional Art in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. The show, ‘Straight from New Zealand,’ includes sculpted sheep and dogs by Rodney Brown,…
You Have the Right to Remain Nauseous
The smelly brainchild of Lower Hutt physicist Andrew Rakich has become an indispensable item for the LA Police Department. SkunkShot gel, originally sold in NZ to keep marauding dogs away from rubbish bags, is now being used…
Belated Acclaim for Unsung Edge Hero
“The Wright Brothers get all the credit, but a little-known NZ farmer and self-taught aviation pioneer deserves some recognition too.” Richard Pearse featured in LA Times as both NZ and America approach the centennial celebrations of their…
For Those About the Rock the Globe
The Datsuns have mounted a full-scale global aural assault: Boston Daily Globe: “It’s a high-energy assault with mammoth guitar riffs, strutting bass, and raw vocals that cartwheel into tomcat wailing.” New York Post:…
