Prehistoric background
New Zealand provided the background – and the KY jelly – for the phenomenly successful Walking with Dinosuars, soon to be followed by The Ballad of Big Al.
Tag Archives: Sydney Morning Herald (The)
Country & Urban
New Zealand-born country singer/ songwriter Keith Urban’s “Rollercoaster” gets a Grammy nom, while Keith himself fronts Music Row mag and toasts his top-ten success.
Frucor on the Up
“One of last year’s hot floats” in Australia, Frucor, makers of headline energy drink V, have increased turnover by 55%.
Old play, new tricks
1975 New Zealand play Mothers and Fathers gets a convincing makeover for Sydney’s Fringe – “even though it’s slightly archaic to think that $50,000 could buy you a dream home in this town”.
First Baggins off the rack
“The most ambitious undertaking in the film world recently has been Peter Jackson’s filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in New Zealand. If the results are as epic as the production, the first…
Anzacs?
New Zealand voice in Sydney Bernard Lagan dissects the question of Federation with Australia: “It is unlikely that what modern New Zealanders most define themselves as – a nation of Pacific peoples – could have come…
Asparagus are from Mars, Potatoes are from Venus
Lincoln University researchers have successfully grown potatoes and asparagus in soil collected from Mars. “Space-based soils could potentially support future human expansion in the solar system,” according to Professor Michael Mautner. “I wouldn’t say very soon, but…
Gender Tee-off
Michael Campbell is one of four top male golfing stars to meet women’s #1 Karrie Webb in a million dollar “Battle of the Sexes” series later this year.
Awards of Merit
Controversial clergyman and academic Lloyd Geering carried off the highest honour in the New Years’ list, Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Colin “Pinetree” Meads, All Black 1957-71 and all-time greatest AB, is one…
Federate or Die?
“It is likely that the New Zealand situation will become so critical in the early years of this century that support for political union will rise rapidly.”
Vertical #2
“Vertical Limit has its flaws – but they’re not enough to dim rousing, old-fashioned escapism which uses modern techno-skills to really put you in the picture and on the mountain peak.”
Brain Gain
“We’ve made the decision to go home, and I urge other New Zealanders to do the same. Let’s stop helping the economy of a country where we’re not welcome,” says Phillipa Hawkes, packing to come home following…
Sunshine for Sunline
It’s official – Sunline is the Russell Crowe of the racing world. The New Zealand and Australian horse of the year, Kiwi Sunline is also Australasia’s biggest money winner. After her December 17 Hong Kong mile…
It’s Shirley, Isn’t It?
The Shirley Convention 2001 is expecting “500 Shirleys from across Australia and New Zealand”.
Benefits Suspended
New Zealanders, the group with the highest rate of employment in Australia, will lose the right to benefits under new immigration restrictions.
Skin Tight
Based on iconic Dennis Glover poem ‘The Magpies’, Gary Henderson’s Skin Tight is a play with “spare beauty and competitive power”.
Walk Over
Kiwi apprentice jockey Michael Walker: one season; a record-breaking 131 wins; “probably the greatest thing to happen to racing for a long time”.
15% Pure
All ingredients in New Zealand and Australian food are to be labelled by percentage. “Meat” pie anyone?
Power Dressing
The Powerhouse Museum’s Fashion of 2000 features New Zealand designer Karen Walker’s “it” broken pearl dress, alongside work by Stella McCartney, Galliano and Versace.
Godzone/Godawful?
Australian-based Kiwi Bernard Lagan trashes New Zealand’s health, wealth and spirit. Helen Clark exercises the right of reply.
Burmese Campaign
From New Zealand to Burma, and then into prison for playing pro-democracy songs. Londoner James Mawdsley used his OE to fight SLORC.
Home Brew
New Zealand horse takes out the Melbourne Cup. “Brilliantly ridden by 20-year-old South Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy, the regally bred Brew made light of 49kg when scoring a two-length victory after starting from the outside barrier.”
Brickwork Brierley
“It was a scene from yesteryear. Sir Ron Brierley, armour dusted off and polished and gauntlet raised, charged into the battle …”
Towel Rage
Staff at the Rotorua Polynesian Spa were menaced by a naked customer, furious that he hadn’t been provided with a towel. The customer walked naked into the foyer, pushing a computer off the front desk to…
Rugger Scrum
Recent south-north tests have created a scrum among sport journalist, players and coaches over playing style and rule reform SMH likes the running game, French coach describes losses as “no-brainers“, Welsh coach Kiwi Graham Henry has…
Naked Success
Toa Fraser’s first play, Bare, hits Sydney with “a saltiness that is unmistakably NZ”. Fraser is compared to Raymond Carver and Tom Wolfe, masters of edge and bite.
Top Class
Chopper, New Zealand-born director Andrew Dominik’s acclaimed bio-pic of the maniacal murderer, has received Australian Film Institute noms for Best Film and Best Direction, plus eight other nominations including Best Screenplay (penned by Dominik).
MurderBall
Wheelchair rugby, “Murderball” as it’s known by the players, is the only full contact wheelchair sport at the Paralympics. New Zealand is ranked second, behind the USA.
V Good
New Zealand company Frucor, dominant in the NZ and Australian energy drinks market, feels V ready to compete with international behemoth Coca-Cola. “We believe we can grow the market fivefold in Australia,” says CEO Mark Cowsill.
That’s Not a Camera Flash
PM Clark ventured on a guided tour of the Sydney Harbour Bridge super-structure. Was that an admirer taking a picture? Was it an apparition of Roger Kerr? No, the sudden illumination was lightening striking the bridge, narrowly…
Golden Moment
Edge machine Rob Waddell takes the Olympic gold in rowing’s glamour event, the men’s single sculls.
Rena Owen on jury at Montreal Film Festival
Feisty Kiwi actress Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors, What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted), sat on the jury of the of the Montreal Film Festival. The jury awarded the festival’s major award, the…
Who is that famous writer living next door?
Michael King spoke about his authorised and hugely successful biography of Janet Frame at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. Frame a recluse: she writes under her own name, but lives under a pseudonym. Other Kiwi…
Kiwi to Protect London Children
Moira Rayner has been appointed Director of the newly formed Office of Children’s Right’s Commissioner for London. She is a New Zealand lawyer with international experience in the field of children’s right’s.
Art and text:
In an ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Artist Corp) collaboration Kiwi writer Damien Wilkins offers a “rather beautiful piece of writing” to accompany an exhibition of paintings by ascendent Aussie painter Noel McKenna (the…
Lilith Lacroix Goes to the Olympics
Well she’ll be performing, but at the Opera House, not Stadium Australia. Lilith, aka New Zealand composer Gareth Farr, brings his percussion concertos, Hikoi and Wairua to the Sydney Olympics Arts Festival. He’ll need…
Silence is Regulated Golden
Not doing a great deal to dispel the stereotype of the loud-mouthed ocker, an article on the art and science of noise in the Sydney Morning Herald looks at the menace of noise pollution,…
More Rings Buzz
No, not the Lord of the Rings … amidst speculation about upcoming productions of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, New Zealand soprano Margaret Medlyn has been picked to sing the part of Kundry in the State…
As Good as It Gets? Back in Black!
“The jagged edge is back to New Zealand’s game, the legal violence of execution beneath the blades of the All Black harvester,” writes the Sydney Morning Herald. We couldn’t have said it better. Shell-shocked Aussie captain John…
Bob Charles Swings into History
On the occasion of the millennium British Open the Royal and Ancient celebrated past champions, including Kiwi Bob Charles: “Thirty-seven years after he became the first left-hander to win the title, New Zealander Bob Charles still swings…
Kiwi Behind the Scenes Racing Legend
“She is perfect and I think most people agree.” Efficiency, accuracy, reliability and above all loyalty are the words the Sydney Morning Herald uses to describe Sue Hutchinson, the first female to hold the position of…
Ian Athfield: last of the intelligent bohemians
As if the rugby wasn’t enough: renowned Australian playwright Alex Buzo advances our architect fair, calling Athfield a member “of a species now extinct in Australia, the intelligent bohemian.” Getting all postmodern about phonebooks,…
John Clarke Throws a Gumboot at Australian PM
New Zealand comedian John Clarke has demonstrated “speechwriting at its finest” in the ABC TV spoof about the Sydney Olympics, The Games. Penning the words for John Howard, actor, Clarke showed John Howard, Prime…
Te Whaea opens Options
Options, a tertiary dance festival for Australian and New Zealand students held in Sydney, was joined on its gala day by the New Zealand School of Dance. The Kiwi dancers shone in a generally…
New Zealand Not Giving Up on South Pacific Whale Sanctuary
A bid by New Zealand and Australia to establish an ocean sanctuary to protect whale breeding grounds failed at the International Whaling Commission Meeting in Adelaide. Despite securing two-thirds of the vote, they were blocked by the hard-lobbying…
Teddy Tahu Rhodes: Kiwi man singing Houston
Teddy Tahu Rhodes, “a New Zealand baritone well known in Sydney for his Opera Australia appearances”, is playing the lead role of Joe in the Houston Grand Opera’s rendering of Dead Man Walking. It…
Edge Explorer Revised and Revisited by Aussie Historian
Tony Horwitz revisits the James Cook legend and Cook’s Star-Trek echoing logbook, “I have gone farther than any man has been before me, as far as I think it is possible for a man…
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…
Happy Days Inspires Maori Playwright Briar Grace-Smith to Tell New Zealand Stories
“New Zealanders are becoming bolder and prouder about who we are. We’re no longer looking overseas for our theatre. We’re telling our own stories and feeling good about it. And not just Maori”
Sweet Child China Rose Heads for Seedy Weekend in Brighton
New Zealander Kate Sylvester was one of the week’s most thoughtful designers, declaring a Graham Greene inspired theme from her Brighton Rock “no cigars or pipes please” invitations to the cried myself to sleep…
Australian Fashion Week: “The All Blacks Are Well Ahead of The Wallabies”
Karen Walker and Collette Dinnigan’s shows at Fashion Week gain the highest praise. Among those gushing were eminent Sunday Times fashion historian Colin McDowell, and fashion director of Vogue Nippon Kim Stringer.
Sideline Sneers No Music to Ears at Fashion Week
Karen Walker has created another visual and aural sensation. Things got interesting when she provided the fashpack with a CD player and headphones from which they could select their own music. The only trouble…
Australian Style the New Zealand Way
“If you look over those lists of favourite shows, as picked by two key international delegates, something even more interesting emerges: a third of the top-scoring designers were born outside Australia. Kiwi born and…
“There She Goes.” Moby Dick Move Over as Hunt for Giant Squid Begins
That 19th Century tale of adventure on the high seas is about to be challenged by a 21st century adventure beneath them, when Jean-Michel Cousteau dives off New Zealand’s Kaikoura coast in search of the mythical…
“Go You Good Thing, Go” – Kiwi Kingz Supporters Hailed as Best in NSL
How good are the Auckland Kingz fans? Up there with the best, it seems. While the Kingz may have enjoyed a topsy-turvy season, their fans have consistently been hailed as the best in the NSL -…
