October 2000 Archives

BSE Breakthrough

BSE Breakthrough

Professor Roger Morris of Massey University  suggests Britain’s BSE epidemic may have come from “a wild animal commonly found outside Britain that was chopped up for cattle feed”.

Gulf Rugby Shock

Gulf Rugby Shock

The Arabian Gulf 7s team are rather daunted by the thought of meeting New Zealand at the World 7s Series. “When I heard the draw I was lost for words,” said Arabian coach Darryl Weir. …

Going Cold Kiwi

Going Cold Kiwi

The League World Cup Lebanon vs NZ match was played in bitter weather. Three Lebanese players became hypothermic, but the New Zealanders seemed to cope OK. “The New Zealanders were probably used to it,” said…

One mammal, One Moniker

One mammal, One Moniker

New Zealand is to be included in an Asian flora and fauna database aiming to reduce confusion caused by species with more than one name.

Drink Up

Drink Up

High-calcium milk Anlene, manufactured by New Zealand Milk, is shown to ward off osteoporosis in Asian women. Dairy exporters will have to bone up on their Asian languages to spread the word.

Godless Digest

Godless Digest

“The Digest, however, has been less than honest. In a December 1999 story by Raffaele about the Chatham Islands in New Zealand, a fisherman picked up a lobster trap and exclaimed, “Gifts from Maru…

Disease Beaten

Disease Beaten

Polio has been eradicated in the Western Pacific, which stretches from China to New Zealand to French Polynesia.

Clean Green Methane

Clean Green Methane

While some countries battle automobile emissions, New Zealand scientists at the Rumen Microbiology Unit, Palmerston North, are working on producing a gas-less sheep. It’s a tricky business though: “There’s no point in getting rid of the methane…

Goldie Rides Again

Goldie Rides Again

The prodigiously talented Jeff Wilson – in this age of professionalism, perhaps the last person to be an AB and a Black Cap – has returned to rugby after a year’s refresher. “I’m sure he will…

Forbes Gets a Bargain

Forbes Gets a Bargain

Forbes Global have included New Zealand company The Warehouse Group in their 2000 list of Best Small Companies: “Dynamism is all about growth and profits; in our opinion these 300 are among the best the world has…

Democracy Deal

Democracy Deal

PM Helen Clark was at the forefront of the push to make the Pacific Island Leaders Forum a defender of democracy in the region.  

#30 New Zealanders Rocking The Globe

#30 New Zealanders Rocking The Globe

Edge Message #30 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NZEDGE.COM COMMUNITY This week: Celebrating New Zealanders rocking the globe: /category/newzedge/ Pride in new NZ Nobel Laureate Shihad rock Australia music awards Leilani Joyce squashes UK Open Chris Cairns beats India Michael King…

Healing Touch

Healing Touch

A new London centre devoted to the study of the “healing touch” is “an outpost of a university in New Zealand whose ideas are based on feng shui and other Oriental philosophies.” Could tight…

Sam Neill is in LA filming Jurassic 3

Sam Neill is in LA filming Jurassic 3

The grounds of his temporary residence are described as “park-like”…

Macpac Knack

Macpac Knack

Macpacs made their reputation being hauled up and down New Zealand mountains. They’re also good for gentle English country walks.  

Out Out Damn E-mail!

Out Out Damn E-mail!

Deleted files may come back to haunt you, says Peter Gutmann of Auckland University. “It is possible to install a computer that overwrites data when you hit the Delete key, making it much harder to recover….

Lamb-blasted

Lamb-blasted

The WTO ruled in favour of New Zealand in the appeal against US tariffs on our lamb. The Prime Minister was pleased with the result, but said “ideally, you don’t want to be taking your best…

No Tree Hill

No Tree Hill

One Tree Hill of U2 fame lost its signature pine, removed due to safety considerations after attacks over six years to highlight indigenous land claims. The exotic Monterey pine replaced a native Totara cut down by a…

Indomitable Down Under

Indomitable Down Under

A young Bangladeshi expresses his respect for the Black Caps: Chris Cairns is “at his magnificent best”; Roger Twose is “that wily customer”, and the whole team displayed “the indomitable spirit of the team from Down Under”.

Fruit Nuts in Mumbai

Fruit Nuts in Mumbai

Kiwi fruit and Enza apples are status symbols in Mumbai: “New Zealand apples are more juicy and have a better shelf-life … these are basically popular in higher middle and elite class of the town.”

League of Their Own

League of Their Own

The Aotearoa Maori League team is “modelled on the Maori battalion,” says John Tamihere. “It will be a team of origin not of residence. And that’s great, it doesn’t matter if they’re on Mars, they’re still Maori.”

Murderball Awe

Murderball Awe

New Zealand collected the Bronze at Sydney, impressing with their toughness along the way. “These are the hard men of the Paralympics. New Zealand’s heavily-tattoed Curtis Palmer emerged unscathed from a high-impact collision that sent him somersaulting…

Our Cup Overflowed

Our Cup Overflowed

The America’s Cup generated NZ$640 million in economic activity. Competing syndicates spent $149.2 mill, nearly matched by $118 mill from super-yacht spectators.

Wright for the Job

Wright for the Job

The Indian cricket team is looking for a new coach and former New Zealand opener John Wright seems to be the man for the job. The final appointment will be announced before the team’s November tour…

Join the army and let the world see you!

Join the army and let the world see you!

New Zealand defence personnel will feature on big screens around the globe – as extras in Lord of the Rings. The soldiers were perfect when the filmmakers needed “big numbers of people who were…

Three Foot Six and still growing

Three Foot Six and still growing

Vanity Fair estimates the cost of Lord of the Rings at NZ$623 million. If correct, Wellington company Three Foot Six is producing the second-most expensive movie ever.

Big Cheese

Big Cheese

Juliet Harbutt, self-described “brash, open, jolly New Zealander”, founded the British Cheese Awards to “preach the Gospel of cheese”.

Kiwi-Pom Oggie Oi

Kiwi-Pom Oggie Oi

Ron Knox, originally of England, now New Zealand, introduced the stadium-filling “Oggie, Oggie, Oggie, Oi, Oi Oi” chant to the ockers. “I wonder if they will send me a gold medal,” says Ron.  

A Little to the Right…

A Little to the Right…

New Zealand entrepreneur James Sampson is launching a live sex site based in Christchurch. Viewers will be able to issue instructions to the workers.

Wearable Art to Edinburgh?

Wearable Art to Edinburgh?

Nelson’s Wearable Art Awards “come close to sensory overload … dazzling light displays, innovative props … and the exceptional Wearable Arts creations”. Organisers are hoping to show the creations at the next Edinburgh International…

From Gold to Gold

From Gold to Gold

The sponsor of this year’s Boston Head of the Charles Regatta put up $30,000 prize money for the men’s and women’s sprints. Rob and Sonia Waddell scooped the pool, coming in first and collecting the reward.

Avvid Attention

Avvid Attention

New Zealand Government Departments can talk to each other with maximum efficiency, thanks to AVVID, “one of the  largest end-to-end IP telephony networks in the world.”  

Say Fish

Say Fish

Mi’kmaq Indians look to New Zealand’s lead on fishery settlement deals. “Strong, tradeable property rights in fishing can be powerful economic and environmental force,” argues this article.  

Against the Grain

Against the Grain

New Zealand scholar Aurelia Mulgan’s The Politics of Agriculture in Japan launches a “brutal assault on antifactual strategies such as rational-choice theory, but also brusque rejection of social science as science”.

HRH Touchdown

HRH Touchdown

The Queen will visit her farthest-flung domain in October, 2001. Her visit will provide “an opportunity for New Zealand to mark the impending Golden Jubilee of the Queen’s Reign”.

Conner Cautious

Conner Cautious

Dennis Conner will be in Auckland contesting the Cup in 2003, but he sure isn’t feeling complacent: “There’s so much depth of talent in New Zealand…They’ll still be difficult to beat, ” he told the NY…

Great Steaming Geysers!

Great Steaming Geysers!

18 year old Rawiri Waru’s developed a system to check Rotorua’s geysers don’t run out of steam, winning himself a Grand Award and an internship at Bayer AG in Singapore at the Worldwide Young Researchers for…

Naked Success

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.

Well-ing-ton!

Well-ing-ton!

Wellington took out the NPC, beating a Canterbury side that fielded 12 AB’s in the starting line up. International stars did their bit for the Lions, with Lomu scoring twice and Cullen setting up for Inoki…

Avian Aphrodisiac

Avian Aphrodisiac

There are only 62 Kakapo in the world, and they don’t always seem that interested in making more. DOC scientists, hoping to see some action from the feather fellows, have concocted a special kind of muesli…

Motoring On

Motoring On

Elva Shepard, 99, passed her re-licensing test. The experienced drivers only fault? A little slow at times, perhaps due to Bubba, her youthful 43-year-old car.

Frankenfood

Frankenfood

New Zealand’s Royal Commission on Genetic Engineering is being watched closely as the first chance for citizens of any country to say what they think about Frankenfood.

Top Class

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).

#29 Greetings From The Edge

#29 Greetings From The Edge

Edge Message #29 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NZEDGE.COM COMMUNITY New  Mailbox out today Multi-Continent mail About NZ identity Kiev to Kosovo Auckland to Alexandra Valley Forge to Venice Beach 67 messages, raps, requests, ideas Response to NZ at the Edge…

Kiwi KO

Kiwi KO

The Black Caps beat India in the ICC knock-out final, making 265 with four wickets and two balls to spare. Chris Cairns, player of the match, got his century in a “heroic performance” that rescued the…

Choice Joyce

Choice Joyce

Leilani Joyce, New Zealand #1 since ’97, didn’t drop a game on the way to becoming British Open Champion and World Squash #1. “The plan was quite simple,” says Joyce of her final game against England’s…

Eco Edge

Eco Edge

“Politicians have got used to being told by their clever advisers and focus groups that the environment isn’t sexy. It doesn’t lead to votes. But that’s where the leadership thing comes in. If politics is merely about…

Direct Success

Direct Success

Saatchi & Saatchi’s Access 50/50 campaign for Telecom scooped a Gold International Echo award from the Direct Marketing Association. Auckland’s Aim Direct also won gold, making a tally of two New Zealand firms among…

Devils’ Playground

Devils’ Playground

“If they were human they would be regarded as severely dysfunctional.” New Zealander Rod Morris on Tasmanian Devils, the stars of The Devil’s Playground, which has won him a Wildscreen Panda – wildlife film’s…

Acing It

Acing It

Wellington hair maestro Constantin Harach played his cards right to win the Moscow International Poker Tournament Pot Limit Omaha: “Aram rolls over 8K510 and Constantin 6QJA. Constantin’s up and down straight is made with a K…

His Way

His Way

Road cyclists usually compete in teams for strategy and support. North Hastings 18-year-old Jeremy Yates, the new Junior Men’s Road Cycling World Champion. Yates beat 166 international riders, sprinting the last 4kms of the 127km race in…

What Goes Around Comes Around

What Goes Around Comes Around

Hans Schwarz, an Austrian now living in NZ, sailed to Melbourne in 1956, to attend the Olympic Games. He threw a bottle into the ocean, with a note for a “dusky Pacific maiden”. Now, in a typically…

E-e-e-e-readiness

E-e-e-e-readiness

Kiwis are on to it online. This has been confirmed by a Vic University study that lists NZ among the top four countries in the world for e-commerce and connectivity. The edge has the world’s fastest…

Dr MacDiarmid and His Fantastic Electric Plastic

Dr MacDiarmid and His Fantastic Electric Plastic

New Zealand’s Nobel duo becomes a trio; Masterton-born and Wellington-educated chemist Alan MacDiarmid has joined Ernest Rutherford and Maurice Wilkins as a Nobel Prize (chemistry) laureate. MacDiarmid and his two colleagues discovere conductive plastics which have been…

Motor Masala hot fave

Motor Masala hot fave

Peter Riordan is in contention for the Asia-Pacific Travel writers’ prize. His book, Motorcycle Masala is the story of a journey around India on-you guessed it-a motorcycle. The award will be announced at the…

Cullen a Keeper

Cullen a Keeper

Christian Cullen has resisted overseas contracts to concentrate on winning the World Cup for New Zealand in 2003 (which will be held in Australia and New Zealand). “The World Cup is the only thing I haven’t won…