Relative Connection
“Groove is a Windows application that lets you swap ideas and information in the same way that Napster lets you swap songs … if you could get your cousins in New Zealand to use it, staying in…
November 2000 Archives
It’s a Wrap
Lord of the Rings is due to wrap three days before Christmas, right on schedule. Director Peter Jackson notes the authenticity index has climbed during filming: “way back at the beginning we thought there…
PC Lost World
New Zealand will host BBC’s dinosaur/sci-fi classic The Lost World. Offensive passages, referring to “sub-humans noted for their savage behaviour and low intellects” will be removed, cutting down the number of politicians moonlighting as…
Kiwi Cannibal Hookers
“We were shocked. The male would come ashore, grab the pup, swim out 5 or 1 metres with it, shake it around, kill it, and then bite off chunks and limbs and eat them,” said Dr…
Jeans #2
Labour MP John Tamihere wore a pair of ‘dress jeans’ to work. When National’s Bill English complained, Aucklander Tamihere called him “a hillbilly from Clutha”.
Hula hello
American Frances Price does Maori, Hawaiian and Tahitian dance. “The Polynesian dancers were a real hit at our wedding,” said Diane Szymanski Dorcey who created a Hawaiian style wedding in Brighton last month. “We…
Riff-Raff lives
New Zealander Richard O’Brien’s as-yet unnamed Rocky Horror Picture Show #2 will premier on the London stage in 2001.
SPF15+ Orchards
The phrase apple-red cheeks will no longer apply to New Zealand apples coated in kaolin clay to ward of the sun. “The kaolin-based product has cut sunburn damage on apples in half.”
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.”
Ali-Khan Do It
New Zealand born McGill (Canada) student, Sarah Ali-Khan, wins Quebec Athletic Excellence Award for All-Canadian Track and Field.
Idiosyncratic Mambo
Designer Reg Mombassa, “the quintessential idiosyncratic Australian artist, even though he’s from New Zealand,” is a key part of Mambo’s international success.
Dog Eat Cat World
Felines are unwelcome at Macquarie Island. New Zealand cat-hounds are cleaning them up.
Midget Motoring
An eight year old boy hitting the motorway at 80k in his Dad’s car was doing his bit to bring the average driving age down. Police stopped the boy who was “not fazed,” by them,…
Brickwork Brierley
“It was a scene from yesteryear. Sir Ron Brierley, armour dusted off and polished and gauntlet raised, charged into the battle …”
Pain Buster
Dr Abbey recommends New Zealander Robin MacKenzie’s Seven Steps to a Pain-Free Life to tame the back pain of Chicago.
International Treasure
Enterprising techno-toy hounds have devised a use for hand-held GPS systems: geocaching. 120 caches have been laid in 31 states and 13 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Chile.
Out of flight juice
Kiwi music icons The Mutton Birds are due to tour the UK. They’re expecting a warm reception, but nervous they’ll be grounded if petrol shortages strike again.
Fearless storyteller
“At 12 she was carrying a gun as big as she was, fighting for freedom in the Hungarian Revolution.” Later, Anna Porter made it to New Zealand as a refugee. Now she runs a…
Guru Gilson
Clive Gilson, University of Waikato Professor, co-author of Peak Performance: Business Lessons From the World’s Top Sports Organisations, and motivational coach, “is to turn the Football Association from its traditional home for semi-retired blazers into…
Senior Junior
Anne Martindall (86), former US Ambassador to New Zealand and long-time companion of Sir Toss Woollaston, returns to college to complete her degree. “I believe in finishing what you start,” says Martindall.
Dame Delights
“Well, little Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is a friend of mine. She’s a little New Zealand singer.” Dame Edna Everage of Australia on her illustrious mate, Kiri.
Steel Plants
A New Zealand Modernist steel garden contrasts with the Alhambra in Granada and a magnolia-festooned paradise at Lake Lugano in gardening aficionado Tim Richardson’s The Gardening Book.
Magical Mystery Tour
Bus till you bust with Magic Travellers Network, winners of “Best Scheduled Transport” in the 2000 NZ Tourism Awards.
Bloody Lucky
King Country farming means clear air, rich milk, hay and leeches? Maria Lupton’s slimy sweeties saved the lips of an Australian girl mauled by a dog. The leeches, usually fed on blood and intestines, restore circulation to…
Booby Trap
It’s tough on the beat. Two Hamilton police officers were innocently holding a cam-corder when the woman it was pointed at ripped her clothes off, landing them in breach of regulations.
Dr. Johnson of the Web
Arts and Letters Daily and Cybereditions, the Guardian‘s top two brain sites on the web are the work of Canterbury NZ academic Denis Dutton. “Over dinner with him, trying to keep…
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…
Antipodean Etonian
Many quintessentially British institutions are headed by foreigners – including Eton, where Kiwi John Lewis is headmaster.
Edge Stories in Ireland
Rangimoana Taylor and a Ngati Ranana group are among the storytellers to be powhiried onto a marae recreated by Dublin school pupils for the ninth (festival of story-tellers), highlighting New Zealand and immigration.
Honey Cures Tummy
New Woman confirms a “traditional New Zealand cure”: eating manuka honey to banish stomach ulcers.
Fat Tax
Proponents of the New Zealand “Brain Drain” myth complain about income tax, but the government has so far rejected calls for a “fat tax” on butter, cheese, meat and milk.
Unprivate Moments
“Keep a diary online and you’re exposed to Mom, Dad, potential employers, and strangers in New Zealand with strong opinions about the way last night’s date should have been handled.”
Kiwi in the House
Kiwifruit-based products from Evolu rate with Estee Lauder, Chanel and Givenchy as a key product line at the House of Fraser, Oxford Street’s newest beauty arena.
A Teaspoon of Honey
Search under ‘Honey New Zealand’ to view Waikato scientist Peter Molan thinks honey doesn’t just help the medicine go down, it is the medicine. Honey from New Zealand’s Leptospermum tree kills bacteria, reduces inflammation and encourages re-growth…
Gender Bender
Questions continue to be raised about surgical gender re-assignment, a la Kiwi sexologist John Money.
Late News
The New Zealand-based Afghani terrorist plot to blow up the nuclear reactor during the Sydney Games may not have been so threatening after all…
Tua Much
It wasn’t his destiny this time. Pre- and post-fight opinion on Tua-Lennox.Pre in the Sunday Times, New York Daily News, USA Today and the Scotsman. Tua’s toxic hair at News24. Post in Las Vegas Sun, New York and Daily News.
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…
Unique urenika
Dark purple and delicious, urenika (Maori potatoes), are on display at the RHS London Flower Show.
Edge of a Lonely Planet
“New Zealand values its independence and is not afraid to take on the world,” states the latest Lonely Planet, labelling New Zealand the place for adventure, coffee and wide open spaces.
Vertical limit
The stunning slopes of Aoraki (Mt Cook) backdrop Kiwi Martin Campbell’s ice action thriller, Vertical Limit. Starring Chris O’Donnel and Nicholas Lea, Vertical Limit is scheduled for 15 December release.
Shorts and sweet
Four NZ films feature in NY’s Shorts International Film Festival, including Felicity Morgan-Rhind’s Donuts for Breakfast. Top shorts will be considered for Oscar noms.
