January 2001 Archives

Jonah scores

Jonah scores

Jonah saves the fish in Epica d’Or-winning, New Zealand-filmed Adidas ad.

Touch of Class

Touch of Class

German band ATC’s Around the World (La La La La La) is big in Germany, but hasn’t hit New Zealand yet, home of singer “Joe”. 

Philosophical Spilt

Philosophical Spilt

“Western philosophy starts with a conflict between reason and faith. But there is no such dichotomy in Indian philosophy where dharma is a part of philosophy. Everything is substantiated by reason,” says Victoria University Philosophy Professor Jaysankar L….

Sauvignon Summer

Sauvignon Summer

“Stick with sauvignon blanc. The good ones are so much better, for the price (Cloudy Bay, perhaps the best in the world–certainly the most striking–goes for less than a so-so California chardonnay), than other summer staples that…

Unforgettable

Unforgettable

Skiing the South Island of New Zealand is an “unforgettable” experience – a “a must see for every true adventurer”.

Brooke on Board

Brooke on Board

Former AB Zinzan Brooke shucks his rugby jersey and climbs aboard the Team Veritas yacht for a leg of the BT Global Challenge.

Dalton Speaks

Dalton Speaks

“Home, however briefly, is beckoning. We should be through the Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands of my home country, New Zealand, in four days and that means we will, as far as I…

Alas, No Elias

Alas, No Elias

It’s time Britain had a female judge a la New Zealand Chief Justice Sian Elias, the conspicuous lone woman on the Privy Council.

Greens’ New Zealand

Greens’ New Zealand

New York James Beard Foundation hosts a tasting of New Zealand’s top wineries.

Unheralded Edge

Unheralded Edge

“To connoisseurs for whom the thrill of discovering an unheralded wine is almost as much fun as drinking it, educator John Sheldon’s advice is straightforward: ‘Move to the cutting edge’.”

Fast Sail

Fast Sail

Grant Dalton’s big cat Club Med stripped 33 hours off the trans-Indian Ocean record, sighting Australia seven days, fourteen hours after passing the Cape of Good Hope.

Jazzy sound

Jazzy sound

New Zealand’s c.l. bob impress in Melbourne,  “an inventive ensemble whose music ranges from AfroCaribbean shuffles to Hendrix-style mayhem”.

Luna Live!

Luna Live!

New Zealand-born Luna lead Dean Wareham’s “uber-romantic, world-weary lyrics” feature on recent release Luna Live!

Don’t Try and Amuse

Don’t Try and Amuse

The computer at a Japanese bank – “it isn’t wired for humour,” says the ex-New Zealand student Ramesh Thakur.

Iron Birthday Suits

Iron Birthday Suits

“It was my destiny to win today,” said birthday boy Kiwi Bryan Rhodes after his record-breaking 8hrs 41:53 win in the Malaysian Ironman Triathlon.  

We Want Waitangi

We Want Waitangi

Canadian victims of the Feb blues want a holiday, citing Waitangi day’s health-giving properties.

Political Thrills

Political Thrills

“I felt that this picture was made for me, because I love politics and I love making thrillers,” says Kiwi-spawned director Roger Donaldson of  missile-drama Thirteen Days, reviewed as “a sleek, fast and…

Earthquake Aid

Earthquake Aid

The New Zealand government has pledged $500,000 in earthquake aid for Gujerat, home state of many of New Zealand’s Indian immigrants.

Smail Away

Smail Away

Seven days after coming home to take the New Zealand Open, David Smail won his second professional tournament after eight years playing – the Canon Challenge in Sydney.  

Wharekauhau Station Seduces

Wharekauhau Station Seduces

“Included in the rectangular picture window vista is a real sea, Palliser Bay, below the cliffs where the sheep paddocks end, and edged by chalk palisades off to the left.”

Tartan Edged

Tartan Edged

We all like success: the Scots are not immune, claiming Michael Campell’s edge swing as their own.

Postcards from the Edge

Postcards from the Edge

“Dad,” revealed the postcard from New Zealand, “went paragliding”. All it takes is a break from routine.  

Smiling Like

Smiling Like

Smiling Like is apprentice Michael Walker’s lucky horse. The Wellington Cup was her second victory with the “boom” New Zealander in the saddle.  

Fit to Judge?

Fit to Judge?

New Zealand research shows juries have “fairly fundamental” misunderstandings of the law in over 7% of cases.

Quicksilver Hebe

Quicksilver Hebe

Plant New Zealand hebe for a “calming, understated and very grown-up” look.

America’s Cup Turns 150

America’s Cup Turns 150

“It would have felt very wrong to have hosted a celebration of the fact that we lost the cup in 1851, haven’t seen it since and are making no attempt to get it back,” says John…

Big Breach

Big Breach

Kiwi ex-MI6 operative Richard Tomlinson’s memoirs, The Big Breach hits Russian bookshops and are serialised in the Sunday Times, to the dismay of the secret service establishment in Britain.

Anti-nuke Action

Anti-nuke Action

Rainbow Warrior survivor Chris Robinson and New Zealand-based Henk Haazen and his family form part of the flotilla prostesting the shipping of nuclear waste through the Tasman sea. Australian shipments also raise ire.  

Hey Prestwick! An Airport

Hey Prestwick! An Airport

High-flying New Zealand airport developers Infratil snap up Prestwick Airport in Ayreshire, planning to turn it into a low-cost travel hub.

Bonded Money

Bonded Money

A province of Ontario 2008 bond in New Zealand dollars creates a flurry among savvy Canadian investors.

Over the Back Fence

Over the Back Fence

“I think we should say this is not small-town New Zealand, it’s big town America. Whether we meet as neighbours is something for the future,” says Jim Bolger, asked about Bill and Hill, his ex-Presidential neighbours.

Acting love

Acting love

British actor Toby Stephens “sips cranberry and soda in restaurants with his girlfriend, the New Zealand actress Anna-Louise Plowman (Flick, The Adulterer)”, and enjoys “choosing colour schemes for his new north London flat.” …

Group sex

Group sex

Veiled body parts and explicit pictures on show at Group Sex, One Eye Gallery, Paekakariki.

Saucy Story

Saucy Story

“Lee & Perrin’s bottles, with their characteristic long necks, designed to make it easy to Shake Well Before Using, have turned up in shipwrecks, encrusted with barnacles; in the forbidden city of Lhasa, Tibet; and in…

Cross-cultural carving

Cross-cultural carving

A display of Japanese netsuke, small carved toggles for pouches, includes “a mythical bird’s head by a New Zealand carver,” which “successfully combines the imagery of one culture with the aesthetics of Japan.”

Different Age

Different Age

Queen Victoria reigned over an age of adventure and conquest, innovation and development. She was Empress of the Empire on which the sun never set, including New Zealand, her furthest-flung domain.

Ed for Heights

Ed for Heights

“I was frequently scared and often tired, but there were few moments I would have willingly missed,” says Sir Edmund Hillary in the biography for children, Triumph on Everest.

Wheezy September

Wheezy September

Mysterious medical matter: asthma admission in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Trinidad all have an unexplained annual peak in the third week of September.

Dinosaur amore

Dinosaur amore

Sam Neill confesses to feeling something for his Jurassic co-stars: “There was one little female velociraptor who had a cute haircut, but it was never anything more than holding hands… holding claws.”

Tops for Jumps

Tops for Jumps

Guardian netjetter Sam “takes advantage of New Zealand’s position as tops for adrenaline holidays – he’s just done a bungy jump.”

Dread Drought

Dread Drought

New Zealand artist Horace Moore-Jones painted “one of the few pictorial responses to Australia’s Long Drought” (1895 and 1903), a series which included “Dead Drought as ‘a ghastly emaciated figure of doubtful sex, wearing…

World Without Oz

World Without Oz

If Australia didn’t exist, “Kiri Te Kanawa would be known as La Stupenda,” “New Zealanders would outnumber sheep” and “the pavlova would be indisputably a New Zealand Creation.”

Long in the Tooth – at 26

Long in the Tooth – at 26

New Zealand researchers have uncovered the biting truth – periodontal disease, which leads to loss of teeth, can be a problem from as early as 26.

Fly Away Nanny

Fly Away Nanny

Free trips home to New Zealand are among the perks offered to nannies in London’s tight market.

Still sailing

Still sailing

Ian Tew’s soon to be published In Grandfather’s Wake includes an account of finding Grandpa Graham’s old yacht “in full commission” in New Zealand.

Watch for the Splash

Watch for the Splash

MIR is scheduled to descend into the South Pacific “up to 2000 kilometres (1 250 miles) off the coast of Australia…the same distance off the coast of Australia are New Zealand, the French territory of…

Evidence Compelling

Evidence Compelling

“The economic evidence to support broadened and deepened negotiations is compelling,” states former New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore, now trying to kick-start free-trade talks in his role as WTO chief.

Cultural resonance

Cultural resonance

”Everything I saw in this film I see in my own country,” says Maori Jillian White, speaking of Native Canadian films screened at Canada’s Sundance festival.

#34 Happy New Years From The Edge

#34 Happy New Years From The Edge

Edge Message #34 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY It’s not too late to say it, so Happy New Year. Bravo to the South Island. I spent an alpine summer holiday there….

Lang may his lum reek

Lang may his lum reek

New Zealand’s now home for Scottish actor John Cairney but he makes a yearly return to Scotland for Burns night.

MSG 4 U

MSG 4 U

A New Yorker seeks to escape email addiction in New Zealand, but falls foul of txt msging.

Trans-oceanic Phone Tag

Trans-oceanic Phone Tag

“After a morning spent hiking in New Zealand’s spectacular Rotorua region – a volcanic area of geysers, thermal pools and surreal landscapes – my tour guide, Jacqui, heard the chirping of her cell phone. Then, with…

Winter Bid

Winter Bid

Christchurch and Wanaka are launching a bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Chicken Corner

Chicken Corner

Metropolitan Auckland: high rise, IT, yachts – and chickens in the city parks.

Hotel Harridans

Hotel Harridans

New Zealand women using hotels make more noise during sex, watch more porn, leave their rooms messier and steal more stuff than men. “I think women are becoming more assertive,” offered a Novotel spokesperson.

Human Rights for All

Human Rights for All

New Zealand-born and educated John Fisher is Canada’s leading gay rights activist. “Human rights, for me, are universal and transcend national boundaries,” says Fisher. “Everyone knows someone who is gay or lesbian, and a society that affirms…