Archive >> February 2003

D4 dee-light North America

The D4 have unleashed their distinctive sound on the North American market, gaining thumbs-up all round. Rolling Stone: ” blitz through their blues-punk-garage-rock playbook on hyperdrive.” Chart…

In Good Company

Kiwi songstress Hayley Westenra is to join a star-studded line-up, including Jose Carreras, at Wales’ prestigious Faenol Festival in August. According to organisers, Westenra’s performance is one of the…

#60: Edge of Knowledge

Edge Message #60 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM

TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

The edge metaphor is our way of situating New Zealand in the world. This month, two…

Waking Up the Establishment

Nancy Wake, NZ-born heroine of the WW2 resistance movement, interviewed in SMH, recovering after a heart attack in hospital. At 90 Wake has become an honoured permanent resident and “something…

Harper’s Hot List

New Zealand destinations feature strongly in veteran resort-rater Andrew Harper’s recommendations for 2003. Huka Lodge (Taupo) and Blanket Bay (Glenorchy) crop up in both the Top Ten International Resort Hotels…

A Savvy Critic

“New Zealand wines have zest.” So proclaims Michael Apstein, wine writer for The Boston Globe. His picks of the sauvignon-blanc bunch include Mount Riley (Marlborough, 22), Thornbury (Marlborough, 22) and Craggy Range…

Songbird flees her cage

“I’m moving away from opera performance … I like to make a big occasion of it when I sing. I have performed in exotic and marvellous situations in Turkey…

Tataurangi Topples World No.2

Kiwi golfer Phil Tataurangi brought an abrupt end to Ernie Els winning streak, knocking the South African star out of the Accenture Match Play Championship with a 25-foot birdie putt on…

Passengers May Remove Their Safety Belts?

The effects of war and the SARS crisis on tourism and travel may be looming for global airlines, but presently Air NZ is bucking the global downturn. The carrier recently reported…

An End to Sheep Jokes?

NZ’s sheep population is at an all-time low, plummeting from 70 million in 1982 to less than 40 million. Cows and fruit – particularly wine grapes – have gradually replaced the…

Enough with the Pavlova War

“ANZAC sibling rivalry must end,” says High Court judge Michael Kirby. Kirby has proposed a common passport, currency and tax system to honour the 2015 centenary of Gallipoli. Visiting Australian Treasurer…

Inappropriation?

Shock-boxer Mike Tyson has paid a dubious tribute to Maori culture by having a moko-inspired design tattooed around his left eye. New York Post: “‘It was meant to be Maori-ish,’…

FX to rule them all

The Two Towers cleaned up at the Visual Effects Society awards in L.A, winning 8 of the 9 categories for which it was nominated. Towers streaked ahead of…

Kuala Tarlton

NZ-based company Aquawalk is developing a state-of-the-art aquarium for the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. An innovative blend of natural and digital, the “discovery zone” will contain a computerised replica of the…

The Taxman Only Rings Once

An end to double-taxation in Australasia seems imminent after meetings between Australian Treasurer Peter Costello and NZ Minister of Finance Michael Cullen. The removal of “triangular-tax” is expected in the…

Wireless Oscars

Auckland based company, The Hyperfactory, were commended at the 2003 GSM Awards in Cannes this month for their TXTDJ innovation. This was The Hyperfactory’s second consecutive nomination for what is essentially…

Tea-total

Auckland University researcher, Joy Hsu, has confirmed the belief of generations: a strong, hot cuppa works wonders. Hsu measured the antioxidant levels of 33 types of green, black and oolong teas…

Long Time Coming

NZ military veterans have applauded a court ruling that a former French serviceman died of leukaemia as a direct result of exposure to radiation at Moruroa. France has consistently denied that…

Dear Mr President…

West Coast resident Margie Beamsley paid Wellington’s Dominion Post $5,000 to print her anti-war plea to President Bush. The open letter was passed on to the White House by the…

“It’s Life James, but Not as We Know It”

Time devotes a special issue to DNA and its discoverers, including NZ born scientist Maurice Wilkins. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize winning and paradigm shifting findings…

Owens Squashes the Competition

NZ’s Carol Owens has won her sixth Kuala Lumpur Open Squash Championship, taking her world title count to an impressive 21. Owens crushed Australian rival Natalie Grinham 9-3 9-0 9-2 in…

Sir Ed Reflects

Sir Edmund Hillary is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his Everest climb with a round of fundraising for The Himalaya Trust. “When I look back over my life, I have…

Bush Backlash Begins Down Under

A global wave of protests against America’s proposed war on Iraq began in New Zealand, with thousands taking to the streets across the country. In Auckland, a Greenpeace plane with a banner…

Best man for the job

NZ-born Alexander Grant is in the director’s chair at Boston Ballet’s Grand Studio, where a performance of Ashton’s Fille is currently under production. The 77-year-old, widely regarded as…

Italians do it Better

“Kirwan’s crew a cut above”. All Black legend John Kirwan has been reincarnated as the golden boy of Italian rugby after coaching the game’s “perennial whipping-boys” to their second ever Six Nations…

Caddie by Day…

Steve Williams – the NZ-born caddie to Tiger Woods – is gaining sponsorship recognition in his own right. The race car driver has just signed a lucrative deal with Valvoline, whose…

Trans-Pacific Soul

NZ-based Samoan group, Pacific Soul, are building a loyal fan base in Hawaii. Star Bulletin: “The soulful foursome performs Samoan-language songs and American-style urban material with equal skill ……

Peace Fest

NZ feature The Price of Milk is to screen at the inaugural Kuala Lumpur World Film Festival. The festival, held in conjunction with the 13th Non-Aligned Movement Summit (NAM),…

Give Up Your Day Job?

Otago-born Peter Lyons has the attention of the American art world, with shows scheduled for Manhattan’s Richard York Gallery and the St Botolph Club in Boston. The 42-year-old security…

Captain Kirk at the Helm

Former All Blacks captain, David Kirk, has been appointed chief executive of troubled Australian publishing company PMP. Chairman Graham Reaney believes the ex-Rhodes scholar and governmental advisor has what it takes…

Saint Cruise of Taranaki

Tom Cruise – Taranaki’s favourite adoptive son – has come to the financial aid of a local school. The Edge radio station had offered $5,000 to whoever could get…

Principaled Principal

NZer Graham Cherry, director of the Baghdad International School, intends to stay on in Iraq despite repeated warnings for Westerners to leave. Cherry: “I have no plans to leave. The school…

Get Thee to a Nunnery

Detroit Free Press recommends Marlborough’s Old Saint Mary’s Convent in a feature on romantic getaways “off the beaten track.” “Lavender, vineyards and olive groves surround the property, and there’s a pond you…

Sevens Heaven for Home-crowd

NZ’s rugby sevens team delighted a 32,000-strong crowd in Wellington, beating England 38-26 to win their first home series in four years. NZ now lead the 11-leg International Sevens series with 68…

On the move

Teenage singer Hayley Westenra – “the next Charlotte Church” – is making her move on the UK market. The 15-year-old has based herself in Kensington, London, and is currently…

Black Caps’ Dark Horse

Stephen Fleming will come out looking good no matter where NZ places in this year’s Cricket World Cup. So says Johannesburg’s The Star, which included the Black Caps’ captain in their…

Round one…

“The food is sooooo good — we want to lick our plates. And the breathtaking views – islands, harbours, volcanoes.” Edmonton Journal travel writer is so impressed by his…

Reel-time Direction

NZ-born Rodney Charters (The Pretender, Roswell) is the directing force behind the latest US television sensation, 24. Described as “a heart-stopping hit,” the 24 hour-long episodes represent one day…

Million Mark

NZ’s population is expected to hit the 4 million mark in the next few months, according to the latest figures released by Statistics New Zealand. Last year the population…

Premium quality: South Seas art

Aotearoa-Pasifika artist Michael Tuffery talks to the ABC about recycling identity. Tuffery has recently completed an artist’s residency at Artspace Mackay in Queensland, Australia, where he ran a series…

Pays Au Long Nuage Blanc

Special assignment NZ: Le Monde heads Down Under in search of good wine and finds it in abundance. “NZ, long considered a land of beer-drinkers, has made a sudden and remarkable…

Crowe KO’s the Competition

Empire‘s 2003 awards had a strong NZ flavour, with Russell Crowe picking up Best Actor and Peter Jackson and The Two Towers winning Best Director and Best Film. In…

Best Beach

Waikiki, Daytona, Copacabana … 90 Mile Beach. Northland’s prized stretch was voted one of the world’s top 20 beaches in an Expedia poll of thousands of British travellers. Winning poll-participant Pete…

Grand Dame

Dame Judith Mayhew has been elected chairperson of Scotland’s Royal Opera House, the first time the position has been held by a woman. The NZ-born high-flyer previously helmed the…

From Dreams to (Augmented) Reality

SMH interviews “augmented reality” guru Mark Billinghurst, director of NZ’s Human Interface Technology Lab. HIT works in conjunction with Seattle’s University of Washington designing cutting-edge communications technology reminiscent of Star Wars’ virtual projections….

More of Southland’s Finest

“If the landscape above the Okaka mountain hut had been the work of a garden designer it would have won Chelsea.” Times writer roams the “enchanted forest” of the Tuatapere Hump…