Making Hollywood inroads
NZ actor Martin Csokas (Rain, Shortland Street, XXX) is in the running for the lead role in Ridley’s Scott’s next film, Kingdom of Heaven. The epic period drama centres on a young peasant-turned-knight who…
September 2003 Archives
Finely sculpted prose
Michael Dunn’s New Zealand Sculpture: A History praised as “a fine production … readable and informative” in Art Monthly Australia‘s book review issue. Dunn’s comprehensive historical overview is the first of its kind published…
Nu-Zealand metal hits the spott
Kiwi nu-metallers, Blindspott, reviewed in NSTP after performing before 45,000 fans in Indonesia. “In a frenzy of tattoos, studs and machismo, six huge, six-foot blokes from NZ exploded onto the … stage like a…
In the frame … again
Janet Frame was again shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for Literature for a second time, despite making the Swedish Academy’s top five finalists and being picked to win by one of the country’s…
42 Below NZSX-y
Award-winning NZ vodka label, 42 Below – has enlisted the help of Kiwi supermodel Kylie Bax and San Antonio Spurs basketball player Sean Marks to promote his product in the lucrative US market….
Kapiti Creme Anglaise: Finger Licking Good
SMH’s ‘Good Food Guide’ salivates over Kapiti Creme Anglaise: “Talk about the perfect dinner party treat. Heavenly drizzled over cakes and tarts. Or on your finger when you’ve got a hankering for something sweet…
Making the cut, taking a break
Jane Campion has been welcomed back by cinema critics and audiences after a 4 year break between films, with her harrowing thriller/love story, In the Cut. USA Today describes the film as…
Break In
Coach Jeff Green is confident that the NZ Breakers’ status in Australia’s National Basketball League will be similar to that currently enjoyed by rugby league team, the NZ Warriors. “One team, one country … The country’s…
What Will Pinetree Think …
The All Blacks are using Telecom’s most state-of-the-art technology in their bid to win this year’s Rugby World Cup. Coach John Mitchell will be able to view streamed video footage of multiple angles of the game…
Suffr-edge-ettes Applauded
Guardian feature on the campaign for women’s suffrage in Kuwait notes NZ’s status as the first country in the world to grant their female citizens the right to vote – in 1893. Australian women waited until…
No Mutinies Here Mate
The British government has named Auckland businessman, Leslie Jacques, as the new day-to-day administrator of Pitcairn Island. According to the British High Commission, Jacques has been hired for an initial 4 month period, during which time he…
Warriors Fight to the Finish
The New Zealand Warriors fought strongly again this season, losing in the NRL Preliminary Final to eventual winners Penrith Panthers 28-20 in a match played at a cracking pace. They again earned respect for their commitment and…
Eric “Bueller” Watson
SMH charts the enviable career of Eric Watson; from butcher’s apprentice to multimillionaire businessman and owner of the NZ Warriors, (who bowed out in the semi-finals of the 2003 NRL to eventual winners Penrith). “See Eric…
No worries for Wunderkid
Dunedin-born baritone, Jonathan Lemalu, is soon to make his Royal Opera House debut as Zoroastro in Handel’s Orlando. Described by the Guardian as “ the next Bryn Terfel,” his career has skyrocketed since graduating…
Little Brother is Watching…
NZ’s National Radiation Laboratory has been given the government go-ahead to build a NZ$1 million nuclear test monitoring station in Fiji. The station will be one of a global network of 321 facilities set up in…
Sweet as
NZ soprano Hayley Westenra is the voice behind the fastest selling debut classical record of all time in UK history. Pure has outstripped albums by Pavarotti, Charlotte Church and Andrea Bocelli, with nearly 20,000…
Amazing win
New Zealand Edged Phil Keoghan (with wife Louise, above) as host was among the Emmy winners for his role in The Amazing Race, the Jerry Bruckheimer produced reality show that picked up…
Watt’s Up Jackson?
Peter Jackson has reportedly asked Australian actress Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive, The Ring) to play the female lead in King Kong, which begins shooting in Wellington this November.
The Real Deal
The Times ran a lengthy travel feature on “the real Middle Earth” to mark the opening of the LotR exhibition at London’s Science Museum. “Never mind whether Frodo manages to destroy that ring we’ve all…
Walks, Wine & Weka
Financial Times travel writer Nick Haslam heads to Marlborough, where he walks the famed Queen Charlotte Track, meets a weka, sips wine at Furneaux Lodge, and circumnavigates Mabel Island via kayak. The journey ends on a…
Fairydown Man Enough for Hillary
NZ outdoor label, Fairydown, is to be re-named ‘Zone,’ after market research revealed Australian men to be uncomfortable with the original tag’s effeminate connotations. Sir Edmund Hillary, who used a Fairydown sleeping bag on his 1953 ascent…
Robin Williams: “I Realised I Could Fall Out of Jonah’s Nose …”
Jonah Lomu has announced his withdrawal from this year’s NPC competition, and has given up any hope of making the 2003 World Cup squad. The most famed of wingers has experienced foot and calf muscle problems…
Dickson at the Helm
NZ sailing veteran, Chris Dickson, led Oracle BMW Racing to a 7-5 victory against the America’s Cup winning Alinghi in September’s Moet Cup. The event was the first in a series of high-profile regattas leading up…
Rings Exhibition Lord of Museum Toll-Gates
The Lord of the Rings exhibition opened at London’s Science Museum in September, and has already proven to be the most successful show in the institution’s history. Developed and presented by Te Papa, over 14,000…
Snap, Crackle and Edge
NZ-born David Mackay makes Time‘s list of ‘World Beaters: People to Watch in International Business.’ After 3 years at the helm of Kellog Co.’s US division, Mackay had brought the cereal company back to its status…
Glass master #2
NZ glass artist, Luke Jacomb, is turning heads in Seattle with his pioneering use of photosensitive glass. While the product itself was invented during WW2, Jacomb is believed to be the first artist to…
Flat-out Fouhy Takes Kayak World Champ Gold
NZ’s Ben Fouhy won the individual 1,000m kayaking event at the flat-water world championships held in the US last month, qualifying him for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Trained by NZ Olympic legend Ian Ferguson, he raced…
![You Make Me Feel I’m [Not] Really There](/wp-content/themes/boilerplate/post-images/jacqueline_fraser_biennale.jpg)
You Make Me Feel I’m [Not] Really There
NZ’s Jacqueline Fraser has made the shortlist for the inaugural Artes Mundi (the Wales International Visual Art Prize), which at £40,000, is the largest award made to an individual artist in the…
Desaru Medal Haul
NZ athletes dominated the field at this year’s Desaru Long Distance International Triathlon in Malaysia. Lynley Allison and Stephen Farrell won the women’s senior and men’s veteran events, respectively, and Brent Sheldrake won the men’s junior event…
All Roads Lead to ROAM:
Edited by edge architect Anthony Hoete, ROAM: Reader on Aesthetics of Mobility receives raps in the UK’s key weekly architectural read, Building Design. Hoete’s wide-ranging reader for the global soul takes in work from artists, architects, cultural theorists,…
Big Ups for “Small but Perfectly Formed” NZ Fashion Week
The Age calls L’Oreal NZ Fashion Week a thorn in the side of its Australian counterparts, warning that its “peculiarly talented protagonists” are in danger of showing up bigger fish across the Tasman. “Fashion…
These Wings are Made for Walking …
A team of NZ researchers – led by David Lambert of Auckland’s Massey University – has broken new ground in the field of genetics to reveal previously unknown details about the moa. In a world first,…
Face Maker Brought to Screen
The pioneering methods used by NZ facial surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe, and his Canadian partner, Dr Ross Tilley, during WW2 are the inspiration behind a new Canadian documentary, The Guinea Pig Club. McIndoe and Tilley used radical…
He is: Looking Edge-ward for Inspiration
This year’s recipient of Australia’s $20,000 Dobell Prize for drawing, Aida Tomescu cites a work by Colin McCahon as the inspiration behind her winning piece, Negru III and Negru IV. “It triggered a series…
Te Reo XP
A Maori language version of Microsoft XP and Office 2003 should be on the market by next year, according to Microsoft’s Asia Pacific headquarters. The company has decided to release the two programmes in a range of…
Multi-layered myth-making
Japan Times review places Niki Caro’s Whale Rider alongside Once Were Warriors and The Piano as one of the pivotal moments in NZ cinema. “…Caro presents myth both as a connection with a…
A New Kind of Filmmaking: Blockbuster with Brains
Anticipating the release of Return of the King, NYT film critic Elvis Mitchell singles out the breezy braininess of Peter Jackson’s craft for exemplary praise: “Mr. Jackson has been carefully applying layers of emotional…
Twisted sister
NZ artist, Anne Shelton, featured in Vancouver’s annual gallery-crawl, Swarm described as “for many … the only gallery-going to be accomplished all year.” Shelton’s eerie photographic diptychs portray the scenes of actual murders:…
Mecca Found in Martinborough
“New Zealand, known for its crisp sauvignon blancs, may well become a mecca for pinot noir aficionados.” Boston Herald identifies Martinborough as the prime source for pinot production, in particular the dry river bed called the Martinborough…
Crimewatch goes global
NZ tourists Olive and Graeme Reed have provided Scottish police with crucial evidence in one of the world’s biggest ever art thefts. The couple used their digital camera to snap shots of the robbers…
Illness in body, not in mind
In reviewing The Selected Letters of D.H Lawrence, Straits Times writer Richard Lim refers to Katherine Mansfield who, like Lawrence, suffered and eventually died from tuberculosis. Said Mansfield of her illness, “…even my present…
An Ill Wind That Blows Some Good?
“Wise environmental husbandry or flatulent political correctness? An ill wind or a fair wind?” Financial Times takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the proposed ‘fart tax’ to be levied on NZ dairy and sheep farmers. Methane produced by…
Natural High
Sydney Morning Herald journo-cum-adventurer recommends NZ as the perfect training ground for would-be mountaineers: “It’s close, cheap, the inhabitants speak English, and the mountains are world-class.” Particularly highly regarded is the NZ Mountain Safety Council’s 2-day advanced…
Eco-friendlier Fuel
NZ cars may soon be running on a petrol blend containing 10% ethanol – a by-product of the country’s dairy industry. The move is being welcomed in both environmental and agricultural sectors, and has already gained the…
Turning it up
Californian A-listers dined on the very best of NZ produce at UNICEF’s Gala Awards Banquet and Fundraiser, where ex-Bond, Roger Moore, was named Humanitarian of the Year. Entrepreneurial restaurateur, Noel Turner (Turner New Zealand…
Pacific Powerhouse
NZ’s Pacific Retail Group has purchased PowerHouse, the third largest electrical retailer in Britain. PRG is NZ’s major player in electrical appliances, with Noel Leeming, Big Byte and Bond & Bond all operating under its umbrella….
Brian Bows Out
BBC stalwart, Brian Perkins, has resigned from his post at Radio 4, ending a news-reading career spanning 4 decades. The Guardian describes the resignation of NZ-born broadcaster as a loss: “Perkins’ voice has come…
International Man of History
C.K Stead is one of the “international sensations” lined up for the Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival in Canada. The Secret History of Modernism author will join E. Annie Proulx, Jasper Fforde, Joan London, and…
Aquada, Bond Aquada, 0064
International media attention was lavished on The Thames, London, for the launch of NZ-entrepreneur Alan Gibb’s revolutionary Aquada (inspired by inventor Terry Roycroft’s design innovations). The James Bond-style sports vehicle with the amphibian edge can reach up to…
Move over Norah
Guardian critic has an “utterly magical” experience watching Bic Runga perform live in London. ” she is desperately beautiful and has a…
Social Climbing at Wellington’s Matterhorn
Wallpaper features newly refurbished Wellington bar The Matterhorn in its global navigator. In a piece entitled ‘The heart of the matter’ the bar is the hub of a cosmopolitan revivified Wellington. Surveying the…
Teen Queens Fly High
The latest designs by Deborah Sweeney and Karen Walker feature in Oyster magazine’s August/September issue. Sweeney’s aviatrix-inspired ‘Fli-Girl’ collection – a salute to original fly-girls Amelia Earhart and Jean Batten – teams mini parachute…
“Kiwi Babe-magnet” Gets Top Billing
New Zealander Zane Lowe is to host one of Britain’s highest rating shows – the evening slot on BBC‘s Radio One. Radio One controller Andy Parfitt: “Zane is one of the most exciting presenters…
