Whale watching on Ponsonby Rd?
Moby, the world’s most vocal vegan, has spilled the beans on his favourite places to dine around the globe. His list of ethical eateries includes Ponsonby Road mainstay, Musical Knives. ” cute little…
December 2003 Archives
Straight Outta Cambridge
The Datsuns made Rolling Stone‘s Critics Top Albums of 2003 list with their eponymous debut record: “This NZ four piece aped the Stooges and AC/DC and helped re-ignite the post-millennium garage, cock-rock flame.” The…
Off the Beaten Track
NZ is one of 30 “hot spots for switched on travellers” recommended by Lonely Planet for 2004. To avoid the inevitable horde of Rings fans, LP suggests taking the Pacific Coast Highway down the Coromandel Peninsula, stopping…
Would the real Middle Earth please stand up?
“Tolkien may have intended The Lord of the Rings as an epic myth for England, but even he would acknowledge … that the world of Middle-earth and the tiny nation of NZ had become…
Lord of PR
Pete Hodgson – AKA ‘Minister of the Rings’ – dubbed “the most intelligent politician I have ever met” by National Post journalist, Cleo Paskal, in her article on the government-supported LotR publicity machine. “It…
Big read
Elizabeth Knox’s Daylight – a typically imaginative tale involving caving, mysterious deaths, and a Resistance heroine – makes the Australian‘s list of Big Reads for 2004.
New Frontier
The NZ government’s multimillion dollar media campaign in the US aiming to lure wealthy Americans to “the new California” is the subject of a December Voice of America feature. Major selling points are the clean/green…
Uggly in pink
LA Times profiles that old Kiwi staple, the Ugg Boot, which thanks to appearances on Sex & the City and Oprah has been elevated from surfer’s necessity to fashion accessory. “They’re selling…
Now Wear This
Boston Globe profiles Nelson’s World of Wearable Art (WOW), which has grown “from a soggy one-night affair in a tent 16 years ago to become one of New Zealand’s iconic arts events,…
#68: New World Modernism
Edge Message #68 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY DECEMBER’S LIST OF NEW WORLD MODERNISTS IN THE GLOBAL MEDIA: Director! Director! Peter Jackson’s Return of the King everywhere, Weta Workshop, Wellywood,…
Play it Safe with Silver
According to research undertaken at Auckland University, silver cars are significantly less likely to be involved in a serious crash than vehicles of other colours. Sue Furness, who led the study, suggests that this “may be…
Lions and Witches in Kiwiland
18 December 2003 – Pre-production on The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is officially underway in NZ, with Weta Workshop on board for the visual effects and Kiwi Andrew Adamson (Shrek) at the…
Eating on the edge
Public – helmed by NZ chefs Peter Gordon, Anna Hansen, and Brad Farmerie – has administered a welcome shock to the tastebuds of New York diners. According to New York Times food critic, William…
Kiwi Buddha
SunSpot profiled the Venerable Pong Re Sung Rap Tulku Rinpoche – AKA “Kiwi Buddha” – on his return to his native NZ. Three years ago, the ten-year-old was identified as the reincarnation of a…
Judith Mayhew Jonas: Alpha female
14 December 2003 – Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas – former financial advisor to the Mayor of London, current Provost of Kings College, Cambridge, and chairman of the Royal Opera House – was one of nine “alpha females”…
How Much do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways…
The Guardian asks LotR cast members to explain their widely publicised admiration for NZ. Billy Boyd (Pippin): “The land feels new; it feels like what Scotland might have been like a few million years…
South Seas style in Costa Meca
Noel Turner’s epoynmous LA eatery continues to raise the flag for antipodean cuisine and produce along the US West Coast. “The climate produces some of the world’s cleanest foods, most notably from Noel Turner,…
The Verdicts
The usually art-house sympathetic New York Film Critics Circle chose Return of the King as their Best Film of 2003, The American Film Institute named the film in its top-10 of the year….
Edge Envoy to Iraq
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan named New Zealander Ross Mountain as his interim envoy to Iraq. Veteran Mountain has had a long career with the UN and has worked as a relief co-ordinator in war zones in Africa,…
Top Christmas Tipple
Villa Maria’s 2002 Private Bin Riesling is one of the Observer‘s top 36 wines for Christmas drinking. “Villa Maria is better known for its in-your-face Sauvignon Blancs than its other New Zealand whites, but this screwcapped Riesling…
Alternative Slopes
Scotsman feature urges snow bunnies further afield than the Alps and Rockies, recommending NZ alongside Iran, Alaska and Chile as a desirable alternative. “The Alps that run spine-like through the South Island are dotted with ski resorts. Mt…
Sleeping Outside the Square
The Hotel off the Square in Christchurch featured in the Guardian‘s ‘What’s Hot’ travel section. “The Hotel off the Square … proclaims itself a ‘hotel with attitude’ with 38 rooms decorated in a quirky style. The most quirky…
Knowledge Economist
Finance Minister and Deputy PM, Dr. Michael Cullen, articulates the edge phenomenon in a lengthy interview with the Economist. ” a very significant solid eclectic range of niche manufacturing and service industries which have developed in…
Road-tripping in Style
Condé Nast writer takes a “wholly enchanting” tour of the North Island behind the wheel of a BMW 745Li – dubbed the All Black “in honour of New Zealand’s brutal and beloved national rugby team.” Highlights on…
I See Red, I See Red, I See Red
According to leading wine magazine, Decanter, “red wines in NZ are undergoing a revolution that promises to be as dramatic as the discovery that Marlborough could produce world-class Sauvignon Blanc.” The December issue included 1 Kiwi…
Karl’s Eye View
Australian Vogue’s December 2003 collector’s edition includes NZ designs hand-picked by guest editor/fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld. Featured are Karen Walker’s baby-doll dresses and op-art minis, Zambesi’s cutting-edge sportswear and metallic accessories, and Kate…
Talking Turkey
Evolutionary biologists at Auckland University have made ivory tower headlines by providing compelling evidence of the origins of the Indo-European language family. Associate Professor Russell Gray and PhD student Quentin Atkinson applied a complex computer program modelled…
Sauvignon Tsunami
CNN and the Arizona Republic lavish praise on NZ Sauvignon Blanc, recommending the 2003 Brancott Estate and 2003 Nobilo Icon Series respectively. “NZ is now a tsunami of Sauvignon Blancs, and diligently as I’ve tried, I…
Colour Me Bad
The outlines of stylist/illustrator Kate Ruth are adorning hip US magazines Nylon, Soma and Fader. Drawings by the Victoria University grad have also graced the clothes of such edgy popstresses as Shirley Manson and…
Street Cred
“Dressing icons of the now” on the streets and slopes are home-grown favourite Huffer. The street-wear label, created by Steve Dunstan and Dan Buckley in 1997, is now sold through 10 stores in Australia,…
