Archive >> October 2004

Something for Everyone

NYT travels to Auckland and finds a sprawling and diverse city “finally growing into its own.” Recommended activities range from sipping coffee on Ponsonby Rd or visiting the Auckland Art Gallery…

A Man of Two Halves

LA Times profiles Ricky Ellison, a NZ-born NFL linebacker turned US defence advisor. “His team-mates called him ‘Fruit Loops,’ but this was also a guy who read the Foreign Affairs journal…

Down Under cowboy

Keith Urban took out the Best Male Vocalist category at this year’s Country Music Association awards in Nashville. Urban was the surprise winner in an all-star American field,…

Crusader of the Highest Order

NZ’s foremost campaigner against apartheid, Trevor Richards, was awarded the Supreme Companion of OR Tambo by South African President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria. “Its not every day that one wakes up and…

Leading by Example

Despite opposition from home, NZ’s method of funding scientific and technological development is being used as a model by EU countries looking to overhaul their outdated research structures. Cordis: “The OECD…

Flights of Fashion Fancy

Telegraph writer Emma Forrest reports on NZ’s fledgling Fashion Week and finds that many of the shows are more than deserving of an international stage. Highlights include Zambesi (“in…

Two for Parr

Larry Parr’s Fracture scooped two major awards at the St Tropez Film Festival in October. Auckland’s Kate Elliot won Best Actress and the film was voted most popular festival…

From South Korea with love

NZ launched its inaugural South Korean Film Festival in Auckland on October 22. Actresses Chang Mi-hee and Park Sol-mi, directors Kang Je-gyu and Kwak Jae-yong, and critic Yu Gi-na…

LIFE Photographer

Born in Levin 1916, educated Auckland Grammar, George Silk became a combat photographer for Australian Ministry of Information, covering the battles at close hand in the Middle East, North Africa, Greece…

Whinge Benefits

Research undertaken at Victoria University suggests a positive side to gossiping and whining at work. According to the report, “whingeing to a sympathetic co-worker both reflects and constructs the close relationship…

New World Charm

The international reputation of NZ Pinot Noir continues to grow, with glowing features in both the Bradenton Herald and San Francisco Chronicle. The former article praises the grape’s “dark, earthy Burgundian…

Coutts’ Cup Runneth Over

Russell Coutts beat American Ed Baird and Australian Peter Gilmour to win the US$30,000 King Edward VII Gold Cup. He now heads the leaderboard of the 2004-05 Swedish Match Tour championship…

A Year in Review

Canadian Runners Web featured an email from Kiwi triathlete Bevan Docherty in its news section. “It’s been one of the most amazing years for me, a World cup Win, a World…

Accidental winner

Sally Andrews won Best Actress at this year’s San Diego Film Festival for her starring role in NZ feature, Her Majesty. The 15-year-old Hutt Valley High School student…

Luna Rendezvous

New Zealand born, Harvard educated and New York resident Dean Wareham and his band Luna track through Japan promoting their final album Rendevous. “Where the last half of Luna’s…

Basis for Change

The British government is considering an overhaul of its outdated pension scheme based on the current NZ system. According to the Times, the state of women’s pensions in the UK is…

Hobblers Anonymous

Paul Kennett of the NZ Police has founded what is believed to be the first broken leg recovery room online. Entitled ‘My Broken Leg,’ the website was inspired by Kennett’s own…

Crisp, Stunning Humdingers

The Scotsman urged readers to sample NZ’s “crisp, green apple and gooseberry-steeped sauvignons” and “stunning, cold-climate reds” at The New Zealand Wine Fair in Edinburgh. In a separate tasting section, Drylands Marlborough…

Melancholy Masterpiece

The Australian mainstream release of In My Father’s Den has seen writer/director Brad McGann dubbed “NZ’s answer to Ken Loach.” Features in the Sydney Morning Herald and …

Making it on their own

The Age profiles ex-pat band Betchadupa and finds that despite their “pop-star pedigree” (Liam Finn is son of Neil and Matt Eccles of Angels drummer Brent), they are more…

Exchange of Potential

In mid-October Helen Clark made the first visit to India by a NZ Prime Minister in nearly 20 years. During her meetings with the President, Prime Minister, Congress Party leader, and…

Dynamic Partnership

Christchurch based Nano Cluster Devices Ltd (NCD) has secured a potentially lucrative partnership with American organization and manufacturer, NanoDynamics. NanoDynamics is to take over international sales duties for NCD’s groundbreaking technologies, which…

Great White

Boston Globe raves over Kumeu River Winery’s 2003 Mate’s Vineyard Chardonnay, calling it “unbelievably rich and refined.” Named after Mate Brajkovich, son of the vineyard’s founders and managing director until his death…

Legacy in Letters

Acclaimed author Maurice Shadbolt (72) also passed away this October. Shadbolt burst onto the international scene in 1959 with the publication of his short story collection, The New Zealanders,…

Worth the Wait

Once again, NZ features in the  Guardian‘s “long-haul trips of a lifetime” travel feature. Highly recommended are Lake Rotorua’s On the Point chalet and Big Tom’s Cottage in Hawkes Bay.

Strong Silent Type

Telegraph feature extols the many virtues of NZ, voted Favourite Holiday Destination in the paper’s exhaustive annual poll. “NZ is the silent type: take the trouble to get to know her…

From Lamb to Land

Property has overtaken lamb as NZ’s major spending ground for Britons. Sprawling sheep stations are being divided into smaller blocks and sold off at a great rate to young…

For the Love of India

Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan – recently hailed by Time magazine as the biggest superstar in the world, with an audience share of 3.6 billion people – launched Kevin’s Roberts’ book…

Joe Walsh – The Sinners Tour

It may have been any regular late Tuesday night at Wellington airport, apart from what seemed to be a growing number of leather clad Maori, warrior types in gang…

Mane attraction

Turanga Merito has officially assumed the lead in Sydney’s The Lion King, taking over from close friend and fellow Kiwi, Vincent Harder. The 20-year-old from Rotorua studied for a…

Brothers in arts

Cheyene Emery, Lisa Bartlett, and Marie Panapa of Te Wananga o Aotearoa (University of NZ) travelled to Sante Fe to take part in an international arts exchange with the…

Icons of Indiepop

‘I Love My Leather Jacket’ by Flying Nun legends, The Chills, makes the Guardian‘s list of 10 great singles from the golden age of indiepop. “The Chills ……

Haven for Holiday-makers

NZ was voted the UK’s Favourite Holiday Destination in the annual Telegraph Travel Awards, ahead of the Maldives, South Africa, and Italy. “The Awards are based on the genuine opinions and…

Hat-trick Plus One

“Not only do Kiwis like winning our major horse race, they are also becoming fond of winning our major car race.” Greg Murphy took top honours for Holden with his fourth…

Time is on their side

A Scotsman interview with Tim and Neil Finn finds that time and age has turned sibling rivalry to “sibling revelry, mate.” “There’s always a tension there between us,” says…

Mind the Gap

The Herald ran a lengthy feature on trans-Tasman cultural differences prior to the Australian elections, claiming that “geologically, the land masses are creeping together again. However, all other evidence points the other…

All-conquering Conchords

US network giant NBC (home to Seinfeld and Friends) has signed Kiwi comics Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, better known as Flight of the Conchords. Casting executive Marc…

Edge Hero Remembered

The science world – and the Edge community – lost one of its brightest stars with the death of Maurice Wilkins on October 5. Born in NZ in 1916,…

Hood Helms Oxford

John Hood was inducted as the 270th Vice Chancellor of Oxford University on October 5; the first non-staff member ever to hold the post. Dr Hood was formerly Vice Chancellor of…

Southern Bookmarks

Four American students embarked on a voyage of self-discovery against the backdrop of NZ’s South Island. After taking in such “must-sees” as Queenstown, Franz Josef Glacier, and Milford Sound, the four…

On top of the Down Under world

Is It?, a co-production by Emily Ansell (NZ) and Leonie Blignaut (SAF), won first prize at the UpOverDownUnder film festival in London. The annual event promotes independent film making…

The money or the bag?

Scott Smith of Auckland became the 7th contestant to face the million dollar question on hit Australian quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The aspiring minister ended…

Double Milestone

The Black Caps’ tour of Bangladesh was a resounding success, with NZ winning both the Test and ODI series by comfortable margins. During the second Test captain Stephen Fleming…