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Archive >> December 2004
The Real Deal
A year on and Rings-related tourist stories still crop up in US papers. This one, originally published in the Washington Post, attempts to find the “real NZ, the part still untouched…
Powerful Proposition
NZ utility TrustPower plans to construct what will be the southern hemisphere’s most technologically advanced wind farm in the Tararua Ranges this year. By adding 40 latest model turbines to its facility’s…
Man-made Marvel
Peregrine Winery in Gibbston Valley, Central Otago, was one of five winners of the world’s biggest and best architectural award – the Architectural Review’s ar+d Emerging Architecture prize -…
Sheep Ranch Deluxe
Wairarapa’s Wharekauhau Country Estate is given a rapturous write-up in the IHT. “A temple to order and calm, the Estate is located on the southern tip of the North Island of…
Paradise for Polo Players
Polo-playing Indian MP, Navin Jindal, recommends NZ as a destination for players and holiday makers alike. For obvious reasons, Clevedon in South Auckland (NZ’s polo centre) is given particular attention. “Although it hasn’t…
Old School Meets New
Laird Blackwell, Chair of Humanities at Sierra Nevada College (US), his wife Melinda, and a small group from the institution are the first ever non-Waitaha students to be invited to study…
Martian Rocks get Maori Names
The American space agency NASA has given Maori names to rocks on Mars, thanks to the influence of the film Whale Rider. The Mars robotic rover Opportunity is exploring near a…
Janet Frame An International Loss
Janet Frame featured in the New York Times as one of many international art world notables to die in 2004, together with Marlon Brando, Ray Charles, Richard Avedon, Julia Child and…
Best in show
Te Vaka is the critic’s pick of the bunch in a review of new international music compilation, South Pacific Islands (Putumayo World Music). “The best tracks come from Te…
Connolly lost for words?
Billy Connolly’s World Tour of New Zealand screened in Scotland over December, to widespread appreciation. “Driving his three-wheeled motorbike through some of the world’s most dramatic scenery with the…
Black Grace “a revelation”
The US debut of Black Grace was one of the New York Times’ dance highlights of 2004. Says reviewer Jennifer Dunning; “The audience was filled with Berkshires vacationers of…
#74: Global Winners
Edge Message #74 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM
To Members of the Global Network of New Zealanders
Headlines from the world’s online media
FIRST, OUR LAMENTS • Arthur Lydiard – Running Man • Pat Hanly…
Poles Apart, Like Minded
The NZ and Austrian governments have formally agreed to cooperate on the implementation of emission reduction projects, in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol. “NZ’s pro-active, pro-business approach to climate change is good…
Deluxe Innovation
Douglas Creek Ltd (Bay of Plenty) has spent the last five years developing Cervelt, a groundbreaking luxury fibre made from the down of NZ deer. Cervelt is a strong light-weight textile…
Treading a different path
Not only has Natasha Bedingfield gone double platinum in the UK, been voted Hot New Talent of 2004 by Smash Hits, and secured a million pound recording contract in…
Embracing the positive
I left you at the end of my last blog with my being all excited and promising to lighten up. I had the vision…
Wine Double Feature
A Malaysian Star story on the NZ wine industry takes as its focus the award winning Villa Maria winery. According to the writer, NZ “has developed a unique niche on the…
Citizen Baker
World record holding British swimmer Zoe Baker has switched allegiance to NZ, where she has lived and held citizenship since 1999. “I’m hoping to swim for NZ at the Berlin leg…
Healer of Body, Mind and Soul
The Guardian pays tribute to Duncan Forrest, NZ born surgeon and renowned anti-torture campaigner. An “outstanding and innovative paediatric surgeon,” Forrest spent his career at the vanguard of surgical developments in…
Farewell to Snow
Legendary NZ trainer Snow Lupton has died aged 84. Lupton will be best remembered for saddling Kiwi to victory in the 1983 Melbourne Cup. ” an outstanding figure…
A Task of Biblical Proportions
David Norton, associate professor at Wellington’s Victoria University, recently completed the decade-long task of re-editing the English speaking world’s most important religious text: the King James Bible. The New…
Adventure tourism for the tastebuds
The Malaysian Star interviews NZ born Wendy Hutton, an intrepid food and travel writer who is “practically a household name in South-East Asia.” Hutton has published numerous cook books,…
Lydiard’s Final Run
Arthur Lydiard, perhaps history’s premier distance-running coach and one of the first to promote fitness through jogging, has died aged 87, of a heart attack. He had been in…
Adman Personified
“If you ever wanted to make a feature film about the advertising industry, the adland equivalent of Broadcast News, there would be no contest on who should get the starring role.”…
Headlining Act
Neil Dawson’s Fanfare sculpture provided the focal point for Sydney’s famous New Year celebrations. The 20m steel sphere, studded with more than 300 light reflective pinwheels, was suspended from…
Kiwis Breathe Easy
NZ has joined Ireland and Norway in banning the smoking of tobacco in bars, casinos and restaurants. “The 75% of NZers who do not smoke have the right to a smokefree…
Plays Hard, Plays Fair
All Black captain Tana Umaga received the Pierre Coubertin Trophy from theInternational Committee of Fair Play on December 9. Previous awardees include Martina Navratilova and Nelson Mandela. The trophy recognised…
Return of the cast
If Peter Jackson ever decides (and has the time) to make a film version of The Hobbit, he has the backing and blessing of his LotR cast. “People want…
Celebrating Stories on Skin
The art of moko features in Ancient Marks, a new book by National Geographic photographer Chris Rainier. “We live in a spectrum of possibilities, and I think it’s an exciting time to…
Signed and Sealed
The passing of the Civil Union Bill, giving gay and lesbian couples legal recognition in NZ, made headlines around the world. “It is just a fantastic day for us,” said Christians…
Big shoes to fill
Peter Jackson unveiled some of his models and sketches for King Kong at the CineAsia movie convention in Bangkok. “It’s not a love story; it’s a story about love,”…
Kiwi Quiz Goes Global
The Kids’ Lit Quiz, founded in NZ by educationalist Wayne Mills, is growing increasingly popular in the UK, where it is now in its third year. The 2004 event was won…
You Say Chappell-Hadlee I Say Hadlee-Chappell
Sir Richard Hadlee had his audience in stitches at the launch of the inaugural Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in Melbourne. Among other quips, he noted that the event was called the Hadlee-Chappell Trophy…
Worthy mentor for worthy cause
NZ filmmaker Christine Rogers helped a group of Broadmeadows Secondary School (Melbourne) students make the short film By the Light of the Moon. The film tells the stories of…
Fallen Treasures May Stand Again
Since September 2004, NZ troops have been stationed in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley to oversee the reconstruction of the area following the US-led war against the Taliban. As well as helping rebuild Bamiyan…
Words as music
Whale Rider‘s US paperback release garnered further praise for author Witi Ihimaera. “Some writers create such beautiful prose that it might be poetry or music. Witi Ihimaera … is…
Treasure Out of Ruins
The Art Deco 1910-1939 exhibition at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts describes Napier as “one of the purest Art Deco cities in the world.” An IHT article gives a…
Model Students
NZ’s recently remodelled academic examination system (NCEA) is being touted by education reformers in the UK. The NCEA system is almost identical to one proposed by Britain’s former chief schools inspector,…
Coolest of the Cool
Hip Aussie fashion magazine, Yen, named Zambesi the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week’s best overall show. “Zambesi: the coolest of everything – the clothes, the casting, the hair and makeup,…
