Cinderella Man
Russell Crowe won widespread acclaim for his role in Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “At the centre of all richness is another irresistible star turn by Crowe. As his Oscar-winning performance in…
May 2005 Archives
Southern Wine Hub
A new development in the South Island’s Hurunui region hopes to provide a focus for the area’s flourishing wine industry. The Waipara Wine Village will eventually comprise a hotel, villas, wine bar, ale house and a food…
Opposing Views
Free Liberal weblog comments on a Washington Times article detailing NZ’s anti-nuclear stance, military capabilities, and reliance on its more powerful neighbor. “An interesting story about how NZ’s rather modest defense budget and decision to stay out…
Dishing the Dirt
NZ scientists at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research have developed a high-tech yet cost-effective new crime -fighting technique. The revolutionary system uses DNA analysis of the bacteria in soil to match a database of samples…
International Man of Mystery
Wayne Gould – retired NZ judge turned “international puzzle star” – is responsible for the latest craze in newspaper teasers, Su Doku. Gould discovered the number-based logic test in a Japanese bookstore in 1997. After six years…
Trail-blazing Twosome
LA Times feature charts the rise of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, courtesy of forward-thinking brothers Bill and Ross Spence who first planted the grape – against conventional wisdom – in the early 1970s. Their vineyard, Matua Valley, is…
Sail Away
The Age showcases five of the best NZ cruises on offer; Milford Sound, Hole in the Rock (Bay of Islands), Lake Wakitipu, Inter-Islander crossing, and the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise.
Wilding at heart (2)
A stylish black and white music video by LA-based nzer Anna Wilding (and relative of Wimbledon chamption Anthony Wilding) reached final competition of the first ever Los Angeles Femme Festival held in…
Kiwi Culture in Korea
The Patea Maori Club was guest of honour at the official opening of the NZ Centre for Culture and Education in Yeoksam-dong, South Korea. The centre is a non-profit organization founded by two Korean-NewZealanders,…
Interplanetary Fame
Two amateur Kiwi astronomers helped discover a planet 15,000 light years from Earth using simple backyard telescopes. Grant Christie and Jennie McCormick are part of a worldwide star-gazing collective called MicroFUN, led by Andrew Gould of Ohio…
Rugby Stalwart Farewelled
Former All Black captain, agricultural economist, and leading NZRU administrator – Bob Stuart, OBE – died in May aged 84. Although Stuart’s best playing years were taken up by military service during WW2, he successfully lead NZ…
All in a Day’s Work
The Economist reports on ructions to repair the dire finances and arcane structure at Oxford University. Proposals by new vice chancellor John Hood to centralize decision-making and change the way in which dons’ work…
Land of plenty
The Financial Times devotes a sizeable spread to the “veritable culinary cornucopia” that is NZ. “‘Used to be that a big night out would be to Barry’s Bistro for Steak Diane and a big…
Crowe’s Cinderella
Russell Crowe stirs the first Oscar-talk of the season: “An exquisite ode to a working-class hero, “Cinderella Man” takes the almost impossibly perfect elements of the saga of underdog boxer James J. Braddock…
User Friendly
Jeremy Cole’s “handsome” porcelain hanging lamps were name-checked in a Times review of the 17th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Cole is listed alongside a new wave of designers heralding a tangible shift from “cutting edge” to…
Golden Oldies Return to the Source
Wellington is to host next year’s World Golden Oldies Rugby Festival, the first time the event has been held in NZ since it was launched there 28 years ago. The festival is expected to attract approximately 5,000,…
Owen Wilkes: Global Peace Activist
Owen Wilkes, the New Zealand peace activist and global peace researcher, has died in Hamilton aged 65. In a tribute written from Beijing by Peter Hayes, he said “Owen Wilkes was a profoundly wedded…
Save the Kauri Part 2
Belgian researcher Lieven Claessens has discovered another reason to preserve our native kauri forests. According to Claessens’ Dutch-funded study, which was undertaken in the Waitakere ranges, the giant trees help stabilise areas susceptible to landslides and erosion….
Closing the Gap
NZ ranks sixth overall in a new study measuring the gap between genders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. The top five positions went to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. The WEF appraisal of 58 countries…
First Win the Sweetest
NZ triathlete Samantha Warriner enjoyed her first major victory, taking out the women’s title at the ITU World Cup in Japan. Warriner finished the event in 2 hours 39 seconds, ahead of Japanese competitors Kiyomi Niwata…
Olympus comes to Aotearoa
Hercules, a Hallmark Productions (US) telemovie starring Leelee Sobieski, Sean Astin, and Timothy Dalton, used the NZ countryside as a stand-in for ancient Greece. “The story requires a bigger-than-life place,” says Dalton. “It needs…
It’s got to be Seen to be Believed
A couple of years on and overseas visitors are still taking the Lord of the Rings tour of NZ. Says one US writer, “I knew that the movies were shot here, but I thought that much…
Standring Gets Teeth into International Market
According to Empire magazine, Glenn Standring’s Perfect Creature is NZ’s largest ever international film sale. Set in an alternate 1960s/70s NZ, the highly original vampire tale stars British actors Dougray Scott and…
Liddell to Work on Margins
TBR believes the addition of New Zealander Chris Liddell as Microsoft’s CFO should help usher in an era of growing operating margins and a tightening of the fiscal belt. In TBR’s opinion, the hiring…
Kiwi Culture in Bloom
The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum held a ‘New Zealand Day’ in May, to “celebrate the mix of culture and botanical diversity of NZ through music, against the backdrop of its various plant collections.” Events…
Brave New Voice
Jonathan Lemalu’s debut album, Opera Arias, is bringing the already acclaimed singer further international praise. Chicago Tribune: “Lemalu shines particularly brightly in Mozart’s music, bringing a disarming combination of voice, musicality and personality to…
Academia and Industry United
Cambridge-MIT Institute director, NZer Michael J Kelly, speaks about the importance of combining entrepreneurial and business skills with academic learning in the Guardian.”Governments around the world realise that it shouldn’t be left to chance as to whether…
Leading the Radio One renaissance
Zane Lowe, the NZ-born DJ single-handedly credited with making BBC Radio One cool again, was named Music Broadcaster of the Year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards in London. He also picked up the…
Revell in Sin City
New Zealand-born (1955) composer Graham Revell has scored the soundtrack of the new Robert Rodruguez film Sin City starring Bruce Willis. Revell graduated from the University of Auckland with…
Peter Jackson most powerful
Reports of the list of Hollywood’s power people compiled by Premiere magazine for their June issue have revealed that Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson is the most powerful. According to the reports,…
Farm Charm
Wharekauhau Lodge features in the Independent‘s five best luxury farm stays. The 5,000 acre sheep station is renowned for its Shaker-style cottages and panoramic views of the Wairarapa’s Palliser Bay.
Right Royal Honour
Rt Hon Justice Thomas Munro Gault is to be the first NZ’er in history to head the Royal & Ancient – the prestigious governing body on the rules of golf recognised everywhere except the U.S. Gault,…
Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is
In a show of commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, NZ became the first country in the world to levy a public carbon tax. NZers will now pay an extra $2.90 per week for electricity, petrol and…
Kiwis Climb Ranks at Oxford
Julie Maxton will join former Auckland University colleague John Hood at Oxford University next year, as the institution’s first ever female registrar. The 550 year old post is similar to that of a company secretary, with…
Frock Stars
NZ designers made one of their strongest showings yet at this year’s Mercedes Australian Fashion Week. Sales for NZ’s top brands were well up, with Kate Sylvester now believed to be Myer’s highest designer…
Teaser goes down a treat
The global screening of the inaugural trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia caused hysteria amongst fans eager for a glimpse of Kiwi Andrew Adamson’s creation. “The snow-globe fantasyland of the most popular book in…
Miramar the Seat of Power
The June issue of Premiere magazine (US) named Peter Jackson the most powerful person in Hollywood, ahead of Steven Spielberg, Pixar animations duo Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks. According…
Big Boys Taken down
Tourism NZ website New Zealand.com has won the online equivalent of an Oscar – a Webby . The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences named New Zealand.com the top tourism website in the world,…
Supply and Demand
The NZ wine industry continues to break monthly export sales records, with over seven million bottles of wine exported in March and growth continuing into April and May. The staggering 5.2 million litres of wine exported in…
Serendipity strikes gold
An extra virgin olive oil by Waihopi Valley’s Serendipity Olive estate was awarded a diploma of grand mention at Italy’s prestigious Mastri Oleari International Golden Lion Awards. Serendipity Olive Estate owner Carol Walton: “It is…
The Space at the Edge
Down back of the paddock, close to the river, a tui has just sung three clear flutes, a …
One for the mantelpiece
Sam Neill won the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama for his role in Jessica at Australia’s 47th annual TV Week Logie Awards. Neill also presented the Gold Logie, which was…
46 South
New Zealand surfing photographer Paul Kennedy plunges into the Deep South to an emerging big-wave scene. “In New Zealand, size comes at a price. The trade-off for being the only part of the country…
