Archive >> November 2005

Kiwi Story Rings True in US

Roger Donaldson’s World’s Fastest Indian, with Sir Anthony Hopkins playing NZ motorcycle legend Burt Munro, has been largely praised in the US. Hollywood Reporter: “A pleasingly whimsical and slyly…

Kiwi contributes to Anger canon

Auckland University graduate Alice Hutchison has written an internationally acclaimed book on cult 1960s filmmaker Kenneth Anger, the artist who many believed defined the Age of Aquarius with such…

Walker Ahead

Karen Walker’s most recent London show has been labelled one of the top five trend setting collections for 2006 by the world’s leading fashion forecast agency, WGSN. Walker’s fellow…

Auckland to be Shia Centre

The International Shia Cultural and Human Rights Organization (ISCHRO) officially opened for business in Auckland on September 8. The Shia Muslim organization aims to propagate and facilitate Shia thought…

Mt Roskill meets Utah… and the world

No.2, the debut feature film by playwright Toa Fraser, has been selected for competition at Sundance 26. Based on his award winning play of the same name, No.2 stars a mixture…

Sir Kenneth Reaches Zenith

NZ Supreme Court judge, Sir Kenneth Keith, has been elected to the UN’s World Court, the highest judicial authority in the world. The court, officially known as the International…

A Victory for the Underdogs

Not to be outdone by their rugby union counterparts, NZ’s national rugby league side achieved a momentous Tri-Nations win against traditional rivals England and Australia. The BBC describes the NZ’s 24-0…

South Sea Saga

Pamela Stephenson, NZ born psychologist, author and wife to comedian Billy Connolly, has published a book retracing the 19th century travels of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson. The Advertiser:…

New Take on an Extraordinary Figure

Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life, a new authorized biography by art curator Alexa Johnston, has been well received both at home and abroad. According to Johnston, speaking…

Nuclear Discussion Just That

NZ’s iconic 21-year-old nuclear ban has returned to the news, both as a sideline issue in the recent parliamentary elections, and through a National Power Union-commissioned white paper on the pros…

Award in the Bag

The giant handbag-shaped tent used at the openings of Louis Vuitton mega-stores in Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo and Paris has won its NZ manufacturers an esteemed international design…

Battle Cries

Even more upsetting than giving the World Cup to New Zealand or losing a match to the All Blacks currently seems to be facing their new “throat slitting” haka. British media…

Crash Claims Liquor Chiefs

NZ liquor innovator, Michael Erceg, was killed in early November when the helicopter he was piloting crashed south of Auckland. As the founder and managing director of Independent Liquor, Erceg was one…

End of an Era

NZ lost its last WW1 veteran with the death of Victor “Bob” Rudd aged 104. Born in London in 1901, Rudd served with the British Army’s 9th…

All Black Domination

The All Blacks have continued their domination of their Northern hemisphere tour with a 23-19 victory over England. Easy victories over Wales and Ireland were useful opportunities for trying…

In Memoriam

18 NZ veterans attended the unveiling of a memorial commemorating NZ soldiers who served in the 1950-53 Korean War at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan. PM Helen Clark…

Something old, something new

The internationally acclaimed NZ String Quartet made an impressive debut in Minneapolis, performing as part of the annual Music in the Part Series in St Paul. The Quartet’s program included the…

Next Stop Commonwealth Games

NZ won the New South Wales 100m Relay Championship at Sydney Olympic Park on November 19, breaking a NZ national record in the process. Led by Olympic representative Chris Donaldson, the…

The new jazz order

Stuart Nicholson, author of Is Jazz Dead (Or has it Moved to a new Address)?, names Kiwi Aron Ottignon as one of the six best new players on the…

Five Million in the Stands

Despite widespread international media opinion that we would be out in the first round, New Zealand has won the bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup. After South Africa’s unexpected…

Golden Year for Silver Ferns

2005 has proved an incredible year for NZ netball, with the Silver Ferns winning all eight of their international tournaments. The latest came with a definitive Tri-Series victory over Jamaica…

Urban philosophy

Whangarei-born, Caboolture (Queensland)-raised, Keith Urban is the hottest country music sensation in the world. Urban won entertainer of the year and best male vocalist at the Country…

Hayley hits America

NZ’s popera diva, Hayley Westenra, has landed the coveted opening slot for Il Divo on their U.S tour early next year. Touring with the hit operatic boy band…

On the Mark

The Guardian hails the rise and rise of Mark Baldwin, Fijian-born NZ-raised artistic director of London’s renowned Rambert Dance Company. After just three years in the job, Baldwin…

A Winning Formula on and off the Field

Hyde Pride, Washington’s only all-African American school rugby side, has a Kiwi connection that extends beyond its game of choice. Established in 1999, the team at Hyde Leadership Public Charter School…

Homeward Bound

The Glasgow City Council has officially returned the preserved heads of three unidentified Maori warriors to delegates from Te Papa Tongarewa. The moko mokai had variously been gifted to the Scottish…

Would You Like Fries with that $25 Million?

Three Kiwi entrepreneurs have sold their hugely successful chain of UK burger restaurants for NZ$25.7 million. Greg Driscoll, Brandon Allen and Adam Wills opened the first Gourmet Burger Kitchen in Battersea,…

Battle of Britain Hero

Group Captain Edward Preston “Hawkeye” Wells, one of the RAF’s most outstanding WWII pilots has died at the age of 89. Born in Cambridge (NZ) on 26 July 1916 and educated at Cambridge…

Lord of the Dance

Wellington born Kristian Fredrikson, one of the most celebrated theater and dance designers in New Zealand and Australia has died in a Sydney Hospital of complications from pneumonia at the age of 65….

A Life’s Work

NZ born education pioneer and author Dion “Darcy” Dale has died. Dale devoted his life to the teaching and studying of deaf and partially hearing children. He was particularly prominent in…

“Pragmatic Idealist, Friend of the Earth and a Good Man”

NZ has lost an inspiring political figure with the death of Green Party co-leader Rod Donald. Donald died of a rare virus affecting the heart aged just 48. He…

Evolution in an Egg Shell

Massey University’s David Lambert has published his findings on the microevolution of Antarctica’s Adélie penguins in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Lambert’s research shows a marked difference between the…

From LA to the Bay

From Waimarama Beach to Napier, the Hawke’s Bay region gets a fantastic write up in the LA Times. The writer had organised a family holiday to her mother’s place of birth,…

Bright Spark

Auckland University’s Johanna Montgomery has become the first southern hemisphere scientist in history to win a prestigious Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology. Dr Montgomery was one of 4…

Kiwi Kayak Heralds New Era of Design

NZ biochemist Murray Broom’s FirstLight Kayak received a three-page spread in I.D magazine, America’s leading authority on the art, business and culture of design. Reviewer Barbara Flanagan (I.D contributing editor…

The Darkside

Picture this.

In the week leading up to Labour weekend we’re in Strathmore. It’s typically a windy Wellington Wednesday, and despite bright sunshine…