Archive >> May 2006

Inspiration Not Imitation

Nike turned to Maori Moko for inspiration in their latest major ad campaign, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Air Jordan basketball shoes. Created by Wieden + Kennedy (NYC) art director Robert Rasmussen,…

Career Pinnacle for Inglis

NZ mountaineer Mark Inglis has made history by being the first double amputee to reach the summit of Mt Everest. Inglis lost both legs to frostbite in…

L&P: Stubbies

A classic television ad from L&P on the value of stubbies.

Alternative History 101

Historian Gavin Menzies recently visited NZ to promote his controversial bestseller 1421. One of the most contentious theories in the book is that NZ was mapped and settled…

Career High for Cunningham

NZ’s up-and-coming Indy racing star, WadeCunningham, pulled out a thrilling win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Freedom 100 event. The 21-year-old led all 40 laps, setting an average…

Katchafire: Seriously

New Zealand Reggae band Katchafire perform their track, Seriously.

Fast Inductee

Kiwi legend Burt Munro is one of nine new members selected for induction into Ohio’sMotorcycle Hall of Fame this year. The Invercargill native set a land-speed record on his…

Reo of the Nation

I left you last as I was on my way to the inaugural Parihaka International Peace Festival. There is something uplifting about the name Parihaka itself. For me it…

Prime Coverage at Chelsea

The 100% NZ Garden won a silver medal at the gardening world’s most prestigious annual event – the Chelsea Garden Show. The garden was inspired by the West Coast of Auckland,…

Clarke on Clarke

Australian news magazine, The Bulletin, featured a lengthy interview with John Clarke in its May 23 edition. The NZ-born wry humourist, who has lived across the Tasman for the…

Zespri Strikes Gold

The Zespri phenomenon has been featured in online marketing magazine Reveries. NZ lost its domination of international kiwifruit sales as far back as 1989, when countries such as Italy, Spain, Chile,…

Highest Honour for Top Brass

Retired Air Marshal Bruce Reid Ferguson, NZ’s former Chief of Defence Force, has been awarded Singapore’s highest military honour. The Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang Tentera, or Distinguished Service Order,…

Knock Off Drink Par Excellence

Charlotte Observer wine critic, restaurant owner Catherine Rabb, gives US readers the low down on NZ Sauvignon Blanc. “Restaurant work is a hot, sweaty business. At the end of a long…

The Deal’s Not Just Big, it’s Massive

New York based company, Massive Inc, of which Wellingtonian Claudia Batten is a part owner, has been sold to Microsoft for up to $US 400 million. Founded four years…

Dubai Calling

Two New Zealanders are at the forefront of a massive property boom currently happening in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates is spending £140 billion to transform the city into an…

Trumpet: Simplifying Summer

Trumpet asks the question: how far from the beach do togs become undies?

Maritime Mystery Nearly Solved

American archaeologists have discovered four 18th century ships off the coast of Rhode Island, New York, one of which could be Captain Cook’s Endeavour. Cook commanded the Endeavour on…

Savvy Marketing

Monkey Bay is officially the number one selling NZ Sauvignon Blanc in America. Released two years ago, Monkey Bay is an affiliate of the Nobilo Wine Group. Senior winemaker Alistair McIntosh…

Split Enz: Six Months in a Leaky Boat

The New Zealand classic, Six Months in a Leaky Boat by Split Enz.

Power Couple

Hamilton-born Nicole Colovos has been appointed joint design director of Helmut Lang with husband Michael, making her the first Australasian designer in history to head a major international fashion…

Baigent Down But Not Out

The Guardian interviews NZ born writer and historian Michael Baigent – “the man who sued Dan Brown and lost.” Baigent co-authored The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail with…

Essential Design from the World’s Edge

Essenze, the distribution partner for some of NZ’s best known designers, has partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi to present a comprehensive exhibition at the ad agency’s New York headquarters at 375…

Weldon in Class and on Screen

NZ raised novelist Fay Weldon has signed on to teach creative writing at Brunel University, as part of the UK institution’s new MA course. The prolific writer of bestsellers…

Spotlight on ’85

The Rainbow Warrior incident is back in the news, with convicted French agents Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart seeking to legally bar TVNZ from screening previously unseen footage of…

Grimm scholar’s big find

Renowned NZ Germanist, Professor Alan Kirkness, who retired from Auckland University in 2004, played a key role in the discovery of nine new books by Jakob and Wilhelm

Best Western

Leading US travel site, Frommer’s, featured a lengthy write-up on the South Island’s spectacular west coast – “where there’s more to see and do than there are residents.” The…

Coming of age Keisha

Castle-Hughes is to star alongside Toni Collette in the upcoming Australian black comedy Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger. Castle-Hughes plays a 13-year-old Jewish girl struggling to fit in…

Vampires invade Auckland

Vampire film 30 Days of Night is the latest Hollywood blockbuster to be filmed in NZ. Based on a horror comic book series, 30 Days of Night is…

All the Right Numbers

Hawera-born Wayne Gould, the New Zealander behind the international Sudoku craze, features in Time magazine’s Time 100 for 2006. The list of “men and women whose power, talent or…

Dining With Giants

Canterbury University Professor of Philosophy and Arts & Letters Daily founder, Denis Dutton, was invited to the White House Press Correspondents’ Annual Dinner, as a guest of The Washington Post. The black…

An Outside View

The latest book by acclaimed British author, Jenny Diski – On Trying to Keep Still – opens with her visit to NZ in 2004 for the NZ International Arts…

On show in Soho

Out From Down Under and Beyond: an Exhibition of Fine Art from Australia and New Zealand is currently showing at the Agora Gallery in Soho, New York. Helga…

Career ready for take off

Departure Lounge, the latest novel by Auckland writer Chad Taylor, has garnered praise abroad for its cool, noir aesthetics. The Sydney Morning Herald calls Taylor “impressive,” while the review…

#80: Counting The Beats

Edge Message #80 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM

Greetings to new friends at NZEDGE.COM from Toronto, Melbourne, Saskatoon, Hollywood, Sydney, London, Perth, Vancouver, Santiago, Munich, Singapore, JinHua, Chaterlault, Monteria,…

New Zealander Wins Miss Universe

The crowning of Miss Universe 1983, New Zealand’s Lorraine Downes.

Double Honour

Former Wellington Evening Post photographer Melanie Burford is the first NZer to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Burford was part of the Dallas Morning News team that won…

Asia-Pacific High Flyer

New Zealander, now Singaporean resident Simon Israel has secured his place in the upper echelons of Singapore’s business community with his appointment as the first non-Singaporean Director of state holding and…