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Archive >> August 2007
New Zealand’s Top History Makers: Fred Hollows
Professor Fred Hollows is featured at number 39 on New Zealand’s Top History Makers.
Emotions running high
Crowded House were praised for their “emotion-drenched performance” at The Greek Theatre in an LA Times review. LA Times: “he group’s exquisitely crafted songs are infinitely rich with melodic…
Tributes Flow for Industry Titans
NZ has lost two of its leading business figures with the deaths of Sir James Fletcher and Nick Nobilo (pictured) on August 29. Fletcher, 92, became Managing…
Order of Merit for Lomu and Fagan
Two NZ sports greats were made members of the New Zealand Order of Merit at this year’s investiture ceremony. All Black legend Jonah Lomu and sheep shearing champion…
Golden Vili
Shot put star Valerie Vili has won gold at the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Vili threw a personal best of 20.54 meters, beating defending champion Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus…
The Future of Transport
Transport Communications, a new book by two NZ professors, predicts an end to congestion, terrorist threats and increasing fuel prices through the widespread adoption of nanotechnologies and satellite communications over the next…
Pluto: Long White Cross
The video for Pluto’s track, Long White Cross, from their 2005 Album Pipeline Under the Ocean.
Senior Iraqi Posting for Shearer
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named New Zealander David Shearer as his deputy special representative for Iraq. Shearer will also serve as Iraq’s UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator. “David’s a…
Lock-up Lodge
A Napier prison-turned-backpackers features in a Guardian travel story on jail-themed hotels. Decommissioned in 1993, the Napier Prison was reopened in 2002 to offer tours and budget accommodation. Guardian: “You can have…
Auckland films Venice-bound
Two short films by lecturers and a student at Auckland University have been accepted for competition at the Venice Film Festival. Coffee and Allah, written and produced by senior…
Check one-two
Auckland five-piece The Checks featured as the Guardian’s New Band of the Day for August 22. Music critic Paul Lester: “These five New Zealanders may be teenagers, but they…
Trinity Roots: Home, Land & Sea
Trinity Roots perform Home, Land & Sea.
Nerd chic in Seattle
A San Diego entertainment guide has hailed NZ as “the new Seattle” for its flourishing alternative music scene. The article name-checks HBO show Flight of the Conchords, starring Wellington…
Reign of King Tuheitia Officially Begins
King Tuheitia, the seventh Maori monarch, has marked the official start of his leadership after a year of mourning for his mother and predecessor, Queen Dame Te Atairangikahu. Thousands…
Dances of Life: Maori Excerpt
An excerpt on Maori culture from the PBS documentary, Dances of Life.
The New Zealand Dream
A beautiful video of New Zealand made to encourage people to realise their dreams of visiting the country.
Interview with the Real Juliet Hulme
Ian Rankin interviews Anne Perry (previously Juliet Hulme) on who the 1994 Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures was based.
NZ painter in online art showdown
Nelson-born artist Charles Olsen is one of 12 finalists in the UK-based Saatchi Showdown, established by art collector and impresario Charles Saatchi. Olsen’s oil painting ‘La Sundari’,…
Home-grown Horror at Frightfest
Two NZ films made the line-up for this year’s Frightfest, the UK’s leading fantasy and horror film festival. “Ovine horror comedy” Black Sheep and “the unclassifiable – and…
“Imaginative daring” wins literary gong
New Zealander Kirsty Gunn has won the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award, one of Scotland’s most esteemed literary prizes. Gunn, a professor of creative writing…
Arthur Lydiard
Arthur Lydiard invented jogging. The method of building up physical fitness by gradually increasing stamina is a simple one, used by millions of men and women worldwide as part…
Archibald McIndoe
Motivated by a desire to be more than just an ordinary doctor, Archibald Hector McIndoe pursued greatness and became much more than an ordinary surgeon. Appointed plastic surgeon to…
#87 New Zealand Unleashed
Edge Message #87 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM
Aotearoa whanau whanui ki te Aonui Global Community of New Zealanders From Brian Sweeney, producer www.nzedge.com
Greetings. Update from the semi-regular
Kiri Te Kanawa’s Love Duet
Kiri Te Kanawa sings the Otello love duet with Placido Domingo.
A NZ Space Odyssey
A NZ company has plans to launch rockets into space, carrying scientific packages, DNA and human ashes. Auckland-based Rocket Lab, co-directed by Peter Beck and Mark Rocket, will start…
Surf Up-and-comer
Oakura teen Paige Hareb has been ranked fourth in the world in women’s under-18 surfing since the junior world championships in May. The 17-year-old was also the first…
Maths Prize for Massey Prof
Professor Robert McLachlan of Massey University has become the first mathematician from the Southern Hemisphere to win the prestigious Dahlquist Prize. Presented by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the…
True Romance
Ponsonby Road’s Harrowset Hall was featured in the New York Times travel section this month. Described as “a romantic den of feminine clutter”, Harrowset Hall stocks cotton nightwear, robes…
Fifth Win for Warriner
NZ athletes made another strong showing in the eleventh leg of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup Series. The event in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, saw three podium finishes for NZ competitors. Samantha…
Highland Habitat Reborn
NZ-born wildlife expert Hugh Fullerton Smith is working at the forefront of British eco-tourism as general manager of Alladale Estate. The 23,000 acre Highland property, owned by Scottish millionaire philanthropist Paul…
NZ blues great mourned
NZ blues and soul music great Sonny Day (Hone Wikaira) has died from respiratory complications aged 64. Day launched his career in the late 1950s with his band…
The Real Deal
The Guardian gave its readers a heads-up on NZ stuntwoman Zoe Bell, in its regular ‘First Sight’ column. The 28-year-old has forged an impressive career doubling actors such as…
Booker number two?
Lloyd Jones‘ Mister Pip has made the Man Booker Prize longlist, alongside works by Ian McEwan and A N Wilson. The 13 titles were selected from over…
Après Vous
Queenstown has been named one of the world’s top ten après ski destinations in the Sydney Morning Herald. “The 120 licensed establishments in this lakeside town are brought to you…
Marathon Medal Prospect
Auckland runner Nina Rillstone finished third in the New York City Half-Marathon, just seconds behind Kenyans Hilda Kibet and Catherine Ndereba. The NZ record holder made a career best time…
Castaway tales from edge of the world
The latest book by Wellington maritime historian Joan Druett uses personal memoirs to recount two very different survival stories on the Auckland Islands, 500km south of NZ. Island of…
Te Kopi a Top Spot
The Department of Conservation’s Te Kopi bach at Palliser Bay has been named one of the five best state-run lodges and cabins in the world by the Guardian. “Light-filled and well…
LonelyGirl signs off
NZ internet sensation Jessica Lee Rose has ended her starring role on the hit web drama LonelyGirl15. Rose’s character, Bree, was killed off by a sinister religious cult known…
Stuntwoman turned star
NZ stuntwoman Zoe Bell is described as a “bona fide butt-kicker” in an August Marie Claire profile. Bell has gone from doubling Lucy Lawless in Xena and Uma…
NZ Academic Unlocks 17th Century Secrets
Research by a NZ academic launched a 40-year code-breaking endeavour that has resulted in the publication of an important 17th century English diary. Robin Gwynn, formerly an associate professor…
Green Choice for NZ Motorists
NZ has launched its first commercial biofuel – Gull Force 10. Available through Gull Petroleum stations, the “green” fuel blends 90 per cent premium gasoline with 10 per cent bioethanol made…
Design Mobel Goes Global
Tauranga bed and furniture maker Design Mobel has launched the first of its Okooko global concept stores in Wellington and Hong Kong, with more to follow in the US later this…
