Archive >> March 2008

Taylor-made for Shortlives

Richard Taylor’s animated children’s programme Jane and the Dragon now airs in the US every Sunday afternoon on NBC. Jane and the Dragon is created from drawings so…

Moore to Head Charity

Former prime minister and World Trade Organisation Director-General Mike Moore has been hired by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. Moore will chair the Altimo Foundation, one of Fridman’s…

Gold in Manchester

New Zealander Hayden Godfrey has won the men’s omnium title at the track cycling world championships in Manchester. The omnium was introduced at world championship level last year…

Dispelling the Myths

Black Grace is in Aspen where founder and artistic Neil Ieremia is helping the American public come to grips with a dance company “from a place not especially…

Land This Good

Cape Kidnappers is not only home for thousands of gannets, Wall Street magnate Julian Robertson visits his properties on the scenic coastline every US winter. Robertson, who founded Tiger…

Sound System Men

Hamilton reggae group Katchafire are touring the US “spreading their Aotearoa Roots” to big crowds from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Hawaii, where the band headlines at the One Love…

Sydney Sees Red

Established in 1953, the Royal New Zealand Ballet had humble beginnings, performing nationwide with a company of three and a pianist. Now 32-strong, and with an international…

Ancestral Art in UK

George Tamihana Nuku, renowned Maori carver and sculptor, is staging his first solo exhibition at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough, UK. Nuku’s exhibition ranges from large carved pieces…

Fleming’s New Game Plan

Stephen Fleming made a gracious departure from the Black Caps on the fourth day of the final Test against England in Napier. Although New Zealand had a disappointing loss, Fleming left…

Chopper Challenge

Mount Cook National Park is to host the 2008 World Heli Challenge over two weeks in August. After a six-year hiatus the competition, deemed the most legendary freeriding and…

Right-hander’s Ultimate Innings

Walter Mervyn Wallace, one of New Zealand’s greatest batsmen has died, aged 91. As a young man Merv Wallace appeared such a prodigy that the New Zealand press did not scruple…

Questions of Difference

Are New Zealanders really afflicted by a ‘tall poppy syndrome’? Do they lack in confidence? Are they indeed Australia’s poor cousin? And if so, does this mean the New…

Lucy Lawless’ Xena War Cry

New Zealand’s own Xena Warrior Princess, Lucy Lawless, shows off her distinctive war cry.

Antarctic Oddities

New Zealand scientists were part of a 50-day “voyage of discovery” through the Ross Sea recently, coming face-to-face with some truly odd creatures. The marine life encountered during the…

Feasts in Factories

New Zealander Margot Henderson, sought-after London gourmand and the other half of Arnold & Henderson catering, does not like to use the word ‘simple’ when describing their…

Lightning Success

Liam Finn is currently touring the United States promoting his 2007 solo album I’ll Be Lightning, and is mesmerising critics there. In Texas, former Dirty Vegas frontman, Steve Smith…

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Footage of Bob Marley and The Wailers performing live in New Zealand.

Company in LA

Auckland artist Misery, aka Tanya Thompson, best known for her work with New Zealand clothing label Illicit, is part of group show Anything Could Happen … at Carmichael Gallery in…

Nuclear Free NZ – David Lange

David Lange’s Oxford University debate regarding New Zealand’s anti-nuclear stance.

New Zealand Accent Explained

The New Zealand accent explained.

In London cinemas

Duncan Sarkies’ 2006 movie Out of the Blue – a dramatic reconstruction of the 1990 Aramoana massacre – is showing in London this week and continues to receive…

Pacific Mix

Eleven-piece New Zealand band Te Vaka travelled to Macau where they enchanted the audience with the sound of the South Pacific, just as they have done…

Kezia comes alive

Katherine Mansfield’s Prelude and Carnation are amongst four of the writer’s short stories adapted for theatre and performed by Toronto’s Theatre Smith-Gilmour, celebrated for their stage adaptations…

Wilson pitches the unpitchable

Christchurch comedian Cal Wilson is part of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, performing on March 29 in Axed! The show is billed as “stories of the unpitchable,…

Contemporary Navigation

Dancer and choreographer Jeremy Nelson’s latest performance Sail, is inspired by his childhood in New Zealand; inspired by the sea, the Maori haka and rugby. Nelson performed Sail at…

Tour of Auckland

The Flight of the Conchord’s manager Murray Hewitt, Aucklander Rhys Darby, introduces the Guardian‘s Sarah Bourn to New Zealand’s largest city and his favourite place, One Tree Hill. “I…

Tunnel Museum Opens

During the Great War beneath the unassuming French town of Arras and the German enemy, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company built two interconnected tunnels, almost 20km long and able…

Alaskan War Chant

Taranaki basketball player Jeremiah Trueman, 19, has introduced New Zealand’s haka to his Alaskan team, the UAA Seawolves, and the crowds love it. Trueman, a junior transfer to the…

Maconie Explains Stockhausen on War

Composer and musicologist New Zealand-born Robin Maconie writes about celebrated German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s controversial statement after September 9/11, in which he called the terrorist attacks “the greatest work…

Twain’s Tramping Track

Motatapu Track, which cuts across a Central Otago high country property owned by Canadian country singer Shania Twain, has officially opened. The 28km track is part of Te Araroa/The…

Peak Inspiration

In preparation for a race to the South Pole, adventurer Ben Fogle hits the South Island for some thrill-seeking training. “The country that staged the world’s first commercial bungee…

#95 Remembering Kiwi Heroes

Edge Message #95 from Brian Sweeney,…

Off-Stage Antics

Wellington-born musician and “New York Rock God” Dean Wareham formed the band Luna in 1992 and later, together with his second wife Britta Phillips, Dean & Britta….

Kiwi Hatched in US

Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Zoo has successfully hatched a rare North Island Brown kiwi, their third since 1975. The Smithsonian is one of only four zoos outside New…

Titillating Fantasy

Artist Hye Rim Lee, graduate of Inter-media from Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts, has her first American solo exhibition at New York’s Max Lang Gallery entitled,…

Portable stories

Wellington production company Gibson Group’s made-for-mobile drama series My Story has been purchased by French conglomerate Lagardère Group from ohm:tv, a Cologne-based developer and distributer of TV formats, programmes…

On Financial Restraint

New Zealander Robert Wade, Professor of Political Economy and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of Governing the Market, debates global finance with…

Christchurch Blackout

On 29 March from 8pm, Christchurch joins 23 cities worldwide in turning off their lights for climate change. Earth Hour was first held in Sydney last year and was…

Dale’s no loony

New Zealand actor and Ugly Betty star Alan Dale treads the West End boards in his debut appearance as King Arthur in the comedy Spamalot at London’s Palace Theatre….

Massive Robotics

New Zealand software company Massive, famous for its on-screen swarms of pillaging orcs in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, recently showcased new business potential in Hanover, Germany. This…

Memory in Bronze

Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, the New Zealander who led the Battle of Britain against Germany in 1940, deserves recognition from the city of London according…

Trailer: The Quiet Earth

Virgin’s Cable Guy

Neil Berkett has been promoted to a permanent role as chief executive at Virgin Media. Berkett took on the job at the cable company as acting chief executive in…

Donaldson’s heist

Director Roger Donaldson’s The Bank Job is the latest flick from the film-maker who began his career in New Zealand with Sleeping Dogs in 1977. Bank Job is “solid…

Snell’s Still Running

Olympic champion and New Zealand’s greatest athlete of the 20th century Peter Snell looks back over the last 70 years and discusses, age, Auckland and Arthur Lydiard….

Promises Reviewed

Dunedin indie band Die! Die! Die! is currently touring Los Angeles and Austin, Texas to promote their latest album Promises, Promises released in the US in February. Die! Die!…

Skier Continues Streak

Otago paralympian Adam Hall has slalomed to yet another victory at the Wells Fargo Disabled Invitational at Winter Park in Colorado, climbing to the top of the medal table winning…

All for a Chat Show

Twenty-two year old Christchurch design student Nick Lowe wants to raise $1 million on YouTube in the hope of millionaire-status and a spot on Ellen Degeneres’ talk show. This…

Windy Farewell

Paddy Gillooly owns a tourism company in New Zealand which takes visitors by jeep or all-terrain bus to the tip of the South Island’s Farewell Spit, one of…

Tips for the Irish

Irish sheep farmers are looking to their New Zealand counterparts for advice on how to make more money tending their flocks. Lincoln University’s Dr John Hickford spoke at two…

Slimming with Rachel

Model and reality TV show host Rachel Hunter is the face, and figure, of US weight loss brand Slim-Fast. Advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather chose Hunter because she embraced…

Leap for Frogkind

Thirteen tiny, and extremely rare, Maud Island froglets have been spotted at Wellington’s Karori Wildlife Sanctuary hitching a ride on the back of a fully grown male. Researcher Kerri…

The Cycle of Life

At home, the colour of the grapes has changed rapidly. In December they were a wistful light green and now, swollen with…

Brown the New Nobilo

Wellington golfer Mark Brown has had a successful week in India, winning first the Asian Tour’s SAIL Open then clinching the US$2.5 million Johnnie Walker Classic, making him…

Debut at the Met

New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes made news again this week with a number of glowing reviews for his first role at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in Benjamin Britten’s…