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Archive >> August 2009
Blumsky’s selling point
Former Wellington mayor, shoe salesman and business mentor Mark Blumsky has written a book promoting the secrets to success for small business owners: differentiation and attitude. Slippers: Service and…
Single-minded
New Zealander Mahé Drysdale, 31, has won his fourth consecutive men’s single skulls title at the world rowing championships in Poznan, Poland. “I still can’t quite believe it,”
At Home on the Edge
Artist Judy Millar, 52, explains to the Financial Times that she lives “at the end of a seven-mile dusty road on Auckland’s west coast and overlooks perhaps one of…
Family affair
Neil Finn, his brother Tim and sons Liam and Elroy are just four of the 21 songwriters, 14 backing musicians and a dog collaborating on the album The Sun…
Tall Blacks Thump Boomers
New Zealand have beaten Australia 100–78 securing the top spot in the Oceania rankings and a place at the 2010 World Basketball Championships. New Zealand’s 22-point margin – its…
Green, green grass
New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra’s “secret weapon is vast acres of clean grass.” “What we’re very good at in New Zealand is growing good, high-quality grass,” says area manager of Fonterra’s…
She’s no Barbie doll
True Blood star New Zealander Anna Paquin — “who has an Oscar and a cool accent” — talks to Nylon magazine about the show’s phenomenal success, those nude scenes…
Looking for the Lost
Veteran polar expedition leader New Zealander Rob McCallum is leading the search to find the submerged seaplane wreck which had been carrying Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen to the Arctic…
Poet Chief Farewelled
Pukerua Bay poet, playwright and author Alistair Te Ariki Campbell has died aged 84. One of the leading writers of New Zealand and the South Pacific, Campbell published more…
Without Distraction
A long-term University of Otago study comparing the achievements of 900 boys and girls attending both single-sex and co-educational secondary schools has shown that boys perform better when attending single-sex schools….
Bond is back
After a two-year break from international cricket Christchurch fast bowler Shane Bond, 34, is ready for a comeback starting with a one-day tri-series in Sri Lanka on September 2 and 4….
Trailer: Gladiator
Watch the trailer for Russell Crowe’s memorable 2000 film, Gladiator.
Strengthening Relations
New Zealand’s outgoing ambassador to Vietnam James Kember has received a medal from the Vietnamese government for his contributions to relations between the two countries. Speaking at the award…
Hands Up For A Smack
New Zealanders have voted overwhelmingly to overturn a law that prohibits parents from hitting children, according to the results of a nationwide referendum, but the government says the law…
Remarkable Wells
Wanaka skier Jossi Wells, 19, won a silver at the 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games at the Remarkables in Queenstown for the freeski slopestyle event. Wells has a…
Sailing back to form
Emirates Team New Zealand “are back to their best” according to the Telegraph’s Kate Laven, dominating the 29 Audi MedCup circuit with 23 podium positions from 35 races. With…
#115: New Zealanders on Global Headlines
Edge Message #115 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM
Pictured above: Kiri Te Kanawa,…
Same but Different
On the eve of talks between Australian and New Zealand cabinets in Sydney last week, Sydney Morning Herald columnist Andrew Tink looks back to 1840 – when New Zealand…
Opportunity Knocks
Napier teenager Rachel Reid, 17, has won a four-year scholarship at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University and is now able to stay in the United States to be with her younger sister Matisse,…
Anchor Marks the Spot
Hamilton Niwa ecologist Aleki Taumoepeau went to great lengths to retrieve a wedding band which after only three months of marriage slipped from his finger into Wellington harbour while…
Looking to the sun
New Zealand power company Meridian Energy Ltd has purchased a Californian-based solar power facility Cleantech America for $8.1 million enabling the electricity generator to explore the potential of solar…
She’s Getting on With It
“Stuntmaster turned-actor of the moment seems to be New Zealand-born Zöe Bell”, writes Douglas Rusley for The Examiner in a review of web series Angel of Death, in which…
Mongolia on Horseback
Tekapo man Dave Murray, 29, now based in Perth, is one of four New Zealanders taking part in the 1000km-long Mongol Derby, which began on August 22 and runs…
For his family
Hamilton trans-Atlantic rower Rob Hamill testified at the Khmer Rouge tribunal trial of Tuol Sleng prison camp chief Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, who is accused of ordering the…
NZ Wine a Popular Drop
New Zealand wine is becoming increasingly popular for Australian drinkers with exports across the Tasman up by 31 per cent to $323 million in the 2008/09 financial year, according…
Vili Victorious
World champion shot putter Aucklander Valerie Vili, 25, took the women’s title at the 12th World Athletic Championships in Berlin with a final throw of 20.44m. “I’m satisfied I…
Soprano for life
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is profiled in the Guardian’s ‘Portrait of the Artist’ column in which the soprano says opera is sung by performers from “very ordinary backgrounds”. “I’m…
Robotic travel plans
Victoria University associate professor and tourism futurologist Dr Ian Yeoman predicts self-cleaning hotel rooms, sleep deprivation tablets to fight off sightseeing fatigue, robot prostitution and hotel rooms so clever they’ll be able…
Glimpse of New Zealand
Take a glimpse at New Zealand.
Solace in the city
Auckland writer Chad Taylor has received a number of reviews commending his latest novel The Church of John Coltrane. A sequel to 1994’s Heaven – made into…
Afghan Warrior Signs Up
Seventeen-year-old Afghan refugee Omar Slaimankhel has signed a two-year contract with the Vodafone Warriors and “after surviving the kind of dangers his family has endured, playing rugby league must…
Type Heroics
‘Printing Types: New Zealand type design since 1870’ is an exhibition on until September 12 at Auckland’s Objectspace featuring the type faces of local designers including Joe Churchward, Kris…
Tasman Union Imminent
Flights between New Zealand and Australia will soon be as cheap as domestic flights under new efforts to streamline trans-Tasman travel. Following talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John…
Massive comparisons
Wellington soul collective Fat Freddys Drop released their second album Dr Boondigga & the Big BW earlier this year, an album which according to Guardian reviewer Neil Spencer has…
Communing with Quiet
Owner of Roxborough Farm Lloyd Watkins invites Toronto Star correspondent Adrien Veczan to spend a weekend on his 210ha property in Tirau. Veczan writes: “The feeling of being in…
Disney’s Newest Princess
Orewa-raised actress Emily Robins, 21, is enjoying international success starring in the Disney Channel’s latest tween hit The Elephant Princess, where she plays Alex, a regular suburban girl who…
Thinking woman’s crumpet
Taranaki-born editor of women’s erotic magazine Filament Suraya Singh, 30, has succeeded in publishing an image of a sexually aroused man in the publication’s second issue and…
Back to Blacks
World champion Black Ferns will play a rare double-header with the All Blacks against England at London’s Twickenham on November 21 – something Black Ferns coach Brian Evans believed…
Grand dame’s swansong
After 40 years enthralling audiences the world over, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will give her last operatic performance next April at the Cologne Opera in Germany, playing Marschallin in…
Topps in Toronto
Much-loved New Zealand entertainers Lynda and Jools Topp (aka The Topp Twins) will join the likes of Canadian rocker Neil Young, Joan Baez and horror film king George A….
Teddy on shortlist
Director Christopher Banks’ film Teddy is the first New Zealand-made film to make the shortlist for the sought-after 2009 Iris Prize Festival, the winner of which receives the largest…
Harold in space
The Life Education Trust’s iconic mascot Harold the Giraffe, is set to become the first New Zealander (and giraffe) to go to space. Harold will be part of the…
Badtown do Brighton
West Auckland six-piece ska-punk band Badtown sold their worldly possessions to tour the UK seaside city of Brighton inspired by the city’s own legendary punk rockers Peter and the…
Easy in the back paddocks
Fielding farmer David Short has invented a battery-powered shearing handpiece that can be used in the yards or paddocks, and for minimal cost. Short has spent four years perfecting…
Perfection on the Peak
Coronet Peak is an international training hub for the US Ski Team, Swedish, Swiss and Canadian Alpine Ski Teams as they train for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver….
#114: Concept Muscle; Queen of the Cosmos
Edge Message #114 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM
Pictured above: Peter Jackson,…
Neill the ruthless
Actor Sam Neill stars in the made-for-television Canada-China co-production of Iron Road as ruthless Canadian railroad baron Alfred Nichol. The historical mini-series purports to tell the story of the…
Chopper Pilot Mourned
New Jersey-based pilot Aucklander Jeremy Clarke, 32, died after the tour helicopter he was flying crashed in a mid-air collision over the Hudson River. Clarke was a certified commercial…
Concept Muscle
Julian Dashper (1960-2009), artist, died 30 July, 49, in Auckland. Julian had “the unique perspective of attending to an internationalist art history from a distance, enabling him to devise…
Fire Poi Performance
Teague Hopkins performs with his fire poi in Christchurch.
Lights, camera, action!
Wellington film director Peter Jackson is gearing up for an extended run at the box office, ending a four-year hiatus from the big screen. Working with a stable of…
On the fringe
Rhys Darby heads to Edinburgh for his sixth Fringe Festival and a new stand-up show which includes some “very different little unique New Zealand characters” including the “man’s man”…
Deco Pride
Napier’s annual Art Deco weekend celebrates the most complete Art Deco city on earth, writes Times Online travel writer Dan Cruickshank, where even street furniture and signage consistent with…
This Charming Man
Cambridge-raised Michael King, chair of Fashion Cares, the AIDS Committee of Toronto fundraiser that sits at the intersection of fashion, culture and the city’s queer community, is described by…
Clark enjoys anonymity
Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) former Prime Minister Helen Clark, 59, has told the Dominion Post that “New Zealand is just not quite big enough…
Ready for Battle
New Zealand’s national softball team, The Black Sox, feature in the ‘Freeze Frame’ segment of ShortList magazine, performing the haka prior to their game against Denmark at last month’s…
