Archive >> July 2011

Drilling for Silence

Seventy scientists from around the world will gather in Gisborne from 1-5 August to discuss proposals to study “silent” earthquakes by drilling into the seabed. Silent quakes, also known…

Ensuring World Nourishment

With a rapidly growing world population New Zealand has a key role in ensuring food security and safety for future generations, according to Mark Ward, general manager of Massey…

Running Them Ragged

“New Zealand produced a dazzling display to run South Africa ragged in an emphatic Tri Nations victory at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium,” reported England’s Daily Mail. The All Blacks crushed…

Jango Fett Has a Ball

Actor Temuera Morrison surprised Rotorua high school students recently when he made an appearance at their Star Wars-themed ball. According to the New Zealand Herald Morrison — who played…

Huhu Animates the Edible

Auckland animation company Huhu Studios has signed a multi-million dollar deal to produce six all-new direct-to-video episodes of popular children’s show VeggieTales for America’s Big Idea Entertainment studio. Founder…

#137: Pray & Play

 

Soprano in the Scrum

New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra has been snapped with a number of burly rugby players, after she was named as the official voice of the Rugby World Cup for…

Californian Upset

New Zealand No 1 Marina Erakovic stunned top-seeded and defending champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 at the Stanford Classic in California to reach her second quarterfinal…

Love Song to Opera House

New Zealanders musician Neil Finn and opera star Teddy Tahu Rhodes have been included in a line-up of artists chosen to perform sections of Nick Cave’s classic The Ship’s…

New Zealand in Vogue

New Zealand is known for its edgy fashion exports such as Kate Sylvester and Zambesi, but a retrospective exhibition on now at Te Papa reveals a lesser known secret:…

Farmyard Cancer Link

Researchers from Massey University in Wellington have found that growing up on a farm is linked to an increased risk of developing blood cancer later in life. The academics…

Auckland’s Top Five

“ city’s charming, walkable neighbourhoods offer distinct architectural styles and settings, from the iconic clock tower at the University of Auckland, to the Victorian houses backing up to lush…

Live Action at Comic-Con

Animation/motion-capture combination enabled Steven Spielberg to ‘step in and film like a live-action film’, said Peter Jackson at Comic-Con, who…

Grass and Seeds

Wellington reggae-soul group The Black Seeds played at the Australian music festival Splendour in the Grass at Woodford in Queensland on 29 July; keyboardist Nigel Patterson was interviewed ahead…

Sailing World Champion

Tauranga sailor Sam Meech has won the Laser Standard Youth World Championships in La Rochelle, France. Of 12 races sailed in the world championship, Meech won eight and finished…

In Love With His TV

Chief executive of Virgin Media New Zealander Neil Berkett has been placed at number 52 on the MediaGuardian annual top 1 guide to the most powerful people in television,…

Curing the Post-Tour Blues

New Zealand musician Liam Finn admits that on the back of tours around the world with Pearl Jam, The Black Keys and Wilco, he was cast adrift by his…

Adventurous Disguise

New Zealand designer Karen Walker’s sunglasses line — her “newest collection rang from some seriously oversized, rounded mad-scientist-type specs to something that looks like a more stylized,…

From Heights in Heels

One of the most sought-after stuntwomen in Hollywood, New Zealander Zoe Bell crashes through glass, slams into book cases and leaps from tall buildings. She has done stunts on…

Beijing as Seen Like a Local

Auckland University of Technology media graduate Kim Bowden, who is currently working for three months as an intern at China Daily.com in Beijing, writes about the benefits of getting…

Return to Kapiti

Sixty-nine years after he survived a fatal landing exercise off Paekakariki Beach, former marine American Frank Zalot plans to travel to New Zealand in 212 for a commemoration of…

Time For a Change

Tiger Woods says goodbye to long-time caddie Steve Williams after twelve years, 13 majors and 72 tournament wins. Woods and Williams, have been together since 1999. “I…

Pioneering MP

Whetu Trikatene-Sullivan, New Zealand’s longest serving female MP has died in Wellington, aged 79. Trikatene-Sullivan, of Ngai Tahu, was Labour MP for Southern Maori for 29 years, from 1967…

Talent Spotting Down Under

“There’s a lot of incredibly talented people in New Zealand,” legendary American venture capitalist Peter Thiel told the New Zealand Herald recently. “You look around and you see the…

#136: International Velvet

Edge Message #136 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM | New York City

NZEDGE.COM publishes daily on Facebook…

Violent Realism

Wellington-born director Lee Tamahori insists that his scripts are already dripping with violence when he gets them. His latest movie, The Devil’s Double tells the story of Latif Yahia,…

Holy Grail of Inspiration

Auckland-based online fashion diarist Marcella of Fashion Distraction tells trend-spotting site StyleCaster about her inspirations and icons, and gives advice to the would-be style blogger. StyleCaster reporter…

Back to the Place He Loves

Los Angeles is losing one of the greatest living jazz pianists, and a composer-orchestrator who has few peers, if any, New Zealand native Alan Broadbent. Before Broadbent moves his…

Ace Pilot and Farmer

Former Sergeant-Pilot Geoffrey Bryson Fisken, the British Commonwealth’s No. 1 fighter pilot in the Pacific during WW2, has died at age 96 in Rotorua. He had spent much of…

Cameo Contest Win

Hamilton-born singer Kimbra has won the AU$5, 211 Vanda and Young Songwriting Contest, receiving the honour for her song Cameo Lover ahead of 4 other entries. Now based in…

Fluffy Emblem of Hope

An expectant silence hangs over the Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Sanctuary as hundreds of spectators await a glimpse of a rare white kiwi, a bird held…

Petunia Precedent

A few years back, several New Zealand scientists began tinkering with petunia pigment genes developing biotech varieties with lush dark leaves. The scientists wondered if they could sell their…

Newspaper Man Takes Over

Since joining the Murdoch empire in 1991, native New Zealander Tom Mockridge — former economics editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and now Rebekah Brooks’s replacement as CEO at…

Getting Shirty

The New Zealand Rugby Union says it has no qualms with England wearing a black strip at this year’s Rugby World Cup. The Rugby Football Union said England will…

Schools of Thought

Auckland’s Macleans College was “a world apart” from Westmont Hilltop High School in the US for trainee teacher Leah Fuller who spent seven weeks on an internship at the…

Wide Awake and Charged

“It’s a tribute to the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s eclectic, open spirit that, once again, they visit the UK with a programme of work never seen here before,” Guardian…

#135: News+New Bio Te Ruki Kawiti, Innovative Warrior

Edge Message #135 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM | From New York

NZEDGE.COM publishes daily on Facebook and Twitter. This…

Dynamic Blair Now a Tiger

New Zealand test forward Whangarei-born Adam Blair, has signed a four-year deal with the West Tigers, to start in the next NRL season. The signing of the Melbourne back-rower/prop…

Bear Grylls Eats a Huhu Grub

Man vs. Wild star Bear Grylls eats a Huhu grub to see if they really taste like peanut butter.

Welcome to Limboland

“The once bustling central business district resembles a wasteland,” Jonathan Hutchison reports for The New York Times. “Office furniture can be seen sitting inside partially collapsed buildings. Piles of…

Fattening Up for the Swim

Happy Feet, the lost emperor penguin who turned up alone on Kapiti Coast’s Peka Peka Beach a month ago, has been eating up to 2kg of high-grade salmon each…

Finding Solitude in the North

New Zealand is American musician Moby’s favourite place on the planet to holiday. “My fear is that every person you talk to is going to give that answer, because…

Raiding the Global Pantry

Martha Jeffries, producer/director of New Zealand-made food and travel series World Kitchen is a self-confessed foodie with wanderlust, who had a “very Hutt upbringing”, growing up in…

Jackson on Location

“Leave it to Peter Jackson to make a Facebook video as thrilling and breathtaking as any of his films,” Entertainment Weekly reporter Aly Semigran writes. “As the…

Winning Ways in Edmonton

Taupo double Olympic medalist Bevan Docherty has won gold at the Edmonton ITU Triathlon World Cup. “This course seems to treat me well. I enjoy racing here,” Docherty said….

Countryside in Collage

Cruising through New Zealand, marvelling at the breathtaking natural environments that define this country, Savannah artist Laura Adams returned to the US and had an “explosion of creativity”. “I…

Quitting his day job

New Zealand-born Stephen Daisley, winner of Australia’s 211 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, said the AU$8, tax-free prize would finally enable him to quit his weekend job selling…

Internationally Eclectic

“The Royal New Zealand Ballet may be based a long way from the main centres of ballet, but the repertory for its UK tour is as international as it…

Spirituality Curved in Bone

A selection of “amazingly beautiful” hand-crafted bone carvings from Auckland-based gallery The Bone Art Place feature on American industrial design blog site Core77. “They are soft and warm to…

Maori Manuscripts Memorialised

A collection of 19th Century manuscripts written by Maori to record life before the arrival of Europeans has been officially listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World New Zealand…

Podium Regular

Classed as the world’s best freeskier, at just 19 Wanaka-born Jossi Wells has already jumped off more mountains and stood on more podiums than most other sportsmen of his…

Market Prevails

New Zealand’s stock market, worth a total of around only $48 billion, is one of the world’s best performing this year despite the effects of the Christchurch earthquake, a…

Shot Putting Machine

Auckland 16-year-old Jacko Gill has smashed his own world youth shot put record by nearly half a metre with a throw of 24.35m at the world youth championships in…

Sharks on Holidays

Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Department of Conservation (DOC), and University of Auckland have discovered that the great white shark, can travel thousands…

D-Day Demons

New Zealand director Paul Campion’s debut feature film The Devil’s Rock is reviewed in the Guardian by Michael Hann. “ attempts to settle the type of question posed by…

Juicy Japanese Deal Done

Former All Black and television personality Marc Ellis has sold his juice company Charlie’s to Japanese drinks giant Asahi for NZ$129 million. Ellis told the New Zealand Herald the…