The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 9
Take a look at Peter Jackson’s eighth behind the scenes video blog during the post-production, leading to the release of The Hobbit. This time, we see the crew working…
September 2013 Archives
Jack Lovelock’s Historic 1500m Win at 1936 Olympics
As the first New Zealand athlete to win an Olympic gold, Jack Lovelock was an enigmatic achiever whose running style was said to be ‘artistic’ in grace. Watch this…
How The Naked and Famous Will Make It In America
Though alternative rock bands of the last few decades have oozed cool by rejecting the music industry and pretending not to care, The Naked and Famous didn’t move 19 time zones and nearly 7,000…
Jack Lovelock Wins Gold at 1936 Berlin Olympics
As the first New Zealand athlete to win an Olympic gold, Jack Lovelock was an enigmatic achiever whose running style was said to be ‘artistic’ in grace. Watch this…
Cibo Chefs Cook up Local Flavours for Beijing Diners
Auckland chef Kate Fay, 54, was in Beijing last week taking part in a series of New Zealand-themed events and tastings organised by Temple Restaurant Beijing. Having cooked at some of Auckland’s top…
Edgy Offerings Without Being Trendy
“New Zealander Liam Bowden began making one-off leather goods and jewellery in his garage. Today, his brand Deadly Ponies has earned a global cult following for its famously supple bags, all of which are…
Hops Industry Gaining Strong International Reputation
New Zealand-produced hops is gaining a strong international reputation with 90 per cent grown here exported overseas. The United States craft beer scene is particularly fond of New Zealand flavours. A recent report estimated…
#162: America’s Cup, Black Inc, Edge Metaphor
THE GLOBAL LIFE OF NEW ZEALANDERS From Brian Sweeney, producer
New Zealand Same-sex Couple Ties Knot Up In the Air
Air New Zealand invited Lynley Bendall and Ally Wanikau, who have been together almost 14 years, to finally tie the knot in the skies to celebrate same-sex marriage becoming…
Channelling His Ancestors from Canada
New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera is currently in Alberta teaching eight indigenous Canadian writers at the globally respected arts, cultural, and educational institution, Banff Centre. The last time he was there, he began writing what…
Smith-Gobat to Make Trio of US Climbing Record Attempts
World-class rock climber New Zealander Mayan Smith-Gobat, 34, will soon begin three ambitious free climbs in California’s Yosemite Valley, including one world record speed attempt – to free climb a 1444m-high rock formation in…
Chronicle of a Life and a Motorsport Legacy
As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations this month, the McLaren team is publishing a book celebrating its achievements, McLaren: 50 Years of Racing, which includes contains numerous never-before-seen photographs. Bruce McLaren, a New Zealander,…
How did Oracle do it?
The question is simple but the answer is anything but clear: How did Oracle Team USA go from dead in the water to flying high? Because at 8-1 down in the world’s most competitive…
Oracle Wins America’s Cup
Double the hull. Quadruple the speed. That was the gauntlet thrown down by victorious billionaire syndicate owner Larry Ellison when he wrested the Auld Mug from fellow billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi team in 2010….
Trailer: Beyond The Edge
For the first time ever, Sir Edmund Hillary will be brought back to life on the big screen using both original colour footage and photographs in this breath-taking 3D…
V8 Supercar Driver Promotes Safety on the Road
Twenty-year-old V8 Supercar rookie and Fujitsu Racing GRM driver, New Zealander Scott McLaughlin recently visited Maroochydore State High School in Queensland to spread the road safety message. Christchurch-born McLaughlin made his V8 Supercar debut at…
Kuala Lumpur’s Coffee Hero
New Zealander Michael Wilson used to be in the British Army and even started a construction company in Scotland before finding his true calling: coffee, with the Artisan Roast brand. Wilson also co-owns two cafés…
Silent Treasures from the NZ Film Archive on DVD
Over one hundred long-vanished films, including movies by John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Mabel Normand, were quietly residing in the New Zealand Film Archive when Brian Meacham, an archivist for the Academy of Motion Picture…
Blazed – Drug Driving in Aotearoa
Watch this online hit anti-drug driving ad launched on Maori TV featuring three Maori children arguing which of their dads drives best while “blazed”. Directed by Taika Waititi, the…
Connan Mockasin Swims Upstream
New Zealand psych-funk oddball Connan Mockasin hasn’t listened to anyone else’s music for 10 years; he shuns record labels and recorded his bewitching new album in a Tokyo hotel room, Ben Arnold…
NZ Native Forest Takes Root in Seattle
A New Zealand forest exhibit has opened at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, the first of five eco-geographic forests to be completed in the Pacific Connections Garden, which eventually will cover…
Weatherman Predicts Year Ahead for Ireland
Auckland-born weatherman Ken Ring has made his latest predictions for the coming Northern winter, forecasting a white December for Ireland. Ring, who predicted the deadly Christchurch earthquake and Ireland’s arctic winter in 2010, also…
Urban Branches out with Billboard-Topping Fuse
New Zealand-born country singer Keith Urban, 45, has been branching out musically – playing with the Rolling Stones and others, and fresh collaborations on his latest album, Fuse, which debuted on Billboard’s 200 Albums…
Top of the Class in Stylish at London Fashion Week
“It’s rare to find a designer who sticks to her style guns through thick and thin but Emilia Wickstead isn’t your average fashion creative,” the Daily Mail’s Ruth Styles writes from London…
Protecting Our Wine Brands Against Counterfeits
New Zealand winemakers are lobbying for the same legal protection for their brands that French producers won for Champagne two decades ago, because of fears knockoff wines are posing as premium labels exported from…
Tormenting Kiwis a bonus for Spithill
One of the greatest comebacks in sporting history is still Australian Jimmy Spithill’s ambition – torturing New Zealanders worldwide is merely an added bonus. Facing an 6-0 deficit in the race to 9 points,…
New Zealand Olympian Wins Fifth Avenue Mile
New Zealand’s Nick Willis has won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, completing the run in 3 minutes and 52.1 seconds. It is the second time that Willis has won the title, having…
World of Wearable Art
Enter another world with World of Wearable Art, a show where garment design and creativity meets theatrical performance in a completely magical and unexpected way.
Misfits Making Mayhem in Chicago
Bay of Plenty writers James Morcan and Lance Morcan’s international conspiracy thriller, The Orphan Trilogy is set in Chicago at the site of the Pedemont Orphanage, where 23 orphans acquire the skills to become…
Baltimore-Based Artist Reminisces on Dog Days
Before he was an artist, New Zealand-born Hugh Pocock, 50, sold hot dogs in the heyday of Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. Desperate times called for desperate measures. “Selling hot dogs was my first experience with real,…
Shout-it-to-the-Heavens Inspiring
“Xena: Warrior Princess, which ran for six years before it ended in 2001, was a show that charmed even as it taught its audience a thing or two,” American former model and actress Jennifer…
Kiwi Equities a Good Bet for Global Investors
The New Zealand growth story is attracting strong international interest in Kiwi equities as investors seek to escape volatile markets in Asia and low global interest rates. The Wall Street Journal reports that the…
Kiwi Set to Light Up US College Basketball Team
Exciting New Zealand basketball prospect Jack Salt will play for University of Virginia college team, the Cavaliers, next year. Salt will be coached by Tony Bennett, who played and coached in Auckland for four…
Bespoke Blends for Marks and Sparks
New Zealand winemaker Jeneve Williams joined Marks & Spencer in 2012 as the buyer for the retailer in charge of wines from South America, Eastern Europe, New Zealand and Italy. A year on, and…
Willis Switches Speed Codes
Lower Hutt-born middle-distance Olympic medallist Nick Willis, 30, is venturing into the hybrid sport of speed golf and will participate in the Speedgolf World Championships on 26 October and 27 October at…
Black and White Exhibition Opens in Berlin
Work by New Zealand artists Gordon Walters (pictured) and Judy Millar features in a new exhibition at Berlin’s Hamish Morrison Galerie, which opened 13 September and runs through 19 October. Walters and Millar are…
The Hobbit: Behind the Scenes – Production Video Blog Part 8
Take a look at Peter Jackson’s eighth behind the scenes video blog during the final days of filming of The Hobbit. This time, we are at Comic-Con along with…
120 Years Since NZ Women Shook the World
The 120-year anniversary of one of New Zealand’s most momentous moments in global history is being marked with the public exhibition of the Women’s Suffrage Petition of 19 September, 1893. On that day in…
Kiwi’s Reach Kickstarter Goal in Seven Hours
Two Kiwi entrepreneurs have managed to secure their $30,000 Kickstarter goal within seven hours, allowing their prototype travel bag to go into production. After completing a 17,000 mile journey across North America, Jimmy Hayes and…
Debunking the Fire-Walking Myth in Georgia
Retired physicist John Campbell, formerly of the University of Canterbury, is offering a fire-walking demonstration at the University of Georgia on 19 September. For Campbell, fire-walking is a matter of thermal conductivity, and not…
Social Media Carrier for Mass Contagion
Robert Bartholomew, a sociologist in New Zealand and expert in mass hysteria, is warning how Facebook and Twitter have the potential to act as global carriers of mass hysteria. The most famous instance of…
Kiwi Jetpack to Hit US Market
It can travel at speeds of up to 80km/h, ascend to heights of more than 2km in the air and has enough juice to fly for 30 minutes – the much promised science fiction…
Mitre 10 – Classroom
Watch these cheeky Kiwi kids at school getting their names called out in a roll call – some of the names may be familiar to the average DIYer!.
Freeze Frame in the Alaskan Wilderness
New Zealand director Scott Walker, who is currently promoting his first feature film The Frozen Ground, talked recently to KFTV about all aspects of the production, from development and casting right through to getting…
Flying the Flag and Stealing Hearts
Emirates Team New Zealand just keeps showing up and beating Oracle, regardless of the time or day, Al Saracevic writes for the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s a loose bunch of guys who are here…
Home is Where the Beer Is
A house where every tap pours cold beer? Yeah, right. Tui – the beer brand which created the Yeah, Right advertising billboards and commercials – has teamed up with a bunch of New Zealand…
Feminine in Work Wear at NY Fashion Week
New Zealand-born designer Rebecca Taylor “put old-school American work wear to work” in her Spring 2014 show at New York Fashion Week on 7 September. “Never mind that she normally dresses young women who…
Moa Bones Kill Dino DNA Dream
The dream of resuscitating dinosaur species – a la Jurassic Park – has been dealt a death blow in a new study examining the decay rate of DNA in the bones of the extinct…
“Bleeding” Park Reveals All Blacks’ True Worth
Apparently the English think New Zealanders can teach them a thing or two. Who knew? Of course, the thing or two is about rugby but even so. In the wake of the All Blacks’…
Dances of Life (Maori excerpt)
Watch this excerpt from the 55 min documentary Dances of Life, shot for PBS. The documentary looks at the dances and songs that express Pacific Islanders’ origins, struggles and…
Rolling out Their Second Album from LA
Naked and Famous singer-guitarist Thom Powers says Los Angeles was the perfect environment for the New Zealand synth-pop outfit to make their second album, In Rolling Waves. “That side of living in Los Angeles is…
Triumph from the Saddle at Burghley Trials
New Zealanders have come up trumps at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, with Jock Paget, 29, taking the top spot and Marlborough-based world No 1 Andrew Nicholson, 52, taking second place, as well as…
Winter Warmest since Records Began
Scientists says New Zealand has had its warmest winter since record-keeping began in 1909. The average nationwide temperature was 9.5C for June, July and August, about 1.2C above average, the National Institute of Water…
NZ Does Do-Good Ads Better than Anyone
Public service announcements, or PSAs, are a tough nut for the advertising world to crack, particularly when tackling drink-driving or the dangers of drugs. Too often a worthy cause is “laughably ineffective preachy”…
