March 2014 Archives

Get out of Your Routine, Says Fitness Exec

Get out of Your Routine, Says Fitness Exec

Sarah Robb O’Hagan, president of American luxury fitness company Equinox Fitness, is one of six luminaries invited by the Wall Street Journal to weigh in on the question of power. The New Zealander is…

NZ Prepares to Wear ‘Big Boy Pants’

NZ Prepares to Wear ‘Big Boy Pants’

British BBC readers overwhelmingly support New Zealand ditching the last official remnant of its colonial past. A referendum will be held at this year’s election on whether to change the flag, which features the…

Overland Journey in a Balloon for the World’s Kids

Overland Journey in a Balloon for the World’s Kids

Hot air balloon pilot Andrew Parker, 30, is attempting a four-year overland journey across more than 100 countries, in which he aims to raise awareness and US$1 million for the UNICEF Flying…

Instant Kiwi: Believe It Or Not

Instant Kiwi: Believe It Or Not

Want to know how good it feels to win with Instant Kiwi? DDB NZ and Good Oil’s Hamish Rothwell team up and create a very entertaining and loveable commercial…

Research Flock Saudi Arabia Bound

Research Flock Saudi Arabia Bound

New Zealand will export a research flock of sheep to Saudi Arabia this year under a breeding project aimed at bolstering the kingdom’s livestock supplies, according to the National. Pregnant ewes and lamb will…

Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson Quadskis into Lake Como

Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson Quadskis into Lake Como

Jeremy Clarkson, host of hit BBC show Top Gear, recently drove the New Zealand-designed Quadski, described as “the world’s first personal sports amphibian” vehicle, into Italy’s Lake Como in a race against co-presenter Richard…

Dame Kiri Returns to Covent Garden Stage

Dame Kiri Returns to Covent Garden Stage

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has returned to Covent Garden after 17 years for performances of Donizetti’s comedy La Fille du Régiment in the role of the Duchess of Crackentorp. Te Kanawa celebrated her 70th birthday…

Brooklyn DIY Drummer on her Influences

Brooklyn DIY Drummer on her Influences

New Zealand-born Fiona Campbell, a long-time participant in the Brooklyn DIY music scene, discusses her admiration for late-00s noise-pop New York band Vivian Girls, for whom Campbell drummed in 2010. Formerly of Auckland, Campbell left…

Neil Finn performs White Lies and Alibis: Live Session

Neil Finn performs White Lies and Alibis: Live Session

Take a seat back and listen to the soothing voice of Neil Finn as he performs his song, ‘White Lies and Alibis’, from his album Dizzy Heights. The song…

Cuttlebone Works on Display at Melbourne Flower and Garden Show

Cuttlebone Works on Display at Melbourne Flower and Garden Show

New Zealand artist Christian Gundesen will display his cuttlebone sculptures at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, which runs 26-30 March. Gundesen, who lives in Rye, 83km south of Melbourne, moved to the seaside…

Medal-Winning Weightlifter Heading Minnesota Wine Subsidiary

Medal-Winning Weightlifter Heading Minnesota Wine Subsidiary

Former weightlifter and two-time Commonwealth medal winner New Zealander Nigel Avery, 46, is these days marketing his family’s wine in Minnesota. Last year, Avery assumed the role of CEO for the subsidiary

New Zealanders Fight to Pull Back Kakapo from Extinction

New Zealanders Fight to Pull Back Kakapo from Extinction

7 March 2014 – New Zealanders are pulling out all the stops to save the nation’s second most favourite bird, the kakapo – a friendly, flightless, green feathered parrot that teeters on…

Virgin Media Boss Building Company up from the Top

Virgin Media Boss Building Company up from the Top

The boss of Virgin Media, New Zealander Tom Mockridge, a former senior lieutenant in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, has been busy since he was installed as chief executive last June. For much of the…

Warner Bros Buys Rights to NZer’s Book with Bradley Cooper to Star

Warner Bros Buys Rights to NZer’s Book with Bradley Cooper to Star

A crime drama based on an upcoming book by New Zealander Ben Sanders called American Blood, has been purchased by Warner Brothers and will star Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper who will also produce. At least…

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Production Blog Part 13

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Production Blog Part 13

Take a peek at Peter Jackson’s third video blog for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. In this entry, see exclusive scenes of Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves playing…

New Crustacean Species Could Unlock Secrets of the Deep

New Crustacean Species Could Unlock Secrets of the Deep

Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have discovered a new crustacean species in the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand, that may unlock the secrets of the deep sea. NIWA…

Te Arohanui Maori Concert Party – 1963

Te Arohanui Maori Concert Party – 1963

Take a look at this amazing footage of the Te Arohanui Maori Concert Party on The Danny Kaye Show shown in 1963. The Danny Kaye Show is an…

Wellington Crema the Crop!

Wellington Crema the Crop!

Wellington, home of the flat white, has been named one of the world’s 8 great coffee cities by CNN, in a list which also includes roasting heavy weights Melbourne, Rome and Seattle. There’s…

There’s a New Sheriff in Town

There’s a New Sheriff in Town

New Zealand actor Martin Henderson, 39, stars as sheriff Harold Jensen in Sundance Channel’s new thriller The Red Road. Dark and dramatic, The Red Road is set in in the fictional town of Walpole, New…

Egg of Bird Thought Extinct for More than a Century Found in NZ

Egg of Bird Thought Extinct for More than a Century Found in NZ

For the first time, New Zealand scientists say they have found an egg on Little Barrier Island of an endangered bird that had been presumed extinct for more than a century. The storm petrel is…

At Home in Manhattan with Makeup Artist Valery Gherman

At Home in Manhattan with Makeup Artist Valery Gherman

New Zealand makeup artist Valery Gherman moved to New York 11 years ago and now lives in Manhattan’s famed Peter Cooper Village where he shares a two-bedroom apartment with Canadian photographer Derek…

‘Out Of Character’ with Rhys Darby

‘Out Of Character’ with Rhys Darby

HBO presents an ‘Out of Character ’ interview with Flight of the Conchords’ Rhys Darby or “Murray”. Get to know Rhys Darby a bit more personally as he talks…

Visit the City Reinventing Itself with Art

Visit the City Reinventing Itself with Art

For those fancying a long-weekend getaway in Christchurch, the Guardian recommends the best places to stay, eat and visit, “touring the extraordinary renewal of the city that survived an earthquake”. “There’s no camouflaging the damage,”…

#166: Lorde Legg Lange Liddell Laura Leo Lillis Ladi Lauchlan Liam & More

#166: Lorde Legg Lange Liddell Laura Leo Lillis Ladi Lauchlan Liam & More

The Global Life of New Zealanders From Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM | 4 March 2014 | #166 | New York We…

Kiwi Leads the Trail in Iconic Alaskan Sled-dog Race

Kiwi Leads the Trail in Iconic Alaskan Sled-dog Race

A New Zealander was the first musher en route to the town of Nome when the infamous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race began Sunday. Otago based Curt Perano and 68 other mushers began the…

Creation Is a Completely Divine Concept, Says Catton

Creation Is a Completely Divine Concept, Says Catton

Ahead of appearances at Perth Writers Festival on 22 February and Adelaide Writers’ Week on 1 March, the Guardian’s Vicky Frost met with Booker prize-winning author 28-year-old Eleanor Catton to talk about her next…

Prince George’s First Royal Trip to Be New Zealand

Prince George’s First Royal Trip to Be New Zealand

Prince George will take part in his debut public engagement next month when he accompanies the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to New Zealand, Kensington Palace has announced. The Prince, who will be…

Warriors Season Full of Hope. Again

Warriors Season Full of Hope. Again

Every year it’s the same: this time could be the season when the New Zealand Warriors finally deliver on all their promise. The world’s toughest league competition, the NRL, kicks off on Thursday, with…

Air NZ Soars Above Qantas

Air NZ Soars Above Qantas

The last time Air New Zealand invested in the Australian aviation market, the airline required a Government bail-out to stave off bankruptcy as its subsidiary Ansett fell apart. This time round, it’s Air New…

The Kiwi Sceptics: Bali Girl

The Kiwi Sceptics: Bali Girl

New Zealand the perfect holiday spot, but that’s not what everyone thinks. Some people would never cross the ditch in a million years, we call them: The Kiwi Sceptics….

Springsteen Covers Royals at Mt Smart Stadium

Springsteen Covers Royals at Mt Smart Stadium

According to Rolling Stone, Bruce Springsteen made the most surprising cover choice of his career when he played an acoustic rendition of teenage Grammy award-winner Lorde’s song Royals during his Auckland show at Mt…

Finn’s NY-Inspired Third Album a Whirlwind of Weirdness

Finn’s NY-Inspired Third Album a Whirlwind of Weirdness

This coming May, New Zealand singer-songwriter Liam Finn, 30, will release his third full-length album, The Nihilist, on which Finn plays 67 instruments. Vice magazine’s music channel Noisey premieres the new video…

Thingee Loses An Eye

Thingee Loses An Eye

It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Watch one of the most famous scenes on New Zealand television where Thingee a well-known puppet, pops off one…

New Book Describes Athens Before the Bubble Burst

New Book Describes Athens Before the Bubble Burst

In his book Athens – The Truth: Searching for Manos, Just Before the Bubble Burst, New Zealand author David Cade describes his time in the city during the summer of 2009 as startling reports…

Miami Concert a Fine Showcase for Young Conductor

Miami Concert a Fine Showcase for Young Conductor

The “clear beat and enthusiasm” of New Jersey Symphony’s assistant conductor New Zealand-born Gemma New, “charged up the Miami Symphony’s crackling brass and percussion sections”, at the orchestra’s “Valentine Fiesta” in February. “With a colourful…

Meticulous Coach Adds Polish to Irish Flair

Meticulous Coach Adds Polish to Irish Flair

When 48-year-old New Zealander Joe Schmidt was being lined up to take charge of Leinster in 2010, he met the province’s captain Leo Cullen and Test fly-half Jonny Sexton at a Dublin hotel as…