Blog Archives

Oscar Foreign-Language Submission a Battle of Wills

Oscar Foreign-Language Submission a Battle of Wills

Based on the novella Medicine Woman by Witi Ihimaera, New Zealand’s 2014 foreign-language Oscar submission, White Lies (Tuakiri Huna) is a period drama about three women drawn together in conflict. David Rooney, reviewer for the…

On the Trail of Colour in Hokitika

On the Trail of Colour in Hokitika

For those “following the trail of the world created” in Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries, the Telegraph suggests ten great things to do in Hokitika. Included in the list is a cycle…

McKenzie Stars in Austenland Though More a Brontë Man

McKenzie Stars in Austenland Though More a Brontë Man

Bret McKenzie, 37, one half of the comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, stars opposite Jane Seymour in the new romantic-comedy Austenland, which opened in the UK in September. “I’m not a crazy Jane Austen…

Repatriation of Lost Ancestral Remains

Repatriation of Lost Ancestral Remains

A tattooed preserved Maori head, or toi moko, and skeletal remains, koiwi tangata, discovered in the anatomy department at the University of Birmingham, are being returned to New Zealand. University staff said the ancestral items…

Aotearoa Casts Its Shadow on the Clouds

Aotearoa Casts Its Shadow on the Clouds

“There is a playful antagonism between the inhabitants of New Zealand’s two islands, North and South,” Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton writes for the Guardian in a story about growing up in New…

Move to the Sunshine Has Rejuvenated Golfer

Move to the Sunshine Has Rejuvenated Golfer

Queensland Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Hamilton-born Jim Cusdin, 28, credits a move to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast for revitalising his golf career. It was somewhat of a risk he says, but…

Musket Room Cellar Tips for Future NZ Classics

Musket Room Cellar Tips for Future NZ Classics

23 October 2013 – The sommelier at New York’s first restaurant showcasing haute New Zealand cuisine, The Musket Room suggests we start cellaring future New Zealand classics before the rest of the world catches on. Erin…

Lorde’s Bid for the Big Time

Lorde’s Bid for the Big Time

Lorde makes it into the New Yorker this week, the subject of a profile by contributor and music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, who conducted several conversations with the 16-year-old about, amongst other things, how important…

Degrees Available in Healing with Humour

Degrees Available in Healing with Humour

New Zealanders considering a career as a professional clown will now be able to earn a certificate, diploma or full Bachelor of Arts in Medical Clowning. The qualifications are scheduled to be launched in…

Katherine Mansfield Interacts with Google

Katherine Mansfield Interacts with Google

Google commemorated the birthday of writer Katherine Mansfield on 14 October with an interactive doodle on its homepage, marking the 125th anniversary of the New Zealander’s death in Fontainebleau, France, aged 34. The first

Leap to Victory at the Boekelo in the Netherlands

Leap to Victory at the Boekelo in the Netherlands

New Zealand eventer Lizzie Brown, 25, has claimed the biggest victory of her career, winning the 2013 Boekelo CCI3* in the Netherlands, ahead of veteran rider Sir Mark Todd. Brown, who is based…

Dixon Does It Again Claiming Third IndyCar Title

Dixon Does It Again Claiming Third IndyCar Title

New Zealander Scott Dixon has claimed his third IndyCar championship, regardless of a fifth place finish at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Dixon won the title by 27 points over Power teammate Helio…

Bledisloe Cup Whitewash with Win over Wallabies

Bledisloe Cup Whitewash with Win over Wallabies

The All Blacks have maintained their 100 per cent record this year, beating Australia at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin 41-33 to seal a 3-0 Bledisloe Cup whitewash, the BBC reports. Having clinched the…

Winter Wonderland for World’s Best In-Training

Winter Wonderland for World’s Best In-Training

“Every August, the world’s best snowboarders come to work on big-air and physics-defying tricks in this tiny town hidden by mountains and surrounded by sheep,” New York Times reporter Joe Drapes writes. “The athletes…

Building New Zealand’s Fashion Profile Online

Building New Zealand’s Fashion Profile Online

The New Zealand Fashion Museum is a very modern affair with a strong online presence, organising exhibitions around the country but without a physical location of its own. It is only one of a score…

Sweeping down the Staircase for Tea at Otahuna

Sweeping down the Staircase for Tea at Otahuna

A stay at the five-star Otahuna Lodge located in Tai Tapu, Canterbury “will give you a tantalising taste of landed gentry living”, according to travel writer, New Zealander Amanda Jones for the Los…

As If You Needed Another Reason to Go Down Under

As If You Needed Another Reason to Go Down Under

Waiheke Island’s “stylish hotel” Oyster Inn has its own selection of fashionable Waihetian beach accessories available on site at their shop; souvenirs worth the trip to New Zealand, according to Condé Nast Traveler. “We’ve always…

Fifty Thousand Kilometre Journey Peddling for the Heart

Fifty Thousand Kilometre Journey Peddling for the Heart

After two years and 43,000km, New Zealander Jeremy Scott is almost home having been riding his bike from London since 5 October 2011, heading to his final destination, Auckland, by March next year. He made…

Sweeping Seismic Building Review Surpasses US Attempts

Sweeping Seismic Building Review Surpasses US Attempts

After the deadly Christchurch 6.3 magnitude earthquake, city officials responded with the most sweeping seismic review of concrete buildings ever attempted, far surpassing anything achieved in California. Post-earthquake, residents were stunned to learn that two-thirds…

Penney Says Welfare of His Players Is Paramount

Penney Says Welfare of His Players Is Paramount

Munster coach New Zealander Rob Penney is so sensitive to the dangers of concussion that he applies a stringent approach to any head injuries suffered by his players – he responds with the level…

Pop Sensation Unfazed by Impending Global Stardom

Pop Sensation Unfazed by Impending Global Stardom

Lorde, 16, who says she chose her stage name because she wanted an aesthetically feminine aristocratic title, tells the Guardian’s Alexis Petridis that the record company “got straight away that I was a bit…

Xero Further Expands into US

Xero Further Expands into US

New Zealand-based online accounting software company, Xero has opened a Denver-area office as part of its US expansion. The local office, in the Denver Tech Center, will be Xero’s fourth in the US. The Wellington…

Our Islands Formally and Bilingually Named

Our Islands Formally and Bilingually Named

15 October 2013 – New Zealand has formally adopted names in English and Maori for the North Island and the South Island; the English already in use but which had not been officially designated. In…

Leading Amateur Award Ahead of Pro Decision

Leading Amateur Award Ahead of Pro Decision

New Zealander Lydia Ko, 16, has received the McCormack Medal as the world’s leading women amateur for a third straight year, which was presented to her by the Royal & Ancient and United States…

Dropping Sentimentality with Print Paywalls

Dropping Sentimentality with Print Paywalls

“Last November Mike Darcey, then a top executive at BSkyB, a British satellite-television company, received a phone call from Rupert Murdoch, the boss of News Corporation,” The Economist writes. “Murdoch wanted him to run…

Close up with Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh

Close up with Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh

Acadamy Award-nominee New Zealander Stuart Dryburgh is interviewed in the August issue of American Cinematographer magazine as part of the “Close-Up” section of the publication which each month features a member of the American…

Fraser a Classical Dance Convert with New Film Giselle

Fraser a Classical Dance Convert with New Film Giselle

New Zealand director and playwright Toa Fraser admits he wasn’t much of a dance fan before setting out to make Giselle, a new full-length film of the 1841 Romantic ballet of the same name,…

Neill Recalls Camping Catastrophes and Culinary Havens

Neill Recalls Camping Catastrophes and Culinary Havens

Star of 1920s-set gangster drama Peaky Blinders, New Zealand actor Sam Neill, talks about culinary havens, camping catastrophes, and fishing in Scotland in a Telegraph travel piece. “This year, I’ve been to New York, Sydney,…

South Pacific Star at Home in Sydney Opera House

South Pacific Star at Home in Sydney Opera House

Christchurch-born operatic baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes, 47, shows Sydney Morning Herald journalist Tim Elliot around the Opera House, which is open 363 days a year – closing only Christmas Day and Good Friday –…

New Age Sensitive Guy Brings Heart to the Beast

New Age Sensitive Guy Brings Heart to the Beast

Auckland-born Jay Ryan, 32, “brings a deep-voiced sensitivity to Vincent”, in his role as the “Beast” in the CBS remake of the 1980’s TV show Beauty and the Beast starring Ron Perlman and Linda…

Plans to WOW the World on the Global Stage

Plans to WOW the World on the Global Stage

Fashionistas first scoffed at Suzie Moncrieff’s displays of bizarre bras and out-there attire, but 25 years on international designers are clamouring to be part of Wellington’s annual World of WearableArt (WOW) show,…

Revolutionary Commercial Fishing Technology Out of the Net

Revolutionary Commercial Fishing Technology Out of the Net

New Zealand says it has developed a technology that will revolutionize commercial fishing with “Precision Seafood Harvesting”, which brings targeted species undamaged to the surface and keeps unwanted catch alive. The technology replaces trawling nets…

Safari Photographs to Be Exhibited in Pall Mall

Safari Photographs to Be Exhibited in Pall Mall

Award-winning nature photographer, New Zealander David Lloyd’s “stunning safari photographs” are part of an exhibition called “Bronze, Black and White, a Joint exhibition with Sculpture”, on from 18-30 November at the Royal…

Auckland Art Gallery World Building of the Year

Auckland Art Gallery World Building of the Year

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki has won the coveted World Building of the Year Award at the 2013 World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore. Designed by Sydney-based Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, in…

Big Visions for UNDP’s Leading Woman

Big Visions for UNDP’s Leading Woman

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, currently administrator of the United Nations Development Program, features in CNN’s monthly column, “Leading Women”, which connects readers to “extraordinary women of our time.” Almost a decade before…

Life on the Ice Makes for Award-Winning Viewing

Life on the Ice Makes for Award-Winning Viewing

A beautifully shot documentary about a year in the life of a New Zealander living in Antarctica was the big winner at the Calgary International Film Festival, snapping up two of the major awards…

Stand Up Winner at California Paddle Awards

Stand Up Winner at California Paddle Awards

Aucklander Annabel Anderson has been named stand up female paddler of the year at the 2013 SUP Awards in California. Anderson was the 2012 Stand Up World Series champion, Battle of the…

Soprano a Splendid Feather in Downton Abbey’s Cap

Soprano a Splendid Feather in Downton Abbey’s Cap

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, “one of the greatest opera sopranos of the past 40 years”, has joined Downton Abbey for a single episode to play Australian soprano Nellie Melba. The Telegraph’s Laura Thompson meets…

Evocative Portraits of LA Homeless in Close Up

Evocative Portraits of LA Homeless in Close Up

Hamilton-based photographer and graphic designer Michael Pharaoh’s gripping series of portraits “The Homeless of LA” evoke, in tremendous detail, the identity of Hollywood’s homeless population in a series of muted yet stylistically…

In Memory of an Advocate for Women

In Memory of an Advocate for Women

Wellington-born Jill McLean Taylor’s memory is being kept alive by her three sons with a scholarship they began shortly after McLean Taylor’s death in the United States in 2010. He Also Had…

Plans for Icy Demonstration Flight South

Plans for Icy Demonstration Flight South

Air New Zealand is planning a demonstration Boeing 767 flight to Antarctica on 5 October, and if all goes well the airline is expected to operate two more chartered flights to “the ice” later…

Milking Sheep for All They’re Worth

Milking Sheep for All They’re Worth

New Zealand’s sheep-milking is predicted to be big industry for New Zealanders in the future with Southland sheep-milking business Blue River Dairy planning to invest millions of dollars in new equipment. Blue River manufactures and…

When Zipper Met Kanye at No 3 Abbey Road

When Zipper Met Kanye at No 3 Abbey Road

“It’s always going to be an entertaining proposition when American hip hop star Kanye West grants someone an interview opportunity” Pedestrian TV says, and this time, New Zealand-born broadcaster BBC Radio 1 host Zane…

Storyteller Keeps Visitors Enthralled at Opera House

Storyteller Keeps Visitors Enthralled at Opera House

Former radio announcer and television reporter New Zealander Bruce Barnett, 62, is now a tour guide at the Sydney Opera House, and this week his job features in the WA Today column, “On the…

Raglan’s Endless Summer Still Shines

Raglan’s Endless Summer Still Shines

New Zealand’s “surf mecca”, the “legendary” Raglan features this month in both the Wall Street Journal and Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine. “Legend has it this quaint settlement of about 3000 people…

Gracefully Addictive San Francisco Gig

Gracefully Addictive San Francisco Gig

“The Portland-based (though one-third New Zealand-born) trio finds a delicate balance between lo-fi minimalism and swirly, disoriented pop songs heavy on themes of isolation, which they translate gracefully into a live…

Thanks to This Smart Guy NYC Tech Blossoming

Thanks to This Smart Guy NYC Tech Blossoming

Google’s chief engineer Blenheim-born Craig Nevill-Manning may be responsible for igniting New York City tech and not Mayor Michael Bloomberg, according to The Huffington Post. “It’s kind of funny that one of the key reasons…

Bank Chief Faces Long List of Challenges

Bank Chief Faces Long List of Challenges

New Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive New Zealander Ross McEwan must confront a long list of challenges, according to the Financial Times, and at the forefront of issues facing him, “is the…

Measure Your World with a Smartphone Laser

Measure Your World with a Smartphone Laser

New Zealand-developed Spike, created by ikeGPS, “the world’s first laser accurate smartphone accessory,” is crowd-funding on Kickstarter and offering those who pledge more than $10,000 a trip to New Zealand to visit the development…

Cibo Chefs Cook up Local Flavours for Beijing Diners

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

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

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…

Channelling His Ancestors from Canada

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

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

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,…

V8 Supercar Driver Promotes Safety on the Road

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…