Tua Training to Become King of the Heavyweight Jungle
Las Vegas Sun columnist Dean Juipe’s boxing notebook profiles No.1 challenger to the heavyweight throne, David Tua, from his utopian home in Las Vegas – lions included.
Blog Archives
Russell Crowe maximises his earnings
“What we do in life echoes in eternity,” Russell Crowe as General Maximus says while admonishing his battle-ready troops in Gladiator. And what we do at the box office echoes in our paychecks”.
A Funeral to Die For
Death is finding new life on the web: a New Zealand-based Web site, www.funeralstodiefor.com, will plan a customer’s last rites down to the choice of music and type of flowers–and promises to help make the ceremony happen…
Who Says Sport and Politics Don’t Mix?
US Senate Candidate John Ensign revived former UNLV basketball star Mark Dickel when the player struck his head during a pick-up game and went into convulsions. Dickel, from New Zealand, an honourable mention All-American point guard, was…
Superstar Jonah Shows that He’s got Grass-roots
Rugby superstar Jonah Lomu, shows he still knows what the game’s all about in the professional era, and will play for a local club in the Wellington second division club rugby competition.
New Zealand Wines Meet the Challenge
Hong Kong: Kiwi wines dominate in the South China Morning Post’s Kevin Sinclair’s answer to the challenge of how to build the perfect home wine collection from scratch.
Grey Power? Not Unless You Drink More Milk
Auckland University researchers have found that women who go grey earlier have lower bone density and are more at risk from osteoporosis.
Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport – They’ve Done It Again
In the “Cool places to shop (and what to buy)” section of the South China Morning Post’s “Cool guide to Sydney”, Williams Street is noted for Collette Dinnigan, and Janine Edwards is mentioned for…
Roman in gloamin’ ?
Russell Crowe is being hailed here as the best-looking guy in a skirt since Mel Gibson. The showbiz press have gone crazy over the New Zealander’s performance in Gladiator, just like Mel’s in Braveheart. …
G’Day Caesar
Crowe’s accent crosses the expanses of the globe and the distance of time in the Gladiator – Owen Duggan corrects the notion that it’s Bondi-based, and Christine Kenneally muses on the sound of things ancient…
David Young, CEO of World’s Largest Air Tour Operation
Young, 58, a transplanted New Zealander, died of cancer in Las Vegas. He was CEO of Scenic Airlines. David Young: died 2000
Looking Down: Fleur Adcock reaps poetic insight from the fringe
“Strangers are good for us, they help us see ourselves in unfamiliar ways. They take slightly different routes across our wearisomely footslogged home turf.” poetry is acute, intelligent, fastidious, sceptical, often disturbingly funny….
Ten Million Leap over the Edge
Bungee jumping, inspired by a South Pacific rite, was commercialised world-wide by New Zealander A.J. Hackett, who established the Kawarau river bridge site near Queenstown in 1988. This year the 10 millionth person across the world took the…
The Mighty Moa
Preview of Discovery Programme: “Discovery takes a look at an extraordinary (and extinct) New Zealand bird, the moa. The story of the moa is one of mystery and imagination. It reads like a good detective story”.
“Rebels Almost Skinned Me Alive”
In a daring jungle escape, a Kiwi, Major David Lingard, and three British officers on peace-keeping duty in Sierra Leone, evaded capture by rebels, one of whom, clad in a stolen UN uniform taunted, “I have…
Kiwis’ Towering Achievement in Kuala Lumpur
New Zealanders showed their domination at the Kuala Lumpur International Towerathon 2000 in both the men’s and women’s categories. Jonathan Wyatt broke his own record to win the event, climbing the 2,058 steps of the tower in 10.39s….
Home-style Kiwi dressing leads to urban-style success for Designer Rebecca Taylor
In a New York Daily News Mother’s Day special, New York based Kiwi Rebecca Taylor (recently nominated for the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers America Perry Ellis Best New Talent Award) credits her dressmaker…
Nicola Barker, Winner of the World’s Most Lavish Award for Fiction, Gets Lyrical About Dunedin
Spreading her wings in wide open spaces, Nicola Barker in the Observer immerses heartily herself in Dunedin nature and culture and comes up smiling. “This is a happy, happy place. The Albatross shows us its fluffy…
Happy Days Inspires Maori Playwright Briar Grace-Smith to Tell New Zealand Stories
“New Zealanders are becoming bolder and prouder about who we are. We’re no longer looking overseas for our theatre. We’re telling our own stories and feeling good about it. And not just Maori”
Kiwi Soldier in Adventurous Jungle Escape from Murderous Rebels
For three days and three nights, New Zealander, Major David Lingard and three British officers struggled through 50 miles of dense African jungle on the run from murderous rebels in a remote part of Sierra Leone.
From the Z-files: Kiwi Squeezes Gold from Cabbages
26 yr-old PHD student Chris Anderson has developed a way of extracting gold from cabbages grown on old mine tailings – and he is confident that the method will be commercially viable.
“It’s a Grey Whale, I Tell Ya” NZ Whale Detectives Enforce Law of the Sea
Genetic scientists from Auckland University, New Zealand, have discovered that meat from the gray whale, an internationally protected species, was sold in Japanese shops in 1999. They are demanding the Japanese State Fishing Agency locate where the meat…
Remarkable Slight Back on Track after Brain Op
New Zealander Aaron Slight says he is ready to attempt one of motorcycling’s most remarkable comebacks … no one has ever had brain surgery then tried to race again at the top level three months later….
Rome with a View
Ridley Scott’s exhilarating and ferocious Gladiator brings the epic back to life. The movie is dominated by Russell Crowe’s towering Maximus, a man of intelligence, probity and Roman virtue. He’s the most virile presence…
New Zealand Under the World’s Microscope
South Africa: while New Zealanders have mixed feelings about the manner in which their economy was overhauled, few in business have argued with the results and each year hundreds of public and private sector players visit…
Anthony McCarten’s Four Cities a global hit in Hong Kong
“Four Cities, written by New Zealand’s Anthony McCarten is a good chance to sample some contemporary Kiwi writing. The quality of the acting and the breezy joy of the one-liners made this a highly…
Deep Forest Blends With Massive Attack in Oceanic Swirl
Oceania, with the release of its self-titled debut album and led by ex-Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman, makes a spirited and successful atempt to bring Maori music from New Zealand to a global stage. The result is…
Barbara Anderson’s
“Any fan of sharp, poised social comedy, driven by immaculately droll prose, should investigate the New Zealand writer Barbara Anderson”.
Going to work on a memoir
NZ-edged Fay Weldon has signed a reputed £250,000 deal with publishers Harper Collins to write her memoirs, The Word, the Flesh and the She-Devil, a frank account of life, love, religion, psychoanalysis and the…
#12 Off-The-Island
Edge Message #12 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM To NZEDGE.COM Community On the way back from San Francisco to NZ this week I sat next to a Kiwi who is running his own technology start-up in…
The Hobbit; Or, There and Back Again…Already?
Currently being filmed in New Zealand on a mammoth 18 month shoot, the first film won’t even be released until Christmas 2001. Despite this the film’s official site is up and running. “Preview” footage…
Emotional rescue:
Kevin Roberts demonstrates the sharpness of his edge at Conference in San Francisco “Shielded all in black, wielding his New Zealand accent as a sword, the Saatchi & Saatchi CEO launched a tirade on…
Sweet Child China Rose Heads for Seedy Weekend in Brighton
New Zealander Kate Sylvester was one of the week’s most thoughtful designers, declaring a Graham Greene inspired theme from her Brighton Rock “no cigars or pipes please” invitations to the cried myself to sleep…
Sideline Sneers No Music to Ears at Fashion Week
Karen Walker has created another visual and aural sensation. Things got interesting when she provided the fashpack with a CD player and headphones from which they could select their own music. The only trouble…
Star Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott: an irresistible pairing
“Scott, the big name auteur, and Crowe, the acting wunderkind, in the same room. The director, with his well-bred English manners, and the thespian, with his New Zealander ease and laconic wit, are a…
Record Breaking Brit Uses Kiwi Know-how
Brit Ellen Macarthur, 22, the youngest winner of the Europe 1 New Man Star transatlantic yacht race, is attempting the Vendée Globe around the world solo yacht race, its youngest competitor ever. As well as training…
Not the Third Way, But the Kiwi Way: Clark Impresses in the Uk
John Monks, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, marvels at NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark’s golden ride in government, “That’s a government that knows what it’s doing, that is business-friendly, but insists on some rules too”. …
100% Pure: New Zealand Acts to Protect its Isolated Environment
New Zealand’s geographical islation has allowed farms, orchads and tree plantations to remain relatively free of pests and disease that could push up production costs and reduce market export access – but it’s isolation also means it…
If You Can’t Beat ’em, Buy ’em: It’s the American Way
“Let’s face it, American’s hate to lose at anything, from tiddlewinks on up, and we had come to view the America’s Cup as our personal possession. But then New Zealand hung us by the mizzenmast … …
The Greatest Rider of the Century
As Mark Todd prepares to leap the final fences of his distinguished career, The Time’s Simon Barnes heaps lavish praise on the New Zealander who is “without peer” in the equestrain world.
Kiwis Romp to Victory in World School’s Golf Championship
New Zealand were runaway winners of the Golf Foundation team championship for schools international two-day final which ended at Royal County Down Golf Club on Wednesday. The New Zealanders won the R&A Trophy for the first time with…
The Race No Holiday for Club Med
New Zealander Grant Dalton, a winner of the Whitbread Round the World Race, is to skipper 110ft catamaran Club Med in ‘The Race’, a non-stop dash around the world starting from Barcelona on the last day…
Alt-rock poster boys Luna lose a little sheen
Founding bassist Justin Harwood has resigned his position behind the bass, and after eight years in the band, will return to his native New Zealand to raise his newborn baby girl.
Travelling with Cruise Control
If Kiwi Jonathan Kruse has his way, road-tripping tourists will never have to fumble with the map or guide-book again. Using global positioning systems, information about your location and relevant tourist attractions, meshed with evocative music and…
Russell Crowe: A Gladiator Even a Woman Could Love
“Why would a woman want to see Gladiator: 1. It’s a love story. Really. 2. An intelligent female character. 3. Russell Crowe … Born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, Crowe’s got that take-no-mess…
Tragic death of activist remembered in Punitive Damage.
The Kiwi-made documentary traces the life and tragic death of Kamal Badmadhaj, slaughtered in the 1991 Dili Cemetery Massacre by the Indonesian military. The film won the Audience Award at the 1999 Sydney International Film Festival…
Female Guru
Fay Weldon and why we love those wise big women Maddening, sexy, inconsistent, irascible, solipsistic, profound, perplexing and provocative … and we love her. New Zealand-raised Fay Weldon joins the female-guru big-time along with…
Aussies Tell Flightless Kiwis: “You Can Be My Wing-man Anyday”
If New Zealand looks to emulate Iceland or Costa Rica, and do away with its combat air-force and emphasise its peacekeeping role, its best pilots can rest safely in the knowledge that the Australian air-force will…
Buttery New Zealand invention Spreads the word
As British consumers have become more concerned about food safety, Anchor has taken advantage of New Zealand’s clean, green image to promote its spreadable butter – a product invented by the New Zealand Dairy Board.
Campbell Puts Merit in Order
“The Maori’s return to form shows it was no fluke the first time. Currently third in the order of merit, Campbell’s outstanding recovery is illustrated perfectly in the Maori proverb: “I te tu oho koe/ Hei…
Kea Aura: Cool Queenstown is a Hot Destination
Tipped to be the hottest destination for trendsetters travelling Down Under this summer – not just because of its Winter Ice festival, when the whole community goes crazy with street parties, jazz parades and night skiing, but…
Kiwi Innovation Helps Blind See the Future
A Christchurch company has taken computers for braille users from the age of the typewriter to the age of the super-computer, with Braillenote, the first notebook computer for the blind. Asiaweek (CNN) profiles the innovation in its…
Tua to Lewis: “It’s Time to Face the Music”
“The fans need to see David Tua destroy Lennox Lewis. He’s tailor-made for me. I Respect what he’s accomplished, but I believe I have the style to knock Lennox Lewis out” …
Fresh Crowe Conquers in Revival of Old-genre
“I just thought he was fresh, a new generation, he’s a man who’s on his way up,” says Ridley Scott, of Russell Crowe, the Gladiator’s 36-year-old New Zealand star.
New Zealand Spreads No-nukes Message
In a letter to the editor of the Financial Times spokesperson for the New Agenda Coalition, Mexican Ambassador Antonio de Icaza, expressed concern at current developments “whereby nuclear weapons are being re-rationalised for the foreseeable future; indeed…
Kiwi Kosovo Peacekeeper Threatens UN Withdrawal as Violence Escalates
Dennis McNamara, the UN High Comissioner for Refugees top official in Kosovo, threatened to suspend UN activities in the Kosovo city of Mitovica, if attacks on its staff and vehicles did not cease.
