On the right path
Another talented Urban, Karl is to star in the upcoming US$30 million Viking epic, Pathfinder. Directed by Marcus Nipsel (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and written by Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander), Pathfinder tells the story of a…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
The “Little Airline that Could”
Air NZ’s ongoing $800 million overhaul has not gone unnoticed in the US, with lengthy articles devoted to its new look 747’s in the LA Times and FirstClassFlyer. Upgrades include fold-out flat beds in business class, personal…
Fans tickled pink
Stokes Valley tribute band, The Pink Floyd Experience, whipped South African fans into a frenzy with their recent tour of the country. “This was no second-string cover band: it was obviously a highly…
Sideline Venture
NZ’s best known sportswear brand, Canterbury of New Zealand, registered on leading international trend analysis site WGSN’s radar with its entry into the US market. “In a sea of denim and tees,…
Almost kiwi
Best-selling British author, Alexander McCall Smith, (No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) revealed a Kiwi connection while in the country promoting his latest book. McCall Smith’s doctor father, George McCall Smith, ran off with a patient…
Visionary Remembered
NZ’s scientific and business community has lost one of its brightest stars with the death of Pulse Data founder Dr Russell Smith. Smith and his wife, early childhood specialist Marian D’Eve, were both killed when their Cessna…
Kiwi-fight
The LA Times explores the history of Gridley, Kiwifruit Capital of the USA and sister city to Te Puke – Kiwifruit Capital of the World, thank you very much. Of note is the trade war between…
Fox buys slice of Kiwi reality
US cable network giant, Fox Reality, has purchased the rights to a three NZ reality TV shows; Treasure Island, Treasure Island Extreme, and The Bounty Hunters. “These shows are really strong examples of…
Coming to America
The largest exhibition of Maori art ever to show in the US opened at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts on August 4. Entitled Toi Maori Art from the Maori…
Kyoto Protocol a “Feelgood Gimmick”
Meanwhile, SMH columnist Miranda Devine says “Our Kiwi neighbours, once smug about ecological superiority, face a cost blow-out from the treaty exceeding $NZ1 billion ($900 million). The farcical result is that even though the country produces only…
Top 10 for 100%
New Zealand has ranked 10th in an index of the strongest brands in the world compiled by marketing research firms Anholt-GMI. New Zealand had positive brand values and managed, like Ireland which came 13th,…
Cloudy Bay Credibility
The burgeoning NZ wine industry gets an extensive survey in The Drinks Business magazine (UK.) Author Penny Boothman cites several factors behind NZ’s success on the international market, including the ongoing Cloudy Bay effect….
Mongolian Musings
Auckland born investment banker, John O’Loghlen, muses on Mongolia in the nicely titled Feeding a Dragon: Mongolia’s Position within a Rising Asia. Observations on the Land of Eternal Blue Sky for the Land of the…
Design on the Money
Auckland based Cabco Group Ltd is to provide hi-tech shopping carts for US retail giants Wal-Mart and H.E Butt. The Wal-Mart deal alone is expected to net the company $50 million per annum. The TV Cart is…
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About Me
Edge denim designer Nicole Colovos and husband Michael were guest editors and cover stars of the sixth issue of independent US magazine, Me. Created by New York art director Claudia Wu, Me profiles a…
Flying the southern flag for philosophy
Victoria University’s Professor Kim Sterelny has won the 2004 Lakatos Award for his book Thought in a Hostile World: The Evolution of Human Cognition. The $10,000 prize, named in honour of Karl Popper protégé…
World’s fastest kiwi
Screenwriter and director Roger Donaldson’s film The World’s Fastest Indian was a roaring success at the Cannes Film Festival. It has quickly become the most sought after feature in the Cannes Market…
The Sweet Sound of Success
Dilworth School alum Mark Petrie (above right) is carving an impressive career in film and television scoring in LA. Petrie completed a degree in film composing at Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1999. He is now…
Midwestern Dashper
The Sioux City Art Center is to show Midwestern Unlike You and Me: New Zealand’s Julian Dashper. This is the first ever travelling retrospective of a New Zealand-based artist to be organized by an…
Biennale buzz
Art collective et al is New Zealand’s representative at the Venice Biennale with its installation The Fundamental Practice. Central to et al.’s work is an exploration of the human tendency to establish truths and…
Shark Attack
“More than 14,000 fans screamed along to anthems from the Split Enz and Crowded House song books. There was no doubting the brothers’ enduring relevance with songs from their latest album Everyone is Here…
Sam’s Back
Called by Kerry Packer “the world’s best television executive,” NZ-born Sam Chisholm is back helming Packer’s Channel Nine. In the 90s he turned UK’s BSkyB into a cash cow for Rupert Murdoch. The Auckland born…
Richard Curtis: Love is the Edge
The BBC screened the latest work by screenwriter and director Richard Curtis, The Girl in the Café, on the eve of the 2005 G8 meeting at Gleneagles. Curtis’s script faces the…
Rainbow Resonates 20 Years On
July 10 marked the 20th anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior bombing in Auckland Harbour. The Greenpeace flagship was targeted by French agents under the orders of then President Francois Mitterand, in retaliation for Greenpeace protests against French nuclear…
Flash Gordon
The Times profiles NZ’s most famous cooking export, the “arch-exponent of fusion food” Peter Gordon. As well as owning the Sugar Club, Providores and Tapa Room (all in London), Gordon is consultant…
Brits on the Move
The Times article explores the current trend of Britons emigrating to NZ, focusing on a young family from Bath who settled in Wanganui a year and a half ago. According to Paul and Estelle Collins, positives…
Wilding at Heart (1)
Roger Federer became the eighth player in Wimbledon championship history to win three consecutive men’s singles titles. Federer joins William Renshaw, the Doherty brothers: Reggie and Laurie, New Zealander Anthony Wilding, Fred Perry, Bjorn…
Cook me some eggs
Kiwi Josh Emett is the chef responsible for returning London institution The Savoy Grill to its former glory, picking up a coveted Michelin star in the process. As Head Chef, Emett is working under the…
Walker Sampled
Karen Walker features in the latest Sample publication by Phaidon – 100 Fashion Designers: 010 Curators. The idea behind the Sample series is for industry insiders to curate a selection of their favourite work within…
Book World’s Reigning Queen
Literary doyenne Liz Calder, co-founder of Bloomsbury Press and nurturer of such talents as Salman Rushdie, Anita Brookner, Julian Barnes and J.K Rowling, has continued her success with the establishment of the Festa Literaria…
San Fran Success Story
NZ company Holmes Culley has won the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC) Award for Best Retrofit Project Using Conventional Technology for its strengthening work on San Francisco Piers 1½, 3 and 5. Zander Sirvyer headed…
Must-see Designs
An impressive write-up in hip Italian trend forecasting magazine, Sport&Street, describes Air NZ Fashion Week as “a must-see fixture on the international fashion calendar.” Highlights include Zambesi (“Elisabeth Findlay, the epitome of an individualist…
Rugby Fever Reaches New Heights
The All Blacks demolished the British and Irish Lions in three straight Tests, in one of the most highly anticipated rugby tours of recent years. The hype both at home and in the UK was spectacular,…
Surf’s Up
The powerful, curling waves that draw surfers to beaches will soon be breaking inland, thanks to a novel shape-shifting rubber reef that can be fitted to the floor of a swimming pool. The Versareef,…
New Zealand Women Make Nobel Peace List
Four New Zealand women are among a historic collective nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Each of the 1,000 women, nominated from across the world, have worked for justice and peace in their respective…
Hot property
Actor Martin Csokas is hailed as “the new Russell Crowe” in the July issue of Australian Vogue. Csokas’ recent projects include The Bourne Supremacy with Matt Damon, Asylum with Natasha Richardson and Sir Ian…
Marks Takes a Bow
Tall Blacks star, Sean Marks, has announced his retirement from NZ basketball, after helping the San Antonio Spurs to victory in the NBA final. “I’ve given it a lot of thought and it was a tough decision…
Employment Looking Up
According to new figures released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), NZ has the second highest employment growth rate in the developed world. The report shows that NZ’s labour force grew 3.4% last year,…
Dinosaurs in the Domain
An Aucklander story featured on international Alt News website, Rense. ‘Mystery creature roams Auckland park,’ turned out to be a tongue-in-cheek promotion of the Auckland Museum’s new dinosaur models in the surrounding Domain.
In Defense of Whales
NZ led the anti-whaling nations at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Ulsan. Headed by Conservation Minister Chris Carter, the delegation included officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and DoC, as well as Whaling Commissioner Sir…
You Can’t Buy Happiness
NZ born lecturer of economics at Stanford University, John McMillan, believes that the obsession NZ politicians have with raising the country’s per capita income to equal that of Australia is a waste of time. “Any cross-country comparison…
Task-master Cook
As Registrar General for England and Wales, New Zealander Len Cook is heading the massive task of digitising the countries’ birth, death, and marriage certificates. “The aim throughout our plans to reform civil registration has been to…
Shattering cinema
Another fantastic review for award-winning NZ film, In My Father’s Den. “They say that NZ wears its people lightly: the land is so strong, so exciting, so varied and so remote that its people…
And France Makes Three
Kiwi motor cross stars Ben Townley and Josh Coppins finished first and second respectively at the French Grand Prix in St Jean d’Angely. The win marked the third Grand Prix title of Townley’s rookie season. “At…
Kia Kaha Cambo
Michael Campbell held off a late charge by Tiger Woods to win the 105th US Open at Pinehurst, his first major championship. He become the first Kiwi to win a major title since Bob Charles…
Industry in Good Hands
Malaysian Star feature looks at NZ’s thriving film, multimedia and technology schools; specifically Auckland’s South Seas Film and Television School, Media Design School, and University of Technology (AUT), and Palmerston North’s University College of Learning (UCol). “Thanks to…
Norris Ready for Take Off
Ralph Norris is leaving the helm at Air NZ to return to banking as managing director and CEO of Australia’s Commonwealth Bank. Norris is credited with turning Air NZ’s fortunes around. “Air NZ’s financial position has never…
Buggin’ out
NZ entomologist, writer, broadcaster and educator, Ruud Kleinpaste, is a hit in the US as the host of Animal Planet’s Buggin’ With Ruud. “In Buggin’ With Ruud, the energetic, fearless Kleinpaste subjects himself…
Mrs Peace Leaves Her Mark
Political activist, peace campaigner and renowned author, Sonja Davies, has died aged 81, leaving an inspiring legacy in her wake. According to her Guardian obituary, Davies – known to many as ‘Mrs Peace’ – ranks…
From strength to strength
Catherine Chidgey’s second novel, The Strength of the Sun, is rapturously received in the New York Times. “It’s difficult to articulate exactly what gives this novel its unassuming power … In combination, the disparate…
Triumph of Nature
Cairo magazine writer admires NZ’s greatest natural resource – the landscape itself – in a hiking tour of NZ. “Once we finally got it was easy to imagine what it had once…
Four stars for Fat Freddy
Wellington groovers Fat Freddy’s Drop recently mounted a highly successful European tour. The Observer‘s glowing review of their new album, Based on a True Story, proves the broad appeal of their distinctly Kiwi sound….
Heavenly Creatures
The Royal NZ Ballet impresses critics with its first foray into Sydney. The Herald reviewer is particularly taken with the show’s titular piece, A Million Kisses to My Skin. “I suspect that the…
Kaitaia Fire
Two groups of Far North students excelled at the Community Problem Solving Championships in Lexington, Kentucky. Kaitaia Primary School won the junior (9-11) section of the competition with their solution to the regular low-level flooding of their…
Land of the Free-thinking
New Zealand: Leading a Small Nation Across a Tightrope, offers an in-depth analysis of the abilities and international standing of PM Helen Clark, and outlines the numerous difficulties inherent in “governing a country of free-thinking Kiwis.” The…
Six Out of Six Sevens
NZ claimed its sixth successive IRB Sevens World Series victory, ahead of the final leg of the competition in France. By the end of the London Sevens tournament in June, NZ had enough overall points to…
