Dawn Ceremony
Maori dancers performed a traditional dawn ceremony opened by a conch shell in St Mark’s Square, Venice, to celebrate New Zealand’s participation in the Art Biennale.
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
If You Can’t Beat ’em, Eat ’em
“We need to take millions of possums out of circulation, not just nibble at it,” said Tauranga farmer Bryan Bassett-Smith promoting Possyum, the possum meat dog food he hopes will solve New Zealand’s marsupial woes.
Boyish Blair
Ex-Labourite, New Zealander Bryan Gould comments on the man who runs Britain: “When I see him on television now, he still seems very young to me – just as he was in 1983, refreshingly boyish, wet…
All that is golden…
The Lord of the Rings (the book) – boyish fantasy or “true myth” that is a modern masterpiece?
Architectural Taste
Te Mata Estate’s Buck House included in a review of good winery architecture – buildings that, like the wine, reflect and are inspired by the region. Designed by Ian Athfield, the “series of honest, non-fussy buildings” fuses…
Foxing the censors
“Marvel at the ever-brilliant Kerry Fox” in style bible i-D mag’s guide to the ‘future of cinema’. Fox’s raw performance in Intimacy won her best actress at the Berlin Film; i-D suggests that the…
Intimacy and anguish
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox’s award-winning work in Intimacy continues to generate curiosity, awe and pursed lips: Getting Intimate in the Sunday Times; Truely, madly, explicitly in The Observer and Hanif…
Jumped
A.J. Hackett – the edge entrepreneur and adrenalin junkie who took bungee from a bridge in Queenstown to the world – profiled as pioneering legend of ‘American'(!) adventure sport in this month’s Vanity Fair.
Don’t Bank on British Security
NZ is light years ahead of Britain for banking security. “I don’t want to sound like a homesick Antipodean”, writes Charlotte Denny, “but ever since I arrived here 10 years ago, the true awfulness of the British…
Lego-ality of Language Hi-jack?
Intellectual property Lawyer and “defender of Maori culture” Maui Solomon challenges the right of Danish toy-maker Lego to use Polynesian words in its new game Bionicle.
Doctor Nurse
“There is not many people I take my hat off to, but I take my hat off to Olly. She is one of the best sisters we have ever had,” says Wanaaring local Jimmy Skinner…
Radio Innovation
Christchurch innovators Tait Electronics make product development company PTC’s annual Awards short-list with teched-up radios, the Orca 5000 series.
A Piece of Martin
Ex-Shortland Streeter Martin Henderson toplines indie A Piece of My Heart and plays opposite Nicolas Cage in Windtalkers, currently in production. Register and search under Archives
In the Xbox
Set to revolutionize gameplaying, Microsoft’s up-coming Xbox will have tools and middleware developed by Auckland-based Right Hemisphere. The New Zealand company has signed with Microsoft to create custom versions of its Deep Paint 3D and Texture…
Best Breath? No Breast!
Breast-feed infants may have a greater chance of developing asthma in later life according to a study conducted on over 1000 New Zealanders.
Britain’s Brain-drain
Young educated people are leaving Britain for the good life down under: “There’s both a pull of countries like Australia and New Zealand and a push from this country, where there are too many…
Top Talk
Up there with the big events in Washington: Ken Gutschick presents a talk on New Zealand at the Long Branch Senior Centre.
Pinetree Speaks
Colin Meads on touch judges: “Boy do they give you a gut ache. Last year when there was a bit of a fight in a test match a touch judge ran on the field to break it…
Life full of words
Alison Waley, Hokitika-born poet, artist and writer died aged 100. Most famous for her marriage to Arthur Waley, Waley also had “strength of purpose and character, and a way with words, written and spoken,…
At home on the edge
Sam Neill talks acting, wine and why New Zealand is home: “I just love going back – I feel comfortable there, I am entirely relaxed there and I feel I do much my best…
Right Ball’s Up
New Zealand funny-man and sideways thinker Burton Silver presents the oval golf ball, for those times when round is just too tricky.
Bugger Knocked off for Nearly Fifty Years
It’s 48 years since Sir Edmund and Tenzing put themselves on the roof of the world.
Wellywood
Dead oliphants at Plimmerton, hobbit cities and epic battles: just the beginning for “Wellywood”.
A day in the life
Margaret Mahy’s 24 Hours confirms her place among the “world’s best”. Her books for young adults “are not easy reads, but they are hugely rewarding, emotionally and intellectually”. Also, Mahy at The Hub…
Get it right
In the unsettled paradise that is the Pacific, accuracy and local knowledge are a reporter’s only hope says seasoned island-hand, New Zealand journalist David Robie.
Fishing for a Decision
The urban Maori/traditional iwi dispute over fisheries reaches the Privy Council in London, New Zealand’s highest appellate court.
Lego Language Insult
New Lego trading cards feature words like “toa”, “kanohi” and “whenua” – sound suspiciously familiar?
Bravery Remembered
Sixty years ago New Zealanders fought and died on Crete. Veterans and locals commemorate the battle. Also, Helen Clark pays tribute to the 671 New Zealand soldiers killed at Galatas.
Sailing to Meet the Past
“You get your guy sailing with us and it kind of changes things. It makes them want to come back,” says master waka builder Robert Busby, with his father Hekenukumai at Hawaii’s fourth annual In Celebration…
Rings Actors Awestruck
“It seems that those involved are only starting to realise just how big a movie project with which they have been involved. The actors were awe-struck by look of the movie and the spectacular…
Altitude Stable
A bit of turbulence on the ground, but Air New Zealand still makes the top ten in the air.
Tohu Sauvignon
“The only wine in New Zealand (as far as I know) that’s made entirely by Maori. If you’ve grown tired of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, this gooseberry and passion fruit white, with its fresh acidity and real…
Five Dollar Bird
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins, literally noise-shouters) catch the attention of an international money man.
Top Price Drinking
Three Rivers shiraz is Australia’s most exclusive wine, an in-crowd signifier with the big money crowd. New Zealand wine-maker Chris Ringland is the man behind the thousand dollar bottles.
The Ghost of Rob
“A late but not widely lamented New Zealand prime minister once introduced strict currency controls. When asked if the fixed rate was not out of line with market reality, he responded that the value of the…
Top Dollars Man
The Australian Treasury head-hunted Ken Henry from Canterbury University in 1984: now he’s the head of the outfit.
Kiwis On Skid Row
New Zealanders Bridget McIver and Vaughan Smith live in a trendy San Francisco loft – but the neighbours don’t reflect the price tag.
Mahon’s Final Stroke
“Laconic, grizzled New Zealander” Harry Mahon, legendary international rowing coach dedicated to creating the perfect stroke, died of cancer aged 59. Mahon took team after team to the top, including the British gold medallist eight at Sydney…
Bachelor of the Game
Training? How about a degree in rugby (Certificate in High Performance Athlete Management) from Massey University and the New Zealand Rugby Academy.
Captain Cayless
Sydney laments 22-year old Nathan Cayless’s decision to follow his Maori heritage home and captain the New Zealand league side.
Drawing Blood
David Low: outsider, radical, New Zealander. Last century’s greatest political cartoonist.
Jack Off?
Should New Zealand drop the Union Jack and opt for the Silver Fern as a more unique and marketable symbol?
Swinging Fortune
Michael Campbell hits an astonishing ten under par round in the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open, briefly overshadowing Tiger Woods. But, Campbell commented “It’s nice to lead, but I would rather be leading after the fourth round than after…
As Good as New?
Age should be no barrier to going under the surgeon’s knife: 85 year-old patients come out of surgery as well as 65-year old patients according to Auckland researcher Dr Falah Haddawi, who believes the elderly are…
Not Thick-skinned Enough
Rugby players who feel invincible because of protective clothing are more likely to be injured than their non-padded co-players says Otago study.
In Over His Depth
Sam Neill stars as the ingenious and courageous Lt. Commander Charles “Swede” Momsen in New England submarine drama Submerged.
Who’s a Clever Kea Then?
The kea outscores gibbons in intelligence tests. “There was definitely learning going on,” says Rachel Johnston who administered the avian IQ tests.
Subterranean Stars
Caver Dominic Casciani admires the beauty below the surface: “In New Zealand I have splashed through cave water, prompting microscopic glowing to light up the cave ceiling like a second zodiac”.
It’s Raining (Flying) Men
Britain’s RAF, looking to fill vacancies, sees the disbanding of the combat wing of the RNZAF may be a wind-fall.
Driving Miss Dotty
New Zealand truck driver Neil Russell found two damp felines (Dotty and Smokey) clinging to the underside of his lorry when he pulled into the Chelsea Flower Show.
