Runaways and Jean-genies
“Maverick NZ designer” Karen Walker is to return to Australian catwalks, showing a variation on her Runaway collection (recently acclaimed at London Fashion Week). Walker plans to modify the Runaway range for her southern…
Tag Archives: Sydney Morning Herald (The)
Walker Talks Trends
In a bid to understand the fashion industry’s “pandemic schizophrenia,” SMH picks the brain of Kiwi style guru, Karen Walker. “It’s all about zig-zagging. If it was white last season, it’ll be black this…
Sun Sets on “The People’s Horse”
NZ mare Sunline, Australasia’s grand lady of racing and a champion that uniquely inspired anthromomorphic devotion, ended her five-year domination of Australian tracks with a brave final run at October’s Cox Cup. The winner of 32…
“That’s the way it is:” broadcast legend bows out
Brian “Hendo” Henderson, Channel 9 Australia’s “stalwart newsreader” for the last 46 years, has announced his retirement. Born and bred in Southland, NZ, Henderson started out on Dunedin radio. Moving to Sydney in the…
From Soaps to Splatter-flicks
New York-based Kiwi, Martin Henderson (Shortland Street, Windtalkers), co-stars in October’s US box-office No.1 – The Ring. The thriller is a re-make of the cult Japanese Ringu series, and revolves around a video-tape curse….
66 and Still Dancing the ACDC Way
NZ’s “first really iconic out-and-out drag queen” – Carmen Rupe – was honored at the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney. The November 2 opening ceremony at the Sydney Football Stadium devoted a segment entitled…
The Resurrection
“If the internet could express emotions, a collective groan of despair would have filtered through a quarter of a million modems with the sudden closure of a site called Arts & Letters Daily.”…
Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors averted an Australian national emergency by falling at the final hurdle in their proud and historic run to the National Rugby League Grand Final, losing to Sydney Roosters 3-8. From ruin two…
Brazarre
In the Sydney Morning Herald: “New Zealand’s most uplifting tourist attraction, a brassiere-hung fence in the Cardrona valley in Otago is being restored. Farmer John Lee will wire 400 bras – sent to him by women…
Daggs vs. SNAGs
Kiwi men not wild but woolly apparently: NZ Rugby columnist “Jessie”(Jack?) was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald calling her male countrymen “girls with hairy legs” in a rant against men embracing, “their long-haired,…
Whale Rider: People’s Choice at Toronto
Whale Rider swerves past Bend it Like Beckham to win the prestigious AGF People’s Choice award at the Toronto Film Festival – an award previously won by Amelie and …
Warriors Minor Premiers
“Kiwis break a few hearts.” The New Zealand Warriors continue an impressive NRL season by finishing top of the table and taking out the minor pemiership (and a $100,000 bonus for the club) – meaning…
Land of the Great Big Tout
Australian fly-fishing convert Margie Blok declares NZ an angler’s paradise. Blok describes her chopper ride into the inaccessible headwaters south-east of Lake Taupo as yielding “the ultimate fly-fishing experience”: “…the hypnotic noise of the river and the…
It’s in the Bag
NZ designers, Emma East and Nicky Harris, have taken their successful accessories line Rosa Bespoke Bags across the Tasman. The pair arrived back from a trip to Europe determined to oust the black leather…
Guilt-free Fur
Ah, to be able to wear fur without fear of red paint. The possum’s status as NZ’s chief environmental menace has encouraged the fashion industry to use its fur for everything from bags to…
“Land of the Long White Run”
NZ slopes get the thumbs up from Oz ski-buffs. The Southern Alps: “bigger than the Swiss, French and Austrian Alps combined” – are praised for their variety, beauty, and value for the dollar in a comprehensive SMH report.
Ashes to Ashes
The heart-stopping (breaking?) Bledisloe battles are becoming enshrined in Ocker sporting lore: “Once, Australians could rattle off virtually every ball of an Ashes cricket series. Now it is Bledisloe Cup rugby.” According to Spiro Zavos, the battle…
Alone it Stands
Irish playwright John Breen’s tale of Munster’s famous victory over the 1978 grand-slam All Blacks recieves winning reviews and box office at the Sydney Opera House on its way to a season in Auckland’s…
“Oh the Shame”
Crys the Sydney Morning Herald. In a great weekend for trans-Tasman rivalry the All Blacks put one hand on the Beldislode Cup with a tough 12-6 victory over the Wallabies in atrocious conditions in Christchurch and the…
iEdge
The SMH tries to find the code behind the icon-making, convention busting, award winning (but secretive) Apple design team after, for the fourth year running, Apple takes out the British Design and Art Direction Association’s top award…
Dial M for Mambo
Crossing aesthetic borders NZ-born designer Marcelle Lunam leads “a new breed of artists cum designers redefining Australian streetwear”. Lunam is designer for Mambo’s “reverse diffusion” range ‘M’ – merging street and pop culture and…
Georgie Girl
“Quintessentially NZ story” highlight of Sydney Film Fest. Annie Goldson’s “Georgie Girl” follows the edgy life of Georgina Beyer – the world’s first transsexual MP – from her days as a sex-worker and drug user,…
Canterbury Crusaders Find Rugby Holy-land
“New Zealand’s Crusaders put up a persuasive case as world rugby’s champion provincial team with their unbeaten sweep through the Super 12 series” … sealing the tournament with a dominant 31-13 win over the ACT Brumbies. Earlier the…
WorldEdge: Sydney Fashion Week
The Australian Review headline: “Kiwis upstage hosts at fashion week”. WORLD’s youthful postmodern colour blast made the cover of the all the major papers. And Zambesi’s bomber jackets coupled with their trademark structuralist dresses…
Finn Family Fun
A laid back Tim Finn ponders his career, fatherhood, his NZ-homecoming, getting picked up by Iggy Pop, and more on the eve of an Aussie tour and muses on the power of song:…
Writer’s block
“The literary traffic across the Tasman isn’t as brisk as it should be. Much good writing has to come from Auckland or Wellington to Australia by way of publication in London; and New Zealand…
The Empire Strikes Back
The SMH finds Tem Morrison carrying the antipodean banner in the new Star Wars blockbuster, Episode II: Attack of the Clones – the latest installment of George Lucas’s epic fantasy: “The best…
Z-files: Conspiracy Theory
“Pretty unlikely”, is the way Helen Clark responds to allegations that her predecessor David Lange received death threats (“liquidate him”) from former US vice-pres Dan Quayle over his government’s anti-nuclear stance.
Kevin Smith Farewelled
One of New Zealand’s best loved screen stars, Kevin Smith, dies aged 38, in a Beijing Hospital. Best known for playing Ares in the hit series Xena:Warrior Princess, Smith suffered head injuries in a…
Wheel World Road Trip
SMH’s Kendall Hill goes Campervanning in NZ. She jokes that she was looking forward to a “wucked trip” but, “the pursuit of puns and funny thungs gave way to the pure enjoyment of exploring this remarkable…
Man with the Hook
NZ-born Sam Chisholm, the man who spent more time in the boxing ring than class room at King’s College, who then went on to become deal maker and right hand man for both Kerry Packer and Rupert…
I See Red
A New Zealand company, Knights of NZ, wins the contract to make the Australian Olympic team’s opening ceremony coats for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Worth more than $3000 each, the coats are made from 100 per…
Heckler Good-humoured
500 e-mails, several severed subscriptions, and a visitation by one J.Lomu later, Graham offers an open apology. Planting tongue firmly in cheek, he concedes amongst other things that Split Enz are indeed better than Midnight…
#1 Trans-Tasman Lampoon
Australian correspondent Martin Graham, in the ‘Heckler’ section of Sydney Morning Herald mocks Kiwi hobbit hubris over Lord of the Rings raving. While accusing NZers of fawning over “the fulm” like they’d split…
Awards of Merit
Controversial clergyman and academic Lloyd Geering carried off the highest honour in the New Years’ list, Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Colin “Pinetree” Meads, All Black 1957-71 and all-time greatest…
Apocraphylactic Realism
Another Aussie icon from Godzone: NZ-born Reg Mombassa is best known for the distinctive designs he creates for the Mambo surf-wear brand: bright, surreal visions of suburban life and beach culture. He is frequently…
“For You to See Our World the Right Way Round”
Allen Curnow, one of New Zealand’s great 20th-century writers and poets, has died in Auckland. Daily Telegraph: “regarded by many as New Zealand’s greatest poet” Curnow helped define a separate NZ identity in verse,…
This Glorious Tradition
Respect: The Sydney Morning Herald offers solace to the demanding expectations of AB fans and puts a recently balanced ledger in the context of the history and aura of the All Black tradition: “Now you know…
Click Go the Sheilas
Kiwi shearer Kylie Hamilton, “not really a very hefty bird,” but “with a good chassis under her” matches the men in her gang sheep for sheep – one of the first women in enter this very…
Whiff of Health
Edge-designed disease-detecting super-nose could lead to a revolution in doctoral diagnosis, as well as having commercial applications in the oil and gas industry.
Origin Controversy
Is every living thing on earth descended from a heat loving bacteria – or are we, as Dr Anthony Poole of Massey University suggests, all really aliens on our own planet?
Free Farming
New Zealand leads the world with a fully deregulated agricultural sector – but big players like the US still protect and subsidise farmers, talking the free-trade talk but not walking the walk.
Founder Found
The lost grave of Denis Hoben, founder of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, uncovered in Sydney.
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…
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…
Top Dollars Man
The Australian Treasury head-hunted Ken Henry from Canterbury University in 1984: now he’s the head of the outfit.
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.
Auckland Attractions
“I fell madly in love with Sydney and I thought, ‘I don’t have to live in America!’ My wife was already in love with Melbourne. Then we visited Auckland and it became our compromise. It’s the…
Calling Australia
Telecom New Zealand’s major stake in Australia’s 3G mobile network is just the beginning according to Telcom CEO Theresa Gattung.
Crowe’s Anzac
Stan Wemyss, Russell Crowe’s Grandfather, was a soldier and cinematographer – a key influence on the star.
Anzac Spirit
“In late April 1915, John Davis, a young New Zealander uncertain even of his own age, stepped off a small boat on the shores of Gallipoli. Moments later he slumped, apparently lifelessly, into the sea.” Two…
Returning the Gaze
Early European explorers of the Pacific created a cult of the South Seas – Sir Joseph Banks, for example, had his portrait painted wearing a Maori cloak over his European dress. Now the Pacific refocuses the…
Anzac Memorial
The New Zealand war memorial in Canberra was officially opened on 24 April by Australian Anzac veteran, 100-year old Charlie Mance.
Oz Needs Women on Top
Australia needs to heed New Zealand’s example on female politicians, roping more talented women into mainstream parties. New Zealand’s current female dominated political scene is “light years away from Australia’s old-fashioned old boys’ game.”
