Value for money 
NZ private schools are moving ahead of their British counterparts on the global league table for English-speaking education, according to new international research. NZ tops the table for maths and science in the Pisa education survey, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. British private schools beat NZ in reading alone, while US private schools performed less well than NZ and Britain in all areas. NZ's high quality private education is also significantly cheaper than that available in the UK or US, especially for international students. "New Zealand independent schools represent the best value on the planet," says Lynda Reid, principal of St Cuthbert's College in Auckland. 
(27 December 2007)

Dilemma for cat fanciers
NZ-based psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson has weighed in on the cats versus birds debate in a New York Times magazine feature. The issue of cats killing native birds in the US came to national attention after bird lover Jim Stevenson was caught and charged with shooting feral cats in his area. Masson, author of The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats, is a member of Alley Cat Allies, a US organisation that fights for the rights of wild cats. He found himself caught between two conflicting issues - the rights of individual animals (cats) versus the health of the overall ecosystem (birds) - when he and his family moved to NZ. "Our five cats started to hunt, as cats will," he says. "Our neighbour, a bird enthusiast, was furious. 'Your cats are decimating these birds,' she told me, and I had to agree. But I didn't know quite what to do about it. True, the cats should not be here. But the cats were only doing what came naturally to cats." 
(2 December 2007)

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Award winning airmanship 

Dave versus Goliath 
The opening of a new hotel in Christchurch coincided with the launch of a film detailing the unusual story behind its development. Hotel SO is the result of property developer Dave Henderson's 13-year clash with the NZ Inland Revenue Department (IRD). We're Here to Help captures the battle on film: from Henderson's complaint about comments made to his girlfriend while seeking a rebate, to IRD's subsequent audit of his business and resulting million dollar claim, and the ensuing 4-year court battle which ended in Henderson's favour. Rather than resting on his laurels, Henderson bought the building that housed the IRD, evicted its tenants and set up the hip, ultra-modern Hotel SO. He now plans to open similar hotels in Auckland, London and New York. 
(27 November 2007)

Third time at the top 
NZ has been voted the world's best holiday destination by readers of Britain's Daily Telegraph. Around 30,000 readers took part in the annual survey, which is the largest independent analysis of British travellers. Second and third place went to the Maldives and Australia. "The fact that our customers are the voters means the award is an authentic assessment of the quality of our tourism on offer," said Tourism Minister Damien O'Connor in the NZ Herald. "The United Kingdom, our second largest market for visitor arrivals - contributing 300,000 visitors over the past year - is a valued market for New Zealand and one where we have to work hard to stay ahead of the competition." NZ has been voted the best holiday destination by Telegraph readers twice before: in 2004 and 2005. 
(1 December 2007)

Eight out of nine for Sevens side 
NZ has won the 2007 Dubai Sevens tournament, defeating Fiji 31-21 in the final. The NZ side made the most of two consecutive sin-binnings of Fijian players, but were threatened by a late comeback by the Fijians in the second half. "You can never write anyone off in sevens," said NZ captain DJ Forbes. "But we knuckled down and stuck to our guns. They were very hard to contain but we showed a lot of character and dug deep." The Dubai win is NZ's eighth world title in nine seasons. 
(2 December 2007)

Mighty totara of NZ rugby mourned 
All Black and NZ Maori legend Pat Walsh has died of cancer aged 71. Renowned for his versatility, Walsh played 13 Tests in four positions between 1955 and 1963. He served as an All Blacks selector from 1969 to 1971 after a knee injury ended his playing career, and went on to work as a hotel publican and philanthropist. NZ Herald obituarist Don Cameron describes Walsh as "one of the legendary characters of New Zealand rugby - and certainly among the mightiest totaras of the Maori game...He had speed, skill and superb balance anywhere in the backline and spiced these assets with the mischief (and sometimes the mystery) that only Maori seemed to possess in those days of uninhibited rugby." 
(24 November 2007)

Music that moves you 
The acclaimed NZ String Quartet is currently touring the United States' East Coast. Formed 20 years ago, the Wellington-based group consists of cellist Rolf Gjelsten, first violinist Helene Pohl, violinist Douglas Beilman and violist Gillian Ansell. Pohl and Beilman were born in the US and Gjelsten in Canada; co-founder Ansell is the only NZ-born member. Gjelsten explains why he joined the group in 1994, and became a citizen three years later, in an interview with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "The music of this medium is so profound they wanted to find musicians who would dedicate themselves to this music," he said. "A bonus is that it happened to be New Zealand - one of the most beautiful countries in the world that most people would move to without a job." 
(8 November 2007)

Finding beauty in the everyday 
Six NZ ceramic artists, including the collaborative couple Philip Jarvis and Madeleine Child, are exhibiting together at the annual Craft Victoria festival in Melbourne. Titled Best in Show, the exhibition is a playful tribute to agricultural shows and everyday domestic objects. Child's featured clay works include giant Cheezels and popcorn, while her partner, Philip Jarvis, has used the medium to create toothpaste tubes, Monopoly game pieces and sandcastles. Child and Jarvis are based in remote Aramoana, where they share a studio and numerous art projects. "Sometimes you think you don't know what's going on elsewhere [in the art world] but it's also about having the time and freedom to work without outside influences," said Child in The Age. Best in Show runs until December 1. 
(25 October 2007)

Love, wine and angels in Auckland 
Whale Rider director Niki Caro's new project has made its first pre-sales. The Vintner's Luck, Caro's much-anticipated adaptation of the novel by Elizabeth Knox, has sold to Icon in the UK, Dendy in NZ and Australia, and Ascot Elite in Switzerland. "This was such a beautiful script - both moving and profound - and the material could not be in better hands," said Icon's president of acquisitions, Mark Gooder. Dendy general manager Andrew Mackie described the screenplay by Caro and Joan Scheckel as "simply one of the best scripts we have ever read". The Vintner's Luck stars Jérémie Renier (The Child), Gaspard Ulliel (Young Hannibal), Vera Farmiga (The Departed) and Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider). Pre-production begins in Auckland at the end of the year. 
(26 October 2007)

The next great American host 
NZ television personality Dominic Bowden is taking his hosting skills to the US, where he will front new FOX reality series The Next Great American Band. In NZ, Bowden has hosted Deal or No Deal, New Zealand Idol and numerous awards shows. The Next Great American Band follows a similar format to Idol and features Ian "Dicko" Dickson (Australian Idol) and musicians John Rzeznik and Sheila E as judges. The Hollywood Reporter has given the show the thumbs up, claiming it far surpasses Idol. Bowden also passes muster as host, with HR describing him as "fresher and more at ease than his American Idol counterpart, Ryan Seacrest". 
(26 October 2007)

Next big things 
NZ's white aromatic wines rival its world-famous sauvignon blanc, according to Telegraph writer Jonathan Ray. Ray vowed not to drink any sauvignon on his week-long tour of NZ wineries, despite being a "sucker" for the country's most exported variety. Instead he sampled riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris, chenin blanc and viognier, all of which are beginning to gain recognition both locally and abroad. "I think that Sauvignon's success has blinded many people to the potential of these other varieties," says David Knappstein, winemaker at Forrest Estate in Marlborough. "Fresh, keen, zesty wines can be produced here, even from Chardonnay, and these qualities are ideal for the aromatic varieties. The market is definitely developing, with Pinot Gris really taking off." 
(27 October 2007)

Tokelau keeps NZ ties
Tokelau has voted to remain a NZ colony in its second referendum on the issue in 15 months. The vote for self-governance, which required a two-thirds majority, fell short by 16 ballots. "There'll be another day," said Tokelau's leader, Kuresa Nasau, in the NZ Herald. The tiny cluster of coral atolls is populated by just 1447 people, and has been under colonial government for 130 years. Despite its official status as a colony, it has effectively governed itself along traditional lines the entire time. However, those in favour of self-governance believe that cutting ties with NZ would open the country up to international aid. "With our current status as a colony, we have no political arrangement to meet China, the US and others," said Nasau. "We do not have any authority to make treaties with others." Over 6000 Tokelauans live in NZ. 
(25 October 2007)

Master carver shares message 
Maori master carver James Rickard held a workshop at the Victor Oteyza Community Art Space in Baguio City, the Philippines, this month. He spoke about the need for indigenous artists to protect their works from globalisation, encouraging the Asin carvers in attendance to "meet it [globalisation] at your own terms, your own price, and at your own time". Rickard has been a Maori master carver for 34 years and currently teaches at the Te Puia Wananga Whakairo woodcarving school. His tour of the Philippines has so far encompassed Paete, Laguna and Asin. "Some of us have gone to North America," he says, "but I want to come to Asia where our ancestry begins." 
(10 October 2007)

Queen of the South Pacific
Taumaranui-born soprano Rhonda Bryers has passed away aged 55 at her home in Hawaii. Bryers was one of NZ's best known singers in the late 1980s, when she won the country's Entertainer of the Year award four years in a row. "She was an incredible talent," said Aucklander John McGough, who toured with Bryers 25 years ago. "Classically trained, she sung mainly popular music, including a lot of her own songs." Bryers was one of a group of NZ entertainers, including Sir Howard Morrison and John Rowles, who developed a strong following in Hawaii. She made her Honolulu debut at the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1989, and became known thereafter as the "Queen of the South Pacific". 
(4 October 2007)

Game on 
Wellington-based Sidhe Interactive is the creative brains behind Jackass: The Game, released in the US by Red Mile Entertainment and MTV Games on September 26. The company hopes it will sell over a million copies, which is the benchmark for success in the highly competitive gaming industry. NZ's largest games developer, Sidhe Interactive recently won a multimillion-dollar deal to create a game based on the upcoming US film Speed Racer for Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2. "It is a perfect combination to be coming off Jackass and rolling on to that," says Sidhe spokesman Jos Ruffell. "We have gone from playing in the Australasian market to competing at the absolute top level in the US market." 
(1 October 2007)

Car-boot camaraderie 
With its own spring carnival brought down by horse flu, the Sydney Morning Herald sent writer Rachel Oakes-Ash across the Tasman to check out NZ's racing season. Oakes-Ash headed south for the Christchurch Casino Cup and Show Week, where she attended the traditional car-boot picnic party held on the final day of racing. "Auckland may have its birdcage, champagne lawn and fabulous fillies in frocks," she writes, "but Riccarton Park is more country picnic race, complete with open-armed hospitality, where everything's a laugh and pretension is checked in at the door." 
(30 September 2007)

NZ migrants top Australian stats 
NZ has surpassed Britain as the source of the largest number of permanent migrants to Australia for the first time. According to Australian immigration statistics, NZ arrivals have jumped by 5000 in the past 12 months, from 19,033 in 2005-06 to 23,906 in 2006-07. Formerly the leading source country for permanent migrants, Britain was responsible for 23,223 arrivals for 2006-07. NZ and British migrants combined accounted for 33.6 per cent of all permanent Australian arrivals for 2006-07. 
(25 September 2007)

A sweet alternative 
An LA Times health feature discusses the healing properties of NZ Manuka honey, which is becoming increasingly accepted in international medical circles. Manuka honey has been cleared for use as a wound dressing and antimicrobial in both Canada and the USA, and clinical trials testing its effectiveness are currently underway in Germany, Scotland and South Africa. "In the last few years, a lot of good science has been done in the area," says Shona Blair, a microbiologist at the University of Sydney, who studies the antibacterial properties of honey. Manuka honey has been shown to be particularly effective in treating wounds that will not heal, such as those suffered by diabetics and cancer patients. 
(10 September 2007)

Real life mermaid
Aucklander Nadya Vessey has commissioned a custom-made mermaid tail from Wellington's Weta Workshop. A keen swimmer, Vessey was born with a condition that prevented her legs from developing properly. She had her first leg amputated when she was seven, and the second when she was sixteen. The mermaid tail will be used for swimming only and will be moulded over a pair of wetsuit shorts to make it easy to put on and remove. "[Weta] told me not to worry, that they would even put scales on it," says Vessey. "So I really have no idea what to expect - but it's going to be fun." 
(17 September 2007)

In the pink 
Air New Zealand will launch its first "Pink Flight" from San Francisco to Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in February next year. Modelled on a similar trip from Auckland to Sydney this year, the flight will feature drag queens, pink cocktails, gay-friendly films and a cabaret performed by the flight crew. "They could probably do very well with it," said Michael Wilke, executive director of New York-based advertising advocacy group, the Commercial Closet Association. "It really sounds like someone put together the idea of what a gay cruise is and just applied that to the air. And even gay cruises don't feature employees in particular outfits or gay-themed movies." The Pink Flight is scheduled to depart San Francisco International Airport on 26 February 2008. 
(14 September 2007)

Conchords take flight in UK 
Flight of the Conchords, the HBO series starring NZ comedians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, is ranked eighth on the Guardian's 50 must-see shows. Described as "a downbeat winner", Conchords debuts on BBC4 this month. The series has been a sleeper hit in the US, where it launched earlier this year. 
(8 September 2007)

Titirangi Tate 
Architect Chris Tate's Titirangi dream house featured in the Telegraph's property pages this month. Tate's home sits 13 feet above a gully at its highest point, anchored by 16 poles in the earth. The effect is like a glass box floating in the treetops; its clean lines a stark contrast to the wilds outside. "I wanted it to be modernist, simple, to make the environment paramount and the building secondary," said Tate, who has been a practising architect for only a year. "Working with such a beautiful landscape, you really don't want to stuff it up."
(2 September 2007)

NZ academic unlocks 17th century secrets
Research by a NZ academic launched a 40-year code-breaking endeavour that has resulted in the publication of an important 17th century English diary. Robin Gwynn, formerly an associate professor of history at Massey University, came across Roger Morrice's Entring Book as a doctoral student in London in the 1960s. At that stage, the vast diary was relatively unknown and had never been edited. It was written by a political insider and journalist between 1677 and 1691. "It was a decade of fear, a most unpleasant time. I'm glad I didn't live through it," said Gwynn of the period, which included the death of Charles II and the 1688 revolution. Gwynn's code-cracking (much of the diary was written in obscure shorthand) and painstaking translation, with the help of professors at Cambridge and Brown universities, led to its six-book publication in July this year. 
(4 August 2007)

Fifth win for Warriner 
NZ athletes made another strong showing in the eleventh leg of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup Series. The event in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary, saw three podium finishes for NZ competitors. Samantha Warriner became the first NZ woman in the event's 11-year history to win at Tiszaujvaros, jumping to No.2 in the world rankings as a result. "This is my fifth [series] win and every win is better because you have to work so much harder to get it," she said. Debbie Tanner, ranked world No.3, won bronze in the women's event and Kris Gemmell took silver in the men's. Four races remain in the 2007 series. 
(12 August 2007)

No ordinary life 
A new book about London literary marriages features NZ author Katherine Mansfield and her second husband, John Middleton Murry. Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles (1910-1939) by US author Katie Roiphe examines the relationships of such noted figures as H.G Wells, Clive and Vanessa Bell, and Lady Ottoline Morrell. Of Mansfield and Murry's tempestuous union, Roiphe writes, "fantasy is what they were both most proficient at - ordinary life they found harder".
(15 July 2007)

Te Kopi a top spot 
The Department of Conservation's Te Kopi bach at Palliser Bay has been named one of the five best state-run lodges and cabins in the world by the Guardian. "Light-filled and well equipped, the cottage and two cabins sleep 10 just behind the briny with good fishing and hiking near the Putangirua rock pinnacles." Sossus Dune Lodge (Namibia), Grövelsjön Mountain Lodge (Sweden), Green Point Cottage (Sydney) and Didima Camp (South Africa) rounded out the list. 
(4 August 2007)

Top tucker 
US economics professor and blogger extraordinaire Tyler Cowen rates fish and chips as being "to New Zealand what barbecue is to Texas-tops in the world" on his popular website marginalrevolution.com. Cowen regularly compiles lists of his favourite things about the cities, states and countries he visits, a selection of which was recently published in New York magazine. According to him, NZ is also a "first-rate locale" for Malaysian, Cambodian and Burmese cuisine. 
(23 July 2007)

Humane and humorous
Wellington-born character actor Gordon Gostelow has died aged 82. Raised in Sydney, Gostelow immigrated to the UK in 1950 to pursue acting professionally. The classic BBC serial became a staple of his career, and he appeared alongside such acting greats as Ian McKellen, Judi Dench and Sean Connery in numerous Shakespeare and Dickens adaptations. According to his Guardian obituary, Gostelow's "gift for humane, humorous character sketches was singularly suitable" to these early BBC productions. One of his last appearances was in the popular television series Midsomer Murders in 1999. 
(20 July 2007)

Devastating simplicity 
Mister Pip, the Commonwealth Prize-winning novel by Wellingtonian Lloyd Jones, is praised both for its lyricism and its deft handling of post-colonial issues in the Guardian. "The simplicity with which he describes the atrocities that take place [in Bougainville] is devastating," writes reviewer Olivia Laing. "But it is the great faith that Jones has in literature, to effect change no less than to offer solace, that gives this extraordinary book its charge." Mister Pip is the first book by Lloyd Jones to be released in the UK. 
(7 July 2007)

Woods & Williams still a team
Steve Williams, Tiger Woods' NZ-born caddie, has denied reports he is intending to end the pair's lucrative eight-year partnership. "I have no idea where this [rumour] has come from," Williams told NZ's Sunday Star-Times. "Perhaps Tiger may not play as much now that he's a father but that doesn't make any difference to my job." Williams has previously said that he would like to pursue a full-time motor racing career when he stops working with Woods, but insists that the time has not yet arrived: "That's something that I'd like to do but caddying for the world No. 1 player is a bit more profitable and meaningful." 
(15 July 2007)

Fine art hits the track 
Auckland artist Mark Olsen was commissioned by British race team CreationSport to customise one of two cars it has entered in the 2007 Le Mans Enduro series. Known as "The Children of Le Mans", the car is painted with seven childlike portraits representing the seven nations that host the Le Mans series: France, England, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Brazil. Olsen was hired after a chance meeting with CreationSport owner Mike Jankowski in a London restaurant decorated with his artwork. "Mike and I talked about the teams' values and philosophy and, from my perspective, it came down to having kids on the car," he said. "Vitality, energy, imagination, total acceptance of others - and fun." Olsen is the winner of this year's Telecom NZ Art Awards. 
(16 June 2007)

Civil Service 
Christchurch-born Ian Fletcher has been appointed head of the UK Intellectual Property Office. The Canterbury University graduate joined the UK Civil Service in 1989, after working for the NZ diplomatic service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In his 18 years in Britain, Fletcher has worked for the Monopolies & Mergers Commission, was seconded to the European Commission to negotiate Free Trade Agreements with the World Trade Organisation, headed the Customs Service and Department of Trade and Industry in Kosovo and served as principal private secretary to the head of the Home Civil Service, Sir Andrew Turnbull. Most recently, Fletcher was the International Managing Director for UK Trade and Investment. "The British government is very open and Britain has relatively little xenophobia and that's very important. It is open to non-UK people and to new ideas," he said in a June Unlimited interview. "I think there will be a NZ-born permanent secretary of the civil service within my time." 
(20 March 2007)

Jeweller finds Wonderland in NZ
British jeweller Alice Hughes has created a range of bespoke pieces inspired by NZ plants and sea life. She established Alice in Wonderland Jewellery in 2004 after undertaking an apprenticeship in NZ, where she worked with NZ jewellers Ray Mitchell and Peter Elsbury. Mitchell found international fame after designing the "One Ring" for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. "When I arrived in New Zealand I was overwhelmed by the nature," says Hughes. "I found it really energising and the whole idea of combining the natural elements with jewellery really came together in my mind." Hughes now runs jewellery house parties in her home town of Liverpool, selling her pieces directly to customers: "I always turn up with a couple of bottles of New Zealand wine which is always a help, too." 
(20 June 2007)

Sellaband springboard for NZ rapper 
Christchurch rapper Maitreya has found international fame through sellaband.com, a new social networking site for entrepreneurial music lovers. Sellaband allows users to buy "shares" in acts they think have the potential for major chart success. When the amount invested in an act reaches the US $50,000 mark, Sellaband helps the musician record and globally release a studio album, the sales of which benefit the "believers" (fan investors). Maitreya, now based in New York, was sixth artist to break through the $50,000 barrier and is currently recording his debut album - One Love and Light. 
(9 June 2007)

Backstage essential 
NZ-born osteopath to the stars Garry Trainer has released a new book, Back Chat, with health writer Tania Alexander. Back Chat examines 40 individual case studies of back pain, identifying common causes and offering advice on how best to avoid them. Regarded as a pioneer in his field, Trainer has worked in the UK for the past 25 years and runs a successful clinic in London's Primrose Hill. His clients, past and present, include Brad Pitt, Paul and Linda McCartney, George Michael, Emma Thompson and Paul Simon. Despite his star clientele, Trainer remains grounded by his patients' common physiology. "It doesn't matter if you're black, white or green, how rich you are or how poor you are. We have all got the same muscles and nerves and the same discs. Anyone that moves is prone to back pain", he said in a recent interview with NZ's Sunday Star Times. Trainer's next high-profile job is working on the film version of ABBA musical Mama Mia, starring Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep. 
(10 June 2007)

Stonyridge a must-see 
Waiheke Island's Stonyridge vineyard featured in the Guardian's top ten must-visit wineries, alongside Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and the Frank Gehry-designed Marques de Riscal in Rioja, Spain. Guardian: "Stonyridge is a cult winery with a global reputation. Situated on Waiheke Island, a short ferry ride from Auckland, this small vineyard is one of the most beautiful in the country. The casual, wood-and-stone restaurant/cafe is ideal for chilling out on a hot afternoon." 
(4 June 2007)

NZ ranks swell at creative hotspot
Geoff Coyle is the latest New Zealander to join advertising powerhouse 180 in Amsterdam, bringing the combined total to eight. "Of the 23 nationalities employed here, NZ is by far the most over-represented group," said Coyle's compatriot Kruno Ivancic in Fastline. "And, as usual, we are making our presence felt in the land of milk, cheese and tulips." Creative team Stacey Lee and Rosita Rawnsley and account manager Sam Dempsey (all ex-Saatchi Auckland), creative director Andy Fackrell, digital artist and designer Emile Wilmar and account executive Lauren Andrews make up the NZ contingent. 180 has produced award-winning campaigns for Sony, MTV and Adidas, including the sports giant's recent Impossible is Nothing series featuring Jonah Lomu (pictured). 
(May 2007)

Xero on the money 
A NZ online accounting software company has won the inaugural International Technium Challenge, a business planning competition sponsored by International Business Wales. Wellington-based Xero beat 19 entries from five other countries, winning the opportunity to open an office in one of Wales' Technium business innovation centres along with a business support package worth NZ $120,000. "The Technium Challenge programme will ... give Xero a fantastic platform from which to enter the European market," said company co-founder Rod Drury. Xero is an online accounting system designed for small to medium-sized businesses launched in 2003. Its features include daily bank account updates, a 'dashboard' providing a snapshot of your business at a glance and real-time advice from financial advisors. 
(25 May 2007)

Piece of cake LA 
Times food writer Amy Scattergood introduces Americans to the humble pavlova: "a dessert with an unexpected, rustic elegance." As well as providing a step-by-step recipe, Scattergood details the historical and cultural background of the iconic Australasian pudding. "Now the national dessert of both [New Zealand and Australia], the Pavlova has come down to us as a kind of edible symbol, not only of balletic art, but of colonial ingenuity. Unlike its ornate meringue cousin the vacherin, a beautiful if rather fussy dessert, the Pavlova is composed of a free-form meringue upon which whipped cream and fresh fruit are piled with lovely abandon. That's it."
(23 May 2007)

Tourism NZ gets Googled 
Tourism NZ has teamed up with Google to develop its own official 'layer' on Google Earth, in a world first for a tourism authority. Google Earth is a searchable tool for geographic information that combines satellite imagery with 3D terrain and buildings. The 100% Pure New Zealand layer uses graphic illustrations to draw attention to visitor centres, points of interest and scenic highlights, all of which link to newzealand.com for further information. "The newzealand.com website will be linked from Google Earth's New Zealand locations, so that people around the world will be able to access information about our country as never before," said NZ tourism minister Damien O'Connor. Google Earth layers have previously been created for National Geographic, the United Nations Environmental Program and the Discovery Network.
(May 2007)

NZ preacher battles US atheists
Christchurch-born evangelist Ray Comfort fronted a controversial debate over the existence of God on US TV this month. Comfort (pictured left) and his preaching partner, child actor Kirk Cameron, squared off against two members of the atheist Rational Response Squad for the heated 90-minute argument, which aired on ABC's Nightline. According to the debate's moderator, Nightline journalist Martin Bashir, the "no-holds barred debate ... was well worth watching", and generated a massive response from viewers. Comfort, 57, was born Jewish and his no theological training. He has written more than 40 books on religion and co-hosts an evangelical TV show - The Way of the Master - with Cameron. 
(2 May 2007)

Healthy competition 
A NZ healthy fast food chain has opened its first European outlet in Glasgow, Scotland. Owner Conrad van der Klundert believes that Reload, a South Island-based juice, salad and sandwich bar, can take on established chains such as Subway as well as existing juice bars in the UK and Ireland. He eventually hopes to employ between 200 and 300 staff in more than 100 stores, with each making £350,000 annually. "We are trying to change the eating style in as many places as possible, from fast food to healthy food," says van der Klundert, who already operates Reload stores in Australia, Singapore and China, as well as across NZ. The UK and Ireland franchise has been bought by Scottish businessman Keith Stark. 
(22 April 2007)

NZ a modern treasure hunter's dream 
NZ features in a "21st century treasure map" for entrepreneurial Americans, published by Inc. magazine. The interactive online map is a guide for American business owners looking for international opportunities. The NZ economy is described as one of the world's least regulated and most entrepreneurial, with one of the highest rates of business ownership per capita. Inc. ranks it alongside Hong Kong, Sweden and Irealand as one of the best places in the world to set up shop. 
(April 2007)

The way of Music
The Way of Music by Robin Maconie (pictured), a New Zealand born composer and musicologist who studied with Olivier Messiaen and Karlheinz Stockhausen, is a listener's guide to the hidden meanings of western classical music, language and drawing on universal listening experiences and skills. It is a study guide in hearing and communication processes (using the example of a barking dog eg “In a bark, a dog exists”), acoustics and performance, a history of western music and culture through a survey of 100+ examples of recorded music, and class, gender, and cultural perspectives found in adult responses to the slow movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. Published by Maryland’s Scarecrow Press, The Way of Music is another instalment in Robin Maconie’s programme to provide New Zealand with a core classic music textbook collection.

(May 2007)

Fight night 
Two New Zealanders have been nominated for the 2007 Taurus World Stunt Awards. Ben Cooke (pictured) and Kirk Maxwell are both up for Best Fight, for their work in Casino Royale and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest respectively. Cooke, who was Daniel Craig's stunt double in Casino Royale, has also been nominated for Best High Work, thanks to his incredible crane-jumping scene in the latest Bond instalment (watch it here). The awards take place in Los Angeles on May 20, and will be televised in 90 countries. 
(17 April 2007)

New era for NZ Golf Open 
Jeweller Michael Hill's private golf club has been unveiled as the NZ Open venue for the next three years. Designed by landscape architect John Darby, the Hills Golf Club covers 202 hectares of land in Arrowtown, just out of Queenstown. "In my opinion it's in the top five [courses] in New Zealand," said golfing legend Sir Bob Charles who, along with Phil Tataurangi, Greg Turner and Michael Campbell, is one of the few to have played the course so far. NZ Golf has handed over the financial risk or reward of this year's event to Australian promoter Tuohy Associates NZ. The tournament will be held from 29 November to 2 December, with NZ No.1 Michael Campbell on board as its official ambassador. 
(1 May 2007)

NZ triathletes dominate at Ishigaki
NZ athletes dominated at Japan's Ishigaki Island World Cup series triathlon, despite their lack of a gold medal finish. Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell, Shane Reed and Andrew Hewitt finished second, third, fourth and sixth in the men's race, while Debbie Tanner and Samantha Warriner finished third and fourth in the women's. The men's and women's races were won by Courtney Atkinson of Australia and Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal. In the overall 2007 World Cup standings, Docherty and Gemmell are currently in second and third place behind series leader Atkinson. Tanner is third in the women's rankings. 
(16 April 2007)

Cheap solar power a step closer
Massey University researchers have developed a novel means of harnessing solar energy, at a fraction of the price. Scientists at the university's Nanomaterials Research Centre have produced a range of coloured synthetic dyes for use in dye-sensitised solar cells. The synthetic dyes are based on light-harvesting compounds found in nature, such as chlorophyll and haemoglobin, and are made from titanium dioxide - a plentiful, renewable and non-toxic mineral found in NZ black sand. The dye-sensitised cells cost a tenth of the price of currently available silicon-based solar cells, and are more efficient to run and produce. "The refining of pure silicon, although a very abundant mineral, is energy-hungry and very expensive. And whereas silicon cells need direct sunlight to operate efficiently, these cells will work efficiently in low diffuse light conditions," says study leader Dr Wayne Campbell. "The next step is to take these dyes and incorporate them into roofing materials or wall panels." The solar cells are the result of more than ten years research funded by NZ's Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.
(6 April 2007)

Te Mata in dream opener 
Hawkes Bay's Te Mata Estate will open next month's London International Wine and Spirits Fair (LIWSF) with a tasting celebrating 25 years of its flagship Cabernet/Merlot, Coleraine. Te Mata CEO John Buck and winemaker Peter Cowley will present the Coleraine vertical tasting to the UK-based Circle of Wine Writers. "They don't come any bigger than this," says Buck. "It is the wine equivalent of a New Zealand designer being first on the catwalk at New York Fashion Week ... [To] be singled out amongst the worlds finest, in the most important of styles, is wonderful recognition of the quality of wine from Te Mata Estate, Hawkes Bay, and New Zealand. It's also a very nice way to start Coleraine's 25th birthday celebrations." LIWSF 2007 takes place at London's Victoria Docks, May 22-24. 
(6 April 2007)

NZ connection in artUS 
ArtUS magazine featured reviews of two exhibitions by NZ artists in its February edition: Michael Parekowhai at Sydney's Roslyn Oxley Gallery and Simon Reece's High Tide exhibition at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. Formerly known as Art & Text, ArtUS changed its name when founding editor Paul Foss moved from his native Australia to Los Angeles in the late 1990s. As Wellington-based art blog Over the Net notes, "When he was editor of Art & Text, Paul Foss always gave New Zealand art good space." It looks like he means to carry on as he started. 
(5 February 2007)

Incredible journey revealed
Massey University ecologists are conducting a groundbreaking study of the bar-tailed godwit's northern migration. While the 11,000 km southern migration of the godwit from Alaska to NZ is thought to be the longest non-stop flight by any bird, not much is known about its northern route. "We are entering a critical decade for these birds, so the research is timely and crucial," said research leader Dr Phil Battley. He points out that mapping the northern migration is particularly important because the birds touch down in Asia and are potential carriers of the H5N1 bird-flu virus to the Alaskan region. Massey researchers will monitor the godwits' journey by satellite-tagging individual birds, in a joint project with the United States Geological Survey and PRBO Conservation Science in the US. 
(31 March 2007)

Smither reveals wild side over tea and cake 
NZ poet laureate Elizabeth Smither was a guest speaker at the recent Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival. A journalist interviewing her for the Malaysian Star was amazed at her calm and easygoing persona, which seemed to be at odds with her intense artistic output. "I have a surface that looks conforming," she agreed, "but French novelist Gustave Flaubert had it right about 'keeping your surface bourgeois, and being wild underneath. I think the wildness should go in the writing, that's the best place for it." Based in New Plymouth, 65-year-old Smither has published 15 collections of poetry, five novels and four collections of short stories. Says New York critic Nicholas Birns, "Smither writes concise, intelligent poems that sometimes exhort, sometimes muse, sometimes simply watch." 
(1 April 2007)

Economics world loses star thinker 
John McMillan, the man who "could make Economics jump right off the page," has died from cancer complications aged 56. Born in Christchurch, McMillan taught economics at America's Stanford Graduate School of Business since 1999. "John in many ways epitomized the Stanford Business School," said School dean Robert L. Joss. "He was a brilliant scholar; he made important contributions to microeconomic theory, but his special talent was in applying theory to real-world issues and problems. And he was a superb expositor." McMillan's numerous career honours include being elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society and a Distinguished Fellow of the NZ Economics Association, winning the Canadian Economics Association's Harry Johnson Prize and editing the prestigious Journal of Economic Literature from 1998 to 2004. A keen mountain climber, traveller and rugby player, McMillan wrote on an equally diverse range of issues: from Jamaica's reggae recording industry to the price of bribery in Peru. His book editor, Drake McFeely, remembers "a New Zealand footballer who drove a slightly dinged-up little blue Miata and who was at least as comfortable talking about the Grateful Dead as he was discussing market or auction design." 
(15 March 2007)

Another red destined for greatness 
Observer wine critic Tim Atkins calls Hawke's Bay Syrah "one of the most exciting wine styles I've tasted in the past five years." The red varietal makes up just 3% of the region's vineyards, which are dominated by Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot. "There may only be 1,500 acres of Syrah in New Zealand, compared with nearly 10,000 of Pinot Noir, but in my view the two varieties have equal potential for greatness," writes Atkins. His pick of the Hawke's Bay Syrah available in Britain is the 2005 Te Mata Bullnose: "a cellar-worthy red ... you'll never regret buying." The 2004 Te Awa, 2004 Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels and 2005 Villa Maria Cellar Selection also come highly recommended. 
(25 February 2007)

The future of fabric
Auckland-based Zephyr Technology Ltd has developed "smart fabric" for the US army which is capable of monitoring wearers' vital signs. The patented fabric works through flexible sensors which detect and measure displacement, distance, pressure and bio-data. Wireless connectivity and graphical diagnostic tools deliver status updates in real time, or record information for later analysis. The technology is designed to save lives by assessing how well soldiers cope in combat situations. Zephyr's Business Development Officer Steven Small says the fabric could also be useful for athletes, as it can measure how their bodies react to training. 
(20 March 2007)

Victory in Hong Kong 
NZ horse trainer Paul O'Sullivan has leapt to second place on the trainer's premiership table thanks to a stunning feature win in Hong Kong. Together with Australian jockey Brett Prebble and NZ-bred horse Vital King, O'Sullivan won the NZ$2.91 million Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin. "We had a lead-up that was free of interruptions and it was helped by a brilliant ride from Brett," said O'Sullivan. Next on the agenda for the successful team is the QEII Cup on April 29. 
(18 March 2007)

New era in online advertising 
NZ internet entrepreneurs Firstlight are emerging as world leaders in online advertising with their Editorial Related Advertising (E|R|A) programme. With offices in Bangalore (content support), New York (sales) and Wellington (research and development), Firstlight have developed what is now considered the leading contextual advertising solution on the internet. Publishing heavyweight Forbes.com has been one of the early adopters of the technology. New Zealander Brett Bailey, co-founder and director of Firstlight, describes ERA as a “unique, smart and cutting edge solution that gives publishers the ability to provide contextual advertising to their existing advertiser base, using extremely accurate non keyword technology.” The advantages of Editorial Related Advertising ensure quality targeted linking to editorial content and is intended to compliment rather than compete with other keyword related advertising products.
(5 March 2007)

Substance over style 
The Guardian's Simon Mills is the latest travel writer to fall for Great Barrier Island's rustic charms. Home to just 800 people, the island has no mains electricity or centralised plumbing system and once famously refused a property application by Paul McCartney for fear he'd draw too much publicity. Guardian: "[What] Great Barrier Island lacks in plush amenities, Michelin-starred restaurants, LaStone massage spas and rowdy nightlife, it makes up for with topological spectacle; rock bluffs, windy canyons, sand dunes and white beaches that go on like Utah salt flats (Harataonga Bay is the most idyllic, Robinson Crusoe beach this reporter has ever seen)." Great Barrier Island is the setting for the latest series of BBC reality show Castaway. 
(17 March 2007)

Funny man finds his feet 
In just over a decade, Hawera-born comedian Alan Brough has established himself as one of Australia's most popular talents. Since moving to Melbourne in 1995, Brough has appeared in films The Nugget and Bad Eggs, co-hosted the Tough Love radio show on Triple M, and written, directed and acted in numerous theatre and stand-up performances. He is currently a team captain on the hugely successful ABC music trivia show Spicks and Specks. "You'll never get any dirt on Alan," said an ABC audience usher in the Sydney Morning Herald, "Everybody loves him." Brough describes his move across the Tasman as self-imposed exile. "One of the reasons I moved to Australia was because of [his NZ television debut] Melody Rules. It truly was one of the reasons. It was such a horrendous experience and I was so embarrassed by it I had to go overseas." Brough will appear in the one-man show Top Town in next month's Melbourne International Comedy Festival. 
(26 February 2007)

ANZACs honoured in Acton 
The second annual ANZAC Sports Challenge will be held at Twyford Park in Acton, London, on April 21. The event celebrates NZ and Australia's shared ANZAC heritage by staging friendly matches across a range of sports codes, including rugby, touch, Aussie rules, netball and soccer. Non-sporting attractions include food, beverages and merchandise from home, as well as an array of musical and cultural performances from both NZ and Australia. 
(March 2007)

Tributes flow for reading expert
Educators the world over have mourned the loss of Dame Marie Clay, an internationally renowned reading expert who has died in Auckland aged 81. Clay was a leading figure in the International Reading Association (IRA), serving as its president from 1992-3. "Marie Clay was a remarkable educator," said current IRA president Timothy Shanahan in an official statement. "She was by far the most important champion of the idea that reading problems could be identified and addressed with young children. Previous to her landmark efforts, it was common educational practice to ignore early learning delays in the hopes that these children might outgrow the problems, with the result that many struggling readers fell further behind ... Her passing is a great loss to the education community and to the world." Clay is best known in NZ for the acclaimed Reading Recovery Programme she established in 1983, which continues to be used in primary schools all over the country. "Not only was Dame Marie a highly skilled thinker, but she was always accessible to the teaching profession to spread her ideas and engage in dialogue about literacy," says Irene Cooper, president of the NZ Educational Institute. "She will be sadly missed, but her work remains as her memorial." 
(13 April 2007)

Falklands history discovered in NZ
An important piece of Falklands War history has been discovered by New Zealander Neil Shaw on the eve of the conflict's 25th anniversary. A former member of the British Antarctic Survey, Shaw discovered the message from Falklands governor Rex Hunt warning Argentina to cease their invasion while sorting through his old belongings. Shaw had himself transcribed the radioed message from Hunt and handed it to the Argentinean captain. "We had finished an Antarctic expedition and saw it as a bit of a holiday trip around the whaling stations on South Georgia. The base commander had told us to be aware of 'unwanted visitors,'" said Shaw in the Guardian. "We arrived at Leith harbour and saw some smoke rising above the hill. We went over the hill and saw a ship in the docks, and realised there was more to this: it was a political situation." The note will be displayed next month at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, in an exhibition dedicated to the conflict.
(18 March 2007)

McCarten joins local colour
Auckland-born Donald McCarten is a featured artist in the upcoming ColorField.remix event in Washington D.C. The four-month event celebrates the American capital's influential 1950s/1960s Color Field visual art movement, of which McCarten was a pivotal member. "This is an exciting opportunity to examine and celebrate Washington DC's artistic history, its international context and the impact of Color Field painting," said Judy A. Greenberg, director of The Kreeger Museum. "The number of organizations participating in this celebration is evidence of how profoundly the Color Field movement permeated the consciousness of Washington's cultural life in its time, and how it continues to sustain and inspire artists today." Donald McCarten, who died in 2003, studied at Auckland's Elam School of Art and the Central School of Art in London. He spent time painting in Australia, England, Europe and South Africa before immigrating to the US in 1958. His boldly coloured works, frequently on abstract-shaped canvasses, were exhibited alongside those by Color Field contemporaries Jacob Kainen, Howard Mehring, William de Looper, Paul Reed and Gene Davis. ColorField.remix runs from April 1-July 28. 
(March 2007)

Playboy Bunny turned property mogul 
New Zealander Sandra Costa is co-owner and designer of new LA super-club Tatou. The 35,000 sq ft space features state-of-the-art sound and lighting, 45 plasma screens, a 40 ft stage, private VIP rooms and a rooftop restaurant, Wokcano. Wokcano's head chef is Michael Rey, winner of Gordon Ramsey's hit reality TV show Hell's Kitchen. "There's no place like this in LA," says Costa, "It's pretty amazing." A former Playboy Bunny, Costa runs three companies specialising in interior design, construction and entertainment management: The Dezino Group, The Chairstore and MME World Wide. She is also the author of numerous popular self-help books, including Mystical Goddess.
(22 February 2007)

Text polling a hit in US 
Auckland mobile marketing company Txstation has established a strong presence in the US, providing real-time audience polling for the National Basketball Association, Fox News and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Txtstation's technology allows broadcasters and event organisers to ask viewers questions during games and broadcasts using on-screen graphics. Answers are sent in via SMS to a shortcode or through a website and are then displayed in real-time on TV, online or in stadiums. "That's very appealing, not just for broadcasters and sporting leagues, but for advertisers and sponsors of sports," said chief executive Greg Hayes in Wellington's Dominion Post. "We've got a real niche in the marketplace." Txstation is now seeking capital from NZ investors to expand its operations in the US. 
(12 February 2007)

World firsts for NZ ref 
North Canterbury's Nicky Inwood made history this month as the first woman to officiate in a Six Nations women's rugby match and the first to referee at England's Twickenham Stadium. The 37-year-old controlled the match between England and Italy, the curtain-raiser to the men's Six Nations clash between the same countries. "It is an absolute honour and delight to represent NZ as an international referee, and to be involved in a women's Six Nations game is simply the best," she said in the NZ Herald. A former player for Canterbury and Wanganui, Inwood represented the Black Ferns from 1989 to 1991. She has been a referee since 1999 and has officiated in two women's rugby World Cups. 
(10 February 2007)

Cash versus creativity Auckland-raised author Fay Weldon mourns the death of literary creativity in a passionate column for The Times. "Time was when popularity was the mark of artistic failure," she complains, "These days it's the other way round. 'Bestseller' betokens artistic success ... A 'good' book is, by inference, an easy book. A 'good' book is one that sells." Weldon blames the dominance of marketing over editorial departments, the rise of the sequel and prequel, and the rumoured control large bookselling chains have over publishing houses for what she terms the "tyranny of the bestsellers." A version of the same article also appeared in the Royal Society of Literature Review. 
(10 February 2007)

Sacred remains returned 
A Scottish museum has returned its collection of tattooed Maori heads to NZ after housing them for more than 180 years. The nine toi moko were acquired by the University of Aberdeen's Marischal Museum in the 1820s, at a time when European trade in Maori artefacts was beginning to reach its peak. The heads were returned to Wellington's Te Papa Tongarewa on January 29 and will be held in the museum's wahi tapu (consecrated sacred space) until research can confirm their origin. "Te Papa is very grateful to Marischal College staff and the Court of the University for their agreement to repatriate these ancestral remains," said Te Papa's Te Taru White. "Their support will enable these ancestors to make the long journey home to NZ and to their people. This is a time for both sad reflection on the turbulent journeys these ancestors experienced and, at the same time, a cause for joy as they're returned to their homeland."
(29 January 2007)

Don't dream it's over 
A new album and world tour by Crowded House, has made headlines across the globe. According to chief songwriter Neil Finn, he and bass player Nick Seymour have been considering regrouping since the tragic death of drummer Paul Hester in 2004. "It just feels like something good and true," says Finn, "We sought each other out in the shadow of Paul's passing. That helped us reconnect and gave me a reminder of what bands are and what they bring." The new album is titled Time on Earth and will be launched - along with the world tour - at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in California this April. Finn and Seymour will be joined by keyboardist Mark Hart and are currently auditioning for a new drummer in Melbourne. "It feels right to us that the band should re-emerge at this time and together with Mark Hart we look forward to reconnecting with the audience that we established and for whom we still hold a deep respect," says Finn. 
(26 January 2007)

NZ's home of motorsport 
Taupo's inaugural A1 Grand Prix meet for the World Cup of Motorsport was a huge success, with 80,000 spectators packing the stands. Adding to the experience, Team NZ placed third overall in what was the first podium finish by a host team in the event's history. "That was a tough race for us all and I'm happy with third place," said NZ driver Jonny Reid. "This is our second best overall placing at an A1GP event so we can take those points and look forward to Eastern Creek (Sydney)." Auckland businessman and motorsport enthusiast Colin Giltrap came up with the idea of holding an A1GP event in Taupo and has pulled it off despite numerous naysayers. "A couple of years ago Aussie V8 boss Tony Cochrane sneered at Taupo's ability to host a big event," notes NZ Herald columnist Bob Pearce, "As he contemplates the three men and a camel who watched his Bahrain Supercar venture, he might have to eat his words." 
(21 January 2007)

Home town tribute 
A memorial to legendary All Black captain Dave Gallaher is being planned in his home town of Ramelton, Ireland. The Dave Gallaher Society is proposing the transformation of a bottle recycling waste ground into a walled garden with murals, a fountain and a central bronze statue of Gallaher in classic rugby pose. The society also wants to hold a "twinning" ceremony with Gallaher's adopted home of Katikati, which is well known in NZ for its extensive public artwork. Dave Gallaher was born in Ramelton and emigrated to NZ with his family in 1878. He played 33 matches with the "Originals," so named because they were the first NZ rugby team to use the All Black name. The Originals won 32 of their 33 games. 
(26 January 2007)

Kilgour flies solo 
David Kilgour of seminal Flying Nun band the Clean has launched a new solo album entitled The Far Now. "The songs sprung into my lap and pretty much decided how they wanted to sound, and I followed their direction," says Kilgour, who recorded half of the LP with his new band the Heavy Eights and the other alone in his home studio. Kilgour's North American distributor, Merge Records, has released a companion digital-only album called The Before Now: A David Kilgour Retrospective, which is available for download now.
(17 January 2007)

CG Cameron 
Titanic director James Cameron has enlisted the help of Weta Digital for his upcoming US$200 million sci-fi epic, Avatar. Cameron also plans to shoot sections of the film at Peter Jackson's Wellington studios with the help of local industry workers. The director is known for pushing the boundaries of technology with his use of special effects in film and his latest feature looks to be no exception. Avatar is set 150 years in the future and centres around a battle between human and alien armies on a distant planet. "This film is a true hybrid - a full live-action shoot, with CG characters in CG and live environments," says Cameron. "Ideally, at the end of the day, the audience has no idea which they're looking at ... With the new tools, we can create a humanoid character that is anything we imagine it to be - beautiful, elegant, graceful, powerful, evocative of us, but still with an emotional connection." Avatar is slated for release in 2009. 
(12 January 2007)

For those about to rock, we salute you 
Buskers Max Tetley (11) and Alex Philpott (10) opened the show for US rock-comedy duo Tenacious D, after impressing singer Jack Black with their performance in Christchurch's Cathedral Square. Black (School of Rock, King Kong) has been touring Australasia in support of his upcoming film Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny. "I felt like fainting," said Tetley after being approached by Black's agents, "It was the best feeling in the world." Tetley and Philpott, winners of last year's St Albans School talent quest, list their musical influences as AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin. Black played a teacher who turns his class into a rock band in the hit 2003 comedy School of Rock.
(12 January 2007)

Doctor vodka 
42 Below ambassador and "vodka professor" Jacob Briars discusses dirty drink names, Golden Globe shout outs and the social psychology of bars in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. Formerly a bartender at Wellington's Matterhorn, Briars now travels the world conducting a cocktail master class called Vodka U. "I developed this concept with 42 Below," he explains. "We conduct a tasting of as many as 25 different vodkas and explain how they are made and what makes them unique. We also cover what vodkas suit which cocktails and even taste a few cocktails, too." Briars' skills behind the bar were famously mentioned in a Golden Globes acceptance speech by Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood. 
(10 January 2007)

Wellington: city on the rise
Wellington has been named one of 10 world cities "on the rise" by the editors of Lonely Planet. The capital is described as "one of the world's cold-yet-cultural cities ... more beautiful than Seattle or Melbourne" in Lonely Planet's Bluelist: the Best in Travel 2007. Rounding out the list are Chonqing (China), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Tallinn (Estonia), Luang Prabang (Laos), Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Belgrade (Serbia) and Perth (Australia). NZ is also voted the world's no.2 favourite destination (behind Australia) in a poll of 33,000 travellers from 170 different countries, the results of which are also published in the Bluelist. 
(9 January 2007)

Japan nets All Black great 
Former All Black John Kirwan has signed a two-year contract to coach Japan's national rugby team. Kirwan will lead the side in its World Cup efforts this year, with plans to hone 60 elite players down to a World Cup squad during the Pacific Nations Cup in June. "We are determined to do our best to win all the matches in the World Cup," he says. Kirwan played in Japan's top league for the final three seasons of his career and recently wrapped up a coaching spell with Italy's national side. 
(9 January 2007)

Baroness with a big agenda
Rotorua-born Labour peer Denise Kingsmill is being hailed as the new media-savvy face of Britain's House of Lords. Kingsmill, who grew up in industrial south Wales, was made a Baroness in last year's honours list. She hopes to use her new role to simultaneously improve links between business and politics and increase the number of women participating in both. "Women come out of school and university with a better education and yet we are not enabling them to make their full contribution to the economy," she says in the Guardian. "It is ludicrous that we have so few women in the FTSE. I'm a logical person and the logic seems mind-numbingly obvious." A Cambridge graduate and qualified lawyer, Kingsmill previously had her own legal practice and went on to deputy chair the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. In 2001 she headed a government task force inquiry into women's employment and pay in the UK. She is currently a non-executive director of British Airways and senior adviser to the Royal Bank of Scotland, as well as a trustee of the Cambridge University Business School and pro-chancellor of Brunel University. 
(5 January 2007)

San Diegans fall for NZ designs
Christine Nottingham and Andrea Peach have opened a gallery-cum-store in San Diego to showcase designs by established and emerging artists from their native NZ. Moana Design on Solana Beach features works by glass artists Peter Viesnik, Garry Nash and Hoglund Art Glass, ceramists Gill Gane, Peter Faulkner and Peter Stewart, wood turner Ian Blackwell and jewellers Neal Hanna and Graeme Wylie. "I always thought some of the bright colors of New Zealand fine art went really well in San Diego and the climate," says Nottingham, who cites Peter Stewart as the top selling designer on their books. 
(4 January 2007)

Beauty with depth 
Bic Runga's third album - Birds - has been named one of the records of the year in Australian Vogue. "This year, one of the most beautiful women in modern music made the most sadly beautiful music of her career. Birds is a stunning set of dimly lit, deeply-felt torch-pop ballads, a late-night red wine essential that was created with a little help from mentor (and fellow New Zealander) Neil Finn." 
(January 2007)

Silver lining for OpenCloud
Wellington telecommunications support firm OpenCloud has raised US$10.25 million in funding from Advent Venture Partners (London), No 8 Ventures (NZ) and Motorola Ventures (US). The funding will be used to expand the company's international interests, which include a new headquarters in Cambridge, Scotland, and increased sales, marketing, delivery and product development in Europe, America and the Asia Pacific. "We are building up the [Cambridge] infrastructure," says company director and chief executive Stephen Newton. "By the end of the next two to three months we will be 10 to 12 people at the Cambridge site." OpenCloud, which specialises in the supply of next generation application servers to the telecoms industry, played a pioneering role in the development of the cutting-edge JAIN SLEE platform. 
(10 January 2007)

Safe haven 
US travel expert Laura McKenzie includes NZ in her list of the world's five safest travel destinations. NZ is ranked second only to Monaco in a list which includes Malta, Switzerland and Singapore. "[NZ] is an adventurer's paradise," says McKenzie. "While you can risk your life on the bungee jumps and speed boats, you don't have to concern yourself with personal safety on its hiking trails or city streets. Even if you do suffer from an extreme sport incident, rest assured that you'll receive excellent medical assistance throughout New Zealand." 
(9 January 2007)

Life of a legend 
A film based on the life of NZ motorsport legend Bruce McLaren is rumoured to be in the works. According to Grand Prix website, the production has been linked to "some of those involved with the Lord of the Rings trilogy." McLaren was one of the first New Zealanders to enjoy racing success in Europe, winning his first Grand Prix at 22. He launched his own formula one racing team - Team McLaren - in 1964, which has continued to dominate the sport long after its founder's death in 1970. 
(8 January 2007)

Sailing event a "Kiwi blackwash"
This year's 420 World Championships have been described as a "Kiwi blackwash" after NZ sailors took out all podium positions in both the Open and Women's events. Carl Evans and Peter Burling, Simon Cooke and Scott Illingworth, and Rowan Swanson and Bruce Kennedy came first, second and third respectively in the Open competition, while Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie, Shelley Hesson and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher, and Sarah Bilkey and Rosie Sargisson won gold, silver and bronze in the Women's. Top sailors from 17 different countries competed in the event, which was held in NZ for the first time at Auckland's Takapuna Boating Club. 
(8 January 2007)

Local? Outrageous! 
NZ TV series Outrageous Fortune has caused a storm across the Tasman, but not for its adult content. Australian screenwriters are threatening protests and possible strikes over a decision by Channel Nine to include the program in its mandatory local drama quota. Outrageous Fortune currently accounts for about 30 of the 250 points of local drama needed by Channel Nine to maintain its broadcasting licence. Despite a 1997 Australian High Court ruling states that NZ programs can count as local, a "tacit agreement" has always existed between television stations and the national industry that the rule would not be abused. "Something has changed," says Screen Producers Association of Australia executive director, Geoff Brown. "This is a fight for us: if one network gets away with it, what are the others going to do? We will be in the streets in February and March." Outrageous Fortune is subsidised by the NZ government, which provides $NZ400,000 in funding per episode. 
(8 January 2007)

Final tourist frontier 
Christchurch internet entrepreneur Mark Rocket was the first New Zealander to sign up for one of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flights. The self-described space nut (he changed his surname from Stevens by deed poll) put down the required US$200,000 to buy one of the initial 100 seats more than a year ago, and expects to take off in early 2009. "It's one of my lifetime goals to get into space," he said in the NZ Herald, "I've always been interested in space travel and I had been following the development of the new generation of spacecraft very closely." House of Travel has just been announced as NZ's only accredited "space agent" for the tourist flights. "Kiwis are great travellers and they're always looking for new experiences," says the chain's retail director Brent Thomas. Approximately a fifth of the 10,000 people who have registered an interest in Virgin's space flights are from Australasia. 
(17 January 2007)

Testing times 
Durex has decided to test its new latex-free condom in NZ after its global survey showed that New Zealanders have sex more often and are more adventurous in the bedroom than their international contemporaries. "The overwhelming response to date from Kiwis has certainly proven this," says Durex spokeswoman Victoria Potter. More than 3000 New Zealanders have applied to test the condoms so far. 100 will randomly selected as test subjects at the end of January. 
(17 January 2007)

Haka faux pas #46 
The haka continues to be flavour of the month in international marketing circles. This time, an English women's rugby team has caused controversy by including an image of a topless haka in their fundraising calendar. Canterbury Women's Rugby Club spokeswoman Rebecca Willis has apologised for any offence caused: "It was based on the haka but it wasn't necessarily the NZ haka ... We didn't know we would be treading on toes and we didn't think it would get as far as NZ." Maori Party MP Pita Sharples has played down the incident in the international press: "Some Maoris were upset by it, not terribly upset, but they thought it was in bad taste. When the club comes to NZ, I would expect them to respect the haka. But over there, as a fundraising effort, I wish them well."
(9 January 2007)

The Flynn Effect 
James Flynn - Emeritus Professor of Political Studies at Otago University, intelligence researcher and "unassuming moral philosopher" - is profiled in the Guardian. Born in Washington DC, Flynn has lived and worked in NZ since 1963. After spending most of his career studying free will and determinism in terms of political and moral philosophy, Flynn "gate-crashed" the IQ test debate in the 1980s and has emerged as one of the world's leading psychology theorists as a result. He is best known for his discovery of the Flynn effect: the continued year-by-year rise of IQ scores in the developed world. "There had been several studies showing that IQ levels were rising, but on each occasion the researchers wrote off their findings as anomalous one-offs," says Flynn. "All I really did was to piece together the existing studies and read through the IQ publishers' manuals to detect the underlying patterns." 
(2 January 2007)

On the rise 
Leading US residential design magazine Dwell visits Wellington’s 282 Wakefield Street apartments developed by Luit and Jan Bieringa. “Approaching downtown Wellington from the airport, you curve around the city’s glittering bay and land in Courtenay Precinct, a stylish neighbourhood chockablock with boutiques, bars and sidewalk cafés.” The roof top dwellings and workspace, designed by Architecture Workshop are a contemporary addition to the original Edwardian building, surrounded by the vibrant urbanity of Courtenay Place, a “burgeoning neighbourhood…rife with new investment and promise. Teenagers swarm a skateboard park on the revitalized waterfront, cranes hover over a luxury high-rise under construction on an adjacent lot. Locals stroll down a harborfront boardwalk, pasta grassy lawn speckled with picnickers. It’s a thrilling bird’s eye view – and even more so for those tenacious residents who have witnessed its evolution.”
(December/January 2007)

Fuel of the future 
Two national institutes are hoping to reduce NZ's national oil consumption by developing the production of cellulosic ethanol. Ag Research and Scion (formerly the NZ Forest Research Institute) are working with US company Diversa on turning byproducts from the country's forestry and paper businesses into cellulosic ethanol. While ordinary ethanol is made from corn or sugar cane, the cellulosic variety comes from agricultural products with little or no other value, thus driving down the cost of production. Diversa spokesman William Baum predicts that a cellulosic-ethanol plant could be built in NZ in approximately three years. He believes that, if successful, the plant could help NZ offset a significant portion of its oil imports. (26 January 2007)

Hurricane warning 
NZ artist Lisa Ferguson is aiming to crack the competitive New York market after a successful period in London. The former graphic designer has already made a strong impression, with Art World News (USA) praising her ability to "[conjure] images of a hurricane of colours and emotions that [invoke] a new story with each viewing." Ferguson is showing a collection of her abstract expressionist pieces at Monkdogz Urban Art Gallery in Chelsea, New York, from February 1 to March 10. 
(January 2007)

Science or commerce? 
NZ conservation minister Chris Carter has taken a bold stand against Japanese whaling by releasing footage of the country's operations in Antarctic waters. The film, taken from a Royal NZ Air Force Orion, shows two Japanese vessels harpooning whales before taking them on board for processing. The film's release coincides with the departure of Greenpeace flagship Esperanza for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, where it will confront the Japanese fleet. Despite a 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling, Japan kills hundreds of whales each year for what it claims is scientific research. Carter believes the footage will help the public make up its own mind on the issue. 
(25 January 2007)

Australian foothold for TrustPower
NZ company TrustPower has won a NZ$200 million contract to build a wind farm in Snowtown, South Australia. Construction of the 42-turbine plant begins on the Hummocks and Barunga ranges in April. "Over time, for TrustPower generally, the New Zealand market is going to be limited," says chief executive Keith Tempest. "The process for us is to gradually, not quickly or aggressively, develop our experience and expertise in the Australian market." The Snowtown wind farm will provide electricity for around 60,000 South Australian homes. 
(14 January 2007)

More Scottish than Scotland
Otago University has launched a global search to fill its inaugural chair in Scottish studies. The newly created position is one of a small number of its kind in the world and is intended to position Otago as an alternative location for Scottish studies for students from NZ and abroad. In his official announcement of the new chair, Vice-chancellor David Skegg described the position as a "natural academic fit for an institution of higher learning founded in the early days of the Otago settlement, a move which reflected the Scottish settlers' strong belief in higher education as an uplifting social force." According to current census figures, approximately 25% of New Zealanders whose ancestry pre-dates the 1950s claim Scottish descent. 
(9 January 2007)

Icebreakers Canadian connection
Nova Scotias Chronicle Herald reveals a NZ business success storys Canadian connection. Jeremy Moons outdoor clothing company Icebreaker enjoys CA$100 million in annual retail sales, largely thanks to its revolutionary merino wool thermal underwear. Icebreaker and a group of NZ farmers recently signed the largest merino wool contract in the world: $30 million for the period 2006-8. Moon reportedly found the inspiration for his business in 1993, at the remote Pohuenui Station in Pelorus Sound. Owned by Brian Brakenridge and his Canadian sheep shearing champion wife Fiona Nettleton, Pohenui Station ran a flock of 3000 merino sheep. Chronicle Herald: In a moment of visionary pride, Brakenridge showed entrepreneur Jeremy Moon his merino wool underwear ... Moon was so impressed that he mortgaged his house, bought half of Brakenridges business, began manufacturing merino wool long johns and persuaded a NZ explorer to wear the same pair for the entire 43-day Jules Verne Challenge. 
(10 January 2007)

Billiards hall of famer 
NZ billiard legend Rocky Lane has made the sport's Internet Hall of Fame thanks to his undefeated world record in jump shooting. In October 2005 Lane cleared all 15 balls off the table in 14.16 seconds on NZ national television. Despite efforts by the sport's top players at last year's World Pool Championships in the Philippines, the record has remained intact. "Yes, I heard they tried to defeat my record and am humbled that those star players would even consider my record to be something. For me, I do this for our great nation and can only keep on trying my best to do better," said Lane on Billiards Forum. "I figure if Kiwis like Michael Campbell can get out there and do it, then there has to be room for other Kiwis, to try and do the same."
(January 2007)

A great mind remembered 
NZ Nobel laureate, Alan Graham MacDiarmid, has died in Philadelphia aged 79. Professor MacDiarmid won the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his joint discovery that some plastics could be made to conduct electricity by incorporating impurities. The finding laid the foundations for next generation plastics, with offshoot innovations including "smart" sunlight-reflecting windows, televisions and computer screens, luminous traffic signs and light-emitting wallpaper. Born in Masterton, MacDiarmid grew up in Kerikeri and the Hutt Valley during the Depression. He funded his part-time chemistry degree at Victoria University by shovelling coal and sweeping floors at the institution before winning a Fulbright Scholarship to study in America in 1950. He spent most of his academic life at Pennsylvania University and has published more than 600 scientific papers. US colleague Dr Hsuan Feng likens MacDiarmid to fellow NZ Nobel winner Ernest Rutherford: "Rutherford discovered radioactivity that changed the world in the 20th century, and Alan MacDiarmid discovered conducting polymers that will change the economy of the 21st century." MacDiarmid was awarded the Rutherford Medal (NZ's top science prize) and made a Member of the Order of NZ in 2001. Paul Callaghan, director of the MacDiarmid Institute at Victoria University Wellington, describes him as a New Zealand superhero and says MacDiarmid never forgot his roots as a New Zealander. "I think Alan is to science and technology what Ed Hillary is to the outdoors. He's a superhero. Although people may not know exactly what Alan did, the fact that he won a Nobel Prize is a big thing and I think that New Zealanders love other New Zealanders who get out there in the world and take on the best and win… he's shown what's possible for Kiwis." 
(8 February 2007)

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Bro' Town goes global 

Tourists flock to favourite destination 
According to new figures released by Statistics NZ a record 2.4 million tourists visited NZ last year - 1.6 per cent more than in 2005. The number was boosted by 903,504 Australian tourists, the most ever to visit NZ in one year. "Reaching the 900,000 mark is a real milestone," said Tourism NZ chief executive George Hickton, who credits his organisation's high profile What's On advertising campaign in Australia for the increase. A four per cent decline in British visitor numbers was countered by news that NZ had topped the favourite destination poll in UK travel magazine Wanderlust. "I wasn't at all surprised to see NZ voted the favourite," said Wanderlust editor-in-chief Lyn Hughes. "It always appears in the top three and with very good reason. It truly is a world-class destination." 
(2 February 2007)

Silver lining to climate change cloud 
NZ has the potential to adapt to climate change more effectively than its neighbours, according to the government and global warming experts. Despite being home to just 0.06 per cent of the world's population, NZ produces 0.2 per cent of global greenhouse gases - nearly half of which is from methane expelled by farm animals. However, because its contribution to climate change comes more from agriculture than the burning of fossil fuels, it would be cheaper for NZ to "make the transition to a future that doesn't produce emissions" than for most of the world, says Climate Change Minister David Parker. NZ is already leading the world in bio-fuel research, with waste from sewage algae and industrial processes being developed into fuel for cars and aeroplanes. Dairy Farmers of NZ chairman Frank Brenmuhl is equally optimistic about NZ's ability to adapt and innovate. He believes farmers could switch from producing meat and dairy products to growing tropical fruits such as pineapples and bananas, should temperatures rise significantly. 
(2 February 2007)

"A country waiting to be explored"  
South Africa's Cape Times features a travel special on NZ, with a focus on Auckland and Wellington. "[It] is not difficult to see what makes NZ attractive, both as a holiday destination and a potential new home. Many from our shores have chosen to make NZ home and they come from all walks of life." Visitors to Auckland are advised to check out the bookshops and eateries in Parnell, Ponsonby and Mount Eden, the historic sites of Devonport and the "Arcadian idyll" that is Titirangi. In Wellington, must-see destinations include Katherine Mansfield's house, the cable car and Victoria University. 
(2 February 2007)

Muse to Tarantino 
Waiheke Island-born stuntwoman Zoe Bell makes a cameo appearance as herself in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming slasher film Grindhouse. Bell impressed Tarantino as Uma Thurman's double in Kill Bill, and has since joined a list of his muses which includes Thurman, Rose MacGowan and Rosario Dawson. Grindhouse is being billed as the world's first "meta-movie": an 80-90 minute feature each by Tarantino and long-time collaborator Robert Rodriguez linked by trailers for fictional movies by Eli Roth (Hostel), Rob Zombie (House of 1,000 Corpses), Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and Rodriguez (Sin City). "The whole theatrical business is looking for something new, a little showmanship," says studio head Bob Weinstein of the newly formed Weinstein Company. "These guys took something old and are making it new." As well as Kill Bill, 28-year-old Bell's CV includes stunt work on Xena: Warrior Princess, Ultraviolet, Catwoman and The Poseidon Adventure. 
(28 January 2007)

Astle bows out 
Nathan Astle has retired from international cricket as one of NZ's most successful ever batsmen, just six months before the 2007 World Cup. In his twelve year career he has accumulated a total of 11,792 Test and One Day International runs, including 27 centuries. Astle bows out in fourth place on the all-time NZ Test batting list, behind Stephen Fleming, Martin Crowe and John Wright. His 16 one-day centuries are the most achieved by any New Zealander and place him ninth equal in the history of the game. "I have been fighting this day for about eight months," he said in an official statement. "I so desperately wanted to go to my fourth World Cup, but deep down inside I knew that I was lacking motivation and the enjoyment levels were just not there." 
(26 January 2007)

Kahurangi in Kuala Lumpur 
The Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre will celebrate Waitangi Day in Kuala Lumpur, performing at the Malaysia-New Zealand Cultural Extravaganza. Founded by Tama Huata in 1983, Kahurangi has showcased the songs and dances of the Ngati Kahungunu people at arts festivals throughout NZ, Australia, the US, Canada and Asia. According to the Malaysian Star, the group "has been identified as one of a handful of globally important and innovative indigenous performing companies producing original work for young audiences." Some of Kahurangi's career highlights include performances at the Seattle International Children's Festival, Atlanta Olympics Arts Festival, Ottawa International Festival of the Arts and Australia's Moomba Festival in Melbourne. 
(26 January 2007)

Online superstar 
The inaugural Forbes Web Celeb 25 - "a list of the biggest, brightest and most influential people on the Internet" - is topped by Mt Maunganui-raised actress Jessica Rose. Last year the 19-year-old became a YouTube phenomenon by posing as Bree, a home-schooled US teenager with the user name lonelygirl15. Bree's video diary became an online hit, attracting millions of fans both before and after it was exposed as being entirely scripted. Forbes: "Rose put a pretty face on a breaking phenomenon: that Internet-based entertainment provides an intensely powerful incubator for new stars." Rose was born in Maryland, USA, and moved to NZ when she was eight. In 2005 she returned to the US and is currently based in LA. According to Forbes, she is now being offered movie roles and has just filmed a TV commercial for a United Nations anti-poverty campaign. 
(23 January 2007)

Bay of wonders 
The LA Times offers a brief guide to NZ's Bay of Islands, home to "some of the best scenery in the country." Visitors are advised to check out the arts and crafts centres at Kerikeri, take a ferry ride from Paihia to Russell, and go diving off Poor Knights Island (recommended one of the world's top ten dives by Jacques Cousteau). LA Times: "The sheer natural beauty of the Bay of Islands, just three hours north of Auckland on the northeast coast of the North Island, remains almost unspoiled. You'll see more sheep than people."
(21 January 2007)

Musical milestones 
The Guardian gives a whirlwind overview of NZ music history, from kapa haka to deep house. Milestones of note include the formation of Split Enz in 1971, Flying Nun in 1981, and hip hop artist Scribe becoming the first NZ artist to simultaneously top the single and album charts in 2004. Guardian: "To general irritation, the biggest New Zealand hit in the UK remains OMC's 1996 one-hit wonder 'How Bizarre'." 
(21 January 2007)

Star on the rise 
Variety magazine (US) named Taika Waititi one of ten directors to watch in the lead up to the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where he made his feature debut. His first full-length project, Eagle vs. Shark is an offbeat romantic comedy starring Loren Horsley and Waititi's former stand-up partner Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords). Eagle vs. Shark was picked up by Miramax on the strength of a five-minute trailer shown at the Cannes Market. "New Zealanders are good at making dark films, but we decided to do the opposite," said Waititi in Variety. "This is the broadest and quirkiest that my comedy has ever gone." Waititi's next project is a feature based on his Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night. 
(17 January 2007)

Connections made with past and present 
An American man's exploration of his Maori roots is the subject of a documentary for US TV's Travel Channel. Richard Wybrow, a CNN Radio editor, had always wanted to travel to his father's birthplace in NZ. The 37-year-old is descended from the Ngai Tahu tribe: his great-great grandfather James Wybrow was a whaler who married a Ngai Tahu chief's daughter. Wybrow won an essay competition set by the Travel Channel and the result was a segment on the series Trip of a Lifetime. Along with wife Amy and daughter Chyanna, Wybrow was flown to NZ all expenses paid. The family stayed at the luxury lodge Kauri Cliffs, swam with dolphins, bungee jumped and - most importantly - met their remaining relatives in Auckland. "Richard traced his ancestry back 900 years," said Amy. "It helped us connect with who the Maoris were and who he is." 
(10 January 2007)

Pre-historic chic 
Shoppers at London's Selfridges can now purchase the ultimate ecological antique: a piece of furniture carved from 30,000 year-old NZ kauri wood. The NZ government has allowed a limited quantity of the timber to be harvested from salt marsh swamps, where giant trees have laid perfectly preserved for millennia. Selfridges has already received an order on a three-metre long dining table, which it is selling for £6,950. "This table will certainly be the subject of dinner party talk," says Selfridges spokesman Bruno Barba. "Whoever owns it will be dining in the grandeur of ancient history. I think customers will be ethically-minded, people wanting a return to simple shapes and something a bit different. It green and ethical because we are recycling trees." The NZ government has granted Italian design house Riva the license to produce kauri furniture for Selfridges. 
(9 January 2007)

Black Beauty takes the bridge 
NZ A1 Grand Prix driver Jonny Reid has set a new record for the fastest crossing of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Reid crossed the bridge seven times, reaching speeds of over 160km/h. Police traffic controllers had difficulty clocking his top speed due to the low height of NZ's A1GP car Black Beauty. "I absolutely thrived on it," said Reid of the drive. "It was a very unique experience which you don't come across every day." The record-breaking stunt was staged to promote the sixth leg of the A1GP, held in Taupo on January 21.
(6 January 2007)

Master of noir 
The newfound appreciation of NZ-born artist James Boswell continues, with a second feature in the Guardian. The article focuses on Boswell's post-WW2 illustrations for film posters, commissioned by Ealing studio's head of marketing S James Woods. "My father was absolutely chuffed with [the commissions]," says his daughter Sally. "S John Woods was an amazing man, and had an ability to understand that he could create astonishing works of art as posters. So he just went to his artist friends. Of which my father was one, luckily." Boswell's poster for the British noir classic It Always Rains on Sunday is currently on display at the Tate Britain. 
(5 January 2007)

Abstract revisited
NZ artist Angela Dwyer is staging two solo exhibitions in Italy in early 2007. The first is at the AMT Gallery in Como, the second at Milan's Magrorocca Gallery. Born in Palmerston North, Dwyer has based herself in Berlin since 1984. The exhibition at AMT is based around her latest major work; a 180cm by 700cm oil entitled This is Sexy. According to the gallery's press release, "This is Sexy challenges preconceptions about abstract painting ... Angela Dwyer is a master of colour and her new work proves it."
(January 2007)

Not your average leading man 
Not one to be pigeon-holed, Martin Henderson is busy building a reputation in Hollywood for his impressively diverse range of acting roles. For every Britney Spears music video ("Toxic") or action flick (Torque) there is an unexpected and brilliant performance, such as his portrayal of an amputee speed dealer in the acclaimed Australian film Little Fish. Henderson is currently appearing in movie theatres as a WW1 fighter pilot in Flyboys, as an anti-WTO protestor in The Battle in Seattle and a former cop in Smokin' Aces. He has also just won his first US television role, starring in the highly anticipated small-screen version of Mr & Mrs Smith - last year's blockbuster film featuring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. "I think the buzz of acting is playing people different to you and, for me, that means traversing all genres", said Henderson in a recent NZ Herald interview. "There are many sides to all of us. I like dramatic stuff and I have a goofball side too. I like to do comedy and off-beat things as much as something really, really serious."
(January 2007)

Ex-Neighbour a star in US
Dunedin-born Alan Dale has scored a lead role in yet another hit US TV series. Fresh from his success in The West Wing, CSI: Miami and The O.C, Dale is now playing publisher Bradford Meade in the Golden Globe-winning comedy Ugly Betty. "Ugly Betty is a unique ugly duckling story," says America Ferrera, who plays Betty, the frumpy assistant to the editor of a leading fashion magazine. "It's not about her becoming a gorgeous swan; [rather] you're waiting for people around her to realise she already is a beautiful person." 59-year-old Dale was a well known actor in Australasia (Flying Doctors, Neighbours) before making the move to LA in 1999. "I felt that in my 50s if I didn't do it now, I never would," he said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "I must admit I didn't really think about it too much. If I had, I wouldn't have come." 
(5 February 2007)

Outspoken views cost scholar job
Former Canterbury University lecturer Ghazala Anwar has been sent back to NZ from Pakistan because of her non-conformist teachings. A professor of philosophy and religious studies, Anwar was hired by Pakistan's International Islamic University (IIU) in September last year. Her contract with the IIU was reportedly terminated "because of her views on sexual orientation, which were found objectionable by some students and a section of the media." A US national of Pakistani origin, Anwar has previously linked the suffering and oppression of Muslims in sexual minorities to that of Muslim women and non-Muslim minorities in Islamic countries. In one of her most controversial IIU lectures she stated that "hatred or denigration of those whom God made different whether in gender, sexual orientation or religious belief and practice ensues from putting other than God at the centre of ones' heart and worship ... The larger Muslim community has to come to the recognition that homophobia and not homosexuality is the sin." 
(3 February 2007)

This is NZ: Take two 
A NZ film made over 30 years ago has won an award at the prestigious New York Festivals Film and Video Competition. This is NZ was originally screened at the Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan, where it was viewed by more than two million visitors. The remastered edition won a Bronze World Medal in the festival's special venue film section, which was accepted by NZ's ambassador to the UN Rosemary Banks. "This award is a great credit to all those involved in both the making and recent remastering of the film," said Archives Minister Judith Tizard. The original film has not been available for public viewing for over 30 years because three projectors were required to screen it. Wellington's Park Road Post Production facility restored and remastered the film using a digital intermediate process so the three images can now be screened using one projector. 
(3 February 2007)

Designer of the moment 
NZ fashion newcomer Cybèle Wiren (of label Cybèle) has caught the attention of international media with her Winter 2007 "Blue Blood" collection, first shown at last year's Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Runway Reporter.com called it "original, clever, pretty, sexy and very much of the moment" and Nylon magazine praised it as "the sort of stuff Debbie Harry would be proud to rock." Back home, Cybèle is this year's guest designer at Dunedin's Vodafone ID Fashion Show and joins Kate Sylvester, Karen Walker, Zambesi, Trelise Cooper and Ruby in providing a t-shirt print for Glassons' annual Breast Cancer Research Trust fundraising project. 
(2 February 2007)

Guilt-free luxury 
Taranaki's Eco Inn comes highly recommended in the Guardian. The lodge is constructed from untreated macrocarpa wood and recycled materials, and is entirely powered by solar panels, wind turbines and a water wheel. An added bonus is its stunning location. Guardian: "Mount Taranaki in the Egmont national park ... isn't on the usual 'Journey through Middle Earth' itinerary, but is one of New Zealand's most accessible wilderness areas. I walked up this dormant volcano in a day and, as every local Kiwi will tell you, the views from the top are awesome." 
(20 January 2007)

Teen actors on global stage
Disney fantasy film Bridge to Terabithia has thrust four teenage New Zealand actors into the limelight. The film, which features Carly Owen (pictured), Isabelle-Rose Kircher and Cameron Wakefield of Wellington and Aucklander Elliot Lawless has been an instant box office hit in the United States after a successful Hollywood premiere. Filmed in Auckland, Bridge to Terabithia grossed US$22.5 million in its first weekend, and is expected to do well after positive reviews. Several of the young Kiwi actors in the film travelled with their parents to the States for its debut, where they walked the red carpet and were interviewed by Los Angeles entertainment media. Bridge to Terabithia is the film adaptation of Katherine Paterson's 1977 novel about an outcast named Jesse and a tomboy called Leslie who develop an imaginary kingdom. In the film, their imaginations are brought to life by Wellington's Oscar-winning effects studio Weta Digital. Adult New Zealand cast members include Wellington's Jen Wolfe and Ian Harcourt, cousin of actress Miranda Harcourt, the teenage actors' drama teacher. Bridge to Terabithia is expected to open in New Zealand in May or June.
(21 February 2007)

Political force remembered
Auckland-born Leo McCarthy, a prominent figure in Californian state politics, has died of a kidney ailment aged 76. A lifelong Democrat, McCarthy was the state assembly speaker from 1974-80 and went on to serve a record three terms as lieutenant governor of California. "Never did he lose sight of what his purpose was there, which was to make life better for people in California," said current lieutenant governor John Garamendi. "Leo set the standard among modern lieutenant governors." The McCarthys left NZ for San Francisco in 1934, when Leo was just three years old. He studied at the University of San Francisco before beginning his career in politics as a campaign manager and aide to a state senator. Nearly a thousand mourners attended his funeral at San Francisco's St Ignatius Church, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, John Garamendi and former San Francisco mayor and Assembly speaker Willie Brown. 
(10 February 2007)

South Pacific literati 
Five NZ writers are finalists for this year's Commonwealth Writers' Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards. Ocean Roads by James George, Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones and The Fainter by Damien Wilkins (pictured) have been nominated for Best Book in the South East Asia and South Pacific section, while Davey Darling by Paul Shannon and The Fish & Chip Song by Carl Nixon have been short-listed for Best First Book. The regional winners will be announced in March and the overall winner in May. The Commonwealth Writers' Prize was established by the Commonwealth Foundation in 1987, with the aim of giving authors an audience and recognition outside of their country of origin. Previous winners include Janet Frame, David Malouf, Rohinton Mistry, Zadie Smith, Murray Bail, Peter Carey and JM Coetzee. 
(9 February 2007)

Brothers in farms 
NZ farmers have extended the hand of friendship to their drought-stricken counterparts in southern Australia. The New Zealanders are offering use of their holiday homes to Australian planters most affected by the drought, while Jetstar is providing 100 free return tickets across the Tasman. "Some of the stories we have heard from across the Tasman are heart wrenching, and in the true Anzac spirit, we stand ready to help," said Charlie Pedersen, president of Federated Farmers of New Zealand. "We can't give Aussie farmers what they really need - rain - but we can help some take a break from the enormous stress." 
(8 February 2007)

A new sheriff in town 
Russell Crowe has signed for US$20 million to play the Sheriff of Nottingham in a "revisionist" version of the Robin Hood story. Titled Nottingham, the Hollywood film will follow "the premise that Robin Hood is less virtuous and the sheriff more noble than previous depictions." The Guardian places Nottingham at the centre of a current trend in Hollywood for British stories and British and Antipodean lead actors: "[To] the presumable despair of the ghost of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the best thing to be in Hollywood today is un-American." 
(2 February 2007)

A wallflower no longer 
Auckland digital signage company Wallflower Global has been purchased by Thailand's Global Satellite Broadcasting Corporation (GSBC) for US $20 million. Since its inception four years ago, Wallflower has become the preferred digital signage specialist for international companies including Vodafone, Telstra, Sky City and Mazda. "We are thrilled to acquire the business not just because of its dynamic user friendly technology but also Wallflower has a huge footprint in Australia and NZ," said GSBC founder Ronald Flynn. "The people at Wallflower are terrific and [Wallflower Global CEO] Tony Scott will be staying on board as the CTO and President for the newly named GSBC Wallflower." 
(2 February 2007)

Two Paddocks enters 
Asian market Actor Sam Neill has been busy promoting his Two Paddocks vineyard in Hong Kong, but has dismissed any suggestion of a major expansion into China. "We're a boutique winery. I think if we started expanding into China we'd be swallowed up in a minute," he said in the Washington Post. Instead Neill's range of premium wines will be sold exclusively through an organic food store in central Hong Kong. Two Paddocks is located in Central Otago and produces just 3000 cases of wine a year. 
(31 January 2007)

Dance film tackles domestic drama 
Shona McCullagh's short film Break was a highlight of the Dance on Camera Festival at New York's Walter Reade Theatre, according to the New York Times. Set in rural NZ, Break "illustrates, with surprising subtlety, the breakdown of a family" and stands out from the frequently "gimmicky" nature of contemporary dance films. The 35th annual Dance on Camera Festival comprised 30 films from all over the world and screened from January 12-13. 
(3 January 2007)

NZ research centre opens in London 
NZ film No.2 received a gala screening at last year's London Film Festival, which ran from 18 October to 2 November. Festival sponsor Air New Zealand hosted the event, which included a panel discussion on 'The Multicultural Fabric of NZ Film' featuring Roger Donaldson, Christine Parker, Alan Harris, Philippa Campbell, Kerry Fox and No.2 writer/director Toa Fraser. Chairing the discussion was Dr Ian Conrich, a UK-based scholar of NZ film. Conrich is founding director of the NZ Studies Centre, a research hub for the study of NZ culture which opened in London on January 15. Among other things, the centre houses the largest collection of NZ film and film-related material outside of the country. 
(18 October-2 November 2006)

A life behind the lens 
Filmmaker, writer and photographer John Patrick Feeney has died in Wellington aged 84. Born in Ngaruawahia and educated at Victoria University, Feeney served as a lieutenant in the Royal NZ Naval Reserve during World War II and participated in the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. He worked for the NZ Film Unit in the 1950s and, midway through the decade, moved to Canada to film the inhabitants of the Canadian Arctic. His documentary about Inuit carving - The Living Stone - was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1963 Feeney arrived in Egypt to spend a year making another documentary film. He ended up staying for 40 years, completing several documentaries and writing numerous books on Middle Eastern cooking. Photographing Egypt: Forty Years Behind the Lens is the most extensive collection of his photographic work, which also featured in Saudi Aramco World and Reader's Digest magazines. 
(23 December 2006)

Round two record attempt
NZ speedboat Earthrace will begin its second attempt to break the world circumnavigation record in March 2008. Earthrace is using the record attempt to raise awareness for environmentally friendly biofuel. "The record is just a small part of the package," says skipper Peter Bethune, a former oil industry worker. "We need to make people aware that biofuels need to be part of our transport energy mix and people should support them should they become available." Earthrace will set sail from Valencia in March and aims to return around 65 days later, beating the current circumnavigation record of 74 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes. Its first record attempt was abandoned in May 2007 after a series of misfortunes. 
(19 December 2007)

Natural selection
Telegraph writer Jonathan Ray discovers the art of high-altitude wine tasting with Air New Zealand's team of wine buyers: Jim Harré, John Belsham and Kate Radburnd. Air NZ is the single largest purchaser of NZ wine and goes through 850,000 bottles of it a year. "Sixty per cent of our passengers get their first taste of New Zealand wine on board our planes," says Belsham. "Our policy of only serving native wine works for us, but probably wouldn't for anyone else. If, say, Qantas had a policy of serving only Australian wine, it would be swamped by the corporates. This year we had 590 submissions from New Zealand's 550 wineries, many of them family-owned boutiques."
(15 December 2007)

It's all about Murray 
NZ comedian Rhys Darby earned a special mention in The Guardian's entertainment guide awards for 2007. Darby was named Best Supporting Character for his role as beleaguered band manager Murray Hewitt in Flight of the Conchords. Guardian: "Larry Sanders had Hank Kingsley, Seinfeld had George Costanza, now The Flight Of The Conchords has Murray. It's all about Murray." Darby appears alongside comic compatriots Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement in the HBO series, which has become cult viewing in NZ, the US and UK. 
(15 December 2007)

Hottest Aussie from Balclutha 
Balclutha-born Dean Tahana has been crowned Australia's sexiest man. The 29-year-old won the 2007 Mister Manhunt Australia competition, Australia's biggest competition for male models. "I entered the regionals up in Noosa, Queensland, when I was visiting my little girl, who lives with her Mum there," he said. "Then I went on to the national finals in Darwin, and I couldn't believe I won that. I was chuffed as." Tahana runs a mortgage finance business in Brisbane and models part-time. 
(19 November 2007)

Familiar sights in Utah
25,000 International Rotary members were treated to a Polynesian luau at a Utah convention centre this month. The performance, which involved story, song and dance, was put on by Kaeo-born Dave Atkinson, chairman of the Marae Committee of the New Zealand American Society. "Everyone enjoys a luau, so we are kept very busy all year round," says Atkinson of his Utah-based group. The Marae Committee was founded in 1988 and entertains at festivals, art shows, church and school functions, corporate parties and family reunions throughout the Western US.
(13 December 2007)

NZ ceremony honoured in UK 
The dedication ceremony for the New Zealand Memorial at London's Hyde Park has won a major British award. The event won the International Visual Communication Association (IVCA) award for projects that inform and educate their audiences. Designed by architect John Hardwick-Smith and sculptor Paul Dibble, the memorial reflects the enduring bonds between NZ and Britain. Its dedication ceremony was on 11 November 2006. "The memorial speaks strongly of New Zealand as a nation and of our special relationship with the UK," said Brodie Stubbs of NZ's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. "The dedication ceremony was an equally powerful and moving expression of our identity."
(14 December 2007)

High seas drama 
A book detailing the tumultuous Earthrace mission to date has been published in time for Christmas. First Time Around by Scott Fratcher follows the state-of-the-art boat on its mission to promote biodiesel fuel by breaking the round the world speedboat record. Earthrace set off from its NZ base in March 2007. "85 days later the Earthrace attempt was abandoned in Spain with multiple 2-meter cracks in her main hull," reads the book's blurb. "In her wake were three major storms, an engine rebuild, 6 propeller changes, bankruptcy, and ultimately death on the high seas." First Time Around is available as an e-book or hard copy from lulu.com.
(December 2007)

Protest heard around the world 
NZ-born pro surfer Dave "Rasta" Rastovich led an international protest over Japan's commercial slaughter of dolphins in November, gaining significant media coverage for his cause. Rastovich, a free surfer for Billabong, is a co-founder of the charity group Surfers for Cetaceans. He led a traditional surfing paddle-out ceremony at Japan's notorious "killing cove" in Taiji, to honour the memory of the thousands of dolphins killed there each year. "In surfing culture, it is customary to hold this type of ceremony to show respect to a surfer who has lost his or her life," he says. "These dolphins, truly the original surfers, are our ocean brothers and sisters and deserve to be remembered and honoured in the same way." Rastovich was joined by actresses Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) and Isabel Lucas (Home and Away), pro surfers Karlie Mackie, James Pribram, Karina Petroni and Jaymes Triglone, and a group of Japanese surfers from Save Japan Dolphins. The protest earned massive media exposure after arrest warrants were issued in Japan for Panettiere and Lucas, as well as for others in the group. 
(29 October 2007)

An appreciative audience 
The Telegraph describes Crowded House's performance as "just like old times" and Neil Finn's voice as "Lennonnish" in a review of their show at Manchester's MEN Arena. "There's a long tradition of audience participation at Crowded House gigs, and here it was honoured by the fans, who were word- and note-perfect (I'll swear that some of them were harmonising, too)," writes reviewer David Cheal. "The sound that swelled and rose across the hall was a sound pregnant with affection. Finn seemed genuinely taken aback, and the crowd gave themselves a cheer that, like the show itself, was big, warm and tingly." The recently reformed band is currently touring the UK in support of their new album, Time on Earth. 
(3 December 2007)

First NZ doco selected for Sundance 
A NZ documentary has won a place at the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins by Auckland filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly will compete in the World Cinema - Documentary section alongside 15 other films. Brettkelly's film follows contemporary art star Vanessa Beecroft over 16 months as she attempts to adopt a pair of South Sudanese twins. Along the way, the documentary explores Beecroft's unconventional personal life and her controversial art. Brettkelly first met Beecroft while filming a NZ TV series in South Sudan. "It was one of those bizarre places in the middle of nowhere, where you only expect to find foreign correspondents, aid workers and UN staff," she says. "Then I spotted this woman who was obviously none of those; she really grabbed your attention. I went to talk to her ... I knew nothing about Vanessa Beecroft, but I was intrigued by her. And international adoptions - I felt like this was a story that had to be told." Sundance 2008 runs from January 17 to 27. 
(4 December 2007)

Painful memories 
Two NZ athletes feature in a list of sport's 20 worst injuries, as chosen by The Times of South Africa. Cricketer Trevor Franklin is ranked 17th and former All Black captain Buck Shelford 15th in a list topped by David Beckham (the freak boot-to-the-head incident). In 1986, Franklin suffered multiple leg fractures after being run over by a luggage trolley while on tour in England. The same year, Shelford sustained a gruesome series of injuries during a home match against France. Shelford's scrotum was ripped open in a vicious ruck, leaving one testicle hanging free. After being stitched up and sent back onto the field, he lost four teeth and received a severe concussion, in two separate incidents. "I was knocked cold, lost a few teeth and had a few stitches down below," Shelford said. "It's a game I still can't remember." 
(18 November 2007)

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Great whites 

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Kora impress offshore

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Deluxe digs 

Ongoing impact 
A Dutch academic has published a book examining the impact Once Were Warriors has had on NZ culture. Once Were Warriors The Aftermath: The Controversy of Once Were Warriors in Aotearoa New Zealand is written by University of Amsterdam media studies lecturer Emiel Martens. In it, Martens discusses the widespread controversy created by both Alan Duff's book and Lee Tamahori's film in relation to wider postcolonial issues such as racial stereotypes, cultural politics, ethnic relations, indigenous media and Maori identity. Said Martens in Wellington's Dominion Post, "I regard [Once Were Warriors] as a very important movie, well, actually the most important movie in the history of New Zealand cinema, and, together with the novel, the most important cultural expression in New Zealand ever, because of this impact." 
(22 October 2007)

Bags of talent 

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Aspartame to blame?

Hyperfactory enters hyperdrive 
Rich Frank, former president of both Walt Disney Studios and Paramount Television Group, has invested in NZ mobile marketing agency The Hyperfactory. He joins 42 Below vodka's founder and chairman, Geoff Ross and Grant Baker, and Paul Frank, current head of television at The Firm, as chief investors in the award-winning company, which was founded in 2000 by brothers Derek and Geoff Handley (pictured). "[The Hyperfactory] were one of the few who weren't just a sales group or someone who comes in and pitches you an idea and ... [then] try to find some creatives to do it or people to write the programming," said Rich Frank in Adweek. "They were able to function and execute the ideas. It is really what I'd call a full-service agency ... They do all the creative and media buying. I was impressed with them." The Hyperfactory has a US headquarters in New York, International headquarters in Auckland, and sales offices in LA, Chicago, Shanghai, Hong Kong and India. Its client roster includes Toyota, Motorola, Vodafone and Coca Cola. 
(5 November 2007)

Civil union milestone
Civil unions in NZ have reached the 1000 mark, according to government officials. The Civil Union Act, which came into effect in April 2005, gives both heterosexual and homosexual couples the same legal rights as married couples. The majority of civil unions to date have been between same-sex partners. Lesbians Alburta Gibson and Tina Pitman of South Auckland recently became the 1000th couple to make use of the law. "The civil union legislation has ensured couples such as Alburta and Tina can formalize their relationship in a legal manner," said Labour MP Tim Barnett, who sponsored the Civil Union Act. "This law recognized the reality of New Zealand relationships. It was opposed in raw and prejudiced ways. It has turned out to be a comprehensive success."
(26 October 2007)

Rotorua takes root in Nanjing 
Rotorua Town is the latest in a series of namesake housing compounds to be built for China's booming upper class. Located in Nanjing, two hours from Shanghai, Rotorua Town is an upmarket gated community featuring buildings, gardens and landmarks based on the NZ city half a world away. Rotorua Town was named by developer Moon Building Group's largest shareholder, Li Shun Xiang. "Rotorua gave him a good feeling," said a Moon employee in a Waikato Times interview. "It relaxed him and made him feel very comfortable. He thinks the Chinese people work too hard and he wanted to bring the Rotorua lifestyle to this area." China already has a London Town and Cambridge Town; Waitomo Town is currently being developed in Tangshan, south of Beijing.
(November 2007)

The gift of sight 
A photographic exhibition celebrating the work of the Fred Hollows Foundation opened in Sydney on World Sight Day, October 11. Together with Nepalese surgeon Sanduk Ruit, NZ-born Hollows pioneered a cheap and effective form of eye surgery using intraocular lenses (IOL), returning sight to villagers in developing countries all over the world. He died in 1993, before the first IOL was manufactured. "He never saw a single intraocular lens," said his widow Gabi, while in NZ to mark the 15th anniversary of the Foundation. "Imagine what he would do knowing that 2.5 million have now been made." 
(5 October 2007)

Trans-Tasman netball goes semi-professional 
A new trans-Tasman netball tournament will be launched in April next year, bringing together five teams each from NZ and Australia. The Tasman Trophy has secured ANZ Bank as its naming rights sponsor, and will screen on Fox Sport in Australia and Sky TV in NZ. The annual tournament will run from April to July and feature 69 games in total. "It's a really exciting point in time," said veteran Australian captain Liz Ellis, who has long agitated for higher pay for women in sport. "There's talk of it being semi-professional; if things are done well, I think the product itself is so good it has to become fully professional sooner rather than later." The Tasman Trophy has a total operating budget of around AU$20 million, with each player set to earn an average of AU$20,000 in its first year. 
(10 October 2007)

Auckland band makes the cut 
Auckland power-punk quartet Cut Off Your Hands scored an invitation to play at New York's "suffocatingly cool" CMJ Music Marathon, one of the US indie scene's premiere events. Cut Off Your Hands was one of the bands to be selected from a pool of 4,000 applicants worldwide. "Coming from New Zealand there's two major festivals that you want to be involved with as an up and comer," said singer-songwriter Nick Johnston, referring to CMG and the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Cut Off Your Hands recently signed with London label 679 Recordings, but is yet to snare an American distributor. 
(12 October 2007)

Fashion writer swaps stilettos for saddles
Well-known NZ fashion reporter Stacy Gregg has turned her hand to writing children's fiction. Gregg, a keen horse rider as a young woman, noticed a gap in the market for well written pony stories for the 8 to 12 age group. "There were a couple of modern [pony centric] series that I found truly awful," she said in a NZ Herald interview. "The writers seemed to know nothing about horses and they didn't have any genuine passion for them. And I found the only really good horse books for girls like me were written way back in the '50s. So I knew there was room in the genre." Harper Collins UK has already published the first two books in Gregg's 8-book Pony Club Secrets series, which was launched in the Commonwealth market this month. Gregg has also sold the German rights to the series and is fielding calls regarding film rights. Her first two books - Mystic and the Midnight Ride and Blaze and the Dark Rider - are currently numbers 12 and 15 on the children's top 30 books chart at WHSmith, a prominent UK bookseller chain. 
(6 October 2007)

Best foot forward 

A decade in design 
NZ architect Chris Moller is holding his first major solo exhibition in London, showcasing ten years of innovative practice by his company S333 Architecture + Urbanism. Titled On the Urban Designing of Architecture, the exhibition will be on display at the New London Architecture (NLA) gallery from 3-27 October. It has previously shown at La Galerie in Paris and Deutsches Architektur Zentrum in Berlin. "In 2007, for the first time, 50% of the world's population are city dwellers," reads the NLA promotional blurb for the exhibition. "How do architects respond to this dramatic change, which is delivering increasingly more challenging and constrained development opportunities?" S333 Architecture + Urbanism is based in Amsterdam and London. 
(1 October 2007)

World Environment Day in Wellington 
Wellington is to host World Environment Day 2008, the UN Environment Program has announced. The focus of next year's global celebrations will be encouraging countries, companies and communities to "Kick the habit" and make the transition to a low carbon economy and lifestyle. "New Zealand is among a pioneer group of countries committed to accelerating a transition to a low carbon and carbon-neutral economy," said UN Under-Secretary General Achim Steiner. "We are therefore delighted to be holding the main WED 2008 celebrations in Wellington and in communities across this South Pacific nation." World Environment Day was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 and is celebrated annually on June 5. 
(1 October 2007)

NZ sets pace on climate change 
A recent Guardian op-ed hailed NZ as "the new climate change pioneer", after the unveiling of an ambitious new environmental plan by the NZ government. The plan's stated targets include generating 90% of the country's electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and for the electricity, stationary energy (coal and gas) and transport sector to be carbon neutral by 2040. In addition, an emissions trading scheme will be launched in January next year. "New Zealand's plans are worthy of a green hurrah, if for no other reason than they show how an entire country (albeit a small one) can be turned around once leaders recognise that pollution does indeed cost," writes columnist Tim Watkins. He notes, however, that while NZ is leaving other developed nations "in the shade", its efforts should not be seen as an extreme example of environmental policy, but as marking the beginning of a global change. 
(25 September 2007)

Wellywood and Bollywood unite
The NZ and Indian governments are to negotiate a film co-production agreement, whereby resources will be pooled to benefit filmmakers in both countries. "Films made jointly by New Zealand and Indian producers would qualify as works with national status in both countries, making them eligible for government support and facilitation," says NZ Finance Minister Michael Cullen. NZ has traditionally been a popular location with Indian filmmakers, but they have stayed away in recent years due to a lack of government incentives compared to other countries. 
(2 October 2007)

Film's future in good hands 
Wall Street Journal film critic Joe Morgenstern paid Peter Jackson a visit at his Miramar studios on a recent trip to NZ. The pair discussed their favourite movies, the future of special effects and the role of studios in filmmaking at the "one-of-a-kind cauldron of creativity" that is Weta Workshop. Morgenstern's tour of the facility included meeting Jackson's business partner Richard Taylor and Weta Digital effects maestro Joe Letteri, and seeing Jackson's custom-built screening room - designed as a visual homage to the movie palaces of his childhood. In talking with Jackson, writes Morgenstern, "[you] get the feeling anything is possible in motion pictures, and that his part of the movies' future is in good hands". 
(6 September 2007)

Beckham boots up for Wellington 
Soccer star David Beckham will join his team Los Angeles Galaxy in a $2 million exhibition match against Wellington Phoenix. "We as the club are bearing most of the costs," said Phoenix owner Terry Serepisos. "It's crucial David Beckham takes the field and plays. If for some unforeseen circumstance he gets injured prior to the game then the game will be rescheduled at a later date to be confirmed." Phoenix season memberships have risen from 100 to around 2300 as a result of the Beckham announcement. The match is scheduled for December 1 at Wellington's Westpac Stadium. 
(24 September 2007)

Technology high-fliers
Marketing entrepreneur Andy Lark is the latest New Zealander to land a top job at a leading US technology firm. Lark has been appointed global vice-president of marketing and communications at Dell, one of the world's largest computer makers. He joins former Carter Holt Harvey boss Chris Liddell, now chief financial officer at Microsoft, and ex-EDS sales head Michael Boustridge, who now leads British Telecom's business in the Americas. As the chairman of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Beachhead programme in the US, Lark has a strong involvement with NZ businesses and industry programs. "Fortunately, Dell is supportive of my efforts to help New Zealand companies thrive in the US and other markets," he said in the NZ Herald. "I wouldn't have taken the role if it had meant giving that up." 
(17 September 2007)

Edge moves 
An American dance professor gained a fascinating insight into NZ culture during an exchange organised by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Tarin Chaplin wrote about her time in Auckland and Wellington in a two-part article for the Barre Montpelier (Vermont) Times Argus. "I know my positive take on Maori-pakeha relations is based on minimal exposure, but Kiwis seem farther on the road to cultural collaboration than the many other societies abroad I've lived and worked in," she writes. "From Whaingoroa's Soul Speed dance/theater troupe to the Auckland-based companies Atamira and Mau, the joining of traditional and contemporary dance forms, spiritual values, and inter-cultural perspectives are creating powerful new modes of artistic expression." Chaplin spent 16 days in NZ as a guest of AUT and Dance Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ). 
(7 September 2007)

Sibling success 
Paul and Kahra Scott-James's GRAHAM is one of 25 films selected for competition at Filminute 2007, an online festival for 60-second films. GRAHAM was chosen from a pool of 800 entries from 45 different countries by a jury panel that includes Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO and NZ Edge co-founder Kevin Roberts, Booker Prize winning author Michael Ondaatje and Iranian filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf. "It's a great initiative and being a part of that means we can access a global audience," says Animation Director Paul Scott-James (sister Kahra has writing and sound design credits). Filminute 2007 concludes September 30. 
(September 2007)

Debuts, divas and dark designs 
Wellington writer Carolyn Enting provided an overview of Air New Zealand Fashion Week 2007 for the Melbourne Age. Highlights of the week included impressive debuts by Alex Kim and Alexandra Owen, a media stampede at Stolen Girlfriends Club, a retrospective show by 21-year-old label Nom*D, Kate Sylvester's surprise launch of a men's wear label, and solid showings by veteran designers Zambesi and Trelise Cooper. According to Enting, NZ Fashion Week ended "with its reputation for dark, intellectual designs secured by a handful of innovators". 
(21 September 2007)

The future of transport
Transport Communications, a new book by two NZ professors, predicts an end to congestion, terrorist threats and increasing fuel prices through the widespread adoption of nanotechnologies and satellite communications over the next 50 years. Authors Chris Kissling and John Tiffin suggest scientific solutions to present day problems, ranging from those based on current technologies to scenarios that seem straight out of science fiction. "[We're] trying to help people look into the future: what changes are coming, because more of the same, we think, is limited," said Kissling. The pair's predictions include "clever" clothing that helps repair injuries after an accident, airplane passengers being given sleeping pills and stacked horizontally on beds, and smart coatings on vehicles that can absorb solar power, repair scratches and clean themselves. 
(26 August 2007)

Moko in vogue 
A French fashion designer's use of moko in advertisements for his latest collection has caused a stir in NZ. Jean Paul Gaultier's campaign shots, featuring male and female models with Maori facial tattooing, have appeared in the European issues of Vogue. "It's definitely Maori, no question about that," said Victoria University business lecturer Aroha Mead. "I take the line that if copying is flattery, tell that to Coca-Cola and Harrods, who rigorously protect their designs." Creative New Zealand's Maori arts board recently established toi iho, a registered trademark used to promote and sell Maori arts and crafts. Toi iho allows for partnerships with non-Maori, but a spokeswoman said there had been no contact with Gaultier. 
(13 September 2007)

The fickle grape 
NZ actor Sam Neill talks Pinot Noir in a Time magazine profile. The star of Jurassic Park and The Piano established his Two Paddocks vineyard, which solely produces Pinot Noir, in Central Otago in 1993. "Pinot Noir is not one of those grunty, stand-a-spoon-up-in-it wines. It's fickle and voluptuous and complex," says Neill. "People say there's a lot of wine in the world, but there's not a lot of Pinot Noir, and admirers are looking for regional differences." A notoriously difficult grape to grow, the most prized Pinot Noir traditionally comes from Burgundy's 30-mile stretch of Côte d'Or. Central Otago Pinot Noir is gradually building a global reputation alongside those from similarly cool and rocky regions in Australia, the US and South America.
(13 September 2007)

Nobel nomination for NZ institution 
A NZ youth development course is in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The Spirit of New Zealand, a ship that takes teenagers on 10-day development workshops, is one of 21 ships that sail under the Sailing Training International banner. Run by the Spirit of Adventure Trust, the Spirit of New Zealand has hosted more than 75,000 young people over the past 35 years. "The purpose of it really is to teach kids about themselves," says Trust spokesperson John Lister. "We don't teach them how to sail the ship, we use the ship and the medium of the sea to find out about them." Sailing Training International is nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with 180 other individuals and organisations. 
(12 September 2007)

Been there, done that 
A selection of readers' NZ travel tips appeared in the Guardian's travel pages this month. The information was gathered from the newspaper's "I've been there" website, which features six pages of travellers' suggestions for Aotearoa. The tips printed in the Guardian included Watson's Way Backpackers in Marlborough, the Amisfield Winery restaurant in Queenstown, and Lyttleton's "very, very kitsch" Wunderbar. 
(8 September 2007)

Bold type 
Auckland-born artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999) features in graphic design magazine Eye's special typography issue. Gascoigne's large, collage-like art works are primarily made from found objects, including abandoned road signs, stencilled packing materials and other text-heavy forms. Gascoigne moved to Mount Stromlo, just outside of Canberra, in 1943, and at the age of 64 became the first woman to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale. Eye: "Approaching 70, she hit her stride, making electric images of distilled experience, visual poems that meld culture and nature, language and landscape ... This creative response to her countryside produced some of Australia's most inventive typographic imagery, now celebrated as some of its most iconic contemporary art."
(September 2007)

Power producers 
Queenstown-born film producer Tim Bevan (right) features in Vanity Fair's annual 'New Establishment' power rankings, along with business partner Eric Fellner. Bevan and Fellner founded British film powerhouse Working Title in 1984. Their company has produced nearly every hit British film since the late 1980s, from Four Weddings and a Funeral and Elizabeth, to Love Actually and Shaun of the Dead. Bevan and Fellner are ranked 75th on the 100-strong list, which is topped this year by Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), Steve Jobs (Apple, Disney, Pixar), and Sergey Brin and Larry Page (Google). 
(October 2007)

Castaway tales from edge of the world 
The latest book by Wellington maritime historian Joan Druett uses personal memoirs to recount two very different survival stories on the Auckland Islands, 500km south of NZ. Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked on the Edge of the World tells the tale of two British ships stranded on opposite sides of the main island in 1864, and the wildly different experiences had by their respective crews. "If the southern part of Auckland Island is all Robinson Crusoe," writes the Toronto Star reviewer, "the northern part is more Lord of the Flies." Druett has written ten non-fiction books and seven novels, most of which share a historical maritime theme. Almost all her works have been published first in the US, where she has received numerous awards. Her 1998 book Hen Frigates won a place in the New York Public Library's list of Twenty-Five Best Books to Remember. 
(4 August 2007)

Rowing champs bode well for Beijing 
NZ athletes continue to dominate world rowing, with another impressive medal haul at this year's world championships in Munich, Germany. Single sculler Mahe Drysdale, lightweight sculler Duncan Grant and the men's four of Carl Meyer, James Dallinger, Eric Murray and Hamish Bond all won gold. Silver medals were won by women's double scullers Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell and the men's pair of Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater. In all, NZ qualified seven boats for next year's Beijing Olympics. 
(3 September 2007)

Tributes flow for leading philanthropist
Leading NZ philanthropist Sir Roy McKenzie has died aged 84. McKenzie spent most of his life managing the JR McKenzie Trust, which was founded by his father from the profits of the family's national chain of budget department stores. In addition, he established the Roy McKenzie Foundation and the Centre for the Study of Families at Victoria University, was a patron of the Outward Bound Trust and councillor at the Council for Educational Research, and made significant contributions to Women's Refuge, the Deaf Decade Trust, Birthright, the hospice movement, and the Nga Manu Native Reserve Trust. "It was a life very well lived," said Philanthropy New Zealand executive director Robyn Scott. "He believed passionately in the power of people 'giving back' and he viewed himself as just part of being able to make that happen." 
(3 September 2007)

Check one-two 
Auckland five-piece The Checks featured as the Guardian's New Band of the Day for August 22. Music critic Paul Lester: "These five New Zealanders may be teenagers, but they sound as old as the hills that garage bands have been slowly climbing in their rusty Transit vans since time immemorial. They play primal riff'n'roll influenced by early Beatles, Who, Led Zep, Free, Van Morrison and Rolling Stones, and they arrive clutching glowing testimonials from impressed, impressive fans." Based in London, The Checks have opened for REM, Oasis and the Hives and have received rave reviews in both NME and Rolling Stone. 
(22 August 2007)

Tributes flow for industry titans NZ has lost two of its leading business figures with the deaths of Sir James Fletcher and Nick Nobilo (pictured) on August 29. Fletcher, 92, became Managing Director of construction dynasty Fletcher Holdings in 1942. He was knighted for services to industry and the community in 1980. "We don't have enough industrialists or business people that we can look up to. He is one we can revere," said Fletcher family friend John Hart. Nikola 'Nick' Nobilo, 94, founded the Nobilo Wines empire in 1943 after emigrating to NZ from Croatia six years earlier. Nobilo helped steer the NZ wine industry away from hybrid grape varieties and fortified wines to a higher level of quality wines made from classic grape varietals. "You can't talk about where New Zealand wine has got to in the world today - and it is absolutely impressive - without taking into account the contribution of the Nobilo family," said Terry Dunleavy, editor of NZ Winegrower.
(30 August 2007)

Auckland films Venice-bound
Two short films by lecturers and a student at Auckland University have been accepted for competition at the Venice Film Festival. Coffee and Allah, written and produced by senior film lecturers Shuchi Kothari and Sarina Pearson, explores a NZ-Ethiopian woman's love for coffee, Islam and badminton. Cargo, the self-funded debut by postgraduate student Leo Woodhead, is a grim look at child trafficking from the perspective of a young Czech boy. "It's particularly pleasing that the work of our established film-makers on the staff and emerging talent from among the students are being showcased side by side," said Duncan Petrie, head of Auckland University's Department of Film Television and Media Studies. "That demonstrates the strength and depth that we aspire to in the department." The Venice Film Festival is the oldest and one of the most prestigious events on the international competition circuit. 
(23 August 2007)

Maths prize for Massey prof
Professor Robert McLachlan of Massey University has become the first mathematician from the Southern Hemisphere to win the prestigious Dahlquist Prize. Presented by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the Prize is awarded to a young scientist for original contributions to fields associated with Germund Dahlquist, a pioneering figure in the study of differential equations. McLachlan was recognised by SIAM for "his outstanding contributions to geometric integration and composition methods". He received the award at the Society's annual conference in St Malo, France, after a three-month term as Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University's Isaac Newton Institute. 
(13 August 2007)

Rovers salute "The Admiral" 
Star defender Ryan Nelsen has signed a lucrative 5-year contact with British Premiership football side the Blackburn Rovers, making him NZ's highest paid athlete. Known as "God" or "The Admiral" to his fans, Nelsen joined the Rovers in 2005 and was made the side's captain this year. "I remember coming on for my first game and thinking that I could tell my kids one day that I played one game and I was happy with that," he said in a NZ Herald interview. "Then I aimed for 10 games and 20 games and after a while, you just go along for the ride and hope it keeps going." Nelsen is tipped to replace the recently retired Danny Hay as captain of the NZ All Whites, who begin their World Cup qualifying campaign on October 13. 
(29 July 2007)

Brunettes have more fun 
Auckland two-piece The Brunettes featured in a New York Times 'playlist' this month, alongside an eclectic group of new and emerging acts. "Their cheerful songs are full of straightforward hooks that hint at 1970s soft rock and the more relaxed wing of new wave, with lots of oohs and la-las," writes NYT music critic Linda Thompson. "But they lead into musings on the mechanics of music production, commerce or fame, making them far too analytical to get misconstrued as easy listening." The Brunettes comprise Heather Mansfield on vocals and keyboards, and Jonathan Bree on vocals, guitar and drums. The Brunettes have just made their US debut on Sub Pop Records, with their third album. 
(12 August 2007)

Stuntwoman turned star 
NZ stuntwoman Zoe Bell is described as a "bona fide butt-kicker" in an August Marie Claire profile. Bell has gone from doubling Lucy Lawless in Xena and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill to making her acting debut in Quentin Tarantino's latest film, Death Proof. "I forgot I even had dialogue," said Bell, who stars as herself in Tarantino's ode to bloody B-movies. "I was like, 'Sweet, dude. Car stuff! That'd be a buzz.'" Born and raised on Waiheke Island, Bell now lives in California. According to a recent NZ Herald article, she has starring roles in several upcoming action films, one of which may be directed by Tarantino. "Do I want to be a bad guy, a good guy, a ninja, an assassin, a racing car driver or a cop?" she wondered in the interview. "I just want a really brilliant script. Great dialogue doubled with great action. That would be my ultimate." 
(4 August 2007)

Marathon medal prospect
Auckland runner Nina Rillstone finished third in the New York City Half-Marathon, just seconds behind Kenyans Hilda Kibet and Catherine Ndereba. The NZ record holder made a career best time of 1:10:35 - three seconds behind the winner. "I didn't get the practice running in heat and humidity today that I was expecting," she said on the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) website. "But I'm really happy to get a national record." Rillstone will compete in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka next month. 
(6 August 2007)

Home brew 
flat white noun /Austral. flaat whyette/ /NZ flet wyte/ 1 An antipodean style coffee which is served as a strong shot of espresso served in a small cup with textured milk; a damn good strong coffee (Flat White website). Londoners and antipodean expats alike have welcomed the arrival of Flat White cafe in Soho. Established in 2005, the cafe is co-owned by New Zealanders Cameron McClure and James Gurnsey, and Australian businessman and philanthropist Peter Hall. "Before, you couldn't get a good coffee in London," said Hall in a 2006 interview with The Australian. "But we want to make a flat white a ubiquitous concept in Britain. We're trying to create a new coffee culture. So I found two coffee maniacs to do it." Wallpaper magazine founder Tyler Brûlé has already hailed Flat White as home to "the best coffee in London", and the cafe won the 2007 Coffee Bar of the Year award from the Independent newspaper. 
(July 2007)

Something to Crowe about
Russell Crowe is gradually proving the naysayers wrong as co-owner of the South Sydney 'Rabbitohs' rugby league club. Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes a Court took over and privatised the beleaguered club in 2006, sparking numerous protests from fans and league officials. "What we're doing has never been done before," said Holmes a Court in the Sydney Morning Herald. "I still don't know if we're going to be successful. I know this is a crazy thing to do. It doesn't stack up on any of the numbers my accountant will agree to as a business deal. But I know this club would not have survived." The SMH is impressed with the pair's efforts so far: "As anyone at the club who was there for a nanosecond of the dark days will attest, their influence has been remarkable." 
(30 July 2007)

Podium finish for Warriner 
NZ triathletes continue to put in strong performances in the ITU World Cup series. The most recent event at Salford, England, saw Samantha Warriner finish second behind world No.1 Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal, earning her ninth World Cup podium place. "I feel brilliant," said Warriner. "To get a podium in any world cup is the best feeling ever." Debbie Tanner came seventh and Taryn McLeod thirty-second in the women's event, while world No.2 Bevan Docherty finished sixth in the men's. 
(30 July 2007)

Future of NZ film lies in Asia
NZ filmmakers are increasingly looking to Asia to fill the void left by the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Annual production financing in NZ soared from $146 to $402 million between 1998 and 2001, chiefly as a result of the Rings films. After shooting was completed, production financing dropped 56 percent to just $176 million in 2004. Today, NZ filmmakers are just as likely to get work from Korea, Hong Kong, China and Japan as they are from Hollywood. "I think everyone was very realistic that the Lord of the Rings was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," says Vicki Jackways of the Peter Jackson-owned Park Road Post film editing lab, which is currently editing the Chinese movie Big Water and is negotiating work on three more Asian films. In other major coups for the NZ industry, the Japanese samurai movie Dororo was recently shot in Methven, South Korean director Kim Sung-ho scouted the country for his movie Together, and Hong Kong mega-star John Woo is expected to spend more than $80 million in NZ on his ancient Chinese epic Red Cliff. 
(22 July 2007)

Two down, one to go 
The All Blacks have completed the final leg of their World Cup build-up by retaining both the Bledisloe and TriNations trophies, with a 26-12 defeat of the Wallabies at Eden Park on Saturday. "It's great playing in these real pressure games where everything's riding on the line," said star first five-eighth Daniel Carter, who kicked seven from seven penalties in the match. "I love these occasions and like to lift for these games especially [but] we can't sit back and be happy with how we're playing." The All Blacks remain odds-on favourites to win the World Cup, a feat they haven't achieved in 20 years despite being consistently ranked the world's number one side. All Black legend Zinzan Brooke sees the task at hand as difficult but doable. "I am a lot more comfortable with the squad New Zealand are taking to this World Cup than the last one," he wrote in what will be a regular online column for the BBC. "It has better players, better organisation, a good chemistry within the team, and they have been performing for the last two or three years." The final 30-man All Black World Cup squad will be named on August 14. 
(22 July 2007)

Crowded House on love and loss
An LA Times review finds Time on Earth, the new album by the recently reformed Crowded House, to be a moving exploration of love and loss. "Pop music reunions are, more often than not, driven by commerce and/or nostalgia, so the fact that the resurrection of this wondrous pure-pop band from New Zealand grew out of shared personal loss gives this one a far richer subtext than most ... In Time on Earth, the melancholy is palpable and heavy, and although everything doesn't revolve directly around the loss of a loved one, that theme surfaces in several of these eminently hummable songs." Original Crowded House drummer Paul Hester committed suicide in 2005. His death compelled former bandmates Neil Finn and Nick Seymour to reform the band earlier this year, with new drummer Matt Sherrod. 
(8 July 2007)

Tee king 
New Zealander Glenn Jones has won the US-based Threadless t-shirt design competition a record 17 times. Jones, the creative director at Auckland's Dashwood Design studio, gets regular fan e-mail and has been featured on the cover of the NZ's ProDesign magazine as the "King of the Tees". Founded in 2000, the Threadless website allows users to vote on t-shirt designs submitted from all over the world. The winning designs are printed and sold in batches of 1500, and earn their creators US $2000. Threadless has been hailed as a prime example of the growing shift in consumer control from experts to the masses. 
(8 July 2007)

Clever but not too clever 
Jonathan King's gory horror-comedy Black Sheep earned enthusiastic write-ups in both the LA Times and the New Yorker. "The movie is less a running gag than an ingenious prank," says the Times. "Like Shaun of the Dead, Black Sheep is at once exhilarating and self-deprecating, knowledgeable without being fannish, clever but not too clever." The New Yorker describes the film as The Birds with sheep: "As two brothers wrangle over the business concerns of their late father's farm, the science-gone-too-far plotlines and emotional hysteria pile up and play sublimely, in a thirties-horror-movie way." Starring Oliver Driver, Nathan Meister, Peter Feeney, Tandi Wright and Danielle Mason, Black Sheep involves a pack of mutant sheep wreaking havoc in the NZ countryside. 
(22 June 2007)

Ambassador to California
Californian chef Govind Armstrong is promoting NZ produce at his hip LA eatery, Table 8. A NZ Herald journalist spotted Kiwi lamb on the menu during a recent visit to the Melrose Avenue restaurant, which counts Al Pacino, Sharon Stone and Elton John among its clientele. Once named one of People magazine's 50 most beautiful people, Armstrong has been a consultant chef to Air NZ and a culinary ambassador for NZ Trade and Enterprise. He flew into Auckland this month to cook at SkyCity's Dining for a Difference fundraiser dinner for the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation, organised by fellow chef Peter Gordon. 
(24 June 2007)

The burp stops here 
AgResearch scientists at Massey University are trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from NZ farm animals by changing what goes on inside their stomachs. A third of greenhouse gases produced in NZ come from ruminant animals in the form of methane, a gas that warms the planet 20 times more than carbon dioxide. Project leader Harry Clark has identified around 400 microbes that break down what farm animals eat, just one of which is responsible for producing methane. Clark's team has not yet found any reason to keep the microbe so the next step is to discover how to get rid of it. "It's got to get done without detriment to the productivity of the animal, that's a given," he says. If the AgResearch scientists are successful in cutting methane emissions from livestock, their discovery could have lucrative worldwide application. 
(19 June 2007)

Auld Mug stays with Swiss 
Alinghi has successfully defended the America's Cup, defeating Emirates Team NZ 5-2 in the best-of-nine series. The 2007 event was the closest in years, with the Swiss team winning the seventh race by a mere second. "Just not enough has been the theme," said Team NZ tactician, Terry Hutchinson. Alinghi beat Team NZ 5-0 in 2003, taking the America's Cup to Europe for the first time in its 150-year history. Alinghi's five-strong NZ contingent - Brad Butterworth, Dean Phipps, Warwick Fleury, Simon Daubney and Murray Jones - will stay with the Swiss syndicate for the next America's Cup Challenge. "We're mates and we've sailed together for years," said Alinghi skipper and tactician Brad Butterworth in the NZ Herald. "It's very important because that's been our career and that's been our strength. Why break it up?" The five NZ sailors have now won the America's Cup four successive times, the first two with Team NZ before they switched with then-skipper Russell Coutts to Alinghi in 2000. 
(5 July 2007)

Eslinger in all things interactive
Tom Eslinger, worldwide interactive creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi, was president of the Cyber jury at this year's Cannes International Advertising Festival. He spoke about the importance of ideas and the growing respect for media as a creative field in an interview with AdWeek. "[M]y biggest challenge is going to be to keep everybody focused on looking for the big ideas that are executed the most brilliantly," he said. "Somebody will always do a smarter piece of Flash programming next year and there will always be a nicer mobile phone, and there will always be a cooler gadget. The thing I want to look for is the idea that works across a whole bunch of channels and kicks the most ass." Born in North Dakota and now based in Los Angeles, Eslinger is also a long-time resident of NZ having been Saatchi & Saatchi's first ever creative director for interactive and emerging technologies, first in Wellington, then Auckland. He founded the Wanganui School of Design in 1987. 
(18 June 2007)

Taking issue with food miles 
A UK Times eco-columnist's suggestion to reduce food miles by drinking French rather than NZ wine has stimulated a response by NZ winemakers and politicians. She argued that transporting wines from France results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions because of its closer proximity to the UK. "Our basic concern with the food-miles issue is that it is looking at only one aspect of the energy budget for production, marketing and sales of a product," says NZ Winegrowers CEO Philip Gregan. "Focusing just on transport, as food miles does, is not the way forward." Many NZ winemakers are involved in a sustainable agriculture initiative designed to reduce the environmental impact of their industry. Dave Pearce, winemaker for Marlborough's carbon neutral Grove Mill vineyard, argues that the NZ practice of shipping wine to the UK by boat produces less carbon emissions than "trucking a container of wine from Italy to London, and half the amount I would generate if I fly to London to do a presentation [on global warming]." 
(19 June 2007)

Pixel perfect 
Hamilton-born Nick Craven was one of a 35-strong team of animators working on the third Shrek instalment. Fellow New Zealander Andrew Adamson, who wrote and directed the first two films, provided the story for Shrek the Third but opted out of directing it. Craven left NZ to study at the Vancouver Film School in the mid-90s and has remained at the forefront of the international animation industry ever since. "There are many, many people wanting to do [animation], a lot of them are skilled, and they might be prepared to work for less money than you are," he said in an interview with the NZ Herald. "So yeah, you've got the pressure of a lot of hungry guys coming up behind you but the good part of that is that it makes for a lot of great animation." Craven's previous jobs include Madagascar, Over the Hedge and Ice Age. This year, he will return to NZ to work for Weta Workshop on Avatar, the latest film by Titanic director James Cameron.
(24 May 2007)

Cinema success story
Auckland-based Vista Entertainment Solutions has become one of the world's leading cinema software providers since its launch in 1995. Vista's systems, which run entire movie theatres from selling tickets to calculating studio royalties, are used in nearly 600 cinemas in 30 countries, including the US, India and China. In the small NZ market, its systems are used by major shareholder SkyCity Cinemas and the Berkley and Rialto chains. Last year, Vista signed a partnership deal with Scottish virtual ticketing company Mobiqa, whose mobile phone barcodes act as coupons for sports events, concerts and conferences. "The ability to send mobi-tickets directly will provide a very convenient new delivery channel to cinema-goers, minimising queues at the box-office and automated ticketing machines," said Vista chief executive Murray Holdaway in the Scotsman. Vista is now working towards integrating its box office software with digital projection systems. 
(June 2007)

Red Cross honours NZ nurse
Aucklander Marianne Whittington has been awarded the Red Cross's highest nursing honour, the Florence Nightingale Medal. Whittington has undertaken 11 international aid missions for the organisation in the last 17 years, including dangerous assignments to Afghanistan, Sudan and Angola. "She has taken three missions to Afghanistan during and after the Taliban's rule," said Red Cross operations manager Andrew McKie. "They were conducted under difficult circumstances, given the position of the International Committee of Red Cross and of female aid workers in particular. For her to volunteer during these times demonstrates her commitment to the Red Cross." Only 50 Florence Nightingale medals are awarded internationally every two years. Whittington is the 23rd New Zealand nurse to receive the honour since 1920. She was awarded the New Zealand Red Cross international service award in 2005.
(15 June 2007)

Designs on New York
Christchurch-born art director and graphic designer Jeff Docherty has spent the last seven years making a name for himself in NZ, Australia and New York. To date, Docherty's work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine as well as Australian titles SummerWinter, Lemonade, STU and (inside). He is currently designing for the New York-based popular science magazine, Seed. In Seed's May issue, Docherty likens graphic design to a science experiment "with several different, equally valid solutions to the problem." "You're trying to capture the tone and mood of the whole story on one page," he says. "At the same time, your solution must be true to the science." Docherty is a graduate of the Christchurch College of Art & Design. 
(May/June 2007)

Small fish hits big time 
Greymouth singer-songwriter Steve Edwards has become a star in the UK without even releasing an album. A copy of One By One, a song from his upcoming Fish out of Water album, was leaked to BBC Radio 2 by the London studio Edwards was recording at. Without the usual support of marketing and publicity, One By One was named album of the week and play-listed for over a month. "It was a very pleasant surprise and at first I felt a slight trepidation as we didn't have a video or touring set-up to support it but it was great news," said Edwards, who has just released One By One in NZ. "When people were hearing it on the radio they couldn't actually buy it and if they could it would have charted." Edwards has recently returned to NZ from London and hopes to become part of his country's flourishing music scene. 
(31 May 2007)

Royal welcome for NZ flora 
The largest collection of NZ native plants in the UK has opened at the Savill Garden, near Windsor Castle in Surrey. The NZ Garden in Great Windsor Park was officially opened by the Duke of York on April 27, to commemorate the Savill Garden's 75th anniversary. "New Zealand is very honoured to be the only country with a garden all to itself in Great Windsor Park," said Bronwen Chang, Deputy High Commissioner for New Zealand. The garden was designed by top NZ landscape architect, Sam Martin, together with the head of the Savill Garden, Harvey Stevens. Martin's winning design mimics the undulating roof of the Savill Building and features over a thousand different tussock grasses, cabbage palms and silver-leaved astelias. Originally from Canterbury, Martin now runs his own landscape design practice in Battersea, London. His work was recently profiled in The English Garden magazine. 
(27 April 2007)

In the frame 
Scottish author Andrew O'Hagan's inspiring opening address at this month's Sydney Writers' Festival included mention of NZ literary great, Janet Frame. The author of Living in the Maniototo, The Edge of the Alphabet and An Angel at My Table was listed alongside Oscar Wilde and Tennessee Williams as writers notable for their "bids for sexual freedom". Frame died in 2004 aged 79. Read her NZ Edge Heroes entry here. 
(31 May 2007)

Surfers give back to Mentawai Islands 
NZ doctor Dave Jenkins' SurfAid International charity is having a profound effect on the inhabitants of Indonesia's Mentawai Islands. The picture-perfect beaches are a playground for wealthy Western surfers, yet locals have continued to suffer high death-rates from diseases such as malaria, measles and tetanus. In 1999 Jenkins founded SurfAid to "improve the health of people living in isolated regions connected to us through surfing" by providing insecticide-treated mosquito nets and education on nutrition and hygiene. Since the charity's inception, malaria rates in SurfAid's pilot villages have fallen by more than 75 percent. SurfAid gained support from NZ and Australian government aid agencies and surf industry giants Billabong and Quiksilver following the 2004 tsunami, and were able to immunise 16,000 children and deliver 300 tonnes of emergency aid to the region. 
(18 May 2007)

The Rings effect continues 
NZ features in a new weekly video series on international branding practices by British marketing guru Martin Lindstrom. In Altering the Brand of a Country: How Movies Hurt Columbia and Help New Zealand, Lindstrom investigates the positive impact on global perceptions of NZ caused by films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. "One need look no further than ... New Zealand to understand how motion pictures have become the most potent marketing force for a country brand," reads Lindstrom's program guide on Adage.com. 
(21 May 2007)

The sweet sound of success 
NZ company Marshall Day Acoustics has won the contract to design a $400 million concert hall in Paris. Marshall Day, together with French architect Jean Nouvel, beat 97 international design teams for the chance to design la Philharmonie de Paris. "Every architect and acoustician of note in the world was vying for this project," says Christopher Day, Principal at Marshall Day Acoustics. "To be short listed was a thrill - to win the design competition was really quite special." The City of Paris has been planning a new concert hall for 20 years. Construction on la Philharmonie de Paris, which will comprise a major concert hall, two medium size rehearsal rooms, several smaller practice rooms, a foyer, cafe and library, is expected to begin in 2009 and be completed by 2012. 
(19 May 2007)

Australia, meet Reg 
The first full-length documentary on NZ-born artist Chris O'Doherty (AKA Reg Mombassa) screened on Australia's SBS in May. Golden Sandals: The Art of Reg Mombassa explores the links between the artist's NZ upbringing, suburban landscape art and iconic surrealist work for surfwear label, Mambo. "I am always disturbed by films that tell us about the artist. I wanted it to be of the artist," says filmmaker Haydn Keenan, who took a more personalised approach by mixing traditional interviews with quirky animated sequences featuring classic Mombassa characters such as the Australian Jesus. Mombassa describes the film as "an archeological suburban dig" and admires Keenan's unconventional documentary style: "In a lot of art documentaries it is just the artist sitting there talking." 
(2 May 2007)

A star among men 
Frank Bateson, one of the world's most respected astronomers, has died in Tauranga aged 97. Born in Wellington in 1909, Bateson was the internationally acknowledged expert on variable stars (those which intermittently vary in brightness). His was an illustrious career that began early: he founded the Royal Astronomical Society of NZ in 1927 aged 18, was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1933 aged 24 and, in 1970, was awarded the OBE for his services to NZ and international astronomy. In 1963, Bateson founded NZ's first major observatory at Mt John in South Canterbury, where he reigned as astronomer-in-charge for six years until ill-health forced his retirement. When minor planet 2434 was discovered from Mt John in 1981, it was named "Bateson" to honour his work. "Frank was that rara avis, the untrained amateur who could foot it with the professionals," writes Don Milne in the NZ Herald. "Everyone has their heroes ... For me, well up there is a man called Frank Bateson." 
(19 April 2007)

Short and sweet 
Auckland writer Charlotte Grimshaw has been nominated for the world's richest prize for collected short stories, the £35,000 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. Grimshaw joins 32 authors on the Irish event's longlist, including heavyweights Alice Munro and David Malouf. She describes Opportunity, her first ever collection, as "not just a collection of short stories that I've thrown together - all the stories are interconnected. The characters recur and reappear and it has an extra layer in a way because one of the characters is the author of all the stories." Grimshaw, 40, won last year's Katherine Mansfield Award for short fiction and is the author of three acclaimed novels: Provocation, Guilt and Foreign City. The Frank O'Connor shortlist will be announced in July, and the winner declared at Cork's Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival in September.
(30 April 2007)

DreamWorks nets Jackson
DreamWorks SKG has won a week-long Hollywood bidding war for Peter Jackson's latest film. Jackson made his screen adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones available on the open market last week, generating interest from major studios Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks. DreamWorks reportedly won the right to finance the film due to Jackson's relationship with its founder - Steven Spielberg. DreamWorks also has a successful history in promoting similarly "risky" adult dramas, with its Oscar-winning tragicomedy American Beauty grossing US $353 million worldwide. The Lovely Bones is about a 14-year-old girl who watches her family from heaven after her brutal rape and murder. Jackson will begin filming in Pennsylvania (where Sebold's novel is set) in October; special effects will be shot at his Wellington studio. 
(5 May 2007)

High price for Anzac artwork 
An iconic Anzac painting has sold for more than twice its estimated price at an auction of wartime artworks in Sydney. Simpson and his Donkey by NZ artist Horace Moore-Jones was purchased for $120,000 by an anonymous buyer. The painting depicts an unknown wounded soldier on a donkey being led by an Anzac medic, with the Gallipoli peninsula in the background. Controversy surrounding the medic's identity probably contributed to the unexpected sale price. While some believe the artwork represents John Simpson Kirkpatrick, a British-born medic with the Australian Field Ambulance, others claim it is taken from a photograph of NZ Field Ambulance medic Dick Henderson, who replaced Kirkpatrick. Moore-Jones produced five originals of the painting in 1917 while living in Dunedin. 
(30 April 2007)

"A little savage from New Zealand" 
A Telegraph review of Penguin's Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield celebrates the influential author's short yet remarkable life. Born in Wellington in 1888, Mansfield made a strong and lasting impression on the London literary scene before her death from tuberculosis aged 32. In her lifetime she was a friend and muse to D.H Lawrence and rival to Virginia Woolf; since her death her work has inspired authors as diverse as Philip Larkin, Angela Carter and Willa Cather. Telegraph: "According to the different claims of her various biographers and critics ... she's been a sweet and wholesome tragic victim, a selfish dark-eyed piece of trouble, a feminist, an anti-feminist, a satirist, a sentimentalist, a miniaturist, an overinflated reputation, a repressed lesbian, a colonial bisexual angel-devil plagiarist original." Mansfield is widely viewed as a master of the short story form. The greatest examples of her work - all featured in the new Penguin collection - include At the Bay, The Garden-Party, The Doll's House and A Married Man's Story. 
(7 April 2007)

Phoenix on the rise 
A Wellington-based franchise is to replace Auckland's NZ Knights in the Australian A-League soccer competition beginning in August. Wellington Phoenix will be the eighth team in the 2007-2008 series, which runs for 21 rounds up until next February. Franchise owner Terry Serepisos named the team after a week of public consultation through Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper. "It's quite spiritual, it's a rebirth, and hence I went with the public feeling and my own gut feeling," he said in the Post. The team will play home games at Wellington's Westpac Stadium and will be coached by current NZ national coach, Ricki Herbert. "I know the city will embrace it because, apart from the Hurricanes, what else have we got," said Serepisos. "Not only will we have a soccer team of our own but we're going to get to see some of the top players in Australia and top international players in Wellington." 
(22 April 2007)

Clark visits Oval Office 
Helen Clark made an official visit to Washington last month, in what was her second such meeting with President Bush and just the third between NZ and US leaders in the last 24 years. Bush described Clark as a "straightforward honest woman who cares deeply about the country she represents" and praised NZ's leadership on Pacific problems. Counter-terrorism, the increased US role in the Pacific and trade were also discussed, with Clark now confident that a free trade agreement with the US is not "a question of if ... [but] a question of when." The meeting marked a historic turning point on the issue of NZ's nuclear-free stance, with Bush conceding that the majority of New Zealanders supported the policy and the US would no longer actively seek to change it. Following her lunch at the White House, Clark met with numerous other high-profile US figures, including Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and influential Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer.
(21 March 2007)

Art from the world's edge 
The prestigious Agora Gallery in Chelsea, New York, is holding an exhibition of NZ and Australian art from May 4-24. Out from Down Under and Beyond: Fine Art from Australia and New Zealand features works by Ngaire Dunn (Auckland), Ira McCully (Christchurch), Sofia Minson (Auckland) and Murray Swan (Waiuku). "Celebrating the particular uniqueness of Australia and New Zealand, our artists find inspiration in some of the most varied and remote natural sites on earth," states the gallery's press release. "Intricate, richly detailed and spiritually inspired an overwhelming sense of warmth emanates from these artworks, bringing pleasure to those in their presence." Established in 1984, Agora Gallery promotes both national and international artists and is the publisher of ARTisSpectrum magazine. 
(April 2007)

Fresh perspective on Antarctica 
A NZ doctoral student and her Dutch counterpart have initiated a radical new program to involve the humanities and social sciences in Antarctic research. Canterbury University's Daniela Haase and Machiel Lamers of the University of Maastricht launched the Share project (Social Sciences and Humanities Antarctic Research Exchange) in February, in honour of International Polar Year. Haase and Lamers believe that the humanities and social sciences are being under-utilised in studies of the region, arguing that they have the knowledge and means to assess the current state of human/environment relations and the legal, political, socio-economic and cultural situation in Antarctica. They hope to unite researchers working on Antarctica in areas such as law and policy under the Share banner, thereby encouraging support and synchronisation in their growing field. The Share web portal will go live in May. 
(3 April 2007)

Something for everyone 
The recent volcanic lahar at Mount Ruapehu has done nothing to put off eager skiers, from NZ or overseas. As a news.com.au article points out, visitors continued to ski and snowboard both during and immediately after the volcanic eruptions of 1995 and 1996, and are expected to do the same this year. "Why wouldn't you seize the chance to ski on a volcano while it was erupting?" asked former ski instructor, Maree Surrey. "At least you would die doing something you loved." The article goes on to praise the advanced safety warning systems on the mountain, as well as its beautiful and varied terrain. A second piece explores the southern ski fields, from the impressive Mount Hutt to the lesser-known Ohau and Roundhill fields. 
(7 April 2007)

Zambesi marches on Moscow 
NZ fashion label Zambesi has netted its largest ever international account. Zambesi will be stocked in Moscow's soon-to-open Cara & Co concept store, which describes itself as a "deluxe boutique for intellectuals." Label owners Neville and Elisabeth Findlay have refused to disclose the size or dollar value of the order Cara & Co have placed. "What I can say is that they are our biggest export client so it is pretty serious stuff," said Neville in Wellington's Dominion Post. "This is a real thrill for us, especially for Liz, whose parents have a Russian connection." Cara & Co is the brainchild of Russian-born Rosa Kamenev, who has recently moved back to Moscow after 17 years in Sydney. Kamenev is reportedly a huge fan of Zambesi, which will be stocked alongside Australian labels Akira Isogawa and Ksubi, and designer brands from Denmark, Portugal, Belgium and the US. "A passion for fashion lives in every Russian woman," she said. "It's born out of the past shortage of consumer goods in the USSR." 
(2 April 2007)

Comic success stories 
Taika Waititi's debut feature Eagle vs Shark has won the award for best screenplay at the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. The film, which also screened at South by Southwest in Texas, was promoted as a "wry comedy that chronicles the quirky romance of two awkward misfits." The award has added to male lead Jemaine Clement's growing presence in the US. His long-running comedy act Flight of the Conchords (with Bret McKenzie) is currently being turned into a self-titled TV series, which begins screening on HBO in June. NZ's TV3 is reportedly interested in acquiring the rights to the show. 
(March 2007)

Impossible is nothing to Lomu 
All Black legend Jonah Lomu is one of 21 elite athletes to feature in the latest advertising campaign by Adidas. Titled "Impossible is Nothing", the series shows internationally recognised sports figures discussing how they overcame adversity in their lives. "The campaign is all about athletes telling their story about finding themselves at a cross-road and having to make a decision," said Lomu on his website. "Mine was about my transplant ... and whether I could play again." Lomu joins stars such as David Beckham and US basketball player Gilbert Arenas in the global television campaign, which was created by Omnicom Group's 180 in Amsterdam. 
(5 March 2007)

Queen of the track 
Current world champ Katherine Prumm enjoyed back to back wins in the opening round of the Australian Women's Motocross Championships in Victoria. The South Auckland Kawasaki rider was her own harshest critic, claiming "I didn't ride well; I could have won by more." At just 18, Prumm is already a certified star of the sport. Last year Prumm was crowned women's world champion after winning both rounds of the series, in Germany and Sweden. She also competed in the WMA (US) Championship and shocked the Americans by winning both races in the opening round. A broken hand prevented her from advancing to the finals. At Motorcycling New Zealand's annual awards night in February, Prumm was named MNZ Off Road Rider of the Year for 2006 and received the Special Achievement Award. 
(19 March 2007)

Making poetry out of darkness 
A profile of novelist, poet and critic CK Stead focuses on both his historical prominence in the NZ literary scene and his remarkable late-life burst of creativity. Last year, Stead (74) published his eleventh novel - My Name Was Judas - to widespread critical acclaim. James Wood, senior editor at the New Republic and Harvard professor of literary criticism, praised "Stead's deft marshalling of the language, the way he gets words to do his bidding throughout without ever being obvious or showing off." Stead's latest release is a collection of poetry titled The Black River. Guardian reviewer Nicholas Wroe commends its "clever wordplay," particularly that found in the "odd and disturbing" poem "S-T-R-O-K-E", which Stead wrote while bedridden and "in the dark" after suffering a minor stroke. Finally, Stead has edited and provided commentary for the collected correspondence between himself and his fellow NZ writers Frank Sargeson and Allen Curnow. All three projects have been undertaken with the help of the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship. 
(12 March 2007)

Monster haul 
A NZ fishing crew has caught an adult colossal squid, one of the world's most aggressive and mysterious predators. The 450kg monster, with eyes the size of dinner plates and razor-sharp hooks on its tentacles, is the first intact specimen of its kind to be successfully landed. Previously, fragments of colossal squids have only been found in the stomachs of sperm whales. "The scientific community will be very interested in this amazing creature," said Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton in Stuff. The frozen squid is to be transferred to Wellington's Museum of New Zealand, where it will be preserved for further analysis. 
(24 February 2007)

NZ scientists solve pigeon puzzle
Scientists at Auckland University have solved the enduring mystery of homing pigeons. "We are now confident that pigeons ... use the intensity of the Earth's magnetic field to determine position during homing," said Dr Todd Dennis, who led the research. Dennis and his team released homing pigeons in an area of NZ where the Earth's magnetic field is naturally distorted, known as the Auckland Junction Magnetic Anomaly. They predicted that, if the intensity of the magnetic field influenced the birds' ability to position themselves, they would be confused by the anomaly upon release. Proving the team's theory, the birds flew up to four kilometres in the wrong direction before redirecting themselves towards their loft. The study has since been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal. 
(14 February 2007)

Landmark brain research 
A joint discovery by NZ and Swedish neuroscientists could potentially revolutionise the study of the human brain. The eight-year collaboration has succeeded in finding the path adult neural stem cells travel to repair the human brain, opening up an exciting new field of research that could find treatments for a multitude of brain disorders. "With the ongoing fostering of emerging scientists, NZ is producing world-class research which will have far-reaching implications for the treatment of neurological disorders," says Max Ritchie, executive director of the Neurological Foundation of NZ. The groundbreaking study, which made the cover of top industry journal Science, was led by Professor Richard Faull of the University of Auckland and Professor Peter Eriksson of the Arvid Carlsson Institute for Neuroscience in Gothenburg, Sweden. 
(15 February 2007)

Real achievement 
Dunedin artist Peter Lyons has found critical and commercial success in the US after being "discovered" while working as a security guard at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Lyons' strikingly rendered rural and urban landscapes have seen him compared to realist masters Edward Hopper, Charles Sheeler and Caspar David Friedrich in the American art press. The 46-year-old self-taught artist had seldom exhibited his paintings prior to 2001; his works now hang in such esteemed galleries as Boston's St Botolph Club and the Richard York Gallery in New York, where they sell for tens of thousands of dollars. "If you've really got this thing and the passion for it, just get out there, the hell with it," he said in an interview with Wellington's Dominion Post. "What I did - you don't need money to do it, you need that passion." Lyons' next show is in two months time at the Meredith Ward Fine Arts gallery in New York.
(5 March 2007)

Food to match the location
Wellington restaurant Martin Bosley's features in a guide to the Pacific region by the New York Times. Research for the guide was conducted by leading US travel authority Frommers. "Previously reserved as the exclusive dining domain of members of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, this bright and classy spot has opened its doors to the wider public - and for that we can be truly thankful. You'll get some of the best dishes in Wellington here - luscious seafoods served in myriad ways from an all-round creative menu," states the five-star review. Martin Bosley's overlooks Clyde Quay Marina on Wellington's waterfront. 
(March 2007)

Auckland prof named UN science laureate 
Auckland University professor Margaret Brimble has been named one of the world's top five woman scientists by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). As Laureate for the Asia-Pacific region, Brimble received the US$100,000 L'Oreal-UNESCO prize for her contribution to the synthesis of complex natural products, especially shellfish toxins. Brimble set up NZ's first degree in organic and medicinal chemistry at Auckland University in 1999. "What we do is we look to nature to find new active ingredients or molecules to develop into new medicines," she explained in the NZ Herald. "One example is a compound produced by fungi which kills the bacterium that causes infected ulcers. The compound occurs in nature. It is produced by the fungi but only in small amounts. So we then try and make that compound in the laboratory and make structure analogues similar to that compound that may be better - and that's the way you develop new medicines." According to Brimble, NZ could become a powerhouse for pharmaceutical research if enough time and money is invested: "All we have to do is get one successful drug on the market and we're there ... the first drug for a neuroprotective agent will be a billion-dollar product." 
(24 February 2007)

Ten years of te reo 
Te Kohanga Reo o Ranana in London is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The centre was established in 1997 by a group of parents who wanted their children to retain their NZ heritage and identity while living in the UK. Classes are held every Saturday on the fourth floor of NZ House, where children learn te reo, pepeha (tribal sayings), whakapapa (genealogy) and waiata (song) from a group of volunteers. "Kids are always going to ask their parents where they're from if they know they have different ancestry so this helps them out and gives them a sense of pride and self-esteem," said Melissa Christie, who has two sons at the centre, in the NZ Herald. "We live in a very multicultural society over here and lots of children here speak more than one language so it's nice for our children to be able to say who they are and where they're from in Maori." The kohanga's anniversary celebrations will include a commemorative magazine, ball, hangi and inter-tribal games. 
(18 February 2007)

Fashionable folk 
Australia's Frankie magazine features an 8-page spread on NZ "fashionable folk" in its April/May issue. Students, models and DJ's are asked to name their favourite hang-outs, shopping haunts and things about NZ while wearing local designs. The best things about Aotearoa include its creativity, friendly people, space, pavlova, beaches, music and new 20 cent coins. 
(March/April 2007)

New Zealander of the Year 
Wellington architect Jonathan Rennie was named New Zealander of the Year at the annual NZ Society Waitangi Day dinner in London. The award recognises an outstanding contribution by a NZ or British national towards presenting a positive image of NZ in Britain. Rennie was honoured for his work as Athfield Architects' London representative on the NZ memorial in Hyde Park, which was officially dedicated by the Queen on 11 November 2006. "Jonathan's input into the project was invaluable in creating such a lasting tribute at Hyde Park Corner, which all New Zealanders can identify with and feel proud to be a kiwi," said judge Scott Carr of Air NZ Europe. Time magazine Power 100 businessman John Buchanan and scientist Tim Drysdale, whose work is set to revolutionise airport security, both made the award's shortlist. 
(3 February 2007)

Northern delights 
Vancouver's North Shore News featured a travel special on NZ's North Island. In the Bay of Islands, the writer used the Eagles Nest villa complex as a luxurious base for sailing with dolphins, taking bush walks and visiting the Waitangi Treaty Reserve. In Napier, she took a tractor tour of the Cape Kidnappers Gannet Reserve, wined and dined at Mission Estate, Clearview Estate, Craggy Range and Sileni Estate, and enjoyed the food and hospitality at the historic McHardy House bed-and-breakfast. The trip was finished off with a stay at the two-bedroom Stafford Villa on Auckland's North Shore. North Shore News: "The Bay of Islands may be a favourite Kiwi holiday spot - we don't disagree. But Napier and Auckland are equally alluring in their own way. As, we suspect, so many other places in New Zealand are too." 
(6 February 2007)

Good morning Beijing
NZ journalist Edwin Maher, the first Western news anchor on Chinese state television, has received China's highest honour for foreigners. Maher was awarded the Chinese government's "Friendship Award" in a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. Maher has been the Western face of Chinese broadcasting since 2003, when he was hired by China Central Television's English Channel (CCTV-9). He has often been criticised by his Western contemporaries for being a mouthpiece for China's communist leadership. "You can never please everybody all of the time," he says in response. "But you can try within the parameters of the system and environment that the broadcasters operate to provide a better standard of news bulletin." Maher began his broadcasting career in Wellington in 1965 at what is now Radio New Zealand National. He also worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for nearly 20 years. 
(10 December 2007)

World's fastest win 
The Black Caps have won their three-match home series against Bangladesh in record-breaking style. NZ reached Bangladesh's total of 93 all out with 44 overs and ten wickets to spare, replacing India's 2001 thrashing of Kenya as the fastest victory in cricket history. Brendon McCullum smashed 80 runs off just 28 balls, netting the fastest limited-overs half century by a New Zealander along the way. "My last words to him were 'don't get out'," said Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori. "It was just one of the most destructive innings you'll ever see." NZ won the series against Bangladesh 3-0. 
(31 December 2007)

Kohanga reo movement continues to inspire 
NZ's thriving kohanga reo movement was the subject of a lengthy Age feature last month. Kohanga reo, or Maori language and cultural immersion schools, have blossomed since the movement's launch in 1980. There are now about 500 centres around the country, from preschool to tertiary level, and the number of fluent Maori speakers in NZ has tripled as a result. The Age article focuses on Palmerston North school Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Mana Tamariki, where children are taught in Maori from preschool through to secondary, all under the same roof. "When the children arrive each day, they are coming into a very protective zone," says the school's principal, Toni Waho. "The big picture is that we are looking at the reclamation, regeneration and revitalisation of our language and culture over the next two generations. If we succeed in creating a Maori-language-speaking community, we will have saved the language for all these families." The kohanga reo system has been widely recognised overseas. Similar centres have been set up in Canada and the US, and plans are now underway for Aboriginal language schools in Australia. 
(26 November 2007)

Spoilt for choice 
An Australian travel guide to NZ's top 30 lakes covers the length and breadth of Aotearoa, from world-class trout fishing at Lake Turangi, to the "perfectly still bush reflections" at Lake Ianthe, near Mt Cook. Writer Shaun Hollis names Lake Pukaki, Lake Wanaka, Lake Taupo, the man-made Lake Benmore, and the volcanic Emerald Lakes at Mount Tongariro as his top five freshwater experiences. 
(1 December 2007)

Second chance for Henry 
Graham Henry has been reappointed as the All Blacks' head coach, despite widespread criticism of his 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign. Henry, who has vowed to learn from his World Cup mistakes, has signed a two-year contract with the NZ Rugby Union. "Graham's record is among the best in All Blacks rugby history," said Mike Eagle, acting chairman of the NZRU. "…He has given a lot in a successful period for our game and the board is convinced he has more to give the All Blacks and New Zealand rugby." Henry's closest rival for the top job, Canterbury Crusaders coach Robbie Deans, has been named the first foreign coach of the Australian Wallabies. Deans expressed his interest in the Wallabies job after missing out on the All Blacks position, despite being the favourite to succeed Henry. 
(8 December 2007)

Love me, love my food
Canterbury University researcher Annie Potts coined the new buzzword "vegansexuality" in a paper published in May. Potts, a director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, surveyed 157 vegans and vegetarians on all aspects of cruelty-free living. She found that many vegans and vegetarians engage in "cruelty-free sex" by "rejecting meat-eaters as intimate partners". The study has received comment from PETA founder and president Ingrid Newkirk, who sees vegan-to-vegan love as a missed recruiting opportunity. Says Newkirk in the New York Times, "When my staff members come to me and say: 'Guess what? My boyfriend, now he's a vegan,' I say, half-jokingly: 'Well, it is time to ditch him and get another. You've done your work; move on.'" 
(9 December 2007)

Renewing friendships, broadening horizons
Helen Clark was the first foreign leader to meet with Kevin Rudd in his new role as Australian prime minister. The pair met for a casual lunch at Rudd's Brisbane home, where they discussed climate change ahead of the summit in Bali. "We'll be in close contact as governments on the challenges we face with climate change, the challenges we face with Bali, plus the negotiating agenda over the next couple of years - it's going to be a tough, hard negotiation," said Rudd in the Sydney Morning Herald. "But when you've friends with common interests then we can work these things through." Rudd and Clark have known each other for a long time, and Rudd described their meeting as renewing a friendship. "As for New Zealand, we have so many things in common," he said. " ... I look forward to not just continuing this relationship but broadening it." Rudd's election marks the first time that Australia and NZ have both had Labour governments since 1990.
(9 December 2007)

The complete package
NZ's largest city is described as having "new wind in its sails" in a US travel feature. Once the jumping-off point for further exploration of NZ, Auckland has become a worthy destination in its own right, thanks to its stunning natural setting and post-America's Cup urban rejuvenation. The travel piece focuses on Auckland's outlying islands and peninsulas: Devonport, Waiheke, Rangitoto, Motutapu, Kawau, Rakino, Tiritiri Matangi, Motuihe and Great Barrier Island. "From the jewel-box Ferry Building, a colorful miniature of San Francisco's, you can set forth for Auckland's real treasures: the maritime villages and islands of the Hauraki Gulf," writes author Jeanne Cooper. "They offer a taste of everything for which other parts of New Zealand are known: spectacular landscapes, outdoor adventure, well-regarded wineries and charming colonial architecture. The views of the city and other islands along the way are reason enough to take a ride." 
(8 December 2007)

Edge treatment for classic Americana 
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the new film by director Andrew Dominik, earned four stars out of five in The Guardian. "This is a real success for New Zealand-born, Australian director Dominik," writes the Guardian reviewer, "he has immersed himself in a piece of classic Americana, yet he brings to it an outsider's perspective and shrewdness ... A tremendously stylish, intelligent retelling of western myth." The Assassination of Jesse James won Brad Pitt a Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival in September. 
(30 November 2007)

Age no barrier for Sir Bob
Sir Bob Charles made history at this year's NZ Open by becoming the oldest man to make the cut on a major non-seniors tour. The 71-year-old New Zealander finished four under par and tied for 23rd place, beating elite players such as Sweden's Daniel Chopra, a winner on the US PGA tour last month and runner-up in the recent Australian Masters. "I didn't want to come here and embarrass myself," said Charles. "The old adrenaline starts to flow with the competition and I almost felt 30 years younger." Knighted in 1999, Charles has won six times on the US PGA Tour, eight times in Australia and 23 times on the US Seniors Tour. The 2007 NZ Open was won by England's Richard Finch. 
(2 December 2007)

Chairman of the Internet

Auckland gets guided
Auckland is one of nine new international locations to earn a Wallpaper City Guide. Released in November, the Auckland guide features Wallpaper's customary mix of criticisms and accolades, as well as the odd backhanded compliment. The introduction states that while Auckland may be "young and isolated", its "potential is huge". The guide goes on to praise the city's natural beauty, boutique shops, and excellent coffee and restaurants, many of which were selected by Auckland-based fashion designer, Mala Brajkovic. On the downside, Auckland is declared to be lacking in iconic civic monuments and its citizens are deemed arrogant. NZ tourist operators see Auckland's inclusion in the Wallpaper series as overwhelmingly positive, and view the criticism as constructive. "We are a city that is starting to find its identity and starting to grow," said Simon Milne, director of the NZ Tourism Research Institute in the Sunday Star Times. The Wallpaper design and lifestyle magazine is read in more than 70 countries.
(28 October 2007)

Posthumous gem 
The Janet Frame Literary Trust has posthumously published a novella written by the great NZ author in 1963. Dismissed by Frame as "embarrassingly personal", Towards Another Summer is about a homesick NZ writer who is working on a long and difficult novel while living in London. "Imagine writing so often and so well that your personal slush pile includes a novel like this!" writes academic Rachel Buchanan in the Melbourne Age. "Readers who want to match more of Summer's fiction with Frame facts, can consult [Michael] King's encyclopedic biography but such research is not essential to enjoy this book." Janet Frame died in 2004 aged 79. Read her NZ Edge Heroes biography here. 
(22 October 2007)

Delicate touch 
Out of the Blue, Robert Sarkies' sensitive dramatisation of the Aramoana massacre, opened in Manhattan on October 19. New York Times critic Matt Zoller Seitz praised Sarkies' respectful approach to his subject, describing Out of the Blue as a deeper and more moving docudrama than Paul Greengrass's acclaimed 9/11 feature, United 93. "Like Steven Spielberg's historical epics, the film shows the nastiest incidents from a great distance, or cuts away before a bullet's impact to show an onlooker's shocked reaction. The director confronts horror without wallowing in it, a strategy befitting a film that's not about how people die, but how they live." Out of the Blue stars Matthew Sunderland, Karl Urban, Lois Lawn, Simon Ferry and Tandi Wright. 
(19 October 2007)

Cosmic pop 
One-woman Christchurch act Bachelorette is winning over Australian audiences with her "beautifully odd, inter-planetary pop". Annabel Alpers is currently touring Australia with her new album, Isolation Loops, which she recorded in a remote wooden hut near the mouth of Canterbury's Rakaia River. A review in the Melbourne Age describes the album as "lovingly kitsch space-pop", and likens Bachelorette to indie electro acts Stereolab and Broadcast. Alpers studied composition and computer-based sound design at Canterbury and Auckland universities after a brief stint in NZ psych-pop band Hawaii Five-O. "I had been playing more psychedelic rock/pop kind of music in bands," she says. "But once I was able to access computers with multi-tracking and electronic instrumentation, the more my solo stuff developed and the more fascinating it became. Bachelorette was really born out of computers." 
(26 October 2007)

Success for stylish vampire flick 
NZ vampire film Perfect Creature has been sold into nearly every territory in the world and is receiving rave reviews on its official release. The second feature by writer/director Glen Standring (The Irrefutable Truth About Demons), Perfect Creature is a unique retelling of the vampire myth set in an alternate 1960s NZ. IF magazine calls it "stylish, inventive, nicely paced and altogether interesting", while Fangoria editor in chief Tony Timpone hails it as "the most unique vampire film I've ever seen, a cross between Alan Moore, Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens". Perfect Creature stars British actors Dougray Scott (Desperate Housewives, Mission Impossible II) and Saffron Burrows (Troy, Enigma). 
(October 2007)

Free to speak 
NZ has been ranked 15th in a survey of press freedom around the world by Reporters Without Borders. The annual survey of 169 countries measures factors such as freedom of speech, freedom of information and diversity of media ownership. Iceland and Norway topped the list for 2007, while Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were ranked 167th, 168th and 169th respectively. European nations held 18 of the top 20 spots, with NZ and Trinidad and Tobago proving the only exceptions. The UK was ranked 24th, Australia 28th and the US 48th. 
(16 October 2007)

Black Beauty strikes at Brno 
Team NZ is top of the A1 Grand Prix table after scoring a double victory in Brno, Czech Republic. Black Beauty driver Jonny Reid won both the sprint and feature races, pushing NZ past South Africa in the competition rankings by one point. "We're very pleased as a team," said Reid. "I couldn't have asked more from the boys in the pits ... I can't wait for Malaysia. The car's good, I'm feeling good." Round three of the ten-round A1 Grand Prix world cup series kicks will take place at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit on 25 November. 
(16 October 2007)

Screw the critics 
The NZ wine industry is leading a global anti-cork movement, according to a book published in the US this month. To Cork or Not to Cork by George Taber measures the practical benefits of screw cap, or stelvin, technology against the romance of the traditional cork. Taber notes the near-complete revolution that has taken place in NZ, where 95% of wines now come with a screw cap, as opposed to none in the year 2000. 
(3 October 2007)

Ex-M16 agent gives evidence 

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Film industry loses behind-the-scenes star

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Triathlon success in Rhodes 

Flag debate resurfaces 
The debate over NZ's national flag is in the spotlight again, after PM Helen Clark publicly proposed removing the Union Jack from its design. "I think people could debate the flag the way Canada did when it transitioned to the maple leaf without it calling into question the basic constitutional status," she said. "Canada, of course, still recognises the Queen as its head of state as well." While the PM likes the idea of a stylised Southern Cross on a blue background, most New Zealanders in favour of changing the flag would prefer the silver fern on a black background. Helen Clark's comments created a stir in NZ: the NZ Herald opposed her idea in an editorial, and the subject has continued to be debated in online forums. 
(1 October 2007)

Down under planter 
Next month sees the NZ launch of the Antipode Planter, an award winning upside-down planter by the Matakana-based Morris Design Office. Designed by Patrick Morris, the Antipode Planter won the UK New Designers Award in 2006 and has just been awarded a silver medal at the Design Institute of NZ's annual Best Awards. Writing for the Independent, Helen Brown chose the Antipode Planter as one of her picks of this year's 100% Design festival in the UK. "The award-winning Antipode planter looks set to turn houseplants on their heads and free up floor space," she writes. "New Zealand-based designer Patrick Morris claims it grows a variety of plants using 90 per cent less water than traditional flower pots. And he guarantees it's drip-free." 
(1 September 2007)

Air NZ in pioneering partnership
Air New Zealand has signed an agreement with airplane maker Boeing and engine maker Rolls-Royce to collaborate on projects to make commercial aviation more environmentally sustainable. Stage one of the plan will see the first trial flight of a Boeing 747 partly run on biofuel by early 2009. "Air New Zealand is keen to encourage research into alternative fuels and wants to work hand-in-hand with industry partners and the New Zealand government on promoting this type of activity," said Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe. The NZ government, which has just announced an ambitious environmental plan of its own, has welcomed news of the Air New Zealand partnership. "Achieving Air New Zealand's plan to become the most environmentally responsible airline will put New Zealand further along its path to becoming the first truly sustainable country in the world," said Climate Change and Energy Minister David Parker. 
(28 September 2007)

Incredible journey 
The NZ bar-tailed godwit is officially the migratory champion of the avian world. The bird has been tracked from its summertime home in NZ to its breeding ground in Alaska, and back again, by an international group of researchers led by Massey University ecologist Phil Battley. A female bar-tailed godwit known as E7 was one of 13 birds satellite tagged in NZ at the beginning of the year. She flew non-stop for 10,200km to Yalu Jiang in China, then a further 5,000km to Alaska, before making another non-stop 11,500km journey back to NZ in September. "[It's] just so far up from what we used to believe 10 years ago when we were thinking a five or 6,000km flight was extremely long," said Battley. "Here we've doubled it." 
(13 September 2007)

The funniest thing on TV
Guardian reviewer Tim Jonze has dubbed Flight of the Conchords "the funniest thing on TV" as the cult HBO series goes to air on the BBC. Conchords stars NZ comics Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie as two musicians struggling to make it in New York. "A kind of Mighty Boosh meets Peep Show, the show documents the lives of Bret and Jemaine, two struggling musicians whose manager never seems to get them any gigs and whose fan (yep, they only have the one) makes Mark Chapman look like the definition of stability," writes Jonze. "It works, not just because it's so funny, but because the pair are clearly in love with the songs they parody."
(22 September 2007)

NZ wine, now and then
Features in two US newspapers discuss the past, present and future of NZ wines. The Palm Beach Daily News outlines the development of the NZ industry, from the first grapes planted by the Rev. Samuel Marsden in 1819, to the modern-day international success of NZ sauvignon blanc and pinot noir. A feature in San Jose's Mercury News covers the extraordinary growth of NZ wine exports to the US. The US is NZ's second biggest export market after the UK, and NZ wine imports there were up 55 per cent for the first six months of 2007. "New Zealand is really on a roll," said US wine industry consultant Eileen Fredrikson. "The world seems not to be able to get enough of [its sauvignon blanc and pinot noir]." 
(20 September 2007)

NZ commits to climate change cause 
NZ will introduce a carbon trading scheme next year in a bid to cap greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost to the economy. Under the plan, every industry will be allocated an agreed level of greenhouse gas emissions. Individual businesses can then choose to reduce their emissions to the agreed levels, or buy "credits" allowing them to pollute at higher levels. NZ currently emits around 45.5 million metric tons more than its target set by the UN Kyoto Protocol. "With an emissions trading system, we will get our emissions on a sustainable downward trend into the future," said Climate Change Issues Minister David Parker. The plan is expected to shave 0.1 percent off NZ's gross domestic product growth over five years, boost gasoline prices by 4 cents per litre and raise energy prices by 5 per cent by 2010. 
(20 September 2007)

Taipei gold rush 
NZ athletes have won seven gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the 2007 IWAS World Wheelchair and Amputee Games in Taipei, Taiwan. Christchurch swimmer Sophie Pascoe topped the medal haul, winning four gold medals in the women's 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley. Cameron Leslie of Whangarei won gold in the men's 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and150m individual medley, as well as silver in the 50m freestyle. Out of the pool, Wellington runner Katie Horan won bronze in the women's 200m race and Aucklander George Taamaru won bronze in powerlifting. "This is a fantastic result one year out from the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games," said Paralympics NZ acting CEO Fiona Allan. "All athletes have been preparing hard for these World Games and will be extremely pleased with their results." 
(18 September 2007)

Hong Kong follows NZ's lead 
Hong Kong sees NZ as a role model for renewable energy and environmental technology, according to its government's website. "New Zealand is renowned for its high environmental standards and its use of new technologies to protect the environment," said Chief Executive Donald Tsang. "Hong Kong can learn much from New Zealand's record in this regard and that also translates to business opportunities for New Zealand companies in our city and elsewhere in Asia." Tsang was recently in NZ, where he visited a state-of-the-art water treatment facility in Auckland. 
(12 September 2007)

Designing women 
New Zealand Herald writer Fiona Hawtin reports on the unique nature of the NZ fashion scene for the International Herald Tribune. "Of the 45 labels showing at the seventh New Zealand Fashion Week ... 39 of them are designed by women and almost all are owner/operator businesses," she writes, noting the stark contrast with the traditionally male-dominated fashion industries in Europe and the US. High-profile examples of this trend include Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Elisabeth Findlay (Zambesi), Helen Cherry and Trelise Cooper. "Boundaries don't exist so much for women [in NZ]. We can excel in the arts as much in business sectors," said Wellington designer Alexandra Owen who, together with Chelsea Thorpe and Kirsha Whitcher, is part of a new generation of NZ women running their own fashion labels. 
(12 September 2007)

High style 
This year's Air New Zealand Fashion Week launched in unique style, with a catwalk show aboard one of its primary sponsor's commercial aircraft. More than 120 passengers watched a sneak preview of the 2008 collections on a flight from Sydney to Auckland, including supermodel Rachel Hunter, who launched her swimwear range at the festival. "We've all had the experience of walking in heels in difficult situations and this would have to be one of them," said Hunter. Models showed outfits from 30 designers, including Zambesi, Cybele and Karen Walker. 60 designers are showing at this year's event, which runs from 17-22 September. 
(17 September 2007)

McKellen's Middle Earth return 
Sir Ian McKellen returned to NZ in August for the first time since 2003, to perform both Shakespeare's King Lear and Chekhov's The Seagull with the Royal Shakespeare Company. McKellen, who reached a new level of global fame as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings, performed at Wellington's Westpac St James Theatre and Auckland's ASB Theatre, following dates in the UK, Singapore and Australia. "This is a form of blood sport," said McKellen in the New York Times. "The fun of going to see 'King Lear' is to watch actors toppled from whatever status they have as the part defeats them." Far from being "toppled", McKellen has sold out every show and received near-unanimous critical praise for his performances. The RSC now heads to the US, before finishing up at London's West End. 
(2 September 2007)
Photo Jocelyn Carlin/Panos for The New York Times

Tautai heads offshore
The Auckland-based Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust is hosting its first international exhibition, at The Art Studio in Rarotonga. Titled Longitude, the show features works by 21 artists with Pacific heritage, including photographer Greg Semu, printmaker Sheyne Tuffery, performance artist Rosanna Raymond and street artist Suia Westbrook. "We're excited about hosting the exhibition and are pleased to be able to showcase work from both up and coming young Pacific artists, together with those who already have established reputations," said Art Studio co-owner, Ian George. Longitude is curated by Giles Peterson, who recently presented a paper on young Pacific artists at the Museum Quai Branly in Paris. (September/October 2007)

Emotions running high
Crowded House were praised for their "emotion-drenched performance" at The Greek Theatre in an LA Times review. LA Times: "[T]he group's exquisitely crafted songs are infinitely rich with melodic and harmonic invention but lyrically enigmatic enough to require fans to be active participants and fill in the missing puzzle pieces to reach their own conclusions. That gives the songs, mostly written by Finn, a deliciously long shelf life. And if you're going to be in a band, it might as well be one that's worth keeping around." Crowded House reformed early this year, with new drummer Matt Sherrod joining the line-up of Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Mark Hart.
(30 August 2007)

China wine and dine
Aotearoa wine and cuisine has gained a significant foothold in China with the opening of the first restaurant and bar dedicated to premium NZ produce. Located in Guangzhou, China's third largest city, Back Street 19 Matakana Estate restaurant and bar is a joint venture between Matakana Estate and Goldridge Estate Wines, and Chinese business magnate Mr Yifei Li. "[Guangzhou's] financial elite, like many other affluent Chinese, are rapidly developing a sophisticated appreciation of premium Western wines and cuisines," says Matakana and Goldridge Estates Managing Director, Peter Vegar. Back Street 19 is located in Guangzhou's exclusive residential area of Ersha Island. 
(1 September 2007)

Senior Iraqi posting for Shearer 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named New Zealander David Shearer as his deputy special representative for Iraq. Shearer will also serve as Iraq's UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator. "David's a pretty special guy. He's hugely regarded by those he works with and people within the UN," said NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff, who went to Papatoetoe High School with Shearer. "He'll do as good a job as can be done in a situation that is clearly having tragic consequences in the sheer loss of life and sectarian violence." David Shearer has worked for the UN since 1995, in such global hotspots as Lebanon, Serbia and Rwanda. He has headed the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem since February 2003.
(24 August 2007) 

Surf up-and-comer
Oakura teen Paige Hareb has been ranked fourth in the world in women's under-18 surfing since the junior world championships in May. The 17-year-old was also the first New Zealander ever to compete at the X-Games, held in Mexico in July. She attended the event at the invitation of Australian 7-times world champion, Layne Beachley. Despite being exposed to some of the world's greatest breaks, Hareb is content with training in Taranaki. "There are heaps of point breaks, so it's easy to practice your moves," she said in an interview with the Taranaki Daily News. "And then in the winter, when you're wearing big thick wetsuits, it gives me an advantage when I go to places like Bali." Hareb currently surfs for Billabong's international women's team. 
(14 August 2007)

NZ blues great mourned
NZ blues and soul music great Sonny Day (Hone Wikaira) has died from respiratory complications aged 64. Day launched his career in the late 1950s with his band Sonny Day and the Sharks, which later became Sonny Day and the Sundowners. He went on to play with the All Stars, Crow, Caravan, Sonny Day and the Breeze, and Tall Dark and Out of It. "He was a gentleman and he was a party animal," said Day's good friend and promoter, John Dix. "You could say that at the end he died because of his lifestyle - all those smoky clubs." Sonny Day's tangi was held at Motukaraka Marae in Kohukohu, Hokianga. 
(10 August 2007)

Home-grown horror at Frightfest
Two NZ films made the line-up for this year's Frightfest, the UK's leading fantasy and horror film festival. "Ovine horror comedy" Black Sheep and "the unclassifiable - and absolutely hilarious" The Devil Dared Me To both screened to packed houses at London's Odeon West End theatre, August 23-27. Black Sheep is the debut feature from writer/director Jonathan King, while The Devil Dared Me To comes courtesy of Chris Stapp, the brains behind NZ comedy series Back of the Y. 
(18 August 2007)

A NZ space odyssey 
A NZ company has plans to launch rockets into space, carrying scientific packages, DNA and human ashes. Auckland-based Rocket Lab, co-directed by Peter Beck and Mark Rocket, will start sending its 17-foot carbon-fiber "Atea" rockets spaceward in September 2008. "New Zealand has the know-how to be part of the global space industry", says Rocket, an internet entrepreneur who changed his name from Mark Stevens by deed poll. Rocket Lab has already signed a deal with American firm Celestis to send human ashes into space. 
(14 August 2007)

Reign of King Tuheitia officially begins 
King Tuheitia, the seventh Maori monarch, has marked the official start of his leadership after a year of mourning for his mother and predecessor, Queen Dame Te Atairangikahu. Thousands of Maori and dignitaries travelled to the Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia to hear King Tuheitia's first public speech, which focused on the importance of children's education. "As parents and grandparents we need to nurture the next generation to excel in all that they do, pursue excellence and be tireless in their determination," he said. He also stressed the need for continued learning in adults: "As we commit to our Maori way and world view we open doors to peoples of all cultures, their language, knowledge and even create the potential for trading opportunities alongside the Maori economy." The Maori royal line dates back to 1858. 
(21 August 2007)

"Imaginative daring" wins literary gong
New Zealander Kirsty Gunn has won the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award, one of Scotland's most esteemed literary prizes. Gunn, a professor of creative writing at Dundee University, received the honour for her acclaimed novella The Boy And The Sea. She was presented with a cheque for £25,000 by Sundial Properties managing director William Gray Muir at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. "I am delighted that the award has gone to Kirsty Gunn," he said. "The Boy And The Sea is a truly remarkable book, with its poignant story drifting effortlessly between poetry and prose." A spokesman for the judging panel described Gunn's book as "a novella of consummate subtlety, imaginative daring and emotional intensity". Kirsty Gunn is a graduate of the Victoria University of Wellington. 
(18 August 2007)

The real deal 
The Guardian gave its readers a heads-up on NZ stuntwoman Zoe Bell, in its regular 'First Sight' column. The 28-year-old has forged an impressive career doubling actors such as Lucy Lawless, Uma Thurman and Sharon Stone, and has just made her own acting debut in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. Guardian: "As one of the women terrorised by Kurt Russell's psychopathic stunt man, she enlivens the proceedings considerably and gets a break from the pop-culture references by playing her big scenes strapped to the bonnet of a speeding Dodge Challenger. No CGI, no stunt double, Bell adds a thrilling dose of realism..." 
(10 August 2007)

Highland habitat reborn 
NZ-born wildlife expert Hugh Fullerton Smith is working at the forefront of British eco-tourism as general manager of Alladale Estate. The 23,000 acre Highland property, owned by Scottish millionaire philanthropist Paul Lister, is soon to become Britain's first ecological game reserve. The Highland Council has just granted the estate a dangerous wild animal licence, meaning wild boar, elk, wolves, lynx and bears could soon be reintroduced in their natural habitat. "We already have wild boar and have fenced off 440 acres as part of a game reserve trial which scientists from Oxford University are monitoring," said Fullerton Smith in The Observer. "Eventually we need to create probably the biggest enclosed wilderness reserve in Europe and then we will hopefully reintroduce some larger carnivores such wolves and bears." Lister's supporters believe his game reserve will eventually draw around 50,000 visitors a year. 
(12 August 2007)

LonelyGirl signs off 
NZ internet sensation Jessica Lee Rose has ended her starring role on the hit web drama LonelyGirl15. Rose's character, Bree, was killed off by a sinister religious cult known as The Order, ending her 260-episode run on the web drama. "I was real emotional, filming that," said Rose. "I'm really going to miss filming LonelyGirl." The Mount Maunganui-raised actress is now appearing in the ABC Family show Greek, and has roles in the upcoming films Perfect Sport and I Know Who Killed Me. She has also signed on to a TV series titled E-lebrity, with fellow online stars Taryn Southern and Stevie Ryan. 
(5 August 2007)

Golden axes 
NZ athletes dominated at the 48th annual Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin. Jason Wynyard beat fellow New Zealanders David Bolstad and Dion Lane to win his ninth All-Around Lumberjack title. The Aucklander described the 2007 event as "a good competition, with a couple new faces" in the Sawyer County Record, and praised the efforts of Bolstad in particular. Alistair Taylor won the master's underhand chop event and Sheree Taylor finished third in the All-Around Lumberjill title race. 
(30 July 2007)

Tributes flow for export star
Family, friends and colleagues are mourning the loss of electronics pioneer Sir Angus Tait, who has passed away aged 88. Founded in 1969, Sir Angus's company, Tait Electronics, now employs around 800 people internationally and exports more than 90 per cent of its products. Speaking with the NZ Herald, Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard hailed Sir Angus as an example for future exporters. "Sir Angus built a hugely successful exporting business, employing thousands of people since his business began and he also touched people and communities in other ways," he said. "The Tait Foundation has donated millions of dollars to important causes." Sir Angus was knighted in 1999, but, according to Tait Electronics managing director Michael Chick, "No one ever called him Sir, people didn't call him Mr - he was called Angus." (Photo by Guy Frederick) 
(7 August 2007)

Snow wars 
A new Sydney Morning Herald travel blog - Miss Snow It All - sees the so-named author ski both NZ and Australian fields for six weeks, in a bid to see which country has the most to offer. So far, NZ's positive attributes include a higher average snowfall, steeper runs and a greater range of off-field activities. The lack of accommodation on the mountains and the white-knuckle roads to reach most ski fields are listed as negatives. Miss Snow It All: "I could go on about the number of bars in Queenstown, the alternate down day activities on offer, the clubfields of Canterbury, cat skiing Mt Potts, skiing the Tasman Glacier and heli skiing the Southern Alps but I could also go on about cat skiing Victoria's Mt McKay, the club atmosphere of Charlotte Pass, cross country at Mt Stirling, Perisher's FIS Super Pipe and Hans Grimus at Mt Buller." 
(July 2007)

BMX bandit 
Kawerau teen Sarah Walker has won a UCI BMX World Championship title in Canada after taking out the Cruiser class final. "Sarah smoked them," said her coach, Grant White. "She didn't lose a race all day and didn't look like it. She won all three heats and the semifinal which gave her the choice of lanes for the final. She took lane one and just rode away from them and dominated." Walker claimed the Cruiser class victory the day after winning a silver medal in the elite Olympic class event. BMX racing makes its Olympic Games debut at Beijing in 2008. 
(30 July 2007)

Health, wealth and honey 
A NZ health company has teamed up with a German university to promote the use of manuka honey products to heal wounds, treat stomach and skin problems and, potentially, to help in the fight against cancer. Researchers at the Technical University of Dresden have discovered the compound responsible for manuka honey's anti-bacterial properties (methylglyoxal) and have enlisted the help of Te Awamutu-based Manuka Health New Zealand Ltd to measure and certify the levels of the compound in its own products and those of rival companies. "We have known for some time that manuka honey has this property," said Manuka Health chief executive Kerry Paul. "The term Unique Manuka Factor is used to describe this honey's consistently reliable anti-bacterial effect and UMF has been trademarked by the Active Manuka Honey Association. But we haven't known until the German discovery what the compound is that is responsible." Manuka Health expects to dramatically increase its current annual turnover of NZ$5 million as a result of its new partnership. 
(6 July 2007)

1,3 NZ finish in Austria
Christchurch Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Andrea Hewitt has won her first World Cup triathlon title at Kitzbuhel, Austria. The 25-year-old beat Austrian Eva Dollinger by three seconds in a sprint finish, after leading the field in both the swim and bike legs. Hewitt's NZ training partner, Nicky Samuels, earned her first World Cup podium placing by finishing third, just 14 seconds behind Hewitt. "Conditions were good," said Hewitt of the ninth race in the 2007 World Cup triathlon series so far. "With a temperature of about 20 degrees and a little humidity, it was almost a typical New Zealand-type day."
(23 July 2007)

 


Soprano scales new heights
Gisborne-born soprano Marie-Adele McArthur graced Opera America's home page for the month of June, with images and video of her acclaimed performance as Lina in Verdi's Stiffelio. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune described her as "the perfect Verdi heroine, richly musical and emotionally touching", while the Post-Standard praised her voice as "unified in its pleasing color, capable of tremendous range, strong enough to easily soar over the combined sonic mass of the orchestra and chorus, and used with acute intelligence." A dual resident of NZ and the US, McArthur is a direct descendent of Maori chief Te Hapuku and is currently based in New York.
(June 2007)

Barclay founder rates NZ
Barclay founder and president William J. Buechler gives NZ investments the thumbs up in a column for Forbes. Buechler predicts that NZ's rising short-term interest rates, combined with Fonterra's 27% share increase, the discovery of new oil reserves and the introduction of the KiwiSaver retirement fund scheme, will see a dramatic increase of funds into the NZ Stock Exchange. Buechler: "Assuming the number of publicly traded companies in New Zealand remains near existing levels, the impact of the money surge on stock prices and future market capitalization should be obvious and will offer early adopters tremendous opportunity." 
(11 July 2007)

A rebel remembered 
British political figure Anne Gilman, "a rebel from New Zealand", has died aged 76. Gilman was born in NZ and attended Canterbury University, where she founded the student magazine, Canta. Gilman's daughter, Catherine, describes her mother as a "colourful and lively bohemian woman, [who] had been a vegetarian since the age of six" in an obituary for the Guardian. Gilman became mayor of the north London borough of Islington in the 1990s, after many years working for trade unionist and communist groups in the UK. Her mayoral inauguration ceremony featured Maori dancers and her "greening" project for Islington included the planting of numerous native NZ trees. 
(5 July 2007)

Champion teen eyes MX crown
Hamish Dobbyn, a 15-year-old motocross rider from Warkworth, has won the 250cc four-stroke class at the Yamaha MX National Development Series in Australia. Next on his agenda is the World Junior Motocross Championships in Sevlievo, Bulgaria, starting August 12. "I've only just turned 15, so I'm one of the youngest in the race," he says. "I'll be up against guys who are knocking on the door for [Grand Prix] starts. I know it's going to be tough but I'm probably going to have to come up against these guys sometime anyway." The World Junior event is restricted to riders between 15 and 18 years of age, and attracts the best up-and-comers the sport has to offer. 
(16 July 2007)

Canterbury enters blue period
Canterbury University's "Blue Fern" has been ranked 99th in a new list of the world's top 500 super-computers. Blue Fern is the only Australasian computer to feature on the list, which is dominated by US machines. The university purchased the IBM Blue Gene/L super-computer in May for an undisclosed sum (estimated at more than $NZ 10 million) and will install it later this month. As well as Canterbury University, NZ's MacDiarmid Institute, Victoria University and AUT University are founding members of the Blue Fern project and will share in its use. The super-computer can perform 280.6 trillion operations per second over a sustained period of time. 
(1 July 2007)

Found in translation 
Despite opening at just three cinemas, Taika Waititi's debut feature Eagle vs Shark entered the US box office at No.30 and pulled in NZ $27,000 in its first week of release. The film has received mostly positive reviews and has been widely compared to US indie hit Napoleon Dynamite. "I didn't take any influences from [Napoleon Dynamite]," said Waititi in an interview with the Boston Globe. "I took my influences from Australian comedies. The script was written before I saw that film. I went and saw it and thought, 'It's got some similarities in tone.' But I think the characters are pretty different." Also in the interview, Waititi admits that he feels obliged to make films in NZ, to support its growing industry, but sees this as a creative positive. "I think we have a really unique way of telling stories," he says. "The landscape really influences our outlook ... And the colours down there are all different. When you tell stories, it could be the exact same story that you tell here [in the US], but down there it's somehow different." Eagle vs Shark stars Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement and Waititi's real-life girlfriend, Loren Horsley, as a pair of oddball lovers. Horsley pitched the idea to Waititi in 2005 and has a "story by" credit in the film. 
(20 June 2007)

Best the 21st century has to offer
Sydney Morning Herald blogger Bruce Elder has wrapped up his comprehensive two-week-per-season tour of NZ, in which he was variously entertained, overwhelmed, educated and moved to tears. Titled "Trampabout NZ", the blog was a joint venture between Fairfax Digital and Tourism NZ designed to challenge the common Australian perception that NZ is so small you can see all of its main attractions in just a few days. Elder emerged from the experience a passionate promoter of all things NZ, as the following quote attests. "At one point, quite late at night, I opened the blogs and found a very short: 'Yawn. What does this culture offer the 21st century?' It hit a raw nerve and I spontaneously replied: 'What does it offer? A pristine environment, an active anti-nuclear stance, a belief in the essential decency of all human beings, the best race relations between indigenous and non-indigenous communities anywhere on the planet, a genuine sense of personal safety because they have stayed far removed from the whole phoney "war on terrorism", a compassionate society, a modern society with great food and great wine where the colonising food chains cannot begin to compete with the boutique and the personal, a lifestyle which recalls important values like slowness and love of your fellow human beings - do you want me to go on. New Zealand is the best of the 21st century - beside it the rest of the world looks pretty bloody ordinary and very venal.'" 
(26 June 2007)

During breaks new ground 
A groundbreaking study by NZ neuroscientist Matt During has been applauded in leading British medical journal, The Lancet. During has pioneered a controversial gene therapy for Parkinson's Disease that involved inserting synthetic copies of human genes into the brain. His research involved twelve patients who had suffered from Parkinson's for at least five years and found no relief from other treatments. The results, which were published in The Lancet, offer new hope for those afflicted by the disease. "We saw a significant improvement in their motor scores, their tremors, their ability, their rigidity, their slowness of movement, all those parameters improved," said During in an interview with NZ's ONE News. Most of During's research has been undertaken at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. 
(22 June 2007)

Lions share 
NZ agencies won 18 awards at this year's Cannes Lions, the world's most prestigious advertising awards. Auckland agency TBWA\Whybin won the Grand Prix award in both the Media and Promo categories for its ASB "Pago" and NZ Rugby Union "Bonded by Blood" (pictured) campaigns, respectively. Other winners included Clemenger BBDO for a campaign for the World Press Photo Exhibition, Ogilvy for an email invitation campaign for Soul Bar and DraftFCB for an illustrated print campaign for Little Boys sausages. DraftFCB also won three Silver Lions in the Radio category, which is not traditionally a strong area for NZ advertising. The 2007 Cannes Lions were attended by more than 11,000 people. Over 25,000 entries were received from 80 countries. 
(20 June 2007)

Top of his game 
New Zealander Bob Hayward has found success in the highly competitive US film industry. Based in Los Angeles, Hayward is the Chief Operating Officer and founding partner of Summit Entertainment, an independent distribution company turned film studio established in 1993. Summit began as a foreign distributor of English-language films and now makes, promotes and distributes its own movies. Its most successful script acquisitions to date include Mr and Mrs Smith and Memento. Hayward graduated from Auckland University in 1982 and promptly embarked on an OE that is yet to finish. "When I first landed, I thought, 'God, I'm going to the land of whizzkids; I'm going to seem like the yokel from the country' - and actually I did very well," he said in a recent NZ Herald interview. Hayward has since worked in 35 different countries and, prior to founding Summit, did internal audits for United International Pictures and ran theatres for Cannon Films. 
(June 2007)

New Zealander heads Microsoft innovation 
NZ software architect Nigel Keam has spearheaded the development of Microsoft's new Surface technology, the subject of much excitement and speculation in the computing industry. Surface is a tabletop PC device with a touch interface that uses an integrated 30-inch screen and five cameras to enable access to music, photos, the web, and more. Surface can recognise fingers and hands as well as inanimate objects such as MP3 players, "smart" credit cards and digital cameras. Keam, a physics and computer science graduate of Auckland University, has worked for Microsoft in the US for 12 years. He joined Surface Computing in 2003. "When I joined, there was a working prototype and when I first saw it, I just fell in love with it," he said in the NZ Herald. "[Bill Gates] was very enthusiastic from the first time he saw the concept and has been a great supporter." Initially, the US $6000 Surface will only be available to select Microsoft partners, including Harrah's casinos, Sheraton hotels and phone company T-Mobile. Keam hopes it will eventually become an indispensable device in schools and homes, as well as in public and private businesses. 
(30 May 2007)

On and off-screen success story
Anna Paquin's career has soared to new heights since her starring role in the blockbuster X-Men franchise. Her upcoming films include Margaret and Trick r' Treat, and she stars in (and executive produces with brother, Andrew) Blue State, a political comedy about the 2004 US elections. "The nuts-and-bolts numbers stuff is more my brother's department; his background is finance," she said in an interview with Backstage.com. "The areas I was more concerned about were the creative ones. I have plenty of opinions on all kinds of things. So between our diverse backgrounds, my brother and I make a very good team." Paquin is also enjoying success on the small screen, with lead roles in the telefilm Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and the eagerly anticipated vampire series, True Blood - both for hit-maker HBO.
(21 May 2007)

Kiwi joker cracks UK 
Hawera-born comic Ben Hurley, 27, has secured a seven-part sitcom with the BBC's Radio 4. The series will co-star Hurley's mentor and veteran comedian Andy Parsons, whose writing credits include Spitting Image and Alas Smith and Jones. Hurley moved to England from Wellington last year in a bid to crack the country's famously competitive comedy circuit. He describes his routine as having evolved from pure observational comedy to include more political and satirical content. "I think it's just growing up a little bit - a bit more life experience," he said in Wellington's Dominion Post. Hurley played a key role in establishing Wellington's comedy scene, running a successful weekly stand-up night at Indigo bar for four years. He has won nearly every NZ comedy award on offer and scored a British agent after appearing at last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 
(June 2007)

Be a tidy Kiwi 
The iconic Bulford Kiwi in Wiltshire, England, has received a makeover courtesy of local military, scouts and civilian volunteers. The 128m high chalk figure was carved into Wiltshire's Beacon Hill at the end of World War I, to commemorate the site's use by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force from 1914 to 1918. The clean-up team scraped the kiwi's grey gravel surface to expose the white chalk below. Due to its massive size, contractors will now complete the job. The Bulford Kiwi is one of several famous chalk figures in Wiltshire, including the Westbury white horse, which is believed to be an ancient memorial to King Alfred's victory over the Danes at the battle of Ethandune in 878 AD. 
(16 June 2007)

Doyen of deconstructivism 
NZ architect Mark Wigley is name-checked in Dwell magazine's monthly Architectural Movements 101 section. Wigley's famous Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition, with Philip Johnson, forms the basis of Dwell's May article devoted to the deconstructivism and digital design movements. Dwell: "If there is one thing about which all deconstructivists agree, it is that there is no one thing about which all deconstructivists agree ... It must have been with a certain sense of irony, then, that Mark Wigley and the venerable Philip Johnson put together their landmark exhibition, "Deconstructivist Architecture", back in 1988." 
(May 2007)

Three new hall of famers 
The ten latest inductees to the International Rugby Hall of Fame include three New Zealanders: "barnstorming" Jonah Lomu, "distinguished Kiwi journalist and author of 32 books" Sir Terry McLean and the "marvellously constructive" former captain Graham Mourie. The International Rugby Hall of Fame Trust was founded in NZ in 1995. Independent of any official rugby body, it is "designed to honour players, coaches or any individual who has made a major contribution to the game of rugby union." Past NZ inductees are Fred Allen, Don Clarke, Sean Fitzpatrick, Grant Fox, Dave Gallaher, Michael Jones, Ian Kirkpatrick, John Kirwan, Brian Lochore, Colin Meads, George Nepia and Wilson Whineray. 
(20 June 2007)

Weisz on board for Lovely Bones
Oscar-winning English actress Rachel Weisz has signed on for Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones. Weisz will play the mother of the film's dead narrator, in a role that has been significantly expanded from Alice Sebold's book. The casting of Susie Salmon, Weisz's daughter in the film, is the subject of great speculation in Hollywood, with observers waiting to see whether the role will be played by an unknown or established actress. Weisz has appeared in films such as The Mummy, About a Boy and The Fountain, and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Constant Gardener in 2005. 
(14 June 2007)

What makes NZ sav blanc so special? 
The NZ government and members of the wine industry are funding a multimillion dollar research project to examine the distinctive qualities of the country's prized Sauvignon Blanc. The six-year NZ $16.9 million project is being carried out by the Marlborough Research Centre and Auckland University. It aims to create an analytical toolkit to determine how and why NZ Sauvignon Blanc tastes as it does, and then use the knowledge gained to "dial up" or "dial down" various attributes according to consumer tastes. "Consumers can identify the fruity and the green characters of Sauvignon Blanc -the classic vibrant zingy acids overlaid with passion fruit and tropical fruit flavours," said Dr Damian Martin, a member of the research committee. "Most prefer a balance and combination of the two." The research team is currently petitioning the government for further funding, to extend the project to Pinot Noir. 
(23 May 2007)

Balibo deaths back in spotlight 
The 1975 deaths of two Australian, two British and a New Zealand journalist in Balibo, East Timor, are back in the political spotlight after a Sydney inquest found conclusive evidence of deliberate murder and lies by Indonesia, and complicit silence from the Australian government. A new book by NZ activist Maire Leadbeater reveals similar complicity in Wellington, following a policy on both sides of the Tasman to support Indonesia's invasion of the newly independent East Timor. Last month, two Australian police officers barged into visiting Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's Sydney hotel room, demanding he testify at the inquest. The incident has caused a diplomatic storm between Indonesia and Australia, with Australia anxious to appease its neighbour. The son of slain NZ cameraman Gary Cunningham, John Milkins, has asked the Australian government to officially apologise to the families of the journalists, rather than try to "smooth the waters" with Indonesia: "For the Australian Government to apologise [to Indonesia] while the Balibo five families are still waiting for an apology, that is unacceptable to us." 
(8 June 2007)

The kiwi's Darwin connection 
A recent book on Charles Darwin compares the launching of his theory of evolution to a kiwi laying an egg. In The Reluctant Mr Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of his Theory of Evolution, author David Quammen paints the legendary scientist as a painstaking, shy and socially conservative man dabbling in revolutionary and dangerous ideas. Like the long and laborious gestation of a kiwi's egg, Darwin's ideas took a great amount of time to develop and reach fruition. "A female brown kiwi weighs less than five pounds," writes Quammen. "Her egg weighs almost a pound ... It seems impossible. How can she carry this thing? How can she deliver? Will it reward her efforts and discomforts, or rip her apart? … The point is simply metaphor. Every time I see that X-ray of the mama kiwi, I think: There's Darwin during the years of gestation." 
(20 September 2006)

Peace of mind 
NZ has been named the world's second most peaceful country in the inaugural Global Peace Index, a study commissioned by Australian IT entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Killelea and sponsored by peace advocates such as the Dalai Lama. Norway topped the index and Western Europe was judged the most peaceful region overall. The US rated 93 on the list, well below China, France, Australia and the UK. The worst-ranked countries are Iraq, Sudan and Israel. Carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Global Peace Index is the first systematic study of peacefulness to measure indicators of both internal and external harmony. Its findings show that small, affluent countries with well-educated and governed citizens - which get on with their neighbours - have the best chance of living in peace. 
(31 May 2007)

Campion speaks out for women in film 
Jane Campion has spoken out about the lack of female filmmakers while being honoured for her own achievements at the Cannes Film Festival. The New Zealander was one of 35 high-profile directors - the rest of them male - invited to make a short film for Cannes' 60th anniversary this year. She described her fantasy sequence, in which a woman dressed as a ladybug is trampled in a movie theatre, as a metaphor for women in the film world. "I just think this is the way the world is, that men control the money, and they decide who they're going to give it to," she said. Campion is the only woman filmmaker to have won Cannes' top prize and is one of just three women ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for best director. Both her Cannes win and Academy Award nomination were for 1993's The Piano. 
(20 May 2007)

Risky business 
A viral advertising campaign by NZ's Prodigy Films has caused a stir online. Created for Irish skincare line Elave (Ovelle Pharmaceuticals), Prodigy's "Nothing to Hide" clip is a risqué parody of the countless cosmetic or personal hygiene ads set in a laboratory. To emphasise the purity of its products, the Elave take on the traditional "lab technician" ad features an all-nude male and female cast. "New Zealanders are so laid-back that they made it seem totally natural," said company owner Joanna Gardiner of the shoot, in which she also appeared. Gardiner claims that sales of Elave products have soared by 500% as a result of the risky campaign, which has been viewed, at the time of writing, by more than 350,000 people. "Nothing to Hide" was directed by Brendan Donovan and produced by Caz Hearn, with creative work by Dave Govier and Levi Slavin. 
(15 May 2007)

Conchords viral captures US 
Flight of the Conchords, the HBO series based on the NZ comedy act of the same name, has premiered in the US. HBO launched the series with a headline-grabbing viral campaign, which allowed viewers to watch and share the first episode online. "We're really proud of the show and the strategy given the primary targeted audience of young adults," said HBO marketing vice president Courteney Monroe. "We wanted to get it in as many hands as possible." Flight of the Conchords, which stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, has been well received by critics, despite (or perhaps because of) its NZ-style deadpan humour. A New York magazine review describes the show as "much funnier than it sounds" and "a welcome relief from the crippling smugness that has overtaken Entourage". 
(24 May 2007)

You say fish, I say fush 
An Auckland University of Technology (AUT) study has found that the NZ accent has grown broader and less British over the past few decades. The change is most obvious in broadcasting, where newsreaders were traditionally trained to speak in upper-class English accents. Trainee broadcasters still receive voice lessons but they are now allowed to keep their NZ inflections. "Everybody thought it would end up sounding even more Australian or more American or whatever, but in fact the things that make New Zealand English different from other dialects are increasing rather than diminishing," said study leader Dr Allan Bell. Bell and his AUT colleagues analysed recordings of more than 300 voices over a period of 30 years. 
(25 May 2007)

Finn spreads the word 
Tim Finn talks about future recordings with brother, Neil, being made an Officer of the British Empire, and the recent spate of band reunions (Spilt Enz and Crowded House included) in an interview with Pittsburgh's Observer-Reporter. He also discusses his musical tribute to former Crowded House band-mate Paul Hester, who passed away in 2005. "I wanted to remember and I wanted to honour him, and do something he would be proud of and feel good about," he said, of the song Salt to the Sea. "It's a way for me to go on stage and talk about it without talking about it, if you know what I mean." Finn is currently touring the US to promote his latest solo album, Imaginary Kingdom. The select series of radio appearances and small acoustic shows is intended to set the stage for a more comprehensive tour in the US summer. 
(18 May 2007)

Clean, pure, natural cosmetics to France 
NZ cosmetics companies Trilogy, Skinfood, Art a Face, Living Nature and Antipodes have presented their ranges to 50 French retailers and beauty journalists at the NZ ambassador's residence in Paris. The May 14 breakfast event received a strong response, according to NZ's ambassador to France, Sarah Dennis. "New Zealand beauty brands differentiate themselves in this market, built on the image of a clean and pure environment and high quality natural ingredients," she said. Some of the cosmetics companies' products are already available at Paris's high-end Printemps department store, as well as in specialist skin-care outlets. The French fact-finding and promotional tour was organised by NZ Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). 
(15 May 2007)

A life lived large 
NZ-born war correspondent Kate Webb has died of cancer aged 64. Described as a "modern day Annie Oakley, packing pens instead of pistols", Webb bore witness to some of the most important events in recent Asian history, including the fall of President Sukarno in Indonesia, the Vietnam War, the assassination of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the Cambodian "Killing Fields", East Timor's civil war and the Hong Kong handover. Webb's journalist colleagues remember her as a hard-drinking, man-eating chain smoker; a fiercely dedicated professional with a nose for trouble who never lost her remarkable sense of compassion. "People always think I must be so tough to survive all this," she said at her retirement in 2001. "But I'm a real softie. But maybe that's what it takes - you have to be soft to survive. Hard people shatter."
(14 May 2007)

NZ pathologist testifies in Canada
NZ-based pathologist Dr James Ferris has given evidence in the most high-profile murder case in recent Canadian history. Ferris, a veteran of 40 years forensic investigation, has testified at the trial of Robert William Pickton, the Vancouver pig farmer accused of killing 26 female drug addicts and prostitutes. While working in Vancouver in 1995, Ferris examined a mysterious half skull that he believed could be linked to a future homicide investigation. DNA analysis has since matched the skull to three bones found on Pickton's farm. Ferris has been involved as a pathologist in over 1000 homicide cases in Canada, the US, Hong Kong, Australia and NZ. He worked on Australia's Lindy and Azaria Chamberlain case and gave evidence for the Crown against David Bain at his initial Christchurch trial. 
(4 May 2007)

Herne Bay haven 
Wallpaper's April issue includes a Pacific-inspired Herne Bay home designed Auckland's Stevens Lawson Architects. "For us, it's the ultimate modernist abstraction," says architect Nicholas Stevens of the impressive structure, which features a glass-reinforced concrete facade, carvings inspired by tapa cloth and fluid living spaces with optional timber partitions. The two-storey house, owned by skin specialist Dr Mark Gray and partner Suzanah Kearns, won the 2005 NZ Institute of Architects' Supreme Award for Architecture. "Our previous house was designed by Nick and Gary [Lawson]," says Gray. "We had confidence in what they had achieved and gave them a relatively open brief."
(April 2007)

Gates of Hell open in Fulham 
Hell Pizza has opened its first UK outlet in Fulham, northwest London. Founders Callum Davies and Stu McMullin decided it was time to test a new market after 11 successful years in NZ. Their first attempt broke even after just five weeks trading, bolstering the pair's plans for further expansion. "We have got to get three months solid trade in, doing better than break even and seeing good pizza numbers. As soon as we are happy with that, then we will look at franchising, we have got people beating down our doors to do that," said McMullin in the NZ Herald. "I don't like to fail and Callum doesn't like to fail and we are both competitive dudes. I've got to give it a really good crack." The Fulham restaurant seats 50 and features copper tables, custom-made chandeliers and black leather booths decorated with red flames. Davies and McMullin aim to have 20 UK outlets open by the end of next year.
(29 April 2007)

Matterhorn among world's best
Wellington institution the Matterhorn has been named one of the world's top five bars by respected US trade magazine, Bartender. The Cuba St local was ranked fifth behind Milk & Honey (London), Salvatore at Fifty (London), The American Bar (London) and Bayswater Brasserie (Sydney). Judges described the Matterhorn as "a bastion of creativity and bar culture in NZ [that] has led the way for many years." Last year, the Matterhorn was crowned Best Bar in New Zealand and won Best Drink Selection at the inaugural New Zealand Bar Awards in Auckland. "There's a definite culture that goes with the Matterhorn," said co-owner Sam Chapman in the NZ Herald. "It's a real local, rather than just an urban tourist spot - it's very much part of the fabric of people's daily lives." 
(22 April 2007)

Travelling in the reel 
Adam Hartzell, a writer for US film blog Daily Greencine, "travels, reads, watches and sips his way through NZ". On his five-day tour he (ironically) attends the Latin American Film Festival in Wellington, the Australian Film Festival in Auckland, visits the NZ Film Commission and reads essays by director Peter Wells and poet Kate Camp in Four Winds Press's On Going to the Movies. With the aim of extending his knowledge of the country, Hartzell also purchases Sam Edwards and Helen Martin's New Zealand Film 1912-1996, Jill Caldwell and Christopher Brown's 8 Tribes: The Hidden Classes of New Zealand and Speaking Truth to Power: Public Intellectuals Rethink New Zealand by Laurence Simmons. "[This] is the benefit of traveling in the real along with the screen," he writes. "We are confronted with the complexity of the reality on the ground that cinema can't fully represent. Just as films can frustrate simple genre classifications, the beautiful clerk at the front desk in Wellington made sure I knew that all of New Zealand wasn't the rugby mad nation I presumed." 
(1 May 2007)

Creepy sheep 
NZ horror film Black Sheep has impressed international critics with its blend of low-budget gore and on-the-nose humour. Since its premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, Black Sheep has won the Audience and Special Jury prizes at France's Gérardmer Film Festival and two Silver Ravens at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film. The film took writer/director Jonathan King three years to make and cost well under NZ $10 million. "It just popped into my head," he says of the storyline, which involves angry, genetically-modified sheep. "There is no story of childhood trauma on a farm. I should make one up." King has previously made short films, music videos and commercials, but Black Sheep is his first feature-length production. He will release a second film, The Tattooist, later this year and is currently working on a sci-fi film for young adults. 
(2 May 2007)

Hunter retains her edge 
NZ-born Alexis Hunter features in the WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution exhibition at LA's Museum of Contemporary Art. Hunter moved to London in 1972 aged 24 and has lived and worked there ever since. Her single contribution to the show is a six-panel, 25-ft long painting called The Objects Series (1974-75), depicting anonymous male torsos in striking detail. The Objects Series is name-checked by the LA Times as one of three reasons to visit the sprawling exhibition, which comprises 430 works by 119 artists. LA Times: "This sexy work appears startlingly fresh, almost as if it could have been made today ... Thanks to the beautifully rendered Photorealist style, a lush assertion of feminine power enhances the erotic edge of its otherwise masculine imagery." Wack! runs from March 4 to July 16.
(29 April 2007)

Brad McGann was acclaimed director
NZ filmmaker Brad McGann has died aged 43 (cancer). His adaptation of the Maurice Gee novel In My Father’s Den won ten awards at the 2006 NZ Screen Awards, and the International Critics Award at the Toronto Film Festival. In an interview with Senses of Cinema, McGann said the film “was about secrets, complicated and fractious familial relationships, the effects of physical and emotional isolation, and the tragic loss of potential in the death of a young person. It was also about people trying to reconcile themselves with the past, and how the past is very much a part of the present…I had no interest in exploring the sexual connotations of “intimacy”, but more an intimacy that occurs when two people begin to bare their souls to each other...in this film there is a subtle exploration between “shadow” and “light” – the joyous moments and the sadness that underlies the human condition.” McGann cited his influences as Dennis Potter (for the musical quality of his narratives), Krystof Kieslowski (for his visual poetry), Ken Loach (for his unrelenting realism), Atom Egoyan (especially The Sweet Hereafter), Ang Lee (especially The Ice Storm), early Roman Polanski such as Cul-de-sac and Knife in the Water (for their atmosphere and economical storytelling).
(2 May 2007)

All Black up-and-comers 
NZ has won the world under-19 rugby championship for the first time since 2004, with a decisive 31-7 victory over South Africa in Belfast, Ireland. "To win tonight, and also so resoundingly, was just fantastic," said NZ captain Chris Smith. "We have to give South Africa credit because that was a hard final ... We said we had to take them on, and we did." Goal kicker Trent Renata scored two tries and set up a third for Jackson Willison, while Robert Fruean and Kade Poki made one try each. Australia won the play-off for third, beating Wales 25-21. 
(22 April 2007)

Lullabies and love songs 
Dean Wareham of Dean & Britta recently toured the US with a well-received new album, Back Numbers. Born in Wellington, Wareham first emerged on the New York indie scene in 1991 with the influential dream-pop band Luna (which also featured Justin Harwood of NZ band The Chills). At the height of Luna's fame, the band was seen as a successor to the Velvet Underground and Wareham was hailed as the next Lou Reed or Tom Verlaine. In 2003, Wareham formed the duo Dean & Britta with Luna bassist (and wife) Britta Phillips. A Washington Post review described them as a modern-day Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra or Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, while Nashville Scene praises Back Numbers as "dreamy, darkly melancholic pop." Wareham and Phillips also provided the score for the acclaimed 2005 independent film, The Squid and the Whale. 
(19 March 2007)

Blanket Bay among world's best
Queenstown's Blanket Bay Lodge has been selected as the best lodge in the world by the US Discovery Travel & Living channel. Blanket Bay will feature on Discovery's new Five-Star Insider series alongside the world's best castle, ship, train, spa, safari camp, island and hotel. "This programme has millions of viewers worldwide and offers publicity that as a destination New Zealand could not afford to buy," says Blanket Bay General Manager Philip Jenkins. "It gives us the opportunity to demonstrate to the international market that New Zealand tourism is savvy and sophisticated and stands on its own amongst the world's top tourist choices." Established in 1999, Blanket Bay is an exclusive lakeside alpine lodge consisting of just 12 rooms. Actor Sir Ian McKellan called it "the best place in the world" during his stay while filming Lord of the Rings. 
(16 April 2007)

Keats inspires new Campion film
The doomed love affair between English poet John Keats and his neighbour, Fanny Brawne, is to be the subject of a literary biopic written and directed by Oscar-winning NZ filmmaker, Jane Campion. Keats and Brawne were engaged to be married when the poet was diagnosed with tuberculosis and advised to move to a warmer climate. The young lovers never saw each other again: Keats died in Rome aged 25. Titled Bright Star, after a love poem Keats dedicated to Brawne, the film will feature Ben Whishaw (Perfume) and Abbie Cornish (Somersault) in the lead roles. NZ-born Campion won the Academy Award for best screenplay in 1994 for The Piano. 
(8 April 2007)

Big pond, big promise 
Wellington singer/songwriter Brooke Fraser relocated to Sydney three years ago, hoping to create an Australian following to rival the one she enjoys back home. In NZ, Fraser's first album - What to do with Daylight - debuted at number one and eventually achieved seven-times platinum status. Her sophomore effort, Albertine, went three-times platinum after debuting at number one on NZ charts in December last year. Albertine was released in Australia in this month and is the focal point for an ambitious national tour. "I went from being a big fish in a little pond, to being a small fish in a big pond," said Fraser in Sydney's Daily Telegraph. "The idea (back home) is that it's not easy for a New Zealander to make it here, which I think almost makes it easier, because there's no great expectation." Fraser will play seven dates in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, from April 26 to May 5. 
(8 April 2007)

Orcas aim for Super League
Backers of Wellington-based rugby league team the Southern Orcas have launched a bid to join the English Super League in 2009. "This type of expansion would increase the value of sponsorship and TV rights and actually grow the market," said NZ Rugby League acting chairman Andrew Chalmers. Chalmers was behind a failed bid by the Orcas to join the Australian NRL competition two years ago, but remains optimistic about his chances with the Super League. However, Rugby Football League (UK) executive chairman Richard Lewis has played down reports in the English press. "The idea has been mentioned but I can't see how it could possibly work," he said. "I asked them to give us some details and I haven't heard anything since." Chalmers intends to file a formal business plan with Super League organisers in the next few months. 
(8 April 2007)

Piano plagiarism causes aesthetic dilemma 
Denis Dutton, Canterbury University professor and founding editor of Arts & Letters Daily, writes about a "scandal unparalleled in the annals of classical music" for the New York Times. Dutton's piece explores the implications for instrumental criticism caused by the recently-outed piano plagiarist, Joyce Hatto. Hatto was widely acclaimed for her late-life recordings before it was revealed that she had been passing off the work of upcoming pianists as her own. "I'm personally convinced that there is an authentic, objective maturity that I can hear in the later recordings of Rubinstein," writes Dutton. "This special quality of his is actually in the music, and is not just subjectively derived from seeing the wrinkles in the old man's face. But the Joyce Hatto episode shows that our expectations, our knowledge of a back story, can subtly, or perhaps even crudely, affect our aesthetic response." Dutton's piece was re-published on leading thinkers' website, the Edge Foundation. 
(20 March 2007)

Mason wins at Raglan 
NZ surfer Airini Mason has scored her second Billabong Pro Junior Series title for 2007 by winning the girls' division of the $13,000 Raglan leg. The 18-year-old beat pre-event ratings leader Sally Fitzgibbons (Gerroa, NSW) in the semi-final before defeating Ashleigh Smith (Cabarita, NSW) by 16.75 to 12.40 in the final. "I just had so much fun in that final," said Mason. "I was lucky that those two bomb waves came my way and I'm really happy to win here in NZ. It's so good to get a first place, it is the best place in the world." Mason moved from Gisborne to Australia's Gold Coast two years ago. In 2006 she became the first NZ female to win the Australasian Junior Series, at just 16 years of age. She is now top of the Pro Junior girls' leader-board, with just four events remaining in the series. 
(1 April 2007)

Praise for bright and vital 
Ferris South Australian Liberal Senator Jeannie Ferris has died after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer. Born in NZ, Ferris studied agribusiness and worked as a journalist and political adviser before entering Australian parliament in 1996. She had been government whip since 2002. Fellow Liberal Senator Nick Minchin described her as an "energetic and bright person" to the ABC. "She was quite a remarkable human being," he said. "She's had adversity and difficulty in her life but approached her tasks of representing South Australia in the Senate and working as Government whip and on various parliamentary and party committees with enormous energy and vitality." Ferris was particularly admired for her cross-party women's work and her establishment of an ovarian cancer research facility. 
(2 April 2007)

Paradise home to future leaders
Paradise, NZ, could be home to the first United World College (UWC) in Australasia, and just the second in the southern hemisphere. Based on the philosophy of Kurt Hahn, who also founded the Outward Bound movement, UWCs offer students with proven leadership abilities a two-year residential program which promotes strong humanitarian and environmental values within an academically demanding setting. The current co-presidents of UWC International are Nelson Mandela and Queen Noor of Jordan, but each college is set up through local initiative and remains an independent charitable body responsible for its own funding. The proposed UWC at Paradise would include 40 per cent New Zealanders among its 200-250 students. "This project offers New Zealand a chance to provide leadership as a global citizen, but we can't do it without the help of philanthropists who have a passion for education and its role in creating a more peaceful and sustainable world," said project manager John Hillhorst, who estimates the college's establishment cost to be $NZ 50 million. The proposed site overlooks the Dart River at the head of Lake Wakatipu, adjacent to the South Westland/Te Waahi Pounamu World Heritage Park. 
(6 March 2007)

Morgan trades up 
TradeMe founder Sam Morgan was profiled in the February issue of Australian Financial Review Boss magazine. In 1999, the then 23-year-old Wellingtonian launched NZ's e-commerce success story, which was recently purchased by Fairfax for $AU 625 million. Morgan's share was $AU 197 million, he continues to run the company. His advice to budding online entrepreneurs is to learn code, keep a tight rein on finances and not to bother with advertising until the website is truly established. Initial marketing should be done by word of mouth. "There is no joy of discovery when you find a product through being advertised to," he says. "When did you last tell someone how cool Coke was?" Morgan hopes to gradually phase himself out of TradeMe and put his earnings into a venture capital fund to invest in NZ businesses. "I just get bored kind of easily," he says. "I'd like to be backing companies where there are people working hard like I did." TradeMe currently has 1.2 million members, hosts 35 million auctions per year and includes property, car, job, flat-hunting and web-dating facilities. 
(February 2007)

Lyrical minimalism in Aotearoa 
The latest instalment in US artist Chip Hooper's ongoing series of ocean photographs is New Zealand's South Pacific and Tasman Sea. Hooper's solo exhibition of silver prints opens on March 29 at New York's Robert Mann Gallery, where he showed his first collection California's Pacific in 2004. Robert Mann: "[Hooper] continues to perfect his approach to photographing the ocean, steadily refining his sense of lyrical minimalism, as in Toward Dunedin, South Pacific, 2003, where a horizon of dark water is broken by the low, jagged line of distant mountains, or in Cape Foulwind Beach, Tasman Sea, 2003, where a monolithic cliff rises beyond the frame." 
(March 2007)

Westenra joins Celtic Woman 
NZ soprano Hayley Westenra is currently touring the US with Irish group "Celtic Woman". The group of five women - four singers and a fiddler - shot to fame on the back of a PBS television special and accompanying album. Westenra, who is alternating slots with one of the singers, is enjoying being part of "Riverdance-style" stage show for the first time. "The music is fantastic. We've got great lights, we've got percussion, it's a big sound," she said. "It's a real kind of feast for the ears and the eyes." Westenra has just released a third album, Treasure, in which she covers well-known folk songs and classical pieces, as well as a couple of contemporary tracks. (14 March 2007)