Neill’s canine enactment
Sam Neill, 61, plays the title role of Edwardian clergyman the Dean in Paramount Pictures film Dean Spanley, which opens in UK cinemas on December 12. In a Guardian interview Neill discusses the film, his reputation in New Zealand as a “rabble-rousing leftie”, vineyards and the word ‘celebrity’. He seems a bit anxious about the premiere, and one of the first things he says about Dean Spanley is that he turned down the part three times. Hardly surprising, since it’s a role that requires him to literally howl at the moon – the Dean believes he was a cocker spaniel in a previous life. Neill appears genuinely concerned as to whether he has pulled it off. “I was very daunted by the part. I thought: ‘I can’t do this. I’m not the man for the job.’” I mention this a few days later to New Zealander Toa Fraser, the film’s director. “He’s a nervy bugger,” he replies. “He always gets like that.” 
(5 December 2008)

Of life and death
Christchurch Press photographer John Kirk-Anderson’s image of a helicopter about to rescue Japanese climber Hideaki Nara, 51, from Mt Aoraki’s Empress Plateau, features in the SF Gate’s ‘Day in Pictures’. The caption reads: “Joy and sorrow at 12,000 feet: Kiyoshi Nara waits to be plucked from a ledge near the top of New Zealand’s Mount Cook after bad weather trapped the pair for a week. His companion, Kiyoshi Ikenouchi, 49, died only hours before the helicopter arrived.”
(5 December 2008)

AB supporters take heed
New Zealander and London-based publisher Martin Moodie was “probably one of only 500 in the 26,000 strong crowd” at Limerick’s Thomond Park when the All Blacks played Munster, “ and was honoured to be present at such an event and deeply moved by the respect the Munster crowd showed for the All Blacks, for my country and for the game of rugby.” In an article on the Moodiesan Publishing site www.thecupiscominghome.com Moodie praises the Irish team’s “dignity and grace”. “When ‘Smokin’ Joe’ scored that heartbreaking, game-breaking try in the 87th minute,” writes Moodie, “Stephen Donald’s resultant conversion attempt, if successful, would have put the All Blacks out of reach of defeat by an even later drop goal or penalty. It was the most crucial of kicks. In almost any other stadium in the world, at least outside Ireland, the booing from the home supporters would have been loud, prolonged and venomous ... When Ireland (especially, but also any other international side) play our teams back home, let’s banish the booing too. Let’s take up the alternative cry of ‘Shhhhh’ and show that at the rugby table of manners, the Irish are not the only diners.”
(19 November 2008)

Judd mixes it up 
Chief winemaker at Cloudy Bay Kevin Judd's 2008 sauvignon blanc has just hit British shelves and in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Judd explains the complexities of blending wine. "In the old days we used to put a bit of Sémillon in our wine, but today it's 100 per cent sauvignon blanc," Judd says. "But even though we're only working with one variety, blending is just as crucial and just as complicated ... Believe me, it isn't easy being faced with 60 different freshly-fermented sauvignon's at 9 o'clock on a Monday morning," he grimaces. "After that, all we want to do is head into town for a pie and a pint to attempt to rescue our taste buds and tooth enamel." Judd is also a wine photographer. His book, The Colour of Wine is a collection of his photography. 
(19 November 2008)

Green light district 
New Zealand's "liberalisation" of the world's oldest profession is, according to the Economist, a success story, where in 2003 the magazine writes, "that country decriminalised the sex trade with a boldness that exceeded that of the Dutch. Sex workers were allowed to ply their trade more or less freely, either at home, in brothels or on the street." Though the red lights may be going out all over Europe - including England and Wales where people will soon be liable to prosecution for "paying for sex with someone forced into prostitution… or controlled for another's gain" — they're certainly still green in New Zealand. Government statistics show that 60 per cent of prostitutes felt they had more power to refuse clients than they did before. The report reckoned that only about 1 per cent of women in the business were under the legal age of 18, and only 4 per cent said they had been pressured into working by someone else. Prostitutes keep all their earnings, which gives them freedom to reject nasty clients and unsafe practices. "They feel better protected by the law and much more able to stand up to clients and pushy brothel operators," says Catherine Healy, head of the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective.
(30 October 2008)

Southpaw inducted 
Carterton-born golfer Sir Bob Charles, 72, has been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the veterans category - the Hall of Fame's first New Zealander, and its first left-hander. Charles won the 1963 British Open. It is the highlight of a lengthy career that is still ongoing — he finished T-20 in the 2008 Russian Seniors Open in Moscow. "I've actually lost count," Charles said when asked how many times he has equalled or bettered his age. "I started bettering my age at 65. I've been able to [do it] every year since then." Charles has six PGA Tour victories, 24 international titles and 23 wins on the Champions Tour. As an amateur, he won the New Zealand Open at the age of 18 in 1954. He was knighted in 1999, "a fitting honour for a member of golf royalty." 
(November 2008)

Craved in Canada 
Kathmandu founder and owner of design store Nood, or "New Objects of Desire", Jan Cameron has opened four stores in British Columbia. Nood carries a range of household and personal products, including designer furniture lines, ceramics, gifts and gadgets, luggage and home textiles. Tasmania-based Cameron does not give interviews and goes out of her way to keep a low profile. She's well known for her best-selling lines of outdoor equipment and clothing under the Kathmandu brand and donated to various charitable causes. Cameron sold Kathmandu in 2006 to Goldman Sachs J B Were and Quadrant Private Equity. She has been reported as New Zealand's wealthiest woman. 
(30 October 2008)

Rite of pastry passage 
Mince, steak, chicken and potato top pies are amongst a few of the popular pastry to be sampled in a two-week tasting marathon undertaken by Vancouver Courier reporter Michael Kissinger. According to a 2005 Statistics New Zealand Household Economics Survey, New Zealanders eat a total of 68 million pies a year. That's more than 16 pies for every man, woman and child. Kissinger stops in at the Ponsonby Rugby Club where pie-maker Tony "who calls me 'bro' a lot" urges him "to explore the outer limits of New Zealand pies, namely nacho, Tandoori and seafood pies." "I resolved to meet him half way. I would try to eat one pie every two days and sample as many flavours as my stomach would permit. But most importantly, I would let pies shape and colour my gastronomical journey of New Zealand and self-discovery." 
(22 October 2008)

Success on the periphery 
Dunedin noise-rock trio Dead C formed in 1987 and over the past two decades has made more of a reputation outside of New Zealand music circles. They're on the fringe, and they don't plan to leave it. A pop group the Dead C are not, but for an ensemble — made up of Bruce Russell, Michael Morley, and Robbie Yeats — so ardently free-form and unmarketable, they've done nicely. "The irony is, we've done very well in commercial terms by being 'uncommercial'," Russell explained. "I don't know many of our contemporaries in New Zealand who are in better career positions than us. We make money. We can make any kind of record we like." Much of their international clout was forged in the nineties with the Siltbreeze label, run and recently revived by Tom Lax of Philadelphia, with whom they released some of their most acclaimed discs, including 1992's Harsh '70s Reality, 1995's White House, and 1997's Tusk. The Dead C has released over 20 albums and is cited as one of Sonic Youth's favourite bands. 
(15 October 2008)

Dixon's Big Apple re-run 
On 23 October 1983, Nelson-born middle distance runner Rod Dixon raced past UK-emigrant Geoff Smith and won the New York City Marathon raising his hands to the sky in victory. The winning snapshot is not unlike that of Muhammad Ali's celebrated moment of victory against Sonny Liston at Lewiston in 1965; in New York in 1983 it came after more than two hours of pounding the streets of the city's five boroughs at close to world-record pace. "I've got a copy of the picture here," Dixon, 58, said from his office in Los Angeles with the 25th anniversary fast approaching of the New Zealander's epic tussle with Smith, the one-time Liverpool fireman, who lies prone in exhaustion to the rear of Dixon in the famous image. As it is, a quarter of a century on, Dixon is getting ready to return to New York as a hero. On 2 November he will run in the ING New York Marathon alongside one of his daughters, Emma, 29. "It will be an amazing experience for me to run the marathon with Emma," he said. "I still love to run. I don't have to win or be the fastest. I just like to go out and connect with the emotional, physical and spiritual part of running." Since 2006, Dixon has helped coach the LA Roadrunners — a Los Angeles Marathon training club open to the public. 
(12 October 2008)

Rhombus nices it up
Wellington-based musical collective Rhombus headline at Mullumbimby's Mullum Music Festival in late November, having this month released their third full-length self-titled album. Initiated in 2001, Rhombus presents a seamless blend of hip-hop, soul, funk, dub and bass roots-reggae, spliced together with socially conscious lyrics. Thomas Voyce, Koa Williams and Simon Rycroft form the foundation of the group. For their upcoming Australian performances Rhombus are bringing a seven-strong line-up and their own sound engineer. "With electronic music there are sort of limitations to what you can do on stage and the balance is unique especially with our particular sound. We are bringing our own engineer just to make sure that our sound is represented," Voyce said. New Zealand singers Mihirangi and Ladi6 will also play at the Festival. 
(2 October 2008)

Dream with opera
Auckland five-star boutique hotel Mollies — owned by opera fanatics Frances Wilson and Stephen Fitzgerald — has received a coveted 'Hideaways of The Year Award' and is one of Harper's 'Longtime Favourite Hideaways in The World'. Sydney Morning Herald reviewer Rob McFarland describes the St Mary's Bay getaway as "the most unashamedly romantic hotel" he has ever stayed in. "I was there on my own and had to constantly fight the urge to propose to one of the staff." An experienced opera voice coach, Frances makes no apologies for the extravagance, and at pre-dinner drinks says: "I like to make every evening a romantic occasion. I love having far too many candles and far too many flowers." Opened as Mollie in 2001, the hotel is named after the owner's mother, who ran it first as a guesthouse and then as a motel. 
(16 September 2008)

Comparisons of reality
As an 'Artist to Antarctica' in 2002, Wellington contemporary photographer Anne Noble, saw beyond conventional portrayals of the South Pole, instead focusing on the changing light patterns in whiteouts, swirling ice-crystals and then in a twist, incorporating the real place with that of the manufactured. Noble's 'Ice Blink: Antarctic Photographs', is part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. The exhibition is a series of images in which she behaved in the opposite way to a traditional landscape photographer: she did not place people in a scene to create a sense of scale or frame a dramatic view. But just as she visited the real place, Noble also travelled to Antarctic discovery centres around the world - including Japan, Norway and Australia. "I would go to these (manufactured) places and imagine I was an Antarctic landscape photographer taking conventional landscape photographs - it was a double entendre, I was looking at an artificial landscape but looking at it as if it were real." 'Ice Blink' is on at the Centre for Contemporary Photography through October 25.
(13 September 2008)

Grand old dame sold
Auckland engineer Don Subritzky spent 11 years restoring a 1945 World War II Spitfire fighter, which he has sold at a Nelson auction for $2.8 million in order to raise funds for further vintage aircraft restorations. One of fewer than 60 still flying worldwide, the Spitfire was bought by North China Shipping Holdings Co. Chairman Yan-Ming Gao who will donate the aircraft to the China Aviation Museum in Beijing. "I don't want to see the Spitfire go," Subritzky said before the sale. "Basically, we need to get some money in to fund the completion of a few of the other aircraft we've got here." They include an almost complete 1936 Hawker Hind biplane, a rare Vickers Vildebeest biplane, a twin-engined Airspeed Oxford and a Gloster Meteor jet. 
(14 September 2008)

Taking on the Chutes
The fourth annual Volkl NZ Freeski Open held at Treble Cone in late August, marking the season opener of the international ski calendar, saw Dunedin's Alastair Eason and Wanaka's Janina Kuzma take the top spots in the The Big Mountain competition at Mototapu Chutes. Eason's gutsy line choice conjured a roar of applause from the crowd as he put down the run of the day, with perfect landings off 15 meter-high cliffs and fluid, smooth skiing. "I'm really happy to have finally nailed it," said Eason. "I've placed second once, and third twice over the past few years so I'm stoked!" Kuzma topped the field in the women's category with a score of 80 out of 100. Her spectacular cliff drops were backed up by faultless skiing and smooth, clean lines. "So super happy to win again," Kuzma said. "In the morning the snow was super firm, but the sun was shining and the weather was fantastic." 
(4 September 2008)

Sea urchin reef concert
Auckland University marine biologists Craig Radford and Andrew Jeffs have discovered that sea urchins are behind loud noises emanating from underwater around New Zealand reefs. The 20- to 30-decibel sound is caused by the spiny sea creatures' teeth scraping on reefs as the hungry starfish relatives feed on algae and invertebrates. Radford said urchins had long been suspected of creating the din, but it took a series of experiments to confirm it. "We put some urchins in a tank and got them feeding on algae, then we recorded them. The noise they were producing caused spikes at certain frequencies," he said. Coastal noise of similar frequency and bandwidth has been recorded near the Bahamas; San Diego, California; and Australia. Chris Tindle, a physicist at the University of Auckland, said the urchins made more noise on dark nights around the new moon.
(18 August 2008)

Cooking by numbers
Wellingtonian Matt Moss, 36, left New Zealand 16 years ago to play rugby in Britain, Germany and the United States winding up in Beijing working for catering company, Aramark as operations manager at the Olympic village. Moss oversees the cooking for 10,000 athletes, who consume tonnes of vegetables, seafood, dessert, and some 300 Peking ducks daily. "Asian food is always popular," said Moss, who is now based in Baltimore. "Our local partners help educate us on special flavours needed for making authentic Chinese food." Moss's job is a big responsibility, and not surprisingly, food safety is Aramark's top priority. Once it reaches the village it enters temperature-controlled zones and is prepared by an army of chefs whose every move is monitored by video. "At this point you probably could not eat safer anywhere in the world," says Moss. 
(11 August 2008)

Travel award for editor 
Taumarunui travel writer and publishing editor of Inside Tourism Nigel Coventry has been named the 2008 Pasific Asia Travel Association Travel Journalist of the Year. PATA president Peter de Jong said Coventry had been a bastion of professional journalism for more than 30 years. "IT has grown to become a primary source of tourism-related editorial for stakeholders in New Zealand's travel and tourism industry and continues to break new ground with its independent analytical approach to industry news," said de Jong. Coventry said he was delighted to receive the award. "I was totally flabbergasted as I live in a very small town in a very small country at the bottom of the world - and someone noticed my work," he said. Coventry founded Inside Tourism in 1994. 
(2 August 2008)

A thirty year legacy 
New Zealand drama teacher Ken Rea - who trained at Auckland's Gil Cornwall academy and worked at Downstage and the Mercury Theatre - was honoured at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama for his thirty year contribution to the institution, which included training pupils Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor and Damian Lewis. In a congratulatory message to Rea, McGregor said: "Ken's opinion always meant a great deal to me, and still does now. When I know he's in the house when I'm on stage, I still get the wobbles. I still want him to like what I'm doing." Rea also runs theatre workshops throughout the world and has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is artistic director of London's Koru Theatre and for 15 years was a theatre critic for the Guardian. 
(15 July 2008)

Powered by fruit 
Kiwifruit rejected for damage or inferiority is used as cattle feed throughout New Zealand, but Crown Research Institute, Scion and ZESPRI Innovation scientists are reconsidering its use as a potential biogas able to generate electricity. ZESPRI scientist Alistair Mowat says the fruit would be composted in a large chamber to form a gas. "Biogas could be used to power the packing sheds and the cool storage of the kiwi fruit. And we see an opportunity to off-set between five and 10 per cent of the carbon footprint from kiwi fruit," Mowat says. Each year about 15 million trays, or 10 per cent of the country's total crop, are rejected because the fruit is spoiled. 
(13 July 2008)

Piercing revelation 
Janet Frame's 1963 novel, Towards Another Summer, written in London and first published posthumously in New Zealand in 2007, is considered by Guardian reviewer Rachel Cooke. Towards Another Summer is based on a weekend visit Frame made to the north, to the home of a journalist, his New Zealand wife and their children (the journalist was Geoffrey Moorhouse of the Guardian, who interviewed Frame in 1962). "As an account of what it is like to be an overly sensitive and lonely single young woman, it is as true and as piercing as anything I have read in a very long time," writes Cooke. "Strongly reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, the novel is exciting for its language. It feels surprisingly right to hold Towards Another Summer. It is a short novel, but a numinous one. This time, the keepers of the flame did the right thing." 
(29 June 2008)

Pirate captain dies 
Thames-born actor Bruce Purchase, a founding member of Sir Laurence Olivier's National Theatre, has died in Putney, aged 69. Purchase decided to become an actor at the age of five and upon leaving Auckland Grammar School won a scholarship to London's Rada. The son of a grocer, he worked as an apprentice baker, co-editor of the New Zealand Timber Journal and as an abattoir hand before going on to star in regular performances at the National Theatre in London. Purchase is perhaps best known for his memorable performance as the villainous captain in 1978's Doctor Who four-part story, The Pirate Planet. Though Purchase appeared in a number of films - including All Quiet on the Western Front and Richard III - and television shows, his first loyalty, however, remained to the theatre. Purchase's autobiography Changing Skies was published shortly before he died, and delighted readers with anecdotes about a parade of celebrities, ranging from Roman Polanski and Franco Zeffirelli to Princess Alexandra, Noel Coward, and Sir Ian McKellen. A man of many talents, Purchase also wrote books on film-making and musical theatre. His paintings were exhibited in London, Oxford, Tokyo, New York, Denver and Los Angeles. 
(23 June 2008)

Readymade mule at Basel 
Et al.'s exhibition 'altruistic studies' - a "non-peopled, computer-generated performance" - installed at the Basel art fair in early June, their fourth at the international show, has once again sparked curiosity about the group's identity. Et. al consistently covers its tracks - it promotes confusion about its practice, is consistently mysterious about the number and gender of its membership, and has even "denied" the authenticity of previous works. One of the interpretations of their work is that they are commenting on the generic role of the artist as a figure of authority, their own acts of suppression while enforcing that role, and the New Zealand art world's complicity with that fact. It's the complex layering and seesawing of their material that makes et al. so intriguing. 
(June/July 2008)

Venice bound 
Christchurch sculptor Francis Upritchard and Auckland painter and teacher Judy Millar will represent New Zealand in a six-month exhibition at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Upritchard is known for her hand-made figures inspired by the works of medieval painters Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel, while Millar makes large-scale, abstract paintings. In 2006, London-based Upritchard won the Walters Prize for her installation of sculpture entitled 'Doomed Doomed Doomed'. Creative NZ arts council chairman Alastair Carruthers has described Judy Millar as "one of New Zealand's most experienced abstractionists" and her project for Venice as "strong, bold and exciting". This is the fourth Biennale New Zealand has exhibited at. 
(25 June 2008)

Wood choppin' win 
Auckland lumberjack Dion Lane, 31, has sawn and chopped his way to overall victory at the Midwestern Lumberjack Championships held in Rochester, United States, beating fellow New Zealander and brother-in-law Jason Wynyard. Lane competed in the event for the ninth year in a row and after seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths, he finally won the men's overall championship. "It's about time," the 350-pound giant said. Lane has been competing in timber sports for 14 years. New Zealander Sheree Taylor, a three-time Midwestern winner, was runner-up on the women's leader board. 
(23 June 2008)

US discovers oil 
Far North Olive Oil, a premium extra-virgin oil, from New Zealand is on sale in farmers markets in the North West United States thanks to the efforts of locals Charles and Gayle Pancerzewski, who bought a 25-acre olive grove in the north of New Zealand where they spend half the year preparing the oil. The couple takes pride in the quality of their product and believe this is probably the only of its kind available in the Northwest. Extra virgin olive oil is the best, made without a hydraulic press or centrifuge. Processes that use heat or intense pressure degrade the oil and take away most of its health benefits. "Basically, you'd be better off buying canola oil," Pancerzewski said. 
(19 June 2008)

Long-haul feast 
Maori hunter Dale Whaitiri was on Mokonui Island when he discovered a small electronic tag in a muttonbird nest, a tag which had been attached two years previous to follow the path of a steelhead salmon10,170 km away from the Island on the Colombia River in the United States. Scientists think the fish may have been eaten by a muttonbird - also known as a titi or sooty shearwater - that was scavenging fishery wastes behind a processing vessel in the North Pacific. BirdLife's Marine IBA Research Officer Ben Lascelles said: "The epic journeys undertaken by sooty shearwaters illustrates how conserving seabirds is an international challenge. Seabirds don't respect country borders!" 
(16 June 2008)

Solomon Islands position 
New Zealander Peter Marshall has been sworn in as the Acting Police Commissioner for the Solomon Islands. Marshall has over 35 years experience across all areas of policing and since 2007 has held the role of Deputy Commissioner of Operations with the Solomon Islands. Marshall was integral in leading the police response to the tsunami and more recently during Operation Parliament. Speaking after the swearing in ceremony, Marshall was enthusiastic about his latest role. "I am very grateful to be the new Acting Commissioner. I will be leading the Police and progressing matters in a timely manner," he said. Marshall has the rank of Assistant Commissioner in the NZ Police and is on secondment to the Royal Solomon Islands Police as part of a bilateral arrangement between the two countries. 
(5 June 2008)

By the people for the people  
Auckland trio, Tim Tregonning, Dan Phillips and Danis Roberts are crowd pleasers; their project, OurBrew is currently recruiting beer drinkers to unite and develop a collective drop by signing up online, voting and then launching the world's first crowd produced beer. Participants choose the style of beer, the name, logo, packaging and details for tasting and launch parties. Fascinated by the idea of crowd sourcing and funding, the boys at OurBrew asked themselves, "How could we bring crowd sourcing to New Zealand? It has to involve something Kiwis are passionate about, something that is a constant in our lives." The answer? Beer. 
(28 May 2008)

Europe follows lead 
New Zealand is the first English-speaking country in the world to have banned smacking and Europe wants to follow suit. The New Zealand police were reassured when they won the right to apply the smacking law in 2007 with discretion, and there have been no silly prosecutions. The Council of Europe, a 47-country body, will launch a campaign in Croatia in mid-June to abolish corporal punishment. The campaign involves a flurry of debates, puppet shows, television spots, pamphlets in many languages and stirring calls to "raise your hand against smacking". 
(29 May 2008)

Unlikely gathering 
On a subsea mountain peak 400km south of New Zealand, a robot submarine has filmed tens of millions of waving five-armed creatures called brittlestars, in a never-seen-before seamount discovery. Scientists from New Zealand and Australia discovered "Brittlestar City" on a peak in the Macquarie Range, where the starfish-like creatures colonized against daunting odds on an underwater summit higher than the world's tallest building. NIWA ecologist Dr Ashley Rowden said the aggregation of brittlestars was amazing. "The implications of the find for our understanding of the relative uniqueness of seamount assemblages are potentially far-reaching," Rowden said. 
(18 May 2008)

Peaceful isles 
New Zealand comes in at number four on the second annual Global Peace Index released by Britain's Economist Intelligence Unit. A survey on the harmoniousness of the world's nations, the Index evaluates 140 nations with respect to 24 criteria, including numbers of deaths from organized conflict, levels of violent crime and proportions of GDP used for military expenditures. The report said New Zealand lacked internal conflict and had generally good relations with neighbouring countries. "It is clear that small, stable and democratic countries are the most peaceful," the report said, noting that island nations also "generally fare well". New Zealand ranked behind number one Iceland, Denmark and Norway. 
(21 May 2008)

Geometric on the Bay 
The 1931 Napier earthquake devastated the Hawkes Bay region, but two years later Napier was rebuilt and an Art Deco masterpiece. The Sydney Morning Herald's Rebecca Lancashire pays a visit and "wanders the city looking up at whimsical pastel-painted facades: sunbursts, zigzags, Mayan and Egyptian-inspired designs." In the "excellent local museum", she reads clippings from old newspapers, and in the Weekly News a witness recalls: "It all seems like a blurred cinematograph film of wrecked buildings, crying children, smoke, piles of bricks, bandaged heads, hurrying motor-cars, despair and isolation." This a far cry from the modern Napier, which is recommended for the architecture, wineries and artisan produce. 
(10 May 2008)

Oliver the Oxonian 
Former Highlander Anton Oliver, 32, will play the last rugby matches of his career at Oxford University while he studies for an MSc in Biodiversity, Environment and Management. Oliver, winner of 55 New Zealand caps at hooker who was last seen in action for the All Blacks during the World Cup, says he feels very privileged to be accepted by the University. "I see my time at Oxford as a clear demarcation in my life, leaving behind a life as a professional sportsperson for one of academic rigour and thought," he says. "The chance to play in the Varsity match - which is clearly a unique event in rugby union - is also very exciting and I see it as a natural way for me to finish my playing career." Oliver played a record 127 games for the Highlander franchise. 
(12 May 2008)

Berkett settles in 
Neil Berkett is eight weeks into his role as chief executive at Virgin Media and already has battle scars. Actually, he explains in an interview with Sunday Times reporter Andrew Davidson, he just banged his head at home, and you wouldn't want to argue. Berkett, 52, is a scrapper who makes a virtue of pragmatism, like many rugby-loving New Zealanders. Medium height, with an economy of movement that underpins his occasional terseness, he has jumped enough sectors and continents to take whatever's coming. "My appointment coincides with a huge coming together of opportunities," says Berkett, keen to accentuate the positive. "We are the single organisation with the most powerful digital network in the UK." And right now, he says, he is where he wants to be - scarred, but involved. 
(4 May 2008)

Oram fit for Lords 
Palmerston North Black Caps all-rounder Jacob Oram, 29, has recovered from stress-related injury and is braced for the first Test against England at Lords on May 15. Oram's economy rate of 2.4 is the best among leading New Zealand bowlers of the past 20 years and superior to that of Sir Richard Hadlee. At 6ft 6in, Oram might be considered a stretch version of the limousine of fast bowlers. Oram says this Test series could be perceived as either daunting or an adventure. "It could be damned rocky but a year or two from now we might feel the benefits. New Zealand cricket tends to go up and down. We have some rough periods then hit a golden patch. Cricket remains very popular in our country and our domestic cricket is a lot more professional than it was," he says. 
(4 May 2008)

Outfoxing furniture 
The small town of Pokeno in Franklin district, Auckland is behind ex-Thompson Twin Alannah Currie's latest artistic foray, a display of surreal furniture on show at London's Ragged School. Under the moniker Miss Pokeno, the exhibition combines upholstery and taxidermy - that's armchairs and entwined foxes. Seeking the good life in New Zealand after years of making synth-pop in the UK, Currie explains her comeback as an "armchair activist": "I'm making chairs to confront ideas of what comfort is." 
(26 April 2008)

Hawaiian hunt 
New Zealand hunting specialist Prohunt has been hired by The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii to help stem the destruction of the island's native forest by marauding wild pigs and goats. Prohunt is conducting research and demonstration projects on Conservancy preserves and other private lands on Maui, Kauai and Molokai. TNC decided to work with Prohunt because according to spokesperson Evelyn Wight, "we do not know of a local company that has all of the tools needed to run a project of this magnitude." Prohunt was established in 1994 and have also been involved in pest eradication on Great Barrier Island, Lord Howe Island, in the Galapagos and on Cocos Island in Costa Rica. 
(April 2008)

Surfing rhapsody 
Raglan may be home to "one of the world's best left-hand surf breaks", but the town is also garnering international interest for its relaxed isolation and its arts scene. "Bohemian" Raglan writes the Lonely Planet, is "Perched on the rugged western edge of the North Island, on the road to nowhere." The article recommends Solscape, "Raglan's most spectacular accommodation", a gig at Aqua Velvet or in the town's renovated Victorian pub, the Harbour View Hotel and a visit to "funky" gallery, Jet Collective. "Raglan may be at the end of the road to nowhere, but I'm in no hurry to move on," concludes the author. 
(20 April 2008)

Peter Jackson step aside
Christchurch video production company Gorilla Pictures is making a zombie film "better than most indie stuff cranked out on the cheap" in the US, according to horror film aficionados Dread Central. Director Logan McMillan's film Last of the Living has just been picked up by LA-based Quantum Releasing for worldwide distribution later this year. Central says: "For a low budgeter, it sure as hell looks like a damn professional film." Last of the Living is about three boys making their way through a post-zombie apocalypse world, asked to become heroes by a girl who might know of a cure for the infection. Gorilla Pictures also produce music videos, promos and short films. 
(April 2008)

Beijing pact signed 
New Zealand is the world's first developed country to sign a free-trade deal with China. "It's a bit like getting the first date with the best-looking girl on the block," says Stuart Ferguson, chairman of the New Zealand-China Trade Association: in this case, ahead of suitors Australia, Norway and India. Dairy and timber exporters are expected to profit most, but manufacturers like white-goods maker Fisher & Paykel and fashion house Icebreaker also stand to gain from easier access to China's low-cost factories as well as to its fast-growing middle class. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao described the occasion as "a day of historical significance". 
(3 April 2008)

Moore to head charity 
Former prime minister and World Trade Organisation Director-General Mike Moore has been hired by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. Moore will chair the Altimo Foundation, one of Fridman's charitable organisations associated with the telecom arm of the Alfa Group. The foundation will focus on fighting poverty in developing countries. Credited with restoring confidence in the multilateral trading system following the setback of the 3rd WTO Ministerial Conference held in Seattle in 1999, Moore is also author of a number of books including World without Walls, a reflection on his time at the WTO. Moore is widely regarded as one of the most powerful voices in the debate about the future of globalisation. 
(30 March 2008)

Off-stage antics
Wellington-born musician and "New York Rock God" Dean Wareham formed the band Luna in 1992 and later, together with his second wife Britta Phillips, Dean & Britta. Black Postcards is Wareham's just-released chronicle of his career, and it's 'A Rock & Roll Romance'. Aside from the hint of a New Zealand accent in his voice, he looks like a pretty typical 40-something New Yorker writes the Observer. An emissary of New York to the world of indie rock for almost 20 years, Wareham said of his book: "I wanted to pull back the curtain, show the boredom, the pettiness, and the arguments." "It's the hardest thing I've ever done," he admitted. The latest issue of Men's Vogue features an excerpt from Black Postcards. 
(13 March 2008)

Twain's tramping track 
Motatapu Track, which cuts across a Central Otago high country property owned by Canadian country singer Shania Twain, has officially opened. The 28km track is part of Te Araroa/The Long Pathway - a walkway planned from Cape Reinga to Bluff. In 2004, Twain and her husband Robert Lange won approval to buy the 33-year lease to 24,700 hectares of rugged and scenic farmland on condition they created a tramping track, with huts and other facilities, crossing their land as part of a nationwide trail. 
(14 March 2008)

Alaskan war chant 
Taranaki basketball player Jeremiah Trueman, 19, has introduced New Zealand's haka to his Alaskan team, the UAA Seawolves, and the crowds love it. Trueman, a junior transfer to the Seawolves, said he was trying to tell them something about himself. "It kind of blew them away a little bit. I was pretty excited to do it," he said. The haka is now an integral part of the Seawolves' pregame ritual and reflects the team's international flavour. Trueman formerly played for the Nelson Giants and the Tall Blacks. 
(15 March 2008)

Peak inspiration 
In preparation for a race to the South Pole, adventurer Ben Fogle hits the South Island for some thrill-seeking training. "The country that staged the world's first commercial bungee jump has invented a whole world of extreme sports," Fogle writes. Inspired from helicopters, kayaks and whale-watching boats, his real challenge lies in the ascent of the 2,340m Double Cone, part of the Remarkables range. "At the final pinnacle, the cloud lifted and New Zealand revealed itself. Our peak was no Everest, but I felt exhilarated as I surveyed the view stretching before me. Maybe, just maybe, a little bit of its magic will have rubbed off on me and help me in my attempt to reach the South Pole later this year." 
(14 March 2008)

Tunnel museum opens 
During the Great War beneath the unassuming French town of Arras and the German enemy, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company built two interconnected tunnels, almost 20km long and able to hide 25,000 troops. The tunnellers named this dark, damp kingdom - rediscovered in 1990 - after home towns. From one huge quarry called Auckland, soldiers could march through to Wellington, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch and Dunedin. Canteens, chapels, power stations, a light railway and even a fully functioning hospital were all established below ground. A £3 million visitor centre and a lift have just been opened to the public. Head of Arras's archaeology department Alain Jacques said: "I could not understand why there was all this English writing on the pillars and signs to places such as Wellington," he said, still thrilled at the recollection of his discovery. "And then I worked out that these must be the tunnels of the Great War." 
(15 March 2008)

Promises reviewed 
Dunedin indie band Die! Die! Die! is currently touring Los Angeles and Austin, Texas to promote their latest album Promises, Promises released in the US in February. Die! Die! Die! may sound less like the Sex Pistols and more like Dookie-era Green Day according to the Santa-Fe Reporter, but at least they're not like the pseudo-punk bands that have "been tarnishing the radio for the last decade and a half." Popmatters says Promises "thrives on its own individual sense of confidence and youth, and the primitive sense of escapism that only loud, crashing rock music can bring." According to Popmatters you'll want to be amongst the fanbase. 
(5 March 2008)

Leap for frogkind 
Thirteen tiny, and extremely rare, Maud Island froglets have been spotted at Wellington's Karori Wildlife Sanctuary hitching a ride on the back of a fully grown male. Researcher Kerri Lukis said the frogs have never before been seen breeding, even on their home islands of Maud and Motuara in the Malborough Sounds. "It's wonderful timing for the 2008 International Year of the Frog," Lukis said. Maud Island frogs are one of four native New Zealand frogs, and unlike other frogs, they do not croak, live in water or have webbed feet. They also hatch from an egg as opposed to going through the tadpole stage. 
(3 March 2008)

Bursting into canzone 
New Zealand bass-baritone Paul Whelan stepped out of the audience and onto the stage to sing the part of Raimundo at a London Coliseum performance of Lucia di Lammermoor. Whelan, who is due to play the part in March, sang from the side of the stage while Clive Bayley stayed on to mime having lost his voice. Whelan made it to the stage before the second scene but did not have time to change into 19th Century costume. A spokesman for the English National Opera said: "It was an electric evening all round. There was such an enthusiastic response from the audience, and then when Paul stepped forward to take his bow, the house erupted." 
(19 February 2008)

Rhodes vies for Bianca 
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes performs in Rossini's Bianca e Fallierio at Washington D.C's Lisner Auditorium in April. Rhodes stars as Capellio, Fallierio's rival for the affections of Bianca. Rhodes won New Zealand's Lexus Song Quest in 1989 and studied at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His discography includes Faure's Requiem and Le naissance de Vénus, Handel's Messiah as well as the solo discs, Mozart Arias, The Voice and Vagabond. 
(13 February 2008)

New exec at Opera House
Sydney's most famous landmark is now presided over by New Zealander Richard Evans, who last month became chief executive at the Opera House. Among the challenges Evans will face, is raising some NZ$790 million for the ongoing renovation of the Sydney Opera House complex. Evans told The Dominion Post: "There is no question that it must be one of the more difficult jobs there is, but unless it was, I wouldn't want to do it." Chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust Kim Williams said Evans has the right attributes for the role. "Richard has a strong entrepreneurial outlook with a good sense of humour ... qualities which are essential to managing an enterprise like the Sydney Opera House," Williams said. Evans was previously chief executive of the Australian Ballet.
(16 February 2008)

NZ studies awarded 
Dr Ian Conrich, director of New Zealand Studies at the University of London, is the 2008 New Zealander of the Year in the UK. Conrich received the accolade at an awards ceremony in London on Waitangi Day in recognition of his achievements establishing the Centre for New Zealand Studies last year. "Over the last decade New Zealand Studies has made significant strides in becoming a recognisable and serious discipline," he recently said. A highly respected New Zealand academic, Conrich has a particular interest in film, cultural studies and early forms of tourism. He has written extensively about New Zealand and is editor of the forthcoming book, Contemporary New Zealand Cinema. 
(9 February 2008)

NZ makes a dash 
Seachange is primed to be the first ever New Zealand-trained horse to race at Royal Ascot. She will contest the Group Two Windsor Forest Stakes over a mile in June, if she wins the $6.5 million Group One Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba in late March. Seachange won New Zealand's $250,000 Telegraph Handicap at Trentham this year, recording a cracking 1min 6.66sec, just outside the national record. "She usually takes four or five starts to find her best, so she'll be ready for Dubai and all going well, England," said trainer Ralph Manning. 
(4 February 2008)

NZ scientists dry their eyes
New Zealand's Crop & Food Research Institute has taken the tears out of chopping onions. In collaboration with Japanese scientists, the breakthrough was made using gene silencing technology. The Institute's senior scientist Dr Colin Eady said his team were able to turn off the gene that produces the enzyme that causes people to cry. "By shutting down the lachrymatory factor synthase gene, we have stopped valuable sulphur compounds being converted to the tearing agent, and instead made them available for redirection into compounds, some of which are known for their flavour and health properties," he said. 
(1 February 2008)

On top of the world 
New Zealand has been voted Top Country for the second year running in a UK-based travel magazine readers' poll. Almost 30,000 travellers voted in the annual Wanderlust poll, with New Zealand receiving a 96.8 percent satisfaction rating. Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said that visitors come to New Zealand for a unique and authentic experience. "The fact that this award is based on visitor satisfaction is something our tourism industry can be very proud of," said Hickton. 
(1 February 2008)