Divine Edge
“It’s not often you are greeted at the door of the Coliseum by a bleach-blond New Zealand Benedictine monk, but this was merely the prelude to a slightly surreal tour of Frank Matcham’s venerable old building…”
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Proof of Life
The plot goes wobbly, but Russell Crowe is the man. Crowe is “a powerful screen presence, the sort of fellow every man wants to befriend and every woman wants to love”: “the movie comes…
Temping It
An influx of hard-working New Zealand and Australian temps has lifted industry standards in the UK.
Proof of quality
Oscar noms tipped for Crowe’s Proof of Life turn as kidnap and ransom rescue specialist Terry Thorne.
White Flight = All Black
British journalists fear reverse colonisation as staunch Polynesian men flex their muscles on the rugby field.
Museum reborn
A “New Zealand ancestor figure” is among the art on display in the inaugural exhibition at the revamped British Museum.
Heartening News
New Zealand researchers have found Pravastatin, a drug that helps control cholesterol, also helps ward off heart disease. Bring on the Xmas pav…
Spiritual Edge
Colonel Margaret Hay of the Salvation Army accepted The Times Preacher of the Year award with humility: “It just goes to show that God does use the foolish and the weak to do his…
Netjetters to NZ
New Zealand features on the itinerary for the winners of the Guardian‘s netjetters competition.
Killer Wine
Wairau River Sauvignon favoured by the Star and National Post Online, “killer” Cabernet Franc in the Washington Post, Villa Maria leaves the National Post reaching for more.
Can the Kiwi Economy Fly?
A contrary view: “recent claims that New Zealand’s economic experiment has failed, and that it therefore needs to change course, do not stand up”.
Fantastically weird
“The Price of Milk is a fantastically weird and funny little film. Boasting the sort of edgy, quirky slant usually only maintained in short film, it never compromises its oddness which is a joy.”
1953 – Hillary’s Year
“It was also a year in which a white man and a brown man, held together by a light nylon rope, climbed the highest mountain. In this feat of the New Zealand beekeeper, Edmund Hillary,…
Bax Facts
“I am a supermodel. I worked damn hard to get where I am. I’ve been on many Vogue covers. I’ve done all my jobs well, and I worked damn hard to get that title….
Price of Milk
“So this film is my dream about New Zealand, this make-believe country that seems almost empty of people” – director Harry Sinclair on his dairy-tale romance, The Price of Milk.
E-tax
IRD sets a dodgy precedent, requiring Dominz to hand over personal details linked to all .NZ domain names.
Turbulent Fiordland
“Fiordland has been twisted, buckled, and tilted. It has been buried beneath ocean sediments for millions of years, then thrust above the waves for wind, sun, and ice to carve and erode. It has been fragmented…
Edge of Safety
Entrants in “the Race” must pass through Cook Strait – the Southern-most point of safety in the opinion of race organisers.
Cut Short
Can you catch apotemnophilia, the desire to become an amputee? A spate of recent “voluntary amputations” performed in Britain take their cue from work by ground-breaking but controversial New Zealand sexologist John Money.
Shifty Crowe
New DVD’s reveal Crowe’s dark, pre-Gladiator side: “With his shifty eyes, stocky frame and ready fist, he was born to be the heavy. His roles have included portrayals of a neo-Nazi skinhead (Romper Stomper),…
Christina Conrad: edge poet and outlaw of the tribe
Noted poet Billy Marshall Stoneking writes about New Zealander Christina Conrad for art journal alicubi, locating the genesis of her expression in the New Zealand edge: “Conrad studiously disdains mediocrity, fashion and safety ……
“It’s Ok I’m Wearing Really Big Knickers”
NZ-Edged Louise Rennison, author of hilariously funny and best-selling novels for teens documents such existential provocations as angst ridden days, erupting spots and bickering with parents. Rennison spent her teenage years in New Zealand…
Sweaty Surgeons
Operations are hot work: surgeons sweat, drop skin flakes and contaminate their patients, according to an Auckland study. Space suits are a possible solution.
Menopause Rescue
University of Auckland scientists have identified a gene potentially responsible for thousands of cases of premature menopause world-wide.
Star Detective
Newbie Hamilton security man Gillie Henare explains his efficient lifter-nabbing techniques: “they use a lot of tricks to smuggle stuff out. You look for things like the bulging stomach, loose sleeves, bags. Once you’ve seen it…
Meteorologist Dies
James M. Austin, Dunedin-born and educated TV meteorologist, MIT teacher and D-day weatherman, died in Boston aged 85.
Jewels Valued
A New Zealand testicle is worth £4 500, but the Australian version is valued at £130 000.
Tabloid Corner
Reports of a Mandy Smith-Dean Barker romance cause international consternation as dreams of a super-child assail NZ sport fans.
Conner On
Dennis Conner will skipper the New York Boat Club’s 2003 challenge, hoping to end the Cup’s twenty-year residence away from the NYYC.
Berry Good
“Tall, dapper” New Zealander Martin Brown runs centuries old vinters Berry Brothers & Rudd. He’s turned Lord Byron’s purveyors of the liquid muse into Britain’s top wine e-tailer.
Deported to the Colonies
London’s had enough of Generals Sir Charles Napier and Sir Henry Havelock, but their New Zealand namesakes would be proud to have them.
Sun-kissed Pasta
Trials are underway to improve the colour of New Zealand pasta by creating yellower strains of wheat.
Suterble supporter
Las Vegas casino king Glenn Schaeffer puts dollars into art, supporting Nelson’s Suter Gallery.
Centrist Thinking
Geographical isolation meant New Zealand’s “great experiment” with “radically liberal economic ideas” was bound to fail…
Millennial Change
Canon Paul Oestreicher “embodies the Church of the 2th century and its struggles”. Converted during his schooldays in New Zealand, Canon Oestreicher held controversial views on pacifism, Marxism and the ordination of women.
Minus Fours
Nude golf will be swinging at the January Mackenzie Muster naturist festival near Lake Tekapo. Hole in one?
Kiss and tell
British politician John Prescott retains the edge bestowed by his starring role in New Zealander Fleur Adcock’s 1996 poem: “Our eyes had locked/we were leaning avidly forwards/lips out thrust…”
Pot Luck
Marijuana causes disease, phlegm and coughing fits, as well as mild euphoria. The wacky backy is as damaging to the lungs as tobacco according to research studiously carried out at Otago University.
Because it’s 50 Years
June 2002 will see Nepal begin year-long celebrations marking a half century since Tenzing and Hillary knocked the bugger off.
Punitive Damage
New Zealander Helen Todd’s documentary inditing the Indonesian military for the Dili massacre screens at the Las Vegas CineVegas festival.
Chiat/Day Edge
New Zealand “tough guy” David Fong gets Toronto ad agency into shape: “We have to be world class.”
Orca Warning
Orca in Wellington Harbour are a treat for onlookers, but authorities warn water users that the whales “don’t eat cucumbers”.
Habitat for Humanity
Global Village volunteers spend holidays helping some of New Zealand’s least-fortunate citizens.
Come Here, Deer
Deer velvet’s aphrodisiac properties are being scientifically tested. Positive results will lift an already firm export market.
Howdy Mate
“Seems like American people are just too lazy to work,” says Colorado farmer Bruce Markham, who’s been using Kiwis to bring in the corn.
15% Pure
All ingredients in New Zealand and Australian food are to be labelled by percentage. “Meat” pie anyone?
Miracle Bang
After a decade of blindness, Auckland woman Lisa Reid went to bed, bumped her head and woke up sighted in the morning.
Coin Fever
Tennis ace Dominik Hrbaty is a New Zealand coin buff in his spare time: “They are so beautiful, so nice. Every year there is a different picture(?) and on the other side is Queen Elizabeth.” …
Edge Music
“Folk and traditional tunes” from New Zealand feature on the Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus’ new CD, Flights of Song.
Vowels of Allegiance
The Kiwi vowel slur might be a solidarity mechanism, adopted to make late-arriving, open-vowel enunciating Poms feel uncomfortable. Give us fush or give us duth.
Dream note
New Zealand-based Indian singer-songwriter Lucky Ali talks about his “upbeat, perky and positive” album and his two wives.
Murder on the Street
Shirker, penned by New Zealander Chad Taylor features a murder on Shortland Street – the place, not the programme.
