NZEDGE News — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

Milford Magic

“Awesome!” screams Eric Forseter, 23. “The sheer power of being under a natural phenomenon like that is unbelievable.” Milford Sound, “a virtual catalogue of natural wonders of the Southern Hemisphere,” awes and exhilarates visitors.

Global Peddlers

250 bike-riding globe-circumnavigators are on their way to New Zealand as part of Odyssey 2000, an official Millennium event.

Balibo Five

Investigations are being renewed into the killing of five journalists (including New Zealander Gary Cunningham) during Indonesian’s invasion of East Timor twenty-five years ago.

Blinding Brilliance

Blind cricket is played with wicker balls, footballs and cricket balls, all with rattles inside so the players can hear where to hit. The New Zealand team are bowled over by England at the World Cup,…

Special League

The New Zealand team “ran out of juice” in the final, according to Frank Endacott, but they received praise from England’s coach for their semi-final performance: “I thought New Zealand were a bit special,” said John Kear….

Stadium award

“The trend has finally swung away from the exaggeration of post-modernism … Buildings are now plain, restrained and professional.” Capturing the mood, Wellington’s WestpacTrust Stadium picked up the international section at the Australian National…

Hrithik era

Indian tourists are awarding New Zealand an Oscar. Visitor numbers have shot up on the back of a high-profile film starring mega-hunk Hrithik Roshan and New Zealand as the backdrop.

One Love

Bob Brett used to correct Boris Becker’s backhand. Now he’s formed a Paris academy to coach young stars, including fourteen-year-old New Zealander Eden Marama.

Slightly Missed

“Aaron Slight worked very hard for the team in the seven years he was with us and everyone at Castrol Honda is very appreciative of that. He played an important part in the development of the…

Southern Travail

“The temperature will drop as low as minus 10 degrees, waves will be as high as 4 meters and the wind will be as strong as 40 knots.” None of which deterred winning home team Propeller…

Ideas on IQ

1994’s The Bell Curve suggested that Black Americans have a lower average IQ than other groups – a suggestion that appalled Waikato academic James Flynn. Flynn suggests IQ tests reflect environment as much inherent “intelligence”, calculating that…

Art Mock

Global Conceptualism: Points of Origin 1950s-1980s, currently showing at MIT’s List Center, includes a mocking 1961 work by New Zealander Billy Apple (nee Barrie Bates) – a painted reproduction of the application form for…

Popstar export

Put it up there with kiwifruit and spreadable butter – the Popstars formula has become a unique New Zealand export success. Pop-packager extraordinaire David Foster will be involved in the US edition.

Security or Spying?

Activist Nicky Hager sees proposed anti-hacking laws as spying – Minister Paul Swain defends them as essential cyber-security.

New Zealandese?

“‘They’re fighting the 300-pound gorilla. Good on them,’ said Mark de Frere, a marketing manager for Advanced Micro Devices, using the New Zealand phrase equivalent to ‘godspeed’.”

INXS Movie

Kiwi singer Jon Stevens will feature in parts of the upcoming band bio-pic. Stevens replaced the late Hutchence, the only line-up change in fifteen years.

Whitewash

Maori cut from crowd scenes in Her Majesty, US-funded feature film set in New Zealand c.1953-54. Producer Walter Coblenz (All the President’s Men), said historical accuracy motivated the cutting.

NZ-edged NuTech

Matt Michalewicz, 24, founder and CEO of NuTech Solutions Inc fled to New Zealand from his native Poland at age six. He became “the only student I know of who drove to class every day in a…

Jet #2

easyJet CEO, Kiwi Ray Webster owns around £2m in easyJet stock after the company floated on the London Exchange.

New Zealand Pride

Not as bursting with hubris as the Algerians, don’t think we’re as great as the Greeks, not as frank in our appreciation as the French, but we’re in the top twenty countries that inspire pride in their…

Unsubsidised Exuberance

New Zealand farmers are spreading the anti-subsidy word to Canuks: “We were regarded as leeches in society. Now we take our place. We’ve earned the respect of society,” says Fed. Famers’ Pres. Alistair Polson in Ottawa.

Tractor Attention

Helen and Clyde Berkshire run the world’s only Harvester tractor museum, in Indiana. New Zealanders have a special interest in the display.

Connection made

New Zealand is on one end of the Southern Cross cable, the longest and largest fibre optic cable ever. The cable provides 120X the capacity of the 1992 vintage PacRim, but is expected to…

It’s a Wrap

Lord of the Rings is due to wrap three days before Christmas, right on schedule. Director Peter Jackson notes the authenticity index has climbed during filming: “way back at the beginning we thought there…

Relative Connection

“Groove is a Windows application that lets you swap ideas and information in the same way that Napster lets you swap songs … if you could get your cousins in New Zealand to use it, staying in…

Harvey tour

Singer-song writer PJ Harvey heads to the edge for a summer tour.

PC Lost World

New Zealand will host BBC’s dinosaur/sci-fi classic The Lost World. Offensive passages, referring to “sub-humans noted for their savage behaviour and low intellects” will be removed, cutting down the number of politicians moonlighting as…

Kiwi Cannibal Hookers

“We were shocked. The male would come ashore, grab the pup, swim out 5 or 1 metres with it, shake it around, kill it, and then bite off chunks and limbs and eat them,” said Dr…

Home Brew

New Zealand horse takes out the Melbourne Cup. “Brilliantly ridden by 20-year-old South Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy, the regally bred Brew made light of 49kg when scoring a two-length victory after starting from the outside barrier.”

SPF15+ Orchards

The phrase apple-red cheeks will no longer apply to New Zealand apples coated in kaolin clay to ward of the sun. “The kaolin-based product has cut sunburn damage on apples in half.”

Jeans #2

Labour MP John Tamihere wore a pair of ‘dress jeans’ to work. When National’s Bill English complained, Aucklander Tamihere called him “a hillbilly from Clutha”.

Hula hello

American Frances Price does Maori, Hawaiian and Tahitian dance. “The Polynesian dancers were a real hit at our wedding,” said Diane Szymanski Dorcey who created a Hawaiian style wedding in Brighton last month. “We…

Riff-Raff lives

New Zealander Richard O’Brien’s as-yet unnamed Rocky Horror Picture Show #2 will premier on the London stage in 2001.

Ali-Khan Do It

New Zealand born McGill (Canada) student, Sarah Ali-Khan, wins Quebec Athletic Excellence Award for All-Canadian Track and Field.

Idiosyncratic Mambo

Designer Reg Mombassa, “the quintessential idiosyncratic Australian artist, even though he’s from New Zealand,” is a key part of Mambo’s international success.

Dog Eat Cat World

Felines are unwelcome at Macquarie Island. New Zealand cat-hounds are cleaning them up.

Midget Motoring

An eight year old boy hitting the motorway at 80k in his Dad’s car was doing his bit to bring the average driving age down. Police stopped the boy who was “not fazed,” by them,…

Pain Buster

Dr Abbey recommends New Zealander Robin MacKenzie’s Seven Steps to a Pain-Free Life to tame the back pain of Chicago.

Brickwork Brierley

“It was a scene from yesteryear. Sir Ron Brierley, armour dusted off and polished and gauntlet raised, charged into the battle …”

International Treasure

Enterprising techno-toy hounds have devised a use for hand-held GPS systems: geocaching. 120 caches have been laid in 31 states and 13 countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Chile.

Guru Gilson

Clive Gilson, University of Waikato Professor, co-author of Peak Performance: Business Lessons From the World’s Top Sports Organisations, and motivational coach, “is to turn the Football Association from its traditional home for semi-retired blazers into…