Operation Dog on a Log Rescue a Naval Success Story
The heartwarming rescue by the Royal New Zealand Navy of a dog on a log has gained international media attention. “This is the astonishing scene that greeted sailors on a New Zealand naval ship –…
Blog Archives
All Blacks Clinch Series Against England
New Zealand has wrapped up an unbeatable 2-0 series against England after staging a ruthless second-half comeback to win in Dunedin 28-27, the Guardian’s Robert Kitson reported from Forsyth Barr Stadium. “The home side, who…
Crossing over Entertainment Mediums at Paris Market
Actress and screenwriter Emily Corcoran, the New Zealand-born founder of London-based Cork Film Ltd., is one of a number of film professionals crossing over to the web, and presented transmedia projects at Cross…
Speedway Floor Manager Puts on a Good Show
New Zealander Steve Brandon, based in Northampton, is a freelance floor manager, and when thousands of speedway fans flicked on to Sky Sports Two last week, he was one of a small army of…
Some of the Best Technology Talent in the World
Bringing New Zealand tech whizz kids to Silicon Valley for a summer of work experience at startup company Pertino is part of CEO Craig Elliot’s plan to strengthen the global IT community. Elliott, who was…
Manhattan Chef a Big Believer in Planting for the Kitchen
Executive chef Matt Lambert, of Michelin award-winning New York restaurant The Musket Room, is a big believer in planting herbs, vegetables and flowers for cooking. At his Manhattan eatery, he grows six types of…
Lorde Mesmerises Sold-Out London Crowd
Teenage pop star Lorde reminded the Telegraph’s entertainment writer Alice Vincent of a young Kate Bush at her Shepherd’s Bush Empire show last week – a five star review. “Despite being described by youth blogger…
Making Eco Available to Every Body
For the past twenty years, New Zealand entrepreneur Malcolm Rands has run Ecostore – his plant-based detergents and body products company. Now stocked nationwide, in over 1800 supermarkets throughout Australia, as well as in…
Making Music with Sustenance and Soul
Blair Jollands, who is signed to Boy George’s label More Protein, “is a real songwriter’s songwriter with sustenance and soul”, according to Contactmusic, who talked recently with the London-based New Zealander about writing for…
Tokyo Haunts for Sampling Our Finest
New Zealand cuisine is well represented in Tokyo with a number of restaurants in Japan’s megapolis serving lamb cutlets, clay pot hangi-cooked meat and green-lipped mussels. There are two large eateries in Tokyo serving New…
Glassholes Switched off with Google Glass Detector
Julian Oliver, a New Zealand artist living in Berlin, is cutting off people accessing Wi-Fi with Google Glass with his new detector, reports WIRED magazine. Oliver has written a simple program called Glasshole.sh that detects…
Miranda July Reads Janet Frame on Podcast
On this month’s New Yorker fiction podcast, American actress and filmmaker Miranda July reads Janet Frame’s short story “Prizes,” which was published in the magazine in 1962. July, whose fiction and essays have been appearing…
Raina Ticks All the Right Boxes at NY’s DNA
Nelson teenager Raina Masters has signed with top New York agency DNA, which launched the careers of supermodels Linda Evangelista and Alessandra Ambrosi. Nelson photographer Storm Tuiva scouted out the Nayland College student for her…
Kilgour Adds to His Unimpeachable Catalogue
David Kilgour’s 1990 solo debut album, Here Come the Cars is about as good as guitar-based pop music gets, according to Peter Krbavac at the Age, and “in a just world,” he says, “the…
Up Close and Personal with a Hungry Kenyan Lion
New Zealand-born wildlife photographer Robyn Preston’s image of a lion swiping at her camera, in Maasai Mara, Kenya features in the Daily Record’s weekly picture editor gallery. “The roaring lion shows off his razor-sharp teeth…
Conrad Smith Saves the Day in First Test
“Under-strength England pushed New Zealand all the way” in the first of three Tests in the 2014 Steinlager Series, with the All Blacks showing “why they are world champions as Conrad Smith’s last-gasp try…
McLaren’s Legacy Captured from the Inside
Racing car legend Bruce McLaren is the subject of former mechanic American photographer, Tyler Alexander’s book McLaren From the Inside, which is reviewed in the New York Times this week. “In 1963, Alexander (pictured), a…
New Zealand Immigrant Numbers On the Up
“One in four people living in New Zealand was born outside the country, according to figures released last month from the 2013 census of New Zealand’s 4.5 million people,” the Economist reports. “That is an…
Neill and Brown Bring Wonderful Wit to Crime Caper
Sam Neill, the Irish born New Zealand actor, joins Australian Bryan Brown on television in “classy new crime caper” Old School. The TV drama is described as “a kind of buddy series crossed with hard-nosed…
Advancing Our Reputation on the World Stage
Four internationally successful New Zealanders – digital entrepreneur Claudia Batten (pictured), Shrek director Andrew Adamson, investor Neville Jordan, surgical robotics technologist Dr Catherine Mohr – have been celebrated for advancing our reputation on the…
Model A a Meat-and-Potatoes Car Says Enthusiast
New Zealander Mike Breed is secretary of Langley’s Pacific Model A Club in British Columbia, owns six Model As, and is one of the city’s “principal gurus of Model A vehicles”. Breed restores, shows, and…
Kimbra on Why Women in Music Are Seen as Sex Symbols
From Grammy winner to production whizz, Kimbra is breaking new ground. Kimbra Lee Johnson turned 24 in March this year, and while she didn’t have a party she still had a good time, spending the…
Must-See for Those after Palpable Taste of Unique Adventure
What sets docudrama Beyond The Edge apart from hundreds of other accounts of Edmund Hillary and Norgay Tenzing’s Mount Everest ascent is the intimate footage of the small group that set off from base…
Golf Commentator One Voice worth Listening to
In a business rife with mediocrity, New Zealand-born commentator Frank Nobilo is one voice worth listening to, writes John Huggan for the Scotsman. For a decade or so before he made the jump to the…
NZ’s Finest Underground Acts Partner with US Labels
PopMatters has selected a sampling of essential tracks by 15 of New Zealand’s finest underground pop acts in anticipation of a forthcoming Bats reissue and a Clean anthology – and with hopes for additional…
Wharariki Beach Is Basically Heaven on Earth
The Huffington Post has described Wharariki Beach as basically heaven on Earth. “If you weren’t already dying to visit New Zealand,” the Huffington Post has given its readers “yet another reason to head to one of…
New Bridal Collection Celebrates Less Is More
Couture and bridal wear New Zealand designer Johanna Johnson – whose Vaudeville gown Chanel model Kendall Jenner wore as bridesmaid to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s May wedding – has launched a new affordable…
Anstey Clocks Unofficial TT Record for Electric Bikes
Professional motorcycle road racer Bruce Anstey, originally from Wellington, has set an unofficial record for electric bikes, on the same day he broke the outright lap record on a petrol bike, at the 2014…
Moaroom a Shining Presence in Parisian Furniture Market
New Zealand design “has a shining presence in the Parisian furniture market” with Roderick Fry’s Moaroom, a store instrumental in the successful promotion of designers such as David Trubridge. Fry launched Moaroom in 2005 with…
Frost Boss Wins Prize for Innovative Farming Wind Machine
New Zealand engineer Kim McAulay’s portable frost protection fan – the Tow & Blow – has taken out Victoria’s 2014 Mildura Field Day Innovation in Horticulture award. According to the company’s website, the Tow &…
Star of Petals on the Wind Captivating
Star of television’s steamy Petals on the Wind, New Zealand actor Rose McIver, who plays Cathy Sheffield, “emerges as a captivating and surprisingly shrewd leading lady”, Variety reviewer Geoff Berkshire writes. “ up 10…
Sound Artist Releases Ground of Being
Christchurch-born composer and sound artist Annea Lockwood, who is perhaps best known for her Glass Concerts, in which she made use of the sonic and physical characteristics of glass, as well as her Piano…
Sorceress Releases Another Dose of Soul
Among New Zealand’s fervent soul underground, which has produced such musicians as Ladi6, Electric Wire Hustle and Benny Tone, is another contemporary soul outfit, Sorceress. “ Dose, which updates their take on…
Urgent Protection Needed to save Maui’s Dolphin
New Zealand has been urged to save the last 55 remaining Maui’s dolphin – one of the world’s rarest creatures – as they are on the brink of extinction and are expected to die…
Lorde Compares Notes with Conor Oberst
Teenage pop star Lorde, who has just won two Billboard music awards at a ceremony in Las Vegas and is in the midst of a sold-out world tour, talks to solo artist and Bright…
Dixon Tearing Through IndyCar Record Books
While his team struggled with setup and speed, New Zealander Scott Dixon, 33, has flown under the radar during preparations for the Indianapolis 500. It’s exactly how he wants it. It’s how he has…
Stylish Emilia Wickstead the Embodiment of Her Brand
New Zealand-born, London-based designer Emilia Wickstead has gone from toting a clipboard at Prince Harry’s favourite nightclub to dressing his sister-in-law. The Telegraph’s Ellie Pithers met Wickstead, 30, at her Cadogan Place atelier. “Wickstead makes…
Chasing Her Pro Softball Dream in Washington
Twenty-four year old Wellingtonian Lara Andrews is battling for one of the corner infield spots on the Pennsylvania Rebellion National Pro Softball team, and hopes to be the starter when the season begins 30…
Cutting Edge Authors This Way Up at London Festival
New Zealand and Australian artists will be showcased in This Way Up, “a festival of seriously good literature, film, music and performance from two countries at the (cutting) edge of the world”, in London…
Performance Pays Tribute to Soldier and Wimbledon Champ
Performers of a musical play featuring WWI soldier Wilfred Owen’s poems will pay tribute to New Zealand Wimbledon tennis champion Anthony Wilding who was killed in action in France. One hundred years since the outbreak…
An Album of Quiet Devastating Beauty
Originally conceived as a solo project for New Zealander Hollie Fullbrook, Tiny Ruins has with their second album Brightly Painted One become a proper band, with Cass Basil and Alexander Freer joining…
Kiwi’s Ancestors Now Said to Hail from Madagascar
New evidence shows that if the emu was the kiwi’s cousin, then Madagascar’s elephant bird was it’s sibling. Speculation continues as to the origins of New Zealand’s diminutive kiwi, new research now links the bird…
Docherty Wins Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas
New Zealand triathlete Bevan Docherty, two-time Olympic gold medallist, has won the Memorial Hermann Ironman in Texas, proving to critics that his spectacular debut success in Taupo last year wasn’t a fluke. “There have been…
Director Firmly Back in the Game
As Jane Campion returns to the Riviera chairing the jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the Palm d’Or-winning filmmaker tells the Guardian’s Andrew Pulver about surviving as a woman director. Campion was the first…
Special Night for Dubai’s Neil Finn Fans
Neil Finn thrilled fans in the United Arab Emirates on stage at the Dubai Tennis Stadium last week “demonstrating why he is regarded as the songwriters’ songwriter”, according to Gulf News senior writer Leslie…
Four Prestigious US Music Schools Excited about Sylvia
Eighteen-year-old Auckland pianist Sylvia Jiang has been offered full scholarships to four prestigious American music school: Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and New England Conservatory. Jiang started learning…
Engineering Company Buys US Robotics Business
Dunedin-based engineering company Scott Technology Limited, which has been operating in New Zealand for 100 years, has purchased Ohio industrial robot integrator RobotWorx, providing Scott with a strong strategic base to increase its market…
On the Hunt for a Prized Mollusc
In Otago, a group of recreational fishermen are about to go on their regular autumn hunt for shellfish, but it is not just any mollusc that they’re after. They are looking for a humble…
Epic Mountain Biking Through Jaw-Dropping Scenery
“New Zealand is a great country to witness by bicycle,” says the Independent’s Christopher Wakling. “The government wants you to ride there. At a cost of more than $75m it recently completed
New Release Incredibly Impressive Mix of Genres
Grammy award-winning Kimbra, 24, is “no flash in the pan”, says Slate blogger Sharan Shetty. The Hamilton-born singer is currently working on the follow-up to her 2011 album, Vows, and the first single “90s…
Pulp a Fascinating Piece of Work on All Levels
New Zealand director Florian Habicht’s documentary on British rock band Pulp screens at the Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival in Tel Aviv on from 8-17 May. “Habicht’s portrayal of British rock band Pulp is a…
Sunglasses Are an Intrinsic Part of the Look
High-end sunglasses used to be about the logo, but now designers, like New Zealander Karen Walker, are making them an integral part of their seasons’ collections, the Independent reports. Walker has shown her eyewear…
Cannes Is a Mythical and Exciting Place, Says Campion
Head of this year’s Cannes jury, Wellington-born director Jane Campion made her name portraying complex, strong-willed female protagonists and knows from first-hand experience that the festival is a place where careers are made. Campion, the…
Broods Embark on a Dream Adventure
From New York on the eve of Broods’ first full tour of the United States, the Nelson-born brother sister act, Georgia and Caleb Nott, talk with Vancouver’s Straight about trading in university for the…
Remarkables Ice Climbing Coolest Way to See NZ
Ice climbing is an exhilarating way to break up a New Zealand ski trip and a natural progression for Australian rock climbers, says Perth Now reporter Matt Kitchin who together with Tim Steward from…
Mr Adventure Heads to Base Camp
New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby is taking part in charity event Stand Up on Everest in October, performing at Base Camp on a purpose built stage for climbers awaiting their turn to…
