Keeping Friends and Influencing Nations
Sir Don McKinnon appeared on a BBC ‘Daily Politics’ segment arguing that the Commonwealth is a “pretty good investment” for Britain but it has not “always used it best”. The New Zealander was the…
Blog Archives
Black Grace Tours US
“Pittsburgh Dance Council’s commitment to finding cutting-edge dance took it halfway around the world for its new offering, the Black Grace company from New Zealand,” Mark Kanny writes for the Pittsburgh…
Effortless Chic
Since the launch of her ultra-feminine, eponymous line in 1996, Rebecca Taylor has become, without a doubt, one of the most prominent New Zealand-born fashion designers in the business, according to ELLE correspondent Kelsey…
Gifted Broadcaster
Broadcaster Phillip Leishman, who’s career ranged from regional television in Dunedin to Olympic and Commonwealth Games, and to game show Wheel of Fortune, has died aged 61. “He was an extraordinarily gifted presenter and…
One of Our Greats Farewelled
“There are few things I can say about my work that are better than saying nothing,” Ralph Hotere once said. With his death on 24 February, aged 81, art commentators and New Zealanders from…
Making Melody in Bollywood
New Zealand musician and composer Mikey McCleary lives in Mumbai where he made his first brief impression with a commercial for Coca-Cola. McCleary, 44, also writes scores for Bollywood films. While new-age Hindi film…
Oscar-nominee’s Homes for Hobbits
Production designer on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Hastings-born Dan Hennah, features in an Architectural Digest 2013 Oscar nominees slideshow of the year’s best in set design. “Hennah, who trained as an architect and…
First in Memphis
Marina Erakovic, 24, has became the first New Zealander, since Belinda Cordwell in 1989, to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title, lifting her first career trophy with a truncated triumph over third-seeded German…
Harmony in China
World-renowned harmonica player New Zealander Brendan Power, 56, whose music can be heard in the 2008 film Atonement, has been touring China this month. Based in Britain for the past 20…
Keoghan Wastes No Time
“ Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race has scuba dived with a dog, swilled the blood of a cobra and attended a nudist wedding,” Los Angeles Times blogger Mary Forgione writes. “And he…
Dogs on Film
Auckland-born photographer Paul Nathan’s new coffee table book, Couture Dogs captures bedazzled chihuahuas and Yorkshire terriers – the fashion plates of a special breed of dog owners who don’t mind spending a small…
Never a Dull Moment
Four years ago, when Charles Turner was just shy of 91, he and his wife emigrated from London to Wellington. “It has worked,” Turner writes in the Telegraph. “We have a large garden with…
What’s it Like in Paradise?
“Even this self-consciously egalitarian society, which was first to give women the vote in 1893, is not immune to social and economic inequality,” writes Michael White for the Guardian. “What’s it like in paradise…
Debut Accomplished and Unexpected
Auckland band Popstrangers have released their debut album Antipodes, an “accomplished and ambitious” record, according to London-based online music magazine musicOMH. “Throughout the album, Popstrangers never leave you feeling comfortable. Just when you think…
Commentaries on Nationality
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson, formerly of The Mint Chicks, attributes his former anonymity and general fame-shyness to, in part, being from New Zealand. Emerging on the scene via an obscure Bandcamp profile in…
Bale to Play Mountaineer
New Zealand mountaineer Rob Hall – who was killed climbing Mt Everest in 1996 aged 35 – will be played by American actor Christian Bale in a forthcoming film about the events which unfolded when two…
Exotic Hops Lure Americans
New Zealand’s “bold, fruity” flavoured hops have been increasingly used by American craft brewers who prize their unique flavours, according to Los Angeles Times correspondent John Verive. “Some of the most popular new hop…
Outside of the Box
“The Ruby Suns is akin to other New Zealand bands in that its music doesn’t fit comfortably inside an established genre of music outside of pop,” according to Tom Murphy of Denver…
Our Man at Facebook
New Zealander Vaughan Smith, 46, vice-president of mobile partnerships and corporate development at Facebook, was a speaker at the 2013 Mobile World Conference in Barcelona in late February. Smith’s session examined the pros and…
Much More than a Film Set
“There’s so much to this beachy, mountainous, rugby-enthused nation ,” Laura Morrison writes for CNN Travel. Morrison suggests ten other reasons why New Zealand is worth a visit, including for the coffee, for…
Prize at Berlinale
New Zealand-made film Shopping has won a prize at this year’s Berlinale. Shopping picked up one of the film festival’s second tier awards, the Grand Prix of the Generation 14+ international section for best…
Real Romantic Treats
The romantic Kokohuia retreat in Hokianga is one of six New Zealand lodges recommended in Britain’s Independent newspaper. “This off-grid B&B opened above a scenic swathe of Hokianga Harbour a year…
Characters Screaming to Get Out
Award-winning actor New Zealander Jacob Rajan plays 17 different characters in the play Guru of Chai, which was recently performed Off-Broadway in New York. Rajan is the only actor in the play, which is…
Busting into Song
She’s only 26, but New Zealander Gin Wigmore has already acted alongside Daniel Craig and recorded in Frank Sinatra’s studio. You may already have heard the first single, a bawdy barrelhouse stomp called Man…
Greetings from New Zealand
In the column “Postcard, from New Zealand”, originally appearing in The San Francisco Chronicle on 8 February 1966, American travel writer Stanton Delaplane said: “I must say the country is much improved for the…
Make Your Own Plane
New Zealander John Nicol is the founder of Makerplane, the first open source aviation organization allowing people to download its aeroplane plans for free. Canada-based Nicol says the use of home-based…
Clark Discusses Mali’s Future
According to former Prime Minister Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Program since 2009, Mali needs a very clear timetable for national dialogue, constitutional reform and improved governance. “You have to do…
A Damn Good Reporter
Longtime NBC news correspondent New Zealander Tom Aspell has died aged 62. NBC News president Steve Capus described Aspell as “understated, selfless, perpetually cool, shrewd, wry, curmudgeonly, and a damn good reporter”. “From Southeast…
Beautifully Scarce
Iranian-New Zealand artist Nabil Sabio Azadi’s travel book, For You The Traveller, is “probably the best guide book has ever seen.” “It is available in a strictly limited…
Glowing Gold at Grammys
New Zealand pop star Kimbra, 22, has won two Grammy Awards for record of the year and best pop duo/group with Australian musician Gotye. “Somebody That I Used To Know” was…
Critical Mass
The Auckland University Press Anthology of New Zealand Literature edited by Jane Stafford and Mark Williams of Victoria University is reviewed by Peter Pierce for The Australian. He traverses the customary literary punch-ups that…
Architectural Designs
Feminine beaded tops over boy shirts were paired with punky skinny pants adorned with zippers on the New York Fashion Week runway of New Zealand fashion designer Rebecca Taylor as she…
On Foreign Affairs
Prime Minister John Key spoke with The Diplomat’s Zachary Keck concerning nuclear security, Afghanistan, relations with the United States and China as well as the Trans Pacific Partnership. “New Zealand views nuclear security as…
New Creatures from the Deep
In a recent joint expedition between the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the University of Aberdeen, to one of the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean, scientists turned up something…
Cup Hope in Culture
Team New Zealand can’t match billionaire Larry Ellison’s budget in the America’s Cup this year so it’s relying on sailing nous for what managing director Grant Dalton sees as a last chance to reclaim…
Class Written All Over It
“New product from Bright Star director Jane Campion is always welcome,” the Guardian says about the New Zealander’s six-part television series, Top of the Lake, which is showing in the Berlinale Special section at…
Howling at the Moon
In real time, Wellington photographer Mark Gee shot this video of the moon rising over the capital with the silhouettes of people gathering to watch the spectacle at the Mount Victoria…
Challenging Perceptions of Beauty
This week, designer Karen Walker will show her 14th season at New York Fashion Week. And then there’s her jewellery collection, homeware, a range of paints for Resene and the diffusion label Hi There…
YouTube Whizz-kid
Corey Harris is a 16-year-old high school pupil from Kerikeri, who likes hanging out with his mates, gaming, photography and spending time on his computer. The bright-eyed teen with spiky hair is also New…
Campion a Cannes Jury President
Oscar-winning director Jane Campion has been named Short Film Jury president and head of the Cinefondation at the 66th Cannes Film Festival. Campion has strong ties with the festival, winning the short film Palme…
Looking Back at the Beginning
In the year of McLaren’s 50th anniversary celebrations, a new short film directed by leading Swedish music-video maker Marcus Söderlund, sheds light on McLaren’s very human back-story – namely that of New Zealander Bruce McLaren,…
That Maybe So, But
Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand’s Marlborough region is now Australia’s top-selling white wine. A “savalanche” has left chardonnay and other whites for dust, and that gets right up the noses of Australian winemakers, who…
Shucks, it’s a Hit
Waiheke Island’s The Oyster Inn, “is a charming project that opened late last year, set up by Andrew Glenn and Jonathan Rutherfurd Best,” Simon Farrell-Green writes for Monocle in an article about “How to:…
One of the Boys
New Zealander Jesse Peach is the director of a new production of Alan Bennett’s multi-award-winning play The History Boys, which opens at the Sydney Opera House on 8 February. Australian actor John…
Asset Allocation Win
New Zealander Alex Kim (right), a junior at Duke University in the United States, was one of three to win an asset allocation contest sponsored by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager….
He Leaves a Chasm
Broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes has died at his home in Hawkes Bay. He was 62. Holmes rose through the ranks of media in New Zealand, and not long into fronting his self-named TVNZ current…
Unleashing the Brapp
“A.J. Fairbairn mashes the 1966 Ford GT Mark II’s throttle, unleashing the brapp of its NASCAR V-8 as it echoes off the safety walls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Todd Lassa writes for Motor…
What’s with All the Padding
Executive creative director at marketing agency RAPP New York, New Zealander Wayne Pick tells Branding Magazine what Super Bowl means to New Zealanders, in an article about how the American game…
Pinot Noir Our New Obsession
“They don’t call is the only grape that generates such enthusiasm,” actor and winemaker Sam Neill said at the Pinot Noir…
Penguin Paradise
Farmer Francis Helps and his wife Shireen have converted much of their Banks Peninsula land into a safe haven for one of the word’s smallest penguins, the rare white-flippered penguin, also known as korora….
Big Beauty in Small Town
Queenstown is one of the world’s top 10 best small towns, according to Ben Groundwater of The Sydney Morning Herald. “It’s got all of the adrenalin-charged clichés you can think of,…
Mythologising Mayhem
New Zealand band Unknown Mortal Orchestra is currently on tour – promoting their latest album II – in Europe before heading to the United States. Band member Oregon-based Ruben Neilsen, 32, formerly of…
On the Wing for Scotland
Tokoroa-born Sean Maitland, 24, made his Scotland debut against England in the RBS 6 Nations Championship opener against England on 2 February at Twickenham, scoring the first try of the match. Maitland qualifies for…
Lloyd Phillips, Film Producer
New Zealand’s first Oscar winner, international film producer Lloyd Phillips has died in Los Angeles after a heart attack, aged 63. Born in South Africa and raised in New Zealand, Phillips had a long…
Another Record Pocketed
Professional pool player Macau-based Rocky Lane has broken his own jump-shooting world record time, potting 15 pool balls from the table in 11.29 seconds. New Zealand-born Lane is newly invited as…
Dodson’s Insulin Legacy
Distinguished biochemist and “outstanding x-ray crystallographer”, Palmerston North-born Guy Dodson has died in York, aged 75. Dodson was world-renowned for his research on the three-dimensional structure of biologically important proteins, particularly insulin; for his…
