Secret History
An Italian monk’s stinging criticism of British mistreatment of Maori has been published in New Zealand for the first time – more than 100 years after it was written. Written by Benedictine monk Dom Felice Vaggioli,…
Blog Archives
Chris Knox: Not the Hallmark variety
Rolling Stone praises Chris Knox’s latest effort: “You can always count on a rock eccentric to make you scratch your head – but touch your heart? That’s usually not the province of ordinary weirdos,…
Learning from Grandma and the “Notorious” Truby King
A expectant grand-daughter ponders generational attitudes to child-rearing, musing on her grandmother’s strict training under New Zealander Truby King”: ” is the Aunt Sally for almost all post-war child-rearing books … His doctrines were adopted across the…
Cancer Clue in Birthmarks
New Zealand researchers led by plastic surgeon Swee Tan have found a gene they believe helps shrink a benign tumour. The gene, they hope, may do the same thing in cancerous tumours. Their research involved investigating…
Tiger’s Big Brother
“He walks with him, laughs with him, listens to him, and knows what to say to him and how to say it.” The New York Time describes Kiwi caddy Steve Williams as a big brother to…
Starbright and the Dreameater
Kiwi author Joy Cowley gets a glowing review for her latest childrens’ book whose story “could be a mix of the ‘X-files’ and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’… The plot may be hokey, especially to…
Canary Breaks Free of its Textual Cage in Mansfield Adaptation
A short story by Katherine Mansfield “The Canary” has been adapted for the theatre by Walk About Theatre Company in Chicago.
Air NZ Freshener
Air New Zealand is helping the in-transit global citizen feel more at home by offering amenity kits to make passengers feel fresh as a daisy when they debark. First Class flyers get aromatherapy kits to combat…
#24 Hot On The Edge
Edge Message #24 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NZEDGE.COM COMMUNITY We’ve been cooking, and are pleased to serve you up NZEDGE HOT. When Taupo erupted nearly 2000 years ago in the biggest eruption in…
The Gould Standard
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waikato and former British Labour spokesman Bryan Gould offers his perspective on one of the most heated debates in British politics – the integration of European currency and urges Blair’s government to…
NZ-born Leader of Australian Welfare Reform
New Zealand-born Stuart McClure, an ex-Franciscan priest from Mission Australia is chairman of Australia’s Welfare Reform Reference Group, charged with leading improvements to the Aussie Welfare system that was once widely believed to be…
Hitting Sex Criminals Where it Hurts
Maori activist Titewhai Harawira has recommended a traditional Maori punishment for sex criminals to ensure that they don’t re-offend: Her solution: tying flax around the offender’s penis and pulling until the penis drops off. “I’m sick of…
Zambesi Zen
Relax, salute the sun: this summer warm to the meticulously designed, unstructured, ‘new age’ look picked to capture the fashion mood. Yoga inspired spiritual materials for contemplative consumption. Leading the pack of new-agers are…
Te Rangi Hiroa/Sir Peter Buck Remembered
The Sunday Times remembers the birthday of Sir Peter Buck – a pioneering and internationally renowned anthropologist, the first Maori medical doctor, a politician, administrator, soldier, and leader of the Maori people. Born in…
More Marie Clay Pedagogue Innovation
Marie Clay’s “running records” reading assessment programme proved the hit of Howard County’s reading summer institute. “Running records were developed in the 1970s by the same New Zealand psychologist and educator who introduced the…
Rock at Home
Alex Ross’ investigation of New Zealand music rock: “surface blips in the international musical marketplace give only a hint of an amazingly rich music…
Festival founding flutist celebrates the Hampton summer
Internationally acclaimed New Zealand-born flutist Marya Martin (Winner of the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions) is the flute and artistic artistic director of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. Newsday talks to…
Kiwi Museum Authority Leads Berlin’s Jewish Museum
Ken Gorbey of Te Papa, “New Zealand’s enormously successful national museum,” has been appointed artistic leader of of one of the new Berlin’s emblematic projects: the Daniel Liebeskind designed Jewish Museum. Gorbey’s challenge it…
Twin Poi: Fire Play With Me
Ultimate frisbee and hackeysack just don’t cut it anymore for the young and birkenstocked. Young Americans looking for the latest hip zen vibe have been inspired by Maori ritual: “Poi, an energetic twirling of a pair…
Maori Mystique
The Washington Post’s Kid’s Section “Web@tlas” spotlights Australia and New Zealand, inviting readers to “take a peek into the world of the Maori – including the intricate tattoos that “they’re known for” by linking…
The Dunedin Sound #2
On August 9th, the 34th annual MacCrimmon Piobaireachd recital took place, as always, in the drawing room of Dunvegan Castle in Skye, Scotland, the seat of the 29th Chief of Clan MacLeod. It featured…
Cycling Gold
New Zealand won two gold medals in the fifth and final leg of the Track World Cup Cycling Championship. Glen Thompson won in the 30km points race and Sarah Ulmer continued her superb Olympic preparation.
Sssshhh! Silence is Regulated Golden
A multiplex in Birmingham banning kissing in its cinemas prompted the BBC to investigate cinema etiquette leading them to uncover the news that an independent cinema in Wellington, New Zealand, banned crisps from its…
Art and text:
In an ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Artist Corp) collaboration Kiwi writer Damien Wilkins offers a “rather beautiful piece of writing” to accompany an exhibition of paintings by ascendent Aussie painter Noel McKenna (the…
Kiwi Cunning Conquers IQ Test
In a Sunday Times report noted science commentator Bryan Appleyard ponders the limits of DNA science and why ‘designer intelligence’ is not such a good thing, using the evidence of New Zealander James Flynn and his…
Hold on to Your Stetsons – Fly-by-wire Hits Texas
New Zealander Neil Harrap, developer of the fly-by-wire concept is bringing his innovative and heart-pounding flight simulation ride to Texas. With the right stuff – $75 – you can pilot a 24-horsepower open aircraft at heights…
Crowe Songs Attract Flock of Acolytes
Crowds packed, paid up to $300 and queued for up to 12 hours to get into Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin, Texas, for a performance by an unknown country-rock band called Thirty Odd Foot of…
Edge Affirmation from Elaine Showalter
The Princeton University feminist icon and scholar writes on effect of globalisation on national identity: “If one is an expatriate from, say, New Zealand”, as American Political scientist Daniel Bell notes, “one can click…
Superplonk
Is Cloudy Bay the new Champagne? “An utterly gob-smackingly gorgeous bubbly … Track down the 1995 vintage of Pelorus, from the Cloudy Bay bunch in New Zealand. A massive advance … this is one of the most…
Sir Ron Brierley: 61 Not Out
Sir Ron described by the Financial Times as the “cricket mad corporate raider” and “one of the most controversial corporate figures of the past twenty years” knocked the London Stock Exchange for six when his Guiness Peat…
Lilith Lacroix Goes to the Olympics
Well she’ll be performing, but at the Opera House, not Stadium Australia. Lilith, aka New Zealand composer Gareth Farr, brings his percussion concertos, Hikoi and Wairua to the Sydney Olympics Arts Festival. He’ll need…
Sailing Away with the Kenwood Cup
New Zealand was officially named champion of the 12th Biennial Kenwood Cup Hawaii International offshore series, with Big Apple 3, after stopping to help a distressed boat, still coming in ahead of Australia, the USA and…
Cyber-policing
In Porirua, New Zealand, the thin blue line has turned into the thin blue URL in the fight against crime. Police have decided to enlist the use of a website as a way to…
Gaping Gandalf
In the The Grey Book, acclaimed actor Sir Ian McKellen’s diary of the Lord of the Rings film shoot, McKellen raves about the scenery: “New Zealand would amaze and enrapture anyone who responds to the wild landscapes of…
Sheep Shearer’s Delight Strolling the Paris Catwalks
Watch out Rod: “you wouldn’t want to mess with a girl like Rach. She is an Alp of a woman. Throw in the facial features of a young Judy Finnegan, a formidable Sports Illustrated…
Russell Crowe: Hollywood Actor of the Year
Russell Crowe was named Hollywood Actor of the Year at the Hollywood Film Festival Awards held at the Beverly Hilton on August 7th. Internet users voted online at Entertainment Tonight site ETonline.com and Reel.com…
All Black Diplomacy
Kiwi Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Don McKinnon, is “a New Zealander in the traditional mould … he’s a refreshing antidote to the blandness of his three predecessors, who knew that if they stopped being boring they were…
New Zealand Firm to Introduce CNG Equipment to Pakistan
Prescon Technology Limited has been chosen to introduce quality Compressed Natural Gas equipment to Pakistan, as well as introducing new and cheap water filters for domestic and commercial treatment plants. The aim of the enterprise is to…
#23 Taking New Zealand To The World
Edge Message #23 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NZEDGE.COM COMMUNITY In the July Mailbox published today you’ll find over 40 messages of affirmation, optimism and provocation. To everyone who has asked “how can I help”,…
NZ Research Finds Anticholesteral Drug May Modify Stroke Risk
Pravastatin, a drug used to help lower blood cholesterol levels, may have a role to play in stroke prevention according to research (published in The New England Journal of Medicine) led by Dr Harvey D. White of…
Just Add Soap and Hey Presto: 20m Geyser!
In the notes and queries section of the Guardian a reader enquires about the practice of putting soap down geyser spouts to stimulate eruption. Leo Pyle elaborates on the science of the practice by refering to…
‘Human’ Cow Milk an MS Aid?
The lush pasture of some of New Zealand’s finest farming land will soon be home to a special herd of cows. New Zealand’s state-owned agricultural research institute has just won government approval for a five-year field trial…
Sam Neill: vintage celebrity
The Telegraph investigates the latest celebrity trend: the wine-making lifestyle: accessorise with vines, winery and bottling linel. Kiwi Sam Neill makes the star vigneron along with Aussie golfer Greg Norman, French actor Gerrard Depardieu,…
Kiwi Banker Helps Bosnia Rebuild
As the Bosnian economy struggles to recover from the ravages of war, its citizens are struggling to accept the recovering local currency. “The most telling detail on the new Bosnian currency is the signature on every…
Sport of Kiwis
New Zealand beat South Africa 11-10 after withstanding an onslaught in the final chukka, to win the BMW polo series 2-0 in Durban. They won the first test 10-8 and showed the benefit of professional experience,…
Getting Jiggy: Bolstad Axes the Competition at ESPN Outdoor Games
Dave Bolstad “considered to be one of the world’s best” of Taumarunui won the most medals at the inaugural ESPN Outdoor Games held in the last week of July. The timber expert and world champion axeman…
Anna’s new rhythm
Vanity Fair profiles the maturing of Kiwi actress Anna Paquin, from precocious Oscar winner in Jane Campion’s The Piano, to upcoming roles in Bryan Singer’s blockbusting sci-fi flick X-Men and Cameron Crowe’s 70’s rock…
Taking You to the Edge … and Jumping Off
“Not so long ago, New Zealand was finding it hard to shake off its “beautiful but boring” tag. It may have been renowned for its spectacular scenery – dramatic mountains and sweeping coast lines -…
Edge Exposure
Fiona McCann might have frozen as she hitchhiked around the South Island, but she was comforted by the warmth of Kiwi hospitality in “the thrill inducing, stomach curdling adventure capital of the world”. On the soft side…
Holy Boy! From Nintendo to Nepal
A Kiwi kid is giving up his game-boy, chicken nuggets, cricket, pokemon, and other typical Kiwi 7year-old delights to study Buddhist philosophy and rituals at a monastry in India for the next 15 years….
Poetic shock tactics
An extensive Guardian profile of New Zealand poet Fleur Adcock that elaborates on everything from her OBE, the end of her muse, her relationship with Barry Crump (“New Zealand’s answer to George Best or…
“Luck Star” shines in Shanghai
Lydia, an 8-year old New Zealand girl attended, with her father, the 2000 Shanghai International Children’s Art Festival. She was picked as one of the honour guests from millions of children who registered on…
A Leftist Free-trader: Oxymoore-onic?
Kiwi WTO chief Mike Moore, speaking to an audience of young socialists in Sweden responds to criticism of the World Trade Organisation “It is odd that some on the left have sometimes opposed free trade. If…
“They Kiss With Their Noses in New Zealand”
In an exploration of social climbing etiquette the Philippine Star explores the kissing conventions around the globe, from the Latin influenced beso-beso, to hand kissing in France, to bowing in Japan to Maori hongi in New…
Edge Theory from Miami
A Kiwi in Miami offers a defence of the urge to retain national identity and pushes the New Zealand edge: “I met my American husband in my homeland where he lived many years and gained citizenship……
Hallertau hops give organic beer a bite
Bateman’s a family owned organic brewery in Lincolnshire has joined the swelling ranks of organic beers with Yella Betty Bitter, brewed with organic chariot pale malt and Hallertau hops from New Zealand – “wonderfully…
