Prints out of the box
New Zealand printmakers are showcasing their work in New South Wales at Tweed River Art Gallery, in an exhibition titled Out of the Box. Out of the Box features a range of printmaking skills…
Blog Archives
Cake History For Sale
New Zealand woman Katrina Greenslade is selling a piece of wedding cake on online auction site Trade Me which she says is from the 1981 wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. She said…
Richard Henry Lives On
Legendary kakapo, Richard Henry, whose genetic material helped recover the species of rare flightless parrot, has died at the ripe old age of 80. Researchers believed the kakapo had been nearly wiped out and…
Commanding changes
The leaders of New Zealand’s military commitment in East Timor have changed with Wing Commander Sam Leske RNZAF (left) taking over from Commander Tony Millar RNZN. Held at Kiwi Lines in Dili, the deployed…
Wine About the Bay
There’s more to New Zealand wine than Marlborough, and much of it is within an hour of New Zealand’s major cities jaunted reporter Eric Rosen discovers on a “whirlwind field trip” of the Hawkes…
Musical Fashion
Fashion designers Trelise Cooper and Karen Walker are among a wave of labels turning their hand to costume design in 2011. Cooper has created costumes for the Victorian Opera and NBR New Zealand Opera’s…
Organic targets set
Twenty per cent of vineyards in New Zealand will be farmed organically or biodynamically by 22, according to a new target set by Organic Winegrowers New Zealand (OWNZ). “By 22, even if we only…
Buzz-worthy bands
“Z is For (New) Zealand,” in NME’s New Music Glossary for 2011, “a handy guide to all the buzz-worthy jargon for the coming 12 months.” “Finally it seems there’s a new generation of bands…
Sound from all sides
New Zealand musician and ribbon-microphone enthusiast Larry Killip has helped introduce Chinese microphones to the English-speaking market. In 23 he discovered a new line of cheap Chinese ribbon microphones that were easy for hobbyists…
It Must Be Heaven
Gore woman Gay Dillon and Joni Knight from Langley, British Columbia have been penpals for 45 years. Knight finally got to meet Dillon in person in 2010, when she travelled to New Zealand with…
Irish Take to the Edge
“It is the home of the All Blacks and Middle Earth, and it is increasingly home to a growing number of Irish migrants, seeking a fresh start in the southern hemisphere,” Keith Lynch writes…
Revealing the inner
“Everyone’s favourite sexy vampire-loving barmaid” New Zealand actress Anna Paquin is on the cover of the January 2011 issue of Dazed & Confused magazine. In the cover story titled ‘True Colours’, Paquin, 2008, was…
New Zealand and You
After more than a decade of success with the 100% Pure New Zealand brand, Tourism New Zealand has changed the slogan to 100% Pure You. Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said research…
Ulva Island transfixes
“I feel like I’m in a New Zealand tourism commercial,” Sarah Nicholson writes for Adelaide Now describing her “perfect New Zealand moment” wandering the golden sand of Ulva Island, one of the small islands…
Sydney’s Secret Weapon
Thirty-four-year-old former Olympian basketballer and Albanian coach Dunedin-born Mark Dickel recently played at point guard for the Sydney Kings. The Sydney Morning Herald asked: “Is it a publicity stunt or the ultimate act of…
Ali plots his return
All Black lock Ali Williams, 29, “plots international comeback” from the east Midlands where he is “exorcising a few mental demons as well as playing his first rugby for nearly two seasons.” Having…
Dutton’s Digital Legacy
Arbiter of culture Denis Dutton was one of the most prominent patrons of the arts of the 21st century, writes Sam Sacks for the Wall Street Journal, reflecting on Dutton’s legacy. While being a…
Loving Lucretia
Auckland-born actress Lucy Lawless returns to ancient Rome as Lucretia in the prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which premieres on American television channel Starz on January 21. Lawless…
Bollywood on Balmoral
The lavish Bollywood-style wedding of Auckland doctor Pooja Chitgopeker and Chicago millionaire and heir Vikram Aditya Kumar stopped traffic in the City of Sails recently when seven horses and a 2-strong procession danced its…
She can’t be serious
Auckland-born comedian and actress Stephanie Paul recently performed at Edinburgh’s The Stand Midweek Comedy Cabaret. Edinburgh Evening News reviewer Neil McEwan wrote that, Paul had “far slicker comedy stylings” than her predecessor of the…
Not just about money
In a survey of 4000 people, jobs website seek.co.nz has found salary is one of the least significant factors to New Zealand workers, while work environment, company culture and workplace morale are the most…
Sense of spaciousness
The Phoenix Foundation’s fourth album Buffalo is reviewed by the Guardian’s Dave Simpson who writes that “songwriting this good doesn’t come along often.” Like the xx — whose sense of spaciousness they share —…
North Carolina to Maine
Auckland-based guitarist Mark Mazengarb will tour with American musician Loren Barrigar “from North Carolina to Maine” later this year, after a successful 2010 collaboration in Nashville at the annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society convention,…
Drawn into the fold
Christchurch City Art Gallery is a “place that works” according to design and architecture publication Metropolis Magazine, connecting to the natural environment “through modern architectural form that resonates with the self-image of people…
Time is precious
Colyton man Bill Williams has set a new world record for the Largest Collection of Clocks; Williams owns 321 timepieces. The previous Guinness world record for the Largest Collection of Clocks was 19. They…
Theatrical Isolation
Paul Stephanus, director of the play Quarantine, plans to ferry his audience at dusk to a disused convalescence chamber on Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington harbour during next month’s Fringe Festival. Once the audience disembarks…
Designer sale in US
New Zealand-born fashion designer Rebecca Taylor has sold her label to American apparel company Kelwood. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Rebecca Taylor was founded in 1996 by Taylor and her business partner,…
Pastry headache cure
“Many a New Zealander knows a mince and cheese pie and chocolate milk works a treat” for curing a hangover, according to the Guardian’s Word of Mouth Blog. In a post entitled, ‘Hangover cures…
London’s NZ treasure
Friends Peter Gordon, New Zealand chef, 47, and Briton Tim Lott, acclaimed writer, 54, are interviewed in The Independent on Sunday about how they met, their differences and Gordon’s tartan. “It was around the…
Humbug Like the Lolly
New Zealand abstract painter Peter Adsett and architect Sam Kebbell’s collaboration on Adsett’s Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne property, ‘Humbug’ features in the summer 21/11 issue of Architectural Review Australia. The building had to serve two…
Auckland sees in NY
An NZPA photograph of the New Year firework display over Auckland was included in a Guardian gallery of New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world. ONE News reported that traffic in the CBD stopped…
Business Realities
In an article titled ‘The Rise of the Global Elite’, in which New Zealander Stephen Jennings is referenced, The Atlantic’s Chrystia Freeland discusses the modern-day super-rich, a “more hardworking and meritocratic” group, though “less…
Little guys think big
“Historic inner-city suburb” Freemans Bay in Auckland is one of “five great city districts” included in Monocle’s December 2010/January 2011 issue as part of the magazine’s “annual global guide to the little guys with…
A Renaissance Man
“Denis Dutton, a distinguished philosopher, writer and digital-media guru who founded Arts & Letters Daily, one of the first Web sites to exploit the Internet as a vehicle for meaningful intellectual exchange, has died…
Honoured this year
Golfer Bob Charles, 74, has been made a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ), restricted to 2 living New Zealanders, in the New Year Honours. Carterton-born Charles was the first left-hander to…
Notable Remembered
Hawera-born artist Tim Chadwick is included in an Art Daily “roll call” of “notable people in the Arts and Popular Culture Who Left Us in 21”. Chadwick’s mixed media paintings have been exhibited at…
Tintin draws closer
Three new images from the Peter Jackson-produced and Steven Spielberg-directed 3-D motion capture film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, have just been released online. Secret of the Unicorn is the…
Displaced in New York
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was amongst those present at the annual Christmas night dinner in the baronial Lincoln Center duplex of Sissy and Max Strauss in New York. Each holiday, more than a hundred…
New crowd descends
Visitors from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to New Zealand was up 57 per cent in the last eight months, largely driven by UAE tourists, according to the latest figures from Emirates…
One big game changer
Air New Zealand’s new Boeing 777-3ER is reviewed by industry publication NYCAviation reporter Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren who takes a detailed tour on board “one of the biggest game changers to hit the commercial aviation industry…
Winston Reid Injury Time Equaliser
Winston Reid scores the equalising goal of the All Whitesv Slovakia match during the 2010 Football World Cup.
Ginseng dilemma solved
Otago University senior chemistry lecturer Dr Barrie Peake has come up with a way to prove that Wisconsin’s ginseng really does comes from Wisconsin, putting an end to fraud in places like China, where…
New migration findings
New research led by Janet Wilmshurst from Landcare Research, and Atholl Anderson, from the Australian National University has found that New Zealand was colonised by humans more recently — and faster — than previously…
Customise Your Cool
Auckland-based One Cool Habitat designs small portable container habitats for use as home offices, studys or sleep outs and ships them around the world. The company’s site says: “Our design is your…
Part of Camden history
New Zealander Francis Upritchard, 33, is one of 3 artists and designers included in a Camden Arts Centre (CAC) exhibition curated by British artist and Turner prize-winner Simon Starling. In ‘Never the Same River…
Scenic Rail Journeys
Travelling by train from Wellington to London, BBC journalist Robert Greenall writes that “there are still plenty of good reasons to go by train.” “The joy of ‘slow travel’ is that you see how…
If only in Afghanistan
Hamilton doctor Marc Shaw is the first civilian doctor to be deployed with the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan, recently donning a red suit to play Father Christmas at the Banyan camp he…
Taking on the World
New Zealand quintet The Naked and Famous have already topped local singles and album charts and now they want to repeat their success globally. They’re off to a blistering start after being named in…
Pristine Parengarenga
“Somewhere ahead is Parengarenga Harbour on New Zealand’s North Island,” Peter Gosnell writes in an article about a kayak tour for The Daily Telegraph. “Legendary oceanographer Jacques Costeau once declared it the cleanest harbour…
Stretching Out on High
“In what is being hailed as the most important development in air travel for decades,” Air New Zealand has taken delivery of the world’s first passenger plane with a redesigned interior, allowing economy class…
Poisonous Fuming
It is said that those gifted with foresight often observe ‘tohu’, signs, portents of things to come. Recently we have witnessed a raft of missed signals in a range of circumstances across Aotearoa. In…
Kayaking with Seals
Tauranga winemaker Tim Taylor, 24, has kayaked almost 1km on his attempt to be the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation of New Zealand. Taylor has been travelling for 25 days, paddling for…
New Zealand’s X-Files
New Zealand’s military has released hundreds of files, dating from 1954 to 29, detailing claims of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), including New Zealand’s most famous UFO sighting over Kaikoura in 1978. The…
Breath of Fresh Air
“It’s an extraordinary place, New Zealand,” British writer and journalist Daniel Hannan writes in a blog for the Telegraph. “Its pure air gets to work on even the most casual visitor. No country is…
Polished Parisian Finish
A simple New Zealand-designed plastic-clip system — originally made for superyachts — held together a recent Parisian exhibition celebrating the 125th anniversary of Italian fashion brand Bvlgari. The fifteen 8.5m-high pyramids constructed at the…
Dealing in Cricket
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the USA Cricket Association (USACA) have announced an historic deal that is designed to grow the game exponentially in one of the ICC’s target markets. The partnership establishes a…
