THE GLOBAL LIFE OF NEW ZEALANDERS

From Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM | 12 August 2011 | #138 | New York City

NZEDGE.COM publishes daily on Facebook and Twitter. This newsletter presents a selection of New Zealanders appearing in the world’s media in the last week.

Lee Tamahori waited whole life to make cocaine-fuelled, machete-wielding romp – The Independent

New Zealand Film Archives stumble upon 1923 silent Hitchcock sequence – Los Angeles Times

Peter Jackson and Spielberg’s “live-action” Tintin “looks extremely impressive” – Guardian

Temeura Morrison surprises teens at Star Wars-themed school ball, Rotorua – i09

Neil Finn, Teddy Tahu Rhodes perform Nick Cave for Sydney Opera House promo – Adweek

Black Seeds break from recording album to play at Queensland festival – The Gladstone Observer

Hayley Westenra snapped in scrum after being named voice of UK Cup tune ? Metro

Wanaka’s Heli Challenge an extravaganza of awe-inspiring, near impossible lines – The Ski Channel

Tonagariro Alpine Crossing listed with Appalachian Trail and Kilimanjaro on top 10 list – Reuters

Auckland good value; seventh cheapest tourist-friendly city in the world – Coolum/North Shore News

Auckland’s “charming, walkable neighbourhoods” one of Fox News’ top five must-sees

New Zealand vintners trendsetters in wine world; screw-cap innovators – The Beacon News

Driving age raised to minimum driving age to 16; bans booze for under-20s at wheel – Guardian

Sealegs goes stateside with amphibious vehicles; sailing off New England – The Boston Herald

Neil Berkett “straight-talking” Virgin Media chief No 52 on Guardian 100 list of media powerful

Midwives in NZ provide best care in the world for mothers and newborns – UNFPA

Massey University research find children of farmers have increased risk of cancer – Telegraph

Gisborne seabed site of international study into “silent” earthquakes – Vietnam Net

James McDonald, 19, hottest teen jockey on planet; smashing local records – The Age

Marina Erakovic, NZ tennis No 1, 23, stuns Belarusian top seed in California  – Los Angeles Times

All Blacks beat Wallabies 30-14 to claim ninth straight Tri-Nations victory – BBC

All Blacks produce dazzling display running Boks ragged, 40-7 – Mail Online

Daniel Carter master at extravagant misdirection; baffling when he errs – The Sydney Morning Herald

Jeremy Kyne, 28, playing forward for the Canadian side at the World Cup – Winnipeg Free Press

Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium the world’s first  permanently enclosed turf – Architecture & Design

Beryl Smedley, author of Partners in Diplomacy, prominent diplomatic wife, dies, 88 – Guardian

See all stories and a 7,000 story archive of international New Zealand news 2000-2011 at NZEDGE/MEDIA.

NOTICES

NANCY WAKE 1912 – 2011

Nancy Wake, heroine of World War II, died this week in Britain aged 98. Among the 600 or so obituaries and notices published in the world’s media, including The Economist, The Guardian, and The Washington Post, was this headline from the Daily Mail: “Blisteringly sexy, she killed Nazis with her bare hands and had a 5 million-franc bounty on her head.” That was Nancy. She led an army of 7,000 French resistance fighters in the South of France in guerrilla warfare to sabotage the Nazis. Her story is one of daring, courage and optimism in the face of impossible odds. She was the most decorated woman of World War II – except from New Zealand and Australia. When I started to put together our Heroes page a decade or so ago, Nancy was in the frontline, indeed her story is among our top four of all time, along with Rutherford, Hillary, and Mansfield. There has been a silly notion that she wasn’t really a New Zealander because she left at the age of two for Sydney with her family, never to return. I worked with Nancy on the biography we published, and she was in no doubt about her New Zealandness. Here is how we record her bloodline:

“Born in the gusty heights of Roseneath Wellington, Nancy’s genetic pool bubbled with material from the Huguenots, the French Protestants who had famously fled France so they could pursue their religion freely, and Maori, as her great-grandmother had been a Maori maiden by the name of Pourewa. She had been the first of her race to marry a white man, in the person of Nancy’s English great-grandfather Charles Cossell, and they were wed by the Reverend William Williams at Waimate Mission Station on 26 October, 1836. Legend has it that the great Maori chieftain, Hone Heke, had loved Pourewa himself and had sworn death to them both, but had been killed in the Maori Wars before fulfilling his threat. In sum, Nancy’s people went a long, long way back in New Zealand, and physically she was like the land itself, rustically beautiful.”

SOMEWHERE IN ILLINOIS

During the US summer I have been driving through various parts of Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, and New York State. I have a keen eye on my travels for signs of Kiwidom, and I’m usually never disappointed by the wine list of any even semi-respectable restaurant. Kudos to the New Zealand wine industry for the breadth of their distribution. There are New Zealanders in headlines which we track on our Media pages – this week it’s been Stevie Williams’ taunts to Tiger that have gotten attention for our shaky isles (moral of the story: hire a Kiwi and change the world). Everyone you meet has New Zealand on their bucket list; surprisingly many have visited, or have come close with a visit to Australia (all Americans know how sensitive we are about being mistaken for Aussies). I have frequently lamented the lack of any marketing visibility for our products and services (“viral” seems to be in vogue, which is another way of saying we’re cheap and don’t have the moxie to invest proper dollars in marketing visibility). In fact the only visible sign of our nation’s existence across five large US states was this carpet warehouse north of Chicago. Take it away Karastan!

WAIOHIKI CHARITY ART AUCTION, 29 SEPTEMBER, HAWKES BAY

Meeting of Natives and Settlers at Waiohiki; London Illustrated News, 1863. Alexander Turnbull Library

Mark this date: Thursday 29th September 2011. Waiohiki Charity Art Auction, Hawkes Bay

Denis O’Reilly is a long-time contributor to nzedge.com, having written close to 50 columns about the path for Maori in contemporary society, particularly those who are disenfranchised and incarcerated. He is a political activist, a campaigner for social equity, and an effective community entrepreneur. Being an Irish Kiwi (and Ngati Pakeha) he is also great company especially late in the evening along with some of the local crop of Pinot Noir. Den lives at Waiohiki in the Hawkes Bay, as historic and spiritual a place in New Zealand as you could find. The community at Waiohiki is fundraising to build a new cultural home with a multi-purpose events center, an educational facility, and a traditional meeting house. It will be founded on Maori values but inclusive of all and any New Zealander who wants to contribute. Says Den, “Our take is that, rather than continuing to bleat about the pathological afflictions facing Maori, we must put our effort into realizing inherent potential and working together to build a community that is healthy, wealthy and wise. This project is not only significant for the Hawke’s Bay but for the nation as whole. We need solutions that work.” You can read the endorsement by Hawkes Bay Today here.

The Waiohiki Charity Art Auction will be held at Band, in Ossian St Ahuriri, Napier starting at 6.30pm on Thursday 29th September. “This is no stuffy affair. The keynote speaker is the CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, Kevin Roberts. As usual we will provide our guests and their friends with a unique and exhilarating evening, including exceptional food, the finest of wine, and truly uplifting entertainment. Beyond that you will get to view and perhaps purchase items of world standard art from some of New Zealand’s most iconic artists, including Edith Amituanai, Jae Hoon Lee, Glen Wolfgramm, Ralph Hotere, John Pule, Judy Millar, Colin McCahon, Shane Cotton, Ngarimu Chris Bailey, Len Lye, Bill Hammond, Andrew McLeod, Ans Westra, Euan McLeod, Jeff Thompson, Neil Fraser, Rohan Wealleans, Gerda Leenards, Heather Straka, Emily Wolfe, Star Gossage, Neil Dawson, Turi Park, and Wayne Youle.”

To buy corporate tables, individual tickets, to register your interest for the auction, to make donations, you can contact Denis direct on 0274 459 850 or email denis@denisoreilly.co.nz.