#123: Aotearoa Whanau Whanui Kite O Aonui

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Edge Message #123 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM

From left: new head of Abingdon School, Felicity Lusk; Greywacke winemaker Kevin Judd; moon rock expert Brian Mason (1917–2009); new General Motors CFO Chris Liddell; Black Cap strke bowler Shane Bond; Australian Idol winner Stan Walker

NEW ZEALANDERS IN GLOBAL HEADLINES

New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in Global Times, The Seattle Times, BBC, The New York Times, Telegraph, The Washington Post, The Durango Telegraph, Variety, Yen, The Toronto Star, The Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian, Time, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Age, The Independent, Wall Street Journal, The Korea Herald, Guardian, Honolulu Advertiser, The Santiago Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Forbes and Financial Times include:

• Felicity Lusk first woman to head UK boys’ public boarding school – Telegraph
• Kevin Judd’s 1st vintage Greywacke “aims to keep NZ wine small but beautiful” – New York Times
• Brian Mason, geochemist; moon rock expert; medal recipient, dies, 92 – Washington Post
• Chris Liddell named CFO of General Motors, key role in automaker’s future – Wall Street Journal
• Shane Bond, 34, takes eight wickets against Pakistan; man-of-the-match [retires] – BBC
• Stan Walker, 18, sings from the soul to win Australian Idol – Sydney Morning Herald
• Sir Ed Hillary’s modesty and responsibility inspirational for business leaders – Financial Times
• Phar Lap 850kg bronze statue unveiled at Timaru raceway – ABC News
• Robbie Deans, Wallabies coach, optimistic about team’s future – Sydney Morning Herald
• Iain O’Brien, Black Caps seamer, 33, quits international cricket for Middlesex – BBC
• Michelle Clark-Smith, 32, US-based skier, poster-girl for Chicago Snowcats – Durango Telegraph
• Kylie Wakelin, 36, Twizel pilot, skiing 800km to South Pole – Associated Press
• Casey Laulala, Cardiff Blues centre, 27, “hardest player to contain” – BBC
• DesignLine, bus manufacturers, to add 87 vehicles to NY fleet by year’s end – New York Times
• Rocket Lab launch Atea-1 from Great Mercury 100km into space – iAfrica.com
• YikeBike makes cover of Time as one of the world’s top 50 inventions in 2009 – Time
• Lovely Bones “complex and unusual film, alluring, enthralling” – Rex Reed, NY Observer
• Weta Workshop’s Skyrunners alien “transparent, frightening” – Los Angeles Times
• Flight of the Conchords end series; “the real Bret and Jemaine will continue to exist” – Variety
• NZ Book Council promote tradition with animated film using Gee’s Going West – E Weekly
• Eleanor Catton, author of The Rehearsal, shortlisted for Guardian first book award
• Fat Freddy’s Drop play US West Coast; promise return in new year – Reuters
• Gin Wigmore, singer, 23, has “got it going on” alongside Peaches and Little Boots – Yen
• Ladyhawke wins two ARIAS experimenting with pop on solo album – BBC
• Topp Twins gig in New Zealand “like going to a thousand-strong family reunion” – The Age
• Jane Campion, Kerry Fox recall first encounter; the one “real”; the other “nervous” – Independent
• Fat Freddy’s Drop making waves in US with “boomingly infectious” beats – Fort Worth Star-Tribune
• Phoenix Foundation’s latest gets 5 stars; most “potent” band since Chills – Independent
• Chris Knox Stroke benefit compilation unites musicians singing for his recovery – Exclaim.Ca
• Phil Price, kinetic sculptor, 44, wins on Bondi with “Morpheus” – Taxi
• Nom*D, one of 4 NZ designers in Melbourne exhibit dispelling Antipodean stereotypes
• Strip-of-Meat, Wellington waiters; “dress code involving a lot of skin” – Inventor Sport
• New Zealand sauvignon preferred to Australian across ditch – ABC News
• New Zealand wine market “one of the great success stories of the Noughties” – Telegraph
• Craggy Range surpasses US equivalents in blind testing at NY’s Eleven Madison – Forbes
• Mike Paterson, Jackson Estate head winemaker, takes Marlborough to Seoul – Korea Herald
• Flat whites on sale in UK Starbucks; first new type since British outlets opened – Telegraph
• New Zealand emphasis on variety of Asian cuisine satisfies newcomers – Global Times
• Plaza Nueva Zelandia unveiled in Santiago; green oasis in city centre – Santiago Times
• Little New Zealand to be built in China; replica city will boost long-haul tourism
• Wharekauhau Lodge one of five NZ “sexy and stylish retreats” reviewed – Guardian
• Rotorua’s heritage centre a thrill-seeking introduction to Maori protocol – Seattle Times
• Te Rauparaha’s stronghold, Kapiti Island, alive with birds – Telegraph
• Whakatane Kiwi Project releases kiwi chick Te Kauhoe; one of 90 in 8 years – Toronto Star
• Beehive “a slide projector that fell on a wedding cake that fell on a waterwheel”
• Kevin Percy, antique dealer, claims ownership of 700-year-old Alnwick Castle – Telegraph
• Al Fastier, explorer, off in search of Shackleton’s missing whiskey – ABC News
• Erebus “disaster etched onto New Zealand psyche” – Brisbane Times
• Koiwi Tangata returned from Welsh and Swedish collections – BBC
• New Zealand pushes for cruise ship regulations in Antarctica – Washington Post
• New Zealand’s possum numbers down from 70m to 30m in 20 years – ABC News
• New Zealand may have been settled by Hawaiians, Stanford study – Honolulu Advertiser
• New Zealand accused of greenwash; cows, cars, lead to more emissions – Guardian
• New Zealand the least corrupt country in the world; Transparency International – Reuters

DENIS O’REILLY: NGA KUPU AROHA/WORDS OF LOVE, BLOG #37 – The Practice of Love

At year’s end Den tells of the extraordinary partnership between the Mongrel Mob Notorious and the Salvation Army in establishing a methamphetamine rehabilitation programme at Kakahi. He recounts the recent journey of the Mob and their arrival at the gates of the Citadel and how through leadership on the part of Roy Dunne the Notorious chapter’s captain, pro-social change is afoot. Den describes the Consultancy Advocacy and Research Trust’s (CART) entry into its 20th year of community action and the opening of its new facility in Wellington by the Governor General His Excellency Sir Anand Satyanand. He says that the presence of the Governor General and senior officers of the New Zealand Police at this event, and the presence of Ngati Tuwharetoa paramount chief Tumu Te Heu Heu at Kakahi for the graduation for the Mongrel Mob families who completed the rehab programme, are in themselves profound demonstrations of leadership and antidotes to the language of hate currently being used by some politicians. Den outlines his plans for 2010, the Parihaka Peace Festival, Maori Motown (with a message), and the quest to get more meth rehab units up and running. He wishes readers blessings and hopes they get to hear and speak words of love each day of the New Year. (3,761 words)

Fabulous Face-Off. Two visitors to New Zealand have provoked a fabulous stream of online invective that is as good a mirror on our society as any other held up in 2009. Model impresario Tyra Banks was in New Zealand this month filming an episode of “American’s Next Top Model”. A NZ Herald headline said of her emotion-overcome speech at an Auckland lunch: “[She] came, she saw, she cried.” Ms Banks remarked “I find that the girls [here] are so like, beyond warm and polite. I don’t know, do you guys have haters? America’s all about haters. I don’t feel that here.” The Herald’s “Your Views” page has 160 opinions on “What is unique about Kiwi women.” At the other end of pointy-headedness, Robert Lord Winston, professor of science and society at Imperial College London, has been visiting for an international symposium at Auckland University. He is an expert in how genes and the environment combine to develop human identity – and remarked last week that New Zealanders do not value intellectuals and ignore the worst behavior of our sports stars. “New Zealand celebrates attributes which really aren’t that important,” he said, believing that believes the stars of the entertainment industry and of the sports field are built up out of all proportion to their value or their attributes. Stuff has 135 pungent comments on the subject “Worship of Kiwi celebrities a false idolatry.”

The EDGE OF ELSEWHERE
Opens January 14-15 as part of the Sydney Festival, featuring New Zealand artists Shigeyuki Kihara and Lisa Reihana. Produced by Gallery 4A and sited principally at the Campbelltown Arts Centre, the three year project brings together contemporary artists from across Australia, Asia and the Pacific to develop new work in partnership with Sydney communities.