Edge Message #134 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM
Greetings (from Nantucket). 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.
Crusaders‘ High Performance Unit benefits passionate foreigners – New York Times
John Kirwan, All Blacks hero, coach of Japan, hopes for two or more Cup wins – Asahi Shimbun
New Zealanders too Woody Allen-like says US economist; prospects actually rosy – SF Gate
Naked and Famous open Glastonbury alongside Metronomy, Wu-Tang Clan – NME
Hayley Westenra, Christchurch “music sensation”, performs in Malta – Times of Malta
Mental as Anything brothers, now Dog Trumpet, make music from vivid life stories – The Age
Spaceships, Toyota people-carriers, ideal for UK and European safaris – Guardian
Hawke’s Bay reds impress in blind-test against Old World Bordeaux – Wall Street Journal
Queenstown’s Eichardt’s Private Hotel “arguably best place in town to snuggle down” – The Australian
Maison de la Mer, Akaroa B&B, named fourth-best in the world to stay by Tripadvisor
Peka Peka locals greet a strange arrival; Emperor Penguin inspects their dunes – ABC
Right whales return to former calving grounds of NZ, a century after near extinction – USA Today
Cole Peverley lives his dream in S Carolina as Charleston Battery midfielder – Post & Courier
Brett Tivers, cyclist, wins Wisconsin street race; says it “beats working anyway” – FDL Reporter
Cole Peverley lives his dream in S Carolina as Charleston Battery midfielder – Post & Courier
New Zealanders choose Australian lifestyle and pay-packets over local options – Sydney Morning Herald
See all stories and a 7,000 story archive of international New Zealand news 2000-2011 at NZEDGE/MEDIA.
Denis O’Reilly Nga Kupu Aroha #46: Kia Pakeke Ahau
Hawkes Bay-based community leader Denis O’Reilly helps bury three significant men who have influenced his life: the koroua Joe Tuahine Northover (84), Fr Terry Dibble (78) – “a worker priest ready to take on the modern day Mammon of the aggressive free market”; and William “Burma Bill” Maung (91) – “a God-fearing anarchist and Bible-carrying Buddhist”; after four decades Den leaves the warrior lifestyle and lays down his patch to take up a new role; that of a Black Power pakeke, to go back to first principles and build from a base on the marae; a 21st Century New Zealand community founded on Maori values but open to and inclusive of the land and world at large. (2,650 words).
LONDON, July 1 – 3, New Zealand Film Festival Enjoy some of New Zealand’s best recent films at the Barbican Theatre’s New Zealand Film Festival. Held as part of the City of London Festival. Eagle Vs Shark, My Wedding & Other Secrets, The Topp Twins – The Untouchable Girls, Sione’s Wedding, Tracker and In My Father’s Den. Purchase tickets now.
PHILADELPHIA, Wells Fargo Center, July 15: Keith Urban “Get Closer” Whangarei native, Australian-raised and Nashville resident since 1992, Grammy Award-winning country superstar Keith Urban mounts a 60-stadium US summer tour themed for his latest album Get Closer. “My instincts have always been to run from things that are good for me, to run from love. Marriage has been a real awakening for me in looking at that very differently.” Especially when Mrs Urban is Nicole Kidman.
Pittsburgh, Andy Warhol Museum, September 17: The Word of God, Max Gimblett New York Aucklander Max Gimblett represents Buddhism in his solo show in “The Word of God” exhibition. Both Eastern and Western philosophies about light and enlightenment are drawn together in Gimblett’s symbolic paintings. The Warhol Museum has in its 16 year history presented difficult or controversial imagery and art in order to spark community dialogue. Below are images of Gimblett’s work from his website.
Quatrefoil 2011; Drawing 2009 Disasters of War; Enzo 2004 The Suffering Prince; Painting 2010 The Great Waters of Life.
EDGE THEORY
A month or so ago in New York I had lunch with Greg Satell, an American digital strategist who has been working in Eastern Europe for the past decade opening up new media markets. A smart guy and as the lunch got longer I introduced him to the “NZ as Edge” story. Greg has just written Postcards from the Edge on his Digital Tonto blog about why exciting innovations tend to come from the edge rather than from the center. His sub-heads: The Innovation Ecosystem; The Cybernetics of Action; You Can’t Work The Problem By Ignoring It; Competing With The Edge (in which he offers some time-tested strategies that incumbents at the center employ to compete with the innovators on the edge. His conclusion: “Contrary to what many seem to think, radical innovation doesn’t come in glaring headlines (by that time it’s usually too late), but rather in the form of postcards from the edge. Moreover, at any one time there are thousands of them, creating more noise than signal. The only true solution is not a change in mentality, but a change in ecology.”
Top picture, Wellington dawn. Middle picture, Raumati sunset. More pictures at www.paradiseroad.com. Fern symbol via www.nzflag.com.
