#119: Digitising Our Culture

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Edge Message #119 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM

Pictured: Richard O’Brien, Melanie Lynskey, Ursula Bethell, Suraya Singh, Gin Wigmore

New Zealand headlines in this week’s sampling of global media appearing in Variety, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Indian Country News, Sky News, The Miami Herald, The Ecologist, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, The Age, Drift Magazine, The New York Times, The Georgia Straight, Courier Mail, Dumbo Feather, The Independent on Sunday, Los Angeles Times and The Australian include:

• Richard O’Brien, Rocky Horror writer; career began on horseback in Tauranga – Guardian
• Melanie Lynskey, 32, actress, has “small but pivotal” roles in three films at TIFF – LA Times
• Ursula Bethell, a “seminal figure in 20th century New Zealand poetry” – Guardian
• Suraya Singh, 30, UK erotic mag editor, first to publish erection pictorial – Guardian
• Gin Wigmore, 23, singer, releases debut album Holy Smoke; dedicated to dad – Courier Mail
• Jason Wynyard, 36, lumberjack, chops to first place in World Champs
• Topp Twins, Toronto darlings, massage NZ identity with affection – Variety
• Scott Dixon, 29, wins Indy Japan 300, tops leader board, one race to go – The Miami Herald
• Jonah Lomu, 34, 114kg, second in over-90kg class at bodybuilding comp – Guardian
• Robert Pearson gains second place in IPA’s Fine Art: Abstract Pro section for ‘Entrophy’
• Taieri Gorge a Telegraph one of the ‘world’s most remarkable places
• New Zealand a campervanning mecca, scenery like The Alps, Lake District – Daily Mail
• Auckland University scientists develop $122,000 wireless heart pump
• Dan Simon, art collective leader and Mayfair squatter “with serious purpose”
• Linda White Wolf, Chickasaw and Maori US TV host, discovers NZ roots – Indian Country News
• Wanganui now Whanganui; spelling debate dubbed the ‘H’ bomb – Sky News
• Ewan Kingston, blogger, on limited budget forgoes air travel from UK to NZ – The Ecologist
• Julian & Camilla’s World Odyssey broadcasts to 117 countries – Travel Channel
• New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Review “green PR gone wild” – Wall Street Journal
• Ladyhawke and artist Sarah Larnach, both 30, collaborate on Becks label – Independent on Sunday
• Brendon Hartley, 19, Red Bull Formula 3 driver, wins maiden Euro Championship race, England
• David Trubridge, furniture creator, considers localising quality design – Dumbo Feather
• New Zealand researchers find living with animals longer wards off sneeze – The Age
• ASR Ltd, Raglan-based reef designers, create surfable waves with geotextiles – Drift Magazine
• Black Magazine one of 23 independent “style bibles” featuring on FTape
• Hoki, McDonald’s filet-o-fish staple; “bounty it seems, is not limitless” – New York Times
• Nick & Val Martin, Pelorus Sound posties, deliver to “people varied as terrain” – Georgia Straight
• Jane Campion, to adapt Alice Munro’s Runaway in current preoccupation with love – NY Times
• Dr Kerry Spackman, The Winner’s Bible author, to help All Blacks rewire
• Haast’s eagle, extinct fearsome predator, not scavenger, attacked moa – Reuters India
• Andrew Prieditis, 30, “self-confessed letter addict”, published in 60 global papers in past six weeks

DIGITISING OUR CULTURE
Set up in 2002, the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre (NZETC) is a fantastic and precious resource initiated by the Victoria University of Wellington, with the aim of creating a digital library providing open access to significant New Zealand and Pacific Island texts and materials. The standards-based collection is delivered through an Open Source framework and offers full and free access to a range of materials in multiple formats for download or online browsing. Today the NZETC collection contains over 2,600 texts (around 65,000 pages) and receives over 10,000 visits daily. To read the news on developments at the NZETC visit their blog. There you can find out what texts have been added to the collection and what projects they have been working on.

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