Macau’s Straight Shooter
Affectionately known as ‘Machine Gun Rock’, pool player Rocky Lane — former police officer and prosecutor, world record jump shooter, and now resident House Pro at Macau’s Private Party Bar — is…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Crisp New Flavours in NY
“Anyone who’s visited the Tuck Shop, Public or any of the other New Zealand or Australian restaurants that have cropped up in New York City in recent years knows that there’s a lot more…
From a Different Perspective
Former Split Enz frontman Tim Finn, 59, plays the Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns on 26 November, which is to coincide with the release of his latest album, The View Is Worth The Climb….
Shy Morning Feeling
An ethereal South Island landscape is captured by German photographer Steffen Schrägle for an Intelligent Life photo essay called, ‘A World of Mist’. Schrägle, who took the photograph in June 2009, said…
Why Kiwis Get Stroppy
Manukura the six-month-old white kiwi “appears to have regained her mojo after a heart scare during surgery to remove a stone from her gizzard.” “You try to grab her and she kind of karate…
Building on Solid Ground
“Newly uncovered details about the earthquake that rocked Christchurch in February may offer grim lessons regarding the potential threat of fault lines running through urban centres,” Our Amazing Planet contributor Charles Choi writes. “Much…
Winning Irish Debut
New Zealand World Cup winner prop John Afoa, 28, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Ulster. Auckland-born Afoa came on as a replacement in New Zealand’s wins over Japan and Argentina in the…
Marriage Made in LA
New Zealand-born actor Nico Evers-Swindell’s marriage to American actor Megan Ferguson, 28, featured in The New York Times’ ‘Weddings/ Celebrations’ column in October. The pair were married in Los Angeles. Evers-Swindell, 32, played Prince…
Kerr’s Final Fight
New Zealand Business Roundtable leader Roger Kerr, once described by Sir Douglas Myers as a “national treasure”, has died. He was 66. Kerr was born in Nelson in 1945 and spent his childhood on…
Galloper From Day One
Young Cambridge trainer Trent Busuttin’s hard work has paid off with Sangster winning the $A1.5 million Victoria Derby at Flemington. Busuttin, who has just turned 32, was almost lost for words when Sangster ($A13)…
Ladyhawke Takes London
Ladyhawke is returning to the London stage in November playing an “intimate gig” at the 100 Club, according to XFM. “The New Zealand-born musician, aka Pip Brown, will play the legendary venue on 15…
Deconsecrating Deconstruction
Christchurch’s most famous landmark, the 19th-century ChristChurch Cathedral, is to be deconsecrated and partially demolished after February’s devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake toppled the steeple. Church and government representatives have announced that sections of the…
Roosters Snap Up Otahuhu Star
Auckland schoolboy 18-year-old fullback/winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has been snapped up by the Sydney Roosters. Tuivasa-Sheck has starred in both rugby codes at schoolboy level and recently represented New Zealand’s national schoolboy rugby union team…
Capital Hobbit Premiere
Wellington will be the site of the world premiere for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in November 2012. “I think Warner Bros. in particular were blown away by Return…
Living Fossil Bewitches
Te Papa scientist Vincent Zintzen and colleagues have been studying the hunting behaviour of the hagfish — or snot-eel — a blind sea creature partway between fish and worm, with a spinal cord but…
Investigation for a Pardon
Movie director Peter Jackson has told media that he was working with high-profile former American death row inmate Damien Echols in hopes of getting the man a complete pardon. Echols was part of a…
Good Kids Making Bad Choices
A New Zealand Transport Authority advertisement, created by Clemenger BBDO Wellington, is using humour to get the drink-driving message across to its young audience. Rather than rely on the shock tactics and graphic images…
Steam Research Collaboration
New Zealand’s geothermal scientists will be collaborating with the world’s leading researchers after the country is admitted to the International Partnership for Geothermal Technology (IPGT) in Melbourne on 16 November. Established in 2008, the…
Zen-like in the Name of Warhol
New Zealand artist Max Gimblett’s exhibition “The Sound of One Hand” brings to focus the world of Zen Buddhism and is on through 27 November as part of Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum’s…
All Blacks World’s Best Rugby Team
“New Zealand is always the team to beat. You talk about rugby, you talk about the All Blacks,” says actor Mickey Rourke in The New York Observer. Rourke and writer Jenna Sauers watched the World…
Granny a Winning Outsider
The first woman to train a Melbourne Cup winner was New Zealander “Granny” McDonald (centre), who prepared outsider Catalogue in 1938. “Granny” had the eight-year-old under her care for five years. She had prepared…
Open-minded Visionary
New Zealand-born psychoanalyst Joyce McDougall, who made significant contributions to the understanding of perversions, psychosomatic symptoms, female sexuality, creativity and addictions, has died aged 91. Her clinical insights, theoretical originality, open-mindedness and lack of…
All Hands on the Webb Ellis
“Twenty-four years of Rugby World Cup pain and misery melted away for New Zealand” on 23 October with the All Blacks beating the French 8-7 in a nail-biting final at Eden Park. “It was…
Victorious on Charles River
New Zealand rower Mahe Drysdale, 33, had a “convincing victory” in the men’s championship singles on the first day of the Head of the Charles Regatta 47th annual running, taking his second first place…
Outback and Living Life
“Somewhere in regional Australia lives a man whose tale has gone into New Zealand rugby’s folklore,” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Georgina Robinson writes. “He is Keith Murdoch, the towering All Black who hit a…
With Familial Encouragement
New Zealand rower Emma Twigg’s introduction to her sport wasn’t quite love at first sight. Twigg, 24, who took second place at the recent Championship Women’s Singles event of the 47th annual Head of…
Dangerous Driving for Kicks
“There are, perhaps, 20 people wedged into a small bus that’s winding its way down a dirt road in one of the steepest canyons I’ve ever seen,” the Toronto Star’s travel editor Jim Byers…
Wowing the Wallabies
All Black legend Jonah Lomu surprised Australia’s players by dropping in on a training session ahead of their World Cup third place victory match against Wales. Auckland-born Lomu, 36, who was recently discharged from…
Breathtaking Safe Danger
“The only thing crazier than bungee jumping itself might be setting up a business helping other people to fling themselves off high surfaces,” Time’s Nick Carbone writes in an article about “destinations…
Go-to Rebecca Taylor
“New Zealand designer Rebecca Taylor is known as the go-to girl for laid-back quirky looks for everyone from Cameron Diaz, Rachel Bilson and Alessandra Ambrosio, to Reese Witherspoon, Rose Byrne and Alexa…
Communicating with China
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator Helen Clark has said that China can play a rebalancing role in the current global financial crisis to combat future global poverty and that one of the greatest…
Smeltz Scores for Perth
All Whites striker Shane Smeltz, 30, has scored his first A-League goals in a Perth Glory FC shirt to take his overall A-League goalscoring tally past 50. The double was enough to hand his…
Stricken Ship Spills Contents
The Liberian-flagged container ship MV Rena, which struck the Astrolabe Reef 5 October on its way to Tauranga, continues to spill oil into the ocean. A total of 90 tons of oil have so…
Hiring Ahead of the Pack
New Zealander Stephen Jennings is CEO of emerging markets investment bank Renaissance Group, “the bank that keeps on hiring”, and a company “running the other way and obeying Warren Buffett about being greedy when…
Boosting Activity in the South
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard says New Zealand’s reconstruction of the earthquake-devastated city of Christchurch will boost growth and inflation pressures and may mean an increase in interest rates. Bollard is among Asia-Pacific central…
Omnified for Ninety-Five
New Zealander Nigel Richards has won the World Scrabble Championships, for the second time, in Warsaw, Poland. Richards overcame 116 competitors from 44 countries to eventually defeat Australian Andrew Fisher in the final and…
On a Whizz-Bang Thrill Ride
The Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg motion-capture animation The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn opens in Europe on 22 October before hitting American cinemas ahead of Christmas. “Clearly rejuvenated by his…
Snapping Up Stereotypes
Auckland comedian Andre King, who recently took to the stage in Bangkok and Phuket as part of an international comedy festival in Thailand, spoke to the Bangkok Post about his act, New Zealand humour…
Semi-Final of Brutal Beauty
“This was the All Blacks as they would love the world to see them: tough, mean, committed and ruthless in every department,” the Guardian’s Robert Kitson wrote after New Zealand smashed Australia with “brutal…
On the Bus on the Cheap
New Zealand is a popular backpacking destination for Canadians with its relaxed beaches, spectacular scenery and reputation for extreme fun. The Calgary Herald’s Sarah Deveau gives advice about how to travel New Zealand on…
Plan for Luxury Moving Hotel
Businessmen John Johnston and Dave Nixon are behind a planned luxury Orient-Express-style luxury train that would travel the length of New Zealand catering to foreign tourists with a big budget. The pair are looking…
Wearable Breathalyser
Wellington’s Matt Leggett has invented a breathalyser jacket which lets the wearer know whether they’ve had too much to drive, with results displayed on lights stitched into the forearm of the jacket; the more…
Gourmet Island Adventures
New Zealand chef Bill Manson is the organizer of the second annual Martha’s Vineyard Local Wild Food Challenge which “showcases the skills and resourcefulness of the people living” on the island and in Punkaharju,…
Wright Has the Edge
Cantabrian and Black Caps coach John Wright “is the coach best placed to lift the Australian team” and has “an affable manner that conceals toughness and a fund of cricketing sense”, according to The…
Healthy UK Appointment
New Zealander Professor Malcolm Grant will be appointed chair of the UK’s new National Health Service (NHS) commissioning board. Grant, who is currently president and provost of University College London (UCL), would…
Views Up-Front and Horse-Back
“There’s no finer way to experience the pristine New Zealand countryside than riding horses at Rangihau Ranch, in the Coromandel,” according to Lost at E Minor’s Zac in an article included in The Morning…
Immense Contribution to NZ
Opera singer, sports administrator and Southern Opera founder Chris Doig has died in Christchurch, aged 62. Former New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive and member of the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) board, Doig…
Enlisting Memories
Christchurch war historian Dr Frank Glen is searching for letters, documents and medals from the war fought by Bendigo volunteer soldiers between 1860 and 1872 across the Tasman against Maori tribesmen. Glen — who…
Unpretentious Infusions
“New Zealand has gone from a foodie backwater to a champion of fresh, unpretentious fare,” CNN reporter Simon Farrell-Green’s writes, suggesting that you “don’t miss out”. “Increasingly, the best places to eat in New…
Fear the Spud No More
Researchers at Otago University have found that potatoes may not be the fat-gain ogres that many dieticians claim and that when you eat these carbohydrates as part of a meal of meat and vegetables…
Making Music with Muppets
Former Flight of the Conchord Bret McKenzie, 35, has written four original songs for the soundtrack of the new Disney film The Muppets, which will be released on 21 November. McKenzie is also the…
Zimbabwe’s Miss September
Hamilton student Ashley Magumise, 19, has won the Miss September round in the ongoing Face of Zimbabwe competition and will go on to battle for the title in December against 11 other beauties. Magumise’s…
Swinging Over the Uprights
“You have to love a country that combines two of the greatest sports,” Universal Sports blogger Buzz McClain proclaims. “Rippon Vineyard and Winery is on Lake Wanaka in Central Otago; they make a gorgeous,…
Weepu Does us Proud
New Zealand has secured its place in the Rugby World Cup semifinals with a comfortable 33-10 victory over 2007 third-placed team Argentina at Auckland’s Eden Park, which was packed with a crowd of 57,912….
Rakiura Impressions
In 2002, 85 per cent of Stewart Island was designated as Rakiura National Park, named for the Maori word meaning “Land of the Glowing Skies.” The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Dennis Passa writes that sampling…
Flu Research Coup
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has won a five-year, multi-million-dollar contract awarded by the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study influenza in an effort to better…
