From planet Wow
“Coming on like a teenage Joan Jett with a drum machine, all Pulp Fiction bangs and kaleidoscopic baton swinging, Zowie is a futuristic cheerleader from planet Wow,” writes US culture and entertainment site…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Shrouded statement
Wellington designer Alexandra Owen, 28, sent models down this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week catwalk wearing knit shrouds and fencing masks. Styleite writes: “Perhaps the masks were intended as commentary on the lack of…
Peak to Break
Four of New Zealand’s top ski and surf personalities have completed a first, travelling the length of the country in five days, skiing a different summit and surfing a different break every day. Coming…
Talk like a vampire
New Zealand-raised actress Anna Paquin and British husband Stephen Moyer worked with Los Angeles dialect coach Liz Himelstein to get their accents right for True Blood. Their speech is nothing like wide-eyed Southern waitress…
Cycling the Peninsula
The Otago Peninsula was recently included in a Lonely Planet list of the world’s top ten cycling routes, alongside the San Juan Islands in Washington, The Luberon and Mont Ventoux in Provence and…
Worth the Wait
Wellington-based Maori electronic duo Wai has released their second international release Ora and Guardian reviewer Andy Childs gives it four out of five stars. “Ten years ago, singer Mina Ripia and her partner Maaka…
More the merrier
The number of overseas visitors arriving in New Zealand has hit an August record, with strong growth from China who more than doubled from 46 in August 29 to 97 this August, exceeding the…
Welsh Prize Shortlist
New Zealand author Eleanor Catton, 24, has made the short list for the University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize. The award, which is open to writers under the age of 3 who have been…
Funding local talent
New Zealand On Air is a “generous government-funded programme that’s fast-tracking New Zealand bands on the road to stardom and beyond,” writes Lars Brandle for Australian site The Music Network. “The likes of Kids…
Economical happiness
New Zealand has retained third place in a world economic freedom report carried out by Canada’s leading public policy think-tank, the Fraser Institute. The 21 report takes data from 28 and compares 141 countries…
Long Tan hero dies
Former New Zealand Vietnam war hero Morrie Stanley from Campbells Bay in Auckland, who was recently presented with an Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry, 44 years after the renowned battle of Long Tan in…
Special mention
Actress Melanie Lynskey, 33, gets a special mention in a Tulsa World review of director Tim Blake Nelson’s black comedy Leaves of Grass. New Plymouth-born Lynskey plays Colleen opposite star Edward Norton, who plays…
Heavy duty crush
Christchurch tourism company Tanks for Everything is “New Zealand’s latest adrenalin adventure that takes you to the edge and then charges over it, literally,” reporter Rebekah Devlin describes. Created by former IT manager…
Fletchers rebuild city
Though a regional disaster for most, the 7.1 earthquake which hit Christchurch in September will generate some serious business for New Zealand’s largest construction group Fletchers. While acknowledging the tragedy of the earthquake, investors…
Mountains rising
New Zealand’s 45 kilometer-long Southern Alps have been the subject of a ten year American study which has been collating data by GPS in order to determine how fast the mountain range is rising….
Brazil on the Cards
Ricki Herbert has signed a new two-year contract as coach of the All Whites. Herbert, 49, took New Zealand to the World Cup championship for the first time since 1982 guiding the squad through…
Hottest tickets play NY
New Zealand artists Ruby Frost, winner of 42 Below’s 42Unheard competition, Zowie, Street Chant, Kids Of 88, Electric Wire Hustle and Lawrence Arabia performed at the CMJ Music Marathon festival in New York City…
Winning ways
Champion jockey Rotorua-born Michael Walker, 26, has won the $AU7, Sphinx Hotel Handicap (12m) on Venus World at Moonee Valley in Melbourne. Walker started his riding career 11 years ago and in his first…
Familial trail-blazer
New Zealand director Jane Campion’s daughter Alice Englert, 16, has her sights set firmly on a career in music rather than film writes Kristie Lau for The Sydney Morning Herald. “I love my mum…
Close Call in Sydney
New Zealand narrowly beat Australia 23-22 in the final Tri-Nations match sealing an unprecedented clean sweep in the southern hemisphere rugby championship with a record 1th consecutive win over the Wallabies in Sydney. New…
Without Peer
Wallabies coach New Zealander Robbie Deans says there is no doubt Richie McCaw is the greatest modern skipper in All Blacks history. McCaw has led New Zealand in more rugby Tests than any other….
Player of the Year
Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori, 31, has won New Zealand Cricket’s top award: Player of the Year. Vettori also won the Walter Hadlee trophy for being the best ODI bowler. “Daniel is and has…
New Zealand Creative Guns
New Zealand is still hitting its creative stride, and is right up there with the big competitors according the most recent Young Guns Awards. Auckland’s Media Design School has been named 4th best…
Return to the Land
Ethel May Helmbright — for some years a homeless fixture in Waikiki until she was hospitalised last year unable to remember her name — may well be the key to her estranged family’s land…
Historical Appointment
Aucklander Professor Noel Cox has been appointed head of Wales’ oldest law and criminology department at Aberystwyth University. Cox’s main research interests include constitutional, Church-State and cyberspace law. Cox is the author of more…
Comparing hemispheres
New data from evidence found in New Zealand has revealed that the Southern Hemisphere continued to warm its way out of the ice age, even as the north temporarily plunged back into a another…
Powell Wins Burghley
Christchurch equestrian star Scotland-based Caroline Powell, 37, is the first New Zealand woman to win the prestigious four-star Burghley Horse Trials held in Lincolnshire. Riding 17-year-old grey Lenamore, Powell held off local favourite William…
One big break
One of the most influential performing artists agents in the United States will represent Wellington actor Jacob Rajan and his Indian Ink Theatre Company. Agent David Lieberman, a legend in performing arts and festival…
Participant in History
“I am in the midst of a living, pictorial history as it is being etched into our nation’s collective memory and into the core of this unstable but stunning landscape of Canterbury,” Jacqueline Monkman…
Banking on youth
Aucklanders Justin Crooks and Roger Chu have taken New Zealand cuisine to Shanghai, opening Little Huia restaurant on Dagu Lu. “We wanted to create what we believe epitomizes the New Zealand dining experience, being…
Spunky wonky donkey
Queenstown-born children’s author Craig Smith is currently touring Australia promoting his best-selling book Wonky Donkey. Smith began his tour at Hobart Library where a crowd of 5 children danced and clapped as he read…
Patent Challenge
New Zealand patent lawyer Professor Yvonne Cripps, who is now based in London, was recently a guest on the BBC World’s radio programme The Forum discussing the patenting of genes and whether “we really…
Ferns Win Again
The Black Ferns have won their fourth Women’s Rugby World Cup beating England 13-1 at Twickenham Stoop in front of a crowd of 13,253. Guardian sports writer Robert Kitson declared the match “the most…
Otago tourism mined
The Otago Rail Trail is New Zealand’s first dedicated long-distance cycleway, following part of the course of a former railway 15km into Central Otago from Dunedin, and used by some 2, cyclists a year….
Everyday hero
Ray Avery — New Zealander of the Year 21 — is interviewed by Hindustan Times reporter Tithiya Sharma for a series she is undertaking throughout the year profiling 1 “everyday heroes”. In 23, Avery…
Amidst grottos of fern
About 4 walkers, both guided and independent, tramp Fiordland’s Hollyford Track each year. The Australian’s John Borthwick writes that New Zealanders’ “love of hoofing it over hill, dale and scrub, tramping, not rugby, is…
On the Ring of Fire
In the early hours of Saturday, September 4, Christchurch was struck by an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale, the same magnitude as that which hit Haiti in January. The quake was shallow,…
Land Apart
Garden editor for the New Zealand House and Garden magazine Gordon Collier was recently in Seattle giving a lecture on the flora and fauna of the remote Chatham Islands. Collier’s illustrated lecture, “A Land…
Not quite themselves
Flight of the Conchords’ stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie will make a guest appearance on hit show The Simpsons in the first episode of the new season, Elementary School Musical, to be broadcast…
One of the best
New Zealand’s listed stock exchange NZX has been included in a Forbes list of the 2 ‘Best Under a Billion’ top-performing companies in Asia for the fourth consecutive year. The NZX was listed by…
All the Better for Pero
First the Tall Blacks beat Canada 71-61 at Halkapinar Arena in Izmir, Turkey, and then France 82-7 in the knockout round of the FIBA World Championship. The team now faces Russia (the TBs went…
Will They Be Drinking Their Tea Out of Saucers?
From Wellington to Wagga Wagga it’s Bledislode time again. The All Blacks come to July’s Tri-Nation series against Australia and South Africa with a string of wins under their belts, some less than convincing. They’d better…
A Load Of…?
“Merde is made to be quoted at cocktail parties: ‘Polly, did you know the Maori have 35 different words for faeces?” “Nigel, really!‘”
Oklahoma Appointment
Emma Gresson, originally from Hamilton, has joined The University of Oklahoma rowing staff as an assistant coach. Gresson previously worked with the Orlando, Florida Area Rowing Society (OARS), assisting with the junior girls’ programme…
Carbon trading issues
Three years ago, in anticipation of substantial growth in the voluntary and compliance carbon markets, governments and business groups around the Asia-Pacific region were jockeying to establish a regional hub for carbon trading, including…
Delightfully Posh
Auckland-born fashion designer Emilia Wickstead, 26, talks to the Telegraph’s Samantha Cameron about low-key style and “how to do stealth chic”. Wickstead says: “When I was 14 I moved from New Zealand to Milan,…
Homecoming King
2,500 fans took part in a “low-key” ceremony to honour Peter Jackson and fellow Oscar winners at the Wellington Events Centre. Jackson and co each received a glass goblet to add to their already…
“Urban Cowboy”
Leading NZ actor Karl Urban makes Nylon‘s list of “those most likely to succeed.” The interview reveals a lifelong passion for film and theatre, from amateur play-writing (at age 8) to a string of…
Weta Puts Out Feelers
New York-based Ohio Edit is to represent Weta Digital on the US commercial circuit. Company heads Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor decided that their acclaimed effects house would benefit from small international projects in…
In the footsteps of Frodo
The inevitable spate of Rings-related travel articles continues, with major features in the Scotsman and New York Times. The Scotsman writer – who walked the Tongariro Crossing and Routeburn Track, and sailed Milford …
Good Morning USA From NZ
Wake up! To coincide with the ‘Amazing Race’ visiting New Zealand, roaming New Zealander ambassador of down under adventure, Phil Keoghan, will be staging ‘ Kiwi Week’ on the CBS Early Show….
Kiwis of tomorrow
The prestigious Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) dedicated its short film section – “Leopards of Tomorrow” – to NZ and Australian film-makers. 8 NZ short films were accepted for competition; Cow, The French…
“I’m from New Zealand, I only know about rugby.”
Andrew Adamson, NZ co-creative behind hit movie Shrek, is reportedly confused by the green ogre’s latest claim to fame – as unofficial mascot of the New York Jets. Adamson: “are the Jets baseball or…
Angela Dotchin is the boss-fox
British secret agent / scientist with whom he’s partnered — did someone say “prickly”? Review of Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Hercules) produced new TV show Jack of All Trades.
Alison Maclean In Time Out New York’s “We Told You So” List
20 to watch in 2000: “Film’s drug-subculture genre has been pretty played out lately – really, how many times can you watch an artfully mussed stud or starlet shoot up on screen? But director Alison…
Sam Neill Brings Thomas Jefferson to Life
Growing up in New Zealand, Sam Neill was aware of Thomas Jefferson merely as “writer of the Declaration of Independence, architect, politician, two-time U.S. president and big cheese on Mount Rushmore.” (5February 2)
