Spontaneous breeze
“In person, Campion is neither gorilla nor goddess,” writes Guardian correspondent Peter Conrad. “The breeze derives from her quirky humour and the mercurial play of expression on her face; her greying hair and her…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Talking to the trees
New Zealand business and IT consultant and author Claire Bulman, 41, has released her first book, aimed at children aged seven to ten, The Answer Tree. Maldon-based Bulman is hoping her target audience will…
In Hot Water
Despite New Zealand’s growing prosperity, the country’s natural beauty has been preserved says Hindustan Times travel writer Vir Sanghvi, who describes his seven-day adventure from Rotorua, by chopper to White Island and then across…
Anniversary Apology
Air New Zealand will apologise to relatives of the victims of the 1979 Mt Erebus plane crash which killed all 257 on board in Antarctica during a sightseeing flight. Chief executive Rob Fyfe is…
Bones for the Queen
Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones has been selected to screen at November’s Royal Film Performance in London’s Leicester Square. Jackson said he is “honoured” it has been selected, adding its making has been “an…
Streak Down South
Dunedin is promoting itself as New Zealand’s quirkiest city in a bid to encourage more visitors to the southern centre. The wackier tourist activities include the June staging of the nude rugby international tournament…
Instant Appeal
“Pinot noir from New Zealand is gaining a foothold in America because of well-made wines like the 2007 Stoneleigh Marlborough Pinot Noir,” writes John Foy for New Jersey’s largest local newspaper The Star-Ledger. “Stoneleigh’s…
Conceptual Costs
Professor of philosophy at the University of Canterbury and author of The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution Denis Dutton writes an opinion piece for The New York Times on the surprises conceptual…
Appreciating the green
Second generation Zimbabwean immigrant Myfanwy van Hoffen describes her move to Auckland leaving behind her citizenship, her vote, her passport and her husband, “cancer taking its too-early toll” . “I landed in a clean,…
Quietly Heralded
Tauranga-born peace campaigner Alyn Ware, 47, has been awarded what is commonly known as “the alternative Nobel prize” for “his effective and creative advocacy and initiatives over two decades to further peace education and…
Reed Takes Crown
Palmerston North-born triathlete Matt Reed, 34, now based in Boulder, Colorado, has won the Toyota US Open triathlon and the Toyota Cup series crown having taken first place in the Dallas Triathlon on October…
Accuracy Under Fire
The Silver Ferns have won the inaugural six-nation Fastnet World Series against Jamaica in Manchester 32–27. The world number-two seed beat off stiff competition from an ever-improving Jamaican side to take the trophy at…
Compensation comparisons
New Zealand “has some good ideas” when it comes to tort reform writes Newsweek blogger Katie Connolly, who uses this country’s government-operated Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) as an example of a system the US…
Distinguished Discourse
The New Zealand accent has been declared the most attractive and prestigious form of English outside Britain. In the BBC survey, Britons responded to an online survey rating the prestige and social attractiveness of…
Worth His Weight
“Daniel Vettori is a prime example of what talent coupled with hard work can achieve,” writes Partab Ramchand for DreamCricket.com. “A cricketer is obviously gifted when he is thought good enough to make his Test debut at…
Rugby’s Adonis
“Ladies and gentlemen – introducing the new Jonah Lomu,” announces Alison Kervin in an article for The Sunday Times. “The awesome New Zealand wing who tore the England defence to pieces on a memorable…
Winning Pair
New Zealand showjumper Samantha McIntosh, 34, has won the closing class of the day at Britain’s Horse of the Year show in Birmingham. McIntosh, who lives near Cologne, Germany, took the Zinc Management Trophy…
Taking home the loot
Masterton-born singer Ladyhawke has won six Tuis at the New Zealand Music Awards. Ladyhawke, aka Pip Brown, won the album of the year for Ladyhawke (Modular/Universal) and single award for ‘My Delerium’ at the…
Burt’s Fine Wine
“It was 1962 and Burt Munro had somehow managed to get his suped-up Indian motorcycle from New Zealand to the Salt Flats, where he hoped to set a record,” writes Tom Wharton for The…
Youth will prevail
“Of the finalists in this year’s Champions Trophy, though, it should be New Zealand that England look to for a degree of inspiration and not without a little shame,” writes The Times’ chief cricket…
Power to the people
Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Worldwide and nzedge.com co-founder, Kevin Roberts, appeared in an interview with Alixis Glick on FOX Business during the recent World Business Forum at Radio City Hall in New York, talking…
Cold-Blooded Chic
New Zealand clothing manufacturer Rodd & Gunn have designed the country’s priciest piece of luggage ever made, from the skins of ten crocodiles. With the price for the large bag set at AU$30,250 and…
Parrot’s Love Affair
Sirocco the kakapo has caused a stir in cyber space after he was captured on camera mating with the head of a British zoologist. The footage, which has received more than half a million…
Amidst the peach trees
“My favourite destination in the world will always be Coromandel in New Zealand,” says British author Fay Weldon in an interview with the Telegraph. “There I can go back to my golden age and…
Back in the Ring
Heavyweight champion David Tua, 36, returned to the ring in “smashing fashion” knocking out fellow countryman Shane Cameron, 31, in the second round after seven seconds obliterating his opponent with combinations, crushing him with…
Home in Iraq
New Zealand’s family-run Atconz Real Estate Development will spend $1 million on a housing development in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, near the regional capital Erbil. Plans for the “New Azadi” project call for the…
Dressed In Art
World of Wearable Arts founder Suzie Moncrieff, 60, was a single mother on the DPB and a struggling sculptor when she decided she wanted to “take the art down off the walls” of her…
Progeny of genius
New Zealand musician Liam Finn, 26, recently performed in Wisconsin at Madison’s Majestic Theatre with his childhood friend and current musical collaborator Eliza-Jane Barnes. In a review of the performance on Madison.com Aaron Conklin…
From serious to sassy
Actress Anna Paquin says she was the “most serious 15-year-old ever” but she has certainly grown up with a vengeance. “Oh, is a really full-on sexy show,” Paquin agrees easily, taking a…
Homemade Impresses
Wellington reggae seven-piece Fat Freddy’s Drop is compared to 70’s funk groups the Average White Band and War in a Guardian review of their latest nine-track album Dr Boondigga & the Big BW. The…
Pesky Boy Inspires
Beano character Dennis the Menace was based on a New Zealand boy called Robert Fair who was a childhood friend of the cartoon character’s creator David Law, and a frequent visitor to the Law…
Our Feathered Friends
“New Zealand’s island ecology – from the kauri trees to the kiwi, the country’s emblematic bird – is unique,” writes The Independent on Sunday’s Ben Ross. “Twenty years ago, Douglas Adams – the man…
Looking at Labour
Former New Zealand Rhodes Scholar and Vice Chancellor of Waikato University Bryan Gould writes in the Guardian that “barring a miracle, and miracles seem likely to be in short supply, Labour will lose…
Hopes on Bahrain
If New Zealand’s All Whites beat Bahrain on October 10 they will compete in their first World Cup since 1982 in Spain. Dunedin-born defender Andrew Boyens, 26, who currently plays for the New York…
Secret Chic
Air New Zealand Fashion Week held in late September in Auckland, is reviewed by The New York Times’ blog ‘The Moment’, which deemed designer Kate Sylvester “the country’s best-kept fashion secret”. “Especially noteworthy were…
Digital industrialists
David ten Have, the 34-year-old CEO of Wellington company Ponoko features on the cover of Inc. Magazine, as part of an article called ‘The Future of Manufacturing’. “Ponoko did not invent the laser cutter….
Into the Void
Photographer Robert Pearson was the sole New Zealander, and one of 18,000 entries, to make the International Photography Awards (IPA) final selections winning second place in the Fine Art: Abstract Pro section for ‘Entrophy…
With eyes wide open
Pioneering New Zealand camerawoman Margaret Moth is the subject of a CNN World’s Untold Stories documentary ‘Fearless: The Margaret Moth Story’, in which former colleagues — including New Zealand photographer Barrington West and…
Black Is The New Black
Fashion directory FTape celebrates the work of 23 independent style publications, including New Zealand’s Black Magazine, inviting each “style bible” to “showcase a selection of their most iconic fashion editorials to date”. Black Magazine…
Travellers’ Top Spots
New Zealand took second place after Italy in a Condé Nast Traveler readers’ poll for best destination in the world. Each country was given a mark out of 100, with Italy scoring 95.55 and…
Making to Last Locally
New Zealand-based furniture designer David Trubridge is profiled in Australian art and design magazine Dumbo Feather, pass it on sharing “his story and ground-breaking ideas that could revolutionise the way we buy and consume…
Big Cheers for Danielle
Auckland dancer and Warriors rugby league cheerleader Danielle Miller, 22, has been named Big League’s 2009 Cheergirl of the Year the first time it has been awarded to someone outside NSW or ACT in…
Cinematic claims
New Zealand-born director Jane Campion’s 1993 film The Piano is included in Vogue Australia’s 50th Anniversary edition featuring alongside Picnic at Hanging Rock, Strictly Ballroom and Lantana as examples of “seminal moments in Australian…
Down and Dirty
A group of New Zealanders are making a film about the US journalist Eric Arnold who spent a year in Marlborough learning how to make wine at the Allan Scott vineyard. Based on Arnold’s…
Fox treads the boards
Wellington actress Kerry Fox stars in the Andrew Bovell play Speaking in Tongues on at Duke of York’s Theatre in London. Fox plays Jane, who witnesses a possible crime and struggles with her decision…
Dances with fish
New Zealand marine biologist Sunil Kadri, co-founder of Optoswim Technologies, is the O2 X Male Entrepreneur of The Year, awarded in London for technology Kadri created to improve the production of farmed salmon, dubbed…
Jones Hits Big
Auckland teenager Sacha Jones has earned her biggest career win securing the US$25,000 ITF Darwin Challenger tournament with a 6–4, 6–1 win over Western Australian Bojana Bobusic. Showing a cool head in the mid-afternoon…
Still the Greatest
Adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary is the “greatest living New Zealander” according to the results of a recent Research New Zealand poll. Despite his death in January 2008, Sir Ed was named by 15…
New directions
Auckland-based playwright Stanley Makuwe, who is originally from Zimbabwe, recently returned to his homeland where his latest production The New Road premiered. The New Road tells the story of Sammy, a Zimbabwean who has…
Seoul mates
New Zealand’s trade commissioner in Seoul Graeme Solloway, who is responsible for promoting bilateral trade and investment, has been in the South Korean capital promoting technological ties between the two countries. “Both Korea and…
Pressure for the Best
All Black coach Graham Henry has told The Independent that though New Zealand’s national team has a much smaller resource than the majority of countries, this is what makes his job so interesting and…
With All the Trappings
Kauri Cliffs is where Golf.com blogger Connell Barrett wants to get married and divorced. “I love, love, love this place. Love it,” Barrett writes. ‘Terrible tragedy of the South Seas,’ a Brit once…
Model Mayhem
Air New Zealand Fashion Week saw former Baywatch bombshell Pamela Anderson, 42, strut the catwalk in a transparent scarf leaving little to the imagination promoting her eco-friendly label A*Muse, developed with designer Richie Rich, who…
Great Totara Falls
Beloved New Zealand entertainer Sir Howard Morrison has died aged 74. Morrison was born in 1935 into a Rotorua family renowned for its entertainment skills. He had a singing career for more than 50…
One for the history books
Renowned New Zealand historian and writer, James Belich, has his latest book Replenishing the Earth: The Settler Revolution and the Rise of the Anglo-world reviewed by The Times’ Bernard Porter, who believes Belich’s fresh…
High expectations
“If sheer workload weren’t enough to keep the 47-year-old filmmaker on edge, he’s also grappling with lofty expectations,” writes Sandy Cohen for Associated Press. “Chief among them, his own. ‘You’re always imagining…
