Karen Walker Cracks
“We love the beauty that comes out of catastrophe, and the brittle nature of things,” said designer Karen Walker of her new show. “Cracked,” as the show was themed, had beginnings in the designer’s…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Writings of here and there
Author Kapka Kassabova moved to New Zealand from Bulgaria in 1992 at the age of 17 “having suffered the full experience of ‘Socialism with a Human Face’ that was the notional premise behind the…
Unbroken Ties
An exhibition — called Passchendaele: the Belgians Have Not Forgotten — commemorating New Zealand lives lost on Flanders soil opens in Wellington on March 6 in the Hall of Memories at Wellington’s National War…
An Ace in the Air
Michael Korda’s new book, With Wings Like Eagles, speaks of a time when a precious few prevailed over all odds, deprived Hitler of victory, and saved the world. It is the story of the…
Rooms with views
New Zealand artists Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard have both secured venues at the 2009 La Biennale di Venezia, with Millar’s large-scale installation ‘Giraffe-Bottle-Gun’ to be exhibited in Sant’ Antonin church and Upritchard’s ‘Save…
A Hero Honoured
A Jack Russell Terrier from Manaia has been honored with the PDSA gold medal for sacrificing his life while protecting a group of children from two pit bull terriers. George fought off the dogs…
Pacific bikies do good
11 February 2009 – Auckland Harley Davidson bikers, the Aotearoa Riding Pirates, are currently motoring around Tonga donating supplies to local primary schools, as well as sharing the experience of Maori heritage and culture….
A Vision in Ribbons
Auckland ballerina 16-year-old Hannah O’Neill — who recently won first prize at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland — is in her second year at the Australian Ballet School and “has a luminous quality…
Whiti te ra
The ‘Ka Mate’ haka has been officially designated the intellectual property of Ngati Toa in a compensation agreement signed in Wellington. Ngati Toa was compensated for its decades of use by the All Blacks,…
The Greatest Crater
Lake Taupo, is “arguably the most famous crater lake on the planet”. Formed by a volcanic eruption 27,000 years ago, Taupo offers up the strange bedfellows of an almost surreal tranquility and furious geothermal…
Setting Things Straight
New Zealand ambassador to Indonesia Phillip Gibson recently addressed the Jakarta public at ‘New Zealand Week’, which included a series of events aimed at increasing Indonesian public awareness about New Zealand, sponsored by the…
All Aboard with Coutts
BMW Oracle’s Wellington-born helmsman Russell Coutts is “matching wits and tacks with Luna Rossa helmsman Peter Holmberg” in the 10-team Pacific Series on the Waitemata Harbour, with 18th man, journalist Christopher Clarey onboard taking…
Brain Dead Dolls
Wellington’s Weta Workshop will create practical and creature effects for American director Kristoffer Aaron Morgan’s independent horror film, The Home. “The Home is going to be an amazing film that we are thrilled to…
Onward and Upward
Former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Helen Clark is a candidate for the position of administrator of the UN Development Program, three below the UN secretary-general. The role becomes available in August when…
East Mends West
Victoria University professor of philosophy Kolkata-born Jayshankar Lal Shaw says philosophy helps individuals with a “global perspective and a clear notion on how to alleviate pain from the world”, especially during times of unrest….
Anchors Aweigh
The new Marsden Cove Marina is a luxurious full service port of entry, and a welcome addition to New Zealand’s Whangarei Harbour. “The area is a cruising ground to pine for,” with twenty three…
Demanding justice
Wellington actress Kerry Fox plays a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal in thriller Storm, a film set in Bosnia with a suspected Serb war criminal on trial after three years in detention. The…
Distractions of Youth
Otago University intelligence researcher professor James Flynn is the author of a study published online by the journal Economics and Human Biology which looks at how British teenagers’ cognitive skills have changed over a…
Roy’s New World
New Zealand journalist Andrew Roy has been named as the new head of news at BBC World, the global television channel with 76 million viewers. Roy, who hails from Christchurch and started his career…
We’re Still Sailing
6 February 2009 – Auckland’s Louis Vuitton Pacific Cup is underway with two preliminary round robins leading up to a challenger final in which one team will advance to face Dean Barker’s Emirates Team…
On a virtual garden stroll
West Melton gardener Mary, “aka ‘Moosey'”, is mentioned in The Seattle Times in an article recommending her virtual garden tour. The publication writes: “A woman whose children call her ‘Moosey’ has created an easy-to-follow…
Shaking off the Shackles
Waitangi Day is also World Nude Day, a day which originated in New Zealand and which this year promoted itself with the slogan “Nude not Lewd” and a US$10,000 “in gold” online prize for…
Privy to Beauty
The Northland town of Kawakawa is home to the remarkable public toilet created by Viennese-born artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who is profiled in the Jakarta Globe. The work is a gift from Hundertwasser, who was…
Tomcat Temptations
Auckland chocolatier Hanna Frederick, a former food scientist, has injected a male aphrodisiac into her chocolate treats for Valentine’s Day. Frederick, who made headlines by feeding beer-flavoured chocolate to brewers and deer antler chocolate…
High-Country Star-Gazing
Plans for a Starlight Reserve and UNESCO world heritage recognition in the skies above Tekapo continue with former cabinet minister Margaret Austin meeting a UNESCO committee in Paris this month to discuss the proposal….
Gains from history
A Maori welcome onto a marae for visitors, a walking tour with Footprints Waipoua and the All Black performance of the haka are all examples of Maori reclaiming their heritage and promoting their culture…
Southeast Asian discoveries
Auckland-based gold exploration company Zedex Minerals Ltd. looks set to begin a drilling programme in Vietnam at the end of February with a potential find of as much as 5 million ounces according to…
On-screen explosion
Wellington director Taika Waititi’s film The Volcano, a follow-up to his 2007 feature Eagle vs Shark, will be distributed by Australian company Transmission Films. The Volcano is inspired by Waititi’s Oscar-nominated short film…
Pursuits of Happiness
“Beyond the wild, raw landscapes, another New Zealand beckons: one of sophisticated restaurants, silvery olive groves, and the most lush, grape-heavy vineyards this side of Bordeaux” writes Condé Nast writer Chang-rae Lee, who spent…
A Paddler’s Paradise
Abel Tasman Park on the northern coast of the South Island is a veritable kayaking nirvana, offering up pristine coastlines of granite headlands, tiny coves of golden sand, and voluptuous hills cloaked in emerald…
Dream Covered
Auckland-based designers Stolen Girlfriend’s Club — a pop culture label co-founded by Marc Moore, Luke Harwood and Dan Gosling — are represented on the cover of Nylon Japan’s latest issue, with Japanese singer and…
Phase Five
The Phase Five Program, led by NZ On Air’s Mike McClung and Brendan Smyth, is exposing international audiences to up and coming New Zealand bands. The Program pairs a Phase Five…
Not So Drowned Continent
Fossils of an 18 million year old ancestor to the tuatara have been found outside of Saint Bathans, Otago, filling a huge void in the fossil record, and casting doubt on a widely held…
Looking at both sides
New Zealand’s health sector is giving a few lessons to its British Columbia counterpart, which sent delegates out in November 2008 to learn about the country’s co-payment system, drug policy and its emphasis on…
Is it or isn’t it
29 January 2009 – University of Canterbury professor of philosophy Denis Dutton’s latest book The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution – which supposes that art appreciation stems first from evolutionary adaptions made during…
Strange Brew Debut
Cambridge rockers The Datsuns will play Galway, Ireland on February 5 promoting their latest album Head Stunts, which was recently recorded in Sweden. Formed in 1997 under the name Trinket, The Datsuns have drawn…
Southern Adventures
Queenstown is a land made for thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies, with canyon swings, bungee jumping from bridges, G-force acrobatic flights, and paragliding, just for starters. Say you’re an average mountain biker and you’ll…
Walking on thin ice
New Zealand’s best known trompe l’oeil muralist Marc Spijkerbosch was recently commissioned by ad agency Ogilvy to paint five images promoting pedestrian safety on pavements around Auckland for the city’s council. The images portray…
Courting Comparison
New Zealand netball is the “main ‘girl’s game'” and has a “‘World Championships’ that only Australia and New Zealand can realistically win,” writes Frank Shanly in a profile about the sport in Indiana daily…
NZ’s film bonanza
Wellington’s Weta Digital will develop the effects for upcoming 3D motion-capture trilogy, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, the sequel of which Peter Jackson will direct in New Zealand. Recently announced is…
Not Very Boring
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie of the Flight of the Conchords discuss silly songs, the sweet tooth of success and why Australians are always in the cross hairs, with CNN reporter Shanon Cook. Asked…
Small Surprises At the Zoo
Four two-week-old Kunekune-cross piglets are the newest attraction at Five Sisters Zoo near Polbeth in West Lothian, Scotland. A cross between New Zealand and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, they originate from Asia, and are now…
Henry’s Heyday
A 111-year-old tuatara named Henry has successfully sewn his seed after over fifteen years in solitary confinement. Henry, who lives at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, was assumed over the hill and kept…
Australasian Citizenship
Wellington-born David Kirk, former All Black captain and chief executive of Fairfax, is now an Australian citizen. Kirk, skipper of the World Cup winners in the inaugural 1987 tournament, confirmed he would always…
Speed Demon’s Dream
Wellington entrepreneur Richard Nowland is the man behind the only jet-powered car ever designed and built in New Zealand. Nowland purchased a Rolls-Royce Avon 206 turbojet engine and intends to transform it into New…
Fresh sense
Supermarket giant Tesco has signed on to use fruit labeling technology developed by New Zealand packaging specialists ripeSense. The color-coded labels let shoppers know how ripe a fruit is by responding to aromas released…
Nomination for Brown
Ladyhawke continues to make entertainment headlines with a 2009 Shockwaves NME Award nomination for Best Solo Artist, alongside Laura Marling, Lightspeed Champion, Jay-Z and Pete Doherty. The Awards will be announced…
Viva Vettori
At 30, Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori is “a veteran among the greats” according to International Herald Tribune writer Huw Richards, “and like Joe DiMaggio in baseball and the Australian rugby players David Campese…
In town for love
Auckland actor Martin Henderson, 34, who is based in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, is back in New Zealand filming Home by Christmas, a World War II love story directed by Gaylene Preston due for…
Perchance for professor
Auckland-born poet Fleur Adcock is one of eight names being discussed by the Oxford University English faculty to take up the position of professor of poetry when current incumbent Christopher Ricks comes to the…
Above the Mountains
New Zealand’s Maori namesake, Aotearoa, is captured at sunset in digital by photographer Chris Picking in the form of a lenticular cloud swirling above the Tararua Ranges. Picking said: “The picture was taken in…
Into the bazaar
New Zealand Herald columnist and travel writer Jill Worrall is interviewed by Iranian freelance journalist Kourosh Ziabari for The Moderate Voice, a widely-read independent political news blog, on the topic: ‘Iran – the most…
Speed Demoness
New Zealand racing star Christina Orr will be competing in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour Race, driving for Jim Hunter Motorsport. The 2008 Bruce McLaren New Zealand Driver of the Year will be teaming…
Medals From the Velodrome
Christchurch omnium champion Hayden Godfrey, 30, has won gold at the Beijing UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classic series. Godfrey beat Great Britain’s Chris Newton in the men’s 60-lap, 15km scratch race final. New…
Region of the Perpendicular
The Milford Track – “what Americans call a trail” – is free of mammals and snakes, explains New York Times writer Robert Hershey, but watch out for the “large and brazen New Zealand parrot,…
Robot rock
Hamilton based rock band the Trons are appreciating a rapid ascent, despite the noted absence of any actual human members. The Hamilton based four-part robot rock band consists of Ham on vocals, Fifi on…
