Design Mobel Goes Global
Tauranga bed and furniture maker Design Mobel has launched the first of its Okooko global concept stores in Wellington and Hong Kong, with more to follow in the US later this year. Okooko stores integrate award…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Green Choice for NZ Motorists
NZ has launched its first commercial biofuel – Gull Force 10. Available through Gull Petroleum stations, the “green” fuel blends 90 per cent premium gasoline with 10 per cent bioethanol made from cows’ milk. “We are serious…
Golden Axes
NZ athletes dominated at the 48th annual Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin. Jason Wynyard beat fellow New Zealanders David Bolstad and Dion Lane to win his ninth All-Around Lumberjack title. The Aucklander described the…
Something to Crowe About
Russell Crowe is gradually proving the naysayers wrong as co-owner of the South Sydney ‘Rabbitohs’ rugby league club. Crowe and businessman Peter Holmes à Court took over and privatised the beleaguered club in 2006, sparking numerous protests from…
Popera stars of tomorrow
Rotorua “popera” singer Elizabeth Marvelly has been signed for a rumoured three albums by record giant EMI. The 18-year-old soprano is related to Sir Howard Morrison, and toured NZ with him and…
Top tucker
US economics professor and blogger extraordinaire Tyler Cowen rates fish and chips as being “to New Zealand what barbecue is to Texas-tops in the world” on his popular website marginalrevolution.com. Cowen regularly compiles…
1,3 NZ Finish in Austria
Christchurch Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Andrea Hewitt has won her first World Cup triathlon title at Kitzbuhel, Austria. The 25-year-old beat Austrian Eva Dollinger by three seconds in a sprint finish, after leading the field in…
Two Down, One to Go
The All Blacks have completed the final leg of their World Cup build-up by retaining both the Bledisloe and TriNations trophies, with a 26–12 defeat of the Wallabies…
Future of NZ film lies in Asia
NZ filmmakers are increasingly looking to Asia to fill the void left by the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Annual production financing in NZ soared from $146 to $402 million between 1998 and 2001,…
Queen Bee Uncovered
A University of Otago study has unearthed the secret to queen bees’ dominance in the hive. According to its findings, queens keep their worker bee subjects calm and obedient by secreting a scent that prevents them…
Humane and Humorous
Wellington-born character actor Gordon Gostelow has died aged 82. Raised in Sydney, Gostelow immigrated to the UK in 1950 to pursue acting professionally. The classic BBC serial became a staple of his career, and…
Paquin up for Emmy
Anna Paquin has been nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy for her role in the HBO telefilm Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Based on Dee Alexander Brown’s classic 1971 book, Bury My…
NZ to be Nanotech Hub
The NZ government is investing NZ$628 million into new research programs in a bid to position the country at the vanguard of nanotechnology development. More than 30 organizations will receive a share of the funding, including…
NZ a Top Foodie Destination
The past 15 years have seen a seismic shift in NZ gastro-tourism, according to Telegraph wine columnist Susy Atkins. Since her last visit in 1992, NZ has shrugged off its reputation for “unappetising food, grim…
Champion Teen Eyes MX Crown
Hamish Dobbyn, a 15-year-old motocross rider from Warkworth, has won the 250cc four-stroke class at the Yamaha MX National Development Series in Australia. Next on his agenda is the World Junior Motocross Championships in…
Potential World Heritage Sites in NZ
UNESCO is considering three NZ locations as potential World Heritage Sites at the request of PM Helen Clark, who is also NZ’s Minister of Culture and Heritage. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Kerikeri Basin and…
Woods & Williams Still a Team
Steve Williams, Tiger Woods’ NZ-born caddie, has denied reports he is intending to end the pair’s lucrative eight-year partnership. “I have no idea where this has come from,” Williams told NZ’s Sunday Star-Times. “Perhaps Tiger may…
Watch This Space
Former All Black star Jonah Lomu believes he is back to his physical peak and will not rule out a return to rugby – or even a switch to rugby league. “It’s irrelevant what everyone else…
Precious Metal
NZ athletes won four gold, two silver and a bronze medal at last week’s rowing world championships in Lucerne, Switzerland. Gold medals were won by Mahe Drysdale (single scull), Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell…
No ordinary life
A new book about London literary marriages features NZ author Katherine Mansfield and her second husband, John Middleton Murry. Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles (1910-1939) by…
At home in Chelsea
Works by NZ artist Lisa Ferguson feature in the ID Please group show currently on at the Heidi Cho Gallery in New York’s renowned Chelsea gallery district. Her bold, large-scale pieces are described…
Barclay Founder Rates
NZ Barclay founder and president William J. Buechler gives NZ investments the thumbs up in a column for Forbes. Buechler predicts that NZ’s rising short-term interest rates, combined with Fonterra’s 27% share increase, the discovery of new…
Tee King
New Zealander Glenn Jones has won the US-based Threadless t-shirt design competition a record 17 times. Jones, the creative director at Auckland’s Dashwood Design studio, gets regular fan e-mail and has been featured on…
Tech Blogger’s Global Reach
Lower Hutt is home to the world’s 28th most popular blog. Richard MacManus’s Read/Write Web, a social networking site devoted to Web 2.0 issues, receives around 25,000 page views a day. “It takes a lot…
Crowded House on Love and Loss
An LA Times review finds Time on Earth, the new album by the recently reformed Crowded House, to be a moving exploration of love and loss. “Pop music reunions are, more often than not,…
Devastating simplicity
Mister Pip, the Commonwealth Prize-winning novel by Wellingtonian Lloyd Jones, is praised both for its lyricism and its deft handling of post-colonial issues in the Guardian. “The simplicity with which he describes the atrocities…
Health, Wealth and Honey
A NZ health company has teamed up with a German university to promote the use of manuka honey products to heal wounds, treat stomach and skin problems and, potentially, to help in the fight against cancer….
Auld Mug Stays with Swiss
Alinghi has successfully defended the America’s Cup, defeating Emirates Team NZ 5-2 in the best-of-nine series. The 2007 event was the closest in years, with the Swiss team winning the seventh race by a mere second….
A Rebel Remembered
British political figure Anne Gilman, “a rebel from New Zealand”, has died aged 76. Gilman was born in NZ and attended Canterbury University, where she founded the student magazine, Canta. Gilman’s daughter, Catherine, describes…
Kiwi Joker Cracks UK
Hawera-born comic Ben Hurley, 27, has secured a seven-part sitcom with the BBC’s Radio 4. The series will co-star Hurley’s mentor and veteran comedian Andy Parsons, whose writing credits include Spitting Image and…
Soprano scales new heights
Gisborne-born soprano Marie-Adele McArthur graced Opera America’s home page for the month of June, with images and video of her acclaimed performance as Lina in Verdi’s Stiffelio. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune described her as “the…
Fourth World Cup for Docherty
NZ Olympic silver medallist Bevan Docherty has won his fourth International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup at Edmonton, Canada. Docherty’s win is the culmination of seven straight top-eight finishes and boosts him to second place on the…
During Breaks New Ground
A groundbreaking study by NZ neuroscientist Matt During has been applauded in leading British medical journal, The Lancet. During has pioneered a controversial gene therapy for Parkinson’s Disease that involved inserting synthetic copies of human genes…
Jeweller Finds Wonderland in NZ
British jeweller Alice Hughes has created a range of bespoke pieces inspired by NZ plants and sea life. She established Alice in Wonderland Jewellery in 2004 after undertaking an apprenticeship in NZ, where she…
Lions Share
NZ agencies won 18 awards at this year’s Cannes Lions, the world’s most prestigious advertising awards. Auckland agency TBWA\Whybin won the Grand Prix award in both the Media and Promo categories for its ASB “Pago” and NZ Rugby…
Taking Issue with Food Miles
A UK Times eco-columnist’s suggestion to reduce food miles by drinking French rather than NZ wine has stimulated a response by NZ winemakers and politicians. She argued that transporting wines from France results in fewer greenhouse…
Eslinger in All Things Interactive
Tom Eslinger, worldwide interactive creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi, was president of the Cyber jury at this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival. He spoke about the importance of ideas and the growing respect for media as…
Mind Over Matter
NZ neuroscientist Dr Kerry Spackman is working with Team McLaren to uncover the workings of a racing driver’s mind. “In most sports now, the modern athlete is pushing his brain to the limit,” he says….
Tour of Beauty
Times journalist Paul Grogan undertook a two-day kayaking tour of Abel Tasman National Park with local company Wilson’s Experiences. “Gaining in confidence, we rock-hop along the coast, ducking in and out of little lagoons and darting through…
Be a Tidy Kiwi
The iconic Bulford Kiwi in Wiltshire, England, has received a makeover courtesy of local military, scouts and civilian volunteers. The 128m high chalk figure was carved into Wiltshire’s Beacon Hill at the end…
Red Cross Honours NZ Nurse
Aucklander Marianne Whittington has been awarded the Red Cross’s highest nursing honour, the Florence Nightingale Medal. Whittington has undertaken 11 international aid missions for the organisation in the last 17 years, including dangerous assignments to…
Weisz on board for Lovely Bones
Oscar-winning English actress Rachel Weisz has signed on for Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones. Weisz will play the mother of the film’s dead narrator, in a role that has been significantly expanded from…
First NZ Star of Silver Screen
NZ’s first movie star has died in a Rotorua hospital aged 101. Witarina Harris, of Ngati Whakaue descent, was chosen by Universal Pictures to star as Princess Miro in the 1928 silent…
Wet Win in Vancouver
Whangarei triathlete Samantha Warriner has won the US $100,000 BG Triathlon World Cup in Vancouver, clawing back from 20th place to beat American Sarah Haskins and Australian Erin Densham in wet and cold conditions. “The rain coming…
New York falls for Sand Dancer
Sand Dancer, Valerie Reid’s documentary about Christchurch sand artist Peter Donnelly, received an honourable mention at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival in March. The award is the latest in a string of wins for…
Backstage Essential
NZ-born osteopath to the stars Garry Trainer has released a new book, Back Chat, with health writer Tania Alexander. Back Chat examines 40 individual case studies of back pain, identifying common causes and…
Burger Boom
A restaurant chain founded by three New Zealanders has become one of the most successful businesses in the booming UK “posh burger” market. Gourmet Burger Kitchen was established six years ago by school…
Glass half full
NZ glass artist Luke Jacomb has spent the past six years touring and building his reputation in the US. The second-generation glass artist (his father is the renowned John Croucher) has held studio…
Sellaband Springboard for NZ Rapper
Christchurch rapper Maitreya has found international fame through sellaband.com, a new social networking site for entrepreneurial music lovers. Sellaband allows users to buy “shares” in acts they think have the potential for major chart…
Balibo Deaths Back in Spotlight
The 1975 deaths of two Australian, two British and a New Zealand journalist in Balibo, East Timor, are back in the political spotlight after a Sydney inquest found conclusive evidence of deliberate murder and…
LV Victory Sees America’s Cup Rematch
Emirates Team NZ has demolished Luna Rossa 5-0 to win the Louis Vuitton Cup. Team NZ will now meet Swiss defender Alinghi in the America’s Cup best-of-nine series, beginning June 2003. In stark contrast to their usual…
Professional Outsider Remembered
World renowned mathematician and nuclear fusion sceptic Leslie Woods has died aged 84. Born in Reparoa, a tiny settlement between Rotorua and Taupo, Woods was the first student of Seddon Memorial Technical College to…
Brand Passion Paramount
Sean Fitzpatrick and the All Blacks are held up as inspiring examples for business leaders by American finance blogger, Jim Citrin: “No other sports franchise in the world has achieved a 72 percent winning percentage over…
Incredible Journey
After decades of international debate, Auckland University researchers have found the first concrete evidence that Polynesian explorers reached South America before Europeans. The research team, led by archaeologist Elizabeth A. Matisoo-Smith, used genetic analysis…
Stonyridge a Must-see
Waiheke Island’s Stonyridge vineyard featured in the Guardian’s top ten must-visit wineries, alongside Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and the Frank Gehry-designed Marques de Riscal in Rioja, Spain. Guardian: “Stonyridge is a cult winery with a global…
Top shelf Wellington author
Lloyd Jones has won the Commonwealth Writers Prize overall best book award for his novel Mister Pip. The NZ $27,400 cheque was presented to Jones at the Calabash Literary Festival in St Elizabeth, Jamaica,…
