Writers | Telegraph (The)
3 August 2007
Research by a NZ academic launched a 40-year code-breaking endeavour that has resulted in the publication of an important 17th century English diary. Robin Gwynn, formerly an associate professor of history at Massey University,…
Business | Okooko stores
1 August 2007
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…
Business | Economic Times
1 August 2007
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…
Sport General | Hayward Wisconsin
30 July 2007
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…
Business | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
30 July 2007
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…
Music | EMI Publications
28 July 2007
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…
Taste | New York (Magazine)
23 July 2007
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…
Sport General | International Herald Tribune
23 July 2007
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…
Rugby | BBC News | Independent (The)
22 July 2007
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…
Film & TV | Business Week
21 July 2007
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,…
Science/Tech | Los Angeles Times
21 July 2007
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…
Obituaries | Guardian (The)
20 July 2007
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…
Film & TV | Toronto Star
19 July 2007
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…
Science/Tech | photonics.com
19 July 2007
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…
New Zealand | Telegraph (The)
17 July 2007
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…
Motorsports | Full Noise
16 July 2007
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…
Politics and Economics | Travel Video TV
16 July 2007
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…
Golf | International Herald Tribune | Sunday Star Times
16 July 2007
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…
Rugby | Rugby Heaven
15 July 2007
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…
Watersports | BBC News
15 July 2007
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…
Writers | philly.com
14 July 2007
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…
Visual Arts | Heidi Cho
12 July 2007
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…
Business | Forbes
11 July 2007
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…
Business | Age (The) | Dominion Post (The) | YouTube
8 July 2007
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…
Business | New York Times (The) | ProDesign Magazine
8 July 2007
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…
Music | Los Angeles Times
8 July 2007
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,…
Writers | Guardian (The)
6 July 2007
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…
Business | PR News Now
6 July 2007
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….
America’s Cup | ESPN | New Zealand Herald
6 July 2007
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….
Obituaries | Guardian (The)
5 July 2007
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…
Opera | Opera America
30 June 2007
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…
Media | BBC News | Dominion Post (The)
30 June 2007
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…
Sport General | Taipei Times
25 June 2007
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…
Science/Tech | ONE News | The Lancet
22 June 2007
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…
Business | iccheshireonline.co.uk
20 June 2007
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…
Business | USA Today
20 June 2007
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…
Wine | Times (The) | Wine Spectator
19 June 2007
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…
Business | Adweek
18 June 2007
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…
Motorsports | Scotsman (The)
17 June 2007
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….
News | Times (The)
17 June 2007
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…
General | itv.com
16 June 2007
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…
War & Peace | icrc.ord
15 June 2007
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…
Film & TV | Hollywood Reporter
13 June 2007
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…
Obituaries | IMDb
12 June 2007
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…
Sport General | The Province
11 June 2007
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…
Film & TV | Timessquare.com
11 June 2007
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…
Medicine/Health | Garry Trainer Clinic
10 June 2007
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…
Business | GBK
10 June 2007
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…
Visual Arts | Newark Advocate
10 June 2007
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…
Business | Guardian (The)
9 June 2007
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…
War & Peace | Age (The)
8 June 2007
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…
America’s Cup | Times (The)
8 June 2007
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…
Obituaries | Guardian (The)
7 June 2007
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…
Business | au.pfinance.yahoo.com
6 June 2007
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…
General | Los Angeles Times
5 June 2007
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…
Wine | Guardian (The)
4 June 2007
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…