TradeMe founder Sam Morgan was profiled in the February issue of Australian Financial Review Boss magazine. In 1999, the then 23-year-old Wellingtonian launched NZ’s e-commerce success story, which was recently purchased by Fairfax for $AU 625 million….
Russell Crowe has signed for US$20 million to play the Sheriff of Nottingham in a “revisionist” version of the Robin Hood story. Titled Nottingham, the Hollywood film will follow “the premise that Robin Hood…
Asian market Actor Sam Neill has been busy promoting his Two Paddocks vineyard in Hong Kong, but has dismissed any suggestion of a major expansion into China. “We’re a boutique winery. I think if we started…
NZ artist Lisa Ferguson is aiming to crack the competitive New York market after a successful period in London. The former graphic designer has already made a strong impression, with Art World News…
NZ artist Angela Dwyer is staging two solo exhibitions in Italy in early 2007. The first is at the AMT Gallery in Como, the second at Milan’s Magrorocca Gallery. Born in Palmerston North, Dwyer…
A Scottish museum has returned its collection of tattooed Maori heads to NZ after housing them for more than 180 years. The nine toi moko were acquired by the University of Aberdeen’s Marischal Museum…
NZ gets off relatively lightly in UK psychologist Oliver James’s treatise on rampant materialism, Affluenza: How to be Successful and Stay Sane. James defines affluenza as an unhealthy obsession with wealth which has led…
Waiheke Island-born stuntwoman Zoe Bell makes a cameo appearance as herself in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming slasher film Grindhouse. Bell impressed Tarantino as Uma Thurman’s double in Kill Bill, and has since joined a list…
A memorial to legendary All Black captain Dave Gallaher is being planned in his home town of Ramelton, Ireland. The Dave Gallaher Society is proposing the transformation of a bottle recycling waste ground into a walled…
Two national institutes are hoping to reduce NZ’s national oil consumption by developing the production of cellulosic ethanol. Ag Research and Scion (formerly the NZ Forest Research Institute) are working with US company Diversa on turning byproducts…
Nathan Astle has retired from international cricket as one of NZ’s most successful ever batsmen, just six months before the 2007 World Cup. In his twelve year career he has accumulated a total of 11,792 Test…
The Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre will celebrate Waitangi Day in Kuala Lumpur, performing at the Malaysia-New Zealand Cultural Extravaganza. Founded by Tama Huata in 1983, Kahurangi has showcased the songs and dances of the…
A new album and world tour by Crowded House, has made headlines across the globe. According to chief songwriter Neil Finn, he and bass player Nick Seymour have been considering regrouping since the tragic death of…
The inaugural Forbes Web Celeb 25 – “a list of the biggest, brightest and most influential people on the Internet” – is topped by Mt Maunganui-raised actress Jessica Rose. Last year the 19-year-old…
The LA Times offers a brief guide to NZ’s Bay of Islands, home to “some of the best scenery in the country.” Visitors are advised to check out the arts and crafts centres at Kerikeri, take…
Taupo’s inaugural A1 Grand Prix meet for the World Cup of Motorsport was a huge success, with 80,000 spectators packing the stands. Adding to the experience, Team NZ placed third overall in what was the first…
The Guardian gives a whirlwind overview of NZ music history, from kapa haka to deep house. Milestones of note include the formation of Split Enz in 1971, Flying Nun in 1981, and hip hop…
Taranaki’s Eco Inn comes highly recommended in the Guardian. The lodge is constructed from untreated macrocarpa wood and recycled materials, and is entirely powered by solar panels, wind turbines and a water wheel….
Christchurch internet entrepreneur Mark Rocket was the first New Zealander to sign up for one of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space flights. The self-described space nut (he changed his surname from Stevens by deed poll)…
David Kilgour of seminal Flying Nun band the Clean has launched a new solo album entitled The Far Now. “The songs sprung into my lap and pretty much decided how they wanted to…
Variety magazine (US) named Taika Waititi one of ten directors to watch in the lead up to the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where he made his feature debut. His first full-length project, Eagle vs….
Durex has decided to test its new latex-free condom in NZ after its global survey showed that New Zealanders have sex more often and are more adventurous in the bedroom than their international contemporaries….
US BusinessWeek profiles “white-hot” New York-based company Fahrenheit 212’s fresh take on innovation for global consumer product companies. Named after the point at which water boils (“when one degree of difference can make all the difference”), Fahrenheit…
NZ company TrustPower has won a NZ$200 million contract to build a wind farm in Snowtown, South Australia. Construction of the 42-turbine plant begins on the Hummocks and Barunga ranges in April. “Over time, for TrustPower generally,…
Buskers Max Tetley (11) and Alex Philpott (10) opened the show for US rock-comedy duo Tenacious D, after impressing singer Jack Black with their performance in Christchurch’s Cathedral Square. Black (School of Rock,…
Titanic director James Cameron has enlisted the help of Weta Digital for his upcoming US$200 million sci-fi epic, Avatar. Cameron also plans to shoot sections of the film at Peter Jackson’s Wellington studios with…
Nova Scotias Chronicle Herald reveals a NZ business success storys Canadian connection. Jeremy Moons outdoor clothing company Icebreaker enjoys CA$100 million in annual retail sales, largely thanks to its revolutionary merino wool thermal underwear. Icebreaker and…
Wellington telecommunications support firm OpenCloud has raised US$10.25 million in funding from Advent Venture Partners (London), No 8 Ventures (NZ) and Motorola Ventures (US). The funding will be used to expand the company’s international interests, which include…
42 Below ambassador and “vodka professor” Jacob Briars discusses dirty drink names, Golden Globe shout outs and the social psychology of bars in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. Formerly a bartender at…
An American man’s exploration of his Maori roots is the subject of a documentary for US TV’s Travel Channel. Richard Wybrow, a CNN Radio editor, had always wanted to travel to his father’s birthplace…
Wellington has been named one of 10 world cities “on the rise” by the editors of Lonely Planet. The capital is described as “one of the world’s cold-yet-cultural cities … more beautiful than Seattle or Melbourne” in…
Former All Black John Kirwan has signed a two-year contract to coach Japan’s national rugby team. Kirwan will lead the side in its World Cup efforts this year, with plans to hone 6 elite players down…
The haka continues to be flavour of the month in international marketing circles. This time, an English women’s rugby team has caused controversy by including an image of a topless haka in their fundraising calendar. Canterbury Women’s…
Shoppers at London’s Selfridges can now purchase the ultimate ecological antique: a piece of furniture carved from 30,000 year-old NZ kauri wood. The NZ government has allowed a limited quantity of the timber to be harvested…
Otago University has launched a global search to fill its inaugural chair in Scottish studies. The newly created position is one of a small number of its kind in the world and is intended to position…
US travel expert Laura McKenzie includes NZ in her list of the world’s five safest travel destinations. NZ is ranked second only to Monaco in a list which includes Malta, Switzerland and Singapore….
A film based on the life of NZ motorsport legend Bruce McLaren is rumoured to be in the works. According to Grand Prix website, the production has been linked to “some of those…
This year’s 420 World Championships have been described as a “Kiwi blackwash” after NZ sailors took out all podium positions in both the Open and Women’s events. Carl Evans and Peter Burling, Simon…
NZ TV series Outrageous Fortune has caused a storm across the Tasman, but not for its adult content. Australian screenwriters are threatening protests and possible strikes over a decision by Channel Nine to include…
NZ A1 Grand Prix driver Jonny Reid has set a new record for the fastest crossing of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Reid crossed the bridge seven times, reaching speeds of over 160km/h. Police traffic controllers had…
The newfound appreciation of NZ-born artist James Boswell continues, with a second feature in the Guardian. The article focuses on Boswell’s post-WW2 illustrations for film posters, commissioned by Ealing studio’s head of marketing…
Christine Nottingham and Andrea Peach have opened a gallery-cum-store in San Diego to showcase designs by established and emerging artists from their native NZ. Moana Design on Solana Beach features works by glass…
Shona McCullagh’s short film Break was a highlight of the Dance on Camera Festival at New York’s Walter Reade Theatre, according to the New York Times. Set in rural NZ, ‘Break’ illustrates, with surprising subtlety, the breakdown…
James Flynn – Emeritus Professor of Political Studies at Otago University, intelligence researcher and “unassuming moral philosopher” – is profiled in the Guardian. Born in Washington DC, Flynn has lived and worked in NZ…
Not one to be pigeon-holed, Martin Henderson is busy building a reputation in Hollywood for his impressively diverse range of acting roles. For every Britney Spears music video (Toxic) or action flick (Torque)…
NZ sheep farmer turned e-car entrepreneur Ian Wright features in an AFRMagazine story on the rise of the electric car. Wright’s prototype vehicle — the Wrightspeed X1
Pioneering research by Victoria University conservation biologist Wayne Linklater could save the endangered black rhino from extinction. Like many threatened species, the captive black rhino population suffers from a potentially disastrous gender imbalance. Linklater attributes the extreme male-biased…
Four NZ luxury establishments made the coveted Condé Nast Traveller Gold List for 2007. Huka Lodge (Taupo) and Blanket Bay (Otago) featured in the Best for Rooms and Best for Food categories respectively, while Kauri Cliffs…
The Independent reports on NZ’s thriving (and environmentally kosher) possum fur trade. “Elsewhere, designers who work with fur earn the wrath of animal rights activists. But in New Zealand, they are considered national heroes.” Imported from Australia…
The Honolulu Star Bulletin has recognised NZ-born restaurateur Dave Stewart as one of ten people who “changed Hawaii” for the better in 2006. Stewart has been a leading figure in the renaissance of Honolulu’s…
NZ palaeontologist Trevor Worthy claims to have evidence that NZ once had an indigenous land mammal, challenging years of accepted scientific theory. Worthy and his team of researchers found two parts of a jaw and a…
A NZ company has stunned international researchers by successfully developing a fuel which blends petrol with organic waste. The Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation’s breakthrough bio-diesel is made up of 95% petrol and 5% liquid squeezed from algae grown…
A Massachusetts newspaper feature on NZ wine covers the country’s world famous sauvignon blanc, increasingly renowned pinot noir and the cool climate whites now waiting for their turn in the spotlight. The author talks to winemakers…
A tiny Henderson-based company is reportedly leading the global race to extract a brain acid from algae which may offer a cure for depression. Photonz is growing micro-organisms which produce eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one of…
Scientists at NZ’s AgResearch and Otago Medical School may have found the cure for a common prostate problem and it is largely thanks to NZ’s no.1 environmental pest: the brush-tailed possum. According to a study published…
Waikato University’s “maverick oceanographer” Professor Kerry Black is one step closer to making surfing an indoor spectator sport with the launch of Versareef in Orlando, Florida. While several pools around the world already feature modest artificial wave…
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