Writers | Guardian (The)
8 August 2003
Wellington authors Damien Wilkins and Elizabeth Knox have been nominated for the 2004 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Their novels, Chemistry and Billie’s Kiss, are both in the running for a NZ$196,000 prize,…
Fashion | Washington Times
7 August 2003
Fish tanners in NZ, France, and Ireland are peddling their wares to the elite fashion houses of Europe, claiming that fish skin is as durable as crocodile and as strong as any man-made fibre….
Medicine/Health | Guardian (The)
7 August 2003
New research undertaken at Auckland University suggests that the tendency towards obesity occurs in the womb, rather than as a result of our remote-control society. The findings – recently published in the American Physiological Society journal -…
Music | State (The)
7 August 2003
The sounds of Kiwi band The D4 are being used in an attempt to modernise the game of baseball in the US. Videos of The D4 and fellow rockers The Donnas and The Ataris…
Science/Tech | Independent (The)
6 August 2003
Sir Ernest Rutherford featured in an Independent story, ‘Dawn of the nuclear age.’ “No one has described the atom discovered by Rutherford better than the playwright Tom Stoppard: ‘Now make a fist, and if your fist is…
Business | Australian (The)
6 August 2003
Telecom NZ has made a NZ$703 million net profit for the past year, ending a four-year run of negative growth. The solid progress comes despite a troubled foray into the Australian market.
Rugby | Sporting Life (The)
6 August 2003
Christian Cullen’s signing to Irish side Munster after his exclusion from the 2003 All Black squad has created controversy at home and disbelief abroad. One person happy with the outcome is Munster rugby boss, Alan Gaffney, who…
Wine | Guardian (The)
6 August 2003
Sam Neill features alongside Sting, Cliff Richard, and Francis Ford Coppola in a Guardian story on celebrity vineyard-owners. Neill is described as one of the more down-to-earth of the bunch, who takes an active role in the…
Music | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
4 August 2003
NZ-born Keith Urban has been dubbed the new face of country music in the US. With his chiselled good looks, tattoos, and relatively loose jeans, Urban is doing for c&w blokes what Shania Twain…
Medicine/Health | Goasiapacific.com
4 August 2003
Nieuean Colin Tukuitonga has resigned as NZ’s director of health to take up a post with the United Nations World Health Organisation. Tukuitonga, a former community health lecturer at Auckland University, will work in non-communicable diseases and…
Film & TV | Yahoo! News
3 August 2003
Andrew Dominick – the NZ-born director behind hit Aussie film Chopper – is soon to make his mark on the US movie scene. Dominick has been signed to develop and direct The Demolished Man…
Medicine/Health | China Daily | People's Daily
2 August 2003
Virionyx – the NZ company behind an experimental new AIDS drug – has been hired by two US organisations to develop therapies for diseases such as SARS. Said PM Helen Clark, at the opening of Virionyx’s…
Rugby | NZEdge
2 August 2003
The NZ Maori rugby team emerged victorious from their 3-match tour of Canada, beating the home side 52-11, 65-27, and 30-9. Between 1994 and 2001, the NZ Maori side have beaten 12 international teams, including England, Scotland,…
New Zealand | Wallpaper* Magazine
1 August 2003
Waiheke retreat gets relaxed raves in Wallpaper: “There should be more lodges like Delamore. Abandoning the servere straight lines of urban architecture, this four-suite sanctuary is deliciously organic, setting off the rugged surroundings of Waiheke Island. All…
Science/Tech | Dallas Business Journal
1 August 2003
NZ’s nano-tech Nobel laureate Alan MacDiarmid has been appointed to the newly created James Von Ehr Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology at The University of Texas at Dallas. “Alan MacDiarmid’s move to Dallas is an…
Science/Tech | Wired
1 August 2003
A NZ company working in conjunction with Auckland University is set to revolutionise road safety technology. Harding Traffic Systems has developed battery-powered “smart studs” to replace the cat’s eyes currently marking roads around the world. The…
Fashion | Vogue
1 August 2003
Karen Walker grilled in Australian Vogue about her annual wardrobe expenditure. “I spend about $10,000 a season on my own ranges and another couple of grand a year on shoes, plus loads of vintage….
Theatre | Age (The) | Guardian (The)
1 August 2003
Kiwi comedy act, Flight of the Conchords, was dubbed the “unlikely hit” of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival by the Guardian, and narrowly missed out on the event’s prestigious top award. The satirical folk…
Film & TV | Miami Herald | USA Today
1 August 2003
Keisha Castle-Hughes continues to win over critics with her star-turn as Pai in Whale Rider. USA Today calls her “the discovery of the summer,” and the Miami Herald hails her performance as “the…
Adrenalin | China.org
1 August 2003
King of all things extreme, AJ Hackett, has led the first dragon dance walk across China’s 233m high Macao Tower. Hackett and a Chinese bungy enthusiast each led a team of dancers around the outer rim of…
Medicine/Health | IOL.com
1 August 2003
Apparently, the NZ public is “not ready” for the image of a breast-feeding man. The Ministry of Health vetoed an advertisement designed by the Women’s Health Action group in support of World Breastfeeding Week, stating that it…
Science/Tech | space.com
1 August 2003
27-year-old Wellington university drop-out, Peter Lynds, claims to have solved a philosophical paradox which has baffled thinkers for 2,500 years. The broadcasting tutor has taken on such heavyweights as the Greek philosopher Zeno and Stephen…
Visual Arts | Vogue
31 July 2003
Te Papa’s ‘Japonism’ exhibition reviewed in August’s Australian Vogue. A joint collaboration with the Kyoto Costume Institute, the show explores the influence of Japan on Western fashion from 1860 to the present. ‘Japonism’ -…
Music | Rolling Stone
31 July 2003
“Since blowing in from their native New Zealand last year with three hits (“Sophie”, “Blowing Dirt” and “Place to Be”), Goodshirt has emerged as one of our Antipodean cousins to watch. Unlike their countrymen…
Music | Star (The)
31 July 2003
Promoting her international debut release on Decca, (the world’s largest classical label) prodigious Christchurch singing talent 16-yr old Hayley Westenra continues to charm. The album mixes Westenra’s sonorous voice with classical crossover pieces, choral,…
Visual Arts | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
31 July 2003
NZ pop-art exponent, Billy Apple (nee Barry George Bates,) listed alongside Odd Nerdrum, Hercules Fisherman, and Seymour Likely as one of the “unbeatable names in the art world.” Buy Billy Apple in the…
Music | Age (The)
31 July 2003
Pacifier – the NZ band formerly known as Shihad – interviewed in the Age about their tour of wartime America. Says singer, Jon Toogood; “In hindsight, watching it all go on internally was really…
Music | Las Vegas Sun
31 July 2003
The Las Vegas Sun applauds the arrival of Anthology – the collected works of Flying Nun legends, The Clean. “Two decades later the music still brims with the raw, lo-fi energy that helped usher…
Film & TV | Independent (The)
30 July 2003
Anna Paquin talks dogs, dorm-living, Degas and “living long distance” with the Independent. Currently studying art history – between films – at Columbia University, Paquin will next be seen alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Ed…
Medicine/Health | Scotsman (The)
29 July 2003
Research into suicide conducted by the Wellington School of Medicine has been published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and reported on around the world. The findings – based on the NZ population for three…
Theatre | News24.com
28 July 2003
First we were treated to the infinite variety of feminine experience in The Vagina Monologues; now actress and playwright Geraldine Brophy has penned the masculine equivalent. She describes The Viagara Monologues – which opened…
Science/Tech | CBC News
28 July 2003
NZ Antarctic scientists are joining Bulgarian and American researchers at the Canadian high Arctic this year in a bid to exchange information about their respective poles. By pooling their findings, the scientists hope to better understand the…
Film & TV | BBC News
28 July 2003
The Wellington-based animation team behind the Lord of the Rings‘ award-winning visual effects were one of the main attractions at the annual Siggraph exhibition in San Diego, California. Established in the 1970s, Siggraph is…
Visual Arts | Business Journal (The)
27 July 2003
NZer Antony Rieck was named Photographer of the Year at the annual Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects design awards held on August 2. Rieck, who has a background in structural engineering…
Music | Guardian (The)
27 July 2003
NZ-born pop star, Daniel Bedingfeld, shares his thoughts on friends, family, and musical inspiration in an interview with the Guardian. An artist of chameleon-like musical abilities, Bedingfeld has been likened to everyone from Craig…
Politics and Economics | China Daily
27 July 2003
PM Helen Clark was the keynote speaker at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of the Korean War held in South Korea in July. At a luncheon held in her honour, President Roh Moo Hyun described…
New Zealand | Telegraph (The)
27 July 2003
Australia’s Sunday Telegraph stays at a hi-end bach: “Welcome to Blanket Bay, a spectacular lakeshore lodge hideaway 40 minutes’ drive north from Queenstown. It’s the paradise dream retreat of Tom Tusher, former worldwide president and CEO of…
Wine | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
27 July 2003
Sydney’s Morning Herald publishes its 2003 top-10 lists for global rovers with Aotearoa again destination du jour. The chart toppers – Wine: Marlborough (“with its combination of bush, mountains and coastline … Cloudy Bay, Cairnrae and Allan…
Politics and Economics | Dawn.com
26 July 2003
July marked the 30th anniversary of “what was probably the first state-sponsored Ban the Bomb protest” – NZ PM Norman Kirk’s diplomatic and symbolic attack on the French government. In outrage at continued nuclear testing by France…
Politics and Economics | World Bank | Yahoo! News
25 July 2003
Banker John Austin has been appointed to the helm of the Washington-based World Bank (one of the world’s largest sources of financial assistance for developing countries). Austin has resigned from his current position, as head of private…
Writers | Scotsman (The)
23 July 2003
Wellington-born Sydney Goodsir Smith is to join the ranks of Scottish poets immortalised in stone outside Edinburgh’s Writer’s Museum. The Makars’ Court attraction is the Scottish equivalent of Westminster Abbey’s Poets Corner, and features…
Sport General | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
21 July 2003
The New Zealand Silver Ferns netball team emphatically shrugged off a decade of being netball’s bridesmaids to beat arch rivals Australia 49 – 47 and win the World Champion title in Jamaica. “Finally,” said relieved Silver Fern’s…
Rugby | Rugby Heaven
20 July 2003
The All Blacks thrashed South Africa 52 – 16 in the Tri-Nations opener in the high velt fortress of Loftus Versfeld. It was South Africa’s worst home defeat with the ABs producing a fine display of…
Business | Australian (The)
19 July 2003
NZ’s 2003 “Rich List” is headed by billionaire businessman Graeme Hart, who last year accomplished a daring takeover of Australian food giant, Goodman Fielder. Hart was the subject of the Australian headline; ‘Once were panelbeaters, now cashed-up Kiwis.’…
Opera | Australian (The)
19 July 2003
Kiwi baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes is the Weekend Australian’s cover-boy for his lead role in opera Dead Man Walking, which opens shortly at Adelaide’s Festival Theatre. The opera is based on the story of…
Fashion | International Herald Tribune
19 July 2003
NZer David Lennie is behind a recent renaissance of works by late Australian fabric designer, Florence Broadhurst. As a director of Signature Prints, Lennie discovered an extraordinary collection of Broadhurst’s work from the 196s…
Wine | Daily Yomiuri
19 July 2003
Japan’s Daily Yomiuri tracks the stellar career of NZ’s best known vineyard – Cloudy Bay – in a feature on summery Sauvignons. “NZ zapped into the spotlight in 1985 with Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. The wine…
Writers | Australian (The)
19 July 2003
Brian Boyd-edited Nabokov’s Butterflies, an exploration of Nabokov’s obsession with butterflies that posits Nabokov’s scientific pursuit of lepidoptry as a way of understanding the author more completely, hailed as third culture exemplar in…
Film & TV | Sydney Morning Herald (The) | UpOverDownUnder
18 July 2003
A forum for ex-pat NZ, Australian, and South African amateur filmmakers living in London – the UpOverDownUnder film festival – is now in its third year. Over that time, the festival has…
Writers | National Post
18 July 2003
Ex-NZ Women’s Weekly editor, Sarah-Kate Lynch, interviewed in Canada’s National Post about her first novel – Blessed are the Cheesemakers. The tale of a cheese-making couple and their musical cows has been optioned by…
Visual Arts | Australian (The)
18 July 2003
The Stedelijk Museum curated Colin McCahon retrospective – ‘A Question of Faith’ – reviewed in the Weekend Australian, prior to its opening at the Ian Potter Centre in Melbourne’s Federation Square. Critic Susan McCulloch:…
Music | New York Daily News | New York Post
18 July 2003
NZ-born Carla Werner’s debut album – Departure – proves a moving experience for New York Daily News reviewer, Jim Farber. ” have a compellingly confessional quality … Werner sounds most like a female…
Politics and Economics | mytelus.com
17 July 2003
A new law has been proposed to grant NZ gay and lesbian partners the same rights as those enjoyed by married heterosexual couples. The Civil Union Bill – which is to be voted on later this year…
Music | Rolling Stone
16 July 2003
The Datsuns made their debut appearance at Ozzfest in July – looking, in their words, like a group of “Nancy-boys” amidst a sea of metal. Rolling Stone had a more favourable outlook, describing the…
Visual Arts | BBC News
16 July 2003
Displaced artists and writers from around the world gathered at Auckland University in July for a 3-day conference examining the link between exile and creativity. Organised by Professor Mike Hanne and officially opened by…
Science/Tech | New York Times (The)
15 July 2003
An NYT feature explores the impetus that gave man the edge to evolve from animal to language (the only characteristic that differentiates us from animals). A debate taking in Chomsky and Pinker asks which came first…