Times Past
It was fourteen years ago today that Captain Kirk got the boys to play, winning the inaugural Rugby World Cup at Eden Park.
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Gone Fishing
Maori fishing rights seen as inspiration for other indigenous groups negotiating for sea rights.
Nests Bearing Fruit
Over half the world’s languages are under threat. Maori initiatives such as Kohanga reo (language nests), where elders teach children whose parents don’t speak the language, are seen as a model for other struggling cultures to…
Big Cheese (and Milk)
Taking on the world’s food ingredients multinationals, New Zealand farmers vote to merge NZ dairy Group and Kiwi Cooperative Dairies to form Global Dairy Co., a company that will be the ninth largest dairy company in…
Scholar honoured
New Zealand novelist, poet, critic and scholar Professor Karl Stead awarded an honorary doctorate by Bristol University.
Milking Size
Global Dairy Co. New Zealand’s newly-formed giant dairy company looks to the Australian industry for further expansion. Also, we want to be fifth in the world, size-wise, says Global Dairy Company chairman John Roadley.
Ancient forest
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World filmed in New Zealand “where there are still forests that resemble those of the Cretaceous Period when the great dinosaurs walked the land”.
Difficulty in the holy land
Dame Kiri in Israel “to do music”. “I love things that are difficult. I love looking for new arias and presenting them to the public,” said edge voice Dame Kiri.
Improv queen
Miss Wonder drags herself out to promote New Zealand comedy group the Improv Bandits at the Montreal Fringe Festival.
Milford Enchants
Beautiful scenery and dare-devil flying over “a serene sea-loch towered over by glossy, beech-clad pyramidal peaks”.
Seeds of Learning
New Zealand plant expert Doctor Warwick Harris lectures in Seattle on the Christchurch Botanical gardens.
Camera Obscura
When is a pin-hole camera a pen-hole camera? When the person issuing the instructs has a strong New Zealand accent…
Sister Joyce
James Joyce was the pre-eminent modernist prose stylist; his sister was a devout Catholic nun who spent her life praying for his soul and “witnessing at the ends of the earth” – New Zealand.
And Why…
“There was a moment halfway up the Coromandel Peninsula, only a couple of hours out of Auckland, when I felt that this was as good as it gets. But there was plenty of competition for that…
He Makes Me Lie Down in Green Pastures
“This New Zealand guy who came into my shop gave me the seeds. He was like the Jesus Christ of cannabis: long-haired, blue-eyed, a big healer. Fortunately, he told me the potential of the seeds. They…
Compensation Won
International interest raised by Waitangi Tribunal ruling on compensation for Moriori descendents of survivors of the 1835 Chathams massacre.
Donuts to the World
Krispy Kreme donut king, Kiwi Don Henshall talks cautious expansion for the American icon.
Nipple Insulation
Cold nipples – slip on some possum skin nipple warmers to ensure you don’t stand out from the crowd.
Talking Turkey
New Zealand farmer’s groups are a model of co-operation in preparing for the ups and downs of the agricultural sector.
Mussels and joints
Sore joints? Eat New Zealand green-lipped mussels, or take a pre-processed extract.
Rock art
New Zealander Chris Grosz designed tour posters for promoters Michael Coppel and Zev Isaac, producing pop art-influenced images. “I wanted the posters to stand up and be proud – bright and strong, in full…
Cutting Edge Commercials
Saatchi & Saatchi’s “Bugger” ad shows the creativity that will save TV advertising says Jim Aitchinson’s Cutting Edge Commercials.
Blast from the Past
Edge inventor Paul Williams’ gasification technology leads the way in turning waste into energy.
Golden Shooter’s Last Shot
Malcolm Cooper started his small-bore rifle career in New Zealander and went on to shoot double Olympic gold for Britain, but lost the battle with cancer. Malcolm Cooper: 20 December 1947 – 9 June 2001
Docu Prize
New Zealand co-production Wild Asia: Creatures of the Thaw wins Canada’s Banff Television Festival President’s Prize, worth C$25 000 .
Hairy Summer
On the track of the elusive ape-drape, found among “isolated sporting tribes such as New Zealand rugby league players, Czech speedway riders and the pantomime grizzlies of the Worldwide Wrestling Foundation”.
Tough Fight
New Zealand Maori “arguably the most committed and technically sound rugby race on the planet” threaten world champions Australia on their home turf. Also, NZ Maori match a focus for Sydney’s Maori community.
Bat to Beat All
Best place to pick up a custom made stick to make sixes? New Zealand maker James Laver “just the sort of man one would want to make one’s bat”.
Edge Composer
Douglas Lilburn “gave the music of New Zealand its own distinctive voice”. His fine work brought him international recognition as a significant composer. Douglas Lilburn: 2 November 1915 – 6 June 2001
The loved one
Yale University based NZ playwright Julie Mckee’s one-act play about death and two maidens, Invitation to a Funeral, well reviewed in NYT: “a wonderfully wry trip to the funeral parlor” about two women…
Founder Found
The lost grave of Denis Hoben, founder of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, uncovered in Sydney.
And to Wash it Down…
Serving salad? Drink New Zealand Sauvignon, also just the ticket with artichokes and asparagus. National Post features refreshing Fairhill Downs Sauvignon and classy Palliser Estate Pinot.
The Mouse Who Roared
New biography on New Zealand-born WWII hero Nancy Wake (the White Mouse), who “although the most feminine of women, fought like five men”.
Lost at Sea
June 8 is the anniversary of the death by drowning of Richard Seddon, Prime Minister of New Zealand 1893-1906.
Thought for Today
“I do believe one ought to face facts. If you don’t they get behind you and may become terrors, nightmares, giants, horrors. As long as one faces them one is top dog.” –
Pregnant pause
Hold the show, my wife’s having a baby cried Jeff Knight of Christchurch’s Court Theatre.
If You Can’t Beat ’em, Eat ’em
“We need to take millions of possums out of circulation, not just nibble at it,” said Tauranga farmer Bryan Bassett-Smith promoting Possyum, the possum meat dog food he hopes will solve New Zealand’s marsupial woes.
Dawn Ceremony
Maori dancers performed a traditional dawn ceremony opened by a conch shell in St Mark’s Square, Venice, to celebrate New Zealand’s participation in the Art Biennale.
Boyish Blair
Ex-Labourite, New Zealander Bryan Gould comments on the man who runs Britain: “When I see him on television now, he still seems very young to me – just as he was in 1983, refreshingly boyish, wet…
All that is golden…
The Lord of the Rings (the book) – boyish fantasy or “true myth” that is a modern masterpiece?
Foxing the censors
“Marvel at the ever-brilliant Kerry Fox” in style bible i-D mag’s guide to the ‘future of cinema’. Fox’s raw performance in Intimacy won her best actress at the Berlin Film; i-D suggests that the…
Architectural Taste
Te Mata Estate’s Buck House included in a review of good winery architecture – buildings that, like the wine, reflect and are inspired by the region. Designed by Ian Athfield, the “series of honest, non-fussy buildings” fuses…
Intimacy and anguish
New Zealand actress Kerry Fox’s award-winning work in Intimacy continues to generate curiosity, awe and pursed lips: Getting Intimate in the Sunday Times; Truely, madly, explicitly in The Observer and Hanif…
Jumped
A.J. Hackett – the edge entrepreneur and adrenalin junkie who took bungee from a bridge in Queenstown to the world – profiled as pioneering legend of ‘American'(!) adventure sport in this month’s Vanity Fair.
Don’t Bank on British Security
NZ is light years ahead of Britain for banking security. “I don’t want to sound like a homesick Antipodean”, writes Charlotte Denny, “but ever since I arrived here 10 years ago, the true awfulness of the British…
Lego-ality of Language Hi-jack?
Intellectual property Lawyer and “defender of Maori culture” Maui Solomon challenges the right of Danish toy-maker Lego to use Polynesian words in its new game Bionicle.
Doctor Nurse
“There is not many people I take my hat off to, but I take my hat off to Olly. She is one of the best sisters we have ever had,” says Wanaaring local Jimmy Skinner…
