League of Their Own
The Aotearoa Maori League team is “modelled on the Maori battalion,” says John Tamihere. “It will be a team of origin not of residence. And that’s great, it doesn’t matter if they’re on Mars, they’re still Maori.”
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Join the army and let the world see you!
New Zealand defence personnel will feature on big screens around the globe – as extras in Lord of the Rings. The soldiers were perfect when the filmmakers needed “big numbers of people who were…
Wright for the Job
The Indian cricket team is looking for a new coach and former New Zealand opener John Wright seems to be the man for the job. The final appointment will be announced before the team’s November tour…
Murderball Awe
New Zealand collected the Bronze at Sydney, impressing with their toughness along the way. “These are the hard men of the Paralympics. New Zealand’s heavily-tattoed Curtis Palmer emerged unscathed from a high-impact collision that sent him somersaulting…
Three Foot Six and still growing
Vanity Fair estimates the cost of Lord of the Rings at NZ$623 million. If correct, Wellington company Three Foot Six is producing the second-most expensive movie ever.
Kiwi-Pom Oggie Oi
Ron Knox, originally of England, now New Zealand, introduced the stadium-filling “Oggie, Oggie, Oggie, Oi, Oi Oi” chant to the ockers. “I wonder if they will send me a gold medal,” says Ron.
A Little to the Right…
New Zealand entrepreneur James Sampson is launching a live sex site based in Christchurch. Viewers will be able to issue instructions to the workers.
Wearable Art to Edinburgh?
Nelson’s Wearable Art Awards “come close to sensory overload … dazzling light displays, innovative props … and the exceptional Wearable Arts creations”. Organisers are hoping to show the creations at the next Edinburgh International…
From Gold to Gold
The sponsor of this year’s Boston Head of the Charles Regatta put up $30,000 prize money for the men’s and women’s sprints. Rob and Sonia Waddell scooped the pool, coming in first and collecting the reward.
Against the Grain
New Zealand scholar Aurelia Mulgan’s The Politics of Agriculture in Japan launches a “brutal assault on antifactual strategies such as rational-choice theory, but also brusque rejection of social science as science”.
Avvid Attention
New Zealand Government Departments can talk to each other with maximum efficiency, thanks to AVVID, “one of the largest end-to-end IP telephony networks in the world.”
Say Fish
Mi’kmaq Indians look to New Zealand’s lead on fishery settlement deals. “Strong, tradeable property rights in fishing can be powerful economic and environmental force,” argues this article.
HRH Touchdown
The Queen will visit her farthest-flung domain in October, 2001. Her visit will provide “an opportunity for New Zealand to mark the impending Golden Jubilee of the Queen’s Reign”.
Great Steaming Geysers!
18 year old Rawiri Waru’s developed a system to check Rotorua’s geysers don’t run out of steam, winning himself a Grand Award and an internship at Bayer AG in Singapore at the Worldwide Young Researchers for…
Conner Cautious
Dennis Conner will be in Auckland contesting the Cup in 2003, but he sure isn’t feeling complacent: “There’s so much depth of talent in New Zealand…They’ll still be difficult to beat, ” he told the NY…
Naked Success
Toa Fraser’s first play, Bare, hits Sydney with “a saltiness that is unmistakably NZ”. Fraser is compared to Raymond Carver and Tom Wolfe, masters of edge and bite.
Well-ing-ton!
Wellington took out the NPC, beating a Canterbury side that fielded 12 AB’s in the starting line up. International stars did their bit for the Lions, with Lomu scoring twice and Cullen setting up for Inoki…
Avian Aphrodisiac
There are only 62 Kakapo in the world, and they don’t always seem that interested in making more. DOC scientists, hoping to see some action from the feather fellows, have concocted a special kind of muesli…
Motoring On
Elva Shepard, 99, passed her re-licensing test. The experienced drivers only fault? A little slow at times, perhaps due to Bubba, her youthful 43-year-old car.
Frankenfood
New Zealand’s Royal Commission on Genetic Engineering is being watched closely as the first chance for citizens of any country to say what they think about Frankenfood.
Top Class
Chopper, New Zealand-born director Andrew Dominik’s acclaimed bio-pic of the maniacal murderer, has received Australian Film Institute noms for Best Film and Best Direction, plus eight other nominations including Best Screenplay (penned by Dominik).
Direct Success
Saatchi & Saatchi’s Access 50/50 campaign for Telecom scooped a Gold International Echo award from the Direct Marketing Association. Auckland’s Aim Direct also won gold, making a tally of two New Zealand firms among…
Choice Joyce
Leilani Joyce, New Zealand #1 since ’97, didn’t drop a game on the way to becoming British Open Champion and World Squash #1. “The plan was quite simple,” says Joyce of her final game against England’s…
Devils’ Playground
“If they were human they would be regarded as severely dysfunctional.” New Zealander Rod Morris on Tasmanian Devils, the stars of The Devil’s Playground, which has won him a Wildscreen Panda – wildlife film’s…
Acing It
Wellington hair maestro Constantin Harach played his cards right to win the Moscow International Poker Tournament Pot Limit Omaha: “Aram rolls over 8K510 and Constantin 6QJA. Constantin’s up and down straight is made with a K…
Kiwi KO
The Black Caps beat India in the ICC knock-out final, making 265 with four wickets and two balls to spare. Chris Cairns, player of the match, got his century in a “heroic performance” that rescued the…
Eco Edge
“Politicians have got used to being told by their clever advisers and focus groups that the environment isn’t sexy. It doesn’t lead to votes. But that’s where the leadership thing comes in. If politics is merely about…
His Way
Road cyclists usually compete in teams for strategy and support. North Hastings 18-year-old Jeremy Yates, the new Junior Men’s Road Cycling World Champion. Yates beat 166 international riders, sprinting the last 4kms of the 127km race in…
E-e-e-e-readiness
Kiwis are on to it online. This has been confirmed by a Vic University study that lists NZ among the top four countries in the world for e-commerce and connectivity. The edge has the world’s fastest…
What Goes Around Comes Around
Hans Schwarz, an Austrian now living in NZ, sailed to Melbourne in 1956, to attend the Olympic Games. He threw a bottle into the ocean, with a note for a “dusky Pacific maiden”. Now, in a typically…
Dr MacDiarmid and His Fantastic Electric Plastic
New Zealand’s Nobel duo becomes a trio; Masterton-born and Wellington-educated chemist Alan MacDiarmid has joined Ernest Rutherford and Maurice Wilkins as a Nobel Prize (chemistry) laureate. MacDiarmid and his two colleagues discovere conductive plastics which have been…
Motor Masala hot fave
Peter Riordan is in contention for the Asia-Pacific Travel writers’ prize. His book, Motorcycle Masala is the story of a journey around India on-you guessed it-a motorcycle. The award will be announced at the…
Cullen a Keeper
Christian Cullen has resisted overseas contracts to concentrate on winning the World Cup for New Zealand in 2003 (which will be held in Australia and New Zealand). “The World Cup is the only thing I haven’t won…
MurderBall
Wheelchair rugby, “Murderball” as it’s known by the players, is the only full contact wheelchair sport at the Paralympics. New Zealand is ranked second, behind the USA.
Speed + Power = KO
That’s the equation chalked on Kiwi David Tua’s wall as the build up to the Tua-Lewis fight continues. In this interview Tua promises to put that equation into practice. He also talks about the importance of…
Repair Bill
New Zealand vet Deborah Saunders describes the revolutioary bill-binding putty she used on Deidre the duck: “it’s nice and hard and keeps the two parts of the bill together and well supported”.
Fine Vintage
1978 was a good year for wine in New Zealand. That’s when John Simes, now winemaker at Mission Hill in Okanagan, Canada, began his career. The Kiwi is one of the “trained and experienced winemakers” imported to…
Multiple murders
Anne Perry, formerly Juliet Hulme of the Parker/Hulme case, tours her latest novel Slaves of Obsession in the States. Perry has authored over thirty best-selling murder mysteries.
Kava Kafuffle
Unusual intoxicant attracts international notice. A Wellington man was picked up for driving erratically after consuming kava, a ceremonial drink in many Pacific Island communities.
Guy Pearce’s Kiwi Dad
Yes, Guy is an Australian (he spent fours years on Neighbours to prove it), but his father was a New Zealander who tested planes for the Royal Air Force. Pearce, also Russell Crowe’s side-kick…
High Stakes
Christchurch Casinos Limited and international affiliate CryptoLogic have debuted Kiwi Casino on the net. Punters drop their dollars surrounded by “the exotic sub-tropical rainforests of New Zealand”.
Edge into Growth
Canadian design guru Bruce Mau created “An incomplete Manifesto for Growth” in 1998. “The oddest thing I heard was that a New Zealand company had used the manifesto on its website,” says Mau.
The Gravy Train Will Now Depart …
Some members of the Penang Municipal Council enjoyed a recent trip to Adelaide, but not everyone got to go. Those who missed out launched a protest campaign, ending in a working paper being prepared on the…
Phar Lap Not Spiked
A mystery finally solved. Phar Lap, the new bio of the legend concludes that he was not poisoned as previously suspected. His death in America was due to duodenitis proximal jejunitis, a disease not identified until 1983.
Sia in America
Samoan New Zealander Sia Figiel reads from her second book, They Who Do Not Grieve (US edition forthcoming). Figiel won the Commonwealth Writers’ Best First Book Prize for Where We Once Belonged.
Golden Deeds
Catherine Chidgey, novelist and editor, won the Pacific Commonwealth Best First Book award for In a Fishbone Church. Golden Deeds, her second novel has been published by Picador, leading publishers of contemporary fiction world-wide.
Perfect Pinot
An ever-increasing variety of New Zealand wines are being enjoyed and celebrated throughout the world. Al Bassano recommends our Pinot Noir.
TAPping into Productivity
Synapse TAP, the alternative computer input system designed by Kiwi Neil Scott of Stanford, doesn’t just allow disabled workers to perform jobs: TAP’s voice and gesture-guided system gives users a edge over their able-bodied counterparts.
Wright for the Job
John Wright has secured the national cricket coaching spot in India. Wright’s command begins just before Zimbabwe tour India later this month.
V Good
New Zealand company Frucor, dominant in the NZ and Australian energy drinks market, feels V ready to compete with international behemoth Coca-Cola. “We believe we can grow the market fivefold in Australia,” says CEO Mark Cowsill.
Miracle Flightless
Since 1984, New Zealand has undergone “the most comprehensive economic reform programme undertaken by any OECD country in recent decades”. Not all the results have been bright: “Looking back over the past 15 years, you would have…
LA Love
The LA Times runs a triumvirate of New Zealand travel features: Compact New Zealand, Wellington and comment from Fabio, King of Hearts: “They have the most amazing lakes. They’re huge and as deep as the mountains are high”.
Kiwi Water Winner
The gold medal in women’s 470 sailing class at Sydney went to Australia – with a Kiwi doing the work. New Zealander Jenny Armstrong teamed up with Barbara Stowell, originally from Zimbabwe, to win Australia’s 50th medal.
Moa Manipulation
Digital manipulation is an example of Stephen Jay Gould’s ‘Great Asymmetry’: creation takes much longer than destruction or consumption. “It takes millions or billions of years for evolution to produce a species well-adapted to its environment, while…
See You Latte
Once you’re safely at the cafe, you can order an extra frothy latte, courtesy of a herd of cows deep in the heart of New Zealand. The milk of these cows has been found…
Election Blues
American academics laud MMP: “When New Zealand had its first PR election in 1996, the first Asian citizen was elected, and Pacific Islanders and indigenous Maoris tripled their representation.”
