NZ Victim of Black May Massacre
An official inquiry has only just been launched into the infamous Thai massacre where Kiwi Brendan Mahoney was almost killed eight years ago. He was staring up towards Bangkok’s democracy monument on a balmy…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Cate Blanchett Talks About Me, My Elf and I
Blanchett, Academy Award nominated for her performance in Elizabeth is in the final stages of filming another Queen, the role of elf Galadriel in Lord of the Rings. Blanchett explains why an attraction to…
Kiwi President of Iconoclastic Toronto Advertising Agency
New Zealander David Fong was earlier this year appointed President of Toronto advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day and along with Creative Director Jamie Way has turned the agencies flagging fortunes around with the attraction of some…
The Panthenon, the Pyramids, Eiffel Tower … Christchurch?
In a Chicago Tribune survey of readers’ favourite man-made destinations, Christchurch came in tied for 14th as the place most readers would like to travel to, ahead of the Taj Mahal, Leaning Tower of Pisa and Disney…
Silence is Regulated Golden
Not doing a great deal to dispel the stereotype of the loud-mouthed ocker, an article on the art and science of noise in the Sydney Morning Herald looks at the menace of noise pollution,…
Anti Spam Crusade
A Palmerston North, New Zealand-based firm ORBS (Open Relay Behaviour-Modification Service) is joining the crusade to save the suffering masses from the indignity of spam. Identifying culpable open servers, ORBS then persuades their administrators to close…
More *Aussies* to join
Putting more Kiwis in Kangeroo skins and calling them Aussies, news.com.au reports that four more ‘Australian’ actors have been added to the cast of George Lucas next Star Wars movie, including Martin Csokas, formerly…
Newzedge Footnote: “I Link Therefore I Am”
Paying tribute to the emblematic (and Kiwi conceived) Arts and Letters Daily, Jenny Lynn Bader writes, “There are entire publications on the Web that are just indexes of other publications … an imaginatively hyperlinked…
The End of an Aussie Icon: Hats off to NZ Scientists
“It just may spell the end of the world’s ugliest headgear: that staple of the Australian tourist shop regular, the cork-fringed hat.” Two researchers from Massey University have developed a technique that kills female fruit flies in…
Guinness Peat Told to Bugger off and Have a Beer
New Zealand listed corporate raider Guinness Peat’s edge proved too sharp at Young & Co (Britain’s oldest brewery), after chairman John Young turned the screws on them using megaphone diplomacy. Despite having support from ‘A’ investors, private…
More Rings Buzz
No, not the Lord of the Rings … amidst speculation about upcoming productions of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, New Zealand soprano Margaret Medlyn has been picked to sing the part of Kundry in the State…
Immunising Roadkill to Protect Livestock?
Imagine a countryside filled with possum traps, not designed to kill, but to entice the pesky pest in for a quick facial spray to vaccinate them against bovine TB. Hailing some edge thinking the Guardian writes: “It…
Cut Along and Make It Your Own Way: Magnificent Cycling on the Road
The South China Morning Post’s took the North to South bicycle route through through the magnificent volcanic landscapes, tumbling glaciers and rugged coastlines of Aotearoa, and reflected back in the office: “Already I was yearning to be…
Rutherford and Oliphant: the Physics of the Affair
From tree-pruning to atom bombs, on the death of physicist Sir Mark Oliphant the Guardian remembers the contribution his friendship with Sir Ernest Rutherford made to Twentieth Century science, ” greatest personal triumphs in science came in…
The Truth is Out There
An international effort to find biological life in the stars, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (‘Sophia’), a joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Centre, will spend two months of every year in New Zealand, the…
Kiwi singer new sensation in INXS
Two years after the death of Michael Hutchence, Australian rock legends INXS have announced that they will return with former Noiseworks lead-singer Kiwi Jon Stevens at the mike. “We’ve got to get on with…
Pass the Budder
The Guardian explores the new linguistic imperialism and the effects of media on language: a New Zealand researcher has found that, under the influence of programmes like Eastenders, increased glottalisation of the dialect has occured….
Wellywood
Hobbits boost the local carpentry trade: “They haven’t begun construction of a new Hollywood sign yet on the steep hills that encircle New Zealand`s capital city of Wellington, but it would not be surprising…
As Good as It Gets? Back in Black!
“The jagged edge is back to New Zealand’s game, the legal violence of execution beneath the blades of the All Black harvester,” writes the Sydney Morning Herald. We couldn’t have said it better. Shell-shocked Aussie captain John…
World Cup Win for Waddell
Kiwi World Champion Rob Waddell confirmed his Gold Medal prospects for the single sculls at the Sydney Olympics by winning the World Cup in Zurich. The Kiwi four also caused a oarsome upset becoming the first…
Xerox CEO Finds Copy of Heaven in Godzone
Asked to describe his most memorable trip, Dodo Cu-Unjieng, CEO of Philippine Fujitsu Xerox, answers (of course): New Zealand. “We were constantly overwhelmed by the beauty of the country. We would comment that when God…
Organic Expert Export
Organic farmer Evelyn Eng-Lim is introducing the organic lifestyle to Singapore and hopes to set an example for other farmers to follow, “If other farmers see that it is commercially viable, then they will be convinced…
Satellite Spies: Big Brother is Watching.
‘Echelon’, a mysterious spy network between the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, has come under fire from the European Union, as well as defenders of civil liberty. The station at Wahopai, in the South…
Kiwi Metric Model
Well, hardly on the edge, but a Canadian tourist bicycling through New Zealand has managed to tear his eyes away from the scenery long enough to notice the benefits of the firm application of the metric…
Bob Charles Swings into History
On the occasion of the millennium British Open the Royal and Ancient celebrated past champions, including Kiwi Bob Charles: “Thirty-seven years after he became the first left-hander to win the title, New Zealander Bob Charles still swings…
Kiwi Curator Appointed to Prestigious Post
Dr Christopher de Hamel has been appointed to one of the world’s most prestigious library posts at Cambridge University’s Parker Library. Formerly a senior valuer at Sothebys, de Hamel is the first Donnelly Fellow…
Shipping Undesirables Off to the Colonies
New Zealander Sam Chisholm, deputy chairman of the New Millennium Experience Commission, operator of the beleaguered Millennium Dome, is supporting a proposal to ship contents of the Dome to the Sydney Olympic complex, including the giant pink…
“The Greatest Game Ever Played? This One’s the Winner”
A world record crowd at Stadium Australia witnessed what was acclaimed as one of the great test matches. A waltzing Jonah scored the winning try in injury time in a miraculous end to a thrilling match,…
Scotland Looks for the Edge
Facing dwindling tourism numbers and the problem of how to overcome the bad service and the apocryphal deep-fried Mars bars, the Scotsman’s Peter Irvine is looking to the edge: “one threat to tourism in Scotland comes from…
So Far – So Good
The discerning readers of the Guardian and Observer have voted New Zealand as their favourite long-haul travel destination. “It is the Caribbean and the English countryside, Antarctica and California, Sydney and Gleneagles all rolled into one….
Bean Says Boromir No Gamble in Lord of the Rings
Sean Bean has trodden the tightrope between Hollywood Bond villain and small budget independent movies enough times to know that the movie world has its ups and downs, but he says “it’s definitely worth…
“It’ll make Star Wars look like a weekend in the lavatory”
Ian Holm, the British actor who plays Bilbo Baggins, oozes enthusiasm about Peter Jackson’s big-budget adaptation of the Lord of the Rings. “There are 130 special effects people and it’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant.”
Rogue Paquin: mutant rebel with a cause
Paquin stars in Bryan Singer’s blockbuster adaptation of the comic X-Men. In the high tech parable of good and evil, Paquin offers “a surprisingly poignant performance.” Expressing well the hazards of being an adolescent…
Firmly at the Front of the Nu-skool Jazz and Beats Movement
On the verge in London, Mark de Clive-Lowe’s album Six Degrees continues to spread the vibe. ” has assembled a collection of spacy tracks ornamented by his elegant Rhodes commentary. Popular on the…
The Art of Selling Nothing: Cashing in on Kiwi Fresh Air
New Zealand’s tourism campaigns play on the myth of its clean, green image, but soon the truth may be stranger than fiction. A proposal for clean air producers, such as New Zealand, to sell “carbon sinks”…
The Man Who Saved Britain
“If ever one man won the Battle of Britain, he did.” On the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain TheTimes remembers the New Zealander who was the key man in defending Britain and Malta during…
Golden Kiwi
Zespri gives the Kiwifruit the golden touch, hoping to strike it lucky in the lucrative American market. The new yellow cultivar is, “much like the green variety on the outside, but its mustard-hued flesh has a custardy…
The New Zealand Presence at Wimbledon
Unfortunately it wasn’t a tennis player: “New Zealand’s profound influence on international sport goes beyond the haka and influencing the bidding of World Cup football finals. Consider, for example, Aorangi Park, the area of the All England…
Fast Cat Dalton Borne on the Scud of the Sea
The New York Times scuds along at 31 knots on board the world’s quickest ocean-going sailboat. For Club Med, skippered by Kiwi Grant Dalton pushing the boundaries of speed is plain-sailing: “You never get sick…
Kiwis Have the Secret to Animal Magnetism
It sounds like a line from a bad personal ad, but a team of New Zealand biologists, led by Dr. Michael Walker, in an upcoming issue of Nature, report findings from innovative research into ‘the sixth…
Kiwi Behind the Scenes Racing Legend
“She is perfect and I think most people agree.” Efficiency, accuracy, reliability and above all loyalty are the words the Sydney Morning Herald uses to describe Sue Hutchinson, the first female to hold the position of…
God Save Thee, Ancient Mariner!
The mariner soon learnt his lesson, but it doesn’t seem to have rubbed off on today’s fishermen, with one of the world’s most majestic seabirds threatened with extinction from long-line fishing, and environmental and habitat pollution. The…
Lovebug the Secret to On-line Advertising
Internet advertising that works has become the advertising industry’s holy grail. Futurist Kevin Roberts says that solution remains the same as always: good web advertising will play on emotional connections. Roberts cites examples that…
Ray the Negotiator
Accused of taking illegal photos from the roof of her truck, Englishwoman abroad Lindsay Hawdon found herself at the mercy of the Ugandan Army while touring Africa. It took the calm thinking of her Kiwi driver…
The real Gauguin? A hairy question
Four hairs stuck in a depiction of an outrigger canoe on a harbour may help decide whether an oil painting is the work of Paul Gauguin. A New Zealand family claims that the painting…
How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People
Yes! we can finally tell you how to be the better you: the Dallas Morning Herald business section offers their guide to summertime self-improvement, including this “top investment” from Harry Mills of Lower Hutt, Artful Persuasion: How…
Fcuk Judge Graffiti
Singapore is in uproar over an advertising campaign for a British clothing company that uses a certain four-letter word, yet as the Straitstimes reports, judges in New Zealand have been scribbling it on their folders for…
Ian Athfield: last of the intelligent bohemians
As if the rugby wasn’t enough: renowned Australian playwright Alex Buzo advances our architect fair, calling Athfield a member “of a species now extinct in Australia, the intelligent bohemian.” Getting all postmodern about phonebooks,…
“I Never Thought the World Cup Was So Important to So Many People.”
Call it Kiwi modesty, call it naive call of the week, but we had to mention it somewhere. After all it may not be New Zealand’s proudest, or smartest, moment, but in terms of international achievements…
New Zealand weaned spin-king appointed to Buckingham Palace
We are amused – a colonial has been given the job of putting spin on the damming corgi stories (head of public relations for HM the Q). Currently head of communications for British Airways,…
Sign of the Times
A Transit New Zealand road sign in the South island, linking the towns of Clinton and Gore, is attracting the attention of the White House.
John Clarke Throws a Gumboot at Australian PM
New Zealand comedian John Clarke has demonstrated “speechwriting at its finest” in the ABC TV spoof about the Sydney Olympics, The Games. Penning the words for John Howard, actor, Clarke showed John Howard, Prime…
Sun, sea, sand and … guns: Palm Beach Hotel (Gaza)
New Zealand journalist Phil Reeveson, writing for the Independent, visits the chaotic and ‘screwed up’ Gaza Strip – the conflicted strip of land between Egypt and Israel. Including a visit to a Jewish luxury…
Chris Cairns Nominated for International Cricketer of the Year
Daniel Vettori was also nominated for International Young Cricketer of the Year. Unfortunately the Aussies took out the double with Glenn McGrath and Brent Lee taking the respective awards.
Classy Champagne
New world producers, with the help of the champagne houses, are producing great tasting sparkling wines that are making the originals uncomfortable. Leading the bunch is Daniel Le Brun, making “some rich, classy Kiwi bubbles.”
Te Whaea opens Options
Options, a tertiary dance festival for Australian and New Zealand students held in Sydney, was joined on its gala day by the New Zealand School of Dance. The Kiwi dancers shone in a generally…
