Blog Archives

Truly, madly, deeply explicit

Truly, madly, deeply explicit

New Zealand actor Kerry Fox visits Sydney to promote her controversial new film, Intimacy and offers this boyfriend-friendly pronouncement on her method: “Its not sex. It’s not lovemaking. It’s pretend”, says Fox of the…

Double Happy

Double Happy

“Deputy chief content producer Peter is celebrating twice. He’s not greedy, he just comes from New Zealand. The Kiwi has already raised a glass as the clock struck midnight in his homeland – 14…

Designer of the Year

Designer of the Year

New Zealander Frances Howie takes top honours at the Smirnoff International Fashion Awards, the world’s largest showcase of new designer talent. The $115,000 first prize includes automatic acceptance into the renowned Central Saint Martins…

NZ Among Ten Most Competitive

NZ Among Ten Most Competitive

New Zealand ranks amongst the ten most competitive countries in the world, according to a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF). New Zealand perches at #10 on the index, which the WEF argues is…

Kiwi Designers Spruce Up

Kiwi Designers Spruce Up

Zeitgiest wunderkind Tyler Brule, founder of the phenomenally successful Wallpaper magazine, launches an even more exclusive title: Spruce. A bi-annual publication focusing on the very best of global fashion, it’s no suprise that two…

September 11

September 11

New Zealanders and Australians unite in New York City to share their grief at the loss of antipodean lives on September 11th. Kiwi Alan Beaven, a leading environmental lawyer based in California, was on the hijacked plane that…

Galaxy Star

Galaxy Star

NZ professional soccer player Simon Elliot kicked his first goal of the season – and ensured his Los Angeles Galaxy team victory in front of 17, fans.  

Lord of the Spin-Offs

Lord of the Spin-Offs

“The adventures of Frodo Baggins and Gandalf the wizard are proving so lucrative to HarperCollins that, without spending a penny on promotion or marketing, they have seen sales of the books soar by 400…

Archived Story

Archived Story

Drilling and hammering continued right up to opening, but the Jewish Museum in Germany is at last open. It is the culmination of an intense period of work for Ken Gorbey and Nigel Cox,…

The Pacific Petri Dish

The Pacific Petri Dish

The Australian takes an editorial swipe at the Triple Bottom Line approach advocated at New Zealand’s Knowledge Wave Conference. Paul Kelly believes “New Zealand today raises loud alarm bells for an Australian.”  

The X-factor

The X-factor

From sword and sorcery to the paranormal, Lucy Lawless moves from Xena to The X-Files, where “we’re thrilled to work with Lucy, whose work we’ve admired for a long time,” says X-Files producer…

Underground S&M

Underground S&M

Q&A with Emily Perkins, including her worst fear – “it’s a tie between black-water rafting and those SM zip masks. So I guess being on a black-water raft with everyone wearing those masks would…

Once More Around the Track

Once More Around the Track

Driving-man New Zealander Scott Dixon turns twenty-one, old enough to have a drink to celebrate being the youngest-ever winner in major open-wheel racing.  

#43 New Zealand Heroes

#43 New Zealand Heroes

Edge Message #43 from Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM TO NEW ZEALAND EDGE GLOBAL COMMUNITY Today in HEROES we offer you the story of Joseph Nathan, a New Zealand entrepreneur with extraordinary foresight. In 1906 he founded…

Easy-over or Sunnyside Up?

Easy-over or Sunnyside Up?

Which ever way you flip it, global warming will affect every part of New Zealand – but perhaps we’re among the lucky ones?

The New IT Kiwis

The New IT Kiwis

“We should be treating any skilled, IT-qualified immigrant to New Zealand like gold,” says Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce head Michael Barnett.

Dame Kiri in Greece

Dame Kiri in Greece

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, “a woman with an exotic beauty and – beyond any doubt – an absolutely stunning voice” who “personifies the modern version of a diva most completely” talks about her roles,…

Best Beaches

Best Beaches

New Zealand Beaches: solitude, expanse, beauty. The best. “At the back of the beach was a huge whale vertebra, bleached and scoured by the surf. I took a break on a huge log facing the sun,…

Finn forum

Finn forum

Neil Finn at the Forum: “It was magic. It was intimate, it was funny. And above all, reverential”. Also, Finn in Sydney.

Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura

When is a pin-hole camera a pen-hole camera? When the person issuing the instructs has a strong New Zealand accent…

Mussels and joints

Mussels and joints

Sore joints? Eat New Zealand green-lipped mussels, or take a pre-processed extract.

Docu Prize

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 .

Pregnant pause

Pregnant pause

Hold the show, my wife’s having a baby cried Jeff Knight of Christchurch’s Court Theatre.

Win at Cardiff

Win at Cardiff

New Zealand brings home the Welsh title and overall series crown.  

Lego-ality of Language Hi-jack?

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.

Vintage reporter

Vintage reporter

Eric Young: kiwi journalist with one eye on the game, one on his glass.

Driving Miss Dotty

Driving Miss Dotty

New Zealand truck driver Neil Russell found two damp felines (Dotty and Smokey) clinging to the underside of his lorry when he pulled into the Chelsea Flower Show.

Magic Lives On

Magic Lives On

Six years ago the Black Magic team completed their historic 5-0 sweep of the America’s Cup.

Lording it at Cannes

Lording it at Cannes

Which was hotter – the Rings preview or the bash after? Twenty minutes of Rings footage had seasoned critics standing to applaud; the party, complete with sets shipped from New Zealand, was the one ticket…

Small Country with a Big Attitude

Small Country with a Big Attitude

“Recent history shows that the New Zealand government, especially with Clark’s own Labour Party at the helm, has not shied away from David and Goliath-like confrontations. The feisty nation arguably made its first proper international splash…

No Free Trade Free Lunch

No Free Trade Free Lunch

“There is no short cut, and we should not fool ourselves that some deal will come down from above. The only round we can launch is one that WTO members across the spectrum can identify with…

Netjetters in New Zealand

Netjetters in New Zealand

Two of the Guardian’s globe-trotting “Netjetters” are lassoed by Aotearoa’s lures and both have trouble getting back on the plane. Sue jetboats in Queenstown, visits her first rodeo and is “very sorry to leave” and Milly finds…

Jumping Jackie Flash

Jumping Jackie Flash

Australia’s Sports Minister and Howard political protégé, New Zealand-born Jackie Kelly ducks the limelight after “a huge year”.

Cup Buzz

Cup Buzz

The City of Sails is still high on the America’s Cup – and not showing any signs of slowing down before the next one.

Cold Daring

Cold Daring

What better guide through the frozen continent that “a New Zealander who, in younger days, had driven motorcycles across the ice pack and sampled the 80-year-old cocoa from the stores left in the hut of the…

Vagana Bio

Vagana Bio

New Zealander Joe Vagana, “one of the best packmen in the world”, is set to be a star with English club Bradford Bulls.  

Judgement in Paradise

Judgement in Paradise

Retired New Zealand  Appeal Court judges Sir Maurice Casey and Sir Ian Barker lead the judicial charge for democracy in Fiji.  

Great Spinner

Great Spinner

New Zealand-born Clarrie Grimmet’s 216 wickets from 37 tests earned him a place in Australia’s pantheon, despite a rift with the big man of Australian cricket.

Sydders Running

Sydders Running

The Sydney Half-Marathon turns ten. Back in 1996, New Zealand woman Nyla Carroll won the women’s section so fast the official nearly missed her dash over the finish line.  

Face the Message

Face the Message

New Zealand tech-designers LifeFX’s Facemail programme spreads the word about a deal with major photo company Kodak.

Thar’ She Blows!

Thar’ She Blows!

New Zealand representatives at the International Whaling Commission are keeping up the pressure for a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary.

Defending Champ

Defending Champ

Michael Campbell came from behind to retain his title at the 2001 Heineken Classic in Perth.

Dalton Speaks

Dalton Speaks

“Home, however briefly, is beckoning. We should be through the Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands of my home country, New Zealand, in four days and that means we will, as far as I…

Political Thrills

Political Thrills

“I felt that this picture was made for me, because I love politics and I love making thrillers,” says Kiwi-spawned director Roger Donaldson of  missile-drama Thirteen Days, reviewed as “a sleek, fast and…

Ed for Heights

Ed for Heights

“I was frequently scared and often tired, but there were few moments I would have willingly missed,” says Sir Edmund Hillary in the biography for children, Triumph on Everest.

Watch for the Splash

Watch for the Splash

MIR is scheduled to descend into the South Pacific “up to 2000 kilometres (1 250 miles) off the coast of Australia…the same distance off the coast of Australia are New Zealand, the French territory of…

Suckler

Suckler

New Zealand suckler cows may be the key to enhancing upland beef production in Scotland.

Ice Ice Baby

Ice Ice Baby

Extreme sport doesn’t come any cooler: -10º, ice bergs and hurricane-strength winds face three New Zealanders kayaking around the Antarctic peninsula.

Neil plugged in

Neil plugged in

New Zealand maestro Neil Finn talks live, performs and announces the launch of his new website.  

Youth Voice

Youth Voice

Wellington’s youth council is part of the international phenomenon of youth engagement, pushing youngsters into leadershipand decision making roles.  

Blue Star Buyout

Blue Star Buyout

International book-giant W H Smith is in negotiations to buy Whitcoull’s, New Zealand’s largest book-sellers.

Birth blocked

Birth blocked

New Zealand website Calendargirls’ planned broadcast of a live birth on Christmas day was stymied by a high court ruling.

First Time

First Time

Christchurch Casino has placed a clock in its gaming room – a first for the industry, which usually likes punters to forget the outside world exists.

Amazon Crowe

Amazon Crowe

The “Delight-O-Meter” puts Gladiator at the top on Amazon.com.

Nuclear Protest

Nuclear Protest

ANZAC protest flotilla to confront Tasman-bound shipment of nuclear waste in early 2001.

Beery Good

Beery Good

“Beer makes people more sociable in an increasingly unsociable world. Beer, particularly for the Aussies, is something of an icon, so I’m very well aware of the responsibility,” says Scot Gordon Cairns, the man taking New…