Michel Tuffery Invites Sydney to Siamani Samoa
New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery joined forces with the Royal Samoa Police Band, who were in Sydney playing outside the Pacific Islands for the first time, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end…
Tag Archives: Guardian (The)
Flight of the Conchords Role Models for Success
Flight of the Conchords stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are California-born stand-up comedian Arj Barker’s role models, he tells the Guardian. Barker, who is best known for his role as pawnshop owner Dave in…
Everest to Open the Venice Film Festival
“Everest, a new movie about the two rival missions up the mountain in 1996, has been chosen as the opening night film of this year’s Venice film festival – a spot which has recently proved…
People Age at Wildly Different Rates Study Shows
Tests done in Dunedin on physiological markers in nearly 1000 38-year-olds has found that some had biological ages many years older than their birthdates would suggest. The research confirms that people grow old at…
All Blacks Coach Steve Hansen Now a Samoan Chief
Three-times World Rugby Coach of the Year New Zealander Steve Hansen, 56, has been named an honorary high chief, or matai, of Vaiala village in Samoa, a day after his All Blacks team beat…
Andrew Niccol Gets Green Light for Monopoly Script
Writer of The Truman Show, New Zealand-born Andrew Niccol has been hired to script the Monopoly movie, which will be a co-production between the game manufacturer Hasbro and Lionsgate. The companies called it “a film…
UMO Ringleader Ruban Nielson Gets Personal
Ruban Nielson’s private life provided the conditions under which Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s latest LP Multi-Love came together. But the album is much more than the sum of its body parts, the Guardian’s Kate Hutchinson…
New Zealand Drivers Come First and Second for Porsche in Le Mans 24 Hours Race
New Zealand racers Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley, driving for Porsche, have come first and second in the Le Mans 24 Hours Race ending Audi’s five year winning streak. The winning Porsche “had both pace…
Unknown Katherine Mansfield Poems Found in Chicago Library
Nearly 30 unknown poems by Katherine Mansfield have been discovered in Chicago’s Newberry Library, giving fresh insight into the writer’s most painful and difficult period, the evidence for which she had later destroyed. Gerri Kimber,…
Rugby World Mourns Former All Black Jerry Collins
Reaction has poured in from the rugby world with the death of former All Blacks captain Jerry Collins, a “giant of the world game”, who died in a car crash in France. He was…
UMO’s Third Effort Has Added Whoa Factor
“Oregon-based New Zealander Ruban Nielson is already known for being an offbeat operator, providing psychedelic takes on 70s soul and deeply fried 60s pop on two previous albums,” Guardian reviewer Kitty Empire writes. “For UMO’s…
Have Faith in Lorde She Knows What’s She’s Doing
Lorde’s “gender and her age – coupled with her self-assuredness – are both reasons” the 18-year-old singer “attracts perhaps more than her fair share of scrutiny, including from ‘truthers’ who maintain she’s at least…
More Australians Moving to NZ than Vice Versa
In April, for the first time in more than two decades, more Australians relocated to New Zealand to live than vice versa. The number of New Zealanders crossing the Tasman has dropped by more…
Australia’s Top Chef Ben Shewry Saved by a Fisherman
New Zealand-born Ben Shewry’s Melbourne restaurant Attica is admired all over the world over – but success did not make him happy, and he nearly walked away from the kitchen. Until he was saved…
Fifteen Quirky Contenders for a New NZ Flag
New Zealand is appealing to the public to design and vote on a new flag. The Guardian features 15 examples that are are “as weird and wonderful as you’d expect.” “There’s an internet joke, perpetuated…
Lydia Ko to Donate Winnings to Disaster-Struck Nepal
New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko is planning to donate all her winnings from this week’s LPGA tournament to the relief effort in quake-hit Nepal. The winner of this week’s tournament will receive $A 243,400. The golfing…
Rotoroa Island a Bold Wildlife Experiment
Rotoroa Island in the Hauraki Gulf is tiny, at just 82 hectares, but don’t let its diminutiveness fool you: big things are happening here. Over the past few years the island has become the…
Jess Cornelius Releases New Track Ahead of Courtney Barnett Tour
“New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Jess Cornelius is the tour de force behind Teeth & Tongue, and returns with a rollicking new track ‘Cupcake’,” Monica Tan writes for the Guardian’s weekly “Mixtape” column. “Although recorded in…
Shushila Takao Stars in Cook Island-Set Thriller Tatau
Like many of the cast of BBC3’s new supernatural thriller Tatau, Shushila Takao is a New Zealander. She stars alongside British newcomers Joe Layton and Theo Barklem-Biggs as Aumea in the television…
Hawke’s Bay – “A Must-Visit Corner of New Zealand”
“If you tell a Kiwi you’re off to (Hawkes Bay), they’ll respond with a knowing smile and a ‘you lucky thing’”, proclaims Will Macpherson in The Guardian. “Rolling, sun-stained hills, the perfect blue of the…
Kody Nielson Is Another Exciting NZ Music Offering
New Zealand’s “most exciting offerings” of late, according to the Guardian, “have been the warped psychedelia of Connan Mockasin and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Completing this trio of peculiarity is Silicon – also known as…
New Zealand’s “Rock Star Economy” Takes Centre Stage
Australians are going to have to get used to New Zealanders going on about how much better their economy is, according to the Guardian. Paul Bloxham, the HSBC economist who first called New Zealand a…
Daryl Gibson has been appointed Waratahs head coach
Daryl Gibson has been confirmed as the new NSW Waratahs’ head coach for the next three Super Rugby seasons on Thursday April 02. That makes the New Zealander the first foreigner to ever hold…
Brocken Spectre Phenomenon at Girdlestone Peak
A “spooky” Brocken spectre phenomenon, featuring as part of the Guardian’s “Photo Highlights of the Day,” is seen at Girdlestone Peak on Tarn Ridge in the Tararua mountain range. “As dawn breaks, …
Melanie Lynskey Reflects on Realism in Latest Roles
From Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures to HBO’s new television show Togetherness, actor Melanie Lynskey reflects on what 20 years – and Charlie Sheen – have taught her about showbusiness. Jackson’s film introduced not only future…
Andrew Reeve’s Craft Beer Business Honest Brew Delivers
A year ago from his small London apartment, New Zealander Andrew Reeve (pictured far left) launched his startup business Honest Brew. Now, he makes and sells his own craft beer and also…
New Zealand’s English Has a Distinct Linguistic Identity
“New Zealand English is like English, but different. And it’s developing in a direction all of its own,” according to New Zealand copywriter Sam O’Flaherty in a piece for the Guardian. “Tumeke!” “Enough about the…
Luke Willis Thompson Exhibits at NY’s New Museum
Walters Prize recipient, Auckland-based Luke Willis Thompson, 27, is one of 51 young artists participating in New York’s New Museum Generational Triennial, a “hotly anticipated” show which will explore the frontiers of digital technology,…
New Zealander James Lucas Wins Oscar for Short Film
Christchurch-raised James Lucas has won an Oscar in the category Best Live Action Short Film, for his “moving” and “well-deserved” The Phone Call, a star-studded film he co-wrote with friend, Briton Mat Kirkby. “Previous nominee…
BBC’s Adrenalin-Fuelled DJ Zane Lowe Looks Ahead to LA
The “faintly tearful” DJ Zane Lowe, BBC Radio 1’s “most enthusiastic music fan, explains why his stomach is churning at the thought of saying goodbye,” bowing out of the network after 12 years for…
Hagley Oval Integral to Christchurch’s Regeneration
Cricket’s World Cup and the return of top-level sport to Christchurch’s Hagley Park has been integral to the city’s regeneration since the devastating earthquake of 2011, says the Guardian’s Mike Selvey. “To a visiting eye,…
Gill Pattison’s Yangon Gallery Part of Myanmar’s Creative Boom
Owner of Yangon’s River Gallery, New Zealander Gill Pattison is part of the city’s creative boom. Myanmar’s art scene is flourishing since military rule was scaled down in the country. “Life in Myanmar at this…
New Zealand Trounce England at Cricket World Cup
“At the hands of an urgent New Zealand superbly led by Brendon McCullum” Engand’s defeat at the Cricket World Cup in Wellington, “went beyond the realms of simple humiliation and entered that of fantasy,…
Emilia Wickstead’s Trademark Polish Gets a Bit of an Edge
The Duchess of Cambridge and Samantha Cameron are regular clients of fashion designer Emilia Wickstead and would have been able to pick something straight off the catwalk from her morning show at London Fashion…
Zane Lowe to Leave BBC Radio 1 for Apple in US
The presenter of BBC Radio 1’s popular weekday evening music show, Auckland-born DJ Zane Lowe, 41, is moving to the United States after 12 years at the station to take up a role at…
With Bombastic New Single UMO Channel Stately Soulful Music
New Zealand-born Ruban Nielson’s Portland-based three-piece Unknown Mortal Orchestra makes the Guardian’s daily playlist, with their “bombastic” new single Multi-Love. “Such was the oddball beauty of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s introverted second album II that Multi-Love…
NZ Open Their Cricket World Cup in Style
“New Zealand fulfilled the hopes of a capacity crowd, celebrating another landmark in the rebirth of , by defeating Sri Lanka by 98 runs,” the Guardian’s Vic Marks writes. “It was a well-nigh flawless…
Geologists Solve Tectonic Mystery with Explosives
Local geologists may have finally explained how tectonic plates shift by blowing up hundreds of kilograms of dynamite in a 100km line from Glendhu Rocks in the Wairarapa to Queen Elizabeth Park on the…
Eleanor Catton Blasts Critics’ Jingoistic National Tantrum
Award-winning author Eleanor Catton has hit back at figures in New Zealand who reacted with anger to her criticisms of the country’s “neoliberal, profit-obsessed, very shallow, very money-hungry politicians”, describing the vicious attacks she…
Jane Campion’s Sweetie a Beautifully Strange Debut
Writer-director Jane Campion’s “mysterious visual style was showcased” in her 1989 film debut Sweetie, a “left field story about the love-hate relationship between two sisters,” the Guardian’s Luke Buckmaster writes. “Campion has made a career…
Sheep Numbers Fall to Their Lowest for 75 Years
New Zealand has long been the butt of sheep jokes but latest figures show the nation’s woolly flock has slumped to its lowest number since World War II, with numbers dropping by 3.2 per…
New Zealand One of the Year’s Travel Hotspots
“Attention is going to be lavished on New Zealand in 2015 – and it won’t all be Hobbit-related,” according to the Guardian, who include our country on their “holiday hotspots” for the year. “Wellington will…
At Last Martin Phillipps Is Back
At last, The Chills are back and its something of a miracle to meet Martin Phillipps preparing for his first London show with the band for 18 years, Michael Hann reports in the Guardian. The…
Blacks Caps Claim First Win of 2015
The Black Caps won their second test match against the Sri Lankan side yesterday, completing a 2-0 series sweep at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The winning start to the years continues what was the…
Margot Henderson Picks Devilled Crabs for Final Meal
Renowned London chef, New Zealand-born Margot Henderson would take her last meal at a Pictish fort in the Inner Hebrides, “sitting on a pile of rocks overlooking the ocean, and surrounded by family, friends…
It May Just Be the Black Caps Time in the Spotlight
“It was heartening” to see Test cricket return to Christchurch in December, the Guardian’s Mike Selvey writes. “It was fitting, too, that the Black Caps should mark it with a resounding win over Sri…
Paul Ewen’ Latest Novel Brilliant Satire of Booker Set
In his second novel New Zealander Paul Ewen “cranks up his deadpan satirical style through one Francis Plug, and catches a vast array of contemporary Booker prizewinners in his firing line,” Ben Myers writes…
Tami Neilson’s Dynamite Deserves to Explode in US
Virtually unknown in the US, New Zealand-based singer Tami Neilson has accrued awards aplenty in recent years, but with her 2014 album Dynamite she has crafted something truly special that deserves to explode with…
All Black Sensation Dan Carter’s Paris Move a Big Deal
All Black great Dan Carter, 32, is poised to become the world’s highest-paid rugby player when he moves to France after next year’s Rugby World Cup on a three-year deal with Paris club Racing…
Who’s-Who of NZ Sidemen Join Guy Pierce on Debut
An assured, confident debut album draws from Australian actor Guy Pearce’s genuinely appealing voice and a who’s-who of New Zealand sidemen, including Liam Finn regular Jon Mulholland and Tim Finn/Gin Wigmore guitarist Brett Adams. “[The…
Battle of the Five Armies Packs Huge Chain Mail Punch
Upon its release in Britain, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was met with great enthusiasm, with UK newspapers agreeing the New Zealand director has completed his trilogy with verve. “Jackson’s…
Nine Things We’ve Learned about Peter Jackson’s Epic Saga
“Just as there are nine members of the Fellowship, here are nine things we have learned from Peter Jackson’s six-picture behemoth …” Guardian journalist Ryan Gilbey gives us the rundown. “It’s big. But how big?…
John Gallas’ Cat Is the Guardian Poem of the Week
“In this modern take on Baudelaire, a moment of sensual connection with a pet resonates with a lover’s unknowability” in New Zealander John Gallas’ poem, Cat, the Guardian’s “Poem of the week”. “Gallas recently published…
Teen Star James Rolleston on Why He’s “Nothing Flash-As”
The New Zealand actor James Rolleston who impressed in Taika Waititi’s smash hit Boy is back with two new homegrown films that wowed at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. In The Dead Lands Rolleston,…
Britain Can Learn a Lot from NZ’s Healthcare System
The distant shores of New Zealand, which has a broadly similar healthcare system to the UK’s, provides some lessons for Britain’s NHS, writes Robin Gauld, professor of health policy at the University of Otago. “New…
New Zealand Exemplary in Embracing Indigenous Culture
“Can you imagine NBA players performing a Native American grass dance in an act of team solidarity and national unity? In New Zealand, no one bats an eye,” writes Morgan Godfery in…
