New Zealand

The Musket Room: Bar Dining and an Early Look

If it's still light outside, you can look through the two-room dining room of the Musket Room, which opened at 265 Elizabeth Street two weeks ago, and see a lush courtyard, a quiet, verdant oasis that backs up to the window on the back wall. The view imparts a mellow vibe, and if you want (and the t ... More >>

The Best Reissues of 2012

As I sit and watch the year end lists of best reissues virtually pile up on the laptop, I can't help but be reminded of something my Uncle Lech once said to me many X-Masses ago when we were down in his basement jamming some Bobby Vinton. As his light up speakers twinkled and pulsed in my periphera ... More >>

Free Will Astrology: November 14-20, 2012

STRANGE WAYS

Unknown Mortal Orchestra 
check in at Glasslands

Tomorrow: Our 10 Best Lamb Dishes

Will the gloriously squishy sheep testicles at Kavkaz make the cut? Lamb is the meat of the hour. While many Americans used to eschew the flesh as "too strongly flavored," most New York diners now proclaim its mildly assertive flavor as "just right." Of course, when you're talking about namby-pamb ... More >>

The Naked and Famous

Throwing Up

Drunk Online Shopping Will Save This Wretched Economy!

Credit card debt? What credit card debt? Oh, pour yourself another drink. The latest fun -- and healthy! -- thing we're all doing under the influence of a little boozin' is...shopping on our own personal computers, from home, at night, after a hard day's work, with the jug of wine next to us. In a f ... More >>

The Vinatta Project's Michael "Kiwi" Camplin on His Ideal Dinner Party: Interview Part 2

Photo courtesy Michael CamplinMichael Camplin needs some sleep​Yesterday we spoke with Michael "Kiwi" Camplin, chef at the new Meatpacking District restaurant the Vinatta Project, about his upbringing in New Zealand and the intricacies of creating a small plates menu. Today we get a bit more p ... More >>

The Vinatta Project's Michael "Kiwi" Camplin on Moving to New York and Cooking in the Old Florent Space

Photo courtesy Michael CamplinJust call Michael Camplin "Kiwi"​The Mulberry Project has gained a boozy following largely because of its bespoke cocktail program which lets imbibers pick several favorite flavors and the bartender does the rest. Complementing the cocktails is a menu of small pla ... More >>

Ask the Critics: New Zealand Cuisine -- Does It Exist in New York?

Fancy some hokey pokey ice cream?​Sarah M. asks: I just got back from a trip to New Zealand and loved it. What are New York's top spots for Kiwi cuisine? Dear Sarah: Unfortunately, New York doesn't boast many New Zealand restaurants. In fact, I only know of three. But they're definitely wort ... More >>

Kiwiana's Mark Simmons Will Show You What New Zealand Is Made of

chefmarksimmons.com​Mention New Zealand cuisine to an American, and you're likely to be met with a blank stare. Beyond the odd kiwi fruit and jars of Marmite, even many of our self-proclaimed dining sophisticates can't conceptualize what such food might entail. But if Mark Simmons has anything ... More >>

Beer Drinkers Are Tastier to Mosquitoes; Winemakers Take to Plastic

​What is it about the subtle pleasure of Kölsch, asks Eric Asimov? "Well, it's a snappy and beautifully refreshing golden ale, bright without being overbearing." Doesn't that sound nice? [NY Times] Carlsberg, which is mostly known for light lagers, is gearing up to launch Carlsberg Elephant, ... More >>

Ailing Penguin Stuck in New Zealand Offered Ride Home Or Spot At SeaWorld

​Happy Feet, a young emperor penguin, is stranded in New Zealand. It (scientists haven't determined if the bird is male or female) arrived there last Monday, its appearance being the first time in 44 years that an emperor penguin has been spotted in New Zealand. All is not well. Happy Feet fel ... More >>

Will Smith: Not Dead

He can hear you spreading those rumors, you know. ​Meanwhile, on the other side of the fake stories about celebrity mortality spectrum, Will Smith has been killed by the Internet--specifically by a story from FakeAWish.com that claimed the former Fresh Prince had fallen to his death from a cli ... More >>

With Kiwiana, New York Will Have More Than Two New Zealand Restaurants

​Aside from Nelson Blue and D.U.B. Pies, New York doesn't exactly have a surfeit of restaurants serving New Zealand cuisine. But the underrepresented country is about to get another shout-out, in Park Slope of all places. Here's Park Slope reports that Mark Simmons, a New Zealand ex-pat and T ... More >>

Man 'Nearly Pops' After Air Hose Gets Stuck in His Butt

Violet Beauregarde suffered from a similar problem.​Oh man. Here is a terrible, awful, shocking, horrifying tale that, unless you are stronger and better than us (probably) might sort of make you chuckle in a Beavis/Butthead sort of way, but only in the midst of being horrified, and wondering ... More >>

Meth-Shoe Traffickers Busted Because They Were "Walking Funny"

Not actual meth shoes.​We'd guess shoes would be the first place any airport security agent worth his salt would go to look, but we're not Malaysian drug traffickers posing as tourists with two pounds of meth in our shoes. Are we? (That was rhetorical.) Anyway, the group was busted by official ... More >>

Foster the People

Next Month, People in New Zealand Will Drink Horse Semen

​Lately, it's become fashionable in some circles to brag of one's fearless consumption of bugs, grubs, and pretty much anything else that can be scraped off of a forest floor. And if your circle happens to be in New Zealand, you will soon have the option of chasing it all down with a shot of h ... More >>

Live: The Cake Shop's Letha Melchior Rodman Benefit Mercifully Features Only One Gushing Head Wound

Other than this poor guy everyone had a lovely time. Pics by Mike.​Capsul/Purling Hiss/Home Blitz/Tom Surgal/Mad Scene Cake Shop Saturday, January 22 Better than: Any other rock show you could've seen tonight Letha Rodman was a significant presence on the pre-Internet indie scene in NYC -- c ... More >>

Confirmed: Happy People Are Nicer; Australians Are the Happiest and Nicest

If this was a regular sighting, you'd probably be happy too.​Charities Aid Foundation has taken a look at countries doing charitable things -- giving money, helping a stranger, or volunteering time -- and guess where the U.S.A. ranked? Number five. Which is not horrible, but also maybe not as ... More >>

Barack Obama Toasted by New Zealand Artist Toastman

​New Zealand artist Toastman (aka Maurice Bennett) has created portraits out of toast, including Elvis Presley, Mona Lisa, Eminem, and New Zealand prime minister John Key, but his greatest work so far may be his portrait of Barack Obama.

ONE QUESTION

How many songs will Jeff Mangum do?

The Chris Knox Benefit at Le Poisson Rouge Has Already Raised $40,545

​Which is to say that the May 6th show, featuring Yo La Tengo, the Clean, Jeff Mangum, and a bunch of other people is way beyond sold out--even at $75 per ticket. The indie start-up for indie start-ups, Kickstarter, hosted the bidding, and you can still give money there--as little as a dollar- ... More >>

Kerretta

Here Is The Set List For Pavement's First Reunion Show

​They began, as all high-profile indie-rock reunions must, in New Zealand, rocking out to "In the Mouth a Desert," which I'm sure was cathartic.. This dude has most of the set list; this dude breaks it down by album. "Fight This Generation" tends to be particularly violent live, so that's good ... More >>

Beach Fossils

The Fish in Your Filet-o-Fish is Both Ugly and Possibly Unsustainable

The hoki, known more commonly as a filet-o-fish.​The Times has a piece about the hoki, the homely yet delectable fish that's been the star of countless McDonald's filet-o-fish sandwiches and featured on the menus of chain restaurants like Denny's and Long John Silver's. The hoki, which lives i ... More >>

Free All Points West Alternatives Galore

​ Big gigantic music festivals featuring people with names that even those living deep in the Amazon forests or on the wild, wild plains of New Zealand have heard of tend to suck up most of the cultural airspace when they come to town--All Points West being no exception here. But this is an ex ... More >>

Viva Voce+Cut Off Your Hands

Interview: Ladyhawke On New Zealand, Gay Pride Parades in Paris

Ladyhawke makes her New York debut tonight at the Bowery Ballroom and at Studio B on Thursday, March 26. Taking her name from the 1985 Richard Donner film, New Zealand's Ladyhawke is next in a line of dance-wave acts that've recently surfaced. Although she's played "dirty rock and roll" with he ... More >>

Project Runway Movie Gets Some Support!

In a previous post, I described how Eleven Minutes--a documentary about Project Runway winner Jay McCarroll--was getting good grades on rottentomatoes.cm, but only because raves about some New Zealand massacre movie had strangely been put on its page by mistake. There were only two reviews of Elev ... More >>

Rave Reviews For Project Runway Film A Fraud!

Eleven Minutes--a documentary that catches up with Project Runway winner Jay McCarroll--may or may not be a masterpiece of cinematic design. The buzz on the flick happens to be very strong, mainly because it got an 83% rating over at rottentomatoes.com, at least as of the other day. But when I rea ... More >>

Memorial Day Special: Lazy Picnic Eats

New Zealanders Think We're Crazy

IT’S BUSINESS TIME

The sexiest Kiwis alive

Oscar Winner's Penis-Painting Beau Strikes Out

Agricultural Ravers and Poppers Smack Their Kiwi Up

Summer Visitors

Hunky power from New Zealand and enigmatic robotics from Japan confront modern dilemmas

Dancers From New Zealand, Dallas, and Brooklyn Share the Spirit

Projecting Homeland

New Zealand's landscapes and Samoa's traditions mingle

Film

NY Mirror

Tracking Shots

Home Womb

Planet Rock

The World's Most Local Pop Music Goes International

Unheavenly Creatures

When Love Comes

Listening In

The U.S.-led ECHELON spy network is eavesdropping on the whole world