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Readers from nzherald.co.nz have sent us their video of Orca in NZ waters.
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nzheraldtv uploaded a new video
(3 days ago)
It's not hard to see why playwright Roger Hall has been compared to the ...
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It's not hard to see why playwright Roger Hall has been compared to the Energiser Bunny. At 70 - an age when most of his peers are slowing down and kicking back at the golf course - Hall is still pumping out plays like clockwork. His latest effort is Four Flat Whites In Italy, an Auckland Theatre Company-staged tale of two 60-something couples sharing the pleasures and pitfalls of a late-in-life OE.
Hall is refuelling with a coffee and pastry at a central-city Auckland cafe. Matter-of-fact, with a dry, subtle sense of humour, he's slightly brusque. You get the sense that whether or not he's liked (at least by a journalist) doesn't matter to him.
Rather than batting away the question of whether he sees himself as New Zealand's greatest playwright, he considers it through a rational commercial lens. "The merit or otherwise of my plays aside, I've written more plays and fed more into the box office than any other New Zealand playwright."
Since his debut play Glide Time sold out in 1976, British-born-and-bred Hall (he moved to New Zealand at 19) has penned at least a play a year. Performed around the globe as well as at home, these include Middle Age Spread, Spreading Out, By Degrees, Market Forces, C'Mon Black, Social Climbers, The Book Club, Taking Off, Who Wants to be 100? and Who Needs Sleep Anyway? (the latter a collaboration with actor/director daughter Pip).
Blending cracker one-liners with understated pathos and satirical social criticism, Hall's bitter-sweet plays have been compared to those of Anton Chekhov, the great 19th-century Russian scribe. (Incidentally, they share a birthday.)
Plays aside, he's written children's books, musicals, TV series, radio series, poetry, magazine articles, short stories, autobiography Bums on Seats, and is presently penning his fifth children's pantomime in as many years for Wellington's Circa Theatre.
But the next show he'll see come to life is Four Flat Whites In Italy. With relationships and the Kiwi character at its heart, it's classic Hall fare. Clutching a copy of Lonely Planet, recently-retired librarians Adrian (Stuart Devenie) and Alison (Darien Takle) are gearing up to immerse themselves in Italy. But when their best friends pull out of the trip, they find themselves sharing the holiday with new neighbours, Harry (George Henare) and Judy (Annie Whittle). Will they be able to keep up their busy sightseeing schedule? Will Adrian's wandering eye push Alison too far?
Anyone who's travelled in tandem will identify with the situations the characters find themselves in, and the compromises they make. Such as the "terrible nuisance" of splitting a restaurant bill (the scenario that was the genesis of the play). "It depends if everyone's had roughly the same amount to eat and, particularly, to drink. Once, it doesn't matter, but if it starts happening regularly ... !"
Although his primary, "very loyal" audience are Baby Boomers, Hall knows the value of drawing younger generations to his plays. So playing "every Italian woman", is Toni Potter, Shortland Street party-girl Alice, who should inject some glamour and pull a younger crowd.
Potter can't wait. "It's a rite of passage for a New Zealand actor to perform in a Roger Hall play," she says.
And yes, Hall's nervous about opening night. He's always had "agonies of doubt" about each play from first idea to closing night. "Opening night's a bit terrifying, because you still don't know how the audience is going to take it ... and [there's] a lot of showbiz people who are much harder to impress."
Although he still attends the premieres, Hall prefers going to one or two later shows, once the more-relaxed audience isn't peppered with showbiz people, celebs and reviewers.
So, is he a naturally funny person? "No," he says with a rare laugh. "Well, I do like cracking jokes. Occasionally if I'm on song I can be quite funny."
Hall has no plans to put down his pen anytime soon as writing has become a way of life. "There's plenty of other 70-year-old writers so I think it's the sort of occupation where people just don't stop."
* Four Flat Whites In Italy plays at Auckland's SkyCity Theatre, June 11 to July 4, then North Shore, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Tauranga.
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nzheraldtv uploaded a new video
(3 days ago)
Trainee pilots at Massey University will soon benefit from a new 14-stro...
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Trainee pilots at Massey University will soon benefit from a new 14-strong fleet of training aircraft.
The $8 million purchase, announced earlier this year, was marked by the first plane's arrival at the Palmerston North campus.
Massey's vice-chancellor Steve Maharey welcomed the craft at a function held yesterday.
The purchase includes two high-performance twin-engine aircraft along with 12 single-engine planes.
The planes will keep the school at the "forefront of pilot training", said spokesman James Gardiner.
The new craft were manufactured by Austrian-based Diamond Aircraft Industries in its Ontario factory in Canada.
Mr Gardiner said they will replace the school's current fleet of Piper aircraft.
The rest of the new fleet are currently in transit to New Zealand for final assembly by the regional distributor.
Massey is New Zealand's only university with an aviation school.
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nzheraldtv uploaded a new video
(4 days ago)
As massive waves crashed onboard and the yacht rose up almost vertical a...
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As massive waves crashed onboard and the yacht rose up almost vertical at times - the mast had snapped and rigging was tangled beneath the hull - father-of-six Charles Bradfield had no choice.
"For the sake of my children I am prepared to abandon ship."
Mr Bradfield, wife Joy and the children had spent days battling up to 40-knot winds and 4 to 6m swells in their Chico 40 boat, after two months at sea on a family adventure to Tonga.
"My family are my pride and joy," Mr Bradfield said back on dry land yesterday.
"My pride," he said motioning toward his children, "and my Joy", toward his wife.
When the mast came crashing down on Tuesday - the boom within inches of striking Tom, 13 - Carenza was stable but immobile. But the Bradfields were seasick and exhausted, having barely slept since striking strong southwesterlies the weekend before.
Rugged up in thermals and wet-weather gear, the skipper and his five eldest children were taking it in turns to man the helm in pairs, while Mrs Bradfield cared for 6-year-old Rebekah and cooked.
The yacht's forward bulkhead was cracked and the strobe light and wind instruments had gone down with the mast.
On striking rough seas last weekend, family members reduced the sail area to a minimum - "just enough to keep the boat steering and powered up".
"We were punishing the boat with every wave," said Mr Bradfield.
Yesterday all agreed the "rogue 10-metre waves" were the scariest.
Said Josh, 18: "You would look at the wave coming and then hold on and then it would be like 'doosh'."
The family - Rebekah, 6, Abby, 10, Tom, 13, Emma, 14, Matt, 16, Josh, 18, mother Joy and father Charles - set off for home from Tonga about midday on Wednesday last week.
When the mast snapped and the rigging tangled on Tuesday, it was time to call for help.
They put on lifejackets and gathered valuables before 16-year-old Matt activated the emergency beacon.
Then, using a fishing rod and wire to rig a high frequency radio aerial, the Bradfields called for help.
French rescue vessel La Glorieuse got wind of their distress call and vowed to arrive in four hours and twenty minutes. In the meantime, a Royal NZ Air Force Hercules was dispatched from New Zealand to keep a vigil from above.
"It was almost like watching a bird circling over a dying animal. I almost want to cry thinking about it," Mr Bradfield said yesterday.
Communicating with the French captain, Mr Bradfield agreed it was safer to wait until morning for the rescue.
"The captain said 'the conditions are rough and it's dark, can you survive until tomorrow?'."
The next morning at first light, the family were rescued and it was time to say goodbye to Carenza.
With tears in his eyes, Mr Bradfield yesterday recalled pulling the "plugs", securing all floatable devices inside and battening the hatches.
"This was the first time I had to think about it. My family were safe on another vessel and I'd just scuttled my own boat."
Soon after from La Glorieuse, the Bradfields watched the 25-year-old yacht go down.
The ship docked at Auckland yesterday morning to a crowd of relieved friends and family.
Last night Mr Bradfield was already vowing to charter a boat "to get the children back on the horse".
He has invited the French captain and a crew member to dinner tomorrow.
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nzheraldtv uploaded a new video
(4 days ago)
Prime Minister John Key Thursday said it was time for New Zealand and Fr...
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Prime Minister John Key Thursday said it was time for New Zealand and France to move on after his French counterpart Francois Fillon apologised over the Mathieu Bastareaud controversy.
"At the end of the day we need to put it in perspective and say the matter's now been dealt with," Key said. "We need to move on now."
Overnight, Mr Fillon issued a profuse apology to New Zealand on behalf of France and saying he hoped the incident had not damaged the good relations between the two countries.
Mr Fillon said New Zealand and France had a common bond forged by "the culture of rugby."
"The French team's tour of New Zealand was marked by the unjustifiable behaviour of one its players," Fillon said, without naming names.
"Through his false statements, as a result of which you had to intervene publicly, he seriously tainted the image of your country and its people."
"You may be assured that I deplore this incident," he wrote. "Our two countries share the culture of rugby. This sport has always enabled our two nations to come together and share a mutual respect. I hope that these sentiments will prevail after this regrettable affair."
He added: "Like all rugby fans, I am delighted that your country is organising the next World Cup in 2011."
Mr Key described the incident as "unfortunate" and "regrettable", and said it was appropriate Fillon had written the letter, so both countries could deal with the issue.
"I think from New Zealand's point of view, it's important now that we put the matter behind us," he told Radio New Zealand.
The letter from Mr Fillon acknowledged the seriousness of the matter and Mr Key appreciated the gesture, the spokesman said.
The letter was sent to John Key on Tuesday (Paris time) but only made public in France a day later (Wednesday Paris time).
New Zealand prime ministers are frequently called upon to react to events on and off the rugby pitch, but it is highly unusual for France to make a top-level intervention in any sporting affair. A diplomat in Paris described Fillon's letter as "surprising."
Fillon is an avid Bleus supporter and anglophile while his wife Penelope, who is from Wales, is similarly supportive of the Welsh side. During the Rugby World Cup in 2007 Fillon admitted the split loyalties meant the couple would not watch the games together. "It's impossible. We will certainly not watch the World Cup together," Fillon told journalists at the time. "Each of us will be in a different room." Fillon was present at the France-New Zealand World Cup quarter final match at Cardiff in 2007.
The Bastareaud affair has continued to make headlines in France since the centre's return to Paris on Tuesday of last week. Bastareaud initially played down the incident, expressing surprise at the media attention. His original charge of being attacked by four or five men outside the hotel following France's 14-10 defeat in the second Test against the All Blacks shocked New Zealand and Prime Minister John Key waded into the issue, saying he hoped the incident would not tarnish the country's standing.
After Wellington police found evidence that he had sustained his facial injuries after returning to his hotel in the early hours of June 21, Bastareaud changed his version and said he had drunk too much and fallen over, hitting his head on a bedside table. He said he had invented the story about the attack because he was terrified of being kicked out of the French team and of having to face the anger of his family. His club claimed the player, whose family hails from Guadeloupe, was heading for a holiday in the French West Indies.
Instead, Bastareaud was admitted to hospital suffering from "serious psychological problems," according to Max Guazzini, president of his Paris club Stade Francais.
Press reports say he tried to commit suicide by throwing himself into the River Seine. Further details of the reported attempt are not known, and the name of the clinic in the Paris region where he is being treated is also being kept secret. Media reports also suggest that Bastareaud may have whacked by a team mate after they returned to the hotel.
An association of professional French rugby players called Provale added their voices to appeals for calm.
"We want the press to be fair and responsible," the group said in a statement. "We solemnly ask the media to immediately stop this frenzy, which is feeding doubts and fantasy. More than anything, we want his private life to be respected, and we wish him to return to the rugby pitch as soon as possible."
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