New Zealand in the News

(Bleep) bless you, ma'am

A censor was told to edit out all profanities -- including any blasphemy -- for the version of the movie The Queen distributed to Air New Zealand, and other carriers. The new censor mistakenly bleeped out each time a character said "God," instead of just when it was used as part of a profanity, said Jeff Klein, president of Jaguar Distribution, the company that distributed the movie to airlines this month. In-flight viewers of the film at one point heard "(Bleep) bless you, ma'am," as one character spoke to the queen.

Love them Sheep

New Zealanders' love affair with sheep gained official recognition Friday when the agriculture minister declared Feb. 15 "National Lamb Day." New Zealand has 4 million human inhabitants and 60 million sheep. Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton suggested New Zealanders had no reason to be embarrassed about their sheep population, and said Lamb Day would mark the 125th anniversary of the first shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand to London.

Woman fights mountain lion to go to New Zealand

Wildlife officials on Thursday credited a woman with saving her husband's life by clubbing a mountain lion that attacked him while the couple hiked in a California state park

... Jim Hamm, 70, was in fair condition Thursday. He had to have his lips stitched and underwent surgery for other lacerations on his head and body.

He told his wife he still wants to make the trip to New Zealand they planned for their anniversary, she said.

Wood to Ethanol

Two national institutes--Scion (formerly known as the New Zealand Forest Research Institute) and AgResearch (formerly known as the Pastoral Agricultural Research Institute)--are working with Diversa of San Diego, Calif., on experiments for turning wood chips and other byproducts from the country's forestry and paper businesses into cellulosic ethanol. Unlike conventional ethanol made from corn or sugar cane, the cellulosic variety comes from agricultural products with little or no other value, which drives down the cost of production.

and finally...
Mortgage’s for PS3’s
The 60 gigabyte model of Sony's PS3 will be priced at 1199.95 New Zealand dollars when it goes on sale March 23.