It was reported recently that North Korea, the gift that keeps on giving, had declared war on Seth Rogen and James Franco.

Elle Macpherson says she was an ‘insecure dork’ at the height of her model stardom. Now, at 50, she reckons she looks better than ever — but don’t ask her about skinny models, writes Matthew Stadlen.

Red sails in the Auckland sunset are all very well, and I’ve enjoyed them as an eating backdrop many times, but for me seeing a working port in action beats yachts every time.

Alan Perrott talks to the men who keep guard at Auckland’s hottest nightclubs and bars and finds out it’s not just physical danger they have to contend with.

Pump up the volume with these clean-cut and relaxed separates.

A popular dining strip has a newcomer, which scores top marks for its attention to details — and its coffee.

It’s full of dazzling prose, it’s ingeniously put together, it’s so long it’s a drag to lug around.

Tina Shaw talks to Rebecca Barry Hill about her connection to provincial New Zealand and why she is drawn to dark crime.

Pump up the volume with these clean-cut and relaxed separates.

In his second novel, Craig Sherborne presents a family of transients, “last of their kind”, who drift along, squatting in abandoned properties dotted across Victoria’s wheat belt.

Loop, with its white walls, tables and chairs plus a rather magnificent curved bar, is a refreshing change in Kingsland.

You’ve been warned. These highbrow prints have an artistic temperament.

Any old rented tux won’t do anymore. Guys do give a damn about what they get hitched in. A lot, says well-dressed husband Alan Perrott.

Breton Dukes has an interesting bio. He has shifted from north to south — from Whangarei to Dunedin.

Not even the winter cold can take the heat out of the inner city’s temperature, as Paul Lewis discovers during a three-venue dinner around watching a luncheon play.

The stars and the quieter achievers of the sporting world alike step it up for the challenge of the Commonwealth Games. Suzanne McFadden meets six of our top athletes heading to Glasgow.

Never having been to Hanoi, I might be mistaken. But I suspect the similarities between eating at a street food stall in Vietnam and dining in a Grey Lynn cafe on a cold Auckland winter’s Sunday night are not striking.

Ursula Le Guin’s long career has traversed many worlds, within which she is still uncovering more, writes David Larsen.

A utilitarian staple gets a makeover. No scooter required.

When her daughter was diagnosed with a life-threatening peanut allergy, Kiwi mum Lydia Monin turned her home into a nut-free zone. But life outside is a never-ending risk assessment, she says.

It starts in the 1970s. An illiterate girl from a Soweto slum is crammed into a truck with a load of potatoes.

We all know about Barossa and its big, bold shiraz; the famous Penfolds Grange and Melbourne’s terrific foodie scene.

Talk about your quintessential First World dilemma.

Despite the many outerwear choices this season from trench coats to sporty anoraks, the utilitarian roots of the parka continue to inspire, with several updated versions offered in a range of unexpected colours and fabrics.