Mayor and Karl Urban take on body decoration

Kiwi actor Karl Urban. Photo / AP

Just when you thought the self-appointed mayor of Newmarket, Cameron Brewer, couldn't find any contenders to battle him in the ring for the super weight title of Self Promoter of the District, along comes His Worship from over the bridge, Andrew Williams, the Mayor of North Shore, who has thrown a knocking blow to his Newmarket counterpart by offering to go topless.

Williams will be stripping down and body painted next Thursday at the media launch of the New Zealand Body Art Awards which will take place next month.

While most civic dignitaries would be merely happy to cut a ribbon and kiss a baby all in the name of media attention, Williams and his wife Jane have gone one step further and offered their bodies as live canvases for the body paint artists. The North Shore Mayor will make his grand entrance by "descending down the staircase while being accompanied by fantastic Apollo dancers," the media release says. Sound a bit camp, doesn't it?

The last time Brewer got that close to body art was when mortally embarrassed Green MP Keith Locke dangled down Brewer's turf in Broadway in 2005 wearing nothing more than acrylic paints and a G-string with Brewer (donned in a public safety fleuro vest) blaring into a megaphone, "Get your fruit and two vege off our streets!"

Locke made an electoral promise that if Act leader Rodney Hide won the Epsom electorate seat, he would streak through Newmarket. Hide did; hence Locke's public expose.

Mayor Williams will be less bashful, presumably. The theme of this year's Body Paint Awards on July 25 is Fantasia Asia and Oscar winner Richard Taylor from Weta Workshop will speak to the media via video about the concept.

Meanwhile, our dashing leading man Karl Urban, who gained major Hollywood hottie points after his portrayal of Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the latest blockbuster Star Trek film, reckons Trekkie fans aren't shy when it comes to asking for autographs.

"I don't think there is a body part I haven't signed," Urban said. "Well no, actually there are a few, I take that back!'"

The 37-year-old Kiwi actor will be at the Supernova Pop Culture Expo in Sydney and Perth next week and he reckons he's ready for the fans and their bizarre requests. It's just as well, really, because Urban is quite the hot new talent in Tinseltown and has received various scripts for new roles.

Though, we should expect to see him in another instalment of Star Trek. Paramount Pictures has confirmed a new script is underway for the next Trekkie movie and filming is expected to start in the middle of next year.

Rachel Glucina

Pictured: North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams, and (inset) actor Karl Urban. Photos / AP, Kellie Blizard