The end of the golden weather. We've had rain and snow around the country, although it's just been colder in Auckland (and windy, not much rain but enough to make it difficult to get washing dry).
LOCAL NEWS
It's Anzac Day today, 90 years since Gallipoli. Apparently it was when we all discovered our nationhood in NZ, a theory I have heard about four times this week but not previously. I can't say I see it but they might be right.
A voluntary euthanasia campaigner made his last stand by voluntarily euthanasing himself. At age 86, he didn't have any terminal illness, but was degenerating slowly from something. Seemed a little early but I guess it shows ultimate belief in the cause. Premature euthanasia is an excellent argument against euthanasia at all.
A water skier ran over a rower on Lake Karapiro. I suppose the word shouldn't be "ran", perhaps skied (how do you spell ski in the past tense?).
The Green Party released their party list and Nandor Beeblebrox is ranked only seventh, which means there is a good chance he won't return to Parliament. Party lists seem to cause a lot of bitchiness, it's worse than voting people off in reality shows.
There was an eruption near Rotorua that created a fifty foot crater in a reserve. They reckoned they never would have noticed if it hadn't been for the farmer whose cows noticed it, and the other farmer in another paddock who also noticed it. Yup, except for those two guys, nobody would have noticed it.
The 20 year old woman found last week turned out to be a well-preserved 36 yo working girl. Nobody has been apprehended as yet.
The Police copped (sorry) more flak this week, when a review of PCs (computers, not police constables) found that 20% of hard disk space on some machines stored porn. Some 330 had some objectionable material but about 20 had an awful lot. Whilst I think it is impossible to not end up with something considered dodgy, the thing that would concern me is the time they spend obtaining it when they should be working that bothers me most. The Police force image in NZ has been tarnished considerably in recent months, and I think many believe the Police Minister to be a bumbling incompetent who is not helping (whether he is hurting more than their image, I couldn't say).
There has been a lot of noise about party pills and Nos and other things lately. When we went to the library on Saturday there were little cylinders all over the place outside. Now, the health department has warned about a new drink which they describe as a party pill in a can.
It was revealed, by the sole survivor, that an accident that killed four occurred whilst the driver was texting someone. Given that four others were in the car, and could have texted on his behalf, I think youth stupidity is more to blame than the cellphone.
Paul Holmes seems to be desperate to regain some of his former profile, and has done so this week by calling the new Pope an impostor, a wowser, and a rooster. Given that I am not really sure what he means by any of that, I think he needs to try a tactic other than insulting the leader of the Catholic faith with gobbledygook.
A ten year old boy got himself strangled in his clothing on a flying fox and is in bad shape. Waiting to see if this results in the removal of all flying foxes or clothing.
The interisland ferry Arahura lost power during a storm. I've never done the Cook Strait ferry thing, but I am not sure I want to at the moment.
WORLD NEWS
The new Pope has been elected, he seems quite conservative and possibly a short term option. At 78 I hope they've measured him up for a dwarf. I do wonder why we don't seem so interested in the leaders of all the other churches.
Australia is now reported to be exporting more stupid youths to traffic drugs than ever before. After Schapelle Banarama with her marijuana-filled boogie board in Bali, there was about seven Aussies apprehended for smuggling something else. They don't seem to be denying guilt, but won't name Mr Big for fear of what will happen to their families.
Meanwhile, in Melbourne, a youth got caught in a moron trap, also known as a rubbish bin. He was looking for his cellphone. After making the telly and sounding all snivelly while he was being pulled out, I bet he isn't too happy with the guy that thought it would be funny to put it in there. I don't know if he found the cellphone.
Australian Prime Minister decided to go to a barbecue on the beach at Gallipoli rather than attend an NZ function. Helen is feeling snubbed. Perhaps they had better drugs at the barbie.
Sir Joh Bielke-Peterson died on Saturday. He was a very controversial premiere of Queensland in the 80s, and born in NZ. At 94, his fading health was the subject of news for a good week or two, I suppose the less prominent are filling the gap left by John Paul and Prince Rainier.
People in India are using condoms far beyond expectations, unfortunately 75% of the use is for something other than that for which they are intended. They use the lubrication in weaving and sewing to allow the thread to move freely.
A skydiver was hit by a plane on the way down, which proves that the hardest thing about skydiving isn't necessarily the ground. His parachute has already opened but he lost both legs below the knee in mid-air, which severely impeded his technique for landing. He died later in a Florida hospital.
REAL SPORT
No real sport due to school holidays. Rory was named in Team 1 for water polo but that isn't surprising but the good news is that it no longer conflicts with soccer practice.
SPORT
Not much sport happening at the moment.
Highlanders upset the Hurricanes 26-16, Crusaders narrowly beat the Sharks 40-36, the Bulls beat the Chiefs 29-26, Blues beat the Stormers 37-24.
Chelsea won their game, they need about one win more to have enough points to seal the premiership. Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 1-0, Middlesbrough beat West Bromwich 4-0, Portsmouth beat Southampton 4-1 with no goals scored after the 27th minute. Man Utd beat Newcastle 2-1.
MY SAD LIFE
I understand Shin has started her new job and Roger is a negligent husband for not telling me her new email address. She has changed her surname to his despite this. He is lucky to have such an understanding wife, I don't know how she puts up with it.
I forgot to mention it was big Rory's birthday on Thursday, and Sasha 1.0 Bamberger turned 2 on Wednesday.
Hannah went to Tairua with a friend from Monday until Friday. I didn't see her for a whole week. It was very nice when she came home. She even gave Rory a big hug, although she waited until her friend Bonnie left before she hugged him. They are reluctant to admit it but they do miss each other. On Thursday night Diana and I were home alone for dinner and it felt very strange with only the two of us at the dinner table.
Rory got the blister from hell when he went ice skating and wore two left skates.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie opens this week. I hope it hasn't been ballsed up like Thunderbirds was.
My friend Matt is having a party in geektown, Indianapolis at Celebration III. This is the star wars build up to the movie with lots of celebs and people in costumer. He's already posted about thirty photos on the net.
Koos has managed to survive a whole week in his new job, he played soccer for them at lunch time on Thursday. We visited on Sunday, the kids played with the cat a lot. We reckon he is bigger than Pandora and he is about six months old (length-wise and stuff, not width-wise like Molly).
SCENES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED FROM LAST WEEK
I got in trouble for not mentioning what the family did while I was away. They went to the movies, and spent a day helping tidy Gavin's section and house. The kids did it for money, Diana did it to pay back Gavin for making him eat all the lasagne that me and Rory could have otherwise had (huh?).
The Bambi baby was born on Saturday and is a girl with no name yet. I suggested Sasha 2.0 or perhaps Sasha 1.01 (but this could make Sasha 1.0 very insecure).
The Goodins had their 17th wedding anniversary. Ross always seems to expect me to remember it, which I still don't understand given that he doesn't remember ours and we don't really expect him to. It is the day before my Father's birthday so it should be easy to remember, but for some reason Dad's birthday seems easier to remember. Given that it is now also Sasha 2.0's birthday, it will probably be easier to remember, but I might not just to torment him.
25 April 2005
18 April 2005
Home again, and all is well - 18/04/05
This is a bit late because I had to wait until I got home from Wellington before I could send it.
Brett, ignore the bits with a * next to them (please note this is not a service I plan to extend to other readers or to Brett in future weeks, it is made mostly in the hope of a small comedic effect).
LOCAL NEWS
The weather continues to be pretty damn good. The best summer I ever had was autumn in New Zealand.
The Labour caucus forgave John Tamihere, which was bizarre but I suppose the only sensible option so close to a general election. He's still a plonker but he's a definite liability beyond the election (should Labour win).
* Helen Clark had a near-life experience when a door on a small plane she was in came off mid flight. It was an unpressurised cabin so it wasn't so serious as it would have been at higher altitude in a pressurised cabin. Rumours of John Tamihere being seen near the air craft shortly before take-off were unsubstantiated.
The older voter has been courted the last couple of weeks during the grey power conference. The parties all peddled their bribes. The best one is no practical test for over 80's like there is now. Doesn't really reconcile with road safety policy but what the heck.
A woman in Taranaki was killed in what I think can only be accurately described as an ironic or freak accident. She was hit by an exploding fire extinguisher. Poor woman, can't bloody win, usually you get killed by not having a fire extinguisher.
A young woman was found naked and dead in Christchurch. Police had limited ability to identify her so asked people to report women who didn't make it home on Friday night.
WORLD NEWS
The PC Nazis have revamped Cookie Monster on Sesame Street. Instead of "C is for cookie, that's good enough for me" it's now "Cookie is a sometime food". How incredibly lame. I am surprised they haven't complained earlier about the waste of food when Cookie Monster drops massive crumbs given the state of world hunger and poverty.
REAL SPORT
Hannah's team began the week at the top of the table for their division, not bad, never been there before.
Hannah's team didn't play this week. Long story but the game was right next to the Pukekohe raceway which was expecting 80,000 people. We asked for the game to be shifted but got no joy so we said sod it and defaulted. We didn't want to play the game with half a team while the other half sat in traffic.
Rory's team were up against a good side, were down 3-2 at half time but lost 7-2.
Rory has been picked for Team 1 for the school water polo team. Not much of a surprise. Not sure that his team will be as strong as his team last year, but we shall see. They start playing in a couple of weeks, first week of Term 2. Good news is that his training is later, which was a problem as it conflicted with soccer so that is sorted.
SPORT
The Blues won against the Sharks and got the bonus point they needed, although it was touch and go until about ten minutes before the end. The Waikato Chiefs won against a crap SA team (Cats maybe) and scored four tries before half time, Hurricanes had a bye, the Waratahs beat the Brumbies and George Gregan hurt his knee. Not sure about Crusaders.
Arsenal beat Blackburn 3-0 in one FA Cup semi-final, Man Utd beat Newscastle 4-1 in the other. NZer Ryan Nelson plays for Blackburn, so it is a shame they lost. Not sure that MU will beat the Arse but it would be nice.
In a game between Inter Milan and AC Milan, some tosser hit the goalie in the head with a flare. He wasn't badly hurt but they stopped the match, not sure what the result was, FIFA had to decide.
The Warriors came back from behind to beat Andrew Johns' team (I can't remember their name) but he broke his jaw.
The Black Caps won the second test against Sri Lanka by an innings and 38 runs, Lou Vincent got a double century which put the pressure on the 'lankans.
Greg Murphy won the V8 race that stopped the girls playing soccer, maybe more than one. I wasn't interested.
MY SAD LIFE
The kids finished school for term 1. Rory had a disco on the Thursday night. I too a photo of him ready to go, looked very grown up.
* I disappeared for the weekend to baby-sit my Vader and generally geek. This was our first Armageddon since Ross died eighteen months ago. I roomed with friend Chris, who appreciated Diana's advice about the earplugs (I had to use mine one night because his bloody phone was going flat and I couldn't find it). Matt and Kristy stayed in the same hotel. It was fun, had some annoyances with dubious members of the public, but generally was a good time. The hotel was nice enough, I had one swim in the pool, which was good. It was very weird to do it without the family. Hannah said the house was very quiet. Didn't really get up to anything too exciting, spent most of our time in the convention or in the hotel, which was only about 200m away. An actor called Ray Park was there, he played Darth Maul in Episode I and Toad in X-Men. He used to teach kids gymnastics and martial arts and when he got people up on stage and taught them things (various "moves") you could tell that he had done a fair bit of coaching. The approach was very familiar to me (sort of "that's great, now let's try it again and do this a bit more"). One of the convention personnel took a liking to Dean, a guy we met up with in Wellington, and that was entertaining. Vader survived and I was much happier once I packed it up ready for the trip home. No idea what will happen to it now, Diana doesn't want it in the house.
Rory sat an exam for St Kentigern College on Friday. The facilities of the place are pretty impressive. We were leaning towards giving it a miss but now aren't so sure. It's a very long way from home, out towards Pakuranga in the Eastern Suburbs.
Hannah is off to stay with a friend in Coromandel for a few days, the house will continue to be quiet.
Matt and Kristy are off to Celebration III tomorrow, this is like the star wars convention from hell. It is in Indianapolis. I did consider going but decided against it. Too far away, too many queues, and too much cost.
It was my father's birthday yesterday, his second since he died.
On the plane, I learned that typing on the notebook is bloody difficult. I can't fit my elbows in if typing with the notebook in front of me. Tried working on a spreadsheet on the flight down and it was hopeless, as I was wedged in between two other people.
Brett, ignore the bits with a * next to them (please note this is not a service I plan to extend to other readers or to Brett in future weeks, it is made mostly in the hope of a small comedic effect).
LOCAL NEWS
The weather continues to be pretty damn good. The best summer I ever had was autumn in New Zealand.
The Labour caucus forgave John Tamihere, which was bizarre but I suppose the only sensible option so close to a general election. He's still a plonker but he's a definite liability beyond the election (should Labour win).
* Helen Clark had a near-life experience when a door on a small plane she was in came off mid flight. It was an unpressurised cabin so it wasn't so serious as it would have been at higher altitude in a pressurised cabin. Rumours of John Tamihere being seen near the air craft shortly before take-off were unsubstantiated.
The older voter has been courted the last couple of weeks during the grey power conference. The parties all peddled their bribes. The best one is no practical test for over 80's like there is now. Doesn't really reconcile with road safety policy but what the heck.
A woman in Taranaki was killed in what I think can only be accurately described as an ironic or freak accident. She was hit by an exploding fire extinguisher. Poor woman, can't bloody win, usually you get killed by not having a fire extinguisher.
A young woman was found naked and dead in Christchurch. Police had limited ability to identify her so asked people to report women who didn't make it home on Friday night.
WORLD NEWS
The PC Nazis have revamped Cookie Monster on Sesame Street. Instead of "C is for cookie, that's good enough for me" it's now "Cookie is a sometime food". How incredibly lame. I am surprised they haven't complained earlier about the waste of food when Cookie Monster drops massive crumbs given the state of world hunger and poverty.
REAL SPORT
Hannah's team began the week at the top of the table for their division, not bad, never been there before.
Hannah's team didn't play this week. Long story but the game was right next to the Pukekohe raceway which was expecting 80,000 people. We asked for the game to be shifted but got no joy so we said sod it and defaulted. We didn't want to play the game with half a team while the other half sat in traffic.
Rory's team were up against a good side, were down 3-2 at half time but lost 7-2.
Rory has been picked for Team 1 for the school water polo team. Not much of a surprise. Not sure that his team will be as strong as his team last year, but we shall see. They start playing in a couple of weeks, first week of Term 2. Good news is that his training is later, which was a problem as it conflicted with soccer so that is sorted.
SPORT
The Blues won against the Sharks and got the bonus point they needed, although it was touch and go until about ten minutes before the end. The Waikato Chiefs won against a crap SA team (Cats maybe) and scored four tries before half time, Hurricanes had a bye, the Waratahs beat the Brumbies and George Gregan hurt his knee. Not sure about Crusaders.
Arsenal beat Blackburn 3-0 in one FA Cup semi-final, Man Utd beat Newscastle 4-1 in the other. NZer Ryan Nelson plays for Blackburn, so it is a shame they lost. Not sure that MU will beat the Arse but it would be nice.
In a game between Inter Milan and AC Milan, some tosser hit the goalie in the head with a flare. He wasn't badly hurt but they stopped the match, not sure what the result was, FIFA had to decide.
The Warriors came back from behind to beat Andrew Johns' team (I can't remember their name) but he broke his jaw.
The Black Caps won the second test against Sri Lanka by an innings and 38 runs, Lou Vincent got a double century which put the pressure on the 'lankans.
Greg Murphy won the V8 race that stopped the girls playing soccer, maybe more than one. I wasn't interested.
MY SAD LIFE
The kids finished school for term 1. Rory had a disco on the Thursday night. I too a photo of him ready to go, looked very grown up.
* I disappeared for the weekend to baby-sit my Vader and generally geek. This was our first Armageddon since Ross died eighteen months ago. I roomed with friend Chris, who appreciated Diana's advice about the earplugs (I had to use mine one night because his bloody phone was going flat and I couldn't find it). Matt and Kristy stayed in the same hotel. It was fun, had some annoyances with dubious members of the public, but generally was a good time. The hotel was nice enough, I had one swim in the pool, which was good. It was very weird to do it without the family. Hannah said the house was very quiet. Didn't really get up to anything too exciting, spent most of our time in the convention or in the hotel, which was only about 200m away. An actor called Ray Park was there, he played Darth Maul in Episode I and Toad in X-Men. He used to teach kids gymnastics and martial arts and when he got people up on stage and taught them things (various "moves") you could tell that he had done a fair bit of coaching. The approach was very familiar to me (sort of "that's great, now let's try it again and do this a bit more"). One of the convention personnel took a liking to Dean, a guy we met up with in Wellington, and that was entertaining. Vader survived and I was much happier once I packed it up ready for the trip home. No idea what will happen to it now, Diana doesn't want it in the house.
Rory sat an exam for St Kentigern College on Friday. The facilities of the place are pretty impressive. We were leaning towards giving it a miss but now aren't so sure. It's a very long way from home, out towards Pakuranga in the Eastern Suburbs.
Hannah is off to stay with a friend in Coromandel for a few days, the house will continue to be quiet.
Matt and Kristy are off to Celebration III tomorrow, this is like the star wars convention from hell. It is in Indianapolis. I did consider going but decided against it. Too far away, too many queues, and too much cost.
It was my father's birthday yesterday, his second since he died.
On the plane, I learned that typing on the notebook is bloody difficult. I can't fit my elbows in if typing with the notebook in front of me. Tried working on a spreadsheet on the flight down and it was hopeless, as I was wedged in between two other people.
11 April 2005
The fall and fall of an almost former-MP and idiot - 11/04/05
The local weather is still quite warm, getting up to 26 degrees or so. Some rain but seems to be mostly at night. The ground is still very dry. I reckon our summer starts a couple of months later than it used to. Although leaves are starting to fall on the trees in our street and it gets dark a lot earlier, it does not feel like autumn.
Sorry, it seems to be quite big this week.
LOCAL NEWS
Moronic MP John Tamihere, who has been through the wringer with allegations of dodgy financial practices, has now offended his entire Labour caucus. He was quoted in a magazine insulting most cabinet ministers and Helen by name, as well as generally denigrating the party and everyone in it. I would be surprised if he ever got a proper job within government ever again. It's not even what he said, but the fact that he was indiscrete enough to say it.
John Tamihere then came out later in the week and apologised for "the biggest mistake of his life" and then qualified it with something about not being sorry for his strong opinions. What a clown.
In the third act of the week, he was then quoted in the Sunday papers as saying he was sick of hearing about the holocaust and more stuff about women. I think I now qualify as one of the nine people left in the country that he hasn't insulted. Helen Clark has since said he is now on "extended leave". I think the latest thing was a quote from the same interview as the other mindless drivel. I can't believe anyone in their right mind would vote for the guy now. Maybe he will join Winston Peters. There are suggestions he wants to be kicked out of the Labour party to join the Maori party.
Stem-cell Willie is now playing golf back in NZ but does not yet speak very clearly. I am sceptical about the ability of these cells to be the miracle cure some see them as.
A prostitute that was shot in the head in South Auckland appears to be a casualty of a price war.
The NZ guy that was captured as a hired mercenary in the Ivory Coast has died of "natural causes". I think that is as in "if you are dropped from a height onto your head, you will naturally be caused to die". There was to be a post-mortem but I don't know what the conclusion was.
A British woman working on Meningococcal vaccination research in Wellington has succumbed to the disease. She was not vaccinated. The company she worked for were desperately trying to prove she got it elsewhere and not at work (she worked with the live virus).
The guy that thumped molester Capill pleaded guilty. Turns out he is pretty much a scumbag, previously convicted of about seven violent offences, has problems with alcohol and drugs, and is going to get punished for doing something that is morally probably one of the best things he has ever done. He contributed to the public humiliation of someone who thoroughly deserved it, although the judiciary doesn't believe he has the right to do so.
The US woman on the run with her son was apprehended in Rotorua over the weekend. I didn't realise it was still an issue, she's been avoiding authorities for quite a few weeks. Her son, Sky, is in the care of authorities but she will be allowed to accompany him to the US. She should be charged with cruel naming of her child while they have her, I mean "Sky"? That's not a name.
A new radio station starts today, called Radio Live (I think). It caused the reshuffle of Radio Pacific which spelt the end of my radio show (which I have forgotten to mention before, the last show was supposed to be a week ago but didn't make it).
WORLD NEWS
The Pope continued to dominate, and Charles postponed his wedding by a day. He was heard to say "Funny little foreigner, why can't they postpone his funeral." A Polish woman has given birth to three sons and called them John, Paul, and Second.
Prince Rainier died on Wednesday and still rated less airtime than the Pope. Wonder how much attention he would have received a week earlier or later. I suppose he isn't too bothered. This was another awful bother to Charles because it will interrupt the honeymoon. I think they need to postpone forever or get it over and done with before someone else cops it.
The actual papal funeral was televised to billions of people who had nothing better to do. It's not like a soccer match, even at a wedding there is a chance of some excitement and someone might bail or the groom might get messy or something. At a funeral you know what is going to happen. Unless he sat up and waved, of course. He didn't. Not sure why he needs three different coffins.
Charles and Camilla did the deed. Local paper said "We do (and always have done)" which was rude but funny. Think about this, though. After all these years of supposed "true love" and so forth, wouldn't the subjects think considerably less of Charles if he a) didn't bother marrying Camilla or b) went off and married someone else? I don't think I've seen anything considering the other choices, and after everything Diana supposedly went through, getting married is the least they should do. Mind you, if they separate, there will be quite a fuss.
REAL SPORT
Rory had his first water polo training for school on Tuesday. He looked pretty good. They will trial the kids for team selection tomorrow night.
Because we had two home games this weekend, we had time to see young Thomas play. They play on a quarter field, half the team playing on each quarter. We saw Ross doing his refereeing thing. Thomas had a bunch of supporters on the sideline, between grandparents, uncle, cousin, and us there were ten people there. They lost, but the other referee made a dodgy decision that probably turned the match (would have brought them to 2-3 and with a sniff of a chance).
Hannah's team were playing a team they beat 3-2 last year. We went up hill in the first half, couldn't quite break through but didn't let them score either, it was 0-0 at half time. I told the girls that the hill was worth two goals, and if the other team couldn’t score downhill they shouldn't score up hill. The Sirens scored three goals in the second half and the goalie didn't touch the ball once. Final score 3-0 and a great start for the season with two wins.
The other two girls teams in 11th grade had a win and a draw, which is good (they both lost last week). They are in the same pool and play each other this week.
Rory's team were a bit worried about Bucklands Beach, last time they played them they inflicted a heavy loss. This time, it was a different team. Although the other team had a few goes, our lads had the advantage. They played smarter and worked together well. I had to referee the second half, which was fine but I was knackered afterward. It was 1-0 up at half time with another scored in the second half to make a solid 2-0 will. They needed a win.
SPORT
Auckland won the State Championship Cricket Final, which I am pleased about. They only needed to draw to win the championship, but the won with seven wickets in hand.
Man Utd lost 0-2 to Norwich who are bottom of the table and looked likely to be relegated. Good news for them. The Arse won 1-0 over 'borough, Man City beat Liverpool 1-0, Blackburn won 3-1 over Southampton, and Chelsea had a draw with Birmingham but are still well clear on the table.
Blues beat the Cats 23-6, the Blues upset the Crusaders 35-20, Highlanders just beat the Brumbies 19-18, Chiefs beat the Sharks 40-5, Stormers beat the Reds 15-13. Hurricanes beat the Waratahs 26-24.
The cricket test against Sri Lanka petered out to a tame draw. Their new bowler Malinga seems to chuck the ball sideways, the players can't see the ball coming because it passes in front of the umpire and they want the umpire to dress like a sight screen. The second test starts today.
Tiger Woods is trying to win the Masters and now has a handy lead.
MY SAD LIFE
I forgot to mention Rory's trip to inter-zone swimming. It lasted about three seconds when he false-started in his heat. Was a shame, as the eventual winners were swimmers he swam against in the inter-school competition. He was a little disappointed but not overly so, and Diana and I agree that swim-meets are not something we want to hang around a lot.
Continuing on Rory's roll, he scored a gold card this week at school, which is a reasonably uncommon award. You get one for becoming a councillor, and this one is for being a particularly valuable councillor (Angela got one too). Some more councillors have been created, which include two water polo players.
Rory got yet another day off school on Thursday for Kilikiti, and the team won the interschool competition. It was funny, in that Kilikiti is a weird variation of cricket invented in the Pacific Islands, and the Ponsonby team was very pale. Some of the other teams were a bit grumpy about the palagis winning.
Koos emigrates to New Zealand this week.
Heard from Peter Evans this week, he has finally seen the book with his photos in.
The Bambis are still pregnant, awaiting the arrival of number two, patiently. I suspect Lisa is not quite so patient and Peter.
I am going to Wellington this weekend for Armageddon. Leaving the family, abandoning the soccer teams. It seems very strange.
We went looking for a new car for Diana this week. Found one on Saturday that fits the bill. Should get it this week after a pre-purchase check. Took Rory with us, as he will probably learn to drive in it (that could start in less than two and a half years). Her car is still in the garage, she's been driving a really crappy courtesy car and the kids don't like being seen in it, which is quite funny. It's not a very good car.
I continue to swim regularly, religiously doing 200 lengths a week. Rory decided he had to beat my record of five lengths under water in one session so did six the other night. Neither of the kids wanted to come, they were tired, but I made them come anyway. They both had a great old time, doing water gymnastics, leaping off my knees into the water, and other things. As usual, both were quite happy once we got there but I got the cold treatment in the car on the way there, believe me.
Hannah had her Meningococcal immunisation on Thursday and has had a bit of a sore arm, it is a muscular injection.
Pandora seems to have recovered from her injury. Ollie got locked in my office for about four hours on Sunday. Little bugger kept getting into everything while I was packaging Vader up for shipping to Wellington.
Rory has an exam this week for a possible high school. Not sure if we want him to go there yet but we shall see.
Sorry, it seems to be quite big this week.
LOCAL NEWS
Moronic MP John Tamihere, who has been through the wringer with allegations of dodgy financial practices, has now offended his entire Labour caucus. He was quoted in a magazine insulting most cabinet ministers and Helen by name, as well as generally denigrating the party and everyone in it. I would be surprised if he ever got a proper job within government ever again. It's not even what he said, but the fact that he was indiscrete enough to say it.
John Tamihere then came out later in the week and apologised for "the biggest mistake of his life" and then qualified it with something about not being sorry for his strong opinions. What a clown.
In the third act of the week, he was then quoted in the Sunday papers as saying he was sick of hearing about the holocaust and more stuff about women. I think I now qualify as one of the nine people left in the country that he hasn't insulted. Helen Clark has since said he is now on "extended leave". I think the latest thing was a quote from the same interview as the other mindless drivel. I can't believe anyone in their right mind would vote for the guy now. Maybe he will join Winston Peters. There are suggestions he wants to be kicked out of the Labour party to join the Maori party.
Stem-cell Willie is now playing golf back in NZ but does not yet speak very clearly. I am sceptical about the ability of these cells to be the miracle cure some see them as.
A prostitute that was shot in the head in South Auckland appears to be a casualty of a price war.
The NZ guy that was captured as a hired mercenary in the Ivory Coast has died of "natural causes". I think that is as in "if you are dropped from a height onto your head, you will naturally be caused to die". There was to be a post-mortem but I don't know what the conclusion was.
A British woman working on Meningococcal vaccination research in Wellington has succumbed to the disease. She was not vaccinated. The company she worked for were desperately trying to prove she got it elsewhere and not at work (she worked with the live virus).
The guy that thumped molester Capill pleaded guilty. Turns out he is pretty much a scumbag, previously convicted of about seven violent offences, has problems with alcohol and drugs, and is going to get punished for doing something that is morally probably one of the best things he has ever done. He contributed to the public humiliation of someone who thoroughly deserved it, although the judiciary doesn't believe he has the right to do so.
The US woman on the run with her son was apprehended in Rotorua over the weekend. I didn't realise it was still an issue, she's been avoiding authorities for quite a few weeks. Her son, Sky, is in the care of authorities but she will be allowed to accompany him to the US. She should be charged with cruel naming of her child while they have her, I mean "Sky"? That's not a name.
A new radio station starts today, called Radio Live (I think). It caused the reshuffle of Radio Pacific which spelt the end of my radio show (which I have forgotten to mention before, the last show was supposed to be a week ago but didn't make it).
WORLD NEWS
The Pope continued to dominate, and Charles postponed his wedding by a day. He was heard to say "Funny little foreigner, why can't they postpone his funeral." A Polish woman has given birth to three sons and called them John, Paul, and Second.
Prince Rainier died on Wednesday and still rated less airtime than the Pope. Wonder how much attention he would have received a week earlier or later. I suppose he isn't too bothered. This was another awful bother to Charles because it will interrupt the honeymoon. I think they need to postpone forever or get it over and done with before someone else cops it.
The actual papal funeral was televised to billions of people who had nothing better to do. It's not like a soccer match, even at a wedding there is a chance of some excitement and someone might bail or the groom might get messy or something. At a funeral you know what is going to happen. Unless he sat up and waved, of course. He didn't. Not sure why he needs three different coffins.
Charles and Camilla did the deed. Local paper said "We do (and always have done)" which was rude but funny. Think about this, though. After all these years of supposed "true love" and so forth, wouldn't the subjects think considerably less of Charles if he a) didn't bother marrying Camilla or b) went off and married someone else? I don't think I've seen anything considering the other choices, and after everything Diana supposedly went through, getting married is the least they should do. Mind you, if they separate, there will be quite a fuss.
REAL SPORT
Rory had his first water polo training for school on Tuesday. He looked pretty good. They will trial the kids for team selection tomorrow night.
Because we had two home games this weekend, we had time to see young Thomas play. They play on a quarter field, half the team playing on each quarter. We saw Ross doing his refereeing thing. Thomas had a bunch of supporters on the sideline, between grandparents, uncle, cousin, and us there were ten people there. They lost, but the other referee made a dodgy decision that probably turned the match (would have brought them to 2-3 and with a sniff of a chance).
Hannah's team were playing a team they beat 3-2 last year. We went up hill in the first half, couldn't quite break through but didn't let them score either, it was 0-0 at half time. I told the girls that the hill was worth two goals, and if the other team couldn’t score downhill they shouldn't score up hill. The Sirens scored three goals in the second half and the goalie didn't touch the ball once. Final score 3-0 and a great start for the season with two wins.
The other two girls teams in 11th grade had a win and a draw, which is good (they both lost last week). They are in the same pool and play each other this week.
Rory's team were a bit worried about Bucklands Beach, last time they played them they inflicted a heavy loss. This time, it was a different team. Although the other team had a few goes, our lads had the advantage. They played smarter and worked together well. I had to referee the second half, which was fine but I was knackered afterward. It was 1-0 up at half time with another scored in the second half to make a solid 2-0 will. They needed a win.
SPORT
Auckland won the State Championship Cricket Final, which I am pleased about. They only needed to draw to win the championship, but the won with seven wickets in hand.
Man Utd lost 0-2 to Norwich who are bottom of the table and looked likely to be relegated. Good news for them. The Arse won 1-0 over 'borough, Man City beat Liverpool 1-0, Blackburn won 3-1 over Southampton, and Chelsea had a draw with Birmingham but are still well clear on the table.
Blues beat the Cats 23-6, the Blues upset the Crusaders 35-20, Highlanders just beat the Brumbies 19-18, Chiefs beat the Sharks 40-5, Stormers beat the Reds 15-13. Hurricanes beat the Waratahs 26-24.
The cricket test against Sri Lanka petered out to a tame draw. Their new bowler Malinga seems to chuck the ball sideways, the players can't see the ball coming because it passes in front of the umpire and they want the umpire to dress like a sight screen. The second test starts today.
Tiger Woods is trying to win the Masters and now has a handy lead.
MY SAD LIFE
I forgot to mention Rory's trip to inter-zone swimming. It lasted about three seconds when he false-started in his heat. Was a shame, as the eventual winners were swimmers he swam against in the inter-school competition. He was a little disappointed but not overly so, and Diana and I agree that swim-meets are not something we want to hang around a lot.
Continuing on Rory's roll, he scored a gold card this week at school, which is a reasonably uncommon award. You get one for becoming a councillor, and this one is for being a particularly valuable councillor (Angela got one too). Some more councillors have been created, which include two water polo players.
Rory got yet another day off school on Thursday for Kilikiti, and the team won the interschool competition. It was funny, in that Kilikiti is a weird variation of cricket invented in the Pacific Islands, and the Ponsonby team was very pale. Some of the other teams were a bit grumpy about the palagis winning.
Koos emigrates to New Zealand this week.
Heard from Peter Evans this week, he has finally seen the book with his photos in.
The Bambis are still pregnant, awaiting the arrival of number two, patiently. I suspect Lisa is not quite so patient and Peter.
I am going to Wellington this weekend for Armageddon. Leaving the family, abandoning the soccer teams. It seems very strange.
We went looking for a new car for Diana this week. Found one on Saturday that fits the bill. Should get it this week after a pre-purchase check. Took Rory with us, as he will probably learn to drive in it (that could start in less than two and a half years). Her car is still in the garage, she's been driving a really crappy courtesy car and the kids don't like being seen in it, which is quite funny. It's not a very good car.
I continue to swim regularly, religiously doing 200 lengths a week. Rory decided he had to beat my record of five lengths under water in one session so did six the other night. Neither of the kids wanted to come, they were tired, but I made them come anyway. They both had a great old time, doing water gymnastics, leaping off my knees into the water, and other things. As usual, both were quite happy once we got there but I got the cold treatment in the car on the way there, believe me.
Hannah had her Meningococcal immunisation on Thursday and has had a bit of a sore arm, it is a muscular injection.
Pandora seems to have recovered from her injury. Ollie got locked in my office for about four hours on Sunday. Little bugger kept getting into everything while I was packaging Vader up for shipping to Wellington.
Rory has an exam this week for a possible high school. Not sure if we want him to go there yet but we shall see.
4 April 2005
We farewell JP II - 04/04/05
LOCAL NEWS
The guy punched for being a child molester was named as being the former leader of the Christian Heritage Party, who is on record as being against children being taught contraception advice (ever) and legalising prostitution. Apparently molesting an eight year old girl is okay. Abusing a position of trust and power is bad enough, to make a public stand against other moral issues whilst doing worse yourself is unbelievable. The judge said this was at the low scale of offending.
Meanwhile a pair of boys at a Christchurch Christian boarding school have been suspended for six months after knocking on the door of a girls dormitory and then running away. I don't know how they can live with themselves.
McDonalds has closed its branch in Starship Children's Hospital. There was always controversy about it being there from the nutrition nazi viewpoint, but the reality is that young kids that are suffering do find comfort in something familiar like a happy meal. It's got to be better than a muesli bar out of a vending machine. In some ways I think the closure is a shame.
A guy called Terry Ryan, who has worked for thirty years on documenting those who are of a given Maori tribe, has been found to be completely non-Maori himself. He says he hasn't held himself out to be Maori but many disagree. It calls the entire register into doubt and could create quite a stink.
A jockey died when he fell from his horse during a race.
A bunch of pods of magnesium phosphide are floating in the water off the Northland coast, they fell off a passing ship. They can spontaneously combust.
A balcony collapsed at a hotel during a wedding reception, there were injuries but nothing fatal.
WORLD NEWS
The dwarf in the Pope suit was in pretty bad shape. However, I must say the Catholic Church needs to consider the marketing impact of saying "he is at the end of his long journey." Shouldn't he be about to go off and meet the Boss in person? News of his impending promotion was continuos and monotonous. He finally passed on Sunday morning NZ Time, he was leading news for ages on the news web sites. Now we look forward to news of who the new Pope will be, and we will be waiting for the blue smoke or whatever it is. The Herald dedicated the front four pages of the paper and another couple on the front of another section to him. I wonder how many pages would be dedicated to him if he came back? It is fair to say that people of my generation probably remember no other pope. However, they can, after all, just elect another one, it's not like a monarchy.
Meanwhile, the health of Prince Rainier of Monaco has become uninteresting.
The idiot in the Prince Charles suit just doesn't know when to shut-up. I am not sure he deserves to chair the committee of a local high class git club let alone be king of England. Insulting the press is never going to be ignored by the press.
Another earthquake in Indonesia gained attention for a couple of days but was bumped by the Pope.
REAL SPORT
Bit of a crisis with Rory. Water polo practice conflicts with soccer practice. Not sure what we will do, I know which comes first in his mind.
First game of the season on Saturday, teams a little rusty.
Thomas's team had a 2-2 draw, I think.
Didn't see Rory's team play, was always going to be tough against the team that is normally top of the table. They lost 0-5. Rory was captain for the game and took his job seriously.
Hannah's team (the Sirens) were up against a team we never played last year. We were all over them to start with, but couldn't get a goal in. Then the opposition had three players off side and the official referee didn't seem to think it was a problem and they scored. This got our girls pretty pissed off, they knew it was offside and I told them that the best solution to right the injustice was to score two goals. By half time, they had, and led 2-1 into the second half. It was one-way traffic in the second half, and final score was a massive 7-1 win for the Sirens. I think we scored seven goals the whole season last year. Everyone very pleased, awesome start to the season. Out of ten girls teams in the club, three won, one drew.
Big crisis in our house. Rory's water polo training conflicts with soccer training. Not sure what we will do, as I give soccer players the lecture about being committed to their sport. If given the choice, I know which Rory will choose. Tricky.
SPORT
Man Utd had a 0-0 draw with Blackburn, Arsenal won 4-1 over Norwich, Liverpool had a 1-0 win. Newcastle ended a 16 match unbeaten run with a 0-3 loss to Villa, remarkable in that they had three players red carded, the second two for fighting each other in the 82nd minute. Remarkably, Villa didn't score after Newcastle were down to 8 players.
A very good weekend for the NZ teams in the Super 12, the only one that lost was to another NZ team. The Blues reversed their bad run by beating the Brumbies 17-0, which I did not expect. The Crusaders ended the Waratahs unbeaten run 33-27. The Hurricanes beat the Chiefs 28-16, and Highlanders beat the Reds 23-16. Four NZ teams are in the top six. The SA teams didn't play.
The Warriors beat the Rabbitohs, their first win at home since July last year, which was over the same team.
Cricket test against Sri Lanka starts today, very weird that it is starting on a Monday.
MY SAD LIFE
Diana's car died again after getting fixed for $60 and we were without a second car for the second weekend in a row.
We saw "cheaper by the dozen" over Easter, and because of that I got the book out of the library. I read the book when I was quite young (say 10) and knew the film was nothing like the book. In fact, the only thing true to the book was that there were 12 kids and the title. The book is quite old, written in the 1940's, and is a bit trite, however it is really strange reading about "the attitudes of these youngsters" in a book set in the 1920s and the fact that these youngsters would probably all be very, very old now and very conservative.
I got my parking ticket cancelled, so the grovelly letter worked.
I got a letter from Soccer New Zealand saying that I have been deemed competent as a Junior Club Coach, which means I am qualified to do what I have done for bloody ages. I love the phrase "deemed competent"
Brett - Stalag 17, think about it upon your return to Perth.
It was Peter Smith's birthday on Sunday (my business partner). It's Brett's birthday on Thursday.
Had a coffee with Sander, Koos and Heidi's Dad, after soccer on Saturday. He came down and watched the girls for a while, the game was at Stanmore Bay. We met Sjaan's new kitty, Jasper (I think, I mean I think it was Jasper, we definitely met it and it is definitely a kitten, just not sure how to spell it's name).
Went with Hannah to a premier women's match, Hannah was a ball girl. The home team included a few players we know.
Rory's cat has been limping, she went to the vet twice, and it appears her left rear ankle was bitten. She is coming right now.
The guy punched for being a child molester was named as being the former leader of the Christian Heritage Party, who is on record as being against children being taught contraception advice (ever) and legalising prostitution. Apparently molesting an eight year old girl is okay. Abusing a position of trust and power is bad enough, to make a public stand against other moral issues whilst doing worse yourself is unbelievable. The judge said this was at the low scale of offending.
Meanwhile a pair of boys at a Christchurch Christian boarding school have been suspended for six months after knocking on the door of a girls dormitory and then running away. I don't know how they can live with themselves.
McDonalds has closed its branch in Starship Children's Hospital. There was always controversy about it being there from the nutrition nazi viewpoint, but the reality is that young kids that are suffering do find comfort in something familiar like a happy meal. It's got to be better than a muesli bar out of a vending machine. In some ways I think the closure is a shame.
A guy called Terry Ryan, who has worked for thirty years on documenting those who are of a given Maori tribe, has been found to be completely non-Maori himself. He says he hasn't held himself out to be Maori but many disagree. It calls the entire register into doubt and could create quite a stink.
A jockey died when he fell from his horse during a race.
A bunch of pods of magnesium phosphide are floating in the water off the Northland coast, they fell off a passing ship. They can spontaneously combust.
A balcony collapsed at a hotel during a wedding reception, there were injuries but nothing fatal.
WORLD NEWS
The dwarf in the Pope suit was in pretty bad shape. However, I must say the Catholic Church needs to consider the marketing impact of saying "he is at the end of his long journey." Shouldn't he be about to go off and meet the Boss in person? News of his impending promotion was continuos and monotonous. He finally passed on Sunday morning NZ Time, he was leading news for ages on the news web sites. Now we look forward to news of who the new Pope will be, and we will be waiting for the blue smoke or whatever it is. The Herald dedicated the front four pages of the paper and another couple on the front of another section to him. I wonder how many pages would be dedicated to him if he came back? It is fair to say that people of my generation probably remember no other pope. However, they can, after all, just elect another one, it's not like a monarchy.
Meanwhile, the health of Prince Rainier of Monaco has become uninteresting.
The idiot in the Prince Charles suit just doesn't know when to shut-up. I am not sure he deserves to chair the committee of a local high class git club let alone be king of England. Insulting the press is never going to be ignored by the press.
Another earthquake in Indonesia gained attention for a couple of days but was bumped by the Pope.
REAL SPORT
Bit of a crisis with Rory. Water polo practice conflicts with soccer practice. Not sure what we will do, I know which comes first in his mind.
First game of the season on Saturday, teams a little rusty.
Thomas's team had a 2-2 draw, I think.
Didn't see Rory's team play, was always going to be tough against the team that is normally top of the table. They lost 0-5. Rory was captain for the game and took his job seriously.
Hannah's team (the Sirens) were up against a team we never played last year. We were all over them to start with, but couldn't get a goal in. Then the opposition had three players off side and the official referee didn't seem to think it was a problem and they scored. This got our girls pretty pissed off, they knew it was offside and I told them that the best solution to right the injustice was to score two goals. By half time, they had, and led 2-1 into the second half. It was one-way traffic in the second half, and final score was a massive 7-1 win for the Sirens. I think we scored seven goals the whole season last year. Everyone very pleased, awesome start to the season. Out of ten girls teams in the club, three won, one drew.
Big crisis in our house. Rory's water polo training conflicts with soccer training. Not sure what we will do, as I give soccer players the lecture about being committed to their sport. If given the choice, I know which Rory will choose. Tricky.
SPORT
Man Utd had a 0-0 draw with Blackburn, Arsenal won 4-1 over Norwich, Liverpool had a 1-0 win. Newcastle ended a 16 match unbeaten run with a 0-3 loss to Villa, remarkable in that they had three players red carded, the second two for fighting each other in the 82nd minute. Remarkably, Villa didn't score after Newcastle were down to 8 players.
A very good weekend for the NZ teams in the Super 12, the only one that lost was to another NZ team. The Blues reversed their bad run by beating the Brumbies 17-0, which I did not expect. The Crusaders ended the Waratahs unbeaten run 33-27. The Hurricanes beat the Chiefs 28-16, and Highlanders beat the Reds 23-16. Four NZ teams are in the top six. The SA teams didn't play.
The Warriors beat the Rabbitohs, their first win at home since July last year, which was over the same team.
Cricket test against Sri Lanka starts today, very weird that it is starting on a Monday.
MY SAD LIFE
Diana's car died again after getting fixed for $60 and we were without a second car for the second weekend in a row.
We saw "cheaper by the dozen" over Easter, and because of that I got the book out of the library. I read the book when I was quite young (say 10) and knew the film was nothing like the book. In fact, the only thing true to the book was that there were 12 kids and the title. The book is quite old, written in the 1940's, and is a bit trite, however it is really strange reading about "the attitudes of these youngsters" in a book set in the 1920s and the fact that these youngsters would probably all be very, very old now and very conservative.
I got my parking ticket cancelled, so the grovelly letter worked.
I got a letter from Soccer New Zealand saying that I have been deemed competent as a Junior Club Coach, which means I am qualified to do what I have done for bloody ages. I love the phrase "deemed competent"
Brett - Stalag 17, think about it upon your return to Perth.
It was Peter Smith's birthday on Sunday (my business partner). It's Brett's birthday on Thursday.
Had a coffee with Sander, Koos and Heidi's Dad, after soccer on Saturday. He came down and watched the girls for a while, the game was at Stanmore Bay. We met Sjaan's new kitty, Jasper (I think, I mean I think it was Jasper, we definitely met it and it is definitely a kitten, just not sure how to spell it's name).
Went with Hannah to a premier women's match, Hannah was a ball girl. The home team included a few players we know.
Rory's cat has been limping, she went to the vet twice, and it appears her left rear ankle was bitten. She is coming right now.
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