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.
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