LOCAL NEWS
The controversial Electoral Funding Bill was rehashed rather quickly and released this week. It seems to have slightly nicer styled jack boots and the swastikas are now painted a friendly pink colour.
Clint Rickards can now prove that he is not a bent cop. He resigned on Thursday so now he is a bent civilian.
They still haven't found the missing tall woman Emma Agnew, who happens to be deaf. They have searched the rubbish dump and scoured a nearby river with divers.
You have to wonder what is going on in some families. A 14 year old girl had her eyes gouged in an attempt to banish the devil. She is a cousin of the woman who died a month ago when she was drowned in front of her family. This is beyond belief and out of control.
Two ferry workers were crushed between a pole and a ferry at Devonport. They suffered broken bones.
Woeful weekend on the roads with ten dead. Not even a long weekend. One accident killed 15 year old twin girls at Western Springs near us. Another probably shouldn't count because it was an elderly man who had a heart attack and hit a parked car.
Helen Clark is in Uganda at the moment. After Idi Amin, haven't they suffered enough? Perhaps she is at a zombie reunion, I don't know.
You won't believe this but the whole Ben and Olivia murder thing has been raised as seriously needing to be re-investigated. It's about ten years since they disappeared.
Meanwhile Taito Philip Field is having his day in court today, actually wanting to have to the trial to clear his name before the election. He could actually be innocent, you know.
WORLD NEWS
The cruise ship that hit the iceberg was in the news for a few days. It was interesting because there were New Zealanders on board.
Kevin Rudd is now the prime minister of Australia, John Howard ousted quite predictably and ignominiously. You gotta know when to fold, as the song goes.
Ian Smith, the former Rhodesian Prime Minister (not the New Zealand wicket keeper), died this week. Some felt he didn't do a good job, but looking at how Mugabe is running things, perhaps he did okay.
SPORT
England will not be at Euro 2008. What a shocker. Have to support another team now, which is a shame. I don't know why I want England to win, but maybe one day they will.
The black caps narrowly lost the first ODI.
The men's hockey team did okay against Australia, but blew a 3-1 lead in the last game to draw 3-3.
REAL SPORT
Well, on Friday the finals night was upon us, finally. Firstly, I have to get Rory's juniors through a 5-8th playoff game, which they won about 8-2. Rory scored two. The intermediate kids were all pretty excited and very nervous. Our first game was the girls final, against Rangeview who were unbeaten through this year, won last year, and I don't think they lost last year either. Anyway, the girls went in and did the business, 4-0 up at half time, final score was a healthy 8-2 win. We were very pleased, and I got a swim in the celebration.
Then the Marlins, Rory's team, won 6-2 again to avoid the wooden spoon. The Piranhas had their final, it was closer than I was expecting, but we still lost 1-5. This made them runners-up which was still good. Finally, the Sharks played in the Div 1 final. This was an exceedingly tight game, with the other team having one particularly talented player who is prone to brain fades. The Sharks worked hard to give him little room, and they did pretty well before he was ejected for a brutality (punching Miranda Chase in the head, like I said, brain fades). At 4-4 we got a penalty, Hannah took it, and put us up 5-4. We defended to see out the game and take the win. I got another swim, and the team, the girls who played in both finals especially, were delighted. Afterwards we went to Wendy's to celebrate and made a bit of a mess.
Hannah scored one goal in the girls final and two in the Div 1 final, including the winner from a penalty (no pressure). She worked very hard, but it was only the beginning of the weekend.
I won't bore you with the details of the rest of the games, but in summary, Hannah played five club games in 24 hours. She was pretty tired at the end of it. They won four games lost one. She played pretty well, spent a lot of time in goal. For posterity - Teal v Waikato B 19-0, Gold v Waikato 7-3, Teal v Tauranga B 15-1, Gold v Tauranga 6-7, Gold v Marist Blue 11-1.
I finished the weekend with the junior girls playing Albany at the bloody awful millennium stadium. There were two flipper ball games going on in the pool next door, whistles going everywhere and so much noise nobody could hear a thing. Albany defaulted because they didn't have a team, so we leant them a couple of players and then they beat us 4-3. Junior boys and girls have one more game each this weekend, but Hannah has North Island Intermediates tournament starting Thursday. I think that means about eight games this weekend starting Tuesday.
MY SAD LIFE
An unusual moth sat on my window in front of where I sit on Thursday. It hung around a bit. On Friday there were two. They were trying to be one, if you know what I mean. I don't remember seeing them ever before, this particular type. They are called Magpie moths. They were there for ages. I took photos. Is that wrong? Then one left, and the other one stayed. Perhaps it was tired.
Got a bizarre letter from the power company this week. Because we don't have heavy use devices, they can't turn them off, so we pay more. See, if we don't have heavy use devices, then they don't need to turn them off, so we are good citizens all the time. They don't seem to understand why their approach sounds so ridiculous to me. But if I bought a spa pool then I would qualify. Lunatic.
Rory has theoretically been studying for his science exam this Wednesday. Not sure how much he has actually done. He hasn't been particularly useful, although he did rearrange his room (as an alternative to study). He finally drove out to West Wave for the first time, somewhere we go at least three or four times a week.
Ross rang me at home on Saturday, and asked where I was. I am worried about him.
It is Ben Tucker's birthday tomorrow. Seven years old. Congrats, Ben.
I saw Sarah this week, who is pregnant with twins. She reckons she can still reach the keyboard at work. I reckon she uses a pointy stick. She's healthy though, which is good. They are due end of January.
Movember ends this Friday, I am not sure how quickly I am going to shave mine off but I suspect it could be pretty soon after that. I look like an old git balancing a dead piebald ferret on my top lip.
Next Monday is my birthday, so I have re-installed the larger letter box in anticipation of all the gifts. It is a small shed on a stick with a very large slot.
Well, I don't know how I find the time to do this these days, which could be a feasible excuse for the lack of quality, but then again it's never really had quality anyway, has it?
26 November 2007
19 November 2007
My hovercraft is full of eels - 19/11/07
I would like to hope this is the first blog you have ever read with that particular subject. If yes, another first for me. If no, I will very disappointed. I couldn't think of anything else. Google the title and you will be amazed how many times it appears.
LOCAL NEWS
The herald went all political with front page editorials on a new bill around advertising and spending that could influence election outcomes. The whole thing is pretty dodgy.
A person dressed as a panda was hit by a car on Tuesday in Christchurch. This is a terrible shame because people dressed in panda suits are becoming endangered species, worldwide. Many would see that as a good thing.
A 20 year old deaf woman went missing on Thursday in Christchurch after liaising with someone who was going to buy her car. The car showed up, burnt out, which is not a good sign. I am not sure I approve of her constantly being referred to as "deaf woman". They don't talk about "fat woman" or "angry woman". It seems wrong.
Lots of excitement about the screening of Nai Yin Xue on America's Most Wanted, he's the guy that abandoned his daughter in Melbourne and left his wife in the boot of his car.
WORLD NEWS
A gunfight in Sydney outside a restaurant (who denied it was outside their restaurant) was also outside Penny's shop. She wasn't there at the time but staff were and one had a gun pointed at her. She was taken away by police for questioning and a change of undies.
Bangladesh got a bit wet and lots of people died, the death toll is 2,000 and rising faster than the water level. It's not that unusual.
The Japanese whaling fleet have left for the southern ocean. I don't really understand why people don't just go and torpedo their ships.
REAL SPORT
Had six games to manage on Friday night. Hannah's first was ten minutes before Rory's, so they ran concurrently. Hannah's team were in semi final for div 1, they won 9-3. Rory's team were playing Rutherford with a little help from four kids from two other schools. It ended as a 3-3 draw, Rory gave three cheers for Rutherford, Green Bay, and Glen Eden at the end, which I think got the message across. It isn't really fair having ring-ins playing like that, and certainly not within the rules.
Then the Marlins played, the team Rory coaches, who had to start without him because his game was still going. They were playing off for 5th and 6th, in best of two. They won comfortably in the end but made it hard work. The Rangby team then played, with all but one being Ponsonby kids, the cruised to a 12-0 win. Then my Piranhas played in semi final, needed a win to make final, which they made very hard work of but managed to score with 20 seconds left to win 3-2.
Finally, the girls played in their semi-final, which they won 9-2 against St Dominics. So, Friday night went pretty well. Mostly about getting three teams into the finals, which we did. Big night next Friday, our last night of Intermediate polo after four years.
Hannah's Gold club team had a pretty easy win on Sunday, 8-3 over Northsport B.
The Springs Junior Girls played a team that didn't show up, which was pretty annoying.
SPORT
The Silver Ferns lost 38-42 to Australia in World Cup Netball final. Nobody likes losing to Australia.
The Black Caps lost by an innings plus, again. Woeful. You’d barely know it was on and I think I know why. The only good news is that they can't lose by over an innings in the coming ODIs, although you never know.
England has a big game against Croatia to qualify for Euro 2008, this Wednesday. A draw should be enough but Rooney and Owen are both out with injury.
MY SAD LIFE
Well, my car cost $800 on Monday for just a service, funny how you always need to redo something (brakes, plugs, and so on). Then the ignition died on Thursday and I had to get towed home from Taylors, about 2km away. Being towed is not what I would call fun, considerably harder than driving. This is especially true when the car has power steering and power brakes and no power and the car in front is a sodding great big ute you can't see past. Cars are a pain. You sort of keep thinking it’s not that old then you realise it is ten years old and practically a junker.
Emma turned 21 this week, and had the big party on Saturday night. Was good do, but we couldn't stay too late because Rory had people staying. Emma looked fabulous, hair was done, the whole nine yards. Adam, her BF, made a good little speech. He said she wasn't always there to catch him when he falls, but she's good at taking him to the hospital (he did a dive off a balcony and smashed his leg a few weeks ago and did the speech from crutches). It was pretty funny.
Rory had three friends and Maddie stay on Saturday night. The three friends were basically there to legitimise Maddie's presence. She talked him into shaving off his sideburns, so he looks weird now. They behaved pretty well, which is good, so I got some sleep. Hannah was also home and kept an eye on them.
Rory and I had a go at my car's paintjob, trying to use cutting compound to improve the paintwork. At first it wasn't looking promising, but it improved. Of course, it isn't going anywhere at the moment so the exercise could be completely futile.
Hannah was in a weird mood on Sunday, so I took her out and somehow I ended up buying her a shirt in a geek store. Hmmmmm.
LOCAL NEWS
The herald went all political with front page editorials on a new bill around advertising and spending that could influence election outcomes. The whole thing is pretty dodgy.
A person dressed as a panda was hit by a car on Tuesday in Christchurch. This is a terrible shame because people dressed in panda suits are becoming endangered species, worldwide. Many would see that as a good thing.
A 20 year old deaf woman went missing on Thursday in Christchurch after liaising with someone who was going to buy her car. The car showed up, burnt out, which is not a good sign. I am not sure I approve of her constantly being referred to as "deaf woman". They don't talk about "fat woman" or "angry woman". It seems wrong.
Lots of excitement about the screening of Nai Yin Xue on America's Most Wanted, he's the guy that abandoned his daughter in Melbourne and left his wife in the boot of his car.
WORLD NEWS
A gunfight in Sydney outside a restaurant (who denied it was outside their restaurant) was also outside Penny's shop. She wasn't there at the time but staff were and one had a gun pointed at her. She was taken away by police for questioning and a change of undies.
Bangladesh got a bit wet and lots of people died, the death toll is 2,000 and rising faster than the water level. It's not that unusual.
The Japanese whaling fleet have left for the southern ocean. I don't really understand why people don't just go and torpedo their ships.
REAL SPORT
Had six games to manage on Friday night. Hannah's first was ten minutes before Rory's, so they ran concurrently. Hannah's team were in semi final for div 1, they won 9-3. Rory's team were playing Rutherford with a little help from four kids from two other schools. It ended as a 3-3 draw, Rory gave three cheers for Rutherford, Green Bay, and Glen Eden at the end, which I think got the message across. It isn't really fair having ring-ins playing like that, and certainly not within the rules.
Then the Marlins played, the team Rory coaches, who had to start without him because his game was still going. They were playing off for 5th and 6th, in best of two. They won comfortably in the end but made it hard work. The Rangby team then played, with all but one being Ponsonby kids, the cruised to a 12-0 win. Then my Piranhas played in semi final, needed a win to make final, which they made very hard work of but managed to score with 20 seconds left to win 3-2.
Finally, the girls played in their semi-final, which they won 9-2 against St Dominics. So, Friday night went pretty well. Mostly about getting three teams into the finals, which we did. Big night next Friday, our last night of Intermediate polo after four years.
Hannah's Gold club team had a pretty easy win on Sunday, 8-3 over Northsport B.
The Springs Junior Girls played a team that didn't show up, which was pretty annoying.
SPORT
The Silver Ferns lost 38-42 to Australia in World Cup Netball final. Nobody likes losing to Australia.
The Black Caps lost by an innings plus, again. Woeful. You’d barely know it was on and I think I know why. The only good news is that they can't lose by over an innings in the coming ODIs, although you never know.
England has a big game against Croatia to qualify for Euro 2008, this Wednesday. A draw should be enough but Rooney and Owen are both out with injury.
MY SAD LIFE
Well, my car cost $800 on Monday for just a service, funny how you always need to redo something (brakes, plugs, and so on). Then the ignition died on Thursday and I had to get towed home from Taylors, about 2km away. Being towed is not what I would call fun, considerably harder than driving. This is especially true when the car has power steering and power brakes and no power and the car in front is a sodding great big ute you can't see past. Cars are a pain. You sort of keep thinking it’s not that old then you realise it is ten years old and practically a junker.
Emma turned 21 this week, and had the big party on Saturday night. Was good do, but we couldn't stay too late because Rory had people staying. Emma looked fabulous, hair was done, the whole nine yards. Adam, her BF, made a good little speech. He said she wasn't always there to catch him when he falls, but she's good at taking him to the hospital (he did a dive off a balcony and smashed his leg a few weeks ago and did the speech from crutches). It was pretty funny.
Rory had three friends and Maddie stay on Saturday night. The three friends were basically there to legitimise Maddie's presence. She talked him into shaving off his sideburns, so he looks weird now. They behaved pretty well, which is good, so I got some sleep. Hannah was also home and kept an eye on them.
Rory and I had a go at my car's paintjob, trying to use cutting compound to improve the paintwork. At first it wasn't looking promising, but it improved. Of course, it isn't going anywhere at the moment so the exercise could be completely futile.
Hannah was in a weird mood on Sunday, so I took her out and somehow I ended up buying her a shirt in a geek store. Hmmmmm.
12 November 2007
Giving it to Gordon and one for Jesus - 12/11/07
The explanation of the title comes at the end of Real Sport.
LOCAL NEWS
A children's toy, called Bindeez, includes a large number of plastic beads. If swallowed, the glue coating the beads releases a banned drug into the system. Why kids would swallow excessive quantities, I don't know, I presume there are rules about what age should be playing with them. They have been removed from stores. Why they were named after Steve Irwin's daughter, I don't know. Why they didn't get sick from licking their fingers or eating after using the beads without washing their hands, I don't know. The press were woefully thin on substance on this subject. They did not mention whether the stuff tasted nice, either.
The whole fireworks thing went sort of smoothly but there were a number of incidents that were pretty bad, arsons and personal injury.
Another Darwinian moment when a west Auckland teen accepted some cake from a complete stranger, ate it, then got sick. The cake was thought to be laced with drugs. Perhaps it contained Bindeez glue?
The man in charge of the boat where two kids drowned back in April was charged under maritime law this week. The whole thing was bizarre, where they were taking on water, hit rocks at speed, and the kids who noticed the water never got out.
A 22 year old Wainuiomata woman was drowned in her own lounge in front of 40 relatives in an exorcism designed to lift a Maori curse. I guess we will never know if it worked. Will be interesting to see if charges are laid.
Another not great weekend on the roads, four dead, none near swimming pools.
A man was enveloped in a ball of flame when he lit a paraffin lamp in an army tent at an armistice day commemoration in Cambridge.
A fire in a fibreglass factory last night wasn't so good. Fibreglass resin is really nasty, even when not on fire.
WORLD NEWS
We had more arrests in Fiji. A few more beatings of those in custody, but nothing fatal.
A scrap in Perth this week between Maoris and Aborigines resulted in a Maori dying. Is that a race war?
The mass shooting in Finland was most un-Finlike. The Shooter saved taxpayers money by dying of his self-inflicted wounds. The news kept saying he broadcast his intentions on Youtube "just hours before". I don't really get that. Did they expect more notice?
REAL SPORT
Rory had a tournament this weekend. We won first game 11-5 against Mt Roskill, wasn't really ever close. Rory and I went to watch Mt Roskill play the other team in our pool. They won 7-3 against Mt Roskill. I thought we could beat them. Rory got player of the game.
Friday morning we played Takapuna. Rory and I went to watch them play the night before so we knew what to expect. We beat them 6-5 to give up top qualifying spot in our group. Rory got player of the game, again. Then we beat Liston 5-4, who were second in their group. Marcella got player of the game. We never got any more they didn't seem to give them out at the Sacred Heart Pool.
The final group game was against another top qualifier, Hutt International, who beat Liston 9-1, so I thought we would have a tough game. We got on top of them early and maintained a lead throughout the game, winning 11-8. This got us top spot on our half of the draw, playing second from the other group in the semi-final.
It didn't go well in the semi-final, down 0-3, clawed our way back to 2-3 but couldn't catch Kristin. This put us into playoff for 3rd and 4th versus St Patricks Silver Stream. We were down early, 0-2 but came right and finished comfortably ahead 9-6. Nice to finish with a win. Hutt International, the team we beat on our side of the draw, won the final beating Kristin 7-0. Not one team was unbeaten in our competition.
At the end of any game, the teams give three cheers for the opposing team, one for the ref, and sometimes one for themselves. In this tournament, we finished with "One for Jesus". Interesting. They decided after the first win that they should continue with it. Another thing that became a tradition in the tournament, was figuring out who Gordon was (in the movie "There's only one Jimmy Grimble", Gordon's father manages the team in one game and just yells "Give it to Gordon" the whole time.) Therefore, the best player on the opposing team became Gordon. We would decide who we felt the Gordon was and then call out "8 is Gordon" or whatever. Sad but funny, a little. Should have said "One for Gordon" at the end of each game.
We then had a game for the boys and girls at same time in adjacent pools. The boys lost 3-8 to Avondale, the girls lost 1-10 to St Marys B. We were all knackered.
SPORT
The Melbourne Cup happened, again. A horse came first, again. The winner had a tenuous link to New Zealand, again. I really don't get how we all become obsessed with horse racing for about two days a year.
Man Utd beat Blackburn 2-0. Spurs won 4-0 against Wigan, Chelsea drew 1-1 with Everton. West Ham thumped Derby 5-0.
The Black Caps lost by a mere 358 runs in the first test against South Africa. Nobody sensible had any expectations at all, they are woefully underprepared and under strength. It seems The "caps" bit now officially stands for capitulators, I think.
The Silver Ferns played Malawi (fair dinkum, they really did) in their opening world cup match. It was about 80-20 or something. Cricket, Rugby, and Netball all have the same problem with world cups, the world is not big enough to have decent pool matches.
MY SAD LIFE
Diana had her exam on Tuesday, seemed to go okay, think she's happy for it to be over.
In between games on Friday, the manager and I took the team plus Hannah to Big Boys Toys. Hannah learned to pole dance. Hmmm, not sure I am too happy about that. The kids had a lovely time, sumo wrestling, climbing ropes, shooting each other with lasers, and so on. The lady on the Durex stand happily told me and Jane about what interesting additives their products now had, and we quietly said that it was all very interesting and we would both be sure to share that information with our respective spouses. To be honest, I am not sure some of it was something that I would feel completely comfortable discussing with my own wife (pretty sure Diana wouldn't want to know, actually). Meanwhile, the team were busy covering each other in some stuff that warmed up when you blow on it (yuck). The school van was decorated with up to 100 air freshening things, it looks quite Christmassy. Most of the free stuff was condoms, cough lollies, window cloths, and posters.
The WSC school sports dinner was Friday night. The build up for it was excruciating, it was a mission squeezing it in during the tournament. The guy running it was not knowing what time we would get there (results from each game dictated when the next would be). We did arrive just in time for the dinner, which was nice. We missed out on about an hour of speeches, which was nice. Rory got MVP for junior polo, a swimming prize, and a hockey stick spot prize, which was nice. The Senior Polo team got team of the year, which was pretty cool. Water polo has arrived at Western Springs.
I don’t really feel like I have seen much of Hannah over the last couple of days, she only came to one of the games, so she had a pretty quiet weekend at home.
I have been reading about Benjamin Franklin because of the crossword puzzle. He was a busy chap. He never patented any of his inventions because he felt he benefited from the inventions of others. Also been reading about Darwin, and watched the movie about the Hillsboro monkey trial (called "Inherit the Wind", I think Gene Kelly stole the show).
It is Helen's birthday today. It is Caitlin's birthday tomorrow (7, right?). It is also Elsie's 85th birthday tomorrow.
We did manage to visit Goodins for their barbecue on Sunday between games. The family was all there plus some of the regulars including Mr and Mrs Batenberg. Kath said they had heard from Charles and he is actually alive.
In amongst water polo, Rory has been writing a speech and icing his hand. Meanwhile, Hannah has a project thing due on Friday that was also being worked on.
This week Hannah has a touch tournament tomorrow and athletics on Wednesday. I may try visiting work today, I need the rest.
LOCAL NEWS
A children's toy, called Bindeez, includes a large number of plastic beads. If swallowed, the glue coating the beads releases a banned drug into the system. Why kids would swallow excessive quantities, I don't know, I presume there are rules about what age should be playing with them. They have been removed from stores. Why they were named after Steve Irwin's daughter, I don't know. Why they didn't get sick from licking their fingers or eating after using the beads without washing their hands, I don't know. The press were woefully thin on substance on this subject. They did not mention whether the stuff tasted nice, either.
The whole fireworks thing went sort of smoothly but there were a number of incidents that were pretty bad, arsons and personal injury.
Another Darwinian moment when a west Auckland teen accepted some cake from a complete stranger, ate it, then got sick. The cake was thought to be laced with drugs. Perhaps it contained Bindeez glue?
The man in charge of the boat where two kids drowned back in April was charged under maritime law this week. The whole thing was bizarre, where they were taking on water, hit rocks at speed, and the kids who noticed the water never got out.
A 22 year old Wainuiomata woman was drowned in her own lounge in front of 40 relatives in an exorcism designed to lift a Maori curse. I guess we will never know if it worked. Will be interesting to see if charges are laid.
Another not great weekend on the roads, four dead, none near swimming pools.
A man was enveloped in a ball of flame when he lit a paraffin lamp in an army tent at an armistice day commemoration in Cambridge.
A fire in a fibreglass factory last night wasn't so good. Fibreglass resin is really nasty, even when not on fire.
WORLD NEWS
We had more arrests in Fiji. A few more beatings of those in custody, but nothing fatal.
A scrap in Perth this week between Maoris and Aborigines resulted in a Maori dying. Is that a race war?
The mass shooting in Finland was most un-Finlike. The Shooter saved taxpayers money by dying of his self-inflicted wounds. The news kept saying he broadcast his intentions on Youtube "just hours before". I don't really get that. Did they expect more notice?
REAL SPORT
Rory had a tournament this weekend. We won first game 11-5 against Mt Roskill, wasn't really ever close. Rory and I went to watch Mt Roskill play the other team in our pool. They won 7-3 against Mt Roskill. I thought we could beat them. Rory got player of the game.
Friday morning we played Takapuna. Rory and I went to watch them play the night before so we knew what to expect. We beat them 6-5 to give up top qualifying spot in our group. Rory got player of the game, again. Then we beat Liston 5-4, who were second in their group. Marcella got player of the game. We never got any more they didn't seem to give them out at the Sacred Heart Pool.
The final group game was against another top qualifier, Hutt International, who beat Liston 9-1, so I thought we would have a tough game. We got on top of them early and maintained a lead throughout the game, winning 11-8. This got us top spot on our half of the draw, playing second from the other group in the semi-final.
It didn't go well in the semi-final, down 0-3, clawed our way back to 2-3 but couldn't catch Kristin. This put us into playoff for 3rd and 4th versus St Patricks Silver Stream. We were down early, 0-2 but came right and finished comfortably ahead 9-6. Nice to finish with a win. Hutt International, the team we beat on our side of the draw, won the final beating Kristin 7-0. Not one team was unbeaten in our competition.
At the end of any game, the teams give three cheers for the opposing team, one for the ref, and sometimes one for themselves. In this tournament, we finished with "One for Jesus". Interesting. They decided after the first win that they should continue with it. Another thing that became a tradition in the tournament, was figuring out who Gordon was (in the movie "There's only one Jimmy Grimble", Gordon's father manages the team in one game and just yells "Give it to Gordon" the whole time.) Therefore, the best player on the opposing team became Gordon. We would decide who we felt the Gordon was and then call out "8 is Gordon" or whatever. Sad but funny, a little. Should have said "One for Gordon" at the end of each game.
We then had a game for the boys and girls at same time in adjacent pools. The boys lost 3-8 to Avondale, the girls lost 1-10 to St Marys B. We were all knackered.
SPORT
The Melbourne Cup happened, again. A horse came first, again. The winner had a tenuous link to New Zealand, again. I really don't get how we all become obsessed with horse racing for about two days a year.
Man Utd beat Blackburn 2-0. Spurs won 4-0 against Wigan, Chelsea drew 1-1 with Everton. West Ham thumped Derby 5-0.
The Black Caps lost by a mere 358 runs in the first test against South Africa. Nobody sensible had any expectations at all, they are woefully underprepared and under strength. It seems The "caps" bit now officially stands for capitulators, I think.
The Silver Ferns played Malawi (fair dinkum, they really did) in their opening world cup match. It was about 80-20 or something. Cricket, Rugby, and Netball all have the same problem with world cups, the world is not big enough to have decent pool matches.
MY SAD LIFE
Diana had her exam on Tuesday, seemed to go okay, think she's happy for it to be over.
In between games on Friday, the manager and I took the team plus Hannah to Big Boys Toys. Hannah learned to pole dance. Hmmm, not sure I am too happy about that. The kids had a lovely time, sumo wrestling, climbing ropes, shooting each other with lasers, and so on. The lady on the Durex stand happily told me and Jane about what interesting additives their products now had, and we quietly said that it was all very interesting and we would both be sure to share that information with our respective spouses. To be honest, I am not sure some of it was something that I would feel completely comfortable discussing with my own wife (pretty sure Diana wouldn't want to know, actually). Meanwhile, the team were busy covering each other in some stuff that warmed up when you blow on it (yuck). The school van was decorated with up to 100 air freshening things, it looks quite Christmassy. Most of the free stuff was condoms, cough lollies, window cloths, and posters.
The WSC school sports dinner was Friday night. The build up for it was excruciating, it was a mission squeezing it in during the tournament. The guy running it was not knowing what time we would get there (results from each game dictated when the next would be). We did arrive just in time for the dinner, which was nice. We missed out on about an hour of speeches, which was nice. Rory got MVP for junior polo, a swimming prize, and a hockey stick spot prize, which was nice. The Senior Polo team got team of the year, which was pretty cool. Water polo has arrived at Western Springs.
I don’t really feel like I have seen much of Hannah over the last couple of days, she only came to one of the games, so she had a pretty quiet weekend at home.
I have been reading about Benjamin Franklin because of the crossword puzzle. He was a busy chap. He never patented any of his inventions because he felt he benefited from the inventions of others. Also been reading about Darwin, and watched the movie about the Hillsboro monkey trial (called "Inherit the Wind", I think Gene Kelly stole the show).
It is Helen's birthday today. It is Caitlin's birthday tomorrow (7, right?). It is also Elsie's 85th birthday tomorrow.
We did manage to visit Goodins for their barbecue on Sunday between games. The family was all there plus some of the regulars including Mr and Mrs Batenberg. Kath said they had heard from Charles and he is actually alive.
In amongst water polo, Rory has been writing a speech and icing his hand. Meanwhile, Hannah has a project thing due on Friday that was also being worked on.
This week Hannah has a touch tournament tomorrow and athletics on Wednesday. I may try visiting work today, I need the rest.
5 November 2007
More chaos on roads, fireworks mayhem, an escaped axe murderer, and ice cream is bad for you - 05/11/07
Weather was glorious on Saturday, we drove home from the pool along the waterfront, it felt like summer. Then it all went horribly wrong and it feels like winter again.
Lots of bad news and tedium this week, sorry.
LOCAL NEWS
We had a car hit a train and kill the driver, and two trucks explode closing state highway 1 near Horotiu on Tuesday. Wednesday we had a warehouse on fire in Takapuna closing a major artery. Another fire last night burned out the historic Carlton Bowling club near the Domain.
It didn't get better on the roads, with seven dying over the weekend. That's a bad holiday weekend toll, but it was a regular weekend.
Meanwhile, a dental clinic was stolen in the Waikato. A mobile one. It was recovered without the equipment. I'm sorry, I just can't see how you could take a joy ride in a mobile murder house. Although I suppose it brought joy to those who were due to visit it. I take it back, it was a joy ride, for far more than usual. Perhaps the whole thing was a Robin Hood-style thing, but I doubt it.
There was a cabinet reshuffle, has been coming for ages, we were totally bored before it was announced and utterly indifferent afterwards. Then the Labour Party had their conference, much chest beating was done, tax cuts were suggested, meanwhile the country carried on without remotely caring. I don't think it's just me, I suspect most of the electorate has had enough of politicians.
12 year old girls and buses just don't mix. A week after the girl in Christchurch was blown in front of one, some nice kids squirted acid at a girl as they went past in a bus. The damage will require surgery, not good.
On Wednesday an 18 month old was run over and killed in an accident in Wairoa.
A convicted axe murderer escaped custody this week, but was recovered in a couple of days. The official line was that he "betrayed the trust of the wardens". Interesting. I mean, he murdered his wife, so he isn't considered a threat to the general community, but anyone serving a life sentence is likely to want to escape more than someone on a shorter stretch.
Ice cream is now more bad for you than previously thought, this A1 milk they talk about is even worse in ice cream. Yeah, right, whatever.
Fireworks went on sale later this year (for about four days instead of ten), but we still had noise and chaos over the weekend. A public display injured a couple of punters, too. I just don't see the point in them at all. Helen Clark described the area near her house as being like living in Afghanistan (she did specify I city, I forget which). I actually agree with her on something. I must need a lie down.
With Movember kicking off this week, we had news that a high percentage of New Zealand women prefer men to not have a moustache. A higher percentage of men prefer their women without a moustache. Is that a double standard? I don't know.
A couple of New Zealand soldiers were injured in Afghanistan after one of them accidentally discharged his weapon inside an armoured Humvee.
WORLD NEWS
There were reports on Friday that a man in Sydney was killed for watering his lawn. I am not entirely sure of the motive, but this does seem excessive. Surely lawn-watering is not yet a capital offence in Australia?
Meanwhile, a Canberra student is allowed to smoke at school due to the stress of exams.
There was a supposed failed assassination attempt in Fiji, not sure how much credibility it has.
REAL SPORT
Hannah's Sharks beat Rangeview 7-3, in a pretty tight game. Then the Ponsonby Girls utterly thumped Glen Eden 14-1. I think Hannah scored three goals between the two games. Rory's Marlins lost 6-7 in golden goal extra time. My Piranhas lost 3-8 against St Dominic's who are very tough and I think in the wrong division.
Rory's Western Springs junior boys played Massey and won 7-2 I think. Rory injured his hand skateboarding, didn't play much, didn't score but helped defend.
Hannah's Waitak Teal (2nd) team played Marist C, it wasn't pretty. 15-0 win, but there is a girl in that team (Olivia) that used to terrorise Hannah at school so it was a little bit of justice. Hannah got one goal, she was in goal for half the game. Her Waitak Gold team beat Mountfort Park A 10-2.
The Western Springs Junior Girls played St Mary's C and won 6-1. The dreaded Olivia scored the only goal against us, grrrr.
So, eight games over the weekend, we won six, lost two. Could be worse.
SPORT
Arsenal drew 2-2 with Man Utd, Gallas scored one for both teams. Portsmouth thumped poor old Newcastle 4-1, Chelsea beat Wigan 2-0. Liverpool had 0-0 bore with Blackburn.
I turned on the TV on Friday night to find a boxing match in progress between New Zealand hopeful Shane Cameron and some big African American called Friday. It was brutal and awful. Cameron's face got shredded and was knocked out in the 12th. It was like a slow motion car accident. I can't believe it is still allowed.
Great Britain beat the Kiwis 44-0 in the 2nd test. Not good. More like a fast motion car accident, as compared to the boxing.
Meanwhile the New Zealand cricket team lost to South Africa A in a warm up to losing against South Africa next week.
MY SAD LIFE
Rory fell off a skateboard and hurt his right hand on Tuesday. Eight days out from the first water polo tournament that Western Springs has ever been to. It's not that good yet, as coach and father I am not impressed.
Forgot to mention Thomas turned nine on Saturday 27th. He rang us on Saturday to tell us what he did with his birthday money, he bought the Transformers DVD, Rory was very jealous. Meanwhile, Kathryn has a special day on Thursday.
Helen J's birthday is next Monday. Have you set a date yet?
Brett has now been living in Melbourne a year, as of last Wednesday. Seems like longer, somehow.
Despite being too old for it, both the kids did trick or treating this week. After considerable drama, Hannah went before polo training, Rory went later (going early was better). Rory had one older lady say this to them:
A) you're too old, B) you're costumes aren't any good, C) I gave all my lollies to my grand kids, and D) it's too late.
To which Rory responded:
Well, the good news is you still know your alphabet.
Rory and the gang took his iPod with them with speakers and played "Monster Mash" in a loop. They had fun, hung around here afterwards. Maddie also visited on Sunday.
Mum returned from her south island trip this week, she was away for nearly three weeks.
Paul has bought himself a new camera, the Canon 60D. Scumbag.
Hannah is now going to learn to play the acoustic guitar. We went to have a look at them on Saturday and somehow we bought one. It's black. She can play a few tunes already because of what she has been doing on the electric guitar.
I am doing the Movember thing, not obvious that there is a moustache there yet, haven't decided on a style yet. Possibly the Mark Sainsbury, the David Boone perhaps, I don't think the Zorro is quite my style. Or I could just go for the more understated Helen Clark look, but I am not pale enough.
This coming week we have the North Island Secondary School tournament starting Thursday, and the Western Springs Sports Dinner on Friday night.
Over the weekend, I went to five different pools. A personal best for me.
Diana has an exam tomorrow, so she's at home studying.
Lots of bad news and tedium this week, sorry.
LOCAL NEWS
We had a car hit a train and kill the driver, and two trucks explode closing state highway 1 near Horotiu on Tuesday. Wednesday we had a warehouse on fire in Takapuna closing a major artery. Another fire last night burned out the historic Carlton Bowling club near the Domain.
It didn't get better on the roads, with seven dying over the weekend. That's a bad holiday weekend toll, but it was a regular weekend.
Meanwhile, a dental clinic was stolen in the Waikato. A mobile one. It was recovered without the equipment. I'm sorry, I just can't see how you could take a joy ride in a mobile murder house. Although I suppose it brought joy to those who were due to visit it. I take it back, it was a joy ride, for far more than usual. Perhaps the whole thing was a Robin Hood-style thing, but I doubt it.
There was a cabinet reshuffle, has been coming for ages, we were totally bored before it was announced and utterly indifferent afterwards. Then the Labour Party had their conference, much chest beating was done, tax cuts were suggested, meanwhile the country carried on without remotely caring. I don't think it's just me, I suspect most of the electorate has had enough of politicians.
12 year old girls and buses just don't mix. A week after the girl in Christchurch was blown in front of one, some nice kids squirted acid at a girl as they went past in a bus. The damage will require surgery, not good.
On Wednesday an 18 month old was run over and killed in an accident in Wairoa.
A convicted axe murderer escaped custody this week, but was recovered in a couple of days. The official line was that he "betrayed the trust of the wardens". Interesting. I mean, he murdered his wife, so he isn't considered a threat to the general community, but anyone serving a life sentence is likely to want to escape more than someone on a shorter stretch.
Ice cream is now more bad for you than previously thought, this A1 milk they talk about is even worse in ice cream. Yeah, right, whatever.
Fireworks went on sale later this year (for about four days instead of ten), but we still had noise and chaos over the weekend. A public display injured a couple of punters, too. I just don't see the point in them at all. Helen Clark described the area near her house as being like living in Afghanistan (she did specify I city, I forget which). I actually agree with her on something. I must need a lie down.
With Movember kicking off this week, we had news that a high percentage of New Zealand women prefer men to not have a moustache. A higher percentage of men prefer their women without a moustache. Is that a double standard? I don't know.
A couple of New Zealand soldiers were injured in Afghanistan after one of them accidentally discharged his weapon inside an armoured Humvee.
WORLD NEWS
There were reports on Friday that a man in Sydney was killed for watering his lawn. I am not entirely sure of the motive, but this does seem excessive. Surely lawn-watering is not yet a capital offence in Australia?
Meanwhile, a Canberra student is allowed to smoke at school due to the stress of exams.
There was a supposed failed assassination attempt in Fiji, not sure how much credibility it has.
REAL SPORT
Hannah's Sharks beat Rangeview 7-3, in a pretty tight game. Then the Ponsonby Girls utterly thumped Glen Eden 14-1. I think Hannah scored three goals between the two games. Rory's Marlins lost 6-7 in golden goal extra time. My Piranhas lost 3-8 against St Dominic's who are very tough and I think in the wrong division.
Rory's Western Springs junior boys played Massey and won 7-2 I think. Rory injured his hand skateboarding, didn't play much, didn't score but helped defend.
Hannah's Waitak Teal (2nd) team played Marist C, it wasn't pretty. 15-0 win, but there is a girl in that team (Olivia) that used to terrorise Hannah at school so it was a little bit of justice. Hannah got one goal, she was in goal for half the game. Her Waitak Gold team beat Mountfort Park A 10-2.
The Western Springs Junior Girls played St Mary's C and won 6-1. The dreaded Olivia scored the only goal against us, grrrr.
So, eight games over the weekend, we won six, lost two. Could be worse.
SPORT
Arsenal drew 2-2 with Man Utd, Gallas scored one for both teams. Portsmouth thumped poor old Newcastle 4-1, Chelsea beat Wigan 2-0. Liverpool had 0-0 bore with Blackburn.
I turned on the TV on Friday night to find a boxing match in progress between New Zealand hopeful Shane Cameron and some big African American called Friday. It was brutal and awful. Cameron's face got shredded and was knocked out in the 12th. It was like a slow motion car accident. I can't believe it is still allowed.
Great Britain beat the Kiwis 44-0 in the 2nd test. Not good. More like a fast motion car accident, as compared to the boxing.
Meanwhile the New Zealand cricket team lost to South Africa A in a warm up to losing against South Africa next week.
MY SAD LIFE
Rory fell off a skateboard and hurt his right hand on Tuesday. Eight days out from the first water polo tournament that Western Springs has ever been to. It's not that good yet, as coach and father I am not impressed.
Forgot to mention Thomas turned nine on Saturday 27th. He rang us on Saturday to tell us what he did with his birthday money, he bought the Transformers DVD, Rory was very jealous. Meanwhile, Kathryn has a special day on Thursday.
Helen J's birthday is next Monday. Have you set a date yet?
Brett has now been living in Melbourne a year, as of last Wednesday. Seems like longer, somehow.
Despite being too old for it, both the kids did trick or treating this week. After considerable drama, Hannah went before polo training, Rory went later (going early was better). Rory had one older lady say this to them:
A) you're too old, B) you're costumes aren't any good, C) I gave all my lollies to my grand kids, and D) it's too late.
To which Rory responded:
Well, the good news is you still know your alphabet.
Rory and the gang took his iPod with them with speakers and played "Monster Mash" in a loop. They had fun, hung around here afterwards. Maddie also visited on Sunday.
Mum returned from her south island trip this week, she was away for nearly three weeks.
Paul has bought himself a new camera, the Canon 60D. Scumbag.
Hannah is now going to learn to play the acoustic guitar. We went to have a look at them on Saturday and somehow we bought one. It's black. She can play a few tunes already because of what she has been doing on the electric guitar.
I am doing the Movember thing, not obvious that there is a moustache there yet, haven't decided on a style yet. Possibly the Mark Sainsbury, the David Boone perhaps, I don't think the Zorro is quite my style. Or I could just go for the more understated Helen Clark look, but I am not pale enough.
This coming week we have the North Island Secondary School tournament starting Thursday, and the Western Springs Sports Dinner on Friday night.
Over the weekend, I went to five different pools. A personal best for me.
Diana has an exam tomorrow, so she's at home studying.
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