[Sports] Trying times

First up: Gigantic ups to the Silver Ferns, Kiwis and Blacksticks!!! The girls beat their respective Aussie sides and the boys beat the Brits. The Ferns were the most impressive. That popping sound is the bubble of Aussie sport greatness (fuck, I just know I’m gone regret writing that when the Commonwealth Games start).

So I did my very quick analysis of the Tri-Nations 2005 Statistical Review and Match Analysis. Basically the report is not so much an "analysis" as a group of statistical descriptors.

One area was done well though: Tries.

I read the interesting factoid (both in the report and again on Hard News): 100% of tries scored in this year's Tri-Nations games were preceded by three or fewer rucks or mauls. That sounds amazing, but probably isn’t. Especially when you consider that this is Southern Hemisphere Rugby™. If the stat came from English rugby then that would be something. Let’s look closer at the factoid.

100% of the 26 tries scored in the 2005 Tri-nations were preceded by three or fewer second phases (rucks/mauls).

73% of tries in the 2005 Tri-nations were preceded by no second phase play.

100% of South Africa’s seven tries were preceded by three or fewer second phases

42% of South Africa’s seven tries were contained no passes.

This is not because the Springboks are un-catchable and play beautiful expansive rugby. It is because 87.5% of their tries (6 of the 7) came from opponent mistakes (such as interceptions). In fact 11 of the 26 tries (42%) came from turn-over ball.

There was a drop in tries scored from set piece (62% in 2004 to 38% in 2005), with only two tries being scored from scrums. However there is no data on where the scrums or set pieces were being played from or who was scrumming (for example I would posit that New Zealand has the best scrum in the Tri-nations and if they had a scrum in good field position then they would have had a higher chance of scoring a try).

65% of tries (17) were scored from within the oppositions 10m line (which is confusingly 10m from halfway). Only five tries were scored from within the scoring team’s half. For the first time in Tri-Nations history tries were scored from charged-down kicks.

Across the six games:

	Average per game (rounded)
Rucks/Mauls (2nd Phase)	143
Passes	248
Kicks	59
Lineouts	34
Penalties	21
Penalty Kick Attempts	8
Successful Penalty Kicks	5
Tries	4

NOTE: “Penalty Kick Attempts” and “Successful Penalty Kicks” are also counted under “Penalties”

Assuming each drive ends with (or begins after) a kick, a penalty (which I assume includes knock-ons, but the report does not explicitly mention them), a lineout or a try. [Note: this also assumes that penalties do not result in lineouts and also assumes no penalty tries (of which there were none in 2005). Also I am assuming that no kicks were re-gathered by the kicking team. Kicks do NOT include starting kick-offs, conversions or penalty attempts].

This means that, on average, there were 118 instances of an ended drive (kick, lineout, penalty or try). Hence there were 1.21 rucks/mauls per drive.

Let’s be generous and say that three quarters of the lineouts resulted from kicks i.e. 26 lineouts per game (rounded from 25.5) were caused by kicks and so can be removed from the total of 140.

This means that, on average, there were 93 instances of an ended drive (kick, lineout, penalty or try). Hence there were 1.53 rucks/mauls per drive. No wonder most tries were scored from 3 or less rucks/mauls.

Ho ho, Of course these are garbage stats. South Africa’s try-scoring tendencies and substantially lower 2^nd Phase count (per minute of possession) skews things no end.

Finally, want to complain about that "Pommy" or "Frog" ref? Well do it with immunity as the Northern hemisphere refs called 13.6% more penalties per game (I don’t know if this is significantly different but it will do for complaining down the pub)

PS. Scott's comment below reminded me: the report was fairly shabby in it's presentation. There were numerous spelling and gramatical mistakes. The graphs were poorly designed. The were references to metrics that had not been defined properly. Part of my job is preparing reports for publication and release, there is no way I would have let that report go out in that form. There was also so much more information that could have been added: defensive stats, numbers of players at the breakdown etc.

[General] Hamster from Rewrite-Hell

Ouija boards: OOOoooOOOooooOOOOOOooo. But due to fear on the set that the board might actually work Mike and I have to do a quick rewrite and rearrangement of the script. How do you (easily) conjure up a demon without a Ouija board?

However due to various social engagements we have been yet to complete this simple task. I have had all sorts of format problems on my computer until I discovered that it was easy to copy from a PDF to Final Draft.

So Paul if you’re reading this, it will be done soon. (And he might be because some one in the UK found this site by searching for “Paul Campion Hell Hamsters”).

Goddamn Jesus it’s hot today!

How hot is it?

What were you born on the sun! It’s hot! So hot I could cook something in my shorts, do a little crotch-pot cooking, it’s daaamn hot. It’s so hot I saw one of those little guys in the grey suits (Wellington variation) just burst into flame!

We just sat on the paving outside parliament and baked during lunch. The only thing keeping us from melting into little gooey puddles was the slight breeze. Goddamn beautiful.

Sports post coming up next.

Oh and Fonzie is 60 today.

[General] Bush Makes Speech, World Slaps Head.

George Bush gave a speech yesterday in which he stated there would be no let up in the "War on Terror." Note this choice bit of rhetoric: "Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision."

You know it's all on the downhill stretch when the Prez starts talking about himself in the third person.

[General] He's out!

Hey. George Takei's gay.

[General] Boo!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Thanks Retro Crush for the image!

[General] RRRRocktober!!!

The following is the beginning of a short essay I wrote some years back in the early 2000's (hence I have changed a few of the bands mentioned to seem less dated).

I thought that it would be good to bung it in here as Rock-tober winds up. The list is my list compiled after extensive research of locals who seemed to be in the know (like the guys who run Slow Boat Records on Cuba St).

The Best Rock Songs of All Time:

(or ‘what would you pick?’)

an essay by Hadyn Green

My List

10	God Gave Rock and Roll To You	Kiss
9	Wonderwall	Oasis
8	Paradise City	Guns ‘n’ Roses
7	Blitzkreig Bop	The Ramones
6	I Love Rock and Roll	Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
5	Voodoo Chile	Jimi Hendrix
4	Come Together	The Beatles
3	Immigrant Song	Led Zeppelin
2	Highway to Hell	AC/DC
1	We Will Rock You	Queen

Introduction

In this essay I hope to explore fully the genre of rock, and, like all great explorers, rip it apart, find its basic components. In doing this I hope to find what makes a truly great rock song. Is it catchiness, is it long guitar riffs, is it the message of a song or its influence on society, or maybe the heart of rock and roll is the beat? [sic]

In any case I shall start at the beginnings of rock and work my way through pointing out interesting sights along the way, we will look at bands that influenced the world and bands that influenced other bands, and hopefully in the end you will be able to come up with your own list of the top ten rock songs of all time.

Oh and I will explain my choices. Naturally most of you have already decided that my list is wrong.

It should be pointed out that while there is no right answer, there are definitely WRONG answers and right answers that are just not right enough. Luckily anyone with half a rockin’ brain will be able to pick the WRONG answers from the bad right answers. Hmmm maybe a test?

Pick the WRONG choice from this list of right but very bad choices:

a. Numb – Linkin Park

b. This Love – Maroon 5

c. Smooth – Santana (feat Matchbox 20)

<>If you picked b. Maroon 5, you were right! Santana is allowed because he used to rock out and Linkin Park do in some fashion. Maroon 5, to quote Jack Black, are “wannabe sell-outs”.

What about zydeco-industrial-ska?

First we need a definition of rock. That shouldn’t be too hard (HAHAHA). For example should we include punk, ska, heavy metal, rock ‘n’ roll, industrial…? The list could go on forever. And then there is the question of how heavy? Or how reggae? Genres have fuzzy boundaries filled with hundreds of cross over bands and songs. Add into the mix personal taste (one mans heavy metal is another’s chamber music) and you end up with a Venn diagram whose overlapping areas are in a state of constant flux.

There was a time when rock and hip-hop wouldn’t sit together on the bus (pre- and post- Run DMC’s remake of Walk this Way), but now bands such as Limp Bizkit and their contemporaries are reshaping that boundary. So let’s nail it down.

First, let’s look at the instruments. I refuse to restrict rock to certain types of instruments or sounds, (after all what makes rock? Guitars? Drums?) But I do feel that a rock group should actually play real instruments. Instantly I have ruled hundreds of bands and songs and genres. Sorry.

....

That'll do, Happy Rocktober! Enjoy the trick or treating!

Tags: Rock Music Lists

[General] You're It!

Tom tagged me a day or so again. But I have been away. (which is why the absence of posts). This meme requires twenty (20) “random” items. Righty-ho then:

1. This tree apparently resembles Jesus (I don’t see it)
2. Life imitates art (or at least the movie Supertroopers)
3. “Gimme a liter o’ cola” (ho ho, see quotes from Supertroopers)
4. These guys!
5. Wayne Mapp is coming to fix my PC
6. Radio Fitchie
7. Revelation: I also secretly write one of the blogs I link to on my sidebar!
8. It’s not the one I just linked to
9. Wind is NOT part of Wellington’s charm
10. I used to write the quiz at Auckland University’s tavern, Shadows, until this year
11. The guys who write the Live Wire quizzes are idiots who don’t check if their answers are correct
12. I have 291 MP3’s stored on my work computer
13. Those Mp3’s include: Martinibomb & The Coconut Monkeyrocket’s song Munster Beat!
14. Someone found this site by searching for “Where did dinosaurs sleep?”
15. Another person searched for “Richie Cunningham slippers”
16. Every week someone is looking for “throat punch”
17. If you find a slightly dubious story make sure it’s true here
18. If you see a slightly dubious photo check if its true at the above link first then go here
19. I don’t have SKY but everyone thinks I do for some reason
20. I could only come up with 19 random items

[NFL] Hugs All Round

Let’s start this post with a heart-warming story:

Rams DT Lewis kicked out of game

ST. LOUIS (Oct. 23, 2005) -- Rams defensive tackle Damione Lewis was ejected in the first quarter of the team's game after punching a New Orleans Saints player after the whistle.

Replays appeared to show Lewis giving center LeCharles Bentley a hard left to the groin region with 8:41 to go. Lewis, a first-round pick in 2001, does not start but is part of a rotation in the interior line.

Speaking of “hard ones to the groin” here is a photo of Lions kicker Jason Hanson celebrating his team’s victory with team mate Nick Harris.

Ohhhh, that’s sweet. They must be in love.

On to the real stuff. As I write this the Monday Night football is being brought to me via the internet and I can “see” that Vinnie Testavarde had fumbled 3 times (so far) after being sacked. The Falcons have scored from each fumble (2TDs and a FG). The Jets HAVE to get someone for the line or else you could have anyone back there and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference.

Actually I have just looked up and the Jets have scored a TD to make it 20-7.

There were no real upsets this weekend (unless the Jets come back, Go Jets!). The Bears beat the Ravens in what must have been the most boring game ever. Only three points were scored in the second half. Ick! A good defensive can be fun but that just sounds dull not tense.

Who is leading overall? Well first in the league is the undefeated Colts (7-0), followed by the Buccaneers (5-1), then the Seahawks, the Bengals and the Broncos all on 5-2. The NFC still looks the better conference with only five teams with a .333 record or worse compared to the AFC’s seven teams (which includes winless Houston).

The Colts look good to make it to Superbowl XL (the biggest Superbowl so far). They might meet the Bucs but I doubt it. I still think Philly’s got the goods to be the NFC champ (considering they were able to keep Ladanian Tomlinson to seven yards from 17 attempts!

Anyhow here are a couple of sports photos I found:

<>Hockey’s back!Sometimes baseballers just need to be held
<>

<> Tags: NFL Sport football Jets

[Sport] Holah back at cha!

Let’s talk rugby. The All Blacks were announced on Sunday after the “big” NPC final. Is that the dumbest idea or what? Right before the biggest game of the season players have to worry that their performance in this one game may mean they are dropped from the national squad.

Of course the selectors have already made their decisions but the media and all the surrounding hype don’t believe it. Announce the squad on the Friday before the game and then everyone can just play their game and not have to worry about impressing anyone but the fans.

Note Otago first-five Nick Evans doing crazy kicks when his team needed ball-in-hand (snigger). Possibly he was trying to show that he should be selected as another option at first-five/fullback. Anyway, Nick’s team lost and he didn’t get picked. Mils Muliaina did get picked and coincidently his team won.

Prediction: Nick Evans will soon announce his plans to play overseas.

The team itself is fairly basic. Marty Holah isn’t there but he hasn’t been for a while and I suspect that he has made himself unpopular somehow. Kevin Senio isn’t in the squad (which would have made him the sole inclusion from Bay of Plenty*). Shit, maybe Canterbury shouldn’t buy him any more if he’s only 4^th best in the country?

It does seem, like nearly every single team we send on a European tour, to be a development squad. It is building to the 2007 World Cup. But shit, can’t we just send a full strength “Blitz Team” and just nail the Northern Hemisphere teams to the wall?

I still think Jerry Collins needs to beef up a bit. Especially if he wants that hitting-the-line thing he does to work. He’s 5kg heavier than Ma’a Nonu but he’s 10cm taller. It’s time to increase your steak and tuna intake Jerry, until you look like this:

In other rugby news: the Black Ferns destroyed the English in the only time an international test has been the pre-game to the NPC final. For those who don’t know, the Black Ferns are the New Zealand Women’s Rugby team. They are actually more successful than their male counterparts and are made up of women who are the backbone of New Zealand “heartland rugby”. I hadn’t meant to go down this path but…

Statistics on women’s rugby in NZ aren’t collected as well as they should but numbers are growing. The women (especially Mäori women [pdf]) who play have a great passion for the game and seem to support it at a greater level than the men at the provincial level.

* The Bay and Northland are the only NPC first division teams with no All Blacks. They ended at 8^th and 10^th (last) respectively.

Tags: Rugby Sport All Blacks

[General] Linking Mondays

I have some less serious stuff to follow but first: John Rogers linked to this very important article about blogging and the US Army’s quest for freedom (of speech).

Mail it to your friends. Post it on your blogs, and remember ...we have always been at war with Eastasia

I have also added some links to the side-board.

My favourite pop-artist Coop has himself a blog (called Positive Ape Index). His artwork website (Coop Stuff) is not work safe however, you have been warned.

The Orange is the sports blog of Dave Archibald, which I think I linked to earlier.

The statistical analysis of the Tri-Nations is coming. In fact I am going to a Statistics New Zealand conference today, so maybe I can hit up some real stats people for their opinion. (It's the "free cocktails" part of the conference so they might be bit more affable.

And coming up: more rugby and more American Football…however it is a very sunny day, which could call for a very long lunch.

ps. [after a very long lunch] I have added another link on the side-board. This one is a Wellington Street Art blog (mainly from a camera phone). Thanks to Tom for the link.

[General] Gone Fishin'

Wow that is a big fish! Well not that big by Great White standards but still pretty bloody big (apprently it's a juvenile).

This seems to have been an accidental killing and so I’m not too bothered by it. But this bit really gets my goat:

Mr Harris [who caught the shark] said the marine monster probably went a long way to explaining the fall in numbers of rare Hector dolphins - which had been blamed on commercial fishermen.

It’s a bit of a stretch don’t you think? Especially with this article in the sidebar beside it. By the way because it was juvenile, the female shark had yet to breed.

Last night I read this blog about rugby and made a comment on it. I disagreed with the author’s conclusion (especially that it is cheaper to drink at the pub than at home!) and so though it would only be fair to link to him.

Kung Fu Monkey has a post about a film festival (that he heard about from Alice). It’s called the 2thousand5 Machinima Film Festival and all entries are films made with game engines. So there is hope for all of you Halo fans or those of you who have spent hours making Sims movies.

Now coming up later today is a statistical analysis (or as much as is possible) of the IRB’s Tri-Nations 2005 Statistical Review and Match Analysis (pdf file). Their “analysis” is actual just a reporting of the descriptors rather than an analysis. It’s also poorly written.

Until then, Mahalo

[Sport] We’re all professionals here

Who are the heroes of the yet-to-be-kicked-off Super 14? So far they are Tony Brown and Keith Lowen. Before the whistle is blown to start the new, but ultimately predictable, Super 14 rugby tournament these two players have stood out. Why? Because they are New Zealanders playing in South African teams.

Brown (formerly of the Highlanders) has signed with the Sharks and Lowen (formerly of the Chiefs) with the newly formed Cheetahs (worst name in the world). I have been calling for full professionalism of the Super 14 (though it was just 12 when I started) for bloody ages. Separate the tournament from international and provincial ties and instead make it a completely professional tournament like the NFL (yes, I am gonna say it again).

Why can’t we just open it up for everyone to have a go? Please see many many many articles in the archives on this subject (I don’t want to become a broken record).

PS: Go the Chiefs for finally creating a Super 12 14 website worth going to!

Tags: Rugby Super 12 Super 14 New Zealand

[General] The Many Faces of John Campbell

I invite you to view my online gallery of the changing countenance of John Campbell.

New face morphing added regularly.

[General] What's in a name?

The internet is a wondrous tool for the sharing of information. It is also a way of pretending to be someone else; to lead a fictitious life. On the internet (especially in chat rooms, I hear) people can become anyone they want to.

In order to do this many change not only their internet appearance through avatars, but also through crazy name generators.

My name is:

Dragging Gums Truman (Blues player)

Handcrafted Android Designed for Yelling and Nullification (Cyborg)

Stanky Smurf (duh)

Hadgr Diham Neenissan (Star Wars)

Elvis Aron Stanton, but everyone calls me Tex (Hillbilly)

Tathar Telemnar (Elvish)

Chutle (Pokemon)

Hadyn “The Blossom” Green (Mafia)

Sexecutioner Impious Maximus (Super Villain)

And as many of you may have seen on my sideboard my Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Dagger of Looking at All Sides of the Question.

Coming up with a crazy name is now not just the domain of celebrity parents and pasty people rolling 2D8s to beat a dwarf.

Yes this was just an excuse to post up the nutso names that I generated.

I also came across this internet community where you can act out all of your weirdo fantasies about furries and anime. No I am not a member.

[Sport- sort of] Broadcast rights are human rights too!

Television sinks to new depths. Or rather BACK to new depths.

TV3 has announced that next year those who want to watch free-to-air rugby games will have to get stuffed.

"Negotiations remain in progress and are by no means a certainty," said [CanWest MediaWorks chief executive Brent] Impey. "Six years ago free-to-air delayed rugby rights were important and we were delighted to get them. Three years ago, with the Lions tour this year, it was also very beneficial to get them. As we go forward and Sky's penetration is increasing, they are less of a priority."

He said if the company did buy the rights, Super 14 and NPC rugby would be broadcast off-peak, outside prime time. That would mean before 6pm or after 10.30pm - possibly at 4pm on a Saturday or Sunday.

Is Mr Impey saying we are our own worst enemy? By wanting better television we have foolishly forked out for Sky* (pay TV, for those non-kiwis). This means free-to-air stations think we don’t wan to watch free-to-air sport.

On the weekend, the Canterbury versus Otago NPC semi-final achieved 14 per cent of TV3's target 18-49-year-old audience on Friday night.

Saturday night's Auckland versus North Harbour match had a 10 per cent audience share.

These ratings aren’t because we don’t care about watching free rugby. It’s because the NPC is boring. Had you told everyone that the games would be upset victories the ratings would’ve been huge. Apparently crowds at Jade Stadium were tiny: does this mean that people Cantabrians don’t want to watch home games anymore or is it because all the fans thought Canterbury would be playing in the final?

It is about time that SANZAR and the NZRU took game by the balls and made it an exciting contest again. Then they can tell Sky that they will only get the broadcast rights IF Sky shows one First Division (or Super 14) game free-to-air every week.

Fuck, Winston Peters, I thought you were all about “national values”. Why aren’t you pushing for free rugby? Or do you hate New Zealand?

*The only NZ city that is exempt from the pointing-finger-of-blame is Wellington. In Wellington you are lucky if you can get more than three channels on a normal aerial (we get TV3 and TV2 and very blurry staticy C4).

[General] Travel Guide

A guide to Mianus.

The small town of Mianus is located in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Mianus is a happy place filled with cheerful people.

The views from Mianus are spectacular (such as the Mianus river [left]). This is the reason that local authorities want to subdivide large tracts around the outskirts of Mianus, and why so many property developers are interested in Mianus.

People in Mianus go about their business happily, enjoying the quiet life that Mianus offers. As you know the towns motto is: “Mianus: easy to get in, hard to get out!”

Mianus is run by local Mayor Gary Upsumpta. His position in Mianus is important and he is so good at it that he has held that position for many years.

Most tourists say that Mianus is the best in the early autumn; however, Mianus attracts a lot of attention during Fourth of July celebrations as well. So if you’re travelling through Connecticut please feel free to enter Mianus and have yourself a blast!

Yeah, I’m done now

[NFL] Christ on a Stick!

Starting Centre for the Jets, Kevin Mawae, is out for the season with torn triceps.

Mawae was hurt in the third quarter of a 27-17 loss when Sam Adams fell on his elbow. Mawae returned to the game for one series, but couldn't push off. Coach Herman Edwards said an MRI exam confirmed the injury, and Mawae will have surgery next week.

The six-time Pro Bowl selection had started 177 straight games, third among active players behind Packers quarterback Brett Favre and Chiefs guard Will Shields.

At this point the Jets have every excuse to let fly with a few choice expletives. I know did.

[General] Random John Campbell Photo #2

[Sport] Merchandise

I like them but where would I wear one?

[General] ¿El día hermoso no es él?

A beautiful day in the capital and all is well in the world. I even had my first ice cream of the season. (I just hope the Babelfish translation i used as a title doesn't mean something stupid).

I finally got round to reading a lovely Sydney Morning Herald article that had been sent to me last week. In it Paola Totaro outlines why New Zealand rocks! This is my favourite part:

Clark's personal sense of identity is so strong and blissfully unaffected by vanity that it seems to have rubbed off on her countrymen and women. Who else could have sent one of the world's first trans-gender MPs and a former sex worker - Georgina (originally George) Beyer - to meet the Queen at the airport? It takes a confident nation to make a small decision like that - and big decisions like kissing goodbye the possibility of a free trade deal with the US to retain an unstintingly pacifist stance on the world stage.

"The bottom line is that this Government doesn't trade the lives of young New Zealanders for a war it doesn't believe in, in order to secure some material advantage," said Clark more than two years ago.

Then I read on Public Address that the Fundy Post has uncovered plagiarism within the Maxim Institute (no, not THAT Maxim). Quite a bit of plagiarism actually! As the line goes:

“To quote one source is plagiarism, to quote many is research”

The technology used by the Fundy Post is called Copyscape and is used by university lecturers to check if students are cheating. Well done Fundies!

The Jets lost a close one to the Bills, but I’m not fazed, because it was very close (closer than the score suggests).

The best thing about today is that today I don’t have a hangover whereas yesterday I did. Why the hangover? A friend of mine, who we shall call Miss M threw a brilliant Mexican party. Here is a snap of me and Wellurban blogger Tom (I’m the one who looks like a pirate (go figure).

[Sport] Woooooo!

I don’t usually give a shit about Rugby League (other than to laud the NRL for its set-up). But I do definitely give a shit about League today!

New Zealand beat Australia 38-28 in Sydney on the weekend.

Yay Kiwis! Wooooooo!

This season I haven’t given a shit about NPC Rugby (other than to lambaste the NZRU for its set-up). But I do definitely give a shit about the NPC today!

Otago beat Canterbury 37-22 in Christchurch on the weekend.

Yay Otago! Wooooooo!

[General] Summertime

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

[Sport, sort of] Officials dissed!

How did I miss this story! This is my favourite line:

Referee Brent Murray ordered Rory from the sideline but not before the mascot was seen making an obscene gesture

And it goes with this story that I found earlier in the week:

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber inadvertently punched umpire Butch Hannah in the eye when he swung at New York Jets center Kevin Mawae during an altercation in the second quarter of their game Sunday.

After the Jets got the ball on the Buccaneers 8 on Ty Law's second interception of the season, Curtis Martin rushed for 3 yards. After the play, Mawae and Barber got into it. While the two were yelling at each other, Barber took a swing at Mawae with his right hand - but missed and landed a punch to Hannah's right eye. Hannah was sent sprawling to the field, holding his face, but he got up quickly.

Hannah appeared to be OK and stayed in the game, but was rubbing the eye afterward.

Barber was flagged for unnecessary roughness but not ejected, giving the Jets the ball on the 2. Martin ran it in on the next play for his first touchdown of the season, giving New York a 7-6 lead with 7:32 left in the half.

Here is a photo of the aftermath

Apparently Terrell Suggs of the Baltimore Ravens was turfed out their game against the Detroit Lions for yelling at a referee. What's up with all the ref hating? Just because they are blind...

The games people play

I have been tagged.

That is tagged in terms of Tag: A children's game in which one player pursues the others until he (or she) is able to touch one of them, who then in turn becomes the pursuer. This is internet/blog tag.

It’s a blog meme designed to get people to read your blog and vice versa. Unlike some memes this one doesn’t get sent to anyone they have to come to me and read that they have been tagged. I got tagged by Ben who also tagged this lot:

A Girl Running

Alan

Martha

Narcosis

The instructions for this tag.

1. Go into your archive & find your 23rd post.

2. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to & share the text of the sentence with these instructions.

3. Tag five to do the same.

Ok so let’s play along…

1. 23^rd…23^rd…ah here it is. It’s entitled: Get your f*ckin' ACT together!
2. The fifth (and sixth) line of my 23^rd post (excluding Jose’s stuff and Jim’s travel diaries) is: Interestingly ACT would want [John Banks] to run as an electoral (not a list) M.P. This alters ACT's gameplan which was previously to simply pray for enough votes.
3. Um, I suppose I have to tag bloggers who I know that actually come here, so:
1. Mike
2. Tom
3. Jose
4. Dena
5. Ummmm… I actually think that might do for the moment

What have I taken from this?

Well it is interesting to go back over what I wrote when I first started back in January of ‘ought five (that’s 2005 to all non-old timey prospectors). Retrospectives can be fun. The above example is crazy because ACT didn’t get Banksy in the end but still won an electorate.

I have been better at my predictions though. Before the Superbowl I wrote that:

I would say it's gonna be a close game and the Pats will win by 1 or 2 points with a pissy little FG. If this is what happens the Patriots should officially change their name to the New England Vinitieris, in honour of the man, kicker Adam Viniteiri, who won them all of the Superbowls. The little face on the side of the helmets can be altered to look like him and when he retires he can become their offical mascot.

And some things really don’t change like this (which earned me my first angry response):

It’s just hard to imagine a game of cricket being thrilling, all the time. Most of the plays in cricket are dull. Block, block, single, block, single, block. Or worse, a maiden over with no wickets. They often bring in spinners to slow things down!

Also it seems that in January the weather was hot (go figure) and people didn’t like Don Brash. Maybe our brains went in to hibernation over the winter and people started to listen to the Brashster because he got a few votes in the end.

I also realised that I never finished putting Jim Coe’s travel exploits up so I might finish that. And I think I might redecorate as well…stay tuned.

[General] Just the one wheel

Does this remind anyone else of a certain South Park episode?

Otherwise, it's kinda cool.

[General] You dirty, dirty blog readers

I have had a lot of strange search terms used to find my blog in the past (some previous ones can be found here), but I am still surprised by what people are searching for.

For some reason one of the most prolific search types involves rugby players and their possible partners. More often than not the player comes from Canterbury. Usually it’s “Dan Carter girlfriend” that people put into Google. This week however there were some new ones:

byron kelleher ex pornstar wife (yes, I know he doesn’t play for Canterbury)

reuben thorne gay bbc

richie mccaw naked video

I daren’t ask what this last poor soul was thinking.

I get searches like these regularly, don’t ask me why. But perhaps we can learn from this. The NZRU clearly has to release a calendar or soft porn video. They would make millions (or at least thousands). Perhaps Byron’s wife could direct the film as she already understands the industry. A discussion about Ma’a Nonu at the lunch table a few weeks ago suggests that this is a sure money spinner for the Rugby Union, money that they can re-invest into the provinces…hahahahaha! Sorry meant invest back into Canterbury and Auckland and overseas vacations for NZRU board members. Just like usual.

Speaking of rugby, what has been the most exciting part of this season’s NPC? Anton Oliver. Fuck the actual games! They have been boring as piss (the exception being Southland).

Anton Oliver’s revelations of an All Black drinking culture weren’t shocking as much as they were damning of the previous coaching and management of our national team. We all knew that lads on tour get up to no good. Sometimes no good was really no good, remember the scandal with the Wellington players and the prostitute a few years back. A friend of mine who was in the know said that it happened more than it was reported; and of course not just in rugby (Any Given Sunday et al). We stand to lose a lot more than the World Cup if we allow our players to just become a bunch of uncontrolled, spoilt, rich, idiot boozehags (i.e. Troy Flavell).

This just in Aardman Animation studio has burned down, seriously. The studio where the new movie Curse of the Were-Rabbit and all the other Aardman Animation shorts were made has been destroyed. But they made a shit-load of money on the weekend so it’s easy come easy go I suppose.

Here is a brilliant open letter to the makers of the Bond films that breaks it down as to how a real Bond film should be made

Just because Brosnan has reduced the role to quippy one-liners, making out with beautiful women, outrunning fireballs and looking good in a suit doesn't make that some alpha male thespian wouldn't want to play Ian Fleming's Bond, the compulsive gambler, consummate gourmand and justifiably paranoid spy, a man equipped with both psychological and physical scars. While that character hasn't appeared in any of the past dozen movies, he's right there on the pages of "Casino Royale" -- you know, that book you're supposed to be adapting?

It has been a long time since Bond did anything other than order his martinis "shaken, not stirred." How dull for him. In "Casino Royale," he requests a different drink, desiring, "A dry martini, in a deep champagne goblet -- Three measures of Gordons, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice cold, then add a thin slice of lemon peel."

That sounds good actually I might have to memorise it for my next Saturday night cocktail ramble.

[General] Stalking USA

Check out my friend Dena's blog. She has been out with her digital camera hunting down celebrities (and here) again. Here is her previous best.

Legend has it that Dena once chased Cliff Curtis down the street in order to get a photo with him. In her defence Cliff wasn't running away she was just catching up.