Jeff has the coolest sister. . . .

That is all

Coming soon

Hello,

As you may have noticed i have not posted here for quite some time. This can be attributed to a host of reasons, none more so than me moving to Wellington.

Over the next few weeks i hope to start blogging again on my day to day dalliances.

No doubt you await my rambles with baited breath.

Jeff

Sir Ed

So the great New Zealand hero has died. A true shame, well I guess it is. No doubt some might not like what I am going to write but you are probably one of the back patters anyway.

I have never really understood the appeal of Sir Ed, don’t get me wrong, im as proud as the next bloke that he was the first up the mountain. Maurice Gee later look inspiration and went under one but that literally is a whole other story. It’s just that it always seemed slightly distant to me, like he was a hero to another generation.

Last week when the news spread like wildfire i was able to get a better understanding of the man. His achievements went so much farther than conquering Everest, he built schools, airports and that all important commodity, he built faith in others.

The Nepalese think he’s a god, that’s going a little far. Yes he was a big man and yes by right, we kiwis do have a god like status but I would think the term legend sums it up better.

It seems now, with a couple of days before his funeral that this is descending into some sort of mass self gratification exercise. Everyone is in on the act. My aren’t we great for also being a NZer's is the vibe I am getting. The news spent a full hour regurgitating the same bloody story, just with a different reporter, talk about a snooze fest.

By far the most amazing thing about that was how they didn’t show one iota of news but still had time for sport. I’m unsure what to take out of that, other than enjoyment at the reprieve from the reports. My Canadian flatmate keep coming and going from the lounge and was amazed at the spectacle unfolding.

She asked why he was famous and i told her he won a competition to have his face on the $5 note. She being the clever cookie she is, ate that up hook line and sinker.

An old friend of mine used to pull of a paper fiver and put it on the bar, it became a tradition to drink to Ed and this was before he died. Last Thursday we did the same.

Here is to a man who we can all admire for his strength and humbleness.

Fucking GRRRRR

I just had a pleasant coffee at Rivet on Ponsonby Rd with the eternally lovely Raina. I then drove to a car park up the rd so I could walk into town. Getting out of the car I picked up my diary and placed it on top of my car.

Then I see the sign that says NO PARKING so I get in my car and drive off. I then got to a car park only to see remnants of what was in my diary trapped in the back window wiper.

So I trudge back where I drove and found scatterings of letters that were “safely” tucked into my diary. Alas there was no diary to be found. I pray that someone has picked it up and has read the pleasant note I left inside asking for its return if it is found.

One can only hope.

Cricket

Well I meant to do this before the break but I didn’t so I’m doing it now. Not that any of you care.

Last game of the year last year:

Arriving out in Te Atatu we found we were playing on a grass pitch. Now was the time you could tell a cricketer from a part timer. Half the team thought it was cool, the other half did not.

For those not in the know most social grades play on an artificial pitch, it’s too costly to have grass wickets and little shits would vandalize them anyway. So we never get the chance to play on real wickets.

This is a bad thing, a real wicket produces all sorts of variances, least not for the bowlers who don’t use sprigged boots and loose traction once bowling down the pitch.

This was also the game my decision to take captaincy became resolute. When we first arrived Mark made snide remarks about our choice of beer. Now it’s fair to say that double browns are indeed a poor choice of beers but that doesn’t mean he can go all out and abuse us before having said hello. Add to this is on field abuse of Scotty after he bowled 2 balls down leg proved he just doesn’t get it. There is of course the fact he can’t set a field and his inability to rally the troops.

Anyway we were playing Waitakere, we beat them earlier in the year so we felt confident. However once again we were undone by some very piss poor batting.

These guys are a bunch of pricks! After rolling us for 92 we had a lunch break, normally 30 mins. After 15 mins and with half the team away getting lunch, the captain came and said lets start the game. Clearly this wasn’t going to happen. I remarked, very much tongue in cheek, that the need not worry we would bowl them out quick so they could go home. His retort was, “you mean so I can go home and fuck your mother”.

That sort of stuff was unnecessary and lame. I just replied he must be a very witty chap to have thought of such an ingenious comment. For the entire time we fielded he wouldn’t look me in the eye nor would he after we shook hands after the match. I have never come so close to knocking someone over in my life.

Golden rule. Never talk smack about my family!

So after we lost I decided that it was the worst game of the season.

Last week: 12^th Jan

So this was the first game of the year.

Having secured the captaincy we were all in good spirits to start the year. We were playing Cornwall, a team we had beaten in our last encounter but a team who are very even to us.

The field we were playing on was a shocker. Half manicured grass, half sandpit, it didn’t even have boundary markings so we had to make them ourselves, not that it mattered. No one was able to affect a four from that side of the field through the sand trap.

We were sent into bat and produced a typical result. All out for 97.

So it looked like we were out of the game before we were even half way through. Before we took to the field I got the boys in a huddle and geed them up. Luckily enough we had a sublime bowling attack.

Starting off with a Cobra, Scott attack we started off strong, reducing them to around 4 for 30. The fielding effort was outstanding! Bhupesh took a catch of insane difficulty, and everyone was chasing the ball down like men possessed.

Then can the shitty part of the day. I was fielding in slips and Kev had just come in for a spell when the batsmen nicked the ball into Jerry’s waiting gloves(twin brother of our regular keeper Lex, these boys are made to keep, obviously a family trait as Jerry keeps as good as Lex). Que The whole team jumping for joy, it was heard four towns over and later it was remarked that umpires at the basin reserve had raised a finger thinking it had happened during their test.

Problem was the batsmen didn’t walk nor did the umpire raise his finger, it was the worst form of sportsmanship I have ever seen. After that the boys were livid, and the batsmen went on to add 20 crucial runs to their chase.

First ball back from the drinks break the same thing happened only this time he walked. I think if he hadn’t, he would have needed that bat for protection. That indecently also gave Scott a five wicket bag for the day.

We lost a very tight game. We had taken 7 wickets and had the guy walked we had a very real chance of winning the game. Alas it wasn’t to be but the atmosphere of the team has improved massively and we have a strong air of confidence about us now.

This afternoon we are having a big net session to practice our batting. We play university this week and I reckon my first win as captain is on the cards.

Into the looking glass

I ummed and arrrred about posting this but what the hey.

Today as i sought to do as little work as possible before my Xmas break starts for the year, i have been reading a Post on David Farrar's Kiwiblog site and the comments that went with it.

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2007/12/some_billboards_to_enjoy.html

For the past year David has been a principle detractor of the Electoral Finance Bill and for good reason. Unfortunately his distaste of the bill has clouded his judgement somewhat and he along with others have erected billboards in Auckland, Wellington and Tauranga.

These Billboards are laced with hyperbole and while i see the reasoning behind them, i feel they will do more harm than good. They draw a rather large bow when it comes to the comparisons of our politicians and evil doers of the last 100 years.

It gives rise to an argument that the EFB sought to stop this sort of politicking and the labour was in the right (no pun intended) and while they so clearly weren’t, Helen has a knack for garnering the naive NZer's vote.

Pleasantly enough the comments were of a robust quality rarely seen between the regular posters on Kiwiblog and made for an interesting debate. I myself posted 3 times in reference to the post and once to a query on my blog. This is a marked increase for me. Only two comments in 6 months before and I read all his posts and follow most of the commentary daily.

Kiwiblog is much more than one mans opinion now. It has become a defacto talkback show for the great many people who are happy to type on a keyboard but resent the type of people who ring Leighton. The comments can descend into vitriol from time to time which is unfortunate but i am encouraged by today’s events.

What i take out of the news at the moment is not good. I predict that next year we will be in for a nasty campaign that will start in January and run all year. Media outlets are already gearing up for the fight, as are independent bodies.

I am looking forward to Tim Shadbolts contribution. I heard him on the news yesterday say he has been arrested over 30 times and has spent 5years in prison. I wasn’t aware of that and to say i was surprised understates it and seeing as he was once a staunch Labour man one must wonder where the party’s real core now lies.

Indeed these are troubling times, however if we look at the greater picture its not just Labour who are in trouble. Arguably this is a constitutional crisis that has yet to be diagnosed. People will be arrested next year for speaking up for what they believe in.

What concerns me more though is how the rest of the political parties deal with this. We have already seen the Greens sell themselves out. Winston who i actually rate as a politician has lost the plot and now believes his own bullshit. Dunne’s full of shit and if it wasn’t for his talk of family, values and the worm wouldn’t be in parliament. Hide would rather look good, though he has had some passionate speeches in the house this year.

It is though National that i am worried about. It’s almost a given they will win the next election and we should be the better for it. However if Labour has gotten away with so much corruption in this 3rd term then whose to say that National wont just follow suit?

Where are the policies? The GP change was handled badly but the guts of it is sound. Privatising ACC should see more money saved and after Kapiti/coast DHB's fuck up i could see myself happy with a privatisation of all health care.

Where’s the education policy, the transport and telecommunications infrastructure policies? And the crowd puller, crime? Who will stop National from interfering with the public service such as Labour has? There’s many a gaps to be filled in Nationals public perception before NZ will be ready for them in full.

When are we going to grow up and build ourselves a written constitution? Expect these sorts of questions to be asked in the coming year and come hell or high water don’t for one second think these changes aren’t important. Things in this county are moving so swiftly it wouldn’t take much for us to lose our footing and drown under a torrent of rhetoric, hyperbole and misdirection all designed to rob you of your rights and as a New Zealand citizen. As at today, our country is one of the best places to be a citizen, don’t let that change!

Cricket

Well, well, well, following on from my plan last Thursday things half went to plan. Jerry took the toss which I should have stopped, firstly as the captain should do it but secondly as he called the toss and that is against the rules that say the visiting side calls. We were sent into field.

I wasn’t too sure how this would turn out. I knew basically what was required but it was different in action. Things started off shaky as Scott’s plum LBW was denied, it couldn’t have been sweater and Scott endured two further appeals being denied. Things started to look better when Kev bowled a ripper which the batsman nicked. It bounced of Jerry’s shoulder, leaving a decent bruise and into my waiting hands.

From there the field Geed up and we were looking good. We managed to keep them to 108 at the 20 over mark. One bloke with #72 on his back survived a nick, two dropped catches, and was tinny as hell, i was happy when he top edged it just behind slip and again in my waiting hands. Having not taken a catch all year it was good to have taken 2. Danny also took two mint catches, one sky high one that was not so easy.

The bowling changes came right for me too. The only slight mis-calculation I made was forgetting Karl had 4 overs left but even that turned out for the best. We took 4 wickets off the first ball of a bowling change, impressive if I do say so myself. Of course it was the bowlers that did the damage and Scott, Kev, Bhupesh, Karl and Mike bowled beautifully.

Just to prove me right for Thursdays post Lex turned on one of the finest Keeping efforts I have ever seen. I don't know how many catches, maybe 4, one of which ways very low to his left and another as he wasn't paying attention as Kev bowled a steamer. It wasn't just that though. Somehow he managed to stop the ball with his feet, body and ankles; he even took a ball to the nose as Mike bowled the sweatiest ball of the day that swung a meter round the batsman for the middle stump. He was the keystone of the fielding effort.

So at the end of Mt Wellington’s innings they had a total of 248. Not an insurmountable score but not one that we could get near.

Birkenhead - 47
Mt Wellington - 248

Really another poor effort. I faced at least 20 balls and still got a duck. There was one golden and four in total. Rick picked up the high score with 10. Our batting really lets us down and batting second seems to scare us, so winning the toss is ever more crucial.

I had a lot of fun as captain and it seemed the boys thought it was a good effort. Later some of the boys told me at my BBQ they thought it was one of the most enjoyable games they had played and I agree.

Its the last game this side of the season on Saturday, not a good time for a game with xmas and all but maybe we will be given a present to kick the festive season off.