Novelty Website

In recent times at the movies I have given in and bought a large drink as these are $4 while the small is $3.50 and medium $3.80 at Embassy in Wellington. The problem of course comes during those long movies as to when to leave the cinema without missing much of the action.

Runpee.com gives you exact times and scene details so you can sneak out and return with minimal disruption to the storyline. It is quite interesting, so check it out below! You can also hit it up on your iPhone if you forget to do your research beforehand!

www.runpee.com

Dance Your Socks Off!

It has been a while since we danced up a storm in the Taranaki Street hall or did some salsa at the now shut down Latinos. We should hit up some other form of dancing on a Wednesday night. The start of September not only signifies the start of spring, but is also when people offer introductory dance lessons for free or dirt cheap. I am just putting it out there that it would be cool to do something else and I think that folk dancing sounds dorky, but is probably dorky fun. There are also plenty of events on including the Roller Disco we went to last year and heaps of community dances. It is probably worth going to this website and checking out all of the info and letting me know if any of it tickles your fancy. We are lucky here in Wellington that we can be so close to so many different things that are going down!

http://www.feelinggreat.co.nz/events/dance/?page=2&

The Tale Of Two Movies

I have had a busy last few days including seeing two completely different types of movies. On Thursday I was impressed by District 9. It was something fresh and new as it started as a documentary and ended as a Science Fiction. It was funny hearing the strong Saffa accents and seeing some New Zealanders in the cast.

Last night four of us went to the Lighthouse in Petone and watched Coco avant Chanel. It was in French with subtitles. The highlight was the couches which combined with the subtitles, fatigue from a long away day at work, the slow moving French movie and the cosy movie theatre to put me to sleep. I must say I am used to the speed and thrill a minute of Hollywood movies and so this movie which focussed on the life of the fashion designer before she made it big wasn't quite my bag baby, but I thought it would be fun to tag along and go on a road trip to Petone. I reckon it would be cool to own a quaint movie theatre like The Empire in Island Bay or the Lighthouse in Petone.

What did you think of these movies? I think that very few people who read this blog, saw Coco avant Chanel.

I rated
District 9 - 4.5 stars out of 5
Coco avant Chanel 1.5 stars out 5

Win A Free Ticket to the Shield Game

I have one spare ticket to the Shield game on Saturday between the Wellington Lions and Canterbury. Heaps of All Blacks will be playing including Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Ma'a Nonu and Corey Jane so it will be an intense match.

If you want a free ticket simply click on a Google ad down the side column and then place a comment as to why you deserve the free ticket sitting with me at the game and I will judge the winner by 10pm Friday.

Costume Birthday Party

The September Birthday Club are putting on a costume party called Pirates vs Robots on Saturday September 12 from 8pm. Sure it will clash with the rugby, but since the game finishes just after 9, then hopefully people will still show up. It promises to be exciting times. The party is at 108 Brougham Street. It is hard to know if it is best to come as a robot (great for dancing) or pirate (great for talking). There are heaps of examples of robots and pirates on the Internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_robots_and_androids

R2 D2 and C3PO must be top of the list. Some Daelics from Dr Who. What about Fembots from Austin Powers?

Whatever you do don't get locked out of your house like what happened to some dude in Christchurch. The neighbours got the Armed Offenders Squad after he was breaking into his house wearing his costume which looked like he was carrying genuine weapons!


http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2802176/Costume-caper-leads-to-AOS-callout

Don't Get Any Ideas For Canterbury vs Wellington This Weekend

Forget the intense rivalry between Cantabs and Wellingtonians for the Ranfurly Shield game this weekend. One of the most intense rivalries is between London football sides West Ham and Millwall. These teams are near each other near East London where the Olympics will be held. It is a rough neck of the woods and if you read the match report, it all makes sense. West Ham is the area where the tv show EastEnders is set. This is also near where the cheapest Monopoly street Whitechapel Road is. Enough said!

One guy was stabbed and there was massive carnage. The Police on horses provide an interesting sight. I only went to one game, but I was glad that it was at Craven Cottage which is more civilised than Upton Park. You can see why home and away fans sit at opposite ends of the stadium!

So if you think Cantabs are nutty sports fans, then think again!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leaguecup/6088719/West-Ham-United-3-Millwall-1-match-report.html

It Makes You Think Twice

I have been on heaps of camps where practical jokes are the norm, but I got this off Stuff. It happened in Australia and it is one of those things that is funny until it happens to you! It reminds me off camps with Glad Wrap under the seat, honey and sauce on toilet seats, fish on the hot water cylinder in the ladies so that it lets off a strong odour, Marmite on the light bulbs, short sheeting beds, barley sugars or some form of dye in the shower heads, the list of great pranks goes on.

A man had to be rescued after he became glued to the seat of a public toilet in Cairns in an embarrassing prank, Australian police say.

The 57-year-old man found he had become stuck to the seat after using a cubicle in a male bathroom at the Cairns shopping centre on Saturday.

Ambulance workers and police were called to free the man, who was taken to Cairns Base Hospital with the toilet seat still attached.

He sustained minor injuries.

"It appears at this stage that an unknown offender has placed an adhesive on the toilet seat," a police spokeswoman said.

Police are investigating.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/2781912/Man-glued-to-toilet-seat

My Weekend - Stayed Tuned For Birthday Action

The Street social fabric has been revived as I had one of my most sociable weekends in months. It involved several different groups/clicks, but it is a great chance to meet new people and always have fun things to do.

On Friday night a group went out to Makara for a BBQ/Bonfire. I haven't been out there before which is surprising given that it is a real Christian hangout point. It was organised by the Life Group girls, so was a different group to what I am used to. I am so used to knowing most people at an event so you know the in jokes and can feel comfortable hassling people. In saying this, it was still a great change of scenery and we got a few sausages and marshmallows cooked and returned to town stinking of smoke.

Saturday started with the Kingston brunch. There was a crowd of about 15. It is a great start to a Saturday, I try and watch what I eat before playing football as there is so much food!

I survived 90 minutes of football at Cobham Park. Unfortunately our makeshift team missing half our regular squad lost 2-0, but I was glad with my personal performance and that I lasted. I have been playing sport with slight niggles in recent times. It is funny though because sometimes these niggles are cured by playing, other times they are aggravated. I heard at the weekend that Brad Thorn stretches for 90 minutes a day in three thirty minute intervals.

Saturday night was rugby heaven. I went to the Caketin and watched Wellington beat Auckland by 16-15. It was really tight although you had the feeling that Wellington would always win, but Auckland almost snuck in the back door. I don't know why they don't have TMOs in these matches as Wellington was denied what could've been a costly try.

I went to the Goatshed to watch the Bledisloe Cup. It is great watching it in a crowd and that match was another one point nail biter. I use the phrase loosely as I despise nail biters! It was ugly at times but we got there! Thanks Dan Carter!

Sunday involved lunch at JJs with my old Life Group from 2007 crowd. We then went back to Brougham Street flat and watched Moonwalker. I like hanging with this crew because I can be myself and always have company in making inappropriate comments. There was a bit of a crowd of us in the end. I must say that Michael Jackson's movie Moonwalker is strange and shows how he saw himself. It was really unrealistic and magic and involved him befriending plenty of kids. Odd to say the least!

Night church was good as usual and then we went to the Oriental Kingdom in Left Bank where we packed out the place. It reminded me of camps where you all sit at the one long table. They were good times!

It is my birthday in a few weeks, so stayed tuned. There may be a shared birthday party on the cards. If you are reading this, then you may be invited if you are lucky! Any ideas for theme? Let me know.

You Decide

I am wondering what gender South African runner Caster Semenya pictured above is? It would be the best way of dominating sport by running amongst women. There have been other runners in the past done by their sex tests. This time the test could mean that Caster can't run in the final. It is hard to know if she is a he or something undetermined. You decide!

SOUTH AFRICAN middle-distance sensation Caster Semenya was at the centre of an inquiry on Tuesday due to concerns about whether she is a male or female.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/gender-bender-on-iaaf-agenda-20090819-ep93.html

There Are Some Meatheads Out There

Darius Boyd has done nothing for league's image with an awkward press conference performance. I saw it on the news and it was painful. Here is the article off the TVNZ website. Check out the interview if you can.


St George Illawarra coach Wayne Bennett has taken the extraordinary step of apologising to journalists after fullback Darius Boyd produced a press conference stonewall to rival the boss.

Boyd delivered one sentence responses to eight questions posed to him at training in Wollongong on Tuesday before the assembled reporters gave up and condemned the Test star for wasting their time.

The 22-year-old's performance didn't sit well with Bennett either as the coach reportedly spoke to Boyd about his disrespectful interview and then offered an apology to the gathered press.

Ironically, Boyd's performance was similar to the contemptuous effort of Bennett in 2007 when he offered one-line responses to questioning in a post-match press conference that was broadcast live on Fox Sports.

Below is a transcript of Boyd's short press conference in Wollongong on Tuesday:

Q: Up against the Broncos, excited about facing your old mates?

A: Yeah, can't wait.

Q: That excited?

A: Yep.

Q: Did you watch them play last week?

A: No I didn't.

Q: What's the strategy going into the game?

A: We'll decide that on Wednesday I suppose.

Q: Happy to score another try, it was a good one?

A: Yeah, it was good, eh.

Q: Second one of the season, it's taken a while, you must be keen to be coming into form at the right time of the season.

A: No it was good.

Q: What are your thoughts on the way your team is going at the moment Darius?

A: Um, yeah, it was pretty good, eh.

Q: Are you fair dinkum?

A: Yeah.







http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-league-news/boyd-brought-into-line-press-performance-2926679

The Most Common Passwords

Us computer users are so predictable. Here is a list of the top 500 words from the following website. It makes for interesting reading at the lack of originality with most of them. It is scary how many people have their passwords on this list (about 20%). Anyway, it is important to mix it up with numbers.


http://www.whatsmypass.com/the-top-500-worst-passwords-of-all-time

NO Top 1-100 Top 101–200 Top 201–300 Top 301–400 Top 401–500
1 123456 porsche firebird prince rosebud
2 password guitar butter beach jaguar
3 12345678 chelsea united amateur great
4 1234 black turtle 7777777 cool
5 pussy diamond steelers muffin cooper
6 12345 nascar tiffany redsox 1313
7 dragon jackson zxcvbn star scorpio
8 qwerty cameron tomcat testing mountain
9 696969 654321 golf shannon madison
10 mustang computer bond007 murphy 987654
11 letmein amanda bear frank brazil
12 baseball wizard tiger hannah lauren
13 master xxxxxxxx doctor dave japan
14 michael money gateway eagle1 naked
15 football phoenix gators 11111 squirt
16 shadow mickey angel mother stars
17 monkey bailey junior nathan apple
18 abc123 knight thx1138 raiders alexis
19 pass iceman porno steve aaaa
20 fuckme tigers badboy forever bonnie
21 6969 purple debbie angela peaches
22 jordan andrea spider viper jasmine
23 harley horny melissa ou812 kevin
24 ranger dakota booger jake matt
25 iwantu aaaaaa 1212 lovers qwertyui
26 jennifer player flyers suckit danielle
27 hunter sunshine fish gregory beaver
28 fuck morgan porn buddy 4321
29 2000 starwars matrix whatever 4128
30 test boomer teens young runner
31 batman cowboys scooby nicholas swimming
32 trustno1 edward jason lucky dolphin
33 thomas charles walter helpme gordon
34 tigger girls cumshot jackie casper
35 robert booboo boston monica stupid
36 access coffee braves midnight shit
37 love xxxxxx yankee college saturn
38 buster bulldog lover baby gemini
39 1234567 ncc1701 barney cunt apples
40 soccer rabbit victor brian august
41 hockey peanut tucker mark 3333
42 killer john princess startrek canada
43 george johnny mercedes sierra blazer
44 sexy gandalf 5150 leather cumming
45 andrew spanky doggie 232323 hunting
46 charlie winter zzzzzz 4444 kitty
47 superman brandy gunner beavis rainbow
48 asshole compaq horney bigcock 112233
49 fuckyou carlos bubba happy arthur
50 dallas tennis 2112 sophie cream
51 jessica james fred ladies calvin
52 panties mike johnson naughty shaved
53 pepper brandon xxxxx giants surfer
54 1111 fender tits booty samson
55 austin anthony member blonde kelly
56 william blowme boobs fucked paul
57 daniel ferrari donald golden mine
58 golfer cookie bigdaddy 0 king
59 summer chicken bronco fire racing
60 heather maverick penis sandra 5555
61 hammer chicago voyager pookie eagle
62 yankees joseph rangers packers hentai
63 joshua diablo birdie einstein newyork
64 maggie sexsex trouble dolphins little
65 biteme hardcore white 0 redwings
66 enter 666666 topgun chevy smith
67 ashley willie bigtits winston sticky
68 thunder welcome bitches warrior cocacola
69 cowboy chris green sammy animal
70 silver panther super slut broncos
71 richard yamaha qazwsx 8675309 private
72 fucker justin magic zxcvbnm skippy
73 orange banana lakers nipples marvin
74 merlin driver rachel power blondes
75 michelle marine slayer victoria enjoy
76 corvette angels scott asdfgh girl
77 bigdog fishing 2222 vagina apollo
78 cheese david asdf toyota parker
79 matthew maddog video travis qwert
80 121212 hooters london hotdog time
81 patrick wilson 7777 paris sydney
82 martin butthead marlboro rock women
83 freedom dennis srinivas xxxx voodoo
84 ginger fucking internet extreme magnum
85 blowjob captain action redskins juice
86 nicole bigdick carter erotic abgrtyu
87 sparky chester jasper dirty 777777
88 yellow smokey monster ford dreams
89 camaro xavier teresa freddy maxwell
90 secret steven jeremy arsenal music
91 dick viking 11111111 access14 rush2112
92 falcon snoopy bill wolf russia
93 taylor blue crystal nipple scorpion
94 111111 eagles peter iloveyou rebecca
95 131313 winner pussies alex tester
96 123123 samantha cock florida mistress
97 bitch house beer eric phantom
98 hello miller rocket legend billy
99 scooter flower theman movie 6666
100 please jack oliver success albert

New Zealand Football Needs You!

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the biggest game in New Zealand football history since 1982. New Zealand host the second leg of qualification against the fifth placed Asian team either Saudi Arabia or Bahrain on November 14. This game could make it into New Zealand folklore as the day that we made it to the World Cup in South Africa 2010. This will be huge and given the popularity of the sport in New Zealand and Wellington especially, this game could be a sellout. Anyway, I am getting tickets tomorrow. If you are keen then let me know asap as I will get tickets tomorrow. Tickets are only $30 so there is no excuse for not going!

www.oneshotforglory.co.nz

Here Is One For You Trainspotters

There is a quiz on a rival blog offering $100 to the winner. Who wants to go halves with the winnings by helping me?

1. Name the player who has scored the most tries for the All Blacks in a game?

2. Name the cricketer who has taken the most wickets in a single test match for a left-arm Australian bowler at the Sydney Cricket Ground?

3. Name the All Black captain who went on three overseas tours but never played a test?

4. Name the hosts of the six Rugby World Cups to date?

5. Name the prop who played in only one losing test for the All Blacks and subsequently drowned, attempting to save his son?

6. Name the man who played international football for both Australia and New Zealand and international cricket for New Zealand?

7. How many countries did Don Bradman play test cricket in?

8. In 1991, Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones set a world test partnership record of 467 against Sri Lanka. Whose record did they break?

9. Who has played the most one-day internationals for New Zealand?

10. Which international cricketer played test cricket for both New Zealand and the West Indies and what was the most history-making test he played in for New Zealand?

Coming to a Beach Near You

Lederhosen swimwear is coming to a beach near you thanks to an Austrian entrepreneur. I guess, this beats the usual skimpy speedos worn by people in Europe. My birthday is coming up!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fashion/2756992/Lederhosen-swimwear-a-new-fad

I saw a television documentary item about how New Zealand Prime Minister John Keys gets home from work at midnight and arrives at work at about 6 or 7am. This means that he lives off about five hours sleep a night. This is crazy given the importance of his position. A recent study shows that some people have certain genes which helps them function properly on less sleep than other people. This would be handy in life.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/2752985/Rare-gene-behind-short-sleepers

Lefthanders Day - Represent!

Thursday August 13th is World Lefthanders Day. I am proud to be a lefty in this right handed world. We put up with such a struggle, yet being left handed has benefits.

Writing with a pen is tough left handed as you always smudge. You have to get special cheque books which open the other way otherwise it sucks being a lefty. Most doors, households and offices are set up for right handers. The mouse is by default on the right side for example.

I wish I was a left handed tennis player, but I am not. Because they are so rare and can naturally spin the ball away from your forehand and get unique angle they are tough to beat.

I write left handed but do many things right handed. In my younger days playing cricket I bowl left handed but if I need to throw any distance I do it right handed. I play darts left handed but ten pin bowl right handed. So I am slightly ambi.

I tend to do tasks requiring precision with my left hand and power with my right hand. Same thing with football, I am a more dominant right footer but more precise off the left, same with passing a rugby ball.

So now you know. Plenty of artists and deep thinkers are lefties, southpaws and cacks.
www.lefthandersday.com

From the website,

Most left-handers draw figures facing to the right.

There is a high tendency in twins for one to be left-handed

Stuttering and dyslexia occur more often in left-handers (particularly if they are forced to change their writing hand as a child, like King of England George VI).




Left-handers adjust more readily to seeing underwater.

Left-handers excel particularly in tennis, baseball, swimming and fencing

Left-handers usually reach puberty 4 to 5 months after right-handers

4 of the 5 original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed

1 in 4 Apollo astronauts were left-handed - 250% more than the normal level.

Happy left handers day Dalman (a true lefty, no right foot), Downey, Jamieson, Mai Time and all you other lefties out there! I think it is 10% of the population in the western world.

Gingas Hate The Dentist!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2746748/Redheads-call-for-fair-go-after-dental-claims#comments
For my latest and 900th post I am talking about how some waste of money study has found the gingas are likely to avoid going to the dentist and require 20% more anastetia than others. I must say that gingas have a tendency to bleed more than non gingas. I have watched fighting in Dunners and the big Pacific Island guys fighting hardly bleed, but the fair skinned whities bleed all over the place!

Of course in this article I am using the people I know who are gingas and not myself! Speaking from experience with friends and family. I must say that I avoid the dentist usually, but since I have had braces, nose put back into place and plenty of needles I tend to have developed a pain tolerance. It is more the cost thing although the thought of the drill just doesn't do anything for me!

Check out this article. I wonder what other trivial studies have been done into similar topics. It is hardly life changing research, but interesting to say the least!

Real or Fake?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64w8SHd9LEY
I wonder if this huge jump is real or fake. I have my doubt that it is probably done using a dummy, but it would be amazing if it was real. What do you think? If they missed the pool it would've hurt!

In other random news,

My dead leg is slowly getting better so I have a big yellowish bruise on my thigh. I have been seeing physio for my neck and the physio has agreed to free up my corked thigh with some massage. He will probably get ripped into it, so it will be interesting to see how sore it gets. If he is friction rubbing my thigh you will probably hear me scream around 9am tomorrow morning!

For the first time in my time in Wellington the bus I was in missed its route while full of commuters. I was coming home from work on the 11 Seatoun bus which goes up Taranaki Street, but we ended up continuing up Courtenay Place past Reading Cinemas before turning left and doing the full block before going back up Taranaki Street. Has anyone else had this happen? It increased my commuting time but was an interesting novelty!

World Sauna Championships

The World Sauna Championships were held in Finland. Below is a quote and a link to an article on it. I must say that these people are more committed than I am. It is great weight loss though!

Finnish Timo Kaukonen won the men’s event by staying in the sauna for three minutes, 46 seconds. And Tatyana Arkhipenko from Russian took the women’s title with a time of three minutes, nine seconds.

If those times sound unspectacular, bear in mind that the saunas were heated to 110c, and half a litre of water was poured on the sizzling stones every 30 seconds, making it far more gruelling than the average relaxing sauna, which is 70-80c.

World Sauna Championships

Sleep Easy They Have Charged The Newtown Murderer

Police have arrested a 43 year old man after a murder in a halfway house in Newtown, Wellington. I must say that living in Newtown myself, it scares me a little to think this happens in my suburb. There are plenty of interesting characters and halfway type houses around Newtown which explains some of the characters who hang out in Newtown and constantly ask you for money. Anyway this report says what happened.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2739103/Newtown-death-Man-charged

Back in Town

I am back in town and ready to hit the ground staggering rather than running on Monday.

Highlights of my trip south include catching up with friends and family in both Invers and Dunners.

Seeing the mighty Stags win at Carisbrook on Friday night. The funny thing with this win was there were more vocal supporters for the away team than for Otago. I also the week before saw the Stags beat Waikato at the Roaring Pen. It was two from two for my boys. This is previously unheard of when growing up down there!

I forgot how quiet it is down south and how much colder it is, but it is the type of thing that you adjust to if you were to go and live down there. I love not having to queue for things and heaps of people are really laid back.

I returned and played 90 minutes for the Marist Skins against Tawa on Saturday. We won 2-1 and despite getting a scratched nose and dead leg, I enjoyed the experience. It was a warm day and we were playing on a large field, so it was energy sapping.

Telethon - New Zealand has moved on!

I spent last night watching the Telethon 2009 the Big Night In. I think like everything, people look back at the good old days in the 1980s with a sense of nostalgia, but our expectations have changed and we demand more than what Telethon offers. You will notice when you see 1980s movies and television shows that now most of them seem rather amateur and average and I think that is the general view of this years one.

There were so many spare seats at the St James in Wellington and it must be said that the presenters were borderline well known celebrities. I actually hadn't even seen or heard of the woman in Wellington presenting the show. I wonder what happens if you are actually in the studio/theatre? There would've been plenty of down time. I really wanted to see more of Pete off Rove Live for example, but while I was watching, he didn't really do much. I guess we don't have a massive pool of well known celebrities. Anyway, I enjoy seeing short bursts of the Telethon, but I don't think you would've got the same amount of people staying up late like we used to. The standard of the More FM talent competition was rather painful, but I guess it was never going to be as good as New Zealand Idol.

It was funny seeing the pledges like the good old days across the bottom of the screen. They kept showing the same ones and you are left wondering how many people actually donate? The amount raised is no where near what they used to, but I guess it was worth having a Telethon to see how well it would do. I can't see Telethon taking off as it once did as people don't have the spare time and the patience to keep watching. They also used to have more venues and involve the whole country.

It seemed like a bit of a flop judging by the small crowds, but as a one off they earned more money for charity than most other means, so I guess it is a success.

The Changing Of The Guard

I find myself in Dunners killing time at the University of Otago before going to the game. It is strange visiting a place in the middle of the year while everyone is doing their usual work. It is a real changing of the guard here these days with most of my mates even the married ones, moving away. This may be one of the last times of visit Dunners in a while. The weather is a bit better than Invers, but there is still a bite in the air. My ears are cold and I wonder if I am in for a cold or flu or just need to put a beanie on? But I am warmed by the free tickets I have got for tonights rugby match. My old friends who are still here (some have left and come back) are mainly settled down these days. I managed to snake a game of indoor soccer and play Stevo at Jonah Lomu rugby. I also went to the Sports Hall of Fame at the Railway Station which I never visited when I was living here. There are some things that spring to mind about my trip down memory lane.

Students in winter in Dunners still dress casually compared with the Wellington crowd. It is track pants and hoodies around here. There are also heaps of people wearing shorts. This confirms that I am soft!

There aren't many young professional singles here.

It is so much faster to get places around here, with most things within a short distance.

Dunners once seemed like a metropolis in my younger days but now it seems quaint!

I always see people I know down George Street. I guess it is the main street where people hang out. These people are even Facebook friends who we don't even say "Hello" to each other, so I guess there could be some Facebook culling about to go on!

I don't for one second regret my time in Dunners, it was great times in a great community, but that stage of life has passed. I did want to stay on and potentially could've had more productive employment opportunities faster if I had moved on quicker, but there was so much sport to be played and I played it!

Jack Bauer Going For It!

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7371&status=True&catname=Latest%20News
You may think you know Jack Bauer from the hit tv show 24, but I used to flat with Jack Bauer in Dunners. His real name is Hans Bauer and he is a showman. In 2006 I had the honour of flatting with him in a six guy Dunners student flat. He was the domesitcated one mentioned in this profile of him, so he isn't telling porkies.

Other memories of Bauer was drinking tuna brine, walking around the flat in lycra pants and no shirt on and dancing on Gill's bed when he was out wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a santa hat. Much like Andy Jamieson another cyclist I know, he battled to get recognition from the rest of the flat because he was only really into cycling unlike the rest of us who loved the typical New Zealand sports. Cycling is huge worldwide and Bauer is making every post a winner so far in Belgium.

It was funny when Bauer and Crouch (Dave Marsh) tried to reinvent Dream Farm in Wellington. I remember seeing Bauer who was a cycle courier riding around the streets. In true showman styles he would pull wheelies as the bus drove past. That is Bauer! The other funny thing is that Bauer met up with Andy Jamieson who put him through his tough fitness testing and Jamieson has big wraps on the hippy from Nelson who made it good after doing his time as a Phedder in Dunners.

Anyway, Bauer, I hope you having a great time in Belgium and that you keep living the dream man!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I must say walking the streets of Invers is like the television show Cheers. It seems that even though I haven't lived here for years, there are still people who must know my family and see me around the streets and toot or wave as they go past. It is also different from Wellington because randoms say "Hi" when walking past you in the suburbs.

Coming down on the plane I was sitting near but not next to some women from Auckland. Some had babbies and one particularly loud middle aged woman. They kept hassling Invers with the wide streets, rolling Rs, lack of technology (just because we got the Internet last year) and so on to each other really loudly. Of course, none of them had come to Invers before. I was left thinking that they were in for a shock.

I went to my second Air New Zealand Cup game for the season at the Roaring Pen (Rugby Park) in Invers. Southland beat Waikato 16-6. I forgot how cold it gets at night time here and the Waikato boys felt it. It was funny sitting near Southland legend Eion Crossan and others who were celebrating former victories over touring teams. There is a certain down to earth and really laid back nature to the crowds down here and the tickets are cheap. I was sitting in the covered stands the most expensive seats in the house for $25. I went with my old flatmate Dave Marsh and my brother Craig. It was also encouraging to see so many young people go to the game. I think in places like Invers you get more families heading along because there isn't too much else to do on a cold winters night.

I am killing time in Invers until I catch a Naked Bus to Dunners for a few nights. It is weird being down here in the middle of winter and during term time. Things a quiet, but relaxed and the sun has come out. I must also say that the shopping down here is under rated. One store has all Asics shoes for under $100. So I took advantage and grabbed a pair of trainers for $75 down from $250. The key is that Invers has most of the chain stores like Briscoes and Rebel Sports etc. and because land is affordable the stores are actually bigger than the Wellington ones, yet there are less people to actually purchase things.

It is also funny coming back to North Invercargill where the average age of punters is quite high. It is a far cry from Newtown! It is a relaxed pace of life down here and was awesome as a kid with access to heaps of open spaces, but there aren't many opportunities for me down here anymore.