The Weekender 21/12/2008

After a bit of a break the Weekender is heading back to UK - which if you didn't know was where it first went from the beginning!
Of course, this is the final weekender before Christmas and while I'll be enjoying summer weather (and some of you will be enjoying a white Christmas!) I may not be around as I have a bit of a break over New Years. So have a great season - keep safe if you are travelling!

Sport

The NZ Breakers good basketball form has continued with a 118-94 win over the Perth Wildcats in Perth last night - and that was after record 114-70 win over the Sydney Spirit on Thursday. The Breakers away record is actually much better than their home record - that's a first!
Kirk Penney won his second consecutive player of the month award.

The first cricket test against the West Indies ended in a tame rain affected draw, so the series comes down to the second and final game in Napier which started three days ago. The Windies batted first & made 307. NZ is currently at 353/7 in reply after a great century from our new opener Tim McIntosh. (Update 371/9).

Dan Carter has started his sabbatical with his opening game for Perpignan and he helped the team to a 26-20 win over Leicester with a personal haul of 16 points.

David Smail showed he has potential during the Australian Open - he just needs to work on his finishing! He was leading by four shots with four holes to go and ended up third!

The Tasman rugby team has survived for another year. There were doubts when they had money problems but the NZRU has bailed them out but said they may not be able to do the same again.

Retired rowing twins Caroline & Georgina Evers-Swindell won the Lonsdale Cup - the highest award the NZ Olympic Committee has.

Brendon Hartley has been on the radar of motorsport watchers for a while and this week he had a test drive with the Red Bull Formula One team and was awarded an official Formula One licence.

NZ News

Things are heating up politically in Fiji with the self appointed government expelling the Acting New Zealand High Commissioner this week. There was also an incident where a TVNZ report was detained, questioned and kicked out of the country.

The Commerce Commission has accused 13 airlines (for starters) of acting as a cartel to push freight prices up. Air New Zealand has hit back saying they were grandstanding to justify their existence.

The new government has continued their run of undoing recent Labour rulings. This week saw them drop the restrictions on building new coal and gas-fired power plants.

Two people have been arrested after a series of fires in Hamilton saw the evacuation of Braemar hospital and millions of dollars worth of damage.

The police have arrested two girls for the murder of former Opotiki teach John Rowe. One was aged 17 and the other 15. A 21 year old Opotiki man has been charged as an accessory after the fact and attempting to defeat the course of justice.

The Numbers Game

2: nd most charitable country in Asia/Pacific behind Indonesia
3: year ban for a Taranaki bowls player - for refusing to play on substandard greens
5: c drop in diesel by four petrol companies
50: hectares of scrub fire in the Far North was finally dampened down
52: % of kiwis think the economy will pick up next year - compared to 39% of Australians
160: jobs lost in Morinsville when a mushroom growing operation was shut down because the neighbours complained about the smell
228: jobs lost in Lower Hutt when a Griffin's biscuit factory closed this week
1000: deg fire destroyed a south Auckland coolstore
1400: $ for finals tickets for the Rugby World Cup in NZ 2011 - pool play by minnows will cost around $35
3700: people live in Putaruru
300,000: $ fraud by a school trustee
2m: $ average price for a house in the Auckland suburb of Herne Bay - an NZ first
6.28m: $ fight with the IRD over seven years has finally gone the way of tourism operator Contract Pacific

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.3843 (+0.0196)
EUR 0.4124 (+0.0038)
USD 0.5739 (+0.0288)
AUD 0.8434 (+0.0169)

The Weekender NZer of the week

Colin Murdoch
DREAMER FOR MILLIONS
Colin Murdoch designed and invented the disposable syringe, a device that has saved millions of human lives. He also conceived and developed the tranquilliser dart gun, which has saved the lives of millions of animals. He is an understated New Zealander who can claim to have revolutionised medical and veterinary science.
http://www.nzedge.co.nz/heroes/murdoch.html

Joke of the Weekender

From British Newspapers
* Commenting on a complaint from a Mr Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West gas said, "We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible Mr Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house." (The Daily Telegraph)
* Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van, because they cannot issue a description. It's a Special Branch vehicle and they don't want the public to know what it looks like. (The Guardian)
* A young girl who was blown out to sea on a set of inflatable teeth was rescued by a man on an inflatable lobster. A coastguard spokesman commented, "This sort of thing is all too common". (The Times)
* At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coastguard on the spot and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied he was sorry, but he didn't have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover off the cliff. (Aberdeen Evening Express)
* Mrs Irene Graham of Thorpe Avenue, Boscombe, delighted the audience with her reminiscence of the German prisoner of war who was sent each week to do her garden. He was repatriated at the end of 1945, she recalled "He'd always seemed a nice friendly chap, but when the crocuses came up in the middle of our lawn in February 1946, they spelt out "Heil Hitler." (Bournemouth Evening Echo)

Weekender Photos

This week I have my Christmas light photos, from both Hamilton (with the biggest Christmas tree in the country!) and from Pukekura Park in New Plymouth.
Check out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42/ChristmasLights#

Darren Harrison: darren@harrison.gen.nz
The Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website: www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
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