The Weekender 14/03/2010
Submitted by darrenh on Sun, 14/03/2010 - 21:55
Well this is the last Weekender for a few weeks. I'm getting married next Sunday & will then have three weeks honeymoon, we will see you again after that!
Sport
Well the NRL has started a new season and the Warriors had a final quarter meltdown to snatch a 24-18 loss against the Gold Coast Titans. In other first round games the Newcastle Knights beat the Bulldogs 16-20, the Brisbane Broncos snatched a 30-24 win over the North Queensland Cowboys and the Dragons beat the Eels 18-12.
The Super14 continued - but not in a good way for most NZ teams. The Hurricanes were thrashed by the Stormers 37-13, the Waratahs thrashed the Lions 73-12, and the Bulls beat the Highlanders 50-35 (no defence there!). The only winning NZ team was the Crusaders who wore down the Chiefs 19-26. The Brumbies beat the Sharks 24-22, and the Reds thrashed the Force 50-10.
Well the One day cricket has continued and Australia has retained the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with dominant results in the third & fourth ODIs (admittedly mostly due to inadequate batting from the Black Caps - maybe they are taking lessons from Chris Martin - go on, YouTube "Learn to bat like Chris Martin"). But the fifth ODI regained some pride - I'm still not quite sure how it happened but you can be sure that if NZ ever win, it's a result of the bowlers. I gave up when NZ was at 6/155 or 7/186, but the tail enders (i.e. bowlers) batted well and we reached a still inadequate 9/241. Shane Bond and Tim Southee then saved the day by taking four wickets each to bowl Australia out for 190 - and a 51 run win is very good.
The Wellington Phoenix have had their season ended losing 4-2 to Sydney. Obviously having the ref miss a goal scored by hand, didn't impact the final result, but it was a crucial point in the game as the Phoenix were level up to that point. Regardless of the result, NZers got very excited about football over the past few weeks - let's hope it continues for the World Cup!
Team New Zealand has continued it's run of wins in the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Auckland this weekend. They had their fourth straight win after beating the Franco-German All4One entry by 26 seconds.
The Black Sticks played a good 20min of hockey but were beaten 5-2 by defending champs Germany in the World Cup. They played South Africa for 9th-10th placing (but what was the result?).
Hayden Roulston has pulled out of the Paris-Nice cycling race after suffering from a head cold, however Greg Henderson is in sixth place. Greg actually won the opening stage.
NZ News
Well he has done it! Shaun Quincey has rowed from Australian to New Zealand. The first single rower to have ever rowed in that direction and the second person to have ever done - the first being his father, Colin, in 1977. It took him 53 days - nine days quicker than his father, he rowed around 3,900km (although in a straight line it's 2,200km) and he lost 17kg on the trip.
Here's a reason why I like NZ so much. Maybe it's just the paper trying to stir up trouble, but the large headline read "Police in abuse of power row". The abuse in question is a former highly ranked cop, calling a friend and current highly ranked cop, when he was stopped on the way to a sports match. Apparently he was late & didn't want to wait even for the brief police check. Ok I agree he should be checked like anyone else, but if this is the worst they can come up with for a Police abuse of power story, then that is great.
The opposition had something to say when transport minister Stephen Joyce announced a review of the SuperGold Card transport concessions this week. Everyone was up in arms claiming that all the benefits would be cut - until near the end of the news story they talked to John Key and Stephen Joyce, who said they were committed to the SuperGold Card and were just reviewing some of the high cost options like the Waiheke Island ferry. Mr Joyce said "It possibly wasn't clear enough but I think also there was definitely some political desire to create some concern and fear" - which of course for everyone except reporters seems obvious (they're the opposition - it's their job! You don't need to report it). If you don't know the SuperGold Card gives free off peak travel on public transport to Senior Citizens.
The SundayStar Times got into trouble this week by stupidly deciding to "test" NZ's anti-terrorist response at rugby games for the Rugby World Cup. They sent people into Waikato Stadium and Christchurch's AMI Stadium with fake explosives, then they got into "public" places without the police knowing (duh). Police Minister Judith Collins said "If they were trying to make some point that Kiwis go to rugby games and they don't get treated like they're all potential terrorists - well, so what?".
A kiwi is indeed a hero over in Afghanistan when the British Army soldier picked up a grenade that had been thrown at him and his colleagues and threw it away just seconds before it went off. He and the colleagues received up minor injuries but they have credited James McKie with saving their lives.
4: people rescued from a burning car by hero Real Estate agent Rob Kuypers
5.0: richter scale earthquake hit Fiordland this morning
5.5: m waves caused house evacuations in the Hawkes Bay this week
7: months in a row of dropping produce prices
10: top Irish-themed pubs ranking for Auckland's The Muddy Farmer, just in time for St Patrick's Day
16: Vodafone cell sites had degraded performance for 6 hours last Saturday
50: WWII Maori Battalion men met for what might be their last big reunion, they are aged between 84 and 101
60: fire fighters put out a major fire at a boat building plant in Te Rapa, Hamilton this afternoon
95: % of NZ Defence Force troop injuries, happen in NZ compared to those overseas "in action"
182.9: c/L for 91-octane petrol, the highest price for 18 months
140,000: $ fine for a company whose employee was killed by a vehicle while collecting rubbish last year
5.5m: $ in aid pledged for the Cook Islands after the devastating Cyclone Pat
7.5b: $ net worth for Graeme Hart - NZer & Australasia's richest man, however he dropped 43 places to 144th - equal with Giorgio Armani
Finance NZ Dollar
GBP 0.4620 (+0.0012)
EUR 0.5102 (-0.0018)
USD 0.7022 (+0.0048)
AUD 0.7676 (-0.0011)
The
Weekender NZer of the week
Robert Dickie
CHAMPION OF AUTOMATION
RJ Dickie invented and patented the world’s first stamp vending machine. His machines were in use for 50 years, 18,000 were used in Britain, with countless others around the world. The machine that won highest honours at the 1909 Seattle Expo came from a New Zealander with a single idea.
http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/dickie.html
Salt and Mensa
Mensa is an organization whose members have an IQ of 140 or higher.
A few years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco, and several members lunched at a local cafe. While dining, they discovered that their saltshaker contained pepper and their pepper shaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the bottles without spilling, and using only the implements at hand?
Clearly this was a job for Mensa! The group debated and presented ideas, and finally came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer. They called the waitress over to dazzle her with their solution.
"Ma'am," they said, "we couldn't help but notice that the pepper shaker contains salt and the salt shaker..."
"Oh," the waitress interrupted. "Sorry about that." She unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them.
Check
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Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
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