The Weekender 06/06/2010
Hi everyone. This weekend was Queens Birthday weekend, so since I was away on holiday the weekender is late! The Forgotten World Highway is a great trip if you get the chance but this weekend has been very wet just about everywhere I think!
Sport
New Zealand lost out to Australia 24-19 in the final rugby seven's tournament, which gave the title to Samoa for their first world series win.
Team New Zealand continue their dominance after a come from behind win over Synergy from Russia in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta in Italy this weekend.
The Warriors hung in with the NRL leaders St George Illawarra for most of the game but eventually couldn't overcome losing Brent Tate with a broken jaw. But the final score was 22-20 and the Warriors are going to have a uphill battle over the second half of the season.
Table Dragons 20*, Panthers 18, Sea Eagles/Wests Tigers/Titans 16, Rabbitohs*/Broncos/Roosters*/Raiders* 14, Eels/Warriors 12, Knights*/Sharks 10, Bulldogs/Cowboys* 8, Storm 0 (* All 12 games except for 13 for Dragons & 11 for all others)
In other league news, league sensation Israel Folau has signed a four year deal to switch to Australian rules, for an estimated $AUD 1m per year - about double what he could have earned under the salary cap rules at the Broncos.
The All Whites lost their final World Cup warm up game 3-1 against Slovania.
The BOP/Waikato Magic have a lost a couple of games now, the most recent 55-54 to the Firebirds and are now under pressure if they are to make the payoffs.
Table: NSW Swifts* 20, Adelaide Thunderbirds 16, Waikato/BOP Magic* 14, Queensland Firebirds/Southern Steel*/Northern Mystics 12, Melbourne Vixens 10, West Coast Fever 6, Central Pulse/Canterbury Tactix 2 (* 10 games, all other teams 11)
NZ News
If you haven't seen it already, the movie "Boy" is an absolute classic example of 1980's New Zealand small town life. In great news, it has just become the biggest local movie of all time after overtaking the World's Fastest Indian. On a sad note, one of the co-producers of the movie died after collapsing outside an Auckland TV station today. Merata Mita received the New Zealand Order of Merit during the 2010 New Year's honours list.
John Key has announced that Kiwibank won't be sold while he is Prime Minister. There had been quite a bit of speculation of the past few weeks, but the announcement should clear things up.
Apparently there were hundreds of protesters around the country expressing outrage and anger over the clashes last week between Israeli armed forces and the Gaza-bound ships. It also seems like a safe bet to say the "Global Peace" and "Justice Auckland" groups who organised the demonstrations are strangely quiet when Israel is continually attacked by weapons smuggled in by ship.
There have been a few knighthoods handed out this weekend. Sir Richard Taylor for his special effects at Weta Workshop, and Sir Peter Leitch - Giddy, it's your old knight, the Mad Butcher!
The top kiwi speller made it to the National Spelling Bee semifinals in the US but was knocked out with Phytoplankter when he used an "o" instead of an "e" at the end. Tom Winter was a 13 year old from Burnside High.
1: recorded road death for Queens Birthday Weekend - with 12 hours to go - the lowest toll for more than 50 years
4: km/h over the speed limit will result in prosecution as the police drop their leniency over the long weekend
5: c/L drop in petrol over May
10: % support is what the Greens are aiming for in the next election - in other news McGillicuddy Serious are aiming for 95%
27: % increase in cyclists in Auckland over the past year
56: % reduction in burglaries in Hamilton following a drive by the police & 200 arrests
100: drivers have been caught under the new drugged driving law
138: mm of rain in 24 hours this weekend for Whitianga - they had 29.4mm in just one hour
200: % wetter May for Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Eastern Otago, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes' Bay and coastal Wairarapa
700: trips made on the automatic Northern Gateway motorway without paying by the worst offender - he faces $26,500 in fines if he doesn't pay up
40,000: $ fine for TV3 consumer affairs programme Target after they wrongly accused an Auckland cafe of selling dodgy food
600,000: tickets for the Rugby World Cup have been applied for - the organisers are 'very happy'
Finance NZ Dollar
GBP 0.4646 (-0.0058)
EUR 0.5612 (+0.0073)
USD 0.6712 (-0.0083)
AUD 0.8157 (+0.0135)
The
Weekender NZer of the week
Peter Hall
Flight Lieutenant Peter Francis Locker Hall died last week in England aged 88. He was credited as shooting down eight German aircraft while based in Britain with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Read more about him here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10647252&ref=rss
Wedding Blessing
At a wedding ceremony that I was performing, I raised my hand to give the final blessing.
The bride misunderstood my gesture and surprised me with a high-five.
Not wanting to exclude the groom, I offered him a high-five, too.
I was finally able to get my blessing in, amid the laughter of the guests.
Check
out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42
Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
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Website:
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