The Weekender 13/06/2010
How are you all going this fine week.
Sport
The game of last week was undoubtedly football. The Football World Cup in South Africa attracted all the news last week with the All Blacks first test almost passing unnoticed. The All Whites kick off their campaign on Tuesday. Vice captain Tim Brown has made a remarkable recovery from his broken shoulder and after surgery and a quick recovery he has flown to South Africa to rejoin the team. Tim's shoulder was broken during the game against Australia on May 24th.
I know it can happen anywhere but TVNZ staff were burgled with more than $100,000 worth of equipment taken while they were having dinner.
The All Blacks kicked off their international season on Saturday with a test against the Irish. The Irish weren't helped getting one of their stars sent off, but the All Blacks looked really good in the first half and at the start of the second half, clocking up a point a minute through to the 52nd minute, before the coaches made lots of substitutions to give a few new players a taste of test matches. They seemed to lose momentum and the Irish picked up some momentum but despite the Irish getting three late tries, the result was a comfortable 66-28 win.
In other rugby news, Sonny Bill Williams (former NRL star and Kiwis player) has announced he is leaving behind a $6m contract in France to play rugby in New Zealand. He is likely to play for the Crusaders next year and will be aiming for a spot in the All Blacks for the Rugby World Cup.
The NZ Maori beat the NZ Barbarians 37-31 in Whangarei on Saturday. Both teams were fully of players who didn't quite make the All Blacks & were trying to show they should have.
The Junior All Blacks beat Samoa 77-7 at the junior world champs in Argentina to remain at the top of pool A.
In netball the Waikato/BOP Magic beat the Central Pulse 58-52 but considering the quality of the opposition the win won't impress any one.
A kiwi motorcyclists died on the infamous Isle of Man TT circuit this week. Paul Dobbs was the second kiwi to die at the track with has claimed 229 lives since 1907.
Valerie Vili turned around a couple of recent results when she beat Belarussian Natalya Khoroneko-Mikhnevich (did I spell that right?). She won by 13cm & now leads the Diamond Race in the women's shot put (as if I even know what that is).
North Shore swimmer Melissa Ingram won silver in the final meet of the Mare Nostrum series in France today. She finished second to Britain's Elizabeth Simmonds in the 200m backstroke.
The Warriors always do better when Manu Vatuvei is on the field and this afternoon he was. And they beat the Newcastle Knights 32-24.
NZ News
Cop killer John Skinner was found guilty of murdering a police officer this week. Sergeant Don Wilkinson was killed with a high powered airgun during a covert police operation in September 2008. He was also found guilty of attempting to murder another officer and his co-accused was found guilty of manslaughter. In addition the police have frozen about $1m worth of property & cash as they prepare charges of manufacturing P.
MP's spending has been under the spot light again this week with Labour MP's Shane Jones and Chris Carter feeling most of the heat. The two MP's were having to answer lots of questions from their spending habits back when Labour was in power and they were ministers. Shane Jones was found to have bought a number of dodgy movies at various motels. Both MP's will be facing the music when Labour leader Phil Goff returns from China.
Auckland city is having reliability problems with its hybrid-power buses which were the much trumpeted future of inner-city public transport. Two of the three buses, which cost twice as much as new diesel alternatives, have had turbine faults and are awaiting parts from the USA.
The government is about to repeal the foreshore and seabed law that Labour put into place, however Prime Minister John Key has noted that the Maori Party will have the power to veto the proposal.
A story hit the headlines this week about how Rocky Horror Picture Show creator Richard O'Brien had tried to get residency to New Zealand, but his application had been declined. Upon "actual" investigation by reporters (as opposed to the earlier made up article), it was found that he hadn't actually applied. John Key said that his chances of being granted citizenship would be greatly improved if he actually for it. Incidentally there is a statue in Hamilton of Richard's character from the 'Show' - "Statue bro?" "Yeah it is!" (if you don't get this, go watch "Boy").
0.7: % fall in food prices last month - for the first time in six years
1: # most peaceful country in the world is NZ according to the 2010 Global Peace index
1: # New Zealand newspaper is The Herald on Sunday, taking out both the best weekly newspaper & the best news paper - according to the Qantas Media Awards
1: death on the roads over Queens Birthday Weekend, the lowest in 54 years. It was ruined with two road deaths on Tuesday
4: years jail for a Wellington woman for a $2m fraud - she paid back just under half, but $250,000/yr isn't bad
5.3: richter scale earthquake was felt across the lower North Island yesterday morning
3.2m: $ bill to clean up after floods in Whakatane
Finance NZ Dollar
GBP 0.4747 (+0.0101)
EUR 0.5703 (+0.0091)
USD 0.6905 (+0.0193)
AUD 0.8124 (-0.0033)
The
Weekender NZer of the week
Archibald Hector McIndoe
NO ORDINARY SURGEON
Motivated by a desire to be more than just an ordinary doctor, Archibald Hector McIndoe pursued greatness and became much more than an ordinary surgeon. Appointed plastic surgeon to the Royal Air Force in the midst of World War II, McIndoe brought plastic surgery to the forefront of burns treatment and became a pioneer of what is more commonly known today as 'therapeutic community'.
http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/mcindoe.html
Happy Songs
A retired man who volunteers to entertain patients in nursing homes and hospitals went to Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn and took his portable keyboard along. He told some jokes and sang some funny songs at patients' bedsides.
When he finished he said, in farewell, "I hope you get better."
One elderly gentleman replied, "I hope you get better, too."
Check
out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42
Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
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