http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0la5DBtOVNI&feature=youtu.be

Just this. But really really this.

And last night, I swear I didn't breathe for?

you need a word with Ben about that.

The venerable Tom Scott has eliminated the need for an explanation.

I?m thinking that there was something about last night?s match that anyone could get, aficionado or not.?

No, it's a lot to do with massaging the Small Person syndrome, as in "We make the best wine?

a fait accompli (do the French have a word for that?),

You mean like that feeling we had this morning after Aussie goes down – Schadenfreude. (Do the Germans have a word for that?)

The sport really has been a major part of our national culture and?

Not at all. I kinda thought the whole point of my post was that it's about more than physicality, actually.

I laughed and said "Yeah, they're both injured" thinking he was taking the piss. Nope. "Oh,?

nothing wrong with a slosh of blended whisky from time to time.

I know what you mean, but I've got to say almost every single one of my Australian colleagues made a point of popping over to offer their?

It's also worth remembering that half the country didn't even watch last night's match.

I'll be a nervous wreck on Sunday though. Never underestimate the French – even tho they've been mostly shit so far this time.

And can I also make a (slightly off-topic) point?

It's fine for it to?

And if you assume they do – well, anything that half the country turns?

Sure, that's all undoubtably true but the other side of that is we're often far too quick to beat?

No argument whatsoever.

It's been interesting living in Australia for a while now and experiencing some differences. I'm sure there are complexities below the?

but because their success embodies a combination of virtues that speak to national character.

Hey I dont mind if people want to indulge in a bit of reflected glory, or as an excuse to party.
But anything else is a real (as is said) "bit of a stretch".

I?m afraid whatever amphetamines the Herald?s sub-editors are putting in their coffee at?

Because they didn't have conventional TV sets? Or just didn't have aerials for their TV sets?

Keith Quinn warns us via Teh Herald "Being overconfident could seep into the bones, into the psyche, of the nation and even the All Blacks."

It's a funny thing this impression we have that what we do, as both individuals and a collective, could have an influence?

Sorry, Russell. It seems I threw in a bad and hasty example and didn't intend to mis-lead. I really just meant to allude to how invested New?

I don't have the reference but I read something reputable years ago that concluded family violence levels are actually higher when the supported team *wins*.?

Case in point: 40% of PAS is written around the RWC right now.

Yes, but it is the Rugby World Cup and it's happening in NZ right now, for the first time in 24 years. It's the biggest tournament of it's type that has ever happened here. It doesn't really?

Yes, it shows a kind of class that we could learn from.

I'd go so far as to say that at this point, it seems like everyone except the French support?

No probs — I didn't mean you! But there is a tendency to declare that men beat?

is there any other sort? :)

The odd English rugby journalist — and the people who comment under the reports — still seem a bit bitter on us.

My son commented after we listened to the radio news the other day, "Things are a bit screwy when they talk twice as long about a possible foot injury of a player, than a?

meh only medium sized, Ben and I do HUGE.

Really should learn what dubstep actually is

I guess they have cause to be bitter. They have to go back to winter, licking the wound of their pathetic semifinal. If France beats us, then at?

Nah. Playing rugby was one area where I had to work hard just to be okay at it. As a kid who found most other?

Probably shouldn't have treated the whole thing as an extended stag do for Mike Tindall, then. Dicks.

Your point of course being that half the country did

Yeah, the English had a Dick Incident. But I?ve never been able to work out what it was Mike Tindall did (besides marry a royal) that?s caused so much fuss.

The flow you feel when playing well is the same as most creative processes.

For sure. Practically everyone can drastically increase their physical abilities, but it takes a lot of work.?

Ah, grasshopper. Lose all distractions of ego, analysis and self-referring thought, immerse yourself and become the activity. Let the purity of your action be unsullied by conscious thought.

Yep, and so it would seem with our Council CEO
"After the Rugby World Cup I'll turn my mind to it seriously. But right now I am just too busy?

He asked "if I was a Rugby man?" and I had to stop and think. Because I have played precisely two games of Rugby in my life (lunchtime at intermediate school, swore off when a friend broke his?

It's the perfect music for boxing training. I think that's why bogans like it. Just connect the sounds like this (right handed version):

Tictic tictic = slip left, pause, slip right
Wubwubwubwub = pump body blows 4 times
Screech = left hook
Boom?

London's calling NZ

Greeted an ex-lover with a little kiss and a bit of motorboating. Which in some circles counts as cheating, but in Wellington would just be the traditional?

And my point is that if anything ? absolutely anything, is important to half the people in this country then it important to the country as a whole. If you don?t care about Rugby then you?

Have to stay warm somehow, right?

I was struck that the TVNZ Q&A show's panel and even their host were all noticeably angry about it. Environmentalism runs deep here.

The Government has slashed the number of food grants to needy families by 20 per cent, driving record numbers to seek food parcels from charities instead.

Yes, I expect reality to intrude very sharply after the final.?

(Part of) my point is that no one is denying that.

(And, Bart, without wanting to make a thing about it, your?

niche fiction in the offing..

Yup. After years of piano lessons, I fairly quickly realized that I was never going to be?

Yup. After years of piano lessons, I fairly quickly realized that I was never going to be?

Righto ...

But it's rather onomatopoeic in it's more recent definition, isn't it?

Richard Loe, right?

One of the directors for a play festival I'm involved with works for a counselling service as her real job, and had to produce a "What to do if the All?

And other things :)

O Sensei, he say "First, smash the eyes"

I think what Bart's responding to is what I like to call the performative disinterest of non-rugby-attracted Kiwis over the last few weeks – people seem to feel the?

Never. Even. Said. That.

You may not have, specifically, but a bunch of other people definitely have said things along those lines.

Such events don't generally involve alcohol consumption, which I suspect is a more proximate external cause than the?

Some of whom are now watching intently with the rest of us ;-)

Or celebrated the folks who got Marsden Funding (equivalent to winning the NPC) or commiserated with those who didn?t ? sniff.

Rugby is special to NZ, despite many other things being much more (objectively) important.

No you didn't and I got ridiculously preachy at you, for which I apologise.

That said, at a time when half the nation (or thereabouts) watched one game on TV you decided to mention that half didn't ... shrug.

Think nothing of it, sir!

Yes. When you and Craig not only watched but expressed enthusiasm about?

I would have been happy to see Loe cop a life ban for persistent thuggery.

Oh yes it does. It's a smashing game.

One thing I thought, although in this context it may seem odd, is the incredible discipline shown by both teams overall on Sunday. Apart from the SBW moment of course, which we won't mention.

Did?

Absolutely. I've developed a strong loyalty to Maori TV's coverage during this tournament, which was only strengthened on Saturday when I heard (during TV1's buildup to the first semifinal) Tane Randall claim that he had 'a sneaking?

And "performative disinterest" is a great phrase. I'd add "performative ignorance" as well.

Weeks and weeks ago – like, before the games actually started – I suggested in a tweet that perhaps?

Throw in, the towel...
Christmas has nothing to do with?

Not only are three of the four teams to reach the semis coached by New Zealanders, there were 38 New Zealand-born players and several other coaches scattered through through the other teams.

Given?

Which is more or less what I did. And?

Not all that easy (apologies for the FB link: I'm not sure if it's been posted elsewhere).

You're not alone — insofar as the ratings system can give an answer, Maori Television actually had the biggest free-to-air audience for the ABs' quarter-final.

It was a bit different for Sunday's semi:

TV ONE 659,400
Sky?

Yes. That's why the NZRU has to stick to its policy of picking only domestic players for as long as possible. It will never be able to match the salaries offered?

As the owner of a box-shaped TV, this has not been so much of a factor for me:)

The desire to retain earned value in the NZRU (via brand revenue) rather than handing it over to the IRB is part of that manoevring we saw recently about the revenue model for the next tournament.

No HD or even digital receiver here, and Maori TV's picture was actually better than the other free-to-air channels. More recent analogue transmission gear perhaps?

Intriguing! Because on both Sky and Freeview it looks markedly worse than their usual picture.

I'm not sure that's a particularly sound analogy, and even if it was what exactly are "we" supposed to do – start drawing up lists of rugby players who can't leave?

You're just not trying. :)

I was talking to someone in the business recently?

I'd throw mine out, if I could lift it.

Mmm, do-dads. I'd probably have gone ahead and bought one if it came with the cool documentary they were playing in the shop. Galapagos?

Nah. That absolutely not it.

There's probably a little of the fact that he was born here, but?

Without wishing to deter you from your noble path, TV does look bloody good these days.

I traded a dead car battery on a reconditioned one last week. Fifty bucks, compared to $180. I did have to listen to more about batteries than I really cared to know in the process,?

Salvation Army will come out to your house for big items if you want to donate it. They have men to lift big things. Win win really. Purge and recycle. Feels good.

Maybe. Given that recycling centres have run out of capacity to store old sets, it's quite likely the Sallies have more than they need too.

If you spend $170 on an Apple TV?

Several ?places? for battery recycling listed on this MoE factsheet :)

isn't it the only one broadcasting in SD?

Ah, that explains it: I hadn't seen much Super N or Tri Nations this year, so couldn't quite work out why he was singled out for such vitriol.

Being a mouthy prick doesn't help his case either.

plus 1...

The problems I have with the whole thing are being told
* it will affect me

(no,, actually it wont -except for the category outlined below)

* that, as a ratepayer & taxpayer, I should be satisfied?

Yes, that is quite shit. I have a whole bunch of vague statements to fob off persistent inquiries, and changing the subject is the best tactic. It's annoying to have to do, but that kind of thing is?

Yeah, that was pretty much my point. And you can get over-reacted crabbiness from both "sides" which is down to their last half-dozen encounters rather than you. And I think it helps to understand that. I've blocked/filtered a few people and that's helped rather a lot.

And I can understand why people aren?t that fussed about Opera New Zealand staging the world premiere of a new work by a local composer at the International Arts Fest next year, or the pretty interesting line up?

Examples?

I really wish they would update that series. It seems to poignantly finish just on the dawn of professionalism. It's just as fascinating as a social documentary as it is?

There have been a couple of comments in this thread about the relationship between alcohol and domestic violence and I wanted to clarify something...

One of the (many) myths around domestic?

A few beers doesn't turn me or most people I know into a thug.

I don't hit people when drunk (which is such an irregular event that I can count the times in recent decades on my fingers) and?

It was argued here that a spike in reported levels of such violence was *more associated with* activities involving alcohol consumption *than with* sport as such. I'm not aware of research about?

Budget blowouts have pushed public spending on the Rugby World Cup well above $200 million – without counting $555 million in stadium upgrades and $39 million in direct losses from hosting the tournament.
...

This week Prime Minister John Key defended the country's investment?

I wish they?d itemised them better:

Public expenses Mr Key did not cite include advertising, promotional events, match-day entertainment, volunteer co-ordination, signage, extra staff, improvements to urban facilities, VIP hosting and fan zones.

What, for example, are the ?improvements to urban facilities?? How?

That might even be the most useful and widespread enduring benefit.

No-one wants to make you read Laws – that would be too cruel

Now if only the actual content was just as good...

SOHO Channel turning up end of this month on Sky is going to have a bunch of good shows on it – many of which have been talked up on PAS before.