Hard News: Random
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I'm telling myself that the Super 14 doesn't matter and it's really just like the Aussies dropping their guard before the Cricket World Cup - only to become unbeatable when it counted. I'm sticking with that.
Well I'm not sure that comparison completely works. The Aussie cricketers got white-washed by our guys and as a form guide it proved meaningless. In the S14 the Blues were right in there going into the last few minutes. That game could properly have gone either way. The SAF'ers really lifted themselves in the final couple of weeks and apart from that I think NZ could quite easily have hosted both semi's again this year.
The Crusaders have always relied on the canniest set of forwards in the comp to see them through. That has started to unravel a bit this year. Not a huge worry in my books though as there's plenty of big iron available across the other NZ teams.
Probably one of the more interesting team selections today though. The team has practically picked itself the last 2 years.
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The Official Team:
All Blacks squad to tour France and Canada and to contest the 2007 Philips Tri-Nations:Forwards: Jerry Collins (Wellington), Troy Flavell (Blues), Carl Hayman (Otago), Andrew Hore (Taranaki), Chris Jack (Tasman), Richie McCaw (Canterbury), Chris Masoe (Wellington), Keven Mealamu (Auckland), Anton Oliver (Otago), Keith Robinson (Chiefs), John Schwalger (Hurricanes), Rodney So'oialo (Wellington), Neemia Tialata (Hurricanes), Reuben Thorne (Canterbury), Ali Williams (Auckland), Tony Woodcock (North Harbour).
Backs: Dan Carter (Canterbury), Nick Evans (Highlanders), Doug Howlett (Blues), Byron Kelleher (Waikato), Brendon Leonard (Chiefs), Leon MacDonald (Canterbury), Aaron Mauger (Canterbury), Luke McAlister (Blues), Malili Muliaina (Waikato), Josevata Rokocoko (Auckland), Conrad Smith (Huricanes), Sitiveni Sivivatu (Waikato), Isaia Toeava (Blues), Piri Weepu (Wellington).
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Paul, we both owe Lambert a beer :)
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With pleasure!!
Wow, John Schwalger? So much for "no bolters"!
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If anyone's travelling to Vietnam, I can also recommend the "weasel" coffee. Similar principle : )
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I can understand Gore not ruling himself out.
Hillary may crack under pressure and eat a press crew. Someone might find that collection of baby skulls in Barak's basement.
If something like that happens i'd imagine him wanting to have a go.
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Ah, S**t coffee and rugby. 70's New Zealand.
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Didn't try the faecoffee, but the most reliably awful coffee I've ever had was Indonesian. Every single cup. Just terrible.
It was made even more unpalatable by the locals constantly telling me how world famous their coffee was. You mean infamous my friend.
lord, I don't know where you went as the coffee is one of the great joys of living here. The kopi I drink every morning...two cups, very strong and hot has weened me completely off the generic espresso and long black (and I was some addict, and coffee snob). My machine, imported from NZ, sits here unused, and I crave the depth of kopi Bali when I'm out of the country.
The Civet stuff (we had one in our garden the other week, but I didn't ask it to eat and squat...vicious things) is available about a mile up the road for about Rp30,000 a cup (US$3)...I've not tried it
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I didn't ask it to eat and squat
This could be a nice little earner for you Simon, kind of like the Fois Gras.
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The whole Civet thing sounds far more like the process for making the instant mud variety of coffee don't you think?
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What on earth possessed people to look at [civet] cat shit and think "a bit of roasting and that'd go great with my [indonesian equivalent of] croissant in the morning?
"Oh, man, the civets keep eating all our coffee berries. All that's left is a pile of pooey berries, wasted! :( :( :("
"But, dude, there's still, like, a bean in the middle. What if we just roast it like normal."
"And make what? Civet poo coffee? And try to sell it to the poor people in the village? That won't even cover costs."
"Dude - we sell it as an exotic blend. Coffee for the the extreme connoisseur."
"All right! Let's do it!
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[indonesian equivalent of] croissant in the morning
Roti Bakar, Roti Prata, or Roti Canal.....wonderful thin greasy bread, often filled with cheese or chocolate, or dipped in a curry sauce.
I'm hungry now.....
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From Wikipedia:
The raw, red coffee berries are part of its normal diet, along with insects, small mammals, and other fruit.
The inner bean of the berry is not digested, but it is believed that enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee's flavor by breaking down the proteins that give coffee its bitter taste. The beans are excreted still covered in some inner layers of the cherry, and locals then gather them and sell them to dealers.
The beans are washed, and given only a light roast so as to not destroy the complex flavors that develop through the process.
Russell: Can Karajoz get some for the next Great Blend?
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Roti Bakar, Roti Prata, or Roti Canal.....wonderful thin greasy bread, often filled with cheese or chocolate, or dipped in a curry sauce.
Our local malaysian serves them with mashed banana on top. They serve the same bread with the chicken curry. We like it with (un excreted) coffee.
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Russell: Can Karajoz get some for the next Great Blend?
Prince Charles has got some. Stephen Fry gave it to him as a wedding present. That's what you get the man who has everything.
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That's what you get the man who has everything.
Or a coffee plant and a civet
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Wondering how many coffee beans they can productively cram into each civet to make the exclusive coffee before said civet expires?
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nonu = i've got the ball and no one else is having it even though there's a two tonne bloke bearing down on me ... splat (no try).
That was Tana Umaga as a young Wellington and Hurricanes winger. Except, unbelievably, Tana couldn't tackle then either.
I liked seeing Nonu out on the wing. Seemed a much better and more enjoyable spot for him.
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That was Tana Umaga as a young Wellington and Hurricanes winger. Except, unbelievably, Tana couldn't tackle then either.
Agreed - Nonu had a crap S14 but Smith had an even crappier one.
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Charles Mabbett quoted from Wikipedia:
Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee
...snip...
though supplies are obviously limited<
and Angus Robertson wrote:
<quote>Wondering how many coffee beans they can productively cram into each civet to make the exclusive coffee before said civet expires?You can almost a imagine Civet coffee becoming the new fois gras. I'm hearing that noise the coffee grinder makes in your local café as another payload of coffee beans drop into the dilated throat of the civet cat, ready for another perfect extraction...
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well just once I'd like to post an image but: http://www.ravensbrew.com/images/kopiluwakmovie.gif
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well just once I'd like to post an image but: http://www.ravensbrew.com/images/kopiluwakmovie.gif
There, see, the civet looks happy. Or whacked out of its gourd on caffeine, or something. And the process is organic!
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I can see the T-shirts now.
You give me the civets &
Drink kopi and die. -
Wondering how many coffee beans they can productively cram into each civet to make the exclusive coffee before said civet expires?
I don't see that civet death is an impediment to the further exploitation of the more-money-than-sense crowd. If you feed the first few coffee beans through attached to a long string then you could just continue to drag beans through the alimentary tract regardless of the civet's demise. In fact the natural fermentation process would probably be enhanced.
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If anyone's travelling to Vietnam, I can also recommend the "weasel" coffee. Similar principle : )
Now you mention it, I am headed for Nam. I'll be sure to seek out the weasel coffee ...
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