Posts by Richard Irvine
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RE: UK football support, there's loads of reasons
- Cultural cringe? Nah, you'd never get anyone that *actually follows* it giving that any air. You could argue Rugby fans suffer from CC as well, and it's taken off here the way it has because it's the only major sport we've got a change of beating them at. There's something very primeval and tribal about going to Twickenham HQ especially and beating the Poms. Hmm I suppose there's cricket too :)
- Many people do a goodly portion of their OE in the UK and, if they're a sports fan, adopt a team to participate in office banter
- People have been watching it for years, going right back to Big League Soccer on Sundays (those were the days!)
- I would argue that after age 20, more people would play social football (even indoor counts) than Rugby
- There are a lot of UK ex-pats here that contribute to the 'general' level of football interest. We get great UK football coverage here, with the Champions’ League and other European leagues coming along nicely too
PS Hi Geoff Lealand - you were a lecturer of mine back in oooohhh, 1994 or so (!)
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I went to the game too - there was a time in my life when not knowing the rules would have worried me, but for now, I'm just like feck it, they'll only change them again. It also struck me that because these new laws are experimental, we'll be back to the old ones for internationals.
Having said that, it was a great game to be at. They players all looked big and fit, and there were some huge hits. The Chiefs do have a great team, save the front row (which is usually our strength). Bugger.
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Bressa Creeting Cake for the most part went on to become vineyard and
orchstra salwarts Goldenhorse, after releasing my favorite NZ album, the eponymous Bressa Creeting Cake. Dodgy name (and cover) aside, BCC is choka with fine tunes, great playing and cheerful bizarreness. Track four 'Superstation' is an ode to buying petrol station pies, while 'A Chip That Sells Millions' tells the tale of a boy taking his food scientist Dad's new chip flavor sachets to school to 'blow his friends out with flavors they don't know about'.
It's a rilly summery album, complete with cicadas running throughout 'Zenax', and the perfect pop opening of track one 'Palm Singing'. The band took over a studio in Devonport to record it - having recently moved to the Shore I love that this ace album was recorded here (hey, Frank Sargeson lived on the shore too, hey? And Warwick Roger). Rocky Mountain is a fantastic laid back pop song, and was chosen for Flying Nun's 25th Anniversary Box.This is one of my most-listened to albums ever, and I'm still discovering little noises and lyrical phases. I love that this is BCC's only recorded output, giving it the same 'we made one perfect album and that's it-ness' of say, The Stone Roses (IF you don't count Second Coming, which I don't). I love its' intelligence, sly humor, unabashed pop - I only wish I'd got to seen them live, and enjoy catching little BCC moments in Goldenhorse songs.
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Shaky-cam? Well, I'm the last person to complain about high-functioning alcoholics in the workplace but Gads man... if you can't hold that camera level, perhaps you need a new career. Or a nap. Whatever - anything that doesn't give me a migraine is A-OK.
Craig, I reckon shaky hand held is legit in a horror / action situation. It's the 'camera randomly zooming around the place becuase the 19 year old director is still high from last nights' Halo3 session' technique as seen on the CSIs etc that do my head in. Nightline is not entirely blame-free in this area either.
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I'm a big fan of Cloverfield's hand held approach - I'm calling it 'The Blair Godzilla Project' from here on in.
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Yeah, great work Dropkicks. My fav bit of the podcasts are when, after you all booo the DOTW, someone goes 'wanker', or 'dick' or the like under their breath. That bit's class.
What are you all going to pod about over summer?
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In the olden days NZ would tour SA every 8-10 years, and vice versa. Combine that with the fact that bastards kept winning is what made them the great enemy.
Exactly. Reading Warwick Roger's Old Heroes, I was really nostalgic (if you can be nostalgic about days you weren't technically alive for, that is) for the days when people were just genuinely bloody excited about a rugby tour, without feeling the need to rush out and buy figures from a gas station, or kit themselves out in official gear to 'show their support'. That scarcity translates to a Rugby event that really means something, ie Lions' tours, World Cups etc.
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Increasing the Tri-Nations matches was one of the most boneheaded moves ever. I keep thinking this format is all about getting Daryl and Sheila aussie interested in Rugby Union by offering them the same 'product' every year than giving the actual rugby fans what they want.
For me, I'd rather have good old tours, you know, three match series, playing the provincial teams and that. That's proably unrealistic in this day and age, so maybe we could make the Tri Nations a Quad Nations and have it every other year, with tours on the off year?
We'll have that Gatland bloke, thanks
Mitts OFF! He's Waikato's.
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Oh and also slightly off topic, but am I the only person who was shocked to see tears in Dan Carter's eyes when he came off?
Like Kyle says, I thought at the time that Dan was probably upset that his own tournament was over with his injury - it's fairly unusual to see All Blacks come off when the teams' a few points down and burst into tears.
Again with the football comparrisons, but when Gazza burst into tears at Italia '90 he became a national hero in England - Dan's tears have barely rated a mention here.
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To anybody suggesting Gatland - Go the Mighty Magpies! (my one piece of great news at the weekend!)
Paul, to Mooloo fans, that was just about the point where the day definitely couldn't get any worse :)