Well, a far better effort from the AB’s tonight, with a much needed win over France, 14-10. A collective sigh went up around the country. Except I fail to understand why Piri Weepu kicked the ball out on fulltime when the opportunity to go for the try was right there, and would have meant we retained the Dave Gallaher Cup, having to win by 6 or more points. Did the coach forget to tell him it wasn’t just the win we needed? Say goodbye to another piece of silverware. A little ironic that it ends up on French soil, where Dave Gallaher lost his life in WW1. Oh well, it’s an ugly trophy anyway :p

Would be nice if the rugby commentators got their facts straight too. “With the win in Dunedin, the French have got one hand on the trophy already.” Um, actually, no. Last week’s game wasn’t the challenge match. Whether we had won or lost it, would have made no difference to the cup challenge. There can be only one challenge match during a test series, and this week’s game was it.

Back to the win however, it was nice to see a team playing with more fire, more passion, more pride and more confidence than last week. Mils lead by example, Keven Mealamu had an awesome game overall, Nonu finally woke up and remembered how to play with spirit, Brad Thorn made a heroic try-saving tackle, and how good was Kieran Read at No. 8? Definitely my man of the match, and hopefully that shut some critics up.

I still think Jimmy Cowan is an arrogant ass, his game does nothing for me (and sing the fucking anthem, you ignorant little shit), and Stephen Donald seriously needs to go back to club rugby and practise kicking. Or take up another sport. His kicking was just horrible to watch. What was Graham Henry thinking, leaving him on till the 62nd minute? With so few tries being scored, we simply cannot afford to miss so many kicks. It could well have been the difference between a win or loss tonight, luckily, thanks to the swirling Wellington wind, the opposition weren’t having the greatest luck there either.

On to next week, and Italy in Christchurch.

Ticketmaster just sent me an email reminder, “Hi Kama, your event is happening soon!” Well, you don’t have to remind me, I’m already halfway there! They’re talking of course, about the Midnight Youth concert at Al’s Bar on Thursday night. I’ve been playing their album on repeat to learn the words so I can sing along to my heart’s content. For a first album, it’s very….polished. I’m getting very excited to see if they are as good live (all the reviews I’ve heard of their tour so far would suggest they are).

Preceding that, I’m off to the Rock’s preview screening of the Transformers movie on Tuesday night. Not really my thing, but the tickets were free, so what the hell. I went to enter a Midnight Youth competition on the Rock’s website, and the email link was wrong. I let them know, and as thanks they gave me a double pass to the Transformers screening.

So, a busy week ahead. Two nights after the concert is the All Blacks vs Italy test in Christchurch. I had considered going, until I saw the ridiculous prices of the tickets. Apparently only 12,000 tickets have been sold to this test, and AMI Stadium is under threat of losing tests to other venues in the future if we can’t sell enough tickets. The NZRU are very worried, apparently. Oh come on Steve Tew. We’re in a recession. Almost everyone knows someone in this city that has been made redundant recently. It’s not a lack of interest in rugby that’s stopping ticket sales. It’s not your so-called ‘apathetic attitude’ of Canterbury rugby supporters. I’d personally kill to go to every game. But a lot of us are struggling just to put food on the table, and I’m afraid rugby tickets are a luxury in that world. Especially at the insane prices you are expecting us to pay, to go to a stadium that’s lost half of its atmosphere while construction is STILL going on.

Get real, and stop blaming the public.

“Judge me on the World Cup”. Well, we did. And somehow we let you keep your job, and let an awesome coach get pilfered by the Aussies.

Of all the teams the New Zealand public did not need to see beat us again, and at home no less. That’s a big disappointment. And yes, yes, I know some of our best and experienced players are off injured, but one has to ask, why so many?  What’s wrong with the training regime that so many injuries are occuring?

I hope you’ve got a fucking good plan, Graham, ‘cos you’ve got a shite load of work to do.

After months of the house in front of me sitting empty and undergoing extensive renovations, there are now new tenants. They’ve been there about a month and seem quiet enough (anything would seem quiet after the previous gang moved out), but on Tuesday night I received a note in my letter box informing me of an impending party on Friday night and a mobile number to call if they got too noisy. I had to laugh - obviously the landlords had warned them of the complaining old bag on the back section behind them, and they were scared of upsetting me. I don’t think the landlord had any idea how bad his previous tenants really were, they were the neighbours from hell.

So Friday night I planned to stay up late with my new Nintendo Wii and some iTunes, expecting to be kept awake by the party noise. Malcolm and Jo ended up at my place to help me entertain myself, and I think we probably made more noise, and stayed up later, than next door. When they left, the lights in the garage next door had gone out, and we couldn’t hear a peep. And this was before midnight. I’m impressed. If this is what the neighbours call a party, I’m not going to have any issues with them. In fact, I may have to teach them how to do it properly…

Just noticed, in my website stats, someone found their way here by searching for my name. Wonder who that was stalking me? Leave me a comment next time, make yourself known!  Probably someone looking for that gridiron player of the same name, lol.

More disturbing, someone also found their way here by searching for children girl pictures potty. I don’t even want to know.

Not Adam! You can’t do this to me again! It’s simply not right. You can’t delight us by bringing back Ros, and in the same episode, take Adam away from us! And not like that! That’s just….too awful for words.

Stop it. Just stop it! Enough already! Who’s going to lead now?

Given the current situation, this really shouldn’t be funny, but of course, it is.

NEW OFFICE POLICY

Dress Code:

1) You are advised to come to work dressed according to your salary.

2) If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we will assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise.

3) If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise.

4) If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

Sick Days:

We will no longer accept a doctor’s statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days:

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year.
They are called Saturdays & Sundays.

Bereavement Leave:

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend the funeral arrangements in your place. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Bathroom Breaks:

Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet.
There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the ‘Chronic Offenders’ category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company’s mental health policy.

Lunch Break:

* Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.

* Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.

* Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that’s all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

The Management

It’s come and gone so quickly this year, NZ Music Month. Excellent that Shihad took out the No. 1 spot in the Rock’s Kiwi Ton with ‘Home Again’ for the 8th consecutive year. Interesting to see Zed in the top 20 with Renegade Fighter, thought most people would have forgotten about that song, I know I had. Great song though. Also really great to see Atlas in the top 20 - though there should be more of their songs in the Kiwi Ton, I think their album is one of the best to ever come out of New Zealand, or in fact, the world. Perhaps I should vote next year.

Kiwi rock just gets better every year. Just bought the new album on iTunes from Midnight Youth, turned out to be as good as expected, and think I might go and see them at Al’s Bar on June 25th. But for now I’ve promised myself a quiet night at home. I’ve just poured a homebrew Czech Pilsner, which is very nice. I’m a little shy of homebrew normally, I have tasted some absolutely foul ones, but this is very very good - given to me by a work colleague. I tried his Ginger Beer last night, also extrememly good. Much appreciated! It’s got a bit of a kick though, so better go feed the dog before I can no longer stand up.

“Where are you?”

“In my office.”

“I doubt that.”

“Why would you doubt that?”

“Because if you were in your office right now, we’d be having this conversation face to face.”

Rainy Sundays and The Bourne Trilogy go together like…. things that complement each other really, really well.

So Adam lost to Kris, and the Crusaders lost to the Bulls, but all in all, it was a bloody good weekend. I highly recommend a Wii tennis tournament with good friends as an excellent way to stay awake until a 1am rugby game, not to mention a great workout. I HAVE to own one of those. That was the most fun I’ve had exercising since the beach season ended.

Anyone else have a sore right arm?

It took til 5pm and a nana nap this afternoon, but have finally recovered from last night’s efforts enough to face going out to do it all again. The delicious ham, cheese and tomato omelette I just created for dinner might have helped as well. Unwrapping the supermarket deli ham always reminds me of Alfredo and the simple delight he would express upon finding the woman in the deli had placed the price label in just the right position that he could open it without tearing the bag. Funny the things that remind you…

So America proved once again that American Idol is not a singing competition, but a popularity contest run by swarms of very young girls power-texting their cutest choice to the win. Last years winner was safe and boring, and Kris is no different. Simon Cowell must be pissed. With Adam, he had the makings of an instant success, with Kris he’s going to have to work a lot harder.

I’ve only ever watched one series of Idol the entire way through, and only came into this one with about 5 episodes left to run, but the very first episode I watched, it was clear who the natural talent was. If I was a teenage girl I’d have Adam Lambert posters plastered all over my bedroom walls. In fact, I might still!  He has a star quality and stage presence matched by few, and being runner up will help his future career far more than being locked into an Idol recording contract. I’m looking forward to the release of his first album, whatever it maybe, but my fingers are firmly crossed that he goes down the rock road. His performance with KISS on the finale, clearly shows his natural genre. He belonged up there with them.

Yes, ok, I have a wee crush. But seriously, have a look at this post-show interview with Adam, compare it to an interview done with Kris, and tell me, who is the superstar?

Not to be outdone in the ratings, the Chiefs put on an inspiring performance to win their semi-final against the Hurricanes and securing their spot in the finals. So will it be against the Bulls, or my Crusaders?  Tell you at 3am when I stumble home from my second rugby party in two nights. Luckily today is raining and cold and is the perfect excuse to go back to bed and sleep off this hangover in preparation for the next one. Bloody hell.