regularity is not to be sniffed at

O, for some susceptible folk – not any of whanau-us – it gives them the shits.

We've got a…

Often the case Jackie, acts of kindness are so underrated until you hear about one and the flood gates open :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7qaSxuZUg

But I live in…

I'd bet that Ardito was simply a fantastic specimen, and that's probably what made him a good mountain climber.

Mind you, one of the things that most appeals to me about gardening as a sport…

I meant mountain climbing. Possibly based entirely on the fact that Ardito Desio lived to be 104. But my motto on these matters is "death before researching which form of exercise is better for you".

Swimming is wonderfully low impact. It is excellent exercise, and develops good posture naturally, because it involves stretching out, and keeping your abdominals tight, and controlling your breathing. You can't fall over and break anything. You…

be afraid ...

You mean long enough to stimulate endorphin production ...

With swimming, the water acts to provide a shock-absorbing cushion, so the likelihood of overdoing it and munting your joints and muscles is much reduced. It's also a total body workout, and provides both aerobic…

I refuse to participate in any sport that cannot be conducted while holding a Martini.

This removes golf from being a sport which is an added bonus.

Golf is not so much a sport as an insult to…

And joints lead to running problems. It's kind of reciprocal.

I've always thought of mountaineering and swimming as the two life prolonging forms of exercise. So long as you neither drown nor fall in the process. Mind you, I don't really know what I base…

Aerobic vs. anaerobic exercise perhaps?

How about cycling? So long as I've ridden long enough to get through the sore legs phase, I'm often full of…

Classic. I've never, ever felt less tired from weight training. Quite the opposite, I've never encountered any physical exercise that sapped the life out of me quite so much. Assuredly I got a hell of a lot stronger. But the cost was…

Well Bowls is clearly not a ball sport, but a bowl sport. And in ten-pin bowling you're still trying to get the ball to the opponent's end, if you consider your "opponents" to be the pins (sneaky bastards, always jumping…

Great article here on sports head injuries. The same sort of effects are being seen on soldiers who have had exposure to the…

What about those Lawn Bows eh? or Ten Pin Bowling?

Ta, that makes sense to me. There's a largely unquestioned moral overlay, as with…

Even the quite minor injuries I've had in many sports have actually added up over time to…

That of course…

My reading is that people who want to widen the appeal of sport, probably so that more people will like the RWC, seek to widen the term so that more people feel included. The reverse is the…

Doing lap of honour now.

The farce is strong in this one.

Champions get a pendant?

I also walked into what I thought was some lecture theatre complex in Purdue, it was in fact their Basketball stadium 14000 seats. When you look down at the court from the top it is the size of a postage…

Have you seen the axewomen! Move over Xena!

If there is any good purpose at all, it's usually so that you can communicate ideas without confusion. But this kind of debate is very often used to make sure other people can't communicate their ideas. Semantic debate is usually a…

My dad worked on a sheep station, but somewhat before my time. I have this romanticised view of it all, possibly helped by iconic photography by the likes of Brian Brake.
He did a nice series of wood choppers at a fair too.

One absolutely could not smoke, while playing roller derby, unless one wanted to cause burns to oneself, and other players. Also, it would…

I reckon one could smoke while performing at it, and some judges might give you extra marks for doing so (is that how scoring works in RD?).

I will never again be able to even think about shearing without remembering David's bus story.

Are you shearing that sheep, Megan, or should I get my own? :)

so true

Oh, not that dangerous, really. If something goes wrong with your parachute, you have the rest of your life to sort it out.

Semantics. Which, ironically, is so a sport.

yes, what's the point of making a distinction again?

So, golf isn’t a sport but chess is? I don’t know, but it seems like the old distinction between arts and…

No, I'm serious. I'll be there.

But then, what would I know?

I justify this by theorising – in the time-honoured tradition of 'talking bollocks on shit I know squat about' – that the sheep would be terribly hot come January and thus their initial discomfort is for the greater good. Like trimming your dog's claws.…

(I once did a live cross from a woodchopping competition at the chch show. I nearly squeed on air.)

*cough* Isn’t it a shame that the usual suspect probably haven't even heard of the Bingham Cup? Now that’s rugby I could feign an interest in! :)

Ball sports involve moving a ball to the opponents end of the field, as they try to take it from you…

It's also been likened to a used condom.

I am – quite good- at both Scrabble and chess, but I gave up on tournament games many years ago because I *hate* timed…

Ok, I'm sold for 2 weeks checking out the scenes in Auckland down on the waterfront.How long does this RWC go for? I'm all about this music offspring.

As to the sweating thing does it cover nervous/concentration sweat? Because I have played chess tournaments where I…

Very moving few minutes on Lew from NZ on Screen.

He was a quite a guy.

I did not know that. Any of it.

Bring. It. On.

Having lived in both, I would imagine it was said by someone who had lived in neither.

Good point. It's actually a shame someone didn't seek an expression from gay Auckland.

Lest we forget. At the same…

Friday Sept 16 — Che Fu on the main stage then The Turnaround at The Cloud till late. That's a party.

I saw it from the penthouse apartment of the Hilton, and I gotta admit from there it is kinda trippy and to be there for the concerts could be fun....hmmmm

AKL got described once as 'Sydney for beginners'. I forget who said it.

Good point. It's actually a shame someone didn't…

Amazing. The scale of college football is hard to believe sometimes.

Well, that's what you are meant to think...;)

Well, we could all pretend I meant 'waste' as in 'what a waste to use it in that daft campaign in the first place, when it could instead be put to a better use leading…

I must be descended from the wrong ape.
I wonder though about quantum entanglement in such situations.

Perspective was rammed home to me when I moved to College Station Texas (pop. ~50k incl. students) it is a twin city with Bryan (also pop. ~50k).

The University had a Gridiron stadium as you'd expect.

It seated (permanently) 77000! When a game…

Having dissed The Cloud, I now feel bound to point out that I'll be getting down there for a bunch of the free entertainment — Pitch Black, P Money, Sola Rosa, Nick Dwyer, etc. Subject to weather, those nights look like a lot of fun.

From media reports,…

Well, that’s enlightening. Yes that describes it fantastically. Yes te idea is to enjoy oneself. Trouble is for those not really interested already feel a little annoyed at the cost “blow” outs ,the perceived expensive unachievable for average kiwi “support” clothing, and…

Whoops – another tweet :)

It wasn't aimed at you, I promise, but so many businesses in NZ. You try to put money in their pockets but the reaction time is often appalling when put next to trans-Tasman counterparts.

On…

To be fair, I may have been remarkably pleased with myself for doing so.

I can't remember (gee, I wonder why) what my effort in that particular competition was, but i remember being miffed that you won.

The one in the bisexual tourism initiative.

Well, that's what you are meant to think...;)

The one in his undies.

Which one is he?

At least in the early portions of the evening.

Hey, Green, where's my flash drive?

Oh, fuck. I was tempted to google that bit. I've actually tossing around for airfares to NZ in late Sept – there all sorts of specials going surprisingly – but may keep my safe distance after that. I bet it goes on my passport…

more likely now that the no-sex madness has been canned

It's 80 minutes. Guards, seize him!

I was one of those and I think my comment is kinda being misconstrued a little/lot. Point of smoothing first: I kinda think that the RWC has allowed or forced some work that needed…

Hey, you witnessed a Dropkicks podcast, it's not the first time you've seen that.

Ta. Is he any good? The Gialappa’s Band commentary back home sustained me during USA 94 in particular, it was great. When Italy missed the last penalty in the final they shouted GOAL!, which set off an interesting, really alternative period of commentary.

Mind you, the…

Yup. Jedeye is back.

Especially given that a certain part of sports-watching is the sublimated sexual thrill of watching fit…

Is there anything planned in terms of alternative commentary to the games themselves (you know, something a comedic bent that one switches on after having muted the telly)?

That's some quality social satire there, that is.

Maori Television’s…

Can't do beers tonight,…

Like all things holy (e or no e?) I don't think it likes the short form. Let me fix that for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOVqDxlAA9g&feature=youtu.be

If that is the case then it would be quite difficult to tell if swimming were a sport or not.
@Ben.
In naked swimming, the balls are even on display. And even in the way, try a vigorous "Crawl" where there would…

http://youtu.be/dOVqDxlAA9g

(embed?)

No you didn't, but it's the subtext when people refer to chess, snooker or dance sport as "not real sport".

I swear I was timing you.

Oh, for the love of all things holy!

oh but everyone in wellington hates the 7s, didn't you know that ;)

It can.

It is.

And not everyone will dress in silly clothes either.

And some folks won't be interested.

All just like the Wtgn 7s

Equally I have to uphold the "We hate Wham" banner. We all have our roles to play in this world :).

Chess boxing should be an Olympic sport.

And competitive air guitar.

That's Ok, I read between the lines.

Just one reason why it's useless, but that doesn't stop it being the best definition I know. Best does not necessarily equal good.

Didn't say that fitting the definition of a "sport" was more praiseworthy.

But sweat has it's moments.

So darts, shooting, archery and billiards are not sports? Interesting. Actually do you sweat if you pole vault, throw discus or javelin? I always take longer than 5 minutes to sweat doing most anything at normal NZ temperatures. I really think this…

Chess is definitely a sport then.

Poor baby, there there.

Yeah, I was teasing Bart, because he knows I'm all about the Wham love.

Well, since most dictionary definitions of the noun "sport" require athleticism or "physical prowess", I suppose I would have to go along…

Surely anything involving a non-eunuch male qualifies, too? In naked swimming, the balls are even on display. OK, maybe not in cold water.

ETA: When…

should have been: (the other) Paul Reynolds.
sorry, Paul

Did I mention I used to hold most of the trophies at the nudist club swimming competition :).

Or, in the case of the offending ad campaign, So it went.
;-)

For me it was when Rugby impinged on the cricket season, so I chose not to watch the beginning of the Rugby season and somehow lost interest in the…

So it goes.

I'm not surprised it's happened, and feel better that it has. It drew people on both sides, something that there's been a bit of a lack of at times in PAS…

Best definition I heard (and still useless) ... If you don't sweat it isn't a sport, if you do sweat it might be a sport but might not.

Wham!

another important topic

Rugby culture is part of New Zealand's story/stories about ourselves. And the corporatisation of sports and the event industry's taste for public subsidy is relevant too. So yes,…

You're not going to start again, are you?

Although I suppose that two weeks of idiotic excitment leaves four whole weeks for the bitter resentment. So I guess it could work.

You'd think.

What, you blew 93 days straight without giggling at advertising? Corporate loving hussy, repent!

And, uh, I’m now almost totally ashamed to admit…

Bags you have the grappa.

Lady Mary Crawley: Sybil is entitled to her opinions.
Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham: No. She isn't until she is married, then her husband will tell her what her opinions are.

For the fishing? Um, no, I'd just buy it from the shop if I wanted the fish. Way cheaper. I'm a catch-and-release dude anyway, keeping maybe one or two medium sized snapper to justify half a day of idle…

I feel the need to point out…

Maggie's top ten zingers.

Possibly a little too much channelling of The Spirit of Lady Bracknell*, but wonderful, nonetheless.

*Great name for a yacht. Which would of course come with…

I tend to avoid any boat that's too small to have a barista and bartender.

And I don't deserve a dram by way of thanks?

What, pray tell, is a Rugby World Cup? (Memo to self: Blackmail Maggie Smith into recording my answering machine message.)

Oh, I’m sure the 7pm current affairs shows will do an extremely thorough job of covering that highly important issue …

Quite. But I tend to include certain aspects of suburbia within the rubric "bucolic", and despite statistics saying that New Zealand is highly "urbanised", it is more accurate to say that we're suburbanised or provincial-town-ised.

More importantly, the rural…

Surely one has staff for that kind of thing, though, no?

#watchingtoomuchdowntonabbeyrecently

You see what you've made me do?

I think people, on an individual level, are fine with most of it. I know I am but I…

The ones I'm thinking of – buggered if I can find them – are the posters with a slogan along the lines of "our everything is nothing without your [platitude translating as: buying of an…

Or in my case, making sure I am never in that situation ("I am glad to say I've never seen a spade" etc).

Refusing to drink instant coffee, and putting up with caffeine cravings?

but there are certain aspects of the hype that suggest an atavistic irruption of bucolic blokiness,

Blokey, certainly, but bucolic? Not any more. It's corporatized, commercialized and…

That Dorothy Parker was quite a hottie for a stuck-up cow, though, eh?

Nah, it's not about one company, in fact it's got very little to do with Telecom. This idea that…

That's about the size of it.

Most of us are. You can tell, because we're the ones…

It's a question of where you draw the line of too sophisticated. Personally, I'd draw it just below the Algonquin Round…