Chaise Longue/Hysteria/Time Is Running Out: My 16th blog of the year 2022

Well, it looks like & it seems that Lionel Messi's international football career is winding down as he announces he'll retire from the international game until after this years Football World Cup in Qatar (There has been bad stuff around the workplace, absolutely dreadful that the workers who were working on the World Cup stadiums that has got air conditioning which could trigger a climate change during the tournament have passed away from it but they aren't allowed to go on strike according to the Qatari law when Leon (Who is heading to that country on a stop over to the UK to meet with his partner Michelle who already left on the 27th of September last month) told me on the 6th of October before we went to Caroline's for dinner where I had a Mediterranean lamb salad that I enjoyed but there's a French law that Leon told us about requiring foods that have gone past the use by date must be thrown out as well as shops have to be closed if there's foods that has gone past the use by date but tournament organizers found out that it might be a bad idea for Qatar of hosting the Football World Cup, especially French football legend Eric Cantona is not going due to the laws that the Qatari government has imposed) which I'm looking forward to according to Indian sports channel Star Sports in his last ditch bid of Football World Cup glory (And he'll be involved in 5 Football World Cups that he's played along with both Mexicans of Antonio Carbajal & Rafael Marquez as well as only one German of Lothar Matthaus & possibly his great rival from Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo (Who is a Euro 2016 winning player for Portugal (He was also the captain who got subbed off in the final with an injury against hosts at the time, France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis as well as he is Iker Casillas's successor & Giorgio Chellini's predecessor as the European Football Championship winning skipper) compared to Messi who is both an Olympic gold medalist in Beijing in 2008 for the Argentina under 23's & a Copa America winning player for Argentina last year & Neymar being an Olympic gold medalist leading his country's under 23 football side for a successful Olympic Games glory in Rio de Janeiro in 2016) for Argentina who haven't triumphed since 1986 in Mexico against West Germany in the final with the late Diego Armando Maradona who was captain at the time, hoisted the trophy aloft, but there's something interesting as tournament favourites Brazil (Who have never won since 2002), top the FIFA world rankings going into this years Football World Cup in Qatar ahead of Belgium (Who are expected to play Brazil in the final should they reach it, but their last meeting between the 2 sides at a Football World Cup was in 2018 where Belgium tore Brazil to shreds in the quarters, ending the Brazilians hopes of Football World Cup glory).

And it has been an emotional but sombre year since the passing of Sean Wainui (The rugby player who played for Taranaki & Bay of Plenty in the NPC, Chiefs in Super Rugby & the Maori All Blacks but he went to 3 different high schools/colleges throughout New Zealand including Takapuna Grammar School then St Peter's College & Mount Albert Grammar School) who took his own life at McLaren Falls in Omanawa rather than a car accident that killed him.

And I label 10 minutes as the yellow card/sin bin period (For which I sometimes label as the 10 minute suspension compared to handball where players have been suspended for 2 minutes for a infringement/violation of the rules regarding to foul play) compared to me labelling the free kick as the short arm penalty, the mark being known as the fair catch & & the TMO (Television Match Official) which is affectually known as the TV referee (Compared to the 3rd umpire which is literally known as the TV umpire) as part of my rugby union jargon terms (Including the Garry Owen which is sometimes known as the up & under as well as the pilfer being the Aussie term for turnover & of course the meat pie which is the Kiwi term for try).

And in the rallying news department that young 22 year old Finnish rally driver of Kalle Rovanpera (I'm now a fan of him since our Kiwi rally fans were in favour of the Estonian rally driver of Ott Tanak) has won in New Zealand therefore clinching his 1st ever World Rally Championship (Well I have not followed the WRC at all except playing the WRC games in the PS4 & since Spark Sport acquired the broadcasting rights but only Three has acquired the free to air rights to show the Rally of New Zealand) title by becoming the 1st Finnish rally driver since Marcus Gronholm 20 years ago way back in 2002 to win the championship & he breaks the record set by Colin McRae in 1995 by becoming the youngest ever World Rally Champion (And the WRC 2 event went to our very own Kiwi Hayden Paddon in the Hyundai who won while another Kiwi of Shane van Gisbergen (Who drives a Holden in the Supercars Championship going into this year's Bathurst 1000 sponsored by Repco as the points leader (And who I got to win the Bathurst 1000? Because I'm a Ford fanatic now since Pops owns a Ford because he used to own a Holden way back then (And my heart is on van Gisbergen to win the great race because not only he's a New Zealander) appeared on the podium in the WRC 2 class in the Skoda).

And on the 8th of October is the day that the Black Ferns of Aotearoa take to the field to play the Wallaroos of Ahitereiria to begin our campaign of the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup playing in 2022 here at Eden Park in Auckland where there will be a bigger crowd turning up to watch & of course the half time show by Rita Ora (Who is now secretly married to our own New Zealand movie director Taika Waititi, & she loved him because she was so impressed about his movies that he was involved with) to be performed during the women's rugby test (And remember, it's chilly bins vs eskies, togs vs cozzies, but it's not over til it's pavlova (I don't know who invented that dish first, whether it's the Aussies or the Kiwis who may have claimed bragging rights to it) but what a fantastic game from the Black Ferns so far as they hammer Australia after being behind for so much of the game (And New Zealand's 100% record against the Wallaroos is going to stay intact) during the women's Rugby World Cup match in front of a sold out Eden Park in Auckland (And I told Pops on the 9th of October this month that it was one of the best women's rugby match I have ever seen for a long time throughout the international side of it but the player of the game honours went to Ruby Tui (The star of the show who quit her sevens career to focus on the fifteens) for her all-round perfomance scoring both tries (I thought it went to Portia Woodman for her hat-trick but it wasn't to be) but there is an update in the women's Rugby World Cup as the Black Ferns hammered Wales in Waitakere with Portia Woodman's try scored in which she bumped of a Welsh defender was in fact shades of the late Jonah Lomu (Who was Woodman's idol growing up) who ran over the top of English player Mike Catt during the semi in 1995, in one of Rugby World Cup's most iconic moments but there is also been an update as the Black Ferns claim top seed for the quarterfinal as they completely outclassed Scotland in a demolition at Northland Events Centre in Whangarei where Kathryn & Ken went to that game according to Pops that he told me about it.

And in NPC news such as Auckland got the better of North Harbour with a match winning penalty by one of the Auckland players of Harry Plummer at North Harbour Stadium in Albany then Wellington has held off Hawke's Bay to book a place in the NPC semifinals against Auckland at Sky Stadium in Wellington before Canterbury had to survive a late scare against Northland at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch then Bay of Plenty caused the upset of the quarterfinal when they downed Waikato in a revenge best dished served cold a week after Waikato complete the comeback of the year against BOP in the last round of the regular season to host a home quarterfinal at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton.

And finally here is the confirmed list for semifinal matches being played (And trust me I will be watching one of these games on TV):

Wellington Vs Auckland

& Canterbury Vs Bay of Plenty

So that is my 468th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 16th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And it's been 20 years since the 2nd movie of The Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy (It was filmed in New Zealand directed by Kiwi Oscar winner, Sir Peter Jackson & it featured actors like Elijah Wood (Who plays the main hero Frodo Baggins in the movie) & Viggo Mortensen (Who portrays the other hero Aragorn in the film), The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers came out in movie theaters worldwide in December 2002 where I watched from the start of The Battle of Helm's Deep, right through till the end to commemorate or should I say, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the film's release.

Addicted To Bass/Have It All/Stop The Rock: My 15th blog of the year 2022

Well, it seems that the sport of rugby union is king here in our country of New Zealand because of the All Blacks (Our nation's rugby team) being the most successful rugby union national team mainly due to our winning percentage of nearly 80% over 612 tests ranging from 1903 until last year & have played over 600 test matches as well as 3 Rugby World Cup championships to our name along with our old foe of the Springboks of South Africa (Who are seeking history along with the All Blacks for a record breaking 4th Rugby World Cup championship at next years tournament as well as become the 2nd side to retain the Rugby World Cup & if fit & available that Siya Kolisi is looking to become the 2nd captain (And the 1st South African skipper) to lift the William Webb Ellis cup twice after Richie McCaw in 2015) + 19 Southern Hemisphere rugby titles (Who compete along with the Boks, the Wallabies of Australia & Argentina in the Rugby Championship (It was once known as the Tri Nations before Argentina joined the competition) in the competitions 26 year history as well as 4 Grand Slams achieved over the home unions of England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales in 1978, 2005, 2008 & 2010 & some great legendary players including Tony Woodcock, Sean Fitzpatrick, the late Ken Gray, Brodie Retallick, the late Sir Colin Meads, Sir Michael Jones, Richie McCaw, Zinzan Brooke, Aaron Smith, Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, the late Jonah Lomu, Sir Bryan Williams & Christian Cullen, but my love affair of rugby union began in 1995 as a young toddler watching the 1995 final of the Rugby World Cup (1995 was the 1st time I remembered watching the RWC but I have covered it since 1999 but there is an American movie actor named Jason Momoa (AKA that Aquaman guy who appeared in Game of Thrones) who is a fan of the All Blacks as he met them before back in 2019 during the Rugby World Cup in Japan against Canada then at an airport this year with the players in Auckland) between the traditional rivals of New Zealand & South Africa along with my Dad (He was getting excited when Andrew Mehrtens attempted a drop goal but it sailed wide but Dad was gutted about the result when Joel Stransky broke our hearts when he successfully went for the drop goal (We had to wait for 16 years until our next Rugby World Cup title in 2011 in which Stephen Donald (The man known as Beaver) kicked the winning penalty goal to end 24 years of heartbreak & disappointment (And that was the 1st time I saw the All Blacks win the Rugby World Cup on TV) but my standout of the Rugby World Cup that I saw on television was the All Blacks winning the tournament on foreign soil for the 1st & only time in 2015 in a memorable final against our Trans-Tasman rivals of Australia at Twickenham in London, England, in captain at the time Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith & Keven Mealamu's farewell test which will go down in history) in Raetihi in which we infamously watched the match as I mentioned in my blog in 2017.

And here are the potential match ups that are going to look like in this year's Football World Cup knockout stages going forward but I'm exactly doing the football version of it since I did the rugby version in my previous blog (And I can't wait to watch this years Football World Cup (Even though New Zealand are not in it as we lost to Costa Rica (Who are drawn in the group of death in Group E along with 2010 champions Spain, the 4 time world champions Germany & Japan) in the final qualifying match of the Football World Cup) as its being shown on Sky Sport starting with the host nation of Qatar taking to the field against Ecuador on the 21st of November but Pops isn't certainly a football fan (He's mainly into rugby union) except the World Cup, well I am (And I'm mostly a rugby fanatic) along with my Moroccan Jewish mate Leon Benbaruk):

Round of 16

Winner Group A (The Netherlands) vs. Runner-up Group B (USA): Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan

Winner Group C (Argentina) vs. Runner-up Group D (Denmark): Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan

Winner Group D (France) vs. Runner-up Group C (Mexico): Al Thumama Stadium, Doha

Winner Group B (England) vs. Runner-up Group A (Senegal): Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor

Winner Group E (Spain) vs. Runner-up Group F (Croatia): Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah*

Winner Group G (Brazil) vs. Runner-up Group H (Uruguay): Stadium 974, Doha

Winner Group F (Belgium) vs. Runner-up Group E (Germany): Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan

Winner Group H (Portugal) vs. Runner-up Group G (Switzerland): Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail*

Quarter finals

Winners of 53 (Spain) vs. Winners of 54 (Brazil): Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan*

Winners of 49 (The Netherlands) vs. Winners of 50 (Argentina): Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail*

Winners of 55 (Belgium) vs. Winners of 56 (Portugal): Al Thumama Stadium, Doha*

Winners of 51 (England) vs. Winners of 52 (France): Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor

Semi finals

Winners of 57 (Argentina) vs. Winners of 58 (Brazil): Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail*

Winners of 59 (France) vs. Winners of 60 (Belgium): Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor*

3rd/4th Place Playoff

Losers of 61 (Argentina) vs. Losers of 62 (France): Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan*

Final

Winners of 61 (Brazil) vs. Winners of 62 (Belgium): Lusail Iconic Stadium, Lusail*

*: Key matchups

And back onto the rugby union stuff that it's great now that the All Blacks have now won the Rugby Championship this year even though after succumbing to a test series defeat against Ireland (And I mean, what a turnaround, what a tremendous turnaround that we were able to recover after Ian Foster saved his All Blacks coaching job following their win against South Africa (Who we lost in round 1) at the city of gold in Johannesburg in round 2 of this year's Rugby Championship before we lost to Argentina (Who made history once more just like in 2020 in Parramatta in the Tri Nations) in Christchurch especially our discipline may have cost us of winning that test which was a bit of a letdown, then we managed to recover to hammer the Argentinians in Hamilton in which we adapted the kicking game before securing back to back victories against the Wallabies (Including the scrum that New Zealand had awarded for time wasting (Although the Australian first-five of Bernard Foley took too long that they cost the Bledisloe when they got it all wrong) during the 1st Bledisloe Cup test in Melbourne which erupted in controversy, therefore we opened the door for our big chance of winning that test which was a success) to claim the Rugby Championship mainly that the Springboks had failed to get an attacking bonus point despite their victory against Argentina).

And Dad was telling Pops on the 26th of September last month that Jansen went to Auckland to see a K-Pop concert but missed his flight back to Napier & he's now stranded at Auckland Airport, waiting for him & his partner to return to Hawke's Bay (Jans's new home province due to mainly that he wanted a change of scenery).

And finally the draw for next year's Super Rugby Pacific has been revealed with the Crusaders begin their title defence against the Chiefs on February the 24th while the Blues road to redemption begins against the Highlanders then the Super Round at AAMI Park in Melbourne with the great Southern derby match between the Crusaders & the Highlanders then the key matchup in round 4 in which the Crusaders will lock horns with the Blues in the Super Rugby Pacific final rematch (And all 91 games including the final scheduled for the 4th of June, are scheduled to be shown on Sky Sport in New Zealand).

So that is my 467th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 15th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.

Come Back Around/Comfort In Sound/Just The Way I'm Feeling: My 14th blog of the year 2022

Well, there was Kathryn who was here in Whanganui from September the 17th until the 18th in which we had a family get together at Behind the Door on 4 (And I was with both Pops & Carole along with Ben, Sanne (Who thought I was her best friend along with Leon's adopted daughter & Andy's wife but we're just friends now), Dad, Raewyn, Raewyn's daughter & Kathryn of course) in which we had a great time there before me & Pops went back home (Although Pops dropped Carole off first) to have a lengthy korero with Kathryn then we had to drop her of to Benny & Sann's place because of her flight being scheduled to Auckland for quarter to 5 & that's the 2nd time I've been to that place & the 1st time I have been to their house & then all of a sudden, Keith Springer (Who is the late Nan's cousin) & his partner for 6 years of Angela was here to have afternoon tea & a chat with us & we had a incredible day it was but the most interesting part was on Thursday in which we went into Michelle's 60th party at Leon's friends house (Ben & Sanne (The guys that I know) were there, so too is Leon (Who I forgot to tell him that the England women's football team had triumphed in the women's Euro 2022 on home soil against Germany in the final at Wembley (And boys move over, football is coming home after 56 years when England triumphed in their one & only Football World Cup title on home soil against West Germany in the final at the old Wembley in London, but I can't wait for the Football World Cup which is getting ready to begin in November where hosts Qatar take to the field against Ecuador), Michelle (Who I wanted to give a shoutout to Chelle or MJ for her best of luck in order to depart for her to the United Kingdom which happened last month on the 27th of September) & others that Leon knows like Pascal Guigou the Frenchman in which I forgot to tell him that I'm always a croissant eater now), on the same night as the 1st of 2 Bledisloe Cup tests between the 2 traditional Trans-Tasman rivals of the Wallabies & the All Blacks in Melbourne where I also had a great time there (And I'd liked the food of course).

And so many things looking forward to 2023 for me such as the Cricket & Rugby World Cups (Well, let's hope that both the Black Caps (Who are looking to end 48 years of hurt by following up to our success in the World Test Championship last year against India in that memorable final of our lives after falling short twice in both Cricket World Cup finals in 2015 & 2019 against Australia & England respectively as I mentioned in my previous blogs as well as we came agonizingly close in the T20 World Cup in 2021 against the Australians) & the All Blacks (Who are hoping to return to glory for the 1st time since 2015 after experiencing failure in 2019 against the English in the semi, even if the AB's coach of Ian Foster would be a national hero if we successfully win the tournament next year) can win both of these tournaments), & of course the potential end to the global COVID-19 pandemic which is a good sign & there are no more shutdowns or restrictions except in China which is still going.

And finally here are the potential match ups that are going to look like in next year's Rugby World Cup knockout stages going forward (And unlike in 2011 that the All Blacks thought that we're going to play against Australia in the final (And that didn't happen until 2015 in which the Trans-Tasman final had happened in that memorable final of our lives), but due to ramifications after Ireland's win over the Wallabies in pool play, we instead faced them in the semifinal & we successfully won to go through to the final to play France in which we triumphed to win our 1st Rugby World Cup in 24 years by the barest of margins):

Quarterfinals

Winner Pool C (Australia) Vs Runner-up Pool D (Argentina): Stade Velodrome, Marseille

Well, the last time the Wallabies fought against Argentina at a Rugby World Cup, it was in 2015 that the Aussies dominated in the semi against the Argentinians to book a place in the final against New Zealand with a hat-trick of tries provided by winger Drew Mitchell.

Winner Pool B (South Africa) Vs Runner-up Pool A (France): Stade de France, Saint-Denis

The only meeting between two sides was in 1995 that the Springboks defeated the French (Who almost had it after the match winning try, scored by the French, had been denied but would've won should today's modern video technology be available) advanced to go through to the final against the AB's.

Winner Pool D (England) Vs Runner-up Pool C (Wales): Stade Velodrome, Marseille

The most recent meeting at a Rugby World Cup between two sides was in 2015 at a pool game that Wales would finally beat England (Who nearly had it but they should've gone for the penalty goal to seal a draw (They went for the lineout instead which resulted in failure in which the Welsh won in a close encounter) at a RWC since 1987 in the quarterfinal dubbed as the worst game of the tournament played in appalling conditions.

Winner Pool A (New Zealand) Vs Runner-up Pool B (Ireland): Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Our most recent clash with Ireland at a Rugby World Cup was in 2019 in the quarterfinal in which we won to go through to the semi against England.

Semifinals

Winner QF 1 (Australia) Vs Winner QF 2 (South Africa): Stade de France, Saint-Denis

The last time Australia fought against the Boks at a Rugby World Cup, it was in 2011 in the quarterfinal that the Aussies won despite the South Africans (Who had their worst result at a RWC along with 2003) dominating possession & territory in which the match was marred by a dreadful refereeing performance from New Zealander Bryce Lawrence.

Winner QF 3 (England) Vs Winner QF 4 (New Zealand): Stade de France, Saint-Denis

The most recent meeting between both sides was in 2019 that England dominated when they made all the correct maneuvers as I mentioned in my blogs, no errors that time to sink New Zealand's hopes of a historic 1st ever Rugby World Cup threepeat to advance through to the final against South Africa.

3rd/4th Place Playoff

Runner-up SF 1 (Australia) Vs Runner-up SF 2 (England): Stade de France, Saint-Denis

Their most recent clash at a Rugby World Cup was in the quarterfinal in 2019 that the English had overpowered the Wallabies just like in 1995 & 2007 to go through to the semis against the All Blacks.

Final

Winner SF 1 (South Africa) Vs Winner SF 2 (New Zealand): Stade de France, Saint-Denis

And the last time the Springboks fought against New Zealand was in 2019 during the pool games in which the AB's would become the last side to defeat the Boks (Who had to win all 6 games (Against neighbours Namibia, Italy & Canada in the pools, hosts at the time Japan in the quarters, Wales in the semi & of course, last but not least, England in the final) as I mentioned in my previous blogs en route to their successful Rugby World Cup glory) at a RWC.

And in UEFA Nations League news such as the 4 semifinalists have been found in the final four such as Croatia (Who booked a place after beating Austria), Italy (Who hammered Hungary to advance through to the UEFA Nations League finals), the Netherlands (Who defeated Belgium to advance through to the semis) & Spain (They beat Portugal to become the last side to go through to the final four) but 3 of the 4 sides competing in the UEFA Nations League finals of Croatia (Who came agonizingly close of winning the Football World Cup in Russia in 2018 after losing to France in the final), the Netherlands (Who are back in the Football World Cup fold after missing out in 2018, but they reached the finals twice in 1978 & 2010 but never won one of them & one of the best football playing nations to have never won a Football World Cup before) & Spain (Who haven't won a Football World Cup title since 2010 after missing out on going through to the knockout stages in 2014 & losing to previous hosts Russia on penalties in the round of 16 at the previous tournament in 2018) that are in the Football World Cup this year in Qatar while only one is the defending European champions of Italy looking to make amends after failing to qualify for the tournament twice (First it was Sweden (Who did not qualify for this years tournament after falling short to Poland in the UEFA qualification playoff) in 2017 then North Macedonia (Who got easily beaten by the proud footballing nation of Portugal (The Euro 2016 champions whose best result at a Football World Cup was in 1966 (The same year that England would went on to win the Football World Cup for the 1st & only time after beating West Germany in that memorable final in which Geoff Hurst had scored a hat-trick of goals (The only one to date in the Football World Cup final) at the old Wembley Stadium in London) also in the UEFA qualification playoff) earlier this year as I mentioned in my previous blogs).

And finally that Hurricane Ian is fast approaching the American state of Florida as millions have been asked to evacuate immediately due to a dangerous storm with life-threatening storm surge as well as flooding & fierce winds (And there has been a delay of the hearing on the Capitol assault by the January 6th committee as a result of Hurricane Ian as well as the crucial NL East series of MLB games between the Atlanta Braves & the New York Mets may be considering contingency plans mainly due to Hurricane Ian likely to reach the state of Georgia & the NFL clash between Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Who had to relocate to Miami to resume training) & Patrick Mahomes's Chiefs would have to be moved to Minneapolis in Minnesota) as some communities would have to retreat to the safer parts of the country.

So that is my 466th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 14th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.

Get Shaky/Lola's Theme: My 13th blog of the year 2022

Well, the rugby world is in mourning as former Tongan rugby union player & broadcaster Willie Los'e (Who played for Auckland, North Harbour, the New Zealand under 21s & played for Tonga when he appeared at the 1995 Rugby World Cup & has worked for Sky as a rugby commentator until this year) has died recently in South Africa when he was due to commentate in the Rugby Sevens World Cup (Won by reigning twice Olympic champions Fiji in the men's section of the tournament for the 3rd time in history to tie with the All Blacks sevens & for the 1st time since 2005 & Australia in the women, to follow up to their success in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this year, as well as their gold medal winning triumph in Rio 2016, beating both the New Zealand men's & women's teams in their respective finals) being held in that country (Our thoughts are with their whanau & friends), then in all of a sudden, the whole world is in shock & in mourning as Her Majesty the Queen of Queen Elizabeth II (Who took over from the late His Majesty King George VI from 1952 until this year on September the 8th at half past 5 New Zealand time where she was the longest serving monarch in the British Commonwealth but she met all but one US Presidents & she served 15 UK Prime Ministers & of course she visited New Zealand 10 times (And her most recent visit to our country was 20 years ago way back in 2002) has passed away at her residential retreat at Balmoral in Scotland aged 96, 2 days after she appointed a new British Prime Minister of Liz Truss in which the last pictures were being shown to the Queen & now, her son His Royal Highness, Prince Charles (Who is preparing his speech that he had done for 17 years waiting for this) is now taken over as His Majesty King Charles III with a state funeral being held in a couple of days (And there is going to be security arrangements all over the place (And it can be expensive according to the price estimates of security costs) especially the visiting world leaders that there's going to be a heavy security prescence dubbed as Operation London Bridge that they must provide protection to them (And I think that the royal family have made the right decision to heighten security in time for the Queen's state funeral, especially when there is a law enforcement & military guidelines in place for people who are gathering, wanting to catch a glimpse of it) especially the US & French presidents attending the state funeral while palace gates have been closed at Buckingham Palace where a crowd gathered to pay tribute to the great humble woman who had a decent life for the remainder of about 10 days until after the state funeral) but there will not be a coronation of a new King until next year but all extended thoughts, condolences & prayers to the family of Her Majesty the Queen, Rest in peace (And there is going to be changes with the British national anthem going to be God Save the King now from God Save the Queen & there's alterations to loose change in Britain & especially New Zealand changing heads from the Queen to the new King but it will not happen a couple of years to come but a state funeral has taken place last Monday New Zealand time as Her Majesty has being farewelled & has been laid to rest at the heavily secured Windsor Castle, where she is buried with her father, His Majesty King George the VI).

Willie Los'e

1967 - 2022

& Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

1926 - 2022

And moving on to the tennis stuff that female Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek (Who claimed her 3rd grand slam win to add to her success of winning the French Open twice in 2020 & this year) has ended Ons Jabeur's hopes of her maiden grand slam in the women's singles final at the US Open a day before the young 19 year old Spaniard of Carlos Alcaraz (The teenager known as Charlie or Carlito who shocked the tennis world, especially in his home country of Spain) has claimed his maiden grand slam title in the men's singles final against Norwegian Casper Ruud, on the same day of the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy on September 11th, 2001 (4 planes had taken off before they were hijacked by armed terrorists forcing both planes to crash into the iconic twin towers of the World Trade Center, then one crashed into the Pentagon buildings & the other into the state of Pennsylvania), in the midst of a polio outbreak in New York (First it was COVID-19 then mpox & now polio).

And in Indycar news such as both New Zealand drivers of Scott Dixon & Scott McLaughlin have missed out & fell short on claiming the Indycar title on that occasion (If Will Power (Who had gone into the final round with a 20 point lead ahead of both Dixon & another one of his Penske teammates of Josef Newgarden) failed to finish on the podium, the championship would've gone to Dixon for his record tying 7th Indycar Series championship, but the all time record for most American open wheel racing championships set by the great AJ Foyt, remains intact) after they both had disappointing results but there was joy, jubilation & elation throughout the Team Penske (Who returned to Indycar Series glory after 3 years with their driver Newgarden winning the title, ending Chip Ganassi Racing's 2 year dominance on top of the Indycar world (Dixon won in 2020 followed by Spaniard Alex Palou last year) camp as one of McLaughlin's Australian teammates of Will Power (He dominated in qualifying in which the man from Toowoomba in Queensland broke the record for most pole positions in Indycar after his title rivals were unable to match Power's pole winning time), who successfully just won his 2nd Indycar Series title (His 1st since 2014) to add to his Indianapolis 500 win in 2018 after he finished on the podium in the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California in the United States of America (Although the Indycar season may be over because 2022 may not be our year for both of these Kiwis of Dixon (Who had a disappointing result, therefore he missed out on a record tying 7th championship with Foyt) & McLaughlin who is the favourite to win the Indycar Series crown next year after Aussie Will Power had conquered the 2022 season & lived the American dream again in Indycar just like in 2014, but we always have the next, bring on 2023) but in Supercars Championship news such as twice reigning Supercars champion & 2020 Bathurst 1000 winner, Shane van Gisbergen (You may remember SVG (The man they always call him but he is now the number 1 driver in the Supercars Championship following the departure of his former main rival & fellow countryman Scott McLaughlin to Indycar in late 2020) who is half Kiwi, half Dutch unlike the New Zealand rugby union player of Rieko Ioane (Best known as the brother of loose forward Akira who plays for the All Blacks as well as the Blues in Super Rugby Pacific & Auckland in the Bunnings NPC) who is part Maori & part Samoan) of Triple Eight Race Engineering, goes into the next event which is the Repco Bathurst 1000 as winner of the previous 2 races in both race 28 & 29 (Race 27 went to DJR's Will Davison (Whose hopes of winning race 29 proved costly as he got pinged by the driving standards observer for an unsafe release at a pit stop during the race which went horribly wrong (And both the race & the JR trophy could've gone to him if he didn't make that crucial error but let's hope that he doesn't rebound his hopes of Bathurst 1000 glory (The last time Ford had triumphed at the mountain, it was in 2019 with McLaughlin & his French co-driver who won the great race under controversial circumstances in a Mustang) but I'm going to remember race 29 for a long time because of van Gisbergen's heroics in front of his adoring home crowd (Compared to the great Greg Murphy (The 4 time Bathurst 1000 winner in 1996, 1999, 2003 (Same year that he produced the lap of the gods during the top 10 shootout at the 2003 edition of the great race, cementing his status in New Zealand motor racing folklore) & 2004) in which he dominated the event from 2001 to 2003 & 2005 with 9 wins to his credit & of course McLaughlin in 2018 during his tenure in the Supercars Championship) when he passed Tickford Racing's Cameron Waters for the lead with 3 laps to go in which the race had turned into a supposed contest after SVG (Although his post race interviews are like he spoke like a true cricket captain at a coin toss) started 8th on the grid) as well as being declared the winner of the Jason Richards trophy for the 3rd time (He did it in 2016 & 2019 before) in his home race at Pukekohe Park Raceway in Pukekohe, in an emotional farewell to the race track which is due to close by next year after it opened in 1963 as a replacement for the aerodrome at Ardmore as host circuit of the New Zealand Grand Prix with Hampton Downs likely to take over the New Zealand round of the Supercars Championship starting from 2023.

And there was an coronavirus isolation bus that killed 17 people & 20 injured on their way to an isolation facility in Sandu Shui Autonomous County, Qiannan Prefecture, Guizhou, China which sparked outrage from the people of China about the zero corona virus loophole (The pandemic may be over world wide except China (Well, they're not done yet due to the shutdown in most areas of China that they imposed already as well as a travel ban in effect to that country) which criticized the zero COVID-19 framework after a bus carrying 47 people flipped onto its side when the incident took place on a highway in a rural province in Guizhou but there is a curfew in place in most Chinese cities like Beijing or Shanghai that people must remain at their homes).

And finally in Tennis news such as Swiss tennis star Roger Federer is announcing his retirement due to the injuries that he had recently until after the Laver Cup (And I mean, what a player that he is being given the GOAT status as he follows both female tennis players of Australian Ash Barty earlier in the year & American Serena Williams whose career is winding down where she lost to a Croatian born Australian opponent in the 3rd round of the US tennis open women's singles of Ajla Tomljanovic).

So that is my 465th blog of the year 2022 (MMXXII) & my 13th of this year, stay safe & one love, viva Ukraine.