Razor's Edge: My 500th blog special (My 24th blog of the year 2023)

Well, what more can I say! Wow! It's my 500th blog today (My 1st blog was in 2012 followed by my 50th in 2016, my 100th in 2017, my 200th in 2018 & my 300th in 2019 then my 400th in 2021 & now, I have 500 blogs as a result), can you believe it! But in this blog where I'll write about the results of Super Rugby Pacific round 12:

Chiefs 22 - 25 Reds (It was the Reds night as they mow down the Chiefs (Who had their 100% winning record this year put to the sword for their 1st defeat of the season therefore the Chiefs at last, dropped a game for the 1st time since the semi against the Crusaders last year) to claim the upset of the round for their 1st win against the Chiefs since 2013 at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth)

Force 34 - 14 Fijian Drua (And It was the Force who prevailed against the Fijian Drua with a win at HBF Park in Perth)

Hurricanes 71 - 22 Moana Pasifika (It was the Hurricanes who hammered Moana Pasifika (The 1st meeting between both franchises was last year in which Moana claimed the biggest boil over as Danny Toala scored the winning try at golden point) at Sky Stadium in Wellington)

Crusaders 15 - 3 Blues (And it was the defending champions the Crusaders night as they decimated the Blues (Who'll be without their inspirational skipper Dalton Papali'i for 3 weeks as a result of a suspension for a dangerous tackle on Richie Mo'unga in which he thought he got yellow carded, & he did but then turned it into a red card after an on-field review made by the TMO meaning that his regular season is over) to continue that winning run against them at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch)

Waratahs 38 - 20 Rebels (It was the Waratahs who gained revenge over the Rebels as they reversed their defeat against them in Melbourne at Allianz Stadium in Sydney)

& Brumbies 48 - 32 Highlanders (It was the Brumbies day as they continue their dominance against the Highlanders (Who remain the bogey side in all of the New Zealand teams) during a match where they had several lead changes all over the place at GIO Stadium Canberra in Canberra)

And some sad but sombre news as a fire broke out at a hostel in Wellington, triggering an incident involving a possible arson where several fatalities including 6 have been reported as a result early in the morning but more shocking news as the former New Zealand rugby player of Billy Guyton (A former Tasman Mako, Blues, Crusaders, Hurricanes & Maori All Blacks rep as well as coach of the Tasman Mako women who played halfback throughout his rugby career then he retired the game in 2018 due to a head knock which ended his career) has passed away aged 33 (This is similar to the former Blues & North Harbour player of Mike Tamoaieta who passed away in 2019), so too is Bruce Robertson (AKA the prince of centres) the former All Black from 1972 until 1981 who recently passed away on the 12th of May after a lengthy health battle so all thoughts & condolences are with Billy & Bruce's family, colleagues, friends & fans during this sad & hard time (And the pair of New Zealand rugby players of both Guyton & Robertson join the likes of other celebs who passed away such as Ken Block, Tatjana Patitz, Lisa Marie Presley, Craig Breen & Jerry Springer).

Billy Guyton

1990 - 2023

& Bruce Robertson

1952 - 2023

And back into the rugby related news in the sevens department at Toulouse in France where the defending Olympic gold medalists the Black Ferns 7s have won the women's Sevens World Series title as they defeated the Americans in a repeat of Hamilton but they had to farewell one of our players of Niall Williams-Guthrie (Sister of cross code legend Sonny Bill who missed the Black Ferns 7s gold medal winning triumph in Tokyo 2020 which was held in 2021 through injury & is now going to play for the Gold Coast Titans women in NRLW (The main women's rugby league competition in Australia & New Zealand) & now the All Blacks 7s have done it in Toulouse as they had to face stiff competition again when they defeated Argentina by 5 points in a repeat of Singapore, & has now clinched the title for the 1st time since 2019-20 (The season ended prematurely as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic (And some people say that the pandemic might be over this year with no more shutdowns & restrictions as they know it but they still got some work to do to prevent a repeat of the events in 2019-20 (Except in Germany in Duisburg according to the comment that I remember from my old mentor Leon that masks are required to wear in public not only it's mandatory due to the COVID-19 loophole rulings being escalated upon) & our 1st outright since 2013-14 with only one round to spare before it moves into the last ever event of this season in London at Twickenham (It went to Argentina who beat Fiji in the cup final in a repeat of their success in both Hamilton & Vancouver, but the All Black sevens fell in the last hurdle against the Fijians (Who starting to come back a year out until they defend their Olympic title in Paris (They have been the dominant force at the Olympics since rugby sevens was introduced in 2016 as an Olympic sport, taking out both golds in Rio in the same year & at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021 (And also, world champions last year when it was held in South Africa last year at the Rugby Sevens World Cup in the men's section but they never won gold at the Commonwealth Games after coming so close against the South Africans (Who had won their 2nd after winning their 1st at Glasgow, Scotland in 2014) at Birmingham last year in the gold medal match) in the semi before falling short against Samoa in the bronze final which was reminiscent of the men's cup final at Cape Town, but it doesn't matter as the men's Sevens World Series having been decided with New Zealand having to clinch it in style in Toulouse in which I am so stoked about it).

And the governor of Florida of Ron DeSantis has announced that he'll run for president of the United States in a bid to dethrone Joe Biden & the Democrats in next years election who is expected to lead a Great American Comeback (Or GAC for short but the person is endorsing DeSantis (Who got suspended from Twitter in 2021 before Musk took over as the owner of the social media platform then he restored Donald Trump's Twitter account in the process) is none other than the owner of Twitter & founder of the EV company Tesla, Elon Musk), but he faces a stern challenge from the former US president Donald Trump in a battle for the Republican party candidate role but there is a technical glitch that delayed DeSantis's speech about his intentions of running for president.

And finally in tennis related news such as Spain's Rafael Nadal having to pull out of the French Open at Roland Garros in the last minute with a serious hip injury sustained in the Australian Open (And Nadal is hoping for his return next year at that grand slam before retiring from the sport altogether) but the fans will be devastated & stunned that Nadal is unable to continue playing through injury just like Carlos Alcaraz (The champion from Barcelona & Madrid who will be the top ranked & top seeded tennis player going into the French Open while the most recent grand slam winner at the Australian Open of Novak Djokovic has dropped to 3rd behind Daniil Medvedev & ahead of Norwegian Casper Ruud (Who is ranked above Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas) in both the ATP rankings & the seeds for the men's singles at Roland Garros) missed the Australian Open due to a serious injury (And the 3 of them missing the French Open womens singles are Britain's Emma Raducanu (Who did a similar thing to Nadal as she's having to withdraw through a serious injury), Japan's Naomi Osaka (Who is currently on maternity leave as she prepares the birth of her first child & will be unavailable until the start of next year) & Australia's Ash Barty (Who is retired already since after the events of her home grand slam which is the Australian Open last year in which she triumphed as she became the 1st Australian to win a home grand slam either male or female since Chris O'Neill in 1978). 

And finally onto further news in the rugby department that Aaron Smith is heading to Japan with Toyota Verblitz after this years Rugby World Cup in which the 2023 tournament will be his last along with Beauden Barrett who joins the club with him as Barrett is heading back to Japan then Levi Aumua having to be signed by the champion Crusaders side starting from next year therefore he's leaving Moana Pasifika for good so he can be selected for the All Blacks (And he has yet to confirm his allegiance whether he is going to player either Fiji, New Zealand or Samoa after this season) as well as Aaron Mauger is speculated that he's moving on as coach of Moana (Who are winless in the competition) following this season after a dismal Super Rugby Pacific campaign that they had this year & Leicester Fainga'anuku of the Crusaders announced that he's heading to Europe to play for the defending European Challenge Cup champions RC Toulonnais in France for the upcoming Top 14 season.

So that is my 500th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 24th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Southern Man/Feel Good Inc./Us & Them: My 23rd blog of the year 2023

Well, onto the news stuff that I missed last weekend on the 6th to the 7th of May such as a terrible shooting had just unfolded in Serbia with a 13 year old male school student opened fire by killing innocent people which is a pretty terrible situation (And I mean, get over it not only he's in his early teens that he needs to be at least locked up behind bars, & it's been an emotional but sombre year since the tragic shootings unfolded at a school in Ulvalde, Texas in the United States as lawmakers are hoping to introduce a crack down on gun violence (Just like in 1996 in the aftermath of the tragedy in Port Arthur, Australia & in 2019 following the mass mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand) as well as raising the legal age from 18 to 21 just like raising the legal age of drinking an alcoholic drink which helped cut vehicle accidents & the implementation of a loop hole on background checks for those who want to purchase a firearm as well as red flag laws about to come into effect (And it's lucky that we're not in the United States because New Zealand is much safer here along with Australia than in America which is considered a dangerous country due to the high murder rate involving guns) then the coronation of a new king of His Majesty King Charles III & Her Majesty the Queen Consort in the UK that just happened (And there was a heightened security presence during the coronation there just like the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 8 months ago) while there's also the flooding again in Auckland (I hope Andy (Whose currently nursing a problem since he accidentally swallowed a toothpick but the doctors are still monitoring him as Pops told me last month about it but one of the surgeons have found a tooth pick right down his back side so Andy is currently taking antibiotics to recover) & Kelsey are fine over there) just like in January as well as the provinces of Northland (Where both Kathryn (Who I saw her on both the 29th & 30th of April) & Ken live but I hope they're okay), Thames Valley & Bay of Plenty just like 4 months ago where they had it there where they had to declare a state of emergency according to the estimates on the 9th & of course, there is anti-semitism on the rise in the United States as numerous incidents of anti-semitism have been reported nationwide but I watched a CNN report on YouTube about Dana Bash's interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger (The ex-California governor & one of my favourite movie stars along with Cruise, Jackson, Reeves & the Kiwi pair of Morrison & Urban) speaking out on anti-semitism as well as comparing the 1938 incident in Austria known as Kristallnacht to the 2021 US Capitol building riots in which the pro-Trump supporters were attempting to overturn the result of the 2020 US election, but there's protests in Pakistan about the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan with the government introducing a clamp down on gatherings throughout major cities in Pakistan.

And in motor racing related news as the Miami Grand Prix (It's American Logan Sargeant's home race there because he was born in Fort Lauderdale in the state of Florida in the United States but he had a disappointing result in which he finished last in the race during his home grand prix event (But I like the promo involving movie stars Michelle Rodriguez (Leticia 'Letty' Ortiz) & Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto) from the Fast & the Furious movie franchise series about the Miami Grand Prix being staged) & the Miami GP is the 1st of 3 American races there (The 2nd one is the United States Grand Prix at COTA in Austin, Texas (First held in 2012 until 2019 & since 2021) then the historic first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix held in the streets of Sin City in Las Vegas, Nevada (The gambling capital in the world) goes in the way of the twice defending world champion & the most successful Formula 1 driver from the Netherlands of Red Bull's Max Verstappen who won his 3rd race of the season after starting 9th on the grid (His first since the late Niki Lauda (The 3 time F1 world champion (Along with Sir Jackie Stewart, the late Jack Brabham & the late Ayrton Senna) & the most successful driver from Austria who passed away 4 years ago in 2019) in France in 1984) therefore he increases his championship lead to 14 points ahead of his nearest rival which in fact his Red Bull teammate of Mexican Sergio Perez after a tyre strategy masterclass proved Verstappen too much (And the next race is in Italy for the 1st of 2 Italian races which is the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (Their first race came in 2020 which was during the global pandemic but they have secured a contract to race there until 2025, but there's been an update that the Emilia Romagna GP had to be called off as a result of intensive flooding from a heavy rainfall caused by Storm Minerva in Northern Italy which resulted 9 casualties while thousands had to be evacuated from it) at the Imola circuit which is the home race of Ferrari (Who have still got work to do after their recent struggles this season, but the last time the prancing horse won the constructors championship, it was in 2008 but failed to win the drivers championship crown because it went to Lewis Hamilton who won his 1st of 7 titles when he overtook German Timo Glock in the Toyota, on the final lap of the race at the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix (And that's according to Hamilton's race engineer that he's got to pass Glock for the championship) which was won by Felipe Massa (One of the greatest ever F1 drivers to have never won a world championship according to the blog that I did in January 2022) who narrowly missed out on World Championship glory, a year after Kimi Raikkonen was the last Ferrari driver to win the world championship in 2007) along with the Italian Grand Prix in Monza which is held after the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Holland & before the Singapore Grand Prix in Singapore) so Verstappen is now on 3 (Including the season opening race in Bahrain then Australia & now Miami) compared to Perez who has won it not once but twice (First Saudi Arabia then Azerbaijan).

And I have added the 6 rock & metal music genres as my favourites such as alternative metal (My 6th favourite in terms of my favourite rock/metal music sub genres), post-grunge (That would be number 7), Britpop (That would be my 8th favourite), hard rock (That would be number 9 on the list), pop rock (My 10th favourite on the list) as well as soft rock (That would be number 11 on the list) & thrash metal (My 12th favourite on the list) to go along with alternative rock/alt rock (Always my favourite rock/metal music genre), heavy metal (That would be my number 2), nu metal (Which would be my 3rd favourite), grunge (That would be my number 4 on the list) & pop punk (My 5th favourite as well).

And finally the latest on the Super Rugby Pacific competition as the results of the 11th round of the competition are in:

Chiefs 52 - 28 Highlanders (It was the Chiefs night as they hammer the Highlanders (Who are one of the bogey teams in all of the New Zealand sides & are in fact useless) to still remain flawless in 2023 at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin)

Fijian Drua 27 - 24 Hurricanes (It was the Fijian Drua's day as they outlasted the Hurricanes (They'll be gutted that they lost against the Fijian Drua, well, what an absolute bummer this has been) to claim another biggest boil over of the competition (First the Crusaders & now the Hurricanes (Who had a try scored by Hurricanes prop forward Xavier Numia but the Fijian crowd weren't happy that Numia had adjudged to have knocked the ball on in the leadup to the try (And I laughed out loud about it because it was funny about Numia bobbling it before he scored the try in which the ref should've overturned the decision from try to no try) with reserve first five Kemu Valetini (Best known as the brother of Brumbies & Wallabies player Rob) scoring the winning penalty goal at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva)

Crusaders 48 - 13 Force (And it was the Crusaders night as they dismantled the Force with Brodie McAlister provided the heroics as he went in for his hat-trick of tries at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch)

Blues 31 - 30 Moana Pasifika (And it was the Blues who got out of jail as a late penalty try sends the Blues home by sneaking past Moana Pasifika (Whose bid for their 1st win of the season as well as claiming an upset (First it was the Hurricanes last year when one of their players Danny Toala scored the winning try during golden point & then the Brumbies) which was denied by that costly penalty try by the Australian referee who got a bit impatient as Moana remains one of the bogey sides in the competition after playing so well during the match but they were out of favour as they fell short at the last hurdle) at Eden Park in Auckland (And why the hell was that a penalty try? Because the referee I believe made the right decision to award it to the Blues (Who had to put their final nail on the coffin on Moana when they snatched a late penalty try at the end) at the death but Moana Pasifika (Who have both Maori players of Lincoln McClutchie (Who plays for Hawke's Bay in the NPC) & Ereatara 'Ere' Enari (One of my favourite Moana players who is half Maori & half Samoan just like the Ioane bros of Akira & Rieko (Sons of former Samoan player Eddie & ex-Black Fern Sandra Wihongi-Ioane) but plays for Hawke's Bay just like his teammate McClutchie & Enari used to play for Canterbury in the NPC & the Crusaders in Super Rugby where he won the title 5 times as a player as well as he plays for Samoa internationally where he made his debut last year despite being born in New Zealand where he used to play for the New Zealand U20's (Known as the Baby Blacks) in both 2016 & 2017 but he's the cousin of Auckland, Blues & All Blacks player Caleb Clarke as well as being a relative of Caleb's father Eroni & Michael Jones (Father of current rugby player Niko) while he is the son of a Maori mother Parehuia & Samoan father Ala'imalo Falefatu) will be so gutted about the defeat)

Reds 24 - 32 Waratahs (And it was the Waratahs who stun the Reds in their inter-state clash at QCB Stadium in Townsville)

& Rebels 26 - 33 Brumbies (And it was the Brumbies who remain Australia's best as they overpower the Rebels at AAMI Park in Melbourne (There was Noah Lolesio when he scored the try when he asked in front of the camera to tell the current Wallabies coach Eddie Jones that why wasn't he'd been with the team because of Jones who preferred Carter Gordon to be selected ahead of Lolesio)

So that is my 499th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 23rd of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And a shout out for Carole (Who I first met in 2017) for wishing her a belated 71st birthday today so me & Pops are heading to the Citadel at Castlecliff tonight for a birthday dinner (Last week, it was Aunty Tan who turned 55).

JACK/Sugar, We're Goin Down/Dance Dance: My 22nd blog of the year 2023

Well, in Indycar news such as the former 3 time Supercars Champion of New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (Who held off former F1 driver of Romain Grosjean from France in the Andretti Autosport) has won at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama (His 1st of the season & his 4th in his Indycar career who Scotty Mac currently races for Team Penske, but his hopes for victory in the season opener of this year's Indycar Series championship season in St Pete had been evaporated due to a collision with Grosjean during the race but the Indycar race in Alabama was the most exciting race of the weekend in Indycar compared to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Formula 1 which was boring but not so good as Mexican Sergio 'Checo' Perez in the Red Bull won both the sprint qualifying & the race ahead of his teammate of the defending twice world champion Max Verstappen therefore Perez is emerged one of the championship contenders this season as well as one of Verstappen's main challengers in this years F1 World Championship season (First it was Sir Lewis Hamilton (Who was named after the famous American athletics/track & field star of Carl Lewis & was the victim of a racial abuse by former 3 time world champion Nelson Piquet who recieved a fine of nearly a million dollars & has banned from the F1 paddock already following his racist remarks regarding to Hamilton last year) in 2021 followed by Charles Leclerc last year) in the United States as Pops told me on the 1st of May while I was commenting about it that it's been 20 years since the famous New Zealand rally icon/legend of Possum Bourne who tragically passed away prior to the events of the Race to the Sky hillclimb rally event (And I did a blog about him reflecting on his career back in September last year) way back in 2003.

And now onto the football stuff as the most recent Football World Cup winning player for Argentina as well as the greatest Argentinian footballer ever produced in the modern era of Lionel Messi (And I mean what a player & how appropriate that he is a true football legend now since he achieved his legendary status (Just like his childhood idol of the late Diego Maradona did) in the aftermath of Argentina's success in last years Football World Cup after prevailing over the reigning champs at the time of France on penalties, in that memorable but epic final at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar but Brazil (Who are still ranked the top ranked football playing nation on the planet despite that bitterly disappointing exit in the quarterfinal against Croatia (The team that Argentina (Who are ranked 2nd best in the world after their successful Football World Cup glory or should I say, triumph in Qatar) coincedentally & ironically beat in the semi) is expected to be the favourites to win the 2026 Football/Soccer World Cup according to most people following Leo Messi's retirement in international football in the aftermath of Argentina's success in last years tournament where he had a fairytale farewell (He made his debut in 2006 before going on to appear in 4 more World Cups, but his last one was a success when he was part of the winning squad for the Argentinians late last year (Finally, la Albiceleste had won the World Cup for the 1st time in 36 years, Argentina went berserk) against the reigning champs at the time of the French on spot kicks in that dramatic final which was one of the greatest World Cup final in history) is expected to depart from his current club of Paris St Germain at the end of this season (And the club had opted not to grant him a contract extension but is due to leave PSG amid confirmed reports but there has been an update as Messi is set to head to the United States after being signed by Inter Miami despite rumors of playing for a club in the Saudi league to catch up against his rival Cristiano Ronaldo & Karim Benzema who announced that he's leaving Real Madrid to join a Saudi club competing in the Saudi league) while in the Premier League that Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland has broken the most goals scored in a single season for his club that he currently plays for of Manchester City whose hopes of defending their title as well as a bid for a threepeat got back on track after their win against league leaders Arsenal during a Premier League game which was the season defining moment (And Man City have been invincible since 2020-21 when they won the Premier League crown back a season after Liverpool won their 1st ever Premier League title in 2019-20 (Compared to Leicester City shocking the football world especially in England in 2015-16 by winning their historic first ever Premier League crown (And they had bought cheaper players to start with like before the season started which was during the transfer window) for the ages), but there has been an update as Man City clinch the Premier League title in style after a dominant win against Chelsea with 1 round to go meaning that Man City remain the champions of England for the 3rd consecutive time as well as their 7th overall (They did it in 2011-12 before doing it again in 2013-14 then from 2017-18 to 2018-19 & they have dominated the Premier League since 2020-21 where they left off) but they are going for both FA Cup (Against their rivals Manchester United (The last time Man United triumphed in the FA Cup was in 2016) in the final at Wembley in which Man City haven't won in 4 years) & the UEFA Champions League (In which they'll be up against Italian club Inter Milan (The last Italian club to win the Champions League title which was in 2009-2010 before FC Barcelona took over in 2010-11 followed by Chelsea in 2011-12, then Bayern Munchen in 2012-13, Real Madrid in 2013-14, FC Barcelona again in 2014-15, Real Madrid yet again who did it 3 times from 2015-16 to 2017-18 followed by Liverpool in 2018-19 then Bayern Munchen once again in 2019-20 as well as Chelsea once more in 2020-21 & last but not least, Real Madrid again last season in 2021-22) at the Ataturk Stadium in Instanbul for their 1st Champions League title since they 1st appeared in the final in 2021 against Chelsea which ended in failure) glory in their quest for a treble) therefore completing a hat-trick of Premier League titles in which they had a successful threepeat in which the club where oh so overwhemingly dominant since 2020-21, but something bad/shocking/terrible in football has broken out in Spain as Brazilian footballer Vinicius Junior (Who is now facing DTs (Death threats) even with him having possibly to make the decision to hire security for the matter to provide adequate protection to him (This is like the US Secret Service always providing protection to the current & former US Presidents & their families since 1903 then & most high profile celebs from around the world, including billionaires for example, as well as the Royal Protection Squad in the UK to provide protection to any members of the royal family & our own Diplomatic Protection Squad here in New Zealand providing security to our country's Prime Minister) of Real Madrid got racially abused by opposition fans during a La Liga game which resulted 7 arrests (And further action had been taken in a bid to stamp out racist conduct at football matches not just in Spain as well as Europe but most parts of the world (And Valencia had been given a fine & had 3 of their matches to be played BCD (Behind closed doors) partially while the league can only detect & report incidents regarding to racism under Spanish law (This is similar to online hate to famous footballers where fans can be suspended from attending a football game even if they spew the hate online towards the footballer players social media accounts just like in 2021 that 2 of the African or Caribbean football players playing for England in Euro 2021 such as Marcus Rashford & Jadon Sancho who missed penalties during the shootout after losing to Italy on spot kicks in the final at Wembley) while a hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable effigy dressed in the No.20 jersey of winer Vinicius Jr was hung from a bridge while the Brazilian government has escalated the abuse about Vinicus Junior as they summon an ambassador from Spain which had been taken too lightly as protests were sparked outside the Spanish embassy in Brazil following racism towards him).

And it was on the 4th of May that I watched a movie in full for the 1st time in 17 months when I watched the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring which is one of my all time favourite Star Wars movies by far which is Return of the Jedi (The 1st time I watched a Star Wars movie, it was during the 90's/2000's period where I famously watched it from a recorded VHS tape, although the Emperor didn't die because that was his original death (Although he managed to survive when he appeared in the Rise of Skywalker until his actual death came when Rey took him out with one blow), which came out 40 years ago in cinemas around the world so I've been watching it in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the film's release (And how appropriate that it's Star Wars day which is the unofficial holiday for Star Wars observers & fanatics as well) but 4 years have passed since the original Chewbacca actor of Peter Mayhew who passed away in 2019 (Along with the late Austrian F1 legend of Niki Lauda & others like Luke Perry, Peter Fonda, Rutger Hauer, Doris Day, Albert Finney, Karl Lagerfeld, Keith Flint, Danny Aiello, Rip Torn, Jessi Combs, Emiliano Sala, Gordon Banks & our own Pua Magasiva a year after Burt Reynolds, that Mini-Me guy of Verne Troyer as well as famous female African-American singer Aretha Franklin, the lead singer of the famous Irish rock band of the Cranberries of Dolores O'Riordan, Stephen Hawking, former US presidental candidate John McCain, former US president George H. W. Bush, R. Lee Erney, famous Swedish musician Avicii & famous American celeb chef Anthony Bourdain as the list of celebs who passed away in 2018) as a result of declining health (His last movie appearance was in Star Wars: the Force Awakens until that injury during filming where he couldn't get out of the Millennium Falcon in which he struggled which ended his career when he decided to move on to deal with his health issues so former Finnish basketball player of Joonas Suotamo drafted him as his replacement & would gone on to appear both Star Wars: the Last Jedi & Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker as Chewie) a year before the actor who played Darth Vader of Britain's David Prowse who infamously passed away in 2020 which was affected by the global pandemic, on the same year as both the late British film star Sean Connery & the late Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona but I hadn't mentioned the late Eddie van Halen who was the lead guitarist from the famous Dutch American rock band Van Halen who passed away in the same year & also Kirk Douglas (Father of famous Hollywood movie star Michael), Chadwick Boseman (From the Marvel comic book movies such as Black Panther & the Avengers), Kelly Preston (Who was the wife of John Travolta), Kobe Bryant (NBA basketball legend), 'The Soulman' Rocky Johnson (Son of the late 'High Chief' Pita Maivia & father of world famous global icon Dwayne Johnson (Formerly The Rock during his WWE days), Max von Sydow as well as our own Kiwi celebs including Jeanette Fitzsimons (Ex-Green Party leader) & Aaron Tokona (The lead singer of the New Zealand rock band Weta), that was the year before Larry King (The world famous talk show host), John Madden (The legendary American football/gridiron coach & broadcaster), DMX (The famous American rapper), Murray Walker (The original voice of Formula 1), Max Mosley (The former head of the FIA), Al Unser Sr (The American motor racing legend & a 4 time winner of the Indy 500 along with 2 other Americans of AJ Foyt, Rick Mears & Brazilian Helio Castroneves), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Royal Highness Prince Philip (Husband of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II) as well as Massimo Cuttita (The former Italian rugby player) & Betty White (The famous American actress & comedian) as the list of famous celebs who have passed away).

And finally the latest on the Super Rugby Pacific competition as the results of the 10th round of the competition are in:

Hurricanes 32 - 27 Brumbies (It was the Hurricanes night as they topple the most competitive Australian side against New Zealand teams of the Brumbies at Sky Stadium in Wellington)

Waratahs 21 - 20 Highlanders (And it was the Waratahs who stole the show as they snatched it at the death to down the Highlanders (Who thought they had it until they conceded a try & a game winning conversion by the Tahs to lose that game in which they were so gutted & is one of the bogey teams in all of the New Zealand sides in Super Rugby Pacific) at Allianz Stadium in Sydney as they scored the try with the kick to come by successfully converting it to pull off a tremendous victory (It is reminiscent of Ardie Savea scoring that cracking try for the Hurricanes against the Blues last year with a kick to come, before successfully converting it by Ruben Love to seal the deal & win it in the dying seconds), ending the Highlanders hopes for a win)

Fijian Drua 14 - 30 Blues (It was the Blues day as they held off a strong challenge against the Fijian Drua at Churchill Park in Lautoka)

Moana Pasifika 33 - 43 Rebels (It was the Rebels who trounce the Moana Pasifika side who remain winless in the competition at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland)

Chiefs 34 - 24 Crusaders (And that game was by far, the best of the season as the Chiefs stay undefeated with a brilliant win against the Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton what was a season defining moment, to go 9 & 0 in the competition this year but their next match is against the worst New Zealand side in the competition which is the Highlanders on May 5th, in which they'll put their winning streak on the line going into the next game)

& Reds 31 - 17 Force (And it was the Reds (Who have their coach Brad Thorn in his final ever season as he is announced that he is stepping down) who prevail over the Force at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane)

So that is my 498th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 22nd of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. Just wanted to give Aunty Tan a shout out for her 55th birthday over in Canada so best wishes.

Rescued/In My Head: My 21st blog of the year 2023

Well, there is rumors & reports that Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (Who plays for the Blues in Super Rugby Pacific & was an All Black last year (His form had been lacklustre) but he's about to leave with the franchise (Although he is currently out dealing with concussion) has had enough with rugby union as he prepares to return to rugby league in the NRL to play for the New Zealand Warriors again which is next year.

And if someone like a member of our whanau says "I'll be back", I always say "Oi, that's a bit of a Terminator reference" regarding to the famous classic line taken from the Terminator film series franchise (And they have released 6 films so far such as the Terminator (Which came out in 1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator Genisys (2015) & the most recent Terminator series movie being released is Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), but I have 6 favourite movie stars ranging from big names such as Arnold Schwarzenegger (The main star of the Terminator movie franchise who plays the title character of Terminator T-800 & has appeared all but one Terminator series movie (He appears in Terminator: Salvation via CGI) then Douglas Quaid from Total Recall, Detective John Kimble from Kindergarten Cop & Adam Gibson from The 6th Day), Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt from the Mission Impossible series, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell from Top Gun & its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, Cole Trickle from Days of Thunder as well as John Anderton from Minority Report & Captain Nathan Algren from The Last Samurai), Samuel L Jackson (Who is my favourite African American movie star who played Mace Windu from the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction, Elmo McElroy from The 51st State as well as Sargeant Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson from S.W.A.T. & Neville Flynn from Snakes On a Plane), Keanu Reeves (Agent Johnny Utah from Break Point, Neo Anderson from The Matrix Series & John Wick from the John Wick series) & the 2 New Zealanders of both Temuera Morrison (Doctor Hone Ropata from the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, Jake 'the Muss' Heke from one of the the greatest NZ movies ever made of Once Were Warriors & Jango Fett & the Galactic Republic clone troopers from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones & Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Galactic Republic clone troopers only) & Karl Urban (Eomer from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, John 'Reaper' Grimm from Doom & William Cooper from Red) even though some people could be a fan of the Terminator series or may have watched the movie themselves.

And Pops told me in April that the former Auckland, Blues & All Black rugby player of Sam Tuitupou (Father of a rugby player currently playing the New Zealand under 20's of Essendon) has knocked out a former New Zealand rugby league player of Roy Asotasi (Who used to play both the Bulldogs & the Rabbitohs in the NRL) during the Fight For Life boxing event which was inside 10 seconds into the bout (And it was shades of the cross code legend of Sonny Bill 'SBW' Williams knocking out former AFL player Barry Hall inside 2 minutes last year during a boxing bout according to the blog that I did last year).

And finally the latest on the Super Rugby Pacific competition as the results of the 9th round of the competition are in:

Chiefs 50 - 17 Fijian Drua (It was the Chiefs night as the demolish the Fijian Drua to pieces at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton to go 8 & 0 but they put their winning streak on the line against the Crusaders in a rematch of the 1st round where the Chiefs had claimed a boilover against the reigning champs)

Rebels 27 - 43 Crusaders (And it was the Crusaders who came from behind to dispatch the Rebels in their 1st game at AAMI Park in Melbourne since the Super Round in which they hammered the Highlanders in a blowout, but they're hoping to end the Chiefs 8 match winning streak going into the next game)

Blues 55 - 21 Waratahs (It was the Blues who thrash the Waratahs (Who were without key Wallabies such as Michael 'Hoops' Hooper, Lalakai Foketi & 'Marky' Mark Nawaqanitawase through the rest requirements policy so that they can play in both Bledisloe Cup tests & the Rugby World Cup) to keep their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals of Super Rugby Pacific alive at Eden Park in Auckland)

& Force 30 - 17 Highlanders (And it was the Force who smash the poor old Highlanders (Who had both players being sent to the bin during the match) who played their worst game of their lives at HBF Park in Perth)

So that is my 497th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 21st of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And a shout out to Dad, me & Aunty Tan for our birthdays coming up (Dad is celebrating his 54th on the 5th while my 32nd is on the 7th & Aunty Tan's 55th will be on the 10th but we are all getting old according to the estimates) this week but King's Birthday (Formerly Queen's Birthday since Her Majesty the Queen of Queen Elizabeth II had passed away 9 months ago & served in the monarch of the Britsh Commonwealth for 70 years by allowing His Majesty the King of King Charles III taking over the reins from her) is just around the corner on Dad's birthday which is the 5th of June.