Well, I have added Nicolas Cage (Memphis Raines from Gone In 60 Seconds), Vin Diesel (Dominic 'Dom' Toretto from the Fast & the Furious film franchise) & Bruce Willis (AKA Korben Dallas from the Fifth Element who had to retire from acting in 2022 due to dementia) as part of my favourite movie stars list, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise (IMF agent Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible series), Samuel L Jackson (Mace Windu from the Star Wars prequel trilogy & Nick Fury from the Marvel comics superhero film, the Avengers), Keanu Reeves (Thomas A 'Neo' Anderson from the Matrix series), Jackie Chan & the 2 Kiwis of Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as well as the Galactic Republic clone troopers from both AOTC & Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) & Karl Urban (Eomer from both Lord of the Rings films such as the Two Towers & the Return of the King), but my fave Nicolas Cage film is Gone In 60 Seconds (That was the first movie I saw at a movie theater way back in 2000 while my first movie I watched was True Lies) on an old video tape, compared to my favourite Vin Diesel movie is The Fast & The Furious (In which I've first seen in 2003 on Sky Movies) & my fave Bruce Willis movie would have to be The Fifth Element (It was 20 years ago when I first watched it way back in 2004 (Same year that the lower North Island of New Zealand were impacted by the floods that they once had (Compared to Cyclone Gabrielle that they had last year in which the Hawke's Bay region (That is Jansen's current home province because he used to be in the Whanganui region but Jans hasn't got a partner now since Millie left him by terminating her relationship with Jansi, just like Leon who is no longer with Hanne in 2020 as he met Michelle & is about to marry her, but he has recent health issues lately (And it has been 219 days since Pops & I last saw him on the last day of July last year) was impacted) then the terrorist train bombings had happened in Madrid, Spain (That was the year before London had it's 9/11 moment when the city had its terrorist attack on the 7th of July in 2005 (Same year that Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith came out in cinemas, then the All Blacks winning the test series with a stunning clean sweep against the British & Irish Lions (Which was marred by losing their captain Brian O'Driscoll during the first test in Christchurch with a serious injury after being tip tackled by All Blacks captain at the time of Tana Umaga who should've been suspended in light of the foul play incident along with Kevin Mealamu) as well as in the cricket that England led by Michael Vaughan which featured the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Marcus Trescothick, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard & others finally winning the Ashes series in 16 long years against their old foe of Australia featuring a star studded lineup of captain Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, the late Shane Warne & others, & last but not least, Fernando Alonso becoming the first Spaniard in history (As well as breaking Emerson Fittipaldi's then record of becoming the youngest world champion in F1 (It was Lewis Hamilton who broke Alonso's all time record in 2008, followed by Sebastian Vettel who took over from Hamilton in 2010 in which the record stands as of today) to win the Formula One crown in which he ended Michael Schumacher's reign as the world champion) through terrible bombings throughout the area (That was 6 years before the Christchurch earthquakes on the 22nd of February in 2011 (That was prior to Christchurch losing the rights to host RWC games, especially the 2 quarterfinal matches being scheduled in the aftermath of the old Lancaster Park unable to continue as a result of earthquake damage caused by it), just 7 months before the start of the Rugby World Cup here in New Zealand & 8 years before the city was crippled by the mass mosque shooting massacre in which the gunman (Whose currently behind bars serving an imprisonment for life sentence) opened fire by claiming 51 lives in which our country of New Zealand had its 9/11 moment when they introduced a crack down on assault rifles just like in Australia in the aftermath of the tragic shootings in Port Arthur, Tasmania in 1996 where an AR-15 was used for the mass killings which murdered 35 people, Norway & the UK following the Christchurch terror attack), just days after being awarded as host city of the 2012 Olympic Games) then Greece coached by German Otto Renhagel winning Euro 2004 against hosts Portugal (Who 12 years later would gone on to win their 1st Euros against hosts at the time of France back in 2016) in that memorable final that they had (They had to beat the tournament favourites & defending champions at the time of France in the quarterfinal in one of the biggest upsets of the Euros (Compared to 1992 where Denmark was in after FR Yugoslavia who had to withdraw when a civil war had broken out in their home country according to the blogs that I did last year in February), as well as Athens hosting the Olympic Games in which our Kiwis claimed 3 gold medals during our campaign (The gold medalists for our country in Athens 2004 were the Evers-Swindell twins of Caroline & Georgina in rowing (They followed it up by defending it in Beijing in 2008 in a close but tense finish (Then they retired following their success once more) similar to Mahe Drysdale did in Rio in 2016 according to the previous blogs that I did) to join the likes of Val Adams (Who was known as Valerie Vili back then) & Tom Ashley as the other gold medalists in Beijing 2008) then Sarah Ulmer in cycling (Who had faced her good mate from Australia of Katie McAtier in the final of the women's individual pursuit) & Hamish Carter in the triathlon in which he became the only New Zealander to win gold in that event where he finished ahead of fellow Kiwi Bevan Docherty), & the earthquake & tsunami that happened on the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day on 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 to 9.3, struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia as a deadly tsunami that hit the coasts of several countries of South and Southeast Asia and caused immense destruction when the tsunami waves caused widespread death and injuries, displaced thousands, destroyed towns, homes, livelihoods, infrastructure, and wrecked coastal areas (And I remember at one point where I watched it on TV in 2004 (That was the year that I went to Christchurch with Pops & the late Nan in my first ever expedition to the South Island (I have been there like 3 times such as in 2017 then most recently in 2019 (A year right before the world changed everything when the global COVID-19 pandemic occurred in 2020), which was my last holiday prior to the tragic event of my generation unfolded (And my first holiday was in Northland with Pops & Carole late last year which was our first in the post COVID-19 pandemic era), a year before going to Samoa in my first international holiday in 2005 (That was 5 years before my first venture to Australia in the Gold Coast in 2010 with my whanau especially Dad, Dad's 2nd partner, Bernard & Jansen, a year before my last international holiday in 2011 where I went to Australia once again, this time with the late Nan & Pops) about the Black Caps playing a One Day International cricket match on Boxing Day against Sri Lanka before the visiting team pulled out citing fears of the tragic events unfolded in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean earthquake & tsunami that they just had).
And there is numerous amount of confirmed cases of COVID-19 (Which had its pandemic 4 years ago after the World Health Organization declared it world wide when it began to spread which resulted in shutdowns & restrictions, 4 months after the very first confirmed case had occurred in a fish market in Wuhan, China (But I thought it occurred at a laboratory rather than a fish market according to a comment from Carole that I barely remember), which was our tragic event throughout my generation when the whole world was on pause for much of both 2020 & 2021, compared to the 9/11 tragedy in America way back in 2001 & it's worse than the Pearl Harbor invasion in 1941, V-Day in 1945 & both JFK & Doctor Martin Luther King getting assassinated in 1963 & 1968 respectively according to the blogs that I did in late 2022) in Singapore meaning that they turned the whole nation into a battlefield/war zone just before the Christmas & new year period, even though the Singaporeans might have declared war on the corona virus once again (And there was a school in Christchurch recently as there was an outbreak of the corona virus from their students before they had made the right decision to close according to the staff, especially the school principal).
And I did not know Pops is a great-grandfather of Norah (Who is Paige (My cuzzie as well as my honorary sister (Well, it's official now as of today unlike Andy's wife Kelsey who is my 2nd choice) just like Leon Benbaruk having Sophia Ong (Who has her son Shaia already & is due to give birth to her second child in December last year) as his honorary daughter) & Jarrod's daughter, but I'm trying to use Norah as part of my influence about her on my blogs as a symbol) on Cathey Middelplaats's side of the family, just like me having both great grandmothers such as the late Nana Minnie (Who was with the late Jim Ngapo (Who is an avid Indian curry food lover just like me as well as beer fanatic along with Uncle Wally & me) until he passed away in the mid 80's) on Pops side & the late Enid (Who was with the late Ron as well) who passed away in January 1998 on the late Nan's side of the whanau.
And the latest in the NBA as Golden State Warriors player Draymond Green (Who is basketball's equivalent of Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios) is in the firing line as he is suspended again indefinitely (Now 3 weeks since he is required to undergo counseling) for one of the most cowardly acts of the year as he struck Phoenix Suns player Jusuf Nurkic in the head by flooring him which resulted in a flagrant foul as well as an instant ejection from the game.
And I told Pops that the New Zealand supermarket chain of Countdown is renaming back to Woolworths (Who haven't used their name since they left the NZ market in 2011 when it became Countdown) starting from the 1st of January this year following a name change as part of a makeover which is worth $400 million, but Woolworths has declared war on rats & mice when they invaded their supermarkets so they need to introduce pests to end that invasion in the aftermath of one of their supermarkets in South Dunedin had been ruined by rodents although they had to close due to rat infestation with the supermarket giant now under review with mice & rats could contaminate food with salmonella or E. coli bacteria, while most shoppers are being panicked about the situation as they sent in alarm bells when they alerted to their workers.
And finally in rugby related news as this year's Six Nations competition (Which is the 1st international rugby competition being staged following last year's Rugby World Cup in France as well as a new World Cup cycle on the horizon) due to get underway with previous hosts of the RWC, the Gregory Alldritt led France (Who fell short against the eventual champions South Africa (Who had their winger Cheslin Kolbe charge down an attempted conversion by French fullback Thomas Ramos in the quarterfinal in which the French were gutted about the result meanwhile there was joy for the Springboks would gone on to appear another semi after a win by the barest of margins which is a point or less over the French who crashed out of their home tournament in which they were absolutely, totally but bitterly disappointed about the result like I said before in my previous blogs) in the quarterfinal of the tournament last year) square off against the reigning Six Nations champions of the Peter O'Mahony led Ireland (Who didn't get the result that they needed against our very own All Blacks side in a 4 point loss also in the quarters of the World Cup with the winning turnover provided by Sam Whitelock which broke Irish hearts therefore their ambitions of breaking their quarterfinal drought at the RWC continues) at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille (And both sides of the French & the Irish were expected to meet in the final, but that's not the case as it turned out to be an All Blacks - Springboks final instead (And it was during the final of last year's torrid Rugby World Cup that the 14 man All Blacks couldn't even stop the Springboks dynasty which continued at the Rugby World Cup (In which the sequel to Chasing the Sun about the Springboks successful World Cup glory in 2019, is being on the cards with last years edition, has been confirmed as Chasing the Sun 2 which is about South Africa retaining the contest of rugby's biggest prize, the Rugby World Cup (It is similar to the America's Cup that Team New Zealand tried & tested our Black Magic boat in which we first won in 1995 (3 years after the events of bowspritgate that cost the New Zealand Challenge a chance of America's Cup glory against the Italian boat Il Moro de Venezia led by an American named Paul Cayard (The former Young America helmsman & AmericaOne skipper) who successfully triumphed in the old Louis Vuitton Cup before fallen just short against America3 in the AC match) in San Diego, California, USA against Dennis Conner & co of Stars & Stripes onboard the Young America boat according to the previous blogs that I did, 5 years before our successful defence at Auckland in 2000 against the Luna Rossa Challenge from Italy, then 17 years later that the newly named Emirates Team New Zealand won in Bermuda in 2017 against Oracle Team USA led by Jimmy Spithill, 4 years before our retention of the Auld Mug in Auckland in 2021 against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in a COVID-19 affected year) just like in 1995) cue the bad refereeing calls from Wayne Barnes (Just like in 2007 against France which hurt us including the pass was adjudged to be forward in the leadup to the winning try, which should've been overturned by the TMO), who was the victim of online hate by those abusive die-hard All Blacks fans (Including the decision about whether the winning try by the All Blacks counts, but it was knocked on at the scrum that cost us) on social media, in which the rugby world was crying red card (With sanctions/repercussions likely to being handing out for those who spew online hate towards their rugby referees social media accounts) followed by the struggling Italy (Who have yet to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup) locking horns with the Jamie George led England (Who finished 3rd against Argentina in the bronze final at last year's Rugby World Cup after a semifinal defeat which was less than a point by a whisker against the champion Boks side who had Leicester Tigers player Handre Pollard scoring the match winning penalty goal that put them through to another final) at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome & Wales (Who missed out on a win against Argentina in the quarterfinal to set up a semifinal showdown against the AB's) hosting Scotland (Who failed to qualify for the quarters during the tournament after their defeat against Ireland) at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
So that is my 533rd blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 9th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.
P.S. And it is 4 years since the world had changed when the global COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020 where there were shutdowns & restrictions in place when it began to spread in 2019 as the WHO declared it a pandemic in which the world was on pause for many of both 2020 & 2021 like I said before, & now we have both wars going on such as the one where it began in February 2022 (And it has been kept going since) that I still cannot post it according to Pops in 2022 when he said to me that he actually thinks it's objectionable & sensitive to the country who started it & of course, the situation in Gaza where there has been an update to the death toll that there was 30,000 innocent lives being taken away during the war which began on October 7th last year (And it's been 5 months since the controversial war began where Israeli troops are currently searching for hostages who are being captured by Hamas forces (And there is no food, no water, no medical supplies & nowhere safe during the Gaza crisis that they're just having) & there is mass protests around the world about the war in which security had been upped to prevent any further incidents from happening (Unlike in the Premier League football in England that they made the decision to prohibit both Israel & Palestine flags being carried onto the stadium in an effort to reduce the number of incidents that they just had, but the fans defied that move during a Liverpool home game where fans carried Palestine flags onto the stadium & chanted "Free Palestine" during a moment of silence to honour the victims of that senseless war which had been cut short due to the controversial chants that the fans have made).
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