You Stole the Sun From My Heart: My 12th blog of the year 2025

Well, s'up guys, as we welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first, there has been over 45,000 casualties reported during that dreadful war between Israel & Hamas which is still going at the moment which began on October 7th, 2023 in Gaza which is the modern day iteration of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 which happened in America in which the nation was under attack when the US declared the war on terror that lasted where they began to invade countries, such as Afghanistan & Iraq until 2021 with the end of the Afghanistan war in for it was a stark reminder, during that genocide with 250 hostages being kept in captivity with the Israelis currently on a mission to rescue the hostages but why are they always been doing terrible things after the US are spending millions of dollars in their aid package & then they start murdering innocent civilians in war torn zones with Israelis asking every Palestinian in Gaza to evacuate, & I mean, that's literally rubbish, absolute ludicrous but, oh this is terrible stuff going on there, while in Syria that the rebel soldiers are searching for troops who served under the Assad regime that had fallen last year & urged/warned citizens who are civilians to remain at their homes in the aftermath of the 13 year civil war that concluded with the fall of Bashar al-Assad as the leader of the country, & it was in 2011 that popular discontent with the rule of al-Assad triggered large-scale protests & pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region which resulted in a clamp down of pro-democracy stuff in which the civil war began which had 528,500 lost their lives in that cruel struggle.

And what a great year that was last year, especially the sporting success we had such as the Paris Summer Games in which we won a record 10 gold medals as the New Zealand Olympic team broke the previous all-time record set in Los Angeles in 1984 with 8 (But the key highlight for me was Hamish Kerr (One of 3 New Zealand sporting heroes alongside fellow golden boy Finn Butcher & an All White currently playing for an English club of Nottingham Forest competing in the Premier League, Chris Wood) winning the high jump in which he beat American competitor Shelby McEwen who had to settle for the silver, in a jump off to decide the outcome of securing gold & cement an iconic piece of New Zealand sporting history, to say the least), then the America's Cup of course as well with Team New Zealand (The 5 time champions of the Auld Mug (One of the most successful teams in America's Cup history during the modern era (We were late starters in 1986-87 therefore or country's involvement into the America's Cup began, inspired by the Aussie success that they had over the United States in 1983), the most by a non-American syndicate by far who joined the likes of the Black Caps, the White Ferns, women's K4 sprint, women's K2 sprint, Brooke Francis & Lucy Spoors, & the Black Ferns sevens) setting a new record of becoming the first syndicate to win 3 times in a row in modern history, therefore we dominated the last 3 America's Cups starting from Bermuda in 2017, then continuing on in Auckland on home waters in 2021 & now Barcelona last year in which the comment I remember from the current day voice of sailing of Stephen McIvor that we produced a Mediterranean masterclass, & then the Black Caps memorable test series win over India on Indian soil for the first time ever in one of the most test cricket series wins for New Zealand of all-time, & the White Ferns finally becoming champions of the world of women's cricket, in the T20 format in that epic final against South Africa women in Dubai in the UAE with Mellie Kerr (Who joined the likes of fellow successful New Zealand Olympic heroines such as Dame Lisa Carrington, Lydia Ko, Sarah Hirini, Risi Pouri-Lane & Ellesse Andrews) earned a place in sporting history as she was the most standout player of the tournament as well as producing a bit of magic as she was named standout player of the final for her all-round performance needless to say.

And I saw Wendy (Sister of Tania Phillips & one of Pops cuzzies who currently lives in Dunedin in the Otago region for I have not seen her since 2022) & her husband Michael (Whose into the Eagles & Netflix for which I'm always not interested at) at Rutland Arms in which me & Pops turned up late because it was supposed to be half past 8, but I had a great meal there, especially the big breakfast we had but with no bread & hashbrowns, & what a beauty it was (Although we had a bit of banter between the married couple for which I literally enjoyed except that we turned up late as a result, but we had visitors come to Rutland such as Pops old mate from Ardmore Teachers College days such as Val & his wife Shelley on the 13th of January this year).

And finally I had a decent Christmas over there at Dad's place (Compared to 2023 where I was in Northland with Carole & Pops spending time over there at Kathryn's place with her & Ken as well as the 2 dogs of Yodi & Daisy), especially the food that I love as well as the presents (But my main one such as the physical copy of the Rugby Challenge 4 game on the PS4 (Dad told me that it was out of stock here so it was available abroad straight out of the UK) didn't arrive so I'll definitely wait because it takes a week or a fortnight to sort it out)

So that is my 588th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 12th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Ain't No Rest For the Wicked/Ready To Let Go/Social Cues: My 11th blog of the year 2025

Well, what's going on as we welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first, in the cricket (Well, everything is about the cricket here in New Zealand as the rugby season is over already (Except in the Northern Hemisphere where it's still going, especially the Investec Champions Cup, & with the Six Nations due in late January this year) until February starting with the Super Rugby Pacific season with the 1st match of the competition taking place on Valentine's Day between the 2 former champions of Super Rugby, the Crusaders & the Hurricanes (Who'll be without 1 test AB Ruben Love, as he faces his spell in the sidelines for 3 to 4 months with a bad injury that he took during pre-season training) at Apollo Projects Stadium (Which is going to be replaced by One New Zealand Stadium when it opens next year as a replacement venue of the old Lancaster Park which closed its doors as a result of damage sustained by the earthquake back in 2011 (That was the year after the 1st Christchurch earthquake) in which was the most tragic here in New Zealand compared to 9/11 in America way back in 2001 & the July 7th bombings in London in the UK also way back in 2005 after the city had been awarded hosting rights to the Summer Games in 2012) in Christchurch in the Canterbury region) as the Black Caps went on to win the 3rd & final test against England (Who had to win the series as well as the inaugural Crowe-Thorpe trophy (The competition named after both late cricket legends of Martin Crowe (Who passed away in 2016 after a lengthy battle with a terminal illness) & Graham Thorpe (Who tragically passed away last year as a result of taking his own life when he got fatally run over by a train in the UK (And he had depression according to his family) after dominating the 1st 2 tests in both Christchurch & Wellington in which the Black Caps are out of the picture of reaching the World Test Championship final at Lord's) at Seddon Park in Hamilton in Tim Southee's farewell test as former captain Kane Williamson posted a ton in the 2nd innings, meanwhile Australia (Who had been a global superpower in world cricket since 2023 when they completed a treble such as the WTC, the Ashes & the men's Cricket World Cup) have levelled the BGT series against India at Adelaide 1 - 1 before the 3rd test in Brisbane had ended in a draw (With both Travis Head & Steve Smith posting tons respectively) meaning that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is still locked up at 1 apiece going into the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.

And in motor racing related news such as Liam Lawson has departed Racing Bulls (Who'll have Algerian-Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Who narrowly missed out on claiming the F2 title to Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto whose with KICK Sauber F1 Team now alongside German Nico Huelkenberg) replacing Lawson to pair up with Japan's Yuki Tsunoda) meaning that he's in to replace Mexican Sergio Perez at Red Bull when he pairs alongside his new teammate of the 4 time defending Formula One world champion, Dutchman Max Verstappen in a bid of regaining constructors championship glory after McLaren ended Red Bull's 2 year reign on top of the constructors championship summit last year with the season opening race locked in on the 16th of March this year with Australia hosting round 1 of the world championship since 2019 (Then a year later in 2020 (That was the year after the Christchurch mosque shooting massacre which was tragic along with a pair of shootings in Dayton & El Paso in the United States that was inspired by the tragic events in Christchurch, & the White Island eruption which resulted in severe casualties + there was protests in Hong Kong, China where there is a ban on political freedom in the region due to China's imposition of a controversial national security law in the country & the bushfires in Australia had taken place from 2019 until 2020, right before COVID came along) where they thought they're going to open the F1 season, but called off immediately due to COVID), but in news related to the Supercars Championship (Which will open the season at Sydney Motorsport Park for the first time since 2022 on the weekend of the 21st to the 23rd of February, compared to IndyCar hosting the season opener at St Pete in Florida in the United States of America on the 2nd of March (That's a fortnight before F1 begins their new season on March 16th down under at the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit at Albert Park in the city of Melbourne which hosts the Australian Grand Prix) that Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell could potentially host another New Zealand round of the championship next year (But the Supercars Championship has never hosted a round in the South Island of New Zealand, but it's mainly the North Island of NZ mainly hosts it on that occasion (First it was Pukekohe, before that it was Hamilton, then Pukekohe again, & it's Taupo now) to join alongside Taupo International Motorsport Park which is contracted to run until also next year.

And the nominees are in for the 62nd Halberg Sports awards sponsored by ISPS Handa with New Zealand's most successful Olympian of Dame Lisa Carrington (Who had an ultra successful year at the Paris Summer Games as she brought home 3 golds (Including being part of the women's K4 sprint kayak with Olivia Brett, Alicia Hoskin & Tara Vaughan, women's K2 sprint kayak with Hoskin, & on her own in the women's K1 sprint kayak) during the summer Olympics) leading the way in terms of sports nominations such as Sportswoman of the Year (The other nominees are Ellesse Andrews, Sarah Hirini, Amelia 'Mellie' Kerr, Lydia Ko & Risi Pouri-Lane are among the contenders/front runners of claiming sportswoman of the year) & Team of the Year (Along with the Black Caps, Black Ferns sevens, Brooke Francis & Lucy Spoors, Emirates Team New Zealand (Who dominated the last 3 America's Cups in Bermuda 2017 then Auckland 2021, & Barcelona last year) & the White Ferns) as part of the women's K2 sprint kayak, & the women's K4 sprint kayak as well (While both Finn Butcher & Hamish Kerr battle it out for the Sportsman of the Year awards along with 5 others including All White Chris Wood).

And finally Carole is off to the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to see her family there during Christmas time (And last year me, Pops & Carole were in Northland for which would be my last holiday since I'm retiring from going on trips (I thought me & Pops were going to see Cathey, Paige & Norah in Wellington this year in January, but I decided to drop out of it citing fears of Pops old age & travel costs regarding to inflation mainly due to the dreadful war that has still been going since 2022 (And I've made my decision to move on from the 3 of them until further notice, & for the foreseeable future but I'm still going to meet them one day) like that according to the previous blogs that I did) such as her bro Zaki, Zaki's wife Aisha, Zaki's son Yasser & Zaki's grandson & Yasser's son Kace, but I miss her now & I'll be seeing her on the 2nd of January next year when she comes back from Dubai on a long flight, but me & Pops will be at Dad's place on Christmas day last year on the 25th of December (And I've got a present including the physical copy of the Rugby Challenge 4 game on the PS4, but I'm giving it to Dad so that he can update the players & teams which is a bit tricky since I got the digital copy that I bought since 2020).

So that is my 587th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 11th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Bobby Sox/Routines In the Night: My 10th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everyone, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first here in New Zealand that there will be a crack down on greyhound racing with regards to animal cruelty according to the announcement from wily old politician Winston Peters (Ex-National) from the NZ First Party, but Pops told me that the reason why that they gonna prohibit them under the anti-greyhound racing legislation is that greyhound dogs are getting starved because they don't eat much by getting themselves fit to race meaning that they had some problems to the racing dogs recently.

Meanwhile that there was a rugby related story about the late great All Black Jerry Collins during his time with the Ospreys in Wales that he turned up at some place in the valleys & asked the bartender if he could watch television, but the reply came that the television was in the corner, & it was a little one so JC supposedly went across to the local Tesco as he bought a 50 inch one & took it back to the pub saying to the bartender "Plug that one in, mate", & then in all of a sudden "He then watched what he wanted to watch & left the television there", & it ended with "He was a very generous man", but continuing on to the rugby news such as All Black Jordie Barrett made much of an impression when he made his debut for Leinster as he scored a try during the Investec Champions Cup encounter against the Bristol Bears.

And I've started having the Man Shake when I saw on a TV advert that I got at Woolworths (Formerly Countdown) so I can go down to 100kg in order to lose weight but now I'm down to 119 kilos (I originally weighed in at 124kg before I got on the Man Shake diet, but now I'm on Complan (Which is the cheaper alternative to the Man Shake) since the Man Shake has got a bit expensive, but I used to have Complan since it got dear) as of today but I go off it every weekend but I always have foods that are 3 & a half stars or above & have a zero alcohol beer every time I have dinner, while in gaming related stuff that the reason why I've bought that 2TB Xbox Series X console is before the 2nd Trump presidency is about to commence on Inauguration Day next year, & that's why that I made my decision to save money from now on, but my main focus is getting the new Rugby 25 game digitally on both the PS4 & PS5 versions once it comes out possibly next year (And I'll be getting the physical copy of the PS5 version for my Dad), meanwhile the new Virtua Fighter game has been confirmed & also the PC version of the game is due to come out in late January next year dubbed as Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. which is the first Virtua Fighter release on PC in 28 years (And I have got both Virtua Fighter games such as Final Showdown on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Series X console & Ultimate Showdown on the PS4 via PS5 Pro console respectively).

And finally in news related to motor racing in the Formula One as Lando Norris claims victory in the season finale in Abu Dhabi in the UAE (The country that Carole is heading to see her rugby following bro Zaki until she comes back here on the 2nd of January this year) as he helped McLaren win their first constructors championship since 1998, & the first time that the global racing icon had won the constructors crown during the 21st century (They needed to outscore & outshone Ferrari to become the new constructors champion of the world, & they did, they successfully did during the constructors championship decider where it was the first time that Verstappen won the world championship, but his team he races for of Red Bull failed to win the constructors crown since 2021 in which Mercedes-AMG won (In which was controversial where the race director got fired for allegedly botching a safety car period & lapped cars procedure in which the result hadn't been changed meaning that it stood, compared to last year where it was less controversial), but Hamilton had failed to become the drivers world champion because it went to Max) as he sends a statement to his rivals that he is a clear favourite to win the world championship this year in which the Grand Prix was marred by the 4 time defending world champion Max Verstappen who picked up a timed penalty for deliberately taking out Aussie Oscar Piastri (Norris's teammate & wingman) in the opening lap of the race in what was to be the last race for Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes before he heads to Ferrari to replace the Williams bound Carlos Sainz.

So that is my 586th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 10th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Any Colour You Like/Eclipse: My 9th blog of the year 2025

Well, hi everybody, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog but first in Formula One with the newly crowned 4 time world champion Max Verstappen who was denied pole due to a 1 place grid penalty for blatantly or should I say, deliberately slowing George Russell (Who was later declared the polesitter after Verstappen's pole winning time had been overturned as a result of a penalty) down during qualifying, went on to win in Qatar for his 9th win of the season (In which he his victory wasn't denied but counted as his win in Qatar had to stand), but the constructors championship will be decided in Abu Dhabi (Which hosts the last race of the season which will be the final race of Lewis Hamilton for the constructor he races for of Mercedes-AMG in which he won 6 world championships with since he joined the team in 2013 as a replacement for Michael Schumacher before he heads to Ferrari next year to team up with Charles Leclerc & it'll be the debut Grand Prix for young Aussie Jack Doohan as he takes over Frenchman Esteban Ocon's race seat as Ocon is preparing to go to Haas next year to team up with a young Brit of Ollie Bearman) between McLaren & Ferrari in the aftermath of Lando Norris who got pinged with a stop & go penalty for 10 seconds due to going too fast when the yellow flags were waved so that's why there was an infringement handed out against Norris therefore denying McLaren's chances to wrap it up even though with Red Bull out of the picture of retaining the constructors championship, & also that they should've triggered a yellow flag due to Alex Albon's Williams mirror had come off with Kick Sauber's Valtteri Bottas running over it which caused flatties to both Hamilton (The multiple world champion who drives for Mercedes-AMG would later pick up a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane) & Carlos Sainz (The Williams bound Ferrari driver).

And the latest in America as US president elect Donald Trump names his cabinet being announced including Marco Rubio (Who is sanctioned by China in 2020) as secretary of state & Kash Patel becoming the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation once he takes office as he declares war on both immigration (In which military personnel are being sent for a mass deportation is being required in which immigrants are being sent home to their home country/country of birth even though with the military being given orders to them) & the tariff stuff (In which gaming stuff such as PlayStation are expected to be expensive once Trump is sworn in yet again on Inauguration Day this year) which has been going on there, but the latest as there is a ceasefire between Israel & Hezbollah in Lebanon which has been confirmed, but why has the Israelis continue to invade Gaza? Come on! And meanwhile that there is a civil war going on there in Syria as rebels take control of the 2nd largest city in the country of Aleppo, so that's why the civil war began in 2011 due to a clamp down on pro-democracy protests according to the president Bashir al-Assad (Who had to flee to Russia to get away from the Rebels with Syria now entering the post al-Assad family rule (First it was Bashar's dad Hafez (Who passed away in 2000 at the age of 69 due to a cardiac arrest) & then, Bashar himself took over before the rebels storm in to take over Syria as he fled to a different country).

And onto the rugby stuff as Wallace Sititi (Who I label him as New Zealand rugby's equivalent of cricket's Rachin Ravindra with Sititi being rocketed to stardom by following his famous dad Semo's footsteps of becoming a pro) has been crowned the World Rugby breakthrough player of the year at the awards which took place in Monte Carlo in the principality of Monaco following his impressive season he had for both the Chiefs in the Super Rugby Pacific season & the All Blacks during the test season, but disaster for our defending Olympic champions the Black Ferns sevens (Who were riding high after retaining the gold in Paris against Canada during the gold medal match at the Summer Games in Paris) as we fell short in the Dubai women's 7's final against the Wallaroos sevens who had a disappointing Olympics, but now on the recovery mode to take the lead in the standings after the Aussies start their Olympic cycle by claiming the Dubai women's sevens championship with their star player Maddison Levi (The women's sevens player of the year) who scored the winning try off an intercept which was the turning point that the Australians needed before the Black Ferns sevens (Who had young Jorja Miller as our rugby player of the year at the NZ rugby awards) had a fantastic turnaround in Cape Town to win the South African leg of the women's cup when we defeated the United States in the final.

And finally in the Premier League in England as league leaders Liverpool (Who are leading by 9 ahead of Arsenal but can they chase Liverpool down? I hope not from Leon Benbaruk's point of view) defeated the defending champions Man City (Who need to regroup by getting a bunch of good players with the January transfer window fast approaching, while their coach Pep Guardiola signalling 6 to the Liverpool crowd which the Liverpool fans didn't like it by booing Guardiola which indicates the continuation of the invincibility of Manchester City's utter dominance) by 2 goals to nil (The goal scorers for Liverpool are young Dutchman Cody Gakpo & the star Egyptian Mo Salah) to maintain their lead in the standings before a late goal by Newcastle United off Swiss player who plays for the club, Fabian Schaer, has denied Liverpool a certain win as they snatched a draw which was the game changer inspired by Maddie Levi's try that sink the Black Fern's sevens quest of winning in Dubai in the women's 7's cup final, meaning that their lead in the Premier League has been cut to possibly 7 or 8 after Arsenal's win against Man United while Chelsea close the gap on the league leaders Liverpool who had their Merseyside derby game against Everton postponed due to Storm Darragh.

So that is my 584th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 8th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.