Ensenada: My 64th Blog of the year 2025

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger (For that will be my 2nd blog after Carole who unfortunately passed away 6 days ago for which was both heartbreaking & disheartening, but it's been a fortnight since I last saw her 8 days prior to her passing (And what's life after Carole like? Well, it seemed to me that my life has changed dramatically, again (Just like the late Nan passed away nearly a decade ago that changed my life), but first that I have lodged a protest about Paige Ahearn refusing me to accept my friend request on Facebook (Only my Malaysian bestie or I should say, BFF of Sophia Ong (Who I have not seen her for 8 years, 8 damn years when I was at the late Leon Benbaruk & Hanne's place back then in 2017 (That's a year before her marriage with her British husband, & has a son named Shaia who was born in 2021, & she had another child, but I'm not sure it's another boy or is it a girl (Maybe I'll ask her about that next time), 3 years before he had a bitter divorce with her, meaning that the late Jewish Moroccan moved to Auckland to be with his new partner Michelle Johansson (Who moved to Nottingham in England in the UK to be close with one of her sons), until Leon moved back here to Whanganui in 2022, then he left to join Chelle a year later in 2023 on the last day of July in which the last time I saw him (Compared to 2004 on New Year's Eve that I first met Leon, & became decent friends, but we used to play table hockey, then air hockey together since I got that air hockey table that I purchased in 2023 at Farmers), then he married MJ last year until he passed away back in March this year mainly as a result of health problems that he had, but I'm sorry to hear about his passing (And I've got a photo of me & him when it was taken in 2021 at Frank Bar in my bedroom) did for which I was happy, but I'll never add Jona Nareki who I met once before in 2020 as a Facebook friend mainly due to his rugby playing commitments (Even though Jona is friends with Pops on the social media platform), but one of Hera's friends back during school days of Justine Hoeta-McDonnell (Whom I heard that she's married lately meaning that she was happy about it, but Justine (A friend of mine also back in my school days where she told me in a text on my phone as of December 15th that Mrs Elizabeth Penny was playing the piano at a school assembly back in the old days during my time over there, & also Justine lives in Brisbane, Australia with her husband & kids, along with Hera who has another child which is a baby girl of Charley who is the sister of Willow, & daughter of Hera (Mum) & Brendan Baker (Dad) is the one who really appreciated my picture that I posted of my moustache lately regarding to Movember (AKA men's health awareness month), but I appreciate this hell sis) who she had an offer to be friends with me on Facebook, for which I reluctantly agreed upon it), mainly due to me losing interest of going on a holiday to Wellington with Pops or Dad in the future, but 2016 will be the last time I met both Cathey & Paige (I hate both of them now), & I won't meet them again for the rest of my life since both of them are close to the Middelplaats family (And they're not close to our Ngapo family), so I've decided to move on from them (And I insisted that I will not go to Wellington forever because of me boycotting any future holiday plans within the city that are now thrown into disarray).

And secondly that there has been a betting scandal that rocked the NBA, such as Portland Trial Blazers head coach & former NBA player Chauncey Billups, & both fellow ex-basketballers who once played in the NBA getting arrested for their crimes by the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) AKA the Feds, but there all calls for Billups (A former NBA champion who was part of the success with the Detroit Pistons in the 2003-04 season) to be stripped of his Basketball Hall of Fame induction, in wake of the scandal involving him & 2 others for their role in an illegal betting ring set up by the Mafia, & I mean, that is dreadful stuff, absolutely dreadful stuff, shocking (And the LA Clippers fans can be heard chanting F-B-I due to that betting scandal that rocked the NBA in which players playing in the league are prohibited to make bets, just like NFL players, as in the case of Calvin Ridley, in at that moment the Clippers won over the Trail Blazers during an NBA game).

And thirdly that the next America's Cup in Napoli 2027 won't feature American Magic who missed out on competing due to their syndicate missing on the teams list, so that's why they could not afford to take part as the deadline of making an entry expires soon for which is 2 years before it takes place, meaning that for the first time since 2017 that American Magic won't be involved at all (They first participated in 2021 as a replacement for Oracle Team USA in which they had a disaster when they capsized during high winds against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli during one of the challenger series races that took 10 days to undergo repairs to the wrecked boat before they sent packing in the semis, but Barcelona last year was their 2nd & final campaign altogether when they reached another challenger series semi against the Italians in that they fell short once again) according to the Whanganui Chronicle newspaper article that I witnessed.

And finally that normal service has resumed for the All Blacks who end the year on a high with a comprehensive rout over Wales (Who had Tom Rogers who filled in for the suspended Josh Adams as he bagged a hat-trick (Compared to Caleb Clarke who would score a double (And one of its tries had been disallowed by the TMO along with another one, & while the 3rd try had to be checked then counted because it was 3rd time lucky for New Zealand) after returning from a head knock that kept him out of the England test (So too is Fabian Holland who wasn't on the field against the English through illness) that resulted in a loss meaning that we missed out on our grand slam chances, but the Welsh lost both players to the bin, one for continuing to mount penalties & for a dangerous tackle that resulted in a sin binning offence & on report before it wasn't upgraded to a send off offence meaning that it had stayed as a sin bin rather by female Scottish referee Hollie Davidson (The twice World Rugby referee of the year) who became the first woman in history to take charge in an AB's test (She did it last year when she became the first female ref, to referee a men's rugby test between South Africa against Portugal), but the standout player of the game honours went to AB's number 8 forward Wallace Sititi who had a barnstorming performance), at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff by 26 points (The highlights of that game was the sidestep by Sevu Reece who just came onto the field to score a double just like Clarke which was one of the best sidesteps of all time in rugby history).

So that is my 640th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 64th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Starcrossed: My 63rd Blog of the year 2025 (AKA in memory of my close friend Carole Webb)

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that there was a tragic story regarding to 9/11 (For which was the first tragic event in the country since the JFK assassination way, way long ago in 1963 as no other event in US history, not even Pearl Harbor, the deadly attacks on New York & Washington that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people on September 11th, as some 2,750 people were killed in New York, 184 at the Pentagon, & 40 in Pennsylvania (Were one of the hijacked planes crashed onto the ground in Shanksville as the 9/11 terrorist attacks claimed 2,977 lives & changed the world as they knew it when the President of the United States at the time of George W. Bush led the national response in the uncertain days as they declared the war on terror, such as the wars on both Afghanistan that lasted until 2021 & Iraq which lasted until 2011) as 4 planes were hijacked (For which were coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda (19 of them were militants associated with the Islamic extremist group from at that moment, is that America was under attack when tragedy struck (And before September 11th, 2001 that it was easy to get on an aeroplane, but following the tragic circumstances that they had, it was incredibly difficult to board a plane like that for when at that certain moment, as the United States were under attack from terrorists) against America way back in 2001 on the morning of 9/11) where it's been 24 years since tragedy took place (And they already had the 24 year anniversary commemorations on September 11th this year, for which security had been heightened on that occasion, especially in New York), both brought down the World Trade Center Twin Tower buildings, while another crashed into the Pentagon located in Washington D.C., & the 4th one was forced down into the wooded area in Pennsylvania, the world was stunned as many lives were lost when the 2001 United States Grand Prix was the first major international event to be held within American boundaries since the terrorist attacks of 9-11 as the Americans embraced the occasion as a means of reacting to the atrocities & showing as best as they could that it was business as usual, as it fell a fortnight following the September 11th attacks, the first major event in the USA forming an emotional sporting bedrock for the country to begin its slow recovery, as the United States GP at Indianapolis, 19 days later, was the largest public gathering in the shattered nation since that fateful day as the warmth of the reception flowing from the mighty tiered grandstands left no doubt about the wisdom of running that race. Even though with the title haven been settled weeks before, it would have been not too tough for F1 to back out of its commitment. Although on that weekend, however, the GP acted as a statement of national resolve in the aftermath of such tragedy, when Finland's Mika Hakkinen (The double world champion who had a near fatal accident way back in 1995 during a qualifying session when Adelaide hosted the Australian Grand Prix, for the last time prior to Melbourne taking over from them of hosting a Grand Prix race in Australia from 1996 until 2019, & since 2022, where he survived the impact that he had endured during his motor racing career) in the McLaren won that Grand Prix, for the 20th & final time of his F1 career on that memorable occasion.

And secondly that the Springboks had dominated international rugby from 2018 when they beat the All Blacks in Wellington until 2019 when they won the men's Rugby World Cup in Japan, & for the last 3 years straight such as the successful defence of the men's Rugby World Cup in 2023, then back to back Rugby Championships in both last year & this year in which the bomb/nuke squad even never ever seem to fail when the coach decided to bring players off the pine onto the field early in situations like that in order to take advantage of it to replace players in the starting XV who fall out of favour, even when South Africa is trailing by a huge deficit (And it seemed to be innovative therefore creating a higher chance of a certain win).

And thirdly that there was an incident a few weeks ago, involving a man who smashed a window of the home of veteran New Zealand politician Winston Peters (And there was a dog inside, but what if the dog intervened by attacking the suspect? As the animal would even maul him to the ground) which resulted in an arrest by the police, but he is expected to face charges for the crime that he committed that was deemed to be deliberate which was at fault.

And finally after England had blown our chances of a grand slam for that had been dashed & short lived with an unfortunate loss in London (Our 3rd of the year, as well as our first since that record defeat against the world champions South Africa in Wellington, & our first against the English since the 2019 semi during the men's Rugby World Cup (And at Allianz Stadium Twickenham against the Red Roses men since 2012), the All Blacks have named our team to play against Wales for our last test of the year this year in 2025 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff (Our last meeting between the two was in 2022 where we walloped, pummeled & smashed them to bits & pieces in a comprehensive blowout win, including Aaron Smith scoring a try, then creating one for Ardie Savea for that was the best All Blacks game on foreign soil I have ever seen at the time, but the last time we lost to Wales was in 1953, even though with the Welsh are seeking 72 years of hurt, & we have not lost at that Principality Stadium ground since 2007 during the men's RWC against the hosts at the time of France (The only time we suffered a defeat since its opening in 1999 in time for rugby's global showpiece event as it was built to replace the old Cardiff Arms Park stadium), so here is the team naming in its entirety according to our AB's coach of Razor:

STARTING XV (RUN ON)

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams (Crusaders/Canterbury)

2 (Hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho (Chiefs/Waikato)

3 (Tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi (Hurricanes/Bay of Plenty)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Scott Barrett (Captain, Crusaders/Taranaki)

5 (No.5 lock): Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Simon Parker (Chiefs/Northland)

7 (Open side flanker): Du'Plessis Kirifi (Hurricanes/Wellington)

8 (Number 8): Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Cortez Ratima (Chiefs/Waikato)

10 (First five-eighth): Damian McKenzie (Chiefs/Waikato)

MIDFIELD

12 (Second five-eighth): Anton-Lienert Brown (Chiefs/Waikato)

13 (Centre): Rieko Ioane (Blues/Auckland)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)

14 (Right wing): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)

& 15 (Fullback): Ruben Love (Hurricanes/Wellington)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)

16 (Reserve hooker): George Bell (Who comes in to the side to replace Samisoni Taukei'aho who is elevated to the starting lineup at hooker as he replaces Codie Taylor)

17 (Reserve loose head prop): George Bower (Who is called into the team as he replaces Tamaiti Williams who is promoted to the run-on team, replacing Ethan de Groot)

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Who is dropped to the bench as Pasilio Tosi makes way for him to start at the tighthead prop position)

19 (Reserve lock): Josh Lord (Who is demoted to the bench as the returning Fabian Holland makes way for him after missing the England test due to sickness)

20 (Reserve loose forward): Christian Lio-Willie (Who replaces Wallace Sititi who earns promotion to the starting XV as he replaces the injured Peter Lakai at number 8)

21 (Reserve half-back): Finlay Christie (Who takes Cortez Ratima's place at the reserve halfback position with Ratima earning promotion to the starting XV run-on team, replacing Cam Roigard)

22 (Reserve midfielder): Leicester Fainga'anuku (Who is dropped to the bench at the reserve midfielder position as he replaces Anton-Lienert Brown as he comes into the starting lineup to replace Quinn Tupaea)

& 23 (Reserve back): Sevu Reece (Who is returning to the side at the reserve back position as he replaces Damian McKenzie who starts at 10 by replacing Beauden Barrett).

So that is my 639th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 63rd of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And our whole Ngapo & Webb family are in mourning as my close friend & a tennis lover who is a Kiwi of both a mixture of both British & Iraqi descent of Carole Webb has recently passed away aged 73 due to a drug overdose that she had before being admitted to hospital in Wellington (Her son Andy & possibly his wife Kelsey flew up from Auckland to be by her side, & I was like oh my god, holy hell, this can't be happening, but I can't believe she's gone I was once told Pops about it on the day that she passed away (And now Pops is a 2 time widower now, you gotta be joking, I know, what the hell (First Nan back in 2016, & now Carole this year, how emotional this has been (Oh my goodness, how sad, but imagine if we lose one of our family members like her from there? Oh hell, that really was heartbreaking in fact (But I did have a moment of silence to mourn her since she passed between 11 to 12am when her life support had been turned off immediately, but it was Dad who I saw after I went for my morning walk alluded to me that she had got 2 hours to live), wow!), but they haven't announced a date for her funeral to take place back in the City of Sails at Tamaki Makaurau in which Pops & possibly Dad will go up (Well, I'm not going because it'll be boring so I've opted to stay & look after Pops home, but it has been confirmed that there won't be a funeral, but it'll be a celebration of life instead in a month or 2 according to confirmation from Andy himself) so all thoughts, prayers, & heartfelt condolences go to her whanau, & her loved ones, may you rest in love (And my fave memory with her was going to Northland in late 2023 on a holiday with Carole & Pops meaning that it was my last trip to date (And my favourite part of the trip because of the reason why? It would have to be the food of course that I loved) where I saw Kathryn, Ken, Andy & Kels to say the least).

Carole Irene Webb

1952 - 2025

Paranoid Android: My 62nd Blog of the year 2025

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first there was a rugby related story about Portia Woodman-Wickliffe's aspirations of becoming a rugby player (Who originally started out as a netballer early in her career before making the jump to rugby, just like former Aussie tennis player Ash Barty who also originally started out as a cricketer before she took up tennis) in which she was dubbed as the women's equivalent of the late Jonah Lomu (Who was a colossus back then according to a comment that I remember from Pops who told Carole about it back in September this year during our big lunch) according to the comment that I also remember from Pops, inspired by watching a videotape of her idol as a 9 year old kid of the late Lomu's most dominant but iconic performance in a black jersey as he scored 4 tries against England in the 1995 men's Rugby World Cup semi (And it's 30 years since that fateful test that marked the significant day in New Zealand's sporting history took place at the old Newlands ground in Cape Town, South Africa which marked the legendary impact of the sport, not just for the late Jonah, but the AB's & every avid rugby aficionado or fanatic I should say) in which a performance that cemented his status as a global superstar (In that performance which was considered one of the most dominant in rugby history as he ran over multiple defenders, forever changing the game in which that milestone was marked by retrospectives celebrating the 4 tries that he scored, but unfortunately he had a kidney disease throughout his life for that was both heartbreaking & tragic, meaning that he passed away so young at age 40 for which was a decade ago back in 2015), including the one he barged over on Englishman Mike Catt to score the first try of the game in one of the men's RWC's most iconic moments, according to the previous blogs that I did, & now, she has become a successful women's rugby player as she won both women's Rugby World Cups for the Black Ferns back in 2017, & in 2021 which was played in 2022 due to the COVID pandemic, & was a Summer Games gold medalist for the Black Ferns 7s, in Tokyo 2020 that was held in 2021, & Paris last year.

And secondly that my fave Austin Powers character would always be Scott Evil because it used to be known as the Fat Man/FB, but I remember one point on the Austin Powers in Goldmember movie at a scene where Scott intends of willing to take over his dad Dr Evil's criminal empire as he betrays the entire Powers clan, in the aftermath of Dr Evil (Real name: Douglas 'Dougie' Powers) who embraced the light side (Well, welcome to the light side, eh? In which the Austin Powers in Goldmember movie bears similarities to the Star Wars film, Return of the Jedi where Darth Vader (The one that he became Anakin Skywalker again) who also embraced the light side when he grabbed the Emperor by lifting then throwing him to fall to his original death (Emperor Palpatine managed to survive the impact from it, but his actual death came in the hands of Rey (Who later became Rey Skywalker at the end of the movie in honour of her ancestors past, present & emerging because she was originally a Palpatine therefore she ended up on the desert planet Jakku as a scavenger) in the Last Skywalker movie) in order to save his son Luke Skywalker from dying), as he joined his bro Austin (Who thought he was going to shoot his brother dead) & his dad Nigel (Who was the one who intervened by having to guard his son Dougie from being killed in the hands of Austin Powers, but he tells a story about their mum who took both of them to Belgium, but Dougie tells that both of his parents were tragically passed away in a car crash, but it was no accident when she was killed in an assassination attempt, & the Belgians, they made them so damn evil, & of course, they share a border with Dutch as Nigel Powers was alluding to his son Dougie therefore he rescued him from certain death).

And thirdly that there was once a motor racing story about Alex Zanardi (Who was rookie of the year (His American teammate at the time of Jimmy Vasser (Who could've had his first win in IndyCar way, way back in 1995 where he should've won in Portland after Team Penske's Al Unser Jr who got disqualified for a rear skid block wear that caused erosion (Just like the Ferrari who finished fourth at Le Mans this year, had been given a disqualification for a technical violation related to its rear wing. During post-race inspection, it was found that four bolts were missing from the central rear wing support, causing the wing to deflect more than the allowed 52 mm (Over three times the allowed 15 mm). The other Ferrari cars, including the winning number 83 car, passed inspection and were not affected, meaning that their victory had been counted though) even though with the appeal for overturning Unser Jr's disqualification set to take place after the season had concluded at Laguna Seca where the late Brazilian (And future twice CART Champ Car champion & Indy 500 winner way back in 2003 even before retiring) Gil de Ferran won the race in which he got rookie of the year honours, in Canadian Jacques Villeneuve's last ever race in IndyCar that he won the championship with along with his Indy 500 victory (Despite serving a penalty in which he overcame the odds) in that he became the first Canadian to do so before making the jump to Formula One a year later in 1996 (That was the year before he became the world champion by beating his German rival of Michael Schumacher who would get disqualified in the standings for avoidable contact towards Villeneuve therefore handing 'The Flying Finn' of Mika Hakkinen his first win in Formula One at the 1997 European Grand Prix in Jerez, Spain) for Williams, & after the season had completed that Unser Jr's disqualification had been overturned meaning that his win had counted that eluded Vasser's first win of his career (He had to wait until the season opener at Homestead Miami way, way back in 1996, then added 3 more wins in Australia, Long Beach & the U.S. 500 at Michigan en route to the title) finished on the podium when at that moment, became the IndyCar champion for the first & only time of his illustrious racing career (The last American to do so during the CART era of IndyCar) after one of his rivals of fellow American Michael Andretti had somehow, got a disappointing result in that crucial championship deciding race that went down to the wire, & it could've gone either way), a year before securing back to back CART Champ Car titles in both '97 & '98 with Chip Ganassi Racing (Who would dominate 4 years straight, from 1996 until 1999 with Vasser once, then Zanardi twice, & Juan Pablo Montoya once during his successful rookie season in that he became the 2nd after Brit Nigel Mansell (The one who came over to IndyCar for the 1993 season after becoming Formula One world champion way, way back in 1992 when he won the season opener in Australia (Where he struggled at the start before battling with Emerson Fittipaldi (The eventual Indianapolis 500 winner where Nigel obviously struggled at restarts due to his inexperience that eluded him a certain win) during the race, including the one that he overtook him illegally in that he got a penalty for it before becoming the first rookie to win an IndyCar race since Graham Hill at the Indy 500 long ago in 1966), then notched up 4 more wins in Milwaukee, Michigan (In which the Newman/Haas team rediscovered form after Team Penske dominated 3 in a row from Portland, right through until Toronto where Paul Tracy won his home race), New Hampshire (In that he became neck & neck with Penske's Tracy), & Nazareth (Where Mansell clinched the title, at the home track of the Andretti family), then he was involved in a near fatal crash way back in 2001 during a CART Champ Car race in Germany that he lost both legs in the process in a serious wreck that ended his open wheel racing career) beating Bryan Herta for the win at the season ending Laguna Seca event way, way back in 1996 when he overtook him in the Corkscrew corner (The most demanding corner in the world of motor racing) for which I thought it was prohibited maneuver to start with, thinking that he must hand his position back & if he doesn't, it's a penalty for an illegal move (And I mean that is a dreadful decision to let the stewards not penalize Zanardi like that, oh that's not fair! You gotta be joking!), & after that, the Zanardi loophole had been applied the following season also way, way back in 1997 to stamp out drivers from doing that, such as going off track, then overtake an opponent by gaining an unfair advantage.

And finally in the rugby department as for the 3rd time this year, the All Blacks drop a game, this time against England who had other ideas to snatch a victory meaning that our chances of a grand slam dead & buried (First Argentina in Buenos Aires, then South Africa in Wellington in a record losing margin (For that was the last time we lost a test match, until now), & now, the English at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in London as the Pom squad must've made a difference of winning that test (Well, I thought it was both field goals scored by George Ford to start with, that sent the English rugby fans into a frenzy when they won themselves the game by 14 points) for that was innovative just like the South Africans with the bomb squad as they were able to shut down New Zealand for the entire 80 minutes which was similar to a virtual men's Rugby World Cup semifinal game) as they held on for a 6 point win, gutted (But I'm stunned about the result, & I did not watch the whole game because they English thought that they're going to win, & they delivered as they got their first win against the AB's since the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi in Yokohama, & England's first at Twickenham against New Zealand since 2012, but this is reminiscent to 1993 where the struggling AB's lost to England 2 years before our next meeting in 1995, also in the men's Rugby World Cup semifinal where we smashed them all thanks to the late Jonah Lomu's all-time performance in a black jersey according to this blog that I already did), but don't worry, we've got 1 more game to come for that is our next test is against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff (For that is our virtual men's RWC bronze final game & our last test of 2025), but can we finish the year off with a win? Let's say so.

So that is my 638th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 62nd of this year, viva Ukraine.

I Walk Away: My 61st Blog of the year 2025

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first onto the motor racing stuff such as IndyCar being featured in the Forza Motorsport (2023) game with the Dallara DW12 car, complete with aero screen (Created in 2020 in response to the fatal accident that took the life of Brit Justin Wilson back at Pocono back in 2015) similar to the halo (It was introduced also back in 2018 in the aftermath of Jules Bianchi who was involved in a serious accident at the Japanese Grand Prix back in 2014 that forced him into a coma, a year before his tragic passing through serious concussion as his life support had been switched off, in which motor racing can be a dangerous sport similar to rugby, league & gridiron) in Formula One, Super Formula, Formula 2, & various other open wheel racing series, but driving the updated version of the DW12, reminds me of a feel driving that Gran Turismo F3500-A in the Gran Turismo 7 game as well as both Super Formula SF19 & SF23 cars that are also in GT7 (While Formula 2 does appear in the F1 games since F1 2019, as well as Super Formula appears on Gran Turismo since GT Sport, & IndyCar makes an appearance on the Forza Motorsport series since Forza Motorsport 5).

And secondly that anti-bacterial toothpaste may be bad for them according to the new study so me & Pops have got to stay away from it, just like fruit juices which are also bad for them because it may be cancer causing due to it being too sugary, also according to another study (Unless we dilute them so we can definitely trim the sweetness between them).

And thirdly in the music department that the all girl Mexican rock group from Monterrey of the Warning (Known for their hits of 'Six Feet Deep', 'MORE', & 'S!CK' that are part of our current era of rock, compared to Black Sabbath (Who my Dad is a fan of along with the Rolling Stones (One of my fave songs from that band is 'Gimme Shelter', but I like 'Paint it Black', 'Start Me Up' & 'Angry' as well), the late Bob Marley, Pink Floyd (My favourite song from that band is 'Comfortably Numb', but I like 'Time') & AC/DC (Also my fave song from that band during the Brian Johnson era would have to be 'Thunderstruck', but also like 'Back in Black', as well as 'TNT' (My fave Bon Scott era AC/DC song) & 'Highway to Hell'), but one of my favourite songs is 'Paranoid', but I like 'War Pigs' (American rock band Faith No More once covered it) & 'Iron Man' as well) first as part of the old generation of rock & metal, then Metallica during the golden generation, as well as Linkin Park for the millennial generation, & Twenty One Pilots during the modern generation (One of my fave songs from the band would be 'Stressed Out', but I also like 'Holding on to You', 'House of Gold', 'Car Radio', 'Heathens', 'Overcompensate', as well as 'The Contract', & 'Drum Show', but the reason why I love Twenty One Pilots? Is that Brian FM always plays them), just right before the Warning exactly taking over during the current era) sounding a bit like both Evanescence (Whom I'm a fan of as part of the women in rock along with Alanis Morissette (Whom I'm hooked into her music, but my fave song from her is 'Thank U', but I like 'U Learn', 'Head Over Feet' & 'Ironic' as my other favourites) & Avril Lavigne (The first time I heard her was in 2002 upon hearing my favourite song 'Complicated', but I also like 'Sk8ter Boi' as well as my number 2) according to the previous blogs that I did), & the Emily Armstrong era Linkin Park (Another one of my fave bands & musicians as part of the women in rock along with Morissette, Lavigne, Evanescence (The first time I heard that band was listening to one of my fave songs from the band 'Bring Me to Life', but I like 'Going Under' which is also my 2nd favourite) & the aforementioned band of the Warning as I mentioned on my previous blogs), mainly because of its vocals provided by one of the Villareal Velez sisters of Daniela (Better known as Dany who is the sister of bass player Alejandra (Ale), & drummer Paulina (Pau) the blonde one, & a bit of Royal Blood mainly due to one of their hit songs of 'MORE' (In which the song (Which is my favourite song from the all-girl Mexican rock group) sounds like 'Trouble's Coming' & 'Oblivion', but it's mainly 'Typhoons' according to the previous blogs that I did, also compared to that other song 'S!CK' (One of the songs from band that I like along with 'Six Feet Deep' (Which sounds a bit like Steriogram ('Get Up & Go'), Bleeders ('She Screamed She Loved Me'), Twenty One Pilots ('Drum Show'), some Radiohead ('Paranoid Android'), then Stellar* (Part of Me), Queens of the Stone Age ('My God Is the Sun'), as well as Korn ('Alone I Break'), & the late Chris Cornell ('Can't Change Me') exactly sounds like a combination of mainly 'Over Each Other' by Linkin Park, a little bit of 'Come Back Around' by Feeder, as well as a bit of 'Ain't My' & 'The Memory Remains' by Metallica).

And finally that the All Blacks have named our team to play against England (Who haven't beaten us in international rugby since the men's Rugby World Cup back in 2019 during the semifinal at Yokohama in Japan where Manu Tuilagi (Whose chances of playing in the 2015 tournament had been rocked with suspension that let him down) had scored the winning try, & held on to the lead until the finish where they put themselves to their first final since 2007 where they took on South Africa for their unsuccessful challenge of the William Webb Ellis trophy, but the last time that the English did that against New Zealand at Twickenham was in 2012 where the AB's team had been affected by the novovirus bug that our players experienced, & since that we're on a 7 game unbeaten stretch, including the draw in 2022 that we should've won) in our toughest test of the grand slam tour for our penultimate test of the year at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in London (Our last meeting between the two was last year where George Ford had the chance to win the game not once but twice, including a penalty goal that would have put themselves into the lead following Anton Lienert-Brown who had been given a 10 minute suspension for a dangerous tackle which deemed to be at fault, then Ford had the chance to win the game with a field goal that he did before against Argentina a couple of times during the men's RWC in France in 2023, but it had gone astray as the AB's cling on as the victors), so here is the team naming in its entirety according to our AB's coach of Razor:

STARTING XV (RUN ON)

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)

2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury)

3 (Tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Crusaders/Canterbury)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Scott Barrett (Captain, Crusaders/Taranaki)

5 (No.5 lock): Josh Lord (Chiefs/Taranaki)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Simon Parker (Chiefs/Northland)

7 (Open side flanker): Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika/Wellington)

8 (Number 8): Peter Lakai (Hurricanes/Wellington)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Cam Roigard (Hurricanes/Counties Manukau)

10 (First five-eighth): Beauden Barrett (Blues/Taranaki)

MIDFIELD

12 (Second five-eighth): Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs/Waikato)

13 (Centre): Billy Proctor (Hurricanes/Wellington)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Leicester Fainga'anuku (Crusaders/Tasman)

14 (Right wing): Leroy Carter (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)

& 15 (Fullback): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)

16 (Reserve hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi

19 (Reserve lock): Sam Darry (Who replaces Josh Lord as he is promoted to the starting lineup to replace Fabian Holland who had to pull out as a result of illness)

20 (Reserve loose forward): Wallace Sititi (Who is unceremoniously dropped to the pine as the returning Simon Parker is back after being rested for the game against Scotland)

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima

22 (Reserve midfielder): Anton Lienert-Brown (Who returns to the fold as he replaces Billy Proctor who is elevated to the starting XV at centre for his first All Black game since the Argentina test in Cordoba, with Leicester Fainga'anuku moving to the left wing to replace the concussed Caleb Clarke who is all but ruled out of the England test)

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie.

So that is my 637th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 61st of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. In your house, I long to be

Room by room, patiently

I'll wait for you there

Like a stone

I'll wait for you there

Alone

When the Streets Have No Name: My 60th Blog of the year 2025

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first onto the rugby stuff as I was watching the 2005 All Blacks Grand Slam tour doco on Sky Sport NZ last Friday that for which is really about the AB's successful grand slam tour against all of the 4 home unions, such as Wales (Whose national sport is rugby over there just like our country), Ireland (Their main sport is Gaelic games such as Gaelic football & hurling), England (For which we had a close one as we played with 13 men after both AB's sent from the field for a 10 minute suspension) & Scotland (Their main game over there is golf) despite overcoming challenges such as Graham 'Ted' Henry's rotation policy came into play for that was damn ridiculous, then tensions with fans about the Irish rugby community showing hostility towards our captain at the time of Tana Umaga (Who is a fan of the late Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley because of his trademark dreadlocked hair that he always have been that inspired of him immortalising the late Marley) for deliberately taking the British & Irish Lions captain also at the time of Irishman Brian O'Driscoll out of commission with a sickening, illegal lifting tackle that triggered an incident that he was involved with like no other, along with Keven Mealamu during the first test against the B&I Lions in Christchurch at Lancaster Park in which they could've cried red card, & for Umaga who should've been suspended for that along with Mealamu as Tana received death threats, therefore prompting a beefed up security presence when they arrived in Ireland as sports writer Jim Kayes said that there's security managers (AKA protectors) everywhere, & of course 'T' & his retirement rumours that the reason why he wanted to retire is to spend more time with his family, especially his wife Doreen & his kids, as well as his body not feeling right for that next men's Rugby World Cup way back in 2007 in France (With some matches held in both Scotland & Wales), in which we were gutted about it after being beaten by the French, especially in the quarterfinal in Cardiff.

And secondly in the league department that the 3 teams competing in this years Pacific Rugby League Championships (Who were established in 2019 as a replacement for the ANZAC test which was last held back in 2017) are New Zealand (Who are the favourites of winning the Pacific Cup 1 since Australia chose to go to England), Samoa (One of the best international rugby league teams outside of the big 3 of Australia, England & New Zealand) & Tonga (Another one of the best international teams along with Samoa outside of the major 3 international sides), but it will not feature Australia who'll embark on a tour to England to take on the English in a 3 match Rugby League Ashes test series, & I managed to create the 8 national teams such as the Cook Islands (Who'll have their League World Cup inter-confederation qualifying playoff in hand against South Africa due November 9th), France (Who qualified by annihilating Jamaica 36 - 0 in an inter-confederation playoff round), Lebanon (Who appeared in the quarters twice in both 2017 & at the delayed 2021 tournament in 2022), New Zealand (Whose best result was champions way back in 2008 after an historic upset win in the League World Cup final against the tournament favourites of the Aussies in Brisbane), Papua New Guinea (Whose national sport is rugby league over there), Samoa (Who had their best result of runners up where they missed out on their golden chance after losing to Australia in the 2021 final which was played in 2022 after their semifinal win against England (Who had one of the English players passed that ball forward allowing Samoa to sniff a chance to nail that field goal by former Penrith Panther turned Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs player Stephen Crichton in one of the best League World Cup games of all time, compared to their quarterfinal encounter against Tonga which was their 2nd best) on golden point) & Tonga (Who thought that they reached the final in 2017, but fell short against England due to a controversial decision that they should've gone upstairs whether the ball had been stripped illegally, but the ref ruled it as a knock on that robbed the Tongans a place) in the Rugby League 26 game along with Australia (The most successful side (AKA the Springboks of rugby league) in League World Cup history with 12 to their name) & England (Who last appeared in a final back in 2017 where they lost against the Aussies just like way, way back in 1995, & way long ago in 1975) who appear already via update.

And thirdly, onto the motor racing stuff as there are 4 races left in the Formula One season such as Sao Paulo in Brazil followed by Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as part of the 3rd stop to the United States, as well as Lusail in Qatar will host the penultimate round of the championship, & then they head to Yas Island in the UAE for the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Britain's Lando Norris (Who is the world championship leader after 20 rounds, but there hasn't been a British Formula One world champion for 5 years in 2020 where Lewis Hamilton who was the 10th & last different British F1 world champ (The 1st was the late Mike Hawthorn once (1958), then the late Graeme Hill twice (1962 & 1968), the late Jim Clark twice (1963 & 1965), the late John Surtees once (1964), Jackie Stewart 3 times (1969, 1971 & 1973), the late James Hunt once (1976), Nigel Mansell once (1992), Damon Hill once (1996), Jenson Button once (2009), & Hamilton 7 times (2008, 2014-15, & 2017-20), but will Lando become the 11th different world champion from the UK according to the previous blogs that I did? We'll see, but the season's not over yet) in the McLaren (Who retained the constructors title at the Singaporean Grand Prix (Won by Brit George Russell in the Mercedes-AMG), meaning that they've gone back to back as the Papaya rules the roost again) who desperately wants to end the utter dominance of Dutchman Max Verstappen & his world championship reign that stretches back to 2021 (In that the '21 season was considered to be the best Formula One seasons of all time in all of above the rest of them) in which he beat Lewis Hamilton (Who narrowly missed out on becoming an 8 time world champion that eluded them, & if he'd won, he would've become one of the all time greats of the sport) in a dramatic season ending Grand Prix race in Abu Dhabi to claim his maiden world championship, then in 2022 where he won the race in a single season 15 times, followed by a record breaking season in 2023 where Max notched up 19, & last year where Red Bull were usurped by McLaren (Who began their pathway to success to the constructors crown with Norris winning in Miami, therefore making gains in terms of their performance) in terms of the constructors championship, but the drivers world title was won by Verstappen himself.

And finally the latest in rugby such as the All Blacks get the job done against Scotland (Who scored 17 unanswered points after the break when they were 17 - 0 down) therefore maintaining our Grand Slam chances alive as we managed to overcome 3 yellow cards (Including one from Leroy Carter for foul play, then our stand in captain Ardie Savea for collapsing the maul, & Wallace Sititi for an intentional knock-on) in the test at Murrayfield in Edinburgh that went down to the wire, & it could have gone either way (Including reserve back Damian 'D Mack' McKenzie who came off from the pine with a Los Angeles Dodgers (Led by the best baseball player in the world of Japan's Shohei Ohtani (A now twice World Series winning player) who would gone on to retain MLB's prestigious World Series (Just like the Florida Panthers who would retain the Stanley Cup against the Edmonton Oilers again) for the first time since the New York Yankees did it in 1999 as part of their threepeat from 1998 to 2000, against the Toronto Blue Jays in the decider in game 7) inspired performance to score a try which was unconverted, then kick a long range penalty goal to put the Scots out of reach in which he was the standout player of the game for his contributions that made us the difference of remaining unbeaten against the brave Scottish side, compared to Dutch born AB's lock forward Fabian Holland who dominated against Ireland in Chicago), but bring on England as we square off against them in our toughest test of the Grand Slam tour at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in London for that the English would be much difficult as well as demanding compared to Scotland who were competitive throughout for that the Scottish-All Blacks test was the best rugby game I have ever watched in 2025 for which I'm thrilled & stoked about the result, & it was better than the Ireland-New Zealand one from last week.

So that is my 636th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 60th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Just the Way You Are: My 59th Blog of the year 2025

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that in the rugby department when I rewatched another old game in August which is the opening match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between New Zealand (Who were super good at the time according to the previous blog that I did), & Argentina at Wembley in London where Pablo Matera (Who Aaron Smith was referred to as the big Argy fellow) got sin binned for not being back the 10, before 2 yellow cards dished out against both AB's such as captain at the time of Richie McCaw for foul play, & Conrad 'Snakey' Smith for going off feet at the breakdown in that we trailed at halftime by a single point, then in the 2nd half that tries from 'Nuggy' Smith & Sam Cane must've won ourselves the game to open our account, but shame that we did not get a bonus point at the start (And there was another All Blacks - Los Pumas match that I've rewatched about the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal at Eden Park in Auckland, in which we scraped past the Argentinians thanks to All Blacks halfback at the time of Piri Weepu who had a just incredible performance in that he got player of the game honours, but we had to lose first five Colin 'Sladey' Slade through a dreadful groin injury similar to Dan Carter's, it just had to be as they allowed Stephen 'Beaver' Donald (Who did not make the initial World Cup squad, then the selectors didn't pick him again when 'DC' Carter got injured meaning that his tournament was cruelly cut short as Aaron Cruden (Who thought that he might be going on a holiday to somewhere, like Fiji for example when at the moment that he replaced the injured Slade according to Ian 'Smithy' Smith, the former New Zealand cricketer who was the rugby sideline commentator working for Sky Sport NZ at the time) got the nod instead) to assume the call-up, whilst on his white baiting mission), but the favourite memories of the All Blacks against Argentina according to the Breakdown programme would have to be Zinzan 'Zinny' Brooke's test debut during the '87 World Cup in which he scored a try at the old Athletic Park in Wellington, then current All Blacks coach Scott 'Razor' Robertson in his playing days, scoring the winning try way back in 2001 at the death in Buenos Aires in which the Argentinians came so close, while in 2017 that Vaea Fifita (A future Tongan international) who became a meter eater when he scored that infamous try that entertained the fans at Stadium Taranaki in New Plymouth, as well as Argentina picking up their first win against us in Sydney in 2020 that was during COVID times for which really was disappointing in that we got a reality check in fact, & Will Jordan's hat-trick of tries in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi at the Stade de France (Venue for much of the Summer Games last year in that city) in Paris that put us through to the final in that Jordan was the top try scorer in that tournament, equalling both the late Jonah Lomu (1999), & Springbok Bryan Habana (2007) with 8.

And secondly onto the music stuff that I did not know Brian FM play Linkin Park (Well, my fave song from the band (Who opted to continue last year with both new band members such as Colin Brittain & Emily Armstrong as replacements for original member Mike Bourdon & the late Chester Bennington respectively just like both AC/DC & the Foo Fighters, as one of the bands are making a grand comeback (In which they released an album that was released also last year called From Zero to critical acclaim that they had rave reviews in it), along with Oasis (Who were reunited also last year in the aftermath of the end of hostility between the Gallagher brothers of Liam & Noel who the band would gone on to perform in sell-out shows such as Wembley in London in the UK & around the world during their reunion tour), compared to both Led Zeppelin, Blind Melon & Soundgarden decided not to continue following tragedy) would have to be 'Numb' anyway (Compared to my favourite Armstrong-era Linkin Park song being 'Up From the Bottom' because it used to be 'Two Faced', but I like the instrumental version of 'The Emptiness Machine' in fact as well as 'Heavy is the Crown' & 'Over Each Other' as the other Linkin Park songs during the Emily Armstrong era), but I like 'One Step Closer', 'In the End', 'Somewhere I Belong', & 'What I've Done') along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Nickelback, U2 & others like the late David Bowie, Neil Finn & his bands of both Split Enz & Crowded House, then Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, INXS, the Police, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, as well as the Beatles, & Nirvana.

And thirdly that we have got 59 days until Christmas as of October 27th this year, so Christmas will indeed be my favourite time of the year along with my birthday on June 7th, compared to Nigel whose birthday is Christmas day so he would have to wait for a bit longer for a year to do that on that occasion, but our whanau (Including both Aunty Tan & Rejean who'll arrive on the 8th of December (That's the 10th in Whanganui when they arrive here) until January 2nd (The day after New Year's Day) will be having Christmas dinner at my old flat at Dad's place on 28 Koromiko Road as part of our celebrations building towards the new year.

And finally that the All Blacks have named our team to play against Scotland (Who pose a real threat or danger to us which is going to be our threat of claiming our Grand Slam (They have star players in mind, including first five Finn Russell, & others like lightning quick winger Duhan van der Merwe, & the midfield combo of Aussie born Sione Tuipulotu (Who is of Tongan descent) & Huw Jones), compared to England for which are always the biggest threat of our chances of a Grand Slam) at Murrayfield in Edinburgh (Our last meeting between the two was in 2022 where Mark Tele'a made his dream debut where he got a brace where we won by 8 points), so here is the team naming in its entirety according to our AB's coach of Razor:

STARTING XV (RUN ON)

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)

2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury)

3 (Tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Crusaders/Canterbury)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Josh Lord (Chiefs/Taranaki)

5 (No.5 lock): Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Wallace Sititi (Chiefs/North Harbour)

7 (Open side flanker): Ardie Savea (Captain, Moana Pasifika/Wellington)

8 (Number 8): Peter Lakai (Hurricanes/Wellington)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Cam Roigard (Hurricanes/Counties Manukau)

10 (First five-eighth): Beauden Barrett (Blues/Taranaki)

MIDFIELD

12 (Second five-eighth): Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs/Waikato)

13 (Centre): Leicester Fainga'anuku (Crusaders/Tasman)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)

14 (Right wing): Leroy Carter (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)

& 15 (Fullback): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)

16 (Reserve hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi

19 (Reserve lock): Sam Darry (Who replaces Josh Lord who is promoted to the starting lineup to replace regular captain Scott Barrett through injury as part of the 2 injury enforced changes so far)

20 (Reserve loose forward): Du'Plessis Kirifi (Who has replaced Wallace Sititi who earns promotion to the starting XV, replacing Simon Parker who is rested for this match)

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima

22 (Reserve midfielder): Billy Proctor (Who takes Leicester Fainga'anuku's place at the reserve midfielder spot, with Fainga'anuku promoted to the run-on XV as he takes Quinn Tupaea's place at centre with Tupaea replacing the injured Jordie Barrett at second five, in another one of the 2 injury enforced changes being brought in)

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie.

So that is my 635th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 59th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Drum Show: My 58th Blog of the year 2025

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger (But this is a double post remember! A double post, please acknowledge), but first that it's been a decade since the AB's last won the Rugby World Cup back in 2015 against the Wallabies in the final at Twickenham (Now Allianz Stadium London) in London, England on Halloween where it was the only time that the All Blacks had won rugby's global showpiece event on foreign soil (Our star first five at the time of Dan Carter was our most standout player of the game where he scored an incredible 19 points in one of the greatest Rugby World Cup finals of all time, as well as the best game of DC's international rugby career that he had since the 2nd test of the Lions test series against the British & Irish Lions in Wellington way back in 2005 where he scored 38 points in that unbelievable game according to the Immortals of New Zealand rugby book where I read my favourite parts of the book such as Carter, Richie McCaw & the late Jonah Lomu (Who had to score the winning try against Australia at Stadium Australia in Sydney also way back in 2000 (Same year that Team New Zealand who had our first successful defence of the Auld Mug on home waters (And our first outside of the United States) at the City of Sails in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, against the Prada Challenge of Italy in which we produced another stunning 5 - 0 clean sweep just like in a repeat of San Diego '95, then Rob Waddell winning our country's only gold medal at the Sydney Olympics (While the bronze medalists went to boih sailors of Barbara Kendall, Ian McIntosh, & Mark Todd in the equestrian), & the Black Caps securing our only white ball cricket tournament victory over India in the Champions Trophy (Back then it was known as the Knockout Trophy) with an impressive century from Chris 'Cairnsy' Cairns (Son of retired cricketer Lance) for his unbeaten 102 which proved to be the winning knock) in a match that I rewatched as a replay in late September this year billed as the greatest rugby test of the century if not one of the most incredible rugby matches of all time (Compared to the Springboks - New Zealand one from 2013 at Ellis Park in Joburg, South Africa in one of the best modern day rugby test matches in history where teams went neck & neck until Beauden Barrett scored the try to get a 4 try bonus point to clinch the Rugby Championship, then Kieran Read crossed over for the try whilst playing with 14 players after Ben Franks was sent to the bin for a swinging arm on a South African player (Despite drama that Keven Mealamu should've been on the team list (Dane Coles played instead of Mealamu as the reserve hooker) until they discovered it was a typo mistake from the AB's manager at the time meaning that the match had carried on that nearly derailed us), & then Beauden's incredible try saving tackle on Springbok Willie le Roux was magical, as the rest was history) where New Zealand had a explosive start when they were 24 - 0 up inside 10 minutes with tries scored by Tana 'T' Umaga, Pita 'Ala' Alatini & Christian 'Cully' Cullen, before the Wallabies came back as they scored 24 unanswered points before halftime, then the intense back-and-forth battle continued throughout the 2nd half. With just minutes left, Wallaby hooker Jeremy Paul scored to give Australia a 35–34 lead, even before the late Lomu (Who would just run 80% of his capacity due to a rare & serious kidney disorder that he picked up throughout his life in which he was never fully 100% fit) crossed over for the decisive try in which the Wallabies faithful were devastated that their team had lost in front of a world record crowd of 109,874 people), my word), & from 1991 until 2007, & since 2019 where it is incredibly difficult to achieve the feat.

And secondly in the gaming department that engaging a police shootout in the Grand Theft Auto IV game, reminds me of a little of that dreadful invasion since 2022, & there used to be a war in Gaza because of the GTA IV protagonist Niko Bellic being from Serbia that he is in fact from Eastern Europe who fought in the Yugoslav wars during the 90s, as well as the protagonist of the Ballad of Gay Tony (Arguably the best expansion pack of all time, in GTA history for which the story is about the security manager of 'Gay' Tony Prince of Dominican American Luis Lopez as he fights his way to rescue Tony's empire from the brink of collapse, & to stamp his own mark in a world defined by decadence and excess when he helps his boss of the nightclub owner as he attempts his efforts of surviving drug abuse, mounting debt, wars with Mafia families, and repeated assassination attempts) of Luis whose ethnicity is Hispanic who exactly looks like a Arab or I should say, a Middle Eastern person, in which I always engage in a shootout against both police first until I reach the maximum amount of six stars, then steal a police car once I kill all cops before back up arrives, & engage in a gang activity which is a drug deal by searching on the police computer where I engage in a shooting with those criminals as well as cops, until the last criminal is killed by either Niko with a semi-automatic high powered rifle, a combat sniper, or a grenade, or the police when the crime scene is cleaned up (And I also engage in criminal on foot which is a criminal fleeing a crime scene or criminal/suspect resisting arrest I should say at 3 stars after I murder a cop by shooting him dead, where I engage in a shooting on cops as well as the criminal until the suspect is dead for which is the 2nd option, while the 3rd option would be engaging in a police shooting at the Grotti dealership for that is the best ideal place to engage in a shootout on cops where the likelihood of trimming the wanted level stars from the maximum 6, to 3 if Niko or Luis steals one Grotti Turismo car, for which is the only option for Luis Lopez in the Ballad of Gay Tony expansion pack if not doing the drug wars mission), but I used to do gang wars in TBOGT, where I also engage in a shootout with gangsters who were always drug dealers, in either the stash or the stick-up (But I don't do both convoy & hijack), then pick up the stash as I also engage in a shootout on the cops until I drive away before reinforcements arrive & take it all the way to the drop off point to end the gang wars mission.

And thirdly onto the music stuff such as the U2 album Achtung Baby, is the last music album for where I've purchased (Now that There is Nothing Left to Lose by the Foo Fighters that has taken over from them) where I got it from the Vinyl Room record store (Where I go every Saturday along with the market, EB Games, & Cash Converters, but it's my first U2 album that I own), but I love 4 songs from that album such as my fave of 'One', then 'The Fly', as well as 'Mysterious Ways' & 'Even Better Than the Real Thing', to go with that Nickelback album which is the Best of Nickelback Volume 1, then both Linkin Park albums (Hybrid Theory 20th anniversary & Meteora 20), as well as 4 Red Hot Chili Peppers albums (Californication, By the Way, Stadium Arcadium & the Getaway), & the 7 Foo Fighters albums that I own (Such as the Colour & the Shape, There is Nothing Left to Lose, In Your Honor, Greatest Hits, Wasting Light, Medicine & Midnight, & But Here We Are).

And finally that the AB's have pulled off something special with a win against Ireland in Chicago in the United States as we erased the painful memories that we experienced from 2016 being laid to rest, but the first half was a bit scrappy as we trailed by 3 points at halftime (Tadhg Furlong (Once the best tighthead prop in the world (It's Tyrel Lomax now but he's currently injured at the moment) was the try scorer, then Ardie Savea responded with a beauty or a peach, a pearler of a try), meanwhile we dominated the 2nd half through tries from Tamaiti Williams, Wallace Sititi & Cam Roigard that put us through beyond doubt that we punished the Irish like that, but the most standout player of the game honours went to Dutch born All Black lock Fabian Holland (The one who loved rugby while being in the Netherlands before coming here to New Zealand as part of his ambitions of becoming a rugby player) who had a cracker of a match in one of his best games in the black jersey (Compared to Quinn Tupaea where he had a blinder against the Wallabies at Perth Stadium in Perth), in which the match was dogged by a red card by lock Tadhg Beirne who tackled Beauden Barrett high when the ref & the TMO saw it that the recommendation was a yellow card, then on report following a lengthy discussion, before changing it to red because there was a high degree of force without mitigation in that the first half lasted 52 minutes on that occasion, & we have lost injuries early in the game such as All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, & his brother Jordie (Well, that could be long term) with both of them likely to be ruled out of the next test against Scotland (Well, bring on the Scots anyway) at Murrayfield in Edinburgh for which is happening on the 9th of November (8th in the UK).

So that is my 634th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 58th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Starman: My 57th Blog of the year 2025

Well, welcome to our readers here in New Zealand, & around the world, I'm Whetu Ngapo & you're tuning in to my KiwiAvenger blog here on blogger, but first that I've started to love Elms Restaurant at St John's Club (For which Pops alluded to me as his 2nd home) as my fave restaurant throughout (Along with Caroline's Boatshed, Japanese Takeaway Momiji, Thai Villa, Spice Guru, Rutland Arms Inn & the Cobb as my other favourites that I love) where they used to have a buffet there, but now they've stopped it since meaning that regular meals like the chicken fillet with chips & salad would have to be served (Except every Fridays & Saturdays where it is making a comeback due to them being so popular).

And secondly, onto the rugby stuff such as the greatest rugby rivalry is happening as the All Blacks will embark on a tour to South Africa (We always talk about that country every year in terms of rugby as well as our rivalry between them) next year as a replacement of the Rugby Championship for our first tour over there since 1996 in which we finally won at last won a test series against the Springboks on South African soil where we take on all 4 South African URC sides such as the Bulls, the Lions, the Sharks & the Stormers before taking on the defending world champions the Boks in 4 tests including the 1st test at Ellis Park in Joburg then the 2nd test takes place at Cape Town Stadium in Cape Town before heading back to Johannesburg for the 3rd test in the impoverished township of Soweto at FNB Stadium (AKA Soccer City for that was the venue for much of the 2010 Football/Soccer men's World Cup in which they haven't hosted a rugby test since 2013 where South Africa played Argentina, but the last time the AB's played there was in 2012 against the Boks (The first time we played there, it was in 2010 against the South Africans where Israel Dagg would gone on to score the winning try in order to silence the 94,000 Afrikaners there (It was Ma'a Nonu who would deliver a beautiful try assist to Dagg whilst playing on one boot) & the 4th & last test will take place at a neutral venue in which they'll be an epic test series of the ages to show whose proof of toughening themselves for the next men's Rugby World Cup which is expected to take place in Australia in 2027 (Which takes place a year after New Zealand's tour of South Africa (Who'll head to New Zealand for a rugby tour in 2030 a year after the British & Irish Lions descend on New Zealand shores in 2029, & the year before the 2031 men's Rugby World Cup takes place in the United States).

And thirdly in the motor racing department, especially in the Supercars Championship such as Euromarque Motorsport Park will host the 2nd New Zealand round of next season's Supercars Championship in Christchurch (One of 4 venues that hosted the NZ round of Australia's premier motor racing series after Pukekohe, then Hamilton, Taupo & the aforementioned Christchurch) after being given upgrades worth 10 million New Zealand dollars for new pit facilities & safety features that are being approved, a week after Taupo will host the first New Zealand leg of the championship.

And finally that the AB's have just simply named our team to play in our highly anticipated test against Ireland (Our last meeting between the 2 was last year in which the AB's won that epic test in Dublin, in one of the best games that Damian McKenzie had experienced in the black jersey) at Soldier Field (For which we have not played at that ground since that fateful first ever defeat back in 2016 against the Irish who became competitive since) over in Chicago, Illinois in the United States, so here is the team naming in its entirety:

STARTING XV (RUN ON)

FORWARD PACK

FRONT ROW

1 (Loose head prop): Ethan de Groot (Highlanders/Southland)

2 (Hooker): Codie Taylor (Crusaders/Canterbury)

3 (Tight head prop): Fletcher Newell (Crusaders/Canterbury)

SECOND ROW

4 (No.4 lock): Scott Barrett (Captain, Crusaders/Taranaki)

5 (No.5 lock): Fabian Holland (Highlanders/Otago)

LOOSE FORWARDS

6 (Blind side flanker): Simon Parker (Chiefs/Northland)

7 (Open side flanker): Ardie Savea (Moana Pasifika/Wellington)

8 (Number 8): Peter Lakai (Hurricanes/Wellington)

BACK LINE

HALVES

9 (Half-back): Cam Roigard (Hurricanes/Counties Manukau)

10 (First five-eighth): Beauden Barrett (Blues/Taranaki)

MIDFIELD

12 (Second five-eighth): Jordie Barrett (Hurricanes/Taranaki)

13 (Centre): Quinn Tupaea (Chiefs/Waikato)

OUTSIDE BACKS

11 (Left wing): Caleb Clarke (Blues/Auckland)

14 (Right wing): Leroy Carter (Chiefs/Bay of Plenty)

& 15 (Fullback): Will Jordan (Crusaders/Tasman)

& REPLACEMENT PLAYERS (IMPACT)

16 (Reserve hooker): Samisoni Taukei'aho

17 (Reserve loose head prop): Tamaiti Williams

18 (Reserve tight head prop): Pasilio Tosi

19 (Reserve lock): Josh Lord

20 (Reserve loose forward): Wallace Sititi

21 (Reserve half-back): Cortez Ratima

22 (Reserve midfielder): Leicester Fainga'anuku

& 23 (Reserve back): Damian McKenzie.

So that is my 633rd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 57th of this year, viva Ukraine.