Long Ago/Wandering Eye: My 25th blog of the year 2024

Well, it looks like that Carole & Pops holiday to the Cook Islands has been officially cancelled so that they can watch the Paris Olympics on TV (And Carole is mainly a tennis watcher as Pops told me, but the crowds are expected to return to the Olympics for the first time since 2016 in Rio after missing out 3 years ago in 2021 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with nobody (And I mean, especially the fans were able to tune in at home) able to watch the athletes in action as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which put the whole world on pause for many of both 2020 & 2021 (And it's mainly the support staff & other athletes who watched the action, but there were less crowds watching in Sapporo for the marathon being held in that city) with the trip to Taupo will instead be taking place between the 14th to the 16th of May so I will be looking after the house when both Carole & Pops are away.

And the mouth watering mid year rugby test schedule which has been confirmed with the AB's (Chance to regroup under new management following the scars of '23 that came to haunt us in last year's RWC due to a red card & the controversial refereeing decisions from an English referee that raised the ire of our All Black rugby fanbase here in our country (And I was totally gutted about it, especially the result of the final last year in which we fell short by a single point), had cost New Zealand its destiny as well as destroying our reputation & legacy of becoming champions of the world (And unlike Wales whose quest of becoming champions of the world in rugby back in 2011 had been ruined by a controversial red card to the Welsh captain in the semi against France for a tip tackle deemed to be illegal on a Frenchman who played on the wing) squaring off against England (Who lost in the semis against the highly successful South Africa side (With Leicester Tigers player Handre Pollard providing a clutch moment of nailing that penalty goal which was reminiscent of 2019 when the South Africans had outperformed Wales in the semi in Yokohama in similar fashion) before finishing 3rd in which they defeated Argentina in the 3rd/4th place playoff) in a 2 match test series for a chance of New Zealand for our elusive first win since 2018 against the English, then last year's RWC quartefinalists Fiji in San Diego, California in the United States in which the AB's will field lesser known players while the Joe Schmidt coached Wallabies side (In a chance to rebound after failing to qualify for the knockouts in last year's Rugby World Cup, & to change the team's fortunes around for the people of Australia right behind them) is expected to face Wales (Who were outplayed by the Argentinians in the quarters) in a bid for payback after losing to them at the World Cup during the pools last year, also in a 2 match test series then Georgia in a one off test in Sydney & of course, 2 of the most fearest/fiercest sides lock horns with the reigning world champs the Springboks (Who'll face Wales at Twickenham in London, in South Africa's first test since they completed their successful defence of rugby's most treasured prize, the Rugby World Cup in France last year led by that iconic sporting figure who played for both South African club sides of the Stormers as well as the Sharks & currently playing for French club Racing 92 of Siya Kolisi who is the man born in the poor but impoverished township of Zwide near Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) when he remained as the Head of the Table as well as keeping his self-proclaimed rugby god status intact according to the previous blogs that I did when at that moment in a story billed as keeping South African rugby great inspired by the former US president Donald Trump according to the previous blogs that I did, became the most successful rugby playing nation in the tournament's history with a record 4 to their name) against the defending Six Nations champions Ireland (They won it last year (Same year that the Irish had been outclassed by the All Blacks in that epic quarterfinal game at the World Cup) before their successful retention of the Six Nations Championship this year despite dropping a game against England in the penultimate round with Marcus Smith also providing the clutch moment to dispatch the Irish at Twickers with the Irish's quest of another grand slam, had been short lived) in a clash of champions including the 1st test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria which is a rematch of the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup in Paris last year in which Ireland became the last side to defeat South Africa (Who won 4 on the bounce against Tonga in the pools, then France in the quarters, England in the semis & New Zealand in that controversial final which resulted in heartbreak/heartache for our beloved All Blacks side who were shattered in a repeat of 1995 when we were playing with 14 players for the remainder of that final after the New Zealand captain became the first man to be sent off in a Rugby World Cup final) in international rugby before taking on Portugal (Who reigned supreme against Fiji during the very last match of the pools last year at the Rugby World Cup) in a one-off test in Bloemfontein & last year's Rugby World Cup semifinalists Argentina play previous RWC hosts France (Who fell short against the Boks in the quarterfinal as they crashed out of their home tournament also according to the previous blogs that I did including Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe's sneaky little move of charging down the attempted conversion from French fullback Thomas Ramos in which South Africa had KO'd the hosts at the time at their home tournament) in a 2 match test series.

And something is going on in Indycar because recently they found that controversy has come about Team Penske's Josef Newgarden being stripped of his race win in the season opening round of the Indycar series due to DQ for the illegal use of push to pass before the restart in order to gain an unfair advantage along with his Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin (The winner of the most recent Indycar race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama) who had his podium position been taken away as a result of a disqualification, then the 2 time former champion Will Power had his 10 championship points being deducted for his role in the Team Penske push to pass before restart controversy at St Pete (And man, this is like sandpapergate in the cricket in South Africa 6 years ago back in 2018 where the 3 key players from the Aussie cricket team had to be banned including captain at the time Steve Smith (Who was the modern day iteration of the late Sir Don Bradman got 1 year for it, allowing Tim Paine to take over the captaincy before he relinqushed the role as Paine handed it to Pat Cummins who got the nod in 2021, & has been the skipper of the Aussie cricket team in the test format since), David Warner (Who was one of Australia's best ever modern day cricketers in which he got suspended just like Smith for a year as a result of his actions) & Cameron Bancroft (He got 9 months for it for playing their part in sandpapergate in which he, Smith & Warner copped sanctions for a ball tampering breach in which Bancroft who deliberately changed the condition of a cricket ball by using sandpaper which is against the laws of the game) in light of the controversial ball tampering saga during Australia at the time touring there in the republic, often compared to Bodyline in 1932-33 during England's Ashes tour to Australia where the late Bradman tried to counter so many English fielders who were behind square (That was the introduction of the 2 behind square law following Bodyline (Although the English referred it to as leg theory) & the infamous underarm incident by Trevor Chappell (Who didn't have any children in light of him bowling underarm which tarnished his reputation) in 1981 where New Zealand were desperately trying hard to win against Australia with a match winning six from Brian McKechnie at the MCG in Melbourne in a One Day International cricket match over there which is worse than sandpapergate) with Mexican Pato O'Ward (Who drives for Arrow McLaren SP) being declared the winner in the aftermath of Newgarden & McLaughlin getting themselves disqualified for an infringement regarding to the use of the overtake button prior to the green flag restart when the Indycar season got underway, & there were massive fines being handed out to Team Penske for breaching the rulebook such as the push to pass usage before restarts is disallowed, but there is a rule change as Indycar have enforced a crack down on the highly controversial 'Dragon move' (Just like both the NFL & NRL have successfully implemented a clamp down on the controversial 'Hip drop' maneuver) which enabled Josef Newgarden defending his position from the outside lane on Marcus Ericsson (And it would've caused an accident if they're not careful in which Indycar have now outlawed the controversial 'Snake move' that they used for the last 2 Indy 500's starting from this year) before Newgarden went on to win the most recent Indy 500 which was held last year.

And finally that in Canada & possibly Australia that news outlets such as Sky News being shown on social media such as Facebook, are now prohibited due to the Canadian government passing a controversial law last year that prevents anyone from gaining access to their news stuff on social media, & now Australia is trying to do the same as the Canadians did by passing a controversial law regarding to news outlets that cannot be shown like Facebook from example as well as sharing some stuff like that.

So that is my 549th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 25th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And the music fraternity here in New Zealand is in mourning as guitarist & singer of Wiremu 'Willie' Hona from the iconic but legendary New Zealand reggae band of the Herbs, has passed away so all thoughts, prayers & condolences got to the Hona whanau, may you Rest In Peace (RIP).

Yours Truly: My 24th blog of the year 2024

Well, we're a month away until the Olympics in Paris, France that I'm always looking forward to, but security has being heightened/upped for that occasion to safeguard the athletes, officials, coaches & the athlete's families from any possible terrorist activity & cyberattacks as well as due to of course, political tensions surrounding the Israeli invasion of Hamas as well as that terrible event that I still cannot post it on my blogs not only it is objectionable & sensitive to the country who started it which is still going since February 24th in 2022, but the Euros in Germany at Euro 2024 is underway with the host nation who is set to square off against Scotland in the tournament opener in Muenchen at the Muenchen Arena which was opened in either 2005 or 2006 in time for the Football World Cup which was held in that country.

And the America's Cup (Which is back after 3 years since Emirates Team New Zealand's 2nd successful defence of the Auld Mug against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at the City of Sails in Auckland, New Zealand in the most recent America's Cup in 2021 (And Alinghi wasn't there at the time when NZ retained the holy grail of world sailing for only the second time just like in 2000 (The first time New Zealand successfully defended the cup) in which the syndicate was known as FAST 2000) in Barcelona, Spain is due to get underway first with the Louis Vuitton Cup (Formerly Prada Cup before LV took over the sponsorship rights again to the AC challenger series) in September with 5 challengers such as France, Italy, Switzerland (Who are the favourites according to the bookmakers in which they haven't won since 2007 & last held it in 2010 when they were defeated against Oracle who held on to it until 2017 against ETNZ in Bermuda), UK & the United States (Well, if American Magic win it, the next edition of the America's Cup will be held in Pensacola, Florida, United States) all vying to dethrone our own Emirates Team New Zealand to become the new holders of the Auld Mug, just like Alinghi did in 2003 where they conquered them in Auckland against Team New Zealand (Who later became Emirates Team New Zealand who are our current holders of the Auld Mug since 2017 in which we won in Bermuda against the all-Aussie crew of Oracle Team USA) with the Swiss becoming the 4th different nation to claim the America's Cup after the US, Australia & New Zealand.

And it's been 19 years since Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith came out in cinemas world wide which is the last movie of the prequel trilogy (But the 1st movie of the prequels of The Phantom Menace is celebrating their 25th anniversary so I'll be seeing the film in November on Blu-ray on my PS5 console), so I will be watching that movie on the 4th of May which is Star Wars day which is the unofficial day for Star Wars observers/fans out there a day (And it's just 3 years away until the beloved Star Wars franchise celebrates it's 50th anniversary of the film's release which is in 2027 (A year after the new Star Wars: New Jedi Order movie comes out) before Cinco de Mayo which is a yearly celebration held to celebrate Mexico's win of the 2nd French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.

And finally Pops told me on the 3rd of May that one commented about the late great New Zealander of Jonah Lomu being one of the all-time greats in the sport of rugby throughout the mid 90's to early 2000's period, but too bad he passed away in 2015 due to health problems that he's always had to deal with which haunted him throughout his life & he shares similarities to the late American boxer Muhammad Ali (Who passed away in 2016), but no rugby players from any country as of today could emulate Lomu & his performances on the rugby field that he used to have (But now they have Frenchman Antoine Dupont who is now the best rugby player in the world during the modern era, but it's a shame that his country of France were unable to become world champions in rugby due to a defeat against the reigning champs South Africa in the quarterfinal of the Rugby World Cup last year by a single point in which the French fell short on that occasion).

So that is my 548th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 24th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And a big shoutout to Pops wishing him all the best for his big 77 so best wishes to Pops for his 77th birthday.

Room To Breathe/It Feels So Good: My 23rd blog of the year 2024

Well, news just in as an Ohio man who allegedly shot an Uber driver in the aftermath of both being targeted by a scam back in the United States, but now he faces a murder, assault & kidnapping charge after intending to shoot & kill an Uber driver he believed was scamming on him as Uber are assisting investigators look into account that sent driver to Ohio home where she was killed as Deputies in Clark County have arrested an elderly man accused of killing an Uber driver while both being targeted by a "Scam call" (And how would Brock do that you know? Because he could be jailed for up to 15 years to life &/or being given a fine of $15,000 for what he did on Loletha Hall for killing her & taking Hall hostage like that, I mean that is terrible, but horrific), unlike that the United States is trying or attempting to successfully enforce a crack down on the social media platform Tiktok because it is being owned by a Chinese company in response to China (Who has Douyin which is mainland China's version of Tiktok) already clamping down on American social media platforms such as Facebook, X & Instagram, but I label China's ban on dissent as stupid, mainly because I criticize them about that country since that deadly but tragic protests & massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing that took place in 1989.

And something terrible has happened in Australia as both the mother & daughter have been stabbed by Joel Cauchi who was shot by a female police inspector who had sleepless nights (And she has lauded for saving "Much, much lives" with her act of bravery) to end the traumatic stabbing rampage that left 6 people murdered & at least 11 others wounded at Bondi Westfield in Sydney in which the mass murderer had diagonsed with a mental illness such as schrizophenia at 17 & had been living in his car before killing 6 people with a knife.

And another terrible thing as occurred as Israel is invading Iran by carrying out a military strike early yesterday in a potentially dangerous escalation of a fast-widening Middle East conflict that Iranian officials have so far sought to play down as Israel hasn't commented & Iran hasn't identified the source of attack (And I mean this could trigger World War 3 if it keeps going because there is 2 but now 3 wars such as the terrible event unfolded that they had along with Israel's war on Hamas & now the Israeli's invading Iran that could potentially set up a wider conflict), but things have gone from bad to worse as college campuses & universities in the United States have been marred by widespread anti-war protests regarding to Israel's invasion of Hamas with hundreds of arrests being made but some have been asked to leave (In which they've been given 48 hours to do so) or else an arrest will be made if they don't comply with the clampdown on free speech about the war in Gaza, fearing for their safety of their Jewish students attending a college or university throughout America as well as trespassing therefore breaching a loophole regarding to illegal occupation where students have been given a cease & desist order not only there is heightened law enforcement prescence out there as they had to send a report to police about disorderly behaviour being spread by the protestors themselves as well as multiple incidents filed related to anti-semitism (And literally, That's un-damn called for! That ain't necessary!), but there's cops everywhere, left, right & center, & I mean that war over there in Gaza is always terrible (And there has been an update as 34,000 lives have been taken away when Gaza had still turned into hell since that horrendous war that began on the 7th of October which is like the new February 24th that in 2022 in which that terrible event began that I still can't post it due to the objectionable but sensitive nature about them that I always not mentioning to avoid the confusion of being offended to the people of that country who started it (And is it fine for me to display a message that reads viva Ukraine on my blogs as well as viva Palestine? I'm not quite sure about it regarding to free speech, but I've being doing that since 2022 (And last year) led by that senseless lunatic, but there are calls for silence & censorship to end that nosense.

And finally that the Maiakawanakaulani 'Maia' Roos led Blues women have won their first Super Rugby Aupiki title against the Kennedy Simon led Chiefs Manawa after being 18 - 6 down to overturn a 12 point deficit in front of an Eden Park faithful that turned out to witness history (And both sides first met in 2021 where the Chiefs went on to win on that occasion a year before winning the Super Rugby Aupiki title in 2022, then the combined South Island side of Matatu who became champs last year & now the Blues women have done it now this year with the Black Ferns squad expected to be announced in the coming days).

So that is my 547th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 23rd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And a shout out to my close mate of Carole Webb for wishing her a 72nd birthday on the 17th of June so best wishes.

What You Waiting For?: My 22nd blog of the year 2024

Well, there was a Rugby World Cup related story that the last time that a side went on to win the tournament other than the All Blacks & the Springboks was England way back in 2003 when I told Pops about it before South Africa took over in 2007 when they first won the tournament in France (With Scotland & Wales providing the co-hosting rights) followed by New Zealand in 2011 at our home World Cup & 2015 in England with some matches being played in Wales, then it was the Boks turn to dominate the last 2 Rugby World Cups in both 2019 in Japan & last year at the most recent one in France (In which our AB's side were gonna do it, but the experienced South African side clinged on by just a single point when they edged us in that controversial final which was fuelled by cards, incidents regarding to foul play & the bad TMO decision which let the AB's down especially our discipline to defend rugby's holy grail in which they achieved immortality for the 4th time last year to add to their triumphs in 1995, 2007 & 2019 as they became the most successful rugby playing nation in the world at the Rugby World Cup) which was immortalized already when they released Chasing The Sun 2 like in March on South African TV to follow up their 2019 success when they made the first Chasing The Sun doco.

And I just heard that I saw a photo on Pops phone of my cousin & honorary sister of Paige (Who is in her early 30's now as of today because she is no longer in her 20's, but it's been 8 years since I last saw her at her mother Cathey's place in Petone (That's Cathey Middelplaats's hometown along with Paige & Norah who both live their to be close with Paige's mother & Norah's grandmother Cathey) in Wellington in 2016 along with Cathey, Cathey's wife John & Cathey's sons as well as Paige's brothers of Nico & Luca (Well, one of her brothers is a diabetic already), but I first met her back in 1999 along with Cathey when I was a young kid at the time when I was with Dad at the late Nan & Pops place back then), Paige's husband Jarrod & their daughter Norah having a holiday as well as a honeymoon in Japan there when I told Dad about it at the Cobb on the 15th of April.

And onto a motor racing related story that there was Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais (The 2002 F3000 champion who is currently competing in IMSA) winning 4 Champ Car World Series championships to his name for the famed Newman/Haas/Lanigan racing team from 2004 to 2007 (That was the year that he made the jump in Formula 1 where he spent 2 years with Scuderia Toro Rosso (He was the last graduate crossing over from American Open Wheel Racing by winning the championship of course, to Formula One (First it was Michael Andretti in 1993 (That's 2 years after Michael won his only Indycar championship) in which the man known as 'Mikey Mike' had his ill-fated season before heading back to Indycars in 1994 along with Jacques Villeneuve (Son of the late great Gilles who was the world champion in F1 back in 1997 with Williams, 2 years after winning the Indycar title in 1995), Alex Zanardi (An Italian who was rookie of the year in 1996, then secured back to back championships in 1997 & 1998 with Chip Ganassi Racing before making an unsuccessful return to Formula One in 1999 with Williams, 2 years before having lost both his legs in a serious crash in Germany in 2001 during a CART Champ Car event in Germany), Juan Pablo Montoya (The man who dominated both the championship in 1999 (The year before his Indy 500 win in 2000, then he joined Williams where he made his F1 debut in 2001 until he left in 2004 to join McLaren in 2005 until his departure in 2006 to go to NASCAR) as well as claiming rookie of the year) & Cristiano da Matta (The 2002 champion in which he made his F1 debut in 2003 with Toyota until he left in 2004 to return to compete in Champ Cars) before being replaced by young Spanish driver at the time of Jaime Alguersuari in 2009), but there were others apart from Bourdais that have won championships with for N/H/L (They won 8 championships to their name & they were one shy of the record of most CART Champ Car team championship wins set by Team Penske who won it 9 times) such as Britain's Nigel Mansell (1993), Brazil's Cristiano da Matta (2002), & the 2 Andretti's of Mario (The Indy 500 winner from 1969) & his son Michael (Both of them are Italian Americans, but Mario was a champion in 1984 (Which was 6 years after winning his first & only F1 world championship crown), then it was Michael in 1991) according to the late great famous American Hollywood movie star & racing team owner of Paul Newman back in 2006 during an appearance with Bourdais at the Dave Letterman show (Before Letterman was replaced by Stephen Colbert as a late night talk show host since 2015) that I constantly remember watching on YouTube in the 2000s.

And finally that Dad is heading to Australia on a holiday for a week starting from the 16th of April until the 23rd with his wife Raewyn to attend the NRL rugby league match between the St George-Illawarra Dragons & the team that Dad always supports of the New Zealand Warriors (Who had a draw against Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles at Go Media Stadium Mount Smart in Auckland) in Wollongong at WIN Stadium in which he'll be there in due course (And Pops isn't into league that much not only it is always stop start but rugby union always have rucks & mauls to contend with so that's why he is a massive rugby follower).

So that is my 546th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 22nd of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Pull Me Through/My Way: My 21st blog of the year 2024

Well, in rugby news such as Sam Whitelock has just announced his retirement from all forms of rugby after the European rugby season ending his quest of answering an S.O.S. call from All Blacks Scott Robertson to become the new All Black captain so happy retirement to him therefor wishing him all the best throughout his career which included 7 Super Rugby titles & both Rugby World Cups in 2011 & 2015 that he had, but continuing on the rugby related news as we head into the sevens kind of stuff that how appropriate that New Zealand has claimed both the women's & men's titles respectively at the final ever Hong Kong sevens event in Hong Kong, China after their wins against the United States in the women's cup final for the Black Ferns Sevens to catch up to our rivals Australia, then France in the men's cup final for the All Blacks Sevens to claim our first win of the SVNS season of 2023-24 since Toulouse last year (And both the Black Ferns sevens (Who went on to still become champions of the women's championship after our victory against traditional Trans-Tasman rivals Australia in the women's Cup final billed as winner takes all, but the men's league championship went to Argentina for the very first time after their win against South Africa by 14 points to 10 after being 10 - 0 down at the break in the fifth-place play-off match with the Argentinian success in sevens rugby had been inspired by their football team's win at the most recent Football World Cup in 2022 led by the incomparable Lionel Messi who currently plys his trade at American soccer club currently competing in Major League Soccer, Inter Miami owned by Englishman David Beckham) & All Black sevens teams are able to repeat the dose at Singapore).

And in the wrestling department as WOW! The story is complete as 'The American Nightmare' of Cody Rhodes (Son of the late 'American Dream' of Dusty Rhodes who got a standing ovation from the crowd following his win against Reigns to claim the title which was the happiest of all endings, but the biggest cheers of the night apart from Rhodes belong to both John Cena & the Undertaker who both made their returns to the WWE) has finally at last, breaking the stranglehold of Roman Reigns (Who was gutted along with his cousin & mentor of the Rock & the rest of his Bloodline stablemates after losing to him therefore ending his tumultous but turbulent reign as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in which he was always been invincible & it was the one would seemingly never end in terms of wrestling dynasties, 4 years after claiming victory against the late Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman to become champion at Payback in 2020 which marked the start of the lengthy but prolonged championship reign until his defeat against Rhodes (Who had a pivotal moment of ending The Big Dog's championship reign during that great event) at WM XL which marked the beginning of the end for the utter dominance of 'The Head of the Table') to become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in a Bloodline Rules match billed as 'The American Nightmare completes the story' which was set following the Rock & his cousin as well as his protégé Roman Reigns's victory against Rhodes & Seth Rollins (Who appeared in his Shield persona, moments after losing the belt against Drew McIntyre before CM Punk (Who was unable to wrestle at Wrestlemania XL due to a broken arm that he sustained after being attacked by Scotsman Drew McIntyre before the event took place, but was there as a spectator who watched on) intervened by assaulting McIntyre, then all this happened as Damian Priest (The former United States champion who was once known as Senyor Money in the Bank) initiated his Money in the Bank cash in in which he became the new champion in which the WWE universe were shocked about the result, much to the delight of his Judgment Day stablemates of Mexican American 'Dirty' Dominik Mysterio, Irishmen Finn Balor & JD McDonagh & the WWE Women's World Champion at the time of Australian Rhea Ripley who defeated Irishwoman Becky Lynch to successfully defend her championship at the same event a year after beating Charlotte Flair to become the new WWE Women's World Championship compared to the most recent women's Royal Rumble winner Bayley overcoming the challenge against Iyo Sky as she dispatched her former Damage Ctrl stablemate to claim the WWE Women's Championship) in a tag team match during night 1 of the Showcase of the Immortals, at Wrestlemania XL in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States in one of by far, the most incredible but greatest endings of all time at the Grandest Stage of Them All (There was appearances from Jey Uso who took the beating out of his twin brother Jimmy Uso from the Bloodline (Including Jimmy's reaction when Jey's entrance music theme being played that he was instructed by his Bloodline stablemate of Roman Reigns to go get him before Jey nailed him with a superkick then he used his trademark finisher of the Spear which was inspired by his relative Roman Reigns onto the ledge), then the now recently movie star of John Cena appeared as he took both Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa (Who had a priceless reaction when 'My Time Is Now', AKA the John Cena entrance music theme, was played when Sikoa had his task of wiping Cena (Who was dispatched by coming there to eliminate both Sikoa & Reigns as he is thrusted into the battle of Philadelphia by assisting 'The American Nightmare' from the jaws of defeat as both his friend & ally during Cody Vs Roman II: Decider in Philly) out once & for all, at all costs) out of the equation to level things up although he had to even the playing field odds with his finisher, the Attitude Adjustment, & then all of a sudden, the Rock appeared as he is summoned by getting ready to take out John Cena (The one that the Rock who had caused a bit of ruckus to Cena in the past) who proceeded to attack him to save the Bloodline's blushes, but Cena (Who reacted when the Rock's entrance theme played as Cena was like that he was getting ready to face the music, although Cena's fanatics on social media be like "Uh oh, I think we got company Mr HLR! I repeat, we got company!") got clobbered with the Rock Bottom by 'The Final Boss', then it's Rollins who appeared as he tries to take out both Reigns & the Rock with his steel chair but he gets nailed by Roman Reigns's signature Superman Punch, then the Undertaker (Who was fighting on Cody's side whose eyes are like when the man known as 'The Deadman' was preparing to go into battle, even though the Rock's fans on social media be like "Look out Rock, right behind you!") mysteriously appears out of nowhere as he chokeslammed the hell out of the Rock (In which The Undertaker's fans on social media be like "Thank you Taker, god bless you all") before Reigns wishing to choose either Rollins or Rhodes to hit them with a steel chair but he chose Rollins, then he tried to finish off Rhodes with his trademark finisher of the Spear before Cody counters/reverses it with not one, not two but three Cross-Rhodes (AKA the Cross-Rhodes Trinity, but there was exactly no question where the undisputed WWE Universal Championship would be heading? Unless there was a catastrophic setback unlike last year during Cody Vs Roman: Decider in Hollywood, & it wasn't Roman indeed, but comments made on social media that had long since established Cody as the WWE universe wanted to see successfully challenging for the title & if he'd won, there will indeed be a new name on the undisputed WWE Universal crown with the Rhodes name now historically etched in WWE history) before pinning him to make history in which the crowd had gone berserk, ballistic, crazy (Or should I say insane) but nuts as the WWE fans were stoked about the result which was a resounding success compared to last year as Rhodes pulled off a moment inspired by Sami Zayn who overcame the challenge of Gunther (Who was the longest serving Intercontinental Champion, surpassing the Honky Tonk Man compared to Roman Reigns who was indeed the longest serving Undisputed WWE Universal Champion for 1,316 days) to become the new Intercontinental champion + there was Awesome Truth consisting of both the Miz & R-Truth has taken out the Raw Tag Team Championship as well as Logan Paul who defeated both 'The Legend Killer' Randy Orton & Kevin 'KO' Owens to remain the WWE United States Champion & the former United States champion Austin Theory teaming up with Australian Grayson Waller to form A-Town Down Under had claimed the Smackdown Tag Team Championship) since the 'Heist of the Century' when Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat both Brock Lesnar & Reigns at WM 31 in 2015 therefore bouncing back from defeat against Randy Orton earlier, as well as Becky 'The Man' Lynch's glorious win against Charlotte Flair & former MMA star Ronda Rousey to claim both the Raw & Smackdown women's titles at Wrestlemania 35 in 2019 billed as 'Two Belts, One Title' in the historic first ever women's main event at Wrestlemania (And there was a bit of controversy as Lynch reversed Rousey's Piper's Pit submission hold where she rolled her up with a leverage pin, but Rowdy's shoulders went up (Although the ref didn't see it) & if it was a near fall, the championship bout would've continued), then 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin selling his soul to the devil as he was aligned with Mr McMahon by finishing off the Rock as Austin struck Rock by hitting him with a steel chair that the Chairman at the time gave it to his old nemesis 16 times to claim the WWE Championship back in 2001 in a no holds barred match billed as 'Stone Cold's alignment with Mr McMahon' at Wrestlemania X-Seven which was during the great Attitude era that they had, & the late great Ultimate Warrior who upstaged Hulk Hogan by outsmarting him via pinfall to still become the the WWE Intercontinental Champion & therefore at that moment, became the new WWE Champion at Wrestlemania VI in a champion against champion match billed as 'The Ultimate Challenge' when both Hogan & Warrior were the biggest stars in the WWE at the time during the Golden Era of wrestling when the 80's period was done with the Ultmate Warrior taking the lead as the main superstar from Hulk Hogan when the 1990's decade recieved the warmest of welcomes in fine style + there was joy & jubilation throughout the Rhodes camp as there were friends, family, observers & critics who are part of Cody's bandwagon throughout Wrestlemania XL & joined in the post championship match celebrations such as Owens, Zayn, Orton, Rollins, Punk, Cena, Jey, 'The Mega Star' LA Knight, veteran WWE official Charles Robinson, then Brandi (Cody's wife), Cody's mother, Cody's father in law as well as a few of Cody's nephews & nieces & finally Cody's biggest influencer that he had throughout his wrestling career, Triple H (The current chief content officer at WWE as well as a legend & hall of famer when he was part of the D-Generation X tag team stable (And it's been 2 years since his retirement from pro wrestling due to a heart condition which ended his wrestling career in 2022 (In which he opened Wrestlemania 38 with a bang by addressing the WWE universe of welcoming to the Showcase of the Immortals with a one-liner inspired by his father in law, Mr McMahon of saying "Welcome! To Wrestlemania!"), 3 years after his last but most recent wrestling match to date against Batista at WM 35 in a career threatening match in 2019).

And in motor racing related news such as regining 3 time world champion Max Verstappen (Who bounced back after getting a DNF in Australia after 3 laps in which his championship lead had been drastically reduced going into the Japanese Grand Prix) returns to winning ways in Japan after having a pole to win moment with his constructor he races for of Red Bull securing a 1 - 2 finish with Verstappen back on the top step ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez then Verstappen's closest challenger Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari rounded out the podium in which the Grand Prix was marred by a red flag in the opening lap in which Alex Albon (Williams) & Daniel Ricciardo (RB) were involved in a wreck as chaos ensured after both taking each other out as they suffer DNFs, while continuing on to a different story in the Supercars Championship such as defending series champ Brodie Kostecki returning to the fold after missing both races in Bathurst & Melbourne as he is tipped to replace Todd Hazelwood (Who filled in for Kostecki for the 1st 2 rounds of the season in both Bathurst & Melbourne, but former Erebus Motorsport turned Triple Eight Race Engineering (The most successful team in terms of the Supercars Championship during recent times) driver Will Brown (The bloke who took over Shane van Gisbergen's race seat since SVG left the Supercars Championship last year to compete in NASCAR) is now surprisingly the points leader going into the next event in Taupo, New Zealand in a circuit owned by TQ of Scotsman Tony Quinn, while behind Brown in terms of points is his teammate Broc Feeney also in Triple Eight) going into the New Zealand round (Which returns after a 1 year absence with Pukekohe last hosting it in 2022, but Kostecki has chosen to race car 1 as he follows in the footsteps of Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Jamie Whincup, Josef Newgarden & Simon Pagenaud compared to Valentino Rossi, Sir Lewis Hamilton, Shane van Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin, Ott Tanak, Alex Palou, Will Power & Kalle Rovanpera chosen to keep their permanent number for their title defences instead of running car 1 which is usually reserved for the champion) of the Supercars Championship held in Taupo for the first time at the former A1GP venue of Taupo International Motorsport Park (Formerly Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park) with 5 Kiwis competing in their home patch such as former Toyota Racing Series champion Matt Payne, one half of the most recent Bathurst 1000 winner & Payne's teammate at Grove Racing Richie Stanaway, BJR's Andre Heimgartner, former Porsche Carrera Cup competitor as well as factory Porsche driver Jaxon Evans & Walkinshaw Andretti United's young Kiwi charger Ryan Wood.

And finally that my dear half-brother Jansen (Who I saw him on the 7th of April, but I haven't seen him for 2 years because the last time I saw him was in 2022) finally getting Pops old truck that he know longer uses but Jans got home safe as his truck was dirty so he cleaned it according to the picture that I saw on Dad's phone at The Cobb on the 8th of April, but he has back pain whilst trying to lift a fridge & he hasn't been at work lately.

So that is my 545th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 21st of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And my 33rd birthday is just around the corner in 5 days time on the 7th of June (For which I feel like a young kid during Christmas time) which is 2 days after Dad's & 3 days before Aunty Tan's so wish me luck (And my birthday on June 7th is my fave time of the year along with Christmas day on the 25th of December (And a shout out to both Dad who had his 55th & Aunty Tan who had her 56th so best wishes to all of them).

Say Hello 2 Heaven: My 20th blog of the year 2024

Well, I was doing a blog in 2022 about WWE wrestlers & their legends are often compared to Formula 1 drivers (Both past & current) so here is the list of them & their equivalents to that (+ their hometowns):

Hulk Hogan (Venice Beach, California, United States) - the late great Ayrton Senna (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Bret 'The Hitman' Hart (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - Nigel Mansell (Upton-upon-Severn, United Kingdom)

Shawn Michaels (San Antonio, Texas, United States) - Jacques Villeneuve (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada)

The Undertaker (Death Valley, California, United States (Houston, Texas, United States during the Big Evil era) - Fernando Alonso (Oviedo, Spain)

Triple H (Greenwich, Connecticut, United States) - Jenson Button (Frome, United Kingdom)

The Rock (Miami, Florida, United States) - Mika Hakkinen (Vantaa, Finland)

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin (Victoria, Texas, United States) - Michael Schumacher (Kerpen, Germany)

John Cena (West Newbury, Massachusetts, United States) - Sir Lewis Hamilton (Stevenage, United Kingdom)

& Roman Reigns (Pensacola, Florida, United States) - Max Verstappen (Hasselt, Belgium*)

*: competes under a Dutch racing licence

And there are calls for the hip drop technique to be clamped down in all forms of rugby (With World Rugby able to step in to declare war on that illegal manuver just like the NFL once did of introducing a crack down on the horsecollar tackle that they used to have 20 years ago in 2004) even if it continues the trend following serious leg injuries suffered by both Hurricanes player Cam Roigard & Brumbies player Lachlan Lonergan during Super Rugby Pacific games against the Highlanders & the Reds respectively, but both the NFL & the NRL had sucessfully made them prohibited as a result of safety issues (It's a 15 yard penalty in the NFL as well as 10 minutes in the bin in the NRL with players facing suspensions for a now illegal use of the hip drop) not only because of the hip drop technique is indeed the new high tackle, but they turned rugby into a mini NFL because of the sport being focused on speeding up the game including shot clocks for conversions (That's 1 & a half minute), penalty goals (1 minute) & now both scrums (30 seconds) & lineouts in the aftermath of that Bernard Foley time wasting debacle during the Bledisloe Cup test in Melbourne in 2022 that cost Australia the test (The French referee had awarded a scrum to the All Blacks for taking too long after being awarded the penalty to the Wallabies for a ball carrier holding on according to the comment that I remember from Karl Te Nana (Who used to work for Sky before being summoned by World Rugby as he takes up of offering a job for the sports governing body as its world feed commentator role) in which the Aussies should've won before New Zealand snuck in of scoring the winning try by Jordie Barrett at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne (And they were playing under a penalty advantage according to the call from one of the assistants to notify the referee that a Wallaby player is never onside also according to Tony Johnson in commentary before Jordie crosses over for the winning try to go 1 - 0 up in the series (And TJ once said that has there ever been a finish to a test quite like this? Well, certainly indeed).

And the Indian Premier League cricket season is underway but why aren't Sky Sport not showing it this year? Mainly because of Sky's broadcasting contract with the IPL might have been expired along with men's ATP tennis events (With Auckland being the exception that they had this year) & the Super League rugby competition in both the UK & France while women's WTA tennis events is still being shown on TVNZ+ (Except Auckland in which is being shown on Sky Sport) along with the World Rally Championship (WRC) & the URC (United Rugby Championship), but Euro 2024 will at least be shown on TVNZ since they acquired the broadcasting rights when they were under the Spark Sport name back in 2022 (And they have handed it over from Sky since April this year but the Ukraine against Iceland game was the first men's international football I have seen since last year (And I have been watching it to prepare for myself of watching UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany on TV but that was the first time I've watched a men's international football match this year (And I've watched the first 10 minutes then the last 10 + stoppages) apart from the women last year when the Football Women's World Cup was held last year in both Australia & New Zealand) in which Spain outmuscled Croatia on penalties during the final of the UEFA Nations League, but the latest in football news such as French Football World Cup winning player from 2018 of Paul Pogba is heartbroken after been given a suspension for doping offences following a failed drug test which resulted in an instant ban in which the man who missed the most recent World Cup in Qatar in 2022 for the defending champions at the time of France through a serious injury alongside N'Golo Kante & Karim Benzema which opened the door for the Lionel Messi led Argentina to end a 36 year drought of becoming champions of the world in the sport of football against the French on spot kicks during the final in Lusail to claim football's biggest prize, the Football World Cup (And the pro-Argentinian fans have gone crazy but berserk as celebrations erupted back home in Argentina in the aftermath of their national team's success of ruling on top of the football world).

And finally that I did not know that France is the birthplace of motor racing compared to the UK being the birthplace of rugby, cricket, football & tennis indeed, even though with the French are known for their success in motor racing such as Alain Prost being the only Frenchman to win the Formula One World Championship (Their most recent race was in Australia where Spain's Carlos Sainz Jr won that fateful Grand Prix (In which the defending 3 time World Champion still racing in the Red Bull (With their boss Christian Horner being cleared of misconduct meaning that he remains the team principal of the 6 time constructors world champions) of Max Verstappen dominated the first 2 races in both Bahrain & Saudi Arabia before having his first DNF of the season down under after just 3 laps during the Grand Prix) therefore repeating his heroics in Singapore after making a successful comeback from appendicitis in which he had been given the all clear by the medics after being ruled out in Saudi Arabia with young 18 year old British driver who is currently competing in F2 of Ollie Bearman substituted for him in which Bearman finished in 7th during the Grand Prix on his debut, but the next race is in Japan at the Suzuka Circuit with the Japanese Grand Prix now moved to April from its traditional date in September from Azerbaijan which takes Japan's slot) as he's done it about 4 times (In 1985-86, 1989 & 1993) while Sebastien Loeb is the most successful French rally driver with 9 WRC championships to his name from 2004 until 2012, compared to another Sebastien of Ogier who won 8 World Rally Championship titles to his name (From 2013 until 2018 & 2020-21) & Didier Auriol who won it once back in 1994 & both Frenchmen who dominate in American Open Wheel Racing such as Sebastien Bourdais who won the Champ Car World Series 4 times in a row from 2004 until 2007 & Simon Pagenaud in 2016 in the Indycar Series & France winning the currently defunct A1GP series once in 2005-06 with their ace drivers of former DTM & Supercars Championship ace Alexandre Premat & former World Endurance Championship driver Nicolas Lapierre & also, France is being the home of the 24 Hours of Le Mans situated at the Circuit de la Sarthe track in the French town of Le Mans with Italian racing icon Ferrari being the winners of the most recent Le Mans 24 Hour race last year.

So that is my 544th blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 20th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

P.S. And a shout-out to my dear cuzzie as well as my mate & my honorary sister of Paige Ahearn (Best known as the beautiful daughter of Cathey Middeplaats, partner of Jarrod Ahearn (Well, I'm not sure they're married or not, but I heard that they're still together as of today but I'm giving both my old Linkin Park album & my old jade dragon necklace to her next time I go to Wellington (And if Paige is not interested of getting my old Linkin Park album, I'd give it to Andy or Kels instead) who I never met & the mother of Norah who I haven't seen Paige since 2016 along with Cathey, but never met Norah before (And I once saw a picture of Pops phone about Paige & Norah meeting Kathryn Ngapo at a ferry in Auckland back in January) whose having her birthday on the 5th of April as she is 30 years of age now so best wishes for her big 30 (And I was telling Dad that I could catch up with her, inspired by a dream that I had about Paige back in February or March, but I just heard a comment from Carole on the 4th of April that American pop star Taylor Swift (Who is currently dating NFL gridiron player Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs) is now a billionaire pop princess not only that she is wealthy with billions of dollars being earned from her for performing, just like the sporting trio of Americans of golfer Tiger Woods then former & current basketball stars of Michael Jordan & LeBron James who are in fact billionaires & I remember a story on the 5th of April that Pops was alluding to me that the team turned up late whilst the opposition kept on scoring during a sevens tournament in the Nausori region in Fiji (Especially when both players were on the field when they trailed by 11 points) that the late Nan & Pops had been to watch, & it was hardcase (But this is not the Harlem Globetrotters by the way) when their fans had laughed every time a team scores a try.

Landmines/The Glass: My 19th blog of the year 2024

Well, Pops told me that morning on the 25th of March that Rejean had been involved in a truck crash back in Canada but hope he is alright (And will the truck be repaired or are they going to shelve it after it had been wrecked by another vehicle), but it's been 115 days since I last saw both of them on the 24th of January this year before heading to Vanuatu then heading back home to Canada.

And rugby news that I've missed such as Ireland (Who are the AB's main challengers along with the defending world champion Springboks side with the Irish able to bounce back to win the Six Nations title in the aftermath of a quarterfinal defeat against New Zealand at the World Cup last year) retaining the Six Nations championship following their win against Scotland in the final round when they also bounced back from a 1 point defeat against England (Who had to lose against France by a single point a week later with the scars of '23 had been erased for the French after losing to the eventual champions South Africa in the quarterfinal at their home Rugby World Cup) in the penultimate round who had Marcus Smith kicked the winning drop goal in the final play, then in Super Rugby such as the Hurricanes go 5 & 0 to start the season (Including their win against the Reds in the Super Round which was the best game in round 2 which was marred by Jordie Barrett's sending off for dangerous foul play on Jordan Petaia in his 100th Super Rugby game which resulted a fortnight's ban for him, alongside Moana Pasifika who had their first win against the Fijian Drua & against the struggling Crusaders side coached by Rob Penney in round 4 which was the best game of the round), their best since 2015, compared to the poor old Crusaders outfit who lost 5 in a row including the Chiefs first in a rematch of last years final in round 1, then the Waratahs in round 2, followed by the Fijian Drua in round 3 which was the best match of the round, then the Hurricanes in round 4 & of course (Also marred by Owen Franks who had a card under review in the dying seconds for dangerously taking out the man who scored the winning try of Justin Sangster in a clean-out gone wrong which resulted Franks copped a 2 week suspension for his actions), the Blues (Who had to end their drought which lasted nearly a decade against the Crusaders (Who'll face the Chiefs again in round 6 but it's make or break for the Red & Blacks if they want to bounce back after losing 5 in a row with their frontline players missing such as injury (Scott Barrett & Tamaiti Williams), suspension (Owen Franks) or players heading overseas (Richie Mo'unga, Leicester Fainga'anuku & Sam Whitelock (The most experienced lock who should come back if the Crusaders make an S.O.S. call to him) at Eden Park) which was the standout game in round 5 of this years competition.

And it was on Saturday, the 23rd of March that I purchased the Neil Finn book at Paper Plus to go with Dave Grohl: the Storyteller as the list of rock star books that I own but at one point that I wasn't going to get that book, but however, I simply changed my mind about it that I was a fan of Neil Finn as well as his bands of Split Enz (His old band that he first started with but they're no longer active as of today) & Crowded House (That had been around in the 80's & 90's but are still active & his sons Liam & Elroy are in it as their band members but their song 'Don't Dream It's Over' was the first rock song I remembered listening to & it's been my fave (I thought 'Something So Strong' was my favourite Crowded House song).

And finally I have purchased the Star Wars Battlefront: Classic Collection game on both the PS4 & PS5 formats to relive my nostalgia days playing that video game (I first played the 1st Star Wars Battlefront game in 2008 on the PS2, 2 years before playing the 2nd, but I've got both versions on the Xbox via backwards compability on the Xbox One then later the Xbox Series X console & now I own all of the Star Wars Battlefront games including the 2004 version of Battlefront, the 2005 version of Battlefront II, the 2015 version of Battlefront & then, the 2017 version of Battlefront II) but I prefer the PS4 version & I was lucky just to get the console version after the PC version was a complete failure in which the remastered version was in fact considered the worst during launch, but there is Star Wars related news with the new Star Wars movie titled Star Wars: New Jedi Order (Which is set 15 years after the events of the most recent Star Wars movie, the Rise of Skywalker, released in 2019 in which the movie is about Rey Skywalker reforming the Jedi Order whilst in the midst of a Yuuzhan Vhong war being taken place) is due to come out in cinemas in 2026 with Daisy Ridley returning as the main protagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy of Rey Skywalker along with a new character played by Idris Elba who takes over from Adam Driver who played Kylo Ren as the main antagonist of the possible Star Wars: New Jedi Order trilogy & with other characters like Finn, Poe Dameron, Chewbacca, Maz Kanata, Zori Bliss, Jannah, Rose Tico, Lando Calrissian, C-3P0 (Threepio), R2-D2 (Artoo) & BB-8 returning.

So that is my 543rd blog of the year 2024 (MMXXIV) & my 19th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.