The Fly/Elevation: My 23rd blog of the year 2025

Well, hi & welcome back to another blog, but welcome to all of our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whetu here & you're tuning into my Kiwiavenger blog (And a shoutout to Carole (Who I first met her back in 2017, a year before she would move here to Whanganui also way back in 2018 (That was 2 years before COVID in 2020 where they once had the pandemic), & she has been here since) for her belated 73rd birthday on the 17th of June this month, so best wishes but we've already headed to Mint Cafe like yesterday for lunch 3 days after her actual birthday), but first in there was once a motor racing related story as 2001 wasn't even a great year in terms of motorsport standards such as the tragic passing of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt Sr (AKA the Intimidator who was Dale Jr's dad & was a champion long ago in 1980, 1986-87, 1990-91 & 1993-94 as well as a Daytona 500 winner way, way back in 1998 as well as he won 76 NASCAR races, his last was in Talladega way back in 2000) in Daytona Beach, Florida during the Great American race of the Daytona 500 (The pinnacle event of the NASCAR Cup Series) earlier in the year in which the HANS device had been mandated following the tragedy, then twice CART Champ Car champion from 1997-98 of Italian Alessandro 'Alex' Zanardi (Who had to win gold in the hand cycling event in London during the Paralympic Games back in 2012) had lost both limbs that ended his open wheel racing career in a huge accident during a CART race in Lausitzring, Germany which took place after the 9/11 tragedy (Even though with the 2001 United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course marked the first time an major international sporting event had to be held within American boundaries in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11th according to the Grand Prix circuits book that I bought from the Warehouse in Palmerston North back in 2017 in which they gave them their seal of approval, compared to 2005 where it was a farce 20 years ago where the constructors ran with Michelin tyres opted to pull out following an accident by Ralf Schumacher (The one who got injured before Brazilian Ricardo Zonta drafted in as replacement for the injured Ralf Schumacher before all hell had broken loose as Zonta was one of the 14 runners alongside the eventual champion Fernando Alonso (Who was a Renault driver at the time) & one of the championship contenders of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen withdrew as 6 cars lined up on the grid were racing just like in the old Gran Turismo games from the 1st one until the 4th, & it was during the Grand Prix that Michael Schumacher won the most controversial race in F1 history which was an unpopular victory for the multiple world champion while one of his teammates of Rubens Barrichello finished in 2nd ahead of a Jordan driver of Portugal's Tiago Monteiro who was the only driver of his country to appear on the podium as he celebrated with a champagne spray in the aftermath of Michael & Barrichello leaving the podium early much to the disapproval of the race fans who were supporters of the constructors who ran with Michelin tyres such as Renault (Currently Alpine), McLaren, Toyota (Who departed after the 2009 season), Williams, BAR (Now Mercedes-AMG), Red Bull & Sauber (Kick Sauber F1 Team as of today) in the Toyota during Friday practice by allowing the constructors fitted with Bridgestone tyres ran the whole 73 lap race meaning that the crowd were stunned by giving them raspberries according to the story that I did on my blog in 2023), & then the CART Champ Car movie called Driven starring Sylvester 'Sly' Stallone (AKA that Rambo & Rocky Balboa guy who played that legendary race car driver as well as former champion of Joe 'Hummer' Tanto who tempted to come out of retirement to help by mentoring a young hotshot rookie named Jimmy Bly (Played by American actor Kip Perdue) in order to beat Beau Brandenburg (With German film star Til Schweiger portraying the role of him) of winning the championship, just like British motor racing legend who was the 1992 Formula One world champion of Nigel 'Nige the Lion' Mansell who beat his main challenger of 2 time Indy 500 winner who is also a motor racing legend of Brazil's Emerson Fittipaldi (The man who was a twice Formula One world champion way long ago in 1972 (In which he claimed the then record as the youngest driver to achieve the feat before Spain's Fernando Alonso took over 2 decades ago) & 1974 who dominated the Indy 500 twice long ago in 1989 then way, way back in 1993 in which he beat Mansell who embarrassedly got beaten by Fittipaldi (Who had to retire way, way back in 1996 due to injuries sustained in an accident at Michigan Motor Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, a year after Danny Sullivan retired through injury also way, way back in 1995 at the same venue) during the restart in which he struggled) did way, way back in 1993 where he won the IndyCar title as well as the rookie of the year honours, followed by a Colombian driver who was a future twice Indy 500 winning driver of Juan Pablo 'JPM' Montoya also way, way back in 1999 who did the same as Mansell, win the championship when he outperformed his main challenger of future 4 time IndyCar champion & twice Indy 500 winner just like Montoya, British driver Dario Franchitti (Whose career ended with serious injuries sustained in a wreck in an Indycar race on the streets of Houston back in 2013), then become the best performing rookie for the entire season) that came out in cinemas which was considered the worst Hollywood sports movies ever made, mainly because of the use of computer generated imagery (CGI), but they're about to release the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt (Fight Club, Troy, Mr & Mrs Smith) & featuring Spanish actor Javier Bardem (3:10 to Yuma, Skyfall) which is due in cinemas this month in June this year & the F1 movie is about a ageing former driver named Sonny Hayes who competes in IMSA as he mentors a young gun named Joshua 'Noah' Pierce (Played by British actor Damson Idris) who is willing to win the Formula 1 World Championship crown in a backmarker team called APX GP Team which is the 11th team on the F1 grid & it is set during the 2023 season, but the plot is similar to Driven & other motor racing related movies such as the 1990 NASCAR movie starring Tom Cruise (Of both Top Gun & Mission Impossible fame), Days of Thunder as well as the 1970's Formula One film about the Hunt-Lauda rivalry called Rush that came out in 2013 (And I've seen the movie like twice before which features the likes of Aussie Chris Hemsworth (The one who played the Norse god of thunder of Thor in the Marvel comics movies such as both Thor & the Avengers) who played the famous racer of the late James Hunt & the movie that came out in 2023 that I've got on Blu-ray, but never seen the whole movie of it of Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story which is about Jann Mardenborough's pathway from gamer to racer.

And secondly in the cricket that the history of the Champions Trophy (For which I label that tournament as a mini-World Cup with the top 8 teams from the previous men's World Cup, qualify for the Champions Trophy) cricket takes it all back to 1998 where South Africa (Who were fresh off from their Commonwealth Games gold medal triumph in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) triumphed in Bangladesh (Who were once a football playing country until they converted it to cricket as their main popular sport there in the country) to claim their one & only major international cricket tournament, then our own Black Caps of New Zealand went on to become champions of a limited overs tournament for the 1st & only time following our victory against India (Who had Sourav Ganguly scoring a ton during the 1st Indian innings) in Kenya with Chris 'Cairnsy' Cairns (Son of famous cricketer Lance) also scoring an unbeaten century that proved to be the game changer in which he had been awarded player of the game honours by getting the Knockout Trophy final MVP (Most valuable player), but the player of the tournament went to English born who plays for New Zealand of batter Roger Twose (Who after the tournament had decided to move on from representing his adopted country a year later due to a form slump), then fast forward to 2002 where India (Who beat South Africa who should've won in the semi, but a hamstring injury by batter Herschelle Gibbs had derailed South Africa's chances of making the final according to the comment I remember from former South African bowler Shaun 'Polly' Pollock) & hosts at the time of Sri Lanka shared the trophy apiece as co-champions after the final as well as the reserve day got rained or washed out but abandoned without a ball being bowled before the West Indies went on to win the tournament way back in 2004 against hosts at the time of England in the final, then Australia won in 2006 against the defending champions at the time of the West Indies in the final when the tournament was held in India before retaining it in 2009 in South Africa against us (Who had before the final that our own skipper at the time of Daniel 'Dan' Vettori who had to pull out at the last minute which proved to be the turning point even though with the Aussies thinking that they have a better chance of becoming the first & only side to retain the Champions Trophy also according to the comment that I literally remember from former player Shane 'Watto' Watson, & they successfully did to claim the white jacket which is awarded to the winning players of the winning team) in the final in South Africa, then 4 years later in 2013 that hosts at the time of England (Who had their best chance of winning the Champions Trophy which could've gone either way) made their 2nd appearance of a Champions Trophy final, in which they fell short against India who prevailed in the final which was reduced to 20 overs a side because of the rain had fallen at Edgbaston in Birmingham before 4 years later in 2017 where Pakistan (Hosts & defending champions of this year's tournament who won their first major cricket tournament in the ODI format since 1992 (And we already heard that story before according to the previous blogs that I did) eventually triumphed over arch-rivals India (Whose chances of retaining the Champions Trophy proved costly due to a no ball by Jasprit Bumrah who thought he got a wicket of Zaman who eventually survived when he eventually posted 114 which proved to be the winning knock), but there has been an update in the cricket as the Black Caps win the Tri-Series against Pakistan in the final which was marred by a bizarre incident overshadowing Pakistan's last match prior to the mini-World Cup tournament which has taken a dramatic turn when a black cat that stormed onto the field causing chaos, therefore setting the tone before both sides square off once more, in the opening match of the tournament, but I fear it might be an India-South Africa final (Although Australia might not make the semis due to their 3 frontline seamers unavailable such as Mitchell Starc (Who withdrew through personal reasons), Josh Hazelwood (Who is currently out with an injury) & regular captain Pat Cummins (Who is injured just like Hazelwood as Steve Smith assumes the captaincy duties for the whole tournament) according to former South African cricketer JP Duminy, just like last year at the men's T20 World Cup when Suryakumar Yadav took a catch during the last over of the T20 international game that won them the final of course at Kensington Oval in Georgetown, Barbados, in the West Indies that was questionable which broke South African hearts) in the final at the Oval in London courtesy of a ton by Zaman where the tournament was held in England again.

And thirdly in the rugby as the new season of Super Rugby Pacific gets underway with the Crusaders bid of completing the greatest sporting comeback in history starts with the opening win over the Hurricanes (Who had to lead at halftime, but they fell short in the end) all thanks to a hat-trick to Wellington player who plays for the Crusaders of Kyle Preston (The hero of that match who is a relatively unknown but new to the rugby scene as the man who used to back the Hurricanes as a young kid, played for Wellington in last years National Provincial Championship season that they eventually triumphed, but he could be the next big thing in New Zealand rugby as he was called up to the Crusaders by coming into the squad as replacement for the retirement bound former English international halfback Willi Heinz to join both other halfbacks in the team, fearing that he might not get any game time for the Hurricanes behind Cam Roigard, such as Noah Hotham (Who suffered an injury early during the game, & then hey presto! Enter Kyle Preston) & the wily old veteran who is experienced of Mitch Drummond) before the New South Wales Waratahs break Highlanders hearts with the winning try scored by reserve prop Siosifa Amone, then the ACT Brumbies did the same thing as the Waratahs when they beat the Fijian Drua with starting loose forward Luke Reimer (Who could even be a Wallaby in waiting, in the coming months) providing the match winner when he scored a try off a rolling maul seconds until full time, then the Blues (Who were without Sam Darry for the whole season due to injury suffered during the pre-season) would gone on to lead at halftime, but the bench by the Chiefs (Who were without Wallace Sititi through injury that ruled them out of the entire season just like Darry) made them the difference of securing the win during the battle of the Bombays thanks to a double by one of their star men of Damian McKenzie, & to exact vengeance following last year's result in the final, before the Western Force break Moana hearts with a stunning try at the death to tie the game by Ben Donaldson who would run all the way to the try line (Even though Moana player Ardie Savea tried to catch him, but failed) then he would gone on to seal the match winning conversion much to the delight of the Force fans who were in a frenzy when Donaldson scored then converted his own try that won them the match.

And finally in the gaming department such as the Rugby 25 game (Which features the internationals (With rugby playing nations making an appearance such as New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, France, England, Australia, Argentina, Scotland, Wales, Italy, Fiji, Japan & others) as well as Super Rugby Pacific (Which features sides from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands), Gallagher Premiership (An English club competition), Top 14 (It's a French domestic competition), URC (United Rugby Championship featuring teams from the 3 Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland & Wales as well as Italy & South Africa) & MLR (Major League Rugby which is an American comp) that came out digitally on the 13th of February (20th for the physical version that I pre-ordered at EB), & the gameplay to me was dreadful but most disappointing & below par (And I should've sticked to Rugby Challenge 4 due to the woeful gameplay that they're having to deal with in the Rugby 25 game), but I manage to unveil my new secret tactic of getting past the defence by utilising the pick & go when I play on the Easiest difficulty until the team that I play scores a try (And I've got to watch the cleanouts from the opposition as they may intend to strip the ball in possession), & man I should really start using that (And an international rugby test is like a war to start with, compared to a domestic rugby game which is similar to a civil war), but I always struggle in the scrums as I would always concede penalties for certainly collapsing the scrum, but I need to improve by working on it in order to win scrums like that (And I always put my blogging skills to the test (And the blogging stuff is like being a news or sports columnist of a news outlet because I'm an expert on this) compared to my computer game skills that I always have, but I've managed to clock GTA V especially all of the 75 missions that I've completed (And I've achieved 20 gold medals in the missions department in the game) but I'm now doing the money investments stuff (And both of the 3 protagonists of the Grand Theft Auto V game of both 'Frankie Frank' of Franklin Clinton & Michael 'Mikey Mike' de Santa (Formerly Michael Townley) are up to a billion dollars except T-rev Trev (Trevor Philips) who remains as a multi-millionaire, but I'll still be doing it in both the afternoon & evening sessions on the 27th of February this year (And I got a keep an eye of investing on Merryweather which is a private military & security firm as well as the antagonistic faction in the GTA V game (For which I first played in 2023 (I thought I wasn't so keen on the game, until now), but now I'm starting to master it as of this year as all 3 of the protagonists are now billionaires), but I now establish the passing game as part of my new tactic since the update had already been dropping in.

So that is my 599th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 23rd of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. I went to Palmy with Pops & Carole about going to Palmerston North that we visited Mobility Manawatu to get her new shower chair for her as well as pumping her wheelchair's tyres, then we headed off to the Plaza to get me both $100 PlayStation network cards at EB (I've got lots of them, but I really need to use them up before both Aunty Tan & Rejean get here in possibly December this year), then the 2 Fast 2 Furious (For which I have not seen the film for a very long time which starred the late Paul Walker (AKA that Brian O'Conner guy who tragically passed away in a crash back in 2013 whilst he was in the passenger seat), Tyrese (Roman Pierce) & Eva Mendes (Monica Fuentes), but the first time I watched it was way back in 2004 on Sky Movies (And the entertainment world is in mourning as retired American Hollywood film star of Gene Hackman (Whose last movie appearance was Welcome to Mooseport in which the movie came out way back in 2004 where he starred along with Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano) has tragically passed away at the age of 95 according to the comment that Carole alluded to both me & Pops while we were at Little Savannah restaurant in Palmy so all thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the loved ones of Hackman & his wife who believe that they were eventually murdered by their daughter who is sentenced to life behind bars in this sad, difficult but tough time, RIP) Blu-ray movie that I purchased at JB Hi-fi that I watched late at night on the 3rd of March (A day after 25 years since the America's Cup was still, New Zealand's Cup, in the aftermath of Team New Zealand (Skippered by Dean Barker who raced in race 5 with Russell Coutts opting not to race just before he left TNZ (But he would've in order to break the all-time record for most consecutive wins as an America's Cup skipper in the finals of the Auld Mug because of the current record being set by 9 with Coutts & alongside him, the late American Charlie Barr) which set the tone for the 2003 America's Cup which was embroiled by controversy, therefore we suffered our loyal defeat in the hands of the Swiss syndicate Alinghi (Who lured many of our Team New Zealand personnel, especially Coutts, Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney & Murray Jones to sail for the Swiss in which they manage to pull off the Auckland heist) of bringing the Auld Mug to Europe for the first time in which our NZL 82 boat wasn't reliable (Compared to Taihoro last year for which was most reliable (Although it had some damages in which we overcame the disaster just like in Bermuda back in 2017 in which we had a frightening pitchpole during the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinal race against Land Rover BAR) compared to NZL 82, in which we successfully completed a America's Cup threepeat in modern day history) pulled off by completing the first successful defence of the Auld Mug outside of the United States against the Prada Challenge of Italy) before heading to Little Savannah's which is a South African-Kiwi hybrid restaurant where I had a prawn pasta, but during that we got back that I thought I lost both of my passport & wallet, & it fell down from my pocket but I found them on the bottom of the seat (Just like Pops left his cell phone behind at the Commercial Motel after he went to the toilet a day earlier until a cop/police officer had found it therefore handing it in to him late at night, a day before he got a new purple coloured cellphone cover to replace the old brown/tan one) to end an incredible day it was (And I went to Fielding for the first time just before we went to Palmy).

Gene Hackman

1930 - 2025

Tainted Love/Whatever It Takes/Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)/Natural: My 22nd blog of the year 2025

Well, hello, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whets here & you're tuning in into my Kiwiavenger blog, but first & foremost that the ongoing trade war between the Donald Trump led United States who are implementing tariffs all over the place, & their main opposition which is Canada, China & Mexico is sort of like Brexit (Which is about the UK leaving the EU in 2020 right before the COVID pandemic a year after many Brits wanted that they want to depart from the EU (And this is before party gate during the COVID lockdown that Boris Johnson who was the UK PM at the time illegally threw a party in which they supposed not to do that because of the breach of the use of social distancing which deemed to be an infringement during the pandemic) to start with so that the United States wants to take out both illegal drugs & immigration in what is to be are their biggest issues that they're trying to tackle (And I mean Trump, what a scumbag he is known for his reputation as by far, the worst leader as well as politician in the world during modern day history, & now America is spiralling out of control of these legislations that they're currently having (First abortion in which the supreme court overturned Roe V Wade as the United States declared war on abortion in 2022 under the leadership of Joe Biden who was in charge, & now TikTok this year since America is getting tough on them believing that they think it's a Chinese company & the reason why that the United States is clamping down on TikTok is the Chinese owners who are willing not to sell it as the American users of the banned social media platform should stick to American companies like Instagram (For which has been cracked down in China along with Facebook & X in response to it, unlike that you can't threaten the US President like Donald Trump for example because it is considered a crime just like the US President's security are always assassination stoppers as they stopped Thomas Crooks who almost gunned down Trump was shot dead by the US Secret Service marksmen during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in July last year, 4 months right before Trump's election victory against Kamala Harris, then a certain assassination attempt by a gunman who was trying to open fire in front of Trump last year before he got detained & is likely having to deal with a longer sentence just like the Christchurch mosque shooter who is currently serving time behind bars after the judge punished him with an imprisonment for life sentence for murdering 51 innocent people who were mainly people who are in fact Muslims in the act of terrorism back in 2019 before our country changed our gun laws in an effort to keep our country safe such as issuing a clamp down on semi-automatic, high powered rifles used in the tragic but deadly shootings in a bid to stamp out violent gun crime (And Facebook has since stamping out on its live feature that includes violent but gruesome content which is prohibited (They'll deal with a longer sentence if the uploaders fail to remove the illegal stuff), but why did he want to abuse our PM at the time of Jacinda on social media in the leadup to the deadly mosque massacre? Because the reason why that he wanted to is because that he was willing to commit crimes by shooting those Islamic people dead that he bore hatred with in an ethnic cleansing whilst he was a supporter of the far-right wing movement for which far-right extremism is prohibited in Australia since that dreadful shooting had just happened in Christchurch back in 2019 which was inspired by the tragic events in Port Arthur, Australia way, way back in 1996 & the Aramoana Massacre here in our country also way, way back in 1990) starting from the 19th just a day right before the inauguration of the current US President Donald Trump) for example, meanwhile it has been almost 3 years since that horrendous invasion that they always had, begun for which I originally posted stuff about it in 2022, but Pops told me not to since it is sensitive & objectionable to the country who started it about that dreadful war by still keeping it clean because it's prohibited, & there used to be the war in Gaza between Israel & Hamas forces which ended due to a ceasefire agreement deal that Israeli forces have withdrawn allowing all of the remaining hostages to be released from Hamas custody in a conflict that lasted a year & 3 months, & now the US Army have been sent into Gaza in support of a plan of helping displaced Palestinians of rebuilding the entire country as I heard a comment from Dad on the phone on the 7th of February which was a day after New Zealand's national day of Waitangi Day, & unlike the first World War which marked the deadliest conflicts in history with 10 million casualties while more than 20 million had suffered injuries during the war (And I keep talking about of how that is worse than the terrible war that has been going since 2022, & the Gaza conflict between Israel & Hamas that they used to have, but this is like a shootout on police & NOOSE or FIB units for which is Call of Duty-esque that I always do on the GTA IV game that I always play on the Xbox 360 via the Xbox Series X console, for which the Israel-Hamas war being referred to is a time in Gaza where the Israeli & Hamas fighters were pretty much at war with each other with both in addition attacking Gaza in acts of terrorism. Rafah during that time was pretty much a warzone with the Israeli military battling (But there'll be a resumption of the Israel-Hamas war if Hamas fails to release the 3 remaining Israeli hostages in exchange of multiple Palestinian prisoners as I heard from a news report online lately for which is shocking (And Carole is heartbroken & sad about the Gaza situation that they used to have because of her being of Middle Eastern descent).

And secondly in the cricket that I have revealed that if the White Ferns (Who had the 3 elder stateswomen in their team who are labelled as grandmothers are like such as Suzie 'Suze' Bates, captain Sophie 'Soph' Devine & Lea Tahuhu) lost to South Africa in the final of the T20 Women's World Cup last year in the UAE, I would not have watched it, but that was lucky that we've won of course especially that we shocked the cricket world as we created history, even though with Mellie Kerr (Who played the young part of the New Zealand team that triumphed & emulated our success in 2000 when we won the women's Cricket World Cup at our home patch against our Trans-Tassie rivals Australia, unlike the Black Caps who failed to win the men's Cricket World Cup in 2015 (First Australia) & 2019 (Then England) & the T20 World Cup in 2021 (It was Australia who dominated) then making a semifinal appearance in 2023 in which we fell short against hosts at the time of India) being named one of by far, New Zealand's best female cricketers for her outstanding tournament that she's having (And she mad her first-class cricket debut for Wellington at the age of 15 back in 2014, then scored a unbeaten double ton as she posted 232 not out against Ireland at 17 years of age, therefore becoming the youngest to score a double century male or female also back in 2018 (And I did not know that she was hooked into cricket when she watched the White Ferns play in the 2010 women's T20 World Cup on TV whilst being a schoolgirl back then), including her contribution of being named the most standout player in both the final & the entire competition (And we even went into the tournament off the back of 10 defeats in a row but we managed to beat Pakistan & Sri Lanka before we suffered our defeat against the damn Aussies which was our last straw for our own White Ferns side, then defeated India (Who failed to advance just like another one of the powerhouses of England) to qualify for the semis before we outsmarted the West Indies in the semi to book a date in the final against South Africa who beat the defending champions at the time of Australia, therefore gaining sweet utu after losing to them in the final in 2023 in the other semi (And there is awesome news as Amelia Kerr has been crowned ICC women's cricketer of the year in which she became the first Kiwi to do so, either man or woman, just like Lydia Ko did in which she had been crowned both sportswoman of the year (I thought it had gone to Dame Lisa Carrington so easily, but Ko got the nod instead) & supreme award winner at the recent Halberg awards in February this year).

And thirdly that I heard about my cuzzie of Paige Ahearn had got another child, or at least she has just got one which is her daughter & my first cousin once removed of Norah (I might have to ask her that next time when I see Paige when me & Pops are in Wellington (That is my main focus as part of my planned as well as proposed, future holiday, & I really wanted to go in September this year with Pops just before Aunty Tan & Rejean arrives later this year, or wait until at least they're here in Whanganui with one condition which is only if the weather is decent & if Cathey, Paige & Norah (Who I saw a picture of Pops phone on the 10th of February) are there, but due to the rising costs regarding to the price hike as well as the cost of living crisis meaning that's impossible to travel that far from here in Whanganui) as I told Pops while we were on our way home after going to EB, the Warehouse as well as Woolworths & stuff.

And finally the latest in the Six Nations so here are the results that they had in round 2 of northern hemisphere's biggest rugby competition around:

Italy 22 - 15 Wales

England 26 - 25 France

& Scotland 18 - 32 Ireland

So that is my 598th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 22nd of this year, viva Ukraine.

Step on My Old Size Nines/Local Boy in the Photograph/Feels Just Like It Should: My 21st blog of the year 2025

Well, what's up guys, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whets here (And happy belated 34th birthday to me! 2 days after Dad who just turned 56 (He is 9 years away until retiring from his teaching job, but I'd like to give a gigantic shout out to him for his 56th birthday throughout 2 days ago, & Aunty Tan (Who I have not seen her along with Rejean since 500 days ago which was on the 24th of January last year) over in Quebec, Canada with the now retired Rejean over in Mont Saint-Hilaire for her 57th birthday due on the 10th of June) & you're tuning in into my Kiwiavenger blog, but first & foremost in the gaming stuff that the latest Gran Turismo 7 update features a really cool fictional Formula One car which is inspired by the early 90's (Which took place at the same time that the grunge rock era had been dominated with bands such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden & Stone Temple Pilots as they took over from glam rock/glam metal before the Britpop takeover in the mid 90's, as well as Pakistan led by the legendary Imran Khan winning the 1992 men's Cricket World Cup against England in the final in front of 87,000 people at the G in Melbourne in which the ODI that has made Wasim Akram for his performances with both the bat & mainly the ball, a year after the Wallabies (Which featured the likes of captain Nick Farr-Jones, David Campese, Phil Kearns, Michael Lynagh, Tim Horan & others who ended the reign of the All Blacks in the semifinal that made Campo as he scored a try then set one up for Horan with a blind, no-look pass in which the game had made David Campese) 1st triumphed at the Rugby World Cup against England in the final at Twickenham in London (And it was during the tournament that Samoa (Who were known as Western Samoa at the time) provided the first biggest boil over of the tournament as they upstaged & mesmerized Wales in a historic upset of the ages during the pool stages) way, way back in 1991, a year after West Germany led by the legendary Lothar Matthaeus triumphed at the Football/Soccer World Cup against Argentina (Who were down to 10 players then 9 after Pedro Monzon & Gustavo Dezotti became the first players in history to be red carded in a World Cup final followed by Frenchman Marcel Desailly also way, way back in 1998, then another Frenchman of Zinedine Zidane way back in 2006 & Dutchman Johnny Heitinga back in 2010 who was the last to be sent off during the FIFA World Cup final) in the final in Rome, Italy way, way back in 1990) & I started to love them not only that by far is my favourite car of the game nonetheless (And I bought 10 of them just in case including the one which features a McLaren inspired livery & other liveries like Leyton House March, Jordan, Ligier & the white & blue livery taken from both the F090/S (They appear in both the American & Japanese versions of Gran Turismo 3) & the Formula Gran Turismo that appeared from Gran Turismo 4, right until Gran Turismo 6), while there has been an update as Aussie video game developer Big Ant Studios announced a release date for the new Rugby 25 game (Even though with the early access version being available since late June last year after years of development in which the game had been delayed for so long) which is due to come out on February 13th this year which is during the Six Nations (Which got underway in which France thrashed the useless Welsh side coached by Warren Gatland whose thinking his coaching job wouldn't last long as I heard a comment from Pops just like Eddie Jones during his disastrous 2nd coaching tenure with the Wallabies in 2023, with a comprehensive shut-out win in a game that was marred by one of the most horrific scenes that they have ever seen in rugby union, in recent memory with French first five Romain Ntamack, sent from the field for a high contact by taking Ben Thomas out of commission (For which I thought the dangerous tackle incident involving Ntamack on Ben Thomas was like deemed to be a terrorist (Well, I thought the word is somehow controversial due to the fact that it's being considered offensive towards people who have Muslim beliefs because it is an Islamophobic slur) act as well as an assassination attempt just like the late Shinzo Abe who was fatally shot in Nara, Japan in 2022 in the hands of a suspected gunman during a speech which triggered a serious incident with Japan who had once been on high alert before, unlike what happens if I die, I would be unable to move by laying motionless & have both of my eyes closed) in which New Zealand referee Paul Williams had given him a card under review before the foul play review officer (FPRO) upgraded it to red indicating that it was a high degree of force, but always prohibited (And to me that the illegal head contact in rugby is like war, but without both firearms & explosives, so they already made it tough of stamping out contact above the sternum from the game altogether with World Rugby currently tackling a problem regarding to illegal, dangerous high tackles in which the war on dangerous head contact is still been declared with many Welsh people are turning away from rugby to play other sports like football (In which the Welsh national football team went to a Football World Cup twice in both 1958 (In which they achieved the best result to date as they appeared in the quarters when they fell short against the eventual champions Brazil which featured the likes of the late young teenage sensation at the time, Pele who passed away in 2022) & the most recent one in 2022 in Qatar where they failed to reach the round of 16 which is the 1st phase of the knockout stages, & the Euros also twice in 2016 (In which they reached the semi which was their best result at the European Football Championship in which they got beaten in the toughest of matches against the eventual champions Portugal led by its world famous ultra rich & wealthy footballer who is in fact a multi-millionaire just like Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, Cristiano Ronaldo who were competitive throughout the entirety of the 90 minutes from start to finish (And even though the Welsh were missing Aaron Ramsey through suspension due to the accumulation of bookings or cautions should I say in the quarterfinal win against Belgium) & 2020 which was played in 2021 (In which they appeared in the round of 16 in which they went down to eventual semifinalists Denmark) & cricket (Although Welsh players like Robert Croft & Simon Jones for example, are eligible to play for England) because of the players who want to avoid getting a concussion according to the comment that I remember from Carole during our big lunch at her place on the 2nd of February) meaning that Ntamack is expected to be banned for the next game against England at Twickenham, then it was Scotland who had beaten the much improved Italy side before England had led at halftime against the defending champions Ireland, but couldn't cling on right through at the end (Including the English who scored 2 late consolation tries including the last one that they did have the final say (And there was Ollie Lawrence who had a searing break before the try had been scored (And the line breaks in rugby, is like a counter punch in boxing) in order to snatch a defensive losing bonus point) which resulted victory to the Irish who came from behind to kick start their Six Nations championship defence, & to gain payback after losing to them last year therefore the Grand Slam & Triple Crown that eluded the Irish, in the aftermath of a last minute drop goal from England first five Marcus Smith), & right before the new Super Rugby Pacific (In which they have been included in the upcoming Rugby 25 game for which I'll be getting it digitally on both the PS4 & PS5 versions if a physical copy is unavailable) season starts on Valentine's Day.

And secondly there has been sombre news in the United States, especially in Washington DC as a American Airlines Eagle plane on a flight from Wichita, Kansas that collided in midair into a Black Hawk helicopter which resulted in 67 fatalities, same as a medical jet in a neighbourhood in Philadelphia that killed 7 of them & setting homes on fire near a really busy mall, so I would like to send thoughts, prayers & condolences go to the victims of the 2 dreadful crash that are happening in this sad but tough time, may you RIP (Rest in peace), but I still have not watched CNN since the US president Donald Trump (Who declares a trade war with Canada & the 2 other countries of China & Mexico, by imposing a tariff which is in effect beginning on February 4th for which I'm sick about him leading his country, he is such a moron that he wants immigrants out with the military being dispatched of sending them out of their country (And I finally watched bits on CNN about seeing Trump on TV, but I can't watch anymore from now on, holy hell, it's too much (Get over it), just because I still can't stand him anymore (Just like Carole who doesn't trust with pro-Trump supporter Elon Musk & his Tesla electric vehicle company that he founded) not only that he is a damn hypocrite & liar with Trump (Who is like the late Richard Nixon with his famous remark "Well, I'm not a crook" about the Watergate scandal that erupted in the US in 1972 which was the most shocking political scandal in American history prior to his resignation in 1974) ordering a war on Panama due to the country that had taken a deal with China but totally infringed American rights of taking back the canal as the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Who is sanctioned by China in 2020 for poor, appalling behaviour on Hong Kong-related problems for clampdowns on political freedom in the region as the latest measure taken by the Trump administration in response to China’s imposition of a controversial national security legislation on Hong Kong) visits Panama in his first overseas trip amid violent protests by protesters who were told by cops who fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse) took office once more.

And thirdly that the new Star Wars: New Jedi Order (Which takes place 15 years after the events of the Rise of Skywalker) were thought that they're going to release it next year, but they might change it to 2027 to coincide within the 50th anniversary of the first Star Wars movie that came out in cinemas in 1977 for which the space opera film series franchise was a global but worldwide phenomenon.

And finally that during our big lunch at Carole's that me & Pops memory is working well since I eat both almonds & coffee is good for both the brain & memory according to a research study (And I have no problems whatsoever because I have not lost everything, but Pops has been taken his memory medication & every time he loses his key, phone or wallet, he always finds them, especially me).

So that is my 597th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 21st of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And there has been news straight out of the WWE Universe (For which I haven't heard the news from the wrestling department for a while) as ex-Intercontinental Champion Jey Uso wins this year's edition of the men's Royal Rumble (Oh yeet!) after he last eliminated the bloke of wily old experienced veteran John Cena (Who embraced Jey (Who had by far, his biggest triumph of his WWE career to date which thrilled him, of course) after the event by gradually appreciating him with respect, but Cena will get his second chance at the next WWE pay per view event which is Elimination Chamber) who dominated the wrestling scene for so long (He even attempted to go for the Attitude Adjustment on the eventual Royal Rumble winner, but Jey (Who had caught 'The Cenation Leader' napping during the Royal Rumble match) managed to counter Cena's trademark finisher as he eliminated him before Jey got excited as he didn't know about the news that he got it as Jey won), but now they'll be a changing of the guard as Jey Uso is being propelled into a main event championship match against either the defending WWE World Heavyweight champion of Austrian wrestler Gunther (For which is Jey's likely opponent, but this is because it's true, as it has been confirmed recently in a championship match billed as GUNTHER VS JEY: DECIDER IN SIN CITY), or the reigning Undisputed WWE Universal Champion of 'The American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes) on the Smackdown show even with the WWE has gone on to move into the subscription service of Netflix since the start of this year), at WrestleMania XLI in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, even though one of his relatives of Rikishi is so proud of Jey's achievements of becoming the 4th different member of the famous Anoa'i wrestling family to dominate the Royal Rumble after the late Yokozuna, the Rock & Roman Reigns according to the voice of WWE, Michael Cole on the Pat McAfee Show that I watched on the 4th of February on one of the ESPN channels, while in basketball as Luka Doncic makes the jump to LA to play for the Los Angeles Lakers (He joins the likes of one of the veteran players of LeBron James seeking for a championship caliber that they haven't won since 2019-20 & are gunning to tie the all-time NBA championships record with the most successful side of the NBA of the defending champs, the Boston Celtics, but I heard reports in Super Rugby Pacific that Ardie Savea's move to Moana Pasifika could even destroy his career just like Doncic who would move to the Lakers from his beloved Dallas Mavericks that he used to play from his rookie season) that shocked the NBA trade deadline (In which many hoops fans think it is a scam move) as he leaves the Dallas Mavericks (Who'll have the services of Anthony 'AD' Davis who had just left the Los Angeles Lakers to join a different, new team) for good.

Radioactive/Thunder/Handbags & Gladrags/Canned Heat: My 20th blog of the year 2025

Well, hey, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whets here & you're tuning in into my Kiwiavenger blog, but first & foremost that I've got a story to tell you guys about my old classmate from Ruapehu College (It's been 20 years since I first went to secondary school where I've spent a year & 4 months there where from 2005 until 2006 where I was ill-disciplined (Including that I got into abusing anyone on a school bus regarding to my short hair that I had which resulted me being handed a suspension from gaming like playing on the old PS2 console while I'm at home, but I've been taking these meds to improve my behaviour since 2007, & have been taking them since (And the risperidone pills that I always take since 2015 is to me like a sleeping pill because of me having decent sleeps lately, so that's why I'm now high on these meds right now which is like being a drug addict (And I've got to limit the use of alcohol so I drink zero Heineken due to the fact that I usually don't have a drinking problem) then I was home schooling before moving to Whanganui since way back in 2007 & spent 2 years & 5 months from August 07 until December 2009 (For which I was supposed to go back to school until I'm 21 back in 2012 for which was due to be my final year) there in the SN unit of Jansi's old school of Whanganui High where I was in a safe environment, but I first used social media after I turned 18 (Although Pops has a Facebook account still that he first used after the late Nan passed away to reconnect with his old school students, & now he has his cell phone to remember all things, well, I've got nothing to worry about Pops memory since he took that memory medication (And I have no problems of losing everything since Pops first tried of having meds regarding to his memory), then I have revealed that I gave up social media back in 2015, & the reason why that I quit because of my fears that I could abuse anyone (And I didn't know that there is a crack down on hate online regarding to that social media guidelines) by deleting both of my Facebook accounts for illegally using foul language towards a Singaporean girl (Who is friends with Charlotte Guigou (Pascal's daughter) trying to become mates with me, & therefore we became sworn enemies after I also got into abusing her which made me gave up social media like Facebook & stuff (And I'll never get a partner throughout my whole life until I die because I fear I might have a bad relationship, & I promise that I'll never get a new cell phone because of the computer here that I always use as a tool at our place at 15A Kells Ave is like my phone), unlike at the Laugh Factory incident in LA, California way back in 2006 that famous American comedian slash actor who appeared on the TV sitcom Seinfeld as Cosmo Kramer of Michael Richards who hurled racial abuse towards the crowd who were shocked, especially African American people who were stunned, were heckling towards him about his appalling, racist behaviour which ended his stand-up comedy career (And they changed the loophole policy type of thing following the incident that if a African American comedian performing at Laugh Factory is caught using a racial slur, they'll be fined (And it was a good decision that they made, in a bid to stamp out racism) days of the late Dolphy Kohu who was a criminal who I label him as a hostile human being known for his history of similar offending raised by his grandfather named Te Tawhero aged 13 when he got sent to the slammer for a firearm discharged or shots fired being caused should I say inspired by GTA IV game that I still play (I now play the mini-games such as bowling (And the bowling mode in GTA IV is very similar to Tekken Bowl Mode on Tekken 7 that I used to play on the PS4 until I acquired the PS5 version of Tekken 8 which came out last year) & darts (Including my knowledge of winning a darts match by going on the darts checkout assistant website & watching darts on TV such as Sky Sport here in New Zealand for example, & I always shout the famous "180" line just like the announcers at the darts every time I score a 180) where I'm now good at these 2 activities) towards his whanau with intent to cause injury here in Whanganui back in 2012 therefore causing an incident, & after his release in prison that he sparked a massive manhunt in both Ohakune & Raetihi which is in the lower North Island, in which police warn people to remain indoors for the time because of him & his accomplices being considered dangerous & he should not be approached until the investigation is over, for deliberately attempting to kill or murder both cops in an another incident back in August 2015 before he got arrested again on a number of charges in which he was a repeat offender, that time at a roadblock in Waiouru along with 5 or 6 others including his partner (Whose last thoughts before committing suicide were "I always love you") where cops stopped him & his cohorts at about 9:20pm before taking his own life in prison back in January 2016 after telling staff he was experiencing his tougher lag in jail which was self-inflicted whilst under custody.

And secondly, the latest in the tennis at the Australian Open as American Madison 'Maddie' Keys finally becoming a grand slam champion after beating Aryna Sabalenka (Who vented frustration after losing to Keys (Who had beaten Iga Swiatek in the semi for what was one of by far, the best women's tennis matches ever to date such as this year, in recent memory as Keys managed to come from behind to win the semifinal encounter by marching on into the final of the women's singles title against Sabalenka), then got emotional after the final, but the Paula Badosa - Coco Gauff encounter as the biggest upset of the tournament as Badosa stood & delivered by winning against Gauff in the quarterfinal, along with a Serbian competitor ranked number 55 in the world of Olga Danilovic who stunned 7th seeded American Jessie Pegula during round 3 & of course there were upsets galore in the men's department such as the young 18 year old Brazilian Joao Fonseca & the American young gun Learner Tien who both knocked over neutral competitors Daniil 'Danny Meddy' Medvedev in round 2 & Andrey Rublev during round 1 respectively, & another one of the young American competitors of Alex Michelsen who pulled off the biggest boil over in the opening round against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, & then all of a sudden that Elina Svitolina who delivered a massive come from behind victory against Italian Jasmine Paolini during the third round, meanwhile Svitolina's French born husband Gael Monfils (The oldest ever ATP champion when he triumphed in Auckland at the men's ASB Classic against Belgian Zizou Bergs in the final, but he got injured in a match during the Aussie Open against American Ben Shelton (A good friend of Gauff) who reached the semifinal in which had had gone down to the eventual champion of Sinner during round 4 in which Monfils (Who is good mates with Shelton off the court mainly because he always appreciates them with respect (First Gauff, then Monfils now) had to pull out) who was the surprise package when he did the same along with his wife as he knocked over American Taylor Fritz to come from behind during round 3) in the women's singles final then a night later in the men's decider as Jannik Sinner becomes the first Italian to win 3 grand slams after his commanding win over German Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev (Who had to beat Novak 'Nole the Djoker' Djokovic (The one who fought against Spain's Carlos 'Charlie/Carlito' Alcaraz in the quarterfinal when he took a medical timeout during the match) in the semifinal after he had to withdraw through a bad injury so he was unable to continue when the fans had to jeer him when he left the court after Sascha dominated the 1st set & during that post-match interview that Zverev had asked the fans not to put him off every time he plays (And oh this is similar to Naomi Osaka having to pull out of the ASB Classic women's singles final with an injury, therefore handing the championship to Denmark's Clara Tauson (Who eventually lost to the defending champion at the time of Sabalenka during this year's Aussie Open) to take out the men's singles championship on Australia Day, but the Keys - Sabalenka encounter (For which it was a great match, & it was the best women's tennis finals that I have ever watched for a long time as Keys becomes the first American since Sofia Kenin in 2020 to win the women's singles crown down under, but the Keys - Swiatek one is much better according to my close mate Carole) is better than the Sinner - Zverev one.

And thirdly that there's a rugby related fact all over the place that the only opponent that the All Blacks have never won a men's Rugby World Cup final (We defeated France twice in 1987 & 2011, then the Wallabies once in 2015) against is in fact the Springboks (Who have never lost the big dance before since South Africa made their debut in 1995, & have been undefeated in men's RWC finals since) who always have a perfect, unblemished record every time they appeared in a final of rugby's global showpiece event with 4 & 0 (First New Zealand twice way, way back in 1995 & 2023, then England way back in 2007 & back in 2019), compared to Ireland who have never reached the semifinals as well as the final (They came so close of defeating the AB's during a quarterfinal in 2023), & the French becoming the first side in men's Rugby World Cup history to defeat the All Blacks in pool play, meanwhile Sydney has been confirmed to host the final of the next men's Rugby World Cup in 2027 at Stadium Australia just like in 2003 with Melbourne opting to pull out of the race as host city following the demise of the now defunct Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby Pacific team (And with Melbourne making a last minute decision of becoming a host city with the iconic MCG venue set to host quarterfinal matches there while Perth would host the opening match of the tournament), but the latest news regarding to gridiron that the Superbowl LIX match-up at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in Nawlins, Louisiana held under heightened security due to the incident that occurred of an ISIS supporter plowing over pedestrians which resulted in tragic, ugly scenes in January this year is set, it is going to be the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs side (Who had beaten the Buffalo Bills led by Quarterback Josh Allen in the AFC championship game) led by star player Patrick Mahomes aiming for 3 Super Bowls in a row for the first time, but standing in their way is the Philadelphia Eagles (Who had beaten the Washington Commanders led by QB Jayden Daniels in the NFC championship decider) led by Jalen Hurts in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII (And there has been an update as the Eagles won the Vince Lombardi trophy for the first time since the 2017 season, therefore denying the Chiefs chances of a threepeat with the final score being 40 - 22, while there was an Aussie who triumphed when he was finally part of the winning side of Jordan Mailata (An ex-NRL U20's player for the South Sydney Rabbitohs) who was once a rugby league reject who made it big by going to the NFL), & then back onto the rugby stuff as I label the 20 minute red card period as controversial because that is ridiculous & shambles therefore making it unfair, oh shameless (And Pops said to me also on the 28th of January that it's a decent idea that it's fair play due to the fact that it is innovative whether a player is sent off for a serious case of foul play, compared to the 60's where stamping in rucks (Which is currently prohibited these days) & high tackles (Always prohibited also these days regarding to foul play which results in either a yellow or red card depending on the severity, or if it's a card under review if it is either a Super Rugby Pacific match or a international test (And whether they will remain as a yellow or could even upgrade it to red even if it's serious), that ain't necessary) is common making it a hooligan's game, but as of today that it's getting tougher to play due to the legislation interpretations that they're currently having) so they need to get rid of it again to make it entirely justified (And Pops alluded to me that the late All Black of Jonah Lomu (He has sons of Brayley & Dhyreille (Who would like to play for a Six Nations country of France because of his eligibility of him being born there whilst his late dad spent time over there in Marseille (And his middle name Jonah is named in honor of his late father according to the story that I remember from Pops, while his nickname is Frenchie due to him being born in that country of France) who still both attend school while there were hoping to play sports on a different field just to emulate their late Dad's footsteps) who once appeared in a cover of Time magazine which happened long ago in 1999 during the men's Rugby World Cup which was won by the Wallabies led by their skipper at the time of John Eales).

And finally here is my updated list of my fave songs from my favourite music bands & musicians as of today according to the previous blog that I did in August last year so here it is:

Motorhead: Ace of Spades

INXS: Need You Tonight

Faith No More: Epic

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Californication

Blur: Song 2

Foo Fighters: Everlong

Blink-182: All the Small Things

Filter: Take a Picture

Creed: With Arms Wide Open

Linkin Park: In the End

Incubus: Drive

Nickelback: How You Remind Me

System of a Down: Toxicity

Joe Walsh: Rocky Mountain Way

The Doobie Brothers: China Grove

Genesis: Mama

Bon Jovi: Wanted Dead or Alive

Motley Crue: Girls, Girls, Girls

Guns N'Roses: Sweet Child O'Mine

Living Colour: Cult of Personality

Depeche Mode: Personal Jesus

The Stone Roses: Fools Gold

Jane's Addiction: Been Caught Stealing

Helmet: Unsung

Soundgarden: Black Hole Sun

The Black Crowes: Remedy

Alice in Chains: Would?

Stone Temple Pilots: Plush

Pearl Jam: Daughter

Green Day: Basket Case

Weezer: Say It Ain't So

Bush: Comedown

The Smashing Pumpkins: Bullet With Butterfly Wings

Oasis: Wonderwall

Tonic: If You Could Only See

The Verve: Bittersweet Symphony

Matchbox Twenty: 3am

Goo Goo Dolls: Iris

Lenny Kravitz: Fly Away

Manic Street Preachers: If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

Alanis Morissette: Thank U

Placebo: Every You, Every Me

Fatboy Slim: Right Here, Right Now

Vertical Horizon: Everything You Want

Moby: Porcelain

Coldplay: Yellow

Fuel: Hemorrhage (In My Hands)

U2: Beautiful Day

Feeder: Buck Rogers

Limp Bizkit: My Way

Avril Lavigne: Complicated

Queens of the Stone Age: No One Knows

Evanescence: Bring Me To Life

Audioslave: Like a Stone

Live: I Alone

3 Doors Down: Here Without You

The Killers: Mr Brightside

Stereophonics: Dakota

Muse: Supermassive Black Hole

Nirvana: Come as You Are

The Cranberries: Zombie

Radiohead: Paranoid Android

No Doubt: Don't Speak

Dishwalla: Counting Blue Cars (Tell Me Your Thoughts on God)

Duncan Sheik: Barely Breathing

Dave Matthews Band: Crash Into Me

Garbage: I Think I'm Paranoid

The Cardigans: My Favourite Game

Smash Mouth: All Star

Lifehouse: Hanging by a Moment

The Kongos: Come with Me Now

Lorde: Royals

Cage the Elephant: Come a Little Closer

John Newman: Love Me Again

Fall Out Boy: Centuries

Twenty One Pilots: Stressed Out

Greta Van Fleet: Highway Tune

Imagine Dragons: Thunder

Måneskin: Beggin'

The Black Keys: Lo/Hi

Royal Blood: Trouble's Coming

The Warning: MORE

Kings of Leon: Mustang

The Offspring: Make It All Right

Black Sabbath: Paranoid

Aerosmith: Dream On

Lynryd Skynyrd: Free Bird

Led Zeppelin: Kashmir

Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody

Blue Oyster Cult: (Don't Fear) The Reaper

Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb

Billy Idol: Rebel Yell

Van Halen: Panama

AC/DC: Thunderstruck

Metallica: Nothing Else Matters

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Mary Jane's Last Dance

America: A Horse with No Name

Elton John: Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Kansas: Carry On Wayward Son

Gerry Rafferty: Baker Street

Toto: Hold the Line

Def Leppard: Photograph

Simple Minds: All the Things She Said

Kenny Loggins: Danger Zone

Alannah Myles: Black Velvet

The Prodigy: Firestarter

Daft Punk: Around the World

Stardust: Music Sounds Better with You

ATB: 9 PM (Till I Come)

Alice Deejay: Better Off Alone

Moloko: Sing It Back

The Chemical Brothers: Hey Boy Hey Girl

Darude: Sandstorm

Groove Armada: I See You Baby

The Supermen Lovers: Starlight

Dirty Vegas: Days Go By

Basement Jaxx: Where's Your Head At

Empire of the Sun: Walking on a Dream

Midnight City: M83

So that is my 596th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 20th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Virtual Insanity/Cosmic Girl: My 19th blog of the year 2025

Well, hey guys, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whets here & you're tuning in into my Kiwiavenger blog, but first & foremost, in rugby news that the Chiefs are expected to lose the rising star of New Zealand rugby, Wallace Sititi for the whole season as he revealed that Sititi picked up a blown knee (Which is an undisclosed injury that he had recently) sustained in last year's Northern Tour, meanwhile that Tauranga are expected to host their debut rugby game at the main cricket ground of Bay Oval with the Chiefs (Who haven't played at that city since more than a decade ago) are set to play hosts against the Force on ANZAC Day this year during round 11 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition which is during ANZAC round.

And secondly that it looks like the Israel - Hamas war is ending (And it's a relief for the displaced people in Gaza celebrating the end of the conflict even though with the date of the ceasefire set on January 19th (That's a day before the inauguration of US-president elect Trump (Well, I'm still moaning about him since I'm pro-left wing & pro Liberal as well as anti-right wing & anti Conservative & I mean, what an idiot, he is such a scumbag, total scumbag indeed, but he is now on his way to Washington from West Palm Beach, Florida in which he left the heavily secure Mar-el-Lago accompanied by the official security provider of the President of the United States, the US Secret Service (AKA the President's bodyguards who always safeguard the US president 24/7 since 1903 following the spate of assassinations, as well as their families of the current & former presidents) with heightened security presence going to be expected as Washington DC takes centre stage, but there has been an update as the swearing in of the US president elect has been moved indoors due to the dangerous cold temperatures that they're going to have in Washington as security arrangements are expected to change for the duration of the swearing-in process, but I didn't watch the inauguration of US president elect Trump on TV on the 21st of January New Zealand time, well I can't stand him because I don't trust him, so damn him & damn you too (Well, nobody just gives a damn like me while all that hell seems to disappear, but Facebook are committed to the fully automated support of the US President who is recently back in office with Trump pardoning the US Capitol insurrection rioters who are currently behind bars for murdering cops that are safeguarding the US Capitol Hill buildings on January 6th, 2021 after he lost to Biden & I mean, that is rubbish (Get over it! This bloke is totally insane due to the fact that I'm not part of the MAGA agenda, seriously (Wrong, wrong, wrong, it's wrong, look, I've calmed down a bit, I was absolutely livid that Trump had taken office yet again (And I'm not going to watch CNN from now on (And I've watched bits of it along with Aljazeera on the 4th of February) because of him ruling America for the 2nd time predicted that there going to pick the right president of Kamala Harris, but following the US election last year that they chose the wrong one in the form of Donald Trump (And what went wrong for Harris to lose the election & how did they allow Trump to win? It must've been in terms of the most popular vote which enabled him to victory to return to the White House, & in counter point, to pull off something special of securing the greatest political comeback possible in history (While Carole alluded to me on the 28th of January that the majority of the American celebs who couldn't stand Donald Trump (The one whose threatening to deport people as he still gets tough on immigration, & to most Americans living overseas that they must head on home when ready if they will while the US President is introducing tariffs by declaring a trade war on Canada (In which dairy products over there will be dear according to plan), China & Mexico), including Oprah Winfrey as well as Hollywood film stars Tom Hanks & Robert de Niro, are considering moving overseas to get out of the situation in which they're getting fed up about him, just like Ashton Kutcher & his wife Mila Kunis are possibly heading over to France to move there in order to get out of the Diddy situation as the famous American rapper is facing sex related criminal charges just like R&B singer R Kelly who is currently serving time in the slammer since 2016 in which the judge punished him with a tough but harsh criminal sentence after being caught red handed in the act) according to the comment that I heard from Carole while me, Pops & her were at Cactus Creme Cafe for the great brunch we had on the 22nd of January (That's a day before Kathryn's 65th birthday (Which is 3 days before little Norah (Daughter & my 1st cousin once removed of my cuzzie Paige & Jarrod Ahearn) who is having her 2nd birthday on the 26th of January) on the 23rd where she is eligible for superannuation) with guns are expected to be silent once it starts), but they're not going to with Netanyahu's disagreement of a ceasefire as their country's troops set to withdraw so that the hostages that are held by Hamas (Who managed to survive a tough, brutal war against Israel since the attacks were first carried out on the 7th of October in 2023) can be released & set free with over 600 humanitarian aid trucks can be transported from there as displaced Palestinians who return home when they walked through the streets of Gaza which is now turned into a wasteland after 15 months of war, but there has been an update that antisemitic attacks in Australia about the Gaza invasion has jumped with the government announced a zero tolerance approach policy on antisemitism in that country according to the PM Anthony Albanese (And they'll be caught red-handed for failing to comply within the legislation rulings regarding to anti-Semitism, in the act if they do), meanwhile that country of the United States sucks under the leadership of Trump (Who began his life as a billionaire, then hosted the reality TV series the Apprentice before becoming a very successful politician in which he has been the president of the United States not once but twice now, but avoids a jail sentence as well as a fine & a probation for the hush money payment charge meaning that he has immunity from crimes that he had committed, just right before he took office yet again), oh no...This is terrible (And Georgia is declaring war on pro-democracy protests relating to anti-communism following the announcement of the preliminary official results of the parliamentary election on October 26th last year which led to multiple arrests being made for protesting illegally about anti-communist, pro-democracy with Georgia's criminal justice system may have been weaponized to muzzle dissenters as they asked for silence about pro-democracy & anti-communism (And they'll be tougher penalties & sanctions for that) in which Georgia had become a communist country just like in China that I label the total ban on dissent (And if they do, they'll be sent to the slammer just like the pro-democracy & anti-communist protesters in Georgia) as stupid according to the blogs that I did last year, & in Syria during the brutal al-Assad regime did just like Georgia does now as they issued a clampdown on pro-democracy protests which resulted in a civil war that lasted from 2011 until last year which concluded with the fall of al-Assad (And Syria is currently having life after al-Assad as he fled to Russia therefore possibly avoiding being captured by rebel forces) when the rebel army took over the country which is now under control).

And thirdly onto the rock music industry related news that I have revealed that I love U2 (Who is Ireland's only recognized rock band following the demise of the Cranberries in 2018 due to the death of their lead singer Dolores O'Riordan) because of their great music along with Nickelback (Who had their single How You Remind Me that reached the top of the New Zealand music charts way back in 2002 in which I once did a story on my blogs about 2002 being the year it was when the Wallabies had last held the Bledisloe Cup in December last year) with both of these rock bands & musicians are my faves as of today (It used to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers, then the Foo Fighters, Incubus, A Perfect Circle, Shihad & Filter) that I'm a fan of them to go along with Linkin Park (Who are still settling into the post-Bennington era with their new lead singer, Emily Armstrong (The one who used to be the lead singer of Dead Sara, but I thought she was going to quit due to backlash from many people who are criticizing as well as grizzling about her a lot, especially the late Chester's son Jamie, but I'll still keep following that band from now on since Armstrong is in as she took over from the late Chester who tragically passed away back in 2017 which meant that the band were on a hiatus until recently last year (Just like AC/DC & the Foo Fighters did when they replaced both also the late Scotsman Bon Scott & the late great Taylor Hawkins with Englishman Brian Johnson & Josh Freese (Devo/the Vandals) respectively) when she joined the band along with current drummer Colin Brittain who joined as replacement for the band's original drummer Mike Bourdon before going on to release their comeback album, From Zero (Which is the first to feature both Armstrong & Brittain, but had received rave reviews in recent memory about the album according to most critics) for which is their 8th studio album came out by the band, their first since 2017's One More Light which was their last album to feature both the late Bennington & Bourdon), because of the band being sounded similar like a latter day Evanescence, while the song 'Over Each Other', sounds exactly like a pop song based on Katy Perry which would've been released back in 2016), Evanescence (In which the band whose sound is a combination of both the Armstrong era Linkin Park & Nickelback altogether especially with their song, 'Going Under', but their lead singer Amy Lee used to be with the lead singer of Seether of Shaun Morgan), Michelle Branch (An American pop rock queen who is married to one of the band members of the Black Keys that defined the 2000s decade, with her debut single 'Everywhere' which was influenced & inspired by the works of Alanis Morissette), Avril Lavigne (Who endured a tough childhood throughout her early life, & used to be with the lead singer of Nickelback Chad Kroeger as well as her debut single 'Complicated', reached number one on the New Zealand music charts way back in 2002) & Alanis Morissette (Who was once the youngest recipient of the award for female vocalist of the year at the Grammys long ago in 1996 before current American billionaire pop music princess Taylor Swift (Who is with NFL gridiron player who plays for the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs of Travis Kelce (Brother of former Philadelphia Eagles player Jason who works for ESPN as a regular panel member & host of his late night talk show relating to gridiron) as of today while the name of her bestie is Brittany Mahomes who is the wife of Patrick) took over by shattering the all-time record preivously set by Morissette).

And finally that I've got to explain a story about my late dog of Buck (I have a picture of that pet animal in my bedroom) who was the best dog I've ever had, until he got a bit aggressive & dangerous according to Dad that he once alluded to me due to the 2 separate dog biting incidents that harmed the mower lady in the back side, & especially my half-brother Jans (Who would gone on to live in the Hawke's Bay province now with Bernard (Whose got a dog named Trev, but I don't wanna go to Hawke's Bay to see my half-bro because Wellington is my preference mainly due to the fact about me wanting to meet Cathey & Paige again & little Norah for the first time one day next time when I go there with Pops (Depending on his old age) or Dad (Once he retires but he said to me in an email that it's fine not to see little Norah as well as Cathey & Paige because it is a rare thing to do) in the calf so we had to put him down because of Pops fearing that Buck could even murder both little girls living on the street (And it's been 4 years since that 2 unfortunate incidents have taken place, but my 1st thoughts after Buck had left our home "I can't believe he's gone" in a line inspired by Luke Skywalker motivating to his twin sister Princess Leia about Kenobi getting killed in battle against the evil Dark of the Sith, Darth Vader aboard the Death Star in the first Star Wars movie) by biting them to death, but I've also revealed a story to you guys about the late Nan (The one I used to love her a lot, but I still miss her now when me & Pops go to Nan's grave every damn time to pay her respects) that when she passed away on the 6th of January, 2016 due to a short battle with cancer (She was exhausted when she came home from an overseas expedition in Canada with her husband Pops back in 2015) that she was a beautiful looking lady when I used to dance with her when I played that Cafe de Paris tune which was way back in 2001, & she was a tender loving caring lady who was been always with Pops (Who was a widower) because they were a married couple indeed with a bit of attitude towards their beliefs according to her late parents Enid (Who passed away in 1998 where it was my first taste of experience attending that family funeral) & Ron, & of course they had kids like Aunty Tan (Who is still with a French-Canadian bloke named Rejean 'Rej' Gatineau since possibly 2011 & they were friends before they got together meanwhile Aunty Tan had lived in France for 5 years, then she successfully offered a job in Canada because of her where she had learned to speak French which resulted ended up being there due to her experience of living in France for 5 years from 1998 until 2003 as I heard according to one of Pops stories, & I especially know that she was the first Māori woman to get her PhD at Massey Uni, but was unable to find work here in our country so she first went abroad elsewhere to Australia for 5 years from 1993 until 1998 prior to her French experience) & Dad (Who is married with Raewyn since 2019) which was Pops greatest moments of his life along with his marriage with the late Nan during the 60's, & he now has Carole (Who is always a passionate tennis follower) under his watch since she first met him secretly back in 2017.

So that is my 595th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 19th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

Satisfaction/Sandstorm/Angel of Harlem/Underneath It All: My 18th blog of the year 2025

Well, what up y'all, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whets here & you're tuning in into my Kiwiavenger blog, but first of all that I already mentioned about my story last month about Facebook/Meta attempting to successfully enforce a crack down on fact checking that is deemed to be free speech which is bad stuff all over the place like harmful content & stuff just like the Elon Musk (One of Donald Trump's close allies/associates & founder of the American car manufacturer Tesla which was established in 2003) owned social media account X (For which it was once known as Twitter until 2022 when Musk took over by renaming it to X) following Trump's victory against outgoing US Vice President Kamala Harris in last years US General Election according to its CEO Mark Zuckerberg who is in fact a bona-fide Trump supporter along with the head & CEO of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) as well as a good friend of the US President-elect who recently joined the social media platform as a member of the board, Dana White (The one who took over from the previous head of UFC & billionaire Lorenzo Fertitta way back in 2001, & the one who spoke to Graham Bensinger on his show In Depth with Graham Bensinger about MMA being prohibited in the American state of New York mainly due to excessive violence that results in violent crime being spread), then in rugby that Mack Hansen is free to play in Ireland's Six Nations opener against England in Dublin after the disciplinary committee punished him with a 3 game ban for being abusive regarding to poor behaviour, such as foul language that he illegally used during a post match interview about for criticizing a referees decision that was controversial in which Hansen misbehaved like a child (Compared to Formula One that the use of offensive language is prohibited as drivers are being told to limit their appalling behaviour such as abuse), but he apologised to the ref Chris Busby (Who decided to quit refereeing following a torrent of abuse being spewed all over on social media just before this year's Six Nations) after the game for abusing him before, then he required to complete an education course to behave himself in situations like during an after match interview, meanwhile the CEO of World Rugby of Alan Gilpin is getting sick & tired of rugby referees still getting abused online by these disrespectful, rude & unruly abusers with severe punishments/sanctions likely to be handed out those who do online hate towards the officials (And they're trying to make it clear as they about to become silent by muzzling those who show dissent illegally towards the refs of giving heavy criticism about them, just like English TMO Tom Foley who quit after being given a hostile reaction on social media online following the Rugby World Cup in 2023 in which our die hard AB's fans were voicing our disapproval about the red card handed out to AB's captain at the time of Sam Cane by English referee Wayne Barnes which is sorta like aggressive hate speech as they illegally sent a barrage of death threats towards Foley & his family back in the UK), following a rugby fan living in Australia who is facing charges for insulting & trolling Nic Berry on social media about a match winning try by Sam Skinner for Scotland against France during last year's Six Nations, should've been awarded in which the rugby world is still crying red card about hate & abuse online (And Pops told me on the 13th of January that a red mist (Which they can't do that because it's also prohibited just like shoulder charges (No arms in the tackle) in rugby league since 2013 due to player safety which resulted in a crack down) can cause issues regarding to health).

And secondly, in which the United States of America is declaring war & getting tough on TikTok with the users of that account like social media personalities & celebs are going to be affected by being it outlawed in that country in the process since it's being owned by a Chinese company so they're trying to clamp it down (I once saw a picture of an eagle-eyed protester in the United States owing & responding to a potential ban on TikTok (For what I thought the Chinese owners were going to sell it, but that's not the case since it's unlikely about to happen) holding a sign up saying 'Free TikTok', just like 'Free Palestine' which is deemed to be offensive towards the people of Israel since it is an anti-Semitic slur) in a controversial way which is the most of circumstances, in response of China successfully blocking & prohibiting the 3 American social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram & X (And I once did a story about it last year on my blogs back in June), but there is a new legislation called the Jack's law in Australia in which cops were able to search prohibited stuff by using their metal detectors which is being mandated like dangerous knives & other weapons to be confiscated (And unlike in the NRL that Rabbitohs player at the time of Jaiman Lowe way back in 2007 that he king hitted an opposition player who played for the Gold Coast Titans of Brett Delaney (Who grabbed Lowe in the groin area after making that tackle prior to that incident had been happened) before getting sent off for it by the referee, then he got 4 weeks for it, but the Danny Williams (The one who plays for the Storm at the time who got sentenced behind bars for glassing a woman in 2022 at a popular Sydney nightclub after someone was complaining for Williams who was singing too loudly as well as foul language illegally being used prior to the incident) one was worse when he deliberately punched a West Tigers player Mark O'Neill (Who was on the receiving end of a serious case of foul-play) in the face in an off the ball incident after being high tackled by O'Neill (Well, the ref should've blown the whistle for a penalty straight away for a high contact (And you can't just play on after a player is tackled high) should the assault had not been occurred) in which the referee had to put it on report (But O'Neill didn't get suspended in wake of the incident regarding to serious foul play due to insufficient amount of penalty points being accumulated) also way back in 2004 before he got red carded by the ref, then he received 18 weeks for it (For what was the longest NRL ban ever handed out in history) which ended his NRL career before moving to the UK to play Super League in 2005 after his contract with the Melbourne Storm had been terminated, but was told to serve the rest of the suspension that he received/carried over) in a bid to stamp out knife crime (Just like New Zealand introducing knife control which had cracked down on them at supermarkets after a serious terrorist incident being reported in Wellington at a Countdown (Now Woolworths) supermarket during the midst of a COVID Delta outbreak in 2021) following the murder of a young male named Jack over in Surfer's Paradise by a group of men suspected of carrying a knife, & then in the UK, especially in England & Wales, have declared war on the use of zombie knives following a spate of tragic killings/murders back then with possession of an illegal weapon like zombie knives for example, results in a would-be criminal being sent to the slammer straight away.

And thirdly that the Rugby Challenge 4 PS4 game that I preordered on Mighty Ape with the assistance of Dad that it's on their way as it left UK shores according to the tracker because I told him that it might take weeks or months to suss it out (And I've got the digital copy to start with, but Dad prefers to wait for the new Rugby 25 video game to come out on consoles (And they have not revealed the release date for consoles (I'm getting the PS5 version for him which is a physical copy, while I'm getting the digital version on both the PS4 & PS5), but it's only available on PC which is the early access version of the game (And the Rugby League Live 4 game (PS4 version) that Dad still plays is listed as a collectors item), but however it has arrived on the 13th of January as Pops who acquired it from Dad gave my main Christmas present to me for which I was so happy.

And finally that wildfires have burst across Los Angeles, California that have been spread with fresh new evacuation orders being issued by the fire department even though with one of the former Aussie child actors has passed away from the fires along with at least 13 other people due to a lack of water with heaps of people losing their homes while a famous Hollywood celeb film star as well as a scream queen of Jamie Lee Curtis (Who likens the LA fires such as the ones as the entire Pacific Palisades looks like, to war-torn Gaza or one of these other war-torn countries as she stated in the viral clip which sparked a bit of backlash) donated $1 million with the battle continues as Palisades Fire threatens Brentwood, Valley with the wildfire has grown up to 22,660 acres & is at 11% containment as it pushes inland through Brentwood, up into the Bel-Air area.

So that is my 594th blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 18th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.

A Fragile Thing: My 17th blog of the year 2025 (AKA Rules of the Game of Thrones 2025 edition)

Well, what up guys, welcome to all our readers here in New Zealand & around the world, I'm Whets here & you're tuning in into my Kiwiavenger blog but first that there was once a Formula One story about the 3 replacement drivers that would've gone on to become the world champions starting with Michael Schumacher who had been handed his dream F1 debut in Belgium way, way back in 1991 after the Luxembourg born Belgian-French driver of Bertrand Gachot (Dad of Spanish born London based female pop singer Grace, but Bertrand's elderly mother & Grace's grandmother comes from Germany) had been sent behind bars (Originally 18 months before they reduced it to 9, then he was eventually released after serving 2 months inside a British prison when he went straight to Japan for the Grand Prix hoping to find a ride) for a fraca against a taxi driver during a road rage incident in London in which he illegally used a CS gas canister to defend or protect himself should I say as he caused grievous bodily harm (GBH) when Gachot sprayed towards him also way, way back in 1990 in which the verbal argument that then turned physical whilst on his way late to a meeting with Jordan F1 team's sponsor 7UP in which he was involved in a minor collision, meanwhile in the Grand Prix that Schumacher had to retire after a clutch problem (Although he started 7th on the grid during his F1 debut), then he moved to Benetton on a multi-year contract which saw him become the world champion in both 1994 & 1995 before he moved to Ferrari in 1996 in which he was the face of Formula One (For I was doing a blog about the world champion drivers changing allegiances to rival F1 teams), then it was Sebastian Vettel up next way back in 2007 that after just competing the one race in the United States that he made his debut as a rookie where Lewis Hamilton made headlines for McLaren by filling in for the injured Robert Kubica (The one that involved in a serious wreck during a rally event over in Andorra back in 2011 therefore causing serious injuries that ended his Formula One career) who was sidelined through injury sustained in an accident in Canada & it was before the European Grand Prix at his home country in Germany that Toro Rosso had terminated American Scott Speed's contract in which he had to go after a string of poor results that Vettel was in where he competed in his 2nd Grand Prix race whilst making his Toro Rosso debut in which he finished 8th therefore scoring a point, a year before achieving his first pole & win in Monza, Italy also way back in 2008 where he drove one of the hardest races at the Monza circuit in heavy rain which prompted his move to Red Bull for the 2009 season & the rest was history when he became world champion 4 times in a row from 2010 until his last driver's world championship that he won back in 2013, & also Max Verstappen also back in 2016 that after making 24 appearances for Toro Rosso that he moved to Red Bull to replace Daniil Kvyat who caused a collision on the former world champion Vettel during his home race in Russia in which he had been given the sack at Red Bull therefore demoting him at Scuderia Toro Rosso which earned Max's promotion at Red Bull Racing just before the Spanish Grand Prix in which Max (Who qualified 4th for the Grand Prix) won following the 2 Mercedes-AMG drivers of defending champion at the time of Lewis Hamilton & the eventual champion Nico Rosberg tangled together at each other therefore becoming the youngest ever winner in Formula One history (That was 5 years before finally becoming the world champion in 2021, then added 3 more to his tally in 2022, 2023 & last year in which he is now a 4 time world champion).

And secondly onto the cricket stuff such as Australia are in the WTC final, yet again (And they will defend their title that they won in 2023 (Same year that they defended the Ashes against England after the series ended in a draw just like in 2019, then they won the men's Cricket World Cup in India & 2 years later, have now finally beaten the Indians as the AB-Sunny trophy is now rightfully theirs which is in favour of the Aussies (Who have both cricket tests in hand against Sri Lanka in a 2 match test series for the Warne-Muralidaran trophy being contested, but they're over there in the UAE to prepare for their away test series against the Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka) against India at the Oval in London) at Lord's in England against South Africa following their win at the Sydney Cricket Ground against India as well as taking out the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade where the Aussies last won back in 2015, but the Champions Trophy is up next as hosts Pakistan are the defending champions going into the tournament consisting of the top 8 that they finished in the previous men's Cricket World Cup in 2023, including Afghanistan, Australia (Who are the 2nd favourites according to the estimates), Bangladesh, England, India (Who'll play all of their matches in the city of Dubai in the UAE (Which is not far from Pakistan), including both the semis & final after opting not to travel to Pakistan due to political pressure & tensions between the 2 countries under a hybrid model being accepted by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), New Zealand (Who haven't won since 2000 which was during the ICC Knockout Trophy at the time in which the only time the Black Caps had won a limited overs cricket tournament), hosts Pakistan (Who are the defending champions going into the tournament as well as the main tournament favourites due to the home field advantage as Indian cricket legend Sunny Gavaskar once said about it, but I fear it might be an Australia-Pakistan final just like in the World Cup way, way back in 1999) & South Africa.

And onto the tennis department as Denmark's Clara Tauson (An apparent heiress of Caroline Wozniacki) becomes the new ASB Classic women's singles champion in Auckland in the aftermath of Japan's Naomi Osaka who had to be withdrawn through injury after winning the first set, & that's what's happened in a victory speech that Tauson delivered about Osaka being heartbroken that she had to pull out after she had taken a medical timeout, but bring on the men as the ASB classic men's tournament is up next with the men's singles final scheduled for January 11th, just a day before the Australian Open begins on the 12th right through until the 26th, but there has been an update as Frenchman Gael Monfils (Husband of female Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svotlina & dad of young baby girl Skai) becomes the oldest ever champion in an ATP event, surpassing Roger Federer at his home event in Basel, Switzerland back in 2019 since it was established in 1990 & first oldest player to win a men's tennis title since Ken 'Muscles' Rosenwall (2nd oldest behind the late American Pancho Gonzales) from Australia in Hong Kong in 1977 where he beat Belgian Zizou Bergs to win the ASB Classic men's championship in straight sets, meanwhile our own Kiwi Michael Venus & his Croatian doubles partner Nikola Mektic had been declared the men's doubles champion at the same event, in the aftermath of Rajeev Ram (Who is Christian Harrison's doubles partner) pulling out at the last minute through injury therefore Venus & Mektic won via walkover due to the men's doubles final being called off altogether (And bring on the Australian Open as Aryna Sabalenka (Who competes under a neutral nationality) & Jannik Sinner (From Italy) will defend their titles in the women's & men's singles respectively going into the 1st Grand Slam tournament of the year).

And finally that there was a rugby related story that the last side to regain the Super Rugby championship was way back in 2008 in which the Crusaders were champions against the Waratahs in the final at the old Lancaster Park in Christchurch a year after failing to defend their title also way back in 2007 that they won way back in 2006 against the eventual champions the Bulls (The only South African side to win a Super Rugby championship before the Stormers became the first South African side to win the URC (United Rugby Championship) in 2022 during that inaugural competition that replaced the Pro14, then the Sharks won the European Rugby Challenge Cup last year in which they became the first outside of Europe to win a European Rugby competition) in the semi with the Crusaders (Who last won a title in 2023 which was their unprecedented 12th full Super Rugby championship, & their 14th overall, but will it be lucky number 13? (15 if you count both Super Rugby Aotearoa titles to their name in both 2020 & 2021) We will find out once the season ends) are willing to take back the Super Rugby Pacific title for what is theirs after missing out last year to the Blues who would finally gone on to become champions after 21 years against the Chiefs (Who missed out again after appearing back to back finals) in the final in front of a packed Eden Park crowd.

So that is my 593rd blog of the year 2025 (MMXXV) & my 17th of this year, viva Ukraine & Palestine.