Stand: My 28th blog of the year 2023

Well, in the tennis department in France such as Poland's Iga Swiatek who successfully retained the women's singles title at the French Open in Roland Garros against Czech player Karolina Muchova (Swiatek had done it before in 2020 (That was the year before Barbora Krecjikova won against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to claim her 1st & only grand slam of her career) then last year & this year) while in the men's section that the greatest tennis player of all time of Serbia's Novak Djokovic has won his 23rd Grand Slam title with victory in the French Open men's singles crown against Norwegian Casper Ruud in that epic final (And it is job done for Nole (AKA the Djoker & the Serbinator) who is the man as his hard work must've paid off for the win against Ruud to claim his record breaking 23rd grand slam tennis title).

And in cricket related news that Australia has beaten India to claim their 1st World Test Championship at The Oval in London off the back of a dominant performance in the 1st innings with Travis Head (Who top scored 163 in the first innings) becoming the 1st player in history to score a ton in the WTC final followed by Steve Smith who got 121 in the 1st innings (And I was like: By crikey! Strewth! When the Aussies prevailed over India (Who had batter Shubman Gill fined 15% of his match fee for criticizing the umpires decision during the WTC final) & my thoughts after the Aussies won & became the kings of test cricket (Compared to England who are currently the kings of limited overs cricket (Both the 50 over One Day International & 20 over T20 formats but there should be an interesting battle in the Ashes this year as the kings of limited overs cricket of England prepare to face the kings of test cricket of Australia in test cricket's most important series of who'll be crowned undisputed champions when they lift the Ashes urn) "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!" But I wonder what the headlines would say: WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP FOR AUSTRALIA AFTER VICTORY AGAINST INDIA or more like INDIA FALL SHORT AGAINST DOMINANT AUSSIES IN EPIC WTC FINAL (And I mean, what a disappointing end for India, what a match for our viewers right around the world, & how appropriate that the 3 main players who were part of the playing XI in the 2015 men's 50 over Cricket World Cup, the men's T20 World Cup in 2021 & now the World Test Championship this year of David Warner, Steve Smith & Mitchell Starc who are part of the success that they had but that is the 9th time that Australia (In which the country having a population of 26 million according to the comment I remember from former Australian player Matthew Hayden compared to India (Who overtook China this month as the nation with the biggest population) having 1 billion people) had won a ICC sanctioned tournament when they won the men's 50 over CWC a record 5 times (They first did it in 1987, then 1999, 2003, 2007 & 2015) then they won the Champions Trophy twice (2006 & 2009), the men's T20 WC in the UAE in 2021 & now the WTC this year after missing out on appearing in the 2021 final due to points being deducted (Or should I say docked), for slow over rates in the test against India in 2020/21 (And it is similar to the Argentina football team led by its star mercurial captain of Lionel Messi (Who is set to join the fledging Inter Miami (Owned by English football legend David Beckham whose club had started to win games since Messi's arrival with the club) in Major League Soccer after he took a gamble of leaving the French club Paris St Germain, but there has been an update as the Premier League champs Manchester City who went on to win the FA Cup against city rivals Manchester United at Wembley (Their 1st since 2019), then followed up with their historic first ever Champions League title with a win in that action packed nail biting final against Italian club Inter Milan in Instanbul, Turkey, therefore capping off another incredible season by completing their treble) in which they fought they were going to play a tough opponent in the semifinal against Brazil (Who are in a rebuilding phase after their defeat in the quarterfinal against the Croatians) during the Football World Cup last year, but it was Croatia who had taken their place which was an easier option for the Argentinians for their path of world domination in football, in which they outlasted them before going on to win on penalties against the defending champions at the time of France (Who Leon told me this month that the French should've won the final last year in order to become the 1st side since Brazil in 60 years to successfully defend the World Cup if the trio of Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante & Paul Pogba had not been injured (And then all of a sudden, the French trio had picked up serious injuries which opened the door for Lionel Messi & Argentina of bringing their Football World Cup trophy back to their home country since 1986 when they successfully did that late last year), unlike that the All Blacks should've won the semi after going down against England in the 2019 Rugby World Cup should Damian McKenzie had not been injured & in counterpoint, that Ben Smith could've played instead of the most underrated player in world rugby of George Bridge according to the story that I literally remember from Dad in both 2021 & last year), in that memorable final of years to come, but it's also similar that Roman Reigns (Who the WWE has taken over by not only one, but let alone 2 former stablemates of the Shield of Reigns (In which he is currently part of the Bloodline along with Solo Sikoa (Son of Rikishi) & their manager Paul Heyman (Ex-manager of Brock Lesnar) who is the current title holder of the Undisputed WWE Universal championship along with Seth 'SFR' Rollins (Husband of Becky Lynch who took part in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match at MITB in London in which was the best in history which was far superior than the men (It went to Damien Priest (Who is part of Judgment Day along with Irishman Finn Balor (Becky Lynch's trainer who lost to Rollins in a title match at Money In The Bank), Dominik Mysterio (Son of famous wrestler & WWE hall of famer Rey) & the defending WWE Women's champion (Raw) of Australian Rhea Ripley (Who defeated the Canadian of Natalya in a title match at MITB) in the men's section of the Money in the Bank ladder match) but failed along with 4 others (Like Bayley (Iyo Sky's Damage Ctrl stablemate), Zoey Stark, Canadian Trish Stratus & Zelina Vega) because it went to none other than Iyo Sky (One of the female Japanese competitors along with Asuka (Who was the one who defeated the 6 time champion of Charlotte Flair in a title match on Smackdown) of Damage Ctrl (The villainous female tag team stable consisting of Sky, Bayley & our own Kiwi Dakota Kai (Who is currently out through injury) who is currently the WWE World Heavyweight champion) did at Wrestlemania last year after successfully unifying the titles in which he triumphed over Brock Lesnar by setting the tone for the man known as 'The Tribal Chief' & his path of dominance in the WWE since he became the WWE Universal Champion in 2020).

And I have about 24 rock music albums that I own as part from my collection including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Linkin Park (One of Dad's mates of Bernice (The one who is living in Australia now) is a fan of that band just like me & Sophia Ong (Who currently lives in Wellington with his Welsh husband & their son Shaia but she's pregnant again according to the comment from Leon made to me last month with the child expected to be born in December this year) who was once a follower of that band during her UCOL days), Incubus, A Perfect Circle, Shihad, Filter, Audioslave & Lenny Kravitz to complete it, but I have announced that I'm giving my old Linkin Park Meteora album from 2003 to my dear cuzzie of Paige (Well, I'm not sure that she is into rock, but she listens to any music, just whenever it is on the radio according to the email that I saw in 2016 that she sent to me when I told Dad about it during a phone conversation on the 9th of June) next time when I go to Wellington possibly with Dad to see her but I would like to meet Paige's daughter Norah one day as Dad told me before during our phone conversation.

And here are the results of the quarterfinals of the Super Rugby Pacific competition:

Blues 41 - 12 Waratahs (It was the Blues night as they crushed the Waratahs to become the 1st side to advance through to the semifinals of the SRP competition at Eden Park in Auckland)

Chiefs 29 - 20 Reds (And it was the Chiefs who prevailed over the Reds who proved to be competitive compared to the Waratahs as they exacted revenge after their defeat in New Plymouth in the regular season to go through to the semi at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton)

Crusaders 49 - 8 Fijian Drua (And it was the Crusaders who hammered the Fijian Drua into pieces exacting payback after their defeat against them during the regular season to reach the semifinals of the competition at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch)

& Brumbies 37 - 33 Hurricanes (And it was the resilient Brumbies side who crush the Hurricanes (Who were inconsistent during the quarterfinal as they fell short, again, just like last year but as a die hard Hurricanes fan, I would have to be disappointed about the defeat after Ardie Savea had a chance of scoring the winning try, but it has been disallowed not only it was a controversial decision) dream of making the semifinal therefore becoming the remaining Australian team in the competition at GIO Stadium in Canberra)

And here are the confirmed matches being played in the semifinal stage (AKA the final four) in this years Super Rugby Pacific tournament:

Crusaders Vs Blues* (Their most recent meeting in Super Rugby Pacific between both sides was in round 12 where the Crusaders continued their dominance against the Blues after Dalton Papali'i had been shown the red card after originally being given a yellow as well as an off-field review by the TMO for a dangerous tackle on Crusaders playmaker Richie Mo'unga)

& Chiefs Vs Brumbies* (The last time both of these sides met was in the penultimate round in round 14 where the Chiefs came away with a win against the Brumbies who had their last loss in this years competition before winning 2 in a row against both the Rebels in the final round of the regular season then the Hurricanes just now in the quarters in which that I'm so gutted about the result after Ardie Savea's disallowed try that robbed us a chance of advancing through to the semi)

*: Key matchups

So that is my 504th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 28th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Counting Blue Cars (Tell Me Your Thoughts On God): My 27th blog of the year 2023

Well, there are fires breaking out in Canada as smoke from the fires has passed on to America's East Coast while millions of Americans (Who have been given health warnings & guidelines to follow with high quality masks being required to wear outside but not for long (And they must stay indoors folks according to the mayor of New York), just like the days during the COVID-19 pandemic with the war on toxic smoke had been officially declared in the eastern part of the United States who are under attack from the fire taken from the Canadians (They could face sanctions for causing a fire like that) as they braced themselves of a epidemic taken from a dangerous smoke) being affected under air quality alerts as Canada wildfires rage with New York City being the worst in the world in terms of air pollution (And they have postponed both a WNBA game in New York & both MLB baseball games also in NYC & in Philly have been called off but many flights have been delayed across the eastern part of America as well but oh, this is a downward spiral as things especially in New York that have gotten out of control & escalated completely) but a quick news flash that the former US vice president of Mike Pence is announcing his intentions to run for president along with former New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

And reports straight out of the tennis as the final four at Roland Garros has been confirmed but first in the women's singles as Australian Open women's singles champion of Aryna Sabalenka takes on Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova before world number 1 ranked Iga Swiatek will play Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia then onto the men's department as the highly anticipated showdown between Novak Djokovic & young 20 year old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz has been locked in while Alexander Zverev will play Casper Ruud for a place in the men's singles final at the French tennis open but there has been an update as Karolina Muchova & Iga Swiatek crusing into the women's singles final with their victories in the semi final against both Aryna Sabalenka & Beatriz Haddad Maia respectively while in the men's singles as both Novak Djokovic & Casper Ruud had their wins against Carlos Alcaraz & Alexander Zverev respectively in the semi of the men's singles to advance through to the final.

And in Formula 1 related news such as Max Verstappen (The man who totally dominated Monaco when he won that famous motorsport event in the world on the same day that American Josef Newgarden stole the show as well as the headlines of winning his 1st Indy 500 to add 2 of his Indycar Series championships that he won in both 2017 & 2019, as he held off fellow American Santino Ferrucci for the win in a duel for the last couple of laps a week before the 2021 Indycar champion of Alex Palou who won the most recent race in Indycar on the streets of 'The Motor City' of Detroit, Michigan which returned to the Indycar fold after 32 years (It took place at Belle Isle from 1992 to 2001 then 2007 until last year) has taken victory in Spain therefore claiming his 5th win of the season (First it was Bahrain then Australia, Miami, the aforementioned Monaco race I was discussing before & Spain now) but Mercedes are slowly creeping up as they restore to a pre-2021 pace (And are they're offically back? Well, they could be since 2021 where the F1 crown went down to the wire in Abu Dhabi & now Mercedes have just had sufficent upgrades which made all the difference but it must've been the upgrades which might have worked the best) while Red Bull's 100% winning record this year remains intact.

And finally here are the results of the final round of round 15 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition:

Blues 16 - 9 Highlanders (It was the Blues night as they ended the Highlanders (Who had bid the 2015 Super Rugby winning player for the Highlanders as well as the Rugby World Cup winning player for the All Blacks of Aaron Smith farewell as he heads off to Japan to play for Toyota Verblitz in the Japan Rugby League One competition) hopes of reaching the playoffs at Eden Park in Auckland in a successful effort of hosting a home quarterfinal)

Brumbies 33 - 17 Rebels (And it was the Brumbies who have stunned the Rebels to bits to book a place of hosting a home quarterfinal at GIO Stadium Canberra)

Fijian Drua 41 - 17 Reds (It was the Fijian Drua's day as they were no match against the Reds (Who lost that game despite securing qualification into the playoffs) to book a quarterfinal place at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva)

Hurricanes 27 - 26 Crusaders (And it was the Hurricanes night as they book a place in the playoffs with a win by a single point against the Crusaders who have already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals at Sky Stadium in Wellington, but the Crusaders have a new coach now to replace the All Blacks bound Scott Robertson with Rob Penney set to take over from him commencing next year, compared to Scotsman Clark Laidlaw being appointed as the new Hurricanes coach that I haven't heard of as he is set to take over from Jason Holland)

Waratahs 24 - 33 Moana Pasifika (And it was Moana Pasifika who claim their 1st & only win of the season after upstaging & spoiling the Waratahs (Who had their player Michael Hooper bid an emotional farewell as he scores the last try of the game in his illustrious Super Rugby career) party to register the boil over of the season at Allianz Stadium in Sydney)

& Force 19 - 43 Chiefs (And it was the Chiefs (Led by Anton Lienert-Brown while their Chiefs front line players had to be rested such as Damian McKenzie) who snatch a win against the Force who suffered their 1st home defeat of the season at HBF Park in Perth)

And here are the confirmed matches being played in the quarterfinal stage in this years Super Rugby Pacific tournament:

Blues Vs Waratahs* (The most recent meeting between both teams in Super Rugby Pacific was in round 9 where the Blues totally dominated the game against the Tahs side who were without its star Wallabies players including Lalakai Foketi, Michael Hooper & Mark Nawaqanitawase)

Chiefs Vs Reds* (The last time both of these sides met in SRP was in round 12 where the Reds had won the game to claim the upset of the season against the Chiefs whose 11 game winning streak had been snapped)

Crusaders Vs Drua* (Their most recent clash in Super Rugby Pacific was in round 3 where the Fijian Drua had won to claim the biggest boil over & will meet the Crusaders again for a place in the semi)

& Brumbies Vs Hurricanes* (And also their first meeting between the 2 sides in Super Rugby Pacific since round 10 where the Hurricanes had won against Australia's best which is the Brumbies (Who are by far, the most competitive Australian side against New Zealand opposition)

*: Key matchups

So that is my 503rd blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 27th of this year, viva Ukraine.

I Got You: My 26th blog of the year 2023

Well, I have been sharing a lot of stories on my blogs, especially around the sporting department as well as sometimes the international world news & of course sometimes, our family life, but there was once a rugby story that after the 57 - 0 hammering by the All Blacks in 2017 that the Springboks (Who had Raymond Rhule being overlooked for the next test (Then he was dropped from the squad after the events of the 2017 Rugby Championship) after missing a heap of tackles during the game in his worst performance in the Springbok jersey) had hired a new coach in the form of former player Rassie Erasmus (Who is no longer the coach when Jacques Nienaber took over as their current coach since 2020, but Erasmus is currently the director of rugby for the Springboks) a year later in 2018 (The year that South Africa delivered when they pulled off the unthinkable to defeat the All Blacks at Westpac Stadium at the time in Wellington where they gained from strength to strength according to the blog that I did last year, gave them relief for South Africa which set the tone as part of their motivating factor building towards their success at the tournament a year later in Japan) to replace Allister Coetzee, a year out until their successful Rugby World Cup glory in a campaign dubbed as 'Chasing the Sun' against England (The AB's nemesis in the semi) in the final at International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama (To win their 3rd RWC crown inspired by their triumphs in 1995 & 2007 also according to the blog that I did last year & to equal with New Zealand (Champions in 1987 (That was Pops most memorable RWC moment), 2011 (Dad prefers this one as his standout) & 2015 (My most memorable moment of the Rugby World Cup not only that I was stoked about it) as the most successful then the South Africans became the 1st side in history to win the tournament after beginning their campaign with defeat ironically, against the All Blacks (Similar to Spain (Who lost to Switzerland in the opening game before winning all 6 games en route to the title including the final against the Netherlands at Soccer City in Soweto, South Africa in which Andres Iniesta had scored the winning goal during the 2nd period of extra time (It was similar 4 years later in 2014 in the final at the Maracana in Rio, Brazil between Germany who won in the end & Argentina (It was a rematch of the controversial final in 1990 where West Germany at the time won) led by Messi (In his 1st World Cup final which ended in failure, but the Argentinians had a massive turnaround 8 years later against the French in the final) where a winning goal had scored during the 2nd period of extra time which belonged to the German of Mario Goetze) did in 2010 at the Football World Cup along with Argentina (Who just had the one blemish against Saudi Arabia in the tournament opener at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar...then took victory in all of their remaining matches in style including the penalty shootout victory against the defending world champions at the time of France in one of the greatest Football World Cup final in history at the same venue to become world champions) last year in captain Lionel Messi's final ever World Cup game which was a fairytale farewell for him of bringing the Football World Cup trophy back to Argentina after 36 years (In which was the days of the late Diego Maradona who passed away in 2020 & his nation's success of securing their 2nd of 3 Football World Cups that the Argentinians won along with 1978 at their home World Cup led by Daniel Passarella featuring the likes of Mario Kempes) that Erasmus had been touted as the next successful South African rugby coach, then he chose Siya Kolisi to be their captain when Kolisi was hailed as South Africa's future RWC winning captain.

And I once heard a story from Carole about her bro Martin playing tennis against the French great Yannick Noah that every time Marty plays against him, he would lose every damn time, but hell he's so difficult to play against (And unlike Pops beating Dad in tennis matches every time, until Dad turned 14 when he started beating Pops as I heard a story from Pops on the 31st of May when me, Pops & Carole were at The Cobb).

And in motor racing news such as the former twice Indycar champion of Josef Newgarden had won his 1st Indianapolis 500, becoming the 1st American since Alexander Rossi in 2016 (This was the year before Takuma Sato (Japan's most successful racing car driver in American open wheel racing since Toranosuke 'Tora' Takagi according to the blog that I did in February this year) won in 2017 then the defending 2 time Indycar champion Will Power (Who is Australia's most successful racing car driver since the good old days of Alan 'AJ' Jones who won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1980) won it in 2018 becoming the 1st Australian to do so followed by Frenchman Simon Pagenaud in 2019 then Sato again in 2020 which was a COVID-19 affected year as well as Brazil's Helio Castroneves in 2021 as he becomes the most successful driver at the Indy 500 with 4 to join the likes of AJ Foyt, the late 'Big Al' of Al Unser & Rick Mears as well as being the most successful foreign driver to triumph in that event, & Marcus Ericsson last year in which he became the 2nd Swedish driver to win after Kenny Brack in 1999 after his CGR teammate Scott Dixon nearly pulled it off, of winning his 2nd Indy 500 after a pit stop gone wrong which proved costly) to win that prestigious motor racing event in the United States (And I'm not sure that he'll be heading to Formula 1 after his success in the Indianapolis 500 this year, but he'll likely to remain in Indycar for the time being, & for the forseeable future), but I didn't watch it because of the drivers other than the 2 Kiwis of Scott Dixon & Scott McLaughlin were always going to win, & they did when they pulled it off.

And here are the results of the penultimate round of round 14 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition:

Highlanders 35 - 30 Reds (And yes that game was by far, the match of the round when Folau (He'll be the 1st choice halfback for the Landers when next year's Super Rugby Pacific competition begins) had a chance to win it for the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, & he successfully did when he picked the ball up from the ruck then did a dummy before running all the way to the try line to secure the win to keep their playoff hopes alive in Aaron 'Nuggy' Smith's farewell home game as he is announced that he'll be playing for Toyota Verblitz in the Japan Rugby League One competition (And Folau's match winning try was easily the best finishes in the game so far in terms of Super Rugby Pacific this year)

Rebels 52 - 14 Force (It was the Rebels night as they hammered the Force at AAMI Park in Melbourne to boost their playoff bid)

Fijian Drua 47 - 46 Moana Pasifika (It was the Fijian Drua's day as they decimated the winless Moana Pasifika (Who are useless this season as they remain at the bottom of the table & is on a brink of a historic collapse, by completing the season without a single win) by a single point at Churchill Park in Lautoka by delivering both a Boston Celtics & Dallas Stars inspired performance)

Crusaders 42 - 18 Waratahs (And it was the Crusaders who won in the end against the Tahs at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch despite their disappointing game beset with injuries to key players such as Cullen Grace & David Havili (And they go into the last round of the regular season against the Hurricanes with many key men being dealt with injuries (And their reign as Super Rugby champions could end in an instant, not only a new SR Pacific champion will be crowned) while the Crusaders had handed a debut to one of the 39 year old prop forwards of former Blues & 2011 Rugby World Cup winning player of John Afoa who became the oldest player in Super Rugby history, breaking the previous all time record set by Ben May last year (And Afoa had to head back home to his country of birth of New Zealand on Thursday from France to join up the Crusaders squad as injury cover).

Blues 36 - 25 Hurricanes (And it was the Blues who scraped past the Hurricanes (Who had to bring back the trio of captain Ardie Savea, Jordie Barrett & Tyrel Lomax) to host a home quarterfinal at Eden Park in Auckland with 2 test All Black Mark Telea delivering another super human like performance just like in the Highlanders game in Dunedin in the opening round as he scored 4 tries in the game)

& Brumbies 21 - 31 Chiefs (And it was the Chiefs (Who had to rest both Anton Lienert-Brown & Tupou Vaa'i through the AB's rest requirements policy as the majority of the All Blacks top players cannot afford to play their 6th match in a row in Super Rugby Pacific) who were dominant against Australia's best which is the Brumbies (Who brought back their big guns for their all important clash) at GIO Stadium Canberra in Canberra to confirm themselves that they remained on top of the table)

So that is my 502nd blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 26th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Just Because/Again/Get Free: My 25th blog of the year 2023

Well, I hadn't mentioned on my blogs that a French F1 driver & good friend of Monegasque F1 driver who currently races for Ferrari of Charles Leclerc of the late Jules Bianchi who had a fatal accident during the Japanese Grand Prix in 2014 when he lost control of his Marussia in very wet conditions & collided with a recovery vehicle then 9 months later, he tragically passed away as a result of severe concussion he sustained in a serious crash & was the 1st F1 driver to be tragically killed since Ayrton Senna (Whose car collided head on into the wall, suffering a head injury which resulted in his sudden but tragic passing in which safety was the key priority of slowing the cars down according to the head of the FIA of the late Max Mosley (Who took over a year earlier from Jean-Marie Balestre as FIA president until in 2009 that former Ferrari F1 team principal Jean Todt (An ex-partner of famous Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh) took over) as well as introducing chicanes especially at the Imola circuit & other race tracks to follow suit) in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola which is located in the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy therefore the sports governing body of the FIA introduced the Virtual Safety Car system (Or VSC) in which drivers are asked to slow down (This is similar to the safety car period in which the safety car is out) to avoid getting pinged by the race stewards for speeding under the VSC (And the halo was implemented in 2018 in response to the tragic passing not only of Bianchi but of both the late 18 year old British driver Henry Surtees (Son of the late John Surtees who was the 1964 F1 world champion) in 2009 (Same year that Felipe Massa had suffered life threatening injuries after being struck by a spring detached by a rear suspension of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn when he drove at full speed during practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix, & he survived the impact caused by it) when a flying wheel struck his head killed him during a Formula 2 race in Brands Hatch in the UK which put head protection on the agenda & also in 2015 (The year that Bianchi died 9 months after his crash at the Japanese Grand Prix that sent him to hospital & had been in a medically induced coma) during an Indycar race in Pocono, Pennsylvania in America that former British F1 & Champ Car driver of the late Justin Wilson got killed when flying debris struck him instantly causing death by feeling the blunt force trauma of it (And it was 4 years after the events of 2011 when the late British Indycar driver of Dan Wheldon (The twice Indy 500 winner in 2005 & 2011) also got killed after causing a multi car pileup when his car sailed 325 feet through the air into a catchfence & his head hit a post in the fence when the blow created a non-survivable injury in the 2011 Indycar season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada).

And it is 70 years to the day that the late Sir Edmund Hillary who stood atop of Mount Everest along with the late Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on the 23rd of May of 1953 in such an historic achievement (And there is a fee for those who want to climb Mount Everest which is worth 200,000 American dollars not just for the worthy rich people) for our country of New Zealand (And Hillary stood atop of Mount Everest 70 years ago was much sweeter than Team New Zealand's first America's Cup triumph in San Diego 1995 & was bigger than the All Blacks Rugby World Cup triumph on home soil in both 1987 (In which we co-hosted the tournament with Australia) & it was more meaningful than in 2011 (In which we were the sole host of that tournament) in which Hillary famously said after climbing that dreaded mountain which is the highest in the world "We knocked the scum off".

And I also hadn't mentioned but I did mention about a pair of shootings in El Paso, Texas (It was at a Walmart store where a far-right white individual opened fire by killing 23 innocent people & wounded 23 others as the FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism as well as a hate crime as well as the gunman has since pleaded guilty to 90 Federal Hate Crimes & Firearms Infringements regarding to the mass shootings) & Dayton, Ohio (Where 9 innocent lives had been taken as well as 17 have been wounded near the entrance of the Ned Peppers Bar in the Oregon District before the gunman was fatally shot by responding cops 32 seconds after the first shots were fired) in America (And it must've something to do in which both shootings in the United States in 2019 was influenced by the Christchurch terror attacks (It has been 4 years since the tragic events have taken place where 51 have been killed by a sensless gunman who opened fire which resulted a crack down on high powered guns being brought into the country (Along with gruesome & violent content being shown on social media like Facebook but if the uploaders fail to remove that banned/illegal video, they'll be sent behind bars for the matter) by following Australia & the UK's footsteps of introducing gun control in wake of the tragic events unfolded which was similar to the mass shootings in Port Arthur, Tasmania in Australia in 1996 where the clamp down on gun violence was introduced such as the ban of semi-automatic rifles in light of the massacre being unfolded but the Christchurch mass mosque shootings (Then followed by the events of 2019-20 such as the protests in Hong Kong followed by the eruption on White Island here in New Zealand, the bushfires in Australia & of course, the global corona virus pandemic (Which was my most tragic event throughout my generation according to the previous blogs that I did compared to the September 11th tragedy in America way back in 2001) which lasted 3 years) was worse than Aramoana in 1990 according to the previous blogs that I did before) that took place on the 15th of March (And the gunman who opened fire by killing 51 people has since been locked up as he serves an imprisonment for life sentence which is a severe punishment) which looked pretty bad/terrible.

And in rock music related news that the latest reports from the famous American rock band the Foo Fighters that they have announced that Josh Freese (Formerly from A Perfect Circle) is in, as the new drummer of the Foos for touring purposes as he takes over from the late Taylor Hawkins who passed away in March last year & with the band announced that they're intending to both make & play live music again following Hawkins's passing.

And I always say my dear cuzzie Paige's daughters name Norah (Well, I've never met her before since she was born (And I could meet her one day when Dad told me on the 9th of June on the phone) but I suggested her a new nickname which is Nozi compared to her mother Paige (Who could be my honorary sister because I don't have any sisters in my family (And I think I treated Paige like my sister when I last met her in 2016 along with Cathey) since Leon Benbaruk has an honorary daughter named Sophia Ong (And how does Sophie is now being friends with Pops on Facebook? Mainly due to the fact that I'm best mates forever with her in real life since I 1st met her in 2007) being Paigey as well as Norah's grandmother & Paige's mother (And my biological aunty) Cathey being possibly Cath) nearly every day as I told Pops about it on the 24th of May (And Hera (AKA 'HR' (Which stands for Hera Ruby because Ruby is her middle name in contrast to her brother Bernard of Bernard Thomas (Known as 'Bernie/BT') due to the fact that Thomas is his middle name) who is with an Australian partner named Brendon & she lives in Brisbane, Australia now) has got a daughter now named Willow who is named after possibly a character from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (And I saw a picture from the 3 of them including the couple with their child but unlike Benny's sister & Kathy's eldest daughter Gemma naming her daughter Rosalie, which was inspired after the famous character from the Twilight series of Rosalie Hale) unlike I used to call Bryan, uncle Bryan but I call Aunty Tania, Aunty Tan now since Tan is her nickname but I address her as Aunty Tan anyway.

And finally, here are the results of round 13 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition:

Moana Pasifika 7 - 41 Crusaders (It was the Crusaders (Who had their prop forward George Bower gone for the season with a bad knee injury in round 6 against the Reds which includes the Rugby World Cup that ended his dream of playing on the world stage along with Sevu Reece) night who maintain their 100% winning record against Moana at the newly named Go Media Stadium Mount Smart in Auckland)

Reds 26 - 45 Blues (It was the Blues who return to winning ways after defeat against the Crusaders in round 12 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane)

Highlanders 20 - 17 Rebels (And it was the Highlanders who pick up the win via a match winning penalty goal scored by Sam Gilbert (Who did a Kemu Valetini when he scored both match winning penalty goals against the Crusaders & the Hurricanes respectively) at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin)

Chiefs 23 - 12 Hurricanes (And it was the Chiefs (Who brought back 4 key men such as co-captain Sam Cane, Brodie Retallick, Samisoni Taukei'aho & co-captain Brad Weber (Who is heading to France with Stade Francais with the 2023 season will sadly be his last) night as they bounce back from defeat against the Reds (Who subsquently became the 1st side to defeat the Chiefs in this years Super Rugby Pacific competition) for their 1st loss of the season to also return to winning ways against the Hurricanes (Who bagged in both quick tries to both Josh Moorby & Brayden Iose) at FMG Stadium Waikato)

Waratahs 32 - 18 Fijian Drua (It was the Waratahs who dismantle the Fijian Drua by continuing their pursuit of making the quarterfinals at Allianz Stadium in Sydney)

& Force 34 - 19 Brumbies (And it was the Force who dispatch the Brumbies (Who are without their key frontline players who left themselves out due to the Wallaby rest requirements policy) to claim a boil over at HBF Park in Perth)

So that is my 501st blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 25th of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And the music industry is in mourning as 'The queen of rock'n'roll' of Tina Turner who now was the famous American singer & entertainer has recently passed away at 83 years of age as a result of a lengthy illness so all thoughts, condolences & prayers are with the family of Tina Turner as well as colleagues, friends & fans from not just the United States but around the world that shared throughout an incredible music career.

Tina Turner

1939 - 2023

And I would like say that I'd like to give Pops a shout out for his 76th birthday last Wednesday so best wishes all around.

Razor's Edge: My 500th blog special (My 24th blog of the year 2023)

Well, what more can I say! Wow! It's my 500th blog today (My 1st blog was in 2012 followed by my 50th in 2016, my 100th in 2017, my 200th in 2018 & my 300th in 2019 then my 400th in 2021 & now, I have 500 blogs as a result), can you believe it! But in this blog where I'll write about the results of Super Rugby Pacific round 12:

Chiefs 22 - 25 Reds (It was the Reds night as they mow down the Chiefs (Who had their 100% winning record this year put to the sword for their 1st defeat of the season therefore the Chiefs at last, dropped a game for the 1st time since the semi against the Crusaders last year) to claim the upset of the round for their 1st win against the Chiefs since 2013 at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth)

Force 34 - 14 Fijian Drua (And It was the Force who prevailed against the Fijian Drua with a win at HBF Park in Perth)

Hurricanes 71 - 22 Moana Pasifika (It was the Hurricanes who hammered Moana Pasifika (The 1st meeting between both franchises was last year in which Moana claimed the biggest boil over as Danny Toala scored the winning try at golden point) at Sky Stadium in Wellington)

Crusaders 15 - 3 Blues (And it was the defending champions the Crusaders night as they decimated the Blues (Who'll be without their inspirational skipper Dalton Papali'i for 3 weeks as a result of a suspension for a dangerous tackle on Richie Mo'unga in which he thought he got yellow carded, & he did but then turned it into a red card after an on-field review made by the TMO meaning that his regular season is over) to continue that winning run against them at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch)

Waratahs 38 - 20 Rebels (It was the Waratahs who gained revenge over the Rebels as they reversed their defeat against them in Melbourne at Allianz Stadium in Sydney)

& Brumbies 48 - 32 Highlanders (It was the Brumbies day as they continue their dominance against the Highlanders (Who remain the bogey side in all of the New Zealand teams) during a match where they had several lead changes all over the place at GIO Stadium Canberra in Canberra)

And some sad but sombre news as a fire broke out at a hostel in Wellington, triggering an incident involving a possible arson where several fatalities including 6 have been reported as a result early in the morning but more shocking news as the former New Zealand rugby player of Billy Guyton (A former Tasman Mako, Blues, Crusaders, Hurricanes & Maori All Blacks rep as well as coach of the Tasman Mako women who played halfback throughout his rugby career then he retired the game in 2018 due to a head knock which ended his career) has passed away aged 33 (This is similar to the former Blues & North Harbour player of Mike Tamoaieta who passed away in 2019), so too is Bruce Robertson (AKA the prince of centres) the former All Black from 1972 until 1981 who recently passed away on the 12th of May after a lengthy health battle so all thoughts & condolences are with Billy & Bruce's family, colleagues, friends & fans during this sad & hard time (And the pair of New Zealand rugby players of both Guyton & Robertson join the likes of other celebs who passed away such as Ken Block, Tatjana Patitz, Lisa Marie Presley, Craig Breen & Jerry Springer).

Billy Guyton

1990 - 2023

& Bruce Robertson

1952 - 2023

And back into the rugby related news in the sevens department at Toulouse in France where the defending Olympic gold medalists the Black Ferns 7s have won the women's Sevens World Series title as they defeated the Americans in a repeat of Hamilton but they had to farewell one of our players of Niall Williams-Guthrie (Sister of cross code legend Sonny Bill who missed the Black Ferns 7s gold medal winning triumph in Tokyo 2020 which was held in 2021 through injury & is now going to play for the Gold Coast Titans women in NRLW (The main women's rugby league competition in Australia & New Zealand) & now the All Blacks 7s have done it in Toulouse as they had to face stiff competition again when they defeated Argentina by 5 points in a repeat of Singapore, & has now clinched the title for the 1st time since 2019-20 (The season ended prematurely as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic (And some people say that the pandemic might be over this year with no more shutdowns & restrictions as they know it but they still got some work to do to prevent a repeat of the events in 2019-20 (Except in Germany in Duisburg according to the comment that I remember from my old mentor Leon that masks are required to wear in public not only it's mandatory due to the COVID-19 loophole rulings being escalated upon) & our 1st outright since 2013-14 with only one round to spare before it moves into the last ever event of this season in London at Twickenham (It went to Argentina who beat Fiji in the cup final in a repeat of their success in both Hamilton & Vancouver, but the All Black sevens fell in the last hurdle against the Fijians (Who starting to come back a year out until they defend their Olympic title in Paris (They have been the dominant force at the Olympics since rugby sevens was introduced in 2016 as an Olympic sport, taking out both golds in Rio in the same year & at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021 (And also, world champions last year when it was held in South Africa last year at the Rugby Sevens World Cup in the men's section but they never won gold at the Commonwealth Games after coming so close against the South Africans (Who had won their 2nd after winning their 1st at Glasgow, Scotland in 2014) at Birmingham last year in the gold medal match) in the semi before falling short against Samoa in the bronze final which was reminiscent of the men's cup final at Cape Town, but it doesn't matter as the men's Sevens World Series having been decided with New Zealand having to clinch it in style in Toulouse in which I am so stoked about it).

And the governor of Florida of Ron DeSantis has announced that he'll run for president of the United States in a bid to dethrone Joe Biden & the Democrats in next years election who is expected to lead a Great American Comeback (Or GAC for short but the person is endorsing DeSantis (Who got suspended from Twitter in 2021 before Musk took over as the owner of the social media platform then he restored Donald Trump's Twitter account in the process) is none other than the owner of Twitter & founder of the EV company Tesla, Elon Musk), but he faces a stern challenge from the former US president Donald Trump in a battle for the Republican party candidate role but there is a technical glitch that delayed DeSantis's speech about his intentions of running for president.

And finally in tennis related news such as Spain's Rafael Nadal having to pull out of the French Open at Roland Garros in the last minute with a serious hip injury sustained in the Australian Open (And Nadal is hoping for his return next year at that grand slam before retiring from the sport altogether) but the fans will be devastated & stunned that Nadal is unable to continue playing through injury just like Carlos Alcaraz (The champion from Barcelona & Madrid who will be the top ranked & top seeded tennis player going into the French Open while the most recent grand slam winner at the Australian Open of Novak Djokovic has dropped to 3rd behind Daniil Medvedev & ahead of Norwegian Casper Ruud (Who is ranked above Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas) in both the ATP rankings & the seeds for the men's singles at Roland Garros) missed the Australian Open due to a serious injury (And the 3 of them missing the French Open womens singles are Britain's Emma Raducanu (Who did a similar thing to Nadal as she's having to withdraw through a serious injury), Japan's Naomi Osaka (Who is currently on maternity leave as she prepares the birth of her first child & will be unavailable until the start of next year) & Australia's Ash Barty (Who is retired already since after the events of her home grand slam which is the Australian Open last year in which she triumphed as she became the 1st Australian to win a home grand slam either male or female since Chris O'Neill in 1978). 

And finally onto further news in the rugby department that Aaron Smith is heading to Japan with Toyota Verblitz after this years Rugby World Cup in which the 2023 tournament will be his last along with Beauden Barrett who joins the club with him as Barrett is heading back to Japan then Levi Aumua having to be signed by the champion Crusaders side starting from next year therefore he's leaving Moana Pasifika for good so he can be selected for the All Blacks (And he has yet to confirm his allegiance whether he is going to player either Fiji, New Zealand or Samoa after this season) as well as Aaron Mauger is speculated that he's moving on as coach of Moana (Who are winless in the competition) following this season after a dismal Super Rugby Pacific campaign that they had this year & Leicester Fainga'anuku of the Crusaders announced that he's heading to Europe to play for the defending European Challenge Cup champions RC Toulonnais in France for the upcoming Top 14 season.

So that is my 500th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 24th of this year, viva Ukraine.

Southern Man/Feel Good Inc./Us & Them: My 23rd blog of the year 2023

Well, onto the news stuff that I missed last weekend on the 6th to the 7th of May such as a terrible shooting had just unfolded in Serbia with a 13 year old male school student opened fire by killing innocent people which is a pretty terrible situation (And I mean, get over it not only he's in his early teens that he needs to be at least locked up behind bars, & it's been an emotional but sombre year since the tragic shootings unfolded at a school in Ulvalde, Texas in the United States as lawmakers are hoping to introduce a crack down on gun violence (Just like in 1996 in the aftermath of the tragedy in Port Arthur, Australia & in 2019 following the mass mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand) as well as raising the legal age from 18 to 21 just like raising the legal age of drinking an alcoholic drink which helped cut vehicle accidents & the implementation of a loop hole on background checks for those who want to purchase a firearm as well as red flag laws about to come into effect (And it's lucky that we're not in the United States because New Zealand is much safer here along with Australia than in America which is considered a dangerous country due to the high murder rate involving guns) then the coronation of a new king of His Majesty King Charles III & Her Majesty the Queen Consort in the UK that just happened (And there was a heightened security presence during the coronation there just like the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 8 months ago) while there's also the flooding again in Auckland (I hope Andy (Whose currently nursing a problem since he accidentally swallowed a toothpick but the doctors are still monitoring him as Pops told me last month about it but one of the surgeons have found a tooth pick right down his back side so Andy is currently taking antibiotics to recover) & Kelsey are fine over there) just like in January as well as the provinces of Northland (Where both Kathryn (Who I saw her on both the 29th & 30th of April) & Ken live but I hope they're okay), Thames Valley & Bay of Plenty just like 4 months ago where they had it there where they had to declare a state of emergency according to the estimates on the 9th & of course, there is anti-semitism on the rise in the United States as numerous incidents of anti-semitism have been reported nationwide but I watched a CNN report on YouTube about Dana Bash's interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger (The ex-California governor & one of my favourite movie stars along with Cruise, Jackson, Reeves & the Kiwi pair of Morrison & Urban) speaking out on anti-semitism as well as comparing the 1938 incident in Austria known as Kristallnacht to the 2021 US Capitol building riots in which the pro-Trump supporters were attempting to overturn the result of the 2020 US election, but there's protests in Pakistan about the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan with the government introducing a clamp down on gatherings throughout major cities in Pakistan.

And in motor racing related news as the Miami Grand Prix (It's American Logan Sargeant's home race there because he was born in Fort Lauderdale in the state of Florida in the United States but he had a disappointing result in which he finished last in the race during his home grand prix event (But I like the promo involving movie stars Michelle Rodriguez (Leticia 'Letty' Ortiz) & Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto) from the Fast & the Furious movie franchise series about the Miami Grand Prix being staged) & the Miami GP is the 1st of 3 American races there (The 2nd one is the United States Grand Prix at COTA in Austin, Texas (First held in 2012 until 2019 & since 2021) then the historic first ever Las Vegas Grand Prix held in the streets of Sin City in Las Vegas, Nevada (The gambling capital in the world) goes in the way of the twice defending world champion & the most successful Formula 1 driver from the Netherlands of Red Bull's Max Verstappen who won his 3rd race of the season after starting 9th on the grid (His first since the late Niki Lauda (The 3 time F1 world champion (Along with Sir Jackie Stewart, the late Jack Brabham & the late Ayrton Senna) & the most successful driver from Austria who passed away 4 years ago in 2019) in France in 1984) therefore he increases his championship lead to 14 points ahead of his nearest rival which in fact his Red Bull teammate of Mexican Sergio Perez after a tyre strategy masterclass proved Verstappen too much (And the next race is in Italy for the 1st of 2 Italian races which is the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (Their first race came in 2020 which was during the global pandemic but they have secured a contract to race there until 2025, but there's been an update that the Emilia Romagna GP had to be called off as a result of intensive flooding from a heavy rainfall caused by Storm Minerva in Northern Italy which resulted 9 casualties while thousands had to be evacuated from it) at the Imola circuit which is the home race of Ferrari (Who have still got work to do after their recent struggles this season, but the last time the prancing horse won the constructors championship, it was in 2008 but failed to win the drivers championship crown because it went to Lewis Hamilton who won his 1st of 7 titles when he overtook German Timo Glock in the Toyota, on the final lap of the race at the season ending Brazilian Grand Prix (And that's according to Hamilton's race engineer that he's got to pass Glock for the championship) which was won by Felipe Massa (One of the greatest ever F1 drivers to have never won a world championship according to the blog that I did in January 2022) who narrowly missed out on World Championship glory, a year after Kimi Raikkonen was the last Ferrari driver to win the world championship in 2007) along with the Italian Grand Prix in Monza which is held after the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Holland & before the Singapore Grand Prix in Singapore) so Verstappen is now on 3 (Including the season opening race in Bahrain then Australia & now Miami) compared to Perez who has won it not once but twice (First Saudi Arabia then Azerbaijan).

And I have added the 6 rock & metal music genres as my favourites such as alternative metal (My 6th favourite in terms of my favourite rock/metal music sub genres), post-grunge (That would be number 7), Britpop (That would be my 8th favourite), hard rock (That would be number 9 on the list), pop rock (My 10th favourite on the list) as well as soft rock (That would be number 11 on the list) & thrash metal (My 12th favourite on the list) to go along with alternative rock/alt rock (Always my favourite rock/metal music genre), heavy metal (That would be my number 2), nu metal (Which would be my 3rd favourite), grunge (That would be my number 4 on the list) & pop punk (My 5th favourite as well).

And finally the latest on the Super Rugby Pacific competition as the results of the 11th round of the competition are in:

Chiefs 52 - 28 Highlanders (It was the Chiefs night as they hammer the Highlanders (Who are one of the bogey teams in all of the New Zealand sides & are in fact useless) to still remain flawless in 2023 at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin)

Fijian Drua 27 - 24 Hurricanes (It was the Fijian Drua's day as they outlasted the Hurricanes (They'll be gutted that they lost against the Fijian Drua, well, what an absolute bummer this has been) to claim another biggest boil over of the competition (First the Crusaders & now the Hurricanes (Who had a try scored by Hurricanes prop forward Xavier Numia but the Fijian crowd weren't happy that Numia had adjudged to have knocked the ball on in the leadup to the try (And I laughed out loud about it because it was funny about Numia bobbling it before he scored the try in which the ref should've overturned the decision from try to no try) with reserve first five Kemu Valetini (Best known as the brother of Brumbies & Wallabies player Rob) scoring the winning penalty goal at HFC Bank Stadium in Suva)

Crusaders 48 - 13 Force (And it was the Crusaders night as they dismantled the Force with Brodie McAlister provided the heroics as he went in for his hat-trick of tries at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch)

Blues 31 - 30 Moana Pasifika (And it was the Blues who got out of jail as a late penalty try sends the Blues home by sneaking past Moana Pasifika (Whose bid for their 1st win of the season as well as claiming an upset (First it was the Hurricanes last year when one of their players Danny Toala scored the winning try during golden point & then the Brumbies) which was denied by that costly penalty try by the Australian referee who got a bit impatient as Moana remains one of the bogey sides in the competition after playing so well during the match but they were out of favour as they fell short at the last hurdle) at Eden Park in Auckland (And why the hell was that a penalty try? Because the referee I believe made the right decision to award it to the Blues (Who had to put their final nail on the coffin on Moana when they snatched a late penalty try at the end) at the death but Moana Pasifika (Who have both Maori players of Lincoln McClutchie (Who plays for Hawke's Bay in the NPC) & Ereatara 'Ere' Enari (One of my favourite Moana players who is half Maori & half Samoan just like the Ioane bros of Akira & Rieko (Sons of former Samoan player Eddie & ex-Black Fern Sandra Wihongi-Ioane) but plays for Hawke's Bay just like his teammate McClutchie & Enari used to play for Canterbury in the NPC & the Crusaders in Super Rugby where he won the title 5 times as a player as well as he plays for Samoa internationally where he made his debut last year despite being born in New Zealand where he used to play for the New Zealand U20's (Known as the Baby Blacks) in both 2016 & 2017 but he's the cousin of Auckland, Blues & All Blacks player Caleb Clarke as well as being a relative of Caleb's father Eroni & Michael Jones (Father of current rugby player Niko) while he is the son of a Maori mother Parehuia & Samoan father Ala'imalo Falefatu) will be so gutted about the defeat)

Reds 24 - 32 Waratahs (And it was the Waratahs who stun the Reds in their inter-state clash at QCB Stadium in Townsville)

& Rebels 26 - 33 Brumbies (And it was the Brumbies who remain Australia's best as they overpower the Rebels at AAMI Park in Melbourne (There was Noah Lolesio when he scored the try when he asked in front of the camera to tell the current Wallabies coach Eddie Jones that why wasn't he'd been with the team because of Jones who preferred Carter Gordon to be selected ahead of Lolesio)

So that is my 499th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 23rd of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. And a shout out for Carole (Who I first met in 2017) for wishing her a belated 71st birthday today so me & Pops are heading to the Citadel at Castlecliff tonight for a birthday dinner (Last week, it was Aunty Tan who turned 55).

JACK/Sugar, We're Goin Down/Dance Dance: My 22nd blog of the year 2023

Well, in Indycar news such as the former 3 time Supercars Champion of New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (Who held off former F1 driver of Romain Grosjean from France in the Andretti Autosport) has won at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama (His 1st of the season & his 4th in his Indycar career who Scotty Mac currently races for Team Penske, but his hopes for victory in the season opener of this year's Indycar Series championship season in St Pete had been evaporated due to a collision with Grosjean during the race but the Indycar race in Alabama was the most exciting race of the weekend in Indycar compared to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Formula 1 which was boring but not so good as Mexican Sergio 'Checo' Perez in the Red Bull won both the sprint qualifying & the race ahead of his teammate of the defending twice world champion Max Verstappen therefore Perez is emerged one of the championship contenders this season as well as one of Verstappen's main challengers in this years F1 World Championship season (First it was Sir Lewis Hamilton (Who was named after the famous American athletics/track & field star of Carl Lewis & was the victim of a racial abuse by former 3 time world champion Nelson Piquet who recieved a fine of nearly a million dollars & has banned from the F1 paddock already following his racist remarks regarding to Hamilton last year) in 2021 followed by Charles Leclerc last year) in the United States as Pops told me on the 1st of May while I was commenting about it that it's been 20 years since the famous New Zealand rally icon/legend of Possum Bourne who tragically passed away prior to the events of the Race to the Sky hillclimb rally event (And I did a blog about him reflecting on his career back in September last year) way back in 2003.

And now onto the football stuff as the most recent Football World Cup winning player for Argentina as well as the greatest Argentinian footballer ever produced in the modern era of Lionel Messi (And I mean what a player & how appropriate that he is a true football legend now since he achieved his legendary status (Just like his childhood idol of the late Diego Maradona did) in the aftermath of Argentina's success in last years Football World Cup after prevailing over the reigning champs at the time of France on penalties, in that memorable but epic final at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar but Brazil (Who are still ranked the top ranked football playing nation on the planet despite that bitterly disappointing exit in the quarterfinal against Croatia (The team that Argentina (Who are ranked 2nd best in the world after their successful Football World Cup glory or should I say, triumph in Qatar) coincedentally & ironically beat in the semi) is expected to be the favourites to win the 2026 Football/Soccer World Cup according to most people following Leo Messi's retirement in international football in the aftermath of Argentina's success in last years tournament where he had a fairytale farewell (He made his debut in 2006 before going on to appear in 4 more World Cups, but his last one was a success when he was part of the winning squad for the Argentinians late last year (Finally, la Albiceleste had won the World Cup for the 1st time in 36 years, Argentina went berserk) against the reigning champs at the time of the French on spot kicks in that dramatic final which was one of the greatest World Cup final in history) is expected to depart from his current club of Paris St Germain at the end of this season (And the club had opted not to grant him a contract extension but is due to leave PSG amid confirmed reports but there has been an update as Messi is set to head to the United States after being signed by Inter Miami despite rumors of playing for a club in the Saudi league to catch up against his rival Cristiano Ronaldo & Karim Benzema who announced that he's leaving Real Madrid to join a Saudi club competing in the Saudi league) while in the Premier League that Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland has broken the most goals scored in a single season for his club that he currently plays for of Manchester City whose hopes of defending their title as well as a bid for a threepeat got back on track after their win against league leaders Arsenal during a Premier League game which was the season defining moment (And Man City have been invincible since 2020-21 when they won the Premier League crown back a season after Liverpool won their 1st ever Premier League title in 2019-20 (Compared to Leicester City shocking the football world especially in England in 2015-16 by winning their historic first ever Premier League crown (And they had bought cheaper players to start with like before the season started which was during the transfer window) for the ages), but there has been an update as Man City clinch the Premier League title in style after a dominant win against Chelsea with 1 round to go meaning that Man City remain the champions of England for the 3rd consecutive time as well as their 7th overall (They did it in 2011-12 before doing it again in 2013-14 then from 2017-18 to 2018-19 & they have dominated the Premier League since 2020-21 where they left off) but they are going for both FA Cup (Against their rivals Manchester United (The last time Man United triumphed in the FA Cup was in 2016) in the final at Wembley in which Man City haven't won in 4 years) & the UEFA Champions League (In which they'll be up against Italian club Inter Milan (The last Italian club to win the Champions League title which was in 2009-2010 before FC Barcelona took over in 2010-11 followed by Chelsea in 2011-12, then Bayern Munchen in 2012-13, Real Madrid in 2013-14, FC Barcelona again in 2014-15, Real Madrid yet again who did it 3 times from 2015-16 to 2017-18 followed by Liverpool in 2018-19 then Bayern Munchen once again in 2019-20 as well as Chelsea once more in 2020-21 & last but not least, Real Madrid again last season in 2021-22) at the Ataturk Stadium in Instanbul for their 1st Champions League title since they 1st appeared in the final in 2021 against Chelsea which ended in failure) glory in their quest for a treble) therefore completing a hat-trick of Premier League titles in which they had a successful threepeat in which the club where oh so overwhemingly dominant since 2020-21, but something bad/shocking/terrible in football has broken out in Spain as Brazilian footballer Vinicius Junior (Who is now facing DTs (Death threats) even with him having possibly to make the decision to hire security for the matter to provide adequate protection to him (This is like the US Secret Service always providing protection to the current & former US Presidents & their families since 1903 then & most high profile celebs from around the world, including billionaires for example, as well as the Royal Protection Squad in the UK to provide protection to any members of the royal family & our own Diplomatic Protection Squad here in New Zealand providing security to our country's Prime Minister) of Real Madrid got racially abused by opposition fans during a La Liga game which resulted 7 arrests (And further action had been taken in a bid to stamp out racist conduct at football matches not just in Spain as well as Europe but most parts of the world (And Valencia had been given a fine & had 3 of their matches to be played BCD (Behind closed doors) partially while the league can only detect & report incidents regarding to racism under Spanish law (This is similar to online hate to famous footballers where fans can be suspended from attending a football game even if they spew the hate online towards the footballer players social media accounts just like in 2021 that 2 of the African or Caribbean football players playing for England in Euro 2021 such as Marcus Rashford & Jadon Sancho who missed penalties during the shootout after losing to Italy on spot kicks in the final at Wembley) while a hate crime investigation was opened after an inflatable effigy dressed in the No.20 jersey of winer Vinicius Jr was hung from a bridge while the Brazilian government has escalated the abuse about Vinicus Junior as they summon an ambassador from Spain which had been taken too lightly as protests were sparked outside the Spanish embassy in Brazil following racism towards him).

And it was on the 4th of May that I watched a movie in full for the 1st time in 17 months when I watched the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring which is one of my all time favourite Star Wars movies by far which is Return of the Jedi (The 1st time I watched a Star Wars movie, it was during the 90's/2000's period where I famously watched it from a recorded VHS tape, although the Emperor didn't die because that was his original death (Although he managed to survive when he appeared in the Rise of Skywalker until his actual death came when Rey took him out with one blow), which came out 40 years ago in cinemas around the world so I've been watching it in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the film's release (And how appropriate that it's Star Wars day which is the unofficial holiday for Star Wars observers & fanatics as well) but 4 years have passed since the original Chewbacca actor of Peter Mayhew who passed away in 2019 (Along with the late Austrian F1 legend of Niki Lauda & others like Luke Perry, Peter Fonda, Rutger Hauer, Doris Day, Albert Finney, Karl Lagerfeld, Keith Flint, Danny Aiello, Rip Torn, Jessi Combs, Emiliano Sala, Gordon Banks & our own Pua Magasiva a year after Burt Reynolds, that Mini-Me guy of Verne Troyer as well as famous female African-American singer Aretha Franklin, the lead singer of the famous Irish rock band of the Cranberries of Dolores O'Riordan, Stephen Hawking, former US presidental candidate John McCain, former US president George H. W. Bush, R. Lee Erney, famous Swedish musician Avicii & famous American celeb chef Anthony Bourdain as the list of celebs who passed away in 2018) as a result of declining health (His last movie appearance was in Star Wars: the Force Awakens until that injury during filming where he couldn't get out of the Millennium Falcon in which he struggled which ended his career when he decided to move on to deal with his health issues so former Finnish basketball player of Joonas Suotamo drafted him as his replacement & would gone on to appear both Star Wars: the Last Jedi & Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker as Chewie) a year before the actor who played Darth Vader of Britain's David Prowse who infamously passed away in 2020 which was affected by the global pandemic, on the same year as both the late British film star Sean Connery & the late Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona but I hadn't mentioned the late Eddie van Halen who was the lead guitarist from the famous Dutch American rock band Van Halen who passed away in the same year & also Kirk Douglas (Father of famous Hollywood movie star Michael), Chadwick Boseman (From the Marvel comic book movies such as Black Panther & the Avengers), Kelly Preston (Who was the wife of John Travolta), Kobe Bryant (NBA basketball legend), 'The Soulman' Rocky Johnson (Son of the late 'High Chief' Pita Maivia & father of world famous global icon Dwayne Johnson (Formerly The Rock during his WWE days), Max von Sydow as well as our own Kiwi celebs including Jeanette Fitzsimons (Ex-Green Party leader) & Aaron Tokona (The lead singer of the New Zealand rock band Weta), that was the year before Larry King (The world famous talk show host), John Madden (The legendary American football/gridiron coach & broadcaster), DMX (The famous American rapper), Murray Walker (The original voice of Formula 1), Max Mosley (The former head of the FIA), Al Unser Sr (The American motor racing legend & a 4 time winner of the Indy 500 along with 2 other Americans of AJ Foyt, Rick Mears & Brazilian Helio Castroneves), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Royal Highness Prince Philip (Husband of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II) as well as Massimo Cuttita (The former Italian rugby player) & Betty White (The famous American actress & comedian) as the list of famous celebs who have passed away).

And finally the latest on the Super Rugby Pacific competition as the results of the 10th round of the competition are in:

Hurricanes 32 - 27 Brumbies (It was the Hurricanes night as they topple the most competitive Australian side against New Zealand teams of the Brumbies at Sky Stadium in Wellington)

Waratahs 21 - 20 Highlanders (And it was the Waratahs who stole the show as they snatched it at the death to down the Highlanders (Who thought they had it until they conceded a try & a game winning conversion by the Tahs to lose that game in which they were so gutted & is one of the bogey teams in all of the New Zealand sides in Super Rugby Pacific) at Allianz Stadium in Sydney as they scored the try with the kick to come by successfully converting it to pull off a tremendous victory (It is reminiscent of Ardie Savea scoring that cracking try for the Hurricanes against the Blues last year with a kick to come, before successfully converting it by Ruben Love to seal the deal & win it in the dying seconds), ending the Highlanders hopes for a win)

Fijian Drua 14 - 30 Blues (It was the Blues day as they held off a strong challenge against the Fijian Drua at Churchill Park in Lautoka)

Moana Pasifika 33 - 43 Rebels (It was the Rebels who trounce the Moana Pasifika side who remain winless in the competition at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland)

Chiefs 34 - 24 Crusaders (And that game was by far, the best of the season as the Chiefs stay undefeated with a brilliant win against the Crusaders at FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton what was a season defining moment, to go 9 & 0 in the competition this year but their next match is against the worst New Zealand side in the competition which is the Highlanders on May 5th, in which they'll put their winning streak on the line going into the next game)

& Reds 31 - 17 Force (And it was the Reds (Who have their coach Brad Thorn in his final ever season as he is announced that he is stepping down) who prevail over the Force at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane)

So that is my 498th blog of the year 2023 (MMXXIII) & my 22nd of this year, viva Ukraine.

P.S. Just wanted to give Aunty Tan a shout out for her 55th birthday over in Canada so best wishes.