Mike Riversdale

7 days to go - where will you be? A posting with a more personal bent than the normal 'RWC news and links'. The RWC TV schedule (with NZ times) now has my intended viewing venue. And I'd love to extend the offer of a shout at the TV to all of you in Wellington* The current set includes the following. Note that my viewing schedule isn't, however, as fixed as the actual games and I may skip brekkies and/or add pub games. 'Pub' games Sat 8th Sept, 11:45pm : (C) New Zealand v Italy Sat 15th Sept, 8am: (A) England v South Africa Sat 15th Sept, 11pm: (C) New Zealand v Portugal Sun 16th Sept, 1am: (B) Wales v Australia Mon 24th Sept, 12:30pm: (B) Australia v Fiji Mon 24th Sept, 3am: (C): Scotland v New Zealand Sun 7th / Mon 8th Oct: Quarters Sun 14th / Mon 15th Oct: Semis Sun 21st Oct: Final 'Brekkie' games And the challenge here is, where - leave me a comment with good rugby watching cafes ** Mon 10th Sept, 6am: (D) Ireland v Namibia Mon 17th Sept, 7am: (

1: Rugby World Cup, France - all month iCal | Outlook I need say no more, surely. Read all about it here , there and everywhere - go the All Blacks and Wales! 2: BarCampWellingtonNZegov - Saturday 15th ... making a difference to egovernment in New Zealand. We are a small country with a very well connected, vibrant web community. government 2.0 can happen here! The day is being hosted by Fronde at their Queen's Wharf office , is free and totally driven by you fine people in the community. Participate here and here 3: International Talk Like A Pirate Day - Wednesday 19th All you need to know here , here and here

8 DAYS TO GO ... do you know where you'll be for the opening game? The pre-comp game playing is both dying down (it's getting serious folks) and building up (it was already serious folks). In the meantime, read about French women loving rugby , maybe it's the hair and how the Wallabies have lost already Team news : England have Martin Corry recovering from injury and are concentrating totally on the Boks and Woodward backs his old team/sport . Wales are still, keeping it together ... Canada's their first game and it will all be revealed then (midnight, Monday 10th Sep). To keep ya hand in with the other teams read all about: Namibia , Romania , Georgia We have two more telling us who'll win the comp: James Dalton ("New Zealand versus South Africa / South Africa to win 24 - 15"), Rod Kafer ("France versus South Africa or Australia. / Score: "It will be pretty close, in the 20s for both teams"."). Of course there's betting g

The "Venture" is up for sale - be cool to own a piece of movie history but I'm not sure what you could actually do with it! Here's the full Stuff.co.nz story (they generally disappear off-line fairly quickly): Liquidator seeks Kong ship buyer By COLIN PATTERSON - The Dominion Post | Wednesday, 29 August 2007 The ship that took the great ape from Skull Island to New York in Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong is looking for a new owner. After filming finished in 2005, the Manuia – renamed the Venture for the movie – was sold to Wellington property developer Phil Stratford. He planned to make the Manuia the centrepiece of a proposed Wellington waterfront aquarium. However, his plans were scuttled when Wellington City Council decided to support a rival bid for a marine conservation centre on Wellington's south coast. Mr Stratford said that with no prospect of his proposal proceeding, the Manuia no longer had a viable use. Therefore, he had placed the company tha

Straight from an email from LOOP: LOOP is proud to announce... ALL BLACKS - THE MUSIC All Blacks release compilation to showcase New Zealand music in Australasia and Europe. Loop Recordings, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU), adidas & Philips are proud to announce the release of the first official compilation supported by New Zealand’s treasured sporting heroes: ‘All Blacks – The Music’ . The current All Blacks squad, in conjunction with New Zealand On Air and Loop Recordings, has selected a compilation of great New Zealand music. The compilation is a reflection of the diverse range of New Zealand music that the All Blacks listen to and want to promote to an international audience. The album features 17 tracks from New Zealand music legends. See the track order below...

Having been totally enamoured and enthralled by the books I can't wait for the film version (December) of Pulman's, The Golden Compass ( my book series posting ). And despite me saying I wouldn't add any more videos into the blog until the rest fell off the front page ... here's the trailer Removed the embed, it downloaded every darn time you opened this page, darned Apple! It's on their website, go enjoy Thanks spendrails for the link and I will find out my Dæmon very soon!

I have the joy and pleasure of being able to listen to a lady that sounds exactly Prue and/or Trude from Kath & Kim . I don't know if I will be able to contain my internal smirking and if she ever mentions a "threw for her carch" I will simply die! And tonight, on the #31 bus home, I sat behind a gentleman that elucidated at length about the moon and it's supposed (but subsequently disproved ) peculiarities this month. And then he turned around and it was Dr Alan Statham from The Green Wing :

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... going cross-eyed in front of the mirror Show all | explain this

12 DAYS TO GO! All Black fan hopes of being able to hit the high notes during the National Anthem have been dashed as Hayley is replaced by a CD ... boo, I say! With the Wellington Phoenix playing their first league game at the Stadium today, this ad with English rugby player Josh Lewsey tells more about why I'm not a soccer fan than I ever could. In other news - seems the Welsh are up against the French and themselves as the Irish struggled home ( 23-20 ) against Italy and the Scots were soundly beaten by the Boks ( 3-27 ). The Islands were out in force, Tonga beating Edinburgh ( 26-14 ) and Samoa took down Sale ( 26-7 ). And finally, the Pumas beat .. Belgium!?!?! ( 36-8 ) A wee review of the 'easy ride' the All Blacks have to the Quarter Finals ... will this be their undoing? No. And I leave you with John Connolly, the Aussie coach, with the finest 'bleeding obvious' statement of the whole build up so far: "I guess everyone who goes to the World Cup w

14 DAYS TO GO! With only 14 days to go (also called a "fortnight", *ahem*) it's fun and games in France already with a bakery 'smuggling in false' World Cup balls, although the Germans aren't taking a blind notice , and the Aussies leaving with their tail between their legs already. There's a fair amount of All Black trivial news out (thanks to the most excellent RWC reporting at the Auckland-based newspaper, NZ Herald ) - catch a look at this little lot: Collins the answer to enforcer's prayer All Blacks happy with World Cup build up Nothing's nailed down in midfield All Blacks' preparation praised Don't stamp on All Black skipper Richie There's even a reply, from James Mortimer at Sportingo, to the plethora of All Black taunting that's been going on The Scotland v South Africa game (another friggin' "warm up") is reported as is the Ireland v Italy game and the biggest game of the weekend (in my mind, although

Drop your 'sexual innuendo' count over at Spare Room from this very clever and funny ad for a new New Zealand based 'adult orientated' channel "Fresh" This is work friendly, kid friendly (they'll never understand it) and will not offend unless you have a smutty mind and understand what they're saying ...

15 DAYS TO GO! NZ-based Rugby Cup Challenge - sign up and beat me (MiramarMike). Oh, and you could then join in with the Hayman's Beard Challenge , and beat me there as well! And it seems there's only one team that everyone thinks will win the world cup, the New Zealand All Blacks (who had one last hit out today , no-one injured, before flying out on Wednesday) - no other team is generating so much focus from the other countries (see if you can spot the pattern in this list) England - Partner ban 'shows NZ pressure' (BBC) Australia - All Blacks won't make final - Eales (NZ Herald) Samoa - Samoan picking ABs, if not too 'cocky' Australia - All Blacks are worried, says Phil Kearns Are the all-conquering All Blacks really that invincible? Australia: Never-say-day fighters with a hold over the All Blacks Australia taunt All Blacks (Sky Sports UK) And I suspect the focus is a wee bit weighted towards Mr Daniel Carter - profille from the NZ Herald. I'm glad

Thank you Matt! (seems to becoming a bit of a video 24 hours with a large theme of "let's laugh at the foreigners" - I trust you're all on broadband or at work with non-blocked YouTube ;-)

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[Updated later that night] Llew let's us know it happened ... in 2003 - on ya mate, at least I want be disappointing Jack Is this true (don't have time to check with Evadne Google or Mr & Mrs BBC): 27th August; the day the Whole World is waiting for...... Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65 Million miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am . It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.

! In Auckland at the mo' and having a blast with the very cool Fronde people in their wicked office at 131 Queens Street. At lunch time I went for a wander to see how down town Auckland and the Viaduct had changed since I was last here ... loads. Not all for the good, the Prince's Wharf is a shocker. On the way back I noticed that there were a few people standing around looking up the street. Then there were a few police. And more and more people waiting for something to come towards them. Up ahead there was obviously a procession/VIP type affair coming towards me. Tits! And legs! On bikes, in army jeeps and hanging out of cars. And transvestites. Feast your eyes on my photo's I took with 'crap cam' (my mobile): Officially named, "Boobs On Bikes" and all in aid of the Erotic Lifestyles Expo in Auckland (24th-26th August, ASB Showgrounds). Better photos reporting at: Scoop: Extended footage of the 'Boobs on Bikes' parade - be aware, loads up a

Kiwi boys and girls top 3 sites are: Bebo , YouTube and Google ... but then again I'm on Bebo so of course it's cool with us young things ... *ahem* ... The info from an emailed press release off Rachel Cunliffe ( Thron g | IdolBlog ) from CensusAtSchool and it makes for interesting reading. Congrats to Rachel and her team for discovering and publishing this info - see below for the full email/links to the press release ... It's especially interesting for those that will, in not so many years, be hiring these Kiwi boys and girls . They are obviously enmeshed within the Web 2.0/social networking/life online side of things and will not take too kindly being told that they "aren't allowed to go to Bebo" ... what will happen to society? Probably nothing more than when the "TV generation" entered the workforce - much grumbling by the previous generation, much disbelief from the young 'uns and life will carry on with a little less lock down on suc

17 DAYS TO GO! A French player is out , an Irish captain is probably out and the English strip is poo-poo'd and that's about it really. Around the web we have reviews of Pool D ("Pool of Death") , Wales and beer . The Aussies are still full of it * and we're asked to spare a thought for the refs which I will do if he plays the game the way I want. The long series of people telling the NZ Herald who'll win (All Blacks) continues with "former Springbok hardman" Robbie Kempson : New Zealand versus South Africa. / New Zealand by 23-18. * confidence

With me bringing in the whole concept and application of "Web 2.0" into Fronde's internal workings I am now in the happy position to tell all staff that we have RSS ( Wikipedia , me , in plain English ) available for anything and everything. Of course the Wiki* has RSS (latest changes), all the blogs have RSS (we're using one for corporate news as well as personal, team and project stuff) and the client/project/team sites have RSS (document changes and everything). We're giving everyone an online RSS viewer ** but people can use their own one if they want - Outlook 2007 and the like is spreading slooowly here and IE7 , Firefox are all ready up for RSS. Then there's the online people - me, Sandy and the like. We use web based readers with the majority using Google Reader . Issue! Issue is that we don't publish our feeds to the world (it's Fronde stuff and no, you can't have it) - and to stop you all getting at them we use 'authenticated fee

Nice ... Original see at Spare Room ... thanks to S at W for the link

It's true. I am fed up with oodles of things but I should concentrate on the matter in hand - derelict ships . The old King Kong ship is quite cool and brings in the tourists who hop out of their mini van on a regular basis to have their photo taken standing in front of it, "I was there". The other(s) though are just hulks waiting to be sunk, and the sooner the better, here's what Wellington Harbour Master Mike Pryce had to say: Pryce says it is a nationwide problem in ports because with no local shipwrecking industry it is too expensive to tow them to foreign scrapyards. The vessels are officially worthless and Maritime New Zealand has granted conditional dumping permits for all of them. Pryce hopes that by mid September the ships will have gone to a watery grave. "When they go down, they are going 1.7km down and they will be staying there," he says. And there are plans for one of the ships, the Venture , to make it a dive attraction. However, that that to

Rubber Johnny ... what can I say to ... um, I am speec... nope, nothing to say. Watch and if you need to, move on. Discovery trail : this posting <- my brain <- 10 More Bizarre Videos <- Top 10 Movie Clichés <- Humor: The List Universe <- The List Universe <- Top 15 Great Science Fiction Books <- my Google Reader <- del.icio.us popular rss feed <- del.icio.us popular <- del.icio.us user 'signal9' (+ 167 others) <- ???? Rubber Johnny is a 6 minute experimental short film and music video directed by Chris Cunningham in 2005, using music composed by Aphex Twin. The concept for Rubber Johnny came from Cunningham imagining a raver morphing as he danced. The idea evolved to the present film, in which Johnny (played by Cunningham) is an isolated mutant child with a huge overgrown cranium, strapped into a wheelchair and locked in a basement. Capable of morphing his body, he spends his life trying to amuse himself and his dog, a terrified chihu

I don't know my Apple iBook from a hole in the the ground - assistance is required. What I want a laptop to do (Apple or Windows based): WiFi access Plug straight into a TV Play any region DVDs Be fast enough to cope with YouTube, Joost and the like, in full screen Run Firefox Run Skype Store and play my whole CD collection (in a 'mobile' format and not with some DRM crap) Cheap to buy (I'm thinking TradeMe - good idea?) And that's it really. Thanks in advance to assistance/advice via email ( miramar.mike@gmail.com ) and/or left as a comment

19 DAYS TO GO! Wales beat the Pumas (Argentina, 27-20 ) which isn't bad as I rate the Argentinians quite highly and always have. Glad they won through but shame about the lack of Welsh crowd support with a very empty Millennium Stadium. Canada put the drop on the Portuguese (42-12) . The poor Portuguese must be so looking forward to Saturday 15th (Sep) when they run onto the field against the All Blacks - lines such as, "Nothing to lose", "Learn from the masters", "Can only get better", "This will be a match they'll never forget ... tell their grandchildren" will be trotted out by all the journos/commentators. And the English LOST to the French once again ( 22-9 ). They even managed to get their captain carried off ... they're dropping like flies up there. Finally, despite the core (36-12) the Italians weren't impressive against the Japanese (so I read). Is that it for the "warm up" matches? Are we all done now and

19 DAYS TO GO! It's 1:47am and I am up with the kids early and so this will be a simple link fest ... Brian O’Driscoll injured again (due to New Zealand rugby thug) Weak refs help All Blacks, claims Laporte O'Sullivan defends friendly despite O'Driscoll injury The All Blacks must learn that winning the World Cup is no choke! Team of (NZ) MPs expected to be in France

I am a very VERY happy man. $12. I mean ... they were around $80 when the DVD #1 came out ... $12 for the whole kit and caboodle * and it's 2 DVD's, a book(let), some "exclusive art (prints)" and probably PJ's phone number, but I haven't checked yet. $12. I can't recall buying any DVD for $12. Let alone something that came in a presentation box, with the word "2 DVD exclusive" on the front. $12 ... that's currently (18-Aug-2007, 20:14:36) about AU$10.23, US$8.26 and £4.16 Stunning eh! Our only issue now is that some small hand has hidden the DVD remote and its been lost for the past 3 days ... it might have gone out with the recycling. We can't watch anything that's not selected on the DVD ("play all" is our saviour) ... time to buy a laptop and hook it into the broadband and TV (they come with DVD players as well, hence the logic). The NewsDowse not only sells the Production Diaries DVD box thing-a-me-bob for $12 but ther

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21 DAYS TO GO! Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll breaks cheekbone - ouch! Mr O'D must be one of the unluckiest guys around ( Lions tour 2005 ) - this time it was dirty play, a punch! Let's hope he can play some part in the competition! Former Wallaby prop Ben Darwin finally bucks the trend and tells NZ Herald that it won't be an All Blacks victory: Australia versus France / Australia to win 27-17 Other coaches jump on the 'slag off England' band wagon and the Welsh are talked up by the Pumas for this weekend 'friendly'.

[Update #3] Looking slightly better at 0700 GMT [Update #2] Ho hum , they must be having kittens over at Skype ... one major fuck up like this and I can imagine a lot of customers merely shift to something else. I wish all those working hard to solve all the best. Hello, just wanted to drop a line that everyone at Skype working on resolving the sign-on issue is still up. We’re fixing issues in our networking software and monitoring the clients getting online with increased success. It’s been a loooong day (and night) for many and we are gradually moving to new shifts of fresh brains to help out those getting to well deserved few hours of sleep. Be sure that the Skype family as a whole will not retire before you can get back to all the Skype conversations you want, need or just feel like having. Sorry for keeping you split that long. (Updated at 5:00GMT) [Update] Still not working according to their blog : Hello again, Everyone at Skype continues to work hard at resolving the current s

Read the comments for this Amazon.com product, Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz , they are a hoot! Manly handshake to Nick for emailing this on, kick ass!

It's easy to forget how computers/software used to be. Much like your hair it constantly grows and not until someone stops you in the street and makes a comment (bitch) do you think step out of the timeline and compare 'then' with 'now'. And so Google Blogscoped's Software Progres s is a timely reminder of how much our technology hair has grown (using Google, of course) ... maybe it's time for a haircut. [Updated a day later] And there's now part 2 Here's a small sample:

Ha ha ha ha ... classic, thank you StumbleUpon ... I'm at work. You're at work? Yes. You being a smart ass? No sir. Let me put it to you this way Mike. Say I wanted to mail your ass a letter. What would I have to write on the outside of the envelope to ensure that the mail man would deliver it right to your ass? Geographically speaking Mike, where is work? ...

22 DAYS TO GO! The Telegraph in the UK has published all the squads for the world cup . Comments from me - All Blacks was predictable and a winning combination, the Welsh have gone with their best but Henson will be missed and what the heck are those Namibian names, hmmmm. At least I won't have to link to any more squad announcements.

... finding a toy you though you had lost Show all | explain this

22 DAYS TO GO! Nice article, Rugby World Cup fans will have a ball in France! , from Scott Donaldson at Sportingo. Here's what he says about the two sets of fancs we care about: All Blacks fans are the most introverted fans I will mention in this article. Rugby supporters in New Zealand are traditionally staunch, know their game inside and out and all hold an opinion on their team. It is typical if the All Blacks lose to see days on end of national mourning as rugby is a religion in this country. The All Blacks bring a nation together like nothing else. Kiwis are generally not as patriotic as their opposition, but the All Blacks do make people proud of the Silver Fern and the Haka. The All Blacks are heroes in New Zealand and an unlikely defeat disappoints fans who don’t appreciate opposition good play as much as other countries, instead pointing their fingers at their team. All Black supporters range in ethnicity and class more than any other major nation in the world. They are

Stuff about Wales : Wales captain Gareth Thomas has revealed competition for places in the team has become less fierce since coach Gareth Jenkins announced his 30-man World Cup squad. And from a Welshmans dream : Can Wales win the Rugby World Cup? Yes, of course we can - in our dreams. After all, there’s little point taking part in a competition if you don’t have the dream of winning it. And winning it should be the aim of every team entering. Stuff about Argentina by the Welsh : Welsh fly-half James Hook has come forward and told everyone that the Argentinean Pumas are worthy proponents. Talking down the All Blacks : With the Rugby World Cup nearing and New Zealand clear favourites, many opponents are dusting off their history books and pointing with a smirk at the last four tournaments, in which the All Blacks have often flattered to deceive. Talking up the All Blacks : Graham Henry and Co are looking good to bring back the World Cup after a 20-year wait. In terms of talent, form and

We're all off for a grand day out at Petone/Lower Hutt this Saturday concentrating mainly on the Craft2.0 and King Kong events at the NewDowse. Pop along and don't be scared to say, Hi -de-ho neighbouronies (or your own twee version of) Craft2.0 (11am-3pm): Craft2.0 blog Babylicious (from the ever energetic Wanda ) Sue from SuperVery Scrappers ... loads of others King Kong exhibition - "Read all abaht it!" NewDowse - 45 Laings Road, Lower Hutt (maps: ZoomIn | Google Maps )

On this date in 2005 Karen and I spent the evening being done by Kerry (and getting our New Zealand Citizenship , but not in national costume ) and then we celebrated with a wine or two and friends at Zibbo. Enjoy the look-back-in-pleasure photorama:

23 DAYS TO KICK OFF! France , USA and Scotland - more to come during the day ... Romania , [Updated a few hours later] Potential styles of play from Sportingo, Scotland coach is peeved he can't have 4 more players (like it'll help), and Kieran Crowley (former All Black) let's us know that the All Blacks will beat France: New Zealand versus France / New Zealand to win by "as long as we get there, 3-0 will do me". English man mountain is taken out by an insect ( War of the Worlds anyone?) but that's ok because Fitzy doesn't believe he and his mates are fatty's anymore . Lote Tuqiri and Matt Dunning on the other hand have been grounded by their parents for being naughty boys.

Babies and restaurants are the Chernobyl of parenting BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on July 30, 2000.) If you're a new parent, there will come a time when either you or your spouse will say these words: ''Let's take the baby to a restaurant!'' Now, to a normal, sane person, this statement is absurd. It's like saying: ''Let's take a moose to the opera!'' But neither you nor your spouse will see anything inappropriate about the idea of taking your baby to a restaurant. This is because, as new parents, you are experiencing a magical period of wonder, joy and possibility that has made you really stupid. You are not alone: All new parents undergo a sharp drop in intelligence. It's nature's way of enabling them to form an emotional bond with a tiny human who relates with other humans exclusively by spitting up on them. Even very smart parents are affected, as we see from these two quotations: Alb

24 DAYS TO KICK OFF! From the NZ Herald The Rugby World Cup in numbers:' 4bn' viewers, 2.4m tickets, 600 players 2:37PM Tuesday August 14, 2007 - By Edward Gay There are 24 days to go until the first of 48 games between 20 teams in the Rugby World Cup. We check out some other stats. * 95 countries have national rugby teams, although only 20 play in the Rugby World Cup. Teams like Bosnia Herzegovina, the Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago have missed out on qualifying * The largest distance between World Cup venues is 1900 kms from Marseille to Edinburgh. The All Blacks play Italy in Marseille before playing Portugal in Lyon - 320 km away - and then travel to Edinburgh to play Scotland. * Approximately 4 billion people will watch some of the 2007 World Cup, according to corporate events organiser Sports World. * 1.8 million rugby fans, 600 players and 3500 media will visit Europe for the Rugby World Cup, according to travlescope.co.uk and europeshoppe.com.au * 2.4 milli

24 DAYS TO KICK OFF! Most interesting squad announcement was the English (World Cup defenders, don't forget) announcing their 'Dads Army' of cup defenders. There's oodles of analysis and comment from the media , online fraternity and South African coaches (hee hee) . Oh, and the Irish have announced their squad All squads must be finalised in the next number of hours (Tuesday 14th, not sure what time zome that ends in) Closer to home, the news from the All Black s comes in the form of the inclusion of Greg Somerville , a cracking result for both Mr S and the squad. Aussie Tim Horan puts his tuppence worth in to the NZ Herald, "Who will win the World Cup series: "Horan is cautious about picking a winning team but said the semis will be made up of South Africa, France, Australia and New Zealand." Other All Black (subscribe) news: All Blacks handicapped by technology Are the All Blacks in the right condition to win the Rugby World Cup? Welsh news is