Category: not sport

Links on Friday (on Sunday)

– I miss Soccer AM – Saturdays just aren’t the same without a soul-sapping hangover and football related hilarity – check these out.
– The more I think about it, Ajax may be my ‘other’ team. Cruyff. Van Basten. Nice football. Cool kit. Dutch. Stuff like this. What’s not to like?
– A Dan Carter conversion straight out of Sensing Murder
– I’m listening to CCR lately. If you haven’t heard Ramble Tamble. Have a listen, it’s the most rockin’ song of all time, don’t you know.

Links on Friday

– Manchester City News – the more I watch this, the more hilarious it becomes. And the more I worry about my lack of humour development since age 12
– Sportsfreak on Michael Hussey – they’re right, you know, he’s boring his way into history
– Stephen Fry’s Dork Talk – everyone’s fav foppish wordsmith is a Mac guy, and he’s writing a gadget review column for the Guardian. Who would have thought?
– Norman Mailer fight – here’s a bizarre scene from his improvisational movie Maidstone where Rip Torn decides to take artistic direction into his own hands. Mailer died this week

Links on Friday

– Pulp Sports’ The Butcher Sopranos parody – what was the Sopranos finale all about? Did he die or what? My heart was going like anything…
– Ronny Rosenthal misses a sitter – and what a sitter. Luckily, he did it for the bin dippers, and not Spurs
– The most rockin song of all time – is Credences’ ‘Ramble Tamble’ apparently. And it’s pretty bloody good. I’ve got a soft spot for ‘Keep your hands to yourself’ by Georgia Satellites myself. Or the Ramones’ ‘Rockaway Beach’
– Urban planner clearly depressed when she came up with street names – Har

Links on Friday

– Villa’s Martin O’Neil, pop picker extraordinaire, telling Robbie Williams what for – classic, it’s like being told off by a senile old science teacher
– Wayne Rooney meets Dirty Sanchez – the Welsh jackass imitators that are ten times funnier. That can’t be his house…?
– Touch The Rainbow – great tv ad for Skittles. Wish I could do this with a nice bacon sandwich
– All You Had To Say Was ‘Owen Wilson Befriends A Dolphin’ And I Was Sold – that’s how it gets done, team

Links on Friday

– Le Tour’s Mount Ventoux – bugger biking up here. It just goes up and up and up, and looks like the moon
– Greatest bit of fielding ever? – Gatting couldn’t be more surprised than if he’d been slapped with a fish
– A high quality Spurs goal from G. Linneker – Spurs are looking good for top four this year I reckon (Bonus link for you SportsFreaks: Glen ‘n Chris do Diamond Lights)
– Top 50 Muppets – I like Crazy Harry, the mad bomber. And Lefty

Links on Friday

– Tour De France face plant – the Tour De France Prologue through London is this weekend, with stage one in idyllic English countryside the next night. Check guides for times, good luck on Sky’s shitty website
– Good Goran interviews Bad Goran – not that remarkable really, I conduct interviews with myself like this all the time
– Andoni Goicoechea, ‘The Butcher of Bilbao’ shatters Maradonna’s ankle – ouch. It’s all on the next time the teams meet
– The Framely Examiner – Har. I want to live here
– Dinosaur Jr – In a jar – I’m off to see these guys on Monday night. Kick. Ass.

On the road again – The Vitus 979

Here’s my project of the last couple months – a Vitus 979 road bike.

The drivetrain is Campagnolo Triomphe, with Shimano Exage brakes. It’s got Tubular tires on Araya ‘Red’ rims, and Wellgo pedals. The handlebars are Cinelli.

This is a very light bike, Vitus are a French bicycle tubing company, and this one is unique in that the tubes are glued together rather than welded, as it usually the case. Here’s more info on this bike. The 979 was made famous by Irish Cyclist Sean Kelly – here he is in the San Remo – Milan race.

Not Sport: SRNZ Top 5 New Zealand albums

This month is NZ Music Month – here’s my top five local albums for what it’s worth.

5. Bailter Space – Robot World. All I had to do when I was at Uni was stand in one spot (well, a few, technically) while all sorts of marvelous bands played at the Student Union and the Hilly for not a lot of dosh. All I had to do was wear band T-shirts and Doc Martins. And sometimes a cardigan. Bailter Space were farkin cool, though – no band I ever saw was louder. You could have sworn there were more than three of them.

4. 3D’s – Swathy Songs for Swabs / Fish Tails. The 3D’s are another big live fav. These two EPs win over their albums for me, just ‘cos they’re pretty raw and reminded me of the live shows. Nothing makes any sense on these EPs. In a good way.

3. Phoenix Foundation – Pegasus. My number one NZ band that’s still going. Pegasus is a local Pet Sounds I reckon, there’s a lot of heart to these songs, and they sound like they’re having loads of fun, which I love. I really get into the first PF album and Luke Buda and Sam Scott’s solo albums too.

2. Straightjacket Fits – Melt. We had a party in the last year of Uni, and some dickhead stole my Stone Roses, Crooked Rain, and Melt LPs. The others I’ve replaced but NO-ONE’s got Melt on vinyl these days. Not when it’s one of the most epic, grand and huge albums ever. I still want revenge.


1. Bressa Creeting Cake – Bressa Creeting Cake. A FUCK of an album. An Early Microscope, Rocky Mountain, Palm Singing are all brilliant tunes, but there’s not a trace of filler here – this is one of the most dense albums I’ve ever heard. There’s a lot of Goldenhorse’s sweetness here combined with the most thoughtfully random lyrics around. Highly, highly recommended.

Links on Friday

– James Hunt post race interview – what a legend. I enjoyed F1 when I was living in Britain, as (like me mate says) you could watch it on a Sunday afternoon after coming home from the pub. I’d probably make the effort to catch the races if more drivers were like this bloke. And it wasn’t really boring and that.
– Six FA Cup finals to remember – Good to see Spurs in this list twice. We used to win it all the time, you know!
– Sportsfreak’s Joe Karem article – useful and interesting article about ex-All Black and David Bain saviour, for when you’re sick of all the tasteless jokes (!)
– Spare Room links to the Worst B Movie moment ever – clarse, some audio is NSFW
– An HR manager responds to the alleged infractions – what a whacky workplace!
– Banksy, ‘street artist’ – I’m dying to know who this guy is