Poets Day US

To put it mildly, the world is a pretty odd place right now. There is a terrible beer virus (named after a terrible beer obviously) causing havoc all over the planet, and the ride has only just really begun here in the US. Looking forward to hopefully riding this out without too many issues and getting to the other side with just enough toilet paper :) So let's try and quickly look back over the last 50 years, since there will not be a big party this weekend to celebrate, in cricket terms, a decent innings so far - 50, not out. There will be a party later this year though :) 50 years ago Jeff and Raewyn realized that they had made a huge mistake when I was bought kicking and screaming into the world at Middlemore Hospital, Otahuhu. At the time we lived on Great South Rd in Papatoetoe I think (what do I know) and then we moved to Tui Rd to the Papatoetoe Motel that they owned for a bit then to Redoubt Rd in Manukau. School was Papatoetoe Central for me and all of the time it wa

Well - let's be frank, 2018 was not a big year for Poets Day posts - only 10 blogs written - about 1,700 reads total but which means about 170 people read each blog, which is not horrible considering they are, let's be honest, not always that good and very rugby centric  :) So what have I been up to since I haven't been writing Poets Day posts you ask ? Well, you probably didn't ask, so I am taking a bit of a liberty here :) Rugby, I have been doing an awful lot of rugby stuff in my free time. I am a founding board member with Cary Rugby who had U10, U12 and U14 tackle teams in 2018 plus a U8 and sometimes U10 touch teams. I also assisted Coaches Tim and Jose on a local select U14 team that went to a 2 day tournament in South Carolina. I then decided it would be fun to go to Asheville to drink beers with the local Raleigh Rugby Old Boys team and somehow ended up on the paddock for a brief stint. For the first time in about 27 years I actually "played" tack

Just a word of advice there might be some bad words in this weeks blog according to my Mum  - who was a teacher, luckily never mine though :) It has been a month since I quit smoking. I quit once in 2012 but then I told someone the product they had come up with was, and I quote - well close to quote - "A complete waste of fucking time and one of the stupidest things I have ever seen" (which conveys the content of my statement at the time) whilst sitting next to the CEO of my soon to be ex-employer. I started smoking again soon after that statement when my new job was to find a new job :) This time the motivation was different and two-fold and combined they created the perfect storm (so far). Firstly there was the emotional blackmail motivation from 5ft 6 of terror known to most as Turtle, my daughter. She threatened to pack up her bags and run off to New Zealand if I didn't quit, I am guessing at this point some people back home would prefer I was still smoking  :)

So the other day I was tasked with coming up with a banner to help promote the youth rugby club that I am on the board of and I was trying to come up with a tag line. I searched the world wide inter web for guidance but quickly got sick of cat videos, Fox News and just blah. So I delved into the recesses of the grey squishy bit between my ears and came up with: Rugby. The sport you never knew you wanted to play. Now, I could have stopped with ' The sport you never knew ' as in the US that seems to be the case. Very few people know of the sport, some know of it but really know nothing and those that do know, well they play :) So lets start with the first group, those that don't know. Can't really blame them that much as it is not a prime time game with overhyped songs inquiring if you are ready for some football (the too-may-pads one, not the kicky one). It doesn't appeal to the major networks as it has that one thing that American sports hate, a lack of timeo

Well at least a post that was something like this. Actually I may have already written this post but I forget stuff so here we go again maybe :)  Earlier this week a friend of mine posted the comment on the book of faces " If you decide that one of my children don't belong somewhere because of the color of their skin and decide it is ok to assault or taunt them, I WILL protect and defend my own. If you have an issue with someone, best to keep it to yourself. This is not the 1960's or earlier when you can say and do things to people with racially motivated hate and not have some action reciprocated." This person is my friend for a couple of reasons, we first met met when I coached his son on the rugby field when the team he was with was a few players short and we would create what they call motley teams over here in the US (I prefer to call them The Barbarians but then again I am correct)  :)  My friends son is a wonderful kid, absolute joy to coach and to be ar

Dear Ultra Secret Private Diary that I can write in without fear of anyone else ever reading what I post here, it has been over a month since I last wrote about anything here and I think it is time to unburden my soul in some writing therapy - mainly because it is cheaper than real therapy and I hate taking pills :) You know what, I was going to write some silly post here about rugby and shit but what use is a therapeutic blog (which this sometimes is) if you don't bare your soul a little. This weekend is Memorial Weekend, I will get to go coach rugby, hang out with some amazing friends and cheer and rejoice in the game that I love - sounds pretty awesome right, and it is. But I only get to do this off the backs of those who gave so much that I can be free. Some of y'all might recall that I did a brief stint in the NZ Territorials back in 88 - I never pretend to be a soldier I might add, however I did sign up to be one. I got kicked out because of my back and not due to a