@antipodean said in Has Hansen gone stale?:

2011 was cathartic for me. Going back to back in 2015 made me as happy as Test rugby could. If we do the three-peat in 2019, I'd suggest the RWC could be irrevocably damaged.

Let it burn

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12083944

The lions strike back

With no usual visitors from Melbourne to stay over Xmas it will be more quiet.... But the eating starts in earnest tonight, pork belly and picanha on the bbq, then turkey at the in laws tomorrow. Friends for another BBQ on Boxing day, and a NY22 bbq turkey on the 31st. I think I will get a few hand made vodka martinis in there as well.

Merry Xmas virtual Polish family 🥰

@Hooroo said in Coronavirus memes:

@MiketheSnow said in Coronavirus memes:

My next door neighbour has just been diagnosed with COVID-19 and rushed to hospital.

He's been put on one of the new Dyson ventilators.

He's picking up nicely now.

Oh Man! I was typing a reply saying that is a good news story and then realised the thread I was in.

You almost got sucked right in..... I'll get my coat

@antipodean can't see them making their emissions targets this year either.....

@tim I raise my glass of pool cleaner in your honour 🍸

@NTA said in RWC: England v Australia (QF 1):

@canefan said in RWC: England v Australia (QF 1):

@NTA said in RWC: England v Australia (QF 1):

@nzzp said in RWC: England v Australia (QF 1):

Seriously, though, we talked about this with Henry as well. They will put systems in place to generate the players with attributes they need. Hansen's just done this wtih props - get mobile, or get gone. Simple.

It's about systems. We don't have any of note.

MacQueen and his team came together at just the right time and it took more than a year to get them pointed in the same direction

Was McKenzie on track before he fiddled and got caught?

Hard to say. From all reports, he had his favorites and would stick with them regardless.

Maybe his attitude was better (or better expressed) than Cheika. But look at that tweet from Quade - does that look like the culture was of a high standard when that guy is your first choice?

Genia's got an attitude problem as well. Many in Australia will refuse to countenance that.

While the Reds were winning, nobody cared

Some of the bad eggs, like Genia, are gone now anyway. You guys need new up and comers and someone to change the culture. Wait, I have just the man

@virgil said in Alternative needed from the absolute crap of stuff.co.nz:

A lot of fathers here, just imagine your little girl brings home her new boyfriend to show you. In walks that fat fuck, do you reach for the machete you have stashed in the shed or run next door to grab your neighbours .22 ?

I think you'll need a .303

@Machpants said in Western Force vs Hurricanes:

@canefan said in Western Force vs Hurricanes:

@Canes4life said in Western Force vs Hurricanes:

Anyway I’m off, the Canes need to be a lot more clinical next week if we are a chance at beating the Brumbies. Right now, it’s not looking good.

Is that in Canberra? We have an appalling record there

Yup Moana Pacific didn;t do us any favours!

We should never have lost that game

@Canes4life said in Western Force vs Hurricanes:

Anyway I’m off, the Canes need to be a lot more clinical next week if we are a chance at beating the Brumbies. Right now, it’s not looking good.

Is that in Canberra? We have an appalling record there

Losses to MP and the WF really hurt us this season

@Victor-Meldrew said in US Politics:

@canefan said in US Politics:

To me there is a huge difference. The NHS is trying to save lives, they just aren't always doing that very well. Relating avoidable deaths in the health system and shooting deaths is not comparing apples with apples

The point I was trying to make is that children are dying unnecessarily, the politicians & authorities know they are dying (or being killed by negligence and/or neglect) and that the current system is dangerous. But they won't do anything meaningful about it as the NHS is a shibboleth like the Second Amendment.

Same could be said everywhere. We in NZ are not immune to our own issues, who likes to hear of another kid who is beaten to death at home? Our mental health system is failing lots of people, some of whom will take their own lives. Deep down the politicians know there are problems. But to see politicians coming out and making comments in the wake of another shooting, how it isn't the guns that are the problem, that just feels so wrong. Of course, shootings are much more interesting to the media than NHS mortality numbers. That isn't helpful

@Victor-Meldrew said in US Politics:

@mariner4life

To be fair, I think a lot of your criticisms can be leveled at other countries as well. Perhaps the USA and its problems are just more visible?

E.g. There are c. 1,200 avoidable child deaths in the UK each year due to negligence and poor care by the UK hospitals & Health service - a much higher rate per capita than gun deaths in the US. Been going on for years but, like gun laws in the US, the politicians are too busy shouting insults at each other to sit down, fix it and save lives.

To me there is a huge difference. The NHS is trying to save lives, they just aren't always doing that very well. I don't think anyone can easily argue that gun policy in the US is doing anything other than enabling people to take lives. Relating avoidable deaths in the health system and shooting deaths is not comparing apples with apples

@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2022:

Sack the CEO, sack the coach, sack the owner, sack the mascot, sack the PR people, sack the trainers…

The owner looks and acts like a boofhead. He greenlighted Nathan Brown as coach. He bad mouthed Eric Watson, who for better or worse saw us go to at least one final (I can't recall if he was owner for both our finals runs), a feat I have little faith in this guy achieving anytime soon

@antipodean said in EPL 2021 / 2022:

Paul Scholes is a notable absence. He could score.

Giggs and Beckham too

@Machpants said in Movie review thread...:

@MN5 said in Movie review thread...:

@Machpants said in Movie review thread...:

@MN5 said in Movie review thread...:

@Machpants said in Movie review thread...:

@MN5 said in Movie review thread...:

@Machpants said in Movie review thread...:

@MiketheSnow I've not watched any trailer, I don't cos they spoil so much nowadays. But the fact there were actors actually doing scenes under g in cockpit, unlike 1, is awesome. They built themselves up in differing aircraft, and did the shots with 6 in cockpit cameras, in between puking, and came down knackered and drenched in sweat. Tom cruise maybe a nut job, but he knows about doing your own stunts, and all the others had to follow his lead.

There's no movie that has anywhere near portrayed in cockpit action adequately, so I'm looking forward to just seeing that.

Always funny how after people get a backseat trip, like engineers and air traffic controllers (was most often in Falklands, 2 every Friday), how fucked they were on landing, and that was with very limited maneuver allowed. Literally had to lift a few out at the end.

I thought Tom Hardy and the other blokes did a great job of this in Dunkirk !!!!

Nope that was utterly laughable, almost as unrealistic as some soldiers not saying a word to each other for hours despite what they went through. Dunkirk was art house, I reckon despite all the hoorah bullshit top gun 2 will almost certainly have, it will not have to try too hard to be more realistic then Dunkirk. Was cool to see real planes tho

Having never been involved in a dogfight in any kind of plane whatsoever I’m certainly no expert……but I thought that part of the movie was really well done.

It all took far too long, when he's on the tail of the 109, it is just waffting back and forth. In a dogfight you're pulling you max G, if you don't the enemy will and will stuff you. In addition, you don;t reverse your turn often (specific reasons to do so) otherwise you're just turning in front of the enemy - bye bye. It was all very meh. And don't get me started on how long the Spit with a dead engine stayed airborne without losing height, fuck he could've landed back in Kent! That was right up there with 'behind enemy lines' dodging the SAM awful and unrealistic

Ok, you’ve got me there. That was indeed ridiculous.

On the subject though how do you rate Saving Private Ryan ?repeated viewings of Commando and some of Arnies dubious combat tactics were probably not the best preparation to watch that opening scene and how ruthless it was……

Yeah it's a shocking start. Bloody Omaha was terrible, but I think they went a little over the top with number of guys shot right in the forehead! But I seem to remember some of the first wave companies having 95% casualties, so probably pretty close. Overall, on the first day, one in 10 or 12 were casualties, but the first lot asho took a big portion of that

I remember our guide at Utah beach saying how the allies sent their inferior units straight into the teeth of the German defences, which allowed the crack units a chance to outflank them on the fringes. Looking at archival photos of the landing beaches, and the bodies in the water, I think it is a strong representation of what happened on D-day. What a harrowing opening sequence

@TeWaio said in Coronavirus - New Zealand:

Any thoughts as to when NZ goes green? July? October?

Or are we counting down now to the new Monkeypox traffic light system?

Knowing this government it will be a week before the July school holidays, along with the cancellation of RAT test requirements to enter NZ

Kanoute?