New Zealanders can tune into Breakfast on TV ONE tommorow at 6:45 and every half hour afterwards to see updates on me getting body painted...

...because I'm getting the Phoenix kit body painted on me, which I will then wear along with underpants while walking down Cuba St and Manners Mall.

Wish me luck!

Meh!

I wanna go to London

So yeah... I had extensive periodontal therapy on Monday.

Basically, I had my teeth sandblasted. I'm not quite sure what happened after that, but it felt like every bit of gum between my individual teeth was drilled. It was easily the most painful experience of my life, and I swear I lost half a cup of blood from the amount I spat out. I stumbled to Ariel's house afterwards and immediately said "DON'T KISS ME!". The next day, I woke up with more blood clots in my mouth than a vampires breakfast.

Now I can see why people fear the dentist.

Me, I've never been afraid of the dentist. I've just never gone.

I've got a sensitive mouth. Toothpaste, quite literally, burns like crazy. This is coming from a bloke who likes spicy food. So as a kid, not brushing my teeth wasn't simply a matter of "I don't wanna do my chores", but "MY MOUTH, IT IS DRINKING LAVA!"

Compound that fact with my interest in conspiracy theories later in life. Everyone in my family has fillings - BUT NOT ME! I had great teeth, apart from a crooked incisor but meh. Hence, it was easy for me to believe the GREAT DENTIST CONSPIRACY - Toothpaste rots your teeth! It's a big plan to keep the dental industry employed! YOU ARE ALL BEING FOOLED!

Then along comes my later teenage years, when I started dating etc and I thought it important I start taking a bit better care of my teeth. So I tried to start brushing - BUT ALAS! Even when using a soft brush, my gums would bleed. This would only ever happen when I brushed my teeth - hence, brushing actually caused damage to my mouth. So obviously it wasn't worth aggravating them, and only brushed when I was about to go out clubbing or on a date.

Then I wisened up and realised the bleeding gums wasn't damage caused by brushing, but signs of early gum disease. I never had problems with bad breath or tooth pain other than sensitivity to cold, so using the typical Australian/Kiwi/Male attitude of "She'll be right", I just left it as is.

I *did* try to go to a dentist last year, but he just treated me like an idiot and was completely unhelpful. Prick. So I just left it as is again.

Then I caught a massive mouth infection that landed me in hospital with a tube in my arm.

I went to the dentist last week as a follow-up and check-up. The guy was totally awesome, he had a great sense of humour (important when dealing with people like me) and didn't talk down to me, he just tried to be helpful. He referred me to an oral hygienist within the practice, who was also cool, and I got my periodontal torture treatment and lots of advice on how to better take care of my teeth. I've started brushing regularly now, and flossing, and I'm on prescription mouthwash. It's painful and time consuming but meh.

As for today, I'm getting an emergency filling done. JOYFUN.

PS I don't have a dental plan. I'm trying to get a student grant to cover $300 of the treatment. Which leaves me with $200 I have to come up with myself. YAY! Well, at least I live in a socialist country, I'd hate to think how expensive it would be in the US.

--------
I need to find a new flat. I found one I love, but I need another flatmate to take up a room. Anyone want to move to Wellington, in Aotearoa New Zealand? It's an awesome place, and you can hang out with me! I'm a damned good cook - my flatmate the Jewish Vampire refuses to eat kumara (sweet potato) unless I cook it. Yes, I'm that good.

NB: AUSSIE FRIENDS

I might be in Australia for the first week of November!

I'll hopefully be in Perth on the 2nd of November (Phoenix vs Glory @ Members Equity Stadium) and Sydney on the 7th (Phoenix vs Sydney FC at the SFS), anything between that is unplanned but can involved me possibly hanging out in Melbourne or Canberra, and I'll definatly visit Nowra. I hope to fly back on the morning of the 8th from Sydney.

I might need to do some couch surfing to save dollars, so if anyone can help out please let me know, as I'm a poor student haha.

I want to hang out with as many people as possible, so I'll probably base myself in NSW but would like to stop off at other places or a night or so enroute.

Also, anyone is welcome to join me at the football but only if they wear black and yellow ;-)

I think I may have found something to help calm me down during study.

I can hardly believe it myself, I never thought that THIS of all things could be a weapon in the fight against my anxiety.


...country music.

I'm not 'avin' a larf. I'm listening to a country music station off iTunes, and it's oddly soothing - more so that ambient music has done in the past.

Screw Massey, I'm transferring to the University of Calgary (go Dinos!)

---

I'm re-doing my essay that was due last month - it got wiped by my stupid arse excuse of a computer (HP-Compaq can eat a bowl of dicks). After that I have to do a poster on a health topic. I'm thinking of being very topical and doing it on outdoor education. For those outside of New Zealand, there was recently a tragedy at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre near Turangi. A class group that was canyoning were caught in a flash flood - six students and their teacher were killed. To the immense credit of Elim Christian School, the high school involved, they (staff/families/friends) have NOT instituted a witch hunt, but have shown support and forgiveness for everyone involved - including those who could have been blamed for the event (For my perspective as an outdoorsman - nobody can really be blamed for a flash flood, they're freak of nature events, the crew made the best decision based off the information they received - which may or may not have been correct. I'm more inclined to blame the weather department, MetService, for a breakdown in communication in which the OPC did not receive the weather warnings as other services did).

That being said, some people have taken the opportunity to voice their disagreement of outdoor recreation being part of the curriculum. Needless to say, as someone training to be a PE teacher and a trained outdoorsman, this concerns me a hell of a lot. Outdoor education is more than just fun and games, it's an important teaching tool that cannot be replicated in a classroom. Removing it will do more harm than good. I won't get into too much about it here - but perhaps for my poster I will.

A simple poster expressing the benefits of outdoor education, aimed at high school kids thinking about doing it as a subject (as I did during 6th form/my junior year of high school). Could be good.

---

I fly back home (Wellington) on Sunday, ex-Rotorua. Same day as Ariel. We're taking different flights but we arrive within an hour of each other. I can hardly wait to see her.

For the record, I'm head over heels in love with her. I honestly think every other girlfriend was just practice for her.

While I'm at it - I'm thinking of deleting my Livejournal. So if I dont have you on Facebook or (shudders) Bebo yet, speak up!

I'm probably going to drop to part time study, and switch to Massey University at Wellington.

I might have to leave Everton Hall. Conveniently, Ariel might have to leave her flat. We're looking at getting a place together if that occurs.

In other news, the NZFC Grand Final KICKED ASS, even though Team Wellington lost. About thirty of us Wellingtonians, sitting in one section of the stand, cheering, chanting, singing, yelling, doing EVERYTHING a football crowd should. It may have been held in Waitakere, but it felt like a Wellington home game with the atmosphere we brought.

I'm starting to think that no matter how hard I try, I can't conquer my "disability"

I'm so lost.

I didn't respond to treatment.

So we booked an emergency appointment at my PHO.

The doctor just laughed at me, treated me like a child, and told me to be patient - the medicine would kick in soon enough (even though I had one day or so left).

Despite the fact that Ariel had to do all the talking for me, and that I hadn't eaten in a week. And knowing the consequences of my dietary intake (read: the equivalent of a couple glasses of water a day, nothing more).

Needless to say, I was fucked off. I mustered up - at great pain - the ability to tell her that if I couldn't eat, I wanted to go to hospital, because my condition was deteriorating, I was losing muscle mass (which I gained through fuckloads of hard work tyvm) and I had to take a taxi up the hill to my PHO...less than a mile away from my house.

She smirked, acted like I was being irrational, and then referred me to the hospital, warning me that it'd achieve nothing and they'd just have the same opinion as her.

A few hours later I was committed to a short-stay ward with an intravenous drip in my arm and a much stronger course of medicine - ie upgrading aspirin to codeine.

Behold, the day a personal trainer showed more medicial ability than someone with her medical degree.

Anyways, I was in hospital for three days (two nights), and my condition has been improving ever since. I checked out the day before the football, but due to the concerns of Ariel and my mom, I went to watch it at Four Kings instead...where I drank coke. Meh.

However, Wellington DEFEATED THE EVIL AUCKLANDERS in a thrilling match, so I'm going up to see the grand final and cheer of Team Welly against...um...WEST Auckland.

Okay, I've mentioned of Facebook that I'm very sick, but I haven't really gone into specifics, so here goes.

( Cut because it's icky and grody )

And to make things worse, I'm not responding to treatment. I'm hopefully flying up to Auckland on Saturday, but that might not be possible with my condition. Not to mention the Gecko party on Thursday I want to go to, and Ariel wanting me to meet a priest on Friday (YES! LUCKY ESCAPE! Haha I kid - the guy is doing a standup comedy show, is a good friend of Ariels, and I've already met him and consider him the one person within the catholic church that I trust). I already missed a Hurricanes match because of it (I admit - I could have mustered the strength for it, but I went to the netball game earlier in the day, much to Ariel's disappointment because she was worried about me, so I avoided the game for her. I stand by my choice.)

The main this is not to bitch about how bad I've got it, but to point out how awesome a support network I have.

Esme, the amazing Jewish Vampire, bought me some lucozades, a phone topup so I can text, and most importantly - a bunch of straws which have made life MUCH easier. Drinking before meant irritating the sores - especially since I can't drink water when I'm sick. This is especially helpful because I live at the top floor of a five floor apartment building, thats situated on a hill, thats situated on a terrace....above the nearest supermarket. Walking is usually fine, but would be VERY tiresome - and dare I say dangerous - in my condition.

Leonie leant me her copy of Serenity (which I haven't seen), the first two seasons of M*A*S*H (the TV show my family is literally obsessed with - we own every episode on DVD...AND cassette), and another movie that looks interesting (A Very Long Engagement). Really helpful when I can't watch something more than once a year (aside from Flash Gordon and Strange Brew), all my DVD's have been watched within the last 366 days, and all my books have been read as well. Helps me keep sane. Especially when the pain involved with taking related tablets (eight times a day) means I've avoided taking my usual medication means that any attempts at study just wind me up.

My other flatmates have also been very patient with me (especially since I can't talk and am little use for my cleaning tasks, which leads to me feeling guilty) and have checked up on me to make sure I'm still sane (for now).

But biggest star goes to my wonderful girlfriend Ariel. She gave up most of a days worth of study, leading her to request an extension on an assignment, so that she could nurse me and entire day when all these symptoms suddenly flared up (she stayed over the night before it happened). She took me to A&E, communicated with the doctors for me when my speech was giving out (this was when I still could speak, albeit uncomfortably), paid for my consultation and our taxi fares each way (though I insist on paying her back), and has made sure I've been taking my medication (bear in mind that I'm stubborn, male, and half Australian).

I am SO keeping her.

(As if there were every any doubt...I'm head over heels)

Now I have to go medicate *blech*. Come visit me you slack bastards! Don't bring flowers, unless they're CAULIFLOWERS.

Yesterday was what I like to call Nix-Mas.

One year to the day that Wellington was granted an A-League license after the embarrassment that was professional football in Auckland (stupid jafas can have their Warriors and Breakers...) And what a year - we twice broke the attendance record for a competitive football match, and then beat the all-time national record for ANY football match in NZ history, EVER (Thanks to some English bloke named Beckham)

So naturally I had to celebrate by wearing my Phoenix kit - saving my Retro Ricki for Friday (Yellow Fever tradition). Ariel spent the day looking gorgeous while wearing my Phoenix cap (as she still is now).

It's been a hell of a ride these last twelve months, and we're only going up from here. Instead of a few weeks and a group of "whoever we could get", we've got a proper pre-season to prepare, a bunch of great new singings (especially can't wait to see Leo Bertos in black and yellow!), and of course we still have the best fans in the league.

In other awesome Phoenix news, the A-League decided to start a reserve team competition for every team in the league...EXCEPT the Phoenix. Bastards. So what do we do? We make the effort to link up with an Australian region in order to remove the arguements the FFA have towards excluding us (the main point being the cost of sending an extra ten so players to New Zealand). And it's all looking full steam ahead. The region? CANBERRA! F-K YEAH!

The significance of this? Before the A-League was founded, I supported Wollongong Wolves instead of the Auckland-based Kingz. Why should I give a bollock about Auckland teams? I'm not an Aucklander, and should an Auckland team try to represent itself as a team representing the entire country - well, I'm originally Australian anyway. So I support teams based near Nowra - I cheer for the Wollongong Hawks over the "NZ" Breakers and the Illawarra Dragons over the "New Zealand" Warriors. When the A-League formed and the Wolves were excluded to the benefit of the Central Coast, I stopped following the A-League. Then Wellington got a team. I've since embraced my NZ side alongside my Australian origins, and I cheer for most NZ national teams now. But even before that, I was a proud Wellingtonian...to the point of cheering for the Hurricanes over the Canberra-based Brumbies. So cheering for the Phoenix came easy - and over the course of these twelves months, become the kind of fan who would take a bullet for the team.

So what would happen if Nowra got an A-League team? Well, Nowra's far too small so more accurately - what would happen if Wollongong, or even Canberra got a team? I'd cheer one of them as my second team - behind the Phoenix.

So with Canberra becoming the home of the Phoenix reserves, it looks like I get to have my cake and eat it too - cheering for Wellington, the city I love, AND Nowra, the city I'm from. KICKASS.



And now for the news I know you really want to know - me and Ariel are now officially an item. It was pretty much all but official when we were dating, the chemistry was that great, but now she's my girlfriend. Sorry ladies, I'm off the market, and I don't see that changing anytime soon - this one's a keeper.

(In that she wants to keep me :P AND SHE CAN!)

...PS No Mermaid jokes. This means you, Robbie :P

My life is so up-downy at the moment, having moments of the awesomeness that is having Ariel in my life, and moments of massive ball-busting stress.

Friday - First date with Ariel, goes AWESOME - plans for just dinner ended up with dessert and a movie being added on. I actually missed a Hurricanes match for her! :O And I don't regret it! Someone check my temperature!
Saturday morning - Go to police station to give my expanded police statement for my mates upcoming court case.
Saturday evening - Mayank's 21st - which involves me spending time with not just one of my best friends and other friends who rock my socks, but also the girl who fits perfectly in my arms (second date I guess?)
Sunday - Essay due tommorow - here's an idea, how about I have a massive anxiety cloud hit me all day affecting my academic performance? Great jorb, Coach.

Hopefully that means I'll be seeing Ariel before Tuesday - which is the first of a couple court cases involving a friend and the people who assaulted him (then called the cops to arrest HIM, oh the audacity!). Since I'm the only person who saw the whole thing, I'm the star witness. Which means the fate of my friend rests on whether or not the judge and jury believe me. NO PRESSURE ROBERTO!

Per me, uno grande caffè irlandese, per piacere.

(Actually, better make that duo)


Bitching aside, GUESS WHO'S GORGEOUS!



The answer is NOT Roberto, as further evidence shows:



Now I'm gonna go have my third caffè irlandese, because nothing helps me study more than coffee sweetened with whisky.

I'm so glad I started a txt conversation with tommorow's date.

A - "Hey i was jst wantn 2 confirm 2moro night is a date isnt it?"
Me - "Yeah that was the plan =)"
A - "Ok cool, jst making sure. Id b kinda disappointed if it wasnt."

Reception of this message gave my flatmate an opportunity to observe "the happy dance"

That being said, she might change her mind after seeing the photos from my 22nd



Derek Zoolander sucking on a lemon slice?


Everyone still has to wish me luck for tommorow by the way :P

I've got a brand new system to measure the effectiveness of my workouts.

Rather than focus on how much weight I lift or how many reps, I will focus on what is truly important - how many guys check me out

Why, I can hear you ask, why do I care about what guys think about me?

Simple - gay guys tend to be more physically attractive. It's a stereotype I admit, that gay men love to stay fit. However there is some truth in it. So really, guys who check me out are more likely to have a justifiable basis in thinking me hot.

That, and I can also tell myself I'm hot enough to turn straight guys gay as well.

Which is a waste because I'm rather fond of the bits that make females...well, female.

Of course, I *could* use how many women check me out as a barometer as well. Unfortunately it doesn't work the same because I actually like women and should I accept their advances, one of a few things could happen.

a) I find out they were not checking me out and my ego gets a little crushed
b) They instantly run away screaming as soon as they find out what I'm like as a person (Ew, Australian!)
c) They try to eat me.

Yes. Cannibilism. You know I look delicious.




Ay, there's the rub. It's nigh on impossible to find a woman who finds me physically attractive AND attractive as a person, while not finding me attractive as a main course slowly roasted on a spit, served with some fava beans and a nice chianti (name that reference I just made and you get a cookie).

And then, it's hard for me to find a woman with the same qualities, though there have been a few who have come close.

LJ doesn't count obviously. Because you all rock my small, self-centred universe. Even Tim.

Now I better protein up. STOP DISTRACTING ME, VIRTUAL BLOG HOTTIES!

My goal today was to lift at least 10,000kg (cumulative)

I lifted 11,453kg, and maxed all my sets.

HELLS YES.

Anyways, today is the first home game for the Hurricanes! I'm making an aim of seeing EVERY Hurricanes match this year. I did so successfully for the Phoenix, and while the 'nix will always be Number One, I've been a Hurricanes fan for longer than all but one team (the Illawarra Steelers - who are now one half of the St.George-Illawarra Dragons). I've been a Hurricanes fan since day one - because I moved from Nowra to Palmerston North, a place that has produced nothing decent except for me, winzig, and Mount Cleese.

Oh, and Green Frenzy, who despite supporting Team Welly's rival of YoungHeart Manawatu, are possibly the best fans in the NZFC.

Anyways, when I moved to Palmy, the Super 12 competition first kicked off. One of the teams were then called the Wellington Hurricanes, with a franchise area that included unions such as Taranaki and Hawke's Bay, as well as their home base province of Wellington and my own Manawatu. And even back then I bled green and gold, still holding loyalty to my Australian roots, I supported the Hurricanes rather than Nowra's team, the Waratahs. Good choice, seeing as the Waratahs seceded Southern NSW to what were then the ACT Brumbies, meaning my home team in Australia is based in Canberra, not Sydney.

Moving to Tauranga didn't change anything - Bay of Plenty is a Waikato Chiefs union. But Dirty Scumbag Waikato were also the Bay's fiercest rival in the lower-grade NPC. I guess the equivalent of it would be a Sens fan cheering for a conjoined Toronto Maple Leafs-Ottawa Senators team under the name of Ontario Maple Leafs. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. I'm too bitter to cheer for a team using our rivals colours, playing in our rivals stadium, using mostly our rivals players as well as four or five of my own players. I'll revert to cheering for the Hurricanes - especially for Bernie Upton (userpic), who plays for Bay of Plenty AND the Hurricanes!

Anyways, the Wellington Hurricanes are now just known as the Hurricanes (all the NZ teams dropped their home province names), Bernie Upton now plays for Wellington in the NPC rather than the Bay (he moved down here the same time as me!), the Super 12 is now the Super 14 after expanding to Perth and Bloemfontein, I cheer for Wellington over the Bay in the NPC, and Dirty Scumbag Waikato are still written as such. However, I'm oldschool, so I'm wearing an original issue WELLINGTON Hurricanes jersey, rather than the current issue. It looks way better anyway, don't you agree?

Old School:


Current:




GO THE HURRICANES! GO BERNIE UPTON!

I WEAR SHORT SHORTS

Serious. I needed some new training shorts, so I bought some league shorts, the one worn by the Illawarra Dragons.

My UNDERWEAR is longer than these shorts. I wore them to the gym today, and I swear a quarter of the material covering my thighs was my boxers, because these shorts are so short.

They don't look too bad in actual game situations -



But in real life, they're SHORT. And mine are SIZE LARGE.

Maybe it's just because I have mesomorphic legs.

Anyone want to place a bet on whether or not I'll beat 10k with my lower body workout tommorow? I probably will. I almost bet 5k with my upper body today. (Stupid scrawny ectomorphic upper body...)

In other news, we might have internet at my place again soon. The problemo being that it's wireless, and my wireless card might be busted. And my warranty expired a few days ago. Not that it matters - to get anything done on my computer, I have to apply by calling customer support. Which, as most stereotypes can tell you, has been outsourced to India. Those who know me in real life know that as a result of childhood stubbornness and loud military aircraft, my hearing isn't too sharp. I have enough trouble understanding KIWI accents on the phone, let alone thick Indian accents. I, in no way, blame the tech support guys as it's not their fault they have what I consider an accent (I'm sure I sound like "fush and chups and the number sux" to them after all!) and they last time I called they were VERY patient, VERY understanding and as helpful as you could hope for. But the system doesn't work. BLAH. Bitchrant over.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fly to Sydney, kidnap saint_claws and whisk her away on a dirty weekend to beautiful Uzbekistan. PARTY!

(PS Yes I spend more time at the gym than I do studying. No wonder why my legs are HOT and my grades are NOT)

Today is the last day I have regular internet for a little while - flatmate got a new modem days before tommorow's move out, OMG WHAT A TEASE haha. And since it's Valentines Day, now is your chance to reveal your HOT PASSIONATE BURNING LOVE for me.

(Yeah Right!)

Even though I'm already Kristy's Valentine, I got everyone else flowers:


And since I have no real content (plus I have to leave for lacrosse stuff soon), here's an album cover for ya. It's been a while!

- Do you know how freakin' painful it is to walk around town with second degree sunburn on your neck? I can't wear sunscreen and I inherited my mothers Irish pale skin.I got so burnt during lacrosse on Saturday that I couldn't play the next day, which KILLED.
At least we beat Auckland 11-10. WHAT A MATCH. Almost as much fun as when we came from behind and I had a second half shutout for to beat East Auckland 5-4.


- I'm thinking of moving to Jafaland next year. As much as I love Wellington, moving to Auckland means full time lacrosse, a Phys Ed degree, and being MUCH closer to family (I can't stand those 10 hour bus trips). Have to wait and see.

- Studylink has stopped paying me, the bastards. I'll have to sort them out. Try calling, but they won't accept calls from cellphones. WTF? EVERYONE uses a cellphone, not everyone has land lines, and cell phones are more often and not the most convenient. Why the hell us a government agency so cheap as to not let people call them with cellphones? Bastards.

- I'm at an internet cafe because my flatmates are downloading again or something. My usual one is closed so I'm using this one, which is more expensive. BOLLOCKS. So, I'm out of here. PEACE.

Lorna and JP got married on Friday. I heard about this on Wednesday - much to the shock of my entire flat. It was supposed to be a secret, but you know how things go :P They had a closed ceremony, but a small reception afterwards consisting of eating at Little India and then going to see Saw IV at the movies - can you ask for much better? Haha. The movie was kinda lame - I'm so desenstized by violence that the main fear I had was cracking up laughing and embarrassing everyone...which almost happened. But dinner was great, I love Indian almost as much as I love Italian. Mmm...aachari lamb.

Speaking of Indians, Mayank was SUPPOSED to bring me back a hot Indian chick from his trip there, but nooooo... maybe next time I should actually tell him to bring back an Indian hottie instead of assuming he'd use his initiative haha.

Oh, and also speaking of Indians, they beat Australia in the cricket. Bit of a shock. There was a group of Aussies at Four Kings and I would joined them, had I not have MUCH better company anyway. They were far outperfomed in the cheering stakes by a group of Indians who were sitting in the lazy boys, jumping for joy during half time of the football when everybody else was chatting about the first half of the match, getting drinks or going to the lav. Was pretty awesome to see - apart from the whole Nowra boy in me wishing for Australia to beat everyone...except the Black Caps.

As for the more important match....the Phoenix lost 0-2 against Central Coast, placing us dead last...but only on goal differential. It hurts, but considering we had a pathetic amount of time to get a team sorted, a vastly smaller player pool to pick from, and a much less stable side being an expansion franchise, I reckon we did okay. Next season, we're gonna KICK ASS.

But it still hurt, so Ben dragged me to Kitty O'Sheas where I had a Jaegerbomb and I was given a riddle to which the answers are Fiji, DJIBOUTI AND TOGO. HA!

PS Mil, when you're in Engerland can you do me a favour? Find a woman named Charlotte Everett, kidnap her, and send her to Wellington mmk?

Anyways, I'm now going to do some washing, then head to the airport to welcome the Phoenix home, then off to Newtown Park to cheer on Team Wellington against Dirty Scumbag Waikato - made easier by the fact that I have a corporate pass, which means FREE DRINKS. I didn't get any sleep so I'm hitting the Coca Cola haha nice change from drinking an entire pot of coffee. Which I just did. I do that sometimes.

...look behind you, it's a three headed monkey

I practice my Norwegian on poor beffudeled waitresses,
who shake their heads completely at a loss,
Oslo in the summertime the streets are strangely quite ’cause,
everyone’s away on holiday,
HVA?

Well I guess I better discuss the awesomeness that was Sunday, no?

...what do you mean "About bloody time?!" VAFFANCULO! I've been busy getting ready for next semester (Switching to a BA - Bugger All), making plans for my and Zoes' upcoming wedding (namely, trying to dodge a shotgun) and dealing with sunburn - I'm Irish on mamma's side, and Italian on pappa's side (with other bits thrown in to give me more mongrel), and whose skin do I have to inherit?

At least I tan decentesque after the burn.

So the obvious question to anyone familiar with FMG's big covered grandstand (if not, see the link - guess who took that photo?) and with NZFC attendance (similar to most semi-pro leagues for minority sports in most places) would be "How did you get burnt?"

Well, the quick answer is "Roberto is a bastard"

I sat in an uncovered stand that is the regularly occupied area for the Green Frenzy, YoungHeart Manawatu's most passionate fans.

I went there to rile them up and cause mischief - not hooligan styles of course, but ribbing, taking the piss and what not.

Unfortunately, while a first half full of us both giving and taking rarking up, the second half was notably quieter.

Because they were shocked at how their team could lose 0-8.

And I was feeling sorry for them.

Let me backtrack a little - I lived in Palmy for three years. Anyone who knows my past history with this part of the world know how badly I hated it. That day was the first time ever that I successfully entered Palmy wanting to be there. (There was one other time, because a girl was involved, but I missed my bus).

Considering my history, you'd think I'd be more of a hooligan than an Inter Milan fan who owns a fireworks factory (ps Kiara - NERAZZURI MERDE!)

Yet even I, a passionate Team Wellington supporter, a bloke with friends on the team (albeit they weren't playing - Caua was injured and Raf didn't make the trip, haven't heard why), was wanting Manawatu to score at least once.

In retrospect, I'm glad they didn't because Phil Imray, despite not being tested at any time during that match except one penalty shot, is the best damn keeper in the NZFC and deserved a clean sheet to compensate for last rounds 1-5 drubbing by the westies.

But I hated seeing the Green Frenzy so down, so humiliated, so disappointed.

Because - and here is the kicker - they earned my respect

Even - no, ESPECIALLY the ones taking the piss out of me the most. To a casual observer you think they'd hate my guts - most of them shook my hand afterwards, and one bought me a beer (the bloke strangling me with his scarf!)

But the way I see it is even though for ninety minutes we're at war, our chants being our weapons, our teams being our front lines, their jerseys being our banners... we're still members of the football community, and we share the common passion in a love for the beautiful game.

The Green Frenzy support one of our rivals - but they're positive, passionate supporters who add a hell of a lot to the atmosphere. They've been called a parody of Yellow Fever, but I feel they're more than just that. We might have been the blueprint, but the finished product is of their own kickass design. I hope their success rubs off on actual team itself - especially as a boost to repairing their off-field troubles (the team almost folded last season).

That being said, I hope we kick their ass again next time. I want it to be a closer scoreline for the atmosphere, as I'm DEFIANTLY going back for our next match-up in March, and I plan on sitting with the Frenzy again, but I also plan on seeing Wellington leave with the three points.

FORZA WELLINGTON.
VAFFANCULO WAITAKERE!

PS WOOHOO! EIGHT NIL! HELL YEAH!

But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all
And now I'm glad I didn't know


PS Today's song is one I mishear all the time. Garth sings "I could have missed the pain". Robb hears "I couldn't masturbate" Now excuse me while I kiss this guy...