Following the showcase New Zealand rugby league teams is a very frustrating experience. The Warriors season was once again a roller coaster ride. Now the national team is testing the faith of the fans. Has the gap between New Zealand and Australia narrowed in the last thirty years? Has the advent of New Zealanders playing in the NRL Australian competition done anything to make the Kiwis more competetive? Seemingly not. Their win/loss ratio in tests against the traditional foe hasn't improved since the 1970's. Why is that? I wonder whether the sheer emotion they poured into the rendition of the haka got them too pumped up and supercharged. On paper, this was a decidedly understrength Australian team. It doesn't seem to matter to them though. They seem to know exactly what to do, and when to do it. Their mental game is consistently better than ours. Why is that? I guess it must be cultural. It doesn't say much about New Zealand's sporting psych.

Quake Relief?
Having attended the Christchurch Band Together earthquake relief concert (briefly), I can't really say that the burden of worry I have been feeling over the earthquake was lifted from my shoulders at all. It was a great lineup of talent though. For a free concert, it had a top shelf of New Zealand musicians, no doubt about it.

Boquet's

. The organisers. What a tremendous effort
. The announcers. Barnett, Gunn, and all the others, all working for nothing
. The musicians. As above
. The crowd. Well behaved (funny the difference no alcohol makes)
. No aftershocks during the concert

Brickbats (minor ones)

. Bob Parker's decision to gatecrash The Bats performance
. The choice of "Christchurch" as the final rousing 'anthem'. Yes, the song is about Christchurch, but no one really knows it! It was the 3rd or 4th single of a not very popular album. Better to go with Victoria or Who loves who the most. Tried and true.
. Ray Colombus trying to strut his stuff at the finale. He's a kiwi music legend, no doubt about it, but he obviously isn't that well, and looks as though he probably needs to wind it all down a bit.
. The big aftershock on the Sunday after the concert. Didn't like that one!

Friends! I read and hear a lot about the importance of good friends. It seems like, in these times, it is easy to feel crowded and surrounded by people, all the while feeling more and more isolated and alone. Or misunderstood. Or marginalised. Whatever it is, it doesn't feel that good.
The last contact I had with a good friend wasn't that flash. I was right in the midst of quite a lot going on and, rightly or wrongly was feeling overwhelmed. Earthquake aftermath, big aftershocks still going on, working in a 'warzone' (tidying up the utter mess at the University library-stressfull!), inlaw visit from Australia, all on top of the usual shit of everyday family and suburban life. He obviously had his own stuff going on too. But the meeting was prickly. He told me to get over myself.

I basically haven't heard from him since. It hasn't been that long I guess, so no need for over reaction. But my question is, what exactly is a good friend? In my view, I should be able to shovel any amount of shit his way, and he'll be OK with it. He'll come back in a few days and ask me how it's going. My feeling now is that he's probably got other people who are far more interesting/positive/beautiful/boyant/creative/smart/thoughtful or whatever. Who wouldn't want to spend time with them? Some would say, there is only so much most people would put up with. I hear the stories of people who go through divorce or some other life misfortune, and so called life time friends simply disappear. When the going gets awkward, they take off. Well, that sucks... Good friends, what are they really? How many people can say they truley have one? A really good one.