Watching Grass Grow: The Sport of Cricket

Call me crazy, but I just don't get Cricket, and probably never will. I think you have to be born into the sport to understand it. I've watched a bit of it on TV here in New Zealand and heard the scores on the radio, but it all looks and sounds so complicated!

Here are some excerpts of recent scores:

"play was halted by rain 15 minutes after the lunch break with New Zealand struggling at 48 for three in their second innings, after being forced to follow on 326 runs behind Australia's first innings."

"stumps were drawn early on the fourth and final day with England A 158 for one in their second innings, with captain Robert Key and Jonathan Trott adding an unbroken 140 for the second wicket."

"McCullum's demise after he and Ryder crunched an opening stand worth 166 triggered an implosion that saw five wickets lost for 37 in the space of 53 balls."

"Harbhajan's first two overs cost 29 but the spinner atoned when Ryder chipped to long-off to leave New Zealand in dire straits at 188 for four."

"After leg-spinner Shahid Afridi took 6-38 to dismiss Australia for 168, Pakistan needed just 44.1 overs to cruise to 6-171."

"Afridi's heroics with the ball were capped by causing Australia more pain with the bat, belting 24 from 16 balls, including five boundaries, in the middle order."

"Indian opening batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir made a revised target of 54 in six overs look easy, with Sehwag finishing the match with his fourth six in an innings of 38 not out off 16 balls."

Huh?

The BBC offers a nice glossary of some of the more creative cricketing slang.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/skills/6100344.stm

My favorite Cricket term is Googly.

If you’re interested in learning more about Cricket, or you’re bored, or just plain crazy, check out the Bollywood film Lagaan. It’s 4 hour Indian musical about Cricket! It just might approximate the thrilling, edge-of-your-seat, experience that is a Cricket match.

New Music

I've discovered some great new music here in New Zealand and thought you might be interested. There should be something for everyone....

Bic Runga
http://www.bicrunga.com/
A young singer/songwriter from Christchurch. Her voice is beautiful and soothing. At different times her music reminds me of Jewell, Sheryl Crow, Beth Orton and Norah Jones. Her song "Sway" was on the American Pie Soundtrack and received lots of airplay in the States.

Moana Maniapoto
http://www.moananz.com/
A Maori singer/songwriter that blends traditional Maori song and chant with soul, reggae and hip hop. Her music is a wonderful crossroads of the past and present.

Black Seeds
http://theblackseeds.com/
A Wellington band that fuses reggae, funk and dub. Fun, easy, mellow music. Former band member Bret McKenzie is also a member of the comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. Favorite songs are "Cool Me Down" and"Good People."

Gurumuul
http://www.gurrumul.com/
My personal favorite: A blind Aboriginal singer from an island in Arnhemland, in northern Australia. He sings in Yolngu Matha, his native language. His voice is incredibly beautiful, you will melt! Reminds me a lot of Aaron Neville. I got his self-titled album on iTunes.

Scribe
http://www.myspace.com/scribedirtyrecords
A very popular rap/hip hop artist of Samoan descent. You can also check out his songs on iTunes. He's collaborated with Wyclef Jean and Talib Kwali. Top hits include "Stand Up," "Not Many" and "Dreaming."

Kommikal
http://www.myspace.com/conjurur
A bi-lingual (Maori/English) rap/hip hop artist. His music often includes traditional Maori chants, such as Haka war-cries. The Maori language seems to suit this music genre nicely.

Happy listening!

FYI

So there has been a change of plans and I am moving back to California on Sunday. Big surprise, I know. I am unable to find a job in my field and I need some sunshine in my life, literally and figuratively.

I will continue to Blog about New Zealand this week and about settling back into American life for as long I have something to say. After that.....we'll see where I am.

Thank you all for continuing to read my silly ramblings on my life in New Zealand!

The Letter R

The letter "R" has a strange status in New Zealand. Kiwis add an "er" to the end of words that end in "a" (called an Intrusive R in linguistics) but they don't always pronounce the "r" in words that already have one at the end.

For example:

I'm from AmericeR and our president is Barack ObameR

The ca I drive is a Subaru Justy

The koaleR bear lives in AustralieR

Many cheap products in New Zealand come from ChineR, in AsieR

I ordered a vodkeR martini at the ba last night

I have a great ideaR

I need to buy a ja of pasta sauce for the lasagne

The Pavlova Wars

The relationship between New Zealand and Australia is something like a sibling rivalry: each country jokes about the other but rely upon one another at the end of the day. Much of the rivalry comes from sports, although there are many disputes over the nationality of famous people and rock bands, and even the origins of some foods.

The most famous sporting incident that Kiwis will NEVER let the Aussies live down is The Underarm Bowling Incident which occurred on February 1, 1981 when New Zealand was playing Australia in the cricket World Series Cup in Melbourne, Australia. In order to prevent New Zealand from scoring to tie the match, the Australian bowler delivered the last ball underarm, along the ground. This action was technically legal, but seen as being against the spirit of the game.

The Underarm Bowling Incident of '81 continues to fan the flames of rivalry between Kiwis and Aussies. I've heard it argued about between my Kiwi and Aussie friends, especially after a few beers. New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, recently said the Kiwis were ready to forgive Australia the underarm bowl, explaining that "we've certainly stopped the counseling sessions."

Another sporting rivalry is Phar Lap, a thoroughbred horse that was born in New Zealand and raced in Australia, winning two consecutive Melbourne Cups. Both countries claim him as their own.

The actor Russell Crowe is also claimed by both counties. Crowe was born in New Zealand and his family moved to Australia when he was 4 but he did not become an Australian citizen until 2006. Kiwis were recently annoyed when Australia put Crowe on a series of postage stamps recognizing great actors and actresses of Australia.

Actor Sam Neil is disputed across the Tasman Sea. Neil was born in Ireland to a Kiwi father and English mother, grew up in New Zealand, lives in Sydney Australia, and runs Two Paddocks Winery in New Zealand. Figure that one out.

In fact, many Kiwis move to Australia and the large continent is often referred to by Kiwis as the "brain drain." Former New Zealand prime minister, Robert Muldoon, once famously quipped that "New Zealanders who emigrate to Australia raise the IQ of both countries."

The rivalry rages on in the kitchen as well. Both countries claim to have been the inventors of Pavlova, a baked meringue dessert topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit and named after the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who visited both countries in the 1920s. Although, recent evidence from a Kiwi food historian suggests that the Kiwis did indeed develop a recipe for Pavlova first....

New Zealanders and Australians also argue about the origins of the Lamington, a sponge cake coated in chocolate icing and dried coconut. I'm still not sure why any country would want to claim this bland dessert as their own.

And then there are the sheep jokes. I won't go into detail about them, but I'm sure you can imagine....

If your interested in making a truly Antipodean dessert, here is a simple recipe for the perfect Pavlova:

*Preheat an oven to 150C (300F).

*Whisk five egg whites into stiff peaks, adding 225g caster sugar and a pinch of salt.

*Fold in two teaspoons of cornflour and one teaspoon of vinegar. Then spoon the mixture on to a baking sheet, or into a lined cake tin.

*Cook for 45-60 minutes.

*Whip 275ml of double cream with a teaspoon of Kirsch. When the pavlova is cool, top with the cream, soft fruit (such as raspberries, strawberries, kiwi fruit, or passionfruit), sugar and serve.

Boy Racers

The term "Boy Racer" refers to a phenomenon that has spread through out New Zealand in the past few years. Boy Racers are teenage or twenty-something boys who modify their cars and drive irresponsibly, illegally, and generally disturb the local community through noise and vandalism.

The cars driven by Boy Racers are extremely modified and extremely ugly. Typical modifications for a boy racer include:

• Hideous paint jobs, often including patterns, words or images
• Ridiculously large spoilers
• Huge, earth-shattering exhaust pipes
• Engine modifications
• Neon lights underneath the car (this is my favorite)
  
• Lowering
  
• Wide race tires
  
• Loud sound systems

In fact, Boy Racers have become such a problem in New Zealand that 5 % of road deaths are caused by Boy Racers. In 2003 the Land Transport (Unauthorised Street and Drag Racing) Amendment Act, also known as the "Boy Racer Act," was signed into law. The Act is aimed at street racing and burnouts in public places.

Under the law, illegal activities include driving a car in an illegal street race or accelerating in an unnecessary way. Other infractions include wheel spins, "donuts" or driving a car in a way that causes the car to lose traction. There are heavy penalties for breaking the law, such as jail time, car impoundment, and fines.

Apparently, the law has helped police collect and impound many cars, but the Boy Racers continue to be a problem. A hospital in Christchurch has to move their patients on the weekends because the noise caused by Boy Racers on the street below is so bad. In January, a Christchurch policeman was ambushed by 300 Boy Racers who threw bottles at his car and shot at him with air rifles. The policeman just drove away, leaving the Boy Racers to their own destructive devises.

After the incident city officials and the public called for more aggressive laws to deal with the Boy Racer problem, including crushing their seized cars to get them off the road. The Boy Racers responded by threatening the Christchurch Mayor for his tough stance against them. They parked their cars outside his home, yelling and revving their engines.

Hmmm, so much for law enforcement.

Dunedin definitely has its share of Boy Racers. A walk down George St (the main street downtown) is not complete without engines revving, tires screeching, and music blasting from tinted windows. Grassy areas and parking lots often have tire marks from a cars doing donuts. The other night, I laid in bed listening to Boy Racers driving all over Dunedin until the wee morning hours. Every time I see these cars I have to shake my head and laugh. The cars are so ridiculous looking! And then I sprint across the street to avoid getting run over.

The Cadbury Easter Bunny

Did you know that the Cadbury Company has a factory in Dunedin? Yeah, I didn't either before I moved here. Some days the air smells like chocolate and you know the factory is making up a big batch of goodies! You can take a tour of "Cadbury World" and learn how their chocolate is made. I haven't made a visit yet, but I'll report back when/if I do.

The Dunedin Cadbury factory opened in 1930 and now produces some of New Zealand's favorite candies including Pinkys, Jaffas, Perky Nana, Chocolate Fish, Freddo, Wine Gums, and Pineapple Lumps. And now that Easter is upon us, the shops are filled with all the Cadbury Chocolate Bunnies and Creme Eggs you could ever want. (Alas, there is not a colorful, sugar-coated marshmallow Peep in sight....)

I always wanted the Easter Bunny to leave some of these eggs in my Easter basket, but it's probably better that they never appeared. Honestly, I've never actually managed to have more than one bite of these sickly sweet, gooey eggs. I'd rather eat a box of Peeps!

You can check out Cadbury New Zealand here:
http://www.cadbury.co.nz/

And just for fun, check out the Peeps webpage!
http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!