Was watching the All Whites big win on the weekend so exciting that you can’t possibly wait until the World Cup in South Africa to get your football fix? If the answer is “yes” here is a suggestion; go to a Phoenix game.
There are six current All Whites in the squad (including Teen Blog fave Leo Bertos), passionate and vocal fans, and the handsomest uniforms in the A-League. What better way is there to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than watching some quality football and shouting loudly? And it’s cheap too, tickets start at $17 for students.
Also, keep up to date with the happenings in the world of football with the libraries’ magazine selection here.
Just for something to do, this week I’ve subcategorised these. Some subcategories only have one – actually the maximum is two anyway – but there you go.
Vampires
The Eternal Kiss: Vampire Tales (416 pages) – Mwah. Embrassez moi, je suis un vampire. Short stories on the vampire theme by such supernatural stalwarts as Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder and many more.
First sentence (courtesy of Karen Mahoney): Theo was late.
Blood Promise (a Vampire Academy novel), by Richelle Mead (503 pages) – Will Rose protect Lissa or hunt down the irresistible Dimitri and keep her promise to him (i.e. kill him, like, dead)?
First sentence: Once when I was in ninth grade, I had to write a paper on a poem.
As featured in an earlier blog post
Once was lost, by Sara Zarr (217 pages) – go here for a quick summary.
First sentence: The whole world is wilting.
Going Bovine, by Libba Bray (480 pages) – again, here’s a blurb.
First sentence: The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World.
Series
Forest Born (The Books of Bayern), by Shannon Hale (389 pages) – the fourth in the series. Rin is uncomfortable in the Forest, so she accompanies her brother Raz to the city and things progressively get more threatening and dangerous: someone wants the Fire Sisters dead.
First sentence: Ma had six sons.
The Pale Assassin (Pimpernelles), by Patricia Elliot (424 pages) – cleverly, the title of the series suggests something to do with the French revolution, unlikely heroes (or heroines, to be precise) and spies and the blurb backs this up (who’d have thought you could express so much in one word?). Eugénie de Boncoeur is caught up in the revolution and must rescue her brother Armand from death (at the hands of the “murderous spymaster” I think, but I could be wrong) and save her own life. A tall order.
First sentence: One summer evening outside Paris, a coach drawn by four black horses was creaking and swaying through the soft country twilight.
Comedy and Romance and Music and-
Blue Noise, by Debra Oswald (271 pages) – Charlie forms a band (Blue Noise), but bands never work, the back cover says (but, you know, don’t judge a book by its cover). “Blue” is a reference to the blues, which is a nice change from rock and roll and all.
First sentence: Ash Corrigan was in Guitar Heaven.
Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God, by Bill Condon (218 pages) – I thought this would be funny if it were a rebuttal of one of those Georgia Nicholson books but no. In 1967 the world is tumultuous, and Neil Bridges is at a Catholic boys’ school toughing it (life) out, but his life is about to get quite complicated and possibly quite dangerous (murder is mentioned). YA writers seem to be doing the Vietnam War at the moment (here and here as well for example).
First sentence: One huge shiver trudging on to the oval, that’s us.
Uh oh, something bad’s happening here
Candor, by Pam Bachorz (249 pages) – Candor is one of those “perfect” towns you just know is not in any way perfect. People are controlled by subliminal messages. Oscar, the son of the town’s founder, is doing a roaring trade smuggling kids out of Candor, and then Nia arrives.
First sentence: Ca-chunk, ca-chunk, ca-chunk.
The Ghosts of 2012, by Graham Hurley (95 pages) – a quick read. Joe’s preparing for the 2012 Olympics in a military-run UK, but he’s okay with that (he’s preparing for the Olympics after all) until his ex-girlfriend goes missing.
First sentence: Sometimes in your life you get moments that stick out… you remember them forever.
As readers of this blog know, I really like parkour/free-running. (Previous posts.) And you should too. After the ‘more’ there’s an incredible Youtube clip of someone riding a bike up, down, and over all things urban. (It’s really called freestyle BMX.) Enjoy, and don’t try any stunts yourself
This isn’t really a Top 10 list as such, since I know zero about sports fiction and have no idea what’s top and what’s not; this is more a selection of young adult fiction that has sporting themes of different sorts. See what you think anyway. Let me know if you’ve read a good sports book recently too (I refrained from putting my favourite book here, Life at these Speeds, but, oh no, there I go, I’ve mentioned it anyway (athletics)).
If you liked the Almost Amazing Race (or wanted to do it) check out the City Safari, which will take place on the 17th of May. It’s an all-day orienteering competition around Wellington that utilises public transport. School teams may enter. Take a look at the website for more information.
The Superbowl is the championship game for the NFL, which means it’s a bit like the U.S. version of the Rugby World Cup. But with American football, not rugby. It is screened on the telly and about two-thirds of all Americans watch it; it is incredibly popular. Which means that advertisement time is sold at a premium, and many new films show their movie trailers for the first time.
We’re not as interested in the Superbowl (sorry) as we are in the film trailers that premiered on Monday, during Superbowl XLIII. While we can’t embed any of them – they’re not officially on Youtube (I did try!) - they are all available from Quicktime, and include Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G. I. Joe, Land of the Lost, Star Trek, and The Fast and the Furious 4, among others. Enjoy.
Can’t wait for G. I. Joe, as it has ninjas. <3
Other film trailers to look out for are Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Astroboy, and Dragonball Z: Evolution (in French, but it’s official!)
Young Wellingtonians will be able to shoot hoops with basketball legend Kenny McFadden when the Push Play Summer Streetball Series takes place on courts around the city this summer.
[The] series is a casual six-week programme giving young people the chance to develop their ‘game’ … [more]
Streetball is like basketball, only with fewer players and half the court is used. The series was very popular last year and can only be more popular this year. It’s free as well.
Heads up: two of the quarter finals of the Under 17 Women’s World Cup are at Westpac Stadium this Saturday (being tomorrow, the 8th of November) at 1pm and 4pm. For just $7 (if you’re under 17 – it’s a whole $10 if you’re not) you get to watch the might of Denmark take on the best the Korea Republic has to offer, closely followed by football powerhouse Germany up against Canada (who beat New Zealand in pool play). Sounds like a good time. Visit the stadium website for time and ticket info. For all the news, views and statistics go to FIFA.com.
More free-running news!
The world’s first free-running championships took place in London last Wednesday. Contestants had to complete a course (and provide their own soundtrack) and were judged for their ‘flow’ by other free-runners. The BBC have a brief video interview with the organiser of the event. The winner was American Gabe Nunez (who can be seen in this 3 Doors Down music video), while second and third places were won by Britons.
I don’t think the 2012 London Olympics have a demonstration sport picked out yet …
If you read our post on parkour and free running last month and are keen to further your interest, check out Parkour New Zealand, the NZ Parkour portal. It has videos taken around the country, and a forum for like-minded people. The Wellington subforum has the most posts, which is a good sign!
It’s a matter of hours before the Opening Ceremony of this year’s Beijing Olympics. The modern Olympics have been captured on film for almost a century! The official Olympic website’s history archive has a clip from every Olympic Opening Ceremony since the 1912 Opening Ceremony in Stockholm.
From midday each day over the next two weeks, TV One will be offering extensive coverage of the Olympics. Those of you with easy access to hi-speed connections and plenty of bandwidth may want to watch online via TVNZ’s website; they will have four channels streaming live.
There are 302 events scheduled for this year’s Olympic games. If you had to list them all you would struggle to come up with a tenth of the entire list. Some are variations of a sport, like running, rowing, or swimming. But some are delightfully different from the rest, and many people don’t realise they’re Olympic sports at all.
So here’s a list (we like lists).
Modern pentathlon - this is a series of five (hence the ‘penta-‘ prefix) events; shooting, with an air pistol; fencing (sword-fighting); swimming; horse riding; and finally running. These were chosen by the founder of the modern Olympics in 1912 as the five things a 19th-century infantryman would need to do behind enemy lines. Which makes it a very cool sport indeed.
Synchonised swimming – also known as ‘water ballet’, this sport comes from Canada. Think of it as dancing to music in a pool. New Zealand has a duet competing this year.
Tug of war – to be fair, this was only an Olympic sport between 1900 to 1920. But what a sport! Unfortunately New Zealand never entered a team – we would have cleaned up the medals.
Wushu – at each Olympics a ‘demonstration sport’ is chosen, usually by the host country, to promote the sport and to add a little flavour to the games. At the Beijing Olympics Wushu is to be on display (though not officially as a demonstration sport). Wushu (武術) was created in China in 1949 in an effort to nationalise the various martial arts. Sparring one another is part of the sport, and performing a routine, like gymnastics, is also a large part of it – instead of throwing a ribbon and ball about, competitors perform 720 degree jump kicks and backflips while wielding a sword. Awesome.
Trampolining – Competitors bounce and do flips and so on (but without swords). The last time I used a trampoline – at high school – I dislocated a toe, ending any Olympic dreams I had.
Handball – this sport was first in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, as Hitler was a fan. It was re-introduced in the 70s. Handball is a bit like football, but competitors can only use their hands. Sort of like volley ball or netball, I guess. But without nets. Well, sure, there are nets, but like hockey goals. I hope that explains it to you.
Everyone who enjoys so called ‘alternative’ sports should be grateful to skaters like Tony Hawk. He began the process of turning what people previously viewed as a pass-time hobby into fully professional sports with his amazing skills. The first Summer X-Games was in 1995 and since then has exploded in popularity and diversity with Moto X becoming a feature and a Winter X-Games first taking place in 1997. The X-Games have been a catalyst for a change of perception for alternative sports so now you should be able to get out on your board without old folks shaking sticks at you.
We certainly think so which is why we have plenty of resources you can make use of at the library.
FICTION
Slam, by Nick Hornby
Payback by Michelle Kelly
NON-FICTION
Thrasher: The Radical Skateboard Book - YA 796.21
Skateboarding is Not a Crime: 50 Years of Street Culture - YA 796.22
Skateboarding: New Levels, Tips and Tricks for Serious Riders - YA 796.21
MAGS
New Zealand Skateboarder
Transworld Skateboarding
Thrasher
Slam: Australian Skateboarding
DVD
Rising Son
Best of Ra Vol 1
WEBSITES
Council site for Skate Parks around Wellington
Wellington Skateboarding
Wellington is one of the best places for mountain biking in the country. I started last November after getting sick of dodging cars on the road; a few months earlier my brother-in-law failed to avoid an 18-wheel truck and was lucky to survive it. So I bought a friend’s old bike and went out to Makara Peak and instantly caught the mtb bug. I’ve since upgraded to a full suspension bike and ridden mtb parks all over the North Island. Whether you’re tempted to give it a go or are already a diehard mtbiker here are some resources you can find at the library. (You could also check out the NZ Mountain Biking site and Vorb.)
There are several resources for you to take advantage of at the library. You can find books and magazines on maintenance, improving your riding, and where to ride. The best guide for where to ride in New Zealand is the Kennett Brothers. It outlines all the best riding in Wellington and they have played a huge role in the development of mtb in Wellington so they know what they are talking about. You can find Spoke, New Zealand Mountain Biker, and Australian Mountain Biking Magazines. On DVD there is Zinn and the art of mountain bike maintenance and Klunkerz: A film about mountain bikes. These are both in the adult documentary section so cost $4 and the magazines 50c each to borrow.
There is a cycling and mtb map that can be found at the library information desk. The map is a guide of places to ride in Wellington city that range from beginners’ and family rides to the most advanced single track in town. The best thing about it is that it shows some of the myriad of ridable tracks that are probably just outside your door. Also available at the library is a brochure on the free tours of Makara Peak Mtb park. This is aimed at beginners, families and those new to town, but is open to everyone.
So maybe your 2007 rugby demons are beginning to be exorcised? With recent results everyone should be feeling better about our national game. The Super 14 title is back in New Zealand and the U-20s have won the World Cup. The NZ Maori team are undefeated in the Pacific Nations Cup so far and the All Blacks have won three in a row and looked better each game. Even if the prospect of the Tri-Nations is a bit daunting it still feels good to thrash two different English teams in the same weekend.
Keep up with all our teams and world rugby in general through the All Blacks website.
Sporting expert, Jack, has compiled a Top 10 5 list of sport websites. If you can add any, leave a comment!
The Uganda Skateboard Union is “setting out to combat idleness and boredom among the youth of Uganda by providing a new, positive and fun outlet for them. This outlet is Skateboarding. The Organisation will focus on teaching and training Ugandan youth how to skateboard.” Their blog has many cool photos of kids grinding, kickflipping, McTwisting, and varial heel flipping.
The library holds a few skateboarding magazines in the Young Adult section: Transworld Skateboarding (website) and New Zealand Skateboarder. By the way.
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