Those wacky New Zealanders…:

NZ finds Black Cocks hard to swallow

It was a bloody silly idea in the first place, but New Zealand’s badminton world may finally have to concede that calling the national team the “Black Cocks” really is a bit too strong, the New Zealand Herald reports.

Badminton New Zealand adopted the name a year ago as “a gimmicky label to attract sponsors and fans”. It worked to a degree, because the organisation was quickly innundated with cash offers from companies such as – you guessed it – condom manufacturers.

Furthermore, Badminton NZ prez Nigel Skelt confirmed: “At the recent New Zealand Open, crowds were yelling out ‘c’mon the Black Cocks’. Whether the team actually adopt the name officially, they’re already known as the Black Cocks.”

Holy hand-on-cock batman!

1/ They go fast in a straight line
Like WHOA! fast. 0-100 under 3 seconds. The sort of acceleration that even half a million bucks worth of car can’t manage. Every novice pillion I’ve taken for a ride have just comprehensively shat themselves once I “give it a crack”.
2/ When you go round corners fast its unlike anything else.
Coz you lean into said corners. Weird. Scary. On edge.
3/ The people you meet.
A nod at the lights. The ones who pull over when they see you on the side of the road. Just to check you are ok.
4/ It’s dangerous.
In a world of ever increasing cotton wool, motorcycles are raw, dangerous and the realness.
5/ To connect spiritually

Ah screw it! The reason I ride is to get pics like this:

I think you’ll find me in the middle here.
And this:

Holla!

Oh it’s lovely. Really lover-ly!

Despite having a name that is as awkward as PIN number, the new “old” Ducati SportClassic Sport 1000 is a pretty lil thang- especially in Ducati red:

A CAFÉ RACER FOR A NEW GENERATION

The bold café racer style and essential beauty of the Taglioni’s Sport 750s, delivering modern Ducati performance and road-going savvy. The Sport 1000 introduces many new features that reflect fondly on the past, while being interpreted in a thoroughly modern way

I realise this might strike you as product placement- but frankly… ermm, no kickbacks.

Ducati SportClassic Sport 1000

The holy grail of undersea filming has, for a long time, been to film a *live* giant squid.

It must come as a suprise to most to learn that while we know exactly what a giant squid looks like, it has never been seen in teh wild. Mostly due to the fact it 1/ is deep, man 2/ dies before being brought to the surface when caught in a net/hook/cray pot.

“This has been a mystery for a thousand years,” said Richard Ellis, author of “Monsters of the Sea” (Knopf, 1994). “Nobody knew what they looked like in the wild. We only saw them dead. These images will open the door to more detailed study of their life.”

So I am *excited* about seeing this video!

See the article