My mind is all over the show this week.
Due to my shortened attention span, all I can offer is this collection of random thoughts. ONE YEAR OUT FROM THE RUGBY WORLD CUP: Yes, I know we touched on this hoo-ha last week, but I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw some of the “Festival New Zealand” ideas that came out.
In Southland, the local economic development outfit came up with some photoshopped suggestions as to how Esk St (the main shopping street) would look for visitors.
Stilt walkers, oyster openings, and al fresco dining.  Until one local media guru pointed out to me that the al fresco tables were outside the city’s 24-hour dairy.  Surely Invercargill has more to offer than a Red Stripe pie with silver service?
DELHI? WHAT? WHERE? Is it just me, or does anyone else think it’s weird that neither the New Zealand Olympic Committee nor SPARC have very much of anything relating to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi on their websites?
After all, it does start in 16 days.  Or does it? What NZOC and SPARC do have is relentlessly positive, a bit like the official Games site, which makes no mention that only a quarter of total sponsorship funding required has been raised, or the talk of widespread corruption, or leaky facilities, or (we get the picture)…
THE BEST FORM OF DEFENCE IS ATTACK: Gee, wasn’t it thrilling to see the All Blacks run everything they could out of their 22 on Saturday?  Ah, no.  Not when they turned the ball over nine times out of 10.  Had Graham Henry mentioned the word “experiment” after the game, I might have been tempted to (deleted for legal reasons).
But as Dad said, he was pleased Aaron Cruden played because it reminded him to get a new prescription for his blood pressure tablets on Monday.
MIRAMAR, BOO-YA!  My first real reporting job was covering Miramar Rangers’ home games in 1990.  So it was with great delight that I saw their Chatham Cup victory.  Goalie Phil Imray was outstanding in the 3-1 win.  There’s only one thing better than sticking it to an Auckland club, and that’s doing it in front of their own fans.  Good work fellas!
WHILE WE’RE TALKING FOOTBALL:  I can’t believe Wayne Rooney had to pay £1,200 for sex.  For that kind of money he could have had plastic surgery.  And first it was John Terry, then Ashley Cole, then Peter Crouch and now Wayne Rooney.  If the England players cheated on the pitch as much as they do off it, then maybe you Poms might win a trophy occasionally.
FREAKY: We all know how good Phill Jones and Kirk Penney are for the Tall Blacks, but is Thomas Abercrombie about to overtake both of them?  His performances in the World Championships in Turkey were nothing short of jaw-dropping, even though he didn’t top the stats sheets.
He has an incredible work ethic and a freakish ability to do things to perfection.  And hey, the team finishing 12th in the world is nothing to be sniffed at.
And finally, in the world of cricket... I’ve just bought International cricket 2010 for the Xbox 360, but it’s rubbish.  I was playing online as Pakistan and the final score popped up before the match began.
Told you it was a random week.