You Can Stick Your Bloody Thong Cobber Day - Families gather in public parks to recreate the underarm delivery before parents explain all the ways our TransTasman cousins have disappointed us, preventing grievances around John Eales’ kicking, Ricky Ponting’s hairy forearms and Quade Cooper from being lost to the mists of time
Sausage Roll Day - It’s an unassailable fact that you can’t watch a match without pastry and general meat-based snacks with lashings of marty sauce. SRD falls on the one day a year where there’s No Sport, so that sport / baking junkies can still get their fix
Barrett Day - A chance to reflect on Smiley, high quality collaborations with brands, sharing a late night Maccas, horrendous tackling and Mrs Barrett’s scones all day (Taranaki only)
Boomer Boat Day - Just boomers getting on boats and waving at people on the shore to make them aware that they have a boat
Colin Hawke Day - The good people of Dunedin spend the morning airing historic and any fresh offences regarding former rugby referee Colin Hawke, before being given 24 hours to find him and bring him back to base (Otago only)
Golf Course Day - Like in lockdown, no actual golf takes place, and people can go walk on them. This is not a joke btw, this should happen
Day Drinking Day - Alcohol access is a massive concern with public holidays. DDD solves this problem with a reverse Anzac Day scenario whereby liquor is only available until 12pm, giving drinkers a few short sweet hours to pre-load
This week's best NZ sport content
Professor Holly Thorpe on why participating in sport is crucial for young girls’ wellbeing and why we shouldn’t rush them back after the COVID disruptions [Locker Room]
Two more must-listen episodes - Ryan Fox on growing up as an ultra-competitive sportsman with an All Black legend dad, life on tour, epic celebrations in the Middle East and tales of Tiger and Warney, and Josh Kronfeld on that 90’s Otago team, being an All Black and falling into a media career. Fun fact: we stayed at Josh’s Raglan Air B&B one time and 100% recommend it [Between Two Beers]
Dana Johannsen has the comprehensive story of the Black Ferns review, and here’s Dylan Cleaver on what it all means [Stuff, The Bounce]
Dan Carter recently kicked goals at Eden Park for 24 hours, forcing Kris Shannon to stay awake for all of it and go slightly mad [NZ Herald]
Video nasty
Skateboarders, including several old enough to know better, try and make a 360 loop.
Long read
Russell Norman has opened 31 restaurants, but his London trattoria Brutto, launched in the midst of Brexit and Covid, was the toughest [Guardian]
Recommendation
Immerse yourself in the Beverly Hills mansions and hair metal Sunset Strip glory days with Molly Lambert’s HeidiWorld: The Heidi Fleiss Story [iHeart]
Bring back the gif
Emerging from the kitchen after doing the dishes *and* wiping the bench.
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