figblog

2011-08-02T14:06:00.001-06:00

the life o' fig my new blog. I have been posting there for a while. Check it out if you like!

He is Risen!

2011-04-23T22:56:00.004-06:00

This glorious Easter morning I’d like to consider Job’s question—“If a man die, shall he live again?”—and provide the answer which comes not only from thoughtful consideration but also from the revealed word of God. I begin with the essentials.

If there is a design in this world in which we live, there must be a Designer. Who can behold the many wonders of the universe without believing that there is a design for all mankind? Who can doubt that there is a Designer?

In the book of Genesis we learn that the Grand Designer created the heaven and the earth: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”

“Let there be light,” said the Grand Designer, “and there was light.” He created a firmament. He separated the land from the waters and said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, … the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself.”

Two lights He created—the sun and the moon. Came the stars by His design. He called for living creatures in the water and fowls to fly above the earth. And it was so. He made cattle, beasts, and creeping things. The design was nearly complete.

Last of all, He created man in His own image—male and female—with dominion over all other living things.

Man alone received intelligence—a brain, a mind, and a soul. Man alone, with these attributes, had the capacity for faith and hope, for inspiration and ambition.

Who could persuasively argue that man—the noblest work of the Great Designer, with dominion over all living things, with a brain and a will, with a mind and a soul, with intelligence and divinity—should come to an end when the spirit forsakes its earthly temple?

To understand the meaning of death, we must appreciate the purpose of life. The dim light of belief must yield to the noonday sun of revelation, by which we know that we lived before our birth into mortality. In our premortal state, we were doubtless among the sons and daughters of God who shouted for joy because of the opportunity to come to this challenging yet necessary mortal existence. 5 We knew that our purpose was to gain a physical body, to overcome trials, and to prove that we would keep the commandments of God. Our Father knew that because of the nature of mortality, we would be tempted, would sin, and would fall short. So that we might have every chance of success, He provided a Savior, who would suffer and die for us. Not only would He atone for our sins, but as a part of that Atonement, He would also overcome the physical death to which we would be subject because of the Fall of Adam.

Thus, more than 2,000 years ago, Christ, our Savior, was born to mortal life in a stable in Bethlehem. The long-foretold Messiah had come.

There was very little written of the boyhood of Jesus. I love the passage from Luke: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” 6 And from the book of Acts, there is a short phrase concerning the Savior which has a world of meaning: “[He] went about doing good.”

He was baptized by John in the river Jordan. He called the Twelve Apostles. He blessed the sick. He caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He even raised the dead to life. He taught, He testified, and He provided a perfect example for us to follow.

And then the mortal mission of the Savior of the world drew to its close. A last supper with His Apostles took place in an upper room. Ahead lay Gethsemane and Calvary’s cross.

No mere mortal can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane. He Himself later described the experience: “[The] suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit.”

Following the agony of Gethsemane, now drained of strength, He was seized by rough, crude hands and taken before Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod. He was accused and cursed. Vicious blows further weakened His pain-racked body. Blood ran down His face as a cruel crown fashioned of sharp thorns was forced onto His head, piercing His brow. And then once again He was taken to Pilate, who gave in to the cries of the angry mob: “Crucify him, crucify him.”

He was scourged with a whip into whose multiple leather strands sharp metals and bones were woven. Rising from the cruelty of the scourge, with stumbling steps He carried His own cross until He could go no farther and another shouldered the burden for Him.

Finally, on a hill called Calvary, while helpless followers looked on, His wounded body was nailed to a cross. Mercilessly He was mocked and cursed and derided. And yet He cried out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

The agonizing hours passed as His life ebbed. From His parched lips came the words, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

As the serenity and solace of a merciful death freed Him from the sorrows of mortality, He returned to the presence of His Father.

At the last moment, the Master could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things. His lifeless body was hurriedly but gently placed in a borrowed tomb.

No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when, on the first day of the week, they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord. Spoke the angel:

“Why seek ye the living among the dead?

“He is not here, but is risen.”

Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed.

The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth.

“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

I have read—and I believe—the testimonies of those who experienced the grief of Christ’s Crucifixion and the joy of His Resurrection. I have read—and I believe—the testimonies of those in the New World who were visited by the same risen Lord.

I believe the testimony of one who, in this dispensation, spoke with the Father and the Son in a grove now called sacred and who gave his life, sealing that testimony with his blood. Declared he:

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father.”

The darkness of death can always be dispelled by the light of revealed truth. “I am the resurrection, and the life,” spoke the Master. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.”

Over the years I have heard and read testimonies too numerous to count, shared with me by individuals who testify of the reality of the Resurrection and who have received, in their hours of greatest need, the peace and comfort promised by the Savior.

What is you job title?

2011-04-18T13:04:00.003-06:00

In the last 4 hours I have been a: Network Technician, Printer, Customer Service Rep, Social Media evangelist, photographer, Marketing Manager, Graphic Designer, delivery driver, Lab tech, Digital Artist. All these hats cause some major hat head!

Rugby 2011

2011-03-18T15:22:00.004-06:00

I finally got to photograph a few gigs that I am truly passionate about!

http://video214.com/play/RIe7gwMUdXisdlQgc1dw9A/s/dark

http://video214.com/play/HNw17205AUeJDuu3mDOIFw/s/dark

http://video214.com/play/zKHexysmgrGKfJu9pBF4dA/s/dark

All of these videos were played to intro the teams on the Jumbotron at Rio Tinto stadium during the Wasatch Cup!

Merry Christmas 2010 from the Fig Fam

2010-12-13T12:32:00.004-07:00

The Future

2010-09-21T15:05:00.000-06:00

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

The most innovative designers consciously reject the standard option box and cultivate an appetite for thinking wrong. — Marty Neumeier

2010-07-26T01:52:00.001-06:00

Blog Slacker

2010-06-29T23:46:00.006-06:00

Since I started using Facebook and Twitter I have neglected my Blog. So here is a catch up post. I will try and be better in the future!

Ari meeting Zealand for the first time!

Ari and Z!

Daddy's little Rugby Man

Rugby Girl!

Ari during one of our backyard training sessions!

Ari loves to torture Z!

Rugby Fans! Go Chiefs!

Z's room 1

Z's room 2

Best buddies!

My little man!

Ari was asked to tryout for the Comp Show team at Rhythm Works Dance and made it!!! Very proud of her!

Mommy, Daddy and Zealand

2010-03-24T08:25:00.000-06:00

Zealand Michael Tagaloa Figgins

2010-03-23T21:12:00.001-06:00

Define a Miracle

2010-03-22T06:58:00.002-06:00

Zealand is off his breathing tube! Kel is doing well. Hopefully we can take them both home in a few days!

Zealand Michael Tagaloa Figgins

2010-03-22T00:38:00.001-06:00

Welcome my little man Zealand Michael Tagaloa Figgins! 5Lb 13 oz 18.25 inches!!! Z is in the NICU! He is in good hands with Aunt Amy's crew! Kel is doing awesome! What a awesome day! Thanks so much for all the love, prayers and support!

Out going!

2010-03-21T20:36:00.001-06:00

Looks like it's going to be a "C" section!!!!! 1 hour and He will be here!!!!

Incoming!!!

2010-03-21T09:23:00.001-06:00

Water Broke! At hospital! It's going to be a long day! Kel is doing great! BabyFig should arrive this evening!

Merry Christmas from the Fig Fam

2009-12-13T17:19:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas from the Fig Fam

2009-12-12T16:27:00.002-07:00

babyFig!

2009-11-20T22:21:00.001-07:00

It's going to be a boy!!!!!!!

Soccer Girl

2009-10-18T21:24:00.002-06:00

2009-09-26T20:39:00.000-06:00

Baby Fig!

2009-08-11T00:44:00.001-06:00

Coming March 2010 to a rugby pitch near you!

2009-08-07T09:52:00.001-06:00

5 years ago today I met my daughter for the first time! It literally all started "under a coconut tree" in the little village of Siumu! That day forever changed my life! Love ya Ari!

2009-08-05T13:36:00.001-06:00

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming.”

Miracles

2009-07-21T10:49:00.002-06:00

Lil Fig and LDay

Miracles do happen! I witnessed the result of one last night when I saw two good friends holding their little girl. I see another when I look into my own daughters eyes! "......that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

Choice

2009-07-20T13:55:00.000-06:00

The thing is, we still live in a world that's filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity -- we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing. ... You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It's never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment -- just one second -- to decide.

Walter's lesson

2009-07-17T21:33:00.003-06:00

Here's the thing about the life of Walter Cronkite:

At every turn, he acted as if he had a responsibility to his audience. He didn't do the right thing because he thought it would help him get ahead and then one day he'd get his share. Instead, he always did the right thing because that's who he was. No sellouts, no political consulting, no false transparency.

That's the way it is.

Transparency works if it's authentic.

My baby is 5 years old today! Happy Birthday Ari!

2009-07-07T08:56:00.002-06:00

Test Product for work

2009-07-06T11:45:00.002-06:00

Do you matter?

2009-06-15T09:37:00.000-06:00

When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.

2009-06-10T18:19:00.002-06:00

For all you Social Stalkers out there.....

2009-06-05T09:27:00.001-06:00

Excitement builds in Hamilton

2009-05-20T22:31:00.003-06:00

Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina admits it is difficult to keep excitement at bay as his side eagerly awaits its first Rebel Sport Super 14 home semi-final to be played against the Hurricanes at Waikato Stadium on Friday night.

It will be the second time the franchise has ever reached the semi-finals and the pressure is on as rugby fever hits the streets of Hamilton and ticket-sales soar.

Muliaina was part of the Blues outfit that won the competition in 2003 but said for most of the players it will be their first taste of semi-finals rugby and they must stay focused ahead of Friday night's challenge.

"We've had to contain some of our excitement, obviously Hamilton being a very small town there are a lot of people here wishing us luck who are very excited about the occasion on Friday," said the 28-year-old fullback.

"We've got to try and contain that the best we can and not play the game yet, but it's pretty hard when it's your first home semi-final and I know the guys have busted their guts out to get this far.

"We're not content to make it just this far, we want to go all the way."

The Chiefs will want to repeat their performance of two weeks ago when they defeated the Hurricanes 16-8 in a top-of-the-table clash in Hamilton.

That game saw the Hurricanes blow several scoring opportunities and subsequently the win, so they are expected to be a much tighter unit come Friday evening and Muliaina knows just how tough they will be.

"We know that they'll come fired up because we probably had the edge on them at the breakdown last time we met so we know they're going to be a fired up team, they showed that against the Reds," said Muliaina.

"We had a day off yesterday [Tuesday] and that was good for the guys so now it's about getting our bodies right and getting the details right that we need to ahead of the game.

"We're certainly well recovered and we're honestly looking really forward to this opportunity."

The Chiefs have been hampered with some bad news ahead of the fixture however with star centre Richard Kahui opting out of the clash with a calf injury moving Dwayne Sweeney into the midfield.

Sweeney, whose defence has been questionable throughout his career, will have his hands more than full against the Hurricanes midfield duo of All Blacks Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith.

Sweeney however, is excited at being given the opportunity and is not overly worried about his defensive duties ahead of the match and is promising to hit back at the Hurricanes with some attack of his own.

"I'm excited to have the opportunity, it's obviously a big occasion for the team and Richie's obviously a massive loss for us," he said.

"I'm trying not to really worry too much about trying to repeat what Richie does and I'll try and bring my own influence to the game.

"Probably the biggest thing for us to do is to not get too caught up in what they're [Nonu and Smith] going to do and to try and put our own influence into the game.

"Obviously we'll be on our toes because they're both class players but we want to take the game to them a little bit as well."

Prison Break ..... Samoa Style

2009-05-20T22:24:00.001-06:00

Here is a post by our friend Kathy Arp in Samoa. If you think Samoa is paradise think again. A bit long but worth the read.

Where to begin, where to begin….

On Monday this past week, we had our very own prison break, right here in Samoa. How many escaped, you may ask? Forty one, to be exact. Yes, 41 prisoners escaped. How did they accomplish this? Well, it was a combination of factors, unique to the Samoan prison system:

1. The prisoners were actually OUTSIDE the prison gate on work detail, cutting hedges, grass, etc.

2. BECAUSE they were cutting grass and hedges, each one of the 41 prisoners had a sapelu (machete). Yes, they were armed. By the prison itself.

3. Said prisoners who were OUTSIDE the gate, ARMED with bush knives, were being guarded by TWO policemen, who were unarmed, because police in Samoa do not carry weapons.

The prisoners flagged down a bus doing its morning run, and fortunately it was not full of school children, but had two mothers and their children, plus the bus driver. The bus driver said, to the prisoners’ credit, that they did not threaten him, but that they asked him to take them to the government building in town, not to stop for anyone or anything. Being as how they asked so politely, plus they all had bush knives, he decided to comply.

The prison guards, realising that this was not a good way to start a Monday, contacted the police in town. Here is where I’m a bit fuzzy on the details. I’m not sure if police cars went out towards the prison (which is up the road a few miles past our house), or if they waited to see which way the bus was going to come into town. Whatever the plan, it transpired that the bus came down to the main road into town, the road that runs right in front of the mission home, the PBO, the Pesega campus (where three of my children were taking exams at the time) and the temple, and this is where the police decided to regain control of the situation. They parked a police van or two cross ways across the traffic and tried to clear out as many vehicles and pedestrians as possible, then when the bus approached the intersection right in front of the temple, the police, who by this time had acquired rifles, shot out the tires on the bus, thus effectively stopping it in its tracks. But now they still had to get the prisoners off the bus. By the way, this is all happening at 9.00am when everybody is heading to work.

The prisoners kindly let the women and children off the bus, as their beef was not with them. Once the tires were shot out, they even let the bus driver out, because hey! Of what use was he to them now? There was a negotiator who asked the prisoners, “What are you doing, and what do you want?” They wanted to be transported to the government building where their plan was to kneel on the ground in front of the building until a representative would come out and listen to their grievances, which are that the prison isn’t even fit for animals: no proper toilets, food is too little and of poor quality, and they’re not happy with their weekend furloughs (I’ll explain more about this in a moment). Alas, this was not to happen. The prisoners surrendered their knives and were transferred to a police-commandeered bus to return them to the prison.

But wait! Now there are only 40 prisoners! What happened to #41? He somehow managed to escape from a bus that was surrounded by rifle-wielding policemen and decided maybe things would go better for him if he just returned to the prison and nobody would be the wiser, so he began walking back to the prison, thinking he could get back before negotiations were over and the prisoners were returned. Alas, his plan B went awry, as he was picked up by the bus returning the other prisoners.

Several other things are notable about this:

Weekend leave is the one that boggles my mind most often. Prisoners here are given weekends off where they can go home to their families, do whatever. They sign out on Friday evening and have to be signed back in by a certain time Monday morning. For the most part, 99.9% of the time, according to my understanding, THIS WORKS. And we’re not just talking about shop lifters. No, thieves, rapists, murderers, man slaughterers and people guilty of general mayhem can go home on the weekends.
The police don’t carry weapons as a general rule. As far as I know, they never have. Just recently the police have been petitioning to be allowed to carry weapons because more and more of the citizenry are carrying weapons which have been smuggled into the country. (Even the police commissioner was found guilty of gun smuggling, but that’s a whole nother story.)
The fact the police even had transportation capable of bringing this to a close is newsworthy. They’ve been acquiring scooters donated by foreign governments but the rank and file of the police department don’t have transportation. Police vans take the police around to where they need to go. Very often, if a crime is being committed, or has been committed, and you need the police to come, they will say one of several things: (1) No cars available; we’ll come when somebody comes back with a car; (2) No money for taxi; we’ll come when somebody comes back with a car; (3) Can you come get us? Or (4) Will you pay for our taxi? So the fact that they actually had vehicles on hand to stop this thing is a feat in and of itself.
Quite a while ago an outside organization that does prison inspections looked at the one here and said it is quite lacking, thank you very much. But the report was done by outsiders, and one of the things this government does NOT like is the opinions of outsiders. This government likes outsiders’ MONEY, but if you’re not offering to fund/donate something here, keep your mouth shut if it’s all the same to you.

Another thing about this was an observation made by the head of Human Resources here for the church. (He happens to be an outsider, but he’s Niuean, so he’s not TOO FAR outside.) His office faced the street on which the shooting occurred, and he ran outside to tell the security guys to slam the gates, etc. – basically lockdown the entire church compound. But when he went out, the security guards were heading down the road to get a closer look – they had abandoned their posts. When asked, “What the ?...” he was told, “Oh, is okay. This don’t happen in Samoa.” Well, hello! It just did. He had been transferred here from Fiji, and he has some experience with uprisings and coups and things like that, and he believes that we better be prepared for more of this, that once some group is brave enough to make their displeasure known in this manner, it’s just a matter of time before the next group, and the next group does it. The government is ripening with unrest anyway over their heavy-handed decision to switch to Right Hand Drive vehicles and change the side of the road on which we drive. People are tired of the corruption going on and nothing being done about it.

For example, remember I mentioned the Police Commissioner who was caught smuggling guns? Despite an outside inquiry (to be fair it had to be done by outsiders) that said he at the least needed to be sacked from his job, - nothing.

There have been embezzlements at high levels in the police and health ministries and the University. They’ve been investigated, and – nothing.

A little over two months ago there was a rape at NUS – it was an evening function up there celebrating the anniversary of the University. Alcohol was being served, even though there were students in attendance. The boy involved turns out to be the son of one of our higher placed police officers. The girl is the niece of our newly elected Vice Chancellor, who was school mates with the boy’s father. It has not been investigated further. When the newspaper keeps pressing for information, they are told that the families did a traditional ifoga (repentance/forgiveness thing) and since the boy had been forgiven, no investigation needs to happen. The Samoa Victim’s group says, “Hey, glad you’ve forgiven him, but it still needs to be dealt with through the courts.” Nothing will come of it.

So, the country is ripening.

Single Dad for a few days!

2009-05-01T07:47:00.002-06:00

Kel is at Woman's Conference so it's just me and Ari. Last night we were off to her soccer game and then to Fat Cat's. Coming home I was amazed how much my life has changed since this little angel arrived. I listened to her singing High School Musical 4 songs as we drove. I never dreamed my playlist on the iPhone would ever include Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers and Mylie Cyrus but Ari can twist my arm to do just about anything.(frozen cookie dough before bed) I love my life, I am so blessed to have such a beautiful wife and daughter!

Soccer!

2009-04-27T22:42:00.004-06:00

Games this week: Tuesday 6:30 pm and Thursday 5:45 pm "Power Lines Park" Clinton

My little Rugby Girl

2009-04-27T22:38:00.002-06:00

All deck out in her All Blacks Kit!

Me and my little Angel!

Night O Rugby

2009-04-27T21:37:00.005-06:00

While Kel and Ari were at the mall shopping I mowed the lawn and caught up on some Rugby!
It's been a awesome year for my favorite teams. The Chiefs top the table in the Super 14 and the Leicester Tigers top the Guinness Premiership. The Tigers destroyed Bristol 73-3. This week they meet up with Bath(Jack and Sarah's old stomping grounds) for the Semi Finals.

Bath Rugby

Leicester Rugby

Alesana Tuilagi, Ari's favorite! He is from her village in Siumu!
The Chiefs are in South Africa on a 3 week tour. I don't work this weekend so I get to see all the games live! Can't wait!

Daddy's girl

2009-04-27T18:02:00.006-06:00

My friend Terra did this photo shoot of Ari. She won't pose like this for me anymore. Thx Terra they turned out awesome!!!!

Amazing!

2009-04-25T17:55:00.001-06:00

Mad Mad Skills....

2009-04-25T17:33:00.001-06:00

None were with Him

2009-04-12T10:12:00.001-06:00

Daddys Gymnast

2009-03-21T12:31:00.002-06:00

Sivivatu show sinks Blues

2009-03-21T10:04:00.002-06:00

Four tries to Chiefs wing Sitiveni Sivivatu has helped his side demolish the Blues 63-34 at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton.

The All Black winger was on fire, picking up a hat-trick in the first half and another in the second as the Chiefs notched their most commanding victory of the season.

With a full-strength team, the Chiefs were unstoppable and ran in nine tries to the Blues five in an action packed week six Rebel Sport Super 14 encounter.

The home side opened up the points scoring for the night when Sitiveni Sivivatu got fed an outside ball and slid over in the far corner, allowing first five-eighths Stephen Donald to add the extras to take an early seven point lead.

After a stolen lineout the blues hit back straight away when lock Ali Williams burst down the sideline before flicking an inside ball to fullback Isaia Toeava who scored.

Sivivatu was able to score his second of the night in the 13th minute when he stepped his way through the Blues backline to notch his 33th super rugby try, a new Chiefs record for the most tries scored for the franchise.

All Blacks centre Richard Kahui made the most of the mounting pressure and recovered a handy little grubber kick to score the Chiefs third of the night and boost the score out to a 21-8 with only a quarter of the game gone.

The Chiefs were also looking good in their set-pieces, particularly in the lineouts that have been a real Achilles heel of the side and not only secured their own ball but managed to steal some ball in the process.

With the set-piece looking solid, the Chiefs backline was able to show just how dangerous it was and allowed Sivivatu to again get around the outside and cause some carnage.

The 26-year-old All Black wing soon grabbed his third of the night when he stepped inside the covering tackle of Joe Rokocoko and crashed over the line. Donald's boot added the extras and put the Chiefs in a commanding position after already securing a bonus point.

Chiefs halfback Brendon Leonard soon caught the Blues forwards napping, who were probably wondering how so many tries were being scored against them, and found a gap near the sideline allowing him to sprint unhanded to score the fifth try for his side.

The visitors were able to add some respectability on the stroke of halftime when Toeava found his way through some average Chiefs defence and score his second. Jimmy Gopperth's kick was true from the sideline, taking the score at halftime to 35-15.

Things looked to have calmed down a bit early in the second half before Donald set up a beautiful move that saw speedy wing Lelia Masaga score his first of the night and add to the Chiefs already mammoth score.

The Blues weren't letting things get away from them however and hit back immediately when centre Anthony Tuitavake made the most of an overlap and strolled through. Gopperth kicked another conversion and took the score to 42-20.

Two quick and well-deserved tries to the Chiefs soon followed when blindside flanker Liam Messam showed some gas to pierce a gap and score before second five-eighths Callum Bruce got passed an outside ball and added his name to the point-scorers list.

With the score sitting at 56-20 with 20 minutes still to play, the Chiefs were sending out a loud and clear message that when all their players are healthy and playing they are a side that has the ability to absolutely punish quality teams.

The Blues were pushing back however and threatened the Chiefs line for a long time before replacement Jamie Helleur scored in the corner.

Sivivatu scored his fourth try of the evening before a last-minute try to Rokocoko, his second, ended the game with the final score 63-34.

Chiefs 63 (Sivivatu 4, Leonard, Messam, Kahui, Bruce, Masaga)

Blues 34 (Rokocoko 2, Tuitavake, Toeava, Helleur)

HT: 35-15

Fitting in vs. standing out

2009-03-21T01:17:00.000-06:00

You won't have any trouble at all finding someone who can tell you how to fit in.

They can tell you what to wear to that restaurant or this conference or that funeral. It's not that difficult to figure out how to fit in. If fitting in is your goal, you should be sure to get great advice on how to do that.

Standing out, of course, is trickier. Stand out too much and you're a jerk or a fool.

Clothing is not the point. You have this choice to make in everything you do, from your career to the words you use in a sales letter.

The point: choose.

Are you doing this to fit in or stand out?

My App has taken on a life of it's own!

2009-03-21T00:49:00.004-06:00

Schools are loving my new App! I am currently writing one for BlackBerry phones. My competitors are going to be scrambling!

Lovin Soccer

2009-03-21T00:45:00.002-06:00

Ari loves Soccer! Right now she is just learning basic skills and I thought she would be pretty timid. When they had a little scrimmage she was very aggressive and had great ball control. Yep, I am a proud Dad!

Cheerleader for a day!

2009-03-15T13:01:00.004-06:00

Ari was in total heaven. She was a future Roy High Cheerleader at a Roy/Bonneville basketball game. She did so awesome. She cheered with her friend Armani.

First Soccer Practice......Freezing

2009-03-15T10:50:00.005-06:00

Practicing her goalie skills! She was pretty funny, all the why to practice she told us that you kick the soccer ball and don't touch it with your hands. When her coach put her in as goalie she told him off.

Soccer practice was awesome for the first 55 minutes then Ari realized how cold it really was. We have a lot of work to do. I am converting the backyard into a soccer field.

Why Mormons Build Temples

2009-03-15T10:43:00.000-06:00

Ready to Play!

2009-03-06T21:52:00.001-07:00

Ari is so excited to start Soccer. Her first practice is Tuesday!

Looking for a better life

2009-03-06T11:21:00.002-07:00

The ultimate aim of all creative activity is to bring happiness to people's lives.
Happiness is an emotion that comes in result of positive experiences and affects human beings.
Experiences can happen in the past, present or future.

Past experiences must offer good memories as a way of re-living it in the present and desiring it for the future. Present experiences must connect to the mind in its whole, bringing focus to the action being performed and getting the mind to a flow state. Happiness comes from the experience itself and not from the result of it.

Future experiences must bring desire to the present, creating a present that is better because of the latent potential of a future experience.

Experiences can be based in real life or in fantasy, but reality and fantasy must empower one another in a way that the whole is better than the absolute sum of the separate experiences.

Experiences that foster happiness should have the following qualities:
• Make people feel confident of themselves.
• Make people feel they can do something better. Empowers people to do something in a better way.
• Improve people's lives helping to solve existing pragmatic problems
• Make people have an enjoyable and fun time during the experience, thus making life worth to be lived.
• Surprises people in a magic way, bringing delight to the eyes and making the mind wonder.
• Create an emotional connection between everyone involved, the experience itself and the one supporting the experience (a brand or a person)
• Make the world a better place to live
• Strenghten relationships between people that live the same experience

Experiences must be immersive and sensorial. The more it talks to human senses, the better it will be. They can exist in physical or virtual states.
The success of an experience is measured by the amount of happiness it brings to life and the amount of people willing to live the experience, not by it's individual qualities.
All kinds of sciences, technologies and studies can be tools for creating happiness and must be used accordingly.

Every effort made to get a better understanding of the human condition and psychology should be treasured, for it points to the right direction and brings enlightenment on how to use the many tools available to create a good experience.

Artists are not different than scientists. "The artist is an exalted craftsman", as stated by Walter Gropius in the Bauhaus Manifesto. "By the grace of Heaven and in rare moments of inspiration which transcend the will, art may unconsciously blossom from the labour of his hand, but a base in handicrafts is essential to every artist. It is there that the original source of creativity lies."

The Experience Designer is therefore a new denomination for all of those that follow this movement and conjure art, science, technology and psychology to desire, conceive and create experiences that bring happiness to the life of many.
An experience designer must love and care about people and the world in which we all live. It's his mission in the world to proudly spread love and happiness through his creations.

The notion that the future can enhance the present is a wonderful and insightful concept. Very nice: “The latent potential of a future experience.” - Don Norman

from DesignExperienceManifesto

Something to think about.....

2009-02-27T14:24:00.003-07:00

Ready to hit the pitch!

2009-02-16T19:25:00.003-07:00

We signed Ari up to play Spring Soccer. Here are her new boots! Games begin in March. Coming soon, lots and lots of action photography!

10 Commandments of Good Design

2009-02-15T20:13:00.001-07:00

Good design is Innovative
It does not copy existing product forms, nor does it produce any kind of novelty for the sake of it. The essence of innovation must be clearly seen in all of a functions of a product. The possibilities in this respect are by no means exhausted. Technological development keeps offering new chances for innovative solutions.

Good design makes a product useful
A product is bought in order to be used. It must serve a defined purpose – in both primary and additional functions. The most important task of design is to optimise the utility of a product.

Good design is aesthetic
The aesthetic quality of a product – and the fascination it inspires – is an integral part of the its utility. Without doubt, it is uncomfortable and tiring to have to put up with products that are confusing, that get on your nerves, that you are unable to relate to. However, it has always been a hard task to argue about aesthetic quality, for two reasons.

Firstly, it is difficult to talk about anything visual, since words have a different meaning for different people.

Secondly, aesthetic quality deals with details, subtle shades, harmony and the equilibrium of a whole variety of visual elements. A good eye is required, schooled by years and years of experience, in order to be able to draw the right conclusion.

Good design helps a product to be understood
It clarifies the structure of the product. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory and saves you the long, tedious perusal of the operating manual.

Good design is unobtrusive
Products that satisfy this criterion are tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained leaving room for the user’s self-expression.

Good design is honest
An honestly-designed product must not claim features it does not have – being more innovative, more efficient, of higher value. It must not influence or manipulate buyers and users.

Good design is durable
It is nothing trendy that might be out-of-date tomorrow. This is one of the major differences between well-designed products and trivial objects for a waste-producing society. Waste must no longer be tolerated.

Good design is thorough to the last detail
Thoroughness and accuracy of design are synonymous with the product and its functions, as seen through the eyes of the user.

Good design is concerned with the environment
Design must contribute towards a stable environment and a sensible use of raw materials. This means considering not only actual pollution, but also the visual pollution and destruction of our environment.

Good design is as little design as possible
Back to purity, back to simplicity.

Innovation

2009-02-15T19:51:00.001-07:00

1. It’s about DOING. Innovation is not a noun, it’s a verb. It’s not about flow charts, clever Venn diagrams, hypothesizing and numerous rounds of discussion in the conference room. Innovation is about doing stuff. It’s about looking (with your own eyes) for gaps, needs, holes and business opportunities – and then creating, designing and making real solutions to them.

2. Innovation is about PEOPLE. Actual people. Not the ones in focus group suites who answer questions about you and your products. It’s the ones whose homes you go into, the ones that you listen to, the ones that you quietly watch preparing their breakfast and going about their day that generate ideas for you and your team. These are the people that you should ask for feedback, and these are the people you should credit for helping you get there when you do.

3. FAILURE is important too. You are going to get it wrong a whole lot before you get it right. These days we live in a ‘beta’ culture, where nothing is absolute any more; where the next, improved version is waiting for our feedback before it gets improved and iterated upon. The same is true of innovation. Spending years (and a fortune) perfecting it probably means that someone else will beat you to it. Prototype it fast and cheaply, put it out there and ask for feedback. When you get it, add it to the mix, iterate again and keep on going until it works. 85% is the new 100% when it comes to perfection.

4. COLLABORATION is key. It’s about everyone chipping in and doing their bit, building things together and all getting the credit for the whole. Mashing together skill-sets and interests makes for a more interesting team dynamic, and for a better end result. From my experience, the grumpy guy in R&D is usually grumpy because no one ever asks him to play.

5. In the end, innovation simply comes down to BRAVERY. You’re either going to leap into the void or you’re not. There are no guarantees, no sure-wins and no secret Celestine Prophecy ways to add up the numbers to create a sure-win formula. You just have to be brave. Try it.

I am in BIG trouble...

2009-02-14T09:38:00.002-07:00

Yesterday morning we were at the continental breakfast at the Hotel and the room was full of about 50 teenage boys who were in town participating in comp soccer and baseball tournaments. Ari stated ti freak out because her hair was a mess! She whined so much that we finally left and went to a restaurant. I can hardly wait until she is a teenager (not)

Blast from the Past

2009-02-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

Good Read

2009-02-13T22:46:00.007-07:00

Design Matters

You can create a good design, do it once and do it well, and have a nice object. That doesn’t mean it will be a great product or a good business. It might be mildly successful, it might win some awards, and it might even get some buzz on the blogs. The difference between a great product and a merely good product, however, is that a great product embodies an idea that people can understand and learn about—an idea that grows in their minds, one they emotionally engage with. Right now, you could design a product that looks like an iPhone, has really nice details and materials, and becomes an object of lust. However, this doesn’t mean that it will ultimately be successful. Unless you have a strong idea that pervades the way it looks, the way it operates, what it does, how it’s communicated to people, how it’s branded, and how people identify with the brand, your product is not complete, because these are all things that go into making a great product which becomes a good business.

Do You Matter?

Ask yourself questions such as “Who are you?” (which most people can answer) or “What do you do?” (you will probably get this one wrong). You might answer that you’re a manufacturer of computers. Well, we say you’re not merely a manufacturer of computers; you’re creating systems to help people get work done. In light of this, why does what you do matter to people? Better yet, why do you matter at all? This is the deep soul-searching question we want you to ask yourself. Does your company matter to your customers and constituents? Really, honestly, answer this. Are you a positive force in their lives? If you disappeared, would their lives be diminished in some way? I think if you tell yourself the truth, you might even conclude, “Well, probably not.” Will we shed any tears if Cheer laundry detergent is not on the shelves anymore? No, probably not. Will we shed some tears if BMW suddenly ceased to exist? Yeah, we might. If Apple ceased to exist? Probably.

How to Matter

The crucial point of the evolving iPod story is that if you want to transform your brand to the point where you matter, you have to start with design that’s “designed in” not “added on.” It can’t be a veneer. Design is not an event or a process you apply to physical and mechanical reality. You are designing a customer experience supply chain. If you are the CEO and this is something you really want to do, it’s not just a matter of getting together your executive staff and saying, “Go design some good stuff.” You have to look at your business from beginning to end and see how it all relates to your customer; then you must decide how you will design all the pieces of a customer experience solar system and go about accomplishing true organizational change.

Being Design Driven

Design is everybody’s business. And if a CEO is going to do it right, he or she needs to understand this. As you think about becoming a more design-driven company, you can use baby steps and big steps. But if you want to know in a nutshell, what do you need to do; you must build a development process that centers on people and an experience. You must give everyone an incentive to be an active part of this process. You must build a marketing process that can characterize and communicate those design ideas to people emphasizing design as an integral part of it all. You need to build an engineering system that understands that the people driving design sensibility and values are, at the same time, part of the marketing, engineering, manufacturing, and delivery equations.

Your Brand is Not Your Logo

Another way to look at brand is that it is like an individual’s character. That’s really what a brand is, the embodiment of a company’s character. When you think of the character of people, you find things about them that encourage you to like or dislike them. When you first meet someone, you might draw a few conclusions based on how they dress and style their hair, and few more of their mannerisms. A lot of times you’re right, and a lot of times you’re not. But then, as you gain real insight into their ethics and values and how they treat others, you begin to understand the person’s character. That’s how you really start to define how you feel about somebody. It’s the same way with a company. You can dress up people in cool clothes, and give them a hip new hairstyle, and create some ideas about, “Wow, maybe they’re really pretty cool and hip,” but as you really start to get to know them, you realize that, “No, they’re really moving violations of the truth in packaging laws.” All this is a veneer. You start to wonder about them. It’s the same thing with companies.

Products As Portals

That was how Howard Schultz’s head was working when he visited Milan and said, “This is an experience coffee customers would be willing to pay a little more to share.” Both Alice Waters and Howard Schultz were CEOs of their companies in the sense that they were chief experience officers in the conception of their businesses. Schultz arrived at the Starbucks experience. How brilliant was that? Well, in retrospect it seems one of those things that’s incredibly obvious, but what a few other people probably realized, namely that the coffee shop was about more than getting coffee, Schultz and Starbucks implemented brilliantly. Schultz didn’t think he was in the coffee business, he was in the experience business, and the portal into that experience was a better cup of coffee in a carefully designed atmosphere. We are reminded of our favorite Mae West line here; “I used to be Snow White and then I drifted.” Starbucks has drifted. It remains to be seen if they can rebuild the experience and survive commoditization.

Your Products and Services are Talking to People

So you start thinking about which companies have product lines with design integrity, authority, and self-confidence showing through every aspect of their design, and now you are beginning to understand about design communication and why it matters. It’s about a story— you see, the thing that is hard for most business people to grasp, is that the design language is there to tell a story. It takes a customer’s need or desire and spins its story all the way to an expected fulfillment. Any writing class will tell you too that it is always better to “show” instead of just “tell.” That’s the exact function of design language. It shows. For that shopper at the BMW lot, the scenario playing through the mind might involve a drive up a winding Pennsylvania road in late spring, cornering the switchbacks with tight accuracy while the sound system fills the slick cockpit interior, finally pulling up to a country inn for brunch and being recognized as one of the “Bimmer” elite by fellow patrons.

Building a Design Driven Culture

When you seek to balance risk and research on the path to originality, it’s no easy feat. Many companies employ a management technique where with every project, they set up the boundary conditions, usually around cost and schedule, and there will also be technology conditions. But there is a problem if the development teams see these as hard boundaries. At Apple, we used to say to the team “it’s all right to play in this field; if you cross one of these boundaries, a red flag goes up and we just need to review it and understand it.” This didn’t mean you couldn’t cross a boundary. You just need to know when you have crossed one. More than risk mitigation, you need a program for risk support. If you are going to be design driven to create original products and services, your favorite new mantra needs to be: “Risk is not a four-letter word.”

Go Forth and Matter

Over the years, we have found ourselves in conversations organized around the question, “what is it that people really want out of life?.” Marketers ask this question and promote their answers. So do psychologists. Theologians of course claim to know. And more than a few of the rest of us seek our own answers every day. It is a complex question, pondered for centuries by individuals and groups more qualified to offer answers than the authors of this book. This said, however, we do think we know the answer to that question. Or at least an answer that matters to your business. This answer has been given thematically throughout this book. It has been implicit, but now we would now like to explicitly propose it: People are seeking a great experience of being alive.

St. George

2009-02-13T22:25:00.004-07:00

We are in sunny(not) St. George for 5 days. Kel and Ari were able to join me while I was at the UAESP conference. 2 days in St. George and 3 in Mesquite. Hopefully the reat of the trip will warm up. We took Ari to Coraline tonight. It was good but Ari got a little scared at the end. We also went to the Wildlife Museum today. More to come....

Ari after a day of shopping!
Ari with Elder and Sister Abbott. They were with us in Samoa and had not seen her since she was 3 months old.
Ari at the Wildlife Museum.

Ari and Daddy.
Ari on Safari.

The next 4 years......?

2009-01-21T11:24:00.002-07:00

Nice try.......

2009-01-21T10:35:00.001-07:00

The Tour O Warm continues........

2009-01-21T09:36:00.003-07:00

14 days and 4 states and I will be all traveled out. I started in Phoenix for PPA and APSP. I was given the opportunity to present our latest innovation while I was their. Home for 2 days then off to Las Vegas for Western Dealers. Landed last night, home for 2 days then flying out Friday for San Diego for SPAC and The Shooters Group Assoc. I get to present again at both groups. Then a 5 hour stay at home and I drive to St. George for the Utah Assoc. of Secondary Principals. Hopefully the new App I wrote will go over well their and turn into new business. More to come.....

If company logos adapted to the recession what might they look...

2009-01-21T09:34:00.002-07:00

Sugar Bowl Champions! Utah finished a spectacular undefeated season with a win over fourth-ranked Alabama.

2009-01-03T00:28:00.004-07:00

Asiata and the Boys CRUSH BAMA. Maybe Utah Rugby will bring home the National title this year. Go Utes!

The All-American Rejects cover of "Womanizer"

2009-01-01T13:38:00.002-07:00

Christmas Bonus

2008-12-23T09:47:00.002-07:00

My Apple experience just got better. I received a iPhone for my Christmas bonus yesterday. It is simply awesome.

Wish my office had this perk!

2008-12-17T15:54:00.002-07:00

Away in a Manger

2008-12-16T13:14:00.003-07:00

I often think of the first day we saw Ari. It was in this humble Fale deep in the jungle. I think of the Savior being born in similar surroundings. It really helps bring the real spirit of Christmas.

Christmas Girl

2008-12-16T13:13:00.002-07:00

Ari and Uncle Lu

2008-12-16T13:08:00.004-07:00

In Samoa Lu was Ari's very favorite next to Kel. After 2 years the bound is still there. We had Lu over for dinner and found out that he and Ari are blood cousins.

Nine Predictions for 2009

2008-12-16T12:37:00.002-07:00

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
⎯ Viktor E. Frankl

The reality of the coming year is that the precipitous decline in the economy will create a collective pause; a “space” of epic proportions for organizations and individuals. Yes, it will be unpleasant for many. But it will also be an opportunity in disguise for those willing to seize the moment.

#1 The Earth will complete its 584 million mile, 67,000 mph trip around the Sun without incident.
I know, that’s a pretty lame kick-off prediction. But think about those numbers for a minute. We’re all outgrowths of a living mass that is rocketing through space around an enormous ball of fire. Does that make any sense to you? Me either. So stop trying to figure it all out. Stop trying to protect yourself from an unknowable future and instead be a connected and passionate part of the here and now.
“What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.”⎯ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

#2 Many things will change, but many people will not.
Most of us will be doing, thinking and feeling more or less the same things this time next year as we are now. If you don’t want that sameness, grab yourself by the collar and yank yourself off of that comfortable, well-worn path and onto the one less traveled by you. Let go of your past and grab onto your future. Because while you’re waiting for that grand insight to point you in the right direction, the beauty of life is flying right on by.
“Withoutchange, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.”⎯ Frank Herbert

#3 Most people will sit quietly in their seats and watch life unfold around them.
A recent New Yorker magazine cartoon made it comically clear: There’s a lot that we all want to experience, but not much that we actually want to do. Most of us simply want to go along to get along and enjoy the ride. Well, the ride is slowing to a crawl. And when it starts back up, it’ll be a much different ride. What kind of ride? The best way to know that is to put yourself in charge of creating it. Grab the wheel and get moving. Let the pull of what excites you and what you care most deeply about be your guide.
“The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” ⎯ Robert Frost

#4 A lot of people and businesses will fail.
That’s the unfortunate nature of life. You try something, it doesn’t work. You try something different, it works. If it works big, people copy you (or steal it). You try something new, failure again. If you’re trying, if you’re living, you will fail. So what? Live a life of no regrets. Seize this opportunity to learn and grow and experience, while everyone else snuggles deeper into their comfy routines.
“He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great.” ⎯Herman Melville

#5 Many “friends” will be lost and many new ones made.
Social networks are all the rage today: MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, LinkedIn, Twitter and Plaxo, as well as the many recurring real world gatherings. And indeed, they can be great ways to stay connected and to gain attention. But many of the people who have “friended” you through these groups did so for a reason; their reason. And once that reason goes away, so will they. Don’t sweat it. Keep connecting. Keep reaching out and sharing with people with similar interests and beliefs. But also, spend more slow and deep time with your family and your true friends; those who accept and care about the real you, not the social status you.
“In prosperity,our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends.”⎯ John Churton Collins

#6 The passionate will not only survive, they will thrive.
What’s bugging you? Whatever it is, for your sake⎯and for those unwilling or unable to change⎯do something about it! That’s the key to growth and success. The inventor David Levy referred to it as the curse effect: “Whenever I hear someone curse, it’s a sign to invent something.” Well, perhaps that someone is you and that “cursing” is resonating between your ears. If so, don’t let it irritate you and drain your life and passion. Use it to fuel you and drive you forward. The future belongs to those unwilling to accept the stifling status quo; to those who stay puzzled, excited, frustrated and surprised.
“Whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission.” ⎯ Peter Drucker

#7 Success will go to those with the best questions, not those with the cleverest answers.
Do you know the definition of an expert? An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing? And a generalist? A generalist, like so many afflicted with digital A.D.D., is someone who knows less and less about more and more until he knows absolutely nothing about everything. Successful people know that they’ll never know enough, especially about what really matters. So, they pay attention. They catch on and refocus rapidly. They never stop trying and learning. They’re driven by the questions, by their desire to understand and to change things.
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”⎯ Mark Twain

#8 Execution is the new strategy.
E.L. Doctorow wrote, “Planning to write is not writing.” Here’s the funny thing: Writing is not writing. It’s editing. You’re really not sure where you’re going until well after you’ve begun; until you’ve put pen to paper (or type to page). And then, the work unfolds in unpredictable and mysterious ways. Sure, vision and planning are important. But with the accelerating pace of change in today’s world, the important insights are more likely to come through doing and editing, than through speculating and strategizing.
“Change will lead to insight far more often than insight will lead to change.”⎯ Milton H. Erickson

#9 Making a difference will trump making a buck.
Walt Disney’s mantra was, “I don’t make movies to make money. I make money to make movies.” What about you? Why do you make money? Think really hard and long about that simple question. If you’ve been putting off being passionate about your work in order to make a lot of money, now may be the time for you to make a change. Why? Because the business of making money simply to make more money is quickly coming to an end. The future is not in making a buck; it’s in making a difference.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”⎯ Winston Churchill

The great Danish physicist Niels Henrik David Bohr wrote, “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” But, the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Edna St. Vincent Millay, reminds us, “It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it’s one damned thing over and over.” Physics and poetry. Such is the nature of our paradoxical world. Just remember, it’s your future that you have control over, and only you have the power to change that one damn thing.

2008-11-21T18:47:00.003-07:00

This is appropriate after witnessing the MLS Western Conference Championships between RSL and NY Redbulls at Rio Tinto Stadium last Saturday night.

Thanks KDAY

The edifice complex

2008-11-19T09:13:00.001-07:00

Why do banks spend so much money on marble lobbies, high ceilings and yes, $400 million to name a baseball stadium?

Why do marketers buy TV ads that don't increase sales in the short run?

Why have a receptionist and not just a house phone where you can call the person you came to see?

For the same reason that so many people have a green front lawn.

It's organized waste. Profligate spending designed to communicate confidence and just a bit of hubris.

Do you really want to invest money at a bank run by a guy with nothing but a bridge table and a cheap suit? Probably not. At some level, we like the confidence that we get from that big lobby. We are more likely to perk up when the reporter has her cameraman aim a huge black video camera (with lights!) at us, even though the little hand held camera might work just as well...

In times of financial stress and bailouts, the obvious solution (eliminate all the waste!) is not the one that works. In fact, in these times, we're more likely than ever to be nervous about the status of the organization we're working with.

I'd replace the expensive sponsorships and buildings with something more valuable, quicker to market and far more efficient: people. Real people, trustworthy people, honest people... people who take their time, look you in the eye, answer the phone and keep their promises. Not as easy to implement as writing a big check for the Super Bowl, but a lot more effective.

Who are you today?

2008-11-19T09:11:00.003-07:00

Patience

2008-11-19T09:11:00.001-07:00

"In this age of one hour dry cleaning and one minute fast food franchises, it may at times seem to us as though a loving Heavenly Father has misplaced our precious promises or He has put them on hold or filed them under the wrong name. . . ."When heaven's promises sometimes seem afar off, I pray that each of us will embrace these exceeding great and precious promises and never let go. . . . God will remember you."
Spencer J. Condie

Sleeping angel

2008-11-16T14:52:00.001-07:00

The Shrine

2008-11-16T14:46:00.004-07:00

Ari and my office is almost complete. Here is a preview. Thank goodness Ari is a rugby fan!

Ari Attitude

2008-11-16T14:45:00.002-07:00

It Doesn’t Matter Who Is President

2008-11-16T14:42:00.001-07:00

Whatever your political affiliation, last week every citizen of the United States (and every citizen of the world) saw the American Dream and the American ideal demonstrated firsthand. Americans proved we actually act and deliver on our declarations. We have claimed that America is the land where anyone, from any background, any race, creed or color can achieve anything they set their mind to. President-Elect Barack Obama is confirmation that these promises are indeed true.

It is my belief that it doesn’t matter who is president in regards to how your life works out. The only person responsible for your present reality and your future opportunities is you. Hope, change and the betterment of your future are not dependent upon who lays their head on the pillow in the White House. You have to take responsibility for your own hope. You have to be the creator of your own change. You have to design and act on your own better future. Nobody is going to do it for you, not even the president.

The only person responsible for your present reality and your future opportunities is you.

A little slice of Heaven

2008-11-08T21:53:00.005-07:00

We spent the better part of the day watching 2 International Rugby matches at Real Stadium. The first match was between the USA select XV and the New Zealand Heartland XV. Our boys in Black came out on top. It was an awesome match. The second match was the USA National Team and the Uruguay National team. For the first time since before the World Cup last year the US were victorious. It was indeed a slice of Heaven. And the best part was spending it with my beautiful wife. She was a great sport for enduring 6 hours of Rugby.

Fig with some of the Heartland XV.

As real as it gets!

2008-11-07T16:33:00.002-07:00

For all of you out there who live in a CS3(photo shop) world I found this! Enlarge it and look at all the detail. Very cool!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T22:31:00.010-07:00

Grandma Cathy
Ari and Grandma Great!
Ari and her cousins!
Our little angel!

Some where over the Rainbow!

2008-10-10T08:58:00.001-06:00

"The Atonement of Jesus Christ and the healing it offers do much more than provide the opportunity for repentance from sins. The Atonement also gives us the strength to endure 'pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind,' because our Savior also took upon Him 'the pains and the sicknesses of his people' (Alma 7:11). Brothers and sisters, if your faith and prayers and the power of the priesthood do not heal you from an affliction, the power of the Atonement will surely give you the strength to bear the burden."
Dallin H. Oaks

2008-10-10T08:45:00.001-06:00

"Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity." ~ Charles Mingus, Jazz composer and bassist

2008-09-27T19:40:00.004-06:00

Kia Kaha is Maori for Forever Strong. I often here the question "Why Rugby?" Last night Kel and I saw the movie Forever Strong and it describes why I love Rugby so much. We live in a time when sports is dominated by ego driven jerks. Rugby is a true team sport where for 80 minutes a team has to work together to win. As a Highland Alum I had many friends that played for Highland Rugby. See the movie and you will be forever changed. Kia Kaha!

Total Saturation with the Savior's Gospel

2008-09-23T14:01:00.000-06:00

"We begin the process of being born again through exercising faith in Christ, repenting of our sins, and being baptized by immersion for the remission of sins by one having priesthood authority." 'Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life' (Romans 6:4)."And after we come out of the waters of baptism, our souls need to be continuously immersed in and saturated with the truth and the light of the Savior's gospel. Sporadic and shallow dipping in the doctrine of Christ and partial participation in His restored Church cannot produce the spiritual transformation that enables us to walk in a newness of life. Rather, fidelity to covenants, constancy of commitment, and offering our whole soul unto God are required if we are to receive the blessings of eternity. . . ."Total immersion in and saturation with the Savior's gospel are essential steps in the process of being born again."
-David A. Bednar

The last desk you'll ever own.

2008-09-23T13:20:00.001-06:00

They call it the “OneLessDesk”. They say it will be “the last desk you’ll ever own”. It’s … quite a desk.

Sleek. Silvery. (Unless you buy the white version.) Made out of solid steel, strong enough to hold two 24 inch flat panels side-by-side, cut from raw sheet metal with lasers, baby.

“Built”, they say, “like an American tank.”

And a steal at just $649.

Invasion of the i-men

2008-09-19T08:49:00.004-06:00

Behold! The i-men. Gareth White of New Future Graphic made them using Photo Booth, some props and a pile of imagination.

Fig Fam Update

2008-09-12T22:36:00.001-06:00

Kel has her own Blog now. Here is a very in detail entry of our comings and goings as of late. The Fig Fam

Biker Babe

2008-09-08T21:33:00.001-06:00

Ari getting ready to go for a ride on my scooter.

Sleeping Beauty

2008-09-08T21:27:00.003-06:00

Ari loves to listen to all types of music. When my Ipod comes up missing I usually find it attached to her. On Saturday I found her sacked out on the floor with her giant head phones on.

Utes Big Win!

2008-08-30T22:23:00.004-06:00

Utah quarterback Brian Johnson stood in the Michigan end zone listening to the cheers of Utah's fans and looking at the scoreboard after Utah's 25-23 win Saturday. He was soaking in the atmosphere of what he called his biggest win when he was brought back to reality by a Michigan reporter's question.
"So how does Michigan's defense compare to the ones you face in the WAC," he asked Johnson.
"Nobody knows us, still," Johnson said, shaking his head.
No, apparently not all know that Utah is from the Mountain West, have a great quarterback and one of the toughest defenses in the country. But if the Utes can keep winning games like Saturday's, college football fans all over will soon know about the Utes.
Facing a Michigan team intent to erase the memories of their horrible start of 2007, the Utes instead added to the Wolverines' misery by taking a 25-23 win in front of the usual Michigan Stadium sellout - this one numbering 108,421.
"We knew we had one chance to do this," Utah offensive lineman Zane Beadles said. "We have a veteran group and we know how to win."
Michigan's fans packed the Big House well before kickoff expecting their team to know how to win too. They had the leadership of new coach Rich Rodriguez and a highly touted defense, but the Wolverines were missing a key element - a seasoned quarterback

who could run the offense confidently who knew when to run and where to pass.
They needed a quarterback the caliber of Johnson.
Playing injury-free for the first time since the 2007 opener, Johnson finished 21-of-33 for 305 yards, an interception and a touchdown.
Johnson's TD pass was a 19-yarder to Bradon Godfrey with 13 seconds left before halftime.
"This is right up there with the Louisville win," Johnson said, referring to the Utes' 44-35 win over the Cardinals last season. "I'll remember this for the rest of my life."
It could be just the start of a season full of memories for the Utes. They'll probably break into the Top 25 today and showed the potential of meeting all the hype surrounding them. At least for a day, the BCS hopes are alive and well, not that coach Kyle Whittingham wants to hear about it.
"It's not even in our vocabulary," he said. "That is absurd to talk in those terms right now. We have played one good football team and won one on the road which is nice, but we have 11 left."
They still have some improving to do too. As well as the offense moved the ball for most of the game, Utah had trouble getting the ball in the end zone. Luckily the Utes had two other strengths - Louie Sakoda and a seasoned defense. Sakoda kicked field goals of 28, 41, 43 and 53 yards, with the last being the longest of his career. It also put the Utes up 25-10 in the third quarter.
By then the game seemed all but lost for the Wolverines, who had replaced starting quarterback Nick Sheridan with Steven Threet but couldn't find a way to move the ball. Through three quarters the Wolverines had only 26 yards rushing and 126 passing.
To avoid their second season-opening loss in a row the Wolverines needed some sort of game-changing play. It came in the form of a blocked punt on Sakoda.
Michigan recovered on Utah's 33-yard line. On the following play Threet threw a touchdown pass to Junior Hemingway, cutting Utah's lead to 25-17.
Sensing its moment, Michigan's defense played its best series and sacked Johnson on third-and-15. Johnson fumbled and Michigan recovered on Utah's 31-yard line.
The series was one of the few times Utah's defense lost its composure, committing a 15-yard facemask penalty and a 15-yard pass interference penalty that moved the ball inside Utah's 5-yard line. Freshman Sam McGuffie ran the ball in from there, making it 25-23 with 6:26 remaining.
That was plenty of time for the Wolverines to finish off the comeback, only Utah's defense wouldn't allow it. Utah's offense stalled, failing to get a first down on its next three possessions, but the defense wouldn't allow the Wolverines to move the ball either.
The game ended when Utah's R.J. Stanford wrapped up receiver Michael Shaw after a 7-yard gain.
The Wolverines needed more, much more than that, to beat the Utes.

Superb win for Waikato

2008-08-30T22:17:00.002-06:00

Waikato looks to have finally found some form and has thrashed Auckland 34-13 in Hamilton in week five of the Air New Zealand Cup.

The home side really stepped up and gave it to the defending champs, picking up a valuable 5 points in doing so and putting its 2008 campaign in good stead.

Waikato ran in four tries to Auckland's two in a game that saw Mooloo All Blacks Sione Lauaki and Stephen Donald truly shine as they dominated all aspects of the game.

Auckland first five-eighths Lachie Munro scored the first points of the evening as he kicked an easy penalty in front of a very local home crowd.

Waikato was straight back on the offensive however and scored a brilliant try through wing Tim Mikkelson on the back of some impressive backline play.

Donald successfully added the extra points as Waikato took the 7-3 lead after 12 minutes.

After having to valiantly defend its tryline, Auckland then ran in a try against the run of play when centre Ben Atiga slid over the line and put Auckland back in front.

A collapsed scrum right in front of the Auckland posts resulted in a penalty and allowed Donald to add three more points and reclaim the lead after 22 minutes of play.

Waikato was looking the far more dangerous of the sides as it chipped away at Auckland and started to create some real pressure.

Big Mooloo No. 8 Lauaki looked to have finally found some form as he threw himself into the game and terrorised the visitors with his outstanding tackle-breaking and ball-running abilities.

Donald was able to show his class when his chip kick and re-gather paid off and he scored Waikato's second of the night.

The 17-8 score remained the same for the res t of the half with Waikato looking confident going into the break.

It took 10 minutes in the second half before Donald slotted another penalty and boosted the points buffer to 12 over the defending champs.

Lauaki then showed all he was capable of when he stole a ball from a ruck and then sprinted down field before passing to second five-eighths Callum Bruce who scored Waikato's fourth of the evening.

Donald kicked the extra two and took the score to 27-8 with just under 30 minutes left in the game.

Munro was able to pick up a crucial try for Auckland in the 68th minute when he was flicked a good pass and used the overlap to score in the corner.

Although time was working against Auckland, the visitors put together some of its best play of the evening in the dying stages of the game.

It was Waikato that had the final say of the night when Lauaki drew a man and passed to lightening quick winger Soseni Anesi who sprinted down the sideline before passing inside to hooker Ole Avei who scored.

Donald converted the try just moments before the fulltime whistle and Waikato claimed its first win in 2008.

Waikato 34 (Mikkelson, Donald, Bruce, Avei; Donald 4 con, 2 pen)
Auckland 13 (Atiga, Munro tries; Munro pen)

My New Ride

2008-08-28T14:31:00.002-06:00

With the price of gas going out of sight and our new move I decided to purchase a scooter to save some money.

Waikato still positive

2008-08-05T23:13:00.002-06:00

Kiwi rugby fans were provided with the first Air New Zealand Cup upset of the year last Thursday when Waikato was downed 18-10 by a spirited Northland side in Whangarei, and was not the only heavyweight side to be toppled by a minnow team in the opening round.

Canterbury was soon beaten 25-24 by Manawatu and defending champions and Ranfurly Shield holders Auckland was beaten 17-6 by a Counties Manakau side that didn't notch up a single win in the 2007 season.

New Waikato first five-eighths Callum Bruce was not at all disheartened by the result and said he and his teammates have taken a lot of positives from the match.

"It ended up just being the simple things that let us down," he said.

"We played the better rugby though. If you look at the stats on possession and territory we were the better team, we just blew it with silly mistakes close to the line."

Although it was clear that Waikato was the dominant team in the match, Bruce admitted that the weather and style of play ended up hugely in Northland's favour.

"The conditions really suited the way they wanted to play, but we have taken heaps from the game and are all looking forward to continuing on with the rest of the season," said Bruce.

"[David] Holwell played really well and was dictating the game with his kicking."

The rest of the season for Waikato begins with the Mooloo's first home game of the season where it will face a solid looking Tasman side.

Tasman went close to beating Bay of Plenty last weekend and showed it is a team that should definitely not be written off, especially in a competition that, so far, has been littered with upsets.

Twenty-five-year-old Bruce said he is aware of the challenges that lie ahead in the Tasman clash and said the team has been preparing in much the same way it did for Northland.

"They have a big forward pack that looked good last week so we will approach this weekend the same way we did last the last game," he said.

Bruce is a recent addition to the Waikato squad and is looking comfortable in his red, black and yellow striped number 10 jersey and said he is glad he made the move.

Bruce was drafted to the Hamilton-based Chiefs Rebel Sport Super 14 team for the 2008 season after playing 22 games for the Highlanders and representing Otago at provincial level in 24 games.

"I'm really enjoying my time with Waikato," he said.

"I had a good season with the Chiefs and obviously that helped my decision to stay and play for Waikato.

"It's a really professional outfit here and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

Recent talks of a European style trans-Tasman competition that would spell the end for both the Super 14 and Air New Zealand Cup would severely impact players like Bruce who use these competitions as a gateway to higher honours.

New Zealand representative teams such as the All Blacks and New Zealand Maori (who Bruce played for this year) are usually selected from the Super 14, whose players are most often selected from the Air New Zealand Cup.

Bruce said that he hasn't given the proposed format much thought but was confident the right choice would eventually be made.

"I know that whatever decision is made will be the right one for the players," he said.

"I still think we need to stick with something close to the Super 14 though.

"It means that players get to experience rugby at a high level and when they get selected for the All Blacks or whatever it won't be too much of a big step."

All Blacks call in Toeava

2008-08-05T23:10:00.003-06:00

Auckland's Isaia Toeava will join the All Blacks squad for the South African leg of the Philips Tri Nations.

Toeava returns to the All Blacks as an injury replacement for fullback Leon MacDonald who is making a gradual return from concussion.

Meanwhile wing Rudi Wulf will not travel to Cape Town as the All Blacks selectors have opted to include three halfbacks in the 26-man travelling squad, a decision that will see Wellington’s Piri Weepu fly out with the team on Friday morning.

Weepu is also set to play in Thursday night’s Air New Zealand Cup match against a North Harbour team that will feature fellow All Black Anthony Tuitavake on the wing.

“Isaia is currently at fullback for Auckland and has played there previously at the international and the Rebel Sport Super 14 level,” said All Blacks coach Graham Henry. “He’s also got the ability to play elsewhere in the backline which is helpful when we are a long way from home.

“Leon is improving, but the medical advice is to take things slowly,” Henry added. “He’ll gradually get back into exercise and then training and then may look to play an Air New Zealand Cup match.”

While Wulf sprained an MCL in provincial rugby last week, he could be able to resume training this week. However, the All Blacks needed to omit a player from the travelling squad, Henry noted, and Wulf’s injury question mark tipped the decision.

Hikairo Forbes - LDS return missionary signs with Waikato

2008-08-05T01:04:00.002-06:00

"Hikairo would have played the other day but he became a father on Tuesday and that took precedence," said Hanks, who expressed confidence Forbes would do a good job despite his complete lack of experience at this level. The Hamilton-born 2004 New Zealand Secondary Schools representative has been known for his outstanding mobility and ball-carrying ability since his school days at Church College of New Zealand. (LDS High School located next to the Temple)

"Hikairo is someone who was identified as a schoolboy as someone having potential," Hanks said.

After school, Hikairo went on his Mormon mission. He returned last year. Last November, he joined the Waikato high performance programme, training fulltime under trainer Wally Rifle, playing for Hautapu and earning this week's start. "He and Josh Hohneck have both brought ball-carrying ability to the team and are both also good defenders," Hanks said.

Mark your Calendars

2008-08-05T00:49:00.002-06:00

Heartland XV to tour the United States

New Zealand's best heartland provincial rugby players will undertake a tour of the United States in November, the New Zealand Rugby Union confirmed today.

The New Zealand Heartland XV side, selected from players competing in the AA Rewards Heartland Championship, is scheduled to play two games on their first tour of the United States ¬– against a Pacific Coast XV and a USA Select XV.

The final game against the USA Select XV will be played in Salt Lake City, Utah to open the city’s new stadium on 8 November.

NZRU General Manager Professional Rugby Neil Sorensen said the New Zealand Heartland XV side represented the best of the country’s heartland players.

“Selection to this team is recognition for their outstanding performances in the AA Rewards Heartland Championship. The tour to the United States is a fantastic opportunity for these players to represent their country and wear a black jersey.

“At the same time, the tour also underlines the NZRU’s commitment to supporting rugby development in that part of the world. Over the last few years the New Zealand Maori and New Zealand Sevens teams have both played in the United States where rugby continues to grow and we are delighted to contribute to that growth,” he said.

New Zealand Heartland XV match schedule
4 November: Pacific Coast XV in San Francisco
8 November: USA Select XV in Salt Lake City

2008-08-05T00:47:00.000-06:00

Waikato 10 - Northland 18

2008-08-05T00:41:00.002-06:00

The Mooloo men went down to Northland 18-10 in the opening game of the Air New Zealand Cup held at Okara Park in Whangarei tonight.

Northland had not beaten Waikato since 1999.

Northland led the way in the 80 minute encounter, leading 13- 3 at half time.

Waikato's only try of the night was scored by Sione Lauaki who came off the bench early in the second half. Sosene Anesi unfortunately had a try denied by the Television Match Official ten minutes from full time.

How the Air New Zealand Cup sides shape up

2008-08-05T00:36:00.002-06:00

Air New Zealand Cup premiership teams at a glance (* denotes new head coach):

AUCKLAND

NPC Champions: 1982; 84-85; 87-90; 93-96; 99; 2002-03; 05; 07

2007: Champions and Ranfurly Shield holders

Coach: Pat Lam - mid-season replacement to be named

Prospects: Unbeatable last season, it doesn't appear so easy this year. An entire starting line-up has either relocated or retired, a gigantic 619 games worth of provincial experience - and nine All Blacks. Inexperienced first five-eighths Lachie Munro will guide an inexperienced forward pack - Daniel Braid is the solitary All Black - around the park. Coach Pat Lam departs after round five to focus on the Blues, adding a possible impediment to continuity. Will be keen to utilise their three current All Blacks - Keven Mealamu, Jerome Kaino and John Afoa - if and when available.

BAY OF PLENTY

NPC Champions: 1976

2007: 13th

Coach: Kevin Schuler

Prospects: Things are grim off the field, and will struggle to gain break-even on it. The union is battling financially, so much so that head office staff face redundancy after recording a $915,000 loss. Front row bookends Ben Castle and Simms Davison have headed to France, another big loss. Arden David and Joe Savage, bit part players with Wellington B and North Harbour respectively fill those experienced voids. Pivot Murray Williams has drifted to Japan though Highlanders draft player Mike Delaney is an adequate replacement to run a backline bolstered by the acquisition of sevens stars Zar Lawrence and Nigel Hunt.

CANTERBURY

NPC Champions: 1977; 83; 97; 2001; 04.

2007: Beaten semifinalists

Coach: Rob Penney

Prospects: For all the Crusaders' Super 14 dominance, the same success has rarely been replicated by Canterbury in the provincial competition. During the Deans dynasty, Canterbury won the domestic title just twice - coach Rob Penney has his third attempt this year with a squad that appears as well-equipped as any. Despite missing a bevvy of internationals the roster is still laden with experience and in new captain Kieran Read and Stephen Brett they have a couple of All Blacks-in-waiting.

Read has Japan-bound seasoned pro Mose Tuiali'i in a loose trio which sees Hayden Hopgood and George Whitelock lined up as Richie McCaw's understudy.

COUNTIES-MANUKAU

NPC Champions: 1979.

2007: 14th

Coach: Greg Aldous *

Prospects: If there truly is no place like home, then Counties-Manukau should anticipate emerging from the cellar with a new coach, new signings and the security of a solid financial footing. Repositioned back at Pukekohe - for the daytime kick-offs at least - one of the thriftiest unions may be about the reap some rewards. The Steelers have brought in some key personnel. Pivot Tasesa Lavea, front rower Lance Po-ching and national sevens captain DJ Forbes have arrived from Auckland, while former Blues and Highlanders midfielder Romi Ropati is back after an extended OE in Japan, France and Italy. Lelia Masaga is a trump card while fellow wing Frank Halai has been mentioned as the next Jonah Lomu.

HAWKE'S BAY

NPC, second division winners: 1979; 88-90; 2001-03; 05.

2007: Beaten semifinalists

Coach: Peter Russell

Prospects: Will the fairytale continue? Unscripted semifinalists last year, Hawke's Bay have been the real winners since the provincial rugby competition was revamped, freeing them from second division domination. Conquerors of Wellington and Waikato (twice) last year, the Magpies have a similar squad led by the evergreen Danny Lee. Crucially, a select few have had a season of Super rugby under their belts: speedster Zac Guildford, imposing prop Clint Newland, New Zealand Maori hooker Hikawera Elliott and pack workhorse Michael Johnson.

MANAWATU

NPC champions: 1980.

2007: 12th

Coach: Dave Rennie

Prospects: Another province fearful for the future given the competition format is ripe for review, Manawatu can at least point to gradual improvement after they understandably propped up the table in 2006. The Turbos finished 12th last year, the product of a strong work ethic - openside flanker Josh Bradknock personified the collective effort from an undersized pack. Hayden Triggs was recognised with a second Super 14 contract while Johnny Leota joined Highlanders. Argentine fullback Francisco Bosch will add flair from the rear for a third season.

NORTH HARBOUR

NPC: second division winners: 1987.

2007: 9th

Coach: Wayne Pivac

Prospects: After missing the playoffs and surrendering the Ranfurly Shield with barely a whimper, North Harbour have an easy act to follow this season. An unprecedented representation in the All Blacks has a downside as the loss, for however long, of Rudi Wulf, Anthony Tuitavake, Anthony Boric will be keenly felt, as will No 8 Nick Williams' season-ending shoulder surgery. Jimmy Gopperth, on loan from Wellington, and Chris Smylie, back home from Otago, should at least add some stability behind a scrum sure to be tutored wisely by academy coach Craig Dowd.

NORTHLAND

NPC: Second division winners: 1977, 1997.

2007: 10th

Coach: Marc Anscombe

Prospects: Northland will be grateful veterans David Holwell and Justin Collins are available to impart their wisdom to a squad featuring a dozen new faces. The northerly drift has also bit in Whangarei with nuggety halfback Corey Tamou now in France while one-season Crusader No 8 Jake Paringatai is plying his trade in Japan. Daniel Bowden has headed in the opposite direction - to Dunedin, further emphasising Holwell's importance on the paddock. Fetu'u Vainikolo, who made the return journey after an impressive Super 14 debut with the Highlanders, will be expected to provide a fair share of the five-pointers.

OTAGO

NPC Champions: 1991; 98.

2007: Beaten quarterfinalists

Coach: Steve Martin

Prospects: By Otago standards the player exodus has been relatively languid for a change. The damage was done last year, to the Highlanders at least, but Steve Martin's side has a settled look to it. Inside backs Callum Bruce and Charlie Hore have departed, while wing Matt Saunders in now a Southlander but promising Northlander Daniel Bowden has struck around since the Super 14 to slot in at first five-eighths. Waikato loose forward Steven Setephano will be anticipating more minutes on the field since his move from flanker-clogged Waikato while wing Lucky Mulipola has been signed from a fracturing Tasman.

SOUTHLAND

NPC: second division winners, 1989; 94; 96.

2007: Beaten quarterfinalists

Coach: David Henderson/Simon Culhane

Prospects: At long last the Stags might have a backline to complement another typically rugged pack. Guilty of being a tad three dimensional in the past - scoring options revolved around a Paul Miller barge, Jimmy Cowan snipe or Blair Stewart penalty. With Miller long gone and Cowan on All Blacks duty, Southland have assembled an encouraging back division with Stewart and James Wilson at pivot and fullback, New Zealand Maori Jason Kawau in midfield while Matt Saunders has winged in from Dunedin. Prop Chris King has also transferred from Otago to occupy Clarke Dermody's tighthead spot. With Cowan expected to be rarely sighted, halfback duties fall to his brother Scott and Dane Shelford, son of late Kiwis prop Adrian. Hoani MacDonald, in his farewell season before heading to Wales, will be expected to secure a steady stream on lineout ball.

TARANAKI

NPC: second division winners, 1976; 82-85; 92; 95.

2007: Beaten quarterfinalists

Coach: Adrian Kennedy *

Prospects: One of five new coaches in the competition, Kennedy has a wide-ranging CV having spent time in South Africa and English club Saracens. He takes over from provincial legend Kieran Crowley and inherits the standard confrontational forward pack, albeit one with a more expressive component. Taranaki's loose forward stocks have been replenished by the arrival of Wellingtonian Alex Tulou and another potentially damaging offloader Taisina Tuifua. A strong club season should also see Nemia Soqueta, brother of the rangy Tomasi, feature. Kennedy has lured Saracens lock Tom Ryder south though the Hurricanes second row duo of Craig Clarke and Jason Eaton is well-established. The competition is key for Eaton who has clearly dropped down the All Blacks' pecking order. Behind the pack, former Waikato utility Willie Ripia looms as an astute - and necessary - buy.

TASMAN

New team in 2006 from the amalgamation of Marlborough and Nelson Bays.

2007: 11th

Coach: Todd Blackadder *

Prospects: At risk of becoming the new Central Vikings, Tasman represents rugby's equivalent of an arranged marriage beset with irreconcilable differences. The union's decision to sell off Blenheim's Lansdowne Park to help clear debts of $4 million has prompted widespread anger in Marlborough; partner Nelson Bays are considering splitting and joining Buller. Propped up by the Canterbury Rugby Union, their benefactor has recalled last year's captain and hooker Ti'i Paulo to Christchurch while prop Ben May has signed with Waikato from next season - an indication of where the player's feel the union may be going. Todd Blackadder, named as Robbie Deans' successor at the Crusaders, could hardly start his New Zealand coaching career in a more challenging environment.

WAIKATO

Champions: 1992, 2006.

2007: Beaten quarterfinalists

Coach: Tony Hanks *

Prospects: A year older, a year wiser - that could be the mantra of the Waikato squad under Warren Gatland's promoted assistant Tony Hanks. With injuries causing havoc Gatland had no choice but to call on the likes of midfielders Roimata Hansell-Pune and Jackson Willison; Hanks will be hoping the relative rookies are better for the experience. Hard hit by a significant representation in the All Blacks - including first timers Stephen Donald and Richard Kahui - Waikato conscripted Otago discard Callum Bruce and Kevin O'Neill in the off-season. Tom Willis, Marty Holah and Steven Bates are overseas and Jono Gibbes has retired but Liam Messam is still on hand, ever hopeful of a place on the All Blacks' end of year tour.

WELLINGTON

NPC Champions: 1978; 81; 86; 2000.

2007: Runners-up

Coach: Jamie Joseph *

Prospects: Can the abrasive former All Blacks hardman take Wellington to the top? Jamie Joseph takes over the top job from Aussie McLean with the intention of taking Wellington a step further after they have been the losing finalists in each of the Air New Zealand Cup finals. Youth was a focal point when the initial 27-man squad was named. The polarising Jimmy Gopperth has been jettisoned to North Harbour, leaving under-20s World Cup winner Daniel Kirkpatrick under pressure as the first choice pivot though Piri Weepu might deputise from time to time. Wing is a concern with Hosea Gear the only specialist named - thanks to Ma'a Nonu's All Blacks' rebirth and Shannon Paku's departure. Joseph is hoping to gain dispensation to field 18-year-old Buxton Popoali'i. Fortunately the pack still has a hard edge to it, with or without the All Blacks. Jacob Ellison, Ross Filipo, Jeremy Thrush and Thomas Waldrom should ensure Wellington are rarely outmuscled.