I link to my blogger friend, Fi, quite a bit. She resides in New Zealand with her other harf and Miss 8.8, their lovely daughter. I wonder why "Zealand" doesn't pass my spellchecker. Well, didn't. Her musings and picturesque images from the gorgeous New Zealand countryside are always delightful.
I also link to the New Zealand Herald, which is my favorite non-US newspaper, because it has articles like this one ... from tomorrow. 
Also from New Zealand, the Mutton Birds are a band that never quite made it. Not sure why. They do a rousing rendition of Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper for the soundtrack of the movie, The Frighteners. The video below is one of their original songs. It's called A Thing Well Made. Very unusual on many levels. I like it a lot.
And, finally, another connection between a blogger friend and New Zealand. Check out What's A Delmer Look Like? from Friday. Never heard of All Left Out either but I like the YouTube clip posted there. I hope they make it. They're living the rock n roll dream, paying their dues touring America in a van.
New Zealand is high on my list of places to visit when I retire or hit the Powerball.
And, now, for something completely different: No baseball to watch today. LSU took care of Rice yesterday and the Tigers are heading to Omaha. They'll play the winner of today's rubber game between Virginia and Ole Miss. They know nothing about Virginia but they are familiar with the very tough Rebels. They won two of three from Ole Miss at the Box earlier this year, which means absolutely nothing now. It goes without saying that Omaha is pleased with LSU's presence in the tournament. The Tiger faithful will be there in force pouring money into local coffers. Tiger fans will outnumber the rest. They always do.
Today's QOTD describes the scene yesterday when Rice's Anthony Rendon went down with an injury. I mentioned him yesterday, which was his 19th birthday. I'm sure he'll never forget it. He's a terrific kid. He came back out to the dugout on crutches with his ankle heavily bandaged and cheered his team on. The constant smile on his face didn't go away even then. Get well soon, Anthony. I'm delighted I got to see you play.
I offer one from the CrabAppleLane back deck on this glorious Sunday.
CrabAppleLane Tomatoes - June 7, 2009
Quote of the Day
The Owls were dealt a huge blow in the top of the second. National Freshman of the Year Anthony Rendon was injured chasing down a foul on the left side. He got tangled up with shortstop Rick Hague who was also attempting to make a play on the ball. The two Owls collided and Rendon went down. He had to be carried off the field by teammates Mark Haynes and Andrew Benak.
Houston Chronicle
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Tomato Kurma"
Looks good but I have no idea what some of those ingredients are or what flavor they add. -Rob
Wow, those look delicious. Good luck to the Tigers this week.
Thanks, Dave. Didn't get to them tonight. Tomorrow night perhaps. Tigers get red hot Virginia next weekend.
Hi Rob, thanks so much for the Kiwi linkage, life is really making me smile at the moment, it's great
So glad to hear you like our NZ Herald (Swideswipe is a fav of mine too) - I used to work for APN who own it along with lots of other NZ and Australian media/publications before the job I just quit - funny enough my "new opportunity" is working back with them - I was headhunted for a brand new position! It all just fell into place.
It goes without saying you are always welcome here if you ever do make it downunder
You're quite welcome, Fi. Glad things are working out for you.
I'm a big fan of The Frighteners -- I watch it whenever I stumble across it on the TV. I'll have to see if I can find The Mutton Bird's version of Don't Fear the Reaper on YouTube.
I'm a big fan, too, Delmer. I have the soundtrack CD. That's really the only song on it that I like.