Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

lossy Aussie men's magazine Ralph is closing down after 13 years in print, after struggling in the competitive print magazine marketplace. Changing tastes have lifted Zoo Weekly to the most popular men's mag with young Australian men.

The July 2010 edition of Ralph will be the final print version of the magazine, although the brand is expected to continue through an online presence.

The magazine launched back in 1997, with the honour of being the last Ralph covergirl has gone to 20 year old Sydney babe Clare Werbeloff - better known to most people as the "Chk Chk Boom Girl".

Werbeloff became an internet celebrity, after a TV news clip of her giving a hilarious eyewitness account of a shooting outside a King Cross nightclub became a viral hit.

Her account was later revealed to be false, apparently made in the heat of the moment after a drunken night on the town. Werbeloff told reporters, "I didn’t think it would blow out of proportion like this".


* Ralph - Chk Chk Boom babe Clare Werbeloff

- Can't remember Clare the Kings Cross bogan's eyewitness story?...

“There were these two wogs fighting, The fatter wog said to the skinnier wog: ‘Oi bro, you slept with my cousin’.
And the other one said: ‘Nah man, I didn’t for shit, eh’ and the other one goes: ‘I will call on my fully sick boys, eh’.
And then pulled out a gun and went chk-chk boom!”

Pure class!  Werbeloff is now also working on the Australian version of the TV show The Real Hustle for the Nine network.

There were big celebrations in Dunedin on Saturday night, as the All Blacks beat the Welsh 42-9 in their final rugby test at Carisbrook ground.

Earlier that day, their naked rugby counterparts the Nude Blacks beat rivals the Welsh Leeks at Logan Park ground (an unofficial score had the result as 20-15).

It's currently winter in Dunedin (in the South Island of New Zealand), but it was an unseasonally day for this year's nude rugby game, which attracted its largest ever crowd. Over a thousand spectators (including students, couples, and families) turned out to watch the fun and cheer on the brave players.

Veteran local player Dave Bourke again led the Nude Blacks in the 7th Bottom Bus Nude Rugby International, while visiting newcomer Johnny Morris captained the Welsh Leeks.

Former All Blacks John Timu and Richard Lowe acted as the (fully clothed) referees for the game, which featured all the traditional nude rugby elements, including a nude haka, a clothed streaker, a staged brawl, and a toilet-seat trophy.


A female nude streaker also got in on the action this year, being persuaded to stay in join in the game and take part in a lineout.

She then managed to score a try for the Nude Blacks, rejoining the action later as a naked cop to arrest an ill-disciplined clothed streaker.



* More info & photos here: 7th Annual Nude Rugby International (Part 2)...

The Nude Blacks continued their winning streak in Dunedin this past weekend, and have now won all 7 naked rugby test victories (5 on the beach, 2 on grass).

The popular annual event is an unofficial curtain raiser to All Blacks test matches staged in Dunedin. It's organised by New Zealand local touring companies Bottom Bus and Headfirst Travel, and features a mix of Otago students and visiting players.

* Also see: Nude Rugby Attracts Big Crowd in Dunedin...

Is that constant buzzing noise during the FIFA World Cup matches doing your head in yet?

As football fans are learning, the sound isn't coming from a swarm of angry bees or locusts, that buzzing is apparently a "musical instrument" (of sorts).

South African fans are used to the colourful plastic horns known as Vuvuzelas (or Lepatata in the Setswana language), which they say sound like a herd of charging elephants. The stadium horns are about a metre long, and produce an annoyingly loud high-pitched noise which many people say is drowning out the usual singing and other match atmosphere.

The instruments have long been a feature at South African sports games, and apparently require some lip and lung strength to blow and produce the loud monotone note. (A similar kind of plastic horn is also common in Latin America).

The vuvuzelas have been slammed by everyone from the international footballers, through to the visiting fans, and the broadcasters trying to cover the matches at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa (who say it drowns out the commentators).

Soccer fans have described the noise from the horns as "mindless" and "excruciating", with petitions and Facebook groups being set up calling for them to be banned at the event.
There was talk in the media that the World Cup organising committee was considering banning the noisy trumpets, but they have since confirmed that won't be happening. They have however asked crowds not to use vuvuzelas during national anthems or during other spoken announcements.

However Fifa president Sepp Blatter claims the vuvuzela-haters just don't understand African culture, and he reckons it adds to the atmosphere in South Africa.

For the technically minded, the droning sound can sometimes be reduced or cancelled out on modern TVs, by adjusting the sound settings to drop a specific frequency. You can even buy an 'Anti Vuvuzela Filter', which claims to cancel out the sound of the horns.

* NZ Herald - FIFA World Cup: Ban vuvuzelas, say football fans
* Guardian.co.uk - Vuvuzelas set to soundtrack tournament
* Pocket-link - How to cancel out the vuvuzela on your TV

Have the blokes out there got a favourite cologne? For me it's definitely Abercrombie & Fitch's popular cologne Fierce (a version of which they spritz on the clothes they sell in stores), followed closely by Hollister's SoCal (another familiar smell, thanks to more in-store clothes spritzing).

On the other hand if you're looking for a cougar, you might be better off going for something more traditional, like Cool Water by Davidoff or Diesel Fuel for Life.

But watch out next time you go tramping in the jungles of Guatemala, and leave your CK at home!  Biologists tracking and photographing jaguars in Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve have found the big cats are big fans of the Calvin Klein cologne Obsession for Men.
The cologne is used to attract jaguars to their camera traps, and follows research by scientists at New York's Bronx Zoo. They tested out 23 different fragrances on cheetahs there, with Obsession for Men holding the big cats' attention for the longest time.

* Reuters - Scientists use Calvin Klein cologne to lure jaguars