OLRG: Haka Style (and Forty-Beats #32)

Oh, New Zealand. With your Hobbits and wizards, sheep, Peter Jacksons, glowworm caves and starry nights. Now you give the world this? Will your generosity ever cease?

Thank You, NZ

Now now, before you start accusing me of objectification of the male form, casual sexism reversal, hey, I appreciate the human form in all its glory. If these nice gentlemen want to take off their shirts and perform a haka celebratory victory dance in the rain, who am I to judge? They are making the world a better place (fans self Southern lady style saying, "Oh my stars!" Dies of blushing).

So what lame excuse or rationalization can I write to show how football haka men relate to Old Ladies Raiding Guild? Cymre did a great write up, so I don't need to give away too many more notes. (She also nominated me for Liebster, and I think Navimie did too, but you guys know way too much about me already.) ANYWAY (*fanning furiously*) Oh yeah….connections. Relevance. Drawing conclusions and whatnot.

Okay- Old Ladies. So last night we tried it Horde side, and I'm sorry Tome missed it - I am sure she has some family needs (love to you, Tome). It was "interesting" to me how many of my battletag buddies jumped on board when it was Horde side. I was telling young leet druid that it seems that those on the Horde side have much more strong allegiance to Horde than Alliance does to Alliance. Has anyone else noticed that? Personally, I couldn't care less. What I care about more is when people say "I could care less." NO! NO I TELL YOU! *Hits you with a hard-bound grammar book* Anyway, as usual I gave everyone assist so they could invite friends, and some took me up on that. What I failed to do, because I didn't think it was necessary, was give everyone a run-down on culture norms. Not rules, not strict guidelines -- norms. Those unspoken expectations that need to be spoken, otherwise the chance of stepped-on-toes debuff and the chiding-matronly-voice spell activate and then people get cranky.

So, let me spell it out: if you bring a friend, please let them know this is a group of close friends, grown ups, who play the game in a different way. We do not rush through old content, we are a tour bus. If you act like Beavis and Butthead Do America and you're tagging along because "you're bored," please go find something else to do. But let me restate: if you're interested in getting to know some other amazing folks in and out of Azeroth, of seeing old and new content, of making your achievement and mog gear dreams come true, we are your group, and you're more than welcome. We have over 100 years of collective play experience combined, many veteran and heroic raiders in the group, who know this game inside and out. Please bring your knowledge, too, and kindness and sense of wonder. That's all you need to pack.

So: next Saturday - I want to do an Alliance run first through Firelands, Ulduar, and maybe one newer content, and then a Horde run if possible. Maybe we can start at 3PM for the Alliance side? I promised Amerpriest Ulduar, and I mistakingly thought she had a Horde character, and felt terrible that I disappointed such a sweet lady. Or, how about this? We do Ulduar Alliance next week, and then switch to Horde for some tasty Firelands gear? Kellanyx is now a red-head, and she makes no apologies for being totally hot. Just like those footballers make no apologies, either.

See you then!