New Hampshire’s rugby team, Amoskeag Rugby, recently took first place in the Premier division in the Can-Am Rugby Tournament in Saranac, N.Y., for the first time. Two years ago, the team placed second. The team has played for the past 25 years with various divisions, such as the Old Boys (usually players over 35), the youth division and the Premier division. Last year the team placed second in the New England Football Union Division one. Chris Pierce, 34, is one of Amoskeag’s captains. He’s played rugby since he was 20. During the day, Pierce, married with a three-year-old daughter, is a physical therapist. At night, he’s a rugged rugby player. The regular season starts on Sept. 8. For a complete schedule: www.amoskeagrugby.com.

Rochelle Beaudoin, 25, grew up in Berlin, N.H. When the last paper mill there was closed in 2006 to be demolished, it left a vast hole in a northern town that had always been known for the paper and forestry industries. The upheaval and uncertainty about the future inspired Beaudoin’s plan for a project for a data landscape class at Rhode Island Institute of Design. She realized the idea was too big to pull off — it involved GPS transmission of audio recordings of locals’ memories, hopes, etc., digitally mapped around the empty mill site which visitors would hear as they wandered through wearing headphones.

You don’t have to buy a plane ticket and worry about the weather in order to enjoy the tastes and sounds of the Caribbean. They’re all in Manchester’s backyard. The annual African/Caribbean Celebration happens this Saturday, Aug. 25, at Veterans Park, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Anyone know why the manager or coach is ALWAYS wrong?

Yes, I know second-guessing is part of the game. But, even though it stands to reason that no one, not even Rush Limbaugh, can be wrong 100 percent of the time, when things go wrong coaches always are. Except of course when the public agrees and things go right. Then they are brilliant.

Mac purists who can’t stand anything other than a simple one-button mouse might want to turn the page right now.

One thing laptops have never been able to get quite right is the mouse. When you’re going for portability, a little orb hanging off the side ain’t gonna cut it for any manufacturer trying to sell their model, so pointing devices have mostly been of the integrated variety. You got your touchpads, which take some getting used to and require a delicate finger. Then there are those little nubs in the middle of the keyboard, sort of like miniature, fingertip-only joysticks.

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