Ok we are ready for kick off! Queensland kicks off, caught by New South Wales and the first tackle is on the 10m line.
We've been playing for 23 seconds and no score yet. It could still go either way. Penalty to NSW, not sure what for.
Queensland got the ball and was tackled in goal but QLD got the ball back. And now Queensland has got a penalty. Queensland has knocked on the ball and NSW has picked up the ball.
Now New South Wales has had a rough tackle and knocked on, but we didn't see it live only on replay because the TV was at a replay when it happened and the commentators saying we could stay at a replay all night. Yeah no.
The other big event that happened today was Harry Potter 6 opened at the cinema.
Oh wow, Greg Inglis has just taken a pretty amazing catch from the kick, he had a Blue on him the whole jump and juggled the ball all the way down.
Now Queensland got a break and then ran ages and then NSW intercepted it and immediately knocked it on. I think as Gus would say, he was simply "outorigined". And with that segway I should remind everyone on Twitter to tag your origin tweets either #maroonwash or #shutupgus or both.
In what has started looking dangerously like becoming a knockonathon the Blues got the ball back and then completed a set and kicked it dead.
8 and a half minutes gone now. Ok, I don't know what happened there, was it another knock on? There was a lot of kicking along the ground, but the ball never went dead because a NSW boy grabbed it and got advantage and ran for 0th tackle. But that set came to an end with, you guessed it, a knock on.
Queensland has recieved a penalty now, not sure why. Third penalty this game already.
And an end of set kick has gone low, 2 Blues fell over trying to grab it, a Queenslander fell over trying to grab it and then another Queenslander came across from behind and put it down for a try with his chest. In total, in order to score this try 4 people have fallen over. Though it was less his chest as his groin that grounded it, having seen another replay. Video ref has given the green light:
QLD 4 - 0 NSW
That has been converted! QLD 6 - 0 NSW.
That was strange it was a benefit of the doubt try allowance. Just because the man's man put it down just mean he didn't score.
The Blues are now attacking but somehow QLD got the ball back just in time to prevent a try. I guess I should pay more attention to the TV and less the the party and more accurately Cailie.
Hard tackles all round and someone is being escorted from the field. Another Blue break and he looked to have miles of room to run but somehow he was still caught. NSW got a new set of 6 but the player didn't hear and kicked it anyway!
Gus says NSW shouldn't panic because depsite the score they are mentally winning the game, and despite agreeing with him: shut up Gus!
And a New South Welshmen has crossed the goal line, but he has dropped it. It looks like he dropped it but still applied pressure. Awarded the try.
QLD 6 - 4 NSW.
Michael Ennis, on debut, has converted, QLD 6 - 6 NSW.
Another interception to give the Blues the ball. It has been declared forward pass so QLD gets a scrum feed though. Queenslander in a 1 under 4 tackle still ran 15m. Now after the kick we are going to get a line drop out so Queensland will get a repeat set. There is a Maroon on the ground though, a Blue came and hit him in the head after he had disposed of the ball.
High tackle by the Blues and a fight ensues. While the referee is standing 5m away, yeah great time to pick a fight guys.
Attacking the line QLD comes up with some cool passing but it results in a knock on. Blue penalty for something.
A Blue just tried to play the ball, but the guy behind him jumped on his back and started a fight. It broke up itself though, was played and maybe something else and somehow QLD has got the ball.
Someone is going to be killed at this rate.
Did he dropped that or kicked it? If a kick he scored a try. No, he dropped it, so no try. It was actually a strip but the ref doesn't seem to care so New South Wales gets a scrum feed.
And a Blue guy has played the ball forward. He was facing the right way and everything, but he kicked it forward rather than backward, 3 maroons jumped on it but it will be a scrum rather than an advantage that probably would have seen a try.
And now Queensland, making another attack has knocked it on in a very spectacular way. The ball is very slippery in fact everything is slippery as proved by a QLD player falling over mid run. It is very dewey tonight, getting down to 7 degrees.
Justin Hodges may have scored the try of the century here. Ok, he dropped it, but he was in mid air upside down trying to put it down with one hand. It wasn't a try but it should get a 3 point consolation for spectacularity.
Now NSW has run the length of the field, a brilliant kick, straight to the centre of the field to an onside player in miles of room but the ball has hit the upright and bounced back long enough for a QLD player to grab it and get rid of it.
Then after more running Billy Slater grabs it and as good as hands it to a NSW player and now everyone has just put the ball down and left it. What's happening? Nobody knows. New South Wales appears to have scored a try. Well that explains it. Yes, after years of replays it has been given a benefit of the doubt try. Now they are looking at giving a penalty, this could be an 8 point try.
The crowd is hating this is just steady booing. NSW gets the first conversion. Second conversion is successful so that is 8 points.
QLD 6 - 14 NSW.
Nicely Channel 9 let us miss the first 2 tackles because of an ad break. The penalty was because Thurston kicked the guy in the head after the try was scored. As the commentators say it was instinctive rather than deliberate but he was put on report anyway.
Now a change over and the Blues get the ball, but the players were trying to pack a scrum. They don't know what is happening, they just want to have fun.
Hayne about to score a try but was just tackled and mid tackle the siren blows so that is the end of the half.
Queensland 6 - 14 New South Wales.
It being half time I should address the comments from last game.
I am very happy to have got the comments, I know I only replied to the first one but I am thankful to everyone who commented. It is really great to know I'm entertaining people and I hope this game I've been more informative. Really great guys.
Now, half time, I'm off for food and some exotic drink I have been told to have from last game. Yummy! See you in 20 minutes.
Ok it is now the 52nd minute and I'm sorry to have missed the first 10 minutes, I was drinking and then we saw the warning for a tsunami coming to get us, so I went to Google News and then BoM and read all about the tsunami. Tsunami is unlikely to hit but if it does it will hit somewhere or everywhere in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmanian coast some times between 9:30pm (now) and midnight.
In the football though Queensland has just scored a try which is their second this half and New South Wales got one earlier too. Thurston converts this one, he missed the last one pretty badly.
Queensland 16 - 20 New South Wales.
Another knockonathon and now Queensland has the ball with 6 more. Tackles that is not balls, one ball is enough for a game like this.
Queensland is becoming the walking dead again from injury now.
Something went wrong and play stopped then play started and NSW kicked on the first tackle, so QLD now has the ball and now we've got a penalty as well.
Queensland has almost scored but it ended with a knock on. New South Wales came in with a leg and prevented it, which if the last half was anything to go on means we get an 8 point try, but instead the Blues get the ball and play continues.
Queensland had the ball and were looking good and then knocked on. New South Wales looking menacing now and they score. That is probably going to be game.
According to the newsbar the tsunami warning is now only a maritime threat which is like what I got from the online news.
Gus is dancing around saying it but has just as good as said Queensland are being outorigined. Oh shut up Gus.
Oh now we are having another fight. It's all just grabbing and no punching. One day it will spill up and someone will have their spine pulled out, possibly TF2 style "Oh my God, Oh my God, He has punched out ALL my BLOOD!"
Blue penalty being awarded.
"You called that ripping out my spine, you couldn't... OWW MY SPINE!!"
The men in blue are going for a two point kick. Gets it of course, making the score
QLD 16 - 28 NSW
Record 52439 person crowd in attendance tonight.
Now a penalty to Queensland. Played on. Now tackled, now knocked on. You know Queensland might be able to win this if thy could hold on to the bloody ball!
Those TF2 quotes are from Meet the Sandvich. You should watch it, it is hilarious in a violent teenage boy way. I love that game so much.
A maroon has gone running down the sideline but he had no support and was taken out to touch.
"He has to download..." yes, you thought this was live football but actually it is LAN football. Mwhahahahahahahaha!
Well I never commentate as enthusiastically in the second half as I do in the first, but as New South Wales crosses for another try I should point out this is the first game I've blogged that we've lost. But there is a Maroon on the ground flat on his back and above him a fight is breaking. The referees are both trying to break it up, I think that whoever wins this the ref will lose it.
True, try is yet to be awarded. Ah here we go on replay, the the fight was earlier than that and it had good old fashioned face punching, then th maroon guy was tackled by a second blue guy and now he ain't moving. Now wonder the fight isn't going away this time.
Apparently there is fights in the crowd. No try! Denied because of the fight. The fight is ended but that guy on the ground is still on the ground.
The crowd is throwing their rubbish onto the ground now in protest at something. The dead guy is now on the stretcher. Hmm.. maybe shouldn't call him the dead guy.
Ah, the Blue guy who started it has been sent off! Not that it will make a difference in the 80th minute. Haha, suck it Waterhouse!
So penalty to Queensland at the end of that. Another fight has broken out!
As the older members of the party are saying, fights like this haven't been seen since the 80s. Well this is 2009, so the end of the decade, maybe we are at the end of the clean era, the biff is back!
Now a player from each team is going to the sin bin with 26 seconds left to play.
And as the siren blows the teams rush back in for another fight. They are shaking hands now. How many will have broken hands at the end of it I wonder?
So the final score for the football is:
Queensland 16 - 28 New South Wales.
And in the fighting it is what? About
Queensland 2 - 2 New South Wales.
Well, we lost the game but we had a record winning series and more fights than we've seen since I last remember. (I remember fighting but just not when.)
So I hope this has been good for everyone. The Blues got one over us this once.
I look forward to blogging again next season when Queensland sets a record 5 season wins. Til then, good night, I'm off to eat chocolate and pizza. :-)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A Browser Too Good
For lack of something worthwhile to say here is a thought I had yesterday while searching the web for things to amuse my geekery. (Note: geekery is not a word.)
My web browser of choice is Firefox. I unfortunately have to use Internet Explorer at work and you should all know how much I hate it. I also use Chrome when I'm on the PC largely as a way of testing out how it was so I could write a comparison review of it with Firefox. That review will be posted one day, but I'm taking a very long time to write it.
You'll have to read that review when it comes to know my reasoning, but Firefox is still the better browser, in fact Firefox is the best browser in the world.
The problem is one web browser isn't enough for me. I want heaps of them. Ok, so I've only got two on this computer: Firefox and Safari. But I would like more just so that I can say "look at how many web browsers I have". That just appeals to me for some reason.
I am constantly disappointed though, because it doesn't matter how many great web browsers I find, none of them are better than Firefox. Even as I was looking at Opera and reading through the features and thinking "wow look at this it must be fantastic" I still also though "but Firefox does all these things too."
I guess that is the price you pay for using the best product on the market.
This post has been pretty much meaningless, so to make it worthwhile your reading it, here is an xkcd comic:
Image found at:
http://xkcd.com/198/
My web browser of choice is Firefox. I unfortunately have to use Internet Explorer at work and you should all know how much I hate it. I also use Chrome when I'm on the PC largely as a way of testing out how it was so I could write a comparison review of it with Firefox. That review will be posted one day, but I'm taking a very long time to write it.
You'll have to read that review when it comes to know my reasoning, but Firefox is still the better browser, in fact Firefox is the best browser in the world.
The problem is one web browser isn't enough for me. I want heaps of them. Ok, so I've only got two on this computer: Firefox and Safari. But I would like more just so that I can say "look at how many web browsers I have". That just appeals to me for some reason.
I am constantly disappointed though, because it doesn't matter how many great web browsers I find, none of them are better than Firefox. Even as I was looking at Opera and reading through the features and thinking "wow look at this it must be fantastic" I still also though "but Firefox does all these things too."
I guess that is the price you pay for using the best product on the market.
This post has been pretty much meaningless, so to make it worthwhile your reading it, here is an xkcd comic:
Image found at:
http://xkcd.com/198/
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Online Parties and The 2009 Hottest 100 of All Time
Earlier in the week I hit the big ding as I got my 5th email address thanks to signing up to yet another online network. The new email address comes grudgingly thanks to Windows Live who I had to sign up with in order to get Windows 7 for my computer that is currently inconstructable. The full story about the computer is long, expenseive, so far heartbreaking and involves much more swearing than I think I’ve put on this blog so far, but I’m not going to discuss it here.
No what I’m discussing here is actually online community and the possibility of having a party virtually. Certainly I think it is bordering on ridiculous to deny the possibility of an online party now, especially in mediums such as Second Life or in game in World of Warcraft. But how about on Facebook? Sure you can host events that are actually in the real world, but what about a party that is actually on Facebook? How about a party that is actually on Twitter?
Leave that thought for a moment and think about the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time. It was initially my plan to do the usual blogging about the Hottest 100 but in the time leading up to it I decided against this as it was just too hard for me to when it was such a large countdown. 11 years since the last one there was too much that could happen unexpectedly. So I opted out. Certainly with the lower 50 now uncovered I am glad- my one prediction was that Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand would be in the top 20- instead it was No. 100.
Even deciding what to vote for was difficult and eventually I went with the obvious choices just to avoid having to narrow ten songs out of all music history. My top 10 was:
Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
Breathe – The Prodigy (#70)
Hurt – Johnny Cash (#60)
Lovesong – The Cure
True Faith – New Order
Lose Yourself – Eminem
One – Metallica
Joga – Bjork
New Year’s Day – U2
The Perfect Drug – Nine Inch Nails
Of course you aren’t actually voting for the 10 greatest songs ever, you are voting for the 10 greatest songs ever played on Triple J, which is why is was so surprising that Tiny Dancer – Elton John made it in (#66) and not at all surprising that Ode To Joy – Ludwig Van Beethoven won’t get it. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is no doubt one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed, but it isn’t going to get into the Hottest 100. In fact so far there has been nothing that was released prior to 1960, so while it is 50 years broader than the annual polls it is still not even close to being the claimed “all time” competition.
But the limitations of the poll aren’t what is important. There can never be a perfectly objective list to rank music. Triple J listeners vote for largely mid-alternative songs, B105 listeners won’t listen to anything that isn’t tailor made precisely for commercial radio, Rolling Stone magazine won’t acknowledge a song even counts as music unless it has a guitar in it. That is ok though because people who pay attention to Triple J polls listen to mid-alternative music, B105 listeners only listen to commercial pop and Rolling Stone readers wouldn’t know electronica if they stumbled into a rave.
And music is a largely personal thing anyway, so the song that tops the poll can be related to by a majority; that takes nothing away from the song that got to no. 65 that only a much smaller group could relate to but is just as good a song.
I didn’t think I could give a feature length prediction about the poll that would be worth even writing never mind reading, so I didn’t write one. The poll is going to have severe limitations because it is almost entirely subjective. We all know that, so when Blink 182 got No. 68 and The Beatles got No. 86 we didn’t get up in arms, we complained for 2 minutes and then got on with enjoying the music.
In the same way each annual poll contains songs that we wouldn’t normally listen to because they are quite honestly rubbish and they don’t deserve to get in. But we throw parties to celebrate the countdown anyway, and we listen to these rubbish songs and then we buy the CD a month later, we record the rage special, we make the iTunes playlist and we listen to the rubbish music over and over simply because it was in the Hottest 100.
What is great is the Hottest 100, not the music in the Hottest 100.
Now before you start spamming me with your angry comments may I just say that I love most of the music in the Hottest 100, sure occasionally some rubbish slips in, but mostly I love it. But that is my taste, it isn’t universal, plenty of people don’t like the music on Triple J.
You may notice I’ve swung my rambling back to parties though. This is because Hottest 100 and partying go together. The complicating thing is this year’s Hottest 100 of All Time is being held during the week. They will recap on the weekend, and only on Sunday afternoon will we be able to hear the top 20 for the first time, but the party is happening now, at 10am and 4pm every day this week, when we are at work. So where is this party? On the internet.
At 4:15pm go to www.twitter.com and search for #Hottest100 and you will see the party. This party is over the whole country, over the whole world as people in offices stream online or listen to radios and comment on Twitter, Facebook, the ABC website, the Triple J SMS line as their favourite songs come in. If you don’t do the whole social networking thing then you could well find this party pretty dull, but if you are involved there is a sense of community that I find is much greater than any of the other parties I have gone to recently. It can make you feel like you’re a part of something, it feels great and there is music, memories and talking with people you have something in common with.
In answer to my earlier seemingly hypothetical question: can you have a party on Twitter. No you can’t. Because a party, according to my definition anyway is any event that involves licorice allsorts, and so far I’ve seen none of this on Twitter. But my gosh you can come close.
Triple J’s Hottest 100 of All Time continues:
50- 41 at 4pm today.
40- 31 at 10am Friday,
30- 21 at 4pm Friday,
100- 51 at 12pm Saturday,
50- 1 at 12pm Sunday.
No what I’m discussing here is actually online community and the possibility of having a party virtually. Certainly I think it is bordering on ridiculous to deny the possibility of an online party now, especially in mediums such as Second Life or in game in World of Warcraft. But how about on Facebook? Sure you can host events that are actually in the real world, but what about a party that is actually on Facebook? How about a party that is actually on Twitter?
Leave that thought for a moment and think about the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time. It was initially my plan to do the usual blogging about the Hottest 100 but in the time leading up to it I decided against this as it was just too hard for me to when it was such a large countdown. 11 years since the last one there was too much that could happen unexpectedly. So I opted out. Certainly with the lower 50 now uncovered I am glad- my one prediction was that Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand would be in the top 20- instead it was No. 100.
Even deciding what to vote for was difficult and eventually I went with the obvious choices just to avoid having to narrow ten songs out of all music history. My top 10 was:
Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
Breathe – The Prodigy (#70)
Hurt – Johnny Cash (#60)
Lovesong – The Cure
True Faith – New Order
Lose Yourself – Eminem
One – Metallica
Joga – Bjork
New Year’s Day – U2
The Perfect Drug – Nine Inch Nails
Of course you aren’t actually voting for the 10 greatest songs ever, you are voting for the 10 greatest songs ever played on Triple J, which is why is was so surprising that Tiny Dancer – Elton John made it in (#66) and not at all surprising that Ode To Joy – Ludwig Van Beethoven won’t get it. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is no doubt one of the greatest pieces of music ever composed, but it isn’t going to get into the Hottest 100. In fact so far there has been nothing that was released prior to 1960, so while it is 50 years broader than the annual polls it is still not even close to being the claimed “all time” competition.
But the limitations of the poll aren’t what is important. There can never be a perfectly objective list to rank music. Triple J listeners vote for largely mid-alternative songs, B105 listeners won’t listen to anything that isn’t tailor made precisely for commercial radio, Rolling Stone magazine won’t acknowledge a song even counts as music unless it has a guitar in it. That is ok though because people who pay attention to Triple J polls listen to mid-alternative music, B105 listeners only listen to commercial pop and Rolling Stone readers wouldn’t know electronica if they stumbled into a rave.
And music is a largely personal thing anyway, so the song that tops the poll can be related to by a majority; that takes nothing away from the song that got to no. 65 that only a much smaller group could relate to but is just as good a song.
I didn’t think I could give a feature length prediction about the poll that would be worth even writing never mind reading, so I didn’t write one. The poll is going to have severe limitations because it is almost entirely subjective. We all know that, so when Blink 182 got No. 68 and The Beatles got No. 86 we didn’t get up in arms, we complained for 2 minutes and then got on with enjoying the music.
In the same way each annual poll contains songs that we wouldn’t normally listen to because they are quite honestly rubbish and they don’t deserve to get in. But we throw parties to celebrate the countdown anyway, and we listen to these rubbish songs and then we buy the CD a month later, we record the rage special, we make the iTunes playlist and we listen to the rubbish music over and over simply because it was in the Hottest 100.
What is great is the Hottest 100, not the music in the Hottest 100.
Now before you start spamming me with your angry comments may I just say that I love most of the music in the Hottest 100, sure occasionally some rubbish slips in, but mostly I love it. But that is my taste, it isn’t universal, plenty of people don’t like the music on Triple J.
You may notice I’ve swung my rambling back to parties though. This is because Hottest 100 and partying go together. The complicating thing is this year’s Hottest 100 of All Time is being held during the week. They will recap on the weekend, and only on Sunday afternoon will we be able to hear the top 20 for the first time, but the party is happening now, at 10am and 4pm every day this week, when we are at work. So where is this party? On the internet.
At 4:15pm go to www.twitter.com and search for #Hottest100 and you will see the party. This party is over the whole country, over the whole world as people in offices stream online or listen to radios and comment on Twitter, Facebook, the ABC website, the Triple J SMS line as their favourite songs come in. If you don’t do the whole social networking thing then you could well find this party pretty dull, but if you are involved there is a sense of community that I find is much greater than any of the other parties I have gone to recently. It can make you feel like you’re a part of something, it feels great and there is music, memories and talking with people you have something in common with.
In answer to my earlier seemingly hypothetical question: can you have a party on Twitter. No you can’t. Because a party, according to my definition anyway is any event that involves licorice allsorts, and so far I’ve seen none of this on Twitter. But my gosh you can come close.
Triple J’s Hottest 100 of All Time continues:
50- 41 at 4pm today.
40- 31 at 10am Friday,
30- 21 at 4pm Friday,
100- 51 at 12pm Saturday,
50- 1 at 12pm Sunday.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
State of Origin 2009: Game 2
Ok and here we are again, this time set to play in Sydney. The big news for this game though is the Queensland team is all sick. Cleared to play but sick all the same. For this reason the QLD team is now called the infected. So whenever NSW makes a line break they will be "running from the infected!"
Some business to take care of outside the game, we are going to try and get #shutupgus to trend this time, so if you tweet anything about the Origin, be sure to tag it as such. Even if Gus doesn't say anything be sure to tag it that way, we need to get a trend.
Kick off! And after 9 seconds we don't have a score. The game could go either way from here. First penalty goes to NSW, the Infected were in the tackle too long it would seem. After ballsing it up (no pun intended) NSW has been given another 6. Falou has made an intercept and line break. Now a penalty to the infected. Inglis has crossed, in the 6th minute a try to Queensland!
0:06 - New South Wales 0 - 4 The Infected
And it is converted, to make it NSW 0 - 6 QLD.
I'm starving so I gotta put Cailie down and grab some pizza- no scratch that we got the ball back immediately. Knocked on though, Blues get the ball back again. Now pizza.
Ok, while I was eating, a bit of football followed by a New South Wales error followed by a bunch of guys standing around not doing anything which results directly in Queensland scoring a try.
And now the score is NSW 0 - 12 QLD and a penalty happening because a Blue guy knocked the head off a Maroon guy.
Darren Lockyer has scored a try off a New South Wales error. 24th minute, 16 plays nil in the infected favour. And that is the third conversion as well, so NSW 0 - 18 QLD.
Whoa Channel 9, bring back that graphic, you are kidding, the last time these two teams met was at the last State of Origin game. I'm so glad you've told us cause we'd never have guessed otherwise.
New South Wales has scored a try! At last ! And look at him run, he was running from the infected! That was another good intercept by New South Wales. The intercepts are almost as good as their knock ons are frequent. New South Wales have converted.
New South Wales 6 - 18 The Infected.
The Blues have more errors than they do points. And here comes the fight! Ooh, a Blue guy is on the ground, does that mean we won? Ok, the Maroon guy kicked the Blue guy in the leg, then the Blue went to punch the Maroon in the face but missed. Then another two guys came in and it resulted in Queensland getting the penalty. So we started and won the fight and then got rewarded by the referee for our effort.
Wow no try there, everyone in the universe thought that was a try, and now we have another fight. Who won this one?
You see the reason this game is happening is because the football gods are in New South Wales's favour.
Now you see the trouble here is that Tim Mander comes from Dubbo and Bill Harrigan comes from Orange.
New South Wales has scored in a benefit of the doubt decision given just before halftime and there is the siren, NSW 10 - 18 QLD.
Ok, we are kidding, ACA has got mini Masterchef? Poor Channel 9 are getting waaaay too desperate. Anyway, time for Cailie to get some battery juice so be back after the break.
Ok, time to get under way again. And the half has been going for a minute now and nobody has scored. I think Queensland will definitely win this one now.
The Blues are getting feed for a scrum based on that knock on. I don't think that really matters of course, because both teams knocked on about 4 times in that play so nobody wins really. Ah but now is a knock on against them.
Queensland is not playing so well this half. I think we'll lose. Say, does that make us the underdogs again...
If the Blues manage to win this Haynes will be the man of the match. In fact unless something outstanding happens with Queensland Hayne may get man of the match whether they win or not.
Queensland's offensive has collapsed. Lucky they can defend or else the Blues would have taken it by now. Oh shut up Gus!
Oh my gosh "Stop poking me in the ribs or I'm going to thump you!" - Rabbs to Gus.
Queensland's problem appears to be they re all turning into zombies, they are slow, uncreative and tired. Their injuries keep rising, casualties growing: The Infected have become The Undead.
I can't held but feel this pressure is building to a point where NSW is not far from scoring. The only way this won't result in New South Wales scoring is if it results in Queensland scoring.
Slater misses one and now NSW gets another 6, this is right on the line. The pressure limit is reached, the line is ready to be breached. New South Wales has scored.
NSW 14 - 18 QLD.
No conversion again, so the score remains 14 - 18 for the restart.
Now Queensland has lost the ball and New South Wales are threatening again. As the commentators have pointed out, the same spot NSW kept losing the ball last half. I'm afraid though the effect of the grass is nought unless you are on the grass, and if the ball is in your hands while you are upright then it isn't on the grass. There has been a knock on and play on called. I don't know what's going on, but QLD has the ball.
Slater has battered the ball in the wrong direction. I like Slater but when he plays badly he plays really, really badly.
By the way the 4 referees are all on the Blues team, so is the crowd, so are the football gods. There is only 10 minutes left and a try will win it for either team, or no try will win it for Queensland.
But the Blues have the ball and the momentum. This is the nervous stuff here.
After a lot more high energy play, QLD have got NSW into touch. Still minutes in it but Queensland is gaining more advantage, still could go either way though. Meanwhile another QLD player is injured.
A short line drop out but QLD got the ball anyway. So close now but QLD is the team with the ball.
QLD has crossed the line! It is going to the video ref, which is no help cause every ref in the place is Blue but there is a chance of another 4 pointer to secure it for QLD.
TRY!
Queensland has won the game! 14 - 22 to Queensland with a conversion to come. Queensland have now won 4 consecutive seasons, a record setting win.
Conversion made.
In the 80th minute New South Wales 14 - 24 Queensland.
Hi Anonymous, I for some reason can't comment on my own blog, but thanks for your comment. It's good to know that someone likes it.
Some business to take care of outside the game, we are going to try and get #shutupgus to trend this time, so if you tweet anything about the Origin, be sure to tag it as such. Even if Gus doesn't say anything be sure to tag it that way, we need to get a trend.
Kick off! And after 9 seconds we don't have a score. The game could go either way from here. First penalty goes to NSW, the Infected were in the tackle too long it would seem. After ballsing it up (no pun intended) NSW has been given another 6. Falou has made an intercept and line break. Now a penalty to the infected. Inglis has crossed, in the 6th minute a try to Queensland!
0:06 - New South Wales 0 - 4 The Infected
And it is converted, to make it NSW 0 - 6 QLD.
I'm starving so I gotta put Cailie down and grab some pizza- no scratch that we got the ball back immediately. Knocked on though, Blues get the ball back again. Now pizza.
Ok, while I was eating, a bit of football followed by a New South Wales error followed by a bunch of guys standing around not doing anything which results directly in Queensland scoring a try.
And now the score is NSW 0 - 12 QLD and a penalty happening because a Blue guy knocked the head off a Maroon guy.
Darren Lockyer has scored a try off a New South Wales error. 24th minute, 16 plays nil in the infected favour. And that is the third conversion as well, so NSW 0 - 18 QLD.
Whoa Channel 9, bring back that graphic, you are kidding, the last time these two teams met was at the last State of Origin game. I'm so glad you've told us cause we'd never have guessed otherwise.
New South Wales has scored a try! At last ! And look at him run, he was running from the infected! That was another good intercept by New South Wales. The intercepts are almost as good as their knock ons are frequent. New South Wales have converted.
New South Wales 6 - 18 The Infected.
The Blues have more errors than they do points. And here comes the fight! Ooh, a Blue guy is on the ground, does that mean we won? Ok, the Maroon guy kicked the Blue guy in the leg, then the Blue went to punch the Maroon in the face but missed. Then another two guys came in and it resulted in Queensland getting the penalty. So we started and won the fight and then got rewarded by the referee for our effort.
Wow no try there, everyone in the universe thought that was a try, and now we have another fight. Who won this one?
You see the reason this game is happening is because the football gods are in New South Wales's favour.
Now you see the trouble here is that Tim Mander comes from Dubbo and Bill Harrigan comes from Orange.
New South Wales has scored in a benefit of the doubt decision given just before halftime and there is the siren, NSW 10 - 18 QLD.
Ok, we are kidding, ACA has got mini Masterchef? Poor Channel 9 are getting waaaay too desperate. Anyway, time for Cailie to get some battery juice so be back after the break.
Ok, time to get under way again. And the half has been going for a minute now and nobody has scored. I think Queensland will definitely win this one now.
The Blues are getting feed for a scrum based on that knock on. I don't think that really matters of course, because both teams knocked on about 4 times in that play so nobody wins really. Ah but now is a knock on against them.
Queensland is not playing so well this half. I think we'll lose. Say, does that make us the underdogs again...
If the Blues manage to win this Haynes will be the man of the match. In fact unless something outstanding happens with Queensland Hayne may get man of the match whether they win or not.
Queensland's offensive has collapsed. Lucky they can defend or else the Blues would have taken it by now. Oh shut up Gus!
Oh my gosh "Stop poking me in the ribs or I'm going to thump you!" - Rabbs to Gus.
Queensland's problem appears to be they re all turning into zombies, they are slow, uncreative and tired. Their injuries keep rising, casualties growing: The Infected have become The Undead.
I can't held but feel this pressure is building to a point where NSW is not far from scoring. The only way this won't result in New South Wales scoring is if it results in Queensland scoring.
Slater misses one and now NSW gets another 6, this is right on the line. The pressure limit is reached, the line is ready to be breached. New South Wales has scored.
NSW 14 - 18 QLD.
No conversion again, so the score remains 14 - 18 for the restart.
Now Queensland has lost the ball and New South Wales are threatening again. As the commentators have pointed out, the same spot NSW kept losing the ball last half. I'm afraid though the effect of the grass is nought unless you are on the grass, and if the ball is in your hands while you are upright then it isn't on the grass. There has been a knock on and play on called. I don't know what's going on, but QLD has the ball.
Slater has battered the ball in the wrong direction. I like Slater but when he plays badly he plays really, really badly.
By the way the 4 referees are all on the Blues team, so is the crowd, so are the football gods. There is only 10 minutes left and a try will win it for either team, or no try will win it for Queensland.
But the Blues have the ball and the momentum. This is the nervous stuff here.
After a lot more high energy play, QLD have got NSW into touch. Still minutes in it but Queensland is gaining more advantage, still could go either way though. Meanwhile another QLD player is injured.
A short line drop out but QLD got the ball anyway. So close now but QLD is the team with the ball.
QLD has crossed the line! It is going to the video ref, which is no help cause every ref in the place is Blue but there is a chance of another 4 pointer to secure it for QLD.
TRY!
Queensland has won the game! 14 - 22 to Queensland with a conversion to come. Queensland have now won 4 consecutive seasons, a record setting win.
Conversion made.
In the 80th minute New South Wales 14 - 24 Queensland.
Hi Anonymous, I for some reason can't comment on my own blog, but thanks for your comment. It's good to know that someone likes it.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Wrong Script!
Today I had a drama performance for English. The task was to perform a monologue from the perspective of a character in Macbeth. The monologue was written in modern day english and was to fill in a missing scene in the play. The task was of course more complex than that but that is the short of it.
Now this is not a tale of glory by any means, this is a cautionary tale to all who, like me, leave things to the last minute and, like me, over-rely on computers to think for them.
I wrote a draft a week ago, but it wasn't until Sunday night that I wrote the final copy. My performance was potentially going to be on Monday so this was a dumb idea, but I left it that late anyway. I was very tired when I finished so I read it out into a recording and then listened to the mp3 while I slept. 87 times in fact and I didn't memorize a single word.
When I woke up on Monday morning I had to print out a copy of my final copy. Unfortunately the LAN wasn't working. So I grabbed a USB drive, put the final version on the USB drive, walked to the other computer, inserted th USB drive, opened Explorer and went to the Wireless Access folder and printed out the draft.
I then walked around with the draft printed for two days while the final copy lay virtually on the USB drive I was carrying in my pocket the whole time.
I had to perform this afternoon, I got the stage ready and after a laughing fit finally managed to start. Now the tricky thing is the first paragraph of my script is identical in the draft and the final, so it wasn't until the second paragraph that I realised I had the wrong script.
I paced up and down silently for half a minute, realising just how screwed I had become. I finally ad libbed two paragraphs before managing to choke out enough of what I thought was the final copy while using the draft as a guide. I still had not memorised it though that wouldn't have done me any good anyway as I would have memorised the wrong one.
I did eventually get through the performance but needless to say I did very badly. I think I passed, but did badly.
Now this could have been avoided if I had done my final draft earlier and given myself time to memorise it earlier. It could have been avoided if I had checked that I printed out the correct document. It could have been avoided if the bloody wifi had been working, by which I mean I hadn't developed a habit to go to that folder whether the wifi was working or not. And really we could throw around ways I could have avoided the situation until the cows return from their duty re-enacting cliches, but the fact is I didn't avoid it, I stuffed up my performance and my results have suffered for it. Seeing as the result is as it is I don't see any point in wishing it another way, it was poor planning, it was bad luck, shit, as they say, happened.
So the moral of this story to anyone who faces assessment like this is to be prepared, make sure the work is done early and be sure to check all paperwork prior to leaving home.
And if you are a future employer looking at this to find fault in my ability so as to not hire me, then you will be disappointed to know that while this screen displays the entry field to this blog, the other screen has the start of my next assignment on it, so I am prepared.
Now this is not a tale of glory by any means, this is a cautionary tale to all who, like me, leave things to the last minute and, like me, over-rely on computers to think for them.
I wrote a draft a week ago, but it wasn't until Sunday night that I wrote the final copy. My performance was potentially going to be on Monday so this was a dumb idea, but I left it that late anyway. I was very tired when I finished so I read it out into a recording and then listened to the mp3 while I slept. 87 times in fact and I didn't memorize a single word.
When I woke up on Monday morning I had to print out a copy of my final copy. Unfortunately the LAN wasn't working. So I grabbed a USB drive, put the final version on the USB drive, walked to the other computer, inserted th USB drive, opened Explorer and went to the Wireless Access folder and printed out the draft.
I then walked around with the draft printed for two days while the final copy lay virtually on the USB drive I was carrying in my pocket the whole time.
I had to perform this afternoon, I got the stage ready and after a laughing fit finally managed to start. Now the tricky thing is the first paragraph of my script is identical in the draft and the final, so it wasn't until the second paragraph that I realised I had the wrong script.
I paced up and down silently for half a minute, realising just how screwed I had become. I finally ad libbed two paragraphs before managing to choke out enough of what I thought was the final copy while using the draft as a guide. I still had not memorised it though that wouldn't have done me any good anyway as I would have memorised the wrong one.
I did eventually get through the performance but needless to say I did very badly. I think I passed, but did badly.
Now this could have been avoided if I had done my final draft earlier and given myself time to memorise it earlier. It could have been avoided if I had checked that I printed out the correct document. It could have been avoided if the bloody wifi had been working, by which I mean I hadn't developed a habit to go to that folder whether the wifi was working or not. And really we could throw around ways I could have avoided the situation until the cows return from their duty re-enacting cliches, but the fact is I didn't avoid it, I stuffed up my performance and my results have suffered for it. Seeing as the result is as it is I don't see any point in wishing it another way, it was poor planning, it was bad luck, shit, as they say, happened.
So the moral of this story to anyone who faces assessment like this is to be prepared, make sure the work is done early and be sure to check all paperwork prior to leaving home.
And if you are a future employer looking at this to find fault in my ability so as to not hire me, then you will be disappointed to know that while this screen displays the entry field to this blog, the other screen has the start of my next assignment on it, so I am prepared.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Teachers Should Be Valued
It has been a while since I complained about Education Queensland so here is something to fill the empty air waves.
If you've been reading the news recently (in Queensland at least, possibly in other states) you'll know that Queensland teachers are paid worst of any teachers in the country and they are sick of it and are taking industrial action. This is bad for parents who then have to babysit, Education Queensland who receives all the complaints and teachers who lose a day pay. It is good for students because we get a day off school to catch up on all the work we've been unable to do because of school (the curriculum in state schools anyway is horrifically overloaded and not just in my opinion but in the opinion of my adult friends as well, but that isn't what I'm discussing here).
Now whoever said teachers were just the group of EQ employees who get contact with the students was clearly wrong because for the time leading up to the strike you could go into any class and despite the expectations you would have for the teacher, if you asked them about the strike they suddenly became open about it and talked about the system and its flaws. What they are campaigning for is more pay because the pay that they currently receive isn't enough to live on.
I like my teachers and I was disgusted to know that some of them have part time jobs to keep food on the table. I'm all for teachers having part time jobs, they have their own lives they can do what they want, but things like working at the local Coffee Club (note: example- not a real teacher as far as I know) to keep yourself alive is terrible- that is the sort of thing students do, teachers shouldn't have to do that.
Teachers are the ones who are primarily responsible for the knowledge and beliefs of the next generation. You might think it would be parents, but that role is slipping away from them and it is falling onto teachers. Why are the people responsible for ensuring a good future the ones who are paid so little they have to work second jobs just to pay the bills?
Well the Queensland Government sent me a nice letter at the start of the year. Being June now it is slightly out of date, but the same government (a few members changed but not a completely different set of faces) authorised the letter so I think that it is still relevant.
The letter reads:
"Dear Student
Welcome to the new school year. I hope that you have returned refreshed after the summer vacation, ready for a great year at school.
I have specifically chosen to write to you to suggest you consider a career in teaching. Many jobs exist in teaching, and there can be few careers as rewarding. With a growing population, Queensland needs the best young people to teach in our schools and help prepare future generations of children for the challenges ahead.
I have greatly enjoyed my political career, and particularly the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of state schooling in Queensland over the past years as Minister for Education and Training and Minister for the Arts. During this time I have personally met many of the thousands of teachers who work in our state schools. I have greatly admired the dedication, enthusiasm and professionalism of the teachers in the many school I have visited. I'm sure you will agree that our teachers do a great job.
Many of you are now at that important stage in your life when you will be considering future career options. Young people today will live and work in a world with vastly different employment choices to those of my generation. Many of the careers available to you did not even exist when I was at school. Some commentators suggest that today's young people will change career many times over their lives.
Teaching is a career that offers great lifestyle choices and the potential to move in and out of the career during various stages of life. A teaching qualification is highly valued in a number of other fields, so it can be a launching pad into other work options.
To help people get the very best information about opportunities in the teaching profession, this term I am launching a new website. If a career in teaching appeals to you, I invite you to visit the website online at www.teach.qld.gov.au.
I would like to wish you well this year at school, and in your future career.
Your sincerely
Rod Welford MP"
Niceties appreciated but aside, this letter is just pointing out that the government hasn’t got a clue. They say that teachers are extremely valuable but then they pay them scraps. But the thing that really bothers me is that they sent this letter that contradicts what we’ve seen through the words and actions of our teachers as if a letter from the government is going to do more good than 12 years of full time contact. The teachers are the ones with the largest influence over students, if the government wants students to go into education as a career then they should make the teachers encourage such a career path by paying them properly and respecting the position they are in.
Also, Mr Welford might be a very nice person and so nothing against him personally, but in my opinion a politician should never be responsible for education and if Education Queensland were run by teachers past and present and all the politicians were kicked out then I’m sure it would go a very long way towards redressing the disaster the department currently is.
If you've been reading the news recently (in Queensland at least, possibly in other states) you'll know that Queensland teachers are paid worst of any teachers in the country and they are sick of it and are taking industrial action. This is bad for parents who then have to babysit, Education Queensland who receives all the complaints and teachers who lose a day pay. It is good for students because we get a day off school to catch up on all the work we've been unable to do because of school (the curriculum in state schools anyway is horrifically overloaded and not just in my opinion but in the opinion of my adult friends as well, but that isn't what I'm discussing here).
Now whoever said teachers were just the group of EQ employees who get contact with the students was clearly wrong because for the time leading up to the strike you could go into any class and despite the expectations you would have for the teacher, if you asked them about the strike they suddenly became open about it and talked about the system and its flaws. What they are campaigning for is more pay because the pay that they currently receive isn't enough to live on.
I like my teachers and I was disgusted to know that some of them have part time jobs to keep food on the table. I'm all for teachers having part time jobs, they have their own lives they can do what they want, but things like working at the local Coffee Club (note: example- not a real teacher as far as I know) to keep yourself alive is terrible- that is the sort of thing students do, teachers shouldn't have to do that.
Teachers are the ones who are primarily responsible for the knowledge and beliefs of the next generation. You might think it would be parents, but that role is slipping away from them and it is falling onto teachers. Why are the people responsible for ensuring a good future the ones who are paid so little they have to work second jobs just to pay the bills?
Well the Queensland Government sent me a nice letter at the start of the year. Being June now it is slightly out of date, but the same government (a few members changed but not a completely different set of faces) authorised the letter so I think that it is still relevant.
The letter reads:
"Dear Student
Welcome to the new school year. I hope that you have returned refreshed after the summer vacation, ready for a great year at school.
I have specifically chosen to write to you to suggest you consider a career in teaching. Many jobs exist in teaching, and there can be few careers as rewarding. With a growing population, Queensland needs the best young people to teach in our schools and help prepare future generations of children for the challenges ahead.
I have greatly enjoyed my political career, and particularly the opportunity to contribute to the improvement of state schooling in Queensland over the past years as Minister for Education and Training and Minister for the Arts. During this time I have personally met many of the thousands of teachers who work in our state schools. I have greatly admired the dedication, enthusiasm and professionalism of the teachers in the many school I have visited. I'm sure you will agree that our teachers do a great job.
Many of you are now at that important stage in your life when you will be considering future career options. Young people today will live and work in a world with vastly different employment choices to those of my generation. Many of the careers available to you did not even exist when I was at school. Some commentators suggest that today's young people will change career many times over their lives.
Teaching is a career that offers great lifestyle choices and the potential to move in and out of the career during various stages of life. A teaching qualification is highly valued in a number of other fields, so it can be a launching pad into other work options.
To help people get the very best information about opportunities in the teaching profession, this term I am launching a new website. If a career in teaching appeals to you, I invite you to visit the website online at www.teach.qld.gov.au.
I would like to wish you well this year at school, and in your future career.
Your sincerely
Rod Welford MP"
Niceties appreciated but aside, this letter is just pointing out that the government hasn’t got a clue. They say that teachers are extremely valuable but then they pay them scraps. But the thing that really bothers me is that they sent this letter that contradicts what we’ve seen through the words and actions of our teachers as if a letter from the government is going to do more good than 12 years of full time contact. The teachers are the ones with the largest influence over students, if the government wants students to go into education as a career then they should make the teachers encourage such a career path by paying them properly and respecting the position they are in.
Also, Mr Welford might be a very nice person and so nothing against him personally, but in my opinion a politician should never be responsible for education and if Education Queensland were run by teachers past and present and all the politicians were kicked out then I’m sure it would go a very long way towards redressing the disaster the department currently is.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
MacBook Won't Wake Up From Sleep
I'm still completely in love with my MacBook and the prospect of Snow Leopard being only $30 for Leopard users in September has not only single handedly crushed the enthusiasm I had in Windows 7 but has also left me hopeful that a problem I've been having might be solved.
This problem is that when waking up the MacBook after it has been asleep it will make the sound of waking up but the display doesn't come back and none of the buttons or mouse will work. The only option is to perform a hard shut down and start up again. I sought advice from the internet and had nothing useful come up for all my searches; I did find people who have had the same problem but they never had any idea what caused it. Almost all the forum threads had two posts, the first detailing the problem and the second saying nothing had fixed it and they sent the computer back to Apple.
After reading some of these otherwise unhelpful forums and through my own observations the problem is simply this: after shutting the lid the snooze light remains solid. After waiting for a short amount of time the computer makes the sound of waking again and the Apple light on the lid comes on. When you try to wake the computer by opening the lid the sound of waking will be made but the display and controls do not return and a hard restart is required. If however you open the lid again as soon as the Apple light returns then the computer will wake up unsteadily and the problem is averted and you can put it back to sleep with no problems.
The problem I am willing to conclude is that the loss of a bluetooth connection after the computer is put to sleep causes it to try and wake, and something goes wrong and puts the machine into a coma. Since figuring this I've made sure that my mouse (wireless Apple Might Mouse paired via bluetooth) is not only off but also that the connection is lost before shutting the lid, or that the mouse is left on after the computer is asleep (though that chews through the batteries- although I love my mouse it is extraordinarily power inefficient).
This may not be the ultimate solution for the problem but I've been working on solving the problem for about 9 months and that is the best I've come up with, beating all my previous hyposthesise which included programs, time of day and other bluetooth concerns.
It is also possible that other machines have a problem that has the same symptoms but other causes. (I've heard of an iMac that has this problem which suggests it is possibly not a hardware problem so much as a driver problem.)
If you are having this problem then I hope this information has been of some use to you.
I've never seen anything from Apple to acknowledge this problem and I don't know how common it is, but Snow Leopard is supposed to maintain network connections while asleep so if I am correct in my theory that it is a bluetooth connectivity conflict then it is plausible the new operation system will fix the problem.
If you have information on the problem contrary to mine then please comment with your observations. I'll correct this information if I discover I am wrong at some time in the future.
(Cailie is a white MacBook running 10.5.4 at the time of the problem emerging and currently running 10.5.5 with the same problem. All attempts to install OS updates 10.5.6 and 10.5.7 have failed.)
This problem is that when waking up the MacBook after it has been asleep it will make the sound of waking up but the display doesn't come back and none of the buttons or mouse will work. The only option is to perform a hard shut down and start up again. I sought advice from the internet and had nothing useful come up for all my searches; I did find people who have had the same problem but they never had any idea what caused it. Almost all the forum threads had two posts, the first detailing the problem and the second saying nothing had fixed it and they sent the computer back to Apple.
After reading some of these otherwise unhelpful forums and through my own observations the problem is simply this: after shutting the lid the snooze light remains solid. After waiting for a short amount of time the computer makes the sound of waking again and the Apple light on the lid comes on. When you try to wake the computer by opening the lid the sound of waking will be made but the display and controls do not return and a hard restart is required. If however you open the lid again as soon as the Apple light returns then the computer will wake up unsteadily and the problem is averted and you can put it back to sleep with no problems.
The problem I am willing to conclude is that the loss of a bluetooth connection after the computer is put to sleep causes it to try and wake, and something goes wrong and puts the machine into a coma. Since figuring this I've made sure that my mouse (wireless Apple Might Mouse paired via bluetooth) is not only off but also that the connection is lost before shutting the lid, or that the mouse is left on after the computer is asleep (though that chews through the batteries- although I love my mouse it is extraordinarily power inefficient).
This may not be the ultimate solution for the problem but I've been working on solving the problem for about 9 months and that is the best I've come up with, beating all my previous hyposthesise which included programs, time of day and other bluetooth concerns.
It is also possible that other machines have a problem that has the same symptoms but other causes. (I've heard of an iMac that has this problem which suggests it is possibly not a hardware problem so much as a driver problem.)
If you are having this problem then I hope this information has been of some use to you.
I've never seen anything from Apple to acknowledge this problem and I don't know how common it is, but Snow Leopard is supposed to maintain network connections while asleep so if I am correct in my theory that it is a bluetooth connectivity conflict then it is plausible the new operation system will fix the problem.
If you have information on the problem contrary to mine then please comment with your observations. I'll correct this information if I discover I am wrong at some time in the future.
(Cailie is a white MacBook running 10.5.4 at the time of the problem emerging and currently running 10.5.5 with the same problem. All attempts to install OS updates 10.5.6 and 10.5.7 have failed.)
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