Knight to King 3

By Admin on June 29, 2012

No, it’s not a title of a film I’m reviewing, nor is it the third in a series of anything.

When was the last time you played chess? Have you ever played it? What’s stopping you?

Or another question I could ask, why isn’t chess part of the early learning in school, say Prep and Grade One? Yes, I am serious, why are we not teaching young children chess?

If you’ve never played the game, this might be a hard concept to understand, but chess is a great way to get kids involved in learning. It teaches them strategy, it teaches them mathematics, it gets them interacting with others, it gives them the basics of reasoning, and responsibilities. Chess tests you and let’s you learn at your own pace. While your opponent is thinking about their move, you are to only thinking about their move, but all the possible ways you can counter their move. Can you see where I am going with this?

I love playing chess. I’m not very good at it, but I love playing it. Sure the best I have ever done is beat a state champion, but they were a bit drunk at the time, it was late at night, and they left their queen open early which in the end cost them the game. It was a one time big win for me and since then, I’d say I’ve lost about 80% of the games I’ve played, but I’ve loved every one of them.

A few years ago, I was teaching a four year old how to play chess. The basic moves, the basic forms of attack, generally just getting their interest in the game. I’d say we had played about thirty games over time, and even though I was helping and showing the best possible moves, they still lost every game. The winning or losing didn’t matter in the end, because they still wanted to play so they could win. One day, I knocked over my king. It was an honest mistake, but it still happened. Now I could have easily put it back up and kept playing, but that is not in the rules of fair play. So I told my opponent (who was now five years old) that they had won, and why they had one. It was like turning on a lightbulb of thought process. Instantly a new game was set up, and this time I was playing against someone with more confidence, who took the game on, who wasn’t worried about a pawn being taken from them, if it exposed my bishop for them to take. The chess board suddenly went from being a game, to something that showed through effort, sacrifice and imagination, you can succeed.

Yes there is a lot to learn in chess, and to start playing it takes a bit of time to learn. But once you have the basic moves understood, you can play against anyone. It’s not about raw physical strength, or being smarter than the person you are playing. Even the best players have to be on their game, every game. Think of how the cogs will turn in their head, as they work out how to get the more versatile pieces out from behind the pawns, while still using the pawns to protect their assets. The number of possible moves just for that first move (16 possible moves) is a wonderful start to the millions of other possibilities in every game.

In a school setting, where all students are learning the game together, you would have some interesting results, which would open their eyes and minds to the wonders of learning. I see it as a great stepping stone, to a whole world of possibilities, and it doesn’t even need electricity to work.

Posted in , , Leave a Comment

Wabbit Season, Duck Season!

By Admin on June 27, 2012

When is Arsehole Season? A simple question.

To hunt any kind of feral species, you need a license, there is generally a season, and you have to prove you know what you are doing, for the good of society, and then you can go get ’em. So why don’t we have a season where the world can be done a favour, by getting ride of Arseholes?

Now I’m not saying they all should be killed first time, no not at all. Some just need a slight wounding, that takes a few weeks to heal, which gives them time to realise they are an Arsehole, because someone has done them the courtesy of tearing them a new arsehole.

I’m talking about people like those arseholes who put a basket or trolley in the check out queue, then bugger off to find 473 other things, they happened to have forgotten, one at a time.
I’m talking about those arseholes who admire your fine parking abilities, buy parking so close to your car with their lowered wankmobile, that it is impossible to get in to your car.
I’m talking about those arseholes who give their kids weird names, don’t show any level of parenting ability, then blame society when little Tamazajina runs rampant.
I’m talking about those people who think the world is there to wait on them hand and foot, because they once called an SMS vote line for some singer on a television show, which means they made the world a better place.
I’m talking about, well, I think you get the idea by now.

So come on please, let us have Arsehole Season. I’ve made my list, I’ve been checking it twice, I know who is naughty, and who is nice. But most importantly of all, I know who the Arseholes are.

Posted in 2 Comments

My Faith Will Heal

By Admin on June 17, 2012

Being a Sunday, I thought I would write about my faith. No, I’m not talking about religion, although at times religious groups have been against my faith, while at the same time rejoicing in all it h done for them. No, I’m not going to rant about rights and wrongs. All I’m doing here is talking about my faith, and how it affects my life, and why I believe in it, when most of the time it gets things wrong.

Yes, I love science. Not scientists in particular, but the art of science itself. The asking of a question, the search for the answer, the countless number of times things go wrong, but in going wrong, it’s an achievement, because it’s a step closer to possibly knowing what is right.

Think of science in this way. You have a phone number, but need to know the address. Reverse telephone directories don’t exist, the Internet doesn’t exist to find the number, the only way you can find it is to look it up in a telephone book.

There in lies the first problem, working out how you are going to search for the number. Let’s say the number is 8866-5544. There are a variety of ways you can try to cut down the workload required. You could only look on pages where the first number on that page starts with 88. You could decided that because it’s an even number, you only look on even numbered pages. You may decide the the only way is to look at each number, check it off, and go through the entire book that way. A very long process indeed.

A good starting point would be to find out what research other people had done in the area of telephone numbers, and see if that research is or isn’t relevant to what you are researching. Through that process you may find that someone else has worked out that the telephone numbers that start between 86XX-XXXX and 89XX-XXXX are all in the town of Dumdorey, and that town has a telephone book with just those numbers in it.

So before you have wen started to physically looked for the number, you’ve done a hell of a lot of research and checking. You haven’t just blindly said “Well I’ve been told the answer is in this book, so I better start looking randomly”.

It’s this research that has me marveling at the work scientists do. They are the ultimate optimists, who keep going when things go wrong, because being wrong means being successful. Don’t get me wrong, there are crackpots out there doing scientific research, or people researching stuff claiming to be scientific, and even others who claim that the mystic wonders of unknown origin are all the science we need. Please, people don’t get confused.

Yes, I put my faith in science not because it is always right, but because it is always searching for the correct way, and usually better way. I say usually better way because they may find eating a kiwi fruit is better for you, but it certainly tastes better when sliced up and on top of a pavlova.

I feel I must also point out that science is very humble. Recently there was a discovery of things moving faster than the speed of light. This is a major breakthrough in science and discovery, that has wide ranging ramifications across so many walks of life. But what did the scientists do who discovers this amazing thing? They said they had to check. Even though they discovered it, they were not convinced, so they checked over everything, and found out they were wrong. Through failing to prove something moving faster than the speed of light, they did discover an error in a computer that caused them to think they had made a major discovery. But that error was a success, because now they have fixed that computer problem, they know that future experiments will give a more accurate finding.

You see, even through failing, we learn, we don’t just accept failure as the way it is. That’s why I put my faith in science.

Posted in , Leave a Comment

Happy Birthday Betty*

By Admin on June 11, 2012

*Even though it’s not your birthday, and is actually just used as an excuse to have a long weekend and start the snow skiing season.

I’ve been listening to the radio this morning, and hearing about the Queen’s Birthday honours. People who now get to add extra letters to their name, meaning they have to reprint all their business cards.

So many of the people are very honoured, and rightly so after a lot of very hard work. But I have been amazed by one thing. When asked if these people are royalists, the general consensus has been “Oh yes, very much so, I love the queen”.

But when asked about Prince Charles, and let’s face it, unless Betty is planning on giving herself a telegram, she’s not going to be around for too much longer, their views on Charlie was generally, “Errr, well, yes I do love the queen, and well, I must say I’m not overly keen on him”.

Now here is what I don’t get. I am a republican, I believe Australia should have an Australian as the Head of State. But the royalists I heard this morning don’t seem to be able to come to terms with Charlie becoming the next King of England, and by default, the King of Australia. But that’s the reality people. Someone who you don’t particularly like, will become your king, simply because his mummy and daddy shared a bed at least once. Hardly seems like the right qualifications to be a leader to me, of me.

I can understand why some people like Betty, she has been there for awhile, and on the surface, appears to be ok. She represents a bit of stability, but she is not alone in doing that, as we should all respect our elders. But Betty didn’t work hard to get into that position, she got there the same way Charlie will.

So to the royalists I say, if you claim to be a royalist, be one, and not an queen admirer instead, who masquerades as a royalist.

Posted in , 2 Comments

The Embassy of Indigenous Australia

By Admin on June 7, 2012

I’ll open by saying I really have no idea what I’m talking about. I just think this may be a good idea, so I’m putting it out there.

For as long as I can remember, there has been an Indigenous Tent “Embassy” in Canberra, out the front of what is now the former Parliament House. Over the years there has been controversy, but I’m not going to get in to that, that’s not what this blog post is about.

What I’m wondering is, why can’t the tent embassy be made into a real embassy? Now I know there are many hundreds of Indigenous nations in Australia, and I’m not trying to say they all have to agree on every single issue, I’m seeing this more as a contact point, a bridge if you like, between people and the government.

The embassy could also be an education centre, for all Australians to learn more about the heritage of the place they call home. In my mind it would also give some validation (not that it should be needed) to the Indigenous people of this country, that they are fully recognised and respected as representatives of their nations.

I’m sure there is a lot more to the politics of this than I know of, but I like to keep things simple. If it’s a positive thing, and will help, then why not do it.

Posted in , Tagged , , 1 Comment

I like to so.

By Admin on May 16, 2012

So there’s this thing I’m finding so annoying right now, and it’s so been bugging me for a while, but I can’t find a solution to the problem. So instead I’m going to so rant right now, that it’s going to be like so off the scale.

Oh and this blog post is so directed at Apple so much, so there.

So if you have an Apple product with that so called “autocorrect” or as it is so called by so many people, “fuck you with monkey balls you dipshitted croissant”, then you will know how much it enjoys screwing up perfectly good sentences, to so say the wrong thing. Heck there are even websites that have claimed many a working hour, while you read about how someone wants to go down on their grandmother’s goat, when what they actually typed was “Got milk?”

But there is one thing that really pisses me off, and it’s the autocorrecting of perfectly good and acceptable words, to different words, which puts a whole new meaning on what’s being said, or just makes you look like a window licker who has no comprehension of English.

So Apple, I ask you this. Why the fucking flying fuck do you see the need to change the word “so” to “do” every single fucking time I type it?

Do you know how annoying it has been to type this blog post out on one of your products? I’ve worn out the backspace key, which is pretty fucking amazing, given this device has no physical keyboard.

Ok, so I get it, you want to make the world a better place, by stopping underpant exposing, crooked hat wearing, asymmetrical haircut devotees, from writing crap like “Sup watz yo fkn djhdcjnon” but for the love of microchips, so stop correcting my use of the word so, or I will do do you.

Posted in , Leave a Comment

Help, I need somebody.

By Admin on March 7, 2012

I was born with an unfortunate birth mark. It’s really embarrassing, because it’s about two inches long, brown, and sits just above my bum. Yep, very embarrassing, but for some reason lots of people seem to think it’s on my forehead, and looks like this:

20120307-100014.jpg

There is not a day goes by where people will walk past dozens of other people, to ask me for directions, how something works, or for the meaning of life.

Yesterday I was in a bank to change over some coinage, using a simple machine the bank has. It has two buttons A and B,and it counts coins. I was. A bit of a hurry so I just wanted to get them counted, deposit the slip and get out of there, so I could have something more for lunch than stomach pains. But no.

Some sheeple corners me, and demands I tell them all about the magical money machine. I told them they are in a bank, so ask the staff there, a very reasonable thing to do I thought. But no, this just made their wool stand on end, and they got angry. Again they demanded I tell them how it all worked. So I said to them “Look, if we were in a jungle, and your only chance of survival was for me to tell you how that machine worked, I doubt even then I would tell you. ASK THE STAFF HERE.”

I mean, I’m just trying to go about my day. I’m not out there to be rude or anything, I just want to get my business done, so I can enjoy life. I’ve made it through my years so far by observing things and working them out, and if I can’t work them out, I work out who would be the best person to ask about it, which is usually someone employed to tell you, not some stranger on the street with a birth mark that looks like poo above their arse.

Side note here, I don’t wear low cut pants so people can see the birth mark, in fact, most people don’t know it’s there…, dang, I’ve blown that now.

Anyway, I pushed past the sheeple, broke free of the bank, and headed out the doors to the wide blue yonder… “Excuse me, how does this parking meter work?”

Arrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhh!

Posted in Tagged , , Leave a Comment

In 2012…..

By Admin on January 4, 2012

I’ve had enough. Yeah, I know we’re only a couple of days in to the year, but I’ve had enough.

 

Not enough of the year, years are just a number. I’ve just had enough of the bullshit from people. The United nations have declared 2012 the year of  Cooperatives, so wont you please be cooperative to the rest of society by not being a fucktard? Seriously, I’ve had enough of people who think the world owes them, simply because. Stop being a fucktard, pull your pants up, blow your nose, get a job and earn things in life.

 

I’ve had enough of your bullshit “woe is me” crap, and I don’t even know who you are, but you make my life worse by simply existing. If I do happen to know you, well not for long, cause I’ve had enough. I have my goals and priorities in life, and one of them is not being fucked over by other people, because they think I should have to pay (financially, emotionally, mentally) for them to be a fucktard as stated above.

 

You know, I have simple needs in life; a roof over my head, food on my table, and enough money in my pocket to get me through the week. I have wants in life, which are more long term goals, so that I can have a comfortable future, where I can relax because of the hard work I put in earlier in life. If you want it all now, and expect others to do it for you, go away, cause I’ve had enough.

 

Happy New Year Everyone.

Posted in , Leave a Comment

Same Sex/Same Rights

By Admin on December 5, 2011

I’ve got to say, I’m against Gay Marriage. There, I said it, and some people may find that shocking, and others will applaud it. But let me make one point clear.

I’m not against, two people of the same gender getting married, I’m against the term Gay Marriage. It boxes the whole debate in to one simple little box, that even the most small minded of people, can see past the pretty colour pictures of their tabloid media of choice, read those two words, and make an “informed decision”. They don’t need to know the facts, because two words have summed up the whole debate for them. Steve and Barry want to get married, well I’m to having that with my corn flakes!

But here’s the thing, those two little words don’t paint the whole picture. Even when it’s expanded out a bit more, and explained to people, they still just see those two words. Has our society become that simplistic that we can no longer look at the whole issue, and make an informed decision? Have we been reduced to thinking the only time worth having knowledge on a subject is when there’s an SMS voting line attached, where we can also win a new Sonappsung a entertainment system? I hope not.

When you look at the basic argument, this is about human rights, so that same sex attracted people, can not be treated as second class citizens, and stand as equals with anyone else. But there is also a second class to that second class. People who would make up a very minor figure, that at a guess would have many zeros after the decimal point, before they even have a number.

These people are happily married, and intend to stay that way, through sickness and in health, good times and bad, for as long as they both shall live. But the current laws say they must get divorced, office both people are to be recognised for who they are. Confused? Well read on.

As laws currently stand in Australia, when someone goes through all the required medical procedures, to correct a birth defect, they are entitled to have their birth certificate corrected to state the correct sex. After all, it’s not their fault the document was incorrect at birth, so after proving they are their correct gender, not the gender assigned to them, they have right to correct that document. Unless they are married.

You see, if two people love each other so much, that despite all the changes that happen with a gender transition, they want to stay together, and love each other for as long as they both live, they can’t do it, unless they continue to have incorrect documents for all other aspects of their life.

Now you may think this is not such a big deal. After all, they can use Miss or Mister as they see fit. But for medical records, if they for some reason are in trouble with the law, for pensions, for car insurance, for basically any aspect of their life, apart from their outward appearance, they will still be classed according to that incorrect documentation they were assigned at birth. If they want to tick the final box, they simply can’t do it, because this country does not allow same sex marriage.

It’s not only about a simple document like a birth certificate, but it is also about public perception, and discrimination. If someone has changed gender, every time they have to provide documentation, or proof of relationship, they have to out themselves as someone who has undergone a gender transition. You may not think this is a big deal, but how much of your past do you want to tell to any stranger out there, just so your basic human rights can be acknowledged? Is it fair these people are put through the anguish each and every time, or should they be forced to lie to everyone, just so other people can keep their nice little stereotype that marriage is only between a man and a woman?

So you see Gay Marriage is not about Gay marriage. It’s about each and every person in this country, having the same rights as everyone else. It’s not about forcing Barry Bloke to accept a marriage proposal from Harry Hotpants, simply because Harry has the hots for Barry and asks. It’s about everyone being given a fair go, and that’s the way we do it in Australia. We are country that is young and free, that advances fairly. Or do we think that fairness should only extend to those who aren’t affected by discrimination?

Posted in , 4 Comments

Service with a smile, and very little else

By Admin on October 13, 2011

Time to get on my soap box a bit, or rather a fruit box, because I’m a bit pissed off.

What is it with fucktards in the food industry at the moment? Do they just not bother any more with actually doing their job?

Now I know people are going to call me a picky bitch, but really, if I order something on your menu, it’s because I want that, not just whatever you want to serve up to me, because you don’t give a fuck. If I bought a white car, and they dragged out a little blue pill, I’d be just as pissed off as I am now. This is simply about standards, and how they are not being met.

Over the last week, I’ve had the following happen, in no set order. Now I will take some blame for the first one, as I didn’t know my phone was on silent, as I must have knocked the button when I put it down.

1. Ordered a pizza, then the store called back to confirm the order, because they thought I was a new customer, all because I decided to pay cash, not card. I missed that because my phone was on silent, so the cancelled the order, and blocked me from ordering again, because my number was a crank number. This is despite calling them back two minutes after they had called me, clearly stating that I had ordered the pizza in the first place, and I did still want it.

2. Eating in and ordered my meal, had the meal repeated back to me. When it arrived, it was a different meal. I questioned it and they showed me the order, where they had written down the wrong thing. This is despite having repeated the order back to me in the first place. How the fuck is this possible?

3. Decided take away was the order of the day, had the order repeated back to me again, all good. The order comes out, but they forgot one of the dishes, despite making up half of the dish (the garnish). By the time this was discovered, we had already gotten home, and the place had closed for the night.

4. Ordered a chicken focaccia, but instead was given a beef roll. When I questioned this, I was told it was a chicken focaccia, by the person who made it. I pointed out that it was beef, and in a roll’ and they had no idea what the problem was, then tried to refuse me a refund, because I had changed my order. I never fucking well changed my order, you fucked up.

Now it’s pretty obvious I don’t talk with a silver spoon in my mouth, but when it comes to ordering food, I make sure it’s clearly known what it is I want, so I know I’m not the one who stuffs this stuff up. Why is it so bloody hard just to get a simple bit of food right? For fuck’s sake, it’s not rocket lettuce science!

Posted in Tagged , Leave a Comment