Tuesday 31 March 2009

Housebrick

£10 000 (on TV) or £1 (from me) would have been yours if you given this as an answer to the question about the common items found in a ladies handbag.

Norwich City 3 lost to Stingers 1: 17-8

Fair play to the opposition. They were absolutely clinical. They shooting especially in the first half was pretty close to 100%. Playing at UEA and there really small courts really helped them as they couldn't get too far away from the basket. We scored 8 which is pretty good but the goals kept on going in from all corners. Only lost the second half 7-5 which just shows how good they were in the first half. It was a bit of a shock when they got relegated last year and it looks like they might go up.

Saturday 28 March 2009

Formula 1

The new rule changes have certainly tipped the whole field into a form of disorganised chaos and it is exciting to see some of the new cars and drivers nearer the front. Despite the excitement there are still some questions to answer.

1. Will the bigger budget teams be able to adjust quicker and re-emerge at the front?
2. Will the diffuser row end in disqualification in which case this whole race is pointless?
3. If the new diffuser is allowed how quickly can the other teams adjust?
4. Will the teams not linked to manufacturers be able to get funding to develop their cars and keep competitive?
5. Are any of the cars using the KERS system and what will happen when they hit the boost button?
Any finally

6. Will the cars be able to overtake each other?

I was beginning to be a little jaded by the style of racing but this will hopefully lead to an exciting race.

Thursday 26 March 2009

To Richard Dawkins

There is a goldfish in a bowl on top of the piano. The goldfish lives in 5 dimensions. It has backwards/ forwards, it has up/ down and it has left to right. It can also sense time. The 5th dimension is in/out of the bowl. In the bowl it is able to affect its physical environment, conduct experiments with its surroundings and live, reproduce and die. It has some awareness of the dimension out of the bowl but has no real way to interact with that dimension let along understand how to operate the piano the bowl is standing on. Sometimes when the piano is played the vibrations move through the water and are sensed by the fish with no knowledge or concept of how they were created.



When Richard Dawkins pronounces with such certainty there is no God I wonder if they have considered if they are the goldfish looking out?

Channel 5

Channel 5 have decided to stop showing late night baseball and American football. I have been interested in the American football for a while and the baseball came from that. The problem is not that you can't view the US feed on other stations but Channel 5 never showed many adverts but instead had quality analysts who took time to discuss what was happening in a way a newcomer could understand (infield fly ball rule anyone) and they were also genuinely entertaining.

I was going to try and explain just why it was so good but found this instead with a link to the BBC. Its long but they say just why Mark Carlson was the best pundit on TV.

It is probably going to be replaced with a phone in show where you try and guess the answer. The same show that was criticised when no-one guessed the top answer of what is found in a woman's handbag. £1 for anyone who comments and gets the correct answer.

Sunday 22 March 2009

Norwich City 3 lost to Ice 2 8:3

Well the game started well as I scored a lovely running shot in the first 30 seconds but it went downhill from there as the player I had just beaten landed on my foot and I know have a lovely bruise. Sometimes we play well and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose but the worst kind of game is the one where the referee has no clue what they are doing and doesn't know the rules. I know that refereeing is a tough job but at least know the rules even if you are not applying them correctly. On a similar note my player kept running me into the feed player which is okay but as I am probably twice as heavy as them so it is a way to hurt your own team.

Rugby

Well Done to Ireland in claiming there first Grand Slam since 1948. It was nice of Wales to gift them the title at the end as there was no way Stephen Jones had the range to make that kick whereas Gavin Henson specialises in the long range penalty. I am not saying he would have made it but he would have got a lot closer. In Brian O'Driscoll they have the outstanding player in the tournament and he was the difference between the teams in at least three of their matches.

Well Done to England as well for coming second. Top points scored, meanest defence and most tries scored. It took them a while to realise that under the new ELV's they had to adapt their style and it looks to be paying off. I would like to see England v Ireland now that England have worked out the best tactics to play. In this respect I feel that England were behind Wales and Ireland which only have four main teams to pick from meaning it takes less time to gel. Next year England have Ireland and Wales at home but have to go away to France and Scotland (tough if it is wet and windy).

Team for the Lions

Tighthead: Euan Murray
Hooker: Lee Meers
Loosehead: Marcus Horan

Second Row: O'Connell
Second Row: Wynn Jones

Flanker: Croft
Flanker: Worsley

No. 8: Jamie Heaslip

Scrum Half: Mike Blair
Fly Half: Toby Flood

Direct Centre: Mike Tindall
Skillful Centre: Brian O'Driscoll

Winger: Mark Cueto
Winger: Tommy Bowe

Full Back: Delon Armitage

Not 100% happy especially in the front row where you need quality scrummagers to take on South Africa and the area that all the teams have been fairly weak in is the scrum.

PS Spell check of O'Driscoll came up with tricycle??

Friday 20 March 2009

A Bad start to any day

1. No milk = no breakfast = irritation
2. Eggs thrown at a number of cars in the street leaving congealed mess on the windscreen = annoyance
3. Broken regulator in the window of the car means the window is stuck open = severe pissoffness

Probably a good thing that the trainee teacher was teaching period one as my patience low and mood volcanic.

Rest of the day not too bad. Window jammed shut with wood, milk arrived when I had got home but the egg wielding idiot still at large.

Monday 16 March 2009

Norwich City 3 lost to UEA 2: by 1 goal

Good game - backward and forward . They led, we led they just happened to be in lead when the whistle went. If we had played a bit longer then I think we might have won it. Scored a penalty and probably should have scored at least one other. I was playing against a very tall player with long arms which makes it very tough. Height in korfball is not as important as in basketball as the baskets are so much higher but it sure is useful.

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Stuff

1. The school computer system is still shot. Read about it here. The inability to use pen drives to move coursework to and from school is a real pain in the neck with the deadline fast approaching.

2. Gordon Brown suggests that teacher training could be reduced to 6 months. Fine if they are good enough but most aren't. I am generally against men coming into teaching in their mid thirties. As a mentor they find it hard to take advice from someone like me who is trying to help them and it does beg the question what career have you already failed at.

3. Barack Obama wants to introduce merit based pay into US schools. However I believe this is a particularly divisive policy and very simplistic. Teaching staff have to be a team that is consistent in their approach. There is no way that one individual member of staff can enforce discipline on their own. Secondly how are you deciding who has done a good job? Exam results - well count me out of teaching bottom set. What about if a student gets glandular fever and is ill for 6 months - would there teacher miss out on a bonus. Lesson observations - how are students going to act if they know there teachers salary is based on their behaviour. I don't think that there is a fair system that can be operated. If the bonus works on a school or district level then you attract the best teachers to the best schools and increase the division between two separate areas.

4. The Republican s in Northern Ireland have been put in a difficult positions. Do they criticise the attacks and potentially irritate their voters or stay quiet and show that they support violence as a means to achieve their aims. So far nothing.

5. Does Mugabe really think that car crashes are the work of God?

Monday 9 March 2009

OCR

OCR have asked me to write some questions for the exam but it is a bit like being asked to compose a tune. All I can think of things that have already occurred.

Computers

Someone downloaded a virus (accidently) on to the school network which has been destroying links between computers which means.

1 I could noy use a computer in my lessons
2. I could not get to all my resources stored on the computer
3. I could not print anything

Back to hand writing resources and using text books. Kids didn't know what hit them.

Norwich City 3 lost to Norwich Knights 3: 10-4

It was a good game. We played well but towards the end their shots went in and ours didn't including one that seemed to be pretty much through the basket before appearing to defy gravity and rise back up again. On the bright side I scored two goals, a running in shot and a long shot from close to the half way line that went in without touching the sides.

Monday 2 March 2009

Norwich City 3 lost to Norwich City 4 badly

Due to the fact that the first, second, third and fourth team all playing at the same time the team looked a big strange. I have no idea why that when the second team are short they borrow from the third team but when the third team is short we borrow from the sixth team and players that haven't played for years. It was carnage. The fourth team are pretty good as they are all 14 ish and have played together for a while and they tore the weak parts of the team apart. Also as we all train together they knew where the weak parts where before the game and thus were able to expose the lack of quality. Lets hope it doesn't happen again.