The Rodeo

I have 4 wii controllers, two of which are brand new, and two are a couple of years old.

One of the new controllers stopped working, so I rang Nintendo about getting it fixed, and while I was on the phone, I asked if I could get some replacement straps for the old controllers.

Today I got a pack in the mail, and they had sent me 4 of the rubbery jackets that go over the controllers to stop people smashing other people and their stuff with them. I’ve already got 4 though, so if anybody with a wii needs a couple of covers, let me know.

RodeoClown: appreciates the thought…

But I did find $2 on the step at Town Hall station!

RodeoClown: winner!

It’s been raining a lot lately, and Jen discovered today that we have a child who is afraid of the resulting mud. Fortunately for him, he has a caring younger brother who decided to help him fight his phobia.

By throwing mud at his face.

This is one of those tricky parenting moments, where an immediate judgement is required, and may shape the life, and future patterns of behaviour of both children. So, with that in mind, what is the correct course of action?

RodeoClown: thought it was pretty funny.

If you do, I’m selling a copy on eBay.
It’s just the game (no guitars) and it is in perfect condition (it’s still sealed).
Bidding starts at $25.

RodeoClown: public service announcement

Loose Change AUD $5.80 by Joriel “Joz” Jimenez, on Flickr

I just tipped out the coins I had in my change bucket next to the PC (Jen’s friend needs some change for a market stall over the weekend), and found that I had $123 in $1 and $2 coins. About $150 in total.

That’s a whole lot of milk and bread.

How much cash is in your change bucket?

RodeoClown: worth checking

On Wednesday I walked to Wynyard Park to meet up with an unknown number of  people I didn’t know for lunch.

Of the millions of people who could have shown up, 6 of us did, and we went to Starbucks, as it looked much warmer in there than it was in Wynyard Park. Anti-clockwise from the wall there was: Justin, dvm, CraigS, Michael Canaris, RodeoClown and Luke.

As Andrew (dvm) said: “…it turned out to be just a normal conversation between six people”. In fact, it was almost entirely unlike a group blind man-date, with the exception being that there was a group of men who turned up unaware of who else would be there. Actually, put like that, it does indeed sounds quite a bit like that. Hmmm.

It was nice to put some faces to names, and to be surprised by who turned up (Luke had posted over at Justin’s blog that he would try and get there, but Andrew was there first, and both Justin and I both mistook him for Luke, which (having now met both of them), is kinda wierd as Andrew is not exactly tall or British, and Luke is kinda not small, blonde, or a criminal lawyer.

Meeting people from the internet is fantastic (assuming you don’t hang out in seedy places online), I highly recommend it! In fact, we are having a family we met on the internet over for dinner next week.

RodeoClown: loves meeting new people (and even people who aren’t new at all, but just ones I haven’t met before).

I read this letter in the Sydney Morning Herald today:

To believe or not to believe

I’m not sure how anyone can claim to be a “Christian agnostic” (“Believe it or not, the bishop’s an agnostic”, May 20). It makes as much sense as calling a colour “ashen red” or a size “gigantically small”. The words are incongruous. An agnostic believes God is unknowable, whereas a Christian believes God has made himself known in the person of Jesus. Bishop Holloway has a choice to make.

Lynette Spicer Telopea

What a fantastically concise explanation of  what God has done through Jesus. Thanks Lynette!

RodeoClown: unagnostic.

I watched Code of Silence, a documentary on the abuse of women that seems to be an integral part of Rugby League. It was a horrible experience and it made me feel angry at just about everyone and everything:

• Angry that these women were hurt, degraded, and then disposed of.
• Angry that the players don’t seem to realise they have done anything wrong.
• Angry that the coach says they are acting in the manner of all 20-something males (here’s a hint – they weren’t!).
• Angry that the head of the NRL passes the buck to the clubs.
• Angry that the clubs brush it off as a regrettable incident.
• Angry that some women think it’s OK to dress like a skank and go to a club in order to ‘get laid’.
• Angry that the league has to provide ‘consent training’.
• Angry that the training seems to be a waste of time.
• Angry that those morons (watch the documentary and try and tell me they aren’t…) don’t think there is anything wrong with picking up random women and forcing them into degrading sex acts with your whole team as long as you ”put them in a cab and [say] thanks” afterwards.
• Angry that one of the victims thought getting drunk was an integral part of having a ‘fun time’.
• Angry that the reporter pressed for detailed descriptions of the sex acts.
• Angry at the Footy Show Guys for brushing the whole thing off.
• Angry that they showed full-frontal male nudity on the camera for no good reason.
• Angry at myself for ever having looked at pornography, which leads to guys thinking this kind of thing is acceptable.
• Angry that some people think that these players are just “being naughty”.
• Angry that the apoplogy wasn’t.

Watching made me feel sick, I don’t know how anyone could watch that documentary and see anything but evil. How do you even start to change a culture like this?

It needs a miracle.

Jesus, please.

RodeoClown: depressed.

I’ve been playing minesweeper on Windows Vista lately, and I have discovered an awesome new feature they have included, but have not made any mention of anywhere (that I can see).

You can’t get caught in a lose-lose situation.

I can’t prove this, but as far as I can tell, whenever you are in a situation where there is no way of clearing a space or marking a flag, no matter where you click next, you are guaranteed to not hit a mine. In previous versions of the game, the board was completely predetermined (past the first click at least – you weren’t (and still aren’t) able to hit a mine in your first move), so if you had two squares remaining and a single flag to plant, you had a 50% chance of winning or losing. No longer is the coin-flip win/loss an issue. This small addition removes so much unnecessary frustration. And even better – they didn’t even tell anyone they did it.

Is there anything you/me/we can do to improve something that won’t ever be noticed, but if we’d left it alone could cause frustration? Suggestions in the comments.

RodeoClown: well played, Microsoft!