Return of the Revenge of the Son of Saying Hi to Josiah!

[Astral Omega]

We had a fire drill were I last worked ages ago, but the fire was actualy at the fire assembly point. A car was on fire, and we were kinda confused as to were to go.

I've always wondered what would happen in that situation...

Last year, my mom, dad, and one sister were routing for the Giants. But, one of my brothers is a huge Patriot fan. He came downstairs wearing a Patriot helmet and jersey.

Helmets: this I don't get. Why do American footballers wear all that padding and gear.. I mean I've asked people and nobody seems to know, this is a mystery to me.

I mean football uniforms here (In Australia) are a shirt and a pair of shorts. Some wear a padding thing on their head similar to like... boxing... things...idk, but that's very rare. I'm pretty sure they all wear mouthguards, but that's about it.

Also "Touchdown"... why is it called that when from what I can gather just running over the line counts. There is not touching down of anything. At least in NRL to score a try they actually have to put the ball on the ground over the line. This often involves diving to the ground with a heap of guys grabbing and squishing them.

This is one reason why I don't like sports. It makes no sense. I think the best sport in the world is backyard cricket, where the rules depend on what the people playing set them as and there is no uniform or anything, and I do like going to speedways. That's pretty much the only sport I'll watch.

It's Crazy.

[auragongal]

Um, what is Cricket? I've never figured that out.

Also the only sport I get is Base ball.

[PoikSpirit]

I will be watching the game. Actually I hate watching sports, I like playing them, but my team's in the Superbowl. Go Steelers.
Touchdowns are arbitrarily named.
The padding is both because we expect the players to play more than one game before being hospitalized. They don't rip ears off, but they do break a lot of bones.
Plus, most of the football jocks I know are kinda wussy. Sorry, just saying.

I've had cricket explained to me three times, I think. I gave up trying to get it.

[Astral Omega]

Ah yes cricket. The actual professional sport I don't get.. something about runs and overs and whatnot... that's why Backyard Cricket is the best.

Basically cricket is you stand in front of wickets with a bat. I guess that's kinda like baseball.. imagine the catcher is a set of small wooden pikes in the ground. You also hold the bat differently.

A person bowls the ball at the batsman (Kinda like pitching, only different and then you hit the ball.

This is where the part that's usually tricky happens: the scoring. No frelling idea how that works in actual games, but I'm sure Wikipedia will have something. I don't really care about the actual game though.

Backyard cricket is better becasue of the simple fact it's an oversimplified version that ANYONE can play. You need practically no skill to play, no idea of how the regular game of cricket works- all you need is a bat, a ball and something to use as stumps.
This can be anything from a wheelie bin (customary also to paint wickets on the front, but I couldn't find a picture... should have just went and taken a photo of my bin^^) to a set of professional cricket stumps. There are no rules there.

The actual rules of the game depend on the 'house rules' genereally, that is the set of rules the people playing come up with.
eg: the rules my family generally plays with.
ball hits the wickets you're out
person catches the ball on the full after you hit it you're out
person catches it one-handed after it bounces once you're out.
hit the house on the full (or onto the road, into the water if you're playing it on the beach etc) you get 6 points and you're out.

The way to score is you run to the other and and back after you hit the ball to get points or 'runs' and the 6 and out rule. We usually just go in a rotation for batting.

Basically it's a lot of fun, anyone can play, no matter what the age, you can play it anywhere there's a wide open space (which is pretty much anywhere- mostly people's back or front yards, hence the name) and.. yeah..

hope you got all that.

[NabMaster]

The only sport I actually enjoy playing (and can get more than a barely-above-crap score in) is curling. Now that is an epic sport!

[Josiah]

Hi! I used to be pretty good at volleyball, had fun playing it too. But I was only able to play on the team one year (because the coach was a jerk) so I'm horribly out of practice now. Baseball and touch football can be fun to play too. I'm not big on soccer or basketball though, too much constant movement. If a game is stop and go I can play for hours but if I'm constantly running I get worn out too quickly.

[Astral Omega]

Oh yes, PLAYING sport. That's much more fun than watching it. The high school I went to had like the best Volleyball team in Australia or something... I don't know. All I know is they got to go over to america to play one year.

I was more of a sit on the sideline and draw kind of person... although I have always wanted to do gymnastics. Ever since I was little. Could never afford to though, and I'm too old now

... I wouldn't mind playing Tennis I guess... I know Mario Tennis is cool^^ haha

[Saber Knight]

Hey.

Had two hockey games today. First one was an hour and a half away, but it was the best one. We beat a really hard team 2 to 1, and, guess what? I GOT A GOAL!!!

It has been YEARS since I've scored. Kinda sad, but at the same time I get a good deal of assists to make up for it. The shot was...just so perfect, not to sound cockey. Shot it from the blue line (if that means anything to you. I'm a defense, if that helps (which also accounts for my lack-of-score)) and it just flew through the air right past several people and right into the net. T'was great.

The second game, we all started off tired, and I started off with a hurting arm (in the previous game, while battling infront of the net I took a nasty fall and whacked my arm (heard it crack too....kinda scared me). My arm wasn't huring too bad, just when I stretched it out all the way or brought it in all the way or lifted heavy objects. Well...the game went less than ideal, but our coach overreacted. He was the maddest I've seen him, and that's really saying something. He usually yells a bit after bad games, but he was just soo flippin' pissed. He was screaming at us, and he kicked a trash can out of anger (which then almost hit Tango). He said if we don't play better tomorrow, we'd better bring 'puke buckets' to practice, 'cos he'd make them awful. >.< That would NOT be fun.

And the thing is, not to sound cockey, but the defense is always skating hard. Coach really didn't get too mad at me today: I was playing my position pretty well, with a few exceptions of course.

As for other sports, I understand most sports that are generally aired on TV. Basketball, I still don't quite get all of the fouling (never liked that sport. Jammed my finger when I played that in gym). Been watching a lot of tennis lately (guess why....if you don't know then you really don't watch sports), and I understand that. I understand baseball, softball (not really much different, but different nonetheless. Not aired on TV as much, but I watch it whenever possible), hockey (dur), and football. Those are really the only sports we watch.

Geh....but I got whacked around a bit in the game today. Arm hurty now. Much more than before. Sad Saber.

[Giga-Gar]

I'm baaaaaaaaack! Did anyone miss me?

Man, All-West was awesome! I got to miss a day and a half of school (I should get started on the make-up work) and the hotel we stayed at was pretty nice. I told someone that we must be in the good part of Memphis and he said "Isn't that an oxymoron?" Anyway, the music we played was very, very fun to play. Joy Revisited by Frank Ticheli (fast paced, just the way I like), Suite Provencale by Jan Van der Roost (A multi-part piece. The second movement is in 3/2 time[and is thankfully slow], and part of the third movement makes me think of a twisted rennacance fair attraction.), Dusk by Steven Bryant (a very beautiful, slow[44 bpm] piece of music, though being a 3rd Clarinet, I play mostly tied whole notes. It has a lot of time signiture changes, mostly just a measure apart.), and Portraits by Jim Colonna(the first movement is your average fanfare, while the third movement[we skiped the second movement] is called Burlesque "Homige to Lenny"[Lennard Bernstien, fyi]. That is fast and is very fun to play. I mean, there's police whistles, slide whistles, whips, ratchets, ect. Part of it is in 7/8 time and is fun to play.) Our conductor was Christopher Bianco, who's from Bwllingham, Washington(somewhere around Seattle). I'm really glad he was our conductor, because he picked all the music, and made very good choices. I fell sorry for him, however, because he'll miss the Super Bowl while he's flying back home.

Also, the people I roomed with were freshmen, and they were wild. That is, before I put a tight leash on them. I was not going to be responsible for something they did. I have to give them some credit on how neat they were. Everyone else I've roomed with during band trips had their clothes all over the place, wrappers on the floor, bath stuff laying around everywhere. At least my roommates kept their clothes on, or at least near, their suitcasses and made an effort to throw their junk away. They also don't sleep in, like some of the freshmen did. They had to wake up early because the Junior bands(middle school + freshmen) play before the Senior bands(high school) play.

There was also Orchestra bands and Jazz bands. I liked the Orchestra bands better. Nothing says "epic" like a couple of sections of strings, brass, woodwinds, and timpany all playing "Mars, the Bringer of War." The Jazz bands were good, yet loud. It was also too long. I got bored after a while, and only regained intrest when my good friend had a long, and awesome, solo, and when the conductor played on his sax while the band was playing his own song, "Bus Side." I even heard a song's first ever public debue earlier today. Music Highway, composed by Alan Kinningham, preformed by All-West Wind Ensemble, conducted by Richard L. Saucedo.

So ya. I had a good time, my bottom lip hurts(which is a big deal because it has to be in contact with my clarinet's reed[not to mention it was bleeding]) and I'm glad to be back.

[Josiah]

Hi! Anime club is still on for tomorrow so it looks like I'll be missing the first half of the Superbowl, not that I care too much. I think there's going to be a party at school in the theater though (because anime club, which usually has the theather Sunday afternoons, is getting moved into a classroom) so I'll probably hang out there and watch the rest after club.

[Saber Knight]

Anyway, the music we played was very, very fun to play. Joy Revisited by Frank Ticheli (fast paced, just the way I like), Suite Provencale by Jan Van der Roost (A multi-part piece. The second movement is in 3/2 time[and is thankfully slow], and part of the third movement makes me think of a twisted rennacance fair attraction.), Dusk by Steven Bryant (a very beautiful, slow[44 bpm] piece of music, though being a 3rd Clarinet, I play mostly tied whole notes. It has a lot of time signiture changes, mostly just a measure apart.), and Portraits by Jim Colonna(the first movement is your average fanfare, while the third movement[we skiped the second movement] is called Burlesque "Homige to Lenny"[Lennard Bernstien, fyi]. That is fast and is very fun to play.

Yup. Sounds like our Jr./Sr. districts.

We played a piece by Fank Ticheli for concert band. It was his arranglement of Amazing Grace. We were totally awesome (and I was 1st trumpet, go me (High A's though....blarg...hit them in the concert, which was good.)

[Astral Omega]

Why is Astral so tired? is it cuz she can't sleep right? Probably.

I got to sleep at a fairly reasonable hour (11pm-1am which is better than a little while back) and then wake up jsut over 3 hours later. So then I go back to sleep, then I wake up again early.. then I thing "bugger it" and jsut stay awake. then I end up getting tired and because I have to work like every night I don't get a chance to have a nap in the afternoons.

Tehn I end up going to work really tired and have to wake up through the power of lemonade and red cordial (fire engine^^) and the atmosphere of the people in the resteraunt. Much harder if it's readyy dead that night with hardly any people...

Why can't I sleep!?

[Josiah]

Hi! A woman I know gave me a whole bunch of lemons which means that it's time to make lemonaid! Not I just need a citrus juicer and a pitcher...

[Astral Omega]

Mmm... lemonade... sounds good^^

... Are we talking literal or metaphorical here?

[Giga-Gar]

Well, he said a woman gave him lemons, so he's taking the phrase literaly.