From the global community aspect of it to the opportunity for personal benefits it provides to the more vague and broader concept of global environmentalism: this idea really appeals to me. I'll try it some day.
Research and Develop-It-Yourself ~ Windowfarms
Global citizenship
21.12.11
Two thoughts
I love it when people make good videos on YouTube, when they don't try to add heaps of superfluous graphics or captions or etc to videos of things like sporting events.
People who are ignorant to the point they seem insensitive, who want a thumb in every pie, who get all up in your grill because they don't understand boundaries. I've always had trouble being patient with these people.
Experience in sport
19.12.11
Field FC's season petered out with three losses and one draw in the last four games including the semi-final and the 3rd-place play-off. As we surrendered our lead in the final game against Team Zero I realised just how important experience is in football. By this I mean the learning that can only come from playing more football. And yes, I'm saying you must be intelligent and switched on to be a successful footballer.
Experience is so obviously reflected in players' positioning (in both attack and defence) and decision-making (for example, where and when to run). Additionally, it influences the way players conduct themselves on the pitch, how and what they communicate with their teammates.
I've played football every season since I played in the under-6s as a five-year-old. That's fifteen seasons. In this time I've played in almost every position for various clubs and have learned many new skills. It is true that I have played predominantly as a defender or midfielder since we really started playing positions in the under-12s and my criticisms of Field FC are obviously built on my experiences playing these positions.
"Stick to your man!"
"Go to the ball!"
It is not uncommon to hear both of the above friendly pieces of advice be screamed passionately at you in the same match or even same passage of play. Any good defender should know that neither is entirely correct all of the time but, in the heat of battle, there is not enough time to explain what you're shouting in the context of the game of football as a whole. You just call it how you see it and bellow loudly, hoping your teammate understands that, in that given situation, they should have done it differently.
In the season I noticed that certain players only know the former of the two. So, when a team comes and wallpasses through us, these players become confused, yelling blame at others for not following their man. This is never entirely true, and it only comes with experience that it's possible to know when to close players down quickly and when to jockey and wait for the one-two.
Example: playing for Peakhurst United against Hurstville Zagreb who play 4-5-1 with lots of build-up play and one-twos in midfield has taught me a lot. The first time I played them was at home and I'm pretty sure we were outclassed by them. Since then, playing at central midfield and stopper against them, I've not over-committed myself, I've not tried to chase down their every pass in their midfield build-up play because I know now the triangles formed by their numerical advantage would allow them to pass right around me every time. Thus, against them, I technically don't mark any single player let alone stick to him. However, I nullify the advancement of their play by marking space and choosing when to finally close down the player at the end of the play. We've won the subsequent two games against them! This is just one example.
It has also led some players to believe that they are entitled to stand way up the park because they're marking their man when clearly they are also marking themselves out of the game and putting pressure on their teammates to win the ball back and pump it back up to them. It would be better if they came back and helped out, then we could build the play with them included. It comes with practice, but you need to heed both pieces of advice, and learn with time when to do what.
Yelling is part and parcel of playing in a football team. There isn't really any other way around it but not let your feelings get hurt, get on with it, try and learn from what your teammates are saying (provided they're giving you the right information, of course). There have been numerous times when I've copped abuse from my own teammates about over-committing or not committing quickly enough. The important thing is that I tried to learn and become a better positioned defender. Equally, it is just as important for the senior players to keep their heads and promote continuing playing as a team. Field FC's players weren't always able to do this.
A pet peeve of mine in football is when players yell things like "I shouldn't be defending this much, I'm playing midfield!". First of all, this isn't necessarily true. Sure, in a perfect game, the mids and forwards would stay up-field and receive the ball from the defence, but in most games there will be situations where they have to come back deeper to help out and collect the ball. Positions are more flexible than these types of statements suggest. Secondly, saying these types of things is completely unproductive. It leaves teammates with a blank. It doesn't advise them on what they should try to do to change the game and fix the situation.
This was the Division One grand final. It went to penalties after some really great futsal was played (though admittedly I only watched bits of it). The pens start at 38:26, sealed by a fantastic penalty scored by the green team's Asian goalkeeper.
In the past week or so, I also read this story about muscle memory. It made me think about the way I transitioned from a medium first-change bowler into a leg-spinner, and I commiserated about how much harder spin bowling (especially leg-spin) is than bowling pace.
Melbourne 24-28 November 2011
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| RMIT/Old gaol, Russell Street |
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| The Causeway |
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| Little Creatures, Brunswick Street |
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| The Causeway |
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| Must've been near Little Bourke St |
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| Off Little Collins |
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| Can't remember where... Hardware Lane? |
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| The muddy Yarra |
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| In the Crown |
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| Don't know exactly, it's way up on Swanston I think |
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| Caffe on Little Collins near the Causeway |
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| Little Collins |
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| Coneheads |
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| Batman building |
Sourpuss
29.11.11
The main reason why I'm still on Facebook is to stay connected with people I otherwise wouldn't, to see and share photos, to follow bands and other events.
If only there were a way to make it that the photos and events you want to share with people were shared with only those people and didn't become part of the public domain.
I hate with a passion whenever someone comments on or likes a photo I'm tagged in when they're not even friends with the person whose photo it is I mean seriously, please fuck off. They shouldn't even be able to see the photo as it completely bypasses my consent in the first place.
We could, of course, move everything to Facebook messaging or emails... but the post-comment format is much more fun and interactive.
This is why I thought Google+ would be good. Theoretically, your post will only be seen and therefore able to be commented on by the people in the circle you posted it to. Sortof like a group Facebook message or E-Mail, only in post-comment format. Unfortunately, Google+'s format is that people don't get to see which circle they've been put in and therefore who else can see the post that's come up in their newsfeed... It's too vague.
And so, I go back time and again to Facebook.
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