So the last couple of weeks have been interesting, first I had two days work wasted because I forgot about sorting out the UV mapping. So that took a while to do, then I had to repeat the work that was originally done. Then I spent some time trying to make normal maps in ZBrush only to find that the way I'd made the tank was the wrong for how ZBrush works, so I tried using the render to texture option in Max only for that to just not work, so finally I got my hands on Melody the normal map making app from NVidia along with their normal map filter for photoshop so I've spent the last few days working on making the normal maps, so far I have the main body done, planning on having the other parts (engines, drones, turret, rail gun, landing gears) done by the end of the week.
It's been manic lately and it's getting to the point where I'm getting a bit sick of looking at this damn tank but I've still got a good month and a half left before I can hand it in. Plus I've got a re-sit coming up at the end of August, which isn't going to help matters.
God I hate normal mapping!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a ride in my tank.
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Masters Dissertation Day 13
Yay! I'm happy! Finally got the low-res model made sure I'm over the polygon limit but it's only by 6 no ones going to notice. Had to sacrifice the interior it get within the limit though but in doing so, I was able to add a little extra curve to the cock pit making it look nicer.
Almost there!
One of the drones in the early stages
And finished
Just the communications areal left.
And done!
I've even done half of the post work need to get it to work nicely within ZBrush. I may actually get back on schedule soon! Only problem is I need a new tablet, my old has given up the ghost, along with not liking XP and the makers having no drivers on their site that'll actually work with it... Time to spend more money that I can't afford...
So what do you all think? Just remember that the colours aren't final.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a ride in my tank!
Almost there!
One of the drones in the early stages
And finished
Just the communications areal left.
And done!
I've even done half of the post work need to get it to work nicely within ZBrush. I may actually get back on schedule soon! Only problem is I need a new tablet, my old has given up the ghost, along with not liking XP and the makers having no drivers on their site that'll actually work with it... Time to spend more money that I can't afford...
So what do you all think? Just remember that the colours aren't final.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a ride in my tank!
Masters Dissertation Day 11
Well I got the interim report handed in nice and early, well two days early and only 100-odd words over the 2000 limit. Yay me!
Things are slowing progressing on the model, I'm now at 10,500 polys with just the drones left to model, managed to get some extra optimisation done on the main bulk of the model which has helped with the poly count. Enough of my ramblings though, more pretty pictures!
The main weapon (called a Rail Gun) in it's early stages.
The rail Gun again, almost done...
One complete Rail Gun!
A slightly more dramatic shot.
The turret that the Rail Gun sits on.
Don't they make a happy couple?
Everything complete so far.
I'm thinking I may have to remove the working doors in order to save on polys, having 500 polys to make two drones isn't going to be easy and technically the interior of the Hammerhead is taken up by the power cells and ammo for the Rail Gun so there wouldn't normally be enough room for any passengers anyway. I just really wanted an interior for more dramatic animation stuff down the line...
Feedback more then welcome.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a ride in my tank!
Things are slowing progressing on the model, I'm now at 10,500 polys with just the drones left to model, managed to get some extra optimisation done on the main bulk of the model which has helped with the poly count. Enough of my ramblings though, more pretty pictures!
The main weapon (called a Rail Gun) in it's early stages.
The rail Gun again, almost done...
One complete Rail Gun!
A slightly more dramatic shot.
The turret that the Rail Gun sits on.
Don't they make a happy couple?
Everything complete so far.
I'm thinking I may have to remove the working doors in order to save on polys, having 500 polys to make two drones isn't going to be easy and technically the interior of the Hammerhead is taken up by the power cells and ammo for the Rail Gun so there wouldn't normally be enough room for any passengers anyway. I just really wanted an interior for more dramatic animation stuff down the line...
Feedback more then welcome.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a ride in my tank!
The passing of time
The passing of time... eventually it catches up to all of us and unfortunately three days ago it caught up with my uncles dog, Dougal.
He died in his sleep at the ripe old age of 17 on his favourite blanket in the garden on a nice summers day, a perfectly tranquil end for one of the craziest dogs I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. And he was crazy, sometimes crazy like a fox! He was crazy but he was always friendly never aggressive and always up for fun.
I remember when I was last out in Seattle visiting my uncle, Dougal would curl up at the end of my bed and fall asleep, and he was a big dog, being a black Labrador but it was nice knowing he was there, of course come morning he'd be on my uncles bed but it he chose to sleep with me first which was nice. I'm just glad I was sleeping in a double bed!
Dougal hated it whenever we left the house, he would walk back and forth by the gate and moan, like dogs do, apparently he used to jump over the gate when he was younger but my uncle had modified it in recent years to stop him from jumping it (by attaching lengths of wood sticking out the top in a fan pattern) and it had worked until one day. When we were heading out somewhere, just loading the car up and Dougal, desperate as ever, jumped over the gate, we're talking a good 4-5 foot here, it sure was a spectacle, only out classed by my uncles superb grab of Dougal's collar.
These are just simple memories but the thing that sticks in my mind the most was what I called out when he was about, "Dougal, Dougal, Dougal" it was such a simple thing but I got joy from saying and I think he liked it as well, ignoring me if I didn't say but when I did he'd come running! It also had the added benefit of really annoying my brother!
I think it's of great testament to Dougal that although I only see him on two trips, it's taken me over an hour to write this, two meetings and such emotion I can only imagine what my uncle is going through.
So long Dougal, I'll miss you.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to be understanding if I rip you a new one...
He died in his sleep at the ripe old age of 17 on his favourite blanket in the garden on a nice summers day, a perfectly tranquil end for one of the craziest dogs I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. And he was crazy, sometimes crazy like a fox! He was crazy but he was always friendly never aggressive and always up for fun.
I remember when I was last out in Seattle visiting my uncle, Dougal would curl up at the end of my bed and fall asleep, and he was a big dog, being a black Labrador but it was nice knowing he was there, of course come morning he'd be on my uncles bed but it he chose to sleep with me first which was nice. I'm just glad I was sleeping in a double bed!
Dougal hated it whenever we left the house, he would walk back and forth by the gate and moan, like dogs do, apparently he used to jump over the gate when he was younger but my uncle had modified it in recent years to stop him from jumping it (by attaching lengths of wood sticking out the top in a fan pattern) and it had worked until one day. When we were heading out somewhere, just loading the car up and Dougal, desperate as ever, jumped over the gate, we're talking a good 4-5 foot here, it sure was a spectacle, only out classed by my uncles superb grab of Dougal's collar.
These are just simple memories but the thing that sticks in my mind the most was what I called out when he was about, "Dougal, Dougal, Dougal" it was such a simple thing but I got joy from saying and I think he liked it as well, ignoring me if I didn't say but when I did he'd come running! It also had the added benefit of really annoying my brother!
I think it's of great testament to Dougal that although I only see him on two trips, it's taken me over an hour to write this, two meetings and such emotion I can only imagine what my uncle is going through.
So long Dougal, I'll miss you.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to be understanding if I rip you a new one...
Masters Dissertation Day 5
Got loads done today, even got a small video for you this time, nothing much just a test of the landing gears. Still nice to look at though.
Behold! The landing gear!
It's starting to come together at last.
Mmmm menacing.
One of the engines, pre-optimisation
The whole thing post optimisation
Side on post optimisation
The engine post optimisation
And the tracking device post optimisation
Landing gear test video (168KB) - Xvid codec required
The annoying thing is I've not finished optimising it yet, it was around 14000 polys, and I've just about managed to get it down to 9500 polys but I've not even started the main weapon yet, or the drones that sit in the wings, it's gonna get pretty nasty before it's done.
More as it's done, although it won't be for a while, tomorrow I start work on my interim report.
Happy days.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a drive in my tank!
Behold! The landing gear!
It's starting to come together at last.
Mmmm menacing.
One of the engines, pre-optimisation
The whole thing post optimisation
Side on post optimisation
The engine post optimisation
And the tracking device post optimisation
Landing gear test video (168KB) - Xvid codec required
The annoying thing is I've not finished optimising it yet, it was around 14000 polys, and I've just about managed to get it down to 9500 polys but I've not even started the main weapon yet, or the drones that sit in the wings, it's gonna get pretty nasty before it's done.
More as it's done, although it won't be for a while, tomorrow I start work on my interim report.
Happy days.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a drive in my tank!
Masters Dissertation Day 4
Another days work for you all, didn't get any work done yesterday due to trying to fix a small pc problem. Anywho enjoy the pics!
It's starting to come together.
Mmmm menacing
Cockpit detail
The tracking system
OMG! There's like an interior now!
Another interior shot
The main body is pretty much done now.
So then... four days in and I'm behind schedule, looking back at said schedule though and I can say that I was being extremely ambitious. There's more to this model than I originally anticipated, nevertheless I've got the hardest parts out of the way, apart from one.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a drive in my tank!
It's starting to come together.
Mmmm menacing
Cockpit detail
The tracking system
OMG! There's like an interior now!
Another interior shot
The main body is pretty much done now.
So then... four days in and I'm behind schedule, looking back at said schedule though and I can say that I was being extremely ambitious. There's more to this model than I originally anticipated, nevertheless I've got the hardest parts out of the way, apart from one.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a drive in my tank!
Masters Dissatation: Day 2
Another day, another batch of progress renders, not got much left of the tank to model.
Mmmm side hatch...
Mmmm back hatch...
More detail on the back end
Oh my god! They like, totally open!
Bit more done on the underside
And the head-on view
What do you all think? Total polygon count at the moment is about 5000, I'm aiming for around the 8000 mark but I could go up to 10,000 if I need to.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a ride in my tank!
Mmmm side hatch...
Mmmm back hatch...
More detail on the back end
Oh my god! They like, totally open!
Bit more done on the underside
And the head-on view
What do you all think? Total polygon count at the moment is about 5000, I'm aiming for around the 8000 mark but I could go up to 10,000 if I need to.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a ride in my tank!
My Masters Dissertation
For my dissertation I shall be making a 3D model of a Tau Hammerhead Tank from Games Workshops Warhammer 40,000 table top game, pretty much like this one:
Don't ask me why it's called a Hammerhead, it just is.
I'll be making effectivly three copies of this tank, a low poly version and two high poly versions (one that's clean and one that's all battle worn) the high poly versions will be made using ZBrush, while the low poly version will be done in good old 3DSMax. Of course all the models will be textured and made to look all nice and pretty.
Once the modelling is done I'll then do some basic animations, like it hovering, travelling, aiming, firing, etc. Then finally I'm going to import it into a basic environment made with the Half Life 2 SDK (Source Developer Kit) called Hammer. So in other words it'll be using the steam engine.
So here are some progress renders from one days worth of modelling (and not even that, more like half a days worth):
3/4 view, very early on
front view, very early on
3/4 view, getting there the back is starting to look right
front view, it's starting to take shape
And the underside, just because...
More as it gets done.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes
Don't ask me why it's called a Hammerhead, it just is.I'll be making effectivly three copies of this tank, a low poly version and two high poly versions (one that's clean and one that's all battle worn) the high poly versions will be made using ZBrush, while the low poly version will be done in good old 3DSMax. Of course all the models will be textured and made to look all nice and pretty.
Once the modelling is done I'll then do some basic animations, like it hovering, travelling, aiming, firing, etc. Then finally I'm going to import it into a basic environment made with the Half Life 2 SDK (Source Developer Kit) called Hammer. So in other words it'll be using the steam engine.
So here are some progress renders from one days worth of modelling (and not even that, more like half a days worth):
3/4 view, very early on
front view, very early on
3/4 view, getting there the back is starting to look right
front view, it's starting to take shape
And the underside, just because...
More as it gets done.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes
Dagnamit!
So I got my results from uni the other day some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that I've progressed onto the dissertation stage and I also passed the animation module (you know that one where I didn't hand anything in!).
The bad news is that I failed Research Paradigms, which means I have to resit it, which is a bummer. Also I apparently have an interim report to write for my dissertation which is due in two weeks, normally this wouldn't be a problem, but due to a mis-comunicia I thought we weren't meant to start our dissertations until we knew if we'd progressed (makes sence right), apparently not. Apparently we were meant to start straight away, so I'm now about a month behind with very little work done.
Happy days!
And it's only by chance that I knew that the interim report was due for the 13th of July, why is it so hard for the uni to tell us this important information? They managed it on the undergrad course, it can't be that hard to do for a small course of only roughly 20 people. Can it?
Bah rant over!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes
The good news is that I've progressed onto the dissertation stage and I also passed the animation module (you know that one where I didn't hand anything in!).
The bad news is that I failed Research Paradigms, which means I have to resit it, which is a bummer. Also I apparently have an interim report to write for my dissertation which is due in two weeks, normally this wouldn't be a problem, but due to a mis-comunicia I thought we weren't meant to start our dissertations until we knew if we'd progressed (makes sence right), apparently not. Apparently we were meant to start straight away, so I'm now about a month behind with very little work done.
Happy days!
And it's only by chance that I knew that the interim report was due for the 13th of July, why is it so hard for the uni to tell us this important information? They managed it on the undergrad course, it can't be that hard to do for a small course of only roughly 20 people. Can it?
Bah rant over!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes
I had my last bowling session as a student yesterday... It still hasn't really set in that I don't really know when I'm going to bowl again, my next scheduled bowling event is the annual Past V Present in November but even that's not certain because if I have a job, will they give me the time off?
Anyway behold my winnings from four years of bowling:
Mmm trophies!
What's even more impressive is that the bottom shelf is just this year! It's certainly been an illustrious four years, here's what I said in the final club news letter for this accademic year:
As I look back over the four years, I realise just how big a part I've in the success of the club. Before I turned up, the club hadn't won any trophies, then in the following four years, I've been there in pretty much every team that won something, leading by example. My biggest regret is that I didn't get into the BUSA team, that would have been the jewl in the crown for me.
Never mind, I'll just have to kick ass in the exstudent division!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes, as champion of Bowling in Teesside.
Anyway behold my winnings from four years of bowling:
Mmm trophies!
What's even more impressive is that the bottom shelf is just this year! It's certainly been an illustrious four years, here's what I said in the final club news letter for this accademic year:
QUOTE
So this is it. Another year has come and gone for the bowling club and I can confidently say that I’m proud to have been your chairman for this past year. I’ve enjoyed all your company throughout the year, and enjoyed seeing you all improve your game. Even though there have been moments when I’ve felt like packing it all in I’d do it all again in a flash and who wouldn’t? This has been the most successful year for the club in recent memory if not ever with strong wins at four tournaments, I’ve no doubt that the events from Warwick will be talked about for many a year.
I’d like to thank you all for joining the club and sticking with it, if nothing else it means that I’ve managed to do something right in keeping you all interested in the game (if only at a minor level). My thanks also goes out to Laddy, Rich, Dave and Vinny for letting the club use their cars and driving skills throughout the year, if it weren’t for you guys I would have gone mad. A big thanks goes to Bash, for filling in for the Outlaw Ash James early on in the year, you were put in at the deep end and still did a bang-up job, I’m sure you’ll make a great chairman next year.
The new league format we had this year worked well, my only regret with it is that first place wasn’t contested, I’m positive this’ll be different next year with my absence. To see the final standings in both leagues and to find if you won any trophies click here. Congratulations to everyone who won something, but also to those of you who knew that you weren’t in contention for anything and still came along, showing that despite what I may have said in the past, there is fun to be had in this sport.
Those of you who were at the meal on Wednesday will know that I passed the Captains armband onto Statto, I didn’t really give any reason for it then, so if you’ll allow me, I’ll explain my self now.
Statto is one of a kind, never before have I met someone so self confident yet humble with the determination to say something then follow through with it. Statto is a natural leader, someone people just look to for guidance and it’s these traits that I feel make him the right man to lead the Pirates into tournaments. In addition his level head and consistent scoring make for a well rounded player. You just need to practise your warrior cry Statto!
I hope I’ve been a good chairman and captain for you this year and I wish every one of you (yes even Martin) the best of luck in whatever it is you decide to do in the future.
It’s been a blast!
Ben “Taz Man” Collings, Teesside Pirate 2003-2007 and damn proud of it!
I’d like to thank you all for joining the club and sticking with it, if nothing else it means that I’ve managed to do something right in keeping you all interested in the game (if only at a minor level). My thanks also goes out to Laddy, Rich, Dave and Vinny for letting the club use their cars and driving skills throughout the year, if it weren’t for you guys I would have gone mad. A big thanks goes to Bash, for filling in for the Outlaw Ash James early on in the year, you were put in at the deep end and still did a bang-up job, I’m sure you’ll make a great chairman next year.
The new league format we had this year worked well, my only regret with it is that first place wasn’t contested, I’m positive this’ll be different next year with my absence. To see the final standings in both leagues and to find if you won any trophies click here. Congratulations to everyone who won something, but also to those of you who knew that you weren’t in contention for anything and still came along, showing that despite what I may have said in the past, there is fun to be had in this sport.
Those of you who were at the meal on Wednesday will know that I passed the Captains armband onto Statto, I didn’t really give any reason for it then, so if you’ll allow me, I’ll explain my self now.
Statto is one of a kind, never before have I met someone so self confident yet humble with the determination to say something then follow through with it. Statto is a natural leader, someone people just look to for guidance and it’s these traits that I feel make him the right man to lead the Pirates into tournaments. In addition his level head and consistent scoring make for a well rounded player. You just need to practise your warrior cry Statto!
I hope I’ve been a good chairman and captain for you this year and I wish every one of you (yes even Martin) the best of luck in whatever it is you decide to do in the future.
It’s been a blast!
Ben “Taz Man” Collings, Teesside Pirate 2003-2007 and damn proud of it!
As I look back over the four years, I realise just how big a part I've in the success of the club. Before I turned up, the club hadn't won any trophies, then in the following four years, I've been there in pretty much every team that won something, leading by example. My biggest regret is that I didn't get into the BUSA team, that would have been the jewl in the crown for me.
Never mind, I'll just have to kick ass in the exstudent division!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes, as champion of Bowling in Teesside.
End of an Era part 2
You may remember that a couple of months ago I had my last student bowling tournament and I promised you all photos. Well here they are:
I present to you, me... dressed as a kinky school girl! You have been warned!
I'd hit it!
Such a sexy pout!
Mmm, check out them legs!
She's got a fine ass too!
Such a large chest too!
Just don't blame me if you can't get to sleep for the next month!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes
I present to you, me... dressed as a kinky school girl! You have been warned!
I'd hit it!
Such a sexy pout!
Mmm, check out them legs!
She's got a fine ass too!
Such a large chest too!
Just don't blame me if you can't get to sleep for the next month!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes
Will wonders never cease?!
I've got a hand-in on Tuesday, i.e. tomorrow. Yet I'm not worried, as I've actually got all the work done, well all the work I can do by my self, all that's left is a team report to wright... as a team... bit difficult to do by your self...
Anywho, yeah, Just have to hand this thing in tomorrow, then do a presentation on it on Wednesday (glad there isn't any bowling!) and that's pretty much it, done. Apart from the dissertation to do over the summer. I never thought I'd make it through the madness, and I suppose technically I didn't, seeing as I just haven't handed anything in for one of my modules... never mind I'll just have to do the resit over the summer.
So of course this means I actually have some free time! For the first time in weeks! As such I've rediscovered my GameCube, Burnout 2, Soul Calibur 2, Smash Bros Melee, Star Fox Assult, F Zero GX, so many great games... and now so much free time to enjoy them all! I just have to start playing the games I've got for my Wii and I'll be all set, for decent relaxation over the summer (inbetween doing a dissertation and resits of course).
I just wish I had more money to enjoy my self...
Seeing as I'm coming to the end of my academic year (of sorts) this also means that bowling has pretty much come to an end for another year, as far as a league is concerned which means... Trophies! Loverly shiny bits of plastic and marble with little metal name plates on them.
Now in years past this event would be somewhat of a downer for me, not because I wouldn't win much (on the contray) but because of some silly rule the club came up with where someone can only win one trophy regardless of how well they did, while this meant that no one would clean up, it also meant that people who finished midtable or lower would get a trophy and for what? Not sucking as much as the person below them? Hardly seemed fair. It was hard for me watching people collecting trophies that I'd earned, played well for and not getting the credit for it... It never sat well with me.
So why is this year different?
This year is different because, with two leagues running (a scratch and a handicap league), it means more trophies, more trophies than regular members, so we've had to regig the rules slightly, while if things were propper I'd be winning 8 trophies from both the leagues, with the new rule I'll be winning 5 trophies, which is still a decent collection, it also means that other people will get stuff as well. It's really a very simple rule which goes something like:
You can only win trophies from one league.
For example I came 1st in both the scratch and handicap leagues but because the scratch league is better (being based souly on ones skills) I'd win the scratch trophy and someone else would take 1st in the Handicap. While this does mean that people placed midtable will still get a trophy that they didn't really deserve it seems to be the best compromise possible.
It still doesn't sit that well with me, screw fairness I worked hard to earn all those trophies, I should get the recognition I deserve, it's not my fault I'm just that much better than the rest of the members... is it?...
Oh a nice shiny trophy all for me!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes
Anywho, yeah, Just have to hand this thing in tomorrow, then do a presentation on it on Wednesday (glad there isn't any bowling!) and that's pretty much it, done. Apart from the dissertation to do over the summer. I never thought I'd make it through the madness, and I suppose technically I didn't, seeing as I just haven't handed anything in for one of my modules... never mind I'll just have to do the resit over the summer.
So of course this means I actually have some free time! For the first time in weeks! As such I've rediscovered my GameCube, Burnout 2, Soul Calibur 2, Smash Bros Melee, Star Fox Assult, F Zero GX, so many great games... and now so much free time to enjoy them all! I just have to start playing the games I've got for my Wii and I'll be all set, for decent relaxation over the summer (inbetween doing a dissertation and resits of course).
I just wish I had more money to enjoy my self...
Seeing as I'm coming to the end of my academic year (of sorts) this also means that bowling has pretty much come to an end for another year, as far as a league is concerned which means... Trophies! Loverly shiny bits of plastic and marble with little metal name plates on them.
Now in years past this event would be somewhat of a downer for me, not because I wouldn't win much (on the contray) but because of some silly rule the club came up with where someone can only win one trophy regardless of how well they did, while this meant that no one would clean up, it also meant that people who finished midtable or lower would get a trophy and for what? Not sucking as much as the person below them? Hardly seemed fair. It was hard for me watching people collecting trophies that I'd earned, played well for and not getting the credit for it... It never sat well with me.
So why is this year different?
This year is different because, with two leagues running (a scratch and a handicap league), it means more trophies, more trophies than regular members, so we've had to regig the rules slightly, while if things were propper I'd be winning 8 trophies from both the leagues, with the new rule I'll be winning 5 trophies, which is still a decent collection, it also means that other people will get stuff as well. It's really a very simple rule which goes something like:
You can only win trophies from one league.
For example I came 1st in both the scratch and handicap leagues but because the scratch league is better (being based souly on ones skills) I'd win the scratch trophy and someone else would take 1st in the Handicap. While this does mean that people placed midtable will still get a trophy that they didn't really deserve it seems to be the best compromise possible.
It still doesn't sit that well with me, screw fairness I worked hard to earn all those trophies, I should get the recognition I deserve, it's not my fault I'm just that much better than the rest of the members... is it?...
Oh a nice shiny trophy all for me!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes
End of an era...
My last bowling tournament as a student has come and gone and my word was it a good one. Started a bit random mind what with communications getting a bit muddled resulting in us turning up a whole hour before we were ment to but never mind.
Long story short, we breesed through the first round, loosing only two games out of six. Then in the final round, we won two of the three matches, including one very close match, that went right down to the wire. The team came second overallincluding team high game, I got second in the little side game called "Tripple X" (play three games, and using the best frames from them to make a fouth game), one of the team mates got high handicap game. So overall it was a good haul, not Warrick good but still pretty damn good and couple that with the results from the fancy dress tournament the day before, where we came second again and I got high handicap game (in hindsight it was a bloody obvious omen). It makes for a grand swan song for my student bowling career.
I'm just dissapointed that we didn't win it overall, it was so close, only about 10 pins in it for that one game in the final round.
Oh well pictures coming soon. Yes even from the fancy dress, although you may want to get your eyes/monitor insured before you look at them, it's scary to say the least.
This is Benji Dude, Asking you take a walk in my shoes because I've hung them up.
Long story short, we breesed through the first round, loosing only two games out of six. Then in the final round, we won two of the three matches, including one very close match, that went right down to the wire. The team came second overallincluding team high game, I got second in the little side game called "Tripple X" (play three games, and using the best frames from them to make a fouth game), one of the team mates got high handicap game. So overall it was a good haul, not Warrick good but still pretty damn good and couple that with the results from the fancy dress tournament the day before, where we came second again and I got high handicap game (in hindsight it was a bloody obvious omen). It makes for a grand swan song for my student bowling career.
I'm just dissapointed that we didn't win it overall, it was so close, only about 10 pins in it for that one game in the final round.
Oh well pictures coming soon. Yes even from the fancy dress, although you may want to get your eyes/monitor insured before you look at them, it's scary to say the least.
This is Benji Dude, Asking you take a walk in my shoes because I've hung them up.
Damn them!
So last night I went to the Unions Annual Awards Dinner, just like I do every year. The bowling club was up for some awards and I personally was up for an award.
The awards that I was interested in where:
Club of the year
Team of the year
Most improved club
Volunteer of the year
So just like every year the bowling club comes away empty handed dispite performing better than most clubs for far longer than any other club. Ok I may not have deserved the Volunteer of the year, twas a bit of a long shot but the Bowling club should have won something by now. I mean come on, we've had a four year winning streak ffs three of our players are in the top 40 national rankings, membership has improved year on year, no other club has been as successful as us for as long as us.
So why don't we win anything? Because we're not considered a "propper sport" by the union or it's members. It's fuckin' annoying, I've dedicated the last four years to the club and for what? To be brushed aside because of some stupid pre-conceptions about bowling.
Bunch of fuckers the lot of them.
The awards that I was interested in where:
Club of the year
Team of the year
Most improved club
Volunteer of the year
So just like every year the bowling club comes away empty handed dispite performing better than most clubs for far longer than any other club. Ok I may not have deserved the Volunteer of the year, twas a bit of a long shot but the Bowling club should have won something by now. I mean come on, we've had a four year winning streak ffs three of our players are in the top 40 national rankings, membership has improved year on year, no other club has been as successful as us for as long as us.
So why don't we win anything? Because we're not considered a "propper sport" by the union or it's members. It's fuckin' annoying, I've dedicated the last four years to the club and for what? To be brushed aside because of some stupid pre-conceptions about bowling.
Bunch of fuckers the lot of them.
Debt? What debt?
So yesterday I was in town paying a cheque into my account and I thought I'd have a quick nosey around the game stores (GAME and Gamestation). Went into GAME and spotted SSX Blur picked it up had a look at the back and put it back, unable to afford the £40 price tag, never the less I continued to look around and I saw an add for Heatseeker, unaware of it's release date, and not seeing any copies in stor I asked about when it was coming out, "Tomorrow" the chap behind the counter said, I replied with my usual "cool" then proceeded to ask about how much I'd get for a copy of Rayman Raving Rabbids, "£20" the chap replied, "Cool, thanks" I said back and then left the store. I could talk about my time in Gamestation but there's not alot I can say when the only highlight was seeing a T-shirt with the original 8 character line-up from Street Fighter 2 with the caption "So many choices".
Anyway, today I looked at my financies, and to say it didn't look good would be somewhat of an understatement. However I mearly laughed in the face of my inpending debt crisis (it's all Blairs fault anyway) and said, "To hell with it" I picked up my copy of Rayman and headed for GAME promply picked up a copy of SSX Blur and Heatseeker, handed over Rayman, got £20 knocked off my purchase as well as a further £8 for student discount, meaning that a purchase that should have cost £80 only cost me £53, just shy of half price.
After only a short bit of game time with each, I can say that both are pretty good games, the trick system in Blur is a little hard to get around, as is landing but I'm sure that after a bit of practise I'll be pulling "sick" tricks all over the place.
Heatseeker however is a different kettle of fish, instantly playable, you'll be pulling barrol rolls and loop-the-loops in no time flat, and the impact cam just doesn't get old. Ok so the voice acting is cheesy beyond belife but it all adds to the "blow the hell out of stuff" 80's mentality.
So yeah my debt is still there, much like it was back at christmas time but at least I get to enjoy being broke a little bit more now, thank the lord for fantastic plastic!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes and blow some stuff up!
Anyway, today I looked at my financies, and to say it didn't look good would be somewhat of an understatement. However I mearly laughed in the face of my inpending debt crisis (it's all Blairs fault anyway) and said, "To hell with it" I picked up my copy of Rayman and headed for GAME promply picked up a copy of SSX Blur and Heatseeker, handed over Rayman, got £20 knocked off my purchase as well as a further £8 for student discount, meaning that a purchase that should have cost £80 only cost me £53, just shy of half price.
After only a short bit of game time with each, I can say that both are pretty good games, the trick system in Blur is a little hard to get around, as is landing but I'm sure that after a bit of practise I'll be pulling "sick" tricks all over the place.
Heatseeker however is a different kettle of fish, instantly playable, you'll be pulling barrol rolls and loop-the-loops in no time flat, and the impact cam just doesn't get old. Ok so the voice acting is cheesy beyond belife but it all adds to the "blow the hell out of stuff" 80's mentality.
So yeah my debt is still there, much like it was back at christmas time but at least I get to enjoy being broke a little bit more now, thank the lord for fantastic plastic!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes and blow some stuff up!
The dry spell continues...
On the 24th March the Teesside Pirates were in Leeds trying to rectify the mistakes of the last tournament.
Things started out well, everyone arrived on time and with everything they needed. Spirits were high on the way and thanks to the driver having SatNav we didn't get lost either. Bonus!
Personally I like the AMF Merrion Center in Leeds, sure it doesn't have a lift so I make a hell-of-a-noise entering the place, going down three flights of stairs, bowling balls clanking on each and every step. However being situated underground does have it's advantages, like the lack of sunshine getting in your eyes, the more controllable temperature but above all else (and this has nothing to do with the alley being underground) the lanes are nice. I've well here before, scoring my PB 276 in years past and getting a 10 bagger (10 strikes in a row). However it's also the venue where we have only won trophy, one trophy in 4 years, thankfully the trophy was mine, so I tend to enjoy the place more than my other team mates.
Long story short.
Lanes were a pain in the rear, very difficult oil pattern meaning very few strikes for me, making my 170 average over 9 games all the better, thank god for my spare being ace that day! So I did well with just a couple of dud games, my team mate (The tournament was doubles based) did ok, not as well as he'd have hoped but given his excellent form recently he was perhaps a little hard on himself. We had two other teams taking partas well, they all managed decent games, no major catasphrophies. Alas it was only me and my team mate who managed to get through to the final round, we were in 6th place, 20 pins behind 5th who were only 45 behind the team in 1st, it was wide open for any team to win, alas, it was not meant to be, both me and my team failing to get the best from the lanes.
So there we are another tournament and another defeat. At least we have the Hull Trios and Quads to look forward to in May... The Trios being a fancy dress tournament... fun times.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
Things started out well, everyone arrived on time and with everything they needed. Spirits were high on the way and thanks to the driver having SatNav we didn't get lost either. Bonus!
Personally I like the AMF Merrion Center in Leeds, sure it doesn't have a lift so I make a hell-of-a-noise entering the place, going down three flights of stairs, bowling balls clanking on each and every step. However being situated underground does have it's advantages, like the lack of sunshine getting in your eyes, the more controllable temperature but above all else (and this has nothing to do with the alley being underground) the lanes are nice. I've well here before, scoring my PB 276 in years past and getting a 10 bagger (10 strikes in a row). However it's also the venue where we have only won trophy, one trophy in 4 years, thankfully the trophy was mine, so I tend to enjoy the place more than my other team mates.
Long story short.
Lanes were a pain in the rear, very difficult oil pattern meaning very few strikes for me, making my 170 average over 9 games all the better, thank god for my spare being ace that day! So I did well with just a couple of dud games, my team mate (The tournament was doubles based) did ok, not as well as he'd have hoped but given his excellent form recently he was perhaps a little hard on himself. We had two other teams taking partas well, they all managed decent games, no major catasphrophies. Alas it was only me and my team mate who managed to get through to the final round, we were in 6th place, 20 pins behind 5th who were only 45 behind the team in 1st, it was wide open for any team to win, alas, it was not meant to be, both me and my team failing to get the best from the lanes.
So there we are another tournament and another defeat. At least we have the Hull Trios and Quads to look forward to in May... The Trios being a fancy dress tournament... fun times.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
Glory Days...
The Teesside Pirates were in Liverpool on Sunday trying to add more trophies to their collection.
Things didn't start out well though....
The story starts on Saturday 17th March aka St. Patrick’s Day, as you would expect the union bar was packed with students, all getting drunk. My plan was to get in at about 7pm have a few pints and celebrate a mates birthday, with the intention of being in bed by about 11pm. What I didn't expect however was the bar to still be giving away the big Guinness top hats (last year they were all out after a couple of hours). The deal works something like this, one pint of Guinness gets you a ticket, get four tickets and exchange them for a hat. Simple. So I buy two pints (not at the same time) and enjoy them, the third ticket is given to me (nice) while I'm given a flat fourth pint (minus the ticket) by someone who had to leave, I buy the fourth pint get the ticket and exchange them for a hat, happy days. I'd got what I came for and it was gone 10pm, I should really have started off home, but alas I spot some mates from my previous course in bar one thing leads to another and before you know it, I've gone and brought my self another pint...
I end up crashing into bed at about midnight and my alarm is set for 4am, happy days...
4am comes around my first alarm goes off, I get out of bed turn it off and go back to sleep, expecting to be woken up again in five minutes by the second alarm...
I wake up later, no alarm is sounding, confused I look at the time, 5:30, I've only gone and overslept by an hour and a half. Quickly getting dressed during which I get a phone call asking where I am (as we were meant to meet up at 5am), I tell the guys that I overslept and that they should come and pick me up, as it'd be quicker than me walking to the meeting point. I quickly do a half-assed job of my teeth and hair, in the middle of which I get another phone call saying that the guys are just outside. I quickly get all my stuff together get it into the car then spend another minute printing the application form off (note to self: Don't put stuff off!). Finally we're away, back to the meeting point to pick up the last player, who also overslept.
6am and we're finally on our way to Liverpool, I've never been so glad to allow an extra hour for travel!
Apart from a strange diversion that led us in the wrong direction we still managed to get to the alley before anyone else, even beating the staff!
So yeah a good start to the day...
So the Liverpool Trios... it's an usual tournament, in most tournaments you play teams in sets of 3 games and play 9 games. However at Liverpool it's more akin to a football tournament, you start off in groups of 5 with the top two teams from each group going through to the next round, plus the losing team with the highest pinfall, then groups of 3, top team from each group going to the next round along with the team with the highest pinfall for a straight out knockout.
Finally at 10am we started bowling.
And for me it was a good start scoring a 187, and we won the first game, yay for us. We also won the second game, despite me only getting a 148 game. The third game was ours as well thanks to me getting a great 205 game, meaning that my first 3 game series of the day was 540 giving me an average of 180, oh happy days. Onto the fourth game and we were out played and out lucked the other team hitting a bit of form, my score for this game, 153, looks like it's going to be one of those days. Last game of the first round and we need to win to make sure we went through and with me scoring well again with a 178 and the guys hitting form as well, we beat our opposition.
Job done we were through to the second round, a break for the lanes to get re-oiled and to get some lunch (Good old McDonalds!) and we were off again. First game 183 good but not good enough to win, we were up against it now, needing to win the next games to stay in and disaster, we were up against the same team that beat us in the last round and just like last time they hit some form and got some luck, annoyingly we would have beaten them if we had played them in the last game! Of course my scoring a 148 didn't help matters. So we were effectively out of the tournament, now all that was left was to go out in style and have some fun, which we did for the most part, myself scoring a decent 190 game, although it wasn't enough and we lost.
We stuck around till the 3rd round teams were announced just in case but alas luck was not on our side that day and the 5 tournament winning streak came to an end. Never-the-less it was still a good, especially for me, getting an average of 174 for the day, a respectful tournament average and more akin to what I'm used to.
The trip home was quiet to start with but as we neared the smog central that is Teesside we started to cheer up a bit with a bit of a sing along and ending with good old 20 questions. Not a bad day for £35 now all I have to do is get the money from the team mates!
If I bowl on Wednesday like I bowled at Liverpool then I think we can say that I'm back baby!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
Things didn't start out well though....
The story starts on Saturday 17th March aka St. Patrick’s Day, as you would expect the union bar was packed with students, all getting drunk. My plan was to get in at about 7pm have a few pints and celebrate a mates birthday, with the intention of being in bed by about 11pm. What I didn't expect however was the bar to still be giving away the big Guinness top hats (last year they were all out after a couple of hours). The deal works something like this, one pint of Guinness gets you a ticket, get four tickets and exchange them for a hat. Simple. So I buy two pints (not at the same time) and enjoy them, the third ticket is given to me (nice) while I'm given a flat fourth pint (minus the ticket) by someone who had to leave, I buy the fourth pint get the ticket and exchange them for a hat, happy days. I'd got what I came for and it was gone 10pm, I should really have started off home, but alas I spot some mates from my previous course in bar one thing leads to another and before you know it, I've gone and brought my self another pint...
I end up crashing into bed at about midnight and my alarm is set for 4am, happy days...
4am comes around my first alarm goes off, I get out of bed turn it off and go back to sleep, expecting to be woken up again in five minutes by the second alarm...
I wake up later, no alarm is sounding, confused I look at the time, 5:30, I've only gone and overslept by an hour and a half. Quickly getting dressed during which I get a phone call asking where I am (as we were meant to meet up at 5am), I tell the guys that I overslept and that they should come and pick me up, as it'd be quicker than me walking to the meeting point. I quickly do a half-assed job of my teeth and hair, in the middle of which I get another phone call saying that the guys are just outside. I quickly get all my stuff together get it into the car then spend another minute printing the application form off (note to self: Don't put stuff off!). Finally we're away, back to the meeting point to pick up the last player, who also overslept.
6am and we're finally on our way to Liverpool, I've never been so glad to allow an extra hour for travel!
Apart from a strange diversion that led us in the wrong direction we still managed to get to the alley before anyone else, even beating the staff!
So yeah a good start to the day...
So the Liverpool Trios... it's an usual tournament, in most tournaments you play teams in sets of 3 games and play 9 games. However at Liverpool it's more akin to a football tournament, you start off in groups of 5 with the top two teams from each group going through to the next round, plus the losing team with the highest pinfall, then groups of 3, top team from each group going to the next round along with the team with the highest pinfall for a straight out knockout.
Finally at 10am we started bowling.
And for me it was a good start scoring a 187, and we won the first game, yay for us. We also won the second game, despite me only getting a 148 game. The third game was ours as well thanks to me getting a great 205 game, meaning that my first 3 game series of the day was 540 giving me an average of 180, oh happy days. Onto the fourth game and we were out played and out lucked the other team hitting a bit of form, my score for this game, 153, looks like it's going to be one of those days. Last game of the first round and we need to win to make sure we went through and with me scoring well again with a 178 and the guys hitting form as well, we beat our opposition.
Job done we were through to the second round, a break for the lanes to get re-oiled and to get some lunch (Good old McDonalds!) and we were off again. First game 183 good but not good enough to win, we were up against it now, needing to win the next games to stay in and disaster, we were up against the same team that beat us in the last round and just like last time they hit some form and got some luck, annoyingly we would have beaten them if we had played them in the last game! Of course my scoring a 148 didn't help matters. So we were effectively out of the tournament, now all that was left was to go out in style and have some fun, which we did for the most part, myself scoring a decent 190 game, although it wasn't enough and we lost.
We stuck around till the 3rd round teams were announced just in case but alas luck was not on our side that day and the 5 tournament winning streak came to an end. Never-the-less it was still a good, especially for me, getting an average of 174 for the day, a respectful tournament average and more akin to what I'm used to.
The trip home was quiet to start with but as we neared the smog central that is Teesside we started to cheer up a bit with a bit of a sing along and ending with good old 20 questions. Not a bad day for £35 now all I have to do is get the money from the team mates!
If I bowl on Wednesday like I bowled at Liverpool then I think we can say that I'm back baby!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
Teesside Distroy Competition in Competition!
So another bowling tournament happened the other week, and as per usual I brushed aside my mountain of work and spent a day bowling. It was time well spent; it was a good time spent well.
Ok so we arrived at the alley an hour early...
So the organisers were late...
And the alley wouldn't let anyone inside until well past registration was meant to end... (and it was freakin' cold!)
So what if I'd been up since 3am...
There was something in the air, it was one of those times when you just knew something special was going to happen, I didn't know what but something special was on the horizon.
The first special thing was that there were only 11 teams taking part. 11! That's nothing; our chances of scoring some beer and trophies just went up several octaves.
So then the first event... The Doubles! First game, my standard level of rubbish, not the start I'd hoped for however me and my partner managed to beat the opposition, so I wasn't too concerned, and it appeared to show, with my next game being a much more normal (back in the ol' days...) 183. Now I was cooking, the oil was nice, confidence was quite high and we'd beaten the opposition again (hammered would be a suitable metaphor). On to the last game of the doubles and a slight dip in score to 175 not bad, overall a half decent series (total score) as was expected we trounced the opposition again.
With the doubles over I had a break until my next event, my duty was clear to help support my team mates in their Trios event. They did well, no scrap that they did pretty damn well, one of them not only managing to beat his beat his PB (personal best) by some way but also managing to average over it as well. A truly amazing feat. Midway through and the results from the doubles were in... We'd won! It was totally out of left field, neither my self nor my doubles partner were expecting first, yes we expected some silver ware at some point during the day but not in the first event and certainly not first. It's not often I win something, it's even less often that the person who helped in the victory decides to hug me, but he did, a good proper man hug.
So it wasn't even noon and we'd already bagged a trophy with a good chance of getting a second thanks to that excellent personal performance mentioned above, confidence was high, although some of the team weren't playing as well as they would have liked they soon changed their tune after soaking up some of confident waves being emitted by the rest.
So with the trios finished, it was time for the lanes to be re-oiled which can only mean one thing, time for lunch! A quick dash across the parking lot to get to the KFC (it's finger lick' good!) and good-god! We must have looked like a bunch of tight fisted gits only two of us actually having enough money to get a full meal, I barely had enough for a regular portion of pop-corn-chicken, of course it meant that I couldn't afford a drink if I needed one. Another quick dash across the car park and I had to get ready for my next event, then Singles.
Oh dear.... oh dear.... oh dear.... Did I mention oh dear? Not a very good performance, the oil was different and much more challenging, my line from my previous games was gone and I was struggling to find a new and it showed, I couldn't even get my spares, resulting in a 134 in the first, I managed to find some semblance of a strike line in the second, gaining an extra 10-pins and scoring a 144, then in the third it kicked in, increasing my score by 20-pins to 164. Not a great series, a pretty rubbish one in fact, even considering my recent "form". Good news came however from finding out that the guys had won the Trios, two first place trophies in one tournament, a first in Teesside Bowling history as far as I'm aware. Of course this made my rubbish result in the singles all the more annoying, as it meant that we couldn't possible white-wash the event, never mind...
Another break for me, which meant that the rest of the team was up, this time for the Quads and a solid performance all round, no amazing scores this time but they hit their average or above which you can't argue about, you can try but you won't get anywhere. Time for another re-oil, another dash across the car park, no wait, no one has any money, best stay in the bar and drink water... during the re-oil I had to partake in some bowling politics, all rather boring stuff, as politics is really... However once that was dealt with we discovered that we had another trophy, this time as runner-ups in the Quads event, today was turning into a great day for Teesside Bowling and surely something that will be talked about for years to come.
The re-oiling done and it was time for the final event, the Fives, one last hurrah before the trip home and low and behold we'd be bowling against one of my old bowling buddies from back when I was but a wee-lad. Time to shine I thought to my self, unfortunately it was more a faint, dim, flicker, never the less we were able to beat the opposition, who it would eventually turn out would end up out of the top 3 having been in second place before the Fives event. Having totally broken them after the first game we were confident of more silverware. Although my scores weren't as good as I had hoped being 167, 171, 160 given the difficulty of the lanes I was pleased enough with what I got, plus I beat my old bowling pal, which is always good! Even more so when you consider that he is 5 years my senior!
So the Tournament was all but over, and running extremely late, the awards ceremony was meant to start at 7:30pm; it didn't get started till 8:30-9:00pm. Which didn't please the league bowlers, waiting to get on the lanes after us. That's a story for another time though, on with the ceremony!
Of course we already knew we'd won a fair bit of silverware, what with winning the Doubles and Trios, getting second in the Quads. We were pretty sure we'd won the Fives and by consequence the tournament overall. The first award handed out was the Doubles, me and team mate strode out nice and proud, got our trophy and four bottles of beer (nice!) and had our photo taken (in glorious blur-o-vision), next up was the Trios and again the guys went up all nice and proud, picked up their trophy, got another handful of beer and had their blurry photo taken. A bit of a rest as the singles awards were given out, however we couldn't switch off as we had a pretty good feeling that the star of the day had won an individual trophy for his stunning performance earlier and sure enough he had, High Handicap Series, a nice medallion and a bottle of wine for his troubles and another blurry photo. On to the Quads now and the guys still proud to come in second, picked up their trophies and a crate of beer (hell yeah!) and another photo in brilliant blur-o-vision (hell one of our players wasn't even looking into the camera!). Next was the Fives, how did we do? Don't know about the others but I was a little tense but we could rejoice as we'd won the Fives! We all went up, collected our trophies and another crate of beer (Oh boy we were going to get hammered soon!) and of course the seemingly obligatory blurry photo. Having won the Fives we were pretty sure we'd won the overall tournament prize as well, second place was read out (no prize for third place here!) and it was a surprise team, we were on edge the tournament director read out the team name and we'd won! We'd won the whole freakin' tournament! Surely a first for the club! Everyone goes up, picks up their rather impressive trophies and two crates of beer (oh my bladder and liver sure didn't like that!) and one more burry photo and we were done. No doubt in anyone's mind who were the most successful team of the day.
So four crates of beer, a bottle of wine and 20 trophies between us, meaning we all got 17.2 bottles of beer each and a nice collection of trophies. I managed to get decent photo of the team with their winnings before we headed off home. Overall a very long but very rewarding day, well worth putting off uni work for.
So we were late getting the car back by 3 or 4 hours...
So one of the team crashed his car on his way home, snapping a trophy in half and smashing 15 of his 17 bottles...
So I bowled rubbish in the Singles event...
It was one hell of a day!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes.
Ok so we arrived at the alley an hour early...
So the organisers were late...
And the alley wouldn't let anyone inside until well past registration was meant to end... (and it was freakin' cold!)
So what if I'd been up since 3am...
There was something in the air, it was one of those times when you just knew something special was going to happen, I didn't know what but something special was on the horizon.
The first special thing was that there were only 11 teams taking part. 11! That's nothing; our chances of scoring some beer and trophies just went up several octaves.
So then the first event... The Doubles! First game, my standard level of rubbish, not the start I'd hoped for however me and my partner managed to beat the opposition, so I wasn't too concerned, and it appeared to show, with my next game being a much more normal (back in the ol' days...) 183. Now I was cooking, the oil was nice, confidence was quite high and we'd beaten the opposition again (hammered would be a suitable metaphor). On to the last game of the doubles and a slight dip in score to 175 not bad, overall a half decent series (total score) as was expected we trounced the opposition again.
With the doubles over I had a break until my next event, my duty was clear to help support my team mates in their Trios event. They did well, no scrap that they did pretty damn well, one of them not only managing to beat his beat his PB (personal best) by some way but also managing to average over it as well. A truly amazing feat. Midway through and the results from the doubles were in... We'd won! It was totally out of left field, neither my self nor my doubles partner were expecting first, yes we expected some silver ware at some point during the day but not in the first event and certainly not first. It's not often I win something, it's even less often that the person who helped in the victory decides to hug me, but he did, a good proper man hug.
So it wasn't even noon and we'd already bagged a trophy with a good chance of getting a second thanks to that excellent personal performance mentioned above, confidence was high, although some of the team weren't playing as well as they would have liked they soon changed their tune after soaking up some of confident waves being emitted by the rest.
So with the trios finished, it was time for the lanes to be re-oiled which can only mean one thing, time for lunch! A quick dash across the parking lot to get to the KFC (it's finger lick' good!) and good-god! We must have looked like a bunch of tight fisted gits only two of us actually having enough money to get a full meal, I barely had enough for a regular portion of pop-corn-chicken, of course it meant that I couldn't afford a drink if I needed one. Another quick dash across the car park and I had to get ready for my next event, then Singles.
Oh dear.... oh dear.... oh dear.... Did I mention oh dear? Not a very good performance, the oil was different and much more challenging, my line from my previous games was gone and I was struggling to find a new and it showed, I couldn't even get my spares, resulting in a 134 in the first, I managed to find some semblance of a strike line in the second, gaining an extra 10-pins and scoring a 144, then in the third it kicked in, increasing my score by 20-pins to 164. Not a great series, a pretty rubbish one in fact, even considering my recent "form". Good news came however from finding out that the guys had won the Trios, two first place trophies in one tournament, a first in Teesside Bowling history as far as I'm aware. Of course this made my rubbish result in the singles all the more annoying, as it meant that we couldn't possible white-wash the event, never mind...
Another break for me, which meant that the rest of the team was up, this time for the Quads and a solid performance all round, no amazing scores this time but they hit their average or above which you can't argue about, you can try but you won't get anywhere. Time for another re-oil, another dash across the car park, no wait, no one has any money, best stay in the bar and drink water... during the re-oil I had to partake in some bowling politics, all rather boring stuff, as politics is really... However once that was dealt with we discovered that we had another trophy, this time as runner-ups in the Quads event, today was turning into a great day for Teesside Bowling and surely something that will be talked about for years to come.
The re-oiling done and it was time for the final event, the Fives, one last hurrah before the trip home and low and behold we'd be bowling against one of my old bowling buddies from back when I was but a wee-lad. Time to shine I thought to my self, unfortunately it was more a faint, dim, flicker, never the less we were able to beat the opposition, who it would eventually turn out would end up out of the top 3 having been in second place before the Fives event. Having totally broken them after the first game we were confident of more silverware. Although my scores weren't as good as I had hoped being 167, 171, 160 given the difficulty of the lanes I was pleased enough with what I got, plus I beat my old bowling pal, which is always good! Even more so when you consider that he is 5 years my senior!
So the Tournament was all but over, and running extremely late, the awards ceremony was meant to start at 7:30pm; it didn't get started till 8:30-9:00pm. Which didn't please the league bowlers, waiting to get on the lanes after us. That's a story for another time though, on with the ceremony!
Of course we already knew we'd won a fair bit of silverware, what with winning the Doubles and Trios, getting second in the Quads. We were pretty sure we'd won the Fives and by consequence the tournament overall. The first award handed out was the Doubles, me and team mate strode out nice and proud, got our trophy and four bottles of beer (nice!) and had our photo taken (in glorious blur-o-vision), next up was the Trios and again the guys went up all nice and proud, picked up their trophy, got another handful of beer and had their blurry photo taken. A bit of a rest as the singles awards were given out, however we couldn't switch off as we had a pretty good feeling that the star of the day had won an individual trophy for his stunning performance earlier and sure enough he had, High Handicap Series, a nice medallion and a bottle of wine for his troubles and another blurry photo. On to the Quads now and the guys still proud to come in second, picked up their trophies and a crate of beer (hell yeah!) and another photo in brilliant blur-o-vision (hell one of our players wasn't even looking into the camera!). Next was the Fives, how did we do? Don't know about the others but I was a little tense but we could rejoice as we'd won the Fives! We all went up, collected our trophies and another crate of beer (Oh boy we were going to get hammered soon!) and of course the seemingly obligatory blurry photo. Having won the Fives we were pretty sure we'd won the overall tournament prize as well, second place was read out (no prize for third place here!) and it was a surprise team, we were on edge the tournament director read out the team name and we'd won! We'd won the whole freakin' tournament! Surely a first for the club! Everyone goes up, picks up their rather impressive trophies and two crates of beer (oh my bladder and liver sure didn't like that!) and one more burry photo and we were done. No doubt in anyone's mind who were the most successful team of the day.
So four crates of beer, a bottle of wine and 20 trophies between us, meaning we all got 17.2 bottles of beer each and a nice collection of trophies. I managed to get decent photo of the team with their winnings before we headed off home. Overall a very long but very rewarding day, well worth putting off uni work for.
So we were late getting the car back by 3 or 4 hours...
So one of the team crashed his car on his way home, snapping a trophy in half and smashing 15 of his 17 bottles...
So I bowled rubbish in the Singles event...
It was one hell of a day!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes.
Oh to be young...
So here we are, I'm now 23 and for the first time in a long time I'm actually as old as I feel.
I've always been mature for my age and for a long time I've felt very much out of place amongst my piers, while everyone was gigerling during the videos of sex-ed I was very indifferent about the whole thing, not grossed out but not finding it funny either. As far as I was concerned it was just like any other naff educational video.
So yeah even at 12/13 I was mature beyond my years but now, now I feel that mymaturity is more inline with my age, which is nice. I feel like I have a level of inner peace, body and mind as one (so to speak) instead of my body saying one thing and my mind contradicting it.
It feels nice.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
I've always been mature for my age and for a long time I've felt very much out of place amongst my piers, while everyone was gigerling during the videos of sex-ed I was very indifferent about the whole thing, not grossed out but not finding it funny either. As far as I was concerned it was just like any other naff educational video.
So yeah even at 12/13 I was mature beyond my years but now, now I feel that mymaturity is more inline with my age, which is nice. I feel like I have a level of inner peace, body and mind as one (so to speak) instead of my body saying one thing and my mind contradicting it.
It feels nice.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
Teesside take the Bronze
I'll start off blunt.
I bowled shit.
Really shit.
I only had two games that approached decent they being 178 and 171. It's a far cry from my hay day of 190's and 200's...
End of the day we somehow managed to do well enough to get third in the Quads division. While it's good to get a trophy I can't help but feel that I didn't really deserve it averaging only 153.7, I dread to think what my mum would think of it, the 165.4 I got last week was bad enough. What makes it worse is that in the singles event, an event I normally do well in, if not trophy-wise then personally at least, I did rubbish getting only a 138.3 average. It was so rubbish I did something I've never done during a tournament, I walked out of the alley (after all three games were played of course). I've never bowled so piss poor at a tournament that I've had to get away from it all. I don't know if the rest of the club noticed or not, they were watching me bowl, they know I was pissed of; one of them got half my bowling gear thrown at them as I was packing away. But I walked out of the alley, no one followed me, no one came looking (which is just as well because I wanted to be alone), no one said anything when I returned 10 minutes later.
Still I think it was the right thing to do, it gave me a chance to think about things, to calm down (I was ready to hit something). I eventually came to the conclusion that there was nothing else I could have done; everything I tried just didn't work. I'd move to the left and the ball wouldn't come back enough, I'd move to the right, and the ball would fly to far left of the lane, I moved my target and the ball would do silly things, it was always one thing or the other, there was no happy medium. Once I came to that line of thought things got less tense. I was able to focus on the last event, the main event the Quads (team of 4). 3 years ago we came 1st, 2 years ago we came 2nd, last year we came 3rd, I was damned if we were going to come fourth this year. I really wanted to win it, go out as I came in. The time alone gave me time to get my confidence back, to get revved up, eye of the tiger and all that.
And it worked for the first game at least, managing a 171 and scaring the team next to us half to death, my warrior cry after each strike, especially after the fourth one in a row, was quite loud and in your face, apparently. Still I think it helped the team, seeing their Captain so pumped and ready for the quads, we all did really well in the first game (relatively speaking). However it was not to last as my game started to slip again ending with a shit 142 game.
But we won a trophy. Which is good.
But I bowl crap. Which is bad.
Should I be happy at winning a trophy? I guess I should be but I don't feel it, I don't feel like I deserved it. I certainly didn't earn it, not with those scores. Yet somehow we managed to get a trophy.
I don't know.... maybe its time for me to hang up my bowling shoes and call it day. It's been a long time since I felt the hunger to actually bowl well, it's been a long time since I felt the need to prove to the world and to myself that I'm a good bowler. I know the reason why, I can't really say it because it's not a nice thing to say and I know their intentions were in the right place yet I still rue him for saying it.
I really wanted for this year to be like my first or second year, bowling really well and winning lots of trophies because of it. However after these last two tournaments I can't see it happening, the magic’s gone and I've not got enough time to find it before the next tournament. Maybe I'm just stuck in the past but the past was good, I was good. Now I'm just another mediocre bowler...
Not how I wanted things to end...
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes because you're probably better than me...
I bowled shit.
Really shit.
I only had two games that approached decent they being 178 and 171. It's a far cry from my hay day of 190's and 200's...
End of the day we somehow managed to do well enough to get third in the Quads division. While it's good to get a trophy I can't help but feel that I didn't really deserve it averaging only 153.7, I dread to think what my mum would think of it, the 165.4 I got last week was bad enough. What makes it worse is that in the singles event, an event I normally do well in, if not trophy-wise then personally at least, I did rubbish getting only a 138.3 average. It was so rubbish I did something I've never done during a tournament, I walked out of the alley (after all three games were played of course). I've never bowled so piss poor at a tournament that I've had to get away from it all. I don't know if the rest of the club noticed or not, they were watching me bowl, they know I was pissed of; one of them got half my bowling gear thrown at them as I was packing away. But I walked out of the alley, no one followed me, no one came looking (which is just as well because I wanted to be alone), no one said anything when I returned 10 minutes later.
Still I think it was the right thing to do, it gave me a chance to think about things, to calm down (I was ready to hit something). I eventually came to the conclusion that there was nothing else I could have done; everything I tried just didn't work. I'd move to the left and the ball wouldn't come back enough, I'd move to the right, and the ball would fly to far left of the lane, I moved my target and the ball would do silly things, it was always one thing or the other, there was no happy medium. Once I came to that line of thought things got less tense. I was able to focus on the last event, the main event the Quads (team of 4). 3 years ago we came 1st, 2 years ago we came 2nd, last year we came 3rd, I was damned if we were going to come fourth this year. I really wanted to win it, go out as I came in. The time alone gave me time to get my confidence back, to get revved up, eye of the tiger and all that.
And it worked for the first game at least, managing a 171 and scaring the team next to us half to death, my warrior cry after each strike, especially after the fourth one in a row, was quite loud and in your face, apparently. Still I think it helped the team, seeing their Captain so pumped and ready for the quads, we all did really well in the first game (relatively speaking). However it was not to last as my game started to slip again ending with a shit 142 game.
But we won a trophy. Which is good.
But I bowl crap. Which is bad.
Should I be happy at winning a trophy? I guess I should be but I don't feel it, I don't feel like I deserved it. I certainly didn't earn it, not with those scores. Yet somehow we managed to get a trophy.
I don't know.... maybe its time for me to hang up my bowling shoes and call it day. It's been a long time since I felt the hunger to actually bowl well, it's been a long time since I felt the need to prove to the world and to myself that I'm a good bowler. I know the reason why, I can't really say it because it's not a nice thing to say and I know their intentions were in the right place yet I still rue him for saying it.
I really wanted for this year to be like my first or second year, bowling really well and winning lots of trophies because of it. However after these last two tournaments I can't see it happening, the magic’s gone and I've not got enough time to find it before the next tournament. Maybe I'm just stuck in the past but the past was good, I was good. Now I'm just another mediocre bowler...
Not how I wanted things to end...
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes because you're probably better than me...
The day after...
Blood has been spilt. Souls, set free. Final suppers have been eaten. As the dust settles, the massacre that was BUSA 2007 can be seen, for all the fun and excitement it was.
Although it didn't start out well...
While I was nice and early, getting to the meeting point (Teesside Student's Union), one member was late. One member thought he was only driving, when in fact I'd told him he'd be taking part as well, she he didn't bring his shirt or bowling ball. The bus didn't come with directions to our destination (like it normally does) so the first leg of the trip was done entirely on my memory and the skill of the driver. Luckily once we stopped at a service station I was able to look at a road map and work the rest of the trip out.
So after starting nearly an hour late (8:45ish), we get to my house on time (11:35ish), thanks to the driver. I was able to get us to the alley easily enough (it's a trip I've done many times before). The driver pulls up outside the alley (12:30ish), the players get out and head for the alley, we head up stairs and I do a full two hour workout (in about five minutes) getting my equipment up the stairs. I register the teams and finally tell everyone 3 times where they're bowling and at what time.
1pm and finally we start bowling. I get 151, 155, 203 which as my mum so politely put it in the evening, "Oh bens that's crap!", still at least I got two drinks, oh the joys of hanging (a little game where if every player but one on a team gets a strike, the odd one has to gets drinks for the others). My main solace for the day is that pretty much everyone played badly, apart from two ladies who did exceptionally well.
We finished at 5pm, headed home, got changed and headed back into Nottingham, for some dinner and a night out; the dinner was fine, shame about the furniture. The night out didn't have a good start, the tournament organisers had booked out a bar for all the competitors, unfortunately one of our team mates didn't have a suitable form of id and the bouncers wouldn't let them in, so we headed off to find another bar, as we walk past one, the Hull team redirected us in, seems they had the same problem as us. We're pretty friendly with the Hull lot, so we joined them for a couple of drinks, and unfortunately played the matchbox drinking game, turns out I suck at the game, I've never regretted buying a pint of Guinness so much, I had to drink 5 fingers worth in one go. Needless to say I didn't manage all 5, only 3. And that was pretty much me done for the night. The clock was approaching 10pm and we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us so I called it a night, and we headed back to the house.
11:30ish and we arrive home, food and drink go down nicely, and we all talk about the days events, by midnight we start getting ready for bed, I graciously give up my bed to one of the club members, a decision I would soon be regretting. Turns out when one of the members said they snore, they weren't being entirely accurate, their "snoring" was more like a constant siren, ensuring that I only got about an hour of sleep, allowing me to re-acquaint myself with mums pottery and hear another member constantly bitch about said "snoring".
6am and it's time to get up. As is customary breakfast was had, lots of breakfast, even I, who do not normally have much of a breakfast, ended up having a fair bit, two glasses of apple juice, bowl of cereal and two pieces of toast. After everyone had some breakfast, we headed off to the alley at the intended time of 7am (believe me this makes a change). We got to the alley at 7:40ish, ready for an 8am start, thankfully my first three games were downstairs, unfortunately I still didn't do to well, scoring 156, 168, 111 however I did somehow managed to get an extra 4 drinks out of it. By the time I'd finished the previous three games the leader board was up, I was pleasantly surprised to find that after the first three games I was placed 50th out of 169, I was in the top third!
It was about 10am by this time, but it felt much later, I was still running off that 1 hour of sleep and any sugary intake I could get my hands on. Just as well I wasn't bowling again until around 1pm. Still a captains job is never, I had to stand (or sit) at the back of the lanes and give support to the other members who were bowling. Midday and it was time for the lanes to be re-oiled, just what I needed for a bit shut-eye, alas, it didn't happen, I could turn off, typical.
12:45 was approaching, which meant that I would soon have to get ready for my final three games of the tournament. Unfortunately, I was due to bowl upstairs, and my equipment was still downstairs, mustering super strength I picked up all 60+lbs of bowling equipment and carried it up three flights of stairs, turns out it was much easier than the method used the previous day. So here we are, the last three games and it's the singles event, my favourite. I had a strong start getting a turkey (three strikes in a row), stronger than the ex-team busa player (he played for Britain), unfortunately it went a bit tits-up after that and it turned into a rather rubbish 152 game. Never mind, I refocused in the face of adversity, turns out one of my team mates had gone above me on the leader board by two places, after the mornings games, determined to keep my place as the best bowling in all of Teesside I pulled out two games that were worthy of my skill and knowledge being 211 and 182. The gauntlet had been thrown down and I responded with a strong answer.
Although my bowling was done for the day, there was still one event left, the 5 man team. We were upstairs playing against Loughborough, the club no one likes (bunch of stuck-up-think-they're-so-good-but-they're-not-really-gits). Honestly I can't remember the result from the team event but it had been a long day and no one really cared. The important thing is that I retook my place as the greatest player Teesside has ever seen, my usurper being nothing more than a flash in the pan like Clubber Lang! (kids, ask your parents).
By about 6pm all the bowling was done, it had been a very long day and now we had a 3 hour drive back to Teesside, I said goodbye to some people I'd not seen in a very long time and "see you soon" to some people I'll at Sunday’s tournament in Sheffield.
So after 9 games, two days, four pizzas, 7 bus trips, 2 fish and chips, 2 chicken meals, more chips than you can shake a stick at, 1489 pins knocked over on my part, my overall average score for the tournament was:
165.4
Not a bad average, I was however aiming for around the 175 mark.
So my first tournament as chairman of the bowling club went well, no one was killed, no one got lost, there weren't any punch-ups and the trip home was surpassingly fast. While some may not have bowled their best, all bowled with spirit and never "lost it". Which I'm proud about, I've lead them well.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
Although it didn't start out well...
While I was nice and early, getting to the meeting point (Teesside Student's Union), one member was late. One member thought he was only driving, when in fact I'd told him he'd be taking part as well, she he didn't bring his shirt or bowling ball. The bus didn't come with directions to our destination (like it normally does) so the first leg of the trip was done entirely on my memory and the skill of the driver. Luckily once we stopped at a service station I was able to look at a road map and work the rest of the trip out.
So after starting nearly an hour late (8:45ish), we get to my house on time (11:35ish), thanks to the driver. I was able to get us to the alley easily enough (it's a trip I've done many times before). The driver pulls up outside the alley (12:30ish), the players get out and head for the alley, we head up stairs and I do a full two hour workout (in about five minutes) getting my equipment up the stairs. I register the teams and finally tell everyone 3 times where they're bowling and at what time.
1pm and finally we start bowling. I get 151, 155, 203 which as my mum so politely put it in the evening, "Oh bens that's crap!", still at least I got two drinks, oh the joys of hanging (a little game where if every player but one on a team gets a strike, the odd one has to gets drinks for the others). My main solace for the day is that pretty much everyone played badly, apart from two ladies who did exceptionally well.
We finished at 5pm, headed home, got changed and headed back into Nottingham, for some dinner and a night out; the dinner was fine, shame about the furniture. The night out didn't have a good start, the tournament organisers had booked out a bar for all the competitors, unfortunately one of our team mates didn't have a suitable form of id and the bouncers wouldn't let them in, so we headed off to find another bar, as we walk past one, the Hull team redirected us in, seems they had the same problem as us. We're pretty friendly with the Hull lot, so we joined them for a couple of drinks, and unfortunately played the matchbox drinking game, turns out I suck at the game, I've never regretted buying a pint of Guinness so much, I had to drink 5 fingers worth in one go. Needless to say I didn't manage all 5, only 3. And that was pretty much me done for the night. The clock was approaching 10pm and we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us so I called it a night, and we headed back to the house.
11:30ish and we arrive home, food and drink go down nicely, and we all talk about the days events, by midnight we start getting ready for bed, I graciously give up my bed to one of the club members, a decision I would soon be regretting. Turns out when one of the members said they snore, they weren't being entirely accurate, their "snoring" was more like a constant siren, ensuring that I only got about an hour of sleep, allowing me to re-acquaint myself with mums pottery and hear another member constantly bitch about said "snoring".
6am and it's time to get up. As is customary breakfast was had, lots of breakfast, even I, who do not normally have much of a breakfast, ended up having a fair bit, two glasses of apple juice, bowl of cereal and two pieces of toast. After everyone had some breakfast, we headed off to the alley at the intended time of 7am (believe me this makes a change). We got to the alley at 7:40ish, ready for an 8am start, thankfully my first three games were downstairs, unfortunately I still didn't do to well, scoring 156, 168, 111 however I did somehow managed to get an extra 4 drinks out of it. By the time I'd finished the previous three games the leader board was up, I was pleasantly surprised to find that after the first three games I was placed 50th out of 169, I was in the top third!
It was about 10am by this time, but it felt much later, I was still running off that 1 hour of sleep and any sugary intake I could get my hands on. Just as well I wasn't bowling again until around 1pm. Still a captains job is never, I had to stand (or sit) at the back of the lanes and give support to the other members who were bowling. Midday and it was time for the lanes to be re-oiled, just what I needed for a bit shut-eye, alas, it didn't happen, I could turn off, typical.
12:45 was approaching, which meant that I would soon have to get ready for my final three games of the tournament. Unfortunately, I was due to bowl upstairs, and my equipment was still downstairs, mustering super strength I picked up all 60+lbs of bowling equipment and carried it up three flights of stairs, turns out it was much easier than the method used the previous day. So here we are, the last three games and it's the singles event, my favourite. I had a strong start getting a turkey (three strikes in a row), stronger than the ex-team busa player (he played for Britain), unfortunately it went a bit tits-up after that and it turned into a rather rubbish 152 game. Never mind, I refocused in the face of adversity, turns out one of my team mates had gone above me on the leader board by two places, after the mornings games, determined to keep my place as the best bowling in all of Teesside I pulled out two games that were worthy of my skill and knowledge being 211 and 182. The gauntlet had been thrown down and I responded with a strong answer.
Although my bowling was done for the day, there was still one event left, the 5 man team. We were upstairs playing against Loughborough, the club no one likes (bunch of stuck-up-think-they're-so-good-but-they're-not-really-gits). Honestly I can't remember the result from the team event but it had been a long day and no one really cared. The important thing is that I retook my place as the greatest player Teesside has ever seen, my usurper being nothing more than a flash in the pan like Clubber Lang! (kids, ask your parents).
By about 6pm all the bowling was done, it had been a very long day and now we had a 3 hour drive back to Teesside, I said goodbye to some people I'd not seen in a very long time and "see you soon" to some people I'll at Sunday’s tournament in Sheffield.
So after 9 games, two days, four pizzas, 7 bus trips, 2 fish and chips, 2 chicken meals, more chips than you can shake a stick at, 1489 pins knocked over on my part, my overall average score for the tournament was:
165.4
Not a bad average, I was however aiming for around the 175 mark.
So my first tournament as chairman of the bowling club went well, no one was killed, no one got lost, there weren't any punch-ups and the trip home was surpassingly fast. While some may not have bowled their best, all bowled with spirit and never "lost it". Which I'm proud about, I've lead them well.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
Dawn of War
It's finally here! In a about 7 hours I'll be on my way to the first bowling tournament of the season for my Club. Good old BUSA at Nottingham AMF, two days of bowling goodness. Two days of being at home, enjoying homely comforts. Two days of worry as I'm hosting 11 people for the weekend! No idea where they're all going to sleep.
But the season has finally started! This weekend it's Nottingham, next weekend it's sheffield, couple of weeks off then it's Warwick, another week break and it's Liverpool, then Leeds, month off then it's Hull and we're done. Hopefully this year will be better than last. Think I finished joint 48th last year, compared to joint 11th (technically should have been 10th but meh) the year before, hopefully this, my final, year will be one to remember as being a good one.
I really want to go out in style, with another tournament victory under my belt, just like in my first year.
Wish me luck.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes, if you think you're better than me.
But the season has finally started! This weekend it's Nottingham, next weekend it's sheffield, couple of weeks off then it's Warwick, another week break and it's Liverpool, then Leeds, month off then it's Hull and we're done. Hopefully this year will be better than last. Think I finished joint 48th last year, compared to joint 11th (technically should have been 10th but meh) the year before, hopefully this, my final, year will be one to remember as being a good one.
I really want to go out in style, with another tournament victory under my belt, just like in my first year.
Wish me luck.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes, if you think you're better than me.
Turning Tide?
Things seem to be finaling going slightly better, ok the club is still in debt but things are in motion to rectify the deficite. Ok so I've now lost two members from the BUSA trip with no one to fill their places but all is not lost as if one more (male) drops out, we can disolve the womens team and merge them into the mens team, at least I think we can nothing in the rules about it anyway.
So what caused this turn of events? I think it was people seeing me snap at one member during bowling the other week and the absolute bitch fest on the forum. I think it's starting to sink in with the members how much trouble the club is in, which is nice, in a rather evil way....
I still have some tough decisions to make however, as the last couple of weeks the club has been traverling on the generosity of it's members using their own cars to give lifts, while this means that we are almost certainly going to make a profit everyweek, it's another load of stress as I've no idea what we're going to do if we don't have enough cars. The easy option would be to hicke the price of bowling up which we technically could do and still say we're really cheap but of course most people won't see it that way, they'll just see it as an unjust price hicke and quite possibly stay away.
I also have to get in contact with another alley about moving the club there, as it's a nicer alley (even though it's a megabowl eugh) while the chain maybe the pits I can't argue with the lanes and the atmosphere. I should make a post-it to remind me about that.
Random thought: Post-its are cool!
Random yet kinda relavent question: How much would you pay for a raffle ticket? (Tis the thing in motion)
Onto a much more happy note and I completed Zelda: Twilight Princess last night (no spoilers ahead), I have to say that the final battle was great, maybe a little drawn out but great none-the-less. There were only a couple of dodgy bits in the whole fight, luckily Midna gives you advice after not too long.
I've not completed any of the side quests (only just having found the fishing hole tonight) but I'm slowly making way through them. The main quest however, I found to be a bit of a mixed bag, the early dungeons were great, with some good head scratching moments some of the latter dungeons however were very linear, beautful to look at and play but somewhat linear. Which is a shame as I was expecting the last couple of dungeons to be massive sprawling, up, down, back, forth, brain melting affairs, instead it was just going from room to room joining all the dots affair. The last castle in particular was most dissapointing, got through it in under an hour and when you consider I was taking about 3 hours per a dungeon it's was very short lived, still the last fight was brillient.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to save the princess and restore Hyrule to it's former glory.
So what caused this turn of events? I think it was people seeing me snap at one member during bowling the other week and the absolute bitch fest on the forum. I think it's starting to sink in with the members how much trouble the club is in, which is nice, in a rather evil way....
I still have some tough decisions to make however, as the last couple of weeks the club has been traverling on the generosity of it's members using their own cars to give lifts, while this means that we are almost certainly going to make a profit everyweek, it's another load of stress as I've no idea what we're going to do if we don't have enough cars. The easy option would be to hicke the price of bowling up which we technically could do and still say we're really cheap but of course most people won't see it that way, they'll just see it as an unjust price hicke and quite possibly stay away.
I also have to get in contact with another alley about moving the club there, as it's a nicer alley (even though it's a megabowl eugh) while the chain maybe the pits I can't argue with the lanes and the atmosphere. I should make a post-it to remind me about that.
Random thought: Post-its are cool!
Random yet kinda relavent question: How much would you pay for a raffle ticket? (Tis the thing in motion)
Onto a much more happy note and I completed Zelda: Twilight Princess last night (no spoilers ahead), I have to say that the final battle was great, maybe a little drawn out but great none-the-less. There were only a couple of dodgy bits in the whole fight, luckily Midna gives you advice after not too long.
I've not completed any of the side quests (only just having found the fishing hole tonight) but I'm slowly making way through them. The main quest however, I found to be a bit of a mixed bag, the early dungeons were great, with some good head scratching moments some of the latter dungeons however were very linear, beautful to look at and play but somewhat linear. Which is a shame as I was expecting the last couple of dungeons to be massive sprawling, up, down, back, forth, brain melting affairs, instead it was just going from room to room joining all the dots affair. The last castle in particular was most dissapointing, got through it in under an hour and when you consider I was taking about 3 hours per a dungeon it's was very short lived, still the last fight was brillient.
This is Benji Dude, asking you to save the princess and restore Hyrule to it's former glory.
Not so much ARGH!
Had bowling today which was nice, although the club is still in a bit of a financial tight spot, it's not as bad as I originally thought and it was just nice to actually bowl, OK I didn't very well but just to bowl was nice, and everyone had a good time which was nice.
Still I don't know if one of my members is actually able to go to the BUSA tournament we have coming up, they may not be able to get time of work, it's very much up in the air at the moment and I need it to be very much on the ground, in a safe, in a military bunker. I hope they can make it because 1. He's a nice guy who's a good laugh on trips and 2. I'm running out of members to fall back on as replacements.
Still at least we now have a new secretary so I can unload some of the work I've been doing onto him. He's a nice competant guy so there shouldn't be any problems.... shouldn't.
This is Benji Dude, taking a huge sigh of reliefe.
Still I don't know if one of my members is actually able to go to the BUSA tournament we have coming up, they may not be able to get time of work, it's very much up in the air at the moment and I need it to be very much on the ground, in a safe, in a military bunker. I hope they can make it because 1. He's a nice guy who's a good laugh on trips and 2. I'm running out of members to fall back on as replacements.
Still at least we now have a new secretary so I can unload some of the work I've been doing onto him. He's a nice competant guy so there shouldn't be any problems.... shouldn't.
This is Benji Dude, taking a huge sigh of reliefe.
ARGH!
Freakin' stress! Only been back at uni for a week and already the bowling club is stressing me out. New forms that have to be filled in with a silly amount of information and a silly amount of time in advance, members not getting back to me with important information for said form. Club with less money than a mouse, bowling alley giving me jip, shirt orders being far more complicated than they should be.
This week my work ratio has been 75% bowling club matters and 25% master’s work. I swear to god I'm so close to snapping that if one more thing goes wrong with the club I could just quit right on the spot! I don't need this, no one told me it'd be this much work, or that it would cost me this much, had to put £67.50 onto my credit card to pay for the bowling because the alley decided to charge us for the full booking number on the contract, as opposed to the number I booked for over the phone.
I can tell you now, it's the last thing my credit card balance needed, it's already got £700 on it. On top of that the club still owes me £50 plus £31.50 deficit of money from paying for bowling £31.50+£50=£81.50, that's enough to last me half a freakin' month! Or half the house bills I owe, its serious money!
As soon as a bus is paid for BUSA and the shirts are done, I'm taking back what's mine, club be damned!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes... if you think you can handle it
This week my work ratio has been 75% bowling club matters and 25% master’s work. I swear to god I'm so close to snapping that if one more thing goes wrong with the club I could just quit right on the spot! I don't need this, no one told me it'd be this much work, or that it would cost me this much, had to put £67.50 onto my credit card to pay for the bowling because the alley decided to charge us for the full booking number on the contract, as opposed to the number I booked for over the phone.
I can tell you now, it's the last thing my credit card balance needed, it's already got £700 on it. On top of that the club still owes me £50 plus £31.50 deficit of money from paying for bowling £31.50+£50=£81.50, that's enough to last me half a freakin' month! Or half the house bills I owe, its serious money!
As soon as a bus is paid for BUSA and the shirts are done, I'm taking back what's mine, club be damned!
This is Benji Dude, asking you to talk a walk in my shoes... if you think you can handle it
So this is Christmas
So this is Christmas? Families gathered around the log fire, watching Hogfather on Sky One, being merry and getting drunk on Buck Fizz or Egg Nog...
Except it's not!
No, instead it's families sitting apart, arguing about what to watch on TV or complaining that they can't get a go on the computer, mum's slaving away in the kitchen cooking a meal that only the parents are going to really appreciate and Dad's so drunk on cheap whiskey he spends all the time off he's got sleeping, maybe with the Sunday times on his chest who knows.
I remember the good old days, when Christmas was exciting, it was a time of getting presents, a time of being with those you loved, a fun time, a happy time. A time when Old Nick was real and the question of where all the presents came from never came up.
Oh yes I remember the old times....
You have to really question the age we live in when one of your own family has to buy their own present because they won't let you know what they want. Call me old fashioned but, "Here's the money for your present that you've already brought yourself" doesn't quite seem as Christmassy as, "Here's the gift I picked out for you, I love you, merry Christmas". Maybe it's time for me to get the old suede patches stitched onto my tops, get the paper out, sit down and just let it all pass me by, maybe one day someone will ask what it was like when I was young...
I can rant on about the old days; all I need now is that old man smell, some really big glasses, possibly a pipe, a paper, some slippers and that one chair that old people always sit in.
And I've not even seen the Coke Cola ad yet, with the trucks coming over the hill...
This is Benji Dude, asking you take a walk in my shoes back in the old days...
Except it's not!
No, instead it's families sitting apart, arguing about what to watch on TV or complaining that they can't get a go on the computer, mum's slaving away in the kitchen cooking a meal that only the parents are going to really appreciate and Dad's so drunk on cheap whiskey he spends all the time off he's got sleeping, maybe with the Sunday times on his chest who knows.
I remember the good old days, when Christmas was exciting, it was a time of getting presents, a time of being with those you loved, a fun time, a happy time. A time when Old Nick was real and the question of where all the presents came from never came up.
Oh yes I remember the old times....
You have to really question the age we live in when one of your own family has to buy their own present because they won't let you know what they want. Call me old fashioned but, "Here's the money for your present that you've already brought yourself" doesn't quite seem as Christmassy as, "Here's the gift I picked out for you, I love you, merry Christmas". Maybe it's time for me to get the old suede patches stitched onto my tops, get the paper out, sit down and just let it all pass me by, maybe one day someone will ask what it was like when I was young...
I can rant on about the old days; all I need now is that old man smell, some really big glasses, possibly a pipe, a paper, some slippers and that one chair that old people always sit in.
And I've not even seen the Coke Cola ad yet, with the trucks coming over the hill...
This is Benji Dude, asking you take a walk in my shoes back in the old days...
Problem solved?
Well it would seem that my sleeping problem is sorting it's self out. As I write this I'm quite literally on my last legs for the day, perhaps it's because I had an early start (well recently at least), getting up at 11am when you've been getting up at 3-4pm is a bit of a shock to the system, it's still light for a start! However I laugh in the face of such logical thinking, although at the moment it seems to be more of a groaning chuckle, such is my energy level. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be back to normal, another 11am start and another day where something has gone wrong with the bowling club...
It's nothing but stress, it's no wonder I've hardly got any work done, I'm spending too much time chasing after people who have screwed up, or sprung something on me at the last minute. Just this evening I was getting ready to actually do some work, when I get a phone call from a mate saying I was supposed to be in a meeting about the union's entertainment, ok so maybe I'm partly to blame for forgetting it, but ringing me ten minutes into the meeting hardly helps things, I haven't walked that fast in years!
I'm giving serious thought to letting something go at uni, I'm on the entertainment committee, the Elections committee, the bowling club committee, as well as a designer for the union paper, then there's the course work that has to be done, I've signed up for the gym (and paid £55 for the year) not gone yet because I've been too busy. It's all getting a bit much for me, I knew at the beginning of term that I was maybe trying to do too much but I thought I'd be able to handle it, I've dealt with a lot of stress in my, quite possibly more than the average person my age. Alas things do seem to be getting on top of me, especially my current financial status, I'm at least £400 in debt and that's not counting my Student Loan (£8500) or Student account (£1400 od) and all I get is £200 a month from the parents to cover food, bills, and something remembering a social life... ARGH!
Of course if I were to give something up the first thing to go would be the Elections Committee because I got stitched up into doing it. I'm really hesitant about giving up my place in the bowling club committee, although it is the one that takes up the most time and by far produces the most stress, Bowling is my "Thing" it's the one thing I excel at (I'm the 10th best student in the country!) I've worked long and hard to make sure I could get into the Chairman position, to be in the position where I could make solid changes to the club to make it better, most of which I've done but alas the sheer bureaucracy of the union makes it very difficult for the club to have a "normal" week. Grant allocation forms that have space for things that they won't give to anyone (but neglect to tell you) certain aspects of logic just seem to disappear when ever I enter the union, it's all about who you know, and I know most of the people in power but it still doesn't seem to be enough.
Of course I feel as though I'm totally failing my club and its members, every event so far this term has been a very last minute thing, mainly because no one is backing me up and reminding me of events that are coming up. For example no one reminded me that entry forms for a big tournament were due in by Jan 4th, how do I know this because someone who has nothing to do with the university mentioned it on a forum completely detached from the university. So of course I'm in panic mode again because term ends this Friday and I have no idea who wants to go and weather we can actually afford the trip.
I don't know maybe I'm asking too much of the union to lend a helping hand and give the odd reminder, it doesn't have to be much just a simple email a month before saying that it's coming up would be enough. Instead I get a phone call at 4-5pm two days before hand asking me what's going on? Well thank you very fucking much for being fucking helpful!
Sorry for the language but that's how I feel, it's just so damn annoying, the union does jack shit to help me, and the rest of the bowling club committee expects me to everything, and the few things they do do they have a go at me for if I ask them to make a minor change. One of them has accused me saying that he was shit at everything and that I should do it if I think he's so shit at it, yeah great just what I need more fucking work to do, thanks a lot!
Maybe I should just pack it all in and get on with my masters...
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes... or be stomped on by my angry feet.
It's nothing but stress, it's no wonder I've hardly got any work done, I'm spending too much time chasing after people who have screwed up, or sprung something on me at the last minute. Just this evening I was getting ready to actually do some work, when I get a phone call from a mate saying I was supposed to be in a meeting about the union's entertainment, ok so maybe I'm partly to blame for forgetting it, but ringing me ten minutes into the meeting hardly helps things, I haven't walked that fast in years!
I'm giving serious thought to letting something go at uni, I'm on the entertainment committee, the Elections committee, the bowling club committee, as well as a designer for the union paper, then there's the course work that has to be done, I've signed up for the gym (and paid £55 for the year) not gone yet because I've been too busy. It's all getting a bit much for me, I knew at the beginning of term that I was maybe trying to do too much but I thought I'd be able to handle it, I've dealt with a lot of stress in my, quite possibly more than the average person my age. Alas things do seem to be getting on top of me, especially my current financial status, I'm at least £400 in debt and that's not counting my Student Loan (£8500) or Student account (£1400 od) and all I get is £200 a month from the parents to cover food, bills, and something remembering a social life... ARGH!
Of course if I were to give something up the first thing to go would be the Elections Committee because I got stitched up into doing it. I'm really hesitant about giving up my place in the bowling club committee, although it is the one that takes up the most time and by far produces the most stress, Bowling is my "Thing" it's the one thing I excel at (I'm the 10th best student in the country!) I've worked long and hard to make sure I could get into the Chairman position, to be in the position where I could make solid changes to the club to make it better, most of which I've done but alas the sheer bureaucracy of the union makes it very difficult for the club to have a "normal" week. Grant allocation forms that have space for things that they won't give to anyone (but neglect to tell you) certain aspects of logic just seem to disappear when ever I enter the union, it's all about who you know, and I know most of the people in power but it still doesn't seem to be enough.
Of course I feel as though I'm totally failing my club and its members, every event so far this term has been a very last minute thing, mainly because no one is backing me up and reminding me of events that are coming up. For example no one reminded me that entry forms for a big tournament were due in by Jan 4th, how do I know this because someone who has nothing to do with the university mentioned it on a forum completely detached from the university. So of course I'm in panic mode again because term ends this Friday and I have no idea who wants to go and weather we can actually afford the trip.
I don't know maybe I'm asking too much of the union to lend a helping hand and give the odd reminder, it doesn't have to be much just a simple email a month before saying that it's coming up would be enough. Instead I get a phone call at 4-5pm two days before hand asking me what's going on? Well thank you very fucking much for being fucking helpful!
Sorry for the language but that's how I feel, it's just so damn annoying, the union does jack shit to help me, and the rest of the bowling club committee expects me to everything, and the few things they do do they have a go at me for if I ask them to make a minor change. One of them has accused me saying that he was shit at everything and that I should do it if I think he's so shit at it, yeah great just what I need more fucking work to do, thanks a lot!
Maybe I should just pack it all in and get on with my masters...
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes... or be stomped on by my angry feet.
The hour of Twilight
No this isn't going to be about the new Zelda, although it is partly to blame.
I'm sitting at my PC it's 2:10am and for the third night in a row I know I'll be up till far too late or early depending on how you look at it, either way it'll probably be sometime around 4am before I fall asleep. As such it leads me to ask, how dose a new toy make it nigh-on impossible for someone to go to sleep at a "normal" time, I say "normal" because my normal bedtime is about 1-2am, later on the holidays, much like the times I'm going to bed now.
I mentioned at the beginning that Zelda is partly to blame for my current state of affairs and it is, for I can't stop playing it, well at least until the coldness of the house makes my hands seize up. However it would be unfair of me to solely blame Zelda for WiiSports has been taking up an equally large amount of time, curse WiiBowling for being so close to the real thing yet not quite being there.
I suppose I should give credit to Nintendo, yet again they have managed to cobble something together that has kept me up night after night. Of course the real challenge will be, come Monday, will I be able to get any work done, or will my mind be consumed by all things Nintendo and Rayman?...
Of course being up late does have certain... perks, for starters you don't have to deal with anyone else, the house is yours, as long as you keep the noise down, which in it's self is nice. I find that if I play a nice calming song at a low volume it's so much more calming and relaxing than if it were played at a "normal" volume. Another perk of being up late is all the snacking you can get away with, who's going to notice the odd biscuit, or chocolate bar, go missing?
I have found in the past that I tend to do most of my work in the twilight of the day, don't know why, I guess I'm more of a evening person than a morning person of course the Wii has shoot down any chances of actually doing any work at least until the "newness" of Wii has worn off some. I should really just get back to work and leave the Wii as a reward for a hard day’s work but who can resist the lure of Zelda? Or a new console for that matter? Each on their own is hard enough to resist but together and you may just have a force stronger than God himself.
Normally I wouldn't be so worried about not doing any work, I mean who really likes to do work? Really? But that's because normally I'm the only person who needs the work to be done but this year I've got a group project, a big group project, and although I'm not as far behind as some I'm still feeling as though I'm lagging behind, which is a problem because it means I won't be able to enjoy the festive season as much as I would have liked, which of course has a knock on effect in that I won't be able to enjoy my Wii as much as perhaps I should (can a man enjoy his Wii too much? Answers on a postcard). Not to mention I actually have a big written project to hand in early in January and so far all I've done on it is decided which sections I want to cover. I need to cover four sections of the games production process, each section has to be covered in detail and be at least 4000 words long, that's longer than my dissertation I did last year. Having said that I did do my dissertation (all 11,000 words of it) in a week, I guess I should set aside two weeks for this, oh how convenient, my Xmas holidays are three weeks long, that means I can go at like a mad man, get it done and go like a mad man on the other stuff I have to do. Who said the festive season was fun? He was lying, or he was a sado and worked like a mad man during the rest of the year...
My Wii is calling me...
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
I'm sitting at my PC it's 2:10am and for the third night in a row I know I'll be up till far too late or early depending on how you look at it, either way it'll probably be sometime around 4am before I fall asleep. As such it leads me to ask, how dose a new toy make it nigh-on impossible for someone to go to sleep at a "normal" time, I say "normal" because my normal bedtime is about 1-2am, later on the holidays, much like the times I'm going to bed now.
I mentioned at the beginning that Zelda is partly to blame for my current state of affairs and it is, for I can't stop playing it, well at least until the coldness of the house makes my hands seize up. However it would be unfair of me to solely blame Zelda for WiiSports has been taking up an equally large amount of time, curse WiiBowling for being so close to the real thing yet not quite being there.
I suppose I should give credit to Nintendo, yet again they have managed to cobble something together that has kept me up night after night. Of course the real challenge will be, come Monday, will I be able to get any work done, or will my mind be consumed by all things Nintendo and Rayman?...
Of course being up late does have certain... perks, for starters you don't have to deal with anyone else, the house is yours, as long as you keep the noise down, which in it's self is nice. I find that if I play a nice calming song at a low volume it's so much more calming and relaxing than if it were played at a "normal" volume. Another perk of being up late is all the snacking you can get away with, who's going to notice the odd biscuit, or chocolate bar, go missing?
I have found in the past that I tend to do most of my work in the twilight of the day, don't know why, I guess I'm more of a evening person than a morning person of course the Wii has shoot down any chances of actually doing any work at least until the "newness" of Wii has worn off some. I should really just get back to work and leave the Wii as a reward for a hard day’s work but who can resist the lure of Zelda? Or a new console for that matter? Each on their own is hard enough to resist but together and you may just have a force stronger than God himself.
Normally I wouldn't be so worried about not doing any work, I mean who really likes to do work? Really? But that's because normally I'm the only person who needs the work to be done but this year I've got a group project, a big group project, and although I'm not as far behind as some I'm still feeling as though I'm lagging behind, which is a problem because it means I won't be able to enjoy the festive season as much as I would have liked, which of course has a knock on effect in that I won't be able to enjoy my Wii as much as perhaps I should (can a man enjoy his Wii too much? Answers on a postcard). Not to mention I actually have a big written project to hand in early in January and so far all I've done on it is decided which sections I want to cover. I need to cover four sections of the games production process, each section has to be covered in detail and be at least 4000 words long, that's longer than my dissertation I did last year. Having said that I did do my dissertation (all 11,000 words of it) in a week, I guess I should set aside two weeks for this, oh how convenient, my Xmas holidays are three weeks long, that means I can go at like a mad man, get it done and go like a mad man on the other stuff I have to do. Who said the festive season was fun? He was lying, or he was a sado and worked like a mad man during the rest of the year...
My Wii is calling me...
This is Benji Dude, asking you to take a walk in my shoes.
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