The Australia First Party. Where do I start? Xenophobic, jingoistic, over the top on law enforcement, economically niave. I have to say there's not much about this party I like.
Their law enforcement plan is to eliminate all the state police departments and the AFP and create one nationwide police force, constitutional issues not withstanding, eliminate trial by jury, the reintroduction of capital punishment, and the abolition of parole. They want a zero tolerance approach to drugs.
On economics they are just woeful. They want to create a domestic oil market independent of the world market. This they expect will result in lower prices in Australia than on the international market, because of course oil companies won't sell to overseas buyers who will pay more. They want to create a national bank that will provide subsidized loans for home buyers and businesses. They want to set up a national market and pricing system for food with the government setting prices. They want to nationalize all superannuation funds and restrict them to investing in Australia. On the tax side of things, they want to replace most taxes with a debit tax, so each time money comes out of one of your bank accounts, you get taxed on that. Note this includes paying a friend back some money they lent you, donating to charity, giving money to a family member in need and more, and doesn't pick up anything done on a cash only basis.
They are very much of the Australia is for Australians only persuasion. They want to eliminate foreign ownership of land and resources, the promoting of European culture and values in schools and government, and renouncing all international treaties we have signed.
They are one of several parties wanting the introduction of citizen initiated referendums. Given how well this has turned out for various states in America, I have my doubts about this. Like other parties wanting citizens initiated referendums they want the referendums to have the strength of a constitutional amendment without having to go through all the work of amending the constitution.
Their preferences seem to be going to other small right wing parties first. They have done something interesting when it comes to the two big parties, which are about halfway down the ticket. They have alternated between Labor and the Coalition, starting with the lowest ranked candidate in each party and working their way up to each party's no 1 candidate.
I've not sent them an email with questions about their policies as I couldn't find an email address or any contact details on their website other than a phone number on one of their press releases from a year or so ago which I haven't tried. They also appear to have no presence on facebook or twitter.
website: http://australiafirstparty.net/
Friday, August 23, 2013
Party Games 1/54 The Animal Justice Party
First up is the Animal Justice Party. Opposed to anything that may harm animals. The core of their philosophy are the five freedoms they say all animals should enjoy. These are
1: freedom from hunger and thirst
2: freedom from discomfort
3: freedom from pain, injury and disease
4: freedom to express normal behaviour
5: freedom from fear and distress
From these five freedoms they build up their policies which include banning circuses and rodeos, banning the sale of dogs and cats by pets stores, prohibiting animal shelters to put down animals, legal recognition of animals as sentient being, greatly reduced experimentation on animals (one of the conditions that they place on animal experimentation is that it benefits the species of animal being experimented upon), banning the hunting of animals for recreation, massive reforms of farming practices, banning live export of animals, greater protection of wildlife, eliminating the property status of animals, and more.
In terms of policies and positions the Animal Justice Party reminds me a lot of PETA, a fact that does not help them to get my vote. While I certainly agree one should not be cruel to animals or cause them pain for no reason, animals don't require the same level of care and protection as people. Giving them special status that they can not be considered property seems to me to be counter productive to helping protect animal welfare, and would open up the mother of all demands for compensation from farmers (Can you imagine a farmers reaction when told he doesn't own his livestock anymore?).
For me the answer of how do we protect animals from human cruelty (because I see little here about protecting animals from each other) is not to put humans and animals on an equal footing in terms of laws and rights, because quite frankly we're not, but to educate and enlighten. For many of their policies I find I agree with the intention, but the implementation is too much (yes, I would like to see koala populations restored, but a target population of 1 million (which is around 200 times the current population) seems very high)
The Animal Justice Party is very much a single issue party. They have no policies on the NBN, healthcare, education, the economy, or the carbon tax.
The Animal Justice Party is running candidates for the Senate in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, West Australia, South Australia and the ACT, and are not contesting any seats in the House of Representatives. They have given preferences highly to the Australian Democrats and the Stable Population Party, but I'm guessing most of the preferences will end up going to the Greens in the end.
website: http://www.animaljusticeparty.org/
twitter: @AJP_Australia
1: freedom from hunger and thirst
2: freedom from discomfort
3: freedom from pain, injury and disease
4: freedom to express normal behaviour
5: freedom from fear and distress
From these five freedoms they build up their policies which include banning circuses and rodeos, banning the sale of dogs and cats by pets stores, prohibiting animal shelters to put down animals, legal recognition of animals as sentient being, greatly reduced experimentation on animals (one of the conditions that they place on animal experimentation is that it benefits the species of animal being experimented upon), banning the hunting of animals for recreation, massive reforms of farming practices, banning live export of animals, greater protection of wildlife, eliminating the property status of animals, and more.
In terms of policies and positions the Animal Justice Party reminds me a lot of PETA, a fact that does not help them to get my vote. While I certainly agree one should not be cruel to animals or cause them pain for no reason, animals don't require the same level of care and protection as people. Giving them special status that they can not be considered property seems to me to be counter productive to helping protect animal welfare, and would open up the mother of all demands for compensation from farmers (Can you imagine a farmers reaction when told he doesn't own his livestock anymore?).
For me the answer of how do we protect animals from human cruelty (because I see little here about protecting animals from each other) is not to put humans and animals on an equal footing in terms of laws and rights, because quite frankly we're not, but to educate and enlighten. For many of their policies I find I agree with the intention, but the implementation is too much (yes, I would like to see koala populations restored, but a target population of 1 million (which is around 200 times the current population) seems very high)
The Animal Justice Party is very much a single issue party. They have no policies on the NBN, healthcare, education, the economy, or the carbon tax.
The Animal Justice Party is running candidates for the Senate in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, West Australia, South Australia and the ACT, and are not contesting any seats in the House of Representatives. They have given preferences highly to the Australian Democrats and the Stable Population Party, but I'm guessing most of the preferences will end up going to the Greens in the end.
website: http://www.animaljusticeparty.org/
twitter: @AJP_Australia
Party Games 0/54
As many of you are aware, an Australian Federal election is coming up on September 7th. You may not know that a record high 1,717 candidates are standing for seats in the house or senate around Australia from 54 different parties. Rather than going by some of my previous voting methods which have included rolling dice, asking questions on the day, and going by how many of their members have appeared on Good News Week (I joined the UQ Australian Democrats club but never attended any meetings on the basis of Natasha Stott Despoja's many appearances on GNW), this time I'm making an effort to be informed.
To achieve this I'm reading up on every one of the 54 registered parties, and I'm going to give each one a bit of a write up here. I'm currently at around 30/55 so still have a bit to do, but I'm hoping to churn through the rest before the end of next week.
I'm also sending an email of questions to each party. Depending on how detailed the information they have on their websites are, the questions are usually about 1/3-1/2 questions about their policies, and the rest are some general questions I'm putting to every questions. These general questions include "Who would you try to make a deal with in the event of a hung parliament?", "How does your party decide on policies?", "Why should I vote for you?", and some other similar questions. These general questions may be cut where the policies are pretty clear where they stand on a matter (I didn't feel the need to ask the No Carbon Tax (Climate Sceptics) party what they thought of the Carbon Tax for example).
In doing the write ups I'm going to try to be fair, but I'm also going to be giving my assessment of the parties. If I think they're crazy, I'll say so, but I'll give my reasons why. I'll try and present pros as well as cons, things I agree with and disagree with.
So far I've not had much success in getting responses to my emails (1 actual response, 3 read our websites, and a few automated we've got your email and will get back to you as soon as we can). I had initially been planning on waiting for responses before doing the write ups, but since it turns out I've been wildly optimistic about the response rate I'd get, I'm going to do the write ups and if I get a response I'll do a follow up.
In terms of order of write up, I'm generally going in alphabetical order, with a few exceptions. A half dozen parties were registered after I got my initial list of parties from the AEC website (the full list of parties), so they got tacked onto the end of the list. I'm also going to save the major parties (by which I mean parties with more than 1 person in parliament already, so the ALP, the Coalition, and the Greens) for last, as they get a heck of a lot of coverage already.
To achieve this I'm reading up on every one of the 54 registered parties, and I'm going to give each one a bit of a write up here. I'm currently at around 30/55 so still have a bit to do, but I'm hoping to churn through the rest before the end of next week.
I'm also sending an email of questions to each party. Depending on how detailed the information they have on their websites are, the questions are usually about 1/3-1/2 questions about their policies, and the rest are some general questions I'm putting to every questions. These general questions include "Who would you try to make a deal with in the event of a hung parliament?", "How does your party decide on policies?", "Why should I vote for you?", and some other similar questions. These general questions may be cut where the policies are pretty clear where they stand on a matter (I didn't feel the need to ask the No Carbon Tax (Climate Sceptics) party what they thought of the Carbon Tax for example).
In doing the write ups I'm going to try to be fair, but I'm also going to be giving my assessment of the parties. If I think they're crazy, I'll say so, but I'll give my reasons why. I'll try and present pros as well as cons, things I agree with and disagree with.
So far I've not had much success in getting responses to my emails (1 actual response, 3 read our websites, and a few automated we've got your email and will get back to you as soon as we can). I had initially been planning on waiting for responses before doing the write ups, but since it turns out I've been wildly optimistic about the response rate I'd get, I'm going to do the write ups and if I get a response I'll do a follow up.
In terms of order of write up, I'm generally going in alphabetical order, with a few exceptions. A half dozen parties were registered after I got my initial list of parties from the AEC website (the full list of parties), so they got tacked onto the end of the list. I'm also going to save the major parties (by which I mean parties with more than 1 person in parliament already, so the ALP, the Coalition, and the Greens) for last, as they get a heck of a lot of coverage already.
Monday, August 19, 2013
By the Numbers 33/52
Mixed results this week.
Wealth
Net Cash: $178.67
Pretty much balances out last week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
A friend said their company is recruiting someone for data entry type stuff, which if it pays better and gets me off the phones is probably worth switching for, but still not my end goal. Haven't heard back yet from my current work about the interview from the week before last.
Health
Net Calories: 3844 Calories
Yeah, an entire pizza for dinner on Friday was not a good idea, even if it was one of the smaller chef's best ones from Dominos (that said adding bacon to a Hawaiian pizza is genius). Snacks while watching World's End on Sunday also contributed.
Fitocracy Points: 0
Yep, no exercise this week. My knee is still sore.
Weight: 93 kg
And with all that, I manage to drop some weight.
Life
Bike riding: 448 km
Books read: 0
Still working through The Art of Thinking Clearly as well as Y: The Last Man
Games Played: 10, Gunship:Afterburners, 3x Dominion: Intrigue + Guilds, 1x Hanabi (which I now own a copy of), 5x Magic: The Gathering
Movies seen: World's End
Not as great as the other Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright films, it had its good moments but just didn't have the consistency of quality the others did and it was harder to buy into the scenario (which given we're talking about zombies and a homicidal conspiracy to win town of the year is saying a lot)
Wealth
Net Cash: $178.67
Pretty much balances out last week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
A friend said their company is recruiting someone for data entry type stuff, which if it pays better and gets me off the phones is probably worth switching for, but still not my end goal. Haven't heard back yet from my current work about the interview from the week before last.
Health
Net Calories: 3844 Calories
Yeah, an entire pizza for dinner on Friday was not a good idea, even if it was one of the smaller chef's best ones from Dominos (that said adding bacon to a Hawaiian pizza is genius). Snacks while watching World's End on Sunday also contributed.
Fitocracy Points: 0
Yep, no exercise this week. My knee is still sore.
Weight: 93 kg
And with all that, I manage to drop some weight.
Life
Bike riding: 448 km
Books read: 0
Still working through The Art of Thinking Clearly as well as Y: The Last Man
Games Played: 10, Gunship:Afterburners, 3x Dominion: Intrigue + Guilds, 1x Hanabi (which I now own a copy of), 5x Magic: The Gathering
Movies seen: World's End
Not as great as the other Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright films, it had its good moments but just didn't have the consistency of quality the others did and it was harder to buy into the scenario (which given we're talking about zombies and a homicidal conspiracy to win town of the year is saying a lot)
Monday, August 12, 2013
By The Numbers 32/52
I got back from Sydney late last night so I left the write up to tonight.
Wealth
Net Cash: -$182.63
Taxis account for a good chunk of this. Eating out in Sydney was another chunk. A bit too much snacking while at work didn't help either.
Jobs Applied for: 1
I once again put my name forward for a different job at work. The same one I've applied for 3 times before. But since they didn't appoint anyone last time, and they gave me another interview, I can't have been completely ruled out.
Health
Net Calories: 889 Calories
I indulged a little in Sydney, and ate a bit more in general expecting a rather big deficit that didn't occur
Weight: 95kg
Fitocracy points: 790
I did a 5km jog/walk on Monday, some circuit training at a place on the corner on Wednesday, and indoor rock climbing on Friday. Notably absent is the 14km fun run I mentioned last week. I banged up my knee on Friday night (it was ok after the rock climbing, but I woke up on Saturday with it being sore and a bit wobbly), and while it's ok to walk on, I don't think it was up to 14km of jogging/walking. I was fretting all day how I'd tell my sister who got me to sing up for the run that I couldn't do it, then an hour before my flight got a text saying she wouldn't meet me at the airport because she'd twisted her ankle. So we just had a relaxing day hanging out in Sydney instead.
Life
Bike riding: 282 km
Books read: 1
I finished the Thrawn trilogy. I'm now working through "The Art of Thinking Clearly", which is more a field guide to cognitive biases than a how to guide. I bought it at the airport as according to Dymocks it was National Bookstore Day, which was a good enough excuse for me to buy a new book (I think it may be just a made up thing to encourage people to actually go to book stores instead of buying online, but still who doesn't need more books?).
Games played: 2: St Petersburg and Fruit Ninja: The Card Game
Wealth
Net Cash: -$182.63
Taxis account for a good chunk of this. Eating out in Sydney was another chunk. A bit too much snacking while at work didn't help either.
Jobs Applied for: 1
I once again put my name forward for a different job at work. The same one I've applied for 3 times before. But since they didn't appoint anyone last time, and they gave me another interview, I can't have been completely ruled out.
Health
Net Calories: 889 Calories
I indulged a little in Sydney, and ate a bit more in general expecting a rather big deficit that didn't occur
Weight: 95kg
Fitocracy points: 790
I did a 5km jog/walk on Monday, some circuit training at a place on the corner on Wednesday, and indoor rock climbing on Friday. Notably absent is the 14km fun run I mentioned last week. I banged up my knee on Friday night (it was ok after the rock climbing, but I woke up on Saturday with it being sore and a bit wobbly), and while it's ok to walk on, I don't think it was up to 14km of jogging/walking. I was fretting all day how I'd tell my sister who got me to sing up for the run that I couldn't do it, then an hour before my flight got a text saying she wouldn't meet me at the airport because she'd twisted her ankle. So we just had a relaxing day hanging out in Sydney instead.
Life
Bike riding: 282 km
Books read: 1
I finished the Thrawn trilogy. I'm now working through "The Art of Thinking Clearly", which is more a field guide to cognitive biases than a how to guide. I bought it at the airport as according to Dymocks it was National Bookstore Day, which was a good enough excuse for me to buy a new book (I think it may be just a made up thing to encourage people to actually go to book stores instead of buying online, but still who doesn't need more books?).
Games played: 2: St Petersburg and Fruit Ninja: The Card Game
Sunday, August 04, 2013
By the Numbers 31/52
A rather standard week overall
Wealth
Net Cash: -$391.43
Big ticket item was return plane tickets for the Sydney City to Surf my sister has roped me into participating in. I fly down Saturday evening, Sunday morning is a 14km run, and then I fly back 7pm Sunday night. Should be fun. Also, the first proper grocery shopping since getting back from Melbourne (I shouldn't need to go shopping again for 2 weeks)
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2494 Calories
A good result, mainly from extra exercise in preparation for the aforementioned City to Surf.
Weight: 94 kg
Fitocracy points: 3035
A lot of time on the treadmill at a faster pace than I usually do to the point I may have burned out the motor on the treadmill, and some indoor rock climbing on Saturday
Fitocracy level: 16
Life
Bike riding: 364 km
Books read: 0
Games played: 8, Through the Ages, Castle Dice, 6x Magic: The Gathering
Wealth
Net Cash: -$391.43
Big ticket item was return plane tickets for the Sydney City to Surf my sister has roped me into participating in. I fly down Saturday evening, Sunday morning is a 14km run, and then I fly back 7pm Sunday night. Should be fun. Also, the first proper grocery shopping since getting back from Melbourne (I shouldn't need to go shopping again for 2 weeks)
Jobs Applied for: 0
Health
Net Calories: -2494 Calories
A good result, mainly from extra exercise in preparation for the aforementioned City to Surf.
Weight: 94 kg
Fitocracy points: 3035
A lot of time on the treadmill at a faster pace than I usually do to the point I may have burned out the motor on the treadmill, and some indoor rock climbing on Saturday
Fitocracy level: 16
Life
Bike riding: 364 km
Books read: 0
Games played: 8, Through the Ages, Castle Dice, 6x Magic: The Gathering
Thursday, August 01, 2013
Because of Nothing, the Confusion is Great (paghmo' tIn mIs)
So I got around to seeing Much Ado About Nothing. Not my usual fare, but with Joss Whedon directing and the cast including Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof, Tom Lenk, Agent Coulson (I should know his real name and I can't be bothered doing an IMDB search), Toufer (Franz something, another IMDB search I should do), Garkunkel (or Oates), and more, I was prepared to try something out of my regular fare. Overall, I enjoyed the film and thought it was well done.
I quite liked the way Whedon mixed the old language of the play with modern visual cues. The lords and princes are identified by suits, official photographers and bodyguards with earpieces talking into their wrists, the watch are cops with CSI sunglasses, and so on.
In terms of the language, they appear to have stuck pretty well to the original play (I say appear because I've not really read the original play. I own a copy but it's a dual language copy and when I attempted to read it I was more focused on the non-English version), which apart from a few instances where Beatrice and Benedick were verbally sparring where it got a bit too quick, was easy to understand.
The casting seemed very much to have been Joss Whedon calling up people he's liked working with before, as nearly all the cast have been involved in at least one Whedon production before this. A random thought I had during the film was what sort of character Amy Acker would have had if she'd appeared on Firefly, but I think Firefly was over before Acker entered the Whedonsphere.
Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof both put in great performances, especially when playing off each other.
The only bit that I didn't get fully behind was the plot, which seemed to be highly contrived and not make much sense at all, but I'm sure it worked better with the crowds of Shakespeare's time, and the fact that it's being remade says it still has some resonance.
Thank you to the various people who recommended it to me, as otherwise it may have gone onto the I'll watch it someday list rather than the I've seen and enjoyed it list it now sits in.
I quite liked the way Whedon mixed the old language of the play with modern visual cues. The lords and princes are identified by suits, official photographers and bodyguards with earpieces talking into their wrists, the watch are cops with CSI sunglasses, and so on.
In terms of the language, they appear to have stuck pretty well to the original play (I say appear because I've not really read the original play. I own a copy but it's a dual language copy and when I attempted to read it I was more focused on the non-English version), which apart from a few instances where Beatrice and Benedick were verbally sparring where it got a bit too quick, was easy to understand.
The casting seemed very much to have been Joss Whedon calling up people he's liked working with before, as nearly all the cast have been involved in at least one Whedon production before this. A random thought I had during the film was what sort of character Amy Acker would have had if she'd appeared on Firefly, but I think Firefly was over before Acker entered the Whedonsphere.
Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof both put in great performances, especially when playing off each other.
The only bit that I didn't get fully behind was the plot, which seemed to be highly contrived and not make much sense at all, but I'm sure it worked better with the crowds of Shakespeare's time, and the fact that it's being remade says it still has some resonance.
Thank you to the various people who recommended it to me, as otherwise it may have gone onto the I'll watch it someday list rather than the I've seen and enjoyed it list it now sits in.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Why I Bleed
Last week I went and gave blood. This would not normally be blogworthy, but this marked a milestone in that it was my 25th donation so I felt some sort of reflection on the topic was in order.
There are two main reasons I give blood. The first is that it's one of the few pure, selfless things I do. Apart from some sausage rolls afterwards and the getting a badge every so often I don't gain anything out of it. A random stranger gets something that will help them live and all it costs me is some time. The ethical calculus is pretty clear this is a good thing to do. And in a life that isn't big in getting involved in things and doing stuff to contribute, a pure selfless act is a good thing to throw in every now and then.
The other, bigger reason why I give blood is that it is something that I grew up with. Many were the times as a kid when my sister and I would sit on the sides of the bed/chair bit while my mother was giving blood. Mum is O-, and while she was able to was a pretty regular donor. Giving blood was even a rite of passage. On my sixteenth birthday after school Mum came into town (I was at boarding school at the time) and we went and I gave my first donation.
Since then I've not been as consistent as I'd like, and living overseas for a bit didn't help either. That should no longer be a problem as the Red Cross are much more organized about this now, and will automatically book your next appointment for you and send you reminders a few weeks out, making it much easier to not forget about it. In fact, why not make an appointment now?
There are two main reasons I give blood. The first is that it's one of the few pure, selfless things I do. Apart from some sausage rolls afterwards and the getting a badge every so often I don't gain anything out of it. A random stranger gets something that will help them live and all it costs me is some time. The ethical calculus is pretty clear this is a good thing to do. And in a life that isn't big in getting involved in things and doing stuff to contribute, a pure selfless act is a good thing to throw in every now and then.
The other, bigger reason why I give blood is that it is something that I grew up with. Many were the times as a kid when my sister and I would sit on the sides of the bed/chair bit while my mother was giving blood. Mum is O-, and while she was able to was a pretty regular donor. Giving blood was even a rite of passage. On my sixteenth birthday after school Mum came into town (I was at boarding school at the time) and we went and I gave my first donation.
Since then I've not been as consistent as I'd like, and living overseas for a bit didn't help either. That should no longer be a problem as the Red Cross are much more organized about this now, and will automatically book your next appointment for you and send you reminders a few weeks out, making it much easier to not forget about it. In fact, why not make an appointment now?
Sunday, July 28, 2013
By The Numbers 30/52
Not quite back into the regular swing of things.
Wealth
Net Cash: $216.85
eBay sales cancelled out post-PAX splurge in Melbourne, and frugal living the rest of the week made for a nice result
Jobs applied for: 1
I did do this this evening just so I wouldn't have two zeros in a row, so could be better.
Health
Net Calories: ?
Monday was a bit hard to keep track of as I was out socialising most of the day between a coffee shop walkabout with some other enforcers and the after party in the evening. For Tuesday to Sunday I'm 94 Calories over my target
Weight: 94 kg
I guess Monday wasn't that bad, or there was more walking than I thought.
Fitocracy points: 0
Bad me
Blood donations: 1
Blood donation badges received: 1
I add a 25 donation badge to my 10 donation badge. I hope to get to 50 before 2020 (It's a long term goal)
Life
Bike Riding: 155 km
Back to work on the weekend after having most of the week off after PAX
Books read: 1, The God Argument by AC Grayling. Somewhat preaching to the choir for me, but good to be exposed to the arguments I try to put forward for my philosophy of life presented in a much better way than I can usually manage. He did seem to put a bit more emphasis on the right to euthanasia than I was expecting.
Games played: 2: bowling and an online game of Roll Through the Ages. Missed all my semi-regular gaming nights this week
Wealth
Net Cash: $216.85
eBay sales cancelled out post-PAX splurge in Melbourne, and frugal living the rest of the week made for a nice result
Jobs applied for: 1
I did do this this evening just so I wouldn't have two zeros in a row, so could be better.
Health
Net Calories: ?
Monday was a bit hard to keep track of as I was out socialising most of the day between a coffee shop walkabout with some other enforcers and the after party in the evening. For Tuesday to Sunday I'm 94 Calories over my target
Weight: 94 kg
I guess Monday wasn't that bad, or there was more walking than I thought.
Fitocracy points: 0
Bad me
Blood donations: 1
Blood donation badges received: 1
I add a 25 donation badge to my 10 donation badge. I hope to get to 50 before 2020 (It's a long term goal)
Life
Bike Riding: 155 km
Back to work on the weekend after having most of the week off after PAX
Books read: 1, The God Argument by AC Grayling. Somewhat preaching to the choir for me, but good to be exposed to the arguments I try to put forward for my philosophy of life presented in a much better way than I can usually manage. He did seem to put a bit more emphasis on the right to euthanasia than I was expecting.
Games played: 2: bowling and an online game of Roll Through the Ages. Missed all my semi-regular gaming nights this week
What I kept
I used to play Warhammer 40,000. I quite enjoyed it and spent a fair bit of cash and time on the hobby. However, then I went overseas for a few years, and when I came back to Australia where my collection was there were new rule books and the relative power of certain units shifted, and I thought I'll get back into it in a bit when I have more cash, and for several years left it at that. Since then there's been even more new rule books at an even steeper price, and I recently made the call that I'm never going to play regularly again, and that the best use I could make of my collection would be to liquidate it. And now, thanks to the power of eBay, I'm now several hundred dollars richer (ignoring the 3-5 times that much I paid for the models and paint in the first place).
I didn't sell everything. There were a few pieces I wanted to keep as display pieces as I was particularly happy with how they turned out. So within the limits of iPhone photography here are the ones I kept.
I didn't sell everything. There were a few pieces I wanted to keep as display pieces as I was particularly happy with how they turned out. So within the limits of iPhone photography here are the ones I kept.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
By The Numbers 29/52
A bit late, and a few numbers that aren't as well defined as I'd normally have, but there's a reason for that: PAXAus. It was a bloody amazing weekend and even though it was a hard slog I'll be there again next year trying to cram even more fun in (I'm not sure if that's humanly possible, but let's see). Here we go
Wealth
Net Cash:-$236.41
Edit: I forgot to include my rent for this week. That makes this a bit more bleak purely on a numbers basis. However, since the purpose of getting money is to let you pay for the things you enjoy in life, this money has been used to great effect.
Jobs applied for: 0
Standard excuse for this week, PAX
Health
Net Calories: ?
Bad eating at PAX I hope was mostly cancelled out by various amounts of heavy lifting, walking all over the place, walking to and from trams, yelling with excitement, clapping, cheering, etc, etc, which brings us to a figure a bit easier to get
Weight: 94 kg (as of Tuesday night)
So a gain of 1kg. Could have been a lot worse. Bordercon was worse, but I was a lot more active at PAX.
Fitocracy points: 0
I could have put in all the walking but I've no idea of an exact figure and fitocracy doesn't really work on about 12 hours of walking
Life
Bike riding: 0 km
Books read: 1, Book 2 of the Dark Force Rising trilogy, I'm now working through The God Argument by A.C. Grayling
Games played: 13: Zombie Fluxx x2, Lords of Waterdeep, The Resistance x3, Hanabi x2, Magic: The Gathering x5
Wealth
Net Cash:-$236.41
Edit: I forgot to include my rent for this week. That makes this a bit more bleak purely on a numbers basis. However, since the purpose of getting money is to let you pay for the things you enjoy in life, this money has been used to great effect.
Jobs applied for: 0
Standard excuse for this week, PAX
Health
Net Calories: ?
Bad eating at PAX I hope was mostly cancelled out by various amounts of heavy lifting, walking all over the place, walking to and from trams, yelling with excitement, clapping, cheering, etc, etc, which brings us to a figure a bit easier to get
Weight: 94 kg (as of Tuesday night)
So a gain of 1kg. Could have been a lot worse. Bordercon was worse, but I was a lot more active at PAX.
Fitocracy points: 0
I could have put in all the walking but I've no idea of an exact figure and fitocracy doesn't really work on about 12 hours of walking
Life
Bike riding: 0 km
Books read: 1, Book 2 of the Dark Force Rising trilogy, I'm now working through The God Argument by A.C. Grayling
Games played: 13: Zombie Fluxx x2, Lords of Waterdeep, The Resistance x3, Hanabi x2, Magic: The Gathering x5
Sunday, July 14, 2013
By the Numbers 28/52
No fancy intro this week
Wealth
Net Cash: $249.78
Jobs applied for: 5
better
Health
Net Calories: 117 Calories
I pigged out on a block of chocolate today which was over a days worth of calories in one go.
Fitocracy points: 965
Weight: 93kg
Life
Bike riding: 107km
Books read: 1
Games Played: 16. Lost Legacy x2, Expedition, Ticket to Ride - Team Asia, The Walking Dead x3, Glory to Rome, Kingdom Builder, Pass-ack Words, Hanabi x3, Attika, Innovation x2
Wealth
Net Cash: $249.78
Jobs applied for: 5
better
Health
Net Calories: 117 Calories
I pigged out on a block of chocolate today which was over a days worth of calories in one go.
Fitocracy points: 965
Weight: 93kg
Life
Bike riding: 107km
Books read: 1
Games Played: 16. Lost Legacy x2, Expedition, Ticket to Ride - Team Asia, The Walking Dead x3, Glory to Rome, Kingdom Builder, Pass-ack Words, Hanabi x3, Attika, Innovation x2
Sunday, July 07, 2013
By the Numbers 27/52
Into the 2nd half of the year
Wealth
Net Cash: -$126.46
Wealth
Net Cash: -$126.46
Ouch.
Jobs applied for: 2
Bad me.
Health
Net Calories: -1103
A while ago the app I use to track my calories suggested I need to revise my target intake to suit my current weight, but I didn't do it at the time as I didn't want to change the baseline I was reporting to, but since we are now half way through this seems like an ok point for a disconnect in the data. The new baseline intake is 1850 Calories a day, down from 1970 Calories a day (this is about one muesli bar or half a chocolate bar less a day).
Fitocracy points: 2542
This includes a few hundred bonus points for completing a quest (a recommended set of exercises), and I've leveled up to level 15.
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 134 km
Books read: 0
Games Played 9: completed games of Through the Ages and The Hanging Gardens online during the week, 6 plays of Dominion (Dark Ages with a mix of other sets) and Battlestar Galactica with both Pegasus and Exodus expansions. Not bad for having missed the regular Wednesday and Friday gaming nights.
Jobs applied for: 2
Bad me.
Health
Net Calories: -1103
A while ago the app I use to track my calories suggested I need to revise my target intake to suit my current weight, but I didn't do it at the time as I didn't want to change the baseline I was reporting to, but since we are now half way through this seems like an ok point for a disconnect in the data. The new baseline intake is 1850 Calories a day, down from 1970 Calories a day (this is about one muesli bar or half a chocolate bar less a day).
Fitocracy points: 2542
This includes a few hundred bonus points for completing a quest (a recommended set of exercises), and I've leveled up to level 15.
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 134 km
Books read: 0
Games Played 9: completed games of Through the Ages and The Hanging Gardens online during the week, 6 plays of Dominion (Dark Ages with a mix of other sets) and Battlestar Galactica with both Pegasus and Exodus expansions. Not bad for having missed the regular Wednesday and Friday gaming nights.
Monday, July 01, 2013
By the Pictures 1/?
Halfway through the year, lets convert all these numbers into some pictures
Wealth
One of the more varied graphs. Overall more positive than negative, but a bit more discipline is needed (at least until I get a better paying job).
A graph of Jobs Applied For is just a few delta spikes and mainly a testament to my slackness.
Health
Net Calories
In only 6 of 26 weeks did I go over my weekly target. It would appear I'm getting used to being hungry, although the realization that exercising let's me eat more food has helped as well.
Weight
Steady progress for most of the year, but that seems to have plateaued over the last month or so.
Fitocracy points
A slow start that's picked up as the year progresses. Getting the dumbbells a while ago has added some variety and made it easier to get more points (I can do a treadmill session and a dumbbell session in a day and not feel too put out, but to get the same number of points with just the treadmill would be tough).
Life
Bike Riding
Yeah, pretty consistent most of the time.
Wealth
A graph of Jobs Applied For is just a few delta spikes and mainly a testament to my slackness.
Health
Net Calories
Weight
Fitocracy points
Life
Bike Riding
Sunday, June 30, 2013
By the Numbers 26/52
Half way through the year. Probably time to try some of those graphs I talked about way back in week 1. Look for something tomorrow
Wealth
Net Cash: -$288.12
I splashed out and bought some stuff for my place, the main one of which was a robot vacuum cleaner.
Jobs applied for: 4
Health
Net Calories: -4058
A good result, combination of exercise and lack of eating, although I suspect I got too much credit for rock climbing today
Fitocracy points: 2030
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike riding: 204 km
Books read: 1
Neil Gaiman's new book Ocean at the End of the Lane. A bit disappointed, mainly in that their was not more of it, and also that it seemed more "I'm Neil Gaiman, I write stories of people who get caught up in a world that's bigger and weirder than they knew and it changes their life" than "I have an interesting idea for a story." I would also agree with the person on twitter who said it was really a young adult novel, not a novel as American Gods or Neverwhere were. Today I picked up 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (of Red, Green, and Blue Mars fame) mainly on the basis of one of the blurbs on the back being from Iain M Banks.
Games Played: 8 x Dominion (Guilds + Intrigue x 2, Guilds + Prosperity, Dark Ages x 3, Dark Ages + Hinterland, Dark Ages + Alchemy)
Wealth
Net Cash: -$288.12
I splashed out and bought some stuff for my place, the main one of which was a robot vacuum cleaner.
Jobs applied for: 4
Health
Net Calories: -4058
A good result, combination of exercise and lack of eating, although I suspect I got too much credit for rock climbing today
Fitocracy points: 2030
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike riding: 204 km
Books read: 1
Neil Gaiman's new book Ocean at the End of the Lane. A bit disappointed, mainly in that their was not more of it, and also that it seemed more "I'm Neil Gaiman, I write stories of people who get caught up in a world that's bigger and weirder than they knew and it changes their life" than "I have an interesting idea for a story." I would also agree with the person on twitter who said it was really a young adult novel, not a novel as American Gods or Neverwhere were. Today I picked up 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (of Red, Green, and Blue Mars fame) mainly on the basis of one of the blurbs on the back being from Iain M Banks.
Games Played: 8 x Dominion (Guilds + Intrigue x 2, Guilds + Prosperity, Dark Ages x 3, Dark Ages + Hinterland, Dark Ages + Alchemy)
Sunday, June 23, 2013
By the Numbers 25/26
Another week. We're at 5 squared, and according to wikipedia there's not much more interesting about 25.
Wealth
Net Cash: $255.77
Yay for living cheap.
Jobs applied for: 3
Still not hitting the 1 a day I'm aiming for
Health
Net Calories: -4952 Calories
Living cheap is also living on low calories (Calories = $?)
Fitocracy points: 1989
Fitocracy level: 14
Weight: 95 kg
Life:
Bike Riding: 178 km
Books Read: 3
Finished rereading the Amtrak Wars. Now starting on the new Neil Gaiman book
Games played: 10: Dominion Guilds x3, Notre Dame, Troyes, Through the Ages, DnD, Settlers of Catan, Monty Python Fluxx x2
Wealth
Net Cash: $255.77
Yay for living cheap.
Jobs applied for: 3
Still not hitting the 1 a day I'm aiming for
Health
Net Calories: -4952 Calories
Living cheap is also living on low calories (Calories = $?)
Fitocracy points: 1989
Fitocracy level: 14
Weight: 95 kg
Life:
Bike Riding: 178 km
Books Read: 3
Finished rereading the Amtrak Wars. Now starting on the new Neil Gaiman book
Games played: 10: Dominion Guilds x3, Notre Dame, Troyes, Through the Ages, DnD, Settlers of Catan, Monty Python Fluxx x2
Friday, June 21, 2013
Thoughts on Winning Friends and Influencing People
I finally finished reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carneggie a while ago. I can't say I was really enthused by the book, as evidenced by the fact that it took me over a month to read it. My main interest in reading it was due to it having percolated into popular culture as The Book for learning how to deal with people successfully. Whether this is just due to it's age or the name recognition of the author vs it's actual merit is something I am not sure of, although I'm less inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt now that I've read it.
So why do I feel like I've not learnt much from this book that so many people swear by? Part of it is presentation. Each point is only illustrated with a series of anecdotes, and as we all should know, the plural of anecdote is not data. This is a collection of feel good stories, and if presented as such I wouldn't be so unsatisfied, but the claims it made starting out were of scholarship and research and on that basis the book oversold itself (I'll admit my background might make me view research in a more mathematical orientated way, but even loosening those standards I still feel it didn't meet the standards it claimed). Overall, it's made a claim that this is a good way to deal with people, but hasn't backed up the claim.
Another reason I didn't like the message conveyed in the book from a number of stories such as the salesman who found out a potential buyer's son liked stamps, so went out and bought a rare stamp as a gift and so got the sale, which to me feels like a bad message. The person didn't get the sale because he was selling a good product at a good price that met the needs of the buyer, but because they did something nice that was irrelevant to the transaction. I don't think it's cynical to say that if you're making a large purchase on behalf of your company, giving the sale to the guy who was nice to you just because he was nice to you is a dereliction of duty. Some of the tactics suggested in the book do seem cynical, or at least some of the applications described are. A salesman finding out the needs of the business he's trying to sell to and altering his pitch to suit is sensible and a good thing. A salesman finding out the manager is a baseball fan and spending the meeting talking baseball with the potential client is being manipulative rather than standing on his merits.
The last problem I have with the book is a message that I partly find contradictory and partly makes me feel as though I fail at being a human being. Several times the book stresses that when showing an interest in people it must be sincere, and not just flattery, but then gives examples where the interest is insincere. The part where this makes me feel like an incomplete person is that in general I don't find people interesting. Specific individuals yes, but it generally takes me quite a while to get there, and it usually requires some sort of context where I have the time to get to know them (university, work, board gaming, etc). So being told that the essential key to good interactions with people is something I don't have (and that faking it is bad) is discouraging at the least (at the most it makes me feel like a failure as a person that something fundamental to the human experience is missing in me).
So what can I gain from all this? Be nice to people? I already try to do that. Start with a positive and then move to the negative? The "You're doing this thing great but need to work on this other thing" routine just makes the first part sound phoney. Do something that doesn't come naturally to me but don't fake it. The final section on tips for married life quote clearly dates the book quite markedly. I get the point the book is trying to make but the implementation it suggests seems flawed and impractical.
So why do I feel like I've not learnt much from this book that so many people swear by? Part of it is presentation. Each point is only illustrated with a series of anecdotes, and as we all should know, the plural of anecdote is not data. This is a collection of feel good stories, and if presented as such I wouldn't be so unsatisfied, but the claims it made starting out were of scholarship and research and on that basis the book oversold itself (I'll admit my background might make me view research in a more mathematical orientated way, but even loosening those standards I still feel it didn't meet the standards it claimed). Overall, it's made a claim that this is a good way to deal with people, but hasn't backed up the claim.
Another reason I didn't like the message conveyed in the book from a number of stories such as the salesman who found out a potential buyer's son liked stamps, so went out and bought a rare stamp as a gift and so got the sale, which to me feels like a bad message. The person didn't get the sale because he was selling a good product at a good price that met the needs of the buyer, but because they did something nice that was irrelevant to the transaction. I don't think it's cynical to say that if you're making a large purchase on behalf of your company, giving the sale to the guy who was nice to you just because he was nice to you is a dereliction of duty. Some of the tactics suggested in the book do seem cynical, or at least some of the applications described are. A salesman finding out the needs of the business he's trying to sell to and altering his pitch to suit is sensible and a good thing. A salesman finding out the manager is a baseball fan and spending the meeting talking baseball with the potential client is being manipulative rather than standing on his merits.
The last problem I have with the book is a message that I partly find contradictory and partly makes me feel as though I fail at being a human being. Several times the book stresses that when showing an interest in people it must be sincere, and not just flattery, but then gives examples where the interest is insincere. The part where this makes me feel like an incomplete person is that in general I don't find people interesting. Specific individuals yes, but it generally takes me quite a while to get there, and it usually requires some sort of context where I have the time to get to know them (university, work, board gaming, etc). So being told that the essential key to good interactions with people is something I don't have (and that faking it is bad) is discouraging at the least (at the most it makes me feel like a failure as a person that something fundamental to the human experience is missing in me).
So what can I gain from all this? Be nice to people? I already try to do that. Start with a positive and then move to the negative? The "You're doing this thing great but need to work on this other thing" routine just makes the first part sound phoney. Do something that doesn't come naturally to me but don't fake it. The final section on tips for married life quote clearly dates the book quite markedly. I get the point the book is trying to make but the implementation it suggests seems flawed and impractical.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
By The Numbers 24/52
A less than stellar week
Wealth
Net cash: -$241.59
This is a two week figure as I didn't keep track of things as well as I should have last week. Based on a rough idea of where I should have been last this works out to about +$100 or so for the week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
Yeah, I got slack after getting back from Bordercon.
Health
Net Calories: 1640 Calories
More slackness I'm blaming on Bordercon. I got back after a delayed flight to no food and ordered pizza, which then meant I had enough pizza for three days. Bad Kevin.
Fitocracy points: 734
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 227 km
Books read: 1
Book 3 in the Amtrak Wars
Games: 11: Glory to Rome x 3, Ad Astra, Hanabi, Ricochet Robots, Race for the Galaxy, Mamma Mia, Sole Mio, Dominion x2
Wealth
Net cash: -$241.59
This is a two week figure as I didn't keep track of things as well as I should have last week. Based on a rough idea of where I should have been last this works out to about +$100 or so for the week.
Jobs Applied for: 1
Yeah, I got slack after getting back from Bordercon.
Health
Net Calories: 1640 Calories
More slackness I'm blaming on Bordercon. I got back after a delayed flight to no food and ordered pizza, which then meant I had enough pizza for three days. Bad Kevin.
Fitocracy points: 734
Weight: 95 kg
Life
Bike Riding: 227 km
Books read: 1
Book 3 in the Amtrak Wars
Games: 11: Glory to Rome x 3, Ad Astra, Hanabi, Ricochet Robots, Race for the Galaxy, Mamma Mia, Sole Mio, Dominion x2
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
By The Numbers 23/52
Later than I expected due to Bordercon and after a delayed flight back to Brisbane I felt watching the season finale of Game of Thrones was a higher priority than doing this.
Wealth
Net Cash flow: ?
a significant negative number, but I don't have a precise figure (on the order of -$300). I wasn't careful enough keeping track over the weekend and while I now have everything up to date, back tracking to get a figure for where things were on Sunday evening would be a lot of hassle. I will post a two week figure next week that will once again be exact.
Jobs Applied for: 3
A new record, tripling previous best results. I am again planning to improve on this.
Health
Net Calories: 298 Calories
This figure is probably low as I ate out a lot and so couldn't just scan barcodes of what I ate to get the actual numbers.
Weight: 95 kg
This has crept back up again. Need to hit the treadmill some more, as dumbbell exercises score points by don't burn much calories
Fitocracy points: 1430
Not bad considering I was away for half the week
Fitcracy level: 13
Life
Bike riding: 9 km
Books read: 2
I'm going through the Amtrak Wars series in one go, as while I've read the complete series, there were significant gaps in time between books due to availability at different libraries, so this time I'm going to go straight through.
Darts: skipped this week
Games Played: 25 (woo Bordercon) Zombie Flux, For Sale (x2), Shadow Hunters, Cartagena, Fantastiqa (x2), Glory to Rome, Hanabi (x3), Innovation with both expansions, King of Tokyo, Merchant of Venus, Vanuatu, A Study in Emerald, Clubs, Klunker, Mamma Mia, Potion Making Practice with both expansions, Win Lose Banana (x3), Love Letter, Tichu,
Wealth
Net Cash flow: ?
a significant negative number, but I don't have a precise figure (on the order of -$300). I wasn't careful enough keeping track over the weekend and while I now have everything up to date, back tracking to get a figure for where things were on Sunday evening would be a lot of hassle. I will post a two week figure next week that will once again be exact.
Jobs Applied for: 3
A new record, tripling previous best results. I am again planning to improve on this.
Health
Net Calories: 298 Calories
This figure is probably low as I ate out a lot and so couldn't just scan barcodes of what I ate to get the actual numbers.
Weight: 95 kg
This has crept back up again. Need to hit the treadmill some more, as dumbbell exercises score points by don't burn much calories
Fitocracy points: 1430
Not bad considering I was away for half the week
Fitcracy level: 13
Life
Bike riding: 9 km
Books read: 2
I'm going through the Amtrak Wars series in one go, as while I've read the complete series, there were significant gaps in time between books due to availability at different libraries, so this time I'm going to go straight through.
Darts: skipped this week
Games Played: 25 (woo Bordercon) Zombie Flux, For Sale (x2), Shadow Hunters, Cartagena, Fantastiqa (x2), Glory to Rome, Hanabi (x3), Innovation with both expansions, King of Tokyo, Merchant of Venus, Vanuatu, A Study in Emerald, Clubs, Klunker, Mamma Mia, Potion Making Practice with both expansions, Win Lose Banana (x3), Love Letter, Tichu,
Sunday, June 02, 2013
By The Numbers 22/52
Next week may be a day or two late, as I will be going away to Bordercon next weekend.
Wealth
Net Cash: $129.22
Not great, but after the last two weeks it's good to be positive again
Jobs applied for: 0
Look for this to be higher next week
Health
Net Calories: 321
I slacked off with the diet and exercise this week, but it could have been worse.
Fitocracy points: 1386
Life
Bike Riding: 353km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 9 rounds
I got lucky
Games played: 6 Roll Through the Ages, The Hanging Gardens, Maori, Masons, St Petersberg, Factory Manager (all but the last were played online)
This will be higher next week (see earlier note about Bordercon)
Wealth
Net Cash: $129.22
Not great, but after the last two weeks it's good to be positive again
Jobs applied for: 0
Look for this to be higher next week
Health
Net Calories: 321
I slacked off with the diet and exercise this week, but it could have been worse.
Fitocracy points: 1386
Life
Bike Riding: 353km
Books read: 0
Darts: 501 in 9 rounds
I got lucky
Games played: 6 Roll Through the Ages, The Hanging Gardens, Maori, Masons, St Petersberg, Factory Manager (all but the last were played online)
This will be higher next week (see earlier note about Bordercon)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
