I will probably be posting a lot about bowling and as marius has asked for an explanation, I will see if I can explain for the non-player.
Bowling is played on a green which is a square of grass which is flat (or supposed to be). The version I play is known as Lawn Bowls, there is a slight variant known as crown bowls, the real main difference to crown bowls is no rinks, a rink is explained below.
A bowling green
http://northendensocialclub.co.uk/images/imag0002.jpg
The square is surrounded by a ditch, which is usually about 2 inches deep and lined with stones or carpet.
The object of the game is to get closest to the white or jack, usually a small ball about 3 or 4 inches in diameter and the bowls are about 7 or 8 inches in diameter you have between 2 and 4 bowls depending on the format of the game. The bowls are round and have what is known as a bias, this means that one side is weighted and the weights can vary. This means that the bowl is thrown out so that it will bend back to the jack. and travels in an arc, this again can vary depending on the flatness of the green.
Image of bowls and a jack.
http://www.kclsport.com.au/admin/editor/assets/service/bowling%20greens/img_0641.jpg
You place the mat, a rubber mat about 2 feet long 1 foot wide which you must throw from. You throw the jack to the preferred length there are minimums and maximums but the minimum is 23 metres. maximum is 2 metres from the ditch which can be different depending on the green you are playing on. So the jack is set to the middle of the rink and you then take turns throwing the bowls to try and get as close to the jack as possible. After all the bowls have been thrown the closest bowl wins the shot and you get as many shots as bowls you have closer than your opponent. e.g. 2 bowls closer than your opponent 2 shots and so on.
When all the bowls have been thrown and the shots decided this is called an end, you can play to either a shot total or a prescribed number of ends.
Singles - one person v another person usually you have 4 bowls each and you play ends until somebody reaches 21 shots.
Pairs - 2 people v 2 people, 4 bowls each you play 17 ends.
Pairs - 2 people v 2 people, 2 bowls each you play 21 ends.
Triples - 3 people v 3 people, 3 bowls each you play 15 ends.
Rink - 4 people v 4 people, 2 bowls each you play 17 ends.
Sometimes games can be different such as 2 bowl singles, 2 bowl triples, 3 bowl pairs and 21 ends in the rink game.
League format, the leagues I play in is 4 Rinks, 17 ends 1 point per rink and 1 for the overall team score. Therefore you are playing for 5 points and the score can be split such as 3-2. Another league i play in is the same format but 2 points for a winning a rink and 1 for the aggregate so playing for 9 points.
The green is usually divided in to 6 rinks, this means it can be played north to south or east to west. The rinks are measured to mins and maxs but can vary per green. If a bowl goes outside the rink then it is a dead bowl and taken off, if a bowl goes into the ditch at the end of the rink then it is also considered dead. If the bowl touches the bowl then it is considered a toucher or chalker as it is marked with chalk, either a stick or spray. If this bowl then goes into the ditch it is still considered live. If the jack goes into the ditch it is considered live, if it goes out the side of the rink then it is a 'burnt' end and in most cases has to be replayed.
Therefore your league team is 16 players, divided into 4 rinks of 4, there is a prescribed order that is played in, always you bowl your opponent bowls, in the rink game there are 16 bowls on the rink in play.
The Lead - He is responsible for setting the mat, in the middle of the rink minimum 2 metres from the ditch and 23 metres from 2 metres from the opposite ditch. He also throws the jack to the preferred length a skill in it's own, he then plays first.
The second - he throws second and is also responsible for keeping the score card and responsibility.
The third - Can you guess when he goes? Of course after the second, he obviously has 8 bowls on the rink before he plays so has to be a more skillful player to navigate the bowls that are perhaps not that close to the jack.
The Skip - Last to bowl and usually the best player in the rink, he has 12 bowls to navigate and as he is last if not holding the shot might have to take action to sort this out, they are usually considered the capt of their rink. It is also up to them to tell the first three what they should attempt to do with their bowls.
As you can see it seems like quite a lot to take in, essentially it is a simple game about being closest to the jack at the end of the end you are playing and scoring more shots than your opponent. tactics can come in at the end of the game as you might be losing but your team is winning then it is important to make sure the aggregate score comes in your favour.
Bowling is played by men and women from 10 years to 80 years, but no maximum if you are fit enough to play. We will play in any weather as long as the rain has not flooded the green or that it will cause damage to the green. The leagues i play in are male leagues, but i am representing my club in the mixed pairs Scottish qualifiers, i am essentially 10 games away from being the Scottish champion in that game, but we will not get carried away still have to win the first game.
Bowls is played at club level, you can proceed to county when you are selected to play for your area, then there is the international level.
I have played bowls since i was 13 and as I am now 31 i have been playing for 18 years and I love it, my dad and 2 uncles also play, so a family game and the club is a community where you know people, there are fights and good times but it is a place to socialise, which is a big part of the game, usually a couple of drinks are taken during the game and a couple after where you and your opponent celebrate and commiserate together.
The best part for me in the league i a in I have played and beat Scottish International players and county players, they are better because they have the consistency to play well all the time, but sometimes you can beat them, everybody has an off day.
Bowling has for a long time been a game for the older generation, some of the babes that play bowls.
http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/media/image/p/o/bowls_(o)_large.jpg
You also play indoor bowls which is played in the winter, same basic rules but you have no weather to contend with and you play on a carpet, which is like playing on a snooker or pool table sometimes, same game different sport altogether.
Well writing that was harder than i thought it would be but there is the game of bowls, i hope you now have an understanding of what i do every Wednesday and Friday fro 16 weeks every summer and will celebrate with me when I win and commiserate when I lose.
Any questions please feel free to comment and i will try and answer them.
Yours in bowling Andrew
May 07, 2009
May 06, 2009
Bowling, Water of Leith 1st 16
To try and get my head into more regular blogging i am going to give an update on my bowling exploits and usually give excuses for why i failed to win.
Tonight we were playing against Slateford a good solid team always there at the end of the season and they have won the league 5 of the last 7 years. We were at their green it was windy and raining for the entire game but it was an enjoyable social experience, we got thumped as a rink and as a team. We lost 4-1 over all, 4 rinks = 1 point for each game and a point for the aggregate score. We lost by 14 shots and this was probably a fair result, they were superior through out the match but they did have a touch of fortune when it mattered.
My rink is now 0 for 2 for the season and I have decided to step down to third and allow my third to skip on Friday, just something different see how we get on.
Next game - Water of Leith 1st 16 v Colinton Bowling Club
Tonight we were playing against Slateford a good solid team always there at the end of the season and they have won the league 5 of the last 7 years. We were at their green it was windy and raining for the entire game but it was an enjoyable social experience, we got thumped as a rink and as a team. We lost 4-1 over all, 4 rinks = 1 point for each game and a point for the aggregate score. We lost by 14 shots and this was probably a fair result, they were superior through out the match but they did have a touch of fortune when it mattered.
My rink is now 0 for 2 for the season and I have decided to step down to third and allow my third to skip on Friday, just something different see how we get on.
Next game - Water of Leith 1st 16 v Colinton Bowling Club
New begining
Well I have not posted recently, pretty much since my 4am dream experience and re-reading that just seemed stupid.
I seem to have a lot of ideas about what to post when no where near my computer, then when i get here always something more pressing to do, but no more going to try and post more frequently, so if you read this and want to follow you might find some random short posted but i will see how it goes.
I do not want to be just putting randomness on line, but you never know, will probably stay away from reviews but might start recommending things i like, books, movies and podcasts and see how that goes.
I also have to decide what i want from my blog so expect a post about that in the near future.
Well step one taken put a claim out there and see how long it is before it fails, lol.
Speaking to you soon
Andrew
I seem to have a lot of ideas about what to post when no where near my computer, then when i get here always something more pressing to do, but no more going to try and post more frequently, so if you read this and want to follow you might find some random short posted but i will see how it goes.
I do not want to be just putting randomness on line, but you never know, will probably stay away from reviews but might start recommending things i like, books, movies and podcasts and see how that goes.
I also have to decide what i want from my blog so expect a post about that in the near future.
Well step one taken put a claim out there and see how long it is before it fails, lol.
Speaking to you soon
Andrew
April 12, 2009
Strange dream
Just woke up it is 3.40 am and i had the strangest dream and i wanted to blog it, man this getting addictive to me, anyway the dream.
I was in a giant hotel and was with a woman, we were just out the shower and then something was said that upset me and i took a gun and went and shot a man in cold blood, this did not feel weird i had no emotion about this at this point. Then the woman came back and i told her what i had done, she slapped me and told me nobody messes with her boyfriend, she was then with somebody else in front of me so i shot him in the head as well.
I then spent the next part of the dream meeting senators and solicitors who were going to try and help me get off with it but i wanted to face the position i was in. Then i was out of the hotel in a silk dressing gown with a towel wrapped around me and i was running away with another girl, different girl, brunette the first girl was a blond, none of this felt weird to me.
Before leaving the hotel my Friends Mum is having a birthday party which is taking over the hotel there are guests i know mainly women walking about in dresses and carrying plates of buffet food and in the midst of this the impact of what i was doing starts to hit me. So many people telling me that they will help me if required and friends from school and before telling me not to worry and they will meet me in the pub later. There are many rooms including a poker table set up I also spent an awful lot of time hiding in my God Son's bedroom trying to not make too much noise so nobody would find me, but he wanted to play all the loudest games.
I then meet the families of the people I have shot and this is hard to bear but I know that i must face what i have done. then an older woman comes through the door and it is raining on her and she has a plastic wrap around her head to keep the rain off, as she un-does it i realise it is my Mum and i know i want to hug her, safest place in the world Mum's arms she will make it all okay, my mum is no longer here however this does not feel weird or throw me from the dream, my Mum tells me it will be alright i believe her but do not know how she can be correct. I then followed her through the hotel it was now 6am and they were preparing for breakfast and my Mum kept eating miniature cakes off of the platters that were being cleared away.
The girl with the towel got me to a dark alley street on a bend and a hill, thinking about it I think it is Dunfermline, Scotland. A convoy of vans come around the corner and stop and the sides open up and there are giant dancing puppets in the side of them and there is a song playing and they are dancing away. next thing my best friend in the world is coming around the corner at the head of a parade of cub scouts all hitting each other with rolled up posters and arm in arm I dance at the head of the parade with my friend, still technically guilty of double murder knowing i will be punished but now is not the time to worry about these things. We meet my Friend whose wife was having the party and he is like you cannot go through there it is a shopping mall which is closed but we say no and he runs ahead of us and loses his shoe.
Next we come out of the mall and i am alone it is early morning the streets are wet and I have the odd notion of a conversation of one of the managers at work leaving a message for somebody who he has failed to meet with saying that the money he has cannot be used for what she wants they usually reserve it for something ( he said a German name which has gone) but i got the feeling it was something regarding advertising on the back ground of films, in the sets. I then had the strangest memory of having been in that location before but could not identify if it was Glasgow or London and I started to panic but had the strangest feeling of de ja vu.
Nothing has made me not feel so correct in this dream until the end where I can see to the top of a building where Caprica Six and Sharron from BSG are having to escape, they have to connect to each other and roll down a human ladder and near the bottom they are caught and Sharron is stuck and the guy who caught her says something that he is allowed to do as he has caught her and hanging upside down she is helpless. Caprica Six hangs back I do not feel i am in the scene and this is when I realise i am on occupied Caprica and this then shows me it is weird and I wake up.
Morale, too much drink and BSG before bed, means even the worst dreams will go weird eventually, I woke up so convinced in what I had done in the beginning of the dream was real and i felt such guilt over it, one reason i could not murder or cheat on a girl friend, could not live with myself. Anyway here is the strange ramblings of my dream world, just felt a compulsion to write it down at 4 am for the world to read. This is the most detail i can remember about any dream and while it is very all over the place I did have the utmost feeling that it was all one story. If anybody has any thoughts on what it means, let me know.
Happy Easter everybody that reads this.
I was in a giant hotel and was with a woman, we were just out the shower and then something was said that upset me and i took a gun and went and shot a man in cold blood, this did not feel weird i had no emotion about this at this point. Then the woman came back and i told her what i had done, she slapped me and told me nobody messes with her boyfriend, she was then with somebody else in front of me so i shot him in the head as well.
I then spent the next part of the dream meeting senators and solicitors who were going to try and help me get off with it but i wanted to face the position i was in. Then i was out of the hotel in a silk dressing gown with a towel wrapped around me and i was running away with another girl, different girl, brunette the first girl was a blond, none of this felt weird to me.
Before leaving the hotel my Friends Mum is having a birthday party which is taking over the hotel there are guests i know mainly women walking about in dresses and carrying plates of buffet food and in the midst of this the impact of what i was doing starts to hit me. So many people telling me that they will help me if required and friends from school and before telling me not to worry and they will meet me in the pub later. There are many rooms including a poker table set up I also spent an awful lot of time hiding in my God Son's bedroom trying to not make too much noise so nobody would find me, but he wanted to play all the loudest games.
I then meet the families of the people I have shot and this is hard to bear but I know that i must face what i have done. then an older woman comes through the door and it is raining on her and she has a plastic wrap around her head to keep the rain off, as she un-does it i realise it is my Mum and i know i want to hug her, safest place in the world Mum's arms she will make it all okay, my mum is no longer here however this does not feel weird or throw me from the dream, my Mum tells me it will be alright i believe her but do not know how she can be correct. I then followed her through the hotel it was now 6am and they were preparing for breakfast and my Mum kept eating miniature cakes off of the platters that were being cleared away.
The girl with the towel got me to a dark alley street on a bend and a hill, thinking about it I think it is Dunfermline, Scotland. A convoy of vans come around the corner and stop and the sides open up and there are giant dancing puppets in the side of them and there is a song playing and they are dancing away. next thing my best friend in the world is coming around the corner at the head of a parade of cub scouts all hitting each other with rolled up posters and arm in arm I dance at the head of the parade with my friend, still technically guilty of double murder knowing i will be punished but now is not the time to worry about these things. We meet my Friend whose wife was having the party and he is like you cannot go through there it is a shopping mall which is closed but we say no and he runs ahead of us and loses his shoe.
Next we come out of the mall and i am alone it is early morning the streets are wet and I have the odd notion of a conversation of one of the managers at work leaving a message for somebody who he has failed to meet with saying that the money he has cannot be used for what she wants they usually reserve it for something ( he said a German name which has gone) but i got the feeling it was something regarding advertising on the back ground of films, in the sets. I then had the strangest memory of having been in that location before but could not identify if it was Glasgow or London and I started to panic but had the strangest feeling of de ja vu.
Nothing has made me not feel so correct in this dream until the end where I can see to the top of a building where Caprica Six and Sharron from BSG are having to escape, they have to connect to each other and roll down a human ladder and near the bottom they are caught and Sharron is stuck and the guy who caught her says something that he is allowed to do as he has caught her and hanging upside down she is helpless. Caprica Six hangs back I do not feel i am in the scene and this is when I realise i am on occupied Caprica and this then shows me it is weird and I wake up.
Morale, too much drink and BSG before bed, means even the worst dreams will go weird eventually, I woke up so convinced in what I had done in the beginning of the dream was real and i felt such guilt over it, one reason i could not murder or cheat on a girl friend, could not live with myself. Anyway here is the strange ramblings of my dream world, just felt a compulsion to write it down at 4 am for the world to read. This is the most detail i can remember about any dream and while it is very all over the place I did have the utmost feeling that it was all one story. If anybody has any thoughts on what it means, let me know.
Happy Easter everybody that reads this.
April 08, 2009
Geekdom
I have been pondering what to post in the last few days and I do not like doing reviews. Books I usually miss the obvious and films I either like or do not like. TV shows again are difficult especially half way through and then again I am either like or do not like. So a review....not likely, but I am currently enjoying BSG and enjoyed Madagascar 2 my reviews end.
I have recently realised I am a geek, or had it pointed out to me I am a nerd, unsure what is worse (or better). I have decided while I love Nerd Hurdles (check the podcast one of the best) that geek sounds better.
What is Geekdom, Geekiness or being a geek, until a few months or even weeks ago I would say a skinny guy with glasses (usually broken) with an interest in Computers. How wrong am I a Geek is somebody with an interest they take seriously and by seriously I mean to what others might consider extreme.
And why am I a geek? I take too many things too seriously I have my over large DVD collection Alphabetised and on a full and almost complete spreadsheet. I follow 151 people on twitter and listen to somewhere in the region of 30 pod casts and have 50 to listen to with over 1500 to catch up on. This is why I have been pointed out as a geek and i accept this.
Is there anything wrong with being a geek? I say of course not, our extremes are self contained we seek out like minded geeks and communicate and complain about the outside world but we have very few "real" friends (geeks will get that.) I say we keep to ourselves and in all honestly if we united and moved against the "normals" we would out number them. However too many Geeks do not recognise what they are. Come out we are here to be friendly to you (unless you are normal).
Anyway I think that everybody who reads this is probably a geek anyway (you are reading a Blog after all.) So preaching to the converted but please pass comment if you think the same or if I am totally wrong.
Speaking to you soon Andrew.
I have recently realised I am a geek, or had it pointed out to me I am a nerd, unsure what is worse (or better). I have decided while I love Nerd Hurdles (check the podcast one of the best) that geek sounds better.
What is Geekdom, Geekiness or being a geek, until a few months or even weeks ago I would say a skinny guy with glasses (usually broken) with an interest in Computers. How wrong am I a Geek is somebody with an interest they take seriously and by seriously I mean to what others might consider extreme.
And why am I a geek? I take too many things too seriously I have my over large DVD collection Alphabetised and on a full and almost complete spreadsheet. I follow 151 people on twitter and listen to somewhere in the region of 30 pod casts and have 50 to listen to with over 1500 to catch up on. This is why I have been pointed out as a geek and i accept this.
Is there anything wrong with being a geek? I say of course not, our extremes are self contained we seek out like minded geeks and communicate and complain about the outside world but we have very few "real" friends (geeks will get that.) I say we keep to ourselves and in all honestly if we united and moved against the "normals" we would out number them. However too many Geeks do not recognise what they are. Come out we are here to be friendly to you (unless you are normal).
Anyway I think that everybody who reads this is probably a geek anyway (you are reading a Blog after all.) So preaching to the converted but please pass comment if you think the same or if I am totally wrong.
Speaking to you soon Andrew.
March 26, 2009
September 11th 2001
One of the most significant incidents to happen in modern history and one of only two events that i can honestly say that I remember exactly where I was when it happened, i had been on Night shift and woken up and put the TV on and the first tower was smoking watched it from there. The second event i Can place myself was the Dunblane Massacre it hit home mainly due to the fact that i live in Scotland and i was off during the day at that point working in the evenings.
i have to say at the time while I felt terrible for the people affected i have to be honest and say that it did not really affect me emotionally at the time. However I have since been to New York, (April 2008) and have to say that going to ground Zero was actually quite intense, they have the globe from the lobby in it's current state and you just wonder the hell that it must have been to have been there.
The reason I feel compelled to write something down was that last night i watched a documentary from the History channel called 102 Minutes That Changed America. It is un-narrated and is simply footage from that day, home footage and news films from all angles including the second explosion. All i can say that 8 years on i felt their fear for their lives and their loved ones. Also their admiration for the rescue services NYFD and NYPD and the ambulance services the work those guys and girls did in the cities time of need while must of felt like putting a sticking plaster on an amputated limb the fact that they continued to work to save those trapped and the injured and at the last to make sure that they got as many people away from the area at the end when the second tower came down.
I have to say that my respect for the resilience of the New york people is amazing and the only anger I have is that when you stop at ground zero they tell you not to buy pictures as they are simply hustlers trying to make a buck and it upsets me that people will try ans make money off of anything.
Anyway I just wanted to note that I have total respect for the survivors of 9/11 and the rescue service men and women that serve every day and if you get the chance it is a fantastic city to visit when given the opportunity.
i have to say at the time while I felt terrible for the people affected i have to be honest and say that it did not really affect me emotionally at the time. However I have since been to New York, (April 2008) and have to say that going to ground Zero was actually quite intense, they have the globe from the lobby in it's current state and you just wonder the hell that it must have been to have been there.
The reason I feel compelled to write something down was that last night i watched a documentary from the History channel called 102 Minutes That Changed America. It is un-narrated and is simply footage from that day, home footage and news films from all angles including the second explosion. All i can say that 8 years on i felt their fear for their lives and their loved ones. Also their admiration for the rescue services NYFD and NYPD and the ambulance services the work those guys and girls did in the cities time of need while must of felt like putting a sticking plaster on an amputated limb the fact that they continued to work to save those trapped and the injured and at the last to make sure that they got as many people away from the area at the end when the second tower came down.
I have to say that my respect for the resilience of the New york people is amazing and the only anger I have is that when you stop at ground zero they tell you not to buy pictures as they are simply hustlers trying to make a buck and it upsets me that people will try ans make money off of anything.
Anyway I just wanted to note that I have total respect for the survivors of 9/11 and the rescue service men and women that serve every day and if you get the chance it is a fantastic city to visit when given the opportunity.
March 21, 2009
Social Networking
What is social networking, too me it is meeting new people in a social situation, meeting people that you may speak to in the future. To me this makes me think, Pubs, Parties and through sports, either playing or watching. The media and majority of people seem to think that the only real way to socially network is online, through the Major sites, My Space, Face Book, Bebo, twitter and online Forums (Simply Syndicated FTW.)
Now I do not have a problem with these sites I actively twitter and have had all the other sites at one time or another and i have to be honest and say that I have met a lot of excellent people through twitter and Simply Syndicated. however the biggest problem i have with this id the fact that the media are pushing these as terrible things from one point of view and the greatest thing in another.
While the sites themselves used in moderation are a fantastic thing and should be used properly to get the most out of but they should not be used as the only way of meeting people or communicating with people.
I think that as long as it is not the only socialising you do then online social networking sites can be good for you, just remember what they were designed for and use them correctly.
On a final note and the main reason i only use twitter and online forums is the fact that the front pages become so overloaded with apps and you get bombarded with friend requests from people trying to build their friend levels, see who can have the most friends for no reason than the number and contact from ladies wanting your money. Also the fact that people follow or friend request so they can sell you something, what is the point if you have something i want i will find you or you can drop me a note and ask if i want to buy rather than just the random requests.
So in conclusion not for me on the grander scale but good for those that enjoy them.
Now I do not have a problem with these sites I actively twitter and have had all the other sites at one time or another and i have to be honest and say that I have met a lot of excellent people through twitter and Simply Syndicated. however the biggest problem i have with this id the fact that the media are pushing these as terrible things from one point of view and the greatest thing in another.
While the sites themselves used in moderation are a fantastic thing and should be used properly to get the most out of but they should not be used as the only way of meeting people or communicating with people.
I think that as long as it is not the only socialising you do then online social networking sites can be good for you, just remember what they were designed for and use them correctly.
On a final note and the main reason i only use twitter and online forums is the fact that the front pages become so overloaded with apps and you get bombarded with friend requests from people trying to build their friend levels, see who can have the most friends for no reason than the number and contact from ladies wanting your money. Also the fact that people follow or friend request so they can sell you something, what is the point if you have something i want i will find you or you can drop me a note and ask if i want to buy rather than just the random requests.
So in conclusion not for me on the grander scale but good for those that enjoy them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
