Some friends and I were out the other night at an arcade and as we went up to the Skee Ball machines we came upon a middle-aged man who had a video camera set up on a tri-pod and a t-shirt emblazoned with the words "King of Skee Ball 1998" across the back. My first thought was, "I really hope I don't end up on camera tonight because I was at work today and I look really tired," but my second thought was How does one become the King of Skee Ball?
A brief google of skee ball champions and I discovered two things about the man that I met and confirmed something I already suspected. The two things I learned are: first of all skee ball takes almost no skill and secondly it is usually done comparatively by a bunch of drunken frat boys. What was confirmed for me is if you're still bragging about being the King of Skee Ball nine years later, your rule has been usurped and the palace china has probably been sold for more pot or some other magical substance.
I did find something really remarkable though about this man in what he was doing. Every time he played he stood in the exact same spot and did the exact same movements and he got exactly the same two results: 100 points or 10 points. He had learned that the movements that would garner him the greatest reward also have the greatest risk for the lowest scores. How can anyone do the same thing over and over again and vacillate between the two extremes? Do we really need a new King of Skee Ball each year?
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Reaction to a newscast
I hate anything that even catches the whiff of political perspiration and what is below reeks like a eighth grader coming out of gym class…
A few days ago, I was listening to a story on the radio that’s given me a lot to think about. The story I was listening to was just another one about how another town outside of Bagdad has been effected by the troop “surge.” We all know how those stories usually go, troops move in, the bad guys are there, the towns people leave. What I was particularly impressed with in this story though was an interview that was done with one on the soldier assigned to the post that had been set up in the town. It wasn’t even so much about the fact as to weather or not the soldier believed in what he was there fighter for or not. He knew that the people of the village had given up. In fact, from the sound of it, they didn’t even want the fight in the first place. I have to trust that no one in the village has shed a single tear over the fact that Saddam Hussein was forced from power in their country, but did they really want the United States to be the ones to fight for it? We’ve given the Iraqis no other option but now they either have to fight against the outside wall of insurgents or they have to just give up.
Why do people fight for freedom? It’s not because someone comes into your country and says that it’s time for change, people will only fight for something when their backs are against the wall. When someone else has put your back up against the wall, who are you going to fight against, the wall or the person who put you against it in the first place?
To listen to the story, use the following link and the part I reference above is about 5 minutes into the report, but it’s worth the wait:
http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/popup.php?id=14761413&type=1&date=27-Sep-2007&au=1&pid=24325522&random=4625112025&guid=0000F158C86805561B7B507261626364&uaType=WM,RM&aaType=RM,WM&upf=Win32&topicName=News&subtopicName=Iraq&prgCode=ME&hubId=-1&thingId=14761434&ssid=&tableModifier=&mtype=WM
A few days ago, I was listening to a story on the radio that’s given me a lot to think about. The story I was listening to was just another one about how another town outside of Bagdad has been effected by the troop “surge.” We all know how those stories usually go, troops move in, the bad guys are there, the towns people leave. What I was particularly impressed with in this story though was an interview that was done with one on the soldier assigned to the post that had been set up in the town. It wasn’t even so much about the fact as to weather or not the soldier believed in what he was there fighter for or not. He knew that the people of the village had given up. In fact, from the sound of it, they didn’t even want the fight in the first place. I have to trust that no one in the village has shed a single tear over the fact that Saddam Hussein was forced from power in their country, but did they really want the United States to be the ones to fight for it? We’ve given the Iraqis no other option but now they either have to fight against the outside wall of insurgents or they have to just give up.
Why do people fight for freedom? It’s not because someone comes into your country and says that it’s time for change, people will only fight for something when their backs are against the wall. When someone else has put your back up against the wall, who are you going to fight against, the wall or the person who put you against it in the first place?
To listen to the story, use the following link and the part I reference above is about 5 minutes into the report, but it’s worth the wait:
http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/popup.php?id=14761413&type=1&date=27-Sep-2007&au=1&pid=24325522&random=4625112025&guid=0000F158C86805561B7B507261626364&uaType=WM,RM&aaType=RM,WM&upf=Win32&topicName=News&subtopicName=Iraq&prgCode=ME&hubId=-1&thingId=14761434&ssid=&tableModifier=&mtype=WM
Good Reads Updates
So I've added a new feature...I've added a link to my currently reading list over at http://www.goodreads.com/ so that I can keep track of what I'm reading and so can you!
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