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I hate Capetonian Trendy Spots

WTF is up with Stones? You know, once the tourists leave town it is considered fair play to restore the holiday prices back to their usual amounts. R4 for a fucking game of pool???? You have got to be kidding.

So MidweekMayhem finishes at about 22:00. I drop off some people, and, since the night is still young, I decide to go out. I go back to Mr Pickwicks, since I had such a nice time there a few nights ago. I get there, and Brian (the manager I know there) has been hanging around since 20:00 (when his shift ended). We start talking, and then we decide to go play some pool at Stones next door. So we go up. As we get upstairs, we see an electronic sign that says "R3 for a game". I think it's a bit steep, but since the drinks are cheap^H^H^H^H^H fucking expensive (they are more expensive than the strip joint next door, and at least there you get to see naked women) I figure, "what the fuck..."

So I go get drinks, and the change comes to R22 (from R50... 2 drinks... yeesh). So I figure R10 for the deposit, and R12 for games... at R3 a game (since that is what the sign says) that works out to 4 games. So we get to a table, and there is no indication on the table that the real cost is R4, so since we didn't have any R1 coins, I went back to the bar to get some. The bartender asks me why I wanted R1 coins (which I thought was a silly question), so I told him, and then he tells me "But the tables are R4 a game, we put them up a week ago."

Well dude... your sign says different, and there are no signs on the pool tables... so that is false advertising. So I ask to talk to the manager. I talk to my friend and he says that what we should do is ask for R4. A simple R4... that way, the tables can be R4 a games, but we will still get the 4 games we were expecting. Brian says that as a manager, R4 is not a big deal, and they have discretion to give it.

So we wait for the manager to walk to us. He arrives and wants to know the problem. So I show him the sign that is flashing "R3 a game", tell him that that is false advertising and would he like to rectify it? I offer a simple solution... give us R4, so we can play out 4th game, and he can do whatever he wants with the sign (I suggested turning it off until the settings in the software had been changed to reflect the new prices). But he gets all defensive... he tells me that I can try and put R3 into the tables and if that gets me a game then well done, but he is not going to do anything to the tables. So I re-iterate my suggestion, since I do not want him to reconfigure the tables. He then tells me about how the sign has been broken for 2 months and how it was only fixed a day or two earlier. I was not sure how that was an arguement against giving me R4 for the extra game, so I told that the sign was not really my problem, it was his problem. I also kindly requested that since I was not going to make my problems his problems, if he could return the curtesy and not make his problems my problems (btw, this is pretty much the exact way I was saying it... I was not shouting, or cursing... I was talking normally and eruditely). He then used the arguement that none of the other people here were complaining. I countered with the arguement that just because every other pretentious yuppie club going idiot in the club does not complain, does not mean that I am wrong. It just means that they are not intelligent enough to realise that they are being lied to by the advertising boards in the club. I may have suggest that they may not have complained because perhaps they could not read the sign... since, well, one needs to be able to read before one can read the sign. With that, he walked away...

So so did we. I was soooooooooooo tempted to drop my glass on the floor to break it and make a mess, but Brian asked me not to since he has to work downstairs. So I just walked out of the place....

Fucking pretentious yuppie arsehole scumbag dickhead!

OK... Stones is officially being boycotted by yours truely. The upstairs pool hall at The Green Man in Claremont is a far superior place to play pool. The tables are still a respectful R2 a game (which is better than Stones), the tables are new and in very good nick (about the same as Stones), the music is neither too good, nor too offensive (Stones is pretty much the same) and since most people avoid The Green Man's downstairs like the plague, there are not many people upstairs so there are no real smoke issues or getting in people's way issues (way way way better than Stones... unless you go to Stones to be "seen").

Bah!

I probably just need to get laid...

PS: All "then" errors on this page (and there were a few) have been corrected to "than"... see, I am learning

I hate Americans

Has anyone heard the furore over Janet Jackson's breast being exposed during the Super Bowl? It's tough not to hear almost hourly updates on what the American Media is doing next to ensure that this kind of episode will not be repeated while 100 Million Americans were watching... there were even children watching!

WTF??????

It was just a breast people! Every single mammal on the planet has at least two... yes, even those children that they are so desperately trying to keep safe from such filth have them. I mean, oh my god, don;t the Americans have anything better to do with their time???

OK, now I must admit to being pissed off that I did not see it live as I normally do watch the Super Bowl, but this year I knew absolutely nothing about the two teams, and I decided to get an early night instead. So, during the half time show, Fisting Timbukakke grabs Janet Smacksome's top, and with malice of forethought and in a very practised move, rips her top exposing her breast. Was it an accident? Having seen a clip of the show (over 500 different files available on Kazaa with just 5 minutes of searching... yeah, like America doesn't want to see that kind of thing... go here for a zip of two files, one is a clip of the show, the other is pictures from some different angles) it is obvious that the whole thing was planned... I mean, she has a silver sun pendant attached to the exposed nipple... so a "wardobe malfunction" it wasn't...

But seriously... what difference does it make? Did they have sex on stage? No. Did they kill someone on stage? No. All they did was show one breast... and you could hardly see it (because of the silver thing) and it was only for a second before the lights to the stadium went out.

You would think they had just shot a president (or at least, shot a President that people actually liked... cos I think a medal is waiting for the first person with guts enough to take out Bush... just remember, a Bullet in the Bush is worth two in the Hussain).

Every time I hear about another thing to do about this damned incident (like the Grammys will now be on a ten second delay, so the network can beep out or blur any naughty words or naughty visuals... I guess Li'l Kim will need to get a new wardrobe... no-one seemed to notice she went to a People's Choice Award with her breast just hanging out and nothing but a plastic sticker covering her nipple... even Diana Ross PLAYED with the breast while they were presenting an award!) I just feel the need to shout out "It's JUST A NIPPLE PEOPLE!!!" And not even all that attractive, from what I've seen. The more I see ahem the more I'm convinced it was in fact a sad, sad attempt at a publicity stunt. Remember, not all attention is a good thing. When people are coming around to point and laugh, I'd rather they just didn't come at all -- SynKronos

ARGH!!!

AND they cancelled Firefly... one of the best shows I have ever seen in my entire life...

I fucking hate the fucking Americans Fucks...

Or should I say "I BEEPing ? hate the BEEPing ? American BEEPs ?"

The ~OverBoiled Debacle

From LothrielPixie's Blog: I just have a quick statement to make: For those of you who know what's got HardBoiled so riled up, well, you know whether you're guilty of his accusations or not. For those who are, think you need to do some soul searching and decide what sort of person you really want for a friend. For those who don't know what's up, well, good. I'd hate to have to be angry with more people than I already am. If, at some point you do, unfortunately, receive the relevant information - knowing fucking CLAWs gossip that point shouldn't be too far away - depending on which way you 'jump' you'll know whether I ever want to associate with you again. The line has been drawn. I know where I stand.

Um... what if we 'jump' the "wrong" way even though we have no idea what the hell is going on, or who the hell it affects? The problem with all this posting and ranting and drawing of lines in the sand is that not many people know the actual facts to the actual story that started this whole thing off. I get the impression from HardBoiled's original rant that it has to do with some of the folks overseas. Now, some of the best friends I have ever had are there now. But I have not seen or contacted them in ages. Now, if I continue to associate myself with a particular person will I fall foul of your "line"?

Now, I think I am in a fairly unique position at the moment. While I am a member of the seriously older CLAW generation (circa 1992-1993, baby!) I have not been around for the last 8 years, so my impressions of CLAWs is not coloured by what may (or may not) have happened in the past. So, as I am looking at the current CLAW lot, the slightly older CLAW bunch and the one or two Methuselahs that are around I am seeing quite a difference from the crowd I used to associate with "CLAWs". For one, they are a lot less anarchistic, psychopathic and dangerous. I don't think any of them come to campus with their Glocks strapped to their ankles... They also seem to be slightly better adjusted as most of them are in what look like stable relationships. But they are still the same creative, intelligent, unique individuals that have always been drawn to CLAWs.

At this point, I really don't care who do what to whom, when they did it or why they did it. I am tired of the ranting back and forth, the generalisations, the snide comments (ShadowsLight looks at the comment about the Glock... see, now you've got me doing it! dammit!) and all the other shit. If you know what the fuck is going on, either tell us so we can make intelligent, INFORMED comments, or shut up about it and let it pass.

Dyl... you were the best friend I had at UCT. You know I would have your back, even today, regardless of the situation. I understand that you felt your friend was wronged. I have no doubt that that was the case. And I know that sometimes people just need to rant out aloud (or at lest, in a public forum) just to get shit off their chest... And I am guessing that there has been so much secrecy around this whole lot because the people involved really do not want their private affairs discussed, ananlysed and dissected by the society at large. All this is fine...

Just next time find an anonymous board to go rant on... or post some real details... that's all I'm asking...

wheee... I got to use my rant page for an actual rant... ShadowsLight is now actually happy

Have another day

The Tao of Pool

My ability has gone from average, to brilliant, to poor, to masterful, to out of practice, to sublime to... well... crap. I have cleared the table of all 7 balls in one go and then missed the easiest black. I have been beaten without sinking a ball. Here is the trick (and damn, I wish I could remember it when I actually played)... STOP THINKING ABOUT YOUR SHOT. It is actually that simple. The reason you get worse when people are watching, or you are being challenged for the table is because you are now concentrating on being better than your opponent... you are now thinking about your shot... and you are tensing up. Before, you were just chilling with your friends... laughing as the ball hit three rails and then went in without touching the pocket's corners... you were relaxed. In the future, if you are being challenged for a table, assume that the other guy is better than you, and that you have already lost. That way, it doesn't matter what you do, you will be relaxed (of course, this advice will go out of the window when you find yourself on the black ball while he still has to pot three of his colour balls... and he will come from behind and beat you (which is OK if you are into that sort of thing (but that is for later as this is a family channel (damn, do you think I have enough embedded brackets here? It's beginning to look like LISP code ;-) )))). If you are having trouble getting relaxed, concentrate on something else completely. Start reciting Monty Python scenes in your head, sing your favourite song ( in your head!!!! for all you Idols hopefuls) or do your times tables. Just don't let your mind think about pool.

Some other Pool advice:

Your feet are the most important part of your stance. If they are not in the right place and do not feel comfortable you will never be able to get better.
Get low to the table. You should have your cue almost level with the table with your eye just above it. This cuts down the error of parallax. If your head is too high, you will not hit the white ball in the right place.
Your bridge hand has to support your cue, and make sure it can not move from right to left. My personal grip is like so: Make a gun with your hand (index finger pointing forward, thumb at a right angle and your other three fingers curled back. Then "fire" the gun, so your thumb is now next to your index finger. and lastly, flip up the last joint of your thumb. Then place the top of the cue in the groove made by the index finger and thumb, and between the upturned part of your thumb and the index finger's first joint. Once your cue is secured, keep those two fingers stuck. You can now open your other three fingers and spread them out to support your cue at the required height.
Do not grip the back of your cue. If you grip it like you grip a tennis racket, the cue tip will move up and down as you swing the back of the cue back and forth. Rather, hold the back of the cue between your thumb and first two fingers, and only put enough pressure on the cue so as to create a hinge with your fingers. This lets your cue remain along the same horizontal when you move it back and forth. If you need some extra power, hold the cue a little further back, and put your pinkie on the rubber at the bottom of the cue. It is more often that a power shot will not have enough control, and good players play with control not power, so use this shot sparingly.
If you can not pot a ball, put the white ball somewhere where you opponent can't pot a ball. Even better, try put it somewhere where he can't even hit any of his balls. This is known as "Snookering". And if he misses, you then either get to pick up your ball and place it anywhere, or you get two shots (depending on the version of rules you are playing). Now, I am sure you are saying "Duh, I'm not an idiot, I know that". I am continually amazed at how people forget this. Faced with a table where they can not pot a ball, they suddenly get inspiration and go after a pot that's near impossible, which means they lose control of where the white ball will end up. And sometimes, if the ball actually gets potted, they end up being "Snookered" themselves. When attack is impossible, defend.
Pool is just as much about tactics as it is about being able to pot. If you are not certain about a pot, hit the ball slightly softer, so that if you miss the hole the ball stays in the mouth of the pocket. Then leave it there until the end of the game (if possible). That way, you will always have at least one easy pot, it blocks up a hole so your opponent can't use it and you can always try a cannon shot to sink a ball, and leave another ball in the mouth.
(This is for the better pool players) Get one "dog shot" (a "dog shot" is a shot that has a high degree of difficulty, looks cool, can be used to get you out of a jam and you can play with some degree of proficiency, eg. a jump shot, a Massey shot etc) (It's called a "dog shot" because of the old joke: Why does a dog lick his balls? Because he can). The "Dog shot" does not need to even be successful to have the desired affect... it just makes you look better than you actually are, and makes you opponent concentrate harder on his game... and you know how helpful that is...

Um... damn, this post was too long... sorry... But I have never really thought about how I play pool, and this just kinda came out...

So... when can we have a game? I have my own cue, and it's been years since I took it out of it's case.since I took it out of it's case.