Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in jamesensor's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
4:44 pm	Wow I can't believe I remembered my password. (Comment on this)
Friday, March 9th, 2007
8:35 am	The 2006 Gazza Awards Very much delayed. I just want to mention that I probably won't post all of the awards in one go, I'll probably come back and update this entry a few times. Also, these awards are for the year 2006 only, so work done in 2007 will not be included. This means that my buddies from Nerds FC probably won't win anything, since I didn't really get to know them too well until January. I will also say that 2006 was quite a popular year, so in some categories I will list not only the winners, but also some honorable mentions for people who I feel came close. However, the honourable mentions won't be in any particular order. - Male Coolness Award: Zhuo Jia Dai A close friend who gave me tremendous assistance during my honours year. Zhuo was willing to share his solutions to hard assignment questions that nobody else could do. He would also invite me to his house so we could play the Wii and watch his Chinese movies, and he would also cook lunch for us there. Once, he even bought me dinner when I was frantically writing up an assignment because he knew I didn't have time to get it myself. And on my last day of undergraduate Uni, when I was writing up a Hecke assignment until midnight, he waited until I finished and then walked with me to Redfern station. Zhuo is also known for not dumping his issues on other people, which was particularly self-evident in 2006 when he experienced personal problems as well as a hectic honours year. HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Graeme Pope: The most helpful honours student in 2006. Wrote excellent notes and assignment solutions, and never hesitated in letting other people borrow them when they were having trouble with assignment questions or had missed some lectures. David Chan: For not complaining when I unfairly gave him the Male Uncoolness Award 2 years ago. He's actually quite a nice guy if you're not competing with him. David Rogers: Saved my life when I accidently drove into an oncoming lane while driving him home from a party. If he hadn't told me I was in the wrong lane, I would have been hit by a truck that was coming towards me. And I probably wouldn't have had time to get out of the way, because it was dark and so I may not have seen it until too late. Neil Saunders: A rather amusing postgraduate student who gave me plenty of laughs at the AMSI camp in January 2006. - Male Uncoolness Award: David Barr I had to deal with this kid at prep 2 nights a week, for 90 minutes each night. Every night he would crap on about tractors and make insulting and offensive (although grossly untrue) comments about my sister, who was in the same grade as him. He'll be in Year 11 next year, so I shouldn't have to see him again. Good riddance. - Female Coolness Award: Jenny Kojevnikov My current girlfriend (as of the end of 2006). Easily the most amazing girl I have ever met. In fact, we met awhile ago (beginning of 2005) although apparently she's known me for even longer because we went to the same high school. We've worked together since February 2005, but apparently we weren't "interested" in each other until about 18 months later. I asked her out once in about September, to a Revue at UNSW, almost killed her twice trying to drive her there, and it just went uphill from there. So she also saved my life in 2006. I can't believe that there is a girl who cares about me as much as she does. I feel so lucky, and the times in 2005 when I felt really lonely seem so distant now. 2006 was a huge year in terms of female friends (compared to last year), I feel sorry to all those that were really nice to me but just couldn't win because one girl swept me off my feet. HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Joanna Cheng: A girl I met at AMSI in Junuary 2006, though I knew her online previously. A really nice person and just really cool and easygoing. Also seems to be a little nerdy, which is a huge plus as far as I'm concerned. She was a frontrunner for the award for almost the whole year. She would have won it any other year. Sorry Joanna. Anna Ougrinovskaia: For putting up with me through her honours year, and for not hating whenever I scared her (I got her pretty well some times, hehe). Also seems to be quite interested in my personal life (she certainly seemed amused when she found out I had a girlfriend), plus the fact that I can spell her surname correctly is pretty cool in itself. Jennifer Wang: For not getting angry at me when I gave her an uncoolness award in 2004, even though she definitely didn't deserve it. For still being my friend even though I haven't been particularly nice to her. For meeting up with me when she comes back to Sydney. And for having a dad who looks like Bruce Lee (so cool!). Grace Tin: She knows why ;) OK, ok, I'll give you *some* details. She let me tutor her in a stats subject, and she bought me lunch afterwards. Score! Other things happened, but I'm not gonna tell you guys! - Female Uncoolness Award: Miss Jenkowski (NB. I don't know how to spell her name, but I don't care). A fairly annoying teacher who supervised prep on Mondays. As a result, I loathed prep on Mondays. Recommended that I make *friends* with the students, then got annoyed at me when I showed them my Rubik's cube, claiming it was 'distracting' the students. Probably was, but there were OTHER reasons for the cube. Oh well. She was just generally uncool. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 2nd, 2007
9:15 pm	Nerds FC Series 2 final match! (I'm playing) That's right, I'm actually in Nerds FC, series 2. Below is a picture of the team. I'm on the bottom row, 3rd from the right (between the hairy guy and the bald guy). Our final game is against a team of ex-Socceroos, you should try to come and watch. It's on February 17th at Pittwater Rugby Park, Pittwater Road, Warriewood. Gates open at 5.45pm, you must be seated by 6.15. Plus, the curtain raiser game is Nerds FC series 1 vs the NSW Elite under 12 squad! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that entry is FREE and there is plenty of FREE parking too! If you want any more info, go to this site. Ans if you want a teaser, here's a short video of us in action. Be amazed by Matt's (he's our striker) excellent skills, it's a work of art isn't it? I can't wait to tell you guys all the stuff we've already been up to. We've got a rocket scientist, an RPG freak, plenty of computer scientists, a guy who progams robots, a guy who has memorised Pi to 483 decimal places, poets, environmentalists, film critics, pianists, a medieval jouster (he's the rocket scientist), and me, your token blindfold Rubik's Cube solver. Unfortunately, we don't have any decent soccer players (no offense to the guys on the team, we try our best). If you read this livejournal entry before February 17, 2007, please consider coming to watch our final game so you can laugh at us and be amazed by the Socceroos. It would be so awesome to have a crowd there, so when I trip over the ball, I know that there were thousands of people there to see it. Cheers! Gareth NEXT: The Gazza Awards (Nope, I didn't forget them). Current Mood: anxious (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
12:20 pm	World Cup Update Yeah, so this entry isn't about giving up on life. I changed my mind. I just love statistics and useless facts and figures. And in that sense, the World Cup is perfect wank-fodder (NO, I don't literally masturbate to World Cup statistics, if that's what you think I'm implying). So here are some interesting useless trivia regarding this World Cup: - In the World Cup finals, 24 teams still have a chance of winning the trophy. The 8 teams who are out are Poland, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Trindad & Tobago, Cote d'Ivoire, Serbia & Montenegro, Iran, and Togo. Believe it or not, Saudi Arabia still have a mathematical chance of escaping from their group, but they have to beat Spain by at least 3 goals and hope Ukraine don't beat Tunisia. I've seen betting agencies giving 4000:1 odds on Saudi Arabia winning the World Cup. - Of the remaining 24 teams, 12 are from Europe, 4 are from Asia (including Australia), 3 are from South America, 3 are from Africa, and 2 are from North America. - 4 teams have yet to score a goal so far in the World Cup finals: Trinidad & Tobago (who have finished their 3 group matches), Serbia & Montenegro, Angola, and Croatia. Angola and Croatia still have a chance of getting past the group stage. - 3 teams have yet to concede a goal in the World Cup finals: Portugal, Brazil, and Switzerland. - There are many teams who are undefeated so far in the World Cup finals. But, taking preliminaries into account, there are 8 teams who have yet to lose a match thoughout the whole World Cup system: Germany (the hosts so they didn't have to qualify, 3 wins) Netherlands (12 wins, 2 draws) Portugal (11 wins, 3 draws) France (5 wins, 7 draws) Spain (8 wins, 6 draws) Israel (4 wins, 6 draws) Morocco (5 wins, 5 draws) Cuba (2 wins, 2 draws) Amazingly, Israel, Morocco, and Cuba didn't make it to the World Cup finals despite never losing a match in qualifying. Cuba's record is amazing in that they didn't even make it past the first stage of the 3-stage North American qualifying system! Cuba had to play-off against Costa Rica at the very beginning of qualification, and despite drawing both matches, Costa Rica went through to the next stage on away goals. What is even more amazing is that Costa Rica actually went on to qualify for the World Cup! (suggested that Cuba could have done quite well in the latter stages of qualification if it was given the chance). - The highest-ranked teams (according to FIFA rankings) with no chance of winning the World Cup are Denmark and Nigeria (equal 11th), who both did not make the World Cup finals. There are 14 teams ranked below these nations that still have a chance of winning the trophy. - The lowest-ranked team that still has a chance of winning the World Cup is Angola (ranked equal 57th). There are 33 teams ranked above Angola who have no chance of winning the trophy. - Australia is ranked equal 42nd. There are 20 teams ranked above Australia still in contention, and 21 teams ranked above Australia out of contention. There are also 3 teams ranked below Australia who are still in contention (Ukraine, Ghana, and Angola). - Croatia sucks. Well, that's all I can think of at the moment. Go Australia! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
11:52 am	Anna's 21st birthday OK, this entry was really overdue, sorry about that. To be honest, I can't even remember when this was. Maybe like September or something. It was like themed of course, and the theme was chocolate. Being the inconsiderate bastard that I am, I didn't bother with the theme, and got Anna some alcohol for a present. As it turned out, the alcohol was chocolate flavoured. Score! (I didn't actually realise that it was chocolate flavoured until Anna told me after I gave it to her). People turned up in some pretty crazy clothing. James Janssen came as an Oompa-Loompa, Reidy turned up as Forrest Gump (life is like a box of chocolates, etc.), complete with ping-pong racket and all. I can't remember who was actually there. Anna is from Canberra, so a lot of high-school friends from Canberra were there, although I can't remember their names which probably doesn't matter seeing as how I'm never going to see them again. Anna's ex-boyfriend Lachlan was there (although at the time, I did not know that they had split up), and Beren was there, who I know from one of Cassar's parties. So there was lots of drinking (as usual I didn't drink any alcohol, I was driving anyway), and lots of music. Then there were speeches. Lachlan gave a speech about Anna at high school, and Ronni gave a speech about Anna after high school. I was having trouble paying attention during the speeches because Lachlan's speech seemed fairly long and quite dull to be honest (there WERE interesting bits, but there were too many boring bits as well),(also, he seemed to talk more about high school itself rather than Anna at high school), plus I was trying to solve Anna's 5x5x5 Rubiks cube that someone had mixed (yeah I know, pretty inconsiderate of me, sorry Anna). Another funny thing was the balloons at the party. They had the long, thin ones as well as the normal ones. And because of static charges (or whatever it is, I hate physics), we would rub them against the wall and they would stay on the wall. So Reidy and I got 3 and formed the symbol for Pi on the wall. Anna thought that was hilarious and so had to take a photo of the balloon Pi with Riedy, Lachlan, Beren, and myself. I thought that would be nerdy, and Beren accused my comment of being a diss. I thought that was fairly amusing, as is Beren's voice, it is very deep. SO then we decided to test how many balloons we could stick to James Janssen's hair. I think we got about 15 or so. Then there was more dancing, more drinking, and eventually I went home. I think I took Reidy home with me as well because his parents didn't want to pick him up or something. All in all, a good party. Happy 21st birthday Anna! Next Entry: Giving up on life Current Mood: depressed (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006
10:08 am	Series of bad luck this week Well, this has been quite an incredible (in a negative way) week for me. I planned to get my Uni card, and open an account at National Bank. As of now, I still haven't fully completed either task. Let's start at Monday. To get my Uni card, all I needed was to laminate a photo onto a bit of cardboard. So first, I needed a photo. Since I didn't have to get to work until 7pm, I decided to stay at Uni a bit longer than usual. I left at around 5.20, and went to Wentworth Building to get my photo taken for my card. But when I arrived there at 5.27pm, the shop was JUST CLOSING DOWN. But that was alright, I got my photo done on Tuesday. Then I did some more work at Uni, before getting to Fisher Library at 4.56pm to get my card laminated. But when I arrived there, they were just starting to pack up. Another near miss. So I planned to complete my student card today. But alas, I forgot to put the photos in my bag. So I'll have to do it tomorrow. Now onto this bank account. This was for the Go Club, which is a new club. To open the account, we needed the President (Jenny), the Treasurer (Michael), and another executive member. We have no idea where the Vice-President (Luke) is, so I came along. But I didn't have enough identification on me (apparently I had 80 points, which is 20 points short). But it wasn't too bad, we were still allowed to open the account, I just needed to bring some more identification later. So I came today with my passport. I got it photocopied by the bank people about 30 minutes ago. But now, I've just realised that my passport expired LESS THAN A MONTH AGO. For f***s sake, this is really giving me the sh**s now. So I think I have to bring some more ID with me tomorrow. This really sucks. So I turned up to Uni today with the intention of doing 2 things, and I've ended up doing neither. NEXT ENTRY: Anna's 21st birthday Current Mood: crappy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 2nd, 2006
11:42 am	Still in Melbourne Nearing the end of the third week of my 4 weeks here. Have been very busy, even right now I have to hurry as I have a class in 15 minutes. I've already handed in 4 assignments, with another one due Monday. Plus, my final exam for Cryptomathematics is next Thursday, plus it's a 3 hour exam. And I have to give a talk on my vacation scholarship less than a week after I get back. I've got no idea how I'm going to get that ready in time. I probably have other things to say, but for the moment I've forgotten what they are. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 16th, 2006
2:08 pm	Writing from Melbourne Yes, that's right folks, I'm currently at Melbourne, attending a 4 week maths camp run by AMSI (Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute). I will be back on February 11th (not that any of you guys will be waiting anyway)(PS. thanks to joee_girl for pointing out the error in dates, it is fixed now). I thought that I wouldn't be able to livejournal until then. But, as it turns out, Melbourne has the internet too. I've just had my first lecture, and it was bloody hard. Not only does the lecturer write fast, his handwriting is shocking too. I already miss people. Plus, I have a presentation that I need to prepare for once I get back. Lucky that John and Zhuo are here to help me. Gareth Current Mood: distressed (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 12th, 2006
6:07 pm	Ask Gareth: 1st Edition Alright, I have a few questions here, I'll try to answer them as best as I can. QUESTION ONE dear gazza, no matter how many times I try to beat zhuo in mario kart, I always end up about 5 seconds slower than him (at least)! does this imply that I should eat overly advertised health foods? jenny :D Dear jenny :D, First things first, the column is called Ask Gareth, not Ask Gazza. I'll let you off this time. Secondly, eating health foods has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with mario kart success. Forget about the health foods. But there are alternative ways to improve your mario karting skills. Since you mentioned Zhuo, I'll assume that you're talking about Mario Kart Double Dash. Now I'm not too familiar with Mario Kart Double Dash, but I am quite experienced at other forms of Mario Kart and beating Zhuo, so I still think I can help you. Now, Zhuo has probably played this game heaps, so he knows the courses quite well. So one thing you can do is play this game a lot, as that Jia chick said, practice makes perfect (or if not perfect, something close enough to it). Also, being a mario kart game, there is likely the oppurtunity to do power slides whenever you turn corners. I'm not sure how you do it on this game, but I think you brake (a little) with the joystick pointing in the direction you are turning, then quickly accelerate while shifting the joystick AWAY from the direction you are turning. Read the manual to see exactly how you do it. Once again, with enough practice, you will be able to do this power slide pretty much every time. Also, mario kart has lots of items. Pick up the items (by driving into boxes), and use them. Read the manual to see what the items actually do, and figure out the best time to use them (eg. when your opponent is in front of you, or maybe behind you, etc.) Next, if you want your kart to have speed, pick light characters (you should know which ones are light, usually the cute ones so you probably pick them anyway). Heavy guys like Bowser make for slow karts. Don't pick Bowser. And finally, since Zhuo's your boyfriend, he should be nice to you and let you win every once in a while. If this doesn't happen, just dump him and get a new boyfriend. Hope this helps, Gareth QUESTION TWO Dear Gareth, I NEED your help Challenged. Dear Challenged, Um, that's not actually a question, now is it? Nevermind, I think I see what you're trying to say. But you haven't been all that specific, to be honest. OK, here's what to do. If it's MY help in particular that you need, well then just email me at gwhi6633@mail.usyd.edu.au. If you can do with anyone's help, the best thing would be to ask your friends (you do have friends, right?). Friends are always helpful. But I know what you're wondering. Why can't I answer your question RIGHT NOW? OK, I will. You need my help, huh? Well, my advice is: believe in yourself, you can do it, just try a little bit harder. Or be more specific next time. All the best, Gareth QUESTION THREE Dear Gareth, I'm a 3rd year law student, and if my degree-plan is anything to go by, I have at least 2 more years to go. Problem is - law is boring as batshit. My eyes glaze over everytime I have to read one of those High Court judgements that go on for hundreds and hundreds of pages. But I know that if I don't study I'll end up failing uni, unemployed and on the dole. What should I do? _dracaena_ Dear _dracaena_, Law, eh? Hundred-page long judgements? (To be honest, that actually sounds kind of interesting). But I know what you mean when you have to do something that's really boring. I think I can help. Think of someone special in your life, like a parent or a boyfriend or something. Then whenever you feel unmotivated, say you'll do it for them. Then, if you don't do it, you'll be letting them down. Another method is to pace yourself, break down your workload into sections. Say, aim to read 20 pages, before you go have your break. (NB. I've found that basing sections according to workload, rather than time, is more effective). Surely you have friends who do the same course, yeah. Well, study with them sometimes. Ask them questions. If they know less than you, then you have nothing to worry about, cause that means you're doing better than them! If you have friends who don't do the course, make sure they don't let you go out with them until you've done you're study. If you're really desperate, live under a rock so you don't get distracted by anything. Actually, scrap the rock idea. Make sure you still(?) live a normal and healthy life, and have fun. I mean, who said working for the dole wasn't fun? Good luck, Gareth QUESTION FOUR Gareth, why the fuck i didn't win no award? xiaodai Dear xiaodai, If I had an award for worst-constructed sentence, you would win it for that question. Seriously mate, there weren't that many awards you coul have won. You were right up there in the coolest bloke department, but Yards had a stellar year last year. But you may win this year... If you wanted the uncoolness award, you should have tried harder. The politician and sportperson awards are for professionals in those areas, so you're not eligible. And finally, your livejournal is crap. Maybe it would be better if you actually POSTED SOMETHING in it. You were actually meant to make an entry once, remember? I probably should have expanded the awards last year to include more awards, but I was having enough trouble as it was picking winners for the current ones (such as song of the year, where there was no winner). Hopefully this year I will have more awards, which should give you more chances to win something, yeah? All the best, Gareth END OF QUESTIONS Remember, you can ask Gareth a question by commenting on his livejournal, or by sending him an email. Until, next time, TAKE CARE DUDES!! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 4th, 2006
10:11 am	New Column: Ask Gareth Gee, people are already replying to my Gazza awards, cool! Alright, this livejournal is gonna have a new column, called "Ask Gareth" (Gareth being me). If you have a question, you can post it as a comment, or you can email me (gwhi6633@mail.usyd.edu.au). You don't have to leave your name, you can be anonymous or you can leave a different name (eg. "confused", "concerned", "weird", etc.). An EXAMPLE would be: Dear Gareth, I am a maths student, but my physics friends pay me out because of this. They say that maths people are boring, and organise really boring parties, with bad music and maths jokes, and nobody except maths people turn up. Is this true? Should I stop doing maths? Worried. Dear worried, Your physics "friends" are a bunch of hypocrites. They say that maths people have crap parties. Well, physics people don't even HAVE parties. Tell them to stick THAT in their pipe and smoke it. You should definitely stick with maths, but you may want to consider getting new friends. All the best, Gareth. I will try my best to answer any and every question that I get. PS. Just noticed today, the total comments I've made (328) and received (672) adds up to 1000! Yay! Current Mood: good (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 2nd, 2006
7:48 pm	The 2005 Gazza Awards Yeah, sorry these are a little delayed, hope a didn't keep you guys waiting too long: - Male coolness award: Daniel Yardley Always had something funny to say in any situation, plus he let me play on the indoor soccer team. - Female coolness award: Jenny Zhu Founded the Go club, which she is President of. Plus she was still friendly to me even when I teased her, which I did heaps. - Male uncoolness award: Gareth White For those who don't know, that's me. Yeah, I was really annoying this year. Always doing assignments at the last minute, asking for help all the time, etc. Plus, I got a distinction in a maths subject this year, which is the first time that's ever happened. - Female uncoolness award: Tamar Ziv To be honest, all females were cool this year. I just picked Tamar cause she's going back to Israel and I'm never going to see her again (sniff). - Movie of the year (only movies released in 2004 are eligible): Saw 2 Gee, a horror movie, who would have thought? Actually, I believe the only movies I've seen this year are Unleashed, Saw 2, and Goblet of Fire (yep, that's right, I STILL haven't seen Land of the Dead). I liked all of them, but Saw 2 had the suspenseful setting, the atmosphere, the darkness, I just really liked it. A very good sequel, and the connection with the characters from the first movie was quite interesting. - Song of the year: None, all songs sucked this year. Quality of music is getting worse in my opinion. Hillary Duff? Britney Spears? Jessica Simpson? Ashlee Simpson? Lindsay Lohan? These people can't sing. They don't even sing live, they all lip-sync. And don't get me started on rap music. Conclusion: all music in 2005 sucked. - Coolest Member of Parliament: Peter Garrett (Labor) This guy will probably keep the title every year until he leaves politics. - Uncoolest Member of Parliament: Peter Costello (Liberal) This guy's pretty funny, cause he really, really wants to be Prime Minister, but nobody else does! - Coolest Sportperson: Mark Schwarzer (Socceroo) Made two crucial saves which resulted in Australia making the World Cup for the first time since 1974. LEGEND!!! - Uncoolest Sportsperson: Sourav Ganguly (Indian cricket dickhead) Massive whinger, always fails with the bat, and his idea of captaining the side is letting everyone else do all the hard work. Once Greg Chappell took over as coach (due to, surprise surprise, India's poor form), out went Ganguly. All of a sudden, India started winning. Somehow, Ganguly made it back into the side as a "batting all-rounder" (even though he can't bowl well at all), though that didn't last long. Still, it hasn't stopped hard-core Ganguly fans from burning effigees of Chappell and the other selectors. - Coolest livejournal: Jenny's. Well it certainly isn't mine this year, I had some bad cases of non-updating-ness. Jenny's is funny, although a little weird, and whenever you check it again, there's always something new and interesting there. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 15th, 2005
10:36 am	Trouble with abelian varieties Far out, my vacation scholarship is impossible. I've spent all week trying to understand what abelian varieties are. And affine varieties, projective varieties, basically all kinds of varieties. There's this one question that I just don't get: - If V is an affine variety AND a projective variety, prove that V consists of a single point. If anyone can help me with this, I will be forever grateful. (....Stewart?) PS. Yeah, I haven't livejournalled for ages. Sorry guys, I guess things just kept on coming up. Current Mood: anxious (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 5th, 2005
8:57 pm	My livejournal is the 2,979,424th most popular web page on the internet! Check it out. Pretty good, I reckon. Note that the ranking may have changed by the time you go to the site. I know it's pretty ambitious, but I hope to get into the top 1,000,000 sites one day! Maybe a good way to increase my ranking would be to post here more often, eh? Pity I have exams soon, cause there's some stuff I've been wanting to put up here for a while now. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 3rd, 2005
3:09 pm	Yet another World Cup update No games since last update, but there is a change in rankings, which changes some stats: FINAL SUMMARY ------------------------------ Total number of spots in World Cup: 32 Number of countries already qualified: 27 (Germany, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Angola, Tunisia, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Portugal, France, Italy, Poland, England, Serbia-Montenegro, Croatia, Sweden, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay) Number of spots remaining: 5 Number of countries still in the running: 10 (Uzbekistan, Trinidad-Tobago, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, Norway, Czech Republic, Australia, Uruguay) Highest ranked country which hasn't yet qualified: Czech Republic (3rd) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Czech Republic: 25 Lowest ranked country which has already qualified: Angola (60th) - Number of countries already eliminated who are ranked above Angola: 23 - Number of countries still trying to qualify who are ranked above Angola: 10 Highest ranked country already eliminated: Denmark (14th) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Denmark: 17 - Number of countried still in the running who are ranked below Denmark: 7 Australia's ranking: 54th Mumber of teams already eliminated who are ranked above Australia: 19 Number of teams already qualified who are ranked below Australia: 1 Number of teams ranked above Australia who are still trying to qualify: 8 Number of teams ranked below Australia who are still trying to qualify: 1 Team which Australia has to face next: Uruguay (17th) Number of games which Australia will still have to play to qualify for the World Cup: 2 ---------------------------------------------------- MY OPINION: - The rating system is ridiculous and should be replaced. - CASE IN POINT: Australia's only game in the last month was a 5-0 thrashing of Jamaica (who is actually ranked above Australia). Yet Jamaica GAINS 1 place to be equal 40th, while Australia LOSES 4 places to be 54th. It doesn't make any sense. - So now there is a ranking difference of 37 positions between Australia and Uruguay (as opposed to 25 positions last month). Good luck Australia. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 15th, 2005
10:30 am	World Cup group stages have ended Well, that last update didn't last too long, now did it? OK, the group stages are finished, meaning most of the qualifying spots for the World Cup are now taken, leaving a few remaining spots for play-off teams. A quick run-down of the confederations first: AFRICA - Qualifying has finished. The teams going through are Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Angola, and Tunisia. - FACT: Angola is ranked 65th. Since all other teams ranked below them have been eliminated, Angola will be the lowest-ranked team to qualify for next year's World Cup (although their ranking may change before the World Cup starts). AFRICA SUMMARY - Number of qualified teams: 5 - Number of spots left: 0 ASIA - Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia qualified from the group stages. - Uzbekistan and Bahrain finished 3rd in their groups. In the playoff, both games were a draw (1-1 in Uzbekistan, 0-0 in Bahrain), but Bahrain win the playoff since they scored more away goals. - Bahrain now playoff against the 4th-placed team from North America (which is Trinidad-Tobago). ASIA SUMMARY - teams already qualified: 4 - spots left: 0.5 - teams still in the running: 1 EUROPE - Group stage is over. - Recall that the best placed team in each group, as well as the 2 best teams that finish 2nd, qualify. The 6 remaining teams that finish 2nd are paired up, and the 3 winners also go through. - Group 1: Netherlands have won the group so they qualify. The Czech Republic finished 2nd, and will now go into a playoff. - Group 2: Ukraine have won, so they qualify. Turkey finished 2nd, and will go into a play-off. - Group 3: Portugal have won, so they qualify. Slovakia and Russia finished equal 2nd on points, but Slovakia take 2nd due to their superior goal difference. Slovakia now go into a playoff. - Group 4: France won this tight group, so they have qualified. Switzerland and Israel finished equal 2nd on points, but Switzerland take 2nd due to their superior goal difference. Switzerland now go into a playoff. - Group 5: Italy won the group, so they qualify. Norway came 2nd, so they go into a play-off. - Group 6: England won the group, so they qualify. Poland came 2nd but was one of the top 2 runners-up, so they also qualify. - Group 7: Serbia-Montenegro won the group, so they qualify. Spain finished 2nd, so they go into a playoff. - Group 8: Croatia won the group, so they qualify. Sweden came 2nd, but are one of the top 2 runners-up, so they also qualify. - So 11 teams from Europe have qualified (including Germany who qualify as hosts). There are 6 teams remaining, and they will fight it out for the 3 remaining spots through playoffs. - In the playoffs the 6 teams are divided into 3 pairs. Spain play Slovakia, Switzerland play Turkey, and Norway play Czech Republic. The playoff consists of two games, one in each team's country. So, for example, Spain and Slovakia play each other twice, once in Spain, and once in Slovakia. The winner of each pair will qualify for the World Cup. EUROPE SUMMARY - Teams already qualified: 11 (including Germany) - Spots left: 3 - Teams still in the running: 6 NORTH AMERICA - Group stages are finished. USA, Mexico, and Costa Rica qualified from the group stages. - Trinidad-Tobago finished 4th in the group, so they will go into a playoff against Uzbekistan from the Asian confederation. The winner of the playoff will qualify. NORTH AMERICA SUMMARY - Teams already qualified: 3 - Spots left: 0.5 - Teams still in the running: 1 OCEANIA - Australia won the group stage. They now go into a playoff against the 5th placed South American team, which happens to be Uruguay. OCEANIA SUMMARY - Teams already qualified: 0 - Spots left: 0.5 - Teams still in the running: 1 SOUTH AMERICA - Group stages are finished. Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and Paraguay qualified from the group stages. - Uruguay finished 5th in the group, so will playoff against the winner from Oceania, which happens to be Australia. SOUTH AMERICA SUMMARY - Teams already qualified: 4 - Spots left: 0.5 - Teams still in the running: 1 Now for the FINAL SUMMARY: -------------------------- Total number of spots in World Cup: 32 Number of countries already qualified: 27 (Germany, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Angola, Tunisia, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Portugal, France, Italy, Poland, England, Serbia-Montenegro, Croatia, Sweden, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay) Number of spots remaining: 5 Number of countries still in the running: 10 (Uzbekistan, Trinidad-Tobago, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, Norway, Czech Republic, Australia, Uruguay) Highest ranked country which hasn't yet qualified: Czech Republic (4th) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Czech Republic: 24 Lowest ranked country which has already qualified: Angola (65th) - Number of countries already eliminated who are ranked above Angola: 28 - Number of countries still trying to qualify who are ranked above Angola: 10 Highest ranked country already eliminated: Denmark (14th) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Denmark: 17 - Number of countried still in the running who are ranked below Denmark: 7 Australia's ranking: equal 50th (with Cote d'Ivoire) Mumber of teams already eliminated who are ranked above Australia: 19 Number of teams already qualified who are ranked below Australia: 3 Number of teams ranked above Australia who are still trying to qualify: 7 Number of teams ranked below Australia who are still trying to qualify: 2 Team which Australia has to face next: Uruguay (25th) Number of games which Australia will still have to play to qualify for the World Cup: 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So what happens now? Well, there aren't many games left. On November 12th, the first leg of the 5 playoff matches occurs. We have: Norway play Czech Republic Switzerland play Turkey Spain play Slovakia Trinidad-Tobago play Bahrain Uruguay play Australia Note that the first team mentioned is the home team for that leg. On November 16th, the return leg for each playoff takes place. It will be then that we will finally determine the 32 qualifiers for the World Cup. The 5 winners of the playoffs will take the 5 remaining spots. WHAT ARE AUSTRALIA'S CHANCES? ----------------------------- Australia play Uruguay, the team that beat Australia last time to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. This time however, the first leg will be played in Uruguay. I would consider this an advantage to Austrlia, as if we can do well in the first leg (eg. a draw, I would even consider a 1-0 loss as a good result), then we will have more confidence and support going into the final leg. When we played Uruguay 4 years ago, Australia won the first leg 1-0 in Australia. But they went to Uruguay under the mentality that they must defend that 1 goal lead, rather than play attacking football to try to extend their lead. I think this was the reason they played badly in Uruguay. This time around, however, I think Australia are a much better team. And they have an awesome coach in Guus Hiddink (who took South Korea to 4th place in the last World Cup). Plus, Australia is mighty pissed off that they stuffed up qualifying for the previous 3 World Cups at the last hurdle on each occasion, and will play out of their skins to defeat Uruguay this time around. Good luck Australia! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 12th, 2005
9:15 am	World Cup qualification nearing its end Most of the qualifying matches for the soccer World Cup have ended, with some Confederations already finished their qualifying process. Let's do a run-through of each Confederation and see their progress. AFRICA - Qualifying is over. - The qualified teams are: Group 1 - Togo Group 2 - Ghana Group 3 - Cote d'Ivoire (Cameroon missed a penalty kick right at the end of their last game which would have put them through instead) Group 4 - Angola (actually, Angola and Nigeria finished equal on points, but since Angola did better in the two games between these teams (1 win, 1 draw), they go through) Group 5 - Tunisia AFRICA SUMMARY - Number of qualified teams: 5 - Number of spots left: 0 ASIA - Group stages finished ages ago, see last update. - Uzbekistan and Bahrain came 3rd in their groups. They play each other, and the winner of that plays the 4th placed North American team. - The first game of the 2-game play-off match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain has been completed in Uzbekistan. The result was a 1-1 draw. The second leg will be held in Bahrain. Whoever wins that game will qualify. If it is a 0-0 draw, Bahrain will qualify since away goals count for more. Similarly, if it is a draw by 2-2, 3-3, or larger, Uzbekistan qualify. If it is a 1-1 draw, it goes to penalty kicks. SUMMARY FOR ASIA - teams already qualified: 4 - spots left: 0.5 - teams still in the running: 2 EUROPE - Group stage is almost over, some teams have completed all their games, while the rest have one game left. - Recall that the best placed team in each group, as well as the 2 best teams that finish 2nd, qualify. The 6 remaining teams that finish 2nd are paired up, and the 3 winners also go through. - Now some qualifying spots, but not all, are taken, so let's go through the groups. - Group 1: Netherlands have won the group so they qualify. There are 2 teams in the running for 2nd, Romania and Czech Republic. Romania have finished their games, Czech Republic has one game left against Finland. They must beat Finland to finish 2nd, otherwise Romania will finish 2nd. 2nd place in this group has a SMALL CHANCE of automatically qualifying (ie. being in the top 2 2nd-placed teams), though they will most likely have to go in a play-off. - Group 2: Ukraine have won, so they qualify. Turkey, Denmark, and Greece are still fighting for 2nd place, with Turkey best-placed and Greece worst-placed. Each have one game left. 2nd place will have to go in a play-off. - Group 3: Portugal have won, so they qualify. Slovakia and Russia are in the running for 2nd, and their final game is against each other. Slovakia only needs to draw to qualify (due to their superior goal difference). 2nd place will have to go in a play-off. - Group 4: This group is so close. There are 6 teams in this group, and 4 of them still have a chance of finishing 1st! Even though 2 teams have already finished their games, and the other 4 have only 1 game left! OK, the 4 teams left are Israel, Switzerland, France, and Ireland. Each of these teams have drawn agaisnt each other in every game played, with the exception being one game where France beat Ireland 1-0. There are many possible scenarios so I will not run through them all. I will say, though, that France and Switzerland are probably the better placed teams (Switzerland only needs a draw in its final game to finish in the top 2), while Ireland is the worst-placed of the 4. The team that finishes 2nd will have to go in a play-off. - Group 5: This group is much simpler. Italy is guaranteed 1st, so they qualify. Norway is guaranteed 2nd, and they will go to the play-off phase. - Group 6: Poland and England are guaranteed to finish in the top 2 in this group. In fact, both of their records are so good that whoever comes 2nd will still automatically qualify (as they will be in the top 2 teams that come 2nd). So Poland and England have already qualified. - Group 7: There are 3 teams in the running for top 2, and any of these 3 can come first. The teams are Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Each has one game left. Serbia is best-placed, Bosnia is worst-placed. But Serbia and Bosnia play each other in their final game. If Serbia win, they win the group and so automatically qualify. If Bosnia win, the Bosnia are guaranteed to finish in the top 2. Likewise, if Spain win their last game, they will finish in the top 2. But any of these 3 teams can come first, and any of them can come 3rd. Whoever comes 2nd will have to go in a play-off. - Group 8: Croatia and Sweden are guaranteed to be the top 2 teams in this group, although it is unsure who will win the group. But even if Croatia come 2nd, they will be in the top 2 2nd-placed teams since their record is so good. So Croatia have already qualified. And even if Sweden lose their last game (causing them to come 2nd), they will most likely be in the top 2 2nd-placed teams, granting them automatic qualification. So Croatia have qualified, while Sweden are likely (but not certain) to qualify. - In summary for Europe, 8 teams have already qualified (including Germany who qualify as host). This leaves 3 automatic qualifying spots left, and 3 playoff spots left. There are 16 teams still in the running to qualify, although only 10 are in the running to qualify automatically (the other 6 can only qualify via the playoff phase). 2 teams (Sweden and Norway) are guaranteed to make the playoff if they don't automatically qualify, while Norway will have to go in a playoff as they can't automatically qualify. SUMMARY FOR EUROPE - Teams already qualified: 8 (including Germany) - Spots left: 6 - Teams still in the running: 16 - Teams not yet qualified which are guaranteed to at least make the playoff phase: 2 NORTH AMERICA - Each team has one game left. - Mexico, USA, and Costa Rica are guaranteed to finish in the top 3, and thus obtain the 3 automatic qualifying spots. - This only leaves the playoff spot left. The 4th placed team plays the winner of Uzbekistan and Bahrain, and the winner of this playoff will qualify. - Of the remaining teams in the North America group, only Trinidad-Tobago and Guatemala can finish 4th. Trinidad-Tobago is better placed and their last game is against Mexico, while Guatemala plays Costa Rica. If Guatemala win, and Trinidad-Tobago lose or draw, then Guatemala gets the play-off spot. If Guatemala lose or draw, then Trinidad-Tobago get the play-off spot. SUMMARY FOR NORTH AMERICA - Teams already qualified: 3 - Spots left: 0.5 - Teams still in the running: 2 OCEANIA - Australia won the group. They play 5th placed South American team. This will be either Uruguay, Colombia, or Chile. SUMMARY FOR OCEANIA - Teams already qualified: 0 - Spots left: 0.5 - Teams still in the running: 1 SOUTH AMERICA - The 4 automatic qualifying positions have been taken by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Ecuador, as these teams are guaranteed to finish in the top 4. - This leaves the play-off spot. The team that finishes 5th plays against Australia, with the winner qualifying. - There are 3 teams in the running for 5th place. These are Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile. Each team has one game left to play. If Uruguay when their game, they are guaranteed 5th place. SUMMARY FOR SOUTH AMERICA - Teams already qualified: 4 - Spots left: 0.5 - Teams still in the running: 3 Ok, so the FINAL SUMMARY now is: (to be completed) ------------------------------- Total number of spots in World Cup: 32 Number of countries already qualified: 24 (Germany, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Angola, Tunisia, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Portugal, Italy, Poland, England, Croatia, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay) Number of spots remaining: 8 Number of countries still in the running: 24 Highest ranked country which hasn't yet qualified: Czech Republic (4th) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Czech Republic: 21 Lowest ranked country which has already qualified: Angola (65th) - Number of countries already eliminated who are ranked above Angola: 19 - Number of countries still trying to qualify who are ranked above Angola: 22 Highest ranked country already eliminated: Cameroon (22nd) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Cameroon: 11 - Number of countried still in the running who are ranked below Cameroon: 16 Lowest ranked country still in the running: Chile (equal 76th) - Number of countries already eliminated who are ranked above Chile: 28 Australia's ranking: equal 50th (with Cote d'Ivoire) Mumber of teams already eliminated who are ranked above Australia: 12 Number of teams already qualified who are ranked below Australia: 4 Number of teams ranked above Australia who are still trying to qualify: 17 Number of teams ranked below Australia who are still trying to qualify: 6 Team which Australia has to face next: undecided Number of games which Australia will still have to play to qualify for the World Cup: 2 Possible teams that Australia could face next: Uruguay (25th), Colombia (equal 26th), Chile (equal 76th). -------------------------------------------------- The final group games occur today. In fact, by the time you read this, the games probably would already have finished. This will determine 3 more qualifying positions, with the remaining 5 spots determined by playoff matches which will occur later. (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 17th, 2005
10:13 pm	Talk like a Pirate Day on Monday That's right, September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day. This is a special day, for it is the one chance that we can talk like pirates and be accepted in the community. So get practising on your pirate vocabulary, or for those who are new to pirate-speak, here's a good place to start I look forward to conversing with you all on Monday, me maties! Current Mood: Pirate mood (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 10th, 2005
10:24 am	World Cup Update A LOT has happened since the last World Cup update. Many games were played at the end of August and beginning of September. There are a few new qualified teams and many new eliminated teams. Instead of just updating what has changed, I will give a rundown of all the groups again, and remind you which teams have qualified and which are already out. AFRICA - Each team has only 1 game left to play. - Group 1: Liberia, Mali, Congo, and Zambia are out. It's now between Togo and Senegal. Senegal have to win and hope Togo either draw or lose, so Togo is likely to qualify. - Group 2: Uganda, Cape Verde Islands, Burkino Faso are out. Ghana, Congo DR, and South Africa are left, but Ghana is almost a certainty. They would have to lose by 5 goals and either Congo DR or South Africa win by 5 goals to not make it. - Group 3: Benin, Sudan, Libya, Egypt are out. Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire are left, with Cameroon the better chance. - Group 4: Rwanda, Algeria, Gabon are out. Angola, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe are left, but Zimbabwe has next to no chance. - Group 5: Malawi, Botswana, Kenya, and Guinea are out. Tunisia and Morocco are left, and they play each other next. Tunisia only need to draw to qualify. SUMMARY FOR AFRICA - teams already qualified: 0 - spots left: 5 - teams still in the running: 12 ASIA - The group stages are finished. Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan and Iran qualified. - Uzbekistan and Bahrain came 3rd in their groups. They play each other, and the winner of that plays the 4th placed North American team. SUMMARY FOR ASIA - teams already qualified: 4 - spots left: 0.5 - teams still in the running: 2 EUROPE - Recall, the winners of the 8 groups and the 2 best 2nd placed teams automatically qualify. The other 6 2nd placed teams playoff against each other. - Each team has 1 or 2 games left to play in the group stages. - Group 1: Armenia, Andorra, Macedonia FYR and Finland are out. Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Romania are left. Netherlands are guaranteed to finish in the top 2 and are likely to win their group. Romania probably won't finish in the top 2. - Group 2: Kazakstan, Georgia, and Albania are out. Ukraine have already won the group so they have qualified. Turkey, Greece and Denmark are fighting it out for 2nd place, with Denmark unlikely to get it. - Group 3: Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Latvia are out. Portugal, Slovakia, Russia, and Estonia are left. Portugal are guaranteed a top 2 finish, and will very likely come first. Estonia have as close to no chance of coming in the top 2 as you can get. - Group 4: This group is extremely tight. Faroe Islands and Cyprus are out. But of Switzerland, France, Israel and Ireland, anyone can finish in the top 2, although Switzerland and France are the better placed. Surprisingly, although the group matches are nearly finished, 3 teams (Switzerland, France, Israel) are still undefeated! - Group 5: Only Moldova is out. The remaining teams are Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Scotland, and Belarus. Italy are highly likely to win the group and even more likely to finish in the top 2 (although this isn't certain). Belarus are highly unlikely to finish in the top 2. - Group 6: This group is much more clear-cut. Wales, Azerbaijan, Northern Island and Austria are out. The two remaining sides, Poland and England, are guaranteed to finish in the top 2. It is not certain who will win, though it will probably be Poland. But it's likely that 2nd place in the group will be among the top 2 2nd placed teams so will automatically qualify anyway. - Group 7: Only San Marino are out. The remaining teams are Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belgium, and Lithuania. Lithuania are unlikely to finish in the top 2. - Group 8: Malta, Iceland, Bulgaria, and Hungary are out. The two remaining teams, Sweden and Croatia, are guaranteed to make the top 2. Sweden is slightly-better placed, although only Croatia is undefeated. - NOTE: Due to the fact that the 2 best 2nd placed teams qualify, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden will almost certainly qualify. For it is unlikely that all three will come 2nd, and if any of them do, their record will probably put them through. But it is not yet certain. SUMMARY FOR EUROPE - teams already qualified: 2 (hosts Germany automatically qualify, and Ukraine have qualified) - spots left: 12 - teams still in the running: 28 NORTH AMERICA - Recall there are 6 teams left. The top 3 qualify, 4th place plays off against a side from Asia. - Each team has 2 games left to play. - Mexico and USA have already qualified. The 4 remaining teams are Costa Rica, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama. Costa Rica are likely to finish 3rd (thus automatically qualify) and almost certain to make the top 4. Panama can't come 3rd, but can come 4th (although this is near impossible), so are still in with a chance. But probably Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago will fight it out for 4th spot. SUMMARY FOR NORTH AMERICA - teams already qualified: 2 - spots left: 1.5 - teams still in the running: 4 OCEANIA - Australia beat Solomon Islands 9-1 on aggregate in the playoff. Australia will now face off against 5th place from South America, which has not yet been determined. It could be any of Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Venezuala, or Peru (unlikely to be Peru). SUMMARY FOR OCEANIA - teams already qualified: 0 - spots left: 0.5 - teams still in the running: 1 SOUTH AMERICA - Recall, 4 teams qualify, 5th place plays off against Australia. - Each team has 2 games left to play. - Argentina and Brazil have already qualified. Bolivia are out of the running. The remaining teams are Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Venezuala, and Peru. Ecuador and Paraguay are very well placed, and are likely get the remaining 2 spots in the top 4. Peru and Venezuala can only possibly come 5th, and Peru is unlikely to get that far. Uruguay, Colombia, and Chile are likely to fight it out for 5th spot. But none of the remaining teams are guaranteed a top 5 finish. SUMMARY FOR SOUTH AMERICA - teams already qualified: 2 - spots left: 2.5 - teams still in the running: 7 Ok, so the FINAL SUMMARY now is: ------------------------------- Total number of spots in World Cup: 32 Number of countries already qualified: 10 (Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Iran, Japan, Argentina, Ukraine, USA, Brazil, Mexico) Number of spots remaining: 22 Number of countries still in the running: 54 Highest ranked country which hasn't yet qualified: Netherlands (ranked 3rd) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Netherlands: 8 Lowest ranked country which has already qualified: Ukraine (equal 36th) - Number of countries already eliminated who are ranked above Ukraine: 1 - Number of countries still trying to qualify who are ranked above Ukraine: 25 Highest ranked country already eliminated: Egypt (26th) - Number of countries already qualified who are ranked below Egypt: 2 - Number of countried still in the running who are ranked below Egypt: 37 Lowest ranked country still in the running: Lithuania (equal 92nd) - Number of countries already eliminated who are ranked above Lithuania: 28 Australia's ranking: equal 57th Mumber of teams already eliminated who are ranked above Australia: 8 Number of teams already qualified who are ranked below Australia: 0 Number of teams ranked above Australia who are still trying to qualify: 38 Number of teams ranked below Australia who are still trying to qualify: 15 Team which Australia has to face next: undecided Number of games which Australia will still have to play to qualify for the World Cup: 2 Possible teams that Australia could face next: Colombia (24th), Uruguay (25th), Ecuador (33rd), Paraguay (35th), Venezuala (67th), Chile (73rd), Peru (equal 75th). -------------------------------------------------- The next games are in early October. I think these are the final group games, so we will find out at that time who Australia must next face. Currently, Uruguay is running 5th in the South American group. Remember, Australia had to play Uruguay last time for a qualifying spot, and got smashed. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005
10:35 pm	Time to tell the truth Oh well, somebody picked WAY before I expected. Congratulations dude, you have saved me from further humiliating myself by going further with this stupidity. Q: What on Earth are you on about, Gareth?" I hear you ask. Well, as it turns out, I may have made some of the story up about Casey Becker. In fact, her name isn't Casey Becker, that was just the name of the girl in Scream (at the start). I also made up the fact that her favourite movies are Scream and Halloween (recall that in Scream, Casey's favourite movie was Halloween). In fact, I don't actually know this girl's name yet. Plus, we didn't meet up on Saturday. Nor did I ring her on Wednesday. Q: Are you saying that you met a girl at the movies, swapped numbers, and haven't contacted her since? Well..... Q: You didn't even swap numbers, did you? You just met a girl and talked and haven't seen her again? Actually, that isn't true either. I DIDN'T EVEN meet a girl at the movies. The girl doesn't exist. I DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE MOVIES. I still haven't seen "Land of the Dead" yet. I made the whole bloody story up. Every single detail. I made most of it up on the spot. Just typed up some garbage on my livejournal. I tried to leave some hints. That is all. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
11:13 am	My meeting with Casey on Saturday Well, somebody asked me on Monday why I haven't updated my journal since Saturday. One reason is I'm busy. Another is I'm lazy. But she wanted to know what happened on Saturday. So here goes: OK, I believe I mentioned that I was going to meet Casey on Saturday after dropping by brother off at the movies in Liverpool. Well, my brother didn't go to the movies on Saturday, he was too busy so didn't go. But I still went to see Casey anyway. There is a nearby park, so we sat down there and talked. First things first, her surname is Becker (that makes her name Casey Becker for those of you catching up). Apparently, her favourite movies are Scream and Halloween. She said the Blair Witch Project is also good, after I told her that was my favourite. BTW, She also said Dawn of the Dead is an awesome movie, for you idiots who were telling me otherwise on Friday. She is an only child, and still lives with her parents in Campbelltown, which is good because she lives near me, unlike many of my friends. Apparently, she doesn't get along well with her parents and regularly has fights with them. I told her that that was pretty much the case with me too, to which she replied that my fights would be nothing compared to hers. Obviously, she does not know my parents. Anyways, she is doing an Education degree at Macquarie Uni, currently in her 2nd Year. I mentioned that it must be inconvient having to travel to Macquarie Uni everyday, but she said that she manages, plus she doesn't have to go every day of the week. Lucky her. Well, we talked for ages, and I'm pretty sure you'd rather I didn't write down everything that we said on Saturday. Probably pretty boring. But in summary, yes I did see Casey on Saturday, we went to a park, we sat down, we talked. But at the end, when we both got up to leave, she invited me to her house! Wow! When was the last time a girl invited me to her house? Not for ages I think. Unfortunately I am a busy person, but I did my best to come up with a day I am free. I told her I could come next Sunday, as I'm pretty sure I don't have anything planned then. She seemed pretty satisfied. What does it mean when a girl invites you to her house only a couple of weeks after you first meet? Does that mean she likes me? I've got no idea. I don't think a girl has ever really "liked" me since Catherine back in Year 11 (correct me if I'm wrong, JW). But surely I don't like her in the same way. I mean, how could I possibly like her in the same way, I like somebody else. But Grace did not tell me if those feelings are reciprocated. Surely I can't "like" two girls at the same time. Also, if I was rejected by the "girl that I like", how could I just start suddenly like Casey afterwoods? It couldn't happen. A guy surely just can't suddenly like somebody he never cared about before, simply because the person he used to like rejected him? And there are some people out there who know that if I like a person, I don't suddenly stop liking them if they "turn me down". It takes/took me a long time to get over rejection. But if Casey actually "likes" me, that could be completely different, since as I said before no girl has ever "liked" me since Catherine. I mean, those types of people are very rare in my life. Maybe I'm making a huge mistake. But I can't tell Casey that I don't "like" her in that way. Because what if she doesn't actually like me, ie. she likes me as a friend, but that's it? Wouldn't she get offended then? But on the other hand, what if she likes me, but I don't tell her (that I don't like her)? Then she would never know if I like her or not. And I would never know if she likes me or not. This is getting confusing. Maybe I'd better stop writing now. Current Mood: satisfied (8 Comments |Comment on this)