I was listening to the radio with one of my students and I found out that Jim Anderton died in hospital today :(
R.I.P. Jim Anderton. He was a great politician. And a great human being
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Anderton James Patrick Anderton CNZM (born James Patrick Byrne; 21 January 1938 – 7 January 2018) was a New Zealand politician who led a succession of left wing parties after leaving the Labour Party in 1989. He served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002. In 2010, he ran unsuccessfully for the mayoralty of Christchurch. Anderton retired from Parliament at the 2011 election. After his retirement, he and former MP Philip Burdon were the two prominent campaigners for the restoration of ChristChurch Cathedral.
edit: I forgot to include this story. Jim Anderton is one of the few politicians who can be credited with directly saving someones life. The other politician that I know of is Ron Mark. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10346918 Jim Anderton and wife rescue injured man 23 Sep, 2005 7:20am
Cabinet minister Jim Anderton has been commended by police after his quick actions saved the life of a homeless man.
The 67-year-old Progressives leader and his wife Carole found the man with blood gushing from his arm in the middle of a Sydenham street in Christchurch as they drove home about 9pm on Tuesday.
The man had cut an artery when he jumped through the window of a Selwyn St home to escape an attack. He then stumbled about 100m - as blood gushed from his arm - down the street, and into the path of the Andertons' car.
Mr Anderton used his wife's possum and merino fur scarf and his own silk tie as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding, while his wife called emergency services. The Andertons also used a bundle of clothes they were planning to deliver to a charity shop to further slow the bleeding.
Mr Anderton said he had feared for the man's life. "He was losing blood like Niagara Falls. I didn't think he was going to live," he said.
The man passed out before emergency services arrived. He was taken to Christchurch Hospital.
Police have said the man could have died if the Andertons had not come to his rescue.
"He was really lucky members of the public assisted him and tried to stop the bleeding," said Detective Sergeant William McIvor.
The man was discharged from hospital yesterday after surgery to repair the cut artery.
Whats going on here? I ignore the election for eight years and everything goes to shit. edit:image I have a lot of free time now. I think I'll start up the New Zealand Politics CCG again!
Tomorrow is the Invercargill Spring Rapid Chess Tournament. It is a 6 round, 20 minute rapid tournament so each player will play 6 people with 20 minutes per player. http://www.southlandexpress.co.nz/sports/chess-competition-on-this-weekend/ The guy on this side of the photo is Gary, the original organizer of the Invercargill Chess Club. The other guy in the sweater is Eddy from England.
I've played against Eddy three times and got demolished. I am sure he is invincible.
Anyway, if anyone is Invercargill the Invercargill Chess Club is located at 9 Tay St (Cornerstone Care Centre) on Fridays, 7pm-9pm. There are loads of chess noobs there and it is fun to play against them.
Things to do tomorrow: - Write about what happened last Thursday night (some of you have seen the pictures) - Demonstrate the absolute power of Internet Sleuthing
Last Thursday I was assaulted at my house by my drunken flatmate. Anyone who reads my Google Plus posts would have seen the two pictures I posted up.
I was not hurt. Story below:
Spoiler :
At 6pm on Thursday 2 October 2014 I came home to find my non-Korean flatmate comatose by the phone. He was very drunk. When he came too he was very upset so I calmed him down and put him on the couch. My Korean flatmate came home and he started getting violent, trying to hit him and myself. I managed to calm him down again and tried to get him to go back to his room.
Just when he was leaving the kitchen he collapsed on the floor, seemingly asleep. I asked him if he wanted a cup of tea and he said yes. Cups of tea fix everything, that is what British Television has taught me.
I put the jug on and all of a sudden he starts saying, ranting really, "I will Kill you! I will Kill you! I'm gonna kill you!" and charged at me.
This was unexpected.
What I told the Police was that he came at me very fast and I threw him face first into the floor.
What actually happened is that I executed a Tsurikomi Goshi in a confined space. In English "I threw him face first into the floor". The guy was about my size. I am not used to fighting people my own size. If the guy had been a little taller, he would have been dead because the fall would have been broken by his neck, not his face. Kids: Dont try this at home.
I immediately told my Korean flatmate to call the police. He thought I was joking. I was not joking.
After about five minutes the drunken flatmate was conscious again, face first in a pool of his own blood. His first action was to mop it up with the floor mat. Then he crawled outside.
So the 111 emergency lady puts me through to police. They ask me the standard questions: "What is the emergency?" "Where do you live?" "What is your name?" "What is the assailants name?" And then she asked me: "What was he wearing?" My reply was: 'Blood? Lots and lots of blood.'
She didnt appreciate that answer. "No, I mean what was he physically wearing?!"
'I dont know. I cant remember. He has crawled outside and I am not going out there to see what he is wearing.'
She said they would send an ambulance then asked a few more questions and about 2 minutes later the police arrived. Unbeknownst to me at the time, there were three police cards, an ambulance, and a fire engine outside our house. A friend of mine was driving past my house on the way home from work and texted me to ask what was wrong.
The police took our flatmate to the ambulance while myself and my Korean flatmate were questioned. I told them what is written here (minus the Tsurikomi Goshi bit because "floor+face = super effective" in any language)
After the questioning the police asked me how long I had lived in Invercargill. I said: 'About five years' "Oh, how do you find Invercargill?" 'Its a little chilly'
Urr. I'll split this into two posts because that story ran long. Plus the second post might get censored because it will contain personal information, but I am not too sure about the rules on public/personal information here
Over the past few weeks Hong Kong has been caught up in protests against the Chinese Communist Party take over of Hong Kong. If you do not know about the situation between Hong Kong and China i.e "They're all Chinese, right?", then I will explain
Mainland China has what is known as 'Special Administrative Divisions', one of which is Hong Kong, and another is Macau. The agreement is known as "One Country, Two Systems" where Hong Kong has self-determination but still counts as China.
However, to travel to Hong Kong or Macau, even if from China, you need a separate passport.
This system means that Hong Kong and Macau are the most democratic and censorship free places in all of China, extending to Free Trade, Unrestricted Internet (i.e Not affected by the great Firewall of China), and Freedom of the press.
Unfortunately these three freedoms are totally against everything the Communist Party stands for. So the CCP has sent in the Army and the CCP announced the candidates for the Hong Kong Chief Executive. Thusly the Hong Kong people can vote for their Chief Executive, but regardless of what candidate is chosen, they will be pro-CCP.
So for the past month students have been protesting against the CCP and Mainland China with the #occupycentral movement. 50,000+ people have been blocking off the Hong Kong central business district. Last night: 80,000 people protested. Police have been using tear gas but it is not enough to disperse a crowd that size. Also, the protest has been peaceful which has been a public relations disaster for the CCP, but not the Hong Kong Police because they are the best in the world and are just doing what they are told.
Tomorrow is China's National Day, when China celebrates the establishment of the Peoples Republic Of China aka The absolute domination of China by the Chinese Communist Party.
So you can expect the biggest protest in Hong Kong history tomorrow. It may also be the last ever protest in Hong Kong as China will not be able to rely on the Hong Kong police.
Spoiler :
What Chinese Students Know
I have been talking to Chinese Students from Mainland China and it is very interesting. Do you know how people make fun of America for knowing nothing else but American History and Geography? China is worse than this. Much worse. For starters: China's Political/Municipal System cuts China into different Provinces AND has four PRC Municipalities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing.
These four cities are more powerful that the rest of China.
When I tell the Chinese students that this is an incredibly bad system they usually ask why. It is because no time in history has anyone ever been able to control a city that is more powerful than the country it comes from. This combined with the fact, we live in the era of the independence movements, such as Southern Sudan, East Timor, Kosovo, and Montenegro mean the separation of administration division between provinces and cities is bad.
Japan is a good example of this. When a division gets too important, they make it separate e.g Kanto, Tokyo, Shibuya, Ginza
If a weaker economy attempts to direct a stronger economy, then both are destined to fail. This is the same as the short version of Gresham's Law: "Bad money drives out good"
There is also an interesting note about voting in China. Children dont vote, their parents vote for their family. And by 'Children' I mean 'everyone born to their parents'. Some people will spend their whole lives never voting.
Why Protest in Hong Kong?!
The students who are protesting are around 20 years old. Hong Kong has an Human Development Index of 15/187 (Very High). China has an HDI of 91/187 (High) Beijing has an HDI of 0.821, the same as Poland (35/187 (Very High))
Hong Kong's future relies on its current HDI being maintained. There is no way that interference from Mainland China can improve Hong Kong's situation, and can only negatively impact it. In fact: Mainland Chinese have been negatively impacting Hong Kong ever since the hand over.
Here is a video of a Mainland Chinese person shitting in a Hong Kong street
Also: Mainland Chinese have been flocking to Hong Kong to have babies because Hong Kong has a two child policy, so any child born in Hong Kong can have two children. This is made worse by Mainland Chinese going to Hong Kong to buy baby products because no one trusts Chinese brand milk powder or nappies after several product recalls and scandals.
The students are protesting because this may be their last chance for Hong Kong's self determination. It may also be the last time they will be able to protest because if the tanks start rolling in, no one will speak out ever again.
The Gamer is a Manwha (Korean Comic) based around the exploits of a Korean Student who one day wakes up with the ability of "The Gamer" that allows him to see everyones attributes, abilities, and level just as if the Real World was like a video game.
I've been following this for a while now because it clearly explains why video game elements exist. Plus it is an excellent read.
It turns out that the world is much stranger than he could ever imagine. Starting with his best friend who has a huge level and a unique title. http://www.mangapanda.com/the-gamer/1/1
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME Recently I played the demo for a seemingly fun adventure, exploration, card game called Voyager by SimProse Studios: http://simprosestudios.com/?q=voyager The game consists of Three Parts:
Adventure Screen This is where you choose the next location you want to travel to. You may have an encounter, which is a card battle, or an event such as a quest/bane/boon, or you may be challenged to a Wizard game.
Hand Screen: This is where you see what cards you have in your hand
Card Battle Screen: This is where, if you have an encounter in a land, you play a very simple card game where you compare battle strengths to see if you win or lose. If you lose then you lose an amount of health equal to the difference.
Your Wizard Your wizard has three stats: Essence = Health/Hit Points. You lose these from encounters, certain lands, and losing Encounters (Card Battles) Karma = Mana. To play cards from your hand you pay the cost in Karma. Karma seldom runs out in this game though Gold = Score. The object of the game is to reach the tenth realm and get as much gold as possible without DYING
You begin the game with 5 cards in your hand (max:6) and you choose one land to travel to first. You continue choosing the next land until you either die or you reach the realm 10 where you face the boss monster in a card battle
What is wrong with this game
The game is, essentially, gambling. If you play the demo you will notice that everything is random. Random can be fun. Nethack, Faster Than Light, and all the Roguelike games prove that.
The problem is that the object of the game is to SURVIVE WITH AS MUCH GOLD AS POSSIBLE. This may sound easy, but when instant death is a random event, all sense of skill or flow or point to the game goes out the window.
Also the only real way to get proper money is to win Wizard games. Wizard games maximum monetary rewards are 4000 - 6000 gold. Normal events average 400 gold. And wizard games are random games of chance with a random chance of being encountered
Summary If you are at all interested in video game development, you should definitely give the demo a try. This game is an excellent example of how stupidly addictive video games with gambling elements can be.
You can buy the game for USD$4.95, which I did because I thought the full version would be deeper than the demo version. I was wrong.
What is worse is when you reach the final boss and you do not have cards you have to sit through the tedium of losing a children's card game. What is even worse is that you HAVE to win the final boss fight. You cannot draw or lose otherwise you die.
With just a little more polish, this would be a really good game. The game keeps a text journal of your adventure, but a simple interactive map connecting your start location to your later locations would have made this game amazing. Even if the map never changed, it would at least give some sense of exploration, adventure, and accomplishment.
However, all you get is this: note: Derek appears to be the example player but by my calculations his score falls into the 95% bracket. I am not kidding. Once you get to 7000+ gold the game will instantly kill you.
For Vampire lore people the movie is full of all the cliches: No reflection, cant enter without invitation, no aging, hypnotism, flying, wall crawling, shape changing, cant stand crosses, burnt by sunlight and silver. And blood drinking. Oh and Vampires sired from other vampire blood.
For Vampire movie people it is full of hilarious stabs at the classics: Nosferatu, Bran Stokers Dracula, Dracula: Dead and Loving It. The funniest bit is when they make a new vampire who tells everyone in a nightclub that he is "That guy from Twilight"
Anyone who lives in Wellington will recognise all the places they go to. It was funny to see the Victoria Bowling Club transformed into the "Cathedral of Despair"
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Human Beauty, Averageness, and Facial Symmetry, you can check out this link http://www.goldennumber.net/beauty/
Quote
A template for human beauty is found in phi and the pentagon
Dr. Stephen Marquardt has studied human beauty for years in his practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Dr. Marquardt performed cross-cultural surveys on beauty and found that all groups had the same perceptions of facial beauty. He also analyzed the human face from ancient times to the modern day. Through his research, he discovered that beauty is not only related to phi, but can be defined for both genders and for all races, cultures and eras with the beauty mask which he developed and patented. This mask uses the pentagon and decagon as its foundation, which embody phi in all their dimensions
In short: Human Beauty is linked to the Golden Ratio The most visible constructs using this would be the Pyramids in Egypt and the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.
For Humans it is the different facial characteristics: Facial Height/Width, Eye Size/Ratio, etc
This website rates an uploaded photo of a face against the 'ideal' beauty ratios http://www.anaface.com/
I've gotten addicted to using it, and am not the only one. You can also try it using your your own face, your friends faces. Or even better, internet celebrities!
Spoiler :
edit:found a good image
PLEASE remember that the score is not an 'absolute' beauty score. What it represents is attractive qualities of yourself and what you would probably find attractive in others
for example: I have never found Mandy Moore attractive, no matter how argumentative and incensed other people have become
Meet the world's Mrs Averages: Scientists blend thousands of faces together to reveal what the typical woman's face looks like in 41 different countries from around the globe Pictures of hundreds of women were used to create an average Images of women from 41 different ethnicities were laid over one another before a computer programme deduced the common look
Here is the first part of the incredibly interesting BBC Documentary "The Human Face" starring John Cleese and Elizabeth Hurley
Another excellent Muppet movie which follows directly on from the previous Muppet movie. The number 1 evil criminal Mastermind Frog Constantine escapes from a Russian Gulag on a mission to steal the Crown Jewels of England
There are a whole ton of cameos in this movie too, such as: Lady GaGa Celine Dion Puff Daddy Salma Hayek Usher (who ironically plays an Usher) and Tom Hiddlestone (Loki from Thor) who gets tazed by Tina Fey
It takes the phrase "tossed salad" to a new level.
Robert James Mills appeared in the Invercargill District Court yesterday for assaulting his mother with a lettuce.
Police said Mills, 37, was arguing with his mother at an Invercargill property on February 16 when he uplifted the lettuce from the garden and threw it at her, "connecting with the victim's face and taking her by surprise".
Defence lawyer Scott Williamson said the lettuce incident was the result of an ongoing argument between the pair.
Judge Alistair Garland said Mills' actions appeared to be borne by frustration.
"It didn't cause any physical injuries but the friction between the two of you is causing emotional harm and it's something you need to address," he said.
He sentenced Mills to nine months' supervision on the condition he undertake counselling for alcohol, drug and anger issues if directed by the probation service.