Dodgeball

A few friends and I are gathering tomorrow to play a good ol' game of dodgeball. The dodgeball I played in elementary school is very different from what was shown in "Dodgeball", the movie. In school, what we did was split into two teams. One team who is armed with red rubber balls forms a circle while the other team groups up in the middle. The game starts when the team on the outside (Team A) starts throwing balls at the people inside (Team B). Whoever gets hit is out. If a member of Team B catches a ball and throws and strikes a Team A member, that person in Team A is out. I guess the "real" version of dodgeball is sort of similar except that both teams are behind lines. Well, our dodgeball game tomorrow will be quite interesting. We'll be playing with rollerblades on. Since I'm horribly uncoordinated in inline skates, I will need lots of luck, so send some good energy this way please.

If any of you are interested, here are the rules I got from dodgeballusa.com.

THE TEAM
Teams will be made up of 6-10 players. Six(6) players will compete on a side; others will be available as substitutes. Substitutes may enter the game only during timeouts or in the case of injury.

THE FIELD
The game may be played indoors or outdoors. The playing field shall be a rectangle at least 50 ft long and at least 30 ft wide, divided into two (2) equal sections by a center-line and attack-lines 3m from, and parallel to the centerline.

IDEAL MEASUREMENTS: 60’ x 30’ – Identical to a volleyball court.

THE EQUIPMENT
The official ball used in tournament and league play will be an 8.25" rubber-coated foam ball.

THE GAME
The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting them "OUT". This may be done by:

1. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders.

2. Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent before it touches the ground.

Definition: LIVE: A ball that has been thrown and has not touched anything, including the floor/ground, another ball, another player, official or other item outside of the playing field (wall, ceiling, etc)

BOUNDARIES
During play, all players must remain within the boundary lines. Players may leave the boundaries through their end-line only to retrieve stray balls. They must also return through their end-line.

THE OPENING RUSH
Game begins by placing the dodgeballs along the center line – three (3) on one side of the center hash and three (3) on the other. Players then take a position behind their end line. Following a signal by the official, teams may approach the centerline to retrieve the balls. This signal officially starts the contest. Teams may only retrieve the three (3) balls to their right of the center hash. Once a ball is retrieved it must be taken behind the attack-line before it can be legally thrown.

TIMING AND WINNING A GAME
The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner. A 3-minute time limit has been established for each contest. If neither team has been eliminated at the end of the 3 minutes, the team with the greater number of players remaining will be declared the winner. Details on overtime can be found in the NADA Rule Book.

TIME-OUTS & SUBSTITUTIONS
Each team will be allowed one (1) 30 second timeout per game. At this time a team may substitute players into the game.

5-SECOND VIOLATION
In order to reduce stalling, a violation will be called if a team in the lead controls all six (6) balls on their side of the court for more than 5 seconds. This also applies to tied teams. More details can be found in the NADA Rule Book

Whew!

So the 2008 Summer Olympics are over and was a great success. What I'm relieved about is that Juselino Nóbrega da Luz was wrong about the Olympics being a failure! (I wrote a little about him in a July post.) I just hope he is wrong about everything else!!

Tree Sitters

Man! Those tree sitters in Berkeley are far more annoying than some of my relatives. If it was up to me, I'd just chop down those trees whether they're in there or not. That'll teach them a lesson. They probably already lost sight of what they're fighting for anyway. It's been so freakin' long. I can't imagine how much of the taxpayers' money was used because of these protesters... Stupid people.

Ta Prohm

Yay! After much time away from my latest masterpiece, I finally found the time to finish my painting! The source is of a photo I took while wandering through the ruins of Ta Prohm, an Angkor temple in Cambodia. Hope you likes!

The End of Life as You Know It

I was looking through Craigslist postings yesterday while my bf was on the phone. I saw one from a guy who seems like he's getting rid of tons of stuff! He had three kayaks, a canoe, kiteboarding gear, parachute, coats, rollerskates, rollerblades, tents, sleeping bags, exercise equipment, skis, snowboard, snowshoes, and the list goes on and on and on. When I saw this long list, I told my bf that this guy is getting rid of everything! His response was, "Maybe he just got married." Hahaha, if that was true, the poor bastard just killed his soul and spirit.

Such Fools!

The two men who claimed that they found Bigfoot and the "Bigfoot researcher" are total idiots. They are the least credible people with a history of lies and armed with THREE blurry pictures and DNA results showing that one sample is human DNA, another from a possum, and the third inconclusive due to technical problems. I wonder how long they are planning on keeping up this charade. Can you believe they're offering tours to find more Bigfoot for $500?! I REALLY hope no one will sign up for this! That's the stupidest thing! I just want to shake the stupid out of them!! I never knew there are such brainless people out there, thinking that they can profit from something as solid as water. I'm just baffled by their stupidity! WHY would you do this? I just don't get it. I watched a little of the press conference yesterday and you could just tell that they never crafted the full details of their story cuz they got stumped with questions. I give props to the journalist standing in the back of the room firing questions at the three idiots while wearing a Chewbacca costume. Nice. :)

The Olympics Effect

Watching the Olympics, games where the most amazing athletes in the world compete against each other and break world records, has not inspired me to become more athletic, but has turned me into a complete couch potato. So sad but true. When are these friggin' games over?! If I keep watching, my skin will start melting into the leather couch! That wont' smell great...

I just finished watching the all-around female gymnastics competition. These girls are awesome. Not only do they have amazing physical ability, but they have such great composure! When Nastia saw her final high score, she just smiled. I woulda whooped for joy! And when it was decided that she's the gold medal winner, she smiled a lot and hugged her dad a lot. If it was me? I'd be either bawling like a baby or running wild like a crazy woman! No, both!! I'd point at all my competition and scream, "SUCKAAAAAAAAAS!!" Just kidding. I'd do a roundhouse kick, then scream. Shoot. I can't do a roundhouse kick in real life, well, not one that wouldn't cause any injury to myself or anyone near me, but doing a good roundhouse is more likely than becoming an Olympic medalist. Shoot. I better go to sleep. I'm starting to not make any sense. Yes.

Holy crap! A wrestler got the bronze in some competition, and after receiving the medal on the medals stand, he took off his medal and stalked off! He said the judging was unfair, and he deserved the gold! Let's see if he'll get stripped of his medal!

My eyes are burning from too much artificial light! Good night and good luck!! :)

Woah! It's Bigfoot!

I am definitely not a bigfoot skeptic. I will believe almost anything. If you tell me dinosaurs still exist in untouched areas of the Amazon, I'll believe it! But this claim that these two guys from Georgia found this corpse of this once mythical bigfoot in the remote forests of Georgia seems a little unbelievable. If this is real, why couldn't they have posted a better photo? The face looks like a poor Photoshop job. I can do better. And it looks amazingly like those ape costumes used in those sci-fi movies. And instead of just revealing the DNA evidence and other photos, why can't they just reveal the actual corpse? So many questions, but I doubt we'll get good answers. Well. We shall see if this is a hoax or not at tomorrow's press conference in Palo Alto...

Simple Pleasure - Water Balloon Fight

Nothing brings out our inner child more than a good water balloon fight on a hot summer day. A couple of weeks ago, my friends threw a birthday party for their 1 year old daughter. One of the forms of entertainment was water balloons. At first, we played organized games, but inevitably, this turned into a full on water balloon war. This is probably the only game that both attackers and victims enjoy attacking and being victimized. A game so simple can turn everyone into a child, erase ill feelings and turn enemies into friends, even if it's momentary. I think we all ought to play once in a while. Forget what hurts/pains/angers you and engage in a good water balloon fight.

Dream ## - The Pitts

The other night, I had a dream that Brad Pitt and I were deeply in love with each other. It was a love like no other. We were truly happy. But one day, Angelina came into the picture. She seduced him with her awesome sexy power. No wait. She's not awesome. And she took him away. I was so heartbroken and so mad. I hated her. Grrrrrr... We all know who's supposed to be the real Mrs. Pitt!!