You know that chuckler.org is the one source for answers to the big questions, and last night Blacky and I were discussing the mechanics of Russian Roulette. This delightful game can be played with multiple players, and at its most basic is not a game as much as it is a statement of courage.

But when it’s a game, and a gambling game is the way that it’s most often portrayed in movies etc, there are significant gaps in my knowledge. Point 1:
how many players can play Russian Roulette? I would assume that as long as the chamber of the gun is spun before each player’s turn, the number of players could be infinite (assuming you don’t run out of bullets). Point 2: how does the gambling work? I assume that all players put equal money in the pot each round, and if you pull the trigger and don’t die, you take it. If you do die, the other guys split it, because you don’t need it anymore. Point 3: when does the game end? I assume it’s when the first person dies, at which time participants could start another game if they wanted to. With a game like this, once you’re in, you’re in, but if you left the table between games, I think that’d be alright. Point 4: who goes first? I know that statistically it makes no difference (assuming the chamber is spun before each shot) because the game has no memory of past events, and each trigger pull is a seperate game of chance, but I still think I’d prefer to be one of the last to pull the trigger, especially if the game ends after the first person dies. But I could be way off base with all of these assumptions. I’m just speculating.

The big issues: here at chuckler.org

So it was a pretty good weekend, really. Friday I got drunk watching the Broncos game, which was a ripper. Saturday, Bryce came round for a bit, and Leyton and Blacky joined us in a match of “Princes of Florence”. That was fun. Bryce had to go, so Blacky, Leyton and I played a couple more games, and then Tim R. joined us for Puerto Rico. Watched “21 Grams” that evening, before calling it a night.

Sunday I just HAD to get out of the house, so went to M&D’s. Woo and I went down to Harvey Norman and I bought a new doona and a blanket. I almost bought a new bed, but decided against it at the last minute. Too much money to spend at this stage I think. Bryce and I shared chicken and vegie pie for tea, and I went home. A good weekend.

What’s coming up in the week ahead? Godez gets here Thursday morning, Edward gets back Wednesday evening, 24 is going to finish on Friday night, soccer on Thursday. That’s pretty much everything I’ve got on the cards at the moment.

Check this out: Game-O-Graph for State of Origin 1, 2004 inspired by Rob Cockerham’s Game-O-Graph idea. Not as intricate in football as it is in basketball, apparently, but still shows how even the game was, don’t you think?

I got pretty merry last night when the boys came round for the football. Fun night, Woo ended up coming for dinner.

And after the football there was this hilarious show in the vein of “When Animals Attack” called something like “Most Dangerous Sports in the World” which rocked. Glenn and Leyton actually stayed to watch it - that’s how good we’re talking.

Anyways, that’s it - smell you later.

So, Origin tonight. Looks like it will just be Blacky, Leyton and Me for dinner, and Glenn and Woo coming for the actual game. Glenn and Woo BYO drinks. Leyton’s coming for dinner, so he has to bring drinks for me and Blacky. Woot! Anyone else coming really needs to let me know NOW. Brek, I’m talking to you especially. Thanks.

Ok, so want to hear something truly funny? My boss’s sister (aka his “PA”) was recently in charge of sending stuff overseas to Edward to meet up with in South Africa. She sent it to the USA. And we’re not talking a change of socks and underwear, we’re talking about a >$1000 LCD flatscreen monitor. And it’s gone to a hotel in the USA that he didn’t even stay at. Fricking brilliant, eh?

Ah, we laughed. And laughed. Then stopped laughing, and started hoping we can get the monitor back. Hopefully it will arrive back here sometime in the next 2 weeks and we can all start laughing again.

I’m so unbelievably productive without even trying lately. I got ZENworks imaging to work yesterday, so I’m tickled pink about that. It still needs some tweaking, but I’m pretty fricking good, let me tell you. And the online store I’m building is coming along swimmingly.

I just read the 24 Season 4 is due to start (filming or televising, I don’t know) in January 2005. How cool is that? Some regulars have not had their contracts renewed … Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler, Chase Edmunds, Chloe O’Brian, CTU Agent Tom Baker (the Asian guy with the commando skillz) and Adam Kaufman are all confirmed out. And Kim is only “in” depending on her other film commitments. How exciting, but idle Hollywood gossip on a weblog? That’s unheard of!

Seriously, in other news: State of Origin. People are welcome at my casa for it … I’ll even cook I guess, (pizza being impossible to get on a SoO night) but people have to bring stuff. Let me know who’s coming and I’ll assign jobs. Cheers. Yes, I’ll take the bigscreen from work :thumbsup:

Other news: Godfrey’s coming back to Brisneyland for his holidays next month. I think the dates are like Thusday 03-Jun till about Tuesday 15-Jun, so hopefully the social calendar will pick up a little on or around those dates. I’d considered going to see the Lions thrash Port on the 5th-ish, but it looks like it’s sold out???

What else? I’m by myself at work today, which sucks a lot. I may’ve made an exciting purchase recently, too. More on that later.

Weekend was great. Friday night I got a bit wasted, and don’t remember much.

Saturday I went shopping in preparation for the 24-fest. What a great night … I’d made curry, and rice with sultanas and cashews and Leyton brought pie to go with icecream, and Brek brought Coke, and Bryce brought munchies. I had the projector from work, and it all went flawlessly.

Oh, except for when I made Leyton and Blacky skip an episode on their catch-up plan. I thought that we were up to 17 (as in, hadn’t seen 17) and they were two behind, so I started at 15. Turned out, 15 was the last one we saw, which meant that the other guys were up to 14, but missed 14 because we watched 15. Got it?

Anyway, it was good fun. I can’t wait for next time, so I figured that I’d announce it now: Season 3 finale of 24 will be on Friday 4th June at my place, 7pm. Can anybody make that?

In other news, I want to organize a poker night soon. And this weekend is the Doomben race day thing that Blacky (and Glenn probably) want a group to go to. I’m certainly down, question is whether people want races AND poker. Probably not. And then the question is whether people want 24 AND poker. Probably not. And the the question is whether people want races, then 24 next weekend and then poker the weekend after. Probably not. The poker might have to wait for a while unless people indicate otherwise.

I love weekends where you’re superbusy, and you get to catch up with people, etc, but this morning when I woke up, I thought I was dead, such was my extreme tiredness. Quick subway for brunch and I was ready for action, though.

I was thinking about what my “special topic” on a show like The Enistein Factor would be, and I’d have to say The Simpsons. That’s a bit lame, isn’t it? That’s the best I can come up with? I thought about picking a topic work-related, because, you know, I do that all the time, but there’s not that much trivia that can be associated with my job. So, what do I know a lot about? The Simpsons. Tragic.

Has anyone else watched that show The New Inventors on the ABC? That’s a great show, and I thank Bryce for introducing me to it. Last night it was a baby-rocker, a flood-proof fence and a smokeless fireplace. I really liked the smokeless fireplace … it look really
Leyton’s mum is making his catching up on 24 quite difficult, but I’m sure we’ll work something else. It’s a soccer night tonight, so that’s pretty exciting. And markets this weekend. :thumbsup:

Let me preface today’s entry with a reminder: 24 this Saturday, 6pm.

Some drama last night with grandpa being admitted to hospital. Mum, Bry, Woo and I all headed up to Caboolture hospital to visit yesterday afternoon (he seems fine now), and then had Foo for tea on the way back, which pretty much covers everything I’ve been up to of late.

Today I’ve been pretty productive - had a meeting with the web developer who I’m hiring for a web update project I’m in charge of, and that all seems very good. Had lunch with Leyton today at Gourmet at Moorooka, which isn’t actually a gourmet location at all, but a moderately cheap chinese place.

I’m going to borrow the projector from work for the 24 thing. Leyton has seen episode 12, Blacky has seen episode 14, so there’s still two more for Leyton before he’s even up to Blacky. Then two more for both of them … and then we’re up to date for 6pm Saturday. Guys - would you rather a pre-24 screening on Friday night (maybe after the soccer?) or a pre-24 screening on Saturday morning/afternoon. Let me know.

Ok, that’s all I’ve got. I’m heading to M&D’s later tonight because I have a doctor’s appointment at some ridiculous pre-7am hour.

Just me and Joon here at the office again today. I got an SMS from Edward in the USA this morning that woke me up, so I came into work early and cleaned my desk. That’s something that I’ve kinda wanted to do for a while now, and seeing laminate again is a good feeling.

Monday night television has disappeared down a suckhole of suckiness since Big Brother 4 returned to Australian TV, so I had an early night last night after cooking a fantastic dinner.

Let me share my recipe for Dean’s Brilliant, Quick and Easy Pasta: what you do is boil up some noodles, while in another pan, frying onion, capsicum and chunks of luncheon-meat sausage (like Strassburg, for example). I also like to add some oregano, chilli and basil at this stage. Just as the pasta’s finishing cooking, add Dolmio Sun-dried tomato stir-in sauce, drain the pasta and stir it through the sauce. Mix a couple of eggs with a dash of milk and stir through while hot. The eggs are the key to the deliciousness. Serve immediately with cheese. Mmmmm.

Unfortunately, Blacky took the leftovers to work despite not cooking it, nor cleaning up the kitchen after it. :rant:

What else is new? 24 is this weekend! 6pm at my place, earlier for Leyton and Mick, maybe days earlier (they need to catch up 2 episodes). Everyone in the 24 group should mark this Saturday at 6pm in their diaries NOW! Thanks

Another weekend over. It was a pretty good one - on Friday I watched the Broncos game before having a moderately early night. Saturday I bought a DVD-RW drive for my PC and spent some time mucking about with that. John was coming over Saturday night for some Sopranos, and Chris came too for a bit, and once they’d left I watched the rest of the Lions game. I’d had a few drinks on Saturday, trying out the Bundy, Dry and Lime premixed drinks that are available, in earnest.

Sunday, I headed over to M&Ds, as I’d not seen the fam for a week or so. Had a pseudo-lunch with Mum and Woo and then Mum and I went shopping, and then I went home. Glenn, Lara and Charlotte visited later that afternoon, and Glenn thoroughly whipped Blacky and my ass at Puerto Rico. I won my first ever game of Dvonn against Lara, but I think she let me win
Watched the special on the ABC about the Death Railway last night, which was really quite good. I was especially interested after my recent trip there. Then Gorran on Criminal Intent, and then bed. Or almost. Leyton came round with my birthday/christmas present (and Blacky’s birthday/christmas present as well). It’s a foosball table. How cool is that? We have to put it together still, and work out where it’s going to go, but it’s awesome. What a cool pres. :thumbsup:

Good morning, I know it’s a little earlier than usual for your dose of chuckler.org, but I thought I’d spice things up a bit with a change. I’m at work work early today because I woke up early. Stupid internal body clock. How unjust!

Speaking of unjust, Edward and I had the same conversation we have every 6 months or so, when he says that “we all have to do some long hours and get stuff done,” when he actually means “you have to do some long hours and get stuff done.”

It’s the old results vs effort argument, and we have it all the time. He himself is at work 80-100 hours per week, which as a director of a small company, is expected IMO, but there’s no way he’s productive for that many. Less than half, I’d say. Me? I do roughly 45-50 hours per week, and I’d say that I’m productive for about 30-35 of them, in general. But it’s a sliding scale.

Let me elaborate. My argument is this: as work hours increase, productive hours increase to a point we’ll call x, but after that begin to slide. I realize that the bulk of my reader’s aren’t idiots, but allow me to cite an example:
Say you work 40 hours, and are productive for 30. Due to workload, you increase this, and work 50 hours for 35 productive hours, which isn’t so bad.
However, if you then increase this and work 60 hours for 37 productive hours, your ratio is slipping. If you increase it to working 70, and being productive for 35, you might as well’ve only worked 50. If you work 80 and are productive for 30, well … perhaps you suck at your job. Or you’re working double shift simply to look good.

Do I begrudge having to work harder and/or longer? No. I think a certain amount of overtime is expected with my job. Do I begrudge having to do it indefinitely, or for an extended period? Yes, frankly, I do.

I had a conversation with Godfrey last week about “hard yards”. We agreed that everyone has to do the hard yards in their chosen career if they want to establish themself. I worked for this company like a dog straight out of school for a few years, until I left and started consulting. I scraped whatever contracts I could, before I went west and worked ridiculous hours for 6 months, and made hella cash. I scraped around Brisbane for a year or so, and then went to Canberra for 12 months. I think I’ve done my hard yards, and I don’t want to do them again. :nono:

Am I off base here? Any comments people want to make by blog comment or email are appreciated, as always. :hugs: Hope you all have a nice day.