sir_quirky_k (![[info]](http://www.iziblog.net/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} sir_quirky_k) wrote,@ 2007-07-19 19:10:00 |
If I can fall for this, no wonder millions fall for Noel (escapade21 update 3)
Blackpool's amusement arcades are a stain on society. I ended up spending far more than I expected there - still not a massive amount, maybe £15-20, and I won prizes of non-trivial worth possibly even approaching that, but when I of all people can do that here... no wonder so many with far less concrete grasps of mathematics and utility theory than I can get thrown into a spiral.
Winning a good soft toy on one particular skill-based game - I never played a pure luck game, for I know that these are EV- by definition - probably started it, for playing the same game with a mildly different condition* and against tougher competition was where I accrued most losses, though a cheap watch was won.
* the game was variously referred to as 'Arabian/Kentucky Derby' or similar, and its rules are simple: one or three balls (there's the condition change) are placed at the base of a shallow upslope. Holes are placed at the top of this slope, and landing the ball in them through rolling moves a 'horse' on a large cardboard display. More inaccessible holes, back and centre, move the horse faster. First to finish gains a token, one or more tokens can be exchanged for prizes. Genuinely fun to play, I thought, and were this a free attraction at a fete or similar...)
My net haul from all my games was one large soft toy, one small soft toy, one cheap watch and a bouncy ball. The watch is the least ergonomic design I've ever seen, and will probably be a December-25 present for someone; the ball is nigh-disposable; the soft toys can stay, for they provide contact comfort, and I need that. I'm certainly somewhat uncomfortable when not hugged for some time, and this has been the case here... indeed, I'd not had a hug for ten days until meeting Gizensha of the Commentariat yesterday.
Beside hugs, amusing conversation on game shows and other subjects occured. Gizensha burst into barely-controlled laughter at times, one remark drawing a particular reaction: 'is the Endemol studio in Bristol the UK's first supercasino?'
And someone from Blackpool will be more aware than most of the problems of temptation.
We spent a long time walking, my largest bag disposed of in left luggage in a cafe near North station (only £1.50 per day, a fraction of NSBH's price). Given how even this produced thermal regulation issues (the unlikely warm weather didn't help) it's safe to assume the same condition will be utilised Saturday, and apologies for inconvenience caused.
This is my last post as a 20-year-old. My first as a 21-year-old will be made tomorrow and will probably contain details of the meeting in one place. A provisional birthday present haul will be posted Sunday, after my party at Weymouth; it is provisional because there will be relatives elsewhere (aunt in Fareham, father in David Dimbleby's Home Town Polegate) to provide me with something yet.
Karaoke tonight. Last night:
* Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down. Lawks, this is virtually speech-singing, and that's not something I'm terribly good at. I suspect this to be down to the situation almost demanding one to sing loudly.
* My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade. Was rather better, exploited the varying dynamics of the song relatively well if nothing else.
Tonight, at least one ballad will be sung: probably one by a female vocalist, for these will generally be suitable with a simple one-octave transposition. The obvious contender is A Moment Like This; I've not yet sung this with the Leona backing track, and I do wonder how much I'll be dragged into Leona's vocal line if I do have her backing track. (Generally, my interpretation falls between Leona's and Kelly's, leaning towards the latter; where the two differ, I'll usually go with one or the other dependent upon how I feel and what my voice is up to at the time, for there is usually a high and low road to take, and the resultant melodic contour from the many different routes will have various levels of interest and difficulty... I do intend to actually plan this out in concrete form. The final chorus - which sits in that awkward part of my range just below my break - is particularly difficult to judge. I do usually take Leona's high sustained note because that's comfortable in falsetto, more so than taking Kelly's approach to that line which involves sustaining a somewhat weaker note in my range, and it also tends to draw a reaction. Or non-reaction, when Gemma heard me do it last month...)
If there's others I can find that aren't incurably sickly, they'll be considered. It sucks to love karaoke yet have a voice that works best for singing ballads... last night didn't challenge that, and it certainly tried.
Blackpool's amusement arcades are a stain on society. I ended up spending far more than I expected there - still not a massive amount, maybe £15-20, and I won prizes of non-trivial worth possibly even approaching that, but when I of all people can do that here... no wonder so many with far less concrete grasps of mathematics and utility theory than I can get thrown into a spiral.
Winning a good soft toy on one particular skill-based game - I never played a pure luck game, for I know that these are EV- by definition - probably started it, for playing the same game with a mildly different condition* and against tougher competition was where I accrued most losses, though a cheap watch was won.
* the game was variously referred to as 'Arabian/Kentucky Derby' or similar, and its rules are simple: one or three balls (there's the condition change) are placed at the base of a shallow upslope. Holes are placed at the top of this slope, and landing the ball in them through rolling moves a 'horse' on a large cardboard display. More inaccessible holes, back and centre, move the horse faster. First to finish gains a token, one or more tokens can be exchanged for prizes. Genuinely fun to play, I thought, and were this a free attraction at a fete or similar...)
My net haul from all my games was one large soft toy, one small soft toy, one cheap watch and a bouncy ball. The watch is the least ergonomic design I've ever seen, and will probably be a December-25 present for someone; the ball is nigh-disposable; the soft toys can stay, for they provide contact comfort, and I need that. I'm certainly somewhat uncomfortable when not hugged for some time, and this has been the case here... indeed, I'd not had a hug for ten days until meeting Gizensha of the Commentariat yesterday.
Beside hugs, amusing conversation on game shows and other subjects occured. Gizensha burst into barely-controlled laughter at times, one remark drawing a particular reaction: 'is the Endemol studio in Bristol the UK's first supercasino?'
And someone from Blackpool will be more aware than most of the problems of temptation.
We spent a long time walking, my largest bag disposed of in left luggage in a cafe near North station (only £1.50 per day, a fraction of NSBH's price). Given how even this produced thermal regulation issues (the unlikely warm weather didn't help) it's safe to assume the same condition will be utilised Saturday, and apologies for inconvenience caused.
This is my last post as a 20-year-old. My first as a 21-year-old will be made tomorrow and will probably contain details of the meeting in one place. A provisional birthday present haul will be posted Sunday, after my party at Weymouth; it is provisional because there will be relatives elsewhere (aunt in Fareham, father in David Dimbleby's Home Town Polegate) to provide me with something yet.
Karaoke tonight. Last night:
* Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down. Lawks, this is virtually speech-singing, and that's not something I'm terribly good at. I suspect this to be down to the situation almost demanding one to sing loudly.
* My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade. Was rather better, exploited the varying dynamics of the song relatively well if nothing else.
Tonight, at least one ballad will be sung: probably one by a female vocalist, for these will generally be suitable with a simple one-octave transposition. The obvious contender is A Moment Like This; I've not yet sung this with the Leona backing track, and I do wonder how much I'll be dragged into Leona's vocal line if I do have her backing track. (Generally, my interpretation falls between Leona's and Kelly's, leaning towards the latter; where the two differ, I'll usually go with one or the other dependent upon how I feel and what my voice is up to at the time, for there is usually a high and low road to take, and the resultant melodic contour from the many different routes will have various levels of interest and difficulty... I do intend to actually plan this out in concrete form. The final chorus - which sits in that awkward part of my range just below my break - is particularly difficult to judge. I do usually take Leona's high sustained note because that's comfortable in falsetto, more so than taking Kelly's approach to that line which involves sustaining a somewhat weaker note in my range, and it also tends to draw a reaction. Or non-reaction, when Gemma heard me do it last month...)
If there's others I can find that aren't incurably sickly, they'll be considered. It sucks to love karaoke yet have a voice that works best for singing ballads... last night didn't challenge that, and it certainly tried.
