The SquizLogKeith Pitty takes a squiz at the world. |
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The SquizLogKeith Pitty takes a squiz at the world. |
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There's something intoxicating about being entranced by good jazz improvisation.
Last night I certainly found myself in a trance like state at times whilst listening to the Todd Hardy Quintet at the new Soup Plus. Even though my friends Robert and Michael and I had situated ourselves on the mezzanine level to afford ourselves the chance to talk as well as listen, I could not help but be drawn into concentrating on the interplay between the musicians. In this case it was Todd on trumpet together with a sax player, an acoustic bass player, a drummer and a pianist (Darren Heinrich).
I find it very refreshing for my mind when I listen to excellent music played live. Especially with jazz, I am so focussed on and absorbed by the music that there is no room for any of those annoying, distracting thoughts that may have been left over from my day's work.
I hope to be back at the Soup again one evening soon.
It wasn't so many years ago that the authorities attempted to kick the two University clubs out of the Sydney Grade Cricket competition.
This season's competition has now reached the grand finals. And how times have changed. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Sydney University Number 1 Oval, Sydney University will do battle with the University of NSW for the First Grade Premiership.
So my chant will have to be more specific than usual: go Sydney Uni!
Apparently there is a dwindling number of women in IT. As I look around my office I could be forgiven for questioning this. It's hard for the number to dwindle from zero. :(
Via ACM TECHNews
Cheers of excitement emanated from the enclosure. Our curiosity lead us to investigate.
It was last Friday and we had been battling the crowds of Sydney's Royal Easter Show and were searching for somewhere to rest our feet for a while. 
Moving inside towards the source of the noise we found dogs and their owners engaged in serious competition. It turned out to be a sport called flyball, which is a relay race between two teams of four dogs. Each dog has to hurdle several barriers, fetch a ball and return over the hurdles to their owner without dropping the ball. I'm not sure who was more excited, the dogs or their owners.
It appeared that teams from all over NSW were competing, one from Parramatta even calling themselves internationals. I was more inclined to barrack for less pretentious outfits, like the Sydney Psychos and The Thunderdogs.
All in all, I have to admit that it was fun to watch and certainly beat being crushed in the Showbags Hall later in the day.
As new dog owners, we took more of an interest than we would have otherwise. Naturally we were convinced that our Rusty would have excelled.
It was a thrilling finish but we had to make do with watching the score progress via the Internet.
No TV coverage, not even any radio coverage of yesterday evening's final nerve-racking moments of the Pura Cup final at the Gabba in Brisbane. Having lost five wickets for three runs NSW was rescued by tail-enders Nathan Bracken and Stuart MacGill who combined for an unlikely 22 run partnership to edge the Blues across the line.
Closer to home, Saturday's Under 13A final between Woy Woy and Doyalson was a one-sided affair. So Alex and his Woy Woy teammates are celebrating as undefeated premiers!
Now I have the next two weekends to support Sydney University in their quest for the Sydney First Grade premiership. Not to mention the Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade premierships. Go Uni!
When Michael Slater announced his retirement from cricket I was moved to reflect on his career. I emphasised the contrast between his exhilarating strokeplay and his tendency to self-destruct.
Slater's revelation last Monday that his mental struggles have been diagnosed as bipolar disorder left me with even more admiration for the man. And it explained a thing or two.
It takes guts to open the batting against the world's best opening bowlers. It takes even more courage to publicly announce that one has such an illness.
Daniel Bradby has posted some interesting thoughts based on his experiences of Pair Programming.
In particular he talks about the intensity of pairing and how it is at odds with the "flow" state one experiences when immersed in programming alone:
I have found it difficult to get into any sort of flow while pairing. In fact I find myself on the edge of flow, constantly trying to enter that flow state to "just code", while having to stay outside of flow so as to be able to communicate with my partner. I think this accounts for a good portion of why I feel pairing is so intense and tiring. Maintaining that semi-flow state wears me down.These words struck a chord with me. Pair Programming is undoubtedly intense and tiring. In my experience it has also been less satisfying.
I think Daniel has highlighted one of the reasons, for me anyway. Pair Programming doesn't provide individual programmers with the opportunity to be immersed in a programming experience that may lead to a personally satisfying outcome.
In my humble opinion there must be a better way to achieve some of the benefits of pair programming in a slightly modified form. For example, pair reviewing code rather than the navigator reviewing it whilst it is being typed.
As you can probably tell, I'm not a fan of pair programming. I think it is useful in some situations, can work well with a well-matched pair but in general I have found that it doesn't work for me. Nevertheless, Daniel's post offers some helpful advice based on real experience.
I just returned to my desk to find $2.20 sitting on my iBook. The soup beggar has repaid his debt.
I'm having one of those weeks at work where, now that it's Thursday evening, my brain feels like it has been reduced to pulp. I can't even begin to describe the various stop/start activities that have lead to this, not that they would make riveting reading anyway...
Suffice to say that it's time to pack up and head home with the hope that I'll be alert enough to alight at Gosford station.
It may be nine years since I donned the Sydney University Cricket Club colours but I still follow the club keenly and take delight in their success.
So I was very happy to learn that they clinched the Sydney Grade Cricket Club Championship yesterday. Not only that, each of their five grade teams will contest the preliminary finals next weekend:
First Grade vs Manly-Warringah
Second Grade vs Mosman
Third Grade vs UTS-Balmain
Fourth Grade vs Wests
Fifth Grade vs Parramatta
Now the business end of the season starts.
Here in Australia the 2004/05 cricket season is drawing to a close.
I find myself enjoying the penultimate stages of various competitions purely as a spectator. My regular playing days are over and my coaching duties are essentially complete for the season. So, aside from some administration for my local club, I'm following the progress of several teams on the cusp of achieving glory.
Of course I'm following the First Test between Australia and New Zealand across the Tasman, but they're hardly on the cusp of achieving glory; for them it's more a matter of maintaining a stranglehold of supremacy at the top of world cricket.
I'm more focussed on several lower levels.
Firstly, there's the NSW team's promising position in the last round of the Pura Cup. A win should see them in the final against either Queensland. Go the Blues!
Then there's my old club, Sydney University. Today they had the opportunity against Gordon to clinch the Sydney Grade Cricket Club Championship, which they should have done given their comfortable lead. The club also had the chance to ensure that all five grades will contest the finals. So, go Uni! (I'll be eagerly awaiting news in the Sunday paper.)
And, most importantly and closer to home, the Woy Woy Under 13A team convincingly won their semi-final against The Entrance today. Like a good parent, I was at the ground to witness the nine-wicket victory which gives them a chance of premiership glory in next Saturday's grand final.
Tim Bray gives ten reasons why blogging is good for your career. Via Simon Brunning.
Number four on his list struck a chord with me:
No matter how great you are, your career depends on communicating. The way to get better at anything, including communication, is by practicing. Blogging is good practice.Practicing my writing skills has certainly been one of the major benefits I have experienced since I was cajoled into blogging more than a year and a half ago.
Synchronicity.
Today, shortly after reading Johanna Rothman's opinion (via Esther Derby) about forced ranking, I had lunch with three former colleagues, all now IT managers in large corporates. They were bemoaning, to various degrees, the procedures they must follow during annual staff appraisals.
One described the perverse tendency to keep a low performer in his team so that he was not forced into giving a low ranking to someone who had done a good job but happened to be in a team of high performers. Indeed he had one such team member, which made his ranking job easier. Subsequently he managed to assist this employee to find a more suitable position elsewhere, for which he was congratulated. But when the time came for the next round of appraisals he was left with the unenviable task of giving a good performer the lowest rank in his team.
Hardly conducive to getting the best out of employees who aren't stellar performers but are capable of improving. And not the sort of management that I would imagine promoting good teamwork. In short, an unhealthy practice leading to an unhealthy culture.
As Johanna says:
Managers need to provide effective feedback weekly to their employees. If you give feedback, coaching where appropriate, and use a reasonable evaluation system, you don't need to use forced ranking. Forced ranking delivers precisely what you don't want: people working for their own betterment. Forced ranking is the coward's way to manage people.
Shortly after an Italian journalist was released from being held as a hostage, US forces shot her and killed an Italian secret service agent. As the editor of her newspaper said:
An Italian agent has been killed by an American bullet. A tragic demonstration which we never wanted that everything that's happening in Iraq is completely senseless and mad.Completely senseless and mad. That would appear to sum the Iraq conflict up.
As Simon says, yet another meme (reminiscent of an e-mail chain letter). But the idea has sucked me in to the extent that I'll take the bait.
"Copy the list on to your blog, put in bold the ones you have listened to (completely from beginning to end) and then add three more albums that you think people should have heard."
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
London Calling - The Clash
Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Think Tank - Blur
This is Hardcore - Pulp
Moon Safari - Air
Elastica - Elastica
Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols
OK Computer - Radiohead
The Kiss of Morning - Graham Coxon
Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars - David Bowie
The Wall - Pink Floyd
Setting Sons - The Jam
America Beauty - The Grateful Dead
Toxicity - System of a Down
Train a Comin' - Steve Earle
Folksinger - Phranc
Come From the Shadows - Joan Baez
Bat out of Hell - Meatloaf
The River - Bruce Springsteen
The Very Best of Joan Armatrading - Joan Armatrading
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits
Outside - David Bowie
Passionoia - Black Box Recorder
Version 2.0 - Garbage
Too Young To Die (Greatest Hits) - St. Etienne
The Complete Recordings - Robert Johnson
Absolution - Muse
Kind of Blue - Miles Davis
My three:
Handel: Suites for Keyboard - Keith Jarrett
Dream of the Elders - Dave Holland Quartet
Musica Barocca - Il Giardino Armonico
(I notice Simon has added some jazz, as have I; but I feel compelled to augment the list with a couple of sublime classical albums.)
My curiosity got the better of me and I found the original list.
Update (03/03): I've had to make a slight amendment... Simon inspired me to purchase Kind of Blue, which not only features Miles Davis on trumpet but John Coltrane on tenor sax. I've already listened to it from beginning to end several times. And it would appear to be an excellent choice. As the concluding sentence on the back cover says:
If you're going to heaven, might as well go first-class all the way.
For some reason this morning I found myself feeling a little grumpy.
It was probably something to do with the fact that I was commuting to work on the train and I was running late. Fortunately, before my journey was over I pulled out some reading material that helped put things in perspective.
It was the Summer 2004 edition of Oxfam News including stories such as that about the plight of refugees in the Darfur province of western Sudan and how Oxfam is helping them by drilling for water. As well as being informative (e.g. one toilet flush in Australia is equal to the amount of water most people there have for the whole day), it made me realise how any commuting complaints I may have pale into insignificance compared to the experience of those struggling to survive due to circumstances beyond their control.
I'm pleased to support Oxfam and the humanitarian work they do. Which reminds me, the annual Walk Against Want is coming up: hopefully I'll be there participating.
Meanwhile, news from Oxfam provides me with a reality check about how lucky I am.