Self-defence

I think it’s a good thing to be prepared for not necessarily the worst but at least a dangerous situation. I went to France as a school trip a year ago and we planned on Dad teaching my friend and me basic self-defence before we left in case anything happened. That didn’t eventuate, but I have started using the punching bag regularly over the last few days (partially because it's fun and, out of my holiday exercise regime, the easiest thing to commit to doing - seriously, we bought a Wii and Zumba ages ago and I only feel comfortable using it if I'm alone or if only my brother is home, because he tried it out once and knows how awkward it would be to do with others - and partially because if I'm ever assaulted I want to be able to punch without breaking my thumb) and my brother has retaught me the correct way to punch. People don’t all need to know different moves and have practice sparring etc if that doesn’t interest them, but I think it’s important to at least know how to punch, places to aim and other basic knowledge in case something does happen. For example, if you’re being put in a headlock you should drop your chin to your chest so that the person can’t get their arm to your neck and strangle you. The armpit area is really sensitive and pinching there is extremely effective, while not long lasting. You need to be aware of the positioning of your thumb, and whether you’re going to roll your wrist, when punching to make sure that nothing gets broken. Things like that, little tricks that won’t necessarily win you a fight or immediately get you away from a bad situation but might give you the opportunity to distract the assailant for a few seconds or get out of their grip or at least delay you being strangled, could be the thing that allows you to last until you can get help or that minimises your injuries.

The Kind of Game We Play For

We had a really rough game today (the umpires were very inexperienced and the GK told me first quarter when we realised this that, "This game isn't going to be fun for you" (she said it in an apologising sort of manner but the fact that she said that and then her team proceeded to be rough, knowing that the reason that they could do what they were doing was that the umpires weren't very good, was horrible)) and it reminded me that I never uploaded a post that I drafted a few months ago. I'm not sure exactly what I planned to write after the last paragraph and so am just going to leave it as it was with the warning that I was probably going to write something else about how excited I was to be in the grade that I was in and how much fun it was and so much else that is gushing. Also, we ended up winning by one or two; neither team really cared because we knew that there was the possibility of a team being regraded and so the close outcome meant that either both or one of us would move up (silly us then offered to go up one as a friends' team a grade above us was struggling...we went up two). It was just one of those absolutely perfect games that is really the kind of game that you play netball for. So here is a gushing post from 21 April:

I love netball. And my team. And shooting. It’s such an exhilarating sport and my teammates are all lovely people. It’s always a rush when things work and you’re really accurate and your fellow shooter is, as always, one of the best players on the court, and the rest of your teammates are pushing themselves and playing their best and making you so proud of them.

Today was one of my favourite games ever. We’ve had the big wins and the big losses, the seasons when you are undefeated and those when you are grateful for the few wins that you have, but it’s the games where the score is so close that you have absolutely no idea who won, especially when the opposing team is so nice that you honestly don’t care who won, that are the games that make you think, “This is why I play netball.”

I played half a game GA against the mother of a girl who played on our team last year (she is really nice but was never particularly close with any of our team members and has always had the desire to play as high as she can, accepting that it may mean constant losses and difficult games, as she is the type of person who just genuinely wants to improve; she received an offer from a higher team and is now really happy there). It was so much fun. I knew that I would probably be against her but for some reason thought I was against the GK so was completely shocked when Lisa jogged next to me at the start of the game, grabbed my skirt and pretended that she was going to continue doing that during the game (before promptly letting go when the umpire started the game). It was a great game. Both teams did their best, made mistakes and had a blast (at least, I think everyone did...). Lisa joked with Tara about the latter’s amazing ability to rebound (Tara is, like, really tall...). Sam laughed with players on the other team. The GK I was against later made suggestions for our GK, whose first year is this year. The GK sometimes obstructed (sticking her arms out as blocks, pushing) and Mum reported some, minimal, pushing at the other end of the court, but it was done in such a good-natured way that nobody really cared.

The umpiring was really good; they missed some things, which is to be expected no matter what grade you’re playing or level they’re at, but were generally great at pulling up things and calling advantage (there were some instances where they called advantage and shouldn’t have, e.g. the GK contacted me as I was stepping in to shoot and so I was off balance and missed, but were generally really good at knowing when to leave it and when to call it back). We found that they didn’t always call the centre passes fast enough but they stood by their authority and continued bringing it back, ignoring players’ comments until the break.

So Baz Luhrmann and a little bit of - AFL? NRL? I have absolutely no idea. It's the State of Origin. Just checked. NRL.

We bought my grandmother The Baz Luhrmann Collection for her birthday, which we've since borrowed and watched two out of four of the movies on it. Having watched Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge! in the past, before watching Strictly Ballroom tonight I asked my parents whether its directorial style was a little...weird, citing the aforementioned movies as examples. (Note - Dad said that Moulin Rouge! wasn't weird while Mum agreed that it was. However, I don't think Mum enjoyed it much when she watched it, whereas I got past and eventually appreciated most of the 'weird' elements). After watching the movie tonight, I can definitely say that hte person in my year nine English class who stated that Luhrmann has a distinctive style that viewers can easily recognise is correct. I'm not sure whether I would have been able to pick it out as directed by him if I hadn't already known, but it is definitely similar to Moulin Rouge! in its flashiness and...it's hard to define exactly what it is. There's just some Luhrmannish quality about his movies, some characteristic but hard-to-completely-define element that makes it so him. It's like emotions and things are exaggerated at times. There's definitely humour. I guess it's just that he manipulates form (modern day 'Hawaiian shirt' clothing in Romeo and Juliet, modern songs and humorous exaggerations in Moulin Rouge!, the report-style beginning and humour in Strictly Ballroom). From memory, Australia doesn't quite fit this mould due to its more serious nature, but still contains his humour.

Writing this post has helped me work out my thoughts about Baz Luhrmann's style, but it still feels as if there's something that I can't quite put my finger on about him. I just don't know what it is that makes his style simultaneously a little off-putting, engaging and effective. There were parts of Moulin Rouge! that I didn't like (when Satine and Christian first meet, before the singing of Your Song) but in general the unusual aspects were endearing and really added to the story.

I hoped that writing that last paragraph would help me order my thoughts. Again, it did slightly but not completely. I should probably get back to reading Sylvia Plath's Ariel before bed instead of rambling on (trust me, pretty much everyone at my school is a pro at eloquent waffle or, as Lucky would say, "quaquaquaqua") in the hopes of discovering what this elusive quality really is.

Over the next week or so, I'm going to upload a post or two that I drafted in April, decided needed editing and proceeded to forget completely about. As it's school holidays and despite my desire to catch up with all my homework I'm a natural at procrastination so keep doing fun things like reading or watching movies or teaching friends to knit instead of my work, the uploading will probably be done sooner rather than later.




Brief note: I think that Queensland will win tonight's State of Origin. New South Wales still has a chance but it's 20-14 with eleven minutes left. Wait - no. NSW just got a really good try. Like, really good. There was a NSW and a Qld player in the area and the NSW guy (behind the Qld guy) managed to catch it, fall on the ground instead of on the other player, and get the ball down on the ground. The teams are now even. I may as well stay on here for the next nine minutes so I don't get tempted to make a second post-game post. Considering that I've never watched the State of Origin before this year, I still don't know the difference between AFL and NRL (though I'm starting to learn that NRL = Origin) and I only ever really watched AFL when my friend's team (St Kilda) were in the grandfinals AND I was at a restaurant where it was on TV and I didn't have much else to do, I'm surprisingly into the outcome of this game. Queensland just scored. 21-20. This is going to be insanely close. Five minutes left. Even if NSW loses, though, we've had at least two very good games this series so it'll be interesting to see what happens next time. Okay, Queensland has pretty much won. Queenland has the ball and it's - oh, NSW does now. But there's a minute to go, so they don't have long to make it a draw. They took the kick and missed, so it's Queensland's again.

Game's over, Queensland won 21-20 and thus retained the championship. I love how the NSW players are sitting while the Queensland players celebrate. It's due to exhaustion and disappointment, sure, but still slightly funny.

Allez les bleus!

Whoo, go NSW!!! I've never really been a State of Origin fan...as in, I had to ask Mum which team was which even though the scores showed which colour each team was. But I was knitting a scarf for a friend's birthday and the only other mildly interesting thing on was Chocolat, a movie set in France that seemed interesting but at the time I turned it on had a weird scene. So we settled for the State of Origin. And it was...interesting. Neither of us really knew the rules (Dad told me about the point system a week or two ago but, seriously, there was NO WAY that I was going to remember the specifics) so we just picked it up as we went along. AND NSW WON! After a five (I think?) year losing streak, we won. Well, by 'we', I kind of include myself as I watched but at the same time I could only care a tiny bit less about it before this afternoon and wouldn't really lament if I never watch it again. It was a good game though. I also love the fact that I could say 'Allez les bleus!' It also reminded me that, as my netball team wears blue, I can (and, if I remember, will) say that at our games from now on.