kjp

Last night I played Go, at a Go night run by the Brisbane Go Club. Go is a board game that has been around for thousands of years in East Asia (China and Japan region). It's relatively simple to get the basics of. There are two sides; you take turns placing stones (either white or black) on a board, trying to gain as much territory as possible. (There's more to it than that....) But strategy is quite hard. It's a pretty nerdish game really. But hey; I can't complain about that.

I've been playing it for a little while against a computer program; and have learnt the basics of it and some simple strategies as a result. Last night was good as I was playing against a real person - a couple in fact, and watched a game played by two others. Much more interesting than the computer. The later games I played were on a 19 by 19 board - I've only ever played on 9 by 9 and 13 by 13. The big games took a while! It's also requires more long term planning to figure out what sections of the board you want to capture. It was held at the "Pancake Manor", which seems to be the poor cousin of the "Pancake Parlour" (ACT Civic bus). Or maybe they are just in the same chain. But I didn't really go downstairs, so I probably shouldn't comment....

Anyhow, it was right in the middle of the city: on Charlotte street. I got there at around 6.35 pm ish, and spent around 10 minutes (or more?) cruising around the nearby streets for a park. Being on the tight side that I am, I didn't want to pay the rortish prices at a private car park. Quite a few of the streets are one way in that part of the world: Charlotte is one. As I was cruising up Charlotte for the 3rd ? time I found a park on the right hand side of the road. It took a fair while to get into it (at least 10 changes of gear...). I haven't reverse parallel parked in ages (only a couple since my driving test quite a few years ago), and never on the right hand side of the road. If anyone was watching they'd probably be in fits of hysterical laughter at my driving display. I might pay for an easy park next week.