Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
There isn't really anything. Possibly a few friends I'd lost contact with?
AMA Aislabie, Part Two
- Thread starter Aislabie
- Start date
How do you feel about the plastic in the sea situation and what do you think we can do about it as a society?
Should diesel cars be banned altogether?
Do you think welcoming new members is a good idea as some forums can seem a little partizan making it hard for them to integrate?
Do you ask questions on other members AMA threads and particularly those of new members so making them feel welcome and not pushed out?
Apologies if not British, do you feel the UCAS points tariff is fair or do you feel it is biased towards high league schools?
Should diesel cars be banned altogether?
Do you think welcoming new members is a good idea as some forums can seem a little partizan making it hard for them to integrate?
Do you ask questions on other members AMA threads and particularly those of new members so making them feel welcome and not pushed out?
Apologies if not British, do you feel the UCAS points tariff is fair or do you feel it is biased towards high league schools?
Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
It's a huge issue, but I'm not sure it's the hugest. It's just one symptom of a huge global problem: namely that for as long as profit has been the chief motivator, we have taken from the planet far more than it is able to give. At some point, we will have no choice but to make drastic changes to our lives as a result of the consequences which absolutely could still be minimised if it weren't for the world still being run by whoever has the biggest bank balance.
Plastics are a symptom, over-consumption is the process, but capitalism is the sickness.
What good is banning certain kinds of fossil fuel concoctions if we're going to switch to electric cars that have been shipped all around the world and that will be powered by electricity produced by fossil fuels?
Merely banning diesel would be playing whack-a-mole (although it is certainly a mole that should be whacked).
I mostly hang out in the cricket forum; I would love for new members to feel welcomed, and certainly don't think that our cricket site - a place of leisure - should be causing anyone stress.
I personally don't ask that many questions, but I also don't check my own AMA very often. I think this is a good place for people to come and ask me about specific points I may have posted, especially if the topic I made the point in has moved on.
Britain is like a Jenga tower with no more bricks left to safely remove at the moment, and all our education bricks have already been pulled.
University education is simultaneously overpriced and loss-making, which is a terrible combination in a capitalist education system. Because there are more university places and courses out there than we could ever need - and especially because of the school-to-uni-to-workforce pipeline we're all pushed into - universities are able to set unrealistic standards for entry and prospective students work hard to achieve them only for most institutions to accept results three grades below their original offer (such as BCC instead of ABB) if their course isn't oversubscribed. Our money matters more than our abilities and it's a rotten system.
Take myself as an example - I am a fairly gifted mathsy-sciencey type, but my worst nightmare is to work in an office. I still felt that I had to go to uni though, and six years on (a gap year working, then a BA, then another year working and a failed MA) I'm sat here unsure what my next option is and probably taking supermarket work until I learn a trade or something. Meanwhile, those who left school at 16 or 18 for an apprenticeship have now got four to six years' experience in their trades.
I wouldn't change any of my choices and am happy with how things have worked out, but I am left bemused by a system that would have considered me a "waste" if I'd gone and learned a trade out of school.
UCAS tariffs are fine. Not great, not terrible. The thing schools don't (and really should) tell you is to pick somewhere you'd love to live for several years. As a result of doing that I've got to live in beautiful places for five years.
CerealKiller
Staff Member
Had the chance to catch some PSL action on Sky?
Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Not really; I've been trying to spend more time outside so have been out walking a lot of the time it's been on. I did end up catching some when I expected Sky to be showing a Blast game though
Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Go for it
Are you married? Think in one of your post you mentioned a fiance.
Any improvement on your fitness? With things normalised I hope youre dropping some pounds.
Your honest thoughts on IPL given a 3 month window? Particularly how does this, or perhaps is affecting test cricket?
Whats the pinnacle of achievement for the English team in your view? The T20 Cup, a series win in Australia……
Why have you been active for so long on this forum? What attracts you to remain here and still posting quality stuff?
Recent passing of Queen Elizabeth (RIP) has opened up some talks on colonialism etc….right here on this forum. What are your views on the colonial era and how it affected places like India?
Any improvement on your fitness? With things normalised I hope youre dropping some pounds.
Your honest thoughts on IPL given a 3 month window? Particularly how does this, or perhaps is affecting test cricket?
Whats the pinnacle of achievement for the English team in your view? The T20 Cup, a series win in Australia……
Why have you been active for so long on this forum? What attracts you to remain here and still posting quality stuff?
Recent passing of Queen Elizabeth (RIP) has opened up some talks on colonialism etc….right here on this forum. What are your views on the colonial era and how it affected places like India?
Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
Not yet; still engaged and the plan is to hopefully get married next year.
Yes, I've been hitting the gym about three times a week on average for the last six months.
Not a fan of other boards going out of their way to accommodate it, even though I completely understand the logic of allowing their best players the best chance to earn their money. The IPL can be three months and I've no problem with that, but the rest of cricket shouldn't just stop dead to accommodate it.
This is a tricky one because the English team has such a long and weird history. I'm going to name a shortlist of five.
- Not losing a Test series from 1951 to 1958.
- 1981 Ashes
- 2005 Ashes
- 2012/3 away series win over India (although really, the whole 2009 to 2013 period in Test cricket)
- 2019 Cricket World Cup
I like talking about cricket.
My view on this period of history is that it's a fascinating period to study, which can be extremely instructive to help understand many issues that still affect most of the world to this day.
It's also a shameful period of history to glorify, which many still do.
Follow up questions with regard to colonialism:
In your view would India be better off under colonial rule today?
Did you personally mourn the passing of the queen?
The main reason in your view for the WI team of the 80s/90s to fall from grace. Similarly Australia have a weakened side compared to the 00s, why? Can we expect another team to dominate world cricket in the fashion of these sides?
I’ve recently entered the cricket section, posting frequently and consistently for the first time in a very long time. Have you taken note at all?
You’ve gone pretty soft in recent years wrt your posting. Youre not harsh and insulting as you use to be in the past, why? Have you even notice this change? Think I recall you calling others by the ‘r’ word a couple times, or perhaps I’m mistaken?
Other than sports and spending time with your loved ones (pet included) what else occupy you in your downtime? Movies perhaps?
What type/genre of music you listen to?
Do you think I’m really psychotic in nature?
Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
No.
No. But it was very surreal all the same. She's been the same old lady in the same position since before I was born.
A tiny population, dispersed across several territories, none of which have any great degree of economic prosperity. If anything, the West Indies now are outperforming their resources; the period through the '70s and '80s is one of the unlikeliest chapters in cricket history.
You can't sustain such an elite national team on the back of a professional player pool of c. 120 individuals indefinitely. The present team is still exceptional though (Warner, Khawaja, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Cummins, Hazlewood, Lyon and probably Starc would all get into any other national team in the world.
One thing that helps is that below the c. 120 professionals are c. 2,000 semi-professionals across State Second XI and First Grade cricket. This was briefly compromised when CA overinvested in "pathways", with steps like turning State Second XI cricket into State U23s. This meant that newly professional cricketers had not tested themselves against experienced State players until they arrived in the Shield, and compromised the development of around a decade of prospective players.
India should do. That they don't yet is an interesting anomaly and evidences a failure of coaching practices.
I have not.
I'm not a teenager anymore. If we don't cringe at our past selves, it likely means we've not improved.
I don't recall doing so, but I would also not be surprised if I did. I hope I have educated myself since then.
I have a lot of hobbies, but working full time in a job I hate has limited the amount of energy I'm able to devote to them. I enjoy reading and writing; I occasionally make art; I create very niche spreadsheets; I enjoy exploring new places; I am an excellent cook, and also enjoy trying food at new places; I have become a regular at the gym; I have a keen interest in three main sports (cricket, motorsports, snooker), each of which I engage with in different ways.
I also enjoy movies; tonight my fiancée and I watched Arrival. It was spectacular.
I have quite an eclectic taste in films.
I don't listen to nearly as much music as I used to, but my favourite artist at the moment is Manchester Orchestra.
Wikipedia lists them as "indie rock", "art-rock" and "post-hardcore" which describes my music taste quite specifically.
I don't have enough information to answer this question, nor do I think it's a particularly healthy one to ask.
Favourite songs of theirs? They're one of my favourites too.
Aislabie
Test Cricket is Best Cricket
The Silence was the song that grabbed my attention and continues to hold it to this day. I also love the version of The Gold they did with Phoebe Bridgers doing guest vocals.
I'm also painfully aware that those are the #1 and #3 songs on their Spotify list, which must make me the most tragic normie fan in the land.
Same with you on The Silence; my other favourites are a couple of their deeper cuts (Where Have You Been and Leaky Brakes)
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