Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Unequally Yoked

Home
Catholic
Misguided Maps, Unbalanced Games, and Deadly Dresses

Misguided Maps, Unbalanced Games, and Deadly Dresses

Last updated on: June 13, 2014 at 1:31 am by Leah Libresco

Misguided Maps, Unbalanced Games, and Deadly Dresses 2014-06-13T01:31:39-04:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

— 1 —

When my mother read yesterday’s post on peer mediation and restorative justice, she was surprised I had left out a story from my own childhood. In fourth grade, I was a peer mediator, and, one day, after school, our doorbell rang, and my mom found a classmate who had looked up where I lived and walked over to ask if I would mediate an out-of-school fight.

According to my mom, I walked outside and started going through the mediation script (“Do you agree to listen to each other” etc) but one of the conditions was too onerous for them to sign on for, and the other kids scarpered.

I had no memory of this incident, but I do remember mediating a fight that started during a floor hockey game and being afraid I was going to get hit with one of the hockey sticks.

— 2 —

I’m primarily ignoring the World Cup, but, due to an amusing post by Math With Bad Drawings about the opposite versions of sports, I discovered strange saga of the Barbados-Grenada game of the of 1994 Caribbean Cup. I’m just going to reproduce Wikipedia’s description of the incident here:

Grenada went into the match with a superior goal difference, meaning that Barbados needed to win by two goals to progress to the finals. The trouble was caused by two things. First, unlike most group stages in football competitions, the organizers had deemed that all games must have a winner. All games drawn over 90 minutes would go to sudden death extra time. Secondly and most importantly, there was an unusual rule which stated that in the event of a game going to sudden death extra time the goal would count double, meaning that the winner would be awarded a two goal victory.

Barbados was leading 2-0 until the 83rd minute, when Grenada scored, making it 2-1. Approaching the dying moments, the Barbadians realized they had little chance of scoring past Grenada’s mass defense in the time available, so they deliberately scored an own goal to tie the game at 2-2. This would send the game into extra time and give them another half hour to break down the defense. The Grenadians realized what was happening and attempted to score an own goal as well, which would put Barbados back in front by one goal and would eliminate Barbados from the competition.

However, the Barbados players started defending their opposition’s goal to prevent them from doing this, and during the game’s last five minutes, the fans were treated to the incredible sight of Grenada trying to score in either goal while Barbados defended both ends of the pitch. Barbados successfully held off Grenada for the final five minutes, sending the game into extra time. In extra time, Barbados notched the game-winner, and, according to the rules, was awarded a 4-2 victory, which put them through to the next round.

— 3 —

And while we’re talking about bizarre distortions caused by misguided rules, how can I not mention a fun Mercator map tool?

Drew Roos has built a tool that lets you shift the pole of a Mercator projection, so you can customize which parts of the world get warped as badly as Greenland and Antartica. (h/t Nathan Yau). Here’s what happens when you set New York City at the pole:

And I would never give you a map link without this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8zBC2dvERM

— 4 —

I didn’t get to watch the Tony Awards live this week, but, having mostly caught up on the performances online, I’m pretty sure I can tell you that this number from A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder was the best of the night. In fact, it was probably best of the night before the first note was sung, and you’ll shortly see why:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV356ZKDn34

— 5 —

Les Mis got a performance slot at the Tonys but, in lieu of that video (which was fun, but no better than the Les Mis in Concert clips you’ve probably seen), let me share the exchange I found on MBlume’s tumblr instead:

someone literally named an asteroid after jean valjean are you fucking kidding me

now we know why javert spends so much time looking at the stars

#THERE.#OUT IN THE DARKNESS.#A FUGITIVE RUNNING.#FALLEN FROM GOD

Shout out to the dude from ‘70’s that was a part of the Les Mis fandom that decided to name it that because of the fact it was asteroid # 24601

— 6 —

Christian H, a delightful commenter here, has started a blog keeping track of various delightful thing, and Hnefatafl is my favorite thing he’s shared so far:

Gameplay is asymmetric, with one side consisting of 12 soldiers and a king, stationed in the center of the 11×11 board. The other side consists of 24 soldiers positioned in groups of six around the edge. All pieces move as rooks in chess (in straight lines only, no distance limit) and pieces are captured by sandwiching an opponent’s piece between two of yours. The king’s objective is to escape off the edge of the board before being captured by complete encirclement, and king’s side is generally considered easier to win.

The way the game manages its asymmetry was interesting enough, but it was even better to find out that this is the game that inspired Thud!

— 7 —

And finally, when I was reading a feature on arsenic and fashion, I found out about one factor that shaped historical fashion design that I had never considered.

Mania for arsenic green (also used in artificial flowers, wallpaper, paint, even medicine for morning sickness) offers the perfect example. Its popularity was abetted by ready supply as a mining by-product (William Morris’s family owned the biggest arsenic mine in England), as well as by the arrival of the electric light bulb, which shifted colour preferences. “It retained a luminous quality in daylight or evening,” says Semmelhack, who notes that it wasn’t until the light bulb that diamonds became important in fashion “because they really sparkled.”

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes

Previous Post

June 12, 2014

The School Where Bullies Ask for Help

Next Post

June 14, 2014 In the Game of Markets, You Win or You Lie

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the meaning of the word "Golgotha"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

City of Bread River of Blood Place of the Skull Peaceful Garden