Target petanque

So, the other day I was stuck at home, studying for an exam, and the weather was rather inclement.  This did give me the opportunity to use the word "inclement" (which is always fun), but also meant I couldn't go for a walk.

I was planning on studying steadily for several hours (ppft!  like that was ever going to happen) and then go for a walk.  I'm very easily distracted at the best of times.  Give me a rainy day and all I want to do is play.

And, for some reason, there's nothing like telling my brain that it desperately needs to focus on something important to get those eureka moments regarding other issues that are of a) no relevance to the task at hand, and b) no importance in the grand scheme of things.

So, while trying to cram separable and inseparable verbs into my head (I understand the principle, but I don't know the vocabulary), I "discovered" a new in door game that's potentially fun for the whole family.

I'd like to say I invented it but, quite frankly, it's so obvious and simple that I'm pretty sure someone has already done that, so I'm going to say "discovered".  And, on the odd chance no one has already patented the darn thing and is attempting to make money out of it as I speak, I'm giving the idea away for free.

Any enterprising soul who wants to make a version of this to sell can go ahead and do so, but it's a bit DIY, really, and anyone can do it as long as they have some juggling balls or hacky-sacks/footbags around the place.

I call it "target petanque", and it's kind of like a cross between petanque and curling.  And a little bit indoor bowling for people with limited space.

You will need:

• Two pieces of paper (or even just one)
• Some highlighters or coloured pens
• Two or three juggling balls (the bean-bag kind) or hacky-sacks/footbags per player
• A hallway or space that's approximately 1 pace wide and at least six paces long.

This is how you play:

1. Using the coloured pens, draw a target on each sheet of paper - a vertical/horizontal cross (+) with a circle around the center that has a radius about the size of one of your balls (so, in theory, two balls could fit side-by-side inside the circle).
2. Put one target at one end of the hallway, take six long steps (paces) and put the other target at that point (perhaps put another mark at the six-pace point for the younger/shorter members of the family).  Decide which areas are "out of bounds".
3. Assemble players into two teams.
4. Stand behind one target and, with your feet planted firmly on the ground, toss the balls underhand towards the farther target.
5. Like petanque, each team takes a turn to toss initially.  If team A's ball is closer to the target than team B's ball, team B keeps tossing until they have the closest ball.  Then team A tosses until they have the closest ball, and so on.  
6. When all of the balls have been tossed, the winning team is the one with the ball closest to the center of the target.  They score 1 point for each ball that is closer to the center than the closest ball for the opposing team.
7. If a ball lands on or in the circle around the center of the target, it will score 2 points - regardless of whether it is the winning ball (so, a ball that lands in the circle *and* is the closest ball to the center is worth 3 points).  Any balls that end up out of bounds are not counted.
8. Players then line up behind that target, facing the opposite direction, and play again - throwing back towards the target at the other end of the hall (if space makes this awkward, they can always throw from the same point in the same direction).
9. Play back and forth from both ends, the first team to reach 13 points wins.

And that's it.  Pretty simple - and easy enough to do on a rainy day, as long as you have enough juggling balls/footbags to give each player two balls.

If I were an enterprising soul myself (which I'm not) I would make a pack with four sets of three juggling balls (three red, three yellow, three blue and three green, for example) and two prefabricated targets.  That would enable up to six people to play at one time, and also come in handy for juggling parties.

Oh...  I should totally start throwing juggling parties...

Still obsessing about lawn bowls

I know, I know, I should just shut up and join a club or something.

But...

...They're vaguely intimidating, and I feel like I'm both sought after and undesirable and the same time - which is a really weird feeling.

It's something about the way they seem desperately grateful to have new people, but don't particularly want to change things to make it possible for new people to ease in.

It's still very much the domain of people who are free during office hours (as opposed to people who work and/or study) - and still very much the domain of people who want to take bowling seriously (as opposed to people who just want to give it a go and see if it takes).

I've recently discovered one of the oldest clubs in town is desperate for members, and I have a vague desire to infiltrate their club and use it to conduct strange experiments regarding the future of lawn bowls in this town.

I want to install petanque/bocce courts beside the green and open the place up to families looking for a fun activity on a weekend (offering petanque, bocce, lawn bowls and table bowls - heck, maybe we could even rustle up enough indoor space to include carpet bowls).

I want to alter their opening hours so that they have mixed competition "days" after 6pm (they can still keep their mens and ladies things for their retirees during the day, if they want) to give workers an avenue into the competition side of the sport.

I want to open the joint up on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 6pm for "casual" games that can start and finish at any time during that period.  No one has to get their names in, they just have to turn up with someone to play with.  As long as there's space to play, they can play.

I want to throw in a regular barefoot bowls night that will allow people without playing partners to come along and join in.

I want to turn the kitchen into a kiosk, selling icecreams and cold drinks all day on the weekends, and offering toasted sandwiches at lunchtime on Saturdays and Sundays (and maybe also on the club days when the ladies and men are playing).

I want to have them open for "dinner" on Saturday and Sunday nights - a BBQ on Saturdays, and a Roast on Sundays.

I want to alter the membership schedule so that there are three different kinds of membership:

• Casual (gets you a membership card for the weekend, with all the discounts, and includes one "free" game), 
• Social (gives you all the member discounts for the year and invitations to members-only social events) and 
• Full (gives you the right to compete for the club, free entry to competition days and all the stuff the Social membership has).

There will be two prices for everything - food, drinks, games, merchandise:  everything - one for "members" and one for "walk-ins".  When members can get 15% off beer and icecream, I suspect a number of "walk-ins" will decide a Casual membership for the weekend might not be a bad idea.

Oh, and we'll get rid of that whole "nominated and seconded" by thing required for membership that I've seen at most bowls clubs.  If you want to join, we won't put hurdles in your way.

I want to sell merchandise during opening hours:  generic lawn bowls crap, generic Townsville crap, and specific "playing lawn bowls at this particular club in Townsville" crap.  Hats, T-shirts, mugs, that sort of thing.

And I want to create some sort of communication plan, where things like opening hours and membership options are made available to the general public.  Something like, I don't know, a functioning website.  Perhaps even an email address, which was really easy to find, where one can send emails and have questions answered.

That's what I'd do, if I could infiltrate this club and bend it to my wishes.  Then, maybe, I'd feel comfortable about turning up to the club to play.

There may be a flaw in my plan, though...