Marching On

Now entering the final week of the semester, the days have become more focused on study. No one wants to fail their end of semesters.

Clinical briefing today for MRS. It was basically checking that you have all the required items like CPR cert, PRM, vaccination etc. It took up the better part of 2 hours almost. It really depended on what line you decided to join and when you joined it. I joined a line where the checking was quick and very brief. The guy was like, "yep, yep, you got everything." I'm not sure if he actually saw some of the certs that people were trying to show him. There was also a quick test on the clinical practice. But it was a bit hard, and didn't focus on the ethic and legal side of things, which everyone studied like hell because it's like the largest part of the unit.

Some good news now. My group mark for our presentation on infection control was scored 19/22. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Despite the slowly increasing workload, I'm still managing to keep up with House and Doctor Who. Did you know that Torchwood, a Doctor Who spinoff, is going to appear on Channel Ten? The sole reason I believe is that one of the main characters is Captain Jack Harkness. Because if you call him Captain Jack it almost like Captain Jack Sparrow. I want to watch the third Pirates of the Carribean, but it's been getting rather poor reviews. I'm a pretty shallow movie viewer. I really liked all three movies, and didn't really get why everyone seems to dislike it. Bah.

Back to study.

Ever pulled teeth out of a chicken?

Sorru about the lack of updates. I've been capped for the past two weeks and you can't imagine how painfully slow it was. Plus catching up on work and revision required me to log onto USyd's WebCT which was downright slow. Moving on...

I now know where I'm going for clinical practice. From the 9th to the 13th July, I'll be at Westmead Hospital, which is suprisingly close to Parramatta. While it's nice to know where I'll be going I am a little bit apprehensive about the whole thing. Still, I'm sure it'll be fun and I'll learn a whole bunch of stuff.

Lectures, as all university students know, can be quite boring depending on the lecturer and/or the subject matter. My lectures on radiation protection can be said to be quite boring, mainly because the subject is a bit dry. So the lecture is kinda boring, unless the lecturer goes of on a tangent. On one lecture we were talking about non-ionising radiation, specifically lasers and their class. The higher the class, the more powerful it is. Australia supposedly bans class 3 lasers for personal use, but one can easily buy one off Ebay. The funny thing was the lecturer joked that he bought such a laser to aim at the naval base nearby and see how long it takes for them to respond. Hopefully, not that quickly.

I'm also one of those people joining the ranks of "I want money, but don't have a job". I haven't been searching jobs all that zealously though, but having some extra money seems like a good thing, right about now.

So everyone, keep it up and try not to fail. I know several who came into hair's width of failing. I came damn close to failing. Too close.

Let's take it slow...

I'm capped. Stop. Will post more later. Stop. Still here. Stop. Painful. Stop. Please let the pain. Stop.

Impossible Dream

Here's a little quote off Serena's blog

drummer of the doors, john densmore said this (in regards to rejecting an offer by cadillac for 15 million dollars to use a doors song in their commercial): "People lost their virginity to this music, got high for the first time to this music. I've had people say kids died in Vietnam istening to this music, other people say they know someone who didn't commit suicide because of this music…. On stage, when we played these songs, they felt mysterious and magic. That's not for rent."

The point being that music is something quite wonderful. Now there's plenty of music, that while are really good and all, just seem rather poppy. The music is nice for entertainment and that's about it. But in the ocean of sugary pop songs and repetitive beats, there are these songs that are fucking amazing. That these songs are mysterious, magical and powerful. Honestly I've never been into the whole "powerful, life-changing music" thing.

But.

This Honda advert pops up with what I feel as the most inspirational song ever. Holy crap. I'm going all sappy over a song that was written for a music back in 1965. Check out the ad below. This is one hell of a melding between video and music. Damn inspirational.



The song is The Impossible Dream, sung by Andy Williams.

All Power to the Imagination!

I beat Sophia in Brain Age. Granted the challenge was 30 simple calculations. Still, they can be tough stuff if you let your skills erode. I've being clocking in the 30-40 second range and the first time Sophia did the challenge she was in the minutes range. Unfortunately, Sophia can still claim the crown for Mario Kart DS, however, I'm not losing that badly. I think I have the mechanics worked out better and finished the game in the 50cc stage. Now up to 100cc and beyond.

That said, Brain Age is quite an interesting game. It's rival, Big Brain Academy, is a bit more colorful, but Brain Age has this cultish feel, as Sophia pointed out. To call it a game would be a tad incorrect. It's something you can give to a non-gamer and they would have a nice time playing. Mario Kart is relatively simplistic, but the mechanics of drifting, powersliding and getting the speed boost out of it is quite challenging. You really have to play the tracks several times to get a handle on when and where to drift. Next time, Sophia, I'm going to win.

Presentation is going well. My group has finished our slides and speeches and the final version has been tentatively named the HD version. No, not a High Definition Powerpoint presentation. A High Distinction Powerpoint presentation. A bit ambitious? A bit early? Perhaps, but we're not going to fail with this.

Playing Phoenix Wright Justice For All and Advance Wars Dual Strike. Dual Strike, for all its cartoony graphics, is starting to prove quite a challenge. Strategy fans should try and get a copy.

No uni tomorrow. Hell yeah. How about I make this post up to ya, eh?

Whatever Will Be, Will Be

I picked up my M3 Simply from the post office at 9am. I rushed home to test it out and it is some mad shit. Playing roms perfectly with no hitch, man, now that's $39 well spent. I just tested some video clip on it as well. It runs fine, although the sound is a bit scratched, probably to the smallish speakers. But it's pretty cool.

In a quick dicussion with a friend of mine, he stated that the Nintendo DS is crap because it has shit graphics, as compared to the Sony PSP. While I'll refrain from bagging out the PSP and putting the DS on a pedestal, I can't help but feel that he is misinformed. Games are not about graphics. The most important thing that makes or breaks a game is the gameplay. Yes, the graphics, story, etc of the game are important, but if you are not having fun playing a game with crap gameplay even with the latest graphics and whatnot. Tetris was a major game. It was addictive. Even now you can find freeware versions of Tetris floating around with people still playing them. Compared to today, it has shit graphics, but does that automatically make it a shit game? No.

Actually, that rant was supposed to be way longer, but it soon became a "DS is the best! PSP is crap!" kinda thing. Both handhelds have their pros and cons, and well, I'm naturally biased towards the DS.

And did you hear? Some teenage girl in the US is sueing her school, because they showed "Brokeback Mountain" and it has caused her grave psychological damage. WTF? Psychological damage? She's a teenager, so she knows about homosexuality, and I fail to see what could cause grave psychological damage in the film. It's not some hardcore gay porn film that involves death and blood. Kinda pisses me off that some people make a huge deal about something trivial. Only in the US, eh?

Anatomy exam results came back and I'm a bit down. I didn't fail. I passed. But I didn't get a great mark. Still that balances out the good feelings of my previous exam of 96.3%. Well, it was only a half-yearly, so I'm determined to do better for the yearly exam.

Like, zomg, the end scene for the dubbed english Naruto series. So it'll be really popular.

I have been the dullest of stars.

Just loving my DS at the moment. So it's a bit tough trying to maintain an even balance of uni work and gaming, but I've been leaning towards work more than gaming. I can save at any time, so it doesn't really matter. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is finished and I have to say that it is an amazing game. 4.5 out 5. It can be fiendishly difficult though, especially the last two cases and you will either do a lot of reloading your save game or checking out a walkthrough for hints. But it's a cool game, nice graphics, great music and awesome gameplay. As soon as my M3 DS Simply arrives, I'm getting the sequel, Justice For All.

Uni has been good. With most of the basics out of the way, some of the work is getting interesting. We're doing theory work for doing chest and wrist x-rays and it changes some preconceptions. I used to think that D.R was a simple job with lots of button pushing, but that's only true for the regular cases. There will be cases that conventional techiques can't accomodate, so we have to compromise. Like people with arthritis in the hands can place their hands flat on the cassette, so they have to hold their hands upwards in a "ballcatchers" position. Not a perfect diagnostic image, but decent enough so the doctors can diagnose.

Oh yeah, CPR certification today. It only went for aboout 3 hours. It's hella easy. It used to be a whole lot detailed and harder but because there were different procedures for adults, kids and infants and a lot of exceptions to when to perform CPR, the CPR procedure has been trimmed down, so it's really easy. DangerResponseAirwayBreathingCompression. 2 breaths for every 30 compressions. 100 compressions in a minute. Keep going until you're physically unable to continue, the ambos take over, or a doctor or similar says the victim is dead. The test was a bit of a joke. Anyone with a bit of common sense would have aced it. So now I wait for my certificate to come in.

My exam results for homeostatsis, cell and basic chem came back at 96.3% which is pretty good. 12 people hit 100%. So still good overall.

And I'm continuing to blog. At least twice a week. Until next time.

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
- William Hazlitt

Breath by breath, Death by death

My copy of Advance Wars: Dual Strike arrived today! It only took 5 days, but it was kinda my fault since I transferred the money before they gave me an ID number to put on the direct deposit. My M3 Simply, which will allow we to play downloaded games, music and whatnot, is currently on the move and will land in my lap in 2 days or so I hope.

I had my radiation protection test today. I say test, but it was only 10 MCQ with 40 minutes to do it. I finished in around 10 and left soon afterwards, only to realise I answered one of the question wrong. That's because initially you couldn't leave so I had to wait for 10 minutes before the dude changed his mind. So during that time I started to question myself. Damn. Oh well, 9/10 is still good.

Saw Land today at around noon. She was about to have her first anatomy lab session. Said hello and asked a bit about how the med course was going. I tried to see if I could find Jessica Nghiem as well, but couldn't find her.

Had my D.R prac on how to take an x-ray of a hand. It all seems pretty simply, but the lecturer had a whole bunch of tips that made the whole process even simpler, with less chance of mistakes. The key was to start off doing the right thing and everything else flowed from that. Then we got into groups and started doing it for real. It did seem scary at first, because there were all these settings, but for hands there is pretty narrow range of settings, so it went cool. The best number to get was 2.1 for the exposure index, in other words a perfect shot. Our first attempt was 2.5, but the second one was probably better since we had more accurate settings. Didn't get a chance to check out our second attempt though. Bummer.

Now to finish off Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney!

Too looney for uni

So after my anatomy exam, to build up some cheer (because I reckon I did crap), I dashed over to Parramatta and bought myself a Nintendo DS Lite and Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney. The console is much better than I ever anticipated, the touch screen, the dual screen...It's pretty awesome. And Ace Attorney is a fun game. You gather clues and defend your client in court. It's so fun when you find a contradiction and yell out "OBJECTION!".

As you can see it's a white DS, because all they had at the time was white and pink. I would have prefered black but it's not really important.

The new DS Lite is balanced out but the fact that my chair has decided to put out its spine. I've been using this chair for nigh on 4 years, swivelling back and forth, rolling from desk to computer in many a late night assignment or whatnot. The screw has busted it self to pieces so this is what you get.
DS time baby!

The more alternatives, the more difficult the choice.

The decision has been made.

I will be buying a Nintendo DS Lite.

Thanks, but no thanks Jimmy, I'll handle this transaction.

And 17 Seftoners on Facebook? You reckon it's worth joining?

When the dagger digs too deep

Funniest thing happened today during our anatomy lecture. The topic is respiratory physiology and we're talking about lung cancer. Our lecturer is saying that when smokers have a bad cough and it goes on for several months, it's a possible sign of lung cancer, someone in the room blurts out "Oh shit..." quietly but distinctly. Everyone starts laughing and even the lecturer is grinning. I mean, that's some perfect timing and emotion right there.

The other smokers in the room might be getting uncomfortable, but I doubt they'll quit. I have nothing against smokers really. If they know the risks and they keep smoking, well, it's their body. We can tell them all the risks but it's to them to quit. Though I do wonder why people do smoke, regardless of the risks? Social reasons? Peer pressure? Looking cool?

Anatomy exam is going to be tough. I'm studying as best I can, but I'm not that confident. I'll probably pass but definitely not a distinction or anything.

I would really like a DS. I'm deciding whether to actually buy one or not. One part of me says go for it, the other parts starts weighing up the pros, cons, expenses and alternatives. I might get it. Or maybe not.

We were supposed to have a radiation protection lecture today, but our lecturer totally forgot about it. He was so into helping some third-year student that he lost track of time. And he didn't realise that he had a lecture tomorrow either! At least our protection test will be scaled down since there's no way now to get all the lectures done on time.

Until next time.

MCCCXXXVII

The mid-semester exams are making everyone serious. People now spend their time studying or discussing the subject. Even I have been spending some extra study time in the library. Woah!

Human Biology test today, encompassing the cell homeostatis and basic chem. It's probably the easiest test, we'll ever have. Only 40 minutes and all multiple choice questions. I'm a bit worried about the anatomy test, since there is a shitload of muscles and ligaments to remember. It's a week from now, so that gives me some time to study.

What I am going to do these weekends is to clean up my computer. I have all this stuff accumulated on my hard drive over the years. My Documents is so messy I have trouble finding stuff and don't even talk about my downloads folder. Some cleaning and a little defrag.


No updates for a while eh? Between the studying and being on the razor's edge of being capped, the internet has been ignored for quite some time. It slightly safer to use the net, only since my limits reset next month, which is like 3 sleeps away. So until then, no Naruto, no Bleach, no House and no Doctor Who. I've only missed a week or so, I'll probably be fine.

Study, study study....

I've divided by zero! Oh shi-

Haven't blogged recently, so sorry about that. Mid-semester exams are ninja-ing towards me, and I have to start taking some action before I get ninja-ed.

Since yesterday, most of the lectures have finished early, mainly due to the lecturers tying up odds and ends in preparation of exams. Coming back from the break was such a slog. Once you get used to lounging around at home, having to wake up and get to Uni on time so that you don't miss that essential lecture becomes hard. But there are some lectures that I don't want to miss and there are some that I can, so eventually things will balance out.

Work on our group presentation is progressing well, if slowly. Apparently other groups haven't even started. Things will get complicated nearer to the due date, so that's why our group is (attempting) to start now, to lay down the framework, so after exams, we can get this thing done.

Back to study now. Unfortunately, cramming is much less effective now, and I have a lot of shit to revise. So here's a little something for the short post:

Prepare for Glory

The mini-reunion was...well...mini. I guess sloppy organisational work, and private work prevented more people from attending. But just because it was small, didn't mean that the entire day was wasted.

So only eight people showed up, including me:

• Jack
• Lesley
• Alex
• Charles
• Kathy
• Land

On the way to the movies, we shared tales and stories from uni, and there was quite a nice representation of the unis Seftoners went to, USyd, UNSW, UWS and MacU. We had 3 Com/Laws, 1 Engo, 1 Pharm and 1 Med. But enough of that. What happened?

300 happened, that's what. This is not really a film that you would analyse about the plot, characters or symbolism. This is a movie to be enjoyed with your brain switched off and taking the delights of the raw, visceral action onscreen. I found 300 to match the hype. It is an excellent action movie with some witty dialogue. And it looks and sounds fucking gorgeous! Best line of the movie? There's plenty, but for me personally, is when Leonidas starts to walk off to talk to Xerxes and he says There's no reason we can't be civil, is there? and one of the Spartans replies Not at all, my lord while plunging his spear into the chest of a wounded Persian.

After we finished watching the movie, we walked down to Market City, and stopped by the food court. A whole bunch of food on offer, but I bought a kebab and chips. You can't go wrong with kebabs unless you OD on the garlic sauce. More talking this time, everyone was sharing their experiences about driving, with everyone present either has the Ls or Ps. Apparently, Lesley's tutor class thinks he's gay, because of the whole skirt dancing thing at the concert.

Galaxyworld was next but not a lot of money was spent. We did the rounds and the girls managed to racked up like 100-something tickets. I went to one of the games and on my second try managed to score 500 tickets. Phuong, if you're reading this, it was that Wheel of Fortune game. Added with some other tickets I think the final reading was like 600-something tickets. My tokens were gone by then though. Well another day.

From there, we walked to Central and headed off, getting off at our respective stations. Seriously, I would mind another day like this (with more people maybe) but that's maybe later down the track. It's just interesting to hear other people's uni experiences and catch up with some old friends. Maybe near the end of the year or something. We can organise something bigger.

When 300 comes out on DVD, I'm buying it. Seriously, it's a keeper.

200 posts on this blog. Quite a long time, considering the length of other Seftoner blogs. Hopefully, this will keep going for a while longer.

Beware of the Bug

Ah Monday. Easter Monday. Supposed day of rest for the just. But I should know better. There's no rest for the weary.

Tomorrow is a little day out for Seftoners, but already it has hit a snag. Phuong, the other organiser, has managed to fall sick today. So she's out and that catches me flat-footed, since I don't know the city as well as her. So now I have to break out the street directory and Google Maps. Now shit happens, on a daily basis, but apparently Phuong has frequently cancelled at the last minute before. It's like some bug takes out Phuong right before events that she organises or whatnot. I heard that she cancelled on Land and didn't even tell her, so Land stood waiting at the cinema for ages.

But again shit happens. Phuong is hit with nausea like a sledgehammer pounding her stomach. So if she can't go out at all tomorrow, then there's nothing much anyone can do. So, Phuong, stay home and get better. I was about to say "Don't do this sort of shit again" but there's enough anecdotal evidence that it will.

The mini-reunion thingo is still on, but I might have to take it slow otherwise we'll get lost, or maybe call the day short. Just rock up anyway. At least we get to find out how uni life has been treating you.

Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.

Note to self. It is possible to make your own poster on the cheap. That said it took a little bit of effort to finely align the separate papers together to from the overall poster. That said I think it looks quite nice.

All in all it took nine pieces of glossy photo paper to print out. I was about to do a 5x5 piece but the picture was a bit stretched and the pixellated. I still have a bunch of glossy papers left. So maybe another one another time. But I'm running out of useable wall space.

So I had to do a few errands today which involved a little bit of driving. Driving's cool until you run into a bunch of idiots that just make you swear. On one stretch of road, this sports car stopped and the driver had a conversation with some dude outside. Stopped right in the middle of the road. Just having a chat. Oblivious to the fact that a 20m line of cars were waiting. I was about to toot the horn, but the Toyota car just ahead to me probably had a pissed driver. The Toyato gunned the engine, and overtook the sports car but, deliberately I think, rammed the tailgate of teh sports car and took off. The drivers of the sports car chucked a fit and took off to hunt down the Hilux that rammed him. The sports car only went for about a 100m before smoke poured out. Serves the bastard right. I hope he cries tonight.

Happy long weekend people.

Those Who Learn Must Suffer

I've finished my radiation shielding assignment and submitted it today. It's like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders. Now I can focus on my other assignment. So far I have only 2 assignments and consider myself lucky since other courses have much more.

Next week is the recess week. So an entire week off to take stock on how Uni is going. And it's going quite well. Also tomorrow I only have 2 hours worth of lectures before finishing at 2pm. I might have to take public transport home since my brother doesn't finish his exams till 3pm. Then Good Friday.

Which is good, since I have to go over to my aunt's house to check her computer. The net access is fuzzy and apparently keeps dropping. It might be TPG's fault but I'll probably do that ant-virus and spyware thing before making any conclusions. And I have to go on Friday, because on Saturday it's my other aunt's birthday, so a whole bunch of people will be getting together, and that gives me a reason to clean up my room. Papers and books everywhere man. A little bit of mess has been proven to increase productivity and efficiency, but I way beyond the threshold. So some cleaning to do.

The worst nightmare for a Uni student? No, scratch that. One of the worst nightmares for Uni students? To find out that you somehow forgot totally about an assignment and find out it's due tomorrow. Now that's some pressure. This was basically decided when I was chatting with Nam over MSN.

Me: that's like 4 assignments
Me: they'll sneak up on ya and ambush you for sure
Nam: gee steven, i'll sleep soundly tonight.
Nam: T__T!
Me: you're minding you're own business one night
Me: then one assignment pops out "sneak attack!"
Me: and it'll be due like tomorrow or something
Nam: omfg
Nam: worst nightmare
Nam: EVER.

Anyway, besides a mini-reunion day for Seftoners during the break, I'm planning to do a little test. I'm a big fan of Evangelion, and you may remember me mentioning that I had a poster of a Dalek from the new series of Doctor Who. Well, I've been keeping an eye out for some Evangelion posters, but none seem to be around that suited me. But here's a pic that I like:
Apparently that's a Nissan Skyline in the background. So I'm planning on splitting the bigger version of the image in smaller A4 sized sheets of paper, so I can make my own poster of it. Of course, this means some glossy or photo paper and a bit of ink. So I have to buy a new colour ink cartridge and some paper. Probably do a stop at Officeworks after I finish fixing my aunt's comp. I'll report later on how that goes.

Until next time.

From Death comes Life

What a day! I don't like Mondays, simply because it means the start of a new week that I have to slog through. At least, the week long easter break is holding promise. It's like a brief respite before diving once more into the storm.

Anatomy practical today, as always. It was pretty good. We had to identify the bones and joints of the lower limb, so the lab people gave us like an entire leg to examine. But we could tell that the leg once belonged to a guy. Because it was still attached and cut in half. Our group refused to flip it over, but apparently all the plumbing and glands are still intact and in relatively good condition.

Then came the dreaded 3 hour break. I don't know why they put such massive breaks in. I don't need 3 hours for a break. Give me a hour or a hour and a half at the most. My group meeting for our presentation was cut short, because we all honestly agreed that any work done would be minimal and possibly non-constructive. So I dashed off to lunch and had a chat with Sophia before her next lecture. It's fun to find out what other courses are like and how things are going with old schoolmates.

But the highlight of the day...well...one of the highlights of the day was when I went to the iPoint counter to book a CPR course before my clinical. iPoint is the frontdesk of the student guild of Cumbo. Anyway, during my short walk there, I noticed two guys with two paper plates full of whipped cream. I was like 'wtf?' because I thought they were going to eat it or something. So I get to the counter and as I wait, there's some birthday party going on, and, yes, the two guys picked up their plates, circled around then shoved the cream into the faces of the two (presumably) birthday girls. Hilarious. Hilarious. One girl didn't take well and was pretty peeved off at getting whipped cream on her face and hair. The other girl took it better, but was stumbling around because the cream was messing up her contacts. Hey, that gives me an idea! Whose birthday is up soon?

Lectures were the same as usual, and my last lecture was with our Borat-sounding lecturer. Against mostly basic chemistry, so I booted up my iPod and took it easy for the hour. The second highlight of the day was when U2's Beautiful Day came up. I don't know why, but that song always bring a smile to my face for some reason. I can have a shitty day, listen to Beautiful Day and it will cheer me up a bit.

Any movies worth watching? I'm liking Mr Bean's Holiday, 300, and Pirates of teh Carribbean: At World's End, but it does kind of suck watching it alone. So if you're planning to go watch a movie during the easter break or even on the weekends, just give me a heads up. I'm usually free on Fridays and the weekends.

DOCTOR WHO SEASON THREE EPISODE ONE WAS RELEASED YESTERDAY!

THE DOCTOR IS BACK!

Power Corrupts but, Traffic Enforcement Power Corrupts Irrationally

I should have posted yesterday, but I was busy procrastinating over my assignment. And browsing the depths of Youtube didn't help either. So now the weekend is being spent to finish off my assignment.

Attempted to play cricket at Uni yesterday, but it was raining like hell. So we didn't get much of a game out of it. Still, we do have nets and a cricket field. It's pretty awesome, except it is a bit of a walk to get there and back.

I had a look at some of the Physics stuff Charles was doing for his Engineering course. And it looks pretty hard. That said this is just browsing the (shitty) lecture notes and past papers. Maybe I'll understand better if I actually attended the lectures. Or maybe not. But the physics in MRS is so much easier. It's pretty basic so far, so I'm breezing along.

Arrgh, the assignment is still on my mind. I'm trying not to procrastinate, but I always seem to find stuff to take my attention away. Youtube is the main killer right now. It's probably the largest collection of human ingenuity and stupidity in one place. So to compensate for this (alarmingly) short post, here's a little something something called Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show:

Directly to Your Brain

Wednesday is a packed day. 4 straight hours of lectures, then a measley one hour break, then another 2 hours. The sheer amount of information that has to be processed is staggering and most of the break is spent eating some food so you can process more information.

A 2 hour period of lectures was spent in R035, the coldest place on Earth. It was freezing and jumpers and jackets were put on in order to stave off the cold. The tiredness and coldness actually sent me to sleep. Well, only in the last 15 minutes of the lecture. Before, I was just closing my eyes and listening to the lecturer and popping up every now and then to take some notes. Then it got to the point that I closed my eyes and when I opened them the lecture just ended. All I remember was Compton radiation scatter then the lecture finished.

That said, the science part of the lectures were pretty cool, especially on radioactivity. The maths was managable, the lecturer was cheery and funny and it was smooth sailing. Radiation protection is next on the list, but it is a bit bland and dry, despite being very important. With proper protection and stringent guidelines (because rules were meant to be broken) the radiographer won't receive any over exposure to radiation, with the exception of the normal background radiation.

I finished my draft of my radiation shielding essay, so now it's just a matter to fixing it up, staying within the 500 word limit and getting my reference list in order. It's due next week, so that's plenty of time. Though, it's probably likely that I'll end up typing the final copy at the last minute, under pressure. You know what they say. No pressure, no diamonds.

Doctor Who season 3 is so close yet so far. So instead to posting a random hot chick pic, here's a little teaser trailer for Doctor Who season 3.

Dead from Beyond

Trying to get my assignment done, typing an essay can be hard when you have know idea on what to say. Anatomy practical today. Hella cool lesson. We received the upper chest and head that had been cleanly sliced in half. Some group even got a half a brain. It was mainly focused on muscles of the upper back and upper limb. So you learn stuff and get grossed out by an actual cadaver.

Today was the short day of the uni week. Altogether it was a 3 hour day, but it was the 4 hour breaks that lengthened the day. Diag Rad has it pretty good considering we get well-scheduled breaks. The Speech Path people usually have their entire day in chucks with no breaks. Ouch.

The best way to spend your 3-hour break? Playing pool. That said, we were playing it Asian style. It's $2 a game, so we have a few guys blocking the holes to prevent the balls from falling in. So we can get multiple games for the price of one.

Short post this one, so to compensate, you'll get the usual- some random hot chick. Must get back to work. Damn.

The End of the World

Two movies to look out for. Frank Miller's 300 which is hella cool and hardcore. This is a movie that I have to see in the cinemas. Forget P2P. I want my giant screen and surround sound. The second movie is Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End. After the "what-the-fuck?!" ending of Dead Man's Chest, I want to see what happens next and how they wrap up the sucker. Will there be a fourth? I don't know. But I think that a trilogy is very good and there's no need to start pushing four unless the script is really good.

USyd's FHS is not that bad Jack. Okay so maybe it doesn't have loads of Seftoners, but more doesn't necessarily mean better. I know Charles was like "why don't you go to UNSW?". My response was "it doesn't have my wanted course." Well, it doesn't have this exact course, Medical Radiation Science (Diagnostic Radiography). Well, I could have done a Bachelor of Science at UNSW, specialising in Radiation Science (or similar), but it's not medical-orientated. That and this course is accredited. Anyway, the small-town feeling of FHS is not detrimental.

The Modern physics practical was pretty cool. Loads of people should up because the scheduling was screwed up and the two lecturers were like "OMGWTFBBQ!". We were simulating radioactive decay using cubes with one side painted black. If the the black side showed up, then that nuclei had decayed and was removed. And we had to draw the required graphs and so on. It's not too bad. I mean, there is a bit of maths involved, but nothing that can't be done with a little thinking and a calculator. Definitely not anything 4-unit.

So the PS3 came out last night/early this morning. The only thing I've decided about it, is that I'm not going to get it. The price is probably the main factor. A grand is a lot of money to sink to a console and not to mention the $90 to $100 cost of games. I know one guy has bought a PS3 and a true HD plasma tv to go along with it. Now that's dedication...and a deep pocket. Me? My pockets aren't that deep. Of course, that still leaves the Wii and the Xbox360 which are reasonably cheaper. Still tossing up on actually whether to get a next-gen console. Maybe soon. Maybe later.

And of course, this Saturday is the business end of being 18 and over. Having to vote in the state election. Since I'm an intensely non-political creature, the thought of actually voting for someone makes me cringe. That and my cynical nature on voting. Basically, we have three choices. Labour, Liberal or the Independants. All three sides are equally the lying and cunning scumbags that they are, yet voting may make a difference to the state of affairs of the state and nation. Of course, whether any party will actually make a difference if voted is debateable. It is likely that Labour will fix shit up in NSW, or the Liberals will make it worse, or the Independants...do what Independants do. Damn these decisions.

In the world of anime, I've been mainly keeping up to date with Bleach and Naruto Shippuuden. So no new anime really. I can't be bothered keeping up with loads of series. MAybe the odd 26-ep anime, but not an on-going series. I am reading the Naruto manga though, and it's exciting stuff. Too bad it only comes out weekly. I've been following House Season 3 and bits and pieces of Heroes on TV. I'm waiting for the new season of Doctor Who that comes out this month. That's about that.


Until next time.

Invictus

For the first time, and probably not the last, I skipped one of my lectures. Not because I was lazy. Nothing like that. It was simply because the lecturer, whose voice reminds me of Borat, is lecturing on Basic Chemistry. Which I've still got in my head since Year 11. So I spent the lecture time in the library, researching for my assignment. I've found some interesting leads there...

Late start tomorrow, but I'm staying all the way to 5pm. I have to attend a physics practical, which was supposed to be my tutorial, but my tutorial was rescheduled without anyone in my group knowing to an earlier day. So I miss a tutorial. Organising these sort of things get hairy I'm sure, but some warning would be nice. The USyd eLearning (formly known as WebCT) is a pretty good way to announce it. I usually check it several times a day.

I met most of the former Sefton contingent on Tuesday. I had just finished lunch and was wandering towards the library when I ran into Kevin, Sophia, Amanda, Rachel and My Hoa. We had a nice chat, and I've learned that apparently the Neuroscience unit of study is a total bitch. Which makes it seem more interesting to me, although that's probably because I'm not actually studying it.

I don't really like the library sessions but today's session was very useful. Journals seems such an underused resource, however, now with my newly acquired elite searching skills I'm able to find extremely useful information. Unfortunately, the library doesn't subscribe to every single journal, so some of the ones I really like, I can't read them. And the fact that some of the journals that contain information that are relevant to my interests regarding my essay are in either Russian or Japanese. Damn.

I got stuck in R035, which I think I mentioned earlier, is the coldest place on Earth. I don't know whether it was just today or something, but seems positively colder than usual. So much that during the quick break in the lecture, people starting putting on jumpers and jackets, me included. Someone should turn the air-con down a bit. Of course, the choice between freezing cold and boiling hot is difficult. Either extremes can get you killed, and are both uncomfortable. R035 without air-con then becomes the hottest place on Earth. Can't there be a happy medium?

You know what I dig right now? Two tracks from the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It's the main theme and the music from the scene where the three characters face each other off to find the money. That piece of music is called The Trio Or Il Triello in Italian. Get it and listen to it sometime. It's the standard of what film music should be light. Simple and full of emotion.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Until next time.

When Death Helps the Living

Woah. Anatomy prac was disgustingly awesome. We actually got to see and touch a human arm and shoulder joint. It's a bit cool to see that the human body is such a wonderful machine, how all these muscles allow for fine motor control.

Group work is progressing nicely for our presentation. We have a better idea of the question now, so with a little luck, the presentation should be easy. I also managed to find a killer book that covers the presentation question. I gotta keep that as long as possible. And I have to get started on my other assignment. Damn.

Parking was okay as usual. I have latish starts on Monday and Thursday, so getting a parking spot close to the Uni is near impossible. I usually park in a side street 10 minutes away. It's a bit of a pain, but walking is good exercise. I hate though when you have those greedy parkers, who hog the space so no other cars can park. One car parked on the length of road between two driveways. The driver parked it right in the middle, leaving large but non-parkable gaps to the front and back. If the driver has moved up some, another car could have parked there. Think about the other drivers! They would just like to park as well.

And if you have the chance, read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. It shows that atheism if perfectly fine, and how it may be a better alternative than believing in a religion. If you are religious, you should read it. It brings up some good points, and interesting thoughts. That's it I'm buying that book.

Uni life is becoming much more normal. Before, every day was spent in mild bewilderment, trying to find what's going on and keeping on top of things. It's easier now, and the experience is much more enjoyable. I'm thinking on whether to skip the next set of chemistry lectures. It's all basic chemistry that I remember from high school and I'm confident that the notes will suffice. But a part me tells me to stay in case the lecturer drops something important. Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Until next time.

By the power of Greyskull!

I like Fridays. You know why I like Fridays? Because I don't have any lectures on Friday. So free Fridays!

Besides the revision of lecture notes, I was bored out of my head. Finding a suitable casual job is difficult, probably because I'm picky. It has to be this, has to be that. But I'm sure I'll eventually find something suitable. So to get some relaxation in I headed to the movies and watched Hot Fuzz.

Verdict? Awesome stuff. If you liked Shaun of the Dead, you'll love Hot Fuzz. It's about a kick-ass cop, who is so good, he makes the entire London department look bad. So they transfer him to a tiny village, where there are no murders, but a lot of curious accidents. The ending was alright, but the humour had drifted away a bit since it was full on action. But I would definately recommended it.

I have assignement due in 2 weeks, and haven't really started on it. The library has a nice selection of books, it's all about finding the right one. Anyway, uni is turning out to be much better now. Sure, Cumbo isn't as massive as the main USyd campus or UNSW, but I like the small campus feeling. It's nice.

Now off to do some homework. Again, another picture of a random hot girl to compensate.

I Can See Music

Nothing much to report. Uni was cool, as usual. I handed in a passport photo to the department, because they need one for clinical. Probably to put a face to my number. I have one course called Preparation for Practice, which is a class that prepares all the MRS students are clinical practice, that has to be done sometime in July. There is a group assignment due in 9 weeks, a powerpoint presentation. Originally, we were put into groups based on our postcode so that we would be able to meet easier. Except that not all groups had representatives from all 3 streams, Radiation Therapy, Diagnostic Radiography and Nuclear Medicine, and the presentation requires info from all streams. So new groups were formed, but it was messy.

Instead of locality, the groups were redesigned to that all 3 streams were represented. But now the groups were much larger. Instead of a managable six students, the new groups are bumped up to ten, in some cases twelve. This does make it harder to learn everyone's name, but also creates problems in meeting and workflow. Still, on the bright side, we're going to meet a whole bunch more new people.

The books I have bought for some of the courses. As you can see, they are pretty hefty books. I know of at least one more book that I have to buy and it costs $240. Arrgh. Maybe there's a second hand copy somewhere.

I've finally rearranged my bookshelf, so all my books are neatly lined up. These are the books that I bought with my own money, and it's such a small collection. Damn. Still, I'm planning to slowly expand my collection. As you can see, I lean towards sci-fi and fastasy novels, but there's a good dose of 'educational' books as well.

Monday Bloody Monday

Paintball on Sunday was hella fun. We shot each other up, had pizza for lunch and had a great time. Many thanks to Olly's sister for organising the whole shebang. It was pretty much the same like other paintball places except there was no limit on distance of shooting, so you could shoot someone at point-blank range. Which hurts. A lot. I was peppered with loads of shot yesterday, so now I'm feeling the effects of all the bruises. And my legs hurt a bit. I guess they weren't used to the run-cos-you're-being-shot-at pace, so it's probably just some DMS. What? Oh that! DMS is Duke of Ed speak for Delayed Muscle Stress. Basically, you body gets used to trekking 20km a day with a heavy backpack, and you don't really feel all the sore. But when you get home, sleep and wake up the next day, the pain catches up and you feel really sore.

Today was cool, because we had our Anatomy practical. It went for 2 whole hours. Most of it was basically, filling in some sheets, but it was interesting to learn the names of the structures of the bones, like the trochanter, fossa and sulcus. In the last fifteen minutes, the teacher unveiled an embalmed arm and leg, along with other bits and pieces from the lower and upper limbs. It was disgusting, but we couldn't look away. It was captivating, in a way. This was actually someone's limbs, donated to science so that we could learn. It wasn't indepth, I mean, he just pointed out some of the major muscles. But, yeah, amazing stuff.

Then came a 3 hour gap. It was hella boring because there was nothing much to do. Lunch took up only 20 minutes, and we spent the rest of the time wandering the library, chatting to each other and trading stories. I also met some new friends! So it wasn't that bad. Just long. I happened to meet Sophia, Amanda and Rachel and we traded some stories about our courses. Speech Pathology is so different. It's interesting to know some of the stuff they are learning. I briefly saw Cindy, but she was hurrying into a lecture and I didn't get to say hi. Also saw Kevin Nguyen, who is doing Physio. Nice to know that Seftoners can still run into each other, despite our separate paths.

Off to do some study. Revision is so important. So here's a random picture of some hot chick to compensate the shortish post today.

Chalk it Up, Charlie!

Every driver will have at least one during their driving career. An accident. What's that? Yes, I was involved in a car accident. It has a high speed head-on crash with a small truck, that was also speeding, whereupon both me and the other driver suffered horrendous injuries and the wreck suddenly combusted creating a small mushroom cloud that nearby onlookers reported a nuclear explosion to the police. I sit now in front of the computer screen, typing with my left pinky and right big toe, paralysed from the waist down and swathed in bandages due to the massive amount of skin burns.



Seriously.


Nah, just joking, I just scraped the bumper of the other car in my haste to leave the carpark. Anyway, I apologised to the person and his first response was "Sorry isn't good enough". After resolving this incident and in hindsight, I began to reflect on that phrase. "Sorry isn't good enough". My first thought was "What is?” Massive aggro? Turning back time? Seppuku? "Sorry isn't good enough". Well it could be true. Sorry may not be good enough but what can be done to reverse it? Nothing. One of the simple facts in life is shit happens. When it happens, there is nothing much you can do but accept whatever bother or trouble is causes you and move on. Instead of getting unnecessarily angry or rage about it, something should be done to resolve it. It seems in life that there are more people who cry 'wolf' rather than offer or carry out solutions to stop the wolf from doing more damage.

Example. The QLD government is planning to build more dams to resolve the water crisis. Seems simply enough. However, when they announced it and a list of possible sites, everyone there went psycho and starting to opposing the idea. Now that is within their right. However, what bothers me is that no person seems to offer an alternative solution to solve the water crisis. They could bring up a thousand reasons not to proceed, but they could not bring up one alternative solution. You have to look at the bigger picture. We have a water crisis and something should be done to stop it effects from digging in deeper. My point is that doing something is better than doing nothing.

Since realising this, I have been trying to think more about the big picture. I have been trying not to let incidents get to me personally. Yelling the crap out of the other guy may be satisfying, but it is not productive. It is difficult yes, and life always likes to put the occasional edge into some random incident. All I could do is shrug and say sorry. Because I could do nothing else. And nothing else seems good enough. Except maybe comprehensive car insurance.

Woah, what a rant. It's been a long time since I ranted. To finish off the tale, the other driver called my dad and said the repair to the scratch on his rear bumper was $2000 and if my dad paid $1500, it will be all good, it would be settled privately. My dad offered $1000 but the guy refused. My dad said he would call back. He was a bit suspicious that the scratch would cost so much. He thought it would be a lot cheaper. Anyway, he called NRMA Insurance and went ahead and lodged a claim. Since I'm under 25, we have to pay a $900 excess, and NRMA deals with the rest, the repairs and stuff. My personal thought is that the other driver was still pissed, and tried to rip us off, so he could have some extra cash in his pocket. There's no proof but I'm just speculating. Instead, we pay $900 to NRMA, his car gets repaired for whatever, and he doesn't get extra cash. It was a good plan, but the price was just too high.

So that little incident is chalked up to experience. Wisdom comes from experience and experience comes from mistakes. I made a mistake and now I'm wiser. About what happens and what to do. My dad was just happy that it was only a scratch and I wasn't involved in some high speed crash. You can fix cars back to perfect condition, but fixing humans is a lot more complicated.

Will of Iron? Nah, Will of Caffeine.

Tired as hell today. I had three 2-hour lectures. That last lecture was a killer, because the room was fully air-conditioned to the point that the temperature must have dropped to sub-zero temperatures. I got through the day with a well-timed dose of caffeine, but relying on it to give a boost for the long term is probably not a good idea. Perhaps switching it out for Gatorade to rebalance my electrolytes...

The coolest class for me was the "Preperation for Practice". We had the split into different groups in preperation of presenting a slideshow assignment. It was messy, since you had to find your student number, thus finding your group number and then finding the rest of your group. I'm in lucky number 13. So in my group we have Andy, Denise, Jenni and Brendan and our final member is still MIA. All of us are in Diagnostic Radiography, with only Jenni doing Radiation Therapy. They're cool people. But then again, lots of uni people are. It's like some people reached a level of maturity that grants automatic coolness or something.

I bought my labcoat today so I'm ready when we have anatomy practicals. Fortunately, we're only looking at bits and pieces of a human body, not a whole cadaver. If we were dissecting a whole cadaver I would probably gross out.

Paintball on Sunday! My parents gave me the okay, but said I had to finance it with my own money. My reserve levels are still acceptable, so I should be okay. But I should really get a job. I don't want to dip too low (STAGE FIVE MONEY RESTRICTIONS!!!) so a job would be cool. Still searching...

Off to a quick nap.

Your Standard Gun in a Pen

First day of uni was interesting. I didn't start until 2pm and ended at 5pm, so it was going to be a short day, with only an hour break. But that was just the start.

I drove to uni but despite circling around a few times, there was no parking space for me to luckily park into. So I parked about a kilometre away next to this small park. The walk wasn't that bad, and it'll probably count as good exercise.

The first lecture was supposed to be an hour, but only went for ten minutes. Yes, ten minutes. The lecturer mainly told us about the online WebCT/eLearning thingo, and told us about our textbook. So we walked out rather suprised and with much more time to spare than originally intended. We (as in me, David V, Nishan and Mike) visited the campus bookshop to see the price of the textbook and it weighed in at $140. So yes, quite expensive. I could buy it straight off, but I'm waiting for my rewards card so I get a discount. So asian.

We spent time talking a bit, then headed to the library to check it out. Now I now the Cumbo library is probably tiny compared the main campus, but it was still hella cool. All the books, journels and magazines on pretty much all the health sciences offered at Cumbo. I could seriously spend some time just reading. Now I know why we have to get degrees from Uni and can't just go on Wikipedia. Ah well.

Last lecture wasn't really a lecture. It was more explaining on the course outline, and eLearning. Saw My Hoa (Vision Sciences) at that lecture, because a whole bunch of courses do the same on. It did go the near full hour, but that was because the lecturer was being more thorough in explanation. I stopped quickly for a Pepsi and then drove home. It took a bit of time due to traffic and wet weather.

I have to buy a labcoat soon for the practical lessons to check out dead bodies. I've seen pictures of what the dissections look like, but I know it's nothing compared to the real thing. So quietly nervous on that.

Bah! 8am start tomorrow. But I'm out by 3pm, so not that bad I guess.

Doctor Who Season Three starts 31st of March. Watch it.

A Kinda Final Solitare

O-day at Cumberland wasn't, as I had feared, a complete waste of time and effort. The information and tours were very useful, and now I feel more confident at navigating the expanse that is USyd Cumberland. That said, it's still a small campus, and getting lost is almost impossible, unless you have a terrible sense of direction.

I drove to Cumbo and got there at around 8:30am. It was a bit early so I waited until 8:45am before I went in. Then I found out that there were two groups divided based on the courses. So my group didn't actually "start" until 10:30am. I met up with David Vuong (Diagnostic Radiography) and Sophia (Speech Pathology) and we had a quick tour around the campus. My guess was that there were around 1000 undergraduates present. With a total student population of ~5000, Cumbo was big, yet still quite small. The Sefton student population at Cumbo for undergraduates is tiny, compared to UNSW (with all the commerce & engineering people) or USyd main (all those pharmacy people). If I remember correctly...

• Me (Diagnostic Radiography)
  
• David V (Diagnostic Radiography)
• Nishan (Diagnostic Radiography)
• Sophia (Speech Pathology)
  
• Amanda (Speech Pathology)
• Rachel (Speech Pathology)
• Nam (?)
  
• My Hoa (?)
  

Yeah, only eight Seftoners here. But the campus is small, so I guess we'll run into each other. Plus with David V and Nishan with me in Radiography, I guess we can cover each other in note-taking and whatnot.

After all the lectures and information flooding, Nishan, David V, a friend Mike, and I decided to grab some free lunch. Except the line was hella long, and it was certain that food wasn't going ot get into our stomach anything soon, at least not in the next 30 minutes. So we called it a day. The other guys took a bus, while I drove away, still feeling distinctly hungry. I was going to go home, but instead diverted to Parramatta Westfield. Grabbed some food from the food court, and picked up a few new books. I had gone to Parra on Tuesday to buy books as well. My now favourite bookshop is Borders on Lvl 4. It has a massive collection of books, especially sci-fi, my favourite genre. So, including the books bought on Tuesday and yesterday, the list stands at:

• Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
• Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
• Dis Information (and other Wikkid myths) by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
• Neuromancer by William Gibson

Night Watch and Day Watch are very cool books detailing the uneasy truce between Light and Dark set in post-Soviet Russia. And contains musings on what is good and evil, the boundary between, and where that boundary exactly is. Highly recommended, very great plot and even greater writing. Dis Information basically refutes a number of myths, like there is no adverse reaction when mixing alcohol and most antibiotics. Very cool and interesting read. And Neuromancer is a sci-fi cult classic. The very first cyberpunk novel dealing with possible technology before it was cool and pioneered the dystopia setting. When I say classic, I don't mean those English canon books written all those centuries ago. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a classic, along with the Sprawl trilogy by William Gibson (which includes Neuromancer as the first in the trilogy) and the Dune series by Frank Herbert. Cult classic books right there.

Now my only remaining Uni problems are textbooks cost and transportation. Textbooks costs are be dealt with, but I intend on getting that rewards card so I can get discounts. Transportation is different. Since all available and convienient parking is gone by 9am, and I don't have class until 2pm, parking will be a problem. By the time I get there and find a place to park, I might as well bring a bicycle to get to uni. Public transport is a possible idea, but altogether it'll take an hour or so. Not sure how to solve it, but I'm thinking of driving and parking near Lidcombe station and using the bus to get to the Uni. And home time, I take the bus back to the station and pickup my car. Still in progress there.

Until next time, I have reading to do.

A Professional Moron or Just A Gifted Amateur?

After many snakes on a plane, notes on a scandal and one epic movie, I finally I have my P's. Technically, it took two tries, since I failed the first time but passed the second but that's dicounting the 2 times the test didn't proceed because the brake lights were dead. So yeah, I'm licensed now.

Hell, midway during the test, as I did a kerbside stop, I hit the kerb and was shitting myself as a result. So when I reversed angled park in front of the RTA, it was hella wonky. Still, when the examiner said I passed I was pleasantly delighted.

Open Day tomorrow for me. I'm looking forward to it, a mixture of nervousness and anticipation. Hopefully, I'll locate all my classes and won't get lost on the first day there.

Phuong's going on how fonts are getting smaller. That may be true. But I haven't changed the font here since the beginning, so my font isn't getting smaller. Besides I break things up into nice paragraphs.

Keeping this short, since I'm still capped. Another 12 hours to go.

It's Pi Time

Just a few more days until I'm uncapped. The net has been so slow for the past few days that it's unbearable. Cable, or at least ADSL, is the way to go. People still on 56k should really switch, and enter a world from which no return is possible. Anyone who has experienced broadband will cry if they're forced back to 56k.

Weather's been mixed to day, very unsettled. It starts off okay, then decides to rain, then stop, then rain again. Right now it's pouring. All I hope is that the catchment area is getting some rain so dam levels might inch upwards. I hardly remember a time when it was anywhere near 80% capacity.

I've been looking at some job listings now that I have my timetable, but haven't seen ones that suit me really well. It's a catch-22 when you want to get a job. To get a job you need experience, but to get experience you need a job. I can probably rely on my work experience way back in year 10, but sometimes I wish getting a job was easier. Hah! If that happens, everyone would have a job.

Those readers who play Warcraft 3 and indulge in DoTA should try out Wilderness Survival by KuulGryphun3. It's quite a difficult game initially but with a bit of practice, it does get easier somewhat.

I really want to do something besides staying at home. Maybe a quick jaunt down to Parramatta? Buy books or watch a movie? Except I'm lazy and indecisive right now. Maybe, if the weather gets better.

Till I'm uncapped.

Faster than the Speed of Light

Finally, finally, finally, the timetables were available online and I got my hands on my own timetable. Many thanks to Kathy for telling me that the timetable server was now online. It took them long enough.

My first look at the timtable was horrible, because I though I had 8am to 5pm days. Then I saw the gaps. Then I saw that I had all of Friday off. Then I saw that some classes were on certain weeks. So for the first day of uni on the first week, I start at 2pm and end at 5pm with a 1 hour break. So only 2 hours of lectures. I pretty much end most days by 2pm, except in the 8th week onward. It's not that bad actually.

Take a look. Apparently Pharmacy is a bit more hectic. Which reminds me. Check this little thingy out. It's the history of medicine in a paragraph.
"I have a sore throat."
2000 BC : "eat this root"
1200 AD : "That root is heathen, say this prayer."
1500 AD : "That prayer is superstition, drink this elixir."
1800 AD : "That elixir is snake oil, take this pill."
1900 AD : "That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."
2000 AD : "That antibiotic is artificial, here why dont you eat this root?"

Still capped. Until next time.

A Stitch in Time

I had planned to go to the UNSW O-week tomorrow, but I might not. Because I'm lazy, but who knows. I'm in that rare mood of indecision with lots of swaying back and forth. I'll try to make it, but right now, I can't be bother. Well, anyway, that means UNSW is maybe out. Not that I'll miss much, simply because I'm not going to UNSW.

I've finished reading basically all the books in my house. So I've been relying on the TIME magazine I subscribe to. But it depends on what's going on in the world. Sometimes, nothing is happening, so the topic are rather dull. I do however have one book I haven't tackled yet. The Collins History of the World in the Twentieth Century by J.A.S. Grenville. It's a massive book, but suprisingly good. That will keep me occupied until Uni starts.

Over the past few days I've been capped. And with a week to go before the next month, I've been mostly playing DoTA, since it doesn't lag too much even when capped. I'm also playing trivia on IRC. The channel is #trivialoft, they have a website at trivialoft.net. I've been finding out some weird things during my time there. Like did you know that the youngest recorded age of a male ejaculating is eight years old. 0_O! What the hell indeed....

Browsing Youtube is such a pain, but I have found some gold. So since I'm keeping this post short, enjoy this 8 minute skit involving Rowan Atkinson:

Over the Top

Well now, what to say. Since I haven't got my license yet, due to the examiner being extremely strict and absolutely a bitch, I'm in a bit of a depression. My brother managed to get his Ps, even though he's a crapper driver. Just goes to show that you don't need an instructor and having an understanding examiner can go you way. Still, at the very least, one of us has our Ps.

And, Land, Youtube is an excellent resource that should be used. It is one of the greatest collections of human genius and stupidity gathered in once place. I may watch it a lot, but if something is worth doing, it is worth overdoing. So there.

UNSW O-week beckons, even though I'm not going there. I'm not really sure if I want to go or not, but with nothing else to do, and being capped, I might go along. I know Charles and co are going on the 22nd. What dates are everyone else going on? I might pick two days to go, and have some fun. Post away.

Just for fun, I turned my speakers up high and upped the bass. The music was LOUD. I could hear it in the streets. And now matter where I was in the house, the music sounded clear.

Why is it that no matter how much you pee into the toilet, it never fills up?

Does, if I calculated correctly, SLINKY + ESCULATOR = EVERLASTING FUN?

Naruto Shippuuden is here, bitches!

And here is something funny:

Damn It! Damn It All to Hell!

Down once more to the dungeon of my black despair
Down I plunge to the prison of my mind
Down that path into darkness deep as hell

Damn am I pissed off. How unlucky can one guy get? And is this an omen? Don't want to talk about it.

At least this cheers me up a little:

Give me sight beyond sight!

TB testing wasn't that bad, well, so far. I walked in, the nurse stabbed me with a needle and now I have to put up with some itchiness since then. I don't know how they determine whether you have TB or not, but by Friday I'll find out. Now wait a moment, I just checked Wikipedia and now I now. Don't just you just love Wikipedia? My thoughts are why go to university or whatnot when everything you ever want to know is on Wikipedia. Still the day that Wikipedia is sourced in court cases is when Wikipedia becomes the leading authority on everything.

Finally shaved off my beard today. I hadn't shaved in 3 weeks, so I was developing a beard Abraham Lincoln-style. Considering that it was a good 1 cm deep, shaving was a real pain. It took way longer than usual becomes I had to stop for frequently to rinse. It doesn't matter much anyway, because tomorrow it'll start growing back. Of course I could shave more frequently, but I'm just too lazy. These holidays ahve really made me lazy. When I start going to uni there will be hell to pay. Having to go to lectures on time and on schedule.

Also, I'm starting to think about playing World of Warcraft. I kind of regret now joining in early with Jack and friends, but I didn't feel like joining in. Now that Burning Crusade is out and I have a slightly heftier wallet, I might take the plunge. Or I could finish off FFX and think about playing FFXII. Ahh, decisions, decisions, decisions. Of course, I'm thinking of buying a next-gen console. There is a whole bunch of good games, but they are split between the Xbox360 and the PS3. A hard decision, although the Xbox360 is winning points because it is cheaper. Still, I'll just leave the decision for a later time.

Apparently Jack, Lesley, Bianca and someone else went back to Sefton to talk to the 07 12's about the HSC. For some reason, my brother wasn't impressed with Jack and Lesley. He said Jack talked about World of Warcraft. Well, possibly, but I'm sure Jack didn't talk about Warcraft for all of 30 minutes or whatever. And Lesley made the after-HSC period sound bad by saying something along the lines of "you work hard for 6 months, then take a break for 3 months'. Knowing Lesley's style I know what he means. Anyway, my brother judges people too quickly sometimes. He'll take one look and say "he's a bitch" or whatever. So don't take it too hard guys. It takes a bit of guts to overcome holiday laziness to talk to the 07's.

Naruto fillers has ended. Soon they'll be starting the new Naruto storyline. About time to you bastards. That filler gap was probably the longest gap ever. I would watch the older Naruto episodes, but the english dub is so badly butchered I can't take it. They remove all the blood and violence that sometimes the actions don't make sense. Maybe they shouldn't market to children, what about teens or young adults. There should be like a dedicated anime channel or something. Yes, dub the anime in english if you want, just don't butcher it. Evagelion is on the borderline. Sometimes the dubbing is alright, sometimes it's bad. Listening to the original Japanese, Gendo doesn't come off as a bastardly evil genius as in the dub. It's a more subtle evil, maybe not even evil, just he has a different goal than everyone else.

Here's a little something I found on Youtube. It's a clip of the comedy show Blackadder in its 4th season. Here Edmund Blackadder is pretending to be insane to get out of the trenches and he is explaining to Baldrick (the idiot servant) and Lt George (Hugh Laurie way before House) about how World War I started. Gold, pure gold.

Two Morons > One Genius ?

One thing that I hate with a passion are those "administrative tasks". They usually involve paperwork, paperwork and actual work. But I accept the fact that it is like cleaning you house. Pretty sucky but absolutely necessary.

So I'm getting my vaccinations and stuff done way before I'm going to actually do some clinical placement. But I'd rather get it done now, rather then later since now I'm still on holidays. Apparently TB screening is done with a skin test and results are in threee days later. So that's cool. This is one of those administrative tasks, but then again I don't want to be struck down by TB while in the hospital.

Now on to some rumours. Apparently, the Cumberland campus of USyd is going to be sold to UWS, and thus all USyd Cumberland students will have to move to the city campus. I don't know how true this is, as it is all hearsay (Damn you Wild Swans!) but supposedly, USyd is already constructing replacement buildings at the city campus. I just hope that if it is true, then the deal is going to take a while. This is selling an entire campus here. Maybe it will take 4-5 years for it to eventualise. By that time I already have my bachelor's and have no interuppted learning.

Another rumour of the mill. My brother mentioned that this years year 12s (the 07 12's) may not have a year 12 concert, since our previous concert by the 06 12's was "too explicit". Those last words coem from Cree. I was at first outraged, then patted myslef on the back until I calmed down. The sticky point is our final act, which was supposed to be a coordinated dance with some guys in skirts became...over-saturated...with people who joined in for fun and so made some new "moves" for it. That final act apparently freaked out the administrators (my word for the school's top brass, principal, deputy principals and whatnot) that they may not allow the 07 year 12 concert.

That said, the 07 12's seemed to be cursed with a bit of bad luck. Remember in year 10, when pretty much everyone in our year took early leave? Then the next year they forced everyone to stay at school? If the 07 12's concert is cancelled, then that's another notch of bad luck. Still, they get to be the class of (2)007, so that's fair. Their concert would have been good but not as good as our one. Hmmm...I recall saying that our final act couldn't be beaten because we had guys with skirts. If there is no 07 concert then that will ring true.

Massive rain for the past couple of days. It rains like hell, then stops for a while, then rains again. The repetition is pissy, but we need the water. If dam levels keep dropping, you better hope the desalination plant is finished or we might have to drink treated effulent. I don't have anything against it. I just reckon it should be more of a last resort option, if all other plans have failed.

Still haven't got my timetables. Has any USyd person got their timetables or received any hint about it? I just wonder what takes them so long. If UNSW can do theirs by now, then surely USyd can.

And something funny I've jsut discovered on Youtube. The CBS channel has put up clips from the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. It contains these stand-up jokes, mocking the news and US politics, some which would have been dynamite for MCing during the year 12 concert. I'm putting a clip below, but you do need some knowledge of recent and past events in the US. I get plenty of that through TIME magazine.

A Phantom Lance

Can I just say now that Robin Hobb writes some damn good stuff? Her novels balance character development, plot and magic. My order of books arrived yesterday and since then I've been reading Shaman's Crossing like a madman. Finished all 631 pages a few hours ago. And I want more. I want to know what happens next. The people who watch anime or read manga or whatever know this feeling. You get to a point where every ending is a cliffhanger, because you desperately want to know what happens next. It's a very good book, Shaman's Crossing, and all fantasy lovers should be buying any book with Robin Hobb on it like hotcakes. Read it and love it. I still have Doppelganger and Warrior and Witch by Marie Brennan to read. It's a mix of action and magic and the first few pages are quite good. Yes, very good indeed...

Still haven't got my timetables yet. It's kinda pissy, but there's nothing much I can do. I've mainly been getting all the vaccination and stuff out of the way. Since I will be doing clinical placement in hospitals, I have to get the proper vaccinations, and I need to screen for tuberculosis. Where the hell is my local chest clinic? If I can get a phone number, I'll call up and ask what needs to be done. I think I might as well get this over and done with by the end of February so I don't have to worry about it anymore.

And here's a little joke that can be done in any university. Seriously, I would pay money if someone did something similar to this:


Till next time.

Disorientatedly

Arrgh...Forest Mage by Robin Hobb is out of stock with Infinitas. So I have to wait for several months. Still the other three books were there so I'll have something to read in February.

I inadvertently fell asleep after lunch. By my reckoning, it was only for an hour but I hate this weird dream. It felt so real dammit, and now I'm feeling a bit off. It had something to do with this object that gave power but I had to die soon, and I was tampering with it, but the demon was like "rawr! I want your blood!" and I was like "eat shit and die!" and I somehow changed my pillow into the angel-like thing but the demon went straight through and was shaking me. I woke in a panic, and was punching the air randomly until I realised it was a dream. I hate those eeriely realistic dreams. It just ruins my sleep. The aftermath is that I feel a little sick, but that should pass I hope.

My tv decided to protest and call it quits. Well not really, I can still get sound and other functions but there is no image. The electron guns must have died, which is crap since the TV is only like 10 years old. The last TV was like 20 years old dammit. So how the TV has to be replaced or repaired. The basic plan is to repair it, but if it can't be repaired, then we'll buy a new one. Maybe an LCD or plasma, but the screen has to be around 80cm if it is to fit on the tv cupboard or whatever it's called.

I have this sudden urge to buy a trench coat. Don't know where it came from. But trench coats seem dificult to find. Then again I'm probably not putting enough effort into searching. Something Matrix-style but not to flashy. I found a place that sells Matrix replica trenchcoats but the prices range from US$235 to US$1316. Fuck. I'll have to save up a hefty amount for that. Oh, and they sell replicas of Trigun trench coats that Vash the Stampede wear. They look cool too.

UNSW O-week is from February 19-23. So I can tag along and chek out UNSW and see why so many Seftoners are going there. Now to find a few groups to tag along....

I'll see you guys topside.

Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh

Just finished watching The Phantom of the Opera. And I really enjoyed it. The story is cool, the acting great and the songs were kickass. Maybe one day I'll actually see a stage production of it. Apparently it's still going in the US and UK. So half a chance that someday I'll be able to see it.

Ordered some books from Infinitas. Two books from the new Robin Hobb series, Shaman's Crossing and Forest Mage. I wanted Polity Agent by Neal Asher, but the hardcover copy is not in stock and they have to order it which takes (plus delivery) 1-2 months at best! The paperback copy comes out in July, so I guess I'll wait until then.

Besides that, the month is not exciting as I thought it would be. I guess the books I've ordered masked most of the feeling, but it hasn't arrived and I'll finish them quickly. Anybody organising a day out or something?

Besides the books, I'll probably resist spending my money on anything else. As a habit, I don't buy anything that I don't really need and hoard the money, eventually putting it into the bank and letting it build up. Chinese New Year brings some hope, but I'm not expecting that much money anyway. Getting a casual job would be nice. Ideally, work at a games or computer shop would suit me best, but I'm not too picky. Unfortunately, timetables still haven't come out, so I can't commit to anything. But more money would be nice, so I can hoard more.

Still it's a good month to formulate long term plans. I would like to get a new computer, take advantage of Vista and all that jazz. But that's furthur down the road, maybe near the end of the year or early next year. And regarding education I'm thinking that after I graduate, I'll get a job and continue part-time studying. Or maybe continue long-term studying if I can keep the pace.
But that as well is down the road a fair while, so I still have time.

Only played a few hours of FFX. Still haven't been able to get into a rhythm. I left it for such a long while. I tried playing Day of Defeat: Source but it feels so weird after playing DotA for so long. Ahhh well...

The cicadas are pissing me off. I don't know about other places, but the cicadas start their droning buzz and it starts to get louder. Imagine the buzzing of the cicadas. Now imagine that the sound gets louder and louder, until you can't hear the lawnmower next door. Then imagine the sound keeping up so you starting screaming in a cold sweat, but no one hears you since the the buzzing is so loud. Then the buzzing cuts, and your ears are now ringing from the deafening silence. Rinse and repeat. Arrgh....

So yeah, someone plan a day out or something. City, net cafe, whatever. And give us our damn timetables USyd, you mugs. Anyone does anyone have a few RAV4s or something, because here's a splendid idea for some fun:

Music of the Night

Occasionally I find myself utterly unable to sleep at night. No matter how much I toss and turn, my eyes refuse to shut. So I hop onto the net and surf to the dark recesses of the internet. And I have struck gold! Gold my friends! Well, at least to me. Infinitas is an Australian bookshop, specialising in 'sci-fi, fantasy, horror, speculative fiction, roleplaying gaming, popular science and other books, artwork, games and figurines'. Say goodbye to the boring month of February because now I know where to spend some cash. I already have my eye on some Neal Asher and Robin Hobb. Now, if only I could find a casual job for some more cash...

I know Charles knows of a prospective job at his workplace, but until I get my uni timetable I can't commit to anything. Damn USyd! Give us our timetables already! UNSW students have their timetables, what about us?

Has anyone seen a tv series called Black Books. It's hella awesome. It's some comedy gold. Do note that it does clever wordplay and some surreal situations, so if you're more into slapstick or Jackass antics, it's not really for you. But watch it anyway. Since it rules so much. So hard to find some decent comedy sometimes. Ever since The Sketch Show was taken off air, the standard hasn't been high.

I ran across this trailer for The Phantom of the Opera, a 2004 remake of the musical, which is based on the book. The trailer looks hella mad and since I haven't really watched or know much about it, I'm trying to get my hands on it. And the music is quite good as well. Oh, and on that subject, someone made a 'Vader of the Opera' on Youtube. Obviously, this person(s) have too much time on their hands. A link is at the end.

And on a random note, you know that commercial for Maccleans Lemon Mint toothpaste? What about other flavours? Like chocolate? Or sweet chilli? It will make brushing your teeth fun. Holy crap...I think I'm onto a winner of an idea here...