Times of Taste

Returns and Welcomes

2011-03-05T03:39:00.000-08:00

What I'm doing ?!
Well I'm recommencing this blog, just ignore the difference between 2010 and 2011 and I've made no break from this !

WELL, what's been going on since last year...
MARCH 2010 - Chilled, went to Mauritius with a good friend of mine
APRIL 2010 - Came back from Mauritius, chilled
MAY 2010 - Had 11 exams to entertain myself, didn't chill
JUNE 2010 - Chilled at home, flew to France
JULY 2010 - Chilled in France, flew to Mauritius
AUGUST 2010 - Chilled in Mauritius, flew to Malaysia
SEPTEMBER 2010 - Chilled in Malaysia, flew to Mauritius, Chilled for a bit, flew to the UK
OCTOBER 2010 - Chilled and worked
NOVEMBER 2010 - Excellent Chilled
DECEMBER 2010 - Flew to France, Skiid
JANUARY 2011 - Skiid some more, flew to the UK
FEBRUARY 2011 - Chilled
MARCH 2011 - Epic days

From that resumé, I realise that my life is AWESOME :)

So, I'm in 3rd year of uni now so all is good, I'm currently doing my dissertation about visual perception of our 3D environment (which I'll chat more about in future posts when my statistics are finished). Final year means that next year I'll be finished with uni ! Or will it... I'm applying for a masters in conference interpretation at Geneva, the Sorbonne and Westminster and so far so good ! Just got to pass the entrance exams and I'll be cruising towards a very good job in the future !

Must make a move on this day but I'll keep posting on this past year in funsized snippets over the next arbitrary measurement of time

Excellent

2010-08-02T09:28:00.001-07:00

Measures and Preperations

2010-03-08T14:35:00.000-08:00

WOW Hello !! I am indeed alive though i haven't posted for days !
Not since Last Tuesday in fact ! So much has happened ! I've written a whole 3000 Report and all !

Let me try to remember what I've been doing.

Wednesday - Spent loitering at home and writing up some lectures but nothing much interesting. Though I did go to the cinema in the evening with A. She and I watched Extraordinary Measures which was a good film about a man's plight in saving his terminally ill children who suffer from Pompe Disease which slowly makes your muscles have sadtimes. It was a very good film ! I won't spoil the plot should you want to watch it :) And it has both Brendan Frasier and Harrison Ford so it's bound to be a good film !!

Excellent Film

Thursday was spent in a haze of taste. I had my usual 3 PM lecture with folk for the last ever social lecture of year 2 after which I went to A's house to have dinner before heading out to Salsa and dancing it down for two hours and then some good sleep !

Friday was spent having my last lecture of the year at 10:00 and then going home and celebrating by doing some of my project ! What a cool way to celebrate !

Saturday and Sunday was a haze of report writing. 3000 may not seem like much but the amount of preparation, research, planning, data gathering needed is not funtimes !

Today was spent handing in my project then going home as we have a reading week before exams. Ballroom went well in the evening and now I'm all tired !

SLEEP :D

Reggae and Sauce

2010-03-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

I, a mere mortal of this world, got slapped on the back by the great Levi Roots of the Reggae-Reggae Sauce empire !! But more on that later.

Yesterday, Monday, was spent in the usual fashion more or less. Got woken up at 07:30 by my sister who was picking up a book I had used and was still in my room, then I fell back asleep. At 09:00, she woke me up again to tell me that Gordon Brown was live in town to which I fell asleep again only to wake up at 10:55, 1 hour and 5 minutes before my lecture. I therefore managed to get from bed to uni in 1 hour and 3 minutes which is amazing ! So I had me my lecture on stats which wasn't fun (never is !) but at least there wasn't any tutorial this week so I got to enjoy time before my essay tutorial when we were told about exams and how to prepare... funfun ! The lecturer put this meeting just before a lecture to 'be convenient' yet forgetting that the next lecture wasn't in Psychology but in a building half way across campus... Nice. Last ever clinical lecture then followed, followed subsequently by ballroom dance, then a bit of well earned sleep before today !

Today was enjoyable, just had to get up at 08:00 for 10:00 Neuroscience which it would seem, only 1/4 of the year turned up to ! It was a lecture about autobiographical memory which sounded suspiciously like a cognitive lecture, only saved by a diagram of a brain at the very end of the lecture as if to blag the fact that this isn't really neuroscience. Sneaky. Then went home to start writing up my 3,000 word miniproject before heading out for Levi Roots evening !!

It was amazing !! We got there (C and I) when doors opened to get good seats and good seats we got !! Levi then arrived at 20:00 and sang, cooked and joked his way through 2 and a half hours of joy before letting us taste some reggae reggae stuff which was delicious !! I even got a photo with him which made my day !

Reggae Reggae Goodtimes !

Anyhow, I should get me some sleep ! Long day tomorrow, no lectures but a LOT of writing to do !

Birthdays and Humus

2010-02-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

Gyáah, what an insignificant day !!

I spent most of it working after waking up at a tidy 10:30 though as far as productivity goes, very good day !!

My sister was out most of the day celebrating our neighbour's birthday which was good because I had peace all day to do my work. Then this evening, after a dinner of humus and cheese toasty type foodstuffs, I watched me an tidy episode of 24 (the terrorists are up to no good), a shiny episode of Desperate Housewives and an epic episode of Prison Break !
Tasty end to a day methinks.

Tomorrow is the usual Stats/ballroom-fest so that's something to look forward to.
21 Days to Mauritius !!

G'night !

Brie and Moulin

2010-02-27T16:07:00.000-08:00

What a fine couple of days I've had !

Thursday went as any Thursday should: Lie in, lecture, work, sleep ! And that's exactly what I did !! Nothing exciting happened other than A, S, others and I ate in mojo's before Salsa in the evening which was good ! I had the Brie and Bacon Ciabatta which was of Mojo's standard !!

Friday was full to bursting ! Starting with a lecture at 10 leading to a way home ending at 11:30 where I had me some awesome lunch... not quite sure what... but it was awesome then I went into town with A for some shopping where I refused to buy checkered shirts which would make me look like an indie rocker which sucks bad. We then went for a Pizza Hut which was tasty but I'd eaten a few hours before so I couldn't finish my pizza and wedges (all that plus a drink for a mere £4 ! ). Then I got home and worked a bit because I'm cool before chilling then bed.

Today wasn't very eventful, I spent the day working whilst the rain pounded outside before heading out for pre-drinkage at A's house because they were having a Moulin Rouge themed evening, going to the union (which I didn't fancy). Quite why you'd base an evening around a nude theater/brothel is anyone's guess but the girls were scantily clad as often occurs on a night out. No idea how they never get colds... Still, I prefer the warmth of my house than inebriated people staggering around being drunk and all over the place. I prefer sober nights in because I never end up having fun on nights out unless I'm with the right people. Shame people don't seem to find night's in fun.

Anyhow, better get me some sleep, work is up tomorrow !!

Astroturf and Shoes

2010-02-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

Tasty ! These past few days have gone quite insignificantly, had a neuroscience lecture yesterday about memory which then led me to HOME ! As I had nothing else to do for the rest of the day so I worked from home doing research and such. In the evening I went to play football with S's boyfriend and another 20-odd people which was fun. The place we went to (I got a lift) is close to the Madejski stadium and was £2.50 for a full-size astroturf pitch so it was really good. I went back to my old defending days and even dove for the ball during a brief stint in goal amidst calls of "great save" ! Nice

I'd bought a shiny new pair of football boots in the Oracle where I went to the world's most incompetent shop EVER. SportsDirect = Useless. I went downstairs to the football section wondering to myself if you needed special boots to play on astroturf so I go up to this Korean chap and ask him. He stares blankly back and sais that he doesn't know... Great. So he tells me to go see Mr Fugly 2010 at the cashier desk where the latter was tending to customers. With his face looking as miserable as a Monday Morning. So I wait for a while for this sad type to finish and then I ask him the same question to which he answered "yeah follow me" sounding as if I had just condemend him to a holiday in Zimbabwe. So he brings me to the special astroturf shows and then leaves me with no advice. So I look around and see a pair that I seem to like but it's in size 6 so too small. I go see our good friend again and I find him hammering in a display into the wall using another display... Strange... After asking him my question, he keeps on hammering away at his display louder and louder so I wait patiently for him to finish. 14 bangs later, he descends off the till desk and goes to fetch me my shoes. I bought them leaving Mr Miserable-times behind to wallow behind the till and returned to the cheerful outside world. Talk about customer service !!

This guy would've been a better salesperson.

Today was spent doing a bit of work and watching me some Prison Break ! Fun but I'd've rather have been out with folk.

Sounds Good !

Sandwiches & Udon

2010-02-22T15:09:00.001-08:00

I'm back !! It's true, after my stint of some deadly man-flu which has plagued me since Thursday evening ! Unluckily for me, the annual Dance Club Valentine's ball was on Friday which I attended despite my death-like existence slowly slipping away from me. The evening went mostly well with the only hiccups occurring near the end of the evening but that's another story ! Food wise, it was quite nice but there was a 4:1 Sandwich to cake ratio meaning that there was an extreme surplus of sandwiches yet not enough cakes... Music was good though... GOOD. Yes.

Then on Saturday, we brought our cousin who's visiting to London. I was half-dead so my sister took him in the early afternoon but a swap-over had to take place at 16:30 because 1: She had a hair appointment at 17:30 and 2: I had booked the tickets for the London Eye with my card so I had to bring my own card and proof of identity so that we could board meaning I then went to London to enjoy where we went to the Covent Gardens where they were setting up the Baftas then to the London Eye where we enjoyed the wheel spin visiting before heading over to Big Ben to look before heading over to the Hare & Tortoise restaurant of delicious Chinese food where we ate... Japanese Udon. Nice

City Slicks

Then Sunday was spent saying bye to my cousin as he had to leave at 10:03 before going home and writing 1,500 words of a very difficult essay about causes of dyslexia. Tasty.

Today wasn't too bad, it begun at 08:30 when I realised that i didn't have to wake up until 10:00 so I went back to sleep. I then woke up at 09:17 but then realised that i didn't have to wake up until 10:00 so I went back to sleep. My alarm went off at 10:00 meaning I had to wake up. Had stats 12:00, then a part 2 exam brief at 13:00, then a stats tutorial at 14:00 where I discovered the magic of ANCOVAs, then a study at 15:00, then a lecture on Schizophrenia at 17:00 then Ballroom at 19:00, busy busy... !

Well, that's about it for a sound round-up ! Tomorrow is Neuroscience before tasting a bit of free time for the first time in a while so that's something to look forward to !

G'night !

Home and Colds

2010-02-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no post today, I've just got home with a very bad cold like times so imma straight to bed with me.
Good day though, just hope I'll get better for the Valentine's ball tomorrow...

G'night !

Sakura and Virtual Reality

2010-02-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

Well ! I've missed a day !!
Explanation: My cousin arrived in the country yesterday so the day was spent doing funstuff. He arrived safe and sound, we had some good pasta made by my sister before going to A and S's house for some pancakes which were GOOD. Then we went back home, chilled for a while before heading out after dinner to Claire's to celebrate her B'day ! We spent about 20 minutes trying to get a drinks fountain to work getting everything drinkable in the room in it to keep the liquid level up. It was quite vodka-times so I had to content myself with some orange juice before we all headed into town where we met my sister and then went to Sakura for a fine evening, getting home at about 1:40 which meant that I was too shattered to write anything ! I had a shower and slept on the couch (my cousin's got my room whilst he's here). I actually slept really well ! We have a comfortable couch.

We went to Oxford today so that G could see my cousin and for the latter to see the historic town of Oxford. So we arrived with an hour before my meeting (I'll explain) in which we visited his college with a historic tour narrated by G2. Then I had to go to my meeting with a prospective supervisor for next year in order to show him my project proposal. Seeing as this project is about 3D vision and necessitates a virtual lab which Reading Uni doesn't have, it happens in the Physiology department of the University of Oxford. So I was expecting a meeting with him which wouldn't last more than 20 minutes but I ended spending two hours in that place ! It was awesome though, the first hour being spent trying out the virtual reality headset, going round rooms and looking at cubes and stuff. Even going on a simulated roller-coaster (not for those prone to travel-sickness !). Then we spent the next hour preparing the project for next year which was really useful because we changed some stuff to make it even better, nice.

Well, it's late and I need my sleep ! More meetings tomorrow and lectures and salsa and more fun !
G'night !

Schizophrenia and Tango

2010-02-15T16:46:00.001-08:00

LONG day, Monday, sadtimes day ! Tuesday, good day, Cousin day !
As usual, today was a veeery long day. Got up, barely had time for breakfast before pacing it to uni for stats at noon. After another lecture on qualitative research, I had the practical at two which, being about qualitative research, consisted of answer that can't be proved wrong so I sailed through it into the mini-project meeting where a good half-hour was spent de-confusing others about test conditions and experimental hypothesis. Then ! two hours before a fun lecture on Schizophrenia which basically glazed over what I had learnt in A-level ! Tango was to be learnt at Ballroom along with some Waltzing which went rather well ! Ticket sales are up for the Valentine's ball this Friday so it's all good.

I'm not going to write more now because I'm knackered and in the mood for a sleep. How convenient ! It's bed time !

Tigers and Authority

2010-02-14T16:04:00.001-08:00

Well ! Valentine's day has come and gone for another year but it shrank into insignificance with the news that today was also the Chinese New Year ! So a little 新年快乐 into this year of the Tiger which is my mum's sign so an extra good year in store for her !

Happy New Year to all the tigers out there !

Today, most of my day was spent writing an essay on object permanence and more specifically the A-not-B task which basically consists with an infant being presented with a toy which disappears into a well during several times. The kid is normally very confused at this point as to why it is here but we don't take that into account. We then put the toy in a second well and see if the infant goes for the first or second well. Younger infants (5-7 months) tend to go for the first well due to habituation, or maybe a damaged frontal lobe, or maybe due to attention inhibition, or maybe due to external factors such as poverty... But seeing as we are psychologists, we'll never agree so it's all a nice never-ending debate ! Older infants (8 months onwards) tend to go for the second well where the toy was last put due to their flawless object permanence that has developed and then everyone's happy. I concluded that many different aspects can cause failure in the task:

"To conclude, many theories are brought forward about why a child could possibly be less successful than another when carrying out the A-Not-B task and most vie for the position of best theory but it is my belief that several factors can lead to this, be they cognitive, neurophysiological or environmental, and that research supporting these theories prove that there is more than just one way to an erroneous result."

Fun times all round.

Now to lighten up the mood, some amusing pictures from the internet

Nice

The other day, I watched what is now one of my favorite films "Die Welle", or "The Wave" which I talked about a few days ago. What I didn't know, is that this actually happened in real life, in California, 1967. Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave.

This was carried out by a history teacher but has had many psychological implications about how we can ALL sucumb to authority however much we may deny it. A bit like Milgram's study where virtually all participants delivered fatal doses of electricity to a person when asked by a person in authority (the person wasn't being shocked, s/he was a confederate). Still, we psychologists thought we could go one better and test Primary School Children ! Wahey ! You've got to love psychology before the ethics era we live in now. They basically got children in a class to be told that those with Brown eyes were better than those with Blue eyes which lead to classwide persecution and ostracising of blue-eyed children. The teacher then went to explain that she was wrong and it was in fact the blue-eyed children who were superior which led to a complete reversal of scenario with brown-eyed children being belittled. Then they were all told it was an experiement and that eye colour in fact hasn't got an effect on your persona.

More reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Elliott

Imagine carrying out a similar study nowadays ?! You'd get lynched by parents which is why some crucial aspects of psychology to do with stress and similar can now never be discovered due to ethical constraints... Unless you go to the Belgian Congo or something but then cross-cultural differences come into play and no-one's happy.

I've spoken to much ! I need sleep for a long, long week ahead !!

G'night ! Bonne Nuit !

Desks and Metabolisms

2010-02-13T15:50:00.001-08:00

It's strange how, to a student, the weekend is no different to any other day of the week ! There's your desk, with work waiting to be completed, and when that's finished, there's always some research to be done. Never, do you feel the satisfaction of a job well done as the job never ends ! Still, holidays in 33 days ! Sun, Sea, Sand, Seashells and other things that start with 's'.

Valentine's day tomorrow ! And I wish a happy valentine's day to everyone who's lucky enough to have a second half. Mine's currently called food, it offers short-term gratification yet the long-term effects can be somewhat negative ! Nah, I could eat cake all day and I wouldn't get fat *thank you metabolism*. Even when I went on a hyper-carb diet last year because I'd gone under my limit I stagnated so I've decided to pick up some weights in order to put on some useful weight ! Then maybe for Valentines 2011, I'll have someone ! Exciting

This next week is going to be CRAZY ! My cousin's arriving on Tuesday for 5-odd days to visit us from the Alps and here's our plan : Tuesday, pick him up from train station, go out in the evening for C2's birthday. Wednesday, try and get up *hopefully at home* and train it to Oxford to visit stuff and so that G can see my cousin. I've also got a meeting with my project coordinator for next year in the Oxford University 3D Vision lab (I like saying that). Wednesday evening, formal dinner in St John's hall. Thursday, day at uni, meetings with other project coordinators and a lecture before salsa in the evening and then maybe going out. Friday, at home, doing fun stuff, maybe going to uni for some research dragging my cousin with me so he can have a taste of the library's psychology section. Saturday, London Town ! Then union in the evening with folk. Sunday, wake up, send my cousin home and furiously write an essay about Dyslexia. It's ALL planned out. Watch it go at a tangent all week -_-

I was going to say I'm off to have me some fun but it's past midnight and I'm shattered so I think I'll watch me a prison break before turning in .

G'night

Proprioception and Navigation

2010-02-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

Listening to a version of L'Italiano Vero in some random eastern language (I'm guessing Finnish?) is disturbing yet rather good in a weird, linguistic way !

Today was a dull day ! For a change. I tried to get my head round Vergence, Motion Parallax and
Proprioception Conflict whilst fighting off a bad bout of Veridical Stereo. Hey, I might even write about it once I get my head round it. Might take another day though which isn't good because I also need to write an essay on attitudes and prepare my meetings with the lecturers (which is why I'm reading about perception). Why didn't I do Italian & French is anyone's guess... If anyone's got a spare time machine, email me. *Kicks self*

Right, this new facebook. It's not too bad and makes life easier for the navigation but my big pickle's with the news feed. It sucks. It never tells me what I want to know about my friends. It never tells me what I want to know about my important friends and tells me that someone I haven't talked to for 3 years "is bored". Thanks, I can now sleep safely knowing that they are bored. At least the old facebook analysed how much you went on a friend's page and subsequently posted more about them on the news feed. AND, there's the brilliant part where apparently NOTHING has happened to ANY of my friends EVER. Have a look:

Yes, it's in French. Get over it.

I wonder when facebook will petition it's members to whether or not they want a new facebook ! I guess it would be too easy... And I've been "chosen" by youtube to try out the new navigation system which isn't too bad if not slightly bland. They've gone from (I'm taking a big step into computer techy talk territory which I normally find myself failing at) HTML to PHP script so it all runs off the same page... I think... I'm no computer freak !

Well, I need to get me some sleep and hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow morning not feeling like P. Diddy and feeling like someone with a day's worth of work ahead of them. Nice !

Perception and Snow

2010-02-11T17:35:00.001-08:00

Just got home so I'm going straight to bed ! Will update this tomorrow morning !

MORNING TIME

Today wasn't too bad. Went a bit like this: Wake up, lounge, go to uni, do some treasurer business, research some research, go to my lecture, do some more research about 3D perception, go to salsa, go to film night !

Well... it was supposed to be a film night but ended up with us watching Skins... The worlds worst program which involves a bunch of chavs in Bristol getting up to no good, making babies, doing drugs, getting arrested etc. Quite how this is entertaining I don't quite know... Still, it was the first time in months that we were all united in the same room so it was bareable.

Nothing else happened really... Other than it snowed on the way home for no reason other than making the trip home very cold. Nice

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a bit more eventfull but I doubt it ! I'm at home all day and I've got some essays to write !

BBC and Toto

2010-02-10T16:22:00.001-08:00

Wednesday : In Day !! Had the usual Wednesday. Woke up late and lounged about until lunch. Then had me some work until dinner before going picking up my sister at the station and then watching us some TV ! Average but good. Got some good essay writing done today so I'm satisfied !

Not much to report else really as nothing much happened today ! I was browsing BBC news today and there are some impressive new pictures up of the 9/11

That's a LOT of dust. Like a tidal wave.

Impressive. More so than my day that's for sure ! Tomorrow's good, Social Psych at 3 then Salsa at 7 and film night at A/S's house so good day ahead ! I saw a good looking girl yesterday at the pub with the German society hanging out with people I think A would know (The other A) so I've sent him on a recon mission for me. The straws are within my clutch ! Valentine's in 4 days !! 4 days to get me a nice person. Although being celibate is quite good when you want to do things at your own pace. (Tom Jones's "It's not unusual" is playing on Nostalgie to make the situation ironic. Thanks)

I was listening to Toto Cutugno yesterday and I realised I haven't been to Italy for several years (not since 2002) so I should really go one of these days !

This guy's pretty pimp.

Aww... I've just remembered, I've ran out of Milk, I'll have to drink Soya Milk tomorrow. So ends my day ? No Milk ? Fair enough ! G'night !

Doctors and Smiles

2010-02-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

Des que le vent soufflera ! Good old nostalgie always gives the right tunes ! Today wasn't too bad ! Had to get up at eight which is always a sadtimes but it was for a neuroscience lecture so it was all good. Today's lecture consisted of the lecture Doctor Ho, to throw very long words about the Basal Ganglia at us and watch us cry as they hit us hard in the face. Still, only with a fellow psychologist could I spend the journey home joking about the Substantia Nigra and the Caudate Nucleus ! The guy at the bus stop was very confused as to why we found this all so funny but it made sense so there. After getting home, work had to be done, but not before cooking up some Reggae Reggae chicken for my sister who suffered a bad migraine today. It was delicious with rice and all.

I then went out in the evening to Uni with the German Society for a film night in which we watched "Die Welle" or "The Wave" which was a really good film ! About authority and the power of influence, I'd recommend it to anyone ! But get it with subtitles otherwise you won't understand. I never get how English films are always translated into foreigner but foreign films are never dubbed in English ?! Lazy. It was the last episode of Hustle last night which was good but ALREADY ?! I mean, American shows have about 22 episodes per season whereas British series tend to have 6-8 episodes ?! Lazy. I blame the government, they run the BBC.

I say awesome too much apparently. I sound American apparently. And apparently I like saying awesome. It fits.

I think I encountered the most situationally intelligent person I've met in a while today. I was walking to uni for the German film and I was looking to cross the road on CC Road and there were a good many cars. I'd already noticed this girl walking several paces behind me on the other side of the road as I turned into CC from K Road. So yeah, I was stuck as to when I could cross. After a while I see a gap emerging on the other side of the road but none on my side. Then the traffic stops on my side as well and it turns out the lights had turned red (It's a crossing that only turns red when you press the button to cross) but with no-one crossing or wanting to cross in the vicinity, just that girl walking a few paces after the lights. My theory is that she saw me checking behind me to see the traffic situation and pressed on the crossing to stop traffic. I say this because the lights turned red with no other possibility than her. So yeah, I gave her an acknowledging nod to say thanks but still, it's RARE to find people so quick thinking ! If I see her again, I'll buy her a drink or something . Maybe she was expecting me to do so ? ha

I did make another girl's day today walking to the lecture this morning. I was walking along, listening to the song C and I had made last week and it got to a funny bit that made me grin and laugh to myself. At that point, my gaze crossed that of a fair girl who then proceeded to smile back at me ! So yeah, there was one more happy person out there today. A little smile can make a person's day that much better so tomorrow, smile at someone, they'll thank you for it.

Sleep

Money and Oxford

2010-02-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Nice. Day. Sort of. So how did I find myself going from a stats lecture to Jiving? From eating pasta to running through Reading with over £300 in a bag ? My life gets interesting sometimes.

Had the usual stats lecture at noon with a nice little spiel from the one and only KH who told a mature student to be quiet during the lecture (There's something VERY satisfying watching a Lecturer telling someone older than them to shut up in a lecture). Well, we were told about qualitative research which is basically the green party of research methods which bases itself more on analysing interviews rather than straight-forward numbers. Due to this, arguments say that different interpretations of the same text can happen and then no-one agrees and then no-ones happy but the psychology world keeps going round because if all the questions of life get answered, psychologists will just sit and cry due to their new uselessness. The stupid thing about qualitative research is that, in order to make it sound pimp, it makes really simple concepts sound ridiculously hard: For example, Epistemology. WOW such a long word must be something we can never even HOPE to understand with our mortal minds. Actually, "Epistemology is the theory of how it is possible to obtain knowledge". Also known as google.com . Ethnography. WOW such a hot word must mean something really cool ! Erm... Ethnograpy = Observation ...

I got an email from the tutor I want to work with next year and we've got a meeting set up in Oxford on the 17th in the vision lab I should be working in.

Me, next year.

Ballroom was good this evening but after doing it for a year and a bit, we seem to be repeating stuff every few weeks so I can't wait to pass on the treasurer baton to S so that I can go once in a while. Still, it's good to be told by three consecutive girls at salsa that I lead them well. I've become a veteran, how old I feel. I even stand next to the teacher now when demonstrating solos to the guys. Elite times.

SOUND. Michel Sardou has just started playing on radio nostalgie. This radio is filled with win.
In other news, Santa's replacement is in town this Christmas ! Bring your kids

He knows when you are sleeping...

Anyway, G'night children !

Duty and Bowling

2010-02-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

Good day today ! I actually did fun stuff . Started the day with a bit of Call of Duty before hitting some work which was good. Went bowling with my sister and C at Reading Bowling in the late afternoon. The bus ride was a bit confusing what with checking every two seconds to see if a Sainsbury's was visible but we got there in the end... well, sort of. We got off at Sainsbury's and had to ask the bus driver for directions to the complex. He pointed into the darkness and said to follow the road so we tentatively followed and after 15 minutes of confusion, bifurcations and general sadtimes, we spotted the bowling place. ONLY AFTER we had spotted the place, did a totally useless signpost appear telling us that there was a bowling place close by. Thanks...

Well, we got there all happy a minute before six so we managed to get the cheaper pre-six o'clock tariff which was good. So we changed shoes and got ready to bowl. The two games went well ! C took the lead early on with my sister and I not far behind before a series of strikes put me back in the lead. By the 8th frame, it was 72 for both my sister and I and 71 for C1 though a well placed strike sealed the win for me in the end. The second game was won from the beginning with two strikes coming from my play before a series of high numbers, spares and a final strike. After the two games, we went down to leave but then had a spontaneous game of air hockey with a winner-stays-on after each point. I didn't concede a single goal in the game so I let my place for the other two to battle it out meaning a very successful day for me ! We then went to grab a (huge) bite to eat before heading home on the 1 bus to the tune of another double-bill of 24 !! Nice . It's an awesome program.

Supersonic Bowling

I'd love to write more but it's 01:00 and I need to get up at 08:00 because a stupid lecturer decides to have tutorials at an ungodly hour... G'night !

Blackberrys and IPhones

2010-02-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Wow. What an insignificant day ! All that really happened was, I woke up (feeling nothing like P Diddy whatsoever), had lunch, worked, had dinner and am now watching Harri Puttar 5 with my sister... And tomorrow's gonna be pretty much the same I think ! Nice

I really want a Blackberry ! But I can't get one until I'm elligible for an upgrade with my mobile provider... Should be soon I hope because Blackberry's are awesome ! Or maybe an IPhone... I'll write more about this after a good day !

I haven't had time to watch a prison break today ! That's how rubbish this day was ! Still, I had a really good apple pie after dinner which made the day acceptable.

Interfaces and Cognition

2010-02-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

FACEBOOK ! You've done it again ! You've fixed what doesn't need fixing and made a new homepage... WHY ?! Still, if it's like the last times, we'll all rave about it for a few weeks, get used to it, start liking it, rave at the next change. I'm already liking the new inbox interface. It comes as a drop-down menu as opposed to a new page making browsing easier. I'm also liking the instant messaging that also comes up on the left now though it only shows you a few of your friends. Watch this space.

Staying on the facebook theme, it seems that at least 23,000 new groups or fan pages appear every day leading to several daily invites to groups such as becoming fans of sausage rolls or similar. There seems to be clear cut genres of groups in this mould I've noticed:
1: The groups for insecure people that like to pretend they have friends. EG "I keep rejecting you, stop adding me!" and "I didn't want to see the top of my notifications box anyway." You're not fooling anyone; you still live with your mum.
2: The sickening groups for people in love. EG "When I see your name come up on my phone, I smile" and "When I see your face, I just want to kiss you." Bleh
3: The groups that say that something sensational will happen if x amount of people join, something sensational will happen. EG "If 1,000,000 people join, I'll change my name to Gandalf" or "If a milion peple join, il donate a kidny to the ferst alcoholic dat asks" (Folk don't often spell very well on these sort of groups).
4: The groups that trick gullible prats that if they invite ALL their friends, they'll get something. EG "The new facebook IM is here ! Invite all your friends !" and "Invite all your friends and you'll win a holiday". Seriously, how can anyone even think they're going to be given a holiday just for inviting friends ? You might as well say, get a free car by giving me all your money...
5: Groups that makes you realise that everyone did the weird things you did when you were younger and that you still do nowadays in some cases. EG "Making waves in the bath by sliding forwards and back" and "Standing in the shower aimlessly for hours just because it's hot". Can be amusing and can be downright stupid sometimes.
6: The groups that only make sense to about 1% of the population that you think "HEY ! I get that" and join if your one of them. EG: "Jacouille ! Passe-moi la gourdasse, j'ai grand soif !" and "You know you're from the 990's when you remember". A great feeling when you understand one !

Picture interlude of the hardworking American congress in action.

The chinese are no better

Today wasn't too interesting, cognition lecture at 10 so had to get up at eight for the third day in a row which means I'm knackered ! Still, it's the weekend ! Which means working... all day... and still have more to do... Nice.

I watched another prison break today and the 3rd series is so good !
ONE more characters then (Yes just one, means I can stretch this out for longer) ! *Spoilers*

Brad Bellick

Today, the spotlight's on Fox River's meanest CO, Bradley Bellick. This guy's a weird one to either love or hate. In the first series, he was the head guard at Fox River and the biggest problem but then in the second series, he gets fired, goes after the escapees (still hating) but then ends up framed for the murder of his friend, so goes to Fox River and starts getting beaten about, so much so that you start to feel sorry for him. The thing is, every time he gets the chance, he goes against the others and tries to sell them out. In this series, he finds himself in Sona with the rest being treated like a dog so he's getting a really bad deal out of it. I like him though, I think he'll have a good role to play before the end.

Right, I better get some bed, too much work to do tomorrow ! Weekend should be fun !

Admirers and Andouillettes

2010-02-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

WHY ?! No browser is letting me play radio nostalgie ! The page loads and everything but no sound emerges... Annoying. Still ! Today was a pretty good day ! Got to uni for lunch with some peoples at the CU lunch time thing because S is in it and invited us to go have a dulge. (Nostalgie is back. Good times) Then had social psych at three where we we talked to about attitudes and logical stuff. Not very interesting ! Then had dinner round at A's watching some awful people getting a talking to by Jeremy Kyle. I think they should give him a taser to use on the riffraff that go on the show. "He slept with mah man enit doe and has dem babies with twelve other women" *ZAP* Nice.

I think I've got a secret admirer/stalker in psychology because today I was in the psych lecture with N to my left and some randomer who I don't know to my right. At the end of the lecture, I was ready to leave when I find a mini creme-egg on the right hand side of my lap... "Strange" I think. By this time, the girl to my right had already left so I should've a look at her during the lecture to see what was happening. Dunno whether to be flattered or scared ! And why a mini creme-egg? Is this some kind of egg related imagery ? Think what you will !

A new way to flirt ?!

Anyway ! I had salsa after being at A's which was good but I only stayed for an hour because the CU had a quiz on which was cool but I missed all the parts I'm good at such as history and geography. So i arrived, all pleased at taking part in a quiz and I'm stuck with helping out with the celebrity face round... Ends up I mis-diagnosed Lily Allen as Rihanna (She was wearing sunglasses !! ) and didn't know anyone except from Jeniffer Aniston so it wasn't total fail. Then came the currents event round. "Cool" I thought to myself "I watch the news a few times a day so I'll be able to answer these". Question 1: Who was the first person voted off Celebrity Big Brother. *Facepalm*

How I felt after all the stupid questions.

Ends up that we came joint first with another team who was offered first place because they had a better team name ! So they snaffled on a pack of heroes whilst we sipped bitter defeat. I hope they all get salmonella. Still ! It was fun especially as I didn't know many people there except for A so I made a few new acquaintances.

Saw a good few amusing things around the interwebs today when I was bored of all the work including a classic French thing ! It made me laugh because it's true.

In true French fashion, they decided not to translate the andouillette (A coarse-grained smoked tripe sausages made with pork) because you brits don't like it ! Nice

It's the recession ok ?!

I'm feeling an episode of Prison Break before going to bed ... I need to get up at 8 but that's not an excuse ! Right I said I'd give my thoughts about two new characters: *Spoiler warning*

John Abruzzi

This guy was my favorite character ! He was rough, tough, didn't take any crap from anyone and is Italian so it's all good . Well... until he gets shot dead by Alex Mahone... He was just about to go to Italy with his wife and kids to start afresh but nooo FBI don't leave him alone and trap him... Still, he'll be back. I'm still believing.

David Apolskis

I didn't like this guy at first because he thought he was 'it' and went round Fox River as if he owned the place but after a few episodes, his softer interior started to be exposed when this other inmate was forcing to have happydays and obviously, Apolskis wasn't too chuffed about it ! He subsequently escaped with the rest but killed by Alexander Mahone in REALLY unfair circumstances. Still, he had a good run, made a girlfriend, danced a bit and all...

The word girlfriend reminds me that it's valentine's day in 10 days . yay... erghh
Tomorrow

Barns and Panama

2010-02-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day ! Today was only about 80% work ! There was this barn dance malarkey with the CU which S attends every week. It was mostly a massacre of people who haven't ever danced in their life but there were some suitable people from the dance club like last years president and the one who should be my successor in the role of treasurer so we teamed up in an amalgamation of dance. R and N were there also so it wasn't totally a "who are you" party.

I really need to get this music video finished because we've got some other stuff in the pipeline including... Nah I won't divulge just yet ! Don't get your face in a rave though, it's not groundbreaking stuff ! We'll be famous one day... then probably not the next ! ha

I finally finished the second series of Prison Break and I'm gutted about it all ! Still, the 3rd season's gonna be good ! Naughty Panamanians . Still, I can think of better countries to flee to that Panama. I mean, Europe's a fine place to go ! I can imagine the Schofields can open a bistro in Paris and Patoshik can go to Holland instead of capping himself off a tower... I've also noticed that Bellick is weirdly proportioned. He seems to be built like an upside down triangle. He's been working the shoulder muscles more than his abs I think.

SPOILERS

Michael Schofield : Right, this guys got latent inhibition which makes him a creative genius but he's gotta SMILE a bit ! He's always scowling ! I know he's currently in the hottest water imaginable but a smile never killed anyone !? Still, I like how he thinks no-one will recognise him if he wears his cap. It's like a kid thinking that you can't see them if they close their eyes. I always found that weird how in the second series, SO MANY people didn't recognise them yes most people (who then ended up dead) recognised Bagwell... Though the programme would be pretty crap if they got spotted in the first episode and incarcerated again ...

Lincoln 'Link' Schofield : This guy's quite chuffed at the moment, being exonerated and everything but he needs to think a bit ! He acts first and hits later. I also think this guy should smile as well, he's gonna get some nasty wrinkles on his forehead when he's older...

I'll write about two more characters tomorrow.

France should Annex Belgium and Quebec... They aren't really useful to the world at the moment apart from giving us some dodgy accents that make me confused when I watch TV5... Never have I understood my own language so little than when the Quebecois speak. Still, I'm starting to understand it... slightly... not much... actually it sounds like dutch.

The left ear of my earphones died yesterday ! Which means that the only way that I can enjoy the stereo nuggets is by putting an elastic band around my IPod and the earphone jack so that both ears work which makes my IPod look kludged ... I've still got some time to kill because I need to pick up C at the station at 00:58 because the trains from London at this time suck any and every protrusion and orifice that exists. Nice...

Tomorrow means Thursday and that means Social Psychology ! yay... Though salsa in the evening which is always good. Though I would've liked to go to the CU quiz with A because he may not know too many folk around. No lie in though, tight work schedule to follow so wake up at 08:00, then work until about 13:00 then uni !

Awesome Uni

Dementia and Ceauşescu

2010-02-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

I'd SO love to have a rollercoaster that would take me from home to uni like in that advert on TV ! It would be awesome to arrive in the psych building in under 4 minutes ! I'll apply for one to the council.

Not much went down today, just had a neuroscience lecture about Dementia and the sorts. Quite a bit of funtimes for the 10-odd people who actually turned up to the lecture. I mean, 10AM on a Tuesday is not a good way of getting a full room of psychology students !! Then I ate 50 grammes of chocolate again for the study I did last week . Turns out this girl needs more people for her study because most people are too lazy to give up two hours of their time over two weeks ... SIGN UP, it's important to 3rd years !

Where you will be in 10 years time if 1: You get enough participants. 2: You don't.

In similar news, the university of Surrey annoys me: I can't listen to 10 minutes of Spotify without some druggy telling me that UCAS is still open and that I can apply to their uni. I'd rather sing next to Ceauşescu on December 21st '89.

Yeah, that's Hannah Montana ...

Not else really important happened today ! Tomorrow's my off day... well off meaning not going to uni but it'll be spent working as usual so it's all fun . I want a holiday... Only 45 days to go though !!

Hustle and Transport

2010-02-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

Hustle's on TV and it's an awesome programm ! It's one of the only programms that are as good as they used to be even with a mojor change of cast. And they've involved Duncan Bannatyne, Deborah Meadon and Peter Jones from Dragon's den and Richard Branson in this episode ! Sudden budget raise ? Epic

Now if someone is asked "What is the safest method of travelling?", many people will answer "By aeroplane". Well... if you were to have gone on the BBC this afternoon, you would think twice before going on planes in future ! Have a look :

4 stories out of 10 on crashing planes !

What next ?... Train? Bicycle? Car?... If you'd chosen car, think again !
On the french news site lefigaro.fr, a news report titles "How the roads have become safer". "How nice" you must be thinking, "The roads are much safer now". But the picture that they decided to link to the article is a bit of a fail. Have a look:
It's obvious to see that our roads are safe :)

Another amusing thing that happened today was absolute sadtimes ! And it happened chillingly close to home. On this very blog. Look. At the bottom right advert. And weep.

WHY?!

Today was FULL. And not good full, edufull ! Stats at noon then we had our miniproject meeting where my group set in concrete the research plan for our project. Funfun
Tomorrow's not too charged, 10AM lecture then miniproject meet and a study at noon. Nice.