lyore

Got a mixed bag of things to say today.

First of all, wolfwarrior and I had an assignment which we stayed up all night to finish. And this is 'all night' in the sense that I am writing this at 1:40 the next afternoon without having gone to sleep yet. Now, this would be all well and good, except that when Wolfie went to hand it in, it seems that the other group got themselves a 2 week extension >( We successfully got the essay back before it could be marked, so we will have a chance to go through it and actually edit it, which will be a very good idea, since the majority of it was written at three in the morning.

Tam got me a Darth Tater as a birthday present, all the way from America. He's so very cute. Been looking one here in Oz for ages, but no luck.


On the job front - Got the paperwork yesterday. My god, there is a lot of forms. A LOT of forms.
Also, I finally told my honours supervisor about the job, and the fact I wouldn't be doing a PhD with him. The conversation went something like this -

Me - So, you know that job I got you to referee for me a while ago? I got it.
Him - Congratulations *shakes hand*
Me - So, I still want to do a PhD sometime, but I would like to get a bit of practical experience first...
Him - You know you can do one part-time, we could set that up
Me - Um... Not right away.
*He leaves for 5 minutes, and then comes back*
Him - If you do a PhD, we'll still pay you a scholarship on a pro rata basis
Me - Um...

Does anyone else get the feeling they are rather desperate for students? I mean, I'm flattered (and tempted, after I finish the graduate scheme), but still.


But, the news you have all been waiting for - Firefly Marathon saturday

1. We have the maths room on saturday (thanks to go_the_brumbies), we're all set for firefly marathon. Plan is to start bright and early, 12 noon, since a bunch of us have to leave around sixish.
2. For those people ( necromage and pseudoskribe ) looking for the Serenity novelisation, it is apparently out in Australia, you just have to bug people about it. Dymocks can supposedly order it for you, but you'll probably have to argue with them about whether they have it or not, since it doesn't always show up.

And lastly, everyone needs to send nice, soothing healing vibes to auril, who's laid up with a mystery illness at the mo. Get well soon! (you know, before saturday, so you can come to the firefly thing).

Well, everything is looking kinda blurry now - gotta love that sleep deprivation - so I think I might end this long and winding post right... now.

Finally seen it. And all I can say is - wow.

Ok, that's not strictly speaking true, but a detailed review will have to wait until I have seen it again, and the shock wears off. But it was everything you would expect from Joss Whedon, and the cast delivered brilliantly as well. It haven't felt this way after a movie since Revenge of the Sith. Well, I would have felt like this after Revenge of the Sith, if it had romantic dialogue that made people cheer (yes, they cheered) instead of cringe.

Did I say 'Wow'?

For anyone who reads this and wasn't with us, we got there about an hour early, and there were already people in line. We went to get dinner and then joined the queue. By the time we went in, the line was out the door of the theatre, and there were only a few spare seats in the front row. Very impressive turnout.

Seems like everyone who came enjoyed it, and even the non-fans could follow it, which was good. We had 13 people show up in total, so I was happy. It was also a good chance to catch up with old friends I don't see so often.

So, to everyone who came, thanks, and I hope you had a good time. Now, go see it again, and drag more people with you. If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for? Go now. Get up, walk away from the computer and towards the movie. It's time everyone found Serenity :)


Oh, and the exam went suprisingly well. All in all, not a bad day.

Well, looks like we have quite a crowd - 13 people (and counting).

A few more details

Since movie people are slack and hadn't updated their session times on the net, had to resort to ringing - Yes, I know, how very primitive. And that experience went something like this -

Call the number, get told to press 4 for session times. Press 4, then get told to ring another number - their 'Hoyts Hotline'. Hang up, try to ring other number, only to be told that this number is not connected. Ring first number back, press 0 to speak to an operator. Get a 12 year old kid (but at least I'm talking to a human, I suppose). They say ring the hot line for session times. I say it isn't working. They say - Hang on, let me get my supervisor. Get put on hold. For 5 minutes. Get supervisor, who FINALLY manages to give me the times.

The end result is that the session times are 7 and 9:30. We'll aim for the 7.

Oh, and someone who is coming who happens to live across the street from the movies will try and book tickets thursday morning, since we can't do that before the movie is released. Which means I need numbers by around 5 tomorrow, OK?

So, a post which actually relates to what is going on in my life. Say it isn't so!

I got an email from job people today. Not all that interesting, just saying that the selection list thingy has been done, and its with the executive type people for approval, that they'll ring if you get an offer. No dates or anything, but at least they let us know what is going on. I'm taking that as a moderately good sign.

And in even better news -

I just logged onto ISIS, to make sure nothing important was going on, and right down the bottom, in tiny little letters was this

You are currently being considered for Graduation in December 2005

Yay!!

I am in a considerable better mood now, which probably has to do the above mentioned news, and the fact that I have spent the arvo curled up in bed watching Buffy and listening to the rain. Screw the essay, they can have it tomorrow.

Random spellchecker note - the LJ spellchecker doesn't like Yay. It does, however, sugggest Tau and YT as replacements. One day I will understand its logic. Until then, it'll provide endless hours of (bemused) amusement.

The Coalition for Kevlar Shoelaces now has a new crusade - Salada which actually breaks along the lines (Swabal, which is a kinda cool acronym, really).

What is the point of having all those little breaking lines if they never break! Actually, not sure about the whole big biscuit breaking into 4 little biscuits thing in general. I mean, you only really need something that big if you want some sort of biscuit sandwich. Which is fine, whatever floats your boat, but if you try and bite into the thing, it breaks at strange and random places, not only dropping crumbs everywhere, including all of the keyboard if you happen to be in a five meter radius of a computer, but you also lose whatever you have on it. Why don't they just sell them pre-broken, if they can't get them to break predictably! Arrghh.

But anyway, I now have a new mission - to keep records of how many salada in this box break properly. I'm just a naturally curious person, I guess. More to the point, I'm just a naturally curious person who likes statistics to back me up. There's a thought - maybe we should ask the ABS. After all, these are the people who supposedly have records of how many Australians die every year from testing batteries on their tongue. Personally, I think its just a darwinian thing which should be allowed to proceed at its own pace.


Random Observation for the Day - I think the rest of this post is random enough, don't you?

No, I just filled out the mood thingy. The randomness only increases (just like entropy...) What is my dino wearing on his head?? This is worse than the last one!
I think its time to go to bed.

Went to Gud concert last night with Bob/ette and the Other Sister. For the uninitiated Gud is a musical comedy trio (anyone else seeing the pattern in my sister's musical tastes?) featuring Paul McDermott (everyone remember Good News Week? Awesome show). They weren't bad - some of the humour and pacing was a little uneven, and McDermott's over-the-top actions started to get a little old by the end, but the singing was amazing - man does that guy have a great voice when he lets loose! And keyboard boy wasn't bad either. The third member (from the Gadfly's - if you remember Good News Week, you should remember the Gadflys) seemed to be there mostly to provide symmetry (oh, and play the guitar).

But the highlight of the evening was Bob/ette spending almost $20 on raffle tickets so she could try and win a set of comedy DVDs (of which she only really wanted one!). The DVD set, by the way, contained a nice pink set of Gud underwear. Then she spent the entire evening obsessing over whether she should buy more, though the Other Sister wouldn't let her. And then she agonised about having to go up on stage to collect it if she won, and then about what would happen if they somehow managed to draw it when we weren't in the room - though how this could actually happen, since we where there from (late) start to finish, I'm not quite sure. Did I mention that she defines the word stress-bunny?

Of course, the best part was that she actually won. On a re-draw, but its winning. And when she went to collect the prize, keyboard boy called her (in song, over the mic) a "hot brunette".

All in all, not a bad night. But I got absolutely no work done at all.


Speaking of winning - I won the Dutch International Lottery again. Wow, lucky me.


Random Observation of the Day - Evolution is an "unproven theory" in the same sense that gravity is.

This is me working, can't you tell. Because I've been curious about americans and their weird political system for a while, I thought I should take this test - here's what I found.

You are a Social Liberal (75% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (30% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

At least if someone calls me a capitalist pig I can deny it :)

According to the site, I would be voting for Kerry, not Bush. Aren't they perceptive. Oh, and Darth Vader apparently sits about where all the lines meet in the bottom right hand corner. You can check out the picture of where famous people (including DV) sit on the site.

And since this is my political post for the year, I thought I might share something I found when I was reading one of my Dad's books last week. In "Night Probe" by Clive Cussler, there's a discussion between the President of America and his National sercurity advisor, which goes something like -

NSA - Two options as old as time to save an economy from sinking down the drain. One is to pray for a miracle.
Pres - And the second?
NSA - Provoke a war

Its good to know exactly where Dubya gets his poltical advice from.

If anyone cares, the solution they eventually go with in the book - stage a hostile takeover of Canada. I'm not kidding. Maybe someone should warn the Canucks before Bush starts aiming his missiles in their direction. :)

Random Observation for the Day - “I just think it’s rather odd that a nation that prides itself on its virility should feel compelled to strap on forty pounds of protective gear just in order to play rugby…” 10 points if you can tell me who said this...

Well, just finished ordering the second season of Hogan's Heroes and The Pretender from amazon. Should be here in a few weeks. But while I was browsing, guess what I discovered? The third season of Sliders has been released in America, but not here. That sucks. Also, you can get the Angel soundtrack, which also hasn't been released here, (as far as I know). Not Fair.

It's also cheaper to order old Stargate seasons from america, shipping and all, than it is to buy them here, even on sale.

I never thought I'd actually say this but - I wish I lived in america *sigh*

Oh, and for necromage, the details about the Aussie release of Atlantis, from EzyDVD -

Stargate - Atlantis: Season 1 (Box Set) (779170)
Coming Soon! Pre-Order Now - Available Wednesday, 16 November 2005
$AU84.95 (inc GST)

A new gate will open. A lost city will rise again.

A secret group of scientists have discovered the location of the famous lost city of Atlantis, but it's not on Earth. It's located in another galaxy altogether, the Pegasus galaxy. Stargate Atlantis, a spin-off from the highly successful Stargate SG-1 series, follows a multinational scientific and military group, lead by Diplomat Dr. Elizabeth Weir (played by actress Torri Higginson), headed on a one way trip to Atlantis. Their mission: to investigate the secrets of Atlantis, a city now known to have been built by ancient powerful beings, and bring whatever they discover back to Earth. They will be all on their own, with no means to return, with no means of rescue or support, unless they can find the technology they need in Atlantis to return them to Earth.

Hey guys... just wanted to let you know that this month's Empire has a free Serenity DVD with it. It includes one episode of Firefly (The Train Job), the movie trailers, buffy and angel trailers, among other things. The mag itself has a review of the movie (they only gave it three stars - BOOO HISSS), and an interview with Joss. And did I mention that the DVD just looks really cool?

Random Observation for the Day - It is so not cool when your discman dies half an hour into a nine hour bus trip. Not fun at all.

So, its 4:30 monday morning, and I'm halfway through fixing up my logbook. This would have been done hours ago, BUT BLOODY WORD DIED ON MY COMPUTER!! I'm not kidding - it just up and quit. I was typing away quite happily, and suddenly - the little spinning wheel of death appeared. And not the sleep-for-a-100-years type of spinning wheel of death - the full on, completely quit and then pop up saying "word cannot be opened because it is corrupt or incomplete". WTF? It is not incomplete, it was buzzing along quite happily until that point. So, after rebooting the computer didn't help, I completely panicked and headed over to the computer labs hoping to god that that stupid thing hadn't corrupted the file. I had backups, but only for the day before, and didn't fancy having to redo the four or so hrs of work I'd done today. And before you all start up on the importance of saving and making backups, I know! But I'd just been saving it to this computer, and I only tend to back up at the end of the day.

But, to make a long story short(ish) the file was fine, so I didn't have to redo much at all. I did, however, have to spend a lot of time running back and forth between my room and the computer labs, because I kept forgetting references/links/files I only had saved on this computer. Just what I wanted to spend tonight doing.

Anyway, finished the final editing by about 2:30 - it only took so long because I made the mistake of looking at the marking form and apparently Haley wanted summaries at the end of each chapter so I had to go and add them in. But, its done now, and I'm not looking at it, cause I'll spot all these typos I don't want to know about.

I can see me at the print shop tomorrow morning (today morning?) - trying to squint at the screen and check the layout without actually reading any of the words.

So, I decided about 20 minutes ago that I wasn't going to go to sleep this morning - not much point when I had to be up in 2.5 hrs. Thinking about maybe going out and watching the sunrise - its at about 6:15, if anyone cares. We'll see how far through the notebook I am by then.



Random Observation for the Day - Bill Gates is damn lucky he doesn't live in australia, or I'd strangle him with his own intestines.

Thesis Update - So damn close!