Ah, I wish it was at my house but I guess in my rez room will be enough for now.
Daft Punk is playing in my rez room! Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?
Anyway, this track is by the LCD Soundsystem and is another one of those tracks I can't get enough of. I discovered it in 2006 but haven't been listening to it as often as I should have.
Some fun facts about this song:
It's LCD Soundsystem's fifth single
It reached number one on the British Dance Chart.
It was nominated for a grammy.
Yay wikipedia.
Also, there is a Soulwax remix of the song, which is pretty cool of course. I do prefer the original but still love what Soulwax does.
This is a funny video from youtube with the song. It starts playing 16 seconds into the vid. I wouldn't mind finding out what the song that plays before it is though...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Friday, December 05, 2008
Why I love xkcd...
Reason #27:
This is exactly how I wished exams or tests would turn out. Instead we got questions about Manu and the Sky Tower.
http://xkcd.com
This is exactly how I wished exams or tests would turn out. Instead we got questions about Manu and the Sky Tower.
Substitute
http://xkcd.com
This also takes me back to the 7th form calc days. Who couldn't miss Mr McLaughlin and his chicken dance while wiping the board off. Or miss Yaz sitting next to you for an hour each day prodding your arm and tell you she's bored only to get told off as soon as you open your mouth.
Those were the days.
(Psst, hey Yaz, wanna take a calc paper with me next year??)
Those were the days.
(Psst, hey Yaz, wanna take a calc paper with me next year??)
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Why I love xkcd....
Reason #137:
I can click "random"and see strips like this and even though I've seen it before, more than once, it's hilarious all over again.
90s Flowchart
Love it.
I can click "random"and see strips like this and even though I've seen it before, more than once, it's hilarious all over again.
90s Flowchart
Love it.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Only by the Night
I bought the new Kings of Leon album the other day and think it is on the good side of amazing. My favourite songs from the album have to be Closer and Sex on Fire.
Closer seems to be one of those slow, hypnotic songs that I can listen to over and over again. Apparently it's about a lovesick vampire. It seems like one of those songs that have a sense of longing to it, it's reflected in the lyrics as well.
Sex on Fire takes a slightly different vein. It's energetic and has a really catchy riff that is going to get stuck in my head for days unless I listen to something else equally as catchy, I can tell.
Apparently it was their first song to get to number 1 in the UK too. It definitely deserves it.
These two songs stand out for me on the album. I know that Sex on Fire was their single, but since I've been away I haven't been listening to the radio or anything. I feel like I should be because I'd love to see what's going on in the local Vancouver scene, I just don't have access to radio. Shall fix that asap, me thinks. Anyway, Sex on Fire still stood out as an awesome song, and had that recognisable Kings of Leon sound/lyrical content.
It's not hard to guess what the song is about and the sound of the song seems to fit the lyrical content quite nicely. Kings of Leon are good like that.
The only song I can't seem to get into is 17. The other songs are great, but this one might be the sort of song that grows on ya after a few listens. It's the beginning of the song that doesn't sit well with me, I think. Everything after the first 20 seconds or so is good. I like the way the line "Said I could call you baby, I could call you, dammit, it's a one in a million" is sung as well.
In any case, this was a good purchase. As has every Kings of Leon album I've bought to date. Because Of The Times was wicked and Only By the Night is quite possibly even better. Another few listens will help me decide that.
Kings of Leon will definitely always have favourites with me. Like the Strokes, they always seem capable of pulling out these amazing songs that get firmly lodged in the head and just sound sooo good.
This is Closer, definitely my favourite song off the album so far.
Closer seems to be one of those slow, hypnotic songs that I can listen to over and over again. Apparently it's about a lovesick vampire. It seems like one of those songs that have a sense of longing to it, it's reflected in the lyrics as well.
Sex on Fire takes a slightly different vein. It's energetic and has a really catchy riff that is going to get stuck in my head for days unless I listen to something else equally as catchy, I can tell.
Apparently it was their first song to get to number 1 in the UK too. It definitely deserves it.
These two songs stand out for me on the album. I know that Sex on Fire was their single, but since I've been away I haven't been listening to the radio or anything. I feel like I should be because I'd love to see what's going on in the local Vancouver scene, I just don't have access to radio. Shall fix that asap, me thinks. Anyway, Sex on Fire still stood out as an awesome song, and had that recognisable Kings of Leon sound/lyrical content.
It's not hard to guess what the song is about and the sound of the song seems to fit the lyrical content quite nicely. Kings of Leon are good like that.
The only song I can't seem to get into is 17. The other songs are great, but this one might be the sort of song that grows on ya after a few listens. It's the beginning of the song that doesn't sit well with me, I think. Everything after the first 20 seconds or so is good. I like the way the line "Said I could call you baby, I could call you, dammit, it's a one in a million" is sung as well.
In any case, this was a good purchase. As has every Kings of Leon album I've bought to date. Because Of The Times was wicked and Only By the Night is quite possibly even better. Another few listens will help me decide that.
Kings of Leon will definitely always have favourites with me. Like the Strokes, they always seem capable of pulling out these amazing songs that get firmly lodged in the head and just sound sooo good.
This is Closer, definitely my favourite song off the album so far.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
All you ever wanted to know about biological oceanography and more...
I'm going to try out a different way of studying. Usually I religiously go through my notes and read, re-read and re-write out everything I think I need to know. This is hard when I'm doing it last minute (which is more often than not) because there's so much to keep in mind going into the test. My test is 12 hours from now so I'm thinking I'm going to write out as much as I remember as coherently as I remember and refer to my notes or lecture slides when I need help. Here goes!
There are two forms of production in marine ecosystems. The more widely used and important is photosynthesis, which we all know, is the metabolic pathway that converts light energy into chemical energy. Phytoplankton, the main focus of my EOSC 470 course (the one that this test is for) mostly use photosynthesis as a way of feeding themselves, earning themselves the name photoautotrophs. Another mode of primary production is chemosynthesis. Chemosynthesis is the conversion of carbon molecules and nutrients into organic matter to form energy by way of oxidation of inorganic molecules such as hydrogen gas or hydrogen sulphide or methane.
There are some hydrothermal vent communities that live in absolute darkness and live by converting molecules into energy. It's very warm close to these vents compared to the surrounding ocean - about 23 or 24 degrees. The primary element for these organisms is sulphur and the main precipitate of hydrogen sulphide is fine black powder. Makes the vents look like black smoke chimneys underwater!
The equation for photosynthesis (simplified) is as follows: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + photons → C6H12O6 + 6 O2 + 6 H2O
carbon dioxide + water + light energy → glucose + oxygen + water Photosynthesis has two stages, one light dependent and the other light independent.
Some organisms are anoxygenic in that they don't produce oxygen with photosynthesis. Some purple and green bacteria are examples of organisms that don't.
Light is probably the most important parts of a marine system. Light drives primary production in the layers of the ocean where light reaches. Sunlight is the energy that drives photosynthetic reactions. In light reactions, water is split and this produces protons, electrons and water. These electrons are used in the electron transport chain in photophosphorylation of photosynthesis. Photophosphorylation is the process that produces ATP using light energy, a fundamental energy unit. All organisms use ATP, it is the energy currency of life.
Water splitting is also know as evolution of oxygen. Water splitting is the only reason we have oxygen in the atmosphere.
Cyanobacteria are the only bacteria that produce oxygen during photosynthesis. The Earth’s primordial atmosphere was anoxic. Organisms like cyanobacteria produced our present-day oxygen containing atmosphere.
The most ancient form of photosynthesis contained photosystem I only. There was no evolution of oxygen. Water splitting came with photosystem II. H20 is endlessly abundant and therefore, there was an abundant supply of electrons to fuel ATP production and photophosphorylation after the evolution of photosystem II.
Phytoplankton are also a link between atmospheric and geologic carbon (C) as they transport it to the sea floor when they move through the water column (sinking ie: carking it). The ocean floor has a lot of carbon, around 38,000 Pg of it. Although this isn't comparable to the amount of inorganic carbon and organic carbon in continental crust, it is still a lot higher than the estimated 700 Pg of C in surface waters and the 600 Pg of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Ocean ecosystem are formed by the interaction of chemical, biological and chemical interactions. There is the physical forcing element (solar input) which controls heat, wind, evaporation/precipitation and light; this interacts with both Ocean ecosystems (biomass productivity and species composition) and the chemical environment (salinity, nutrients and gases).
Ocean temperature is regulated by incoming solar radiation and can vary seasonally. In general, areas with relatively cooler temperatures are areas of upwelling. Coastal upwelling is the best known as it supports some of the worlds most productive fisheries. Areas of coastal upwelling include western South Africa, off the coast of Peru, the Arabian sea and eastern New Zealand.
Other types of upwelling are equatorial upwelling and southern ocean upwelling.
In the case of equatorial upwelling: nutrient rich water is upwelled from below and causes a band of nutrient rich water and consequently, a band of phytoplankton abundance. Water wells up at the equator because of diverging surface waters due to ekman transport (coriolis effect) and diverging wind currents and surface ocean currents. The water from down below wells up to replace the water at the surface resulting in a band of cool, nutrient rich water. Waters with low nutrient levels and correspondingly low phytoplankton biomass are the location of large, open ocean gyres.
Southern ocean upwelling: upwelling around Antarctica due to strong westerly winds. The water that wells up is extremely old and nutrient rich.
This brings me onto thermoclines, haloclines and pycnoclines.
Oooh yeah.
First up, thermoclines in different latitudes. Because this midterm is likely to ask me to compare different oceanic regions. We've done a lot of pacific vs artic or arabian vs equatorial pacific work, not necessarily just for thermoclines and the like but also for other things such as PAR depth profiles (looking for the depth that photosynthetically active radiation goes to and how it varies with depth) and irradience at surface and in deep water yadayada. It's all very interesting but so hard to remember!
So thermoclines.
image: from EarthGuide (http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/)
Surface currents move water in the uppermost layer of the oceans. Over most of the oceans (except at high latitudes), a thin layer of warm surface waters overlies the much colder deep waters. The zone of abrupt temperature decrease, as we pass from surface to deep water, is called thethermocline and typically lies between depths of one hundred to one thousand meters (also from Earth Guide). The thermocline is an unmixed bounary layer where temperature rapidly decreases. Thermoclines exist because usually, most of the incoming solar radiation is absorbed in the first ten metres of water. In this surface layer, the temperature is usually uniform.
There is little variation in the thermocline at high latitudes and the thermoclines at mid and low latitudes usually look that same in terms of change, except for the starting surface temperatures.
In some areas, there is seasonality in the structure of the thermocline. At high latitudes, there is low to no seasonality because of not much variation in surface ocean currents. A seasonal thermocline develops at the approach of summer in mid latitudes as surface waters warm up. It affects depth as well as starting temperature.
On to salinity, yay! A halocline is a measure of salinity in a water column, a strong vertical salinity gradient. The upper layer of water, the surface waters, again usually has a uniform salinity profile because of mixing from surface currents and wind currents. Salinity also relates to density as the more salty water gets, the more dense it is. Depending on the latitude, the halocline either increases or decreses.
In low latitudes (ie nearer to the equator) there is a decreasing halocline because of excess evaporation at the surface meaning there is more salt in the mixed surface layer than in the layers below.
There are two forms of production in marine ecosystems. The more widely used and important is photosynthesis, which we all know, is the metabolic pathway that converts light energy into chemical energy. Phytoplankton, the main focus of my EOSC 470 course (the one that this test is for) mostly use photosynthesis as a way of feeding themselves, earning themselves the name photoautotrophs. Another mode of primary production is chemosynthesis. Chemosynthesis is the conversion of carbon molecules and nutrients into organic matter to form energy by way of oxidation of inorganic molecules such as hydrogen gas or hydrogen sulphide or methane.
There are some hydrothermal vent communities that live in absolute darkness and live by converting molecules into energy. It's very warm close to these vents compared to the surrounding ocean - about 23 or 24 degrees. The primary element for these organisms is sulphur and the main precipitate of hydrogen sulphide is fine black powder. Makes the vents look like black smoke chimneys underwater!
The equation for photosynthesis (simplified) is as follows: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + photons → C6H12O6 + 6 O2 + 6 H2O
carbon dioxide + water + light energy → glucose + oxygen + water Photosynthesis has two stages, one light dependent and the other light independent.
Some organisms are anoxygenic in that they don't produce oxygen with photosynthesis. Some purple and green bacteria are examples of organisms that don't.
Light is probably the most important parts of a marine system. Light drives primary production in the layers of the ocean where light reaches. Sunlight is the energy that drives photosynthetic reactions. In light reactions, water is split and this produces protons, electrons and water. These electrons are used in the electron transport chain in photophosphorylation of photosynthesis. Photophosphorylation is the process that produces ATP using light energy, a fundamental energy unit. All organisms use ATP, it is the energy currency of life.
Water splitting is also know as evolution of oxygen. Water splitting is the only reason we have oxygen in the atmosphere.
Cyanobacteria are the only bacteria that produce oxygen during photosynthesis. The Earth’s primordial atmosphere was anoxic. Organisms like cyanobacteria produced our present-day oxygen containing atmosphere.
The most ancient form of photosynthesis contained photosystem I only. There was no evolution of oxygen. Water splitting came with photosystem II. H20 is endlessly abundant and therefore, there was an abundant supply of electrons to fuel ATP production and photophosphorylation after the evolution of photosystem II.
Phytoplankton are also a link between atmospheric and geologic carbon (C) as they transport it to the sea floor when they move through the water column (sinking ie: carking it). The ocean floor has a lot of carbon, around 38,000 Pg of it. Although this isn't comparable to the amount of inorganic carbon and organic carbon in continental crust, it is still a lot higher than the estimated 700 Pg of C in surface waters and the 600 Pg of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Ocean ecosystem are formed by the interaction of chemical, biological and chemical interactions. There is the physical forcing element (solar input) which controls heat, wind, evaporation/precipitation and light; this interacts with both Ocean ecosystems (biomass productivity and species composition) and the chemical environment (salinity, nutrients and gases).
Ocean temperature is regulated by incoming solar radiation and can vary seasonally. In general, areas with relatively cooler temperatures are areas of upwelling. Coastal upwelling is the best known as it supports some of the worlds most productive fisheries. Areas of coastal upwelling include western South Africa, off the coast of Peru, the Arabian sea and eastern New Zealand.
Other types of upwelling are equatorial upwelling and southern ocean upwelling.
In the case of equatorial upwelling: nutrient rich water is upwelled from below and causes a band of nutrient rich water and consequently, a band of phytoplankton abundance. Water wells up at the equator because of diverging surface waters due to ekman transport (coriolis effect) and diverging wind currents and surface ocean currents. The water from down below wells up to replace the water at the surface resulting in a band of cool, nutrient rich water. Waters with low nutrient levels and correspondingly low phytoplankton biomass are the location of large, open ocean gyres.
Southern ocean upwelling: upwelling around Antarctica due to strong westerly winds. The water that wells up is extremely old and nutrient rich.
This brings me onto thermoclines, haloclines and pycnoclines.
Oooh yeah.
First up, thermoclines in different latitudes. Because this midterm is likely to ask me to compare different oceanic regions. We've done a lot of pacific vs artic or arabian vs equatorial pacific work, not necessarily just for thermoclines and the like but also for other things such as PAR depth profiles (looking for the depth that photosynthetically active radiation goes to and how it varies with depth) and irradience at surface and in deep water yadayada. It's all very interesting but so hard to remember!
So thermoclines.
Surface currents move water in the uppermost layer of the oceans. Over most of the oceans (except at high latitudes), a thin layer of warm surface waters overlies the much colder deep waters. The zone of abrupt temperature decrease, as we pass from surface to deep water, is called the
There is little variation in the thermocline at high latitudes and the thermoclines at mid and low latitudes usually look that same in terms of change, except for the starting surface temperatures.
In some areas, there is seasonality in the structure of the thermocline. At high latitudes, there is low to no seasonality because of not much variation in surface ocean currents. A seasonal thermocline develops at the approach of summer in mid latitudes as surface waters warm up. It affects depth as well as starting temperature.
On to salinity, yay! A halocline is a measure of salinity in a water column, a strong vertical salinity gradient. The upper layer of water, the surface waters, again usually has a uniform salinity profile because of mixing from surface currents and wind currents. Salinity also relates to density as the more salty water gets, the more dense it is. Depending on the latitude, the halocline either increases or decreses.
In low latitudes (ie nearer to the equator) there is a decreasing halocline because of excess evaporation at the surface meaning there is more salt in the mixed surface layer than in the layers below.
At high latitudes, the halocline increases with depth.
Now for density: Density is inversely proportional to temperature and propotional to salinity. The densest water is cold and salty, the least dense water is light and fresh. The ocean is separated into layers by density. And this stratification of density limits vertical exchange in water columns between surface waters and deep ocean. This also is related to the amount of nutrients at the surface. As a general rule, there are few nutrients in surface waters because of phytoplankton using it up and more nutrients in deeper ocean waters. Where there are high nutrient concentrations in surface waters, these waters are generally cold with deep water transport to the surface (upwelling) and surface currents. Increasing stratification affects the transport of nutrients from deep water to the surface. Phytoplankton use up all the nutrients at the surface and the limited availability of nutrients at the surface drive ecological succession. Who can persist at the lowest nutrient levels?
At high latitudes: the density follows the halocline. There is weak stratificatin at high latitudes.
At low latitudes, it's the same story. The density follows the halocline: (strong stratification). The lightest, low density water floats above the higher density water.
At high latitudes: the density follows the halocline. There is weak stratificatin at high latitudes.
And now for something completely different!
Going on from the discussion of nutrient levels, diatoms are the first contributers to what is know as the north atlantic bloom. Diatoms thrive in regions with high nutrients but the ultimate phytoplankton is the prokaryote, the cyanobacterium. Cyanobacteria can persist in low nutrient levels. In subtropical regions where there are low nutrient levels (and high stratification limiting transport between layers), there will be high levels of cyanobacteria.
The type of phytoplankton in the surface few layers of the ocean, where phytoplankton are making the best use of light, dictate the composition of the sediments in the ocean floor below. Diatoms, for example, are make out of silica and there is often a high % of sedimentary opal beneath regions with high numbers of diatoms.
Diatoms are crafty buggers. Even though they can only really thrive in high nutrient waters, there is a global trend that means the oceans favour diatoms. Plankton abundance has been changed and one theory says it has happened by the following steps:
There is increased oceanic turbulence. The ocean is shifting towards diatom dominance
1) Significant global cooling 60 million years ago and formation of ice caps
2) Because of this, latituditional temperature gradients were increased. From ice caps - extremely cold, to tropics/equator - very warm.
3) this in turn increased wind speeds and convection
4) This in turn increased turbulence which
5) increases nutrient abundance in the upper layers of the ocean - nutrients from the bottom of the ocean and getting to the surface
6) the locking up of water in ice caps decreased sea levels so coasts were exposed and caused erosion of surfaces and the increased introduction of material to the water
7) this increased nutrient delivery to oceans
8) higher nutrient levels favour diatom growth.
That's just one theory though!
Something new again: The coriolis affect!
The apparent deflection of water and air masses travelling across the rotating earth. The deflection occurs to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. Coriolis deflection also affects moving water. The net transport of water is about a 90 degree offset from the prevailing wind direction.
This is known as Eckman transport of surface waters, booyah! Transport of water occurs perpendicular to prevailing winds.
Because of this deflection, oceanic gyres (big mounds of water and the flow around them), are clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.
A quick note about light - in the open ocean, there is more blue-green light available. So open ocean phytoplankton species are going to be more adjusted to blue-green light than coastal species. Coastal waters are where blue light is strongly absorbed and green light is more readily available. This gives rise to the different colours in ocean waters. The light that is being reflected is the spectrum that is more readily available. Coastal waters are greeny and open ocean waters are bluey.
This stresses the importance of light quality. While quantity is important for growth, quality is as well. Some phytoplankton species can only use certain parts of the light spectrum.
Water molecules are the culprits for the lack of red light, they strongly absorb red light.
For my reference (in hopes I will remember later on this morning:
550s - 600s = longer wavelengths, red type pigment (absorbs red light)
low 400s = shortwave lengths, blue type pigment (absorbs blue light)
There is a lot more to be studied but I think I will have to stop there for this post, it's getting heaps long! So much more to add yet so little time to write and remember it!
Hope that was as exciting for you as it was for me :p
Going on from the discussion of nutrient levels, diatoms are the first contributers to what is know as the north atlantic bloom. Diatoms thrive in regions with high nutrients but the ultimate phytoplankton is the prokaryote, the cyanobacterium. Cyanobacteria can persist in low nutrient levels. In subtropical regions where there are low nutrient levels (and high stratification limiting transport between layers), there will be high levels of cyanobacteria.
The type of phytoplankton in the surface few layers of the ocean, where phytoplankton are making the best use of light, dictate the composition of the sediments in the ocean floor below. Diatoms, for example, are make out of silica and there is often a high % of sedimentary opal beneath regions with high numbers of diatoms.
Diatoms are crafty buggers. Even though they can only really thrive in high nutrient waters, there is a global trend that means the oceans favour diatoms. Plankton abundance has been changed and one theory says it has happened by the following steps:
There is increased oceanic turbulence. The ocean is shifting towards diatom dominance
1) Significant global cooling 60 million years ago and formation of ice caps
2) Because of this, latituditional temperature gradients were increased. From ice caps - extremely cold, to tropics/equator - very warm.
3) this in turn increased wind speeds and convection
4) This in turn increased turbulence which
5) increases nutrient abundance in the upper layers of the ocean - nutrients from the bottom of the ocean and getting to the surface
6) the locking up of water in ice caps decreased sea levels so coasts were exposed and caused erosion of surfaces and the increased introduction of material to the water
7) this increased nutrient delivery to oceans
8) higher nutrient levels favour diatom growth.
That's just one theory though!
Something new again: The coriolis affect!
The apparent deflection of water and air masses travelling across the rotating earth. The deflection occurs to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. Coriolis deflection also affects moving water. The net transport of water is about a 90 degree offset from the prevailing wind direction.
This is known as Eckman transport of surface waters, booyah! Transport of water occurs perpendicular to prevailing winds.
Because of this deflection, oceanic gyres (big mounds of water and the flow around them), are clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.
A quick note about light - in the open ocean, there is more blue-green light available. So open ocean phytoplankton species are going to be more adjusted to blue-green light than coastal species. Coastal waters are where blue light is strongly absorbed and green light is more readily available. This gives rise to the different colours in ocean waters. The light that is being reflected is the spectrum that is more readily available. Coastal waters are greeny and open ocean waters are bluey.
This stresses the importance of light quality. While quantity is important for growth, quality is as well. Some phytoplankton species can only use certain parts of the light spectrum.
Water molecules are the culprits for the lack of red light, they strongly absorb red light.
For my reference (in hopes I will remember later on this morning:
550s - 600s = longer wavelengths, red type pigment (absorbs red light)
low 400s = shortwave lengths, blue type pigment (absorbs blue light)
There is a lot more to be studied but I think I will have to stop there for this post, it's getting heaps long! So much more to add yet so little time to write and remember it!
Hope that was as exciting for you as it was for me :p
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Buzz Kill
I had a mild panic attack when I saw that the headache pills I bought at the pharmacy the other day, to help me through my headache prone phase of the semester, contained caffeine. I gave up caffeine after a brief bought of insomnia after my contiki travels that left me more dazed, confused and tired than I normally am.
I haven't gone completely cold turkey on known sources of caffeine but I would limit myself to one drink (coffee, red bull, etc) a week. And then, one night when I was up doing an assignment, I found that the headache pills I bought contained caffeine. Oh no! I'm meant to be off caffeine!
After some google research (and extensive reading of good old wikipedia), my fears are at rest. Caffeine, as it turns out, can increase the effectiveness of a drug. According to wikipedia, it can make pain relievers 40% more effective and helps the body absorb headache medication quickly. Then I read on to discover just how much caffeine affects the body. It's really quite fascinating. We're all familiar with the withdrawal effects of caffeine, I'm sure. Headaches are the most common withdrawal symptom. Before I discovered that caffeine is common in pain killers, I was wanting to take some of the headache medication but was afraid it would make me more reliant on the medication because of the caffeine. But it seems that withdrawal from caffeine can be helped with small doses of caffeine and a pain reliever such as asprin. Curious. So how much caffeine do you consume a day? Caffeine is in a lot of things I didn't know it was like chocolate bars and decaffeinated coffee (true, that). Also, I assumed coke was the worst carbonated non-energy drink for caffeine but it seems that mountain dew has a lot more.
When I was in Seattle, I saw a can of monster energy drink that was 973mL. That's nearly a litre of energy drink and is positively insane!!!
A normal can contains 160mg of caffeine. Which is a lot. Especially if you have more than the recommended daily limit. I can't believe how much of a caffeine junkie I was last year. I would have too many bottles of V and cans of red bull as well as coffee in the morning and tea at night after dinner. And the reason it feel so good is that it's a psychoactive stimulant drug. And it's perfectly legal to have as much as you like. Curious. All this when I was finishing some homework questions on Mendel's experiments with pea plants.
I haven't gone completely cold turkey on known sources of caffeine but I would limit myself to one drink (coffee, red bull, etc) a week. And then, one night when I was up doing an assignment, I found that the headache pills I bought contained caffeine. Oh no! I'm meant to be off caffeine!
After some google research (and extensive reading of good old wikipedia), my fears are at rest. Caffeine, as it turns out, can increase the effectiveness of a drug. According to wikipedia, it can make pain relievers 40% more effective and helps the body absorb headache medication quickly. Then I read on to discover just how much caffeine affects the body. It's really quite fascinating. We're all familiar with the withdrawal effects of caffeine, I'm sure. Headaches are the most common withdrawal symptom. Before I discovered that caffeine is common in pain killers, I was wanting to take some of the headache medication but was afraid it would make me more reliant on the medication because of the caffeine. But it seems that withdrawal from caffeine can be helped with small doses of caffeine and a pain reliever such as asprin. Curious. So how much caffeine do you consume a day? Caffeine is in a lot of things I didn't know it was like chocolate bars and decaffeinated coffee (true, that). Also, I assumed coke was the worst carbonated non-energy drink for caffeine but it seems that mountain dew has a lot more.
When I was in Seattle, I saw a can of monster energy drink that was 973mL. That's nearly a litre of energy drink and is positively insane!!!
A normal can contains 160mg of caffeine. Which is a lot. Especially if you have more than the recommended daily limit. I can't believe how much of a caffeine junkie I was last year. I would have too many bottles of V and cans of red bull as well as coffee in the morning and tea at night after dinner. And the reason it feel so good is that it's a psychoactive stimulant drug. And it's perfectly legal to have as much as you like. Curious. All this when I was finishing some homework questions on Mendel's experiments with pea plants.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Goodbye Assignments, hello weekend. Even though it's only Thursday...
I left another assignment until the last minute. Another two actually. My plan to get up in time to hand the first one in failed spectacularly. The class started at 9:30am and I decided to get some shut-eye at about 6. I had alarms set, I had everything ready so I could get up, shower, print off the assignment and run to class. Waking up at 10:27am was not part of the plan. Fortunately (but only in this case) the class goes until 11am. I moped for approximately five minutes, in memory of my uselessness, then got to it.
My hideously bad start to the day had a good part to it - the class was a discussion class and although I won't get participation marks for turning up at 10:45, five minutes before class ends, I was able to hand in my mini essay. All hope is not lost!
I'm over essays right now. Fortunately, the next one isn't due for some time. Having finished my geog 310 essay on federal and provincial governments in Canada scwabbling over who has the right to tell who what to do about greenhouse gas emisisons (about ten minutes ago), I'm feeling well and truly over it. My career as a student is in jeopardy, oh no!
I know I haven't updated my travel blog in about a million years and I'm sorry for that, being super slack is part of the reason. I hope to do some more entries this weekend because it's THANKSGIVING! Woo! Another piece of good news to help pull me from the depths of post-assignment depression is that my midterm is now scheduled for Thursday next week instead of Tuesday. Although it means I now have two midterms back-to-back on Thursday, I have more time to study for them. I guess it's good and bad. But who schedules a midterm for the first day back after a long weekend? Sadist and the school of biological sciences, that's who.
Anyway, music. I have yet to truly discover the Vancouver music scene. I'm getting there, slowly. I have tickets to Weezer, the Secret Machines and Apocalyptica. I know that none of them are from Vancouver (let alone Canada), but it's a start.... right? Right?? They are from California, New York and Finland respectively but it should be cool seeing them. Tickets were cheap too, especially to see the Secret Machines. My fave song by the Secret Machines is Nowhere Again:
Sweeeeet or what. I love listening to this song while driving along the motorway at night time. Won't be able to do that for awhile yet ;)
I have a few other tracks that I'm loving at the moment, of a different genre. I'm hooked on RJD2 at the moment after hearing some of their music on the surf trip to Tofino. I first heard him on a Radiohead tribute album and he did a wicked reindition of Airbag.
This song is probably my fave, off the Deadringer album:
RJD2 - Cut Out to FL
I know it isn't necessarily a video, but the song is what matters :)
More awesome songs laters, peeps.
Stay cool (and fertile, as Marcus says).
My hideously bad start to the day had a good part to it - the class was a discussion class and although I won't get participation marks for turning up at 10:45, five minutes before class ends, I was able to hand in my mini essay. All hope is not lost!
I'm over essays right now. Fortunately, the next one isn't due for some time. Having finished my geog 310 essay on federal and provincial governments in Canada scwabbling over who has the right to tell who what to do about greenhouse gas emisisons (about ten minutes ago), I'm feeling well and truly over it. My career as a student is in jeopardy, oh no!
I know I haven't updated my travel blog in about a million years and I'm sorry for that, being super slack is part of the reason. I hope to do some more entries this weekend because it's THANKSGIVING! Woo! Another piece of good news to help pull me from the depths of post-assignment depression is that my midterm is now scheduled for Thursday next week instead of Tuesday. Although it means I now have two midterms back-to-back on Thursday, I have more time to study for them. I guess it's good and bad. But who schedules a midterm for the first day back after a long weekend? Sadist and the school of biological sciences, that's who.
Anyway, music. I have yet to truly discover the Vancouver music scene. I'm getting there, slowly. I have tickets to Weezer, the Secret Machines and Apocalyptica. I know that none of them are from Vancouver (let alone Canada), but it's a start.... right? Right?? They are from California, New York and Finland respectively but it should be cool seeing them. Tickets were cheap too, especially to see the Secret Machines. My fave song by the Secret Machines is Nowhere Again:
Sweeeeet or what. I love listening to this song while driving along the motorway at night time. Won't be able to do that for awhile yet ;)
I have a few other tracks that I'm loving at the moment, of a different genre. I'm hooked on RJD2 at the moment after hearing some of their music on the surf trip to Tofino. I first heard him on a Radiohead tribute album and he did a wicked reindition of Airbag.
This song is probably my fave, off the Deadringer album:
RJD2 - Cut Out to FL
I know it isn't necessarily a video, but the song is what matters :)
More awesome songs laters, peeps.
Stay cool (and fertile, as Marcus says).
Sunday, July 27, 2008
OK Go!
So I found out the other day that OK Go! played a concert at Duke, the university Mary attends in North Carolina, and the students didn't have to pay a thing. So so jealous right now. I don't think UoA has ever gotten someone quite as cool. We had some band cover Talking Heads (badly) one day. I remember that.
The guy couldn't speak French so I don't know WHY they would choose to do Pyscho Killer. Why? Why ruin a perfectly good song when there are plenty of other Talking Heads songs with plenty of English and not a hint of French?
Who else have we had? I can't even remember. I know we have End of Daze but that's never anything exciting.
OOOOH we had Phoenix Foundation, didn't we. They're pretty nifty. As in awesome.
This is probably my favourite Phoenix Foundation song to date, Bleaching Sun. Love the lyrics :D
I'm loving OK Go at the moment. I don't know what it is about their tunes... they're damn near infectious. They also have a talent for creating amazing video clips.
Here It Goes Again is a well known one...
And another that Mary and her friend Nini have introduced me too with their quotations "a million ways to be full" is...
A Million Ways
Can someone (or somethree) PLEASE learn this dance with me so we can bust this out in the club??
You're a million ways to be full...
Man these guys like dancing. They held a YouTube dance competition for fans, if you wanna see the entries you can go here www.youtube.com/group/okgodance
Look at the Ice Skating Pair. How awesome is that??? I would put yet another video into this post but enough is enough. That's an important lesson to be learned from the Destiny Church, as we all know ;)
There are 165 videos! Good for procrastinatoration ;)
Stay cool.
The guy couldn't speak French so I don't know WHY they would choose to do Pyscho Killer. Why? Why ruin a perfectly good song when there are plenty of other Talking Heads songs with plenty of English and not a hint of French?
Who else have we had? I can't even remember. I know we have End of Daze but that's never anything exciting.
OOOOH we had Phoenix Foundation, didn't we. They're pretty nifty. As in awesome.
This is probably my favourite Phoenix Foundation song to date, Bleaching Sun. Love the lyrics :D
I'm loving OK Go at the moment. I don't know what it is about their tunes... they're damn near infectious. They also have a talent for creating amazing video clips.
Here It Goes Again is a well known one...
And another that Mary and her friend Nini have introduced me too with their quotations "a million ways to be full" is...
A Million Ways
Can someone (or somethree) PLEASE learn this dance with me so we can bust this out in the club??
You're a million ways to be full...
Man these guys like dancing. They held a YouTube dance competition for fans, if you wanna see the entries you can go here www.youtube.com/group/okgodance
Look at the Ice Skating Pair. How awesome is that??? I would put yet another video into this post but enough is enough. That's an important lesson to be learned from the Destiny Church, as we all know ;)
There are 165 videos! Good for procrastinatoration ;)
Stay cool.
Monday, July 21, 2008
sigur rós is rocking my world... again.
If you guys haven't already listened to the Album Takk... ('Thanks...' in English), you should. It's awesome. My favourite song is hoppípolla and it enabled me to get as close to sleep as possible on my sleepless flight to San Francisco today/yesterday/somewhere in the order of a few hours ago.
It's been used for a whole heap of things: Fifa World Cup stuff, BBC trailers, movies (Children of Men, Penelope, etc).
The album itself is nice background music when you're lying around doing nothing or thinking or calm or trying to get to sleep and want some slow music to listen to. It's not all slow but it is all in Icelandic which makes it awesome. Like Bjork, but a million times better.
P.S This hostel has basic plugins missing from the browsers so if this doesn't turn out as it should (a youtube video of hoppípolla), please let me know so I can change it.
Awesome.
It's been used for a whole heap of things: Fifa World Cup stuff, BBC trailers, movies (Children of Men, Penelope, etc).
The album itself is nice background music when you're lying around doing nothing or thinking or calm or trying to get to sleep and want some slow music to listen to. It's not all slow but it is all in Icelandic which makes it awesome. Like Bjork, but a million times better.
P.S This hostel has basic plugins missing from the browsers so if this doesn't turn out as it should (a youtube video of hoppípolla), please let me know so I can change it.
Awesome.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Mugabe needs to take a chill pill
So the other day when I was distracted from my study, I found two really awesome sites. One is passive-aggressive notes: http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/
and the other is a column that appears in the Orange County Weekly called "Ask A Mexican": http://www.ocweekly.com/columns/ask-a-mexican/
Ah. Good times.
However, it is not all good times for all. Robert Mugabe has proven his distaste for the Western view of how a country should be run. We may be quick to judge, but it's hard to judge the attitude he has taken. I'm not condoning the violence that has been going on in anyway, it's positively sickening. Everyday now we're getting more and more reports of horrendous acts that have been commited against supported of the main opposition party, MDC. And you know how the media works, we only hear when it's really bad. It has been awful for ages, but unfortunately it has only gotten worse.
Back to what I was saying about judging Mugabe's attitude... he says God appointed him to his position as president and only God can remove him. I suppose it's a view that is held by many chiefs of African tribes, but the attitude is not restricted to them. Many early societies and societies today worked on chiefs that had ascribed status rather than the achieved status leaders countries like, say, New Zealand has.
Isn't cultural imperialism a wonderful thing? It is a real problem for some cultures, it's just unfortunate and so terrible that people like Mugabe cite fears of or refusal to subscribe to cultural imperialism as a justification for tyrannical behaviour.
There are some real fears on the the effects of what Robert Mugabe is doing on other African nations. Fortunately some of them have stood up and voiced support for a free and fair election. The one that was going to happen is a joke. When I heard that Morgan Tsvangirai had pulled out of the election, my heart sank. I just knew that the situation for his supporters were too much to continue. It reminds me of what my Spanish 216 lecturer told the class about a vote for changes in the constitution of Chile. People were told to vote yes and were given the impression that voting no would only bring suffering to their families.
Avaaz will be putting out ads that will be published in big newspaper advertisements in South Africa, Tanzania, Angola, and Mozambique this week -- click here to see the ads and endorse their message:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_zimbabwe/5.php?cl=100804473
Here are some more links that were provided in a Avaaz newsletter:
Thabo Mbeki and the emergency talks for a settlement:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4200177.ece
United Nations Security Council declares free and fair elections "impossible":
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2026827820080624
Elections going ahead despite MDC pull-out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7468849.stm
Mugabe: "Only God will remove me!"
http://www.thetimes.co.za/SpecialReports/Zimbabwe/Article.aspx?id=788598
and the other is a column that appears in the Orange County Weekly called "Ask A Mexican": http://www.ocweekly.com/columns/ask-a-mexican/
Ah. Good times.
However, it is not all good times for all. Robert Mugabe has proven his distaste for the Western view of how a country should be run. We may be quick to judge, but it's hard to judge the attitude he has taken. I'm not condoning the violence that has been going on in anyway, it's positively sickening. Everyday now we're getting more and more reports of horrendous acts that have been commited against supported of the main opposition party, MDC. And you know how the media works, we only hear when it's really bad. It has been awful for ages, but unfortunately it has only gotten worse.
Back to what I was saying about judging Mugabe's attitude... he says God appointed him to his position as president and only God can remove him. I suppose it's a view that is held by many chiefs of African tribes, but the attitude is not restricted to them. Many early societies and societies today worked on chiefs that had ascribed status rather than the achieved status leaders countries like, say, New Zealand has.
Isn't cultural imperialism a wonderful thing? It is a real problem for some cultures, it's just unfortunate and so terrible that people like Mugabe cite fears of or refusal to subscribe to cultural imperialism as a justification for tyrannical behaviour.
There are some real fears on the the effects of what Robert Mugabe is doing on other African nations. Fortunately some of them have stood up and voiced support for a free and fair election. The one that was going to happen is a joke. When I heard that Morgan Tsvangirai had pulled out of the election, my heart sank. I just knew that the situation for his supporters were too much to continue. It reminds me of what my Spanish 216 lecturer told the class about a vote for changes in the constitution of Chile. People were told to vote yes and were given the impression that voting no would only bring suffering to their families.
Avaaz will be putting out ads that will be published in big newspaper advertisements in South Africa, Tanzania, Angola, and Mozambique this week -- click here to see the ads and endorse their message:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save
Here are some more links that were provided in a Avaaz newsletter:
Thabo Mbeki and the emergency talks for a settlement:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
United Nations Security Council declares free and fair elections "impossible":
http://www.reuters.com/article
Elections going ahead despite MDC pull-out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi
Mugabe: "Only God will remove me!"
http://www.thetimes.co.za
Monday, June 16, 2008
News of Much Greatness
I'm going to Canada!
*dances around the room*
*trips over incredible mess that has accumulated due to exam study period and innate laziness*
Yay!
The song to listen to RIGHT NOW (as it is the song I am listening to) is Grounds for Divorce by Elbow. "There's a hole in my neighbourhood down which of late I cannot help but fall....."
Also, watch the Insomnia show on C4 the next time you can't sleep. You will discover gold on a tv screen.
*dances around the room*
*trips over incredible mess that has accumulated due to exam study period and innate laziness*
Yay!
The song to listen to RIGHT NOW (as it is the song I am listening to) is Grounds for Divorce by Elbow. "There's a hole in my neighbourhood down which of late I cannot help but fall....."
Also, watch the Insomnia show on C4 the next time you can't sleep. You will discover gold on a tv screen.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
I love the nightlife!
I went to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical on Saturday. I love the film and was pleased to see that the musical was just as good, although I did miss the ABBA references (and a Liam Finn concert!). They seemed to have replaced ABBA with Kylie references.
For example, in the classic quote "I'll join this conversation on the proviso that we stop bitching about people talking about wigs, dresses, bust sizes, penises, drugs, night clubs, and bloody ABBA!", ABBA was changed to Kylie.
"What sort of Kylie should I be? Neighbours Kylie? Delinquents Kylie? Leopard Print Kylie? Ooh, how about Hot Pants Kylie?"
The show was riddled with jabs at Australians and because they couldn't resist poking fun at their audience from next door, New Zealanders didn't entirely escape unscathed. At the beginning of the show, the backdrop feature a map of Australia etched in pink lipstick with Alice Springs and Sydney marked as well as the path taken by Priscilla (the bus), Mitzy, Bernadette and Felicia on their way to Alice Springs. To the New Zealand audience was the message "you are here" with an arrow pointing off stage.
Another jab was:
Bernadette: Oh no! The battery is flat! LOOK, Tick! It's as flat as Rodney Hide's mattress!
The show was full of wonderful quotes. Many of them were the same as those in the movie, however some had been updated to be more relevant to the audiences watching the show today. Since I'm sure most of you have seen it (or will, because I'll make you ;p), here is a list of quotes from the show:
_ _
Voice-over: Good evening, ladies and ladies. Please remember to turn off your cellphones. Also, in order to not obstruct the views of those behind you, please remove any large wigs and place them underneath the seat in front of you.
_ _
Mitzy: Remember, ladies and ladies, the more you drink, the better I look!
_ _
Off-stage voices: Boo! Get a new act, Mitzy! Get a new dress! Get some new tits! *snickering*
_ _
Adam: A desert holiday, let's pack the drag away. You take the lunch and tea, I'll take the esctasy!
_ _
Adam: I had this dream about climbing to the top of Ayers rock in full costume.
Bernadette: That's just what this country needs: a cock in a frock on a rock.
_ _
Bernadette: Listen here, mullet. Why don't you light your tampon, blow your box apart. It'll be the best bang you'll ever get, sweetheart!
*silence*
Bar people: Woo! Go faggots!
_ _
Bernadette: Oh shit! (the bus has broken down)
Adam: What are we going to do? We're going to starve!
Bernadette: Someone will come looking for us, won't they?
Tick: We're not due in Alice for another 6 days.
Bernadette: Six days! We'll be bones and silicon by then!
** later on, Felicia gets off the bus carrying a can of paint. Priscilla was vandalised by Broken Hill RedNecks**
Bernadette: What are you doing?
Felicia: If I'm going to die out here, I don't want my tombstone reading "fuck off faggots"
_ _
Bernadette: Help! We're trapped in the middle of the desert!
Voice on phone: Where are you?
Bernadette: Oh, don't ask me that! How the fuck should I know? Um... somewhere between Broken Hill and.... purgatory.
_ _
Bernadette (on arrival to Coober Pedy): If I had to give the world an enema, I think I found the place!
_ _
Felicia: Oh for goodness sake! Get down off the crucifix, someone needs the wood! (points to Tick).
_ _
Felicia: Do you know why this microphone cord is so long? So I can retrieve it after I've shoved it up your ass!
_ _
Mitzi: You know, there are two things I don't like about you, Felicia. Your face. So how's about shutting both of them?
_ _
Tick and Bernadette are discussing what it would be like to have children
Tick: What happens if they turn out like Adam?
Bernadette: You stuff 'em back in and ask for a refund.
_ _
Tick: Whose rooms are those?
Benji: That's my room, that's mum's room and that room is for you and your boyfriend.
Tick: Oh! I don't have a boyfriend at the moment, Benji.
Benji: That's ok, neither does mum.
_ _
In case you haven't seen the show:
Tick, Adam and Bernadette are the main three characters.
Tick (nickname for Anthony) becomes Mitzy when he's in drag (for the show she was Mitzy-matosis. Kept reminding me of the Radiohead song rather than the poison ;p)
Adam becomes Felicia in drag
Bernadette has had the 'chop'. (Felicia: Is is true that her real name is Ralph? Bernadette: Aaaaargh! Just call me that one more time, one more time!! and then later.... Felicia: Is it true that you keep Ralph junior in your bag in a jar of formaldehyde? Bernadette: I wish I did so I could shove it down your throat!)
Benji is Tick's son.
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is the name of the bus they road trip it to Alice Springs in. (Felicia: I hereby christen this budget Barbie camper: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert!)
Coober Pedy is an old opal mining town in Australia. It is famous because most of the residents (all 1,916 of them, according the the 2006 census) prefer to live underground or in houses bored into the rock in caves. This is because the summer time temperatures are often unbearably hot (gets over 40 in summer. Holey moley, that's pretty hot ;p). They are a quirky bunch. For example, they play golf at the local golf course mostly at night to avoid the daytime temperatures so they use glow in the dark golf balls. Ah, gotta love it!
They were quite cruel to their own people in the show, but they didn't spare anyone. Kinda like Bro Town, in that sense. Mullet, for example, was a real good ol' Aussie sheila. Her probably F cup breasts were flying around all over the place and her bra straps keep falling down, visible from under her white 'wife-beater' single. She also had the mullet she's named for. We are introduced to her singing the classic first verse lines "Please don't talk about love tonight..." of the song I love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round) by Alicia Bridges. Her best moment was her floor grabbing, hip thrusting "I want some action, I wanna live! Action, I have SO much to give! I want to give it, I want to get some tooooooo"
(followed up by:
Bogan like character: Hey baby, how about a root?
Mullet: Nah, get off it.
Bogan: Aw, come on! It's better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.
Mullet: It wasn't last time...)
Ok, maybe "best moment" is a bit kind :p
When I have my Australian film night, Priscilla will be one of the feature films. Others include Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding, and the more recent films The Castle and Fat Pizza. Any other suggestions are welcome :)
For example, in the classic quote "I'll join this conversation on the proviso that we stop bitching about people talking about wigs, dresses, bust sizes, penises, drugs, night clubs, and bloody ABBA!", ABBA was changed to Kylie.
"What sort of Kylie should I be? Neighbours Kylie? Delinquents Kylie? Leopard Print Kylie? Ooh, how about Hot Pants Kylie?"
The show was riddled with jabs at Australians and because they couldn't resist poking fun at their audience from next door, New Zealanders didn't entirely escape unscathed. At the beginning of the show, the backdrop feature a map of Australia etched in pink lipstick with Alice Springs and Sydney marked as well as the path taken by Priscilla (the bus), Mitzy, Bernadette and Felicia on their way to Alice Springs. To the New Zealand audience was the message "you are here" with an arrow pointing off stage.
Another jab was:
Bernadette: Oh no! The battery is flat! LOOK, Tick! It's as flat as Rodney Hide's mattress!
The show was full of wonderful quotes. Many of them were the same as those in the movie, however some had been updated to be more relevant to the audiences watching the show today. Since I'm sure most of you have seen it (or will, because I'll make you ;p), here is a list of quotes from the show:
_ _
Voice-over: Good evening, ladies and ladies. Please remember to turn off your cellphones. Also, in order to not obstruct the views of those behind you, please remove any large wigs and place them underneath the seat in front of you.
_ _
Mitzy: Remember, ladies and ladies, the more you drink, the better I look!
_ _
Off-stage voices: Boo! Get a new act, Mitzy! Get a new dress! Get some new tits! *snickering*
_ _
Adam: A desert holiday, let's pack the drag away. You take the lunch and tea, I'll take the esctasy!
_ _
Adam: I had this dream about climbing to the top of Ayers rock in full costume.
Bernadette: That's just what this country needs: a cock in a frock on a rock.
_ _
Bernadette: Listen here, mullet. Why don't you light your tampon, blow your box apart. It'll be the best bang you'll ever get, sweetheart!
*silence*
Bar people: Woo! Go faggots!
_ _
Bernadette: Oh shit! (the bus has broken down)
Adam: What are we going to do? We're going to starve!
Bernadette: Someone will come looking for us, won't they?
Tick: We're not due in Alice for another 6 days.
Bernadette: Six days! We'll be bones and silicon by then!
** later on, Felicia gets off the bus carrying a can of paint. Priscilla was vandalised by Broken Hill RedNecks**
Bernadette: What are you doing?
Felicia: If I'm going to die out here, I don't want my tombstone reading "fuck off faggots"
_ _
Bernadette: Help! We're trapped in the middle of the desert!
Voice on phone: Where are you?
Bernadette: Oh, don't ask me that! How the fuck should I know? Um... somewhere between Broken Hill and.... purgatory.
_ _
Bernadette (on arrival to Coober Pedy): If I had to give the world an enema, I think I found the place!
_ _
Felicia: Oh for goodness sake! Get down off the crucifix, someone needs the wood! (points to Tick).
_ _
Felicia: Do you know why this microphone cord is so long? So I can retrieve it after I've shoved it up your ass!
_ _
Mitzi: You know, there are two things I don't like about you, Felicia. Your face. So how's about shutting both of them?
_ _
Tick and Bernadette are discussing what it would be like to have children
Tick: What happens if they turn out like Adam?
Bernadette: You stuff 'em back in and ask for a refund.
_ _
Tick: Whose rooms are those?
Benji: That's my room, that's mum's room and that room is for you and your boyfriend.
Tick: Oh! I don't have a boyfriend at the moment, Benji.
Benji: That's ok, neither does mum.
_ _
In case you haven't seen the show:
Tick, Adam and Bernadette are the main three characters.
Tick (nickname for Anthony) becomes Mitzy when he's in drag (for the show she was Mitzy-matosis. Kept reminding me of the Radiohead song rather than the poison ;p)
Adam becomes Felicia in drag
Bernadette has had the 'chop'. (Felicia: Is is true that her real name is Ralph? Bernadette: Aaaaargh! Just call me that one more time, one more time!! and then later.... Felicia: Is it true that you keep Ralph junior in your bag in a jar of formaldehyde? Bernadette: I wish I did so I could shove it down your throat!)
Benji is Tick's son.
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is the name of the bus they road trip it to Alice Springs in. (Felicia: I hereby christen this budget Barbie camper: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert!)
Coober Pedy is an old opal mining town in Australia. It is famous because most of the residents (all 1,916 of them, according the the 2006 census) prefer to live underground or in houses bored into the rock in caves. This is because the summer time temperatures are often unbearably hot (gets over 40 in summer. Holey moley, that's pretty hot ;p). They are a quirky bunch. For example, they play golf at the local golf course mostly at night to avoid the daytime temperatures so they use glow in the dark golf balls. Ah, gotta love it!
They were quite cruel to their own people in the show, but they didn't spare anyone. Kinda like Bro Town, in that sense. Mullet, for example, was a real good ol' Aussie sheila. Her probably F cup breasts were flying around all over the place and her bra straps keep falling down, visible from under her white 'wife-beater' single. She also had the mullet she's named for. We are introduced to her singing the classic first verse lines "Please don't talk about love tonight..." of the song I love the Nightlife (Disco 'Round) by Alicia Bridges. Her best moment was her floor grabbing, hip thrusting "I want some action, I wanna live! Action, I have SO much to give! I want to give it, I want to get some tooooooo"
(followed up by:
Bogan like character: Hey baby, how about a root?
Mullet: Nah, get off it.
Bogan: Aw, come on! It's better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick.
Mullet: It wasn't last time...)
Ok, maybe "best moment" is a bit kind :p
When I have my Australian film night, Priscilla will be one of the feature films. Others include Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding, and the more recent films The Castle and Fat Pizza. Any other suggestions are welcome :)
Thursday, May 01, 2008
I think, therefore I am. I think...
How quickly do you thoughts move from one topic to the next?
This morning on the bus I was wondering what I was thinking about (playing capoeira) and how on earth I managed to get there from what I was originally thinking (hey, the people behind me are speaking in German!).
How did I get there? At first I recognised the German and was listening to them help each other to string a sentence of English together. Then I was thinking about how cool German accents sound and wished I hadn't given up on German after fourth form when both German and French clashed with maths for the next year's subjects. Then... I was thinking about going overseas later on this year and meeting French or German people and possibly getting them to teach me better German. I was thinking, if I'm hanging around them I'd pick up some interesting vocab, different vocab from each different person I met. This, in my opinion, was much like how in capoeira class you learn a whole lot more when you are playing against different people. Like how one guy gave me some ideas on how to catch the other person off guard rather than just doing a defensive move in response to their attacking move. Each different person I play against will have different strategies and ideas so the more people I play against, the more I will learn and improve my own capoeira as well as picking up nifty moves. This revelation will not, however, inspire me to attend the Friday night rodas any time soon. I'm way too scared to!
My thoughts then moved to Monday night's capoeira class and how I could have done much better if I hadn't been so tired and had remembered my contact lenses.
All of this when I was meant to be doing a reading for an anthro 219 assignment! On the comodification of music too, joy!
Thought progression is an interesting thing but it's hard to monitor because if you think about how your thoughts are progressing then it's not very natural, is it? If you're constantly wondering what you'll think next, it's more forced.
This morning on the bus I was wondering what I was thinking about (playing capoeira) and how on earth I managed to get there from what I was originally thinking (hey, the people behind me are speaking in German!).
How did I get there? At first I recognised the German and was listening to them help each other to string a sentence of English together. Then I was thinking about how cool German accents sound and wished I hadn't given up on German after fourth form when both German and French clashed with maths for the next year's subjects. Then... I was thinking about going overseas later on this year and meeting French or German people and possibly getting them to teach me better German. I was thinking, if I'm hanging around them I'd pick up some interesting vocab, different vocab from each different person I met. This, in my opinion, was much like how in capoeira class you learn a whole lot more when you are playing against different people. Like how one guy gave me some ideas on how to catch the other person off guard rather than just doing a defensive move in response to their attacking move. Each different person I play against will have different strategies and ideas so the more people I play against, the more I will learn and improve my own capoeira as well as picking up nifty moves. This revelation will not, however, inspire me to attend the Friday night rodas any time soon. I'm way too scared to!
My thoughts then moved to Monday night's capoeira class and how I could have done much better if I hadn't been so tired and had remembered my contact lenses.
All of this when I was meant to be doing a reading for an anthro 219 assignment! On the comodification of music too, joy!
Thought progression is an interesting thing but it's hard to monitor because if you think about how your thoughts are progressing then it's not very natural, is it? If you're constantly wondering what you'll think next, it's more forced.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Rosie Loves New Zealand Music!
The Flight of the Conchords make my world a brighter place.
Yes, I know it's the name of a group on facebook but it's true!
I like to see that NZ groups are getting recognition overseas, it's a shame that the Flight of the Conchords couldn't get their shows made here, which is what they first tried to do. I bet that company is kicking itself hard now, in the light of their phenomenal success in the US and Canada.
New Zealand music is wicked cool. Here are some of my favourite NZ artists (in no particular order):
Fat Freddy's Drop
Goodshirt (they broke up in 2004! I can't believe that song about haircuts they played at the Zoo that time never made it to an album!)
Pluto
Phoenix Foundation
Goldenhorse
The Black Seeds
Salmonella Dub
Supergroove (totally awesome at bdo 08!)
Ddub
Shihad (and very glad they changed their name back!)
Minuit
Verse Two
Bic Runga (old school, can't not love Sway)
The Checks
Elemeno P
Liam Finn
Katchafire
King Kapisi - Is the man. No, it's not because I'm from the islands, bro.
Che Fu - His dad (Tigi Ness, rip) came to talk to my class at intermediate
The Mint Chicks
And assorted songs from:
Dave Dobbyn (NOT Loyal, that song has been pimped to the point that it drives me insane. Unless it's an occasion of token mention)
Mutton Birds (Dominion Road crew represent!)
The Swingers
Th' Dudes (Ah, Peter Urlich before the PUBE - Peter Urlich Breakfast Experience)
The Exponents - Why Does Love Do This To Me is still the best song I've ever heard Jack and Ellery sing at the top of their lungs, pissed as hell. If anyone else has heard them at it, well... you know what I'm talking about ;p
Hello Sailor
Elston Gun - White Noise. This group was the winner of some KFC competition and the song is pretty cool
Exiles - The One - saw that on C4 show for people who don't sleep.
Darcy Clay - Jesus I Was Evil!
Honourable mentions would be:
Fur Patrol (used to listen to on repeat back in the channel z days)
Patea Maori Club! Heh, ok, I really mean Poi E. I remember performing that song at kindy. Unfortunately there is video proof of this performance.
Evermore
Eight - Well pretty much only Moments Gone (which was one of those songs you remember and search and search and search for but can never find. It took me about three years to re-discover this song. It sounded slightly better in my memory so now I wish someone would do a remix of it ;p It sounded more chilled, salmonella-dub like and it turns out it's a lot more rocky that I remembered).
The Feelers - I like them because they're kiwi, but only a few songs have stuck out.
Deja Voodoo - hahahahahaha
Misfits of Science - Anyone remember the song Fool's Love? I loved that song!
Savage - Ditto with Swing. It has been overplayed though :(
Stellar
OMC - How Bizzare was so big at primary school. Almost as big as Peter Andre's mysterious girl.
Adeaze - The Lord Is My Light is a really nice song. We had to sing it in the 7th form mass at Marist. I got to sing the part in Samoan, which was interesting. Last song I learnt in Samoan was Pusi Nofo in primary school! The brothers have really nice voices as well.
Nesian Mystik - who can't love them. They're from Western Springs college! That's, like, really close to where I used to live ;p
The Herbs - used to listen to them all the time when I was younger (well, my mum did :) )
The new Phoenix Foundation side shows are pretty cool too :)
Ah music. I love it. I studied it, but I think I should really just stick to listening to it ;p Or maybe making it some day. Ever hear some songs that you reckon would sounds really awesome remixed? Like that song by the Greenskeepers - Vagabond. It's nearly dance music already but I reckon someone like Axwell could improve it a bit. It's the bass. Gotta love heavy bass lines :D
If I've forgotten anyone important, let me know!
Yes, I know it's the name of a group on facebook but it's true!
I like to see that NZ groups are getting recognition overseas, it's a shame that the Flight of the Conchords couldn't get their shows made here, which is what they first tried to do. I bet that company is kicking itself hard now, in the light of their phenomenal success in the US and Canada.
New Zealand music is wicked cool. Here are some of my favourite NZ artists (in no particular order):
Fat Freddy's Drop
Goodshirt (they broke up in 2004! I can't believe that song about haircuts they played at the Zoo that time never made it to an album!)
Pluto
Phoenix Foundation
Goldenhorse
The Black Seeds
Salmonella Dub
Supergroove (totally awesome at bdo 08!)
Ddub
Shihad (and very glad they changed their name back!)
Minuit
Verse Two
Bic Runga (old school, can't not love Sway)
The Checks
Elemeno P
Liam Finn
Katchafire
King Kapisi - Is the man. No, it's not because I'm from the islands, bro.
Che Fu - His dad (Tigi Ness, rip) came to talk to my class at intermediate
The Mint Chicks
And assorted songs from:
Dave Dobbyn (NOT Loyal, that song has been pimped to the point that it drives me insane. Unless it's an occasion of token mention)
Mutton Birds (Dominion Road crew represent!)
The Swingers
Th' Dudes (Ah, Peter Urlich before the PUBE - Peter Urlich Breakfast Experience)
The Exponents - Why Does Love Do This To Me is still the best song I've ever heard Jack and Ellery sing at the top of their lungs, pissed as hell. If anyone else has heard them at it, well... you know what I'm talking about ;p
Hello Sailor
Elston Gun - White Noise. This group was the winner of some KFC competition and the song is pretty cool
Exiles - The One - saw that on C4 show for people who don't sleep.
Darcy Clay - Jesus I Was Evil!
Honourable mentions would be:
Fur Patrol (used to listen to on repeat back in the channel z days)
Patea Maori Club! Heh, ok, I really mean Poi E. I remember performing that song at kindy. Unfortunately there is video proof of this performance.
Evermore
Eight - Well pretty much only Moments Gone (which was one of those songs you remember and search and search and search for but can never find. It took me about three years to re-discover this song. It sounded slightly better in my memory so now I wish someone would do a remix of it ;p It sounded more chilled, salmonella-dub like and it turns out it's a lot more rocky that I remembered).
The Feelers - I like them because they're kiwi, but only a few songs have stuck out.
Deja Voodoo - hahahahahaha
Misfits of Science - Anyone remember the song Fool's Love? I loved that song!
Savage - Ditto with Swing. It has been overplayed though :(
Stellar
OMC - How Bizzare was so big at primary school. Almost as big as Peter Andre's mysterious girl.
Adeaze - The Lord Is My Light is a really nice song. We had to sing it in the 7th form mass at Marist. I got to sing the part in Samoan, which was interesting. Last song I learnt in Samoan was Pusi Nofo in primary school! The brothers have really nice voices as well.
Nesian Mystik - who can't love them. They're from Western Springs college! That's, like, really close to where I used to live ;p
The Herbs - used to listen to them all the time when I was younger (well, my mum did :) )
The new Phoenix Foundation side shows are pretty cool too :)
Ah music. I love it. I studied it, but I think I should really just stick to listening to it ;p Or maybe making it some day. Ever hear some songs that you reckon would sounds really awesome remixed? Like that song by the Greenskeepers - Vagabond. It's nearly dance music already but I reckon someone like Axwell could improve it a bit. It's the bass. Gotta love heavy bass lines :D
If I've forgotten anyone important, let me know!
Monday, April 28, 2008
You see, there was this monkey...
Ok, so after another weekend of leaving an assignment to the last minute I decided to try something new... No, it wasn't more promises of "I'll start earlier next time!" (past experiences have shown that this is exactly opposite to the case) but instead I decided to see how fast I could write 1,500 words on any topic non stop. It was crazy, it was kinda in procrastination of another assignment (but it's ok, I've finished it now and it's due on Thursday :-D)
Will this be structured like an essay? Who knows... but here it is:
Mangroves are pretty awesome things when you think about it. Now I know a lot of residents from the area of Waiuku would disagree vehemently with this statement, but then they are facing the consequences of bad land management decisions from before their time. Before their time means either before they moved to Waiuku or, for the younger residents of Waiuku, before they were born.
They want to chop the mangrove trees down and some of them do, which is highly illegal, and cite reasons such as "the mangroves are smelly and ugly" or "they're choking our streams to death" or "they have forced the native bird life away and are now only home to crabs and snails". These reasons are all true but they are missing one of the main reasons I don't mind mangroves (even though I don't live near any, so my opinion is not nearly as vaild): THEY ARE FUN!
Look at my facebook photo album from the geog 250 field trip for visual proof.
Mangroves are nature's barrier between the land in and the sea. If a big ass storm comes along and creates all these killer waves that thrash the shoreline, if there are mangroves, they are going to take the brunt of the force and damage caused by the storm. If there are no mangroves, the stream/river/whatever banks will be greatly affected by the storm.
Also, the case in Waiuku that does not make me feel particularly sorry for what is now a real problem, is that a hell of a lot of sediment is getting trapped in the streams because of erosion from the land. Why is there erosion? Because some smart cookie decided to chop all the trees down, leaving unstable soil on the slopes of the surrounding catchments that gets eroded away a little bit more every time it rains. There doesn't have to be substantial amounts of rainfall for soil to erode, either, especially if it's bare soil.
Now, the residents of Waiuku are facing a real problem, the mangroves are too great in number, trapping too much sediment and are still on the rapid increase.
But why? There are too many nutrients (surrounding area is contributing all sorts of nutrients from weed spraying, fertiliser and other wonderful chemical sprays that are used on the land) entering the water ways that are ideal for mangrove growth.
So the answer to their woes is to reduce the number of mangroves, but if the people in charge of the surrounding areas don't change their ways, the mangroves are going to come back again and do what they do best: reclaim land.
On a recent field trip, we were told that the complete removal of mangroves from the area is the best thing that could happen to Waiuku. Sure, go for it, just don't complain when all that land that was generously reclaimed by the mangroves disappears in the next storm :p
But in any case, mangroves are still fun. There is some killer mud out there, quite literally. In some places, the mud is deeper than waist level. You wouldn’t really want to get caught in it as the top layer, in parts, is writhing with crabs. There are also oyster beds. But just like anything in moderation, mangrove mud in moderation is fun.
So, I’ve written just over 500 words on mangroves in the space of 14 minutes. This is encouraging. For my next assignment, if I could write at this rate, my essays would be done in no time! Goodbye frantic writing at 1am and later!
Doing all-nighters on assignments can be fun if you’re not hideously tired, bored, headachy or all of the above, which is often the case. I remember back in seventh form, a good friend of mine wrote a guide to doing an all-nighter. It was a brilliant piece of writing and I wish I still had access to it (maybe I should ask the friend…).
One piece of advice I can give for the aspiring all-nighterer is to have a mammoth sleep the night before the all-nighter. If you’re running on 3-5 hours sleep (and aren’t used to it) for the week or at least two days running up to the all-nighter you’ll find it immensely hard to get through the wee hours of the morning. We all know that having too much sleep means you have difficulty sleeping the following night. This is good! You don’t want to sleep during your all-nighter, you want to work. You also want this work to be fairly good work so that you not only just get it finished on time, missing the late penalty, but your marks aren’t too shabby.
More advice on the all-nighter: restrict caffeinated drinks to the daylight hours and drink only water (or maybe apple tea) at night. Otherwise you’ll get jittery and restless and therefore spend more time walking around and going to the toilet than writing and also, you’ll find that after two the energy drinks aren’t as effective. You also don’t want to have a crash, where you come down from the rush/caffeine rush. This will only leave you with a headache and wishing you could be asleep than agonising over the spelling of a term that you don’t really understand or know much about except for that it’s one of the things your essay/report/assignment is supposed to be about.
All-nighters are also best for those who don’t sleep very easily. I know my best all-nighters have been when I’m having an insomniac week and can’t sleep anyway. This way, I’m not even remotely sleepy until 5am. Ooh, that reminds me, set a time when you’re going to go to bed and stick to it. Be it 2am, 4:30am or 6am, make sure you get some sleep before returning to do the final editing and then printing out your assignment. We all know from the driving training (if you’re over 18 and haven’t had it, shame on you! ;p) that 45mins is a short enough nap to make sure you get rest AND don’t go into a deep sleep. Because you’re only waking up to finish editing (it pays to have about 99% of the assignment done before you got to sleep if it’s due in the morning, or at least 80% if it’s due at 4pm), a sleep of up to 2hrs is ok. This way you won’t look so dead when you hand in your assignment, classic signs of an all-nighter that won’t impress your lecturer or tutor too much if they catch you and you’ll be able to look at your assignment with relatively fresh eyes (remember the rule they always tell you, finish your assignment and then leave it for a day before doing the final edit? Yeah, well if you’re at the all-nighter stage you don’t have a day. 2hrs will have to be enough).
Of course, the length of sleep depends on how much you’ve finished and how confident you are of getting the final editing and proof reading done quickly. Try not to have a very long sleep though otherwise you’ll end up sleeping through any alarm you sleep. This does depend on how tired you are though. However, if you’re the all-nighter type, you’ll probably be pretty tired by this stage as it probably won’t have been your first for the week.
This leads me on to procrastination. I’m pretty bad (or good) with procrastination. I tried to stop myself from getting to good at leaving things to the last minute but unfortunately for me, that only lasted one semester. After three months of summer holidays and working full time for about two and a half months of it, my procrastination was back stronger than ever.
I think people do reach a point though where they are sick of the constant tired feeling and knowing they have to spend valuable sleeping hours slaving away over a 25% essay. There are several brilliant ways to procrastinate, you don’t really need a guide to procrastination, even though the chances are that most of the people reading the procrastinators guide will either be: procrastinating themselves; or: gathering ideas for the next round of procrastination.
My vices are facebook, various text based rpg games and forums. Msn chat has lost its appeal, but that is also a great way of procrastination. The conversation always cries for attention, turning away from it for even a few moments feels criminal. Now that facebook has a chat application, the procrastination hours are facing an increase.
I think the saying: find a job that you love and you’ll never work another day in your life is fairly accurate, but how realistic is it? Most things come about with hard work which is what uni and various other methods of institutionalisation seek to teach every student no matter how unenthusiastic or uninterested they are. However, I think some of the greatest procrastinators have come to love doing anything but what they are supposed to and constantly test themselves to see how efficient they can be when it counts. We all know how satisfying it is to get an A for an assignment that we did in a couple of days versus a B- for an assignment that took us weeks to finish.
It’s all about being smart and not over estimating your ability to perform when it comes to crunch time.
==End==
If you read that you must be feeling slightly crazy now (or desperately bored) so I do apologise for that.
However, it took me about 32mins and 43 seconds to write that. Quite sad how I run out of things to say when it’s time to say them…
I will add photos of the field trip when I get to a computer with a decent internet connection. Uni's network is a bit bogged down by students excited at the prospect of free internet, even if it's slow.
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