Another Pair Of Eyes

Real News

There is a big shortage of real news.

Wait. That is a lie. What I actually mean to say is, there is a overbearing quantity of news which is a long way from newsworthy. By this, at the moment, I largely mean X-factor and Strictly Come Dancing evictions being posted on national news. Report on Copenhagen or something instead, something that actually is important at the moment. I couldn’t personally care less about who is winning [insert TV show here] and presumably those that do have either a) watched the show and know already, b) have friends who have told them or c) will find out when it is inevitably pushed into your face by radio presenters the next morning. When I am reading the news, especially on a respectable news channel such as the BBC or broadsheet papers, I want meaty, factual, important issues (including those taking place more than an inch beyond the border) rather than superficial commentaries on what is basically a soap opera. I have no quarrel with the shows themselves or people who watch them, but I do take issue with them consistently appearing in the top ten news items on the BBC news website.

Rant over.

No, today has not been a good day and I am ratty.

And I was pretty annoyed that No. 9 turned out to be 10% ITV, 90% Simon Cowell talking about X-factor.

Fiasco

Firstly, might I say that in the unlikely event that I have, through some miracle, passed today’s exam, it will still constitute the worst academic performance of my life. In fact, my only chance at passing is currently sitting in my inbox:

“Dear student

The School is aware that there were some problems associated with the BM5 Year 2 Semester 3 Short Notes examination this morning (Tuesday 27th January 2009) in the main examination venue.

Please would all those students involved be assured that, once the School has received the invigilators’ report providing further detail of the events, due consideration will be given to what happened. The incidents will be brought to the attention of the BM5 Year 2 Semester 3 Board of Examiners.

Good luck with the rest of your examinations.

Kind regards.”

The problems they mention include the distribution of the wrong paper, the redistribution of the wrong answer booklets, the mention of 20 minutes extra time as a consequence and the subsequent removal of that 20 minutes (you guessed it) 20 minutes later, and the finishing touch of having the fire alarm go off halfway through the fiasco and the ensuring cheating/chaos. Combined with the fact that it would appear that general, widespread absence of knowledge on anything the paper was asking for (10 mark question on something we had a 2 hour practical on, and were told not to bother learning because “You’ll be taught that in 4th year.”) I’m hoping that I might, just, have scraped the 50% pass mark via moderation and the fact that nobody really knew what hit them.

Annoyed, frustrated, disappointed. Tomorrow has better be good!

Resolutions?

I am told that making new years resolutions, along with so many other things these days *wistful old-voice* is bad for your health (psychological health, in this instance). In the interest of my psychological health, I decided to pop back a year into the blog-that-was and glance at just what I hoped to achieve in 2008.

“1. I must not try to force romance and related things into my life – I just need to wait and be patient.

2. I have to fulfill my potential, whatever I believe that entails; being a good student, a good doctor, a good friend, or being able to let things lie.”

No cringing please. I’m supposing that while I’ve not failed at either of them, I’ve not been brilliant at them either – number 1 especially. They aren’t things which you can mystically complete, though, so I’ll just slap a ‘work in progress’ note on those and copy them across for 2009.* In the interest of my psychological health, I’ll not make any new ones: well and good, considering how broad the remit of the second resolution above is!

Good luck for the new year, all. Remember to write the correct date, and I hope the year it records treats us all well. Anyone risked making any resolutions of their own this year?

*I might also reinstate my new years resolutions for 2007, which were particularly succinct:

• Enjoy self to the full
• Try not to be a git

Bow Ties

Why are they so bloody hard to tie up?!! ARGH!!!

(and no, pre-made ones are rubbish and don’t have the undone-around-your-neck cool factor in the later evening. That, and I don’t own a ready made one.)

Tiscali

Well, I’ve been back at uni for a little over a week now.

What a world in that sentence. I’m not even a fresher and I still seem to have a complete blur of new and improved kicking about all the time – new house, new clubs with new people in them (Oceana in Southampton is incredible, by the way). Trying to figure out how to get the house working has been fun, and whoever decided where plug sockets go in my room was a sadist with a fixation on extension leads. All the things which freshers have sorted out for them are sadly lacking here – we’ve got no internet, for example. Not only do we have no internet, but we’re not likely to get it for quite a while either, due to Tiscali and their STUPID IGNORANT STAFF WHO DON’T BOTHER TO CHECK IF YOU CAN ACTUALY GET TISCALI INTERNET BEFORE YOU ORDER.

Ahem. As you can tell, I was pretty pissed off when a letter came through the door explaining that, for no particular reason, we would have to seek an ‘alternative provider’. Hmm.

So now we have to fork out more than we would have, for something that’s probably not going to arrive until the start of November. You’d be amazed at how much you rely on the web to keep you amused and organised. Having to go to campus every time you need to do something online is a huge pain, and now that it\s started raining it only gets more irksome. The wireless I’m on in the Union seems distinctly dodgy and the library is closed due to a powercut. Despite the fact the lights are on inside.

I’m just throwing frustration into the blogosphere now. Life is not that bad – having a house is fantastic (sofas!) and we’ve got a fairly good one by all accounts. The kitchen is amazing – we’ve got a breakfast bar and everything. No kettle or microwave, but three toasters. I’ll put some photos up when I get some real internet.

Anyway, I’m babbling and you’re bored. All you need to read of this blog is: No internet, so annoyed, but otherwise life is brilliant. It’s good to be back.

C’est ça.

In The News

What do you reckon? Undercurrent religious opposition (despite the statement to the contrary within the article)? Genuine concerns about side-effects and time off, mysteriously not taken up by any other schools thus far?

I’m a medical person, and am hence inclined to think they are fools to deny a potentially life-saving vaccine to their children on school premises – will every parent take their child to the doctors to have the vaccine? I doubt it.

In my view, the governors have put at risk the lives of their female pupils and this is out of line. It’s very black and white, I know – but is my opinion (or their action, for that matter) justified?

Thoughts appreciated.

Also, I just came across this. Bit like opening a can of worms, but it really concerned me so I’ll post it here anyway. I’d trust the Chinese government with this information for about as far as I could throw President Hu Jintao with my hands tied behind my back and a rock the size of Bilbao balanced on my forehead.

Addendum: And apparently, people are both gullible and stupid. I’d've thought those pop-up boxes were pretty obvious really…

Addendum II: Can’t seem to stop adding things to a topic so easy as ‘In the News’. This was harrowing.

Third and final addendum: Crazy people. I mean seriously. What the hell?

Lemons

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

It’s a great idea, in theory. Lemons go from being sour to being tasty and sweet lemonade. Everyone is happy. The problem is, when you look on the back of a bottle of lemonade, what does it say on the list of ingredients?

That’s right. Sugar. Second-most prolific ingredient in the drink.* When life gives you sugar, you make lemonade? Hmm. Sketchy.

Moral of the story is, when life gives you an exclusive on lemons, you’re screwed.

*Also, orange juice? what the hell?