GenesisDreams

Busy

University I had my first Exam this afternoon. It was for Introduction to Digital Business and was worth 100% of the subjects marks. I'm fairly sure I aced it, but I'm going to wait for the results to be returned before I make any comment. I'm going to reserve my long and drawn-out rant about the British education system till after I get my results back as well. Meanwhile I'm actually pretty busy. I have four more exams next week, over the space of three days and I haven't started studying for any of them. This weekend is going to be all about revision. It's not too bad though, becuase this time next week I'll be finished! I'll write more when I've finished my exams. I've got heaps to say! ^_^ Listening to Evolution by Ayumi Hamasaki, for some reason it helps me study.

Sunset

General It's almost 9:30pm here right now, and the sun has just set. It's so different to back home.

Anecdote Time

Friends Just another little anecdote here. I'm stressed with exam preparation right now, and writing entries where I actually express my feelings is hard! So here is a little story to fill the time in... Bruce, the Scot who lives next door to me, had £80 worth of food delivered to his window by Sainsbury’s (a big food shop). The store lets you order food online, and they will deliver it to you. We were having lunch and Bruce got a call on this phone, the food had arrived! We walk outside of the Atrium and we see this big Sainsbury’s truck parked in front of the hall. Bruce tells them to go round the back, and he goes inside, opens his window and the truck backs right up to it. We proceeded to unload the mountains of food out of the truck, through his window, and into his room. There was beer, chocolate, coke, more beer, some ham and bread and tinned stuff. We ate well that night! Perhaps I should stop being so superficial. I’ll try.

Century

Japan - Metaposts - Music - Personal This is my 100th GenesisDreams entry. It doesn't feel like that many at all. Sometimes I feel like I'm slipping away over here into a completely different world. It's hard to explain, and I'm not sure if I like it. My life here now is very different to how it was back home. I don't think I've illustrated that very well in the GenesisDreams entries I've made since coming here. I've accepted it, take it as the norm, and so on the surface, when I write about things occurring in my life, all of the superficial things probably seem very similar to how it is back home. I don't have a very objective perspective, so I can't say for sure, but that's the impression I get reading over what I've written. I don't think it appears like much has changed at all. Would anyone out there like to comment on this one way or another (Brendan, you're probably the most objective person who reads this blog, I'd appreciate hearing what you think). I feel like I've lived a century's worth of years these past couple of months. I have been challenged in ways I never imagined, I have seen things I previously only dreamed about and I have participated in “stuff” beyond my comprehension. I have communicated, interacted, drank, lost, kissed, fondled, jumped, watched, hid, hit, missed, wallowed, yelled, run, listened, played, bled, shuffled, kicked, washed, fucked, talked, driven, fallen, tickled, tripped, worried, screamed, nodded, waited, learnt, enjoyed, shrugged, slept, dealt, spewed, ate, laughed, thought, hugged, tasted, read, dreamt, wished and longed with a frequency and ferocity far outstripping anything before, and in more ways than I can describe. I am still very much myself, but I feel like a completely different person. I feel like nobody knows me now, least of all myself. In the past I would have hated that, I need to know; now I’m just not sure. I really don’t know whether I like it or not. the sun is casting shadows an afternoon is fading I ask, but no one knows the answer to the question my life is like an island where does this ocean go? From Where Does This Ocean Go? by Ilaria Graziano off the Ghost In the Shell - Stand Alone Complex OST.

Swotting

University I'm in swotvac at the moment. My exams start next week and I'm woefully underprepared. That's nothing unusual, but it isn't comfortable either.

Friends

Friends - Friends - Television - University I just watch the last episode ever of Friends. Yes, I know, I do absolutely no work at all here at University ^_^ Bruce, Graeme, Ben, Nikkie, Viki and I sat, cramped, in Graeme's room, and watched final epsiode of the 10th series together. I'm not going to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet, but the ending was so happy, and yet so sad at the same time. I am really glad that things turned out the way they did. I had hoped it would end that way. Friends has been one of those shows that I grew up with, that I watched all through highschool. Like Seinfeld, it's something I will associate with my teenage years, and will miss now that it's gone. Yes it's just a TV show, but TV shows become a part of your life. I mentioned with the OC that I don't usually get emotionally involved with shows, but that doesn't mean they don't form part of your memories. Listening to Walk On by U2. It's the only song that will do right now.

The OC

Friends - Fun - Japan - Music - Television Over the last couple of days I've watched the entire first season (all 27 episodes) of The O.C. with Bruce. It started out as a form of procrastination. I didn't want to do any study, so watching inane American dramas seemed like a good way to pass the time. By the end though I was completely hooked, we binge-watched the final 9 episodes in one night. I was wallowing in a sea of self-indulgence and I loved it. The show is cheesy, badly acted and has only average writing, but it's got great music, some really funny/interesting characters, and is filled with fit women ^_^ It's also really addicted, and I found myself getting completely drawn into the story (as clichéd as it is). I must admit that I was actually emotionally moved by the ending, it was so sad. I'm normally detached from everything I watch, but this got to me for some reason. Now I have to wait the whole summer until the next season starts. I want to see it now! Just some general comments on the show. Seth is such a cool geek, he gives geeks around the world a good name. Ryan looks like a young Russell Crow. Anna is really cool, she makes a comment calling Marissa's "Princess Mononoke", that's awesome! ^_^ Marissa is beauty personified. Summer is just insanely cute. Sandy is possibly the best father ever. I loath Teresa. The theme song is really catchy; singing it with Bruce at the beginning of each episode has become a ritual. We actually got in trouble for it last night, we were singing it so loud (and so badly out of tune) that one of the hall tutors came and knocked on Bruce's door and told us to be quiet. If you get a chance, watch this show. It's not classic television, but it will keep you entertained. Written while listening to the Ryan Adam's cover of Wonderwall and Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, on repeat, looping forever.

Mr. Blue Sky

Movies - Music - University Sun is shinin' in the sky, There ain't a cloud in sight It's stopped rainin' Everybody's in a play And don't you know It's a beautiful new day. Hey, hey. I'm addicted to this song. It's on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind theatrical trailer, and I've had it in my head ever since I saw it at Kill Bill Vol. 2. So I watched ESofSM, and I loved it! Mr. Blue Sky isn't in it at all, but the movie was great all the same. Anyway I'm procrastinating to avoid finishing my coursework, which is due in a little over 3 hours!! Arrhhh!! Oh well better get back to work! It should be obvious what I'm listening to ^_^

Pub Quiz

Friends - Fun - Games Last night we went down to the local pub, The Crown, for dinner and a couple of pints. While we were there we got caught up in the Sunday night pub quiz! Now the English pub quiz is a very competitive game, and some of the old blokes in the pub didn't take kindly to us yelling out the answers when we thought we knew them, or with the "comedy" answers we wrote on our answer sheet when we didn't know. We didn't win in the end, but that's ok, we had a great time, and it was a good start to the week. Currently listening to Mr. Blue Sky by ELO.

Information Rules

Books - University The set text for my Digital Economy module is called Information Rules - A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy written by Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian, and published by the Harvard Business School Press. Tenenbaum, a man whose textbooks I consider among the best I've ever used, describes this book as follows: "Full of powerful tools for strategic decision making, Information Rules is a valuable source for students, researchers, managers, and legislators." That's written on the second page of the book, and if Tenenbaum thinks it is a good book, I know it's going to be a good book. The Digital Economy module has been extremely interesting. Firstly it's an economic module, and I've only done a couple of economic subjects back at UQ (microeconomics and the like), so I'm being introduced to concepts I've considered before, or which have been touched on briefly by other business subjects, but which I've never studied in-depth. Secondly it's just plain interesting, learning about positive network externalities in digital industries, and issues surrounding versioning and lock-in. Studying standards wars and rights management and looking at information policy. It's all really great stuff, and reading it all I think it very much supports the statement that Shapiro and Varian make at the beginning of the book, that is: Technology changes. Economic laws do not. I plan to be a part of the digital economy, so I'm glad that I now have a much better idea of how it actually works. There are economic reasons why Microsoft gets bigger while other companies get smaller, why Sony and Phillips agreed on the CD standard, but why the phone companies still won’t standardise their networks, why different versions of products are priced differently and why versions exist at all. Things make sense now, which is always one of the best things you can get out of learning in my opinion.