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Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey

You might be wondering what the deal is about the title for this post, well even if you weren’t I will tell you anyway. Pabbi has just been diagnosed with the D word aka Diabetes Type II. Currently his blood sugar levels are in a bad way – high 20’s, low 30’s – the normal level is between 4 and 6. Hopefully though as his medicine and diet changes kick in, it will improve.

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The internet is well the internet.
This blog (I really hate that word but let us keep on moving) has reconnected my family to at least three people so far and I think that is pretty cool.
We have hooked back up with Neele who was our first German exchange student in 2001.
My older brother has hooked back up with one of his mates from around the time Matthew was born in 87.
And just the other day I received an email for Mum from a Kiwi lady who knew Mum from the fish factory she worked in Iceland many, many years ago.

All through the power of Google!

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We spent the most delightful time this morning on the phone to Karl, whilst he was wandering round the streets of Berlin at 1am in the morning, killing time between his flights as he heads to Munich/ München for Oktoberfest. Mum started telling Karl about the time she had spent in Berlin and the bullet holes in the buildings, when he asked where they were and Mum of course couldn’t remember. I quickly hopped on Flickr and Google to see what I could find. I found a couple of streets and then by the time I was back on the phone with Karl, he had actually started to walk down one of the streets I had found on the net. Then as we talked, as he walked and looked for bullet holes, he found what he thought could be bullet holes, well more to the point, there was little else they could be – lots of dimples on old stone buildings, which matched with what I saw in photos. The wonders of technology!

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I also just watched the season three opener of Veronica Mars which MSN is showing before it starts on TV in the states next week . Bonus! Play the episode in Windows Media

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I am also in the midst of finishing an essay on the Japanese camera industry and I have to say not only is this essay coming out faster than any other, it certainly rocks writing about something I really enjoy and have a decent knowledge on already. I certainly never thought at the start of this degree that I would be writing an essay on Canon, Nikon, Sony and the like. Certainly pretty cool.

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heart attack

I gave Pabbi and myself a heart attack this morning when I looked at the results for an exam I had the other week.

I had looked at the table that was posted on the subject website early this morning and saw that I had gotten 8.6/20. I didn’t cry but I was distraught, how could I have gone so terribly wrong? Had I mixed up the letters for the multi choice? Were my two mini essays utter rubbish?

When I got to class the first thing he did was hand back the exam papers, I had a glance at the cover of mine to check my result and it said 15.8 not 8.6 like I was expecting. I flicked through the exam booklet checking the comments, they all correlated with the 15.8. All I could think was that he must have mistyped a result on the webpage.

I left class feeling extremely relieved about my mark.

When I got home a short while ago I went back to the website to double check what was posted and I noticed something very weird. I looked to see what the student number was for the person who received 15.8 and it was mine. I then looked to see what the student number was for the person who received 8.6 and saw that it contained the same seven numbers but two had their position switched! In my rush this morning to see what my mark was I had had a quick glance over the list and seemingly thought I had looked at the right result.

Moral of the Story: Even if there is only nineteen people in the subject still use the find button and type in your student number like you normally do in subjects with a hundred people!

When I looked at the mark sheet properly I also saw that I had topped the class with my 15.8/20! To say I was relieved was an understatement.

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I cried

Nearing the end of four years at uni, yesterday I came home and cried for the first time about events that had happened at uni.

I didn’t cry because someone had said something mean to me or a friend.
I didn’t cry because I had fallen over or stubbed my toe.
I didn’t cry because someone had died.
Instead …
I cried for the students and teachers who will say that we are above the general public in our understanding of a topic but then we put ourselves below then them when we display our ignorance about a topic.
I cried for the people who use Arab and Muslim interchangeably.
I cried for the people who will talk about the Middle East but display no idea about the diversity that exists there or the history of the region.
I cried for the people who see a bias in media that is not Western but don’t see a bias in our media or don’t see anything wrong with our bias.
I cried for the future of the world and for humanity.

I know I am not perfect, I know I don’t know everything, I know I am not the most eloquent but I will be the first to say I don’t know enough about a topic to comment fully on it.

I was able to say a few things at the start of class before it turned but after that I sat there shell shocked about what was been said or perhaps more about what was not been said.
It was a very quiet class compared to our usual class discussion and I was glad that there were two people who were trying to voice views that are similar to mine but saddened that what they tried to add seemed to be largely ignored.

Every so often I will hear things in public life that may be factually wrong and you make a comment and try to move on but hearing those things in a university context just makes you cry and realise that the future of humanity is perhaps more shaky than I like to think.

Man In Black
Johhny Cash (1971)

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there’s a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he’s a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you’d think He’s talking straight to you and me.

Well, we’re doin’ mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin’ cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we’re reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought ‘a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin’ for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen’ that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen’ that we all were on their side.

Well, there’s things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin’ everywhere you go,
But ’til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You’ll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything’s OK,

But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
‘Till things are brighter, I’m the Man In Black

Now for some lighter notes.
Carlton has just released their new Carlton Draught ad for the year following on the success of the Big Ad. This year the ad spoofs off that memorable dancing scene from Flashdance. It is not up on youtube yet so just go to the Flash Beer website to view it.

I have had the most delightful birthday week. Matthew gave me Bride and Prejudice on DVD (Bride, not Pride!) and then one of my dearest friends at uni gave me a Corban & Blair notebook as well as piece of cake! The cake was not just any ordinary cake but Date and Pecan in a Polenta Ricotta cake! Total yumness!

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First Exam

I had my first exam for the semester today and I already know I won’t be getting higher than 19.5/20 🙁

The exam was for a subject on Japan and the International Economy and in the multiple choice section I mixed the Nenko system (pay and promotion based on seniority) up with ShuntÅ? (annual pay negotiations). Grrr I thought I should have a quick check before the exam but I decided I knew the rest so I would be fine.

Now I just need to get kicking on an essay I have due next week on that oh so lovely and oh so contentious terrorism, or as I write it in my notes Tism or even just plain old capital T which represents the various forms of the word depending on the context.

That is my life. Japan’s Economy, Comparative Politics of South East Asia (SEA), Politics of International Law and Terrorism. Oh isn’t it all so lovely.

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This is Uni.

Today marks the end of week 3 at uni. 10 weeks left of teaching and 8 pieces of assessment to be completed by then. I spent time in the library last night after my class finished whilst I was waiting for Matthew to finish so we could drive home together, picking out books to start preparing for my first essay.

all day

This is a photo that I took at uni yesterday as I walked up out of the free all day parking section towards the bush path leading up to uni. Just before the uni land starts but on the road that only goes to Uni there is a section of probably 40 or 50 free all day car parking spaces which are highly sought after. I have driven to uni both times I have gone this week as I have been recovering from a nasty flu that knocked me for dead on Monday. Both times I have driven I have been lucky to get one of these parks instead of needing to drive round to the free parking that is located further away from uni. Because, we all know that free parking is much nicer than paying $5 for a day pass.

The map below shows where my uni is located, smack bang in Toohey Forest. I quite enjoy going to a uni that was built round the forest and from many rooms, if you look out the windows all you will see is trees as between most of the buildings there are patches of bush. When it has rained (what is rain?) or when the wind is blowing right, you can stand still and breathe in the air that is perfumed with the scents of the various Eucalyptus and Acacia that grow round the place.

The best thing is that since uni is right beside the SE freeway it only takes 8 minutes or so to drive there from the city (15mins during peak time). Then from the city to home is about 15-20mins (25-30 mins during peak time). If I catch the bus though it is 1hr 20mins to uni and 1hr from uni because the bus timetables don’t always work in your favour. I quite enjoy getting the buses to uni but it is so handy to be able to drive when you are going to the library with a big stack of books or are only going to uni for an hour or two.

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Walk This Way

Yesterday marked the start of the 2nd week back at uni for me and I am getting used to new lecturers, doing my readings, going over notes and starting to plan my assesment pieces. I am a bit ticked off with one of my classes as the lecturer said at the first lecture last week, that he should have the reading brick put together in the next couple of weeks! Dude, based on the fact that reading bricks are designed to have the readings that accompany each weeks lecture, they should be ready for week 1, week 2 at the latest. grr.

These are three things that I am loving at the moment.

Strawberries. Fresh, sweet and flavoursome Queensland Strawberries. Strawberry season also means that the Ekka is fast approaching and that means strawberry sundaes and fireworks.

Hayseed Dixie. I am a big fan of the cover version and these guys with their “rockgrass” versions of classic rock songs produce some of the best covers I have heard in a while.

The Mountain Goats. Well I have loved these two guys for over a year now and in a mere 20 days their new album Get Lonely is released. I can’t wait to hear the other songs after listening to Wild Sage on NPR’s All Songs Considered.

And this is one thing that makes me so incredibly happy.
West Papuan David Wainggai is finally set to receive a TPV (Temporary Protection Visa) after the Refugee Review Tribunal overturned the original Department of Immigration ruling that granted visa’s to the 42 other West Papuan’s who landed on Cape York in January. I can’t describe how happy I was when I first heard it on the news and later read it in the paper. Justice Comes Ashore. Govt weighs appeal against Papuan visa decision.

After I had done my school work yesterday I sat down and had a little play.

I cook. hello world!