Friday Night's Alright for Quizzing
On Friday there was a charity pub quiz on behalf of Fair Trade Fortnight. Let's just say our team won and leave it at that. However, after the triumphant distribution of chocolate, things went a little wrong. More drinking occurred. Darts was played.
We moved on, in classic SOAS style, to a hotel bar that was open late. Luckily, some people from the British Council were actually staying there, so we could drink legitimately. At approximately 1 a.m. I texted Paul to mention that there was a Chinese-American girl who closely resembled a Chinese-American girl of our mutual acquaintance. Both these individuals are, as the saying goes, so hot you could fry eggs on them.
I received the following (and I quote) in reply: "Do it do it:*.dual"
Some of you may be wondering what the 'dual' means. What it means is that Paul has a new phone, and he hasn't programmed the word 'fuck' into it yet.
As for whatever the 'do it' meant, I was in far too advanced a state of inebriation to manage anything other than polite conversation. Though I may have mocked Manchester.
Tuesday, March 9
Unnerving
Someone just phoned up from outside the offices (from a photo research company, in fact) and asked to speak to me specifically. That's never happened before.
Creepy.
Also, Stephen has posted something new to Not All Of what Follows Is True.
Someone just phoned up from outside the offices (from a photo research company, in fact) and asked to speak to me specifically. That's never happened before.
Creepy.
Also, Stephen has posted something new to Not All Of what Follows Is True.
Saturday, March 6
Wednesday, March 3
It's Nearly Three O'Clock
What are the chances of me doing any actual work before now and the end of the day? Pretty slim, I'd say. Still, there's always WFRP to look forward to tonight.
I get a feeling WFRP may end soon, at which point I'm thinking I may push for UA and/or the dreaded Shanghai Playtest.
What are the chances of me doing any actual work before now and the end of the day? Pretty slim, I'd say. Still, there's always WFRP to look forward to tonight.
I get a feeling WFRP may end soon, at which point I'm thinking I may push for UA and/or the dreaded Shanghai Playtest.
This Is Me Breathing
In a moment of idleness, I took the "Are you living in a Ken Loach film?" quiz at guardian.co.uk, and this was my result:
"Not quite. While your life bears some vague similarities to a Ken Loach production, it's altogether too noisy, extrovert, posturing and (dare we say it) American to qualify for the kitchen-sink treatment. Instead, your biopic will be directed by some New York indie director and set primarily in Brooklyn. Those currently auditioning to play you include Ben Stiller, John Cusack, Chloe Sevigny and Christine Keener."
John Cusack? Result!
In a moment of idleness, I took the "Are you living in a Ken Loach film?" quiz at guardian.co.uk, and this was my result:
"Not quite. While your life bears some vague similarities to a Ken Loach production, it's altogether too noisy, extrovert, posturing and (dare we say it) American to qualify for the kitchen-sink treatment. Instead, your biopic will be directed by some New York indie director and set primarily in Brooklyn. Those currently auditioning to play you include Ben Stiller, John Cusack, Chloe Sevigny and Christine Keener."
John Cusack? Result!
Tuesday, March 2
Monday, March 1
Clown Convention
I started reading JENNIFER GOVERNMENT by Max Barry this morning. And I thought that was making me cynical. Then I got to work.
Reading the Australian government's Higher Education Support Act was, frankly, depressing. Largely because it proved that what some of the Aussie universities have been getting up to is utterly, hideously legal.
So what's the deal? Good question. Glad you asked. What happens is this: there's no upper limit on the fees that can be charged to full fee-paying students (as opposed to gvernment-supported students on the Higher Education Contributory Scheme (HECS)). Universities are now also allowed to charge up to 50% of enrolments in a given class full fees (as opposed to 25% before). So, they whack the full fees up as high as the market will stand -- you're looking at around AUS$15,000 a year -- and fill up half of the student numbers at that rate by offering significantly lower grade requirement to full tuition payers than for government-supported students. If you're unlucky enough to be rich but still getting lower marks than that clever poor kid you never let hang around with you at school, you can just buy your place at university.
But that's okay, right? Because the only reason anyone ever goes to university is so that they can earn more from their job once they graduate. Right? Right?
I started reading JENNIFER GOVERNMENT by Max Barry this morning. And I thought that was making me cynical. Then I got to work.
Reading the Australian government's Higher Education Support Act was, frankly, depressing. Largely because it proved that what some of the Aussie universities have been getting up to is utterly, hideously legal.
So what's the deal? Good question. Glad you asked. What happens is this: there's no upper limit on the fees that can be charged to full fee-paying students (as opposed to gvernment-supported students on the Higher Education Contributory Scheme (HECS)). Universities are now also allowed to charge up to 50% of enrolments in a given class full fees (as opposed to 25% before). So, they whack the full fees up as high as the market will stand -- you're looking at around AUS$15,000 a year -- and fill up half of the student numbers at that rate by offering significantly lower grade requirement to full tuition payers than for government-supported students. If you're unlucky enough to be rich but still getting lower marks than that clever poor kid you never let hang around with you at school, you can just buy your place at university.
But that's okay, right? Because the only reason anyone ever goes to university is so that they can earn more from their job once they graduate. Right? Right?
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