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Tuesday is not the most productive of days

Byrichard

One of the best nights to go out on at the moment is Monday night because that’s the night when most friends are out in the same place. Last night I was at the student yet again and I took 73 pictures of which one I’m afraid I’d prefer never to look at.

Some of those pictures are really amusing and the expressions are great. I’m going to keep those private, simply for my friends to view. They’re on my phone, Facebook, and my iPod. They’re a collection of memories for when university is finished and that what remains are memories.

What made last night interesting as:

1) lollipops, two girls I know had a lollipop fight, a sticky affair

2)Many photographs of friends

3) Many conversations

4) the cold

Of course, the night had started differently. It started when I went to watch some friends act in the show Howard Katz. A friend was in the play from the first to last scene, that’s 110 pages. There were some great moments and the principal actor has great stage presence and projects his voice well.

I enjoyed the play because I allowed myself to be transported into the moment. It’s a shame that it’s the last play I go to, produced by this university.

To First Year Students

Byrichard

I urgently recommend that you challenge the election results in relation to Salima. She won by only 25 votes and there are a few people saying that they would have voted differently had they known what the fliers contained before they voted.

The fact that someone failed their first year, only to become SU president six years later is utterly unnaceptable. You’re students and you’re working hard in order to build up knowledge and prestige for the course you are studying. If yor SU president failed their first year then what right do they have to represent “students” ?

I’ve worked hard, Martin has worked hard, Phil has worked hard. They’re good people on the campus with the most activities, the student radio and more

If Martin missed out by 25 votes then this, in my eyes, is too close and a recount and re-vote should be requested.

It is not healthy that within certain circles there are allegations of corruption whilst the SU president never bothered to comment.

The SU president is an elected offical and as such is responsible to the student body. The fact that she never bothered to answer WNOL, Smoke or Sarah Lefley, a collegue, in relation to this topic is utterly unacceptable and an investigation should be carried out.

I can’t accept that a failue should be elected two years in a row to the highest rank of our SU by only 25 voices in such mitigated circumstances.

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Before waking up

Byrichard

Before waking up I found myself catching a plane to an airport before catching a small private plane to somewhere in the mountains where I went skiing. I was going home but for some reason I was late.

I was telling myself that I had to get back to one place to get my luggage before going home before realising that I didn’t. I decided to rush for the plane, dropped by my room, and threw a cursive look before running back to the small private plane, asking whether I was on the first flight before the plane took off.

For some reason, it had to taxi along some mountain roads and almost hit some bowling balls on the tarmac. Quite a confusing dream to have had.

I usually have strange dreams as summer starts trying to get in through the curtains. It’ss the fourth or fifth day of sunshine in sunny London.

Another day of sitting in the sun whilst waiting for night to fall to continue working on the dissertation.

Last night I spent at least an hour going through some of my notes. Highlighting relevant bits and thinking about how to structure the introduction.  Now it’s another 15 days of such effort or more.

The deadline is still over a month away but it’s better to do as much as possible now to relax afterward… or at least not panic.

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An ode to lost votes

Byrichard

One girl lost my vote a year ago when not turning up to a live interview she was meant to attend, deciding an hour before to cancel

Another lost my vote for not having the strength of character to campaign for herself through a medium like facebook or Myspace.

One lost my vote for her slogan, which I do not appreciate.

Which people are we talking about? We’re all equal. Some have the luxury of misbehaving around uni before going home to their parents to recuperate. Others don’t.

I will vote for those individuals I know. I will those whom I have seen work as a team and those whose friends I know. I will vote for those whom have attempted to make themselves visible or known to me whether in person or online by their own steam.

In retrospect the campaign has been surprisingly dissapointing. Where’s the student newspaper with the candidate’s applications. Where were the flyers for the people running. Where’s the presence of the UWSU elections anywhere within smoke media.

You’ve got voting starting yet do we know any of the candidates outside our circle of influence and friends?

Snowcrash And a Silent Rave

Byrichard

I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts rather than radio and one of the weekly podcasts I enjoy most is This Week in Media, where some people discuss what’s going on in the media landscape, from how they will only sit in five or six seats out of the cinema, how they’re early adopters and how they’d love to have cameras capable of 1080p

The reason I mention this podcast is that recently they mentioned a trilogy of books of which snow crash is the first. Two or three weeks earlier they had mentioned how people should go and watch Blood Diamond and as I enjoyed the film I decided to read the first of the three books.

So far I’m enjoying it and it’s keeping me entertained.

Some UCL students decided to put on a silent rave tonight but as I went through the list of people I saw that it was almost only students from that uni which was slightly disappointing. I went there and although the idea is amusing it seemed to lack the energy from the silent disco I had been too a few weeks ago.

Within four or five minutes security was already asking them to leave.

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All that is left from three years is one essay and one dissertation

Byrichard

Yesterday I handed in my penultimate essay.

There are two main assignments remaining. the first of these is a tech case study which should be fun to do. I already have an idea of a topic that I know fairly well. with the second it’s the dissertation and I should really spend a few hours progressing with that.

I had one of those classic nights on Saturday. You begin with the idea that you’re simply going to drop into the cinema and watch a film before going home and watching the lunar eclipse from the relatively low light pollution of the area around the halls.

This plan disintegrated as a friend encouraged me to stay out and go out clubbing instead. I knew I had the penultimate essay to finish. Most people hate the night bus because it’s so full of weird people, some are just drunk, others are in worse states and finally some are amusing.

On occasion you’ll enter the bus and a girl will offer you some crisps and you won’t say know, to which someone next to you asks whether you’re really going to accept them. Later on you understand that it’s the brother joking around.

In other cases you’ll find that it’s like a plane cabin. If you’ve ever flown easyjet and got up to go to the front of the cabin you’ll know the sight. it’s that of two hundred people having a nap. It’s a soothing sight to see so many relaxed people.

Occasionaly some people get cold so you lend them their jacket and you walk them home before rushing home to finish your essay rather than taking the time to get to know more about them.

There are a lot of people that hate the stop at Sudbury but having lived there last year I know a little secret. That there’s a 24 hour shop where you can buy jaffa cakes and lipton ice tea for the second part of the journey.

What I enjoyed most about saturday was the people I met on the bus journey home.

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Delegation and working to deadlines

Byrichard

I love working on my own projects, where I rely on no one but myself but occasionally I’m lucky enough to have no choice but to work with other people. It’s at these moments that I learn more. I learn about team scheduling and teamwork. I also learn about delegation.

I’m not that good at it yet but I’m learning. Anyone working as a producer or director needs to learn that job and some are better than others. The recent myspace and Magician audition projects I worked on saw some good producers in charge. As a result, the project was good.

Recently I’ve had to be a co-producer with someone else and I was asked what jobs still had to be done and I had to think about it before I could delegate the responsibility. I finally found some methods of delegating responsibility, therefore, I’ll have more material to choose from when it comes to editing.

The project has to be finished by Monday because Tuesday I’ll be back in London with a three thousand word essay on technological determinism to hand in. On the Monday following that I have a presentation on digital content. I’ve been thinking about that concept and I think I’ll be able to produce a good product.

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It’s been a twelve hour day of editing

Byrichard

I’ve spent around twelve hours editing today and it’s finally getting to resemble something, as I’d like it to be. It’s involved two days of video capture of a variety of material from a number of events around Europe in particular. It’s starting to be a good edit.

Any creative person will tell you that the hardest part of the work is not the work itself but finding the inspiration and finding how to tell the story the most efficiently. If I understood the brief correctly then the edit I’ve done should be well accepted. I should find out by tomorrow morning normally.

I love the editing phase because it’s one of the more creative phases. You’ve got all the material and it’s a matter of sifting through it, finding the best and then applying it to the finished product.

If I get good feedback then I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

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Waking up to heavy metal

Byrichard

There is nothing more aggressive or stressful than being woken up by heavy metal. There is nothing but some idiot yelling into a microphone and other idiots calling it music. It’s not music so much as noise to me. I’d prefer to be woken to the sound of seagulls or the waves than music created by the disenfranchised youth of a bygone era.

In halls causes for being pulled from your sleep are numerous. On many occasions it’s people yelling from outside to windows, cleaning staff talking loud to each other, girls talking about subjects that would later embarrass them (hilarious though), and the clanking sound of kitchen utensils. There’s the sound of cupboards being opened and closed, of fire alarms, demolition, grating barriers and more.

I can’t think of anymore but those are a great method by which to make me appreciate the countryside all that much more. Nothing but the sweet sound of birds and wind in the branches, storm clouds, and more. Any noise that is not the result of some selfish person I do not mind.

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The aftermath of a night’s activities

Byrichard

In continental Europe there are a lot of people who go out and enjoy a glass or two over dinner and have a long conversation about a great variety of topics which they enjoy. In other parts of the world, for example, England you’ll find that the volume of night clubs has deafened the night revelers to go home speaking far louder than would otherwise be socially acceptable.

England is an extremely generous country in terms of educational subsidisation. Whereas the English only pay £1200 pounds per year for their tuition fees in America it’s up to 30,000 dollars a year. What this means is that the English student is rich. If I work one month in Switzerland and save that money I could pay the tuition fee. If I work for three or four I could live for half a year in rented accommodation.

This would lead you to believe that going out for a meal and living in relative luxury would be an integral part of student life in England but this is not so. A lot of time and energy is spent on encouraging people to spend money and time on drinking. If you’re a student in England how many times have you been invited out to dinner. How many times have people suggested social activities other than drinking to you? Tomorrow you’ll find that a large portion of those living in halls will be hungover from the amount they spent at the bar. I’ve heard a rumour that in some uni bars they can make up several grand in one night. If that’s true then it’s really depressing.

It’s depressing because if that’s what they make in one night then what money is left for more enjoyable pursuits are left for the rest of the week? Will some people go to the cinema or go out to dinner? How many of these students spend a week a month broke with hardly anything left for food because of their single night of excessive drinking?

It’s a serious problem in the whole of England and it should be addressed. Doing it once every few weeks is fine, and for special occasions. Doing it every week is counterproductive. Are universities not pushing students enough and that’s why they’re so willing to drink to excess?

What if they had to wake at 6 am and be in lectures by 8 am and out by 6 pm to do some research till 10 pm and sleep 6hrs?

In summary, I don’t care what people do in their free time as long as they don’t keep me up in their inebriated state.