Lazy sunday afternoon

This has been one lazy Sunday afternoon. Freyja went to town with Antigoni and some other Greek girl, went shopping and having coffee and just having fun. While I sit here doing the ICS Newsletter that will be out on Tuesday. I had to order the book for my essay from Amazon to get it in time so I can finish my essay next Friday. The book is called Perpetual Contact, and is about mobile communications. My bright point of today was Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure. Still not as good as B&T Bogus Journey. Just gonna finish the newsletter and see how fast I can do it. I predict an hour. Wow...sad...writing just to write something. Perhaps I should get a beer. Or coffee. I dont know, I need help people...what do I need...?

Missed :(

Wayne Rooney broke his foot and is out of the world cup. Damn you Chelsea. Then I missed the Keiser Chiefs concert at the Millenium Square in Leeds. Sold out months ago. But I still wanted to see them, and was planing to go and listen somewhere outside the square, but Freyja has sore feet, after I bought her new shoes that gave her blisters. She started to use them barefooted, and that only leads to blisters. Very nice blue polka dot shows with white dots. Then I was tired also and fell asleep over Navy NCIS. Crap.. didnt even find the book I NEED from the library...I have to order it from Amazon to get it.

First day of school

The first day of school was yesterday, I did my presentation...see the blog before this one. And the Professor Taylor had his final lecture. I was so glad there isnt another one, because I am going to a Eric Clapton concert the same day the other lecture would have been.

Then some brilliant student suggested we go to the pub with Taylor, and he agreed. So we sat and had a few beers and chatted. Nice to out after being sick for 3 weeks.

I hope to finish my second essay for my core module on sunday. I am busy doing the newsletter. When I had to do the graphic design layout also, that did complicate things, I only hope people will like it. If not, well.....their problem :) Last time I saw Clapton was at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1996 on a famous week journey with my freinds. Damn there was alot of beer in those hotel rooms.

Maybe I should tell my story, or our story Gunnar :) when an American paranoid lawyer accued us of sending bomb threats....to the Cumberland Hotel. I want a permission from you Gunnar before I do this en english :) How this is connected to Eric Clapton is another, but connected story... :) give me a few beers and I will tell....So prey I wont start blogging drunk. Damn that reminds me, I have a case of beer since Christmas and I have had about 3 beers from it. My drinking form is bad.

Finished a presentation

There will be some serious ranting going on here, and anyone a doing a Masters should read this.

I just did my presentation for Communication Revolution course. This group project was rather strange, because I was the only one in the group that did anything. I e-mailed my group on a monday, 8 days before the presentation was supposed to be. I asked them to submit some material I could use for OUR presentation. I have been a part of 3 other presentations by this group.

The first one was almost average, but it was only supposed to be 10 minutes, and it was closer to 20. I did my work on time, came prepared for the group meeting and everything. I was sadly the only one who did. And their idea of a group project was to sit for 3 hours and stare, and give me the blank gaze of non understanding. I was even trying to talk to those people and they drifted away, without replying or contibuting anything. I felt like I was back in pre school, where I used to teach. Kindergarden. If you are telling an autistic 4 year old who has no sense of cause and effect, not to do something, because he might get hurt. Well it was the same look og not understanding and "not giving a rats arse" about what they where doing. The group meeting was spent trying to do a powerpoint slideshow for a presentation nobody had researched, except me. It simply doesn't work. In the end, about half of the material in the presentation was my contribution to the group.

The second presentation was worse. I was an hour late because my electircity went nuts, and I had to call an electrician and could not make it to the meeting on time. Well after an hour, when I got there, they had not done anything. Not a single word had been spoken. Then they decided that this was enough and went their seprate ways. I emailed the group leader for that presentation my work, and after it had been in her mailbox for 5 days, she didn't use it. The presentation was total bullshit, about journalistic ethics and something like that. It didnt answer the question, it didnt even get close to the topic. I just sat there baffled, and looked ebit pissed off and more surprised because my material was devistatingly good arguments for out topic. The discussion was like a bad horror movie, mildly amusing, and a total waiste of time. People go to a horror movie and suddently figure out that it is so bad, it is actually funny. Then I managed to look Allison our teacher in the eye and demand to speak. I said about 4 sentences and managed to destroy the other group arguments wiht that. Then I asked the group leader, an african girl who never has the same hairdo from week to week, why she didnt use my material. The answer was simple, I didnt get it soon enought, I only checked my email an hour ago. She was expecting me to send it the same day I did sent it. Moron.

The third presentation was ok, specially since it was 90% mine. After a meeting, where both the Chinise girls showed up, and the hairdo african girl also, just before she simply stood up and said, I gots to go. And off she went, and I just sat and stared. The Chinise girls didnt know anything about the subject, and I had not read anything for this, but I knew lots about it from my studies here and my old degree, history. They sat and tryed the powerpoint trick again. Until I started to write an outline, a list of arguments to answer our seminar question for that presentation. The stopped and asked what I was doing, and I handed them the papar that I had been about a minute to write. That was the basis for the presentation. Then I typed up some material home and sent the group leader, a Chinise girl who shows up to meetings, and seems to at least to try sometimes. And finally, the presentation was mostly mine. Just before the lecture started the week before the seminar, I asked the other two african girls, who are both older than me, why they didnt show up to the meeting, but where just hanging around the library, because I saw them there just after the meeting ended. They said....get this.. "There were other people there to do the work". shit fucking hell....to quote Penn Jillette. I was so surprised, because I thought that freeriders like this only existed among undergraduate students who think more about drinking than studying. Is it fair that I do all the work for them? And the funny thing is that back in Africa, they have jobs, both as PR managers for the government and the other one for an NGO that works wiht the government. A PR person who misses meetings and is unable to do anything. No wonder the state of some nations there is bad. Call me prejudice, but I am pissed off just thinking about this. I am an easy going guy, I tend to think that this kind of attitude is the handycap of the person who has it, but it is frustrating at this level to have people getting away with freeriding, and having no ambition to a good job, leave that, to do anything. Expecting others to work for them. Takes the piss. Quoting Penn Jillette again... shit fucking hell. Bullshit.

Then the fourth presentation where I was the group leader. I did my presentation, and I even had a bet with Freyja, my girlfriend...she said that I would get one reply, and I said no reply, and I won. The class was funny, only the Chinise girl who sometimes does try showed up, and said she was sorry, she thought it was the next Tuesday after. But she still showed up for the seminar :) And Allison teacher said that she really appreciated me doing this by myself. I even got a nice ovation from the class after the presentation. And I defended my case against the opposing group alone also. Just like I did last time, where I defended our groups position alone, and even Allison joined the other group to be against me. After that class my ego was high, I did well then.

Finished an essay

I just handed in my essay today. I was ill and couldn't work much then. So I had to do double time, and when there is no time because of a deadline one has to listen to the Emperor in Star Wars....when he sent Darth Vader to kill everyone... he said... and I took that to heart... Do what must be done, and I did. And then I ran 20 red lights in his honor. I stayed up all night, and wrote and rewrote.

So the last time I slept was on the night between saturday and sunday, now it is monday, technically tuesday coz its after midnight. I am tired now. Freyja did an all nighter also.

Then me and Freyja went to Borders, our favourite book store here in Leeds, and I bumped into Gudni Elisson there, with his wife and baby. This is the second time I bump into him. First it was on a traffic island in front of the Parkinson steps at Uni. It was a little funny, because I just read an email from him today, and about 1,5 hours later I meet him. Very Icelandic to meet other Icelanders somewhere where they shouldn't be. We will meet up wiht Gudni soon and go to the pub or coffee house or something. I will write to him tomorrow.

I miss golf....I am getting the shakes...and have the feeling that heroin addicts feel the same way, but I have golf withdrawal syndrome.

I was listening to the Best of the Bee Gees, and wow what a band. The songs are awsome. I sat and listened for almost two hours doing nothing but focusing on listening. Great stuff.

Hunter S. Thompson

...just saved my life. I found a great interview with him where he describes the US media in the 9-11 aftermath... great stuff for my essay. The link is here. Journalist describing other journalists and porteying most of them as cowards.

Bistro place

Yesterday we went to this cool bistro place up in Chapel Allerton and we had pasta and burger. Carling beer of course. Today we watched Desperate housewifes, 24 and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Between this we did some studying. My essay is forming in my head. I will read tomorrow also and then write on thursday and friday.

I sent an email to my study group, and I hope I get any response from them. Deadline for them to hand in material is friday. If nothing gets to me by then, I have no choice but to do the presentation on my own. If I dont get very good response from them I will ask the persons who did not contribute to leave the class room when I have my presentation. I hate freeriders. So far they have proved themselves as first class freeriders. Think about this....three of the girls did not show up for a Group meeting, and when asked why thy did not show up and who would do the work, they said....there where other people there, and calmly walked away. Is it just me or is something wrong with their work ethincs.

Ahhh to hell with it..

I am going to the pub. I need to get out of the house. One pint of Carling extra cold....

Pressure rising.

I am beginning to feel the pressure of deadlines closing in around me. I did not study for 3 weeks, and I know a doctors note can help, but not sure how. Maybe a deadline can be moved, but I am not sure how that will help me. I only have about a month to do my MA dissertation, until I hand in a final draft. That sucks, but I will pull it off. I will tell you about the betrayal later... I was betrayed by someone at the Office. The innocent writings about my boss last year.....I am to pissed off to write about it now, so the story will have to wait. Haukur knows it....

Yoda has spoken

After reading the words of wisdom from Yoda I decided to shape up and do something. Yoda by the way wrote in last posts, comments. My life has been colored brown by my illness :) I have not been able to study or go out or anything. Boring stuff. I got some antibiotics from the medicine man. Now all i can do is trust the force to work.

Stength flows from the force Yoda once said, and I am beginning to feel it. I started studying again today, although I didnt do much but it is a start. I am doing an essay on the media as nautral observers in global conflict as the media spokesmen say, or if they are in fact active participants and central to the war propoganda machine between the governments and the public. What do you think? Are the media nautral or are they taking part in conflict, for example the war on terror, or "the long war" as Dubbja Bush calls it.

I can feel the brain starting to work again, and then I have to think about Dubbja and his antics in Iran. Bush is not a Blues Brother. He is not on a mission from god, even though he likes to think so. It must be good to feel divine. I think that if I start to belive in Neo-Conservatism and do it devotedly I might get this feeling. Like a Morgan Spurlock experiment.

No spring

Sorry I was wrong. There is no spring, and never will be. Now I understand this English way of complaining about the weather. It sucks. Wintery showers. Hail and rain and snow and the temprature aroun 5 degrees... weird stuff. Annyhooo I just managed to get a food poisoning by eating a fucking chicking sandwich at fucking Burger Fuck-King in Manchester.

That ment I missed a Manchester United game I had tickets to. And my neigbours, a massive Man-Utd fans didnt understand me when I was offering them to buy the tickets. Fucking morons. I was doing them a favour. And they never take the trash bins out. It is beginning to look like Gufunes outside. But Freyja went down and told them in a bossy voice wiht her apron on and hands on her hips that this was not good enough.

They are from N-Vietnam have discustingly rich parents who are in the "party" and send them to a proper British "stiff upper lip" catholic school, and all I understand is this when they speak.....gweehaweshdt.. sesstskgi...wireless...and god bless you. This means that the wireless router is down. Fuck that.

I am getting better now I hope... Instead of frequent trips to the toilet in order not to soil myself I can now fart... And I love it. I am starting be like the Farting Preacher. Google him.

And piss off and fuck off.

....and ps. I am not in a bad mood. Just angry because. I think this anger lead to the dark side. And i am having withdrawl symptoms from not playing golf. I am thinking about my swing all the time now. If anger leads to the dark side, will I turn into a black (dark) golf player? And will that make me a better player because Tiger Woods is black, so he must be a dark side man.???