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Year View| Summary| Highlights| August 2005 (Month View)
Apr ‘05 | May ‘05 | Jun ‘05 | Jul ‘05 | Aug ‘05 Sep ‘05 | Oct ‘05 | Nov ‘05 | Dec ‘05 |
01.08.2005 – Monday 1 August – Typical Monday
- Morning
- • What a disaster... Just after I arrive at uni I get an email (and I paraphrase): “Ned, can you go to a tutorial starting in 10 minutes, which is an entire lab full of first year students, almost all of who are going to have problems because the helpdesk is stupid and hasn’t updated the access database or some other obscure problem”, to which I reply “sure, sounds fun, just what I need on a Monday when I’ve got heaps of project stuff to do”.
So here I am in a lab full of first years. I’ve logged half of them on as my account, which is a clear violation of university access rules. I’ve had the IT staff down here, but there’s nothing they can do right now... and this is a compulsory tutorial... It’s just great, just fantastic. To top it off, Soon has asked me to turn up for all the other tutes this week too, to sort out similar problems, so there goes my free time, which I was, of course, counting on to get other important things done.
Not only that, but I’ve had to skip a lecture and am now going to skip a compulsory tute as well – I can hopefully make up for it by going to a really late one on Wednesday, although I’m not signed up for it. - Evening
- • I go to McDonalds with Maz. Then I look for houses. Then Ville with Tim. Then meet Johnson and try to do CSSE3004 with little success.
- Night
- • Met Bronwen in city around seven to discuss moving out and so on. Went back to her place, looked at places on her laptop.
02.08.2005 – Tuesday 2 August – Layer Cake
- Day
- • Tutoring again today, two tutors (including me, although I’m really just there for backup until next week) and two help staff, and the two library staff. This proves to be an overreaction – nothing goes wrong.
- Night
- • I meet Bronwen in the city and we bus to Indooroopilly, where we meet Clus and walk to Cold Rock for my daily milkshake. Clint misses his bus and can’t come. We see “Layer Cake”, which was brilliant, although I’ve no idea what happened. It earns one True Lie. On the way out of the movie we meet Clint with Corrosive and a pile of others, just on their way in.
- Comment by Clint – Monday 8 August 2005, 2:25 AM
- Point of order - that wasn't the way I would have preferred. I have a complete inability to catch buses.
Definitely not the way I would have preferred. - Comment by Ned – Monday 8 August 2005, 8:25 AM
- I think it has a lot more to do with the bus than you. Expecting a Brisbane bus to be on time is an exercise in futility.
- Comment by io – Wednesday 10 August 2005, 2:12 AM
- I must be an expert than, cause I have the ability to catch buses and city cats on even a Sunday. Multiple times - early or late.
03.08.2005 – Wednesday 3 August – Work & Uni
- Morning
- • Due to horrible CSSE3004 interface design crud being due horribly soon, I headed into uni early and worked with Johnson for a few hours, between talking to Maz and changing my timetable. I then attended stacks of lectures and tutorials and things, as I have moved all my classes to Wednesday. Tutoring means I still have to attend uni for the rest of the week, but I don’t actually have any classes. I also forgot that I’d arranged to meet someone and discuss web design, so had to leave my first PSYC1020 tutorial after getting a message ten minutes into it.
- Evening
- • I renewed Clint’s old internet account, so I can keep using it, and then headed into work, as Martin couldn’t work tonight.
- Work
- • Amanda phoned while I was at work and asked if Bronwen and I would be interested in looking after her place for a weekend while she goes to Sydney. I got an old 28-inch monitor from work. It apparently cost eleven thousand dollars when it was new, but is now too old to be of much use. Maz came and picked it up (while security wandered down the end of the street) and we dropped it off at Clint’s place.
04.08.2005 – Thursday 4 August – Stupid Interfaces
- • I had to be at uni by nine o’clock for a tutorial, which was unfortunate as I’d actually gone home for the first time in ages, and had to get up early to make it in time. I’d also stayed up late, so not really a very good start to the day. If I’d thought the day would get better from there, I was sadly mistaken – but fortunately I’m not that optimistic. Johnson had a splitting headache and hadn’t eaten all day, and I went and had lunch with Clint instead of helping him. This made him invent interesting new ways of killing me. I then worked writing descriptions for interfaces until I had to go to work, leaving Johnson to finish of Robert’s, resulting in more interesting ways to kill both Robert and myself – and probably not doing his headache any good (or bad, depending on which way you look at it). This will probably result in a loss of marks too, as some of Robert’s interfaces weren’t submitted. Oh, and we lose marks because we didn’t do our kindergarten-style chop-and-sticky-tape Gantt chart correctly – what a crap course this is.
- Night
- • I had planned to go home tonight, but such is as such were, so it was, and I didn’t.
05.08.2005 – Friday 5 August – Eric & Clint’s Housewarming
- Day
- • I walked around West End for most of the day, before heading to Maz’s. I got to see the fabled upstairs, and some of the people who inhabit it. I also met the newly bought “Eric” – orange, striped and entirely traditional ginger cat.
- Night
- • Maz and I drove to Clint’s, stopping to pick up waffles and ice cream for a suitably Clint-ish housewarming gift. The night started quietly, but got quite rowdy and blue for a while – I’m not sure who brought the food colouring, but in retrospect, it probably wasn’t the best idea. I suspect the white carpet isn’t quite as white as it was before. Bets were placed on when Corrosive would vomit, but she didn’t. Unfortunately for her, someone stole the pool, so she didn’t get a payout. People sang every Evanescence song in existence, but they weren’t rich enough to bother recording for future blackmailing. Other people tried outdrinking each other in the kitchen, but none of them were rich either. Clus pulled the power on the internet server. Someone played Sonic the Hedgehog. I came out of the closet several times (it being the only place quiet enough to talk on the phone). Some sat outside and pretended to be normal. Sausages were cooked, burnt, dropped, eaten. The waffles were nice. Screaming contests were contested. Hearing loss occurred. People slowly began to leave, pass out, or otherwise disappear. I got a lift with Bronwen back to her place.
- Comment by Reubot – Saturday 6 August 2005, 4:16 PM
- Must have been a pretty wild party to knock down a brick wall.
- Comment by io – Wednesday 10 August 2005, 2:09 AM
- Les Miserables was also good.
06.08.2005 – Saturday 6 August – South Bank
- Morning
- • I had to get up before seven o’clock, as people had an island to attend. I trained home to do my washing. Tonya is back from her holiday.
- Fences
- • Clint informs me that the neighbour’s fence was knocked down last night, resulting in threats of police. It is a brick fence, and they are attempting to get it fixed before midday, in order to impress the neighbours enough that they may not prosecute.
- Afternoon
- • I trained to Clint’s, getting lost on the way and walking the long way there. They had just finished their fence. Clint, Scruff and I bussed it into South Bank, where we didn’t see a movie as it was too late and nothing good was showing, but we did get Cold Rock. I later trained home.
- Comment by Mum – Saturday 6 August 2005, 7:36 PM
- Hmph!
- Comment by Clint – Monday 8 August 2005, 2:21 AM
- Mrs Martin - don't worry, your lovely son wasn't involved. In fact, we don't know who did it - it's a possibility that the neighbours did it themselves to get it fixed. The wall was 3/4 fallen down anyway.
To prove that we're great and stuff, we had the father of a friend's girlfriend play brickie all that day (with suitable compensation) and the combined effort saw the wall up (in better than ever condition mind you) by 7pm that night. When you're a tad under the weather, there's nothing better than spending from 10am until 6pm in the hot sun mixing mortar.
In other news, I think I have a lung infection.
Clintos Pastonovik - Comment by io – Wednesday 10 August 2005, 2:15 AM
- I was also not involved for I was enjoying a live Les Miserables concert at the Schonell Theatre, UQ for most of the evening. Earlier, I only noticed one sausage get dropped.
- Comment by Mum – Saturday 13 August 2005, 7:32 PM
- Clint. Have already heard from "lovely son" that you are "great and stuff". Hope so that all in all, your brick in the wall, is only just. Am impressed by io that only one sausage got dropped. Geez. Don't youze blokes know how to party? Salutations, Mum. wish to insert one of those awful smiley faces in here but this is really taxing my computer literacy.
07.08.2005 – Sunday 7 August – Sunday Live
- Afternoon
- • I slept in. This was enjoyable. I eventually caught a train into the city, and a City Cat from South Bank. The amount of people who get on at South Bank, just to get off a minute later at North Quay is ridiculous. I finally arrived at West End, from where I quickly walked to the ABC Centre for a Classic FM Concert and met Raymond. Bronwen managed to turn up, after saying she wouldn’t be able to make it.
- Evening
- • Bronwen and I caught the City Cat from West End into the city, then the bus back to her place, where I spent the night trying to figure out what Descartes’ Meditations are without actually reading them, and answering questions such as “Do we know if we are dreaming?”
- Night
- • I spent the night at Bronwen’s.
- Comment by io – Thursday 11 August 2005, 8:41 PM
- Lucid dreaming is fun.
- Comment by Ned – Friday 12 August 2005, 4:43 PM
- Do I exist?
- Comment by Mum – Saturday 13 August 2005, 7:41 PM
- "Never
was there a time
when you were not"
...............Bhagavad Gita (1st chapter)
08.08.2005 – Monday 8 August – Friday Approaches
- • I tutored, before attending my PHIL1000 lecture. I found it very boring and had trouble concentrating. I looked for more houses online. It seems there’s a galloping lurgy doing the rounds. I met Scruff, who has broken his tooth. Friday approaches.
- Night
- • I spent the night at Bronwen’s.
09.08.2005 – Tuesday 9 August – Pasta
- • He tutored. He met with his CSSE3004 group. He had a nice pasta dinner at a nice Café. He slept.
- Night
- • I spent the night at Bronwen’s.
10.08.2005 – Wednesday 10 August – Academian
- • Today is my sole uni day, at least every second week. This means I was quite busy. I tutored a practical, and then I attended a PSYC1020 tutorial, then a PHIL1000 tutorial, then a PSYC1020 lecture, then to the Ville for dinner, then to work. The PSYC1020 tutorial was reasonable – perhaps not what I’d call exciting, but not dull either. The PHIL1000 tutorial was quite interesting in its way, and the tutor seems to be a cool bloke. The first hour of the PSYC1020 lecture was dull (I think, I didn’t really listen), but the second hour was quite interesting. I learnt that swearing is biologically different to speaking, and that it is possible (and not that uncommon) to suffer brain damage in such a way that speaking is prevented or severely impaired, but swearing isn’t.
11.08.2005 – Thursday 11 August – Which may not exist
- • I’ve no recollection of today, which would, as far as I can tell without actually bothering to read any of my PHIL1000 writings, mean that today didn’t exist. No, wait – a recollection has come to mind. Today I tutored and worked. Perhaps today did exist.
- Comment by Mum – Monday 15 August 2005, 9:16 PM
- Heaven help those poor bods who were on the receiving end of such well thought out and considered tutorial as that what you (who were not there, as this day did not exist) gaveth them. Poor fella them. Or it could be that PHIL1000 (whoever he is) does not exist. Are there 1000 of him. Aghast and horror. I shall recline neath yon bananana tree (which does not exist perhaps) and swat aimlessly at mosquitoes which mayhap do also not exist, and scratch at non existants on my legs and...oh well, all that. Wonder how Clint of the brickinthewall ameth. All in all, was not too bad it seems.
12.08.2005 – Friday 12 August – House Hunting & Amanda
- • Bronwen and I went house hunting. It was remarkably cold – the coldest day in ten years, someone said. I worked. It was still remarkably cold. Amanda drove me out to her place, where I stayed the night, along with a nice warm wood fire, and learnt how to give dogs epilepsy pills.
13.08.2005 – Saturday 13 August – Layer Cake
- • I ate apple crumble for breakfast, and then Amanda dropped me at the train station. Once back in the city, I went and looked at a few rooms in West End. I then went and chatted to Maz for a while, until he had to go to work. I then went to Clint’s, until we had to go to a movie. I then went and saw “Wedding Crashers” at Indooroopilly. They don’t do UQ Student Deals on Saturday evenings. The movie was actually brilliantly fantastic for its genre, which, given that it was a Hollywood comedy, means it was an enjoyable but rather stupid movie, with a good few laughs here and there. I think it was roughly half as good as “Layer Cake”, although a comparison between such diverse genres is near impossible.
- Night
- • I caught a train with Clint to Toowong, and then headed onwards to Bronwen’s for the night.
14.08.2005 – Sunday 14 August – Sunday Live
- • I spent a relaxing morning avoiding the cold, before heading into uni, meeting Raymond on the way to the Sunday Live concert. I decided I had to check my email first, so we ran to the labs, where I didn’t have time to do anything due to a stupid antivirus program that took ages to disable. We ran back to the City Cat, caught that to West End, and walked to the ABC and watched “Australian Voices” make unusual noises, including some singing. After that I had to head back to uni again to do my PHIL1000 journal entry, before training home through all the people coming home from the Ekka, and now I’m back at Joe’s again, trying to rip CD’s for Mum. Unfortunately they’re very scratched – this one has been going for nearly two hours now, rereading nearly every sector several times until it gets a match.
- Comment by Mum – Monday 15 August 2005, 9:09 PM
- Really appreciate it, thanks Ned.
15.08.2005 – Monday 15 August – Buses & Houses
- Morning
- • I don’t like buses. I got about three hours sleep. I had to get up early to get into the city to look at a house. I slept through my station, ran through the city to get back to where I should have been, and watched my bus number appear and disappear off the sign, with nary a sign of the bus itself. I arrived late and angry at the house, looked, and headed into uni and tutored.
- Evening
- • Having decided that we wanted the place, I rushed into Drakos to see if there was any way to get it immediately. There isn’t, and I didn’t have enough identification on me to fill out a lease form, so I went to Govinda’s for some food, before rushing back to Joe’s to get enough identification. Joe had ordered me dinner, so I had a quick dinner before heading back into the city. Bronwen was working late, so I went back out to uni and read a stack of the “Autobiography of a Yogi”.
16.08.2005 – Tuesday 16 August – No Houses
- Morning
- • Bronwen nearly backed out of wanting to move out with me, so we had a bit of drama before we finally headed down to Drakos. Once there we found that someone else had already put in an application sometime yesterday, but apparently they haven’t yet checked that application; we have, according to Drakos, a 50/50 chance – although they get first preference, all things being equal. I then headed into uni, and sometime later Drakos phoned to say we didn’t get the place – this house hunting is getting me down.
- Afternoon
- • I tutored today’s normal tute, and then an additional prac due to tomorrow being a holiday, and then had a CSSE3004 group meeting. I’m the minute taker this fortnight, which means I have to submit our fortnightly project report – not something to look forward to with the lecturers as ridiculously pedantic as these.
- 7pm
- • I met Bronwen in the city and we headed to Windmills for fantastic finger-warming pizza.
17.08.2005 – Wednesday 17 August – Royal Brisbane Show Holiday
- Morning
- • I had a pleasing and much needed sleep-in. For some time now, I’ve wanted to see the beach at Wynnum; today Bronwen and I figured we finally would. Getting to Wynnum was easy, finding the coast was easy – finding the beach wasn’t. We did find a lot of mud and mangroves though. Clint (who is currently empowered with a car) and Clus turned up after a while, and we drove around looking for beaches – concluding that there aren’t any, just a lot of mud.
- Evening
- • Clint, Clus, Bronwen and I stopped by South Bank on the way through the city and saw “Kung Fu Hustle”. It’s a rather strange movie – but I like the warped slapstick humour.
- Comment by Mum – Thursday 25 August 2005, 9:50 PM
- Clint is "currently empowered with a car"? Holy mackerel.
- Comment by ascian – Wednesday 31 August 2005, 12:25 AM
- There are actually beaches at Wynnum, trust me, I lived there for 11 years :) You do need to know where to look though :P
18.08.2005 – Thursday 18 August – Tutoring & Web Site Design
- Day
- • Nine o’clock is a horribly early time to tutor, but I bravely did. I then procrastinated for a while, visited Clint, drove with him to Indooroopilly for lunch, and finished up by working.
- Night
- • I worked on a website back at Joe’s, getting to bed late.
19.08.2005 – Friday 19 August – Worked
- • Worked. Probably did other stuff too.
20.08.2005 – Saturday 20 August – House Hunting
- • Bronwen and I went and saw a house at 10 o’clock, then wandered around the city and ate at Govinda’s. We then went to see another house but no one turned up – their system is apparently down and someone ran away with the keys. We did come across the “Green Flea” markets, which are pleasantly authentic, right in the heart of West End.
21.08.2005 – Sunday 21 August – Sunday Live
- Morning
- • Bronwen and I had an argument on the way to the city. I ate some curry, she left. I called her and we wandered back to her place.
- Afternoon
- • Bronwen and I went and looked at a fridge and washing machine before going to the ABC Classic FM Sunday Live Concert, along with Raymond, Reubot and UltraHighGecko.
22.08.2005 – Monday 22 August – Nothing much
- 10am
- • Tutoring. Meet Maz in tute. Go to PHIL1000 lecture after. Maz leaves at the start. I meet Maz after and drive to QU Books where I buy my PHIL1000 text for $78. I recharge my phone on credit doubling deal, catching least direct bus possible from Indooroopilly to UQ – the 414 weaves back and forth ridiculously and is full of rich and unpleasant schoolgirls.
- 5ish
- • Kieran turned up for a short time. Clint and Scruff turned up; they’re working on something due tomorrow. I headed back out to Joe’s, via Woolworth’s in the city for cream, custard and bananas.
- Comment by io – Friday 26 August 2005, 2:43 AM
- Haha I know what you mean about the Taringa 414.. bl.
23.08.2005 – Tuesday 23 August – House Hunting
- 10am
- • Into the city to look at a house with Bronwen. Six or seven other people end up looking as well. We checked out another house after, but preferred the original one. We team up with another girl who was also looking at the house, and submit an application – however someone else had already submitted one that morning, so now we wait.
- 2pm
- • Went to tutor, found that a quarter of the lab wouldn’t re-image, went up to helpdesk. Tutored anyway, with lots of problems. Jon came down to help.
- 4pm
- • Group meeting for CSSE3004. Typically boring. Went to the Ville for a kebab after.
- 8pm
- • I met Bronwen at her place at and drove to get a trailer with her Dad, then to pick up her newly purchased fridge and washing machine.
24.08.2005 – Wednesday 24 August – Uni
- 10am
- • I arrive at uni, and procrastinate until my 11 o’clock prac. This if followed by exam preparation for PSYC1020 with Maz in its tutorial, and then our PHIL1000 tutorial – which only went for ten minutes or so as no one had anything to say. Maz and I then had two hours of PSYC1020, one of which was about sleeping – not necessarily the most exhilarating topic out there, although it must be better than the INFS course Maz had to attend after, while I was buying dinner at the Ville before work.
- Comment by Maz – Sunday 28 August 2005, 11:26 PM
- Uni sux. Exams suck.
- Comment by Ned – Monday 29 August 2005, 9:44 AM
- Yes.
25.08.2005 – Thursday 25 August – Sleepy
- 9am
- • I had to tutor. This is a really bad time to tutor, or in fact do anything other than sleep. I had planned to study for my upcoming PSYC1020 exam, but this didn’t end up happening. For some reason I feel stressed and burnt out.
- Evening
- • I worked, and ended up staying up late working on a website, getting very little sleep for my early morning tomorrow.
26.08.2005 – Friday 26 August – Sleepier
- 6:40am
- • This is a ridiculous time to get up. Whoever thought getting up early made a man healthy, wealthy and wise clearly didn’t own a computer.
- 9am
- • I had to attend a compulsory CSSE3004 lecture, which was a waste of time. I went up to see Philip after the lecture, and complain about the course – particularly the way I’m losing marks for menial things that are of absolutely no academic merit.
- Afternoon
- • I went with Maz and Kieran to his tutorial and did a tutor peer-evaluation for him. I had again planned to study for my PSYC1020 exam tomorrow, but instead Maz, Kieran and I drove to Clint’s place where we all chatted happily for a while before lunching at Indooroopilly. I ended back at Clint’s crazy house after lunch, but couldn’t stay long as I had work, where I discovered such exciting things as broken VGA leads.
27.08.2005 – Saturday 27 August – Introduction to Psychology: Physiological & Cognitive Psychology Exam
- Morning
- • Ned found himself at uni, walking through throngs of huddled women, sitting, hiding themselves away against the walls like so many pretty-coloured mushrooms in a field. He half expected to stumble upon a baby-faced black and white cow, chewing on a grass straw with a soulful expression of peace and tranquillity – a stark contrast to that the women bore as they waited for their PSYC1020 exam. Ned found his PSYC1020 exam surprisingly stressful, but not because of its content; rather, he wished to be the first to finish the exam and so worked fast, fearing that if he didn’t someone else would beat him. As it turned out, not only did he manage to complete the exam during perusal and be the first out of the room, he only got two questions wrong. This would be as impressive as it sounds if the exam weren’t a twenty-four question multi-choice exam and the average mark over eighteen. Ned can’t help wondering if panic studying works; despite his best efforts, he managed to avoid any study at all until this morning, when he fit in about an hour’s worth of note reading before becoming sick of it.
- Afternoon
- • Ned went back to Maz’s with Maz, and then to Kieran’s for cake delivery. After this, he made his way out to Griffith’s Nathan Campus, then from there to Joe’s house. He ate Indian Takeaway for dinner and discussed Joe’s new television.
- Night
- • Bronwen spent the night at Joe’s with me.
28.08.2005 – Sunday 28 August – Pizza & Cheesecake
- • A short sleep-in then a train trip into town, rushing to the ABC music thing (Griffith Trio, minus one, and some extremely energetic Russian pianist who I’m surprised didn’t hernia and die), nearly missing it and having to throw out an uneatable pie on the way started the day. A craving for cheese quickly developed, resulting in a trip to Windmill’s for pizza and a meeting with Gus, who was on his way back from a soccer game at Suncorp Stadium. The pizza needed a piece of cheesecake to fulfil its fulfilling purpose, producing a pleasingly full feeling, bordering on sick, and a pleasant end to the day.
29.08.2005 – Monday 29 August – Pasta
- Day
- • Just for something different, I went to uni and tutored. I then tried to get nasty CSSE3004 project stuff to work in Eclipse and Tomcat, but it wouldn’t, so I went to Kieran’s and Indooroopilly for lunch with Maz, dropping in at Clint’s on the way back with Kieran. We then drove back to Indooroopilly so Clint could buy food and not die, and then back to Clint’s again, before going to uni again and finally getting the nasty CSSE3004 project stuff to work in Eclipse and Tomcat.
- Night
- • Pizza hadn’t quite quenched my cheese desire, but Bronwen’s beautiful pasta did.
30.08.2005 – Tuesday 30 August – The Rising – Ballad of Mangal Pandey
- • Back at uni once again (who would have thought?), I borrowed out the PocketPC for most of the day, stopping to tutor in the middle. Q Group had its fantastic weekly meeting in the evening, superbly managed by none other than their illustrious group manager, followed by some more coding, and a quick trip to Clint’s place to discover fantastic movies to see and watch snippets of Monty Python. Unfortunately nothing bad enough was showing for Clint or Clus to watch, so I missed the bus into the city where I met Bronwen later than planned, and watched “This Rising – Ballad of Mangal Pandey” at the Regent. Once again, Bollywood had no trouble beating Hollywood for sheer enjoyment, and while not quite as explosive as I’d hoped, its epic proportions made for a good movie.
31.08.2005 – Wednesday 31 August – Uni
- 8:45am
- • This is a terrible time to arrive at uni. I borrowed out one of the PocketPCs and wrote up a list of things to get done before the Friday demonstration – I suppose I have left it to the last minute again, as usual, although this is a little worse than the usual because I can only work during office hours when I can borrow the PocketPCs.
- 11am
- • I tutored. I then went to my PSYC1020 tutorial with Maz and learnt that Brunette women who do not wear makeup are more likely to get a job (and a higher salary) than those with makeup; blondes and redheads are, according to this study, less attractive to employers regardless of their makeup. This was followed by a PHIL1000 tutorial, where our tutor disagreed with our lecturer, readings, and most other things he could think of.
- 2pm
- • Maz and I attended a two-hour PSYC1020 lecture, where we were supposed to learn about something but I can’t really remember what, and then headed to the Ville for food – Spaghetti Napolitana in my case.
- 6pm
- • Maz and I made our way to our PHIL1000 lecture, where we had a new, and eminently quotable, lecturer. We discussed dualism – the separation of the mind from the body, and the “animal spirits” Descartes believed responsible for carrying sensual data along our nerves, although as the lecturer reminded us, “they’re not really spirits, no more than vodka is a spirit... in the supernatural sense”.
We progressed to discussing how an object can exist independently of another. I believe the point was to illustrate how the body is separate from the mind, but our lecturer chose two nearby whiteboard erasers to illustrate his point – passing one behind his back while holding the other high, claiming that this illustrated something, or in his words, “the world could be destroyed leaving this one whiteboard eraser”. He then paused to think before continuing, “but it would probably explode because of quantum theory, so maybe that’s not such a good example... but back to the mind and body”.
Back on the topic of the mind and body, we were told that someone seeing a rose would see a rose. That is, their eyes would register red light reflected from the rose, which would in turn trigger a memory of a rose in their brain, but at this point, the mind would take over, turning the memory of the rose into a beautiful flower. Or as our lecturer put it, “you just stop jiggling nerves... and you start to see red... ok, so you’re jiggling away at nerves...” Somehow, this didn’t paint the picture he was hoping for. Add in the “animal spirits pouring into the brain”, and... you probably had to be there to appreciate it.
We went on to discuss what constitutes a conscious, soulful entity; our lecturer claimed that animals weren’t, prompting one of the students to claim that their cat would disagree. This resulted in perhaps the most unique way of passing a course at UQ – an offer to “bring [your cat] in and see if he can pass a PHIL1000 test. If he can, high distinctions all around”, and a claim that perhaps some cats would “want to be an altruistic cat, a cat for other cats”. Our lecturer then went on to claim that perhaps some people weren’t really conscious either, perhaps only he himself was, and everyone else was a machine, a zombie, programmed to respond like a person, and that perhaps the person beside each of us was really a zombie – “[we] ask them, but what if they just think they’re conscious, they’re really a zombie”. It’s funnier when you’re sitting there, and you’re used to dead boring IT lecturers who almost certainly are zombies.
After claiming people have souls, but animals don’t, our lecturer made the further distinction between people and chairs – “everyone listening is a thinking thing... well the chair’s aren’t... but they’re not listening”. This was a relief to some, who were no longer sure if they were zombies or not. To answer a question some student raised, he finished off with an explanation of pure logic – something that’s certain and understandable even if nothing physical exists; mathematics, for example, relies on logic and not our senses – or as only he could put it, “you know one plus one equals two, you cannot get that wrong if you’re paying attention... unless you’re on drugs, except then of course you’re not paying attention”. We then had a ten-minute break and I discovered that the only vending machine that takes notes was out of order.
The second hour wasn’t anywhere near as amusing. - 1:23am
- • I should consider bed, as I have to be up in less than six hours.
- Comment by Mum – Thursday 1 September 2005, 7:40 PM
- Holy Mackerel. Who are these mob? A rose is a rose is a rose. By any other name, it still smells as sweet.
A blonde is a blonde (well, okay, maybe..maybe) is a brunette, a redhead, who cares. Under the exterior is another soul. A dog is a dog is a dog. A cat, etc. Look into the eyes of a dog and tell me that there is no soul. Fools, who think otherwise. Who are these idiots who are supposed to be your teachers?
"Everyone listening is a thinking thing.."....???? a thinking THING!! A thinking THING!. Holy riot.
I am disgusted. A cat would do the sensible thing (if brought in to attend a PHIL1000 test and (hopefully)_ piss on the nearest cable or electrical inlet and then settle down nicely to gleefully watch the ensuing mayhem. (Can an "entity" be gleeful - Comment by Mum – Thursday 1 September 2005, 7:43 PM
- And is "glee" a sign of soul? I applaud any and all of you who studiously or nonchalently ignore these so called teachers.
- Comment by Maz – Friday 2 September 2005, 11:44 PM
- It was good for a giggle. If we were on acid we might have taken it all a bit more seriously. The problem is that we need to answer a tutorial question on that crap and all I remember is the stupid quotes.
- Comment by Mum – Saturday 3 September 2005, 8:45 PM
- Just as well you were not on acid, lest you had "taken it all a bit more seriously". Commiserations re your having to answer a tutorial question on all that crap. Honestly, I sometimes wonder re those who are supposed to be your tutors/teachers/etc. Just guess it is a matter of getting the "have dunnit,gottit, here is me certificate" Do REAL mob put any real kudos on this sort of thing. Guess I dont know, living up here in the bush.
- Comment by Ned – Sunday 4 September 2005, 1:06 PM
- He also claimed that anyone who did not believe in God was stupid.
- Comment by io – Sunday 4 September 2005, 10:55 PM
- Then that must mean you're a genius.
- Comment by Mum – Monday 5 September 2005, 8:10 PM
- I am glad he said that.
God just is. Despite all the kerfuffle of discussion. Whether or not one believes in God or not, God just is. And that is that.
- Comment by Maz – Wednesday 7 September 2005, 6:54 PM
- He's going on about soul-less animals who don't have emotions either. No doubt nuggets of information. Excuse me while I walk out now.
- Comment by Kipps – Friday 9 September 2005, 2:58 AM
- Why are you studying that trainwreck of a unit? Sounds like a disaster to me. Hell, your attendance alone is increasing that damn lecturer's ego.
Cheers. - Comment by Ned – Friday 9 September 2005, 8:45 AM
- I think it is quite an interesting course – sure beats law or IT.
- Comment by Maz – Sunday 11 September 2005, 12:16 AM
- Flipped a coin and ended up there. It is kind of randomly interesting and the room the lecture is in has wireless.
- Comment by Ratty – Sunday 11 September 2005, 2:42 PM
- Write about how feminists suck - please? :P
- Comment by Mum – Wednesday 14 September 2005, 8:53 PM
- Geez Maz, does this mean you are all wired?
- Comment by Mum – Wednesday 14 September 2005, 8:53 PM
- <Ned: edited duplicate comments>
- Comment by Mum – Wednesday 14 September 2005, 8:55 PM
- 3 times the abo vementioned cameth uppeth. Holy riot, you must all be wired.
- Comment by Ned – Thursday 15 September 2005, 9:42 AM
- Hmm, the comments system should no longer cache POST data, making it theoretically impossible to post the same comment thrice without actually rewriting and reposting it three times.
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