Fact of Life

That's it, this is war

2005-11-14T20:35:00.000+10:30

I'm fed up. I've had enough. I can tolerate no more. I have a new enemy.

I admit, I was truly in love with them for the time that my iPod worked, but no. Firstly about four months ago, my battery on my first 3G iPod started to die, so I paid the $160 to have it replaced out of warranty, by a week. Now, 13 days out of the warranty of my replacement iPod, it too has lost it. Whenever I go to play a song, the iPod stuggles to try and find the file for a while, before giving up and returning to the menu.

This is the logo that comes up after struggling to find a couple of songs:

So what did I do? I rang Apple's technical support and asked what options I had. Telling me that I wasn't under warranty, they said nothing, and if I had any complaints, to call Customer Service. What did they say? Can't do a thing. Silence. I said "That's excellent", and proceeded to hang up the phone.

I HATE APPLE. (love them when their stuff works tho)

Steinbeck's Monster in Reality

2005-11-13T23:23:00.000+10:30

For starters, those of you thinking, Tom, you should be in bed at 11:30pm the night before your English Paper 2, I agree, but I have been unsuccessful in getting to sleep.

The title is a reference the my thoughts on Economic Rationalism, and how many of us today, consider 'economic progress' to translate to improvement in lifestyle for the country. I am aware that my knowledge is limited, but from what I DO know, this is what I think.

Last year, when I studied the very basic Anticipated Economics, I thought much the same way as these people I am talking about. I learnt about figures and theories to do with economics without considering what they actually translate to in real terms. Although I'll admit that economci reform benefits the majority of society, I think that all reform should consider those at the extremes of the spectrum. We cannot operate our country from a utilitarian perspective. We must consider the needs of all in our society, even if the majority benefits, they must ensure that the minority aren't left out in the cold.

I don't understand how people could study economics and deal with things like MER and aid without learning about the human side to it. In a society that values maths and sciences over languages and arts, it's easy to see why people are being transformed into cold, thoughtless individuals who prefer material gain for the majority, instead of considering the effect on the wider community.

Since last year, mainly through my own learning and school, particularly English, I have begun to consider the other side to the facts and figures. Because of this, I now become confused and frustrated when others try to proclaim economic reform as essential for the good of the country. Personally, I would prefer Australia's Social welfare system, where we provide an allowance to the elderly, disabled and unemployed, as opposed to that, as an example, of Singapore, where the elderly are shoved into poorly funded accomodation.

A country that values economic reform and growth over the good over its people is not worth living for.

Breaking News

2005-11-09T17:09:00.000+10:30

I've decided to break my silence over one of the most alarming issues in current affairs. I hadn't heard about it until my cousin, Melissa who is living in the UK, sent me a newspaper clipping and a letter, informing me of the whole controversy. Rupert the Bear has been given a makeover by Entertainment Rights, a cartoon firm who also owns the rights to Postman pat.

For those of you who don't know, Rupert Bear was drawn first by Mary Tourtel in the Daily Express as a comic on November 8 1920.

This is Mary Tourtel's original Rupert.

From 1935-1973, Albert Bestall took over the comic and the popularity of Rupert took off.

As you can see, Albert's version of Rupert wasn't all that different from Mary's, apart from the colour.

When Bestall retied in 1973, John Harolld took over.

As you can see, none of the three illustrators have really differed a great deal. Wait until you see the newest Rupert tho, it's a travesty.

I first came across Rupert as the cartoon which began in 1993, the series running for 39 episodes. But Rupert's significance comes from the argument that My cousin and I had eleven years ago when we were staying in Alexandra Headlands in Queensland. Neither of us can recall exactly what the argument was about, but it always seems to come up again. So when an article about rupert came up in a British tabloid, Missy cut it out and sent it over, feeling it was pretty important to inform me of what Entertainment Rights have done to poor Rupert.

The article, which was on the front page of the newspaper, and the letter from Missy.

The New Rupert

In the makeover, Rupert has had his ears moved, eyebrows added, a nose and mouth replaced, two fingers amputated and 'trendy trainers' added. I feel that the 'commercialisation' of Rupert costs him his charm.

On a happier note, my HL Chem and SL Maths exams are over, leaving me with HL English and HL Physics. I will be all done by Friday week. Looking forward to that!

Good luck to everyone with their exams and I look forward to seeing you at the Grad Ball!

Double Whammy

2005-10-23T17:18:00.000+09:30

Being so close to the final year 12 exams, weekends are now at a premium for those planning 18ths, so much so, that we had two in a night! With everyone planning on going to Julie's, Molly pounced on the idea and decided to have a before-party and deciding to go for something slightly new and different, she had a cocktail party. It paid off, with the theme going down well, and thanks to Andy going a bit heavy on the alcohol, most left Molly's at 9 already pretty drunk.

Having organised enough transport from Molly's to Julie's for 24, and only having 16, caused a few problems with a shortage of fare money. Thanks to Bob though, both buses departed, and headed for Kensington.

Julie's was just as good, with cheap drinks, good music and of course good company. Unfortunately, as I haven't had time to write this post since the actual night a week ago, I'm running short on detail so I'll just let the photos say the rest.

The bday girl with the 'Gang'.

We were all pretty impressed by Nick's new purchase.

So much so, that I had to get a close up.

Twinnies!

Brig's photo board brought Molly to tears.

Sam tried all night to get Molly's twin sister's number.

Wella gave an emotional speech in honour of her sis' 18th.

Pip couldnt help but clean up the spilled drinks. Obsessive Compulsive.

This man managed to put up with all our noise.

Julie, another birthday girl.

Some1 kept buying these girls drinks...

Ant and cross dancing with the DJ.

Poor dwilly, tired from dancing, didn't survive the long trip home to the stix.

Toby's 18th

2005-09-20T22:43:00.000+09:30

Despite having my ID taken from me at Amanda's 18th, with the help of Edi, I still managed to get quite drunk. My memory of the night is a bit hazy and the following day was not one of my best. It was for this reason that I decided not to drink the following week, at the celebration for the 18th of our beloved Toby.

With this in mind, I decided to allocate myself as the taxi service for the night, providing my service to John & David, Monique, Marion & Camille, Bill, Pip and Daniel. With such a commitment, I knew that I wouldn't be tempted to resort to drinking, even under the peer pressure of Tobs. As well as being Toby's 18th, the night was also significant in that many of the Merc ppl met Alice, the mysterious St Doms girl who some had thought to be a figment of my imagination. I think my credibility was reinstated in some cases, after it was confirmed that Alice did infact exist.

Daniel must be credited with the idea of getting Toby and iPod Nano. Those who contributed were; Daniel, Delliott, Nick Hus, Ryan, Ant, Mon, Pip, Molly, Charlie, Lucy and myself. In the end, I resented Toby for having the newest iPod, something that I would want myself. Unfortuantely however, it didnt arrive in time, as Dan ordered it over the net. Instead, Ant presented a box, with two bricks in it as well as a picture of what Toby would later recieve. Think he was pretty happy with it (better have been).

Although I didn't drink, the night was still pretty good. Food was good, and ppl were good. Strange for Toby to have a party without his parents having to leave the city, but that didn't matter all that much. I had planned to take lots of pictures over the course of the night, but just wasn't in the mood. Still got a couple tho.

Marion, Dan, Cam with the Birthday Boy.

Toby trying to unwrap the wine box containing his 'present'.

Opening the box to find that his 'present' was merely two bricks and a print out.

Speech.

Lucy was determined that EVERYONE at the party would feel her one inch leg hairs.

Lovers!

Lovers!

Wrong Tom!

Lucy and Toby's cousin.

That's all for now.
Tomah.

Life's big Lie

2005-09-08T20:35:00.000+09:30

I was listening to the radio last night, and was shocked to discover that in South Australia, almost 7% of year 12 students are likely to leave school before completing their final year of schooling. I thought this was pretty interesting, seeing as we are so close to the end, that people would feel the pressure so much, that they felt they could not cope with it.

Of course it's not only the pressure that causes people to leave, other reasons include wanting to enter a trade, through apprenticeships, or go to TAFE, and illness. With a scarily short amount of time left before my first exam (7 weeks), I too am looking forward to leaving year 12. Despite the pressure that some teachers put on us, by declaring year 12 "the biggest year of your life", it is unreasonable to expect that the results of our final year, will dictate the success of the rest of our lives.

This brings me to the topic; Life's big lies. This afternoon on Hack, they discussed life's biggest lies: ideas that are implanted at a young age, and although they could be repeated throughout our years, never eventuate, or are infact incorrect. Such an idea is that year 12 is the most important year of our lives. Hearing from old scholars now at university, it is apparently taboo to mention your high school grades, as they are considered so irrelevant to your tertiary education. Furthermore, the SACE or IB results obtained, are rarely taken into account when an employer is assessing a potential employee. It is for these reasons that I find it amazing, that our teachers and parents, and indeed ourselves, apply so much pressure, in what should be a memorable and meaningful year.

Snap Back to Reality

2005-07-31T15:55:00.001+09:30

Hopefully I won't be in breach of copyright with this title.

Ok, so the honeymoons is over, I'm back from the ski trip, and have returned to school. Exams in week one. What can I say? Interesting. All were ok, except for Physics. I know that Mr Filander will not be impressed with the standard, as this is his first duty as teacher, replacing Mr Larkin.

Surprisingly, none of the work that I left behind during ski trip has been done, nor has it disappeared. Unfortunately, it is now my responsibility to buckled down and get it done over the next week or so. Tok Oral is supposed to be presented this week or next. An assessable draft of my Extended essay is due on Friday. I need to show Mrs Robertson what progress I made on World Lit Two over the holidays (very little). Indeed, it seems that my teachers will each be after my head on a platter.

Ski Trip

2005-07-31T15:04:00.000+09:30

In the week preceding my departure for the Ski Trip, I started to wonder whether the cost, both monetary and in terms of time off from study, would be worth it. With the amount of work I was supposed to complete, it seemed as if the week away would do me more harm than good. Luckily, I still went, as no doubt this was one of the best holidays I've been on to date.

Like edi, I'm not going to give a day-by-day break down of the trip, simply because each night, I was too tired, and the week seemed to merge in my memory. Also, it was pretty difficult reducing the number of pics to post. I plan to put my pics on the school network for Mr Head, so anyone that wants to see more can go there.

The weather for the week was perfect for us, as the weekend that we arrived there was snow fall, but from Monday through to Thursday, the skies were clear, with the temperature reaching about 10Âº each day. This was almost too hot, as I wore three layers each day, with my scarf and beanie. Friday, the weather came in, and so we planned to go to the more sheltered resot; Falls Creek. Nevertheless, every day was great.

It's pretty amazing how much you can progress within a 5-day timespan. On Monday, we were divided up into groups according to skill and experience. Having never seen snow before, let alone having skied, I was in the below-beginner group. Here, we started out learning how to put our skis on, turn, stop...you know, the basics. The lessons were actually really helpful, but I also found free time to be quite good. Edgar and Jason were kind enough to guide Bill and I around for the first few days. On Monday, it was quite the feat for me to master 'The Summit', which is a Green run at Mt Hotham (difficulty ranging from green, through blue, to black). By Tuesday I was moving on to the Blues and at Falls Creek, we decided to progress to Blacks. I know that I may not have been the prettiest skier, in terms of technique and style, but the fact that I went Friday with only a few stacks, makes me quite happy.

Some of us got quite bored on the bus...

...and some of us slept.

The morning view from our balcony at Bright Chalet.

This is the beginner group; Sarah, Beth (our instructor), Bill, Me, George, Ben and Rachel.

A view from the top of 'The Summit' at Mt Hotham.

On Tuesday, the ski lift at the Summit broke down. The snow boarders were towed up behind this snow mobile.

Edi and I at the top of The Summit. Edgar informed me that this is how to pose in ski photos.

This is a re-enactment of Rachel's crash into this wooden fence on the Summit, while in our lesson.

While waiting for Rachel, Ben came down the slope and attempted to repeat Rachel's crash.

Mon and Soph in the other beginner's group.

Each morning on the coach, Mr Head amazed us with his ability to talk at length about nothing in particular.

Another re-enactment of another of Rachel's stacks.

The view from the bottom of the 'Sun Run' at Mt Hotham. It was on this slope on Tuesday that I became stranded after ice froze to the bottom of my binding. After about 20 minutes, I managed to put on my ski, and catch up with the rest of the group at Snake Gully hut. Ask Mon, this was probably the low of the trip for me.

Rachel in front of the 'Road Runner' quad lift.

Ryan ressembled the Abominable Snowman.

Jason trying to make a call from the top of the summit at Falls Creek.

Bill eating snow. It is this practice that I hold responsible for my sick stomach.

The group that Bill and I joined on Thursday. Notice it includes the likes of Kingsley and Edi.

'Scott' quad lift at Falls Creek. The boarding process stuffed up and I was left alone on the chair in front of Jason, Bill and Edgar.

Action shot of Bill.

Action shot of Edi.

The entire Ski Trip group of 2005.

The year 12s with Mr Head and Mr Filander.

Hope you enjoy the pics, and for those that didn't go, I'm glad I've made you envious.

Later, Tomah.

Holidays?

2005-07-15T09:59:00.000+09:30

I thought I'd continue the trend of people complaining on their blogs:

As I sit here, I wonder if I can infact call this 2 week period, which divides two terms, a holiday. As google defines it, a holiday is "free from work that one may spend at leisure". Currently, my work load includes:

Studying for Maths, Physics, Chemistry and English exams
Finishing my World Lit Assignment One
Starting my World lit Assignment Two
Theory of Knowledge Oral
Theory of Knowledge Essay
Extended Essay Draft

which would seem to indicat, that my 'holiday' is not at all "free from work". Additionally, I have spent two and a half days actually at school for 'optional' classes. I believe that whoever was responsible for the idea of having exams after the holidays, should be shot. I am aware that this was done with good intentions, but it just doesnt turn out for the best. Instead of having more time to study, we are left with the work for holidays, plus studying for mid-years.

Indeed, due to my profound lack of motivation and will-power, my holidays have been and opportunity to spend time at leisure. On Wednesday night, after Maths, I played my first game of diplomacy, which was actually very good. It turned out that I was the only one not to backstab anyone; strange for me.

My large amount of holiday work is only compressed due to the fact that next week, I am going on the ski trip. Should be good! Actually no idea where we are agtually going. We are staying at the Bright Chalet, and going to two different locations over the week. I'm pretty excited as it will be my first time skiing, and the first time I will have seen snow. I will have plenty of pics from the ski trip, so I look forward to posting them!

Later, Tomah.

Edi's 17th

2005-07-15T09:30:00.000+09:30

Much hype and anticipation surrounded the build-up to Edi's Rave. With people getting more into the music and dancing, the idea of a rave was one that most found appealing. Some however, found it ironic that Edgar was calling his party a rave, despite never actually having been to one. Oh well, people are suckers for detail. News that eddy was going all out with the audio and lighting suggested the night would be worthwhile.

Have to say, the night was a pretty big success. The set up was pretty good, with the garage dancefloor and the marquee. Despite the opposition such as Winter Enchanted competing on the same night, the turn out was quite good rofl. Happy birthday to Edgar, and thanks for the good night.

The Birthday Boy himself.

Dance Floor.

Rave!

Edi thinks he's a DJ.

Rachel: a bit flushed from the dancing.

Hope Laura doesn't see!

The Following day, I went up to the Wattle Park look out. These views are quite similar to those from Edgar's house.

Pretty Good huh?

Edi's house and the marquee can be seen in this pic.

I know the photos aren't great, but a lot of them were blurred because it was so dark, and due to the smoke machine.

Au Revoir Laura!

2005-06-25T23:18:00.000+09:30

On Wednesday Daniel, Lucy, John and I accompanied Pip and Laura to the Airport as Laura's two week trip had come to an end. We had to farewell Laura, this being difficult for no one more so than John. Although they were awkward, it was good to be there to witness the end of the romance. Anyway, hope Laura had a good time in little ol'Adelaide, and hope that she comes back to visit, or puts up a room for all of us when we tour Europe.
Tom

Funny Pictures

2005-06-25T22:45:00.000+09:30

In my everyday passings, there are certain things that I see, which strike me as either funny or just plain stupid. Today, I have just a few examples, which I hope will make you laugh.

This one isn't great, but I thought it was a good example of when chinese companies (yes i did check...it was made in China) try to use English slang in advertising their products. Sorry guys, but you got this one totally wrong. I expect that it is supposed to read "Oh Man, Its way out!". Oh well. silly Chinese. Its the text on a packet for a cigarette rod? (you know, the extension black thing, kinda pretentious looking) that I saw at the costume shop.

The other night, when Ryan, Jezz, Nick and I took Pip and Lucy out for a night in the town, I saw this sign. Its a sign displaying the location of a shop, along with info on the days its open. It states that its open 7 days, then contradicts this by apologising for being closed on Sunday?

When seeing Laura off at the airport on Wednesday, I noticed that there was a sign displaying items that you can and can't carry in your hand luggage. Most of this was the usual, scissors, razors, alcohol, but then I noticed, that they felt obliged to tell us that we cannoy carry Hand Grenades!

Bookmark me!

2005-06-21T22:35:00.000+09:30

I had recently been told that others, such as Edgar's DutchOven took precedence over mine because his was bookmarked prior to mine. In the interest of fair-play, I believe that I too should be bookmarked. To make it easier for all you lazy lazy people, I have provided you with a one-click solution. This will only work for IE and Firefox.

You will find it just under my Tagboard.

Click it!!!

Weekend with the Frenchie

2005-06-21T22:03:00.000+09:30

After attending my disappointingly unsuccessful appointment at the Air Force, I headed back to school, to round up the troops and head into :

This was something I'd been looking forward to for ages, after my parents went on the first night. Thanks to the ever-reliable Mme Davies, (who of course had connections with the artistic director), a school group was able to attend with reduced ticket prices; $55 in A Reserve!!

I chose to drive, and due to a shortage of seating on the bus, Pip, Laura, Edi and Josh joined Colin (the Camry) and I. Due to the traffic and the abundance of road-works, we arrived late, to a flustered Mme Davies who hurried us into the Grande Chapiteau. After making a quick toilet break, I slid my way through the opening and into the pitch black tent. It was actually really scary, I couldn't see a thing as I walked down the stairs to Jenny who would "gladly help us find a seat". From the moment it started, the show was amazing. Not only were the performers amazing, but the music and the visuals were great. Really good. Below are some pictures of a few of the Quidam acts.

Due to the absence of John's backbone, it was necessary for Pip and I to chaperone he and Laura on their date following Quidam. We accompanied them to a dinner at Spargo's and then to watch Mr and Mrs Smith. The pizza at Spargo's was gross, the moving was boring and bitterly disappointing and because I had to drop Pip and Laura back at Pip's the night obviously wasn't great. Still, I was honoured to be there to witness love in the making.

John, Me and Pip in Spargo's. The disappointing pizza can be seen on the table.

Despite having, I think, the two sexiest people in the world in this movie, it was still pretty shit.

Saturday involved the usual Soccer and running for footy. Soccer was disappointing again. Lost to St Ignatius 3-2. After having dominated the first half with a 2-1 lead, they scored 2 goals in the last five minutes to steal the match from us. Footy on the other hand was quite the opposite. There was a fair bit of build up surrounding the clash between the Camels and the CBC 'boys' as the notices so eloquently put it. Both the Firsts and the Seconds came away with a victory. Congrats to them.

Saturday night was dedicated to the celebration of Lovely Lucy's 17th Birthday. Despite being ill and her sister having an exam two days later, Lucy insisted on having people over. Having been exhausted from the day's exercise, it didn't take me much to get drunk. Despite this theory, others have told me that its no difference from my usual cadbury performance. Nevertheless I had a great night. Of course, that was until I was kicked out of Lucy's at 1:00am in the freezing cold with Toby. After walking Pip and Laura home, we were stuck for things to do, so thought it best to return to Colin and get some quality shut-eye. I woke up at 5:30am to find that Toby had disappeared. After trying desperately to get back to sleep in the freezing conditions, I decided to head home. Walked through the door to my father, who seemed quite surprised by my early (or late) arrival home.

Happy B-day to Lucy and hope the rest of you had a good weekend.

Ever so Slight renovation

2005-06-21T20:09:00.000+09:30

Well, Edgar put me onto the new tagging program Shoutbox, with which I have replaces Tag board. Hopefully this will be for the better, as of yet I'm not sure. Also, I found a new and more reliable weather forecast service, which is actually based in Australia. Hopefully this will help those of you reliant on Fact of Life for you weather.

For those of you who hadn't yet heard, I unfortunately missed out on the Air Force. Not really surprised. Most of the people I'd spoken to said that its pretty hard to get into, and most people try two or three times before being successful. The psychologist said that I was "competitive" in every one of my tests, except for one where I "bombed out". In this particular test, I was given the silhouette of a plane, and some instructions, whether it rolled 40 degrees left, or nose up 60 degrees or turned right 50 degrees. With these instructions I had to indicate which of the given options was the final orientation of the plane. After having done the test, I did feel pretty shitty about it, so really no surprise in that regard. They did offer however positions as Observer or as Navigator. I actually have no idea what else I want to do, so I'll have to reassess my options and look at what else I have.

Not much else on, except for the imminent departure of Laura, Pip's French exchange student. She will be missed, particularly by John who has enjoyed their long 'chats' on the back seat of his car. But seriously, goodbye to Laura, and hopefully we'll all see you soon.

Long Long Weekend

2005-06-13T23:47:00.000+09:30

Most people seem to love these extra-long four day weekends. Personally I hate them. They seem to exaggerate the extent of my procrastination, because the opportunity offered by the weekend of catching up on work, or god forbid getting ahead in work is never capitalised upon.

I'll start off with my day on Thursday. It was my JOES day at the Defence Force Recruiting centre. Stupidly, I expected the day to take as little as 3 hours, in the end i was there from 8:15am until 2:40pm. I can't be bothered working out exactly how long that is, but it was a bloody long time. Most of it was spent waiting in the lobby between meetings or tests. I didnt even have the opportunity to leave and get something to eat! Day started off with an information session, basically about what was happening that day and all general info on the ADF. Following that was the aptitude test and basic psyche evaluation. This was all done on the computer and was pretty good I think. In the aptitude test, you're given 40 minutes to answer 100 questions. It's designed so that you wont reach the end, so you have to be quick! After a fairly lengthy wait in the lobby, I went into the basic Medical screening. To my relief, I'm not colour blind, and despite wearing glasses, my eyes are good enough to become a pilot. Following another lengthy wait, I had a meeting with my Recruiting counselor. He informed me that I'd been succesful in that stage; which is good. My next stage is on Friday, which is a Maths and Physics test.

Yeh so following JOES day, I had work at ASC which was good and the previous post elaborates on my Night on the Town.

Friday was spent recovering from the night before, largely at Lucy's. Watched Team America and got pizza and gelati. Was very good. Laura thinks we're all fat coz we never stop eating shit. But I say that Australia's love of sport enables us to eat that much and only be the second fattest country in the world. Thats not toooo bad.

Friday night was Daniels. I decided it best not to drink two nights in a row, so I was my own designated driver. I still had fun, succesfully attempting to make Laura and John hook up. That's just about the highlight of that night. Oh, actually, the mess was quite amazing, a deck of cards was spread across the entire house, including outside, and a straw hat was ripped apart and spread all over the kitchen. This was along with the bottles and spilt drinks everywhere else.

Saturday was a quiet one for me. Did a bit of homework during the day and watched Independence day on Movie Greats.

Sunday, last opportunity to go out, did more homework during the day and then went to Toby's for the night. Again, was a good night. Yada Yada Yada, feel asleep on the couch at about 4 and woke up at 5ish to find every1 else alseep on the couches with me. Was quite funny.

W.E finished with another lazy day on Monday, evident with this posting frenzy; 3 in one day! Certainly beats my 1 in 2 weeks.

See you all tomorrow
Tomah

Night on the Town

2005-06-13T23:10:00.000+09:30

While driving home from work on Thursday night, I remembered that Jeremy had suggested seeing Mr and Mrs Smith this weekend. Of course, being Jeremy, plans had changed, and he (along with Ryan and Bradzez) were heading into town. So, without wasting any time, I got home, changed and headed down to Ryan's. Got there at about 8:00pm thinking that I'd be running late as usual. Luckily, no definite plans had been set, so we got some subway and started drinking. Much later, Pip, Laura and Lucy arrived, and kindly, Lucy offered to take the rest of us into the city.

We started out at the Havelock, where for the first time, my ID didn't work. The bouncer said that he couldn't let me in with an expired ID. Salt was rubbed onto my wound when Nick and Jeremy, using their dodgy Internet ordered fakes got in with the help of their phony French accents. As they entered, I overheard one of the Bouncers ask "Did you see that? That guy didn't speak English." I honestly cannot comprehend the stupidity of this bouncer. After Pip, Laura and I had been refused entry to the Havelock (which apparently packed with many good looking girls), we decided to head over to the Exchange.

Because it was so dead, I had no trouble getting in here, but after looking around for no more than two minutes, Ryan and I decided to head back outside, where again Laura was bickering with the door bitch, trying to be allowed entry.

Finally, we headed by foot across to the other side of town for the Garage. Luckily for us, no Bouncer; all of us headed in with no trouble. Once in, Pip and I attempted to educate the others in the art of buying rounds. We spent $56 on shots of tequila, hoping that later, the favour would be repaid when others would buy drinks for us. After having the shots and sitting around for a while, I started to feel the need for another drink. However, there were no offers. After much begging, Jeremy and Nick bought me a beer. Real good guys.

Pip, Laura and I decided that due to the poor performance of the others in the buying of rounds, we'd do some shots between us. Laura quite liked Cowboy Cocksuckers.

Next, we went down to the Pancake kitchen while Ryan and his possie (J and Bradzez) went to Heaven to try and get into Time Warp. On reaching the Pancake kitchen we ordered One Stack, thinking it would be one stack of pancakes, disappointingly, it was only A one stack; meaning there was only one pancake. Additionally, the vodka and orange juices the girls got seemed to lack the vodka part.

Night ended with Lucy picking us up again (thanks Lucy!!) and taking us back to Ryan's. The rest of the night was quite stupid, we spent a considerable amount of time throwing various objects into Ryan's ceiling fan and dodging them. All in all, was a good night, but I think I'm the only person who thinks so.

Pretentious #@*

2005-06-13T22:59:00.000+09:30

I have decided to write this post in defence of Matt Slee, who recently was the victim of a harsh and unprecedented attack from the writer of a certain blog. Incredibly, this person thought it their place to write a crittique on Matthew's most recent post, about the revival of his blog with a recent post, and also about Schapelle Corby.

I found it quite amazing that one blogger would feel it necessary to take quotes and comment on various parts of someone's post and then dismiss the person's opinion in place of their own. Whether or not this was done in the name of 'shits and giggles' or not is meaningless.

Indeed, I realise the ironic and hypocritical nature of writing a post as a result of someone who wrote a post about someone else's post, but I was so angry, I couldnt resist.

So...Who is #@*?

Cheap Ambition?

2005-06-06T00:01:00.000+09:30

Since writing my last post over two weeks ago, my resolve to become an Air Force pilot has only been strengthened. I have spent the majority of my time researching the process and possibilities of joining the Air Force. I guarantee you that I have read all of these details at least three times. New additions to my computer include an Air Force wallpaper and an aviation screensaver. I'm sure that many of you reading this would think, my god, Tom's pathetic and obsessive, honestly, I'd have to agree with you.

One thing that I am worried about is that my ambition to become a pilot is simply a cheap dream. It's not as if this is a unique dream, most kids grow up thinking they'll be a pilot and fly the real things of the models they've played with. Even now, when I say what I want to do, many others say, "Oh yeh, I wouldn't mind doing that". This isn't an attack against the people who say this to me, but this is what I feel 'cheapens' my dream. I suppose that the same thing applies with those who want to become lawyers of doctors.

The entire application process for the Air Force includes 6 stages, each of which needing to be passed, before progressing to the next stage. These steps are: Enquiry, JOES (Job Options evaluation Session) Day, Interviews, Physical fitness assessment, officer selection board and finally, appointment. In order to be as prepared as possible, I've organised to speak to various people, who may be able to offer me advice in successfully pursuing my application. This, along with studying the Wad of Information sent to me, I hope will enable me to get as far as possible into the application process. Currently, I'm at stage two; My JOES Day is actually this Thursday. I'm both nervous and excited about this.

From what I've heard, there are people less-intelligent than me (not a conceded comment) that have become pilots. This leads me to believe that its not only about being smart, its about being the right kind of person for what Air Force pilots have to face. Therefore, things are basically out of my hands,(besides getting my best academic marks possible) if I'm the right person, I'll get in, if I'm not, I'll be REJECTED. By taking a page out of Mrs Case's book, I'm trying to "Look at things philosophically".

Sorry if you're not interested in my ambitions, but I felt like writing this anyway.

Cya all tomorrow, actually it's today now.
Tom

Plans for next Year

2005-05-20T21:51:00.000+09:30

Well, seeing as we are almost through our final year of secondary schooling, most of us have or are starting to decide where we want to go, and what we want to do next year. Previously, I had been dead-set on becoming a pilot. Basically, this is because its the one and only thing I've consistently wanted to be through my 17 years. Thanks to various factors (sarcasm), my life aims have been confused, and once again, I am left not knowing what I want to do in my life.

Of course, seeing as its pretty difficult to get entry to the Air Force, I figure I might as well give it a try. They only take like 2 pilots a year, and there are about 1000 applicants each year. The Air Force is one of the better options though, mainly because they pay you, and provide you with the training. Otherwise, I'd be paying living expenses, about $50,000 over three years for lessons, as well as my HECS debt for my uni degree. Also, airlines prefer Air Force trained pilots to commercially trained pilots...don't ask me why.

Yeh, so if I get into the Air Force, (which I most likely wont), I will definately go ahead with that. If not, I think I will take the year off. I hope to earn some money in the first couple of months, and then work and travel in the UK, where I will be able to also travel through Europe. Two of my cousins are going to be living in the UK, and there's Marvin in Germany, so i have some connections over there.

Basically I want to travel because if I don't get into the Air Force, I have no idea what I will want to do. If I choose the wrong course, I'll be stuck having to pay my fees up front, because HECS only covers your first degree. So I figure, if I go and see some of the world (cliche??), I might figure out what exactly I want to do.

Yeh so, in the meantime, I guess i should be aiming to get good marks this year. I suppose that could possibly make next year a bit easier. Motivation!!

Anyway, will update again soon. (Update or post pat??)
Tomah.

What a Weekend

2005-05-16T17:54:00.000+09:30

Well, this weekend has been quite busy, having a party, worked, slept and moved rooms.

As usual, I left the purchase of my costume for Lauren's party to the last minute, using the double free on friday afternoon to get it. Started off at an op-shop on Belair road, and found a genuine 1961 army jumper. The woman said that it had been brought in that very day, and she had just finished sewing up the moth holes. It was a bit small, but hey, for $3, you cant go too wrong. Next, edi and I headed down to the army disposals on unley road. Was very small, and featured more 1960s furniture than army merchandise. Getting desperate, I headed up and down unley road looking for somewhere to go, checking out all the op-shops and even 2nd hand furniture stores i could find. Feeling quite defeated, we jumped back in the car, and headed back to school.

As I say, Unley road is a piece of shit, and i hate it a lot. Crossing it in peak hour is no mean feat, (speeling :S) so, getting impatient, I took a left turn instead. After taking this left, I headed further down unley road, to come across another army disposal shop. Fate I tell you, fate. I was meant to come across that shipe. Here, I bought another genuince piece, a US Marine Corps hat, and some dog tags. I think i pulled it off in the end, looked a bit army-like, plus....it was a last minute effort.

So Laurens actual party you ask? Well, luckily i organised a one-way share with the Wilsons, so Anne took us down, and Sally picked us up. Laurens was wicked. I would have to say one of the best ever. Everyone was in the mood, and I think i drunk just enough to have the right amount of fun. I even unleashed my dancing talents upon the world. Yeh, you'd better watch out John Travolta. I was even told by Rachel, that it was obvious why I didn't dance that often. Well, in my opinion, none of us are any good, bar Edi and Muskee. (out of guys) Nevertheless, this resulted in my ego taking quite a beating, and it took a while for me to start dancing again.

My philosophy is that now I've started low, I can't disappoint, and I might even improve.

So yeh, soccer was cancelled on saturday, which gave me a chance to sleep in. Fixed my car stereo and headed down to footy as i was the runner. Another good game i reckon. Camels played pretty well, shown as Pembroke were force to call Jace Bode at half time. This resulted in a bit of a controversy. Colesy was dead-set that they couldnt do this, so i was running back and forht, telling the umpires they were wrong. Long story short, I was kicked off the ground for the rest of the game.

Sunday - finally after 4 months of constant nagging, Mark moved out of his room, and into the bigger granny-flat style room left vacant by Luke. This gave me my second room, which I have made into my private study. Its half empty at the moment, so I want to get a small two-seater couch. Would be good.

My moving of rooms was interrupted to go and see "What the bleep to we know?" with Benny. Was a fantastic movie. It was about quantum physics, and how its possible implications could effect our everyday lives. Was very interesting, went into things like how one persons consciousness could affect that of others around them, and the material world. It also went into how thoughts can change the structure of water, and therefore, how thoughts can change ourselves physically and chemically. It also went into the way our cell receptors can be effected by the constant feeling of one emotion. So, we can live longer and healthier lives by either not feeling any emotion, or by having a balanced emotional life.

Weekend finished with monday, homework, work (blockbuster) and now blog, followed shortly by more homework.

Will see you all tomorrow,
tomah

Response to: Yeah.... updating is good

2005-05-10T20:27:00.000+09:30

I'm very interested in Ben's opionions concerning corporations and the steps needed to "crash" them. Anyway, at first, I viewed Ben's hopes as impossible and idealistic. To some degree they are, and I still think they are a long way off ever being possible to achieve. I think that in today's society, people are too preoccupied with the pursuit of hapiness through monetary wealth, than with the concerns of the effect this pursuit has on their world.

Ben has proposed that we boycott these multinational companies, and set up small, loaclised and restriced businesses. To a certain extednt, I agree that this is achievable. These businesses would be owned and operated by the people who work for them, therefore, their interests would lie in the location in which they operate. I do however, predict huge problems in the transition from the current system, to the one that Ben has proposed. I am aware that Ben's post was simply an idea, and he's not planning on putting it into action tomorrow, but I want to look at the practical aspects of it.

It would be nearly impossible to boycott multinational companies and replace them with small, localised busnisses. Firstly, these corporations operate mostly in oligopolies and monopolies, where barriers to entry are high, and therefore, entering the market would be difficult. Additionaly, the companies are enormous, and record super-normal profit, therefore, their financial backing would far outweigh that of these small, localised companies. It would simply be impossible for these businesses to compete with the economies of scale that the coporations operate on.

The amazing thing is, that the effect of our current system is not just negative on nature, but on billions of the impoverished around the world. The fact is, that under the current economic structure, the majority of the world's population will never experience an increase in their standard of living. It is impossible, in their current situations, for these heavily indebted countries to catch up to developed countries such as the European ones, America, and to a lesser degree Australia.

I find it quite selfish, (this includes me) that we are pursuing careers with the idea of money, instead of considering the possibilites of improving the world. At retreat, in our booklet, we were aked how we could enrich the world. This question actually stumped me. How many of us, in considering our future paths, think about how we may enrich the world by taking this path. Honestly, no matter what we do, we can apply it to enriching the world, but, these options will never fill our bank accounts with the balance we think is necessary.

Wow, I'm in one of my moods. I don't think this makes sense.
Seeing as this is the second post for the night, I must go now, and continue with my homework.

Economic Rationalism

2005-05-10T18:32:00.000+09:30

At the risk of sounding as if I'm merely attempting to be as intellectual as other bloggers such as Alstin, Fards (sorry ben) and Patty, I want to talk today about Economic rationalism. Also, it may not make sense to people who haven't done economics (this excludes people like Ben).

Last year, having done anticipated SL Eco with Mrs Wong, I learned the way economists rationalize decisions in today's society. An example of this is Micro-economic reform (MER) which is a supply side policy, and a process whereby markets are deregulated, increasing the level of competition and efficiency in domestic and international economies. MER involves the reduction in trade barriers, and the re-allocation of resources to reflect market forces.

Ok, so this MER all seems pretty good, efficiency is increased, due to an increase in competition. Of course, an increase in efficiency means an decrease in the wastage of resources, and therefore a decrease in the cost of production. If everything goes to plan, a decrease in cost of production would be passed onto consumers, who would be left paying less for their goods. This would result in a long-term increase in the standard of living.

MER of course comes with a small catch, short term decrease in standard in living. This all seems well and good, considering that in the long-term, everyone's better off, as long as you look at it from a utilitarian perspective.

So this was all well and good, I considered MER a necessity in the current day an age, ensuring that our country remains competitive in the international market place, and we maintain our high standard of living. This was all until I started reading The Grapes of Wrath. Thanks Robotnic. I'm left thoroughly confused. Everything I learnt last year in Economics must now have a human face.

For those who haven't read The Grapes of Wrath, it's about the migration of hundreds of thousands of dispossessed Oklahoma farmers, to California in search of jobs. These farmers, who had lived on the land for generations, were evicted by the banks, who had replaced the share-cropping system with mass farming. Human labour was replaced with capital, and hundreds of thousands of people were left unemployed, homeless and in search of a livelihood.

From an economist's perspective, this action would be considered reasonable. The farmers were experiencing a short-term decrease in standard of living, in order to make way for a far more efficient and cost-effective form of production. Then again, from a humanitarian's perspecuting, these people were kicked off of the land they had owned for generations, and left with nothing, except the advice to travel to California, where supposedly, jobs were plentiful.

On the one hand, I can understand the economist's perspective, the system which had been in place with the share-croppers had failed multiple times, and had to be replaced. Replacing labour with capital is something that has happened increasingly with the progress of technology, and I can say, that on the whole, it has provided long-term increases in standard of living.

Anyway, I guess the Oakies are an extreme case of the failure of Economic rationalism, and it is in these circumstances, that government intervention is needed to provided monetary and economic relief to the under-privileged.

Anyway, I apologise for my ramblings and I'm not even sure whether I've made any sense, but it's helped me sort my thoughts, and basically, I don't care what any of you think.

Tomah, out.

Year 12 Retreat

2005-05-08T12:13:00.000+09:30

As with parties, it is difficult for most events to stand up to the hype they are often given. I had feared that year 12 Retreat could follow in this pattern. I was not disappointed however, as the Tatachilla retreat was bloody awesome.

I don't want to give a step-by-step recount of the retreat, as I feel such details should be reserved for those that were on it. I would like to tell you what parts of the retreat I found to be most rewarding.

Seeing as I had Dick Michael as my group leader, our group sessions were often very tense, as most of us detested this person, so our small groups were not the most open or fulfilling sessions. I found the insights into Mr Francis quite interesting, and appreciated his openness. We celebrated his 28th birthday, which is actually today, on Thursday night, with a cake and all.

One of my favorite exercises was the Candle exchange. People took it quite seriously and were sincere with who they gave it to. After 45 minutes however, people tended to run out of real options, and I think it became quite trivial.

Affirmations were also very rewarding. Liked them a lot. It made me remember our affirmation books that we had in year 7. I went through it and read it. God they were pathetic. We used to say stuff like "you have a nice personality".

Also, free time, I think, is one of the most important parts of the retreat. It's a time where we can consolidate what we've thought and done in our group sessions. Free time activities included:

pool (we actually had a tournament)
table tennis
eurotrash
indoor/outdoor soccer
footy
basketball
eating
trashing dorms (or attempting)
Sitting
Poker (both normal and Chinese)
Charades
Celebrity Heads

So here are some photos:

Lucy, after replacing my L trackpants with Heriot's S trackpants.

He's actually dutch, not american.

The wonderful scenery at Tatachilla

Not quite sure what Ben is doing here.

Ella gives herself a score out of 10.

B-Ball.

So pretty.

The girls attempt to stop us from trashing their dorm in retaliation.

Ravid.

Della.

Sitting.

The boys attempt to see the 'man' between our beds.

Charades.

Celebrity heads.

I promise, there was no alcohol. David still looks drunk tho?

Edi, the infamous walking eurotrash machine.

Francis cutting his cake.

Edgar, attempting to be Monique.

Back at school.

Overall, the Year 12 retreat was a very rewarding experience, that will no doubt help us to maintain our focus leading into the busiest period in the year. Like Patrick, i have been left in that mood of loving everyone. Also, like Patrick, I'm not sure how long this mood will last. We shall see.

Yesterday, I had my first game of soccer for the year. Playing in the B's, we beat PAC 6-2. Was a very good game. After Soccer, I headed down to Glandore oval as I was the runner for the first 18s. They lost, but i reckon they played pretty well considering it was their first game of the season. Look forward to next week. Neway, this new burst of exercise has taken its toll on my poor body, and I am aching today.

Well, I shall see you all tomorrow.
Tomah.

Mhar's and Maddy's

2005-04-30T18:47:00.000+09:30

Well last night was the last opportunity for us to gather as a large group at Mharianne and Maddy's 17th Bday party. Of course, this opportunity wasn't acted upon by all, for various reasons. Some plain just forgot what night it was on, evident as Sam, tonight asked David Elliott how he was planning to get to the party that had already passed:

samwel says:
hey david how ru getting to mharriannes?

Unfortunately for David, he had to inform Sam that the party had occurred the night before.

Well, I decided yesterday that I wanted to drink at this last opportunity for the holidays, so I made plans to get ready at, and return to Edgar's, who was for once, closest to the party. I don't think this will ever happen to me...unless the Wilsons have a party?!?!? So we left edi's at about 8, after much cs and eurotrashing. I was also responsible for helping edi make his eurotrash CD for the night, we did it "hand in hand". So Marten volunteered to drive us down, despite being sick (thanks Marten) and we stopped at the Tower to buy some brews. Guess who got served without an ID...yep...me! She didn't even ask.

So we arrived to the party relatively early at 8:30, before the bulk of the people had arrived. Once again, people appreciated Edgar's contribution to the party in his CD, however I don't think the little micro-hifi handled it too well.

Overall, I think the night went well, was a good opportunity to catch up with everyone after the break (while celebrating the hostesses birthdays) and make sure that no one else did any homework either :S.

Kyong, Dave, Dwilly.

Hope bec doesn't see this.

The girls attempt the macarena.

Rachel fishes her ring out of the pool, with the help of Mhar's dad and sister.

DutchOven vs. Fact of Life

Molly's lost Monique.

Ryan confused the fence for a toilet?

Monique's lost Molly.

Hope bec doesn't see this.

Not sure who's feet these are or why i took this pic.

Oh, and as Mharianne and Maddy celebrated their 17th, I celebrated the 1000th visitor to Fact of Life since adding the counter to the site.

Go Karting

2005-04-27T22:31:00.000+09:30

Well, firstly, I have to thank Edgar for allowing me to take this post from him. I am aware I haven't posted in a while, simply because I couldnt think of anything, this is the perfect opportunity.

So, tonight, Phil, Ant, Edi, Jezz, Charlie, John, David and I went go-karting at Richmond Kart Mania. Has become a bit of a tradition, each holidays, we do the big Grand Prix style tournament. It has also become tradition that we let Ant win. Nah, his prowess on the race track is difficult to compete with. Pretty obvious that he won, followed by Edgar in second and John in third. You can read the rest of the results yourself:

The night, as usual, was disappointing for me. I was nervous before hand, not having Hussey there to lose badly, making me look at least a bit better. I blame it all on bad luck, there just werent the gaps that i could sneak through. Oh well!

Some of you may have noticed the newest addition to Fact of Life in the weather thingo up top left. Quite happy with that, happy indeed. Oh, I stole the idea from domforth.

Tomorrow nite, i may head into the city after work, you kno, hit the clubs and pubs...thats right, im cool. And after that, I look forward to seeing most of you at Mharianne's and Maddy's.

A Plus tard. (Think thats right)
Tom

Ant's 18th

2005-04-18T23:45:00.000+09:30

The first 18th of the year. With many more to come, Ant has set the standard of what will be a year chock-a-block full of 18ths. Night on the whole was good. Although I wasn't very drunk, I cant recall much of the night.

The day began with David, Daniel, Dwilly, John, Nick and I looking through Marion for a present. Arrived to be told of what the options were. We ended up getting him a Spirit Bottle Holder and a bottle of Jim Beam. On the stand we got a plaque engraved with our names and a b-day message. We were all happy with the final package. Looked impressive. Even got it gift wrapped by the Westfield concierge. Nice girl.

So I hitched a ride down with the Wilsons, and gave Ant his present along with the rest of the boys. Started drinking the supplied drinks, (West End and VB). Although I usually hate these beers, I didnt mind them as much, primarily coz they were supplied, and they were cold, so they didnt taste as bad.

The rest of the night seems to be pretty much a blur. There was the usual; dancing, drinking, talking, crying. The night finished reasonably early for me, I left with the Wilsons at 1. Some went into the city and others went on their usual adventures, some taking it too far. Not naming any names but some were in shit for pulling out letterboxes and signs in Lucy's neighbourhood. Ant and co didnt end the night till 6:30am i am told.

There was drama on the way home for us too, as 4 police cars and an ambulance sped past us on our journey. Turned out they were for the stabbing on horseshoe drive in Aberfoyle Park. Not good.

Anway, thanks to Ant for the party, and still looking forward to others this holidays (those that I'm invited to {not Cullen's}).

The Birthday boy himself.

Consumed Drinks 1.

Consumed Drinks 2.

Consumed Drinks 3. Did you know that teenage binge drinking causes one death a week in Australia?

Who need to be the son of a preacher? I am a preacher!

Viv dancing.

'Beach Babe of the Month' Shannon Darling and some random Asian.

At last, the holidays are upon us

2005-04-15T00:07:00.000+09:30

Hm...its 12:07am on Friday morning. Everyone else is in bed, but no, not I. I have been up organising my Dad's birthday present. My brothers and I ended up getting him a night away with my mum. Anyway...

Today was the soccer tryouts and the first trial game for the Mercedes Camels. As usual, i sucked at soccer, however, it was quite an improvement. I reckon half of it is confidence...if it wasnt for that pretty boy John!!! Due to a lack of interest, and Mr Brice's need for a knee re-construction, soccer camp has been cancelled, which sucks. Of course, its our last chance to go, and we can't' I think we should have our own camp.

Camels absolutely cained Scotch. I arrived to watch the last half an hour, but it looked pretty one-sided from what I saw. This got me thinking, what exactly is Scotch good at?? Not footy, not soccer, not swimming. Academics? Not on the whole. Making money, that's it.

So the holidays are finally approaching. I have been quite looking forward to Ant's 18th. So much so, that on Monday, I swapped a shift that I had on Friday, to work on Saturday. I was quite angry when I realised that Ant's was actually on Saturday, and not Friday. Worry not, I have since changed this back, annoying greatly my fellow blockbuster workers in the process.

What else do the holidays hold in store? TOK, EE, revision, catch up, getting ahead, World Lit, Work, work experience (hopefully) and the usual other stuff. And this is all supposed to fit into two weeks?!?!? I think not! Also, the Levoirs plan on having a partay, along with Mharrianne and Maddy. Looking forward to these!

The fact that the end of term one has come is actually quite scary. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that I am in year 12, and the year is one third of the way through. This scares me even more, as already, we're through 33% of our material for the year. Soon enough, we'll be studying madly for our exams, which, for us, count for 75% of our marks.

I look forward to posting after ants, hopefully with many photos. See you all there (maybe not all).

Until then,
tom out

Soph and Kim's 18th

2005-04-03T11:55:00.000+09:30

Think pink!

With such a build up to a party as there was in this case, the night often ends in disappointment. I must say that this was an exception. With invitations being handed out a month before the big night, heaps of time was given to get prepared. However, in the true style of an IB student, i left it to the last minute, buying my $25 pink shirt the day of the party.

Fair few year 12s invited this time, as Soph and Kim had some of us in their classes.

The night started out really well for me. I was on my way to picking josh up, when I decided to ring him to get his address. Knowing my luck, a police bike had to pull up next to me. Expensive night so far, ticket = $192. I found this especially annoying seeing as josh had been on loudspeaker before reaching the traffic lights, were i decided to pick up the phone and hold it in my hands. Additionally, I had seen the same cop earlier, giving a ticket to some girl for the same offence!!! Anyway...

We arrived at 9ish to an unfamilliar crowd of PAC guys. Started drinking and I swear the girls were drunk before finishing their first. Place starting filling up at about 9:30 with heaps of last years yr 12s. Night was good, pretty funny.

At about 12, we left the Oxford, and went into the city. While waiting for a cab outside, we met the Sausage selling Frenchman who charged $3.00 for his sausages! City was crap, most places were closed by the time we got in there seeing as it was only a friday. Night ended for me at the Exeter with luke. On the whole, a good night, despite it being an expensive one.

Thanks to mon for the pics.

Refuse to make captions for all but one of these pics. If you need explanation, your an idiot.

The girls and the Sausage selling frenchman. They didnt have to pay for that sausage...wonder why?

Tsunami

2005-03-30T20:52:00.000+09:30

I was doing some research for my Extended Essay, which is on the Aid and Relief effort in Asia, following the boxing day tsunami.

I'm not sure, many of you may have seen this picture already, but i found it pretty amazing.
The pictures show a satellite view of Banda Aceh on 24 June 2004 and 28 December 2004.
Shows you just how devastating this thing was.

All is Well

2005-03-28T18:04:00.000+09:30

Well, I have fixed the problem. It seems taht a strange line of code in my template made opacity at 70%.

Oh and another thing, dont bother tagging anonymously. Your tags will be automatically deleted.

IE = Gay

2005-03-28T16:34:00.000+09:30

I hate Internet Explorer. For some unkown reason, my blog loads with distorted colours in Internet Explorer. This is made worse by the fact that it only happens with IE, as other programs such as Mozilla Firefox and Safari work perfectly. Another reason why Microsoft sucks balls.

If anyone can offer a solution, please do. Otherwise, i will simply have to get a new template, and start from scratch. As if i can be bothered!!!

IBers vs. SACE

2005-03-27T23:04:00.000+09:30

I never did really understand the rivalry that exists between IB and SACE. Sure, I can understand the envy of the SACE people, as they miss our exclusive IB gatherings and events like Nepabunna, but the sheer hostility of our relations at times suggests something more serious.

Some tend to take the joke of IB supremacy far too seriously, and actually believe its true (Edgar). This is, of course total bullshit. Ask any IB teacher, and they will tell you that on the whole, IB students are lazy little bastards. lol. Sure, we may have extra commitments like CAS, TOK and EE and Group 4, but on the whole, IB isn't really that bad. Honestly, its easier for us IBers to do better in our TER, and achieve higher rankings, that for those doing SACE.

As Mme Davies constantly points out, people doing SACE have to work just as hard to obtain a high TER, as those doing IB.

Another factor that deters people from IB is the fact that exams count for 75% of our grades. It is not untrue, however, to say that exams are pretty fucking important for SACE-ers too. By the time the end of the year comes for SACE ppl, most of the internal marking puts the students at equal standings. The difference between the marks really only comes from the exams.

Hm...another thing. Some ppl even get pissed off at us for using the term IBers, and even separating us at all. I'll ask ppl what term they use when talking about ppl in their....legal studies class. They will say, "people in my legal studies class", logically enough. For ppl doing IB, we spend all of our lessons with the same people, therefore, it seems logical that we would refer to our group as the IBers, would it not?

Anyway, this basically comes from a conversation I had with Lozza, after O'd publically abused the IBers for missing the assembly. May i add that nearly 30 ppl were absent from the assembly when it started. Only 19 ppl do IB, and some of them were at the assembly, therefore, O'd was wrong in blaming us.

Enough of this. May the end of this anti-IBism come quickly.

Esplanade Peda

2005-03-27T02:57:00.000+09:30

Good Friday Morning; Pip, Charlie and I leave Daniels to get some breaky from Macca's, only to come across this man.

Wearing short shorts, a midrift top, black socks, and sporting quite a stylish hair-do, the man seemed to be at the cutting edge of fashion. This was of course, until we saw his erection. Very Nice.

Percy's Crew

2005-03-27T02:29:00.000+09:30

So, Percy's Crew's first gig. The Tonsley had never seen so many young, and may i say snobishly, unbogan customers. Mon joined me, deciding that she wanted the change of scenery. We arrived part way through the first of four sets made up of covers and originals. Overall, pretty good, well i thought so neway, never sure if i am slightly bias due to my relation. Heaps of old Mercedes ppl there, graduates fromm 2000-2004 and even some of us 2005s!

Neway, the Tonsley was only the beginning of the night for mon and I, as we travelled around the city. Mon managed to get quite drunk on the 2-for-1 champagnes, and i had quite the struggle taking her away from the pub.

Next we went to Toby's, where some of the boys were having a poker night. Mon managed to impress them whith her drunkeness, before stealing their poker money and leaving for Jem's.

All the kayakers arrived back from Penrith today, where the National Kayaking Regatta was held. All did very well, many making the National team for the Junior Worlds in Europe. WELL DONE JEM!!!!!!!!!!! Again, mon managed to impress all the kayakers and their coach with her drunkeness.

Night ended for me after dropping the Kayakers and Mon at the grand. I came home to play CS with edi...ne1 say nerds??? and post this.

Percy's Crew; Part One of the saga.

A repeat of Mon's cronic case of self-portaiting.

Mon impressing me with her Stevie Wonder Karaoke.

I promise you, Jemimah is usually a very pretty girl.

The Kayaking Girls.

All the Girls.

Tom's Blog

2005-03-26T12:52:00.000+10:30

Well, with the panic setting in for completing my CAS hours on time, I've decided to create this blog, to boost my hours.

Following in the footsteps of Blogging greats, Edgar and Pat, I also hope to achieve their high standard in Blogging.

So far, the weekend has been quite good, with Daniel's seventeenth on Thursday night. Many thought they would use the unoriginal idea of giving Daniel a Keg of German beer, however, I wanted to be more original. So at school, I bought a 3.5kg container of easter eggs from Mrs Shevlin and gave Daniel this, along with a Pulp Fiction DVD, one of his fave movies.

The night began quietly and slowly, most people not coming until about 9:30. Still, the night was quiet, and many of us were contemplating suicide, due to the heavy metal music. The night really only started once the EuroTrash was played. Once again, we must thank edi for introducing us to this!

After this, as i exceeded my limit of two beers, the night becomes hazy. All i can remember is Deslie walking in on Daniel and a certain fem in a comprimising position. Photos will be posted asap {not of daniel and co. but the whole night}. I need to get them off some1 who took some tho...forgot to take my camera.

So Tonight, I'm off to see Percy's crew perform at the Tonsley. For those who are unaware, Percy's crew is my brothers band, with Trent Lawson and Sam Way. First gig tonite, so should be interesting. They have two others lined up, one at the Arkaba and another at the Adelaide Unibar.