Big Sugar - December 3rd

Just bought my tix for the last Big Sugar show in Kingston. Bedouin Soundclash opening again. So about two weeks from now I'll be wandering around deaf. Sorry if I have to ask you to repeat yourself several times.

Mmm....Trouble in the City...

Stupid Prof, prepare for a roasting

Oh the frustration. The anger. Urge... To smite... Overwhelming....

Anyone who has spoken to me anytime in the last three weeks knows how hacked off I am about Stupid Prof. No names, but suffice it to say that everyone in second year computer science hates the guy. He can't teach, he's oblivious to student needs, etc. I could go on for hours. Although the class isn't large at all (only 40 people or so) the vast majority of us are second years who only know some Java, yet he prattles on and on about the material without even bothering to explain the foundations of whatever we're talking about.

I have to fight the temptation to throw things at his head.

"Okay, so he can't teach. It's always easy to do well on work outside of class, right?" WRONG.

He doesn't understand that we're all taking 4 other courses at the same time and that we can't devote 100% of our time on his outlandishly complicated, poorly explained assignments.

The midterm was so long that half the class didn't even finish the questions. Let me tell you that binary conversions, although easy to do, can take an awful long time to finish and check over for mistakes. Take 4 binary conversions, two floating point representation conversions, a C to assembly language conversion, an assembly language program trace and some short answer questions and you do not have a 50 minute midterm. Thankfully I managed to get to every question, but I lost at least 9 marks because I didn't have time to check and of my answers. Needless to say, not a single person finished the test early.

Finally, ask him a question outside of class (email, bulletin board, etc) and he doesn't help. Standard answer, "Figure it out on your own." The T.A.'s for the class are no different.

I don't want to be spoonfed or coddled. But at least give us a fighting chance to do well in this course.

But when the class rep hands out those professor evaluation forms at the end of the term, he is getting the most scathing evaluation I can fit into that little comments section. Bento suggests writing "see attached" on the form and then stapling a 5 page report to it.

Now. I have two essays to write, four assignments to finish and a test to prepare for so I'm leaving this rant and Stupid Prof's assignment for later. *kicks mattress a few dozen times and pulls out English books*

So Not Over

Big Sugar is coming back! Another show just announced for Dec. 3 at AJ's Hanger! Nearly dragged Margaret off her feet when I saw "IG SUGAR" on the AJ's billboard and ran to verify what it said. Lo and behold, it read "DEC 3 BIG SUGAR". One more show before they split! Come on, you know you want to kill those eardrums of yours. Who's with me?

A little later...
Have been researching concert dates on the Big Sugar site BBS; apparently there's a show on Nov. 29 at Waterloo. So here's my Big Plan: Nov 28 - last day of classes, go home. Nov 29 - travel to Waterloo, make Jen go to concert too. Dec 3 convince brother to give me ride back to Kingston and go to concert with me at AJ's. Dec 4 - start studying for CISC 124 final. Dec 5 - write CISC 124 final.

Am laughing maniacally. Muwahaha.

A while after...
Curses. Big Plan ruined as stinky brother is being a party pooper and doesn't want to drive to Kingston again. I told him that Bon Jovi was opening but he didn't believe me (smart cookie). Pooper!

Almost...a...Gundam...

From TIME Magazine's Coolest Inventions of 2003:

• Leave it to Japanese person to invent a Power Suit to transform scrawny wimps into car-lifting macho men (or women). Add a little armour and some scary looking eyes and you've got yourself Alphonse from Patlabor



• Mmm... luminous handbag... In case thieves and muggers couldn't see your purse in the dark, here's a way to lend them a hand.



• It's Pinchy 3000. Watch out MAHA.



• Now this would be useful in K-Town, but imagine how dorky you'd look: Ice Bike



• "They are NOT for eating!"

Damn Tree Rats!!

I used to think that squirrels were cute. That lasted until last year, when I encountered the Freakishly Unafraid Kingston Squirrel.

These little buggers will not balk at stealing food from you. They will play chicken on the sidewalk with unsuspecting university students. I've seen one pick up a half-opened tube of Ritz crackers, try unsuccessfully to grab one from the open end, find that his arm was too short, and then carry it off in his mouth to whatever wormy little hellhole that he was spawned from.

And this morning I find that one of the demons has crawled up my window screen, into the hole at the upper left corner and has begun to use the space between the glass and screen as it's personal larder! Damn tree rat! Git!

I am a big, big, big geek

So much so that I find this website very cool: Sorting

Also this: BookCrossing

And this one is just plain funny: Evanjellydonut (Evangelion fans only)

[Edit: November 11, 12:30AM - I just spent 6 consecutive hours working on my CISC assignment. And then I walked into the door. Go me!]

Ugh...Depressing

Matrix Revolutions.

Watch it, but don't expect too much.

Am staying home, skipping Stupid Prof and CISC 124 to work on my many assignments/essays/test preps.

Sugar Coma

I'm still suffering the aftereffects of a self-induced sugar coma that started sometime before Hallowe'en.

First off, peanut butter squares. Here's the ingrediant list: a ton of butter, a ton of icing sugar, and a generous dollop of peanut butter. Topped off with a centimeter thick layer of dark chocolate. Ate two the next morning and was ricocheting off the walls for several hours afterwards.

Second, Hallowe'en! We didn't go trick or treating, but Bento, WND and I went to Hallowe'en Harvest and collected food for a food drive. Candy from people who think that we are trick or treating can't hurt either. No, most of the sugar from this event came the day after, when Shopper's Drug Mart had all candy on sale. Oh yes. I am well-stocked and wired for days.

Also, Happy Birthday, Mom (and Accordion Guy)!

"Everyone wants to be found"

Watch this movie. Just do it. There's no way to describe the plot because there isn't really one. Though that doesn't mean that Lost In Translation is meaningless. Take one middle-aged, washed-up movie actor (Bill Murray) and one recent university graduate (Scarlett Johansson), plunk them in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world (Tokyo) and watch as they try to find themselves. Sort of.

Oh, and after you watch it, get your grubby little hands on the soundtrack. Is good.

I forget who this is from, but there's an article out there that talks about both the anonymity and anxiety of being alone in a big city. You feel both independent and lost, both set free and at a loss. It makes me miss Hong Kong because that's how I felt the whole time I was there.

Again, I feel that familiar desire to travel.