Today I take off for Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, for no other reason than I've never been there. I'm a little excited to see this city as my mother raves about it. I figured that since I'll be gone for the weekend, I might as well update my progress now.
A few days ago a powerful weather system moved through the region bringing howling winds. I don't know exactly how fast they were but winds of up to 90km/h were recorded in Sydney and that was the same system. Although the windstorm brought clouds there wasn't much in the way of rain. The system has now cleared and we've got nothing but sunny weather. Unfortunately, according to the forecasts, my time in Adelaide will be rainy.
In my last post I mentioned Roman and Oksana who had come down for a wedding and I said that it was for Oksana's friend. Shortly thereafter I received a, may I say terse, e-mail friend reminding me that it was Oksana's sister that was getting married up in the Blue Mountains, not her friend. Now, I don't know Oksana's family dynamic but I imagine if she's come from Canada to see her sister get married, they must be friends. I stand by my earlier statement.
Now, a little about Adelaide and South Australia. South Australia was founded by free settlers, unlike the rest of Australia which had convict settlement, although the man who though up the idea was a convict and was in Newgate Prison in London when he thought up the idea. Some of the earliest settlers were Germans who established the wine industry in the Barossa Valley, now a premier viticultural area. The Germans had a particular dish involving crows and to this day South Australians are known as "crow-eaters". Because it accepted non-conformist thinkers South Australia has usually been a little more liberal than the rest of Australia.
Adelaide, named after a Queen of the UK, with a population of 1.1 million, is Australia's 5th largest city after Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Its center is laid out in a grid pattern and is the only major city in the world who's central district is entirely surrounded by parks. It is home to many festivals, giving the name "The Festival State" to South Australia. I'll see if Adelaide is as wonderful as my mother says it is.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
All Work and No Play
The title of this post worked out better than I thought. It's a pun. Someone once said that puns are just lazy writing, and they're probably right, but punners are in good company. The ancient Egyptians were famous for their puns and enjoyed them thoroughly. The civilization that brought us the Pyramids, the Great Library, the Great Lighthouse, poetry (the first recorded example) and organized labour, including history's first recorded strike (I'm not kidding), seem to have been lazy writers. I suppose when all your writing consists of pictograms (hieroglyphs) even a short story is quite an undertaking, you have to economize where you can. The ancient Egyptians, it seems, economized with lazy humour.
I'll explain the title now. Since my semester schedule is better for getting hours at ACTTAB, I've been getting better (more) hours at ACTTAB. Although I haven't been overworked, I've still managed to get in some solid time, which translates to some solid cash. Unfortunately, it meant that I couldn't see this year's ANU Law Revue. I'll have to get a precis of it from someone.
The ANU Law Revue, an annual comedy lampooning put on by law students, ran Thursday-Saturday but commitments interfered every day. Thursday was blocked by umpire training and a visit with some family friends, while Friday and Saturday were taken up by work.
On Thursday, I met up with some family friends, Roman and Oksana, who were in Australia for Oksana's friend's wedding. Oksana is originally from Australia but has lived in Canada for a number of years while Roman, her husband, is a Canadian through-and-through. They were kind enough to pass along some stuff, mostly clothes, from my mother. I met up with them at the Canberra Hyatt, Canberra's oldest and possibly nicest hotel, and then they were gracious enough to take me out for dinner. I showed them around Garema Place and we finally decided on the Tongue & Groove, a new, trendy restaurant/cocktail lounge. If you can get a table there, you're somebody. We were seated and had a fantastic dinner. Afterwards, I thanked Oksana and Roman for their companionship, the dinner and the parcels.
Earlier I discussed ancient Egypt and I figure I'll say a little more on that fascinating civilization, in case you still don't believe the assertions I made earlier. With regards to poetry, the first recorded poem is an ode to the sun written (probably dictated) by Amenhotep IV, popularly known as Akhenaten. Among other things, he was Tutankhamun's father. Akhenaten was a very unusual fellow and moved the capital to a place now called El-Amarna, or Tel-El-Amarna. He instituted what was known as the Amarna Revolution, completely changing Egyptian religion. Although polytheistic, Akhenaten declared there to be only 1 God, the sun God Aten (hence the name change and the ode). It was history's first monotheistic religion. As well, art was changed to show the royal family in a more realistic way. After his death, the old religion was restored but such was the upheaval that, for whatever reason, Tutankhamun's name was erased from the List of Pharaohs.
As for organized labour, the Egyptians were famous for not using slaves in the construction of their monuments. Slaves were only used domestically, and sometimes in the brick works and quarries. All the Egyptians who toiled away for decades to make the Pyramids and other monuments were paid, and quite well. There were actually two very good reasons for this. Firstly, most of the work was done during the flood season when stones could be shipped closer to the monuments. At this time, better than 95% of the population was, effectively, unemployed, so the monuments essentially became vast public works for employment creation; lessons for today, I think. Secondly, I think there was a sort of spiritual aspect and that the Egyptians believed that you could not truly appreciate what you were building, essentially ensuring the Pharaoh's immortality, if you weren't an Egyptian. Getting to the first strike, around 1480 BCE there was a brick works near modern Deir-El-Medina. Like most people, they were promised goods (in this case grain, I think) in lieu of cash. At one point, they were not paid their wages and so the workers stopped working. They returned to work after being promised their wages but when those were not forthcoming, they went on strike again. They only returned to work after the Mayor of Waset (Thebes), I think, personally came down and delivered their allotment. I think the ancient Egyptians could teach us all a thing or two.
I'll explain the title now. Since my semester schedule is better for getting hours at ACTTAB, I've been getting better (more) hours at ACTTAB. Although I haven't been overworked, I've still managed to get in some solid time, which translates to some solid cash. Unfortunately, it meant that I couldn't see this year's ANU Law Revue. I'll have to get a precis of it from someone.
The ANU Law Revue, an annual comedy lampooning put on by law students, ran Thursday-Saturday but commitments interfered every day. Thursday was blocked by umpire training and a visit with some family friends, while Friday and Saturday were taken up by work.
On Thursday, I met up with some family friends, Roman and Oksana, who were in Australia for Oksana's friend's wedding. Oksana is originally from Australia but has lived in Canada for a number of years while Roman, her husband, is a Canadian through-and-through. They were kind enough to pass along some stuff, mostly clothes, from my mother. I met up with them at the Canberra Hyatt, Canberra's oldest and possibly nicest hotel, and then they were gracious enough to take me out for dinner. I showed them around Garema Place and we finally decided on the Tongue & Groove, a new, trendy restaurant/cocktail lounge. If you can get a table there, you're somebody. We were seated and had a fantastic dinner. Afterwards, I thanked Oksana and Roman for their companionship, the dinner and the parcels.
Earlier I discussed ancient Egypt and I figure I'll say a little more on that fascinating civilization, in case you still don't believe the assertions I made earlier. With regards to poetry, the first recorded poem is an ode to the sun written (probably dictated) by Amenhotep IV, popularly known as Akhenaten. Among other things, he was Tutankhamun's father. Akhenaten was a very unusual fellow and moved the capital to a place now called El-Amarna, or Tel-El-Amarna. He instituted what was known as the Amarna Revolution, completely changing Egyptian religion. Although polytheistic, Akhenaten declared there to be only 1 God, the sun God Aten (hence the name change and the ode). It was history's first monotheistic religion. As well, art was changed to show the royal family in a more realistic way. After his death, the old religion was restored but such was the upheaval that, for whatever reason, Tutankhamun's name was erased from the List of Pharaohs.
As for organized labour, the Egyptians were famous for not using slaves in the construction of their monuments. Slaves were only used domestically, and sometimes in the brick works and quarries. All the Egyptians who toiled away for decades to make the Pyramids and other monuments were paid, and quite well. There were actually two very good reasons for this. Firstly, most of the work was done during the flood season when stones could be shipped closer to the monuments. At this time, better than 95% of the population was, effectively, unemployed, so the monuments essentially became vast public works for employment creation; lessons for today, I think. Secondly, I think there was a sort of spiritual aspect and that the Egyptians believed that you could not truly appreciate what you were building, essentially ensuring the Pharaoh's immortality, if you weren't an Egyptian. Getting to the first strike, around 1480 BCE there was a brick works near modern Deir-El-Medina. Like most people, they were promised goods (in this case grain, I think) in lieu of cash. At one point, they were not paid their wages and so the workers stopped working. They returned to work after being promised their wages but when those were not forthcoming, they went on strike again. They only returned to work after the Mayor of Waset (Thebes), I think, personally came down and delivered their allotment. I think the ancient Egyptians could teach us all a thing or two.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
In, and Out, the Money
I had a pleasant surprise on Monday when I noticed that my income tax refund had been deposited in my bank account. While $676.00 may not sound like a lot, to a student it makes all the difference in the world. Of course, it's my money to begin with so I'm only really getting what I've earned anyway. Am I really any better off? Of course I am. That, combined with a fairly nice payday a few days before means that I have ample funding for me-sen and my adventures.
The first thing I did was get a new rear wheel for my bicycle, whose rear wheel was slightly, but noticeably, bent and the axle broke. I just have to fiddle with the breaks a bit to get it perfect. I also got a set of Allen keys and a mud flap so my pants won't get dirty when I'm riding in the rain.
I've also decided to treat myself to a little vacation. Using my hard-earned money, I booked myself a round-trip to Adelaide with accommodation at the central YHA hostel. I think I deserve it. I'm leaving on the afternoon of Thursday, August 27th and returning to Canberra Monday, August 31st. Because one of my courses won't be running for a few weeks, I won't have class that Monday giving me extra time in Adelaide. I'm going primarily because I've never been and my mother sings the city's praises. This will mean that the only capital cities left for me to explore will be Hobart and Perth. I'll have to catch them some other time.
There are 2 things I wish to complain about, though, the first being the absence I see, from time to time, of the letter "u" in words like colour, harbour, favourite, etc. While this would be acceptable in the USA, I find it very irritating. It's not a matter of American hegemony, rather laziness on the part of the writers. Is it really that hard to set the spell check to English (Australian/UK/Canadian)? I had an exchange on this very topic over the university intranet with someone.
The history of the "u" in those words is actually quite interesting. In the 18th Century there was a move to standardize English spelling and, at the same time, to make it more like Latin; this is where the absurd "non-splitting infinitive" rule came about as well. The idea was the words that entered into English from French would be spelled with a "u" but those that came directly from Latin would be spelled without it. The problem was that it was very difficult most of the time to discern which language was the progenitor of the English word. Hence, 18th Century spellings sometimes would include words like "errour" (error), "terrour" (terror) and "governour" (governor) and "color", "labor" and "harbor". In the 1750s, the first great English dictionary was published by Samuel Johnson and his spellings included the use of "u" now seen in the British/International English. In the American colonies, soon to be independent, the Latinization of English continued to the point we see today, but it is only the American English that has dropped the "u". There are other differences, such as "-fense/-fence", "-lt/-led", "-ise/-ize", and "-er/-re" but I won't labour on them.
The second gripe I have is with the appalling lack of late-night eating facilities in Canberra. This arose out of a discussion with a fellow from India named Varun. Sometimes I like to eat late or I just get a craving and I want something. Unfortunately, there isn't a single pub or anything that serves good food late. Your choices are limited to either pizza stands, McDonald's or the Casino, which does have an alright menu, but it is quite limited. I really don't understand why there isn't at least 1 pub that serves food late. Kitchens seem to close in Canberra around 21:00 and I can't fathom it. Surely there must be a demand for proper late night eating; I'm an example of it. Is a late night food serving pub really too much to ask for? Apparently, in Canberra, it is.
The first thing I did was get a new rear wheel for my bicycle, whose rear wheel was slightly, but noticeably, bent and the axle broke. I just have to fiddle with the breaks a bit to get it perfect. I also got a set of Allen keys and a mud flap so my pants won't get dirty when I'm riding in the rain.
I've also decided to treat myself to a little vacation. Using my hard-earned money, I booked myself a round-trip to Adelaide with accommodation at the central YHA hostel. I think I deserve it. I'm leaving on the afternoon of Thursday, August 27th and returning to Canberra Monday, August 31st. Because one of my courses won't be running for a few weeks, I won't have class that Monday giving me extra time in Adelaide. I'm going primarily because I've never been and my mother sings the city's praises. This will mean that the only capital cities left for me to explore will be Hobart and Perth. I'll have to catch them some other time.
There are 2 things I wish to complain about, though, the first being the absence I see, from time to time, of the letter "u" in words like colour, harbour, favourite, etc. While this would be acceptable in the USA, I find it very irritating. It's not a matter of American hegemony, rather laziness on the part of the writers. Is it really that hard to set the spell check to English (Australian/UK/Canadian)? I had an exchange on this very topic over the university intranet with someone.
The history of the "u" in those words is actually quite interesting. In the 18th Century there was a move to standardize English spelling and, at the same time, to make it more like Latin; this is where the absurd "non-splitting infinitive" rule came about as well. The idea was the words that entered into English from French would be spelled with a "u" but those that came directly from Latin would be spelled without it. The problem was that it was very difficult most of the time to discern which language was the progenitor of the English word. Hence, 18th Century spellings sometimes would include words like "errour" (error), "terrour" (terror) and "governour" (governor) and "color", "labor" and "harbor". In the 1750s, the first great English dictionary was published by Samuel Johnson and his spellings included the use of "u" now seen in the British/International English. In the American colonies, soon to be independent, the Latinization of English continued to the point we see today, but it is only the American English that has dropped the "u". There are other differences, such as "-fense/-fence", "-lt/-led", "-ise/-ize", and "-er/-re" but I won't labour on them.
The second gripe I have is with the appalling lack of late-night eating facilities in Canberra. This arose out of a discussion with a fellow from India named Varun. Sometimes I like to eat late or I just get a craving and I want something. Unfortunately, there isn't a single pub or anything that serves good food late. Your choices are limited to either pizza stands, McDonald's or the Casino, which does have an alright menu, but it is quite limited. I really don't understand why there isn't at least 1 pub that serves food late. Kitchens seem to close in Canberra around 21:00 and I can't fathom it. Surely there must be a demand for proper late night eating; I'm an example of it. Is a late night food serving pub really too much to ask for? Apparently, in Canberra, it is.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Case of Humans vs. Zombies
For most of the week ANU has been in the grips of a zombie infestation. Apparently, Humans vs. Zombies is a popular role-playing game around American universities. Essentially people get placed on human or zombie teams and then go on missions. If a human is touched by a zombie, they become zombies. Although zombies cannot be killed, they can be stunned for 15 minutes by being hit with either a nerf dart or some socks. The game ran across campus and in the residences starting Wednesday and ending last Saturday. The Zombies won by infecting all of the human players. It sounds like so much fun and I couldn't play only because I didn't hear about it until late. Next year, if they're still running it, I'll buy some night vision goggles for the night missions.
Thursday and Friday were the last 2 days of my intensive postgraduate course. We had some interesting guest speakers who spoke of APEC, ASEAN and the Human Rights Council. Now comes the interesting part of trying to write a great paper. The professor assures us it isn't hard but I'm not so sure.
This evening I went to a laser tag facility called Zone 3 in Belconnen. This was a joint venture between our floor and the residents of the floor below us. We had an enormous amount of fun shooting each other and I fared fairly well. A nice escape from the usual drudgery.
I'd also just like to point out that I gained about 8kg from my Canadian trip and now I'm busy trying to shed that weight. That's the last time I accept to eat so much without the weather favouring bicycle riding.
Thursday and Friday were the last 2 days of my intensive postgraduate course. We had some interesting guest speakers who spoke of APEC, ASEAN and the Human Rights Council. Now comes the interesting part of trying to write a great paper. The professor assures us it isn't hard but I'm not so sure.
This evening I went to a laser tag facility called Zone 3 in Belconnen. This was a joint venture between our floor and the residents of the floor below us. We had an enormous amount of fun shooting each other and I fared fairly well. A nice escape from the usual drudgery.
I'd also just like to point out that I gained about 8kg from my Canadian trip and now I'm busy trying to shed that weight. That's the last time I accept to eat so much without the weather favouring bicycle riding.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Formatting Adventures
I've noticed the days getting longer. When I go to umpire training its not quite as dark as it used to be. It hasn't warmed up any but it's getting there.
The last few weeks haven't proven interesting really. University continues to be as much fun as it sounds, although I was introduced to a new class format. As part of the JD program, I have to take at least 2 postgraduate courses, and this semester I'm taking Law of International Institutions (LAWS 8184) with the same professor who's teaching me Advanced International Law (LAWS 2264). Because most postgraduate courses are run for those who work or fly in from elsewhere, the format is 4 days of 09:00-17:00. That was last Thursday and Friday and the same will be repeated this Thursday and Friday. Following that, I have to submit a paper which will be worth 100%, not something I'm looking forward to. I hope that because I did a similar class back at NPSIA I'll have an advantage here. Other than that, so far so good. I will only have 2 final exams this year so I'm hoping I'll get those out of the way quickly and then have the summer to work at ACTTAB and travel if possible. I may even be having visitors from Canada.
Life outside university seems to be progressing. My friends and I had another DnD session recently where we managed to slay a difficult opponent. We're all riding a high at the moment and we can't wait for the next adventures. I'm hoping a little adventure will come my way soon too.
By the way, I've updated my previous post a bit so check to see if you've missed anything.
The last few weeks haven't proven interesting really. University continues to be as much fun as it sounds, although I was introduced to a new class format. As part of the JD program, I have to take at least 2 postgraduate courses, and this semester I'm taking Law of International Institutions (LAWS 8184) with the same professor who's teaching me Advanced International Law (LAWS 2264). Because most postgraduate courses are run for those who work or fly in from elsewhere, the format is 4 days of 09:00-17:00. That was last Thursday and Friday and the same will be repeated this Thursday and Friday. Following that, I have to submit a paper which will be worth 100%, not something I'm looking forward to. I hope that because I did a similar class back at NPSIA I'll have an advantage here. Other than that, so far so good. I will only have 2 final exams this year so I'm hoping I'll get those out of the way quickly and then have the summer to work at ACTTAB and travel if possible. I may even be having visitors from Canada.
Life outside university seems to be progressing. My friends and I had another DnD session recently where we managed to slay a difficult opponent. We're all riding a high at the moment and we can't wait for the next adventures. I'm hoping a little adventure will come my way soon too.
By the way, I've updated my previous post a bit so check to see if you've missed anything.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
There and Back Again
I've returned from a brief spell in Canada and have quickly re-entered the scholastic life. My trip back was fantastic except for the weather which was absolutely vile. It rained most of the time and temperatures were never really much above 20C. The one day it was nice and hot was the day after my arrival. After that, a stationary low moved in and brought rain and cold; it was like that almost everywhere I went. I did get a chance to talk to my grandmother about her experiences, some of which were quite suspenseful.
Firstly, the journey across the Pacific began with my brother and I meeting up at Sydney airport. I felt sorry for him as he had to be up extra early in order to catch the flight from Christchurch; actually, he may not have slept at all. The flight was uneventful except that one of my brother's bags was misplaced and we spent the next few days waiting for it; it eventually turned up. Due to the missing bag and a quick connection, we missed our flight to Ottawa but, luckily, the next one was only 2.5 hours later. We made it to Ottawa where we both collapsed from exhaustion, though I think I tried to stay up a bit.
I had a busy schedule planned for my 3 weeks in Canada while my brother only spent a few days in Ottawa before shipping off to Camp Borden to teach another cohort of cadets how to play musical instruments. One of the first things I tried to do was get in on the trial of Larry O'Brien but it was pushed from 09:30 to 14:00 so I couldn't stay to see it. Later that day, I went to a friend's barbeque where he, quite ingeniously, had Montreal smoked meat and other goodies. I also went to see a soccer game of my old team and I enjoyed seeing everyone after such a long time.
I managed to meet up with Gavin, one of the most creative people I know. We met a few years ago as his parents are lawyers my dad knows. I went over to Gavin's house and we talked for hours on what I recall to be a myriad of subjects and his sister, Becky, joined in as well. The one that springs to mind is linguistics. Gavin is contemplating returning to university to do an English degree. He's never out of ideas for TV shows and movies, the entertainment industry being his first love, and I hope to see one of his creations on the screen one day. I also met up with Luda who is working in the trademarks section of a major law firm. She gave me some great pointers
on what to expect and how to apply to firms for work.
Canada Day has always been one of my favourite days on the calendar. This time around, though, I didn't spend much time downtown as I was invited to another barbeque. Walter Usyk, the host, had graciously invited the whole soccer team to his place for Canada Day. We all had great fun talking and dodging the rain. After it all, I thanked Walter for the day and I trodded off downtown to see the fireworks. They were quite spectacular this year as they came off the stage, not only from behind the Centre Block.
I also caught up with old friends at the Barley Mow for pub trivia and at the RASC meeting. Things had moved on in the 18 months I wasn't around; for example, a friend of mine and her husband had had a daughter. I kept my arrival secret from the RASC members and I surprised them all when I showed up. I think it was a pleasant thing to do. Much the same happened at the Barley Mow, though everyone knew I was coming. As luck would have it, we won our first trivia game in a long time, and by only 0.5 points! I so enjoyed trivia at the Barley Mow and I'm a little bit sorry I could only stay for 2 games.
Even though it rained most of the time, I did manage to get some exercise in. I played some soccer with the old team and even though we lost, I had a great time. I'll miss playing with the guys but next time I'm back, they assure me there will be a spot on the team for me. All of them, every last one, are absolutely fantastic lads.
I also managed to catch up with Greg, perhaps my oldest and dearest friend. Our families have gotten together every so often for so many years and I always enjoyed going to the Hull's on hot summer days to frolic in and around the pool. Greg's done quite well for himself and is working for an investment company; I wish him every success.
My last weekend in Ottawa I did get a chance to travel to Montreal to visit Andre, my doctor friend I now call Dr. Dre. Dr. Dre was throwing a party at his apartment and I was invited. I arrived in Montreal and was greeted with an absolute downpour. I walked to his apartment (luckily I brought a poncho) but I paid for it with soaked shoes and socks. I helped Andre set up and we talked about a variety of things. I tried to convince him to look into Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service as it combines his 2 great passions --- medicine and flight (he's an amateur pilot). Andre said he'd look into it and I do hope he seriously considers it; it's perfect for him. Anyway, Dr. Dre's friends were all very interesting people from his program and there was also Oleh, a mutual friend from Ottawa now living in Montreal. We all had a great time under the wonderful hosting of Andre. I slept overnight before heading back to Ottawa the next morning. I must express my deep thanks to the good doctor both for inviting me and for letting me stay over.
Although 2.5 weeks sound like a lot of time, it really isn't and I didn't get to do many of the things I wanted. However, my trip to Regina would prove to have some interesting moments.
Again, as luck would have it, a cold wet front moved in, which is atypical for summer. I did mean, though, that I got to spend a lot of time with my grandmother who is a very interesting person. Although she wouldn't let me record her, she told me stories of how she survived the war, dealing with air raids, Soviet kidnappings, lost luggage and a myriad other things too bizarre to even imagine nowadays. My grandmother even showed me a fake passport that she used while travelling within Europe during the war. It's something that's so difficult to imagine and I'm not sure what's more amazing, that my grandmother lived through and did some incredibly brave things, or that her story probably isn't unique and that millions of people had similar experiences. One story that does stick to mind is the brief time my grandmother was a spy. At one point she accepted a job typing something for a group of people and it was only after her brother told her that they were likely some underground organization did she realize what was going on. You would never figure her for a "spy" just by looking at her, but there you go. At some point, I'll get my grandmother on tape. Unfortunately, I'll probably never hear the whole story as time has taken its toll on memory and there are some questions I'll probably never think to ask. My grandmother said that eve though those days were dangerous she still misses them I guess when you look back on the past, even the dark bits seem to shine.
I did manage to visit some of Regina's sights on this trip too. I visited the Legislature and the RCMP Depot with its new interpretation center. There wasn't much to do that day as the rain and winds picked up, which forced me indoors fairly quickly.
I also managed to spend quite a bit of time with my cousins. The 4 of them are so full of energy and their parents are always driving them to one activity or another. This time around it was softball for one of the days. Later, we went to the cottage at Regina Beach where I rode an ATV. Regina Beach was one of my favourite locations when I was younger though I didn't remember much of it. That day was a little chilly but bright and sunny, which made up for it. We all had a great time playing around, eating pizza and just talking.
And that was it for my Canadian trip. To everyone I visited, especially my grandmother who is always so accommodating and wonderful, thank you for letting me spend time with you. To my uncle, aunt and cousins, thank you for inviting me to all the functions and the cottage. I hope to see everyone again as soon as I can.
I returned to Australia with only 2 days until classes started up again. As with every new semester, I was nervous as you never really know what to expect. So far, my classes seem interesting enough. This semester, though, I also have a postgraduate course which will be an adjustment for me. Apart from that, not much more remains to be reported except that I planned the trivia night we had at Fenner. I designed a very hard quiz but some of the teams did remarkably well. The last round was on Canada. I made the quiz challenging primarily because I wanted to teach them something. It's no good regurgitating what you've known all your life; I wanted to impart some new knowledge. I've already been asked to write another quiz for a future trivia night and, although I'm making it quite a bit easier, I'm still hoping to teach them. Maybe it'll stick.
Firstly, the journey across the Pacific began with my brother and I meeting up at Sydney airport. I felt sorry for him as he had to be up extra early in order to catch the flight from Christchurch; actually, he may not have slept at all. The flight was uneventful except that one of my brother's bags was misplaced and we spent the next few days waiting for it; it eventually turned up. Due to the missing bag and a quick connection, we missed our flight to Ottawa but, luckily, the next one was only 2.5 hours later. We made it to Ottawa where we both collapsed from exhaustion, though I think I tried to stay up a bit.
I had a busy schedule planned for my 3 weeks in Canada while my brother only spent a few days in Ottawa before shipping off to Camp Borden to teach another cohort of cadets how to play musical instruments. One of the first things I tried to do was get in on the trial of Larry O'Brien but it was pushed from 09:30 to 14:00 so I couldn't stay to see it. Later that day, I went to a friend's barbeque where he, quite ingeniously, had Montreal smoked meat and other goodies. I also went to see a soccer game of my old team and I enjoyed seeing everyone after such a long time.
I managed to meet up with Gavin, one of the most creative people I know. We met a few years ago as his parents are lawyers my dad knows. I went over to Gavin's house and we talked for hours on what I recall to be a myriad of subjects and his sister, Becky, joined in as well. The one that springs to mind is linguistics. Gavin is contemplating returning to university to do an English degree. He's never out of ideas for TV shows and movies, the entertainment industry being his first love, and I hope to see one of his creations on the screen one day. I also met up with Luda who is working in the trademarks section of a major law firm. She gave me some great pointers
on what to expect and how to apply to firms for work.
Canada Day has always been one of my favourite days on the calendar. This time around, though, I didn't spend much time downtown as I was invited to another barbeque. Walter Usyk, the host, had graciously invited the whole soccer team to his place for Canada Day. We all had great fun talking and dodging the rain. After it all, I thanked Walter for the day and I trodded off downtown to see the fireworks. They were quite spectacular this year as they came off the stage, not only from behind the Centre Block.
I also caught up with old friends at the Barley Mow for pub trivia and at the RASC meeting. Things had moved on in the 18 months I wasn't around; for example, a friend of mine and her husband had had a daughter. I kept my arrival secret from the RASC members and I surprised them all when I showed up. I think it was a pleasant thing to do. Much the same happened at the Barley Mow, though everyone knew I was coming. As luck would have it, we won our first trivia game in a long time, and by only 0.5 points! I so enjoyed trivia at the Barley Mow and I'm a little bit sorry I could only stay for 2 games.
Even though it rained most of the time, I did manage to get some exercise in. I played some soccer with the old team and even though we lost, I had a great time. I'll miss playing with the guys but next time I'm back, they assure me there will be a spot on the team for me. All of them, every last one, are absolutely fantastic lads.
I also managed to catch up with Greg, perhaps my oldest and dearest friend. Our families have gotten together every so often for so many years and I always enjoyed going to the Hull's on hot summer days to frolic in and around the pool. Greg's done quite well for himself and is working for an investment company; I wish him every success.
My last weekend in Ottawa I did get a chance to travel to Montreal to visit Andre, my doctor friend I now call Dr. Dre. Dr. Dre was throwing a party at his apartment and I was invited. I arrived in Montreal and was greeted with an absolute downpour. I walked to his apartment (luckily I brought a poncho) but I paid for it with soaked shoes and socks. I helped Andre set up and we talked about a variety of things. I tried to convince him to look into Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service as it combines his 2 great passions --- medicine and flight (he's an amateur pilot). Andre said he'd look into it and I do hope he seriously considers it; it's perfect for him. Anyway, Dr. Dre's friends were all very interesting people from his program and there was also Oleh, a mutual friend from Ottawa now living in Montreal. We all had a great time under the wonderful hosting of Andre. I slept overnight before heading back to Ottawa the next morning. I must express my deep thanks to the good doctor both for inviting me and for letting me stay over.
Although 2.5 weeks sound like a lot of time, it really isn't and I didn't get to do many of the things I wanted. However, my trip to Regina would prove to have some interesting moments.
Again, as luck would have it, a cold wet front moved in, which is atypical for summer. I did mean, though, that I got to spend a lot of time with my grandmother who is a very interesting person. Although she wouldn't let me record her, she told me stories of how she survived the war, dealing with air raids, Soviet kidnappings, lost luggage and a myriad other things too bizarre to even imagine nowadays. My grandmother even showed me a fake passport that she used while travelling within Europe during the war. It's something that's so difficult to imagine and I'm not sure what's more amazing, that my grandmother lived through and did some incredibly brave things, or that her story probably isn't unique and that millions of people had similar experiences. One story that does stick to mind is the brief time my grandmother was a spy. At one point she accepted a job typing something for a group of people and it was only after her brother told her that they were likely some underground organization did she realize what was going on. You would never figure her for a "spy" just by looking at her, but there you go. At some point, I'll get my grandmother on tape. Unfortunately, I'll probably never hear the whole story as time has taken its toll on memory and there are some questions I'll probably never think to ask. My grandmother said that eve though those days were dangerous she still misses them I guess when you look back on the past, even the dark bits seem to shine.
I did manage to visit some of Regina's sights on this trip too. I visited the Legislature and the RCMP Depot with its new interpretation center. There wasn't much to do that day as the rain and winds picked up, which forced me indoors fairly quickly.
I also managed to spend quite a bit of time with my cousins. The 4 of them are so full of energy and their parents are always driving them to one activity or another. This time around it was softball for one of the days. Later, we went to the cottage at Regina Beach where I rode an ATV. Regina Beach was one of my favourite locations when I was younger though I didn't remember much of it. That day was a little chilly but bright and sunny, which made up for it. We all had a great time playing around, eating pizza and just talking.
And that was it for my Canadian trip. To everyone I visited, especially my grandmother who is always so accommodating and wonderful, thank you for letting me spend time with you. To my uncle, aunt and cousins, thank you for inviting me to all the functions and the cottage. I hope to see everyone again as soon as I can.
I returned to Australia with only 2 days until classes started up again. As with every new semester, I was nervous as you never really know what to expect. So far, my classes seem interesting enough. This semester, though, I also have a postgraduate course which will be an adjustment for me. Apart from that, not much more remains to be reported except that I planned the trivia night we had at Fenner. I designed a very hard quiz but some of the teams did remarkably well. The last round was on Canada. I made the quiz challenging primarily because I wanted to teach them something. It's no good regurgitating what you've known all your life; I wanted to impart some new knowledge. I've already been asked to write another quiz for a future trivia night and, although I'm making it quite a bit easier, I'm still hoping to teach them. Maybe it'll stick.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Winterlude
As I'll be off in Canada for the next 3 weeks, there will be no updates for that time. Afterwards, I'll publish my adventures. See you in mid-July.
Freedom! Horrible, Horrible Freedom!
It's finally happened. The semester is over. All exams written and handed in. You hope you've done well and hope you've done you're best. I'd like to think I've done both. My exams were not exactly easy, but none were ridiculously difficult. In a few weeks I'll find out if I have to sit in any supplementaries. Hopefully not. To write another exam or, heaven forbid, redo a course, sort of feels like paying twice for the same real estate. I think I've done alright. the end of this semester also signifies the end of half of my degree. It won't be long now.
I had my end of year performance review at ACTTAB and things went very well. It turns out people are quite happy with my performance and are generally pleased to work with me. It entitled me to a little raise, or as they say here, a rise. I'm now making just under $26/hr which is fantastic considering the amount of work I actually do. And in this economic crisis, I'm glad for the money. Next semester my schedule will be a little more conducive to ACTTAB so I'm looking forward to raking it in hand over fist.
Tomorrow I'm off to Queanbeyan to officiate a footy match and then go to something called the "Day of Heroes". It's some sort of Ukrainian event commemorating someone or other. I've never heard of it so I guess I'll find out then.
Speaking of Ukrainians, Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine, was supposed to visit Australia last week, but his trip was cancelled. Apparently the political situation in Ukraine is such that he needs to be personally there. Oh well. I'm sure there will be another occasion for him to come Down Under. We Ukrainians in Canberra were kind of hoping for something big but I guess we'll have to wait.
With the semester truly over, I'll be off to Canada for the next 3 weeks, returning just before the start of the 2nd semester. It'll be nice to bask in Ottawa's 30C weather while Canberra freezes and celebrate Canada Day in Ottawa. I leave Tuesday but I'm staying in Sydney overnight at a friend's. My brother will meet me at the departure gate and together we'll cross the Pacific. He'll spend most of the Canadian summer at Camp Borden (or as I call it, Camp Boredom), teaching young cadets how to play musical instruments. I keep telling him that he should join the army since he enjoys it so much. Anyway, I look forward to seeing some familiar faces though I've been in Australia for so long, Canada may seem foreign.
One last quip. What was the name of Scotland's Jewish national poet? Rabbi Burns! I think it's funny even if you don't.
I had my end of year performance review at ACTTAB and things went very well. It turns out people are quite happy with my performance and are generally pleased to work with me. It entitled me to a little raise, or as they say here, a rise. I'm now making just under $26/hr which is fantastic considering the amount of work I actually do. And in this economic crisis, I'm glad for the money. Next semester my schedule will be a little more conducive to ACTTAB so I'm looking forward to raking it in hand over fist.
Tomorrow I'm off to Queanbeyan to officiate a footy match and then go to something called the "Day of Heroes". It's some sort of Ukrainian event commemorating someone or other. I've never heard of it so I guess I'll find out then.
Speaking of Ukrainians, Viktor Yushchenko, the President of Ukraine, was supposed to visit Australia last week, but his trip was cancelled. Apparently the political situation in Ukraine is such that he needs to be personally there. Oh well. I'm sure there will be another occasion for him to come Down Under. We Ukrainians in Canberra were kind of hoping for something big but I guess we'll have to wait.
With the semester truly over, I'll be off to Canada for the next 3 weeks, returning just before the start of the 2nd semester. It'll be nice to bask in Ottawa's 30C weather while Canberra freezes and celebrate Canada Day in Ottawa. I leave Tuesday but I'm staying in Sydney overnight at a friend's. My brother will meet me at the departure gate and together we'll cross the Pacific. He'll spend most of the Canadian summer at Camp Borden (or as I call it, Camp Boredom), teaching young cadets how to play musical instruments. I keep telling him that he should join the army since he enjoys it so much. Anyway, I look forward to seeing some familiar faces though I've been in Australia for so long, Canada may seem foreign.
One last quip. What was the name of Scotland's Jewish national poet? Rabbi Burns! I think it's funny even if you don't.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
No Good Deed Unpunished
I've had my first exams of the season, neither of which I looked forward to. The first was a take-home International Law of Human Rights (ILHR) exam and the other was a sat Administrative Law exam. Although I don't think I did particularly stellar in either, I do think I did alright. I comfort myself by saying that one day this will all be 10 years ago. I did have a little boost just before my administrative law exam and that was that I received 2 marks from ILHR, a High Distinction for class participation and a Distinction for a class presentation. I really needed the boost. I later found out that I sat my administrative law exam on the coldest day in Canberra for 43 years! The day was quite miserable as a fog didn't burn away like it was supposed to and trapped colder air beneath it. The daytime high was 4C, which for me isn't that cold, but for Canberra it's freezing. And another interesting thing happened with administrative law. My professor contacted me and said that he had somehow neglected to record my mark for a particular assignment and asked if I could send him the mark by e-mail. I told him the truth, a Credit and offered to bring it in as proof. He replied that it wouldn't be necessary. I later asked him if I had said I'd received a Distinction or High Distinction would he have checked, and he said no, at least not for a Distinction. I think I deserve honesty bonus points.
The cold weather I just spoke of also brought snow to the hills, though none has actually fallen in Canberra. I want to see snow! Snow can actually be classified as a mineral, in much the same way as ice. Ice is a naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline compound which is the definition of a mineral; snow is exactly the same. I'm not kidding, geologists do classify ice this way. Snow, then, is the sedimentary version and ice is the metamorphic version --- created by heat and/or pressure.
Last Monday was the Queen's Birthday public holiday, one of only 2 days of the year, the other being Australia Day, that Canberrans are allowed to set off fireworks. There were fireworks everywhere. I went to the roof of Fenner Hall and looked out over the city and you could see fireworks from every point. It was actually quite amazing.
I had another great round of picks at the AFL, getting another 8 of 8. This means that my tally is now 70% correctness. If only I'd been putting money on this, I'd be making it hand over fist.
I read on the internet that the trial of Larry O'Brien has adjourned while the judge considers whether or not to grant a directed verdict. Reviewing the evidence, I think there is reasonable doubt but I'm not so sure I'd be ready to grant a directed verdict quite yet. I think judges when considering such matter as an assumption take the Crown's case at its highest, that is to say they consider, for the sake of argument, that the Crown's evidence is true. The judge would then see if even at this high standard, could a jury reasonably find a person guilty. Luckily, I'll be in Ottawa when the directed verdict is scheduled to be handed down. Maybe I can get a front row seat.
I've been reading, as I'm sure you have too, about the Air France flight that disappeared and the statement about contradictory speeds from the instruments made me think of another disaster. About 10 years ago an AeroPeru flight crashed at night into the sea. Shortly after takeoff, the instruments began relaying conflicting information, for example stall warnings, overspeed warnings (too fast) and different altitudes. It is actually impossible to be going too fast and be stalling. The crew decided to turn around but because it was night, there was no horizon or any landmarks. They eventually just sort of landed in the ocean as they lost altitude. It turned out that the pitot tubes had been blocked by tape when cleaning the tape hadn't been removed again. The pitot tubes use the external air pressure to gauge altitude and airspeed and then relay this information back to the instrumentation. If this is blocked, it can wreak havoc and create contradictory information. From what I've read about the Air France flight, this is very similar. There has even been talk about the pitot tubes being iced over although the manufacturer has questioned this conclusion. Hopefully, we'll find out what happened.
Finally, I'll leave you with this slightly less than politically correct event that happened last week. Sreeja, a young woman from India on my floor, was having trouble with her computer so she called one of Fenner Hall's IT support people. I think she got through to Ian. I then pointed out that in an ironic twist, and Indian was calling a Caucasian for tech support. I think it's funny even if you don't.
The cold weather I just spoke of also brought snow to the hills, though none has actually fallen in Canberra. I want to see snow! Snow can actually be classified as a mineral, in much the same way as ice. Ice is a naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline compound which is the definition of a mineral; snow is exactly the same. I'm not kidding, geologists do classify ice this way. Snow, then, is the sedimentary version and ice is the metamorphic version --- created by heat and/or pressure.
Last Monday was the Queen's Birthday public holiday, one of only 2 days of the year, the other being Australia Day, that Canberrans are allowed to set off fireworks. There were fireworks everywhere. I went to the roof of Fenner Hall and looked out over the city and you could see fireworks from every point. It was actually quite amazing.
I had another great round of picks at the AFL, getting another 8 of 8. This means that my tally is now 70% correctness. If only I'd been putting money on this, I'd be making it hand over fist.
I read on the internet that the trial of Larry O'Brien has adjourned while the judge considers whether or not to grant a directed verdict. Reviewing the evidence, I think there is reasonable doubt but I'm not so sure I'd be ready to grant a directed verdict quite yet. I think judges when considering such matter as an assumption take the Crown's case at its highest, that is to say they consider, for the sake of argument, that the Crown's evidence is true. The judge would then see if even at this high standard, could a jury reasonably find a person guilty. Luckily, I'll be in Ottawa when the directed verdict is scheduled to be handed down. Maybe I can get a front row seat.
I've been reading, as I'm sure you have too, about the Air France flight that disappeared and the statement about contradictory speeds from the instruments made me think of another disaster. About 10 years ago an AeroPeru flight crashed at night into the sea. Shortly after takeoff, the instruments began relaying conflicting information, for example stall warnings, overspeed warnings (too fast) and different altitudes. It is actually impossible to be going too fast and be stalling. The crew decided to turn around but because it was night, there was no horizon or any landmarks. They eventually just sort of landed in the ocean as they lost altitude. It turned out that the pitot tubes had been blocked by tape when cleaning the tape hadn't been removed again. The pitot tubes use the external air pressure to gauge altitude and airspeed and then relay this information back to the instrumentation. If this is blocked, it can wreak havoc and create contradictory information. From what I've read about the Air France flight, this is very similar. There has even been talk about the pitot tubes being iced over although the manufacturer has questioned this conclusion. Hopefully, we'll find out what happened.
Finally, I'll leave you with this slightly less than politically correct event that happened last week. Sreeja, a young woman from India on my floor, was having trouble with her computer so she called one of Fenner Hall's IT support people. I think she got through to Ian. I then pointed out that in an ironic twist, and Indian was calling a Caucasian for tech support. I think it's funny even if you don't.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Reminding
Lectures have ended and now comes the true test of one's mettle --- exam season. The exams have set upon me as a flock of ravenous vultures. All lecturing has ceased, all assignments are in and all bets are off. The best anyone can do in this situation is their best and hope for the best. Luckily, 2 of my 4 exams are take-home which doesn't make them any easier necessarily, but it does give more time for reflection. Almost as luckily, exams at law school are open-book unless otherwise specified but none of mine are, so that takes away from the stress as well, but only slightly. I guess all I can do is study like mad and hope that I come up with the right answers, although in law there are no such things.
Speaking of exams, I had another dream involving administrative law. This one dealt with a fictitious administrative law exam that was being administered orally; I only wish. Taken with my previous dream a few weeks ago, I think I've got admin on the mind. It's actually quite sad that I dream of these things, although I did have another dream where I was piloting a plane that had been lost on radar but still had radio communications. We ended up landing on Cranbourne Avenue is Sydney, which doesn't exist as far as I know. All I can say is bizarre.
With the onset of winter, the weather has taken a decidedly gray countenance. It's been fairly chilly for the last few days and there's even been some rain. This is good news for the reservoirs but it doesn't help the mood, especially when you're cooped up studying. It'll remain like this for a few days and then it's supposed to clear up but without an increase in temperatures. As I'll be in Canada for a good part of July, hopefully, I'll miss the coldest time of the year, but I doubt I'm that lucky.
And finally a question of semantics. Can some place remind you of somewhere you've never been? I've had a few occasions to travel by bus to Tuggeranong, a division in the south of Canberra. The hills make me think of Switzerland and I've found myself telling people that it "reminds" me of Switzerland. I have never been to Switzerland. That being the case, can the view remind me of some place I've never actually seen for myself? Oh, the questions I think up when I've got too much time on my hands.
I've decided to post some pictures of night fog in Canberra. Fog seems to be a regular occurrence this time of year.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sequestration
Swine Flu has hit the ACT and in this smallish community, it has affected some people I am acquainted with, or at least, have probably been in contact with. A man on a city bus was recently ordered to quarantine himself after he tested positive for the H1N1 virus. As a precautionary measure, 3 residents of Fenner Hall have been billeted in alternate accommodations for a week to make sure they don't have the virus. You may have heard of the cruise ship in Sydney that had someone infected with the virus? Well, Murray, a guy I've worked with at ACTTAB was on that ship and now he's quarantined for a week. It's a little scary to think that I may have been in close contact with these people, apart from Murray whom I haven't seen in a while. Although the risk of infection is low, you can't help but wonder. After all, I'm going to Ottawa in June, provided they don't close the borders, which has had reported cases of Swine Flu. I only hope I don't get quarantined on the way back.
Speaking of ACTTAB, we recently introduced a new system for betting on sporting events. By recently, I mean yesterday and I didn't know that until I started my shift. Although it's supposed to offer more choice to the customers, we've received complaints about its complexity and elimination of some options. The change to the new system wrought absolute havoc on the computer system last night and we (the staff) were virtually powerless to correct or assist with errors. There will definitely be some teething problems as the system gets broken in and I can only hope that it'll be worth it in the end. I also received my union card in the mail, giving me conclusive evidence that I am now a member of the USU. Solidarity forever!
In 2004, just before coming to Australia the first time, I took a course in bartending. I didn't get a chance to use it in Australia but I now have a second chance. I'll be volunteering at the Warren, the "canteen" at Fenner Hall starting in August. I've actually done a bit at the Warren before but as this year is much quieter than last year, business has been pretty slow. First, I had to get a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) Certificate which I completed online in about 1 hour. I am now qualified to serve alcohol in all states and territories of Australia save New South Wales and Queensland. I hope to make some of my famous cocktails for the residents very soon. I had the idea of a shot called the "Jack and Jim" which consists of one part Jack Daniels and one part Jim Beam; I have no idea what that would taste like.
At umpire training on Saturday I was very impressed with myself as I did a non-stop run of approximately 6km. This is the furthest I've ever run without stopping, although at around the 4km mark we did some calisthenics. I think I'm in the best shape I've ever been. According to my bathroom scale, I've levelled off around 82kg which is about average for someone my height. I really feel good about myself and the difference from when I first arrived in Australia at 92 kg is noticeable. After that long run, I got a very effective and painful neck massage from the visiting masseuse. She says I should get a whole body treatment as I've a lot of tension in my muscles. I might just go in for one, but not yet.
At university, the end draws nigh. There is only 1 week left before exams begin and it's a funny thing. When semester begins, you can't wait for it to be over but now that the end is here, you want a few more weeks to shore up your knowledge. I'll just have to make the best of it. I think I understand my subjects but that could just be me thinking I understand my subjects. We'll find out fairly soon, won't we.
Have you ever had a piece of music stuck in your head and can't remember what it's called or even if you've ever heard it? A few months ago, a little melody popped into my head and I couldn't figure out if I'd heard it or made it up. Then, a few days ago, I heard it in 2 movies, Bad Santa and Eyes Wide Shut, in the space of a few days. It turns out to be a jazz suite waltz by Dmitri Shostakovitch. It was really bugging me but now, at least I know.
And may I make one further recommendation. I think everyone should have a listen to the BBC shipping forecast over the radio or internet. I learned about it recently and have started to listen to it. It's more than a mere weather report; it's an experience. It follows a specific format and has its own jargon for those in the know. Essentially it is a sea weather report with various parts of the north Atlantic around the British Isles divided up into sectors. The sector reports are given in a specific order and if you know the jargon, in a few words, you can know the weather for the next 24 hours. It doesn't sound exciting but once you get into it, you learn to love it.
Speaking of ACTTAB, we recently introduced a new system for betting on sporting events. By recently, I mean yesterday and I didn't know that until I started my shift. Although it's supposed to offer more choice to the customers, we've received complaints about its complexity and elimination of some options. The change to the new system wrought absolute havoc on the computer system last night and we (the staff) were virtually powerless to correct or assist with errors. There will definitely be some teething problems as the system gets broken in and I can only hope that it'll be worth it in the end. I also received my union card in the mail, giving me conclusive evidence that I am now a member of the USU. Solidarity forever!
In 2004, just before coming to Australia the first time, I took a course in bartending. I didn't get a chance to use it in Australia but I now have a second chance. I'll be volunteering at the Warren, the "canteen" at Fenner Hall starting in August. I've actually done a bit at the Warren before but as this year is much quieter than last year, business has been pretty slow. First, I had to get a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) Certificate which I completed online in about 1 hour. I am now qualified to serve alcohol in all states and territories of Australia save New South Wales and Queensland. I hope to make some of my famous cocktails for the residents very soon. I had the idea of a shot called the "Jack and Jim" which consists of one part Jack Daniels and one part Jim Beam; I have no idea what that would taste like.
At umpire training on Saturday I was very impressed with myself as I did a non-stop run of approximately 6km. This is the furthest I've ever run without stopping, although at around the 4km mark we did some calisthenics. I think I'm in the best shape I've ever been. According to my bathroom scale, I've levelled off around 82kg which is about average for someone my height. I really feel good about myself and the difference from when I first arrived in Australia at 92 kg is noticeable. After that long run, I got a very effective and painful neck massage from the visiting masseuse. She says I should get a whole body treatment as I've a lot of tension in my muscles. I might just go in for one, but not yet.
At university, the end draws nigh. There is only 1 week left before exams begin and it's a funny thing. When semester begins, you can't wait for it to be over but now that the end is here, you want a few more weeks to shore up your knowledge. I'll just have to make the best of it. I think I understand my subjects but that could just be me thinking I understand my subjects. We'll find out fairly soon, won't we.
Have you ever had a piece of music stuck in your head and can't remember what it's called or even if you've ever heard it? A few months ago, a little melody popped into my head and I couldn't figure out if I'd heard it or made it up. Then, a few days ago, I heard it in 2 movies, Bad Santa and Eyes Wide Shut, in the space of a few days. It turns out to be a jazz suite waltz by Dmitri Shostakovitch. It was really bugging me but now, at least I know.
And may I make one further recommendation. I think everyone should have a listen to the BBC shipping forecast over the radio or internet. I learned about it recently and have started to listen to it. It's more than a mere weather report; it's an experience. It follows a specific format and has its own jargon for those in the know. Essentially it is a sea weather report with various parts of the north Atlantic around the British Isles divided up into sectors. The sector reports are given in a specific order and if you know the jargon, in a few words, you can know the weather for the next 24 hours. It doesn't sound exciting but once you get into it, you learn to love it.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
It's been a fairly eventful week, especially in the realm of the news. I even got some money I was owed.
In international news, the big event was the elimination of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers. That these people still have the support of the expatriate Tamil community is beyond me. The Tigers were a band of unprincipled brigands who should have faced the justice system a long time ago. I only hope that they get fair trials, which something else to be concerned about. The Tigers, according to CSIS and the RCMP, extracted by various coercive means, CAN$1 million every month from Torontonian Tamil businesses alone. Some of this was along the lines that non-compliance would earn that person a black mark in the community, while other methods were of the more threatening variety. I think everyone should be glad that the Tamil Tigers are gone, and so should the Tamils themselves.
Another event I've been following closely via the CBC website is the trial of Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien. After the 1st week, we've heard from Terry Kilrea, the man O'Brien is accused of attempting to influence, and John Baird, a current Cabinet minister who was responsible for political appointments at the time of the mayoral election. According to analysts, Kilrea maintained his ground and Baird's testimony corroborated Kilrea's affidavit partially. Kilrea had been grilled for days by Mike Edelson, the defence attorney, while Baird's testimony was rather brief, lasting barely a day. Baird essentially confirmed the part of Kilrea's affidavit where Kilrea maintained that the discussion of a parole board appointment never came up in a meeting they had. While this may score some points with Kilrea's credibility, it doesn't really add any new evidence, but not all witnesses have testified yet. All I can say is that this trial is becoming curiouser and curiouser by the day.
There was big news in the world of biology with the unveiling of Darwinius masillae, a lemur-like primate supposed to be one of the missing links in the hominid evolutionary chain. It lived about 47 million years ago, was the size of a smallish cat, had a long tail, opposable thumbs and fingernails, as opposed to claws. The fossil was discovered in 1983 but its significance was not established until 2 years ago. It's just one more thread in the tapestry that is the story of human evolution.
A curious bit of news was the referendum in Western Australia (WA) over whether or not to adopt daylight savings. WA trialled the system until this year when a vote was held on it. The No side won 55%-45%, which means that during the summer, WA, like Queensland, will not go forward 1 hour. That will put 3 hours behind Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart in the summer; those cities are all in jurisdictions which have daylight savings. I think, if you look at it, daylight savings makes sense since the day (09:00-17:00) is planned around 13:00, not 12:00. On the long summer days, it actually makes more sense to have sunrise and sunset "later" than they would normally be, though really, not daylight is "saved" by daylight savings. WA has always been a little strange though and they are the only state with a reasonable separatist movement; they're like the Québec of Australia.
I mentioned money earlier on and it was the long-awaited back pay from the government approved ACTTAB EBA. I got about $400 and was very happy about it. I bought a few things I needed, among them, a new pair of black cleats for $109.00. This is for AFL umpiring work and training. They're pretty comfortable and I had great run in them at training of Thursday. They grip the ground really well and I was able to get a lot of speed while running. These will last me for some time.
Following on from that, I have some aussie rules news. In my picks for game winners, I had a perfect round guessing 8-of-8, boosting my record to 39-17. At a game today, I also had an encounter with a player who voiced his disagreement with one of my calls. The ball was on the ground close to the goal posts when the player in question kicked the ball, but just as he kicked it, a player from the defending team touched it which meant it was a 1-point behind, not a 6-point goal. When I signalled this, the player ran over and told me in no uncertain terms that he disagreed with my decision. I just remained calm and continued about my business. The defending team was awarded a free kick at the center circle as a result and if the player had continued his vocalizations, I might have reported him. It's all part of the game and you can't let it get to you.
I also happened upon a curious irony. In Mandarin Chines the name for the Germans, "do gwo ren" translates to "the moral people"; do gwo is a transliteration of "Deutsch", the word Germans call themselves. When I first heard this I laughed hysterically. I then suggested that an alternate name, which still preserves the transliteration slightly, would be "da sha ren", meaning "the genocide people". I can have a very dark sense of humour.
In international news, the big event was the elimination of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers. That these people still have the support of the expatriate Tamil community is beyond me. The Tigers were a band of unprincipled brigands who should have faced the justice system a long time ago. I only hope that they get fair trials, which something else to be concerned about. The Tigers, according to CSIS and the RCMP, extracted by various coercive means, CAN$1 million every month from Torontonian Tamil businesses alone. Some of this was along the lines that non-compliance would earn that person a black mark in the community, while other methods were of the more threatening variety. I think everyone should be glad that the Tamil Tigers are gone, and so should the Tamils themselves.
Another event I've been following closely via the CBC website is the trial of Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien. After the 1st week, we've heard from Terry Kilrea, the man O'Brien is accused of attempting to influence, and John Baird, a current Cabinet minister who was responsible for political appointments at the time of the mayoral election. According to analysts, Kilrea maintained his ground and Baird's testimony corroborated Kilrea's affidavit partially. Kilrea had been grilled for days by Mike Edelson, the defence attorney, while Baird's testimony was rather brief, lasting barely a day. Baird essentially confirmed the part of Kilrea's affidavit where Kilrea maintained that the discussion of a parole board appointment never came up in a meeting they had. While this may score some points with Kilrea's credibility, it doesn't really add any new evidence, but not all witnesses have testified yet. All I can say is that this trial is becoming curiouser and curiouser by the day.
There was big news in the world of biology with the unveiling of Darwinius masillae, a lemur-like primate supposed to be one of the missing links in the hominid evolutionary chain. It lived about 47 million years ago, was the size of a smallish cat, had a long tail, opposable thumbs and fingernails, as opposed to claws. The fossil was discovered in 1983 but its significance was not established until 2 years ago. It's just one more thread in the tapestry that is the story of human evolution.
A curious bit of news was the referendum in Western Australia (WA) over whether or not to adopt daylight savings. WA trialled the system until this year when a vote was held on it. The No side won 55%-45%, which means that during the summer, WA, like Queensland, will not go forward 1 hour. That will put 3 hours behind Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart in the summer; those cities are all in jurisdictions which have daylight savings. I think, if you look at it, daylight savings makes sense since the day (09:00-17:00) is planned around 13:00, not 12:00. On the long summer days, it actually makes more sense to have sunrise and sunset "later" than they would normally be, though really, not daylight is "saved" by daylight savings. WA has always been a little strange though and they are the only state with a reasonable separatist movement; they're like the Québec of Australia.
I mentioned money earlier on and it was the long-awaited back pay from the government approved ACTTAB EBA. I got about $400 and was very happy about it. I bought a few things I needed, among them, a new pair of black cleats for $109.00. This is for AFL umpiring work and training. They're pretty comfortable and I had great run in them at training of Thursday. They grip the ground really well and I was able to get a lot of speed while running. These will last me for some time.
Following on from that, I have some aussie rules news. In my picks for game winners, I had a perfect round guessing 8-of-8, boosting my record to 39-17. At a game today, I also had an encounter with a player who voiced his disagreement with one of my calls. The ball was on the ground close to the goal posts when the player in question kicked the ball, but just as he kicked it, a player from the defending team touched it which meant it was a 1-point behind, not a 6-point goal. When I signalled this, the player ran over and told me in no uncertain terms that he disagreed with my decision. I just remained calm and continued about my business. The defending team was awarded a free kick at the center circle as a result and if the player had continued his vocalizations, I might have reported him. It's all part of the game and you can't let it get to you.
I also happened upon a curious irony. In Mandarin Chines the name for the Germans, "do gwo ren" translates to "the moral people"; do gwo is a transliteration of "Deutsch", the word Germans call themselves. When I first heard this I laughed hysterically. I then suggested that an alternate name, which still preserves the transliteration slightly, would be "da sha ren", meaning "the genocide people". I can have a very dark sense of humour.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Money, Justice and Electronics
There is a saying that you don't really realize how much you need something until it is gone and I had a very practical instruction in this a short while ago. On Wednesday, I returned home from classes and turned on my computer only to receive the message that Windows had failed to boot. Try as I might to restart the system, nothing I did worked. For one reason or another, my operating system had crashed; the equivalent to my computer having a stroke. It was still under warranty so I managed to get it repaired for free, but at the cost of all the data I had on it. This would normally have been disastrous except that only 12 days before I had backed everything up and I hadn't really created any new files since. Nothing of any significance that I can find was lost. It did mean that I had to reinstall all of my programs and restore all of my settings, but with a few hours work, that was done. I'll now be backing everything up weekly just in case.
Big news in Australia this week was the announcement of the federal budget which calls for spending in some areas and cutbacks in others. For example, the pension age was raised to 67 while the age of independence (for government benefits purposes) was lowered to 22, I believe. All things considered, I think Australia is doing rather well in these economic times. Needless to say, this has caused quite a row in Parliament and I've watched some of the debates with great interest. Naturally, the opposition calls the government's budget ill-advised, the government is defending it and the Speaker is in the middle trying to maintain some semblance of order in this rough country. There is some speculation that Kevin Rudd (the PM) is having a bit of a gamble, another fine Australian tradition (which also happens to keep me employed), and that should the budget fail to pass the Senate where numbers are even, then he will as for a double dissolution precipitating an election. I don't think that's particularly well-founded and I think that the budget will go through, if it hasn't already.
In other money matters, the ACTTAB EBA passed the government authority's "no disadvantage" test. In Australia, whenever a collective agreement is signed by management and a union, it must be sent to the workplace authority for inspection to make sure it complies with all laws and does not contain any provisions which would be otherwise disadvantageous. It was with the authority for about 5 months and we were worried something was wrong. However, now that it's gone through, we go on a new, increased pay scale, backdated to September 1, 2008. Practically, this means I'm getting an extra $1.00/hr on normal days and $2.00/hr on Sundays and public holidays. It also means I'll get about $400 in back pay this paycheque. That's something I'm looking forward to. The EBA, which lasts until 2011, also states that we get raises of 4.2% every year. I'm glad we got this negotiated before the economic downturn. There's no way I'm letting go of this job.
I've been following the story of one Mr. Demjanjuk (dehm-yah-NYOOK), as I'm sure many other Ukrainians have as well. He was recently extradited to Germany to face charges that he assisted in the Holocaust while working at the Sobibor Death Camp in World War Two. Now 89 years old, he was flown from Ohio to a German jail where he will be held pending his trial. this is not the first time Mr. Demjanjuk, a native Ukrainian, has been charged with complicity in the Holocaust. In the 1980s he was stripped of his American citizenship and extradited to Israel to face charges of being Ivan the Terrible, a particularly vicious guard at Sobibor. While originally convicted and sentenced to death, the only other person I can think of other than Eichmann (the architect of the Holocaust) to be so, his conviction was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court after new documentation surfaced putting his identity as Ivan the Terrible in doubt. His American citizenship was restored and he has lived in Ohio until now. I want to see the outcome of this trial and I guess it's comforting to know that no matter how much time has passed, one cannot escape the sword of justice.
There was another story buried amongst the economic news that made me stop. Apparently, due to low fan support, the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia is folding after the coming season. There just isn't the support base that the managers thought there was and so the league is disappearing. I don't watch basketball, even really know any team names in the NBL or have any association with any of them, but I always fell a bit sad whenever I read that a team is folding, let alone a league. Somehow, it feels wrong.
I've also developed a rather unusual ability or habit. For the last few days, I seem to be able to wake up well before my alarm clock goes off. It doesn't really bother me and I kind of like it because it means that I can just doze off again, but it is a little unusual. I do have the ability of a natural alarm clock, you know, the talent of thinking at what time you wish to wake up and then you do, unassisted. This latest phenomenon is new for me though, but it hasn't caused me any pain so I guess I'll just continue with it.
My parents called me from Toronto this morning and it got me thinking about the telephone being probably one of the rudest inventions in history. Just think about it for a second. If I came over to your house or place of work, started banging on the door and shouting, "Speak to me now! Speak to me now! Speak to me now!", you'd be liable to call the police and yet we tolerate this from an inanimate object. If I went back in time, I don't know if I'd shake Alexander Graham Bell's hand, or punch him very firmly in the spleen. Who actually invented the telephone is a matter or debate but I'll stick by fellow a Canadian, though he was really Scottish. I'd probably shake his hand.
Big news in Australia this week was the announcement of the federal budget which calls for spending in some areas and cutbacks in others. For example, the pension age was raised to 67 while the age of independence (for government benefits purposes) was lowered to 22, I believe. All things considered, I think Australia is doing rather well in these economic times. Needless to say, this has caused quite a row in Parliament and I've watched some of the debates with great interest. Naturally, the opposition calls the government's budget ill-advised, the government is defending it and the Speaker is in the middle trying to maintain some semblance of order in this rough country. There is some speculation that Kevin Rudd (the PM) is having a bit of a gamble, another fine Australian tradition (which also happens to keep me employed), and that should the budget fail to pass the Senate where numbers are even, then he will as for a double dissolution precipitating an election. I don't think that's particularly well-founded and I think that the budget will go through, if it hasn't already.
In other money matters, the ACTTAB EBA passed the government authority's "no disadvantage" test. In Australia, whenever a collective agreement is signed by management and a union, it must be sent to the workplace authority for inspection to make sure it complies with all laws and does not contain any provisions which would be otherwise disadvantageous. It was with the authority for about 5 months and we were worried something was wrong. However, now that it's gone through, we go on a new, increased pay scale, backdated to September 1, 2008. Practically, this means I'm getting an extra $1.00/hr on normal days and $2.00/hr on Sundays and public holidays. It also means I'll get about $400 in back pay this paycheque. That's something I'm looking forward to. The EBA, which lasts until 2011, also states that we get raises of 4.2% every year. I'm glad we got this negotiated before the economic downturn. There's no way I'm letting go of this job.
I've been following the story of one Mr. Demjanjuk (dehm-yah-NYOOK), as I'm sure many other Ukrainians have as well. He was recently extradited to Germany to face charges that he assisted in the Holocaust while working at the Sobibor Death Camp in World War Two. Now 89 years old, he was flown from Ohio to a German jail where he will be held pending his trial. this is not the first time Mr. Demjanjuk, a native Ukrainian, has been charged with complicity in the Holocaust. In the 1980s he was stripped of his American citizenship and extradited to Israel to face charges of being Ivan the Terrible, a particularly vicious guard at Sobibor. While originally convicted and sentenced to death, the only other person I can think of other than Eichmann (the architect of the Holocaust) to be so, his conviction was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court after new documentation surfaced putting his identity as Ivan the Terrible in doubt. His American citizenship was restored and he has lived in Ohio until now. I want to see the outcome of this trial and I guess it's comforting to know that no matter how much time has passed, one cannot escape the sword of justice.
There was another story buried amongst the economic news that made me stop. Apparently, due to low fan support, the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australia is folding after the coming season. There just isn't the support base that the managers thought there was and so the league is disappearing. I don't watch basketball, even really know any team names in the NBL or have any association with any of them, but I always fell a bit sad whenever I read that a team is folding, let alone a league. Somehow, it feels wrong.
I've also developed a rather unusual ability or habit. For the last few days, I seem to be able to wake up well before my alarm clock goes off. It doesn't really bother me and I kind of like it because it means that I can just doze off again, but it is a little unusual. I do have the ability of a natural alarm clock, you know, the talent of thinking at what time you wish to wake up and then you do, unassisted. This latest phenomenon is new for me though, but it hasn't caused me any pain so I guess I'll just continue with it.
My parents called me from Toronto this morning and it got me thinking about the telephone being probably one of the rudest inventions in history. Just think about it for a second. If I came over to your house or place of work, started banging on the door and shouting, "Speak to me now! Speak to me now! Speak to me now!", you'd be liable to call the police and yet we tolerate this from an inanimate object. If I went back in time, I don't know if I'd shake Alexander Graham Bell's hand, or punch him very firmly in the spleen. Who actually invented the telephone is a matter or debate but I'll stick by fellow a Canadian, though he was really Scottish. I'd probably shake his hand.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
More of the Same
I wish I had a little more excitement in my life. Lately, the routine of school and work has begun to wear me down. This semester isn't as fun as the last ones and the courses are difficult. I only take comfort in the fact that I am not the only one finding concepts of administrative and corporations law to be seriously obtuse. I guess it just gets to you after a while. I don't seem to be doing anything except that which is required, with no time for diversion. I'm second-guessing my choice of studying law but it's still "fun", so I can see the benefit in continuing. I figure everyone has second thoughts on occasions when affairs reach a point of drudgery. I think I just need some thing or event to lift my spirits a bit.
Perhaps to help me, I went with some acquaintances to the new Star Trek movie tonight. It was very well made and the references to the early Star Trek TV series, and the movies, made it enjoyable. The plot, which creates an alternate reality, is either the ultimate stroke of genius or insult. The movie felt more organic than the previous series, which had these characters who we all aspired to be; they were with few flaws and always the good guys. The Enterprise series, I felt, first brought in a more realistic interpretation of humanity by making showing some characters in less than favourable lights. This Star Trek movie continued on that vein, and it was quite exciting as well. I think any Star Trek fan would do well to see it and judge its merits for themselves.
I've also decided to volunteer at Fenner Hall's small alcohol dispensary, called the Warren. First, though, I have to complete an on-line government program to be certified to serve alcohol. This is called the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) certification. It's good for the ACT and Victoria, though not New South Wales, curiously. One thing, I found interesting, though, is that it is illegal to serve straight shots in Canberra. This was put in place some time ago in an attempt to curb binge drinking and its associated problems. While spirits can be mixed in to non-alcoholic drinks, they cannot be served in shot glasses on their own. I don't know if this has made any difference.
Speaking of unusualities, I have to profess a particular aversion to a practice I've seen cropping up in Australia, and that is the word "thankyou". I simply cannot stand it. "Thank you" is two bloody words, "thank" and "you". They are not to be amalgamated into a single word and anyone who does so deserves to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
Back in Ottawa, the trial of Larry O'Brien, the mayor, has begun, or really, the first part of the process. He's pled not guilty to charges of attempting to influence an election. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) charged His Worship in 2007, I think, in connection with the mayoral race. It is alleged that he offered a Mr. Kilrea, another prominent candidate, his influence to obtain for him a job on the National Parole Board, which in my opinion, is not exactly what I would call a plum government appointment, if Mr. Kilrea would withdraw from the race, which he did. To make such an offer is contrary to the Criminal Code, and Mayor O'Brien is facing 2 or 3 charges. For the duration of the trial, which will begin in June, he said that he will step aside as mayor allowing two councillors, one of whom, Diane Deans, represents my ward, to occupy the post of Acting Mayor. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
Lastly, I'll say that I do have something to look forward to, and that is my winter/summer trip to Canada. With the exam schedule more or less finalized, I will be travelling to Canada from June-July roughly corresponding to the winter break here. It will be good to get out of the Canberran winter and into someplace where it is warm, hopefully more than 30C. I leave June 23rd and arrive back in Australia July 18th, which is the Saturday before term starts. The flights have been booked and I've arranged for transportation to and from Sydney by bus. Maybe being back in Canada will do me some good.
Perhaps to help me, I went with some acquaintances to the new Star Trek movie tonight. It was very well made and the references to the early Star Trek TV series, and the movies, made it enjoyable. The plot, which creates an alternate reality, is either the ultimate stroke of genius or insult. The movie felt more organic than the previous series, which had these characters who we all aspired to be; they were with few flaws and always the good guys. The Enterprise series, I felt, first brought in a more realistic interpretation of humanity by making showing some characters in less than favourable lights. This Star Trek movie continued on that vein, and it was quite exciting as well. I think any Star Trek fan would do well to see it and judge its merits for themselves.
I've also decided to volunteer at Fenner Hall's small alcohol dispensary, called the Warren. First, though, I have to complete an on-line government program to be certified to serve alcohol. This is called the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) certification. It's good for the ACT and Victoria, though not New South Wales, curiously. One thing, I found interesting, though, is that it is illegal to serve straight shots in Canberra. This was put in place some time ago in an attempt to curb binge drinking and its associated problems. While spirits can be mixed in to non-alcoholic drinks, they cannot be served in shot glasses on their own. I don't know if this has made any difference.
Speaking of unusualities, I have to profess a particular aversion to a practice I've seen cropping up in Australia, and that is the word "thankyou". I simply cannot stand it. "Thank you" is two bloody words, "thank" and "you". They are not to be amalgamated into a single word and anyone who does so deserves to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
Back in Ottawa, the trial of Larry O'Brien, the mayor, has begun, or really, the first part of the process. He's pled not guilty to charges of attempting to influence an election. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) charged His Worship in 2007, I think, in connection with the mayoral race. It is alleged that he offered a Mr. Kilrea, another prominent candidate, his influence to obtain for him a job on the National Parole Board, which in my opinion, is not exactly what I would call a plum government appointment, if Mr. Kilrea would withdraw from the race, which he did. To make such an offer is contrary to the Criminal Code, and Mayor O'Brien is facing 2 or 3 charges. For the duration of the trial, which will begin in June, he said that he will step aside as mayor allowing two councillors, one of whom, Diane Deans, represents my ward, to occupy the post of Acting Mayor. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
Lastly, I'll say that I do have something to look forward to, and that is my winter/summer trip to Canada. With the exam schedule more or less finalized, I will be travelling to Canada from June-July roughly corresponding to the winter break here. It will be good to get out of the Canberran winter and into someplace where it is warm, hopefully more than 30C. I leave June 23rd and arrive back in Australia July 18th, which is the Saturday before term starts. The flights have been booked and I've arranged for transportation to and from Sydney by bus. Maybe being back in Canada will do me some good.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Pandemia
Returning to university life this week has been something of a drag. After 2 weeks of vacation, you suddenly realize how boring lectures can be, even in the most exciting subjects. It's especially troubling if you didn't actually manage to travel anywhere because of university assignments. I don't think it counts as a vacation if you actually have to work through it. However, I had 2 assignments due this week, one of them due the very day back from holidays. It just wasn't fair. Anyway, I got them done and I'm just happy to be rid of them. Now, nothing left to do but work towards the next one, which is, thankfully, my last bit of assessment until the exams.
At the beginning of the week, the weather turned frightfully cold, wet and windy. It was a quick snapshot of winter as temperatures plummeted to 10C. The temperatures at night are now hovering around 0C, though the afternoon high are around 17C. This is one thing that is so annoying about the autumn, it's early on, so you turn the heater on, but during the day it's warm enough that the heater makes it too hot. It's all very confusing. I've had a lot of fun telling people that winter in Canberra reminds me of summer in Ottawa. I'm joking, of course, but since so few people in Australia have visited Ottawa, I can get away with it.
Swine flu is catching and everyone is worried about a pandemic. Just to show you how serious it can be, Great Swine Flu is also known as Spanish Flu, which after World War One killed between 20 and 100 million people globally (records from the 3rd World are not good). According to my father, I had a great-grandfather die of the virus. On the plus side, those of us alive now probably have some sort of inherited immunity to that particular strain so it's unlikely to be anywhere near as bad as before. Still, there have been public service announcements and e-mails from the university warning of the symptoms and what to do should you suspect yourself infected. Personally, I wouldn't mind going down in history as a great spreader of the disease, but I haven't caught it yet; hopefully I won't. I'll just have to be extra cautious when I'm back in Canada.
There is one more bit of "information" I'd like to pass on. There is a little-known mountain range in Scotland known as the Hollywood Range. In it, you can find mountains named Ben Hur, Ben Affleck and Ben Kingsley, and there's a Glen Close nearby too. Did you get it?
At the beginning of the week, the weather turned frightfully cold, wet and windy. It was a quick snapshot of winter as temperatures plummeted to 10C. The temperatures at night are now hovering around 0C, though the afternoon high are around 17C. This is one thing that is so annoying about the autumn, it's early on, so you turn the heater on, but during the day it's warm enough that the heater makes it too hot. It's all very confusing. I've had a lot of fun telling people that winter in Canberra reminds me of summer in Ottawa. I'm joking, of course, but since so few people in Australia have visited Ottawa, I can get away with it.
Swine flu is catching and everyone is worried about a pandemic. Just to show you how serious it can be, Great Swine Flu is also known as Spanish Flu, which after World War One killed between 20 and 100 million people globally (records from the 3rd World are not good). According to my father, I had a great-grandfather die of the virus. On the plus side, those of us alive now probably have some sort of inherited immunity to that particular strain so it's unlikely to be anywhere near as bad as before. Still, there have been public service announcements and e-mails from the university warning of the symptoms and what to do should you suspect yourself infected. Personally, I wouldn't mind going down in history as a great spreader of the disease, but I haven't caught it yet; hopefully I won't. I'll just have to be extra cautious when I'm back in Canada.
There is one more bit of "information" I'd like to pass on. There is a little-known mountain range in Scotland known as the Hollywood Range. In it, you can find mountains named Ben Hur, Ben Affleck and Ben Kingsley, and there's a Glen Close nearby too. Did you get it?
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Soldier Days
The days have gotten so much colder and wetter now that winter's coming. Already we're seeing winter temperatures and it looks as though my earlier predictions of a warm winter were premature. I have been going around saying that I hope that Canberra receives a 20cm snowfall this winter, just to see how they'd cope. While it does snow in Canberra on rare occasions, I think the most at any one time has been 10cm.
Speaking of wet days, I had to umpire a local AFL game in the rain. It wasn't driving or even very hard, but it was persistent. It didn't make the game very comfortable but I was compensated by the game being rather close. While the winning team ended up winning by 13 points, well into the final quarter the score was very close and that always makes for an interesting game whether your a player, spectator or official.
The most important event this week has been ANZAC Day which was on the 25th. As I had to work, I didn't go to the Dawn Service this year but perhaps next year. I won't belabour the meaning and significance of ANZAC Day as I have written about it in a past post. I did celebrate in my own way by watching the movie Gallipoli, a 1981 Australian movie starring Mel Gibson. It's the story of 2 young men who join up in 1915 and are eventually sent to Gallipoli to participate in the disastrous campaign there. It wasn't a bad movie but the interesting thing I found about it was that Gallipoli isn't even represented until 2/3rds of the way through the movie and the only battle scenes occur at the end. Still, it's one of those movies that Australians regard as a classic that should be seen.
Speaking of soldiers, I found out something about the French. Despite having a terrible reputation as soldiers, Groundskeeper Willie famously called them, "cheese eating surrender monkeys", they actually have a fairly impressive record. Since 389 BCE, the French have won 109 battles, lost 49 and drawn 10. Really, it's only their recent record that has been rather spotty. According to my dad, it's not the French soldiers so much as the general staff who seem to be inept at inopportune moments.
For Australians, ANZAC Day is a very important national day of remembrance with many considering it to be of greater importance than Australia Day. Australians take very seriously that history of the ANZAC and take pride in their service. It can be said that Australians strive every day to live up to the spirit of the ANZAC diggers (soldiers) with the concept of mateship, essentially always helping a friend.
Speaking of wet days, I had to umpire a local AFL game in the rain. It wasn't driving or even very hard, but it was persistent. It didn't make the game very comfortable but I was compensated by the game being rather close. While the winning team ended up winning by 13 points, well into the final quarter the score was very close and that always makes for an interesting game whether your a player, spectator or official.
The most important event this week has been ANZAC Day which was on the 25th. As I had to work, I didn't go to the Dawn Service this year but perhaps next year. I won't belabour the meaning and significance of ANZAC Day as I have written about it in a past post. I did celebrate in my own way by watching the movie Gallipoli, a 1981 Australian movie starring Mel Gibson. It's the story of 2 young men who join up in 1915 and are eventually sent to Gallipoli to participate in the disastrous campaign there. It wasn't a bad movie but the interesting thing I found about it was that Gallipoli isn't even represented until 2/3rds of the way through the movie and the only battle scenes occur at the end. Still, it's one of those movies that Australians regard as a classic that should be seen.
Speaking of soldiers, I found out something about the French. Despite having a terrible reputation as soldiers, Groundskeeper Willie famously called them, "cheese eating surrender monkeys", they actually have a fairly impressive record. Since 389 BCE, the French have won 109 battles, lost 49 and drawn 10. Really, it's only their recent record that has been rather spotty. According to my dad, it's not the French soldiers so much as the general staff who seem to be inept at inopportune moments.
For Australians, ANZAC Day is a very important national day of remembrance with many considering it to be of greater importance than Australia Day. Australians take very seriously that history of the ANZAC and take pride in their service. It can be said that Australians strive every day to live up to the spirit of the ANZAC diggers (soldiers) with the concept of mateship, essentially always helping a friend.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Bad Dreams
I had a bad dream the other night. It wasn't so much bad in the terrifying sense, but bad in a kind of pathetic way. I think I've been at law school too long because I had a dream yesterday involving legal principles. This wasn't a dream where I was a lawyer or a judge, this was actually me back in high school during a student election. While my high school did have elections, the one in my dream was purely fictional; the result of my active subconscious. In this dream, some students were taking down posters of a candidate because the posters did not conform to some stipulation. In my dream, I then question if this was the result of a jurisdictional or procedural error. These are terms from my administrative law class, the first causing an act to be necessarily invalid and the latter not necessarily so. At the beginning of the year, our lecturer had stated that at one point he had dreamed about administrative law and even quoted a provision in his sleep. I'm not at that point yet, but I've moved one very big step closer. I think I need to unwind; I've got too much administrative law on the brain.
I've had a few other interesting dreams, such as one where I travelled back in time to the Canberra bushfires of 2003 and another involving a nuclear bomb of some kind. If only we could record our dreams visually, what fun we'd have. Perhaps as a result of this bizarre cranial activity, I've been waking up each morning earlier than usual. Not in the middle of the night, but early in the morning. Luckily, I don't mind this because it means I can go back to sleep for a little while.
I've been working, slowly, on my two assignments for most of the week and other than being called in to fill in at an ACTTAB outlet, there hasn't been much going on. I've managed to get some good hours in and I'm looking forward to my next paycheque. My record at guessing AFL winners now stands at 18-7 with 5 more games to go this weekend. If only I was a betting man, but I know the moment I start putting money on, my picks will end up losing. Well, nose back to the grindstone. Those assignments won't write themselves, unfortunately.
I've had a few other interesting dreams, such as one where I travelled back in time to the Canberra bushfires of 2003 and another involving a nuclear bomb of some kind. If only we could record our dreams visually, what fun we'd have. Perhaps as a result of this bizarre cranial activity, I've been waking up each morning earlier than usual. Not in the middle of the night, but early in the morning. Luckily, I don't mind this because it means I can go back to sleep for a little while.
I've been working, slowly, on my two assignments for most of the week and other than being called in to fill in at an ACTTAB outlet, there hasn't been much going on. I've managed to get some good hours in and I'm looking forward to my next paycheque. My record at guessing AFL winners now stands at 18-7 with 5 more games to go this weekend. If only I was a betting man, but I know the moment I start putting money on, my picks will end up losing. Well, nose back to the grindstone. Those assignments won't write themselves, unfortunately.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Working Holiday
The long mid-semester break began on Friday with the Good Friday public holiday. This year, the break is a little longer than usual as the Monday we would normally return to studies is another public holiday, ANZAC Day Monday. ANZAC Day itself is the preceding Sunday but keeping in line with government policy, Monday is a public holiday. As much as I would like to take this time to relax, unfortunately I won't be able to. I'll be working at ACTTAB and I have 2 assignments due the week we get back, one of them the very day classes start again. Not only does this mean a working holiday, but also no opportunity to go to Melbourne or Sydney as I had originally hoped; I simply can't afford the time.
Like North Americans, Australians have the Easter Bunny concept though this has been subject to a quiet campaign of change in the last few years. Rabbits are a destructive introduced species and some years back it was decided to try and replace the Easter Bunny with something more native; they came up with the Easter Bilby (BYHL-bee). A bilby is a type of rodent, similar in size to a rabbit, but looking more like a cross between a kangaroo and a rat. The duties of the Easter Bilby are the same as those of the Easter Bunny. The idea hasn't really caught on, though.
While Manuka Oval is being resurfaced, we AFL umpires have had to find alternate arrangements. Last Tuesday, we trained at the Canberra Institute of Technology's (C.I.T.) sports center. We didn't do any training outdoors, using an indoor gym instead. It was very interesting though as there were speed tests, jump tests, flexibility tests and even the dreaded beep test. The last of these is a point-to-point test where the participant travels back and forth between 2 points separated by 20 meters. The participant must reach the next point before the next beep and as the levels progress the beeps get closer together. It was very tiring but I managed to get to level 10 which I'm told is very good, and it is the minimum for AFL goal umpires. I had a lot of fun with the other tests, especially the sprint. One of the C.I.T. instructors is actually from Canada as well. We're back there on Tuesday and I can't wait to see what is in store.
There is one thing from last week I forgot to mention and that was that I biked interstate so to speak. My first regular season game was in Queanbeyan at 09:00 last Sunday but no buses run from Canberra that early and a cab was too expensive, so I decided I had no choice but to bike. Queanbeyan is just 10 kilometers from Canberra but it sits just across the border in New South Wales. I took me a little over an hour to get to the sports ground as the ride is quite hilly. Luckily, there was a long descent into Queanbeyan from Canberra along Canberra Avenue. The game itself wasn't overly exciting but I realized that I was probably too tired to negotiate the long hill back up to Canberra so I managed to get a ride back into the city from one of the other umpires. Although a little fun, biking to Queanbeyan is not something I'd like to make a habit of. Anyway, enjoy the holidays.
Like North Americans, Australians have the Easter Bunny concept though this has been subject to a quiet campaign of change in the last few years. Rabbits are a destructive introduced species and some years back it was decided to try and replace the Easter Bunny with something more native; they came up with the Easter Bilby (BYHL-bee). A bilby is a type of rodent, similar in size to a rabbit, but looking more like a cross between a kangaroo and a rat. The duties of the Easter Bilby are the same as those of the Easter Bunny. The idea hasn't really caught on, though.
While Manuka Oval is being resurfaced, we AFL umpires have had to find alternate arrangements. Last Tuesday, we trained at the Canberra Institute of Technology's (C.I.T.) sports center. We didn't do any training outdoors, using an indoor gym instead. It was very interesting though as there were speed tests, jump tests, flexibility tests and even the dreaded beep test. The last of these is a point-to-point test where the participant travels back and forth between 2 points separated by 20 meters. The participant must reach the next point before the next beep and as the levels progress the beeps get closer together. It was very tiring but I managed to get to level 10 which I'm told is very good, and it is the minimum for AFL goal umpires. I had a lot of fun with the other tests, especially the sprint. One of the C.I.T. instructors is actually from Canada as well. We're back there on Tuesday and I can't wait to see what is in store.
There is one thing from last week I forgot to mention and that was that I biked interstate so to speak. My first regular season game was in Queanbeyan at 09:00 last Sunday but no buses run from Canberra that early and a cab was too expensive, so I decided I had no choice but to bike. Queanbeyan is just 10 kilometers from Canberra but it sits just across the border in New South Wales. I took me a little over an hour to get to the sports ground as the ride is quite hilly. Luckily, there was a long descent into Queanbeyan from Canberra along Canberra Avenue. The game itself wasn't overly exciting but I realized that I was probably too tired to negotiate the long hill back up to Canberra so I managed to get a ride back into the city from one of the other umpires. Although a little fun, biking to Queanbeyan is not something I'd like to make a habit of. Anyway, enjoy the holidays.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Quite Interesting
There's an absolutely splendid program I've ta'en to watching recently, QI. This is a British quiz show featuring celebrities which talks about facts that are QI --- quite interesting. Following in the genre of Myth Busters, this show is all about debunking popular myths. For example, the man we call Thomas a Beckett, the archbishop murdered by Henry II, was never "a Beckett" or "a anything"; he was plain Thomas Beckett. The "a" is an error that has somehow persisted through the centuries. Also, Noah did NOT take 2 of EVERY animal on his Ark. According to the Bible, God commanded him to take 2 of every non-clean animal (ex.: pig) but 7 of every clean animal (ex.: sheep). Even so, the program is not without error. In 1 episode they said that the Earth has 5 moons, these being very small objects that seems to orbit the Earth. Actually, these objects orbit the Sun but their paths cross the Earth's orbital plane and from our perspective, they do seem to orbit us although in unusual shapes. The "most famous" of these is Cruithne (CROOY-nee). I've found a few others and I'm going to write them, but on the whole, the show is quite interesting.
Keeping with the theme, I found a news story about a pay dispute between a Rabbi and the congregation in Sydney. It involves the amalgamation of one synagogue with another and how much the good Rabbi should be paid if he is made redundant. Depending on how it's done, the payout can be up to $1 000 000! The Rabbi himself is paid $80 000 per year. As I was reading this story I thought to myself, "Christ, I'm in the wrong line of work."
Inward Bound took off last night with several teams heading into the wild only to return to civilization again. This is an orienteering exercise where teams from several residences are shuttled blindfolded to various points and then told to make their way back to an appointed place. Some the teams are placed up to 50 km away and yesternight there was a magnificent storm. I only hope the teams brought rain gear. We'll see who finishes first.
I've also ta'en to picking the winners of AFL matches. Before any of you get in a tizzy, I'm not gambling. I was supposed to play the "Dark Prince" in the ACT AFL umpires' office pool and essentially people would bet against, or with, my picks for the winners. That fell through but I tried it for Round 1 anyway and out of 8 matches, I picked 6 winners. I'll do this for fun all year just to see how good I am. With 5 games played so far in Round 2, I've picked 3 winners, but that is also the exact same situation I was in last round at this point.
One of my favourite traditions has been the eating of ribs on the 1st Friday of every month. After the monthly Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Ottawa Centre) meetings at the Canada Museum of Science and Technology, the group went to Kelsey's for some after-meeting discussions. At these, I would always have a rack of ribs. A short while ago I discovered Belucci's, a restaurant in Dickson, that serves great ribs, so I go there now the first Friday of every month, to honour my personal tradition.
Finally, I leave you with a frightening experience some classmates of mine had at their home. 4 of the JDs share a house in the, shall we say, less refined suburb of Charnwood in Canberra's northwest. This house adjoins a garage on the other side of which is the smaller home of their landlord. A few days ago, the landlord's house was firebombed; a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window. Luckily it was put out before any major damage or injury resulted. My classmates have been released from their lease (understandably) and are now looking for alternate accommodation, though they are still living there in the interim. I'm already thinking of who I should get to play them when I write the 4th Underbelly series.
That's all for this week. Did you get my Rabbi joke?
Keeping with the theme, I found a news story about a pay dispute between a Rabbi and the congregation in Sydney. It involves the amalgamation of one synagogue with another and how much the good Rabbi should be paid if he is made redundant. Depending on how it's done, the payout can be up to $1 000 000! The Rabbi himself is paid $80 000 per year. As I was reading this story I thought to myself, "Christ, I'm in the wrong line of work."
Inward Bound took off last night with several teams heading into the wild only to return to civilization again. This is an orienteering exercise where teams from several residences are shuttled blindfolded to various points and then told to make their way back to an appointed place. Some the teams are placed up to 50 km away and yesternight there was a magnificent storm. I only hope the teams brought rain gear. We'll see who finishes first.
I've also ta'en to picking the winners of AFL matches. Before any of you get in a tizzy, I'm not gambling. I was supposed to play the "Dark Prince" in the ACT AFL umpires' office pool and essentially people would bet against, or with, my picks for the winners. That fell through but I tried it for Round 1 anyway and out of 8 matches, I picked 6 winners. I'll do this for fun all year just to see how good I am. With 5 games played so far in Round 2, I've picked 3 winners, but that is also the exact same situation I was in last round at this point.
One of my favourite traditions has been the eating of ribs on the 1st Friday of every month. After the monthly Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Ottawa Centre) meetings at the Canada Museum of Science and Technology, the group went to Kelsey's for some after-meeting discussions. At these, I would always have a rack of ribs. A short while ago I discovered Belucci's, a restaurant in Dickson, that serves great ribs, so I go there now the first Friday of every month, to honour my personal tradition.
Finally, I leave you with a frightening experience some classmates of mine had at their home. 4 of the JDs share a house in the, shall we say, less refined suburb of Charnwood in Canberra's northwest. This house adjoins a garage on the other side of which is the smaller home of their landlord. A few days ago, the landlord's house was firebombed; a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window. Luckily it was put out before any major damage or injury resulted. My classmates have been released from their lease (understandably) and are now looking for alternate accommodation, though they are still living there in the interim. I'm already thinking of who I should get to play them when I write the 4th Underbelly series.
That's all for this week. Did you get my Rabbi joke?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Street Wars
It hasn't been easy to find the time to post my thoughts. Unfortunately, university work seems to take up much of my time. More than that, I've actually been struggling to find newsworthy events in my life.
The biggest new item recently in Australia has been the upsurge of biker gang violence. You may have heard of an incident at Sydney's Kingsford-Smith International Airport that left 1 person dead and several others in custody. In Canberra, 2 more people were killed in the south of the city in what appears to be a crime connected with the biker gangs. The public is worried that this could mean the start of a gang war which could get very ugly very quickly. I hope it doesn't but if it does, I think it'll provide excellent source material for another Underbelly series.
Apparently the roots of this conflict go back a few decades when several members of a biker gang split and formed a rival gang; the 2 gangs have been enemies ever since. The biker gang world has been marked with sporadic violence, sometimes quite large, but these flare-ups tend to be short-lived. However, with these latest incidents, it is entirely possible that a new series f skirmishes will happen. And just to put that into perspective, some of the leaders of the biker gangs have been calling for police protection, fearing their lives.
That's all I can really write about this week. There doesn't seem to be anything happening worth reporting. The mid-semester break is fast approaching, though, and I can't wait for a short break.
The biggest new item recently in Australia has been the upsurge of biker gang violence. You may have heard of an incident at Sydney's Kingsford-Smith International Airport that left 1 person dead and several others in custody. In Canberra, 2 more people were killed in the south of the city in what appears to be a crime connected with the biker gangs. The public is worried that this could mean the start of a gang war which could get very ugly very quickly. I hope it doesn't but if it does, I think it'll provide excellent source material for another Underbelly series.
Apparently the roots of this conflict go back a few decades when several members of a biker gang split and formed a rival gang; the 2 gangs have been enemies ever since. The biker gang world has been marked with sporadic violence, sometimes quite large, but these flare-ups tend to be short-lived. However, with these latest incidents, it is entirely possible that a new series f skirmishes will happen. And just to put that into perspective, some of the leaders of the biker gangs have been calling for police protection, fearing their lives.
That's all I can really write about this week. There doesn't seem to be anything happening worth reporting. The mid-semester break is fast approaching, though, and I can't wait for a short break.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The Seamy Underbelly
Every society has elements in it that are destructive and lawless. In some places, this can be a local rebel group, but in Australia, and most other First World countries, these elements are organized into collectives whose purpose is to act outside the law to gain profit. We call it "organized crime", or the Mafia. Having a large Italian community, Australia is prone to this form of subversion.
Last year, Channel 9, an Australian television company, produced a series called Underbelly, based on events in Melbourne from 1995-2004. Essentially, it chronicled the gang war that led to the deaths of some 34 people in that time. While perhaps taking certain liberties with events, it is, on its basic elements, factual, and that's what makes it even more incredible.
I recently acquired the series and started watching it on my computer; I was immediately hooked. It starts by following the acts of Alphonse "the Dark Prince of Lygon Street" Gangitano as he gets out of prison and tries to rebuild his empire. Lygon Street is a heavily Italian neighbourhood in Melbourne. The narrator, officer Jacqui James, tells us that the gang war is said to have started on the night Gangitano killed a Mr. Workman over a $5 000 debt. The Dark Prince doesn't last too long and he is gunned down by Jason Moran, the son of Lewis Moran, another organized crime member.
From there, it follows the Moran Clan's fortunes and how one tactical mistake, the shooting of Carl Anthony Williams, who survives and forms a rival criminal organization, leads to the deaths of the Moran men, as well as several other gangland figures. The police, at first stymied by bad luck and corruption, eventually form Task Force Purana in an attempt to bring an end to the war by putting the key figures away. Although Jacqui James is the narrator, the protagonist is really officer Steve Owen who takes a personal, sometimes too personal, interest in bringing down Williams and the others. I won't say how it ends, only that I found the final climax particularly moving.
Underbelly was a ratings bonanza and has since spawned Underbelly 2: A Tale of Two Cities, the story of the heroin trade between Sydney and Melbourne from 1977-1986; a third series is in planning. Underbelly, though, was not without controversy as the violence, language and themes upset some parent groups. It was originally slotted at 20:30 which many parents believed was too soon for young, impressionable minds. I say, if you let your kids watch Loony Toons, they can handle anything. As well, Underbelly could not be released in Victoria as it was ruled by the courts that it could prejudice the juries in some upcoming trials. This meant, ironically, that the city most affected by the gangland war would not even get to see it. One of the players in this drama was Tony Mokbel who fled Australia but has since been extradited. With his sentencing and other trials pending, it doesn't look like the series will be released in Victoria any time soon; the DVD set is still unavailable in that state.
If you get a chance, watch Underbelly. I was completely enthralled and only stopped watching because I had to go to sleep. A little light on the dark parts of society is always a good thing.
Besides Underbelly, there has been celebration at Fenner Hall. Last Sunday, the annual interhall Trivia competition was held in the new Kinloch UniLodge. Although competition was fierce, Fenner came out on top again. I like to think I did my part, but everyone had a hand in our victory. We retain the trophy for the 3rd straight year and for next year I say, bring 'em on. On Friday, the boys cricket team managed to pull off an amazing victory after looking like we were down and out. It made up for the girls losing in a tight game earlier, not that they didn't give it their all as well. Suffice it to say, Fenner Hall has been rather jubilant lately.
The summer weather has returned and temperatures are back around 30C. I don't expect it to last too long, but it's pleasant nonetheless. It certainly makes university a little more tolerable. And tonight was the annual Skyfire event, a massive fireworks display in celebration of something or other; I really wasn't paying attention. I heard it was pretty amazing though.
On Friday, I also officiated my first aussie rules game of the season. It was only a practice match but there were some challenging moments, but nothing too stressful. All things considered, it was actually a fairly routine game. Because I'll be working at ACTTAB most weekends, I probably won't get many games but I hope to do at least a few this season.
An interesting news item cropped up this week and that was that the Australian government is cutting the permanent resident intake for skilled migrants in order to protect Australian jobs. Essentially, it is to keep foreign labour out of the market so Australians can get jobs in those sectors and keep down the unemployment figures. This really only affects trades and the way I read it, I'm still unaffected if I wanted to become a permanent resident. Reading the rhetoric, it really does smack of xenophobia and even racism. I say, there wouldn't be any trade shortages if Australians were doing the work but obviously they aren't. Many of the supporters of this move couch their language in terms of protecting Australian jobs from Asians and this is really where things get uncomfortable. Not to be too frank, but this plan doesn't really make sense and only serves to pander to the time-tested tradition of blaming immigrants when things get tough. Then again, I may be biased.
Finally, I want to report on something I call the "grandparent phenomenon". It seems that grandparents around the world share particular habits when it comes to visiting grandchildren, which I confirmed while conversing with a guy from India. Like myself, when he visits his grandparents he is immediately encouraged to eat as much as is possible for fear of starvation, even if already full. And this is not limited to one meal, but every meal of the day. Furthermore, the grandparents claim that since they don't know what the grandchild likes, they've just bought everything they could think of and that tell them to help themselves; that isn't a request. At each meal, the grandchild is forced to eat until everything is gone, or they insist that they cannot eat another bite. And what do the grandparents have? A small bowl of fruit topped-off with cottage cheese, or some other insubstantiality. I'm not complaining by any means; it's far better to be fed too much than too little. And furthermore, I think it speaks to the universality of the human condition. So to all grandparents on Earth, on behalf of all grandchildren, I say thank you for the food.
Last year, Channel 9, an Australian television company, produced a series called Underbelly, based on events in Melbourne from 1995-2004. Essentially, it chronicled the gang war that led to the deaths of some 34 people in that time. While perhaps taking certain liberties with events, it is, on its basic elements, factual, and that's what makes it even more incredible.
I recently acquired the series and started watching it on my computer; I was immediately hooked. It starts by following the acts of Alphonse "the Dark Prince of Lygon Street" Gangitano as he gets out of prison and tries to rebuild his empire. Lygon Street is a heavily Italian neighbourhood in Melbourne. The narrator, officer Jacqui James, tells us that the gang war is said to have started on the night Gangitano killed a Mr. Workman over a $5 000 debt. The Dark Prince doesn't last too long and he is gunned down by Jason Moran, the son of Lewis Moran, another organized crime member.
From there, it follows the Moran Clan's fortunes and how one tactical mistake, the shooting of Carl Anthony Williams, who survives and forms a rival criminal organization, leads to the deaths of the Moran men, as well as several other gangland figures. The police, at first stymied by bad luck and corruption, eventually form Task Force Purana in an attempt to bring an end to the war by putting the key figures away. Although Jacqui James is the narrator, the protagonist is really officer Steve Owen who takes a personal, sometimes too personal, interest in bringing down Williams and the others. I won't say how it ends, only that I found the final climax particularly moving.
Underbelly was a ratings bonanza and has since spawned Underbelly 2: A Tale of Two Cities, the story of the heroin trade between Sydney and Melbourne from 1977-1986; a third series is in planning. Underbelly, though, was not without controversy as the violence, language and themes upset some parent groups. It was originally slotted at 20:30 which many parents believed was too soon for young, impressionable minds. I say, if you let your kids watch Loony Toons, they can handle anything. As well, Underbelly could not be released in Victoria as it was ruled by the courts that it could prejudice the juries in some upcoming trials. This meant, ironically, that the city most affected by the gangland war would not even get to see it. One of the players in this drama was Tony Mokbel who fled Australia but has since been extradited. With his sentencing and other trials pending, it doesn't look like the series will be released in Victoria any time soon; the DVD set is still unavailable in that state.
If you get a chance, watch Underbelly. I was completely enthralled and only stopped watching because I had to go to sleep. A little light on the dark parts of society is always a good thing.
Besides Underbelly, there has been celebration at Fenner Hall. Last Sunday, the annual interhall Trivia competition was held in the new Kinloch UniLodge. Although competition was fierce, Fenner came out on top again. I like to think I did my part, but everyone had a hand in our victory. We retain the trophy for the 3rd straight year and for next year I say, bring 'em on. On Friday, the boys cricket team managed to pull off an amazing victory after looking like we were down and out. It made up for the girls losing in a tight game earlier, not that they didn't give it their all as well. Suffice it to say, Fenner Hall has been rather jubilant lately.
The summer weather has returned and temperatures are back around 30C. I don't expect it to last too long, but it's pleasant nonetheless. It certainly makes university a little more tolerable. And tonight was the annual Skyfire event, a massive fireworks display in celebration of something or other; I really wasn't paying attention. I heard it was pretty amazing though.
On Friday, I also officiated my first aussie rules game of the season. It was only a practice match but there were some challenging moments, but nothing too stressful. All things considered, it was actually a fairly routine game. Because I'll be working at ACTTAB most weekends, I probably won't get many games but I hope to do at least a few this season.
An interesting news item cropped up this week and that was that the Australian government is cutting the permanent resident intake for skilled migrants in order to protect Australian jobs. Essentially, it is to keep foreign labour out of the market so Australians can get jobs in those sectors and keep down the unemployment figures. This really only affects trades and the way I read it, I'm still unaffected if I wanted to become a permanent resident. Reading the rhetoric, it really does smack of xenophobia and even racism. I say, there wouldn't be any trade shortages if Australians were doing the work but obviously they aren't. Many of the supporters of this move couch their language in terms of protecting Australian jobs from Asians and this is really where things get uncomfortable. Not to be too frank, but this plan doesn't really make sense and only serves to pander to the time-tested tradition of blaming immigrants when things get tough. Then again, I may be biased.
Finally, I want to report on something I call the "grandparent phenomenon". It seems that grandparents around the world share particular habits when it comes to visiting grandchildren, which I confirmed while conversing with a guy from India. Like myself, when he visits his grandparents he is immediately encouraged to eat as much as is possible for fear of starvation, even if already full. And this is not limited to one meal, but every meal of the day. Furthermore, the grandparents claim that since they don't know what the grandchild likes, they've just bought everything they could think of and that tell them to help themselves; that isn't a request. At each meal, the grandchild is forced to eat until everything is gone, or they insist that they cannot eat another bite. And what do the grandparents have? A small bowl of fruit topped-off with cottage cheese, or some other insubstantiality. I'm not complaining by any means; it's far better to be fed too much than too little. And furthermore, I think it speaks to the universality of the human condition. So to all grandparents on Earth, on behalf of all grandchildren, I say thank you for the food.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Meaningless Holidays
The best holidays are those that give you a day off for no particular reason. There's no logic or grand sentiment attached to them, merely some sort of desire for a day free of work. You can lay around and do what you wish without really knowing what you are supposed to be celebrating. Canberra's answer to this is the second Monday of March --- Canberra Day.
I shouldn't say that it is meaningless without reservation; for all I know there is ample reason for this holiday. I assume that it is Canberra's birthday and a few signs around the city seem to allude to that, but there's nothing definitive. It does give everyone an excuse to stay at home and catch up on whatever sleep they've been missing. I don't recall doing much of anything that day, but I did go up later that night and watched the fireworks from the Fenner roof. Explosives and pyrotechnics can add meaning to any meaningless celebration.
Later in the week, I was pleased to see that the CBC keeps track of stories from Australia. Recently, a kangaroo broke into a house in Canberra at night and frightened the occupants. It was chased away without any injuries. I think the most interesting thing is that the CBC actually bothered to carry it on their news website. In Canada, news doesn't often filter from Australia but occasionally it gets picked up, and I think this has gotten better in the last few years. Perhaps with the Victorian bushfires, there is more attention being paid to Australia but even before that, there were hints of increasing coverage. The last Australian federal election comes to mind as that was covered fairly well in the Canadian press where it wouldn't have beforehand. Australia has some fascinating stories to tell and I hope Canadians do get to hear them, not just the disasters.
Since the last week was uneventful, I'll close off with a brief discourse on the status of my Juris Doctor (JD) program. I approached the sub-dean recently, who also teaches my Corporations Law course, and asked if JDs are undergraduates who happen to take some postgraduate courses, postgraduates who happen to take mostly undergraduate courses or something else. His reply was that in his opinion, the JDs are a new species of student entirely; a sort of hybrid, which is a view I had come to myself some while back. He did say that our status in the broader academic sphere was unclear and the subject of debate but for present purposes of simplicity, we are counted among the postgraduate student ranks.
I did a little further research and found that the debate surrounding JDs is not isolated and there is no consensus among the various countries which offer JD programs. In the United States, the JD is considered a doctorate and graduates are entitled to use Dr. as a prefix, but this is only true of the United States. This poses an academic quandary since there is a separate degree called the Juris Doctor Scientiae (JDS) which much more closely approximates what most people consider to a doctorate program. In Canada, Australia and the UK, there is no consensus as to what academic rank JDs should be equated with (Bachelor, Master or Doctorate). It seems that the JD will be the subject of debate for many years to come.
In case you're wondering that this is purely an academic exercise, I will point out that there are some important practical implications regarding academic rank. At ANU, certain scholarships and government funding are available only for undergraduate or postgraduate studies. The housing accommodation guarantee is only offered to undergraduates. Dr. Bottomley (the sub-dean) said that the Law School was working with the university to see if JDs could gain access to both streams of funding, essentially allowing us to double-dip. There have been no decisions made so until then, JDs are in a state of limbo.
The status of the JD can also have implications in the event of an application for permanent residency. Australia employs a points test for those wishing to become permanent residents and the JDs classification could mean the difference between 5 and 25 points on the qualifications portion of the test, at least theoretically. 5 points, the minimum, are awarded for 2 years study in Australia and regardless of the eventual classification, I will get those points since the JD is a 3-year program. If the JD were classified as a doctorate, that would get me 25 points, the maximum. The most likely scenario talking to other staff at the ANU Law School, is that the JD would be classified as equivalent to a Master's degree, thus giving me 15 points, the intermediary amount; there are no 10 and 20 point scores. I'm hoping against hope that the "Doctor" in Juris Doctor will be enough to put me at 25 points should I wish to apply for residency, but I doubt it. I guess the only thing will be to roll the dice and apply at some point.
I shouldn't say that it is meaningless without reservation; for all I know there is ample reason for this holiday. I assume that it is Canberra's birthday and a few signs around the city seem to allude to that, but there's nothing definitive. It does give everyone an excuse to stay at home and catch up on whatever sleep they've been missing. I don't recall doing much of anything that day, but I did go up later that night and watched the fireworks from the Fenner roof. Explosives and pyrotechnics can add meaning to any meaningless celebration.
Later in the week, I was pleased to see that the CBC keeps track of stories from Australia. Recently, a kangaroo broke into a house in Canberra at night and frightened the occupants. It was chased away without any injuries. I think the most interesting thing is that the CBC actually bothered to carry it on their news website. In Canada, news doesn't often filter from Australia but occasionally it gets picked up, and I think this has gotten better in the last few years. Perhaps with the Victorian bushfires, there is more attention being paid to Australia but even before that, there were hints of increasing coverage. The last Australian federal election comes to mind as that was covered fairly well in the Canadian press where it wouldn't have beforehand. Australia has some fascinating stories to tell and I hope Canadians do get to hear them, not just the disasters.
Since the last week was uneventful, I'll close off with a brief discourse on the status of my Juris Doctor (JD) program. I approached the sub-dean recently, who also teaches my Corporations Law course, and asked if JDs are undergraduates who happen to take some postgraduate courses, postgraduates who happen to take mostly undergraduate courses or something else. His reply was that in his opinion, the JDs are a new species of student entirely; a sort of hybrid, which is a view I had come to myself some while back. He did say that our status in the broader academic sphere was unclear and the subject of debate but for present purposes of simplicity, we are counted among the postgraduate student ranks.
I did a little further research and found that the debate surrounding JDs is not isolated and there is no consensus among the various countries which offer JD programs. In the United States, the JD is considered a doctorate and graduates are entitled to use Dr. as a prefix, but this is only true of the United States. This poses an academic quandary since there is a separate degree called the Juris Doctor Scientiae (JDS) which much more closely approximates what most people consider to a doctorate program. In Canada, Australia and the UK, there is no consensus as to what academic rank JDs should be equated with (Bachelor, Master or Doctorate). It seems that the JD will be the subject of debate for many years to come.
In case you're wondering that this is purely an academic exercise, I will point out that there are some important practical implications regarding academic rank. At ANU, certain scholarships and government funding are available only for undergraduate or postgraduate studies. The housing accommodation guarantee is only offered to undergraduates. Dr. Bottomley (the sub-dean) said that the Law School was working with the university to see if JDs could gain access to both streams of funding, essentially allowing us to double-dip. There have been no decisions made so until then, JDs are in a state of limbo.
The status of the JD can also have implications in the event of an application for permanent residency. Australia employs a points test for those wishing to become permanent residents and the JDs classification could mean the difference between 5 and 25 points on the qualifications portion of the test, at least theoretically. 5 points, the minimum, are awarded for 2 years study in Australia and regardless of the eventual classification, I will get those points since the JD is a 3-year program. If the JD were classified as a doctorate, that would get me 25 points, the maximum. The most likely scenario talking to other staff at the ANU Law School, is that the JD would be classified as equivalent to a Master's degree, thus giving me 15 points, the intermediary amount; there are no 10 and 20 point scores. I'm hoping against hope that the "Doctor" in Juris Doctor will be enough to put me at 25 points should I wish to apply for residency, but I doubt it. I guess the only thing will be to roll the dice and apply at some point.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Russian Roulette is not the Same without a Gun
This has been a pretty boring week, actually. The initial thrill and rush of the new academic semester has worn off and a nauseatingly familiar routine is settling in. I have been going to school for 22 years now and I think I've become institutionalized. I don't know how I'll function in the real world that exists outside academia.
On Sunday, I took up a new role, that of cricket umpire. The interhall cricket league needed an umpire for a girls game and I volunteered. For those of you who don't understand cricket, it's a game that is both simple and complext at the same time. I won't bother trying to explain the whole thing. All I'll say is that it's a game that makes golf look interesting. Cricket is a national obsession in Australia, and just about every other part of the Commonwealth. Canada is the only Commonwealth country I can think of where cricket is not a popular sport. It's hard to express how fond Australians are of their cricket. The game I officiated was pretty standard and I think I did alright. As far as I know, no one complained about my umpiring. It's something I would like to do again, but my commitments at ACTTAB prevent me from officiating any further games.
On the sports theme, I went with an acquaintance to the Canberra Club where we played a game of snooker. I never realized just how much bigger than pool tables snooker tables are. They are so large, they even have special extra-long cues to reach across the table if need be. There are actually a myriad of cues and rakes for every conceivable situation. I was very convincingly beaten but I actually find snooker more enjoyable than pool and I look forward to playing at least a few more games.
Lastly, Plast has started up again. Not very many people showed up, on top of which this is not a large group to begin with. There are only 5 or 6 brownies/cubs and 5 or 6 scouts so if even a few people can't make it, the meetings become pretty sparse. Most of the meeting was taken up with setting out the schedule for the year. Since the group is so small, mettings are held usually every 2 weeks; in Ottawa it was once a week. There are also the odd excursions.
Here's to hoping the coming week will be more interesting.
On Sunday, I took up a new role, that of cricket umpire. The interhall cricket league needed an umpire for a girls game and I volunteered. For those of you who don't understand cricket, it's a game that is both simple and complext at the same time. I won't bother trying to explain the whole thing. All I'll say is that it's a game that makes golf look interesting. Cricket is a national obsession in Australia, and just about every other part of the Commonwealth. Canada is the only Commonwealth country I can think of where cricket is not a popular sport. It's hard to express how fond Australians are of their cricket. The game I officiated was pretty standard and I think I did alright. As far as I know, no one complained about my umpiring. It's something I would like to do again, but my commitments at ACTTAB prevent me from officiating any further games.
On the sports theme, I went with an acquaintance to the Canberra Club where we played a game of snooker. I never realized just how much bigger than pool tables snooker tables are. They are so large, they even have special extra-long cues to reach across the table if need be. There are actually a myriad of cues and rakes for every conceivable situation. I was very convincingly beaten but I actually find snooker more enjoyable than pool and I look forward to playing at least a few more games.
Lastly, Plast has started up again. Not very many people showed up, on top of which this is not a large group to begin with. There are only 5 or 6 brownies/cubs and 5 or 6 scouts so if even a few people can't make it, the meetings become pretty sparse. Most of the meeting was taken up with setting out the schedule for the year. Since the group is so small, mettings are held usually every 2 weeks; in Ottawa it was once a week. There are also the odd excursions.
Here's to hoping the coming week will be more interesting.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Round 2
Well, it's started. The new school year arrived this Monday much to my relief and chagrin. I'm sorry to see the summer go, and it feels like it wasn't much of a summer at all, but at the same time, I'm glad to once again be back in a routine I'm familiar with. After just 1 week, I can tell it's going to be quite a semester. This is also the 1st semester I've been able to choose classes. My 2 electives are International Law of Human Rights and International Criminal Law. The second of these is an area of particular interest and I would like to one day pursue opportunities in that field further. My other 2 classes are compulsory: Administrative Law and Corporations Law, nicknamed "Corps" (pronounced "corpse"). I'm more than a little apprehensive of its merits but maybe I should give it a chance.
The day before uni started, there was a Fenner Hall trivia contest where floors participated as teams. I arrived a little late, having just worked at the racecourse, but I helped as best I could. Unfortunately, we didn't do so well. Anyway, there's always the interhall trivia competition later. Trivia did help we out a little financially, or to put it more accurately, helped my mother financially. At our first Administrative Law class, the lecturer had a little trivia game. The first 2 questions about the year the first 1st Australian Administrative Law textbook was published and the number of faculty who have gone on to become Commonwealth Ombudsmen, were true or false and answering them was a matter of luck. I answered them correctly (both false) and then raised my hand the quickest for the next question, "Who said, 'Law is reason without passion.'" The answer is Aristotle and I was also made to own up as to where I got that information, the answer being the movie Legally Blonde. The prize, the course's textbooks, was well worth any momentary shame.
I've discovered 2 new delights: Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy board game, and mate (MAH-teh), a South American tea. Dungeons and Dragons, popularly known as DnD, is a game where you create a character in a fantasy world and go on quests. I am Baron Titanius Rex. It's great escapism. I used to laugh when people mentioned DnD because my mind would immediately go to DND, the Department of National Defence. As for mate, an acquaintance of mine recently returned from a trip to South America. He showed me mate, which is a popular tea made from native plants. It is sucked through a straw and there are protocols for what to say and how to drink. It would be perfect for Australia since mate is spelled the same as "mate", the traditional Aussie greeting.
I've also joined 2 more clubs in Canberra, the Southern Cross Club and the Canberra Club. The latter of these is Canberra's oldest and most prestigious social club; they won't let just anyone join. You have to be willing to pay at least $5.50 for a social membership. In case you think I made that up, it actually is Canberra's oldest club. this was the same place the Umpires' Association had its dinner last September. There's nice panelling and fully-stocked bar. The place oozes class. I'd like to think I'm moving up in the world.
The big event on this weeks social calendar was the Fenner Hall Commencement Dinner, held at the Australian National Museum. We were herded onto buses and driven to the museum where we had a wonderful dinner consisting of chicken, lamb and strawberry-rhubarb pie. The guest of honour was Dr. Frank Fenner, the 94-year old gentleman our residence is named after. Really, a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
I'll end off with a few odds and ends. I did a short shift at Canberra Stadium for the first time today. I learned that my application to the Foreign Service will not go any further this year; there's always next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, etc. Also, I was terrified to learn that my grandmother's liquor bottle collection was recycled at the LCBO. Thankfully, my mother saved the best gem: a bottle in the shape of the CN Tower. It was the 1 thing I really want to be kept from that collection. I remember on every visit, my brother and I always marvelled at it. I hope I get to keep it one day.
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