| Happy Birthday! |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|04:07 pm] |
Happy Birthday to ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) londonbeauty001! |
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| Story of my Life!!! |
[Jul. 18th, 2008|03:08 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  crazy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Office mates chortling | ] |
The Lord of the Rings: an allegory of the PhD?
by Dave Pritchard
The story starts with Frodo: a young hobbit, quite bright, a bit dissatisfied with what he's learnt so far and with his mates back home who just seem to want to get jobs and settle down and drink beer. He's also very much in awe of his tutor and mentor, the very senior professor Gandalf, so when Gandalf suggests he take on a short project for him (carrying the Ring to Rivendell), he agrees.
Frodo very quickly encounters the shadowy forces of fear and despair which will haunt the rest of his journey and leave permanent scars on his psyche, but he also makes some useful friends. In particular, he spends an evening down at the pub with Aragorn, who has been wandering the world for many years as Gandalf's postdoc and becomes his adviser when Gandalf isn't around.
After Frodo has completed his first project, Gandalf (along with head of department Elrond) proposes that the work should be extended. He assembles a large research group, including visiting students Gimli and Legolas, the foreign postdoc Boromir, and several of Frodo's own friends from his undergraduate days. Frodo agrees to tackle this larger project, though he has mixed feelings about it. ("'I will take the Ring', he said, 'although I do not know the way.'")
Very rapidly, things go wrong. First, Gandalf disappears and has no more interaction with Frodo until everything is over. (Frodo assumes his supervisor is dead: in fact, he's simply found a more interesting topic and is working on that instead.) At his first international conference in Lorien, Frodo is cross-questioned terrifyingly by Galadriel, and betrayed by Boromir, who is anxious to get the credit for the work himself. Frodo
cuts himself off from the rest of his team: from now on, he will only discuss his work with Sam, an old friend who doesn't really understand what it's all about, but in any case is prepared to give Frodo credit for being rather cleverer than he is. Then he sets out towards Mordor.
The last and darkest period of Frodo's journey clearly represents the writing-up stage, as he struggles towards Mount Doom (submission), finding his burden growing heavier and heavier yet more and more a part of himself; more and more terrified of failure; plagued by the figure of Gollum, the student who carried the Ring before him but never wrote up and still hangs around as a burnt-out, jealous shadow; talking less and less even to Sam. When he submits the Ring to the fire, it is in desperate confusion rather than with confidence, and for a while the world seems empty.
Eventually it is over: the Ring is gone, everyone congratulates him, and for a few days he can convince himself that his troubles are over. But there is one more obstacle to overcome: months later, back in the Shire, he must confront the external examiner Saruman, an old enemy of Gandalf, who seeks to humiliate and destroy his rival's protege. With the help of his friends and colleagues, Frodo passes through this ordeal, but discovers at the end that victory has no value left for him. While his friends return to settling down and finding jobs and starting families, Frodo remains in limbo; finally, along with Gandalf, Elrond and many others, he joins the brain drain across the Western ocean to the new land beyond. |
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| Random question |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|08:42 am] |
Because I'm curious:
When you were little did you have an invisible friend?
I had Elizabeth, who lived in a mirror image world, entered through the mirror in my bedroom. I also had an invisible 'enemy' named (creatively enough) Invizzie. Because I needed someone to beat when I played board games against myself (poor 'vizzie almost always lost.)
What about you? |
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| Ah, My Home(ophobic) State. |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|10:27 am] |
So, this ad pops up in the UK, just in time for London’s Gay Pride Week:
And yes, it's paid for with "taxpayer dollars", as they like to say. Just like every other "come to SC" ad out there.
Needless to say, a row ensues. Also needless to say, said row actually has little to do with the dollars being spent, and almost everything to do with the target demographic for the ad.
I can't wait to see what Sully's gonna say about this one.
(h/t TNR's The Plank) |
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| Firefox 3 (part 2) |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|11:39 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  awake | ] |
| [ | music |
| | BBC News (24) Channel | ] |
A big thank you to those who commented on yesterdays post. This post is being written on Firefox 3, and to be honest, apart from a few pretty changes, there is very little at the interface stage that appears to have changed. I'm sure there are many things going on 'under the hood' as it were, but as far as I'm concerned, not much is different. What I'm very happy about is that it brought all my 'add-ons' with it, I was worried I was going to have to spend this morning upgrading Firefox. Oh well, that means I'll have to work today now. |
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| Tweets for Today |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|12:05 am] |
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Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter |
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| Well that explains THAT. |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|08:54 pm] |
I was having kinda bad eye-strain type headaches there for a while, different than the HAY YOU HAD A CHUNK OF HEAD OUT ones, and they went away recently.
Turns out the screen flicker in Windows with this monitor was WAY WORSE than I realized, I plugged the Windows drive back in for the conference call tonight that was using Live Meeting, and OW MY EYES. Fedora's got an actual working driver for this PoS and dude, it's like night and day. When I get a new Windows box it's going to need a different monitor. O.M.G.
Two hours on the phone with idjits who didn't bother to READ THE DAMN EMAIL and get set up before the meeting. Rawr. At least I got paid for it, but shit, I have to do INSTALLS with one of them. |
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| SCA: More University musings, and SCA Period question. |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|01:04 pm] |
First I wanted to say that, based upon some work I'm doing in re-starting my Indian research, and the comments from my University class post, I'm seriously considering doing a Persona class. It's not just be for newbies, it'd also be a "where do I go to find out about a new culture", since I get a sizable number of "who can I talk to about X in culture Y" questions.
If I can find a way to title something so unwieldy, I think I might be part of the way.
Also, I'm working on a new project, and could use some advice. Thus, today's poll, so I can get ideas on when to scale expectations of SCA timeframes. Yes, I know it'll differ between people, and I'll take that into account. Getting sound opinions never hurts, though. :)
Poll #1224390 SCA Time Periods
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: AllIf you read the term "Early SCA Period", what Year does that End, for you? If you read the term "Middle SCA Period", what Year does that End, for you?
And yes, this means that Late SCA Period would begin where Middle SCA Ends. And no, I'm not eager to split them up any more for purposes of this question; the option to choose by Century will exist, however.
[EDIT: Yes, there's a year missing on one poll. Blame wonky LJ Poll Wizard...] |
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| Sisters of the Flame. |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|11:19 am] |
I just downloaded this last night and, shockingly enough, I enjoyed the HELL out of it. I'm listening to it again right now. I've made no secret of the fact that I haven't enjoyed the 8th Doctor with Lucie nearly as much as I loved him with Charlie, mainly because I don't think McGann and Smith have any chemistry. But this latest audio is probably my favorite in the line so far.
( Cut for spoilers... ) |
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| Firefox 3 |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|03:59 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  busy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | NIN - Corona Radiata | ] |
I'm sure all you computing wizards will have had chance to break it by now, so I'm wondering what the general consensus around Firefox 3; is it worth me upgrading, or shall I stay with good old 2?
In other news, not particularly happy with the work I've done today, pretty sure the section I've been working on won't make the final draft so I'm trying to justify why it needs to still be in. It's kind of important, but doesn't really need to be there. Can't really explain!
Anyway, Firefox 3, discuss? |
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| Tweets for Today |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|12:05 am] |
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Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter |
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| Well, damn. |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|11:23 pm] |
I can't very well lay claim to a misspent youth at St. Trinian's if I can't find it on a map, can I? Especially as there is no general search option for the Schools feature on one's profile.
Alas. |
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| Letters |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|03:57 pm] |
Dear Doctor Who fandom:
Do we really need 20 new communities based on one episode? Can we stop already?
Me.
PS - A cannon is a piece of artillery. It has nothing to do with your favorite pairing unless your OTP is Captain Jack/Black Pearl.
Dear Dad Boss:
Having both you and M gone for a week without being reachable is less fun than it sounds. If I'm not here when you return I've run off to Tonga.
Me
PS - In case I haven't mentioned it lately, your dad is cracked.
Dear Beard Papa -
I love you. I want to have your children. Putting cookie crumbs on top of a cream puff made something brilliant even better.
Me
Dear Jim Henson -
I love you.
( Jim Henson pic!spam ) |
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| Dammit, Rachel got that PRAISE YE THE LORD!!! song stuck in my head. |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|04:04 pm] |
hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah, PRAISE YE THE LORD!
hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah, PRAISE YE THE LORD!
PRAISE YE THE LORD! hallelujah~!
PRAISE YE THE LORD! hallelujah~!
hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah, PRAISE YE THE LORD!
This is done with squats and matching the volume to how high up you standing, also with a shouting contest with the other side of the room. She was all "Do you know that song?" and I went .oO(WHO IN THIS GROUP WAS THE FUNDIE KID??). :D |
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| Fic: A Parade of Commentfic, Part 1 |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|05:09 pm] |
A Parade of Commentfic
Part 1: Doctor Who
Spoilers: Small ones for the Gallifrey audios, Six's newest companion as of The Condemned, The Doctor's Daughter
Rating: G through R
Warnings: A lot of random pairings, some femslash.
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
Notes: I've done a lot of commentfic and have promised for a while to put it all together. This is part 1, which is all Doctor Who. The only crossovers you'll see within are for the same universe--that is, you'll see SJA characters and Torchwood characters, but nobody from another show. I'm working on getting the crossovers together next, but it probably won't be today.
[ETA] I've just added one onto the end that I had forgotten.
( Small fics beneath. ) |
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| @_@ |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|01:13 pm] |
Found out about a gig for Technisource today, running Thursday and Friday. 25 computers, two people, two days! THIS WILL BE RAD. Evidently they do hardware installs for Dell AND HP, all the machines for this one are HPs. But hay, $15/hr for two days, I'll bite.
I NEED A PRINTER SO BADLY. I have 50 pages of docs that I need to bring on site and Kinko's charges 69 cents A PAGE to print. Mehpfft. Time to go hit up FreeGeek. |
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[Jul. 15th, 2008|08:34 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | random | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Home | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cold | ] |
Just a quick note to everyone out there:
1) My MSN has gone - you can try and talk to me, sometimes it gets through, but sometimes it doesn't get through. If I don't reply it's not because I hate you (Although...it might be...) it's because I can't. (My Gmail is doing the same. Bollocks to this!)
2) I'm looking forward to the Sarah Jane Adventures more than the Doctor Who Specials. Has everyone seen the spoilers? If so, how absolutely fantastic is that going to be?
3)Mixed Up has a website - it's not updated but apparently it will be before the movie is released. I hope Sylvester is in it for more than ten minutes - although judging by earlier films...
(I'm sure there was something else, but now I've begun to talk/type it has flown out the window.) |
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