It's nice to unwind once in a while.

After days of studying, I found a rather strange email in my mailbox.

An invitation to a party at my lecturer's place.

O_o

Oh well. Free food, is free food. Hehe.

It's basically a party to thank us all for the EKKA work, and I met some of the nice coworkers, as well as some new people I've not met.

However, due to my location out in the middle of (close to) nowhere, I had to arrive a full hour early, or risk coming in late.

So I ended up helping out in the kitchen, where they were making lots of finger food, such as fruits, pizzas and pies.

Still, if you thought that a lecturer's party is "boring"...

...You're wrong.

With alchol flowing freely, even a lecturer's party can be rather loose.

...

I shall not go into the details, but it's nothing offensive.

Still, it's a blast of a time, where I had a little too much to drink as I treated the Champagne like water at times (it is a very very good one).

But one thing I must say...

Lecturers, especially since mine is a Senior Lecturer, lives very very very well...

---

The packages finally arrived. :D

Thanks! XD

Sights are hot.

Edit: Photos added. Woo hoo.

Last Saturday, I had a chance to shoot a few weapons which I otherwise would have had no chance of firing for a long long time. I signed up for a shooting activity back in September, and was prepared to only shoot tiny stuff such as air rifles/air pistols.

But when I got there, the package given had a full 50 9mm bullets, 5 shotgun shells, and 10 unknown type of bullets.

Oh... yeah.....

And hell, it was fun.

I performed well with the scoped rifles, although the 2nd higher velocity rifle was pretty shit, and they replaced it after I fired 7/10 possible shots (all disappearing into the dirt...). However, the lower cab rifle was almost something I was born to do, hitting all sorts of targets at 100 and 150 yards.

However, this experience only proved one thing to me.

I'm born to be a sniper.

I was absolutely terrible with the shotgun, where we were given a chance to shoot the clay discs out of the air. Difficult, and the shotgun being insanely heavy didn't help one bit. I didn't do any better with the pistol, as my shots are scattered all over the place, which marks my terrible accuracy.

However, for $45, it is rather fun, and given a chance, I would go and pick up shooting as a sport.

Too bad it is in the middle of no where. Bleh.

However, after the shooting, I went with a couple of friends to the nearby shopping mall, which, on first sight, is HUGE. It's at least twice the size of IMM.

However, inside somewhat speaks a lot of the big shopping centers all over QLD.

Major brands eating up most of the space. In fact, you barely see a private shop, as huge areas is taken up by Myers (Metro or something of Aussie), Woolworths (supermarket), Target/Big W (They sell... everything).

Insanely boring. Of course, they have a cinema and a foodcourt. However, the foodcourt only has fast food (Macs/KFC/whatever-else-is-famous-here such as Red Rooster).

Oh well.

X weeks to go. \o
And happy birthday to Joanne. Hehehe.

Photos:

The small Caliber rifle. Easy.


The larger caliber rifle. The recoil hurts. Really.


Gilian with a shotgun. The shotgun is the only thing which I realised I suck in. It's heavy as hell, and very very hard to aim.


Three of us with the small caliber rifles. In competition, you shoot them while standing, actually.


THe rimfire bullets we used for the pistol and the small caliber rifle.


Shotgun shells and the bullets for the other pistol.

Things to do when stressed.

A shameless moderation from "Things to do when bored."

Make a banner.

Actually, it's a wallpaper which I created (1280x800) resized into a banner (700x400). This was a mere combining 2 pictures together, transforming them, and then having loads of fun adjusting everything.

Simple stuff.

But rather fun to do.

Union leader Elections.

Last week was the student election for the entire university. Basically, you elect the people who will represent you. A first taste of democracy and "freedom".

During the weeks leading up to it, there was pamphets and pieces of paper telling you who you should be voting for, the reasons why you should be voting for... and whatever.

I happened to pick up a copy of the "Election Semper 2006: Candidates policy statements", which was carelessly distrobuted on a desk at a common area.

Speaks quite a bit of the elections, no?

With 6 groups running for presidency alone (10 groups in total), you would think that this election would be full of propaganda, full of seriousness. A true election style which is almost identical to what we see in the real world.

Alas, that isn't so.

After 6 pages of the general blah where they speak about how the counting is done, the words of the candidates finally appears in page 7. On first read, Ben Riley, leader of a group named after himself (Ben), starts everything off interestingly. First, he smears the opposition (In this case, voice), then he talks about why he should be voted.

Looking good.

Then, the next group.

"Beer Lovers Australia"

Uh... what?

"A group with less beurocracy and more beerocracy!"

Uh... yeah. He promises a biceps workout in the red room (Social room with beer) every day from 11am - 4pm (O_o). He calls the election a "mis appropriation of student funds", and would spend the union's money on "things that matter - Beer vouchers, cigarette vending machines, and did I mention beer vouchers".

Ok...

...

Next team.

"The Spanish Inquistion"

...

One look at their "speech", and you see lots of boded words. One which picks up is "NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISTION".

...

After reading a little more closely...

"Hi, my name is Matt Brown, I am the presidential candidate for THE SPANISH INQUISITION."

Looking good.

Now, to things they SHOULD have Bolded

I am really just a puppet, a marionette on a string a ventriloquists dummy with someone's hand up my ... but anyway without any further ado, I shall hand you over to the guy who actually runs this outfit

So, in their speech, they said that their weapons are "Fear and surprise", and a "fanatical devotion to caffeinated beverages". Vote for them "for truth, justice, freedom and a hard boiled egg".

>_>

Next...

Voice.

Well, to be honest, Voice looks good. They don't go about smearing other people. They just say what they will do when they are elected.

The usual stuff. But good, serious stuff.

Then comes Truth.

The first thing you notice about what they said is "Please don't vote for us".

...

Then why run in the first place?

On more detailed reading, you'll realise that they are out to give you the "truth". They do nothing, but smear other candidates, their promises and their propaganda. They are just like leeches who whine and whine about some people who used \an8 on a sign instead of typesetting it properly.

They talk a lot, but they can't do a shit.

Next.

Keep left.

Yet another ridiculous name. But, what the hell. It can be good.

The president has run for, RAGE, Left Alliance, Activist Left, Diversity in Action, and now, Keep Left.

5 groups. O_o.

However, his speech is rather clear, as he brings to the table activities who will stand up to rights. Women rights, and the stuff.

I can go on for another 10 pages analysising every single position, but I won't. LoL. Exams in 3 weeks, and some lecturers' hints are about as good as no hints. (The chapters you should take more notice of is 5-12. >_>).

However, if you continue to read, Voice is the only team that continue on seriously. Some teams have gone on to praise coffee, praise beer, and praise god-knows-what else. Some others have gone on a insanely stupid and long story about mooses, and you still have no idea what they want.

The more interesting section is the NUS (National Union of Students). BEN's group described it as "an absolute joke and a waste of money". KEEP LEFT's candidate says that she is an AWESOME delegate to NUS, being delicated and superkeen. Yet, she wants to change the world, and "CLOSE DOWN THE G20!".

...

So, in comes voice, again, who says that NUS is important. This is totally different from BEN who has every member saying that they will crap away from NUS (but they didnt say how they will do it, of course). VOICE stays serious (almost too serious though), saying that they will bring UQ students matters to the table.

*shugs*

However, as you flip on, BEN's party become undone.

Pasting "BENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBE
NBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENBENB
ENBENBEN", is not the way to go, when some more smear can be put in place. Moreover, it shows that you aren't even serious about the election at all.

Oh well. Voice might win, but I don't think any one really cares. Ben stands a chance, since his campaigning at my campus was rather strong.

So, who did I voted for?

Nobody.

I'll vote when I decide that they are actually serious.

A birthday away from home.

For the first time, I had a birthday where I didn't get to celebrate with my family. To be honest, my plan of that day was to buy pizza, enjoy it, and head to bridge club that evening.

However, thanks to my friends, it turned out to be a very enjoyable day.

A very good end to an extremely messed up week.

I didn't exactly go around placing my birthday date on signboards around school, as I just told the few who asked.

Some how, they remembered.

Nice people.

They invited me to a KFC meal, which was pretty good, especially the coleslaw which is much better than that found back in Singapore. After 2 tubs of fried chicken, we decided to go a little more healthy and head to some guy's house for tea.

The tea was excellent, not some fake china import which is tasteless after 1 cup. The leaves managed to go for more than 7 cups, which is very very good.

As no one wanted to eat dinner, we drove to play bowling for the rest of the night. 2 rounds of 100+, followed by 1 round of 60 shows my luck with the skills. Hehe.

All in all, a very very wonderful day. A day which I didn't expect to happen, but it did.

Many thanks to all who sent their greetings to my mail as well!

And of course, to my friends over on the team:



Wonderful, wondeful people.

The loss of an old friend.

Farewell, Choon Yang. I'll always remember you for your cheerful character, and the friendship you've shown. Each and every game and outing we've had together, will always be remembered.

Farewell, old friend.

Rest in peace.

Your exams are posted on the website.

"We'll drop enough hints for you".

And so, it comes. First 2 weeks of November are my exam weeks.

But that also means that lectures and tutorials are more important than ever before, as the lecturers are the ones who set the exam papers.

So...

"Here is the matrix managemenr model. You might want to look at it more closely when you go back home with the help of your text book. HINT HINT HINT".

Gotta love the lecturers.

And also...

"Hint hint. I believe that this slide is rather important", and everyone goes reaching for their pens/highlighters. Even the guy who was sleeping half a second ago was suddenly wide awake.

Fun fun.

I'm socialising, R-tard!

I'm on a MMORPG, gaining Xp with my friends using Teamspeak!

Torrent to the latest South Park Episode

Best. Episode. Ever.

It has 11k seeds for some reason.

----

PRIME Minister John Howard says whether sleep deprivation is torture depends on the nature and degree of it.

His comments follow those of Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, who has said he did not regard sleep deprivation as torture, although it would be seen as a coercive way to obtain evidence from detainees.

Mr Howard told ABC radio: "It depends entirely on the degree … If somebody who is trained to be a terrorist has, as part of that training, a capacity to deal with what you and I might understand to be vigorous interrogation … that inevitably is going to involve on some occasions some sleep deprivation."

Mr Howard said he did not support torture and Australia would never condone it. But he did not necessarily agree that all sleep deprivation was torture.

"It depends upon the severity of it, the regularity of it, the circumstances … that's what makes yes and no answers to things like that so very difficult."

Mmm...

Interesting. To what degree is sleep deprivation a torture then? Don't make a guy sleep for 24 hours? 48?

180?

And who's the one to make such decisions? The ministers? Watchdogs? Us?

Torture, in any manner, is still torture.

Although, when you talk about getting answers.....

Interesting, isn't it? Especially when there are people who are innocent.

Which also brings the question, who do you judge who is innocent then? The black sheep from the white. LoL.

No wonder 80% of the australians have said that the US war with terrorism did nothing to reduce terrorism. Moreover, it destroyed ties with the Muslim world.

Never again...

Man,

That was the WORST presentation ever.

But it can't be helped. People not turning up to meetings. People going home at 3, when nothing is even close to ready.

Slides being finalised with 20 minutes till the presentation starts

You can't blame me now if I stick to the international students for projects now. The local students here are just wayyyy too goddamned slack.

Compare this team to another team I have, which consist of only International Students.

2 weeks to go, and our slides are almost finalised.

Seriously....

I hope my marks don't fall because of this...