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University, followed by political satire in music [20 August 2007|11:48 pm]
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[Current Mood | sleepy]
[Current Music |'Purple, Blue, And Yellow' by The Clear]

You know what I hate? Slack universities. Some of you may recall that due to an asthma attack during the regular exam period at the end of this year's first semester, I had to miss one of my exams and instead took it during the supplementary period just before the start of second semester. That was over a month ago now. You'd think that I'd have my results back, especially considering that things proceed much quicker after the regular session that has a far higher volume of exams, but no. I'm still waiting. I'd love to know if I achieved a clean sweep of H1s in the first semester, H1 being 80-100%. As I just implied, I got an H1 in my other three subjects, including a 92% overall in Crisis Zones of Europe. I don't know about marking systems elsewhere (I've certainly heard of some that seem to give 90%+ marks more willingly), but a mark like that isn't easy to come by here.

I don't believe I've posted this semester's subjects, so here they are:

131-211: History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
131-225: Terrorism in Modern Conflict
131-226: The Struggle for Universal Human Rights
166-030: Transitions in Central and Eastern Europe

So three history courses (the 131 subjects) and one political science, which breaks my pattern of normally splitting my subjects equally. I originally had a second political science subject, Global Movements: Emerging Paradigms, but when I discovered that Dr Horvath was taking Universal Human Rights, I switched to that as it had a very similar timetable. Horvath took Crisis Zones of Europe last semester, and I think part of the reason why I did so well in that subject was because he's so meticulous and thorough. I feel like I definitely made the right choice. Universal Human Rights should allow me to finally write on some New Zealand history, something I have been craving to do: I may be allowed to modify one of the mid-semester essay topics and write about the New Zealand women's suffrage movement and how the country came to be the first in the world to grant women the vote.

Speaking of New Zealand, I have finally been able to get my hands on a song called There Is No Depression In New Zealand by Blam Blam Blam. Fancy a listen? It's a satirical rock song from 1981 about the political climate under Prime Minister Rob Muldoon and contains the fantastic chorus of "there is no depression in New Zealand/there are no sheep on our farms". I doubt people unfamiliar with the times would really get much of the lyrical content, but for me, it's great - a satirical/political song that I can really strongly relate to. Despite my political interest, I generally feel like an outsider when listening to such songs from the US and Europe; I relate more strongly to the general emotion rather than the specific message much of the time. Of all the political songs I've heard in my life, this one definitely strikes me as the most meaningful.
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My computer had gone bung. [28 October 2005|07:43 pm]
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[Current Music |'My Telly's Gone Bung' by Crowded House]

Thank goodness, my computer and Internet woes appear to finally be over. Yesterday, I received my new modem in the mail, and the first thing that struck me was how small it is! Maybe it's not to some of you, but to me, ( it's definitely tiny. )

So I plugged in the modem, it came on properly, detected both my mother and stepbrother's computers ... and thoroughly failed to acknowledge the presence of mine. Brand new modem connected to my computer via a brand new ethernet cable - considering everything else on my computer is in good working order, I could only conclude that the storm killed my ethernet network card too. This morning, I got a new one put into the computer, and guess what was picked up by the modem straight away? Yep, my computer. So the power surge a few days ago that disabled my modem managed to continue up the wire to wreck my network card. Thank goodness it didn't go any further to do more damage. And thank goodness I'm now back on DSL and don't have to use my mother's computer, which I brought into my room temporarily as she wasn't about to be using it after her operation, though she's feeling better today than yesterday.

I must say I'm not that enthused about my new modem; the presentation of data may be more detailed than my old one but it's definitely not presented as clearly. The manual suffers from an extreme lack of details, and being someone who likes a good manual in order to fully grasp the capabilities of some new software/hardware/anything else with a manual, this disappoints me but as it's from the same company who made my old modem, I expected the manual to be pretty tiny. I thought that over time, they would have improved data and usability though. Ah well, I'm just happy to have a working modem!

It will likely come as no surprise that during my time with limited Internet access, I spent a good deal of time reading. Firstly, I finished reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Possessed, which, while an excellent novel, is excessively lengthy and drawn out for the first half or so. Dostoyevsky certainly offers interesting insights into certain political ideals and the Russian nation, but he was clearly never taught brevity. The ending is absolutely superb and gripping, though. Once I finished that, I picked up Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally, and I couldn't put it down. Horrifying, fascinating, brilliant, and definitely recommended reading. Oskar Schindler is definitely my kind of hero - despite his great deeds, he is all too clearly a flawed man, unlike all these glorified 'heroes' (of both fact and fiction) who are never seen to do a wrong. The sense of humanity that comes through in the book in the midst of one of history's most vile inhumanities is refreshing. An overpowering, sickening horror also comes through that leaves me speechless, shaking my head in wonder. I suppose it's only appropriate that I've chosen to follow Schindler's List with Voltaire's Candide, a satire based around a man who believes this is the "best of all possible worlds" and then proceeds to suffer tremendous calamity after tremendous calamity. I'm currently halfway through, and the satire is delightful, though I have begun to feel that Voltaire may be using some overkill to prove his point.

And that will do for today. Have a good one, folks!
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Post Count - The TRUE Meaning Of Life! [15 July 2005|08:03 pm]
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[Current Mood | happy]
[Current Music |'The Sound Of Muzak' by Porcupine Tree]

It is truly amazing what you can find buried in the depths of your hard drive. I was scavenging around earlier and found what I believe is the first satiric/humorous piece I ever wrote online, way back on a forum over two years ago. I present it to you now unedited and unchanged, flaws and all.

( Post Count - The TRUE Meaning Of Life. )
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Matters of eternal consequence. [21 August 2004|05:31 pm]
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[Current Mood | blank]
[Current Music |'All I Want Is You/Bad (20 October 1989)' by U2]

This really did amuse me ...

Lauren: Haha, I thought you wrote an entry on your ass. See, I had this IM window up and I'm on LJ and I saw "My assignment", but I only saw the first part and it said "My ass".
Me: Yes, I regularly write entries about my ass. It's currently grazing on the lawn with a donkey and a mule.

The entry Lauren is referring to is this one on [info]acommunity. It's my English assignment, a eulogy for Macbeth, so please do read and offer feedback if you can. I may have to present it as early as Monday.

I have a stack of work this weekend. Sigh. I hate it. I'm trying to lose myself in apathy, because when I am apathetic, I can go robotic, get things done, and once I have accomplished what I need to, snap myself back to emotions. It's sometimes worked nicely in the past.

I wish my mother was here to order a stack of books that ... I probably won't have time to read. Ha.

( Observations from SOR. Did someone say sarcasm? Oooh, sarcasm. )
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In which I am both serious and sarcastic. [29 July 2004|06:12 pm]
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[Current Mood | content]
[Current Music |'Dirty Day (27 November 1993)' by U2]

( Axver's semester one report! )

( A subject-related rant. )

( The biggest waste of time of the year is just two sleeps away! )

Actually, I have more to say. ( No, don't lose attention just yet. )

Dirty Day rules and you know it. In fact, all of U2's 'day' songs rule. A Day Without Me, Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day, Dirty Day, Beautiful Day ... OH, that reminds me! This morning, a pretty good local band played at my school chapel, and the lead singer paused to speak for a little while and QUOTED BONO. YES! HE QUOTED BONO! An AWESOME Bono quote too, though I can't remember which it was now. I made a scene by leaping off my chair and yelling fanatically when he said "Bono from the rock band U2." YEAH, BONO! WOO! I think I really disturbed Jamie, Aaron, and the random grade seven girls sitting beside me. As Burns later said, "what possesses a man to scream like that just when Bono is mentioned?" They wouldn't have understood the pun so I didn't say it, but really, what more in the name of love?

I think that's all the rambling I'll do for today. Have a good one.
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It was a dirty desk ... [28 March 2004|10:41 am]
[Tags|]
[Current Mood |Offering]
[Current Music |'In God's Country (12-12-87)' by U2]

Job Offer

One seventeen year old male is seeking an unpaid servant to clean his desk for him. This unpaid servant must make his or her own way to dirty-desk-male's house, clean it for him so that he may be able to study without knocking numerous items (including television remotes, desktop fans, and old drafts of English assignments) onto the floor, store everything in locations where dirty-desk-male will be able to find them without complaining that everything's "too clean", and bring mathematics textbooks that are written in English, make sense, and are appropriate to his current studies. Should unpaid servant bring U2 bootlegs (preferably sourced from the best quality tapes and in .wav format, or even better, on DVD), unpaid servant may be able to remove the 'un'. The United Nations, that is. Dirty-desk-male has no cash to spare. Unpaid servant can bring cash so that dirty-desk-male has more, but he still will not be sparing it. Upon satisfactory completion of task previously specified, unpaid servant may find more enthralling and fulfilling tasks to accomplish in dirty-desk-male's room, such as reorganising his bookshelf into alphabetical order and putting his Time magazines into chronological order.

So don't delay! This job is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet dirty-desk-male and allow him to continue to be lazy! Apply immediately, though all applicants will be accepted. Your services towards helping dirty-desk-male improve his life will be most appreciated and there will be rewards, such as being able to listen to U2 24/7.

Sincerely,
Dirty-desk-male

( Footnote: Dirty-desk-male at dirty desk in slightly cleaner days (Friday, 19-03-2004). )

--- 11:21am ---

Aforementioned dirty-desk-male would like to direct your attention to this INCREDIBLE U2 auction on e-bay. This has surfaced?! *collapses*

Additional Offer

Please consider donating US$18,000.00 to André's U2 Fund so that he may purchase above-linked rarity. Your donation would be greatly appreciated and further a worthy cause.
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André's lesson of the ... whenever. [14 January 2004|09:28 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood |Good]
[Current Music |'Bad (05-02-85, epic rendition)' by U2]

#1: If you ever want 17 hours sleep, staying up 28.5 hours will help you in your quest very nicely.
#2: If you ever decide to stay up 28.5 hours, change your decision before it's too late.

Yeah, so. I still don't know why I stayed up so late. Maybe because I was annoyed I'd gone to bed the night before while on a writing roll and wanted to recapture the magic (sadly I didn't), maybe because I wanted to see who was online while I slept (not many people), maybe because I wanted to see a sunrise (which was awe-inspiringly beautiful), or maybe because I do really silly random things. Whatever the reason, it was both worthwhile and thoroughly stupid, both with no real reason to back them up.

But trust me, reheated gravy is AWFUL. Please, for the love of Popmart, NEVER eat it. Reheated chicken works, reheated potatos sort of work, but reheated gravy makes me want to throw up. Yeah, I reheated the dinner I missed last night.

Alright, so the plan for my birthday? Yes, we're geniuses at being underprepared. But I'm going around to Sam's tomorrow afternoon, picking up Jamie on the way, staying at his place overnight, and then coming back here. It'll be just us and Aaron here because Tom's already got plans on the 16th, but he'll be at Sam's tomorrow. We're having a barbecue dinner, which sort of disappoints me because I was hoping for something else (not quite sure what though, heh), and I would like to point out to everyone that it is 'barbecue', NOT 'barbeque'. Consult your nearest dictionary - you should have one close to you - for more.

Tom's said he's got me a present. Aaron's said nothing. I've both asked them to do me favours and get me a Bible, because both of them come from Christian families and regularly go to places that have Bibles, while I don't. Hopefully Tom's present is a Bible and Aaron's kept silent because he has one and wants to use it as a present. I know Tom gave Sam a Bible last year, so hopefully I'm in luck. I don't care if they both give me the same version, or if it's one I already have. I just need a new one, and two is better. I've read all eight I've got, and I find I learn so much more when I'm highlighting, but you can't exactly highlight what's already been highlighted (or in the case of my two really good copies, highlight what you refuse to highlight). All going according to plan, hopefully we can expect some articles in the near future.

Speaking of articles, I've been reading some FANTASTIC articles about U2, courtesy of the lovely U2Tours.com, and eee, they make me feel all fanladish and squeeish inside. I love U2. They're so good, and the articles on very young, early U2 are neat. I love the prophetic statements like "unless you keep your eyes shut and your ears closed, you'll be hearing U2 in the future."

I need to clean the pool table tonight. See, I use it as the place to dump all my junk, and if we're planning on playing pool, it's going to need to be cleaned. The question is: where to put the junk? Maybe I'll just conveniently strew it on the floor. Of course, I don't want it broken either. I need an entire house ... indeed, even then I'd probably do a good enough job that causes me to say "I need a castle." It's not that I live in mess or squalor, just I like to spread things out, it's better to keep things in plain view (floor, pool table) than hidden away (draws, cabinets) ... I describe it as "organised chaos" - initially it looks chaotic and silly, but once you look around a bit, it's really quite organised and works.

I also need to have a random moment where I put my Time magazines in order. The longer I let this unorderedness go on, the more out of order they'll become. I think I already have about two years to put in order.

I think I might go to bed early tonight, much contrary to the events of two nights ago. Wow, was it already two nights ago? What's up with time going by so fast? It only feels like January 9 or so. I guess this is going to be another one of those years where time keeps on getting further and further ahead of me. Oh well.

--- 9:47pm ---

By the way, some of you may have noticed the fact that not only am I a U2 fanlad of intense proportions, but I am also a fanlad of intense proportions of 11 O'clock Tick Tock. Therefore, you may enjoy this list of live copies I have of the Best Song Ever (note that dates are in day/month/year format, as all good dates should be written).

( The list. )

--- 11:28pm ---

FIRSTS

First job: Nowhere, damn it.
First screen name: What do you expect? Axver.
First self-purchased album: None, ha! I still owe Mum for U2's Pop and half of Zooropa.
First funeral: Doris, a lovely elderly friend of me and Mum's.
First piercing/tattoo: None.
First credit card: Um ... Bank of New Zealand? National Bank [of NZ]? Somewhere like that. Probably the latter, because my Dad worked there.
First true love: Thomas The Tank Engine, haha.
First enemy: That annoying Tim kid in my class at school when I was five.
First big trip: Sydney, when I was three.
First concert: None.
First musician you remember hearing in your house: The Shadows, probably. Talking Heads, U2, Queen, and Cliff Richard are other ones I can remember from way back.

LASTS:

Last big car ride: From Melbourne to the Gold Coast.
Last kiss: My mother, today.
Last library book: Plays by Anton Chekhov.
Last movie seen: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
Last beverage drank: Lemonade.
Last food consumed: One of those really nice fruit biscuits with chocolate on one side.
Last phone call: Grandad, today. I got five phone calls today, which is far and away a personal record, probably never to be beaten. OK, so three of them were Jamie, but the point still stands.
Last cd played: I don't play CD's much, seeing they're all on my computer in mp3. But it would've been either my burn of Coldplay's A Rush Of Blood To The Head, or U2's The Unforgettable Fire or Under A Blood Red Sky, or Linkin Park's Meteora. Most likely the last, because it won't rip to my computer and I played it on my discman one night.
Last annoyance: My sore legs. Which are sore for no apparent reason. Maybe the tiredness is getting to them.
Last soda drank: Lemonade.
Last ice cream eaten: Chocolate Swirl or something delightful along those lines.
Last time scolded: Shouldn't that be "last time I scolded a u-user?" Hmm ... I'm not really sure what the definition of 'scolded' is, but about two weeks ago Mum and I got into a heated discussion about ADSL and the troubles with it, and voices were raised ...
Last shirt worn: The blue one I'm wearing now.
Last Web site visited: My LJ Friends page, ChristianForums, U2_2U (just got updated!), Interference, my Hotmail inbox, and For Love Or Money: A Guide To U2 Bootlegs. OK, so I have a lot of things open at once.

--- 11:43pm ---

This suddenly came to me.

The Bubblised, Radical Fundamentalist Protestant's Ten Commandments

1. Retreat thyself from society and practice exclusion of those who art heathen.
2. Pardon not thy brother's sins; instead condemn him to Hell for all eternity.
3. Do not listen to music that is from Satan, that being all secular music and most Christian music.
4. Do not permit thyself to read any Bible version apart from the Authorised 1611 King James Version, not even the original texts. These are of Satan, only the KJV is My unaltered word.
5. Love thy neighbour, but only if thy neighbour is a KJV-Only-ist Protestant as thou art.
6. Hate Catholics and pay no attention to their arguments, for that will only lead you unto delusion and truth.
7. Hold hate rallies and fervently practice thy hate. Homosexuals and Muslims are two targets given to thou.
8. Condemn all those who are not Pre-Tribulation Rapturist as heretick and do not associate thyself with them.
9. Thou shalt murder, but only abortion doctors.
10. I am thy God and thou shalt bow down to My mouthpiece, Tim LaHaye.
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The Passion ... nearly. [2 January 2004|11:03 pm]
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[Current Mood |Amused]
[Current Music |'The Great Escape Theme' by Elmer Bernstein]

I find Ranty's screen name on MSN most amusing: "André is a bitch. Always has been. Always will be." That cracked me up.

Tonight, there was an article on a current affairs show (Today Tonight) about Mel Gibson's new movie, The Passion. It had some shorts of it - wow, it looks fantastic - and discussed how some think it's anti-semitic. Personally, I think that's a pile of rubbish. The Jews crucified Christ, and I don't think there's any way to get around that. If The Passion is anti-semitic, so is the Bible. Sheesh, it's so ridiculous what some people will accuse things of being. (2007 edit: Sheesh, it's also so ridiculous some of the crap you find in your own LJ! What the fuck was I on about here? The Romans crucified Christ! Ugh.) HOWEVER, I worked out my own, non-controversial version of The Passion;

Boy is born in America to hard-working middle class family. Parents are good folks, never been in trouble with the law, all the neighbours love them, they are socially accepted as 'good people', and the child has a good upbringing, making decent grades at school while befriending everyone, being tolerant of differences, respecting teachers, and not getting involved in any breaches of the rules. When he goes to university, he formulates some ideas and begins to speak to people, encouraging them on ways they can improve their lives and be nicer to each other without any real personal commitment or change on their behalf. He gathers a loyal following of twelve followers representing all ethnic, sexual, and other groups and minorities. People often come to him, telling him how he's changed their life or asking for some assistance on majorly important issues along the lines of "I have a girlfriend but I like another girl" or "I have an essay due tomorrow and I haven't started it because I spent the week partying" or "I need a condom".

However, in a twist, one of the loyal followers, the black bisexual Russian Svetlana Drepovskaya, decides that this man, appropriately named John Smith, is not doing things right and comes up with her own theories. One day, while John is out in a garden doing some free service for his university, she walks up to him, and because, despite her disagreement with him, she has a crush on him, she greets him with a kiss. Surprised, he asks her what's up, and she tells him that she would be honoured if he would join her for a debate of opinions that night and one of her friends hands him a one page description of her beliefs.

That night, the debate takes place in a public forum. Svetlana presents her case first, and she receives a rousing reception. John goes to present his case, but when he picks up his palm cards, he gets a papercut, and halfway through his first rebuttal point, he notices his card is all bloody, and then he faints from blood loss. Later that night, John dies in hospital. There is a massive turn-out to his funeral, the pastor gives a feel good speech assuring everyone that John is very much in Heaven, and urges them all to go and teach the world the messages of love and tolerance that he taught them.

That is The Passion of John Smith. The end.
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The prayer of the Tyndale executive [1 July 2003|10:57 pm]
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[Current Mood |Anti-Tyndale]
[Current Music |'A Sort Of Homecoming' by U2]

Tyndale executive: "Oh great dollar sign, may I always be gaining pieces of paper with you on them. May you always be near to me, always accumulating, never decreasing. May I be with you forever, may I crush all in my way to get another single cent, may I place you above all else. You are my god and my leader, and may I never cease to serve you. Oh dollar sign, with your curve and straight line, you make me complete, and I need more of you. May I ruin many great things to accumulate more of you. May my material wealth continue to grow. $$$$."
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