Driving Down the Legs

Quote of the moment:
"A "massive amount of work" remains to be done to close the pay gap between men and women, Tony Blair has said." - BBC News.

Diddums. Taking university graduates as an example, subjects with a low average starting pay are dominated by women and subjects with a high starting pay are dominated by men. There may be more women at university than men, but engineering graduates start on 1.5 times the average pay of english graduates. The important point is that those are the degrees (and presumably career opportunities) they wanted.


Damn fine headwear on display there

The previous photo is us as well and the one before that is the Novice Men's 1st VIII. The race went amazingly fast and felt half as long as doing the same distance on an ergo. I wasn't really tired at the finish, just aching in my legs and feathering (left, because I'm bow side) wrist. The cramp in my right calf when I got out of the boat might have argued against that motion.

I'm So Excited...

Quote of the moment:
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it
And I know I know I know I know I know I want you LYCRA

Wore my lovely lycra out in public for the first time, albeit under tracky b's and rowing jacket til I got to the rowing club at Llandaff. Rowed in the bodysuit and tech top (like the one pictured but with red stripes on black sleeves and body). Suprisingly snuggly warm, which only made my fingers feel colder! That's apparently what we'll be wearing to race in. When actually rowing it's ok, but the marshalling bit before we set off may apparently involve some sitting in the boat waiting and the forecast is 5 degrees colder than this evening.

On the plus side, the outing was awesome. Did some balance exercises and stuff for a while before blasting 2 lengths of the stretch of river (up and back). Was the best we've done so far and especially good given that it was only our second practice in that boat (which we'll be racing in) and last time the difference between the sets of oars mucked us right up. The race is 4 times as long as the stretch of river at Llandaff though.

Religious Indoctrination Found In Riddles

Quote of the moment:
What is greater than God,
More evil than the devil,
The poor have it,
The rich need it,
And if you eat it, you'll die?

Point and Laugh

Quote of the moment:
"At Globo Gym we're better than you, and we know it"


Remember Ben Stiller in Dodgeball, with the inflatable pouch?


Focus on the bulge, if you aren't already doing so

The feeling that one's nadgers are on display to the world is one I am yet to become accustomed to. The feeling that I might have housing for next year is somewhat easier to deal with, though more unexpected. All hail Big James for putting me in contact with the potential housemates. There are only two, one male, one female... they're both 1st year mechanical engineers and their previous third person dropped out, post signing, so I may be in. Met up in the union pub tonight. Tis all good as far as I'm concerned... PH numero uno is going to the agency tomorrow to ask for another viewing so that I can see what I'm destined for and unless they suddenly take against me, a house for next year is ticked off my "important things to do" list. Next up: the minor matter of passing some exams.

We Ride for Nottingham, Good Friar

Quote of the moment:
"Outing 2nite. 6.15 ... outing 2moro bay at 3." - Pest text.

I guess that's as close as I'm likely to get to "you're in the boat". He apparently also has our spanky new kit. The women got theirs in circuits, but we weren't expected to go since we only finished rowing at 8 o'clock (although 5 of us did, mostly to sneak into the gym for free and use the weights). Had an awesome ride with them from the rowing club down to the gym... as I said at the time, the only way to get nearer to E.T. would be to pop the cox on someone's handlebars.

In entertainment news: someone defaced the Google Map.

Utterly, Awesomely Random

Quote of the moment:

Crunched

Quote of the moment:
"It's time to kick ass or chew bubblegum. And I'm all outta gum." - Duke Nukem.

Exams: wipeout, as expected. Totally flunked the pure maths module (Engineering Analysis), failed Fluid Mechanics, missed out in Mechanics by 1% (but apparently loads of people failed Mechanics and it may be moderated up) and my grade for PDP (utter waste of time politically correct module) is a fail, although I'm fairly sure it wasn't calculated correctly (at least if the weightings we were given at the start of term were correct). Only ones I've supposedly passed are Drawing/Computing and Materials Science. Next time I might try practising doing the maths questions. Always useful. Just to keep things in perspective, however:



Talking of political correctness, there was a story in the grandmaternal Telegraph yesterday about the failure of 48% of children to achieve all of 7 targets set for them. Two of the targets: being "sensitive" to others' backgrounds and cultures (cough cough POLITICALLY CORRECT BULLSHIT cough cough) and, also compulsory, being able to write a letter to Father Christmas. Being made to write a letter to a Christian saint, traditionally part of a Christian (or Xtian) religious festival, is obviously very sensitive to others' backgrounds and cultures.

Bedtime. Rowing crunch time at 10.30am tomorrow.

The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret

Quote of the moment:
"Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch 'em roll away again"

- Otis Redding, Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.

Unfortunately the river outing yesterday was cancelled due to the weather, so the decision over who gets the final place in the 2nd boat rowing in Nottingham on the 26th hasn't been made yet. It's between me and Adam Jones, who's rather shorter than me but considerably fitter, especially because I spent last week in bed with flu. We got a suprise bleep test tonight and I was in the lower echelons with 11.2, whereas Adam was pretty much top with 13.4... It's not much of an endurance test though and is designed more for football, rugby etc than running or rowing. I think that might have saved me, because it'll be decided after we row at the weekend. Adam's in the boat for the Saturday afternoon outing, I'm in the boat for Sunday morning.

On the plus side, it's a fair improvement on what I got in my bleep test during the OTC trials in October (something like 9.3) and since it was a suprise, I had been on the rowing machine for a bit just beforehand.

Tomorrow I'm off to Ashberry Ho(use), a mere half mile over the border, for my dear papa's 50th birthday celebrations. Before that, though, I shall find out my exam results in my tutorial. Given what I've heard so far from other people, I'm not expecting great things. An overall average that will mean I won't have to resit the ones I failed is probably the most I can hope for.

Back of the Net

Quote of the moment:
"MPs have voted by a huge margin to ban smoking from all pubs and private members' clubs in England." - BBC News.

Jolly good show, what-what?

Heroes

Quote of the moment:
It may sound absurd...but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed...but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream

- Superman by Five for Fighting, the music on my newly tarted up Myspace. It's amazing what can be accomplished between laundry runs.

Also, while on my way to collect another load, I decided to be charitable and retrieve a broom from a bush outside the block next to the laundry. Since it was labelled with the ground floor flat number I rang the bell and left it propped in their doorway, and it was only when I got back and took my hoodie off that I realised Zorro was hiding in the bush. Catherine Zeta Jones must have been menaced by bandits on a family visit and required rescue. That, or Puss-in-Boots is trying to stir up trouble.

On the topic of heroes, Little James had a Top Gun pub-crawl last wednesday. He's never actually seen the film, but all he needs is a leather jacket and he'd be away! Goose though, not Maverick... he's far too tall (plus Goose gets Meg Ryan, Maverick only gets Kelly McGillis - that's what you get for being a short-arse...)

Sacrifice to Poseidon

Quote of the moment:
"I'm taking tea bags, some bookies, my Anatomy book, some clothes, some dirty washing... And that's it. Oh, and my Teddy. Just in case. Y'know."

- Prill m8, back in the day. I treated her to a rant on the idiocy and inadequacy of cards, and also Clintons bears with the totally uncuddly plastic accessories that completely spoil the whole point of giving something soft and usable as a back-up tissue in an emergency.

Went rowing again today. As a contrast to yesterday's sunshine and light breeze, we had grey skies and a belting wind which held us onshore for a while when we were trying to turn around. As this was right next to the Millenium Stadium it was blowing directly from the junk food vendors on the bank and making me dream of burgers with loads of greasy onion in.

No libation of beer this time, but we did get a different kind of soaking from a motor boat which sped past and swamped us with the wash... personally I got wet from my right shoulder down to my left leg, causing a slight gasp when it reached whats in between. This was during our little head-to-head with the senior women's eight, from the bridge just below the stadium down to the boat club near the mouth of the river. We lost our timing after about a quarter of the distance and while we were getting back in time they picked up a sizable lead which we never got back, although we did catch them up again close to the end. Got my first rowing blister. I shall treasure it, of course.

Ginger Nuts

Quote of the moment:
First-year Cardiff University student Matilda Clare Cooper, who had recently celebrated her 19th birthday, was found dead at Talybont Halls of Residence, Gabalfa. - ICWales.

Went rowing down in Cardiff Bay for the first time. The stretch there goes from the boat club up to the Millenium Stadium. Should be interesting rowing there tomorrow in the pre-match build-up, since we got a libation of beer from the bridge by the stadium today.

Laptop disc drive's refusing to recognise DVDs, run out of books from Christmas, played the games I have to death years ago. Very, very bored. Went to the new Tesco Metro just up the road, but it shut just as I got there. Suffering from an acute shortage of ginger nuts.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Quote of the moment:

Cardiff + Cartoons...

Our student newspaper was the first publication in Britain to show the infamous Muhammed cartoons, but there's been a disappointing lack of crowds burning down the union...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4689442.stm

I withdrew the post on the paper's withdrawal. There's still been no attempt to burn down the union. Tis a shame, for it's amazing ugly.

Felt utterly foul getting up for labs at 9am, but I made it (a few minutes late) and I've been alright since getting back at lunchtime. Nothing til 1pm tomorrow. Hurrah!

Bug Off

Quote of the moment:



Ill. Shoulder may be getting better, but can't tell since all parts of body now aching at various points. Also sweats, shivers, an increasingly body-contorting spasmic cough and today's new addition, the ridiculously runny nose. Ran out of tissues and am now onto bog-roll.

Watching the People Get Lairy

Quote of the moment:
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

- George Bernard Shaw strikes again.

Was out like a lightbulb when struck with a hockeystick last night: there was a loud bang as I hit the bed, then silence. Was so woozey when I got up to turn my alarm off that I tripped over 3 times. There's less than a metre between the bottom end of my bed and my stereo, so I went back and stayed there til 2pm, although tbh I've done worse on less booze and no medicine! Finally got up because I thought I should go get a ComePlay ticket for the union tomorrow night. The senior men and women and the novice women are all supposed to be there after the race they're leaving at 7am to go to and the novice men are joining them in our finally-received social shirts. They're drinking all the way home, so it could be chaotic...

Talking of chaotic: I've put up my photos from Rhodri's birthday outing last night:

Why Not?

Quote of the moment:
"You see things; and you say, 'why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'why not?'"

- George Bernard Shaw.

Finally got social shirts. Hurrah! Spelling mistake on mine and several others. Boo! Will have to bodge an "e" into a "z". We also got a small spanner each, boat assembly and disassembly for the purposes of. Twas a truly touching present.

Went out again, to Bounce, for Rhodri's birthday. Took my camera, so some examples of what constitutes a Cardiff student will be posted shortly, when I haven't come back still reasonably merry and promptly taken an ibuprofen to stop my shoulder swelling too much overnight. Oops. Painkillers and alcohol are probably an equally bad mix in reverse order, as the headache I got within a minute testifies. Jeez. Feel like I want to hurl now. Shall go sleep it off.

In Regione Caecorum Rex Est Luscus

Quote of the moment:
"In the land of the blind the man with the naff hat is king."

My hat may be awesome, but even better was that I didn't actually have labs this morning. I wasn't really listening in the introductory lecture when we got told this, so I turned up at 9am...

When I discovered my mistake, I decided to go the union to get myself a Rubber Duck ticket. The union box-office doesn't open until midday. Having reminded myself of this fact, I ended up in the National Museum and Gallery of Wales on the other side of the road to kill time til I could get a ticket. It was pretty good, being like a condensed museum with small rooms of various things, like a room of impressionist paintings and one of celtic crosses. Stuck to the gallery side apart from the crosses, which were a kind of no-man's land, being artefacts but displayed (in a round skylit room near the centre of the museum) like artistic pieces.

Tonight I achieved the dubious honour of being the only person to bother dressing up, although I was going as Shaggy, so I merely removed the homemade mask and was just randomly dressed in green. The senior men and women and the novice women are all racing on Saturday, so they weren't going out (apart from a few who only came to the pub and stuck to coke) and there was only a handful of novice men who'd recovered sufficiently from their 5k tests this afternoon. There was also apparently a rescheduled club commitee meeting which occupied the core of the seniors, including the social secretary! Vice Captain Olly did come to the pub and was kind enough to tell me that taking the 5k test as soon as my shoulder's recovered would be fine. How generous! The lack of an audience may be a disadvantage though, since it was apparently a great boost today to be shouted at non-stop.

On the topic of dressing up, the social shirts have finally come! They're to be distributed in tomorrow/tonight's circuits. Hurrah! Also on the topic of dressing up, the long-since promised evidence of my cheerleader outfit:


The 59 is explained by what's on the front

I ended up in Rubber Duck with Rhodri and Paul, who provided the highlight of the night by wedgy-ing Little James so hard, when we met him on the way home, that his boxers were ripped and hanging in tatters out of his trousers.

The Road Map to War

Quote of the moment:
...
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

- Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est. The UK death toll in Iraq has now reached 100 in just under 3 years. To be perfectly honest, that's a lot less than it could be. The IRA killed 33 soldiers in a single blast in 1979. A woman going postal killed 6 ex-colleagues today.

I went on a bit of a shopping spree today... we were meant to have a 3 hour (yes, THREE HOUR) lecture on "Soil Mechanics" this afternoon but the lecturer hadn't turned up after half an hour, so everyone left and I went into town to look for something "80's cartoon character"-ish. I failed to find anything obvious, but I did get 3 tshirts from Primark (not shoes, Rob m8), U2's The Best of 1980-1990 from HMV (£7) and, from Fopp for £3 each, The Thrills' Lets Bottle Bohemia and Tom Macrae's new album (that I wasn't aware existed) All Maps Welcome:



Awesome cover art. Jealous, Podgy m8? First listening was ok, the second was better. Really need to try it without talking on MSN at the same time, but the omens are good...