#41 Smorgasbord
Finally, hello and welcome to this week's star-studded edition. Recent entries have been frankly dull, and as any good Media student will tell you, "content is king": therefore, there's even some pictures here.
Essential student supplies
It's fair to say that I'd never heard the word "Rubicon" before I came to Sheffield, but now it's become an essential part of student life. If you have never enjoyed a can of Passion Fruit Rubicon, get up now, search out a chip shop and buy a can. It is (without doubt) the nicest thing to drink, especially after a good night out down the local. Equally as good - but in crisp form - are McCoy’s. I always used to eat Real McCoy’s when I went to primary school, but then switched allegiances to Walkers when... well, when everyone started buying Walkers crisps instead. But now I've seen the error of my ways. A few beers, a packet of McCoy’s, and a Rubicon on the way home: the perfect night out.
Annoying student commitments
I mean work, of course. This week I had a barrel-load of work dumped on me, although in all fairness it was daylight at the time, and someone shouted "Look out! Barrel!" well in advance. It was slightly different this time around though, because one of my essays was a 72-hour assessment: set on Monday morning with a strict deadline in 72 hours' time. With a Philosophy essay due in for today as well, I've probably done more work this week than in any other. Sacrifices had to be made though (Sorry Elyse, but I just didn’t get the chance to go and see “Crash”).
On a more positive note, I’ve now got all my marks back from last term’s work, and I’ve managed to scrape through all my courses with flying colours, so that’s all done and dusted. Indeed, I managed to get a 2.1 in Biblical Studies: a course I completed without ever once looking in/at an actual Bible.
Words I managed to get into my English Literature essay:
Phantasmagoria, Smorgasbord, and Extra-terrestrial
Television and Interweb
Surprisingly, if there’s one thing I don’t really miss from the Real World is television. When I’m at home, sitting on the sofa and watching Freeview for hours on end seemed like such a productive pastime. But I’ve realised now that there’s not really that much on that I’d really like to watch. Of course, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, but the interweb has helpfully stepped in. As well as watching The Apprentice, I can now see Never Mind The Buzzcocks too. Now if only they’d put Sky News online...
Still on The Apprentice, my love affair with the show continues. It also amazes me just how many stereotypical images of London landmarks they manage to squeeze in to the programme! When not showing off Docklands though, it’s necessary viewing. Sir Alan just gets sharper every week: his brutal honesty reminds me of someone here, and that always makes me smile. As for the participants... What are they thinking half the time? This week’s auditions for their commercial actually made me cringe.
Paul: Erm, can you just, erm, walk around for a bit?
Actor: Er... OK
Radio show of the week:
XFM’s Remix - it’s like Smash Hits’ Mashed Hits, but for indie kids
Facebook loser of the week:It was inevitable really... Just two weeks after I shot Ed Callow down in flames, his clone/brother Tom decides to try and “be my friend” instead. I blame the parents. In other Facebook news, the Bernard’s Watch group continues to go from strength to strength... 43 members now, and counting.
Division 3 Football:
Saturday saw a trek over the mountains to the picturesque fishing village of Stockport, where (for reasons that sounded good at the time) we witnessed the derby game between Stockport and Cheshire rivals Macclesfield. Highlights included traditional football chants, being greeted in a pub by someone I’d never met before with “Yarr, Captain!”, and failing to find a single street without a Robinson’s pub. Game not such a highlight... Macclesfield lost 0-2, but that still leaves this season’s aggregate as 6-2 to them!
Scab! Scab! Scab!One of our English Literature seminarers (who I won’t name for legal reasons) is possibly the biggest scab this week: despite the fact his union is refusing to do any work connected with assessments, he is continuing to tell us how to write our essays, and says he’ll have them marked in two weeks.
Email of the week:
This is absolutely genuine, sent to all Ranmoor residents on Wednesday:
Subject: Internet Based Personality Questionnaire
Hello, I am a trainee clinical psychologist at Sheffield University, and am looking for volunteers to complete an Internet based questionnaire. The questionnaire looks at personality characteristics, and is totally anonymous. It takes about 25 minutes to complete, and your information will form part of my control data. This will be compared against a sample of people with an interest in sadomasochism (S&M). If you happen to have an interest in S&M, then you will be able to indicate this towards the end of the questionnaire. The results will be shown on my website in August 2006. A link to my website is provided below, where you will find my contact details and a link to the questionnaire...
