And Now, I Wait...

So, today was hectic, in the same manner as that the weekend was hectic. The birthday was fun, though the normal social segregation between the Dutch and the Non-Dutch occured again. Interestingly enough it seems that the Non-Dutch are scared of the Dutch, as they form a small tight circle in a corner and don't really communicate to the outside. Anyway, I managed to get the application for the Master's programme done, and I even dropped it off at the address that it should be sent to. With less than 24 hours to go before the deadline, it's done. Now just wait for the note telling me what I missed (bad case) or that it's taken into consideration (normal case scenario).
That leaves fixing a place to live (though an interesting place is up on offer) and doing my actual course work...
As for links, hold on in there, one of my intended links went down, I'm looking for an alternate / waiting for the site to be fixed. I'll also post an art post sometime soon.

And Now, for a Little Art (Part I)

As the posts have started to lack some decent content, I'll start posting about a few other things as well. I'm not saying there will be decent content, I'm just saying that there will be other topics as well. But before moving to the arts bit, I'll quickly fill in the rant about daily life.
I've (nearly) finished the work that I'm giving as a gift tonight. All I need to do is finish the accompanying papers etc. (yes, I'm going for official), and then it's done. The work itself survived, the box is modded and the accompanying gift has also been arranged. That leaves me some time to finish off the application before the not-so-strict deadline of next Monday (why does February only have 28 days? (don't answer that, It was meant rhetorically)). Application? Yes, I'm applying for a Masters' programme at the local University; the Bio-Molecular Sciences programme.
In the meantime the book issue is nearly over; the books are going to be picked up soon and we're working on getting people their money back. The vending machine arrived, so that finally happened. Now I'm just wondering about the lounge project... Intervote (an interactive classroom project, one of those electronic voting systems) is dragging along as well, but that's not the council's fault.

Anyway, to get back to the promised arts bit: Two well-known photographers:

Yann Arthus-Bertrand is the first one up. He's quite well known for his 'Earth from Above' series (I think most people will know the image I'm using as an icon). The images are very nice to just look through. There's a fairly annoying site (refuses to let you in with FireFox and has the most annoying menu (if you find it) ever) here. The best site, however, is the artist's own site, which is available here. Go for the second option on the opening page.

Andy Goldsworthy is technically a sculptor, yet he creates beautiful objects often by just putting together what he can find (different sizes or colours of stone, for instance). He has also created a number of objects in which time plays a very important role. His work is also very well known. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a perfect site to link to. Some of his work (though not his best) is available in this gallery.(Click an image and scroll down to view full size.

Before Anyone Complains...

...yes, there is a counter on the site (invisible), so be warned. It uses the same system as the council website, so there's a warning for that one too. Though I would be impressed if I get the amount of pageloads that the council gets in a day in a month, I need to prove that point first. If there are any objections - let me know, but please let me count my one daily visitor for a while :). And NO, I'm not counted, so I can't hit reload every 10 seconds. I think the counter uses cookies, so it'll probably show up on anti-spyware searches via AdAware or (the imho better) Spybot - Search and Destroy (and for the paranoid under us: Hijack this is also a brilliant tool).

Anyway, for the less geeky people around, here's a good one: from 'Hollow Men' a clip of Natalie Imbruglia's 'Torn' in sign language (WMV, 3Mb+. 'Right-click, save as...' also works). Well, kind of.

Quick Link Round Up!

FedEx commercial
As I have been posting quite some commercials lately, this one is on how to make the best (Superbowl) commercial.
MS's guide to leetspeak
For those that desperately want to learn how to **** ** language in a spectaculary ugly way.
Magical Trevor I... and Magical Trevor II
Remember 'Kenya'?

New week!

Last week ended on a very light note: spending a Saturday taking pictures at the UNISUN conference and hanging out in the Sententia office. For some reason nobody really felt they had to leave, even when 'Günther and the Sunshine Girls' was played, the chocolate easter eggs ran out and everything became very silly indeed. I eventually left at 23:00, which maybe I shouldn't have done, as apparently there was more fun at 2:30, but ow well. For all the inside jokes see the Sententia newsletter.
This week is at least diverse... As I handed in the multimedia portfolio, that's out of the way. The reading for Immunology is kind of done. That leaves multimedia reading (*cough*) and German, which probably is going to get a bit tesky. Anyway, the point is: I may actually have time left for interesting things - like showing up for the histology class this Wednesday and thereby missing an ASIC meeting (what a shame!) and finishing the fast tracked arts project (birthday coming up, which is also the reason I'm not posting pictures nor giving descriptions yet).
The four Macedonians who invaded the living room are leaving today. I'm sure everybody will really miss our loud and obnoxious guests who have interesting habits such as coming back at 02:30 and then ringing the doorbel in such a manner that nobody feels like opening the door. Well, after 10 min the ringing generally stops. Vengefull? Maybe. Let's hope that the livingroom will return to a habitable state soon.

Site (and language) Maintenance

The loading screen has gone... and there was much rejoicing.

Anyway, to keep the bored busy: Educational Quiz time!

• Starting off with confusing words (Who's vs. Whose): Confusing Words.
• Moving straight on to British English: BE Spelling.
• Phrases: The Foggiest Notion.
• More Phrases: Return of the Foggiest Notion.

Of course everybody got at least the first one 100% correct I hope? Personally I had a little difficulty with the last two quizes, only scoring 12/15...

And to make up for not posting often...

Some updates!
First of all, Charles and Camilla are planning to get married on April the 8th (not the sixth). This is to be a civil wedding (as opposed to a church wedding), to avoid a few nasty problems. Or so they thought. BBC's panorama unearthed some documents that could lead to problems on that front. For the royalty mad and the law obsessed: they're over here.
In a seemingly unrelated matter, Garden gnomes have now been found to seek refuge underwater, leading to lethal situations. The BBC news report is available here.
Finally - Error messages!

By the way, I will remove the direct links to the three latest posts of Agnes' and Hedwig's blog, and as a result also the loading screen, sometime soon. In some cases this leads to unacceptable loading times (though my max in testing circumstances is 60 sec).

Valentine's Day Did You Know That...

...Valentine was a christian martyr in the third century A.D. and therefore died a painful death (it's kind of inherent in the whole martyr thing), a fact that we remember by saying we love each other? Now there are actually two Valentines important in this regard (out of at least 5): Valentine of Rome, and Valentine of Terni (who may actually be one and the same guy). Now the latter was loved by his people, yet nevertheless imprisoned, tortured and beheaded (though in secret, to avoid the wrath of the people) by prefect Placid Furius during the persecution of Aurelius. The former gave aid to martyrs in prison and got locked up for that (so while he was there anyway he converted the jailer by restoring his daughter's sight). Beaten and beheaded 296 A.D. As said, it could well be that this one person rather than two.
Valentine's day therfore isn't directly related to the Saint. Incidently it happens to be on the same day as the Romans started their Lupercalia celebrations - a fertility festival! The 14th of January is also traditionally seen as the day that birds find a mate... From these facts it is more likely that the tradition arose, bound by priests to the name of the saint who's saint day it was to at least have some hold on the situation.
Catholic Practice? No. Tradition founded on some logical connection? Yes. Catholised by the roman catholic church? Yes. Commericialised by the church of consumerism? Unfortunately so. Nevertheless still a good cause if believed in and used correctly.

Random update

First of all: Charles is to marry Camilla; I wonder what media madness will ensue. If I find interesting parodies or satire I'll post them. In the meantime check BBC News if you must (currently breaking news, so no link yet). April 6th, Windsor Castle, small ceremony. Received your invitation yet?
So it's rainy here, I don't have to count books as evidently one of the council members has been unanble to get the fact that he has office hours on Wednesday into his head, despite having had the same timeslot since September. Ow well...
Also fooling around with cables a bit, nearly got a good signal on the PC, nothing much going on really (though I have the feeling this is the calm before the storm).
Anyway, for those that didn't read the comment on the last post and don't know this one yet (I know, it's outdated), type 'miserable failure' in google and hit 'I'm feeling lucky'. Google, by the way, is also available in other languages, including Klingon, and works as a calculator. In the search field calculations can be entered, including '3km in miles' and 'answer to life the universe and everything ='. This last fact is also mentioned in a wikipedia entry. This entry also explains a little about the name of the blog. Last word on google: there are also a number of conspiracy theories about google out there, but I'll refrain from posting those.

It's Friday and I'm still alive

...Well kind off. Apparently I'm somewhat distant. Oh well, it'll pass. This week saw the elections for the new academic advisor (spellt with, an 'o', though 'e' is also valid) - that were convincingly won by Jerome, who evidently has the most friends on campus. I've also found out that at least one of my fellow council members can't count - they never cease to amaze me. The books are nearly done, thankfully. Downside is that the slight hint 'The Office isn't a ******* dining hall, especially when there is a large amount of books a meter from the table and the fruitflies are still feasting on the mess from last time' aparently is a little to subtle.
Presenting stuff in N-D is always different. Started off 5 semesters ago with the talkshow approach to the history and philosophy of science and went via a completely unprepaired presentation on biochemistry to the current Discover-E Channell documentary on pyelonephritis. Yes, we stooped that low, it's a record achieved whilst following tradition. At least that's over.

Anyway, for those of you that are bored, this week's link round up (most via albinoblacksheep.com): Clean your screen, Kenya (old) and its parodies (Norway, Lapland, Badgers) and to prove that flash can be more creative Beatles: I Feel Fine, Come Together.
Also: commercial for navigation systems (Quick Time, 3.5Mb).