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Saturday, June 25, 2005
No more classes, no more books...
Finally! Finished with papers. Semestral break is here! --- at least for a month. Didn't enrol in winter class.
No more classes, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks...
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PAYO people just collected signatures in the city. Next week will be in Blacktown.
(Got this from someone else's site, hehe)
Posted at 03:04 pm by starsi
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Friday, June 24, 2005
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo- press freedom violator
Posted at 05:17 pm by starsi
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Thursday, June 23, 2005
Here's a sample of one of my assignments. It's a 4,000-word text analysis requirement for a Linguistics class. My professor is one of the leading figures in the Sydney U. School of Linguistics. I'm going to post this for awhile in order to recover it later on. The computer memory's getting filled.
It's amazing how much you can get away with. One of the reasons I like science is the precision of language and the intensive preparation you have to have to understand it. In other subjects, you just read a bit and sometimes make up stuff. Not that I didn't take this assignment seriously, but come on, I only wrote it for two nights, more precisely in the wee hours of the morning.
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The text to be analyzed is the headline story of the June 20, 2005 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald entitled "Democracy denied" and its related story "We were given hope, and we got nothing" which begins on page one and continues to page nine of the same paper. The text is an investigative story about how Members of Parliament (MPs) waste millions of taxpayer dollars on parliamentary inquiries “whose recommendations have been ignored and left to collect dust.”
A comparative analysis of the online treatment of the story “Democracy denied” is denied this particular investigator because the online edition can be accessed for a price, giving an ironic twist to the title “Democracy denied” due to commercial reasons. The proprietors of the Sydney Morning Herald may have decided to sell this article for the interest in its investigative value. Nevertheless, readers can still access the online edition of the related (and more elaborated) story entitled "We were given hope, and we got nothing."
A visual analysis of the paper edition shows the banner title, “Democracy denied,” in bold letters (with subheading: “MPs are spending millions on inquiries that go nowhere”). The literal text is in the agentless passive mode, though this is condemning enough of the government, and may have been chosen for space reasons (Because it could read “Democracy has been denied” or “Democracy is denied”). Nevertheless, an unpacking of the title would readily offer “MPs deny democracy to Australians” or something similar in lieu of the chosen title.
Read more...
Posted at 03:22 pm by starsi
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Wednesday, June 22, 2005
One of the reasons I don't write much about internal emotional states and oh-so-personal stuff is that it exposes one to using hackneyed and outworn remarks. I don't mean that I don't have my own share, far from it. Perhaps it's unavoidable. But at least I try to avoid it, though only of late.
A good professor will tell you to avoid writing in cliches. There's lots of it out there, and guess what, they're mostly about love, unrequited or otherwise, or some existential angst about, what else, life. So you have "One door closes, and another one opens," "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," and so on. Here's another one for you: life is just one big cliche. Now top that!
Posted at 08:13 pm by starsi
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 Wahahaha. Just finished English exam. I was in such a hurry that I grabbed and donned my UP shirt underneath my newly-bought Sydney U. jersey (which is so expensive it's unfair to the sweatshop salary they pay in China!). Subconsciously, I must have been invoking the wisdom of my two alma mater, haha!
Hopped on a bus, 30 more minutes, then in Newtown, the traffic and the sky didn't seem to want to cooperate with me, as the cars slowed down and it was slightly pouring! What a ripper! So didn't get to give the attachment I was going to submit for one of my classes. Anyway, rushed to the exam building (which I had to find by the way). Got there. About a hundred people. Pauline in front, don't know who's beside me...
Was writing the exam, seemed to be in temporal limbo, as I looked up there was probably 12 minutes left! So rushed writing final answers. Whoosh!
Had to go fast. Rushed hello to people. Now two more....
***
Exam looked like something I did in grade school, so you see, taking a postgraduate degree isn't that hard. It's in the attitude, mate! But of course, study and focus should be there. But if someone like me who's got poor study habits can make it this far, anyone can! Too easy, now will finish some more...
Posted at 03:50 pm by starsi
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Wednesday, June 15, 2005
insipid bureaucratic nonsense
Another insipid post: Called Pauline A*z**(French), regarding her report, which I'll need to take notes of for the journal requirement in one of my subjects. Also learned from her that I may be too late to enrol in Winter class. I'm so not informed about such mundane details of bureaucracy and deadlines. I remember, back in UP, however enrolment must be hell for many UPians, it wasn't that much for me, though it wasn't totally a breeze either. See, there's this bias for students in three colleges, so they can enrol in general subjects that everybody takes. Probably one of the few times I remember having to line up for was a big chemistry class, the schedule of which I was too unattached to know earlier. After that first or second year, I became a beterano of enrolling in UP. Then came the online registration, which somehow made it easier, though not without the usual technical foul-ups. I guess it's also one of my strengths(?), to have such a nonchalant attitude towards bureaucratic ordeal and processes, which I hope translated to organisational matters, like a flexible and approachable leadership in Soli, etc., as well as the more general outlook in life. Don't know if I may have to change the thinking later. Oh well, too easy....
Posted at 01:38 pm by starsi
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Time
falls
in
a
bla
ck
ho
l
e
.
Posted at 12:26 am by starsi
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Monday, June 13, 2005
The Sun Said, The Moon Said
Hello, the sun greeted with a big smile.
Hmmmph, the moon turned with a sigh.
Good day, the sun said.
Good night, the moon said.
Just once, the sun said.
Never, the moon said.
I give you light, the sun said.
I like the darkness, the moon said.
You look celestial, the sun said.
Thank you, the moon said.
The stars are your friends, the sun said.
You look stellar, the moon said.
We form a cycle, the sun said.
Come blow your solar wind, the moon said.
I'm there, the sun said.
When, the moon said.
Near, the sun said.
Not near enough, the moon said.
Far, the sun said
Here, the moon said.
I'm happy, the sun said.
Ecstatic, the moon said.
You're lunar, the sun said.
You're fire, the moon said.
Let's, the sun said.
Yes, the moon said.
Now, the sun said.
Uh, the moon said.
Grace, the sun said.
Cheers, the moon said.
Life, the sun said.
Sleep, the moon said.
Good day, the sun said.
Good night, the moon said.
Posted at 12:21 pm by starsi
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electric blanket and aroma
The nights get colder, and finally I succumbed to turning on the electric blanket this morning. The place smells so nice, reminds me of the first day I arrived. Papers, papers...
Posted at 12:21 pm by starsi
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Saturday, June 11, 2005
The heavens opened for farmers today, as the skies poured water on a parched land. Rains measured up till 30 centimetres.
Now its chillier. So far I've been able to resist turning on the electric blanket since the cold started to really get felt. Once in a while, my feet freeze while typing entries in this blog. But it's not all bad though, as sometimes I savour the chilly caress of the surroundings. Grrr...
Posted at 04:33 pm by starsi
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