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 School
We took another exam this week. He threw us some curves (or
'zingers' as I like to call them) but this time I was one
step of head of him. He told us the range of chapters the
exam would cover so in addition to reviewing those chapters,
I also reread the one before it and the one after it. I was
rewarded with three questions about concepts he never covered
in class as the 'extra credit' questions. He's so inconsistent,
but my drunk mother taught me how to deal with capricious
behaviour and I think I can still salvage an "A"
grade at the end of term.
 A
Fab Final Four
Tom Teare's alma mater, KU kicked a*s to get to the final
two. I may have jinxed them a little bit by wishing they would
win just so Tom would get some bragging rights on the alumni
tip. But Syracuse had other plans as they bagged their first
National Title. They defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 81-78 in
a game that went down to the wire. Syracuse started off on
a record-setting pace by dropping in 53 points in the first
half. Kansas was not going to go down without a fight cutting
the lead to two-points with less than a minute to go. Very
exciting game. I'm still morally outraged by televised coverage
of such a fast paced game, especially when the media peppers
their coverage with racial and height related stereotypes.
I've found the perfect way to indulge in this type of entertainment.
I watched the games at the gym. I could ride the stationary
bike, listend to loud, thumping dance music and watch college
baseketball- all at the same time. With the sound turned off,
I didn't have to listen to the inane prattle. Some of the
camera action needs a lot of work though as they still seem
preoccupied with the sidelines. Why do they cut away from
the action to show us the guys sitting on the bench or the
coach's face when they could be showing us who has the ball
or who might be trying to steal it away?
 Bend
It Like Beckham
My pal Martin and I went to see this film on Thursday. It's
a cross-cultural comedy about an anglo indian girl who idolizes
David Beckham. The film's unique twist to the average coming
of age story was totally fresh and hilarious. I highly recommend
this film.
Parminder Nagra plays the main character, Jess. She is so
beautiful that I'm really glad she's in almost every scene
of the film. I heard she never kicked a football before shooting
this film and with all of the editing and special effects
it didn't really matter. She really made the film - such a
strong performace and a wonderfully silly retelling of the
ugly duckling story. Let's hope this isn't her swan song.
Keira Knightley stole my heart as Jules... she's kinda tall
and totally gorgeous. I'll have to look for her in HOLES which
is just now in theatres and she's currently filming PIRATES
OF THE CARIBBEAN which is due out by the end of the year.
Her dad, played by Frank Harper, was great. He was in LOCK,
STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS, though I think this was a
better performance from him. He provided just the right note
of understated agony to set up his on screen wife, Juliet
Stevenson as the comic foil.
team-mate Shaznay Lewis from the band ALL SAINTS provided
just the right note of comic relief in her brilliant film
debut.
Wonderful Weekend
V-ness had a few of us round for a hang out session on Saturday
afternoon. It was meant to be a garden party until the rain
changed the plans. We ate some food, had some conversation,
and watched some cool videos... all in all a nice and mellow
way to spend a rainy day.
Google IPO rumours persist
This week, the business news was chock-a-block with rumours
about the Web's most popular search engine, Google. Private
companies rule! Stock market pressures have knackered so many
decent companies because their focus shifts from TRUE value
to PERCEIVED value.
Its the same in politics and war mongering now - better to
be SEEN to be doing good than to actually do any good.
Stay private google. Please
The US Civil War is still going on
A statue of President Lincoln, commissioned by the U.S. Historical
Society, was put in a park this week. Controversy ensued because
that was the site of the Tredegar Ironworks, where tons of
Confederate materiel were forged during the Civil War.
Bragdon Bowling, Virginia division commander of the Sons
of Confederate Veterans said. "You
don't build monuments to conquerors."
I find it incredulous that people alive in the 21st century
are still acting like sore loosers over a conflict that took
place in the 19th century. I suppose the up-shot to successionist
sentiment in the south is that successionist sentiment in
Hawaii and California doesn't seem so extreme.
OK Cali - Up the Republic!
 Drums
of War
Baghdad Falls
US and British forces invaded Iraq's capital city this
week. Every major media outlet was falling all over itself
to portray the positive civilian welcome. While this totally
smacks of propaganda supporting Bush's "liberation"
theory, forces were still exchanging fire and involved in
combat all over the city.
Will somebody please explain to me,
how if we kill somebody
we make their country free?
What's the definition of 'looting'
The SF Chronicle had a big picture of iraqi civilians
"looting" Baghdad. Looking below the fold on the
paper, they had a picture of a US soldier on the lawn outside
a presidential palace holding a 16th Century gold encrusted
sword. The paper's caption claims the soldier "found"
the item inside the presidential palace. I'm still trying
to figure out what the difference is between Americans breaking
into a government building to remove things including atiquities
and regular Iraqis breaking into other buildings to remove
things.
Where's Sadam? Where's Bin Laden?
This week they attacked a few spots where Sadam was allegedly
hiding. Iraqi civilians searched the ruble in a vain attempt
to end the war by finding Sadam dead. The news was quickly
glossed over and forgotten by every media outlet I've been
monitoring. It leaves me with the uneasy suspicion that the
Shrub is going to treat Sadam as totally irrelevant to his
plans. Whether the guy is dead or alive, the Team Bush spin
doctors will push the focus on something/some one else (Iran,
North Korea?) If you think this is an unfounded fear, look
at what happened with Bin Laden. Going after him with the
military was a total failure so they moved on to Sadam...
if Sadam is MIA, they'll have to move on to someone else or
distract with plans and international negotiations about rebuilding
Iraq.
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Week
Ending 13 April
Workin'
It 
