Brain Sex

(No, not like that you massive perv)

Interesting psychological happenings from the BBC - a (fairly long) series of tests that'll determine the sex of your brain:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex

Pretty interesting stuff, though you will need a ruler for part of it (and no, not like that). FYI, my brain is 25%, I have manly fingers and I rule at moving 3D Tetris blocks around in my head (take the test and you'll see what I mean).

***ELECTION UPDATE***

Found this "interview" between a news reporter from South Wales and John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, last week:

Mark Choueke (South Wales Argus): How did you react to Peter Law's decision to quit the party after 35 years service to Blaenau Gwent as a Labour politician?

John Prescott : It didn't even register with us. The voters just have one choice, vote Labour otherwise they'll end up with a Tory government. It's unfortunate that some of our decisions upset some people.

MC : But this isn't about upsetting Peter Law, it's about upsetting many thousands of Labour voters in Blaenau Gwent who helped you form a strong government - they feel alienated.

JP : Why are you asking me about this, I don't care, it's a Welsh situation, I'm a national politician.

MC : Are you too big to care about the Labour voters in Blaenau Gwent? Do you think there may be something in your party's methods of working that require a rethink when a politician chooses to stand against you after 35 years service to Labour?

JP : (walking away) Where do they get these amateurs from? You're an amateur mate, go get on your bus, go home.

MC : Are you too big for the regional press now John?

JP : Bugger off. Get on your bus you amateur.

MC : Is my interview over John? Because if that's all you've got to say, that's what will go in the paper.

JP : (turns aggressively back to reporter) Ooohh, I'm scared, go ahead, put it in your paper.

Labour candidate for Monmouth, Huw Edwards: I could answer this question for you Mark.

MC : I hoped to hear what the deputy prime minister had to say about it.

JP : (ignoring reporter) I've never seen a school in such a lovely setting.

I absolutely love this story (assuming its true...). Not just because I'm not a big Labour party fan, but its an awesome lesson in the differences between the US and the UK. Observe:

Dick Cheney, US Vice President: "Go f*ck yourself"

John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister: "Get on your bus"

Irrepressibly, quintessentially, unequivocally British. Well done sir.

How d'ya like THEM Apples?

Pretty slow weekend - just slapping my dissertation around in lieu of this week's deadline and escaping for fresh air whenever possible (and of course reading awesome e-mails... *blush* thanks everyone!). Just the dissertation (20,000 words and counting...) and an optional essay ("optional" as in there isn't a chance in hell I'll have enough time to do it, so its all good) and I'll officially be into revision time for my 4 finals. The end of my university career is coming up fast!

I've been trying to eat less stuff/more fruit over the past week or so in a desperate attempt to get into some good habits. Going pretty well, with an added bonus coming tonight when I realised I had only had 1 of my 2 apples today, which (sadly) got me pretty excited, leaping into the kitchen for my shiny red prize. Fruit from the fridge rules.

I also worked out this week that I've travelled about 32,650 miles to and from conferences since joining AIESEC, a number aided greatly by SSC '03 (English countryside to Salt Lake City and back to New Jersey), MMS '04 (Bloomington to Morocco via Amsterdam) and WSC '05 (English countryside to Chicago and back). I'm actually quite interested as to what the final tally is going to be, especially with all the AIESEC US conference I'm gonna be hitting up!

*Sound of Chris doin' the Happy Dance*

8)

Aaaaaaaaaahh Yeah!

Call came thru last night - US MC here I come! Wooooooooo!

Absolutely awesome! Haven't stopped smiling since - I got the call as I was coming out of a store in town late last night, and I got some pretty weird looks as I jumped up and down in the street... plus it means I've only got about 8 weeks or so until I head out there! I guess conference number 20 will be SSC - no place I'd rather be in the world! 8D

Not that it's taken much recently, but this made me smile this morning:

http://www.thewebshite.net/nickelback.htm

Two Nickelback songs played at the same time, synching up perfectly. Give me QOTSA any day.

Once again: Woooooo!

8D

Election Fever 2005

Well, it looks like Tony's gonna get another 4 years in power... but never mind. Four more years of "Bush's Bitch" jokes! Woot!

Interested in what the hell is going on in British politics? Want to kill some time? Well then try this stuff out!

First, check this out http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/issues/html/grid.stm?s1=CON_UK&s2=LAB_UK&s3=LD_UK&x=9&y=11 for general info on the main parties and where they stand (Tories = Right wing, Labour = Centre-Left and Lib Dems = Left wing)...

Then have go at www.whoshouldyouvotefor.com to find out which party best represents you. There aren't too many questions that require an in-depth knowledge of the UK political scene, and it's an interesting way to gauge which party you stance resembles.

For a bit more detail, try www.politicalsurvey2005.com - similar sort of thing, but interestingly you can compare your left-or-right-wing-ness against the rest of the UK.

Mmm... educational...

Hmm...

http://www.alligator.org/pt2/050323freedom.php

Roller Coasters Rule!

Spent an extremely enjoyable day at Altons Towers (biggest theme park in the UK) with some of the people from my G&S society, hitting all the big adrenaline-pumping roller coasters during the time we were there. The rides were excellent, plus it's not every day that you get to go to a proper theme park in England.

Other than that, been a pretty average week all in all. Had a couple more of my "interesting" AIESEC MSM chats this evening... BTW, if you're only chatting to me to try an get in with the LC's SNs, a tiny bit of small talk is required; please don't leave immediately once you realise that I'm not an exchange VP, an exchange member or even "In with the SNs" myself (hey, what can I say? I'm British, I value manners). And besides... Insight XP? Anyone? Hmm?

A story for another time is the guy who keeps asking "I really want to visit [insert whatever country Chris is in right now]", another familiar face from tonight. I'll never forget the time he wanted help coming to New York to be an Au Pair... Just remember kiddies, whenever you're talking to your married friends, the conversation that starts "I met this guy on the internet" and ends with "He really wants to look after your children" is one that should never take place.

Demanding an LTM update as soon as anyone who was there reads this (that means you Gelhaus)

Peace out, cub scouts.

Procrastination Toolbox

Leading on from the last post, I've restructured and renamed the links on the right to be more... descriptive of their purpose. Say hello to the Procrastination Toolbox!

Just added:

- The Geography game mentioned in previous posts (highly addictive), starting with the USA

- An online translator (random but useful on occasion)

- 8-Bit Theatre (more gamer geekery with a comic featuring old school RPG sprites - its +2 fun!)

If anyone has any requests, let me know!

8)

Procrastination Ahoy

OK, added a new link on the right - hit it up and scoll down to see some classic films performed in 30 seconds. By bunnies. I can especially recommend The Shining and Alien (the chestburster has bunny ears! Cute!).

Getcha motor runnin'...

As always, taking a little while to get moving on work and such... I've clearly spent too long honing my procrastination skills, to the point where I've created Healthy Procrastination (whereby I go for a walk rather than do work). I try and think to myself "just 2 more months until finals are over", which leads me on to thinking "oh shit, I've only got 2 months left..." but never mind. I did get about a third of my paper done which is due in next wednesday - if I could get it done tomorrow... ooooh, that'd be sweet.. prob won't happen as I still need to do a lot of research, but a guy can dream.

PS - If anyone wants to be in my essay, write me something about how AIESEC prepares people for going abroad. Any and all contributions welcome!

Grim Up North

4:21pm - Arrived back in Manchester

4:25pm - Started to rain

8:30pm - Stopped raining

Yup... That's about right for Manchester...

Back in Manchestah (la la la) for... (dramatic drumroll)

THE LAST TERM EVER *Dun Dun Duuun*

Home stretch!

Woop Woop - Dork Alert

Oooooooh, aiesec.net is all branded and shiny...

*Sparkle sparkle*

All this and a fully-formed, accurate, bug-free IXP guide? Awesome! Sure beats headbutting the user test for 3 hours until you pass! My, how times change...

Daydreams...

Just talking to Bee, who also ran for the UK MC and who recently secured a spot on the Swiss national staff - apparently another of the unsucessful candidates, James, has applied for the Swedish MC. Man, it'd be cool to meet up with them at IC this summer if everything works out, plus then meeting up with the UK MC for some kind of group shenanigans.

Its nice how those of us who missed out on the UK are still going for national roles. Like I said, fingers crossed...

Blast!

OK, so Connie won the Geography game thing 4-3... But I did win the warm-up match in the USA!

On a lighter note - service on this blog will be suspended while I locate a life. Laters!