View from my flat

click for a larger picture


The River Wear and The North Sea in the distance. Dawn, taken from Scotia Quay

Glimpse of temporary accomodation

click for a larger picture


My new room

Signs you're in the 3rd year or Signs that Julian is going crazy

Well I'm going to be doing my dissertation in PR this year, it's due on the 30th of April, and I've upped the research to another notch, hoping to start writing mid-December. Of course, this being 3rd year there are still other essays to be done, I have one on my popular music module, where I'll be discussing the representations of African-American women in Hip-Hop music.
All these essays have profoundly changed my life, I can't walk through the library anymore without grabbing some book and searching the index to find if it has anything relevant in it regarding my essays.
Last night I went to bed with my mp3 player on, sprang up in the middle of the night, I just had a eureka moment regarding a song I could discuss in my essay. I keep on jotting down new ideas in my phone and making mental notes of discussions I have with people in which they may have said something of note.
Wow..anyway, it's 11:26 I can't have a shower yet because the maintenance guy just came in and changed the rubber lining in the shower and I have to wait for a few hours for it to set, so it's just me and the music. Well, dissertation first and then music essay, then nap, then more work.
Such is life my friend, such is life.

Oh, and the new Kanye West joint "808s & Heartbreak" is too good for words

Moving Places

I'm temporarily moving out of my room in Panns Bank, because of this-



When I arrived the room smelled of damp carpet, and I was told there was a leak prior to my arrival, well this mysterious leak came up again a few weeks back, I thought it was going to dry out on it's own, but it only became worse. I spoke to the residential services people about it, and they recommended I move out so they could fix the leak and the carpet.
So, I've been moved to an adjacent hall- Scotia Quay, mainly a postgraduate hall, I haven't met all my flatmates yet, in fact I haven't really moved yet, doing that later today.
My temporary room is much bigger and it has an en suite toilet and shower. And from the communal room I have a great view of the river and the North Sea!
I think the room is a bit more conducive for studying, hopefully I'll gain a lot more ground studying there for the next few essays coming up.
I don't know how long the repairs in my Panns Bank room will take, from the looks of it, it shouldn't be too long.

Picture of the Week

Knockout!

Post Election Depression

Wow, we are finally here. The US Elections are over, Obama is president, I should be satisfied, right? I should be happy, and yes I am, but I'm also overcome with a great sense of loss, no more spending hours watching Obama and Biden speeches on youtube. No more pouring through The Huffington Post, no more laughing at something stupid Sarah Palin said (actually that hasn't ended yet)
But yes, before Nov 4 I was addicted to the US Elections, I had to have my daily fix, each morning before lectures I'll watch msnbc, read the latest article on The Huffington Post and check Obama's youtube page for updates. Then suddenly, the day we all hoped for arrived, Tuesday, November 4th. Within 24 hours it was over, so more pundits speculating on how McCain could pull an upset, no more great speeches on the campaign trail, Obama had done it, he had won, that's what we wanted, but it had come way too soon. I was not done annoying everyone I could with my Obama speeches. I practically had no other conversation topic other than Obama, and I mastered how to turn conversations on mundane topics to heated debates on the US Elections. We could start talking about the weather and I'll somehow manage to introduce Obama into the conversation.
Example

Person- It's quite cold today
Me- Yes it is, it's almost as cold as Chicago
Person- How do you know how cold Chicago is?
Me- I don't, but I know someone who does: Barack Obama, by the way did you see him on TV last night?

It's a gift.

But know we would call him President Obama, arguably the most important leader in the world. Leader, as the Americans like to say, of the Free World, I really don't know what that's supposed to mean, America and Free don't exactly go hand in hand in my books (we can talk for hours about that)

Yes, it's over, I'm relieved, now I have to wait till January 20th to hear another great speech from the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama.

Change has arrived

I'm still absorbing this momentous day in history, so I don't have much to say now.

Someone is not pleased

Look what someone did to Obama's wikipedia entry.

Discussing Hip-Hop with Rob Davies

Click the link to listen to the podcast