Sunday, November 30, 2003

So, I guess its just me on the blog now.

So, you like stuff?

John
Jono
Charlie
Yi
James
Benny
KJ

Yet I'm not totally alone. At least Darren is still here somewhere

WARNING: enter with a pair of clean underwear handy. may cause seizures.


(wang if you read this, its busu, watch this for old times sakes you wont be dissapointed, promise.)


who said slow and steady wins the race??

you're such a stifulu-tifulu constipated fufu johno

Saturday, November 29, 2003

good to go!

haha well that's helpful Yi!
Now that's really "Nothing much." I knew you were going to james' house! well i had 99% confidence intervals.
I was hoping you'd post up some more information...
like whether benny was going shopping or not.
m00

i can stay at james' but not sure how to get there without a car.

i am confirmed to go to James's place.
i am not sure if Benny is going at this stage.
however, i will contact him during the day and get his details.

Friday, November 28, 2003

Okay for Saturday night, *everyone* is sleeping over at either John's house or mine.
With the exception of James. James has too much to carry. ^^

So far I know KJ, Yi, Benny, Eric and Rosalie are sleeping over at my house, I believe.
Charlie etc, organise it, pick a house and go on Sat night.

If you don't, I guarantee you we will be late leaving Sydney. Remember we leave 6am

It might be too late to gather more chicks. They either have plans already or will think we're desparate.

Bennie, be a reason-driven saboteur and not one that sabotage everything that comes in sight. You might one day terminate something you actually wanted to do: ie sex.

How the heck did Alexis get hold of johno's road trip fuel consumption estimate? We have intelligence leakage.

normally i don't quote from bash.org.
but this one is special.

#161963 +(14)- [X]
Cynicisity: My best friend said that going to Purdue is like having unprotected sex; it feels great to get in, but you're pissed that you came.

Quote of the day: Alexis
jono's calaculations regarding fuel consumption seem to be way off...

Operation Sabotage: Benny's working for my parents

Thursday, November 27, 2003

don't you dare.

meh
jig road trip

s.w.a.t. tomorrow (friday). meet outside george street cinemas at 12:30pm.
blah blah blah blah blah.

Thermo-nucular detonation imminent.

Hahahahahah!!
I love Charlie's logic. So horny.
Well, Rosalie knows she's the only girl going atm. You guys seem to be making a much bigger deal out of it.
:)
Rhonda works. Along with most other girls Rosalie knows, apparently.

Any of you 7 other guys should ask any girls you know! I'm out of stock, *MAYBE*.

6 down 1 to goooooo babyyyyyyyyyy. C'mere, Thermo.

Chickety Chinese Chicken

somehow most chicks wouldn't go without the company of another chick. Therefore we should deceive them and say there's another chick coming to gather more chicks. Then we will have more chicks.

Why not say it directly in the first place rather than hinting that there should be another chic?

Rhonda.

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

If there's two girls, then it will almost always means that the boys will have to sleep on the floor, unless the girls are willing to share (ahem!).

no karen can't come because she needs to be in sydney on thurs.
Did I tell you?
whurps. Well I told someone.

James: Even though I am so popular~, I still don't know any other girl who could come, esp given the amount of notice.

Rosalie will be fine by herself.

Two's a crowd.
:)

Are you 100% confirmed James?

Ok who's the 9? There's john, johno, charlie, bennie, yi, kj, rosalie, james (90% confirmed) and?

i thought it was two?

Jono, get another girl to come if you can! One is just wrong.

Road trip wise:

John and I met up today and discussed accommodation. That should hopefully be handled now.
John will try to call up some places for each of the places we'll be staying at.
Many people will need sleeping bags though. Most of the places only have 2 beds, a couple have 4-6 beds.
We won't stay at Parkes the 2nd last night, we'll stay at Griffith, less driving. Then Thursday morning we continue up to Parkes.

It seems Eric can no longer make it. His mother has an operation on Friday morning, so either we cut the trip shorter or Eric can't come. I said we could make it shorter, and Eric said don't worry about it.
So right now it looks as though we'll have 9 people, including James (currently 90% confirmed)

Camping's a no go as recommended by KJ too.

In case you guys aren't aware (UNSW-wise) there's a cash4books buyback thing this week at uni.
it's at http://www.cash4books.com.au
They only give you 35% of the original price damn it, but it's better than nothing.
Since I'm going away, I'd prefer to sell them:


I have all the Victoria related maps (now in Eric's possession) so there will be no problem getting around Victoria.

Minor question about fuel, how many people in total is going? If we have 10, it's ok to split total fuel cost into 5 parts, but if we have 9, maybe we need to split total fuel cost for both cars into 9 parts. John's car will probably consume more fuel?

As for accomodation, Johno, we need to use your massive Accomodation guide, or better still you can ring them up. I suggest we maybe get a 5 beds room, since we all will have sleeping bags, some can sleep on the floor. That'll cut accomodation costs down.

Food is the next big thing, I suggest we'll have to shop beforehand canned food, packaged food, 3 minute noodles etc, for most parts of the trip just to save cost. For those who's got more cash to spend, they can always dine out. I rather spend more money on entry fees etc and maybe a little bit of shopping if we get around to it.

I don't think camping is viable. The other day Eric just said he wanted to bring one of those travel luggage bag that's about half the size of an Excel's boot space. Now that doesn't leave much room for other stuff even if we cut it down to 1/5. Unless of course we bring one of those trailers along haha.

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Nice photo

Ok I picked up most of the maps we'll need.
Charlie has some, but I'm unsure of whether he has inland NSW like Parkes and Dubbo so I picked them up.
What I don't have though is 12 Apostles and Great Ocean Road. I'm also missing the chunk that allows you to drive to Phillip Island, though I do have Phillip Island itself. And yes you can drive there.

As for Cost analysis, out of my butt:

Fuel:
2 tanks down,
2 tanks around melb and 12 apostles,
2.5 tanks up to Parkes and Dubbo
1.5 tanks back to Sydney
1 tank for who cares
= 9 tanks x 45L/tank x $0.90/tank
= $365 / 5 people
= $73pp Fuel
approx $75 pp Fuel

Accommodation: $15 pp/n x 5 nights = $75pp

Food: $25/day x 6 days = $150 (includes random drinks etc)

Entry fees to Zoos and miscellaneous: $50

*ALL* of these figures should be very conservative and I strongly doubt entry fees will be $50, for example.
If we ration food and have coles food for BBQ's or something it'll be less that $25.
Accomm same.
If we camp or something it'll cut costs. I also doubt it will cost $15 pp pnight.
Fuel estimates are for my car, I assume (if we are taking John's car) that his car is similar.
That totals $400.

Any errors?

do we have any willing accountants here? We need to calculate approximate cost for the whole trip.

As for tracking, I suggest we keep a record of all receipts associated with spending incurred related to the trip and do a, put in James' term, 'Grand Split'.

As an etimate, I say bring along $300-$400 per person would be about right. Girls need to bring more for expected shopping expenditure.

Monday, November 24, 2003

Wine tasting.

Down for
Horse and Camp.

who's got a tent?
even then camping involves a lot more than a sleeping bag and a tent...
-_-

don't we need to pack in some extra gear for camping?
do we have enough boot space?

Sunday, November 23, 2003

If there was a problem yo I solve it
Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it

yo vanilla kick it one time boy.

Some current suggestions for amendments to the itinerary:

Camping
Bushwalking
Horse riding
others?

That means we need to delete some things or rearrange if we want some of those. Camping might be an idea, not because it makes it a lot cheaper, but because it'd be fun.

the itinerary looks good to go, now the major issue would be cost

Saturday, November 22, 2003

Jeez, aren't you familiar with the term "had it in for you"?

do not assume so quick, i will critically analyse that data by the next moonrise and give you a definitive reply

hell's over, but heaven is no where to be seen

Friday, November 21, 2003

Ok if there's no complaints I assume that will be roughly the final itinerary.

your horse had it in you?

Thursday, November 20, 2003

your horse hit on you? what?

I been horseriding before. It bloody killed my legs after. They felt worse than jelly. I think my horse had it in for me...

My combined degree allows me to enjoy two of the most detrimental university courses to my vision: reading and coding

woohoo, 2 down and 2 to go, and stangely enough, i left half an hour early for both of them.

now if only i could get a job..

by the way, that is the itinerary

to have faith is to believe in something we can't see
the reward of this faith is seeing what we believe.
-unknown

Life is an insatiable bitch that just can't get enough of you.

Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Yeah I've tried that too blurry

Charlie, try zooming into my posts, see if you can read them. ^^

Do we want to camp at all? 6 day road trip, 5 nights.

I spent all my bloody day on thissssssssssss

And I can't fit horse riding in. Damn it.

/me is very tired. /me needs to do some stats. /me is going to sleep.

Johno, try zooming in and see if you can pick out some blackheads on that women's nose in that first shot =)

Oscar

I've been surfing http://www.visitvictoria.com.au

Looking at the adventure section.

Rock climbing initially, but then that looked a bit pricey.
Horse riding along the great ocean road:
$27.50 1.0 Hr
$35.00 1.5 Hrs
$35.00 1.0 Hr during sunset.

Experience? Priceless.
Who's down? Too late, I'm adding it to our much more roomy itinerary now.
:)
Along with the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo.

This is awesome, so much more time to do stuff. So much more bankruptcy to come our way.
All because of me. I am doing the itinerary. Wait. That's all because of Marc.

muhuahuahua

November October November October, Juliet October Hotel November.

Wow how many n's and o's are there in that phrase

and now for a good motivation engineering quote:

"I strongly urge you to pursue your dream. Engineering offers limitless possibilities. Engineers are the world's problem solvers, adding real and significant value to their surroundings, changing the environment for the better. We do the things, invent the technology, design and build the devices and the structures that create economic growth and make the technological age possible. Perhaps no other field gives you the satisfaction of accomplishment that engineering does."
- Dr Joan Gosink

whisky tango foxtrot?

so what do you do?
oh yeh i wait tables too
no i havent heard your band
cos you guys are pretty new
but if you dig on vegan food
well come over to my work
i'll have em cook you something
that you really love

I think it's just Jono's shaky hands in the first shot.

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

equals dee.

1 down 4 to go.

C is for Criminal...or :'C

Stupid John

I have 2 down, 5 to go.

And the 2 so far haven't been brilliant. m00.

Why don't you go resize your MONITOR? ^^

And learn to resize jono!

everybody put your hands up and say weeeee...
everybody say happy holiday eve to meeee!!!

either you don't know how to use that camera or that camera has crap quality lens.
i can't seem to figure out where the that camera is trying to focus on

Also note that if you had a 30" widescreen notebook at 3000 by 2000 resolution (or thereabouts), you would be able to view these pictures with no need for scrolling. ^^

Frig those pictures are big. wtf? Olympus C750 must be 10 Gigapixel compatible. Yes. Giga.

Whurps
Took me a while (I am also a lazy, busy man)
and apologies for the bad photo quality (again due to my laziness and busy-ness)
but I must gloat for my lil baby. Presenting my HP Compaq nx 7000 business notebook with 15.4" widescreen:
All for $AU2350.




Taken using my bro's new C750. We all have new toys. All your bankruptcy are belong to me.

What can I say? I am a reasonable man.
^^

Monday, November 17, 2003

Alrigth Sunday to Friday sounds reasonable. We need to regroup and figure out a more 'marketable' itinerary so Marc can shove the itinerary in his parents' mouths next time they try to chew him up.

Butters that's the very assumption I'm working under. You however neglected the time aspect. Working consistently throughout the semester would be more time-consuming and every extra bit of time generate less return (law of diminishing returns). Give a short, fixed amount of time, you're more likely to get a pass through cramming.

haha I don't really have a bug with length. Just keep it 6 days max, I recommend. Sunday to Friday.

No, I said they chewed me up and spat me out coz YOU provided me with a dog's breakfast of an itinary. Sunday to Thursday is not much of an improvement. Still if you want to continue that short then dont worry about it.

edit: and yes john it goes against your very idea of an unplanned trip

Charlie, your line of argument about spending longer on the road will increase chance of crashing, is like saying you're more likely to pass if you cram everything in the last minute than working consistently throughout the semester...

haha charlie
1) I now have a dentist appointment on Sat 29th Nov, so we really can't leave then. Sunday is preferable for me now, what say you? i am such a selfish man. or boy.

Sunday to Thursday, say is also good...allows us to fit in parkes and hues, it's one extra day over the original plan.
I'd like that too, not too long or it gets expensive.

So i mean we are restructuring because of both my revised airticket AND marc's possibility of attendance.
My ticket is not a problem now really, just whether we can accommodate marc's parents, who chew marc up and spit him out like dog's breakfast, quote unquote.
^^ sorry marc, had to quote that.

So yes, let's all think about it...
Marc can only go if it's a long trip. "Long" is subjective based on his parents.

screw this, i have electrical test tomorrow. i'll be screwed if i don't get 200%.

in an ideal world, marc's parents would stipulate the requirements, and we'll see if we can work our way to see if the requirements can be accomodated.
but obviously its not.

You stibulu-tifulu igonativatated fufu!! Because of you we have to change the plans AGAIN!
Now I'm not angry, just venting some excessive air built up during the worst exam of my life.

Now, with sanity restored:

Firstly Marc, friends are something you can choose, parents are something you can't choose. Friends are something you don't see everyday, family you do. So choose your standpoint first before fighting a purposeful battle. And yes, driving will be tiring, among other shit loads of negativities such as the possibility of crashing. But lets not forget the good side of things, like opportunity for platonic bonding ^O^, carefree exploration in John's words and reinvigorate enjoyment into the thing we so often wrongly termed 'holiday'. The ironic thing is that if our 4 day plan is 'too short' according to your father, then what about a 6 hour stroll down to victoria? To add to that, wouldn't a week-long trip give rise to more propensity to unfortunate vicissitudes? I think you need to reason with your parents (draw diagrams if you must) first and discern what their actual concerns are before asking for more ammunition (revised itinerary etc) when production opportunity cost is high (exam cramming). My job is to make other people's life difficult.

Now back to you young man!
Thanks to your schedule, we were was screwed from the start.
Thanks again to you, after we unscrewed the situation with a plan, now it's been re-screwed into a state with more decisions to make.
Your suggestion sounds fantabudiculous (Good and Crap). Yes sunday to sunday is too long and expensive, but how much better is sunday to friday? Yes now it fits in with your schedule, but what about others? As far as I know, Eric is going back to Hong Kong too sometime in December so maybe we need to fix that first before making random suggestions. What is reasonable is that we stick to the original plan and extend it by a day (ie return on wednesday). If you seriously think that longer trips are better, fill those extra time with worthwhile indulgements first.

Having said that, I would like to conclude that:
Life is a bitch, but it goes on.

thanks for that site marc, it's useful.

858km to melbourne via optimised route.
I think around 900 will do it realistically, including cherry picking at Young.

Haha how about YOU come up with the *comprehensive list* Marc?
I will only give an estimate, which in my experience, has proved somewhat accurate. :)

Also, I'm not quite sure why we need a *comprehensive list*, now that our itinerary is meant to be getting more relaxed and lengthy? I thought we only needed that if we were tight on schedule like the original 4 days.

i'm speaking about it as though it's already changed and we've just given up on the four day plan.
I also think we have, anyway.
:)

Okay using the Travel Calculator, it shows about 858km. Now that will take 8 hours if we were driving at 110km/hr for the whole 8 hours not including breaks.

Parkes to Sydney is 363km, so Parkes will take up a full day if you want to go.

Of course these are optimal roads and you have to take into account getting lost and such.

But theres an indicator of distances. Use the calculator and when u come up with a comprehensive list of distances and estimated drive times, I will show it to my parents.

haha I agree with john. We shouldn't go over a week too. We don't need it, i think.
redoing the itinerary isn't a problem, now that we have more time to play with, not less.

I've just sent a message to everyone for the roadtrip about this, we'll wait for them to reply.
Also on the blog, obviously.

I'm down for putt putt golf though. ^^

and yes marc, will 6 days be long enough? Sunday to Friday?

Okay can you approximate how much time will be spent driving each day? Be conservative in your calculations ie minimise distance and maximise time.

The fuel costs should still be the same though because we are taking the same distance.

Only food and accomodation will be taken into account. I'd prefer the roadtrip to be as long as possible. It will increase my chances of being able to go.

If possible, can someone call NRMA and ask them how long it takes to drive from Sydney to Melbourne with optimal breaks in between?

Also ask them about driving from Melbourne to the apostles and such.

Here's a link I just found on NRMA site:

Travel Calculator

bah. jono posted that while i was writing my post.

my opinion: since the timeline is less restricted now, we can accomodate both charlie's and jono's wishes, with a possibility of marc's too. but that has to be weighted against the additional costs, and the inconvinence caused to redo the itiniery and the fact that the trip is going to go for longer.

i don't think we should go for longer than a week, due to the said costs and the tiredness. so i think the next course of action is for marc to find out what the minimal time he is allowed for the road trip, and whether he can take the pintara.
jono can confirm his ticket details, and i will again see if i can take the astina for a week. shouldn't be that much of a problem though.
the other attendees will also need to be contacted, and see their opinion on whether the extention of time is favourable or not.

***NEWSFLASH***

Marc:
I am not going on the 4th December anymore.
I am not going on the 11th December either.

I am now confirmed for the 9th of December, giving me five full extra days from the original timeline to leave Sydney.
:)

Now we just need to wait for Charlie and John to bring up any points about the possibility of a revised itinerary.
Or anyone else for that matter?

[That said, we need more confirmation from you Marc.
We can't simply change everything and stuff, *assuming* you *might* be able to come, and from there you *might* be able to bring the car.
We need a bit more confirmation too, if possible. If you come, we have flat 10 people, then we have 5 in my car. That will be tight, unless I have thin people like Anorexic Asia sitting in my car {I mean John ^^}.]

Suggestion off the top of my head:
Don't go Sunday to Sunday (i.e 30th to 7th). Too expensive, too long, purely unnecessary.

Do, I suggest, go Sunday to Friday say. That's 6 full days, 2 full days extra from our original plan.
That should be way more than enough time to do what we want to do.

That includes both hues AND Parkes AND no rushing.

How does that sound people?

If you can make the roadtrip over a week (and a bit more) then it maybe possible that I can come AND bring pintara, but I have no guarantees.

I am not asking until you get a definite response about:

  • the airticket
  • duration of the roadtrip
  • and revised itinary

Being sacrificed again is not my idea of a good start to the holidays nor indeed exams.

My father's main concern was that it was too short a roadtrip and that much of the time will be spent driving and we will all be shit-buggered to enjoy it as well as being dangerous. Because it is true that even though there will be rotational shifts for driving the car, staying in the car and watching the road is still really tiring in itself.

If you take a leisurely stroll down around victoria, like say initially driving 6 hours there and back and around 2 in between on each day then I think my parents will be more at ease with that. That way I can still drive pintara by myself without having to rotate to another. My parents would feel safer that way. I'm not sure about pintara though. Still depends on my sister and if she has made plans since. And seeing as you are not hiring, insurance is not that big of an issue.

Don't stress too much about the air ticket though. If you can't get it then don't worry, I don't mind terribly in not going. Also if it is too late to revise itinary with exams and everything then don't worry about it either.

If you do get that later ticket then I'd prefer the roadtrip to start on sunday rather than saturday so everyone has had a good rest after exams. Also we have the option of driving during the day only which is what I would be more comfortable with.

You also have to consider additional costs of living for those extra few days though. My job is to complicate things

Coincidentally, all you exams are belong to us. Good luck

You better take the 4th. I sacrificed myself before my parents on an alter for you guys...

Ok issue:
My mum can get tickets for the 11th to Hong Kong now, so I can go either 4th or 11th of Dec.
exactly one week difference, both are Thursdays.

Crap. Decisions decisions.

Hey what the
that post makes me sound angrier than I actually am

frigg'n those two posts (surrounding Sunday date) gets us nowhere, John and Charlie!

Absolutely the most circular arguments around!

Here's another useless phrase, to fit the bill: NO MORE CHEMISTRYYYYYYYYYYYYY BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
It wasn't a very pretty exam either. argh.

And now for more road trip stuff:

I do want to go to Parkes, but so do others, I believe. (If I'm the only one who wants to go, then we seriously don't need to go.)
Now, if we go to Parkes, I don't know how to fit BOTH Parkes AND Hues in.

Bottom line: If I make the decision, then we need to go sunrise shot (meaning lack of sleep too) on Monday morning then up great ocean road during monday and fish and chips, then continue up northwards near Ballarat etc.
Sleepover somewhere in the outback when we stop driving.
Tuesday morning we continue driving to Parkes, get there maybe Mid-day or so. Spend a couple of hours there, then head home, getting home around 11pm or something say.

Hues and Parkes? You propose the timing and solution Charlie, I really can't come up with an obvious one.

OMG, just realised that by missing my last lecture, I missed out on another song sang by my American Learning lecturer.

Well, here's some artistic talent of a biopsychologist:

ALL CAN LEARN
By Ken Cheng (versemaker)
Yes! Birds do it, bees do it,
Even halfway educated fleas do it,
All do it! All can learn!

The animals habituate when stimuli repeat,
Their servos cut down errors though the gain is incomplete,
They learn opponent processes, the ones called a and b,
And classical conditioning to what they hear and see.

They learn to do an operant for outcomes to be gained,
And generalise to stimuli on which they were not trained,
They integrate a path and time durations of a tone,
And now we're teaching birds and bees to use a mobile phone.

Yes! Ants do it, bugs do it,
Even big Aplysia genus slugs do it,
All do it! All can learn!

Euphoric drugs of any kind will trigger process a,
The body calls forth process b, the status quo to stay,
Aversive stimulation brings endorphins for the pain,
Hedonic equilibrium with feedback to maintain.

In finding places creatures use the landmarks all around,
They follow servomechanisms till the goal is found,
They also learn the geometry or chart a brand new trail,
And now we're breeding super mice to find the Holy Grail.

Yes! Quails do it, fish do it,
Even nematodes upon dish do it,
All do it! All can learn!

The circumstances varying we find upon this Earth
Dictate that not all actions can be programmed right from birth,
And learning must not only be propelled by food and shocks,
We must learn all the things that fill this giant Skinner box,

The place and time of happenings, connections to be linked,
Who only learns when reinforced is doomed to be extinct,
We need to always use our brains, the world to figure out,
And so explains this little song what learning is about.

Yes! Ducks do it, chicks do it,
Even folks in Psych two thirty six do it,
All do it! All can learn!

With maybe some reliance on just a bit of science,
We plainly can discern that all can learn.

A little more procrastination
Some may find this funny

The other day, I was in my brother's car when he pulled over in a no stopping zone in the crowded district of Auburn road.
Now this wasn't something any driver would want to do because that area is also one of the most notorious 'infringement detection' area, with cops ruthlessly scouting for unlawful behaviours of us hopeless citizens.
This was exacerbated by the fact that it was peak hour in the arvo(cops usually scout at this time)
Furthermore, my brother actually got fined once around that area, for illegal standing to get a packet of cigarettes.

Predicably and unfortunately, a cop car stopped right beside my brother's car
They stared at him, he stared back, and they took off
why?
Now this is the fun part
shortly after my brother pulled over, his phone rang
so he was talking on the phone as the cops pull up next to him
Now had he been driving while talking on the mobile phone (he always do it), he would be in trouble
Had he stopped at the no stopping zone without talking on the phone, he would also in trouble
But when the two combines (talking on the phone while at a no stopping zone) it miraculously cancels out each other's negative effects.
I cracked up laughing after the cops left, point my middle finger at them.

Some interesting notes on REM sleep and Dreams which I shall be examined on later today

True Dreams:
A mental experience during sleep in which the person has the feeling of actually seeing, or in other ways, sensing various scenes and objects, and of actually moving and behaving in the dream environment.

90 percent of people awakened during REM usually report a True Dream experience, and the longer the REM period before awakening, the longer and more elaborate the reported dream.

Sleep Thought (analytical dream)
A mental experience during sleep that lacks the vivid sensory and motor hallucinations of a true dream and is typically experienced as similar to daytime thought. The main difference between sleep thought and daytime thought is that it does not solve anything…this type of dreaming is reported in 60 percent of the cases of people awakened during slow wave sleep.

What are True Dreams for? (forget Freud)
Prevalent view is mundane. Dreams do not serve any purpose at all. They are side-effects of physiological changes in REM sleep that do serve a purpose.

One version is that the purpose of REM is to provide regular exercise to groups of neurons in the brain (hypothesis based on the assumption that neural connections can degenerate if they go to long without being active)....so neural activity during REM may help to preserve these neural circuits (also known as the Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis).

Support for the Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis:

1.REM sleep occurs in mammals besides humans (with the exception of the spiny anteater Echidna
which indicates that slow wave sleep was a primitive state and that REM sleep was a later
evolutionary addition)

2.REM sleep occurs to a much greater degree in fetuses and infants of all species compared to adults...perhaps requiring important exercise of sensory and motor pathways to promote development.

G'luck to you all too

It seems that in my zealousness to commit to studying (or Star-dee-ing) I have failed to wish any of the current members of this blog good luck in their upcoming and past exams. So, I hope that the following statement of solidarity will somehow be of benifit to you.

Good luck in your exams everyone!

enjoy the road trip fellas, and as a strange twist of events, i might be doing my own road trip some time in december. driving from adelaide to melbourne then to sydney.. how ironic

oh how considerate and empathetic of you.
now get to the point:
you want parkes, then we are going to Parkes. And not it's not the hues that's attractive, it's being at the right place, the right time, with the right equipment to capture the right moment in life of which will be forever remembered that is attractive.

if you ain't bringing your telescope, then we'll have more room to store our personal goods

Sunday, November 16, 2003

i need my own shampoo for my full lucious hair!
no wait, i shaved it. dammit.

your call jono.

Meanwhile, am I actually bringing my telescope dude?

I will post itinerary as soon as final

decision? hues or parkes?
I simply cannot see how hues AND Parkes will go together? it just won't work, the timing.

*AHEM*
and the mascara!?

Don't forget the conditioner, moisturiser, foundation, cologne/perfume

cool
oh and just a thought, since there won't be much boot space for luggage with johno's telescope, shall we impose a mass and volume limit?
This is to ensure we don't bring unecessary stuff, like we really just need one set of shampoo and conditioner to share between us, and maybe even a bottle of shower gel {soap is too intimate for anyone's (assumption) comfort}
what say ye?

Yep got em
Again, they're these ones

They do require 4 AAA batteries for each handset though.
I hope that would last us for the whole 4-5 day duration, being on most of the time (ie except at nights)

overruled.

I object :)

Not impossible - inevitable

Hint Hint: I'm not the chief commanding officer.

Therefore all your assumptions are screwed.
:)

In the meantime, I will be buying those $60 walkie talkies today. Any objections, please voice them...now.

john, he knows that he doesn't know.

Johno doesn't know, who knows?
Ouch that rhymes.
Yeah you make the 'final' decision for now. I can always be changed later

you don't know??
the chief commanding officer always knows, even if he doesn't.

Saturday, November 15, 2003

" Johno you can finalise the plans and post it here "

so you want me to make the final decision then?
but I dunno.

So go tonight, you know where I am
And by your side, my love is always there
Keeping us tight, the feeling is right.
My love is always there

im crazed with reason

Problem is john, we can't always control what we do in our dreams.

I have no objections except I have one point to make. If we take the original plan, we would not be spending the whole day driving along great ocean road and waiting for sunset. I'm sure there's other attractions around Southewest Melbourne, or as John puts it, spontaneous exploration. Sunset shot is optimal, but that is also dependent on weather so I'm not too fussy about it. If we can fit in Parkes, then I would like to go there too. The choice here is not either choosing sunset shot or parkes (both plans incorporate both, just a matter of time of getting back to sydney). The choice is really between what we can do around Southwest Melbourne compared to that of what we can do along the 'outback' route to parkes.

Johno you can finalise the plans and post it here, Meanwhile, there's still shit loads of stuff for me to cram for monday's and tuesday's exams.

Happy cramming all

haha I believe Yi and a couple of others expressed their interest ("downness") for going to Parkes too. Not just me.
:)
I wouldn't drag 8 other people to come with me to a place only I want to go!
(In other words, I'm trying to madly convince everyone to **want** to go to Parkes ^^).

Walkie Talkies - no one expressed a strong interest, so I don't know if I should get them? Assuming everything is already 100% go for the trip in the first place.

What do you guys think? $6 each and we can get a set of walkie talkies for each car? Could come in useful in future road trips too. These are quality stuff I think, not the types you get when you're a kid.
:)
If you want, I'd need to get these before or by this sunday. For that special at dick smith, anyway.

Jono you just want to go to Parkes ^^

erm yeah, are we gonna drive up and down ocean road? for 3 hours?
we could always let John and some people shop around in Melbourne...

And how are those walkie talkies going?
is someone gonna get them soon, since you mentioned a special jono...

I don't mind I guess, but it's just a matter of opportunity cost, really.
Like with a sunset shot, could be good, but what do we do the entire monday, before sunset?
Drive for 10 hours up and down great ocean road eating fish and chips?
haha that i don't mind, but it's the benefit we gain from it.

I was just suggesting we cruise up to Parkes along the country side, I reckon that'll be a unique experience too, outback sorta area, and then Parkes is another destination we can add to our 4 day trip.

Friday, November 14, 2003

i too am for the fixing of itinerary asap. some people need it for their parents, others for planning other things, etc. and that way, we have someone to blame if we don't follow our timetable =)

if the only benefit of getting a sunset shot is the better 'hues' (whatever they are), then you have to compare that to the benefits of parkes. if jono is right, and its an impossibility for getting the sunset shot and getting to parkes in time, then its a choice we have to make.
hues or parkes?

OR, you can get enough sleep, wake up happy, do well, and have energy all day.

Thing is Charlie, I think most people would like to know when they are coming back to Sydney. Well I do

I don't have a bug with waiting for a sunset shot, that just means we'll need to get back Wednesday morning. I just want you to propose a suitable alternative itinerary for Sunday night, Monday, Tuesday, and Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.

Would it be Sunday night sleep in Melbourne, bludge most of Monday until the evening at 8pm when you can take your shots, then drive up north until we need to sleep? Then continue driving north on Tuesday morning and hope we'll get to Parkes in time? Because the Parkes radiotelescope Visitor's Centre is open from 8:30am to 4:15pm. i.e. we need to get to Parkes probably around lunchtime on Tuesday anyway. I see what you mean about getting back Wed morning, so we can use my telescope or something on Tuesday night in the country?

The problem is, how do we get from near the 12 apostles where we'll be staying Monday night, to Parkes in one bloody Tuesday morning? i.e. 4 hours or something? that's clearly not possible...hmm...
So yeah if you can suggest something go for it, that's why i'm not sure how wednesday morning return works.

Sorry to be such a bum and put holes in all your plans, but yeah. Just outlining the limitations.

Yi: Holidays don't start till 22nd December. Obvious time limitation for me there. Awwww I git it.....

Study suggestion:

Listen to classical music while studying.

Classical music has the wonderful effect of increasing the listener's IQ by as much as 5 points, depending on the composer.

Biochemistry is fun
Genetics is funner
Computering is more funner than genetics
Bioinformating is much more funner than computering

How is everyone else doing

my theory:
while dreaming, look everywhere. this will encourage rem (rapid eye movement) sleep. this will help your memory; according to darren, memory performance is a positive function of rem sleep.

unfortunately, unlike james, we do not always realize we're dreaming while inside the dream (refer to his lucid dream post). therefore, to counter this, always stare at different objects and look everywhere, no matter where or what you're doing; just in case you're dreaming.

Back to cramming

Life is an insatiable bitch who just can't get enough out of you.

Stupid people don't make mistakes, they are a mistake.

Johno as I said before, we'll decide the finer details when we get closer to the trip, gathering input from all who goes. I personally would like a sunset shot (better hues in the sky) but if it suits you to get back on tuesday night rather than wednesday morning, then so be it.

Hey Yi, you could use whatever favour you're doing for your parents as an excuse for if you fail any subjects, or better still, star, or even better, take the Ford to the road trip. Yeah kids are nothing but a problem, except when I was a kid. I was the one who enlightened all, by attempting glorious acts such as lighting a firecracker on cow manures.

The following is an interesting piece of information I came across during cramming for biopsychology:

Effects of Sleep Deprivation

When there is a loss of sleep for 3-4 days, people experience distorted perceptions and irritability, but tasks requiring physical skill or mental judgment are not affected by sleep deprivation.

As a rule – sleep deprivation decreases performance on simple and boring tasks and do not affect challenging task performance.

Willy Dement (1979) noted the case of Randy Gardner, a college student, who went 11 days without sleep for the Guinness World Record. The final 24 hours of his ordeal was spent beating Willy Dement 100 times out of 100 at a penny arcade game of baseball.

It seems that the most reliable effect of sleep deprivation is sleepiness itself (microsleeps)


That effectively explains why I still get OK grades for overnight cramming before final examinations.

this sucks big balls...
no studying whatsoever and i am STILL doing shit for my parents.
:(

charlie, if we go in the school holidays then it shouldn't be too much of a problem. however, my sister gets dropped off and picked up from school each day. :(

Stupid Charlie! Make mistakes (i.e. star) and I have to cover for you? pffft!
Besides, we have not finalised the itinerary!
Do we return Wednesday morning or Tuesday evening?
On that basis, do we get to the 12 apostles for sunrise or sunset?
Do we stay in melbourne on Sunday night and sleep, or don't sleep at all so we can get to 12 apostles for sunrise?
etc

Yay everyone visit me so we can have 21st parties together. w00t.

Argh, I've been either starring or cramming, no time to get myself in the right place and the right time to upload the upadated itinerary, johno can you do it (your edited version)?

John, from your analysis, it seems we're playing with more expensive things at further distances. Next up would be buying a plane ticket and visit Johno in Indianapolis and play star from there with their broadband internet connection.

I know I know, it's ALEXIS!

Guess which NSB this is.
^^

damn man, i got the rudest response from one of my lecturers just now. i got his name wrong, matthew instead of michael, i wasnt thinking i just wrote wrong name and i asked him if he knew wat was at the bottom of this page (in a past paper the bottom line with a formula was cut off) and he goes "print ur documents or view them correctly i am not going to fill in your inability to use adobe"

No it's not me, I don't have any lecturers named Michael nor Matthew. ^^

hmm, at that rate.. what would come next?

selling all our houses to buy an apartment block?

Isn't it the same thing?
^^

just last year we were considering bringing charlie's ps2 to eric's house.

now we're thinking about driving our cars down to melbourne.

progress?

like a tiger

tiger uppercut.

yeah my brother said he tested my car at 120, he said it was fine. but i wasn't able to get it up to speed, only 80 in a 50 zone. then a cop drove past me on the opposite side of the road. Luckily I don't think he had his radar gun on or something.
Murphy's law I tell you.
But yeah my bro and my dad both drove it separately and said it definitely should be fine.

Pet tigerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Ok then Charlie. It looks like 9 will be optimal. However, scott is still unsure of confirmation, he is showing is parents the itinerary today. And we still need to get that finalised.

yi it's not a week, just 2 weekdays (monday and tuesday)

bad news, my brother said no. Reason being he works 6 days a week and he uses the mirage for work. He usually puts his tools and equiment (he is a gyprocker) in the boot of the Mirage and the CRV is really not a good substitue for such use. Looks like we'll either have to rent the corolla or take john's astina.

9 is optimal, we have people take turns sitting in the middle sit of the 5 people car. I wouldn't mind a little squishy, there are two girls coming right? =) As for bums going numb, that's a fixed costs and can only be reduced through regular stops.

i would love to take my falcon wagon.
got eough room for 5 people and the pet tiger at the back.
:D

but alas... i highly doubt my parents can do away with the car for a week.
:(

jono, have you tested your car at speed yet?

if we have to drop people, then i think that counts as mandatory.
comfort is relative. and for sure seating 5 in mine would be more comfortable than the mirage or excel (i'm proud of my astina). a numb bum would still be the result though, for extended periods of sitting in the middle seat.
a corolla would be more comfy, and has a lap sash middle seat belt. i'm not advocating the hiring of a car, but just some food for thought.

Thursday, November 13, 2003

That's the thing, even if you can get your bro's car, we would either need to cut it down to eight, or unless everyone doesn't mind squishing a bit, we can have 9 or even 10, but then again, that's up to you guys of course.
John's car, I think, could comfortably fit 5, can't it?

yeah i'm still nudging him
hopefully will get a favourable reply. But that'll mean cutting the numbers down......

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

hey we could tune in to the truckies' frequency too.

Yeah I had to get my car serviced too. Cost $468 ffs. Needed it sooner or later anyway, preferably sooner rather than having it break down in the middle of Ballarat. :)
Ask your bro for the car Charlie. At least just see if it's possible.

Plus I went to dick smith today, they have a pair of walkie talkies for $60 . I think it's a special offer that only lasts till this Sunday.
Any interest? For the road trip obviously. I think it would make communications easier, definitely. We'd split up the cost between 9 of us or whatever.

Just be aware that some prices that look cheap may actually be selling just the one handset. We do want two, otherwise it's like having a mouth and no ear, or vice versa.

haha you'll only doubt if you know better, which I'm sure you do john.

somehow i doubt if eric is an expert on penguins' behaviour, breeding season or not.

another nonsensical quotation thingy.

john (2:30 PM) :
pfffft
only pussies need stuvac
Benny Ho (2:31 PM) :
lol
john (2:33 PM) :
vacstu
its a vacation of stu
Benny Ho (2:35 PM) :
beef stroganoff?
john (2:35 PM) :
ivan romanov?
Benny Ho (2:36 PM) :
lendl?
john (2:38 PM) :
toyota supadupa uber massive fantastic spastic machine?
Benny Ho (2:39 PM) :
lol
honda ad XD
john (2:41 PM) :
get outside, get out of the rut and strike out, move out and get out on a limb and go out, get chinese take out and then throw it out... the company that brought you this outstanding programme also makes the outlander.

Well according to Eric, the penguins come out at night. And no I can't take a sunset shot of penguins, time incompatibility and it doesn't make sense either too. Ask Eric next time when he's online as to when exactly they come out.

As for the Mirage, I want to take it, but it's not mine, my brother still has the discretion. Plus if I do take that alone, it needs to get serviced (don't want to get that starting up problem again). The plus side is that he is more lenient than my dad. So what do we want?

Oh and Dennis and Ellaine are both out of this, so we have 9 confirmed.

Absolutely confirmed are Charlie, John, Eric, Yi, Benny, KJ, Rosalie, Karen and I. That's 9. *fully* *confirmed*.

Yeah sorry my net's stuffed these past two days, can't check websites (and therefore email). Was lucky to be able to post here.

I'm not sure if not getting sleep is such a good idea. Apart from driving and fatigue etc, not sleeping kind of screws you over.
Plus I only have Wednesday to actually pack up and leave Sydney, I'd prefer not to spend half that Wednesday sleeping. But that's just me.

What I want to confirm is when those penguins actually come out. I thought you wanted to take a sunset photo of the penguins Charlie? There's a big difference between 4:30 - 5:30pm as stated on the itinerary, and 8:00pm when the sun actually sets. If it really is 4:30 - 5:30, we have 3 more hours to play with in the evening.

Charlie's Mirage vs John's Astina?
That's not a rhetorical question actually.
John's Astina I think is more suited, because it's got more power to go and space. However, John doesn't really want to take his car unless mandatory.
Charlie's Mirage, if he can take it, has less power and space, but he's more free to take it I guess. Then we may need to cut numbers down to 8 people, because 5 in mine car will be tight too. Depends on what you guys want, crampy or not.

And either way, both the Mirage and Astina are good partners for my Excel. ^^

yeah Sunday night was what I meant.
Well if you look at the maps, I think from Phillips Island to Melbourne is going to take about two hours. Including dinner, taking shots, lollies, shopping (rosalie)? that will take us well into the early hours of Monday morning. I think it will take about 3 hours to get from Melbourne to the 12 apostles. So if we choose not to camp at Melbourne and fit extra stuff in, then we might as well not sleep on sunday night/monday morning. I personally would love to visit Parkes as well, can we fit Wednesday morning in? I think we should decide when we're near the road trip, with more people expressing their interests.

John, your proposition is a wonderful solution for not getting lost, but unfortunately most of us here wants to get somewhere or do something.

Lumoi, on what basis do we measure culture, and subsequently discern who is more cultured?

As for my dad's car, as I said in the email I sent you Johno, I got into a heated argument with my dad half way through explaining the insurance problem. If you know him, you would know he's got a temper problem, shouting more often than speaking. Plus lately he's been stressed with loan issues for buying my brother a house. In addition to that, he never really did trusted my driving skills, let alone you guys. I'm trying to get my brother Mirage. If I can get that, then we'll need to cut our numbers down by 1. By the way, who is absolutely confirmed?

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

badgerbadgerbadgerbadgerbadger.

If you take out the mans out of manslaughter you get hahahaha! Homicide can be funny, like law & order

this blog is a really crap medium of communication for planning and other urgent matters, if i may say so.

I say attempted manslaughter by criminal negligence

Charlie: How goes your car?

how can you go to melbourne without shopping??? and experiencing the cultural aspect of the area?? ugh!
toorak, collins st, south yarra....culturally surpasses sydney by far! So many great streets of cafes, boutiques, restaurants...not the franchised pop crap like sydney...

what say you?

Monday, November 10, 2003

and this is why my idea of having no plans, promoting spontaneousness, carefreeness and whatnot is much more fun.

I believe on Tuesday night we are back in Sydney.

I believe you mean Monday night.

If so, I believe that's a strong waste of a day for Monday night.

If you want to stay in Melbourne, I recommend Sunday night.

We finish penguins at sunset (around 8pm) then grab a quick dinner, eric gets his lollies, we get your shot, then camp in either melbourne or west of melbourne, as close to 12 apostles as possible.
Reason being so that we don't have to wake up so early for the 12 apostles sunrise shot on monday morning.

What say you?

Johno:

Before I post your amended road trip itinerary, on Tuesday night, I believe Eric wants to get some candies from Melbourne and I want to, if possible, take a night shot of Flinders Street station and Crown casino. So I propose we camp in Melbourne city. What say you?

Life's a bitch
And then you die.

Sunday, November 09, 2003

wh00t kinda breakkie dooes he c00k for j00 m00 j00 j0000?

What kind of breakfast does he cook for you?

Is that the standard featured widescreen monitor you ranted about for your laptop? I've got 3 myself.

Hey, that monitor is pretty cool..

and its more expensive than a car..

Quote of the Day:
TUCOTI: haha
yeah.
i am getting really tired of my dad's breakfast that i am thinking of moving out.
o.O

E = mc4

Oh Gary is buying the camera! What's the price range?

Saturday, November 08, 2003

Butters I know the answer to that question. A clone has the same genetic constitution of the original. But as Developmental Psychology studies over the last 60 years have revealed, DNA structure sets the course for development (including personality, sometimes even IQ) by experiences alter how one would ultimately become. So is it nature or nurture? It's always both, because nothing is absolute.

The Olympus C750 Ultra Zoom allows you to shoot from 3cm away. So if you are into shooting macro shots of insects and the likes, then go for it. But I would've thought that an aeorspace engineer would be more into motion analysis. By the way, the price for C750 is also A$1199.

Suggestion taken. Hum....it should work. Try typing this in the address bar: www.geocities.com/bon080/roadtripitinerary.doc

Charlie:
Don't buy the P10, it has no manual features. Your price also seems way too high.
Look into the Canon G3 or Canon 300D.

camera info

sounds fine but where's the iternary?
The link Charlie put up earlier didn't seem to work.
Meh works now

And where on earth are you lately Charlie?
Don't answer that of course.

I have an alternate suggestion for Monday of Melbourne:

Get to 12 apostles before sunrise to take you lovely shot (sunrise has a diff atmosphere to sunset too)
We get there via one of those backroads, not Great Ocean Road (for reasons which are obvious to you - it's still dark at that hour)
Following that, rest of the morning we go along great ocean road and fish and chips for lunch.
For the rest of the day, we explore the back roads towards Ballarat etc and head north.

We rest at night somewhere up north-ish where we are kind of returning to Sydney, but still out west.

Tuesday:

Continue north-ish till we hit Parkes, so we (*cough* I *cough*) can go to "The Dish". The Radio telescope.

Then come back towards Sydney in the arvo and get here by night.


That just sounded better to me than spending the whole of Monday along Great Ocean Road and waiting for sunset for the 12 apostles, then racing out of the Great Ocean road (which by the time is already dark).

Complaints?

Hmm weird, it worked yesterday night (double checked). Ah well, still entertaining. :)

haha I wouldn't get that one, a pissy 3x optical zoom with 5.2MPs?
Then again, that's just me.
My brother just got one from HKG (olympus C750 from memory) thanks to dad, and it has 4 MPs and 10x optical zoom, up to 40x with digital.
It zooms like d00f d00f
And it's got all these funky sounds too...so cute
Runs on XD card, never heard of it though. Pretty funk-i too.

Price: $HK4500 I think? $AU 820
Very nice lens too, doesn't need a flash to take pictures in the dark (light sensitive or something, bloody brilliant.)

Although 16 frames in 1.5 seconds is also appealing, but not the price tag.
:)

that link doesn't work jono. i think this is the same one.

cloning doesn't clone personality too...does it?

if you clone a dozen non-conformists, would they end up the same or different?

Sony Cyber Shot DSC-P10
5.2 Megapixels.
3 x optical zoom - extended to 12x via digital zoom
At 320 x 240 pixel resolution, you can shoot 16-frame burst within 1.5 second for motion analysis.

Price? $1199

The end of the world

don't get a crap one.

Friday, November 07, 2003

Possibly buying a decent digital camera. Any recommendations?

Hey I like that spin u put on the proverb

If we all seek out revenge, someone to pay for our pain;
eye for an eye... we shall leave the whole world blind.

d-d-don't stop the beat
I c-c-can't control the feet
p-p-people in the streets
come on everybody, move your feet
don't stop, don't stop, don't stop the beat
i can't stop, can't stop, can't stop the beat
i won't stop, won't stop, won't stop the beat.

s-s-sing my song and
y-y-you sing along, just
p-p-put my record on
and all of you're troubles are dead and gone.

What if one person is responsible for killing one Romanian? Is he going to pursue cross-generational revenge?

*sigh*
before i changed him....

Photo flashback - September 2nd, 2002

Road Trip Itinerary

Thursday, November 06, 2003

One word.
Fired.

oh and all killing sprees are comical Butters, so it's redundant to call it comical.

Still no confirmation. I had to go offline Wednesday night coz my mum was being irrationally irate, blaming me for something that was not my fault...again -_-



UNSWCG 2003 S2 Reps

Charlie: the website says: + $10 day, reducing damage responsibility to $200

Which I think means we pay $10 per day of hire, and if we have an accident, we pay maximum $200 to fix, they pay the rest. Then again, my knowledge of insurance is ...not the best...

While you guys were (presumably) at UNSWCG, John, Eric and I were spending our night searching up info and trying to confirm numbers for Melbourne.
Even one person in or out changes what car(s) we need to hire and thus the cost.
One conclusion we came to was we simply cannot hire two cars, if one of them is a tarago.
If we can get one car (e.g. Marc's) and then hire a tarago, the costs are still very borderline.
That's why we think that perhaps the easiest way is to bring along no more than 10 people.
Sounds harsh, but when you think about it, hmm yeah...

meow meow meow

Woohoo! Got 20.65% out of 25 for my dimunitive research-ladened "Is there any biological evidence for extrasensory perception" presentation. Looks like john's theory is right:

It's 20% content, 80% delivery.

Sorry for a third post, but I just remembered that we should all begin to get numbers verified. By verified I mean university standard special consideration. That is to say that unless one has a medical certificate or extreme cases (eg death of your beloved puppy whose life you value more than yours), and you put yourself down as a definite. Then you have to go.

I think we generally do not have to impose a deposit collection system to insure against integrity breaches. For god's sake, we are university students.

once again, I must commend you on your pedantic engineering analysis.

what does the 10 bucks insurance per day cover? Third party damage or full insurance?

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

Why are labs still crowded at this time of night?

Hi Jono!!

Charlie:

I called Bayswater Car Rentals

1. Yes, the 7 day special still applies to us, as long as we leave sometime in november (which we obviously are).

2. The car is available. (Corolla Sedan 1.8L)

3. The price is $16 a day, plus $10 insurance, plus $10 for unlimited kms = $36 per day x 7 days = $252 for one car.

4. Cannot be delivered. Pick up only.

5. Cannot rent 2 cars under one person's name.


Note that they only give 50km free per day, so even at 7 days, that's still only 350km. That's one third of the way to melbourne. Clearly, we need the unlimited option.

So $252 for 7 days (can't rent any shorter a duration for the special) equates to $50 per person in the car, assuming 5 people.

Fuel: I think 2 full tanks each way, plus 1 tank down there for two days. Looked up the corolla specs, almost exactly the same fuel efficiency as my excel (5.4L / 100km on highway, if you're interested) and a 55L fuel tank (Excel's 45L, that's why I think 2 full tanks will make it all the way down there without too big a problem).
Then 5 tanks x 55L/tank x $0.90 per Litre = $248.

i.e. $252 car hire + $248 fuel = $500 (These numbers are not rigged...)
I.e. $100 per person transport, in total. I'm also not sure, but we might get the $10 per day insurance back? perhaps.

Anyway, those numbers are quite nice (and round), but I think they would be a fairly accurate assessment of what to expect.
(Based partly on my canberra experience in the excel).

That is assuming, of course, that we still get the corolla from this bayswater place.


P.S. If you're doubtful about the fuel approximation, take it simply thus:
Sydney to Melbourne = Approx 900km (you can look this up anywhere online, and this is by the "inland route", i.e. what we're taking)
So at 5.4L / 100km on highways, that's 5.4L x 900km/100km = 48.6L.
That's the maximum efficiency at the optimal speed. (i.e. theoretically we could drive to melbourne on one fuel tank alone.) At our pace, then, 2 fuel tanks should make Syd - Mel fairly easily. Even with cherry picking etc, and driving at 110km/h (less efficient than the optimal speed). But do point me out if I'm wrong.

How can that rightly justify me? I'm left handed..

Oh wait, that makes perfect sense.

How come you put the log in thing anyway?
I simply cannot see the point of having that there.
Post a message button is so much better! ^^

Or is that simply to deter me from posting! ah huh

Yet another challenge that proves just how reliable our perception is. Exception includes Darren, who is rightly justified by his insanity.

It called me a danger to society and life endangering and a butcher. Thats so nice of them. Its not everyday I get to be called that. Every alternate day anyway.

Thats why we have doctors. To protect us from ourselves.

Blogger is having problems again, so I just left the post message button on there for now

I can really imagine Lumoi trying these out (take that as a compliment. Hey why doesn't everyone take everything as a compliment. Everyone would be permanently happy then...hmm...):

Stress Relievers

- Bring your own popcorn to the movies and ask for refills.

- Point at strangers and yell, "YOU!!!!!!"

- Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

- Tilt your head back and laugh hysterically when it's quiet.

- Go to Taco Bell and ask for a McWhopper.

- Instead of saying "Hi!" Walk up to people and ask loudly, "What is that on your face?"

- Finish all your sentences with "in accordance with the prophecy".

- Every once in a while, turn to your left shoulder and go, "SHH!"

- As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

- Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.

- Specify that your drive-through order is "to-go".

- Twitch or make a clicking noise everytime someone says your name.

- Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

- Teach pet store parrots new vocabulary that makes them unsellable.

- At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

- When the money come out of the ATM, scream "I won!", "I won!" "3rd time this week!!!!!!!"

- When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "Run for your lives, They're loose!!!!!"

- Stare at the surveillance camera for an hour while rocking from side to side.

- Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

-- Submitted by J. Denison of Virginia

Tuesday, November 04, 2003

what is this stupidity. I have to login twice, and then click on another link before I can post a message?

what the scr00ge

uh.

my bad.

I second that notion. I went and moped for an hour thinking i was a complete dumbass who is total unco. that senses challenge sucked.

hey what the? the blog is thriving without my presence. this is unacceptable.
out you go.

that senses challenge made me feel stupid and inadequate. you hurt my feelings jono.

well, this guy isn't a very *smart* insane person is he? if he was found guilty of murdering the sister before the wake, he wouldn't see the hot chick would he???

idiot. what's the bet the insane person was a guy?

Your second answer was right, Charlie.

Congrats, your are now classified as 'probably insane'

I got 14/20 for that Senses Challenge.. I am 'a sensitive soul'..

A pointless conversation, you should be playing starcraft, you soosoofied fufu.

Microsoft Office Productivity Pack:
Well actually, the only word I need leech is "productivity":

Caringbah - Renee (0:29 AM) :
hiii! =D

IONize (0:31 AM) :
G'day

Caringbah - Renee (0:32 AM) :
and how are you?

IONize (0:34 AM) :
good thanks, I think.
and you?

Caringbah - Renee (0:36 AM) :
u think?
=)
u sound like effie?

IONize (0:37 AM) :
effie?
that greek bloke?

IONize (0:37 AM) :
I mean woman

Caringbah - Renee (0:39 AM) :
LOL
yeah
that bloke
i mean
woman
=P
lol
yeah

" hello. good thanx"

IONize (0:41 AM) :
haha
hmm ok...

Caringbah - Renee (0:43 AM) :
convo killer

IONize (0:44 AM) :
convo starter

Caringbah - Renee (0:46 AM) :
arghr
pffft

IONize (0:48 AM) :
convo killer

Caringbah - Renee (0:49 AM) :
convo weirdo

IONize (0:50 AM) :
convo laggo

Caringbah - Renee (0:58 AM) :
werirdo

Caringbah - Renee (0:58 AM) :
convo

Caringbah - Renee (0:58 AM) :
guy

IONize (0:58 AM) :
hah!
you called me a weirdo
then tried to redeem yourself
nah uh. don't think so.

Caringbah - Renee (1:01 AM) :
lol
what are you talking about?

IONize (1:02 AM) :
pffft

Caringbah - Renee (1:02 AM) :
=P

IONize (1:02 AM) :
/me sees overhead transparency clarity in Renee

^^

Caringbah - Renee (1:04 AM) :
ahh
u suck

IONize (1:05 AM) :
And she concedes defeeeeeeeeeeattttt!

Caringbah - Renee (1:05 AM) :
.........................

IONize (1:15 AM) :
hey i should be having this sort of conversation with john

Seems that story is quite an old one....

Senses challenge. You might have seen some of these before

Well, the man must be so sexually stimulated that he decided to release on his sister, she refuses, he kills her.

Other than that, he wants to kill his sister so he might see the pretty girl again at his sister's funeral.

W000t! Lucent is back in profit!

Monday, November 03, 2003

He meant comical. A comical killing spree

you spelt homicidal wrong, unless you meant 'hominal' (adj: of humankind as a species)

heres a little 'insanity test' which i (unfortunately) passed first go

A man's father died in a car crash. At the funeral, the man saw a pretty girl amongst the procession. After the funeral, he went home and killed his sister.

Why?

get it right and you are potentially insane, or just have a twistedly logical mind


cactoid: my god, the new lara croft has enormous gonzagas
cactoid: i wonder if she goes for overweight australian it professionals

Hm.

If there's an homical killing spree at a mail centre, that's not me.

does resuming insanity mean ending sanity?

Just to be level headed for a bit, I hope you all have productive things to do these holidays..

Idleness rots the mind, or at least leaves a plaque-like residue.

Resuming insanity in 5..

4..

3..

2..

1..

0

Sunday, November 02, 2003

POS?

Point
Of
Sale

POS.

I can assure you I am 100% just juice

Is it just me or has everyone's postings gone a little bit too weird in the last few posts?

the damned pos won't balance!!
i must be a corporate lawyer, i had somehow produced an extra $44,725 of assets without knowing how.

Hey don't do a hit and run Benny

UNSWCG moved to this Wednesday (thought I might be informative)

I have nothing more useful to say at this point.

Is time the wheel that turns, or the track it leaves behind?

The first part is a little too Ally McBeal for me...

LOL you overcame yourself in a dream and destroyed it. Sounds like your mind probably doesn't want to play with you anymore. No more dreams for you.

A most fascinating dream I had 5 minutes ago (just woke up):

I think I'm in NY, but the setting in dreams tend to be rather dynamic.
I somhow have to go through numerous streets and elevators to get
to a bathroom to drink some water. (kind of like Matrix "exit points"
come to think of it)

I go there and I met a girl, much older than me, caucasian by memory.
She's some kind of clerk at the law firm which this bathroom is situated
in. And somehow the bathroom handwashing section is unisex.

Anyway, we begin cooking instant noodles there and create a mess.
It tastes crap so we threw it away. She begins to tell me how she
loves. At this point it occurs to me that this has happened before, that I was
here eating with her yesterday. I begin to ask her if she remembered
me, that I was here before. As I asked her I realised that she didn't; It must be a dream.
At this instant, I became self-aware and the dream turned lucid.

I focus my mind, trying not to slip into unconsciousness and then begin to tell her how this isn't the
first time and how this must be a dream. I say to her face "you can't exist".
She just half smiles in wonder and haven't the slightest clue as to what
to say. She couldn't reply. I realised that somehow she just wasn't
programmed (in my mind) to reply to a situation when she's been revealed
merely as a Humes-esque imaginery character. I finished telling her this
and I woke up.

I first came to the conclusion that Humes must be wrong since if Charlie
or Yi is just my imagination, they'd have nothing to say to me other
than stutter if I revealed them to be my imagination. But I quickly realised
that's not possible, they'd laugh at me. So the conclusion of this morning's
rambing is - inconclusive.

how do you know that's not sunset?

Saturday, November 01, 2003

Shot during sunset would've been nicer

Butters, the song is of an exhilarating nature, therefore I suggested to sing at 21st and weddings, not funerals, unless it's someone I hate.

Damn, I was gonna say Charlie could sing it at my funeral instead, but seems Lumoi beat me to it...bloody 28.8k

That pic makes it look like one of those cheesy shots advertising american unis. Looks like a very fine day :)

70473

jay: when i get married im gonna buy my wife a BMW 318, because they are really safe and yet sluggish enough for her not to cause any trouble
adam: yeah? when i get married, im gonna take out a big life insurance policy on my wife and buy her a Hyundai Excel

Photo of the day: Appreciate your University




Lumo:
Operation coffee out is a go.