Designing geeky t-shirts of course! (Okay, your definition of geeky may be different to mine). Anyway, whilst doing revision, my poor tired brain keeps taking the information and trying to twist it into something not dull. And then I get distracted.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Monday, 7 May 2012
When in England - enjoy the rain!
Having lived in the U.K. for more than a few years, I've adapted to some small things. I now know that potato chips are called crisps (though I still refuse to use that term) and kindergatern is nusery. I know the first verse of 'God Save The Queen' - a feat which a concerningly large number of naturally British people can't do. I know that if you pronounce vitamin 'Vita-min' instead of 'vit-amin', you will get some very odd looks. But, asides from the completely different form of English, the main problem I've had to overcome is the weather. Because if you live in the U.K. and you hate the rain or the cold, you're basically screwed.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Revision! (Honest...)
Erm, well I did some Physics revision yesterday (I finished the whole of fluids! Yay!) But then, as usual, I got distracted. Which isn't too surprising. What is slightly more surprising is how I got distracted.
I kinda tried to write a Physics song. 'Overcoming the forces that be' is the working title (I know - I really really suck at titles. But it's better than some other titles I've had before). It's got pressure, gravity, normal reaction force, electrostatic forces, friction, chemical -> kinetic energy, viscous drag (see! I told you I'd done some physics revision), nuclear fusion and space. All in one, horrendously bad, song. It's also a little cheesy. Actually, it's possibly more cheesy than the food tent at a cheese rolling event but... er, can't think of a defence here.
Well, when I say I wrote a song, I mean the lyrics. I cannot play any form of musical instrument to save my life (but I haven't tried the ukulele yet!). I can't sing. I can't play the piano. I can't even hum in tune! It's really more like a very repetitious poem. I don't even think I have the right amount of syllables in each line. Or a consistent number of syllables in each line.
I've tried asking my more musically minded sister to help me. She kinda laughed at me... Considering she's about three years behind me at school, I suppose trying to explain some of the 'deep' lines ('Protons! Do you not know what a proton is?!') was a little hopeful. That and, as I mentioned before, we have very different music tastes. So, yeah, that didn't work out. I then tried the Internet - the Internet is always an option - but even the music programs I have found I can't actually figure out what half the fancy buttons do. So about now, I'm starting wish I had paid a little bit more attention in those music lessons so long ago, instead of having a sword fight with the music batons.
So, right about now, it seems like my little Physics song will never torture the ears of any unfortunate souls *sigh* So, it's back to the Physics revision (next up: materials - solids. Whoot!). Besides, the sooner I finish Physics revision, the sooner I can move on to a maths song! How about 'Negative numbers, positive squares'? (You're right, that's also pretty terrible as a title!)
I kinda tried to write a Physics song. 'Overcoming the forces that be' is the working title (I know - I really really suck at titles. But it's better than some other titles I've had before). It's got pressure, gravity, normal reaction force, electrostatic forces, friction, chemical -> kinetic energy, viscous drag (see! I told you I'd done some physics revision), nuclear fusion and space. All in one, horrendously bad, song. It's also a little cheesy. Actually, it's possibly more cheesy than the food tent at a cheese rolling event but... er, can't think of a defence here.
Well, when I say I wrote a song, I mean the lyrics. I cannot play any form of musical instrument to save my life (but I haven't tried the ukulele yet!). I can't sing. I can't play the piano. I can't even hum in tune! It's really more like a very repetitious poem. I don't even think I have the right amount of syllables in each line. Or a consistent number of syllables in each line.
I've tried asking my more musically minded sister to help me. She kinda laughed at me... Considering she's about three years behind me at school, I suppose trying to explain some of the 'deep' lines ('Protons! Do you not know what a proton is?!') was a little hopeful. That and, as I mentioned before, we have very different music tastes. So, yeah, that didn't work out. I then tried the Internet - the Internet is always an option - but even the music programs I have found I can't actually figure out what half the fancy buttons do. So about now, I'm starting wish I had paid a little bit more attention in those music lessons so long ago, instead of having a sword fight with the music batons.
So, right about now, it seems like my little Physics song will never torture the ears of any unfortunate souls *sigh* So, it's back to the Physics revision (next up: materials - solids. Whoot!). Besides, the sooner I finish Physics revision, the sooner I can move on to a maths song! How about 'Negative numbers, positive squares'? (You're right, that's also pretty terrible as a title!)
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Dancing - Way too much exercise!
So today, I had a bit of a sibling showdown to see which of us was the champion of dance (Answer: Not me...). After an hour of bouncing around like an idiot, I feel shattered. Not as shattered as when I ran the 1500m, but still pretty tired. There is a surprising amount involved in dancing!
For one thing, our one on one showdown was in a 2 by 2 metre box. So as well as getting all the moves right, there was a certain fighting element to it as we dodged stray arms, flailing legs flicks and out of control jazz hands. Seriously, there should be a health warning on the front of the dance CD! You know your reactions are a little too jumpy when you see the cat moving 2m away and instinctively go into a defensive crouch.
There was more fighting involved over the lead remote to pick the songs. I wanted to keep to the songs I knew (which, oddly, were mostly songs from before I was born) but my sister refused anything not from the past two years. There was some compromise that was basically 'Look, you do that song and I will sit here and laugh at you'. That meant even more work because you then had to do super well in that song to maintain your dignity (Mission Failed there)...
Speaking of maintaining dignity, whilst jumping about like a loon, scrabbling about on the floor (a freestyle move I like to call 'The Distressed Beetle') and doing some slightly dodgy looking moves, I had to be on the lookout for a phone 'subtly' filming my efforts. Once I spotted her phone, I had to add in my own moves 'The Phone Grab'. Which is harder than it looks.
Finally, as well as all the leg exercise from the bouncing, my right arm feels really sore now from flapping the remote about (which has probably permanently damaged my wrist...). That remote can be quite heavy - trust me, I got whacked by it enough times - and the game expects you to fling it about, both as part of the moves and when you realise you've done the wrong thing and have had to correct it. So yeah. I'm sure my wrist will appreciate the work out.
I'm not really sure how dancing works in real life for someone who dances professionally, but for their sakes' I'm hoping it is nothing as strenuous as the game! (Maybe I should just exercise more...) What do you reckon the worst song is for energy expenditure anyway?
For one thing, our one on one showdown was in a 2 by 2 metre box. So as well as getting all the moves right, there was a certain fighting element to it as we dodged stray arms, flailing legs flicks and out of control jazz hands. Seriously, there should be a health warning on the front of the dance CD! You know your reactions are a little too jumpy when you see the cat moving 2m away and instinctively go into a defensive crouch.
There was more fighting involved over the lead remote to pick the songs. I wanted to keep to the songs I knew (which, oddly, were mostly songs from before I was born) but my sister refused anything not from the past two years. There was some compromise that was basically 'Look, you do that song and I will sit here and laugh at you'. That meant even more work because you then had to do super well in that song to maintain your dignity (Mission Failed there)...
Speaking of maintaining dignity, whilst jumping about like a loon, scrabbling about on the floor (a freestyle move I like to call 'The Distressed Beetle') and doing some slightly dodgy looking moves, I had to be on the lookout for a phone 'subtly' filming my efforts. Once I spotted her phone, I had to add in my own moves 'The Phone Grab'. Which is harder than it looks.
Finally, as well as all the leg exercise from the bouncing, my right arm feels really sore now from flapping the remote about (which has probably permanently damaged my wrist...). That remote can be quite heavy - trust me, I got whacked by it enough times - and the game expects you to fling it about, both as part of the moves and when you realise you've done the wrong thing and have had to correct it. So yeah. I'm sure my wrist will appreciate the work out.
I'm not really sure how dancing works in real life for someone who dances professionally, but for their sakes' I'm hoping it is nothing as strenuous as the game! (Maybe I should just exercise more...) What do you reckon the worst song is for energy expenditure anyway?
Monday, 30 April 2012
Why don't people believe me?!
Okay, I don't think anyone's read this post, but if you have read 'The Improbable-ness of statistics' then you might remember me saying that people don't always take into account the very very crazily rare events. This has a knock on effect as I found out, because when such a unbelievable event does happen (no, none of my coins spontaneous disappeared into a black hole), it takes a lot more convincing.
Everyone has probably heard/used 'My dog ate my homework', right? It's pretty much the most cliched of implausible excuses for not doing homework but I suppose it is still possible. And since that old classic was first used by some desperate student, lots of spin offs have been created by even more desperate students. For instance 'My budgie ate it', 'My cat ate it', 'My friend ate it'.
Now, I can fully understand why people have to use excuses for homework, (I've had to use them every now and then when my time-turner has broken....) but it does mean that teachers are less understanding when you tell them that your friend really did eat your reply slip.
I should explain a bit more quickly. My friend was messing about and we were talking about eating paper (maybe we were discussing rabbits or something?!) so to prove a point my friend, with no regard for hygeine/littering, snatched the first piece of paper she saw into her mouth without looking. I could hardly give in a chewed, slightly soggy reply slip, now could I?!
But, for reasons unknown, when I asked my teacher for another one, explaining what had happened, she didn't believe me. Oh the injustices of the educational system :(
Everyone has probably heard/used 'My dog ate my homework', right? It's pretty much the most cliched of implausible excuses for not doing homework but I suppose it is still possible. And since that old classic was first used by some desperate student, lots of spin offs have been created by even more desperate students. For instance 'My budgie ate it', 'My cat ate it', 'My friend ate it'.
Now, I can fully understand why people have to use excuses for homework, (I've had to use them every now and then when my time-turner has broken....) but it does mean that teachers are less understanding when you tell them that your friend really did eat your reply slip.
I should explain a bit more quickly. My friend was messing about and we were talking about eating paper (maybe we were discussing rabbits or something?!) so to prove a point my friend, with no regard for hygeine/littering, snatched the first piece of paper she saw into her mouth without looking. I could hardly give in a chewed, slightly soggy reply slip, now could I?!
But, for reasons unknown, when I asked my teacher for another one, explaining what had happened, she didn't believe me. Oh the injustices of the educational system :(
The most pathetic bullet-proof armour...
I'm going to talk about the slightly obscure sport I do today. Target shooting. No! Not shotgun! Yes! At paper targets, not people/animals! The number of questions I get when I tell someone I shoot is incredible (unless they too are a shooter). But on a dress-up-like-a-sport day, when I came in in all my shooting kit, I got a new question: 'Is that like bullet proof or something?'
(Picture from edinkille.co.uk)
This is literally the only picture I could find so I'll describe it. The jacket and trousers are made of stiff canvas/leather that is really inflexible. Really, really inflexible. The trousers often has grippy stuff that looks like the soft tarmac they put in kids' playgrounds.. The jacket have buttons which have some overlap (to fit the rules) but are still quite tight. Some jackets need a special spoon to do up the buttons, to give you an inidication of how tight a fit it is. The shoes are ankle boots that look like they have a rectanglar bit of plastic stuck on the sole so that the sole is flat with a square toe and heel. All of this is also really uncomfortable to wear at times - try wearing a leather suit for a hour and a bit in the middle of summer indoors! This stuff is really hard to move about in and looks a little odd to say the least. In fact, in order to stop shooters waddling around like penguins and looking ridiculous, rules have had to be brought in saying that the shooter must be able to walk properly! So I suppose, it isn't too unexpected that people might think it is some sort of bullet proof protection.
But really?! We aren't going to be shot in this sport - it's really safe for one thing and the targets are at least 10m away with all the shooters far, far away from the dangerous bullets. Admittedly, it might be bullet-proof but I certainly don't want to find out soon. Nope, the reason we have this (seemingly excessive) kit is to stop any movement. Any movement whatsoever. With air rifle, the nine ring (shooting is scored out of 10 by the way with 10 being the best) is the size of the pellet you are shooting. And when you get really competitive, a single 9 makes a big difference to where you are on the results list.
The flat soled shoes stop you rocking back and forth or side to side on your feet (theoretically - I still bounce on my heels), the stiff trousers support your back and help your knees - this back support is really important in shooting where back injuries are one of the more common injuries - and the jacket holds your upper body in the right place. Zero movement is the goal. Elite shooters even try and get their heart rate to a minimum! All of this to get the perfect shot, and from there, the perfect match (600/600 or 400/400 depending).
So next time you stumble across someone in shooting kit (as common as that is...), you now know why they are wearing that slightly bizarre outfit!
This is literally the only picture I could find so I'll describe it. The jacket and trousers are made of stiff canvas/leather that is really inflexible. Really, really inflexible. The trousers often has grippy stuff that looks like the soft tarmac they put in kids' playgrounds.. The jacket have buttons which have some overlap (to fit the rules) but are still quite tight. Some jackets need a special spoon to do up the buttons, to give you an inidication of how tight a fit it is. The shoes are ankle boots that look like they have a rectanglar bit of plastic stuck on the sole so that the sole is flat with a square toe and heel. All of this is also really uncomfortable to wear at times - try wearing a leather suit for a hour and a bit in the middle of summer indoors! This stuff is really hard to move about in and looks a little odd to say the least. In fact, in order to stop shooters waddling around like penguins and looking ridiculous, rules have had to be brought in saying that the shooter must be able to walk properly! So I suppose, it isn't too unexpected that people might think it is some sort of bullet proof protection.
But really?! We aren't going to be shot in this sport - it's really safe for one thing and the targets are at least 10m away with all the shooters far, far away from the dangerous bullets. Admittedly, it might be bullet-proof but I certainly don't want to find out soon. Nope, the reason we have this (seemingly excessive) kit is to stop any movement. Any movement whatsoever. With air rifle, the nine ring (shooting is scored out of 10 by the way with 10 being the best) is the size of the pellet you are shooting. And when you get really competitive, a single 9 makes a big difference to where you are on the results list.
The flat soled shoes stop you rocking back and forth or side to side on your feet (theoretically - I still bounce on my heels), the stiff trousers support your back and help your knees - this back support is really important in shooting where back injuries are one of the more common injuries - and the jacket holds your upper body in the right place. Zero movement is the goal. Elite shooters even try and get their heart rate to a minimum! All of this to get the perfect shot, and from there, the perfect match (600/600 or 400/400 depending).
So next time you stumble across someone in shooting kit (as common as that is...), you now know why they are wearing that slightly bizarre outfit!
Sunday, 29 April 2012
The awesome-ness of Chemistry
I'm in a really good mood with Chemistry at the moment. I've finally finished all my revision notes for the first unit of Chemistry! I'm in such a good mood I'd thought I'd write a blog post about why I love Chemistry.
I mean, yes, Chemistry is awesome in part because it basically helps us understand why things are made the way they are, like why graphite is special and can conduct electricity even though it's not a metal (free electrons!), and how things work together, like why I need fire to burn stuff (to exceed the activation energy needed to get the oxygen and the flammable stuff to react [I think...]). But I think the main reason people should love chemistry and have at least a basic understanding is all the chemistry related puns!!!
Completely by accident, I said to myself, 'Let's get cracking with this Chemistry revision!' and I was just about to start fractional distillation and cracking! (Look, I found it funny at the time.) 'Carbon is a girl's best friend' based off diamond being a allotrope of carbon (I thought about putting that on a t-shirt once...). Dative covalent bonds - sharing is caring. And who hasn't heard 'I've lost an electron!' 'Are you sure?!' 'I'm positive!!!' ?! Not going to get me many marks on my exams but it's making revision a little less painful...
Okay, these probably aren't too hilarious, but in the post-revision daze, everything seems hilarious. Except metal extraction. That isn't such a fun topic. Anyone got any good chemistry jokes to share? (To be fair, all the good ones argon :P)
I mean, yes, Chemistry is awesome in part because it basically helps us understand why things are made the way they are, like why graphite is special and can conduct electricity even though it's not a metal (free electrons!), and how things work together, like why I need fire to burn stuff (to exceed the activation energy needed to get the oxygen and the flammable stuff to react [I think...]). But I think the main reason people should love chemistry and have at least a basic understanding is all the chemistry related puns!!!
Completely by accident, I said to myself, 'Let's get cracking with this Chemistry revision!' and I was just about to start fractional distillation and cracking! (Look, I found it funny at the time.) 'Carbon is a girl's best friend' based off diamond being a allotrope of carbon (I thought about putting that on a t-shirt once...). Dative covalent bonds - sharing is caring. And who hasn't heard 'I've lost an electron!' 'Are you sure?!' 'I'm positive!!!' ?! Not going to get me many marks on my exams but it's making revision a little less painful...
Okay, these probably aren't too hilarious, but in the post-revision daze, everything seems hilarious. Except metal extraction. That isn't such a fun topic. Anyone got any good chemistry jokes to share? (To be fair, all the good ones argon :P)
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