36. New Slang - The Shins

Monash University/Tafe employs the simple and standard grading system of;

Pass, Credit, Distinction, High Distinction

None of that H2A rubbish from other higher education institutions like McDonald's Training School (Diploma while you wait!). No, we're nice and simple; we like letters and fear numbers. We fear them like the plague. A plague of dentists.

But little did I know that this grading system has some meaning beyond simple descriptions, well according to my International Law lecturer anyway. Her marking system runs;

P: Possibly knows something,
C: Could know something,
D: Does know something,
HD: How Did he/she pull that answer.

And I think she might be right.

Got an exam tomorrow morning. Currently I'm deluding myself into thinking that I'll be okay. It’s going to be a fun 2 hours of frantic writing with a pen. A pen that I just bought today because I didn't have a need for one during the whole of the semester. So best of luck to whoever gets the get privilege of trying to decipher my handwriting, just remember, if you can't understand it, assume that it’s the correct answer.

35. Holy Grail - Hunters and Collectors

We needed 2.

We got 3.

I love Timmy Cahill.

Hahaha wooohooo!!!!

Japan 1 : Australia 3

34. Stay Positive - The Streets

Worst. Referee. Ever.

It's halftime.

Japan 1 : Australia 0

We need to score 2 goals.

33. Where Do We Go - Merle Morris

At this stage of the university semester, one moves quickly away from the 'need to understand the concept' idealism towards a more realistic, 'what do I have to write in the exam that would suggest I understand the concept'. With my many years experience of leaving study until the last possible minute, I've reached a level of comprehension that goes even beyond that; I'm into what I like to call the 'big brother law understanding'. Simply put, I've managed to condense each topic, containing 25+ lecture slides, 10+ cases and 30+ pages of text into a simple one liner that would understood by the average joe who watches Big Brother and actually thinks that it is engaging television.

Here's an example.

International law; topic 2: The United Nations & Other International Organisations
"The UN is a bunch of guys from every country who sit around and argue alot about how the world is going"

(Just as a side note, it’s a quite sad realisation when you realise that your entire knowledge of international law is based on episodes of West Wing. And your understanding of diplomatic immunity comes from Lethal Weapon 2. Trust me, that happened to me during my introductory lecture for this subject.)

Another method that surprisingly works is the application of my IT'ish skills to law. Here, I employ a simple IF statement to try to understand jurisdictional error and error of law on face of the record in regards to Administrative law;

DM = Decision Maker
UV = Ultra Vires
NJ = Natural Justice
JE = Jurisdictional Error

IF DM = Administrative THEN broad/narrow UV AND NJ = true
ELSEIF DM = Tribunal THEN broad/narrow UV = JE AND NJ = true
ELSEIF DM = Inferior Court THEN narrow UV = JE AND broad UV = Non-JE AND NJ = true
IF broad UV = Non-JE THEN IF on face of record THEN reviewable ELSE not reviewable
END IF

Obviously there is something to be said about actually understanding the whole concepts when studying law, but at this point of time, I'll go with whatever works.

32. Running - Evermore

I'm searching for the superfluous, but all that I could find is a green exercise ball.

Superfluous is one my favourite words. What that says about me and my thought-processes is something that I don't wish to dwell on. I actually had the word put on the back of my end-of-high school jumper. So thats a quick QED monash uni people, if you see some wanker walking around monash clayton with a 2001 haileybury rugby jumper with 'Superfluous' on the back, well can you stop him and tell him to give me back my top. Cheers.

Onto better things, I like this 'Running' song by Evermore. You know when you hear parts of a song on the radio, you just catch the last 30 seconds before a stupid ad about advertising on the radio comes on, or when you flick the channel to channel v and see a bit of a song clip but not the bit where the song title is on the screen? Yeah, that's me with this song. And I gotta tell ya, for a moment I had the belief that this was a new Eskimo Joe song. But at the end of the day, I'm kinda digging this song, its familiar without sounding rehashed. Its so good that I'm going to ignore the fact that there from New Zealand :)

So it looks like I'll be added another cd to the list. The ever growing list of cds that I can't afford.

Studying today? That'll be a nay. I'll try again tomorrow.

No really, I will. Trust me.

31. Endless Night - The Lion King Broadway Cast Recording

I could sit here and do the pre-exam/cramming blog but I've decided to stay clear of that topic entirely.

I could write about my complete lack of motivation to shift through my lecture slides, textbooks, hastily typed lecture notes and handouts, but lets not.

I could mention that this is my 10th consecutive year of exams; the price one pays for going to a private boy’s school I guess. But then again, I'm not suggesting that a year 7 exam is on the same level as a university administrative law exam anyway (admin law is a tad more difficult).

I could make a note about how unfair and unjust it is to schedule an exam period at the same time as the world cup. Especially since Australia is playing this time around.

I could talk about how I can't seem to get any productive study done at home, and how I need to be in the law library to get any work done. Something to do with learning the law through osmosis of legal journals and case books.

I could discuss how difficult it is to get yourself fired up for exams when all you really need is a P in the subjects anyway.

I could stop typing this and actually work on my taxation law notes.

I could do a lot of things.

So what is news in my neck of the woods? Barring that whole exam thing that has taken over my life, not much else at this current time. My previous list of cds that I want has been shortened with my purchase of Kanye West's 'Late Registration' last week. And without carrying on too much, it is the best rap album that I have in my collection since Will Smith's 'Big Willie Style'. Obviously I have a fair way to go in the genre of rap music.

My msn doesn't seem to working tonight, and while for some that amounts to a loss of a limb, for me, it amounts to a loss of a more vital body organ, such as the tonsils. Not that I actually wanted to talk to anyway, but I fear that my absence will suggest to some that I actually don't want to be disturbed, and god forbid, that I'm taking this whole exam study thing seriously.

Lion King had its last performance on Sunday night, hence this song title. Throughout my employment, I've seen my fair share of musical theatre; from 'Mamma Mia!' to 'The Producers' to 'Singing in the Rain' to 'We Will Rock You' to 'Dirty Dancing' to 'Oliver' to 'Wizard of Oz' to 'Witches of Eastwick' to 'Man of La Mancha' to pretty much everything else. And I must say, the Lion King was the worst musical that I've had the distinct pleasure to work on. And that's not just because the singing, dancing and plot sucked, but more so that it was a Disney production. The one thing that I've come to understand is that while Disney makes children's movies, they view children as their target market, nothing more. Its not a family-friendly company, but a cold corporation that aims to milk the last dollar out of their audience. But that's how this world works I guess.

As a by-product of the Lion King's departure, I am without work until the end of the month when 'Swan Lake on Ice' graces the Princess' Theatre for a few weeks. And while the few week break actually sits nicely with my exam timetable, I'm more concerned with what will happen after mid-July, where the term 'unemployment' will become a stark reality. At which time you may find the words 'begging', 'starvation' and 'dole' used more frequently.

Oh well, at least I have my health.

No wait, I injured my thumb last night playing basketball. Nothing really to report, probably tore a few ligaments but it'll heal soon enough.

Have I mentioned how much I rather not be studying right now?