random thoughts

Well, I’ve been dancing at Rio Rhythmics for a year. Finished the beginner courses (Beginner, Variety 1, 2, and 3). Since I have no life and no shame, I’ve been going to the social dancing nights each week, and shoving myself into the upper echelons of West End Latin dancing. I am so very grateful to the poor bastards who have had to put up with my fumbling though dances so far out of my league it’s probably hilarious to watch.

It appears to have paid of however. I had enrolled in the next two classes (from here the dances are split into two strands) Intermediate Salsa and Lambada, and Intermediate Forro, Gafieira (Samba) and Bolero. However on my last class yesterday, my teacher grabbed me and asked me to enrol in the Oscar D’Leon (that’d be the next level up of Salsa and Lambada) class as well. Apparently my fumbling have been noticed, and apparently I am coping well with the stuff the advanced guys are throwing me into with Lambada. It means I’ll be doing three classes a week, which is about three more than I should be doing, but hey, what the hell, it’s fun.

And here is the point in which I try to convince people of the merits of signing up for Latin dancing classes. The school needs guys, we’re always short of guys. But more importantly, I need friends to drag along to the social nights.

And I came out hours later with new front wheel bearings. Better than them completely collapsing on the way to Uni I suppose. $420 bucks down is better than a funeral bill.

Rode beautifully till my plug fouled. But that was cool, I’m a two-stroke rider, I carry a spare. Or at least I do when give me a spark with the right end on it. I got a cap instead of a thread. And at some point while Vobiscum and I were figuring this out, the fuel line split.

Of course, its Italian, it has a pre-formed fuel line. Off to Repco for a joiner to do a bodge job till the the fuel line comes in. It’s on back order with the importer. Not good, I’m still waiting on a piece of rubber, also on back order, for my muffler clamp from when that co-worker knocked my bike over almost 18 months ago.

Still, more fun than a tin-top.

I fell down the stairs on Sunday, twisted around to avoid face planting into concrete. Landed on my shin on the corner of a step. Lurvely big bump the colour of a goth’s wardrobe. Broke the skin too. Fantastic job I thought.

Essay Statistics:
Essay Question:

Report on Poggendorff experiment preformed in lecture.

Possible Scores: 20 = 100%
Mean Score: 13.82
Lowest Score: 2.5
Highest Score: 19.5
Standard Deviation: 3.23
Value of assessment for overall course mark: 20%

Spike’s Statistics:
Essay Title:

Gestalt Principal of Closure and Vertical Movement in Poggendorff style Illusions

Score: 17 = 85 %
Percentile Rank: 86.7
Standard Deviations from Mean: 0.98
Value of assessment result for overall course mark: 17%

Cog & Bio exam out of the way, feeling crap about it as per usual. We’ll see. Stats on Thursday afternoon, Chemistry on Saturday high noon. Beer on Saturday afternoon.

Got the Poggendorff report back (Stats) 17 out of 20, 85%, scraping in a 7. Will post assesment statistics when they’re posted on the Griffith site. As it stands, I’ve theoretically already passed the subject without sitting the final exam. Have 53% of the course from the mid semester exam, the report, and the experiment participation. Kinda funny really.

Got Cog & Bio assignment back. 28.5 out of 30, or 94.999999999999% Fuck knows how that happened. Assessment statistics will be posted as soon as they’re up on the Griffith site.

This is, good, apart form the obvious, it means I have a chance at that 7 for the subject. Only need 78% now to get within the theoretical boundaries of a 7, though I know they do the normal curve thing and move the cut-off points around.

Interestingly I find myself feeling guilty when I get a high mark. Anywho, like the assignment I just got back, I pulled an all nighter to get the take-home done, been up since 8am Monday, 29th of May, which makes it about 34.5 hours at time of writing. I’m going to curl up on the couch for a couple of hours before I zonk out in bed.

The final piece of assessment is in for Sociology. The take home exam. Five questions 300-500 word answers. Probably get the results back around the 20th of June.

In sad news the subject is gone for good, due to Howard’s meddling no doubt. Griffith can no longer afford to run it, nor Gold Coast psych for that matter it seems. The Psychology school at GC is merging with Mt Gravatt.

I have had the absolute pleasure to be lectured by Dr Tamara Ownsworth, and tutored by the utterly mad, yet, delightful Sharon Parker. As part of course feedback we we asked to fill out an anonymous form, the ratings go onto one of those scan forms an I can imagine that the written notes get typed before presentation to Tamara. In a fit of smarypantsitis I wrote the following:

In contrast to Parsons’ assertions on gender roles, the women conducting this course displayed exceptional intelligence and competence in a realm traditionally dominated by men. Additionally, elements of the feminine introduced to the course provided a supportive and open atmosphere. This resulted in 1004PSY becoming the most favoured course undertaken by this student. However the absence of on site examination may have influenced this perception also.

I’m hoping they’ll get a giggle out of it, as they’ve been the absolute highlight of my academic career so far.

Stats:
If I get only 50% for the Report I need to get 95% on the final exam to get a 7.

Cog&Bio:
If I get only 50% for the Report I cannot get a 7 for the subject, I’d need 57% on the essay and 100% on the exam, to scrape a 7.

Chem:
I need at least 85% on the Chem exam to get a 7.

Participation Statistics:
Possible Scores: 20 = 100%
Requirements: 4 Lab Sessions, with marked experiment results.
Value of assessment for overall course mark: 20%

Spike’s Statistics:
Score: 20 = 100%
Value of assessment result for overall course mark: 20%