It’s that time of year again when everyone gets into a sudden panic as they realise that half a dozen pieces of coursework are due in for the last week of term, and as usual I’m not an exception to the rule. I’ve been slaving away all weekend working on labs, but fortunately I’ve nearly finished now and only have databases which isn’t due in until Friday so I’ll probably be able to finish it off on Thursday morning if not by Wednesday evening.
I took a break on Sunday afternoon to go and see About Schmidt with Rachel and Kirk. It wasn’t all that good a film, the plot seemed to centre around a man having a late mid-life crisis after his wife died but unlike some films he didn’t seem to actually do anything interesting in the crisis. The whole plot concentrated on him trying to stop his daughter getting married to someone he didn’t approve of, but there were no laughs or jokes along the way, in fact it was mostly boring stuff. I don’t know why IMDb gives it 7.3/10, I personally wouldn’t rate it higher than 4. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to stay for the second part of the double billing, Sideways, as I had to get back to work. 🙁
Monday was mad as always, starting the afternoon panicking about the final graphics lab and getting absolutely nowhere on it before trundling off to software engineering and being very surprised to learn that most of our code not only worked but apparently we were one of the best groups so we got a high mark by the sounds of it. I was a bit annoyed that one guy who had done very little work still got his share of the marks for the group project part but at the end of the day it’s more a case of him being rewarded for something he didn’t do which is better than the rest of us being penalised for his lack of effort so I’m mildly annoyed as opposed to jumping up and down in a fuming rage.
Warped was a laugh as usual, I was the first person to arrive for once so I got a couple of minutes of peace and quiet with my pint and the paper before getting beaten at pool by Lizzy when she arrived. I really must start practising, although I tend to suddenly improve and start potting things once the other person is on the black. Perhaps it’s psychological and I’m just used to being the underdog. 🙂
Of course I got a lot of stick as the night went on for how I voted, compounded by the fact that I was reading The Guardian as opposed to some right-wing rag like the Daily Mail. I managed to almost keep Jon and Cez from tickling me but when it turned into five against one I didn’t stand much chance. It’s all good fun as usual though. 🙂
Looking towards the rest of this week I’ll be running around tomorrow morning trying to hand in two labs in two different rooms at the same time, which should be interesting. I also have to trek to my nearest police station to file a lost property report for my bus pass because apparently I can’t get a replacement, only a refund, and for that the issuing company wants proof of loss and purchase. It’s not a huge deal, but seeing as the value left on the ticket was probably about £150 I’m pretty keen on getting the paperwork in so I can get the money back (after having to spend £350 last week on a new pass). Fortunately I’ve always been sensible to the point of being stupidly boring with money so I’m not going into my overdraft or anything like that, it’s just a minor annoyance that I have to jump through hoops to get my money back when it would be much easier all round to have just issued me with a new card, but that’s bureaucracy for you.
Anyway, my diary is pretty much full for the rest of the week, although hopefully I’ll get enough done tomorrow to mean that I have Thursday off to attempt to relax (oh and the joys of house hunting) Also, my Singing in the Rain DVD arrived today and Stargate: Director’s Cut is in the post so if I need a break from revision I’ve got something with me to watch. For the moment though I’m chilling in front of the television watching the first Beverly Hills Cop movie on ITV2.
I like About Schmidt. It’s about a person and the poeple he interacts with.
I don’t agree with the cover of the DVD as to it be ‘hilarious’ or any other such thing, but it’s a good film.
You should have watched Sideways instead, it’s (IMHO) a much better film than About Schmidt, which just trys too hard and isn’t really one of Nicholson’s best performances.
Sideways is much more boring the second time round – the start and the end are still quite good, but the middle just makes you fall asleep.
Unfortunately I didn’t know it was a double bill, otherwise I probably would have got my work done and then gone to the cinema rather than the other way round.