Journal – April-May 2004

Welcome to the latest selection of my journal posts. I’ve combined a couple of months together again, as I haven’t had huge amounts to write for each, while busy revising for exams and preparing for my graduation. But I’ve also continued to buy DVDs and music of course, and there are a couple more music polls I’ve found as well. So I hope you find these entries interesting as usual!

Friday April 2, 2004

Well, we’re in another month already. The revision’s going fine, and I spent a couple of days getting an economics essay out of the way, so I don’t have to worry about that for the rest of the holiday.

On Monday Mum, Dad and I went out shopping, and I got myself a suit for my graduation (and anything else I’ll need it for, such as interviews, etc). It’s navy in colour, and fits well, so that’s good. I also got a shirt, tie and a pair of shoes to go with it. Mum got herself a suit as well. We didn’t do much else, but the train journey home was a nightmare. There were delays all over the place, which meant either hanging about on platforms or on trains. We had to get 2 trains instead of 1, and the journey took about 2 and a half hours, whereas it should have taken about an hour! Still, at least we got what we went out for.

I’ve also ordered some more things from Amazon. I’ve ordered the final film in the Matrix trilogy (The Matrix Revolutions) and, to get the order up to the free delivery limit, I’ve also taken the plunge and bought a couple of Brian May CDs (Back To The Light and Live At The Brixton Academy). I’m a big Queen fan, and I’ve been wondering whether to get them or not. The reviews seem to speak highly of them though, so I’ll let you know what I think when I get them. And incidentally, the GTA Vice City CD set I got recently is great too. I keep listening to tracks here and there as I go through my revision.

Friday April 9, 2004

Happy Easter!

I haven’t been doing much other than revision really, and carrying on with an assignment. But I got the Brian May CDs this week, and they’re very good. I also received the final Matrix film, but I haven’t watched it yet. And I’ve also ordered a live Madness DVD (Madness: At Madstock), so that should come next week.

Friday April 16, 2004

Only one week of my holiday left to go now. It’s gone quick, but I’ve got a good amount done. The revision’s certainly helping to make some topics clearer. But other than that I haven’t really been doing much. I saw The Matrix Revolutions last weekend though, and it is good. The special effects are certainly great, although the story does gets a bit silly sometimes.

Since the BBC have finally got their digital radio stations switched on in our area, me and my parents have had a wider choice of stuff to listen to. BBC Radio 2 has some good stuff on it as usual, and I usually have the Steve Wright show on now, as that’s a good laugh. Plus the wonderful Suzi Quatro is doing a weekly show called Rockin’ With Suzi Q, about old hits from the 50s and 60s, so me and my parents are listening to that. It’s actually quite interesting. Did you realise that I Hear You Knocking by Dave Edmunds was actually a cover version? I didn’t. Suzi played the original by Smiley Lewis last night.

Because my parents also like listening to the spoken word stations BBC7 and Oneword a lot, as well as others like BBC Radio 2 and 5 Live, we’ve ordered another digital radio, so they can have one and I can have the other.

Wednesday April 21, 2004

Here are a couple of lists from an American music magazine called Blender that I’ve stumbled across, which I’m sure will cause some debate (as they’re designed to). The first is their selection of the 50 Worst Rock Songs Of All Time:

I can agree with some of them, but certainly not all. The Starship song doesn’t deserve to be in the list at all, let alone at #1. And the Beach Boys and The Beatles don’t deserve to be in there at all either. The Crash Test Dummies’ song (#31) is alright as well. Weird, admittedly, but that’s why it’s fun. I really like The Final Countdown too, that is a classic rock anthem. And there are a few other good songs in there as well.

And here’s their list of The 50 Worst Artists Of All Time – although, being an American publication, there are quite a few I’ve never heard of.

Friday April 23, 2004

I’ve finally received my official exam timetable:

Thursday 25th May – Company Law (14:15-18:00)
Thursday 3rd June – Financial Management (14:15-18:00)
Tuesday 8th June – Economic Principles (9:30-13:15)
Thursday 10th June – Financial Statement Analysis (14:15-16:45)

It’s not too bad, although I’ve got 2 exams in one week to finish with. The two hardest ones are at the beginning, so at least I get them out of the way first. They’re all quite long, so it’ll be tough going, but at least I’m used to it all by now!

Before that, I go back to uni on Monday. It’ll be an odd term, as the modules will be finishing at different times. I’m pretty sure that after this first week I’ll have Mondays and Fridays off, so that’ll help a lot. I should also finish earlier on Wednesdays and Thursdays by the third week at the latest.

I’ve also ordered some more DVDs from Amazon, specifically:

The Who – The Kids Are Alright (2-disc special edition)
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Lyve
Hank Marvin – Live

I’ve already received Madness At Madstock too, and it’s pretty good.

Friday April 30, 2004

We’ve got our marks back for the Financial Management project. It was about BP, and was quite difficult, as it wasn’t completely clear what you were expected to do. Nevertheless, everyone seems to have done quite well, including me – I got 60%, which was quite a surprise! It’s worth 20% of the module mark, so that means I’ve got 12% of the module mark already, and that’s not bad.

I haven’t got much time for revision this weekend, but I will in the coming weeks. As lessons have already started to finish, from next week I’ve already got Mondays and Fridays off. That means I get a 4-day weekend, which is extremely useful. There’s a lot of material to revise, so we need all the time we can get. Nan’s coming down to stay with us for a week as well, so that’ll be good.

Friday May 7, 2004

It’s turning into a busy time of year for me now. My first exam’s on the 25th of this month, so I’m revising when I can. And I’ve received the DVDs I ordered recently. They all look good, and I’ll watch The Who this weekend.

Friday May 14, 2004

Well, it’s mainly revision now, as most lessons have finished. I’ve got a couple of classes left to go to, but we’ve pretty much finished all the new material we’ve got to learn. The exams won’t be easy, but they should go ok.

Tuesday May 18, 2004

I’ve got the mark back for my Financial Statement Analysis coursework – 60%, just as I got for the Financial Management coursework. It’s worth 20% of the FSA mark, meaning I’ve got 12% of the module mark, and that’s not a bad start. The exam for FSA is the last one I have to take. My revision’s going well, there’s just a lot of it!

I’ve got a couple more DVDs on the way, after the cracking few I got recently. The Who’s DVD is great, and I’m really glad I got the Lynyrd Skynyrd one too, I never realised they were so great live. The Hank Marvin DVD’s also pretty good. The DVDs I’ve got coming are the Special Edition of Monty Python’s Meaning of Life film, and Series 1 & 2 of a comedy called Sorry! starring Ronnie Corbett, which my parents reckon I’ll like.

And another Eurovision’s been and gone. The 49th contest has been won by the Ukraine, so they get the honour of hosting the 50th show next year. The UK ended up in 16th place, with 29 points, which is 29 more than we got last year. Our song wasn’t anything special, but wasn’t as bad as last year either, James Fox did a better job than Jemini.

Sunday May 23, 2004

I’ve finished my lectures and tutorials now, and just have the exams left to do. The first is Company Law on the 26th of May, for 3 hours 45 minutes. It’s probably going to be the hardest of the lot. But at least it’s an open-note examination (i.e. we can take our notes in, plus a statute book), so that’ll help a bit. And, talking of brain power, I got 124 on the BBC’s National IQ Test this weekend, which is pretty good.

I’ve also got the DVDs I ordered from Amazon. I’ve started watching Sorry! with Ronnie Corbett and it’s very funny, I have to say. Monty Python’s Meaning of Life DVD looks great as well, and is in a similar vein to the Holy Grail DVD, with plenty of nonsensical but fun extra features.

Wednesday May 26, 2004

Well, that’s one exam out of the way. Company Law went reasonably well. I think I put down the right things anyway. We’ll have to wait and see. My results come out on June 30th, and I should find out my degree classification on that date. My next exam is on June 3rd (Financial Management), so I’ve got still got a little bit of time to revise for that and the 2 following it.

Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures. View all posts by Glen