Last Call

It's closing time, as it seems. 

I will be rather preoccupied tomorrow finalizing all my travel arrangements, packing, printing boarding passes, online check-ins, and the like, so I figured today would be the best day to give my closing post it's due respect and attention. 

It's been a remarkable 9 months. I can say I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in this country, a time I will not soon forget or let fade. I think being isolated a great distance from my usual territory has been a wholly positive experience, one that I regret must come to an end. My relocation back to the States will be one of mixed emotion. I look forward to seeing everyone again, but I will be conflicted with a sense of the now unfamiliar country I used to call home. A truly remarkable country, with truly remarkable people, Scotland has been more to me than a region, a sovereign state of the UK, it has been a home. She has been my home for the last 9 months. A home that has treated me quite well, and one that fills me with great hesitation to vacate. With my usual verbiage unable to explain the connection I have fostered with this place, I find myself struggling to conjure words powerful enough to convey my current thoughts of leaving this place. 

But as the dog of fate yet again pees against the leg, I must carry on with this post and inevitably carry on with my departure from this dear country. And although I was far more consumed with school work than I had previously thought imaginable, I was able to see the city of Edinburgh for all of her glory. I regret not finding the time to make my way to the Highlands or explore the far reaches of Scotland, but I assure you all, and more importantly myself, that this will not be the last time I enter Scotland's boarders. For as much as I have accomplished in my time here, there is more to be done in this country. I have not given this fine place in the world the thorough exploration she deserved, and I will return to complete this task. Not that I desire to underplay the wonderful experiences I have had in Edinburgh over the past 9 months. I simply wish to stress that this will not be the final time I call Scotland home, whether that be for another temporary stay or one of more permanence. 

So with that I leave you, and I leave Scotland. 

Scotch-Hunter over and out. 

4 and 5 down

Well that was a rough couple of weeks, but its over now, thank Odin. The fourth final was easily the hardest one, but thankfully it was followed up by the final today which was, quite simply, baby town frolics. I think they all went well, so my time was not entirely wasted while I was busy studying away. I have one more final next Saturday,  but its Scottish History, and in no way shape or form is it relevant to my scholastic progression. In the meantime I will be instituting a policy of relaxation, in order to let the soupy consistency of my brain re-congeal  into its rightful shape... and consistency.

3 down

One more final was vanquished today, leaving only 3 standing. 2 of which will be done by week's end. I think this one went pretty well, Professor seemed generous and gave a relatively easy paper. Hopefully the remaining 2 physics exams go the same way. And for that 3rd exam, the history one, well I don't really care how that one goes, as its not an important class to me in any way.

2 Down...

Dynamics & Relativity is now completed. So I am now 1/3 of the way done with my finals. I think this one went pretty well, so I'm confident I'll pass the class and likely do pretty well. So good news. Going to ease back into the studying again tomorrow and prepare for my 3 finals next week. First one of those is Wednesday,  so I will have a small window of luxury before the hardcore studying takes place again.

Drawing close to the end.

1 down, 5 to go

Quantum Mechanics final is now completed. I think it went pretty well, I should pass and might do pretty well, if certain answers go my way. Now I have to get back on the horse and study for my Dynamics and Relativity exam tomorrow. Then I'll have a nice week of simple studying for my remaining physics exams. So the ball is officially rolling now. Lets hope it lands in a nice spot.

...Back to Business

Well after an amazing 5 days with my brother here it is time for me to get back down to business. But before I do, I will give you guys a run down of what we did. Arriving late Thursday Evening, Stu and I took the night easy. We got back to the hotel, had a few drinks at the hotel bar and then he fell asleep. Long day of travel for the little guy. I stayed up a bit longer and watched some TV.

On Friday we did some city exploring including seeing Edinburgh Castle, and some of my favorite spots around the city. We then headed back to the dorm area so he could meet some of my friends and see my shoe box of a room. We went to a pub across the street and had a few drinks before meeting up with my friends as they are young and still sleep in until 11:30 or noon. When they were ready we took a walk up Arthur's Seat and ended up sitting at a nice pond near the top, equipped with two mutant huge swan. We had a very nice time up there drinking and watching the ducks/swans fight over territory. That night we went out for a big sushi dinner at my favorite sushi place here (well the best of the 2 I have been to). We then walked to the Lebowski Pub to see what it was like. Unfortunately other than the large chalk drawing of the Dude outside the bar there is little other reference to the legend himself. Rather disappointing, the pub is more of a hipster scene bar. We then retired to the hotel.

On Saturday we were catching a train to Manchester at 18:15, so we had some time to kill during the day. We did some shopping and some more exploring, saw a movie (21 Jump Street, hilarious by the way) and before we knew it, it was time to catch the train. During the 3 hour ride, we had a nice time catching up with what we had been up to in the months since I had been home. We arrived later than expected so we stopped by a small corner shop and bought some snacks and then hung out in the hotel room until we fell asleep.

After a restless night of excitement it was finally Sunday morning and we were off to Old Trafford to see the greatest football team in the world, Manchester United. We arrived there at around 9:30 and had 3 hours to kill before the game started. Lucky for us Old Trafford is home to the team "Mega Store." Essentially Nike Town but with only Manchester United gear. Needless to say Stuart was in heaven. We spent a good amount of time and money in that shop buying clothes and souvenirs, and then made out way to our seats. Which was increadible. Not only were we lucky enough to be undercover as it had recently started pouring, but our seats despite being in the 3rd row from the very top of the stadium had a magnificent view of the field. With the stadium still pretty empty we took advantage and took some pictures, a majority of which are still on Stuart's phone, so I will post them once he gets back and sends them to me. Soon enough it was time for the match to begin. Now I have been to sold out hockey games, sold out baseball games, and sold out football games, but none of those can hold a candle to the atmosphere of this stadium. With just over 75,000 fans in the stadium this place was electric, roaring, passionate, and utterly absurd. Chants and songs would break out from one end of the stadium and would be immediately picked up by the rest of the 75,000 viewers. It was an amazing game. Although the score was not ideal, a 4-4 draw, we got to see 8 amazing goals, each one putting the MLS league to utter shame (no offence). It was amazing. After the game we made out way back to the train station on foot as the traffic was, as you would expect, immense. After going the long way and making little progress on foot, we found a Hilton hotel with plenty of cabs outside it, so we jumped in one. Arriving at the train station about 2 hours before our 18:15 departure, we went searching for food. And as it seemed every place we found had a policy of "No Football Colours" (they spell colors wrong here). So after being refused by 3 restaurants we found one that was more understanding. We then made our way back to the train and returned to Edinburgh. This ride was less pleasant  than the last however, as there was a problem with the East Coast Main Line and everyone going north of London (which is pretty much everyone as London is near the bottom of the Island) had to take West Main Line with us. So our train was packed with people, standing in the isles, sitting in the "transition area" between cars. Now this wouldn't have been a problem normally since we had reserved seats but we had  been drinking a lot of fluids on the train before it got crowded. And by the time nature was calling us, the train was packed like an obese man's arteries. Needless to say that last hour or so of the train was pretty awful. Thank god that our hotel was across the street from the train station as we both ran inside to use the facilities. The train had come in late with all the over crowing and so we retired for the night shortly after.

Which brings me to Monday. The last full day of my brother's visit. We woke up and went to brunch, then decided to finish up our shopping. Once that was done we went and saw another movie, Cabin In the Woods. An excellent satire on the horror film industry. We then went out for a late dinner and some drinks. Which was very fun. We then went home and retired for the night.

This morning we woke up early got everything packed up and left for the airport. The sad end of one of the best vacations I have ever had. So thank you to my parents for flying him out here and giving us this opportunity to have a sibling vacation in the Old Country.

Which brings me back to the present, were I am currently really resisting getting back to work. But I know I have to, and the good news is once I get back into study mode, the remaining time will start to pass rapidly again and before I know it I will be back in the United States. Which I can say after Stuarts visit I have never been more excited for. Who would have thought I could get so excited for a 9.5 hour flight?

Mental Lapse

Sorry for the delay again. I have been so engrossed in my studies that I had actually forgotten what day it was. Fortunately I made a calendar event for my brother's arrival so when I awoke this morning I was greeted by a friendly reminder that I had to pick him up from the airport today. His flight will be landing in the next 2 hours (1 hour delay in Gatwick as it seems). Then the Sibling Scotland Shenanigans can begin! During his visit I will try to keep you all posted on what we are doing, but at worst case I will have a long post on Tuesday when he leaves with pictures and stories.

The List of Lasts

As my time here continues to wain, I'm beginning to take notice of a few things. Tomorrow for example will be the last time I walk to the physics building, yesterday my last tutorial section met its end, and the day before saw the conclusion of my final physics lecture . Although I can't say I'm going to miss having class, I am not discounting the experience of going to a foreign university. As my classes come to a close I realize I am a mere 6 finals (mere being an odd word for SIX finals, but no matter) away from completing my time here. A bitter sweet moment to be sure. A few steps closer to graduation and a life outside of school, but a tragic departure from the place I have come to call home over the past 7 months. So while I am eager to return to the United States, a place I am rather ashamed to say seems foreign to my mind, I will certainly miss this place. A lot was accomplished here, and perhaps more was discovered. In my remaining time, I wish only to prepare well for these exams, and in that final week after my last exam and before my return flight, to soak up so much of this place that my mind becomes a soggy wet sponge of experiences... but, you know, in a good way...

Plugging Along

It's been a pretty standard week. Nothing too exciting going on, just beginning to seriously study for my exams. Knowing there likely wouldn't be too much to say this week, I figured this would be a good time to post some pictures of the places I'm frequently at, including the physics building, the gym and a photo from my window showing the heavy fog we had yesterday. Other than that it's been a pretty regular week. I applied for a summer internship at Boeing a few days ago and have my fingers crossed that it works out. Hope everyone is enjoying themselves. 

Good Week

It's been a good week. They finally posted my finals schedule so I now know my studying priorities for each exam. Isn't a great lineup but it will do.

April 30th: Quantum Mechanics
May 1st: Dynamics & Relativity
May 9th: Thermodynamics
May 11th: Electromagnetism
May 12th: Math for Physics 4
May 19th: Scottish History since 1914

The difficulty level is likely as follows (from hardest to easiest):

Thermodynamics > Quantum Mechanics > Dynamics & Relativity > Electromagnetism > Math for Physics > Scottish History

Scottish History may not actually be the easiest but I don't really care about it as it doesn't apply to my major so I'm not going to stress on it too much. It sucks that all of my physics finals are so tightly compacted but that will help them get over faster. And now that this list has been posted and made official is making it far more real that this trip is really winding down to a close. Which is both sad and a relief. On the one hand I will miss this place and the people I have met here, but on the other hand it will be very nice to be in the same time zone as my friends and family back home.

On another note yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and I had a lovely time. Watched the 6 Nation Rugby Finals at an Irish pub in town, sat in the sun and drank beer for a few hours (may have gotten some color too, which is odd because I'm in Scotland), and went out to another pub that night for a friends birthday celebration. All in all it was a good day, and I had a great time.

Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves.

Man of my word

And although I really don't have much to say today, I said I would make another post on Sunday, and I'll follow through. It's been another painfully short weekend, one that started too late and ended too early. I'm sure you all know the feeling. Shouldn't be a tough week this week, 2 standard weekly assignments one additional assignment, and that's it. Well that and I should continue going over my stuff from last semester in preparation of these exams, the dates of which I'm still unaware of. The rest of this semester should be about the same as this week, so essentially I'm in a nice dry trail before I enter the muddy swamp that is finals in May.

Lets hope I have the proper boots for that mess.

Busy Couple of Weeks

My apologies for not posting in a few weeks, things have been pretty busy around here. I was meaning to make a post this past weekend, but got too busy with writing a paper and preparing a presentation. But those have been handed in a presented now, so I have a little more down time. In fact today I have a little too much down time and don't really know what to do. As free time has become ever more rare in time of late, I'm struggling to remember what I do with my time when I'm not studying or doing homework. Things will start winding down now as this semester starts reaching its end. I only have standard weekly assignments left, no more big projects or papers, which is nice. I am still unaware of the specifics of my finals schedule, all I know is that all 6 of them will take place sometime in May. I won't know more until the 19th when they FINALLY post the schedule. Until then I'll just be plugging along with my work, trying to squeeze in some more adventures before I make my return Stateside. Pending my finals schedule, I plan on making some trips outside of Edinburgh, to Saltcoats or Stirling, in April. Go see some more of the countryside before I return. I can say however, that if I was coming home tomorrow, I wouldn't have many regrets about what I have done here. Although I do wish school was a little less demanding so I could go explore more. But we play with the cards we are dealt.

I'll likely be returning to my regular weekend posts as things wind down, so I'll be here again on Sunday.

TTFN, ta ta for now.

Not quite as nice of a golf tale as last time...

Well I went golfing again today, same course as last time, but struggled a little bit more this time. Probably because I haven't swung a club since September, but it wasn't terrible. Struggled a good deal off the tee but was pretty solid in the mid and short game. Made a few nice chips and a few solid putts, but just couldn't get the driver to cooperate. Things were going decently well, I was behind a foursome so I was playing 2 balls which was nice. Everything was going reasonably smoothly until the 18th. Sliced my second tee shot pretty bad, and as I realized it was heading in the direction of the "middle-aged to old" guy behind me, I yelled FOUR! Well evidently this guy was going deaf or maybe the wind carried my voice past him or something, because he freaked out. My ball landed about a yard or two away from him, and he was not happy about it. So as I approach him I can hear him cussing me out, no big deal, he's mad which was totally understandable. I apologize profusely, completely taking the blame and saying I must not have yelled loud enough in my now raspy voice. It's here I notice that he just isn't having any of it, and keeps yelling, all the while stand right over my ball. So I figured I'd fight fire with fire, and intimidate him right back. Staring him straight in the eyes, I again apologize, this time a little more angrily and aggressively, walk up to him forming tight fists with my hands, and stand in front of him until he backed away from my ball. Wherein I picked it up, went to my first balls location, and finished my round. But I was smart enough not to stick around for too long, changed my shoes and went home. So I guess it was equally as exciting as last time, but in a completely different way. And thank god my genetics made me a good size, otherwise I imagine this would have not played out so "smoothly."   

1 Month Mark

Things are going pretty well out here. And I assume I haven't been writing too much recently because nothing special is really going on. Just plugging along with classes and what not. Haven't had too much time to go out and do anything really unique. Which  is causing the days to melt together, I can't really tell how I feel out that. On the one hand the sooner I get back state side the sooner I can start making moves for graduate school or a job after college, but on the other hand I don't want this time here to go by too fast because this will likely be one of only times, if not the only time, I live outside of the United States. Which is obviously a unique experience. So here's to finding the happy medium and coming home with no regrets. I'm in the process of making a "bucket list" for my remaining time here, but it seems like things are being added much more rapidly than they are being crossed off. I do have the week off the week after next so hopefully I can get some stuff crossed off during that week.

The Scotch Hunter Abides

Hasta Luego.

Checking In

I have been a little forgetful about this blog recently and for that I apologize.
Things are going well out here. These new classes don't seem like they will be as tough as my classes last semester. Convenient since I need to review all of those classes too. In the next few days I should find out how I did on my final from December, and should also find out the exam schedule for May. So hopefully I can start planning some trips around the area, to get a better feel for the country.

I went to the Scottish National History Museum today, as it was required for my history class. I was disappointed I didn't have more time to spend there actually. It's a lovely museum, I could have easily spend half a day in there walking around. But alas I only had a short hour to see the exhibit I was told to see for my class. Perhaps this weekend I will go for a longer visit. I thought this museum was much more interesting than the museums in Paris, but that is probably because art museums are rather boring, whereas history museums have far more interesting things in them, like skeletons, and cars, and rockets and what not.

That is really all I have to say for now. I will try harder to keep you guys posted of my adventures here in the next few weeks.

The Return

Dust off your computers, and clean those glasses because the Scotch-Hunter has returned. I've been here for a few days now, and am surprised at how quickly I've gotten back into the routine here. This semester seems like it will be a little easier than the previous one, as my classes seem to be a fair bit more simple. That being said I still have to stay on top of the material I learned last semester, as the final exams are in May. But I'm hoping that won't be too difficult. So all in all I'm hoping to have a little more free time this semester so hopefully I can get out a bit more.

That is all for now, as I'm still attempting to re-adjust to the time difference, and am very tired.

Ta-ta

161 Hours

Until I head out to the airport for my flight to Heathrow. Where I will catch my flight to Seattle.

Before I leave however, I will need to finish my quantum mechanics assignment, due tomorrow at noon, write a 1500 word paper due on the 21st, and at least start my thermodynamics assignment due on January 16th. Shouldn't be too bad, but that doesn't make it any less annoying, that I'm so close to the end yet have these 3 large roadblocks to pass.

I had my final on Tuesday, which went pretty well. I shouldn't have any surprises when grades are reported for that class. I also just got back from turning my my dynamics and relativity assignment. So with 2 big things down and 3 more to go, I'm getting close.

If only I could find a way to speed up these 160 or so hours.

Summing up Paris

It was a pretty cool city. By far the two coolest things were the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triumph. But before I forget everything here's a detailed run down of my 4 days. All my photos are in the link at the bottom.

Sunday:
My flight left Edinburgh at 7:25am and I got into Paris at 10:40, (+1 hour time change, the flight wasn't that long). I managed to get some studying done on the plan which was convenient. RyanAir was definitely not as bad of an airline as I had expected. Sure they cut some corners with things, for instance they don't have those little pockets below the tray tables and the emergency procedure it printed on the back of each seat, but other than that not a whole lot is lost. I had the who row to myself so I could spread out some which was also awesome. After a short flight I landed in Beauvais. Which is a very small airport north of Paris, surrounded by farmland. The whole flight all I could think of was how roughly 65 years ago guys my age were jumping out of planes in areas like this to stop the advancing of the German army. It was a fascinating train of thought. One which I was sure to discuss with my friend Luka when I meet up with him later that night.

Having landed and changed my money to euros I headed outside to catch the hour long bus ride to Paris. It was actually a nice bus ride through the French countryside. And before I knew it we were in Paris. Finally there, I left the bus station and headed to the Arc de Triumph to catch my bearings. The Arc was easily one of the most impressive pieces of architecture I have ever scene. It is HUGE, and incredibly detailed. Being Sunday a trip to the top was free, so after figuring out how to cross the 5 lane roundabout surrounding the Arc I ventured to the top. The view was amazing, and quite helpful as it showed me how to get the the Eiffel Tower, and from there I was pretty sure how to get to my hotel. After taking some pictures and admiring the view I set off for the Eiffel Tower. A short walk later and I was there. This thing is super cool. Completely made of metal and completely symmetric it is one of the best things these two eyes have ever seen. After staring for 5 minutes maybe and hour, I made my way to the hotel. A sweet little place, 5 minutes from the tower. After checking in I dropped off my bag and headed back out the the city.

With about 9-10 hours to kill before meeting up with my buddy Luka I started looking for things that we wouldn't do in the next few days. Small things that I wouldn't see otherwise. But before I headed out I fell asleep for 3 hours. Convenient because now I only had 6-7 hours to clear. I ended up going to the Paris Aquarium, which was okay, I'm probably spoiled growing up so close the the aquariums in California, so this one wasn't that impressive. After that I went to an architecture museum which was far more impressive. Most likely because I'm still a sucker for detailed models of buildings. And this place was full of them. It also had what I think were recreations of other famous architectural bits from buildings around France. It was hard to tell because I can't read French (something that was becoming more and more of a problem in this city I was noticing). Those two things ate up a few hours, so I headed back to the Eiffel Tower and hoped on a boat tour on the Siene. Which was quite informative. After that I only had about an hour to kill so I wandered around the Eiffel Tower some more. Luka was unfortunately late due to travel delays but no big deal I wasn't too bothered waiting under the Eiffel Tower. Still operating on Spain time he and his friends, who were quite nice, were really hungry for dinner despite it being almost midnight. We went out got some food and then headed back to our places of residence for some sleep.

Monday:
Woke up around 9 to meet up with everyone at 10. Showered and noticed an odd design flaw in my hotel room's toilet. The counter over the toilet got in the way of the seat going all the way up, which meant unless it was held up it would fall closed. Amusing yet annoying. After getting ready I made my way to the Tower to meet the gang. First thing we did was made our way back to the Arc. Which I had no problem with. After that we headed down the Champs Elysees, where there was a lovely holiday street market going on. We made our way to the Pont Alexandre III bridge. Which was lovely. After that we wondered around some more until we found our way to Notre Dame. Which was awesome. Lovely glass windows, super cool interior, lovely building. It was nice to see a building in person that was focused on so heavily in my pre-architecture days. It was also nice in this season, as there were lots of Christmas trees around, and the interior was full of large nativity scenes. After Notre Dame we made our way to the Pantheon. Which was really cool. Except it was rather expensive to enter, and Luka being a Croatian citizen got to enter for free so he ran in and snapped some pictures for us to see. Then we headed to the Luxembourg Palace. Which unfortunately was closing just as we got there.  Bummer. We headed back to the place the rest of the group was staying at for a quick break before dinner. It was a super nice apartment that belonged to one of the girl's godmothers.

We rested there for a few hours then met up with another girl from UW who was actually studying abroad in Paris. Which was perfect because now someone in the group spoke/understood French. Crucial. She took us to a small fondue place outside of the main Paris district. On the way we had to take the metro. After struggling to find a metro entrance that sold tickets we decided to jump it. Obviously the girl from Paris had a pass so she got in and taught us how to get past the gate. After 2 of us jumped through it was my turn. I screwed up and the doors clamped on my shoulder. And they clamped hard. At first it was rather comical but now I'm actually dealing with an surprising amount of pain in my shoulder. Finally we realized that the floor was pressure plated so as long as someone stood on the other side of the gate, it would let you pass backwards. So we did that, with no more clamped members. We made it to the fondue place, which was interesting. Having never had fondue I can now say, that I am not a huge fan. Seems like there are better ways to eat bread and cheese, but it was authentically french so I was okay with it. The really interesting part of this place was that they served you wine in baby bottles, which was funny. After dinner we headed back to the apartment and hung out for a few hours.

Where we discovered that tragically we discovered that the Louvre was closed on Tuesday. And as it was already late we sat and came to terms that we would not be able to see the Louvre. Quite sad. We got over it though and discovered that more UW friends of ours were in Paris, so we meet up with them at their hotel suite. Evidently one of their dads works for the UN and has connections in Paris, and scored them a nice deal. We drank there until the wee small hours of the morning, all of them except me being on Spain time they were used to staying up drinking until 4-6am. I on the other hand was not. But thankfully 2 of the girls wanted to head back to the apartment and go to bed so I left with them around 4. Which was kind of cool because the streets were empty and the Eiffel Tower was still lit. It was a fun day but I was very ready for bed.


Tuesday:
Needless to say we got off to a slower start that day than we had the day before. Meeting under the Eiffel Tower at 11:30 me and Luka headed off to do some exploring, the rest of the group was going to meet up with us at around 3:30 at the D'Orsay museum. Luka and I headed back to the Christmas market to get lunch, and started wandering down in the direction of the museum. We decided to kill more time we would go to the Louvre at least just to see the outside. Which was still pretty cool. We wandered around the Louvre Park for an hour or so, then as the rain clouds started encroaching, we went back to Notre Dame, where we sat as the rain passes us by. It was convenient. We then headed over to the museum to meet up with the rest of the group. The D'Orsay was pretty cool. I'm not tremendously into art and Luka and I were pretty exhausted so we breezed through the paintings and ended up sitting at every bench we came across. We ended up seeing everything just before the museum closed which was awesome. We met the group outside and headed back to the apartment for another rest.

After a few hours of downtime we headed out for dinner. We had researched and found a small french place to get some more authentic food. After a long walk we found the place. Remarkably small, and with absolutely zero English speaking ability it was actually rather stressful trying to order. We made it through the ordering process and were delighted that we did a good job deducing what was what. I had some beef roast with potatoes and everyone else had some chicken curry with noodles. It was really good. Then I wanted to have some French dessert so I ordered some Creme Brulee. It was AMAZING. So good in fact that every single other person in the group ordered one as well. After dinner we headed back to the apartment and parted ways. As they had a 8 am train to Amsterdam and I was a zombie. After the goodbyes I went back to my hotel and died into the bed.


Wednesday:
Well my flight was at 2pm, and I needed to catch the bus to Beauvais at 11, so I slept in a little then headed out. Caught the bus, and got to the airport. Our flight was a little delayed but not too bad. Before I knew it, I was back in Edinburgh. And my god is it good to be back in an English speaking country. Although it's freezing here....

Well now its time for me to start studying for my final and getting everything done, because in 2 weeks from tomorrow I make my triumphant return stateside for Christmas!

Hope you all had a nice week.

Here's my pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/101396428202321504245/Paris?authkey=Gv1sRgCKnOg56jvLmwBA

Short Update

So I leave for Paris in the wee small hours of the morning, and having forgotten that I needed to write a post today this will have to be rather brief.

This was a good week, last week of school for the semester. No complaints there. I also may have found a part of physics that I might want to pursue. Quantum Computing. A fascinating field, read up on it on Wikipedia if you feel so inclined. This of course is helpful because it should help fuel my revision for my quantum mechanics class. Which was one of the hardest and most confusing courses I have taken to date, but obviously is a crucial building block to quantum computing. So all in all it was a nice week. It was also especially nice because this means that the only remaining obstacles I have before my return home are 1 exam, 2 assignments, 1 short paper and 1 more assignment. Sounds like a lot but it really shouldn't be too bad. Three more weeks.

Upon my return from France on Wednesday I will write a proper post. Until then... well occupy yourself with something other than my blog.

Top Gear Live!

Saturday was one of the best, if not the best, days of my adult life. The Top Gear Live Event was the coolest thing I have ever been to. Super cars were everywhere, tires could be heard squealing against the tarmac in the Track Event stage, trinkets were aplenty, it was a great day.

My train to London left on Friday at 11:40pm and I arrived in London, quite groggy, before the sun had even woke. I promptly took a cab to the ExCel Center and sat in coffee shop to eat my breakfast bar and drink my extra large can of Redbull to wake myself up a little bit. Arriving at the ExCel center about an hour and a half before the doors would open to the main convention center room, I read my Top Gear magazine and waited. As soon as a small queue began to form I walked over. About 5th in line to enter the main hall. When the doors opened at 9:30 I was one of the first to enter, and I immediately was awe-struck as 2 lovely Ferraris greeted me at the door. The 599 GTO and the 458 Italia. After taking some pictures I moved to the "Top Gear TV stage" area where there was a recreation of the chairs and stage the presenters sit at during the TV show. I got my picture taken in Jeremy Clarkson's usual seat, but was a little sad to realize hours later the gentleman I asked to take the picture captured this wonderful moment in a blurry fashion. But by the time I had realized it the queue was far to long to attempt another shot. No matter, blurry image is better than no image.

I spent the next few hours walking around the showroom floor taking pictures of various supercars, and Top Gear Challenge cars, including the 100% electric "Hammer-Head iEagle Thrust." As 1 o'clock rolled around it was time for my Track Event. I made my way to the entrance, had my ticket checked and had a seat in the grandstands. For the next hour and a half I was presented with a variety of cars driven around the track at high speeds, including a personal favorite of mine the Caterham 7 Super Sport, driven by none other than Top Gear's tame racing driver... "Some say that he is terrified the BBC will reveal his salary because he is paid in strong pornography. And that his discharge is luminous. All we know is, he's called The Stig." The Stig put this wonderful little car around the track at breakneck speeds, punishing the tires at every corner. It was a beautiful sight. However the Track Event was not all good, because the main presenters, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May were otherwise occupied with the Live Arena Event, there were unable to present the Track Event. Which left it to three other English people I had never heard of, who were quite boring. Thinking themselves to be very interesting and amusing when in actuality... they weren't. The whole crowd knew it and they must have been daft to not know it themselves. However luckily not too much time was wasted with their speaking, and even when time was wasted I was sitting next to the car entrance so I just looked at the next wonderful machine that was preparing to enter the track. After several interesting events including a stunt driver who drove a whole lap on two wheels (it was amazing), and a light drifting competition, the Track Event ended. Which was good news, not because it wasn't entertaining by any means but because it meant that my Live Arena Event with three proper presenters began in a short 40 minutes. I spent the next 20 minutes making sure there was nothing else of any interest in the showroom, then made my way to the Arena. Locating my seat, I waited patiently for the main event. And it did not disappoint. 


The Live Arena event was like being at an actual episode of Top Gear, the news was done, as the presenters drove out the large gear shaped stage, notice i said they drove it out, as if it were a parade float, and the challenge was presented. Having agreed that the Olympics were rather boring the presenters wanted to create a more interesting automotive version of the Olympics. There was an opening ceremony, complete with flaming cars, motorcycle jumps over fire with riders dressed as Beef-eaters, London Taxis doing donuts, and of course an Aston Martin. A true showing of England. The events then started. Starting with motocross limbo. Beef-eater dressed riders took turns jumping though a smaller and smaller gap at the top of a ramp, it was quite exciting. Next was chariot racing, mind you in true Top Gear form this was no ordinary chariot race. The chariots were pulled by 4 Vespas mounted together, controls to all 4 vespas were mounted in the chariot, and cornering was performed by braking either the 2 right most scooters or the two leftmost scooters. It was again quite amazing, and rather comical. The next event, which was my favorite was car curling. In true curling form there was a brusher, which in this case was a quad bike driven by James May with several brooms and circular brushes sweeping the floor infront of it. And the two curling stones, which in this case were two small cars driven by Jeremy and Richard. Now in order to recreate the presence of ice when the car's e-brakes were pulled they were lifted onto 4 wheels rather like the wheels on the bottom of a shopping cart. Which allowed the cars to drift along like they were on ice. When the e-brake was released they were dropped back onto the normal wheels and came to a stop. The cars were aiming for a target area just like in real curling. And also like in real curling they went one after another so you could knock the other stone out of the target. What ensued was a fantastic display of mayhem with several crashes. One of which injured Jeremy's shoulder, but he soldiered on.  The next event was synchronized swimming, but with cars. Which was quite lovely. Followed by another synchronized driving event with Morgan 3-wheelers which was again, very impressive. The final event was a beauty contest, where about 16 of the best, most expensive, and most properly beautiful cars in the world were driven out parked. The presenters then chose their favorites and awarded medals to them. This concluded the show, and it was amazing. I'm not sure if the brief descriptions I gave, got that point across, but let me assure you, it was incredible. I felt like the neighbor kid in The Incredibles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acYDNlMYAaI

And on that bombshell it's time to end, thanks for reading, Good Night!


I took lots and lots of pictures which you can view here. Some of them are a little blurry as my camera was struggling to find its focus. But I switched to my phone which worked much better.  https://picasaweb.google.com/101396428202321504245/TopGearLive?authkey=Gv1sRgCKujyNKSg7KMeg

I hope you all had a nice weekend, and will see most of you in less than a month.