MeCo Prac: “Students Make a French Connection”

[Ed: Just something I did for my first week in Media/Comms, comments and feedback greatly appreciated, as always]

The only thing missing was a baguette.

But there was merriment aplenty for the 120-odd students who attended today’s Wine and Cheese Tasting outside Hermann’s Bar.

The French Society and Wine Society organised the event, offering over 4kg of samples to members and their guests in the Wentworth Courtyard. A similar event drew large crowds during February’s O-Week, prompting a second sortie by the clubs.

“We were really pleased to see such an enthusiastic group,” said FrenchSoc President Kath Wilson, nothing that many attendees were speaking in French and Italian alongside English.

King Island Dairy sponsored the free O-Week event, while this evening’s tasting cost $2 for members. Limited tickets were on offer and at 4pm the queue stretched back nearly 10m. Within minutes of opening the tables were swarmed by students looking to feed their inner Gaul.

The quality of the samples was mixed, with the Cream Brie proving the most popular of the three cheeses. Claire, a first-year Law student, found that it “was far preferable to…the red and white wines on offer.”

FrenchSoc, which aims to “enjoy all things French”, hopes to hold a larger cheese-wine night during the semester.

Membership inquires for both FrenchSoc and WineSoc can be directed to the USU Clubs and Societies office, Level 1 Manning House.

HELP WANTED

If you have a personal blog, preferably one which deals with media (videos, music, etc), and wish to make a bit of cash, email me and let me know. I’ll be inquiring as to your traffic stats as well but if you at least get a bit it shouldn’t be an issue.

O-Week: After

It involved the passing-on of various bits of wisdom:

1. If you give free stuff, they will come.
2. There is no shortage of two-bit comedian wannabes. There is, however, a shortage of medieval re-enactment demonstrations.
3. There is always a shortage of cold, hard cash.
4. No-one takes cheque anymore.
5. The older you get, the more you peel.
6. The best washrooms at USyd are in the Quadrangle.
7. The older you get, the harder it is to make new friends and the easier it is to grab on to the old ones.
8. Kebabs are trustworthy if you make sure lots of people are eating them.
9. Memorise your Student Number, Union ID, and UniKey for maximum kudos and efficiency.

And finally…

10. They call him Squad Leader for the irony.

O-Week: Before

We can’t wait to parrrtayyyyyyy!!!!!

Today’s Arts Orientation day was highly useful and enjoyable: tour of the uni gave me a good spatial rundown of where to get books, hang out, get smashed, etc. I intend to, at one stage or another, pull an all-nighter in the MeCo Labs. Possibly watching cycling at 3am as my mentor suggested.

The USyd grounds are splendid; highlight of the day was a lawn area where you could loaf around in deckchairs and bask in a cool mist from strategically-placed sprinklers. You’d probably want to wear your swimmers or at least bring a change of clothes.

The Quadrangle has a number of rather nice gunner positions, but no real sniper spots.

O-Week looks to be a blast. Fuelled by booze and fairyfloss. Updates on the way.

TravelGuidesDB Update

A while back I had a happy rant about TravelGuidesDB.com, and about how site manager Mark Daoust had failed to pay me for my article. A week ago, I received a reply email from Daoust citing “personal issues” as his reason for the huge delay in contact. However, I hadn’t been expecting any contact in the first place, so it was a rather nice surprise.

Daoust promptly asked me for my paypal email, and just this morning I found myself credited with $25USD. Much kudos to Mark Daoust! I wasn’t expecting the money and was resigned to having been scammed out of my pay, and this really made my day (along with a few other personal matters ). So Daoust and TravelGuides DB aren’t as bad as I said before, is my conclusion.

Sadly, it seems that the site has closed down now. Possibly because of some business aspects which many people didn’t like (including the “bonus” scheme), or just because of the bad times all around. Freelance work has been VERY slow lately, and I’m worried at how little feedback I’ve been getting from my main employer in particular. To be continued…

The Theory of Juggling

I once heard a life-lesson epigram (sorry that I can’t properly cite it) which went something like:

Life is the act of juggling three balls, Work, Health, and People (friends and family). One of those balls is made of rubber. The other two are made of glass.

Things seem to be picking up heaps at the moment, not just for myself but for the special people all around me as well. I’m clocking about 8 hours of tuition this week and a lucrative venture into education seminars looks to be on the horizon. My friends are busy doing everything from Ceroc dancing to Biology bridging courses. And university hasn’t even started yet.

I’m just that little bit worried about whether we’ll all be able to make time for each other. Of course there will be many new friends made, who we’ll see on a regular basis, but I don’t want to lose hold of the (very close) buddies I’ve met over the years. I just hope we won’t slip and send the delicate balancing act crashing to the floor. Then again, all one can do is hope for the best and try to make time, for the things which make life worth living.

Some interesting developments in the freelancing arena which I’ll share as they progress. It’s also worth noting how much a simple number (based in no small part on luck) can command huge revenue in the education industry. Of course, fortune only favours the bold and it’s essential to capitalise on the public’s perception no matter how warranted it may be. The only worry at the moment is extracting the maximum profit (technical, intellectual and pecuniary) in the limited number of hours available to oneself.

Despite my misgivings, the future looks to be rather exciting. Onward forth…

The Return

The good part about coming home from vacation is that you get to see your friends and do all your parochially-delectable stuff that you’ve missed out on for ages.

The bad part is the backlog.

I have to apply for uni on Thursday (which means getting together a hell of a lot of information) and the sites telling me what to do are highly unclearand voluminous. Other miscellaneous matters like cable collection also have to be dealt with, and tuition work is about to fall upon me like a ton of bricks mortaredto another ton of anvils. The only mercy is that my freelancing isn’t going through a busy period and that can change just like *that*. And I have a million people I want to see and catch up with.

Then again, if you’re not running around like a double-headed chook, you’re not doing it right. Aventi!

Talking about Dyalogues

At first I thought this seemed like a pretty amateurish outfit. The premise is basically that people all have opinions on things, and want to debate those opinions with other not-so-like-minded invididuals. Hence the Dyalogues site, which faciliates this discussion – dialogue – between people. You basically get to start up topics and debate them with another person, either a friend who you’ve invited in or some random who takes a fancy to your interests.

Every completed dyalogue (as the discussions are known) gets you $10, an they’re reasonably easy and straightforward for even new writers. Knowing when to close off a dyalogue can be a bit tricky, but once you feel you’ve made your points there’s no real reason to just faff about. Hence it’s great when working with someone you know, since you can co-ordinate when to break off, figure out where to take the discussion so as to elicit greater interest, etc. My friend nrgu (see emperor of internet blog) hasn’t ever done this sort of thing before but our teaming efforts have been pretty successful so far.

You can also simultaneously review a product (book, game, movie, etc) alongside the usual arguments on politics and the economy. Debates are usually pretty mannered, while reviewers often take on conflicting  viewpoints and try and sort out their differences. The goal is resolution, not rage, so be reasonable and try to reach a compromise/middle ground, although it’s ok if you can’t.

Pay’s not that great, but it’s better than nothing, and I’d really recommend this site for new freelancers looking to get some CV material and a bit of side cash. I’m doing about one or two per month, and spamming the system even with quality may not be so good an idea (in case they run dry or something : P). All you need is a moderate opinion (nothing offensive), some facts or good analysis, and your writing skills. Not too much to ask for, since everyone’s meant to have an opinion these days, so definitely worth trying out.

Thanks paypal…

It sucks when you have outstanding monies and your employer is ready to pay those outstanding monies but paypal takes a break for the New Year.

Sigh.

Should be expecting a bit of cash from another site I’m trying out, watch this space for more details. Hopefully it won’t be another rant.

Thanks paypal…

It sucks when you have outstanding monies and your employer is ready to pay those outstanding monies but paypal takes a break for the New Year.

Sigh.

Should be expecting a bit of cash from another site I’m trying out, watch this space for more details. Hopefully it won’t be another rant.