I am sitting on the Oxford Tube on my way back to college. The tube (underground) journey was pretty rubbish, what with my losing of an Oyster last week (meaning that to transfer the lost balance I had to tap in at a certain tube station) and then part closures on the central and jubilee lines, and then the silly oyster machines debiting too much money due to rail replacement confusions. I finally made it to Victoria but the journey took more than twice the usual time, yuck. Still, I am half an hour away from Oxford proper so nearly there now.
I must say technology has advanced a lot since the last time I was at uni, doing this same occasional commute between Oxford and London. The coach has wireless on it (which is how comes I get to do this on the road) and also plug sockets. I have a new laptop that actually works, so whilst updating this blog I can also play on facebook and check my emails. My phone is plugged in and charging too, so really despite being on the bus, I am as contactable as in Oxford (not including actual face-to-face communication. But then, who does that any more??)
I started doing some work earlier in the journey but then fell asleep. I have my first essay due on Thursday. Interestingly it is about sociological analysis i.e the research and analysis and evidence itself rather than what the theories say. We were told how to write an essay (something that never happened during three years of undergraduate work!) and I've been able to download lots of the articles from the reading list on to my laptop meaning I don't have to sit in the library as much. Despite these advancements, I am still not quite putting work at the top of my list. It's closer to the top though.
Apart from impending academic work, I went to a brilliant day of seminars on Football in the Social Sciences, which consisted of all kinds of junior-ish academics presenting their various economic and sociological theories regarding phenomena in football. For example I saw some really interesting work on match-fixing and the Italian football scandals. I also enjoyed the talk on the decline in the home advantage in premiership football (they attributed it to the televisation of football, but I'm not so sure). In any case, it was cool to see people putting theory and evidence together when it comes to football - it was inspiring to see academics combining their passions.
Last night X and I went to see Zorro at the Garrick Theatre in Leicester Square. It was awesome! Lots of the music was by the Gypsy Kings so we were loving the songs and dancing, especially the Spanish guitar. The cast was excellent, particularly the Gypsy Queen, and the script was funny and serious at the same time. I loved all the stunts such as the fire juggling and the rope swinging (from all over the theatre, including over the heads of the audience), but my favourite scenes had sword-fighting in them, which had been wonderfully choreographed but with real swords so you could hear them clinking and see the sparks fly, wow! We had great seats right near the front courtesy of lastminute.com's half price ticket deals (making the tickets practically two for the price of one when you ignore the booking fee!) It was lovely to have an evening like that too, with dinner and the theatre and then drinks afterwards, it was a proper date.
Ok, my battery is low so best sign off. Have a good week!
I must say technology has advanced a lot since the last time I was at uni, doing this same occasional commute between Oxford and London. The coach has wireless on it (which is how comes I get to do this on the road) and also plug sockets. I have a new laptop that actually works, so whilst updating this blog I can also play on facebook and check my emails. My phone is plugged in and charging too, so really despite being on the bus, I am as contactable as in Oxford (not including actual face-to-face communication. But then, who does that any more??)
I started doing some work earlier in the journey but then fell asleep. I have my first essay due on Thursday. Interestingly it is about sociological analysis i.e the research and analysis and evidence itself rather than what the theories say. We were told how to write an essay (something that never happened during three years of undergraduate work!) and I've been able to download lots of the articles from the reading list on to my laptop meaning I don't have to sit in the library as much. Despite these advancements, I am still not quite putting work at the top of my list. It's closer to the top though.
Apart from impending academic work, I went to a brilliant day of seminars on Football in the Social Sciences, which consisted of all kinds of junior-ish academics presenting their various economic and sociological theories regarding phenomena in football. For example I saw some really interesting work on match-fixing and the Italian football scandals. I also enjoyed the talk on the decline in the home advantage in premiership football (they attributed it to the televisation of football, but I'm not so sure). In any case, it was cool to see people putting theory and evidence together when it comes to football - it was inspiring to see academics combining their passions.
Last night X and I went to see Zorro at the Garrick Theatre in Leicester Square. It was awesome! Lots of the music was by the Gypsy Kings so we were loving the songs and dancing, especially the Spanish guitar. The cast was excellent, particularly the Gypsy Queen, and the script was funny and serious at the same time. I loved all the stunts such as the fire juggling and the rope swinging (from all over the theatre, including over the heads of the audience), but my favourite scenes had sword-fighting in them, which had been wonderfully choreographed but with real swords so you could hear them clinking and see the sparks fly, wow! We had great seats right near the front courtesy of lastminute.com's half price ticket deals (making the tickets practically two for the price of one when you ignore the booking fee!) It was lovely to have an evening like that too, with dinner and the theatre and then drinks afterwards, it was a proper date.
Ok, my battery is low so best sign off. Have a good week!
