I'm not a lothario or a dashing prince,
Just a poor PhD student, who's words may make you wince,
But here I sit, procrastinating, my fingers on my laptop keys,
Tapping out a few words, to make all the ladies go weak at their knees.

To Bilbo and her finished hefty tome,
To Sue2604, who does her work from home,
To Eska and her astounding knowledge of films,
To Sneaks and her frequent posts throughout the week

To PhDbug, who works so very hard,
To Cobweb, who's posts sparkle like diamond shards, [crap, struggling with words now]
To Caz, and her firm but fair moderation,
To Keepcalm, who deserves consideration.

To MissSpacey, the legal eagle,
To Alpacolver, who's as sweet as treacle,
To Natassia, who's PHD awaits,
To Teek, who makes must make every man's heart ache

To all the female members, have Happy Valentine's Day,
One to remember, happy in every way.

You'll be pleased to know that I won't be giving up my PhD for a career in bad poetry! :-)

##NEWS FLASH## Progress temporarily interrupted...

I had to complain to Gabby Logan on Radio 5 Live by text. She keeps clicking her mouse non-stop while other people are talking on her show and it's very distracting.

Excellent, I think I'll join your endeavours. I'm not writing just at the moment - but I will be doing soon. Poppy, btw, is wise beyond her doubtless young years, as my supervisors said something similar to me but it didn't sound as detailed or as good as what poppy said. My aims for today - print out forms for Glasgow-based research, make some question cards, read all about quantification and application of intuition and judgement, read thin book on how to do a meta-ethnographic synthesis.

Three, two, one...yawn...sigh...go

My God, who even has enough underwear for everyday of the week? I did but I find that they just go missing, so I have to do ever more frequent wash cycles...mmm...probably too much information there :$ Suppose it makes me exempt from geek though, more like scruff or tramp.

I love anonymity - it means that stupidity can be excused and personalities expressed. I also note, with disappointment and concern, that it has been quite some time since we had had an amusing off-topic. So, I have a suggestion. How about we start a thread where we can list and describe some of the most silly things we have done, either in the past or of late. I realise that this could be a risky because we are some of the brightest brains (minus me) and the future of our country. Frequenters of this thread doubtless include movers and shakers, the future John Majors. But it could still be fun to participate and make some of us chuckle - and you can be selective in what you choose to admit to, or just say something like..."well, I had a friend of a friend, who..."

Here's my current contribution - it happened about 6 months ago.

Giving to Gordon

When you own a mobile phone and laptop with internet access, the possibilities are endless and the whole world is at your finger tips. When you're doing a PhD, you can get frustrated at the lack of progress you're making and you want to effect change. That was the conclusion I came to at about 10:45 pm one evening, after drinking several bottles of 2.6% abv Asda own-brand French Larger. I meant no malice, I just wanted to help, felt I could help - I had feedback to give.
Reading the broad sheet papers online, I noted that Gordon Brown was receiving a terrible press and that he was having great difficulty trying to relate to us, the public. I looked at some of his videos online - and yes, I thought, that smile just isn't natural and he looks maniacal. I'm not much of a PR man (though I have a friend who studied it at uni, couldn't get a job and is now a policeman), but, in my slightly inebriated state, I thought 'yes', I know what to do, and I can help! There's not a moment to waste, better make haste, I thought. Walmsinki to the rescue.
It's surprisingly easy, when you're a PhD researcher, to find the number for Downing Street - you just use Google. For some reason, I half expected to ring the number and he'd answer - then I'd give him free advice on style and poise. No such luck. A snooty and harried-sounding woman answered...couldn't have been Sarag Brown, I thought, as she's always smiling and happy.
"Hello, I'd like to speak to Gordon Brown, please."
"You need to dial this number" she said.
"Oh, okay, thanks"
Thinking about how crap his secretary was, I dialled it only to find a pre-recorded message saying the number was no longer in use. I was furious and on my fifth bottle. So, I called the lady back...
"Hello, I called up earlier about speaking to Gordon Brown - that number you gave me doesn't work."
"Well, that's the only number I have for him. You'll have to contact him by e-mail."
"Can you give me that please?"
"You'll find it on the website," she responded.
I sent him an e-mailing urging him to contact me. No response yet :-(

Hmm, what to review...Legion

Legion - In essence, angels with machine guns. God is disappointed with mankind, so around December the 23rd he decides to bring Armageddon on us, Hollywood style. Fortunately for us, Archangel Michael thinks there's some good in us and endeavours to save us all. Cue car chases, an ice cream van, a swarm of blue bottles and an angry Gabriel with a mace - all ensure that this film is a tense package of holy excitement. Alas, this film, given that it's supposed to represent the apocalypse, really doesn't feel as though it has much of a grand scale to it. It all takes place in a diner in the American outback, and it's pretty dark much of the time. Character development is also quite poor - I really didn't feel like I came to know Dennis Quade and most of the other characters could have been played better with cardboard cut outs. However, if you're into pious films, a pregnant women giving birth and a killer granny, then this could be for you.

Chrisrolinski, forgive my criticism, but you've got your choice of song all wrong...

You need to play this one...

Doo doooo doo dooo doo doo doo dooooo. Da dum da doo doooo doo doooo doo da doo doooo! Can you tell what it is yet?

Didn't think so...

Then it goes...

I said go if you wanna go, stay if you wanna stay...and thought I treated you like a child, I'm gonna miss you for the rest of my lifffffeIIIIIFFeeeee [insert crashing overtuned electric guitar] dooootthhhh! All I need is a miracle, all III neeeeeedddd is you [=PhD]

It's Mike and the Mechanics - you have to admire the chequered shirts and curly mullets in a weird sort of way...

Oh, blimey, can't believe I missed this thread. Bilbo, many congratulations for getting your thesis submitted. That'll be me one day too...one day.

I've got some more movie reviews and I'm going to write about them, once I've finished struggling trying to submit my systematic lit review to a journal.:-s

Aww, cheers Someone3 - but clearly no need.

11.44% - so geekish tendencies. However, I have questions concerning the robustness of the test, it's construct validity and its internal consistency...

No, you can't. I'm fairly certain that all of the options on NVIVO 8 just grey out. YOu won't lose your work, you just won't be able to do anything with it.

======= Date Modified 10 Feb 2010 13:33:21 =======
============= Edited by a Moderator =============
======= Date Modified 10 Feb 2010 13:32:16 =======
============= Edited by a Moderator =============