Amidst times of worry & stress...

Hello all...as my aunt would say,

Coming to the close of nearly a MONTH online, and nearly the start of a relatively important study period (yes, only 9 whole days of Year 11 class to go), I think it's about time that we had an assessment of how our blog is doing (so that we don't have to waste time writing articles that aren't going to be read).

So, in a nutshell, we'd just like some general feedback for how our blog, http://eighthstlaundry.blogspot.com , is doing.

Please tell us - what you like about it, what you DON'T like about it & even maybe what you want to hear more of - we're open to new ideas/suggestions, so anything you say won't be taken to offense. So PLEASE BE HONEST.

And yes, amidst times of worry & stress, we do tend to procrastinate & reflect upon our progress in life (as I am doing so now)...So just as a little tip, these are a few quotes which I think of (& write in my diary):

"It's foolish to fear what you cannot avoid." - Publilius Syrus

"Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm" - Winston Churchill
--> my personal fave

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up" - Thomas Edison

Feedback would be greatly appreciated & GOOD LUCK for people with yearlies :D

~Louis Tiffon

Feathers in my Cap

With time ticking o so agonisingly quickly away, I am contemplating the philosophy of the school. It clearly dictates a well-rounded kind of life is the best kind of life - where you get involved in everything and strive for your optimum. I'm wondering if this is practical?

I know certainly, that I lead a relatively balanced life. And yet, my maths teacher is about on the edge of telling me to drop something or stop doing extension. While I know I am perfectly capable of doing extension if I wish, there is a certain element of time management that comes in to play to achieve excellence. However, I feel I have run out of time. I can't manage any better what I don't have any more of. I'm even posting this in the shadows of pre-dawn, pink starting to touch the sky - and certainally sympathising with Sappho.

Who else has experienced the woes of needing to sleep/eat/ensure one doesn't die from the crazy sheduel of glutenousely stuffing their minds with knowledge that is - while extremely interesting - sometimes too much to handle.

I think one of those new school with classrooms of 90 and exams where everyone works together sounds nice right about now.


- Wolf Mother

Meteors All Night

Poems. They strike at the most unexpected moments.

Case in point:

C.L sits down on a Monday night for a nice productive session of Conflict essay-writing.

All is going well but then C.L makes a fatal error: she writes an incomplete sentence. C.L glares at the computer screen because she can't see anything wrong with the sentence and thinks Word is just stupidly insisting it is wrong in that annoying Word way (ie. underlining in it in green squiggliness and suggesting to 'revise fragment'). Uh, not helpful!

Anyways, being in an irrational 'I am going to fix up this one unimportant sentence' mood C.L right clicks on 'About this sentence' to get an explanation for its incorrectness so she can fix it. Here's what appears:

C.L reads the pop up impatiently, but then gives a double glance at the phrase "Meteors all night" and thinks to self 'that's pretty... in a vague, grammatically incorrect sense.' Promptly gets sidetracked.

35 mins later: C.L has got no further on her essay, but instead has 3 versions of the poem "Meteors all Night" and accompanying music. Yay for random strikes of inspiration.

Enjoy:

Meteors all night- v.1

Come,

watch for

Meteors all night

Because the teacher said to.

And we will laugh clearly under the stars;

Those distant observers,

Blasts from the past

All over now.

Meteors all night- v.2

Come,

watch for

Meteors all night

Because the teacher said to.

And we will laugh clearly under the stars;

Those distant observers,

Blasts from the past

Dying in slow-motion

Just like us.


Meteors all night- v.3

Come,

watch for

Meteors all night

Because the teacher said to.

And we will laugh clearly under the Stars;

Celestial monuments to our Glory.

Let us grow young

Together.

BY COUNT LUCIFER

Music-matchability: Champagne Supernova (Oasis)

Note: Yeah the three versions are pretty similar, but Disco Read made a good point when she commented on their complete dissimilarities due to the different endings: Version 1 is about the fleetingness of Youth, Version 2 is more despairing in its outlook and Version 3 is well... hopeful?

Yes I totally intended that meaning :D

More Olympic Coverage

What an incredible Olympics. Yet unfortunately, it is unavoidable that I must blame it for my lack of studying for exams.

Firstly, congratulations to Matthew Mitcham- the legendary dive. But I know where he gets it from- there is no doubt some biological resemblance between him our great ‘Thorpedo’.

Here’s some thought for all you sitting on your backsides. Men’s 5000m track-Kenenisa Bekele ran it in 12:57.82. Now that number may mean nothing to you, but that’s an average pace of 15.25s every 100m. Incredible. I’m sure some people reading this can’t even run that fast over 100m.

I would like to pose a question. The two greats of the Olympics- Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, who would you choose?

Me? Bolt- definitely. To be the fastest human on the planet. Nothing beats that. Literally.

But too much talk on the legends of the Olympics. Who else feels the misery of those whose years of training were just smashed in the last two weeks. Four years is a lifetime, much too long for another shot at glory- that’s if you can still shoot. Sometimes it’s hard to believe everyone who says- ‘all it needs is perseverance. If I can do it so can you.’ But how often do the failures become inspirational speakers? But finally there’s a whole article dedicated to them- front page of the SMH last Friday. They deserve recognition too.

Get energized for the closing ceremony tonight. Maybe China will yet again be able to prove their national identity- their ability to fake anything.

Her-cules

musical signs of bipolarity

You can all forgive my talent for feeling deeply philosophical one minute and then bubbly and irreverent the next, because I have discovered the joy that is Alphabeat. Yes, even the name conjures up images of 80's geekdom, which really nails it on the head, because Alphabeat is a singing dancing Danish popalicious band that smacks of totally uncool fun. Here's a review from popjustice about their newest single "Fantastic Six" which may make you snort:

"It sounds like an Arcade Fire track if Arcade Fire were barely out of their teens, had grown up in Copenhagen and sounded more like Junior Senior. It basically sounds nothing like an Arcade Fire track."

I've not heard any Arcade Fire, but that is beside the point. Personally I would recommend listening to "Fascination" which just makes you want to jump up and down smiling inanely and waving your arms like an ape. Go Alphabeat for bringing out the life-loving neanderthal in us all.

Clicky here to listen to "Fascination": http://angelmusicgroup.net/alphabeat/shop/bimbojones.html

[disco.read]

a frozen moment

Found this on a blog, talking about the different types of endings for short stories, and this one is the 'frozen moment' - where a tableau or scene is fossilised and preserved in unnerving beauty, as is the following:

“There is an endless road somewhere, and on that road speeds a hand-me-down rattletrap bus on an endless trip, and somewhere near the back of that bus, you and I are snugly squeezed into one of the two-seater benches, with you next to the window and me next to the aisle, holding hands like schoolchildren, talking, occasionally smiling at each other, looking like we will never let go.”

- “Passengers” by Luis Joaquin Katigbak

[disco.read]

Hair Trend Forecast: Pump up the Volume

In light of this season's (AW 2008) sleek, sophisticated looks, I think the next big thing will be VOLUME. As outrageous or uncannily weird as it might seem, the fashion and hair industry does have its slumps and booms as well...only possibly, in the sense of fabulous hair.

Currently on the streets, loose and pretty locks are in at the moment, especially with more 'casual' straight-cut fringes (- haha, not the bowl cut) that remind me of the days in primary school...Not saying they don't look hot, but yes, they do make you look a decade or two younger, unless a fringe is definitely for your face (you'll have to look at your face shape for that one).

But with runway looks all round, we can see a change from the 'clean' structured styles to the 'messy' structured styles - often being more voluminous cuts which make a statement. However, the bad news is yes, it is quite a difficult trend to work - you'll need to manage quite extremely-layered hair (the easiest option to create volume from thick hair) and/or maintain regularly, or otherwise you may risk the chance of getting a bird's nest of hair.

Alternatively, from what I've gathered, the best thing with this trend is that you could seriously walk out the door of your bedroom (with bed-hair), chuck on a thin headband (e.g. a ribbon) or braid it with a slight bouffant, pin loose strands, & voila! - statement hair.

Let's just say that hair trends can be quite unpredictable, so yes, this prediction is a mere speculation - so I don't really care if you agree with me or not...because I'm definitely NOT going full-blown with this trend *haha*.

~Louis Tiffon

The Olympics and a certain fish...

Not an avid sports fan myself (despite my raging athletic talents), it's funny how much I follow the Olympics when I can hardly differentiate between rugby leage, union and AFL. (short, shorter and shortest shorts respectively is all I can say).

So what is it about the Olympics that draws people like me? Is it the global-unity-sentiment? Is it simply some form of semi-nationalistic pride for China? Or is it the incessant news coverage? (As I sit here typing this, I can hear Lisa Miller from ABC news in Beijing reporting over the Australian women's gold medal in the 4x100m medely.)

Although there isn't a definite reason, there IS something about the elite sportspeople of the world coming together in a smorgasboard of muscle, medals and might. (haha alliteration. I had to think hard for 'might'... any other suggestions? 'Might' sounds dodgy to me)

So if any of you out there HAVE been following the Olympics like I have, you would know Grant Hackett snagged a measly silver in the mens 1500m freestyle to Oussama Mellouli. Now, I don't know about you, but seriously Grant? Silver? And to an unknown from Tunisia? TUNISIA?

Okay, well in all honesty I know Grant's probably beating himself up over this more than anyone else can, so I shall henceforth drop the exasperation.

Onto another swimming giant, Michael Phelps. Yes, he has won 8 gold medals, which makes him the greatest Olympian of all time. Yes, he deserves to be happy. But no, he should never, ever pull this face again:

Apparently, Phelps has an ability to isolate his individual muscles which conserves his energy and makes him swim harder and faster than his competitors. He also releases less lactic acid than most people, which speeds up his recovery period. And to cap it off, his arm span is a full 12cm longer than the average for his height. AND some speculate that he's actually a genetic abnormality, born to be a fish but turned out human.

Just joking.

So more Olympics coverage to come. I realise that I've spent this time blogging about all the activities in the Water Cube, and have left other sports out of the picture. But seriously, given Australia's talent in the pool (ahem, Stephanie Rice), everything else seems less interesting!

- Hurley Who?

Pininfarina, cars & more cars in Australia

I'd thought I'd never come around to appreciating the beauty of cars, but Pininfarina has definitely changed my mind. After being featured on luxuryculture.com, I had just realised the plainness & bland nature of Australian cars, so my question to ask is, how can Australian cars compare to the beauty of other (i.e. Italian) cars??? I mean, how could the Toyota Camry or Ford Focus compare to the cars below? The interiors here are rather...plain & are quite uniform throughout the country. However, if you travel overseas, cars are much more beautiful inside and out, so my question is, what is our country doing with our cars? - If they're not aesthetically that special nor functional - what are they?



Pininfarina has definitely changed my view on how cars are designed...maybe not just how they are designed, but how they infuse both functional and aesthetic qualities to produce amazing machines. One of my favourite vehicles by far is Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage 75th...Just look below:
Haha, I guess I'll just have to wait until I can afford one.

~ Un-named

Chindogu

I'm sure everyone knows just how fantastic and kooky Japanese stuff can be but when they said 'necessity is the mother of invention' I'm thinking some Japanese people took that very very seriously...



Chindōgu, aka. 'useless inventions' is just another concept borne from this great country. This term was coined by Kenji Kawakami, a Japanese inventor, who published the book "101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindōgu" and his second book, "99 More Unuseless Japanese Inventions". (note it isn't useless, it's unuseless!)
Why is it unuseless? Well, according to Wikipedia: "Chindōgu cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called 'useful'."
The one big thing about Chindōgu is that whoever attempts to use it may experience such difficulty or social embarrassment that it has really no use anyway. Kind of defeats the purpose when you look at it like that, huh?
Kawakami, as the big daddy of Chindōgu, laid down a few rules about inventing something 'unuseless'.
a. It must be possible to make (in spite of its absurdity)
b. It must be borne from necessity
c. It cannot be patented - the love should be shared


So, enjoy!

Apparently the one Chindōgu in the middle is a sign for sleepy commuters - the banner says at which station the person is supposed to get off so other commuters can wake her up when it's her stop. Hmmm... stylish AND practical?

Actually on second thoughts, I think would use that drink-holder despite committing social suicide in the process... what about you?!

- Hurley who?

An ode to a table

Sadly, the room of C12 has been abandoned for the lectern of RV2, and in this unforseen and saddening move, we were forced to say "Goodbye" to the table that has served us from C.L. and my first ever lesson with you-know-who. From functions to parametrics, this fateful table has been drawn on with countless messages, diagrams and insults exchanged between my good friends and I. In our final act of school property defacing on this table, we wrote an ode, as long as a circle geometry theorem, so naming the message "The Maths Table Theorem":

"Math Table Theorem

Dear much loved and malinged table,
We have spent endless hours slaving away at your wooden flatness, but really in a world where friendship has been devalued, you have endured. Thanks for the memories and allowing us to write on you. I hope you provide further hope to other maths students
Yours sincerely
C.L. & H.W."

This message cannot be found in C12 because we didn't do it. You can't prove it.

- H.W.

The last days of glory

I have been appealed to by my blog-expert friends to contribute my own experiences for all to see.

There is no topic I have been asked to specifically post on, but as this is my first, I shall abide by everyone’s expectations and report on some names I have heard pass through many mouths during the last few days.

Roger Federer. The king of tennis.

You are all probably aware of the competition between the world's greatest(cue kanye west) and the supposed ‘new young champ,’ or in Lotti's eyes, 'world's number one wedgie picker,' Rafael Nadal. So they created an ‘even’ playing field for these two top tennis players.

But Nadal won.

Presenting this from a completely unbiased third party view, I cannot believe the era of Federer is over. It is truly depressing that in only four days.. FOUR DAYS- Roger will be dropped to world number two.

But no worries Roger, in my eyes you will always be the tennis great of our time.

- Her - cules

Finally...

Now that Disco Read and Count Lucifer have finally posted their virgin post, I can officially make my entrance.
My time on this blog will consist of me posting images of anything cute/funny/fascinating/eccentric I find on the internet - be it stationery, jewellrey, clothes, people, events etc.

To be frank, I can't remember where I found this image, but I thought - 'definately for the geeks'. So this is for all the nerds! (and I know there are a few)

- hurley who?

Cussing for the Modern Teenager

Yesterday both my prodigious buddies were scolded in Maths by the teacher for exclaiming "That's bloody annoying!".

Now as swear words go, one must admit that 'bloody' isn't that blasphemous, in fact, it's used by Ron Weasley in in just about every HP film ("that's bloody brilliant!"), not to mention our national tourism ad campaign which totally bombed and got banned in Britain. Impressive.

But it got prodigious math buddies and I thinking- what are the cuss words for the modern educational environment, since 'bloody' (a term which can also refer to being covered in copious amounts of red rusty-tasting fluid) doesn't cut it anymore?

We turned to eightstlaundry's favourite blasphemiser (not actually a word, but let's pretend for a while) Captain Haddock, the potty-mouthed mariner from the TinTin comics for inspiration.

Here are some classics:

"Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!" (try saying that fast 10 times!)

"Slubberdegullions!"

"Technocrat!"

"Freshwater swabs!"

"Logarithm!" Use it in maths. Love it!

"Macrocephalic baboon!"
"Guano gatherer!"

"Ectoplasmic Byproduct!" For Biology students only

"Bashi-bazouks!"

For a longer list of Haddock curses see here.

Feel free to comment us with any kooky words/phrases that you use as cuss-word substitutes and I'll add them to the list :)

-- C.L --

Disclaimer: Our blog does not advocating swearing in the least, but if you must vocalise your frustration, try these instead of the usual assortment of not-so-pleasant rude words.

An Apology... to someone smelly

In my debut appearance on this blog, I must unfortunately post an act of self-deprecation and insanity. Since I have no hope of matching the literary complexity of the blog's original creators, I might as well write normally.
Here is my official apology to Count Lucifer who was correct in stating that a tooth is not made of bone, but several other mysterious parts that I didn't even know existed until I read it on Google about 5 minutes ago. You were right. Please don't unleash your wrath in Maths. I have enough from you-know-who.
- Homesliced Whitebread

the virgin post

Hello there. You have reached the home page of Disco Read and Count Lucifer. Unfortunately we are currently not available, chances are that we are off on a sunny Caribbean palm island, soaking those lovely skin-destroying UV rays and plotting our imminent Thai curry takeaway mmmmm cue virtual gastronomical delights...I mean our imminent impending takeOVER of the universe. You better watch out Obama/McCain/KRudd(?) - we are COMING.

In the meantime, we shall let our minions off their fluoro coiled leashes for ten minute intervals to run loose in cyberspace and potentially run riot - trampling over all that is holy and sanitary and in good taste. They might be introduced to you over the coming weeks, but we wouldn't count on it. Disco Read and Count Lucifer are known to be highly unreliable.

Still, we will observing this social experiment with a keen but detached interest. We expect worthwhile fruits of our labour. You have been warned.

_D.R&C.L_

This will happen to you if you do not comply with our wishes. Whatever those wishes may be.

Look OUT! It's Daniel Avakian...

For those who have been living in the fashion scene under a gigantic ROCK, if you haven't heard, watch out for some great Aussie designer talent - Daniel Avakian. Graduating from the Whitehouse Institute of Design with a scholarship to study couture in Italy, his structural, bold statement pieces are the next big thing...and Yes, I admit that although this piece is from last season (SS 2008), I'm in love, so someone PLEASE help me...