Assignment 3 - Video

Mental Blanks

Mental blanks, the bane of a student’s life. Recently I was taking a maths test which I had spent quite a while studying for so I presumed that I would ace it. This was not the case however. The instant that the paper was placed in front of me my mind became empty. So whats got my goat is why my mind/ body thought it would be a bright idea to forget everything the exact moment when i needed to know it?

I know some of you are probably reading this going, “that’s never happened to me” etc, so I’ll try to illustrate what happens using a simile and some symbolism. Imagine that your mind is a crowd at a comedy festival and that laughter is your brain working, now imagine a bad comedian (the test) steps onto the stage. He proceeds to tell his first joke (the first question) and instantly the crowd goes silent. This silence is representing the mind of someone in a mental blank.

Back to the goat though, at what point does the body think that giving you a mental blank is a good way to combat the stress of a test. However amazing the human body and mind is, it seems to just let you down at the most critical moments. And that is what has my goat.

Acronym use in everyday conversation

The use of acronyms in everyday speech has been a current trend within today’s society, but I would really like to know why, considering that it sounds stupid to everyone around you as well as it being a constant source of misunderstanding.

When did "lol" replace actual laughter during a conversation? I mean what’s the reward for telling an amazing joke and getting a response of "lol" or "rofl".

Seriously what is up with the use of acronyms. This trend even seems to have caught on with a few middle-aged people to whom i heard on a train saying "wtf" on the phone to what I presume would be a work colleague you know that things are becoming really dated and sad when middle age people and popular TV programs use them all the time. The secrecy that acronyms afforded teenagers a few years ago is now redundant with the older generation understanding what they all mean. It has taken the fun out of being lazy and it just appears as though you have a mental condition when said in public.

To direct my hatred of acronyms in real life I decided to make one of my own; PWUAIECDRHSTS (people who use acronyms in everyday conversion don’t realise how stupid they sound).

Do you think it will catch on?

Life insurance Advertisement

What has my goat at the moment are these advertisements about life insurance that revolve around an actor that obviously has never acted before in their life. I mean at what point did the companies think that inept actors would be a good idea when trying to get people to invest in their insurance plans?

The second reason these ads annoy me so much is that they are amazingly frequent on several channels, I don’t understand why you would want to show such a horrible advert so many times. I was watching TV for a few hours the other day and I must have seen the same bad acting at least twenty times.

Not only are they badly acted and appear too frequently but they do not achieve their goal of selling the product as everyone I spoke to cannot even remember which company they were for, all that people remember is that the ads are extremely aggravating.

And that is what has got my goat.

Another Achievement, Mr Rudd

It's not often that this angry goat goes all political (if you look back, not often is actually never) - mostly because this goat doesn't know enough to write anything of substance or credibility. But the announcement by the "Honourable" Kevin Rudd has particularly incensed us.

He has trumpeted his emissions trading scheme (ETS) for years now, and today has canned the whole thing until at least 2013. Now whether or not you agreed with the scheme is a whole other thing, but before today you could at least say that an effort was being made to address climate change issues. All you can do today is wonder about the weak and spineless who are leading this country.

KRudd is just a hypocrite. He based his Kevin 07 election campaign around his willingess to do something about climate change. Many thought that he would be a person of action, finally someone who was serious about the issues. But he's not. The Coalition put forward a policy of 'wait and see' in regards to other countries actions, which KRudd said was "an absolute failure of leadership". But when he chooses the same course of inaction, it is now "a reasonable and responsible course of action". No Mr Rudd, you are the epitome of a failing leader. Instead of being able to lead the world in taking action on climate change, Australia will once again be relegated to the position of playing catch up.

When is someone going to actually do something? Stop talking out of your behind, and deliver something that addresses the issues. It's not good enough to say we'll do something when others do something. It's not good enough to shelve yet another plan just because of political reality. Find a backbone and do something.

I would say that the solution to this is just not to vote for our Labor friends, but our Liberal friends look no better. So I guess all we can do now is enjoy what is left of life, before our inaction on climate change kills us all. Congratulations KRudd.

Got my Goat?


Posted by Todd

Trash talking gamers

I was playing Modern Warfare 2 online the other day, when I came across a guy that decided to insult everyone and talk himself up. Of course I promptly replied with insults of my own.

But back to it, what is it about being online that makes people so aggressive and continually act as if they had a large amount of muscular mass. Considering we all know that a majority of gamers are either extremely cowardly, twig-like and would run to the nearest corner if they were insulted in real life, or overly obese and unable to run the ten metres to the corner. So why do gamers always put up such a tough front even though they are most likely physically lacking? Is it because they desire to be a tough guy or are they just trying to build up their confidence online before they tackle the real world?

Well my guess would be that they have to live their fantasy lives of being macho because in real life their inadequecies are so limitless that they have to invent a persona to make them seem like they have friends in real life.

Just Zip It

Ok, now this has really got my goat today. Everything else has been mildly amusing, and definitely blown out of proportion for the sake of entertainment...

What is up with people feeling the need to conduct a conversation all the way through a lecture. That constant gnattering away, made even more annoying by the fact that it is just general noise. It annoys me to the point where I just want to go up to them and pu.... well let's keep it civilised for now.

So here's some facts:

1. You and your conversation is just not that important. Life does not revolve around you, those around you don't want to hear what you have to say. So zip it.

2. You're sitting in a lecture. By the very definition there is someone up the front, let's just call them the lecturer, who has been granted the privelige of doing the talking. Deal with it.

3. If you feel that you're special enough to talk, why don't you take yourself outside and leave the rest of us in peace. Hey, I know you might find it weird, but some people have actually come to the lecture to listen to the lecturer. Who would have thought?

And another thing... what's with the outbreak of conversation 10 minutes before the lecture is about to end. How is this point special in that you can ignore whatever is being said and start your own chat session. There is still stuff being covered down the front!

So if you are one of these people, you have two options: shut up or disappear.

Got my Goat?

Posted by Todd