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Friday, May 20, 2005  

Plans for next Year

Well, seeing as we are almost through our final year of secondary schooling, most of us have or are starting to decide where we want to go, and what we want to do next year. Previously, I had been dead-set on becoming a pilot. Basically, this is because its the one and only thing I've consistently wanted to be through my 17 years. Thanks to various factors (sarcasm), my life aims have been confused, and once again, I am left not knowing what I want to do in my life.

Of course, seeing as its pretty difficult to get entry to the Air Force, I figure I might as well give it a try. They only take like 2 pilots a year, and there are about 1000 applicants each year. The Air Force is one of the better options though, mainly because they pay you, and provide you with the training. Otherwise, I'd be paying living expenses, about $50,000 over three years for lessons, as well as my HECS debt for my uni degree. Also, airlines prefer Air Force trained pilots to commercially trained pilots...don't ask me why.

Yeh, so if I get into the Air Force, (which I most likely wont), I will definately go ahead with that. If not, I think I will take the year off. I hope to earn some money in the first couple of months, and then work and travel in the UK, where I will be able to also travel through Europe. Two of my cousins are going to be living in the UK, and there's Marvin in Germany, so i have some connections over there.

Basically I want to travel because if I don't get into the Air Force, I have no idea what I will want to do. If I choose the wrong course, I'll be stuck having to pay my fees up front, because HECS only covers your first degree. So I figure, if I go and see some of the world (cliche??), I might figure out what exactly I want to do.

Yeh so, in the meantime, I guess i should be aiming to get good marks this year. I suppose that could possibly make next year a bit easier. Motivation!!

Anyway, will update again soon. (Update or post pat??)
Tomah.

   [ posted by Tom @ 9:51 pm ]

What a Weekend

Well, this weekend has been quite busy, having a party, worked, slept and moved rooms.

As usual, I left the purchase of my costume for Lauren's party to the last minute, using the double free on friday afternoon to get it. Started off at an op-shop on Belair road, and found a genuine 1961 army jumper. The woman said that it had been brought in that very day, and she had just finished sewing up the moth holes. It was a bit small, but hey, for $3, you cant go too wrong. Next, edi and I headed down to the army disposals on unley road. Was very small, and featured more 1960s furniture than army merchandise. Getting desperate, I headed up and down unley road looking for somewhere to go, checking out all the op-shops and even 2nd hand furniture stores i could find. Feeling quite defeated, we jumped back in the car, and headed back to school.

As I say, Unley road is a piece of shit, and i hate it a lot. Crossing it in peak hour is no mean feat, (speeling :S) so, getting impatient, I took a left turn instead. After taking this left, I headed further down unley road, to come across another army disposal shop. Fate I tell you, fate. I was meant to come across that shipe. Here, I bought another genuince piece, a US Marine Corps hat, and some dog tags. I think i pulled it off in the end, looked a bit army-like, plus....it was a last minute effort.

So Laurens actual party you ask? Well, luckily i organised a one-way share with the Wilsons, so Anne took us down, and Sally picked us up. Laurens was wicked. I would have to say one of the best ever. Everyone was in the mood, and I think i drunk just enough to have the right amount of fun. I even unleashed my dancing talents upon the world. Yeh, you'd better watch out John Travolta. I was even told by Rachel, that it was obvious why I didn't dance that often. Well, in my opinion, none of us are any good, bar Edi and Muskee. (out of guys) Nevertheless, this resulted in my ego taking quite a beating, and it took a while for me to start dancing again.

My philosophy is that now I've started low, I can't disappoint, and I might even improve.

So yeh, soccer was cancelled on saturday, which gave me a chance to sleep in. Fixed my car stereo and headed down to footy as i was the runner. Another good game i reckon. Camels played pretty well, shown as Pembroke were force to call Jace Bode at half time. This resulted in a bit of a controversy. Colesy was dead-set that they couldnt do this, so i was running back and forht, telling the umpires they were wrong. Long story short, I was kicked off the ground for the rest of the game.

Sunday - finally after 4 months of constant nagging, Mark moved out of his room, and into the bigger granny-flat style room left vacant by Luke. This gave me my second room, which I have made into my private study. Its half empty at the moment, so I want to get a small two-seater couch. Would be good.

My moving of rooms was interrupted to go and see "What the bleep to we know?" with Benny. Was a fantastic movie. It was about quantum physics, and how its possible implications could effect our everyday lives. Was very interesting, went into things like how one persons consciousness could affect that of others around them, and the material world. It also went into how thoughts can change the structure of water, and therefore, how thoughts can change ourselves physically and chemically. It also went into the way our cell receptors can be effected by the constant feeling of one emotion. So, we can live longer and healthier lives by either not feeling any emotion, or by having a balanced emotional life.

Weekend finished with monday, homework, work (blockbuster) and now blog, followed shortly by more homework.

Will see you all tomorrow,
tomah

   [ posted by Tom @ 5:54 pm ]

Response to: Yeah.... updating is good

I'm very interested in Ben's opionions concerning corporations and the steps needed to "crash" them. Anyway, at first, I viewed Ben's hopes as impossible and idealistic. To some degree they are, and I still think they are a long way off ever being possible to achieve. I think that in today's society, people are too preoccupied with the pursuit of hapiness through monetary wealth, than with the concerns of the effect this pursuit has on their world.

Ben has proposed that we boycott these multinational companies, and set up small, loaclised and restriced businesses. To a certain extednt, I agree that this is achievable. These businesses would be owned and operated by the people who work for them, therefore, their interests would lie in the location in which they operate. I do however, predict huge problems in the transition from the current system, to the one that Ben has proposed. I am aware that Ben's post was simply an idea, and he's not planning on putting it into action tomorrow, but I want to look at the practical aspects of it.

It would be nearly impossible to boycott multinational companies and replace them with small, localised busnisses. Firstly, these corporations operate mostly in oligopolies and monopolies, where barriers to entry are high, and therefore, entering the market would be difficult. Additionaly, the companies are enormous, and record super-normal profit, therefore, their financial backing would far outweigh that of these small, localised companies. It would simply be impossible for these businesses to compete with the economies of scale that the coporations operate on.

The amazing thing is, that the effect of our current system is not just negative on nature, but on billions of the impoverished around the world. The fact is, that under the current economic structure, the majority of the world's population will never experience an increase in their standard of living. It is impossible, in their current situations, for these heavily indebted countries to catch up to developed countries such as the European ones, America, and to a lesser degree Australia.

I find it quite selfish, (this includes me) that we are pursuing careers with the idea of money, instead of considering the possibilites of improving the world. At retreat, in our booklet, we were aked how we could enrich the world. This question actually stumped me. How many of us, in considering our future paths, think about how we may enrich the world by taking this path. Honestly, no matter what we do, we can apply it to enriching the world, but, these options will never fill our bank accounts with the balance we think is necessary.

Wow, I'm in one of my moods. I don't think this makes sense.
Seeing as this is the second post for the night, I must go now, and continue with my homework.

   [ posted by Tom @ 8:27 pm ]

Economic Rationalism

At the risk of sounding as if I'm merely attempting to be as intellectual as other bloggers such as Alstin, Fards (sorry ben) and Patty, I want to talk today about Economic rationalism. Also, it may not make sense to people who haven't done economics (this excludes people like Ben).

Last year, having done anticipated SL Eco with Mrs Wong, I learned the way economists rationalize decisions in today's society. An example of this is Micro-economic reform (MER) which is a supply side policy, and a process whereby markets are deregulated, increasing the level of competition and efficiency in domestic and international economies. MER involves the reduction in trade barriers, and the re-allocation of resources to reflect market forces.

Ok, so this MER all seems pretty good, efficiency is increased, due to an increase in competition. Of course, an increase in efficiency means an decrease in the wastage of resources, and therefore a decrease in the cost of production. If everything goes to plan, a decrease in cost of production would be passed onto consumers, who would be left paying less for their goods. This would result in a long-term increase in the standard of living.

MER of course comes with a small catch, short term decrease in standard in living. This all seems well and good, considering that in the long-term, everyone's better off, as long as you look at it from a utilitarian perspective.

So this was all well and good, I considered MER a necessity in the current day an age, ensuring that our country remains competitive in the international market place, and we maintain our high standard of living. This was all until I started reading The Grapes of Wrath. Thanks Robotnic. I'm left thoroughly confused. Everything I learnt last year in Economics must now have a human face.

For those who haven't read The Grapes of Wrath, it's about the migration of hundreds of thousands of dispossessed Oklahoma farmers, to California in search of jobs. These farmers, who had lived on the land for generations, were evicted by the banks, who had replaced the share-cropping system with mass farming. Human labour was replaced with capital, and hundreds of thousands of people were left unemployed, homeless and in search of a livelihood.

From an economist's perspective, this action would be considered reasonable. The farmers were experiencing a short-term decrease in standard of living, in order to make way for a far more efficient and cost-effective form of production. Then again, from a humanitarian's perspecuting, these people were kicked off of the land they had owned for generations, and left with nothing, except the advice to travel to California, where supposedly, jobs were plentiful.

On the one hand, I can understand the economist's perspective, the system which had been in place with the share-croppers had failed multiple times, and had to be replaced. Replacing labour with capital is something that has happened increasingly with the progress of technology, and I can say, that on the whole, it has provided long-term increases in standard of living.

Anyway, I guess the Oakies are an extreme case of the failure of Economic rationalism, and it is in these circumstances, that government intervention is needed to provided monetary and economic relief to the under-privileged.

Anyway, I apologise for my ramblings and I'm not even sure whether I've made any sense, but it's helped me sort my thoughts, and basically, I don't care what any of you think.

Tomah, out.

   [ posted by Tom @ 6:32 pm ]

Year 12 Retreat

As with parties, it is difficult for most events to stand up to the hype they are often given. I had feared that year 12 Retreat could follow in this pattern. I was not disappointed however, as the Tatachilla retreat was bloody awesome.

I don't want to give a step-by-step recount of the retreat, as I feel such details should be reserved for those that were on it. I would like to tell you what parts of the retreat I found to be most rewarding.

Seeing as I had Dick Michael as my group leader, our group sessions were often very tense, as most of us detested this person, so our small groups were not the most open or fulfilling sessions. I found the insights into Mr Francis quite interesting, and appreciated his openness. We celebrated his 28th birthday, which is actually today, on Thursday night, with a cake and all.

One of my favorite exercises was the Candle exchange. People took it quite seriously and were sincere with who they gave it to. After 45 minutes however, people tended to run out of real options, and I think it became quite trivial.

Affirmations were also very rewarding. Liked them a lot. It made me remember our affirmation books that we had in year 7. I went through it and read it. God they were pathetic. We used to say stuff like "you have a nice personality".

Also, free time, I think, is one of the most important parts of the retreat. It's a time where we can consolidate what we've thought and done in our group sessions. Free time activities included:

• pool (we actually had a tournament)
  
• table tennis
• eurotrash
• indoor/outdoor soccer
• footy
• basketball
• eating
• trashing dorms (or attempting)
  
• Sitting
• Poker (both normal and Chinese)
• Charades
• Celebrity Heads
  

So here are some photos:

Lucy, after replacing my L trackpants with Heriot's S trackpants.


He's actually dutch, not american.






The wonderful scenery at Tatachilla








Not quite sure what Ben is doing here.


Ella gives herself a score out of 10.


B-Ball.




So pretty.


The girls attempt to stop us from trashing their dorm in retaliation.






Ravid.


Della.


Sitting.


The boys attempt to see the 'man' between our beds.


Charades.


Celebrity heads.


I promise, there was no alcohol. David still looks drunk tho?


Edi, the infamous walking eurotrash machine.


Francis cutting his cake.






Edgar, attempting to be Monique.


Back at school.

Overall, the Year 12 retreat was a very rewarding experience, that will no doubt help us to maintain our focus leading into the busiest period in the year. Like Patrick, i have been left in that mood of loving everyone. Also, like Patrick, I'm not sure how long this mood will last. We shall see.

Yesterday, I had my first game of soccer for the year. Playing in the B's, we beat PAC 6-2. Was a very good game. After Soccer, I headed down to Glandore oval as I was the runner for the first 18s. They lost, but i reckon they played pretty well considering it was their first game of the season. Look forward to next week. Neway, this new burst of exercise has taken its toll on my poor body, and I am aching today.

Well, I shall see you all tomorrow.
Tomah.

   [ posted by Tom @ 12:13 pm ]