Day of Meetings

Yesterday was a day of meetings. Not really something out of the ordinary I guess, but having two in one day back to back was not normal to me.

First one was a meeting with my supervisor…we went to lunch together and then dicussed the progress over coffee. I had been meaning to ask him for a meeting for over a week, since he had originally skyped me to ask me to lunch on the day of the Library seminar. Since that day I had a couple of things that I wanted to discuss with him, but typical me, I kept on postponing it for some reason or other…first that I wanted to finish the report on values I was writing before I met him, then that there was a meeting for another project in the department so I got the excuse that I should let him concentrate on that, then that the stainless steel wire hadn’t arrived…anyways…as you can see I have the tendency to postpone things when it means asking other people for their time/service/opinion/help etc. Luckily however, he skyped me on Thursday night (yes, at around 9:30pm …but that’s OK ) to ask me for a meeting on Friday afternoon. However, I had another meeting in the afternoon, so we settled on lunch.

The meeting started off with lunch (yeay! I got some soup…which I never cook for myself, so it is good), followed by coffee (I actually got coffee for one…I thought I would need it to be awake for two meetings in a row…but only a small one mind you …and he treated me to both lunch and coffee…yeay!…in exchange (or so he said, so knowing him it would have been anyways like that) for Kinnie which he seems to like ). Coffee was taken outside in the sun (yeay to sun!). It was good to talk about what progress I have been doing (not sure I have done much ), and him reminding me about some things I should have done, and others which I should start working for. All in all an OK meeting from my point of view (would have been of course much better if I had finished already everything we had discussed but then that would have not been any kind of challenge).

The second meeting was then with Stefan Kueppers about image processing. As part of a preliminary study I aged a couple of photographs in strips. Now I have photos in strips which have been sequentially aged. I was wondering if I could now use the changes in the strips to digitally alter the whole photograph. Discussing a couple of options, we concluded that I would need to rethink that part of the experiment, but it is not impossible to do. Nevertheless, he showed me a couple of ways via which I could depict the changes I got visually, which would be good for presentation reasons. So not all to waste.

In the middle of all this I also received an e-mail that from this year all student need to do their PhD upgrade (we register as M.Phil students originally, and then you have to apply to an upgrade to a PhD) within one year. Up to the students who started before me, they had no deadline for this. Oh well…I guess I will need to get the documents for that all sorted out etc…deadline for getting everything in is the 24th of September as the upgrade meeting is then it seems.

Well, after all this I decided I needed to relax . I had been planning to cook lasagna over the weekend, but I decided to change the plans and do it yesterday, and use the cooking as a way of relaxing. Didn’t turn out too badly (though I couldn’t find the cheese sauce as I wanted it, and I took it out of the oven too quickly as I thought it was done but it wasn’t, so had to put it back). However, even though I shared it I had too much of it…not complaining about eating cold lasagna today though…mmmmm!

Happy Belated Birthday!

Boohooohooo…I realise I missed my blog’s birthday! It was born on the 23rd of June 2008 with the post ‘My first blogpost ‘. Before I started my blog I used to say that I would never have a blog as it would be too intrusive/lack of privacy etc etc. When I then decided to start my blog, I was a bit concerned as to if I would keep it up.

A year on? I am enjoying the experience of writing my blog, in a way chronicling what I am up to in London. I am sure (if it doesn’t get lost somewhere ) it will serve as a happy reminder of my past time when I go back to look at it, hopefully for years to come.

Having a blog has also meant I have made new friends, who I both follow their blog, and they (I think ) follow mine.

So far it has been a great experience. Raise a glass: ‘To my Blog!’

Bloggers Meetup: Hot Hot July

It wasn’t a hot hot July day yesterday (got sooo much rain)…but that didn’t matter, since the Bloggers Meetup was anyways full of people. This was my fourth one, but first since the beginning of March, since I haven’t made it to any lately, what with Malta, Pisa, Denmark, moving residence etc. Yesterday’s was just around the corner from uni however, so I just couldn’t miss it!

As always, the meetup consisted of meeting people I’ve already met, meeting new people, as well as talking to people I’ve just seen at other meetups. I won’t start naming names as I’m sure to forget someone! I had some great conversations though, and definitely enjoyed it.

Also more exciting was the fact that the meetup was sponsored by lastminute.com . This meant that we got free drinks (WOOHOOO). Also we got a talk by a girl from lastminute.com, telling us about a competition they have running right now to find someone who they will send travelling this summer and blog about his/her experience.

Can’t wait for the next one

Emoticons – WOOHOO!

Just realised that we get angel emoticons in wordpress now

 :D  :D  :D  :D

Sundays are Getting Better :)

Often Sunday evenings here in London meant me lazing as much as possible at home . Luckily, today (besides the essential Sunday lazing ), was so much more (afternoon and evening – till 2pm was, of course, lazing and sleeping – I desperately need my weekend sleeping!)

First off was meeting Steph again (WOOHOOO). As I said in ‘I’m a Geeky Techie‘ she moved to London last week and brought me the recovery media for my laptop. Today however we met in the afternoon just for a coffee (which turned into a frappe to cool us down ) at Euston Station. It is so nice to have people to meet up with and just chat along with. After our frappe, we then both made our way home.

The plan was that I go home and do a load of washing (which I had originally planned for Friday, but never got round to). However, on the way home, I heard a ‘Ara min hawn!’ (’Look who’s here!)…It was Ivan, a guy from Malta working as a doctor in Wales, but down in London for a conference…and we just happened to meet on the road. It was a nice surprise to see him and get some more Maltese dosage and friendliness into the day. However, it was soon a rush back home, to actually get the washing done before my evening plans

And what were the evening plans you must be saying? Well, I had two free tickets to go hear the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican. So far having two tickets would still have meant me going alone, as none of my friends have taken up the offer to join me for similar stuff. However, after I went to the Beethoven concerts, one of my flatmates said she was interested…woohooo…I got a friend to go with yesterday!

The main concert I went to was a symphony concert playing music by Schumann, Sibelius and Brahms. However, before the concert, there was a free (for all this time ) concert! We attended this (both as it was free and as we had to be there at least one hour early to pick up the tickets). So glad we went to it though! I really enjoyed it!

First up was Schumann’s Fantasie for Cello and Piano Op.73. I really loved the cello player, Vashti Hunter. I loved the sound coming out of her instrument…it was great!

The second performance was then Schumann’s Piano Quintet Op.44 by the Barbirolli Quartet (Gemma Beeson was the pianist for both). I really liked the energy they put into their playing, and the energy coming out of their music. If there was anything to suggest for change I would say that I would have liked a bit more interaction between the musicians, since though they sounded very much in synch and nothing sounded to be lacking from their music, besides the violist, it seemed like they were all immersed in what they were playing in isolation of the others. Anyways…just my idea.

Then it was time for the LSO! First up was Schumann’s Manfred Overture. This was then followed by Sibelius’s Violin concerto in D minor (Op. 7), and after the interval Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D major (Op. 73)

I really loved the first half of the programme. In particular I liked the encore performance of Frank Peter Zimmermann, who was the soloist for the violin concerto. It was amazing! He played what he called some variations on the concerto…on his own…but he made it sound so good! He was bowing and plucking at the same time, making it sound as though there were so many more people playing…I was impressed! When I used to play I could manage bowing or plucking, but both together and playing different melodies in the different manners at the same time was DEFINITELY beyond me!

After the itnerval was Brahms’ 2nd Symphony. This was the favourite of my flatmate, but it didn’t inspire me as much…probably as it was in a major key, and I am generally more inspired by music in a minor key (my melancholic side emerging maybe?). Nevertheless…it was still amazing! I haven’t heard a full orchestra playing in ages! So it was a good thing to do, and a perfect finish to a great Sunday

Research Day Away

Check this post out on my research blog: Research Day Away

Science Exhibitions, Prides and Pubs

Yesterday was a busy day for me, doing the things in the title and many(?) more…

First off was the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. Have no idea how I came across it, but anyways…I did. This science exhibition was on last week and going through the website I got excited about going. However, during the week I was always quite busy, so never quite made it. So Friday I decided I will definitely have to go on Saturday, and Thibaut took me up on the offer (after hassles with our non-compatible timings…he skyped me at 2am!! I was fast asleep though…Then I e-mailed him Sat morning, but he was still asleep…we managed to make contact at around 10:15am that he was coming (I was already on my way), but we managed to meet…WOOHOOO).

What was there at the Science Exhibition? It was made up of a number of stands, where the actual researchers who worked on projects (mainly PhD students, research assistants and professors) explained the work with the use of their highly interesting and well thought out displays…I was impressed by the set-ups I must say! They also all had give-aways so if you were up for collecting everything you could really stock up on pencils/papers/pens/mouse-mats/mugs/small games etc .

Anyways, all in all a great experience and so glad I made it in the end. I definitely want to visit again next year (hopefully with Michael now ). I liked the hands on approach of the whole thing, and the interesting way they brought the topics down to the understanding of everyone…not easy for most in the sciences

After that I had to meet some potential flatmates in Camden (yes…I’m looking for a place from mid-September, so going through all the flat-sharing looking right now…hope we find somewhere soon for that to be settled ). I had looked it up on-line that I could easily get from next to Trafalgar Square where the science exhibition was located, and Camden…One problem though! I had disregarded the London Pride Parade that was scheduled for yesterday! And it coincided exactly with the time I wanted to get the bus! I ended up having to walk from Trafalgar Square to Baker Street to get a bus, in crowds of people (particularly next to Oxford Circus). Oh well…I arrived late at Edinboro Castle, the pub we had to meet at…which I really liked…but it was OK (he was late too ). Also, that meant that on the way I got to see the Parade In a way I wished I had more time to see more of it – I liked the colours, music, and festive atmosphere – but oh well…there is always next year .

By the time I was then back home I was quite exhausted, so I cooked some bolognaise sauce, and went off to my lovely room to rest

UCL Library Services Staff Conference: Support for International Students

I posted this blogpost some days ago, but didn’t put the link here (as I had promised I would do)…so here it is: UCL Library Services Staff Conference: Support for International Students

I’m a Geeky Techie ;)

Or so I feel right now Why?

Well, last Thursday my old hard disk (R.I.P) decided to breathe its last breath and die sometime durng the night. This meant that I had to figure out a way of figuring out what to do.

Step 1: Buy a new Hard disk. On Friday when I went in to uni Phil was there, and he suggested me a website (dabs.com) from where to buy my CD. I looked the options up, and send a selection to my brother. Unfortunately, my brother was travelling, so it was only on Sunday that I ordered the hard-disk, and it was shipped Monday night. It said it will take 1-3 days (and possibly more) to arrive, but luckily the packet arrived on Tuesday

Step 2: Recovery media. Unfortunately I had my recovery media in Malta (of course ). Luckily however Steph, a good friend of mine, was coming up to London on Wednesday, so my sister dropped off the CDs with her. Yesterday evening then I met up with Steph for a crepe in South Kensington…It was sooooo good to catch up! She was in my class in sixth form, and we had been to Egypt together, but haven’t seen her since I moved here. Seeing her was great as always…and she got me my recovery media

Step 3: Change harddisk.. Michael found a youtube video showing exactly how to change the harddisk on my laptop…it took me less than 10mins I am sure to change it…I impressed my brother with my speed it seems and I only dropped one screw!!! (that’s an achievement for me ).  First part of installation…a breeze!

Step 4: Install OS. I put in CD…and it started perfectly…everything running sooo smoothly…but I should have known that couldn’t last! at 90% expansion of files, the installation stopped and I got an error…buuuh! Tried to reinstall again, but kept on getting (new!!!) errors.

Step 5: Figure out where to get an OS…i.e. panic message on Facebook. Luckily, a Maltese guy here pulled through, and he was nice enough to meet up with me tonight (even though I had never met him before!!!) to give me a copy!

Step 6: Try new installation…after a bit of fiddling to get pc to restart from CD…everything went smoothly! I am now typing this from my own laptop! I am so proud of myself *GRIN*

I deserve a pat on the back Don’t you think so?

My Friends...Fellow Geeky Techies

Chasing Pandora

I left you with this post, saying I was going to go see Chasing Pandora. I went…but what did I think?

This was the first time I heard Chasing Pandora live, though I had heard some of their songs on the radio. However, I am not too up-to-date with their music (or make that with any kind of music right now! Haven’t heard any radio or seen much TV for ages now, so the little knowledge I had has slid further down the knowledge scale!)

I met up with some of my Maltese friends here in London. I hadn’t seen most of them in ages, so it was good fun to get out of the house, and speak some Maltese (and meet some new people). However, being around Maltese people again I have realised one thing…being around Maltese people is TIRING! Being around Maltese people often means non-stop banter…but this means that your mind needs to be continuously switched on to be able to give smart replies fast…after 9 months living here this part of my brain seems to be slowing down, making me exhausted by the end of the night .

But enough about that…what about the music? I liked their music and their style. I was aware of what they do, so I was expecting it, and it certainly wasn’t disappointing. I particularly liked their song Time, and the way the singer introduced the song about the dragonfly…She said that she wanted to write a song about a dragonfly sincemost people consider it to be a bad omen, or something similar, and she felt bad for the poor thing…that’s so cute

What I did not like however was the venue. The venue consisted of a very small stage in the back of a pub with limited space for the people. However, that was not the most irritating thing! That was the number of beams crossing across the room, which meant that e.g. from where I was the guitarist/singer was obscured with these beams! I had been to hear Teitur sing at the monto Water Rats, where they were going to sing today (but had other things to do, which I hope to write about soon), so I was thinking something more along the lines of that, which is slightly bigger and nicer. But hey…at least I enjyoed the music And, although being tiring, it was good fun to meet up with the Maltese crowd and some people  haven’t seen in ages