Virgin All the Way!

Well, recently I have started to listen to Virgin Radio again.. It has some good music on it.. A nice mix of new and old, familar and new music (to me at least)..Its also pretty cool because I am listening to foreign radio, but I can understand everyword that is being said! It is starting to make me even more excited for my trip. It is based out of London, so while I am over there, I will be able to listen to it.. I will just have to get a hold of a handheld radio to take with me, or get some type of add on for my iPod to pick up radio stations..

I have picked up some videos from the library about Ireland and London and I am going to watch them this weekend. Nathan bought some videos off of iTunes this past weekend about Dublin and London from the Travel Channel and they were pretty cool and really makes me want to visit Dublin. It is also making me really excited....

If you are looking for a really catchy song, the radio station collaborated with a band to create a song for fans in the stands to support their football (soccer) in the world cup championship.. it is really catchy and has stuck with me ever since I heard it.. It called Hurry Up England.. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen to the audio of the song.. they also have a music video for the song..

Study Abroad Update

NOTHING!!! Arrrggghhh.... We have not had a meeting yet! Hopefully we will have one soon so I can find out things like how to prepare for some of the actvities that we will be doing and other information like that in order to prepare for the trip.. We have received the inital this is what you need to bring meeting and other general information, but it would be really really cool if we had a "Its getting close, this is what is going to happen.." meeting...

It is almost Willy-Willy time!

Well it is almost that time again! June 1st... What does that mean kids? Hurricane time! YAY!! Well with all that happened last year, the response would be more like: "oh snap" or some other variation of that. This year, William Grey, the Hurricane expert at Colorado State University (why Colorado and not a ocean bordered state is beyond me too...) has only predicted a whopping 17 hurricanes, of which 5 are projected to be severe. Last year, we had a record breaking 26 hurricanes of which the last 2 names were derived from Greek alphabet. Hopefully this year will not be as bad. Currently, the Earth is on a cycle where storms and weather patters are more severe then years past and hopefully that cycle will gear down and will reduce the ferocity of the storms.. Make sure that you have your hurricane plan in place and have a place to evacuate to if needed... It will make your life a lot easier when you face the situation than having to deal with it under that time of great stress..

P.S... Willy-Willy is the Austrailian term for Hurricane..

Maymini is a necessary evil...

Currently, I am enrolled in HIST 1060 which is World History since 1600. It is a May mini class which means that it is only 3 weeks long and will be done by the end of May. I have to read 9 50-60 page chapters, take 3 different quizzes over each chapter, write a 1000 word essay over some topic covered within that chapter and then do a go to the discussion forums and make comments about documents that are covered on a cd that came with my text. This is a lot for 3 weeks! I just finished the first chapter yesterday along with all of the work associated with it... I need this class so I can graduate in December, but I really was hoping for an easy internet class... WRONG!

R.I.P. Fry Street

As a student at North Texas, we all come to love the local flavor of our big but small town, Denton. It has its own local taste like no other. We have the Square, Jupiter House, Art Six, South Lakes Park (A.k.a. Eureka Park) and our beloved Fry Street. Fry Street is important to the University because it completes the northern boundary of our campus. It has a lot of great eateries and also contains many bars which serves as a right of passage for newly legal 21 year olds. This may not be attractive to some who view the University as a place for education, but for the students, it serves as a place where they can let go and enjoy their time at college. The old addage is true that you learn more outside of school than you do in school. And this is where a lot of students choose to do it.

Fry Street also adds culture to the city. Most of the buildings have been there since the 1920's and add to the Hickory-Oak Street Historical district. To bulldoze and rebuild this area and take away the history is horrible. In addition to being a historical area, the area that contains many small businesses. This is a great area for this because the student population is eager to support these businesses. And having said that, these businesses are always eager to support the students and the university. It is a reciprocal relationship and it really works out.

The property owners are wanting to put a CVS and possibly a chain bookstore.. The students of North Texas do not need these types of amenities. There are already 3 CVSs in Denton and we dont need a 4th. Plus, after the tear this businesses down, nobody will want to go back over there. It will not be the same and also, the business that they are bringing into "revitalize" the Fry Street area does not meet the clientale. I think that the property owners, who happen to be from a suburb of Houston (Bellaire for my Houstonians), obviously dont even have a clue about what they should do with that area. If they were smart about it and wanted their businesses to be successful in order to receive rent money, then they shouldnt f***up a good thing!

Party like its 19--84!

I have been listening to 1984 by George Orwell while I have been at work and it has been interesting so far. It is a commentary on communism. Orwell wrote this piece in the 1930's. The story follows a man who is living in this society and is starting to second guess it.. I could not imagine living in a communist society. They base their society upon fear of the government. They are there to take care of you and make sure that you are not doing anything wrong or anything that will compromise the government. "Big Brother is always watching you..." The slogan of the party is :

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

With a dogma like that.. who wouldn't love the society...It makes me wonder if this is similar to what communism was like in Russia...I guess when I get extra time, I could research this...

Music makes the world go round....

Test 1 is done and only 2 more to go! Woot!

So I went shopping this weekend to purchase some items for my trip. I got an additional memory card for my digital camera because I am not sure if I will be able to download my pictures anywhere. I also bought an electrical converter and an electric iPod charger so I can charge my cellphone any my iPod while I am abroad. Damn technology and the dependence upon it.. Having the iPod will be good though because it will allow me to chill and have something to do incase I don't make any friends or there is just nothing to talk about. Not to mention the fact that the flight is about 12 hours long and I will need something to do with myself while in the air. I am hoping to also get a small handheld radio so I can listen to the radio while I am there so I will be able to experience that aspect as well. I have been listening to Virgin Radio online to get a sample of the type of music that Britons like to listen to and it has been cool (also to hear the DJ's talk with their funny accents..)

I am starting to get a little more excited about the trip as it gets closer.. I need to find a book that will allow me to read about the experiences that other people had so I can further plan and think more about it. I have a "Study Abroad for Dummies" book and I need to go over that again to see what I can start doing now to prepare because it is now only 9 weeks away.. ME being that preparer that I am, I like to get things done and out of the way and all ready to go (or just have some idea of what I need to do..)

Thats right biotch!

I was reading a Mike McGuff's blog and he had this posting about a news station in Terra Haute Indiana bragging about their radar and about how they were better than the other station. I would have to say that they were very bold in creating this spot.. Just watching it makes me laugh because it is like a political campaign combined with a bitch slap at the end... It is awesome! Here is the direct link to the spot....

Pete and Troy... a match made in heaven?????

For viewers of Dallas's Channel 8, they have noticed that Troy Dungan, the Cheif Meteorologist has had a freindly helper during the weathercasts, Pete Delkus. Pete is the newest meteorologist who is scheduled to take over for Troy whenever he retires sometime real soon. For the past few months, Troy and Pete have been doing dual casts where Pete will go over something and Troy will follow up behind him the weather forecast. All metroplexers have been brainwashed to "Trust Troy.." Now WFAA is trying to wean the audience to accept Pete as the new guy and they are trying to show us that he is actually competent. This is totally a new concept for me becuase usually when people leave, they say their goodbyes and then the new guy starts the next day and has to establish credibility on his/her own. I just think that it sucks for Pete to have to be at the station to only be on the air for a total of 30 seconds doing something menial as sharing WeatherBug temperatures and the like (however lately, he has been doing a really good analysis of the severe weather that heads our way).

What the F!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3834446.html

1/3 of young Americans cannot find Louisiana on a map! And half of them can't find Mississippi either! What the F***!!!! Oh yeah, I can spell Mississippi, but I can't find it on a map... That is why when I become a teacher (and I really hope that I become a Geography teacher) I am going to pound in the importance of learning the states and capitals of the United States. If nothing else, they will know that, at least. It is really important for all citizens of the United States to know at least their states.. And another thing, if they are looking at a map, IT HAS THE NAMES OF THE STATES ON THERE!! So there goes the reading skills.... Oh, by the way, Louisiana IS SHAPED LIKE A "L"!!!!

British Isles Field School

Well... the main point of this blog is to document the stories and all of the fun encounters of my Study Abroad trip this summer. I will be taking a trip to the British Isles (England, Ireland, and Scotland) in July with the Geography Department at UNT. We will be there for 3 weeks and hopefully it will be a lot of fun! While there, we will be visiting the cities of : Dartmoor, the most infamous Cork, Galway, Bangor, and Edinburgh. We will be living in University Residence Halls (which shall be interesting) and will only be in each city for about 3 days. The thing that I am ost excited about with this trip is that we will not be doing what the average tourist does. We will be driving throughout the countryside and visiting cities that are not average tourist traps. These are big cities in their own, but not ones that people flock daily to. We will be like we are citizens or long staying visitors where we will live like these people and will be able to develop an appreciation for how they live their life. That is going to be awesome!

Illegal Immigration

Grrr... This is really annoying me.. While I click away at work, I listen to talk radio from Houston (www.ktrh.com) and it seems like everyday, they are always talking about this topic. These people who are in our country illegally need to get over themselves and realize that they are breaking the law and are not allowed to be here. If they want to become American citizens so badly, they should do it the correct and legal way.... It is disrespectful to our laws and also disrespectful to those permanent residents who have become citizens. That is total crap....

AND..Undocumented students, or those here illegally, can get in-state tuition if they sign a piece of paper agreeing that they would take the proper steps to become documented.. This is one example that shows that these people get enough rights and privileges as it is.. If they want anything additonal, then they need to take the proper steps to become a legal citizen.