Boy, Bartender's declaration really killed the desire to post in here, didn't it?

Well, at any rate, I would say that if people arrive and there's a discussion, they should participate. If they have a discussion to start, they should try to start it. Mindless posting of amusing-looking misspellings, smileys, all by themselves would be stupid, for instance. If they have nothing to talk about, it would probably be best for people to not just post a hello and a goodbye in here between classes, for instance, or something of that nature.

That sound about right for the types of "improvments" you're talking about, Bartender?

(Regarding any potential AIM discussions, when lot people get onto the chat rooms it moves at such a fast, ridiculous pace that there's nearly no way to talk about anything. I feel drowned out. At least with this thread I can know what everyone's responding to or carry on a discussion with them seperate from any spam that may be occuring, if I choose.)

I realize that this is easily within the confines of common sense, and it's probably a case of "the pot calling the kettle black" as Jom said, ;) but whatever.

I just have a shameful 'collection' of one song...Drugs Have Done Good Things...It's good, I just can't really seem to find much by him.

I guess that's the impression the last thread gave off, though... I mean, I don't blame people who thought that off-topic = chat.

I'm sure people will work on it, though. Hopefully. I know I will.

///

I was talking with someone about the differences between high school (secondary school in Europe? I don't know the term for it, sorry :() and university.

I took the stance that uni is just a glorified high school, with just a lot more people and a lot more work. I genuinely felt that when I came to uni that all the cliques and things of that nature (basically, everything that I hated about high school) would disappear, but this isn't the case.

I never went to senior prom (or any prom for that matter), the only school events I attended were the sports I participated in (and to other sports events to support friends), and I was just so numb to "the high school experience" that everyone raves about. I honestly thought that uni would be easier, but this is clearly not the case.

I said that I would still be optimistic that things will be better next year and that my first year was just a bad, fluke-y year, and this is what he said in reply:

[quote]See, I don't really miss high school that much. I mean, your friends in high school are generally friends of convenience or just the kids you've known since pre-school. The pool is bigger in college. And, this is extremely fu[font=]cking dorky, with livejournal, you're kind of able to have a meeting of the minds, in a way. There have been a lot of real-world 'lj sightings' and it seems like friendships and even romances have blossomed because of this thing. But I'm rambling here.

My point is, after a few years, you really find your niche in college. You meet the right people, you do the right things and it all falls into place. That's what happened to me... after 3 years. After another year, I'm done with uni. So yeah, keep being optimistic, seriously.[/quote]

The LiveJournal reference is a long story, but I'll try to break it down in a nutshell: a lot of the people who post on my uni's community LiveJournal know each other very well, it seems, and I only know them because I introduced myself to them at either the radio station, or at the improv comedy thing, and so on. /nutshell

Anyways, my whole point is that I don't see a difference between high school and university other than the fact that there's an even larger number of as[/font]sholes here with an even larger amount of people being cliquey with each other. I just can't stand things like that.

Comments regarding anything I wrote in this post are appreciated.

[QUOTE=AntiHero3314]I was talking with someone about the differences between high school (secondary school in Europe? I don't know the term for it, sorry :() and university.[/QUOTE]
The way I see it, "High School" which is what I'm at now, is forced, I.E, you have to, it's against the law not to go, University is more of a choice, if you want better qualifications etc, you go to University to get them.

[QUOTE=i_am_Jimmy_Page]The way I see it, "High School" which is what I'm at now, is forced, I.E, you have to, it's against the law not to go, University is more of a choice, if you want better qualifications etc, you go to University to get them.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but as you get older, you need those qualifications in order to have a high-paying job, because money = happiness to most people. Not all, but most.

Is that not a valid assessment? :-\

[QUOTE=AntiHero3314]Yeah, but as you get older, you need those qualifications in order to have a high-paying job, because money = happiness to most people. Not all, but most.

Is that not a valid assessment? :-\[/QUOTE]
I'd say so, allthough I don't want to come across as a money grabbing miser :p...heh.

I'll possibly go to University or College, it completely depends on what courses they are offering, the universitys and colleges around here are pretty decent though, so I don't think I'll have any problems..

My thread is turning into a flame fest.

[QUOTE=88_Fingers_Joe]My thread is turning into a flame fest.[/QUOTE]

The metalcore one? You should have expected it posting it in R&M, to be completely honest. I thought it was a good thread, but there will always be people who will try to make it sound like their points are superior to everyone else's... it's a far cry from Drew vs. Dargon, but sometimes what you think is a flamefest will hopefully turn into some healthy discussion?

Perhaps you should go in there and ask everyone to calm down/get back on track, etc.

If not, ignore me.

[QUOTE=AntiHero3314]I guess that's the impression the last thread gave off, though... I mean, I don't blame people who thought that off-topic = chat.

I'm sure people will work on it, though. Hopefully. I know I will.

///

I was talking with someone about the differences between high school (secondary school in Europe? I don't know the term for it, sorry :() and university.

I took the stance that uni is just a glorified high school, with just a lot more people and a lot more work. I genuinely felt that when I came to uni that all the cliques and things of that nature (basically, everything that I hated about high school) would disappear, but this isn't the case.

I never went to senior prom (or any prom for that matter), the only school events I attended were the sports I participated in (and to other sports events to support friends), and I was just so numb to "the high school experience" that everyone raves about. I honestly thought that uni would be easier, but this is clearly not the case.

I said that I would still be optimistic that things will be better next year and that my first year was just a bad, fluke-y year, and this is what he said in reply:



The LiveJournal reference is a long story, but I'll try to break it down in a nutshell: a lot of the people who post on my uni's community LiveJournal know each other very well, it seems, and I only know them because I introduced myself to them at either the radio station, or at the improv comedy thing, and so on. /nutshell

Anyways, my whole point is that I don't see a difference between high school and university other than the fact that there's an even larger number of as[/font]sholes here with an even larger amount of people being cliquey with each other. I just can't stand things like that.

Comments regarding anything I wrote in this post are appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Well, you go to a state school, right? Those tend to be much cheaper, not personalized, and gigantic. As a result, they tend to attract the assholes and careless, stupid people the intelligent guys like you hated in high school. The way I look at it is this: everyone that was in cliques, and who cared about them, went to uni too, just like you. What are they gonna do? Start cliques. Start drama. Throw easily available alcohol and massive amounts of partying and free sex into the mix and it turns into a severely unpleasant and volatile situation.

I go to a very liberal-arts school. Much more expensive, with its own brand of idiots and extremely unpleasent people, and even the random clique here and there. But among its benefits are a much smaller student population, a much more personalized education both in terms of how much effort an individual teacher can spend on individual students and also freedom of choice in terms of what students choose to study. The kids tend to be by and large quite intelligent, and very nice. I've had an awesome first year, with a girlfriend going into the seventh month of a relationship in just five days, and a slew of amazing friends far better than any I had in high school. It's a lot different here than the environment at my state school, which is where nearly every idiot I hated throughout high school chose to go, and I honestly believe that this is the perfect choice for me.

It's very different between colleges. The way I see it, though, is that there is a universal strategy that is either assisted or hindered by the environments I described but which will work in either situation. The way I see it, the key is picking people that you honestly like, and who gives a **** what clique they're in. The first three weeks of school were spent by me by meeting as many people as possible, so that I wouldn't be confined to a "group" that would limit me socially. It sounds like I'm trying to be popular when I say that, but it's more indicative of a disregard for cliques rather than a desire to be a part of many at once, I think. I basically agree with the respondee you quoted. You've just gotta take care and do what you feel you have to to find your niche. It's a bit harder I think because of the general environment of state uni, but it can work. :)

High School is alot different in England. Private Schools are full of drug taking rich kids, who's parents trust them to much to care about grades. You generally find the more intelligent people in a Public School, but you also get the idiots who miss every lesson, and occasionally come in to cause trouble.

We also have a big racism culture in our school, and alot of Islamic people regulaly start fights with white people just for being white. If i said that in school, i would be called racist. The British policy on politcal correctness is ridiculous.

**** you, my clique is way cooler than yours!

I have a conference with my teacher for a little while now, expect late responses to any you may have to my point, Jim. :) I want replies!!

Cain: yeah, something like that would be a start, at least :) Thanks.

[QUOTE=i_am_Jimmy_Page]I just have a shameful 'collection' of one song...Drugs Have Done Good Things...It's good, I just can't really seem to find much by him.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but I mean, is it actually a song? With music and singing and such. Or is it just a sound file of stand-up?

[QUOTE=Antihero]
*big post*[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately I can't relate to most of what you seem to be saying. My "high school" (secondary school is what I called it, yeah) was really good, and apart from the work, I enjoyed it immensely. And for me, University has been good so far..I don't notice cliques (beyond just groups of friends hanging out, naturally), maybe it's because I'm not often very alert to things like that, or something. It seems to be totally different to school, though, a lot more impersonal (in a good way).

You say it just has a lot more people and a lot more woirk, but I've generally been in contact with fewer people (my four flatmates, only two of whom I really talk to, and two people at most from classes and such - they're very cool, though), and if not less work - I hardly did any in school, either - then no great increase. I've been there six months now, and I've only had to do 10 pieces of work.

I currently am still in High School (in the Library right now cause my home comp is dead).

There is nobody worth while speaking to here. Except for a few people.

[QUOTE=88_Fingers_Joe]High School is alot different in England. Private Schools are full of drug taking rich kids, who's parents trust them to much to care about grades. You generally find the more intelligent people in a Public School, but you also get the idiots who miss every lesson, and occasionally come in to cause trouble.

We also have a big racism culture in our school, and alot of Islamic people regulaly start fights with white people just for being white. If i said that in school, i would be called racist. The British policy on politcal correctness is ridiculous.[/QUOTE]

Are you serious? I went to a private school (no drugs, bar a couple of idiots), and I know that I can say, without boasting, that we had much more intelligent students than any state school I've known of (and I've known of quite a few - my mam's been a teacher in state schools all her life).

Unless by public schools, you meant actual public schools (Eton and so on), rather than state schools.

We didn't have any racism either. In my school, I mean. I remember some guy in charge of a committee for education made the recommendation a couple of months ago that black children and white children should be educated separately, to avoid any detriment to the black kids' learning. Which is idiotic. Thankfully I've heard nothing more of that since then.

I think part of my issue is that I go to a smaller university. I got accepted to every single uni I applied for, and one of the uni's undergrad population is 80,000+. That's too much for me, so I figured that a smaller school would help me out. Turns out, I have to deal with things more regularly... next year will be much better for me because:

1) Roommate will hopefully be dead/incarcerated/I won't see him ever again
2) Better housing with better roommates (townhouse, with two others I know better)
3) Better classes and hopefully not as rigorous as this year
4) Roommate will hopefully be dead/incarcerated/I won't see him ever again
5) Townhouse = more space between neighbors
6) Townhouse = not having to put up with a lot of people in the same living center

I think that I just got thrown into a situation I couldn't control, which leads to my palpable frustration. I don't mean to take it out here, but none of my high school friends who go here care enough to listen.

And yeah, it's a state uni, Cain, but it's smaller. The undergrad population here is less than 10,000, I think. I thought this would be an advantage, but ohhhhh no. Big mistake. People are so divided here, be it politically or socially or whatever (the election here, for example, tore our uni's population in two because half of everyone here is seemingly liberal while the other half is seemingly conservative. I didn't vote in the election, so I carried apathetic views, but I still followed the election).

I also would assume that universities in Europe are different than America in some respects. When I interviewed Jelle (and when I talk to him otherwise on AIM) for my diversity class he said that he has to attend until July, and then goes back in October, which is drastically different than mine, considering I'm out on the 27th of this month and return at the end of August.

I just think that next year I'll have a better handle on things because I'll have new classes, a better place to live, and not having to put up with my douche of a roommate anymore.

I thought I had more to say than this. I'll edit it in if I can remember.

[QUOTE=Bartender]Yeah, but I mean, is it actually a song? With music and singing and such. Or is it just a sound file of stand-up?[/QUOTE]
It's actually stand up, very good stuff. Apparently it's about the Beatles/Bob Dylan (or any 60's artist), is that true?

Well, if it's the bit I'm thinking of, he just means any artist.

[QUOTE=AntiHero3314]I also would assume that universities in Europe are different than America in some respects.[/QUOTE]

Size is definitely one of those respects. Leeds is one of the bigger universities here, and it's total student population is around 30,000.

I think that, apart from just plain comparing them to each other (in a "my uni's better than your uni" way :)), there doesn't seem to be that much common ground between the systems :-/

[QUOTE=88_Fingers_Joe]High School is alot different in England. Private Schools are full of drug taking rich kids, who's parents trust them to much to care about grades. You generally find the more intelligent people in a Public School, but you also get the idiots who miss every lesson, and occasionally come in to cause trouble.

We also have a big racism culture in our school, and alot of Islamic people regulaly start fights with white people just for being white. If i said that in school, i would be called racist. The British policy on politcal correctness is ridiculous.[/QUOTE]
I go to a public school, and I wouldn't say you'll find more intelligent people there. Granted you'll find some intelligent kids but the majority of pupils, in my school at least, have major attitude problems.
Then again, I think my school is one of the worst in my region and/or country :-/

Heh, well, I don't want to get into a debate over our unis :)

Yours sounds like a nice place, besides it being located on a gigantic hill.

Mine is in friggin' cow country, you have to drive a ways to get to anything remotely close to a city... not long via expressway, however... there's malls, movie theaters, restaurants, Lake Michigan is about twenty minutes down the road... the list goes on. It's just that the campus is located in a humongous valley (sort of like the antithesis of Leeds :)), so not a lot of business can be conducted there. There's a family orchard down the road, but that's basically it.

[QUOTE=Med57]
Bill Hicks was a genius, plain and simple. If he was still around today, I'd love to see how good his stand up routine was now as well, purely because he's got so much material to work with. He also influenced two of my favourite bands in Radiohead and Tool, so he's got to get some credit for that as well. :D[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'd love to see him do fifteen minutes on 9/11. It'd also be interesting to see just how angry he can get about the fact that we have another Bush in power, and that we've had another Gulf War.

[QUOTE=AntiHero3314]Heh, well, I don't want to get into a debate over our unis :)

Yours sounds like a nice place, besides it being located on a gigantic hill.

Mine is in friggin' cow country, you have to drive a ways to get to anything remotely close to a city... not long via expressway, however... there's malls, movie theaters, restaurants, Lake Michigan is about twenty minutes down the road... the list goes on. It's just that the campus is located in a humongous valley (sort of like the antithesis of Leeds :)), so not a lot of business can be conducted there. There's a family orchard down the road, but that's basically it.[/QUOTE]

My school only has about 3,000 or so undergrads, maybe 500 or so graduate students. That type of size is where it becomes an advantage...that's also where it gets real expensive. You basically pay for to 1-15 teacher to student ratio.

I made sure to get to a school that wasn't in cow country. There are movie theaters and a huge mall complex within walking distance, and a train station that gets me to Grand Central in NYC in 20 minutes. And the campus is like a beautiful oasis with nice houses and old buildings and beautiful flowers and trees in the midst of the suburbia.

It's just a different environment, one conducive to my desires for social scene, extra-curricular activities, etc. I love it. And it sounds like things are shaping up better for you too. :)

[QUOTE=Bartender]Yeah, I'd love to see him do fifteen minutes on 9/11. It'd also be interesting to see just how angry he can get about the fact that we have another Bush in power, and that we've had another Gulf War.[/QUOTE]

American presidents since WWII have seemed intent on turning the British into lackeys rather than legitimate, equal Allies. We wouldn't exist without them, but it's like we are lording our status over people with far more history than we have. That's one thing I find rather annoying and premature on the part of the U.S.

:shiftyeyes: at the phrasing of your paragraph. It sounds like you're American, the way you say "we." :p

Believe me, there would be nothing better than to crack my roommate right across the face with a right hook. I have to have restraint, though, unless he tries to do something idiotic. Then, it's on.

I'm confident that he won't do anything stupid though because I seriously outweigh him by at least fifty pounds (22.7 kg? I don't know what that is in stones) and have a hell of a lot more physical prowess than he possesses. I could try to convince him to fight me while he's drunk, but I wouldn't want such an advantage :p

I didn't mean cow country in the sense that I can hear mooing... but there are a number of farms in the valley. The uni distances itself from them enough, though, and there are plenty of stores and gas stations nearby... it's just all the good ones are a ten minute or so drive.

Speaking of gas, I saw it hit $2.48/gallon here this weekend. Friggin' ridiculous, man.

[QUOTE=AntiHero3314]Believe me, there would be nothing better than to crack my roommate right across the face with a right hook. I have to have restraint, though, unless he tries to do something idiotic. Then, it's on.

I'm confident that he won't do anything stupid though because I seriously outweigh him by at least fifty pounds (22.7 kg? I don't know what that is in stones) and have a hell of a lot more physical prowess than he possesses. I could try to convince him to fight me while he's drunk, but I wouldn't want such an advantage :p

I didn't mean cow country in the sense that I can hear mooing... but there are a number of farms in the valley. The uni distances itself from them enough, though, and there are plenty of stores and gas stations nearby... it's just all the good ones are a ten minute or so drive.

Speaking of gas, I saw it hit $2.48/gallon here this weekend. Friggin' ridiculous, man.[/QUOTE]

I don't need no stinkin' cars!

Although it is a pain to walk places in a cold New York winter.

[QUOTE=Cain]American presidents since WWII have seemed intent on turning the British into lackeys rather than legitimate, equal Allies. [b]We wouldn't exist without them[/b], but it's like we are lording our status over people with far more history than we have. That's one thing I find rather annoying and premature on the part of the U.S. [/QUOTE]

Maybe the highlighted part is significant. Some kind of deep-seated, nation-wide American insecurity about the fact that that at one point it was under the control (in part, at least) of such a tiny nation, and in fact wouldn't have existed without it, driving the country as a whole to a desire to keep England/the UK as subordinate as possible. Freud would undoubtedly have something to say there, probably involving the word "complex".

[QUOTE=Ripper]:shiftyeyes: at the phrasing of your paragraph. It sounds like you're American, the way you say "we." :p[/QUOTE]

It was meant more in the hippyish, it's-a-round-world-last-time-I-checked kind of thing.

Anyway, IAJP - just download anything you can find by Hicks. I can't think of specific files (since many of them don't have specific file names). I'll take some more down with me, back to Leeds, though.

[QUOTE=AntiHero3314]
Speaking of gas, I saw it hit $2.48/gallon here this weekend. Friggin' ridiculous, man.[/QUOTE]

You need some perspective :-/ The price over here at the moment (roughly converted) is $3.55/gallon, and though it's been creeping up recently, that's not a particularly high price.

[QUOTE=Bartender]Maybe the highlighted part is significant. Some kind of deep-seated, nation-wide American insecurity about the fact that that at one point it was under the control (in part, at least) of such a tiny nation, and in fact wouldn't have existed without it, driving the country as a whole to a desire to keep England/the UK as subordinate as possible. Freud would undoubtedly have something to say there, probably involving the word "complex".[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure you're right. As the only nation unscathed physically by the massive World Wars, with the most amount of money and the best position to give orders to other countries, we found ourselves in a place where we felt like we could control our Allies. NATO's inception, for instance, has always struck me as America, intent on defeating Communism in the battle for the dominance of the "civilized world", lassoing the European states into a sort of buffer zone. In that sense, it seems to me like it was America trying to turn Britain, France, etc. into, essentially, nothing more than American satellite states, in the same way the USSR used countries like Ukraine, the Balkans, Poland, and East Germany.

[QUOTE=Bartender]You need some perspective :-/ The price over here at the moment (roughly converted) is $3.55/gallon, and though it's been creeping up recently, that's not a particularly high price.[/QUOTE]

If gas was $3.55/gallon in the US, people would most definitely not say that that isn't a particularly high price. People would bitch up a storm, man. People are bitching up a storm that it went over $2.20 :)

It's just that I hate giving the register ten dollars, and only getting less than four gallons for my car. Luckily, I drive anything but a gas guzzler, but sometimes it makes you wonder.

I want to play the new Splinter Cell. It looks phenomenal... and it got a 9.9/10 in some gaming mag, so that means it has to be awesome. I like those kind of games for a change-of-pace. I love games like Timesplitters 2 where you can be these completely random characters and have these badass weapons and crazy modes of play, it's a fun party game because some completely random things can happen... but the Splinter Cell series is so involved and just plain good ol' fun. I just hate how the pistol is such a wuss.

[QUOTE=Bartender]You need some perspective :-/ The price over here at the moment (roughly converted) is $3.55/gallon, and though it's been creeping up recently, that's not a particularly high price.[/QUOTE]

I forgot! We're finally seeing the decline of our financial dominance over the world, too, and that probably pisses people like Bush off. World War II's repercussions haven't lasted forever. That's probably another reason Bush is trying to effect so much change.