As I wrote in my last asides entry I have been busy with exams for the past three weeks: I had to revise for economics, law, stochastics, statistics, market research, financial accounting and marketing. Furthermore I had to deliver a 30-page business plan (that turned out to be 113 pages), a 20-page paper, deliver a presentation about Philips in Dutch, write endless reflections and do many time management tests. All in all a busy semester – at the end. I have not been at Dutch classes for weeks and still scored a 8/10 with help of Marijn and Snuk (who works as a cop nowadays in Amsterdam’s red light district…). What I wanted to say is that this Dutch study-module at Fontys Hogeschool Economié is total crap and exploitable. Not as if anyone cared.. Anyhow, semester is over, I am about to receive my intermediate exam(ination), which is sometimes also called intermediate degree after one year already. Times keeps on slipping..

Best part about the semester being over is that I have holidays now, yay! I have purchased some items on the internet to keep me busy, but I have also come up with a long to-do list of tasks and assignments that need to be done in the upcoming weeks to keep all my visitors happy (the is the part where you could drop me a mail…)

In chronological order, or at least in order of importance:

1. Upload my latest mix (recorded June 13th, 2007) – posted here
2. Modify the Bonsai theme for Lorna ¹ – done, will be listed at Bonsai page soon.
3. Talk to Steve if LisaHeaton.com needs changes
4. Update Simpsons listings (found new links on rapidshare)
5. Talk to Steve because of his site and wordpress
6. Talk to Steve because of parcel and sketches
7. Adopt latest theme sketches to h4x3d.com
8. Work on themes.h4x3d.com
9. Work on design for afterhoursdjs (mark kitten)
10. Establish qpoz (quality positioning)
11. Work on design for dar-lin (web 2.0 tipse)
12. Work on design for trancin
13. Leave blackscreenday.com black
14. Convert FLAME into a wordpress theme
15. Convert Surfconcept into a wordpress theme
16. Establish CameronDiaz / VictoriaBeckham
17. Sort out Google ads
18. Write a negative article about TribialFusion/Burstmedia/ValueClick
19. Hopefully get back my Sony VAIO BX (it is broken again)
20. Write a personal development plan (University) – done
21. Meet with my study coach
22. Finish and record various music sets
23. Build Pringles antenna – pictures to come
24. Visit Yoda in Greifswald
25. Visit Gareth in Jersey
26. Sort out header for Gav
27. Sort out celeb design for Gav
28. Speak to Caz
29. Speak to Carlos on MSN
30. Do design work for Jamie (SPLASH)
31. Have a good vacation with my girlfriend
32. Finish private projects (panama hosting)

See… loads to do.

Below you will find a list of updated Simpsons episodes, I was able to find additional links in forums that do work:

The Simpsons | marge-and-homer-turn-a-couple-play-s17e22
The Simpsons | the-monkey-suit-s17e21
The Simpsons | regarding-margie-s17e20
The Simpsons | girls-just-want-to-have-sums-s17e19
The Simpsons | the-wettest-stories-ever-told-s17e18
The Simpsons | kiss-kiss-bang-bangalore-s17e17
The Simpsons | million-dollar-abie-s17e16
The Simpsons | homer-simpson-this-is-your-wife-s17e15
The Simpsons | bart-has-two-mommies-s17e14
The Simpsons | the-seemingly-never-ending-story-s17e13
The Simpsons | my-fair-laddy-s17e12
The Simpsons | were-on-the-road-to-dohwhere-s17e11
The Simpsons | homers-paternity-coot-s17e10
The Simpsons | simpsons-christmas-stories-s17e09
The Simpsons | the-italian-bob-s17e08
The Simpsons | the-last-of-the-red-hat-mamas-s17e07
The Simpsons | see-homer-run-s17e06
The Simpsons | marges-son-poisoning-e17s05
The Simpsons | treehouse-of-horror-xvi-s17e04
The Simpsons | milhouse-of-sand-and-fog-s17e03
The Simpsons | the-girl-who-slept-too-little-s17e02
The Simpsons | bonfire-of-the-manatees-s17e01

Below you will find a list of updated Simpsons episodes, I was able to find additional links in forums that do work:
<a href="http://www.h4x3d.com/
400th-episode s18e22
24-minutes s18e21
The Simpsons s18e20
The Simpsons s18e19
The Simpsons s18e18
The Simpsons s18e17
The Simpsons s18e16
The Simpsons s18e15
The Simpsons s18e14
The Simpsons s18e13
The Simpsons s18e12
The Simpsons s18e11
The Simpsons s18e10
The Simpsons s18e09
The Simpsons s18e08
The Simpsons s18e07
The Simpsons s18e06
The Simpsons s18e05
The Simpsons s18e04
The Simpsons s18e03
The Simpsons s18e02
The Simpsons s18e01

-City lights / Skyline book

Skyline book page 160
Words:
billboards, anonymity, neon signs, sky scarpers, high rise pollution, exhaust, fume, congested traffic, buildings, illuminated city, high crime rates, social differences

Skyline book page 162
Fact file London:
- London’s economic output is enormous
- Many minorities live in London (central London)
- prices for nearly everything are higher than elsewhere in the UK
- fast rising prices (housing)
- very good infrastructure hence the spending on public transportation are gigantic compared to the spending in the outer areas
- poverty in London is higher than elsewhere in the UK
- service sector is dominating in London

Problems:
high prices -> high wages / high cost of living / high crime rate

Skyline book page 162-164
It’s London vs. Britain:
The level of subsidy means the amount of money given to certain people to support them.

Fiscal transfers are just another expression for financial transfers.

Urban chic means a trendy live in a megalopolis such as London.

Working down the phone lines means someone working outside London with his phone or laptop and the internet by communicating with the people inside London “over the phone lines”.

When speaking of an Agatha Christie Britain one means the Britain as it is described in the author’s books. It is a generalized image of Britain and refers to a romantic vision.

The M25 is a motorway in England and often described as “the concrete border”. It divides the London area from the rest of Britain.

London is different from the rest of Britain, because of multiple things:
There is a greater diversity of cultures in London than elsewhere and the prices are also higher than in he outskirts or in the rest of Britain.
That means houses, accommodation, taxes and even parking fees are higher then in any other city.
London has an immense economic output.
It is Britain’s capital and therefore the centre of all political decisions.
London also has an administrative function for the rest of the country.
People living there are younger than people from outer regions and there is also a higher percentage of liberal people; that means they are more tolerant than others. Summed up you can say that the differences are the higher number of ethnic minorities, the higher costs for living, a higher living standard, a higher number of young and liberal people, as well as London’s economic, social, political and administrative importance.
It is not only because of those facts that many people work in the service sector, but also for the reason that London is a multinational gateway for services of all kind. Many companies have their headquarters in London.

Skyline book page 165-166
Can you hear me at the back?

The author criticizes multiple aspects of the town he lives in.
He is annoyed of the office blocks in the city centres, because of their location they are the reason for jammed roads.
The cars are the main cause for the increased noise level.
The leisure life is changed to a hectic one and it is no longer possible to sit down in a café in downtown hence there are none left.
Theatres and cafes cannot remain in the centre, because the estate prices are too high.
People can’t effort to live there either due to the high property prices.
As a result the city is merely used for working instead of living.
The author says that the high buildings look almost like identical boxes to him.

He uses the connotative image of Lego land to fortify the small, all alike looking image. Those boxes show how the architect’s restricted creativity.
The architects are not asking the people living there.
The buildings are planned for and not with the people.
The denotative meaning of Lego land is different from the connotative.
Lego land is a large amusement park in Denmark and Lego is also a box like plastic toy for children. One piece of Lego can be put on top of another piece.

Skyline book page 161
New York, Bono (U2)

The song “New York” by U2 deals with the megalopolis NY and how a single person living there sees the city with his eyes.
The song’s gist is that NY is offering a lot of freedom concerning choices. The city is a crowded and busy place where a different people from a diversity of countries live. The summer is hot there, almost depressing.
The singer says that everyone is happy but himself and his personificated friend “NY”. It seems like the person described there is in his/her midlife crisis.

His attitude towards NY is split into a positive and a negative one. On the one hand he likes NY and says he “found a friend to drown out the voices”, but on the other hand he says that the freedom offered by NY has the negative consequence of having too many choices.
Furthermore he says that NY has caused a midlife crisis for him, but he is also not leaving the city to ease the problems caused by that. That is a bit paradox.

Those lyrics feature several positive and negative aspects;
Some positive aspects are the many choices, freedom to choose, the hot summer, different cultures, a stimulating city.
Negative items include: too many choices, noise, voices, sounds, hot air which is uncomfortable, smog, cultural clashes, restlessness, hectic, anonymity.