BMAT Results

So today was the day.
Got the results this morning.
I was quite disappointed with them.
But that is probably me being me, having high standards and expecting more from myself. I got a combined score of 16.6, which is average.
One of the London Med schools I've applied to will guarantee you an interview if you obtain a score of 19+ but say they will interview a majority under that mark also as "19 is an exceptionally high score and few candidates achieve above this score", and I already have an interview with my first choice (a week today!) so im not devastated.
This just means i will have to be red-hot at interview and talk my way in! And im quite confident about that. Plus im a firm believer in everything happening for a reason.

Kamakuracool
Originally uploaded by azuric.

Faffing around on the fantastic Flickr i've noticed that many of my pics have had views, but i've had no comments. I wish these lovely yet mysterious guests would leave a comment so i can see who they are.

Jack Johnson(Nottingham + Birmingham)Concerts x sold out = Azuric + sad²

Splurge

Crap.

I have so much work to do.

So so much work (details later).

So exactly why am i here Blogging and not actually doing it?

Well, I've done some, and am waiting for a book i need before i can do some of the rest. Plus i need a break, and a good way i find of getting my mind off it/taking a break, is Blogging. Coming here to..."Splurge" out my thoughts/rants/opinions.

"Splurge" is the only word i can think of here to accurately convey my meaning. I was thinking of "fart out" - but thats just disgusting and inappropriate, but i couldn't say "spit out" because that's just vulgar and would suggest that the session will be over rather quickly, and "spill out" wouldn't work either because that would give the impression that thoughts are very thin and liquidy, but they are not, they are a very thick viscous substance, but also silky, almost like a snail trail, but less slimy. Then, "slurp out" came to mind, but that word is often associated with taking things in, not egesting them. Hence - "Splurge".

Anyway, yes so the work - I have 3 tests next week, Biology - "Evolution Classification and Selection", Chemistry - "Redox Equilibria", and Maths - Core module 3.
I can't even do everything in Core 3 (C3) at the moment and we have already started C4! On top of this I have to prepare for my interview, which involves revising all of the AS course that is related to Medicine (i.e. all of Biology AS and more) , and read G, NuSci, and The Selfish gene.
A-levels are a bitch. I was told by someone at uni studying something sometime ago that A-levels are harder than 1st year at Uni. Im guessing (sadly) that most of my readers (well, the few that i know of, who coincidently all have been or are at uni studying sciencey courses) are going to disagree here?

Taking a minty fresh break here, have you seen the new Limited Edition Winter Warmer Tic Tacs? Mmmmm soo good - cinnamon flavour, remind me of those Atomic Fireball sweets that you probably cant remember? Reading the back of a pack (as i often do with things i consume, e.g. Kellogg's boxes over breakfast or Juice cartons during lunch. Don't really know where this habit came from but they are quite interesting sometimes):

NUTRITION INFORMATION: TYPICAL VALUES PER DROP: ENERGY 8.5 kJ / 2 kcal, PROTEIN 0g, CARBOHYDRATE 0.5 g, FAT 0g.

- typical values per "drop"? But TicTacs aren't liquid, they are TicTacs! Surely they mean "values per Tac", or maybe "values per Tic"? Depending on whether "Tic" is the adjective for "Tac"? Or whether "Tac" is the suffix for "Tic"? Maybe they just said "drop" to avoid such confuzzlement. But then they could have said "values per individual flavoured sugar coated rice particle"......"TicTacs" are made out of rice right?

(Having just dissected one with just my teeth, i can reveal that the answer to that question is...not exactly, the ingredients include rice starch, but they are not made out of full rice grains)

ANYWAY...i had a rather fun conversation with 2 fellow potential medics in the library yesterday
(much to the annoyance of the librarian. Luckily i missed her ice cold death stares as i was facing the other way) about Pat and her NHS cut demands.
Hello Hewie?! Its winter! You want the poor NHS to make £700 million of cuts to balance the books within the next 6 months, and your telling them now?!
Err, maybe you could have given them a little more notice! This is possibly the worst time of the year for Docs&Nurses, what with flu pandemics and thick drunk prats getting absolutely fecked off their heads at x-mas parties*.
Her argument is that unless the gov gets strict with trusts, they are going to continue overspending and the gov is going to have to bail them out every time. And although she makes a fair point i have to agree with the BMA - the trusts have already made so many cuts - how can they do more without impinging on service?

*This ties in with the stupid licensing laws.
Oh yeah, we have a real problem in the UK with Binge drinking and anti-social behaviour, where alcohol related problems are at a record high, so lets allow alcohol to be served for even more hours of the day, so every Vicky Pollard and Burberry-clad chav can get totally pissed and then come running to the NHS for help!That's a great idea!

The gov has spent silly amounts on this stupid vomit-urine poster campaign to warn you how you could get an £80 fine, and this brings me to my second point - to catch people acting like this they are going to need more police on the streets for longer hours and so spend more money on that. And who has to deal with all these piss-heads?
Yes, the NHS.
According to a doctor in A&E, 75% of A&E casualties at weekends are drunks or people who have got in fights as a result of alcohol. So that means that poor old Joe Bloggs (who has now been acquitteded and released after those 90 days) who has brought his daughter in with a sprained ankle has to wait hours on end at no fault of his own or the Docs&Nurses.

Another point: stupid gov has not fully banned smoking in public places in England whilst everywhere else in the UK has a blanket ban! Oh im sorry, didn'tnt realise smoking was less dangerous as soon as you cross the border into England's green smoggy and pleasant carcinogenic-filled land.

On another, less ranty and aggressive note, i stumbled across Googlism the other day, which basically finds out what Google thinks of you...
In an attempt to test out its supposed amazingness i searched for me, and the results where:

Googlism for: azuric
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /usr/dbs_share/www/shared/include/googlism.com/private/
googlism.inc on line 41Sorry, Google doesn't know enough about azuric yet.

So then i tried ObscureAzure with the "what" option:

Googlism for: obscureazure
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /usr/dbs_share/www/shared/include/googlism.com/private/
googlism.inc on line 41Sorry, Google doesn't know enough about obscureazure yet.

Hmmm, i thought, maybe i'll try Blog friends that have been around longer than i have:

Googlism for: london dan
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /usr/dbs_share/www/shared/include/googlism.com/private/
googlism.inc on line 41Sorry, Google doesn't know enough about london dan yet.

And:

Googlism for: any-hoo
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /usr/dbs_share/www/shared/include/googlism.com/private/
googlism.inc on line 41Sorry, Google doesn't know enough about any-hoo yet.

Which lead me to my conclusion that the site is crap.

Bye Kids, and remember to consult your dentist beofre dissecting "TicTacs".

Well Blog Me!

(Yes! Those chilly chimps are on the radio! excuse me while i crank up the vol)

Anyway, i was going to say...I've recently come across 2 new Bloggers whose work im enjoying (from all i've seen of it so far) - and by recently i mean - Surina - last week, and Andrew - this afternoon.

Surina's personal blog makes an interesting read and she's a Podcaster! Check out her Libsyn - "Bali Curdles" is hilarious! Had me in stitches!)

Andrew is Med student. I tried so hard to find Med-Student Blogs but didn't come across Superfluous Rantings on my quest. Check out his Ridiculously Stupid Ideas also.

Now im gonna dash, because the pizza delivery person (oh so PC) will be here soon, and i want to sit here in my room stuffing my face with pizza, garlic bread, and fries whilst watching Lost - Student style ;-)

Bird-Flu hits Paris

Yes we have all heard the argument and result over Tony's terrible terror laws. I just haven't got round to ranting my personal opinion about it...

Okay, so yes this world is a terrifying place to live in these days. And yes, we need to do everything possible to stop terrorist attacks. And yes, if holding a possible suspect without charge does reduce the risks of terror attacks then its a great idea. And i agree, maybe in this situation 14 days is nowhere near long enough...

But 90 days?!

Put this proposed law in hand with another piece of legislation...

ID Cards. Your entire life on plastic. Everywhere you go. Everything you do. Who you are held on some secret database somewhere.
And now imagine if a data clerk somewhere gets something wrong. Types a digit incorrectly. Incorrectly spells something. And suddenly Mr Joe Never-even-got-a-parking-ticket Bloggs is terror suspect number one.
(You may think im talking crazy and this could never happen, but read The Nu Sci's specials on The Identity Revolution - 10th - 17th Sept 2005)
And plus, it wouldn't be the first time that police have made tragic mistakes.

So now poor old Joe could be arrested in front of his wife and kids and held for 90 days. And because its without charge, he doesnt even know why.

90 days!

90 bloody days.

3 months.

1/4 of a whole bloody year.

Thats 6 times longer than the previous 14 days. Its fucking crazy!

The result, 28 days is a much more sensible medium in my opinion. But the ID revolution and the fact that such crazy laws even made it to debate in the House of Commons are a scary prospect.

Do we really want to live and raise our families in such a world?

"Cloudy Tokyo" - captured by Surina

Boo! Im back!

Not that i really went anywhere or anything but...

Been so(not quite sure how many 'o's to put on the end here to emphasise my point but with out looking silly so just say/read 'so' with emphasis please) busy at the moment.
Lots of lovely jubly A-level work to plough through seeing as i left it all during the BMAT period, have been spending this whole week biologising this and differentiating that...

Have also FINALLY started reading 'The Selfish Gene' - attempt one fell-through as after the first 5 pages i decided to read The D' Code instead, but now im really into it, and enjoying it. Dawkins' hypothesis is really interesting and really quite logical, its a wonder why the group-selection theory is still convention, (sorry to anyone who hasn't read this book or isn't sciencey) and his examples of selfish individuals in a species in chapter 1 made me chuckle - cute lil' Emperor Penguins pushing each other into the water! Awww! (Naughty, but cute!)

I Bought a new coat!
Saw this one in the window of Leicester's newly opened Moss Bros. a few weeks ago and fell in love with it, but dismissed the thought, assuming that as it is Moss it will probably cost way- upwards of £100. (I'd never been into a Moss Bros. before and judged it by its window display and the fact its a designer brand)
However, last week, with the weather and the fact that i hadn't bought anything in a while pushing, i decided to go and actually buy a coat, so went in and found it was only £80 - on sale, reduced from £100. Its a paddington-style duffle with hood, in chocolate brown wool. Tres nice if i do say so myself.
Moss is cheaper than i expected actually, some really nice wool jumpers on sale for £5 cheaper than Topman's cotton ones, and shirt+tie+cufflink sets for £20-30ish. And i randomly found out that my dad used to work in a Moss Bros. near Barbican in London years ago.

The Geek-Jock war ended today (what an appropriate date).
Yesterday we were all evicted by the security guard (sounds so dramatic). I dont know how the teachers knew about what had been going on, maybe they actually have someone sitting there watching the CCTV camera tapes? And so this morning we walk into the common room to find the Geek and Jock 'sides' fully divided by tables! And, the Jock side is the new seating area, and the Geek side is the work area! How bloody crap and stereotypical is that?! A bit of post-war graffiti marks the wall at the entrance to the Geek area:

No Jocks Beyond this
Point. Dickheads.

"Click your mouse, Say Yeah!"
- strap line in the films&music sect of todays G - a play on the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah who currently reside in the depths of Ivor's hard-drive. Alexis Petridis-h (oh it was just too easy!) attempts to find the next Arctic Monkeys, and a good job too, there is a severe lack of good music out in the mainstream at the mo. Admittedly, Will Young's new one is growing on me (whats all this buzz about the video?), but no amazing new artists or great new songs are around, appart from those freaking great freezing lil chimps, and...Corinne Bailey Rae - im loving "Like a star".

I have an interview!
Got my first (hopefully number one of four) interview invitation this week for a med school. Im so happy but nervous at the same time. Have recieved "thank you for your application blah - blah - blah..." letters now from everywhere, appart from a certain London university (Englands 3rd oldest). :-S Maybe they are waiting for the BMAT results (aka Judgement) day - 30th November!

Now im going to go, and read blogs, and drink some coffee, and watch Lost 19 (god its so (say it as before please) good now!)

I bid ye farewell and good tidings,

Azuric

Geek - Jock Warfare

Civil war has broken out in the 6th form centre...

For a year and a term the Jocks have had all the sofas, games consoles, hi-fi and tv on their side of the common room, and the geeks have had only dirty lockers and old tables...

The Jocks say thats how it should be...

Thats the way it has always been...

But after a year and a term, the Geeks have put down their protractors and stood up, calling for equality...

Its been over a week now. A food fight starting the war. Petty skirmishes and battles for the sofas being a daily occurence. At the moment the Geeks have 1 sofa, with plans to seize another in the early hours of tomorrow. Its all really quite funny to watch. Im not really involved, because i generally get along with everyone but am supporting the Geeks. Purely because i use that side of the common room the most and the some of the Jocks dont welcome anyone over to their side.

Funny how the whole year is divided into "Jocks" and "Geeks".

The Geeks are, according to the Jocks everyone else, although we have our own heirachy.

The Jocks are the friendly "populars" (who i get along with), the rugby-playing twats (how can any one find fun in watching/running around with a bunch of ugly fat guys chasing an oversized egg around a muddy field?!), and their bimbo girlfriends (who have a combined IQ of .5).

The "war" hasnt turned violent (yet?) appart from a Geek being dragged over to the Jock side which amused everyone, hopefully it will stay that way...

Yes!

Yes!! Yes!! Yes!! The BMAT test is over! Finally! I am free!! Free!!

I really can't be arsed to worry about how it went blah de blah, but it went how i expected it too - hard, (but not nervous-breakdown-inducingly hard). I didnt finish either sections 1 or 2 but neither did the others, so just guessed the rest - no pentaly for incorrect answers so why not! And section 3 (at this point i realise that most of you will not know anything about the structure of the BMAT and so this means nothing to you - but hey, its my blog - and if you really care - here - why dont you see how well your noggin can cope!) was ok, i answered question 3, having to write a unified essay on doctor-patient confidentiality - re: the Hippocratic Oath. Think I've done ok, so just gotta wait and see and hope, but....YES!! Its over!!