Category: MBA

Ding dong, etc.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

It is done. The paper’s all put together, cited, formatted, etc., etc. Gonna get Nellie to look at it tomorrow and then I shall submit the fucker. I want nothing more to do with it.

It feels like such an ending, to finally be rid of this thing…and then I remember that between now and September 7th I still have to read 2 chapters, 2 sets of lesson notes, 6 short articles (2 of which I have to submit comments on) and one case (which I have to write a 2-page paper for), not to mention plan for the film festival and, you know, go to work.

.:.

Earlier in the week the Modern Mod sent me a link for Volo, a bar just down Yonge Street that Nellie and I’d walked by a hundred times without going in. The email pointed out that Volo’s known for their beer selection, so I thought it was high time we paid a visit. We’re glad we did.

Before leaving I was having a look at the website; one of the beers they list is the Church Key cranberry maple wheat, something Nellie’s been craving (and unable to find) ever since she had it at Smokeless Joe’s over a year ago. While she refused to get her hopes up too much, she was quite excited to find that they have plenty of it. Our server Amanda, who was nothing but black-clad fun, brought us some yummy bread, tasty bruschetta and a very nice vegetarian pasta main. For my part, I had a glass of Delirium Tremens, which the Scotsman seems to’ve gotten me hooked on.

It was a perfect night for the patio, too; it’s non-smoking out there, and great for people watching. They appear to have a decent brunch menu too. I dare say we’ll go back soon.

[tags]volo, delirium tremens, church key[/tags]

Halle-almost-lujah

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

The paper is jeeeeuuuuust about done. All written and formatted; all that’s left is to fix up the citations and write out the references. I’ll dash that off tomorrow, leaving me with the rest of the weekend to relax get to the rest of the course work so I’ll have time to pick my festival movies.

I’m celebrating with a new template. And, in all likelihood, a stiff drink.
[tags]term paper[/tags]

The home stretch

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

The paper’s due in three days, and I’m almost done. Just a few more sections and then the clean-up. Hopefully I can get it done a little earlier than planned; I need a couple of days to prepare for the film festival. I’ve also been taking time away from the office (it’s my company’s custom MBA program, so they kindly give us a little time off when we really need it…until now I just hadn’t really needed any) and I’ve been neglecting some important work. I’ll be glad to get back into the normal swing of things. In October.

.:.

Need to move a giant statue of Ramses II? Google Earth can help you do it. And I thought it was just for showing me local pizza joints…

.:.

In what might possibly be the oddest headline I’ve read in a while, the CBC informs us of “New clues into identity of 19th-century legless, mute Maritimer“. Good, ’cause I was wondering about that.

.:.

Speaking of mute, Gilles Duceppe should really give it a try sometime.

“We have this ridiculous economic policy that when exports grow, the economy gets stronger and the value of our currency increases. Then exports decline and things get worse. It’s always like a yo-yo,” Mr. Duceppe said yesterday.

You know what else Gilles? When I turn my stove on, the water in my kettle boils. When I turn it off, it cools down again. It’s always like a yo-yo! Actually, that was giving him too much credit; what he’s saying is the boiling water in my kettle is causing my stove to switch on, and the cooling of the water switches the stove back off.

In theory — and only in theory — this man could be our Prime Minister. As much as I dislike Stephen Harper, at least he seems to grasp basic economics.

[tags]ramses ii, legless mute maritimer, gilles duceppe[/tags]

Deepak Chopra: even goofier than the Christians.

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

There was a very good interview with Michael Shermer yesterday in Salon called The Joys Of Life Without God. He has a very reasonable approach to his atheism (by which I mean he’s not a “militant” atheist who’s as intent on bending religious followers to his will as they are his). His arguments are nothing we haven’t heard before, but he has a great way of putting them:

“When you study world religions, it’s obvious that, throughout time, all of these different people are making up their own stories about God. If you lived 1,000 years ago, hardly anybody would be a Christian. If you were born in India, you’d likely be a Hindu. What does that tell you? From a Christian perspective, it means we need to get more missionaries over there to tell them the truth! From an anthropological perspective, it’s another case. Christians today might say, I don’t believe in Zeus, that was a silly superstition. Yet for many people that was a real god. So it turns out there are 10,000 gods and yet only one right one. That means we’re all atheists on 9,999 gods. The only difference between me and the believers is I’m an atheist on one more god.”

He also touches on an issue that’s always kind of bugged me. Typically I hear people describe agnosticism as the belief in some sort of higher power, but you’re not sure what it is. I never bought that; to me — and I think to Shermer — it’s the idea that, if you think scientifically, whether or not there’s a God is completely irrelevant.

.:.

This is how occupied I am with this damned paper: I haven’t even watched the videos Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant did for Microsoft. I at least managed to get a quick walk in after work today, dashing over to Whole Foods to pick up some lunch for tomorrow.

OK, off to do four hours of writing.

[tags]religion, atheism, michael shermer, ricky gervais, microsoft training video[/tags]

Compulsory license this, biznatch

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

T-minus six days with which to finish this cursed paper. I have 5,527 words so far; I need at least 8,000. I spent last night trying to figure out which parts of the paper need more fleshing out, where I can add more research…and I think I’m pretty close. With any luck I’ll finish it Thursday night and I can use the weekend to clean it up.

All I really want to do is peruse the full film festival schedule, which was released today. [Brad Pitt…squeeeeeal!]

[tags]term papers, film festival[/tags]

Even harder than globalization

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

You know what’s a hard word to type? “Declaration.” Doesn’t look that tricky, but every time I type it I fumble for a second. And since the Doha declaration on the TRIPS agreement and public health is a major part of my paper I’ve been typing it every few minutes.

Speaking of the topic, it’s ironic that I’ve been far too busy the past few days to catch up on the news of what’s happening at the AIDS conference here in Toronto, where these issues have been front and centre. A few blocks away, what I’m writing about is being discussed by some of the most knowledgeable people in the world…yet here I sit, too busy with academia to notice.

[tags]doha declaration, TRIPS, Toronto AIDS conference[/tags]

Antipathy

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m having trouble finding motivation. Work is depressing right now; it’s one roadblock after another, and I’m not famous for my patience. I really believe in what I’m doing, and — as haughty/martyrish as this sounds — I feel like I’m one of the few people who’s more concerned with making the customer’s life better than with playing politics or just punching the clock. I guess everything happens slowly in huge traditional risk-averse companies, and being aware of the fact doesn’t make it any less frustrating. I’m trying to find a way around it, but it feels like every day I go to work, scramble to keep up with all the things coming at me, and when I go home I haven’t made a difference. I keep pushing, and there are good people around me pushing too, but feeling outnumbered at work every day is a hard way to live life.

.:.

Life at home isn’t really a respite these days either. I’m on autopilot right now; between trying to run 5 times a week (2-3 miles at a go) and spending 3 hours a night working on this term paper, I feel like I’m on a schedule from the minute I get home. I see my wife for the few minutes that I eat dinner and when we crawl into bed. Good thing this paper’s due in two weeks; after that we can settle into the happy insanity of the film festival. It’s some of the best quality time I get to spend with her all year, ’cause for those 10 days we’re a) on exactly the same schedule, and b) spending hours in line with nothing to do but talk. I think I look forward to that as much as the films. There’s an inspirational quote in there somewhere: “Lineups are better when you love the person you’re standing next to.” Awwwwwwwwwwww.

[tags]motivation[/tags]

Head down

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

From now ’til the 28th of this month I shall be very busy indeed, as I have to write a 40-page paper for the course I’m doing now. The topic is Intellectual Property vs. Public Health. This is not something that will just flow from my fingertips. Fortunately I’m rarely at a loss for (typed) words.

The film festival booklets are released the day after I submit the paper, so I can concentrate on that for an hour or so before I have to get back to the rest of my course work. I should wrap that up the day before the festival actually starts; once it’s over I’m off to the course intensive for a week. I then have thirteen luxurious days to relax (unless the gods are against me and I have to start my next course right away) before we jet off to the Rockies.

So yeah. See you in October.

[tags]intellectual property, public health, toronto international film festival, rockies[/tags]

An apology in point form

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Sorry, I’ve been too busy to blog anything terribly interesting because:

  • The course I’m doing right now is killer. I was talking to a classmate today, and he concurred: the workload for this one is much, much heavier than anything else we’ve done. It’s interesting, but it’s time-consuming. I guess I was due for one of these; too many so far have been crazy easy.
  • It’s the summer. Days that aren’t hotter than the hubs of hell draw me outside.
  • Family’s been visiting, and family trumps blogging.
  • I seem to be reading (for fun, in addition to for school; I finally finished Cluetrain, Planet Simpson and No War: America’s Read Business In Iraq) again, not to mention finally putting a dent in our Zip queue.
  • Work is busy…not so much because I have impending deadlines, but because I feel a bit rejuvenated. It’s just as frustrating and bureaucratic as ever, but I seem more determined than ever to kick bureaucracy’s ass. I’ll let you know how that goes.

However, I can report some things that grabbed my eye today, but only in point-form:

Music:

  • I’m going to miss Asobi Seksu at the Horseshoe in September as I’ll be away on course. Frig.
  • There’ll be a new Trail Of Dead album in October.
  • The Mercury Prize shortlist has been announced, and I couldn’t give a toss about any of the finalists. The only one I liked at all is the Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan album, and even that wasn’t great.
  • The Weeds theme song next season will be sung by a different artist every week. Lined up so far: Death Cab For Cutie, Regina Spektor, Elvis Costello and Jenny Lewis. Cool. “Little boxes…”
  • The new Johnny Cash disc, American V…magnifique.

Movies:

Sports:

  • Bill Simmons has picked a favourite English Premiership League team. He settled on Tottenham Hotspur, because “If London was the Corleone family, Manchester United was Sonny and Arsenal was Michael, then the Spurs would be Fredo with a little more street smarts.” Brilliant.

Right, that’s it. Back to work for me.

[tags]cluetrain, planet simpson, no war, asobi seksu, trail of dead, mercury prize, isobel campbell, mark lanegan, weeds, johnny cash, clerks ii, lady in the water, arrested development movie, all your snakes are belong to us, bill simmons, tottenham hotspur[/tags]