Midterms

Midterms, also known as the bane of any student's existence, are plaguing me right now but I am thankfully almost finished! 

This is me, minus the energy drink and clean desk

My first midterm was for my online history class, European Civilization: the Ancient World until the Enlightenment. This appeared to be my hardest of the bunch as the professor provided the class with 15 terms, 5 of which would be on the midterm and we had to chose three. That was the first part. The second part included 5 essay questions, 3 of which would be on the midterm and we had to pick one. This seemed to be so much information and the large amount of options did not really leave me much choice other than the study all of the options. I apparently studied the right things because I felt really confident after writing it! 1 down, 4 more to go! 

My next midterm was for Media in the Global World, which was fill in the blanks and multiple choice. I stressed over this one because the material was really hard to study. Some concepts seemed common sense while other concepts were very obscure. Some of the questions really surprised me with the detail they required but I was able to answer the majority of the questions with no hesitation. 2 down, 3 to go!!

Next was my other history class, European Civilizations: the Enlightenment to the Present Day. This was 50 multiple choice questions and 30 true and false questions. This midterm caused me a lot of stress because I had to study for Media and then this class at the same time. There is obviously so much to remember in a history class, but the professor made it seem easy as he said there would be no trick questions. While I was able to answer the majority of the questions with no hesitation, I did some pretty tricky questions! For example: Mary Theresa was the mother-in-law to Louis XVI. I was so disappointed when I saw this!! It also means that I might have missed a few other trick questions but I feel really good about it! I was also able to to finish all 80 questions within 30 minutes, which never happens! 3 down, 2 to go!!!

Right after history I had Applied Democracy, which caused me the most issues since I barely had time to study for it! In between studying for three exams within such a short period of time in addition to classes, it is no surprise I ran out of time to study hard for this class. There were 10 multiple choice and 3 short answer. The multiple choice gave me some headache but I was able to answer the short answers with plenty of detail! 4 down, 1 to go!!!!

Tomorrow night is The Politics of Transgression and Desire, which I have honestly not started to study for. I do have the majority of tomorrow to do so and I feel pretty confident about the material. Wish me luck though! 

I now cannot wait for my marks!! As positive as I feel about the midterm, the professor might have a completely different idea! I guess time will tell. 

James Bond Day

The James Bond franchise turned 50 on October 5th and so I thought I would share some fantastic Bond finds. 

The first is the newly released single for the new movie, Skyfall. Adele is the perfect voice for a James Bond theme song and I just love this song! It is really a throwback to the older theme songs and is actually good, unlike the recent songs. 

I am comparing Skyfall to the theme song for Casino Royale (2006), which is my favourite James Bond movie. The opening sequence of Casino Royale was amazing, I remember sitting in the theatre being in awe. The song, however, is strange and I don't think fits the Bond style. 

The ultimate Bond song is, in my humble opinion, not up for debate. When I think of Bond songs, this one is the first one to pop into my head. It is an old one but still a goodie! 

Besides the scantly clad dancing women, the other imagine that comes to mind when thinking about James Bond is martinis. Although this might be a thing of the past now. According to an article I found, Heineken is helping finance Skyfall and as a result of this Bond will be seen drinking beer. That's right, James Bond is swapping his martinis for beer. Somehow I don't think the 'shaken, not stirred' line will really work if Bond is ordering a beer. Daniel Craig is defending this, saying that the money is promote the film needs to come from somewhere. I realize the need for money but this almost seems like blasphemy. The martinis are equivalent to the fancy cars, cool gadgets and sophisticated suits. You aren't going to see Bond dressed in jeans while driving a Honda Civic so why should we see him drinking anything other than his signature drink? Ok, rant over! All of this said, I cannot wait to see Skyfall which comes out soon! November 9th! 

What do you think about the Heineken product placement? Is just part of the necessary changes that occur overtime? Or is it a step away from the essence of a James Bond movie?  

Videos for a busy day

As October begins, so does the massive amount of work that is due. Practically every week I have at least two things due and that is not including midterm week, where I have a midterm in every single class.

In order to stay sane, I go on various websites that have produced these two fantastic videos. The first is a twist on Gotye's song, 'Somebody That I Used to Know'. It is highly inventive and really cool to listen to. The second is of a wonderful little girl that had memorized a ballet piece. It brought a huge smile to my face. 

I hope you enjoyed the videos! I am always on the lookout for other wonderful videos so be sure to pass along your favourites!