At long last, a post

I don't know if its the excitement of having booked my flights to South Africa, the boredom of bankruptcy [and therefore sobriety], the realisation that twitter will never get me a job or just the Singapore air, but I've decided I need to start blogging again. I've got four major essays due over the coming weeks but once they're out of the way you can expect to see a steady stream of articles once more.

As a teaser, here's the belated follow up photo to my last post in November. I ended up raising just over US$1000 which was a bit under my initial target but a solid effort nonetheless. We had a lot of fun with the hair, which my friends moulded into a variety of styles before eventually shaving it down to the Mr Mason look which I wore for a week. World Bicycle relief sent me a fabulous gift which I haven't yet seen but look forward to doing so.

Excuse my terrible editing. It's 4am.

See you soon with a real post!

Ambrose's Hair Campaign - your help needed!

Today I need your help to plan my latest crazy adventure (which hopefully, unlike most others, will actually happen), Ambrose's Hair Campaign.

The Hair Campaign will be an innovative fundraising campaign for a worthy but yet-to-be-determined charity.

At the end of the month, depending on the amount of money raised, I will do something crazy to my hair. For example $100 might get me to dye my hair blue, $500 might make it straight and $1000 might turn it into a "half-fro" (the best suggestion so far). I will keep the new style for a week or so.

So I need your help to decide three things. The charity, the hair options and the amount of money each is worth. When I work those things out I'll set up a fundraising page and ask you all to chip in what you can.

Please leave suggestions in the comments box below. Thanks!

University of Sydney: a review

After twelve weeks at Sydney's top-ranked university it's time to see how it stacks up against the other universities I'm familiar with. I'll use the same format as my previous NUS review and I'll try to get a similar ANU review up shortly.

Facilities
Sydney Uni prides itself on being a "sandstone institution" but the supposed charm of the older buildings does little to make up for their lack of functionality. Wooden benches, seats and tables abound and computers and projectors are rare. Some of the newer buildings, in particular the law building, offer state-of the art facilities but their benefits are sadly only seen by a select few. A serious downside is the absence of a functional and usable on-campus wireless network, now a standard feature of many universities, and the lack of alternate plug-and-play internet. On the plus side there's Manning, one of the better uni bars around. 3 Stars.

Academic Staff and Teaching
I can only comment on what I saw, and the three classes I took left an awful lot to be desired. The courses were poorly organised, course requirements were ambiguous, tasks ill-defined and the burden of learning was placed very heavily on the students. My courses often had an impersonal feel and tutors and lecturers were unconcerned with class attendance or participation. And the less said about the Hindi/Urdu program the better. 3 Stars.

Administration
I didn't have a whole lot to do with the admin at USyd, but the application process was poor. Students coming from another university, and in many cases from interstate, have to make two visits to the campus including one during first-semester exams. I was also enrolled in a course I hadn't applied for, but that worked out well. 3 Stars.

Lifestyle
This is where USyd shines. Not living on campus was a change for me but with all my school friends around and a great location in one of the world's greatest cities I couldn't ask for much more. 4 1/2 stars.

Overall
I've had a great time at Sydney Uni. I've enjoyed the social side of uni, made some good friends and taken in the surrounds and the weather. The academic side has been somewhat disappointing but that may be down to the courses I was taking. Overall it seems to be the sort of place where you get out as much as you're prepared to put in. 3 1/2 stars.

Blandville, or is it?

Tonight I'm going to continue the recent trend of posting other people's material as I'm too "busy" to write my own.

The infamous Blandville Court at Gladesville has to be the most aptly-named building on earth. I've often driven past it on my way to visit my family at Eastwood and wondered what life would be like inside. The other day I stumbled upon this video, directed by Tahnee McGuire, which gives us a wonderful insight into the place. (For some reason it won't embed, so you'll have to follow the link.) As ever, there's more to Blandville than meets the eye.

A deadly enterprise: Ghana's designer coffins

Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.

Tourists visiting the Ghanaian tourist hotspot of Teshi would no doubt have the famous Monty Python song in their heads as they peruse the colourful coffins on sale.



Aeroplanes, mobile phones, shoes and sharks are among the designs which have been created by the casket-makers of Eastern Accra, who now receive a fair proportion of their income from adventurous Westerners, thanks to the power of the internet.

I had originally heard, through a friend and various websites, that these designer coffins were the modern continuation of a longstanding Ghanaian tradition. However they are, as this BBC article explains, a relatively new phenomenon. Their success and importance to the local economy and to the Ghanaian tourism industry is an example of the results that can be obtained when lateral thinking, creativity and capitalism meet in the right way.