Thursday, November 9, 2006

Yesterday I had the academic equivalent of anal rape in the form of a thermal systems test. It was ridiculous. It was supposed to be a two hour test, with three questions. 40 minutes is a long time to beat your head against your desk per question, but ok, its doable. Nobody left within two hours. Most stayed at least two and a half, and most weren't able to get all the problems done correctly. The whole test was just kind of stupid. The first question was a diesel cycle problem that you had to find efficiency and so forth for. The question was asinine though. Supposing you have a diesel engine that is 6L, six cylinder and runs at some RPM. It seems reasonable to me that you would directly measure things like piston position (since it is hooked up to a drive shaft anyway) or maybe pressure in the cylinder because its EASY to measure. But instead we're given the properties of the air as it enters and a heating value for the fuel and have to calculate everything from that. Its possible, if you wave your hands at it and make some mad assumptions, but it isn't a pertinent question.

Anyway, to unwind after the test I went with some friends to see Borat. It was literally an hour and a half of "wow." And I don't mean "Wow! That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen in my life!" no, I mean "Wow.... did he really just do that?" The pretext is Borat is a Kazakhstani reporter who is sent to the United States to bring back some American culture. Mostly he comes to the United States and acts bizarrely towards everyone he meets. There were five minutes of the movie that I really wish weren't, when Borat and his producer (a short and very fat man) get into a fight in their hotel room and end up chasing each other down the halls of a nice hotel stark naked. *Shudder* There were some funny moments in the movie though. Borat went to meet with some feminists (literally, as in Feminists of America), sat down with them and asked what feminism was. When they told him it was the idea that women are equal to men he started laughing, and told them that a Kazakhstani scientist determined that women's brains are smaller then mens. Its absolute bullshit, but those feminists got so angry it was hilarious. Most of the movie was like that: offensive beyond all reason to the point where you have to laugh because there's no adequate response to what he just did.

Russia banned the movie because it makes fun of Kazakhstan.

Anyway, I need to get ready for the weekly meeting with the boss.