For those who've been a little confused, I'm due to resume my national service. See, over here we have to undergo compulsory national service for about two and a half years (back when I was eighteen; it's been since reduced to two years). I disrupted four years ago to head to Aussie to study, so I have to complete my remaining five and a half months now that I'm back.
So, I'm resuming service tomorrow. Meaning in a few hours time. Can't seem to sleep, for some reason. Anticipation, perhaps? I've been posted to MinDef (the Ministry of Defence) for the remainder of my term, which is both good and bad. The good part is it's stay-out, meaning I get to come home everyday. It's basically an eight-to-five-thirty office job.
The bad part is it's one and a half hours from home, and it's compulsory stay out. Given such a distance from home, I'd much rather just stay-in, and come out on the weekends. Such a hassle to travel back and forth everyday. Luckily Dad's able to give me a lift in the morning, but it's still a pain coming home after work.
I'm also hoping to start running in the morning (in my new Aasics shoes), which means I should be getting up at six to run. Which means I really should be sleeping right now.
-sigh-
Time to go back to lying on the bed.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Two down, two to go
Did two camps last week; one for Saints and one for Trekkers.
I'd forgotten how tiring doing back-to-back camps can be. Plus the fact that the second one was the St. Pat's Sec2 camp (which is 3 full days instead of 2.5), these two camps really left me exhausted by the time the weekend came. I also lost my voice on Thursday night, so I've been talking funny for a few days now.
The good news doesn't end there. I also managed to break my Fila runners (the sole came off in the mud), so I ended up spending a fair bit of my pay on a new pair of Aasics runners. Then I decided I (naturally) didn't want to bring my new shoes to camp, so I went and bought a pair of booties for the coming camps. So I'm pretty much left with 3/5 of what I earned.
There've also been many small changes in the way things are run and conducted, and the place itself. Many new faces as well; I only know perhaps two or three out of the twenty-plus instructors working for each camp.
Still, it's been altogether a pleasant experience returning to camps after three years, at least for this short period of time before the army comes knocking on my door. Going into camp tomorrow morning (7am..groan..) for another two back-to-back. Here's hoping I don't totally lose my voice. =)
I'd forgotten how tiring doing back-to-back camps can be. Plus the fact that the second one was the St. Pat's Sec2 camp (which is 3 full days instead of 2.5), these two camps really left me exhausted by the time the weekend came. I also lost my voice on Thursday night, so I've been talking funny for a few days now.
The good news doesn't end there. I also managed to break my Fila runners (the sole came off in the mud), so I ended up spending a fair bit of my pay on a new pair of Aasics runners. Then I decided I (naturally) didn't want to bring my new shoes to camp, so I went and bought a pair of booties for the coming camps. So I'm pretty much left with 3/5 of what I earned.
There've also been many small changes in the way things are run and conducted, and the place itself. Many new faces as well; I only know perhaps two or three out of the twenty-plus instructors working for each camp.
Still, it's been altogether a pleasant experience returning to camps after three years, at least for this short period of time before the army comes knocking on my door. Going into camp tomorrow morning (7am..groan..) for another two back-to-back. Here's hoping I don't totally lose my voice. =)
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Going camping
Went to Zouk on Friday. Heard they underwent renovations, but nothing seems that different. Didn't manage to make the 10pm deadline, so had to pay the exorbitant price of $28 just for cover (though it included 2 free drinks). I miss Melbourne and being able to get freelist.
Anyway, maybe it's because we were there early, but it was extremely unhappening; the place was only half full, and no one was dancing. We were going to wait for a bigger crowd to turn up, but something cropped up and we left soon after. Meh.
So anyhoo, I'll be away till Friday doing camp for Saints and Trekkers. Hopefully these couple of days will be a good break away from home for me; a lot to think about lately. I don't even know what's going on around me anymore. Doing camps are always good because you're normally so busy you have little time to think about much else, and it normally leaves me refreshed and ready to return to normal life. Tiring though.
Anyway, guess I'll write again when I'm back from camp. =)
Anyway, maybe it's because we were there early, but it was extremely unhappening; the place was only half full, and no one was dancing. We were going to wait for a bigger crowd to turn up, but something cropped up and we left soon after. Meh.
So anyhoo, I'll be away till Friday doing camp for Saints and Trekkers. Hopefully these couple of days will be a good break away from home for me; a lot to think about lately. I don't even know what's going on around me anymore. Doing camps are always good because you're normally so busy you have little time to think about much else, and it normally leaves me refreshed and ready to return to normal life. Tiring though.
Anyway, guess I'll write again when I'm back from camp. =)
Thursday, January 12, 2006
-sigh-
I tried updating yesterday, but the connection died and all my words were lost. I really can't be bothered typing everything out again, so this is gonna be a point summary of what's been happening. =)
Yeah, guess that's it: my point summary of what's been happening in my life. Imagine how long the original post was. ;)
I tried updating yesterday, but the connection died and all my words were lost. I really can't be bothered typing everything out again, so this is gonna be a point summary of what's been happening. =)
- finally graduated on Dec13. ok affair, if a little boring. preferred the mock grad, when we had more time to muck around and take photos. slept through most of the ceremony. luckily, sitting next to kimi, who woke me up when it was our turn to go on stage. must remember to order grad photos.
- returned to sg for good (for the forseeable future) on the 23rd. met up with some of the monash peeps for coffee that night. finally got to see the new house. mmmkay. need to get new furniture.
- met up with gnuheeK, janz and renzi for dinner on xmas eve, then went to janz' place to hang, and check out her underground bachelorette pad. met up with oaks for drinks in the wee hours of the morning.
- normal family xmas lunch thigie. standard affair, this year at our place. met up with a bunch of monash peeps at pigu's hotel room. she was down from kl with her family. ordered room service cos we were lazy.
- on boxing day, met up with cms, xing and caigeren at xing's club. nice seeing them again. went for a swim and some pool-ultimat frisbee. met up with more monash peeps at marina sq sakae for dinner, then drinks at esplanade.
- trs threw a xmas party thingie at his place, and most of us turned up. good food, great friends. watched infernal affairs trilogy. fell asleep halfway.
- xing threw his annual xmas/ny party at his place up in woodlands. saw many familiar faces and old friends from the R days. this year's party seemed a lot tamer, though. maybe we're all getting older. =P
- renzi's mum threw a NYE party at their place and we were all invited. the youngsters (i.e. us) adjourned to renzi's room after a while, where we held DS 1.5 (official). we didn't have our $8 friend, so we simply assigned penalties to dice rolls. lots of crazy fun.
- met up with cms, wen, xing and jd for lunch at tanglin club on the 2nd. nice to finally meet up with wen. had a nice time catching up.
- trs threw another party on the 2nd, this time a satay party. again, good food and great friends. watched Taxi (the french one) this time.
- went for a week trip to m'sia from the 3rd to 10th. renzi and i took SBS 170 to larkin in jb where we met cw for dinner, and caught a bus to butterworth. met up with cheng at butterworth and she took the bus with us up to perlis to meet susu. hanged around perlis for a couple of days, the main highlight being our day trip across the border to thailand (hadyai). the 4 of us caught a bus back down to butterworth, where we again hung around for 2 days, mostly eating and shopping. met up with pei kei (cheng's friend) and yvonne. the 5 of us (with pk in tow) then took the bus down to kl to meet up with christie, lah, Vv, cw and siao-eh. siao-eh was uncontactable most of the trip (no roaming) and he owes us big time for booking us in an expensive hotel in the middle of the red light district. ;) met up with mkuku in kl, and spent most of our time shopping and eating again. eight of us (w/o siao-eh) then caught the bus back down to sg on the 10th, though cw dropped off at jb. overall a very eventful trip, with good food, good friends, good sights and good experiences. can't ask for much more. =)
- cheng, susu and pk are visiting us in sg till saturday (putting up at renzi's). we went to the new MoS last night. no one told me it's in the cannery! kinda miss the place; haven't been there since the trekkers shop moved out. anyway, MoS is really big, and the drinks are pretty expensive (or maybe i'm just used to aussie and m'sia prices). besides that, nothing really spectacular. had fun though. =)
Yeah, guess that's it: my point summary of what's been happening in my life. Imagine how long the original post was. ;)
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Racial Riots in Sydney
Ho. ly. crap.
I only just found out about this a few hours ago, thanks to my aunt. Those of you in melb here with me, who've been busy partying and/or preparing for graduation and not keeping up with the news might not have heard about it yet, so I figured I'd better post about it.
Apparently, there's been a spate of racial riots up north in Sydney over the weekend. I'm still trying to absorb all the information myself, so no analysis for now. Instead, here's a bunch of links to articles in the Australian regarding this issue.
If any of you have friends and/or family in Sydney, now's a good time to ring up and make sure they're alright.
Read in order:
I only just found out about this a few hours ago, thanks to my aunt. Those of you in melb here with me, who've been busy partying and/or preparing for graduation and not keeping up with the news might not have heard about it yet, so I figured I'd better post about it.
Apparently, there's been a spate of racial riots up north in Sydney over the weekend. I'm still trying to absorb all the information myself, so no analysis for now. Instead, here's a bunch of links to articles in the Australian regarding this issue.
If any of you have friends and/or family in Sydney, now's a good time to ring up and make sure they're alright.
Read in order:
- BBQs give way to ugly gang assaults
- Violent beach mob 'hides behind flag'
- Revenge attacks in Sydney race war
- Riots need 'fair dinkum solutions'
- Locals 'shocked' by riots
- Violence 'won't spread'
- Media 'not to blame for violence'
- Cronulla calm after day of chaos
- Beach riots strike force set up
- Police saved four lives from mob
- Far-right groups admit to role
- Opinion: The rule of law must apply in all cases
- Opinion: Blame race riots on police force neglect
- Editorial: Editorial: Blood on the beach
- We're not a bunch of racists, PM says
- Different faces but battles are the same
- Brace yourself, it'll be eye for an eye
- Race warfare divides city
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Greetings from...Melbourne...?
Well, for those of you who don't know yet, I didn't go to Tasmania this week as planned. The rest of my family's over there now with Uncle Dave (family friend), but I kinda decided I wanted to spend a lil' more time with my friends here in melb before heading back for good (if you're one of these friends, that was your cue to start feeling honoured =P).
And for those of you who weren't aware...yeah, I'm supposed to be in Tassie from Monday to Sunday this week. If you feel out of the loop, that's only because no one likes you.
So...I've been up to a lot of stuff this past week-or-so. One of my chief reasons for hanging around (you didn't really think it was for friendship, did you? -pfft!-) was because I wanted to look at my exam script for Tech&Soc. So, I went and looked up Prof. Berreen and asked about it. He said no, because you're only supposed to look at it in Feb, which is standard department policy.
But hey, I'm graduating on Tuesday; what's the use of checking my exam script in Feb if I've graduated by then?! And I know for a fact that final year students are allowed to check their scripts after the results have been released. But he refused to let me check them, and the department won't over-rule him (which I guess makes sense), so I guess I'll never know if I really did that badly for the paper. Thanks, Terry, you've been a real help. Fuck you very much.
So besides not being able to check my exam script, what have I been up to? Well, I've been packing up my room, for one. It's a slow-moving process, considering the amount of rubbish I've managed to accumulate over four years. Still, I'll hopefully be able to move my furniture over to no.3 tomorrow. My landlady also decided to purchase my bookshelf, clothes drawers and the two single-seater couches from me, which helps ease my burden. Shyboy also did his part by buying my TV and desktop.
The rest of my time has been spent with my friends, mostly. We held four intensive drinking sessions from Sunday night to Wednesday night; once at gnuheeK's, once at dar's and twice at siao-eh's. We learnt some interesting stuff about each of us, especially the fact that Dodge really can't hold his drink. ;)
So, besides the multiple liver-wrecking sessions we've been having, I've also been out and about with various other activities. Shyboy, sketch, mei and I headed to Mornington last Thursday (Dec01) for a bit of horse riding. All in all it was pretty fun, especially watching the flies infest shyboy's entire body. For some reason, that guy is a natural fly-attractor, which was undoubtedly to the benefit of the rest of us. ;)
My horse, Harry, really liked me as well. He was a very affectionate horse,and kept nuzzling up against me. Very easy to control too, he basically did everything I asked him to do. One of the best parts of the trip was the excellent scenery. Really, really beautiful, especially after we emerged from the foliage onto the beach. Breathtaking, even.
A whole bunch of us gathered at Alamak!'s place on Friday night (Dec02) for a DVD-athon, followed by fun-and-games at siao-eh's place. When I say fun-and-games, I mean we played games like hide-and-seek, police-and-thief, and so on. Y'know, games normally played by six year olds. Who would think some of us are actually about to graduate, eh? I also suffered a nasty gash to my right lower ribs region while playing police-and-thief. See, I was the police and was chasing siao-eh around the house (he was one of the thieves) and he got a little over-enthusiastic and slashed me with a knife. No, not really, but that version's more exciting than what really happened. ;) Oh yeah, while we were at Alamak!'s place, we got distracted for a good fifteen minutes (at least) by these christmas tree-shaped chips we were eating (see picture). -sigh- All four of us in the picture are done with our uni education. Imagine that.
Sketch, dar, mei and I decided to hit the Hard Rock climbing gym on Saturday (Dec03) for a spot of...umm...rock climbing. That was pretty cool, considering I haven't climbed for a really long time. I really miss the old climbing days. Dar and mei had both climbed before, but this was sketch's first time, so I paired off with her, and dar and mei climbed together. The walls at Hard Rock are a decent height (about 5 stories) and on my first climb, with sketch on belay, I started chanting to myself "trustyourbelayer. trustyourbelayer. trustyourbelayer." as I approached the top. I decided to climb the shorter walls (around 2.5 stories) after that, and only so she could get more belaying practice. =P Here's a picture of me not trusting sketch's figure-of-eight. ;)
Alrighty, that'll have to do for now. I'll try to write another post soon about our continuous misadventures here before embarking on the Great Journey Home. Oh yeah, and look into uploading my photos as well. If I can be bothered. ;)
And for those of you who weren't aware...yeah, I'm supposed to be in Tassie from Monday to Sunday this week. If you feel out of the loop, that's only because no one likes you.
So...I've been up to a lot of stuff this past week-or-so. One of my chief reasons for hanging around (you didn't really think it was for friendship, did you? -pfft!-) was because I wanted to look at my exam script for Tech&Soc. So, I went and looked up Prof. Berreen and asked about it. He said no, because you're only supposed to look at it in Feb, which is standard department policy.
But hey, I'm graduating on Tuesday; what's the use of checking my exam script in Feb if I've graduated by then?! And I know for a fact that final year students are allowed to check their scripts after the results have been released. But he refused to let me check them, and the department won't over-rule him (which I guess makes sense), so I guess I'll never know if I really did that badly for the paper. Thanks, Terry, you've been a real help. Fuck you very much.
So besides not being able to check my exam script, what have I been up to? Well, I've been packing up my room, for one. It's a slow-moving process, considering the amount of rubbish I've managed to accumulate over four years. Still, I'll hopefully be able to move my furniture over to no.3 tomorrow. My landlady also decided to purchase my bookshelf, clothes drawers and the two single-seater couches from me, which helps ease my burden. Shyboy also did his part by buying my TV and desktop.
The rest of my time has been spent with my friends, mostly. We held four intensive drinking sessions from Sunday night to Wednesday night; once at gnuheeK's, once at dar's and twice at siao-eh's. We learnt some interesting stuff about each of us, especially the fact that Dodge really can't hold his drink. ;)
So, besides the multiple liver-wrecking sessions we've been having, I've also been out and about with various other activities. Shyboy, sketch, mei and I headed to Mornington last Thursday (Dec01) for a bit of horse riding. All in all it was pretty fun, especially watching the flies infest shyboy's entire body. For some reason, that guy is a natural fly-attractor, which was undoubtedly to the benefit of the rest of us. ;)
My horse, Harry, really liked me as well. He was a very affectionate horse,and kept nuzzling up against me. Very easy to control too, he basically did everything I asked him to do. One of the best parts of the trip was the excellent scenery. Really, really beautiful, especially after we emerged from the foliage onto the beach. Breathtaking, even.
A whole bunch of us gathered at Alamak!'s place on Friday night (Dec02) for a DVD-athon, followed by fun-and-games at siao-eh's place. When I say fun-and-games, I mean we played games like hide-and-seek, police-and-thief, and so on. Y'know, games normally played by six year olds. Who would think some of us are actually about to graduate, eh? I also suffered a nasty gash to my right lower ribs region while playing police-and-thief. See, I was the police and was chasing siao-eh around the house (he was one of the thieves) and he got a little over-enthusiastic and slashed me with a knife. No, not really, but that version's more exciting than what really happened. ;) Oh yeah, while we were at Alamak!'s place, we got distracted for a good fifteen minutes (at least) by these christmas tree-shaped chips we were eating (see picture). -sigh- All four of us in the picture are done with our uni education. Imagine that.
Sketch, dar, mei and I decided to hit the Hard Rock climbing gym on Saturday (Dec03) for a spot of...umm...rock climbing. That was pretty cool, considering I haven't climbed for a really long time. I really miss the old climbing days. Dar and mei had both climbed before, but this was sketch's first time, so I paired off with her, and dar and mei climbed together. The walls at Hard Rock are a decent height (about 5 stories) and on my first climb, with sketch on belay, I started chanting to myself "trustyourbelayer. trustyourbelayer. trustyourbelayer." as I approached the top. I decided to climb the shorter walls (around 2.5 stories) after that, and only so she could get more belaying practice. =P Here's a picture of me not trusting sketch's figure-of-eight. ;)Alrighty, that'll have to do for now. I'll try to write another post soon about our continuous misadventures here before embarking on the Great Journey Home. Oh yeah, and look into uploading my photos as well. If I can be bothered. ;)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
There are two big moths in my room
Sorry for the extremely random post title, but just as I was about to title the post, I noticed my two new room mates who have taken it upon themselves to bug me. -sigh-
Today has been a relatively up-and-down day for me. The day started beautifully, with a wonderfully blue sky and great clouds (yes, I'm a sky person). Headed over to Seascape in the morning for a morning run with sketch and the no.4 jaggar (:P). That actually felt pretty good. I kinda overdid it on Monday and felt like puking, so I was careful not to exceed my limit today.
We then headed over to Glen for lunch. TUP came over to no.4 and gave us a lift, and we met up with dar, tkh, alamak!, win, siao-eh and shyboy. Sketch decided to go get a hair cut (or trim,or whatever), and the rest of us pretty much just waited for her while drinking bubble tea. It actually came out pretty nice; I like the new fringe. But bald would still have been better. ;)
We then decided to head over to no.4 to chill (we being sketch, jaggar, TUP, tkh, alamak! win and myself). Only they couldn't decided what they wanted to do. So I ended up dropping home to pick up the PS2, mahjong set and the poker set. And a bunch of DVDs for good measure. When I got back into the car, they told me the exam results had been posted.
I checked my results in sketch's room. She insisted that I should go first, and said she was going to brush her teeth. I jokingly asked whether brushing teeth would bring good luck. As it turns out, I got some pretty crap grades, while she did pretty well. Dammit. I knew I should've brushed my teeth.
Good news is I'm definitely graduating this semester; bad news is my results were quite far below what I expected. I didn't think I would get more than one Credit, with the other three units Distinctions or High D's; as it turns out, I got HD for Systems Integrity (which was a shocker, since I never expected it to be my highest scoring unit this semester), and D for the thesis. Was hoping for an HD, but what to do.
The crappy part was the two Passes I got for my teaching gig and Technology&Society, mainly because of the amount of time I spent on the teaching reports and presentation. Tech&Soc's also disappointing because I got really high marks for the assignments, which means if the results are accurate, I failed the final exam. -sigh- Looks like I'll have to call Michelle at Department and request to have a look at my exam scripts.
The results hit me pretty badly. While graduating would not be a problem, I was in danger of losing my H2A honours. Problem was, I didn't have my spreadsheet with me, so I couldn't actually calculate how these new results would affect my honours weighting. I did some rough calculations, but it was going to be too close to call, unless I checked with the spreadsheet. That's actually even worse than knowing that I'd definitely lost the honours: not knowing.
I joined the rest in the lounge and we ended up playing mahjong, poker andeyetoy, although we didn't watch any of the DVDs. I was dealing with it pretty okay, I thought. Went outside for a smoke and had a chat with StupidBoy which kinda put things slightly in perspective.
We later went to RK for dinner, and I was still handling it pretty well. I guess it really only started weighing down on me when we proceeded to AS for coffee. By the time we moved on to siao-eh's place for more fun-and-games, I was already fighting depression mode. I was okay at first, playing Blind Man's Bluff (which I hadn't played for maybe 15 years?), then Dad called and I told him the news. I went outside to take the call, and for some reason, I didn't feel like heading back into the party after that.
I've been fighting off this deep feeling of upcoming loss lately, trying to avoid thinking about how much I'm going to miss my friends, and even the place (though I hate to admit it) once I return home. I thought I had it handled when I figured there wasn't much to be done, and to simply make the most of my remaining time here. I guess that's why I decided to go on the trip to Adelaide with three crazy jokers, and why this entire week's been packed full of activities (like horse riding tomorrow).
It's not so much the fact I didn't do well that pisses me off; it's that I never expected it to happen. I thought I was over the "passing" phase, and it turned around and slapped me full in the face on my final semester. These are probably my worst results in two years. So I guess it's an accumulation of pent up feelings and this new thing.
So I sat around outside siao-eh's house for nearly three hours before I decided to walk home. It would have been a nice, cool walk in the summer's night breeze, but I wasn't really in the mood to appreciate it. As I walked past the field near Seascape, I noticed the field sprinklers were turned on, and had this sudden whim of walking through all of them.
So I did.
By the time I was done, I was pretty much soaked through, which means I froze most of the way home, and seem to be coming down with slight sniffles. Felt good though.
Today has been a relatively up-and-down day for me. The day started beautifully, with a wonderfully blue sky and great clouds (yes, I'm a sky person). Headed over to Seascape in the morning for a morning run with sketch and the no.4 jaggar (:P). That actually felt pretty good. I kinda overdid it on Monday and felt like puking, so I was careful not to exceed my limit today.
We then headed over to Glen for lunch. TUP came over to no.4 and gave us a lift, and we met up with dar, tkh, alamak!, win, siao-eh and shyboy. Sketch decided to go get a hair cut (or trim,or whatever), and the rest of us pretty much just waited for her while drinking bubble tea. It actually came out pretty nice; I like the new fringe. But bald would still have been better. ;)
We then decided to head over to no.4 to chill (we being sketch, jaggar, TUP, tkh, alamak! win and myself). Only they couldn't decided what they wanted to do. So I ended up dropping home to pick up the PS2, mahjong set and the poker set. And a bunch of DVDs for good measure. When I got back into the car, they told me the exam results had been posted.
I checked my results in sketch's room. She insisted that I should go first, and said she was going to brush her teeth. I jokingly asked whether brushing teeth would bring good luck. As it turns out, I got some pretty crap grades, while she did pretty well. Dammit. I knew I should've brushed my teeth.
Good news is I'm definitely graduating this semester; bad news is my results were quite far below what I expected. I didn't think I would get more than one Credit, with the other three units Distinctions or High D's; as it turns out, I got HD for Systems Integrity (which was a shocker, since I never expected it to be my highest scoring unit this semester), and D for the thesis. Was hoping for an HD, but what to do.
The crappy part was the two Passes I got for my teaching gig and Technology&Society, mainly because of the amount of time I spent on the teaching reports and presentation. Tech&Soc's also disappointing because I got really high marks for the assignments, which means if the results are accurate, I failed the final exam. -sigh- Looks like I'll have to call Michelle at Department and request to have a look at my exam scripts.
The results hit me pretty badly. While graduating would not be a problem, I was in danger of losing my H2A honours. Problem was, I didn't have my spreadsheet with me, so I couldn't actually calculate how these new results would affect my honours weighting. I did some rough calculations, but it was going to be too close to call, unless I checked with the spreadsheet. That's actually even worse than knowing that I'd definitely lost the honours: not knowing.
I joined the rest in the lounge and we ended up playing mahjong, poker andeyetoy, although we didn't watch any of the DVDs. I was dealing with it pretty okay, I thought. Went outside for a smoke and had a chat with StupidBoy which kinda put things slightly in perspective.
We later went to RK for dinner, and I was still handling it pretty well. I guess it really only started weighing down on me when we proceeded to AS for coffee. By the time we moved on to siao-eh's place for more fun-and-games, I was already fighting depression mode. I was okay at first, playing Blind Man's Bluff (which I hadn't played for maybe 15 years?), then Dad called and I told him the news. I went outside to take the call, and for some reason, I didn't feel like heading back into the party after that.
I've been fighting off this deep feeling of upcoming loss lately, trying to avoid thinking about how much I'm going to miss my friends, and even the place (though I hate to admit it) once I return home. I thought I had it handled when I figured there wasn't much to be done, and to simply make the most of my remaining time here. I guess that's why I decided to go on the trip to Adelaide with three crazy jokers, and why this entire week's been packed full of activities (like horse riding tomorrow).
It's not so much the fact I didn't do well that pisses me off; it's that I never expected it to happen. I thought I was over the "passing" phase, and it turned around and slapped me full in the face on my final semester. These are probably my worst results in two years. So I guess it's an accumulation of pent up feelings and this new thing.
So I sat around outside siao-eh's house for nearly three hours before I decided to walk home. It would have been a nice, cool walk in the summer's night breeze, but I wasn't really in the mood to appreciate it. As I walked past the field near Seascape, I noticed the field sprinklers were turned on, and had this sudden whim of walking through all of them.
So I did.
By the time I was done, I was pretty much soaked through, which means I froze most of the way home, and seem to be coming down with slight sniffles. Felt good though.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Home and Away
Haven't posted in almost a week, mainly because I was away in Adelaide. I meant to leave a quick post before I left, but kinda forgot. Oops.
Anyway, Adelaide was good. Went with Trs, Rong and Renzi (aka Sketch). May write a little later about the trip. May not. We'll see.
Interestingly enough, I actually avoided connecting to the net after returning home on Sunday night. I haven't even checked my email yet. Hope nothing important in there. Not sure why I did this, but for some reason it felt kinda good. -shrugs-
Gonna be really busy in the next few days. Horseback riding, rock climbing, clubbing, gotta pack up my room and move furniture and get ready to leave this place for good. And then my parents will be here on Monday and we're off to Tassie. Then back here for graduation, then back to Sg permanently.
Whee.
For some reason, I feel a lot less "whee" than I expected.
This is what I want, isn't it?
Mmmm.
Anyway, going for a run (ok, stop laughing).
Busy day.
Anyway, Adelaide was good. Went with Trs, Rong and Renzi (aka Sketch). May write a little later about the trip. May not. We'll see.
Interestingly enough, I actually avoided connecting to the net after returning home on Sunday night. I haven't even checked my email yet. Hope nothing important in there. Not sure why I did this, but for some reason it felt kinda good. -shrugs-
Gonna be really busy in the next few days. Horseback riding, rock climbing, clubbing, gotta pack up my room and move furniture and get ready to leave this place for good. And then my parents will be here on Monday and we're off to Tassie. Then back here for graduation, then back to Sg permanently.
Whee.
For some reason, I feel a lot less "whee" than I expected.
This is what I want, isn't it?
Mmmm.
Anyway, going for a run (ok, stop laughing).
Busy day.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Not another one of those...
Got this survey off Em's blog. Figured "what the hell", so here you go.
Name: Too many aliases. Stick with Scott. Or whatever else you might know me as.
Birthday: 19 September 1981
Birthplace: Singapore
Current Location: Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Eye Color: Black
Hair Color: Copper brown (Original: black)
Height: 171cm thereabouts
Right Handed or Left Handed: Righty
Your Heritage: 0.5(Hakka/Cantonese) + 0.5(Hokkien) = 1(Chinese)
The Shoes You Wore Today: Black Fila slip-on trainers
Your Weakness: Procrastination
Your Fears: Any form of mental illness/degeneration
Your Perfect Pizza: Chicken & mushroom
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: Graduate with second-uppers
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger: "lol", "indeed", "you suck", "stupid renzi"
Thoughts First Waking Up: Do I really need to be up yet?
Your Best Physical Feature: Eh?
Your Bedtime: Errr...five...?
Your Most Missed Memory: High school days, Army days
Pepsi or Coke: Whatever's cheaper (No Home Brand!)
MacDonalds or Burger King: Burger King (Maccas in Aussie; Aussie BK sucks)
Single or Group Dates: ...dates...?
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Pokka
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee: Coffee
Do you Smoke: 'Fraid so
Do you Swear: &%$# yeah
Do you Sing: Sometimes
Do you Shower Daily: Err...sometimes...
Have you Been in Love: I like to think so.
Do you want to go to College: I want to graduate...
Do you want to get Married: Eventually, I suppose.
Do you believe in yourself: Too much, I reckon.
Do you get Motion Sickness: Rarely
Do you think you are Attractive: Above average, I hope.
Are you a Health Freak: Nope
Do you get along with your Parents: Yeah
Do you like Thunderstorms: Not when I'm camping/trekking; otherwise, yes.
Do you play an Instrument: Does beating the trashbin with a stick count?
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol: Yep
In the past month have you Smoked: Uh huh
In the past month have you been on Drugs: Never
In the past month have you gone on a Date: Not that I recall
In the past month have you gone to a Mall: Yeap
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos: Nope
In the past month have you eaten Sushi: Yep. Yum.
In the past month have you been on Stage: Nope
In the past month have you been Dumped: Nope
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping: Nope
In the past month have you Stolen Anything: Nope
Ever been Drunk: Heheh. Yes.
Ever been called a Tease: Not to my face.
Ever been Beaten up: Define "beaten up".
Ever Shoplifted: Nope
How do you want to Die: Doing something I love, for something I believe in, or among friends and family, in order.
What do you want to be when you Grow Up: Wise.
What country would you most like to Visit: Africa.
In a Boy/Girl, you like...
Favourite Eye Color: Err...no difference.
Favourite Hair Color: No difference.
Short or Long Hair: Depends. Should match "look".
Height: 160+
Weight: Dunno...
Best Clothing Style: Sports/casual
Number of Drugs I have taken: Never
Number of CDs I own: A few
Number of Piercings: None
Number of Tattoos: None
Number of things in my Past I Regret: Too few to mention...
Name: Too many aliases. Stick with Scott. Or whatever else you might know me as.
Birthday: 19 September 1981
Birthplace: Singapore
Current Location: Clayton, Victoria, Australia
Eye Color: Black
Hair Color: Copper brown (Original: black)
Height: 171cm thereabouts
Right Handed or Left Handed: Righty
Your Heritage: 0.5(Hakka/Cantonese) + 0.5(Hokkien) = 1(Chinese)
The Shoes You Wore Today: Black Fila slip-on trainers
Your Weakness: Procrastination
Your Fears: Any form of mental illness/degeneration
Your Perfect Pizza: Chicken & mushroom
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: Graduate with second-uppers
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger: "lol", "indeed", "you suck", "stupid renzi"
Thoughts First Waking Up: Do I really need to be up yet?
Your Best Physical Feature: Eh?
Your Bedtime: Errr...five...?
Your Most Missed Memory: High school days, Army days
Pepsi or Coke: Whatever's cheaper (No Home Brand!)
MacDonalds or Burger King: Burger King (Maccas in Aussie; Aussie BK sucks)
Single or Group Dates: ...dates...?
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Pokka
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee: Coffee
Do you Smoke: 'Fraid so
Do you Swear: &%$# yeah
Do you Sing: Sometimes
Do you Shower Daily: Err...sometimes...
Have you Been in Love: I like to think so.
Do you want to go to College: I want to graduate...
Do you want to get Married: Eventually, I suppose.
Do you believe in yourself: Too much, I reckon.
Do you get Motion Sickness: Rarely
Do you think you are Attractive: Above average, I hope.
Are you a Health Freak: Nope
Do you get along with your Parents: Yeah
Do you like Thunderstorms: Not when I'm camping/trekking; otherwise, yes.
Do you play an Instrument: Does beating the trashbin with a stick count?
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol: Yep
In the past month have you Smoked: Uh huh
In the past month have you been on Drugs: Never
In the past month have you gone on a Date: Not that I recall
In the past month have you gone to a Mall: Yeap
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos: Nope
In the past month have you eaten Sushi: Yep. Yum.
In the past month have you been on Stage: Nope
In the past month have you been Dumped: Nope
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping: Nope
In the past month have you Stolen Anything: Nope
Ever been Drunk: Heheh. Yes.
Ever been called a Tease: Not to my face.
Ever been Beaten up: Define "beaten up".
Ever Shoplifted: Nope
How do you want to Die: Doing something I love, for something I believe in, or among friends and family, in order.
What do you want to be when you Grow Up: Wise.
What country would you most like to Visit: Africa.
In a Boy/Girl, you like...
Favourite Eye Color: Err...no difference.
Favourite Hair Color: No difference.
Short or Long Hair: Depends. Should match "look".
Height: 160+
Weight: Dunno...
Best Clothing Style: Sports/casual
Number of Drugs I have taken: Never
Number of CDs I own: A few
Number of Piercings: None
Number of Tattoos: None
Number of things in my Past I Regret: Too few to mention...
Monday, November 21, 2005
Tech: yes or no?
So, I've been thinking lately whether I should start writing about tech issues and developments once more. I'm not sure how many of you actually read those posts.
And if I do start writing about tech again, what kind of stuff should I write about? I'm aware that most of you guys aren't extremely tech-savvy, so I'm not sure if I should post up the more "advanced" stuff I come across while surfing.
I was thinking I might start writing a few articles explaining what various bits of tech are in layman terms, maybe a few tutorials of sorts explaining how you too can implement these things on your system/blog/whatever. Maybe talk about what these things are and why you should care (or not care).
What do you guys think?
And if I do start writing about tech again, what kind of stuff should I write about? I'm aware that most of you guys aren't extremely tech-savvy, so I'm not sure if I should post up the more "advanced" stuff I come across while surfing.
I was thinking I might start writing a few articles explaining what various bits of tech are in layman terms, maybe a few tutorials of sorts explaining how you too can implement these things on your system/blog/whatever. Maybe talk about what these things are and why you should care (or not care).
What do you guys think?
Working for the opposition
I've come to the conclusion that most people who read my blog (that means two out of the three of you) pretty much agree with most things I write about.
Since I'm a big fan of intellectual debate, I'm actually considering writing from the opposite point of view in my future posts, just so there's actually something to discuss.
I mean, there really isn't much point in writing stuff that people simply agree with, much less reading a blog that pretty much restates your own viewpoint.
Without debate, how do we grow? How do we question ourselves if we're all agreeing?
The tricky part is determining which issues I should write in my own opinion and which ones I should write from the opposite point of view.
Any thoughts?
Since I'm a big fan of intellectual debate, I'm actually considering writing from the opposite point of view in my future posts, just so there's actually something to discuss.
I mean, there really isn't much point in writing stuff that people simply agree with, much less reading a blog that pretty much restates your own viewpoint.
Without debate, how do we grow? How do we question ourselves if we're all agreeing?
The tricky part is determining which issues I should write in my own opinion and which ones I should write from the opposite point of view.
Any thoughts?
Our House
Today, I'd like to talk a little about Nguyen Tuong Van. In case you've been hiding under a rock for a while, he's the 25-year old Australian Viet who's about to be hanged in Singapore for smuggling 396g of heroin.
The Australian government's been trying its hardest to plead for clemency, with everyone from John Howard to Alexander Downer chipping in to try to persuade the Singaporean government not to hang the guy.
Obviously, it's not working. You didn't really expect the Singapore government to just go "Oh. No hanging? Oh, okay, sure thing" did you? Of course not; both sides know what has to happen. And y'know what I think? Good on them; everyone's playing their parts and in a few weeks, this whole mess will be over.
If I seem insensitive, do forgive me; I confess I don't even know the guy. What I do know is this, though: Singapore cannot afford not to hang him, for a few reasons.
Firstly, it must establish that anyone who traffics more than the "allowed" amount of drugs will be hanged. Anyone. Whether you're black, white or asian, Singaporean or Australian, you will receive the mandatory death penalty.
Secondly, it must show that the law will not succumb to external pressure. Once you're in our jurisdiction, you either play by our rules, or suffer our penalties. And no amount of pleading and prodding will help you.
Thirdly, the law must be upheld. A law is not a law if there isn't absolute certainty that penalties for infringement will be carried out. For example, there's no point having a law against corruption if corruption is tolerated. You know what I'm talking about.
What I really enjoy reading, though, is reports/opinions that state with absolute certainty and steadfast conviction that capital punishment is ineffective as a deterrant. Most of these then go on to point at "examples" like trafficking in Indonesia, and heroin production in Afghanistan.
Now, I don't know about Indonesia and Afghanistan, but in Singapore, you can be hung for drugs, murder, kidnapping, treason and firearms. Ever wonder why you can't just buy dope off the street in Singapore, like you can in Melbourne's Chinatown? Or why we don't get that many murders, or kidnappings? How about robberies involving guns? So yeah, I don't know about all those other countries, but it certainly seems to be working for us.
Also, is it just me, or have a lot of Australians been arrested for drug smuggling lately? Just from recent memory I recall the Corby chick in Indonesia, the so-called "Bali Nine", and that other Australian lady who was bouncing back and forth between Canada and the Carribean. What's up with that?
Anyway, this Nguyen guy. Some people say he should be let off the noose because he's a really decent guy. Apparently, he agreed to be a "mule" to pay off his twin brother's drug-related debts. Others are saying he should be given leniency because he confessed to the crime. The second one's a little ridiculous since he was pretty much caught with the drugs strapped to his body.
Now I'm not saying it wasn't a really noble thing for him to do, risking his own life for his brother's. Hey, that's what blood's about, right? It's the epitome of brotherhood: placing your brother's life before your own. He really is a genuine hero.
The only problem is that he knew. He knew what was going to happen if he got caught. He understood the risks he was taking, yet he chose to go ahead anyway. And while I admire his courage, he has to face the consequences of his decision. Hell, that's what makes it so admirable in the first place.
So yes, honour him as a good brother and a brave hero, but let him face the consequences of his choice.
And let it forever stand as a testimony to all: Our house, our rules. No negotiation.
Other opinions: UncleBeng, Dodge, an Australian
Tags: singapore, death penalty, nguyen tuong van
The Australian government's been trying its hardest to plead for clemency, with everyone from John Howard to Alexander Downer chipping in to try to persuade the Singaporean government not to hang the guy.
Obviously, it's not working. You didn't really expect the Singapore government to just go "Oh. No hanging? Oh, okay, sure thing" did you? Of course not; both sides know what has to happen. And y'know what I think? Good on them; everyone's playing their parts and in a few weeks, this whole mess will be over.
If I seem insensitive, do forgive me; I confess I don't even know the guy. What I do know is this, though: Singapore cannot afford not to hang him, for a few reasons.
Firstly, it must establish that anyone who traffics more than the "allowed" amount of drugs will be hanged. Anyone. Whether you're black, white or asian, Singaporean or Australian, you will receive the mandatory death penalty.
Secondly, it must show that the law will not succumb to external pressure. Once you're in our jurisdiction, you either play by our rules, or suffer our penalties. And no amount of pleading and prodding will help you.
Thirdly, the law must be upheld. A law is not a law if there isn't absolute certainty that penalties for infringement will be carried out. For example, there's no point having a law against corruption if corruption is tolerated. You know what I'm talking about.
What I really enjoy reading, though, is reports/opinions that state with absolute certainty and steadfast conviction that capital punishment is ineffective as a deterrant. Most of these then go on to point at "examples" like trafficking in Indonesia, and heroin production in Afghanistan.
Now, I don't know about Indonesia and Afghanistan, but in Singapore, you can be hung for drugs, murder, kidnapping, treason and firearms. Ever wonder why you can't just buy dope off the street in Singapore, like you can in Melbourne's Chinatown? Or why we don't get that many murders, or kidnappings? How about robberies involving guns? So yeah, I don't know about all those other countries, but it certainly seems to be working for us.
Also, is it just me, or have a lot of Australians been arrested for drug smuggling lately? Just from recent memory I recall the Corby chick in Indonesia, the so-called "Bali Nine", and that other Australian lady who was bouncing back and forth between Canada and the Carribean. What's up with that?
Anyway, this Nguyen guy. Some people say he should be let off the noose because he's a really decent guy. Apparently, he agreed to be a "mule" to pay off his twin brother's drug-related debts. Others are saying he should be given leniency because he confessed to the crime. The second one's a little ridiculous since he was pretty much caught with the drugs strapped to his body.
Now I'm not saying it wasn't a really noble thing for him to do, risking his own life for his brother's. Hey, that's what blood's about, right? It's the epitome of brotherhood: placing your brother's life before your own. He really is a genuine hero.
The only problem is that he knew. He knew what was going to happen if he got caught. He understood the risks he was taking, yet he chose to go ahead anyway. And while I admire his courage, he has to face the consequences of his decision. Hell, that's what makes it so admirable in the first place.
So yes, honour him as a good brother and a brave hero, but let him face the consequences of his choice.
And let it forever stand as a testimony to all: Our house, our rules. No negotiation.
Other opinions: UncleBeng, Dodge, an Australian
Tags: singapore, death penalty, nguyen tuong van
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Are we still here?
Is it just me, or has mainstream adoption of tech been really slow for the past year?
I'm not suggesting that tech development's been slow (though even that does seem to have slowed down slightly), since this year we've seen the launch of dual-cored processors, nVidia's 7800 graphics card, and Intel's new Viiv line of processors, among others.
But just a little earlier, as I was walking home from dinner, I thought to myself, "Hmmm...if I were to get a new desktop today, what specs would I get?" I'm the kind of guy who likes to stay in the know, but happily settles for the mainstream specs (no money), and as I was thinking this to myself, it suddenly hit me.
When I bought my desktop three and a half years ago, I settled for an AthlonXP 1700+, with a GeForce MX400 graphics card backed by 256MB of RAM. Pretty standard in those days.
December last year, I asked the same question and came up with: Athlon64 3200+, 6600GT graphics card and 1GB of RAM. That's quite a leap from the old system, and to be expected seeing as two and a half years had passed.
Today, as I was thinking that to myself, I realised that if I simply followed mainstream adoption, I'd probably get an Athlon64 3500+, a 6800GT card and 1GB of RAM.
That's barely one rung up the ladder from one year ago. Has mainstream adoption slowed down, or is it just me?
I'm not suggesting that tech development's been slow (though even that does seem to have slowed down slightly), since this year we've seen the launch of dual-cored processors, nVidia's 7800 graphics card, and Intel's new Viiv line of processors, among others.
But just a little earlier, as I was walking home from dinner, I thought to myself, "Hmmm...if I were to get a new desktop today, what specs would I get?" I'm the kind of guy who likes to stay in the know, but happily settles for the mainstream specs (no money), and as I was thinking this to myself, it suddenly hit me.
When I bought my desktop three and a half years ago, I settled for an AthlonXP 1700+, with a GeForce MX400 graphics card backed by 256MB of RAM. Pretty standard in those days.
December last year, I asked the same question and came up with: Athlon64 3200+, 6600GT graphics card and 1GB of RAM. That's quite a leap from the old system, and to be expected seeing as two and a half years had passed.
Today, as I was thinking that to myself, I realised that if I simply followed mainstream adoption, I'd probably get an Athlon64 3500+, a 6800GT card and 1GB of RAM.
That's barely one rung up the ladder from one year ago. Has mainstream adoption slowed down, or is it just me?
Friday, November 18, 2005
Your responsibility as the consumer
Before reading this post, it is advisable you read the following:
For those of you who can't be bothered to/are wary of registering for yet another website you may not have heard about, here's a quick summary of the article:
Palmer basically restates and consolidates the age-old gripes of consumers regarding the content industry's pricing and marketing of its content, by questioning the validity of consumers having to pay for what is essentially the same content multiple times: once off iTunes, once for a ringtone, once for a ringback tone, once for the music video, once for a still-image of the artist for use as a wallpaper, the list goes on.
My take:
Firstly, I'm not going to go over the Why do I have to pay again? issue anymore. Read my previous post.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: with the current pricing model the content providers have come up with, it is now your responsiblity (and mine), as the consumer, to choose.
If you want the music for listening on your iPod (or other assorted portable device), then get that; if you want the music on CD for playback on your home/car stereo, get that; if you want the music video so you can check out [insert latest pop sensation]'s cool new dance moves, get that; if you want the music as a ringtone for your mobile, get that; and if you want the artist's ugly mug on your mobile as a wallpaper (for whoever knows what reason), you can get that too.
But for goodness' sake stop complaining that you have to pay for every single one of them. Because, you know what?
YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET EVERY SINGLE FORMAT OF THE SONG IN EXISTENCE
We complained that records were too expensive and that only a few songs on each one was actually any good and why can't we get them separately? Well, now we can. The music industry has made it available to use via online content stores. And still we're complaining.
I'm sick to death of all the whiny babies who keep crying that they have to pay for the stuff they want. Learn to choose, for heaven's sake. Instead of succumbing to the knee-jerk mentality of going out and getting every single format of the latest "big hit" that's available out there (and then complaining about it), decide what you really want first.
Is that really so hard?
Is being responsible for how you spend your own (or your parents', in some cases) money really that difficult?
A wise man once wrote: Choose, and act.
Notice that choosing comes before acting, not the other way around. So stop being childish, and start being the responsible consumers you're meant to be. And if you can't even manage that, at least have the decency to stop blaming others for your inability to choose.
----------
As a side note, there are, naturally, other ways of getting content, without having to pay a dime for it, and you are, of course, free to pursue these alternative methods. Just pleasepleaseplease remember that sharing of copyright files is illegal, so when you get caught, for goodness' sake don't act so damned surprised, and above all, please don't complain again.
It is illegal. If you get caught, you're fucked. I really can't express it more clearly than that.
- Who are the Real Pirates?, written by Shelly Palmer for MediaPost (Needs free registration)
- My previous post on Singapore's Anti-CD-Ripping policy, which has some relevance to the issue
For those of you who can't be bothered to/are wary of registering for yet another website you may not have heard about, here's a quick summary of the article:
Palmer basically restates and consolidates the age-old gripes of consumers regarding the content industry's pricing and marketing of its content, by questioning the validity of consumers having to pay for what is essentially the same content multiple times: once off iTunes, once for a ringtone, once for a ringback tone, once for the music video, once for a still-image of the artist for use as a wallpaper, the list goes on.
How many times can you sell the same master file? There doesn't seem to be any limit. You just have to keep the walls in the walled gardens up and keep the formats incompatible.
How many times will you buy the same master file? That question is being answered every day on P2P networks, via email and podcasts. Obviously, some consumers are willing to pay for the convenience of not having to bother converting their own files to be used in all of their devices. But there are far more consumers who would rather not pay for the same thing over and over again.
My take:
Firstly, I'm not going to go over the Why do I have to pay again? issue anymore. Read my previous post.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: with the current pricing model the content providers have come up with, it is now your responsiblity (and mine), as the consumer, to choose.
If you want the music for listening on your iPod (or other assorted portable device), then get that; if you want the music on CD for playback on your home/car stereo, get that; if you want the music video so you can check out [insert latest pop sensation]'s cool new dance moves, get that; if you want the music as a ringtone for your mobile, get that; and if you want the artist's ugly mug on your mobile as a wallpaper (for whoever knows what reason), you can get that too.
But for goodness' sake stop complaining that you have to pay for every single one of them. Because, you know what?
YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET EVERY SINGLE FORMAT OF THE SONG IN EXISTENCE
We complained that records were too expensive and that only a few songs on each one was actually any good and why can't we get them separately? Well, now we can. The music industry has made it available to use via online content stores. And still we're complaining.
I'm sick to death of all the whiny babies who keep crying that they have to pay for the stuff they want. Learn to choose, for heaven's sake. Instead of succumbing to the knee-jerk mentality of going out and getting every single format of the latest "big hit" that's available out there (and then complaining about it), decide what you really want first.
Is that really so hard?
Is being responsible for how you spend your own (or your parents', in some cases) money really that difficult?
A wise man once wrote: Choose, and act.
Notice that choosing comes before acting, not the other way around. So stop being childish, and start being the responsible consumers you're meant to be. And if you can't even manage that, at least have the decency to stop blaming others for your inability to choose.
As a side note, there are, naturally, other ways of getting content, without having to pay a dime for it, and you are, of course, free to pursue these alternative methods. Just pleasepleaseplease remember that sharing of copyright files is illegal, so when you get caught, for goodness' sake don't act so damned surprised, and above all, please don't complain again.
It is illegal. If you get caught, you're fucked. I really can't express it more clearly than that.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Never say never
Gamespot just released a First Look at the upcoming Neverwinter Nights 2, currently in development by Obsidian.
Loved the first game and all the expansions and modules. Hopefully Obsidian will do a great job on this one; KotOR2 was...fun but slightly disappointing.
I want this game. Now. ^^
Loved the first game and all the expansions and modules. Hopefully Obsidian will do a great job on this one; KotOR2 was...fun but slightly disappointing.
I want this game. Now. ^^
Delirious
Ahaha.
Wahahahaha.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Ahem. Excuse me. :P
I've just completed my very last uni assessment ever.
Can anyone say "Muahahahahahahaha"? :D
Gonna take a short break, then I'll return us to my somewhat erratic posting schedule. :D
Wahahahaha.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Ahem. Excuse me. :P
I've just completed my very last uni assessment ever.
Can anyone say "Muahahahahahahaha"? :D
Gonna take a short break, then I'll return us to my somewhat erratic posting schedule. :D
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Batman and Vader
This is really a reply to this post on Moosie's blog that I couldn't fit into his comment limit. If you're not interested in Batman and/or Vader, don't bother. :)
Moosie, while I enjoy (and agree with) your comparisons between the two Dark Knights, I feel there are several other factors we have to consider.
Firstly, Anakin Skywalker's talent is a gift; he never had to earn his abilities, and boy does he know he has some abilities. As a kid, he won his first pod race, then considered impossible for a human being. Yet because he never actually had to earn his skills, because he was just so naturally good at everything, it made him proud. It made him wonder why he had to follow all these dumb teachings when he knew everything already anyway. And pride doth come before a fall.
Batman, on the other hand, had to earn everything. Granted, he was incredibly rich, and incredibly brilliant, but all his talent, all his ability, all his skill, they all boiled down to one thing: training. This guy never had any midichlorians; yet he could jump higher, move faster, hit harder than nearly anyone he cared to face, and only because he earned it. Every. Single. Punch. His only real talents are his brilliant mind, and stubborn determination. And earning his abilities never made him proud. It never made him think "oh yeah, I'm so badass; I could take on Master Yoda anyday". It only served to make him realise that no matter how hard he trained, how good he got, there would always be someone who was better. Because he's just an ordinary man, after all.
Secondly, their situations are reversed: Anakin has try his hardest to be the goody-two-shoes Jedi Knight all day. And we love him because he does try. But that's not the real him, and it will never be. The real him is proud, and reckless, and even stupid at times, and he has to hide this guy deep within himself, because that is not the way of the Jedi.
Batman's the total opposite (and I'm going to draw more from the comics here). Batman is the real him; it's Bruce Wayne that's the facade. The night is a release for this guy, a time when he can remove his public mask and be who he really is: the Dark Knight, the protector of his city. And make no mistake, it is his city. But most importantly, Batman doesn't pretend to be Bruce Wayne because he has his Jedi brothers looking over his shoulder, because he tries to believe that this isn't the way a costumed hero is supposed to behave; Batman takes on his Bruce Wayne identity because it draws suspicion away from himself. It is a concious choice he's made, one that serves his purpose and no one else. Sure, he doesn't like it, but he's a brilliant guy, and he knows it's the best way.
Thirdly, is the difference in terms of the support they receive. Obi-wan tries his very best to teach Anakin the ways of the Jedi, but he can't be there all the time. In fact, he's practically never there whenever Anakin faces a critical decision. He wasn't there on Tatooine. He wasn't there in Palpatine's chambers. He just wasn't there. And this in no way means he's a poor mentor, it's just the demands of the circumstance. They are fighting a war, after all.
(Drawing from the comics again) Batman, on the other hand, has an entire posse. Has he never felt tempted to go over the edge? Sure he has. But his will is strong, and his principles are firm. And everytime, anytime he's even come close to doing the wrong thing, there's always been someone there for him, be it Alfred, Jim Gordon or Dick, or more recently Oracle, Robin and Batgirl. Someone's always been there to give him that little tap he needs to remind himself why he's dressed up as a big black bat when it isn't Holloween.
I know the post is really about the two movies, but this is just my two cents about the characters as I understand them. :)
Edit: Gah, no idea why I typed "Solo" instead of "Skywalker". :-P
Good catch, Dave. ;)
Moosie, while I enjoy (and agree with) your comparisons between the two Dark Knights, I feel there are several other factors we have to consider.
Firstly, Anakin Skywalker's talent is a gift; he never had to earn his abilities, and boy does he know he has some abilities. As a kid, he won his first pod race, then considered impossible for a human being. Yet because he never actually had to earn his skills, because he was just so naturally good at everything, it made him proud. It made him wonder why he had to follow all these dumb teachings when he knew everything already anyway. And pride doth come before a fall.
Batman, on the other hand, had to earn everything. Granted, he was incredibly rich, and incredibly brilliant, but all his talent, all his ability, all his skill, they all boiled down to one thing: training. This guy never had any midichlorians; yet he could jump higher, move faster, hit harder than nearly anyone he cared to face, and only because he earned it. Every. Single. Punch. His only real talents are his brilliant mind, and stubborn determination. And earning his abilities never made him proud. It never made him think "oh yeah, I'm so badass; I could take on Master Yoda anyday". It only served to make him realise that no matter how hard he trained, how good he got, there would always be someone who was better. Because he's just an ordinary man, after all.
Secondly, their situations are reversed: Anakin has try his hardest to be the goody-two-shoes Jedi Knight all day. And we love him because he does try. But that's not the real him, and it will never be. The real him is proud, and reckless, and even stupid at times, and he has to hide this guy deep within himself, because that is not the way of the Jedi.
Batman's the total opposite (and I'm going to draw more from the comics here). Batman is the real him; it's Bruce Wayne that's the facade. The night is a release for this guy, a time when he can remove his public mask and be who he really is: the Dark Knight, the protector of his city. And make no mistake, it is his city. But most importantly, Batman doesn't pretend to be Bruce Wayne because he has his Jedi brothers looking over his shoulder, because he tries to believe that this isn't the way a costumed hero is supposed to behave; Batman takes on his Bruce Wayne identity because it draws suspicion away from himself. It is a concious choice he's made, one that serves his purpose and no one else. Sure, he doesn't like it, but he's a brilliant guy, and he knows it's the best way.
Thirdly, is the difference in terms of the support they receive. Obi-wan tries his very best to teach Anakin the ways of the Jedi, but he can't be there all the time. In fact, he's practically never there whenever Anakin faces a critical decision. He wasn't there on Tatooine. He wasn't there in Palpatine's chambers. He just wasn't there. And this in no way means he's a poor mentor, it's just the demands of the circumstance. They are fighting a war, after all.
(Drawing from the comics again) Batman, on the other hand, has an entire posse. Has he never felt tempted to go over the edge? Sure he has. But his will is strong, and his principles are firm. And everytime, anytime he's even come close to doing the wrong thing, there's always been someone there for him, be it Alfred, Jim Gordon or Dick, or more recently Oracle, Robin and Batgirl. Someone's always been there to give him that little tap he needs to remind himself why he's dressed up as a big black bat when it isn't Holloween.
I know the post is really about the two movies, but this is just my two cents about the characters as I understand them. :)
Edit: Gah, no idea why I typed "Solo" instead of "Skywalker". :-P
Good catch, Dave. ;)
Monday, November 14, 2005
When three becomes two
A Snow Brothers Production
"Colourless"
Cast
Scott Snow as Housemate 1
Dave Snow as Housemate 3
Principal Photography
Double V & gnuheeK
Assistant Photographers
Pris & Christie
Written, Directed and Produced by
The Snow Brothers
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Disappointment
A Snow Brothers Production
"Disappointment"
Cast
Scott Snow as Geek 1
Double V as Geek 2
Directing and Principal Photography
Dave (Demon) Snow
Friday, November 11, 2005
What style do you like your feeds?
Okay, here's a question for the few of you out there who use desktop-based feed readers (like Thunderbird). Do you prefer your feeds to come in text form or html form?
Here's a quick illustration of what I mean:
Thunderbird displays my feed like this:
While T's feed is displayed like this:
Hope you don't mind me using your feed as an example, T; it was the most recent one I got. ^^
Now, notice how my feed is displayed in plain text format, while T's loads the original webpage and displays the full html.
Feeds in plain text format obviously download a lot faster than those in html format (BTW, images are loaded as well, where applicable); it's basically like looking at another email. The downside is exactly that: it looks like normal email. All your cool CSS and layering and what-have-you doesn't actually show up. Also, only the actual post content is loaded, which means comments, trackbacks and the like are not shown at all. The opposite is true for feeds in html format.
So, my question is: which do you guys prefer?
Having asked that question, I have to confess I have no idea how to control which format the feed is displayed in. Unfortunately, I'm not that well read up on the implementation of RSS and/or Atom, so if any of you guys know more about this, please do leave a comment and let me know.
Oh, and I might be changing my feed broadcaster to Feedburner, so I'll post again if I do.
Tags: web feed, rss, atom, thunderbird, feedburner, feed reader
Here's a quick illustration of what I mean:
Thunderbird displays my feed like this:
While T's feed is displayed like this:
Hope you don't mind me using your feed as an example, T; it was the most recent one I got. ^^
Now, notice how my feed is displayed in plain text format, while T's loads the original webpage and displays the full html.
Feeds in plain text format obviously download a lot faster than those in html format (BTW, images are loaded as well, where applicable); it's basically like looking at another email. The downside is exactly that: it looks like normal email. All your cool CSS and layering and what-have-you doesn't actually show up. Also, only the actual post content is loaded, which means comments, trackbacks and the like are not shown at all. The opposite is true for feeds in html format.
So, my question is: which do you guys prefer?
Having asked that question, I have to confess I have no idea how to control which format the feed is displayed in. Unfortunately, I'm not that well read up on the implementation of RSS and/or Atom, so if any of you guys know more about this, please do leave a comment and let me know.
Oh, and I might be changing my feed broadcaster to Feedburner, so I'll post again if I do.
Tags: web feed, rss, atom, thunderbird, feedburner, feed reader
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