Hard Times



Greetings, all who would dwell on this side of the internet. Once again I come to you all bringing news. What else is new?



Yesterday I went to various bookshops in an effort to locate Hard Times. Yes, even in the midst of exams, I still ask for more. Three Popular stores and I got everything that Charles Dickens every wrote except for Hard Times.

(I would like to ask Ms Koh how she got all the money!)(Disclaimer: The mentioned joke was for the pure fun of it and is not a commentary on our beloved literature teacher's monthly income.)

It turns out that Borders had two copies left. Naturally, I got the cheaper one aka the one with the more reasonable price tag. I later noticed that the book contained things like two contents pages and Dickens' working notes. The store owners pointed out that little kids were nearby and I promptly left the area.

On my way out, I noticed that some guys in weird black T-shirts were given a presentation on something called the Cold-Spot theory. Turns out that these people here call themselves the Society of Paranormal Investigation Singapore (Which suggests that they are only a few of the many resistance fighters). Essentially, what this means is that these black clad, non pipe smoking fellows are the Ghostbusters without the cool gadgets, the Exorcists without the Innocence, and Elvis Presley without his hair.




It seems, from their presentation, that they investigate the presence of paranormal activity, but don't do a thing about it. They may monitor it, but that's as far as they go, using stuff like infrared cameras and the like. In other words, a scientific and observational approach to the like.

But how far one can remain scientific when it comes to such things is questionable. Meanwhile, I think it's best to keep that little Cross hanging from your neck.

I also think it's important to note that there was a Fantastic Four banner behind them, with Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman right in the foreground:

Nus High Research Constress 2007



This is the sort of effort put in that makes Carnot Engines blow milk into their handkerchiefs. But it was still mildly enjoyable.

We, the denizens of the VR project, were persuaded by the nice man with the gun to present our projects at the NUS High Research Congress 2007.



Basically, the Research Congress is a like a fun fair. Without the fun. Many people at booths in concourse, with many people who are not at booths in said concourse at the catering area.



So anyway, many a student broke the sound barrier is we struggled to set up our booths by the 1.30. Most of us failed, but it didn't really matter since the people in the auditorium were struggling to finish their presentations on time. So this either makes both groups very well organized, or second only to OBS rojak.

It was suprising that we actually had time to go down after setting the booth up and actually get something to eat, all the while talking about the density of Jun Wei's home as negligible, and the number of cars and parents he had (the parents lost miserably), and whether Jie Hong would be okay up there manning both booths. The conversation about Jie Hong went something like this:

Me: You think Jie Hong's gonna be okay up there?
Gan: Probably not.
Me: You think maybe we should go up there?
Gan: Yeah...
Me: Are we actually going to get up and go there?
Gan: *thinks*
Both: Nah...

Later, we saw Jie Hong struggling with the contents of a Portugese to English dictionary, and an English to Chinese dictionary.

All of the above is true except for the crap about the dictionaries.

When the Parasite finally attacked (Halo fans should get my meaning about the number of people coming out of the Audi), we were strangely disappointed. We got a few visitors here and then (all teachers, with Mr Chua Aik Boon drawing first blood), so I told Leroy to man the booth while I shamelessly snuck off to get some food. Not suprisingly, Darryl was there, all too happy that there was free fried bee hoon.

Me: *Looks at the crowd* Quite a variety, huh?
Darryl: Hm. Yeah. *Eats more bee hoon*

We need to get our hands on those Babel Fishes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_Fish)

I hijacked Darryl's snake (I can explain, girls), which he got from Fishie (Nevermind, girls), and walked back to the booth to find that the VIP is there. I boggled for a bit then walked up to him, and was relieved to see that Leroy was already stealing the limelight. Halfway through the explanation I manage to butt in in a courteous manner, and explain the remainder. He then asks me where I'm from and I tell him "NUS High".

*insert chuckles from VIP here*

Then I conclude then I am from Singapore and was schooled in TV. He claims to get my meaning, then comments that our project has plenty of potential (aka it still sucks now) and walks away without giving any sort of funding whatsoever.

Ah well.

People-o-pedia picked a pack of...

Yes, I have been away for a while. You guys might have been wondering precisely what happened to me. All I can say is that Luke had better buy me a drink or two, and I'm running out of tissue.

And with that quick reference to carbonite suspension, I shall now proceed to introduce the second most reliable source of insights in the world. The first being m-, of course.

People-o-pedia has touched down, and it comes in peace:
http://people-o-pedia.blogspot.com/2007/09/letter.html

A wonderful little blog in the middle of nowhere, the writer (referring to itself as Sardonic) gives its perspective opinions on issues such as the true definition and nature of bimbos, the Adolescent Conjecture, and the smiting of Birthday Parties.

Revel in its glory.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to practice saying ten different versions of "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Sick Heil!

It is tempting to start this post with the words "Hello sick people", but i have not yet obtained all the artifacts.
As a result, this post will mostly contain bitching about the recent necessity for an Ark, mostly because of workload. I shall now attempt to relate the sheer mass of the amount-ain of assignments.

The following have graced my desk over last week:

1. Mechanics 2 project, with our lovable little cytoplasm as a group member (i refuse to say group MATE)

2. Chinese test revision. Nothing more to say here, since I met my lawyer yesterday.

3. Lit Journal entry, which has caused nothing but calamity. It was postponed a total of four days, and for no good reason in particular, except maybe House seems like a real fortunate guy now.

4. Math additional exercises. The principle in these is the famed Zerg Rush, where spamming multiple questions in almost Megatron amounts eventually wears your defences down, thereby exposing you to all sorts of mental and emotional rape.5. Silly little Chem assignment due here and there, as well as the lab notebook.

And that's about it. Let's move on to what's ABOUT to grace my desk:

1. A really cu- i mean, Chinese compo, with the topic being the virtues of friendship. Joy.2. That VR survey that gives other surveys of the same king funny looks (gay), with a presentation on the results due by the last week of Septe-... shit.
And let's not forget that I've been out of action for two days now. i've missed a chem prac, couldn't do that bullshit compo, and missed our wonderful 1000th day celebration. I hear it took a while to come off, Shudder.

Banner than ever!

It's finally done! Steph's emo blog picture is now transformed and ready to be uploaded. Thousands shall ignore the picture, and the day shall come where it would be as if it never existed. But still!



Revel in it's insignificant glory.

Deprived by Logic

It's official. The last week has been dubbed the infamous "Disappointment week". Lam Day was a total letdown. Which reminds me...

Where the hell were you guys? Only people who showed up:

Timo
Steph
Cedric
Joyce (didn't watch the movie)
Damien (Wait... what?)
Beryl (I don't get this anymore...)
Kay Wee (O-Kay...)
Kay Wee's Henchmen

And thanks to those who could have shown up but didn't, you're helping us bury these puppies! The movie wasn't any better either, which shows that the most intelligent of all the people in the above list is Joyce. As for the rest, you bloody geniuses.

It was putrid. Check it out on Rotten Tomatoes and you'll get an overall rating of 20%. You'll also find that the story has a happy ending, which is totally unrealistic, as portrayed by this incident.

The holidays before that were also hideously disappointing. As ugly as a fat suit with no John Travolta in it.

Which reminds me...

Hairspray!!!

Exsteptions!

Sometimes, ACSI doesn't seem that gay. It's just a testament to how screwed up this place has become. Apparently, it's a manafacturing plant for logical fallacies.

Brother's laptop was confiscated yesterday, on the grounds of him playing Stepmania. I shan't say who, because I value my pistachois, but let it be known that it was 5, and no teacher has really stopped anyone from playing Stepmania.

While the above isn't really a valid point, neither is the following.

Mr Png took the opportunity to add in after a very amusing Fruit Salad song by Mr Sun, that it's important to have a healthy diet as well as a healthy mind. (Just like those Star Wars slide transitions)

He also took the opportunity to tell us to stay away from violent video games. (Give him nothing... but take from him... everything!!!) Now let it just be known here that I hve nothing against this stand. He wasn't forcing this on us, so we don't need to see his identification here...

But just before that, he had mentioned the confiscation of three laptops, confiscation for playing games in school.

I told Brother I that there were too many students in the way.

Mr Png had somehow managed to say that such games are violent, and detrimental to the mind and well being of a student. And while this issue is still debatable, what is more apalling is the application of this argument as a Red Herring. (Power to Ms Lam!)

Games being violent have nothing to do with playing them in school.

But fortunately, all three students have received their laptops back, and have vowed to quit their murderous hobby of Stepmania.

The day has come where arrows may breathe easy.

Boredoom!!!

Hey there. As we all know, it's the "holidays". Even as we speak it's coming to an end.

It's about time.

It's strange, but I think over all these years, I've become addicted to work. Holidays make me feel like a potential dengue threat. It's as if not working kil-

...................

Sorry about that. Anyway, as I was saying. Oh yeah. Not working kills me. And by work I don't mean staying at home revising for that upcoming ting xie (cough cough). I mean going to the campus and wrecking havoc at the drinks stall.

That's what life's about. This is nothing like a holiday.

Anyone who wants to send the government a message on Saturday, call me up or post on the tagboard will ya. Or just msn.

doodlelikecrazy@hotmail.com

I give you, The Mometer!

It's getting to be a pain in the ass, this one. I have no idea how it works so far, and neither does anyone. Johannes seems to be the only one who has a clue. *insert blue puppy here*

It's been a pretty generic holiday. Sitting at home doing nothing, then rushing out to school for projects. Of course, there are some perks to this kind of life (hint hint qio bu hint hint).

There's nothing much going on now, so I'll try and get some potential earth moving news to entertain you guys.

Sigh-lence is golden?


I don't think so. Kylie, Cancy and Rashidah weren't so sure though. After Kylie went to watch an extremely... peculiar movie called Little Miss Sunshine, she proceeded to debate on the effects of taking a vow of silence. And so they did. Cancy still holds a place in my... ah nevermind.


Their hair should grow back soon enough.

The following interview has been edited for.... readability. And with commentary.

Me:hey there. you okay if I interview you now? (Here I demonstrate giving her the illusion of choice.)

Kylie: hey. yeah it's okay

Me: ah... yeah. anywho

K:( interviewing me for what btw? just for fun yeah?)

M:indeed

K:okay

M:a man needs to update his blog reguarly (*cough* appreciation *cough*)

K:hahaha. i've read your blog

M:alrighty. first question. my blog's awesome, right?

K:the blogging is good yeah (There is hope for my debut yet.)

M:okay... now for the first real question. why did you decide to carry out this experiment? oh and by the way, this convo will be recorded

K:because i saw it in a movie. haha. joking.

M:silent hill?

K:the idea was from a movie, but the reasons are different.

M:what movie was it?

K:why, would be to discipline myself as well as to learn more about the effect of spoken words. Movie: Little Miss Sunshine. (Might I comment that it's a rather... unique movie. It's also pretty funky. The character that she got the idea from was somewhat of a side character, though all of the characters in the movie are more or less equally emphasized on.)

M:do you think then, that discipline is the act of restraining one's voice? that seems rather oppressive, don't you think?

K:it's not the act of restraining one's voice. but in doing so you can train discipline

M:ah. okay. another one here. why did cancy and rashidah do the same? they watched the movie too? (I've got to learn how to make them do that!)

K:nah they didn't. i kinda watched the movie and thought about doing it one day. then i told them (Oh.)

M:and then they just did it with you for the hell of it? (I've got to... nevermind)

K:they havent watched it. but they know about it and yeah
you think they found it weird? here's the movie trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNWRblcfoFw

M:aye. so how do you think your environment responded to your experiment? you think they found it weird?

K:yeah they found it weird. because well firstly my parents didn't allow me to do it at home. because they thought it was antisocial behaviour. and that it would ruin my reputation in sch.(They obviously haven't been here yet.) and that they just didn't like me daoing them.

M:did you explain that it was an experiment?

K:and they didn't think that doing things for the "experience" or to "experiment" was a good enough reason. (This could be a problem...)

M:okay... here's a pretty personal question.
have your parents ever considered you to be "lacking discipline"? (Whoa whoa we wah!)

K:hahaha no they have not. i don't know.

M:there was one time I saw rashidah using a notebook to communicate
and cancy too. you think this defeats the purpose?
what was the aim of your experiment? in one sentence.

K:to find out how one's self and the people around me respond to silence. (In other words, just sound, not communication itself, as she elaborates later.)

M:do you think that silence is just verbal silence, or simply not communicating at all?

K:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYDQEmHqth4&NR=1
oh verbal silence. that link is a collection of scenes of that guy who took the vow

M:for how many days?

K:6 months or more i think. it's a movie (let me just say here that this guy is completely unrelated to me in any way whatsoever.)

M:so do you think your experiment was a success? (I fail to understand this concept.)

K:hurm. success as in i did learn a lot of stuff from it
not success as in i broke my vow a lot of times (Celiba- nevermind...)

M:oops . chinese oral, eh?

K:french (Ooh, kin- nevermind)

M:oh. that sucks

K:lol

M:ah. it's all greek to me. anyway, what do you think you learnt from this experience?

K:i leanrt that being silent makes people more emo (This here is very interesting. Emos tend to think that red fur is the fashion these days, and that no one understands them. Personally I think this is due to a lack of communication, or lack of attempts at communication. So much for being misunderstood.)

M:around you, or yourself?

K:hurm. myself. not the people around me because they kinda think it is quite cool

M:huh. alright. you would recommend this to anyone?

K:hurm. just about everyone. except people who really well like talking

M:i aplogise but I must refuse

K:hahaha. hurm. but it allows you to appreciate talking
but also gets you to like the silence (Interesting point here, about not talking allowing you to appreciate talking.)

M:ouch. thanks for the interview
anything else you like to say?

K:like there will be moments where i'll just not want to talk at all hurm. not much else?

M:alright. and by the way. everything you just said can and will be used against you
http://www.pressbackspace.blogspot.com/ (She still pleads not guilty.)

K:okay. see ya (in court)

M:thanks

And so there you have it. The complete interview with Kylie on her vow of silence for one day. There are some interesting topics up there that I would like to rant about.

For instance, how most people regard verbal silence as complete silence, Kylie's parents' reluctancy (and in fact, complete disapproval) towards her vow, and the appreciation of talking through silence.

This is all very interesting and I would like to discuss this with you, but I'm bored and needs me entertainment. Goodbye.