Quote of the Post: "God: The grand justifier and legitimizer; the all-purpose, irrefutable justification, especially for hating and killing and feeling good about it." - Thomas Szasz

Random Playlist Song: Muppet - The Great Gonzo Eats A Tire To The Flight of the Bumblebee

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Today was NUS's Rag day. I was originally pondering whether or not to go for it: on the one hand, last year's Rag Day was held in conjunction with NUS's National Day Observance ceremony, and given the date today, it was likely that this would be the case again this year. I was also not sure if I wanted to sit through more than 3 hours of modified flesh parade with accoutrements, accompanied by mass hollering, yelping and other excitements. On the other hand, though, given that I used to be so amused by non-modified Flesh Parade, I thought it might be worth my time going down to amuse myself by seeing other people make a fool of themselves for a change, and observe the exuberance of youth. Besides, by going down I would be supporting the efforts of Ah Ma, who has been working hard on Rag for at least the past month, and who was becoming delirious from lack of sleep last we spoke. I was considering bringing my camera, which has lain unused since my return from Down Under, but then I was quite sure that others would perform this task more than adequately.

So I dragged myself down to the NUS Sports and Recreation Centre, arriving to an already assembled crowd busy cheering its lungs out. I flitted from contingent to contingent, seeking a good vantage point, until PaRaDoX called me over to sit with him and the few USP-ers who were assembled at their designated area.

Of the assembled contingents, the largest were those from the halls. This wasn't surprising, really, since they had no escape. The hall gestapos had probably roamed their halls' corridors, turning reluctant inmates out forcibly, and those who went home, thinking that they would thus be able to escape their halls' wrath, would be in for a reckoning on Tuesday. No prizes for guessing which was the smallest contingent, given that most people who went were either sucked in by their halls or home faculties.

Some time was wasted letting the halls beat their chests and blow their trumpets, then the National Anthem was sung, the flag raised and the pledge said. And then the festivities commenced.

For the next 3 hours or so, the various faculties and halls put up their performances. Though they differed in specifics, most of them were essentially the same: Flesh Parade with many more guys, more cheapskate-looking costumes, floats (for most of the items), many props and buckets of body paint liberally splashed over every square inch of bare flesh. Practically all the dances were choreographed in the same style - inspired by hiphop and some other genres I do not know the names of, with energetic, quick and vigorous moves. Few dances involved slower, more measured and graceful moves.

As for the floats, which IIRC, all the groups but Law, Medicine and USP used, most were vaguely fantasy-themed, with one having paper mache models of a Centaur archer, a swordsman and another warrior. The costumes were mostly garishly bright, which is pretty standard for this kind of thing. I was amused, though, by how so many male performers had bra-like contraptions fixed around their chests, perhaps as a gesture of solidarity with the girls.

After all the halls had finished presenting their items, our Guest Of Honour - the President of Singapore - arrived. Security didn't seem too tight, though. Someone could just have walked behind the grandstand and lobbed a grenade into the crowd, and it might have taken him out. I wonder if he was stunned by all the loud music, cheering and dancing.

I didn't catch all of the performances, especially toward the end, as after a while I (and no doubt many others, who left halfway) tired from prolonged exposure to Singapore's debilitating heat (they should cut the intervals and make it start later and end earlier), got fed up with the incessant cheering and grew weary ('sian') of watching too many essentially similar dance numbers about struggles and fights between good and evil. I know that Literature teaches that an engaging story has to have a conflict, but somehow when people applied that principle to their rag dances, they all ended up with similarly-themed dances. Of those that I did watch, though, Medicine stood out, for it had dancing confectionary: Gingerbread Men, M&Ms and yellow Hershey's Kisses were attacked by a giant ant and its friends.

Perhaps noticing how many people were wilting from the heat, and how more than a few were surreptitiously leaving the area, the organisers got the hall groups to come forward and start singing and cheering. They played several popular tunes one after another, and the hall denizens were progressively whipped into a frenzy. As a friend put it, "everybody machiam like go clubbing". When they got to the Village People's "YMCA", everyone became very excited and during the chorus, sung along and each made the letters "Y-M-C-A" with assorted body parts. Given that, except for the not inconsiderable number of Yaoi fangirls, Singaporeans are generally homophobic, I found this quite amusing. Meanwhile, on the field, people were degenerating into a state of madness. On one side, people were linking hands to form a circle, and skipped around such that the circle rotated (alternatively, I could say that "everyone held hands, formed a circle, and moved perpendicular to the normal with regards to the center of the circle. Their angular velocity could be described as alpha = tangential acceleration divided by the radius of the circle"), then alternately ran towards each other to collapse the circle into a line, then ran outwards again to reform the circle. On the opposite end of the field, people had formed a human train headed by a guy holding a dragon's head, and were running around.

And then it was "the time that everybody has been waiting for". The end. Well actually it was the awards presentation ceremony, but that was just before the end, so that counts. There were what seemed like a million prizes, but I didn't get the names of most of them, no thanks to the incessant cheering of Biz Ad (which swept most of the awards), which drowned out the MCs. One award whose name I did hear was the award for "least cost" float, which stumped me. I could guarantee that I'd win this award next year, simply by constructing a really crummy - but cheap - float.

After the awards were presented, the President (of Singapore) took his leave, to Kit Chan's 1998 version of "Home" (I assume it was the 1998 version since I didn't hear the "young voices"). At this time, the Biz Ad people were still busy cheering, and they were in the middle of a really odd cheer which I had never seen before, which involved everyone doing a half-squat (and thus look like they were farting, probably at the other teams) on the cheerleaders' cues. Luckily, someone noticed that the President was leaving, so they paused the cheer just in time. After he had left, though, they resumed the cheer, and didn't accord the same courtesy to the President (of NUS) and his vice-presidents.

Pandemonium then resumed. Eusoff hall's residents did a victory lap around the track, but they looked drained and instead of screams, all that came out of their larynges were whimpers. Meanwhile, Biz Ad was still busy cheering away, and during one cheer with separate parts for each gender (Specifically, the Chinese-Hokkien cheer that roughly goes: "xxx de4 zha bor xi bei chio ah! Hyo de sio se, hyo de sio se! xxx de4 ta bor xi bei yan dao! Hyo de sio se, hyo de sio se! etc" which roughly translates as "xxx's girls are very pretty. *some hokkien curse* xxx's guys are very handsome! *some hokkien curse*"), the voices of the overwhelming number of shrill, anorexic, chinese-speaking ah lians really shone through. [Appendum: Critic 1 informs me that the cheer actually goes: "xxx de4 zha bor xi bei chio ah! Yo zi sa si, yo zi sa si! xxx de4 ta bor xi bei yan dao! Yo zi sa si, yo zi sa si! etc" which roughly translates as "xxx's girls are very pretty. One, two, three, four! xxx's guys are very handsome! One, two, three, four!"]


At one point, I saw one of my SMM instructors in an Arts Orientation Week T-shirt, but he didn't seem to recognise me (or want to acknowledge my presence).

Many people wilfully stood on plastic barriers, those labelled "Warning - this is not a safety barrier". I was wondering if (and secretly wishing that) one would collapse.

I only saw 1 girl in a tudung today. Not surprising, really, for given the heat, if more had showed up, the paramedic would have had to deal with more heatstroke victims than the 2 gingerbread men that my source saw him treating.

I doubt anyone paid royalties for using various music tracks. This isn't so important for the dime-a-dozen generic techno and ah beng dance tracks, but more so for the recognisable tunes, and songs from movie OSTs.

There were some stilt-walkers, but was really innovative was where they got a girl to sit on a guy's shoulders, and let the sides of her costume flow down so he was covered. Though I wondered how the poor guys breathed or saw.

Patch on going for rag: "oh. you have a CHOICE?"
NUS isn't that bad!

Someone from NTU on NUS's Rag: "nus seems more happening"

Someone on University Activities like Rag and Flag: "my senior was telling me after a couple of years you'll find some of these activities totally meaningless and start to question your involvement". Indeed, the meaning imputed to Rag and Flag is grossly inflated. I would say that these activities are organised as a productive (or non-destructive, at least) outlet for youthful energies, to occupy their time and help them make friends.


An advantage of doing a Philosophy module: Since almost all of these buggers are long dead, and died before copyright acts were enacted and repeatedly extended for the profit of evil corporations, we don't have to spend money buying their books; Plato's Euthyphro, Meno and Republic, Descartes' First and Second Meditations and Mill's On Liberty are all in the public domain.

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Benjy:

"freshie = someone you can get fresh with"
i ain't a "hum sup senior"

apparently first year girls complain about hum sup seniors trying to get fresh with them

http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp514_270704.html
if you can read chinese, here's the official response

For the benefit of those whose Chinese is worse than mine, I shall attempt a very rough and abridged summary and translation:


Did NTU's Orientation Camp become too 'hot'? "It was only a game!"

潘星华

"All orientation camps are dating camps, meant to excite us boys and girls. I feel that even if the activities during the camp were too 'hot', they were just for fun, and shouldn't have embarassed the girls or besmirched our reputation."

NTU's representative rebutted yesterday's Straits Times' readers who said that NTU's Sports Orientation camp was too "hot", the boys and girls groped each other too much, and were too daring. The boys were clearly trying to take advantage of the girls.

She said: "The letter writer talked about a girl pulling off a boy's swimming trunks, but verily: nothing of the sort happened. Our group of 10 - 5 boys and 5 girls - were being punished. The circumstances of our punishment were as follows: We were standing on the sea shelf (in the sea near the shore), with 5 boys at the rear, their backs facing 5 girls. While in the water, they took off their swimming trunks, and passed them to us, letting us give the trunks a good swing in the air, in the direction of other students. We then returned their swimming trunks to them for them to put them on. Everyone was simply having fun; a riotously good time. A lot of people were engaged in this manner of frolics on the sea shelf, and it was really nothing big.

The NTU Sports Club Orientation camp lasted from the 12th of July to the 18th, and was held at Sentosa, with 160 students, both new and old, taking part.

The Straits Times reader's letter also mentioned that the freshmen swam to Seletar Island with no safety precautions in place.

NTU freshmen 周诗薇 and 陈心怡 said this was a "sea crossing swim", and the distance was short, with the swim lasting only 15 minutes. All around were sampans and speedboats alongside the students as they swam, and there was a lifeguard too so safety was adequately taken care of.

周诗薇 said: "We played until we were very happy, and the student leaders were very concerned for and took good care of us. When we were playing games, even when we had to perform forfeits, if we didn't like the forfeits, we could choose others. All in all, camps are all about making friends through playing games, and I think other camps are also like this."

NTU's person in charge of student affairs said that however frisky the games got, the students never broke traditions. She said: "Young people like to play, in a moment of excitement, this sort of things may happen, and this can be understood and explained. This year, we specially gave the students a code of behavior, and asked them to respect others. I believe that in their games, they never denigrated anyone."

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The Battle for Your Mind by Dick Sutphen - Persuasion and Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today

This is a fascinating article, neatly giving voice to and confirming many suspicions that I have always had. An edited extract follows:

"How Revivalist Preachers Work

Most likely repetitive music will be played while the people come in for the service. A repetitive beat, ideally ranging from 45 to 72 beats per minute (a rhythm close to the beat of the human heart), is very hypnotic and can generate an eyes-open altered state of consciousness in a very high percentage of people. And, once you are in an alpha state, you are at least 25 times as suggestible as you would be in full beta consciousness. The music is probably the same for every service, or incorporates the same beat, and many of the people will go into an altered state almost immediately upon entering the sanctuary. Subconsciously, they recall their state of mind from previous services and respond according to the post-hypnotic programming.

Watch the people waiting for the service to begin. Many will exhibit external signs of trance--body relaxation and slightly dilated eyes. Often, they begin swaying back and forth with their hands in the air while sitting in their chairs.

The "Voice Roll" Technique

A "voice roll" is a patterned, paced style used by hypnotists when inducing a trance.

Assured Continuation: Fleecing the Flock

When an eyes-open mass-induced alpha mental state has been achieved, they will usually pass the collection plate or basket. In the background, a 45-beat-per-minute voice roll from the assistant preacher might exhort, "Give to God...Give to God...Give to God...." And the audience does give. God may not get the money, but his already-wealthy representative will.

Bonding by Fear and Suggestion

In the last rally I attended, the preacher talked about the blood that would soon be running out of every faucet in the land. He was also obsessed with a "bloody axe of God," which everyone had seen hanging above the pulpit the previous week. I have no doubt that everyone saw it--the power of suggestion given to hundreds of people in hypnosis assures that at least 10 to 25 percent would see whatever he suggested they see.

Miracles

Now those who want to be healed are frequently lined up around the edge of the room, or they are told to come down to the front. The preacher might touch them on the head firmly and scream, "Be healed!" This releases the psychic energy and, for many, catharsis results. Catharsis is a purging of repressed emotions. Individuals might cry, fall down or even go into spasms. And if catharsis is effected, they stand a chance of being healed. In catharsis (one of the three brain phases mentioned earlier), the brain-slate is temporarily wiped clean and the new suggestion is accepted.

A Game in Which the Rules Keep Changing

The use of hypnotic techniques by religions is sophisticated, and professionals are assuring that they become even more effective. A man in Los Angeles is designing, building, and reworking a lot of churches around the country. He tells ministers what they need and how to use it. This man's track record indicates that the congregation and the monetary income will double if the minister follows his instructions. He admits that about 80 percent of his efforts are in the sound system and lighting."

Of course it touches on non-religious mind control techniques too. The following is interesting:

"Vibrato

Vibrato is the tremulous effect imparted in some vocal or instrumental music, and the cyle-per-second range causes people to go into an altered state of consciousness. At one period of English history, singers whose voices contained pronounced vibrato were not allowed to perform publicly because listeners would go into an altered state and have fantasies, often sexual in nature."

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- BugMeNot.com - "Bypass Compulsory Web Registration

"I had an abortion" T-shirt - "The T-shirt helps to subvert the insidious silence that surrounds abortion and the shame that anti-choice extremists try to create around these personal choices and women who make them."

INTERVIEW: The Matrix Leeloaded Interview. Talkingcock questions the Archleetect on the coming leadership change.

Subservient President - "The Subservient President is a parody of Burger King's Subservient Chicken advertising campaign with a political twist. Instead of a guy in a chicken suit who will hop or do push-ups on command, The Subservient President reminds us that the current guy in the president suit will do whatever the oil industry or gas lobby tells him."

Quetzalcoatl: The Man, The Myth, The Legend - "Quetzalcoatl. We've all heard the name before. "He's that Feathered Serpent of Ancient Mexico". However, that only answers the WHAT. Ask, WHO he was, and you might get an answer along the lines of an unintelligble stare; or the standard response, "Yeah. He was the guy who was suppose to return from the East to reclaim his power, but the Indians mistook Cortés for him instead". Though it might seem a simple enough question, a far more involved and complicated answer is necessary."

Museum of Obscure Patents - "Yoga support system and method, US Patent No. 6,766,536 - Issued July 27, 2004."

Effect of ale, garlic, and soured cream on the appetite of leeches - "The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association recently published an experimental study on the protective effect of garlic against vampires. Rather surprisingly, this study showed that garlic seems to have an attractive force on leeches (and probably also on vampires)."

Web Addiction Gets Conscripts Out of Army - "A number of Finnish conscripts have been excused their full term of military service because they are addicted to the Internet, the Finnish Defense Forces said Tuesday... 'For people who play (Internet) games all night and don't have any friends, don't have any hobbies, to come into the army is a very big shock'"
There *was* this guy who was diagnosed with Computer Games Addiction, as I recall

NakedText.com - The new face of art has no faces - "Ahh college, that time in a young person's life when they HAVE NO MONEY!!! So, what does one do if they and their friends have no cash, but simultaneously have an urge to create a new form of art (plus have a little fun doing so)? They make this site... You Paypal us... and your message shows up on our main page painted across whatever body part you bought and linked to the website you chose... The body parts that are currently for sale are: One female breast, Full female chest, A female butt, A male or female back"

On Hair Nazis - "In fact, my ultimate aim is this: I want to grow my hair till it reach my waist in thick, luscious curls that cascade down my sexy back."
The shoulder is enough for me.

Singles queue for man pillows - "Women of all ages have reportedly been rushing to buy their very own Boyfriend Arm Pillow - a snuggly alternative to the real thing... He comes with his own shirts for those who miss fussing over their man and one model has a vibrating alarm function to gently shake their sleeping beauty awake."

Christian dinosaur hunters dig for signs of Biblical dragons - It's amazing how some people can stare facts in the eye and blandly deny them

What, Me Register? - "I use a bogus identity (usually Margaret Thatcher) and a fake e-mail address. I usually list my birthday as 1/1/1970 (the beginning of the Unix era) and my ZIP code as 90210."


When I told them that I didn't drink alcohol because it tastes like shit, more than one person asked me if I had eaten shit before. Their deliberate misunderstanding of similes is very irritating.