Things to do tomorrow:

1) Screwed Up Girl's birthday party, which starts at 2pm, but I want to go at 12pm.
2) hair cut (for the 'hygiene inspection')
3) Take photos for NUS application form
4) Send phone to the Nokia Care Centre (Wheelock Place? Damn. Should have brought my warranty card when I met He Who Must Not Be Named today):

- I can't send pictures and tones by IR to other Nokia phones (apparently this might be by design)
- Some midis won't play fully
- Now the radio doesn't work and all calls are routed to loudspeaker no matter what I do


Junxiong says that in NUS, when you take an MC it has to be endorsed by their clinic. Wah lao. Just like the SAF. No wonder they have a clinic there! I was wondering why they were so nice to their students.

How do you pick up the threads of an old life ? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back ? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep... that have taken hold.

According to a recent English-language Gulf News wire report published in The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), teenagers in the port of Dubai, located in Bahrain, who are searching for "exotic highs" are smoking ants or inhaling the fumes they emit when burned. In fact, a small packet of Samaseem - Gulf Arabic for ants - sells for up to $135 in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. According to the report, Dubai police said youngsters are trying ants because they can't afford the usual narcotics, or they believe they won't be prosecuted for getting high on ants.

Maybe I can try this some day.


Competition for Handsome Boy Steven Lim, the eyebrow plucker!

How did this get into my subdomain?!

SMS I just got: "Hygiene inspection on mon. Specs will be inspected by rsm"

Ooh. Nasty.


I won't be going for this (Pared itinerary)

12 Days Best of Egypt & Red Sea

Day 1 - Singapore/Cairo

Day 2 - Cairo-Alexandria
Arrive Cairo and transfer to Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city for a visit to the Turkish/Florentine-styled Montazah Palace and Gardens, Fort of Qaitbay, built on the site of the ancient Pharos Lighthouse and Pompeii's Pillar, a prominent Ptolemaic landmark

Day 3 - Alexandria-Memphis-Saqqara-Cairo
Visit the ancient capital of Memphis and necropolis of Saqqara where the first Pyramids were built for King Zoser - The Step Pyramids. Transfer to Cairo next to visit the Seven Wonders of the World, the Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza. After Lunch, visit the Egyptian Museum with the world's greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities including treasures from King Tut's tomb.

Day 4 - Cairo-Aswan (Nile River Cruise)
Take an early flight to Aswan. Upon arrival, visit the Unfinished Obelisk, granite quarries, Aswan Dam, old Dam and Philae Temple. Transfer to cruise ship for embarkation.

Day 5 - Nile River Cruise
Enjoy a felucca boat ride and view the Aga Khan Mausoleum from afar. Then sail for Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to the two gods of Sobek and Haroeris. Continue sailing for Edfu.

Day 6 - Nile River Cruise
Visit the Temple of Edfu dedicated to Horus the Falcon God. Sail on to Esna for the lock crossing to Luxor.l

Day 7 - Nile River Cruise
Cross over to the West Bank for a visit to King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut's Temple and Collossi of Memnon. IN the afternoon, visit the Temples of Karnak and Luxor.

Day 8 - Nile River Cruise / Hurghada
Proceed to Red Sea Resort of Hurghada. A simple fishing village once, it is now Egypt's best tourist spot with crystal clear waters and pristine reefs. Go on a desert safari and enjoy a Bedouin Dinner under the stars.

Day 9 - Hurghada
Day is free at leisure. You can "catch" the Red Sea Big Five in a glass-bottom boat, go for a dive in the azure sea, or enjoy the many sports available. Relax with a Turkish bath, massage or sauna.

Day 10 - Hurghada-Cairo
-Free and Easy-

Day 11 - Cairo-Singapore

Argh. Alexandria! The Aswan Dam! Thebes! The Pharos! The Pyramids! The Valley of the Kings! All that's missing is a visit to the Oracle of Siwa.

Maybe at the end of the year... I'll go look at what Greece has to offer

In other news:

Mathematician explains parting of Red Sea

"Naum Voltsinger used differential equations to show that strong winds and a hidden underwater reef would have allowed more than half a million Jews to flee to the Promised Land - without getting their feet wet. "

Fascinating.

If I Were...

If I were a poet,
I would write a sonnet.
It would say "I love you."
Your name would be on it.
If I were a farmer,
I'd give you a bunny.
If I had a beehive,
You would get free honey.
Fa la la (many times)

If I were a baker,
You could have a cruller
If I were a painter,
Choose your favorite color.
If I had some diamonds,
I'd give you a few,
Anything to show you
How much I love you.
Fa la la (many times)

Did you guess my secret?
I am not a poet.
Couldn't write a sonnet,
And I think you know it.
I am not a farmer,
Can't give you a bunny.
I don't have a beehive,
Sorry 'bout the honey.
Fa la la (many times)

I am not a baker,
Don't know bread from batter.
And I am not a painter,
And it doesn't matter.
I don't need a present,
All I have to do
Is look at you to show you
How much I love you.
Fa la la (many times)

--- Kermit The Frog

A song with a vague medieval flavour.


Yeh, I just found this in the unlikeliest place.

I've yet to find Sourwood Mountain and Same Train though.

Miriam pulls it off! - The Sun decided to test out the curvy model - who beneath the glam exterior is very definitely a MAN - on the streets of Britain. I'm not sure if this is another one of the Sun's joke articles

Animal Talk - "Click on the pictures below to hear a person making animal sounds in different languages. Do you hear the difference?" - This is really dumb.

Rules are turning our kids into wimps - "When nations compete with each other on ideas, obedience is not an asset; it could be Singapore's undoing."

An American Odyssey: Manifest Destiny - As someone better than me in describing it put it, "An exploration of American culture, its perception of the world and its imperial fitness. Profound, a bit disturbing, and brutally honest."
"Yes, we do have an ideology and, like all ideologies, it doesn't believe it is one. It just believes that it is The Truth. Bush believes in it to a degree which is astonishing. So far as he is concerned, America's way is God's way."

Put up another of my rejected forum letters below the letter that prompted it.


Email forward I got:

"Once upon a time,there lived an ant and a grasshopper. The grasshopper does nothing else but jump around and play.

On the other hand, the ant is so hardworking, looking for food all day long and store them in it's nest.

Looking at his hardworking friend working so hard, the grasshopper ask, "Hey, Ant! U dun have to relax ah? Always busy one. Come and play with me lah.

"To which the ant replied, "I can't lah i have to store all these food."

"Haiyah! Relaxlah. Why u bother storing all these food? When u hungry den go find lah." the grasshopper told the ant again.

"Eh,cannot lah. I have to standby for the coming winter season. Then I no need to panick mah. I think u oso must standby u know." the ant telling his friend.

"Where got time...I go play better. U wanna store food u go ahead lah. I continue playing ok.. bye!" And hop goes the grasshopper. The Ant is a hardworking guy... oops i mean insect. Not like the grasshopper who is so lazy.

And so as days, weeks, months go by,the winter still has not come yet but the ant is still seen searching and storing food. The two friends
happen to meet again.

"Hey Ant! U stil haven't finished storing food ah? Last time all the food all go where? So fast finish ah?" asked grasshopper.

"I got keep but all overdue liao. So cannot eat anymore. All because winter not here yet. Now i have to go and look for new food." sighed the ant.

"But ant ah.. U dun mind i ask ah.. Did u ever have a thought that Malaysia where got winter?" ask the grasshopper again.

"AHHHH????!!!!!" the ant was shocked!

THE END.

The moral of the story is whatever u do better think properly 1st. Dun anyhow hantam only... :)

Sometimes we go too busy in life and following our routine too tightly but most importantly, work towards where you wanna go in your life, what is it that you want, what isit that you REALLY want, what's your dream, is what you are doing now moving towards your dream ? If it's not, dun just keep on working hard n keep on hantam only just because someone in your life told you that this is the way and just because everyone is doing it !! Dun keep on working hard with no direction ....... focus in the direction of your life not your work but your life.

Plan your life, Live life cool ~~~~ ^_^"


Why Christians Should Not Vote for George W. Bush - Amazingly, If there was ever any doubt about the liberal sway of George W. Bush before his Presidency, that doubt should be well cleared up by now for all but only the willfully naïve.
It seems that not all right wing fundamentalist conservatives are for Dubya. I shudder for the day if people like this take over the USA. Just goes to show that you can't please idiots.

The accusation that George Bush is a liberal rests on the following points:

Abortion

'On the campaign trail, President Bush professed to be "pro-life," but... he believes abortion to be justified in cases of rape and incest... such pro-life exceptions that allow the innocent to be killed in some circumstances disqualify President Bush from being pro-life at all.'
The writer then goes on to equate abortion ('child-killing') with the murder of innocents and labels people who support abortion as supporting murder. He says that even in rape and incest cases, the baby cannot be aborted, but I think even most fundamentalist Christians would make an exception for these cases.

'Having a rapist for a dad is not a capital crime, and for President Bush to state that innocent children can justly be killed because of the tragic circumstances of their conception reveals that he doesn’t comprehend the basic principle of the inalienable, inviolable, God-given right to life acknowledged in our nation’s founding documents.'
Unfortunately, I am not familiar with American constitutional law, but I have more than a hunch that this is empty rhetoric. And anyway, since the writer loves quoting biblical verses, I can quote verses from his beloved bible that actually state - encourages - that innocent children (children, mind you, not not-yet-alive fetuses) can justly be killed because of the crimes of their parents. I assume - reasonably, of course - that incest and rape are crimes. (Psalm 109:8-12, Exodus 20:5, Numbers 31:17, Hosea 13:16 and many other places). In fact, abortion is even allowed if the alternative is a miserable life (Ecclesiastes 6:3-5, Ecclesiastes 4:1-3), and even if a miscarriage is caused without any mitigating factors, it is not counted as murder (Exodus 21:22-25), where the punishment is but a fine and not "a life for a life".

'If his daughter wanted to kill her grandmother to get the inheritance early, would he counsel her: "Sweetie, if you want to kill my mom, that’s completely up to you!?"'
A false analogy if I ever saw one.

He is also accused of appointing pro-choice judges in Texas, and of releasing funds to groups that promote family planning (which doesn't necessarily involve abortion, mind you) and provide abortions (even if they do try to discourage them with counselling and the screening of abortion videos). So just because some groups give poor, frightened, desperate women a final recourse, they should be banned from receiving money to do greater good. Right. Now I know why the world is so screwed up.

Sodomy

Apparently, his attempts to change the constitution to ban gay marriages isn't enough for the writer.

Then, for some reason other points are included under the Sodomy section: "Similarly, conservatives fear the judicial activism that is forcing a new religion down our throats, namely, atheistic humanism. We have Federal judges like U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruling that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has no right to acknowledge God on the job. Conservatives are in an uproar about the judicial tyranny that would cause a democratically-elected, upright man such as Roy Moore, who was only following his state Constitution's precedent in acknowledging God, to be evicted from the state bench."
The writer hasn't heard about the separation of church and state, apparently. He calls this an attempt to enforce "atheistic humanism" on the people, where it is actually ensuring that the basic principle of freedom of (and from) religion is met. What would the Pilgrims say? On the other hand, lugging a large monument inscribed with one of the three versions of the ten commandments in front of the courthouse is considered "acknowledging" their god. This ignores the fact that this is tantamount to a public endorsement and enshrining of a certain brand of religion - an attempt to mix church and state, plainly contrary to the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."

"The position of this administration is that whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they’re allowed to make, so long as it’s embraced by the state or at the state level."
Even an attempt to pander to a principle beloved of conservatives - states' rights and subsidiarity - cannot satisfy this writer!

"President Bush has stated that he has no qualms about hiring homosexuals, and he has proven it. He has appointed open homosexuals to high government positions at a rate that makes Bill Clinton look like a homophobe!"
Seeing how homophobic this writer is, I suspect he might actually be sexist and racist too, seeing as those who fear/hate/discriminate against one group different from them in one way are more inclined to fear/hate/discriminate against others as well.

"homosexual smear machine began to denigrate and verbally assault him for his beliefs"
This is rich, considering that the christian fundamentalist smear machine tries to denigrate and verbally (sometimes worse) assault others not only for what they believe in, but for what they *are*

'President Bush said he reads the Bible daily, but he confessed to the New York Times, "I don’t necessarily believe every single word is literally true." About the evolution-creation debate, he said, "The verdict is still out on how God created the earth. I don’t use the Bible as necessarily a way to predict the findings of science." In other words, Darwinism may be true according to President Bush. When the Bible and a scientific consensus are at odds, whom do you think that George Bush believes?'
What about the parts when the bible says the earth is flat/square, and that this is at odds not only with scientific consensus, but the truth? Note, too, that he uses the phrase "scientific consensus", not "scientific theory", so he may not believe even things that science has proven beyond all doubt. This writer believes in Creation "Science". If a practitioner of family medicine can believe in Creation "Science", I suppose he can believe that the stork brings babies.

Other issues

"There are many other reasons Christians should conscientiously object to voting for George W. Bush. Certainly, many of these acts are not necessarily sinful, but together they provide convincing proof that George W. Bush is not an authentic conservative."
Why do Christians necessarily have to be conservatives? Bah!

"He demoralized Korean and Japanese Christians by bowing down at a pagan Shinto shrine in Japan, His endorsement of Ramadan, a Muslim fast, at a White House celebration."
Respect for another religion is not akin to taking it up. I suppose then that Christians do not have the right to be offended if non-adherents do not even pay lip service to or retain a veneer of respect for their religion.

"His public profession that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture. (I John 2:22-23, John 14:6)"
Actually, those 2 verses just say, respectively, that those who deny the christ are mistaken and cannot get salvation. Which doesn't mean that they don't worship the same god, just that one side is worshipping him wrongly. Frankly, I'm shocked how far he can twist verses for his purposes, trusting that people won't check them.

"His proposal to increase funding of the National Endowment for the Arts by 15 percent, the highest percentage increase in two decades. That's a total of 139 million dollars in 2005 to finance art, much of which is blasphemous. (Recall the taxpayer-financed painting of a crucifix in a jar of urine.)"
Claiming that one blasphemous art piece means that "much" of the rest are similarly sacrilegious is simply a non-sequiter. Going by this logic, if as much as one cent of donations to a church happens to be lost to corruption, we should all immediately stop giving any money to churches.

"His support of Clinton’s 1995 "assault weapons ban" which outlawed a host of semi-automatic guns."
I'm not sure that, even if the constitution allows them to carry guns, Americans equate that with the right to carry semi-automatic Weapons of Not-Inconsiderate Destruction. I'm sure that people using the guns for self defence will want to pump a whole magazine of 30 rounds into the robber who tries using a penknife or box-cutter on them.

"His endorsement and promotion of the globalist, sovereignty-threatening aims of the United Nations. He has continued the Clintonian policy of sending our soldiers to serve under U.N. commanders on U.N. missions."
It seems that, having lost the Jews as convenient boogeymen due to religious reasons, the deluded and paranoid have now latched on to the United Nations as the new Evil Entity which is trying to Take Over The World.

"In spite of the fact that he campaigned on the promise to veto any campaign finance reform legislation that limited Americans’ freedom of speech, he signed into law the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill that effectively eviscerated the first amendment."
How campaign finance and freedom of speech are linked, I really don't know.

Hell, the only things I agree with are the menace of the Patriot Act and the reckless budget deficits.

It's not that I want to be mean, but when I come across something so plainly shrill and deluded, I feel the urge to expose the empty rants for what they are (though in this case they are already quite apparent)

It seems no one has any idea how to cure the ICQ worm that sends out the "http://www.jokeworld.biz/index.html ) LOL" messages.

Luckily, I don't use IE :)


Due to rampant abuse, "Talkback" has been made moderated.

I was reading a book recently when Dennis and Wang stormed in. They were very excited, locked into a loving embrace and were groping each other while giggling. They fell onto me when I was reading on a mattress, and it took a while for me to disentangle myself from the writhing mass of body parts. I then fell on them in turn, crushing them. They then immediately scurried out in shock.

New webbings were issued to those people ORDing after June (ie not me). I was curious to see how different they were, but was disappointed when I found that the only difference between the new and old webbings was the bigger magazine pouches in the new ones. You'd think that DSTA would have made some advances in webbing technology after all these years!

I played a very cunning trick on Guohan a few weeks back. The email promoting his batch of medics to the rank of Corporal had just arrived, and the rest decided to trick him into believing that he'd been promoted too (he's a 2 year soldier, so he won't actually get promoted). He didn't really believe them, so I went to print the promotion notice out, editing his name in. After I'd showed it to him, he appeared quite despondent for the rest of the day.

I read this directive on holding military weddings (yes, there's a directive for everything. That's what the directive writers are paid for!), and noticed that it mentioned that only the bridegroom was allowed to wear the No 1 uniform. But what if the bride is also a military officer? She can still wear the No 1, with the cute hat!

I saw people sparring with "Pugil Sticks" (like those bolsters they used on American Gladiators) during Close Combat Training and was struck by how useless this was for combat purposes, for pugil sticks do not even remotely approximate any close combat weapon to hand on the field of battle. [Update: According to a gung-ho commenter - "USMC grunts train with pugil sticks Over Grown Qtips to develop rifle bayonet fighting skills not hand to hand. I know cuz I did it."]


I think one reason for the popularity of the mongrel, bastardised, creole, pidgin form of "Chinese" that Singaporeans speak is the increasing occurence of English words in Chinese pop songs. For example: "You're my lucky charm" and "Merry merry christmas, lonely lonely christmas".

I am very much taken with an idea I came across recently, that overdeference to and hypersensitivity against offending certain groups - whether racial, gender or religious - is actually a subtle form of discrimination. This meshes well with my stand that affirmative action is actually an insult, for the message behind it is that the respective group is inferior, stupid, useless, lazy, incompetent etc.


Quote:

[Me: I heard you're posting out] *Eagerly* Really? Who did you hear [that] from? True or not? If [it's] true I['ll] kiss you. [Me: You also hate 46?] Of course. Wah na beh.

[To me on Wang] You're the only one who can control him.

[Me on someone diagnosed with computer games addiction: Wah. C2 ah. Why don't you downgrade for porn addiction?] Fuck you.

[Written] carapina (carabina)

cloth hitch (clove)

[On my critique of Junhui's essay] Moral of the story: Never let Gabriel read your essay.

[On a University application essay] Mine is very very different. [Me: What? 'Hey!'?] Hey, jee bye! Hey, jee bye! [Someone: Then they'll ask what's 'hey, jee bye!']

[On being appreciated] Get something more intangible from him. [Me: What, more empty words?] "Good job guys". A "good job guys" is equivalent to 2 days off.

[On his medical appointment] The AH woman - fucking chio. The girl who help me take the X-ray - touch here *touches waist* [Me: She touched you?] Yah.

[On his secondary school days recce-ing the NUS canteens] If you want to look at girls, go to the Arts canteen. If you want to look for guys to laugh at, Engineering is a good bet.

Talkback! is back, and a new guestbook too. Have fun.

Unfortunately, I'd neglected to backup my guestbook entries, so a good year's worth (Mid-November 2002 to February 2003, October 2003 to November 2003, 20th January 2004-whenever guestpage.com disappeared - mostly spam, hopefully) are lost. Oh well.


Finally! A funny Garfield strip. People claim it used to be funnier, but a look at the first Garfield strip leads one to beg to differ, for back then it was almost just as lame. I'm surprised the free archive stretches back so far though!

Kristin Thomas Spam Poetry - "I write poetry using only the subject lines from the hundreds of pieces of SPAM I get every day."

The meaning of life is very simple - it's all about self-gratification, acquiring power, attaining massive material wealth, and crushing your foes. Why, it's so simple I'm surprised you even have to ask. "What you want, take." Everything else is an illusion spun by those in power to prevent people from claiming what's rightfully theirs.

People often search for the meaning of life, but there *is* no grand, over-arching "meaning of life" for everyone. Life has no meaning beyond what you give it.


Jennifer Tham gets interviewed about her having no children.

XXXX GALUMPIA ADULT XXXX - I think the extra "X" gives you a clue about how it differs from normal "XXX". What you see is not what you get!

Power Rangers Wild Force is... interesting. It seems to break with the past in some ways, among the most intriguing (rather, disconcerting to me) are the computer animation (argh. Now the zords look a bit like they're from Beast Wars. What happened to good ole people in suits?!), a flying shark zord (very weird), mobile phones as morphers (now I've seen it all) and claws on the morphed rangers (?!). I suppose I'll get used to it in time.

The pilot was horribly shoddy, though, explaining almost nothing. For example, wth is "Princess Shayla"? Maybe it's because we got cheated, as both episodes debuted in the US as an hour long special! I hope episode 2 makes up for the pilot...


Meanwhile, in the US:

"Power Rangers Dino Thunder premiered on ABC Family on February 21, 2004. The series premieres with three Power Rangers (Red, Blue and Yellow). Two others, a Black Power Ranger and a White Power Ranger, emerge later in the storyline. The newest series is highlighted by the return of one-time Power Ranger Tommy Oliver (1993-97). Tommy is now a high school science teacher in the town of Reefside, California, a refuge he returned to after years of working alongside the late scientist Dr. Anton Mercer. Their top secret experiment combined dinosaur DNA and modern technology and resulted in the invention of Dino Zords, creatures of incredible strength and brilliance. Tommy hoped this innovation would benefit man's understanding of dinosaurs but the lab and its secret work was viciously destroyed by a warped scientist, later known as Mesogog, who conspired to return the world to the age of the dinosaurs.

Believing that chapter of his life is closed, Tommy is focusing on teaching but unbeknownst to him, Mesogog intends to see his distorted plan through. Among Tommy's students are: Connor, a star soccer player, Kira, a wannabe rocker, and Ethan, an internet guru and champion on-line gamer. While on a class field trip, the trio comes across ancient Dino Gems, stones from the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaur population long ago. The strange stones have immense power, bond their special magic to each kid and before long, will transform them into superheroes known as the Power Rangers. When Mesogog resurfaces and attacks the city with his fearsome Tyrannodrones - plus two robotic cyborgs, Elsa and Zeltrax - Tommy must quickly teach his three students to harness the power of the Dino Zords - a giant Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Pteranodon. Although they are hesitant, the teens rise to challenge. Through the Dino Gems and with their special call out, "Dino Thunder! Power Up!," Connor morphs into the Red Ranger with super speed, Kira becomes the Yellow Ranger with a piercing and powerful scream, and Ethan is the Blue Ranger with the ability to grow impenetrable armor for skin.

Mesogog knows the Power Rangers are the sole obstacle to his plan and sets out to seize the Dino Gems. Then, an important secret about the teens' teacher is revealed - he was once the leader of the Power Rangers. The students implore Tommy to reignite his Ranger powers and ultimately, he joins them as the Black Power Ranger. But the Rangers have another threat upon them when a renegade White Power Ranger strikes the city. Unsure of his motives, it's up to the Power Rangers to first uncover his identity and then somehow convince him to join the ranks and fight evil alongside the Power Rangers. When Mesogog ups the ante in his quest to capture the powers of the Dino Gems for himself, it will be up to five Power Rangers to utilize new Zords, new weapons and new powers to defeat him. All the while, they must keep their Power Ranger identities secret from two fellow students Cassidy and Devin, reporters for the school TV station."

Hmm. Tommy is back! But it'll take 2 years for us to see him in action again (well, there's Forever Red, but that's for 1 episode only, so). I prefer him with his luscious locks, though.

'As for codes now being found anyway, consider such amusing but telling research as that of computer whiz Don Steinberg. Using a codebreaking computer procedure similar to that of Witztum, Rips, and Rosenberg, Steinberg found not only the Rabin assassination but boxer Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ear, and even the complete sentence "O. J. did it"--encoded in a Microsoft software license agreement! Steinberg's conclusion? "Whenever powerful computers, large documents, and people with a whole lot of free time are involved, anything is possible"' --- On mathematical mysteries

Also: Assassinations Foretold in Moby Dick!


exso - Tell your ex. Tell the world - Spill the beans on your ex-s.

misinformer Games Sneak Preview: Playstation 3 - Hmm. *g*