"We are here on Earth to do good to others.

What the others are here for, I don't know." - W. H. Auden

Random Playlist Song: Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert and Choir: Handel - Messiah - Glory To God In The Highest (chorus)

Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men.


Random Trivia bit: Around 24,000 officials are employed by the European Commission (The European Commission)

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New LJ friends-only post.

The previous one is still available.

Most useful, this feature is.

***



Considering I didn't know more than half the women they featured, and that their sizes vary according to how anorexic they are at that point in time, I'd say this is quite good already (47/100).

(from: Wannabe Lawyer, who for some reason filed the post with that and the result of the Jailbait quiz under "Law, Politics, Singapore". Wth?!)

***

Platter's Miscellaneous Torment Crap

How can anyone resist? They've such stuff as:

- "THE EVISCERATOR"
(Unique, Artifact, Cheat)
Damage: 4-80 + 20
+20 to hit
+20 to Armor Class
Sets all Stats to 25
Weight: 0
Speed: 1
Proficiency: Edged

This unholy weapon is obviously intended for Quality Assurance to massacre any creature in their path as quickly as possible.

- a photo of someone who actually got a tattoo of the Symbol of Torment (I prefer the Rune of Torment rather than the one he got - the fancy Symbol of Torment, which is the Rune combined with the Symbol of Anguish)

- Unused sound file for the Transcendent One: TRA020 - "I don't know how you’re managing to click on me so many times during our encounter, but it's probably because... you're cheating."

- Unused sound files of all the PCs saying: "What can change the nature of a man?"


Also interesting: analysis of the opening movie. I think these people have been doing too much Literature.

***

Doing a reverse search referral lookup, I came across the following, which seems to be written by a person from Haoxiang's batch:



it's 4 months and 3 weeks.

this week, i thought, i don't think i'll be able to last that long.
​​​​this week was once of the worst weeks ever. if our morale were the stock index, we would have plunged into a dire financial crisis. monday-7 o'clock briefings. higher ups conclude that the reason for 42sar's spate of accidents is our lack of discipline. more standbys and safety checks promised. tuesday- everyone gets fucked. i get fucked. i sign extra for not putting up bos board. DU-LAN. wed- last minute CO parade. i get scolded again for not bringing 11b to cookhouse. thurs- soc cancelled because of rain. fri- vehicle drills. my section couldn't put up the camo net in time. F.K. pulls stunt.
i'm starting to laugh at everything. i think i'm going crazy. this afternoon, i said every word with a 'z' behind. like 'trophies' become 'trophz'. like 'whatz moviez is-z worthz watchingz.'

a guy got charged for putting extra weights in his field pack.

haha.

a guy got charged for threatening to commit suicide if the counsellor doesn't let him stay out.

haha.

a guy got charged for falling asleep in a helicopter.

hahaha.

my platoon sergeant: guys you have to make a few boards for next week's combat shoot. make sure the words are audible.


Looks like things haven't changed in that den of iniquity.

What disturbed me more was the following:

"After much controversies on [Caught your tongue] for the right philosophy of moral values between my friend and I, this will be the last part of [Caught your tongue]. Unless someone can show me that it is good and guiltless to highlight others their inferiors and blunders, excluding the point on showing them the true light. A joint effort of my friend and I, the final list.
Here it goes:

*selection of quotes from my Improve Your English - National Slavery site*"

Previous posts also have choice quotes from my quotes page, as well as some other stuff from this blog (eg the Emma Watson Underwear picture which "*noun* and *adjective* *noun*" made for me).

I think I just got ripped off.

Ah well. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Other assorted stuff I found in my lookup:

Mole man's blog
Free Webcam Frame Grabs Free Bikini Contest Videos & Pictures. No, really. For some reason it's #28 in Yahoo's Search Results.

***

I just counted; my IBM laptop from school has at least 1.9GB of useless shit on it.

- All the drivers I'd ever need (and a few more to boot - eg Bluetooth)
- Windows setup files (I can use my own WinXP CD)
- Laptop-specific applications (eg To show the OSD when the volume is changed)
- and "MSOCache" (Office Setup files?)

Now I know what to burn to CD and delete if my HDD space drops precariously low. And now I also know where to get the stuff I really need, as opposed to the crap that IBM tries to foist on me, if/when I get hardworking enough to reformat my laptop and install Windows XP myself, instead of using the 4 crappy recovery disks they gave me (which doubtless will put the same 1.9gb of shit back into my HDD).

***

SKH writes an excellent response to Anonymous, who ranted about "wishy-washy, chicken livered pansies":

"Maybe you enjoyed your army experience to which I say, good for you! I do not wish to learn to throw a grenade...as for the Taiwanese countryside, I have seen it before as my GF lived there. I prefer looking after children, building hospitals for the poor and educating those living in the western regions of China over handling a rifle. Have you done that before? Seeing the smiles of children as they thank you for the joy you have brought to their rural village where no other foreigners have stepped into before?

Perhaps you could have, if you have not been busily learning to kill!" [more]

Meanwhile Lance points out: "the fundamental purpose of NS is to defend the nation - not to "build character traits" or make boys "more independent". if NS happens to provide some beneficial side effects along the way, well and good - but lets just keep in mind they are nothing but that exactly - side effects."


A "current NJC student" asks:

"if army were so bad as you have said, why would scholars willingly take up the scholarship?"

Ah. An opportunity to analyse the minds of SAF scholars. Where to begin, I wonder?

Here are some possibilities:

1) Prestige - scholarships are prestigious and SAFOS is one of the three most prestigious scholarships in Singapore

2) Insulation - Scholars, especially SAFOS ones, are insulated from all the low-level crap that the scum of the earth suffer, because of their rank (as officers) and exalted status as scholars. They are not subjected to the dehumanising treatment that mere scum of the earth (ie enlistees) go through. Instead of getting screwed, they get to screw other people (if they choose). Even BMT, the putative great leveller, is different from them, for all, or almost all potential SAF scholars enter what are known as "Scholar Companies", or even better, companies with White Horses in them.

As someone put it: "slaves and royalty stay in the same palace but lead vastly different lives"

3) Obliviousness - Some recipients of (local) study awards I spoke to in my tenure as a slave told me they regretted signing on. Maybe some - those who get scholarships before enslavement - don't know what they're getting into.

Friends of mine tell me of those who got SAF scholarships, some on the spur of the moment, who later regretted. For example, one is quoted as saying: "I really wanted to go overseas, didn't think I'd suffer so much afterwards"; to many Singaporean JC students, an overseas education is the Holy Grail, so in their quest to get it, they neglect the fact that on their return they'll have a 6 year bond to serve. Of the above, I am told that: "now all he wants to do is enjoy himself and die young"

4) Nature of the job - As a friend puts it: "these scholars want to look for something that needs no effort, pays a lot, and gives them the ability to fuck people around. what else do u need?" He adds: "usually cos they are enslaved, they are brainwashed, and usually stay till they die, mentally or physically"

Since it's highly unlikely that Singapore will ever go to war, you get to slack and won't actually have to engage in real combat. And since you get promoted quickly to command-level posts, you don't actually have to go outfield (and experience similar messy and gritty activities) that often.

5) Affection/suitability for Army Life - Strange but true. Some people actually like army life. But then, some people like BDSM also, so. *insert latin phrase that's not good to use too often, or it loses its impact*

Some people are also better suited for the job than others, so they are inclined to taking it.

6) Future job prospects - Apparently some scholars get to become Colonels at age 30. You can't beat the job security either - even incompetent regulars don't get fired, since there's next to no way to assess their job performance, let alone scholars. Also, the SAF has a great retirement plan. Even after retiring, you'll want for naught - they'll find a way to parachute you into a suitably comfortable, important and well-paying job (even if you're not suited for it). See: Our Scholars - Success Stories

7) They fit one or more of the other criteria - As I said, there are 4 types of people who sign on. Some scholars fit into one or more of those categories, namely: being sadistic, being greedy for the money (you get a $750,000 gratuity when you retire) and being incapable of finding jobs outside.

8) Brainwashing - Some are brainwashed. A friend tells of a time when there was a recruitment talk in OCS (Officer Cadet School) and "the whole LT signed on" because of brainwashing.

Some people are taken in by the rhetoric about Duty, Honour and Country, and the old lie - Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori - 'It is sweet and proper to die for one's country' (Horace, Odes, iii ii 13)

9) Since you have to be a slave anyway, some figure that they might as well get a free education, a well charted-out career path, relatively good pay (especially for the 2 years of compulsory slavery), and "respect". Oh, and some girls like men in uniform (I know at least one with an army uniform fetish)


As for why non-scholars sign on (or get Local Study Awards or the like):

10) Getting to be an officer - Some people sign on because that's the only way they'll get to be officers. I know this guy who, while a normal slave, was a PTI (Physical Training Instructor - think your PE teacher on steroids and with a bad attitude), but became an officer after signing on. From a cursory study of him, I conclude that he was sore at not becoming an officer and signed on to attain that status.

[Ed: The above has been modified since its original posting.]

[Ed: The above has been modified since its original posting.]

***

Those who claim that MCQ exams are very easy should try the exam for the CFA certification (Chartered Financial Analyst) :)

I hated the Chinese AO MCQs also - the answers were all so similar, it was hard to tell which was correct. Besides which, I couldn't (and still can't) speak Chinese, so.

In recent weeks, YACCS has been exceedingly slow, with the comments boxes taking at least 30s to appear.

This has since been fixed, so comments may once again be left without much hassle.

***

"It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But the half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor" - Neil Gaiman

Random Playlist Song: Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert and Choir: Handel - Messiah - There Were Shepherds Abiding In The Field

Recitative (Soprano)
There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.

Accompagnato (Soprano)
And lo, the angel of the lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.

Recitative (Soprano)
And the angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is Christ the lord.

Accompagnato (Soprano)
And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying:


Being absent without permission may be called: French leave.

The English language seems to take a rather unfavourable view of both the Dutch and the French. It should be noted however that the French language pays in kind and calls syphilis (in England "the French disease") "la maladie anglaise". In the same way a "French letter" is "une capote anglaise". It's just for the "French kiss" that they have not been inspired by England. There does not seem to be such a thing as "un baiser anglais".

(Nationality Words In Idioms)

***

I wonder why my spam mail is all addressed to "Michelle". Since "Mohammad" is statistically the most common "name" in the world, they should address all spam to "Mohammad" for a higher chance of successfully getting someone actually by that name.

***

"KOTOR II is one of the rare Star Wars games that doesn't seem mystified by the universe, but instead approaches it with a sociologist's eye. What is the real difference between Jedi and Sith? How is that difference perceived by the common man (or Wookie or Twi'lek)? Does the Republic -- on the brink of dissolution -- deserve to be saved? Many raise these questions throughout KOTOR II, but Kreia is the main source of great dialogue and philosophizing." (IGN)

Hahahahahaha.

***

NiHl on PRC students at the YST Conservatory:

"well.. just to comment on your Yong Siew Toh Conservatory thingy, yes, there is a difference, obviously. They get to use Singapore government funded (grand) facilities, and (mostly try to) talk in English. Ta da~. And most of all, they provide Singaporean and other students the opportunity to immerse in China (note I refuse to use the word Chinese) culture and henceforth make all NUS students very at home when they (are forced to) find a living in mainland China."

Ahh, more social engineering. Splendid.


budak writes about the "good ole days" in the Premier Institution of Social Engineering:

"Is there still heavy cross-breeding between ENG males and ASS girls? Is the anti-Ridge 'samizdat' known as The Subterranean still in existence?? I still have copies of that (which would mysteriously appear outside the old Central Library periodically) and which spawned the wrath of the Registrar and Ridge gang (though I suspect it included some Ridgers)."

Ooh samizdat. I wanna read. Actually the Ridge is not that bad nowadays. They did a really acerbic anti-"Jack Neo the bootlicker" thing a few months back. Anyway we don't need samizdat now - we have blogs. Yay. The samizdat reminds me of myself in the days of yore. And I think shrill, anorexic, chinese speaking ah lians are very much in demand, as always.

"I suppose the campus culture is still ruled by prom queens and Sports Centre jocks whose idea of student leadership is throwing the biggest bash.... "

Yes we still have many hiao girls and millions of bashes. One for every week of the year, and then some (so it seems).

"Shrill, anorexic, chinese speaking ah lians? That's worse than my days, when Jacelyn Tay was in the Jap Studies dept. At least she could speak Anglais."

Heh heh.

I invite comments by those more in the know than I am.

***

HDB on why cats cannot be kept in HDB flats:

"HDB has the policy of not allowing cats to be kept in HDB flats. Cats, being nomadic in nature, are difficult to be confined within the flat, resulting in problems such as shedding of fur, noise disturbance and defecation/urination in public areas, which will affect the external environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates."

Indeed, cats *are* nomadic in nature and they love to roam. No way to keep them confined unless you hermetically seal the flat.

Actually you can still keep pussies in your HDB flat - just claim that they're strays who wandered in due to their "nomadic nature"

***

In the wake of the "Virgin Mary" Grilled Cheese Sandwich:



Look at this picture. What do you see?

A plain cinammon bun? Or the face of Mother Teresa?

(P335 Cognitive Psychology, Prof. Kruschke - "Ambiguity in Perception: Even looking at a cinnamon roll is uncertain!")

This phenomenon is known as pareidolia: "a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something clear and distinct. For example, in the discolorations of a burnt tortilla one sees the face of Jesus Christ. Or one sees the image of Mother Teresa or Ronald Reagan in a cinnamon bun or a man in the moon.

Under ordinary circumstances, pareidolia provides a psychological explanation for many delusions based upon sense perception. For example, it explains many UFO sightings, as well as the hearing of sinister messages on records played backwards. Pareidolia explains Elvis, Bigfoot, and Loch Ness Monster sightings. It explains numerous religious apparitions and visions. And it explains why some people see a face or a building in a photograph of the Cydonia region of Mars."

Also see: Look! It's Jesus! - "Stay Free! tracks everyone's favorite deity as he leapfrogs across America"

***

Rationally Speaking - I, robot

"One of the most recurring instances of anti-naturalistic prejudice is the refusal to admit that the mind is a result of the activity of the body; no ectoplasm needed, as philosophers of mind put it. Few today would reject the notion that the body itself is very much like a machine... But the mind, still most people say today, is an entirely different matter.

A group of neurosurgeons at a hospital in Paris was conducting a farly routine operation on a patient affected by Parkinson’s disease. The idea was that, since the woman wasn’t responding to drug treatment anymore, the medical equipe would go straight into her brain and stimulate via electrodes specific regions of the brain stem. The procedure usually yields stunning results, which completely erase the symptoms of the disease, greatly improving the patient’s quality of life, at least temporarily.

In this particular instance, however, something went wrong. When one of the electrodes was activated, the patient suddenly stopped talking, began looking very sad and started crying uncontrollably, eventually explaining how her life was meaningless and she wished to die. It is important to note that the individual in question had never shown symptoms of depression before the implantation of the electrode. Even more stunningly, the talk of suicide, the crying, and the sad expression all decreased and then disappeared minutes after the electrode was removed by the medical scientists! If this doesn’t sound like a machine being turned on and off at will by a simple electrical stimulation, I don’t know what will convince you.

Still not convinced that we are very sophisticated biological machines, in both body and mind? Then consider another fascinating example from Damasio’s book. One of his own patients was affected by a bizarre and rather disturbing condition, which provides a stunning insight into the mind-body connection. The man in question suffered occasional episodes during which he would begin to loose the feeling of the lower parts of his body, as if under local anesthesia. The loss of feeling continued gradually upwards throughout the body, until it reached the throat, at which point the man passed out. A similar condition affecting a female patient did not cause her to loose consciousness, despite the frightening experience of no longer feeling her limbs and trunk. Tellingly, this second patient retained a sensation of her internal organs. Damasio suggests the intriguing possibility, based on these and similar cases, that we have a mind only until we have a body sensation of some sort (even highly incomplete, as in the case of the second patient). However, no body immediately means no mind. What more compelling evidence could there be that dualism is dead in its tracks?"

***

Today's GPF comic:

Patty: Oh, I get it. Your desperate pal is hard up for a date, so you think since I'm happily single I'll take pity on him. Am I close?

Fooker: I'll up your disk quota to 100GB...

Patty: Fine. As long as I don't have to wear a dress.

Fooker: 250.

Patty: Darnit.


Heh heh.

***

EX Fat Girl Workout - The site puts it aptly: "OK, I've seen a lot of weird fucking things since starting muchosucko... But this one is right up there in the WTF category...."

Cheer up, kids - it's not the end of the world - "A leading space expert has offered reassurance to youngsters from a Manchester secondary school, who were told that the end of the world was just days away."

Bus ban on sex ads - "The salacious ads by hip-hop clothing line Akademiks declare: "Read Books, Get Brain." But kids say "get brain" does not mean smarts. It's slang for oral sex."
Considering that every other word and phrase in the English Language is a euphemism for sex, the gonads or such, I don't see the point of being so sensitive.

Boss Spanks Employees for "Mistakes" - "Two young women complained to police that they were spanked by their 57-year-old employer for mistakes on the job, and the boss now faces criminal charges."

Exploding lava lamp kills Washington man - “Why on earth he was heating a lava lamp on the stove, we don’t know”

Santa Claus is A Fascist Dictator, Michelle's Look at The Creepy Polar Express!! - "Santa Claus is a fascist dictator who likes to kidnap and endanger children so that they can learn the true value of Christmas. That’s pretty much what I got out of Warner Brother’s new Christmas film “The Polar Express.”"

He plays Wok N Woll by Creative - Is this an actual Creative ad?!

I can't believe that someone paid US$61 for the Hello Kitty Grilled Cheese Sandwich. God.

SU comment: "David Icke is my very favorite conspiracy theorist. He belives (sic) the world is secretly ruled by shape-shifting lizards from outer space who eat babies. I am not making this up. Just have a look at his website. God I love loonies."

The Memory-Optimization Hoax - "RAM optimizers make false promises"

CA slaps spyware label on Kazaa - "Peer-to-peer program Kazaa is the No. 1 spyware threat on the Internet, according to Computer Associates International."

Interface Hall of Shame - "The Interface Hall of Shame is an irreverent collection of common interface design mistakes. Our hope is that by highlighting these problems, we can help developers avoid making similar mistakes."

Make it a little harder, please - "Most protection mechanism fail because the author has no idea what a hacker looks for in order to circumvent a copy protection mechanism. The result is often a design that looks solid to the author but has one or more of the following characteristics, all of which make life too easy for the hacker:"

Harvard Sucks - I think most people have seen this already. Anyone trying this here would be expelled. Pity.

US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev - "But while the gains of the orange-bedecked "chestnut revolution" are Ukraine's, the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes."

You can breathe the air in Bhutan - "The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is well on the way to becoming the first nation on earth to completely ban the use of tobacco"

How To Do Girls - "Do it right, ask a girl" - "How-to-Do Girls is the comedy how-to show named after the smart, funny, and sexy hostesses. When you want to learn how to do it, come to How-to-Do Girls."
The most novel way to teach maths that I've seen.

Of Mice, Men and In-Between - Scientists Debate Blending Of Human, Animal Forms - "In Minnesota, pigs are being born with human blood in their veins. In Nevada, there are sheep whose livers and hearts are largely human. In California, mice peer from their cages with human brain cells firing inside their skulls."

Turn yourself into a diamond: tips from science on a good life, and death - "A thinktank of British scientists has come up with a new way of quickening the national intellect - a brain-taxing spin on the old formula of 100 things to do before you die."

Great composers scored on language - "Why is Elgar's music for Land of Hope and Glory so quintessentially English, while Debussy sounds so French? It is all because the music mimics the composer's native language, say scientists."

A blogger's disclaimer - I'd put this up, but no one cares about disclaimers anyway (just like EULAs), if they even bother to read them, so.

Parking: Battle of the Sexes - Silly flash game. I suck.

Mad Magazine's take on the French Spiderman

"I've gone into hundreds of [fortune-teller's parlors], and have been told thousands of things, but nobody ever told me I was a policewoman getting ready to arrest her." - New York City detective

Random Playlist Song: Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert and Choir: Handel - Messiah - Pifa (pastoral symphony)


Random Trivia bit: The Old French word "caboche" is the source of the word cabbage. "Caboche" is also the word that hunting parties used as late as Charles Dickens' time to describe the removal of a slain deer's head. Lexicologist Julian Franklyn proposed that it was this practice that Charles Dickens had in mind when Dickens used "kye-bosh" in his "Sketches by Boz". (If true, this etymologic theory would certainly give a sense of finality to the term "kibosh".) In modern French usage "caboche" refers to a snail's head. The ultimate Latin root of the word means "head".

The seemingly humble Cabbage holds an important place in mythology, history and medicine. When Dionysus caught Lycurgus trampling grapes, cabbages formed from the tears Lycurgus cried as he awaited his punishment. One could speculate that this story is related to the belief, in ancient times, that cabbage cured drunkenness. In 621 BC, Draco (from whom we derive the term "draconian") made the crime of stealing cabbages punishable by death. Finally, in modern times, cabbage (along with broccoli) has been held to be of benefit in treating exposure to x-radiation (Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1959 Feb;100(2):405-7)

There is scant evidence for the use of "cabbage" as a term of endearment among English speakers. There are, however, ample references to the French employing the phrase "mon petit chou" (my little cabbage) as a term of endearment.

(Veg-Etymology: Linguistic Roots Exposed)

***

In response to Letter from a Son, Anonymous writes (among other things): "Whining like a wishy-washy, chicken livered pansy and trying to picket against the establishment makes one the real loser."

My response: "Arbeit Macht Frei"... [more]

***

Change in racial make-up on menu

" But even an institution like the Coliseum, still popular for a gin and tonic, or a Pimm's, has had to bow to the change in the country's demographics. Last year, it stopped selling its famous bacon and ham sandwiches and pork chops are no more - the Coliseum has gone halal.

There were some complaints from a few non-Muslim regulars, but restaurant manager Madam Jo Wong said it was just a business decision.

'Many of our regulars were unhappy but what can we do? There is so much competition these days. We cannot survive on just the Chinese and European customers,' she said.

Now there are fewer Chinese in Kuala Lumpur and across the country, more Malay-Muslims. More businesses are catering for the growing population. For businesswomen like Madam Wong, there is no point maintaining a menu with pork dishes as it would drive away Malays."


A sad day it is indeed for that joint. I intend to compile my 4-5 point writeup of why I am opposed to halal food sometime soon.

Interestingly enough, the The Malaysiana Digests, in its review of the food there, complained that:

"Upon entering the Coliseum today, I noticed that the place had changed. The colours of the walls were even more bland, the white uniforms were spotted with grease stains that indicated a change of laundry contract was sorely needed. The waiters were a lot younger, and less graceful. The floor was slippery and the furniture had at least a millimeter of something that felt like baby lotion. The clincher was the air - the place smelt like a butcher shop.

I fought the urge to leave. After all, many a good meal is met by the adventurous diner. After looking around at the other patrons, who were as ancient as the venue, I overcame my gut feelings - and ordered a small steak. Sharizal ordered something I can't spell and we hoped for the best.

As I chomped down on my first bite of the dry (supposedly medium well), un-marinated piece of meat, my head was screaming: "We should have gone to Jake's damnit!"

Give me that honey-thyme marinated ribs (Sharizal's favourite) at Jake's. Give me that cat carcass (yummy 500g slab of meat) that Fische had at Shook! Give me Victoria Station or San Francisco Steak House. Real meat is good - but real meat lovingly prepared with the finest ingredients: a light spread of mustard, some herbs, at the very least, some sauce...

*sigh*

The meal was a painful RM90. The Coliseum I used to romanticise was gone and so was the fabulous steaks. While the price is typical for a steak lunch for two (cheap even if you compare it with some establishments), the encounter left me cheated (even though I didn't pay for lunch). The effort to move my jaw up, down and sideways for cafeteria food masquerading as something else left a bad taste in my mouth.

Now I have to resort to my original diet of tarts, coffee and junk food to wash it down."

Maybe there is some correlation between food quality and halal certification. Or maybe the chefs and staff had lost their spirit and drive after the restaurant's abandonment of culinary principles.

***

Discussion on trans-world depravity:


Someone: Never mind, to understand Transworld Depravity, did you see the show SLIDERS before?

Me: I sorta saw why

Someone: So to understand Transworld Depravity, imagine, the scenario of SLIDERS...that there are infinite worlds that exist as the result of every possibility inherent as a result of human decision...in all of these evil is bound to exist, and God knows it.

Me: ok. so there are infinite worlds (nvm that this goes against christian doctrine)
then?

Someone: in all of these there is the possibility of sin...

Me: why? if this god is so good why

Someone: because a sinless human is biologically impossible. Because free will entails the possibility of sin
God chooses to make the world the best place He can, and a world where there is free will is better than a world where the choice to do evil is opted out of.

That is why if you ask me, Judaism makes more sense in this aspect, it does not insist that God is all-powerful, all-good and made the world perfect. It adds instead that man help to make it perfect...

Me: not all evil comes from human action. how about natural disasters? flesh-eating bacteria?

Someone: Natural disasters and flesh-eating bacteria are not evil in themselves. How do you define if something is evil in itself? Just because it causes harm? No, without flesh-eating bacteria, bodies would not decompose. Without natural disasters such as the occasional bushfire, forests are not able to regrow and regenerate...

Me: flesh eating bacteria = bacteria that attack you while you're alive
not when you're dead

yes so nothing is evil
all evil can be rationalised

which is why theodicy is immoral. if evil can be rationalised, how can it be evil?

***

The $28K Sandwich That Grew No Mold - How the Virgin Mary's grilled cheese stayed mold-free for 10 years

As someone summarised it: "Assume it was grilled (or more correctly fried) in margarine - the cheap stuff which is high in trans fats. Trans fats are used in food deliberately to inhibit decay in spite of the known health risks.

Also, assume it was standard commercial white bread - again, full of preservatives.

The heating and melting of the cheese also contribute to its stability - plus if it was not real cheese, but something like cheez whiz - again there are a whole bunch of preservative additives.

The surprising thing is that we can digest this stuff, and it does not pass through the gut untouched."

I still say the anti-Christ's power preserved the bread :)

***

Franklin's Unholy Lightning Rod

"It is well-known that the Catholic and Protestant churches opposed the scientific theories of Galileo and Copernicus, but did you know they also opposed Benjamin Franklin's lightning rod ?

The church tower, usually the highest structure in the village or town, was the building most often hit, while the brothels and gambling houses next door were left untouched... Thunder and lightning were considered tokens of God's displeasure. It was considered impious to prevent their doing damage. This was despite the fact that in Germany, within a span of 33 years, nearly 400 towers were damaged and 120 bell ringers were killed.

In Switzerland, France and Italy, popular prejudice against the lightning rod was ignited and fueled by the churches and resulted in the tearing down of lightning rods from many homes and buildings, including one from the Institute of Bologna, the leading scientific institution in Italy. The Swiss chemist, M. de Saussure, removed a rod he had erected on his house in Geneva in 1771 when it caused his neighbors so much anxiety that he feared a riot.

In 1780-1784, a lawsuit about lightning rods gave M. de St. Omer the right to have a lightning rod on top of his house despite the religious objections of his neighbors. This victory established the fame of the lawyer in the case, young Robespierre.

In America, Rev. Thomas Prince, pastor of Old South Church, blamed Franklin's invention of the lightning rod for causing the Massachusetts earthquake of 1755.

Had the ecclesiastics of the Church of San Nazaro in Brecia given in to repeated urgings to install a lightning rod, they might have averted a terrible catastrophe. The Republic of Venice had stored in the vaults of this church several thousand pounds of gunpowder. In 1767, 17 years after Franklin's discovery, no rod having been placed on the church, it was struck by lightning and the gunpowder exploded. One-sixth of the city was destroyed and over 3,000 lives were lost because the priests refused to install the "heretical rod.""


I wonder how much damage is being done by those who insist on abstinence-only policies to "prevent AIDS" and worse, spread FUD about condoms and their efficacy.

***

Hotmail's upgraded the useless account I signed up for last year for miscellaneous purposes, but the one I signed up for in 1998 remains at 2MB. Guess they don't reward customer loyalty. Some company.

Meanwhile Yahoo has upgraded me to 250MB. Whee.

***

I'm not the only one who thinks Singapore Idol is silly:


"Why rant and rave over Singapore Idol? Don't you all realise its just a bloody television show?

There is so much more important issues in Singapore to be riled up about than who wins in Singapore Idol.

Sigh, I guess Agagoona is right, without any suitable outlets,Singaporeans partake the most banal of activities.

When the headlines of newspapers feature Singapore Idol, while other more important news are consigned to the other pages, I feel sad for Singaporeans."


"It's heartening to hear that the standard retort of "since you have nothing to good to say, shut the fark up and get outta here" is still well and alive. It certainly helps some Singaporeans that they refuse to handle criticism in any way but to tell critics to clam up - how else could they live in the bliss that Idol minds offer?"


"Cherish your pathetically lame obsession over the banally bland Singapore Idol all ye tunnel-visioned fans, there is NOT going to be a second season of Singapore Idol.

You heard it here first."

***

Work of art that inspired a movement ... a urinal - "A humble porcelain urinal - reclining on its side, and marked with a false signature - has been named the world's most influential piece of modern art, knocking Picasso and Matisse from their traditional positions of supremacy. Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, created in 1917, has been interpreted in innumerable different ways, including as a reference to the female sexual parts."

Straight Dope Staff Report: Did Vikings really wear horns on their helmets? - Fascinating article on how wings, and then horns, appeared on the helmets of Vikings as depicted in art and opera.

Sharper Image fogs up - A company, 'Sharper Image' sues 'Consumers Union' magazine for publishing negative reviews of its air purifier. Ridiculous misuse of the courts. Though the magazine won, how many others are going to be deterred by legal costs and potential hassle from justified criticism? Similar principles apply in other areas (eg Fair Use).

Ivy League Guaranteed - "Regardless of grades, you will get accepted. I was!"
Erm.

***

Some backlog that I scribbled onto my sheet of paper but didn't get to transcribing:

Interestingly, Engineering seems to have a disproportionately large number of long-haired guys in NUS. Someone speculated that this was because they don't have time to get haircuts, or there're no girls to impress.

Someone had the bright idea of mounting a giant TV screen in Yusof Ishak House - just outside the door to the study room. Besides there being no chairs in the vicinity for people to sit on while watching Channel News Asia and very little space on the steps for people to sit to do the same, the noise from the TV was audible from the study room. Maybe this is some secret psychological experiment to see how much worse students study in the presence of distractions.

Of the 85 student performers on the program for one of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music's performances, 48 were from China, 16 from Singapore, 9 from Vietnam, 6 from Thailand, 4 from Malaysia, 1 from the USA and 1 from Taiwan. Oh, and the 2 Concert Masters, soloist and at least one of the Professors were PRCs too. So the PRCs come to Singapore to study under PRCs with fellow PRCs (so they're one up on Singaporean students who go overseas and mix only with fellow Singaporeans) - is it really that much different from studying in China?


Quotes:

pry'meh fay'see (prima facie)

times have moved on (changed)

In the ars faculty (Arts)

A micro'ker'sm of what Arts and Social Science is about (microcosm, Sciences)

You sit around bored during the december break. Sociology *is* the way to go!

[On the Sociological Imagination] Anyone? Charles? No, the answer is not 'shit'

As I told my class from day 1: We are here to screw up your minds

[On revision] If you can't, sit down at the dinner table at night: Mom, do you know what Durkheim said about religion? He said...

There's only one section on this test - section 1. *laughs from audience* Yeah, I thought that was cute too.

All the wonderful pictures she showed us. Skinned dogs, bull's penises and all other kinds of hideous things.

Women are more educated than men in the age group 20-24. Ooh, men are being oppressed.

In many ways, Engineering has come to the solution of these problems (been)

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum" (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.) - Ambrose Bierce

Random Playlist Song: Trevor Pinnock - The English Concert and Choir: Handel - Messiah - The People That Walked In Darkness (bass, air)

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.


Random Trivia bit: The term 'arabesque' is of French origin and derives from the elaborate interlacing designs which are a prominent feature of the art and architecture of Arabia (some of these are similar to Celtic ornamentation of the kind found in the Book of Kells), as well as of other Middle Eastern countries.

The curvelinear lines of the arms and legs in the ballet position known as "arabesque" (a position in ballet in which the dancer stands "en pointe" on one foot and raises the other perpendicularly behind her) were apparently also thought to be suggestive of the Orient.

In music, the arabesque is a short, ornate, rather whimsical composition (similar to a bagatelle), usually for piano; some notable examples are by Schumann and Debussy.

In literature, the term generally applies to an intricate, fanciful, and grandiloquent style of writing (Edgar Allen Poe's 2 volume collection of stories, published in 1839, was entitled "Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque").

***

KOTOR 2 (Knights of the Old Republic 2) is going to be out for the Xbox in less than a week, but I'll have to wait 2 months for the PC version. Among other things, it means it'll come out during term time.

Damn M$!

I shall have to content myself with monitoring StarWarsKnights.com religiously.

***

Someone: i got damn pissed [off]. and everytime i'm pissed [off], i go to ur blog HAHAHAHAHAHA

and then i read stupid things, and then i stop being pissed for awhile
which actually means, i visit ur blog v often, considering how often i get pissed

Me: I can set up a therapy service

Someone: therapy? xiaxue does better la
she'll belittle u so much, u'll just be so small
there'll be no space for self-pity

kimberly: what abt when I write stuff that pisses you off? then worse what haha

Someone: oh, if that happens i go to xiaxue
then i go to mr brown if all else fails

***

The madness of Singaporean youth about Singapore Idol used to puzzle me, till I realised that their energies are diverted to this manner of pursuits because while in other countries they'd be doing things like hiking (and other types of physical activities), smoking pot, spraying grafitti, taking part in demonstrations or engaging in political activism.

However, since they can't partake of those sort of activities here, they channel their energies to religion and Singapore Idol.


After hearing the 2 Singapore Idol finalists sing, I am aghast, for they both suck. De gustibus non est disputandum.


Someone: "little ah lians tYpInG liKe tHiS should get their handphones confiscated. damn... why couldn't they have SI during the Os or something? hurr."

Someone else: "Cos then YJC would have an entry score of 28 pts"

Yet another person: "The Powers That Be really ought to kill of any idiot who tYpEs liKe tHiS or sPeL lYk dIs because it's freaking annoying and it should be banned!!!"

***

My father is being paranoid again.

Somehow he thinks that my programs, such as Soulseek, are responsible for the spate of troubles plaguing the desktop, which is currently existing in an undead state - definitely not fully alive, yet not quite dead either. This ignores, of course, the fact that even after a clean format, with no programs installed except Windows XP, the desktop was already screwy and BSODing like nobody's business.

He claims that this is like a smoker going off cigarettes but still getting lung cancer. As if programs are capable of spoiling hardware (peeking and poking being a singular exception, as far as I know), and as if any software author would be crazy enough to do such a thing (and ignoring the fact that other people have no problems using those same programs).

When I pointed this out to him, he said that he wanted to be "safe", so no extraneous programs shall be installed on a hypothetical future desktop. I said he might as well call in the exorcist and feng shui master (Master Chew comes to mind), but the inconsistency of his logic did not faze him.

Therefore, in the spirit of being safe, given my seeming ability to screw up the computers I use, I shall not touch a hypothetical future desktop in any circumstances, not even to install software or do troubleshooting.

***

I Know What You Did Last Raya (Malay, U)

Directed by: Prof. Madya A. Razak Mohaideen

Starring: Erra Fazira, Azleen (Senario), Mazlan (Senario), Waheeda, Zamarul Hisham, Khatijah Tan, Eddy Yus

Genre: Comedy

Childhood friends Fazli, Lan, Syahida, Yassir and Mira are now young professionals living in the big city. The night before Raya, they travel back to their hometown together in Lan's Mercedes-Benz. Unfortunately, their journey is cut short when they accidentally run down an old man in white and his goat, killing both. After clearing any sign of evidence they continue their journey home vowing never to reveal what happened. But strange things start happening on Raya morning, and the five start to panic. When they return to the city, each of them begin to experience eerie events – someone is trying to kill them.


When I first heard of this show, I thought that the secret and sinful thing that they did last Raya was eating when they were supposed to be fasting.

***

In Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2004 list (how often each word was looked up), while 'Blog' comes in in 1st place, 'Cicada' gets 6th place, and - get this - 'Defenestration' is 10th.

***

Today's User Friendly Strip:

Rayn> hello sid060 how r u
sid060> Fine. Are the "a" "o" "y" and "o" keys missing from your keyboard?
Rayn> no why
sid060> Why can't you type out the words "are" and "you" instead of using "r" and "u"?
Rayn> i don't type very fast
sid060> there's something to be said for using both hands to type

Oh my god!

It's Wo-hen Nankan aka the Asian Prince aka Tuan Anh in a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

Hallelujah!