In a Youth Hostel in Llangollen (Wales, the land of names starting with "ll") now. My Grand Tour of England and Wales is going rather well so far. Will be back in London on Tuesday or Wednesday night, in Singapore Saturday afternoon and the Middle of Nowhere (Sungei Gedong) on Sunday night.
The Internet is actually *fast*, and cheaper than the one supplied in the 3 other Youth Hostels I've been in so far with Internet Access, as it's supplied by a different cartel.
Damn camera ran out of batteries only 4 days after a full charge, and my spare non-rechargeables coincidentally went flat too. Jiggling with my brother in law's 2 spare batteries wasn't any help, so I lost some wonderful shots of the mountains, and of me and him in the middle of a stream.
Weather so far has been great - only drizzled on one day and really rained when we passed briefly through the Lake District and yesterday, our first day in Wales. Today was bright and sunny, giving us great views of Snowdonia, with the sheer mountains of slate and green valleys. Tis the kind of terrain that puts one in the mind of Middle Earth and similar worlds, and I snapped away - 128MB doesn't look like too vast a capacity now!
Glad to see Andrew is entertaining everyone, and a roaring trade is going on in comments.
L'origine de Bert
Thursday, September 18, 2003
I passed my driving test - really a miracle that i did, you should have seen how i drove.
Spilt diet coke with lemon flavour over my computer keyboard last nite (reached home at 10+ and was trying to eat dinner, make a phone call, drink fluids - donated blood yesterday, write email - all before 12 so i could have a good night's rest b4 long day in uni). So the keys got stuck, then more and more of them wouldn't work, and it's practically non-functional now ... gonna have to get a new one. Well, lesson for me: stop eating at the computer! (you should see all the food that finds its way into my room)
Sydney holiday plans rapidly undergoing re-organisation due to change in circumstances.
gabriel i was wondering, are you carrying yr handphone on roaming?
Spilt diet coke with lemon flavour over my computer keyboard last nite (reached home at 10+ and was trying to eat dinner, make a phone call, drink fluids - donated blood yesterday, write email - all before 12 so i could have a good night's rest b4 long day in uni). So the keys got stuck, then more and more of them wouldn't work, and it's practically non-functional now ... gonna have to get a new one. Well, lesson for me: stop eating at the computer! (you should see all the food that finds its way into my room)
Sydney holiday plans rapidly undergoing re-organisation due to change in circumstances.
gabriel i was wondering, are you carrying yr handphone on roaming?
Post ID: 106388573426325764
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Hi again,
Im sure gabriel will be posting v. often from england telling of the things he sees (and the things he wishes he didn't). In the meantime (i mean, while he's in the aeroplane/asleep) you'll have to put up with me....
Most of the videos available on kazaa are music videos/movies/television show episodes/anime. I couldn't find a single clip of ballroom dancing! (the nearest i could find was a clip labelled "akazukin chacha ballroom"). Im lookign for resources for ballroom dances- looking to refresh my charlestons ... anyone know where i can find video clips, music downloads to dance to, breakdown of routines? Looking in particular for lindy hop (swing dance)... also the other ones- cha-cha, salsa merengue, mambo, rhumba, samba, rock n' roll etc... And while im on the topic are there any dance studios in singapore near my area (West)/ or any that don't charge exorbitantly? The only ones i know that do lindy hop are ymca and jitterbug- both in orchard. I find that ppl who read this blog are generally a well-informed and knowledgeable bunch so if u could help me out....
I just learnt the shim sham! It's awfully cute and easy to pick up!
Taking my driving test tomorrow morning. 20 minutes of perfect driving....!!!
I'm going to sydney next week! Taking off on friday evening after class, coming back on tuesday (i have a week's holiday). Any suggestions what to do there? Suggestions i have received so far revolve around food/eating... asked my brother and he said "I can't really remember what happened when i was in sydney... did i go to this place or that.... walked a lot...." and it wasn't so long ago- just 3 years.
Im sure gabriel will be posting v. often from england telling of the things he sees (and the things he wishes he didn't). In the meantime (i mean, while he's in the aeroplane/asleep) you'll have to put up with me....
Most of the videos available on kazaa are music videos/movies/television show episodes/anime. I couldn't find a single clip of ballroom dancing! (the nearest i could find was a clip labelled "akazukin chacha ballroom"). Im lookign for resources for ballroom dances- looking to refresh my charlestons ... anyone know where i can find video clips, music downloads to dance to, breakdown of routines? Looking in particular for lindy hop (swing dance)... also the other ones- cha-cha, salsa merengue, mambo, rhumba, samba, rock n' roll etc... And while im on the topic are there any dance studios in singapore near my area (West)/ or any that don't charge exorbitantly? The only ones i know that do lindy hop are ymca and jitterbug- both in orchard. I find that ppl who read this blog are generally a well-informed and knowledgeable bunch so if u could help me out....
I just learnt the shim sham! It's awfully cute and easy to pick up!
Taking my driving test tomorrow morning. 20 minutes of perfect driving....!!!
I'm going to sydney next week! Taking off on friday evening after class, coming back on tuesday (i have a week's holiday). Any suggestions what to do there? Suggestions i have received so far revolve around food/eating... asked my brother and he said "I can't really remember what happened when i was in sydney... did i go to this place or that.... walked a lot...." and it wasn't so long ago- just 3 years.
Post ID: 106369377617248221
Sunday, September 14, 2003
This will be my last post in Singapore for 2 weeks. I will spend the next 2 weeks being driven around the English Countryside looking at houses and gardens. Toodles.
It seems that this week, I was much happier and more at peace. Much of my rage and despair has morphed into pity and disgust.
Perhaps it was the 2 Medical Appointments on Monday. Perhaps they were busy preparing for the Army Half Marathon, so they couldn't bother me. Or perhaps it was the impending Overseas Leave: at 6:50am on Sunday I'll be off for 2 whole weeks, and I'll return to a week's block leave - 3 glorious weeks away from 42SAR!
The program for HQ Company obese personnel has been introduced - basically the one they planned for me, except that the "power walk" has been moved to 7pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. And since it lasts 2 1/2 hours, allowing for the usual SAF cockups, we'll only be done at 11pm. Gee. I sure hope no one is free enough to supervise this ridiculous farce.
I was in a taxi and the radio was tuned to the BBC. How rare.
This probably breaks the record for shortest bookout post ever! Now it's back to dreary packing. Gah.
Quotes:
My girlfriend is my computer
[Me on a briefing I didn't need to go for: Why am I wasting my time here?] You already wasted 1 1/2 years of your life her... Nevermind, waste 2 1/2 years. At least you won't easte your life, like those regulars.
[On my trip] Go there [and] look at big boobs. [Someone: Most of them don't wear [a] bra]
It seems that this week, I was much happier and more at peace. Much of my rage and despair has morphed into pity and disgust.
Perhaps it was the 2 Medical Appointments on Monday. Perhaps they were busy preparing for the Army Half Marathon, so they couldn't bother me. Or perhaps it was the impending Overseas Leave: at 6:50am on Sunday I'll be off for 2 whole weeks, and I'll return to a week's block leave - 3 glorious weeks away from 42SAR!
The program for HQ Company obese personnel has been introduced - basically the one they planned for me, except that the "power walk" has been moved to 7pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. And since it lasts 2 1/2 hours, allowing for the usual SAF cockups, we'll only be done at 11pm. Gee. I sure hope no one is free enough to supervise this ridiculous farce.
I was in a taxi and the radio was tuned to the BBC. How rare.
This probably breaks the record for shortest bookout post ever! Now it's back to dreary packing. Gah.
Quotes:
My girlfriend is my computer
[Me on a briefing I didn't need to go for: Why am I wasting my time here?] You already wasted 1 1/2 years of your life her... Nevermind, waste 2 1/2 years. At least you won't easte your life, like those regulars.
[On my trip] Go there [and] look at big boobs. [Someone: Most of them don't wear [a] bra]
Post ID: 106347018502755304
Saturday, September 13, 2003
http://selfabuse.org/
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT EVER use mayonnaise on your sandwich. It will trigger thoughts of other things which you must avoid thinking about. If you are a female, stay away from the hot dogs, carrots, cucumbers and Italian sausage! And girls, NEVER put a candle on the table and light it, pretending you have class. Candles are used for only one purpose and you know what that is!
The Christian and the Professor, a rebuttal to an old xian story
Remember the one that ends: "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain? Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain ... felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's brain whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no brain."
You Don't Love Me Anymore
by Weird Al Yankovic
We've been together for so very long
But now things are changing, oh I wonder what's wrong?
Seems you don't want me around
The passion is gone and the flame's died down
I guess I lost a little bit of self-esteem
That time that you made it with the whole hockey team
You used to think I was nice
Now you tell all your friends that I'm the Antichrist
Oh, why did you disconnect the brakes in my car?
That kind of thing is hard to ignore
Got a funny feeling you don't love me anymore
I knew that we were having problems when
You put those piranhas in my bathtub again
You're still the light of my life
Oh darling, I'm beggin', won't you put down that knife?
You know, I even think it's kinda cute the way
You poison my coffee just a little each day
I still remember the way that you laughed
When you pushed me down that elevator shaft
Oh, if you don't mind me asking, what's this poisonous cobra
Doing in my underwear drawer?
Sometime I get to thinking you don't love me any more
You slammed my face down on the barbecue grill
Now my scars are all healing, but my heart never will
You set my house on fire
You pulled out my chest hairs with an old pair of pliers
Oh, you think that I'm ugly and you say that I'm cheap
You shaved off my eyebrows while I was asleep
You drilled a hole in my head
Then you dumped me in a drainage ditch and left me for dead
Oh, you know this really isn't like you at all
You never acted this way before
Honey, something tells me you don't love me any more, oh no no
Got a funny feeling you don't love me anymore
(approximately 10 minutes and 2 seconds of silence)
(some loud and spontaneous noises)
"pirates of the caribbean is set in the 1670s-1690s for one pretty obvious reason... the obvious reason is that they had the balls to attack port royale
there was a fucking full naval ssquadron there by the 1690s"
!@#$%^&*()
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
(...)
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT EVER use mayonnaise on your sandwich. It will trigger thoughts of other things which you must avoid thinking about. If you are a female, stay away from the hot dogs, carrots, cucumbers and Italian sausage! And girls, NEVER put a candle on the table and light it, pretending you have class. Candles are used for only one purpose and you know what that is!
The Christian and the Professor, a rebuttal to an old xian story
Remember the one that ends: "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain? Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain ... felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's brain whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no brain."
You Don't Love Me Anymore
by Weird Al Yankovic
We've been together for so very long
But now things are changing, oh I wonder what's wrong?
Seems you don't want me around
The passion is gone and the flame's died down
I guess I lost a little bit of self-esteem
That time that you made it with the whole hockey team
You used to think I was nice
Now you tell all your friends that I'm the Antichrist
Oh, why did you disconnect the brakes in my car?
That kind of thing is hard to ignore
Got a funny feeling you don't love me anymore
I knew that we were having problems when
You put those piranhas in my bathtub again
You're still the light of my life
Oh darling, I'm beggin', won't you put down that knife?
You know, I even think it's kinda cute the way
You poison my coffee just a little each day
I still remember the way that you laughed
When you pushed me down that elevator shaft
Oh, if you don't mind me asking, what's this poisonous cobra
Doing in my underwear drawer?
Sometime I get to thinking you don't love me any more
You slammed my face down on the barbecue grill
Now my scars are all healing, but my heart never will
You set my house on fire
You pulled out my chest hairs with an old pair of pliers
Oh, you think that I'm ugly and you say that I'm cheap
You shaved off my eyebrows while I was asleep
You drilled a hole in my head
Then you dumped me in a drainage ditch and left me for dead
Oh, you know this really isn't like you at all
You never acted this way before
Honey, something tells me you don't love me any more, oh no no
Got a funny feeling you don't love me anymore
(approximately 10 minutes and 2 seconds of silence)
(some loud and spontaneous noises)
"pirates of the caribbean is set in the 1670s-1690s for one pretty obvious reason... the obvious reason is that they had the balls to attack port royale
there was a fucking full naval ssquadron there by the 1690s"
!@#$%^&*()
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
(...)
Post ID: 106345689989591066
A Singapore Story
'Mr Tan runs a business selling plastic toys. He hired managers Chan and Dick to help run the company. The production line has five workers: Ah Beng, Ah Seng, Ah Huat, Muthu and Ali.
As the CEO, Mr Tan pays himself a million dollars a year. His justification is: "without a good leader, the business will not be successful; and you won't get a good leader if you're unwilling to pay for one." Mr Tan has never worked in another company before.
Chan had won a government scholarship twenty years ago while Dick is an expatriate from America. Mr Tan thinks very highly of them and pays them each half-a-million dollars a year.
As an expatriate, Dick also gets housing, transport and relocation allowances amounting to a quarter of a million dollars a year.
The production workers each gets $1,500 a month with $300 going towards a retirement gratuity that the company would match dollar-for-dollar.
The business hasn't been going too well. In fact, business has been downright awful for the last few years. Consumers seem to prefer the cheaper plastic toys from companies across the street.
Mr Tan is furious. "These consumers are a bunch of idiots," he said, "don't they know that the companies across the street are not managed by talents like Chan, Dick and myself?"
Mr Tan has always been deeply impressed by Chan and Dick. Chan has the remarkable ability to use words like "synergy" and "paradigm shift" in every sentence. And Dick? Dick is white. ..'
Medieval: Total War:
"The princess is usually your best bet to getting an alliance or cease fire with a nation. This option is not always available since princesses are randomly created by your married king. It is also important to note that any muslim nation will not produce any princesses ever."
Hahaha.
Anyhow, after reading up on strategy it will be "time to play properly".
'Mr Tan runs a business selling plastic toys. He hired managers Chan and Dick to help run the company. The production line has five workers: Ah Beng, Ah Seng, Ah Huat, Muthu and Ali.
As the CEO, Mr Tan pays himself a million dollars a year. His justification is: "without a good leader, the business will not be successful; and you won't get a good leader if you're unwilling to pay for one." Mr Tan has never worked in another company before.
Chan had won a government scholarship twenty years ago while Dick is an expatriate from America. Mr Tan thinks very highly of them and pays them each half-a-million dollars a year.
As an expatriate, Dick also gets housing, transport and relocation allowances amounting to a quarter of a million dollars a year.
The production workers each gets $1,500 a month with $300 going towards a retirement gratuity that the company would match dollar-for-dollar.
The business hasn't been going too well. In fact, business has been downright awful for the last few years. Consumers seem to prefer the cheaper plastic toys from companies across the street.
Mr Tan is furious. "These consumers are a bunch of idiots," he said, "don't they know that the companies across the street are not managed by talents like Chan, Dick and myself?"
Mr Tan has always been deeply impressed by Chan and Dick. Chan has the remarkable ability to use words like "synergy" and "paradigm shift" in every sentence. And Dick? Dick is white. ..'
Medieval: Total War:
"The princess is usually your best bet to getting an alliance or cease fire with a nation. This option is not always available since princesses are randomly created by your married king. It is also important to note that any muslim nation will not produce any princesses ever."
Hahaha.
Anyhow, after reading up on strategy it will be "time to play properly".
Post ID: 106345100165126337
Tweaked the opacity. Now it should be much more readable for IE users, but with the hint of a gradient still there.
Now you can see my phlog on the right! I wonder if the number of recent posts displayed is limited. Guess I'll get my reply from tech support next week.
For some reason, my comp got screwed up again and refused to boot. Random bashing with the WinXP CD seemed to work though. I wonder why it keeps spoiling after I bring it back from the shop *suspicious*
"Times are bad, so some dishonest shops try to generate more business for themselves"
How come Chinese vegetarian food practically revolves around mock meat, yet Western vegetarian food makes almost no attempt to replicate the texture and taste of meat?
Some people just can't bear to give up meat I guess.
Xteq X-Setup:
"Windows includes a "feature" (?) that lets you blue-screen (crash) the OS simply by holding the right CTRL key and pressing the "Scroll Lock" key twice.
After activating this option, reboot your system. Then hold the right CTRL key and press the "Scroll Lock" key twice.
Windows will react with a nice MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASH (0xE2) blue-screen...
Enjoy!"
?!
Now you can see my phlog on the right! I wonder if the number of recent posts displayed is limited. Guess I'll get my reply from tech support next week.
For some reason, my comp got screwed up again and refused to boot. Random bashing with the WinXP CD seemed to work though. I wonder why it keeps spoiling after I bring it back from the shop *suspicious*
"Times are bad, so some dishonest shops try to generate more business for themselves"
How come Chinese vegetarian food practically revolves around mock meat, yet Western vegetarian food makes almost no attempt to replicate the texture and taste of meat?
Some people just can't bear to give up meat I guess.
Xteq X-Setup:
"Windows includes a "feature" (?) that lets you blue-screen (crash) the OS simply by holding the right CTRL key and pressing the "Scroll Lock" key twice.
After activating this option, reboot your system. Then hold the right CTRL key and press the "Scroll Lock" key twice.
Windows will react with a nice MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASH (0xE2) blue-screen...
Enjoy!"
?!
Post ID: 106342978848313836
I'm currently waiting a hellishly long time at Chan Brothers to collect my Great British Heritage Pass. I tried looking at their website using the notebooks provided, but it's quite dull, so. I notice that someone added Sammyboy to the Favourites. Hah!
Tried to tweak my blog template so IE users don't freak out. Found the problem, but posted the wrong template so I screwed it up. Will fix it later.
Tried to tweak my blog template so IE users don't freak out. Found the problem, but posted the wrong template so I screwed it up. Will fix it later.
Post ID: 106342584510021179
w00tz! Nice funky features from Blogger Pro have been incorporated into normal Blogger (and the former closed down).
Bah. Was forced to stay back for 5BX, then set my alarm for the wrong time and missed it.
How to assassinate a third world despot with only a butt plug and a litre of raspberry coulis - This is so outrageous, it *has* to be a joke.
Was Sigmund Freud a quack?
More rave reviews:
"As for GSSQ. I don't know him personally. I just read on his blog alot. Love his writing. Its the honest, reflective, analytical writing with all the complexities of English. Even by reading it, I can say that the comprehension level required is very deep. Besides, I seem to share similar viewpoints on him on various political issues, exception being religion. =)
I ended up on his site after a bunch of ACJC boys told me that "there's an rjc guy who comments on his blog about girls who zaogeng in his school". Not a bad introduction indeed. Do a search on "Zao Geng" on google and his site will be amongst the top 10 I think! I think he remarked on his blog as well that "people who search for zao geng on google somehow always end up on my site" In the end, his site is more on funny musings and rantings than on such perverted stuff. =)
Ah, memories of the old canteen..."
I still don't know why I always get sex-related search referrals. But then it seems everyone does.
Does the old canteen bit have anything to do with zaogeng-ing? Haha.
Open Source Community Developing Their Own Viruses
'Helsinki, Finland - Open source developers plan to challenge Microsoft's dominance in the world of viruses by developing their own through the Open Virus Project (OVP), and unlike proprietary Microsoft viruses, the open source versions will infect across all platforms.
Heading the development of the OVP is Jukka Koskelin. He explained, "We took a look at the virus marketspace and realized that Microsoft has over a 95% share of all viruses developed. I don't think the Linux community can be taken seriously if we don't increase our share in that area."
"The viruses we're developing will work cross-platform unlike Microsoft viruses which only work on Windows systems. There are ports to Linux, *BSD, Solaris, and yes, even Windows. We should have a Mac port in a couple of months," Koskelin continued'
Bah. Was forced to stay back for 5BX, then set my alarm for the wrong time and missed it.
How to assassinate a third world despot with only a butt plug and a litre of raspberry coulis - This is so outrageous, it *has* to be a joke.
Was Sigmund Freud a quack?
More rave reviews:
"As for GSSQ. I don't know him personally. I just read on his blog alot. Love his writing. Its the honest, reflective, analytical writing with all the complexities of English. Even by reading it, I can say that the comprehension level required is very deep. Besides, I seem to share similar viewpoints on him on various political issues, exception being religion. =)
I ended up on his site after a bunch of ACJC boys told me that "there's an rjc guy who comments on his blog about girls who zaogeng in his school". Not a bad introduction indeed. Do a search on "Zao Geng" on google and his site will be amongst the top 10 I think! I think he remarked on his blog as well that "people who search for zao geng on google somehow always end up on my site" In the end, his site is more on funny musings and rantings than on such perverted stuff. =)
Ah, memories of the old canteen..."
I still don't know why I always get sex-related search referrals. But then it seems everyone does.
Does the old canteen bit have anything to do with zaogeng-ing? Haha.
Open Source Community Developing Their Own Viruses
'Helsinki, Finland - Open source developers plan to challenge Microsoft's dominance in the world of viruses by developing their own through the Open Virus Project (OVP), and unlike proprietary Microsoft viruses, the open source versions will infect across all platforms.
Heading the development of the OVP is Jukka Koskelin. He explained, "We took a look at the virus marketspace and realized that Microsoft has over a 95% share of all viruses developed. I don't think the Linux community can be taken seriously if we don't increase our share in that area."
"The viruses we're developing will work cross-platform unlike Microsoft viruses which only work on Windows systems. There are ports to Linux, *BSD, Solaris, and yes, even Windows. We should have a Mac port in a couple of months," Koskelin continued'
Post ID: 106341513504273012
Thursday, September 11, 2003
It seems that I regularly run into the problem of offending people with what I publish on this humble blog.
Now, I don't post material for the sake of causing offence - my criteria are interest, meaning and significance. Any offence caused is purely peripheral.
Anyhow, anything can offend anyone. Whatever your beliefs, there will always be someone offended by them. For example, if my life revolves around sacrificing lame, green furred kids (the goats, not the children) in bloody, cruel rituals lit by the light of the waxing moon, I'm sure that most people will find that reprehensible. Even though this is what my life revolves around, not many would accept that I could take grievous offence from people merely discussing why they thought my beliefs and practice wrong (if most people in the world thought this way, then Comparative Theology, or even normal theology would be dead, the field of religion sterile and stagnating and the world an alotgether less lively place). Just as most think bloody animal sacrifice is wrong and take offence at it, when I read about how all of us are under a death sentence (nay, worse) for something we didn't do, I take grievous offence, yet I do not raise a hue and cry, but just share my thoughts on why we aren't condemned.
Nobody is forcing anyone to read the conceivably controversial and offensive material posted here (just like no one forces the "moral majority" to watch pornographic movies, but that is another rant altogether), and nothing (well, almost nothing) is directed at specific people. Reactions depend on the individual - your mileage may vary. If you find some paragraphs making you collapse in apoplexy, you are most welcome to skip them, or just give this URL a miss. A suitable analogy might be a girl meeting her friends for lunch, but before that, they are attending a talk by a conservative group which goes on about how foot binding is right and proper, and how females should be circumcised to stop them being over-sexed and unclean. If the girl insists on attending the talk despite cautions from her friends, then she has no right to rail at them. They may not share beliefs, but they can still remain good friends.
Case in point: The discussion that was underway at http://www.therandomwalk.com/archives/000031.html.
I think I am becoming more and more incoherent as the days pass.
Now, I don't post material for the sake of causing offence - my criteria are interest, meaning and significance. Any offence caused is purely peripheral.
Anyhow, anything can offend anyone. Whatever your beliefs, there will always be someone offended by them. For example, if my life revolves around sacrificing lame, green furred kids (the goats, not the children) in bloody, cruel rituals lit by the light of the waxing moon, I'm sure that most people will find that reprehensible. Even though this is what my life revolves around, not many would accept that I could take grievous offence from people merely discussing why they thought my beliefs and practice wrong (if most people in the world thought this way, then Comparative Theology, or even normal theology would be dead, the field of religion sterile and stagnating and the world an alotgether less lively place). Just as most think bloody animal sacrifice is wrong and take offence at it, when I read about how all of us are under a death sentence (nay, worse) for something we didn't do, I take grievous offence, yet I do not raise a hue and cry, but just share my thoughts on why we aren't condemned.
Nobody is forcing anyone to read the conceivably controversial and offensive material posted here (just like no one forces the "moral majority" to watch pornographic movies, but that is another rant altogether), and nothing (well, almost nothing) is directed at specific people. Reactions depend on the individual - your mileage may vary. If you find some paragraphs making you collapse in apoplexy, you are most welcome to skip them, or just give this URL a miss. A suitable analogy might be a girl meeting her friends for lunch, but before that, they are attending a talk by a conservative group which goes on about how foot binding is right and proper, and how females should be circumcised to stop them being over-sexed and unclean. If the girl insists on attending the talk despite cautions from her friends, then she has no right to rail at them. They may not share beliefs, but they can still remain good friends.
Case in point: The discussion that was underway at http://www.therandomwalk.com/archives/000031.html.
I think I am becoming more and more incoherent as the days pass.
Post ID: 106300672114843520
YAILR (Yet Another Incoherent Long Rant):
As if I needed any further pressure, they are now threatening me with withdrawal of my nights off and long weekends (though I haven't had any of the latter for a long time) if I don't lose their 10kg in 5 weeks. Now, BMT's target was 1kg/week and with some effort, I hit 1.5kg/week. So that is why I do not believe 2kg/week is feasible (and neither does everyone else, most of whom suggested I try Marie France for those results). Not unless I go on a hunger strike.
Many know that negative motivation is much less likely to succeed than positive motivation, and brings a whole raft of unintended consequences too. You can lead a horse to water, but if you force it to drink it will drown. Since they persist in giving me 2kg to work towards, I shall not work especially hard towards it, and if they're going to whack me no matter what I do, I might as well not do anything for them - even the threat of death cannot make people achieve the impossible. Also, with the time they want me to spend exercising, I wonder where I will find energy and time to do my work. Perhaps I should relinquish my appointment and revocate.
Someone formulated a theory which might give an insight into why I am feeling so distressed. Others don't mind physical exertions much, and can just "go and train". Thus, they don't see why it upsets me so much, and can tell me to "just train lah, what's so difficult". However, I have an intense, pathological aversion to it. Indeed, on reflection, I realise that after physical exertion, I always feel like I've been raped. I'm supposed to, and have been advised to learn to enjoy exercise and work towards the goals set out for me. However, if I can condition myself to accept what every grain in my body rebels against (though some may say the same of my and Neverending Slavery), what else can I force myself to accept by morphing my personality? High treason towards "my" country (even though currently I have no great love for it)? Wanton killing, rape and looting? Religious fundamentalism? Heartless terrorism? Megalomania?
They won't let me go even for 6 months, after hounding me for 14. If 42 loves me so much, and wants me to do exactly the same thing their men do, and enjoy the same "privileges", maybe I should try to get attached back there and laugh as I sting them, before I am promptly murdered by all the regulars.
Their enthusiasm scares me. Driven relentlessly, I feel like a pack animal. I wonder where from comes their almost-religious zeal, and why they find such glee in tormenting me. No quarter is being given me, and the mental barrier I have erected to keep myself sane gets chipped ever so slightly with each day. Instead of becoming stronger and more confident, I feel I'm becoming weaker, more insecure, and breaking down more. I can but hope that the curse of my gender will be mostly lifted soon, and that the 13 years after that will speed by before I am fully free.
Someone advised me not to do anything to get blacklisted for university or when I go out and work, since supposedly confidential SAF records are available for all and sundry to flip through (though I have doubts about that - maybe it's just an urban legend spread by the SAF to stop people faking depression). But then, it's better to be blacklisted than end up broken, crazy or dead.
Some advise me to change my mindset - since I'm already stuck in hell, I should try to be as happy as I can be, since I can't change it. If everyone had that sort of thinking, though, women still would not have the vote, apartheid would still be practised in South Africa and most colonies would not be independent. If this sort of thinking is so laudable then, POWs should all betray their countries and spill the beans to make their lives easier, since they are stuck in the enemy's jails already and should make the best of it. Child prostitutes should try to enjoy their work, as should child soldiers.
In the middle of the week, I was unfortunate enough to have to go for a 16km route march, albeit without a BCS bag or a fieldpack. Before the route march, all the senior officers came to talk to me. I think by now, I've heard so many motivational talks that I'm semi-immune to them already, not that they ever had much effect on me due to my unwillingness to engage in self-deception. Of course, there was some sense in their words, but there is more than one way to look at the world, and much of it was rhetoric. The first 4km of the march was done at an unearthly pace - brisk walking, I swear. Thus, near the 8km mark, after I'd been pulled and dragged along for a great distance, I fell. After recovery, when I finally reached the 8km mark, my CO promised that if I completed the next 4km I wouldn't need to do the last 4km: otherwise, I'd have to march again on Friday. So in the end, I managed to complete 12km by the skin of my teeth (the RT we had that morning did not help) - proof that positive motivation works much better than negative (see above). Except that at the end I was shouted at, collapsed again and this time broke down in front of 100-200 people. It was probably the longest, most severe breakdown so far (including BMT). I think if this goes on, my screws are going to be loosened. I just want to go somewhere where all the bad people can't hurt me anymore.
I wonder what will come of all this. I still have some way to go before I practice Satyagraha successfully.
"Eat well, keep fit, die anyway"
CCO does bunk cleaning a grand total of once a month (sometimes less). Still, their bunk is not noticeably dirtier than ours. Ditto for the toilets, staircases and all around the HQ Armour building's 4th and 5th storeys. Moral of the story: Daily meticulous area cleaning is useless and just another means of repression.
People keep asking me how to downgrade. My response: If I knew I wouldn't still be around!
NKF just gave out some donation cards. This time, in addition to flaunting their wealth with a nicely designed card, they have given out a VCD bemoaning the plight of kidney patients! That they actually have the money to cut a VCD should be an alarming sign. I wonder why they don't just direct their efforts to *helping* the kidney patients, rather than chasing donations in a never-ending cycle. Why, next year we'll probably see a TV show by the NKF to try to coerce people to part with even more money. Oh wait, we had that already. What's next? A feature film? A "Kidney Disease" monument, made of burnished gold?
I've little energy, desire and mood to do socio-political commentary nowadays. That's a bad portent.
It's odd, really. Some people complain I'm too cynical and negative, while others say I'm too idealistic.
Everyone likes my new phone cover, and they all say it's chio and "doesn't look like a Nokia" except Geraldine, who thinks it's "hideous". But then I think her tastes are the pits too, so :) The cover isn't that well made, though - the shiny metal at the back turned out to be a sticker which wasn't stuck on properly, so I removed it, and one part of the plastic in front popped out when I dropped it (though it was easily fixed). You get what you pay for, I guess.
Apparently the irritatig Jay Chou song with chanting in the background is called "yi3 fu4 zhi1 ming2" (the name of the father?).
The CDs I got at Jurong East could be read by my CDRW drive since, as Xephyris says, "DVD lenses are weaker". In the end, though, the only thing that could install was Europa Universalis: Crown of the North. Bloody pasar malam con artists. In the end I went somewhere where the discs were cheaper, and so far they all work!
Notes on Pirates of the Carribean:
Keira Knightley doesn't look 18. She's really, erm, grown a lot since Bend It Like Beckham, too. She seems to have some magical skills in the show - while she normally wears nighties, at some points where they'd be inconvenient, lo and behold, she's dressed in pajama bottoms (did those even exist for women at that time?)
Johnny Depp looks like a drug addict. And as all the reviews say, he's wonderful in his role.
A band played Arne's "Rule Britannia" at one point. This song was composed in 1740, and I'd imagine took a while to gain popularity. However, I'm not an expert at identifying the time periods Men-O-War and swords of forged steel come from just from their appearance. The phrase "Davy Jones' Locker" was also used at some points. Apparently the first literary reference to this phrase occured in 1751, in Tobias Smollet's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. So that further narrows down the time frame. My gut feeling, though, is that the movie is set before 1740, since by that time piracy in the Caribbean was on the decline (but then they *did* say Jack Sparrow was one of the last pirate captains. Or something).
It's not often that you see bullets whizzing through the air in films. At most you just hear them. So seeing them fly was quite interesting. As were the shade-moonlight skeleton-human transitions, which were very fluid.
Lastly, how the hell is this based on the Disney ride of the same name? Though it's been 9 years since I was on it (maybe even 16), so maybe I missed something.
Quotes:
[On everyone ganging up to gang bang me] Wah lau, Gabriel, you're like the number 1 enemy in our unit.
[On my troubles] You can go and kill yourself. We'll build a statue of you... Your arm outstretched, and an eagle on your hand. Before enlistment, people will go there and pray... "Don't let me go [to] NS, don't let me go [to] NS..." Then the eagle will shit on them.
Enciks usually have the opinion of wanting everyone to die. (attitude)
Then I shall tell them I'm sick (Sikh)
As if I needed any further pressure, they are now threatening me with withdrawal of my nights off and long weekends (though I haven't had any of the latter for a long time) if I don't lose their 10kg in 5 weeks. Now, BMT's target was 1kg/week and with some effort, I hit 1.5kg/week. So that is why I do not believe 2kg/week is feasible (and neither does everyone else, most of whom suggested I try Marie France for those results). Not unless I go on a hunger strike.
Many know that negative motivation is much less likely to succeed than positive motivation, and brings a whole raft of unintended consequences too. You can lead a horse to water, but if you force it to drink it will drown. Since they persist in giving me 2kg to work towards, I shall not work especially hard towards it, and if they're going to whack me no matter what I do, I might as well not do anything for them - even the threat of death cannot make people achieve the impossible. Also, with the time they want me to spend exercising, I wonder where I will find energy and time to do my work. Perhaps I should relinquish my appointment and revocate.
Someone formulated a theory which might give an insight into why I am feeling so distressed. Others don't mind physical exertions much, and can just "go and train". Thus, they don't see why it upsets me so much, and can tell me to "just train lah, what's so difficult". However, I have an intense, pathological aversion to it. Indeed, on reflection, I realise that after physical exertion, I always feel like I've been raped. I'm supposed to, and have been advised to learn to enjoy exercise and work towards the goals set out for me. However, if I can condition myself to accept what every grain in my body rebels against (though some may say the same of my and Neverending Slavery), what else can I force myself to accept by morphing my personality? High treason towards "my" country (even though currently I have no great love for it)? Wanton killing, rape and looting? Religious fundamentalism? Heartless terrorism? Megalomania?
They won't let me go even for 6 months, after hounding me for 14. If 42 loves me so much, and wants me to do exactly the same thing their men do, and enjoy the same "privileges", maybe I should try to get attached back there and laugh as I sting them, before I am promptly murdered by all the regulars.
Their enthusiasm scares me. Driven relentlessly, I feel like a pack animal. I wonder where from comes their almost-religious zeal, and why they find such glee in tormenting me. No quarter is being given me, and the mental barrier I have erected to keep myself sane gets chipped ever so slightly with each day. Instead of becoming stronger and more confident, I feel I'm becoming weaker, more insecure, and breaking down more. I can but hope that the curse of my gender will be mostly lifted soon, and that the 13 years after that will speed by before I am fully free.
Someone advised me not to do anything to get blacklisted for university or when I go out and work, since supposedly confidential SAF records are available for all and sundry to flip through (though I have doubts about that - maybe it's just an urban legend spread by the SAF to stop people faking depression). But then, it's better to be blacklisted than end up broken, crazy or dead.
Some advise me to change my mindset - since I'm already stuck in hell, I should try to be as happy as I can be, since I can't change it. If everyone had that sort of thinking, though, women still would not have the vote, apartheid would still be practised in South Africa and most colonies would not be independent. If this sort of thinking is so laudable then, POWs should all betray their countries and spill the beans to make their lives easier, since they are stuck in the enemy's jails already and should make the best of it. Child prostitutes should try to enjoy their work, as should child soldiers.
In the middle of the week, I was unfortunate enough to have to go for a 16km route march, albeit without a BCS bag or a fieldpack. Before the route march, all the senior officers came to talk to me. I think by now, I've heard so many motivational talks that I'm semi-immune to them already, not that they ever had much effect on me due to my unwillingness to engage in self-deception. Of course, there was some sense in their words, but there is more than one way to look at the world, and much of it was rhetoric. The first 4km of the march was done at an unearthly pace - brisk walking, I swear. Thus, near the 8km mark, after I'd been pulled and dragged along for a great distance, I fell. After recovery, when I finally reached the 8km mark, my CO promised that if I completed the next 4km I wouldn't need to do the last 4km: otherwise, I'd have to march again on Friday. So in the end, I managed to complete 12km by the skin of my teeth (the RT we had that morning did not help) - proof that positive motivation works much better than negative (see above). Except that at the end I was shouted at, collapsed again and this time broke down in front of 100-200 people. It was probably the longest, most severe breakdown so far (including BMT). I think if this goes on, my screws are going to be loosened. I just want to go somewhere where all the bad people can't hurt me anymore.
I wonder what will come of all this. I still have some way to go before I practice Satyagraha successfully.
"Eat well, keep fit, die anyway"
CCO does bunk cleaning a grand total of once a month (sometimes less). Still, their bunk is not noticeably dirtier than ours. Ditto for the toilets, staircases and all around the HQ Armour building's 4th and 5th storeys. Moral of the story: Daily meticulous area cleaning is useless and just another means of repression.
People keep asking me how to downgrade. My response: If I knew I wouldn't still be around!
NKF just gave out some donation cards. This time, in addition to flaunting their wealth with a nicely designed card, they have given out a VCD bemoaning the plight of kidney patients! That they actually have the money to cut a VCD should be an alarming sign. I wonder why they don't just direct their efforts to *helping* the kidney patients, rather than chasing donations in a never-ending cycle. Why, next year we'll probably see a TV show by the NKF to try to coerce people to part with even more money. Oh wait, we had that already. What's next? A feature film? A "Kidney Disease" monument, made of burnished gold?
I've little energy, desire and mood to do socio-political commentary nowadays. That's a bad portent.
It's odd, really. Some people complain I'm too cynical and negative, while others say I'm too idealistic.
Everyone likes my new phone cover, and they all say it's chio and "doesn't look like a Nokia" except Geraldine, who thinks it's "hideous". But then I think her tastes are the pits too, so :) The cover isn't that well made, though - the shiny metal at the back turned out to be a sticker which wasn't stuck on properly, so I removed it, and one part of the plastic in front popped out when I dropped it (though it was easily fixed). You get what you pay for, I guess.
Apparently the irritatig Jay Chou song with chanting in the background is called "yi3 fu4 zhi1 ming2" (the name of the father?).
The CDs I got at Jurong East could be read by my CDRW drive since, as Xephyris says, "DVD lenses are weaker". In the end, though, the only thing that could install was Europa Universalis: Crown of the North. Bloody pasar malam con artists. In the end I went somewhere where the discs were cheaper, and so far they all work!
Notes on Pirates of the Carribean:
Keira Knightley doesn't look 18. She's really, erm, grown a lot since Bend It Like Beckham, too. She seems to have some magical skills in the show - while she normally wears nighties, at some points where they'd be inconvenient, lo and behold, she's dressed in pajama bottoms (did those even exist for women at that time?)
Johnny Depp looks like a drug addict. And as all the reviews say, he's wonderful in his role.
A band played Arne's "Rule Britannia" at one point. This song was composed in 1740, and I'd imagine took a while to gain popularity. However, I'm not an expert at identifying the time periods Men-O-War and swords of forged steel come from just from their appearance. The phrase "Davy Jones' Locker" was also used at some points. Apparently the first literary reference to this phrase occured in 1751, in Tobias Smollet's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. So that further narrows down the time frame. My gut feeling, though, is that the movie is set before 1740, since by that time piracy in the Caribbean was on the decline (but then they *did* say Jack Sparrow was one of the last pirate captains. Or something).
It's not often that you see bullets whizzing through the air in films. At most you just hear them. So seeing them fly was quite interesting. As were the shade-moonlight skeleton-human transitions, which were very fluid.
Lastly, how the hell is this based on the Disney ride of the same name? Though it's been 9 years since I was on it (maybe even 16), so maybe I missed something.
Quotes:
[On everyone ganging up to gang bang me] Wah lau, Gabriel, you're like the number 1 enemy in our unit.
[On my troubles] You can go and kill yourself. We'll build a statue of you... Your arm outstretched, and an eagle on your hand. Before enlistment, people will go there and pray... "Don't let me go [to] NS, don't let me go [to] NS..." Then the eagle will shit on them.
Enciks usually have the opinion of wanting everyone to die. (attitude)
Then I shall tell them I'm sick (Sikh)
Post ID: 106300671909697203
Hello!
Just wanted to say that i still exist (hello penny if you're reading this! heehee ... i think it's so funny to communicate by blog to ppl like u in melbourne. I have a joke! Why did the heart suffering from dextrocardia cross the road? To get to the other side! Hahaha ... okay not so funny. Are there any other ocfers reading this? or did you all get put off by the joke? penny how did you find my blog?)
I finished my essay on alzheimer's disease on wednesday! If you want to read it i'll send you a copy. I really enjoyed doing this assignment... and the second half is quite readable too... no jargon. (the first half is scientific jargon abt brains)
What else is there to say about me .... Hello to anyone else reading this. Hello hello hello! I was voting for the new uni student union, and in exchange i got a $8 food voucher, two badges, and a bouncy ball! One of the badges says "Kiss my ass: i voted International Alliance" oh well ... the other one's funny too... it says "Independent. Apolitical. For our union. Student-driven. Need we say more? IA". Can u imagine a political party claiming to be apolitical?
I finally bought hummous from vic market today... can't wait to try it! fresh hummous!! And swords (discount wine shop) was open as well... but i didn't buy anything from there. Ooh i miss dance! and i miss the dancers! For melbourne uni OCF's 13th anniversary a couple of fridays ago 8 of us put on 2 dance items- a jive and a hip-hop self-choreographed and nite after nite we were laughing at one another and cracking up.... there's a video as well and it's hilarious
Just wanted to say that i still exist (hello penny if you're reading this! heehee ... i think it's so funny to communicate by blog to ppl like u in melbourne. I have a joke! Why did the heart suffering from dextrocardia cross the road? To get to the other side! Hahaha ... okay not so funny. Are there any other ocfers reading this? or did you all get put off by the joke? penny how did you find my blog?)
I finished my essay on alzheimer's disease on wednesday! If you want to read it i'll send you a copy. I really enjoyed doing this assignment... and the second half is quite readable too... no jargon. (the first half is scientific jargon abt brains)
What else is there to say about me .... Hello to anyone else reading this. Hello hello hello! I was voting for the new uni student union, and in exchange i got a $8 food voucher, two badges, and a bouncy ball! One of the badges says "Kiss my ass: i voted International Alliance" oh well ... the other one's funny too... it says "Independent. Apolitical. For our union. Student-driven. Need we say more? IA". Can u imagine a political party claiming to be apolitical?
I finally bought hummous from vic market today... can't wait to try it! fresh hummous!! And swords (discount wine shop) was open as well... but i didn't buy anything from there. Ooh i miss dance! and i miss the dancers! For melbourne uni OCF's 13th anniversary a couple of fridays ago 8 of us put on 2 dance items- a jive and a hip-hop self-choreographed and nite after nite we were laughing at one another and cracking up.... there's a video as well and it's hilarious
Post ID: 106327370069624674
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Mensa International - Mensa Workout - From a page Moses sent me. Apparently the next testing date is next Saturday. "Your score was 21 out of 30. That is a very good score, you would have a good chance of passing the Mensa test." - Bah. I wonder what the point of joining is, anyway.
The Gender Genie - Paste samples of writing in and by analysing keywords, it will predict (with a supposed 80% accuracy) what gender the author is.
When Will You Die? - "The World's Most Reliable Death Calculator"
Not all POWs survive - "A forwarded email, about a sergeant who was essentially killed during the Singapore Armed Forces POW training course"
The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment
The infamous 1971 experiment. Reading through the commentary by Philip G. Zimbardo, I am struck by how much the observations and findings apply to Neverending Slavery (to use Chinx's term), and BMT in particular:
1. Consider the psychological consequences of... shaving the heads of prisoners or members of the military. What transformations take place when people go through an experience like this?
The process of having one's head shaved, which takes place in most prisons as well as in the military, is designed in part to minimize each person's individuality, since some people express their individuality through hair style or length. It is also a way of getting people to begin complying with the arbitrary, coercive rules of the institution.
2. The guards were given no specific training on how to be guards. Instead they were free, within limits, to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison and to command the respect of the prisoners. The guards made up their own set of rules
I don't think those of non-enlistee rank are given much specific training on how to control their men.
3. At 2:30 A.M. the prisoners were rudely awakened from sleep by blasting whistles... these events provided a regular occasion for the guards to exercise control over the prisoners.
Push-ups were a common form of physical punishment imposed by the guards to punish infractions of the rules or displays of improper attitudes toward the guards or institution. When we saw the guards demand push-ups from the prisoners, we initially thought this was an inappropriate kind of punishment for a prison -- a rather juvenile and minimal form of punishment. However, we later learned that push-ups were often used as a form of punishment in Nazi concentration camps
At first push-ups were not a very aversive form of punishment, but they became more so as the study wore on. Why the change?
Read: Various forms of punishment (including knocking it down) and silly regimental stuff
4. The next day, we held a visiting hour for parents and friends. We were worried that when the parents saw the state of our jail, they might insist on taking their sons home. To counter this, we manipulated both the situation and the visitors by making the prison environment seem pleasant and benign. We washed, shaved, and groomed the prisoners, had them clean and polish their cells, fed them a big dinner, played music on the intercom, and even had an attractive former Stanford cheerleader, Susie Phillips, greet the visitors at our registration desk.
When the dozen or so visitors came, full of good humor at what seemed to be a novel, fun experience, we systematically brought their behavior under situational control. They had to register, were made to wait half an hour, were told that only two visitors could see any one prisoner, were limited to only ten minutes of visiting time, and had to be under the surveillance of a guard during the visit. Before any parents could enter the visiting area, they also had to discuss their son's case with the Warden. Of course, parents complained about these arbitrary rules, but remarkably, they complied with them. And so they, too, became bit players in our prison drama, being good middle-class adults.
Some of the parents got upset when they saw how fatigued and distressed their son was. But their reaction was to work within the system to appeal privately to the Superintendent to make conditions better for their boy. When one mother told me she had never seen her son looking so bad, I responded by shifting the blame from the situation to her son. "What's the matter with your boy? Doesn't he sleep well?" Then I asked the father, "Don't you think your boy can handle this?"
He bristled, "Of course he can -- he's a real tough kid, a leader." Turning to the mother, he said, "Come on Honey, we've wasted enough time already." And to me, "See you again at the next visiting time."
Parents' Visiting Day in BMT, and other displays to the public!
5. [We felt] considerable frustration and feelings of dissonance over the effort we had put in to no avail. Someone was going to pay for this.
The guards again escalated very noticeably their level of harassment, increasing the humiliation they made the prisoners suffer, forcing them to do menial, repetitive work such as cleaning out toilet bowls with their bare hands. The guards had prisoners do push-ups, jumping jacks, whatever the guards could think up, and they increased the length of the counts to several hours each.
6. There were three types of guards. First, there were tough but fair guards who followed prison rules. Second, there were "good guys" who did little favors for the prisoners and never punished them. And finally, about a third of the guards were hostile, arbitrary, and inventive in their forms of prisoner humiliation. These guards appeared to thoroughly enjoy the power they wielded, yet none of our preliminary personality tests were able to predict this behavior. The only link between personality and prison behavior was a finding that prisoners with a high degree of authoritarianism endured our authoritarian prison environment longer than did other prisoners.
7. Prisoner #416 coped by going on a hunger strike to force his release. After several unsuccessful attempts to get #416 to eat, the guards threw him into solitary confinement for three hours, even though their own rules stated that one hour was the limit. Still, #416 refused.
At this point #416 should have been a hero to the other prisoners. But instead, the others saw him as a troublemaker.
Which Backstreet Boy Is Gay?
We are, on fire,
we have, desires,
but one, is that way,
one backstreet boy is gay.
But we dont want to be mean,
since now he's a queen,
dont ask please,
"which backstreet boy is gay?"
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its AJ
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Howie
Tell me who! I never wanna hear you say:
"Which backstreet boy is gay?"
Now I can see him, he's in womens clothes,
but he dont need an IUD, yeah,
He likes Village People,
he's playin croquet,
his dog is a pekinese.
He is on fire,
his back, prespires,
Wont say, wont say, wont say, WHOS GAY!
He's always sayin: Aint nuthin but a butt-ache,
aint nuthin but a fruitcake,
I never want to hear you say, which one of us is gay?
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Brian
Tell me who! Aint sayin Nick or Kevin
Tell me who! He's bakin' up a soufflè
Which Backstreet Boy is gay?
Ok, we're all gay.
- by Mikeboyslim
The Gender Genie - Paste samples of writing in and by analysing keywords, it will predict (with a supposed 80% accuracy) what gender the author is.
When Will You Die? - "The World's Most Reliable Death Calculator"
Not all POWs survive - "A forwarded email, about a sergeant who was essentially killed during the Singapore Armed Forces POW training course"
The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment
The infamous 1971 experiment. Reading through the commentary by Philip G. Zimbardo, I am struck by how much the observations and findings apply to Neverending Slavery (to use Chinx's term), and BMT in particular:
1. Consider the psychological consequences of... shaving the heads of prisoners or members of the military. What transformations take place when people go through an experience like this?
The process of having one's head shaved, which takes place in most prisons as well as in the military, is designed in part to minimize each person's individuality, since some people express their individuality through hair style or length. It is also a way of getting people to begin complying with the arbitrary, coercive rules of the institution.
2. The guards were given no specific training on how to be guards. Instead they were free, within limits, to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison and to command the respect of the prisoners. The guards made up their own set of rules
I don't think those of non-enlistee rank are given much specific training on how to control their men.
3. At 2:30 A.M. the prisoners were rudely awakened from sleep by blasting whistles... these events provided a regular occasion for the guards to exercise control over the prisoners.
Push-ups were a common form of physical punishment imposed by the guards to punish infractions of the rules or displays of improper attitudes toward the guards or institution. When we saw the guards demand push-ups from the prisoners, we initially thought this was an inappropriate kind of punishment for a prison -- a rather juvenile and minimal form of punishment. However, we later learned that push-ups were often used as a form of punishment in Nazi concentration camps
At first push-ups were not a very aversive form of punishment, but they became more so as the study wore on. Why the change?
Read: Various forms of punishment (including knocking it down) and silly regimental stuff
4. The next day, we held a visiting hour for parents and friends. We were worried that when the parents saw the state of our jail, they might insist on taking their sons home. To counter this, we manipulated both the situation and the visitors by making the prison environment seem pleasant and benign. We washed, shaved, and groomed the prisoners, had them clean and polish their cells, fed them a big dinner, played music on the intercom, and even had an attractive former Stanford cheerleader, Susie Phillips, greet the visitors at our registration desk.
When the dozen or so visitors came, full of good humor at what seemed to be a novel, fun experience, we systematically brought their behavior under situational control. They had to register, were made to wait half an hour, were told that only two visitors could see any one prisoner, were limited to only ten minutes of visiting time, and had to be under the surveillance of a guard during the visit. Before any parents could enter the visiting area, they also had to discuss their son's case with the Warden. Of course, parents complained about these arbitrary rules, but remarkably, they complied with them. And so they, too, became bit players in our prison drama, being good middle-class adults.
Some of the parents got upset when they saw how fatigued and distressed their son was. But their reaction was to work within the system to appeal privately to the Superintendent to make conditions better for their boy. When one mother told me she had never seen her son looking so bad, I responded by shifting the blame from the situation to her son. "What's the matter with your boy? Doesn't he sleep well?" Then I asked the father, "Don't you think your boy can handle this?"
He bristled, "Of course he can -- he's a real tough kid, a leader." Turning to the mother, he said, "Come on Honey, we've wasted enough time already." And to me, "See you again at the next visiting time."
Parents' Visiting Day in BMT, and other displays to the public!
5. [We felt] considerable frustration and feelings of dissonance over the effort we had put in to no avail. Someone was going to pay for this.
The guards again escalated very noticeably their level of harassment, increasing the humiliation they made the prisoners suffer, forcing them to do menial, repetitive work such as cleaning out toilet bowls with their bare hands. The guards had prisoners do push-ups, jumping jacks, whatever the guards could think up, and they increased the length of the counts to several hours each.
6. There were three types of guards. First, there were tough but fair guards who followed prison rules. Second, there were "good guys" who did little favors for the prisoners and never punished them. And finally, about a third of the guards were hostile, arbitrary, and inventive in their forms of prisoner humiliation. These guards appeared to thoroughly enjoy the power they wielded, yet none of our preliminary personality tests were able to predict this behavior. The only link between personality and prison behavior was a finding that prisoners with a high degree of authoritarianism endured our authoritarian prison environment longer than did other prisoners.
7. Prisoner #416 coped by going on a hunger strike to force his release. After several unsuccessful attempts to get #416 to eat, the guards threw him into solitary confinement for three hours, even though their own rules stated that one hour was the limit. Still, #416 refused.
At this point #416 should have been a hero to the other prisoners. But instead, the others saw him as a troublemaker.
Which Backstreet Boy Is Gay?
We are, on fire,
we have, desires,
but one, is that way,
one backstreet boy is gay.
But we dont want to be mean,
since now he's a queen,
dont ask please,
"which backstreet boy is gay?"
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its AJ
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Howie
Tell me who! I never wanna hear you say:
"Which backstreet boy is gay?"
Now I can see him, he's in womens clothes,
but he dont need an IUD, yeah,
He likes Village People,
he's playin croquet,
his dog is a pekinese.
He is on fire,
his back, prespires,
Wont say, wont say, wont say, WHOS GAY!
He's always sayin: Aint nuthin but a butt-ache,
aint nuthin but a fruitcake,
I never want to hear you say, which one of us is gay?
Tell me who! Aint sayin that its Brian
Tell me who! Aint sayin Nick or Kevin
Tell me who! He's bakin' up a soufflè
Which Backstreet Boy is gay?
Ok, we're all gay.
- by Mikeboyslim
Post ID: 106294998648040527
http://www.littlespeck.com/region/CForeign-Jp-030817.htm
School uniforms
Japanese girls love them
Singapore students can't wait to shed this manifestation of conformity but in Japan, it's the opposite. Todd Zaun. AWSJ.
Aug 17, 2003
TOKYO - Browsing in the trendy 109 department store in Tokyo, 16-year-olds Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao are wearing what look like typical Japanese school uniforms: white blouses, navy-blue pleated miniskirts, knee-high socks and matching penny loafers.
But the outfits aren't the teenagers' real school uniforms. They are uniform-like clothes that the two girls from the Tokyo suburb of Saitama have specifically picked out to wear on their shopping trip.
"Everyone is wearing uniforms," says Ms. Tanaka. "They're cute and easy to coordinate."
Once seen as a symbol of conformity and oppression, the school uniform has over the past two years become ultrachic among young Japanese girls.
Many are wearing uniforms, or clothes that look like uniforms, on weekends and after school. Some girls wear uniforms even though their schools have no dress code.
Ozakishoji Co., a uniform maker in western Japan, is seeing stronger-than-expected sales despite a shrinking population of students.
Suddenly, it is incredibly hip to be a high-school girl.
After years of riding the cutting edge of Japan's fickle fashion waves, schoolgirls are seen as the ultimate arbiters of what is cool, and their tastes are monitored by everyone from fashion designers to electronic companies.
Schoolgirls were behind the rise of pop icons like Hello Kitty, and were early and enthusiastic users of e-mail messaging over cellphones.
In the matter of school uniforms, they dream of staying just as they are.
"They know they're under a spotlight," says Yasuko Nakamura, who studies high-school students at Boom Planning Co., a marketing consulting company.
"They cherish their three years in high-school and want others to know" they are students, she says.
The uniform-as-fashion trend hasn't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't considered trendsetters.
The uniform's popularity may also be a sign of anxiety about growing up. Japan's long economic slump has severely constrained career opportunities for the young, especially for women.
Uniform Code
Eighteen-year-old Eri Ishida, a student at Chiba Keizai High School east of Tokyo, says she dreads the day she will no longer be able to put on her navy-blue miniskirt, white blouse and burgundy bow.
"When I think that this is my last chance to wear a school uniform, I want to say in school longer," says Ms. Ishida, who plans to study fashion design after she graduates next March.
Matter of Choice
Uniforms weren't always so cool. Decades ago, the school uniform was widely reviled as the most visible symbol of the strict control schools exercised over students.
In addition to imposing inflexible dress codes, many schools forbid students to wear makeup and jewelry.
In the 1970s and 1980s, some students fought, without much effect, to shed their uniforms.
Mikiko Morimoto, now 28, gained national attention in1988 when she refused to wear a uniform to her junior high school in the western city of Takatsuki. "I thought it was important to show I had an identity of my own," she says.
Ms. Morimoto, who now studies physics at a university in western Japan, is bewildered by the sudden popularity of uniforms.
But she says there is a big difference between being forced to wear a uniform and wearing on voluntarily. "If they're wearing uniforms because they want to, what's wrong with that?" she says.
Meanwhile, schools have loosened or eliminated dress codes in an effort to attract students, as Japan's aging society has led to fewer children.
Some tried to update their image by hiring famous Japanese designers to create more fashionable uniforms, with shorter skirts and colorful bows.
Tatsuo Inamasu, a sociology professor at Hosei University, says some students may be embracing the discipline associated with uniforms as backlash against the loosening of school rules.
"They believe it's cool to control themselves to a certain degree by wearing uniforms at a time when you see so much freedom," he says.
Black Market
Of course, that doesn't mean the girls want to dress exactly alike.
In fact, more girls are putting together their own unique uniform ensembles. That is creating a black market in used uniforms.
Many schoolgirls barter with their friends at other schools for skirts, scarves and blouses. Others raid the closets of older sisters or cousins.
To expand her collection, 16-year-old Mina Ozawa recently sneaked into a used uniform sale at a friend's school to shop for skirts and bows. Such sales aren't officially open to outside students.
"I don't care where it comes from, as long as it has a cute pattern or nice color," she says.
One of the most coveted uniform designs is the traditional sailor suit, which features a dark blue skirt, a white blouse that resembles a navy uniform, and a colored kerchief.
Tokyo Jogakkan high school, where female students have worn this style for 70 years, now asks its graduating seniors to refrain from selling their uniforms to students from other schools, according to Masao Maruyama, the school's vice principal.
Tokyo Jogakkan students must also identify themselves when buying uniforms at the two campus shops.
The school implemented the ID check after teens from another school posed as Tokyo Jogakkan students to buy the school's silk kerchiefs - and later sold them on an Internet auction.
The quest for uniforms baffle school administrators, who are struggling to create a curriculum that fosters greater creativity.
"This trend is not good in the sense that [students] may lose some of their own personality," says Hiroshi Oguri, the principal of Tokyo 's Shinjuku high school.
His school has a designated blazer, although students don't have to wear it. But up to 60% of them wear it on any given day.
Still, girls like Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao, the pair from Saitama, say they see plenty of leeway to express their individuality through uniforms.
In addition to their miniskirts and white tops, Ms. Tanaka wears a big, burgurdy-colored bow that she chose herself.
Ms. Sanao's white shirt is actually her father's old dress shirt, which gives her uniform a baggy, grunge look.
The outfits, they say, are a world apart from their real school uniforms - knee-length, plaid skirt an feminine blouse - which they tucked away in their school bags during their Tokyo to shopping trip.
The real school uniforms, says Ms. Tanaka, "aren't as cool." ENDS.
(This article: "High-school confidential: Japanese girls in uniforms aren't necessarily students" was published in Asian Wall Street Journal on Aug 5, 2003.)
School uniforms
Japanese girls love them
Singapore students can't wait to shed this manifestation of conformity but in Japan, it's the opposite. Todd Zaun. AWSJ.
Aug 17, 2003
TOKYO - Browsing in the trendy 109 department store in Tokyo, 16-year-olds Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao are wearing what look like typical Japanese school uniforms: white blouses, navy-blue pleated miniskirts, knee-high socks and matching penny loafers.
But the outfits aren't the teenagers' real school uniforms. They are uniform-like clothes that the two girls from the Tokyo suburb of Saitama have specifically picked out to wear on their shopping trip.
"Everyone is wearing uniforms," says Ms. Tanaka. "They're cute and easy to coordinate."
Once seen as a symbol of conformity and oppression, the school uniform has over the past two years become ultrachic among young Japanese girls.
Many are wearing uniforms, or clothes that look like uniforms, on weekends and after school. Some girls wear uniforms even though their schools have no dress code.
Ozakishoji Co., a uniform maker in western Japan, is seeing stronger-than-expected sales despite a shrinking population of students.
Suddenly, it is incredibly hip to be a high-school girl.
After years of riding the cutting edge of Japan's fickle fashion waves, schoolgirls are seen as the ultimate arbiters of what is cool, and their tastes are monitored by everyone from fashion designers to electronic companies.
Schoolgirls were behind the rise of pop icons like Hello Kitty, and were early and enthusiastic users of e-mail messaging over cellphones.
In the matter of school uniforms, they dream of staying just as they are.
"They know they're under a spotlight," says Yasuko Nakamura, who studies high-school students at Boom Planning Co., a marketing consulting company.
"They cherish their three years in high-school and want others to know" they are students, she says.
The uniform-as-fashion trend hasn't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't caught on with high-school boys, who aren't considered trendsetters.
The uniform's popularity may also be a sign of anxiety about growing up. Japan's long economic slump has severely constrained career opportunities for the young, especially for women.
Uniform Code
Eighteen-year-old Eri Ishida, a student at Chiba Keizai High School east of Tokyo, says she dreads the day she will no longer be able to put on her navy-blue miniskirt, white blouse and burgundy bow.
"When I think that this is my last chance to wear a school uniform, I want to say in school longer," says Ms. Ishida, who plans to study fashion design after she graduates next March.
Matter of Choice
Uniforms weren't always so cool. Decades ago, the school uniform was widely reviled as the most visible symbol of the strict control schools exercised over students.
In addition to imposing inflexible dress codes, many schools forbid students to wear makeup and jewelry.
In the 1970s and 1980s, some students fought, without much effect, to shed their uniforms.
Mikiko Morimoto, now 28, gained national attention in1988 when she refused to wear a uniform to her junior high school in the western city of Takatsuki. "I thought it was important to show I had an identity of my own," she says.
Ms. Morimoto, who now studies physics at a university in western Japan, is bewildered by the sudden popularity of uniforms.
But she says there is a big difference between being forced to wear a uniform and wearing on voluntarily. "If they're wearing uniforms because they want to, what's wrong with that?" she says.
Meanwhile, schools have loosened or eliminated dress codes in an effort to attract students, as Japan's aging society has led to fewer children.
Some tried to update their image by hiring famous Japanese designers to create more fashionable uniforms, with shorter skirts and colorful bows.
Tatsuo Inamasu, a sociology professor at Hosei University, says some students may be embracing the discipline associated with uniforms as backlash against the loosening of school rules.
"They believe it's cool to control themselves to a certain degree by wearing uniforms at a time when you see so much freedom," he says.
Black Market
Of course, that doesn't mean the girls want to dress exactly alike.
In fact, more girls are putting together their own unique uniform ensembles. That is creating a black market in used uniforms.
Many schoolgirls barter with their friends at other schools for skirts, scarves and blouses. Others raid the closets of older sisters or cousins.
To expand her collection, 16-year-old Mina Ozawa recently sneaked into a used uniform sale at a friend's school to shop for skirts and bows. Such sales aren't officially open to outside students.
"I don't care where it comes from, as long as it has a cute pattern or nice color," she says.
One of the most coveted uniform designs is the traditional sailor suit, which features a dark blue skirt, a white blouse that resembles a navy uniform, and a colored kerchief.
Tokyo Jogakkan high school, where female students have worn this style for 70 years, now asks its graduating seniors to refrain from selling their uniforms to students from other schools, according to Masao Maruyama, the school's vice principal.
Tokyo Jogakkan students must also identify themselves when buying uniforms at the two campus shops.
The school implemented the ID check after teens from another school posed as Tokyo Jogakkan students to buy the school's silk kerchiefs - and later sold them on an Internet auction.
The quest for uniforms baffle school administrators, who are struggling to create a curriculum that fosters greater creativity.
"This trend is not good in the sense that [students] may lose some of their own personality," says Hiroshi Oguri, the principal of Tokyo 's Shinjuku high school.
His school has a designated blazer, although students don't have to wear it. But up to 60% of them wear it on any given day.
Still, girls like Sumie Tanaka and Saki Sanao, the pair from Saitama, say they see plenty of leeway to express their individuality through uniforms.
In addition to their miniskirts and white tops, Ms. Tanaka wears a big, burgurdy-colored bow that she chose herself.
Ms. Sanao's white shirt is actually her father's old dress shirt, which gives her uniform a baggy, grunge look.
The outfits, they say, are a world apart from their real school uniforms - knee-length, plaid skirt an feminine blouse - which they tucked away in their school bags during their Tokyo to shopping trip.
The real school uniforms, says Ms. Tanaka, "aren't as cool." ENDS.
(This article: "High-school confidential: Japanese girls in uniforms aren't necessarily students" was published in Asian Wall Street Journal on Aug 5, 2003.)
Post ID: 106289977925959637
Friday, September 05, 2003
Dashboard Jesus Kills Ohio Teen
CINCINNATI (EAP) - A Cincinnati teenager was killed yesterday when her plastic Jesus dashboard figure was driven into her chest by her car's airbag which inflated during an accident involving two other vehicles.
17-year-old Darlene Fulps of Cincinnati was apparently holding her Jesus figure close to her chest when she ran through a red light and collided with two other vehicles in a busy intersection.
"The air bag inflated and pushed the head of Jesus straight through her heart," said Tom Young, medical examiner at the scene of the accident. "If it wasn't for the plastic Jesus, Ms. Fulps would still be alive today."
"Air bags have saved thousands of lives, but in this case it actually took a life, thanks to Jesus," said police officer Graham Pryor, first officer at the scene.
Robert Fulps, Darlene's father and devout Christian man said "It was just our daughter's time to go, and we can't question the actions of God. My daughter loved Jesus and worshipped Him, and I think she's probably talking to Him in heaven right now."
"We gave our daughter the dashboard Jesus for her birthday last year, and she really liked it," said Mrs. Gladys Fulps. "It's too bad that Jesus ended up killing her, but we believe she's in heaven now, and we're happy for her, and hope to re-unite with her when we get to heaven."
"We're just glad our daughter had Jesus in her heart when she died," said Mr. and Mrs. Fulps.
More quotes:
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But, this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them."- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp- posts ... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
CINCINNATI (EAP) - A Cincinnati teenager was killed yesterday when her plastic Jesus dashboard figure was driven into her chest by her car's airbag which inflated during an accident involving two other vehicles.
17-year-old Darlene Fulps of Cincinnati was apparently holding her Jesus figure close to her chest when she ran through a red light and collided with two other vehicles in a busy intersection.
"The air bag inflated and pushed the head of Jesus straight through her heart," said Tom Young, medical examiner at the scene of the accident. "If it wasn't for the plastic Jesus, Ms. Fulps would still be alive today."
"Air bags have saved thousands of lives, but in this case it actually took a life, thanks to Jesus," said police officer Graham Pryor, first officer at the scene.
Robert Fulps, Darlene's father and devout Christian man said "It was just our daughter's time to go, and we can't question the actions of God. My daughter loved Jesus and worshipped Him, and I think she's probably talking to Him in heaven right now."
"We gave our daughter the dashboard Jesus for her birthday last year, and she really liked it," said Mrs. Gladys Fulps. "It's too bad that Jesus ended up killing her, but we believe she's in heaven now, and we're happy for her, and hope to re-unite with her when we get to heaven."
"We're just glad our daughter had Jesus in her heart when she died," said Mr. and Mrs. Fulps.
More quotes:
"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But, this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx
"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." - Robert Redford
"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
"He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them."- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)
"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand
"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker
"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain
"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain
"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West
"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde
"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." - Oscar Wilde
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp- posts ... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder
Post ID: 106277247262094753
Monday, September 01, 2003
You were once my one companion
You were all that mattered
You were once a friend and father
Then my world was shattered
Wishing you were somehow here again
Wishing you were somehow near
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed
Somehow you would be here
Wishing I could hear your voice again
Knowing that I never would
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
All that you dreamed I could
Passing bells and sculpted angels
Cold and monumental
Seem for you the wrong companions
You were warm and gentle
Too many years fighting back tears
Why can't the past just die?
Wishing you were somehow here again
Knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive, teach me to live
Give me the strength to try
No more memories, no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye
Help me say goodbye
You were all that mattered
You were once a friend and father
Then my world was shattered
Wishing you were somehow here again
Wishing you were somehow near
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed
Somehow you would be here
Wishing I could hear your voice again
Knowing that I never would
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
All that you dreamed I could
Passing bells and sculpted angels
Cold and monumental
Seem for you the wrong companions
You were warm and gentle
Too many years fighting back tears
Why can't the past just die?
Wishing you were somehow here again
Knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive, teach me to live
Give me the strength to try
No more memories, no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye
Help me say goodbye
Post ID: 106242671377652268
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Ed: In the vein of my last weekly post, the following few paragraphs will be slightly depressing. They are not, however, a gauge of my current mental state, but of that after SOC. They may also not be as lucid as my normal posts. If you wish, you can skip to the next block of text in this post.
I had SOC again on Thursday. I'm so outstanding that, from one point on, I had S4 on one side of me and my Senior Medic on the other. In fact, I just set a new SAF-wide record for SOC - a good 46 minutes plus!
If anything, I think I'm getting worse and worse at it, and mentally more fragile - and both the IPPT I had the previous day (with a tiring timing of 17:21 for my 2.4) and the rain, making the obstacles slippery, did not help. I've lost much of my confidence for the 'confidence' obstacles, so even though I managed to do them last year at 41SAR (before they renovated the place and made the course much harder), I can't do them now. This time, it was only with plenty of cajoling and attempts, and doing them the non-standard way, that I managed to clear the balancing beam, albeit crawling across - I don't think I've ever walked across, and the Jacob's Ladder (using my arms to support me).
At the ramp, I hesitated, and was asked the classic question, "Are you gonna do it?". After a while agonising, I said "No" and started to walk off, till S4 called my name. I turned around, collapsed and broke down. Later, after the SOC, we were doing the Swing Trainer since many had trouble with it. When it came to my turn, the Conducting Officer asked me to try hanging onto the bar for 3 seconds. After about 2.5, I lost my grip, fell face forward into the sand and broke down again.
So now I'm going to be taken out of SOC until I am "ready" (whatever that means). If the test of readiness is how much confidence I have, I think the day I gather up sufficient courage to walk the balance beam, traverse the Jacob's Ladder and jump off the ramp is the day that I will have the courage to defenestrate myself (or die in some other suitably attention-grabbing way, sew my eyes and other orifices shut or engage in some painful act), preferably for some sufficiently noble and laudable cause like world peace, world hunger, nuclear proliferation, the denial of retro-virals to AIDS patients in South Africa or the abolishment of conscription with no alternative. But then, if I had the courage to do those things, I'd rather have gone to DB for 5 years rather than debase myself, pollute my soul and betray my conscience.
SOC is supposed to train people mentally and build up their confidence. Though it was left unsaid, the cliched adage came to mind: "The best way to conquer your fear is to face it". I suppose, then, that a stint on Fear Factor would do all of us some good. If we should face our fears to conquer them, then those of us who fear dying should have a near-death experience (though those tend to have high fatality rates) or better still - kill themselves. Those who fear bankruptcy should give away all of their money and live penniless, those who fear losing loved ones should have them killed off, and those who fear losing their virginity should lose it. Ultimately, if we fear being surrounded by unfriendly neighbors and having our water supply cut off, we should invade Johor and secure our water forever, to say nothing of conquering our fear! These may not make much sense, but on further thought, you will find that they make sense in a perverted way, as with the original adage. It's just that people don't tend to think critically when trying to motivate themselves, for they prefer lying to themselves. Is it any surprise that the army puts so much stock on feats of purely physical and pseudo-mental natures that claim to train determindation and willpower, while doing absolutely nothing for more important realms like moral courage?
Nevertheless, SOC will continue to be conducted for the majority of Singapore Slaves. As such, I would like to suggest further activities to build confidence and mental strength:
- fire walking
- bungee jumping
- tightrope walking
- dashing across the road in front of a bus
- gambling with one's life's savings
- letting a rattlesnake bite you and injecting the antidote later
I think I can say goodbye to my long weekends. I have been told that I'm supposed to take them when 42 takes them, but then there's Saturday RT each week. If I took mine when 42 was in camp, it might be easier to escape the RT, but now... [Ed: I'm not making much sense.] At least I still have my Friday night stayouts. If I didn't even have those, I'd be under 42 for everything except pay!
During my IPPT, I was running my 2.4 very slowly, because I was tired, and there was SOC the next day. My S1 saw me running slowly the first round, so he can to run with me, while talking to me. Ever so slowly, he began to run faster each round, to try to trick me into running faster (though I *did* notice). In the end, I did 17:21, but was very tired and short of breath. Cunning and effective!
It's madness - there were at least 5 times as many people (>=35) involved in the conduct of SOC (marshallers, safety specialists, etc) as HQ Coy people taking it (7, all medics. adding in the Company Line, about 2-3 times). What a waste of manpower, especially on people like me who can't pass.
One morning we went down for 5BX at 5:30am, but no one came. After half an hour, just before flag raising, I was the first to awake from slumber, and woke the rest, who went for breakfast. I hope this happens more often :)
BMT in my unit is very weird. I saw some recruits doing the artillery drill and practicing file movement around my parade square, and apparently their Bayonet Assault Course is done in the football field.
I saw one officer sweeping his office at 10:30pm one night. This must be the first time I've ever seen an officer doing area cleaning, instead of bullying his PA into doing it, but then he's one of the more exceptional officers in my unit. When I related this anecdote to someone else, he told me about the time when he was the duty clerk, and the duty officer swept the Ops Room while he watched TV. Heh heh.
In 46SAR, people from obese BMT who pass IPPT get a day off. Those who get Silver get 2 and Gold, 3. This is by virtue of obese passes for IPPT contributing 10 times the points to the Best Unit Competition (BUC) than normal people. In 42SAR, however, there's no similar incentive. Bah. [Ed: Not that it'd motivate me anymore but, still.]
Bingxun is being posted to 42 SAR. HAHAHA. As they say, "Welcome to 42SAR. You die. All die!"
Words of the wise: "The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine"
Melvin can read my scrawling, probably due to his training as an MOPA. Time to make my writing more messy!
I was at a hospital, and saw that the one year anniversary issue of Seventeen was out. I then remembered that I last bought it when its first issue came out, so I decided to buy the anniversay issue! Sadly, they've removed the hilarious section where they get this cute looking guy to profile himself, and some girls decide whether they'd want to date him (and as someone remarked at the time, the girls look much worse than the guy). Maybe it was too offensive for "Asian Values" (bah).
Nevertheless, there was this amusing section where teenagers sounded off on the other gender:
On Girls:
- "Some girls think they can do anything. Like those who think they can play sport. Stick to the baking, my dears."
- "I have a friend who likes to play volleyball but she's not very good"
- "Girls seem to think they're good at playing therapist and helping people solve problems"
- "They can't park for nuts. And they drive really slow. Except for my mom - she kicks my dad's ass"
On Guys:
- They think they're really cool walking down the street, in their baggy jeans. But they're really not"
- "Guys think they are so good-looking"
- "Guys' jokes tend to be more dirty"
Just for the heck of it, I entered an army friend for a Seventeen competition (sponsoring him to the tune of $0.30). Maybe he'll win some girls' clothes or makeup. Hehe!
A few people were wondering why I bought Seventeen. Well, if girls can read FHM, I reckon I can read Seventeen. Hahaha.
Apparently the LTA spends $42,000 a month removing illegal notices from bus stops, overhead bridges and similar places. They claim it's hard to catch these people, but they can just pretend to be looking for tuition for their son, and then clap the irons on the prospective tutor when they meet up!
More New Age management junk: Walmart calls its employees "associates" who "[share] in the company's prosperity". And of course, Singaporeans are being urged to learn from this - if you can't pay your employees decent wages, why not indulge in meaningless, cost-free measures!
Some of us went to Swensens, but they screwed up the bill, so we got some stuff free of charge (though it wasn't very good). Hah!
In Isetan, I saw this girl in a spaghetti strap who'd tattooed something on her breast. Funky idea! Maybe I should get one on my butt so people won't complain so much in bunk.
Since I got enslaved, pirated CDs have been becoming harder to find. Now, though, there's a stall at the pasar malam at Jurong East MRT with what must be 10 tables of games (more than I've ever seen), including some very old ones - I saw Age of Empires, - Xbox, PS, PS2 and PC (applications too). They'll be open till end October too, though I think they'll be raided before then. So if you want to stock up - notwithstanding my horrible luck, where 6/7 of my CDs did not work - go support local enterprise (as well as keep a viable alternative open for those without broadband and a CD burner)! At the same time you'll be leeching supernormal monopoly profits and evading daylight robbery, while generating plenty of consumer surplus (especially considering most who buy pirated games would never buy the originals even if the pirated ones were not available). But do remember to buy some originals now and then to balance it all up.
Quote:
[On people from obese BMT and doing IPPT once in the unit] You all obese [people] pass, never get anything? [Someone: More training]
Eh Gabriel, you're sick. Why did you buy "Seventeen"? It's a women's magazine. It doesn't have pictures of girls, only of what girls do. [Someone: He wants to understand them better] [You bought it] Just for a tube of facial cleaner? *proceeds to open the magazine's wrapping and read it*
[On an instrumental rendition of Ave Verum Corpus] Hao3 xiang4 you3 ren2 da3 wan2 zan4, shi3 [Translation: It's like someone died after a battle] *salutes*
[Me: People always ask me to introduce RJ girls to them] Yah, I want to know RJ girls. Very chio. I looked at the past years' yearbooks.
[Someone: I want to know more girls.] I can introduce this girl to you. "Kimberly", she's Gabriel's friend. She's always online... I've never met her before, but I find her quite nice to chat to. [Someone: Is she the same size as Gabriel?] About the same size.
National [JC], the girls cannot make it.
[On the above] Because he's interested in JC girls. He's got a fetish for JC girls.
Gabriel, what school were you from? [Me: RJ] Before that? [Me: RI] Stay away from us, we're from ACS. [Ed: I should have said 'Chao Yang'...]
The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine (sms)
I had SOC again on Thursday. I'm so outstanding that, from one point on, I had S4 on one side of me and my Senior Medic on the other. In fact, I just set a new SAF-wide record for SOC - a good 46 minutes plus!
If anything, I think I'm getting worse and worse at it, and mentally more fragile - and both the IPPT I had the previous day (with a tiring timing of 17:21 for my 2.4) and the rain, making the obstacles slippery, did not help. I've lost much of my confidence for the 'confidence' obstacles, so even though I managed to do them last year at 41SAR (before they renovated the place and made the course much harder), I can't do them now. This time, it was only with plenty of cajoling and attempts, and doing them the non-standard way, that I managed to clear the balancing beam, albeit crawling across - I don't think I've ever walked across, and the Jacob's Ladder (using my arms to support me).
At the ramp, I hesitated, and was asked the classic question, "Are you gonna do it?". After a while agonising, I said "No" and started to walk off, till S4 called my name. I turned around, collapsed and broke down. Later, after the SOC, we were doing the Swing Trainer since many had trouble with it. When it came to my turn, the Conducting Officer asked me to try hanging onto the bar for 3 seconds. After about 2.5, I lost my grip, fell face forward into the sand and broke down again.
So now I'm going to be taken out of SOC until I am "ready" (whatever that means). If the test of readiness is how much confidence I have, I think the day I gather up sufficient courage to walk the balance beam, traverse the Jacob's Ladder and jump off the ramp is the day that I will have the courage to defenestrate myself (or die in some other suitably attention-grabbing way, sew my eyes and other orifices shut or engage in some painful act), preferably for some sufficiently noble and laudable cause like world peace, world hunger, nuclear proliferation, the denial of retro-virals to AIDS patients in South Africa or the abolishment of conscription with no alternative. But then, if I had the courage to do those things, I'd rather have gone to DB for 5 years rather than debase myself, pollute my soul and betray my conscience.
SOC is supposed to train people mentally and build up their confidence. Though it was left unsaid, the cliched adage came to mind: "The best way to conquer your fear is to face it". I suppose, then, that a stint on Fear Factor would do all of us some good. If we should face our fears to conquer them, then those of us who fear dying should have a near-death experience (though those tend to have high fatality rates) or better still - kill themselves. Those who fear bankruptcy should give away all of their money and live penniless, those who fear losing loved ones should have them killed off, and those who fear losing their virginity should lose it. Ultimately, if we fear being surrounded by unfriendly neighbors and having our water supply cut off, we should invade Johor and secure our water forever, to say nothing of conquering our fear! These may not make much sense, but on further thought, you will find that they make sense in a perverted way, as with the original adage. It's just that people don't tend to think critically when trying to motivate themselves, for they prefer lying to themselves. Is it any surprise that the army puts so much stock on feats of purely physical and pseudo-mental natures that claim to train determindation and willpower, while doing absolutely nothing for more important realms like moral courage?
Nevertheless, SOC will continue to be conducted for the majority of Singapore Slaves. As such, I would like to suggest further activities to build confidence and mental strength:
- fire walking
- bungee jumping
- tightrope walking
- dashing across the road in front of a bus
- gambling with one's life's savings
- letting a rattlesnake bite you and injecting the antidote later
I think I can say goodbye to my long weekends. I have been told that I'm supposed to take them when 42 takes them, but then there's Saturday RT each week. If I took mine when 42 was in camp, it might be easier to escape the RT, but now... [Ed: I'm not making much sense.] At least I still have my Friday night stayouts. If I didn't even have those, I'd be under 42 for everything except pay!
During my IPPT, I was running my 2.4 very slowly, because I was tired, and there was SOC the next day. My S1 saw me running slowly the first round, so he can to run with me, while talking to me. Ever so slowly, he began to run faster each round, to try to trick me into running faster (though I *did* notice). In the end, I did 17:21, but was very tired and short of breath. Cunning and effective!
It's madness - there were at least 5 times as many people (>=35) involved in the conduct of SOC (marshallers, safety specialists, etc) as HQ Coy people taking it (7, all medics. adding in the Company Line, about 2-3 times). What a waste of manpower, especially on people like me who can't pass.
One morning we went down for 5BX at 5:30am, but no one came. After half an hour, just before flag raising, I was the first to awake from slumber, and woke the rest, who went for breakfast. I hope this happens more often :)
BMT in my unit is very weird. I saw some recruits doing the artillery drill and practicing file movement around my parade square, and apparently their Bayonet Assault Course is done in the football field.
I saw one officer sweeping his office at 10:30pm one night. This must be the first time I've ever seen an officer doing area cleaning, instead of bullying his PA into doing it, but then he's one of the more exceptional officers in my unit. When I related this anecdote to someone else, he told me about the time when he was the duty clerk, and the duty officer swept the Ops Room while he watched TV. Heh heh.
In 46SAR, people from obese BMT who pass IPPT get a day off. Those who get Silver get 2 and Gold, 3. This is by virtue of obese passes for IPPT contributing 10 times the points to the Best Unit Competition (BUC) than normal people. In 42SAR, however, there's no similar incentive. Bah. [Ed: Not that it'd motivate me anymore but, still.]
Bingxun is being posted to 42 SAR. HAHAHA. As they say, "Welcome to 42SAR. You die. All die!"
Words of the wise: "The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine"
Melvin can read my scrawling, probably due to his training as an MOPA. Time to make my writing more messy!
I was at a hospital, and saw that the one year anniversary issue of Seventeen was out. I then remembered that I last bought it when its first issue came out, so I decided to buy the anniversay issue! Sadly, they've removed the hilarious section where they get this cute looking guy to profile himself, and some girls decide whether they'd want to date him (and as someone remarked at the time, the girls look much worse than the guy). Maybe it was too offensive for "Asian Values" (bah).
Nevertheless, there was this amusing section where teenagers sounded off on the other gender:
On Girls:
- "Some girls think they can do anything. Like those who think they can play sport. Stick to the baking, my dears."
- "I have a friend who likes to play volleyball but she's not very good"
- "Girls seem to think they're good at playing therapist and helping people solve problems"
- "They can't park for nuts. And they drive really slow. Except for my mom - she kicks my dad's ass"
On Guys:
- They think they're really cool walking down the street, in their baggy jeans. But they're really not"
- "Guys think they are so good-looking"
- "Guys' jokes tend to be more dirty"
Just for the heck of it, I entered an army friend for a Seventeen competition (sponsoring him to the tune of $0.30). Maybe he'll win some girls' clothes or makeup. Hehe!
A few people were wondering why I bought Seventeen. Well, if girls can read FHM, I reckon I can read Seventeen. Hahaha.
Apparently the LTA spends $42,000 a month removing illegal notices from bus stops, overhead bridges and similar places. They claim it's hard to catch these people, but they can just pretend to be looking for tuition for their son, and then clap the irons on the prospective tutor when they meet up!
More New Age management junk: Walmart calls its employees "associates" who "[share] in the company's prosperity". And of course, Singaporeans are being urged to learn from this - if you can't pay your employees decent wages, why not indulge in meaningless, cost-free measures!
Some of us went to Swensens, but they screwed up the bill, so we got some stuff free of charge (though it wasn't very good). Hah!
In Isetan, I saw this girl in a spaghetti strap who'd tattooed something on her breast. Funky idea! Maybe I should get one on my butt so people won't complain so much in bunk.
Since I got enslaved, pirated CDs have been becoming harder to find. Now, though, there's a stall at the pasar malam at Jurong East MRT with what must be 10 tables of games (more than I've ever seen), including some very old ones - I saw Age of Empires, - Xbox, PS, PS2 and PC (applications too). They'll be open till end October too, though I think they'll be raided before then. So if you want to stock up - notwithstanding my horrible luck, where 6/7 of my CDs did not work - go support local enterprise (as well as keep a viable alternative open for those without broadband and a CD burner)! At the same time you'll be leeching supernormal monopoly profits and evading daylight robbery, while generating plenty of consumer surplus (especially considering most who buy pirated games would never buy the originals even if the pirated ones were not available). But do remember to buy some originals now and then to balance it all up.
Quote:
[On people from obese BMT and doing IPPT once in the unit] You all obese [people] pass, never get anything? [Someone: More training]
Eh Gabriel, you're sick. Why did you buy "Seventeen"? It's a women's magazine. It doesn't have pictures of girls, only of what girls do. [Someone: He wants to understand them better] [You bought it] Just for a tube of facial cleaner? *proceeds to open the magazine's wrapping and read it*
[On an instrumental rendition of Ave Verum Corpus] Hao3 xiang4 you3 ren2 da3 wan2 zan4, shi3 [Translation: It's like someone died after a battle] *salutes*
[Me: People always ask me to introduce RJ girls to them] Yah, I want to know RJ girls. Very chio. I looked at the past years' yearbooks.
[Someone: I want to know more girls.] I can introduce this girl to you. "Kimberly", she's Gabriel's friend. She's always online... I've never met her before, but I find her quite nice to chat to. [Someone: Is she the same size as Gabriel?] About the same size.
National [JC], the girls cannot make it.
[On the above] Because he's interested in JC girls. He's got a fetish for JC girls.
Gabriel, what school were you from? [Me: RJ] Before that? [Me: RI] Stay away from us, we're from ACS. [Ed: I should have said 'Chao Yang'...]
The army exists as a fom of alternate emplyment to those unable to work with people with a brain and a spine (sms)
Post ID: 106234033987401396
CNN.com - Revealed: How RIAA tracks downloaders - Aug. 28, 2003
Dr. Laura Renounces Orthodoxy
Believe It, or Not - Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).
Congressional Report: The Bush Administration has manipulated, distorted, or interfered with science on health, environmental, and other key issues.
I wonder why I let Tim cajole me into listening to exceedingly queer things like Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin: "At last she overcomes her reluctance and begins a hesitant dance, which gradually enlivens to a pitch of erotic frenzy, as the Mandarin stares at her. The girl sinks down to embrace him, he begins to tremble in feverish excitement. She flees from him, and he chases her more and more wildly. The Mandarin catches the girl, and they fight." Nevertheless, it does have some merit, and unlike his other works, does not make me want to smash my monitor, so I'll keep it.
Notes on Overture to Gillaume Tell (1829) - "Rossini was satisfied with second rate material when it would take too long to produce first rate material. His operatic overtures were frequently reused and hastily composed. Known for the breakneck speed at which he wrote operas, Rossini purportedly finished composing an aria in the time it took him to cook a pot of noodles. His most famous opera, the Barber of Seville was written in 13 days, and, as was usual for Rossini, the well-known overture was actually taken from another of his operas."
I was intending to play Medieval: Total War, but the CDs I bought yesterday don't work. Even after I took the trouble, time and money to buy a $18.90 (it has 10-20 mins of video clips for you to "adjust your TV" - so that's why it's so expensive!) DVD drive cleaner for my 5 year old and never-cleaned-before drive. *grumble*
Quotable Quotes (ala Lin Yucheng):
"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man & worships his creator." - John Bright
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E. Leonard
Dr. Laura Renounces Orthodoxy
Believe It, or Not - Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).
Congressional Report: The Bush Administration has manipulated, distorted, or interfered with science on health, environmental, and other key issues.
I wonder why I let Tim cajole me into listening to exceedingly queer things like Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin: "At last she overcomes her reluctance and begins a hesitant dance, which gradually enlivens to a pitch of erotic frenzy, as the Mandarin stares at her. The girl sinks down to embrace him, he begins to tremble in feverish excitement. She flees from him, and he chases her more and more wildly. The Mandarin catches the girl, and they fight." Nevertheless, it does have some merit, and unlike his other works, does not make me want to smash my monitor, so I'll keep it.
Notes on Overture to Gillaume Tell (1829) - "Rossini was satisfied with second rate material when it would take too long to produce first rate material. His operatic overtures were frequently reused and hastily composed. Known for the breakneck speed at which he wrote operas, Rossini purportedly finished composing an aria in the time it took him to cook a pot of noodles. His most famous opera, the Barber of Seville was written in 13 days, and, as was usual for Rossini, the well-known overture was actually taken from another of his operas."
I was intending to play Medieval: Total War, but the CDs I bought yesterday don't work. Even after I took the trouble, time and money to buy a $18.90 (it has 10-20 mins of video clips for you to "adjust your TV" - so that's why it's so expensive!) DVD drive cleaner for my 5 year old and never-cleaned-before drive. *grumble*
Quotable Quotes (ala Lin Yucheng):
"I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop
"He is a self-made man & worships his creator." - John Bright
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." - Winston Churchill
"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas
"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating
"He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr
"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." - Jack E. Leonard
Post ID: 106230979491079753
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