July Trip
17/7 - Ravenna

Fire instructions in youth hostel: "Do not shout fire." ???

Dispenser of miscellaneous products in the staircase area: "Preservativi: Preservatives con spermicida". Ahh. But then the hostel had male and female floors, so maybe they were encouraging people to go at it in the garden.

I made my way again to the Basilica of San Vitale, in an invigorating ~30 min walk from my hostel. There were many tourists in there and flashes were going off every second; no attendants were there to shout at them. Sometimes more than once every second. It was very very very irritating, and almost induced an epileptic fit in me, but at least I was conforted by the thought that it wouldn't damage the mosaics, their being far from the sources of light.


Mosaics behind altar


Mosaics behind and to left of altar - Justinian and friends


Mosaics behind and to right of altar - Theodora and friends


Mosaics to right of altar


Mosaics on roof above altar


Mosaics to left of altar


Right part of the arch in front of the basilica altar. How many saints can you spot?


Pope Clement XII in cloisters


Cloisters, 2nd cloister
It is very hard to capture cloisters and especially convey the serenity and peacefulness they project


Basilica from the outside - very unassuming
The inside reminded me of the cupola at the heart of Aachen Cathedral- a dome crowning the building and surrounded by a circle of pillars holding it up.

The toilet cost me €0,20, even though this was inside the ticketed area. Gah.


Mausoleum of Galla Placida, 2nd quarter of 5th century


Inside

They had the National Museum of Ravenna also but it didn't sound that interesting so I went looking for more World Heritage Sites.

I then went to the Domus Dei Tappeti di Pietra. Not a World Heritage site but it sounded fun. Photography was prohibited, naturally. Very cunningly, a sign informing the visitor of this was visible only after the ticket was bought.


Dance of the Four Seasons, 6th century AD


'Good Shepherd' - late 4th century AD. This is different from the other good shepherd representations.

I then walked over to:


Battistero Neoniano


Inside


Baptism of Christ, with an old man, the personification of the Jordan River, and surrounded by the 12 Apostles


2 small temples (of 8), 1 altar with a Gospel book (of 4) and 1 throne with a Cross - etimasia (of 4). Underneath there are small stucco shrines of the prophets.

The woman at the ticket booth said we could visit each place twice. Wah, so generous.

Next I walked to the museo arcivescoville (archepiscopal museum). Unfortunately the S. Andrea chapel was closed.


6th century ivory throne. Probably a gift of Justinian to Bishop Maximian.


5th century liturgical calendar used to determine Easter from 532-626


Mosaic of Praying Virgin, 1112 AD. From destroyed Ursian Basilica


S Barbaziano, Ursiaino, 1112 AD from Ursian Basilica

The group called Ravennantica which ran the Domus Dei Tappeti di Pietra and also another place I went to ("Santi Banchieri Re") proclaimed that its "principal purpose [is] to exploit, also for tourist aims, the... heritage... in Ravenna". It's nice that they admit that they're exploiting it. Or maybe this is another example of European English.


Santi Banchieri Re: Consul Boetius Diptych. 6th century.

The secular mosaics in Ravenna were not bad, but those at Pompeii were much better. They were the Dark Ages indeed! The sacred mosaics, on the other hand, were good. Perhaps more effort was put into them? Or maybe there was no basis for comparison since they had different subjects and iconographies - there was no tradition of Christian mosaics to live up to, so the sacred ones seemed better than the secular ones.


Floor mosaic with personification of one of the seasons. 6th century. Nouman (Syria), Ma'Arrat an.

There were more mosaics at a church in Classe, but it was out of the city so I couldn't walk there and would have to take a bus, so I decided to skip it, only having a day to do Ravenna.

There was a self-service restaurant at S Apollinare Nuovo which had 5ml sachets of balsamic vinegar from modena and 10ml sachets of extra virgin olive oil. Gah.

The bookshop had a vending machine selling Coke for €0,70 a can. I'd paid €1,50 in the cafeteria. !@#$ Across the street in a cafe it was even more - €1,80.

Luckily they allowed non-flash photographs in the Ravenna World Heritage sites, or I'd write in to UNESCO to protest, since "World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located." Or maybe they could put it in the "World Heritage in Danger" list, in this case the Danger coming from unrestrained greed.


S Apollinare Nuovo left wall


S Apollinare Nuovo right wall


Grapes in cloister of S Apollinare Nuovo

Unfortunately, Theodoric's palace was closed.

Even the department stores took a siesta - one called 'UPIM' had a 70% sale but was open only from 9-1 and 3:30-7:30.


Ceiling of Arian Baptistry
Information panel: 'No other city in the world with remains from late Antiquity has managed to preserve a baptistery dedicated to the Arian cult with wall decorations'
Which begs the questions:
1) Do non-cities where blah blah exist?
2) Do blah blahs without wall decorations exist?
The actual building itself was quite plain, like the others, so I didn't snap it. For some reason it was situated on a lower level than the surrounding ground, though.


Rocca brancaleone, the 15th century fortress of Ravenna. The walls of Constantinople or Krek de Chevalier they ain't, but not bad lah.


Rocca brancaleone from Southwest


Chapel tower of Rocca (or 'arx')


Main gate

I rounded off everything by visiting the Mausoleum of Theodoric.


Mausoleum


Roof of upper level


Bathtub


Mausoleum


Arch (on bottom level)

I was distinctly underwhelmed. Like this also can be World Heritage Site ah?! There was a €2 fee to enter the place (€1 for students) but there was no ticket control and the turnstile turned freely. No wonder.

Both buses I took in Ravenna (to the hostel from the station and vice versa) were air-conditioned, and all others I saw were similarly equipped. How civilized. Or maybe it was because of the smell - in some parts of the city I was strongly accosted by something I hadn't encountered in years, since Secondary School - the rotten egg smell. I have no idea why this was so.

I bought a €14+ ticket to Milan from Ravenna on the scenic route (aka the cheap railway lines). The expensive ticket cost €27+ but it would save me only 2 hrs and anyway I had nothing to do.

At the ticket counter in Ravenna there was a US couple and a boy arguing with the female attendant for at least 10 mins (they knew some Italian, of course). They'd put €20 into a machine and it'd swallowed the money. They'd filled a form but were told to come back in a week. Of course, they'd be in Berlin by then.

Whenever there're signs in a few languages, more oftehn than not the one in French is the longest. They should've gotten a French to write War and Peace. Then again I haven't seen enough Russian signs.

Nutella and Esta The Limone and Baked flour sticks were combined in a single package which won the "Gran Premio Marketing Innovazione 2006" contest.

There was a train station called "Casalpusterlengo". Its name reminded me of a festering, pus-filled boil.

Arriving in Milan at 9:53pm, I discovered no one at the metro ticket booth. The machine accepted notes of up to €200, but only gave €9,95 in change and anyway rejected my €50 note (probably luckily for me). I didn't have enough in small change, so once again I rode without a ticket - it'd probably cost more to employ people to work at that time than they'd get in fines.

A sign reading 'Con segnale attivato ABBANDONARE LA STAZIONE' hanging from the ceiling of the metro station was not reassuring. Perhaps they have terrorist problems.

I had quite a bit of trouble finding my Milan hostel. The wonderful directions given
read: "Situated in Milan, in the Città Studi-Lambrate district, Hotel Adelchi is to 150 metres to the Underground Lambrate Station. 10 minutes from the center of the city. It is easly attainable from the Stazione Centrale and from Linate Airport, and by car from the gates Lambrate of the East Tangential. Take the green line for 4 stops and exit at Lambrate Cologno for our hotel." As you will note, it didn't even say which exit to take from the metro station, so I had to topo my way there.

First I asked a young couple. The girl didn't speak any English and both had no idea. Suddenly though, an elderly couple leaned out from their first floor balcony and the woman gave directions in Italian with a cup of yoghurt in her hand, which were then translated by the guy. When I got closer, I asked 3 filipinas who also had no idea, but they asked 2 old men and 1 took a map out of his car boot and eventually I was pointed in the right direction.

When I got to the hostel, the guy manning the desk spoke hardly any English. He also had insufficient change for my payment and asked me to pay €0,60 or so the next day. Luckily the person who was there the next day was better (and said to forget about the €0,60).

Except for the automatic public toilets, most toilets I used in North Italy had bidets. How civilized.

I went to Tanglin camp to view some of the Singapore Biennale exhibits on Sunday. I dislike modern art, but it cost only $5 for a ticket to all 4 ticketed sites and my brother in law was paying, so. Unfortunately, most of the exhibits we went to weren't air-conditioned. His theory is that the better ones got the air-conditioning.



We wanted to see the Leap of Faith exhibit, where you wear a ferromagnetic vest and walk towards a magnetic wall. Unfortunately, it seems someone had damaged the vest on Saturday in his enthusiasm so it was closed. There was a video, however, in which almost everyone interviewed were definitely not Singaporean, and even those who might've been Singaporean (being of Chinese ethnicity) spoke in foreign accents. It might've been that they wanted to project a high-brow image, but more likely normal Singaporeans had better things to do than look at modern art.


Me watching the video on the wall

Another exhibit was in what must've been the old dental centre (Tanglin Camp used to house HQMC - Headquarters Medical Corps). There was a couch, in front of which was a TV showing a video recording of a TV playing a World War II film about the Japanese in Malaya/Thailand. Buttons on the walls let one turn lights on and off, as well as start and stop counters. And at the back there was a wall of monitors where one could view CCTV - of the people outside! No, I don't get it either.


This seditious exhibit also had, at various times, "God", "Brahma" and various unpronounceable and unrememberable names that seemed to belong to divers chieftains of African pygmy tribes.


There were walls full of primary school children's drawings of "Mocmoc & Mermer", depicting the Merlion and some weird yellow being with a horn on his forehead. This was bad enough, but we then went to an adjoining partition where a video, "The Adventures of Mocmoc & Mermer", was playing; 2 people dressed in Mocmoc and Mermer suits were frolicking and doing things such as sleeping in a hut and flying an airplane. It was hilarious and was more suited to children's television than an art exhibition.

My brother-in-law paid $25 for an unlimited reentry pass, which I calculated needed him to visit any one site 6 times to make it worth his money. So he needs to visit Tanglin Camp 5 more times in the next 47 days, or any of the other 4 ticketed sites just under once every 8 days. He did get a hilarious catalogue detailing the children's television show though:


"Swiss artist duo Com&Com's project for the Biennale brings together Mocmoc and the Merlion, two modern mythical creatures from Switzerland and Singapore - a match seemingly made in heaven. Commissioned in 2002 for the Swiss townofof (sic) Romanshorn, Mocmoc (derived from Com&Com) is an invented fantasy character who reputedly saved the town from a fire... Mocmoc's fabricated status as a town symbol caused a huge furore and debate...

The Merlion was created by the Singapore Tourism Board in the 1960s... Affectionately nicknamed 'Mermer' for the Biennale, the Merlion has been loved and lionized, a subject of ridicule, poetry and even contemporary art.

Casting new light on the two myths, Com&Com will present the first episode of The Adventures of Mocmoc & Mermer (2006). In the video, Mocmoc and Mermer go sailing and sunbathing in Swiss lakes, hiking and skiing in the Alps, flying and partying, while searching for the meaning of life."

Brother-in-law: "the section on the adventures of mocmoc and mermer is worth the $ alone.

i can't believe what shd be an outtake from a poor mat yoyo episode can not only pass off as art, but someone cld write one page of that bs

cld this be the funniest joke of the biennale?"


The best of the exhibits was that by Brian Gothong Tan, a 23 year old Filipino, and titled "We Live in a Dangerous World". There was a video screen which, among other things, had a video of a man dressed as Annabel Chong bouncing up and down (but not showing "his" breasts) while shouting "the death penalty is immoral" and a video of Nora Samosir dressed as a Filipino maid, with NTUC Fairprice plastic bags on her shoulders singing Dahil Sayo ("Because Of You") to her employer while looking lovelorn and dancing the Tinikling (a traditional Filipino dance) - using bamboo clothes poles.

Translation of lyrics (from Hot Spots, Dahil Sa'yo):

"To my life,hardship and peinful (sic) is too much.
There is no heaven in loving heart.
And then I am happy. You have taken me out from my suffering.
Only you, sweetheart, are my hope.

(Repeat)
I desire to live because of you.
You should know I have no other love
for my life because of you.
Ask my heart.You and only you.
I am happy because of you.
Love is what you presented me.
If I am true, my whole life is offered to you because of you."


Part of "We Live in a Dangerous World"

The spiel on the wall was also good:


"Oh! I'm so happy that a biennale is finally happening in Singapore. I've been to so many biennales all over the world... it is so important for a country to have a biennale! It enriches the soul, it creates culture, it improves tourism... I'm so excited that Barbara Kruger is coming... I'm going to have an orgasm!... how do you pronounce biennale anyway? Is it "bee-nah-lay" or is it "bai-annual" or "bee-nile" or "bee-neeal" or "ba-ni-ni"? Who cares? Biennale! Biennale! Biennale!... they picked such exciting locations like City Hall and Tanglin Camp! Wow! Can you imagine? Turning an Army camp into a contemporary art space? Is it genius or what? I heard Tanglin Camp used to be a medical centre, where soldiers come to hand in their fake medical certificates, or downgrading letters so that they can take time off and visit the latest biennale. Isn't it so much better to invest in art than war? I believe that biennales will solve all problems in our world."


The hammocks were also a plus.



My brother-in-law told me to try a small hammock, then went to lie on a bigger hammock himself. Gah.


All pictures in this post were taken by my brother-in-law, who is a traffic whore. Please visit his blog and leave snide comments, as I and someone have already done.

"If the human mind was simple enough to understand, we'd be too simple to understand it." - Emerson Pugh

***

"An engineering guy and an arts gal,

Sitting alone on a bench one day,

Soon they were holding hands,

He looked at her palm,

'If you bend your thumb at right angles to the index finger, and position the other 3 fingers orthogonally, I can tell you the direction of your magnetic field.'

The girl got up and left,

Without a word."


Many NUS students whose presentations I've had the dubious pleasure of attending are horrible. They only know how to read from their slides or notes. We should ship them off to Business or SMU for a semester.

My No 1 Fan: [biz is] beter than engin
better than arts at facts, lose to arts at crapping for the most part

Me: serious ah
biz all crap mah ;)

My No 1 Fan: arts all crap lar =p
actually

it happens in biz too
i shut off when that happens
it doesn't happen all THAT often

but u do get alot of Viets and PRCs who do that =x

angmohs love ad-libbing
tt's why they take up so much time

that's why when it's a timed presentation, always put them last

Me: hahahaha
talk cock all the way

My No 1 Fan: ALL the way


It's silly to have graded assignments contribute to your course grade, at least in modules where answers are non-unique (ie Not lab reports, essays or projects). In this case, everyone just copies each other's work, and your grade is dependent not on whether you understand the stuff, but whether you found the right person to copy from.

In preparation to visit Botak Jones, I unwisely opted to skip breakfast and so was ravenous during my sole lecture of the day. So I ventured down to the bazaar looking for something suitable - heavy enough to hold my hunger at bay, yet light enough not to spoil my appetite. It was under these circumstances, and only these circumstances, that I settled for a cup of sweet corn (since its magic ingredient is liquid Planta). The $2 price tag for a small cup (the tiny white styrofoam cup that coffee comes in - a Ramly Burger would have been better bang for my buck) was bad enough, but I also found a styrofoam chip inside. I should've kicked up a big fuss and asked for my money back.

I was telling people that the only reasons an informed exchange student would choose NUS:
1) Singapore is cheap
2) They want year-long summer
3) They're a Caucasian male ('nuff said)

"Acceptance without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western religion, rejection without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western science." - Gary Zukav

***

Gamebook Creator - "I've developed a new application for creating Gamebooks. It is a BETA and still has to be thoroughly tested, but I was wondering if anyone is interested in seeing some screenshots or trying the BETA."

The Dutch hot chocolate mystique - "In the Netherlands, the love affair with real chocolate continues. To merit the name chocolate here no fats other than cocoa butter are allowed by law to be part of the end product."
someone: the best thing is that under these rules, malaysian chocolate is not considered chocolate

Police force admits it discriminated against white men - "The tribunal was told that two thirds of white men who applied to join the force in last year’s recruitment drive had been turned down. Every ethnic minority candidate who applied had been invited to an assessment centre."

The dryer that does the ironing - "It might be a housewife’s fantasy or a trendy bachelor’s dream: a machine that will dry and iron your clothes was unveiled in Madrid yesterday, raising the prospect that the hated household chore could become a thing of the past."
Wah, I want!

Teachers win right not to sing their national anthem - "401 school teachers sued the Tokyo metropolitan education board over its insistence that they should stand, visibly respect the flag and audibly chant the words to Japan’s national anthem, Kimigayo, at school ceremonies. The original idea behind the scheme was that teachers should set a clear example to pupils — a generation that Japan’s political old guard regard as lacking the sort of patriotism that supposedly drove Japan’s economic growth... The teacher plaintiffs... were told that the education board’s behaviour was an infringement of freedom of thought as guaranteed by Japan’s constitution... The teachers’ court battle has become the cause célèbre of liberal Japanese who regard patriotism drives in schools as a return to dark episodes of the country’s history."
National Education lessons we must learn from history... Is Freedom of Thought guaranteed in our constitution? Even if it is it's doubtless subject to provisions for Public Health, National Safety, Public Morality et al.

What's up with vacuum cleaner wounds to the penis? - "A 49-year-old man was vacuuming his friend's staircase in a loose-fitting dressing gown, when, intending to switch the machine off, he leaned across to reach the plug; 'at that moment his dressing gown became undone and his penis was sucked into the vacuum cleaner.'"

Who gets the most pleasure from sex, the man or the woman? - "Masters and Johnson published the chart for one woman who experienced a 43-second orgasm in which one can count at least 22 successive contractions."

Spyware Researchers Discover ID Theft Ring - "Spyware researchers picking apart one of the more notorious spyware programs have stumbled upon what appears to be a massive identity theft ring hijacking confidential data from millions of infected computers."

Knuttz's Stuff - USB Cooking - "30 USB connections can produce something around 500W, enough power to cook ;-)"

MIDAS: Homemade Dorm Room Home Automation System - "Since moving into my dorm this last fall, my roommate RJ Ryan and I have been working on creating the most elaborate automation system we could envision... Party Mode: When the button is hit, all the lights shut off, the blinds close, the displays show: "FEEL THE ENERGY" and a deep voice says this over the speakers with a deep bass beat in the background. Then intense music turns on along with the sound activated strobe light, laser light show, fog machine, black lights, revolving disco light, LCD visualization projector projected onto the blackout-screen, neon colored lights, computer screen Winamp visualization, oscilloscope showing the waveform of the music, and surveillance camera monitors."
Lucky no one at NUS tries this - they'd get expelled.

Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation® (LVR®) - Loose Vagina, Tighten your Vagina :: Parkway Aesthetic Clinic - "In one of our patient surveys, women were asked; do women want to be loose or relaxed or do women want to be tight? Women answered 100% - women want to be tight."
From an ad on Curiosa Felicitas.

Miracles of Modern Make-up - "These pictures prove what Modern Make-up can do…"

"Remember that as a teenager you are at the last stage of your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you." - Fran Lebowitz

***

Someone: "haha the convent girl is the symbol of a man's deepest darkest desires right? wtf :P

haha my boyfriend always wanted an IJ girlfriend i think HAHA
but he is a dork

and he thinks its damn kinky to wear an IJ uniform (not him, i mean his girlfriend)
so i donned the [a dorky boys' school name] uniform"


Someone else: HAHA I GOT A FOR MY [USP "Writing] PAPER1
so true man all those who can write dont score well HAHA


Someone: we are required to do an english portfolio
and in that portfolio we have to have a reflection on one of our best works we did in the year

someone above eighteen is supposed to see it and make a written response of 300 to 500 words

Me: haha
wth
why got age discrimination

Someone: age discrimination, cos it's supposed to be an 'adult critic'

Me: aiyoh
I feel old


Someone else: But I still feel asking pple's CAP is like asking their salary, or for women, asking their age...

***

A group in one of my tutorials was giving a presentation on corruption in Papua New Guinea, and they contrasted it with a slightly non-conventional view of a country widely perceived as non-corrupt, but which paid a senior statesman US$12 million a year inclusive of benefits, which works out to $6000 a day (I did the math and this is wrong, so either their maths was off or I didn't copy down the figures correctly). For all we know, the cost to the country may be more than if there was the conventional sort of corruption.

Apparently logarithms were invented to aid the multiplication of large numbers. For example, 12345 x 54321 would've been tedious before a calculator, but with logs one could log both terms to get 10^XXX x 10^YYY = 10^(XXX+YYY).

"Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand." - Mark Twain

***

Quotes:

[On a lame Arts girl & Engineering guy joke] This is another example of human behavior.

[On an engineering guy using fake palmistry skill to woo a girl] I'm surprised that you all don't know how to read palms. We all knew how to read palms.

Medical doctors are woefully inadequate in their mathematics. You can run circles around them.

Would *** answer the question please?... [*** answers*] Yes, I suppose talking at the back does you good.

And - ghosts... I have some experience, not personal. Thre was a Catholic priest... He was able to remove evil spirits from people by the power of the cross... My father-in-law who was a warden of the church, he wouldn't lie to me... One of these evil spirits which we got rid of, part of one infected him. He poisoned his wife over 5 years... Scotland Yard had to be called in... This guy was initially a mechanical engineer before becoming a priest... He used a tape recorder. When he played it back, all the dogs would start howling at certain times.

Politicians contain a lot of hot air. But still, erm - I never said that.

You have too much time. Enough to fill in all your answers, freak out and chance them.

Risky premium (risk)

[On a formula] Always use integral (integers)

*Peers at answers from lecturer* This is a little bit different from the answers I am giving (given)

Pl will go darb (up)

once off (one)

[On a problem set] Our presentation will be very short, chop chop finish - then we can ask all the Romer questions to *Tutor's name*. (ask *Tutor's name* about the Romer questions)

[On corruption in Papua New Guinea] There's this Malaysian firm called 'Rimbunan Hijau'. Any Malaysians here? I'm Malaysian so I'm talking bad about my country (sliming)

[On a sound clip screwing up a presentation] Because we imported this clip from PNG, so a bit of technical problems. (we have some)

Mr Wool'foe'whytz said... aids to any country will be tied to corruption (Wolfowitz, aid)

the informer sector in PNG (informal)

enforce'sear'berl property rights (enforceable)

the wis'minister system (Westminster)

core'lih'shern (coalition)

im'plea'm'air'nt policies (implement)

There's one instrence (instance)

voice ring'ging [Ed: Pronounced with a hard g] (ringing)

The scope of roe'ting in the highlands (rorting)

[On Unicorns and Existence] Try doing it. Not graded. Think of it as a way of distracting yourself form the meaningless of life. [Student: By doing something equally meaningless?]

[On unsupported implicit premises] Because they gave us *** right. So it's good enough for them to be in power for their lifetime.

Most arguments that you encounter in newspapers. The Straits Times. ***, ***, *** - the most messy arguments come from them.

[On bad arguments and unsupported implicit premises] If you want to have more fun - I can't do it, it infuriates me - read ***'s speeches, even better.

[Student: China has a president?] ... China is ruled by a King. He lives in the Forbidden City. You know what? It's the Tang Dynasty now. [Me: The Tang Dynasty wasn't in Beijing.] Whatever. [Me: You see, {if} you want to suan people, you must get your facts right. Otherwise people will suan you back] I was being sar'car'stic. Sar'car'sm doesn't need to be true. (sarcastic, sarcasm)

[Lecturer: Who invented the log tables?] Sir Logarithm.

Noah told the animals: 'Go forth and multiply'... Noah saw that there were 2 adders left... 'We're adders, we can't multiply'. That's how Noah got these log tables from God, so the adders could multiply... These are not stories given in the Bible. You [have] got to interpret things indifferent ways. You [have] got to make ends meet (???)

[On learning Latin] My teacher was a priest. He had a pencil. A very sharp pencil... Suddenly he will jab you. You're standing right beside him. You have no warning... [So] you remember your declensions... He'll smile at you and jab you... You go home, your father scolds you because your shirt is damaged.

YC versa (vice)

I have to do this. *Puts hairclip on her fringe* I have a hairclip too! [Me: Look, I'll use the pink furry scrunchie I picked up from the LT floor, then you can buy one too] [Student 2: Are you sure it's not Gerri's?]

I lost my phone. Can I have your number?... Did I have your number in the first place? Nevermind, just give it to me.

[On the project] Can we set up a mutual fund? Then we [will] get A+... Everyone in the class [will] subscribe to it. Then nobody knows what the fuck is going on. Call it the 'Gabriel and ***' mutual fund.

excel shett (written)

You stick to the theory, you lose money. 'I hope you have learned that theory is useless. Reality is not confined to textbooks.'

[On settling down after the break] Have you seen this one? *brandishes cane*... Some people use this to silence the class.

Now I'm going to show what you wanted to see. [Student, sotto voce: Porno] *Flashes more boring notes*

[Me on Science students taking Logic: I don't want to waste my UEs {doing something I already know}, I have some academic pride] Some? You're in the wrong school. [Me: Where should I go?] I don't know. Out of this country.

Me: everytime I attempt to explain the reasons for my ideological opposition to the institution of marriage to a girl I get a stream of incoherent responses

Nat: everyone believes that marriage is the inevitability of any relationship

Me: females have this visceral, irrational fascination with the idea of marriage
and anyone who opposes it must be a commitment-phobe

Nat: well the institution has its followers
well my thoughts are on my blog

[marriage is an institution

"You would never have thought that a fleeting, ephemeral thing such as love could be institutionalized. Not many of us think about marriage as an institution because the term 'marriage' connotes the sublimal joys of love, a perfect wedding, happy guests making merry with wine and a splendid feast laid out infront of you.

And yet, marriage is an institution that demands state recognition for love. Its when something as personal as love becomes the affair of the state as presided over in court by a judge, as you lay your commitment down for the other person in the flourish of your signature by the stroke of a pen as your parents weep with tears of relief that they bore an offspring marketable in the eyes of the opposite sex, sparing them the pains of prying gossip. Love is cheapen into a mere piece of paper, a contract between two individuals made in the eyes of the state, the church and society. Suddenly, two people's private business becomes a spectacle to behold. Something as sacred as love becomes trapped in the placement of a marriage certificate and becomes just another statistic used for the engineering of social policies. Marriage allows for tax rebates, housing loans and for many, Marriage allows the emancipation from poverty and vice that a 3rd world country entails.

It is through marriage that our society legitimizes the relationship. The gender roles of society are meted out in marriage, the man with his phallus power will produce a token of his love in embodiment of a 2 carat ring to the object of his desire. And she will accept it. Because Marriage is an institution, there are rules. These rules must be abided by to ensure total merit to both parties....

I know that the notion of marriage is a largely christian idea of monogamy, instigated to prevent the unabashed sexual frolicking of people. It is a social policy encouraged by the government to provide a fabric of stability to the state, to curb the spread of HIV and homosexual tendencies. To fill the gaps that love might not suffice in the nights of a soldier's loneliness away from home with the comfort that back home, someone is waiting for him. And with the assurance of marriage, he can fight in peace. In an odd twisted way, marriage could be used to strengthen the love between two people although should not love be a prerequisite for marriage to occur? And yet, this is a recent development after match making has been dispelled and people are free to marry whoever their hearts desire.

Marriage is such an institution.. from proposing with a ring to the loud bang of a wedding ceremony. This Ring seems to hold the power of compelling society to understand his commitment towards her... Do people not realise that its the effort AFTER the marriage that counts towards the maintenance of it?... perhaps cetris paribus, Marriage has become a fallacy.

Love in all its sanctity, I believe is stronger than this social contract or a little shiny rock set upon a band to bind us together."]

Me: there is some overlap in views

I basically feel that marriage is an outdated institution which has outlived its use
and that it doesn't demonstrate commitment, but rather the lack thereof

any idiot can sign on a piece of paper
but you need real commitment to make a relationship work without having your hands tied

Nat: of course
its a contract

your bound by its terms
and if you break it, there's a punishment for it

Me: in fact, the mere presence of a contract shows that there's a lack of trust
hurr hurr

Nat: yep
we think like Brutus dont we
when he said that an oath is unneccesary cuz they are all great men and an oath will mean a lackof trust

[Ed: "No, not an oath: if not the face of men,
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,--
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
And every man hence to his idle bed;
So let high-sighted tyranny range on,
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these,
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough
To kindle cowards and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen,
What need we any spur but our own cause,
To prick us to redress? what other bond
Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word,
And will not palter? and what other oath
Than honesty to honesty engaged,
That this shall be, or we will fall for it?
Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls
That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt; but do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprise,
Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think that or our cause or our performance
Did need an oath; when every drop of blood
That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
Is guilty of a several bastardy,
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath pass'd from him."]

Agagooga's CAP Calculator 1.0 has been released.

Changes from RC 1:
- Instructions on using the calculator
- Cell colouring for aesthetics and functionality
- Notes about D & D+
- Note if your target CAP >5

More information, including raison d'etre here.

Re: Miami Vice

Why is Gong Li's Spanish better than her English?!