July Trip
27/7 - Vianden

The guidebook said the best bit of visiting Vianden was the view from the top of the hill, from which one could look down on the castle, but it was too hot, too long a walk and too steep, so I gave up.

There was going to be some medieval festival from 5-13 August. A pity I was going to miss it.


View of the Castle

Inside the castle, everything was in German, no surprise given the proximity to the border, and not everything was bilingual. Poor French. Poor me!


Side


Tower

There were information panels on Ringpanzerhemd, Schildpanzer, Schuppenpanzer, Begittertes oder Benageltes Hend and Kettenpanzerhemd. I have just ascertained that these are the names, in German, of various types of chainmail.


Portcullis


Armour display


15th century Gothic ceramic

The Vianden castle started as a Late Roman fort and it was expanded many times over the years. Unfortunately the current edifice was heavily reconstructed recently as the place was ruined. The inside was also very sparsely decorated.


Courtyard on first (second) storey


View of Vianden through dirty castle window

*Obere Kapelle*
This picture seems to have gotten lost somewhere.

A movie ‘George and the Dragon’ was filmed in Vianden. Hmm.


Salle des Banquests


Wohnraum des Romanischen Donjong

Tapestries in Salles des Comtes:


The sacrifice of Lystra. After Raphael


Ulysses drops anchor at the Isle of Circe, after Vouet.

The auto-ISO option on my camera seems to almost always default to ISO 50. Bah.


Great Kitchen


The conquest of the ‘Fort des Tourelles’, 2nd half of 17th century.
ambussun guess
in what I sull? Sable a manger


54m deep well


Taverna/keller


Details of 'Celtic' amulets for sale at gift shop


View of castle

There were lots of auberges in Vianden, but they were all pricey establishments. The real auberge (at least the one I was looking for) was at the top of the hill. I bet the others were conveniently located along the way to the youth hostel to distract weak-willed travellers, most of whom'd give up after a seemingly endless uphill climb. No wonder you can only backpack in your early 20s.


A mere fraction of the journey I had to undertake to reach the hostel

I’m quite sure that low rents aren’t the only reason why most Youth Hostels are in the middle of nowhere or otherwise inaccessible – they only want people who really can’t afford more sanely-located accommodations.


Cloister, Trinitarian Monastery. 1248



Unlabelled carving

Unfortunately, the Trinitarian church itself was closed.














My huge backpack and the chairlift did not go well together, or I’d have gone on it. Too bad there was no place to put it. I’d have left it at the hostel, but I didn’t want to risk the door being locked and more importantly, at that time the chairlift didn’t seem worth 4 more steep, lengthy treks (1 to place my backpack in the hostel, 1 to come down to the chairlift, 1 to retrieve my backpack from the hostel and a last to return to the Gare).

I had lunch in a restaurant beside the chairlift, and a French radio station was playing. Before playing the song ‘I feel it in my fingers’, they had someone recite each line in English, and someone else translating it into French. Uhh. Maybe this is how they learn English.

While waiting for the bus to Ettelbruck (Vianden had no train station) I noticed that the Gare had one of the only free toilets in the Benelux. Amazing.

nefl. lux = germ

Despite both Italy and France requiring reservations for trains, queues are much shorter in the latter. Not only do they have more staff and machines, they're less stingy with manpower.

In Liege I saw an East Asian guy and a girl who looked Walloonese (check adjective). Wah.

I saw an androgynous man (short spiky hair, androgynous features and a slim build) wearing a pink shirt. I first saw the words 'Fuck the', and thought the last was 'government'. In fact, it was 'babysitter'.

In a very screwed up incident, due to a miscommunication with a former housemate, she waited an hour for me at Eindhoven to pass me her room key so I could stay there while she was at her boyfriend's (I was coming on a later train, 3 hours later). Meanwhile my Dutch line had run out of credit so I'd switched to the Singapore one, so she couldn't contact me. Although very angry, when I called her from Maastricht she later agreed to meet me at Helmond. When I arrived there, I called her and it turned out she had prepared for bed (at 9:15pm!) since she thought I wasn't coming (she grossly underestimated the travel time from Maastricht to Helmond). Since she had work the next day she couldn't come out to meet me and said I wouldn't be able to find the place even if she gave me the address. So in the end I went back to Utrecht and lodged in the same hostel (Strowis) I'd spent my first night in Utrecht in (I wanted to try another - B&B - but it was full).

Bloody hell.

I upgrade to the newer version of Blogger and they welcome me by forcing this ugly navbar on me.

Guess the value-added US$15 I paid 4 years ago finally expired.

"i will slap you with my thick noodles for insinuating that i am ugly" - Noodles

***

Someone: haha i was on that stupid list for 2 sems already
and it wasnt exactly nice cuz ppl kept thinkin 'aiya u don need to study already lah' which i duno y

Me: see :P I told you it's the "make fun of me" list


Someone else: anyway, when my friends know that i know u, i usually declare, "he's nicer in person"


Someone on local TV: my IQ is dropping
i have to stop watching"

eh seriously
i hear all their bimbo accusations
it's like listening to ahlians quarrel at the age of 14 ALL OVER AGAIN
ARGH
it's so stupid


Frigid Girl: stop turning my frigidity into a campaign
*** won't like it =p


Someone: this pic damn gay rite

Me: you look like some guyis blowing you

Someone: why 'guy' blowing

Me: diff expression
hehe

Someone: HAHAHA
that's a first one. like different expressions for receiving blowjobs from different genders

Me: hehe
like gay lustful smile diff from hetero lustful smile

Someone: where did u get this observation from
porn analysis?

how come dey dont have 'ethnographic analysis of porno media'
i bet it'll take 3 LT11s slots per week

Me: wth
haha

Someone: maybe >2000 points to bid

A seditious article I saw in the Shitty Times as it lined my dinner table just now:

Japan, the jury

"Japan is about to embark on a democratic experiment with important consequences for the rest of Asia. After a lapse of 60 years, the country is planning to bring back a jury system...

Since [1943], verdicts have been decided by three-judge panels, leaving citizens with no voice in a system in which virtually all criminal trials end in a conviction.

The return to citizen participation represents a bold commitment to have ordinary Japanese take greater responsibility in running the country. If a jury is sufficiently unhappy with the government's case or the government's conduct, it can simply refuse to convict. This possibility puts powerful pressure on the state to behave properly and ultimately leads to better governance. For this reason, a jury is one of the most important protections of a democracy."


Whoever let it through should be fired!

After all, as Papa pronounced: "I had no faith in a system that allowed the supersitition, ignorance, biases, and prejudics of seven jurymen to determine guilt or innocence"

(I'm too tired to comment more)

Misheard line of the night: "I like your nipples" (dimples)

From The Complete Feedback skills training book, Sue Bishop:


"Does anyone read Introductions, or do busy managers plough straight into the main body of the text to search for something that is going to be of immediate and practical use to them? Working on the assumption that putting this question to you will engage your interest for a few seconds, I will continue with a brief introduction to let you know why this book was written in the way it was. I will be brief...

Although it would be flattering to think that this could be your bedtime reading for the next couple of days, and that you will study the book from cover to cover, I am realistic enough to know that this is unlikely to be the case."

"If the other person is suggesting change that cannot possibly happen - for example, 'You should be taller'" (wth)

"'[Give feedback] As little as possible; if someone wants help or another's opinion, they will ask for it.' This type of response stems from one of two sources. Either you really don't care about the other person - how they are progressing, how they are feeling... If the first option is your opinion, then your future in management today is decidedly shaky."

"The larger the room and the higher the ceiling, the more quietly we speak"

"The manager and the telephone: This chapter will not insultyour intelligence by looking at basic telephone skills"

Why Won't God Heal Amputees?

"No matter how many people pray. No matter how sincere those people are. No matter how much they believe. No matter how devout and deserving the recipient. Nothing will happen. The legs will not regenerate. Prayer does not restore the severed limbs of amputees. You can electronically search through all the medical journals ever written -- there is no documented case of an amputated leg being restored spontaneously. And we know that God ignores the prayers of amputees through our own observations of the world around us. If God were answering the prayers of amputees to regenerate their lost limbs, we would be seeing amputated legs growing back every day...

What are we seeing here? It is not that God sometimes answers the prayers of amputees, and sometimes does not. Instead, in this situation there is a very clear line. God never answers the prayers of amputees. It would appear, to an unbiased observer, that God is singling out amputees and purposefully ignoring them...

By looking at amputees, we can see that something is wrong. Jesus is not telling the truth. God never answers prayers to spontaneously restore lost limbs, despite Jesus' statements in the Bible. Accepting this piece of factual information, rather than denying it, is the first step in understanding something extremely important about how prayer really works...

Here is another explanation that you might have heard: "God needs to remain hidden -- restoring an amputated limb would be too obvious." We will discuss this idea in more detail in later chapters, but let's touch on it here. Does God need to remain hidden?

That does not seem to be the case. In general, God seems to have no problem doing things that are obvious. Think about the Bible. Writing the Bible and having billions of copies published all over the world is obvious. So is parting the Red Sea. So is carving the Ten Commandments on stone tables. So is sending your son to earth and having him perform dozens of recorded miracles. And so on. It makes no sense for a God in hiding to incarnate himself, or to do these other obvious things. Why send your son to earth, and then write a book that talks all about his exploits, if you are trying to hide?

In the same way, any medical miracle that God performs today is obvious. The removal of a cancerous tumor is obvious because it is measurable. One month the tumor is visible to everyone on the X-ray, and the next month it is not. If God eliminated the tumor, then it is openly obvious to everyone who sees the X-ray. There is nothing "hidden" about removing a tumor. So, why not regenerate a leg in an equally open way? If God intervenes with cancer patients to remove cancerous tumors in response to prayers, then why wouldn't God also intervene with amputees to regenerate lost limbs?...

Finally, there is this oft-used chestnut: "There is no way to understand the mysteries of our Lord. People have believed in Jesus for 2,000 years, and there must be a very good reason for it." This feels like a sad point in the conversation. On one side of the conversation is a person who is defending the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving creator of the universe. This person's position should be unassailable. Yet, if God exists, and answers prayers as described in the Bible, there is no explanation for what we see in the world around us. The Bible is silent in this case. God is silent. There is not a good, comfortable explanation for the situation faced by amputees except to say, "We cannot understand the mysteries of the Lord. We have no explanation for why God refuses to answer prayers to regenerate lost limbs."...

Amputees are not the only ones either. For example:

* If someone severs their spinal cord in an accident, that person is paralyzed for life. No amount of prayer is going to help.

* If someone is born with a congenital defect like a cleft palate, God will not repair it through prayer. Surgery is the only option.

* A genetic disease like Down Syndrome is the same way -- no amount of prayer is going to fix the problem."

"If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner." - Tallulah Bankhead

***

Bergen, Doris L. "The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919-1945 (review) - "As Richard Steigmann-Gall points out, "the insistence that Nazism was an anti-Christian movement has been one of the most enduring truisms of the past fifty years" (p. 266). In The Holy Reich, Steigmann-Gall seeks to correct that view. National Socialism had many connections to Christianity, as Steigmann-Gall demonstrates. There were personal ties—Nazi leaders who considered themselves good Christians and were active in their churches, including some, like Wilhelm Kube and Erich Koch, who held high offices in the Protestant Church. There were institutional links too, from Hitler's early attempts to unify German Protestants into a national, Nazified church, to women's organizations that used the rhetoric, methods, and even personnel of church groups to serve the Nazi state and its goals. Most important in Steigmann-Gall's analysis, there was ideological common ground. Members of the Nazi elite—even "paganists" like Alfred Rosenberg and Heinrich Himmler—used biblical allusions in their private and public pronouncements; retained an affection for Jesus and found a place for him in their world views; and supported a Christian..."
Damn, NUS has no access.

Complaints Choirs of the World - "This is the Complaints Choir sharing web-site. Here you can find information about all complaints choirs that have been initiated around the world. You can also submit information about an upcoming choir, find fellow complainers or discuss in the complaints choir forum. This project was initiated by Tellervo Kalleinen und Oliver Kochta-Kallleinen in 2005. The First Complaints Choir was organized in Birmingham."

Do Economists Recognize an Opportunity Cost When They See One? A Dismal Performance from the Dismal Science - "One expects people with graduate training in economics to have a deeper understanding of economic processes and reasoning than people without such training. However, as others have noted over the past 25 years, modern graduate education may emphasize mathematics and technique to the detriment of economic reasoning. One of the most important contributions economics has to offer as a discipline is the understanding of opportunity cost and how to apply this concept to all forms of decision making. We examine how PhD economists answer an introductory economics textbook question that requires identifying the relevant opportunity cost of an action. The results are not consistent with our expectation that graduate training leads to a deeper understanding of the concept. We explore the implications of our results for the relevance of economists in policy, research, and teaching."

"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut - "George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains."
Instructor's note: "I'd like you to read this famous story and think about whether Nietzsche wasn't on to something when he criticized the naive idea of human equality."

YouTube - the_parlor_dsl - "Just imagine....what if a chatroom was a real thing?"
This is actually on IMDB: The Parlor (2001)

How Not To Get A Job - "Yale senior Aleksey Vayner went far beyond the usual misaddressed e-mail or keyboard-in-mouth embarrassment. Vayner, an aspiring investment banker, sent a video titled "Impossible is Nothing" along with an 11-page résumé and glamour shot to financial services powerhouse UBS. Within hours, scores of investment banks noticed his application, as bankers e-mailed the seven-minute video and turned Vayner into the biggest joke on Wall Street... In his video, Vayner shows off his varied skills: lifting a 495-pound weight, ballroom dancing to Latin Musak, serving a tennis ball at 140 miles an hour and, as a dramatic conclusion, breaking seven bricks with a karate chop... Younger employees, often devotees on MySpace and reality TV, are predisposed to online missteps in the workplace, says Castellini. "Voyeurism is an aspect of their lives," he says, "and they don't understand the ramifications of it.""
Die liao.

YouTube - mac - "One of the coolest features of the macintosh is it's really easy to shut down. All you have to do is use a piece of software and poof! It goes away. Gone. Shut down. You didn't push any buttons. You didn't close it. You didn't even save... You push the power button and it won't turn off! You go around and unplug it, and you better hope it's not a laptop... It's the only operating system I know where click and drag doesn't mean you move or copy anything, you're just making shortcuts on your desktop!... I like the handle here. That's where you can attach a chain and use it as a BOAT ANCHOR!. The Mac is practising some kind of bizarre psychological warfare on me because I'm working late at night and the corner of my eye keeps seeing this thing jumping up and down. The Update Manager is bouncing at the bottom of the screen like like a Jack Russel fucking terrier!"

UCLA Police Tasering Video of Student in Powell Library - "On Tuesday night around 11pm, Mostafa Tabatabainejad, a UCLA student, was stunned several times with a Taser after he wasn't able to produce his anti-Taser device (his Bruin card) and did not leave the CLICC Lab in Powell Library in a timely manner"
This is why cameras are banned in the SAF.

'uniquely Singapore', by PeasantMoNkEy - "What type of singaporean are u? So, you criticise the judiciary, you are SCANDALISING it. You criticise PAP leaders, you are DEFAMING them. You criticise the govt, you are DISLOYAL. You migrate, you are a QUITTER. You ask about the govt reserves & investment, you can not know cos it's NATIONAL SECURITY."

Contrasts and Comparisons from Baroque to Modern: Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata - "The violin of the baroque era was very different from the modern violin. Bridges on the violins were thicker and less curved in comparison with their modern counterparts, the angle of the neck and fingerboard in relationship to the instrument was in line with the instrument instead of sloping at an angle of twenty to thirty degrees away from the instrument, a graduated bass bar and belly, and a thinner sound post when compared with the modern violin. Of course, there are other more obvious differences between the baroque and modern violin, such as the absence of a chin rest, the gut strings in use, and the significant differences between the pitch of A=415 MHz and around A=440 MHz. With all of these differences in mind, it can be hard to imagine that the modern violin even resembles its early counterpart!"
God. Not only is there an anti-right click script on the page, the source is hideously messed up.

Keynesian Theory and the AD-AS Framework: A Reconsideration - "Aggregation represents another problem for the optimizing approach. To obtain definite results, any theory of the economy as a whole has to engage in aggregation. Thus, there can be no attempt at full disaggregation in the agent space, as in Arrow-Debreu models of general equilibrium, and it is well-known that even if all individual agents were fully rational and maximized well-behaved utility functions subject to standard constraints, the aggregate variables do not behave as if determined by an optimizing representative agent (see, for instance, Kirman, 1992). Aggregation problems therefore imply that the use of an optimizing representative agent in NK models has little to recommend itself... A more subtle danger of the optimization approach is that it may predispose the analysis to slide from individual ‘rationality’ to systemic ‘rationality’. Some economists may view optimization is simply an organizing principle (see note 16), but countless examples suggest that an optimization approach may generate (sometimes unconsciously) a slippery slope in which individual optimization eventually leads to social optimality. Sargent (1993), for instance, is able to assume bounded rationality and yet produce, eventually, his unique, new classical equilibrium. As a second example, many of the problems caused by efficiency wage considerations can be ‘solved’ when credit markets function efficiently (again, with clever institutions). A history of how a focus on individual optimization in neoclassical economics inexorably, albeit tortuously, has led to presumptions of social optimality awaits an author, if one does not exist already."

Human Mating Strategies - "Cultures varied tremendously in the value placed on some characteristics. The desire for chastity or virginity (lack of prior sexual intercourse) proved to be the most cross-culturally variable, as shown in Figure 1. Mainland Chinese placed tremendous value on virginity; Scandinavians typically placed little importance on chastity... Studies of the response rates to personals ads also confirm the results found with expressed preferences. Women mentioning physical attractiveness and young age as part of their self-description in their ads receive significantly higher response rates than women who are older or who fail to mention anything about their physical attractiveness. Conversely, men who mention excellent financial resources in their self-descriptions in their ads received a higher response rate from women than men who fail to mention this attribute (Baize & Schroeder, 1995)."
He plagiarised himself. Bloody hell; "You might as well show up with your salary printed boldly on your T-shirt. Save the women at SDU the trouble of asking"

Free speech and opposition parties in Singapore - "The defence of qualified privilege is precluded in Section 14 of the Defamation Act, which is designed to severely restrict the freedom to discuss “questions in issue”. Conversely, this section of the Act focuses on protecting a plaintiff’s reputation more than that of protecting fair comments by politicians in any political discussions or debate (upon which an election usually depends). In this area, the defamation law in Singapore sets itself against the laws in other Commonwealth countries (Davidson and Rubin 2001) and is a “radical departure from its common law roots” (Bryan and Rubin 2004)... Singapore is unique in the sense that its Constitution’s Article 14 on rights begins by focusing on restrictions of freedom of expression, and the right itself is relegated to a secondary role... It does not acknowledge that free speech and freedom of expression is a basic human right, but promotes them as a privilege allowed to only themselves, the ruling party. Hence it is no wonder that one option considered by opposition politicians like Chee Soon Juan of the SDP is the use of non-violent civil disobedience acts. Chee has said that he “sees non-violent civil disobedience and protest as a viable long-term strategy to change the present system in Singapore” (Low, 2005)."

"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good." - Seneca

***

An interesting angle on marital rape:

C.H.Pig: "I am saddened by how this issue has become another excuse for male-bashing and dick-vilification in modern society. Of course you forget to mention that the wife(previously and still) enjoys complete 100% rape immunity as well: the crafty bitch, having ensnared the trusting victim into a life of servitude and obedience (i.e. marriage), is entitled to use and do as she pleases with his penis, his testicles, his anus, and his dignity anytime she likes. Yes, the law protects a wife from ever being charged for raping her husband. And while the Singapore government tries to break down the husband’s marital rape immunity, the wife’s remains entirely intact...

What you are advocating, if you were honest about it, is really that a married woman of fully sound mind and capacity should be able go back on a solemnly made promise, go back on a part of her vow, and refuse to keep her end of the bargain in marriage as she pleases for no reason other than that she feels like it, while still insisting that her husband still keeps his.

Note that the MAN cannot go back on many of the implied promises he is deemed make in marriage, for example (and there are many other examples) he cannot “withdraw consent” to go to work everyday to support the wife financially. He is bound to do so by having chosen to get married."


I hadn't actually considered this angle before, but the solution to men having to support their wives financially (one might extend this to other aspects of marital support as well) while women don't have to support their husbands sexually is to emancipate men, not to chain women.

Homosexuality: How the economics and politics of Singapore have shaped the Anglican Diocese and its role in the Province of South East Asia by The Reverend You-Leng L. Lim

"The government is not only concerned with the left, but also with right wing activism of the church. Take abortion for example. The Singapore government in the 1970's embarked on a comprehensive family program (whose success also contributed to higher economic growth), of which cheap and accessible abortions (costing about US$3) was a main stay. Eventually, abortion became the prefered form of contraception among women, because it was cheaper than the pill, and it did not require the negotiation with the male partner that a condom would otherwise have necessitate. Nevertheless, rampant abortions provoked no public commentary from Protestant (including Anglican) or Roman Catholic church leaders, thus indicating their quiescence.

Consider another right wing or evangelical issue: converting people of other faiths to Christianity. In Singapore, though one is free to practice any religion, one may not always be at liberty to convert someone else. The proselytization of the indigenous Malay minority (16% of the population), who are almost entirely Muslim, is prohibited. [Ed: I didn't know this]... Several studies done by the National University of Singapore in the 1980's showed that younger Chinese people had converted from the traditional and syncretized Taoism-Buddhism (which is the majority religion) to Christianity... magic and evil spirits are major elements in the Buddhism-Taoism of Chinese Singaporeans. As such, when the Chinese person converts to Christianity, this basic orientation of a cosmic battleground where hierarchies of spirits do battle continues... This henotheistic, rather than monotheistic orientation explains why a few years ago an antique table with Chinese dragons—symbols of benevolence in Chinese culture, but confused with the dragon of Revelations—at the Anglican Cathedral was hacked to pieces [Ed: So we have Taliban in Singapore too]. By taping into a culturally real vocabulary of evil spirits, Charismatic Christianity has thrived.

One consequence of seeing the working of spirits is that genuine psychological dysfunctions are given a demonic interpretation. Homosexuality, infertility, behavioral and medical problems are often interpreted as oppression by evil spirits...

Prior to colonialism, sexuality and gender varied greatly among Asians. Among the Bugis people, now part of the Indonesian nation, a third gender consisting of men dressed in women’s clothes-- akin to the Native-American Berdache--was accepted. The Minangkabao people, also now part of Indonesia, were a matrilineal society. Among the Chinese, polygamy was practiced. Everyone lived in families that were multi-generational. I do not mean to suggest that these arrangements are better, but the situation was more diverse and complex. Homogeneity came with the advent of colonialism and industrial capitalism—and abetted by Protestantism, Max Weber would say—so that today sexuality, and family and gender roles have become monogamous, patriarchal, single-generational, and exclusively heterosexual...

The larger question in Singapore is whether there is anything that is not foreign? The laws that provide for private property, detention without trial and caning are British inheritances. MNCs and free-trade are American influences. All religions and all races, apart from the indigenous Malays are imports. It follows that a nation of immigrants whose success comes from the utilization of imported ideas and imported capital must necessarily go through bouts of anxiety about its own identity. In this process of self-definition, it must define itself against the "Other," and the foreign becomes either something to emulate or to castigate.

(All emphases original)


A good article, but it has little to do with homosexuality at all.

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

"A kleptomaniac is a person who helps himself because he can't help himself." - Henry Morgan

***

Dress right for your body type - "If you have an…Inverted Triangle Body:
Characteristics: You are generally top-heavy (generous bust; full back and wide middle) Wear: Tops with narrow collars to avoid drawing too much attention to your full bust."
This is stupid. I thought they WANT to draw attention to a full bust.

PRISONS ACT - Corporal punishment - "No sentence of corporal punishment shall be passed upon — (b) a man sentenced by a court to death"
Ah, the small mercies in life. Someone: we can be the world's cruelest nation by having the death penalty as being rattaned to death

Singapore to buy 66 tanks from German army - "Singapore said Monday it will buy 66 refurbished Leopard 2A4 tanks from the German military to replace some of the city-state's AMX-13 SM1 tanks."
Yay, we're upgrading from 50 year old technology to 30 year old technology. But at least we won't only have toy tanks now.

The Straight Dope: Deck the halls with balls of fire: Why is it dangerous to burn wrapping paper? - "The fire is the wrong place for other holiday detritus as well — der Tannenbaum, for example. My assistant Una had an Uncle Bob, a manly man who felt throwing the Christmas tree away was a waste of good firewood. So he tossed it in the fireplace — gave him a nice warm glow. Unfortunately what was glowing was the roof, presumably ignited by embers. Fortunately the fire was small and anybody with a hose could have put it out. Unfortunately the hose was frozen solid and the fire department had trouble getting the nearest hydrant to work. Fortunately the firefighters were able to throw a ladder up against the house and put out the fire with a chemical extinguisher. They then hacked off a small hunk of charred roof with axes, peered into the crawl space, and declared the fire out. Unfortunately, having by now found an operational hydrant, the firemen declared they needed to hose down the roof "as policy," sending a torrent of water through the hole and collapsing the living room ceiling. Really unfortunately, the house that all this happened in belonged not to Uncle Bob but his in-laws. Bob bought them an RV and matters were pronounced square, but it was a lesson he won't soon forget, and neither should you."

Straight Dope Staff Report: Who has the power to arrest the President? - There is no ambiguity in the Constitution. If the Founding Fathers had intended to make it possible to arrest the President, they could have easily provided for it. They did not. The mischief that Impeachment is intended to address is found in the Constitution. It reads: "The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and misdemeanors." The Founding Fathers were addressing the possibility of the President being impeached. There is therefore no doubt whatever that this provision was never intended to cover the President being arrested.

Colorado Homeowner To Be Fined For Peace-Sign Wreath - "According to Bob Kearns, the association's president, three or four residents have complained and at least one believes Jensen's decoration is a symbol of Satan. "The peace sign has a lot of negativity associated with it. It's also an anti-Christ sign. That's how it started," said Kearns."

Facebook | Burning of books and the burial of scholars (Just kidding) - "This Saturday, we will revive a tradition made popular by two of the greatest leaders of the past -- Qin Shi Huang and Hitler, by burning books and hunting down and torturing scholars (by today's relaxed definitions, professors and students with a GPA of 4.0 and above). Feeding the fire with cheap vodka, bullshit class notes and books that the store refuses to take back, we will create the greatest bonfire of the century and through that, make a statement that will forever change the way education is conducted in this modern world."

Soy is making kids 'gay' - "Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them."
Wth is this guy on? Maybe he had too much soy. Oh wait. He's "chairman of Megashift Ministries and founder-chairman of Open Church Ministries". That explains it.

Top Ten Viral Videos - Free Viral Videos - View a Viral Video - "Here are some of the top viral videos around the Web today. A viral video is a video that has been passed around many times and has gained popularity largely by word of mouth, email, instant messaging, or online bulletin boards, rather than a publicity campaign. I've received all of these videos at least once by email."

DYSKE - ALLLOOKSAME?/TUTTTUGUALE?—Art from Japan, China and Korea - "I once wrote to a professor of philosophy, asking him why he never mentioned the similarities between the philosophies of certain Western philosophers and Eastern philosophies. In his response, although he agreed about the similarities, he said he could not write about them because he respected Eastern philosophies too much to speak of them “ignorantly.” He further explained that, to do an “authoritative” job, he must have much “deeper” knowledge of the entire system of thought, as well as the ability to read the original texts in the original language. This little vignette captures a uniquely Western tendency of thought; the attempt to dig “deeper” into the essence of an object, as opposed to extending one’s knowledge wider to see the relationship of the object to the whole. To the scholar above, “ignorance” consisted of not knowing deeply enough, but to an Eastern philosopher, “ignorance” would be not knowing widely enough."

Women talk thrice more - "It is something one half of the population has long suspected - and the other half always vocally denied. Women really do talk more than men. In fact, women talk almost three times as much as men, with the average woman chalking up 20,000 words in a day - 13,000 more than the average man... the simple act of talking triggers a flood of brain chemicals which give women a rush similar to that felt by heroin addicts when they get a high... Dr Brizendine says the brain's "sex processor" - the areas responsible for sexual thoughts - is twice as big as in men than in women, perhaps explaining why men are stereotyped as having sex on the mind."

Fiji cabinet jobs in classifieds - "Cabinet posts are being advertised in Fiji's newspapers as the military regime attempts to give credibility to its interim government."

World War One Color Photos - Color Photos from World War I - "Although color photography was around prior to 1903, the Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis, patented the process in 1903 and developed the first color film in 1907. The French army was the primary source of color photos during the course of World War One."

Chinese Public Health Posters: Public Health Movement

Career Intensity Blog - David V. Lorenzo - "This week’s Business and the Bible Passage is from The Gospel of St. Mark, Chapter 10 verses 42–45."
Someone needs to cleanse the Temple again.

"Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren't distracted by the total lack of content in your writing." - Randy K. Milholland

***

Me: bloody hell
*** called me the archangel
I am almost tempted to curse

Someone: XD
why? i call u taht sometimes too
*hide


Someone else on food in Beijing compared to Singapore: and the food is fucking good.

compared to peking too
sure, the sechwan and north chinese food is good here
but they can't do cantonese to save their lives

it's like oil and salt are free here


Brother-in-law to someone: can i ask you why you bought a CD of Pachelbel's orgelmusik that does not have canon in D?

oh wait, canon in D does not have organs


Someone: (: I'm watching poto next year
can't believe my parents were willing to get the exest seats

Me: rich mah

can drink ice wine
gold or platinum

Someone: gold I think

my parents try to save
habits from when we were poor I guess

Me: !@#$%^&*()


Someone else: it [entropy] started out as an excursion from robust estimation to information theory. later i found entropy is related to physics

bose-einstein, maxwell boltzmann

i didn't know the information theoretic formulation is related to that of thermodynamics

btw, the connection was only found later
claude shannon came up with this information theoretic formulation

he asked von neumann what to call it (von neumann is a famous mathematician with contributions to game theory but is most famous for his mathematical achievements)

von neumann say call it entropy because it's the same formula
And also, since nobody understand what is entropy (the physics sense) , he can win any argument


Someone: college has been... interesting

Asian guys are truly at the rock bottom of the social hierarchy
cannot make it lah asian guys

too many
and it seems to be a tragedy if you're not a doctor or a lawyer

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None - Presumably this means a blank search. Maybe they're trigger happy.

Literature, Meaning and Objectivity

"Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box." - Italian Proverb

***

More really old comments on literature and meaning:

MFM: Meaning is not equivalent to the artist's intention. Artists are not aware of the full range of meanings their works convey. They couldn't possibly be, because different readers in different eras will interpret their works in different ways. In the performance arts, the performer necessarily brings in meaning to the work of art that the artist did not intend, but it would be rather, erm, meaningless to slam Glenn Gould for not slavishly conveying the meaning that Bach had intended (whatever that was).

And sure, it's not objective in the empirical sense, but that's why it's not a science. For that matter, common consent does constitute a certain kind of objectivity. What we moderns think of as objectivity is really a hodgepodge of various separate notions. Literary analysis does not constitute objectivity in the sense of being mechanically reproducible. Yet it is objective in that interpretations which are convincing to the most number of people are considered the most "correct" interpretations.

Jol: Don't you ever describe why you like a particular film or a particular play or a particular piece of music? And don't you ever feel that you can do so in a way that is more than just "it's nice", "I like what", but in a way that, while it says "something about the analyst", may yet be something about the analyst that other people can share? What is the point of all your quotes and posts and the like supposedly analysing, for instance, how men and women are different, if they are not meant to be something other people can share? And we all gain from learning more possibilities in and about ourselves and others that we can share, albeit to varying degrees.

The idea that anything which can't be made 'objective' in the sense of commanding universal, uncontrovertible consensus (instead of simply effectively seeking a wide consensus useful to those who share it) would leave you utterly paraylsed. Nobody HAS to accept the 'demonstrations' of natural science, you know -- and there are many people who don't. You think that science verifies things beyond common consent only because YOU are willing to accept its demonstrations regardless of the consent of others -- how does this not "say something about the analyst" as well? Every kind of understanding or knowledge depends on the "analyst" since as a matter of inescapable fact, unless you want to posit some non-empirical plane of existence, there has to be an entity which acquires the understanding or the knowledge, and which applies its standards and proclivities in so doing! The fact that we can more easily agree on the standards for what is demonstrated in science doesn't mean (as I imagine you realise) they are necessarily more useful in every conceivable situation. It does mean that in many ways they are useful for more shared endeavours because they can draw more people in. But there are different shared endeavours (e.g. helping us understand what it is like to be someone else) for which they are of extremely limited use, whereas, even if it can't create as broad a consensus, literature can create enough of a consensus to be of some use.

If you think there are no shared projects that are worthwhile unless they command universal consensus, your continuation in engaging in say, political or social discussion, is baffling. As is, I would think, continuing to listen to music or the like (although I suppose that could easily be a much more solipsistical experience).


I do not dispute that individuals can find their own meanings in texts of one form or another, but it is literature's bar of commonly agreed upon meaning that I object to, for this common (subjective) standard is then used to disqualify individual subjective meanings that people find.

Sollipsism is ridiculous, since verifying objective reality is easy (things like our existence, at least, as opposed to the purpose of our existence). Logical axioms have internal consistency, as opposed to literary principles, which rely on what most people in the field agree to be true.

If you want to take the position that we're all brains in vats or be a universal skeptic then I can't say anything, but just because killing Jews is wrong doesn't mean that they're God's chosen people.

Hoho another screw up.

I wonder how this could've happened. Hmm.

And apparently this happened last semester too!

[Addendum: 10:35am - There's no more leak already. I thought they work a 5 day week! Maybe they can get mobilised in extremis.]


"*** was out to kill
u shld see his face on that day
he was so happy

he was very happy when he was standing beside me
he saw me stuggling wt his stupid paper
then he just grin and walk away

i'll never forget that face man
what an insult
idiot"


"the exam favours different pple

i know some one who i think is not very zai
but that person got A for econometrics II

so sometimes it's fucking random
[it favors] LUCKY PEOPLE"

"The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others." - Bertrand Russell

***

From a collection of pictures Frigid Girl sent me:


"Best Google Ad"


"Best T-Shirt Design"


"Timotei Ad"




"Best Fridge Magnet"

"Today you can go to a gas station and find the cash register open and the toilets locked. They must think toilet paper is worth more than money." - Joey Bishop

***

A comment left by jon 2 months ago (he didn't leave an email, so I hope he's still reading):

"by the way, do you feel it's a pity you didn't get to further your studies overseas? how do you feel at NUS? IMO, your potential isn't really being fully developed at FASS, and an NUS degree doesn't accurately reflect your intelligence. i'm from the hua chong lineage, and to be honest i'm worried i might not be able to study overseas due to financial inability."


NUS is bad, but it's not that bad. Before I came in, I expected it to be a lot worse, but so far it's been alright. Apparently we have the International Review Panel which came in in the mid-late 90s to thank for this, since they shook things up and fired people. Furthermore, the bad thing about NUS is not the undergraduate education but the administration (its policies, attitude and habit of NTUC-ing students). As for developing potential, even fallen representatives of esteemed lineages do not find NUS a cakewalk, though of course working students to death does not a great University make (for some intellectual broadening, you could always join USP).

I always say that local students are very bitter, since they although they generally work more their degrees tend to be worth less. Furthermore they get less freedom (both in the country, in school and academically), shitty weather, less sex, less and more expensive booze, less (or no) drugs and less travel.

That said, in part university life is what you make of it. As SL Clemens observed, "I never let schooling interfere with my education." Especially with the Internet the barriers to lifelong knowledge acquisition aren't really that high.

As for financing overseas education, selling your soul or having your parents pay for you are not the only way. Many universities offer varying amounts of financial aid, you can choose a cheaper public college or you can always take up a student loan that will leave you in debt for a decade.


Other comments (all from current or ex-NUS students):

A: im better off in NUS. im glad im in NUS

when i was in yr 1 i was depressed, but now i can honestly say im happy
in yr 1 i felt that i should have studied harder for my A's. Perhaps i would have gone to a good uni overseas

but that's pure fantasy. there's no way i could have done that unless i got a scholarship

but i DON"T want a scholarship.
it restricts my freedom
if i had a scholarship would i have taken the courses i have taken? probably not
would i have the freedom to decide what i want to do in the future? probably not

the education in NUS is really really cheap
and in some depts like Math, the education is fantastic
even in econs, which is not world class, it's still pretty decent. provided u push yourself, u can learn a damn lot

come on lah. if i could afford an overseas education i prob would get into a decent us college

maybe not the ivy league
but a good public uni like michigan is definitely possible
u think michigan has good lecturers meh?

i heard in those top publics
a lot of the courses i taught by TAs
in NUS only the tutorials i taught by TAs

let's not talk about harvard lah
each year almost all top students apply to harvard. something like one or two get in
so that's not realistic

in US there'll also be PRC lecturers
there will also be those lecturers with thick jewish accents
arabic accents
irish
scottish
whatever accent

i mean let's be realistic. let's not have the kind of thought experiment where "what if i went to harvard, my family can afford the school fees so i don't need a scholarship etc etc"

that kind of circumstance applies only to like one or two people in singapore

what does "good" mean
good is subjective
it's what's "good " for you
NUS is the BEST for ME

depends lah.

like now i want to talk to people about advanced techniques used in econs
i can't find many people that can help me
but maybe it's the same elsewhere . i won't know

but there a lot of smart people in NUS. u just have to pick the right course and mix with the right people
i know there are ex IMO people in math

econs also got smart people. but very few are deep into research. so u get pple who are really good at the work done i nthe class but if u want to say discuss dynamic programming, no one in the cohort would know

i have a friend who studied overseas under scholarship but we never discuss intellectual topics. and he admits that he's not very intellectual
so i dunno. depends

Im not impressed with the people who come from other countries to singapore on exchange

i think the perception that foreign unis are so much better is partly because a lot of the top singaporeans go overseas
so we imagine universities where everyone there is a genius
but it turns out that singaporeans tend to do very well overseas
that means that the standard isn't that far off

anyway u also have to seriously ask yourself, do you really need THAT much intellectual firepower around you
the people u interact with must be around your level, not at a level 100 xs higher than yours or else you won't follow

anyway i got a good "comment" from a discussion board about a related issue (re: universities)

For me, probably going to a *pedagogical* (i.e. emphasis on *teaching*) school, like Georgia Tech or Texas A&M, would have been best, where they assume you are dumb and coach you through it. I went to the opposite: a 'research' school, where they assumed you were smart, and pretty much expected you to know stuff and learn it on your own. For example, I was taught frosh calculus (which I really need) by a brilliant Chineese grad student.....who did not really speak English. Result? Disaster (for me). Everyone else (brilliant) just read the book and got 'A's.

If reincarnation is inevitable, based on my undergraduate behaviour,**** learning, and GPA, I will be reincarnated as a pre-life form of animo acids. I learned about zip of what I do and know now. It was a great school, but *the wrong place for me.* In contrast, my grad school experience, at (not-famous) The George Washington University, was heaven. That *was* the right program for me.

So the best school in the world? Map your 'expected career' vector, look carefully and reasonably and rationally at your 'capabilities vector' paying particular attention to the 'I am ignorant of this' vector and the 'I learn best this way' vector and that should narrow the field.

My general advice is, don't fall in love with fancy brand-name schools.

Fancy brand name school has a half-life like an isotope. Think carefully about what you want to learn, and then pick the place that offers the best scholarship that meets that criteria. Bon chance.

Oh, one last thing. I re-took calc, stats, and matrix algebra at the Northern Virginia Community College years after undergrad. On *my personal utility curve* that is the 'Best School in the World.' Seriously.

B: and why do they not think it is being maximised? i think NUS gives us ALOT of opportunities, being the rich and well reconised uni that it is

it has so many exchanges to alot of good uni's and good programs but ur not going to be sppon fed them. u gotta do ur own legwork

i like NUS.
in another uni anywhere else i wld be a small fish in a big pond and not get alot of the oppotunities i have here. i think its upto people to take advantage of em

i think in any university it depends on your grp of frens. even in really good american colleges ( i use these coz i am most familiar with their cultures etc)

it depends if ur hanging around with a bunch of kids who are interested in...

an intellectual discussion?
thats all i can think of pertaining to intellectual climate.

open profs. very hard in a big college
smaller colleges might be easier

so i guess it depends what the kid wants.
weird courses, i think NUS caters to some pretty whack courses i wouldn't have thought of..

and this is sporean too. when school's out all everyone can talk about is sch. in every other window eone is talking abt NUS

NUS the bitch is the Admin. not the profs or the sch
from what i know of the PS dept ad its profs' they're all really supportive n stuff
and the USP profs are cool
not familiar with anyone else.

i think NUS is a good investment for the amt we pay :)
hahaha

C (Law Student): i think NUS is quite challenging :D

i dunno why ppl complain abt NUS leh
coz i dont think its as bad as what ppl make it out to be

then again, my faculty is rather closed to the world
so whatever i know of NUS is errrr quite skewed

D: actually i sort of agree with the front part..or rather the part of not being fully developed at fass

i kinda think its a waste of time in nus
but then again..for 6k..as compared to the cost of studying overseas...

in that sense its more worth it
cos by going overseas n spending a hell lot of money
doesnt guarantee i will earn a lot in the future anyway

E: i think your potential for human observation and arguing with idiots has been improved tremendously by being in NUS hahaha

and it doesn't matter where you come from, i rub shoulders with rafflesians and chinese high guys all the time wat. no one will judge you any less

oh but i feel i've become stupider since starting uni.
somehow i feel my creative juices have dried up
my mind is settling into a rut

[About the intellectual climate in NUS] mostly, "what intellectual climate?"
most of us in NUS are just out to get a degree then job

F: its a fallacy to say that NUS isnt good enough
your education is what you make of it

its wrong to put the blame on someone else
i mean we get research projects etc

i enjoyed my time at nus more becuz of usp
haha

G: fuck NUS, it only concerns itself with prestige.

Look good in papers and in the media, in the meantime all the FASS students getting lameass lecturers

no, [NUS education hasn't shortchanged me] because in Singapore, if u wanna do Arts and social sciences (ASS) NUS is the only place to do it (can take your chances with SMU).

as lame as it is, there is no where else i can go

NUS is a factory to produce more of the minions that make up Big Brother- Engineers, Lawyers and Economists

Engineers make things work
Economists manage the money when it works
Lawyers make sure it works and if it doesnt, they legislate or litigate

FUCK THE SYSTEM!!!!!!!

sorry im just ranting

H: "Then you're not really from the Hwa Chong (HWA, my dear, not hua--you think what, flowers ah.) lineage, if you can't even get a overseas scholarship, and hence you fully deserve to be stuck in Singapore where your 'talents' will be 'underdeveloped' and remain 'half-baked'. Or maybe you can 'further your studies' in Ethiopia or Cambodia instead. Good luck."

Stupid snob.

Not really [it hasn't shortchanged me].
I think it depends on what you're after.

If it's a pedigree certificate/degree then NUS probably isn't the place loh.
Go to Oxford or Cambridge or LSE lah.

If you're hoping for that kinda 'education' in NUS, then NUS is shortchanging you lah. Because NUS is obviously NOT at the Ox/Camb/LSE kinda standards.
And it's shortchanging us by advertising itself constantly as having those standards.

And you cannot deny that there are a lot of TomsDicks&Harrys in FASS.

I: singaporeans tend to think overseas uni are better...

i think at undergraduate lvl, the university doesnt really matter too much, just give u the facilities u need to study whatever u want...

if u dun make use of it.. its ur problem..

ask him go fight the prcs lah...in science =p

J: its not easy at all to score well in NUS

well.. it can be done if the guy works very hard and do past year paper
or it can be done with less effort if the guy is really smart

so if the guy think he is that good...
that the hwa chong lineage is really that special

then my suggestion:
go all out and enjoy the CCA/hall life
make some achievements there
and do well in studies also

then i think that is just as great a challenge as studying well in overseas u

intellectual climate........
maybe... probably

i would think its true to a certain extent [that the intellectual climate is lacking]
guess he can always apply for NOC if he is really that keen...
or student exchange...
its a poor substitute but better than nothing

anyway... i think FASS is already alot more intellectual than FOE
i mean intellect in the general sense...
critical thinking about current affairs and policys etc

K: no
an education is good anywhere

all that matters is your attitude to learning
it doesn't mean you'll learn less in sgp
afterall uni edu is a lot about own iniative

L: errr... hahaha academic's not everything..once u start work..it's a totally different challenge n basically no one really cares about how well u do in uni

i dun think we fare too badly [on an international level] either ..most singaporeans do well oversesas
so i think nus isn't that bad

M: hm, i think education is what you make of it
if you bother to take the time to read, then with the internet it is not difficult to find the resources you want to learn about

the onyl difference between NUS and a university overseas is the people - and it's hard to say that i like people anyway so w

[About NUS people] how should i say this?
i don't like stupidity hahahah

N: dear hua chong descendent
no matter which university you go, stupid people will always be stupid. unfortunately, singaporean employers tend to falsely believe that overseas qualifications bear more merit than local degrees. and there are always bank loans. we live in this world to pay our debts anyway.

O: i dont know for fass, but in science there be 2 types
the indifferents and those who want research

its a good easy straight path for the indifferents, but for those looking into research with intrinsic value, well i must say nus isnt really very supportive

most likely i think it depends on what your hwachongky friend wants

July trip
26/7 - Luxembourg

It seems all HI hostels provide breakfast.

The breakfast I had this morning was very good. I'm not sure why either, but I'd never enjoyed semi-crusty rolls, cold cuts, cheese and butter so much. This enjoyment didn't extend to the vile juice though.

If the quality of the McDonalds I had in Rheims was indicative of what they had throughout France, it’s no wonder that farmers were dumping shit in the streets.

Seen outside the lift in the hostel: ‘Interdiction d’utiliser l’ascenseur en cai d’incendit cas d'incendie dans l’immeuble’. In German: ‘Im brandfall aufzug nicht benutzen’. ie You're not allowed to use the lift. Bloody hell. It’s like obedience school all over again. But people heck cared about the sign, and so did the hostel staff.


The palace was very modest. So much for being a Grand Duke.


It's the wrong type of triangle!

I considered going on a tour of the palace, but there was only one English tour on the day I was there and it was too late for me at 4:30. In contrast, there were 2 in Luxemburgisch, 3 in German, 2 in French and 1 in Dutch on the same day.


Cathedral


Organ


Nave

There was one king called John the Blind. How odd.

There were students under the ‘ARC’ organisation giving tours of the cathedral. I asked one the question about the flag's similarity to the Dutch flag and he said it was because the two have a common history. Gah, stupid Salic law (Luxembourg broke away from the Netherlands when a woman ascended to the Dutch throne because it goes by Salic law, which states that it must be headed by a male).


It is rare for flags to flap so nicely in the breeze. Before I got the camera out it was going up and down also and so looked even better.


Place de la Constitution

Due to my budget, time constraints and my not wishing to be full before dinner (it was almost 2pm), I didn't want to eat at a restaurant so my choices were McDonalds (which had a menu in German and even a .de URL in its sign but where the staff spoke in French), Quality Burger Restaurant or kebabs (bah). In the end I opted for ‘Quality’, which had a good Wednesday special - €3 for large fries, 4 chicken dippers and a 25cl drink. I added on 180ml of gazpacho (trust the French to serve gazpacho as fast food) for €1,80, since it’d been a long time since I’d had it; it was also the first time I'd drunk it through a straw.

Before the World Cup, McDonalds Germany had a strawberry fetish. Now it seemed they had an ‘exotic fruits’ fetish, with an ‘exotic fruits’ ‘cake’ (‘kuchen’ – ‘pie’ would’ve been more appropriate), a McFlurry with Solero Exotic and a milkshake with marcuja and something that looked like peach. I had the McFlurry, which had pieces of real fruit in it, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t tried the Daim McFlurry in France, which surely would’ve been wonderful.


Fountain in place d’armes + pivler (?)
There was a crazy guy who’d thrown his bag inside and was swimming around


City Hall

I went to the other casemates but they were only viewable with a guided tour, so I had to wait 40 mins. Bah.


‘Gelle fra’ (Golden lady) memorial to war victims in Place de la Constitution


Other casemates


Pont Adolphus Bridge - longest bridge in the World when built 1899-1909 (?). Now the longest stone bridge in Europe.


Cannon room


"Don't forget the sand" - toilet in World War II bomb shelter. This German sign was written by Nazis who forced German on the Luxembourgians. Even place names were changed to German.

The guide said very few people speak Luxembourgisch in Luxembourg now. To work you need French. Even German's not that spoken. Hurr hurr.

In contrast to the Bock Casemates, open year-round, the Petrusse Casemates are only open on Easter, Whitsun and from July to September, during which they have students to serve as free labour. Well, at least it's one more reason to visit Europe in July.

I saw a 10 year old girl in a thong. Uhh.


Rue large.

Seen: Some potato snack in a cup 'Kartoffel Snack' from Pfanni. I couldn't figure out what it was though.


Random tower above the hostel


River outside Luxembourg hostel

Hostelworld bookings are free if done through letsgo.com. Gah. One more reason to read the guidebook before making arrangements.

Getting to Vianden took me longer than I thought it would and I got scolded by the receptionist who had to wait for me.


Home-cooked meal at Vianden hostel: Cylinder of mystery meat in brown apple-meat sauce. Served with baked cauliflower and baked potatoes.


The Vianden hostel was very enlightened, since there was a hair dryer in the male toilet. It had a fixed duration - you pressed the red button and it'd blow for a while.

As in Ravenna, the male-only hostel floor was above the female-only one. How sexist.

In July I slept on the floor on maybe 1 out of every 3 nights, because it was hot. Yet, I hadn't been as hot as I was in Vianden. The room had German windows (which open in 2 planes), but they were locked so they could only slant in one plane (the top of the window falling into the room towards me), which was worse for circulation than the other plane (pivoting on the hinges on the left of the window, so air could flow in through the entire area formerly occupied by the pane). I tried looking for the receptionist, but he'd run away at 9pm, probably to an air-conditioned house. Even though I slept on the floor and even took off my shirt (for once), I still found it very hot. Luckily I was the only one in the room, or I'd have died on heatstroke. I tried doing what I did in Ravenna and soaked my shirt, wrung it dry and then lay on the floor but it still wasn't enough.

In any case, it wasn't only me. In the family room opposite me, this German guy kept swinging the door. When he saw me looking, he ejaculated: "It's too hot!" and commented that it was "better to sleep outside".

Unable to sleep, I went down to the breakfast area and looked at the coffee machine. For fun, I pressed the 'Nesquick' button and was surprised to see brown liquid coming out. I quickly put a cup underneath and watched as a brown, frothy liquid filled it. I got a teaspoon, feeling very pleased with myself, and took a sip. Immediately my face changed - there was no powder in the machine. This was just water the colour of Nesquick, and tasted like what you'd get if you filled an empty, unwashed Nesquick tin with hot water and poured its contents out.

In the Brussels hostel the handicapped shower had 2 shower heads. In this hostel one male shower cubicle had 3 heads, and the door could be locked. I wasn't sure which thought was more disturbing - 2 disabled people showering in wheelchairs at the same time or 3 men showering together like in jail (or the old SMM) with a locked door.


Travel tip:

- Don't buy Eurail passes in Europe. They're more expensive there.

"Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation." - Judith Martin, (Miss Manners)

***

"Critical theorists maintain that the curriculum serves important, though ideologically problematic, functions. For one thing, it supports the status of those with power, influence, and wealth in the existing political, social, and economic order. One way the curriculum serves this conservative function is with a hidden curriculum that convinces people that inequities are inevitable or self-inflicted and therefore are not the fault of those in control. It also serves a conservative function with an official curriculum that equips one class of students with knowledge and skills for professional and executive careers and another class of students for blue-collar and unskilled jobs. Thus, according to these writers, the explicit and implicit curriculumserves to reduce people's sense of political efficacy and increase their political acquiescence. These writers introduce an ideological dimension to curriculum analysis and may even provide an opportunity to engage in an ideological analysis of a seemingly neutral curriculum." - George J Posner, Analyzing the Curriculum

What a glorious load of swagger (on the part of the critical theorists). If you want to find ideology, you can find ideology. Inequities are inevitable - the only place you don't see them is in pure Communism, and that's a purely mental construct. If you want to abrogate personal responsibility, go ahead, but no one outside of a University Arts faculty will listen to you. And if you want to force one-size-fits-all education on everyone regardless of their suitability for it, you just will make everyone miserable. Except for yourself, of course, since you're dragging everyone down onto the same level and achieving a warped sense of equality.

As someone the author quoted said about the Research, Development and Diffusion model: "The experts gave teachers answers and solutions to questions teachers never asked and to problems the teachers never had". He didn't seem to realise that this applied to his book in general (eg The extract above).

Pedagogical approaches are difficult enough to implement in practice, but when ideology comes into the picture the ideal world in which these academics live in should implode. On the one hand they have an obsession with tailoring education to individual needs, but on the other they decry homogenous schools and classes. Even if the state had the resources to finance one-on-one private tuition they'd complain that it would lead to children growing up being unable to relate to their peers. Who do they think teachers are? Supermen? A diverse class cannot be taught in diverse ways by just one teacher.

They complain that poor, non-Asian minorities do worse in the SAT than whites, but don't mention why this qualifier is needed. If it's a culture problem, foreigners and Asian-Americans would do badly, together with non-Asian minorities. They say the maths taught in school is too formalised and isn't the sort of maths which shopkeepers use to stay in business (eg How they calculate expenditure, revenue and profit margins). Yet if they teach youshopkeeper maths in school, you're only going to be able to become a shopkeeper instead of an engineer, accountant, investment banker, mathematician etc. If they really did teach shopkeeper maths in school, richer/more motivated/smarter students would, one way or another, learn proper maths and then there'd be cries of discrimination once again.

This obsession with discrimination and ethnocentrism which seems to stem from a complex of self-loathing blinds them to reality. Indeed assuming that there must be something wrong with the current way of doing things is worse than a pattern of blind dependency. There is definitely some ideology in curriculum, but an ideological analysis of a seemingly neutral ideological analysis of the curriculum is more telling.

I hope this book is not representative of the field of education studies as a whole, but either way, this extract says it best:

"Curriculum is an area of education that is characterized by a lack of agreement about its definition and nature. There are those who have divorced themselves completely from much curricular practice at all and want to talk about curriculum only as a discourse on politics and culture. These are mostly academians. And that dialogue can be a lively and interesting conversation. However, rarely does it ever get connected to the world in which most classroom teachers and administrators live and toil. When it comes to laws and expectations, like those of No Child Left Behind, most academians have little to say except to condemn them as unwise laws. However, practitioners needs advice on how to respond to such requirements, even those which may be based on fallacious assumptions about school effectiveness, in order to make the most and best of what is included for the children they are pledged and paid to serve." - Managing Curriculum and Assessment: A Practitioner's Guide