obliteratED.

Wed, 20 May 2009 08:46:08 GMT

Just watched Milk, which I've been meaning and not have had time to do for a long while.

THIS is what a movie should be, and what a movie should do.

It moved me nearly to tears, and knowing that these are real people, who once did all these things, fought all these wars... that made it so much more poignant.

I can't describe it and I don't think I can do it justice anyway.

Just... Scott! and Harvey! and if they could only have had that one last moment...

Even though I'm not sure if Scott is actually a real person or someone added in for drama's sake. And even though RPS has never really appealed to me due to the slightly worrying thought that these are real people who strange stories are being made up about.

Nevertheless.

Damn, but that was a (good) blow to the heart. It was like watching V, or Dark Knight, but even better, and that's something I never thought I'd say of any movie.

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:50:12 GMT

This is a really cute vid! XD

The song and the vid both make me happy! (: I LOVE THE SOCK-FISH.

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:02:24 GMT

Chin Ee here.. i just received a message from geof that Chorale has a performance for some "pap quality awards thing" where the prime minister will be in the audience. The performance will be in november. so the j2s cannot peform. Hence, mr toh wants to invite the alumni to join in!

Date: 3rd Nov

UK terms start in September.

Incidents like this make me really reconsider going overseas to study. I've been wishing for some get-together thing where we can sing as a group again, and this comes along, and I CAN'T GO.

Sadness. ):

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 03:55:49 GMT

I got rejected by LSE... ):

And stupid Kings STILL hasn't replied!

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:07:18 GMT

I feel really really blessed (in a non-religious way) to have the family I do. My aunts and uncles really treat all the cousins like their own children.

Why the sudden outpouring of love?

My uncle took over the HP laptop that we managed to get the NEC one exchanged for... and bought me the Macbook.

Even though he didn't really need a new laptop, he brushed my objections off by saying that my aunt's current laptop was too old and it was high time he should update it. That's clearly just an excuse to make me feel better, so I actually feel really bad. Especially since the economy's so bad now and his business has really suffered.

I just love my family. Gah.

Oh... and I also love the Macbook. XP though it's taking me a while to figure out all the differences and little tricks.

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:07:05 GMT

WATCHMEN LOVE.

Especially Rorschach. Ah, Rorschach... ;______; You COMPLETELY did not deserve the ending you got, but in a paradoxical twist I wouldn't have loved you so much if you hadn't gotten the ending you got. Hmm.

The movie as a whole was a bit choppy, a bit disjointed, and there was too much going on and too many things/people to remember, which is not good for normal movie-goers not used to giving a movie their full attention (like my friends, who ended up not liking it because after a while they had no idea what was going on. They couldn't even remember the characters' names and roles, for heaven's sake!).

BUT, for a 12-book comic series condensed into a mere 3 hours, the director did a bloody good job. And since I could follow it, who cares about everyone else. XD

The blood and gore was a bit *_______* though. Especially the bit about the little girl, or the chainsawed-arms of the prison idiot, or the dangling bits from the ceiling when Dr Big Blue exploded those three guys pulling guns on him. And some parts were rather abrupt, like how Dr Big Blue had this sudden revelation going from 'I am entirely apathetic towards the Earth and its humans' to 'I love the Earth because you were created in it' in approximately 0.3 seconds flat. Silk Spectre is hot and has amazingly good legs, but she doesn't merit a full turn-around of one's entire philosophy just because she had a breakdown in tears.

There are a few other little things that didn't sit too well with me, but those are negligible in the face of the awesomeness of the movie as a whole. So... yeah.

WATCHMEN LOVE.

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:36:31 GMT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_Law

Occasionally I find things like this that make me marvel at humanity's ability to self-indulge and wilfully blind itself to the fact that it's taking itself way, way too seriously. It's things like this that reaffirm my belief that often, when you've been running with whatever it is for too long or too far, carried by the tides of other weak-willed people who are trying to go with the flow showing that they are indeed up to date with current slang and issues, you lose sight of how ridiculous the thing is in the first place. You're in so deep that you never even think about what started it all, and you never realise that what started it all was actually really stupid.

Or maybe it's just me. Who knows, someone else might believe that this is really valid, good law worth upholding and proliferating... but that's exactly my point, really.

And, you know, my own litle rant up there is a small example of getting too deep into your point and taking it too far. It's just one little quirky nerd concept, for goodness' sake, and here I am expounding on humanity's lack of a brain (or the existence of a sadly collective one, otherwise known as the Mob Brain).

Also, I wonder why I am doing this when I have a midterm exam in less than 12 hours that I haven't exactly studied for.

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:02:40 GMT

Here's wishing the best of luck to everyone out there collecting results today!

*crosses fingers for everyone I know*

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:24:05 GMT

I'M SURE YOU TAKE 16 BLOODY PAGES TO TELL US WHICH SIDE OF THE COURT A CORD BALL IS GOING TO LAND. DO YOU WANT OUR HEARTS TO GIVE OUT KONOMI-SENSEI?

*pants*

ARGH THE SUSPENSE.

[edit] After all the suspense... all the missed heartbeats... all the cold sweat... you come up with THIS kind of ending? *has no strength to be furious anymore* This has got to be the most stupid, most unfulfilling, most bloody unsatisfying end to a match EVER. Ever ever ever.

DAMN YOU KONOMI-SENSEI.

[edit edit] ...I take that back. Sensei... with this final twist, you have, beyond all expectations, reached new heights of gleeful sadism and indulgent cruelty to your readers.

[edit edit edit] Okay, I take back my taking back. What a sneaky and ingenious way to insert emo nostalgia at the very end! And it works, because I'm feeling damn emo now lol.

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:38:42 GMT

Been reading the PoT manga for the nationals arc, because I didn't know where to get the anime and anyway I thought that the anime was getting too ridiculous in how much it dramatised the manga. I thought the manga would be slightly less absurd.

It was not.

Really, Konomi-sensei doesn't even TRY to justify the things he comes up with anymore... he used to at least come up with some vaguely plausible explanation, like this spin added to that angle and so on, but now he doesn't even bother.

I know this because I have started reading the manga from the very first chapter. Yes, I have better things to do with my time. Yes, it's a completely pointless venture. Yes, I'm just going over old ground. Yes, I have midterms.

But it's just so addictive. ;___;

Aaaand I have a new love for the Golden Pair! I always didn't like it that much because I don't like Oishi that much, but now... and InuKai, they're just so cute! Plus a renewal of my support for Ryoma, who I was getting irritated with because he was overly perfect in the anime, but in the manga he's less Mary Sue-ish and more... mature, sort of. Don't know how else to put it. In fact, all the manga characters are more real and solid than their anime counterparts.

Yet another series that proves my firm belief that manga is always better. FMA, HnG, Kyo, Ouran, etc... and now PoT.

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:41:42 GMT

My life the next three days looks like this:

Tues! mugmugmugmug. scribble scribble.

Wed! OBSERVATION NOTEBOOK DUE. mugmugmug. TORT EXAM.

Thurs! writewriteresearchresearchwrite. 2 LEGAL RESEARCH ESSAY THINGS DUE.

And then my life the next week after that looks like this: MUGMUGMUGMUGMUGMUGMUG. CONTRACT EXAM. collapse. die.

......I hate midterms.

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:59:25 GMT

Am seriously going to get a new laptop soon. Am reaching an agreement with my mum.

Am very interested in the new aluminium Macbook, but Macbook = new OS that I have to figure out + $2000 bucks with student discount. So I'm looking at other models, but there are OODLEPLEXES out there.

Important requirements: LIGHT, since I have to carry it everywhere. Light means 2kg or less. Weight can be slightly compromised though if the design if gorgeous, which is the case of the Macbook (2.3kg or so). DESIGN is the next factor, I'm sorry if it's superficial, but I do not want a big chunky ugly looking laptop. As for everything else, since I'm not using it for gameplay or anything, it doens't need to pwn in graphics/speed/whatever crap it is that people complain of.

Any suggestions?

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:18:16 GMT

I blame ataraxistence for the following:

1. I have a new love/sense of awe/fascination with all things Miyavi, who is a god. Why did I not know of his existence sooner?

2. I have a new interest/sense of awe/bemused fascination with regards to Akinishi Jin and his slutty ways (you were so right about that, Zhi!) and his very malleable hips/general body. He's like an eel. Only not slimy. But so edible, oh yes. With teriyaki sauce.

3. I wish I lived in Japan in the Malice Mizer live concert days.

3a. I wish I knew how it is humanly possible to have a guy look as gorgeous and utterly feminine when cross-dressing as Mana does.

4. I have a craving for Moon Child again, as well as all things GakuHai. Yes, Moon Child may be considered a bad movie in some ways, but I've always thought it was really powerful too. And the acting is actually pretty good (after watching the Aquarian Age movie -- thanks for the link veggieincoma -- anything looks better).

5. My love for GakuHai is eroded at the edges by a new interest in Gackt and Mana. There is no logical basis in that except that they are both gorgeous and are the only two people who really left an impression from all the Malice Mizer vids. Did I mention gorgeous?

6. I have finally watched Mirotic and no, it is not as hot as everyone says it is, but yes, it is pretty hot. Yoochun's hair is still *___* but Changmin's metamorphosis is droolworthy LOVE. The problem is not Mirotic though. It's that watching Mirotic led me to spend my next hour watching other DBSG vids, which has led to 'hey, maybe it'd be worth my time to strain my degenerated Chinese and plough through Chinese BL in order to read some good fic about DBSG hotness' thoughts, which is Not Good.

7. Okay, maybe this one is not exactly Zhi's fault, but I have also a new interest in Arashi, whose couple of vids I watched while crawling through Youtube. Their songs are pretty nice, and a couple of them are pretty cute, or pretty, or cute.

...I am so screwed. I have NO TIME to be interested in all these things!

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:03:37 GMT

I can't believe he CUT OFF HER HEAD.

Random people being machine-gunned without cause, freaks cutting off PEOPLE'S HEADS in public cafes... if I was a student in West Virginia Tech, I'd be quitting school and booking a flight out of the state post haste.

I can't believe he CUT OFF HER HEAD. Does he have super-strength? Bones and ligaments and muscles are tough.

What a horrifying way to go. Poor girl.

Why is my 'shocked' icon so... happy-looking?

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:07:06 GMT

Bug: Buzz, buzz. Buzz.
Me: *waves hand absently at bug and continues to watch movie on laptop*
Bug: ...buzz. *lands on keyboard*
Me: ARGH. *grabs random book and hits bug. Hard.*
Bug: *squish*
Keyboard: Crack.
Me: ACK.
Laptop screen: *goes blank*
Me: No, wait --
Laptop (very happily): Beep. *shuts off*
Me: 0__________0

But it turned itself back on again after that, so no harm done. At least... no immediately obvious harm.

I just got the little info booklet from UCAS that tells me if my app's in by 15 Jan, I'll get a reply no later than 8 May. EIGHTH MAY. I think their use of the phrase 'no later' is very misleading, HOW MUCH LATER DO YOU WANT TO GET.

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 06:30:54 GMT

Ikan bilis, in its boiled state, is white with black eyes. So the black eyes are really, REALLY obvious in all the whiteness.

So here I was drinking soup during dinner. When I drained the soup, I looked down into my bowl and to my horror, I saw a whole pile of pitiful little fish with little black eyes staring up dolefully at me as if going, Why are we in this bowl of soup? Why are we dead? Are we going to be eaten? We are, aren't we? We're going to be eaten! Nooooo!

Me: Can I not finish this?
Mum: Don't waste food.
Me: But they're STARING AT ME. Look at those BIG WIDE EYES.
Dad: Stop being dramatic.
Me: *wails* but they're staring!
Dad: Cose your eyes. EAT IT.

So I closed my eyes and banished mental images of those tiny lives being chewed and digested, and swallowed the whole pile down in one gulp.

I swear I heard hundreds of little voices cry out.

NO MORE NASI LEMAK FOR ME.

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:40:08 GMT

Yes, because it is so very likely that SMU students will waste months of their lives camping out on a vigil on a hospital's front lawn going 'SAY YES TO LIFE, CYNTHIA'. Who the hell cares about Cynthia? GO AND DIE, Cynthia! Stop screwing around on my exam question and making life difficult for me! I have no idea what the whole paragraph dedicated to the SMU students rioting for your life is all about, because it seems so UTTERLY RANDOM, and if my grade drops because it turns out that the SMU students are a vital part of the question that I didn't address I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN, CYNTHIA. Why did you have to refuse treatment? Why did you not die for months and months even with a freaking STAB WOUND in the MIDDLE of your CHEST?

WHY CAN YOU SURVIVE FOR EIGHT MONTHS REFUSING FOOD AND WATER?

*stabs*

Be afraid, Cynthia. Be very afraid.

Until my contract law paper provides me with another stupid person who simply refuses to sign a contract in black and white and stop wanting to dispute it, that is.

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:16:32 GMT

Case of Shankaraya: the accused in all seriousness trying to kill the intended victim by witchcraft.

Case of Nock: the accused trying to make cocaine out of two substances from which cocaine or anything remotely similar can never be produced.

*_______*

Why are some criminals so stupid?

But to recognize that stupidity, there is a defence called 'Impossibility [of the offence] through ineptitude [of the criminal]'.

XD

It doesn't actually work, but I find its very existence hilarious.

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:23:45 GMT

Hello friends.

The Ig Nobel Prize for Improbable Research: awards for research that makes people laugh and then think. It's presented yearly at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, and attended by prize awardees from all over the world, some who fly over specially for the event. The awards are handed over by real Nobel laureates.

2008 Ig Nobel Winners:

PEACE PRIZE. The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH) and the citizens of Switzerland for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity.
REFERENCE: "The Dignity of Living Beings With Regard to Plants. Moral Consideration of Plants for Their Own Sake"
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Urs Thurnherr, member of the committee.

BIOLOGY PRIZE. Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert, and Michel Franc of Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France for discovering that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat.
REFERENCE: "A Comparison of Jump Performances of the Dog Flea, Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826) and the Cat Flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouche, 1835)," M.C. Cadiergues, C. Joubert, and M. Franc, Veterinary Parasitology, vol. 92, no. 3, October 1, 2000, pp. 239-41.

COGNITIVE SCIENCE PRIZE. Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Hokkaido University, Japan, Hiroyasu Yamada of Nagoya, Japan, Ryo Kobayashi of Hiroshima University, Atsushi Tero of Presto JST, Akio Ishiguro of Tohoku University, and Ágotá Tóth of the University of Szeged, Hungary, for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles.
REFERENCE: "Intelligence: Maze-Solving by an Amoeboid Organism," Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Hiroyasu Yamada, and Ágota Tóth, Nature, vol. 407, September 2000, p. 470.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero

ECONOMICS PRIZE. Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, for discovering that professional lap dancers earn higher tips when they are ovulating.
REFERENCE: "Ovulatory Cycle Effects on Tip Earnings by Lap Dancers: Economic Evidence for Human Estrus?" Geoffrey Miller, Joshua M. Tybur, Brent D. Jordan, Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 28, 2007, pp. 375-81.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Geoffrey Miller and Brent Jordan

CHEMISTRY PRIZE. Sharee A. Umpierre of the University of Puerto Rico, Joseph A. Hill of The Fertility Centers of New England (USA), Deborah J. Anderson of Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School (USA), for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and to Chuang-Ye Hong of Taipei Medical University (Taiwan), C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang (all of Taiwan) for discovering that it is not.
REFERENCE: "Effect of 'Coke' on Sperm Motility," Sharee A. Umpierre, Joseph A. Hill, and Deborah J. Anderson, New England Journal of Medicine, 1985, vol. 313, no. 21, p. 1351.
REFERENCE: "The Spermicidal Potency of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola," C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang, Human Toxicology, vol. 6, no. 5, September 1987, pp. 395-6. [NOTE: THE JOURNAL LATER CHANGED ITS NAME. NOW CALLED "Human & experimental toxicology"]
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Deborah Anderson, and C.Y. Hong's daughter Wan Hong

LITERATURE PRIZE. David Sims of Cass Business School. London, UK, for his lovingly written study "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations."
REFERENCE: "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations," David Sims, Organization Studies, vol. 26, no. 11, 2005, pp. 1625-40.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: David Sims

2007 Ig Nobel Winners:

CHEMISTRY: Mayu Yamamoto of the International Medical Center of Japan, for developing a way to extract vanillin -- vanilla fragrance and flavoring -- from cow dung.
REFERENCE: "Novel Production Method for Plant Polyphenol from Livestock Excrement Using Subcritical Water Reaction," Mayu Yamamoto, International Medical Center of Japan.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Mayu Yamamoto
PRESS NOTE: Toscanini's Ice Cream, the finest ice cream shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, created a new ice cream flavor in honor of Mayu Yamamoto, and introduced it at the Ig Nobel ceremony. The flavor is called "Yum-a-Moto Vanilla Twist."

LINGUISTICS: Juan Manuel Toro, Josep B. Trobalon and Núria Sebastián-Gallés, of Universitat de Barcelona, for showing that rats sometimes cannot tell the difference between a person speaking Japanese backwards and a person speaking Dutch backwards.
REFERENCE: "Effects of Backward Speech and Speaker Variability in Language Discrimination by Rats," Juan M. Toro, Josep B. Trobalon and Núria Sebastián-Gallés, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, vol. 31, no. 1, January 2005, pp 95-100.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: The winners could not travel to the ceremony, so they instead delivered their acceptance speech via recorded video

PEACE: The Air Force Wright Laboratory, Dayton, Ohio, USA, for instigating research & development on a chemical weapon -- the so-called "gay bomb" -- that will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other.
REFERENCE: "Harassing, Annoying, and 'Bad Guy' Identifying Chemicals," Wright Laboratory, WL/FIVR, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, June 1, 1994.

AVIATION: Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek of Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Argentina, for their discovery that Viagra aids jetlag recovery in hamsters.
REFERENCE: "Sildenafil Accelerates Reentrainment of Circadian Rhythms After Advancing Light Schedules," Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 23, June 5 2007, pp. 9834-9.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Diego A. Golombek

MEDICINE: Francis M. Fesmire of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, for his medical case report "Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage"; and Majed Odeh, Harry Bassan, and Arie Oliven of Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel, for their subsequent medical case report also titled "Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage."
REFERENCE: "Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage," Francis M. Fesmire, Annals of Emergency Medicine, vol. 17, no. 8, August 1988 p. 872.
REFERENCE: "Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage,"
Majed Odeh, Harry Bassan, and Arie Oliven, Journal of Internal Medicine, vol. 227, no. 2, February 1990, pp. 145-6. They are at the Department of Internal Medicine, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.
REFERENCE: "Hiccups and Digital Rectal Massage," M. Odeh and A. Oliven, Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery, vol. 119, 1993, p. 1383.
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Francis Fesmire

2005 Ig Nobel Winners:

MEDICINE: Gregg A. Miller of Oak Grove, Missouri, for inventing Neuticles -- artificial replacement testicles for dogs, which are available in three sizes, and three degrees of firmness.
REFERENCES: US Patent #5868140, and the book Going Going NUTS!, by Gregg A. Miller, PublishAmerica, 2004, ISBN 1413753167.
ACCEPTING: The winner was unable to travel, and delivered his acceptance speech via video.

PEACE: Claire Rind and Peter Simmons of Newcastle University, in the U.K., for electrically monitoring the activity of a brain cell in a locust while that locust was watching selected highlights from the movie "Star Wars."
REFERENCE: "Orthopteran DCMD Neuron: A Reevaluation of Responses to Moving Objects. I. Selective Responses to Approaching Objects," F.C. Rind and P.J. Simmons, Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 68, no. 5, November 1992, pp. 1654-66.
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Claire Rind

FLUID DYNAMICS: Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow of International University Bremen, Germany and the University of Oulu, Finland; and Jozsef Gal of Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary, for using basic principles of physics to calculate the pressure that builds up inside a penguin, as detailed in their report "Pressures Produced When Penguins Pooh -- Calculations on Avian Defaecation."
PUBLISHED IN: Polar Biology, vol. 27, 2003, pp. 56-8.
ACCEPTING: The winners were unable to attend the ceremony because they could not obtain United States visas to visit the United States. Dr. Meyer-Rochow sent an acceptance speech via video.

2004 Ig Nobel Winners:

MEDICINE: Steven Stack of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA and James Gundlach of Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA, for their published report "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide."
PUBLISHED IN: Social Forces, vol. 71, no. 1, September 1992, pp. 211-8.
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: James Gundlach.

CHEMISTRY: The Coca-Cola Company of Great Britain, for using advanced technology to convert ordinary tap water into Dasani, a transparent form of water, which for precautionary reasons has been made unavailable to consumers.

ECONOMICS: The Vatican, for outsourcing prayers to India.

PEACE: Daisuke Inoue of Hyogo, Japan, for inventing karaoke, thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other. (well, we know who to thank now.)
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Daisuke Inoue.

2003 Ig Nobel Winners

ENGINEERING: The late John Paul Stapp, the late Edward A. Murphy, Jr., and George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law, the basic engineering principle that "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, someone will do it" (or, in other words: "If anything can go wrong, it will"). (Well, we know WHO TO BLAME now.)
REFERENCE: "The Fastest Man on Earth," Nick T. Spark, Annals of Improbable Research, vol. 9, no. 5, Sept/Oct 2003.]
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: (1) Author Nick T. Spark , on behalf of John Paul Stapp's widow, Lilly. (2) Edward Murphy's Edward A. Murphy III, on behalf of his late father. (3) George Nichols, via audio tape.

PHYSICS: Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, Steve Cowley, Michael Lawrance, David Stuart, and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces."
[PUBLISHED IN: Applied Ergonomics, vol. 33, no. 6, November 2002, pp. 523-31.]
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: John Culvenor.

CHEMISTRY: Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University, for his chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons.
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Yukio Hirose.

ECONOMICS: Karl Schwärzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings.
REFERENCE: <www.xnet.li> and <www.rentastate.com>
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Karl Schwärzler.

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH: Stefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson, and Magnus Enquist of Stockholm University, for their inevitable report "Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans."
[PUBLISHED IN: Human Nature, vol. 13, no. 3, 2002, pp. 383-9.]
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: All three co-authors.

PEACE: Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; Second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and Third, for creating the Association of Dead People.
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Lal Bihari overcame the handicap of being dead, and managed to obtain a passport from the Indian government so that he could travel to Harvard to accept his Prize. However, the U.S. government refused to allow him into the country. His friend Madhu Kapoor therefore came to the Ig Nobel Ceremony and accepted the Prize on behalf of Lal Bihari. Several weeks later, the Prize was presented to Lal Bihari himself in a special ceremony in India. [NOTE: Filmmaker Satish Kaushik will be making a film about the life (and death and life) of Lal Bihari.]

BIOLOGY: C.W. Moeliker, of Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck.
[REFERENCE: "The First Case of Homosexual Necrophilia in the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves: Anatidae)" C.W. Moeliker, Deinsea, vol. 8, 2001, pp. 243-7.]
WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Kees Moeliker.

I could go on, but it stretches back to 1991. There are more from each year, but I listed what I think are the highlights.

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:35:30 GMT

I've lost count of how many times I've watched it. But still, every time I watch V for Vendetta yet again, I am reminded of why I write, be it story or song. Every time I finish the movie I have to take a moment to breathe and readjust to reality because it hits me that hard each time, and I don't think that its impact will lessen no matter how many times I watch it in the future. I am always left with the urge to create something that will steal someone else's reality away for the duration that they read or listen to what I wrote, and hopefully for far longer than that.

I am always left, too, with the urge to knife the damn scriptwriter for putting in what has to be the most superfluous romance in the entire history of movie-making. No, not only superfluous -- it actually detracts from the power of the movie. It cheapens the relationship between V and Evey; it ruins what would otherwise have been a perfectly, wonderfully twisted character. Some other parts were a bit overdone as well, like the blood spurting -- a little too much, even if it was pretty damn cool. But that is neither here nor there.

I want to create write something that will mean something. The most amazing introductory speech of any character in any story. The subtleties of the dialogue and the woven plot. The majesty of the 1812 Overture. Anything. V makes me despair at reaching that standard (particularly that last bit, because I am certainly nowhere in the same galaxy as Tchaikovsky) but it also makes me want to try.

And I damn well will do it, one day.

Well, maybe not the Tchaikovsky part. But everything else.

Yeah!

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:14:31 GMT

ISTP: introverted (67), sensing (25), thinking (1), perceiving (22).

I got 1% for thinking. oO; this is bad. I'm doing law, i'm supposed to do nothing but think. I'm not supposed to have any emotion at all!

and I'm 67% introverted...? huh.

Artisan Portrait of the Crafter: The nature of Crafters is most clearly seen in their masterful operation of tools, equipment, machines, and instruments of all kinds. Most use use tools in some capacity, of course, but Crafters (as much as ten percent of the population) are the true masters of tool work, with an innate ability to command tools and to become expert at all the crafts requiring tool skills. Even from an early age they are drawn to tools as to a magnet-tools fall into their hands demanding use, and they must work with them.

Ahahaha. Crafter. Tools. I'm doing LAW.

!!!!!!

Like all artisans, Crafters are people who love action, and who know instinctively that their activities are more enjoyable, and more effective, if done impulsively, spontaneously, subject to no schedules or standards but their own. (which is pretty true for me, I guess. I hate deadlines.)

In a sense, Crafters do not work with their tools, but play with them when the urge strikes them. (this sounds wrong.)

Crafters also seek fun and games on impulse, looking for any opportunity, and just because they feel like it, to play with their various toys: cars, motorcycles, boats, dune-buggies, hunting rifles, fishing tackle, scuba gear, and on and on. They thrive on excitement, particularly the rush of speed-racing, water-skiing, surfing. And Crafters are fearless in their play, exposing themselves to danger again and again, even despite frequent injury. Of all the types, Crafters are most likely to be risk takers, pitting themselves, or their technique, against chance or odds. (This is SO NOT me. sport? I detest sport. I spurn it. Sport is for idiots. Risk? I abhor risk. Exposing myself to danger? Are you insane?)

Crafters are hard to get to know. Perhaps this is because they tend to communicate through action, and show little interest in developing language skills. Their lack of expressiveness can isolate them at school and on the job, and even though they hang around with their own kind in play, they let their actions speak for them, and their actual conversation is sparse and brief. (......um. oO; hello? is this me? I don't think this is me. This is completely the opposite of me.)

Crafters can be wonderfully generous and loyal to their friends, teammates, and sidekicks, often giving up their evenings or weekends to help with building projects or mechanical repairs-house remodeling, for example, or working on cars or boats. (except for the building projects and mechanical repairs parts, pretty true. I won't turn down an outing unless I absolutely have to, which is all the time recently, though, sadly. Ooh, I have sidekicks!)

On the other hand, they can be fiercely insubordinate to those in authority, seeing rules and regulations as unnecessarily confining. (somewhat true.) Crafters will not usually go against regulations openly, but will simply ignore them.

More than anything, Crafters want to be free to do their own thing, and they are proud of their ability to do it with an artist's skill. (This is the only thing I agree with entirely. (: Yeah!)

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:51:46 GMT

I made a three hour trip down to school just to pick up my hideous orangey EZlink card and found out that the concession rate would shave off a staggering amount of $1.53 from my monthly bus rides, so I basically wasted my time.

I went to Lido's basement toilet besides MOS and encountered not only a massive spiderweb on one of the corners in the cubicle right next to where someone's head would be, but also four baby cockroaches. Not to mention the four cubicles I passed over because of various unsightly matter either in or around the bowls.

I came home and settled to work at my laptop but I keep finding ants crawling up my arms at a rate of about 1 per 5 minutes, and I have no idea where they're coming from since I have nothing remotely resembling food in my room. Currently, during the intervals where I believe I am ant-free, my skin is contriving to make me believe that this is not the case, because I keep feeling phantom crawlies on my arms.

I am awake at an ungodly hour in the morning and I probably will not be sleeping until 4am doing work, and I have a meeting bright and early tomorrow morning.

This has not been a good day.

No, wait. So far, this week I have had to scrap an old project and begin work on a completely new one that we have to rush out within the next couple of weeks when the original timeline for a project is 13 weeks, am working on another course's presentation that will take up about 20% of my grade, have my LNAT (UK Law test) on Friday that I have not had any time to study for, am trying to do my UCAS application before the deadline a few days away, have an incredily complicated Crim Law essay to finish by this week, a Crim Law presentation to finish by next week, and also have an even more complicated Contract Law test next week that I, incidentally, also need to and have not studied for.

This has not been a good week, and today has not helped any.

Argh.

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:32:05 GMT

This is the freakiest weird-ass video I have ever seen.

That doll is damn scary.

[edit] WHAT IN THE WORLD DID THEY DO TO JAEJOONG'S HAIR.

HE LOOKS LIKE THAT UGLY GUY FROM F4.

Though Changmin's hotness level has suddenly grown exponentially. Whoa.

How does Yoochun see...?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:47:10 GMT

OH MY FUCKING GOD THERE IS A RAT IN MY ROOM AND IT'S NOT GOING AWAY.

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:06:02 GMT

I don't have a social life anymore.

I don't even have a life anymore, i.e. no energy, no time, no nothing. The world blurs before my eyes.

And yet... my bank account is being drained as fast as ever.

Where is the logic in that?

I am confused.