After quite a few aborted attempts (this year), we finally got to meet Vince, Anthony and Des over dessert. Q-tip was with us, so we had to find a dog-friendly location. Happy Daze in Gardens was what we settled on.

It was great to talk nonsense and catch up with gossip again. Not a bad wind-down to a long day.

Partied with B-lo at Seoul Garden, Taka. It's quite a relief that she liked her pressie and wanted to use it immediately. So yesterday's shopping expedition ended well after all. Phew!

After dinner, June and I went down the hall to BEST Denki to try out an... appliance that I've had my eye on for a while. Since Sony's having an end-of-year sale, the price has come down quite a bit and since payday's coming, well, you know. The design's sleek and cool, the functions are versatile and idiot-proof (a very important consideration), and I was thinking, why not?

This was the first time ever that the sales guy actually talked me OUT of buying that which I came to buy. He basically told me -- based on previous customer feedback -- that the product had a great design, pretty with lots of bells and whistles, but was short on delivery. It is so idiot-proof it takes control out of the user's hands and makes its own decisions based on what it thinks is right. Too much software, not enough fidelity for me.

On one hand, that was a lot of honesty in a sales pitch. On the other, maybe his strategy was to get me to consider purchasing another more expensive option. Whichever it was, I left without making a purchase, but with a resolve to research a little more, and be a smarter consumer when I return another day.

Jack's Place has opened a franchise at SAFRA Yishun. It's called Eatzi Steakhouse & Bistro and it occupies the space that once housed the food court. Through the glass panels, there's a nice view of the swimming pool. Because of its air-conditioned comfort, this looks like a great place to have a lazy tea slightly later in the afternoon after the lunch crowd has left.

The pix shows the executive set lunch. Everything arrived at the table just minutes after ordering. As you can see, the baked potato is overflowing with a generous dollop of sour cream and a healthy sprinkling of bacon bits. The chef understands the concept of "rare", and there under a layer of brown sauce lies the ribeye on a bed of chopped onions.

One problem: they could have chosen for me a better cut of ribeye. Sad to say, this one was rather stringy with quite a bit of tendon material making it quite a chew-fest. Eventually, I took to cutting small chunks so it could go down easier. I'm not making too big a fuss about this though, because the meat itself was tender, it was the sinewy stuff that I could have done without.

Later, I went to explore the Central, looking for a gift. Central seems tres femme to me with so many stores for cosmetics, women's fashion and accessories. Thought that would be ideal to find the kind of gift I was looking for, but I got overwhelmed by the number of options and possibilities. So I went back to the mall I knew best, Funan Centre. Hence, this matching set of i-pod accessories.

Amy, HP, JY, Mel, Wayne, look what we've pooled our cash on for B-lo! See y'all at dinner tomorrow!

"Lamb" is a wicked retelling of the life of Josh the Nazarene through the perspective of Levi bar Alphaeus who is also called Biff, who has been friends with Josh since they were boys. Read "wicked" as you wish.

Author, Christopher Moore, takes the opportunity to fill in the gaps left behind in the Gospels regarding Josh's growing up period to the beginning of his ministry, then follows Josh behind the scenes to his eventual betrayal and execution on the cross. Biff's version of the Gospel story is, however, a very down-to-earth one focusing on Josh's humanity though not denying his divinity. In fact, the juxtaposition of human divinity is where the fun begins.

Biff is Josh's perfect human foil. Biff is foul-mouthed, violent, carnal, but also imaginative and a great improviser in times of trouble. Hence, he tells his version of the Gospel in like manner. His language we may describe as vernacular vulgaris in its crudest form, because 1) that's how Biff is, and 2) his newly presented "gift of tongues" gives him the ability to speak like a common profanity-spewing New Yorker, all the better to communicate with us in the modern world 2000 years after his death.

About the transitional years from boy to man that's missing from the Gospels, Biff picks up the story and relates their quest to find the wise men who visited Josh in the stable where he was born. From each wise man they study philosophy and discipline themselves in the skills they need for Josh's later ministry. To divine his Father's will, Josh focuses on developing his spirituality, while Biff studies poisons, explosives, the tantric arts and kung fu.

It's wonderful how Moore's imagination weaves together Josh and Biff's experiences on their travels to bring Josh to his particular insight into the nature of God, and the point of his ministry. Part of it is through coincidences in the texts of other holy scriptures, part is through life experiences Josh later recalls in his parables, and part is by making horrible puns. For example, because Josh absolutely refuses to hurt anyone, Gaspar's Himalayan monks have to develop a whole new martial arts style for him to practice. It's a style that uses the energy of an attack against itself. They call it, "Ju-do", meaning, "The way of the Jew". Arrrrggghhh! But when Josh is eventually tested and questioned by the Pharisees later in his life, the way he replies to them is a form of intellectual, rhetorical judo, isn't it so?

While all this mental juggling might sound pretty dry, Lamb is hilariously funny. Moore takes liberties with scriptural references, taking them out of context and using them in highly unlikely situations. He fleshes out the Apostles by assigning them each a fatal human flaw which they often tease each other about, and portrays them as extremely dense in the way that they don't get Josh's parables, and in their hopeless attempt to rescue Josh from his impending execution.

Despite all the profanity flung liberally around the pages, it's used as linguistic humour with no intention to insult the faith. Josh may be portrayed as quite human, but his character is respected. Biff himself, is almost always the butt of the jokes, and since he's never mentioned in any of the Gospels, Biff's the perfect straw-man to build the humour around.

Lamb is not going to be well-accepted by everybody, unfortunately. Because it plays on the sensitive issue of religious faith, it will highly offend those who feel that to take such liberties with sacred texts is sacrilegious. But those of us who can stomach it, Lamb's a terrific read.

It's hard to catch a falling star, but it helps if you have a magical binding chain and if the star could walk behind you on her own two legs wherever you wanted her to go. In "Stardust", everyone has a reason for desiring a piece of the star, Yvaine, who though minding her own business, gets accidentally knocked out of the sky in a contest for succession of the throne of the magical kingdom of Stormhold. And that's a simplified version of the movie plot.

To avoid overcomplication, the movie version of Stardust wisely keeps the focus on a single theme: no one is who they appear to be. Some, like the seven princes, have yet to achieve their potential and will kill and be killed trying. Others have their true identities taken away from them by enslavement or enchantment. Captain Shakespeare keeps his secret identity behind a mask of "reputation". Tristan's adventures are partially a discovery of his true heritage and partly a quest for his heart's desire.

Everyone experiences a transformational change, and though they don't necessarily welcome change, they simply accept it and cope with it as a matter of fact. The only ones that don't accept change are Lamia and her sisters (and probably Sisterhood as well). They are driven by their mania to freeze themselves in time, at the point when they were at their most beautiful, by hunting and consuming the warm, glowing heart of a fallen star. In their 400 years of existence, they have no other passion than lying to themselves that time can be cheated; and that's probably why they've ended up such bitter, malicious old biddies -- they never get what they desire.

And Yvaine herself, fallen star, is the only one who has no problems with her self-identity. She knows who she is and isn't shy to make full use of her self-knowledge. She becomes the movie's hottest quest item because of her extremely rare magical qualities, but her real value is in her power to be herself, true to herself at all times. Though that might sound boring, she's also sarcastic, short-tempered and entirely human, which rounds her out, and makes her quite a lovable character.

The plot may be complex, but Gaiman is quite a coherent storyteller. With gorgeous landscapes as a backdrop, and the occasional visual effects surprises (I was quite taken by the drowning-in-air sequence), Stardust is a thrill to watch. It's star shines especially bright as one of the few movies in 2007 that is not a sequel, and is not written to spin-off one either. It's a movie that practices what it preaches -- write it, shoot it, can it, and move on.

The recent gay debate has been very lively. Sparks flew from both camps with some very heated exchanges from people out to make a name for themselves adding spice to the contention.

For the rest of the population, frankly, we don't care. Perhaps today we are more aware of homosexual activity within our society, we are aware of the religious sensitivities of the more conservative segments of our society, we are aware of the tension that exists between the two poles. But as a people, we walk the deadest of the neutral line.

We don't have a problem with the issue. If no one says anything, we're fine. Everything's cool. It's all good. What we do have a problem with is when we feel we are being forced to take sides, to stand on one pole or another -- in critical thinking terms, we call that a "false dilemma". If it ever comes to that, we know what our stand will be: dropkick the extremist, and carry on pax status quo Rex, pardon my Latin.

Despite the vocal energy of both camps, I doubt that our society might be fracturing along the line drawn by Section 377A, like some people think. We're too apathetic for that to happen. Thank goodness.

The little monsters are beginning to twitch. Chief was livid this morning with the number of complaints she received about us. Did we ever get an earful. Most of the complaints were generally about how the kids got distracted with the things we were doing. Well, excuse us for breathing.

Someone (no, not me) got complained against for walking along the aisles, so today all he could do was to stand in the back of the venue and glower throughout his duty.

Kids, a word of advice: focus past your distractions and on your exam. Don't look at us as an excuse if your results don't turn out like you want. You have your job to do, so let us do ours.

'bladed ECP in an attempt to jumpstart a long-neglected fitness regimen. Suddenly owning pairs of trousers and jeans that have become uncomfortably tight at the waist is motivation enough.

Completed only a part of my planned route before I turned back. I wasn't tired, just bone-weary. Now I know the difference.

Bone-weary is when you get emotionally afflicted with the idea that no matter what you do, no matter who you're with, you'll ultimately end up heavy-hearted, saggy-shouldered and all alone (kind'a like in this pix, only less pleasant).

Could have been a delayed response to Dee's question at brekkie this morning: do I feel my age in my body (though why she should be asking about my body is beyond me)?

Things felt stranger after I'd got my 'blades off and my trainers back on again. My legs, now gotten used to balancing on wheels, kept pushing me forward -- faster, faster -- but I was too out of breath to go with the impulse. The flesh being willing but the spirit is weak, I suppose.

Stopped for lunch, and felt much better for it. Lack of nutrition -- that'll do it to you everytime.

Despite all the warnings and dire predictions from various quarters, even en masse the kids I'm invigilating aren't the little monsters they've been made out to be. Maybe we're still new to each other?

Anyway, it was a day of feasting to celebrate the end of GP. A portion of our breakkie regulars started the pig-out at Friends. Friends offered a new dish on the set menu: an open ravioli with cream mushroom filling. What it turned out to be was two flat ravioli skins sandwiching something akin to the wild mushroom soup, only thicker and creamier. Fortunately, I didn't order the wild mushroom soup as my starter or I would have died from the overdose.

With roughly three hours in between to digest our substantial lunch, we rejoined the main body at the Red House, ECP, for a grand round of chilli crabs, drunken prawns and sides. Crab eating is never a pretty sight. Hands and the entire lower jaw area dripping with gravy as we're shoving large chunks of crab between molars and canines for a decent shell-cracking bite, mouths contorting to accommodate the welcome intrusion. No, no one got killed by my flying shrapnel this time. Pity.

Though B-lo abandoned us for better company -- she was looking to crash a happenin' Halloween party -- and Wayne abandoned us for soccer, the rest of us adjourned to Gelare in nearby Siglap. 2 Fantastic Fives, 9 spoons. Decadent orgy party of the night involving whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce. B-lo and Wayne will never know what they missed...

Oh yeah, Happy Halloween, folks!

Late post as Mr L33t went inexplicably off-line last night.

An easy start to my exam duties. A 90 minute Japanese paper, 7 candidates only.

Though common wisdom says to treat these kids with caution (apparently, the kids of this particular college snap and turn nasty easily), my first impression of them has been quite different. True, they are well-groomed and look studious and intelligent like they should be, but they were respectful of Celine and me, and they did as they were instructed without rolling their eyeballs at us. I couldn't fault them for being obliviously ostentatious either despite what we've been told of them -- nothing they owned looked especially fabulous. Even their shoes were nothing out of the ordinary and looked like they'd been worn for quite a while already. I've seen kids wearing more expensive footwear on my own campus.

They are different from the kids we're used to in one way, though: they will ask questions to clear their doubts, and they assume nothing. In that alone, they make it clear that they are not sheep to be herded, bleating from one pen to the next. They are quietly and resolutely focused on the job they have to do and don't distract themselves with idle chitchat until they are formally dismissed.

Today I saw only 7 of them. Tomorrow, I'll probably see a lot more of them. Let's see if my initial impression of them still holds.

Tomorrow is also going to be historic. It'll be the first time ever we'll be offering the KI paper after years, yes, years, of preparation. NBS and I hope our 6 can deliver the goods (no pressure, KIds!), but tomorrow our blinkers will finally come off, and then we'll know for sure what a 'live' exam paper really looks like. Regardless, at this point, it's isn't how much you know any more, but rather how well you use what you do know to answer the question.

And on that note, GP and KI candidates taking tomorrow's paper, you've studied hard enough. The time to rest your eyes and brains is now. Go sleep... and all the best for your papers! May you have enjoyable questions to work on!

Officially, we're on vacation. The last day of the JC year was last Friday at which we staff had a round-up of the year seminar. Unofficially, as of today, we're still at work. J1s have their project exams, J2s have gone into full-swing exam mode, some are still looking for some 11th-hour assurances from us. We staff are on exam duty, supervising kids taking their papers. Still busy, busy.

I'm surprised Mr Devan would behave like the other PSLE parents when his kid returned a poor grade on his presumably GP essay. The school system is too rigid, he claims, in being dogmatic to the thesis-exposition-conclusion model of essay writing. He gives examples of great essayists whose works don't follow the pattern, Bacon and Orwell he quotes. The thesis-expo-conc model might work for boring old reports on Singapore's economy or a lab report, but doesn't reflect the writings of novelists and journalists, so why can't we be flexible about it [and give young Master Devan an 'A' for his effort, instead of a 'B' or whatever]?

Let's just dump all our illusions and ideals about Education. A GP essay is the most boring thing anyone will ever write. GP isn't creative writing which celebrates a free flow of thoughts and ideas that might eventually meander to some revelation. Or not, which is also ok. GP doesn't like the personal and the story-telling style either, so even if Orwell himself wrote lines like the ones Devan quotes, I would still write in the margins in glaring red: Narrative! Relevance?

We forget that GP, like any other subject, is a training regimen in a particular discipline. And the grades a student gets are merely reflective of the skill demonstrated by the student attained in that discipline. GP is a narrow discipline because it belongs in the realm of Pre-university, i.e., teaching kids to cope in the university environment at which they will be writing boring, stuffy academic reports about the Singapore economy, lab reports and probably worse. They'd better be prepared.

In GP we emphasize not so much clarity of thought, but rather clarity of communicating our thoughts. Socrates was brilliant, but if he didn't have the ability to articulate his most significant idea: "You're all idiots!" to us, his wisdom would have died with him millennia ago.

The thesis-expo-conc model is great for communicating ideas because there's no room for discontinuity, or for random, stray, left-field thoughts entering the argument and confusing the issue or the reader. It makes the essayist more careful in considering his purpose for writing, more aware of the audience's desire to access a simple idea and have some evaluative deliberation over it. It makes the essayist research the background of the issue and be personally responsible for what he says about it.

The essayist is a person of integrity, who has thought hard about the issue being discussed, has learned as much as he can about the issue, and proposes a course of action that is both practical and responsible to deal with it. This is the way leaders communicate with their people, and as potential uni-grads who are likely to hold decision-making positions in society in the near future, they'd better learn to write and speak like leaders or hell, they ain't gonna get no respect. No, sir!

If you don't like GP to be so inflexible and narrow, remember that this is a course in writing that caters to the lowest common denominator, same as every other subject in the formal curriculum. In our hands, we would have shattered the confidence of Bacon and Orwell, sending them in tears from the classroom time and again. They would have had stable jobs in the civil service, but they would never have written another essay as long as they lived, ever again. But if you want your genius kid* to flower, why not try homeschooling? Your kid could have taken the 'O' levels at the age of 9!

*Darn! Link for ST subscribers only!

Rediscovering Ya Hua Rou Gu Cha -- a long-lost treasure -- was June's biggest thrill from yesterday's reef walk. Back when she was working for Compaq, this was THE place to celebrate Department events and special occasions. But when Ya Hua moved from Outram, they fell off the radar... until last night. As the bus took us back to campus, there it appeared, right outside PSA's Tanjong Pagar Gate 1, with a basement parking lot conveniently located right there.

So today, we went to see if it was as good as she remembered. The rou gu cha here is of the peppery variety. It's claim to fame is that with the same soup base, they make complementary (meaning "goes well with", NOT "free, gratis") side dishes of Chinese lettuce, Japanese seaweed (yums!), pork liver (excellent!) which we ordered (left). The different soups take on the flavour of their main ingredients so there's a multiplicity of variations on the basic rou gu cha theme in one meal.

Was it good? Yes. The top pix shows the pre-lunchtime crowd on a Sunday in the business district. Hint: go early if you want to get a table.

Edit 01:
This is the second time Mr George Lim Heng Chye has got my goat with another inane, petty and ridiculous letter to the ST's forum pages:

Man exposed himself to boys
October 28, 2007 Sunday

ON OCT20, I took my young son to the Ang Mo Kio Swimming Complex for his swimming lessons.

After his session, I accompanied him to the shower room. There, I noticed a man standing naked, drying his hair with a towel while displaying his full frontal view towards two young boys, who were in the midst of changing.

What was offensive was that the man was in a state of physical arousal. He was standing close and exposing himself to the boys, who fortunately ignored him.

When my son got out of the shower, I told him to change quickly and we left the room.

That man was still 'drying' his hair with a towel when we left. It did not look like he had any intention to get dressed.

What I saw was a pervert who was looking for an opportunity to satisfy his lust in the men's changing room by preying on young boys. It was a detestable act.

I urge the Singapore Sports Council to send patrols or marshals to stop such perverts from deliberately parading naked in the changing rooms at swimming complexes.

Hellooo... you saw a MAN naked in a MEN's shower room. Newsflash: people shower with their clothes off, most of the time. Ok, the dude was towelling dry his hair, but unless he had brought an extra towel with him (most of us won't bother), what else was he going to cover himself with? His dry BVDs?

Oh, and you thought the man was in "a state of physical arousal"? Men are born with differently sized um... physical equipment. Just because his might have been bigger than [what you're used to seeing] doesn't mean he was particularly excited by what your genetic offspring or you had to offer. Alternatively, he could have just towelled dry his own nether regions, and the stimulation might have inadvertently caused some "arousal". Has it been that long for you?

In fact, by taking note of the man's endowments, you were probably violating his privacy and he could sue you for it. The two young boys he was allegedly "exposing" himself to were probably his own sons who had the sense to ignore their dad going about his business. I think they'll turn out ok, but I worry about yours.

Just curious. Did you ever serve NS, or were you excused bathing for some medical condition or other?

You should stay away from the Women's shower room. With your constitution, you'll risk an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital if you ever saw what goes on in there. Naked women showering. The horror!

Staff field trip to Kusu Island! About 30 of us, some with spouses and/or kids in tow descended upon the tidal pools on the island to view the different lifeforms observable at low tide. Guides from Blue Water Volunteers showed us around, this being the last trip to the island they are organizing for the year.

When a place has generally few human visitors, it's amazing how much life flourishes. Today, however, we arrived; and though we were careful to gingerly step around inhabited patches of the reef, I'm sure some lifeforms came to grief under the soles of our feet. But we really did try to minimize our impact on the ecosystem as far as possible.

As we waded through the salt-water pools, we encountered crabs of the hermit and flower varieties, and one of the other guides put one small, hairy specimen in temporary captivity so that most of us could see it first-hand. What other things did we see? Check out the rest of June's pix here.

Our guides, Dionne and Yvonne, were entertaining and lively, and took our nonsense in their stride. They were informative and encouraged us to get hands-on with some of the creatures. We felt the suction of the carpet anemone's stinging tentacles (our skin is too thick to be affected by the stings) , and had snails and small crabs crawling over our palms just for the experience.

There was time for a quick self-prepared dinner after, while awaiting the ferry's departure. With the budget we gave her, Mel put together a small feast of egg mayo and chix mayo to spread on bread. Various people opened bags of chips, while Linc opened a bottle of cab sauv to share around.

Definitely not the worst way to spend a Saturday afternoon. =)

June got us comps to "The Game Plan" at the very last minute today. There was this huge crowd strung out along a red carpet at GV, Vivocity; and surprise, surprise, Mr Johnson himself strode in to the music of Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock". Corny, but somehow appropriate.

The pix was a quick grab using June's cellphone cam. Mine tends to run out of juice when I need it most.

Honestly, Game Plan wasn't on my list of to-watch movies. I'm quite leery of movies pitting known tough guys against wise-ass pipsqueaks. Arnold's done it, Hulk Hogan's done it, Vin Diesel's done it, and now The Rock? Big guys being put in their place by a tiny costar is usually hilarious in a David and Goliath sense, but the gags come cheap.

But The Rock, to his credit, isn't playing for laughs. There are the expected laugh-out-loud moments, but never once do we feel he's just milking comedy by making a fool of himself. Though his character, Joe Kingman, fumbles around with a new wrinkle in his life -- a daughter he never knew he had -- at a most crucial stage in his pro-football career, and though this unexpected situation causes chaos in his well-ordered existence, he never loses control but instead visibly puts himself on a learning curve to cope with it.

When Kingman gets forced into performing ballet with daughter, Peyton, there's an opportunity for on-screen silliness, but, no. While not entirely balletic, The Rock's on the mark, moving with the ensemble rather than against it. Good choice. In this respect, The Rock makes a transition that few in his industry have been able to, that is to separate the wrestler from the actor, and that's professionalism at the highest level.

Although Game Plan still follows formula ultimately, there are a few twists and surprises to sustain our interest. Peyton arrives at Kingman's apartment under rather suspicious circumstances, and what exactly is her hidden agenda with him?

If there's a point to this movie, it's that despite Kingman's wildly successful celebrity status, with his opulence, fame and his victory trophies, he lives in an empty, lonely world full of nothing but himself. But with the arrival of Peyton, he has to take stock of his situation and ask, what's life without a little chaos? What's success with no one to share it with? Good questions.

Also, a winning team comprises more than just the star quarterback.

I'm enjoying Portal the most out of all the toys in the Orange Box. It's short -- roughly three hours of gameplay to complete -- it's episodic, so stopping the game to do inconvenient but necessary stuff like potty breaks and meals is relatively painless, and the satisfaction of solving each puzzle is pure instant gratification.

There are 19 puzzle solving levels set in someplace called "Aperture Labs", but it's all training for the last level by which time we discover that all is not as it seems. Apart from the clinically sterile environment in which most of the game takes place, there are occasional glimpses behind the facade that reveal that something sinister is happening in the background.

For one thing, all safety protocols are non-existent. Many puzzles include lethal elements like acid-flooded floors, kawai but trigger-happy little gun turrets, and bouncy energy pellets which need to be manipulated into powering certain devices but are instant death on contact. How suspicious is that?

Every puzzle solved brings us a step closer to the truth. Is the lab computer malfunctioning? Its sing-song voice seems a little off-kilter. It promises cake and a party after the lab testing is complete, but IS the cake a lie?

For supporting NPCs in a game, the lab computer has to be one of the most memorable. We only hear its disembodied voice which accompanies us as we progress. It's functional at first, but there's almost a relationship that builds up between us two. Since there doesn't seem to be any other intelligence to interact with in the game, this relationship is more Stockholm Syndrome, less companionship.

I'm not sure how it's possible, but despite the vocal intonations that sound like they're being rendered through an early-generation SoundBlaster card, there's a discernible personality behind the computer's voice that appears genuinely interested in our progress, though not necessarily in our well-being. The information it provides tends to be a lot of corporate nonsense, pointless advice, disclaimers; but it's also disturbing to be watched and monitored so closely without knowing why.

Puzzle games don't usually have this level of story-telling, much less such personality. The puzzles themselves are readily solvable once we get used to the game physics. Since we have no offensive capability ourselves, most of the game is slow and methodical while we trial-and-error our next move. But the last five minutes of the endgame is quite a change of pace -- our personal survival depends on putting what we've learned to use as quickly as possible or die trying.

And now that I have successfully completed Portal, there are more advanced maps to play with. No story, just pure problem-solving. For what I initially expected of it, Portal has delivered so much more in terms of gaming experience.

Test drove the NEW Mazda 2! I couldn't resist it. While M2 stood shivering with uncertainty over his fate in his parking lot at the showroom, June and I took out a new toxic green coloured 2 for a spin.

Unlike the boxy, functional old design, the new one is sleek and sporty on the outside. The sales reps emphasize how the new look is supposed to have been inspired by the Peugeot 207, but really it could stand by itself. M2 looks rather ungainly in comparison.

Because of the new look, the cockpit is more crammed than I'm used to. There isn't as much clearance between the head and the door frame, so there's a little more caution needed in entering and exiting. Much reduced trunk space from the old, and the seats don't fold up so don't expect to carry too much in the back.

The console is quite space-age, though the displays are still more analogue than digital. Controls give the impression that it's all fly-by-wire, especially with the tiny auto-shift lever mounted on the console panel rather than the floorboard. The stereo system looks like it's been moulded into a bubble; sound is adequate, though nothing to boast about. Standard, the upholstery comes in fabric, though there is an upgrade option to 1 or 2-tone (yuck) sports leather.

The ride is s-w-e-e-t. Quiet engine, highly responsive acceleration with a kick you can feel, and it corners well, without the sway that the old model with its higher CG can't help. If I ever get used to this kind of handling, it'll be a great temptation to just hit the highway to see what this baby can really do.

So am I getting a new car? The new M2 is a yummy treat to drive, but after doing the math (yes, we went that far), we decided we couldn't afford the switch. M2 is currently in excellent working condition, so there's no real reason to make the trade; and besides, there's big travel plans to be made next year which need some serious financing. I'm not about to give that up for a new car I don't need right now.

Pragmatism and a level-head won this day!

*video 'koped' from 4a.mazda.com

Cracked open the Orange Box at last. For $79.90, it packs in 5 games, though 2 are reprises (more on them later). The new games are Half Life 2: Episode 2; the innovative 1st person puzzle game, Portal; and the multiplayer Team Fortress 2 that offers a higher level of complexity in the mix of character classes than ET:QW. TF2 I didn't load, since I'm NOT going online with it.

Ep. 2's strength is in cooperative gameplay partnering the player's character, Gordon Freeman, with a highly competent NPC who isn't just a great shot, but also offers contextualized, scripted "conversation" that moves the plot along, and gives the player a sense of companionship unparalleled in any other FPS. It's great having Alex Alyx watch your back with a sniper rifle as you plough through a radioactive swamp crawling with zombies. Though she never misses, the area is so target rich that the shotgun Gordon's totting doesn't have a chance to be idle.

Apart from the runnin' and gunnin', Ep. 2 is also a bit of a puzzle game involving environmental obstacles as well as figuring out how to get crucial bits of machinery functioning. Tense drama, blazin' guns, head-scratchin' moments, Ep. 2's got a little something for everyone.

Portal's a bit strange as a puzzler. The player carries a portal gun that opens holes in walls, floors and ceilings, but the point of entry into a portal leads to an exit point somewhere else on the map. This miracle of technology allows the player to manoeuvre around obstacles to reach objectives that are otherwise physically inaccessible. Amidst this rather disorienting experience is an adventure game that maintains a consistent narrative, driving the player from one puzzle to the next.

Warning: While beautiful and realistic in rendering graphics, the Source engine powering these games makes me sick to the core after a while. Motion sickness makes me play in bite-sized chunks, or alternatively, blow chunks. I prefer the former.

The older games in this package are HL2 and Ep. 1 all over again, for the benefit of first-time buyers who might want to complete the backstory leading to Ep. 2. And this is my cue to announce that publisher, Valve, having recognized me as a legal purchaser of these previous 2 games, allows me to legally GIVE away 1 copy of each to anyone I choose. I'm not exactly sure how the download process is going to work exactly, but the recipient, I suppose, needs to create an account with Valve first. Sooo... any takers? Email me at xmac2006@gmail.com; 1st come, 1st served!

There was no intention to be mysterious about my "decision" in the previous entry, although I suppose that might have overdramatized things a little. All I did was to apply for an MA programme, which means I'll be working and studying at the same time, so Taily was right on the money.

However, the chances of my application being successful are slim, given the limited number of places available. I don't like to talk about my "chances" because I have this irrational notion that the more is said, the less likely it's going to happen.

I'll keep y'all posted about it when I know more.

I realized that life for me has become too comfortably stagnant. Like I've got everything I wanted, and there's this blissful contentment that I've been wallowing in for a while already. As ideal as it sounds, it's also made me lazy and complacent, and the world is starting to pass me by. I'm glad that's starting to disturb me, 'cos I'm still too young to ossify, too young to think like a retiree, and I have too many bills to pay.

As I said before, maybe in not so many words, it's better to be slightly hungry than torpid, languid and overfed. I need a new challenge to rise above, and a new milestone to aim my efforts at. So I made a decision this morning that will push me out of my comfort zone, and will probably add a hitherto unknown level of stress on my life, though at the end, it isn't likely to change my life very much other than perhaps grant me a few more bragging rights than I have now.

It's a decision that is more likely not to pan out, so I won't actually say what it is until I hear more positive results, but even if the outcome is negative it won't matter because I'm hungry and on the hunt again.

Pain and hunger. There's no better way to reassure ourselves that we're still alive.

Where D NY EL went was the mystery of the afternoon. The entire department had upped and left to bid Boss Lady goodbye as she leaves for um... more intellectual pastures than hanging around us nutters.

Josh, B-lo and I were at China Square collecting 8 Don's Pies, and a chocolate banana cake at Awfully Chocolate in Republic Plaza to feed the hungry masses.

It was a great afternoon to be out and about. It was bright and sunny -- the kind of lighting that makes the whole world look lined in sharp, clear edges -- warm, with a light breeze, like summer in TO, which I miss.

This was no formal event, just D NY EL meeting over food and teh tarik at someone's house. We haven't done anything like this for a long time. Years, in fact. So I'm glad that we could overcome our usual inertia to do this, even if the occasion had to be a farewell for someone who was most excellent to work with.

She was calm and steady, understanding, patient and gave good advice. She rose up from among us, to lead us and to be responsible for us. In the few years as our boss, she's since become a seasoned veteran of the HOD trenches. We're gonna miss her.

Fortunately, new Boss Lady is also from among us, and she has our confidence and support. We'll be good and try not to give her too much trouble. Promise.

Oh, what a time to be a gamer! There are so many much anticipated new games that finally hit the shelves in the last couple of weeks.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars kicked off the flurry with its wide-open spaces, and teamplay comprising a mix of specialists who support one another in combat. It really does feel like being immersed in a war, with attacks coming in from more than just the opposing grunt team but also from artillery, armoured vehicles, water and air craft, all vehicles piloted by the players themselves. ETQW is really meant as an online game, so there's hardly any plot, except to distinguish one side from the other. There are several maps with objectives to accomplish on both sides; whichever team completes all its primary objectives on the map wins the round.

I dunno why I bought the game, though. I'm never going online with it. I'm already getting myself murdered by the off-line mode bots. Besides, after getting myself player-killed by my own teammate in CS (I was shot in the back even before the game started so the berk could pick up my weapon which was presumably more expensive than his) I've never trusted the online gaming community ever again. There, I said it. You guys officially suck.

But ETQW is no fun playing alone, so I'm amusing myself with Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. It plays more like a side scroller than the other games in the SM franchise. No free-roaming in a city, looking for trouble, SM:FoF puts the player on a pre-defined path lined with obstacles, rewards and boss-battles. Like a pretty NES Mario in albeit gorgeous 3D landscapes and a whole lot more beat-'em-up violence. The artwork is more cartoony (probably as a tie-in to the new Spider-Man animated series being released next year) than its previous movie merchandise incarnations, but the humour between NPCs Nick Fury and the SHIELD computer is priceless. The attraction to this game is in the mixing and matching of SM and a cooperative teammate who could be either another Marvel hero, or an enemy with whom SM has formed a temporary alliance in order to fight a bigger threat. Think of the Marvel Team-Up comic series of the 70s-80s and you get the idea.

And still pristine in its shrink-wrap is The Orange Box... I don't have time to play everything, you know? The gamer in me is in heaven, but I'm also a daily-rated salaryman. How else to finance the gaming habit? It's a vicious circle.

According to the NSDUH survey, the education industry ranks pretty high in employee depression. Above us are people involved in the social and health care type services (not surprising), and immediately above us are the artists, entertainment and sports people (also not surprising because depression makes for great spectacle).

But every other type of occupation appears happier than us. Even the janitors, the construction workers, and the maintenance personnel sport bigger smiles on their faces, while the engineers and architects are the least depressed, laughing all the way to the bank. Could our mothers who so insisted on us getting an engineering degree have been right all along? They were a bit off about the doctor thing, though.

So there. Your teachers are a depressed lot, many of whom are probably borderline psychotics on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The stats say so. Kids, what can you do to cheer us up?

In "Resident Evil: Extinction", the T-virus has taken over the world, and only a small handful of survivors remain to fend for themselves against an unending army of the infected undead. It's literally "you and me against the world" when Alice chances upon a convoy of survivors among whom are her old pals, Carlos and LJ.

With supplies running low, Alice brings the convoy a rumour of a safe haven in sunny Alaska. Too bad they're stuck in the Nevada desert. Solution: hit Vegas to stock up for the long drive ahead. Setting-wise, Vegas is a brilliant location for the movie as its distinctive landmarks have been ripped off the major landmarks of the world, so it really does look like the living fighting the undead within a microcosm of the entire world.

While scary-looking, the flesh-munching undead are, as usual, not the "Evil" the title refers to. Yet again, it's the self-serving Umbrella Corporation that seeks to enslave the undead, making Umbrella-ella-ella the largest employer the planet has ever seen. Having no needs of their own, the undead demand no wages, and hence, Umbrella would not have to contend with any future belligerent labor union asserting the rights of the unpaid, unwashed, unliving masses. Now, if only someone could remind all this potential zombie-power resource that they don't actually have to eat living people as they don't actually have to eat anything, 'cos they're, well, already dead.

That job, the Corporate President leaves to Dr Issacs, the Evil Resident of the US research facility. Issacs goes after Alice, whose mutated blood is key to his company's recruitment drive, while Alice just wants Issacs' helicopter so she can fly her chums to Alaska. Talk about conflict!

The movie is kept tight and tense, with a number of "boo!" moments to keep us on the edge of our seats. Somehow, I felt the fighting wasn't quite as intense as "RE:Apocalypse". Maybe the bright, open spaces of desert combat had something to do with that. Zombies don't have much impact in the light of day, and without the dank, claustrophobic crawlspaces to play hide and seek in, it isn't so much fun. Still, babes, guns, bullets that strike with palpable impact, and Milla; I'm not gonna argue.

I think the title, "Resident Evil: Extinction" is also appropriate to this hot news article about pet killings in Puerto Rico. The depravity of such human beings is unspeakable. If people can do this sort of thing to animals, it doesn't surprise me that we are doing it to each other as well.

Who needs a bloody T-virus? You know a dynasty's reign is about over when its members think nothing of committing such outrageous deeds. The human species has lived on earth for too long and it's time for our extinction so the world can recover from our infection. I, for one, am so not adding one more T-virus to the current infestation. Have to do my part for the planet.

I think of my Q-tip, Momo, and Kaiser, and I want to cry.

Attempted to catch the latest "Resident Evil" movie, but for the second day in a row, I've been thwarted by fatigue and inertia. Today was particularly bad 'cos while awaiting our scheduled departure time, we fell asleep watching TV. I only woke up past midnight, while June's still out cold in la-la land.

I don't have a big picture view of our college Open House event, so I won't comment too much on that. My job was to pull a team of student DJs together and schedule their on-air slots. Their role is less glam than it sounds; the kids are among the most harassed while they're on duty.

Apart from playing music (Dani was having a field day selecting the tracks to be played), they had to cope with making both scheduled and unscheduled announcements, while assailing our little secondary school guests with reminders, encouragement to participate in the various games and activities, and calling out prize winners' names.

I seem to have assembled a great team of DJs who were quite up to the task and who appeared to have enjoyed their stressful afternoon quite well. YY and Sumi were bright and chirpy, Tim and Dani turned up their 'tude attempting to interact with the audience, Zen and ZH kept cool, just taking things as they came.

Considering they have had hardly any training apart from perhaps listening to the radio themselves -- and I'm not sure Zen does, even -- I think they did ok. Thanks for being so enthu all afternoon. Wish I had the time and the expertise (maybe I can ask Howie, he's the pro) to train you all properly, though. We could be less ad hoc and aim for longer-term goals then.

Yay! Back to my usual self-indulgent bimbo self again. Got this quiz from YKM. Does seem acceptably accurate, maybe except for the mathematician part. Where did that come from?

You Are An INTP

The Thinker You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can. Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge. Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat. A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it. In love, you are an easy person to fall for. But not an easy person to stay in love with. Although you are quite flexible, you often come off as aloof or argumentative. At work, you are both a logical and creative thinker. You are great at solving problems. You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor. How you see yourself: Creative, fair, and tough-minded When other people don't get you, they see you as: arrogant, cold, and robotic

What's Your Personality Type?

We bade farewell to our J2s at their Graduation Ceremony today. A little prematurely, 'cos they'll still come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next... for extra classes, mock papers, remedial workshops, and anything else we can throw at them to help them make the grade and move on to the Uni.

Their finals start in 19 days, and then, hopefully we'll never have to see them again. Out of the nest, at last; spreading their fledgling wings and seeing where the world will take them to next. But till then, they'll be clamouring for one last stuffing of pre-digested worm meal to prepare them for that step out the front door, and that step is gonna be a doozy.

Since Cara took a turn to organize one of these sentimental events, it's become something of a tradition for us staff, by departments, to videotape a farewell message to our kids, wishing them bon voyage, fair winds and good fortune. Over the years, we've been pushing the envelope of what technology, creativity and good taste can avail us in crafting these non-Hallmark approved last words of advice. Now that we have embedded video technology, everyone can view D NY EL's vid to the kids:



BTW, the advice about sleep is serious. Kids are screwing up their brains, being too busy to sleep enough hours every day!

Heh, I should take my own advice.

With limited time for lunch and the sun just beating us down with withering heat in the afternoon, we just needed someplace cool to grab a quick bite. B-lo could have rolled her eyes all she wanted, but trapped in M2 with Amy, Mel and Baggy, our general consensus brought us to McD's in Gardens. Not very imaginative, our choice, but we've eaten at Dju2 once too often already, and anywhere else to break the monotony was better than that.

But McD's here has one major pull factor: it's right next to Cardon Coffee Shop at which we can find the most gorgeous muffins this part of town. They come out of the on-site oven fresh and hot, and in a wide variety of different flavours: cranberry/walnut, oatmeal/orange-peel, chempedak (eew...) are some of the more exotic combinations.

These muffins are light, not oily, sweet without being overpowering. The muffins have a faint, milky aftertaste so the flavour stays in the mouth for a little while longer. And that's quite a pleasant memory.

Stocks sell out quickly, but that's no surprise. Just the 5 of us wiped out 14 assorted muffins, taking full advantage of the free muffin with every half-dozen purchased policy.

Mmm... muffins...

Took Q-tip to Kasey to get her microchip implant. It's unlikely that we'll lose her, since she'll always be wherever we have left her -- not that she's so deadset faithful, but that she's too scared to jump off whatever perch we've parked her on -- but it's best to be careful, anyway.

The implant is a tiny RFID chip that holds a unique identification number so that the person the number is registered to is indisputably the rightful owner of the dog, so there. It's great for identifying a lost pet, but it also makes dog abandonment a futile exercise, in case anyone could ever be so inhumanely inclined.

Kasey showed us the applicator, a small syringe-like device with a big, fat needle, about as thick as the one they use on us when we're donating blood. Yipes! On a little dog like Q-tip, that has gotta hurt.

We agreed to stay and help Kasey with the procedure. We held Q-tip's head steady while Kasey pulled up the skin on the scruff of her neck, where dogs are least likely to feel pain. The needle went in and out, and it was all over. So fast. And Q-tip doesn't seem to be feeling any distress or discomfort from the experience.

I wonder... now that all licensed dogs are "highly encouraged" to be thus chipped, could the military have a remote control device to recruit an army of canine "volunteers" should any hostilities break out?

Edit01:
Ooh! What a stoopid headline!
"Officers find ecstasy in Mr. Potato Head" Must have had a deprived childhood...

Whether we give too much attention to paper qualifications was the topic of discussion among Maddy, HH and me this morning. Consultation with the kids does sometimes bring up eye-opening observations. Despite our insistence on presenting a 'balanced' viewpoint in our essays, it was difficult to resist arguing that this situation exactly describes how maniacally obsessed we are over our certs, degrees and other black-and-white acknowledgments of our skills and accomplishments...

No point completing a long and boring essay discussion here, so only if interested, ok? Click.

Hope Mary will pull through the next few days ok. She got tix for us to LaSalle's "Oh! What a Lovely War!" but while driving to meet us, she knocked over a motorcyclist. The guy hurt his arm and was shaken up, but fortunately, nothing worse. Now she's going through the necessary reporting stages, investigation, and whatever else.

Meantime, our dinner and show plans carried on as usual. We met Jen and Adrian at Sketches for a quick pasta meal. Jen generously shared her voluptuously juicy sausage that went with her spaghetti.

"OWLW!" was quite a slick, professional production by the students of the drama school. The house opened with the chorus streaming out into the lobby area to personally invite the audience in. There was no opening curtain as the cast was already performing a selection of WW1 songs while the audience was still finding their seats. With such high energy from the outset, I knew we were in for a great show.

It was quite the history lesson on the First World War, seen from the viewpoints of the various European nations involved. We got an insight into the political and industrial leadership's motivations for the war, as well as look into the lives and attitudes the commoners at home, and the soldiers in the trenches.

It was uncomfortable as the sober realities of the horror that was WW1 were brought home to us through comic sketches, songs of the period, a backdrop slideshow of old b&w photographs, and simple mass dance movements. I was thinking that if anyone was studying up on WW1, this show would provide a nice, broad overview.

The use of the different European accents might make it a little inaccessible to our local audience though, especially if they're not used to 'Allo 'Allo. The tech was also a little off, with some of the action taking place in the dark, and occasionally the lights came on late.

Regardless, there is a lot of talent in these students. They ensemble cast played well together, to deliver a highly polished production. The guy with the megaphone had me scratching my head a bit, though. What exactly was his role, being cast so anomalously in relation to the period and the other characters? Both in and out of the ensemble, my best guess is that he is the audience's anchor to that distant conflagration so long ago.

My usually bimbotic entries have temporarily given way to issues with slightly more political overtones.I'm probably suffering from an overdose of KI critical thinking paper marking and it's carrying over into my off-duty hours.

Well, since I'm at it, I know a couple of people who have things to say about the political nastiness going on in Myanmar, so while I recover my own wits, I'll let them take centrestage for a while:

Meet Leounheort, who's all fire and brimstone about the injustices taking place up there and how we're implicated in the mess due to our money-grubbing "bizness" and other ties with the junta heads up there.

And here's ST writer, Keane. No, I don't know him personally, but he suggests a bottom-up approach to resolving the crisis which is novel and less confrontational. What do you expect from ST, right?

Interesting that Ms Yu-Foo asserts that "women in their 20s now earn 98 per cent of what their male counterparts do." It's even more interesting that the respondents to the ST report would get all indignant about it. NS shortchanges our guys in terms of their pay and career prospects? I don't think so.

If Ms Yu-Foo's assertion was meant to show how we're closing the gender gap in wages and work, we need a reality check. Because of 2 years' NS, women get a headstart on their careers, while the men discharge their national obligations. Chronologically, women start work or continue their education at the university at 18, while the men can only start at 20. So women have 2 years' seniority over their male counterparts, and yet are still earning 2% less than a man who is just landing an entry-level position at his first job.

It's even more disturbing to consider Ms Yu-Foo's observation that our female grads outnumber our male grads. A female grad with 2 year's seniority over her non-grad male counterpart earns 2% less than him while they are in their 20s? I'm no Math major, but somehow that doesn't sound at all equal to me.

But a more important consideration of wage equality would be the gap between male and female earnings as we grow older. I'd like some data on that before I agree that we have indeed closed the wage gap between the genders in S'pore.

Where the guys are really losing out is in their academic achievement, if what Ms Yu-Foo says about us having more female than male grads is true. That means that more women are in a better position to advance in their careers than men because they have the necessary qualifications to do so. Education does seem to be the Great Equalizer of social disparity in the long term.

So, guys, if ya wanna be lazy, slack off, and don't study, then don't complain when a girl overtakes you on the career track. Understand?

We are approaching the last leg of our 18 month tour. The final stretch before another batch of JC kids take their final exam and, nothing personal, but we hope to never see them again... except perhaps as future colleagues or if they return with valuable tribute in gratitude to the ones who have set them on the path to their success. Right.

This is the last 100m sprint to the finish line, and the good news is that whether each student crosses the line in great vigour and strength, or limps across battered and bruised from falling face first into the mud once too often, everybody wins! And in this final stretch, we staff will be pushing, pressuring, cussing, cajoling, waving pom-poms, whatever -- anything to keep spirits and confidence up so that as many of our students as possible will find the courage to make this last effort to finish well.

The majority will, as they do every year. But this stage of preparation is also like the eve of a major battle. In the gathering gloom, faces aglow in the flickering campfire light, the Commander will "proclaim...

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

(Henry V, 4.3)

This too is the reality of the task we are all facing. There will be those who for one reason or another are still deficient in the training, the focus and the courage to do what's necessary to ensure victory, or even their own survival. They shouldn't be tested if they haven't earned the right to be tested.

These next few weeks will be crucial to all our JC2s. If you commit to the fight, then you bloody well FIGHT! Each subject you take is a front you must attack to your last breath, no giving up, no giving way. If you waver now, you might as well go home now. Choose.

Finally took Cat up on her lunch offer today. It was great to see her & Sam, Joyce, and Joyce's little 'un, Jun, a reunion of sorts of people who once spent a lot of time in each other's company. Dan was celebrating his daughter's birthday so he couldn't join us. And Googling around, I found Nic who's now a corporate head in the ad industry in KL, a whole capital city away. So perhaps the old YU alumni (though Sam's actually from UT) might actually start meeting each other more regularly, now that we've sort of reestablished contact.

I was last in TO in '92, and in 15 years, we're married and a couple of us have kids. But the last decade and a half, for me at least, feels like no time has passed at all. Yet so much has changed, and we no longer have a common campus or church to keep us together any longer. It'll be will and goodwill, and email(!) that'll keep us in touch with each other now.

Our afternoon began at Brewski's. Location happenin' but not overcrowded, central enough for all of us to get to, food of good variety, quality and value. Seeking dessert, we moved from there to Dempsey Road, Cat's preferred stomping grounds. Dempsey Road is a huge knowledge gap for me and June. The rustic charm of the expansive converted army camp promises intriguing eating and exotic shopping and demands further exploration.

From the various choices available, Jun decided for us that we wanted Ben & Jerry's. The outlet here is like a countryside barn, all wood and some cast-iron supports. It was packed and noisy, with an electric atmosphere, more than what I'd expected on a lazy Sunday. The youthful staff were smiley, friendly and warm. Great place to while the afternoon away, catching up on old friends and acquaintances (what? no! really?), while our ice-creams melted slowly in front of us.

The quick snapshot here shows (L-R) Joyce, Jun (see the resemblance?) and Cat. See y'all again real soon, 'k?

There's a lot of anger and fear over our CPF changes. A lot of questions about what the govt is doing with our money, making us buy a compulsory annuity which we can only cash out if we survive past 85, and how many of us are likely to do that?

It's like a bet: we all put our money in a common pot and if we make it past five years as an octogenarian, we win and we can take our share (plus interest) back in monthly installments. If we don't make it, well, that's the nature of gambling -- win some, lose some. Sure, S'poreans make a national pastime of 4-D and Toto, but who'd have thought CPF would be the latest game S'pore Pools is offering?

I dunno. I'm not really into that debate at the moment. I have more pressing concerns about my CPF. Like how my personal CPF contribution to our housing loan is practically servicing only the loan interest, while June's contribution can only put a tiny dent per month on the principal. And next month, the interest rate is going to be revised again, more likely up than down.

What this works out to is that a truckload of my money doesn't belong to me, but it does pay for my right to own a house... eventually. It's a loss making proposition since the market for my location isn't likely to return to the high, heady time that it was when we bought it. So barring any unforseen incident, we'll be staying put for a while.

This morning, we were at our local HDB office transferring a large chunk of our accumulated CPF to reduce our loan to 10 years from 18. That's 8 year's worth of interest saved, if I calculate correctly.

10 more years to pay for my flat, then maybe I can start worrying about whatever money I have left to retire on.

It's not just us abandoning pets any more! They're doing it in the US too! With domestic rabbits! *shakes head and wonders what the world's coming to. Click here. Thank goodness for animal rescue volunteers, both here and there.

Canis domesticus has suddenly leaped onto the endangered species list. Owners of unlicensed dogs now facing a tenfold increase in fines for the offence have devised a brilliant workaround their predicament: abandon their dogs before the revised law kicks in.

How ironic that a law revised to offer more protection to our pets has resulted in more cruelty to them instead. Couple of issues here: rigid, over-reactive laws designed more to punish than help the situation, and people who would rather save themselves and their money than be responsible for their own pets.

But it's the latter issue that probably caused the former. As people who are urbanizing over what used to be natural habitats of other species, we've been losing sense of our interconnectedness with the plants and animals that form more than just the backdrop of our existance. When they get expensive or inconvenient, we get rid of them like we get rid of garbage.

But a punitive law with such a heavy penalty isn't helping make this situation any better. All the more we've made keeping pets an even more expensive proposition. No one wants to pay for an annual license. They are going to want to pay a $5k fine even less.

Law and punishment won't solve a problem if we don't address the root causes of the problem. Penalizing people isn't going to make them respect their responsibilities. Some dumb idiot abandoned what looks like a pomeranian which somehow wound up on the central divider of the TPE! Charitable assumption: dog somehow ran across the highway from wherever it got abandoned. Uncharitable assumption: dog got abandoned where it got found, owner hoping that a passing vehicle would put the ex-pet out of its misery.

Why do we feel the Govt is always controlling our lives when what we've got is really what we deserve? A little more thoughtfulness towards our fellow beings, people, please! We don't need a Draconian legal system to keep us in line, just a measure of common sense and a little empathy towards others, human or otherwise.

"Censorship is the best defence against unwholesome values. Discuss." Yes, another outline.

I think for an 800 word essay, this one is unbelievably difficult to write. Censorship only limits access to specific content in the mass media. It's really hard to link "content" with "values" without some kind of extensive waffling because the two are obviously not the same thing.

I'm not entirely happy with this outline, especially the way I brought in the idea of "education" from nowhere, and some of the connections are more convenient than considered. It's even a little vague and unrealistic. But what can you do with such a minuscule word limit?

Oh, in case anyone asks why my "outlines" are as long as an acceptable GP essay, it's because they're really outlines for a much larger research paper. Get the hint, KIds?

Edit:
Forgot to mention that M2 went for his 50k servicing. Now he handles a little better, pickup's a little faster, purrs smoother. Wonder if the effect is just psychosomatic?

I think it was Cat who got me where I am today. I recall way back in '91, when we were still young and irresponsible students, she said to me, "why don't you go and teach in a JC?" Who knew it would take nearly a decade of aimless wandering around in the wilderness before her throwaway suggestion would become prophecy?

Thanks, Cat. Now I'm swamped up to my eyeballs with marking; reports, outlines and reviews clawing at my back; vetting of testimonials (SGCs they call 'em now -- same animal, new cage); prelim casualties to comfort and admonish while juggling the inevitable pre-finals consultations that are about to recommence; and a dozen other ad hoc things to accomplish before the year-end hols.

Ah, to be an irresponsible student again...

Whole day spent on drawing up essay outlines and writing exam markers' reports, although according to my schedule perhaps most of what I did was a little premature. I'm confused...

Anyway, while I'm at it, here's another essay outline to bore you to tears with:

"Consider the importance of skepticism in society today." Click here.

The mooncake festival is here again. M-i-L got busy and whipped up a bunch of mooncakes and pig-in-a-basket cookies which also come in the shape of goldfish and, these days, Ultraman.

Due to the recent recall of tainted salted eggs, this year M-i-L's "golden yolk" mooncakes are extremely limited in supply. There are none in this batch here.

That's also the reason why the mooncakes here are smaller than usual. Without the savoriness of the egg yolk, the sweet taste of the bean paste filling would become monotonous very quickly. Besides, they look cuter like this.

Just staggered home from the "Planet Terror" marathon at GV Plaza. It's actually Tarantino's Grindhouse double-bill of "Death Proof" and "Planet Terror" that are usually packaged together and meant to be viewed in one sitting. Here in S'pore, the two movies got split up and sold individually, except for tonight's screening at which we could watch both as was originally intended.

Tix pricing was exorbitant, though part of the cost was to cover our "unlimited" supply of popcorn and Coke... which we couldn't take much advantage of because there's only so much of the stuff we can input before it starts generating negative returns.

The movies themselves, well... what's not to like? Babes with guns, babes in fast muscle cars, babes turning the tables on their dumb, macho oppressors; babes fighting and surviving nicely thank you very much against unbelievable odds. Whether it's hunted tuning hunter against a psycho stalker (Death Proof) or victim turning survivor against an ever increasing hoard of disease-ridden zombies (Planet Terror), it's just fun watching babes find strength within themselves, and put even their most "useless" talents to good use.

Earlier this morning, back in the real world, we spent a small fortune taking our animals to the vet. The cats got their shots while Q-tip went for teeth scaling. Combined, June & I spent nearly $400 making sure our family was healthy. Careful as we are, there's nothing like getting a professional opinion in case we missed anything.

Nothing unusual, though Kasey's professional eye saw that we could still take better care of them. Cats have a little hair-chewing, non-transferable, lice problem, while Q-tip's dental plaque build-up has resulted in a few loose teeth which we need to take action on.

Pet ownership is an expensive proposition. Don't get a pet if you're not prepared for this.

Alvin confirmed his place at our breakfast table with his amazing Excel spreadsheet. It was a work of pure genius, allowing us to key in our orders for McD's breakfast meals and immediately tally our outstanding payment from our own terminals in the staffroom. With a comprehensive list of our demands, it was easy for him to place a mass order for us; a lifesaving gesture on his part, as the canteen was closed today.

Meantime, I've had my prelim marking temporarily interrupted to give my attention to shooting D NY EL's farewell messages to our JC2s. The bulk of our shoot caused quite a bit of inconvenience to the staff not involved 'cos I didn't want any incidentals popping up unexpectedly on camera and forcing an unnecessary retake. The shoot took about an hour split over two sessions today, no more, so I hope to be forgiven for the disruption to the [serious] work schedule... someday.

Still, some shots simply could not be used. I had problems with continuity, poor composition and pacing, and they basically looked weird, not quite complementary with the main storyline, if we may call it that. Have to do some quick improvisation on Mon if I'm gonna meet the Wed deadline

Dinner was at Sunset, finally, after planning to drop by for several weeks now. Amazingly, quite a number of us (and our dates) found this evening to be free. Even more amazingly, Josh and Jo couldn't, even though they were the ones most hoping to go this time around. But Sunset is beautiful, the prices are quite reasonable, and there is every reason for us to make another trip up. Better luck next time!

Have to give IJ credit for trying out a more argumentative, critical-thinking approach to GP, even if it was only for an academic study.

"The aim was to enable students to engage more effectively in critical thinking as they explored different perspectives, concretised their arguments, and analysed the strengths and weaknesses of each other's arguments and underlying assumptions - skills required in both the essay and the Application Question components of GP."

The theory appears sound enough. GP's stock-in-trade is argumentation. We look at ideas, events and phenomena from multiple perspectives, recognizing that not all these diverse views are entirely reasonable. For reasons such as experiential or cultural prejudice, lack of knowledge, or perhaps even because of a personal agenda, people perceive and interpret the things that go on around them differently from one another. It is the stronger folk that try to persuade others to see things their way in order to initiate some action in order to salvage or exploit the situation as they see fit.

These are the arguments we all get blasted with daily. Politicians, scientists, clergy, enterprise, yes, even educators and parents all communicate with us through presenting arguments -- some more formally and more skillfully than others -- but they all tell us to go do something, eat something, wear something, buy something, and so on. For a teenager, all these arguments can appear conflicting, and worse, because they are usually voiced by an authority figure, they sound more like orders and instructions rather than simply appeals for positive support.

If teens feel they have no freedom, and no choices to make, it's usually because they are unable to prioritize all these diverse arguments but instead see them all as equally important, and hence, get stretched apart running, jumping through hoops, fetching and carrying for whoever assaults them with the loudest voice first.

By teaching argumentation and critical thinking in GP, that should be the first step to our teens learning to empower themselves to sieve through their various stimuli, analyze their situation and take action based on their own decision-making processes. This, ultimately, is teaching our teens to fish for themselves, rather than us staff catching, preparing, de-boning, and offering our ungrateful children our best fish dishes all the time. We continue doing this for our kids and we shouldn't be surprised that all they do is pick at their food and all they return to us is excrement in the form of poorly thought out essays and compre papers. Garbage in, garbage out.

Ok. Easy to say. Why aren't my kids performing any better, since I seem to have all the answers? Simple. I don't have the loudest voice.

The pioneer batch of KIds have submitted their Independent Study (IS) research papers. I think there is definitely a difference in the quality of the 2500-3000 word K&I essays I've received, and the 500-800 word GP essays I'm currently marking. Odd thing is, neither I nor NBS have really hand-held the KIds through their IS -- it is an Independent Study, after all -- and they've shown quite a level of motivation, even enthusiasm in getting their task done, whereas we've been teaching our brains out at GP, but I doubt many of the GP kids could produce anything like the K&I IS even at this stage.

How our IS papers compare with other JCs', I wouldn't know. But K&I's emphasis on purposeful research and personal responsibility for knowledge acquisition seems to have pushed the KIds' writing capabilities up a notch from the usual GP standard.

Is it innate in the KIds themselves, that they are already predisposed to cope with such pressure, stress and rigour? Or could it be the nature of the subject, that by setting higher expectations the students stretch themselves further to meet those expectations?

Or could K&I really demonstrate that the industry's "teach less, learn more" guideline actually has some merit? Guess it's up to Cambridge now to put some numbers to what is right now merely speculative thinking.

Good luck with your submissions, KIds!

Today was Lorenzo's one-day-only sale. We were in the market for a new bed frame. Our current one is getting awfully rickety. For some reason, the headboard joints have been getting increasingly loose, and it feels like it'll collapse pretty soon with one more false move.

It's not our safety we're concerned about, but rather Q-tip's. She loves to sleep under the bed, and if there should be a sudden nocturnal falling apart, we're going to end up with one slightly flattened mini-maltese.

Lorenzo has very chic looking beds, all angular with clean lines, and probably great for creating a Zen ambiance. But that is also the problem. Such hard angles are a potential health hazard for people who have to walk between the light switch and their "side" of the bed. I've already stubbed my toe several times on the current bed, but the higher corners on the Lorenzo beds offer bruised shins and knees apart from the usual digit damage. And, as June pointed out, because the bed frame is covered in a leather layer, it'll become a tempting new scratching post for our cats.

So despite the sale, we gave Lorenzo a miss.

We did, however, blow a wad on a Scanteak bed frame, the design of which is surprisingly not that dissimilar to our current one. All teak, nothing to claw at, and seems stable enough so Q-tip can sleep with a little more security at night. For what we paid for it, we hope it'll last 10 years or more.

While the prelims are on, we have just been focused on marking our papers and using the time to write our comments in more detail on each script that passes through our hands.

The kids of this year have been more diligent and studious than I've ever encountered before. Most of my scripts show that the kids have been reading their notes and have been paying attention during their lectures, and quite a number have been keeping up with the news as well. At least content-wise they're showing promise.

So, they have amassed a nice pile of Lego bricks to build answers with. The difficulty for them now is fitting the pieces together as the question requires. Some concepts they have a better grasp of than others. Environmental issues they seem ok with 'cos they're mostly straightforward cause-effect principles. But the kids writing on the censorship issue have been turning in essays comprising ill-fitting bits, looking quite skeletal and grotesque in nature. I shouldn't be surprised; censorship is a pretty abstract concept, especially if the question requires them to discuss its effectiveness against unwholesome values. Let's not even talk about the question on scepticism, an even more abstract concept.

While the kids have been kuai with their input, their unquestioning acceptance of everything we've shoveled at them suggests that in the next few weeks before the 'A's, we have to work on their processing, helping them to understand their content better, and in some cases, update their content as well. Quoting case studies from the '60s and '70s just seems a little dated. But at least they know their case studies.

While getai was getting an '881' makeover in the '60s in S'pore, over on the other side of the world America was waking up to a rebellion of music and dance against the white-dominated conservative values of a decade before. Welcome to Baltimore, Maryland, a nondescript town in one of the tiniest of the US States, and the setting for 'Hairspray'.

'881' was a nostalgic reflection on Hokkien music which has not really grown out of its niche and is currently being kept alive primarily as entertainment for the Dead (no, I don't mean Deadheads, duh. I do literally mean our dearly departed during the annual 7th month summer break from the afterlife). The story focuses on the divisiveness of the music, and how rival getai singers compete with one another through music, dance and costume as they backstab, badmouth and brawl their way to the top of their circuit.

'Hairspray' looks at rock & roll, the springboard for the kind of music heard around the world today, and the common ancestor of black music and white music as we know them today. In the US, rock & roll underscores some major changes in the lives of the American people. Some changes were frivolous and transient (fashion, hairstyle, dance moves), but others impacted on the values of society as a part of a fundamental shift in the way people lived (e.g., racial integration, the idea that "being different" is no longer an obstacle to achieving one's dreams).

Both movies say a lot about our two very different cultures. Over here, we see threats and competition all over the place. For us, the only way to the top is through tooth and claw and the sweat of our brows. Over in 'Hairspray', change centres around plus-sized Tracy Turnblad, whose irrepressible optimism and talent for turning adversity into opportunity makes her a natural stereotype breaker in modest-town Baltimore.

As in '881', Tracy aims to win a contest -- a real one with crown and contract, compared to '881's totally imaginary self-imposed one -- but the contest becomes secondary for her as she embraces a cause even larger than herself. Determined as she is to break into TV as a dancer despite her non-TV friendly proportions ("this show isn't broadcast in Cinemascope," is one of the nastier comments she receives from fellow dancer, Amber Von Tussle, her biggest critic on the show), she jeopardises her dreams to march in a demonstration advocating racial integration because "it's the right thing to do."

Both musicals are highly entertaining, employing captivating vocals, choreography, and particularly in 'Hairspray', colour scheme. Both are very down-to-earth in their character portrayals and concerns, from the point of view of very ordinary people and their dreams to transcend their ordinariness. But '881' has a particular sense of urgency, to make change now because an individual's life is short. 'Hairspray' is more patient, recognizing the quiet strength of a united people (as in Motormouth Maybelle's anthem, 'I know where I've been'), whose resoluteness brings about a slower but more inevitable change for everyone.

Compared to 'Hairspray', '881' is a kancheong spider. If you want to get to know a culture, listen to their stories, or watch their movies, and learn how the people think. I dunno. With '881', I'm like, yeah, that's how it was... interesting. But with 'Hairspray', I feel more like singing along with Tracy, "Good morning, Siiiiingapore...!"*

*Hear this song for free at the 'Hairspray' Broadway musical site -- just activate the 1st song on the jukebox.

Installing one additional gig of RAM has worked wonders for my exploration of Rapture. No more juddering, shuddering, abrupt system freezes, no more crashes. Now I'm ready to immerse myself in Bioshock. Thanks to YKM for the tip, though that was what I actually intended to do in the first place.

But gamer or not, I do too have a social life. Caught the All Blacks demolish a brave Italy at the Rugby World Cup with Anne, Mel, Wayne, JY and Thad. June and I joined them at Blooie's for dinner and dessert.

Yay, Blacks! Though the final scoreline (76-14) was a testament to how one-sided the match was. Oh well, Italy already got the soccer World Cup. What would they want a Rugby one for?

Casting off and casting care and concern aside, D. NY EL went on retreat to the Pulai Resort, Desaru. Josh, Baggy and I brought accompanying spouses, Boss Lady brought her 2 not-so-little gremlins.

Welcome to Desaru! This is about as exciting as it gets here. No modern conveniences of a shopping mall anywhere, but enough beach, swimming pool, and plenty of food for a relaxing get-away-from-it-all. It's a place to come to when looking for a slower pace of life, and to luxuriate in the otherwise guilty pleasures of torpor and indolence. The food quality isn't great, in fact it seemed to deteriorate gradually while we were there, but there's enough palatable selections on the buffet table at every meal to keep us going.

This here's the beach. We had dry, sunny weather throughout our stay. The beach is white and sandy, with lots of washed up seashells and shell fragments. June gathered a small collection of the best looking ones. The beach is mostly free of human debris, and while we were there, quite free of human beings as well. Nice.

This is a local individual who is suffering from a severe identity crisis. It and its friends were responsible for what I initially took to be bicycle tyre tracks all over the beach. We only saw this one though. How it got hold of a land snail shell to inhabit is probably an epic story worthy of a Peter Jackson retelling. I simply don't have that kind of imagination.

It wasn't all play and no work, though. Here we take a little break from our daily inactivity to get something useful done. Yes, the never-ending marking of the academic profession goes on vacation with us.

Probably the highlight of our retreat was our night cruise down the river on a vessel that reminded me somewhat of the African Queen in search of the Heart of Darkness fireflies. To reach the jetty, our 2 mini-buses bumped their way through a near pitch-dark off-road track through a plantation of oil-palms. Amazingly, there were a few people walking the same path that we drove through. Without their own illumination, their night vision must have been incredible.

Fireflies we found, but, as Mel said, what was even more fascinating were the stars overhead. They stood out for us city folk like never before, here so far from the glare of urban civilization. The stars have never been so bright, nor as numerous, and I saw a couple of constellations I roughly know the shape of, but could never before see in our own night sky.

1 weekend left to chill, then it's back to reality again...

"Why doesn't anarchy work?", I asked Wayne and Linc just yesterday. Apparently, it's because we are ultimately beings that function best when organized around one or more common goals, or something like that. Today, I am getting an object lesson on anarchy, as defined by rampant industrialized capitalism fueling unfettered scientific research and development devoid of any moral considerations whatsoever in an environment of complete freedom of expression and no censorship. Welcome to the undersea utopia of Rapture, the setting for Bioshock, the latest FPS to hit the console and PC market.

In Rapture, anarchy, which begins as a visionary Industrialist's dream, quickly degenerates into violence and hell-under-the-ocean-depths. Scientific research here finds a way to genetically enhance the good citizens of Rapture, and soon everyone wants to biologically command electric bolts from their fingertips to fry their irritating neighbours with. Before long, the genetic enhancement process drives everyone nuts, then it becomes open warfare, survive or die. There, another example of how our human nature simply cannot be left alone to manage things on our own.

Fortunately for the player's character, R&D also results in some awesome weapons and ammo the player can find lying around or pry from cold, dead fingers. The player also may seek genetic enhancements, boosting fight or puzzle-solving prowess to superhuman levels, a great asset to have in this game.

How far have I progressed into Rapture? I'm just a couple of scenes past the intro, admiring the detail in the underwater environment, the play between light and dark areas, and the ferocity of the AI enemies.

But sadly, I haven't progressed much further. The game crashes often on Mr L33t whose components are just past a year old as of today. Looks like I'll be in the market for another gig's worth of memory, a faster video card (my current 7600 just can't make it anymore), and perhaps a good sound card to complete the ensemble.

But again, no hurry. The D. NY EL retreat begins tomorrow morning. We're going to be leaving civilization for a few days to enjoy some Resort living. No technology... ttfn!

Officially, we're having a week off, but most of us staff still found our way back to campus for one reason or another. Consultations, backlog admin, the consolation is that we're assured of lunch company.

Anyway, it's a bit late but I've finally got our new NYconneX print edition #6 uploaded. Glad to say that the editorial team did most of the layouts themselves, though they're still rough around the edges.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Jane's committee, we could afford a little better quality paper for this run. We opted for 80 gsm photocopy paper which made the colour pix stand out beautifully compared to our usual newsprint. Now Wan's asking for a reprint of another 1k copies for use as publicity material at our upcoming Open House.

Good job, my Editorial Crew!

Here's a great study tip: eating makes mugging more effective. Ain't that great to know? Click here.