Kicking the last chicks out of the nest

Just three more hours and the Class of 2012 will be out of my hair, preferably for good. Their good too, not necessarily mine. This post-prelim exam period has been one of the most strenuous I've ever had with my consultation slots booked nearly solid over the last couple of weeks. Only a couple of cancellations, but empty slots get quickly filled up with other takers on the unofficial waiting list. I don't remember ever being this popular with my previous batches.

The actual paper is due this coming Monday, but I'm drawing the consults to a close here and now. Their success is heavily dependent on their independence so they have a few remaining days to prep themselves. The hard part for me, of course, is letting them go trusting that I've tutored them enough -- which is something I can never reassure myself of. But at this late stage of the game, it'll have to do.

I end with three kids I haven't seen at all through this period. Must remind myself that because they've left it so late, I must reinforce, not contradict; assure, not freak them out. Whatever they have to offer today will have to be enough for Monday.

USS Halloween Horror Nights 2

A little better strategy is in order if we want to enjoy this event at USS more next year.

Time: 2000-0100 hrs is too short to do everything, so despite the temptation to ride the coasters we have to be more focused on the specially themed attractions, even if it means forgoing our favourite rides.

Crowd: the place is swarming with merry-makers who create great atmosphere for the event, but also unfortunately make the lines for the rides and everything else very long. We waited about an hour to get on the Battlestar Galactica (Cylon) and another on The Mummy Returns. And that was all the time we had as upon exit from the Egyptian Necropolis, it was nearly 0000 hrs already.

Lockers: in crowded situations like this one, the time spent waiting and riding will invariably exceed the lockers' grace period and you have to pay the machine in order to get your stuff out of it. It gets difficult when all your belongings including wallet containing cash, NETS and credit card are locked in the locker as you are not permitted to ride with loose items in your pockets. For cash transactions, exact amount only, no change is given -- we found out a bit too late. For both rides, we ended up spending $18 on the lockers alone. Grr.

Food: we purchased the theme dinner at KT's Bar and Grill (on of the restaurants in USS). It was a three-course meal including a choice of baby pork ribs (above) and duck (below). The ribs were succulent and tender, likewise the duck. The theme decorations turned out cuter than the picture in the menu promised, but it was good eating anyway. There seemed to be a bit of a kerfuffle over the question of whether we had purchased the meal vouchers online, but it was only because online orders apparently received a complementary fruit punch, a nice surprise for us...

like so.

But back to strategy: the food was fabulous and reasonably priced ($28+++ per pax) but to start serving at 2000 hrs... well, the one hour we enjoyed eating was also one hour's headstart on the rides for everyone else who had nommed earlier elsewhere.

Parking: the one thing that worked for us was a last minute decision. Because parking was so limited at Vivocity, we detoured to park at the Beach car park on Sentosa. $3 entrance + $2 parking = $5 total. Even though the monorail ended service at midnight, it was a short and pleasant stroll back to the beach from USS to get M2 back.

Conclusion: to really enjoy ourselves, spend more money. Buy a day pass to ride coasters all day long, upgrade to stay for the night's activities and fork out for a universal express pass for faster (than normal) access to the attractions. Carry only a credit card and your smartphone (useful as a camera and for contacting separated party members) in a secured pocket, leave all other miscellaneous barang-barang in the car.

P.S.: To infer that we didn't enjoy the experience is not accurate. The creepy music and sound effects relentlessly permeating the entire theme park added atmosphere to the main street that was divided into sections by theme. From the House of Dolls at the entrance, to the post-apocalyptic urban cityscape, to the Mummy-cursed streets of ancient Egypt populated with ghouls and zombies popping up to scare random passers-by, USS really did take a lot of trouble to get the environment perfect for Halloween. All I'm saying is, next year, we go with a better plan to maximize the time allotted.

USS has dedicated staff. This forlorn ghoul guards the door of the closed gift shop. No one gets in regardless of how badly they want to buy a souvenir.

A celebration of "Decade-nce"

Congrats to Jo and Derek who are celebrating their 10th anniversary with a luncheon at The Wine Company. This rather unflattering pix shows one table of us colleagues all busy stuffing our faces.

The menu was pretty decent, starting with a seafood bisque that was rich in crabby flavour. The pix shows us chowing down on the Caesar salad topped with crabmeat. The main course was a thick slab of fillet mignon which I was looking forward to. I ordered rare but it was served done on the more... conservative interpretation of the word, shall we say? Dessert was a baked Camembert which was nothing I'd expected in generosity -- a whole wheel of Camembert baked over apple slices in a caramel sauce. The whole thing was thick and melty, and so good. But there was no way I could eat another. One serving was quite enough.

It was fortuitous to be at this particular table as we were short of one diner, which meant more food for the rest of us since the number had already been catered for and we didn't want be responsible for any wastage.

The event itself was quite an easy-going affair. Jo renewed her vows in the style of "Green Eggs and Ham" while Derek's was more conventional but culminated in  a surprise presentation of a huge bouquet of flowers. Otherwise, the guests were left to their own devices and entertainment... mostly. The finale involved a lucky draw, prize winners having to dance "Gangnam Style" or shuffle with "Party Rock Anthem" in order to claim their gifts. Fortunately, there weren't too many gifts and our table wasn't particularly lucky. Wait, does that mean we were lucky or unlucky?

Anyway, Mr and Mrs Lee, 10 years under the belt and many more to come!

Lazy day

I can (almost) has cheezeburger...

Finally, someone (besides our regular houseguest) is making use of the kitty shelves.

Looks good on paper

Staff bonding exercise bringing today's big meeting to a close. As delicious as the pix look, that's just colour paper made to resemble food. These were the exemplars.

And this is my table's creation. No prizes for guessing what it's supposed to be. An entertaining, mindless table game it turned out to be... despite us having to make fake food while the real food awaited us at the back of the hall.

A tangled mess

We found this poor fellow hobbling around in our void deck. He had got himself tangled up in a length of yellow string which bound both of his feet together. It must have hurt quite bad as he was incapable of escaping June's hands as she picked him up for a closer inspection. The string had cut deep into his feet. If we didn't do something quickly the lack of blood circulation would have rendered his extremities necrotic... and then it would only be a matter of time.

June left me holding the pigeon while she dashed upstairs for scissors. Good thing she went up and not me because I would have brought down the biggest pair I could find, but she cleverly dug out her pedicure scissors with the tiny, pointy blades that were just the thing for the delicate operation we were about to undertake. June slipped the tips of the scissors under the tight knots and gently snipped away. Passers-by were curious, but not enough to bother asking us what was going on.

I suppose we could have been gentler, but we did eventually free the pigeon from his bonds. The pix above is the 'after' and he seems visibly relieved from his ordeal.

My biggest worry now is that he is so relieved that he loses awareness of traffic and becomes immediate roadkill. But so far, that hasn't happened. We're still keeping an eye out for him, June feeding him some bread this morning. He is still quite identifiable due to his pronounced limp. Hopefully, that will heal in time.

School's out, consultation's in!

Now we're neck deep in consultation with the kids, it's time to review some tips for surviving the deluge of kids looking for a little personal attention:

Protect the larynx. Stay hydrated during and between consults. But since prevention is better than cure, opt to listen more and talk less. See next tip.

Avoid unnecessary pre-consult marking. There just isn't time. Make the consultees read their prepared essays or other written work aloud during consult so they learn to catch their own language errors -- and hopefully their own logical fallacies as well. The ear is a much stronger facility for filtering arguments; whereas the eye, being more directly wired to the brain and hence apprehends input without the mediation of language, tends to overlook such details. By training ourselves to listen effectively we can improvise with any question without prior preparation.

Schedule decent breaks. The demands we are putting on our brains is taxing and makes us prone to error over time. Breaks need to be spent with people we can be stupid with, preferably over a beverage and motivational food. We probably do not want to be seen in this state by our consultees, so our choice of recreation venue should minimize the chance of contact with them... but that's a judgement call. Some of us are not so sensitive about this point.

Get sufficient sleep the night before. Falling asleep while in consult can be quite demotivating to the kids. While it's an opportunity to give them a taste of their own medicine, it's best not to exact our revenge so close to the finals. We don't really want them to reappear next year to haunt us again.

Be realistic. Assess the consultee's capabilities at the time of consult. We work with what we judge they are capable of offering. Some kids just need shoring up and some positive reinforcement while others can be stretched a bit further. Regardless, the kids should feel better after the consult, not worse. What we don't want is to make them think that the standards are so high that they might as well give up now.

Enjoy the period of consultation. (1) We are free of the timetable! (2) We always look forward to teaching a class that is attentive, hangs on our every word, is generally responsive with feedback and asks its own questions. We'll never get it any better than when we have them one (or small group)-to-one  Two years they spend in class, but we actually see their learning expand exponentially here in the last few weeks before the finals. While on one hand that's rewarding, on the other it's just not an efficient learning schedule. I'm sure there's got to be a better way to do this.

Finally, 'Academic Consultant' has a classier ring than 'cher! Relish it while it lasts!

Same day, 30 years apart

If the cake appears to be in the process of immolation, it's because the candles represent two separate individuals celebrating their birthdays. The cake was homemade and the menagerie displayed on top suggests the theme for the evening:

Safari Night, guests expected to turn up in animal prints. Spent most of this morning shopping for such, but it appears that the material went out of fashion with Riz Low. Had to make do with a plain t-shirt and declared myself a greyhound. June didn't even bother with the pretense.

The caterer was Neo Garden. Apart from providing the theme set (above), the food was also quite a decent spread. Of note in the Asian menu were the noodles (tasty and very filling) and the special order chicken curry which everyone raved over. The chix and mutton satay went pretty quickly. Everything else was the usual buffet fare. One common complaint: it doesn't take much to make us feel stuffed any more. The hazards of ageing...

Empty nest

Doubt anyone involved in this shoot from two or three weeks ago will kill me for sharing it in this entry. We took this short clip to bid adios to our Class of 2012 which is now officially on study leave in preparation for the upcoming final exam.

This is not to say that the staff are packing our bags to wait out the rest of the year on a sunny beach in Hawaii, sipping mai-tais. Rather, we'll be up to our necks deep in mock exams, and individual and small group consultations until pretty much the paper itself.

About the video: I wish I could have directed a more coherent script rather than the episodic thing it is. Considering how little time we had to put it together, it had to do. And no, I'm not asking for more time, but maybe to think more towards a consistent narrative next time around... hmm...

NTUC (it's an anagram) fair price

Nice going, fellow netizens! We are Batman and Superman rolled into one, totally opening a can of whoop-ass on the bad guy (or in this case, gal) who dared to threaten humanity with a reprehensibly expletive-ridden racist Facebook status update. Social justice upheld, we can ride off back to our secret lairs to await the next crisis, ever vigilant against the evil forces that are forever looming over the good... and mostly helpless citizenry of Singapopolis.

It didn't matter that Amy Potty-mouth was having a bad day. It was inexcuseable that the happy noises of the people downstairs were disrupting her naptime, causing her to be extremely grouchy and anti-social. Her words were pure evil, rocking the foundations of our tremulously insecure society. And so we've made her pay the FairPrice: by uncovering her as a pariah against our fine society, we've put a once gainfully employed citizen on the unemployment line, which for her is going to stretch a very long way away from the service counter. She will never pay taxes in this town again. She won't even get to enjoy unemployment benefits, 'cos we don't provide any.

How we love to see the mighty fall in our society. There's no elation equal to the toppling the statue of Saddam Hussein, and any slightest provocation is an excuse to recapture the moment by enacting a little public humiliation on the perp before the burning at the stake. How we love to stick it to the privileged, to make them feel how we feel, suffer as we suffer. All it takes are a few ill-chosen words and we can apply the 'racist' brand, hit public enemy #1 with all the vitriol we can muster, and feel good about ourselves that when Rachel Prejudice dares to raise her head in our society, we watchdogs of Truth, Justice and Freedom will always be there to grind it back down with our heel. My friends, you are real heroes.

Let every update on Facebook henceforth reflect how happy we are; let us edit for political correctness, and scrub negative emotion from our posts. Singapopolis is a harmonious city, the envy of the world, and anyone who might suggest otherwise has clearly not bought into the doctrine and must therefore be expunged from existence. For a responsible citizen (or a friend) to simply reply to the perp's post pointing out that it was offensive and ask for an apology is simply inviting a debate on that which can not be debated.

Hence, our message is very simple: in our democratic society, everyone is entitled to freedom of speech... as long as they say what we want to hear. Say something different and your face will be all over the Hall of Justice, and the Hall of Justice will be all over your face. Capice?

Examining the exams

GP prelim exams are over. I'm amazed at how many essay submissions look so much like one another. Same lazy reasoning, same examples, same conclusions. It seems like the vast majority of the kids imbibed from the same content resources and reproduced what they had memorized without reading further into the issues.

The scary thing is, our exams tend to reward such behaviour, at least at the lower levels. But that sets up a very wrong expectation that success is dependent on copying from others who have succeeded before. Overseas institutions have a name for this kind of academic methodology: plagiarism.

I'm not saying our methods are wrong. To the West, original thought per individual is valued whereas we in the East tend to believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We lock onto something we can identify as a "best practice" and mass produce it. What worked well for someone else, we believe, will work just as well for us.

Which is probably why our exams tend to produce lots of soulless drones for whom personal self-expression has been suppressed in favour of the hive-mind, at least at the level where we believe the foundations of personal success lie. So on the one hand, we do recognise our individuality and uniqueness from one another, but on the other if we want to get ahead in society, we must be just like everybody else.

The recent agitation to eradicate the primary school leaving exam is a knee-jerk reaction to this schizoid existence of ours. But the problem isn't the exam itself, but rather the approach to preparing our kids for the exam. Our method is to make the final exam familiar to us. We believe the more familiar we are with the expected exam questions and question-types, the more prepared we will be in responding to the said questions.

So in order to familiarize ourselves with the exam, we drill and practice answering past exam questions. We read and re-read successful past exam answers so that we can produce the same thing in our turn, and hopefully get the same result. We learn little else beyond the limits of what has been prescribed in the exam syllabus, and yet what we do learn often has little relevance to our lives at the time we are learning it. Rushing to familiarize ourselves with next year's syllabus material so that we will be prepared one year in advance is meaningless to what we need to know now. But that is our approach to education, pushing our young to accept advanced knowledge before they're ready. By 'not ready' I don't mean that our kids are not intellectually capable of understanding what we are trying to teach them, but that what we are trying to teach them often bears little relevance to their life experience at that point in their lives.

In all this hullabaloo over fixing our exam structure, it's easy to overreact and attempt to fix what isn't broken. The exams themselves aren't broken. As long as they test what the kids have been taught, and if what they have been taught is knowledge they can put to practical use for their age group on average, the exams are fine. What we need to fix is this method of making the exam questions familiar to us by repetitive practice.

Familiarity breeds contempt, and it cuts both ways. Familiarity breeds a "been there, done that" kind of complacency and it also breeds boredom with the subject matter. Complacency causes kids to take the question for granted, assuming it's the same question as another they've been preparing with, thus failing to take into account the subtle differences that might require an altered approach to deriving an answer. Boredom causes kids to not pay attention to what they are doing, so the mind wanders, unable to focus on the task at hand despite all the preparation done before.

I believe every exam question should be viewed as if it was the first time: like going on a first date with a desired someone. What are we like on a first date? We make ourselves well-groomed and presentable; we are attentive to our dreamboat's requirements; we listen closely to his or her interests, quirks, and conversation threads and we respond accordingly, rather than according to some predetermined script prepared a year ago that we stick to regardless of how the conversation is going. This sort of relationship is quite different from the kind we have with our familiars. Because we think we already know them quite well, we expect them to behave in certain patterns and any time there is a change in behaviour, we either miss it or ignore it until it becomes a crisis. We don't want to get too familiar with our exam questions. Seldom is one exam question exactly the same as another... for GP anyway. We do want to stay alert to the subtleties of each new question.

So how do we prepare ourselves for an exam if we eschew the good ol' drill-and-practice method? Well, how do we prepare for a date? Obviously being handed a biodata sheet to memorize is hardly the foundation for having a good time with your honeybun-to-be. So what do we do? We study our subject at a distance and up close when we get the chance. We ask around and find out as much as we can about our subject from many different sources and consolidate what we have discovered in order to find corroborating information that helps us understand our subject better. We learn from an interconnected network of social contacts to see how we and our date could possibly form further connections within and among our individual social networks. Yes, we have the licence to be intellectually promiscuous, and we learn best when we can make those mental connections between the different subjects we are studying at the same time! How's that for a mental orgy, a.k.a mind f...?

We always marvel at the kids who can score a long string of 'A's for their exams and wonder how they do it while still behaving like normal, well-adjusted people. They will tell you they work hard, which they most assuredly do, but what they won't say is that the kind of work they do helps them to meet several learning goals simultaneously.  Magic? Nope. Superhuman ability? I don't think so. It's all in the technique employed. What they know is that memory is merely the end result of study whereas the rest of us work on the misconception that memory IS the process of studying. The former allows them to learn all the time, regardless of what activity they happen to be caught up in. The latter, let's just say there aren't enough hours in a day to learn everything we need to know at the time that we need that knowledge.

The difference is whether we take our tests and exams as an organic, integral part of life experience, or if we view them as an alien, evil but necessary torture device (like a Klingon painstick) that we are obliged to beat ourselves with periodically, and immediately shelve until the next time we have to take it out again. The challenge for our industry is to change the prevailing latter view to the former. Any ideas about that?

"I am the Law!"

Dredd 3D skulked into the cinemas this week unannounced. I went in with no expectations, save for the earlier movie starring Stallone which was, shall we say, not too dreadful.

In this incarnation, Megacity One is brooding, colourless, and filthy like it's supposed to be. There's a lot of blue, grey tints and dark shadows, like the colour scheme of CSI:NY. Nasty place, don't wanna stay there and not even visit. Dredd's voice-over in the prologue tells us that the boundaries of MC1 stretch from DC to Boston. Reading the comic-book, I never knew the cityscape was that immense.

Karl Urban plays Dredd, all gravelly-voiced and serious. He is the embodiment of Justice: efficient, unflinching and blind. Next to him is Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) -- Justice with compassion and conscience. Their wardrobe reflects their characters. Dredd never removes his helmet, eyes permanently obscured by the tinted visor, while Anderson wears no helmet at all, all blonde and wide-eyed, first day on the job. It is Dredd's task to evaluate Anderson's performance and decide if she has what it takes to wear the badge.

Anderson's choice to investigate a gruesome triple homicide at the Peach Trees -- a huge residential tower complex -- pits the two Judges against the violent and resourceful Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) and her gang. To keep the secret of the Peach Trees, Ma-Ma orders the lock-down of the entire building and issues an off-with-their-heads order against the Judges. The game from there is to survive the building, keep their suspect alive and find their way back to the Hall of Justice.

What more plot need there be? Dredd stories are all about dispensing justice with extreme prejudice and that's exactly what happens. In glorious slo-mo (there's even a reason why things happen in slo-mo and it ties into one of my favourite and most disturbing Dredd stories I've ever read), with blood spatter a la "300".

In every fight, the Judges appear to have the upper hand. I hate it when it seems like the protagonist looks like he's playing on God-mode (like in "Ghost Rider"). But to their credit, there's clearly flesh-and-blood underneath the armour so the danger for them is real. It's just too bad that the Ma-Ma Clan are such terrible shots.

The movie mostly plays out like a third-person shooter in which the Judges outsmart or outgun the grunts and face the occasional boss battle. Locked in the tower the only way to go is up, to confront Ma-Ma herself. It would be predictable to shoot it out with ultimate boss lady, but instead her threat involves a Hobson's choice, requiring Dredd to think out-of-the-box for a solution and deliver appropriate justice at the same time.

This movie incarnation of Dredd contains the two elements I like about the character: violence and irony. The storyline isn't too complex (survive, protect the innocents, live with your own judgements), but that means that the narrative is tight and focused leaving no room for self-indulgence. The essence of Dredd.

Transitions

Don't panic. I'm referring to the optical lenses, not to any impending mid-life crisis. Or maybe I am, in the physical rather than psychological sense. The ol' peepers are starting to let in too much light. The glare is irritating and can sometimes blur text at a distance on an especially bright day. That's not good news for when I'm driving and looking out for directional signs at the same time. The situation is not bad yet, but there's no harm in taking precautionary measures.

For my degree of myopia, apparently only Zeiss Transitions lenses will do and they don't come cheap. Fortunately, insurance will foot the bill. Thank God for corporate!

I wonder what THIS button does?

It's back to the reality of grading papers (so. many. papers.), among all the other things I need to get done by whichever deadline it was. For all I know it could have been yesterday. And my one companion for this evening... isn't helping.

Video tribute to Mimi

I present the following video as a celebration of the life of Mimi. It comprises a compilation of photographs arranged more or less chronologically. Her passing makes me reflect on how we should approach each new day as a blessing to be embraced rather than as a burden to shoulder. Life is something to be grateful for, and when we go, we leave without regret. Every pet is precious that way, and that is why we love each one so much.

Tribute video... delayed

Spent most of today composing a tribute video to Mimi. June selected and arranged the photos we collected of her over the years. I digitally scanned a few ancient photographs in for posterity, then compiled and edited them all. June also chose the accompanying music. As of now, the vid is still being uploaded to YouTube so there's nothing to view just yet. So you can look at this, instead:

 The boy is begging for his midnight snack. His usual style is to knead my stomach, but lately this is what he's been doing: nesting after kneading. Not sure what to make of this... except maybe I should start working out again. Hur.

Farewell, Mimi

Today we mark the passing of our beloved Mimi who departed peacefully at home aged 18 human years. By last weekend we knew she was already on her last legs, having little enough energy in her tired little body to eat and drink the barest minimum until it was her natural time to go.

Goodbye, sweetheart. I'll always remember you as the bundle of yappy energy I had to impress and seek approval from before I could marry June. You guarded your big sister well. Rest now, you've earned it.

It's curtains (or is it?)

Lucy's got me working on another arts focused essay. This one's an actual Cambridge question from 2010: "Would it matter if all the performing arts venues in your society, such as concert halls and theatres, were closed down?" A nonsensical question, if I ever saw one.

Again, my instructions were to be as detailed as possible so hang limits on word count and time. Click here, if the question somehow appears as as a must-read to you.

Maxed planks

First time I've seen all three gathered together in one frame around the kitty playground.

And now you know why: a sprinkling of catnip drives them a little nuts. I... I think Kaiser's becoming a junkie! But Maui remains unaffected somehow. Momo is no longer in the frame...

because she's rolling on the floor, spazzing out with a catnip filled sock. There's no hope for her.

A very small rudder

Preparation of materials for an upcoming lecture became an essay responding to a recent exam question, "Discuss the importance of language". My expertise is not in linguistics, so I've adopted a communication studies approach instead. I admit a lot more research could have gone into the writing, but my task was to see what I could spin off the top of my head, word count and time limit be damned.

Wonder what Lucy would say about this? I don't know if this was what she was really asking for, but anyway... click here.

Kitty shelves and big balls

The cats have a new playground! They haven't yet figured out how to climb up to the top shelf, but they don't seem to have any trouble climbing down after being manually placed up there. The squarish thing at bottom right in the last pix is a corner of the sofa bed we moved below the top shelf as a safety precaution in case it rains cats and dogs.

Today we also took a turn to look after the nephews for the afternoon and evening. We took them to Slava's Snowshow, a bizarre anthology of non-narrative spectacles involving artistry in clowning, mime, lighting effects and big giant balls. Oh, and masses of materials such as "snow", simulated spider webbing and water blanketing the audience from time to time.

Yep, the audience is definitely a part of the show. Two words to describe the experience: play and imagination. It was such fun to gather handfuls of "snow" from the floor and dump them over your seat mate's head. It was a blast reaching up to grab an ever-expanding sheet of webbing and pass it along to the person behind just to see if there was enough of the stuff to cover the entire stall area. There was, and some...

By the time they rolled the big balls into the audience, we were already on our feet, anticipating our turn to take a swipe or bat at one of these colourful spheres as we tossed them around the auditorium. A great reminder of what pointless, unstructured play used to be for us [older] folk. XD

Took the kids to watch Paranorman in the evening. This animated movie was strong in the use of horror elements, yet managed to keep a light, humorous touch to quite a dark tale. Early in the movie, I wondered if some scenes might have been too intense for the young 'uns, but since I heard more laughter than screams (of which there were none from them... though there was an audible gasp at one point from the grown man sitting beside me) I kinda' figured I didn't have to drag everyone home prematurely. Turned out the plot addressed the issue of bullying and the irrationality of hysteria, so the psychological perspectives were interesting; and it ended on a sweet, if sad note. Go watch it! It's good!

A special room comes together

When we embark on a home improvement project, it's like an Amish barn raising event. Here, our resident supervisor explains what is needed: basically to take flat, squared-off pieces of wood and attach them to the wall.

And here is what has been accomplished by knocking-off time. Actually, a whole lot more than I had expected. We only have to install the middle plank... which should be tomorrow morning after a trip to the local hardware store for a final supply run, and we're done. Now, what the heck could these odd-looking shelves be for?

Take away the incentive

How is it that the more resources there are available to us, the harder it is for us to share them? We have plenty of road, yet drivers and motorcyclists are squabbling over what turf is rightfully "theirs".

On our roads, motorcyclists will squeeze between lanes, raising the ire of drivers. Drivers hate such behaviour because motorbikes unpredictably appear from blind spots -- even after checking. Bikers are fast, less visible and aggressive, or they are slow and hog lanes. Either way, they can't win against drivers who feel that the roads are more legitimately theirs.

Let's agree on one thing, at least. Everyone wants to get to their destination safely and in one piece. Speed is a secondary issue. Speed is a function of what the individual road user perceives as "safe". Slow users are careful. They want longer reaction times to unpredictable events. Fast users are avoiding "being there" when something bad occurs on the road. Everybody is searching for some space where they can exist while minimizing the possibility of having to share the same space at the same time, which -- according to the laws of physics -- can often result in a fatal merger.

As a driver, I say we take away the incentive for bikers to squeeze between us. The reason why they feel it is safer between us than behind us is because we give them less space behind us than between us. Whenever we see a biker in front of us, we speed up and force the biker over to one side so we can get past. Admit it, that's what we do -- presumably because we pay more road tax or ERP; or because four wheels are better than two; or something.

Once we realize that our behaviour influences the actions of others, we empower ourselves to do something about the situation instead of waiting forever for someone else to change their behaviour. What am I suggesting? Fellow drivers, for Pete's sake, give bikers the same respect and minimum safety distance as you would for another car on the road. To keep bikes off the sides of the road, give them a safer option and they'll take it.

Bikers will also take advantage of stop lights and jams to weave between us and get to the head of the queue, and that's annoying, but because of their relative size, that's their prerogative. It also helps shorten the queue a bit, so let them do what they do best and we keep our cool about it, can?

But bikers also have to realize that they are too vulnerable to stay on the rightmost (fast) lane for too long. So, if they agree to keep off the right lane unless they are making a right turn or if they absolutely have to overtake a slowpoke on the left lane (in which case they should do it quickly and get back off to the left asap) I think there'll be a much safer traffic flow for everyone.

Not looking forward to this bill

Spending pretty much the whole day at the Mazda workshop. M2's a bit overdue for 50k servicing, but I'm also waiting while all four worn tires get replaced. At $180 a pop (not literally, I hope!) that's going to cost a pretty penny. On top of that, I'll also be paying for the next 10k servicing in advance to take advantage of a package discount they've got going here. I bet I'll also be charged for rectifying whatever is causing the squeaky noise M2's making at very low speeds. Yikes! Another austerity drive beckons.

Currently entertaining myself grading assignments, sipping free cappuccinos and randomly surfing. Shouldn't be too much longer...

Beside still waters

Another great spot for assignment grading discovered. Upper Peirce Reservoir Park has free parking, access to clean toilets and peace and quiet -- lots of it. The only sounds are insect noises from the forested area behind and to my right. I'm at a picnic table under a huge, shady tree with a view of the water. There is a slight breeze, so despite the blazing sun it's comfortable here.

Surprisingly, I'm not bothered by mosquitoes, though I was expecting to be eaten alive. All I had to do was fend off the occasional ant or spider attempting to use me as a highway to wherever it was they wanted to go. Still, tickles are way better than itches.

Other fauna I came across were a pack of stray dogs, presumably a family of an alpha, the mate and three adolescent pups; a lone primate ambling past my table with nary a glance at its human occupant; and, big surprise: a beautifully coloured kingfisher that swooped towards the water and scooped up a silvery fish for its mid-day meal. It happened too quickly to record on camera, so you'll have to take my word for it.

No food or refreshments to be purchased nearby, so pack a picnic lunch if you must.

Once more around the Galaxy

Interesting that my friends know what I lack. There's the issue of a cell phone I either keep on silent or I just don't carry around with me, which keeps me incommunicado most of the time. That is a source of irritation for some quarters -- which I apologize for -- but I was waiting until I could re-contract with my service provider without penalty for a premature handset upgrade. 

The other thing I was waiting for was the unveiling of the iPhoney 5, but recent legal developments forced me to reconsider my potential ties with the Evil Empire.

And so, meet my newest mobile device, a Galaxy SIII in a slick pebble blue case. It boasts a big, beautiful, sharp (Super AMOLED) screen that my ageing eyes are so very grateful for; a fast camera that takes pretty decent pictures; and a whole bunch of other functions that could effectively take over from my current 7" tablet and still be able to fit in my trouser pocket comfortably 'cos it's surprisingly light for its relative size. My only problem with it after a day of use is that the smooth case is horrendously slippery. But that's nothing a silicone skin can't fix. Oh in case you're wondering what's propping up the SIII for the pix (above), that's Momo. Good girl, Momo.

In other news:

Pix from my SIII: the wife is embarking on a DIY home-improvement project. We're in Defu Lane to scrounge up some scrap planking, but wound up purchasing teak! A bit extravagant for what she's planning, I think, but if it turns out well maybe it'll be worth it.

And somewhere across the road, we pick up more supplies. Act like a DIY newbie and the vendors are sympathetic and offer a lot of advice. And I believe we still got away with paying reasonable prices for the stuff we got.

Hopefully, I'll be able to upload project details by next weekend when the work begins in earnest.

'chers' Day 2012

Lots of things to be grateful for this 'chers' Day. The Drama Club's 'recruitment ad' skit went off nicely. The story was focused and tight, nothing extraneous or distracting, intentions crystal clear. Our performers could use more practice hand-holding their mikes, though -- we occasionally lost sound with a couple of characters. I'm sure Sirius had a hand in the final tweaks prior to curtain, and that's really decent of her because it wasn't any of her contractual obligations with us.

Nice of the kids to present me with a hand-made card fronted with a portrait of myself. Ahem. What's really nice were the many hand-written notes appreciating how different their GP experience has been, and how they've been able to learn from it. Good to know because most of the time I get more flak than accolades for the kind of classes I run. I have a great bunch of kids this year... or maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome. Hope their faith pays off in spades with their final grades.

Combined schools dinner with the usual crazy bunch seated at a table far from the main proceedings. Best case scenario, as we were generally left to our own devices for entertainment, and we are usually our own best entertainers. That, and a little good news of a general modest raise all round for every rank-and-filer in the industry. As someone said, it isn't just about the money... but a little mo' money doesn't hurt. Yays!

Inhale... exhale...

Time to breathe after a week long marathon of grading assignments and writing testimonials. And tomorrow it starts all over again... :p

And just to be ironic, here are the cats doing what they do best...

while I'm busy scrambling to earn enough to buy kibble for them. Hmph.

Off on a tangent

Ok. Can tell from the stats that the readership isn't interested in food. Be assured that I have no intention of becoming a foodie blog. It just so happens that the biggest things happening over the weekend have been mostly epicurean 'cos, y'know, special occasion and all.

Thanks, friends and family who through various thoughtful gestures have made this past week really special for me!

Once this endorphin induced high has dissipated, our regularly scheduled programme of psychotic, expletive-filled rants will resume. Stay tuned, folks!

Restaurant at the top of the hill

Went back in time to one of the few places left that still rings a bell in my crumbling memory. Hill Top Japanese Restaurant was where I got my first taste of Japanese food, oh, many decades ago, but I've not been back there since. Situated at the peak of Jurong Hill, it's not exactly immediately accessible, and not quite the first name that pops to mind when anyone suggests going Jap.

Was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon it on hungrygowhere.com and see that it's been going strong after all these years. I just had to go back to relive that first memory.

I recall sitting at the teppanyaki table back then, but today I opted for the regular menu and ordered this beef steak teishoku. This set seemed like a good compromise as what I really wanted was to swim in sashimi, but I wanted to get my teeth into some proper red meat too. This decently sized slab of beef didn't disappoint. Though not rare as I like it, it was still chunky, beefy and tender enough.

This was what I was back for: the salmon sashimi. Way back then, when they told me I was going to eat raw fish I was like, oh, um... brave face and all. My first mouthful of salmon oil, fat and, holy cow... what was that toxic green stuff that sent such noxious vapours racing through my head and respiratory tract??? But wouldn't you know it? After they pulled me out from under the table, I was hooked for life.

June ordered this teriyaki beef ramen on a recommendation. She ate half, and as usual, gave me the rest. Now, that's what I call a beef soup. Drained the bowl. Need I say more? After this, I couldn't go back to my miso. For once, I left my miso barely touched.

Ok, before you get the wrong idea, what I'm describing isn't necessarily what you might expect from fine, exotic dining. The impression I get from the taste and presentation is more down-to-earth and honest; like grandma pottering around the kitchen and cooking from the experience of the family kitchen. That, above all, is the most charming aspect of this odd location. The food tastes of the goodness of home.

Parting thoughts: very reasonably priced. Just a hair over $40 for everything above. Parking is limited (free parking after 1700 hrs!), unless you park at the Bird Park and climb the hill -- now THAT would work up an appetite! Otherwise, just aim to arrive early.

Back to May's for dessert. Along with the wontons of yesterday, she'd also brought back genuine HK custard buns. Here Pebbles photobombs this shot with a sneak attack on my plate.

A custard bun close up. It tastes more eggy and slightly salty, and a lot less gelatinous than the local variety. It's still good, but a day old by now. Should have eaten it yesterday when it was still fresh. Heh. Greedy.

Wonton by air

It was quite the treat when May returned from HK with freshly made wontons and noodles in tow. While I'm cool with our local version, these clearly belonged in another league altogether. Each of these dumplings was a complete mouthful of either shrimp, minced pork or fish wrapped in a delicate skin of dough. The noodles were satisfyingly springy in the mouth. Cooked with some oyster sauce and their local chili/oil paste, this simple recipe already left quite an impression. Wonder what it would taste like if made by native hands? Remind me to go look it up if ever I'm in HK again.

Brunch at Jones'

Dunno why I thought Jones the Grocer would have a fish and chips thingy to satisfy  a recent craving, but no dice there. What they did offer was this rigatoni served with stewed veal, topped with gruyere cheese shavings. The pasta was nicely al dente, but a bit cold around the edges. Either I took too long with the shot (above) or it might do them some good to warm their plates before serving. Fortunately the stew was generous and still hot, so overall, it didn't taste too bad. The pix doesn't do the colours much justice, but they do take the trouble with presentation and this was actually quite an appealingly coloured dish.

The other thing we ordered on the brunch menu was this, the Croque Madame. Basically a ham, egg and cheese panini wrapped around with a wide strip of Parma ham. I don't comprehend the name of this dish: it didn't come with anything discernibly deep-fried and crispy so the "croque" is a bit of a misnomer; and the Madame... well, I don't quite see a "Madame" lifting this Dagwood-proportioned sandwich up to her mouth with both hands and chomping down with gusto, so that too, is something of a mystery. Having said that, it was still a darned good, hearty sandwich.

Run away! Run away!

When a St Andy's kid runs away from home because of exam stress, something has gone terribly wrong with the whole system. At one point St Andy's prided itself on being an equal-opportunity educator (save for the all-boys exclusivity). That was back when 'maximizing potential' meant that if a kid could reach a 'C', he would be coached to maximize himself to reach his 'C'; and an 'A' achiever would be maximized to reach his 'A'. Today, we've moved our goalposts so much that everyone's potential is expected to be an 'A*' within a certain narrow time-frame; failing which... let's just say our life-expectancy becomes significantly curtailed.

Of course, back then, some education was better than none. We grew up in much simpler times.

The "how far" question

Heeyyy, kids! It's model essay time again!

Been trying to explain to the kids why "to what extent..." and "how far..." questions cannot logically be answered with "to a large/small extent". The common error is to argue for and against the subject in order to somehow determine whether the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa. However, unless the essay identifies some criteria for this decision -- such as a value, a context or some other yardstick -- that decision is arbitrary and often baseless. Less skilled essayists are also likely to end up with internally conflicting arguments with little to no resolution.

"To what extent" and "how far" assume that the subject is already in play. In this case, the question "how far should a state have a right to monitor the actions of people within its borders?" the argument is not whether a state should or should not have or use its internal monitoring capabilities. Rather, the assumption is that the state does indeed have a right to do so, the question then being how much of this right is it acceptable to exercise before it becomes an unacceptable abuse of power. This is not a question for merely comparing pros and cons but a question of clearly identifying what is normal, acceptable behaviour of the state and what is clearly abnormal, unacceptable behaviour. And if at all possible, identifying some kind of general principle that can guide the responsible use of such power.

Hopefully, the kids will be able to see how this essay argues and resolves the above dilemma without tying itself up in convoluted knots. Ok, enough talk. Here it is: click here.

Behind the scenes: wrote another massively long essay but ruthlessly chopped it down to [close to] the word limit. Also replaced one of the original paragraphs 'cos it was sounding paranoid and pushing towards an extreme I did not want to deal with. Yes, I'm also aware that the conclusion is easier said than done. Sue me.

Return of the baby

News that I have become a great-uncle once again should put the Senior Lee's fears to rest. This whole baby dearth thing is probably a phenomenon relating specifically to my generation born during the tumultuous years between the 60s and 70s. People blame the population policies of the period and while there is truth in that perception, the greater truth is that people are more flexible than just blindly complying with a non-compulsory governmental exhortation. My generation is the literally lost generation, at this age too old to reproduce and too tired to bother looking after babies. The generation after mine is better-adjusted, a lot more secure and forward-looking. I daresay the babies are coming back again.

Prawns to be respected

Pek Kio Market (a.k.a. Cambridge Hawker Centre) is up and running again after a couple of week's sprucing up. This fact is not lost on the crowd of people gathered  around the more popular stalls, like this one: Farrer Road prawn noodles.

These blushing beauties and an accompanying bowl of noodles weigh in at $8. Three big prawns in a soup give up a firm, meaty bite; and taste fresh and clean without the bitterness usually associated with the juices leaking out of the head. Here the uncle splits the heads open and the juices are probably boiled into the soup as a very rich stock. That plus the garlic sauce amounts to quite a kick in the head early in the morning.

Beau Geste

So, that's why we went picking apple snails from the river. We were getting it nice and clean for the PM to give his National Day address in front of.

Anyway, 3:27 in the video (above) raised an eyebrow: "Let us prepare every child for the test of life and not just a life of tests." Apart from the trite cliche, the man is referring to an aspiration, though the reality is proving to be quite the stumbling block.

It is true that we all want our students to do well.  But for many of us, "doing well" means passing the next exam, and we don't quite see much further than that. Qualifying the kids for University IS our stretch goal because we have no control over what happens after that. Once they're undergrads, we've done our jobs. Good luck, kids, you're on your own now!

Secondary schools say the same thing about preparing kids for JC; primary schools say the same thing about secondary schools. When kids pass their tests, we pat ourselves on the back and it's on to the next test, ad infinitum. As long as the paradigm that preparing kids for tests is preparing them for life, I think the big boss and we the bottom-feeders are going to have a little conflict of expectations.

Which is why I like teaching GP. Unlike the other so-called 'content subjects', GP presumes zero knowledge when it comes to taking our tests. Ours really is a test of life. We present a problem no one's really considered before -- the more surprising, the better -- and what we evaluate is the student's ability to go from "whuuuttt??" to figuring out a process that brings whatever little knowledge he has on the issue to bear on the problem and reasoning out a conclusion.

Just like real life, no one can claim perfect knowledge. What we have to go on are the little we do know, the little more we can acquire (Paper 2, the compre paper) and enough common sense to make a reasonable decision. It helps that the student is well-read because the bigger the initial pool of knowledge, the more options are open, but of greater advantage is a well-trained brain that can deconstruct the problem, filter out the relevant knowledge-components and synthesize a conclusion. In our test, knowledge is always secondary to the process.

The other aspect of GP that is so different from the other content subjects which neatly categorize and compartmentalize knowledge into arbitrary 'topics', is that in GP we recognize that true learning is chaotic. There is a reason why we do not subscribe to a textbook: our knowledge currency is everywhere; updates itself on a daily even minute-to-minute basis sometimes; and is virtually limitless. Our job is not to package up finite knowledge in a neat bundle for memorization and later regurgitation, but to train our students in skills of knowledge management, communication and initiative, if not leadership.

Some snide person once asked dNYel how we can squeeze out more A graders in GP. The answer to that is to reduce our kids' dependence on us -- especially at this late stage when the students should be needing our guidance less and less while increasing confidence in themselves, their training and their abilities more and more. Also, there is a growing pool of students who are already well-trained and at this time, we should be putting their abilities to use by helping their fellow students to improve, and not taking the full burden on ourselves.

If we're really going to help our students to take the test of life, we shouldn't be doing more for them, which will only increase their dependence on us further. We should be doing a lot less. We focus, we target, we customize. We do not blanket cover everybody with a one-size-fits-all programme catered to the lowest common denominator and make it compulsory. That proposal sounds like a recipe for disaster.

GP is not one of the content subjects. We are the last department standing that is keeping the Industry of Education from becoming the Industry of Indoctrination. For the sake of the future that the PM himself is envisioning, we must hold out!

End of the line for film unit

Glad to be at (The Last) Film Fest on campus, not because it's really the last, but because as a supporter of campus arts I should show sympathy for an activity that could not sustain membership interest beyond its five or so years of existence. The same could happen to any one of us and if was the end, I'd like a few friends to be there to say goodbye.

I'm also glad that at the end, the quality of production has seen significant improvement since its inception. Back then their short films were more artsy mucking about with a camera than actual film narratives, but their latest efforts do indeed have stories to tell.

"Highlight" and "No Ordinary Girl" delivered one-liner punchlines that relied on a patient build-up of repetitive time passage clips. Despite the repetition, there were sufficient variations on the theme and pacing to avoid the haven't-we-seen-this-before syndrome.

Short, "Pranked" likewise relied on passage of time, but with a reveal at the end showing the victim somehow turning the tables on the prankster. I didn't quite follow the logic of this vignette, but it had some funny moments nonetheless.

The two main features, "Home Movie" and "Clockwise" were equally commendable. "Home Movie" experimented with the family drama crossed with horror genre and concluded with a Scooby-Doo inspired farce with a little implied violence on the side. Tension was built around a few peekaboo moments, a couple of which were quite effective; but because the resolution was played for laughs and the conclusion was slightly preachy, I felt that the narrative could have made up its mind first what it wanted to be instead of going schizophrenic on us partway through.

Finally, "Clockwise" was something of a "Groundhog Day" setup in which a whole week of misadventure was undone by a magic device that turned back time to where the trouble all started. A romantic comedy with a wish-fulfillment theme about the wisdom of hindsight -- if only we knew to make the right choices at the right time our lives would be so sweet. Maybe it's a subconscious message to the audience to get cracking on their final exams. Since not everyone can be so lucky to get a time-turner, we just have to get it right the first time.

I could talk further about awkward and unnatural camera-angles, uncertain and occasionally pointless establishing shots and the wisdom of investing in a tripod, but let's just call the overall effort a learning process via a work in progress. Sadly, no one's left to pick up the mantle and continue making improvements next year.

Talking politics

The kids got me busy working on another essay. Based on the 2011 Paper 1 question, "Consider the view that efficient government is more important than democracy", I decided to craft an essay I could use as material for a politics content lecture. Again went over-the-top with verbage, so weighing in at over 1700 words -- more than twice the size of a normal JC level essay -- this minor monstrosity isn't very useful as a 'model' of such.

But writing it gave me some insight into how S'pore positions itself on the political scale and how our political aspirations conflict with our bread-and-butter concerns as a people. Simply put, although we have taken our fledgling steps in the right direction, we are still far from ready to accept democratic rule.

Essay here (the usual disclaimers apply).

Family outing (at least smile a little)!

Criminal mastermind behind bars, at least, that's what he looks like. No reason to pull such a long face, right? Today's our annual family outing. Granted, it's to get everybody their shots all together, so all the pets of two households are gathered in my car and headed for the vet.

Usually, it's quite traumatic to round everybody up and stuff them all in their travel crates. But we got smart and prepped the crates out of sight in the store room. Then we picked up the most easily spooked of the cats first and before he knew it, he was secured. The next two followed in quick succession. We got perforated, nonetheless, but at least it was over quickly.

As usual, we drove to the strains of Momo yowling a dirge all the way there and all the way back.

Old, but not yet History

Watched the episode of Pawn Stars on the History Channel in which Rick surprises his Old Man by presenting him with a beautifully rebuilt '57 Chevy for his 70th birthday.

Just before the Old Man takes possession of his new ride, Rick surprises him yet again with a stipulation: he must retire. The Old Man considers the proposition for a moment, then says, "Sure... the day after I die!" With that the Old Man gets in the car and takes off with a parting shot, "Screw the cake!"

Too many of us already start looking forward to retiring from the first day we start work. Few of us love or even enjoy our jobs the way the Old Man does.To want to carry on working till the day after we die... we should all be so lucky.

97 days or 82 years?

Between today and the start of the seniors' final exam there are exactly 97 days. 97 days to put all distractions aside in order to study, practice and consult the hell out of ourselves for the sake of good end-of-year results. This was the content of a motivational speech presented to the current seniors whose mid-year achievements have been somewhat less than satisfactory.

This part of the argument I have no issue with, 'cos it's true. We are indeed going to have to keep up the pressure and pick up sufficient momentum so that we can all finish the year strong.

The further argument proposes that human life expectancy is 100 years, give or take a bit. Given that the seniors are about 18 years old now, that leaves them 82 years to either live a life of ease or -- if they fail to do well -- live a life of continual suffering and privation. It will all depend on how much they are willing to sacrifice themselves in the coming 97 days. 97 days compared to 82 years of hardship, the choice should be obvious, right?

I know it's just a motivational speech, and I hope the seniors take the spirit it was given in and not the literal word. Though they may be having a tough time of it in school right now, promising them that life goes into (Caribbean) cruise mode once they leave is misleading at best and a downright lie at worst.

Leaving school behind is when the training wheels come off and rat race truly begins. Welcome to the Hunger Games arena, kids! Putting them in a complacent mood while harbouring expectations of entitlement right at the launch plate isn't going to do their remaining 82 years any favours.

Can I touch yo' sushi?

My beautiful sushi on a plate, I shall name you all: (L-R) fatty salmon, scallop topped with cod liver, tamago

(L-R) fatty tuna with less tendon, sweet shrimp, swordfish

and la piece de resistance, yellowtail at 20% off... (top L, clockwise) sea salt, plain, black truffle sauce, citron junos sauce, black truffle oil

Where the place? Itacho at Changi Airport T3. Lots of seating, less lining up for a place at the table. Satisfied the Japanese craving I've been having for the last couple of weeks. XD

My little runaways

So if you leave
Don't expect me to run after you with flowers
and beg you on my knees to come home.
I will not play your schoolgirl games --
that is all they are and I am not so easily manipulated.


But at least today you've acknowledged
that the keys to your future are not in my hands
but your own.
At least you know that much.

Ancient technology

Watched an episode of Ancient Aliens on History Channel. O_o

One of the interviewees was going on about how some form of extraterrestrial tech such as "sonic levitation" must have been an agent in the raising of humongous megaliths that are otherwise beyond modern ken as to how they got stacked one upon the other by our long-deceased ancestors.

Only today, apparently, are we just beginning to rediscover the technology that allows us the ability to harness sound waves. Nonsense. We've never lost that technology -- in fact we use it practically every day.

"Hey, you good-for-nothing idle bunch of low-life slackers! I want Block A stacked on Block B by this evening! I don't care how, just get it done... or else [fire and brimstone consequences]!!!"

Nothing to it, really.

Now hear this!

One key mistake we make when studying for our subjects is that we use our eyes. That sounds counter-intuitive as the material we study from is textual and is therefore accessible via the eyes.

But the eyes are much better used for observing events, that is, for gathering data first-hand. Visual input goes straight to a binary decision-making flip-switch that responds through instinct, not logic. The two options are MOVE or STAY. MOVE breaks down to two possibilities -- Fight or Flight -- in response to a perceived threat. STAY is the primary default state (due to the Law of Conservation of Energy). There is no time to process visual stimulus. Whether one ends up as someone else's lunch or whether we get to consume another meal is highly dependent on instant recognition of a threat and the instant reaction to it.

Study through the eyes messes up our mental state. We experience a sensation akin to fear due to the stress we are under when studying. Instinct tells us to MOVE, but visually there is no real, physical, urgent threat to MOVE TO confront or AWAY FROM to avoid. So we STAY in a confused state until ennui sets in. Actually learn anything? In that state of mind, y'think?

Text is language-based, and the eye doesn't apprehend language at all. Text is, after all, second-hand knowledge. Language is a translation of different stimulus input that has to undergo a process of encoding (where it becomes an idea) before it can be relayed to another person who then has to undertake a decoding process in order to apprehend the idea being transmitted.

This process involves the faculties of reasoning based on logic and requires a common set of shared ciphers and congruent reference points in order to function. The eye has no time for all this processing. Language is fully dependent on our sense of hearing and our ability to listen, not just to the text itself, but also the undercurrents of emotion and nuance that are all but invisible but not to the empathetic ear which picks up inflection and tone and recognizes further meaning in them.

Kids, when you study from text or any other visual stimulus, the best sensory organ to use are your ears.  The listening path is the more direct route to the processing parts of your brain if you are apprehending knowledge through language. The idea that we are visual learners requiring varied visual input to learn is a myth. The reason why we learn faster from video is not due to the image itself, but rather the accompanying audio track that tells us what the hell is going on.

kthxbye.

Tripping hazard

While director, Chris Nolan, spins a ripping yarn about the downfall of the Bat at the hands the Bane of his life and is able to tie what seem like unconnected loose ends of this trilogy together, I can't help but get distracted by the awkwardness of the cowl and the cape, especially in the fight sequences.

The fact that everyone else is dressed more or less normally, even Bane and his oversized retainer (I bet he got that way because the kids in school kept picking on him), Batman with his literally over-the-top mask and unwieldy cape, far from making him look inconspicuous as it's supposed to, instead made him stick out like a sore thumb in company. What's the point, anyway, since anyone who can't figure out that Bruce Wayne is the fabled Dark Knight has to be the densest material on the planet?

At some point, I wish he'd lose the darned things and just fight in his armour. Since this movie seems to have been marketed as the most realistic of all the other superhero movies this season, there's little call for the protagonist doing his thing in a silly outfit. It looks impractical and gets in the way of the action. Even in the shot with the Batman standing on a perch overlooking the city, the cape just... drapes over his shoulders, adding nothing to the drama apart from a distraction. I was more worried about it being a tripping hazard than as an awe inspiring device that the comic book genre makes it out to be.

But perhaps Wayne's inner struggle is right there. While the Batman persona relies on theatricality, technology and training, Rises is Wayne's story about his arduous climb back from the dark into light; from losing everything to finding happiness against all odds. The two personas are irrevocably separate, yet together. And that's the odd thing: the Bat survives when times are tough -- nothing makes the Bat come out stronger than when he is suffering. Make him happy, though, and you just might see the end of the Bat. Who'd have thought?

Does the trilogy end on a happy note, as all good legends should? I can't really say. Though Nolan may have directed his third and final installment in this trilogy, the producers seem intent on keeping the Wayne legacy and the franchise alive.