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.

Pixar's "Ratatouille" is such a charming tale. Set in la belle Paris, how could it go wrong? It's about good food and messing about in the kitchen, a la the plethora of audience-friendly cable cooking shows, the likes of Oliver, Bourdain, and the travelogues of Samantha Brown. If that isn't a license to print money, I don't know what is.

Oh, and Chef Remy is a rat. Not the Cagney "you dirty... rat" type, but the actual makes [Victorian] women jump on chairs and scream rattus rattus variety. While his genius becomes so well-loved by the top food critics in Paris, his genus is widely despised, reviled and persecuted by nearly every human being who catches sight of him.

So, basically he's a mutant rat with some very special abilities. His uncomfortable friendship and partnership with the new garbage boy, Linguini, revives the name of the once-famous 5-star rated "Gusteau's" -- and brings it back into the attention of the much-feared food critic, Anton Ego, whose scathing review of many years ago had brought the restaurant's name down in the first place.

In the complicated relationship between rat and garbage boy, success lies somewhere between their strength of self-belief and identifying their personal talents which work well together in times of crisis. Like foreign talent, both are viewed with disdain, suspicion, jealousy and hate. Head Chef Skinner -- who has his own plans for Gusteau's -- particularly fears the new staff member, concerned that he will eventually be eclipsed and replaced (sound familiar?), and is unable to switch from his tried-and-tested ways to accept the newcomers' unorthodox but effective new practices.

Both facing the prejudice of their colleagues, and creating a dish to satisfy their culinary nemesis, Monseur Ego, require their ingenuity, creativity, talent and a touch of audacity, and is indeed a sight to behold, particularly as Gusteau's kitchen has to resolve a dramatic personnel meltdown in order to do so. Too bad for the locals, then, who cannot see the reality that in these days of unprecedented talent mobility, "Anyone Can Cook", and the next great thing may not necessarily be home-grown. It's going to take an attitude shift like chef Collette's, who adapts quickly to the unfolding circumstances and adds her local talent to create the new gastronomic haven that emerges.

Is the movie funny? 'Funny' has to do with the juxtaposition of opposites, in unlikely situations, causing unexpected results. Rat. Boy. Gourmet kitchen. Pressure-cooker kitchen environment. Paris. Lots of dichotomies too, as Remy and Linguini have to wear more than one hat each as they learn to adapt to their new home. Yup, the mix looks to be just right. Let it simmer to boil, serve warm. Good stuff.

Whatever. Linguini may live in a rathole, but at least it's a rathole in Paris.

My true talents have finally been recognized, if only by Taily and Que! Now I have another shiny thing to add to my collection that's sitting on the top of my cubicle's partition, thanks you two!

Thanks also for the other Teachers' Day gifts and notes of appreciation and encouragement from everyone else.

There was a novel party on campus to celebrate the occasion. There was food and open-air entertainment. P personally handed out ice-cream to the staff, Dee had a counter selling pretty little cupcakes for a good cause, and Lena brought her maltese, Hercules, whose well-groomed coat bravely bore the brunt of many hands seeking pet therapy.

Don't know how Council managed it but during the penultimate act at the open-air concert, the beautiful blue sky grew ominously dark and a light drizzle started, prompting a mad scramble for shelter and an abrupt close to the festivities. Perhaps we could hire out that last act to drought-stricken countries?

Great lunch at the White Dog with a larger group of company than usual. Vays, Linc & I were GoH to mark the completion of yet another solar orbit. Thanks everyone!

The GP prelims are over! That's the last official test the JC2s will take before they face the Real Thing in a few weeks' time. But a reminder to the JC2 KIds, remember to come back next Saturday to take your Critical Thinking paper!

We had 2 speakers discuss talent and population challenges for S'pore at this afternoon's industry-organized seminar. 1st guy was from a private sector consultancy, a Permanent Resident himself, focusing on the competition for talent around the world and looking at some of the factors that attract talented people to make a decision as to where they want to stay.

From his company's studies, financial reward comes last out of 4 criteria. The most important factor is something so subjective that it's difficult to quantify: talented people want, above all, a challenging experience, and a "buzz" in their work culture and environment.

Call me parochial, but I couldn't help thinking about my own employment situation, wondering if the "buzz" I'm getting now on the job will be enough to keep me going, and for how much longer. In the workplace right now, there are staff who've been here since like forever, so there's no doubt there is some kind of "buzz" going on. In a recent email, a friend of mine from waaaay back, listed a number of our old teachers from our sec school days who are still teaching there, and I'm like, wow... If I can already consider myself a wizened, shriveled, prune of a sage, these old mentors and tormentors of mine must have become hardened into diamond by now after so many years on the job. Would I ever last that long? Do I even want to?

What's the "buzz", anyway? It obviously has something to do with the challenging nature of the work, which should be stimulating in process and somehow results in benefits for others -- which makes the job worthwhile. Solving problems for people can be quite an ego boost, sometimes worth even more than the financial compensation for the work done.

But the "buzz" is also a social thing, in that there must be other co-workers who inspire, support and socialize informally with each other; sharing time, food, caffeine (or similar biochemical stimulants), gossip and jokes apart from the work-load. The "buzz" is excitement in the things we do together, whether it's duty-hours serious business, or off-duty fun and play. People respond positively to busy-ness within an atmosphere of "buzzy"-ness.

This year, I've had to get used to things being a little less buzzy, and I kinda' miss the Boyz still. CCA-wise I feel isolated and cast adrift since I've got no partner to bounce ideas off, or to spur me to do more than just tread water, or even help me get my admin straight. But I am appreciative of my current company, and the effort we make to still have meals together, at least. Today's pasta lunch before the seminar, the few movies we've sat through, and the upcoming D. NY EL Retreat, for example, show we still know how to create a buzz for ourselves. Even without the Boyz who, I'm beginning to be convinced these days, were a bit of an anomaly.

Guess I'll be sticking around a while more...

After an intense weekend of news editing and laying out, compre marking and the last couple of days of non-stop seeing of individual and small groups of students every hour on the hour with only a short lunch break in between, by this evening I was feeling like I'd been taking meds without actually having taken any.

The year 2 students are on study break, meaning no more formal timetable, but they arrange personal consultations with their subject tutors on a loose per-hour basis, first come, first served. Around this period in previous years, I don't remember ever being so popular. It's probably the nature of this batch, more of whom seem genuinely concerned about doing better about their grades than the earlier batches.

A couple of things I've been repeating today: Despite essay and compre papers looking like pen-and-paper exercises, if we treat them simply as intellectual exercises, we tend to be more interested in what we want to say about the issue rather than address the specific concerns of the person asking the question. We seek our own agenda among the questions offered and pick the one with the closest match, but fail to pay attention to what we are actually being asked. Hence we often miss out on the specific nuances that our chosen question requires us to address. That, in human terms, is just rude.

Instead, a good essayist listens to the questions like there was a real person asking them. Respect the inquirer, seek to understand the situation from the inquirer's perspective, address the inquirer's concerns, and reassure the inquirer that things are not so bad. Even if the essayist has no solutions to the problem, the essayist should at least know of which agencies are taking steps to solve the problem, and make referrals accordingly.

For GP students concerned about formalities like keyword definition, thesis statement construction, and the biggest bugbear, argument "balancing", perhaps the famous Prayer of St Francis might offer some insight and wisdom.

With all our concerns about climate change and pollution and hyper-consumerism all being linked to our mania for urbanization, maybe it IS time to let the Taleban and Al-Qaeda take over the reigns of the world. They pursue the perfect save-the-earth policy, after all. It's called "Turbanization".

Well, what did you expect? I've just finished laying out our latest print NYconneX, and am now facing about 30 essays to mark by tonight. I'm really not supposed to be blogging now...