Woke up at 0900, a luxury after maybe 3 weeks of early mornings. We're pumped, opening night of 'Oz' being quite a hit with our crowd.

As a club NYeDC 05 pulled together and focused on getting our show out. Whether in training, rehearsal, technical, handicraft or artistic activities, everyone found a niche and gave everything they had and more. Every rehearsal found a new angle, a new toy, or a new gag with improvisation and seat-of-the-pants ingenuity; necessity being the mother of invention.

Right down to opening night, the cast and crew still found new ways to play, and last night the Timekeeper and the Wizard came into their own as characters in the show. Must credit Timekeeper who was sensitive enough to notice he was stealing limelight away from the main action and sensibly stopped his antics so focus could go back to centrestage.

Having a competent 'live' band to support the action is definitely the way to go. Our musicians have very little to do with the club but they found a way to believe in the show enough to ask to be a part of it. We left them to improvise on their own and kept the soundtrack flexible. Result: action, underscored with music and effects, that would otherwise have fallen flat.

If there were any problems on opening night, it would have been from the soundboard. Condenser mikes not picking up well, actors sounding soft in ensemble, in contrast to the loud, clear sounds of our individually miked up solos. Need to balance the sound better, and avoid feedback, which was another nagging problem.

The house last night was larger than I had been mentally prepared for. Last night sold well and let's hope tonight's show will be just as good. Must thank 'sif, HT, Ramzi, Shariffah and Durga of 04 for their time and for creating a gorgeous front-of-house set with fabrics, a couple of fedoras and a ruby red shoe (shaped phone). Must also thank the AV guy for hanging around in the sound booth giving me a hand with a twitchy soundboard.

Tonight is closing night. Let's avoid complacency and let the success of our previous night get to our heads. NYeDC 05, let's go and break some legs!

Looks like another major expense heading our way. HDB came over to inspect our bathroom to determine the source of our downstairs neighbour's roof leakage. Assessment: We're going to need a whole new bathroom. Floor tiles out, crapper out, and while we're at it, wall tiles out, bathroom sink out -- hey, and maybe get a replacement water heater too!

It's likely that it was our darned air-con contractor's fault in the first place, giving us an a/c drainage pipe that drained impractically into the drainage hole of our main bathroom floor instead of the shower hole. Because the drainage hole was at the far end of our bathroom, the contractor ran a long PVC pipe all the way across our bathroom floor which became a tripping hazard for us. June got fed up with the pipe one day and had it hacksawed off. So the a/c drained directly onto the bathroom floor. The water must have eroded the sealant between our bathroom tiles and thus started seeping into the floor below. Hence, new waterproof lining has to be installed, and hence, our new bathroom (minimalist in design due to budgetary constraints) will rise from the rubble of the old.

Um... in case there is anyone out there who is looking for evidence indicating whose fault is the greater, the above raises mere speculation on my part and does in no part constitute a confession.

What happens now? An HDB contractor will be engaged who will bring steely tools and beefy men to tear up our bathroom fixtures and install new ones with more gusto than finesse; and will gleefully send us a huge, hefty bill at the end of it all. How we then proceed with the apportioning of the bill between the parties involved will be another story for another time.

Finally, this week we move into our auditorium. For one week we can call our space truly ours. No more dealing with squatters in our rehearsal rooms, no need to move furniture around and back; the stage, the flooring, the lights, the sound system, they're all ours and we have smugly taken possession of them all.

The lights are plotted and almost set, much of the major pieces of set are onstage, props in labelled boxes backstage and costumes sewn and hanging on their racks. We've used up nearly 8 rolls of gaffer tape ($20 worth!) in a day, which must be a new record for us.

We only had 1 run today with costume, and it's good that the cast know now how much faster they need to change clothes backstage as they shift from scene to scene. 2 more days of rehearsal left and then it's showtime!

Because we now have 2 cars between us, my entire family could have an outing today, this Labour Day holiday. We started early and collected mom, dad and my bro to meet my sis and her brood up on Kent Ridge Park. For the first time ever, my whole family took in the air in unfamiliar territory together.

Kent Ridge Park is the site of the battle for Pasir Panjang Hill and there is a small monument there to commemorate the event. There is even a leftover AMX-13 light tank on display, though it's presence is misleading. That tank never saw battle up on this height. It was imported in much later after WWII. It was still a talking point between my bro and me, though, as we reminisced over our own NSF days in the local Armoured brigade.

But we were here not for the nostalgia but for the trek through a pleasant canopy walk above the trees (a short one compared to the one at MacRitchie) and along the walking paths of the park. Not much to see of nature around our built-up areas, but where we have set aside some space for nature, she is lovingly preserved. The lush greenery and the abundance of wild animal life (think birds, butterflies and squirrels, not lions and tigers and bears) could almost make you think you were in some other country.

Here, even the public toilet is clean and dry -- a nice surprise considering the alternative might have been the biggest tree within sight -- and as the conspicuous signage proudly declares, the toilet is lighted by electricity generated from solar energy.

In order to get to the pond indicated on our map, we had to drive back to the much smaller car park 'A', a little lower down the hill. We weren't disappointed with the pond and its environs. We found a pavillion to sit in and chill out while my sister's kids decided to mostly hang out with mom who was intent on exploring the pond a little further. We had more important things to do, like decide where to go for lunch.

Settled for the Ghim Moh market hawker centre. Cheap and good. Between June and myself, we ordered a whole half chicken, with liver and rice, all for less than $10. Not sure about how the others enjoyed their lunch, but June advises that there is nothing special about the ah balling (glutinous rice ball dessert) and that she's had better.

Took mom, dad and my bro back home where we devoured some ice-cream before vacuuming the M2. Mom lent us a hand-me-down vacuum cleaner: a Miele with a printed label that suggested it might be at least 20 years old. That this antique could work with such effectiveness attests to just how well they made stuff back then, 20 years ago.

Too lazy to wash the M2 manually so we drove to our nearest petrol station where we had it foam washed instead, going quite against Eddie's injunction. Cost is $6 for cars, $7 for SUVs, $8 for trucks.

Managed to catch a short nap at home before heading back out to return Mimi to her home. We had dinner at mom-in-law's place where she fried up a delicious fish & chips.

Had another bowling session later at the CSC. Average: 151. OK, still maintaining.

Amazing how many activities we could pack into a day, if we simply woke up earlier.

Lazy day, and no, I didn't get bored. Took Q-tip to Pet Safari, Eastpoint Mall, for a stroll. We were looking to restock up on kitty litter, but decided not to get it from here after all as we could get it marginally cheaper at Sembawang Shopping Centre. We did pick up a new line of dry dog food from Eukanuba, made from "lamb meat, not lamb meal." Hope Q-tip will like it, else...

Later we drove to Sembawang to pick up Mimi. We brought her back to our place so she'll stay another night or two with us. The cats are now so used to Mimi they no longer fear her. Not that they are so welcoming either, but at least they don't run off into parts unknown to sulk any more.

Tomorrow is one more day to rest up before the frenetic sprint up to Drama Night. It's been fun, stressful, rewarding, breathless, and I'll be glad for a bit more rest when it's over. Sadly, tix sales are moving only very slowly so far despite our efforts. People, buy a ticket and support English Drama in our College, ok?

2 day's worth of updates in 1 entry. Go!

Yesterday's rehearsal saw a bunch of special guests from The Odyssey cast dropping in to see how their juniors were doing in this year's production. Apparently, all came in without anyone making plans with anyone else to coordinate the visit. Nice to see them so supportive and encouraging to our current cast and crew.

Mel and I, with HT (thanks for the Black Forest cake!), 'sif, Sam, and Gid (who joined us later) and Cara gathered after rehearsal at Pastamania, J8, for dinner and a rousing good time. Vince, Amy and JY expanded our company later in the evening, so we had a strange mix of student alumni, staff alumni, 1 current student (Ben), and current staff. Given a little more time, I'm pretty sure we'd have been on first name basis with each other, and why not? Who cares for our formal titles, "Mr...," "Ms...," whatever, anyway?

June joined us after dinner when we staff abandoned our current and former students and, once the parking payment machines were working again, drove out to Tg Pagar where Anthony had got us a table at the Eskibar. He's been talking so much about it the past couple of weeks we had to experience it for ourselves. It's a bar with a gimmick that it's name suggests: air-conditioned to a temperature approximating a mild temperate winter. So cold you can borrow a parka from the bar so you can hear the techno beat instead of your chattering teeth.

Unfortunately for us, we chose to go on a Friday evening of a long weekend. It was so crowded, and the main door kept swinging open to allow a steady procession of patrons in and out, thus dissipating the chill into the muggy atmosphere of the outside world. Cheapskates that we are, June and I slipped outside to a coffee shop a couple of doors down for a can of coke ($1.20) then went back into the Eskibar just to cool off and yak with the guys some more.

Eventually, traffic thinned out enough for us to grab all the available stools at the bar to cluster around our table so that everyone could have a seat. But just when it was starting to get a little chilly, it was late and we decided to head on home and catch some rest before Parents' Day II this morning.

... Woke up early on a Saturday morning for the second Parents' Day of three this year. Yes, there will be another after the mid-year exam. Today, the heat was on the P, and her retinue of HODs as they fielded a Q&A session with concerned parents over the plight of their offspring in our college.

Parents as a whole can never agree whether their kids are too stressed out or not worked hard enough, so there the senior staff are in the spotlight assuring parents that we have programmes in place to cater to academic rigour, personal development, career guidance, confidence building, leadership training, ad infinitum so that boy-boy or ger-ger won't lose out to their peers in the "Top-Five." HODs take a lot of flak from parents, and I'm glad I wasn't up there on stage today giving those answers to those questions.

After all the parents, their kids and the rest of the staff left, I remained behind with a small crew of our backstage hands to meet with Yee and Wan Wen for some training on rigging and focusing of stage lighting and to get the stage ready for our big bump-in on Tuesday.

Right. Long weekend ahead. Brought back a bunch of PW preliminary submissions to peruse and comment on in case I get bored.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Hope Tina will like the modifications I made with our Scarecrow's movements in "Oz." Until today, JT's been playing a very grotesque scarecrow, and for a long while I've been puzzling over what was wrong with the shape she was delivering. Then I realized what it was: JT's Scarecrow looked like she was making an effort to sag, droop and be weak-kneed.

The problem, if we employ real-world physics, is that a stuffed humanoid caricature is naturally floppy, so there is no need to purposely make it look like it was going to fall over any second. Instead, where the effort should go is not downwards but upwards. The scarecrow should be fighting gravity all the time, should be the tallest and straightest character on stage during movement, and only at rest does the Scarecrow sag, just a little.

Now that I've thoroughly messed with JT's brains, she's now got to practice a completely different posture for her Scarecrow. A different motivation for her movement. Hope it will look more "correct" by next rehearsal. Tomorrow.

Shah came in to polish the opening dance number and worked the cast line-by-line with each dance movement. A painstaking workout for them but collectively they do look a little sharper now. Ended rehearsal early as today was supposed to be a rest day for the cast.

As it was early, I managed to have another bowling session with Vince and Amy at the CSC. Good decision! My average came up to 155 in a 5-game series. I hit a personal high of 184, and if I had converted that darned split on the 9th frame I could have surpassed 200 in that game. Where were these scores when I needed them during the tournament? Hope I can sustain this form in the next session.

Here I am right now, having already showered (in cold water 'cos the water heater's on strike), biting into a Wall's Magnum and for the first time in a long while feeling relaxed. It's only just past 2200 and there's the promise that if I really wanted, I could get an early night's sleep tonight. It's a temporary respite, I know, but it's a feeling that you get when a whole bunch of things you've been stressing over are indeed over and, though not exactly perfectly accomplished, the world didn't get destroyed by your incompetence.

72 kids went on tour to P Tekong; a little short of the 120 I was supposed to bring down. Make that a whole busload short, but people adapt to changing situations. NY short? SR short? So combine both groups to make the optimal number. No-fuss practicality at work and everyone's still happy.

The tour's pretty much standard from the last time I blogged about it last October, was it? The only difference, or rather, development is that the recruits' physical fitness tests are now conducted and scores recorded automatically by computer. Saves time, saves human resource, and the atmosphere is very much like a games arcade rather than a sweaty gym.

This time I managed to actually put some of the soldiers' combat rations in my mouth. I accepted a package of "corn and mixed beans dessert" which came chilled in a catering container. It was wet, sweet and cool, just the refresher I needed since it was a blazing hot day and none of us had time for any lunch before the tour began. Then I took a bite of some rice-based thing that came in a different green package. The instructor briefing us earlier had spoken true: "combat rations are not meant to suit your tastebuds..." You'd probably enjoy the stuff only if you were really hungry. Good thing they include Maggi mee, biscuits and fruit bars in the 24-hr pack as well. A guy's gotta have something to eat.

Aileen did manage to clear her schedule so I sent her to supervise the other of the 2 buses that left campus this afternoon. She's been such a great help, and she's not even considered a fully trained ed offr yet. She'll be leaving us to complete her training during the term break and I'm going to be so shorthanded then. I will miss her, though maybe since I have 40 NE reps from amongst the JC1s I can exploit employ them to my heart's content.

Returned to campus as scheduled and dropped by rehearsal again. The actors are off-script now and though still fluffing lines here and there, it is an indication of progress. The whole 3-piece band came together for the first time during this rehearsal and they're playing nicely with each other. Keyboard, sax, percussion... mmm. Lots of scenes and transitions to polish up, tighten up and energize, but at least now we have something to work with where once there was just a rough idea. Lighting designer came down today as well, so all the pieces are falling into place.

So tonight, I shall relax.

So darned tired last night. Today not much different. Military chief-of-staff paid the college a visit to answer whatever questions the JC2 kids might have. One of these questions showed the kid's faulty interpretation of our national pledge, a quibbling point around the word, "regardless..." which he took to mean, "despite..." But thankfully, the visit went well, generally speaking, and it's one more headache over.

Again, without Aileen's and Cikgu's help I might have fallen apart sometime this morning trying to coordinate all the small, unnoticed things that a visit such as this entails. Print attendance sheets, drape speaker's table, drinks, gifts, distribute attendance sheets, distribute feedback forms, arrange for an impromptu photo shoot; and collect attendance sheets and feedback forms after the dialogue session is over. Ok, listed like this it doesn't sound all that much, but still...

Tomorrow the JC2s are visiting the army boot camp on Tekong. A total of 120 invitations were sent out to our JC2s though I could only round up nearly 80 kids to go. Odd because last year there were so many respondents, I almost had to throw people off my buses. Learning point: don't plan for any major events to take place in the April-May period. Too many activities already happening including sports competitions, the SYF and other in-house matters. Kids and tutors are stretched so thin I was also having trouble rounding up a fellow tutor to help accompany the kids, 1 tutor per bus full of little monkeys. Once again, I'm counting on Aileen's help here. Hope she can get out of whatever she's involved with so that it's not just me with 80. I'd really go crazy then.

The bowling club announced the date for the annual college bowling challenge: 4 May. Great. The date of our tech and dress rehearsal for Drama Night. Don't think I can compete this year then. Wonder which Pegasii Anthony will have to partner? Boo hoo.

Oh, and the latest standings for the ministry's league are out. If you must, click the sidebar link to see how the Gutter Boys are doing.

Edit 01:
Hmm... I seem to have lost my comment service. I'll give it another day, then I switch over to Haloscan or something. How annoying.

The Oz banner! 'nuff said... g'nite! 

Brought pizza for NYeDC kids who were busy making a huge banner advertising Drama Night. Yee's design: 7 long rolls of I-don't-know-what-kind-of heavy duty industrial paper, duct taped together to form the base ; then a patchwork quilt of coloured paper pasted on for the background colour. On top of that are the lettering announcing the title, "Oz," the date and declaring that everything had been done by ourselves, in-house. June and I delivered the motivational pizza at a little past 1400...

... and we only completed the banner after 2100. By then the janitor had gone home and we couldn't get access into the atrium area where we intended to hang the banner to greet the early Monday morning crowd. So, reluctantly, we had to roll up our "tapestry" and place it against the atrium staircase for safekeeping. Tomorrow at 0630hrs, we're calling all hands to help carry the banner up to the 5th storey where we will drape it over the top railing. Hopefully, we'll get it ready before the main student body arrives.

Just got home from taking a few of our willing hands home or wherever else they needed to go. Thanks have to go out to all our helpers today: Aaron, Faz, Grace, Jane, JT, Suzhen, Shan, Yit Han, Mel and, of course, Yee and June. NYeDC owes y'all one!

If I'm getting to college by 0630 tomorrow, what time do I have to wake up? OMG, time for bed!

It's mom & dad's 43rd wedding anniversary so we took the opportunity to have a family dinner outside for a change.

The day began a little late. We overslept a bit but still managed to get to Sing See Soon Flower Garden at the junction of Paya Lebar and Bartley just in time to grab their last bouquet of purple roses for mom's pressie. The shop people called the species, "super-rose". They and a whole lot of other imported flowers were kept in a cold-room -- air-conditioned to match European spring temperatures. Cold enough to make breath visible to the naked eye.

The flowers here go for wholesale prices. A bunch of 20 gorgeous super-roses for only $8! Someplace to think about if Valentine's Day or some other special occasion rolls around for your sweetheart, eh, guys?

Drove to Gardens market for brekkie. Bought a lot of the usual local breakfast things like carrot cake, vegetarian noodles, yu tiao, and tau huay. We had Q-tip with us so we couldn't eat there. Instead we brought all that stuff over to mom's place for their second breakfast and our first.

Rushed off soon after to get the M2 groomed at Eddie's. M2's 2nd appointment for car grooming this year. I sent M2 looking filthy after last week's wash and I was a little worried that I would bear the brunt of Eddie's approbation over the state of my car. Last time I saw him, he had instructed me to wash the car twice a week, and if it rains, wash another time. Reasonably, which car owner's got that kind of time?

Caught a cab back home where we arranged to meet our neighbour from immediately downstairs of our flat. According to her, water from our bathroom is leaking into her bedroom and is becoming an inconvenience for her. We went in to look and yes, water does seem to be collecting in her ceiling lamp and a large piece of paint has peeled off from her bathroom ceiling and is now hanging pathetically downwards awaiting gravity to finish the job. We assured her that we'll get HDB to send a contractor right away to assess and repair the damage. As with HDB policy, we'll split the bill between ourselves. Watch this space for further developments.

Went back home, caught some TV, then before long, it was time to collect M2 from Eddie. From Eddie's we drove over to collect mom & dad, then drove back into Gardens to Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. June cursing and swearing that she forgot to bring her Jumbo membership/discount card. Stuffed ourselves full with the usual boring stuff we invariable order -- couple of meats, couple of veg, some tofu, but with the addition of some very fine steamed sea bass and 2 huge steamed crabs. Who thinks steamed crabs are better than chilli crabs? Yup, I thought so!

After dinner adjourned for ice-cream back at mom's place, then home again. Phew! Thought Saturdays were supposed to be for rest?

Last day of the course, today looking at the assessment of Paper 2, the Critical Thinking component of the subject. I must be mentally fatigued or something as I didn't have many intelligent things to contribute to my group's discussion. I kept staring at the sample students' answers and it took a long time for me to make sense out of what I was reading. It wasn't that the answers were bad, but I simply couldn't focus. I kept forgetting what I had read before and had to backtrack constantly. Or is it that my own critical thinking skills are lacking? All I knew was I needed sleep, or at least a week's vacation on a deserted island beach in the South Pacific. Umbrella drink optional.

To celebrate the end of the course, NBS and I paid one last visit to the Ya Kun at Tiong Bahru Plaza. This time we tried the sugar toast and concluded that it's neither the kaya nor any other spread in the toast, but it's the butter that makes it what it is. Must have gained some serious weight over the last week. Too much good food in the vicinity, coffee breaks with catered snacks between classes in the morning and afternoon, and hence, WAY too much coffee -- more than I usually get under normal circumstances.

Abandoned NBS after lunch to attend my promo ceremony. Got to shake the hand of one of our senior directors, whose youthful appearance was a bit humbling. She must be one of the scholar-types on the fast-track to the up-and-up, while the rest of us (me anyway) are contented being the bottom-feeders in the fish-tank of the ministry.

Pete snuck us into an oddly unutilized LT4 for rehearsal this evening. We ran the whole play through and though it's seriously rough, it's coherent. 8 more rehearsals to go, so they're going to be really intensive. Better prepare mentally and physically. And Yee's creating a publicity gimmick that's going to make a big impact on Monday morning. The cast and crew will be on campus this Sunday getting our surprise ready. Hope it turns out as he envisions it.

Last note: Happy bdae to Jane! Gorgeous cake!

Day 4 of my course and it's a marking and assessment workshop of students' essays in KI. Cambridge stressed how scrupulously fair their marking of exam questions is, so today we bashed out what we thought 'fair' meant in practical terms at college (ground-zero) level. The main concern was with Paper 3, the independent study project: just how far does the definition of "independent" extend? As always, there is little consensus between those who want to push for as-much-help-as-possible for the students, and those who interpret "independent" as completely-on-you-own, no help from the teachers at all, or else it's cheating.

Someone has to make a decision on this, but in the meantime, I suggest keeping it real. For the independent study, students should be allowed to seek whatever 'help' they can get as long as the source is relevant to the question they set themselves out to answer; students must credit all their consultations, dialogues, divinations, etc., in the bibliography section of the KI Paper 3. This way, the markers should get a better handle on what kind of 'help' the student got. And 'how much' of it too. Since part of the KI curriculum comprises ethics as a key module, what better way to test the students' internalization of ethical principles than making them be honest about the information and other assistance acquired in the writing of their essay?

Bowling tournament tonight. Bowled a lousy 133 average, and this was after I scored a "turkey" (3 strikes in a row) during the last game. Then my subsequent throws went all over the place. Still, this is roughly my current average -- I haven't made much improvement, personally, but I think as a team the Gutter Boys are slowly getting better. Perhaps next month we'll see some real progress?

Day 3 of my course and today we're looking at the introduction of our first real independent research paper for JC students. This is the main reason why I decided to move my teaching in this direction from GP in the first place. A chance to work directly with pre-university students on the kind of stuff they will be doing at uni level. Something real, and concrete, and skills that have direct application to their near-future rather than some nebulous far-off date close to never.

It's a tough paper, all right. A 6-month programme during which individual students will submit a research proposal to be approved by a Cambridge board (not by the teacher!) followed up with a major essay of 2500-3000 words in length, about -- get this -- thought and thinking about a particular topic of study. For example:

We know that "Jedi knight" is becoming a recognized religion by the increasing number of people who are claiming to be followers of this pop-culturally derived belief system. So, by what basis do we identify a body of human activity as "religious?" Since a religion spreads by the successful transmission of a particular canon of knowledge thus creating new converts (who had previously believed in a different canon of knowledge), how might a person be attracted to change his/her religion which may entail the eradication his/her previous belief system in order to accept the new one? How might a convert deal with such a radical thought-changing experience? How might the convert's previous socio-religious circle deal with such a change? (I made this question up, so it probably needs work still).

Well, something like that. The focus is not on "religion," mind you, but rather on the creation, transmission, and perpetuation of the knowledge behind religion, and more importantly, how that knowledge is used to expand a religion's reach amongst people; and perhaps a further exploration into whether such usage might constitute an ethical breach in our modern day social contract to respect religious diversity amongst our people.

This type of exploration goes far beyond what GP ever pushed JC students to think about. I think they can rise to the challenge if they have guts and gumption enough. Wonder what my class size will be next year -- 8?

KI has the potential for great fun and learning, and heated animated discussion, but it's definitely not for the squeamish.

Day 2 of my course. Yesterday we looked at critical thinking through the analysis of the reasoning behind chunks of text. We looked at argument premises and supporting points, and we looked at assumptions on which arguments are based. These components, depending on how they are related together make or break an argument and there is a logical, if technical way of determining if an argument is valid or not.

Today, we looked at the ethical dimension motivating decision and action for people individually and socially. We asked what was 'right' and what was 'wrong' and on whose authority do we make such claims? We looked at some simplified principles and ethical premises of various ethical schools of thought and we tried approaching various moral dilemmas on these disparate bases.

These moral dilemmas are to some extent similar to some of the decisions we have to make in KOTOR2. OK, I'm obsessed. Light-siders are motivated to do "Good" though there is the unlikelihood of gaining material reward. Sometimes, lightsiders even sacrifice material (making donations to "worthy" but unprofitable causes, for example) in the hope of gaining lightside alignment points. No material benefit, but your character's portrait appears enshrined by a column of bright, white light, stands up taller and straighter, and looks increasingly heroic. A virtue ethicist approach, as the end result of an action or the consequences matter less than the character building opportunity one gets from dealing with a crisis.

Sith characters, on the other hand, advance themselves through a more utilitarian approach. A pragmatic, what's-in-it-for-me attitude. Sith can gather more material resources this way, at the expense of an increasingly ugly (subjective term), twisted character portrait. Also, Sith get to use the cooler, more spectacular and deadly darkside powers at a discounted cost -- Force choke and lightning, for example. Who cares about 'character-building' when you can do cool stuff like this?

Hmm... now, how can I convince the college to let my students play KOTOR 2 so I can engage them in ethical discourse...?

This evening, Tina sent over the latest update on our Drama Night script and Shah is still choreographing for the Witch's big entrance number. If done well, people are going to love to hate our Witch as soon as she appears. HT dropped in on us to catch a preview. Hey, grrl!

And now for some good news: Girlfriend has recovered over the weekend at Dr Casey's and is now terrorizing the veterinary staff with her teeth and claws. Dr Casey arranged for us to take Girlfriend back to the Square where she belongs. She's a little tired out and annoyed with the blood testing, the sedation, the confinement, the drip and whatever else they put her through. She's eating again, so she should be able to fully recover soon. Hopefully, this is 1 cat that we have 'rescued' from this blight.

June thinks I am a control-freak, and maybe she's right. Today though I was supposed to be on-course I still started the day on campus to conduct my PW tutorial before taking off to Exams Branch. I felt I needed to explain the initial stage of this year's project tasks, and I hope they bought my explanation enough to actually find something useful to propose as their INDIVIDUAL project.

Was too clever and took a short-cut from campus towards the CTE, then annoyingly got lost on the way. It was a matter of knowing which lane turns where and I kept getting stuck on lanes that took me further and further away from my destination. Arrived nearly a half-hour late, and the course had already gone into full swing when I sheepishly opened the dors and tried to find a seat near some familiar face. Fortunately, I soon found NBS to sit with. NBS, my new partner in crime (or KI, anyway)... heh, heh!

Missed an opportunity to join Anthony & Co for drinks at the sub-zero bar tonight. After the course, I went back to campus for Drama Night rehearsal. After that I was simply too tired to go back downtown where I had just been just a couple of hours ago.

On the way home, another pick-up truck unexpectedly swung into my lane, and for once, I beeped my horn in anger. Nice to know you have this reflex at the time you really need it. I stepped hard on the brakes but thankfully the car behind me had been keeping his distance, so nothing more than a scare. Phew!

After our previous failure to secure Girlfriend, I purchased a proper cat carrier from the pet shop next to Dr Casey's. It has a locking door so no need to rely on cable ties and whatnot to keep the enclosure secure. This morning, Girlfriend happened to be sitting outside the NTUC and June lured her into the open with the promise of fresh kibble. It was then easy for her to pin Girlfriend down then pick her up and stuff her into the carrier. Mission Accomplished!

We brought Girlfriend to see Dr Casey but Dr Tan attended to us instead. We hospitalized Girlfriend for observation and further testing. Poor thing. Dr Tan called us later in the afternoon to ask if she should sedate Girlfriend who was getting increasingly agitated and defensive. In order to treat her immediately, sedation seemed necessary, and I didn't have any better options. So I gave consent, at the risk that Girlfriend might need more and more sedation from day to day if her attitude continues to be poor and her health continues to deteriorate. Too much sedation could kill her too.

Best thing would be for Girlfriend to quickly pull through this disease, then we can release her back to her natural habitat again. And after surviving this round of infection she should be immune to it if it should come round again. Today she's still looking pretty horrible with that stuff coming out of her eyes and making her face so dirty. Get well soon, Girlfriend.

This evening we saw Groucho who also looks sick. We also saw Nabiki (Girlfriend's daughter) who thankfully looks fine, except for being uncharacteristically quiet. Perhaps she misses all her friends who lived in the Square?

Next week is the NEXUS (the irony will be lost on most people) point for so many things I am in charge of: Security Seminar, Senior Civil Servant's Dialogue, Drama Night (shifting into high-gear), BMTC visit... As I am in charge of them ALL, my focus is so diverse I'm having difficulty controlling ANYthing. And it's even worse that next week, I'm not even going to be physically present on campus because of the week-long course I need to attend at Exams Branch. The one week I absolutely need to be on campus, I'm not. Great timing.

Fine. Perhaps I could've managed my time better. It's partially because I chose a couple of these dates myself, but at the same time, some of these dates were chosen for me as well, so the year climaxes early for me, and since the year is still early, there's promise of more to come. Multiple climaxes. If this was sex, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

Then there is next week's bowling tournament date. I'm still bowling a crap 120-130 average over 5-6 games. I changed the grip on my bowling ball's thumb hole as it was slowly wearing loose. Now my poor Brunswick 'Zone' looks a bit Frankenstein monster-like with the orange shim contrasting horridly with it's blue body. And because I now have a tighter grip, the 11-pounder feels too light and therefore less controllable. More practice needed. When? Dunno.

More bad news: Cat Rescue Squad failed this morning to secure Girlfriend (Matriarch of the Square) who is herself showing symptoms of the disease that's been wiping out the neighbourhood's cats. Her eyes are terribly sore and seriously leaking discharge, and she's too scared to see the vet. We chased her around the Square trying to put her in the transport basket, but she ran and kept running. Eventually, she settled in the branches of a tree and refused to budge. We'll try again this afternoon.

My graphics problem is no longer confined to KOTOR2. The same problem is affecting NFSU2 as well, so I have much maligned Lucasarts. My apologies. 2 possiblities: My software drivers, or more likely, overheating. Watson now operates without his chassis cover for better ventilation, and so far it seems to be working. No more graphics glitches for a while already. Ugly, inelegant solution but I'll settle for what works. I can no longer afford to be fussy.

Think I've reached my complaint quota. Thanks for listening!