People get upset when their kids fail tests and exams. They get especially upset when they find out that their kid is just one casualty among many others in the cohort. They question the school practices, the competence of the teachers, they feel the pressure to get the kid some private tuition, everything except tell the kid to go study, or get his life under control or something.

What are parents really expecting when to the vast majority of them, perfection = 100%? They expect their kids to hit a target that high at primary and secondary level, and raise hell when the kid falls short within a 5% margin or so. At college level, how do we convince the same parents that because an 'A' grade describes the band from 75% and above, the pass mark actually works out to 45% and even then that's erring on the conservative.

Speaking from the experience of a foreign education, it certainly encouraged me that my profs never did pressure me for an 'A' performance. We all had the understanding that a 'C' grade was entirely satisfactory. 'C' stood for 'competent', a decent level of proficiency in the subject so that I didn't have to be shackled to my desk and textbooks all day and instead did other things with my life that weren't necessarily academic or even intellectual. I still turned in a "B+" average in the end, which meant I did spend some time studying, but my studies were never my life.

Having said that, things are quite different back here. Here people study to live, and our education experience tells us 'A' or die. We have a very penalizing attitude to our tests and exams, which filters down all the way to our setting of papers and our marking. Our papers are necessarily difficult because we hold our kids to very high performance standards. We often teach beyond their syllabus requirements, making them stretch to grasp our material. And when we mark, we usually have very high expectations of them. When they don't quite live up to our expectations, our marking reflects our disappointment. But we are loath to 'dumb it down' because no one is prepared to accept lower standards, and so the hamster wheel just keeps going faster with every subsequent batch of kids.

Wonder how many (if any) of the kids who, on entering university, suddenly realized that we were already trying to teach them the same stuff a couple of years earlier? Just asking.

Indy's back and it's another fun run. There are thrills galore in "Crystal Skull", though some of the stunts are worth the scrutiny of the Mythbusters guys. How Indy escapes a nuclear blast test is unbelievable -- i.e., cannot be believed even with copious amounts of disbelief suspended; rather than whoa, awesome, dude!

In this fourth installment the action takes place in Indy's backyard: in the US and in South America. It's the 50s at the height of McCarthyism. Paranoia runs rampant against the Communist threat, and apparently with good reason as a whole platoon of KGB goons in US Army uniforms drive freely around the country seeking paranormal artifacts kept in cold storage in Area 51. Indy himself becomes a victim of the witchhunt due to his unwilling involvement with the Area 51 incident, and having previously lost Marcus Brody and Dr Jones Sr., and recently his tenure at the University, decides to start a new life across the Atlantic.

His journey east gets interrupted by Mutt, a young, leather-clad biker and school-dropout, who brings news that an old colleague and friend is in danger, so off they go to a family reunion of sorts in the jungles of South America.

Spielberg ties both modern and ancient mythology in this episode as Indy discovers a link between the ancient culture of the Meso-Americas and the Roswell incident of 1947. Apart from his escapades in fast moving vehicles on the edge of a precipiece, quicksand, army ants and the usual company of heavily-accented gun-totting goons, Indy movies are fun to watch because they invent answers to some of the mysteries left behind by our long-lost and forgotten ancestors whose technological prowess we tend to underestimate.

In Crystal Skull, we glimpse deiety in yet another form, though this time one that is less than traditionally conventional. From this perspective, the story gets quite a bit hokey with lots of plot loopholes. Like for example, what were the crystal skulls doing together for a thousand years before one got stolen; then when the one is finally returned, what's the reason for all the sudden fireworks? Action and adventure get a heavier weightage than a coherent storyline, but that's Indy.

Ultimately, Crystal Skull is commercial fluff. It's addictive, like a bucket of warm popcorn, and offers as much nutritional value.

Spent another day improvising GP essays in front of students. One of the requests they made was for the question, "Is competition healthy for man?" Thought I'd put my take here in a more formal presentation. Click.

In our industry-sponsored dialogue with professionals from outside our industry, we had a couple of government-types and one NGO rep discuss with us the energy issue facing our country today.

While much of the presentations were rather technical to follow, we got the general idea that we are way too dependent on our neighbours for our sources of gas that powers our electrical generators that keep this wired nation humming. Like our water issue, our R&D experts are exploring other forms of power generation leaving no stone unturned in our quest for energy self-sufficiency. Interesting possibilities for our future, yes.

Meantime, we have to save what we can because we are running on finite resources. The second industry expert spoke to us at length about how his organization works to make buildings more energy-efficient. While we got lost in his diagrams, chart and tables, we met in him a guy who really takes pride in his work. With good old engineering know-how, a building's heating and cooling systems can be redesigned to reduce power consumption amounting to quite significant savings every year.

But it was the NGO rep that got our attention because he was talking about things within the household consumer's control -- that's us. He spoke about our behaviour as power consumers and laid out lots of eco-friendly options which we can make to live more responsibly. He spoke about the now compulsory labelling of appliances by his organization which appraises how energy-efficient they are (the more ticks the better); their efforts to educate the public with clean, green living; awards programmes and incentive schemes for organizations going eco-friendly (no school has won such an award yet, he said); and various opportunities for volunteer work.

In the wrap-up, we got the idea that both green initiatives and economic growth must balance each other. Pragmatic, as always, our colleagues in public service.

When will I learn that the only one I can count on is me; the only one who shares common goals with me is me; the only one committed to my cause is me? I should have expected this; after all, my charisma level is roughly equivalent to that of a corpse lying in an open field, and even then I couldn't attract the flies.

How did the game go today? We can safely say that we've firmly cemented our place at rock bottom despite facing a team we could have beaten. The Boyz were a complete no-show, and it was only thanks to the goodwill of ol' Des as a last minute subby that we were allowed to bowl at all -- one bowler short.

This is the last time I'm going to be organizing something that is so low on everybody's priorities. It'll be the last time I'll be organizing anything at all. I'm tired of being constantly brushed off like some kind of inconvenience. From now on, this act is going solo.

How's that for self-indulgent?

Installing Windows SP3 killed Mr L33t! Partway through installation, the update hung and Mr L33t went straight into a coma. The poor guy is now in intensive care. The best I can hope for is to salvage whatever files I can from my archives, then it's probably "good night, sweet prince." A full Windows re-install will be needed to revive him, but I don't have the time for that now.

Usually, I'd be climbing the walls in anxiety right now -- such is the extent of my addiction -- but I'm quite philosophical about this latest untimely demise. As it is, Mr L33t was starting to show his age already. He didn't even live up to the minimum specs of "Assassin's Creed" which I bought to keep me company over the coming hols. I'm also looking forward to picking up "Mass Effect" for PC which should be launching in a couple of weeks, just in time for when I'll be slightly freer to game on again.

So as soon as I'm able to get some time off, I'm donning my geek glasses and pocket protector and heading off to the market for some serious hardware upgrades. At this time, I wonder if Vista is worth investing in? Full DX-10 functionality... tempting.

Yay! Long weekend! Took my first Saturday off this entire term. Really been looking forward to it since quite a while ago. Had a most fruitful time cuddling up with essays to mark, with more essays to look forward to today and tomorrow's public holiday as well. If I'm good, I'll be done with this entire batch of essay marking by late afternoon tomorrow. Then I can sort of rest until the mid-year exam essays arrive at the end of the week. Have to earn my June hols, don't you know?

Looking at the PW results some colleges have been able to achieve in the previous project work cycle, it's easy to get the impression that an 'A' grade in the subject is a dime-a-dozen, and that there's some kind of magic formula that when followed makes scoring top marks possible. Perhaps there is, perhaps there is a way to template the perfect project, and it's tempting to do so for the sake of the grade. But I don't see the point of following a formula as if there was only one single solution to every problem we're going to encounter in life.

A template is like a join-the-dots puzzle, success involves just pencilling a line from digit to digit. So the 'A' grade via template is just an acknowledgement of how well the kids followed their instructions. How difficult can that be, tracing a pre-determined path to create derive a pre-determined picture? What a surprise! When a toddler is able to do this we remark how clever it is. These are college students we are dealing with. What's an 'A' worth these days?

Which is why I get disturbed when I hear tell of students' proposals getting rejected outright and sent back to the drawing board because the proposal didn't live up to the super's pre-conceived expectations. We're supposed to be working with the students on this, not against them. So I'm not surprised when some kids eventually see the whole thing as a waste of time, because literally what amounts to hours of work gets summarily dismissed and there's no progress to show for it. They get bored, resentful, and lose confidence in their project. When it's time to make their presentations that's what gets reflected. Ironically, aming for an 'A' grade like this becomes counter-productive to both the grade and the learning behind it.

Fortunately, the groups I have seem motivated and have delivered creative and meticulously crafted proposals, so I don't have to worry too much over WHAT they are planning. I'll keep an eye on them to see HOW they are carrying out their plans, but at least they're off and running already. I can do my real job of supervision by managing group dynamics and being basically a cheerleader and resource for them, but I have firmly taken my hands off the micromanagement controls and am letting them run the nitty-gritty on their own.

I already have a group dysfunction to manage -- mainly a self-interest vs group-interest conflict -- but this is where the super's real work begins. Of course there will be conflicts; that's what we were hoping for when we threw separate individuals together to work as a group. How the different personality types learn to speak up and settle their differences, come to agreement and focus on a common goal, then work in cooperation with each other and build bonds based on the trust that accumulates as they pass milestone after milestone together. That's the most important lesson to learn from PW. If the kids learn this early enough, there'll be enough time to put together an impressive, professional presentation that deserves an 'A' from start to finish. That will be an 'A' to be proud of.

It's the end of the Drama season! Time to dress up, break out the sparkly juice, and laugh our brains out till late.

As riotous a time as we could have sans alcohol, we lived it up and bade farewell to the J2s in an evening of finger-foods, fun and games.

The incoming J1s who organised the party did well with their logistics and timekeeping precision. Their games were hilarious to play, except the one where I got my instructions confused and instantly self-immolated on my first utterance. Well-rigged, ppl!

Nice to see how this bunch of Drama kids took to improv. They haven't entirely got the theory right, but they were enthusiastically launching themselves into their assigned characters with minimal think time. Five different improv groups playing out five different scenarios, each group presenting a different playing style as best suits their collective personalities. Could be the basis of a set of rules for a new improv game! Hmm...

Kids finally got to see themselves on Drama Night. We sped through video highlights of both "Admiral" and "Walls", and it was funny to hear them groan at their own performance. As Wayne said later, "good actors don't like to watch themselves act," and the kids must be living up to that latest Waynism.

Gonna miss the zany but committed J2s, looking forward to working with the meticulous J1s. Not sure if there are any crazies among them, but I guess I'll find out soon.

Many thanks to everyone from x32 for the off-beat, unexpected and totally sweet thing y'all did for me today. It took a lot of effort and much thoughtfulness, and I really appreciate it very much. Even we staff need positive feedback at times -- yours came unsolicited, and right out of the blue. And, yes, in case you've been wondering, I've been off medication for almost a week already, and I hope that means the worst is over.

An end to two items on my weekly schedule. The first is the Drama competition which ended early this afternoon; the second, my 6-week self-leadership course which I have been faithfully attempting to follow as a personal commitment.

Our drama entry played exactly as I've seen it rehearsed many times over. It was as competent and as polished as it's ever going to get, though perhaps I'm seeing it through the eyes of someone who's seen the repeats once too many times.

I hope I'm wrong, 'cos the kids put in so much time, effort, and much of their lives into this production, but I'm going to be conservative about our chances at a top award this year. For me, the play looked so polished that it lost it's sense of 'reality' which was what was so strong about it to begin with. Well, better over-prepared and over-rehearsed than under, I suppose.

The other thing is the course I'm taking with a number of staff from across the departments. Apart from the key concepts of mentorship and rapport-building through both theory discussions and practical application, my best takeaway is in having made new friends from fellow staff I would generally not have had a need to talk to as part of my daily routine. Because everyone was keen to learn and participate, it was actually fun to play the games and open up about our current challenges and future goals to get affirmation and support from each other.

And now it almost feels like half the year is over already. Wow.

Big college concert night at the Conference Hall. I'm no big fan of sit-down symphonic music but it helped that the band played lively, upbeat, familiar tunes that kept the mood light and happy. The concert combined the strings of the traditional guzheng with European wind and percussion instruments for something of a fusion performance. It wasn't entirely perfect, a bit more rehearsal time would have helped smoothen out the blend better. Nevertheless, it was a credible enough show for me to be absorbed into the music and enjoy the evening.

'Peter and the Wolf' turned out amazingly cute, as I'd expected. The props makers spared no effort in creating a huge cardboard set comprising a massive tree, a reed bank to represent the edge of a pond, a working gate and a little farmhouse, all cut and painted from old packing crates. The cast's enthusiasm in playing their characters won over the crowd, particularly the bird who kept flitting and flapping almost right through the entire piece, wowing us with her endurance and stamina. It was a nice touch to introduce colour and movement to the concert, and we did appreciate the variety.

Among the audience was this bunch from x17 who, like everyone else, was busy taking photos after the concert was over. Well, I had my camera with me too, so I guess I was no different.

Oh, before the concert, Mel, Wayne and I quite confirmed that around Shenton Way on Saturday evening, there's practically nothing to eat. All potential eateries have closed and it's easy to starve on the street there and then.

Fortunately, we stumbled upon Honjin Japanese Restaurant, still open for business on Robinson Road. For its location, the prices aren't too bad, between $18-28 for a teishoku bento.

The decor is entirely Jap, right down to the wait staff dressed in yukata. The illusion ends there, though, 'cos they don't walk at all Japanese, and while polite, their accents betray a more local, heartland origin.

But who cares? The food is good (yummy, juicy sukiyaki beef) with a generous array of sides, chawanmushi inclusive. Yay! One more place to eat at!

Unplanned double date at Izakaya Nijumaru where we shared a table with Jamie (June's colleague), and bf. The first thing we saw as we entered was the sushi bar, the second was a friendly hand waving at us to make up a foursome.

Located at Cuppage Centre, the premises are rustic Japanese with bamboo highlights. Furniture is rough and ready, and the place overall looks more robust than fine in the way we think Jap cuisine should be.

The house teishoku featured saba, pork stew and a prawn tempura. I sampled some of the saba and pork from June's set. Both tasted as strong as they were chunky, fish oil mixing with pork fat sent my tastebuds into overload. Not subtle, but a working man's meal that was. Definitely too strong for miladies' delicate constitutions, they didn't have very good things to say about it.

I was conservative and opted for the sashimi set. Three thick slices each of tuna, maguro and yellowtail(?); a side of French beans fried in egg; rice and miso. No complaints from me about what I ordered. As long as the fish is fresh and the wasabi sings in my ears, I'm good to go. Besides, I was hungry.

Price: reasonable. Two sets and a chawanmushi set me back $42 plus tax.

Edit 01:
Oops. Blinded by optimism, I misinterpreted the tournement bowling scores. It was an even draw between us and our opponents, sharing 10 points each. Our overall scratch pinfalls actually dropped and we've been knocked off the top-3 high scratch series score. We've not improved our position on the league table either. BUT we actually drew with the current fifth place team, so there's still hope yet to finish this year about mid-table.

All I ask at the end of this day is rest. And after a long day of switching hats every other hour -- such is my schedule on Wednesday -- that's exactly what I'm doing. Absolutely nothing. Perhaps except contemplating which game to play on Mr L33t until my eyes bug out. And then I'll probably be too lazy to even slot in the requisite CD-ROM and instead go to sleep. Hey, I deserve it.

Asthma or no, when duty calls, el capitain must still show up at the lanes and bowl his set. Team comprising me, Ton_y and Andy did ok today. Our opponents were pretty evenly matched with us, but they got tired at the last game. We have a chance of earning some decent points and climbing out of the depths we've begun in.

My average dropped a bit to 157 over four games, but it looks more realistic now. Overall, our total pinfalls is better than our last game's, improving by about a hundred. As usual, official results should be out by late Thursday.

Follow up visit with Doc Toh was inconclusive. Can't establish much else other than that the drugs are working and I'm still breathing (though, he says, at 85-90%). Advised to continue pill-popping regimen while my supplies last, and just keep monitoring. I suppose in this case, no news is good news.

Breathing difficulties have resurfaced after a year, especially bad today. Doc Toh is concerned, and mystified, as am I about the cause. He's decided to treat the symptoms as adult-onset asthma. Gave me a whole bunch of pills to take, mostly anti-inflammatories and a steroid to keep the airways open. Review again with him tomorrow evening. This isn't funny.

Concert Band's performing Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." Traditionally, there's a little drama to go with this piece, illustrating the role each major instrument plays in the orchestra. Through simple association, the bird represents the piccolo, grumpy Gramps represents the bassoon, the trigger-happy hunters represent the kettle-drums, and so on. As the instruments interweave their themes through the score, the story of how brave Peter captures a voracious wolf prowling around the farm comes to life before the audience's eyes.

HP brought me in to see how her actors could learn to move like the characters they are playing. The kids and I had quite a workout as we practiced the walks of different animals and human character types. We really worked the knees and thighs as I decided to base all movement on variations of the demi plie in third for a uniform look. So demonstrating and practicing how to walk, run, jump and fly on the half crouched vertical position soon translated into cramps all up and down my quads.

But never mind me. The kids are looking stiff and slightly uncoordinated since these movements are new to them. They've understood their basic stances and ambulations, but it's going to take some practice before they make their movements confident and smooth. Hope they work hard over the weekend, and learn to use the music too. After all, it's their first taste of classic French mime based on classical ballet.

I'll check in on them again soon. They only have one week to put it all together.

If "Iron Man" is anything to go by, we can expect a summer season of big action thrills. Familiar names, though they may be, this summer's movies are going to prove that there's a lot of mileage left in the characters we admired when we were kids.

I never cared much for Iron Man. The name didn't strike a chord with me, but of all the pantheon of superheroes, he seemed like the easiest to draw. A basically human shape, a yellow-and-red colour scheme and a completely expressionless face kind'a like this --> {-_-}, and there was a costumed crimefighter I could reproduce on pages of jotter book paper, even when my artwork skill was just about zero.

In the comic books, IM a.k.a. Tony Stark, is one of the most flawed, troubled persons to wage war on crime. His heart's liable to give out any minute, he was a warning as to how substance abuse can destroy lives, and lately in the Civil War story arc, he comes off as a self-righteous jerk with the expertise to make his fascistic plans a reality. And yet, Stark fights for the very best of reasons, doing what he feels is necessary to right the injustices inflicted upon the world.

Robert Downey Jr plays a convincing Tony Stark, complete with goatee beard. Downey Jr is himself a troubled celebrity so he should understand the role quite well, though Stark has a slight advantage being a design, engineering, robotics genius.

The movie is action-thrill all the way. The televised footage of Afghan captors displaying Stark as their latest hostage is reminiscent of many other hostage displays in real-life. It's just uplifting when Stark turns the terror on his captors while escaping captivity, and the retribution he exacts on them later during his rescue of a besieged village is pure lizard-brain elation. Yes, it's fantasy, but it's always a rush to see the bullied fight back and win.

But that's just the sideshow for the battle about to take place, this time a little closer to home...

Stark has everything he wants, but what he needs he has to keep at arms' length. He's a war-monger hoping to bring peace to the world. He's a dying man with a never-say-die spirit. A good boy, and a bad boy all at the same time. Welcome to a world of contradictions embodied in the man who wears the armour. Iron Man. Cool.

Got a look at the SYF venue where we're performing 'Walls' once again. It was a gigantic stage, at this moment still under construction, but it should be quite finished in the next two weeks.

I was to help plot the lights at this new venue, but the two lighting crew learned to operate the light board so quickly, I decided to fire myself so as not to get in their way.

It felt quite good to be useless as the rest of the time I was just enjoying the antics on stage and not having to worry that anything was going to go awry. Everyone knew their jobs, and they were doing just great. If only CCA was always this easy.

BTW, I updated "6 impossible things..." today with another K&I post. Should also be good for GP. Have a look if you want.