Yang

In less than 24hr I'll be on home soil, except that Melbourne now feels more like home to me than any other places have ever been. But I do miss Singapore. The last time I was there I was in transit from Chengdu to Melbourne. I had forgotten everything I need to know to survive in Singapore. Im so excited I cant sleep.

There's nothing in particular that I very much look forward to, but million of small joys that appeal to my senses. Familiar faces, familiar places, familiar tastes and smells, I want to see how everyone/everything's changed/grown. I also want to explore a more hidden side of Singapore. I googled for "underground Singapore" but the search results were very literal. Almost everything was about MRT (no surprise there really), closest I got was velvet underground which I dont think is very 'underground'. Also I'll be living with strangers in my own home. I find that annoying (because I cant watch TV on bed, cant use Internet) but also exciting. So the whole thing is kinda like an adventure, but more "safe".

The past few days were pretty busy and mildly satisfying. So there was KTV, jersey boys, meeting up with CH, jo coming for sleep over...Yesterday I had an early xmas dinner with simon + parents at arguably the best restaurant in melbourne (as usual drank way too much wine) and today I worked for the last time in 2009. So basically I've met everyone I wanted to meet before I leave, except for Sam who stays far beyond my comfort travelling zone (Im too scared to go beyond zone1 by self). By a twist of fate even Vincent came by today to pass me $$ to help him get L4D 2 in Singapore. I find it surprising that L4D is okay for Sg but too violent for Melbourne, but Melbourne is just full of surprises. Also G asked me to get cigarettes for him. Is Singapore a city of vice? I really wish my friends would ask for something nicer.

So tomorrow. My flight is at 2pm and I'll be stopping by Darwin(cannot ask for a more boring place) before touching down around 10. And then it is home to surprise some strangers and to lead a TV-less, Internet-less and hopefully stress-free drama-free life for 3++ weeks. Wonder if my parents will be there. Everything is uncertain. And I hope when I come back the boyfriend is still mine and the cat and mice are still alive.

Before I came to Melbourne, there were two shows I had set my mind on attending, but my boyfriend always had other plans for me. I wanted to go to a rave: Tiesto, Godskitchen, strobe lights, laser, sweaty people with raised hands riding on every high, pumping through the night...Instead of Trance Energy, he got us tickets to Future Music Festival, which wasnt terrible but we both decided never to return again.

The other thing was the musical Wicked, which I thought was particularly magical no pun intended. I knew the storyline, watched a lot of clips on youtube, and just wanted to see it live for once. Wicked was on all winter and I wanted to go with another friend, but Simon one-uped me by bringing me to Sydney for Chicago instead. Of course Chicago was amazing, I had watched the movie 3 times before and still found something new to enjoy. It also helped that there were some of the most gorgeous male dancers I've ever seen. So everything was grand and swell but a few weeks after we were back from Melbourne, Wicked had gone to Sydney and Chicago was here in Melbourne.

Yesterday he pulled another on out and decided to surprise me by getting me to Jersey Boys. To be honest, I was quite reluctant. I had never heard about the show, I thought it was some Western from the poster and when we arrived at the princess theatre it seemed that the elderlies from every retirement village in Melbourne are there. Seriously, the theatre was flooded with silver haired folks and we seemed totally out of place.



I thought you liked musicals? He said, sensing my :/
Yea, but not all shows are created equal, I said. There are shows for young people and shows for oldies, and we know who this one is for, this I dint say. We settled down on our seat amidst ocean of grannies and grandpas and the show started.

And my oh my, what a show. From the moment "tommy devito" took the stage, we knew we were in for a treat. The costumes, the sleekness, the blings, the saxophones, the 60s pop art, and of course the songs = mindgasm. I realized that Jersey boys has nothing to do with cowboys and mexican stand-offs (might have confused jersey with texas), but is the rag to riches story of the legendary Frank Valli and the original Four Seasons, which is a pop band kinda like the Beatles and really really big in the 60s and 70s. The amazing cast awed the audiences with hits after hits and amazing choreography. And in the second act when 'Frank Valli' pelts out the familiar "Cant take my eyes off you", the crowd goes batshit insane. At this point I honestly think this is one of the best shows I've seen.




So TL;DR, moral of the story is:
1. if you happen to be in new york, chicago, london, toronto, las vegas, or good ole melbourne, go see the spectacular Jersey Boys
2. if you want to actually enjoy yourself rather than look like your enjoying yourself, stay away from the clubs and go where the old people go (warning not always the case)
3. bfs do get it right once in a while, and when they do, it makes up for all the times they screw up :D

I just returned home from walking 12 bus stops.
It was horrible. I saw many graveyards, and heard too much noises in the dark.
I was actually so scared that I screamed and ran, yes I'm such a coward, me.

I pity NS guys.

I was determined not to use my computer yesterday, however it proved to be quite hard (the extent of my Internet addiction). As a result I had to resort to using extreme methods such as this:




Anyway, it worked, and now that everything's over, there is so much joy overflowing. I'm going to wash my clothes, tidy my room, play piano, and camp out at AMK library now. Best part is I'll be free the entire next week, where there will be more yayness ensues... Yay yay yay *continues yay spamming*

The piece Sena played at the end in Long Vacation. The drama is super old but this piece sounds so sweet and beautiful when played right. After all, it's what made Mimani decide to be with Sena in the end, at least that's what I think. Kimura's finger synching is quite funny to watch, but no matter it's still a sweet piece.

There's beauty in imperfection. There's beauty in strangeness.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/1/26/697685/OnPeakHill.wma

the rain fell hard on the roofs that day
you telephone from far away
I see the ocean from my room
all I could say was "are you coming home soon?"

the static whisper in my ear
but in a moment your voice was clear
"I need some time," you said to me
that's when I knew you were gonna make me lonely

you were gonna make me wish for the time right before I was born
when every living breath was another new dawn
like the time I was 5 at the top of Peak Hill
and the wind almost took me away

you're gonna make me wish for the time right before I was born
when every living breath was another new dawn
like the time I was 5 at the top of Peak Hill
and the wind almost took me away

I walk awhile before I sleep, count the secrets that I keep
I hope for more, I know for sure I fall apart before I weep
I disconnect the telephone 'cause I can choose to be alone
I'll get more done, I'll have some fun, pretend you're not the only one

and I'm never gonna wish for the time right before I was born
when every living breath was another new dawn
like the time I was 5 at the top of Peak Hill
and the wind almost took me away

you're gonna make me wish for a time right before I was born
when every living breath was another new dawn
like the time I was 5 at the top of Peak Hill
and the wind almost took me away

I thought ppl usually read GEB for leisure, I found out today that some unis actually used it for required reading. Anyway, I chanced upon the following quiz, which is even more interesting than the previous drunken men test (what an irony).

cs150: Notes 19
Assignments Due

* Before Monday, 19 March: Read rest of GEB part I (Chapters 2-4 and 6-9, in addition to Chapters 1 and 5 you have already read).

GEB Study Guide

Your reading assignment for Spring Break (and the week after) is to finish reading the first part of Gödel, Escher, Bach (up through and including Chapter IX). The questions below might help you think about the reading. Then again, they might not. I am quite certain, however, that they will not help you prepare for the quiz that will not be given on March 19.

Answer all the answerable questions, but unask the unanswerable ones. This quiz will not be graded, but it won't be ungraded either.

1. If you knew the answer to this question, what would it be?

2. Does this question have no answer?

3. Is the next question trickier than this one?

4. Was the previous question fairer than this one?

5. If this exam were graded, would your answer to the previous question be different?

6. If this exam were graded, would your answer to the previous question be different?

6. If this exam were graded, would your answer to the previous question be different?

7. If you were Gödel, how would you answer this?

8. Richard Feynman once said "If you think you know how quantum mechanics works, you're wrong." If Feynman were a logician instead, would he have said "If you think you don't understand Gödel's Theorem, then you do." or "If you don't think you don't understand Gödel's Theorem, then you don't."?

9. If your final grade in CS150 depended only on your answer to this question, would your answer to this question be different?

10. Ask and answer the question should I have asked instead of this one.

11. Ask and answer the question should I have asked instead of the previous one.

----

Played badminton with 5 ppl today. If I recalled correctly, tt's my first time playing it in the actual tournament style on a booked indoor court. Anyway, WY played for 2 hours straight and awed us all with her super human stamina. Dead tired now, but it was enjoyable and we laughed a lot. I think she's one of those type of ppl who made sure everyone is having as much fun as herself =)

Jesh de Rox
Site
Photos

Very inspirational

(As Imagined By Network Executives)

“If I cannot see sports scores, stock reports, and weather forecasts scrolling across the bottom of the screen at all times, I will kill myself.”

“I don't see enough petty, selfish individuals in my daily life. Therefore, I will tune in to tonight's scheduled reality television show.”

“You cannot make a television show too stupid for me to watch.”

“I was going to change the channel until the network reminded me, halfway through the first commercial break, that the program would ‘be right back.' I had previously been under the impression that the program was lost and would never return.”


“I can't wait to see this overweight middle aged comic and his disproportionately attractive wife deal with their adolescent children in a humorously unorthodox, though ultimately conservative manner.”


(as Imagined by a Music Executive)

“I'm glad this rock band has a limited repertoire of similarly progressing power chords. If their songs were more creative, it would confuse me, and I would not buy their album.”

“As a member of the African-American community, I readily identify with this hip-hop artist's misogynistic views and propensity towards crime.”

“That beautiful and scantily clad young woman, whose name escapes me at the moment, is my favorite musical artist of all time.”

“It's a good thing my carbonated soft-drink came with one free music download, for I would have felt uncomfortable downloading free music on the internet.”

“I will buy any CD that produces sound.”

Thoughts of the Average Voter
(as [Correctly] Imagined by Politicians)

“I am upset that I work full time and still fall below the poverty line. I blame queers and people of another race.”

“Clearly, the best way to reduce crime is to build more prisons. Evidence linking poverty and crime is flimsy at best.”

“At least both candidates favor education initiatives with humanitarian names that direct money towards arbitrary and biased standardized tests. Hiring more qualified teachers and rebuilding crumbling inner-city schools would yield questionable results.”

“The rich do enough for this country. They should not have to pay higher taxes than the rest of us.”

“I fear that we might one day be attacked by a country whose economy is based almost entirely on trade with the United States. Therefore, we must spend more on our military than every other nation combined. This will make other countries feel more secure, and they will whore their underclass to us rather than initiate an arms race.”

“Morality is derived from creatively interpreting apocryphal texts, not the desire to reduce human suffering.”

“If we give free health care to poor people by taxing the super-rich, the economy, and quite possibly the universe, will collapse.”

“I see many distinct differences between these two courageous candidates.”

“Congratulations on successfully side-stepping another important question and leaving me lost in forest of vague rhetoric and empty catch-phrases. You've got my vote.”

“One American life is worth approximately ten European lives, four hundred thousand African lives, and fifteen million Arab lives.”

“A presidential candidate's war record is the deciding factor in his ability to oversee the American economy.”

“The rich white liberal cares about me more than the rich white conservative, though they both care about me very much.”

(as Imagined By a Marketing Executive)

“I prefer the product with the attractive salespeople.”

“I was heretofore unaware of the maximum safe duration for a chemically induced erection.”

“That recognizable athlete scores all those points because of his brand-name sports beverage, right?”

“This song reminds me of my youth. Therefore, I will buy.”

“I can only afford $74.99 on a new pair of old looking blue jeans; $75 is just too much.”

“I would have gone to an amateur poetry reading rather than the monster truck rally had the gentleman on the radio commercial not been yelling.”

“Wow. I had no idea smoking was so bad for you.”

“If I buy this face cream, I will be as beautiful as the actress endorsing it.”

“After hearing rap music on their commercial, I can now trust this giant white-owned corporation to fulfill all my consumer needs. It no longer bothers me that the CEO eliminated all employee benefits to build his own country club.”

“There is very likely buried treasure somewhere in the backyard of my suburban Chicago home. If only there were a way of detecting the presence of metal underground.”

“Yes, I have been injured recently. And, no, I hadn't considered litigation until this trustworthy family man suggested it.”

“I can't believe I voted for a politician so soft on crime. I will not make the same mistake this election. I am also far more likely to vote for the smiling candidate in the color photograph.”

“This electronics super store has so many things I need at such great prices that I might just kill myself.”

“With that many explosions, how could the movie not be good?”

“I will enjoy your inexpensive, highly potent alcohol responsibly.”

”This celebrity who appears to be in good physical shape must be an expert on health and nutrition.”

“When passing a car dealership with a catchy jingle, I will remember that they have fair prices and know that I am a busy man. When I finally have some free time, I will buy the first safe, reliable, and easily financed automobile I see.”

随风奔跑 (CBA theme song)


[黄]速度七十迈
心情是自由自在
希望终点是爱琴海
全力奔跑梦在彼岸

[泉]我们想漫游世界
看奇迹就在眼前
等待夕阳染红了天
肩并着肩许下心愿

随风奔跑自由是方向
追逐雷和闪电的力量
把浩瀚的海洋装进我胸膛
即使再小的帆也能远航

随风飞翔有梦作翅膀
敢爱敢做勇敢闯一闯
哪怕遇见再大的风险再大的浪
也会有默契的目光


叶子


爱情是什么颜色的
如果忧郁是蓝色的
快乐是什么颜色的
如果寂寞是灰色的
天空是什么颜色的
如果汪洋是蓝色的
我说天空也是蓝色的
因为他们彼此相爱了
因为他们彼此相爱了相爱了

爱情是什么颜色的
如果记忆是模糊的
渴望是什么颜色的
如果时间是静止的
永恒是什么颜色的
如果呼吸是短暂的
我想我只好沈默
因为这问题地球它还在思考着

透明是什么颜色的
如果是风儿是快乐的
叶子的眼睛是透明的
心是心是快乐的
心是快乐的

In sec 4 I first heard music generated from assigning notes to amino acids, the tune which came out sounded really weird and even worse than the worsts of debussy. The maths songs are not significantly better, but the Euler samba which is made from the magic 5 (1,0,e,pi,i) actually managed to carry a distinctive tune. Anyway, I find the person who made this, tom dukich, very creative, even though his original intent was to seek patterns instead of generating music. Other than his "music", he also made a lot of interesting art work out of everyday objects. He's like the master of randomness.

I really dont grok the concept of the universal Turing machine and Turing test. I can read a lot of articles on it and tell people what it is in words but I just feel I dont understand it. I find that I have a penchant for getting stuck at really simple concepts. It's like last year I just cant understand how there can be electric potential. Tengen poured out all the formulas and made analogies to gravitational potential but then I was able to sub in the values and get all the results and still not understand what electric potential is. So in the end mr ong was really pissed because I kept asking him about random stuff that are not tested instead of doing my tutorials.

Then there was the time when I was reading SICP that I just couldnt get the idea of recursion. And that was really frustrating for me because recursion is really so simple. I could understand recursion in maths, recursion in nature but I just cant understand recursion in programming. It stayed in my mind for over a week and it was so frustrating that I would take a walk at night, thinking only "GNU is not unix, so what the fuck is GNU?", which is beside the point anyway. Then one day I wake up and I finally get it, then I was pissed at myself all over again because I dont understand why I cant get it in the first place.

The only good thing is I'm understanding it a bit more everytime I read about it, so I knew one day I'm going to sit up and see it in perfect clarity. I just hope that day would come soon enough. It's really a curse to be an inquisitive fool.

"What does a scanner see? I mean, really see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does a passive infrared scanner … see into me — into us — clearly or darkly? I hope it does see clearly, because I can't any longer these days see into myself. I see only murk. Murk outside; murk inside. I hope, for everyone's sake, the scanners do better. Because if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I myself do, then we are cursed, cursed again and like we have been continually, and we'll wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too."

I'm not on drugs, am I? Why cant I see myself clearly? Why am I still afraid, even when you no longer have control over me? Why am I still sad, even when Im laughing with the ones I truly love? I dont undertand me, but I dont know if I should care.

I know Im more than a little late in posting about Winterbells, Orisinal's flash game which came out December 2006 after a year of silence. Anyway even though it's pretty simple, I find it very addictive. There's something very soothing about snow, bunny, bells, set to a familiar yet refreshing rendition of pachelbel's canon. I especially like the fact that the bunny doesnt die even after falling from a great height, I was cringing when it fell and half expecting a red stain on the white snowy floor. Instead, it just hopped right off like nothing happened. It sort of reminds me of that fear of fall story in Sandman. That sometimes you wake and sometimes you die; but sometimes when you fall, you fly.

Orange by Ed Alleyne-Johnson

This piece reminds me a lot of yami no matsuei, maybe because of all the Victorian buildings in the background. It's a really mm weird but stunning piece. Dont know how to put this, but some notes really seem to just float to heaven. And i'm quite amazed that he's playing live on the street, yet the sound quality is so perfect. In fact I think he actually sounded better than Joshua Bell when he was also busking in Washington. But it's different la..Bell's music belongs to the concert hall, while Ed's music is more suited for an outdoor stage. Anyway I'm quite moved by the it, it's so different and uplifting.

她没有焰火绚丽
也不象鸟儿会迁徙
不过是 放飞的风筝
怕你心痛才自由
记忆的线索在你手中

如果你能让她降落
天空如自由无尽头
宁愿是条船如果你是大海
就让她能漂流在你心中

这世间繁华太多
人影交错擦肩而过
她走过 惟独她走过
让你停下了脚步
沉默 两颗心不再沉默

如果你能让她降落
天空如自由无尽头
可知那颗心 在风中太落寞
就让她停留在你怀中

宁愿是条船 如果你是大海
至少让她降落在你怀中

-让她降落 《金粉世家》片尾歌

帘幕微动风初定，温情却是冷清秋。
雁哀鸣，雨零乱，戚戚箫声亦惆怅。
小楼独倚酒为伴，孤影徘徊望月叹。
娥眉蹙，泪不断，天涯望尽君不见。

Today my mum actually succeeded in cheering me up over dinner, doesnt happen everyday. Apart from that, i watched 2 shoujo animes recently..and being typical shoujo, they were both reverse harem, ie 1 female lead + a harem of male characters. I wonder why the female lead of a typical shoujo show always has to be a perfect girl while the male lead of a typical shounen show can slack off and be a nondescript loser and still have girls chasing after him. I mean it's easy to see why Hino(kiniro no corda) and Haruhi (Ouran High School) are so popular among guys, they are pretty, cute and kind. But why on earth would hot attractive girls fall for ppl like Shinji (NGE), Keitaro(Love Hina) and Junpei(Ichigo 100%)? It really reflects the mindset or ultimate fantasy of a typical japanese male(or any male actually) that no matter how loser-ish you are, there will still be hordes of horny yet innocent girls willing to get naked for you. And yes Im complaining about that because I cant find any decent male anime character to gush over, no matter what genre of anime Im watching. As a result, I always find myself gushing over and lusting after a female character and it just seems kind of wrong.

Anyway, I'm really grateful to whoever designed the Tea House theme of the Google homepage. It's so adorable that Im filled with love everytime I look at it =) Maybe it's my kind of fantasy, living a simple carefree life in a little hut by the river, eating wild fruits and serenading to little duckies..okay that's corny.

Anyway anyway, I was roaring with laughter at Scott Adams' Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel cause some of the things he said were so true. For instance, according to him there are two types of women: the one currently in discomfort, and the ones who are actively seeking it. The former would include women suffering from childbirth, menstrual cramp, headache, men and wearing bad shoes, and latter ie the voluntary pain seekers would be those who want to watch sad movies, imagine bad things that don't exist, pick fights with men over things the men didnt mean to say, and shop for uncomfortable shoes...In other words, the fundamental difference between men and women is women prefer pain and anguish while men seek comfort and pain only when it happens to other people (also known as entertainment).

He also states that the whole glass-ceiling problem in work is basically non existent and caused by women themselves, illustrating his point by posing a hypothetical survey question : If you could become CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and all you had to do to get there was kiss one thousand fat, white asses and never see your own children, would you do it?". According to him, 100% of women would say, "No thank you," whereas a healthy 30 % of men would say, "Let me get my business cards out of the car.", QED.

Some parts I really like/find useful

Training Your Boss to Accept Abuse
It's both fun and satisfying to verbally abuse your boss. But it's a bad career strategy unless you train him/her first. The trick is to start with tiny witticisms about a harmless aspect of your boss's personality and then expand from there. For example, if your boss likes fishing, you could insert harmless fish-related "jokes" into the meeting.

Boss: I think we have a big opportunity with this customer.
You: You mean big like that fish you allegedly caught? Ha ha!

It's not funny but neither will it end your career. It's just a test. If your boss smiles, then you can try to expand to new and bigger aspects of his dysfunctional personality.

Boss: You have an ugly task ahead of you.
You: That's because Im sitting across the table from you. Ha ha!

Your boss will think this good-natured ribbing is a sign that he's bonding with you. Bosses are funny that way. Using a version of weasel creep, you can continue to escalate the abuse.

Boss: Do you have those numbers I asked for?
You: No, you miserable piece of $#*!! Ha ha!!

Continue making your jokes until you get a look from your boss like this one...
(comic)
PHP: Before I eat a sandwich, I always remove the useless edges of the bread.
PHP: That tells you what kind of manager I am.
Asok: You're the anti-crust?
PHP: -_-

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( more here )
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WDT (Weasel debating technique)
The traditional method for approaching an argument is to bring up relevant facts and weave them together in a logical framework. Unfortunately, that wont work against weasels because they use a superior debating method that involves conjuring up haullucinations, carefully arranging them in a tangled lump, and declaring victory. I recommend that you use this method too because the traditional method will only leave you frustrated. The weasel techniques are detailed below using a handy abbreviation and numbering system where WDT stands for weasel debating techniques. Feel free to use this shorthand at your next meeting, as in " Hey, wally, are you giving me a WDT3?"

WDT1. Restate your opponent's ideas using bizarre absolutes and then refute them, like this:
(comic)
Dilbert: We should add this feature to our product to make it more useful.
weasel: Are you telling me that not ONE person on earth will use our product without that feature?!!!
Dilbert: You changed what I said into a bizarre absolute.
Weasel: Oh, I change EVERYTHING you say?!!

WDT 2: Make comparisons to Hitler. This is a surprisingly flexible
technique because Hitler was a busy guy. He did everything from
eating to painting landscapes to attacking the world. So if someone
argues that napping is good for you, point out that Hitler liked
napping too.

WDT 3: Make a good point about an unrelated topic. For example, if
someone is arguing that airline travel is relatively safe, and you -
against all data - are arguing the other side, point out that
swimming is good exercise. When your opponent looks stunned and
sayd, "Yes, but...," cut him off in midsentence, declare victory, and
excuse yourself from the room.

WDT 4: Fill all the airtime to appear knowledgeable and eliminate the
opportunity for rebuttal.
(comic)
Dogbert: You can compensate your lack of knowledge by talking too much.
Dogbert: And dont be limited by society's expectation that you be interesting.
PHP: Sometimes I like to sit quietly and think up ideas.
Dogbert: Nothing good can come from that.

WDT 5: Accuse your opponent of being insensitive. This method works
because it's always true. I'm willing to bet that even conjoined
twins complain that the other is insensitive, e.g., "You don't know
what it's like to be the head on the left!"

WDT 6: For every respectable human quality there is an insulting word
that means the same thing. For example, accuse open-minded people of
being flakes. Accuse cautious people of being afraid of change...

PHP: Dont be afraid of change.
Employee: You're right! Im going to get gender change operation and move to China!
*employee lefts*
*PHP sits stunned*
Wally: I've always wondered what would happen if someone listened to you.

WDT 7: Add weight to your opinions by invoking the opinions of
unnamed multitudes, as in "Everyone agrees with me." A weasel
defines EVERYONE as at least one other weasel.

PHP: Ming, everyone says our web site is ugly.
Ming: Really? Every person on earth said that?
Even the Tibetan Monks?
PHP: Maybe it was just one person.
Ming: And you confused him with the whole planet?

WDT 8: The tax code is a valuable debating tool for weasels because
it's too complicated to understand. That means you can refer to the
tax code to support any argument. I can't tell you how many times
weasels have - with straight faces - suggested I invest in money-
losing ventures so that I can get valuable tax write-offs.
Apparently the theory is that the more money I lose the better off I
will be.