Wednesday, October 31, 2007

"LONDON - Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has become a hate figure to Christian evangelicals in the United States since she outed master wizard Albus Dumbledore as gay.

Back page of today's LIFE! section of good ol' ST. Oh Potter you rotter!

GP paper today went as planned, though the composition felt forced. The comprehension section though, was a breeze. Actually, not so much a breeze as a bloody gale, strong enough for me to soar on the wings of audacity. For "Titillating" I put down "Attention worthy (and that's putting it mildly)." So shoot me. I hope the old chap marking my script has a sense of humour.

I Expect to get at least a B or I'll be extremely miffed.

Posted by Calvin at 5:08 pm

"When a bull coo meets a lady coo, he disna have tae say, 'My heart goes bang-bang-bang when I see your wee face,' 'cuz it's kinda built intae their heads. People have it more difficult. Romancin' is verra important, ye ken. Basically it's a way the boy can get close to the girl wi'oot her attackin' him and scratchin' his eyes oot."

-Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett

Posted by Calvin at 12:31 am

Sunday, October 28, 2007

A levels! Whatever. I highly recommend you hop over here and download v0.57a. It's a user created PC version of Geometry Wars, currently on the Xbox. Papers start on Tuesday till the 20th of November. Lets hope it rains. Everyday.

Posted by Calvin at 8:43 pm

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Imagine my amusement, when J.K. Rowling announced that every one's favourite wizard Dumbledore is gay. I don't want to bring politics and such into this, I'm rather amused, but I reserve my comment, it's a story after all. But it must be the subject of consternation to some the more conservative members of our society.

Oh the joy! Imagine such an incorruptible figure as dear old Dumbledore, wise and worldly, incapable of wrongdoing, and a hero in the eyes of many. And he's gay. That must hurt, for some. After all, do we not create heroes in our own image? Idealised versions of ourselves, that we can aspire to.

That's the evil half of me grinning away again. Oh the (mental) chaos, the bruised egos, the 'betrayed' faces, if you know what I mean.

It's a low blow to some, I reckon. A cheap shot. An underhanded shard of information that sneaks through mental filters and terrorises the other occupants of our heads. It must be having a jolly good time there, running amok and kicking over the furniture.

Good times, aha!

Posted by Calvin at 8:52 pm

"May you always be blessed.

With walls for the wind.

A roof for the rain.

A warm cup of tea by the fire.

Laughter to cheer you.

Those you love near you.

And all that your heart

might desire."

-An old Gaelic blessing.

Posted by Calvin at 8:15 pm

I turn around to see the sky churning a wonderfully murderous shade of grey. Quite possibly the best way to start the morning.

With all the trees around, I can just imagine I'm back in Boston, where I spent a year of my younger days. Good old dreary Boston, all browns and greens, a good deal better than the garish, technicolour Disneyland that is Singapore.

When it rains, pedestrians plod on, doing whatever it is that pedestrians do. One needn't worry about messy hair, nor the colour or shape of one's clothes, as everyone is too busy clutching umbrellas. Social rules and polite distances break down as people scurry for shelter.

And that wonderful silence, which only happens when even the most talkative of us realise we have been outdone. A good thing, as silent introspection is always helpful. I do feel, that if we all talked a little less, we would have much better things to say when we do.

Now it's raining proper, I'm off to sit on my window ledge and enjoy a treetop breakfast. I think it's going to be a wonderful day.

Posted by Calvin at 7:36 am

Friday, October 26, 2007

/b/ Stuff I'm listening to when I should be studying instead. Hurrah! /b/

Posted by Calvin at 1:20 am

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

I don't think I could ever bring myself to give my grades more than cursory attention, as I seem to get along just fine. The good guy can't die, remember? Got into SJI and NJC, all my first choices, and I believe I'm going to make it into NUS Architecture - I'm not decided. But what I want, I always get - eventually. I like to think I defy that stereotype.

Posted by Calvin at 9:50 pm

Monday, October 22, 2007

Nothing gets me more miffed than imprecise use of the English language in a Mathematics question. Being your typical grammar Nazi, I just have to spend five minutes trying to ponder it's inanity, which puts me at a disadvantage compared to my linguistically deficient peers. How ironic, and mean of me! Yikes, milk and cookies all around.

Well then, Exhibit A is this question from this year's seemingly infamous PSLE Mathematics paper.

"6/14 of the chairs in a hall are in rows of 13. half of the chairs are in rows of 7. There are 122 more chairs* in rows of 7. The rest of the chairs are stacked up. Find the total number of chairs."

*This is the metaphorical nail in the coffin, gentlemen. 122 more than what? The chairs in rows of 13? The chairs stacked up? Bugger all this! Oh well, I take it to be 122 more chairs in rows of 7, than in rows of 13.

On to solving the question. Since there are 122 more chairs in rows of 7, and 1/14 more chairs in rows of 7, that means 14/14 equals to 1708.

Voila! Well then, our answer. That wasn't too bad, of course this is assuming my interpretation is correct. Let us hope that I don't come across any such atrocities in my A level papers next week.

Yes, I have witnessed such poorly designed questions all across the scholarly spectrum, from Primary schools all the way to Junior Colleges.

Don't let my tone fool you into thinking this is a laughing matter. This costs me real marks due to time spent hacking through the jungle of vagaries and implied implications.

So then, might there be any others that share my plight? Do tell me!

Linguistically yours.

Posted by Calvin at 4:26 pm

Friday, October 19, 2007

'I understand, Havelock, that you scored zero in your examination for stealthy movement.'

'Well, it was true,' said the Assassin.

'And you never attended his lessons, he said.'

'Oh, I did. Religiously.'

'He says he never saw you at any of them.'

Havelock smiled. 'And your point, Madam, is...?'

Posted by Calvin at 11:28 pm

Thursday, October 18, 2007

"Humans are the great equalisers. A beautiful blond can rarely hope to be seen as both knowing and cogent. We tell the ugly that they have great personalities, while we bemoan the existence of that rich, but aloof brat next door.

Few are the cases where Humans embody perfection in the areas of finance, intelligence, personality, and sexual desirability. Only those entities removed enough from our experience, or sufficiently neutral as to pose no threat to our perceived sexual dominance are conferred this privilege. Heroes and celebrities, for example.

It follows then, that the pinnacle of Human social achievement is to excel in all these categories. This is not an easy task, as not only are there the hurdles of finance, temperament, and genetics, there also lie the innate defences of other individual egos, as shown above. Not a bad thing, as this ensures competition for perceived sexual dominance is kept to a minimum and society proceeds in a civil, albeit fabricated fashion.

Thus, one should seek to foster good relations with other people, whilst maintaining an image of amiability, desirability and expertise. The importance of good relations is that others are then lulled, falsely or otherwise, into perceiving the subject as a neutral sexual competitor. This opens the door for due praise and respect to be showered upon the fortunate subject.

Only when one becomes both respected and welcomed without animosity or jealousy, can he or she then claim to have mastered all aspects and minutiae of Human social dynamics."

-Social psychology 101*

*a.k.a Another Damn Hypothesis when I should be studying instead.

Posted by Calvin at 1:57 pm

Posted by Calvin at 4:08 am

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Waking up is always a traumatic time for me, and the wrenching of my consciousness back from the netherworlds is probably to blame. Vision blurred, the slightest sound reverberating like a knife in the brain.

Reality makes no sense too. My phone should be beeping out the time of day, accompanied by a little symbol of a bell, but I've yet to actually observe this. Instead, I see a jumbled mess of symbols and pixels, not unlike $#2&hello3&13^. Perhaps it's a genuine mechanical fault, or the product of the last remnants of my sanity streaming away. I guess it's more fun that way, not knowing which.

Last night I dreamt of a hamster named Kribbles, nestled in the palms of my hands, and a shopping mall, about to be blown up by terrorists. I flew down escalators and a vast atrium to escape, but the bombs were duds in the end. Members of the Shooting Club, thank your lucky stars, for I saw you all in there with me. I might have psychically killed you all.

And hows that for a frivolous post. But then again, nighttime logic never stands up to scrutiny during the day. It melts in the sunlight, as all things do.

Posted by Calvin at 6:51 pm

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

"I SUPPORT the retention of Section 377A of the Penal Code - a law criminalising gay sex - to uphold our moral and family values.

In fact, the removal of this law will lead to the disintegration of our social fabric, the family unit, which the Government has been establishing pro-actively.

I fully support the Government in keeping Section 377A. Gross indecencies must be penalised.

For the survival of our nation and the welfare of the future generation, the petition by NMP Siew should be ignored."

Lim Poh Suan (Ms)

Amazing, a day doesn't go by without me reading drivel like this somewhere. In our national paper too, for shame. I woke up to a breakfast of sausages and eggs, but hold the side order of ignorance and intolerance.

No, I find it highly unlikely that the abolishment of this law will lead to the "disintegration of our social fabric." This appears to be a rather shocking exaggeration. No. Perfectly heterosexual people are not going to turn gay, neither are gays going to suddenly start knocking on our doors, trying to 'convert' us.

To say so would, I believe, amount to fear-mongering. As far as I know, there is no gay agenda, but perhaps there are others here?

Posted by Calvin at 4:21 pm

Sunday, October 14, 2007

A chicane is a sequence of tight serpentine curves in a roadway, used in motor racing and on city streets to slow cars. That's your interesting word for the day. And this video of gameplay footage from Wipeout Pure illustrates it, from 00:25 to 00:36 seconds of the first lap.

I really like racing games, I suppose it's part of the wiring of the male brain, that attracts me to all things fast and vehicular. That course shown above is the most technical one in the game, always brings a smile to my face. Gods know I'll need one in the coming weeks.

Posted by Calvin at 9:22 pm

Needs no explanation.

Posted by Calvin at 5:06 pm

Saturday, October 13, 2007

"Sometimes, but not too often, it happens

that a bear or two wakes up during the winter

and cannot get back to sleep...

So they quietly crawl out of their dens

and gather around a warm fire

where they tell each other stories

of the past summer."

-Source

Look, isn't this so damn amazing? Not often I come across something that warms my cold, dead, heart. So much better than fretting over As.

I just watched a James Bond movie on the television, and true to form, he saved a city from a nuclear submarine just in time. How about that. Thank gods for Star Movies and their reruns. Now I just have to pull the same trick off with mine.

Posted by Calvin at 3:20 am

You know, I get the feeling that I should be more afraid of the fact that the As are coming. As the blogs of my friends gradually turn more hysterical, and MSN display names follow suit, I find myself thinking, "What's all this fuss?"

I pride myself on not scaring easily, and not showing the slightest sign of stress or nervousness. But perhaps the anxiety circuits in my head are simply fused. I'm still deciding whether that's a good thing or not.

Really, the line between courage and stupidity is so thin I might just cut myself this time.

Gosh, what a horrid metaphor.

Posted by Calvin at 2:52 am

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Psychology is my secret hobby of sorts. Human psychology in particular, since there's never a shortage of subjects to observe.

For a long time now, I have wondered why people find solace in organised religion, and why yet others trumpet meetings, mission statements and the like, as a panacea for ineptitude.

What language! But I seek not to judge, merely to understand. Indeed, this is not the place, and nor am I the right person to pass judgement. Enough talk from me.

#2, If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

#13, A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.

Among others. Found 'em off a link from a friend's blog, and I very much agree. I also am extremely gratified to learn that Sigmund Freud shares some of my hypotheses on the nature of the ego and the importance of sex. I kid you not. Ha, ha.

As you have probably guessed, I'm not exactly sure what this post is for. Perhaps it's a semi lucid attempt at justifying something. What exactly, I'm not very sure, but it's there alright.

Posted by Calvin at 6:12 pm

Saturday, October 06, 2007

My goodness, what ever could this be? I suppose it was just passing by, as these things do. And I also suppose that it's going to want to be inked and coloured soon.

Gosh. Creatures nowadays, barging in without so much as an appointment. What a bother.

What's that you say? Studies? Can't hear you, there's too much stat-

Posted by Calvin at 4:13 am

Friday, October 05, 2007

Leaked, unconfirmed cover for SSBB. Also, co-op for adventure mode. I'm liking what I see already.

Posted by Calvin at 4:18 pm

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Today was my last proper lesson of GP, and I'm pretty sad to see it go. It's perhaps the most underrated subject, if only because it teaches the arcane methods of acquiring insight. That is, getting to the crux of a problem, and examining it on a fundamental level.

You can stand bigots on a pedestal and deconstruct them for what they are. Language works where fists and swords do not, getting past the defences that are ignorance, and prejudice.

And useful, too, for prodding people toward realising their shortcomings themselves. For a failure that one believes to be private, is one where the pain is not dulled by the act of repairing the ego, or maintaining a certain public image.

Horrid, but effective, and so very satisfying. Like so many long needles in a bag of alphabets.

Posted by Calvin at 12:42 am

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Posted by Calvin at 9:02 pm

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

I've been interested in art since primary school, and I credit this game for it - Magic: The Gathering.

Huzzah!

Posted by Calvin at 9:25 pm

Monday, October 01, 2007

"Dragons!

Ever since he was two years old he had been captivated by the pictures of the fiery beasts in The Octarine Fairy Book. His sister had told him they didn't really exist, and he recalled the bitter disappointment. If the world didn't contain those beautiful creatures, he'd decided, it wasn't half the world it ought to be. And then later he had been bound apprentice to Ninereeds the Masteraccount, who in his grey-mindedness was everything that dragons were not, and there was no time for dreaming."

-The Colour of Magic

What a pity, because I am not long for this world. Truth be told, I'm not in a hurry to leave NJC. Yes, NJC of the horrid grey uniform. My friends may be rather pleased to be done with this place, but not I.

No, the shadow of an authoritarian regime that passes for NJC doesn't hold a candle to the one I will be joining next year. I've never liked following orders, and I find the beaten track far too noisy. How much more fun it is, to accomplish a task with panache and style. Alas, it seems even this artful dodger will have to lie low for awhile.

In an odd way, I sort of empathise with the citizens of Burma. We have ideals, but they have guns. This observer can do nothing but wish you luck.

One week, and then there will be no more dragons.