Watched Shen Diao Xiao Lv, and returned with some thoughts.
The "Passion Flower Poison" supposedly causes a person to hurt at the place where he/she was pricked whenever he/she thinks about someone they like.
I think I diluted version of it would be sought after by BDSM people.
Li Mochou EXPLODED when she flew into the fire. Maybe some of her poisons are unstable concoctions.
Xiao Long Nv's clothes NEVER get dirtied! I wonder how much white cloth the producers need to perpare whenever they film an outdoor scene. I think she could be the spokesperson for some washing powder brand.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
It is fun to misquote someone. I shall misquote someone now.
"today's maths paper was so hard (...) that i finished the last question like 45 minutes early." - Ivan, 27/06/07
But the actual quote is:
"today's maths paper was so hard but so fun. omg there were so many that i couldn't do that i finished the last question like 45 minutes early."
Whole meaning change rite!
Which is why I don't always trust quotes in newspapers, especially if you can find ellipses in them.
"today's maths paper was so hard (...) that i finished the last question like 45 minutes early." - Ivan, 27/06/07
But the actual quote is:
"today's maths paper was so hard but so fun. omg there were so many that i couldn't do that i finished the last question like 45 minutes early."
Whole meaning change rite!
Which is why I don't always trust quotes in newspapers, especially if you can find ellipses in them.
Random thoughts:
When you get a chance to see a rainbow, look out for something. Look carefully at the spot just below the violet band.
Do you see something?
No? Ahh, by the way, you allowed some UV radiation to enter your eye directly.
________
I remember that quite a few years ago, when I was helping out with spring cleaning, I complained that my back ached. My mother then said, "At our age, the elderly would say that children can't get backache, because it is an ailment of the elderly. So unless you are elderly, you don't complain of backache."
Then yesterday, my mother happened to talk about growing rice (she grew up in a village in Perak). She said these:
"When it is the sowing season, the elders like our parents would shave the end of a long stick of wood such that it is sharpened at one end, and they would take two of these and make rows of holes in the ground. The children like us would get a piece of hollow bamboo that is covered at one end, which is filled with rice seeds. We'd have to bend down and put some seeds into each hole and cover up the hole with the end of the piece of bamboo. Only the children would sow the seeds; the elders reasoned that it's a job for the children because the children don't get backache."
Then I asked, "But did your back ache?"
"Of course it did!"
______
I randomly chanced upon this, and I was reminded of one of zilin's post.
Chinese also got 牛头不对马嘴.
When you get a chance to see a rainbow, look out for something. Look carefully at the spot just below the violet band.
Do you see something?
No? Ahh, by the way, you allowed some UV radiation to enter your eye directly.
________
I remember that quite a few years ago, when I was helping out with spring cleaning, I complained that my back ached. My mother then said, "At our age, the elderly would say that children can't get backache, because it is an ailment of the elderly. So unless you are elderly, you don't complain of backache."
Then yesterday, my mother happened to talk about growing rice (she grew up in a village in Perak). She said these:
"When it is the sowing season, the elders like our parents would shave the end of a long stick of wood such that it is sharpened at one end, and they would take two of these and make rows of holes in the ground. The children like us would get a piece of hollow bamboo that is covered at one end, which is filled with rice seeds. We'd have to bend down and put some seeds into each hole and cover up the hole with the end of the piece of bamboo. Only the children would sow the seeds; the elders reasoned that it's a job for the children because the children don't get backache."
Then I asked, "But did your back ache?"
"Of course it did!"
______
I randomly chanced upon this, and I was reminded of one of zilin's post.
Chinese also got 牛头不对马嘴.Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Today when I reached home, I was tired and went to take a nap. And I had a nightmare about Chemistry.
No, not chemical warfare, but it sort of involved doing many many chemistry papers which I have no idea how to do as part of some kind of assessment. It felt like the kind of paper that other people find easy but you don't know how to do because you blanked out. And I blanked out for every paper.
But good thing it is just a nightmare! Anyway, I can take comfort in that the nightmare had made me experience blanking out so many times that I would have undergone enough catharsis such that I will not blank out for the subsequent papers, hopefully.
No, not chemical warfare, but it sort of involved doing many many chemistry papers which I have no idea how to do as part of some kind of assessment. It felt like the kind of paper that other people find easy but you don't know how to do because you blanked out. And I blanked out for every paper.
But good thing it is just a nightmare! Anyway, I can take comfort in that the nightmare had made me experience blanking out so many times that I would have undergone enough catharsis such that I will not blank out for the subsequent papers, hopefully.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
There were bees outside my room yesterday, and I'm not sure if they are gone now. It's a small swarm, but still a swarm nonetheless, and it freaked me out somewhat.
The revelation that there were bees out there started when I saw 2 or 3 bees in the living room. I looked out and saw quite a lot more, so I closed the all windows, since bees can fly and they could enter from anywhere. There were also 2 or 3 bees in my room, and they kept coming in, either because the windows were not closely tightly or that quite a few bees had already entered before I closed the windows but we didn't notice. I was scared of the bees, so my parents had to do the job of swatting them.
Perhaps my father is more merciful than the rest of us, he insisted that we open all the windows so that the bees could fly out. I insisted that we close all the windows so that the bees couldn't fly in (since the concentration of bees outside the room is greater than the concentration of bees in the room, probability-wise bees would spontaneously have a net movement into the rooms if we don't close the windows). Anyway, I didn't resist much. Once I saw him open the windows, I grabbed my keys and handphone and went to the opposite block to watch. I could see that the windows of my unit were all closed, and my father was spraying Baygon(of course from the opposite block I couldn't read the words on the canister, I only found out when I came back later). After a while, both of my parents went downstairs to see the big picture. The hive was at the 11th floor (we live at the 13th), nearest to my room. There was a unit at the 12 floor with the windows open.
We went for dinner outside, and after we came back it was getting dark. I suppose the bees were quite tired, so they didn't fly about, and they stayed in their hive, not disturbing anyone. At night, I heard someone scream. Perhaps it came from the unit at the12th floor with the windows open, and the owner just came back from work.
On the very same day, Shen Diao Xia Lv was showing the scene where Zhao Zhi Jing was killed by a swarm of bees while helplessly trapped in a bell. Not very pleasant, I say.
The revelation that there were bees out there started when I saw 2 or 3 bees in the living room. I looked out and saw quite a lot more, so I closed the all windows, since bees can fly and they could enter from anywhere. There were also 2 or 3 bees in my room, and they kept coming in, either because the windows were not closely tightly or that quite a few bees had already entered before I closed the windows but we didn't notice. I was scared of the bees, so my parents had to do the job of swatting them.
Perhaps my father is more merciful than the rest of us, he insisted that we open all the windows so that the bees could fly out. I insisted that we close all the windows so that the bees couldn't fly in (since the concentration of bees outside the room is greater than the concentration of bees in the room, probability-wise bees would spontaneously have a net movement into the rooms if we don't close the windows). Anyway, I didn't resist much. Once I saw him open the windows, I grabbed my keys and handphone and went to the opposite block to watch. I could see that the windows of my unit were all closed, and my father was spraying Baygon(of course from the opposite block I couldn't read the words on the canister, I only found out when I came back later). After a while, both of my parents went downstairs to see the big picture. The hive was at the 11th floor (we live at the 13th), nearest to my room. There was a unit at the 12 floor with the windows open.
We went for dinner outside, and after we came back it was getting dark. I suppose the bees were quite tired, so they didn't fly about, and they stayed in their hive, not disturbing anyone. At night, I heard someone scream. Perhaps it came from the unit at the12th floor with the windows open, and the owner just came back from work.
On the very same day, Shen Diao Xia Lv was showing the scene where Zhao Zhi Jing was killed by a swarm of bees while helplessly trapped in a bell. Not very pleasant, I say.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
I finally get to see Yang Guo's motherbig sword in action. This is the only version of Shen Diao Xia Lv where the sword is REALLY big and it actually looks damn heavy. In the show, when Yang Guo slammed it on two strong people who were defending, the ground underneath them formed a crater. The sword's chinese name is "Xuan Tie Zhong Jian". It's English name(according to Wikipedia) is called "Heavy Sword". Yang Guo welds it with one hand. Conclusion: Yang Guo >> Cloud Strife.
BTW, the condor in that show is anatomically inaccurate. It's knees are bent the wrong way, and it has claws on its wing joints.
BTW, the condor in that show is anatomically inaccurate. It's knees are bent the wrong way, and it has claws on its wing joints.
"In my opinion, that's such a waste of time. You are wasting your life away."
If anyone knows the best use of my life, I'd like to hear it.
When I do the things I like, I don't care about whether it is useful or not. For some people, what they like doing happens to be what many perceive to be useful. It is not entirely because they are more disciplined. It doesn't take a lot of discipline to do what one likes.
Maybe you wouldn't like to live my life. But there is no need to worry that it will ever happen. Enjoy yours.
If anyone knows the best use of my life, I'd like to hear it.
When I do the things I like, I don't care about whether it is useful or not. For some people, what they like doing happens to be what many perceive to be useful. It is not entirely because they are more disciplined. It doesn't take a lot of discipline to do what one likes.
Maybe you wouldn't like to live my life. But there is no need to worry that it will ever happen. Enjoy yours.
Today, I have witnessed the ultimate smoke! The most powerful smoke I've ever seen in my life, it... is... so... overpowering... and it's published in the newspaper!
If any non-chinese happen to pass by, here's what the words in the red box(drawn by me) says:
"PSC scholarship awardee [19 years old, from RJC], (someone) says: 'I am very interested in civil service, so I would certainly serve my bond. Besides, since primary school, teachers have been inculcating the sense of responsibility in us, and that we must be responsible for our decisions, so I would not break the bond easily.' "
OMG! This person is either some hardcore moralist (probably extinct by now), or that he/she has the gift of smoking! Mind you, he/she is probably quoted in a survey. To be able to come up with that so quickly, one must be really talented in saying ~overpoweringly~ politically correct stuff! That might come in handy when he/she joins the civil service. That "besides, since primary school" part is really omgwtfbbqlol!
If someone happens to find out that this person was misquoted, you could leave a tag, so that I can edit this post accordingly.
Anyway, today was the first time I helped my mother make rice dumplings. Yes, this is my first time despite me being 18 years old already. I didn't know that bamboo leaves were hairy. Those I made are rather elongated, not a nice tetrahedral, and I make dumplings at like 1/3 the rate of my mother. But actually, the combination of these two shortcomings doesn't make it quite as bad. I did taste one of the dumplings I wrapped, it wasn't too bad (though frankly speaking, the taste of the dumping has nothing to do with how well it's wrapped.)
I was watching "Return of the Condor Heroes", and I found out that "Yin Zhi Ping" has changed his name to "Zhen Zhi Bing". According to my father and a post from an internet forum, Jin Yong changed the name in the novel because there was really a person called "Yin Zhi Ping" at that time and that it would be impolite to spoil his name until like that. (Really, I don't think anyone nowadays with the surname Yin would call their child Zhi Ping. Especially since Xiao Long Nv do exist in Singapore =P) Pretty interesting. I've also heard (from an unrealiable source) that Zhang Fei really existed in the Three Warring Kingdoms period, and that he was actually erudite and calm, in contrast to the rash and barbaric character in San Guo Yan Yi.
It just occurred to me that I've probably never claimed in my blog that I'll be mugging or that I'm mugging. I shall not make an exception this time.
"Now I'd like to dedicate this song to the company that discovered Viagra: You Raise Me Up."
If any non-chinese happen to pass by, here's what the words in the red box(drawn by me) says:
"PSC scholarship awardee [19 years old, from RJC], (someone) says: 'I am very interested in civil service, so I would certainly serve my bond. Besides, since primary school, teachers have been inculcating the sense of responsibility in us, and that we must be responsible for our decisions, so I would not break the bond easily.' "
OMG! This person is either some hardcore moralist (probably extinct by now), or that he/she has the gift of smoking! Mind you, he/she is probably quoted in a survey. To be able to come up with that so quickly, one must be really talented in saying ~overpoweringly~ politically correct stuff! That might come in handy when he/she joins the civil service. That "besides, since primary school" part is really omgwtfbbqlol!
If someone happens to find out that this person was misquoted, you could leave a tag, so that I can edit this post accordingly.
Anyway, today was the first time I helped my mother make rice dumplings. Yes, this is my first time despite me being 18 years old already. I didn't know that bamboo leaves were hairy. Those I made are rather elongated, not a nice tetrahedral, and I make dumplings at like 1/3 the rate of my mother. But actually, the combination of these two shortcomings doesn't make it quite as bad. I did taste one of the dumplings I wrapped, it wasn't too bad (though frankly speaking, the taste of the dumping has nothing to do with how well it's wrapped.)
I was watching "Return of the Condor Heroes", and I found out that "Yin Zhi Ping" has changed his name to "Zhen Zhi Bing". According to my father and a post from an internet forum, Jin Yong changed the name in the novel because there was really a person called "Yin Zhi Ping" at that time and that it would be impolite to spoil his name until like that. (Really, I don't think anyone nowadays with the surname Yin would call their child Zhi Ping. Especially since Xiao Long Nv do exist in Singapore =P) Pretty interesting. I've also heard (from an unrealiable source) that Zhang Fei really existed in the Three Warring Kingdoms period, and that he was actually erudite and calm, in contrast to the rash and barbaric character in San Guo Yan Yi.
It just occurred to me that I've probably never claimed in my blog that I'll be mugging or that I'm mugging. I shall not make an exception this time.
"Now I'd like to dedicate this song to the company that discovered Viagra: You Raise Me Up."
Monday, June 11, 2007
Random stuff:
The whole may be greater than the sum of its parts, but that depends on the constant of integration.
(Hao): If people from Hong Kong are called "Hong-Kongers", then do we call the people from Frankfurt Frankfurters and people from Hamburg Hamburgers?
Go http://ponandzi.com . Many cute and dark and emo pictures there.
The whole may be greater than the sum of its parts, but that depends on the constant of integration.
(Hao): If people from Hong Kong are called "Hong-Kongers", then do we call the people from Frankfurt Frankfurters and people from Hamburg Hamburgers?
Go http://ponandzi.com . Many cute and dark and emo pictures there.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
I was watching a TV show "ge2 shi4 zhui1 xiong1"("To get unstuck in time", but that's not what the title means), and I was at the episode when the woman in the wheelchair started getting pissed. It got me to think about aesthetics. (Which is not a bad thing, since I rarely think about aesthetics[I'm starting to see Dr Chan's point about "you need content to think"])
In my impression, it seems to me that Plato argues that since art alone cannot give us any truth, and can be used as a medium to "teach" both truths and untruths, it is only of value if it is used to teach correct moral values and truths. (I shudder at the term "correct moral values". Actually he probably didn't say that. Most likely he said something in Greek, then I read the KI notes and I get the impression he said something like that.)
It seems to me that Aristotle disagrees; he says that art does have value. The viewer of, for example, a play, suspends his disbelief when he immerses himself in it, but if the scenario is too outrageous, he would reject it and would not appreciate it. Thus, perhaps, by looking at good art that many people appreciate, we would be able to learn something real in life. Also, when we immerse ourselves into a play or literature, a scenario may stir some kind of emotion in us, and when the scenario actually happens to us, we may be able to better react to it.
However, when a young child with very little prior experience reads a lousy novel, he may get a wrong impression of what the world is like, since he cannot possibly reject any scenario, having never experienced many things that can be expressed in a novel.
By now you may be able to guess why that TV show got me to think about aesthetics. I have never really interacted with wheelchair-bound people, so I have no idea of what they are like. Yet, I am presented with an image of a wheelchair-bound person, and I have no idea if that is a correct representation. I wouldn't like to be misled by the TV show, but I also wouldn't want such a thing to spoil my appreciation of that TV show (the TV show is actually quite nice). Those thoughts are rather irritating when one really wants to enjoy a show. (Which is why I don't watch romance films or films that portray special people whom I have never encountered before. It is too stressful.)
I suppose the best cure for it would be to get to know them personally.
Out of randomness, I shall rant here about the things that make my blood pressure rise.
-People who block the road/escalator. (Maybe I shouldn't drive when I grow up.)
-People who talk loudly in the library.
-People who set their handphones to a loud ringtone, then pick up calls very slowly.
-People who don't cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze.
-Drama that overdramatize.
-Model essay compilations full of stories of orphans/poor people/disabled people.
-Screaming babies.
-(This may make you cringe, but it is true)Rafflesians who misbehave in public.
In my impression, it seems to me that Plato argues that since art alone cannot give us any truth, and can be used as a medium to "teach" both truths and untruths, it is only of value if it is used to teach correct moral values and truths. (I shudder at the term "correct moral values". Actually he probably didn't say that. Most likely he said something in Greek, then I read the KI notes and I get the impression he said something like that.)
It seems to me that Aristotle disagrees; he says that art does have value. The viewer of, for example, a play, suspends his disbelief when he immerses himself in it, but if the scenario is too outrageous, he would reject it and would not appreciate it. Thus, perhaps, by looking at good art that many people appreciate, we would be able to learn something real in life. Also, when we immerse ourselves into a play or literature, a scenario may stir some kind of emotion in us, and when the scenario actually happens to us, we may be able to better react to it.
However, when a young child with very little prior experience reads a lousy novel, he may get a wrong impression of what the world is like, since he cannot possibly reject any scenario, having never experienced many things that can be expressed in a novel.
By now you may be able to guess why that TV show got me to think about aesthetics. I have never really interacted with wheelchair-bound people, so I have no idea of what they are like. Yet, I am presented with an image of a wheelchair-bound person, and I have no idea if that is a correct representation. I wouldn't like to be misled by the TV show, but I also wouldn't want such a thing to spoil my appreciation of that TV show (the TV show is actually quite nice). Those thoughts are rather irritating when one really wants to enjoy a show. (Which is why I don't watch romance films or films that portray special people whom I have never encountered before. It is too stressful.)
I suppose the best cure for it would be to get to know them personally.
Out of randomness, I shall rant here about the things that make my blood pressure rise.
-People who block the road/escalator. (Maybe I shouldn't drive when I grow up.)
-People who talk loudly in the library.
-People who set their handphones to a loud ringtone, then pick up calls very slowly.
-People who don't cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze.
-Drama that overdramatize.
-Model essay compilations full of stories of orphans/poor people/disabled people.
-Screaming babies.
-(This may make you cringe, but it is true)Rafflesians who misbehave in public.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Random stuff:
As I was wandering randomly on Wikipedia, I read a bit on Tai Ji Chuan and found out that there is this guy called 陈发科. To me, what is most interesting is his name. If he were to go to an English speaking country, he will be called "Fake Chen". Of course, some Chinese would insist that their names not be pronounced as one would normally pronounce English words, but it is not so clear if he would do that (especially since non-Chinese speakers usually can't pronounce the tones properly). It would be interesting if his teacher ever need to call him from afar.
Lately there is this Energizer battery advertisement about its use in camera, which ends with the Energizer battery running on the stack of photograph, tossing the photographs to the left, with itself remaining stationery. I suspect that the scenario is only physically possible if one tilts the whole scene slightly anticlockwise, or there is an external force that acts only on the battery.
Suppose you lost a new laptop. Sometime later, you win a laptop that is of the same model. Chances are, in the end, you'll be happier than you started out with. Physically, one hasn't really gained anything from the whole process. However, the process of rationalizing the loss of the laptop has made one feel not so bad about the loss. Perhaps, this suggests, that happiness and utility may not be that closely linked. After a large gain, it is likely that one will get used to it, and not feel so happy about it. Maximizing utility may not actually lead to people feeling better off. Wealth(which is related to utility) can be increased in the entire society, but if it is due to a greater amount of wealth increased in the hands of a small number of rich people at the expense of a large number of poor people, the overall happiness doesn't seem like it is maximized. An additional dollar to the rich is just a number, but it means food to the poor.
Perhaps, then, happiness is not a state function. It is more like a path function, which perhaps explains why "30 hours of free labour + lottery win" beats "30 hours of work".
As I was wandering randomly on Wikipedia, I read a bit on Tai Ji Chuan and found out that there is this guy called 陈发科. To me, what is most interesting is his name. If he were to go to an English speaking country, he will be called "Fake Chen". Of course, some Chinese would insist that their names not be pronounced as one would normally pronounce English words, but it is not so clear if he would do that (especially since non-Chinese speakers usually can't pronounce the tones properly). It would be interesting if his teacher ever need to call him from afar.
Lately there is this Energizer battery advertisement about its use in camera, which ends with the Energizer battery running on the stack of photograph, tossing the photographs to the left, with itself remaining stationery. I suspect that the scenario is only physically possible if one tilts the whole scene slightly anticlockwise, or there is an external force that acts only on the battery.
Suppose you lost a new laptop. Sometime later, you win a laptop that is of the same model. Chances are, in the end, you'll be happier than you started out with. Physically, one hasn't really gained anything from the whole process. However, the process of rationalizing the loss of the laptop has made one feel not so bad about the loss. Perhaps, this suggests, that happiness and utility may not be that closely linked. After a large gain, it is likely that one will get used to it, and not feel so happy about it. Maximizing utility may not actually lead to people feeling better off. Wealth(which is related to utility) can be increased in the entire society, but if it is due to a greater amount of wealth increased in the hands of a small number of rich people at the expense of a large number of poor people, the overall happiness doesn't seem like it is maximized. An additional dollar to the rich is just a number, but it means food to the poor.
Perhaps, then, happiness is not a state function. It is more like a path function, which perhaps explains why "30 hours of free labour + lottery win" beats "30 hours of work".
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