RT - Rant Sometimes I question the value of even attending lectures when the lecturer seems so hardpressed for time. Going through slides faster than I consume my meals. I'm sure my lecturer can win an Olympic medal at trash talking. The fact that she can cramp 1 year's worth of work in 2 hours is not a mere exaggeration. Everyone leaves the lecture theatre, faces blank (other than the geeks and the Chinese/Indian geniuses who score 39/40). In addition to that, I find myself stuck with tutorials of seemingly inane questions backed with a crazy amount of technicality. The same goes for the online assessments which we are expected to do. Those assessments will not be taken into account for our final grade but tutors know how many times we attempted them, when we attempted them and our scores.I hate uni life. RT - Jebus http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081024/ten-as-japan-avatar-murder-3rd-ld-writet-5e343d7.htmlThis is ridiculous. Read and find out for yourself. IaN - 191008 All the midterms are over and I'm really dreading the results of the latter. I don't like that feeling of being unprepared even though I have finished all the readings. That annoying feeling of having missed something out simply irks me to no end. Essays are due soon, so is the presentation and along with that, a whole slew of readings that need catching up await me. I think I might have to start preparation for the finals soon although there is just so much to memorise. My Foreign Policy and Diplomacy readings are about 4cm thick (Yes I measured) consisting of millions of words. That is but one out of five. I dread the finals.Uni life sucks. RT - Once upon a time Once upon a time, there was a group of people who had to work together. The group was a mix of intelligent people, but the mix of personalities was just not right. Alpha happens to not feel well during meetings and never shows up. Beta is an Indian chief that must have his way, he speaks fast and is very animated producing wonderfully uneloquent contradictory statements. There is Charlie, his bimbotic 'CS' (message me on msn to find out what CS means) girlfriend that agrees with everything. I believe she thinks shit tastes good too. Delta is another Indian chief whose powers do not surpass Betas', yet he expounds teachings that would make any dead economists turn in their graves. Echo and Foxtrot are free riders who arrive on time but have not prepared anything useful to contribute to the group. Well at least they do not give the last guy, Golf, a headache. Golf is the most junior, and he tries his best to brainstorm, yet his points are always put down by Alpha to Foxtrot; people who think his inexperience would pull the team down. Hence as the narrator, I foretell that the group will sink real soon.. IaN - 121008 Yesterday was great, the day before was wonderful too.and someone made it all good for me.<3 RT - Revisionist ideals I chanced upon something that made corruption look good. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of bad things associated with it but hey, what can I say against an academic text of the revisionist school of thought? I'm just a freshman after all. So here it is, the wonders of corruption:redistributes income from rich to poorassimilates new groups into the political systemarticulates interestsa substitute to violenceallows opposition to influence politics allowing for more democratic idealsprocess of demand and supplyalternative to business participationprotects investmentsallows for efficiencysource of investment as tax evaders reinvest untaxed currencysupplements low incomeincreases job satisfactiona group of corrupted people feels a sense of security with each other leading to the 'big-happy-family' syndromeand best of all..social integration.Come look for me and I'll explain what some of the points mean.The above is a summary taken from an academic journal, the article contributor is Dr Carino. RT - First midterm Here's the deal, I slept at one last night and woke up at 6 this morning with a 12 hour day ahead of me. On to the paper, it was on the whole reasonably difficult and I hope that more people feel the same. Bell curve, duh! I do believe that economics is so boring that examiners would find it fun to tinker with words in order to obscure the questions. Did I mention that the paper was scheduled from 6 to 8pm? I had to nap in the library to catch up on some shuteye.I found the hoodie really handy for blocking out the light and to cover my unsightly gapping mouth.POWER NAP! IaN - 270908 Given the change in my living patterns, I find myself developing a whole slew of bad habits with the worst one being oversleeping. In order to turn up for school and whatnot on time, I have had to set up multiple alarms to wake myself up. Luckily, my mum has developed some techniques to get me off my bed as well. The first being the spirit exorcism method where she sneaks in and draws the curtain. The sun would get in my face and I would usually look like an exorcised spirit. The glare does shine through my eyelids and I have no choice but to wake up. The second method that my mother employs would be the steam bun method where she turns off the fan or aircon when I'm wrapped nicely within my blanket. This method allows me to wake up gradually but I would usually be all sweaty when I come to. Interesting isn't it? IaN - 230908 8 days without an entry eh? I really am losing it, or rather losing myself to work. Not in a positive light mind you. Its recess week and it hasn't really looked like a recess from what it seems.So far at least.. RT - School culture Yes, I worry for the nation. I've seen to many instances of uncivil behaviour recently in school and it really makes me wonder whether all that civics classes in school actually help.Stapler getting jammed in the photocopying room, no problem. So and so would just switch to another stapler. No one bothers to remove the jammed stapler bullet off the stapler.Everyone loves hogging the pathway. One thing I've noticed about people when they walk in groups is their ability to path hog. No wonder MRT campaigns about keeping to the left of the escalator hasn't really worked out too well. IaN - 130908 It really is Saturday night fever indeed. I felt it come on this morning but I wrote it off due to fatigue. Or maybe the euphoria of passing my basic theory test sent a rush of blood into my head that made my world spin. Spin spin, and I have been feeling sleepy all day. It wasn't until when my mum spotted my bloodshot eyes and relatively pale lips that she took my temperature and walked out with me in tow towards the clinic. 38.4, not bad enough to leave me brain dead, but definitely more than enough to make my head feel like a 'da tou wa wa'.Having the mooncake festival celebrations below my flat isn't really helping either. I've been putting up with karaoke singing that might be on par with nails scratching or crows screeching. Its taking alot to stay awake, much less to study. I have also had to resist the urge of hurling a brick down to make my point. No surprise why the police were called in the last time there was a community event. The speakers were simply turned on too damn loudly as in this instance.Long live the country. *bows* RT - PASS with the kena! At the very least, the effort taken to wake up at 6 on a day with no school paid off. After a few sessions of E-trial, I was starting to score full marks for all of them.12.50pm2 minutesFirst to finish, and I was done.Next up! 16th October for the advanced theory test. No more weight of expectation anymore since its much harder so I'll expect to fail at least once.Or twice.Maybe thrice.Cheerio! IaN - 100908 I'm getting very annoyed with my parents. Cutting off my internet access for staying up? That's ridiculous. I'm blogging this from school by the way and I can still vividly remember my dad scolding me because my mum told him I didn't close a window when I had the air con on. He chided me for being irresponsible and not checking, but I damn well did. My parents are so straight-arrowed that they cannot take a deviant stance to things. I told them that I peeked from the side of my right window behind my curtains and it looked close to me and I got accused, ACCUSED, of talking back. What's worse was that my dad pulled the claim that my mother was falsifying facts to drag me through shit, which I strongly suspected she might have.I have mentioned this once before but studying is a crime after 12. I like it late and when I'm easing into the mood of clearing through mounds of readings efficiently, there will be a knock.1.13am: KNOCK, sleep early.1.14am: KNOCK, sleep early.1.16am: KNOCK, I rather you don't study if you have to stay up this late.Get real damnit, I'm already behind by like 6 readings for 2 modules, with assignments piling despite staying up to study practically every night. Whatever their halfassed screwedup friends tell them, university life isn't a walk in the park. IaN - 070908 Ok. I've spent a jolly good Saturday holed up in the library to do my essay. Barely 1000 words done and I admit that I'm a little lost within the ambiguity of the question. Examples within a country as context or a specific industry with multiple examples? And that puts me behind my readings which I'm trying to catch up as I speak. 3 classes of tuition really drains the life out of me and the bed feels a tad more comfortable than usual when I attempt to study. My 3rd BTT (don't ask if you don't know) is coming up once again on Thursday and I need to get up early for my E-trial. I'll have to revise on Wednesday night then. 3 straight lectures tomorrow as well and I know I can't sleep that early today. I've got to finish the readings. Monday night will be spent preparing for Tuesday's tutorials, while Tuesday night will be spent reading for Wednesday's lectures. I'll have to read up for Friday's lecture on Thurday evening. And where would the time for completing my essays come from? I have to find it somewhere.If there ever was a time to believe in fairy godmothers, can one come and grant me the wish of super intellect now?Midterms are lurking too. RT - Damned Readings When people told me, going into FASS entailed having to do alot of readings, I shrugged it off without much thought. And now going into my 4th week of regular semester, I find myself beseiged by those horrible pieces of paper with words printed in fonts smaller than that of the newspaper. Instead of enjoying my semester with informative and useful readings that can reinforce what I've taken in during the lectures, I appear to have taken on the role of a hurdle runner.I would heave a huge sigh of relieve everytime I finish a set of reading but when I reflect, I find myself having a little more than an inkling of what I've just read. This is apart from the fact that it already is taking a horribly long time for me to digest the information that I just perused awhile ago.Hurdle after hurdle, reading after reading. I don't know what I'm learning anymore. IaN - 290808 I came back from the hospital feeling ever so tired. Grandma would be discharged tomorrow and I have not rested since getting up at 6 early this morning. 2 classes in the morning followed by some book harvesting within the depths of the institution that saliently masks the suffering of the student body throng. Back breaking labour it was and I went off feeling much duller than anyone who might have been experiencing Friday in the same vein as the general population (can anyone recall all the joyous cries of 'TGIF!'?)The closest analogy that I can think of now to describe my plight would be that of the tsunami victim. The waves of knowledge rush shoreward relentlessly, gaining speed and momentum everytime I open the IVLE.'Dear students, please read this, this and that.''Your essays are due (insert everlooming date that happens to be within a range that I can count).'It doesn't seem to end.I can barely keep up with essential readings in the IVLE, whatmore to look for obscure books written by the academia that might probably have been schooled to write off another planet? I'll reiterate a phrase I coined during special semester when I was taking that icky philosophy module.'Thank goodness dead men stay dead.' RT - LAWS! I love living in a country where privacy matters so little. In the wake of the emergence of a slew of letters sent by the big Four in the Japanese anime industry.. I have no wish to comment. But as many forumers in HWZ have pointed out, introducing overly radical methods of purging the piracy poison would most definitely kill the patient.+1 for other activities, -1 for the anime industry. I heart my ISP!In another piece of news I've read recently, if I were that rich old man who had kidney problems, I'll definitely do what he did and go look for a kidney is some far flung area. Nevermind the risks since he's already so ill anyway. I do hope that the court is lenient with him, he looks like a nice guy on the newspapers.Yes, I am superficial. I really am. IaN - 240808 School really is absorbing/reincorporating my vitality into nature's grand scheme of things. Grandma got hospitalised for a purported case of water in the lungs with her left foot a tad swollen from it.But she's looking much better right now with her concerns focused more on how preparations for prayer were coming along rather than for herself.Her neighbours in the ward are a jolly bunch. I've had a old lady diagonally opposite of my grandma repeating her life story everytime I visited: I'm 98 this year, I have 2 terrible daughter in laws.. (in hokkien) I believe my charm knows no boundaries as she waves and says hello to me everytime muahaha.Beside her is another old lady who loves to sing. In what language I don't know but amazingly the Indian nurse can converse with her in Cantonese: mei si ah?I certainly hope they aren't put there by their families who might find them a hassle to take care of them though. IaN - UPDATE! I am still alive for those who are wondering where I've been to recently. But not by much, I bring a tree to school almost every day, roots and all. Back breaking labour it seems and I am not getting any renumeration from the school either. I should go on strike.Elearning for basic theory is horribly boring, I'll probably do abit more tomorrow. Other updates include not getting all my tutorial slots and a B+ for my introduction to political science module. Also I feel that school is chipping away at my life bar like some twisted street fighter game on practice mode where I'm the punch bag.Ow.Ow Ow Ow.ADUKEN! RT - Failure Big deal, I've failed lots of times in my life. Today I joined Del in the 'people who failed basic theory test twice' camp. And I was so damned sure I had everything wrapped up. I rehearsed values to death although I didn't understand some scenario play. My balls lost some feeling when the dreaded F word came up on the screen.Fail.Ok, that made me enroll for the school and I'm doing E learning as I'm recording yet another failure in my not so long and miserable life. Mum said she was disappointed with my attitude in life. I tossed her the book and made her ask every single detail. I got all correct, which left her royal loosemouthness quiet. I memorized everything, jitters with a combination of bad luck I guess.Next test September 11th. Weijian's birthday, World Trade Centre's death day. And it happened to fall on Thursday too, which coincidentally was the only day of the week which I am free. I'm overrunned by readings as strays are with fleas.*hits a SOS in morse code* (I'm doing this by banging my head on the wall) RT - Story time 4 It took a mighty long time for Bedivere and Swirl to accept the reality that they were now a single entity.One day, the god of this story (me) decided that he has had enough to do and will shelf Bedivere and Swirl aside for political science notes. Without divine assistance, Bedivere and Swirl were stuck together forever, with Bedivere having to put up with a distinctly fishy smell around his nether regions and with Swirl having to tolerate being a whisker from Bedivere's bottom everytime he poopoos.The End (till I have more time to write at leisure that is) RT - HND! No.I'm not here to talk about how much I love my country and how exciting the black knights were. I'm here to give my two cents about what I didn't like about the parade. The parade on the whole was good. What I didn't like was the rigidity in it.Our president is fairly elderly. He should be revered. In the absence of a monarch, the president takes on the symbolic role of one. What I did not understand was that instead of us showing respect to him, no one in the audience or in the organising committee interceded and offered to trim off the part where the President was to ride around in a buggy for his ceremonial ride, waving to the throng of people who had gathered. Our President was reduced to having to brave the downpour to perform his duties.The people make up the nation. Is a single parade so symbolic and important that it supercedes the wellbeing of our people? Most especially when it is our President out there.We all got to show some respect here people. RT - random Oh I'm so proud of myself.I solved a technical problem on my laptop myself.It started when I downloaded a windows update for the Conexant high definition audio drivers and my sound went off. I went to google around and found that it was a worldwide problem.After 2 hours of trial error I uninstalled the driver in desperation and went to lenovo to dig around for the original Y300 sound drivers for the 3000 series notebooks before I found it.Installed it and switched my default audio driver to the SPDIF interface and viola!Sound!!!Hence the moral of the story is, do not install updates when nothing is wrong with your laptop/desktop. RT - Story time 3 The inevitable happened one portentious afternoon. Bedivere came out of the toilet after putting Swirl through his regular routine only to find Swirl floating belly up like, well, a dead fish. Bedivere was devastated. The same had happened to Swirl's 48 predecessors.'How could Swirl have passed away again? I gave Swirl enough daily exercise that he could most definitely pass his IPPT with a gold standard!', bemoaned Bedivere. Glazed eyed and floating on one side, Swirl stared back at Bedivere, motionless.Swirl's soul lingered above its motionless carcass. It was a catfish and an enchanted one at that.Now, before you go 'huh!?', I did mention that Swirl was enchanted earlier in the preceding segment. And given Swirl had cat blood flowing through its veins, (lets be simple for once shall we? Cats and fish mate to produce catfish) Swirl had the option of reanimating its carcass.In deep contemplation, Swirl did not notice that Bedivere's magic breeches had started giving off a faint tint that was slowly engulfing the backdrop..All of a sudden, Swirl found himself swept by an overwhelming torrent that literally sundered soul from body. It felt like one of Bedivere's grueling routines, except that it wasn't one that went about in a circular manner. Rather, the overpowering force came from all directions.Amidst everything, Swirl lost consciousness.When Swirl came to, it found itself unable to move as freely as he could before. Swirl felt himself expanding and contracting at intervals, a motion that it could not control. There was also that foul smell that Swirl could not quite place its fin on (fishes have no fingers, fins will suffice), one that was distinctively familiar to what Bedivere used to throw into the fish bowl. (try to hunch a guess as to what Bedivere mixed into Swirl's dinner before. I'll give a clue, its a 4 letter word starting with S..)Swirl could not turn, but found that only its eyes could move. Both lidless eyes looked up and met Bedivere's horrified gaze.And the both of them screamed and screamed and screamed to no end.Best artist attempt (me) to reenact the horrors that greeted Bedivere and Swirl. IaN - Parents PARENTS - People Always Remaining Extremely Neutered Towards Sons.Apparently, asking about what goes into a pot of Buddha Jumps Over The Wall constitutes as talking back.Insomnia is my fault.And the fact that bidding for modules in NUS lasts 3 days is my fault as well.I should be a dean of some sort so I can control bidding times. RT - Story time 2 And in addition to his pair of magical golden breeches, he had at home an enchanted catfish which he amused himself with daily. His catfish was named 'Swirl', as swirling around was its favourite sport, or so Bedivere thought. Swirl's diet consisted of leftovers from Bedivere's meals mixed with what Bedivere believed to be highly nutritious for Swirl. Swirl's diet if highlighted explicitly, would turn the stomach of many a common man. Every day, Bedivere would sit faithfully beside the fishbowl as Swirl consumed its food before giving Swirl a little work out to 'work off the flab'.The workout, as one might have guessed, involved having an outstretched and dirty hand in a little fishbowl whilst moving in a circular motion. Bedivere took great pride in keeping Swirl in top shape. And this was where Swirl's namesake came about._______________________________________________________________My paper went by and to be honest it was a cinch. But if I found it horribly easy, so would everyone else have which is not good. Throw in negative marking and I'm facing the prospect of having a single mistake dragging me to hell. But I wouldn't have wanted a paper so tough that I might have screwed up like philosophy. I'm torn in between.But on the upside, I got all of what I wanted. All I need is for everything to proceed smoothly when I bid for my Singapore Studies and General Education modules tomorrow! ------------------------------------------ Allocated Modules------------------------------------------Module Code: EC1101EModule Title: Introduction to Economic Analysis Module Code: PS2239Module Title: Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Module Code: SN1101EModule Title: South Asia : People, Culture, Develop'm RT - Story time 1 I'm writing short stories that make no sense to primarily destress, improve my perspective and hopefully allow me to do better for the essays that are to come. I'll add a chapter or two daily at my discretion. First up, cast in medivel times:Bedivere of the Golden Breeches. Once upon a time, there was a rotund man named Bedivere. He was famed for his insatiable appetite but even more so for his gushing laughter which sounded like several grand church bells pealing together. Bedivere had a pair of magical golden breeches that was entrusted to him by the village hermit. What the breeches could do, nobody knew. RT - Occupation Grant me the ideals of my youth. And with my youth, I know not what I want to be next time. But whatever it is, I will officially strike out the choice of being a stock broker. Not that my degree would allow it anyway. I have a weak heart and I really hate bidding for stuff, and competition in general. Bidding is turning out to be an interesting experience, although I really wouldn't mind giving it a miss.I suppose my grades are improving. I got a B with my latest assignment, the new high in a string of not-so-good results ranging from C+ to B-. Competing against all the naturalised essay writers from the arts faculty of junior colleges as well as girls from year 2/3 seems to leave me at a disadvantage as a science student, fresh out from national service.Well, thats the price to pay for choosing interest over rationale.. RT - The theory of substantiative justice Catchy title eh? Its basically a big name lodged onto a simple concept.Imagine that you are the head of a government organisation that is in charge of distributing aid. Theoretically it would be fairest to give everyone equal amounts, so that it would be fair. But should the rich get the same amount as the poor? Shouldn't the poor get more instead? How about another scenerio whereby you worked your butt off for an exam and someone else who slacks it off gets a better grade than you? It would be fair for one to reap what one has sown, namely putting in the hard work for a better grade but somehow, the other guy who is better endowed with the academic brains does better with less work. Is that fair or not?I really am starting to fear academic life. Putting in all that work and yielding naught. It's like attempting to whip up a dish with premium ingredients but all I end up with is some burnt food that even strays would avoid.I went to the CCA bazaar today and I left my name with 4 groups, namely:1) The Anime and Manga club (bow in reverance as I arrive!)2) Political Association (something that ties in with my desired major, potentially useful.)3) Electronic Gaming club (Starcraft 2 here I come!)and lastly..Kendo Club.A sports oriented CCA which I would learn something about Japanese fencing. Oh yeah, more kamiya kesshin style from Rurouni Kenshin thank you very much. Its a hell of an expensive sport though, the armor and the wooden stick thing costs $650.4 options, 1 choice. What would it be? IaN - 280708 Help, somebody help me please! My discipline is getting away!I was supposed to finish half of the Shively text but my body hit the sack instead after lunch. My discipline did run away, and the extra rungs in between my chest and my pelvis aren't helping much. On the up side I have finished the readings for Thursday as well, but with the exams looming this coming Saturday, it definitely isn't enough.In truth I'm really looking forward to that one week of respite when I skip orientation. Serves them right for not having a booth in school. There is no way that I'll travel all the way to Raffles Place on a Sunday morning/afternoon to pay my $20. I do want the orientation T-shirt though. I've still got the orange and white 'Al-Sein' T-shirts from junior college lying around. Even as a year zero student, I'm so not looking forward to the new school term. What began as a journey that many guys believe to be a new beginning is turning out to be a farce. Whoever said that effort equals results ought to be shot and shot again.What are the components of winning this academic race? Or a real race for that matter. Long legs, nonexistant tummy, lungs with a crazy capacity and a streamlined body (maybe a sharp nose to cut down drag from the wind, I don't know). A running genius would always surpass the hard worker. And I'm not exactly a hard worker myself.On a hardness scale ranging from tofu to diamond, I'll probably have the tenacity of a piece of cheese. That's right, cheese. Cheese dale cheese, the soft kind and not those made in Switzerland or France. Those are the hard, not to mention stinky cheese.This brings to memory a scene from Naruto. Anyone who reads/watches it should be having the same thoughts as I am having now. That Hyuga Neji and Rock Lee comparison. Rock Lee never did reach the standards of Neji. And that's that.