Haircut

I went for a haircut today. The barberess asks, "So how do you want it?" And I always say, "No.2 [2nd shortest style]. Just do whatever you want. I don't really care."Strangely enough, the end result is almost always the same with different barbers and barberresses! Or maybe it's just because I can't tell the difference...Does the haircut look OK? Yeah, I think so to...

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Marathon Filibuster at Princeton!

This is just so bloody inspiring. Princeton U students and faculty are doing a Filibuster and they've been at it for more than 80 hours. A filibuster is "a time-delaying tactic associated with the US Senate and used by a minority in an effort to delay, modify or defeat a bill or amendment that probably would pass if voted on directly." More from wikipedia:A filibuster...

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Comics time!

If you're stuck in your assignment, there are people who understand your predicament. Check out phdcomics.c...

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We Were Soldiers Elephants

The first time I rode on a real horse was when I visited my cousin in Indonesia 10 years ago. They lived in the countryside where it's possible to call up the neighbours to bring their horses and they would give us a ride around the surrounding areas for around $5. I was astonished when I got up the saddle. It's one horsepower, but there's just so much power and grace...

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Lest We Forget

Today is ANZAC Day when Australians and New Zealanders honour their fallen in WWI (the War to end all wars), WWII, Korea, Vietnam and other conflicts. I think the two most noble vocations that we have are those who give lives (doctors) and those who are prepared to give way theirs (soldiers). They do so in the hope that their wars are just, and their enemies worthy. Just...

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Oops I did it again: Louis Armstrong's 1932 version

Oops! Turns out that Britney Spear's song was originally recorded by Armstrong a long, long time ago. Download the original here; it's pretty hilarious. (via SarongPartyFren...

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Eyewitness fallibility

In yesterday's intro to CSI:Psychology, Stephan L. talked about ways to reduce eyewitness testimony errors because people easily remember things that's not there if they or the police are not careful. Especially me. I think I bumped my head too many times on the double bunk bed above me when I was serving in the military in Taiwan. I can't remember much these days, short...

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Corrinne May releases 2nd CD!

Heads up for Corrinne fans, her new CD Safe In A Crazy World is out!! The new songs are making my nose twitchy...it's bloody good. Previously wrote about her here and here.Listen to the songs...The album is available now in the US, and will be in Singapore in the first week of M...

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I am being discriminated in my own country

Oh wait, I have more to say.I was just posting on the forums about how wonderful my experience at Malaysia's Genting Highlands was a few years ago. The casino was BIG! Everything glittered, the clanking of the coins, the ecstacy of the gamblers throwing the dice, the dizziness of it all. It was a fantastic experience. I believe I spent $5 playing slot machines. I lost...

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The casino issue is really just a big poker game between the government and the gaming companies

Hui Chieh is calling for papers from the local blogsphere on reactions to the casino issue over at Singapore Angle. Do take a look if you want to contribute your thoughts. Here's what I think.Personally, I don't mind the lifting of the ban on casinos. I do know for a fact that because of the existence of a casino, many families would be hurt, the social and personal cost...

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Symphonic orchestra plays music from Sonic the Hedgehog

A couple of days ago, I was looking at this excellent webpage (via serialdeviant) with 25 years of Sesame Street memories (plus downloadable number song!), and I was thinking, won't it be great if some arranger could do something for a full symphonic orchestra one day? WOW!! Imagine, People In Your Neighbourhood with strings and percussion!And it's really happening! OK,...

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Weatherman

For the third day in a row, I've no idea what tomorrow' weather will be after watching Channel 9's weather report! The weathergirl is outrageously cute...the only thing I remember is FIRE RISK: HIGH...I think the station should fire her...

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Local blogsphere, meet mainstream media

So I've always been interested at the relationship of the online and the offline world, and how the 'fringes' of online debate can spill onto the traditional media like TVLand. CBS' Dan Rather's final nail in the coffin was supplied by rightwing bloggers when they did an amazing job of fact-checking and debate about the faked Bush memo. The vast left wing conspiracy is...

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The power of the Dark Side is strong in that....casino.

I was at Toys "R" Us yesterday to get myself a cheap rear bike light. Someone stole my old one, or maybe it just dislodged itself from the chassis. Anyhow, as I was queueing up, the 4 year old kid before me was holding a large box with a Darth Vader inside. There was the da da da dada da dada da music coming out, and the Light Saber was glowing. It was very real, and...

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Thoughts on the Death Penalty

So watching the nightly news with Australian woman Schapelle Corby crying and fainting almost everyday in the Indonesian court has been heartwrenching. She's an Aussie tourist who went to Bali only to have the customs officials find 4.1kg of marijuana in her luggage, loosely packed. The death penalty for her is not out of the question.It's not uncommon for the bad guys...

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The Wiggles beat Kidman and Crowe

Some fluffy news involving top Australian acts. The Wiggles have outearned Nicole Kidman and Russel Crowe last year. (Gross income of A$45 to $40 to $27 million.) Truly bizarre. What would Kidman think?! "I lost to 4 old men in colourful shirt...

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Monsters, Inc. prayer

So today at the auditory lecturer, the Canadian guy let us listen to a prayer which I thought was quite good. Personally, I'd prefer Psalm 23:4 for related situations, but this one isn't bad either.From ghoulies and ghostiesAnd long-leggety beastiesAnd things that go bump in the nightGood Lord, deliver us!~Old Irish pra...

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Clock

This is a floating clock I've just installed. You can get it at Konfabulator.com. These guys make Windows PCs look like Apples...

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Tiger is out of the Woods!

The only spectator sport I think I'm clever enough to enjoy watching is television golf. I don't understand the details of cricket, nor Australian footy, nor American football. I am a little familiar with baseball, most of tennis and soccer and swimming. But golf, on TV, is something else. It's almost always magical, at least when the good ones are playing.Tiger has been...

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My old adversary is dead...

As I don't have many enemies, I treasure those that I have. As the years go by, one by one they fall and die. The latest who has passed, or at least is missing, is not human, but a bird.This bird lived among the trees on Goderich Street near the YMCA. Without fail, if I took this route on my bicycle, it would attack me by swooping down and pecking at me. With a razor...

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Windows Media Non-Player

I've just spent the last hour trying to figure how to use the default Media Player to play .mp3 songs located in my music folder. Actually, the last half hour was spent trying to get out of Choose Skin Mode.Don't-Try-This-At-Home Public Service Announcement: In Media Player Version 10, click on View, then Skin Chooser. Then activate your desired skin. And try to get out...

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There's a microphone in your ear

So today's auditory lecture was quite wonderful. The lecturer, a new Canadian guy, was describing how the ear works, how different frequencies were picked up by the hair follicles(?), how the gears inside would operate like a real Hi-Fi speaker, the Fourier Transforms done inside which affected the feedback mechanism that heightens sensitivity, and so on. And I was, like,...

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What is it, really, that keeps an airplane in the air?

In the latest issue of Australia Flying magazine, columnist and flight instructor Jim Davies talks about what keeps an airplane in the air. He discussed the same topic two years in what I thought was an incredible article: no one really seems to know for sure how lift works! It's really bizarre. The Bernoulii effect is one of the main explanations, but it's actually wrong....

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Liam Neeson on Sesame Street

Mr Neeson is one of my three favourite actors. I can't remember the other two. Anyway, I was watching Sesame Street today, and he was a guest! He's doing some filming and is directed by The Count. Neeson counts up to 20 or something, and The Count is so pleased that he asks him to do it again. "Why? Wasn't that good enough?" The Count says he wants him to do it again...

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