Saturday, April 28, 2007
Instant Gratification
It's late in the dead of the night and I've been slogging at my assignment for hours on end. Business Law's a bitch, but the bigwigs in Monash Australia decided that it's relevant enough to be a compulsory first year subject. I ain't complaining; I like the law. It creates certainty in this chaotic universe we live in. Of course, there are assholes appearing now and then to make a mess of things... that's when I get to do my real work.
That is, if I were a lead character in a piece of noir fiction.
Unfortunately, life's not so kind as to be interesting enough for publishing, so I retrieve snacks from the pantry to satiate my bellowing belly. I decided that corn would do that job right.
A packet of Mascorn American Super Sweet, at only about four bucks a pack, was a bargain. Mascorn offered other product lines, but this was the real deal. My tongue took to the others like Superman to kryptonite.
So I filled a little bowl with the magic stuff, still frozen...
...then set a microwave to the medium setting and nuked the maize for almost three minutes.
Finally, on goes the margarine or butter, though I don't suggest the latter. One might even add salt if desired, but today felt like an ordinary day, so I decided against it. The result? A bowl of instant gratification at its finest. Cheap as heck too, so there's less guilt to be suffered by my wallet.
And then it's back to that damned Business Law assignment...
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Male barnacles (they're actually hermaphrodites, but whatever) have the longest penis-to-body ratio in the world. One of these organs can extend up to ten times the length of the animals' body, in search of nearby female barnacles. I guess it can be likened to lobbing balloons filled with semen into your neighbour's yard when their daughters are out and about.
That is, if I were a lead character in a piece of noir fiction.
Unfortunately, life's not so kind as to be interesting enough for publishing, so I retrieve snacks from the pantry to satiate my bellowing belly. I decided that corn would do that job right.
A packet of Mascorn American Super Sweet, at only about four bucks a pack, was a bargain. Mascorn offered other product lines, but this was the real deal. My tongue took to the others like Superman to kryptonite.
So I filled a little bowl with the magic stuff, still frozen...
...then set a microwave to the medium setting and nuked the maize for almost three minutes.
Finally, on goes the margarine or butter, though I don't suggest the latter. One might even add salt if desired, but today felt like an ordinary day, so I decided against it. The result? A bowl of instant gratification at its finest. Cheap as heck too, so there's less guilt to be suffered by my wallet.
And then it's back to that damned Business Law assignment...
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Male barnacles (they're actually hermaphrodites, but whatever) have the longest penis-to-body ratio in the world. One of these organs can extend up to ten times the length of the animals' body, in search of nearby female barnacles. I guess it can be likened to lobbing balloons filled with semen into your neighbour's yard when their daughters are out and about.
Zhen was here at 9:45 pm,
3 comment(s)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Resolutions, schmezzolutions
In January, I wrote a post on several resolutions I intended to keep for this year. Four months on, let's see how far along I've come in fulfilling them. Here's the list:
- Pick up music
- Run (and generally exercise) more
- Be a good ______
- Game less
- Continue or rewrite my NaNoWriMo project
- Do well in my papers
- Stick to all these resolutions
And now, time for a completely biased self-evaluation:
1. Pick up music
If only I had devised a way to fit this into my schedule and my parents' budgets. Because I haven't, this seems unlikely in the near future... Next semester, maybe?
2. Run (and generally exercise) more
I'm extremely disappointed at this one. I believe that for me to run, I need three things: shoes, an MP3 player, and earphones to go with it. When the year began, I was running in the shoes I wore to college in Singapore, a pair with extremely worn-out and holey soles. Then, my four-month old earphones broke (grrr), so I stopped for a while. Then I bought new earphones, and all was good for a month... Until my iPod broke last week. The most ironic thing is that my parents came back from their holiday in Hong Kong that very same week with a new pair of (guess what?) running shoes for me.
So, is anybody willing to lend me their spare MP3 players?
1. Pick up music
If only I had devised a way to fit this into my schedule and my parents' budgets. Because I haven't, this seems unlikely in the near future... Next semester, maybe?
2. Run (and generally exercise) more
I'm extremely disappointed at this one. I believe that for me to run, I need three things: shoes, an MP3 player, and earphones to go with it. When the year began, I was running in the shoes I wore to college in Singapore, a pair with extremely worn-out and holey soles. Then, my four-month old earphones broke (grrr), so I stopped for a while. Then I bought new earphones, and all was good for a month... Until my iPod broke last week. The most ironic thing is that my parents came back from their holiday in Hong Kong that very same week with a new pair of (guess what?) running shoes for me.
So, is anybody willing to lend me their spare MP3 players?
*Hint* *Hint*3. Be a good ______
Let's take a look at the commitments I have right now:
Let's take a look at the commitments I have right now:
- SJBAYS/TQ - Temple stuff. This year is the SJBA Youth Section 15th anniversary, so they're celebrating it with a bang; a one-night appreciation concert event in September. They drafted me into being a main programmer/producer/director and possibly the emcee, too. Fortunately, I'll only have to put more effort into this when the mid-year break comes along. Oh, and then there's a camp coming up, too, but that one's in November or December...
- YKLS - The choir (see below).
- MUSA Council - Student council work has picked up! Thankfully, I'm only a school representative... If I were in the executive committee I'll probably be squirming with work like a Ridsect-sprayed cockroach now. The monthly council meetings and the occasional last-minute compulsory activities are a constant source of frustration. Major events include the Monash Street Carnival in August, and the Monash Ball in September (can't wait for this one, heh heh...).
- MNSM - Malaysian Nature Society Monash; we successfully
draggedconconvinced quite a number of people into joining the society. Hopefully Darren and I (and the rest) will organise enough events to keep them active and interested... The society has seen a lot of member turnover in recent years. On another note, I've warmed up to this treasurer job, and now money doesn't scare me as much as it used to. - Family - Yup, I'm still the ever-filial son.
- MPAC - This here is a new addition; Monash Performing Arts Club. I got snagged in its line and now I'm the Assistant Head of Drama Division (colloquially known as the leher), but I'm not sure if I can keep this up, especially since they also want me to emcee a Talent Night show they plan to have in September. That, and also because I don't have any background in drama besides that which has been naturally ingrained in me.
Does all that sound crazy to you? Well, let's throw in another one. This is regarding point 2, the Young KL Singers (YKLS) choir. This year, our conductor/mamasan Susanna Saw decided to go on a recruitment spree and implemented quality controls which include compulsory sight-singing lessons for all of us, to ensure a spectacular performance in our 5th anniversary (another anniversary, whoopdeedoo...) concert in October.
Besides that, because I so dearly want to improve my singing, I tried out (and subsequently got in) for the YKLS Chamber Choir (a chamber choir has fewer members than the normal ones, typically 10 to 20 heads in size), performing/competing in an a capella festival in August.
So, in total, I now have choir practices three times a week (I guess this makes up for not fulfilling Resolution No.1: Pick up music).
Besides that, because I so dearly want to improve my singing, I tried out (and subsequently got in) for the YKLS Chamber Choir (a chamber choir has fewer members than the normal ones, typically 10 to 20 heads in size), performing/competing in an a capella festival in August.
So, in total, I now have choir practices three times a week (I guess this makes up for not fulfilling Resolution No.1: Pick up music).
The YKLS Chamber Choir.Additionally, about three-quarters of YKLS will be heading down to Jakarta in November to compete in the 1st Asian Choir Games! Whoohoo! How great is that?!
...not so much when you consider the fact that we need to spend about two and a half thousand ringgit per head to go down there just to bust our asses (and lungs) off. But hey, it'll probably be a good experience, plus I've never been to Indonesia before.
Alright, enough on my commitments, time to go on to...
4. Game less
Well, this wasn't too hard to keep, since there's always so much work to do during the school terms. I've not touched DotA for more than two months already (until just one game at a cybercafe yesterday). Unfortunately, I've picked up new (less time-consuming) addictions; Microsoft Games!
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha! Check out the scores!I'm still trying to beat them, though, heh heh.
Actually, only two games, Pinball and Solitaire even though Solitaire's the only game in town...
*Cough*
5. Continue or rewrite my NaNoWriMo project
*Cough* *Cough* *COUGH*
6. Do well in my papers
Well, they haven't come around yet, so I can't really update on this. On a related note, I received my first ever penalty for late assignment submission last Friday, and it wasn't even my own fault (at least, technically, it wasn't)! I (technically) blame faulty printers!
7. Stick to all these resolutions
Ah, my dear readers, this is where you come in, especially those that I meet quite often in real life; if you ever see me stepping out of line and away from keeping these resolutions, please hit me with a wake-up stick, and hit me really, really hard. Aite?
So, with all said, I end my entry for today/this week. Until next time, if you are a cockroach, may you not stray anywhere near a person with a can of Ridsect (or Raid or Mortein or Combat or...).
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Some of you might remember watching the 1970s British sitcom Mind Your Language when you were younger; it's the one where everybody remembers the Sikh man who gives you "A thousand apologies". Some of you might even remember your parents telling you that the Chinese character in the show, Su-Lee, was played by a native of Penang, Lim Pik-Sen.
What nobody remembers (and I discovered this myself, watching the shows on YouTube) is that she doesn't speak a word of Mandarin on the show, using the Hokkien dialect instead. What a cheat!
Zhen was here at 10:48 am,
4 comment(s)
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Mourning
This absolutely cannot wait.
I bring to your attention the lives of 32 innocent people murdered in Virginia Tech yesterday, most of whom were students like you and me... Bright young minds, their flames extinguished in just three hours of mindless carnage. May their souls rest in peace.
I bring to your attention the lives of 32 innocent people murdered in Virginia Tech yesterday, most of whom were students like you and me... Bright young minds, their flames extinguished in just three hours of mindless carnage. May their souls rest in peace.
Zhen was here at 1:12 am,
0 comment(s)
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Easter Break and Broken Stuff
Because Australians celebrate Easter with an entire week of holidays, so did Malaysian students at Monash University. Despite my parents leaving the house to us siblings for a trip to Macau and Hong Kong, I had little to rejoice about, sadly.
First up are the omnipresent assignments. Needs no explanation here. Once again, my itchy fingers and wandering mind resulted in very little work being done. I'm beginning to think that this condition is part of my DNA, as that will explain why I've tried for so long to get rid of it but failing every friggin' time.
And then there's me accidentally reversing my car into a large, stationary object which I shall refrain from naming at the moment. Needless to say, my parents will be pretty damn pissed when they return home.
And possibly the worst of all calamities to have befallen me during the break:
My
iPod
Friggin'
This time, I think it's for real, because I don't hear the hard disk buzzing anymore.
If not because of that one single time where I successfully cooked a proper dinner for my siblings (with the help of Miss Chee; thanks a bunch!), I might have cried over the nonsense that was this holiday...
Plus, when the Mom and Dad sees the mess that the house is in, I'm so gonna get an earful from them. Bloody hell.
Lastly, don't forget to watch this week's So You Think You Can Dance on 8tv; my brother's definitely appearing on this episode (read the post below).
Holy flipping crap! I'm going to bed at 5.30am... What an idiot.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
The second largest company in the world by market capitalisation, General Electric, doesn't just manufacture electrical components. In fact, half of all its earnings are from financial services. The conglomerate, founded by Thomas Edison, dabbles in many industries; it even owns NBC and Universal Studios, both with their own myriad of subsidiaries. That said, the GE family tree is so confusing that I didn't bother taking more than a single glance at it.
First up are the omnipresent assignments. Needs no explanation here. Once again, my itchy fingers and wandering mind resulted in very little work being done. I'm beginning to think that this condition is part of my DNA, as that will explain why I've tried for so long to get rid of it but failing every friggin' time.
And then there's me accidentally reversing my car into a large, stationary object which I shall refrain from naming at the moment. Needless to say, my parents will be pretty damn pissed when they return home.
And possibly the worst of all calamities to have befallen me during the break:
My
iPod
Friggin'
This time, I think it's for real, because I don't hear the hard disk buzzing anymore.
If not because of that one single time where I successfully cooked a proper dinner for my siblings (with the help of Miss Chee; thanks a bunch!), I might have cried over the nonsense that was this holiday...
Plus, when the Mom and Dad sees the mess that the house is in, I'm so gonna get an earful from them. Bloody hell.
Lastly, don't forget to watch this week's So You Think You Can Dance on 8tv; my brother's definitely appearing on this episode (read the post below).
Holy flipping crap! I'm going to bed at 5.30am... What an idiot.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
The second largest company in the world by market capitalisation, General Electric, doesn't just manufacture electrical components. In fact, half of all its earnings are from financial services. The conglomerate, founded by Thomas Edison, dabbles in many industries; it even owns NBC and Universal Studios, both with their own myriad of subsidiaries. That said, the GE family tree is so confusing that I didn't bother taking more than a single glance at it.
Zhen was here at 4:49 am,
0 comment(s)
Monday, April 09, 2007
He ain't heavy
I have a brother.
He's so obviously much more of a poser than I am.He goes by the name of Yin Zhen Huang, but someone my parents decided that it wasn't cool enough. Thus Dennis came about, like how I was given Louie (incidentally I don't use this name often).
Dennis was always a little monster. Parents sometimes tell bogeymen stories to strike fear into their children's hearts, but in my case I always had a little brother to cause endless torment throughout my prepubescent life. Day after day, I had to give in to his voracious appetite for getting things his way; my mom and her sisters would even chide me for not letting him play with the LEGO, or eat my ice-cream, or generally cause trouble.
In secondary school, we fought and argued a lot. Sharing the same room, bedtime was bout after bout of verbal sparring over petty issues like how he can't sleep with the lights off (but I do) or how I can't sleep with the radio playing (but he does). Because of this, we lost an average of an hour of sleep every single night. It got to an extent that I couldn't take it any longer, so I cleared the guest room (the smallest room in the house, and the only one downstairs) and shifted there.
And then we both grew up. But like all siblings, we still have the occasional argument, just to make sure that we haven't lost our touch. Nevertheless, the little monster has turned into a cheerleader and hip-hop dancer extraordinaire, as well as my personal stylist and fashion consultant; and I can't be more grateful for that, lest I wish to become a walking fashion faux pas.
Wish I could do that...
Nowadays, I can't help being proud of how much he has grown (though I had little hand in his upbringing). The upstart has even made it to the (Top-20) finals of the Malaysian version of So You Think You Can Dance, a reality TV program similar to Idol, but for dancers instead of singers. They just aired the auditions on 8tv last Thursday evening at 9.30pm (repeats on Monday 10.00 am), with more episodes to screen in the coming weeks.
Like Idol, when the real contest begins in a few weeks time, there'll be lots of SMS voting. I know for a fact that he can dance (the judges think so too), so to show my support for him, I'll try my best to get people to fall in love with him; this way, his legion of fans will vote for him without me having to pester them (heh heh).
To that end, I have uploaded onto YouTube two short videos of him in action. Watch and fall in love, because you know he loves you too:
Part 1 and then there's Part 2. <---
Dennis wants YOU! Support him today!
Anyway, in all seriousness, I believe that he really deserves this break; his passion for dancing is simply remarkable. Watch the videos and ask yourself how did this brother of mine get to that level of expertise in only three years and without any professional training. Then ask yourself if you would deny this young man a chance at glory by not voting for him if ever he is unfortunate enough to be selected by the judges as one of the bottom six performers of any week.
Boy, I'd hate to have that guilt on my shoulders if he ever gets eliminated. *Hint* *Hint*
Oh the distances one would travel for his little brother's livelihood.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
If you can read Chinese (incidentally, I can't), you'll know that the character in the picture above is pronounced "Yuan" in Mandarin. However, by virtue of my family being of Cantonese descent, we use the pronunciation "Yin" instead. Which is of course, in my opinion, a way cooler sounding surname.
Dennis was always a little monster. Parents sometimes tell bogeymen stories to strike fear into their children's hearts, but in my case I always had a little brother to cause endless torment throughout my prepubescent life. Day after day, I had to give in to his voracious appetite for getting things his way; my mom and her sisters would even chide me for not letting him play with the LEGO, or eat my ice-cream, or generally cause trouble.
In secondary school, we fought and argued a lot. Sharing the same room, bedtime was bout after bout of verbal sparring over petty issues like how he can't sleep with the lights off (but I do) or how I can't sleep with the radio playing (but he does). Because of this, we lost an average of an hour of sleep every single night. It got to an extent that I couldn't take it any longer, so I cleared the guest room (the smallest room in the house, and the only one downstairs) and shifted there.
And then we both grew up. But like all siblings, we still have the occasional argument, just to make sure that we haven't lost our touch. Nevertheless, the little monster has turned into a cheerleader and hip-hop dancer extraordinaire, as well as my personal stylist and fashion consultant; and I can't be more grateful for that, lest I wish to become a walking fashion faux pas.
Wish I could do that...Nowadays, I can't help being proud of how much he has grown (though I had little hand in his upbringing). The upstart has even made it to the (Top-20) finals of the Malaysian version of So You Think You Can Dance, a reality TV program similar to Idol, but for dancers instead of singers. They just aired the auditions on 8tv last Thursday evening at 9.30pm (repeats on Monday 10.00 am), with more episodes to screen in the coming weeks.
Like Idol, when the real contest begins in a few weeks time, there'll be lots of SMS voting. I know for a fact that he can dance (the judges think so too), so to show my support for him, I'll try my best to get people to fall in love with him; this way, his legion of fans will vote for him without me having to pester them (heh heh).
To that end, I have uploaded onto YouTube two short videos of him in action. Watch and fall in love, because you know he loves you too:
Part 1 and then there's Part 2. <---
Dennis wants YOU! Support him today!Anyway, in all seriousness, I believe that he really deserves this break; his passion for dancing is simply remarkable. Watch the videos and ask yourself how did this brother of mine get to that level of expertise in only three years and without any professional training. Then ask yourself if you would deny this young man a chance at glory by not voting for him if ever he is unfortunate enough to be selected by the judges as one of the bottom six performers of any week.
Boy, I'd hate to have that guilt on my shoulders if he ever gets eliminated. *Hint* *Hint*
Oh the distances one would travel for his little brother's livelihood.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
If you can read Chinese (incidentally, I can't), you'll know that the character in the picture above is pronounced "Yuan" in Mandarin. However, by virtue of my family being of Cantonese descent, we use the pronunciation "Yin" instead. Which is of course, in my opinion, a way cooler sounding surname.
Zhen was here at 1:21 am,
3 comment(s)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Today, a friend of mine (let's call her Trudy for the purposes of this story) wanted to borrow 25th Hour, a Spike Lee movie, from the Monash library (let's just say that she skipped missed a film studies class where she was supposed to see it). Because she couldn't use her Monash ID Card to borrow the DVD (let's just say that she forgot to renew her library membership), I agreed to let her use mine.
So off we went to the library's media storage room in search of 25th Hour. After browsing through a whole bunch of interesting titles for about five minutes or so, we certified that the DVD was missing. But the trip wasn't entirely fruitless, though, because I found this:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (without a question mark)That's right, people, it's one of the coolest and funniest movies to ever have human actors and animated characters on screen at the same time. Then again, I've yet to watch Mary Poppins, so you may question my judgment, but come on, there's no other movie that can claim that it had characters from so many different studios appearing together; Donald and Daffy Ducks duelling on pianos, Bugs and Mickey parachuting side by side, Droopy (the dog) as an elevator-operator-person... It's the stuff that kids' dreams are made of.
I've tried getting this off BitTorrent for a while now but I failed on multiple occasions due to aggravatingly slow download speeds. Now that I've got a hard copy of it, not only have I watched it twice, but I'm also not breaking any international copyright laws in the process! Sweet.
Now if only I could find a CD/DVD of Dick Tracy.
Pointless Fact of the Day:
Disney and Warner Bros signed a contract stating that their mascots, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, should receive exactly the same amount of screen time; that's why both icons appeared in the same scene, together. If I recall, they even spoke exactly the same number of words. Talk about being anal.