Update

To friends, if you want to know about my recent history field trip to Malacca, my classmate has a photojournal account of it at his blog, posted on Sun 17 Feb. I'm too busy and lazy to blog about it at the moment. :)

J- Don't want me for a sunbeam

Taking a break from schoolwork.

The other day Rocky called from San Francisco to wish me a happy Chinese new year. It's no use envying him but I think it rocks to live in Schwarzenegger's state, even for a short while. On top of that, Rocky stays in an apartment with a skatepark within walking distance. No surprise--considering that's where skateboarding started. (go watch lords of dogtown starring the ill-fated Heath Ledger :( ) I imagine his snowboarding trips were fun too.

Rocky also waxed lyrical about his new Fender, amp, tuner, strings... for a little over a hundred bucks, which is unheard of here in Singapore. Not to mention also he went to the Foo Fighters concert! By a stroke of strange coincidence over one of our innumerable inane beer talk, Lulu and I voted the Foos as the band we most want to watch in Singapore. :(

That conversation with Rocky made me wish I'm in California too. Californiaaa~! I'm reminded also of Stephanie, the beautiful Asian-American girl from UC Berkeley in the aikido class, whom I daren't ask out. :( By association, the poor Issei (first generation Japanese) immigrants discriminated by the whites also come to mind. It's so easy to feel sorry for the marginalized when taking social history classes and feel myself on a higher moral ground, and I found it ironic when Rocky told me that whites are the minority in San Fran.

Hmm.. I feel lousy, and here's the remedy:

Nirvana - Aneurysm

Oh yeah, and the Yeah yeah yeahs rock!

Have you ever loved a woman...?

High on Clapton's riffs

Tips for finding the largest/smallest fraction in a series.

Lately my tutee's father has been playing Eric Clapton's Live in Hyde Park DVD, and I got to admit, the music is intoxicating. Made me a bit high when I should be supervising the boy with a far more hyper imagination than mine.

It's true you learn the most when you teach, as the saying goes. I actually found a faster way to solve a question than I did as a kid.

Find the largest fraction: 4/5, 23/45, 9/10, 8/9.

What I'd do back then is to find a common denominator for all the fractions and then look for the obviously largest fraction. The problem is that it's so tedious I don't even want to attempt it here.

I should have done it the way computer programs do, compare the first two fractions for the larger one, which is then compared with the next fraction. The common denominator is easier to find for two fractions than for four at the same time. The thought process would go: 36/45 > 23/45; 8/10 < 9/10; 81/90 > 80/90; therefore the answer is 9/10.

I hope that was helpful for anyone helping primary five kids with maths. Now for the fun stuff--Eric Clapton!!

Don't miss Radiohead's Scotch Mist!

Taken from Current TV's webpage,

This is Current Television's exclusive airing of Radiohead's "Scotch Mist." In this hour long private taping, Radiohead performs all of the tracks from its newest album, In Rainbows. Other elements include poetry readings and diverse imagery created or selected by the band.

I love the live versions of the album! There's an edge to more-rock-less-electronic performances in the film, with Thom Yorke's soulful singing the icing on the cake. This is definitely a must-watch for Radiohead fans. You can even upload video responses to Current TV's website at http://current.com/items/88803042_radiohead_s_scotch_mist
Get the Radiohead album In Rainbows at http://www.inrainbows.com/

Kobo gone Canto II

I've always found LeeHom's attempts to make China and Chinese-ness fist-pumping, head-bopping cool a tad corny. He reminds me of those Chinese chauvinists who put on a Bruce Lee growl yelling "Yellow Power!" or those who favour the analogy of the egg yolk: Prick it and the yellow will cover the world.

Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against them Chinese chauvinists. Besides, at the rate China's growing, it won't be long before it stands on its own as a measure of greatness. But to borrow my prof's favourite phrase, "East is East, West is West. Never the twine shall meet."

I mean, something like Chinese opera is an acquired taste, and as a kid, I hated it when my mom dragged me along to watch it. (I heard these days aunties chase idols like Korean idol Rain. In a way, I guess I was fortunate.)

Nonetheless, though i doubt nubile dancers, MTV nor R&B will change my taste in Chinese opera, i find myself liking these yo! ho! gungho! hua-ren rocks! LeeHOm songs in spite of myself. :p

盖世英雄

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龍的傳人

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花田错

Kobo gone Canto

Saw this on my homepage. I agree but I can't find that one thing:

The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well.
- Horace Walpole

But this one in a Harvard Design Magazine article recommending tips for architecture students facing the jury just blows me away:

#37: Pull out a Pez dispenser and offer the critic, saying "Pez?" When you pull the head back to eject the Pez, giggle.
Then become enraptured by the device and keep spitting Pez out until they're all gone.
Then cry.

The latest song I'm hooked on is sung by Wang Lee Hom and Selina. I guess i have a tender spot for pop duets, eg. postal service's nothing better and jay+jolin's 手牵手song. Well I know what song to bug Jhua with next time.