Thursday, September 29, 2005

Gone Cricketing

I'm off to play cricket today. Year 11's versus Year 12's. I'm not sure when this addiction to cricket began. Sure I had played it before and it wasn't exciting, but the recent Ashes test may have sparked it off. The Super Series is on next week, which is good. I actually may be able to catch a few games without worry. The Ashes 05 coincided with yearly exams, although Charles didn't really care and watched them anyway.

So it's off to cricket in a few minutes. Be right back.

BTW: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, SBS, 10pm. Watch it.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Reunion was mad fun...

Went to my primary school reunion last night and it was great fun. It had been years since I last met most of them and it was really good. We met up at Galaxy World and took a group photo there. One of my friends, Noah, is a DDR freak. On the hardest level, he managed a Perfect 236 combo. Now that's fricken insane.

We made our way to Star City and met up with the last few students and our old teacher Ms Ward. When we left for year 7, Ms Ward went to Africa to teach there and it was interesting to catch up. We spent most of the time at the buffet, eating, talking and joking. There were some very funny moments. One of them was Lesley meeting Tian, a girl from our former classes. She's changed a lot. She went from "good girl" to "extremely hot, bad girl" and Lesley was...well...afraid and uncomfortable. Supposedly he had a crush on her during year 6 (no real hard evidence, but since when do you need evidence for crushes?) and meeting her again was like a real shock to him. For me? Excellent eye candy and really nice to talk to.

Year 11 Seftonites will recognise and know Lesley's rather formal manner of speech, with big words and roundabout manner. For us, that's normal. For everyone else, it was weird and fascinating. Of course, when Tian (or was it someone else? Lots of people asked Lesley blunt questions) bluntly asked Lesley "Do you watch porn?" on the assumption all guys watch porn, Lesley couldn't really answer and tried to cover up by saying neither yes or no and asking questions back (like "If you assume all guys watch porn, why ask me?") but his manner of speech just ended up making him look guilty.

So we talked to around 9:30pm and the remainder of us decided to split. Several goodbyes and hugs later, my group of around 10 tried to make our way to Town Hall. We went down the escalator and had to go back cos it was the wrong side. I made a fool of myself by trying to go up on the down escalator and stacked it badly near the top. We walked and talked and a few of us got of at Granville and I went home, exhausted but certainly happy.

I kind of wondered why we can still meet and have so much fun after all these years. I discussed it with Noah and he said it was because we were an OC (Opportunity Class, not the TV show) class and were together for 2 years, year 5 and 6. It created a bond that never really goes away and Noah suggested we should do this again every couple of years. I suggested after our HSC, as most of us would be 18 then and the beer could flow. There was general agreement there.

I'll be posting some pics of the reunion if I can get my hands on some of the photos.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Bloody rain...go rain at Katoomba!

Right now, its raining on and off. It'll start then stop, then start again. I wish it would make up its damned mind. Personally, I'd rather that it stop raining cos I'm going to a school reunion at the city and the thought of walking from the station in the rain leaves me unthrilled. Why can't it rain at the damn dams?!?! Fill the dams up to like 95%+ capacity so we can stop the water restrictions for a while, at least, until the dam falls to 40% again.

Realising that water is becoming scarce and restrictions will soon be normal every summer, my dad has instituted a water conservation program. Well its more like a water collection program. What he did was buy these 200L barrels and he's going to use them to store rainwater. Then we can water the plants using that recollected water! Furthermore, it's like $10-$15 a barrel so it's cheaper than buying a water tank. We've got 17 barrels, giving us 3400L water storage capacity. Right now, we have 7 barrels full, giving 1400L of water or 41% capacity.

Pics coming soon

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Does it feel good or what?

I woke up at around 5am today and was about to roll out of bed grumbling to find my damned clearance form, when it hit me. Its the holidays! I didn't need to do a thing. So I turned around and went right back to sleep until around 8am. Thats when it hit me that it was also the weekends.
Anyway, I spent the entire morning reading the newspaper. People should know that the Swans won the AFL grand final after a 72-year drought. That's one hell of a dry spot.

Now, besides reading the newspaper, I also read those Innovations magazine. You know those catologues that offer a whole bunch of stuff and very cheap and very expensive prices? Well, they were offering a breath analyser, with the tagline about saving you life or your licence and it set me thinking. You take you average Aussie teenager, regardless of race or creed, give them a breath analyser and you give them a way to tell who has drank the most alcohol. I saw this being done before at a party. I was younger then and it had a whole bunch of teenage guys and girls. And the guys were like trying to impress the girls on how much they could drink before passing out. The breath analyser was used to see who had the highest BAC. Some guy got to 0.4 before he knocked himself out and a girl managed a 0.42 before the adults confiscated the device so they could have a drinking competition. So much for saving your live or your licence.

Finally, for some strange news. A 14-year old student was expelled from a Christian school, cos the parents were lesbians. Actually, that was kind of expected as we all know the stance that Christianity has on homosexuality. Still it was the student's fault for talking about it at a football game.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

And on the First Day...

I'm sure everyone is in a good mood today. Today marks the first day of the 2-week long holidays, where we can all take a break from all the stress and to prepare ourselves for even more stress. While naturally I'm just going to relax and take it easy, I'm going to revise some subjects, just so I don't forget any of the basics.

So to everyone out there, have a safe holiday. More stuff tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Don't You Hate the Final Week?

Arrrgh! All this paperwork is driving me crazy. Not to mention 4 Physics practical reports I have to do. Why do they make all these things due on the last week? Most of the year 10s have multiple projects due on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Well, sucks to be them.

Right now, I'm concerned about the very last day. Usual orders are to screw the last day and stay home, but with year 11s have to stay to the last damn minute...I'm wondering will we actually do anything. *slaps head* Of course, we'll do something! Those far-flung days of bludging and procrastination are now out of the window. Year 12 beckons and everyone is beginning to feel it.

And yes, I know I haven't been posting parts of my short story. Right now, I'm thinking of a proper ending and how long it's going to be. My original idea was beginning to turn out like a novel rather than a short story.

And another weird news item that can only happen in China...or not. A Chinese restaurant was serving a special dish, stir-fried tiger meat with chillies. Instead it was really..wait for it...wait for it...stir-fried donkey meat with tiger urine. Apparently, tiger urine gives the dish a special tang. Of course, the owner was fined $300. Talk about wanting a piece of ass for dinner...

Monday, September 19, 2005

Damned Paperwork

With all our exams over, we now head once more into the breach and find ourselves...up to the neck in paperwork. Ok, so that was exaggerated, but with all these signatures and returning of books, I'd say an extra day wouldn't hurt. You think some time is important in getting this stuff done, but no, they'd rather get it all rushed in a few days, rather than sacrificing a few hours on the holidays. I know there are over 1000 students in school to organise clearance forms and timetables, but rushing everyone kind of sucks. At least this time, most of the school have done it theoretically and only year 11 and a few others have to hand in the clearance forms. But seeing how FEMA mucked up the New Orleans disaster, I don't have much hope for this. This school can't plan nor organise even if their lives depended on it. I'd say the deputy principal or head of administration should get a degree in "strategic managment".

Now with all these hurricanes zooming around the Gulf of Mexico, it's no suprise that scientists have managed to link stronger, more destructive hurricanes to global warming. Bloody hell, you can link almost anything to global warming. Anyway, this means that we've all got to do something and with the rise in petrol prices, I have an idea. This German dude has developed technology to power cars using dead cats. Well not just dead cats. It's a secret recipe combining garbage, mashed-up cats and other stuff. He has managed to pull out a whooping 170000 km with this "bio-fuel". Obviously, animal rights groups are pissed, but who gives a damn? They're dead cats and they aren't getting any better. The price? 23 Euro cents per litre, which is 47 Australian cents per litre. What's the price of fuel right now? $1.48? Around there? LPG is around 50 cents/L but you can do, what, 300-500km max. We need this cat-powered bio-fuel! Put on them supertankers and send 'em over!

And on the other weird news front, this 38-year old, blonde Italian woman has been fired from her job of teaching religion to children because...she is too attractive. Of course, the local church said it was because she was divorced, but come on! What the hell? Suddenly, you can become too sexy for religion? There were also reports that fathers took their children to those classes so they could check her out. Who cares? As long as the children get their daily dose of God, about being nice and everything Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter. The woman just wants her job back. Obviously, feminists are going to have a field day.

*sigh*

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Alright, Party's Over

After the exams finished on Friday, I just dropped everything and refused to study one bit. I spent most of my time watching movies and playing computer games. And damn did it feel good. It felt good just to do all these things and not give a rat's arse about exams or studies of any sort. Of course, it later hit me that the last week of school is soon and I should at least see what lessons there are. Now, I'm figuring out how physics prac reports I have to do. There goes my fun night.

On a VERY good note, the second season of House M.D. has started in America and now I'm cramming the last few episodes of season one to get ready for the new eps. It's actually out already and I envy those people in America. I could use a torrent but I'm actually near my limit, so maybe I'll wait for someone else to get it for me.

On a completely different note, those who rigorously follow the Naruto manga will now be aware that Kakashi has his own form of Mangekyo Sharingan. Can't wait for the next chapter!

Friday, September 16, 2005

Final Hours of the Exam Machine

Within several hours, I'll face the last test, chemistry practical, then emerge from the horrors either triumphant or crushed. But today, I have my last test and I'm itching to finish it. So my physics prac didn't go to well. Most people screwed it up. However, I did really well on my biology prac and so I'm in good spirits for this final exam. It's going to be so sweet.

On another note, did anyone catch Ghost in a Shell: Stand Alone Complex on SBS last night? It was at 10pm and I was going to tape it but my VCR refused to work. It's a heck of a show and kudos to SBS for showing anime. There was a time when SBS showed Neon Genesis Evangelion on and lots of other anime movies, then stopped. But a revival has taken place. The choice is good as well. The only problem is have is that it's dubbed. I actually prefer a good sub. But it's all good.

Death to the Exam Machine! Its final hour has come!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

The Death of Sefton

No, Sefton High isn't dying. I'm referring to the alliance of Sefton High in the online web game JenniferNations. We had at least 10 or more nations but sadly the last powerful nations have disappeared and I'm yet to receive confirmation on the last one but it looks grim. For those out of the loop, JenniferNations is an online game where you are the ruler of a nations. Every day you receive a number of issues that you have to decide on. It may be about refugees or child labour. By responding to the issues, your nation changes, reflecting your decisions on issues. It was fun while it lasted, but exams and a high work load conspired against us. We haven't even tapped the full potential of the game. By using the game's forum, you can role play wars or other diplomatic crises. If you're interesting check it out here

Story time!

Next part of my little story. I'm probably going to continue this until I decided enough is enough. Enjoy!

*2nd Movement Part 1*

The Glissando was a large ship and was anything but graceful. While the Waalwik Federation had technological superiority of the Minerva Alliance, it lacked good technology in propulsion. This meant the Alliance ships could frequently outmaneuver and travel faster than Federation ships. It was a sore point for the Waalwik Federation. Many of their battles and been lost to the superb maneuvering of Alliance ships. The Glissando was to rectify that problem with pure firepower.

The Glissando was the only ship that could be truly said to a 360-degree field of fire. Every part of the ship had weapons precisely mounted so that no matter where the Alliance ships moved, there were no blind spots to take advantage of. Also the Glissando was armed with a large forward-mounted laser. It used enough energy to penetrate any form of spaceship or spacestation shielding. However, the Glissando wasn’t in full control by the Navy. A lot of sensitive technology had been placed on board so the ship also had a contingent of Central Security – External officers, who had the power to overrule the ship’s captain. That obviously led to a lot of tension.

“I know the specifications of this ship and we’ve been detected!”
“Look! We’re coasting through a nebula, the dust will cover us and that’s final!”
The captain glared at the intelligence officer. Stupid intel pukes swore the captain silently.
He couldn’t be more wrong.
Colonel Cassandra E. Hinamoto, the ranking intelligence officer on the ship was correct. She scowled at the captain and stomped off to her console. The massive Starfire-class engines gave off an enormous amount of heat, which could not be hidden, even in a nebula. Hinamoto clenched her left fist, and then began tapping the console furiously. A few minutes later, her suspicions were confirmed. Reports began to flood in from various stations on the ship.

Captain! We have heat imbalances!
They are ships, I am sure of it!
At least 30 ships are on an approach vector!
We’ve lost tactical surprise! They know we’re here!

Hinamoto broke off a section of her console with her left-arm. She stood up angrily shaking her left fist.
“You idiot! I told you, but you didn’t listen,” she paused then added, “Jackass!”
The captain looked away in disbelief, the nebula was supposed to cover them…
Suddenly a metallic arm picked him up. Hinamoto held him up high, her cybernetic left arm threatening to crush his neck.
“You’re relieved of command,” shout Hinamoto, “ I’m taking over your command!”
She slammed him to the ground and drove her mechanical fist through his chest. Blood sprayed upwards and the captain fell silent. The bridge was silent.
Hinamoto sat in the captain’s seat, her left arm covered with blood.
“I’m in command now,” she said quietly, “now power up those weapons!”


The Right Thing

Finally, someone accepts responsibility for the Katrina disaster and unsuprising it's President Bush. Technically, it wasn't even his fault. The hurricane management was initially the state's responsibility and FEMA's. But it fucked up so badly, no one wanted to take the blame. Even the head of FEMA, Brown, just resigned over the mismanagement of hurricane Katrina. No public apology or anything. Just disappears of the face of the US.

This is just stupid and selfish. When something goes wrong or the shit hits the fan, and you're responsible you have to take the blame and face the music. Sometimes, you have to take one for the team and say straight out "It was me. It was my fault. I screwed up. Sorry" You don't keep saying everything's all right. This is actually one of the few things that I admire Bush. He's taken the proverbial bullet and now people are going to be pissed off at him, because he's taken responsibility. He may a controversial President, but he has guts and did the right thing.

At least the good thing here is that the hurricane revealed weakness and gave everyone around the world a little slap in the face. You have to wonder whether Australia could handle a hurricane disaster or terrorist attack. Howard wants to have these new laws where Aussie security guards and bouncers will be first-responders to a terrorist attack. I'm not sure about the bouncers though. Won't they seal off the area, but still let the ladies in? To me that's not a really good idea. It's probably better to get pros.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Almost over...

Finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Two weeks of tests will soon be over. Only one more to go and it'll be all good. Biology was alright, and so was English Extension. My speech was like 3 pages, because I didn't take as seriously as the other tests. I'm dropping it anyway, so who cares? For the first time in a long while, I felt quite confident about my maths test. Not "I'm-gonna-get 90%-plus" confident, but quietly confident that I'll get a decent mark at least. It was on the day that England won the Ashes, so I'm hoping it was a good sign. Biology prac exam went much better than expected and I'm in high hopes for my Chem prac exam.

The 2nd week of exams was much better emotionally than the first week. What I'm trying to say is that the first week seem so stressful and serious. The 2nd week I was more laid back and felt at ease, even when taking the maths exam. In a way, playing cricket before the tests helped a lot. It felt good to take a few bowls and bats. On Tuesday, sports was compulsory, so I sneaked off from basketball and when to the mini-tennis group to play cricket with some mates. A quick breakdown of the players:
- Charles "Cricket Freak" Luo
- Paul "You say f-off, we say flintoff" Nguyen
- Andy "Next Spin King" Ngu
- Jimmy "The Left Hander" Ly
- Tan "Shorty" Nguyen
Here I would like to say "thanks guys" playing cricket helped me a lot of calm down. It's a cool and effective method of calming therapy.

On a final note, Franz Ferdinand rocks! I got their first album (Franz Ferdinand) and immediately loved their rocky tunes. Now their second album (You Could Have It So Much Better) is out and is even better than the first. Get it! Buy it or get a torrent! P2P is cool these days.

On another final note, I'll be posting more parts to my story since Thursday is my day off.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Yawn...late post...

I know. I said I would post the next part of the series. I didn't. If you must know, my physics practical exam went completely down the drain and I was depressed. I'm feeling better now though, knowing a large number of people also failed with me. Anyway, here's the next part.

*1st Movement Part 3*

Brunker could not believe it, but it was the only answer. He stared at the large screen, with the sensors scan showing. The entire bridge was silent. It was a single large battleship, at least 15km.
Space is filled with various phenomena, such as stars, nebulas and pulsars. Filled with electromagnectic radiation, sensors could all too easily pick up interference. The electromagnetic shielding on ships radiated similarly to certain stars. But there is some thing that ships radiated that can be detected. Heat.

The hyperfusion turbines that power most ships radiated massive amounts of heat energy. And space is very cold. Unlike stars, or other stellar objects, space ships radiate heat and move quite rapidly. By taking several ‘snapshots’ of the surrounding environment and translating them to heat images, a spaceship can found by looking for relatively small, intense spots of heat that move.



The scan showed a massive thermal imbalance in that area. At first, it seemed that there was a large number of ships, but the thermal imbalance was symmetrical, indicating one ship.

Brunker ran the projections again, adding different variables but each time he ended up with one massive ship. He began rerunning weapons solutions, ocassionally trading a word to the sensor man next to him.

“Sir,” said Brunker, “thermal scan confirmed, it’s a single battleship.”
“Send that out to the fleet!” exclaimed Roberts, “they must know!”
Roberts scowled, clearly not happy with the turns of events. Brunker looked up,
“Sir, its confirmed. The ship is part of the Waalwik Federation Space Fleet, the Glissando.”

To be continued…

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Arrrgghhh...Chemistry

Yep, that's right. Chemistry was tricky. Now I know that I screwed up at least one question. Looking back it was so outrageous wrong and so simple to do that I'm banging my head against the wall. No story today or the past few days in fact. Sorry about that, but I'm gearing up for final study for maths. I really want to to do well on this. It would be nice to grab 90%+.

I'll do the next part of the story tomorrow. I only have my Physics Practical test and that's at like 1pm.

Monday, September 05, 2005

That's just screwed up.

Recently, a concert was held for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Kanye West deviated from the script by saying that "George Bush don't care about black people" and a few other things that was along those lines. Now I can understand that Mr West is angry at Bush from not doing more to help people, but I think the words should be changed. It should be "Black people don't care"

Let's look at the facts.

The mandatory evacuation order meant that everyone in the area HAD to evacuate. And most people did and some took shelter in the Superdome. But a lot of people stayed in the streets and their houses, hoping to whether out, what, the single largest hurricane in US history. And a large proportion of those people were black. What happened next was that you had a massive amount of people still stuck in New Orleans, demanding that the government helped and criticising it for being too slow.

Now hold up. A mandatory evac order meant a massive amount of people should of left, but instead a massive number of people stayed behind. Of course help was going to be slow. The vast majority of people should have left, not sitting in their homes because they were like "We'll ride it out, bitches!" Furthurmore, when resuce helicopters did arrive, some were shot at by looters. What the fuck? You want help, want to be rescued and you shoot the fricken rescue helicopter? Then you have looting. The vast majority of looters, as portrayed on t.v, are mainly black and all give the same reason, "We're doing what we need to survive, cos Bush is too slow in helping us, that bastard"

That there is just stupid. You were supposed to evacuate! And if you're just trying to survive, why are you stealing...I mean looting...private property like TVs, DVDs and other highly expensive electrical items? There ain't no vitamins and nutrients in there fit for the human race. Then the police and army dudes are given shoot-to-kill orders because you have these people ransacking stores and homes. Not to "survive" but to bloody cash in later.

Personally, I think it's just the South that so screwed up. I mean you had this woman guarding her bar with this shotgun. She refuses to evacuate and if army or police try to force her, she'll shoot them. Then she starts yapping about how its her constitution right to bear arms and to defend her self from invaders. The police and army are trying to help and you get nutters like these. I mean, you have all this emphasis on the American Constitution, for freedom rights and the right to bear arms and stuff, and these idiots ignore all the other parts of it. Hypocritical bastards.

Finally, you have some Aussies trapped in New Orleans, now blaming the Australian Government for not warning them and for doing little to contact them. I agree on the 2nd point, but not on the first. The warning were distributed days ago. If a massive hurricane comes, the single largest hurricane in US history comes my way, I'd get the fuck out. Instead these Aussies are like "It'll be right" and completely screw themselves by ignoring the evac order.

Look, I'm not racist. I truly believe in multiculturalism. But there must some relationship between race and intelligence in this case. These black Americans screw themselves up then blame in on the US government. No wonder they are living in poverty. I'm so poor, it's the government's fault. Every thing is the government's fault. If after all the rescue efforts and there are still people who insist on staying behind and blaming government officials, well, I hope there's another hurricane or tsunami to wipe them out. The American population will be better without them. Hell, the average quality of humanity may jump up a few points.

Idiots.

Physics taken down

Finished my physics yearly exam. It went pretty well so hopefully, some good marks will come out of it. Now another installment of my series.

*yawns*

I'm going to sleep after this.

*1st Movement Part 2*

“Heat imbalances at 0.3!”
A rumble shook the Exultate Jubilate as the ship fired its multitude of weapons, both energy and projectile. Captain Lance Roberts grimaced, his hands clenching the sides of his command chair. The Waalwik forces had launched a partially successful surprise attack on Sector 13, catching a momentory weakness in the Alliance defences. The ships were mainly corvettes and frigates but outnumbered the Exultate Jubilate at least 15 to 1. Not a good thing. For a brief moment, the rumble stopped and Roberts looked up, his teeth gnashing.
“Recommendations?”
The security officer quickly responded.
“Use our plasma turrets to strip away their shielding, then attack with AMX-446 missiles.”
“Make it happen,” said Roberts quietly, “and run some projections!”
The security officer began tapping away at the console like a skilled pianist, his fingers dancing from one button to the next. He was a good man, that Brunker, thought Roberts. It was hard to get skilled officers like this. Roberts had read the officer’s file and found it hardly suprising that William Brunker used to be in the Special Operations Executive. Another rumble disturbed the Captain’s thoughts and he willed himself to pay attention to the screen.
“Incoming torpedo!” yelled Brunker, his sandy hair shaking, “brace for impact!”
The torpedo struck the Exultate Jubilate port side, but Brunker’s early warning minimised casualties.
“Hit them back!” roared Roberts, his face contorting.
Long golden lances of plasma reached out, striking to opposing enemy ships. The high velocity and temperature of the plasma began to strip the electromagnetic shielding of the smaller enemy ships. They tried to regroup and reposition, but the Exultate Jubilate had excellent manouevering for a battleship of her size and ten of the enemy ships were blown to pieces by the missiles. The five remaining ships managed to escape the missiles and retargeted the bigger Jubilate.
“Crap! The Sauvignon is coming on vector 33.9!” the sensor man cried out.
“Full reverse engines!” ordered Roberts frantically, “keep shooting, keep shooting!”
The Exultate Jubilate began moving backwards, narrowly avoiding a collision by the Sauvignon as it swooped in like a predatory bird, blasting the remaining enemy ships. Roberts barely managed to breathe when more transmissions blared in.

Grid 8 is not responding…
Thermal imbalance suggests unknown number of battlecruisers…
All ships, status green and yellow, move to Grid 8!

Roberts breathed out forcefully. He blinked his eyes and stretched his neck.
“Move to Grid 8, now!” he barked out.
Brunker was already setting up new targeting solutions, when his eyes opened in horrified surprise.
“No…bloody...way…”

To be continued…

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Calm before the Storm? No way!

Yearlies! Tomorrow is the start of my 2-week long yearly exam, starting with Physics. I'm studying some last few points and praying to...well no one...for luck. This time I'm going to try and keep myself going from crazy by writing creatively. This is not to win any prizes but to calm me down and keep me sane. It's going to be sci-fi, my fav genre. So read on. If you don't want to, then don't read.

*1 hour later*

~The Rushing Storms~
1st Movement, Part 1

Designate as Group-1...mark
Contact in 2 minutes...mark
Lost contact with Recon-331A...

It had begun. War had returned. Humanity, having experienced horrendous loss of life, had swore never to fight each other again. Had swore for peace for all humans. No more petty internal struggles. That promise was broken. The Minerva Alliance and the Waalwik Federation. Humanity had been split into two warring factions of hatred. But nobody knew why the war started. The original reason was lost. One thing just led to another. To another war.

Sensors indicate heat imbalance at Grid 3...
Scanning lock on Grid 5...capital ships sighted...
Alert! Breach in Sector 13...all ships respond!...

The Minerva Alliance was a collection of planets that believed in expansionism, to explore and meet new life in this galaxy. Most importantly, they wanted peace with other aliens. Their goal was to find Earth, the mystical home planet, where humanity began, lost in the history of time. In short, they were idealistic peace-loving hippies.
The Waalwik Federation was diametrically opposite. They did not care about exploring. They wanted power, to ensure humanity as the most powerful force in the galaxy. Aliens could not be trusted. Deadly wars had broken out before, and the Waalwik Federation preferred a more isolated life. They also wanted to find Earth, to obtain technologies beyond wonder and reasoning. For absolute power. They were narrow-minded, paranoid bastards.
Little wonder that war broke out.

Mayday! Mayday! This is the Exultate Jubilate! There's a breach...
This is the Sauvignon! Hold on!
Massive thermal imbalance in Grid 8! Respond, Grid 8, respond...!

But little did the Minerva Alliance and the Wallwik Federation know that there was a third faction that also wanted peace..but at any cost. For them, the ends justify the means.

To be continued...

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Wonkalicious

Just finished watching the 1971 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now I need the see the Johnny Depp version. I keep hearing that it's better but so far I think the original has a lot of good stuff. Gene Wilder is so good as the crazy Willy Wonka.


Johnny Depp as Williy Wonka looks so...wrong? He looks a zombie with the pasty white skin. Well for some of the screen shots. Here's a pic.

You choose who's better.

By the way, Star Wars Special Edition was crap. You can only do a George Lucas on the special effects and remastered it so many bloody times.

Competency...have that and you're set.

Those at my high school will know that the 2006 Prefect Nominations are beginning. To nominate yourself, you grab a form, write a few sentences about why you want to be a Prefect, what you would bring to the Prefect group and a list of things you've done to deserve you appointment to Prefect. Thankfully, the administration decided to reduced the number of prefects to a mere 20 and my hopes have raised. Hopefully, competent prefects can be choosen.

The prefect life is not for me. While being a prefect is all important, the day-to-day watching of canteen lines and organising charity drives do not appeal to me. Furthurmore, if I was a prefect and watching the canteen lines I might get into a fight. I hate people who push-in. They just barge in front of you, bumping you down. As a prefect, instead of either ignoring the problem or saying "can you please move back?" only to have them push-in again, I would be like "Oi! Get the fuck back! Stop pushing in, bitch!" Of course, the probability that a fight would occur and that I would lose is like 90%. So I did not nominate myself. That does not stop me from hoping the "good" prefects will get appointed.

When you submit your nomination form, it gets passed around all the faculties and teachers will add comments saying why you should not be a prefect. The forms with the least comments are selected and the students then become prefects. Now there are some people who should not become prefects. Not because I hate them (though that is a possible factor) but from the way they work and play at school, they would be lowering the standards of prefectship and botch everything up. Thankfully, I know that at least one good prefect will be selected and that's Gough. Not only is he competent, he's reliable and I know him well. His nomination reads like a resume for a CEO at some global company. Since he will set the standard, all the crap prefect-wannabes will be dropped. Hell yeah!
By the way, check out Gough's blog.

This little rant also reminded be of a TIME article. Ali Saeedlou wanted to become Iran's Minister Oil, a very powerful position. He had no oil experience of any kind but boasted a Ph.D in "strategic management" from Hartford University in America. But some MP asked Saeedlou how he obtained an American doctorate while still living in Iran, Saeedlou had to admit that Hartford (no relation to the University of Connecitcut-Hartford) was an online university. Obviously, the Iranian Parliament blocked his appointment. My questions is "what is strategic management?" It sound so insane. I want one.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Ah the beauty of it all...

Blogging. I've finally jumped onto the blogging bandwagon. Why? Besides the fact that everyone else is doing it and I'm play catch up? My leaking thoughts. I think. A lot of people think. But like many people, I forget things. Lots of things. The sheer number of things that go through my head then waltz into the wide world is horrendous. Embarassingly, there was one time I left my local library, bumped into an old friend and had a nice chat. What next? I couldn't remember whether I was leaving or entering. I tried to deduce the fact that I was leaving because I had library books but then I realised that I could easily be entering the library to return the books. Thankfully, I kept the docket which tells me when I should return my books and was saved. The library was generous as well. I could keep the books until 20004, which was longer than I needed but nice nonetheless.

Some people may also be wondering: What the hell is entropy? Simply, it's the inevitable disorder that comes with time. Physicists will tell you that the Universe is filled with entropy. In fact, the Universe is becoming more disordered by the minute and will one day lose order and become chaotically chaotic, signalling the death of the Universe. That's why cleaning your room is useless. Your room is messy. You put energy to use and clean up your room. However, entropy will take over. Eventually your room will become disordered again unless you put in the energy to clean it up. But at the same time, the energy you burn, the calories that get used during the act of cleaning your room, gets released as unordered energy, thereby increasing entropy. See? It's a lose-lose situation. So don't clean your room, or even better, get someone else to do it for you.