Thursday, September 30, 2004
lest a stranger stumbles upon yonder blog and falsely assumes our confidence has been vanquished by dismal results,
i shall post!
(use of first person pronoun and grammatical structure demonstrates how the writer has placed herself upon a higher pedestal. the exclammatory introduction signals that this will be a very intense piece of writing! - however, this will be undermined by writer's tendency to become extremely convulted. this has just been demonstrated. self-reflexivity evinced by statements such as 'this has just been demonstrated' and use of parallipsis which are used to express an after thought... Use of ellipsis suggests movement into another dimension, WHEW!)
fine, so my rather bizarre e8 skills have just been exhibited. (wouldst thou care to make comments to help me improve? oh no..i mean..would you care to..cos..thou means i'm talking to someone beneath me? is that correct? oh dear!!!)
okok, i'm just stalling for time.
like ms j said/hailed/announced/exclaimed, it has been FOUR weeks since the Prelims have ended. i dunno why she didn't say a month has passed by i suspect it's cos 'four' is a four letter f-word that may have greater impact on us. well, this emphasis on the whizzing by of time has triggered off many revelations:
1) i'll miss seeing my friends every day!! (no prizes for guessing who started worrying about this..in JUNE!)
2) i want to apply for extended study leave. WE want to apply for extended study leave. (outsiders please be informed WE only refers to two people and the rest of the class is either ambivalent or bemused - in a diabolical 'schadenfreude' way)
3) who what where when how why. huh??
hee hee.
what do u feel?
i've felt a devastating range of emotions since receiving my results. from the bitter sense of satisfaction upon receiving confirmation that there were large 'gaps in my knowledge' (use of quotation marks indicate that this quote may not reflect the writer's opinion so i will very 'straightforward(ly)' announce that I HAVE TO LEARN MY FACTS AND LEARN THEM WELL. i know!!!) to the destructive feelings of wallowing in self-pity - heh. i basically felt i was..er.. urm.. ah.. ssssstuppidd and..er..the feeling really suckeddddd.
anyway, in case any of u feel as i did.. remember that stupidty is, as alvin so GENTLY put it, 'a self-fulfilling prophecy'. there's no U in stupid!! (irony to get my point across..*GRIN*)
i began to feel that i had no grasp on basic concepts, but as much as this was true, i know that i must 'fix' myself and focus. cos as Howard put it, 'it's not too late til the paper starts'. feeling so crappy about yourself will only DESTABILIZE your learning JOURNEY and it is just..tragic. and we know what happens to tragic heroes. yes, we indeed 'study two tragedies in e1'.. (to yi na: which two? hahahahhaha)
ACTUALLY, I KNOW NO ONE BOTHERS TO READ MY LONG-WINDED POSTS. WHY AM I WRITING THIS.. PLEASE CONTINUE READING PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... I WON'T POST IN LIME GREEN I PROMISE!!!
As we press on towards our shared goal of achieving excellent academic results, let's continue to hold on to one another. I love our class especially for our way of stickin through thick and thin and we have not tripped over the ash-heap of unhappiness that we leave at the door. (use of the continous verb 'leave' suggests that our ability to let bygones to bygoes is a daily duty we embrace; use of cliches suggest repetition and bring forth the impression that unity has been fostered within the class.)
sigh..i'm missing singapore idol!!! arrgh. (and not to mention a great chance to continue my pursuit of knowledge. o horror! poor ghost!) some of us have come up with a very pragmatic plan to advance our educational endeavors! as we venture off in different directions for lit tutorials tomorrow, let's assign one person from our class in each tutorial to conscientiously transform the sparks of knowledge to paper. errr, i mean, let's have our own sparks notes.
yar..hence the process of collating information shall begin! just 3 altruistic souls per lit-day and..........?
after all, we only came up with OUR othello notes 1 week b4 the promos and........
(yes, i meant to juxtapose the numerical identities of 1 and 4. what is the significance? aiyar..i dunno already lar.)
Friday, September 17, 2004
today was a rather interesting day. now there's a statement that might be a contender for the understatement of the term.
dear all. some of your results i know, some of your results i don't know. but my guess is that most of you feel the same way i do. not particularly sad (hey, after all the tirades and yelling from various teachers, it wasn't that hard a conclusion to surmise that something bad was looming), not particularly happy (nervous energy dissipates, you didn't fail as badly as you thought you would). just a quiet sagging of the shoulders and a huge stone weighing your heart down down down. before we even begin, we're tired. we think of all that crap that's up ahead and even as we brace ourselves for the pounding surf, we wonder if there's any point. maybe getting dashed against the rocks isn't such a bad thing after all. we're bruised, white from the numbing aqua and something's dragging us under. it would be so easy just to let go.
dear all, remember the words of a wise old man. don't give up. it's not over till it's over. no matter how bad things get, there's always one last stand. and the fastest way to beat the system is to win. nobody is fighting alone. we've been through so much together as a class. we may have come away from some battles shaken, but not destroyed. whatever the situation is now, we can and we shall rise above. just hold on. trust in the deity of your choice and trust in us and the teachers. we can beat this monster. yes we can.
hold on together. our dreams will never die.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
final... 
Monday, September 13, 2004
ok ppl, deadline for our class page is THIS WED, and hopefully we can decide on a layout asap. yes, the photos are a little small, but they should appear fine on the sch mag itself. in any case, it's quite hard to think of designs which allow us to put in lots of big pics. if anyone has new ideas, pls tell me / or i can mail u the soft copy to edit. we can prob add some stuff in the spaces occupied by the handprints, but again everything must be done very soon. (btw, the old design is also still available)
one more try
Sunday, September 12, 2004
good night 2AH... here's to a bittersweet term ahead :) we'll get through this final chapter together.. and smile and cry at the end.
pleasant dreams :)
good afternoon ah babies. tomorrow we begin.. school. *choke* i will spare you the agony of not knowing how many days left to the a levels. everybody jia you!
Saturday, September 11, 2004
haha. the blog is darned hard to read... so bright! hmm but the pictures are really cool... didn't even know that some of these pictures existed (: but its great really, chronicles of ah life. haha. and the zoo was pretty cool too... not exactly one of the original zoo enthusiasts (ie, mich lee, liz, yi na, mel) but think running round the zoo on weds (though definitely rather tiring) was pretty fun and the animals were soo cute! haha wholesome fun. yawn see you guys in school on monday arggghh the hols are drawing to an end... nooo!
Thursday, September 09, 2004
..and it came to pass that the 11 persons of 2AH successfully completed their journey of the wonderful world of the singapore zoological gardens; on the eighth day of the eleventh month, the year 2004.
...and it was DARN FUUUUUN!!!!! =)
to all who couldn't make it..... your loss!!!
but we truely missed ur presense though. not to worry.. we shall go again again!!!! =) yeeaahhh...
i'm happy.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
hello friends.. who are now happily at the zooooo... wish i could come tooooo.. cos the last time i went.. armed with my camera..i forgot to bring the memory card *sigh* i'm here irritating my brothers and cos my friends here all haf exams (haha) i end up studying when i'm with them!! so funny eh..i met singapore's first ivf twins!!! they're diana and daphne..too bad we don't haf any scgs girls..haha..i'm sure they'll know who they are..bev's good friends anywAyss..
anyway!! hope u guys are having a great holiday..don't stay up too late like yi na or stay online all the time like michellee (of course only i would know since i...?) and LIZZZ..where are u?? sheryl wants ur email addy.. and..erm.. ok ok..never mind..if u see joy..tell her i am researching for our econs symposium (FOR YOU!!) haha.. guess what i learnt :D do u know that environmental conservation is a LUXURY GOOD? ah..think about that!!
okok..i actually wanted to share with u this great programme lar..u know, i use a MAC but...erm.. now sometimes i haf to use the pC here.. partly cos i'm addicted to the bejeweled game on msn (ARGH!! wanna play with me??) and circumstantce prevails.. whatever..hahha..anyway..pcs are really annoying sometimes.. cos of all the pop-ups and stuff.. BUT!!!
anyway...it's MOZILLA.. have u heard of it? those of u who are using it..u should haf spread the secret!! geez!~~methinks it's good...okok to be more precise..use FIREFOX. jus click on the link... i assure u better internet access and hopefully that will stimulate more blogging :D
monopoly vs OPEN SOURCE
bugs vs OPEN SOURCE
i'll blabber on ok? remember netscape? yes..the OLDEE ALTERNATIVE TO IE?? *and more popular too* well.. once ppl started being sucked in by the whole windows sham..we use ie by default and..AOL TIME WARNER gobbles netscape up.. (don't tell me this has no links to microsoft please...anyway.. look at that name..AOL and TIME and WARNER... sheesh.. why do mergers exist ppl???? hello??? this is the most blatant example of accumulation of market power and we all know the opportunity cost when competition is stifled right? ok ok sulynn don't get hopping mad.. i know econs is bizarre but.. heh.. er..the costs is that we get lousier, more expensive software..and.. according to michael moore it seems like aol is trying to get rid of warner so..hahaha..no more michael moore books? e horror..haha.. no more farenheit and stuff eh? wat a loss..i'm being ironic..really!!) anyway..apple has it's answer to ie..it's called SAFARI and it's beautiful.. :) but i think mozilla is doing a pretty good job for the pc market..it develops for mac too duh but... i dunno why apple would want to concentrate on making safari for pcs cos i dun think it's guaranteed as much success as itunes for pcs? oooh..do u know that cos ipods are so popular... like a high percentage (sorry i'm not good at lying at statistics) of freshmen now choose to buy ibooks? :D
think about it? is your enemy's enemy your friend?
okok..hahah.. let me tell u a joke!! sorry this is the worst avenue for jokes..but..
well..hahhaa..let's popularize this phrase...
like peas in a pod..or.. mp3s in an ipod? :)
teeheehee. :)
haha click on this link... joshua..i think u should man..this is really funny :) love happy joy joy!!!
http://dw.com.com/redir?edId=3&destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fmusic-files.download.com%2Fmp3%2F100234795%2F100245387%2F%2FStickleback-Love_Happy_Joy_Joy.mp3&lop=link&oId=3620-5-100234731&siteId=32&amp;mfgId=100234731&ontId=5&tag=link<ype=dl_192k&merId=100234731&pid=100234795&astId=2
and this song is funny too...by randy mayfield..there's just some things we'll never know..how apt for us eager beaver students :)
http://dw.com.com/redir?edId=3&destUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fmusic-files.download.com%2Fmp3%2F100236440%2F100271567%2F%2FRandy_Mayfield-THERES_JUST_SOME_THINGS_WELL_NEVER_KNOW.mp3&amp;lop=link&oId=3620-5-100096210&siteId=32&mfgId=100096210&amp;amp;ontId=5&tag=link<ype=dl_192k&merId=100096210&pid=100236440&astId=2
it has lines like..haha.. erm..what happens if u are scared half to death twice *grin* but it's very cheerful...aiyar..no one listens to me...sigh...anyway..it's at http://music.download.com/ haha my attempt to download legal music!!
how do u throw away a garbage can? can a guy called nick have a nickname? mm... erm.. how come ducks don't duck when u shoot them?
Monday, September 06, 2004
hello everyone.. just in case people are not sure or there's a communication breakdown or people have creaky brains or leaky brains..we are going to the Zoo on wednesday. :)
to get a sneak preview, (in case the last time you visited was in primary school and all you remember is the smelly hippo) check out www.zoo.com.sg for the interesting details of what our very own Singapore Zoo can offer us!
the Zoo has been recently renovated, so we can all troop down as a class to watch the animal shows at the newly done up Amphitheatre or Elephants of Asia exhibit.
Showtimes are:
Spirits of the Rainforest
Venue: Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre
Weekdays: 10.30am
Elephants At Work & Play
Venue: Elephants of Asia
Daily: 11.30am & 3.30pm
Sealion Show
Venue: Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre
Weekdays: 2.30pm
if you guys like, we can also sit on an elephant or a pony each for $6. or we can feed the manatee (whatever animal that is) or watch the animals being fed.
hey, even if you hate animals, there's something for everyone. we can go down to the children's playground area and play with the water/playground there, or take a tram ride and enjoy the scenery, or have breakfast with our favourite Ah Meng the orang utan (but this needs money, mind you).
I suggest we gather everyone, and think about what to bring to make our Zooo trip an enjoyable one, yes? e.gs of things to bring : umbrella (for hot and rainy days), food and drinks, some extra cash, maybe a hat, maybe a mat to sit on?
Sunday, September 05, 2004
ey ey... exams over and holidays starting doesnt mean the blog is on holiday as well =p
whats the itinerary for the hols? i think we should like... just settle the dates once and for all, then those who can/want to go go, those who can't/dont want to go... *shrug* :p
oh yah... and can we have our sji on friday? that way we have time to plan for it, and fridays tend to be more accessible than saturdays/sundays =p
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
'Manchester United Football Club it the greatest football club ever... in short, it rox.'
Discuss the validity of this statement.
Its true, its true.
parallels between bobby and gorby: why the toon fired one of england's most well-loved managers... 'with regards the collapse of newcastle united football club, sir bobby robson was clearly the "man of the hour"'. discuss the validity of this statement.
newcastle have never been far from controversy. close to half of the club's players have had previous convictions for a host of car crashes, racist and drinking-related scandals. but even by its own ridiculous standards, the events of the past month have entrenched the club deep in crisis. (are we the next leeds?) this post suggests that the present turmoil could be attributed to a combination of economic, political and social factors. however, it was robson's amenability to a coincidence of internal decline and external pressures which precipitated the august crisis, culminating in the boardroom coup of 30 aug 04.
the monodimensional measurement of big club status remains the ability to attract star individuals to play for the club. this necessarily motivated newcastle to join man utd in the looney rooney race for england's euro 2004 starlet. even though newcastle already had four established strikers in shearer, kluivert, bellamy and ameobi, the club needed to make another big signing to maintain its 'false front'. this backfired because it destabilized the existing players at the club. moreover, in order to reduce its burgeoning defence expenditure and fund the bid for rooney, newcastle sold its key defender, woodgate to real madrid. thus, newcastle competed for more attacking options at the expense of neglecting the key weaknesses in its squad.
newcastle's stagnation was compounded by its failure to qualify for the lucrative european champions league, for 2 consecutive years. by missing out on close to $40m in television revenue - not to mention the ability to attract ambitious players - the board decided that robson did not give enough 'bang for the buck'. to this end, chairman freddy shepherd publicly announced that 2004/5 was robson's final season in charge of the club. this was significant because it foreshadowed the impending departure of the affable, yet sometimes misunderstood manager.
player power also hampered newcastle's preparations for the new season, by undermining robson's authority and hence the legitimacy to his centralized control. apart from the perennial spats with robert and dyer, even talismanic captain alan shearer felt his position in the club was threatened by the arrival of the flying dutchman patrick kluivert. in fact for the game against aston villa, robson benched a fully-fit shearer for only the 2nd time in his newcastle career. 5 years ago, ruud gullit did the same and was promptly fired. de-shearerization contributed to the general sense of chaos at the club.
external pressures arguably outweighed newcastle's internal problems. with only 1 win in the last 11 league games and none in the new season, the club found itself struggling near the bottom of the premiership table. arsenal's and chelsea's blistering starts to the new season placed newcastle's failings further in contrast, through no fault of robson's own. however, insofar as mediocre results forced robson to make drastic changes to the first team, hence further destabilizing the club, robson was clearly the "man of the hour". his particular response to developments both on and off the field, coupled with the mismanagement of chairman freddy shepherd and his board, plunged newcastle into a full-blown depression.
up to now, and especially without a manager, the club seems incapable of resurrecting its lofty ambitions. as a long-suffering newcastle fan, i can only hope that the best is yet to be.
