book review

During my journey to Johor Bahru for Apai's wedding, my friend Bam played a host of CDs available in his friend's car; the less-than-RM1-a-kilometre Savvy (fuel price will increase again so the last sentence might be valid for just a week or so. But I might be wrong), one of which being 'Sweet Child o' Mine' by Guns n Roses. Now due to my limited knowledge in music, I have always have this perception that GnR is the very definition of rock. And 'Sweet Child o' Mine'... 'How appropriate', I thought, when I was reading Tony Parsons' Stories We Could Tell.

'Stories We Could Tell' revolves around three music writer friends in the late 70s. And how I enjoyed it. Naturally, music was always mentioned in the book. I think Parsons have a way of writing that made the story not just understandable, but in a way, felt. Yes, I felt it. It was almost like reading manga, like at this one time in 'Naruto' when Iruka sensei said "Yes, the demon fox will do that. But that kid is not the demon fox. He's Uzumaki Naruto. And Naruto won't do that.." and Naruto heard it and cried and I felt it. And I think I felt something reading this work by Parsons because in a way I feel that I can relate to the characters depicted. And honestly, I think all three characters somehow resemble Parsons in some way because sometimes when the characters say something to each other it somehow felt as if Parsons himself was doing it. Like he himself was saying those exact words to his friends to whom he's very close with the way the three characters are close to each other.

In 'Stories We Could Tell', Parsons offered nostalgia and memories of old, selecting simple words which made the story seem so honest and genuine. Like it really did happen. And I lapped it all up. It was like an old novel by an old writer who usually wrote things concerning friendships and family values and humanity. The kind of stories which made you stop between pages, look up and actually think. For a while at least. And feel.

If I'm making the book sound so very good, it might be because I really enjoyed it, in all honesty. A good read for me. Might be a decent one for everyone else.

the very salty producer of light

Ever heard of salt crystals? Or maybe its crystal salt. Or maybe there’s a longer name with the words ‘crystal’ and ‘salt’ included which I cease to care what is. We’ll just call it salt crystal. Or whatever.

Anyway

I won this salt crystal at a futsal tournament (yes, they gave salt crystals instead of medals. Neat huh?). It was actually a salt crystal lamp. A LAMP! Made of salt! Yikes! OK was being dramatic. The crystal is roughly the size of..hmmm..waitaminute, waitaminute. I can’t think of anything that’s the same size as the salt crystal lamp. Let’s just say it’s the size of a mini table lamp and shaped like a rock. I know there are all kinds of rocks in this world. Just imagine the regular ones. And it's real salt, see? I mean, it is salty. Don't ask me how I know. I just do. Because I'm the man, see? A friend told me a salt crystal lamp the size I have retails at a price of roughly RM70 a pop. So who needs medals anyway?

The manufacturer (or maybe the discoverer. Or pioneer. Or whatever) of the crystal claims, among others, that 'salt crystals can help in the production of negative ions' (or something like that, I can’t remember). In layman's terms, turning the lamp on will result in, among others; better air quality. This in turn helps reduce the risks of getting diseases concerning the lungs and such. Sounds like scam? Well I can’t really say for sure (I mean, it's free after all). Thing is, I’m mighty prone to catching a cold. And sometimes it’s so severe I’d start to think ‘apalaa dosa aku agaknya..?’ That severe. But since having the salt crystal lamp, I’ve ceased catching a cold. Seriously. The most I get is some sneezing, like twice or three times a go. Which is not bad, really, since I’m used to catching the kind of cold that is so severe, while sujud I'd feel like someone is wringing my head or something. Memerah otak. Literally.

OK here’s another interesting bit; the crystal needs to be turned on every once in a while, especially when the atmosphere surrounding it is a cool one, i.e at night. If not, it’ll start to ‘sweat’. That is, salt water will be apparent on it. (Am I pissing you off? Huh? Huh?).

OK here’s another interesting bit (I’ve got to stop doing that); for the last two days, for whatever reasons, I am unable to turn the lamp on. I think it’s broken or whatever. And I am unable to find a way to fix it. I mean, who fix salt crystal lamps anyway?

Last night, I caught a cold.

The world is full of strange things.

howtos of love:lessons for beginners

Lesson #01: Loving Yourself
This is the most important lesson in love. It is the simplest and most instinctive, but often people forget the first lesson. Before even thinking about falling in love with someone, one must consider the question:

What do I love about myself?

And this must be done in the most honest and thorough manner possible. What do you love about yourself? What are your strengths? Your shortcomings? It's OK to have weaknesses really. We are only human after all. And sometimes when one have lots of weaknesses it might even be easier to find one's significant other. So understand yourself. Only when one knows oneself fully and thoroughly can one proceed to the next step which is;

Lesson #02: Attraction
Some people keep a list(s) of what their dream partner would be like. There's nothing wrong with that I guess. People like to have some kind of a guideline in looking for 'the one', or 'the significant other' or 'a soulmate'. Whatever you call that person, please remember that the 'characteristics of dream partner' list can never be a complete one. Why? because everyone would put on their list 'favourable' characteristics of people, such as funny, honest, tall, skinny, smooth skin, etc. No one would ever put characteristics such as farts regularly or picks nose in public or has Tourette syndrome or whatever. Now if this is the case, then the list would not be 'characteristics of the person I love' but rather 'characteristics I love in a person'. That means you are attracted to these people, but you do not necessarily love them. Now attraction might very well lead to love, but it is not love. Because;

Lesson #03: Falling In Love
Now if you still remember Lesson #01, you should understand (and apply in your life) that you must love yourself no matter what weaknesses you have. Now this not only applies to yourself, but also everyone else around you. So you might be attracted to people when they have whatever characteristics you put in your 'soulmate list', but when you love someone, you accept them for what they are. You understood whatever shortcomings and weaknesses they have and still you want to be with them. You love them the way they loved themselves (but this is not to say that you don't want them to change for the better).

Additional Notes:
1)One sometimes made the mistake of being obsessed with attraction. One gets attracted to someone and then are willing to tolerate whatever mean things that particular someone does, including not loving oneself the way one loves oneself. When someone claims s/he loves you, s/he is obliged to love you the way you love you. Any less and you should say the magic word: NEXT!

2)However significant someone is, s/he is not you. Sometimes, change is required on both sides in a relationship in order to adapt to each other. But;

3)A significant other who's really significant might only want you to change for the better, but will not want to change you. 'Being a better person' is alive and well but please, please remember Lesson #01

4)Some people have the magical ability of identifying in yourself characteristics you never noticed existed. Characteristics which you love, or made you love yourself more. Some people have the magical ability of making you realize your mistakes and improve yourself (which in turn made you love yourself more) even without saying it directly. Chances are, these people are 'the one'. But these people are rare. Hence 'the one', not 'the dozen' or whatever

5)Friendships are generally much more honest than relationships. If your friend turned out to be 'the one', then you're lucky

6)If you do have a list (of characteristics of 'the one' or whatever), it is wise to keep it short and general. At the end of the day, you might ask yourself; "is the juice worth the squeeze?" Keeping it simple means the 'juice' is clear and easily identifiable. And attainable. So you won't be depressed

7)When one loves another, giving and receiving physical pain is never the way to show it. If your 'the one' causes physical pain, get out of the relationship immediately (except if it's your sexual preference or whatever. The world is a strange place, I understand). Each second you delay means gradually losing your IQ

8)It is wise to be with someone you're comfortable having any kinds of conversations and/or arguments with, and can challenge you in them (conversations and/or arguments). In the long run, this will be very beneficial to the both of you

9)I have a degree in computer science and am a physics teacher, so what I wrote here might be a whole load of crap. But thanks for reading anyway

shallow and loving it

Once in a while I just can't resist being narcissistic. So here goes, what happened in Singapore;

Day 1: 11 Dec 2006

Arrived in NUS at roughly 6.30 p.m. Was impressed with Prince George's Park, at first glance. Was unimpressed with Prince George's Park later on, while looking for the block I was to reside in for the Congress (correction for the previous post, it's a Congress not a Conference, whatever that implies). As it turned out, I don't think NUS students themselves know which block is which. Because I asked for directions and still couldn't locate the block. Took me like, half an hour to get to my room. Had a pleasant surprise when I learnt that it's a single room. Thought about sleeping in the nude. Heh heh

A friendship was formed; another Malaysian on the same floor, Azri, was unable to open his door. His transponder was out of battery or something (yes, they use transponders to open room doors, get access to residential blocks, and activate lifts. And I thought transponders only exist in movies like 'Dude, where's my car?'). We went to see the organizing commitee to sort things out. Took some time but Azri finally get to enter his room.

First dinner; to be in a foreign land can be difficult. And this is only Singapore we're talking about. Had a vegetarian dinner with Jasem, Farid and Azri. Tofu tasted like eggs. Eggs tasted like eggs. Veggies had an egg-y taste to it. Now I know what it's like to have the 'rasa telur' disease (this is a joke amongst friends). HAHA

Thankfully I brought my sejadah along. Tried to get the qiblat. After turning the map several times, all the while thinking; "if Yana can do it, I can do it", found my qiblat. Or so I thought.

Noticed that my room is actually visible from the main corridor. Darn. "Oh nevermind" I thought, "I can shut the blinds and still sleep naked. Or turn off the lights." Then saw the brand of the ceiling fan: 'USHA'. Did not sleep naked.


Day 2: 12 Dec 2006

Woke up at 4.06 a.m (I only fell asleep at 1.00 a.m!). Damn the hard mattress! Read 'Stories We Could Tell' while waiting for subuh (was aiming to finish the book by the time I got back to UM). While bathing thought about the NuWater and stuff. Got anxious since I don't think bathing in someone's piss can be considered hygene.

Later learnt that I got my qiblat the other way around. I prayed facing east. Oh well.

Food at the Congress was brilliant! Ate to the point of torturing myself. They surprisingly had this gomen orientation of minum, as-in, there would be breaks at 10.00 a.m, lunch (of course) and 3.30 p.m, all accompanied with lavish buffets. Heard some other UM students discussing about where to get caterers for next year's Congress (which will be held in UM). Planning ahead, I call it ;p

The Thais have the smoothest skin on earth. Felt like singing. And so I did;

You're just like an angel
Your skin makes me cry
...

for large parts of the Congress. *malu*

Went to Chinatown to look for souvenirs. Bought postcards for my students. Shops in Chinatown close early. A shopkeeper told us (Jasem, Farid, Huda and I) that at Orchard Road shops close much later. Did not go to Orchard Road though, my legs were beginning to disobey my brain. Took a cab back to Prince George's Park. Surprisingly, it was much cheaper to go back by cab rather than the MRT-bus combination. It might be because there were four of us, which fitted nicely in a cab.


Day 3: 13 Dec 2006

Woke up at 4 a.m still. Made some notes for next week's class. Read Naruto. Lied down. Did nothing. What the hell is wrong with the mattress anyway?

Walked in on the Physics oral presentations. Asked lots. There was this Thai soon-to-be PhD holder who presented his work on plasma. Asked him lots. Understood a little bit. He was so nervous while presenting he seemed to be scratching his cheek every once in a while. By the time he sat beside me and apologized for his poor English his right cheek was bright red. I said "it's OK I understood" (I meant his presentation not his predicament). Asked him more. Now I know why plasma TVs are humongous.

Put up my poster. I was actually in the 'Maths and Statistics' category. Walked in on one of their (oral) presentations. Understood absolutely nothing. Walked out of the presentation. Had lavish tea again.

Had the chance to sit beside one Thai student, all frilly skirt and stuff. They all wear that. Except their Dean. Had to..ermm..improvise on my English in order to be understood. On my part, I understood one thing: poster presenter meant 'will not be able to understand much English', oral presenter meant 'have a decent command of English'. Roughly.

After dinner got to sit beside the ever-smiling Wichita who, thank God, is an oral presenter. So at least I got to know that she's doing chemistry and will soon have a PhD to her name. She wasn't wearing a frilly skirt though. I was. Kidding.


Day 4: 14 Dec 2006

Took off my poster after some QnA with Shen Xue. Jedzri told me she waited from yesterday to ask me questions. There wasn't a 'Best Presenter' competition at all. All in all, three people came to ask about my work, which is pretty good. Had I been allowed to put up my poster earlier I think more people would have come by and asked questions.

Went to the Chemistry and Food Science oral presentations. Sat beside this girl who all this while I thought was Singaporean. Nope. Thai again. Endured a one-sided conversation. Again. *sigh*

Sat with Chulalonkorn's Dean of Science Faculty during lunch. Was finally able to enjoy a conversation with someone from Thailand. No, no frilly skirt. It's not her thing, see...

All in all, it was good experience. Looking forward to next year's Congress, which UM will host. Wah penat! It's so good to be back. Alah Singapore je pon..

NUS, here i come!!

While some lucky sod gets to go watch the Arsenal-Blackburn game live at the Emirates Stadium (Dec 04, 2006 entry. But I'll bet he'll have another. Kan Stone? Hehe. Congrats beb), I have to settle for a three-day conference in Singapore. This might not be an entirely bad thing, though. If you don't compare between the two places, that is (please, do not). Anyhow, had my passport done (in the eleventh hour!) which can't be a bad thing. Although I look like a penyangak in it.

Although I insisted upon an oral presentation, in this conference I only get to do a poster. Which is suckish since I am a lazy person and poster presentations aren't really my ball game. You see, for an oral presentation, you get roughly fifteen minutes to explain whatever it is you're doing (your research, that is). And that's plus the QnA session. You might get bombarded with questions but hey, two minutes of QnA hell isn't so bad, is it? Read on and you'll understand..

For a poster presentation, on the other hand, you'd have to literally be by your poster each and every minute of the day (OK I'm exaggerating. Only during office hours but you get my point), every day of the conference, should anyone come by and ask anything regarding the poster (or rather, what's on it). Does that not mean a few days of QnA? Get some life, poster presenters!

There will be a dinner at the end of the conference so I expect prizes will be given to the best presenters (oral and poster alike). I wanna wanna wanna win the best poster presentation, for the sake of my portfolio. I mean; Best Oral Presentation + Best Poster Presentation = The Man, 'innit?

Will be leaving Monday morning. Ciao

*Kau Boleh! song playing*

when 1 + 1 is greater than 2

Those who are familiar with the FIFA game (as-in FIFA '98 and so on) must have heard these words at least once; "they proved that the team is more than the sum of its parts.." courtesy of that Scottish bloke who is also prone to saying "time and time again." Sounds familiar? Good.

I watched the Manchester derby and couldn't help admiring the way Manchester United is playing right now. The Red Devils (herein after shall be referred to as 'we', since I'm a fan, or 'us', or 'our', oh hell, you get the point) have lovely -sometimes even mouthwatering- interplay, putting together some of the most intricate of passes and dazzling movements in years. And most of our set-pieces work, which is almost unheard of before christmas in previous seasons.

This season, for the time being at least (I'd like to believe that it'll run throughout the season, fingers crossed. It's just that the last time we had a good start we flopped in the second half of the season), we're looking very strong. I like the fact that we're confident enough to pass the ball in very tight areas (the type of passes I like to call 'risky passes', the hallmark of Spanish teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona and, all credit to them, Arsenal when they're on form). It seems that, judging by last night's game at least, the players can really show what they've got; Scholes his quick thinking, Ronaldo his cheekiness, Giggs and Rooney their determination and darting runs, etc. Even Heinze got a crack or two at goal, which is saying a lot. Everybody is capable of giving their best, due to the simple fact that the lads believed in each other. Everybody's contribution is important, and because of that everybody feels they are important. Even Saha the slouch (there. Puas hati Meme? :p). You can see it in the way the lads carry themselves on the field that they know each other very well, up to the point of how Ronaldo should put the ball when taking freekicks.

That's the thing, you see. A lot can be achieved when people in the same team believed in each other. It's like being in a good relationship where you can be whatever you want to be. It takes some burden off of one's head when he can just think; "I'll pass like this. I know one of my teammates will go running for the ball." Things get easier that way. And because of that, they are capable of proving that the team is more than the sum of its parts. Time and time again.

Passion and Glory

to-do list

- Get drafts of a few chapters of my thesis written
- Get my progress report over with
- Prepare at least four batches of fractal culture (please God let the formula work! Malasnya aku nak try yang baru!)
- Prepare another 7 chapters of notes and exercises for the two groups I teach
- Prepare myself for class every week
- Write another paper (two would be brilliant. Perasaan tamak menguasai diri ;p)
- Help Pn Fariza with her literature review on cardiac data. Can't believe she wanted me as her R.A. I so adore her
- Prepare for Singapore conference
- Oh waitaminute. Get a passport to go to Singapore
- Get the soft skills thingy over with
- Construct a volleyball court. Or get a volleyball court constructed. For real
- Always, always find the time to write. Because at 26 you're so busy with everything else on your to-do list you don't really have much time to hang out with friends to catch up on things. It would suck big time for me to one day meet people I care about and only talk about the weather

setan merah yang berharap

Was rather late for class today so had to drive real fast; I-don't-give-a-damn-those-traffic-lights fast. Had a pleasant, pleasant surprise when overtaking a Merc. Because it had a Chelsea F.C. sticker on. Hah! In your face! And to think that I was only on my EX5 (that's a Honda kapcai, in case anyone mistakenly tought I was driving a BMW bungalow on four wheels -five, including a spare). People reading this might think I'm so desperate for Man United to win the league (and whatever else there is, while at that) to say that we're better than Chelsea.

Well, I am desperate (and, well, shallow too. I mean; potong keta orang pun nak kecoh ke? But what the hell. This is my blog anyway). Was not revealing anything relationship-wise though.

This week will be massive. Actually, it's been massive for quite a bit lately. The loss against Celtic, the match against Chelsea and then the win (thank God!) against Boro (by the way, Miss Borro, whatever the hell's wrong with your blog? And/or with yourself?). This week it'll be the do-or-die against Benfica (deja vu, anyone?) and then the derby (oh, by the way, Stone will be semi-partying-while-competing-for-fantastic-prizes this weekend. Advertisement there).

Get those lads to get more scoring instinct, Fergie. Stop flirting. And win. Mighty please.

stand up,speak up,and save some energy

Friday after solat Jumaat, while putting on my sandals, I endured a rather unpleasant experience. Because of the nature of my sandals - let’s just say because of its, well, form - I had some difficulty putting it on. So I took my time. A little bit too long for some people, I guess, because I also happen to be stepping on someone else’s sandals. It wasn’t deliberate, really. It just happened. Because there were lots of people around so it was hard for me to find my bearing. So this guy, instead of telling me to step away or something, simply yanked his sandals from under me, which threw me somewhat off balance. No injury though, fortunately (OK I didn’t even fell or whatever. Was being dramatic).

Now, a lot has been said about letting people know what you want, as-in; it’s better to ask for something rather than use force to get it. And right then I think I was presented with a perfect example. And so right here right now, being the physics teacher that I am, I shall use numbers to explain why it’s better to say something (that is; ask for something) than use force (this is not to say that it is better to say rather than do. In most situations anyway. *Note: '^' = to the power of, and pi = 3.142);

(Those who don't like maths, and/or those who think that visiting people's blogs and actually look at maths calculations is serial-killer-y can skip most of what's under this sentence and just read the words and numbers in bold)

Condition 1: guy opted to tell me to get off of his sandals;
I considered that this guy wanted to be really hostile, so he used a rather loud voice, up to 75 decibels, so that Intensity of sound, I
= log ^-1 (75/10) 1 x 10^-12
= 3.2 x 10^-5 W/m^2

And that the ear tunnel leading to my eardrum is quite large so that Area of tunnel, A
= pi(r^2), where r = ± 2.6 mm.
= pi(2.6 x 10^-3)^2
= 2.1 x 10^-5 m^2

Which then leads us to the calculation of Power of sound, P
= IA
= (3.2 x 10^-5)( 2.1 x 10^-5)
= 6.8 x 10^-10 W

And, say, he speaks rather slowly, in the sense that saying; “beb, ko tengah pijak selipar aku. Blah sebelum aku marah!” took him, say, 2 minutes (which is an absurdly long time but hey, I’m trying to prove a point here). Work done, W
= Pt
= (6.8 x 10^-10)(2 x 60)
= 8.2 x 10^-8 J

Condition 2: guy used force instead;
OK now let’s compare that to ‘throwing me off balance’. To do that we must first have my
Mass, m = ± 60 kg

Once we have that, we can make other assumptions; say he only needed to ‘lift’ me up a short distance, say 2 mm (which is also a rather absurd value, but what the hell), so that
Distance to be thrown, s = 2 x 10^-3 m

With standard gravitational acceleration, g = 9.81 m/s, Work done, W
= Fs
= mgs
= (60)(9.81)(2 x 10^-3)
= 1.2 J

Result
Now, computing the percentage difference, we’ll arrive to the value = 99.99999317 %

!!!!

I rest my case.