CXXXV – Nukes, Tron, and the Folding Bed

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Came across a Straits Times article concerning the possible destabilisation of North Korea. More protests and dissent, say informants and think-tanks, maybe exacerbated by its currency revaluation which appears to have done more harm than good (well obviously, otherwise why would people complain?).

Questions of Kim Jong Il's ailing rumoured ailing health and the succession issue has made the situation more precarious. Power struggle, it seems, is almost inevitable in the secretive state. And while South Korea, whose warship is blown in two near disputed waters at the maritime border coincidentally around the same time as the publication of the article, possibly due to a stray (or 'stray') mine floating about in the cold waters, is the one most at risk, followed by the US of A, I believe we here too, even though thousands of miles away, are at risk.

Here's why:

Nobody knows how many nukes the North has, but Mr Kim does. All those missile tests last year (or the year before?) have unnerved so many, for the capabilities of such weapons are already known. Should they be used in retaliation in the regime's dying days or, worse still, by trigger-happy power-grabbers, the consequences will be pretty much like this...

...and then the rest is history.

Also the article raised the possibility that, in the countless refugees that pour into neighbouring countries, there could be terrorists, radicals that can make their presence readily known in the form of a suspicious-looking package left behind at a crowded marketplace that would jeopardise many civilians' lives. Who would want that to happen with all the terror crap that has already happened these past few years, not forgetting the one in Moscow not 3 days ago?

I guess you wouldn't need any more convincing. And honestly, I wouldn't want to think about it either, the effects are so morbid. Sometimes I wonder why I'm born into such a volatile day and age, even though things actually seem more stable than before?

Hey, DPRK says it's willing to get back into denuclearization talks (even though it walked out of it), and we're all glad about that, but what happens if it fails, again? What if this is only N.Korea putting on a mask and being two-faced? No-one knows, and no-one wants to know.

~

Anyhow, Disney is releasing a movie in Winter 2010, and by looking at the trailers, I'm guessing Tron: Legacy will be quite an awesome movie.

Here are the trailers...

Teaser.
Official Tron Legacy Trailer

Preview.
TRON LEGACY Trailer #2

Cool, right? It's 9 months away but I think it'll be worth the wait! :D BTW Tron: Legacy is the sequel to the 1982 film Tron, and it takes place 27 years after the latter (real time). :D

And of course, my bed's arrived! Well, not a bed exactly, but a sofa-bed! It's already filled half of my remaining room space, and I guess now I have my own room, with no interruptions from my siblings (that is, if I lock the door, otherwise they'll come in anyways :/) I'll put up a picture of it once the rest of the room has been put up and spruced up!

Now, 4 more days! :D

Till then!~

CXXXIV – All Better!

134

Says it all really.

And it was achieved by sleeping on my brother's bed for 1½ hours. Testament to how dusty my room really is.

Now, if I can keep it dust-free, I can avoid this 3½ day episode from ever happening again, period. Don't want to spoil my experience at FOC now, right? J

Till then!~ (now the house needs sprucing up :/)

CXXXIII – Cold sweat

133

Oh great, I've fallen sick. Yet again.

That puts my illness tally to 2 bouts in 3 days.

Thing is, I feel unbearably warm, and I sweat (in bed, mind you), yet a touch of wind chills me to the core and gives me sneezing fits and a runny nose. The bed being rather dusty might be a factor: I'll have to vacuum it soon. Me not sleeping enough is yet another reason, so I'll say goodbye to late-nights too. ):

I hope this ends soon, 'cos camp will be on in a week (read: A WEEK!), so I'll need all the fitness I need to sustain sleepless nights till Wednesday! 16◦C air-conditioning there will make sleeping very difficult indeed anyways. Damn, if February was scorching, March is pretty polar. Singapore's weather has bipolar issues! :O

Anyways, ordered the bed, chose the table, and bought the lights for my room, so I guess it should be ready for full habitation in a week! Brilliant! Finally something I actually look forward to in the house...!

And, oh yes! I'm blogging again!

Till then!~

CXXXII - Hits and Misses

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Devils!

McAfee virus scan is taking forever to scan my laptop, so I've taken the liberty to kill some time.
~

Being a facilitator has really opened me up as a person. Sure, I may still be rather reserved and quiet, but least it's an improvement from last time, when saying "hi" was pretty hard for me to manage. To put it in perspective, I'm breaking the ice. Slowly, but surely.

Breaking away from harbour isn't the easiest thing to do. And now I'm doing something that deals with people, and the camp will tell if I can cope with that (which hopefully will be the case :D). With support from my cluster, the Devils (ftw!), it shouldn't be hard! I'll just have fun and make more new friends! :D

To quote from Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." In 20 years I'll look back on this and smile. Forged friendships, inexhaustible fun. (:

I've missed many opportunities before, and I regret it, so I shall make FOC as memorable as I can! :D

Till then!~

CXXXI – Saving Grades

131

I've just found a terrific way of saving my grades and pulling it up above 3.6.

Get As. Not just any old A, but one for all modules as well.

And oh, did I mention I have to do this for the remaining 2 years in Poly? I mean, how...hard can it be?

This though shall wait till the 19^th...now it's R&R. (:

Till then~

CXXX - Bittersweet

130

Half the holidays have come and gone. And as the title implies, it has been one with some conflict in my mind.

Bitter:
Got my results yesterday, and I wasn't pleased. For me anything below a GPA 3.0 is just not good enough. The standards I've exerted on myself have failed me. So many in my course got a 3.4 and above, it only begs the questions: what happened? Didn't I do well enough?
I can only think I've got my inter-sem results to blame. I did so horrendously. Final exams were much better, but perhaps the losses incurred before could not be covered. Oh well.
Anyhow, sophomore year will have a fresh set of modules, a clean slate. And although my overall cumulative GPA will always be affected by this episode, I believe I will come back from the dead. At least a GPA 3.5, please—I need it. Just hope that the 20-40-40 rule will stand. That freshman year's damages will be minimised. ):

And then there's the light at the end of the tunnel—DEVILS! :D

Sweet:
I have recently returned from my facilitators' Bonding camp. I was exhausted at the end, but it was completely worthwhile! Our cluster (Devils) has grown so much in these 2 days, and of course, we bonded! We shouted cheers (which in creation seems to be second nature HAHA), played games and took on challenges together—little wonder we were able to befriend each other so well! In between we had meals together, danced together, laughed together, ran together. In essence, we've bonded together far better than through all the trainings combined. (: GO DEVILS!
Following Sunday we'll meet up again for FOC! And we'll try to be as (legally) high as we can get for the freshmen! :DDD
Additionally, my room is almost 100% complete! A week ago it was a complete wreck (so has the rest of the house); now it only lacks a proper bed and work table, but even then I can finally sleep in my own bedroom for the 1^st time in 8 years! Eight! By the end of the month my room should be ready! (:

OK so that sums up my post...maybe I should post more often. Anyways at least I ended it on a happy, light note! Will spend the rest of the hols happy, and come Apr 19 I will start studying real hard once again!
10 days to FOC!~

Till then! (:

P.S. I've become obsessed with the harpsichord; it is like a piano, but to me it's far more fascinating and regal! Scarlatti is the best amongst the harpsichordists!
Domenico Scarlatti's Sonata in G major, K. 455
~

CXXIX – Music, what the doctor ordered

129

OK, so I am typing away in the wee hours of the morning. But then again, it's the only time I can, given the mess my place is in now.

Do allow me to begin.~

---

I have always loved classical music. It took me away from this fast-paced, relentless world and into a parallel universe so surreal it would feel like a dream. And I would float in it, like a butterfly would flutter about.

That is, until the outside world permeates through my earphones and drags me back into reality. That I dread.

My love and appreciation for such music had been with me since childhood, since my ears first caught its exuberance, its richness, its wonder. It teases you with quick, playful tones; it haunts your innermost soul with mournful cries. It is able to evoke even the most deep-seated of emotions, forcing them out with its power. You would not readily find modern pop or rock which can affect one's emotion to that degree.

While my siblings blast modern music out of their handphones and sing along to their hearts' content (which I don't mind—I do like a good many of them), I would still revel in tunes already centuries old. It does not matter which era they belong to, be it Baroque, Romantic or early Contemporary, I like them all the same. And I have to agree with one YouTuber: "anybody who can write music and have it be remembered and played centuries after their death is one hell of a musician."

Being in the choir for four years gave me such an outlet. So I can't play the organ. Or the piano. Or the violin, guitar, trombone or any instrument, for that matter. It didn't matter, for I still had an in-built instrument for that express purpose of creating music.

My voice.

Mr Toh is a conductor with passion for music. And he showed it brilliantly in his conducting, and the choir itself. The results speak for themselves. And under him, my love for choral music grew as well. Be it folk songs, carols, or old prayers, he managed to instil in us that love for music. And it is because we love it that we sing well too (maybe not in rehearsals, though).

He is a great conductor, not just in the sense of achievements and awards, but what his choirs could gain in return—friendships that last, and a healthy passion for singing. I will never forget how much he has influenced me in that aspect, that which I have unending gratitude for.

Those four years have come and gone, but the music stays. I'm listening to more pop songs now, and I reckon some of them to be darned good. And with that you would think classicals are a thing of the past.

But like I said, I have always loved classical music. And that love shall stay forevermore.
~

It's 2.57am now. Would like to wish Mr Toh a very happy birthday. (:

Till then!~

CXXVIII – Epilogue of sorts

128

It's over. And I still can't wrap my head round it.

MOB was fine, very easy actually, a sentiment echoed by all my peers at school.
Accounting was easy too, to my pleasant surprise. My greatest success was perhaps being able to reconcile the bank statement with company ledgers, something I used to dread BIG time. Still, I think I can only muster a B overall, 'cos my MST results really, really sucked.
Economics was fine, but could have done better :/
The real bugbear comes from Statistics, which lost me lots of marks, and to make things less comfortable, it accounts for 40% of my total Stats marks. Damn.

No point crying over spilt marks though—who cares, it's over! All there is to it now are the results and GPA, which will come out roughly in 3 weeks' time. My hopes for making Honour Roll list have faded...

...which leads me to my next point: ambition. I have my ambitions, and I think I know how to get there, but to do so require sacrifice. Lots and lots of it. Clichéd, I know, but it doesn't kill to drive reality home...right? Anyway, isn't the Uni route what everyone wants, what everybody yearns for?

Guess not. Haha. Not all my friends opt for that route anyhow.

OK, now to my post-exam activities. My class went to the Cathay @ Orchard to watch Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. It was so-so, given the weak plot (the book was much better), but at least there was the CGI to fall back to, as well as the various battles involving Medusa (Uma Thurman), Hydra, and the lightning thief himself. I doubt that it was $8 well spent, even with a stellar cast backing the movie.
After that a few of us went to the arcade and played Outrun, BishiBashi and the touch-cube thingy. Good fun all around. Thereafter I had dinner before going home at around 11pm.

This isn't the end.

There's cycling with the class at East Coast Park tomorrow (which will burn us. I mean, it's heatwave season!), then facilitator bonding sessions during much of the March hols, followed shortly after by a Bonding camp, Freshman Orientation Camp early in April, and finally Freshman Orientation Programme a week before classes recommence. To fill the gaps in between I've been thinking about a mash-up party, a class reunion or two, choir meetup, choir concert, lots of gym and not forgetting transforming a storeroom into MY bedroom.

That pretty much sums up my holidays, and my post for the day. Now my next biggest agenda is to lose that belly fat...damn. Running, and lots of it, should do the trick!

Till then!~ xD