Yet another blonde joke...

Three blondes are walking through a jungle when they come up to some tracks.

First blonde says - 'They're deer tracks'

Second blonde says - 'No they're not. Clearly they're too big to be deer tracks. They're bear tracks.

Third one goes - 'Oh shut it you two, they're moose tra...'

And then a train hits them

Credit: Dirty Dan

Sponsorship + training

It has been quite a busy week so far, trying to help organize the badminton tournament as well as getting my own personal training back on track.

On the tournament front, managed to get a Jap. restaurant in the city to sponsor $250 + other goodies. It's the largest single sponsorship so far, & hopefully we'll get much more out of the next sponsors. Also got into several others but they'll only give us the news at the end of the week, which means that we'll just need to wait until then....

Got back into running again after 1 month break. It's really not easy but so far so good. Really tough when my legs started weakening after the 6th or 7th round, but I have a little motivation phrase that I use to remind myself everytime I'm about to crumble (hint: read my post on Mohammad Ali). Hopefully I'll get my physique back ASAP and have a good outing at the uni. game......

Current thoughts: June 28, 2005 ---> antisocial (part 1)

I view my life as a series of missions. When I was younger, my mission was to get into my parents' good books, & by that I have to please them, which meant that I had to beat all my peers in the studies because I thought that would be what they wanted me to do. I achieved that and I was proud of my achievement, but yet it didn't make me feel happier to know that I'm 'better' than my friends in 'reciting & regurtitating' the so-called 'facts' in the books. I became disillusioned at that time & I had to find some new objectives in life so that I could focus again...

Didn't manage to find that when I was still in Indonesia. My parents then sent me to Singapore and that changed my life completely. During the 1st year, I again tried hard to beat everyone in the school, & succeeded. As was my previous experience, that short moment of 'fake' happiness soon passed, & my thoughts were again thrown into the wilderness. I soon began not to stress over studies at all & just took it as it came. Rankings at school plummeted, yet I didn't feel the need to buck up & work harder. Instead, I seeked solace in the form of my friends' company. Well, my so-called 'friends' at that time anyway...

After the final exam on my 5th year, all of us were separated. Some stayed on in Singapore, some moved to USA, some went back to Indonesia, & I came to Australia. We had a farewell dinner before all of us left and we made a 'pledge' to keep contacting each other even though we are all far apart now. A bunch of liars...

I'm still in contact only with a few of them now, a few Singaporean and 1 Indonesian. All of the others who made the pledge that day, which still carried so much memories for me, either simply dissapeared or do not want to be 'disturbed' as they move on in their lives....

This episode of my life changed my views of people in general. I'm much more careful in using the word 'friend' since then. Sometimes I wonder am I demanding too much because I just want to know how my good friends were doing at the other side of the world. They simply couldn't be bothered about replying to our (me & 1 other Sydney friend who I still keep in touch with) mails despite our repeated efforts to reach them...

I received an email from one of my other friends last time detailing about how his friends had also moved on with their lives & that they don't keep in touch with each other anymore. Having stayed for considerable amount of time in 3 different countries, I can say that most of the people I have made 'friends' with were the type that would only befriend you in that 'setting' (By that I mean the same situation, place & time). If we leave that 'setting' later on, at least a large percentage of us would not think back of the beautiful memories that we shared as they move on to other groups.

Having experienced this, I become very wary of who do I choose to make friends with. My housemate once asked me why I'm so antisocial when we were in Trinity. I did not have an answer for that question at that time. After I studied Psychology in Trinity, I learnt that human actually shut out their painful memories and lock it in the sub-conscious region. However, the feeling would still linger around if a person is placed in the same situation even though they might not recall the event itself. For me, I have the bad dream of having both the memory and the thought stuck in my mind forever....

However, I did learn something out of the event. I became aware of who my real friends are, those that I believe will play a part in the next chapters of my life and also share their joy and pain with me. Since then, I've made it a priority in my life to help friends in need, because I believe they'll do the exact same thing for me if I ever need their help in the future...

New Segment: Leonhart's MiniInnovation

I usually have a lot of ideas that come into my mind as I observe things around me or when I'm just doing some daily routine stuff. Being a commerce student, I'd inevitably think of ways to commercialize those thoughts. Part of the commercialization process is to conduct a feasibility study on how the products would fare in the market and whether people DO really need them. It is often during this phase that a lot of my ideas are phased out since those products sometimes only apply to a small section of the population, which is definitely not enough to attract investors. Nevertheless, I thought it would be fun to see what people actually think of the ideas that I had in the past or those that would come out in the future!

Today I'll start with a new product that came to my mind this afternoon during my 20 mins walk to the Uni. for a swim...

1st item: Underwater Hair Gel

I don't know what it is for other people, but I find it really annoying having to re-gel my hair everytime I have appointment after a swim. It takes quite some time & also I don't feel comfortable with people staring at me when I'm gelling my hair. Obviously it would be good if I don't have to do that and can just walk off after the swim and look the same as before the swim. An underwater hair gel would do the trick as it is not washed off and it won't be necessary to re-apply it again.

Issues: but then there comes the problem: what do we do when we actually need to wash it off if water doesn't do the job? The solution I came up with was that the gel has to be engineered so that it can only be washed off with a combination of water and chemical X, which would come with the gel packaging. This seems to be a reasonable solution, until the fact that people do not actually like putting unknown chemicals on their heads struck me...

Possible idea buyers: Gatsby (the one I'm using now!), etc

Conclusion: This product would solve my problems for me, since I'm really into swimming a lot, but even that would not convince me to actually put chemicals on my head to wash off the hair gel. Therefore, I believe this again will be a flop in the market. Or is it? If people could come up with suggestions on how we can use the gel underwater but still does not present any hazards to the users when we need to wash it off, this could really work!!!

P.S. leave your ideas, suggestions & thoughts in the comments!

Post-exam thoughts

Last exam, added another subject to 'I-don't-really-want-to-know-what-mark-I'm-gettin'-category', which makes the total this semester to 3 subjects!!! In my whole uni. life so far, there was only one other subject in the previous 2 years that I didn't really care to check the mark after it was posted. Statistically speaking, in this semester I've added 300% worth of crap to that category, which is just 'great'... added to the fact that 3rd year subjects are really crucial for employment in commerce, I think I have just added a whole list of reasons for potential employers to use to reject my applications...

I could probably blame a lot of the marks I'll be getting this semester on the standard of the exam papers, which were definitely a lot harder than the previous years'. However, to use this excuse would mean that I have no control over any of the variables that can help me secure higher marks (in economics terms, exogenous variables), which is probably not very true since I could have spent a bit more time on the subjects instead of going off to play baddie at every possible chance! Making the variables endogenous, such as devoting more time to STUDY + allowing plenty of resting time, would definitely allow me to achieve higher concentration and therefore higher marks. Definitely have to take this into account on my next and possibly LAST uni. exam....

On the brighter side, I can finally proceed with the plans that I've come up with, ironically, during the exam period (which, of course, is supposed to be used on revisions.. Just can't get the plans out of my head though..). First up on the list would be to apply for jobs. 2 options for this: 1, to be an unpaid labourer at some offices anywhere, or 2, work night-shifts in Mackers with my friend. My cousin who is doing commerce course in the US encouraged me to get the work in the office as it would definitely make my resume look better, even though the work might just entails serving coffee/tea to some high-level so-called 'executives', who either think they are too important a figures to move their asses, or they are just lazy fat-bastards who can't even get around in the office. Mackers is offering 16 bucks/hr, which would be a welcome addition to my rapidly-shrinking fund....
2nd on the list, make the long overdue donation to the Plan USA fund, which is organising relief missions to help African kids. The last time I've made a donation was 2 months ago, & since I've pledged to donate every month I'll have to donate US$200 this time, which would roughly equate to AUS$270... Which makes the Macker job ever more important... or I'd just have to live w/ 1.5-2 meals a day for the next 1 month.. Wouldn't compare to what those kids are experiencing though, coz they are more likely to live on just 1 meal a day, even after being given aids....
3rd, get back to training & build up my stamina again. Planned to do lots of swimming & track running next week, & of course play lots of baddie!
4th, rest...
5th, rest + watch anime...
6th, rest + watch OC season 2 + lots of other chinese drama series...

Grand plans that would probably use up the whole holiday.. Though the last time I made plans I only carried out 1 out of 5.. We'll see what happens this time..

Stupid Questions People Ask

10 most stupid questions people usually ask in obvious situations and some equally stupid answers:-

1. At the movies: When you meet acquaintances/friends
Stupid Question:- Hey, what are you doing here?
Answer:-Well,it's so hot , there were no cool cabs so I thought i'd watch some advertisements in the cool comfort of the theatre.

2. In the bus:
A fat girl wearing pointed high-heeled shoes steps on your feet
Stupid Question:-Sorry, did that hurt?
Answer:-No, not at all, I'm on local anesthesia..... why don't you try again or should i try this time.

3. At a funeral:
One of the teary-eyed people ask
Stupid Question:-Why, why him, of all people.
Answer:-Why?Would it rather have been you?

4. At a restaurant:
When you ask the waiter
Stupid Question:-Is the "blah blah blah" dish good
Answer:-No, its teribble and made of adulterated cement.We occasionaly also spit in it.

5. At a family get-together.When some distant aunt meets you after years
Stupid Question:-Oh my god, you've become so big.
Answer:-Well you haven't particularly shrunk yourself.

6. When a friend announces her wedding, and you ask
Stupid Question:-Is the guy you're marrying good?
Answer:-No,he's a miserable wife-beating , insensitive lout...it's just the money.

7. When you get woken up at midnight by a phone call
Stupid Question:-Sorry. were you sleeping.
Answer:-No. I was playing cricket for India at Sharjah and just when you called Salim Malik was betting with me that Pakistan would win. What do you think?

8. When you see a friend/colleague with evidently shorter hair
Stupid Question:-Hey have you had a haircut?
Answer:-No, its autumn and I'm shedding......

9. At the dentist when he's sticking pointed objects in your mouth
Stupid Question:-Tell me if it hurts?
Answer:-And while I'm telling you , you tell me if I bite.

10. You are smoking a cigarette and a cute woman asks
Stupid Question:-Oh, so you smoke
Answer:-No, it's a miracle ...........it was a chalk and now it's in flames!!!

Credit: Dirty Dan

Profile: Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali was the undisputed heavyweight boxing legend of the 60s-70s before he was struck down by Parkinson disease in 1982. He is revered in the boxing industry as one of the greatest ever heavyweight champions and one thing that carried him through the tough moments was his determination to become a legend. He has since retired from boxing when he was diagnosed with the disease but endorsements deals had kept on knocking at his door, like the recent Adidas ads featuring him along with a host of other Adidas-sponsored soccer and tennis stars.

His legacy in the boxing ring has been carried on by her daughter, Laila Ali, who is a professional female boxer. Even though she's a good fighter in her own right, it would be hard to see her surpassing the illustrious career of her father anytime soon.

Famous quotes:

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ''Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.''
Muhammad Ali

Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.
Muhammad Ali

Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them-a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.
Muhammad Ali

Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up.
Muhammad Ali

I'll be floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.
Muhammad Ali

I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.
Muhammad Ali

It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am.
Muhammad Ali

It's not bragging if you can back it up.
Muhammad Ali

Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.
Muhammad Ali

What keeps me going is goals.
Muhammad Ali

P.S. Leave your comments (as usual)!

Profile: Steven Spielberg

No one can argue that Steven Spielberg is one of the living legend in the movie industry. Almost any movies that was directed or SIMPLY ENDORSED by him would be big hits in the box office. I really like a few of his movies such as Saving Private Ryan (I only watched the starting part last time, gotta rent or borrow it soon.. any volunteers??), etc etc. Can't remember all of 'em coz they're all so good!

For those not keeping up with the US corporate world, Spielberg is also one of the co-founders of Dreamworks Animation, the company that produces Shrek series and also the currently showing Madagascar. In terms of earnings, Dreamworks still lags far behind Pixar, which is the animation company behind Toy Story, the Incredibles, etc etc. Even so, the endorsement of Spielberg in the Dreamworks future projects will definitely help the company in producing future box office hits soon.

Famous quotes: (When you read this, you will discover that Spielberg also has some humour left in him although we never see any of that in his serious movies)

Why pay a dollar for a bookmark? Why not use the dollar for a bookmark?
Steven Spielberg

I've discovered I've got this preoccupation with ordinary people pursued by large forces.
Steven Spielberg

I dream for a living.
Steven Spielberg

I'd rather direct than produce. Any day. And twice on Sunday.
Steven Spielberg

P.S. Please leave your comments (As usual) if you read this!

Profile: Martin Luther King

Most of us would not know that the western world, including USA which embraces multi-racial harmony so much now, contained nothing more than a collection of racist countries in the 1950s. One good example of that is black people in the USA were obliged to give up their seats on the bus to white people who demanded them under law, which just showed how much favouritism was shown to the whites in the 50s. During these times of racial discrimination, a leader was born, someone who would change the course of the USA history dramatically.

Martin Luther King was, and still is, one of the most respected spiritual leaders of all time. He advocated non-violence protests to pursue civil rights, mostly for blacks, in America during the 50s - 60s. Using tactics formulated by Gandhi during the British occupation of India, he managed to get attention from the government then and secure the civil rights for the blacks (or as they are known in the USA now, African American). He won the Nobel-Prize in 1964 for his contribution to fight racism without violence in USA. He was assasinated tragically shortly after in 1968 but his legacies would remain forever.

Famous quotes (Note: when you read these quotes please remember they were made in the 1960s, when racism was still a huge problem in the western world):

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

The time is always right to do what is right.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

P.S. leave your thoughts (in the comments) if you read this!

Profile: David Letterman

This guy ranks as one of the top comedians in my view. Can't get enough of his shows even though I watch it almost every night when I stay up late. He's also the top-earning comedian in the US, taking home a cool $31 million/season, 7 million more than his closest contestant Jay Leno! For those who hasn't yet watched any of his shows, stay up late one night & I think you'll be hooked for more!

Quotes:

No one knows if Saddam is still alive. They keep showing old footage of him on TV saying that it's live. You know, it's like the same thing we do with Dick Cheney.
David Letterman

People say New Yorkers can't get along. Not true. I saw two New Yorkers, complete strangers, sharing a cab. One guy took the tires and the radio; the other guy took the engine.
David Letterman

The big debate right now is if Saddam is alive or dead. He's dead, then he's alive, then dead, then alive. It's just confusing. Today they showed videotape, and Saddam was speaking at his own funeral.
David Letterman

The Security and Exchanges Commission is going to be investigating Vice President Dick Cheney. They'll begin that investigation as soon as Congress finishes investigating the Security and Exchanges Commission.
David Letterman

USA Today has come out with a new survey - apparently, three out of every four people make up 75% of the population.
David Letterman

Yesterday Senator John Kerry changed his mind and now supports the ban on gay marriages. I'm telling you this guy has more positions than Paris Hilton.
David Letterman

P.S. Please leave your comments if you read this blog!

3rd post exam evaluation

Took my 3rd exam today. Added another item to the 'not eagerly awaited results' category. I always had the idea that I'm gonna struggle in this subject from the start, & I've proven myself correct. Although I had scored 86% in assignments (which is worth 35% of the total assessment), the way I flopped at the exam today will ensure that I will get no more than a pass mark for the subject. I calculated that I need 30/100 from the final exam to pass this subject, which was really my aim at the start of the course. However, after doing past year papers, I started to aim for a bit more since I fared pretty well in answering those questions. My expectations were definitely brought down back to earth after looking at the exam paper today, which was twice as hard as last year's....

To be fair, a pass mark would be what I deserve in this subject since I've hardly put in any work during semester. All the assignments were mostly collaboration of work with my other friends (and when I said collaboration, I really meant that I only contribute around 30% of the work!). Apart from that, I did a few days worth of crash course studying of this subject before the exam. Now, with all that little effort put in, surely I can't expect more than a pass mark? I kept on having the thought that it would not be fair to those people who would have done more work than me but have worse marks.

But who am I exactly to define what's fair? I've been studying for the whole semester for investment & it was 1 of my favourite finance subject so far. Guess what mark I'll be praying for when I get my result? 50%! IS THIS A FAIR RESULT FOR A SEMESTER's WORTH OF CONTINUOUS STUDYING?? I guess not. Everytime I start thinking about how things are unfair to other people, I would always get reminded of my own predicament and I would come to the conclusion 'screw 'em! I'm gonna get higher scores than all of 'em!' Pretty sure I won't be using this sentence in this exam though...

On the brighter side, all my friends doing this subject were complaining after exam 'bout how bad the exam was. This actually made me feel a bit better since they were my 'tutors', the people who almost did the assignments for me! I guess they wouldn't be as stumped as I'm, but they still felt it was pretty hard. The other thing is that finally I won't have to think 'bout maths anymore in my uni. life, as this will be officially the last math subject I have to take. So all is good there.

Next exam is 1 week away. Gonna start revision 2morrow, since there are tonnes of materials to go through. Really like this subject for the presentation part, even though the exam will be of a totally different format. Hope I can do it this time and score well...

People tell me 3rd year subject marks are the most important. Judging by the results I will be getting so far (I'm predicting 1 H2A, 2 passes, & 1 H2B), it really looks like I'll be having a 'bright' future ahead of me. Oh well, there's always next sem to improve my marks on, except that I won't be able to use this sentence again after the next 1.. 'Really' looking forward to what my future holds now...

Profile: Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was an ex US president back in the 80s (I think..). He was an actor before he became the president. Not too sure about his educational background, but I think it would have to be pretty fantastic to make it as the president (Although 1 of his quotes later may say something different about that..). I don't really know much about him, but it seems like he was always surrounded in controversies throughout his presidential career. Anyway, here are some of my favourite quotes:

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.
Ronald Reagan

But there are advantages to being elected President. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret.
Ronald Reagan

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it.
Ronald Reagan

How can a president not be an actor?
Ronald Reagan

I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.
Ronald Reagan

I couldn't help but say to Mr. Gorbachev just think how easy his task and mine might be in these meetings that we held if suddenly there was a threat to this world from another planet. We'd find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this earth together.
Ronald Reagan

Profile: Jay Leno

I know I should go to sleep now, but I can't resist the urge to post this. I'll be fast in this.
All right, I'm pretty sure people who Jay Leno is, though he hasn't contributed much to the world except for helping us to get a few laughs when we're stuffed :) For those people who are not sure who this Leno guy is, I suggest you check out the map for a country called 'USA'

Quotes:

A lot of controversy over this possible invasion of Iraq. In fact, Nelson Mandela was so upset, he called Bush's dad. How embarrassing, when world leaders start calling your father.
Jay Leno

A student from the University of Washington has sold his soul on eBay for $400. He's a law student, so he probably doesn't need it, but still, that's not very much. Today, Hillary Clinton said, 'Hey, at least I got some furniture and a Senate seat for mine.

According to doctors, George Bush has the lowest heartbeat ever recorded by someone in the White House. Well, second lowest. Dick Cheney got his down to zero a couple of times.
Jay Leno

As we head to war with Iraq, President Bush wants to make one thing clear: This war is not about oil, it's about gasoline.
Jay Leno

CNN found that Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America. Women admire her because she's strong and successful. Men admire her because she allows her husband to cheat and get away with it.
Jay Leno

CNN said that after the war, there is a plan to divide Iraq into three parts: regular, premium and unleaded.
Jay Leno

Don't forget Mother's Day. Or as they call it in Beverly Hills, Dad's Third Wife Day.
Jay Leno

Experts say that if we go to war with Iraq, oil could reach as much as $80 a barrel. Of course, after the war it will be free.
Jay Leno

For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber average people in America. Doesn't that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you're average - hey, let's get a pizza!
Jay Leno

For the first time in history, sex is more dangerous than the cigarette afterward.
Jay Leno

Hillary Clinton is getting a little bit of controversy because she has the most expensive hometown office rent - over $500,000 a year. She's in a one-year lease in the office, as opposed to her marriage, which is on a month-to-month.
Jay Leno

I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, "I'd like some fries." The girl at the counter said, "Would you like some fries with that?"
Jay Leno

Iraq began destroying those missiles they don't have over the weekend. See, President Bush may be the smartest military president in history. First, he gets Iraq to destroy all of their own weapons. Then he declares war.
Jay Leno

John Kerry was the big winner in Iowa. Ted Kennedy introduced Kerry as the 'comeback kid.' That used to be Bill Clinton's name - because every time he would come back to a city, he would find out if he had a kid or not.
Jay Leno

Nineteen percent of doctors say that they'd be able to give their patients a lethal injection. But they also went on to say that the patient would have to be really, really behind on payments.
Jay Leno

On Monday, President Bush will reach his 100th day in office. It's a big milestone for him, surpassed all expectations. In fact, so has Dick Cheney. Cheney was only supposed to make it to day 73.
Jay Leno

Saddam Hussein has raised the amount going to suicide bombers from $10 thousand dollars to $25 thousand. What's next, a health care plan?
Jay Leno

The Washington Bullets are changing their name. They don't want their team to be associated with crime. From now on, they'll just be known as the Bullets.
Jay Leno

War continues in Iraq. They're calling it Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were going to call it Operation Iraqi Liberation until they realized that spells 'OIL.'"
Jay Leno

New section

I've always been very interested in reading quotes from famous people (which are probably what made them famous in the 1st place). It enriches the way one looks at things happening around the world currently, even though those comments might have been made at least a 1000 years ago. I've decided to share those comments that I find interesting here by posting quotes from those people & also explain a bit of their backgrounds and what they are famous for in their respective fields.

Today I'll start with the legendary economist John Maynard Keynes. He is probably the most famous economist in the world since all the economics theory being used currently are derived from his work in the 1930s. Some of his works include the Keynesian models for inflation, which are used widely among those Keynesian economists. His ideas courted a lot of controversies during his time & a new breed of economists that opposed his theories emerged. To sum it up, in the economics world, you are either a Keynesian economist or not, which pretty much sums up the importance of his contribution to the economics world.

Quotes:
If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.
John Maynard Keynes

In the long run, we're all dead.
John Maynard Keynes
Explanation: Economics theory are always made for 2 periods: short and long run. Keynes only based his models on the short run period because he thought the long run results wouldn't affect any of the people living in the current period.

Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens...Lenin was certainly right.
John Maynard Keynes

Latest development in EU

The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).

In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik emthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 per sent shorter.

In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by z" and "w" by v

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.

Ze drem vil finali kum tru!

In need of lots of sleeping time...

Haven't slept a wink for the past 48 hrs because of the Investment exam... It wouldn't be so bad if the exam wasn't so tough like today's! Just to give a rough guide, total mark = 100 & divided into 2 parts, A and B. A contains 40% and I answered 36% worth, but not sure about 16% worth of the answer. Section B had 60%, & I answered around 35% worth. Simply left the other 2 blank coz I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what it was about. Well, among the 35% I answered, the ones that I'm pretty sure of is only 15-20%.
Exam is worth 70% of the course. I've scored 21/30 for the other 30%. Based on this, I need to get another 29% to pass, that is 29/70 % in the final exam.
29/70 * 100= 42% in the exam. This doesn't look too hard to achieve if I manage to get all the part A questions right, but I don't think that will be the outcome. ANyway, hopefully I can get a pass for this subject after all the hard work I've put in.... (I was aiming for 75% total but I'll be happy with 51% now...)
Due to all the stress associated w/ memorising numbers, I was unable to sleep for 48 hrs. I've to compensate for all of that tonight before I go for training & also study tomorrow. Can barely keep my eyes open now, so i'll probably post some other things up next time...

21 examples why non-english speakers go nuts....

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.

2. The farm was used to produce produce.

3. The dump was so full it had to refuse more refuse.

4. We must polish the Polish furniture.

5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7. Since there was no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10. I did not object to the object.

11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12. There was a row among the oarsmen on how to row.

13. They were too close to the door to close it.

14. The buck does funny things when does are present.

15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

1 down, 3 to go...

Sleepless nights.. Finally it's over... at least for 1 day... Will have another exam on fri, & the following 1 will be the next thurs... Plenty of time to rest & study, but i doubt it'll help much coz I don't understand a single thing in the subject!

About exam today, turned out to be much easier than I thought. Not that I'm making predictions of getting H1 yet, because if I think it's easy, I'm sure other people will find it the same too. Well, at least I could do all the stuff in there :) Not very sure 'bout couple of stuffs, which might potentially be critical to my overall marks since they carry quite large percentages.. The consolation part is, even if I had studied harder, it would be of no use anyway, since those are not really the typical stuff in the lecture notes..

mmm... gonna go bathe before taking a nap.. nobody will probably see me again till Fri, when I come out from my self-imposed exile. This is really necessary for me to achieve my new year resolution, that is getting into honours next year. Will write more once I get out of the exam on Fri... when you'll either see me bitch or finally have something good to write about...

............

Hmm.. Kind of forgot what I had in mind just now.. Whenever I'm trying to study I'd have thousands of ideas floating into my mind, & when it's actually time to write 'em down they'll be all gone..
I'll leave it here 1st.. going back to study 1st & then I'll definitely remember what I thought of during those torturous hours in Ballieu (though now I think it's a really good place to study & I'm probably heading there again tomorrow...)

lack of sleep makes me dizzy & grumpy....

Went to uni. this morning & found out from my friends there's an assignment due today, which I wasn't even aware of! The next few frantic hours was spent preparing something decent to hand up in Ballieu and I thought given the time constraint, it was a pretty good effort :)
Had lunch in the uni (as you are all aware, i'm not really a cook..) and then came straight home after that for a quick nap... Planned to do some massive studying right after that when I was still in the uni, but something quite unexpected happened..
Normally I would have switched my phone to silent mode when I'm sleepin', & I don't know why I didn't this time. 1/2 hr into my siesta, received a phone call, which I couldn't be bothered to take because the phone was on the table, around 3 m away from my bed... turned out to be a wrong decision coz it just kept on ringing as apparently the caller had left a message... siesta ruined, but that wasn't the worst... called voicemail to retrieve the msg 'hey jeffrey, it's andrew. Just wondering how is it going with the tax income calculations, i will drop by this afterno... toot message deleted'. damned accountant talks... next time please get your NOs. right before you call!!!
& here I'm. for those people who don't know my sleeping habit that well, once I'm woken up I can NEVER get back to sleep again. Plus the fact that I only slept for 5 hrs last night, I'm surviving on total 5 1/2 hr sleep.. Not that bad considering I went on for 72 hrs w/o sleep before when I was rushing my Macroeconomics assgn. in 2nd year.. Uni. life makes me lazy... used to be able to survive on 5 hrs sleep everyday in SG, but ask me to do that now & I would collapse in heaps within a week...

Conclusion: Studying in Uni. does make you SLIGHTLY smarter, but it also makes you MUCH lazier.. Think of the trade-off before recommending uni. to anybody next time..