Post-ValuAir (WAS: postgaruda)

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Application Status...

Some say that "No news is good news." I got to disagree. There has been nearly 3 weeks of idle time, no rejection. So this is not a status update. My status is still the "anxiously waiting for rejections." It's not a good news, nor it's a bad news. So I finally conclude that "No news is not a bad news."

-- mr blog

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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

What you want to do vs. what are you expected to do?

Had a short discusion of the two questions. I surprised to know that there are people who would wants to do what he's expected to do rathen than what he wants to do. Maybe it's also personal encounters that change the way people perceive. But I found myself doing the latter all these years. It's really the time where you decide to take the blue pill or the red pill.

(to be continued)

-- mr blog

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Saturday, March 26, 2005

Effect of using paper to wrap around the fire...

(Prelude: I always like to relate to some Chinese saying/idioms because I admire the wisdom of the old Chinese saying or idioms. I'm going to starting off by saying "紙包不著火")

They finally came to know of it. They only know of my intention by reading a letter that I just placed it in my drawer. but they still dunno exactly details, what have I done in these months. I'm not surprised about it. at least it gives me peace of mind for at least 4 months, a crucial 4 months. Just imagine, by reading a letter and some many questions are asked, i can't imagine if they come to know I did so much behind their back ;(

As what I usually said, whatever done cannot be undone. There's really nothing/no point to explain and to justify. I can only move on... when there is a chance, no turning back...

-- mr blog

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Sunday, March 20, 2005

A Nutshell Review: Swing Girls

From the director of Waterboys comes a new drama-comedy Swing Girls, and I'm a happy camper. I mean, what can go wrong with combining Japanese Schoolgirls (drool?) and Jazz? Absolutely nothing!

The premise and narrative is formulaic for this kind of "feel good carpe diem" shows - a bunch of misfits are thrown together by circumstance, to escape the dread of make up Math lessons during the holidays, they enroll (not voluntarily at first) to form a Big Band, face the great uphill task of getting funds for instruments, rehearsing and getting their act together, before ending it all with a cheery big bang.

But as always, it's the delivery that matters. And this show delivers at all fronts. From the many comedic and zany moments, to preaching "never give ups", the story is breezy and the pacing comfortable. The main leads are rock solid good lookers, while the supporting casts consists of quirky characters, like the rocker chicks (huh? in a jazz band?! watch to find out!), gangster-ish mechanic wimps, and a teacher-maestro wannabe, brings much laughter even though at times their characters might seem one dimensional.

What works is definitely the chemistry amongst the cast. It seems, from the out takes, that they had tremendous fun in making this film, and it shows in the end product.

One gripe you may have about this film is that the band, when they finally get their act together, always seem to play the same old piece, when you're craving for more. Well, that's what made the finale work, by building the expectation, then surpassing it - it's 15 minutes of pure musical splendor, and it really made me wanna stand up from my seat and swing along. Too bad I didn't do that, cos I know the entire audience might just join along with me!

So if you're feeling down, and somewhat bored, give this movie a go, and I'd guarantee, you'll be swinging and jazzing along when you emerge from the theatre, craving for more.

-- an independent movie reviewer from anutshellreview.blogspot.com

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A Nutshell Review: La Peau Blanche aka White Skin

The title of this film doesn't give you a clue as to what it wants to tell. "White Skin" opens with a conversation between two friends, Thierry and Henri (yeah, those of you who know me will know that I am grinning at this - Arsenal's star player is called Thierry Henry, but no, it doesn't make any inference here), they're talking about being coloured (Henri is black, Theirry is white), and touch on racism. This film doesn't pretend that it's not preaching about this topic, but at times when they talk about it, you can't seem to help but think the filmmakers are trying, though without success, to deliver some kind of message across. Peppered throughout the show are conversations that touch upon skin colour, race, "The Original Man", etc. But looking at the theatrical poster, one might be fooled into thinking it's an out and out horror film about new vampires. It isn't. For those who dove head-on into this film, it'll be kinda confusing at first, as the narrative at times doesn't seem to lead anywhere. The first 5 minutes shows the chums engaging with hookers, and all hell breaks loose when Henri is stabbed with a knife by one of the prostitutes. It is also within this 5 minutes that we learn of Thierry's dislike for brunettes (again, not that it is a major plot point or adds to the narrative). However, he finds himself being drawn towards a brunette called Claire in his University, whom he fist laid eyes on when she was busking at the underground metro. They become bed buddies, and although Thierry wants more than sex in a relationship, Claire seemed to be satisfied with the state of things - kind of a role reversal here. She's hiding something from him, and it's not until the last third of the film that we realize what it is, and it's not cancer as originally thought. Sticking to my concept of reviewing, I shall not dwell into the plot from this point on, as it'll lead to major spoilers. This show positions itself more as a thriller and not your outright horror show with ugly monsters, musical crescendos, loud bangs at right moments and blood splattering all over. We are left with wondering what the big secret is, but the slow pace of the film makes it quite a stretch in a theatre seat. Many subplots go undeveloped, or gets lagged as a red herring. Things go full circle when the chums get figuratively haunted by the prostitute who stabbed Henri. This is recommended for one of those lazy weekends when you really got nothing else better to do. So set your expectations right, and don't expect too many memorable scenes from this movie, though it is compensated by a relatively good looking cast. -- an independent movie reviewer at anutshellreview.blogspot.com

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Thursday, March 17, 2005

When does this torture end?

Everyday I wake up, every night before I sleep, I log in to the same webpage, do the same login process and I see the same message, "Your application is currently being reviewed by the admissions committee...." I feel relieved and continue with my work. When will it end?

-- mr blog

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Tuesday, March 15, 2005

When LCD moniter is not a necessity...

... for people to work largely with PC. I am assigned to use the old 17" Sony MultiSync CRT moniter> Placing the moniter and keyboard on the desk, it leaves no space for my hands. I saw there's an LCD moniter (15" inch though) lying around my lab. I finally talk to the office and asked to transfer the monitor. And now I finally typing in front of the LCD monitor again! After 3 months of suffering from radiation.

-- mr blog

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A rejection letter.... from me

(modified from here).

\today

Graduate Admissions Committee
Department of *****
Big Deal University
*****, USA

Dear Committee Members:

Thanks for your letter of March 30. After careful 
consideration, I regret to inform you that I am 
unable to accept your rejection at this time.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in 
sending applications to different gradaute schools 
and receiving an unusually large number of 
rejection letters. With such a varied and promising
field of schools, it is impossible for me to accept 
all refusals.

Despite your outstanding record and previous 
experience in rejecting applicants, I find that 
your rejection does not meet my current career 
needs. Consequently, I will begin taking classes 
as a graduate student in your department this 
August. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Sincerely Yours,
HonL

-- mr blog

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Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Let's say, you are always training hard for long distance events such as marathon race, hoping to participate important competition starting from this year... Suddenly you found yourself laggin behind others, but you can potentially go for short distance events. Will you still go for the training in long distance, or switch to short distance immediately? Or you try to do both, hoping that they will work out fine?

-- mr blog

2 Comment(s):

Maybe, long-run or short-run events are not for me. For short-running, a very important factor is the motivation. You need to have a very convincing evidence to pursue. When you fiind that you are not suitable for 100m, you need a switch to 200m... or 500m. In the end, you might even find yourself failing in every event.

In the end, you are back to the square. =(
By HonL, at 6:30 PM  

Or maybe, you finally tried and participated in some short-distant race. Maybe you can eaily win. Does it really satisfy you? Or you actually want to go for other events? And now I dying to hear something from the long-distant events.
By HonL, at 4:28 PM  



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Monday, March 07, 2005

Thread::fork()...

Forked another thread today, that potentially affect my life. I do hope that I can interleave between these these threads.

-- mr blog

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Saturday, March 05, 2005

Four Down...

Five more to go...

-- mr blog

2 Comment(s):

for the coming week, expect to hear at least one more.
By HonL, at 10:31 AM  

It is now the friday of the week. What is surprising is I still haven't heard of a rejection. I can't say it's bad, but it's not good either.
By HonL, at 6:34 PM  



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Wednesday, March 02, 2005

I trust my feeling...

I think, there's nothing wrong with my 'inferencing engine'. Or should I say, 'inferencing' is just way to presnt my thoughts, and what I think sub-consciously? Usually, I think this feeling is rather accurate. After this, I should have more trust in my feeling.

-- mr blog

1 Comment(s):

there's nothing wrong with inferencing. juz that u hv to know, after your inference process, the answer that u get is not 100% accurate. so the only way to make it accurate to acquire more evidence to support your claim. hahaha sounds like bayes theorem rite?
By Anonymous, at 12:09 PM  



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Does Austin Powers exist in the world?

Answer: I don't know. But I do know Dr. Evil exists.

-- mr blog

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