And... another year has gone by...
And seriously, I can't believe it myself that I am still typing this blog even now. Three long years have passed since this blog had its first post published. It's been a really long time...
Before I go on, have to thank all those people who read my blog from the very beginning (not much of you guys left), and also those new readers who I found out recently or not so recently ^^ Especially some of the guys in the "blogs you should read session", those are the blogs that have somewhat provided a good read for me and some of my inspirations to write, but lets not rake history on this fine occasion.
Anyway, once again, I'll not be around to celebrate the blog's real anniversary (which is, and has always been, the 31st of December). Darn, I just want to spend a quiet Christmas in Singapore and then start worrying about stuff, but hey, guess that won't be the case.
Looking back at this year, its been a year of changes for me.
Of course, the first thing that is going to struck you guys is that I am in JC now, and that is quite a big difference. I mean, new school, new campus, new uniform, new rules, new life (to a certain extent)... and you get the idea.
I think after all the changes of this year, I still miss the good old days. The good old days of being able to laze around in school with my classmates laughing at their daily jokes of daily life while gazing at some of the photos that they have taken in school. The good old days of lazing at the gate during assembly while catching people for being late. The good old days where you have a lot of different rooms to go to to catch up with your friends...
I mean, this are things that can be replicated don't they?
But I guess it can't be replicated entirely, and even if it can be... I don't want that to happen.
That's cause those good old days are in my heart and in my mind. I don't want those days to be clouded over and replaced by something else just as similar as what I am experiencing now. The days that I am experiencing now will also eventually one day be stored somewhere in my heart and mind and I'll, too, look back at it and call it "those good old days"
Do you remember the question of why do we usually hurt the person we love the most?
I finished watching saishuu heiki kanojo (最終兵器彼女）and they sort of answered the question although the question was never really posted in the first place. I forgotten which episode was it but...
It's because you care about the person, and that's when it will really hurt you. Look at it this way, if this person was a stranger. He came up to you and say that you suck. Other then the fact that you would feel like sticking a chair up his mouth and whack him upside down, you won't feel much...
But what about a person who you considered a friend, a confidant, your love? What happens if that same person came up and say that to you? Would it be different? A logical answer would be "yes". Of course it would be different. I mean, would you care about some careless comment on the street being flung at you? or would you care about some comment from a friend who's been with you and understands you for some time?
This of course, illustrates the fact that the only true person that can hurt you are those who you care for and love for. The rest of the people out there, you can treat them as transparent, as not being in existence, but can you do that the same to the people you loved and the people you cared about?
Its hardly possible, and this makes it why only the people you care about can hurt you...
However, this brings us on to the question of "why do we usually hurt the people we love the most?"
Point 1: Lets take a look at the above point, who are the people that can hurt you emotionally? Since you are able to treat those people around you who you don't care as invisible, as not being in existence, we already rule out that the large majority can't be from those who you don't love. This leaves those whom you love. It's more of a perception then anything else...
Point 2: Another possibility is because that that person cares for you. When you do some stuff that may put yourself in danger or something, that's when you hurt that person because the other person is trying to protect you. Its kinda confusing here... but I hope you get the idea...
Of course, there is always this argument that too much love tends to hate (we've seen it a lot of times...) While not necessarily denouncing it as false, its another possible explnation for why you ususally hurt the people we love the most. Cause as you love them, you might just go overboard and start to hate...
But I guess we'll reserve this question to another time...
Meanwhile, on a lighter note, it's the end of 2007. Start cheering cause 2008 is coming along. And as they always say, a new year brings a new hope, tomorrow will be a better day!!
So, to all you guys out there reading this blog and also those who I cherish and spend time with and of course to all you random blog readers who just happen to stumbled on this blog, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2008
(I'll be on the plane then, don't forget to cheer with the rest of the world in that timezone)
Haha, see you guys in 2008! And hopefully we might just see this blog in its 4th anniversary (=
Discmon
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Lessons...
I realised something...
Whenever a holiday approaches, there would be lots of chalet and lots of outing and the like. And as with almost all chalets and all outings, they will somehow, through a series of fortunte/unfortunate events, plan a BBQ...
And when there's a BBQ, you realised that somebody has just got to light the fire. Sure, it may seem like a very simple and basic skill and some people has indeed passed it off as "Somebody with enough sense will come and help us light it in the end". Of course, it quickly becomes apparent during the attempts at lighting up the fire that it will not be the case...
And some people have indeed dismissed it as a "simple act of throwing everything together and putting a matchstick there..."
It's a sad case and it demonstrates that should our generation get stranded on some remote island in the unforeseeable future, we would probably die of hypothermia or the inability to cook anything we see on the island...
Anyway... I went to light a fire yesterday at the 1D (2006) chalet. Yes, they are in secondary 2 this year, but as I don't want to confuse myself, its stuck like this. Anyway, you tend to learn things while you are doing stuff, so...
I've compiled this list of lessons learned (I thought it should look apparent)
Lesson 1: If you are a scout, you better know what you are doing
Well, lets face it...
Which CCA in school starts fire to cook their own food using twigs and sticks?
Which CCA does not use solid fuel as their main form of fuel for their fire?
Which CCA does not cook instant noodle during outdoor cooking?
If your answer to all those questions are scouts, you'll be right.
Thus, you can see that when it comes to fire lighting, a scout better be ready to apply what he has learned over all those years that he has spent living. It would be an absolute disgrace if a scout is unable to start a fire at a BBQ. Come on, its so much harder to start a fire without a firestarter and when you are using plain old firewood.
Anyway...
Lesson 2: Make sure you have everything you need to start the fire
A lot of things can go wrong during a BBQ, and one small little thing you can avoid is to make sure that you have everything you need. At least the most basic stuff such as the following list:
-Lighter/Matchstick
-Charcoal/Firewood
-Firestarter/Kindling
-Tongs
-Metal grill
-Food
Of course, some of things up there aren't strictly necessary, although you might like to take a look at the equation below:
NO TONGS + HOT CHARCOAL = PAIN
Lesson 3: Don't borrow stuff from people
Well actually its quite simple to adhere to actually. And there's a lot of reasoning behind it.
Basically it follows the second lesson, which is to make sure that you have everything needed for the BBQ. If you really do not have the item, do go and buy the item and try to refrain from borrowing from people. The problem with borrowing is that you do not know when the other party might need it back, and this could pose severe problems to your fire lighting process, especially when you have lots of problem on the initial part...
Anyway, there isn't much to say here... haha
Lesson 4: Firewood is different from Charcoal
Ok, technically this lesson would only apply to those people who light fires using firewood before and are quite used to using firewood already.
When you are using firewood, the firewood only supports the fire and its takes a short time for it to be burnt until it can no longer support the fire. However, if the wood is very thick, it will take a very very long time for it to start burning and thus it will not create a huge blaze suddenly.
Charcoal however is a bit different. Charcoal is hard to burn initally but once it starts going.... Nothing can stop it short of water. Seriously...
For Charcoal, white embers is enough to ignite another charcoal simply because it can concentrate the fire inside the charcoal and thus burns at a much higher temperature compared to firewood.
To see a very obvious difference, do the following.
Throw a bunch of firewood on top of a blaze and then throw a bunch of charcoal in a charcoal fire...
For the firewood, you'll see the wood quickly burn and the flame would suddenly become much higher then before. However, it will also quickly die down after that. For charcoal however, the flame would not grow any higher for quite some time. However, once it starts to burn, the flame would really start going up and it will be sustained for quite a long period of time...
Anyway...
Lesson 5: Always have a bunch of jokes handy
This should be quite obvious. Keeps the mood up while you are trying to freaking light the fire. Of course, the joke has to somehow be able to connect obviously. No point telling a primary school kid jc jokes ^^
Lesson 6: Failure is only when you give up
Especially true when you are talking about charcoal as charcoal is ... very easy to light.
All you need to do is to get a large fan, which brings me to...
Lesson 7: GET A BIG FAN -OR- BUY AN ELECTRIC FAN
[Kinda self explanatory don't you think...]
Lesson 8: Have a wonderful time there
Yes, this is the STANDARD for all BBQs. Don't forget to try to start truth and dare, and also to start various gossips and lame jokes. Bring in their brothers and sisters who you might know and you'll start getting really interesting results heh ^^
Lesson 9: Do not kill me after this
Did I mention that lesson?
Haha sure did...
Discmon
P.S. I had a lot of fun there incidentally ^^ Its more of ranting and joking here (=
I know they can take a joke =P
Whenever a holiday approaches, there would be lots of chalet and lots of outing and the like. And as with almost all chalets and all outings, they will somehow, through a series of fortunte/unfortunate events, plan a BBQ...
And when there's a BBQ, you realised that somebody has just got to light the fire. Sure, it may seem like a very simple and basic skill and some people has indeed passed it off as "Somebody with enough sense will come and help us light it in the end". Of course, it quickly becomes apparent during the attempts at lighting up the fire that it will not be the case...
And some people have indeed dismissed it as a "simple act of throwing everything together and putting a matchstick there..."
It's a sad case and it demonstrates that should our generation get stranded on some remote island in the unforeseeable future, we would probably die of hypothermia or the inability to cook anything we see on the island...
Anyway... I went to light a fire yesterday at the 1D (2006) chalet. Yes, they are in secondary 2 this year, but as I don't want to confuse myself, its stuck like this. Anyway, you tend to learn things while you are doing stuff, so...
I've compiled this list of lessons learned (I thought it should look apparent)
Lesson 1: If you are a scout, you better know what you are doing
Well, lets face it...
Which CCA in school starts fire to cook their own food using twigs and sticks?
Which CCA does not use solid fuel as their main form of fuel for their fire?
Which CCA does not cook instant noodle during outdoor cooking?
If your answer to all those questions are scouts, you'll be right.
Thus, you can see that when it comes to fire lighting, a scout better be ready to apply what he has learned over all those years that he has spent living. It would be an absolute disgrace if a scout is unable to start a fire at a BBQ. Come on, its so much harder to start a fire without a firestarter and when you are using plain old firewood.
Anyway...
Lesson 2: Make sure you have everything you need to start the fire
A lot of things can go wrong during a BBQ, and one small little thing you can avoid is to make sure that you have everything you need. At least the most basic stuff such as the following list:
-Lighter/Matchstick
-Charcoal/Firewood
-Firestarter/Kindling
-Tongs
-Metal grill
-Food
Of course, some of things up there aren't strictly necessary, although you might like to take a look at the equation below:
NO TONGS + HOT CHARCOAL = PAIN
Lesson 3: Don't borrow stuff from people
Well actually its quite simple to adhere to actually. And there's a lot of reasoning behind it.
Basically it follows the second lesson, which is to make sure that you have everything needed for the BBQ. If you really do not have the item, do go and buy the item and try to refrain from borrowing from people. The problem with borrowing is that you do not know when the other party might need it back, and this could pose severe problems to your fire lighting process, especially when you have lots of problem on the initial part...
Anyway, there isn't much to say here... haha
Lesson 4: Firewood is different from Charcoal
Ok, technically this lesson would only apply to those people who light fires using firewood before and are quite used to using firewood already.
When you are using firewood, the firewood only supports the fire and its takes a short time for it to be burnt until it can no longer support the fire. However, if the wood is very thick, it will take a very very long time for it to start burning and thus it will not create a huge blaze suddenly.
Charcoal however is a bit different. Charcoal is hard to burn initally but once it starts going.... Nothing can stop it short of water. Seriously...
For Charcoal, white embers is enough to ignite another charcoal simply because it can concentrate the fire inside the charcoal and thus burns at a much higher temperature compared to firewood.
To see a very obvious difference, do the following.
Throw a bunch of firewood on top of a blaze and then throw a bunch of charcoal in a charcoal fire...
For the firewood, you'll see the wood quickly burn and the flame would suddenly become much higher then before. However, it will also quickly die down after that. For charcoal however, the flame would not grow any higher for quite some time. However, once it starts to burn, the flame would really start going up and it will be sustained for quite a long period of time...
Anyway...
Lesson 5: Always have a bunch of jokes handy
This should be quite obvious. Keeps the mood up while you are trying to freaking light the fire. Of course, the joke has to somehow be able to connect obviously. No point telling a primary school kid jc jokes ^^
Lesson 6: Failure is only when you give up
Especially true when you are talking about charcoal as charcoal is ... very easy to light.
All you need to do is to get a large fan, which brings me to...
Lesson 7: GET A BIG FAN -OR- BUY AN ELECTRIC FAN
[Kinda self explanatory don't you think...]
Lesson 8: Have a wonderful time there
Yes, this is the STANDARD for all BBQs. Don't forget to try to start truth and dare, and also to start various gossips and lame jokes. Bring in their brothers and sisters who you might know and you'll start getting really interesting results heh ^^
Lesson 9: Do not kill me after this
Did I mention that lesson?
Haha sure did...
Discmon
P.S. I had a lot of fun there incidentally ^^ Its more of ranting and joking here (=
I know they can take a joke =P
Friday, December 07, 2007
Going "home"...
I think its a great feeling to see everyone in disco all over again...
At first I was worried that all my jokes and common lame stuff that I had built up over the last 2 years or so had disappeared and would not be able to fit in with their humour anymore, but I guess I was wrong when about 5 minutes after I entered the chalet, everyone burst into laughter... from one of my jokes...
So at least I know that I can still fit in to the committee that I feel so bonded to and have made the best out of my 4 years in rv. Which is a good thing as the statement of "Once a disco, always a disco" has a bunch of living walking proofs now.
It was a rainy day, but rainy weather doesn't symbolises sadness and depressness. It all depends on whether or not you can make the best out of it. I managed to find my way to the chalet in spite of the heavy downpour (it was raining for the entire day that day) and promptly frighten Geraldine who was trying to scare me when I was walking into the chalet by scaring her back!! Following that, I counted about 5 minutes later when the first joke came out and everyone burst into laughter.
It suddenly feels like the good old days, like I've never left disco, like I've never left this bonded family and friends to go to this new place called NJC. It brings back a lot of fond memories, of disco outings, of eating food, of playing catch with the latecomers (over-exaggerated on that point, I assure you) After a while, it indeed felt like going home, like I've been there all along, telling jokes for the whole of this year to them and hear them laugh and enjoy themselves at the jokes of my daily life...
Of course, there were a lot of other things to laugh about other then my ridiculous jokes that are derived from daily life. Like Geraldine's obsession with bad people on serials, Weilin being scared of "Scary Movie 4" (what?! Scared of a comedy??), Changlok attempting to scare the 3 girls during the viewing of "Scary Movie 4", trying very very very hard not to walk over to the NP chalet and gloat, Jason's story of his failed flights and failed landings (at least he's still there to talk about it =P), Sebastian fanning the fire trying to repeat what happened at PA bbq (I don't want to talk about it)...
Its a nice feeling to be able to laugh at so many stuffs in our daily life, just looking back at it, I think its one of the most enjoyable days of the december holiday so far where I don't have to worry about things happening at home, at school, at my cca, at my own life...
I hope that no matter what happens, disco will always be together... And even as time goes on, we will all be able to somehow come back together and still have this chalet and the reunion dinner that we always have. Once again, converging together to laugh at the good, normal and bad things in life.
As time went on, we see the senior batches slowly drift away from the rest of us. Their jokes and antics no longer a daily part of our lives, or even a part of the chalet or reunions. I seriously do not hope that that will happen to our batch too, so that we can try our best to go turn up, to be there and to laugh once again at the jokes of our life...
And before I go, that blog song that I added to my blog is dedicated to you guys...
(A LOT of people is soooooooo going to find me and hack me into pieces for adding a blog song to my blog, trust me)
It's a great feeling to be able to go back to a home that you sorely miss...
Discmon
At first I was worried that all my jokes and common lame stuff that I had built up over the last 2 years or so had disappeared and would not be able to fit in with their humour anymore, but I guess I was wrong when about 5 minutes after I entered the chalet, everyone burst into laughter... from one of my jokes...
So at least I know that I can still fit in to the committee that I feel so bonded to and have made the best out of my 4 years in rv. Which is a good thing as the statement of "Once a disco, always a disco" has a bunch of living walking proofs now.
It was a rainy day, but rainy weather doesn't symbolises sadness and depressness. It all depends on whether or not you can make the best out of it. I managed to find my way to the chalet in spite of the heavy downpour (it was raining for the entire day that day) and promptly frighten Geraldine who was trying to scare me when I was walking into the chalet by scaring her back!! Following that, I counted about 5 minutes later when the first joke came out and everyone burst into laughter.
It suddenly feels like the good old days, like I've never left disco, like I've never left this bonded family and friends to go to this new place called NJC. It brings back a lot of fond memories, of disco outings, of eating food, of playing catch with the latecomers (over-exaggerated on that point, I assure you) After a while, it indeed felt like going home, like I've been there all along, telling jokes for the whole of this year to them and hear them laugh and enjoy themselves at the jokes of my daily life...
Of course, there were a lot of other things to laugh about other then my ridiculous jokes that are derived from daily life. Like Geraldine's obsession with bad people on serials, Weilin being scared of "Scary Movie 4" (what?! Scared of a comedy??), Changlok attempting to scare the 3 girls during the viewing of "Scary Movie 4", trying very very very hard not to walk over to the NP chalet and gloat, Jason's story of his failed flights and failed landings (at least he's still there to talk about it =P), Sebastian fanning the fire trying to repeat what happened at PA bbq (I don't want to talk about it)...
Its a nice feeling to be able to laugh at so many stuffs in our daily life, just looking back at it, I think its one of the most enjoyable days of the december holiday so far where I don't have to worry about things happening at home, at school, at my cca, at my own life...
I hope that no matter what happens, disco will always be together... And even as time goes on, we will all be able to somehow come back together and still have this chalet and the reunion dinner that we always have. Once again, converging together to laugh at the good, normal and bad things in life.
As time went on, we see the senior batches slowly drift away from the rest of us. Their jokes and antics no longer a daily part of our lives, or even a part of the chalet or reunions. I seriously do not hope that that will happen to our batch too, so that we can try our best to go turn up, to be there and to laugh once again at the jokes of our life...
And before I go, that blog song that I added to my blog is dedicated to you guys...
(A LOT of people is soooooooo going to find me and hack me into pieces for adding a blog song to my blog, trust me)
It's a great feeling to be able to go back to a home that you sorely miss...
Discmon
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Situations that the government put people through...
Sometimes you will start wondering to yourself if the people in the government has nothing else better to do but to create disturbances in our life...
Anyway...
If you guys had been following the news lately, there have been a news on some shop houses going on fire and because of the way the shop keeper has positioned their wares, the people were trapped without a proper way to escape.
So anyway, this is our story...
My grandfather works in a shop house, not totally for profit but more for having some thing to do while in old age. So anyway, if you want to place any of your wares outside your shop, you will need to pay a certain sum of money ($600 in this case). Now, the bad news is that that area is not properly sheltered and is thus quite exposed to the sunlight and the rain. Most of the shop houses there have thus went to purchase their own "curtains" so as to shield their wares from the elements. This would then make it viable for them to place their wares outside...
Anyway, the cost of using that area has just been paid for. So, things were going on fine....
Until...
Somebody from the government came and say that we MUST take away the "curtain", if not, we must pay a fine of don't know how much money. They gave all the shop keepers a time limit of three days, following which the fine will be imposed and various other actions will be taken.
I have a few reasons to feel that this is not justified:
1. 3 days to remove
Well let's take a look at it this way. This "curtain" is very well-secured and it has been in use for some time already. Sure, we can take down the things in about a few minutes (we took about 30 minutes when we really took it down that night), but have you ever considered about the predicament of the shop keepers? How are they going to display their wares now? 3 days to re-organise your shop is, frankly, too little. You need time to plan and move all your wares such that they can fit inside your shop. This is coupled with the fact that most of the shops there are small shops, thus there isn't this sort of big storage areas where they can keep everything...
3 days to move everything and continue working? You got to be kidding.
2. Why do it after people have paid the $600?
Before we continue, it's good to note the sequence of events that has led up to this scenario:
1. Some people went around finding out if the people wanted to use the area in front of their shop. If the shopkeepers decided to use that area, they must pay $600.
2. Some people then went around in the middle of the night (seriously middle of the night) and then painted down the yellow boxes defining the places where we can put the stuff
3. After painting it, some guy appeared and told my grandparents that they must take down the "curtains". If not, they will incur a fine.
Let's see what went wrong:
-If the shopkeepers had known that they are not allowed to keep the "curtains", I would highly doubt that a large amount of people would not want to continue hiring that space to put their wares since it would mean that their wares would be exposed to the elements
-Under further questioning, the person responded that the $600 are non-refundable and cannot be given back. Which means that no matter what happens, your $600 is stuck, even if you don't use that area because your wares are stuck out in the elements.
From what I see, it sounds like a ploy to earn money. (other then saving people from a fire hazard, which I still don't see how... More on that later) Let's look at it that way, a lot of shopkeepers there are wondering if there is still a need for them to use that area. When the rental notice came, most of the shopkeepers just continue using it seeing as they already have the curtains installed. So after earning a quick $600 from all the shopkeepers, they decided to tell the shopkeepers that "Oh, too bad, no more curtains"...
I mean, look at it this way, it sounds like a contract that gives you all the details minus the fine print, and I don't think we should expect that from the government...
Yes, we all know that the reason why this is being put into place is because of that incident that has happened some days ago. We know that safety is of the most utmost importance for all but is there a need for us to go to that extent. To me, the actions that are being taken seems to be less of safety for people but more of a chance to make money out of a situation...
If you are indeed out to protect the citizens from the dangers of fire hazard and the like, won't it be better to educate the shop owners and the people who live there of the proper evacuation methods should a fire really breakout? Won't it make a lot more sense to tell people what they should do in the real case of an emergency rather then to make the lives of the shopkeeper harder by trying to make them waste their money by making them tear down the "curtains" that they had built themselves several years back, all by themselves?
Let's take this, imagine you are trapped in this building and the building is on fire. Now the fire is raging very greatly and you want to get out of this building alive. You KNOW that there is an escape route somewhere but you do NOT KNOW how to use the escape route to get out of there alive...
This is exactly the same situation that we are seeing for the fire escape route for the shop house. The things are placed in such a method that there WILL be an escape route, a good question to ask however, would be how many people really KNOW how to use it.
When it comes down to it, you are just asking yourself who is the easier person to bully?
Will you bully the shopkeepers? Or bully the public? A lot of time it becomes easier to bully the public, and since there isn't any big shops or big companies in this mix, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to bully everybody...
Anyway, I'm predicting that something like this will happen because its typical of what we have been experiencing...
After about 2 or 3 weeks, some random guy from the government may appear and they will provide all the shopkeepers with this new accessory such that they can shield their items from the elements. This will obviously incur another unnecessary cost on our dearest shopkeepers and they'll have no other choice but to buy it anyway...
So, just my take on the situation, anybody has any comments?
Discmon
Anyway...
If you guys had been following the news lately, there have been a news on some shop houses going on fire and because of the way the shop keeper has positioned their wares, the people were trapped without a proper way to escape.
So anyway, this is our story...
My grandfather works in a shop house, not totally for profit but more for having some thing to do while in old age. So anyway, if you want to place any of your wares outside your shop, you will need to pay a certain sum of money ($600 in this case). Now, the bad news is that that area is not properly sheltered and is thus quite exposed to the sunlight and the rain. Most of the shop houses there have thus went to purchase their own "curtains" so as to shield their wares from the elements. This would then make it viable for them to place their wares outside...
Anyway, the cost of using that area has just been paid for. So, things were going on fine....
Until...
Somebody from the government came and say that we MUST take away the "curtain", if not, we must pay a fine of don't know how much money. They gave all the shop keepers a time limit of three days, following which the fine will be imposed and various other actions will be taken.
I have a few reasons to feel that this is not justified:
1. 3 days to remove
Well let's take a look at it this way. This "curtain" is very well-secured and it has been in use for some time already. Sure, we can take down the things in about a few minutes (we took about 30 minutes when we really took it down that night), but have you ever considered about the predicament of the shop keepers? How are they going to display their wares now? 3 days to re-organise your shop is, frankly, too little. You need time to plan and move all your wares such that they can fit inside your shop. This is coupled with the fact that most of the shops there are small shops, thus there isn't this sort of big storage areas where they can keep everything...
3 days to move everything and continue working? You got to be kidding.
2. Why do it after people have paid the $600?
Before we continue, it's good to note the sequence of events that has led up to this scenario:
1. Some people went around finding out if the people wanted to use the area in front of their shop. If the shopkeepers decided to use that area, they must pay $600.
2. Some people then went around in the middle of the night (seriously middle of the night) and then painted down the yellow boxes defining the places where we can put the stuff
3. After painting it, some guy appeared and told my grandparents that they must take down the "curtains". If not, they will incur a fine.
Let's see what went wrong:
-If the shopkeepers had known that they are not allowed to keep the "curtains", I would highly doubt that a large amount of people would not want to continue hiring that space to put their wares since it would mean that their wares would be exposed to the elements
-Under further questioning, the person responded that the $600 are non-refundable and cannot be given back. Which means that no matter what happens, your $600 is stuck, even if you don't use that area because your wares are stuck out in the elements.
From what I see, it sounds like a ploy to earn money. (other then saving people from a fire hazard, which I still don't see how... More on that later) Let's look at it that way, a lot of shopkeepers there are wondering if there is still a need for them to use that area. When the rental notice came, most of the shopkeepers just continue using it seeing as they already have the curtains installed. So after earning a quick $600 from all the shopkeepers, they decided to tell the shopkeepers that "Oh, too bad, no more curtains"...
I mean, look at it this way, it sounds like a contract that gives you all the details minus the fine print, and I don't think we should expect that from the government...
Yes, we all know that the reason why this is being put into place is because of that incident that has happened some days ago. We know that safety is of the most utmost importance for all but is there a need for us to go to that extent. To me, the actions that are being taken seems to be less of safety for people but more of a chance to make money out of a situation...
If you are indeed out to protect the citizens from the dangers of fire hazard and the like, won't it be better to educate the shop owners and the people who live there of the proper evacuation methods should a fire really breakout? Won't it make a lot more sense to tell people what they should do in the real case of an emergency rather then to make the lives of the shopkeeper harder by trying to make them waste their money by making them tear down the "curtains" that they had built themselves several years back, all by themselves?
Let's take this, imagine you are trapped in this building and the building is on fire. Now the fire is raging very greatly and you want to get out of this building alive. You KNOW that there is an escape route somewhere but you do NOT KNOW how to use the escape route to get out of there alive...
This is exactly the same situation that we are seeing for the fire escape route for the shop house. The things are placed in such a method that there WILL be an escape route, a good question to ask however, would be how many people really KNOW how to use it.
When it comes down to it, you are just asking yourself who is the easier person to bully?
Will you bully the shopkeepers? Or bully the public? A lot of time it becomes easier to bully the public, and since there isn't any big shops or big companies in this mix, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to bully everybody...
Anyway, I'm predicting that something like this will happen because its typical of what we have been experiencing...
After about 2 or 3 weeks, some random guy from the government may appear and they will provide all the shopkeepers with this new accessory such that they can shield their items from the elements. This will obviously incur another unnecessary cost on our dearest shopkeepers and they'll have no other choice but to buy it anyway...
So, just my take on the situation, anybody has any comments?
Discmon
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Event at VIVO + Analysis = Chance to Learn!!
I guess most of you can see by now that this post will be another one of those where I go and dive deep into PA stuff and then leave most of you out there gasping for breath as you try to surface to get a bit of air before you go back in again...
Well, you could say that its becoming a bit of my hobby, but I think its quite nice, and as Eng Yian as kindly put it, we need a LOT of case studies...
So anyway, I was at vivo city today to eat lunch (after ventures) and it turns out that they like to wander around before eating lunch. I happened to run into a PA set-up for a concert to be held at the roof tops of vivo city and... lets just say that I decided to take a closer look =P
Before we go in any further, lets have a brief overview of what the event is about:
This concert is a part of the crime prevention campaign that is being held at vivo city (no prizes for guessing why). Anyway, they had gotten in a PA crew to set up for the concert that they are going to have, and lets just say that the first look of the set up is enough to make me stand up in awe!!...
Anyway...
As you should be able to see by now, the title of the concert is... yup: "Roof Top Jam Dance Party". They mean it quite literally, as the dance party part is happening in the night, but the concerts are still held in the morning and afternoons.
And before we go and plunge our head in, lets have a general overview of how the set up looks like, shall we?
Now as you can see from the picture, this is an outdoor event. However, their set up can rival even that of the most expensive indoor PA system. We will be going in-depth into each section after this brief overview, but lets take a look at the environment first.
Firstly, since the event is held at the roof top of vivo city and is also an outdoor event, the speakers and amplifiers need to be strong enough to overcome the large amount of noises that will be flooding the event spot. As stated by the golden rule, people absorb sounds, and this is further aggravated by the fact that it is a wide open area. Thus, the speakers and amplifiers need to be strong enough to be able to project the music that is to be played to the large audience that should be present there at night.
Because of a lack of reverberation, there can be firstly a lack of warmth in the music. Warmth in music is created through reverberation of the sound wave around the venue. This can seriously hamper a band's attempt to bring soothing and warm music to the audience as the effect may not be there.
The remedy for this would be to either create a separate foldback for the audience that creates an artificial reverb by setting delay using an equaliser, or if the mixer is high-tech enough (Allen&Heath PA12 has this functions), it can create an echo in the main mix as well using the sfx functions. This way the warmth can come back...
Another important thing that the PA crew has done is to set up two separate group of speakers. One group is set to face the audience that can have a seat and watch the event while the other group is set to face the rest of the crowd present at the event. Before we go on further:
If you can see in the picture on the right, the large dome structure that you see standing there is the place where the concert is held. If you noticed from the picture of the overall view above, the event is actually facing inwards towards the audience. So what about those that are at the event but are not seated? The PA crew has them covered and has set up the other group of speakers that I had mentioned to take care of them.
Lets take a look at their speakers that they have set up for the rest of the audiences:
Now, notice that even though this could be considered an auxillary speakers for this event, it is still very large and seemingly very powerful. This is to compensate for the fact that they need the music to be able to cover almost the REST of the rooftop. This way, the dance party can then be carried out and also at the same time, important announcements can be made.
They had also done a good job of splitting this speakers into twitters and subwoofers. This would sure allow the speakers to pack a punch during the dance as each speaker do not need to cover a large frequency range and thus prevent sound distortion. At the same time, it can provide the booming chords needed for the times when you need to get people's heart racing during the dance.
Now, lets head over to the main group of things shall we?
Lets take a look at the... SPEAKERS!!
I must say I am very impressed by the speakers, just take a look at it:
Yes, if you still can't see it, its composed of 3 twitters along with 2 subwoofers (OK, one of the twitters seems to be blocked out). Evidently and also based on some of my assumptions, this is a bi-amp system that uses a crossover to allow each speaker to only have to project a limited frequencies of sound. Before you start going on the question of how many amplifiers they need to do this, let me explain the wiring for their speakers...
Their tweeters are all connected to each other. The idea is something like, they have 2 NL4 jacks behind, and one of them is an input while the other one is an output. (It looks that way). One of the speakers receives the signal and then transmit the signal on to the next speaker. This means that the amplifier powering this set of speakers is probably a bit powerful so that it can do that, but whether or not this is even possible still leaves a lot to be discussed (perhaps we can go and take a look again?) The two subwoofers however seems to be separately wired for the event...
Now, we always hear complaints from performers that they can't hear themselves, but I think this crew has really taken it very literally...
Yea, as I have mentioned, I feel that they have taken it way too literally. If you count all the black boxes on stage that are acting as the stage monitors, there are approximately... seven stage monitors. 4 in the first row, 3 in the back row.
I don't think this is a good set up because there are just way too many stage monitors, and just too many way for feedback to occur here with seven stage monitors. Face it, if seven stage monitors are on at the same time and they are THAT freaking close to a mic... I hate to imagine what would happen. Even Mel was asking how is it possible...
As it turns out, the crew did suffer quite a lot of problems. I was there when the event just started, and they ran into several monstrous feedbacks right at the beginning and then it evolved into an endless whining from the speakers coming at around the high-mid frequency (although I think this has to do with the wiring... More on this later)
Either way, 7 feedback monitors is suicide, but might just be needed for those sort of rock concert that they are going to play around with. And lets just say that we had more then enough of rock concerts for a while after the end of year celebration (I am soooooo not going to get started on that)
Anyway, I went to take a look at their mic placements, and I guess there is somethings we can learn from there as well...
This is their mic placement for their drum set. I know it doesn't look very clear (The camera isn't that powerful). But anyway, there is a mic for each drum and each cymbal. So basically, the WHOLE drum set is mic up to the speakers...
Did I just say that?!
Yes, everything is mic up, and I got no idea how they are capturing it. But I think basically what they have done is to ensure that the gain on this mics are not very high and they use super-directional mics to ensure that they won't pick up the rest of the sounds from the other drums creating a super powerful drum sound coming from the speakers. But it does show what we can do with a lot of mics and a lot of mic points...
Next up, some of the mic placements for the players:
Yes, their mic placement for their saxophone players are very good. If you can see it in the picture, the saxophone mic just happens to be positioned at the correct place for the sound from the saxophone to be captured easily by the mic.
Also, before we move on to the next section of our event analysis, it is to be noted that most of the mics that are used either uni-directional or super-directional. This is to ensure that the mics will capture from one and only one sound source. This will allow the peopel up there to control all the inputs and outputs easily and also prevent situations where a certain sound overpowers the rest because it is picked up by the rest of the mics as well.
Oh yea, just a note before we move on to the lights system.
For all their keyboards, guitars and what-not, they have given them direct insertion boxes, ie DI boxes to send the signal up to the mixer. Its good as it minimizes the problems of using a portable amplifier (end-of-year celebration comes to mind) and also allows a good input to be received to be sent to the speakers (no distortion, no nothing). Unfortunately, the pictures for this section seriously cannot make it, so we're not putting any up here...
Next up, we're onto our lights.
As already mentioned, this IS a dance party (at night that is) so obviously you'll need something to fire up everyone's mood (although a dance party in a crime prevention campaign doesn't seem to exactly fit in). Anyway, lets take a look at their lights...
First off, we go into the simple stage lights, also known as par lights.
If you had noticed by now, this is an outdoor event. Why do I say that this set-up can rival even those of the indoor events? Well, just take a look at the lights...
All those black little things at the top are lights. Their power cables are wired by connecting it to the lights (obviously) and then coiling the cables around the metal all the way until it reaches the source of the electricity. Sure it takes time, but it sure looks good once its done (especially when you can't see the cables easily)
And before you think I am easily impressed...
Here is a bunch of intelligent lights, also known as intel lights. There are 6 intel lights and (not in this picture) 4 intel lights positioned on the stage most likely to provide some background lighting.
Now, I am not pro at lighting and setting up powerful scenes that uses light to convey emotions and feelings... yet. But this seems to be a very versatile set up to allow the PA crew to whip up the mood of the crowd and also generate the effects of slow moving soothing music. Lights are usually very versatile unless your set up sucks, but they may impair your performers ability to perform (which is highly evident during the end of year celebration).
Also, lest you think the lights float up there by themselves...
Here is the control for the height of the intel lights and also where they are placed. The picture is here just to show you how versatile light can be if you have the proper equipments. Tanglin secondary also has a few sets of this light holding structure, and lets just say that their intel lights are the mobile intel lights...
Sorta reminds you of mobile suit gundam... but anyway...
Now, lets take a look at the wiring...
This is where I think the PA crew has screwed up.
The wiring is brought down from the control that is located on top all the way down to the place where the stage is. They had placed all the cables along the same freaking straight line. That includes balanced cable, power cable, light wiring, receivers....
Did I mention lights and sound together?!
Remember me talking about the high-mid whining coming from the speakers? At first I thought it was a ground loop (which can be quite common when your ground sucks or if you have lots of equipments) but the frequency of the buzz is too high for a ground loop. (50Hz in the US and 60Hz in much of the rest of the world). Evidently, it can't be a ground loop, and besides if it is, they COULD have lifted the loop using the DI boxes already ("lift" function inside DI boxes will potentially disable all problems brought about by a ground loop). Its got to be something else.
I've got a feeling that it is due to the light and sound cables being placed together. The current flowing through the cables generate a magnetic field around the cable. This will thus creates the interference. Adding on to the fact that this is a constant interference, and you've basically just sealed the case.
What the PA crew might have done is to lay the lights cable totally separated from the sound cables. That way, less interference could have occurred and thus allow the audience's ear to not be pricked by the never ending high-mid whine...
Now then...
This is the control that was present there. It was located very far away from the stage. There are both pros and cons for this...
Pros
Its location allows it to be at the same spot as where the audience is. This way, the people at control will be able to hear what the audiences are hearing. This allows accurate adjustment and allows the audience to enjoy the performance at the highest standards.
Cons
Its far distance means that it might not be able to consider the audiences that are seated in front (I can imagine an audience being blasted out of his seat thanks to the subwoofers =P). Also, there can be a lot of communication problems between control and backstage bcause of distance. This can be a significant issue especially in such a dance party where the sound of the instruments crashing is often much louder then what you can hear with your ear (Trust me on this).
They are equipped however with headphones and gooseneck mics, but I question the ability of the backstage to be able to hear anything through the barrage of crashing instruments that might happen later on. Also, their's is one way, so backstage can't report anything back to control. That's definitely a seriously bad news. But it might not be that bad since there isn't a curtain...
And that's about it for the evaluation of the event at Vivo City. I had combined my evaluation of each parts as I went along describing so that you guys don't need to go back and forth on this page to understand what is going on.
If any of you guys have the chance or are interested, lets have an outing to vivo before this event is over. That way we can all catch a nice movie, spend time together and also examine a cool PA system ^^
Amount of time it takes to observe a system: 10 minutes
Amount of time it takes to evaluate and analyse: 25 minutes
Amount of time it takes to type this out as an archive: 1 hour 30 minutes
Amount of time this knowledge stays with you: Forever...
Discmon
Well, you could say that its becoming a bit of my hobby, but I think its quite nice, and as Eng Yian as kindly put it, we need a LOT of case studies...
So anyway, I was at vivo city today to eat lunch (after ventures) and it turns out that they like to wander around before eating lunch. I happened to run into a PA set-up for a concert to be held at the roof tops of vivo city and... lets just say that I decided to take a closer look =P
Before we go in any further, lets have a brief overview of what the event is about:
This concert is a part of the crime prevention campaign that is being held at vivo city (no prizes for guessing why). Anyway, they had gotten in a PA crew to set up for the concert that they are going to have, and lets just say that the first look of the set up is enough to make me stand up in awe!!...
Anyway... As you should be able to see by now, the title of the concert is... yup: "Roof Top Jam Dance Party". They mean it quite literally, as the dance party part is happening in the night, but the concerts are still held in the morning and afternoons.
And before we go and plunge our head in, lets have a general overview of how the set up looks like, shall we?
Now as you can see from the picture, this is an outdoor event. However, their set up can rival even that of the most expensive indoor PA system. We will be going in-depth into each section after this brief overview, but lets take a look at the environment first.Firstly, since the event is held at the roof top of vivo city and is also an outdoor event, the speakers and amplifiers need to be strong enough to overcome the large amount of noises that will be flooding the event spot. As stated by the golden rule, people absorb sounds, and this is further aggravated by the fact that it is a wide open area. Thus, the speakers and amplifiers need to be strong enough to be able to project the music that is to be played to the large audience that should be present there at night.
Because of a lack of reverberation, there can be firstly a lack of warmth in the music. Warmth in music is created through reverberation of the sound wave around the venue. This can seriously hamper a band's attempt to bring soothing and warm music to the audience as the effect may not be there.
The remedy for this would be to either create a separate foldback for the audience that creates an artificial reverb by setting delay using an equaliser, or if the mixer is high-tech enough (Allen&Heath PA12 has this functions), it can create an echo in the main mix as well using the sfx functions. This way the warmth can come back...
Another important thing that the PA crew has done is to set up two separate group of speakers. One group is set to face the audience that can have a seat and watch the event while the other group is set to face the rest of the crowd present at the event. Before we go on further:
If you can see in the picture on the right, the large dome structure that you see standing there is the place where the concert is held. If you noticed from the picture of the overall view above, the event is actually facing inwards towards the audience. So what about those that are at the event but are not seated? The PA crew has them covered and has set up the other group of speakers that I had mentioned to take care of them.
Lets take a look at their speakers that they have set up for the rest of the audiences:
Now, notice that even though this could be considered an auxillary speakers for this event, it is still very large and seemingly very powerful. This is to compensate for the fact that they need the music to be able to cover almost the REST of the rooftop. This way, the dance party can then be carried out and also at the same time, important announcements can be made.They had also done a good job of splitting this speakers into twitters and subwoofers. This would sure allow the speakers to pack a punch during the dance as each speaker do not need to cover a large frequency range and thus prevent sound distortion. At the same time, it can provide the booming chords needed for the times when you need to get people's heart racing during the dance.
Now, lets head over to the main group of things shall we?
Lets take a look at the... SPEAKERS!!
I must say I am very impressed by the speakers, just take a look at it:
Yes, if you still can't see it, its composed of 3 twitters along with 2 subwoofers (OK, one of the twitters seems to be blocked out). Evidently and also based on some of my assumptions, this is a bi-amp system that uses a crossover to allow each speaker to only have to project a limited frequencies of sound. Before you start going on the question of how many amplifiers they need to do this, let me explain the wiring for their speakers...
Their tweeters are all connected to each other. The idea is something like, they have 2 NL4 jacks behind, and one of them is an input while the other one is an output. (It looks that way). One of the speakers receives the signal and then transmit the signal on to the next speaker. This means that the amplifier powering this set of speakers is probably a bit powerful so that it can do that, but whether or not this is even possible still leaves a lot to be discussed (perhaps we can go and take a look again?) The two subwoofers however seems to be separately wired for the event...
Now, we always hear complaints from performers that they can't hear themselves, but I think this crew has really taken it very literally...
Yea, as I have mentioned, I feel that they have taken it way too literally. If you count all the black boxes on stage that are acting as the stage monitors, there are approximately... seven stage monitors. 4 in the first row, 3 in the back row.
I don't think this is a good set up because there are just way too many stage monitors, and just too many way for feedback to occur here with seven stage monitors. Face it, if seven stage monitors are on at the same time and they are THAT freaking close to a mic... I hate to imagine what would happen. Even Mel was asking how is it possible...
As it turns out, the crew did suffer quite a lot of problems. I was there when the event just started, and they ran into several monstrous feedbacks right at the beginning and then it evolved into an endless whining from the speakers coming at around the high-mid frequency (although I think this has to do with the wiring... More on this later)
Either way, 7 feedback monitors is suicide, but might just be needed for those sort of rock concert that they are going to play around with. And lets just say that we had more then enough of rock concerts for a while after the end of year celebration (I am soooooo not going to get started on that)
Anyway, I went to take a look at their mic placements, and I guess there is somethings we can learn from there as well...
This is their mic placement for their drum set. I know it doesn't look very clear (The camera isn't that powerful). But anyway, there is a mic for each drum and each cymbal. So basically, the WHOLE drum set is mic up to the speakers...
Did I just say that?!
Yes, everything is mic up, and I got no idea how they are capturing it. But I think basically what they have done is to ensure that the gain on this mics are not very high and they use super-directional mics to ensure that they won't pick up the rest of the sounds from the other drums creating a super powerful drum sound coming from the speakers. But it does show what we can do with a lot of mics and a lot of mic points...
Next up, some of the mic placements for the players:
Yes, their mic placement for their saxophone players are very good. If you can see it in the picture, the saxophone mic just happens to be positioned at the correct place for the sound from the saxophone to be captured easily by the mic.
Also, before we move on to the next section of our event analysis, it is to be noted that most of the mics that are used either uni-directional or super-directional. This is to ensure that the mics will capture from one and only one sound source. This will allow the peopel up there to control all the inputs and outputs easily and also prevent situations where a certain sound overpowers the rest because it is picked up by the rest of the mics as well.
Oh yea, just a note before we move on to the lights system.
For all their keyboards, guitars and what-not, they have given them direct insertion boxes, ie DI boxes to send the signal up to the mixer. Its good as it minimizes the problems of using a portable amplifier (end-of-year celebration comes to mind) and also allows a good input to be received to be sent to the speakers (no distortion, no nothing). Unfortunately, the pictures for this section seriously cannot make it, so we're not putting any up here...
Next up, we're onto our lights.
As already mentioned, this IS a dance party (at night that is) so obviously you'll need something to fire up everyone's mood (although a dance party in a crime prevention campaign doesn't seem to exactly fit in). Anyway, lets take a look at their lights...
First off, we go into the simple stage lights, also known as par lights.
If you had noticed by now, this is an outdoor event. Why do I say that this set-up can rival even those of the indoor events? Well, just take a look at the lights...
All those black little things at the top are lights. Their power cables are wired by connecting it to the lights (obviously) and then coiling the cables around the metal all the way until it reaches the source of the electricity. Sure it takes time, but it sure looks good once its done (especially when you can't see the cables easily)
And before you think I am easily impressed...
Here is a bunch of intelligent lights, also known as intel lights. There are 6 intel lights and (not in this picture) 4 intel lights positioned on the stage most likely to provide some background lighting.
Now, I am not pro at lighting and setting up powerful scenes that uses light to convey emotions and feelings... yet. But this seems to be a very versatile set up to allow the PA crew to whip up the mood of the crowd and also generate the effects of slow moving soothing music. Lights are usually very versatile unless your set up sucks, but they may impair your performers ability to perform (which is highly evident during the end of year celebration).
Also, lest you think the lights float up there by themselves...
Here is the control for the height of the intel lights and also where they are placed. The picture is here just to show you how versatile light can be if you have the proper equipments. Tanglin secondary also has a few sets of this light holding structure, and lets just say that their intel lights are the mobile intel lights...
Sorta reminds you of mobile suit gundam... but anyway...
Now, lets take a look at the wiring...This is where I think the PA crew has screwed up.
The wiring is brought down from the control that is located on top all the way down to the place where the stage is. They had placed all the cables along the same freaking straight line. That includes balanced cable, power cable, light wiring, receivers....
Did I mention lights and sound together?!
Remember me talking about the high-mid whining coming from the speakers? At first I thought it was a ground loop (which can be quite common when your ground sucks or if you have lots of equipments) but the frequency of the buzz is too high for a ground loop. (50Hz in the US and 60Hz in much of the rest of the world). Evidently, it can't be a ground loop, and besides if it is, they COULD have lifted the loop using the DI boxes already ("lift" function inside DI boxes will potentially disable all problems brought about by a ground loop). Its got to be something else.
I've got a feeling that it is due to the light and sound cables being placed together. The current flowing through the cables generate a magnetic field around the cable. This will thus creates the interference. Adding on to the fact that this is a constant interference, and you've basically just sealed the case.
What the PA crew might have done is to lay the lights cable totally separated from the sound cables. That way, less interference could have occurred and thus allow the audience's ear to not be pricked by the never ending high-mid whine...
Now then...
This is the control that was present there. It was located very far away from the stage. There are both pros and cons for this...Pros
Its location allows it to be at the same spot as where the audience is. This way, the people at control will be able to hear what the audiences are hearing. This allows accurate adjustment and allows the audience to enjoy the performance at the highest standards.
Cons
Its far distance means that it might not be able to consider the audiences that are seated in front (I can imagine an audience being blasted out of his seat thanks to the subwoofers =P). Also, there can be a lot of communication problems between control and backstage bcause of distance. This can be a significant issue especially in such a dance party where the sound of the instruments crashing is often much louder then what you can hear with your ear (Trust me on this).
They are equipped however with headphones and gooseneck mics, but I question the ability of the backstage to be able to hear anything through the barrage of crashing instruments that might happen later on. Also, their's is one way, so backstage can't report anything back to control. That's definitely a seriously bad news. But it might not be that bad since there isn't a curtain...
And that's about it for the evaluation of the event at Vivo City. I had combined my evaluation of each parts as I went along describing so that you guys don't need to go back and forth on this page to understand what is going on.
If any of you guys have the chance or are interested, lets have an outing to vivo before this event is over. That way we can all catch a nice movie, spend time together and also examine a cool PA system ^^
Amount of time it takes to observe a system: 10 minutes
Amount of time it takes to evaluate and analyse: 25 minutes
Amount of time it takes to type this out as an archive: 1 hour 30 minutes
Amount of time this knowledge stays with you: Forever...
Discmon
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Things that make you happy
I realised that I had been very happy for the last few days, and I know the reason why!!
It's not because I had completed my holiday homework (which I would be definitely happy to get rid off), nor is it because something extraordinary had happened in my life (It won't for a long long time to come). It's just because there have been a lot of small things that have been happening that have been keeping me happy...
Lets start with yesterday...
1st thing that made me happy
I was able to slack at home and created another brilliant wallpaper for my phone. Ok, I didn't really draw everything by myself. Basically, all I did was to use photoshop and edit out parts of a photo that I need and then put them together in a way that I find that it looks nice. It won't be the first time I had made a wallpaper, but I think it made me able to relax and enjoy putting things together on photoshop. So it contributed to me being happy.
Here's the wallpaper that I made yesterday haha:
You might have noticed that the top of the picture seems to be a bit empty, but that's simply because the top of the phone is more cluttered with text and thus I try to reduce the complexity of the wallpaper by not putting so much things at the top...
Anyway, now on to the second thing that has been making me happy...
I had managed to book the BBQ pit for PA!! It was quite a last minute affair as it turned out that east coast park bbq pit won't be as ideal as what we thought it would be. In the end, the excos called me and asked if I could get a bbq pit at my house there. Of course, this was plagued by much difficulties (which included some family trouble that caused me to be unable to ask them about this). After enduring much difficulties, I finally managed to get to talk to my parents and before too long, I was off to booking the bbq pit.
The good news is that nobody had booked on the ideal date that I wanted the bbq. Therefore, I was very happy about that cause things are going my way!!
And we go on to the third thing...
My eyes did not get worse.
I was seriously worried about my eyes. I had been using the computer quite often over the last few days thanks to the holiday and I had been experiencing those sort of situations where the object you are trying to see starts to go out of focus quite commonly. My eyes are also starting to get tired more easily, and I was hoping that my eye won't get any worse (any worse and I'll be blind without my spectacles).
Anyway, with my spectacles spoilt again (my spectacles ALWAYS spoil), I decided that it's time to go for an eye check-up, and at the same time get a new pair of spectacles. After some careful examinations, it is concluded that my eyes have not became worse and all I needed was a new pair of glasses as my current ones is nearly beyond repair...
So yea, I am happy about that ^^ It shows that my short-sightedness and astigmatism would probably not get any worse then this.
Now lets see, what's the 4th thing.
Oh yea, it is being outside of the house. I don't know why, but somehow, I like it when I am outside of the home and am all by myself. I kinda like being able to go around Singapore by myself without any interference and just do random stuff such as visiting shopping centers to check on things and possibly run into people I know accidentally and have short chit-chats... Sounds kinda like a slacker eh?
Anyway, I went to funan to check on the price of a Nintento Wii console, and I guess being outside by itself is a very happy thing. All I had to worry about is to get myself home safe and sound and not to get into any big troubles while I am out there (that hasn't really happened... yet)
Ok, that's what happened yesterday, today...
Today, I think I am happy because I met everyone in 4D again.
To me, 4D is very different to all the other classes that I have had. 4D is a very noisy class and lets just say that the class is usually in a state of "organised chaos".(If chaos can be organised, that is...) I guess I am missing that state of organised chaos, where things such as calling other people's names in a funny way, doing childish stuff, talking about politics in a fun way and targeting 4A with all our actions are normal everyday stuff.
I miss the calling names session every morning too...
"Caiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-zhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"
"bobobobobobobo-yuan
"CHYUAN-sheng"
"marTIN"
Yea, the list goes on...
And I think its just this great feeling to see everyone all over again, seeing their happy faces and learning about the funny stuff and the crap stuff that has been happening in each other's school. Another great thing is that we somehow all have a common interest in computer games (ok, some of us) and I think that really sets them apart from all the other classes which I had came from. People nowadays are getting more and more studious, so studious in fact they are starting to eat books, and I just missed the days where everyone just drop whatever homework they are doing and start doing some fun stuff together...
Yea, sorry no photos (because I don't like taking photos of people) but lets just say that today is those days that will stay vivid for some time.
And oh yea, today I am the main cook for the bbq all over again. I think I did a great job !!
We'll let those who went to the bbq to comment on that statement =P
Looking back at it all, it actually isn't that hard to make yourself happy. We have seen countless stories of people throwing their life away as they struggle to earn cash in what they hoped was the path to happiness. We had heard tales of people trying to achieve something but in the end, they lost their happiness.
Happiness is always there, always present, just waiting for you to embrace it, for you to accept it with your hearts. Its the simple things in life that makes you happy and keeps you going on in this, perhaps, dark world...
So, wake up to a smile... The world is waiting for you!!
Dedicated to all you people out there!
Discmon
It's not because I had completed my holiday homework (which I would be definitely happy to get rid off), nor is it because something extraordinary had happened in my life (It won't for a long long time to come). It's just because there have been a lot of small things that have been happening that have been keeping me happy...
Lets start with yesterday...
1st thing that made me happy
I was able to slack at home and created another brilliant wallpaper for my phone. Ok, I didn't really draw everything by myself. Basically, all I did was to use photoshop and edit out parts of a photo that I need and then put them together in a way that I find that it looks nice. It won't be the first time I had made a wallpaper, but I think it made me able to relax and enjoy putting things together on photoshop. So it contributed to me being happy.
Here's the wallpaper that I made yesterday haha:
You might have noticed that the top of the picture seems to be a bit empty, but that's simply because the top of the phone is more cluttered with text and thus I try to reduce the complexity of the wallpaper by not putting so much things at the top...
Anyway, now on to the second thing that has been making me happy...
I had managed to book the BBQ pit for PA!! It was quite a last minute affair as it turned out that east coast park bbq pit won't be as ideal as what we thought it would be. In the end, the excos called me and asked if I could get a bbq pit at my house there. Of course, this was plagued by much difficulties (which included some family trouble that caused me to be unable to ask them about this). After enduring much difficulties, I finally managed to get to talk to my parents and before too long, I was off to booking the bbq pit.
The good news is that nobody had booked on the ideal date that I wanted the bbq. Therefore, I was very happy about that cause things are going my way!!
And we go on to the third thing...
My eyes did not get worse.
I was seriously worried about my eyes. I had been using the computer quite often over the last few days thanks to the holiday and I had been experiencing those sort of situations where the object you are trying to see starts to go out of focus quite commonly. My eyes are also starting to get tired more easily, and I was hoping that my eye won't get any worse (any worse and I'll be blind without my spectacles).
Anyway, with my spectacles spoilt again (my spectacles ALWAYS spoil), I decided that it's time to go for an eye check-up, and at the same time get a new pair of spectacles. After some careful examinations, it is concluded that my eyes have not became worse and all I needed was a new pair of glasses as my current ones is nearly beyond repair...
So yea, I am happy about that ^^ It shows that my short-sightedness and astigmatism would probably not get any worse then this.
Now lets see, what's the 4th thing.
Oh yea, it is being outside of the house. I don't know why, but somehow, I like it when I am outside of the home and am all by myself. I kinda like being able to go around Singapore by myself without any interference and just do random stuff such as visiting shopping centers to check on things and possibly run into people I know accidentally and have short chit-chats... Sounds kinda like a slacker eh?
Anyway, I went to funan to check on the price of a Nintento Wii console, and I guess being outside by itself is a very happy thing. All I had to worry about is to get myself home safe and sound and not to get into any big troubles while I am out there (that hasn't really happened... yet)
Ok, that's what happened yesterday, today...
Today, I think I am happy because I met everyone in 4D again.
To me, 4D is very different to all the other classes that I have had. 4D is a very noisy class and lets just say that the class is usually in a state of "organised chaos".(If chaos can be organised, that is...) I guess I am missing that state of organised chaos, where things such as calling other people's names in a funny way, doing childish stuff, talking about politics in a fun way and targeting 4A with all our actions are normal everyday stuff.
I miss the calling names session every morning too...
"Caiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-zhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii"
"bobobobobobobo-yuan
"CHYUAN-sheng"
"marTIN"
Yea, the list goes on...
And I think its just this great feeling to see everyone all over again, seeing their happy faces and learning about the funny stuff and the crap stuff that has been happening in each other's school. Another great thing is that we somehow all have a common interest in computer games (ok, some of us) and I think that really sets them apart from all the other classes which I had came from. People nowadays are getting more and more studious, so studious in fact they are starting to eat books, and I just missed the days where everyone just drop whatever homework they are doing and start doing some fun stuff together...
Yea, sorry no photos (because I don't like taking photos of people) but lets just say that today is those days that will stay vivid for some time.
And oh yea, today I am the main cook for the bbq all over again. I think I did a great job !!
We'll let those who went to the bbq to comment on that statement =P
Looking back at it all, it actually isn't that hard to make yourself happy. We have seen countless stories of people throwing their life away as they struggle to earn cash in what they hoped was the path to happiness. We had heard tales of people trying to achieve something but in the end, they lost their happiness.
Happiness is always there, always present, just waiting for you to embrace it, for you to accept it with your hearts. Its the simple things in life that makes you happy and keeps you going on in this, perhaps, dark world...
So, wake up to a smile... The world is waiting for you!!
Dedicated to all you people out there!
Discmon
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Mediacorp + PA = Improvements
I guess some of you guys out there might have received a frantic sms earlier today which goes along the line of: "OMG!! There is some freaking big event at JEC!!!! COME COME COME !!!!!"
Ok, I exaggerated the contents of the SMS, but it did go along something like that. Their system is quite well prepared and yup, this is for the record ^^
Basically, what happened is that I ran into the filming session of the current affairs show in Singapore "有话就说". Other then the fact that some times their comments are seriously shallow and their topics do not usually go into the really important issues in daily life that we talk about daily, their show is pretty much ok!
Anyway, I had learnt previously that this show do their filming at different shopping malls every week, and they are hoping that one day, some members of the public might just come up and start a conversation with them. (in fact, that was the original aim of the series and was also the very reason why it stood out from the rest) This is the second time I ran into them and lets just say that I couldn't resist myself from stopping and taking a very close inspection of their system...
Basically from preliminary examination of the system, they basically comprise of three distinct system, which you can see in the photographs below:
These three photos are basically placed in the order in which they were arranged there. My technical skills are not up to the standards of mediacorp yet, but based on observations, I can deduce what each section does...
I shall now move into each of the sections, based on which one I perceive receives the first input.
The first section to receive the input is the second section, the one where you can see the tv screen in front of the two person sitting at the mixer. Their main job is most likely to control the amount of output for each of the cordless mics that were used. They had used a total of 11 cordless mics.
If you can count the number of receivers on the rack, there are also 11 receivers.
The output that they have obtained is sent out to the first section.
The first section consists of one mixer and a bunch of amplifiers. Basically what I think it does is this:
It takes in the output from the second section and then its main job is to
1) Record the signal to tape for post-filming editing and what not
2) To be broadcast to the public
This is especially true since there is a large amount of public audience there listening to the talk, and they have already set up two speakers there to broadcast what is going on to the public.
Section three consists basically of the visual component of the recording process and also the place where the director does her work. The third section can be split into two distinct groups...
The first section correlates to basically the rest of the video taping crew, whose main job, I believe, is to capture the footages that were being used during the actual process. This is more complicated then how it sounds. Just look at the whole length of the set up there that is used for capturing the videos...
The second section is basically where the
director does her work. If you can see the small little black gooseneck on her table, this gooseneck mic sends signals from the director directly to the host of the show so that the director can instruct the host what to do should the director feel that something should be done. Also, notice the large amount of screens that are in front of the director? This screens are used by the director to determine which camera should be used at a particular time for the final show...
Oh yea, there is also the cameras section...
For this particular shoot, 4 cameras were used. One was trained on the overall view of the layout of the show, one was on the host, one was on the group on the right, and the last one was on the group on the left usually. In this way, the director can quickly adjust his camera angles by switching cameras to obtain the view that she wants her viewers to see...
Anyway, now on to the technical aspects that we have learned today:
1) The reason why cordless mics are used.
-Corded mics are not used because it would be a great hassle. Just imagine if you have approximately 11 cables running up and down the stage connecting the participants of the show to the mix. It would not only add complication to the event at hand, and will also drastically increase problems with troubleshooting should such a need arises
-Condensers are also not used because it would have picked up too much background noise and this will have a seriously negative impact on post-filming. Also, the condenser would have been located at a large distance away from the source and this could result in cancellation due to sound waves not being in phase. This is especially true when the venue isn't built for acoustics.
-Cordless mics are used because they do not create a huge mess on the stage and also at the same time, can be very close to the original source of the sound. Through that, chances of feedback, cancellation caused by reflective surfaces and capturing of unwanted noises are very largely reduced. Thus, cordless mics are best in this situation, although interference caused by near-frequency wave are not unheard of.
2) Each cordless mics had its own receivers
-This is because when two mics share the same receiver, the receiver will not be able to receive both signals at the same time. If one mic sends out a signal, it will cancel out the signal from the other mic because the receiver cannot handle this. This will thus allow the event to run smoothly because there will not be cut-off resulting from mics use and it might also be easier to troubleshoot should a mic be faulty during the shooting process
3)Stage monitors
-A single stage monitor was used in the recording process. The stage monitor was placed right at the front where most of the participants of the show will not approach. This reduces the possibility of feedback occurring and in fact, should totally negate feedback because the stage has been built in such a way that no one will reach there. A very good learning point...
4)Backstage crews
-For this filming session, there wasn't a very physical backstage crew. But it is still somewhat present to some extent. Instead of running out to solve problems, they had (most likely) foreseen most problems and thus do not have to worry about them at all. Should there be any problems, they address it during the commercial break when the cameras stop rolling, thus allowing the event to be very smooth when you see it on TV.
-Also, the backstage crew have very good communication with the director running the show (remember her gooseneck?).Other then that, each member of the control crew also have a headphone. This must most likely act as either a control monitor, a director instruction receiver, or both. By using the headphone, they reduce the possibility of feedback caused by control monitors (This is VERY rare by the way)
Time for us to improve and apply what we have learnt!!
I'll upload the rest of the photos that I have taken when I have the time haha ^^
Discmon
Ok, I exaggerated the contents of the SMS, but it did go along something like that. Their system is quite well prepared and yup, this is for the record ^^
Basically, what happened is that I ran into the filming session of the current affairs show in Singapore "有话就说". Other then the fact that some times their comments are seriously shallow and their topics do not usually go into the really important issues in daily life that we talk about daily, their show is pretty much ok!
Anyway, I had learnt previously that this show do their filming at different shopping malls every week, and they are hoping that one day, some members of the public might just come up and start a conversation with them. (in fact, that was the original aim of the series and was also the very reason why it stood out from the rest) This is the second time I ran into them and lets just say that I couldn't resist myself from stopping and taking a very close inspection of their system...
Basically from preliminary examination of the system, they basically comprise of three distinct system, which you can see in the photographs below:
These three photos are basically placed in the order in which they were arranged there. My technical skills are not up to the standards of mediacorp yet, but based on observations, I can deduce what each section does...
I shall now move into each of the sections, based on which one I perceive receives the first input.The first section to receive the input is the second section, the one where you can see the tv screen in front of the two person sitting at the mixer. Their main job is most likely to control the amount of output for each of the cordless mics that were used. They had used a total of 11 cordless mics.
If you can count the number of receivers on the rack, there are also 11 receivers.
The output that they have obtained is sent out to the first section.
The first section consists of one mixer and a bunch of amplifiers. Basically what I think it does is this:It takes in the output from the second section and then its main job is to
1) Record the signal to tape for post-filming editing and what not
2) To be broadcast to the public
This is especially true since there is a large amount of public audience there listening to the talk, and they have already set up two speakers there to broadcast what is going on to the public.
Section three consists basically of the visual component of the recording process and also the place where the director does her work. The third section can be split into two distinct groups...
The first section correlates to basically the rest of the video taping crew, whose main job, I believe, is to capture the footages that were being used during the actual process. This is more complicated then how it sounds. Just look at the whole length of the set up there that is used for capturing the videos...The second section is basically where the
director does her work. If you can see the small little black gooseneck on her table, this gooseneck mic sends signals from the director directly to the host of the show so that the director can instruct the host what to do should the director feel that something should be done. Also, notice the large amount of screens that are in front of the director? This screens are used by the director to determine which camera should be used at a particular time for the final show...
Oh yea, there is also the cameras section...For this particular shoot, 4 cameras were used. One was trained on the overall view of the layout of the show, one was on the host, one was on the group on the right, and the last one was on the group on the left usually. In this way, the director can quickly adjust his camera angles by switching cameras to obtain the view that she wants her viewers to see...
Anyway, now on to the technical aspects that we have learned today:
1) The reason why cordless mics are used.
-Corded mics are not used because it would be a great hassle. Just imagine if you have approximately 11 cables running up and down the stage connecting the participants of the show to the mix. It would not only add complication to the event at hand, and will also drastically increase problems with troubleshooting should such a need arises
-Condensers are also not used because it would have picked up too much background noise and this will have a seriously negative impact on post-filming. Also, the condenser would have been located at a large distance away from the source and this could result in cancellation due to sound waves not being in phase. This is especially true when the venue isn't built for acoustics.
-Cordless mics are used because they do not create a huge mess on the stage and also at the same time, can be very close to the original source of the sound. Through that, chances of feedback, cancellation caused by reflective surfaces and capturing of unwanted noises are very largely reduced. Thus, cordless mics are best in this situation, although interference caused by near-frequency wave are not unheard of.
2) Each cordless mics had its own receivers
-This is because when two mics share the same receiver, the receiver will not be able to receive both signals at the same time. If one mic sends out a signal, it will cancel out the signal from the other mic because the receiver cannot handle this. This will thus allow the event to run smoothly because there will not be cut-off resulting from mics use and it might also be easier to troubleshoot should a mic be faulty during the shooting process
3)Stage monitors-A single stage monitor was used in the recording process. The stage monitor was placed right at the front where most of the participants of the show will not approach. This reduces the possibility of feedback occurring and in fact, should totally negate feedback because the stage has been built in such a way that no one will reach there. A very good learning point...
4)Backstage crews
-For this filming session, there wasn't a very physical backstage crew. But it is still somewhat present to some extent. Instead of running out to solve problems, they had (most likely) foreseen most problems and thus do not have to worry about them at all. Should there be any problems, they address it during the commercial break when the cameras stop rolling, thus allowing the event to be very smooth when you see it on TV.
-Also, the backstage crew have very good communication with the director running the show (remember her gooseneck?).Other then that, each member of the control crew also have a headphone. This must most likely act as either a control monitor, a director instruction receiver, or both. By using the headphone, they reduce the possibility of feedback caused by control monitors (This is VERY rare by the way)
Time for us to improve and apply what we have learnt!!
I'll upload the rest of the photos that I have taken when I have the time haha ^^
Discmon
Monday, October 22, 2007
End of year celebration...
...And the year-end celebration event is finally over. Its given most of the people in PA a lot of headache, a lot of new jokes to crack, more experiences to boot and also the realisation of how a ground loop occurs...
But anyway, following the lead of Siyuan and also Eng Yian, I thought its time for me to bring out another contextualisation of the events that has occurred...
With the end of the first utopian year, the monarch decides that its time to wage a war against our neighbouring kingdom to prove how strong we really are. Province PA was asked to conduct large scale intel gathering operation, using both CBs, SoM, SoS and Survey. However, this was met with large scale resistance from the rival kingdom who has casted magic shield, minor protection and greater protection on their provinces in anticipation of Province PA intel gathering attempt. Also, province PA was all by themselves in this information gathering process as others were all trying to get ready for the war that is going to occur
Just as Province PA reports that the intel gathering process has been largely a failure, the monarch orders that the war be declared. Province PA makes a lot of noise that there isn't enough information to substantiate that we will be able to win this war but the monarch doesn't care much and continues on with the assault. The slightly larger province in the kingdoms tries to share their CBs, SoS, SoM and Survey using utopiapimp, but the information was either out of date or inaccurate. Province PA attempts to point this out to the monarch, which the monarch listens but did not attempt to correct anything as it is already too late as war has already been declared. At the same time, Province PA was attacked by a stream of meteor showers...
At the beginning of the war, not all the provinces check the forums regularly, resulting in less then half of the kingdoms taking part in the war. Province SC which is supposed to coordinate the attacking forces are not able to fully execute their plan due to lack of commitment from the rest of the province who are unenthusiastic about the war. Province PA criticise the monarch on what has happened and attempts to get some things done...
In the second final battle that would mark the end of the war, Province SC is finally able to get most of the people there, probably because the rest of the kingdom realises that there is a need to be active or they'll be wiped off the map thanks to intra-kingdom conflicts. At the same time, CBs, SoM, SoS and survey finally starts to yield positive results for Province PA in their information gathering attempt. Province PA is shocked by the information gathered and attempts to control the situation by sending out additional reinforcements to handicap the opponents main attacking forces...
On the eve of the final battle, Province PA was finally able to receive the promised aid that Province SC has announced at the beginning of the war. As the soldiers come in, Province PA realises that there is a need to quickly train them up to be elites. Faced with no other choice, Province PA decides to send them for accelerated training, casting patriotism on themselves at the same time in a hope that they can get the required reinforcements by the time the final attack begins.
On the day of the final attack, Province PA decided to split its forces into three distinct forces, each commanded by its own general. Meanwhile, Province SC starts the main attack long before Province PA forces are ready due to Province SC mentality of having the first strike.is an additional advantage. Province PA first strike team responded after hearing what is happening in Province SC. Province PA sends in the first aid team to prepare the Province SC. However, Province SC somehow cheats the game system and denies the trade balance due to Province PA. Province PA grumbles but does not receive any positive results, this causes Province PA to prepare a retaliation against Province SC after the war is over. Currently this has resulted in meteor shower and thief ops being conducted on Province SC.
During the actual attack, Province PA broke up into three province to better coordinate the attacking forces on the enemy kingdom, while Province SC continues the attack as one main attacking force.
The first attacking province begins the attack on the enemy kingdom and face heavy resistance. However, the rest of the kingdom did not check the forum during this period of time, resulting in the first attacking province suffering from heavy retaliation after the initial failed attack. Even after posting of urgent messages to the other provinces, little help was provided due to the unintelligible communication.
Second attacking province starts to get bombarded by large amount of communique from the Province SC and also from higher command. As second attacking province tries to coordinate what has happened, third province attempts to find out what the heck is going on, casting SoM and SoS on each other. Resulting in large amount of confusion especially on higher command.
Mercenaries that were hired started imposing its own methods of attack that did not take into account what we had planned originally. The mercenaries casted meteor shower on the province that Province PA was attacking, resulting in heavy casualties as the third attacking province begins its weakening attempt on the opponent kingdom.
First attacking province meanwhile runs into big problem as it finds itself on the verge of collapse. Higher command finally gets through the communication blackout with the first attacking province and immediately sends in large amount of aid and at the same time reestablish communication with first attacking province. Province SC at the same time somehow misfires and begins intra-kingdom conflict against the first and second attacking province while war was still begin carried out. First and second attacking province silently fights off Province SC while higher commands notes what is going on and attempts to find out what the heck is going on by casting crystal eye.
Finally the monarch realising what is happening, decides to order for a mutual peace, which was quickly accepted by the opponent who had more then enough fun taking over the honour of the first attacking province. Second and third attacking province falls back and regroups while first attacking province attempts to mop up what is going on the stage.
However, higher command was not very sure of what is going on because thief ops and unsuccessful spell casts are not part of the info provided on the paper. You can read the first battalion accounts on Eng Yian's blog and the second battalion accounts on Siyuan's blog.
Meanwhile, intra-kingdom conflicts has begun, mainly due to the outstanding trade balance issues that Province PA isn't very happy about.
Discmon
But anyway, following the lead of Siyuan and also Eng Yian, I thought its time for me to bring out another contextualisation of the events that has occurred...
With the end of the first utopian year, the monarch decides that its time to wage a war against our neighbouring kingdom to prove how strong we really are. Province PA was asked to conduct large scale intel gathering operation, using both CBs, SoM, SoS and Survey. However, this was met with large scale resistance from the rival kingdom who has casted magic shield, minor protection and greater protection on their provinces in anticipation of Province PA intel gathering attempt. Also, province PA was all by themselves in this information gathering process as others were all trying to get ready for the war that is going to occur
Just as Province PA reports that the intel gathering process has been largely a failure, the monarch orders that the war be declared. Province PA makes a lot of noise that there isn't enough information to substantiate that we will be able to win this war but the monarch doesn't care much and continues on with the assault. The slightly larger province in the kingdoms tries to share their CBs, SoS, SoM and Survey using utopiapimp, but the information was either out of date or inaccurate. Province PA attempts to point this out to the monarch, which the monarch listens but did not attempt to correct anything as it is already too late as war has already been declared. At the same time, Province PA was attacked by a stream of meteor showers...
At the beginning of the war, not all the provinces check the forums regularly, resulting in less then half of the kingdoms taking part in the war. Province SC which is supposed to coordinate the attacking forces are not able to fully execute their plan due to lack of commitment from the rest of the province who are unenthusiastic about the war. Province PA criticise the monarch on what has happened and attempts to get some things done...
In the second final battle that would mark the end of the war, Province SC is finally able to get most of the people there, probably because the rest of the kingdom realises that there is a need to be active or they'll be wiped off the map thanks to intra-kingdom conflicts. At the same time, CBs, SoM, SoS and survey finally starts to yield positive results for Province PA in their information gathering attempt. Province PA is shocked by the information gathered and attempts to control the situation by sending out additional reinforcements to handicap the opponents main attacking forces...
On the eve of the final battle, Province PA was finally able to receive the promised aid that Province SC has announced at the beginning of the war. As the soldiers come in, Province PA realises that there is a need to quickly train them up to be elites. Faced with no other choice, Province PA decides to send them for accelerated training, casting patriotism on themselves at the same time in a hope that they can get the required reinforcements by the time the final attack begins.
On the day of the final attack, Province PA decided to split its forces into three distinct forces, each commanded by its own general. Meanwhile, Province SC starts the main attack long before Province PA forces are ready due to Province SC mentality of having the first strike.is an additional advantage. Province PA first strike team responded after hearing what is happening in Province SC. Province PA sends in the first aid team to prepare the Province SC. However, Province SC somehow cheats the game system and denies the trade balance due to Province PA. Province PA grumbles but does not receive any positive results, this causes Province PA to prepare a retaliation against Province SC after the war is over. Currently this has resulted in meteor shower and thief ops being conducted on Province SC.
During the actual attack, Province PA broke up into three province to better coordinate the attacking forces on the enemy kingdom, while Province SC continues the attack as one main attacking force.
The first attacking province begins the attack on the enemy kingdom and face heavy resistance. However, the rest of the kingdom did not check the forum during this period of time, resulting in the first attacking province suffering from heavy retaliation after the initial failed attack. Even after posting of urgent messages to the other provinces, little help was provided due to the unintelligible communication.
Second attacking province starts to get bombarded by large amount of communique from the Province SC and also from higher command. As second attacking province tries to coordinate what has happened, third province attempts to find out what the heck is going on, casting SoM and SoS on each other. Resulting in large amount of confusion especially on higher command.
Mercenaries that were hired started imposing its own methods of attack that did not take into account what we had planned originally. The mercenaries casted meteor shower on the province that Province PA was attacking, resulting in heavy casualties as the third attacking province begins its weakening attempt on the opponent kingdom.
First attacking province meanwhile runs into big problem as it finds itself on the verge of collapse. Higher command finally gets through the communication blackout with the first attacking province and immediately sends in large amount of aid and at the same time reestablish communication with first attacking province. Province SC at the same time somehow misfires and begins intra-kingdom conflict against the first and second attacking province while war was still begin carried out. First and second attacking province silently fights off Province SC while higher commands notes what is going on and attempts to find out what the heck is going on by casting crystal eye.
Finally the monarch realising what is happening, decides to order for a mutual peace, which was quickly accepted by the opponent who had more then enough fun taking over the honour of the first attacking province. Second and third attacking province falls back and regroups while first attacking province attempts to mop up what is going on the stage.
However, higher command was not very sure of what is going on because thief ops and unsuccessful spell casts are not part of the info provided on the paper. You can read the first battalion accounts on Eng Yian's blog and the second battalion accounts on Siyuan's blog.
Meanwhile, intra-kingdom conflicts has begun, mainly due to the outstanding trade balance issues that Province PA isn't very happy about.
Discmon
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Content then happiness?
I was trying to configure my blog layout this morning, and I am thinking of removing much of the links section on the side(save for the "blogs you should read" section and the "group blogs" section). Incidentally, I also had this sudden strong desire to prune the "blogs you should read" section and replace those blogs there which just isn't as good as what it used to be...
Anyway, that would most likely not happen so soon, as I haven't been reading other's people blog for some time already, but yes, I am sure that once I have the time to sit down in front of my computer, that would happen...
I stumbled onto this a few days back, and I thought it was quite interesting. Just wanted to share it with you guys:
How very true, the one things that everyone pursues in life is happiness. Although we do not directly pursue happiness for the sake of happiness as that is not possible, but we do pursue things in life because it provides us with happiness. Its sort of like, if you want to live happily with lots of money, then you'll be pursuing money since it will provide you with the happiness you need. It's the same if you like video games, you'll then pursue video games to give you happiness.
But I do not agree that we can never be truly happy, as stated in the quote. I feel that it is possible for us to be perfectly happy, and the reason for that is that we are contented with what we have now, and not the other way around, which is we can never be totally happy, but we can be contented with what we have.
Look at it this way, if you are contented with your life already, then what would make you unhappy then? You are already at the apex of your happiness and that's what make you perfectly and truly happy since you do not aim for anything greater then that already. Being contented with what you have is a recipe to be happy, and it isn't a sort of comforting thought that since you are not really happy, but at least you are contented...
Being happy is one of the greatest things in the world. As mentioned, happiness is the immaterial object that people all over the world are trying to obtain through whatever means possible. Many historical events can be said to have its root in happiness. It is because of the need of happiness in their life that poor people work so hard to get out of the poverty cycle, it is because of the need to lead happy life that many people take up arms to fight for a greater future.
The pursuit of happiness is a universal one, but I just wanted to put a point across and that is it is because you are contented with your life and that's why you are happy. Of course, there are many ways to look at happiness and I believe there is such a thing as perfect happiness that is not induced by drugs... even if its for a short period of time...
Are you contented with your life?
Discmon
Anyway, that would most likely not happen so soon, as I haven't been reading other's people blog for some time already, but yes, I am sure that once I have the time to sit down in front of my computer, that would happen...
I stumbled onto this a few days back, and I thought it was quite interesting. Just wanted to share it with you guys:
we can never be truly happy, but we can be content with what we have now.
How very true, the one things that everyone pursues in life is happiness. Although we do not directly pursue happiness for the sake of happiness as that is not possible, but we do pursue things in life because it provides us with happiness. Its sort of like, if you want to live happily with lots of money, then you'll be pursuing money since it will provide you with the happiness you need. It's the same if you like video games, you'll then pursue video games to give you happiness.
But I do not agree that we can never be truly happy, as stated in the quote. I feel that it is possible for us to be perfectly happy, and the reason for that is that we are contented with what we have now, and not the other way around, which is we can never be totally happy, but we can be contented with what we have.
Look at it this way, if you are contented with your life already, then what would make you unhappy then? You are already at the apex of your happiness and that's what make you perfectly and truly happy since you do not aim for anything greater then that already. Being contented with what you have is a recipe to be happy, and it isn't a sort of comforting thought that since you are not really happy, but at least you are contented...
Being happy is one of the greatest things in the world. As mentioned, happiness is the immaterial object that people all over the world are trying to obtain through whatever means possible. Many historical events can be said to have its root in happiness. It is because of the need of happiness in their life that poor people work so hard to get out of the poverty cycle, it is because of the need to lead happy life that many people take up arms to fight for a greater future.
The pursuit of happiness is a universal one, but I just wanted to put a point across and that is it is because you are contented with your life and that's why you are happy. Of course, there are many ways to look at happiness and I believe there is such a thing as perfect happiness that is not induced by drugs... even if its for a short period of time...
Are you contented with your life?
Discmon
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Just imagine...
We're almost finally back to the standard good old days in JC life. Just have to wait a few more days and I'm sure we'll be stuck right back into our daily routine of coming to school, looking at the teacher, doing homework, writing essays criticising the education system...
Yea it goes on...
Anyway, today there was a rehearsal for the year end celebration in LT5, and I think we just came across a joke of the year award nomintation so here we go...
About a few weeks back before the rehearsal, some councillor came to find me and asked me how he could procure a drum set in some way or another. The councillor is calling me as well, PA is helping out to support the event and I guess he got our job scope wrong...
Anyway, I told him that firstly, PA don't provide drum sets (we don't even have one in the first place) and that he could try finding Sebastian's band or even the concert band in NJ for the drum set...
Nothing much was heard about this thing for the next few weeks...
Finally, the day of the rehearsal finally approaches. Within minutes of us setting up the system, the councillors went up to me and asked me the same question again:
"Where can we get drum sets?"
"Ehh, like I told you before la, you can get from Sebastian's band, concert band..."
"Sebastian's one don't have snare drum, then concert band borrow from harmoc"
"Then borrow from harmoc lor"
"But then... harmoc don't want to lend..."
Ok. that's not the joke yet.
Another councillor approaches:
"The band kp, don't want to play le cause they don't have drum set..."
Ehh, wait a second, did I hear... A band without a drum set, then they kp don't want to play because they don't have drum set?
Ehhh... Band that does not have a drum set?
Imagine this:
You get the point don't you?
Yea it goes on...
Anyway, today there was a rehearsal for the year end celebration in LT5, and I think we just came across a joke of the year award nomintation so here we go...
About a few weeks back before the rehearsal, some councillor came to find me and asked me how he could procure a drum set in some way or another. The councillor is calling me as well, PA is helping out to support the event and I guess he got our job scope wrong...
Anyway, I told him that firstly, PA don't provide drum sets (we don't even have one in the first place) and that he could try finding Sebastian's band or even the concert band in NJ for the drum set...
Nothing much was heard about this thing for the next few weeks...
Finally, the day of the rehearsal finally approaches. Within minutes of us setting up the system, the councillors went up to me and asked me the same question again:
"Where can we get drum sets?"
"Ehh, like I told you before la, you can get from Sebastian's band, concert band..."
"Sebastian's one don't have snare drum, then concert band borrow from harmoc"
"Then borrow from harmoc lor"
"But then... harmoc don't want to lend..."
Ok. that's not the joke yet.
Another councillor approaches:
"The band kp, don't want to play le cause they don't have drum set..."
Ehh, wait a second, did I hear... A band without a drum set, then they kp don't want to play because they don't have drum set?
Ehhh... Band that does not have a drum set?
Imagine this:
Imagine a PA crew without microphones and speakers
Imagine chicken rice without chicken
Imagine prawn mee without prawn
Imagine nasi lemak without rice
Imagine a car without 4 wheels
Imagine a TV, without a screen
Imagine a radio, without a speaker
Imagine a newspaper, without news
Imagine a programme, without content
Imagine an exhibition, with no information
Imagine a book, without a single word in it
Imagine a fish, without a gill...
Imagine chicken rice without chicken
Imagine prawn mee without prawn
Imagine nasi lemak without rice
Imagine a car without 4 wheels
Imagine a TV, without a screen
Imagine a radio, without a speaker
Imagine a newspaper, without news
Imagine a programme, without content
Imagine an exhibition, with no information
Imagine a book, without a single word in it
Imagine a fish, without a gill...
You get the point don't you?
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