Monday, August 23, 2004
oooo... iDeSIRe...
the osim iDesire
oh man.... i.... need.... want.... it...
tried it during the osim thing at taka a couple of days ago. ooo it even has hand and foot massage!!!!
*drool*
funny sports
Today while waiting in queue at the hp service center, i busied myself by watching the olympics on tv. They were showing the women's walking competition. I think, the sport of walking is an extremely interesting one. Two things immediately pop into my head when watching it; one, "haha they look a bit goofy" and two "WHY???"
The first bit is pretty self-explanatory, but the second question is a little bit more complicated. But before I go any further i first have to say that i do not mean to be disrespectful to these athletes or denegrade their sport in anyway, I just have a little trouble understanding it thats all...
So, why? I read an article a couple of days ago about this walker. She was saying how she had took part in many marathons, and was relaying one of her experiences. It went something like this, "there was this marine who said to me the day I beat him will be over his dead body" or something to that effect. She then went on to desribe how she blew past him after a couple of kms. When asked whether she walks faster than she runs, she said running is still faster. this is where my confusion comes, why does this sport exist when it is basically a slowed version of running? what is their to admire when watching these people basically do the same thing but only more slowly and awkwardly? you obviously cant compare it to motor racing for example, where it is a 'graduation' process and people start with slower go-karts then gradually move up to F1, this is more like asking swimmers to only use their faces to propel themselves.
oh well i think my confusion is result of my ignorance. obviously there is some special skill to walking which i am not aware of, and therefore do not appreciate as much.
*next week we'll compare Volleyball and Beach Volleyball!!! hahaha
The first bit is pretty self-explanatory, but the second question is a little bit more complicated. But before I go any further i first have to say that i do not mean to be disrespectful to these athletes or denegrade their sport in anyway, I just have a little trouble understanding it thats all...
So, why? I read an article a couple of days ago about this walker. She was saying how she had took part in many marathons, and was relaying one of her experiences. It went something like this, "there was this marine who said to me the day I beat him will be over his dead body" or something to that effect. She then went on to desribe how she blew past him after a couple of kms. When asked whether she walks faster than she runs, she said running is still faster. this is where my confusion comes, why does this sport exist when it is basically a slowed version of running? what is their to admire when watching these people basically do the same thing but only more slowly and awkwardly? you obviously cant compare it to motor racing for example, where it is a 'graduation' process and people start with slower go-karts then gradually move up to F1, this is more like asking swimmers to only use their faces to propel themselves.
oh well i think my confusion is result of my ignorance. obviously there is some special skill to walking which i am not aware of, and therefore do not appreciate as much.
*next week we'll compare Volleyball and Beach Volleyball!!! hahaha
Sunday, August 08, 2004
some random ranting
In keeping with the National Day theme, I shall now post some of my patriotic thoughts.
‘In a USA Today column about Apple, the writer called Singapore "autocratic, insular, elegantly engineered, repressively controlled--and destined to never amount to more than a small but interesting dot on the world map". Do you agree?'
This is the current poll question on yahoo.com.sg
I cannot help but feel irked when I read things like this.I am at heart extremely patriotic and do not appreciate Singapore being used as a trivial example in some journalist’s clever metaphor.
I suppose he is correct. At only 42km across, Singapore is nothing but a little dot on the map; it is and always will be. That is why, I am proud of what Singapore has achieved.
The west has given the world many good things; the concepts of freedom, democracy, equality, fake boobs etc. But this is a good example of one of western society’s most annoying traits. They judge other people only by their own standards. If Mr Maney had bothered to think a little more, Singapore’s ‘autocratic’ ways maybe a little bit easier to understand.
Yes, I have to concede that the Singapore government in many ways is more controlling than say, the USA. This is really not surprising considering some of the fundamental cultural differences between asian and western societies. Asian’s tend to be much more ‘motherly’. For example in the west, the children are more independent and usually leave their parents home once they are in their late teens. In Asia, kids usually don’t leave until they are married, so thirty year-olds living at home are not uncommon. Neither is better or worse, they are just different.
Singapore’s government is exactly like that, ‘motherly’. It is protective, and shields the child away from all the bad stuff. This is known as ‘oppressive’ to one Mr Maney. I suppose it never occurred to him that because of our unique predicament, some of the so-called autocratic ways are good and necessary.
Whatever your criticisms of our government, you at least have to admit that they are doing a pretty good job. I enjoy being able to walk around at 2am and not fear that I will be mugged, and it is great to see that even the poorest of the poor will at least have a roof over their head and a home to call their own, you don’t see beggars here, like you do elsewhere. Chewing gum seems like such a small sacrifice…
I know Singapore is far from perfect, it is so 'sterile' compared to other places, but one thing that REALLY annoys me is when Singaporeans agree with these sort of statements amd demean our own country (currently, the poll have 36% agreeing with him). I say now to all these people, you are all spoilt pieces of shit and do not appreciate what a good life you have here. I’ve spent almost 30% of my life living overseas (England, Australia) and I fully appreciate what we have in Singapore.
Nevermind Mr. Maney, no offence taken. We all know that you needed a real clever-sounding closing statement for your essentially unsubstantial article, and Singapore just happened to be a convenient illustration (but its still a lousy closing statement, i mean how can apple be described as a small dot????? It’s a f***ing big player no? just never the biggest. sigh what a dumb arse).
Peace.
‘In a USA Today column about Apple, the writer called Singapore "autocratic, insular, elegantly engineered, repressively controlled--and destined to never amount to more than a small but interesting dot on the world map". Do you agree?'
This is the current poll question on yahoo.com.sg
I cannot help but feel irked when I read things like this.I am at heart extremely patriotic and do not appreciate Singapore being used as a trivial example in some journalist’s clever metaphor.
I suppose he is correct. At only 42km across, Singapore is nothing but a little dot on the map; it is and always will be. That is why, I am proud of what Singapore has achieved.
The west has given the world many good things; the concepts of freedom, democracy, equality, fake boobs etc. But this is a good example of one of western society’s most annoying traits. They judge other people only by their own standards. If Mr Maney had bothered to think a little more, Singapore’s ‘autocratic’ ways maybe a little bit easier to understand.
Yes, I have to concede that the Singapore government in many ways is more controlling than say, the USA. This is really not surprising considering some of the fundamental cultural differences between asian and western societies. Asian’s tend to be much more ‘motherly’. For example in the west, the children are more independent and usually leave their parents home once they are in their late teens. In Asia, kids usually don’t leave until they are married, so thirty year-olds living at home are not uncommon. Neither is better or worse, they are just different.
Singapore’s government is exactly like that, ‘motherly’. It is protective, and shields the child away from all the bad stuff. This is known as ‘oppressive’ to one Mr Maney. I suppose it never occurred to him that because of our unique predicament, some of the so-called autocratic ways are good and necessary.
Whatever your criticisms of our government, you at least have to admit that they are doing a pretty good job. I enjoy being able to walk around at 2am and not fear that I will be mugged, and it is great to see that even the poorest of the poor will at least have a roof over their head and a home to call their own, you don’t see beggars here, like you do elsewhere. Chewing gum seems like such a small sacrifice…
I know Singapore is far from perfect, it is so 'sterile' compared to other places, but one thing that REALLY annoys me is when Singaporeans agree with these sort of statements amd demean our own country (currently, the poll have 36% agreeing with him). I say now to all these people, you are all spoilt pieces of shit and do not appreciate what a good life you have here. I’ve spent almost 30% of my life living overseas (England, Australia) and I fully appreciate what we have in Singapore.
Nevermind Mr. Maney, no offence taken. We all know that you needed a real clever-sounding closing statement for your essentially unsubstantial article, and Singapore just happened to be a convenient illustration (but its still a lousy closing statement, i mean how can apple be described as a small dot????? It’s a f***ing big player no? just never the biggest. sigh what a dumb arse).
Peace.
Friday, August 06, 2004
hallo!
sigh. i knew this would happen. my laziness has gotten the better of me and i have not been updating. oh well guess i should start somewhere, now a clerk in the navy (sembawang camp), its pretty relaxed, am damn lucky. also in safsa. my poor old car has died and been scrapped (rip scg4517c) . sucks im so damn sentimental, was really quite upset about it. oh well on the plus side it means that i just got a new car (yes i know im very spoilt. i acknowledge that). Its a light green mitsubish colt 1.5 elegence. nice small car, with a very mpv-ish feel to it. the front seats feel more like a sofa than individual separate seats, like a 3rd person could fit in the middle. it also has a cvt gearbox, which feels a bit weird and need some getting used to. dont ask me what a cvt gearbox is im too lazy to explain, if u really want, type "continuously variable transmission" in google and youll find out.
ok tts it for now, feel like i shd record some music but seems like a bit too much effort. ok bye!
ok tts it for now, feel like i shd record some music but seems like a bit too much effort. ok bye!
