The Spinning Arrow

You must be out of your mind

2011-11-02T04:44:00.000+08:00

Scene: G-Max Reverse Bungee at Clarke Quay.

Yours truly and two friends securely strapped in, equal parts excited and nervous.

Guy In Charge: (grinning wickedly) Okay you want countdown or surprise?

Me: (gleefully) Surprise! Surprise!

Somewhat Scared Friend: Countdown!

Guy In Charge: Okay ah, I give you countdown. Ready?!

And suddenly, without warning (countdown, my foot), we were shooting straight up into the air at 200 kmph, our breaths snatched by the whistling wind and the glittering Singapore night.

What. A. Feeling. (Though it was marred slightly by light rain and the fact that I had to take off my spectacles to prevent them from flying off into the Singapore River.)

While we were still being secured in the harness, the guy had asked us if we'd come there to let out the “stressfulness of college life”. I don't know what to say, except that with a score of quizzes (most of which didn't go off well), lab submissions (which I still have to start and complete), assignments and reports, and two weeks of finals starting in two weeks, it's definitely been the hardest semester so far. Add to that all the meetings, events, endless emails and scattered outings, and I don't think I need to ask myself why I fall asleep every time I take my hands off the keyboard.

I don't quite know where to start. Should I talk about the three quizzes I had to ~~give~~ take yesterday? The freshmen orientation camp I helped organize when the semester hadn't even started? Or the Red Cross elections that happened soon after? How about last Wednesday night which was as good as it was unlike any Diwali ever?

It's been a strange semester.

It all started the morning I reached campus. There I was, trying to figure out how in the world I was to lug over forty kilos of baggage (yes, forty; don't ask) up two levels to my new room after the cab driver unceremoniously dropped me off at the wrong spot (well, it was my fault but hey, it was a Chrysler and I'm a student with no money) when, as is Singapore's wont, it began to rain. Strictly speaking, it didn't so much rain as try to convince me that I was surrounded by a gigantic waterfall.

After three trips, a sopping yours truly finally entered his room to spend the next couple of days scrubbing the insides of the wardrobes (among other things) with some strange cleaning spray provided by FairPrice.

Then just as I was trying to catch my breath, along came Milaap, closely followed by the first week of classes, a crazy few weeks during which every hapless international student had to run around for elections (I got lucky again), along with an atmosphere of tense gloom settling over campus life.

Recess Week showed up for a few moments, but it didn't attract much attention except towards the end from a group of college kids celebrating Dandiya Night in Woodlands.

I went for the Singapore Grand Prix – for free! I signed up as a First Aid volunteer, which meant that I actually didn't see much of the race, but just being in the middle of all the Australian acrobats, Singapore artists, famous acts like Rick Astley and Shaggy (neither of whom I could care much about), women on stilts dancing to records played by a guy who looked strangely like Jimi Hendrix (!), and the noise of engines roaring past every few seconds (after a while, earplugs began to look like a natural part of everybody's heads) was quite an experience. I did lose my phone on my way back after the second day, though.

More quizzes, a tottering pile of academic work that could easily substitute most skyscrapers, signing up for a part time work-study thing, giving my name for the Hall 13 Production again (they're doing a musical and I can't sing to save your life, so I wonder how I got pulled in at all), and what do you know – this semester is nearly over.

Exams are in two weeks.

Magic

2011-09-04T01:55:00.000+08:00

“Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here.” — Albus Dumbledore

By far the best part about staying in a single room. Strange, beautiful music.

I'm beginning to realize how much I truly love it.

I'm off!

2011-06-19T19:35:00.000+08:00

For ten days! Via a fourteen-hour bus journey. Yes, your eyes are not in fact deceiving you.

No laptop! \m/

To Skype

2011-06-04T05:57:00.000+08:00

So many people, so many countries, and one Skype window.

I spent most of yesterday (and some of today) Skyping. It's funny how I actually Skype a lot more at home (almost everyday!) than at college. It's the hectic schedule, I tell you! This also explains why I've done next to nothing in the last two days.

I still remember the first Skype conversation I ever had - it was some two years ago; I was using Skype from my PSP (my PC didn't have a mic) and I spoke to one of my friends in the US in what was probably a very unnecessarily excited voice.

PS. Go watch Kung Fu Panda 2 now!

Love at first sight

2011-05-30T04:17:00.002+08:00

\m/

Infinite loop

2011-05-02T02:58:00.001+08:00

What do we have here? Exams around the corner + a bored yours truly who doesn't want to study, of course.

This is what you get when, in a remote login session to another computer, you try remote logging in back to your own.

Et voilà!

Post Production

2011-04-14T07:31:00.001+08:00

Hall 13 Production!

We did an adaptation of Tennessee William's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,
at Alliance Francaise de Singapour.

To cut a somewhat long story short, I acted in a proper play for the first time in my life, and was it fun or was it fun? Not only did the actual play go down pretty well (the audience definitely laughed at moments we never considered funny [this, we decided, was a good thing]) but the whole experience was also quite fantastic. Long daily rehearsals (especially in the last ten days leading to the play) where we'd randomly burst out laughing in the middle of a sombre scene (I wish we'd taken bloopers videos), ordering extra packets of chilli sauce from McDonald's so much so that the lady taking my order said she'd need to get it cleared by her manager, practicing voice warm-ups that would've made any eavesdropper suspect of a lack of mental faculties on the other side of the door, the crazy I-will-never-forget-it car ride with the cast, director and writer the night before the play which I'm sure puts a large number of roller-coasters to shame (don't worry Maggie, I enjoyed every minute of it, contrary to all the seemingly-terrified yells you might have heard from the back seat), being forced to get make-up put on my face (I swear the girls got a tonne of sadistic pleasure from putting heavy make-up on all the guys), the tired-but-happy journey back from Alliance Francaise at 2 a.m. after the play (by lorry, no less) – all I can say is, thank goodness I decided to turn up for auditions and decided to stick with it despite the time in the middle when I was feeling rather unenthusiastic about It All.

The main set for the play. Props to the props guys!

But now that the radiance of the hall production has been dulled by its culmination, I once again find myself taking a look at how gloriously devoid of work my life isn't. I really have to commend this semester for smoothly succeeding in putting the previous one well and truly to shame. This time around, I've barely been in touch with even my family and close friends, leave alone anyone else.

Take a look at all the work I had/have to complete this week:

Red Cross website - Monday
Red Cross Subcomm Appreciation Night video - Tuesday
CSC105 Lab 7 assignment - Thursday
CSC104 Lab 5 logbook - Thursday
Group Marketing Plan + Presentation - Friday
CSC110 Test B (final exam!) - Friday

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the fact that none of those items have been struck through isn't because it slipped my mind.

And did I mention I have exams coming up in May? Four papers on three consecutive days – fantastic, don't you think?

PS. How in the world am I to fit all my stuff under a 20 kg luggage limit when I go back home for the summer?

The illusion of control

2011-03-02T04:00:00.002+08:00

You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.

Oogway: ... until you let go of the illusion of control.

Shifu: Illusion?

Oogway: Yes.
Look at this tree, Shifu: I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time.

Shifu: But there are things we *can* control: I can control when the fruit will fall, I can control where to plant the seed: that is no illusion, Master!

Oogway: Ah, yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.

— Kung Fu Panda

Need to get things back in order.

PS. A blog post on The Concert is long overdue.

Meh to you, Air India!

2011-02-02T05:19:00.001+08:00

And I'm back in ~~sunny~~ oh-my-god-it's-like-living-in-a-waterfall rainy Singapore with more than a week of college shamelessly waving me goodbye. What with college starting, the helplessly annoying course registration procedure, a Sumo wrestler-load of Red Cross work, casting calls for Hall 13's Production, being stranded in a remote industrial area of Singapore, the dramatic first batch outing of the new year, and all those small but add-to-the-list-of-things-you-ended-up-thinking-about things, it's a flaming miracle that my head is still intact. Thankfully, a couple of holidays for the Chinese New Year (rabbits!) are coming up, but nowadays even holidays think that it's their prerogative to be not devoid of work.

Round and round, here we go again.

Incidentally, my flight back via Air India – quite unlike Jet Airways' – was remarkable in what I wouldn't look back on and call a “good way”. The air hostess(es) decided that it's quite the idea to turn up the air-conditioner because there weren't enough blankets (honestly, did they not know they were flying out of Delhi in mid-winter?), the cabin crew religiously ignored the summoning light thing above my seat as they walked past it several times, the in-flight entertainment made me double check if I was in the correct decade (and I have only Jet Airways' to compare it to), and one air hostess's hinting at my being too young to drink (I don't blame her, but I don't like her) made me resort to one of my infamous eyerolls.

Oh, and I also managed to drop my guitar at the security check at the airport (I was annoyed at myself for forgetting that scissors are indeed sharp) and later found that it had cracked. It still sounds fine, thankfully. By the way, while we're on the subject of guitars, guess what someone bought in his winter holidays?!

Oh yes, I did.

The guitar-buying, though, happens to be the only thing that crossed itself off my very short list of holiday plans, so saying that I was satisfied with that three-week break would be like calling Mount Everest rather short.

Ah well, a jam-packed semester sadistically beckons, so with your leave I think I must ... having writ, move on.

PS. Next time remind me to take extra watch batteries.

Week 12 is starting on Monday, seriously?!

2010-11-21T01:32:00.000+08:00

Whoa there. You're kidding right? Of course you are! Because if Week 12 is starting (the entire semester here is divided into numbered weeks), it means I've been in Singapore for more than 13 weeks, and 13 weeks is a little over 3 months and 3 months is ... well, impossible. I mean, okay, I know I've been here at least a month, but come on, three? I don't think so.

Let me tell you a bit of what I've been up to since I got here. You'll realize it can't have been that long!

So on 27 August, I left Delhi by Jet Airways (which, by the way, happens to be my favourite airline right now because they reserved a seat on the plane just for my guitar - for free, might I add), finally reached this “fine” city sometime in the evening, got a taste of Singapore's exorbitant prices at the airport store, asked for a regular taxi that turned out to be a Mercedes, checked in to the hotel, went walking around looking for dinner (and found some at a place called “Queen's Tandoor”), and badly missed having my camera.

The view from the plane. Just like any view from a plane, really.

Two days later, I checked into my room on campus - I was assigned to one of the halls that were renovated for the Youth Olympic Games (which is clearly good) but were only vacated the previous day and were consequently not cleaned properly (which is bad; I still find the occasional spider lurking in a corner sometimes).

That was the week before Week 1.

Hall 13 and 14. Or well, my block in Hall 13 and some block of Hall 14.

Week 1 started with the standard “Hello, welcome to this huge university in which you are going to be lost quite often, literally and figuratively” ceremonies, ended with an Indian Freshmen Orientation “Camp” and was greeted with great delight and excitement in the middle by my finally purchasing a Mac (well, MacBook Pro, but that's irrelevant). YES I FINALLY GOT A MAC AFTER WANTING ONE EVER SINCE I SAW IT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CLASS SEVEN WHICH HAPPENS TO BE WAY TOO LONG AGO!

That led to Weeks 2 and 3, which basically consisted of the commencement of classes (i.e., the time to religiously attend all lectures and make other soon-to-be-broken similar resolutions), the ECA fair (where I signed up for some very random clubs, most of which I didn't end up joining), and my desperate wanting of a camera, which I did not end up buying.

Week 4 brings back memories of the time when I heard the F1 race while standing outside the City Hall MRT station (that was such a fail moment), after which I was accosted by the guard standing outside the City Hall MRT station, both of which kind of temporarily dampened the beauty of my just-purchased camera from the mall near the City Hall MRT station.

Pentax Optio H90. Taken with an Olympus.

Then Week 6 ended with a trip to Sentosa (I say “trip” because we left at 6.30 in the morning and returned at 9 at night) for Red Cross Subcommittee Orientation. More on Red Cross later, but suffice to say, it was a lot of fun.

“Follow the Footsteps”; one of the games I was in-charge of and cleverly used trees to complicate.

Then came Week 7 (the Thursday of which was interesting) followed by Recess Week (which ended sooner than it began) in which I attended a fun Dandiya Night, went all the way to Marina Bay Sands to see the Skypark but reached too late, and then camped for a night in East Coast Park. Okay, so I guess it wasn't camping because we had no tents or sleeping bags or campfires and didn't even actually sleep, but it was a hell lot of fun, despite my being dunked into the ocean some three times.

As we waited for the sunrise (which we didn't actually see thanks to The Haze).

November 3, incidentally, happens to be the day I came to know that Iron Maiden is coming to Singapore. If you don't know why this was worth mentioning, may I direct your attention somewhere else.
The tickets were kinda expensive (especially if you consider the price they were in India) but what the heck, I have to make use of the money relatives give me sometime, don't I? Booking opened at 12 a.m. on 9 November and three of my friends and I kept refreshing the booking page in excitement, nearly booked eight tickets instead of four, and began yelling madly when we saw the “Booking Confirmation” page. Iron Maiden, oh yes.

Up the Irons! Finally.

Now 9 November happens to fall in Week 10, if my calendar is to be believed. Continuing along the same believe-the-calendar line of thought, the Harry Potter 7 outing yesterday (in which nearly 80 tickets for the show were booked) was the close of Week 11.

11 tickets. Of 80, yes.

Oh damn. It has been more than 3 months.

PS. By the way, I do think that HP7 was better than all the previous ones. Which isn't saying much, but still. Though what I found strange was how so many scenes were actually a lot more dramatic and better represented in the book. Ah well, I know I can never actually be a fan of the movies.

PPS. There was (obviously) a lot more happening, but I'll leave that for another time. Suffice to say, college is damn hectic.

PPPS. Long post, whew. I've been trying to write almost every day since I got here, but somehow or the other it never quite happens.

For those of you who didn't know ...

2010-09-23T04:20:00.000+08:00

... I'm in Singapore.

And damn, is college life hectic!

***

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
— The Lord of the Rings, J R R Tolkien

PS. Yes, I was going to do a much better farewell post before I went, but things kind of snowballed towards the end and it got left behind. Extensive posts are in the pipeline, though.

PPS. Yes, I know that just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean you haven't; I'm going to get back around to commenting pretty soon.

Standing Still

2010-08-10T04:03:00.022+08:00

There you stand, eyes closed, completely still. A bright morning sun shines on you from behind. A hint of a breeze tickles the tips of your ears. The smell of pine needles and grass. The soft sound of water running over pebbles.

You open your eyes. Twigs crackle softly as you turn around, looking. There's a small stream just a few steps ahead, stretching endlessly in either direction. The water sparkles in the sunlight. You have to cross the stream, reach the other side. It is narrow enough to just step over. You know you want to. But still you stand, watching the water flow past.

Your eyes blink. The blades of grass rustle as you walk forwards – they're much longer now. The stream looks bigger, and further away. For some reason, that doesn't seem strange at all – it's almost as though you were expecting it. You walk towards it. You're going to leap over to the other side, of course you are. You know you ought to. But still you stand, watching the water running by.

You give yourself a shake; how long have you been standing? It's growing dark. The trees make creaking noises as the wind shakes their boughs. The dark water has the silent sound of a river. You can wade across, surely. You know you have to. But still you stand, watching the water surge ahead.

Now wait a second – where did the opposite bank go? There, far ahead in the distance – you can barely see it. The water's moving much faster now. Little waves dash against the rocks. It smells saline. Perhaps you can row across. You know you need to. But still you stand, watching the water splash over stones.

The wind is whistling through your ears. You're running towards that huge water body, many fathoms away. The far bank is but a memory. As you reach closer, you can't remember if you ever learnt to swim. But that's not important right now. The other side is. That opposite bank – it had it! That thing you've always wanted.

As you dive in, water filling your ears and your eyes, your weight taking you to its depths, the suffocating silence seems to ask: did you stand too long?

A bright morning sun shines on two children playing near a rivulet. Shading his eyes against the light, one of them looks towards the water and suddenly exclaims, “Oh look! Someone's recently been on this side of the stream! Now that's something that hasn't happened in a very long time...”

The Summer 2010 Movie List

2010-07-21T04:17:00.001+08:00

I have a strong strange feeling that this list should be somewhat longer, but oh well, this will have to do.
I dislike writing reviews on account of redundancy so ...

Dead Poets Society: No.
Seven Pounds: Not really. Well, maybe.
Slumdog Millionaire: Probably.
(500) days of Summer: Yeah, kinda.
Across the Universe: Perhaps until I know the Beatles better.
The Fast and the Furious: No!
Fast & Furious: No!
Pan's Labyrinth: No. Yes. (Maybe not sometime soon?)
Six Degrees of Separation: Probably.
The Dark Knight: A little.
The Matrix Reloaded: No!
The Matrix Revolutions: No!
How to Train a Dragon: A little?
Iron Man 2: Nah.
Prince of Persia: Yeah.
Shutter Island: I think so.
Knight and Day: No. (Well, not really)
Inception: No! (Not. At. All!)

... this answers whether or not I'd be reluctant to watch these again. (A better expression of a movie's worth, if you ask me. I wonder why no one does ask me...)

PS. My cellphone woes are still not over, can you believe that?

It all started when the internet stopped working

2010-07-02T01:39:00.007+08:00

Sometime last week, my internet stopped working in the middle of the night. Apparently the phone was dead. You know why? Because someone, in a stroke of genius, decided that it would be a rather neat idea to walk off with MTNL's telephone cables. Yes, seriously, telephone cables which – of all things – I have no idea why anyone would bother to steal. Maybe it was to prove that telephones cannot in fact work without them. We knew that already, thank you very much.

Shortly after that, my cellphone stopped working. But it didn't just stop working, you see. First its balance went into the negative (this was probably because I was using it to check my email as a consequence of the aforementioned catastrophe). Then my free SMSes finished. When I finally got it recharged and realized that the GPRS wasn't working, I tried to restart it. I got as far as switching it off, but that's when it refused to switch on again.

I mean, what the heck? It was working perfectly, and I've never done anything to it (well, barring cracking its screen by letting my guitar fall on it) and now it's reduced to the state of a fancy paperweight? Gadgets these days, I tell you.

Meanwhile, my internet started working at the rather strange cost of my other landline. This was promptly followed by my drawing room AC and computer room AC loudly proclaiming that it was indeed a little too hot. They protested by conking off (for all intents and purposes) in rapid succession and my bedroom AC tried to join in by making the strangest noises ever, accompanied by very suspicious odours from its stabilizer.

Then my landline started working while I discovered that the old mobile phone I was using in place of my comatose one had a talktime of practically 20 minutes, which basically removed any meaning of the word “mobile” from it.

Oh, and I also found that my house is infested with termites. Enchanting. Especially since they seem to like my room a whole lot. The trouble is, I do too and I'd really rather not have my cupboard door coming off in my hands the next time I open it.

Well, this does explain why I sense a larger number of earthquakes than my friends. (Image from Para Abnormal)

Oh and then (you didn't think this was over, did you?) – the other night at 4 am, as I was searching for the realms of Sleep, I was suddenly made to (very very hastily) exit my room. My AC, in its attempt to one-up the others, decided it would try to make the stabilizer catch fire. The orange glow under my desk and a freakish number of huge orange sparks was quite a good attempt in my opinion.

~~And that, is all.~~ (Who knows what the future may behold?)

Bah, humbug

2010-05-28T03:46:00.000+08:00

It's just one of Those Days, you know?

PS. I've finally gotten around to updating my blogroll. I'm still at it, though.
PPS. Is one supposed to thank those people who like one's photos and statuses on Facebook?

Why you should not enter a mall from an unfamiliar entrance

2010-05-20T22:44:00.005+08:00

Last week (or the week before, or perhaps the week before that) I decided to go to one of the malls near my house, because (a) I hadn't been there for some time (the fact that I've never been to the mall right beside this one is irrelevant), and (b) I wanted to buy something.

Now this mall — like most others I suppose — has multiple entrances, plus since it's still rather new, new ones seem to keep opening up every time I visit. So my dad, sister and I reached the mall and found ourselves outside a new entrance. Dad was all Noooo, let's enter from the other side, I'll get all disoriented this way! while I rolled my eyes and walked in.

The first sign that something wasn't quite right was the absence of Om Book Shop from the first floor (this was actually the second sign, the first being the lack of stalls on the ground floor, but I didn't attribute that to anything fishy). I mean, come on, a bookstore can't just vanish! More disconcertingly, I realized that couldn't even pinpoint exactly where on the first floor it had been. All I remembered were the big glass doors with “Upto 90% SALE!” written on them.

After circuiting the floor twice, I finally realized that the bookstore wasn't going to just appear from nowhere, so I directed myself to the second floor.

And there it was, inexplicably right in front of me, big glass doors and all! Granted, it was much smaller and the bookshelves were of a better quality of wood, but that hardly seems to explain how it got there.

I shrugged and went in.

And found myself once again wishing that bookstores had some kind of advanced book-locating technology. You know, the kind where you ~~type the name of the book in a computer~~ think of a book and the corresponding shelf lights up. It can't be that hard, can it? Anyway, I had to satisfy myself by turning my neck sideways and peering at names of books till I could find none of the ones I wanted to buy, and all the ones I wanted to read (edit: the first is obviously a subset of the second). I finally went to the dude at the counter and rattled off about ten titles (you try telling him to look for Gödel, Escher, Bach). All the books I mentioned were out of stock. I mean, seriously.

Then I spotted some Tintins. I reached towards them and—

—saw that they were in Hindi.

When did this even happen? Though now I vaguely remember one of my friends telling me that Snowy's name is Natkhat in the Hindi version. Yeeah, Natkhat.

Image from The Tintin Blog

There wasn't much to it after that. After the bookshop debacle, I was subsequently betrayed by two music stores, as well as Subway's Sub of the Day.

I suppose I shouldn't have rolled my eyes like that in the beginning.

Tears of the Dragon

2010-05-07T20:17:00.028+08:00

For too long now,
There were secrets in my mind
For too long now,
There were things I should have said;
In the darkness,
I was stumbling for the door
To find a reason,
To find the time, the place, the hour

Waiting for the winter sun
And the cold light of day
The misty ghosts of childhood fears,
The pressure is building
And I can't stay away;

I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave,
Let it wash over me
To face the fear
I once believed
The tears of the dragon
For you and for me

Where I was,
I had wings that couldn't fly
Where I was,
I had tears I couldn't cry
My emotions
Frozen in an icy lake
I couldn't feel them,
Until the ice began to break

I have no power over this
You know I'm afraid;
The walls I built are crumbling
The water is moving
I'm slipping away

I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave,
Let it wash over me
To face the fear
I once believed
The tears of the dragon
For you and for me

Slowly I awake,
Slowly I rise,
The walls I built are crumbling
The water is moving
I'm slipping away

I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave,
Let it wash over me
To face the fear
I once believed
The tears of the dragon
For you and for me.

—Bruce Dickinson, Tears of the Dragon

Love of black sand by Andri Elfarsson

Blrghh

2010-04-27T02:04:00.000+08:00

I really really really really don't like being sick.

Especially colds. They're so ... annoying. Because you feel way worse than you really are (I mean, no fever, for heaven's sake!)

Pshht.

Stuff has been happening. Or rather, not happening even though it needs too. Now if only it could happen on its own ...

[No, there's no need to scratch your heads, even I know I'm not making sense].

Don't you find text-killers so annoying?

Later!

Moving to Antarctica sounds like a fabulous plan right about now

2010-03-24T16:54:00.002+08:00

It's 39 degrees.
In March.
Thirty nine degrees. In March.
What is happening?!

And more importantly, if it's already thirty nine degrees, what'll happen in May?

And apparently, it was snowing in Dallas the other day.

I'm melting.

***

Do you watch American Idol? This is actually the first time I'm following it (in a manner of speaking) and yesterday I saw this amazing performance of Paint It Black by Siobhan Magnus. You just have to watch it. Trust me.

***

Printers, you see, are generally quite annoying. My printer (so far, at least) has been quite well-behaved, considering it's several years old. So of course, I just had to do something that would put a black mark against it, and last week presented me with the perfect opportunity.

You know how annoying it is when you try to cancel a print job in Windows? It almost never works, and then you can't even print anything else until you log off and log on again. So I thought I'd found the perfect solution when I saw this Lifehacker article. Just download the batch code, run it and — et voila! — print jobs cancelled! Great, right?

WRONG.

I downloaded the script to my desktop, ran it, figured something was fishy in it's delete confirmation message and hence chose "No" and what do I get? Some random files from my desktop simply vanished before my eyes! [Yes, I blinked, just in case. Didn't help.] None of the recovery programs I tried worked. Thank you so very much.

[NOTE: Lifehacker has since updated that post - there was an error in the script - so you can safely download it and it might (gasp) actually work]

***

I've started working! As a web developer for a company. True, the work isn't much and it's mostly from home, but it's fun nevertheless. Apparently, someone's going to be buying an electric guitar very soon.

Which reminds me, it's been just over 2 years since I first got my guitar. And although I can play fairly well technique-wise, I know precious few songs. Hmm. Must ... do ... something ... about ... that.

***

Blogger is annoying. It turns out that the embedded comment form doesn't work in many mobile browsers. And it's templating system is too restrictive. And all the changes they bring out are so late. I mean, they rolled out the Pages feature now. Wordpress has had it for aeons. I want my own hosted Wordpress.

Pfft.

Java (no, not the coffee)

2010-03-06T03:59:00.001+08:00

Remember those Java classes I took once upon a time? Of course you do(n't).

Although it didn't seem like it at that time, they were actually moving towards some tangible goal - the SCJP exam. Which, incidentally, I found myself preparing for a couple of weeks ago despite it being several months since the classes had come to their inconsequential end. Ah well, better late than never as they say.

Despite my distinct lack of love for the language (object-oriented obsession, anyone?), the nature of the exam (I am not a compiler), and its questionable use from my point of view (there's better stuff out there!) Feb 16 found me duly surveying the locked door to a Prometric testing center.

In the spirit of organization, I had already asked the in-charge what I'd need to bring for identity verification. Of course, the universe delights in snatching opportunities (imagined or otherwise) that enable people to pat themselves on their backs, and so I was told that I would need to get my passport photocopied.

Which I did, and consequently found myself in front of the Prometric center's door once again.

Then I was told to get my now-famous learner's license photocopied.

Which I did, and once again found myself surveying the now all-too-familiar Door (which by now had been elevated to capital-letter status).

Then I was made to go to my teacher and get my (nonexistent) ID from him. My teacher, by the way, who hadn't seen or heard of me for six months and had also pointedly ignored all my electronic pleas for advice on the exam, greeted me like he totally knew who I was.

So this time I breezed into the Prometric room, giving the Door quite a cold shoulder. I was made to sign in a dozen different places (I compromised by making subtly different variations of my signature). They even took my thumbprint (do I really look like a terrorist?)

Then I was led through a hitherto unseen door into a room lined with terminals guarded by a black and white camera. All was silent as I shifted the monitor, keyboard, mouse and my chair by a few arbitrary millimeters, stared at my watch and examined the sheet I was to use for rough work.

Then I turned to the screen and began reading the first question.

Which was when the in-charge sitting outside began getting ever so many phone calls (including one from someone with my name - I spent several consequent minutes wondering if I was being spoken to) and I realized exactly how sound-proof the exam room wasn't.

Oh, and three hours later, I found that I had passed.

P.S. If you ever get the feeling that the monitor in a Prometric center is a tad too close to your face, whatever you do, DO NOT PUSH IT BACKWARDS!

When a guitar meets a cellphone

2010-02-20T01:05:00.001+08:00

Pretty things do not happen.

[The guitar wins, by the way, in case you were wondering.]

On another note, I've been updating the design a little bit. If the fancy dates aren't working (they're not if they don't look fancy), you really need a better browser.

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Apparently, short posts are quite famous as of now. Though this isn't my first one of course (unless hiatus-informing ones aren't included, and really, why shouldn't they be?)

Fists of Steel

2010-01-28T03:41:00.007+08:00

He stood motionless, staring at the blank wall.

What was that thing in Eragon? Those metal studs embedded in the knuckles of a dwarf? Oh yes. Ascûdgamln. The punch-through-anything fists of steel.

He looked down at his own hand. At the steel studs protruding from his balled fist. He looked up at the wall. So ... unblemished. Raised his hand and—
—watched as the little pieces of plaster fell from where his fist had punched a hole through the cement. He jerked his hand free, dislodging more pieces which made little pattering sounds as they fell on the wooden floor.

There. That felt better. It didn't change anything though. It never did.

He stood motionless, staring at the blank wall. Smooth and undamaged once again.

“Elementary, my dear Watson — it's Hollywood!”

2010-01-16T02:29:00.008+08:00

With that — and my love for the The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — put out of the way, I have to (no, really) say that Sherlock Holmes turned out to be a pretty great movie. It's true that they pretty much reinvented every character — heck they have Irene Adler in it, as a femme fatale and Holmes' love interest (Sherlock Holmes in love?) — but it still has more than its fair share of 'Oooh's and 'Aaah's.

I ~~arrived late~~ arrived quite early but entered the cinema hall late (gallantry should be outlawed) consequently missing a whole minute of cinematography, but considerably lesser of significance (or so I tell myself). The good thing about the story is that the main plot has been completely pulled out of thin air — and it's pretty good. Thankfully, they didn't try to adapt one of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, which would've been disastrous given all the reinventions, to say the least.

Ah, yes. The woman.

Oh just by the way, I did not like whoever plays Mary Morstan. Don't ask me why.

And Robert Downey Jr's fingers are way too think for any kind of violin playing. The violin on the score was a nice touch, though.

Basically, if you haven't already, then go watch it! And leave that copy of Ballantine's Sherlock Holmes behind.

P.S. DT's intermissions are OMG-the-movie-is-back-get-your-stupid-cappuccino-and-Diet-Coke-quick! too short.

Yes, I'm back. This is my new abrupt style of not giving pointless explanations for blog negligence.

“If u r driving in the wrong direction, God will provide ‘U’ turns”

2009-09-24T19:39:00.005+08:00

So I finally, finally, finally went and got my Learner's License. (From the Vasant Vihar RTO. Which says it's open on weekdays till 1 pm, except not really.) You have to go to this counter-thingy inside the gate which has “Learner's License” written above it in large, not-so-friendly letters (although that could just be my imagination and their rain-washed character). There's a guy sitting there eating biscuits and drinking tea, on finishing which, he'll say that there are only ten minutes before the counter closes. You simultaneously stare at your watch and all the people ~~in the queue~~ in front of you (tricky, btw) while wondering whether the guy sniffling and coughing behind you has swine flu or not. If you eventually reach the counter, the guy will glance through your form, circle a few things (which can be disconcerting for those who aren't used to Physics teachers circling lab experiment readings), ask you to sign in a dozen places, and also casually mention that those sweet biskuts get stuck in his teeth. Incidentally, mentioning that he may have cavities is rather futile. Oh and for the residence proof, though the passport is — in His own (translated) words — “the quintessential age and residence proof”, take it only if you want to field requests for taking him along on your next trip abroad.

Anyway, after that you have to go inside the main building. The room is pretty huge with counters along the walls and seats in the middle. They have ACs too, although it isn't really cold because (as usual) the doors are open. You basically whizz from one counter to the other, paying 30 bucks (car only; another 30 for two-wheelers) at one, being insisted upon taking a license for two-wheelers at another (and just when you've decided to ~~give in~~ agree, they'll tell you that it's too much hassle because they've already made the receipt). Then you go to the next counter, the “Biomatrics” one. This is where they take your fingerprint, a miserable excuse for a digital signature and go out of their way to take the most horrifying photograph possible (which'll make your mom say that you look like a terrorist, even as you half-heartedly deny such preposterous allegations).

After that you go get your photo taken again at another counter (don't ask why) and they'll give you a huuuge chart with road signs on one side and loads of stuff on the other (which you might not get time to read fully, because you didn't know it was there). Then you have to sit at a computer and answer 20 questions in 20 minutes. The questions are multiple-choice ones with at least two choices being right in almost every question; sadly, you get to choose only one. (I could tell you some of the questions, except it would be useless since I don't know the answers). You get to know if you passed soon after you finish the test. Then, if you pass, they give you the learner's license (basically an A4 sheet with said horrible photo on it).

[Oh btw, all the stuff on that huge chart can be found at the Transport Dept website here. They even have the required forms available for download. I'm impressed — I actually managed to find stuff on a government website without wanting to throw my mousepad at their marquee text.]

N.B. If you're wondering about the post title, you won't once you go inside the main room and read what's on those signs pasted everywhere.

Light travels faster than sound

2009-09-05T17:50:00.002+08:00

I know that. In all probability, so do you. But surely that can't be the reason why I've started noticing this time lag between sight and sound while watching just about any video? First it was reserved to YouTube videos mostly, but now I notice it with TV shows too.

So is my brain unable to process two things simultaneously, or is it not just me? :P