do youtube?

well, i spent almost the whole of yesterday surfing youtube.com. time spent on revision? zilch.
well, not really, since i did do some questions but i was really intrigued by the wealth of old music videos i can find, some of which accompanied me through my NS days, though i only heard the music, never seen the videos. and it's strange that the loading times of the clips get longer and longer the more i watched.

there were the visual kei stuff, one genre of music that i was really into during around 1999/2000. music from lariene, malice mizer, dir en grey, etc. looking at these music videos now, i can't help but feel really amused by the choreography. some were quite nicely done, though most were just visual excuses for people to dress other people up in gaudy clothes doing some weird incomprehensible actions. some videos have no flow at all! just everchanging scenes with people singing, etc. i don't know about you but i always prefer music videos that adopt some sort of a skit or plot.

was really into the shibuya-kei electro-pop movement too. stuff from fantastic plastic machine, pizzicato 5, towa tei and so on. found two clips on youtube that really brings back memories. listening to the very same music waiting for the bus, booking in. lol. how reminiscent.

Take me to the disco

Tell Me

I'm sure most people will find these music videos,especially the first one, kinda cool for its day. i especially like the second one though. girls in sihoulettes can be soooo alluring.lol.
actually, i'm kind of a FPM fan, bought a few of their albums, would have bought the Sound Concierge series if HMV wasn't selling them at such cutthroat prices and there is that little issue of the pathetic SAF NSF salary.>_<

seems like today's post is more like a mindless rambling of lost youth. lol
oh well, i guess i had better get back to hitting the books.

One week to D-day

The past week has been very sedate. spending almost every day couped up in the library, trying to study. Instead i find myself thinking of loads of nonsensical things. I always sit facing the library entrance at one of those computer terminals and i noticed there's a new librarian(i think). She's kinda cute, so i find myself looking at her every once in a while. and that sort of got me thinking. what does a librarian do, actually? i mean, she just sits there, looking at the computer screen, sometimes she giggles to herself, and thats pretty much it. the only time i see her getting up is when she's going for lunch/dinner, going to the bathroom(i think) or when she's going home(i think). else she just stays glued to the lcd screen.

sounds like a really laidback job. i think the pay must really suck.lol.
I've got a neighbour who used to be a librarian. Maybe i should ask him what exactly did he do at his previous job. arrange books all day? hit on all the female students?

now, its time for a rant.

[rant]
i'm sick of people misinterpreting someone else's comments. its mind-boggling how paranoid people can get when one innocuous comment can serve to stir up a hornet's nest. its strange why people would rather harp on the negative aspect of something instead of thinking of the good part. i mean, its always a good thing to be positive right? if there's nothing you can do about it, being negative doesnt help much does it? going all out to voice your dissent aint helping matters too, isnt it? especially when the remarks in question are bitter in nature. i especially hate it when people make their opinions known in such a way that it looks like they're spoiling for a fight, knowing full well the other party is not the sort to back down in such a situation.

its amazing how insipid and ridiculous people can become when they're not thinking rationally.
[/rant]

Ok, now i feel a little bit better letting that out. i hope someone out there feels the same way i do.

Anyway, its about slightly more than a week left to my first paper, and judging from the responses i have garnered from a few people who had some papers already, it seems that some of the examiners are getting experimental with their papers. this is not a good thing. Some understanding of the student's psyche is necessary here. don't innovate. don't try something new. We do not like that. We prefer to expect exactly what we expect. better yet, we prefer to know what to expect. Don't lead us up one end only to pop up from another. At this point in time we need all the help we can get. A surprise is when u come home to a birthday party. it makes you happy. Exams do not make us happy, therefore it should not be surprising. We do not appreciate that. Thank you.

Quote of the day: Why can't we work out our differences? Why can't we work things out? Why can't we just get along?

Robo is easy

At long last, my Final Year of Pain is over. had my final oral presentation cum demo to my supervisor as well as examiner on monday. man, i was stressed out when i reached school in the morning. ten million questions were going through my mind; stuff like, am i gonna stutter? are they gonna hate my shirt? is the OHP gonna work? will the examiner hate my guts? why is the sky blue?etc..

my nervousness was at its peak the moment the two professors sat down in the tutorial room and looked expectantly at me. i wasnt sure how to react so i smiled at them and they look blankly at me. i dint really know what to do and there was a really long and pregnant pause before the examiner raised his eyebrows and gestured for me to begin.

geez, after all the preparation, i forgot i actually had to START the presentation in order to end it..>_<'

well, the examiner wasn't really that satisfied with my presentation in the end. i wasnt privy to their discusson after i concluded, but my supervisor let on that i'll most probably pass. both of them don't have the habit of failing people at this point, especially when its something as major as this. he told me that the grade is as good as mine and i can effectively take my mind off this and concentrate fully on the final hurdle. well, that was a load of my mind. i think i am probably the first person in the entire faculty to get the FYP over and done with.^_^

Now i have 3 weeks to revise for 3 subjects. that means i have an average of one subject per week of revision. i spent one whole day with robotics yesterday and i realised the prof was right. two days is all that is needed to master this subject. of the entire day i spent in the library, i covered 4 out of 7 chapters. and i wasn't actually studying half the time. the subject wasnt that hard to understand either, its all quite methodical, not much avenue for change. Now i know why my peers kept on saying this subject is a "die-die must take" subject=)

Anyway, just finished the Simulation lab, meeting my groupmates tomorrow for the Robotics lab. hopefully all the labs can be concluded come end of the week. although i have quite a bit of time for revision, it never pays to be complacent. i've still got to settle the little matter of the ICE. all my settings are screwed up now and i'm not sure whether a change in equipment is warranted and justified.=(

Quote of the Day: There can never be enough Time.

Monday= D-day

well, its been quite a single-minded week for me. i've been trying to come up with a decent powerpoint presentation for my FYP. spent quite a lot of time nit-picking instead of doing it though. in fact, i even spent about a day or so deciding what backdrops to use for what slides. hahaha. I even rehearsed the presentation. TWICE. i went back to school on saturday and talked to an empty tutorial room. never been this serious about a presentation before. i hope it's all worth it and it all works out.

anyway, had a JC reunion dinner on Friday. turnout wasnt that great, since there were only 7 of us, and it seems we only seemed to want to meet up whenever Shannon comes back from overseas. and most of the time, she always seems to be the organiser.>_< i guess the rest of us guys need to be more proactive. anyway, we had quite a blast talking about old times. i learned that my Chemistry teacher in JC is now the vice principal of my secondary school! wow. he's one of the teachers i have the deepest impression of, since everyone loathes going for his classes. he likes to ask alot of questions and the way he does this is very unnerving to me. maybe its cos he's from Hongkong and there's this wierd accent('tape' water?? covalent 'bounds'??wtf??). but i think its his whole demeanour that did it. he's like a smart Simon Corwell who knows the difference betwen ionic and covalent bonds, if u get what i mean.

anyway, we talked about loads of stuff and at one point, it was starting to get pretty tiring for me. haha. thats when i realised it was past 2AM. we were talking for, like, close to 6 hours. the amazing thing is, one of the girls had stamina to rival that duracell bunny, she just kept on going and going and going. it was like she was fully capable of chatting for days. i don't mean that in a bad way so i think i had better not identify her, in case she ever reads this entry.

anyway, my final oral presentation is tomorrow. feeling kinda nervous. not because of the presentation itself, but because i cant decide what to wear, what colours goes with what, should i wear a tie, bla, bla, bla. strange eh? its a good thing its gonna take place in the morning, so at least i can start the day's lessons without a heavy heart.

booyakasha!

Woot. Handed in the first draft of my report. A big load off my shoulders. that could explain why i was sorta loafing around the entire week. its such a psychological drain; i was literally obssessed with finding any minute mistakes or whatever in the final copy. i wasn't expected any 'well-dones' from the supervisor or examiner(i know i did a crappy job anyway), but i was just hoping they wouldnt screw me over for a bad report. well, in the end all i got was staid acknowlegements via email. nothing good, nothing bad.

Anyway, turns out the examiner won't be free on the examination date, so now i gotta present my stuff in the first week of April. Earlier than the whole world, but not really such a bad thing cos at least i can get it over with before the exam starts.

there was a career fair last week. ran into a friend i haven't met in a long while. one first look at each other and we both grinned. i thought she was still in NTU, she thought i was looking to change my job. It was actually the other way round. turns out she was 'sick', took an mc, and was here at the fair because she wants to consider a change in working environment and was looking at her "options".lol. quite a few companies were there "peddling their wares" and i must say, there were more than a few that caught my eye. its just too bad that my prerogative now is to do up a fine presentation, rather than spit-polish my resume.

The force is strong in this one.

went for Huimin(Zoggie!) and Sharon's wedding today. Quite interesting. no Mendelsohn's wedding march for this couple. they made their entrance to the tune of the Emperor's Theme in Star Wars. the moment we heard the music, all of us have this instantaneous thought that it was so Huimin. those of you who know him will attest that it seems precisely like his style. it was kinda hilarious how he froze up, gave comical answers and stutters when asked questions by the mc, who i must add, wasnt doing that good a job, especially the female mc, she spoke well, just that she was like, perennially wrecked with nervousness.

watching The Pianist at the moment, fantastic show. i could totally understand why Adrien Brody got an Academy Award. it was truly heart-wrenching, his desperation showed so immensely when he was hiding from the Germans and looking for food. It was a pity the good German officer had to die=(
I like these sort of shows, with a musical background. My sister rented a Japanese move, "Swing Girls", I've been badgering her about it all week and she finally went and rented the show. anyway, its a comedy about some misfits getting together to start a jazz band. really great show and the last 15 minutes of the show was simply a fantastic performance. a show with a really infectious rhythm.

now it seems like this is turning into a movie-review blog.>_<

anyway, deadline for my FYP is Monday, i've still got some finishing touches i need to lay on the report. i just hope that the examiner is not a tough nut to crack. things will swing so much more in my favour if he's an easy-going chap.

10K?

Damn. don't really have much time these days, been staying on campus till 9plus everyday trying to make my report as long as possible. currently, its only slightly over 30pages. heck, thats like half of my attachment report!>_< well, i'm not ambitious and i'll probably feel dumb adding in stuff for the sake of lengthening the report, thats why things are moving kinda slow. deadline for submission is next monday but i hope i can get everything done tomorrow or latest saturday, at least that'll give me a day or so to breathe.

anyway, read the papers today, NTU has just released its graduate employment statistics for the last cohort. One of my friends got on the paper! hahaha.
anyway, seems NTU grads command the highest starting salary. there was even one indian guy who is getting a 10k paycheck from Micro$oft. and he's from the same faculty as me! the only difference is he's got a first class honours degree. Bummer. whats interesting in the 3 universities reports is that a lot of graduates managed to secure jobs way before their graduation. there was this girl from SMU who started looking A YEAR before graduating and got a job a few months after that. the thing is, if there are so many of them(its about half the cohort in all 3 cases), how come i don't know even one?

i must have sucky friends, almost everyone i know started looking after graduation, in fact, there are some friends from last year's cohort who are currently still unemployed. and then i read in the papers there are people who have had like, 10 job offers.-_-' how many applications did they send actually?100?1000? maybe they're just too desirable and any company will probably kill to have them in their ranks.~scratches head~

Quote of the day: get a job that you like, and you'll never work a single day.(Sounds familiar?heh)