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Thursday, Nov 29, 2007 - 02:12 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

Halfway Through The Moonlight

The two harder papers have gone by in a flash, before I could really begin worrying about them. An email today inviting us to check our tutorial attendance scores gave me a right shock as I got just one of ten possible points despite attending all the sessions and presenting a solution, which led to me shooting off a query to the lecturer immediately. It turned out that I was not the only one in that boat, and an admission that the call to check our scores was premature was swiftly forthcoming.

All's well that ends well here, but incidents like this make we wonder about the frequency of scoring "accidents" - refer to Mr. Chong's experience. Come to think of it, it isn't really that unlikely for someone in the scoring chain to sum them up incorrectly or mistype a digit when going through hundreds of scripts (as my data entry stints indicate). Perhaps it might be good for the university to go after ISO certification for a less than 0.00001% failure rate or something?

I have to declare here that my all-time all-round favourite comic strip is Tom the Dancing Bug (TTDB). Not to take anything away from TOOTS or Sluggy or any of the other superb works out there, but Tom's just... versatile. And very insightful. And ironically sarcastic.

Attentive readers may recall that TTDB has been featured before. If so, send for a probationary AAAAA.

Some nice guy has posted a complete catalog of links to the TTDB archives up to September 2005, and I've enjoyed a few happy hours reading them up to November 2004. Without further ado, my Top Ten favourites, in some particular order:

#10 - Expectations Shaping Reality

Wondered why novels get predictable?

#9 - ...And Ultimate Reality

And why people sometimes have the urge to behave strangely?

#8 - Doublespeak

Ah, the right to satire and to (deservedly) denigrate their leaders by name without fear of hamfisted lawsuits, the keystone of American democracy and what made their nation great.

#7 - When you're high enough, actual correctness is optional

Actually, Bush is classified as a cheap target by most cartoonists for being so easy to hit. TTDB appears to be equal opportunity, though, and Clinton wasn't spared in the earlier strips when he was still in office.

#6 - On the epic potential lurking within every being

Aw, isn't the ego a wonderful thing?

#5 - The Greatest Superhero

Superman and Jean Gray, eat your hearts out!

#4 - The Impossible Squad

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

#3 - The Day The Written Word Died

Never thought of the parallels between the literary and music worlds, didja? Come to think of it, walk into a library and one has full access to any book, absolutely free of charge. Okay, so the comparism isn't totally fair, since most people won't undergo the hassle of scanning or photocopying books to keep them, while with music there is zero inconvenience. But it does suggest why the perceived threat of filesharing may be grossly exaggerated.

#2 - So true that it is so funny and so sad at the same time

My fav superhero reminds me of why I'm no fan of Organized Religion (in Civ 4 it's a different matter, the 25% increased building speed is quite useful). Unfortunately, the comic actually fails in exerting any influence - staunch adherents won't think it's funny (or are incapable of placing themselves in allegory), and the rest probably don't think it's a joke.

While conceding the fact that humans are a bunch of contradictions (hence everyone being a hypocrite, Romans 3:10 "There is none righteous" having some application after all), most religion demands the systematic acceptance of contradictions to a ridiculous extent. I mean, once people get it into their heads that their vision of God is the only true one, there isn't much wiggle room in interfaith dialogue. Imagine all those pastors, priests, abbots, imams, rabbis and whatnot smiling at each other while privately thinking "Well, in the end I'm probably going up (by Grace of God) and you're probably going down, but it's just too bad" - and that's if they are sincere in their beliefs.

#1 - The tale of the Holy Land in eight panels

Much the same theme as #2, but so spot-on it deserves to be examined twice. For all that is said of humility being a virtue, often precious little can be detected in the most passionately aggressive evangelical movements. One of the things about Organized Religion is that it can be easy to get into, but difficult to leave (think: underground societies, only instead of turning your back on your brothers, you're turning your back on God Himself. How could you??). Fancy dancing the Pariah Pariah Sakura? I suspect many don't have the strength to.

I'm waiting for the Manchester United-Sporting Lisbon reversible jerseys. This way, the players won't have to put in an order for new togs from the kitman when they switch (Ronaldo, then Nani, then...). Not all that impressed with Miguel Veloso, but we may soon see how it works out.

Back to books...



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