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- tagcloud - academics [70] art [8] changelog [49] current events [36] cute stuff [12] gaming [11] music [8] outings [16] philosophy [10] poetry [4] programming [15] rants [5] reviews [8] sport [37] travel [19] work [3] miscellaneous [75] |
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- sport -  This may have came a bit late, but Manchester United won their third European Cup. To put it all in perspective, European victories are extremely hard to come by. Real Madrid may have won it nine times, but then five of those were in the first five years of the competition. AC Milan are next with seven, then Liverpool with five, AFC Ajax and Bayern Munich with four, and now United with three. Some may say it can't be used as a measure of the stature of a club since Barcelona, which by any measure are amongst the most prestigious club sides in the world, are on only two, the same as Nottingham Forest, but that doesn't make the achievement any less wonderful. Touch wood, but seriously it isn't something that comes by often, so watching it live was quite magical. There was the small matter of another job-mandated visit at 10 a.m. the same morning, which meant that there would at most be a few hours of sleep, but that was nothing that couldn't be overcome. I was all set after stocking up on soya bean and prawn crackers, and checking that the hamsters were ready. For those not in the know, dwarf hamsters are very useful in drying sweaty palms. Personally I prefer the coarser fur of the Campbell for the initial soaking up, then the finer strands of the Winter White for touching up, but I guess one can get by with a single hamster if one is not too preoccupied about minor details. Alvin came over again, and my cousin invited one of his friends too. Game on. For all the speculation surrounding Sir Alex Ferguson's team selection against a "more physical" Chelsea, in the end it was a straight 4-4-2 of VDS - Brown, Rio, Vidic, Evra - Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes, Ronaldo - Rooney, Tevez. Probably their best general formation. Pride of Asia Park Ji Sung was conspiciously absent even from the bench, which led to some speculation on whether he was left out just because he was "too nice" and the obvious guy to "take one for the team". I wouldn't go as far to say that it wasn't a consideration at all, but I suppose the difference in ability is negligible anyway. United had the best of the early exchanges, with Ronaldo slowly warming up to the pace of the game. Scholes and Makelele collide in mid-air, leaving the ginger one with a bloodied nose. Then, after 26 minutes, United's earliest goal ever in an European Cup final happened - Brown plays a neat one-two with Scholes down the right side, then cuts back infield and delivers a looping cross with his left foot. Essien, who had been outfoxed by Ronaldo a couple of times already, stands rooted and can only watch as Ronaldo rises majestically and heads the ball just inside Cech's right-hand post. Chelsea have a chance when Ballack forces Ferdinand into a dangerous header over his own crossbar, but after that United should really have gone 3-0 up and put the game to rest. A brilliant sweeping move that began with Rooney rampaging forward from a rightback position deserved a goal, but Cech saved well from Tevez's diving header, then Carrick was far too cautious and returned the rebound right down the middle at the goalkeeper. A little more to either side, and Cech would have had no chance. Tevez had another great opportunity from a Rooney low cross when it somehow eluded Makelele, but to be fair I wasn't expecting that to get past the defending player either. View first half highlights (3 min 24 sec). I had an unwelcome premonition that United would pay for their poor finishing as they have so often done in the past, and indeed Lampard's powers of deflection came in handy for Chelsea. A strike by Essien bounced off Vidic, then off Ferdinand, right into the path of the Frank one. It must be said that you make your own luck to a certain extent, but it was still a bitter disappointment for us. The second half was quite disturbing as it was Chelsea's turn to gain the upper hand. They do however suffer a few bad corner decisions, which has Joe Cole in particular all hot and bothered:  End-to-end stuff, with Drogba smashing a curler into the woodwork. Say what you like about him, but he's one heck of a striker when he's not flat on the ground. Myself, I thought van der Sar had it mostly covered. Giggs makes a bit of history of his own as he breaks Charlton's appearance record by coming on for the fading Scholes, but there are no extra time heroics like the last time around. United do it the hard way again. United continue to be in trouble as Lampard strikes the crossbar in the first period of extra time, but it didn't go in and that's all that matters. Think I swopped hamsters as the one I was holding was starting to get extremely damp. Nobody was in the mood to snack. Evra then burst through a bunch of defenders, who are understandably wary of giving away a penalty, and feeds Giggs in the middle perfectly. "Mr. Chelsea" John Terry saves his side this time, but the fortunes of these two would be reversed later... Drogba then gets sent off in an incredible turn of events. No macho headbutting for him, though, just a sissy little slap at Vidic (in fairness Nani didn't fare much better at emulating the great Zidane not that long ago either). It would have been interesting to see the Serbian rip into Drogba actually, but Terry inexplicably kept Vidic away from his soon-to-be absent striker, but not before seemingly clearing his nose onto Tevez sneakily. It was far too late for a man less to make a real difference, so it was penalties, and boy did it make a story. As with the 2006 World Cup finals, Hollywood scriptwriters would probably have rejected it for being too unrealistic. If it was nerve-shredding for us in a corner of Singapore, I wonder what it might have felt like in Moscow. Time passed very slowly. Tevez hits the opener low and to Cech's right as Cech goes the wrong way. 1-0 United. Ballack strikes it high to VDS's left. VDS guesses correctly but it was hit too well. One-all. Carrick steps up, swings it to Cech's right as Cech flies left again. 2-1 United. Beletti, substituted on as a penalty specialist, pushes a grounder to VDS's left as VDS dives rightwards. Two-all. Now Ronaldo. I had expected that he would take the last kick, with some reports stating that he "likes the pressure". Apparently not. He does his usual stop-start jig. Cech doesn't move. With only a couple of steps remaining to the ball, he just wings it and strikes it unconvincingly waist-high and far, far too close to Cech. Uh-oh. Would there be an instant reprive? Lampard is next, and he slams it to VDS's left. VDS gets the barest of touches on it, but not nearly enough to stop it. Chelsea take the lead. The pressure mounts further on United's remaining kickers, as any miss must surely spell doom. It's Hargreaves, though, and he takes possibly the best kick of the night as he smashes it into the top right corner with coolness. Cech guesses the direction, but it's too hard and too high to catch. Ashley Cole once more hits it to the left, and one senses that VDS has just about gotten the hang of it. I thought he had stopped it, but again there was just too much power behind the kick, and the ball manages to continue on into the back of the net. United's dreams were slipping away, as Nani had to score just to keep United in contention. This he did, striking it uncannily similar to Ronaldo, but without stopping his run. That probably gave it enough strength to get through. However, the situation was still very much against United, as Chelsea would win it if they scored the last penalty. And as we all know, it is far more common for a penalty to be scored than missed. But who would take it and claim the glory? 
Hoping against hope Surprise, surprise, it was none other than Captain Terry. VDS engaged in his usual delaying tactics, but all too soon he had to be back on his goal line, waiting for the shot. It is true that a well-hit penalty to the top corner is virtually unsavable - all professional goalies must know that. Does this weigh on their minds in such a situation, when they realise it is almost completely out of their hands? I do not know. Anyway, VDS guessed wrongly as Terry chose the left side like all his teammates did. When the ball left his foot, it seemed to be all over. 
Cruel, cruel fate... Then the ball bounced off the upright and disappeared off the screen. It was not over. Anderson, United's penalty specialist substitute, came up for the first sudden death kick. Some later said that at twenty, he was too young to be afraid. Certainly his smashing of the ball straight down the middle right at Cech seemed fearless enough. This sort of thing works sometimes, and this time it did as Cech launched himself leftwards. Kalou for Chelsea. VDS takes his time walking to the goal. Is it the moment? Not just yet, as Kalou sends it high and to the left. VDS goes low and to the right. Giggs then. Perhaps fitting that a legend should have a stage such as this. A United player has his face in the turf, not daring to watch (who is it?). Can't blame him much. Cech commits to the right fractionally too early, and the Welshman strokes it, easy as you like, safely to his left. Anelka the Incredible Sulk walks up, looking like a man who would rather be anywhere else at this moment. VDS, who must have realised that all six previous Chelsea kickers have aimed to his left, tries some mind games of his own. He points to his top left corner, as if to say, "Come on, I know you are going that side.". Did Anelka fall for it, or had he decided to kick it to the right anyway? We may never know, and it was an okayish kick, certainly not the worst of the bunch. But VDS had read it, VDS parries it. United win. A hamster was squeezed. 
From despair to joy Terry is inconsolable, and certainly it would not have been a rank injustice had Chelsea won in regulation time. But this is football. United again pull off a great escape to become European champions, and complete a great Double. Sir Bobby Charlton leads the United players up to receive their medals, the players take turns to hoist the Cup. Fifty years after Munich - perhaps it was just meant to be, after all. It was by now six a.m., but staying up was well worth it. Epilogue: Unsurprisingly, Avram Grant gets pushed out of the Chelsea door, although a second-place league finish and an European Cup final must be regarded as a decent season by any measure. Well, perhaps not if you have billions to throw. Likely miffed at the personification of dull getting to the finals, which he had not been able to do with much the same set of players, Jose Mourinho the Special One dismisses Grant's deeds as non-achievements, probably trying to distract people from realising that with half a billion pounds of talent, many managers with more than half a brain would have a good shot at emulating his specialness. Will continue on to the rest of the week soon, but first a couple of special AAAAAs to give out (special in that they bypass the original criteria): Firstly, to edchong, for getting his blog marked by a Content Warning (Quote: "Some readers may find the content of this blog objectionable." Never have truer words been displayed). The question is, how the heck did it escape the dragnet for so long? Secondly, to tpk, for appearing on MSN without the Busy modifier. The princeling will be off to Germany in a week or so, so here's hoping his AAAAA has some cachet there...
- + hamsters - ...Kicked off by taking an hour's driving refresher lesson in the morning with my old instructor. Despite it being about four years since I passed my test and got my driving licence (and not touched a steering wheel since then), it all came back surprisingly easily. Clutch control was the only real concern, and that will probably be irrelevant if I pick an automatic gearbox if and when I buy my own vehicle. Rediscovered the joy of cruising the streets again, and also realised that few cars seem to keep strictly to the recommended top speed - having them zoom right by and disappear even when travelling at 60+ km/h on the leftmost lane is a given. Visited the library and then the barber after that for my monthly trim, and after that it was off to the "private" NUS Tennis Court 3 for a hastily-arranged practice session. I suppose I am beginning to get my feel for tennis, since my wrists don't feel strained any longer after two-odd hours of on-off swinging. Still don't get how to hit the ball with a Western forehand, though. We came across twc by chance at Subway when we were having dinner. The usual mostly senseless banter ensued. Deleted 141 SMS messages from my phone memory after installing the newest version of Nokia PC Suite (the old version stopped working for some unknown reason), and finally got around to downloading the images I had taken with it. Here are the seafood restaurant pics, from the last post: 
Clockwise from top left: Lobsters, dunno, fish, ermmmmm Excess rainfall creating an impromptu fountain somewhere in NUS: 
I remember it being more impressive than this Army waterbottles residing at staircase corners in the SOC building. Must be for some camp or what: 
Seriously no idea why. Yah I was quite wuliao Couldn't resist installment three, and conveniently here's a link to one of the best hamster stories I've come across: 
...And finally, the Champions League finals are starting in about an hour, with some guests coming. First, a recap of a pattern published in the Straits Times, if I recall: Coincidence between Spanish La Liga and English Premier League winners: 2001/2002 - Valencia/Arsenal 2002/2003 - Real Madrid/Manchester United 2003/2004 - Valencia/Arsenal 2004/2005 - Barcelona/Chelsea 2005/2006 - Barcelona/Chelsea 2006/2007 - Real Madrid/Manchester United 2007/2008 - Real Madrid/Manchester United (woohoo!) For the Champions League, something similar exists - the conquerors of the conquerors of Real Madrid lift the cup: 2002/2003 - Real Madrid beaten by Juventus beaten by AC Milan (winner) 2003/2004 - Real Madrid beaten by AS Monaco beaten by Porto (winner) 2004/2005 - Real Madrid beaten by Juventus beaten by Liverpool (winner) 2005/2006 - Real Madrid beaten by Arsenal beaten by Barcelona (winner) 2006/2007 - Real Madrid beaten by Bayern Munich beaten by AC Milan (winner) 2007/2008 - Real Madrid beaten by Roma beaten by Manchester United (winner???) We shall see...
Work Where should I start? For the first time I've been tied up with a job for the full three months of the summer hols (no, fulfilling my deferment obligations for NS doesn't count), but it's not exactly a conventional internship. It's the Computing for Voluntary Welfare Organizations (CVWO) stuff that sel has been involved in for awhile, and the actual computing (coding) is done from home. Telecommuting saves unneeded transport fees and other resources, so it's win-win both ways. Quite a few meetings for the first week to get started with, though, but as the hours are certainly shorter than the typical 9-to-5 gig I can't complain. Then again time has never really been the point with programming - I mean, if one can complete an assigned task according to specifications in two hours instead of eight, there isn't really any point sitting around pretending to look busy. While the sort of system engineering needed isn't anything I haven't done before (in the software engineering module, as well as long ago in my NS days when one of my platoon mates suggested some online inventory system and I hacked it out in Perl in-camp, but that's another story), it'll be my first real-world project that isn't some way about myself. Never found content management platforms like Drupal necessary, but now that there will be multiple coders I suppose some sort of control becomes helpful. It appears that they have got a packaged WAMP server for Windows nowadays too - it seems so long ago that Jiaqi introduced me to ActivePerl + Apache back during NS for said online inventory system, heh. Got to visit a couple of welfare organizations that I would otherwise likely never have gone to, such as the Christalite Methodist Home (for the socially disadvantaged elderly) and the SIA-MINDS (Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore) Employment Development Centre. By the way I can't be said to be doing charity, since I do get a decent (corporate-sponsored) stipend out of this - but from what I've heard about the prices that external vendors charge for commercial IT solutions, they should at least get their money's worth. The people-interaction part isn't exactly under our job scope, but from initial observations the centres are all... very organized. Then again, this is Singapore. The MINDS visit in particular opened my eyes - one chap with crossed eyes and buck teeth turned out to be a very confident speaker with a good voice to boot, and I wouldn't know how to knit like one of the "intellectually-challenged" ladies did. The handphone pouch was of pretty exquisite workmanship. The Japanese drumming performance they put up was quite professional too. Media Caught up with a couple of movies and books too. My cousin got Gladiator and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (released in 2000 and 2004 respectively) on DVD, so I finally came around to watching them. (The joy I will have when I am retired! All those films to watch!) Oddly enough, I had already been introduced to some of the gags in Harold & Kumar through the Kingdom of Loathing gameplay, but at least I don't remember going through the plot on Wikipedia for either, unlike with some movies that I reckon that I would never watch even when retired. One thing though - I am now resolved to try out a White Castle slyder before getting my Great Reboot From The Sky. 
Current fav Bleach character - Zaraki Kenpachi (KFC image source) Finished browsing through Bleach on OneManga too. As with Naruto, I got hooked after previously deriding it as mass-market fare. Better not get started on any other manga for now, argh. Tennis Tried my hand at tennis with Edchong, Alvinny & Alvinny's friend on Wednesday night at the NUS SRC courts. Lesson Number One: Remove plastic covering of racket grip to prevent flying racket. Lesson Number Two: Tennis strokes are very different from badminton strokes. Hitting a tennis ball badminton-style generally results in it going into the net (as a tennis ball is somewhat heavier) or flying over the fence for a home run. Adjustment issues with drop shots too. Remember - follow through, and don't rely overly on wrist action! Lesson Number Three: The service should be aimed horizontal or upwards, instead of downwards like a badminton smash (the instinctive stroke). This is emphasized in About.com's Tennis Serve Repair guide, and we can resort to basic kinematics to back up that statement. 
Cross-section of tennis court, to scale To make the computations straightforward, assume the service is hit perfectly horizontally (parallel to the ground) and the tennis ball undergoes negligible deceleration from air resistance. According to wikipedia, the distance from baseline to net is approximately 11.9m, and from net to service line 6.4m. The net is 0.91m high at its lowest point in the middle. Let the point of contact between racket and ball during service be 2.85m above ground (1.75m height, 0.6m extra reach, 0.5m from handle to racket face). A successful serve has to (I) pass over the net, and (II) land in the service box on or before the service line. Hitting the ball harder obviously makes it easier to fulfil condition (I), but harder to fulfil (II), and vice versa for a softer hit. Letting the initial (horizonal) velocity be x m/s, and using d = 0.5at^2, the following equations have to be satisfied: dI = 0.5(9.8)(11.9/x)^2 ≤ 1.94 = 2.85 - 0.91 dII = 0.5(9.8)(18.3/x)^2 ≥ 2.85 Doing all the nitty-gritty steps and converting gives 68.08km/h ≤ x ≤ 86.22km/h, i.e. for a well executed flat serve hit horizontally by a guy of average height, there isn't really a large window of possible speeds. Aiming slightly upwards would likely allow for more error in both the angle and speed, though of course the serve would then be easier to return. Do note that there is no maximum speed if one's aim is perfect, as the straight line from point of service to the service line passes over the net - Andy Roddick's record is a shade shy of 250km/h (!) Quite clearly a flat serve at that speed would fall nowhere enough to land inside the service box if hit horizontally, and indeed it seems from trigonometry that there is at most a range of a few degrees that such a serve can leave his racket at and remain legal (though he may be helped by being slightly taller). Conclusion: The harder a flat serve is hit, generally the more accurate it has to be as well. Dinner And on Saturday my parents took the family out for a seafood dinner. Can't remember the last time I ate crab other than the on-a-stick versions by Old Chang Kee, delicious nevertheless. Turned down a football invitation for the first time in a long while on Sunday. Needed to recharge.
 Thanks in large part to dedicated character-spamming by Kkok, the venerable FourOKOJ Dragon Court clan is as of today third overall! My own contribution with 34 accounts, half of them newbs, is probably in the 200-300 power range. Downloading Windows XP Service Pack 3 and preparing to do a comprehensive backup of my home system during this second day of the summer holidays. The event of the day is undoubtedly the EPL, though:  $2974.75/$2950 as my virtual punting challenge winds down, and I'll be looking to pad that with a 10% return over two hours by backing Chelsea. Not that United won't win, but I just don't see any way Bolton are going to hold out at the Bridge. Not that I'll mind if they do, mind. $100 on Chelsea to beat Bolton (at 1.10)
SN1101E South Asia: People, Culture and Development also done, bringing my seventh semester in NUS to a close. Felt that I didn't really do full justice to the questions after bothering to seek out, photocopy and bind all the suggested readings, but it's over, heck. The module did put our standard of living into perspective, however - truly it came down to the lottery of birth. Happiness, of course, is another (relative) thing; While my studies do lead me towards some stuff that I desire, it seems that it does not lead towards that which I truly want, but then I see no guaranteed path to achieving that either. Still, one can't complain too much. Out of nowhere I found it fit to dabble in a bit of astrology, and to my delight some websites have made the construction of natal charts free and easy. A nice development from when I was given the Book of Tests as a prize in Primary Four, and couldn't make much sense out of the Astrology section (by the Milo Kovar Astro-Psychology Institute) that headed that book. The palmistry text that I photocopied from a few of my friends then interested in that area was much more readable, and I daresay I still have that somewhere, that is if my grandmother hasn't managed to winnow my collections stealthily, as she usually does.  I don't think that makes too much sense on its own, so here's a primer on natal astrology. There's some science involved since it involves the exact position of the heavenly bodies at the exact time of birth, before the jibjabbering about zodiac signs and houses comes in. Obviously, irritating problems arise when one gets born near the poles, but since I was an Equator baby no such complications arise. Breaking it down into the basics:
If you be feeling curious now, or like me are in the glad state of temporarily having nothing better to do, just whip out that ol' birth certificate for your time of birth (not strictly required, since the date is usually sufficient for the planetary positions but the houses need more accurate timings) and generate your own natal chart in one easy step. Astrozoom.com even has an interactive Java chart, so take your pick. They should give the same results. And be sure to have a large tablespoonful of salt and a knowledge of the Pollyanna Principle, too. So are my own readings accurate? Decently enough, but without subjecting myself to comparisms with randomly generated sets of planets and houses I can't be certain - and now that I know the actual readings such an experiment probably wouldn't be accurate. I therefore leave this possible addition to the sum total of human knowledge to some experimental psychologist looking for a project. Went hunting for a tennis racket alone after gana pangseh by Mr. Alvin, and settled on a budget made-in-China Yonex RQ Force ZX (standard 27-inch length, slightly oversized 110 square inch head, ten and a half ounces {~300 grams} in weight), in red and a very deep blue. Come to think of it, one of the South Asian examination questions was about India and China's engagement with the global market. Argh, scratch that thought. Got a free waterbottle into the deal. Didn't manage to locate a shop doing authentic EPL lettering for my United jersey, so Scholes 18 will have to wait.  Remembered reading something about tennis grips in the latest edition of the Sunday Times (May 4), so I dug into the karang guni pile and re-read it with racket in hand. My natural grip seems to be the Eastern one, which was to be expected as that's the way I hold a badminton racket too. Can't imagine wielding it the Western way - I would probably twist some muscles that way, but let's see how theory holds up in practice on Wednesday when I give the racket its first trial run. 
Prototype subject to minor refinements Following onto Wenhoo's suggestion on an idea I floated, I concluded without empirical testing that that particular bit of my anatomy wasn't quite up to the task. Some raffia string and tentative swings later, I was convinced of the potential of the concept, and as a bonus the triple-sized handle should serve to strengthen the grip. Intimidation factor when playing table tennis yet another plus.
Geography paper navigated through this morning, Economics of E-Business on the 29th and Econometrics on the 28th. Can't say too much for Econometrics since I plunged most of the effort into the E-biz module (since it actually counts), whereas for Geography it was back to penning approximately four pages/hour towards a total of four essay questions, the two physical geography ones of which were compulsory. I have got to say studying for non-economics arts/social science modules can be a welcome change of pace. Scholes, Scholes, he scores goals! (Rather less classy remix) Have to admit that the Chelsea-Liverpool tie was the more entertaining of the two, though. Actually I was secretly rooting for Pool to nick this one for a final like no other - United's recent record against them of seven wins and a draw in the league helps too - but Chelsea were too ruthless in the end. Drogba dives like few other men his size (which Benitez helpfully pointed out before the game, though it availed him little), but his finishing was simply outstanding, twice putting it past Reina at the near post. Red vs Blue on two fronts now, and expect a new edition of EPL Tales soon. Nike have done it again with one of the slickest ads I've seen in some time. Only gripe is that Arsene Wenger seems quite obviously greenscreened in at about the 0:10 mark. Slightly surprised that the first-person perspective hasn't been exploited much in sports adverts though - it appears there's always something new under the sun. $2814.75/$2850 after Liverpool conspired to draw against Birmingham (but on hindsight it should have been expected that they would rest players), and United didn't quite make it at Stamford Bridge. For today, it's back to the dependable Rams... $100 on Blackburn (-1.5) vs Derby (at 1.60)
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