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Saturday, Dec 30, 2006 - 17:05 SGT
Posted By: Gilbert

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Memento Mori, Universitas Prolixus Textus

Christmas night was spent watching Death Note: The Last Name at Cathay. I have the habit of looking down upon hit mangas before I try them, only to later realise that for them to enter the mainstream, they have to have some selling points after all.

Oh yah: Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

For Death Note, the major premise is the ability to kill by just writing the target's name in a notebook. Oh, there are a bunch of rules and the sometime inconvenience of finding out the name, but in practice who the possessor of a Death Note wants to die, dies. I know of a few organizations that may have a use for one.

Clearly this is a tantalizing power to have; Superior to Medusa's gaze, it operates at unlimited range with minimal knowledge, as opposed to a limited range with zero knowledge (but with a dependence on inexperienced adventurers and a shortage of mirrored shields). I have in the past pondered upon the utility of a more intuitive form of the same power - that to indiscriminately kill with a thought. Bearing in mind that a person with such a power is human in all other respects, and cannot moderate his strength at all (i.e. he either kills or does not kill, no stun setting), how far can he parlay this unique talent into results? Don't think it'll beat more flashy superspeed, optical beams or even a good pair of adamantanium claws in the popularity stakes, in any case.


Wake me when it's over (from a trailer.)

Another thing is the fanservice in the movie. Was it really necessary from the plot, or even realistic, for the saccharine sweet (and very deadly) Misa Amane (Erika Toda) to be strapped up naughtily for interrogation while the main male lead Light Yagami (Tatsuya Fujiwara) only gets a lousy straitjacket? Or for Kiyomi Takada (Nana Katase) to show her (very shapely) legs while reclining in a sofa? Well... I'm not complaining. *Waves hand blandly* Nope, not me. Not at all.

The most touching characters for me were L and the Death God Rem - L for his utter, if quirky, dedication to his job (and hilarious mask!) unto death, and Rem for her (didn't know it was a she) sacrifice towards Amane (though she may be an easy girl to sacrifice for...) Heard L may be getting his own spin-off. He's worth it.

Boxing Day saw the confirmation of the past semester's results. CAP of 4.88. Your cue, Xan?

"Life... is... so hollow..."

Thank you, Xan. Ya, good also not happy, bad then very sad. Perhaps it's just the expression of all that effort in a single letter. Or a one decimal point number. Forsyth, may I borrow McCready (from The Deceiver) for a moment?

McCready stared at the sea and the sky and sighed. "Now, Tom, the lawyers take over. The lawyers always take over, reducing all of life and death, passion, greed, courage, lust and glory to the dessicated vernacular of their trade."

Thank you, McCready.

Next semester - more Problem Solving in Computing (CS2306S), Foundations of Artificial Intelligence (CS3243) and the graduate level 5 module, 3D Game Programming Technology (CS5243). Hmmm... *scratches chin* I don't know. But it was the only way to get another three day week. Physics IV (PC1144) will be with quite a few pple I know, at least sel and edchong, and also my Physics-majoring cousin. Good. It is better to have in-your-face comparism, like in the old JC and before days, than to float through a module without knowing how you stand until the mid-terms are released. And by then it may be too late.

Two Econs modules to round off next sem. Wake-up call heeded.

Come to think of it, taking all these closely game-related modules may be a reaction to a comparatively deprived childhood, console and computer game-wise. Yea, in debt to my grandma for that, perhaps, but now's my delicate comeuppance within fillial limits.

(In Chinese)"Hey, why are you gaming? You should be studying!"

"It's my project lah. This module no final exam one. You want me to fail issit? Nyeah nyeah."

"..."

Simply delicious to tie up what she absolutely hates (me playing games) with what she most desires (my grades), even if indirectly :)

Then, on Wednesday, access to overseas Internet hosts stalled. Thought it was my router acting up at first, and I jiggled it before finally finding out some hours later that the problem was with an earthquake in Taiwan breaking our undersea cable connections, and oh, killing two. It appears callous to say so, but statistically that does not even register as a blip - countless more die every night in more mundane ways like car accidents, or expire quietly in their beds. But this is one of the things that we're just not supposed to say, which is something I've never been particularly good at, since primary school where I had a brief discussion with a teacher on much the same subject. But this is a topic for another day.


INTERNET, MEET, EARTHQUAKE!!! (Internet Traffic Watch - Asia)

Just goes to show how fragile our communication links are. True, technically there remained many alternatives, but in practice the limited capacity meant that for many people those alternatives may as well not have been there. The story of The Lines That Speak Under The Sea is a good and relevant read.

So Man U defeated Villa handily 3-0 and Wigan 3-1, with a Ronaldo double in both matches. Scholes' cracker was the pick of the lot, a first-time volley from nowhere off a high clearance. The unassuming Ginger Ninja is still my favourite United player, and one day I'll have his name on a jersey. And Chelski's Cashley kicked a ball into Essien's butt to give him an own goal to draw Reading. *Dances a little jig*.

$166 from the Villa predictions last week, $1564.85/$1600 now - barely keeping pace. Risks? Well, when they give Man U a paltry $1.15 to the dollar for beating Reading, I've got to take some.

$50 on Man U (-1.5) vs Reading (at 1.55) - One point five five. That's thin
$20 on Blackburn to beat Middlesbrough (1.83) - Deserve support after that Pool win
$10 on Charlton to draw Aston Villa (3.10) - Draw specialists strike again
$20 on Tottenham to draw Liverpool (3.10) - Pool favs as the away team? Please



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