Schools @ Wiki

It's quite odd to be reading about your schools on Wikipedia. Some of the sections in each page were seemingly written for students or alumni members. [or maybe not. I'm not coherent.] It's kinda a third-person narration, yet you kinda feel and know the unspoken stuff about topics raised inside the Wiki.

It was really odd that RJC goes into a very personal tour of the school facilities, even mentioning the facts about faulty airconditioning system, seemingly disused chat rooms, students mugging after school in the classrooms, a 7-11 store [wow, how soul-stirring that was]. There's also a discussion of the House System and the Council committee. And if my memory isn't faulty, there was even something about "tau pok" previously. Which was a rather confusing concept at first. =)

Most interestingly, the WSM/Derick/PAP MP controversy stuff. She has her very own Wiki page, which is ... really not a good thing. There is nothing like these on HCJC and NJC's Wiki. Of course, having such a small sample size, whatever hypothesis obtained is not representative.

And I kinda like River Valley's Wiki page too. There's an entire few sections dedicated into explaining how "unique" [well it is, that i can't disagree] the uniforms are, and even about future plans for the uniforms. [NO!! I like the old ones. With easily rippable painful metal buttons.]

And a whole list of the 3 Sustained Achievements thingy in Sports, PE, and UG. Which was quite nerve-wrecking i suppose, a few consecutive years of it, all it needs is just one miss, to lose the awards entirely. Hm, but a check of the Wiki, didn't make any mention of any consecutive Sustained Achievements Awards other than in 2001. Which is weird. I could have sworn the banner was updated at least once more, after 2001. And definitely, NCC did certainly get the Gold award for Best Unit Compeition in 2005... Unless it was a requisite for the Girls to get Gold too... Ah, I can't remember, all I know is I didn't get a good clustering at the annual Marksmanship competition or something..., which was included in the Best Unit scoring system somehow. It was pretty last minute stuff; I didn't even know I was selected [or even the top 3 of the Charlie cohort o.0 ] as part of the RV NC team until the day itself.

Why was I wiki-ing schools in the first place? I was trying to find the link for RJC's Maths Department answers for the revision exercises..... The RJC website has some serious issues with linking.... And no, I still haven't found the link yet...
Ah... the link was pretty darn obvious. I must have been really sleepy or something.

Oh yeah, check this interesting out-dated review of RJC: http://gssq.entori.net/writings/rjc.htm

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.

Full Metal Alchemist: Restored

:FMA: Restored by ~Cardinal4 on deviantART
I feel that this one might be the best one yet! =D I managed to keep the entire body proportion accurate. The picture has a context. The colouring looks alright, as in, artistically acceptable as a style [and not just doodles].

I tried cel-shading, but that didn't work out. Halfway I did air-brushing. Then tried using cel-shading and blurring with Blue tool and Air Brush. Then I took a look inside my favourited artworks, decided I liked paint-like dabbling the best, so I tried doing that.

I used a brush with slight scattering, 50% flow, 15% hardness, no size/opacity controls. I think I love this style, much like cel-shading but definitely slightly higher quality [kinda]. Truth [the floating guy] didn't turn out to be as clean as i hoped. =(

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.

Low poly character.

Ah. An anime character. T'was a screenshot for a brand new Open Source 3D modeler on the internet. It's really low poly. I could do that. But not really desirable... I would hope for something nicer. Even though that might mean not finishing it. But I would something of high quality. Not just rushing a sub-standard copy. I want something that I can reuse later without recoding/remodeling.

I still can't shake off the mental image of a circling camera zooming in on a character just before a match begins.

And I removed the jukebox. I found myself shutting off my speakers everytime I preview my blog edits. Which is pretty funny if you think about it. So I took it off. I had earlier rationalized that the only other way to get other people to love the same song/anime as i do, would be to make it into a game. Then people will have to download the game, and sit through the awesome music and video from the show, and see how awesome the characters are. That was pretty silly. But yup, no better way to get someone to watch an anime by packaging it as a game. =D

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.

New Website

Well no. No new website. Still the same thing.
I just had a really compulsive need to change my web address so that I can put on some really stylish blog designs.

Stylish? How stylish exactly? Check this demo page out, it'll rock your socks right off: http://themes.wordpress.net/testrun/?wptheme=4360

Wonderful wonderful page layouts. WordPress is truly one of the best places to find free awesomely designed page designs. And to top it off, it's even plug-and-play!

This post would have been on a new blog. But during the registration process for a new webpage [free webhosts everywhere, problem is finding one which you trust], i realise... blogspot has its benefits too.

Well being an informal blog, it rocks to be able to change your web address on a whim.
And informal as it is, isn't registering a new subdomain kinda too much of a hassle? Even if it is for awesome page designs?
Plus I have a formal blog to maintain, and i can put on awesome web designs there too, just for the novelity of it all.

Conclusion? It's too darn freaking late and I'm not in the mood to do anything so I rationalize my laziness by coming up with silly excuses about why not to make a new informal blog for attaching awesome page layouts. But I really DO NOT need a new blog.... Breadcrumbs all over the net, i'm sure.

PS: I still can't stare enough at those layout themes... I can only marvel at the intricate DHTML/AJAX coding that made it all possible... o.0

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.

Claymore

Claymore is a wonderful anime. I would like to think that it far surpasses any of the other animes that I've watched, and that includes Bleach, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, D.Gray Man and One Piece.

Claymore surpasses not because it beats the other above animes at what they do. In fact, Claymore is in its own unique category.
Firstly, it is not a shounen anime.
Right, if it's not a shounen anime, that must mean ecchi right? No. Claymore does not focus on it.
Thirdly, it does not have ... comedy! That's not a bad thing [Read Below].

Claymore is a dark fantasy show set in medieval times. There exists two races, Humans and Yomas. Yomas are monsters. Just thing about an ogre/goblin. They are slightly sentient, flesh-eating monsters.
Claymores are female warriors, who's duties are to eliminate these monsters. They are a human/Yoma hybrid, a human implanted with the blood of a Yoma [i suspect by a grafting/transplant process]. These warriors' weapons are Claymores, giantic heavy swords, hence their name. However the Claymores don't actually have a name. They belong to a nameless dark organization that gives orders to Claymores, punishes villages that had hired them but didn't pay.

Claymore does not bore the viewers with lengthy explanations about skill, techniques, and new monsters [unlike Naruto]. Claymore does not involve long periods of staring at each other [Naruto, Bleach], or pre-fight talking [Bleach]. Claymore, despite being a fighting show, does not attempt to force characters into extremely odd storylines that just involve them fighting, suddenly increasing their power levels, nor have extremely gaping plotholes left in them [Bleach]. Claymore is NOT a happy ending show, it's dark. Darker than D.Gray Man, and of course, more gory, since D.Gray Man is not in the least gory.

Expect to be confused slightly by characters that look quite alike. It happens, especially when there are lots of Claymores getting killed, and when they're all females. Expect to be faced with Not-Safe-For-Work scenes involving partial nudity, and lots of sliced up limbs [though they can regenerate].

In Claymore, the main character, Clare, does not talk much. So you are saved the agony of egoistic behaviour patterns or excessively worrying about comrades or saving a particular someone. [D.Gray Man's Allen and Naruto/Gaara] However, if that seems a bit cold, it's not. Background stories are dealt with appropriately. Fighting scenes are well-done, despite it being all done with only swords, which is fantastic in a way.

There are NO FILLERS. IT ADHERES COMPLETELY TO THE STORYLINE. It does not detract from the storyline at all, from episode 1 to 19. That means 19 episodes of back-to-back action-filled episodes without even a breather!!! Everything comes from the manga itself!!! That actually means a lot, as the whole story feels completely connected, in line with what the mangaka is trying to depict. Moreover, there are already 9 published volumes of Claymore, which means a plausible non-filler Season 2 coming up.

Claymore rocks. All converted Naruto and Bleach fans, who have grown disillusioned with insane fillery action and screaming Naruto, all agree that Claymore rocks. =D

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.

NDP 07

The parade sequence; the UGs are all holding replica model guns, and not marching. That'll definitely make the U-turning of the marching easier to execute, but kinda harder to stand there for 40 mins I guess. If only they allowed the participants to carry it home too. =D

Everything at the beginning of the Parade was pretty cool. Couldn't see the 40 commandos rappeling down the Sheares bridge or something. But everything was pretty novel and cool. They'll have to spice things up a little if they're gonna do it at Marina Bay again though.

Why Marina Bay though? Isn't the floating stadium just right in front of the Marina Square Shopping Centre? I thought Marina Bay was on the other side of the ECP? It ought to be NDP @ City Hall.

The President must have felt awkward not having anyone to wave to for a 1/4 of his journey. Not that anyone could, army law prevent them from waving. But dude, the UGs got to wave to the President!!! Normally we'll have to stare straight ahead and pretend to have tunnel vision. If the camera catches you shifting your eyes to follow the camera or anything, you're basically Lolz-ed. Lolz. Though the President was really sincere in thanking the participants. At the end of the Parade, the MCs said the President was preparing to leave, which was supposed to be a cue of some sort. But President S.R. Nathan continued shaking hands, till he finished the width of the row and went back to his escort car. Makes me have a better impression of him than just a figurehead of the government.

The stage is kinda too bright I think. The performers with all their slightly glittering suits, don't really stand out a lot in all that glow. And the animal placards thingy, they're virtually invisible in all that light.

What was with that really really really monotonous and irritating narration about water?

Who was THAT in a Lamborghini? Why was there a Lamborghini?! How come there are still parachuters that late into the segment? And the singer Gandhi, I wonder if he did notice, but the crowd was cheering for the parachuters, not for him. Though he was really immersed. And when he finished singing, he stared up expectantly, only to be plunged into complete darkness. =| hm. Maybe I'm over imagining things. This is not his first performance [rehearsals].

The National Day Theme Song was really ... unpatriotic, in that there was no notion of nation, of community, or of society in that song at all. And it's really "artistic". Rock was better in comparison, though rock versions of previous National Day Songs had a slight ruinous effect. This is the worst National Day Song EVER. It's basically crapping a whole lot about entrepreneurship and creativity. Commitment, loyalty, cultural diversity were all non-existent.

Mediacorp artistes were missing on the stadium. Maybe the TV live telecast didn't film them. Perhaps it would be better if they were more evident.
I was wrong. I just watched the rerun and heard the artistes' voices. The entire NDP had a feel of a musical concert rather than a NDP. Especially the Gandhi guy, who made it like a rock concert, seriously. Some performances were lacking luster. Some choreographing issues perhaps; the performances moved along really slowly; the performers' dance actions were completely unrecognizable from such a distance, especially with full blasting lights that made everything so ... bright. The performers are supposed to be highlighted by their sparkling suits. Instead their suits were just another bright spot in a really bright stage. Contrast problems, really.

The last segment was kinda the best. They played the 3 most famous of Songs, and it was really nice to hear them. The crowd obviously felt that way too. Or maybe the Parade was designed that way, atmosphere-wise. Anyway, I would love to be there for the last segment. And to be part of a contingency for the first segment.

Fireworks were okay. I could see the fireworks while eating at Tiong Bahru market. =D Got to see the fireworks every year. Though I'm still surprised Marina Bay is actually close to Tiong Bahru. Relatively.
The "flares" on top of some skyscrapers were quite insignificant. Too far and too small to be observable to the Parade goers. Might as well not be there; they made the Parade look cheapo. Or being overly excessive. 画蛇添足.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the billboards were completely DISTRACTING. What, is this Windows Media Player or what? What's with the darn "visualizations"? I prefer they do a close-up of the performers/their dance moves (Yes they do, but not enuff). Us TV viewers can see some details, but not much. I hate to think what little sense the spectators can make of an overly bright and distant performance.

One final thing. Did anyone notice that this year's NDP was solely ENGLISH?!?!?! Not a single Chinese word uttered, much less Tamil. [Malay was present in the Pledge and Anthem.] The entire NDP stinks of rich/upper-class English-ness, or at least the 2007 Theme Song is. I'm not a favourite of English radio/local TV [gee, I must hate English a lot], if that explains anything. XD I'll be happier if they at least HAD a different language. Even German will do.

Conclusion? This year's NDP was cool and novel. The fact that only 1/4 of the "normal capacity" was occupied, the rest were open stadium, allowed for quite some nice stuff. But they should have more amphibious floats I guess. The skating and the giant moving pearl was kinda cheap-skate, no pun intended. The main skater is really really lucky to be the main attraction for nearly the entire NDP. The stadium must have had some cooling sea breeze, though a bit humid and stingy [salt]. They should have more Navy stuff on the sea. The mirror-like sea waters made really mesmerizing waves in the wake of the boats [could possibly use to great effect if there's little turbulence. Think drawings]. The drive-in APC/Tanks/Armoured Riot Cars sequence was too small to see anything. Couldn't make out what they were doing with the hoses, or their shields or whatever. Lower the intensity of the bloody lights. PM Lee Hsien Loong returned the salute of an officer who welcomed him when getting out of his Mercedes transport. [For those who don't know, saluting without Army/SAF/Navy kit, and that includes the beret/cap, is against Army regulations.] PM Lee does not exercise as much as MM Lee. His speech at the NLB talking about economy forecasts was a bit cliche and suspicious, (the stare-far-away-then-turn-around bit), though nothing to do with NDP. Damn lucky for there not to be rain. It rained in the morning. That's how many consecutive years of rainless NDP? Blessed.

I wonder if other countries ever have this kind of nation-wide sense of NDP in the air. Sure we might not go crazy over it like others do over Fourth-of-July, but we like our NDP a lot [IMHO]. I'm not sure if there's an equivalent NDP to speak of, probably separated for each of the regions, which doesn't quite unite a nation as well as an island-nation does.

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.

RJ NDP

I love this year's NDP celebration!!! It's so cool and interesting, and omg, the first major night-time school event [for me]!! When everything's so dark, cooling, though unfortunately humid, and under moving spotlights, anything's interesting!!!

I was just saying that Sing-Along sessions were really cool and completely defined National Day Celebrations, and how unfortunate that we don't have them anymore. Then omg, Sing-Along, yay!!!! I love sing-along, it's been so long [2 yrs well] since my last one, I completely didn't realise I couldn't sing high anymore. -.-" Or screech. I want my voice to crack!!!! Lolz.. Ahem, so ya, had to sing low soft. I like Ou De Yang.

My throat a bit phlegm now. Must be that mee siam and that screaming. I'm surprised I lasted the night on just a mee siam. Wanted to get a popiah but zzz, nvm.

Unexpectedly slept late last night while trying to double-check the guarantee on a mint-condition yoyo i had. Anyway I thought sleeping late will make really grogginess and might daze off while trying to last till evening. But actually no leh. Quite okay, only 2 hrs to burn only. And the celebration was pretty enlivening stuff, how can ever doze off?!?!

Damn you ppl who boon!! Damn wet blanket and 扫兴 loh. But their loss. Actually it depends, yah lah. =)

Is this the last NDP celebration? Even if NUS got, don't think it'll be nice as JC or SS or PS... in that cannot just wild and patriotic and all that. =) Lolz. I'm an official patriotic convert after my stint as participating NCC platoon in NDP'04. It really changes your perspective of the NDP. You feel like part of the ten thousands sitting ard the stadium. And you gain some respect and admiration for the rehearsal process. Seeing them setup the seating, draping on decorations and tarps, positioning the big guns, drilling the rifle firing sequence on the front parade square. =D And feeling that you feel the same thing as every other performer/participant there. And slight mixing of the diff UG grps and across diff schs. And kinda just missing everyone there, the atmosphere when NDP ends, and you look back and say, OMG, that part of my life just went away. And you can't even stop to reminisce, 'cause everyone's got to scramble and get the hell out of the vicinity b4 the crowd is dismissed. So, you end up leaving the stadium with a sense of loss. The performance is over, excellent job, and now we're running away from the place, as a grp for the very last time. Then each of the UG grps, and within each UG grp, with different destinations [some on the East, some on the West], drive off on the designated buses. And waving like hell and making a lot of noise to the ppl on the other buses.

Though the OIC then said NDP'04 was the last one to be held at the National Stadium. Then our squad was like omg, nice. And I wished I actually had a camera phone to take some photos for memoir. But it wasn't the last yr, damnit!! The OIC and CO and specialists lied!! Though I still wish I had a 2.0M camera phone then. And during RV Grad Nite too. I know now I'm definitely having a camera on RJ Grad Nite. For too long I tot some events were just gonna be trivial and thus not worth being bothered with. But it ALWAYS turns out otherwise. Social stuff does weird things on your perception. So now, CAMERA for Grad Nite!!!! RAWR!!!

Jking ard too much isn't too nice either, cannot get into the mood. Like trying to joke ard too much during Chem that the lesson just flew by. but on the bright side, i stayed awake i guess. And no jokes to distract on NDP! =D


Sry abt that NDP rant. I ALWAYS feel like ranting abt it, that was the best part of life past. That rant will be compensation for not ranting after watching the real NDP on TV. The marching rhythm played by the SAF band, the marching commands given off, and the formation, are all so hauntingly familiar and dreamily intimate....

I'm weird.

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.

MakeHuman

In case you ever wanted your very own self-made fantasy character, you now can with MakeHuman from MakeHuman.org. It's free customisation tool, that allows you to customize a default human, from lip width, teeth size, reticle size, head indentation, feet extrusion, abdomen width, endomorphic/mesomorphic, etc. It's pretty cool.

Except that I can't get it to work the way I want it to. It's really quite good, but.... there's problems with the eyes. Namely, you probably can't get it to have an anime eye. The settings they have for eyelid expansion are very limited. Can't get a very big eyelid.

Probably with more practice I can make it work. Plus a little modification on my own inside Blender 3D of course. 'Cause there are a lot of things to look out for when you want to have an animated model: the places where the face will crease, the mouse openings, the eyelids, the eyebrows etc.

Konjiki no Gash Bell rocks!! Don't say it ain't.