Cold!

So it's been snowing intermittently since before christmas here, and the arctic conditions here seem likely to remain here for the next week at least. In fact, the whole of the UK (not just Scotland) has been covered by snow these past few weeks. Lots of nice pictures have been taken of the wonderful scenery, I've taken some here (below) as well. Now you might think all is wonderful and nice, but note the thick layer of snow that's surrounding the car. I (along with several others) have not been able to get the car out of the carpark as it is just too slippery, and there's not enough friction to get up the slight slope; I've been forced to get the bus this week, which is in itself alright, if not for the freezing temperatures outside. It is now -6 as I type this btw, and I've included a pic of myself below. (sorry deleted it by accident) Yes I'm wearing a nike ACG jacket, and you can't see it, but I'm wearing two layers of socks. In my room, and in front of the warm laptop. (I've had to wear socks even in bed, that's how cold it has been)

Yes just rambling on here, but really there's just nothing else to do - wanted to keep fit but I can't drive to the gym, and I think it'd be somewhat suicidal to go jogging in these conditions. Oh which reminds me, I've no pictures but yesterday I was in the city centre and some of the pavements were completely frozen - it was quite some fun seeing everyone walk gingerly (and yet still slip) going up and down the street. Until I slipped too, and was glad my fleshy bum prevented some serious damage to my hip/back. But you didn't need to know that, and I did garner some sympathy (and laughter) from some old ladies standing outside the supermarket, so it wasn't all that bad, thankfully.
That's the remnants of a snowman I tried to build, btw. It had got decapitated when I came back in the afternoon.

New content.

If you were to write a book about your life, how would it run?

Would it show your mistakes, recurring alarmingly at the speed of sound; flashing chapters of ageless deeds, missing pages of lessons learnt?

If all you do, is accrue blunders that get glossed over in time; if all you excel at, is misappropriate memories that aren't there - what is left, at the end of it all?

Not depressed currently, I must clarify. Just thinking, really, if that can describe the sense of guilt you get when someone is depressed. And reflecting, really, on what I'd gone through this past year, and what I really should have done when I felt that way.

Help us all!

Excellent article.

Elbow.

There is something strangely moving about a rock band, from Manchester, collaborating with the orchestra of Manchester, and holding the concert simultaneously in a concert hall and a free open-air area open to the public.

Damn I wish I was there.

Finally.

Dear followers of this blog (if there still are any left), I'm sorry for the lack of posts since April, as I've grappled in turn with having to repeat the year, attend meetings with the medical school and dean, and all activities associated with failing exams. And not to mention nothing else happening in my life right now worth blogging about.

Until now.

Just now, actually. I've just noticed that the Nigerian scam has evolved to a new level. I will reproduce the whole email I've received below (I'll like to see someone claim intellectual copyright for this) -

ATTENTION: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION VIA ATM CARD.‏

From:	FBI Director Robert S.Mueller III (fbi.director@btconnect.com)

Attn: Beneficiary,


This is to Officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have thoroughly Investigated with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System that you are having an illegal Transaction with Impostors claiming to be Mr. Tito Mboweni Republic of the Reserve Bank Of South African , Mr. Patrick Aziza, Mr Frank Nweke, none officials of ABSA Bank, FNB Banks, kelvin Young of HSBC, Ben of Fedex,Ibrahim Sule,Larry Christopher are impostors claiming to be the Federal Bureau Of Investigation. During our Investigation, we noticed that the reason why you have not received your payment is because you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation given to you in respect of your Contract/Inheritance Payment.

Therefore, we have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by coordinating your payment in total USD$11,000.000.00 in an ATM CARD which you can use to withdraw money from any ATM MACHINE CENTER anywhere in the world with a maximum of $4000 to $5000 United States Dollars daily. You now have the lawful right to claim your fund in an ATM CARD.


Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in this transaction, you have to be rest assured for this is 100% risk free it is our duty to protect the American Citizens. All I want you to do is to contact the ATM CARD CENTER via email for their requirements to proceed and procure your Approval Slip on your behalf which will cost you $300.00 only and note that your Approval Slip which contains details of the agent who will process your transaction.

CONTACT INFORMATION
NAME: James Smuts
EMAIL: paymentofficer111@yahoo.cn
Telephone Numbers: +27-78-130-2165


Do contact Mr. James Smuts of the ATM CARD center with your details:

FULL NAME:
HOME ADDRESS:
TELL:
CELL:
CURRENT OCCUPATION:
BANK NAME:


So your files would be updated after which he will send the payment information's which you'll use in making payment of $300.00 via Money Gram Transfer for the procurement of your Approval Slip after which the delivery of your ATM CARD will be effected to your designated home address without any further delay. Mr. James Smuts will reply you with the secret code (8389 ATM CARD).

We advice you get back to the payment office after you have contacted the ATM SWIFT CARD CENTER and we do await your response so we can move on with our Investigation and make sure your ATM SWIFT CARD gets to you.

Thanks and hope to read from you soon.

Robert S. Mueller, III
Director Federal Bureau of Investigation


Note: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possession of your ATM CARD, you are hereby advised only to be in contact with Mr. James Smuts of the ATM CARD center who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your ATM CARD PAYMENT and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon and commence investigation.
Note the length to which the scammers have gone to create this hoax -
-Robert S Mueller Is the current director of the FBI.
-Fake return add or not, they've apparently gone to register an account with BT to send this
-Wry attempt at humour - Mr James Smuts.


The spelling still has to be worked on though, I must say.
And I really don't know why if they've gone to register the BT address, why they would use a .cn address for the return email. And a yahoo account at that. Tsk tsk - amateurs, eh.

Taking it all in.

So these familiar thoughts are back to plague me again - these undesirable friends my ma always warned me about - guilt, loneliness and sexual predation of raptorial ladies of dubious moral fibre.
OK not so much the latter.

But yes, I feel haunted by these vile thoughts that I can't banish from the inner recesses of this cavernous mind of mine.

It is at times like these that I notice the codwebs that have formed on the window ledge, the mess of miscellaneous notes tucked away into the corner, and the dust, accumulated in thin homogeneous layers, metamorphosed into mildly mocking faces of disapproval and spite.

I need sleep, yes.

Location, location.

I was just having this chat with LM yesterday when I remembered this block of condos in Yishun. They were, perhaps you might say, built in a prime location - 15 mins walk away from a certain Hokkien Association primary school (one of the more 'famous' ones), and right next to the MRT track. And I mean right next to it, like probably just past the legal limit for building MRT/LRT tracks next to buildings.*

Only problem - it was beside the MRT track, yes - the nearest MRT station, however, was, I estimated, a good half hour's walk away.

I still remember, when I went past it - how terribly infuriating it must be for the residents in that condo (if they didn't drive), to experience (literally**) the cliche 'so near, yet so far'.

And then obviously I thought of the program "Location, location"*** and the plummeting values of Spanish properties and how terribly malpositioned some of the properties advertised had seemed (even in the boom times).

And I recalled just recently, there was this comedy**** where the comedian mentioned how we'd treated our homes as assets, and mortgaged them to buy useless sculptures and copies of paintings to clutter up our property (on the recommendation of some 'experts') only to find that when put to the crunch, these are but liabilites to us and the Earth.

And it's all come together to me now.

I'm buying a plot of land on the moon.




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*Though it probably was the other way round, this, MRT track constructed before the brilliant idea of flats next to MRT lines was conceived.
**Yes, literally. Examples of how you shouldn't use the word.
***To clarify here, I was actually thinking of "A place in the sun". Which was more geared towards the Spanish-property buying market. But just in case you want to know about the show.
**** Stewart Lee's comedy vehicle. Tried to find the part on youtube but couldn't. Here's another part of the show though.

What I've been up to.

So I've decided to blog again. At an opportune time, as you know, for my OSCEs are coming up in three days' time and it's the time to procrastinate again. But I've lost most of my ability to write in coherent and jargon-free sentences, so I shall just post some photos of what I've been up to these few weeks.

What twelve weeks of coffee does to your teeth. (I did try to wash the cup, really). Before (after frantic scrubbing with detergent and sponge, really), just for comparison.

So I decided to cook myself a good meal today for lunch - forgot the gravy initially, then thought I might as well save some calories by not having any. And having an ice-cream for dessert instead.

So yes, from the pictures above you may have gathered, not much has really happened in the past twelve weeks at Blackburn. I may blog more about it, when I feel I've regained some powers of diction, perhaps in the next week.

The Temperature.

The temperature in the past week has been so cold, I opened the fridge on Monday morning to find that the milk and juice were frozen (I turned the bottles upside down to check) and after some violent manipulation of the plastic bottles, I just about managed to squeeze out some milk slushie onto my cereal, which after a minute of microwaving remained, sitting proudly atop the cereal, taunting me to sink my fragile teeth into them.

And even after turning down the cooling settings from 4 (out of 6) to 2 that very same morning (amidst frenzied muttering under my frosty breath), the juice was still in its slush-like state yesterday. It is, I estimate, 20% slush now, according to the powers of my estimation, which would probably fit in with the forecasted slight increase in temperature over the weekend.

It is now 3 degrees centigrade over here, and yes, temperatures regularly dipped below zero degrees the past week.

Bloody awful weather, this.

Conceptual Art.

Had some spare time today in London, so decided on an impulse to go visit Tate Modern - and since I'd already visited the free sections decided to fork out for the two paid ones.

I must say I was suitably impressed by both of them, particularly the one by Cildo Meireles; in fact, I'd say my impression of conceptual art, and modern art in general, has really changed. In the sense that not all conceptual art is rubbish, recycled or otherwise.

Seriously, there were quite a few pieces of his, which as he describes, were 'instantly seductive' - in other words, they required no pompous self-gratifying smugness in your knowledge of art, but offered total immersion in the pieces, utilising not just the five senses, but also the physiological advantages that fear brings out in us.

Oh and the final installation in the exhibition was, in my opinion, the best - you had to enter a dark room on bare feet (boots available for the squeamish), which was totally dark save for a faint glow from an adjoining room, and treading slowly on some powder-like substance of unknown origin, you were forced to wander towards the source of light - revealed to be a solitary candle burning near at the end of the room.

Now it was only when I came back and researched more about it (it's called 'Volatile') that I found out the powder-like substance wasn't talcuum (or SAF foot) powder, but ash, and there was a smell of gas pumped constantly in the room, which due to my blocked nose I had completely missed.

But at that moment, after trudging pecariously from the dark room, and upon seeing the burning candle, I swear I had a spiritual experience - I realised at once why wasps gravitate towards light, why the British stress so much over the 'handling' of their cars when better 'feel'+crap roads=more discomfort. and why religion seems so enticing when you're lost, fearful and have no straws to clutch for comfort.

Making sense of it all.

I can't, really. And I know that's grammatically incorrect, but to hecklers' hell grammar school with that when chocolate, coffee and coca-cola can't solve the world's biggest problems today, and the substitute for love's labour proves ultimately as worthless as that lonesome STOP sign at the deserted junction ahead?

When, for whom and for what reason shall we all stop? This madness, this mindless scurrying round circles with no end?

Maybe I should move to Switzerland, eh.

Hospital.

Ever wondered why the words 'hospital' and 'hospitality' seem so similar in spelling and structure?

Obviously it's quite impossible to be hospitable to every single patient who demands the best service for the lowest price possible (in my case, for free) but it's interesting to see it this way, don't you think? Being hosts to visitors who've come to visit in times of need.

Cup of tea, anyone?

Photos.

So I finally managed to figure out how to make the Bluetooth connection work between my phone and my laptop - I hadn't held it steadily in my hand, at screen level, before when I tried transferring files.

So here goes:

Changing my car stereo:

I just had to take a smug picture after my hours of sweat (and pain).¹

Looks much better now, doesn't it?

Random picture follows:

I tried making sushi one day. Yes I know it looks rather amateurish, with the two missing pieces of asparagus (I ran out of asparagus, believe it or not) and crudely sliced salmon pieces that look like they've been obtained unethically from some poor tortured fish left languishing on the trawler for days after capture. And does the rice not look dry, overcooked and struggling vainly not to fall apart under the immense weight of the above-mentioned salmon pieces and asparagus?
Yes for your information, it was smoked salmon from ASDA², and the rice was rather over-cooked.

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¹Please refer to my previous post for more sordid details.
²For those of you that don't reside in the UK, ASDA's a supermarket chain that's owned by Wal-mart of the US. Think Shop and Save.

TV On The Radio.

After twenty-six futile attempts at finding the perfect CD, I have finally stumbled on <Dear Science>, a staggering mix of perfect production, lyrics that engage your intellectual self, and of course musical influences that cover pretty much the entire spectrum. This is definitely a keeper, I tell you.

Oh and TV On The Radio's the band name, in case you're wondering lol.


PS Particularly love "Family Tree", am I the only one who finds it a superbly twisted, but no less effective ballad compared to "Love Me", by Colin Raye?

The Weather.

You just knew the recent bout of good weather couldn't last. For those of you in Singapore (who've been in UK before), the sky was, well, sky blue, clear and just perfect for irrational thoughts of picnics in the park - now it's back to the typical weather Manchester seems to be infamous for, grey overcast sky threatening rain at the next opportune moment, clouds crowding for attention, dribbling drizzle sneeringly pattering at you while you curse the dreadful SAD you know it's just around the corner.

On a hopefully lighter note, did anyone actually click on any of the links in the previous post? Did it provide you with a moment or two of incredulous laughter (or not)? I would really appreciate any comments at my attempts at spreading joy and laughter in this miserable world of ours, you know. Genuine comments though, I'd try harder if they were truly too lame.


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SAD=Seasonal Affective Disorder. Trust me, it's why people in the UK seem permanently depressed. OK suffer a propensity towards depression.

Music that moves you.

So I was at this Tchaikovsky concert last night. Well, the Manchester Concert Orchestra playing several of Tchaikovsky's pieces, conducted by Timothy Redmond and featuring Martin Cousin on piano, for that piano concerto.^1,2

Now that's just enough to put you off this post, isn't it, such a magnificently crafted opening aimed squarely at the target audience of elitist SOBs with delicate palates for wine, Caspian caviar for breakfast and the plain old porsche 911 for daily commute?³

So let me substitute a few words - last night, I wasn't at this Sepultura concert which featured guest performers Pantera, playing together with them that monster hit ROOTS BLOODY ROOTS! Awesome, simply head-banging awesome, I tell you.

Or this:

Last night, I also wasn't at this Girls Aloud concert performing their greatest hits (till now), with the sexy Shakira dancing along to Don't Cha⁴ at the finale!


So you get my point. Why the antipathy towards classical music? Why the notion that just because something is old, (well ancient, almost) it should be associated with a certain few age-groups? Or earning power?

Why the vehement reaction, you ask. Well a coursemate of mine, upon hearing that I was attending the afore-mentioned concert, immediately went, "Wah, is it one of those where rich people go and you have to dress up?" And remained sceptical despite repeated attempts at semi-skilled persuasion.

And so I'm puzzled, really puzzled. I mean, I'm not defending classical afficionados who are stuck-up individuals, but aren't there also connoisseurs of rock music who proclaim that 's eclectic and heady mix of diverse influences such as loud noises, random key thumping and sounds animals make in the zoo, is the next big thing since the noisettes released their stunning debut album 2 years ago?

What I'm trying to say is, if Augustana's Boston can move you emotionally, why not Swan Lake⁵? If Don't Cha can get you on your feet, why not a waltz?

Granted, the passage of time has ensured the eminence of numerous composers; the non-copyrighted material available to musicians around the world resulting in a staggering amount of performances to choose from, and you might not know where to start - but with few William Hung-like massacres, and the easy understanding that different performances of a song⁶ can sound just as good - what else should stop you from taking an interest in classical music?

I found it quite astonishing, really, that last night I seemed to be the only person in the concert hall below the grand old age of forty-five⁷, when the clubs near the concert hall were filled to the brim with inebriated teenagers contorting their bodies to mindless noise. Particularly when the music literally moved me to tears at times. Hey (again due to my excellent vantage point) I could even see the conductor himself shedding a few tears at the end of a particularly poignant piece (yes it was that good).

Sure it probably sounds as if I'm imposing my snobbish my views on you, but even I recognise that techno can sound good sometimes - why stick to your pompous views on classical music? Paraphrasing Deng Xiaoping, as long as it moves you, does the genre matter?


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^1. I'm addicted to Google. And please don't click on them unless you're a fanatical classical music follower. And for those of you who have clicked through, I know, they're not particularly famous.
^2. Piano concerto no. 1. Now that guy's supposedly quite famous.
^3. Incidentally, if you indeed are one of the above-mentioned, I sincerely apologise, that truly is an awful introduction.
^4. Just imagine that. Woohoo.
^5. I know, the guy isn't as attractive, but still.
^6. Like Feeling Good - either by Nina Simone or Muse.
^7. Due to my excellent vantage point (cheapest seat, I was sat behind the orchestra (and above, obviously), I was able to scan the entire hall before and after the concert. And have a direct view of the cellists. Interesting, actually, how the price structure works.

On Zhng-ing My Car.

So in case I've given you the impression of me spending my days in preston weeping in despair at my new-found loneliness, and neglecting my studies and growth of facial hair, here's a clarification - I don't weep. And I do shave my facial hair regularly (mainly 'cause of hospital regulations, looking professional etc etc).

OK seriously so I've found ways to occupy my weekends and spare time here in Preston. Yes you've guessed it, I'm zhng-ing my car. Or in american parlance, I'm 'pimping my ride'. Oh yeah.

OK lah so I just changed the factory-fitted CD player-cum-radio to a Sony one. Why? Well aside from obvious differences in sound quality¹ the Sony one also has a front auxiliary input, as well as usb input. Which means that I can blast music from my new mp3 player³ directly, and if I so desired I could buy another memory stick to leave in the car as a back-up in times of emergency⁴. Oh and it has like impressive equaliser settings that when activated, make techno music sound that much more mind-numbingly good⁵.

But yah I'm proud to say that I changed it myself. Bought the stereo, bought the extra wires needed (you'd be surprised at how much more wires that useless 'remote' control on the steering wheel requires) and then finally specialised metal prongs, when I realised brute force alone would not be enough to yank the factory-fitted stereo out of its position.

So please bear with me as I describe the few hours I took to replace the stereo.
Hour 1: Yank. With metal thingies supplied by Sony (they looked vaguely stick-able in various nooks and crannies). And then with keys. And then just random metal rods lying around.
Gave up.
Hour 2: Went to search online for instructions on how to replace stereo. Presto - I needed specialised metal prongs. U-shaped pieces of metal that cost £4.97 a pair in halfords, but realised I couldn't do without. Went to buy prongs.
Hour 3: Reached Halfords. Saw numerous sets of speakers that looked daaaammn cool. And sounded powerful. So went to salesgirl and enquired about them. (Conversation below)

Me: Hi, I'd like to buy the speakers over there (points) but I don't really know how to fix them into the car, can you help me on that?
Salesgirl: Oh I don't know anything about that, I'm just standing guard here at the counter (gives a sheepish smile), but I'll ask my collegue for you.
Me: It's OK (thinking fair enough)
*calls salesguy over*
Me: (Repeats request to salesguy)
Salesguy: Oh, you gotta see, different cars haf different sized speakers, innit? You gotta get the right size for your car.
Me: Oh I heard Halfords provided a fitting service? (Read about it online) How much does it cost if I want it fitted in for me?
Salesguy: I dunno, prob 10 quid? I don't do that, my collegue does that.
Me: (Assuming at this point he'd call his collegue over) So which one would you recommend, eh?
Salesguy: Well, depends on what car you have, eh? You know what size of the speakers in your car?
Me: Eh no, I don't know how to measure it? Ford focus, do you know?
Salesguy: Eh no, you measure it using a tape measure, yeah?
Me: Eh ok. (Pretends to give it some thought.) I'll probably come back another day then yeah. Thanks.

So I just bought the prongs, and left. I mean, he probably thinks I'm an idiot (just measure the speaker size, innit?) and I know he's probably one (I wanna pay you to fit it in for me 'cause I'm lazy, geddit?!) so not much point in continuing the conversation about measuring speaker sizes with tape, is there?
Hour 4: (Outside Halfords) Yank. And yank. And yank. Give up. Drive home. Yank again. Try teasing it out, slowly, painfully, like, well I shall spare you the naughty thought. Tsk tsk, yeah I know.
Hour 4 3/4: Finally! Now for connecting the myraid number of wires. Connect, connect, connect. Done! Fix it in! Now there's only left a gaping hole I've got to cover! Go up to room, job done, buy 'fascia' online to cover up hole⁶.

Now not that I'm trying to brag, but the actual process of disconnecting and connecting the stereos was so much easier than the colossal effort required to yank out the stereo. And seriously, I think this was due in no small part to the ingenious engineers who designed them - each bundle of wires ended up in a sort of adapter, that had either protruding or depressive terminals⁷, and they just sort of fit together without much fuss. And the adapters had varying sizes, so they just sort of fit in different slots, somewhat like solving a simple puzzle, by trial and error⁸.

So there you go, my first step towards zhng-ing my car. Next thing I'll be looking at, obviously, is a company that provides speaker-fitting staff of adequate intelligence⁹.

And who knows? Maybe after that, I might just go on to those neon flashing lights you fit underneath and inside the car, and then eye that extra-ear-deafening exhaust pipe that looks humongously over-sized for the car? And rims for the tyres that radiate blue lights as the wheels spin? Ooh and those racing stripes that make the car look so much more menancing? Or better still, those obscure names¹⁰ that suggest extra-powderful zhng-ing skills lovingly applied on the car?

Ooh, watch this space man. Watch this space.




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^1. As vouched for by Ganesh, my flatmate-cum-clinical partner.^2
2. OK That does sound wrong in so many levels, doesn't it.
^3. Zen X-Fi, it's supposed to 'restore mp3 audio to crystal clarity', according to the manufacturer's website. Which I trust, since Creative's a Singaporean brand and Singaporeans don't know how to can't exaggerate, can we.
^4. Like, when I'm late for class and need to get into the get-there-quick-heck-care-about-road-manners mood fast. I mean, the Zen obviously doesn't work for me in this instance, does it?
^5. I'm joking. No not about the mind-numbing part. As I've mentioned countless times before, monkeys on cannabis can hammer keys with better accuracy than those techrologists in neon printed tees and gel-laden hair half the size of their body weight.
^6. The Sony's only half as big as the factory-fitted stereo. Talk about advances in technology.
^7. Yes they're called male and female parts. I know.
^8. Although I did make sure I'd switch off the engine in between tries, of course.
^9. Hey, the wiring involved in fitting speakers is something I wouldn't touch myself - looks much more complicated!
^10. I think I'll put Picaroon Zhng-ing Co, for the fun of it.

Weekends.

It's the weekends that hurt, really. When the hustle of the week has settled, the stresses decoupled and the buzz of work emptied, to be replaced by this void, this barren waste of energy left unspent, time left unfilled, and emotions left hanging, like corpses for the manically¹ inclined to devour, with fervour and zest.


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¹Mania, in medicine.

Distant Memories.

Distant memories, freshly imprinted on an unsuspecting mind,
Singing the joy of times gone by.

Was walking through one of the shopping centres in Preston on Wednesday when the loneliness and despair just suddenly struck me. I know what I need to do - to fill my days with incessant tasks of great importance, to pick up that forlorn guitar at the corner of the room, to pick up appropriate skills in dealing with substances of abuse, but not to misuse - but right now I just can't see beyond the empty half of the double bed I shouldn't have bought, and the half-empty boxes of tissues I know I'd never use.

Sexy Shingles.

I was just browsing a friend's blog (seriously!) when I swear I noticed the words Sexy Shingles in one of those adverts you find lining pages all over the web. Obviously, and somewhat disappointingly, on closer inspection it turned out to be the usual attention-grabbing geographically-correct rubbish littered on the used grounds of the net.

Yes I know, I need more sleep. Losing too much over this depressing SSC I'm doing right now. And no it's not about the herpes zoster virus, I honestly did not know where that came from.


Oh speaking of rubbish you know the link I put up not too long ago? I really appreciate those of you that clicked through to ipoints, but somehow they haven't recorded you as signed-up to the website, and so I have yet to receive even a single cent from that fraudulent website. I'm still keeping it up for a while more, though, in the vain hope that somehow money will magically appear and I'll be able to treat you to something nice when I'm back in Singapore. Which I will be this Sunday, the 6th of July.