i stayed up till real late to finish this book. i highly recommend this richly-cultured fiction. i don't think i want to talk much about it cos if you guys are really interested, you should read the book. it talks about how this young grey-eyed village girl, chiyo was brought to kyoto to learn to be a geisha. her lives, the different relationships she had, the betrayal and backstabbing of other geishas, the hardship of WW2, the aftermath of WW2, and eventually, how she ended up in the big apple with the man she loved dearly. there's a movie on it end of the year, but i think just like movies that are based on novels, it'd be quite a disappointment. look, the main actress, chiyo aka sayuri is zhang ziyi (a chinese). i doubt she can bring out the elegance and the cultural values a geisha possess. plus, considering the book illustrates the hard life of the japanese during the war... the time when japanese are greatly hated by the chinese. i'm not implementing that a modern japanese actress possess them, but i feel it's more appropriate.
coverpage of the book
but truthfully, zhang ziyi looks great in the show.
credits: sonypictures
Taken from HelloZiyi.us
credits: blackhorizon.com
credits: ropeofsilicon.com
hmm her eventual lover is for all of you to find out. haha, you can find it if you google. but i think you shd read the book to find out. hahaha..
another movie that i wanna watch is charlie and the chocolate factory. gonna re-read the book before watching the movie. johnny depp is hella pretty. haha. this is my favourite roald dahl book. cos it's such a delicious book. the chocolate.. yum yum..
if you think your shoes are comfortable.. think twice now
they simply look horribly nasty. but it is a good gateway for women who wants to be tall..
New microsoft assistants
Wed Jul 27, 8:24 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) -
Forget expensive presents or costly jewelry. Wining and dining is the best way for men to woo women, scientists said Tuesday.
Researchers at Imperial College London developed a mathematical formula and modeled courtship as a sequential game to find the best way to impress the ladies.
Their results show that offering an expensive present signals the man's serious intentions but he must be wary of being exploited by gold-diggers who will dump him after receiving the gift."
Guys are less likely to offer expensive gifts to females they don't have a long-term interest in. And girls won't be impressed with cheap gifts. By offering expensive but worthless gifts, such as dinner and theater trips, the male pays no cost if the invitation isn't accepted," said Dr Peter Sozou, of University College London (UCL).
If women are not interested they are unlikely to accept the invitation, according to the research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.
The researchers said giving gifts was a feature of courtship in humans and other species to impress females. Physical attraction is an important element but offering gifts also helps."
Our analysis shows there is evolutionary logic in men 'burning money' to impress the girl," said Professor Robert Seymour of UCL's department of mathematics.
pretty interesting article. so it's wining and dining. sounds quite classy. ok, classy is such a trashy word. (this rhymes) what irony.
ANYWAY, we had a discussion about politics during gp today. we talked about. duh. the PAP. party = government. haha, and all those BS rumours about how mrs goh has an affair with Durai and the more atrocious one.. mrs goh having an affair with mr lee hsien loong. WTH! this is like far-fetch rumours. madam was complaining how we were so conservative and so we began this whole idea about assasinating lee kuan yew. btw, i'm pretty sure madam has some terrorist blood in her. (inside joke). BUT, we decided that lee kuan yew should deserve to die an old age. then we'll probably get a 5-day holiday to mourn and every year, there will be a "commemorate LKY" day.. extra holiday. not bad an idea. we began had this idea of putting a statue of LKY beside the raffles statue which is beside the merlion. wow. 3 singapore icons at a row. would be quite a sight. what a weird gp lesson. at least it makes the politics topic interesting. politics is so boring.. especially in singapore context. i wouldn't mind the throwing of eggs and bashing ministers up in parliament which will never ever happen here in singapore.
So, long live PAP. i love PAP. PAP all the way. i am proud to be a Singaporean ruled under PAP. ok, i think the national day festive season is getting to me. we have about 5 days holiday. (sat, sun, mon-celebration, tue-nat day, wed-day aft nat day) who don't love singapore. ok. more like, who don't love the astronomic (whatever..) that decides the calendar.
ps: btw, my fonts are red and white.. i just need stars and cresent to touch up my singapore flag
hmm, haven't posted for quite some time.. anyway. today was mg founder's day and my graduation day! wahahaha.. ok, chill! it was boring.. the only climax was be going up on stage and getting my dummy cert. read: DUMMY! i don't even get my cert. i'm not sure if i'm supp to get my O level cert.. haha.. technically i haven't graduated.
yesterday we had a class party.. the england peeps who came back bore nice blondish brown hair. haha. quite cool. not like us local peeps.. black boring hair. lol. but as usual, it was a segregated class party. but i had fun cos we were using mr lynn's 7 effective ways of bitching and we were practising it. quite hilarious coming out with names.. like michelle chia, michael, john, johnathon.. haha. hmm, some ppl just have no manners.. i mean you are having a party at someone's house and her mum prepared all the food. it's common sense to at least greet her mum or her rite and not ignoring the host and be in your own selfish bimbotic world. haha, i'm being super sarcastic. what a bitching session. should stop or someone will hack my blog, leaving me with nothing but a notation Bitch. ok, i'm scared..
Have a history teacher explain this...if they can
Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday
Both Presidents were shot in the head
Now it gets really weird
Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy
Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln
Both were assassinated by Southerners
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908
John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939
Both assassins were known by their three names
Both names are composed of fifteen letters
Now hang on to your seat
Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.'
Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln' made by 'Ford.'
Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a
warehouse
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in
a theater
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials
And here's the kicker
A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.
i seriously wonder if this is true...
ok, i really need to comment on the NKF saga. it indeed caused a big stir in singapore.. vandalism, online petition, and finally the stepping down of durai and NKF board. i never liked watching the NKF charity shows.. i would say since sec1, i never bother to watch it, let alone call the so well-memorized hotline: 1900-112-6868. at first they started with 2bucks per call and they increased it to a min of 5bucks. then they encouraged and keep asking people to c all the 50bucks hotline to "avoid traffic".. haha, so nicely put in other words asking us people to donate more money. i don't have anything against charity, but imagine watching NKF flashing on tv all the time, first in the beginning of the year, then somewhere in april and now in july.. they seem to be interested in taking a hold in all areas of diseases.. national kidney foundation.. yeah, so it so happily expanded its network to children's foundation and cancer foundation. it's even more fustrating that the once 2-hour charity show is lengthened to 3 hours and THREE shows are held each time.
I never liked the guy emcee. he made it sound like the kidney patients would die if you don't donate that 5 bucks. after every performance he'd announce to the public this number and ask us to donate generously.. he's been on NKF show since it once started and not only is it getting boring, his tactics and persuading skills are on the decline cos the most he tries, the more locals are disgusted. the worst was after this whole drama, he said something like "you locals can forget this number, but i'll never forget it" HAHA.. what a joke. of coz you won't forget it when you are earning 16000 bucks per NKF show. so much of an irony. paying an emcee so much for a CHARITY show.
hmm, i like doing voluntary work, but i hate flag days, donation cards, charity shows. yes, money, cash is the most practical way of donating, but it defeats the purpose of social work. you don't even know about the condition of your recipents, what the organization is up to. i prefer going to the centre/org/country and actually getting a taste of what the locals/patients are actually going through. kong jien once said sth about the Renci Hospital (a subsidised hospital for really poor old people in particular) he said that these patients are bed-ridden in this 12-bed wards and their only companion is the TV hanging from above. of cos they'll have no visitors cos the reason why they are thrown or a harsher word, deposited in this hospital was coz they can't pay their own bills or their children are unwilling to spend much money on them. so when kong jien went there for CIP, he really got to know how these old people were actually suffering.
hmm, back to my own life. today's my interact club installation.. i'm finally installed as the 29th president and kong jien officially steps down. much pressure cos kong jien said he stepped down feeling unsatisfied. i don't really want that to happen on me cos i really wanna step down feeling accomplished, happy and a little relieved.
Mosquitoes, which mate in the air perform a sex act that lasts only 2 seconds.
The first condoms in the US were made from vulcanized rubber in the 1870s. They were expensive and annoyingly thick and meant to be reused.
Women who went to college are more likely to enjoy both the giving and receiving of oral sex than high school dropouts. (Amazing what one learns in college).
About 1% of the adult female population are able to achieve orgasm solely through breast stimulation.
14% of males said that they did not enjoy sex the first time.
60% of women say they did not enjoy sex their first time.
The Romans would crush a first time rapist’s gonads between two stones.
It’s illegal to have sex with a corpse anywhere in the United States.
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it’s against the law to have sex with a truck driver in a toll booth.
In Fairbanks, Alaska it’s illegal for moose to have sex on the city sidewalks. (I don't know how this is enforced )
In Florida having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal. Ouch!
Up until 1884, a Victorian-era woman could be sent to prison for denying a husband sex.
Taking the act of adultery to very painful heights, the Serni of Brazil take a guilty wife, whip her and then expose the wounds to fire ants.
During the Middle Ages, if you were guilty of bestiality you’d be burned at the stake, along with the other party to your crime.
The Asiatic Huns punished convicted male rapists and adulterers with castration. Female adulterers were cut in two.
Minks have intercourse that lasts an average of eight hours.
The chimpanzee holds the record for the quickest mammal sexual intercourse session at an average of three seconds.Most turkeys and giraffes are bisexual.
An adult gorilla's penis is only two inches long.
Humans, fish and porpoises share a common sexual practice -- fellatio
The penis of a dragonfly is shaped like a shovel, and has the ability to scoop out a male rivals semen.
The word pornography comes from the Greek meaning the “writings of prostitutes”.
In Ancient Greece, women would expose their vaginas to ward off storms at sea.In ancient Greece and Rome, dildos were made out of animal horns, gold, silver, ivory and glass.
While nudity was considered commonplace to the ancient Greeks, a man was considered indecent if he had an exposed erection.
Both humans and porpoises have one social sex practice in common - group sex.
The penguin only has one single orgasm in a year.
The rhinoceros has a penis about two feet long.
The Black Widow spider eats her mate during or after sex.
A bull can inseminate 300 cows from one single ejaculation.
The sperm of a mouse is actually longer than the sperm of an elephant.
The left testicle usually hangs lower than the right for right-handed men. The opposite is true for lefties.
It takes a sperm one hour to swim seven inches.
Honking of car horns for a couple that just got married is an old superstition to insure great sex.
The most successful X-rated movie of all time is 'Deep Throat'. It cost approximately $25,000 to make (according to the FBI) and has earned more than $600 million dollars.
Egyptians inserted stones into their vagina to prevent pregnancy. (It worked kind of like the modern IUD by preventing implantation).
In Medieval France unfaithful wives were made to chase a chicken through town while naked.
Napoleon's penis was sold to an American Urologist for $40,000
Seventy percent of women would rather have chocolate than sex.
The same chemical responsible for the ecstatic highs of love and sexual attraction, phenylethylamine, is also found in chocolate. The male fetus is capable of attaining an erection during the last trimester.
A survey conducted by Masters and Johnson in the early 1980s revealed that the third-most frequent fantasy amongst both homosexual men and women was a heterosexual encounter.
Hybristophilia is arousal derived by having sex with people who have committed crimes.
According to the Kinsey Institute, half of the men raised on farms have had a sexual encounter with an animal.
to be honest, i don't understand some of the facts written here. but it's quite interesting huh? hmm, i'll post more 'intellectual' stuff later the week.
quite an interesting article.. read it if you have the time cos it's quite loong
Teaching Girls and Boys Differently
Psychologist-Doctor Tells Why Divergences Run Deep
NEW YORK, JULY 9, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Boys and girls have marked physical and psychological differences and hence they have to be educated differently. This is the thesis of a book published earlier this year by psychologist and family doctor Leonard Sax.
In "Why Gender Matters" (Random House), he takes issue with the modern tendency toward gender-neutral child-rearing. According to this theory boys and girls behave differently because of the way they are educated, or because of cultural factors. Sax describes how in the mid-1990s he began to see more and more young boys arrive at his office with requests for medication, due to their supposed attention-deficit disorder.
The real problem, Sax eventually discovered, was that the second- and third-graders were being educated by teachers who did not understand the differences in how boys and girls learn. For a start, he explains, a girl's sense of hearing is more sensitive than that of boys, so the tone of voice used by a female teacher may be fine for the girls, but does not engage a boy's attention.
This experience sparked off Sax's interest in the subject of sex-based differences. His research showed that behavioral differences are not just caused by cultural factors. Research into men and women who have suffered strokes reveals that in men the left and right hemispheres of the brain are strongly compartmentalized, with the former dedicated to verbal skills and the latter to spatial functions. This division does not exist in women, who use both hemispheres of the brain for language.
And analysis of human brain tissue shows that there is a difference in its composition, at the level of the proteins. This difference is not due to hormonal changes that occur at puberty, but is something innate and is present even in children.
Sax also notes that girls and women can generally interpret facial expressions better than most boys and men. He cites research carried out at Cambridge University, showing that even young babies reveal differences in the way they pay attention to objects. Female babies are more interested in other people's faces, while male babies prefer to pay attention to moving objects.
Seeing differently
In fact, evidence exists that from the composition of the retina to the way images are processed by the brain, there are notable differences between males and females. This results in females being more aware of differences in color and texture, while males discern with greater facility location, direction and speed.
This difference is then reflected in the toys that young children prefer -- dolls for girls and trucks for boys -- and the type of pictures they draw, with girls using more colors and including more people in their drawings.
This has consequences when it comes to schooling, Sax explains. Given that most kindergarten teachers are women they tend to encourage their students to draw people and to use lots of colors. This can lead to discouragement among boys, whose different style of drawing is not appreciated by the teacher, leading them to conclude that "art is for girls."
Male and female differences are also evident in the way people navigate. Men are more likely to use abstract concepts such as north and south, and to refer to distances. Women, by contrast, prefer using visual landmarks. Neuroscientists have found, Sax noted, that even by the age of 5 the male brain uses a different part of the brain to navigate, the hippocampus, while the female brain relies on the cerebral cortex.
Feelings
Notable differences also exist in how emotions are handled. Children are generally not capable of analyzing their emotions, because this area of their brain has not yet developed. In adolescence, emotions are increasingly dealt with by the cerebral cortex, the area of the brain associated with higher cognitive functions.
But this change is far more pronounced in girls' brains than in those of boys. So, if at school adolescents are asked by their teachers to write or talk about their emotions this places boys at a disadvantage.
Another area with marked differences between males and females is in the willingness to accept risk. Most boys enjoy taking risks, and are also impressed by other boys who take risks. This is not the same for girls, who generally are less likely to seek out risky situations just for the sake of it. Boys are also more likely to disobey their parents when told not do something risky.
Sax explained that while boys enjoy doing risky things, they also systematically overestimate their own ability, whereas girls are likely to underestimate it. Researchers at Boston University noted that almost all drowning victims are male, for example. They concluded that a major contributing factor to this was that males consistently overestimated their swimming ability.
Boys are also more attracted to violence and conflict -- for example, in their reading preferences -- than girls are. And in their relations with others, boys are notably readier to fight and to respond aggressively than girls.
Friendships are also carried out differently. Girls tend to organize their friendships around spending time together, talking and going to places. Friendships among boys, however, revolve around a common interest in games and activities, with conversation and secret-sharing not holding a high priority.
Brain development
Learning methods between the sexes vary greatly too. Most girls, Sax explained, naturally tend to seek out a teacher's help, are more likely to follow instructions, and to do their homework. Boys, by contrast, will generally only consult a teacher as a last resort and are less likely to study if they find a subject uninteresting.And when it comes to motivating students, boys respond well to stress created by confrontation or time-constrained tasks, an approach that does not give good results for girls.
Sax is careful to point out that every child is unique and, also, that not all boys or all girls are the same. At the same time, he writes, this "should not blind us to the fact that gender is one of the two great organizing principles in child development -- the other principle being age."
Girls and boys, he explained, differ substantially in the speed with which their brains mature. The various regions of the brain develop in a different sequence in girls compared to boys. Therefore, rather than saying that boys develop more slowly than girls, it is more accurate to affirm that girls and boys develop at a different pace. Language skills develop earlier in girls, for example, while spatial memory matures earlier in boys.
In fact, Sax argued, these differences in cerebral capacities between the sexes are larger and more important during childhood and adolescence than the differences between adults, when both males and females have reached full maturity.
This difference, he argues, should be acknowledged by educators, and then used positively. Just trying to stop boys from fighting among themselves or playing dangerous games, for example, is insufficient. The solution is not to try and eliminate this aggression in males, but to transform it by providing constructive alternatives.
And when it comes to teaching, instead of prescribing medications to boys to treat attention problems, a better solution would be to separate the sexes and use teaching methods appropriate for each sex. In a word: letting boys be boys.
1) 94% of men lie about their penis size.
According to condom manufacturers, only 6% ofmen use extra large condoms.
2) The average man is 5 inches long when erect
(no matter what you have heard ladies, that's the truth).
3) 80% of American men are circumsized. Even though Pediatrics say it is not necessary.
4) No matter what all the ads say, nothing canmake your penis grow but time (most men reach the end of their growth by the early 20's)
5) There is no correlation between penis size and shoe size, hand size, or nose size.
6) Blue balls does exist! It's technicallycalled "prostatic congestion."
7) Only 16% of men shave their privates.
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Some stuff on the ladies
1) Only 9% of women around the globe consider themselves "attractive"
(20% of British women do). 43% of women use the term "natural", 24% say they have "average" looks, 8% prefer the term "feminine", 7% say they are "good looking", and 7% say they are "cute", and finally only 2% ofwomen say they are "sexy".
2) An estimated 85% of women wear the wrong size bra.
3) 60% of women have had breast implants.
4) 75% of women dont like oral sex
5) 95% of women shave their privates.
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Both
1) Masturbation is healthy for both men and women.
2) 70% of highschoolers have had sex before they have graduated. 27% lose their virginity senior prom night. Only 3% wait until marriage. (that's damn sad)
3) 95% of men would have sex with a girl after 1month of dating. Only 10% of women feel this way.
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5 Reasons Why Sex is Good
1) It is a good workout. Sex burns about 150 calories every half an hour of it. It will lower your cholesterol and improve breathing circulation.
2) You won't get sick. According to research if you have sex 1-2 times a week you are less likely to get sick.
3) You'll feel happier. You will feel a greater sense of well-being. Women who have more sex were clinically proven to be less depressed than women who dont have sex.
4) Makes you look better- [ problem is ugly people don`t get any ]. Sex releases hormones in your body which make your skin and hair softer and shinier and tone your physic.
5) (The best reason) You will live longer. Studies prove that sex makes you live longer. Men who had sex 1-2 times a week had half the death rateas those who did not indulge themselves at least once a month. It also makes you look younger. If you have sex 3 times a week you may look up to10 years younger than you really are.
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Did You Know?
..that having sex 3 times a week for 1 year adds up to running 75 miles!!!!
wowhow.. you now have a sex-iful of knowledge on sex.. haha
tattoo of the year.. hahah..
Time for an eye-check (damn cool)
it's been a some time since i posted.. it's been a depressing week.. the return of my papers was a wake-up call.. i should steer away from the computer and start studying or i'll be in j1 again next year.. the thought of it is really scary
ok, we had this security talk during national education. it's the worst talk one can ever go through. it's like dripping with propaganda motives "love singapore" "think about what you can do for singapore, and not what singapore can do for you" "national service is the best way to make a boy a man"... the whole talk was a draggy 2 hours long. the sergents and some other lady was just trying to emphasize how we should defend our country. actually, they have been telling us this since we were 10. and hearing the same old boring stuff for 7 years is indeed ridiculous. it defits the purpose of national education. it's really a waste of time. i'm not anti-NS or anti-singapore, it's just that they seem very desperate trying to convince us to love singapore. i think NS is quite a good thing for the guys tho.. as in the team-building and character-building.
today i just had a gathering with my clique.. yams, debo, sheryl, eunice, gen and LIZ (i'm so sorry liz, you are my best bud and i din write your name) i love the feeling after hanging out with them. i went home smiling and today is definitely a happy day. whee! (:(:(: i love my lovely friends. despite not seeing each other often.. in different jcs or different combis, the closeness among us still remained the same. we can joke and laugh and talk about all matters under the sun. even if we tease debo a lot, she knows that we are just joking.. and everyone takes things lightly. but i'm not sure if i ever be able to do that with people in my class. we are good friends, but not close. maybe we can blame it on the time.. it's only 6 months, but in a2, we were very close since jan. i'm not sure what's wrong.. maybe we just can't click or maybe we really need more time to warm up. or is just me being biased, i'd always think my a2 clique is the best and maybe subconsciously i dun wanna change that fact. we were discussing about how superficial people in jc are. everyone worries about their futures in jc, everyone wants to shine in jc, nobody wants to be a outcast in jc. it's a totally different environment. i had to admit we are really sheltered in mg.. we never get to see the "real" world and how mean or how ppl can backstab you. it's quite frightening to think about it. that's why this makes me think about the course i wanna study.. if i do business, i'd always have to mask myself and put up a false front. i dunno if such a job would fit me. although i think i'm quite sensitive, i tend to be abit sarcastic.. so probably when i work, i gotta control my temper. precisely why we were discussing how frightening the real world is. haha, we were all complaining how we dun wanna grow up. i don't think i'm enjoying jc life as much as secondary sch life. true, jc life is fun-filled with events and activities, you feel accomplished but your heart still feels hollow. there are certain things that cannot be filled without close friendship. we can say jc life is just 2 years, everyone's gearing towards As, no one actually cares about making friends... but i believe it's friends that can see us through the whole tormenting year. during O levels, i really enjoyed friends' company and it's through their encouragement and constant reminder that i can keep up with my work, revise consistently and feel motivated to move on. it's also during the exam period that we got much closer. i remember eunice was my darling study pal.. eunice, haha, we can still study math and econs together.. (: as i was going home, i was talking to my dad about how i really enjoyed myself today. he said that it's of course we are close to our sec sch frens. cos it's the period whereby we are innocent yet not so, mature yet not so. so the friendship we have is pure.. no one has bad feelings about anyone. but in jc and uni, it's hard or almost impossible to find true friends, cos everyone are finding friends for relations. you make friends with her cos her dad is the CEO of whatever company. it's really very superficial. although people might say it's not the case, you can still find true friends, but i really can't justify to this belief cos it's just... not realistic? precisely why my dad wanted me to go rj at first cos rafflesians grow up to be professionals and it's the kind of connections you should have in future. thank goodness i din go there.. first, it's overly competitive and rafflesians are supposedly more superficial than acsians. the girls are more bimbo.. like 24/7 comparing which guy is hot and which guy is not. some of my friends who went there changed.. so i'm actually quite relieved cos i think it's just stupid gossiping about such stuff when there are more important and interesting things to care about other than how hot the guy's body is. my dad also said that in order for all of us to remain as close friends, it's actually everyone's effort. everyone gotta make the tiny lil effort to meet up. although we might not gather for the whole day, at least a dinner would be enough for us to catch up and stuff..
so peeps, we gotta try to make it for every gathering planned ok? *hint hint*
btw, federer rocks my world. we realized he cannot take front view pics cos his eyes are weird.. but he looks hot sideview.. roddick beat johansson just now.. 6-7 (6-8). 6-2, 7-6 (12-10), 7-6 (7-5) so it's a federer Vs roddick final. sth to look forward to actually.. venus williams and davenport match is going on now..
and i realized f1 is so cool.. haha.