Findings of this week.

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Justin

Now, I've been trying to really stop myself from lumping out posts everyday, since that's counter-productive in my work flow, so I'll do my proper article some time next week or something.

(I'll have you know, I'm writing a review on a game right now which I'll publish sometime later.)

So perhaps, the posts I do in between those will probably be little findings I've found during an eventful week. :D

First of all: here's a story my friend Kenzo over at Subtle Suspense (go read that blog as well :P) found, and I thought you might get round to reading as well.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7772902.stm
^
click click =/

Now, I'm not sure where our world has really gone in the world of journalism, but seriously, WTF were they thinking when they wrote that?!

"Yeah, its great. We're the BBC; let's write something that'll make us sound completely mad, but its fine, because we are ultra fail at doing April-Fools on live television."

It seems as though we are rather surrounded in a world of idiots, who push and clam their way to the front of the queue, then forget why they were there in the first place. Utter no brainer.

But, I guess without these douches, we would have a nice boring world and we wouldn't have the occasional Ms Hall to laugh at in English. *hint hint*

Recently, my friends have decided to name themselves on Facebook after "that Bieber dude" and form a ridiculous faction of Justins (irony my name is that too). Now, the world really really really doesn't need a collection of Biebers, let me grant you that. Its a good thing I don't pay much attention to my news feed, or I would certainly go a bit nutty in the head.

In addition to that, I also found this rather smart add-on for Firefox; now before you go slump away and say, "great, you've found an addition. what else?" This may actually make you turn heads. Let me link you there: Link here

Now, for those who aren't prepared to click a link (simply because you might be wondering where the hell it links; i.e. "OMGWTFBBQ IS THAT A RICKROLL?! LOLOLOLOLOL... etc" maybe I should tell you what it does instead.

Here is the magic: it removes every trace (no kidding) or tag of any reference to Justin Bieber. (no kidding) Seriously, I felt this developer could have spent his time much more wisely - idk, he could have gone to get dinner or something, or maybe go get ... you know. If you don't want to add a Firefox extension though, you can add a bookmarklet which you click everytime you go on a page. Shave here!

Moving on.

Now, back to the topic of rubbish journalism. Where would we be without their silly mistakes in newspapers, lurking in those tedious articles with the obstructive adverts and the rather outrageous pictures of people doing stupid things. Which is why, I would like to share some of my favourites of the pick.

Here's a nice "authentic" bear for you to give a nice hug.


Go on, watch it!

Guess I better end this post before I go on and start ranting.

So; on a rather random note,

Does this look like your mommy?

Or this? :P



Listening to (for inspiration): Death by White Lies









crevlther out.

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English Literature... ftw!

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Justin


For a rather arrogant person like myself, I have never really had much appreciation for English Literature, or rather any respect for the rat trap crap that I had read, simply because I couldn't make any relation to any prior use for it in my life.

The opinions I had of the teachers were poor, and although they made the regular attempt to get the class to understand what on earth they were talking about, I felt as motivated as an elephant's backside (no kiding). It was simply dull. Who would want to know about how the bloody hell "Julius Caesar" died, and why he died? Similarly, who would want to know the relation between "Balzac" and "the Little Seamstress"?

I often doodled in my English classes, often not paying attention to the boring stuff she would rant on about each lesson, and stuffing the notes she would hand out (I still don't approve of people printing 30 print-outs for their class, effectively killing a tree) reluctantly into my English folder and generally dumping them out after-wards.

Then came the exam rush. And I still had no idea why on earth we were learning English Literature! It was miserable and so demotivating that I had to self-study, simply because our English teacher was not getting into our heads what we were supposed to have known for the exams. I spent the majority of the year having to gather the materials required that we had to know, as well as having to resort to the non-assistant syllabus the examining board had provided.

I did several pass-papers, and learnt the subject basically by reciting the particular quotes and paragraph content that I had done like-wise for the said pass-papers. I'm sure I got through the exam alright, because I wrote at least four pages for both of the questions. That's not the point of this post though.

It was only up to this very day as I was about to begin my once and for all final English Literature exam, that same question I had asked the very first day flickered weakly in my mind: what on earth was the purpose of English Literature?

Then came the great motivator. No, it wasn't my terrible English teacher, it was the head of English himself. Having taught in the school for over five years(?), he knew precisely the problems (i.e. a walking FAQ for the English Literature exam :P) students faced as they drearily walked into the examination hall. Having seen the face of fear me and my friends were displaying, he helpfully pointed out the right approach towards tackling the literature exam fearlessly and properly.

Talking to the head of English himself really does magic. From my experience with the English department, only a few are worth listening to. The rest simply come to school, go on Facebook, then go home again without teaching anything. Listening to the head however was (for me) a rather sensational feeling that all the years I had spent warbling in English lessons were summed up into a understandable way.

Gathered around like a social group, I began to see a sense of interest in my classmates as they actually took in what the teacher was actually saying. It turned out that for all this time, my English teacher simply was teaching the subject using the wrong approach; hence nobody wanted to learn it! It was inspirational listening to a teacher who actually wanted to teach us the art of learning, as opposed to listening to a teacher who hated her job and work.

The problem with English Literature isn't the fact you don't remember things; its the fact that everyone feels the subject seems rather too complex for their little nodges in their head to comprehend. It's not! The purpose of English Literature is so that youngsters can reprehend and relate to their society, as well as the modern issues we have seen in our time. IT IS NOT because youngsters want to admire Shakespeare's work. In fact, youngsters I'm sure would prefer to read Chris Ryan or etc etc. They do it to understand the greater idea of how our world works and reacts towards each other, as well as to explore why people do things.

Think of it as history. The only difference is that in history, its more about statistical data, and you don't get to understand in depth why people do certain things.

If it hadn't been for him, I would have been stuffed for English. I'm sure I would have been.

Walking into the examination hall with the refreshed knowledge, I had high hopes during the entirety of the exam. English Literature is a puzzle: its not like mathematics or science. There isn't any "correct" or definite answer, but rather a vague yet complex interpretation of how the scenes work together.

And that, really should be the way people should tackle an English exam. Don't think of it as a complex science; think of it as an art, and let your mind unleash at all the meanings.

Back to my point though. Picking the questions that I wanted to do as well as doing them was a breeze throughout, and really got my mind thinking of the different meanings of the overall text.

There was one thing that I felt was worth mentioning that the head of English taught me: "Think of the text as a forest, and in that forest each tree has a unique meaning. Dig deeper, and you'll find each tree has a branch. Each branch is a deeper interpretation which relates to the overall meaning of that section. Dig even deeper and you'll find leaves. These are the quotations which relate back to the interpretations. Dig further than that and you'll find each leaf has details. The more you dig, the better you get at it."

Powered with his words, the reasoning as well as the contexts of both texts started to come alive (literally). Its not something I can describe at all with simple words, but I suppose that's where you should start exploring.

I'll give you a hint though - relate it back to the power of literature.

Listening to (for inspiration): Piece by Piece by Feeder








http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8urVsvhIebM

crevlther out.

P.s. Let's just hope the examiner can read my writing on my paper though.

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Template still in construction.

Monday, 24 May 2010

Justin

well, I was only gone for like 5 minutes since my last post, but I would like to say there are still some rough bits on my blog I need to fix. so tell me if something doesn't work :P

I'm still working to get the shoutbox working, the Google Friend Connect app to work, as well as a few more links to the navigational bar.

crevlther out.

Well, everyone's got to start somewhere...

Justin

Now, I thought I would start off new earned trend of blogging with a little rant. You see, for the past years I have never really had the place to express the feelings I've had towards the rather erroneous people I've met on the internet. Most of them have been great pals, but others are simply trolls in your pocket.

Particular thanks to boisson for getting me off my arse to write something. Let's not lower the tone though on my second post, so I might as well make it more interesting with fails I've encountered before. I'll get round to writing articles in the future that may be more relevant to you readers. Enjoy. I'm sure to the one person who actually reads this blog, at least they'll find it humourous. :D

"You can call me a failed experiment, but I'll always be here reacting for you."

The internet is a strange place, people...

Listening to (for inspiration): Sienna by Paul Leonard Morgan | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPyFovPDV4M



now, I'll get back to you guys later on in the week. I'm hella busy doing lots of busy-body stuff all through the buzzy week. :P

crevlther out.

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First post.

Sunday, 23 May 2010

Justin

Now, usually its complementary to do the usual "hello world" sort of introduction to the whole wide web, but I thought I would just say hello to nobody in particular instead.