Just as a side note, I want to remember that my cat is about 35 inches long, which is 89cm.

To my horror I just saw the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Mascots, and I think that because this is going to be plonked everywhere and lord forbid, the mascots "will travel to five cities around the world as part of the global torch relay for the Games", naming and shaming should commence.

If I withhold my vitrol for the names Lyo and Merly respectively based off a lion and the merlion [apparently these names were derived from a contest, of which I hadn't heard of and again, Lord save us all], and for the fact that Lyo looks suspiciously ripped off a Care Bear, I reserve it all for the poor girl named Merly.

Let's have a look here:
The Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Mascots.
Now, Merly with her Cheena-girl hair and her name, I suppose, is obviously supposed to be female.
A female merlion.
A female merlion.
There is nothing wrong with a female merlion.
There is something wrong with a merlion who is not a merlion because she does not have a FISH TAIL. Just in case, Singapore, merlion = half lion, half fish. At this point of time I'm not sure whether her lion hindpaws are decorated with scales or ripples of water, but either case it does not make her a half fish. I don't know how we got three monuments of the absolutely fictional merlion scattered about the island, plastered on every tourist brochure right if we somehow managed to get a derivative merlion mascot wrong. I think we even had a whole line of books on the merlion and he's managed to have a tail in them. It's 2010 and suddenly our merlion is walking and no longer a merlion.
Now that I've addressed the second part, let's address the first part - the 'female' bit. By the way, a female lion [called a lioness] has no mane.
A lioness has no mane.
That is to say that a lioness anthro wouldn't have long hair, by the way, if you were wondering, Singapore.

I suppose other than people who draw anthropomorphs and are bombarded with requests of decorative female peacocks wouldn't give a damn about her mane but man,
you can't ignore
that THERE IS NO FISH TAIL ON THAT MERLION.

So I hope that someday, somehow, somewhere, some Singaporean in charge of this thing who had a hand in the mascot process, the process of making The Singapore Youth Olympics Mascots Lyo and Merly, will see this post and think:

"WAH KAO I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS BLUR ENOUGH TO LET THEM RELEASE A MASCOT WHICH IS REALLY A MALE LION CROSS-DRESSING AS A FEMALE 'MERLION' WHICH IS NOT A MERLION BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE A TAIL"

The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Mascots Lyo and Merly [I'm putting this here for better search relevance] are a crying, NATIONAL, shame.

EDIT: We have realised that our best case scenario is that Merly is a post-op who didn't just change her bits but also her tail.

So the past couple of days of spam have not been in vain; I have finished updating my flickr!

Firstly I have made very bad decisions and in light of Postcrossing gaining an internal gallery, my postcards were floating around quite aimlessly and strangely! Also, I'm not even sure why I took 'st-m43' when I could've taken 'stereophilic', which is what I am everywhere.

So my dire apologies to the contacts I removed but have now added to my new flickr account, stereophilic! I was hoping they'd allow messages to contacts while adding, but alas they do not.

The three lovely ladies who have hidden themselves away from flickrsearch, if you're still interested in my photos, please add me again. I am still interested in yours! though, so if you're kind enough, please...? D8

I also took the chance to rearrange and fill in the missing photo spaces in my flickr, so everything is neatly and correctly chronological. Huzzah! There're a few photos in there that I have never posted before, so I'm glad to have them archived somewhere. The new stuff include a few shots from our Sydney trip, and other miscellaney that don't have specific classification except perhaps emo. Ironically I only pick a few out of the stuff I post in el-jay to post in flickr.

At this point of time please let me thank the wonderful people who left me comments and favourites in my old flickr, especially on the bjd photos; I do apologise that I was dumb enough to have to start ovah again, but I've saved all those comments and again, thank you for having taken the time to do it then. I will remember them!! They are archived in my digital annals of time.

Aaaand back to finance. I will rue having wasted my time but whatever the hell; my digital photography portfolio is tragically less transcient than this semester's modules.

Since not many noticed the Bird Park post here I am again, clogging up ur flist! 8D

A while after the Bird Park, because there was a so-called Aussie 'fair' and I still had some teeth-cutting to do on the telezoom lens, we went to the zoo. Well, the 'fair' was a big bust because there were two booths; one was the Zoo's merchandise and the other was some crappy unrelated stuff. Otherwise, I was still struggling on the telezoom and I'm not cut out to be a [big] animal photographer. For the zoo trip, we also got a monopod which is like MY SAVIOUR. And also Jun's saviour, when we wanted to die trying to get back to the entrance.

To be fair, we had fun [ignoring the amounts of trekking that is wah-inducing], and when we came back I realised there's actually been some improvement since the last time we went in 2006, which is encouraging [and thankfully makes the money spent on the cam worth its while, it'd be pretty depressing otherwise]. So under cut, there're brief instances of zoo photos from 2006, and a bunch [29] of zoo photos from 2009.



( Still trying to catch up in my flickr, aha. )

The light was rather volatile when we were at the zoo, so I think the Bird Park outing was a little more successful. And I really need to buy another memory card. It's just too bad my cam is so old that it can't take a 4GB card.... D8

A while ago we went to the local bird park [which would be The Jurong Bird Park, yo] - alright so that while was three years ago and a while after I first got my DSLR. So three years later the only impetus to go there again [other than a dear visiting friend] was to flex my metaphorical cameraific muscles [and literal arm muscles, I guess] and hone my ability to use a new telezoom lens and a monopod.

I think on the overall I have improved [I'd better have], but the only reason why I [and Jun] paid the price of admission was because I expressed horror at the prices and my dad sed "GO TEST OUT YOUR LENS ANYWAY" so I did. Subsequently I struggled with it at both the Bird Park and the Zoo, horribly, but my later increased expertise netted me the ability to take probably some of the most important photos of my life so I'm quite pleased with how things worked out. As it is, I got a few fun shots at the Bird Park, which explains why there are 30.5 pictures under cut.



( My primary impetus is to catch up in my flickr chronologically. )

And that's all! I ran out of space, several times, most distressingly before the Lory Loft [which was where I'd taken the most shots the last time] where all the cute fat little birds were. Live and learn; too cheap to solve it. ::sheepish::

( - though I probably shall not exclaim as I die - )

- "oh willow, LoudTwitter, tit willow."
[stereophilic twittery.]

IT'S JUN'S [silencestation] BIRTHDAY
BE NICE OKAY?
PLEASE?

TO HELP ME WITH MY OVERWHELMING GUILT OF LATE ANNOUNCEMENTS? D'8

It's been a while. I did not dream of her, but I did think it should be somewhat like this [10 minute but uh takes a while a while to load] short film:

( this short film that I filmed. )

I just heard someone else's draft for his monologue.

1. I can't believe he started with "Let me introduce myself - I am Lucifer, fallen angel."
2. I can't believe he started with that instead of "Please allow me to introduce myself - I'm a man of wealth and taste."
3. I can't believe he said "I am Lucifer, fallen angel."

Why lah, boy.

EDIT: No mystery here folks; just a really crappy monologue.

Tell me tell me my flist darlings, are you experiencing blathering incompetence today?

There seems to be an inordinate sort of spike in blathering incompetence today; in the last hour I've only spent it: 1. pointing out to my Operations Management group that a maritime port company is not going to handle your freight and ground logistics, 2. assuaging the headless chickeny fears of my Finance classmates that you do NOT have to scream at other group members to "HURRY UP WE HAVE TO FINISH" if they themselves write "it's due next Sunday!!!" in the same email, 3. trying to articulate my agonised disbelief in feedback at how suddenly stupid our lovely webhost's support is.

Is it (Inter)National Blathering Incompetence Day? Are they trying to explode the minds of us rational folk? Did I miss something while I was trying to master a monologue to no avail?

If you have experienced blathering incompetence today, tell me so we can all agonise together and so that a string of agreeing 'wtf's will follow to assure you that there are people who are not so blatheringly incompetent.

And also declare today as the day of blathering incompetence as a warning.
I fear maybe a year.

[I'm not sure whether to declare the 8th or 9th of November as Blathering Imcompetence Day. OH GOD THEY'VE GOT ME TOO]

When we talked and it cemented that stifling hatred I have for certain members of mankind I (formerly) tried to deny; it reduced me to breathless mad agony, an angry idiot gasping and gaping for justice and something to settle the ever-consuming embers of miserable rage that lash out at my being whenever my mind even so much flickers past the thought of it. It is so expansive that I can't even describe it right after the stupid amounts of analogies and metaphors I've just put up there.

My current problem is now, and very much now that I can't quite make the words in my performance seem burgeoningly painful. I've repeated it for a good 15 minutes into a mirror but it still sounds atrociously hollow. Not even what set me off the last time tore away this apathy; I think I've lost the total capacity to feel in this aspect and I don't regret it, but the lady is gonna see right through me.

M: Why is this Powerpoint f***ing 8MB? It's 8 times the size of the Excel application it's about. It's f***ing 8MB!
J: That really bothers me, for some reason.
M: You know what's f***ing wrong with these people? Powerpoint is supposed to be a tool, not a - it's - it's like having a horse. You ride that horse around. That's how Powerpoint is supposed to be. But they use Powerpoint like you tell that goddamn horse to ride off into the distance by itself, bring a gun, fire the gun, kill a man - or bring him back dead or alive. But you know what's gonna happen? You're just going to have a heavily decorated horse, bullet belt strapped all over, come back groaning under all that weight - and he hasn't killed the man. Why? That's because -
J: [grim] That's because he can't hold a gun.
M: Yeah! Well.

Er.


Yeah.

HEY GUYS LOOK
REMEMBER THIS?
WELL NOW IT'S BEEN COCKBLOCKED!
Because we all used MAGIC.

( - though I probably shall not exclaim as I die - )

- "oh willow, LoudTwitter, tit willow."
[stereophilic twittery.]

I am fond of my drama group mates because they're all seniors who dislike waste and inefficiency as much as I do. There is, however, one that looks exactly like Asian (Young) George Harrison. Shoulda known from there he was a bit of an oddity, but I was charmed by his guileless affection for the world and positive emotions. In a bid to generate ideas for a short film, he browsed through Facebook videos:

G[eorge]: That's so sweet.
BJ [groupmate]: He's really got this emotional thing going on, huh?
M: Depends. Is it a awesome! sweet or an awwww sweet?
G: ...
M: [looks over] ...it's an awww sweet.
G: [defensively] What's wrong with that?
M: There's nothing wrong with that.
BJ: Yeah man, it's good you like people.

Then it was proven he is odd.

LW [groupmate]: [has just arrived and still attempting to generate alternatives] Okay, so. Maybe - maybe if you guys have any causes? Poverty, etc?
BJ: No man, I thought you'd have some.
LW: [shrugs] Eh, not really - M, you?
M: No - I hate people generally.
LW: You?
G: [instantaneously] Safe sex in South Africa FIFA 2010.
BJ: Say what?
G: No I mean it! You know, all the tourists and stuff going to South Africa and then they have unsafe sex with prostitutes and then end up with STDs.
LW: There he goes again.
M: ...Isn't it their own fault if they go there and a) have sex with prostitutes, b) unprotected?
G: [greviously distressed] But they're just not aware of this! They're actually, really unaware, you know?!


LW: Okay, forget the causes.

( - though I probably shall not exclaim as I die - )

- "oh willow, LoudTwitter, tit willow."
[stereophilic twittery.]

Might anyone on my esteemed flist know a [preferably French] song which is possibly about a (underage) young girl knowing she's really shouldn't be in a bar and that she's going to regret it but not really?

Er, something close?

I'm not a bad person I swear

I mean those french there's bound to be some weird stuff like that right right

GUYS GUYS QUICK
THE ONLY WAY TO REWARD THOM YORKE, DEATH CAB, KILLERS AND ALL FOR SHOWING UP ON THE TWILIGHT: NEW MOON SOUNDTRACK
AND THE BLOKES WHO HIRED THEM TO HIT THEIR DEDICATED CROWD
YOU KNOW IT
IS TO MAGIC IT UP.

( - though I probably shall not exclaim as I die - )

- "oh willow, LoudTwitter, tit willow."
[stereophilic twittery.]

( - though I probably shall not exclaim as I die - )

- "oh willow, LoudTwitter, tit willow."
[stereophilic twittery.]