Speaking of Immigration...

I just got around to watching the official Papers, Please short film.

I'm just blown away. It so perfectly encapsulates the feel of the film. The quality of the props. The quality of the acting – Igor Savochkin is utterly masterful in the main role. The sheer attention to detail. How it captures the gameplay aspects in an unforced manner. How it communicates the bleakness, the weariness, the hope – and the utter despair.

I can perfectly empathise with the unfortunate souls trying to enter Arstotzka – matters pertaining to immigration and citizenship fill me with dread – but also with the checkpoint inspector. How often have I wanted to do the right thing, only to be held back by the rules? How often have I thought, this time I'll let it pass, only for the other person to shamelessly take advantage? In real life, we can never know when mercy or intolerance is the better choice. The film captures that uncertainty, even better than the game did.

The only missing aspects are the expenses management – reduced to a lone photograph – and the fact that allowing someone through without the proper paperwork immediately ends in a citation. The latter is unrealistic, of course, but without these gameplay aspects, a lot of the tension is lost. My other issue is the ending. It's...unemotional? It's startling, but it seemed to lack impact, somehow. It doesn't stay with me, the way the beginning and middle of the film did. I think an ambiguous ending would have worked better to preserve that bleak, desperate feeling.

Nevertheless, for a ten-minute film, it is genuinely excellent. I love the fact that more and more independent works, including the original Papers, Please, are being produced with such excellent quality. These works only prove that creativity is far from dead.

MRT Announcements

Rest in peace, Mrs. Melson.

2016: A Killer Year

Look back upon the glory days of 2012, when I used to post more than a dozen times per year. This hasn't quite been a good year! People have died, the world has had some moments of insanity, my chilli plants refuse to produce fruit... It's been...some year.

On the other hand, some things have gotten better, at least for me. I've gotten a handle on my chronic procrastination – on that note, I strongly recommend watching Dr. Tim Pychyl's lecture on the subject, his research drills down into the psychology of procrastination, and so his advice has a sound scientific backing. I've commented on my weight loss before, but it's probably worth noting that I've managed to maintain a healthy weight for the past five months or so. After years of being iron deficient, my iron levels are back up, too, thanks to daily consumption of black sesame soup and dark chocolate. Quite dramatically, my hair stopped falling out as much. It's funny, what you get used to when you're chronically unhealthy.

McDonald's has brought back the Gula Melaka McFlurry for Chinese New Year. Someone out there is listening!

A friend got married in December, so I attended my first-ever Chinese wedding. You can believe I spend hours reading up on gift-giving and attire-related customs before going! They weren't terribly strict about it, but I think a wedding is the worst possible place for a social gaffe. I probably didn't have to check all the banknotes (it is traditional to gift money) to ensure that the serial numbers didn't contain 4 or 13... The wedding did introduce me to Cantonese cuisine. Crispy-skin chicken looks like an interesting challenge!

I just want to say, I once tried making soufflé when I was quite young, and it failed so miserably that I didn't try again for years. Then I watched the QI episode featuring Carrie Fisher, in which she declared that soufflé is really quite easy to make, and she did not see what the fuss was about. Inspired, I tried making soufflé again.... and it worked. Perfectly. 

I was devastated when I heard Ms. Fisher had passed away. There have been many notable deaths in 2016, but this one cut deep. She was a remarkable woman, and it's no wonder that so many admired and respected her. Rest in peace, Ms. Fisher.

This was a downer of a year, wasn't it. But tomorrow is another year.

Happy 51st Birthday to Singapore!

It's SG51! The parade was great, here are my disjointed impressions:

• I love military bands in general! The four-cornered interlocking move was somewhat terrifying to watch, I kept expecting someone to bump into something.
• Bani Hidir has a voice like dark chocolate. His brief rendition of Xiao Ren Wu De Xin Sheng was amazing, would love to hear a full-length version.
• I can't believe they left out the bit where Badang gets his powers from eating the ghost's vomit.
• The cannons used for the 21-gun salute looked very shiny this year. I can't remember if they've always looked that good?
• No mobile column. :'(
• The costumes of Badang's opponents were all fantastic. Love the shield-wielders' armour design.
• THEN THE FIRE NATION ATTACKED
• Oh man, the costumes for the Four Civilisations. So beautiful and intricate. I would love to cosplay as any of them (minus the eight-metre-tall skirts).
• The unicorn was pretty impressive. I wasn't expecting to be impressed, but I was.
• Hey, this looks like Tron.
• OMG DAFT PUNK
• OMG TAKE ON ME
• The Sky City segment was gorgeous, really great airborne prop, beautiful music, all just wonderful.
• Apropos of nothing, What a Wonderful World is a lovely song. 
• I suppose if they were going to teach us to sign any song with only minutes to practice, Count on Me Singapore was a good choice purely because of the repetitive lyrics. No, but seriously, that was a great idea, I had a lot of fun learning the signs.
• Singing Majulah Singapura at the end—without backing music initially, just the sound of everyone's voices all together—gave me genuine chills.

I think this may be the first National Day Parade I'd actually want to watch again. Really, really superb effort by everyone.

In any case, happy birthday to Singapore!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

A very happy 50th birthday to Singapore! And well done to everyone involved with the parade, it was fun and nostalgic and brilliant.

Also, to whoever chose Departure to the Front Lines from the Naruto Shippuden soundtrack to accompany the mobile column, I LOVE YOU.



I am unashamed to be a weeaboo.

Congratulations, Singapore!!

IRL

I had a weird moment when this song started playing on FM 92.4.



I first heard it on YouTube, so it was startling when it starting playing off a real, physical radio. As if the fourth wall had broken.

(The Piano Guys' Oogway Ascends remix is pretty great too.)

Distracted Driving

This is kind of brilliant. It's a video summarising an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, about distractions which affect novice and experienced drivers.

 
Link to the original journal article.

The animators obviously had fun (love the brick joke with the ninjas), but what's more pertinent is that the study was presented in a manner which could be easily understood by anyone. I think it's important for journals to reach out to common man, because their staff actually understand the subject matter and know how to discuss it in an accurate manner (Dr Jeffrey Drazen, who narrated the above video, is actually the Editor-in-Chief of NEJM). Media such as reputable newspapers and news programs are better sources of scientific information that, say, certain celebrities who are not qualified to discuss vaccination, but may still unintentionally misrepresent facts or make exaggerated claims. While we're discussing it, science textbooks aren't perfect sources of information either. Especially the ones which present tongue maps as being accurate.

I'd like it if journals articles became more accessible to the public. Open access is a step in the right direction, and easy-to-understand summaries are helpful when the original article is too technical for a lay audience. Perhaps this is a maverick proposal, but I'd like secondary school students to have some experience reading real journal articles. I think it's important to expose students to the terse, specific style of scientific writing as early as possible, get them used to the idea of reading primary sources and not the rehashes presented in textbooks and newspapers, get them used to writing in a succinct yet informative manner. Maybe I'm overestimating the attention span of the typical student, but I only learned - properly learned - to write scientifically when I was doing my Honours degree, thanks to my supervisor's patient tutelage. What would have happened if my supervisor was less than ideal?

I guess I'm just sad that there's a substantial proportion of the population who lack the capability to keep up with the very cutting edge of science. Knowledge should be for everyone.

Closing In

I have the deplorable habit of talking when I have nothing to say, so I make up for it by not writing when I have nothing to say. That's the theory, anyway.

I must be growing old, because the prospect of Christmas and the end of the year no longer fills me with excitement. It's... just another day. Another year. I've had plenty of those. There will be good times and bad times, just like any other year. This year had too much excitement - the wrong kind of excitement. I think I could use a little peace for a change.

My PhD thesis will be finished soon - really finished soon. All the chapter writing is done, it's just a question of editing out every last mistake and stitching it into a book. It feels like the end of an era. Certainly, the PhD course was a difficult experience, both mentally and physically. I didn't quite handle it the way I would have liked, but wasn't that the point? The difficulty of completing a PhD is not the coursework itself, I don't think, although the work can be intensive and writing a thesis is a novel form of torture. It's the psychological part. Having the discipline to come in to work everyday including weekends, plan out experiments, meet deadlines and milestones. Dealing with office politics. Handling the various crises which inevitably arise from working with dangerous equipment in the company of many other individuals. Supervisors are there for guidance, but only minimally; most of it is self-directed. It's like a primer for the real life working experience. And you do work alongside postdoctoral fellows and research assistances who are there for the money, and you learn from how they handle things. 

In fewer words, doing a PhD is a horrible experience and I strongly recommend it.

Bionicle will be rebooted next year. That's a good move, I think. It's been gone too long to rely on old fans, and the old story is far too convoluted to bring in new fans. Back then, it was pretty obvious that the writers were making a lot of things up as they went along, especially in the early years. A fresh start will be good for the series. And the new sets do look pretty sweet.

I think I might actually be looking forward to the new year after all. There'll be good times, and bad times, but they won't be same good and bad times as before (stunning observation, there). 

In the meantime, enjoy these fifteen minutes of Wheatley's nattering.

Another Quick Post

It has been too long, yes!

I've been writing my PhD thesis. It seems that there is a critical limit to the amount of writing I can endure in a single day. So, a high thesis output means a low blog output. Even though blogging is significantly less boring.

So! What have I been doing recently? Well... writing I suppose. Where do the days go?

I did spend some time the other day watching the following video multiple times. It's an excellent parody of the video game, the style of music, and the style of music video. Also, it contains the second-most deftly-executed "Your Mom" joke I have seen (the first, of course, is from Meet the Spy).

Canonically, Ratonhnhaké:ton is supposed to be a serious, driven, unquestioned badass. Much of the humour of this video derives from a weedier version of the character engaging in slapstick antics, casual psychopathy, and constant, overwrought, failed attempts at being cool. (George Washington is the opposite - he still appears as a tough, admirable character, just not quite in the way one might expect).

As an aside, I am consistently impressed with level of effort fans expend when making tribute to their favourite media. Regarding the above video, if you take into account the costumes, the actors and actresses, the sets, the props, the stunts, green-screen effects, script writing, lyric writing, sound recording, editing... that's a lot of work for less than four minutes of payoff. Hats off to the Smosh team, and to others like them.

As a further aside, how proud would you be, if you were a creator and someone spent so much time and effort to celebrate your work? Creators who attempt to shut down fansites and delete fanworks on grounds of copyright infringement only confuse me. Copying others' work and trying to take credit for it is unethical, make no mistake, but creating what amounts to a love letter has an entirely different intent behind it.

Through the Fire and Flames - in LEGO

Through the Fire and Flames is already the darling of Guitar Hero enthusiasts, but you have to admit, this stop-motion LEGO version is pretty rad.

Parallel Parking

Too precious!

 

Update XXXI: Beef...Stew

It's a Homestar Runner reference.

To update since the last time (and also to fill in the gaps between entries a little), I have several new recipes which I'll write up eventually. Things are progressing at work, and naturally leading to more work. I have a new appreciation for yoghurt. Also, Magnum Infinity.

Everyone should know about Gangnam Style by now, so I'm not going to comment on it beyond the fact that there's a shop about forty minutes up the road which carries those wedge-heeled canvas shoes.

Meanwhile, Stephen Fry!

Western Blot (The Movie)

Haha oh my goodness.



Gilsons are indeed the workhorse pipette. Not as comfortable as an Eppendorf or as simple as a Finnpipette, but they're rugged and they get the job done. Just what a mercenary needs. (Incidentally, the multichannel shown in the video was a Finnpipette F2.)

I also just noticed the dry ice on the floor, for dramatic effect when Vitto steps into the lab. These chaps sure were having fun!

Traffic Warden

Just a lovely, heartwarming little film. (Pay attention to any words you might notice in the background - they are all important!)



P.S.: David Tennant! <3

Now You're Thinking With...

I would love to watch a full-length version of this. This is what a video game film adaptation should be like.

Nostalgia

Back when Bionicle was still going strong, it was hard to believe that it could ever end. I thought that it might last something like twenty more years.

Well, I was pretty much a kid back then, inexperienced in matters of commercial viability. Nevertheless, I haven't forgotten how much happiness a little piece of fiction gave me.

Canon Rock

I love this song more than should be legal.

Kiwi!

I cried.



(I swear that at some point I'll have a post which isn't a video link.)

G-T-C-A

BioRad did it again.



So...catchy!

Death Pad

I laughed so hard, I think I'm going to be sick. (To get all the jokes, you will need to be familiar with Death Note.)