西方研究： “看到金发妹，男人脑变空”。

According to a Western research, "A man's mind tend to go blank at the sight of a blond girl."

法国研究发现：男性面对金发美女时，会下意识认为对方较笨，结果头脑也因此变得不灵光。

A French research have discovered that when males come across blonds, the former will subconsciously view the latter as being dumber, and end up losing their heads as well.

男性朋友请注意："金发尤物"不见得笨，但却可能让男人变笨。因为男性面对金发美女时，会认为自己在与资质较为钝者打交道，也因此自己变笨。

All male friends please take note: Blond beauties are not necessarily dumb, but are capable of making guys go dumb. This is because when males come face to face with attractive blond women, they believe themselves to be communicating with a slightly more dimwitted person, and become influenced as a result.

科学家给男性进行常识性测验时发现，若他们先看过金发女星的照片，测验成绩将比较差。

In the process of giving out IQ tests to males, scientists realised that if male candidates were to see pictures of blond stars prior to the test, results will turn out worst than usual.

人们行为举止常会下意识地受对方影响，就金发女性的例子而言，因为她们常给人没大脑的印象，因此具备让男人做出没大脑的潜力。

Our actions and behaviour are often subconsciously affected by the opposite party. Following the example of Blonds, due to the impression of being mindless they tend to give people, they are hence able to make men commit potential mindless acts.

有变笨吗？
Find your IQ dropping by a few points?

Saturday, November 17, 2007

《楚汉骄雄》给了我很大的震撼。看完后心绪激荡，久久不能平息。

一向不喜欢读战争史，但在读中国史时偏对楚汉相争一段有种独特的情感。不能说我喜欢它这时候的战争时局，但我很欣赏这时候冒出来的历史人物。

项羽是勇者。骁勇善战，所向披靡。一骑当前，万夫莫敌。文韬武略，王者风范。

刘邦是仁君。知人善任，从善如流。推己及人，仁者无敌。

韩信是将才。攻无不克，战无不胜。天降奇才，兵家之仙。

一个时代中若能得其中一人，必能平定天下，安邦定国。

一个时代中却同时出现三人，就注定杀戮重重，看最后鹿死谁手。

时势造英雄。然生不逢时，则英雄末路。所以项羽悲乎：“天亡我也，非战之罪。”

韩信功高盖主，只能落个鸟尽弓藏，兔死狗烹的结局。

说一切尽是天数，确实不尽然。所谓天命所归，其实也有人先天性格的考量在内。项羽一人之下，万人之上，盛气凌人，一人独大，终落个乌江自刎。韩信乖张跋扈，桀傲不驯，多次冒犯刘邦，以致最后引来杀身之祸。

戏中刘邦谋臣张良对其道：“你我只是上天的旗子... 人们只是照天理行事。人心亦会应时势而改变，就如天空乌云密布，必会下雨。公道不在人心，是非只在时势。”

还是最佩服张良。深知人性，功成身退。“事了拂衣去，深藏身与名。”

Envoy of the Stars @ 4:47 PM
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G00gle

Friday, November 16, 2007

A friend told me he actually g00gled about someone's nick when he was bored online...

That gave me an idea and I casually searched for HC and L*P references and tada, a whole list of blogs ran up right after the first few official academic websites. Among those I see a few familiar names. Yupz guys who blog about your affiliations take note: You are in the light.

On a side note, I see that my attempts at being low profile have turned out pretty effective, because after scanning through 20 pages of the search results this web address is still off the records..

なるほどう... The dangers of modern day technology. No wonder we always learn about voyeurism in GP back then.

P.S Now you know why I actually use asterisks to censor off certain words.. An open secret.

Envoy of the Stars @ 4:01 PM
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A Long, long, time ago

Thursday, November 15, 2007

In a galaxy far, far away...

Stumbled upon this awesome wallpaper courtesy of Paracosmos. If anyone who actually bothers ever wondered where the name "Starvade" comes from, you can make an intelligent guess now..

I never really knew when I got acquainted with the force but I can safely say the Star Wars Trilogy (IV, V and VI) was definitely a series of movies that left a mark on me during my childhood days. Although the impression is faint, but I would still remember watching the three episodes being aired on TV ages ago, on one Sunday afternoon. That was my first contact with the George Lucas' world. A world that has captivated me since..

Envoy of the Stars @ 6:17 PM
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Dead or Alive?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The past few weeks have been a whirl of uncertainty, what with sudden crop-ups and changes in plans. Things sort of tie in with the "there's no coincidence in this world, only the inevident" belief. But I am definitely relieved that things are much more settled down and yes, ladies and gentlemen, our group of 4 have finally decided to go to....

Turkey, after literally going through (itineraries of) more than half of the world.

We have gone to the extent that we enquired about every single location on the world map which offers tour packages, just so long as there is one available within our required time period of between 8 dec to 24 dec. I must admit it was tough deciding on our destination because of our demands for dates and the fact that each of us "conquered" different places on the world map. For an example, where china was concerned, Yimeng (but of course) generally struck off the major tourism hot spots one tour agency offered even before the tour agent could begin suggesting them. Zhehan took away the option of Korea unless there's a certain location in the tour schedule. (plus we weren't too keen either) I was saving Japan for next year. (Ym wasn't very interested.. no surprises there) And when we came to Australia, I had to spare the tour agent the trouble of coming up with possible locations by ticking off Gold Coast, Sydney, Perth and Tasmania, leaving Melbourne and Adelaide as the sole possible tour option.

In fact, we even began contemplating exotic places like India, Russia and Egypt. Egypt tours were full, (so no worries about being waylaid or threatened like Stephanie Sun, though I doubt we are rich enough to attract these people anyway). Russia's weather is freezing cold, brandishing a large "keep-away" sign with its current temperature of -15 degrees Celsius. India came up close to our final decision of Turkey, but in the end we chose the latter.

Whoo, after many hours of discussion and getting our moods dampened after the Eastern Europe trip was cancelled due to insufficient people to make up the group, things are finally back on track again.

I guess the destination is still not on top priority, as long as we truly enjoy the trip, and most importantly, not forget that our purpose is after all, to celebrate the end of a chapter in our lives.

Envoy of the Stars @ 5:38 PM
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Feelings

Sunday, November 11, 2007

今天“忙”得很充实。中午和久违了的苏老师、炟仰和逸明吃午餐。苏老师依然很风趣，逸明和往常没两样，炟仰谈笑风生，我一旁陪衬。意外发现苏老师还记得蛮多关于我们这届语特生的事情的，八卦包括在内。逸明的事他更是清楚，害到大半时候都是他变成调侃对象。不好意思！

苏老师说我很中庸。我回道：“中庸也不是什么好东西。”他说：“到我这年龄你就知道是。”后来说着说着，又谈到身边人。说起来我们竟都是四扇空窗，可见有些东西不能勉强。没有也并非坏事，有也未尝不是好事。塞翁失马吧。然而该来的仍会来，这也是必然。所以建议是多认识女生，累积经验。感觉还像是RPG游戏闯关拿xp... ...

后来又和Karl与Aaron瞎混，照样来个新加坡市区走透透，不是从台北到北京，也有PS到Bugis，再从Suntec去牛车水，结果就是拖到这么迟才回来。依旧天南地北地聊，漫无目的地走。当然也无可避免谈到人的复杂、生活中的快乐与满足和爱情... ...

怎么好象离不开这个话题。不过当听众是不错。其中有提到各花入各眼的盲目爱情，还有与其对立的肤浅爱情。前者很直截了当，后者就可能需要些补充。所谓肤浅爱情，即长相配对，俊男美女组合是一定的。尽管这么说有可能激起反对票，不过有时放眼望去，很多爱情不外如此。就如女生的内涵是加分、bonus，但开始的市场价值是先天性的。说的更白些，就是身材、样貌与市场价值成正比。内在的一切，只是让其增值的东西。男生也一样。所以俊男如果不合群、沉默寡言就是酷帅；美女如果会撒娇就是可爱。（至少对某些人来说吧）有人可能会说：人老容貌也会残，但现实中，有多少人会等老了才开始爱。（注意是说开始）况且及时行乐的人比比皆是，把握现在不是每个人都会说的吗？

听了那么多，我只是得了这样一个结论：

不管别人如何，最后还是要活自己的。跟着主流与否，选择还是有的。

常听人说和另一半在一起凭感觉。那么，跟一个人在一起先是凭感觉，然后再慢慢培养感情；当感觉淡到没有了，那剩下的就是感情。

Envoy of the Stars @ 2:36 AM
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Nostalgia

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Sometimes the right music brings along the wrong mood. The music is right because it is nice, the mood is wrong because, well it isn't exactly something you want. I am of course, talking about the sense of nostalgia.

There are moments when we find things like music, drama serials, books nice not necessarily because it's high quality, but only because they hold our memories and that sentimental value. Perhaps one will argue theres a fair mixture of both factors, but I am sure the feeling of nostalgia runs deeper than what any of us will think. A recast of a long-forgotten childhood drama serial is worth the watch because it once occupied a space within us. A piece of music or a song strikes the right chords with exceptional resonance because it hit the right spot. At times we feel certain new movies, new productions aren't as good as that in the past, but unknowingly we might not even be comparing it in terms of quality, but with the good memories we remembered having while watching those old productions. Classics are held in high regards, and for most they earn their right so, but for the rest, a greater portion of the goodness is judged based on sentimental value. But nostalgia still strikes, once in a while.

I had this exceptional feeling of closeness when I saw Backstreet Boys and West Lifes' new albums in the CD shop. Honestly I haven't been a fan of them, not even close. I have heard less than 10 of their songs. But somehow, they remind me of secondary school days. West Life's "My Love", Backstreet Boys' "I want it that way", Nsync's "It's gonna be me". I am sure many more loyal fans will be quick to point out that those might not be their individual best songs. Truth be told, I never really thought highly of those songs either. But since hearing them sometime this year, I just had this sudden urge to reminicise some of those songs from the old Boyband era.

I don't even know how many still remember Michael Learns to Rock. But I am sure many will be familiar with their songs. Maybe not the titles, but the tunes, especially the chorus, will definitely ring a bell. "That's why", "25 minutes", "Paint My Love"... I got acquainted, possibly re-acquainted with these tracks. And not just for english titles.

Chinese songs are equally emotionally-draining. I can put 优客李林's 《认错》, 张雨生's 《没有烟抽的日子》, 王杰's 《惦记这一些》, 邰正宵's 《一千零一夜》, 张学友's 《拥抱阳光》on loop, without getting sick, just to name a few. And the ultimate tear-jerker is 周蕙. Her songs penetrates all your defences and goes straight to one's heart. The lines are layered with a nostalgia so strong, I can safely say there are few female singers capable of having that effect on me. I doubt I have ever cried listening to a song, being coldblooded, but yes, these songs definitely found their way to my heart. Compared to the amount of pop trash out there now, yes, old ones are better.

But still, we shouldn't be quick to put down any new things, because at the end of the day, what is new will eventually become old too, and there are always discoveries waiting to be made. For a more nostalgic tomorrow? Let's just keep it on the grounds of familiarity. By the way, "Home" is a good song by Westlife I have to introduce.

Envoy of the Stars @ 2:41 AM
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平等——问号

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

看到一篇报道，中国车站的模特儿一星期居然能赚2万新元，而报道栏目就是“女人一张脸，胜男人几十年。”难怪有人说“女人只要张得漂亮，身材好，站在那里就能赚钱。”

之后又接到一个朋友的消息，说看到分类广告有一则招侍应生的广告，里头竟然写到女侍应生每小时$11+Commission，男侍应生呢... 薪水居然是每小时$0.50!! 先不谈这个“贱价”有多需要劳动公会关注，单是男女之间薪金的落差就有点让人跌烂眼镜。

一天之内两则这样的消息，对一个正在找工的男生的确是种双重打击。

Envoy of the Stars @ 1:15 PM
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新旧

Monday, November 05, 2007

去旧迎新其实不过是喜新厌旧好听点的说法。我想现实中应该很少人不爱新东西。车要新，屋子要新，（至少翻新）随身物品也要新的。不要提古董的值钱，那只是有能力、有闲钱的人的玩意儿。那古董如果没半点美、半点历史背景甚至是一个巨额估价，根本就不会引起任何人的注意。这是物事的价值，我们在购买东西是最直接考虑到、要付给以得到的价值。

不过，有些东西是很难替换的。因为它也有份价值。感情的价值。

这张笑脸我会记得的。

毕竟它还真陪了我很久，尤其是最难熬的两年。而今真的做到了“物尽其用”才弃之，我想至少是对它的一种尊重。如果没错，我用了这款手机三年多，j1第一年还不见过一次，但随之又买回同一款式，在兵中“冲山”，历经沧桑，饱经风霜下，外壳只有用一个方言音“chui”可以形容。最喜欢的，应该是它的简单易用，功能不多，但该有的都有。里面其实还有这几年积累的一些有意义的sms，因为无法拷贝到3G手机，终只好撒手，大约百多则简讯，只好套用李圣杰《手放开》中的歌词：“用三年去维系感情，用三秒钟结束关系。”还真的是三秒准。里面有谁的sms，什么内容的sms，也就永远存在记忆里，直到脑死、失忆或纯粹忘记。没有记录的那些心情，就这样沉淀、湮没、融化。

这就是所谓新的开始吧。别了！

Envoy of the Stars @ 4:23 PM
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Yesterday, Today

Saturday, November 03, 2007

It feels as though it's yesterday that we boarded the ferry to that one island.

It feels like yesterday that we knew each other in our section.

It feels like yesterday that we POPed.

It is yesterday that we finally ORDed.

Today we once again met up, as a section, and at last, as civilians.

It's nice to talk about old times, new times and changes.

Till next time, do take care and remember this fall, the many faces of Section 4.

Envoy of the Stars @ 9:19 PM
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Goodbye Days

Friday, November 02, 2007

Moving on took a few easy steps.

1. Stop reminiscing and holding onto that tinge of sorrow as though you would like to repeat what you have gone through these 2 years.

2. Give yourself a deserving pat on the back.

3. Turn on your heels and walk away. Never look back.

转身离开。
说声bye bye。
不再重来。

Envoy of the Stars @ 12:28 PM
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