Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Learn from Britney
Who is that Chee person who just visited NTU??????
Why are my friends so angry over the censorship of the news articles re. his visit???
If the decision makers said no, then no it shall be.
Who are we to question the authority?
OMG what defiance. I'm ashamed of you guys for kicking up such a big fuss over this Chee person thing. I'm ashamed of myself for (unwittingly) joining the Facebook group you guys set up.
Look, even Britney has enough sense to trust George Bush (refer to F9/11, the movie). Why can't we do the same?
... Democracy... What?
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
5:08 PM
Friday, September 19, 2008
Pop Quiz and a Mid-Term
Yes. Mark was right when he said "never trust your professors" when we were at Brewerkz.
This was wrt the disasterous Stats exam we had last year when our beloved prof (you-know-who) told us to take our time because the paper was much easier than previous years'.
LIE. And in the end many of us couldn't finish in time.
This time round, there was a slight difference in the medium of delivering the lie. It wasn't delivered verbally. It was built in the Advanced Quanti pop quiz paper.
We were asked to identify the threats to the design of the study. Not the threat(s).
Happily, after the quiz, the same lovely prof who cheated us last year declared: there is only one threat to be identified.
One word. Jian.
Okay whatever. It was an entertaining paper to do though, I was amused by the research design I proposed - it's so big budget it can match a Hollywood blockbuster. I hope Marko will not take feasibility/budget into consideration when grading... I mean I assumed that budget is not a problem larh, since it wasn't indicated in the question. Whatever. I'm scared now that I think of it.
Then Media Law mid-term was even more amusing. I could hear Tinky laugh softly when doing the paper. I laughed a lot too. And the happiness/glee we experienced during the mid-term is independent of our confidence in doing it well. Blatantly, it is a tricky paper and I wanted to write assumptions for ALL the questions.
Okay, after studying so hard (based on my own definition of studying hard) for a week, I am finally getting a well deserved break.
Monday, I shall go catch up with my friend at night.
Tuesday, meeting for FYP discussion. And of course, a GOOD lunch.
Wednesday, exciting. I may join mom in cult practice, or I may do it alone at home. After that, we'll meet for a supreme lunch (yes I will try everything to get her to eat something really supreme although I'm not sure what that will be). After that, SHOPPING. River Island had new arrivals 2 days ago, and more will be arriving on Tuesday. I already set my eyes on some really pretty vests and dresses, and skirts, and tops, and cardigans, and jackets, and bags, and shoes, and... Okay and then Miss Selfridge has very nice dresses recently (I just got one yesterday.. hehe), and I love this brown belt and red and black shawl. Mom and I also bio-ed Zara a bit yesterday, and found some potentially gian-able clothes.
Gosh. I better find some ways to cheat money of some sucker soon.
Thursday, nothing much. Perhaps plucking my brows.
Friday, possibly meeting Marko to get criticized by him once again for our lack of effort, brian-work, or brains (to begin with) for some fault he sees in our FYP crap. Shit. I hope something good will come out of this meeting lah.
Okay that's all folks.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
6:55 PM
Friday, September 12, 2008
Femininity
So, COM402 made me start thinking all over again, about something that has been bothering me since my secondary school days (and will continue to do so). Remember the Britney vs. Christina thing?
In most celebrity interviews back then, male celebs were asked the question: Britney or Christina? And Britney was the answer, at least 95% of the time, I think. The remaining 5%, as far as I can remember, is made up mostly of the more, er, look-conscious (if that is the word to use) rock musicians i.e. rock musicians who bother to dress up.
So this leads to the question,
RQ1: Why do most guys (regardless of sexual orientation) prefer Britney over Christina?
Based on IDI, the commonest reasons given were that she's prettier, sexier... whatever.
Holy shit.
As we all know, IDI is based on self report. And self reporting have some accuracy problem due to various reasons like the failing of respondent's memory, respondent's desire to respond in a socially acceptable manner etc. And I think for this RQ, we should go beyond self-reporting in order to uncover the true reasons behind this... rather exclusively male tendency... because of the following reasons:
1) Christina is, in the opinion of most female interviewees, way prettier than Britney.
2) Britney is a fashion disaster.
3) Britney turned fat.
4) Britney, for a period of time, was bald.
5) Look-conscious male celebs find Christina prettier; given their "look-consciousness", they should be more reliable than their "look-unconscious" counterparts (think Linkin Park in their early days. Eww.)
Given that, it is unlikely that Britney is indeed prettier, although prettiness, admittedly, is a pretty subjective matter. But well...
Okay. So now that I've listed out the reasons why self-reporting cannot answer the RQ adequately, I will turn to a method that is simiarly unreliable - my own analysis.
Clearly, Britney embodies all the weaknesses a female should have, according to gender stereotype that exists in the patriarchal society we live in. Women are thought to be emotionally, phsyically and mentally weak. Yes, Britney has them all. Even better, judging from her eccentric behavior of late, she resembles someone we would consider mentally unsound.
And then, women are supposed to be subject to the male gaze. And yes, she fulfills the criteria as well (think Toxic and Do You Have A Piece of Me videos).
Women as supposed to be stupid. Yes, she hasn't shown us how she can be considered intelligent, and if you watched F9/11, you have every reason to think of her as highly unintelligent (although yes, Michael is good at editing to make people look more stupid than they actually are).
While she possesses all the female weaknesses you can think of, and screws herself up in every manner possible (and impossible), she, at the same time, has (or had) a successful career, is financially independent, and has a big reputation (albeit a controversial one). It seems strange to think of it this way, but she can be considered a career woman.
Given that she's bridged the gap between the best and the worst of a woman, it is no wonder that guys love her. She makes them feel assured of male superiority - Despite her successful career, she is STILL an emotionally unstable, mentally unsound (to a certain extent) and physically unfit (think of her flabby arms during her pregnancy) female.
I remember in my secondary school days, all girls wanted to be Britney. That, I think, would be a dream-come-true to guys with a big male ego. If all the women in the world become Britney, they will, regardless of how successful they are, be inferior to men.
It's like why guys tend to like cutesy, squeaky and tamed little girls (and very often, they prefer younger girls). It is the male ego at work. And also, their feeling of insecurity around stronger (not limited to the physical terms) women.
I admit that I am a feminist. And I hate it when I see squeakish girls ripping guys off whatever they desire by playing up the stereotypical female weaknesses. Disgusting.
I wonder when will the general male population feel secure enough about themselves to see women as equal.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
4:58 PM
Saturday, September 06, 2008
BITCHING social capital
Lit review is disgusting.
It's not the reading that is disgusting... it's the finding of literature that sucks bigggg time. I spent the entire day (yes, from morning till now... evening, 6.22pm) searching for articles online. Crap I feel like smacking someone and throwing my laptop away... if only it isn't as new, and light, and pretty as it is.
Anyway, FYP aside, I am suddenly disturbed by how stupid and ugly I look in my IC photo. Not that it is the first time I see that photo. But seriously, I wonder how I can survive with this IC for the rest of my life. I need to lose it, break it, or do something about it so that I can get a new IC. But crap, that will cost me $100.
It doesn't help that my Edventure photo is that same as my IC photo. Embarrasing.
Okie, so I went Brewerkz after a 3-month break from it. And it wasn't very pleasent to find that seats were taken up by non-CS people. If it wasn't for the great company I had there, I would have left 5 minutes after arriving. It's been a loooooooooong time since I've bitched so recklessly about people I don't like. And it felt so good, lah.
I personally don't believe that anyone can be at peace with everyone else in the world. And I don't like the overly PR type of people who APPEAR to be ah with everyone. They are either too repressed or too pretentious. And I am scared to be around such idiots.
Actually, it might be interesting to test this hypothesis: Not bitching will lead the an individual's inability to build BITCHING SOCIAL CAPITAL.
Whatever. I am extremely bitter that I didn't have a chance to order the Chilli Cheese Fries, because 1) I didn't have a table to put the fries even if I ordered it; 2) By the time I had a table to sit at, it was late and it didn't make sense for me to eat something so late at night. I don't want a belly.
Argh.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
12:02 AM
Learn from Britney
Who is that Chee person who just visited NTU??????
Why are my friends so angry over the censorship of the news articles re. his visit???
If the decision makers said no, then no it shall be.
Who are we to question the authority?
OMG what defiance. I'm ashamed of you guys for kicking up such a big fuss over this Chee person thing. I'm ashamed of myself for (unwittingly) joining the Facebook group you guys set up.
Look, even Britney has enough sense to trust George Bush (refer to F9/11, the movie). Why can't we do the same?
... Democracy... What?
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
5:08 PM
Friday, September 19, 2008
Pop Quiz and a Mid-Term
Yes. Mark was right when he said "never trust your professors" when we were at Brewerkz.
This was wrt the disasterous Stats exam we had last year when our beloved prof (you-know-who) told us to take our time because the paper was much easier than previous years'.
LIE. And in the end many of us couldn't finish in time.
This time round, there was a slight difference in the medium of delivering the lie. It wasn't delivered verbally. It was built in the Advanced Quanti pop quiz paper.
We were asked to identify the threats to the design of the study. Not the threat(s).
Happily, after the quiz, the same lovely prof who cheated us last year declared: there is only one threat to be identified.
One word. Jian.
Okay whatever. It was an entertaining paper to do though, I was amused by the research design I proposed - it's so big budget it can match a Hollywood blockbuster. I hope Marko will not take feasibility/budget into consideration when grading... I mean I assumed that budget is not a problem larh, since it wasn't indicated in the question. Whatever. I'm scared now that I think of it.
Then Media Law mid-term was even more amusing. I could hear Tinky laugh softly when doing the paper. I laughed a lot too. And the happiness/glee we experienced during the mid-term is independent of our confidence in doing it well. Blatantly, it is a tricky paper and I wanted to write assumptions for ALL the questions.
Okay, after studying so hard (based on my own definition of studying hard) for a week, I am finally getting a well deserved break.
Monday, I shall go catch up with my friend at night.
Tuesday, meeting for FYP discussion. And of course, a GOOD lunch.
Wednesday, exciting. I may join mom in cult practice, or I may do it alone at home. After that, we'll meet for a supreme lunch (yes I will try everything to get her to eat something really supreme although I'm not sure what that will be). After that, SHOPPING. River Island had new arrivals 2 days ago, and more will be arriving on Tuesday. I already set my eyes on some really pretty vests and dresses, and skirts, and tops, and cardigans, and jackets, and bags, and shoes, and... Okay and then Miss Selfridge has very nice dresses recently (I just got one yesterday.. hehe), and I love this brown belt and red and black shawl. Mom and I also bio-ed Zara a bit yesterday, and found some potentially gian-able clothes.
Gosh. I better find some ways to cheat money of some sucker soon.
Thursday, nothing much. Perhaps plucking my brows.
Friday, possibly meeting Marko to get criticized by him once again for our lack of effort, brian-work, or brains (to begin with) for some fault he sees in our FYP crap. Shit. I hope something good will come out of this meeting lah.
Okay that's all folks.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
6:55 PM
Friday, September 12, 2008
Femininity
So, COM402 made me start thinking all over again, about something that has been bothering me since my secondary school days (and will continue to do so). Remember the Britney vs. Christina thing?
In most celebrity interviews back then, male celebs were asked the question: Britney or Christina? And Britney was the answer, at least 95% of the time, I think. The remaining 5%, as far as I can remember, is made up mostly of the more, er, look-conscious (if that is the word to use) rock musicians i.e. rock musicians who bother to dress up.
So this leads to the question,
RQ1: Why do most guys (regardless of sexual orientation) prefer Britney over Christina?
Based on IDI, the commonest reasons given were that she's prettier, sexier... whatever.
Holy shit.
As we all know, IDI is based on self report. And self reporting have some accuracy problem due to various reasons like the failing of respondent's memory, respondent's desire to respond in a socially acceptable manner etc. And I think for this RQ, we should go beyond self-reporting in order to uncover the true reasons behind this... rather exclusively male tendency... because of the following reasons:
1) Christina is, in the opinion of most female interviewees, way prettier than Britney.
2) Britney is a fashion disaster.
3) Britney turned fat.
4) Britney, for a period of time, was bald.
5) Look-conscious male celebs find Christina prettier; given their "look-consciousness", they should be more reliable than their "look-unconscious" counterparts (think Linkin Park in their early days. Eww.)
Given that, it is unlikely that Britney is indeed prettier, although prettiness, admittedly, is a pretty subjective matter. But well...
Okay. So now that I've listed out the reasons why self-reporting cannot answer the RQ adequately, I will turn to a method that is simiarly unreliable - my own analysis.
Clearly, Britney embodies all the weaknesses a female should have, according to gender stereotype that exists in the patriarchal society we live in. Women are thought to be emotionally, phsyically and mentally weak. Yes, Britney has them all. Even better, judging from her eccentric behavior of late, she resembles someone we would consider mentally unsound.
And then, women are supposed to be subject to the male gaze. And yes, she fulfills the criteria as well (think Toxic and Do You Have A Piece of Me videos).
Women as supposed to be stupid. Yes, she hasn't shown us how she can be considered intelligent, and if you watched F9/11, you have every reason to think of her as highly unintelligent (although yes, Michael is good at editing to make people look more stupid than they actually are).
While she possesses all the female weaknesses you can think of, and screws herself up in every manner possible (and impossible), she, at the same time, has (or had) a successful career, is financially independent, and has a big reputation (albeit a controversial one). It seems strange to think of it this way, but she can be considered a career woman.
Given that she's bridged the gap between the best and the worst of a woman, it is no wonder that guys love her. She makes them feel assured of male superiority - Despite her successful career, she is STILL an emotionally unstable, mentally unsound (to a certain extent) and physically unfit (think of her flabby arms during her pregnancy) female.
Christina, on the other hand, is the opposite. She is loud. She is a feminist. She does things that make sense. She is pretty. She is not stupid. She is confident. She has a successful career as well. Simply put, she defies gender stereotype, and actively rejects it. And this, I feel, makes her a source of threat to the male ego. If women are all like that, the patriarchal society will no longer be patriarchal anymore.
I remember in my secondary school days, all girls wanted to be Britney. That, I think, would be a dream-come-true to guys with a big male ego. If all the women in the world become Britney, they will, regardless of how successful they are, be inferior to men.
It's like why guys tend to like cutesy, squeaky and tamed little girls (and very often, they prefer younger girls). It is the male ego at work. And also, their feeling of insecurity around stronger (not limited to the physical terms) women.
I admit that I am a feminist. And I hate it when I see squeakish girls ripping guys off whatever they desire by playing up the stereotypical female weaknesses. Disgusting.
I wonder when will the general male population feel secure enough about themselves to see women as equal.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
4:58 PM
Saturday, September 06, 2008
BITCHING social capital
Lit review is disgusting.
It's not the reading that is disgusting... it's the finding of literature that sucks bigggg time. I spent the entire day (yes, from morning till now... evening, 6.22pm) searching for articles online. Crap I feel like smacking someone and throwing my laptop away... if only it isn't as new, and light, and pretty as it is.
Anyway, FYP aside, I am suddenly disturbed by how stupid and ugly I look in my IC photo. Not that it is the first time I see that photo. But seriously, I wonder how I can survive with this IC for the rest of my life. I need to lose it, break it, or do something about it so that I can get a new IC. But crap, that will cost me $100.
It doesn't help that my Edventure photo is that same as my IC photo. Embarrasing.
Okie, so I went Brewerkz after a 3-month break from it. And it wasn't very pleasent to find that seats were taken up by non-CS people. If it wasn't for the great company I had there, I would have left 5 minutes after arriving. It's been a loooooooooong time since I've bitched so recklessly about people I don't like. And it felt so good, lah.
I personally don't believe that anyone can be at peace with everyone else in the world. And I don't like the overly PR type of people who APPEAR to be ah with everyone. They are either too repressed or too pretentious. And I am scared to be around such idiots.
Actually, it might be interesting to test this hypothesis: Not bitching will lead the an individual's inability to build BITCHING SOCIAL CAPITAL.
Whatever. I am extremely bitter that I didn't have a chance to order the Chilli Cheese Fries, because 1) I didn't have a table to put the fries even if I ordered it; 2) By the time I had a table to sit at, it was late and it didn't make sense for me to eat something so late at night. I don't want a belly.
Argh.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
12:02 AM