A Cookie's Life

Warning: This is mostly a crappy blog. Crappers and crap-accepting folks alike: Welcome! To all others: Warning. Danger! Keep Out! Read On At Your Own Risk! The author shall by no means be liable for any damage caused directly or indirectly, implicitly or explicitly as a result of the reading of the contents of this blog.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

So... What Are You Doing Now?

Now that it is the holidays, meet-ups with people that I do not meet that often would occurs. Moreover, with the Industrial Attachment spanning over a period of 5.5 months, that category of people would also include my coursemates. And with each meet up, the following scenario would inevitably occur...

Someone-That-Glass-Cookie-Hasn't-Met-In-A-While (STGCHMIAW): So... what are you doing now?

Glass Cookie's (GC) Thoughts: Erm, hmmm... slacking? Nope, that isn't a nice word to describe oneself. But hey, if I could wake up as late as I one, and game as much as I like, isn't that slacking? But then again, I do perform useful tasks like programming and errands too... hmmm... Oops... better stop thinking and answer the question. Now... what do I reply...

Glass Cookie: Oh, (I've been resting)/(I managed to find the time to rest)*. And, how about you?

STGCHMIAW: Oh, I've been [Some activity that is not generic for everyone]. So, do you do anything else?

GC's Thoughts: Actually, I've been gaming more often than not. Hmmm... I can't think of anything else that I did... piano's minimal... studying is totally out of the question... aha! Got it!

Glass Cookie: Yup, I've been programming a bit here and there.

With the above scenario ocurring ever so often, it has caused me to start to think about what else I could possibly do. And as such, the following is a list that I've come up with in the time span of 1 minute (yup, I'm timing it now):

- Search for more quirks
- Blog more
- Game more
- Game even more
- Game lots and lots and lots
- Game tonnes and tonnes and tonnes
- Find excuses for the rising electricity bill
- Find means of reducing the use of electricity to avoid questioning
- Think of how to answer the other cookie with regards to this post

Man, I love the holidays! And if this seemed like a post indicating that I've got lots of time at hand, you bet! =)


* Delete as appropriate, but I'm not responsible for any nut who scratches his laptop/monitor screen in an attempt to "delete" anything. Moreover, I do not like nuts (puns intended).

posted by Glass Cookie @ 11:25 AM  0 comments



Friday, June 20, 2008

Quirky Spottings Spotted...

Yup, yup. It's officially my 2nd week of my holidays and I'm back to my blogging mood again... I hope, I think, I suppose, I guess, I anticipate, you anticipate, or maybe you anticipate not. Whatever the case is, here are yet more quirks that have been discovered on this quasi-boring island of singapore...

Quasi-Disturbing Advertisements

Well, according to these two advertisements: One states that the bride on the left is glad that there's someone that has been there before her, which probably refers to her mum. The other states something like the pregnant lady's glad that there's someone to stand by her. To me, the advertisements are similar on top of the fact that there's someone beside them. Hmmm, maybe it's just me, but the graphics of the lady on the left seemed to look like she's also with a huge tummy and holding on to it... so... someone who was been there before her may not really point to the part being a bride but well, whatever she was holding on to?


Yes, Yes, Point Taken

Perhaps it was due to a very bad experience of the cleaner, having to cope with super urgent toilet users surging into the toilet as she is cleaning it, such that a drastic measure like this had to be taken?

Time Out?

Well, there's nothing quirky about my watch. That's one point I'm driving at, so, please do not start thinking that I've got a quirky habit about slowing down time on my watch. That being said would lead us to the second point... who's the time keeper of that particular public property behind my watch?
A Cat
Well, I can't think of any other more suitable titles for this particular post, because... well... it's a picture of a cat. Hmmm, I wonder...

1. How on earth the cat got up there. Did it climb the chair, or did someone put it there? From what I know, this can't be the shopkeeper as this would potentially reduce his earnings from the newspaper.

2. How on moon (puns intended, as you'll see/read) this cat grew such that it's rounder than the moon? It's a male... so it can't be pregnant. Note: this is a newspaper stand.

3. How on sun (puns intended too) this cat manage to sleep in broad daylight? Man, this must be a really chao nua (ie. really lazy) cat.

What You See May Not Be What You Get
Well, that's a housefly near the bottom of the urinal. When I first saw it, my immediate thought was "Eeewwww... what a gross toilet (although the toilet surroundings were super clean) such that even the houselfy managed to get in here." When I looked again (and at other unused [this is to prevent certain, er-hem, misunderstandings] urinals), to my amazement, it was actually a printed image of a housefly. Thus, I have a few theories about this quirky picture there:

1. It is to signify that the urinal surface is probably as dirty/germy as a housefly and one should try to avoid touching the surface of the urinal.

2. The designer of this quirky urinal is quirky. It's unexplainable other than fact that it is a quirk, just like how some software giant is the explanation of multiple bugs of a certain operating system that most people use.

3. Possibly, that was the optimum targetted area to prevent any backsplash of any sort during the usage of the urinal. This being said, the engineer of this urinal must have done various tests, curve plotting and calculations to optimise the ease of use of this urinal. This naturally leads us to the next conclusion...

4. The picture of a houselfy was used to arouse people's irritation of houselfies so that the user would naturally try to hit that spot by aiming at the houselfy.

5. It is a tactic used by the cleaner to turn away clean freaks so that they will not use the urinal. This would potentially reduce the total amount of cleaning for urinals. Then again, I doubt this is a smart tactic as more cleaning would be done in other areas of the toilet...

posted by Glass Cookie @ 4:15 PM  0 comments



Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A Pointer In Time =)

Today marks 1 year since the upgrading of glass cookie to a double cream cookie =) Lalala...

posted by Glass Cookie @ 12:00 PM  0 comments



Monday, June 16, 2008

I'm Back/Post-Astalavista-babe =)

Finally, I'm back to blogging on my 2nd official week of my holidays. And after a super long period of IA, I've come to a few conclusions...

1. Any form of unofficial holidays will have to be in the form of a medical certificate prior to this period in time.

2. IA causes an anti-blogging phenomenen if-and-only-if one is attached to a company with strict proprietary rules and regulations.

3. IA causes one to see the logic of about everything in the engineering industry. Of course, this being said, it does not mean that the school is by any means illogical by:
- Keeping useless prof(s) that should be kicked out of the school
- Kicking out good profs in the school
- Teaching everything else that is not related to the aer*sp*ce industry on this island
- Refusing FYP programming projects worth $15,000-$20,000 because it is not that a*rospace although one is willing to share the codes with the school

So, please do not get me wrong =)

4. I've got to enjoy this holiday because this is probably my last long holiday of 2 months before the next one comes in the form of a no-paid leave.

5. Final conclusion: Man, it feels good to be back in a holiday mood again =)

posted by Glass Cookie @ 6:37 PM  0 comments



List Of My All-Time Big Stunts In M&D

30 Jul 2006 - When Silence Is Golden 2
It's funny how history repeats itself in a different form. This time, I minimised the volume of the keyboard to zero to try out a new song "I believe in miracles". And for yet (again, miraculously, ironically) another bizarre reason that I know not of, I actually turned the volume up WITHOUT knowing - and CONTINUED practising. Somehow the amplifiers were turned off by the sound guys (probably a safety measure against stuntmen like me?) until they could finally silence it no more and suddenly, out of the nowhere (oh, sorry, that would be the keyboard) came a loud note that penetrated the silence. I jerked in shock (very obviously). And yes, once again it's during the announcement time when silence is definitely golden.



04 Jun 2006 - Time and Congregation Waits For No Man
It was another faithful day in church, playing the keyboard for morning service, 9 and 11 a.m. After the 2nd service praise & worship session, it so happened that no one else could make it for the closing song. Well, since I was pretty free, I was asked to play it. So, I went down, charted out the chords, practised the piece in the tabernacle. On my way up the stairs, the first thought in my mind was: "Hey, it's so crowded. I need to get up the stairs. Now, how do I queeeeeze my way through?". The second thought in my mind was: "Hey, why is there a crowd coming down at this time? ... ... ... NOOOOOO!!!!!!" Man, time passes fast when you're practising the piano in church, and painstakingly slowly when it comes to exam pieces.



[No date] When Silence Is Golden
It was during the announcement, when pastor was giving out announcements before the offering song. Silence was observed as the pastor spoke. I retracted my hand from the score folder beyond the keyboard. For some amazing reason, my hand retraction path headed for the keys of the keyboard. And since the word 'fast' to describe the retraction rate was an understatement (for yet another reason I know not of)... you know the rest of the story.



[No Date] When Silence Is... Anything But Golden
Hmmm... once the amplifier on my side was switched off for some reason during praise & worship. And for some other reason that I know not of, I thought that the keyboard sound couldn't be heard. So, I tried pressing some keys. Didn't hear anything - drums were too loud. I proceeded to bang some keys repeatedly until... hmmm... I thought I heard something. Oh oh... ONLY my amplifier was turned off. (Note: Instrument: Brass sect 1, volume - max.)




List Of Other Small Stunts/Experiences In M&D

Fastest Fingers First
As a keyboardist, one usually comes into contact with different instruments within the same piece. It usually varies from strings, brass, violin to organ sounds. The funny thing is that sometimes, it is possible that your mind suddenly goes blank, and when the next instrument is required, I go "Oh no, what's the number combination for brass???!!! Wait wait wait wait...". And as usual, time and tide waits for no man. No. More accurately, a drummer waits for no number-fumbling keyboardist. Yea, that's the description man. Solution (ok, this is not a solution but an undesired consequence): Play a brass part with strings, or an organ part with brass, or none at all.



Cold Fingers
Usually, the atmosphere in the sanctuary is very cold to me. Sometimes, the atmosphere in the sanctuary is deep-freeze cold. Under cold or colder conditions, the fingers may or will harden and lose its dexterity. Then again, stuff could still be played, however stiff the fingers may be (with diminishing quality). Solution? Rub them while resting, or else, take off one playing hand and rub it vigorously without catching too much attention. I mean, what else can i do? I remove both hands when I need them ON they keyboard!!! Oh, I missed out that hand-clapping would be a sure kill to whatever heat you may have desperately tried to generate.



Record Breaker
Well, each week CD-RWs and envelopes used to contain the scores passed to musicians would be recycled. They are returned back to the musician's basket in the metal cabinet so that they can be used again. Of course, each time a person would return his/her envelope and CD used the previous week. Well, just somewhere in the 3rd week of June 2006 I returned a record holding of (prehaps of all-time in Lighthouse Evangelism's 16 years of establishment) of 9 envelopes with 3 missing somewhere at home. Oh well, you can't really blame me cause for the first time in my life, I saw the word "envelope" in the sms reminder about recycling. Or at least I would like to think so, about my first time noticing that word (fingers crossed).



Stubborn Pedal
Do you have any idea what it is like to have a pedal refusing to budge when moved with your feet, only to exceed its ideal position when you decide to set your adjusting strength to "brutal level". At that kind of rate, it just never gets to the position that you want it to be. Last resort: Bend down and move it with your hand just before the drummer starts his 4-beat intro to the next song.



Moving Pedal
Amazingly, although the pedal refuses to budge when you want it to, somehow it also refuses to stay in the spot when you want it to. And the more you pedal, the further it gets away from you no matter how you position your foot. And in extreme cases you may find yourself almost starting to slouch or slip from your seat, not that the keyboardist seat is any immobile than the pedal to begin with. Solution: Try to kick it back (this is the time when the above experience suddenly comes in again). Just what's with the pedal, I wonder?



Confession...
Take a look at the following score:

=)

Well, since strings sound somewhat soft, and somewhat muffled such that demisemiquavers are not to distinct, and considering it does take up time and there are 5 other pieces to go, and considering this is but 2 bars in a 100 bar piece, and considering blah blah blah... sometimes I play just a note. (OK, most of the time, happy?) Hey, I'm not the only keyboardist around guilty right? Someone tell me I'm not the only one... pleeeese....



Lame Invention List + Misc

Inventions
- Metal-coated tea bag to help with the sinking (Edmund Lum)

- Sound-powered telephone (Edmund Lum)

- Sound-powered telephone (Edmund Lum)

- Plug-in phones for plugging into a payphone to call - unable to recieve call. However, 10 cents will still be needed and you pay your monthly phone bills as usual (Edmund Lum)

- A clean dirt-free rubbish chute (Edmund Lum)

- A touchpad keyboard similar to the touchpad on a laptop, with letters on it (Edmund Lum)

- USB-portable touchpad (Edmund Lum)

- A square CD for better storage (Edmund Lum)

- Battery-powered book (Edmund Lum)

- Disposable dustbins (Edmund Lum)

- A "short circuit" switch that help save electricity when there is nobody at home (Edmund Lum)

- A white/black highlighter (Edmund Lum)

- Safety deposit box made of pure diamond for hardness. It is transparent to allow better visual of objects within it (Edmund Lum)

- An optic mouse combined with a decorated ball placed inside like an old-school mouse to allow any surface usage (Edmund Lum)

- DIY handphone to cut cost (Edmund Lum)

- A plastic knife - no rusting and it is lighter (Edmund Lum)

- Quick dry glue, only 0.2 sec of dry time (Edmund Lum)

- Doorless toliet for faster access (Edmund Lum)

- A pen with wider pen hole to prevent that all-time infamous ink jam (Edmund Lum)

- A 5-mm thick paper to prevent paper cut (Edmund Lum)

- Water-proof toilet paper to prevent wetting the entire roll when dropped on a wet floor, or easy breakage (Edmund Lum)

- A thermal panel powered heater (Edmund Lum)

- A faq list for patients who do not want to reply to any visitors (Edmund Lum & Glass Cookie)

- A deodorant that puts people off (Mustard seed)

- An umbrella with a wire connection (to attract lightning) that's earthed (Edmund Lum)

- An earthquake detector that sounds when there's an earthquake (Edmund Lum)

- A water sensor at the shoreline to detect an approaching tsunami (Edmund Lum)

- A energy-saving fridge that switches itself on via a smell senser specially for detecting certain rotting smells (Edmund Lum)

- A fire extinguishing bomb that creates a huge area of vacuum (sounds familiar?) so as to deprive the fire of oxygen (Edmund Lum)

- A solar powered torchlight

- A power-saving exit sign that lights up only when someone is around (Gabriel Goh)

- A self-locking door that locks itself when no one's around and unlocks itself when someone's near (Edmund Lum)

- Pencil lead harder than steel to improve on its fragility (Edmund Lum)

- A water-proof teabag to prevent breakage over long periods of soaking (Edmund Lum)

- A manual powered air conditioner (Glass Cookie)

- A water-sensitive sprinkler (Edmund Lum)

- A auto retractable roof via light and water sensors, hidden in the wall for protection (Edmund Lum)

- An anti-burglary system with the switch and sensor in the same room (Edmund Lum)

- A wooden barbecue pit (Glass Cookie and Edmund Chen)

- An acrylic oil rig and drill bit to save $$$ (Glass Cookie and Edmund Chen)

- A windows based DOS command prompt program (Glass Cookie)

- A wired handphone (Jackson Lum)


Misc
- A birthday breakfast celebration (Glass Cookie and Jackson Lum)

- A domesticated grizzily bear (Glass Cookie, inspired by Amanda Low)