Deconstruction

seems like i havent had terribly much time to write, but its a damn good procrastination tool. right now i need a few moments to regather my thoughts before i head off back to do some work.

i've been meaning to write for the longest time about the concept of the boyfriend corner. every boutique should have a boyfriend corner. this is a little space where the tired boyfriend may rest a moment while his girlfriend sacks the racks, looking for that elusive new buy. while shops must consider their merchandise, advertising and product layout, the presence of a boyfriend corner shows how much a shop cares, in a very literal way. improvised boyfriend corners are couches or benches commandeered away from their original use as places to perch while slipping on new shoes. poor boyfriend corners are those made up of stools stuck in a corner next to the winter coats that will never sell well in our sunny island. better boyfriend corners have adequate seating for the weary multitude of boyfriends/batmen who are on duty during sale time. excellent boyfriend corners have a commanding view of the changing room entrance to facilitate our giving useful comments on apparel that is being tried on by the girlfriend. and to this end, i have to say that the best boyfriend corner i have seen to date is located in the Giordanos in the basement of Takashimaya. it has 2 spacious couches, next to the atrium leading to the changing room. more storekeepers should take note...

The Night Santa Went Crazy - Weird Al Yankovic

Please Hold

so the Registrar's Office cocked up my bloody transcript. don't you love wild goose chases of an administrative nature? there are a whole bunch of things i could be doing right now that would be a more intelligent use of time, such as cutting my toenails or watching glue dry...

bloody hell.

Finally

just like to take the opportunity to congratulate my brother who will be having his graduation ceremony this evening. here's to the late bloomers of the Ee family!

Heartbreak Hotel

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

-1st Corinthians 13

as i take stock of the way things have been and turn out, i see my shortcomings shouting back at me. God give me the grace to improve...

Peons In The Mist

sitting in the Engineering Canteen, an empty cup of joe next to me and a slight jiggle in my extremeties as i type up a long-overdue blog. having taken up this part-time job, i find spare time to do personal things even more fleeting and precious. after work and picking Peijun up to send her home, i just want to get horizontal and let the tension ease from my body. not so easy when there's so much to do.

been just over a week of part-time work. i think organising Prof Foong's research stuff was a major success, measuring virtual OVD on Lit Teen's projections was pretty decent. but tracing MRIs makes me want to run screaming for my bed to lose consciousness. should have discovered Engin coffee earlier, though, it tastes pretty good and seems to be loaded full of caffeine goodness. just can't wait for it to be all over. its a cold-lonely lab in Engin, with no company. occasionally, 2 girls from VJC are in my area to do their colaboration with Prof Foong and Hsiao Piau. theyre about as friendly as rotting tree stumps, and ignore my presence except when i open the door for them after they go for pee breaks. assholes... where i come from being polite enough to say hi is required!

on the Anime front, Arts Central's latest import, Monster, seems to be really good stuff. not the usual blow-stuff-up shonen adventure, Monster deals with horror and moral dilemmas, centred around a killer with no morals who was saved by a doctor years before. and i guess thats all i can throw up without utterly spoilerising it.

seems like the little plans Peijun and me had to take a small regional break may not be happening, too short notice, not enough resource. but there's always next year, when we have more coin in the pocket, and the op is over.

one round of practice achieved for Terence and Lishan's wedding. even though this time only half of us will be Ejects and Rejects (or voluntary withdrawals) but the music looks like it'll be good. the small but acoustically decent venue will also help immensely. auditoriums suck! and because the runway is so short, whatever we play of Canon in D will not have a chance to hit the funky bit. plus point or minus point, take it as you wish...

Selfish Love - Miyavi

I Get To Hear Their Delightful Screams Again Today

so there i was, quite literally looking for something to do while waiting for epoxy to cure. my new anime entertainment is Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei, which may be the most freaking funny, twisted series ever! basically about a teacher with a pessimistic view on life, who tries to commit suicide at least once an episode, and his weird class, this has to be seen to be believed.

i wonder if the epoxy is done...

絶世美人 - Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yū Kobayashi, and Ryōko Shintani

A Gamer's Perspective

so there i was, killing time talking to Darren in PI this afternoon, reminiscing about the wonders of big stompy robots and blowing stuff up. one of his friends popped by, being a bit early for a gathering to organise the gameplay for a huge WH$40k promo in the store. this lead to a little discussion about perceptions of the gamer by friends, family and prospective life partners. in essence, this was sparked off by him asking what game i played. after finding out i'm a CBT player, he made a remark about not having the resources to dive into more minis-based games, and since he started with $40k he's been essentially married to it. this lead on to how he has a honking great collection of minis (GW huge army lists ftw), and how people (= girlfriends) react when they pop by his house. essentially, once the girl gets over the shock of how much plastic and metal she is seeing (think big-ass glass-fronted display cabinet), variations of a few standard questions will come out...
1) don't you have a life?
2) wah! you love me more or those figurines more?
3) once we get married will you sell them?
question 1 is an ignorant bigoted narrow-minded attempt at passing a comment via a rhetorical question. of course we have a life. it's just different from yours. while you choose to spend your time doing things to relax and switch off such as shopping or cycling or watching a movie, every so often we like to engage our brains. stops the atrophy from setting in.
question 2... quite succinctly answered by Darren's friend. 'wait... this is the 3rd time we're meeting up, i hardly know you and you're asking me this?' why does it turn into a me-or-them thing? its ridiculous. what kind of insecure females are we breeding to feel threatened by minis...
and the 3rd question... to the non-gamer, it seems as if games are things that one discards as one ages so as to move on to more 'matured' things. what if we like it this way? what if our little escape provides us the much-needed stress relief from the mature lifestyle you happen to be touting? why is gaming considered childish anyway? because we imagine? ban the fantasy stock market then! ban Rowling, Tolkien and Gaiman! ban singing in the shower even!
in short, give gamers a break. i truly hate feeling marginalised because i carry dice and am proud of it. because i chose to use my brain in my free time instead of vegetating. because i chose to let little fantasies of big stompy robots seep out of my head and onto the table from time to time.
but then again, the people who most need to re-think their attitude towards their gamer friends, family and loved ones will never read this, because they simply dont care, being an apathetic majority secure in their 'normalness' and 'conventional social behaviour'. they live out their white-bread lives, happy to trudge the same paths and so ready to criticise the harmless variations from their comfortable middle road.
disgusting.

Do Not Read This If You Value Productivity...

best flash game ever!

Boxhead 2play Rooms

simple polygons, yet so much fun! shoot zombies and run around to survive, how long can you last?

Lebensraum

so it's confirmed. i am now fully qualified, unlicensed and unemployed. a big thank you to all the guys who offered advice and support during the exam period! glad it's over, looks like i passed despite the irregularities in question phrasing and the odd stuff that came out during the clinicals. and apparently one can indeed complete the entire Final Pro BDS using the ink in 1 Pilot G-Tec C4 pen.

sent in an entry for the church 20th anniversary songwriting competition. first time i ever tried this kind of thing, was kind of fun, both spazzing out the tune in the space of an hour or so while trying to coordinate the lyrics, and using the entry-level WinXP sound recorder software to cut-n-paste a demo recording together with my brother. see how that one goes, i have a statistical 1/4 chance of winning!

Lust, Caution really does need the extra cockles. after last night's movie session with the class, i can confidently state that the NC16 version should be boycotted! so much significant plot progression was lopped off, the humless version was effectively neutered! do not watch the monkey-version if you value artistic integrity!

Prof Foong offered me a job with the faculty doing some kind of admin stuff. its for a few hours in the day, apparently pays okay, so i should have time for myself. meeting him tomorrow, see how this goes!

Transition

it feels kinda good. although nothing official's on the board, i find myself more able to let myself go and relax. to think of what the heck to do ahead. lets face it... im broke and have too much time now. so many opportunities present themselves nonetheless. i need to learn how to drive. find some income. have some fun. prepare for work. think towards getting a new computer cos this one's dying!

peijun's been sick for practically 2 weeks now with various stuff coming and going in a stream of illnesses, just hope it'll all clear up cos its making her miserable. and the delivery boy is pretty wiped out too! someone should level the bloody hill at river valley, i swear!

when i get my posting, i'm going to change the title of my blog.

Half Past

it was really quite a surreal feeling. there i was, in SM2B starting to write my supposedly erudite opinions on scaling and root planing, when a song rose unbidden into my head and stayed there, rocking away through pretty much the whole paper. a rousing work of rock, possessing a tune full of hope and some truly righteous axe work, that kept my pen driving across the paper for the whole 3 hours.

i present:

Lost My Music - ENOZ feat. SOS-dan
.
Hoshizora miage Watashi dake no hikari oshiete
Anata wa ima doko de Dare to iru no deshou?
.
Tanoshikushiteru koto omou to Samishiku natte
Issho ni mita shinema hitorikiri de nagasu
.
Daisuki na hito ga tooi
Toosugite nakitaku naru no
Ashita me ga sametara
Hora kibou ga umareru kamo Good night!
.
I still I still I love you!
I’m waiting waiting forever
I still I still I love you!
Tomaranai no yo Hi!!
.
Nemuri no fuchi de Yume ga kureru omoide no One day
Anata no kotoba ni wa Sukoshi uso ga atta
.
Hanasanai yo to kimi dake da to
Dakishimeta no ni
Yakusoku ga fuwari to kurai yoru ni kieta
.
Daisuki na hito yo itsumo
Itsu made mo sagashite shimau
Kitto me ga samete mo
Mada maboroshi o kanjitai Morning
.
I lost I lost I lost you!
You’re making making my music!
I lost I lost I lost you!
Mou aenai no? No!
.
Daisuki na hito ga tooi
Toosugite nakitaku naru no
Ashita me ga sametara
Hora kibou ga umareru kamo Good night!
.
Daisuki na hito ga tooi
Toosugite nakitaku naru no
Kitto me ga samete mo
Mada maboroshi o kanjitai Morning
.
I still I still I love you!
I’m waiting waiting forever
I still I still I love you!
Tomaranai no yo
I still I still I love you!
I’m waiting waiting forever
I still I still I love you!
Mou aeru yo ne? Ne!!

and for the jap-impaired people:

Look up at the starry sky and tell me about my own light
Where are you now? And who are you with?

If I think about enjoying things, I feel sad
I weep all by myself at the movie that we saw together

The person who I love is faraway
Too faraway and I feel like crying
When I wake up tomorrow
Look, hope just might be born, Good night!

I still I still I love you!
I’m waiting waiting forever
I still I still I love you!
I won’t stop, Hi!!

In the depths of my slumber, my dream gives my memories a ‘One day’
And there were some lies in your words

Even though you embraced me
Saying, “I won’t let go” and “I’m only yours”
The promise softly disappeared in the dark night

I’m forever searching for
The person who I love
I’m sure that even when I wake up
I’ll still want to feel the illusion, Morning!

I lost I lost I lost you!
You’re making making my music
I lost I lost I lost you!
Can’t we meet anymore? No!

The person who I love is faraway
Too faraway and I feel like crying
When I wake up tomorrow
Look, hope just might be born, Good night!

I’m forever searching for
The person who I love
I’m sure that even when I wake up
I’ll still want to feel the illusion, Morning

I still I still I love you!
I’m waiting waiting forever
I still I still I love you!
I won’t stop
I still I still I love you!
I’m waiting waiting forever
I still I still I love you!
We can meet again, right? Right!!

Lost my music - ENOZ feat. SOS-dan

Suspense

here i am, still hanging in limbo. while technically i should be free and on the way to my exams, the truth is that unless i see my name on the board saying im eligible, i wont have any peace of mind. and at the same time im too inert to haul my ass out of the house and go to school. this studying sucks. dont know why but its even more shitty than all the other years where ive had to study for finals. i feel drained, immobile, in need of instant noodles, irrationally tired, and very bored.

i want this over with quick!

Hurt - Johnny Cash

To Be With You

this was a song i came across only during army time, due to intense sua koo-ness. Mr Big was a band that combined radio-friendly choruses and excellent guitar work. this song stuck in my head because it simply sounded real good! at this time, i wanted to dig the lyrics out and just refresh everyone's memory.

Peijun, the first 4 lines of the 2nd stanza might reflect a bit of your current situation...

To Be With You
*
Hold on little girl
Show me what he's done to you
Stand up little girl
A broken heart can't be that bad
When it's through, it's through
Fate will twist the both of you
So come on baby come on over
Let me be the one to show you
*
I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you
*
Build up your confidence
So you can be on top for once
Wake up who cares about
Little boys that talk too much
I seen it all go down
Your game of love was all rained out
So come on baby, come on over
Let me be the one to hold you
*
I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you
*
Why be alone when we can be together baby
You can make my life worthwhile
And I can make you start to smile
*
When it's through, it's through
Fate will twist the both of you
So come on baby come on over
Let me be the one to show you
*
I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you
*
I'm the one who wants to be with you
Deep inside I hope you feel it too
Waited on a line of greens and blues
Just to be the next to be with you
*
Just to be the next to be with you

To Be With You - Mr. Big

Chicken Wings

i could do with chicken wings now. chicken wings have played a pretty major role in my dental life as convenient comfort food. the quality of the wings varied from day to day but they were generally both decently edible and fairly cheap. then, a price hike kicked in, and my card got spoilt. chicken wings have not featured in my school life for the past 2 terms or so. its been kind of weird without them. hope there are good chicken wings somewhere near NDC.

on an un-related note about deep fried food, i was wondering if it would be possible to make intrinsically spicy french fries and wedges. kind of like rolling the suckers in tabasco and pepper before throwing them into the fryer. it would make a nice change from the standard issue french fry, and the spices would play off the plain-ness of the potato well, especially if the usual un-thinking Singapore staple of chilli sauce was swapped out for japanese mayonnaise.

Geng Feng? return the deep fryer!

Speed-Waxing

i think i've developed the fastest way to set teeth to conform to an opposing prosthetic dentition! this example assumes a f/p situation...

1) wax up upper arch to ideal setup.
2) grind contacts, adjust for inter-arch alignment issues
3) take first lower molar of desired side, put a column of utility wax underneath. place in region where tooth will eventually lie. close articulator and make fine adjustments.
4) holding articulator closed to maintain position, add wax to cover utility wax, stabilising the molar.
5) add subsequent teeth until all desired teeth are placed. interproximal grinding may be needed to adapt mesial-most tooth against abutment/framework.

this method allows one to get achieve fast positioning of the lower arch teeth without messing around with heating and reheating wax. it also eliminates wax shrinkage and tooth slip as the wax holding the tooth in place cools down. the wax which comes free with the rack of teeth is actually pretty decent, havent tried with the standard-issue rope wax yet.

Logic vs Evidence

logic is never enough, there must always be evidence. for while logic is a valuable decision-making tool, sometimes logic is faulty, or does not factor in every possibility.

On an unrelated note, i hate Fuji I. i mean, yeah... it sticks stuff okay, but it also clings to mucosa. at least i'm getting a lot of experience with it cos of all the bloody FP i've been luting with it. seems like ive stuck down as many units with ZnPO4 as i have with Fuji I. now it better hold well...

729

in all the chaos that swirls around my life, im glad that i have Peijun. she's been the greatest comfort to me during the days at school when she was around, and then in the days when she wasnt. guess it wasnt the easiest thing when i was left behind and she had to move on to work. but im glad to have her, even if i cant see her as often (by quite a drastic margin i might add). im glad for all the times we spend together, the laughing, the crying, the happiness, the sadness, everything. it seems so alive with her around, much better than being a drone in the lab and clinic with no aim but to discharge, no joy but to close up for the day. sure, things havent been easy due to all the stresses from school, home, NDC now and other sources, but i'd rather have lived this with her than not have had the chance to be with her at all. because its been the greatest happiness in my short little life. and i hope for much more happiness for the 2 of us in the years ahead, as we walk the road of life hand in hand, stopping to peer at the little flowers along the way.

Peijun, you're my little Gunslinger Girl.

The Light Before We Land - The Delgados

Gunslinger Girl

i think i've found my latest favourite anime. Gunslinger Girl features an Italian black ops group composed of cybernetically-enhanced girls and their handlers, and the trials, fights and emotional upheavals that they go through. its dark, contemplative, its got good soundtrack, and you just feel for the girls who have been plucked out of the dire straits they were in only to be put in another set of trials. unfortunately, i surmise it may never reach Arts Central. angsty pre-teen girl assassins with big-ass guns, especially after Dave Teo? more's the pity...

Dopo il Sogno ～夢のあとに～ - Yoshitaka Kitanami

Thunderbolt

seems like my life is a life of upheaval. just when you think things are working out, events come along to shake your world and prove you wrong. and thats when you have to get on your knees and pray, and then rush off to save that world from collapsing, with only great faith to guide you. if Job could say 'Though He slay, me, yet will I trust in Him', can't we? even when it seems like failure will make life unbearable...

Let's Fighting Love - Trey Parker

A Story

heres something lol-worthy i read on CBT.com:

"Once along time ago after pining over a girl for several months I was at a bar, still pining, when my best friend put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Dude, just rest your head on the table." Feeling so low and sorry for myself over a girl I put my head on the table with a big sigh, knowing that my best friend was about to fill me with his sage wisdom. And he did. He smacked the back of my head so hard it bounced back of the table and blurred my vision, made my eyes water and gave me a headache so blinding I thought I'd pass out. i looked at him and said "WTF did you do that for you ******. That hurt! You just about busted me skull open!" He just smiled at me and said "Head hurts doesn't it" to which I replied "Goddamn it hurts I just told you that. I think im gonna pass out. I'm gonna have a bruise on my head. You're an ass" He smiled at me again and said "Your not pining over your poor little broken heart anymore are you, because now you have a fractured skull to complain about"

七色の明日 ~Brand New Beat~ - BoA

The Coming

the CBT box set is out in PI now, along with Tech Manual and Starterbook: Sword and Dragon! and i have to receive the news online while casually perusing the PI website... dammit! want want want! im stuck here in the frigid science library (while, funny enough, its damn hot outside) and my box set is lying alone in the PI back room waiting for me to pick it up and open it lovingly and play with it. oh when shall that happy day be?

Pieces - L'Arc en Ciel

Lizard In The Fridge

holidays are here again, an im spending them in the beloved science library. i miss the medical library. its probably a matter of familiarity, seeing old faces around, having a favourite corner next to the dental shelves, being able to yell out to the guys to go for lunch/beg the guys to bloody hell listen to the call of the stomach and go for lunch. guys, i miss you all! this is a unisex designation btw...

i guess it kind of hit home during Buffet Night. sure its an annual affair, the same old damn thing year after year, with D1 skits sinking to new lows in terms of off-colour jokes and banana placement. but amidst all of that, i miss sitting round with the class and talking with them, hearing the guys crack jokes. i wish i could have taken a walk on the pier with Peijun (im sorry Geng, you just dont look, feel or sound the same) to feel the sea breeze in our hair. but this is the reality of life i guess. and to the D3 and D4 juniors who were at the dinner, thanks for inviting and old man to join in your photo shoots. it means something to me.

watched Ratatouille (damn that was a challenge) on Sunday. this movie is good. id say that it could stand proudly beside The Incredibles. it was american animation which was intelligent, had a story and a message, was not afraid to show characters with real flaws. in short, marketing potential for toys aside, this show is more than just kiddy faire. watch this movie.

SNOW KISS - NIRGILIS

Boot To The Head

why does it seem like the world is getting colder? not exactly in the most literal sense, but the air conditioning in clinic 3, which for years has lagged behind that of clinic 2 in terms of sheer cooling power, seems to have been fixed/upgraded/pimped out. coupled with the cold weather, sometimes its actively bloody freezing! the science library is also more frigid than, urm, a fridge i guess.

i think the guys are changing. they look the same, yet different. more confident. happier. in some cases, more prosperous. changes in circumstances, fortunes and mindsets. i want some of that!

single crown competency mounted and ready to send down. endo competency to be stuffed up tomorrow. whats left for me to take care of?

One Half - Wu Jiahui

Things I Learned Today

i found out the key to feeling lymph nodes on the cervical region today during an OS tutorial. press against the nearest firm structure, they say, and we futilely grope away. for the submandibular and submental glands, the nearest hard structure is the body of mandible. and for the neck, the next best thing to bone for the superficial nodes is a tensed sternocleidomastoid...

i cannot lose the will to press on. fatigue is setting in, the pressure doesnt want to go away... sleeping for 10 hours or so the day before yesterday helped immensely, but theres so much to see and do.

一色 - 中島美嘉

Barometer

pressure? frankly it sucks. to be pressured from so many directions while being told to be focussed is hard. especially when you cant just tell the sources of pressure to please take a queue number and wait for the recep to call them in. there have been times when i wished that i could sprout wings, flown out the window and lived on love and fresh air for the rest of my life. not going to happen. i find myself more and more tired, wishing i could find a nice corner to curl up and sleep. somewhere safe and warm where i can leave the world behind for half a day or two and surrender to the obliviousness of unconsciousness.

Debra the Violin Girl is back from america! seems like the longest time since i saw her around. unfortunately, no time to catch up. as an aside, wonder if i can scrape up the funds to buy the Mika Namashika CD going for ten bucks at Du Yi. looks worth it, even tho these days ive been listening to my radio so much.

think friday was my best endo session ever! restored my faith in the discipline somewhat. working under TLC is damn fun! showed us how to nuke voids, and even let me play with using chloroform to make a custom cone. hope i get that competency settled quick, not much time left.

我可以 - 蔡旻佑

Song of Truth

the world is a messy place, especially as the YouTube generation grows up. im not going to repost the long letter i sent out to my class, that remains in Dental circulation. suffice to say, its stupid to think that what you mail around or sent to the national papers will have no repercussions. to the freshies, i'd say im sorry your intro to the world of the faculty had to be so rough. normally its a time where you bond by the sweat of your brow, sharing fun and frustrations. the petty machinations and inconsiderate actions of others have marred this experience. and to the Taleban 3, please go find a quiet corner and commit seppuku. you can form a little triangle and second each other if you so wish.

真実の詩 - Do As Infinity

Under The Covers

right now, i'd really like to be asleep. warm blanket. aircon, not to cold. bolster. clean sheets. good pillow. absolute darkness. it has occurred to me that drinking Red Bull and doing labwork after midnight is like living on borrowed time. sure, the energy drink at 9.30pm will give you one hell of a boost in about 15min that lasts for almost 3 hours, but the next morning? you're buggered. so yeah... drink Red Bull responsibly.

have finally finished off the f/f patient. not in an amicable way, and i hope he doesnt come back to haunt me, but at least HT has signed that clown off as completed, and unsuitable for UG Tx, with reasons. its really quite something to be told by a patient that his denture is uglier than the last one, that people will laugh at him, that the other operators were better, and why do the instructors keep changing? the sheer stupidity of it all is phenomenal. and to top it off he refuses specialist care, saying that student treatment is better (with the notable exception of this operator). ass.

i find myself becoming more and more attached to my Nokia earpiece. i think having 93.3 playing semi-permanently has a kind of calming effect on me when i have to do work. it is weird, however, taking phone calls have having people look at me like i belong in ward 12...

Zhao Long lent me a patient for S&RP competency next week on thursday under MT. lets hope this goes well! apparently he took the easier quadrants for his own competency. then again, what one really needs is sharp curettes and a good ultrasonic, not a simple patient. if i pass because my patient is easy, am i truly competent? its a question running through my head more of late. i hope i graduate well and dont screw things up outside...

深い森 - Do As Infinity

MP3, not for listening to

school has tottered into week 4. what have i gotten done?! *panic* at least i got some of the staff looking out for me. Prof Foong sent me a pair of brothers to do up, even specified which one was competency and which one was for requirement. got HN to see the my dearest darling f/f for 1st recall, hope he doesnt pull stunts. and im freaking gonna take my single crown under the most sympathetic staff i can find!

in other news, pre-order for the new CBT Box set is now open at PI! got your copy now! bask in plastech goodness!

watched Paprika at the Picturehouse this weekend. for the people tired of Hollywood formula shows and lame edits to HP:OOP, watch this please. sure, its a teensy bit confusing, but when part of the plot is centred on mentally disturbed people it all makes sense! the fish and the frog swim in a storm of confetti! government spending in the year of the radish will increase!

Runner - Susumu Hirasawa

The Word Of Jon

1: and after RDTPS, jon sat in contemplation for a minute, and then spake:
2: consider the squid, my brother, and be wise
3: for the squid, when it is confronted, doth squirt a cloud of ink and flail its arms. and when the ink hath dissipated, behold, the squid is not there.
4: but when the squid is surrounded on all sides, and hath emptied its ink pouch, then is the squid found in plain sight, and there shall be no escape for it.
5: verily, i say unto you, the squid is truly buggered, and fit for dinner.

Parodontitis Gravis et Complicata

got me a complex perio e&d case! looks like a GAP too! been a good chance to learn about the diagnosis and treatment planning for an aggressive case, hope this all works out well. hope it works out for the patient too cos we'll be throwing away at least 2 teeth.

2 movie reviews! first up we have Transformers. contrary to popular fanboy expectations, this movie wasn't slaughtered. for some reason, the way this movie was shot made me more charitable to the artistic liberties they took with the storyline. so yeah, Bumblebee has transmogrified from an VW Beetle into a Chevrolet Camaro. Megatron is a plane! Ironhide isn't a van! Shockwave looks like a little freak! but is had big stompy robots, and that warms me to the core of my being. guess im easy to please that way.

Hooked on you was the girlfriend-friendly alternative to Die Hard 4.0, and after watching it i'll recommend this one. good plot, good character, and a strange Hong Kong sense of humour in a careflu, not-over-the-top-Stephen-Chow way. it captures the zeitgeist of the people of Hong Kong going through a hard point in their history, and the lives of 2 people in particular. watch this movie!

Project Little Plastic Locust is finished. Click here.

Difference

operation Little Plastic Locust is under way! a much-overdue project, i have decided to take the time to repair a 3rd ed plastic LCT-1V from the Settlers Katong shoe box, and record my progress in photos to be made into a little guide. blame Inrepose if you want, that Archer paint guide was t3h r0x. so what do i have to do?

i have on hand:

-1 3rd ed plastic LCT-1V missing both arms
-1 right arm loaned from JT, with a request to make a new left arm for his LCT in addition to the 2 new arms i will be making.

both the locust itself as well as the detachable arm have some pretty impressive flash problems.

predicted steps to be taken:

1) de-flash the parts using
a: burrs
b: scalpel

2) clean up the parts with soap for good bonding

3) sculpt a greenstuff spacer between the left leg and the body to make up the 1mm discrepancy in thickness

4) create a reusable mould system so that i can make 3 of the bloody arm things in decent order, with options for left or right arm usage. deep thought on the bus home has lead me in the direction of a 2-part mould, with a 'male' die-stone member and a 'female' suck-down thermoplastic member. sprues may be required to minimise void formation. damn this is going to be fun!

5) cast the arms in plastic material. plan A is to use clear Orthacryl because of its original fluid state and lack of colour that could interfere with painting. plan B is TBR. plan C is greenstuff, far too stiff for what i want to do.

6) clean-up of the casted pieces, and dry-fitting to the dis-armed LCT mini

so yeah, lets see how this goes!

Go West - Eldissa

Life Is Peaceful There

patients booked, cephs traced, table tidied. what more could i want for the new term? besides Bill Gates dropping 60 million greenbacks in my lap in a big paper bag...

Peijun will be starting up work in NDC on the 2nd level. im still here in NUH on the third level. wish i was in NDC, even if it wasn't the 2nd level. dont want to lose the interest in what i do...

2 weddings to play for in a week! i guess i must be getting old, i find myself starting to take note of the way the weddings are organised to gain a better understanding of how i want mine to be conducted. at the very least, i want one that goes according to plan! no little kids-who-toss-petals freaking out or swallowing the ring or whatever. no unexpected catering problems. no screwed-up music.

Staying Alive - Eldissa

Every Time

council gathering at Suat's place yesterday night. guess ive probably detailed in earlier posts why i feel so strongly about my school and why i joined council. and now, so many years on, people i served with have turned into old friends with whom i can reminisce and play Munchkin with. people to relive the good old days with while we eat ice cream and brownies. people whom we can needle with old jokes as we lead into new jokes. people who im proud to call my friends.

Casa della Suat has some amazing stuff. a Wii as well as an XBox 360. and so i got to try out 2 consoles of which i have only been able to see in ads and on VGCats. the Wii is a fascinating thing. is it meant to be pronounced the japanese way as Wi-i or ang-moh style as Wee or what? and waving ones hands! how novel! now i understand all the crude rude mean nasty things from VGCats. they were absolutely spot on. played Gears of War with Meng as the rest indulged in a spot of bridge. the game sure isn't Halo, for one thing the interface is one heck of a complex. for another thing, i couldnt find a way to alter the sensitivity. running and shooting felt like trying to fight while drunk. slightly slow and disorienting. on the other hand, i guess the felon-soldiers of Delta Squad arent exactly as agile as Spartans. nonetheless, the puzzle elements of the game made it feel at least a bit harder than the usual point-shoot kind of fps or 3rd-person game. but will i ever get a Wii or a 360? yeah, dream on. maybe if the damn school decides to pay me for the help i give the juniors *broad hint!*

Winter Love - BoA

Taimu Reapu

please watch The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. its the freaking best movie all bloody holidays. its got solid plot, character development, spectacular director vision, and good soundtrack. support good movies. bollocks to Pirates 3: At Wit's End and Shrek The Turd. put your money where the quality lies.

Streptococcus

one week of holidays gone by. what have i achieved? what great leaps forward? what riotous fun?

watched Fantasic 4 with Peijun on wednesday. having not watched any of the previous instalments, i come to this series with a clean slate. and let me put it to you that this movie didnt seem to be worth the ticket money. a poorly-fleshed major character. a greater-evil type character as a mess of rocks. and ridiculous plot development. awful awful awful!

seems like i wont be getting my cluster allocation letters like the rest. Peijun got her email from SingHealth, but i'll have to wait until i come out before i found out what cluster i belong to....

went with Peijun to Settlers Katong to meet Pinfen, Siewping and John, and played Saboteur! looks like this really was a great christmas gift, even tho i havent had the chance to take my set for a spin. its the kind of game which can quite literally occupy you for 4 hours straight! decently fun because of the inbuilt hook of deceptive play, and it doesnt get stale because rounds are short. but of course it doesnt match up to my first gaming love of CBT. my dice still call to me in the darkness....

Nobody Knows - 伊藤由奈

Under The Moon

one day of holidays over, and for the first time since ive come to FoD, i'm struck by how little holiday we actually have. the date is already into 2 digits, and at the end of the month i'm back into the grind, and PJ is going to work. the transcience of life's little pleasures is at once a warning to treasure what we have, and also a warning to expect all good things to end at some point.

its kinda sinking in that i am now attached to a Dr Chia. and she'll have to move ahead of me in life as i complete my unfinished business in school. i guess the good thing is that anything that i experience when i go to work wont be entirely a surprise, since i have a 6-month early 2nd-person preview. at the same time i'll be having to support her during the adjustment phase. oh well, maybe better one than both at once.

bought Yuna Ito's CD. good shit! having heard it on YouTube doesnt take away from the fact that its good songwriting and good singing. just wish DAI were still together...

what to do with the rest of my holiday? what to do?

Precious - 伊藤由奈

Poco Voce

so my lungs have shrunk. got another month to grow them back before i play for Matt and Cheryl's wedding. need to regain my sightreading skills too. just feels like its been too damn long since i picked up my flute. if only there was some way to get in regular quality playing time... especially with a school schedule. and no, the Worship Team does not count as quality playing time...

what to do with the holidays?
1) regrow lungs
2) go and swim
3) organise for next term
4) do up patients' cephs
5) play excessive CBT!

really want some of item 5! my dice call to me to sieze them, ride forth and lay waste!

Stupidity is never more daunting

as when it is systemic. why do we do the things we do? multiple steps to nowhere? break our hopes and pray that they reassemble? and why am i here in the middle of the night blogging in the lab, a can of Red Bull sitting in front of me, when there is work to do?

sometimes doing the right thing just doesnt feel rewarding. i finally got round to bringing in a patient i havent seen in a million years. literally. i dont need any of this guy's requirements, but on the other hand it isnt honest to let him sit and rot. so i update his xrays, TD his caries, chart his resto, perio and even his recession. and suddenly noone wants a backup exam case. noooooo! 3 crowns to go, anyone? please? im even preparing provisionals in case the ones i put in screw up!

finally getting in an ortho patient. prescreened by the boss himself, no worries about a screwy indication. hope i can work fast tomorrow.

damn i wish i could be overseas...

Unchained - Love Psychedelico

Leaf On The Wind

seems like sometimes the world changes around us, and we're left standing wondering what happened to all that we found familiar. my lab is now populated by the incoming D3s, and while theyre a nice bunch, they sure arent my old class. half the class is overseas, and the rest are in the process of going. and me and ZX are left here pottering around in the lab chasing the dream of leaving NUS to spread our wings and fly off to some distant polyclinic where we can caries free in peace.

what is my role in life now?
1) i need to graduate. stat. the work i do, the things i study, must lead towards this eventuality. i must improve my hands and my mind to write well in my papers and stand tall during clinical dentistry.
2) i want to help my juniors not to end up like me. will this end up at odds with (1)? how much time can i afford?

擱淺 - 周杰倫

Left To Dessicate

after a bit of nudging from wanwah, i've decided to blog again. dont know how often i can do this, or whether i'll find it as therapeutic as i used to, but worth a try i guess...

im stuck in school for a while longer. guess me posting it on the net wont answer all the people who ask me about it in real life, this is more for me to vent. i didnt give up on my schedule at the end, i was having trouble early on and didnt recognise it. wish i did. but for now, i just want to focus on getting out of this place. 4 years is plenty long, and if its been predestined for me to hang about a bit longer, so be it, but i'm going as soon as i can. in the meantime, i want to learn what i can, do what i can, and help people onto a path that doesnt involve time extension. now that i walk this path, i know exactly how much it sucks, and i dont want my juniors to have to follow in my footsteps.

finally passed my p/p. happy as heck. but the fly in the ointment of my prosthetic career is my f/f patient. guess ive vented about him in real life so many times, but every visit is a new trial, a new frustration, a new aggravation. i have learnt so much about him, about myself, and about the little private hell a patient can create for an operator. i shall take these lessons and treasure them, because they were hard earned. and having discussed with my instructor, once this royal ass is issued his f/f of doom we shall be writing in the notes that he is unsuitable for UG Tx. so shall it be until all have fallen...

the other good thing is that Lady Boss appears to have passed her exams, we're 99% certain and just waiting for the results to seal the deal. now for my turn...

Endless Story - Yuna Ito

The Angels Are Singing Again

seems like i haven't had anything good to write about in a damn long time, but finally i have something to be well and truly publicly thankful for. Peijun is now a child of God! havent been this happy since, possibly, the day i was born!