Les objectifs.

The 29th World Universities Debating Championship, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.

The following are my targets/hopes and dreams for the tournament; note that I do not speak for my team, nor the EDS, or the U of O – these are my personal goals. Indeed they (personal ambitions) are all I have left, having been left in this disadvantaged position for quite a bit >.<

WUDC 2008 Targets:

i.) Final points tally: 14 (out of a maximum of 27).

ii.) Finish in the top half of the tournament, or above 150th – whichever is more appropriate in relation to #1 above.

iii.) Still be mathematically “alive” (read: uneliminated by tabulation) on the final day of the regular tournament; this means that by the end of Day 2, Ottawa EDS A must have a minimum of nine points.

iv.) Perform to the utmost best; produce performances that would be expected of a former national high schools debating champion in his second year of varsity debating.

v.) Lawan untuk pengalaman

Nailing any two from the list above would suitably convince me that my first ever Worlds campaign has not been in vain.

Academics, debate, self-esteem.

Memang tak penat.

Okay guys – second album review in four days. Here we go:

Album: Kembali

Artist: Butterfingers

Release Date: 6th July 2008

Number of Tracks: 11

-

“Selamat datang ke masa depan;

Salam sejahtera kami ucapkan,

Kembali berpijak di bumi yang nyata -

Tiada amaran…

Jelma…kembali.”

-

English translation:

(“Welcome to the future;

Greetings and well-tidings from us,

Return to tread on real and tangible earth -

With no warning…

Reappear…”)

-

Yes I know the translation sounds weird. I just wanted to test my Malay lol =p

Thus begins the latest album of the popular Malaysian grunge/rock band, Butterfingers, which was released on 06 – 07 -08. I picked up Kembali as its reward for being the honorary winner of a readers’ based musical poll a few weeks back, and was incredibly interested to see what these veterans of the Malaysian alternative music scene had to offer. Kembali is the band’s sixth studio album, and the second to be recorded entirely in Malay (the first being Selamat Tinggal Dunia, released in 2004). Prior to picking it up, many of my friends back home and abroad had very very positive things to say about Kembali – one even went so far as to quip that it would probably trump all of the nine prospective albums that I had put up on my musical poll post.

Does it? Read on.

The album opens with Joget Global, which is labelled as being 9 minutes and 35 seconds long  on the record – an incredible length by any standards. The translated lyrics that appear above are the first things you hear, as vocalist Emmett introduces Kembali with a syair (a type of Malaysian poetry)-style rhythm – complete with traditional-sounding accompaniment in the background. And yes guys, you read right – I wrote “syair” @.@ The song takes a full minute and then some to build into a proper tune, as Emmett serenades listeners with line after line of ayat pembayang; then, at 1.15 the bass throbs in – playing a wicked boomer that gets my head bobbing every time. More literary surprises are in store, as Emmett throws pantun lima rangkap after pantun lima rangkap (with aabbb rhyming sequence if one is interested to know) at you by way of verses. The sophisticated traditional-esque beat catches you again and again – this one has an insane hook if you let it play at you – and is so easy to bob along too that you hardly notice the weird stuff Emmett and Loque (back-up vocalist and quitarist) are singing underneath it. How weird?

It’s “Lat tali lat ta li tam plum/ Sudah cukup atau belum?” weird.

With cries of a Malay peribahasa (“Kera di hutan disusukan/Anak di rumah mati kelaparan”), Joget Global appears to draw to a close 5 minutes later – the main rhythm dies off and effectively ends the tune. But wait – wasn’t it described as being 9.35 minutes long? Yes it was. So here we have it my friends – my first gripe with the album: those last four minutes are filled with weird and ultimately pointless warped sounds from abused instruments. I have absolutely no idea what they are doing here (I would understand why if this was the good old days of the casette recorder – nak kasi abis kaset 90 minit) but I do know that they are a huge annoyance, and that almost every song has them – a few minutes of pointless noise at the end.

Anyway, Bebas – the album’s third single – is up next. In terms of lyrical usage and all-round songwriting, this one takes the cake. Never did I think that Injit Injit Semut – the song we all jumped and sang along to in our respective kampungs - had the potential to be retuned and configured into lyrics for an alternative rock song:

“Injit injit -

Semut siapa sakit naik atas…

Usah buang masa –

Itu emas -

Lupakanlah yang dah lepas…”

-

Wonderful song writing. Also, note the usage of two separate nasihat bahasa that bleed into each other in that excerpt above (Usah buang /[masa]/ Itu emas) – bloody brilliant stuff. And that’s not to mention the usage of subtle allusions to greater items that will resonate with many, many Malaysians – try the lyrics “Tanah tumpahnya darahku” for one…care to stand for the Negaraku, anybody? Seriously, with song writing like this, these guys are potentially a credit to the Malay language. Note my usage and choice of language in awarding them credit – it is important for this review.

Quality of song writing and lyrics aside, the greater question that should (and would) be plaguing the thoughts and curiosities of the readers of this review (assuming they haven’t listened to Kembali yet) is that of sound. How do the Butterfingers sound after all this time – four years – since their last album? Are we back to the three-chord headbanging grunge rock of the mid 1990s? Or should we expect Malayneum (2001) type material? More bahasa istana-infused lyrics a la Selamat Tinggal Dunia? Well, take a listen for yourself:

Bebas.

Yeap that’s what Buttermusic sounds like nowadays – no more headbanging and stylished screaming from these guys. All that has been replaced with crooning melodies and complex traditional-like beats instead. In fact, so far has this progressioin taken place that on the whole album, there is probably only one song that a listeners could potentially headbang to – the first single 1000 Tahun Mahu Hidup – which is incidentally one of my favourites due to its fantastic riffing and intricate sound jams. The lyrics on this one too are ultimately excellent and a prime bed for satire of our potentially inept local organizations: “Harap maafkan/ Diatas segala kesulitan/ Perselisihan yang dihadapi/ Selama ini amat dikesali/ Takkan berulang lagi.” Sound familliar? Really, by the way these guys choose their lyrics, they actually do seem to be people after my heart lol.

Other faster, but ultimately not-so-fast numbers on the album do include track number 3 – Maharani – and the rather ugly Air Liur Di Kuala Lumpur. Of the two, I prefer Maharani for its harmonic intertwining of vocals with some sort of string instrument (I can’t place my finger on what it is, but it sounds like a cross between an electric violin and a musical saw). The fact that Air Liur Di Kuala Lumpur sounds like the Malay auditory equivalent of farting in a tin can and then rattling it with pebbles also helps the creation of this satirical imagery; that’s not to say this song is bad however – I can think of no better way to describe a satirical take on the nature of humanoid creatures in Kuala Lumpur.

Also, if you listen carefully, you can actually hear Vio Pipe played halfway through the song. Seriously, no kidding – listen as close as you can at the 1.04 to 1.10 mark and you’ll see what I mean.

However, the true strength of this album lies in its slower (and more numerous) ballads; and that, if anything, is an indicator of how far and away this band has travelled since their early days of weighing 1.2 Milligrams. The slow numbers particularly worth highlighting are Gelombang Cinta (Kadak’s bass is marvellous on this one), Lengkap Semula – from which I just love the motion displayed by Emmett – and the 9.15 minutes-long piano ballad entitled Mati Hidup Kembali (of which six minutes are again, weird pointless sounds). My respect for the band increased twofold after listening to these ballads, which act as the perfect counterbalance to my memories of them playing solid, aggressive, grunge-type music.

My personal pick of the ballads? Lengkap Semula – it’s essentially the epitomization of awesome in the form of a song.

On this album as a whole, there are a couple of duds though: the ones flitting around predominantly in my head are tracks number 4 and 7 – Terus Terang and Merdeka respectively. Neither catchy nor musically memorable in anyway, these tracks are forgettable at best.

As I juggle packing with debate prep and also writing this review, I recognize that this is one muddled review – probably the most berserabut I have ever written on snuffleupagush.wordpress.com. In any case, I hope I achieved my objective of providing a critical review of what to expect in the event of picking up Kembali. To sum things up and relieve you guys of the pain of reading Mr Irving Tan’s writing when it and his thoughts are in their least organized state, I am going to give this album a score -

83%

- and tell you guys to go get it. Generally, I don’t think the average Malaysian will be too disappointed; on the contrary I have a feeling that you will be pleasantly surprised, especially if you like the contemporary Malay rock song and the heartfelt ballad. However, caution – remember when I said that this band’s songs are “potentially a credit to the Malay language” just a few paragraphs earlier? This is why it’s important:

Their pronounciation and singing diction is downright painful >.< Seriously, I kid you not. Never have I been so confused by a band’s pronounciation before – sebutan tak baku, diction tak consistent langsung…in terms of verbal articulation, this album is a mess. And I mean it. Granted, this IS the Malay language – which has perhaps one of the most confusing applications by the way it varies from state to state to state and changes every two years or so – but I would have thought the band would at least take it upon themselves to adopt a consistent method of pronounciation…I assumed wrong. This is my “favourite” example of Kembali’s confused pronounciation:

“Gelombang cinteee,

Bergeloreee…

Menawar bisaa -

Merawat lukaa -

Perasaan dukaa -

Bertukar sukaa…”

-

And a minute later Emmett goes, “Gelombang cintaa” – getting it right (or wrong) all over again. To the purist listener, it can be quite painful >.< Also one more – final – caveat: ardent fans of the old Butterfingers who have so far struggled to adapt to the band’s new sound should avoid this one like the plague…and miss out on what is perhaps the most well-crafted local release in recent times.

How’s that for ending on a negative note? No pun intended

Selected Tracks: Bebas, Maharani, Lengkap Semula, Mati Hidup Kembali, Gelombang Cinta, 1000 Tahun Mahu Hidup.

Selected Duds: Terus Terang, Merdeka.

This is –

The Slip

AND

Ghosts I -

-  and both are by the Nine Inch Nails. They were recommended by Ibrahim Sulaiman (my Petronas senior at the University of Ottawa) and I got them by legal free downloads.

I had not had so much fun auditory ambiance in quite a bit =)

“I jump from every rooftop!!!”

And they carried on like…Long Division.

Hello people! If you all remember my scintillating dilemma on what music to buy just a few posts back, then you might recall that I also promised to give my two cents worth on the winning piece once I had purchased it. Thus, on my part two different reviews are due – that of the Butterfingers’s Kembali and DCFC’s Narrow Stairs. I have decided to get to the latter first; thus, without further ado, here are my thoughts on the latest effort from the quartet of Benjamin Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nicholas Harmer, and Jason McGerr.

Album: Narrow Stairs

Artist: Death Cab For Cutie (DCFC)

Release Date: 13th May 2008

Number of Tracks: 11

-

This eleven track compendium begins with the slow synth-assisted introduction of Bixby Canyon Bridge, and the first thing that caught my ears was the steady introduction of instruments into the setup; here’s a sampler of events: “I descended a dusty gravel ridge…” (only synth) to “Barefoot in the shallow creek…” (enter guitar strumming) to “In the silence it became so very clear…” (percussion as guitar fades off) to “Cause I still got miles to go” (bassline starts creaking in); finally “And I want to know my fate” (full alt rock setup). Interesting start to say the least =) And since this was essentially my first real observation – ever – of the band in action, there were many notions that I noticed which I think were ultimately very useful in determining my opinion of the band and it’s album as a whole: firstly, as Bixby Canyon Bridge is quick to tell you with its (relatively) heavy alt rock setup, this is NOT Coldplay. The two bands may be of the same genre, but they sound as similar as Atif and myself…okay bad example – we both produce similar squeaking sounds when we see cute penguins wtf *cue “COMELL!!!” squeal + menari actions here XD* They sound as similar as Incubus does to Hoobastank – any listener of the two will tell you that  none of their neo-rock warp playing sounds markedly different.

Secondly, I recognized that I was dealing with an alternative rock band that knew how to manipulate their instruments as to provide sounds diverse enough in nature to maintain a sufficient level of interest within their playlist. Case in point: Nicholas Harmer’s bassline – the thing booms as any good bass does yet the rhythmicity of its playing does not sound like any of the sounds that I was traditionally used to – and Jason McGerr’s drums, which seems to shuffle through the whole album with deep resonant thuds and sharp percussionary sounds. The second song of this album – the lead single I Will Possess Your Heart - is a poignant example of this notion. Some detractors of this song have said that it is too long (the entire piece clocks in at 8 minutes and 26 seconds…clearly some people haven’t listened to The Black Mages’ Darkness and Starlight yet and gotten an idea of what “long” really means =p) especially as much of the track is devoted to a meandering five minute instrumental but I will make it clear that I love this track and that I think not a single second of it is expendable. The bass playing is incredible in this one, and coming from someone who idolizes Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted, and Robert Trujillo (all Metallica bassists) that’s a HUGE compliment.

Thirdly, very good lyrics. I had received hints at this from Melissa before, but I did not expect the lyrics to be this good to be honest. Here I’ll use I Will Possess Your Heart and Cath…(the latter of which is the fourth song on the album and it’s second single) – upon my tenth listen, I realized that the former is a very good metaphor for arranged marriage like whatthehell lol!! Seriously, with lines like “You gotta spend some time love, you gotta spend some time with me” and “I long for this mirrored perspective where we will be lovers – lovers at last!”, I am tempted to believe in their power of lyrical arrangement. Cath… in the meantime is  the epitome of how a story can be told in a  four minute song – take that Taylor Swift + Love Story. Nasib baik ko comell =p

Ku Kan Tawan Hatimu.

Cik Cath…

But the song that takes the cake is item number 9: the song titled Long Division – which has also been used as the title of this blog post – has possibly the best words at work on the album; here’s a sampler of the lyrics on offer:

“She said she never envisioned,

Him to be the type of person capable of such deceit,

And then they carried on like…Long Division -

As it was clear with every page,

That they were further away…from a solution that would play –

Without a remain, remain, remain, remainder.”

-

And that’s not to mention the metaphor of paper buildings and books in the rest of the track! Also, while we’re speaking of Long Division, I have to say that the beat and synergy in this one is awesome. I really, really dig this track and it’s definitely one of the best short skits that I have heard in the year.

Ultimately I guess I will have to listen to your musical opinions more lah Ms Chong =)

Fourthly, I also discovered that my Toshiba laptop’s speakers suck balls. Like, really big ones – the size of jumbo jet wheels =.=” I can tell when a band is stretching their playing capabilities to the limits cause my speakers will resonate and break, thereby failing to produce the top-class sounds that the band is trying to generate lol >.< Which is very sad, as many songs like Your New Twin Sized Bed and Talking Bird are very eccentric in musical style – and yes, more props to the band is due here to the band as these two tracks are very interesting trinkets to say the least – the former is a particularly tuneful and catchy track, whereas the latter is an eclectic mix of bizzare lyrics, mournful rhythms and sorrowful vocals. Also, what is a alternative rock album without a good ballad track eh? The Ice Is Getting Thinner is DCFC’s answer to this one; this final track on the album is also one of my solid favourites for blending with plain, downright good singing. Check out Gibbard’s tonal command as he sinks into lines like “The ice kept getting thinner/ with every word we speak” (hmm…check out the tense juxtaposition btw), and “When spring arrived we were/ taken by surprise when the floes under our feet…bled into the sea.”

Another eccentric track worth taking note of is the superbly arranged Pity And Fear – check out how the song ends. Apparently it’s because the tape recorder the band was using broke? @.@?

And as many of you may already know, I give (lots of) extra credit to bands who can squeeze in literary allusions and signs of our times in their works – fascinatingly, DCFC managed to pull this one off as well: Bixby Canyon Bridge is filled to the brim with allusions to Jack Kerouac (whose works do include the 1957 classic On The Road) and Grapevine Fires deals with the catastrophic flames that tore across the California landscape in 2007. Yes, those are more props to the band – I always find that having the ability to inculcate a multi-tiered appreciation for a band’s songs strengthens the hold of the work in my psyche, so kudos again to DCFC on this one.

Wow it seems like I have a LOT of good things to say about DCFC (or at least, Narrow Stairs) eh? Well, I guess that in fact, I do. It has been a while since I last randomly picked up an album and enjoyed it thoroughly – I think the last time this happened was with Kelly Clarkson’s Thankful in 2001 (read: I think that was a very good album btw) – thus getting the feeling of musical enjoyment without having to hype myself up like I did with The Black Mages and Metallica. I think at this point in time it is reasonably safe to say that I have become a fan of the band’s works, and will probably try a hand at some of their earlier works at some point in time – when I have the turkey to do so that is XD

Okay, either I’m feeling ridiculously happy at the moment or I can’t seem to find any major gripes with this album lol. I have strained my head for the past few minutes thinking of possible duds (read: bad songs) on the album but to my utmost surprise (and also satisfaction – it shows my CAD 11.30 was not wasted LOL XD + =D) I can’t seem to find any. Even the weird too-short-for-comfort track called You Can Do Better Than Me has its own strong merits. At the end of it all, I think it is safe to say that this album is probably as near perfect as you can get with alternative rock, and is a surefire contender for a spot on my list of top albums of the year which will be released in a couple of weeks. I make one caveat however: potential purchasers of this album should bear in mind that I evaluated Narrow Stairs individually and not relative to other DCFC works. I openly admit that I have no idea what DCFC was *supposed* to sound like at all before I purchased this 7th album of theirs, therefore I am about the last person you would approach for a holistic review of where Narrow Stairs stands on the steps (XD?) of their entire album catalog.

Instead, I suggest you try Melissa Chong for that – I know for one that she says Transatlanticism is better. And based on how accurate her recommendations have turned out to be so far, I am inclined to believe her

In any case, I think this one is good as is.

86%.

Selected Tracks: I Will Possess Your Heart, No Sunlight, Cath…, Grapevine Fires, Your New Twin Sized Bed, Long Division, Pity And Fear, The Ice Is Getting Thinner.

Selected Duds: None that I can think of to be honest. And no these are not song titles.

It will be Kembali’s turn next, hopefully.

>.<

Sometimes I feel like I’m going to Worlds alone, and that feeling sucks. Half the fun of actually getting to compete is gone.

>.<

But I’ll try my very best for the EDS nevertheless.

A (Short) Commentary.

It’s funny how my rate of postings here on my blog is proportional to the amount of exams I have lol – one would think it’s the other way round, but no, Irving terer gak procrastinate XD + =p

Anyway, for my first blogpost since I finished my Fall 2008 finals, I am going to talk about the biggest (and most exciting) thing on my agenda this winter hols – my participation at the World Universities Debating Championship at University College Cork in Ireland starting this 27th of December. My flight leaves Ottawa on the 26th, with transit stops in the United States and England (LONDON WOOOT!!! To bad I didn’t have that much of a budget to hang around in the city for a bit >.< I figured out I’d much rather hang out in Cork anyway =D) and I have to say I am very, very excited.

On the preparations front, things have been going well – not as good as I would have hoped/desired, but they are moving nevertheless. I have been working on upgrading my matter file and have been watching video after video of former Worlds break rounds – hopefully some of the competitors’ brilliance will rub off on me lol! Today I also had the opportunity to attend a training session organized by the Worlds team from Carleton University, and came back with the knowledge that I have lots and lots to do still in terms of prep…two consecutive fourth place finishes (out of four teams) can do that to you >.<

Anyway, the real reason I wanted to blog about Worlds was this – a few weeks back I was browsing around on the tournament’s official website and chanced upon the list of registered institutions and also the (mile-long) waiting list for the tournament. There are around 308 slots (I think) for teams at the tournament – and obviously there are a lot more universities in the world than that lol – so it’s kind of inherent that some teams will make it to the biggest debating tournament on the planet this competitive year, while others have to wait for the next edition of the tournament to see how they fare on the international stage.

This is the tournament’s institution registration list by the way (yours truly is highlighted in bold =D):

Name:	Teams:	Adjudicators:	Observers:
Aberystwyth University	2	1
Assumption University	3	2
Ateneo de Manila University	3	2
Australian National University	3	2
Babes – Bolyai University	3	2
Bar Ilan University	3	2
Beijing Foreign Studies University	1	0
Bilkent University	2	1
Bonaparte	3	2
Boston University	3	1
Brandeis University	3	2
Brigham Young University	2	1
Bristol Debating Union	3	2
Brown University	2	1
Cambridge Union Society	3	2
Cardiff University	3	2
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar	2	1
Central European University	1	0
Chulalongkorn University	3	2
Claremont Colleges	2	1
Colgate University	3	2
Columbia University	2	1
Cornell University	3	2
Dawson College	1	1
De La Salle University	3	2
Debate Association of Ewha (Ewha Univ.)	1	0
Debating Club St. Gallen	1	0
Deree College	3	2
Dublin City University Debate Society	2	1
Duke University	3	2
Ege	1	1
English Debating Society	1	0
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universitaet Greifswald	1	0
Galatasaray Üniversitesi	1	0
Glasgow University Union	3	2
GW University	3	1
Haifa University	1	0
Hart House, University of Toronto	3	2
Harvard University	3	2
Hawai’i Pacific University	2	1
Hebrew University of Jerusalem	3	2
Hertie School of Governance	2	0
Higher School of Economics	3	1
Hobart and William Smith	1	0
Hong Kong Baptist University	3	2
IDC Herzliya	1	1
Imperial College London	1	1
Independent University Bangladesh	1	0
King’s College London	2	1
Kings Inns	3	2
Kneu	1	0
KNTSU	1	0
Koc University	2	1
Lahore University of Management Sciences	3	1
Leiden University	2	1
Lincoln’s Inn	1	0
Loyola Marymount University	1	0
Ludwig-Maximilians-University	1	0
Macquarie University	3	2
Mahidol University Inernatitonal College	2	0
Marianopolis College	1	0
McGill University	1	0
MDU	3	2
METU	3	2
MGIMO	1	1
MMU	2	1
Monash University	3	2
Moscow State Academy of Law	3	2
Moscow State University	1	1
Muenster University	1	0
Nanyang Technological University	3	2
National Law School of India University	3	2
Newcastle University	2	1
Nottingham	3	2
NTUA	1	0
NUI Galway Literary and Debating Society	3	2
Oxford Union	3	2
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú	1	0
Portland State University	2	1
Princeton University	3	2
Qatar University	3	2
Queen Mary, University of London	2	1
Queen’s University	3	2
Rhodes University	3	2
Royal Holloway University of London	3	2
RRIS	1	0
School of Oriental and African Studies	3	2
Southern Illinois University	2	0	1
St John’s University	2	1
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga	2	1
Swarthmore College	1	0
Tallinn University of Technology	1	1
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple	3	2
The Johns Hopkins University	1	0
The Literary and Historical Society UCD	3	2
The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus	1	0
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies	1	0
Trinity College Dublin Historical Society	3	2
UCD Law Society	1	0
Univeristy of New South Wales (UNSW)	3	2
Universitas Indonesia	3	2
Universiti Teknologi MARA (Shah Alam)	1	0
University College London	3	2
University of Alaska	3	2
University of Alberta	3	2
University of Auckland	2	0
University of Belgrade	3	2
University of Birmingham	3	2
University of Bucharest	2	0
University of Canterbury	2	0
University of Central Missouri	2	1
University of Helsinki	3	2
University of Hong Kong	3	1
University of La Verne	3	2
University of Limerick Debating Union	2	1
University of Ljubljana	3	2
University of London Union	1	0
University of Macau	1	0
University of Melbourne	1	0
University of Oklahoma	1	1
University of Queensland	3	2
University of Rijeka	3	2
University of Rochester	3	2
University of Split	3	2
University of St Andrews	3	2
University of Sydney Union	3	2
University of the Pacific	3	2
University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus	3	2
University of the Witwatersrand	1	0
University of Zagreb	3	2
University Philosophical Society, Trinity College Dublin	3	2
Vermont	3	2
Victoria University of Wellington	3	2
Vilnius University	1	0
Weill Cornell Medical College Qatar	2	1
Yale University	3	2
Yeditepe University	3	2
York University	1	0
Zagreb Law	3	2

-

What I don’t get is the fact that there are some institutions with more than one team registered for the tournament – my beef is particularly for those institutions with as much as three spots at Worlds. I mean, I understand one’s desire to compete (and maybe win) at the international level so I can see why it is in an institution’s best interest to send as many teams as they can to increase their club’s degree of exposure and also chances of winning; what I don’t get is why the Cork Worlds registration committee allowed that to be the case. I don’t think the issue of filling up spots at the tournament is something they can use in their defence – when you look at the size of the waiting list you’ll see that this tournament isn’t anywhere near being devoid in terms of attendence and interest.

Why is having institutions with multiple spots such a bad thing? Well, it firstly decreases the number of institutions that will be in attendence – obviously – and I think that for Worlds, the biggest and possibly the most important tournament on the planet, the fact that that is blocked from being achieved is particularly damaging. It doesn’t become as much as a gathering of debaters from many countries as it becomes an extended European-North American debate league (yes you can see where I’m going with this line of argumentation). Secondly, I also think that with Worlds being the only real conduit for many, many English-as-a-Second/Foreign-Language institutions to see how they match up against the rest of the debatosphere, this is also inherently damaging to their chances of exposure. Thirdly, I would also envision that these debaters also stand to gain more than their more dominant, English-as-a-First-Language counterparts. The reason is again, blatantly obvious and requires no explanation. And even if you throw the idea of language gains out of the window, I still think that based on the idea of overall institutional participation, it is clear that something could be done here.

Everyone has an equal right to send teams to Worlds. But I don’t think having an Oxford A, B, AND C represents such an appropriate idea of an equal rights policy any more.

I probably sound like an angsty, cheap, and naive debater at this point but I seriously think it’s a shame that lots of universties have been denied spots on the basis of the fact that some institutions were allowed to register as many as three teams. Like, what the hell, seriously >.< I mean, imagine, from the whole of Malaysia – with it’s twenty public universities (and I haven’t even begun counting the private institutions yet) – there is only one team of two people (UiTM Shah Alam) coming! Only one!!! A single team to represent the whole country!?!! God, how disproportionate @.@

And it especially hurts when the solution is very simple; even blatantly obvious – a tighter team cap. Okay fine, some universities insist on having more than one bite at the apple – then let them have only two for Pete’s sake!! Judging by the number of universities that will have three teams in Cork this December, I really think that such a move would have gone a long way towards ensuring a more Worlded Worlds.

As Atif and I would say to sum up in recent times: bah >.<

This was something I couldn’t get enough off once:

And I randomly stumbled upon it again today – damn, must have been at least half a decade since I last heard it lol.

The Greatest View, by Silverchair – off the album Diorama.

Hmm, I wonder how’s the band doing nowadays? I don’t even know if they’re still active lol!

In the meantime, enjoy folks! =)

With (Not So) Glowing Hearts.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games tickets confirmed today for Canadians

Dec 10, 2008

Vancouver, BC – After five long weeks of patiently waiting, Canadians who requested 2010 Olympic Winter Games tickets in Phase 1 will find out today what tickets they have secured, and can start planning what additional tickets they’ll look for when the Priority Access Period opens from December 12–22.

An e-mail sent today from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) will invite each account holder to log on to their ticket account at www.vancouver2010.com and view the result of their request…

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I applied for tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics! And today, the 10th of December 2008, is the day that I finally found out which tickets from my application list would be approved.

I have only one thing to say: DANG.

>.<

I got only two tickets for the whole Games – for the whole bloody 2010 Winter Olympics, I only have two tickets. One of them is for event IH009 – a men’s ice hockey preliminary match – whilst the other sends me to event ST002, which is  for various distances in the men and women short track speed skating competitions. Although I am quite happy that my long personal dream of being able to watch an Olympics live will definitely be fulfilled, it kinda sucks to know that I have to come to terms with the fact that I might not be able to watch the Opening Ceremony, nor the trademark skiing and nordic events that will define British Columbia’s Whistler Olympic Park >.< Having to miss the Opening Ceremony particularly sucks, cause it was probably the event I wanted to watch the most; – after having been wowed again and again by numerous opening ceremonies on television – most recently Beijing ’s 2008 Summer Olympics – I had hoped to be able to witness one myself, but I guess Vanoc had other plans.

In hindsight, I suppose there were very many early warning signs that I would not get all the tickets that I wanted; this was probably the most obvious one:

This is the e-mail notification delivered from the Olympic Ticketing Committee to all successful applicants. I took note of just one thing: its opening sentence. Which says -

“CONGRATULATIONS”?!?!!! You’re actually congratulating people for managing to buy the tickets?!!!?! Holy crap, there must have been a lot of people that applied for them o.O

And after a bit of digging around Vancouver2010.com, it turned out that that was indeed the case:

Requests for 2010 Olympic Winter Games tickets submitted in record numbers

Nov 13, 2008

Vancouver, BC – After weeks of deliberations at kitchen tables across Canada, Olympic enthusiasts submitted more than $345 million in requests for tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. As of this past Friday, November 7, the final day of the Request Period of Phase 1, an estimated 120 of 170 ticketed sessions were oversubscribed due to demand exceeding the available tickets. In terms of dollars, Canadians have already requested approximately four and a half times the value of tickets in Phase 1 for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games ($345 million over five weeks), compared to the first phase of ticketing ($75 million over nine weeks) for the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the most recent Olympic Games held in North America.

HOLY SHIT. CAD 345 million in requests? Four and a half times the value of tickets already? And just in Phase 1? Damn >.<

I guess I should consider myself lucky that I even have two tickets eh?

Yup that would be my personal hoard, and is essentially what I have on my agenda for February 2010 at this point =) All is not lost however – the remainder of the tickets (the ones that were not opened to Canadian Residents) go on sale next year, and I think it is pretty certain to say that I will try again. I really really want to go to BC Place to witness the Opening Ceremony.

In the meantime I just want to say that I am really looking forward to visiting Western Canada in 2010, and a huge heartfelt thanks is due to my parents (particularly my Dad) for making this wish of mine possible =) Also to Farah Hanani, jangan down sangat about missing out on the tickets – we can still go for gold again this Fall! I’m really hoping that I don’t end up being the only Malaysian going to Vancouver 2010 LOL @.@

I am going to head back to my books now – but not before I share with you guys these two photos of the Vancouver 2010 mascots: Sumi, Quatchi, and Miga. They have got to be the most adorable things that I have seen in recent times lol!

They put me in mind of sunny, warm places =)

Pictures courtesy of © VANOC/COVAN.

See you folks! Pray for me in my upcoming final exams!

As I was studying for my Inorganic Chemistry finals…

…I saw this travesty of a PNG file in my lecturer’s course notes:

=.=”

Mane tak terganggu pembelajaran aku.

Your customary exam post…

…is a little late this time around.

As I write this, I have already completed two of my papers and am preparing for the final three, all of which will take place in the a-bit-too-small-for-comfort space of four days beginning next Monday. Oh well, c’est la vie.

So this is what I have been (will be) up to this exam season:

04/12/2008: FLS 1510 – Communication orale et écrite en français langue seconde : niveau débutant.

Course Marks: 64.8%/70%.

Final: 30% – COMPLETED.

08/12/2008: GEO 2163 – Introduction To Mineralogy.

Course Marks: 46%/60%.

Final: 40% – COMPLETED.

15/12/2008: GEO 2334 – Quaternary Geology and Climate Change.

Course Marks: 23.14%/25%

Final: 75%

16/12/2008: GEO 2165 – Stratigraphy and Sedimentation.

Course Marks: 50.66%/60%

Final: 40%

18/12/2008: CHM 2353 – Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry.

Course Marks: 56.09%/66.25%

Final: 33.75%

-

Sigh. Only after tabulating all of those scores right here did I realize how disappointing this semester has been, despite my best efforts. Now I’m starting to feel like I should not have relaxed after tonight’s Mineralogy final…maybe I should have studied instead.

Aduh susah hati betul lah >.<