This shrinkable plastic art thing is becoming a little obession for me :P Figured I'd make use of this obsession to make personalize trinklets for dear friends in this time of economic woes...



Although I do wonder... With the amount spent on the materials (money and time), would it have been no better than buying ready-made items...?

Let's see now... Can't recall the actual prices (shows how bad I am at budgetting...) but I think this is about how it goes...

Shrinkable plastic sheet (1 pc) - approx. $3.40
Arcylic paint (6 primary colours)- approx. $3.50
Colour pencils (24 colours) - $2
Jade-coloured glass beads (pkt of 8) - approx. $5
Accessories (tiny rings and wires etc.) - $3.99

I already had the marker and the pliers from a long time ago and dug out the key-chain rings from some old drawer, so I won't count them in...

So in total, I paid almost $18.

Actually not that bad, considering that I still have surplus material meaning that I still have about 5 more accessories that I can make out of what I have left (taking into account also wasted material from trial and error). Which comes up to... say... $2++ per item...?

Not bad... May actually start trying out accessories-making like earrings and stuff from beads and crystals now that I've got some experience from the key chains and know where to find the basic materials. In fact, my next 'big' project is to replicate a side of a pair of earrings which I lost. Sad... it was a nice pair. Now I'm looking out to see if there is anywhere that sells Tensha beads which makes up the main attraction of the earrings.

One thing's for sure though, when it comes to accessories-making I am quite hopeless. I actually do have some skills in performing basic 'repair' work on accessories and simple modifications. However, when it comes to designing... I'm no where near these ladies below who have done some really impressive work with accessories...

1) OchaCream by Mia



I love most of her designs which I find quirky, whimiscal yet classy all at the same time. The moment I set eyes on her accessories I immediately realized that this was kind of design that I love the best. Only problem though, is that her accessories tend to be quite expensive. Of course not expensive as in $100 to $1000 kind of expensive - an average price for a necklace costs about $40 to $50, while the earrings costs about $30 to $40. To me, I usually only purchase one item on an occassional indulgence.

Nevertheless, even if I can't afford them they are still nice to look at :)

Mia is sometimes invited to set up stalls at bazaars that sell exclusively indie brands. In the recent Singapore Arts Festival, she was invited to set up a stall as well. Great if you do manage to catch those cos it's always nice to be able to touch and feel before buying. However, stalls are not commonplace for OchaCream so it relies mainly on online purchasing.

Buying from OchaCream was my very first experience with buying stuff from a non-MNC website (eg. Amazon). Response was very prompt and so was the delivery of the items. You can choose to get it delivered via registered mail (more expensive but more reliable), or via normal mail. Either way, the item is packaged nicely in bubble-wrap and a personalized plastic pouch by the time it reaches you.

Payment can be made through funds transfer for local addresses.

One thing though, I have come to find that sometimes the pictures on the website give me an impression that they are quite large, only to find them a little smaller when you see the actual product. This despite the fact that Mia always takes photos of her charms on the accessory beside a Singapore 1 dollar coin. Maybe it's just me...

Mia is in fact a theatre practicioner and is still active in the local theatre scene mainly as an actress. She does customizations as well.

2) Birdsnestfern by Huey Eng



I came across this website after receiving the owner's card when I was attracted by her stall at a bazaar in SMU. Compared to OchaCream, Birdsnestfern has a range of accessories that are much more affordable, with earrings, necklaces, bookmarks and other items priced between $10 to $25. Birdsnestfern also has the occassional burst of generosity where the owner, Huey Eng, gives away freebies or offer discounts or other goodies. Wonderful marketing ploy.

Still comparing to OchaCream, the materials are definitely less exquisite than that used by Mia, which probably explains the lower prices. However, the whimsical element is what lures me the most to her products. Despite using more ordinary beads and charms, Huey Eng's talent shines through in the way she combines these items into a complete accessory. Huey Eng also does a lot of wire-work, but personally I find those less appealing. But then again, this is just one person's opinion. Nevertheless, mainly because of the affordable prices and unique artwork, I do find myself buying accessories from Birdsnestfern rather frequently. In fact, I have not had the motivation to buy from ordinary accessories shop since I discovered this website.

Perhaps due to her schedule as a student with exams, term papers and all, her response may be a little delayed at times. Nevertheless, Huey Eng never fails to deliver. She has been quite contactable via email, and is quite comfortable engaging in small talk over the email as you confirm your purchase and stuff.

Payment is made through fund transfer only.

The interface of her website is of course not as sophiscated, but it does its job nevertheless. Unlike at OchaCream where you fill in an order form, this one relies on emails for orders and subsequent correspondences. Only complaint about her website is the "non-enlargeable" pictures of the accessories. However, the actual product almost always meet the expectations. I have worn a few accessories from Birdsnestfern to work before and they never fail to attract positive attention from my colleagues.

Huey Eng is a student at NTU so exams and term papers do get in the way of her response when you order or deliver. Nevertheless, she is thus far reliable. Huey Eng has even been featured in at least newspaper before about young entrepreneurs. She does customizations too. In fact, I had her customize a bracelet before and she was very responsible in sending me photos of the product at various stages, and very patient in listening to my uncertainties about the outcome and explaining why she chose certain charms and why she made the accessory in a certain way.


There you go! Not sure what to buy for Christmas? Check these websites out then!

If you ever want to find out what exactly schizophrenia is like, sans the dramatization of A Beautiful Mind, but with a compelling story nonetheless, then this is the movie to watch.

And the story goes...

Lukas, a young man from a small town in Germany, moves to Cologne to pursue his university studies. He puts up with his sister, Kati, and her boyfriend, Jochen, and has a ball of a time as he discovers the big city and embraces his new-found freedom. Kati and Jochen, similarly excited by Lukas' arrival, gladly introduce him to some of their favourite pasttimes, which includes downing booze, driving across parks and ingesting hallucinogenic substances.

Lukas happily moves along, although occassionally perturbed by the effects of the hallucinogenic drugs which seemed to alter his sense of reality for the next few days. However, as the movie goes on, we start to realize something odd about Lukas as he begins displaying some rather bizzare behaviours.

Soon after that, things just became worse for Lukas. After experimenting with some other hallucinogenic stuff with Kati and Jochen, Lukas experienced flashes of altered realities whereby he heard Kati and Jochen hurling insults at him, even when they weren't actually moving their lips. The voices went on till the next few days, and got more and more intense from then on, dominating every single moment of his thoughts. While the voices started out by mocking him, they gradually became more and more aggressive, threatening to kill him and urging him to end his life.

Lukas sought to manage the voices rationally when they first appeared by trying to analyze the voices. However, as the symptoms intensified, Lukas frantically sought out ways to distract himself from the voices, failing which he grew aggressive against Jochen and Kati, thinking that they had really meant what "they" had said, and that they were the ones tormenting him. Eventually, the voices convinced him of his worthlessness and dared him to fight back. Lukas, who by then became reclusive and delirious, shouted and slamed things aimlessly in response to what the voices said. Finally, he surrendered. Desperate and confused, he threw himself out of the window.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Lukas, he survived the attempt, but was committed into the psychiatric hospital and heavily drugged with anti-psychotics to stabilize his condition, beginning yet another challenging life journey for Lukas and his loved ones altogether as he struggles with his medication and his new job.

Unfortunately, it also marks the beginning of a rather tiring journey for the viewer...

My opinion

In reading about the condition in textbooks it is usually hard to imagine how a patient with schizophrenia felt. A course I attended attempted to let us experience the feeling by getting two people to recite different paragraphs at the same time into both ears. It was very distracting and annoying even then.

However, the 2 paragraphs that were recited to us at that time were benign topics. When watching the movie, what you experienced through the soundtrack was overlapping voices of familiar persons insulting, mocking, belittling and threatening the protagonist. This experience was rather scarey for me as an audience - imagine how a real patient might have felt when experiencing this same thing all day and all night. How tormented and shattered one could become.

True to what various sources would tell you, during his psychotic episode Lukas was portrayed as an unkempt individual with incredibly distorted thoughts and very little sense of control over his behaviours. This led to considerable distress to Kati, who initially could not fathom what had gotten over her baby brother. When the inevitable happened, Kati found herself in disbelief that her nice, 'normal' brother could be mentally ill. You could feel the pain as she gazed at her brother in the hospital - catatonic, dazed and drooling from the anti-psychotics.

I have to admit that the movie was at times too realistic to the point of boredom. Even I found it neccessary to fast-forward certain parts of the movie that were simply too draggy and could have been expressed more effectively in a shorter time. Nevertheless, the realism was something that I appreciated simply for bringing the audience right into the life of someone tormented by a mental illness.

Nevertheless, character-wise, I liked the portrayal Kati as Lukas' only kin who he could turn to. As Lukas suffered the debilitating symptoms of his mental condition, he was unable to reach out to Kati. At the same time, Kati, while devastated and sympathetic to her brother's suffering, was also unable to reach out to him. That difficult relationship culmulated into an extremely poignant scene for me in the second half of the movie when Lukas, haunted by his persecutory thoughts again, made a decision to leave Kati, his only pillar of support, to yet another suicide attempt.

Apart from the condition, the movie also explored the diffiulties facing Lukas as a recovering patient. Once a student poised for a university education, Lukas was reduced to eeking out a living doing a menial job. Despite knowing that he had to be compliant with his medication to prevent any relapse, he decided to stop taking them as he the medicine had dulled him so much that he felt tired all the time, leading to a very sad predicament.

The storytelling

Director Hans Weingartner filmed the movie on a hand-held camera, perhaps to increase the realism of the plot. I have no issues with that as Weingartner also incorporated several interesting artistic elements to create the right atmosphere for his scenes. My particular favourite part was how the chaos and darkness of the scene of Lukas' first suicide immediately cut into a bright, clean but blurry scene seen through Lukas' eyes at the psychiatric hospital, with Kati smiling awkwardly into the camera, tears in her eyes, clearly not knowing how to react to her brother's condition.

However, as a result of the realism, the last part of the movie where we see Lukas, falling back into his psychotic state and displaying various bizzare behaviours became almost too painful to watch. I suppose it was the thought that since Lukas was "saved" once, why couldn't the scriptwriter "save" him again? In fact, it felt unneccessary and depressing that the protagonist was made to go through the ordeal all over again.

Then again, that probably was the whole point of the movie. In real life chances of a relapse of a mental condition is high. Then again, there are also those who cope very well with recovery. Whatever the case is, in a more mainstream movie the filmmakers probably would have ended the movie by the time of Lukas' second suicide, leaving audiences to wonder about his predicament. However, the screenwriters instead decided to give you the whole deal of what happened after that, losing much of that movie magic.

Also, despite my whole point about the movie being realistic, the very end of the movie came as a pretty abrupt shift from realism to movie-fantasy. It was almost too Zen-like for a movie that tried so hard to establish itself as a 'real-live' event.

The performances

Nevertheless, the flaws in the movie could not suppress the outstanding performances delivered by the main cast. In fact, I dare say that without the stallar performances of the cast, Weingartner's attempt at realism would have been a terrible disaster.

Daniel Brühl has been hailed as one of the most outstanding young actors from Europe in various reviews, which cite mainly his performances in more well-known movies such as Good Bye, Lenin! and The Edukators. However, for me, his role as Lukas in The White Sound will remain as one of his best works. As you would have read from above, the changes that Lukas goes through are so extreme and dynamic that you would expect that only an actor of considerable age and experience could handle the role competently. Yet Brulh, only 23 at the time of the movie, navigated the transitions so convincingly that watching him as Lukas battling the condition became a creepy affair. Unlike popular portrayals of people with mental illnesses, you sympathize with Lukas' bizzare behaviours and feel sad when you realize how the condition turned him into a lonely individual.

Anabelle Lachatte as Kati is outstanding as well. In the movie, Kati was introduced as an aimless young person bumping around and getting high with her live-in boyfriend. Like many caregivers of people with mental illness Kati initially dismissed her brother as simply being difficult. However, once Lukas became ill, Kati was suddenly forced to assume the responsibility of caring for her brother. She cried when Lukas in his dazed state refused to go home with her from the hospital, yet never shed a tear when physically attacked by his unpredictable aggressive episodes. Strong-willed yet vulnerable. Anabelle delivered such a convincing performance of a single caregiver of a loved one with mental illness. Having worked with such caregivers before, Anabelle could have easily been one of them.

Other observations

One reviewer at IMDB.com complained that the movie made a mistake by attributing Lukas' condition to both hereditary factors and drug consumption. However, one thing that should be mentioned is that when Kati tried to explained that they had done drugs the day before the whole debacle, the psychiatrist added that, "hallucinogenic drugs does sometimes trigger (schizophrenia)." Hence, what the psychiatrist really was saying was that Lukas was perhaps already predisposed to schizophrenia. The drugs only acted as a catalyst that triggered off the condition.

I read in another review that director Weingartner studied neurology, hence the very well-researched and realistic portrayal of the condition. In an interview on the official website, Weingartner also explained that he made the movie because he had an acquaintance with schizophrenia and felt the need to dispel myths about people with mental illnesses as killing psychopaths or crazy geniuses. I applaud him for that. However, as I said, that ending that he made was a real anti-climax and indeed does some disservice to him as a director. Or maybe I should blame the scriptwriters for that...

What's in the title?

If I were to guess, The White Sound probably refers to the auditory hallucinations which is a common characteristic of schizophrenia, by attributing a physical property to an intangible element. White also evokes the image of purity, which perhaps referred to Lukas' search for serenity amidst the disturbing experience.

Verdict

This is not a movie for everyone as it is so real that some scenes may come across as unneccessarily long or simply meant for the cutting board. Nevertheless, in that aspect itself one may also see it as a refreshing change from the usual dramatic styles of telling a story. That said, this movie certainly is not a case study of schizophrenia but it does give insightful details about the condition. So if you would like to see something more down-to-earth than A Beautiful Mind, do give this movie a chance.

Rating

3/5 - for the fact that despite an outstanding cast and realistic portrayal of schizophrenia, the movie is essentially 1/3 exciting and 2/3 boring.

Additional information

The official website (unfortunately it's in German. So if you're interested, you could try the translating function at Dictionary.com)

IMDB.com

What exactly is schizophrenia?

Such a common word these days, don't you think? The presentation of schizophrenia often represents what popular belief of mental illness is about. Nevertheless, in a nutshell, here's what the condition is really about (thanks to Wikipedia I don't have to dig out my research articles and type a thesis on it):

Schizophrenia, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction. Onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood,[1] with approximately 0.4–0.6%[2][3] of the population affected. Diagnosis is based on the patient's self-reported experiences and observed behavior. No laboratory test for schizophrenia exists.[4]

Studies suggest that genetics, early environment, neurobiology and psychological and social processes are important contributory factors. Current psychiatric research is focused on the role of neurobiology, but a clear organic cause has not been found. Due to the many possible combinations of symptoms, there is debate about whether the diagnosis represents a single disorder or a number of discrete syndromes. For this reason, Eugen Bleuler termed the disease the schizophrenias (plural) when he coined the name. Despite its etymology, schizophrenia is not synonymous with dissociative identity disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder or split personality; in popular culture the two are often confused.

The disorder is primarily thought to affect cognition, but it also usually contributes to chronic problems with behavior and emotion. People diagnosed with schizophrenia are likely to be diagnosed with comorbid conditions, including clinical depression and anxiety disorders; the lifetime prevalence of substance abuse is typically around 40%. Social problems, such as long-term unemployment, poverty and homelessness, are common and life expectancy is decreased; the average life expectancy of people with the disorder is 10 to 12 years less than those without, owing to increased physical health problems and a high suicide rate.[5]

Now, this may sound lame or even offensive to some, but really, all you gals out there especially...

Have you ever wondered how did the sanitary napkin come about?

I mean, it's such an integral part of life that it's almost taken for granted. Yet it's such a wonderful invention that most gals cannot do without these days... What would we do if we hadn't had the luxury of such convenience??

Info from Wiki.

Info from the Museum of Menstruation

Teaching you to create your own toys from scratch.

http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/safe_toys_you_can_make.html

I have always been interested in crafts but guess I'm just pure lazy so I have no skills to speak, just little bursts of creativity now and then but even so can't be bothered to really put into action...

The Harry Potter ones are cute thou!

An incident at work today made me think... Really, is there a reason why my maths is exceptionally poor?? I mean, I can never do any form of calculations for my life without actually putting my fingers in front of me and adding and subtracting physically!!! And without a calculator I am paralyzed.

I'm sure I have this...

Dyscalculia

Dysculculia (difficulty in learning or comprehending mathematics) was originally identified in case studies of patients who suffered specific arithmetic disabilities as a result of damage to specific regions of the brain. Recent research suggests that dyscalculia can also occur developmentally, as a genetically-linked learning disability which affects a person's ability to understand, remember, and/or manipulate numbers and/or number facts (e.g. the multiplication tables). The term is often used to refer specifically to the inability to perform arithmetic operations, but is defined by some educational professionals and cognitive psychologists as a more fundamental inability to conceptualize numbers as abstract concepts of comparative quantities (a deficit in "number sense"[1]). Those who argue for this more constrained definition of dyscalculia sometimes prefer to use the technical term Arithmetic Difficulties (AD) to refer to calculation and number memory deficits.

Dyscalculia is a lesser known disability, similar and potentially related to dyslexia and Developmental Dyspraxia. Dyscalculia occurs in people across the whole IQ range, and sufferers often, but not always, also have difficulties with time, measurement, and spatial reasoning. Current estimates suggest it may affect about 5% of the population. Although some researchers believe that dyscalculia necessarily implies mathematical reasoning difficulties as well as difficulties with arithmetic operations, there is evidence (especially from brain damaged patients) that arithmetic (e.g. calculation and number fact memory) and mathematical (abstract reasoning with numbers) abilities can be dissociated. That is (some researchers argue), an individual might suffer arithmetic difficulties (or dyscalculia), with no impairment of, or even giftedness in, abstract mathematical reasoning abilities.

The word dyscalculia comes from Greek and Latin which means: "counting badly". The prefix "dys" comes from Greek and means "badly". "Calculia" comes from the Latin "calculare", which means "to count". That word "calculare" again comes from "calculus", which means "pebble" or one of the counters on an abacus.

Possible Symptoms

- Frequent difficulties with arithmetic, confusing the signs: +, −, ÷ and ×.

- Inability to tell which of two numbers is the larger.

- Reliance on 'counting-on' strategies, e.g., using fingers, rather than any more efficient mental arithmetic strategies.

- Difficulty with everyday tasks like checking change and reading analog clocks.

- Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting, sometimes even at a basic level; for example, estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket or balancing a checkbook.

- Difficulty with times-tables, mental arithmetic, etc.

- May do fairly well in subjects such as science and geometry, which require logic rather than formulas, until a higher level requiring calculations is needed.

- Difficulty with conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time.

- Problems differentiating between left and right.

- Having a poor sense of direction (i.e., north, south, east, and west), potentially even with a compass.

- Difficulty navigating or mentally "turning" the map to face the current direction rather than the common North=Top usage.

- Having difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance (e.g., whether something is 10 or 20 feet away).

- Inability to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae, and sequences.

- Difficulty keeping score during games.

- Difficulty with games such as poker with more flexible rules for scoring. - Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from the physical (such as dance steps) to the abstract (reading, writing and signaling things in the right order). May have trouble even with a calculator due to difficulties in the process of feeding in variables.

- The condition may lead in extreme cases to a phobia of mathematics and mathematical devices.

So am I dysculculia?

Maybe I should get myself an independent assessment to find out.

The producers behind Bridget Jones' Diary and Billy Elliot have done it again.

Rory O'Shea Was Here is an affecting, deeply moving and very insightful take on the lives of 2 people with physical disabilities struggling to find themselves.

The story:

All is calm in the Carriagmore Residential Home, where lives go on just as how life should be in any residential home for the diabled. Essentially, individuality is discouraged. And while it may not be immediately apparent, but due to their disability the residents are subjected to various humiliating conditions - conditions such as being forced to watch cartoons which are totally age inappropriate, getting bathed by someone unfamiliar to them, forced to sit through boring concerts which may not suit their tastes, and forced to sit in their wheelchairs in the middle of bustling streets to ask for donations.

Michael Connolly (Steven Robertson), a young, wheelchair-bound man with cerebral palsy, was just one of the residents living in Carrigmore Home. Abandoned by his father since young, he had been living at the Home for most of his life. One of the only things made him stick out from the crowd in the Home was his inability to speak intelligibly.

This is an excellent documentary that brings you deep into the lives of male hosts in the Japanese city Osaka, who sell dreams to paying rich female customers. A very indepth exploration of these pretty boys who, while boasting about how much they earn, also admit that they do feel confused and numb about their feelings playing lover/confidant/business partner to their customers.

It's actually a very sad thing to see how empty these people feel inside, that lonliness and that yearning for some afirmation and fulfilment, even though most of them are well aware that it is all a big lie - hosts and customers alike.

I was quite surprised when the documentary came to the part where their customers revealed that they were either hostess or even prostitutes themselves. But then again, it is only people like this who can actually earn that kind of money to be able to splurge on hosts (apparently they can spend like US$10, 000 a night!!!). In fact, because of the nature of their work, many admit that by buying a dream of being loved by someone, it makes them feel complete. It is also very shocking to hear how all these customers just get sucked so deep into this dream that they are practically living it.

It just makes you think about how city live has turned city-dwellers into such emotional wrecks.
These hosts obviously make big money, but that kind of emotional and physical toll it brings, I really wonder how they can survive day by day.

The Great Happiness Space Documentary 2007

The documentary is 1 hr and 15 min long, so you may want to let it load while you do other stuff before coming back to view it in one shot. But it really is worth the wait. A very well-made, raw and emotional insight into this lesser known but looked-down upon occupation.

This is odd... instead of reporting on the devastating earthquake in Taiwan, The Straits Times chose to put the news about Internet disruption as the front page with lots of lengthy articles....

The inconvenience of modern living is deemed more important than the lives lost during the earthquake???

Here's what I learnt about the condition narcolepsy from that French movie Narco:

1) Narcolepsy is a rare condition
2) There is no cure for narcolepsy
3) The sufferer experiences fantastical dreams while in a sleeping fit
4) The sleeping fits are induced when the sufferer experiences stress
5) Sufferers may grow to suffer from low self-esteem and are have difficulty integrating into mainstream society


Fact or myth? Here's what quack psychologist pearl found out from this website.

First of all, what is narcolepsy?

Like what the doctor in the movie said, 'narco' refers to being in a stupor, hence the word 'narcotics', while 'lepsy' refers to being in a fit, as in epilepsy. As written in this reference, "narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally. At various times throughout the day, people with narcolepsy experience fleeting urges to sleep. If the urge becomes overwhelming, patients fall asleep for periods lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. In rare cases, some people may remain asleep for an hour or longer."

1) Narcolepsy is a rare condition

In an early scene where Gus' father had taken the young Gus to the doctor, the doctor commented that being such a rare condition, there is no cure for narcolepsy.

Maybe true, because this scene was set in the 1970s so it probably is a safe bet to say that narcolepsy was rare during that time, not because less people suffered from it. More plausibly, because it was not a well-known condition at that time. Now, it is said that "the disorder affects about one in every 2,000 Americans-a total of more than 135,000 individuals". However, even now, it is largely underrecognized and underdiagnosed.

What causes narcolepsy? Most cases of narcolepsy occurs independently in individuals without strong evidence of being inherited. Other factors-such as infection, immune-system dysfunction, trauma, hormonal changes, stress-may also be present before the disorder develops.


2) There is no cure for narcolepsy.

True. There is indeed no cure for narcolepsy at this point of time. However, the symptoms associated with narcolepsy may be controlled through medication. What symptoms? See the next question...


3) The sufferer experiences fantastical dreams while in a sleeping fit.

False. Unlike in the movie where Gus dreams up wonderful and creative dreams of him being a hero, real sufferers experience pure nightmares. But before I go into that, let's look at the symptoms associated with narcolepsy:

(one) Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)

This symptom is usually the first to become clinically apparent. People with EDS describe it as a persistent sense of mental cloudiness, a lack of energy, a depressed mood, or extreme exhaustion. Many find that they have great difficulty maintaining their concentration while at school or work. Some experience memory lapses. Many find it nearly impossible to stay alert in passive situations, as when listening to lectures or watching television. People tend to awaken from such unavoidable sleeps feeling refreshed and finding that their feelings of drowsiness and fatigue subside for an hour or two.

(two) Cataplexy

Cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone that leads to feelings of weakness and a loss of voluntary muscle control, which resembles an epileptic attack. Attacks can occur at any time during the waking period, with patients usually experiencing their first episodes several weeks or months after the onset of EDS. Although cataplexy can occur spontaneously, it is more often triggered by sudden, strong emotions such as fear, anger, stress, excitement, or humor. Laughter is reportedly the most frequent trigger.

(three) Sleep paralysis

Similar to cataplexy, only difference is cataplexy occurs while the sufferer is awake, while sleep paralysis occurs when, you guessed it, the sufferer is falling asleep or waking up. Cataplexy and sleep paralysis are frightening events, especially when first experienced. Shocked by suddenly being unable to move, many patients fear that they may be permanently paralyzed or even dying. However, even when severe, cataplexy and sleep paralysis do not result in permanent dysfunction. After episodes end, people rapidly recover their full capacity to move and speak.

(four) Hallucinations

These delusional experiences are unusually vivid and frequently frightening. Most often, the content is primarily visual, but any of the other senses such as hearing, smell and touch can be involved.


So as a narcoleptic sufferer, could Gus experience such wonderful dreams? Seems like a very low possibility cos these 'dreams' should have been extremely frightening.


4) The sleeping fits are induced when the sufferer experiences stress

Maybe true. It hasn't been stated anywhere that stress is the main trigger for narcolepsy, and it seems like the condition is mainly spontaneous. Although to say that sleeping fits are triggered by stress doesn't sound too far-fetched either. Many of my clients experience epileptic fits when faced with stress, so I'm not at all surprised if stress really is a trigger.


5) Sufferers may grow up with low self-esteem and find it difficult to integrate into mainstream society.

True. This is what was written in the website: Narcoleptic symptoms, especially EDS, often prove more severe when the disorder develops early in life rather than during the adult years. Experts have also begun to recognize that narcolepsy sometimes contributes to certain childhood behavioral problems, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and must be addressed before the behavioral problem can be resolved. If left undiagnosed and untreated, narcolepsy can pose special problems for children and adolescents, interfering with their psychological, social, and cognitive development and undermining their ability to succeed at school. For some young people, feelings of low self-esteem due to poor academic performance may persist into adulthood.



Reference: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/narcolepsy/detail_narcolepsy.htm#58853201

Me llamo Pearl. ¡Mucho gusto!

I started my 1st 2 lessons of basic Spanish in the past week, and the above was the very first Spanish sentence I learnt. Basically, it means "Hello! What is your name?" "My name is Pearl. Nice to meet you!"

After contemplating over which 3rd language to pick up, I finally decided on Spanish, probably due to my exposure and liking for Latin songs in general. It also helped that an ex-colleague had that same interest, and it's always nice to have some company in endeavours like these.

So, we signed up for Beginner 1 Spanish course offered by this school Las Lilas which specializes exclusively in the Spanish language, recommended by a friend who has been attending classes from here.

It was rather exciting to be learning a foreign language in a classroom setting, where all of a sudden most of the words that sprout out of the teacher's mouth simply make no sense. Very unlike in my almost 20 years of formal education where everytime I entered a classroom with a pretty good sense of whatever language that was taught. And imagine our bewilderment when we, complete beginners with totally no knowledge of the language, were given textbooks and workbooks that were totally in Spanish! In fact, whenever people asked me how my first lesson went, I would usually say, "ever watched Mind your Language?"

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying lessons so far. I don't think I'll ever gain mastery of the language, nor do I think there really is much use for the language commercially as Latin countries are not very valued in Singapore's commercial and diplomatic world. Still, it'll be nice to at least gain a basic grasp of another language and in the process understand another culture and its people.

Wish me luck!!

Oh, by the way, some interesting trivia I picked from Spanish class:

- A Spanish individual has 4 names officially: the first 2 names are the person's given names, while the 3rd name is the father's surname, and the last name is the mother's surname. Hence, the name of the writer of "Love In A Time of Cholera" is Gabriel, while Garcia Marquez are his surnames.
- In saying a person's nationality, one's gender matters. The general rule of thumb is that if you are a guy, the word ends with an 'o', whereas for girls, it ends with 'a', as in Mexicano for a male Mexican and Maxicana for a female Mexican.
- Spanish has plural and singular forms!!!! Call me 'sua ku' but that was something that I really didn't expect.
-

I'm practically hooked on BBC's new series.

No, it's not a drama, but a series of human anthropology documentries, featuring explorer Bruce Parry's journey into the little known world of some of the most isolated tribes in the world. Ranging from Papua New Guinea's Kombai tribe, to Africa's Babonga tribe, to the Mongolian normadic tribe, Parry lived for over a month with each of these 9 tribes, attached to a family and getting initiated as part of the community by the end of each of his stays. It's all documented, and it's breathtaking and simply amazing to watch.

Simply, this new series is called "Tribe".



The thing I really like about this documentry is how it goes deep into the lives of these people as opposed to many other anthropological documentries which often looks at these cultures from a third person's point of view. I mean, Parry is really living their lives, and experiencing first hand what it is like to be part of the tribal community. He endures physically and even emotionally painful initiation rituals, roughs it out with the men on their hunting trips, treds barefooted through jungles and forests, herds goats, sheeps and yaks, gets caught in middle of a war between 2 tribes and battles nature's elements just like the tribes do in their own, normal ways of life. And fortunately, unlike crappy reality shows, Parry takes it all like the ex-Marine he used to be - with poise, resilience and nothing but respect for each of these cultures. It's no wonder the people were often willing to impart their skills, their knowledge of their surroundings, and their beliefs to this white man, and basically accepting him as part of them.

In fact, like what one of the Suri tribe men told Parry, as Parry has quoted in an interview on BBC's website, "We hate some people who come to visit us. We let them in as they bring in goods and cash, but we feel that they look down on us and just want to take our photographs and leave. They seldom interact. But you... You live with us. You sleep with us. You drink blood with us. This is what we want. This is good."

One particularly memorable moment was when Parry agreed to go through the rite of passage which involved the ingestion of a poisonous bark with hallucinogenic properties for 2 days straight, leading to disorientation, hallucination, and suppressed memories/emotions being evoked. To get a sense of how potent this is, here's a description of the drug as can be found on the official website:

"The Babongo have a powerful reputation as sorcerers, and inspire awe in the Bantu for their knowledge of the forest. At the heart of this status is their knowledge of Iboga, a powerful hallucinogenic plant central to the Babongos' beliefs.

... The Babongo cultivate the drug Iboga for their ceremonies, and worship it as the source of spiritual knowledge. Some Bwiti scholars believe it is the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden. It comes from the bitter root of the Iboga tree, and is a powerful psycho-active drug - something like LSD, mescaline or amphetamines. Taking Iboga brings a sense of anxiety, extreme apprehension and visual hallucinations - effects which can be made stronger by darkness, ambience and suggestion. It makes you violently sick, can lead to a state of lethargy lasting four to five days and, in extreme doses, it can kill.

When Bwiti shamans eat Iboga, they are granted the power to see the future, heal the sick and speak with the dead. The Babongo use it as a stimulant before hunting and during initiation ceremonies. They believe that Iboga frees your soul to leave your body and go on a great journey, to speak with the spirits of animals and plants."

And this was what Parry went through for the initiation:

"The three-day initiation ceremony is used for spiritual or personal development, and to become a man. First the initiate eats the sliced root of the Iboga tree over a period of hours, monitored by his Bwiti father, and the visions begin. The Iboga allows him to see into his true self and vividly revisit the consequences of his past actions. After 24 hours of this, the initiate is taken to the river by the men. They lift him through a construction of twigs shaped like a vulva suspended over the water, then wash him with water soaked with leaves. The men pull a sapling of the sacred matombi tree from the forest, and plant it outside the Bwiti temple - it represents the initiate as a child. Throughout the day the elders feed him small pieces of Iboga, and the whole village perform, dancing in vivid costumes, in a way designed to bring on further hallucinations.

In the last phase, the initiate is called upon to see the Bwiti visions. Fire dancers sprint the length of the village to entice the Macoi spirits from the darkness of the forest. The initiate must tell the elders what he has seen; this is sacred knowledge, known only to them, and through it he becomes a man. The villagers meanwhile plant a forest around the matombi tree, to represent the problems to be faced in adult life. Together, the men break up the trees branch by branch to symbolise the removal of all his problems.

As well as influencing religious belief across Gabon, Iboga is also of increasing interest to Western medicine. One of its active ingredients, ibogain, has been used to treat heroin addicts, alcoholics and people who have been traumatised in childhood. Advocates say its particular powerful effects allow those who take it to move on from their previous lives and habits."


Nevertheless, it's just great to watch such harmonious and respectful human interaction captured on camera.


"Tribe" is now showing on Discovery Channel, and that is channel 12 on Singapore's Starhub Cable!

Visit the official website here, which is not only interesting but also very informative, including lots of information on the cultures of the tribes which Parry has lived with.

I mentioned playing games at the course which were fun and interesting yet do not insult our intelligence. MY actually requested that I talk about some of the games that were being played, so I thought I'd come out with another post on this cos especially for those of you who need to conduct courses or work with kids or youths or even adults, this is something very useful to break the monotony of the lecturette and create bonding among the participants. It also encourages physical movement which aids in maintaining the concentartion span of the participants.

These games were termed 'crowdies' by our facilitators Mike and Darryl, who said that the term 'crowdies' gave a more fun connotation and implied that it is an activity that encourages group participation. There are no proper names to the game. Basically, the trick is to come up with some fun and outrageous names which you think your audience would like. I'll talk about a few memorable ones here (no fancy names here though :))

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1) Passing the hot stone

This one is my favourite crowdie. Basically, you get the participants into a big circle. Then, tell them a story about cavemans. The story is to introduce the participants to the activity supposedly played by cavemans, which is to gather round a bonfire, then pick up a hot stone from the bonfire and pass it around.

Since the stone is supposed to be hot, you'll have to pass it around fast. The direction of the stone is determined by the person who starts the 'stone' rolling. For example, if he throws the stone right, the person on the right has to throw it to his right and so on. The catch is that the participants must 'catch' the stone with their left hand and swing it across their bodies to pass it to their right. No other manner of passing is acceptable. The one who catches the stone may also choose to reverse the direction, by passing the stone over and across his/her head in a different direction.

Those who are too slow, passed it in the wrong manner or used the wrong hand are out of the game.

And of course, the best thing about this game is that you get to make noise at the same time. Cos everytime you pass the 'stone', u have to shout 'czar!' in the most aggressive voice you have.

2) 1 to 21

This one is an exceeding simple game which I think is more fun if u have a large group. Cos with that you can then split the floor into 2 circles. Each on is to shout out 1 to 3 numbers in sequence in a clockwise direction, eg. I could shout 1, the next person could shout 2, 3, 4, and the next one 5, 6 and so on. The person who is forced to take the number 21 is then eliminated. Once the group reduces to the last one, the 'winner' of each team then 'compete' against each other.

3) Electric shock

The facilitator would need one assistant for this. Basically, the group is split into 2 lines, each holding each others hand while all facing front. The first person in each line gets to hold a bunch of keys in front of him/her, while the assistant of the facilitator will hold the hands of the last person from the 2 lines. The assistant will send an 'electric shock' down the line by first squeezing the two hands from both lines, and the group members are then required to pass it on by squeezing the hand of the person in front of them after they've felt their own hand being squeezed. The trick is to react fast. Once the 'shock' reaches the first person in line, the first one to drop the bunch keys after receiving the 'shock' is the winner. The facilitor, who is standing in front of the 2 lines, is the judge who determines who drops it first.

After the keys have been dropped, the game is continued with the first person moving to the back and the 2nd person moving to the first position. The game stops after the original first person comes back again and the scores are tallied.

The fun thing in this is that sometimes, a false electric shock is sent. But of course, the assistant must be someone trusted ;)

4) Entangle

Everyone stands in a tight circle. Then, participants are suppsed to cross their arms and hold the hand of another person except for those on their sides. After they have locked hands, they are supposed to get themselves untangled without releasing their grip.

Sometimes groups get stuck. If that happens, the facilitator may allow only one arm position to be changed to aid in the 'untangling'.

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Actually how fun the games come out to be depends a lot on the facilitator's ability to create that fun atmosphere. I actually tried out some of the games with my childcare group and it didn't work out as well as I wanted it to. So I guess it really takes practice.

Also, the interesting thing is that these games are non-threatening so these ice-breakers may acrtually set the stage for more active, 'silly' activities which keeps the energy level up as participants get more and more comfortable with each other.

Here's Mike's website to find out more :)

Accroding to famous develpmental psychologist, Eric Erickson, adolescents resolve the need for identity, after which they began to experience the need for intimacy in young adulthood. Hence, dating and romance in young adulthood is a normative part of development which furthers one's identity development and also leads to intimacy development, which prepares a person for close relationships, including marriage.

Connolly et al. (2004) also proposed a sequence of stages for a typical person in early adolescence (grades 5 - 8)

1) Same-gender affiliative activities (ie. do things with the same gender peers tahat promote affiliation)

2) Mixed-gender affiliative activities (ie. hang around with boys and girls)

3) Dating activities (ie. go on dates with a boy in a group)

4) Dyadic romantic relationship

Although this was reflective of caucasian adolescents, Asian-Canadians also showed the same sequence, just that they were slower to start.

What can I say? Guess I have to admit this -


I'm definitely not normal.


So what is a freak like me doing studying about dating and romance?

Blasted developmental paper. Urgh!

Again, I found myself in a rut over my next paper which is due on Monday. Essay question: In what ways do bilingual infants differ in their early language development from monolingual infants? Thought this one would be straightforward enough but alas, trying to write this paper has exposed the stark reality that really, after nearly one semester, I still don't know nuts about early language learning!!! Tons and tons of reference material in front of me but every paragraph is peppered with 'cheem' linguistic terms which never seem to make any sense to me, even after I've checked out its meaning and all...

What is "pronominal subjects"? What does "postverbal strong overt pronoun" refer to? How about "preverbal weak prenominal clitics"? And just what in the world is the "C system"??

Lexicals, syntax, exhaustive categorization, mutual exclusivity, code switching, thematic, predicate, morpheme, allophones... How do people survive linguistics???

Vomits more blood .

Anyway, my mind strays whenever I'm stuck with my assignments, and this time it found its way into FunkyGrad.com and I came across this article which I felt was very thought-provoking. It's an old issue, no doubt, but definitely a long-standing one which will never end as long as we exist. Just too bad most people are just so caught up in their own insercurities and ego that they refuse to see the other side of things.

"History is written by victors"

By the way, history is one of my favourite subjects, and that title really sums up my view of the wonderful world of historic accounts.

Let's do a compliation of Pearls' list of things-to-do:

7/10/05 (Friday) - deadline for Developmental Processes commentary paper, 4 pages (completed!)
- also the day for presentation on The Costly Pursuit of Self-Esteem, a 22-page journal article, for Developmental Processes.

10/10/05 (Monday) - deadline for Evolutionary Psychology essay 2000 words(incomplete. Stuck.)

14/10/05 (Friday) - deadline for Early Language Learning essay, 1500 words (not started. Only references collected)

21/10/05 (Friday) - deadline for Developmental Processes status paper, 2000 words (not started. Only found one relevant book)

31/10/05 (Monday) - 2nd mid-term test for Evolutionary Psychology, MCQs.

10/11/05 (Thursday) - deadline for Issues in Research and Testing essay, 4000 words (of course I've not started on this one!!)

Now, I badly need inspiration for my paper on Evolutionary Psychology. Skipped lecture today in hope of getting something done. But now, all my references are right in front of me yet I'm still stuck. My MS Word is filled with paragraphs here and there but I can't connect them... Arrrggghhh!!!!

The question is "what would you regard as the most significant attribute separating humans from animals, and why? Discuss how an evolutionary perspective might try to account for this attribute." I haven't even successfully answered the first part of the question. I've decided on my attribute, but as I said, can't connect ideas.

Doesn't help that I'll be conducting auditions on Sat and will be occupied the whole of Friday because of the presentation and the script... I NEED to finish this paper by TODAY!!! So that I can finally start on my paper on Early Language Learning!!! (my most dreaded subject. It's interesting, but all the linguistic terms are absolutely of no help...).

Oh my oh my oh my....




On a sidenote, this pseudo-classical albumI'm listening to now, called simply "The Classical Album", is actually quite a listening pleasure, with a nice mix of opera and orchestra pieces ranging from true classical pieces to movie soundtracks and modern instrumental. Alas, not exactly in a mood to enjoy... No inspiration.

Amidst the chaos in New Orleans, one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, even the media is perpectuating it...

A black young man loots a grocery store.


Two white residents find food from a grocery store.

Taken from SPCNET forums.

Last week the Straits Times ran an article that showed a picture of an Alaskan dog lying dead in a pile of mess, foaming in the mouth, sunken and disheavelled. Here's what happened...

(Taken from the online petition)

"A 3-year old Alaskan malamute died of severe heatstroke because its owner, Lim Bee Leong, 30, left it without water and shelter in the backyard of his terrace house. The poor animal was found with blood foaming at its mouth amid faeces, empty dish bowls and dangerous utensils and tools such as barbecue skewers and shovels.

This is not the first time that Lim, who lives alone, has neglected the dog. Acting on a complaint in 2003, an SPCA inspector has gone to his house and told him the weather here was too hot for an Alaskan malamute (an Artic sled dog which has 2 coats of fur and need plenty of water to stay cool) and that the dog should be kept in a cool place or an air-conditioned room. If it continues to be exposed to the hot sun, it might die of heatstroke. Despite the advice, Lim continued to neglect the dog, resulting in the tragedy. One wonders what anyone had to do to prevent such cruelty.

For this wilful and extreme act of neglect and cruelty, Lim was fined only $3,000. "

Also, see here: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/70038.asp



Only a fine of $3000?????? What were the authorities thinking??? This is no different from murder!!!! This is something that only the most sadistic of all speicies in the planet will do.... Com'on, like we humans are that superior, issit? What gives u the right to treat an animal like that? Animals have feelings, for God's sake!! They are no different from u and I! Oh yes, there is one difference, and that is animals dun torture other animals for the sake of... well, absolutely NOTHING!!! What gives u the right to do that????

There is no excuse for this ....(fill in urself)... by the surname of Lim. Anyone with just a little heart would have done something to the poor dog if he sees it suffering. Even if he geniunely didn't know how to take care of the dog, the instructions from the SPCA should have been enough to make him do something about it. But obviously we are not talking about a person here cos no person should purposely allow a living breathing animal to slowly suffer a painful death.

And for only a fine of $3000???? If someone is rich enough to buy an expensive pedigree Alaskan just to torture to death, what is a mere $3000 to him?

All animal abusers should be condemned to eternal hell. And I mean it.

Sign the online petition if u are as disgusted as I am by this. I never cared for online petitions before and never once signed an online petition. Until now.

Who defines beauty? Who sets the standard of the stick-figure as being beautiful? Who says that blemishes makes you ugly? Who says that being fat is revolting?

Take part in the campaign for real beauty!!

Click here for more information!

Barbados is a coral island in eastern-most Carribean area that gained full independence from the British in 1966. Click here for more info on the island.

Anyway, my point is... doesn't the man on the note (not sure who he is thou) resemble someone we know?



Hmmm... perhaps this is how Andy Lau will look like when he grows old?

Picture of note taken from http://byj4u.top2100.com/board/index.htm. You may have a more detailed look here as well.


Update:

By the way, a number of people have asked me if this note really does exist or is just a Photoshop byproduct. Well, if u click on the last link I provided (go to "Barbados 1980 Two Dollars" or later dates...), u'll find out that this note does exist!

For the first time yesterday I actually sat down and watched The Matrix in its entirety. Wow, I liked it. I liked it for the fact that it really reminds us of the power and potential of the human mind, and both its creative and destructive powers.

And the stunts, very classic HK style which works really well in the movie. A nice feeling to also actually watch the real "Bullet Time" sequence after watching it as spoofs in various movie and TV shows...

And well, I do love this quote from Agent Smith - I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

How ironic. Very sad yet so true. Look at what we are doing to our natural environment, to our fellow human beings... And the best thing about we humans, is that we do not take what we need. We take what we want and will sacrifice others - people, resources etc. just to fulfil that. Not too much to describe ourselves as a virus, isn't it?

Which gets me thinking, I'm really too pessimistic and too cynical for my own good.