Misc. 10/03/10

Alice in Wonderland - enough with the post-processed 3D already. Not sequel or reboot. Fan fiction. Also note the bizarre feminist ending. Disney has both lost and gained my respect.

Flu. Does this have to happen everytime I go to a shopping centre? One thing about staying at home is that you don't get viral flu often.

Also, asked what I wanted to do after this again. After this as in, get a job you're grown up already. This is what you get when you start college 3 years early.

Rest.

Daydream nation.

Currently juggling literature, history, philosophy, theology all at one go. As usual. In my readings of Japanese fairy tales, I can't help but note the marked contrast with say, that of Aesop or the sanitized tales from Old Europe. But I suppose that's the keyword, sanitized. Consider this story, which puts many a Hollywood tale of vengeance to shame.

But really, besides that, most tales lack what some would call coherence. But again, I view this from a (Western?) perspective where characters have motivations and purposes and plots have tidy endings. Some of the stories (Japanese) that I've read are rather baffling - with one part seemingly having no connection to another.

I've begun on theology again, after a long while. Looks like I'm slowly working my way from burn-out. I'm pretty much fed up with most of the churches I've attended - and as a result my empathy with the emergent critique on today's mainline evangelical churches has increased. But throughout the years, oh, about five of them, my theology hasn't quite budged. Perhaps my empathy/sympathy for other perspectives have. But that's healthy, I think.

This is still my model of a comprehensive confession of faith which I subscribe to, and probably won't change anytime soon.

Misc. - 2/3/10

Well, now that the wrath of politicians and certain consumers are directed towards Toyota, Honda and now GM is into the recall business. Looks like it's an okay thing to do now that Toyota has come out. So what's the big issue? (Answer: There isn't.) It's not like Toyota is selling HIV infected blood and the good news for consumers is that they're going all out to win back the business.

College assignments are moving forward. Slowly. The nice part about writing about business but not actually doing it? You can pull "facts" out nowhere. Really, it's okay to do so. Call it best estimates and informed guesses. Some are writing about their own companies. I ground my work in the organization with the most information possible. Double the tedium as sources are external (if it's your own company, you're your own source) but I suppose actual learning is tripled.

I realize that sometimes you can't just know everything. I've been averaging 3 books a week, and while I can clearly see that my abilities to grasp certain issues have been getting better, I likewise can see more clearly that nothing beats going out and seeing/doing it. Indeed, in my 6 month stint at an MNC, I learned more about business than 3 years at college.

Parting note - I have an almost Hegelian obsession for synthesizing propositions. Which might be bad, but I still like the smug feeling it gives me to know that I am smarter than both sides. Try it sometime.

Stuck, with deadlines.

Assignments annoy me. Our quaint college policy of going all assignments (therefore no exams) may be good for some, but I procrastinate. Now, the company that I'm writing on (Toyota) is having some, uh, issues. More things to write, if I knew what to write about.

Writing about not being able to write seems to be good therapy for me. So here it is.

In the meanwhile, Call of Pripyat is occupying my time nicely, and Aliens vs. Predator is just in line. Also, two major assignments of which will probably decide the fate of my degree. Nice.

Mono @ KLPac 2010

Melodic, loud and thoroughly immersive.