#∞ – gratitude

Looking back.

How many hours, days and weeks has it been? No matter, duration does not play any significance.

Words alone can’t quite convey all my feelings, but here’s my pathetic attempt nonetheless:

Despite me being an obnoxious, rude, vulgar, in-your-face, judgmental, critical, gaming-while-discussing asshole, YOU always shut an eye, grit and bear without personal grudge (i hope (: ). Time spent with you guys makes me want to take the first bus to school everyday. Time spent with you guys makes me burst out of ESL 407 straight into the student lounge. Time spent with you guys makes me da pao my food to attend meetings. The laughter, groans, moans, smiles, crazy antics and comfortable silence we shared – will forever be cherished by me.

Kelvin – your leadership and patience never ceased to amaze me. You keep a calm disposition and strong focus on the work at hand but they never get in your way of sharing a good laugh. On top of which, you present genuine concern for others despite of your own troubles. You’re a strong person and I truly admire you in many ways. Not to forget your superior dramatics and creative mind, you have brought our project great success and I must say I enjoyed every strenuous sessions we had to get it down. For all this I thank you and am grateful to have made your acquaintance. HELL, You’re a GREAT FRIEND!

Li Ling – you’re slow, a tad queer, tiny, crazy, angry and psycho to say the list. And I love you for all that. You never cease to crack a smile on my face regardless how bad my day or how emo I try to be. I have to say I was caught breathless by your performance today. For all the assholic and jerkassic stuff I said, I take them back. Despite your clueless facade, you are genuinely thinking critically and working your sanity off to make this work. And work it did. But well don’t ever change, cos I won’t be changing. I’ll forever remain your personal jerk. c:

Joseph – my fellow macbookie! Your donovan’s ass is still on my platter. HAHA. Well soccer dad, you were no less impressive from the others. In fact I’m blown away by how you managed to keep your cool, stay in character, memorize your script and keep everybody entertained all in one! Your positivity, flow of thoughts, antics and vanity never cease to crack me up and at the same time humble me. Its great having to talk to you about the dumbest things to the deepest philosophical stuff be it via msn or in the flesh. I’d like to say we got some chemistry going on and I’m really REALLY happy for that. Oh and thanks for the teh peng, next one’s on me!

Dewn – the happy cheery tae yang loving SENIOR. Yes you’re old now. I am too.. (ow.. my back) First off I must say I’m truly thankful of you to skip lessons that day. It really got me to set my priorities as well. (was feeling rather sian by the rehearsals. somewhat ashamed by that). Next! you’re a COMPLETE BLISS to be with! From your laughter, side glances and determination (to beat us in puzzle fighter 😀 ) , I can’t help but have a sense of attraction. Thinking back, our conversation on the bus, origami sessions and certainly our project meetings have become somewhat the highlights of my university experience thus far. And 3 cheers for the success (somewhat.) of our first group outing! Hip hip hoo- eh you still owe me a drink. C:

Benjamin – my brother. my solace in this stressful (sorta.) time in university. I first met you at orientation, with exchanging of names as our only interaction. However your name stuck and I had the blessing to find you alone in a corner of the LT. We spoke more, confirmed out modules… From there on we stuck and kinda hung out everywhere, all the time huh! Its gone to a point where a space is often (if not always) left for me to occupy. Because people KNOW. Some even got jealous. HAHAA. Well that aside. Despite your soft spoken nature, you’re in countless ways a great companion. Mugging, lunching, time wasting, napping, piracy, gintama(!), being the first person to chat with you in ‘multiple font sizes’, the list goes on. I only hope for more to come.

As it is with Ben, it doesn’t end here. We still have finals… haha. Kidding! I sincerely hope this bond that we share will last through this sem, this year, this pursuit of the paper and the decades beyond. Kelvin, Li Ling, Joseph, Dewn, Benjamin, you guys are amongst the most important people in my life in UB so far and I wish only for this to grow stronger and last. I love you guys!

Oh and lastly,

thank you.

Xing.

#7 – Epilogue – CMC

CMC,

short for COMPUTER MEDIATED COMMUNICATION , is basically communication using the computer as the medium.

Once a luxury reserved for the intellectuals and the privileged, the computer has been growing rapidly more accessible to the common man. In fact it has grown to be a vital and somewhat indispensable part of some of our daily lives, be it for work, education, crime or simply asking mother what’s for dinner tonight. Additionally the computer has become very portable, no longer relying on 12308127351230 cables and can be slipped into a lady’s bag with relative ease.

Hi, I’m small and powerful, albeit fugly.

Our classrooms have evolved along with the growth of computer usage:

Forced at gun-point to portray enthusiam

I used those in primary school. They’re in better hands now.

There we are! The ‘Modern’ Classroom

Gone are the days whereby we simply attend classes and produce our assignments by ink and paper. Children as young as 5 years are getting exposed to this multifunctional machine. Especially in the case of elite schools or other loaded institutions, the computer is a must have. With this, discussions span beyond the classroom in both a physical and virtual sense. Assignments and tests are completed and conducted in front of a brightly lit screen.

In fact, here I am now, doing the exact same thing. There used to be a time when I slouch in front of a flat table and compose an essay. Right now? I’m leaning back, arms stretched, listening to music, chatting with friends, keeping in touch with the latest news, downloading the long released NIИ‘s ‘The Slip’, writing my essay draft and typing this – all these displayed on my DESKTOP. Kinda brings procrastination to a whole new level huh?

See desktop? Yes it glows~ mmmm..

For those cavemen out there, don’t be mistaken, the desktop I am referring to lies on this pretty glowy thingy we call the ‘screen’, not that dining table you got there. (OOoohh…. AahhH)

For all I know, those kids in the THIRD picture could be ‘NUDGING’ their tutor via MSN MESSENGER to get her attention away from her World of Warcraft. In my day, I raised my hand. ( Refer to the 1st picture)

So has the world become more impersonal? Has penmanship fallen drastically? Are we all becoming myopic? Are we learning to type before we can write? Does a computer illiterate have any place in this CMC world we’re submerged in? Is the pen/pencil and paper phasing out? Well let’s just keep our fingers crossed now shall we?

Page flipping: You’ll be sorely missed

TYPE AWAY MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THIS INTERNET GENERATION!

Farewell my friends. Tis’ the end. mypencilranoutofink.

#6 – Mass COMMMMATOSE

Hold on to your glass and panadol, I’m going to touch on this issue (as Sarah puts it):

THE PERVASIVENESS OF TV LOGIC

Television informs.

It educates.

It entertains.

Idiot box

But doesn’t it also enchant/disenchant (mean world syndrome) some of us to the point of irrational belief?

With our eyes and ears glued to the ‘idiot box’ one tends to worry about what subliminal messages may be transmitted into our minds. We cannot deny the fact that media, be it local or global, are manipulated by the economically and politically SUPERIOR folks in the shadows (or not.) News broadcasts tend to be biased and sensationalized, using subtle methods to make an audience think they’re in control of their opinions when its actually heavily influenced and forged by the screen before them. As a close friend of mine often says:

THE WORLD IS

FULL OF LIES

Some of us may relate this to the following masterpiece of  Thom Yorke (yep shawn, you reminded.)

Certainly, the song runs far deeper than that and can be interpreted in many ways but here goes anyway:

Her green plastic watering-can
For her fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth that she bought
From a rubber man in a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself, it wears her out

She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery for girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins and it wears him out

She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love

But I can’t help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out

If I could be who you wanted all the time

With exposure to such media, we grow susceptible to their logic and ideals, molded as to what they so desire. Why do we still watch then? Unfortunately as stated earlier, television can be said to be one of the ideal medium to get information, entertainment and also education. We cannot simply shut ourselves from it completely.

im not listening~ tralalalalala

So what will you do? What CAN you do?

#5 – Searching high and low, i found it.

A popular cultural framework was proposed by Edward Hall (1976, 2000), in which he stated that all cultures can be situated in relation to one another through the styles in which they communicate.

– Elizabeth Würtz (Department of Design, Communication and Media, IT University Copenhagen)

Basically, Cultures can be categorized under HIGH CONTEXT or LOW CONTEXT

HIGH context culture UTILISES SILENCE AND NONVERBAL (sometimes subtle) CUES, to communicate, transmitting messages with minimal text and logic often being flamboyant and ‘out of context’. It is highly practiced in China and Japan, be it in their traditions or their daily affairs to advertisements and various forms of media.

A high context video (Do watch it again whenever you are feeling low. aha) :

Its Thai by the way.

LOW context culture, on the other hand, focuses on ‘DIRECT, EXPLICIT AND UNAMBIGUOUS VERBAL COMMUNICATION STYLE‘, paying special attention on clarity, response and concise, succinct messages.

Examples of Countries ranging from the High Context Cultures to those of the Low Context Cultures are as follows:

————————————————————–

High Context Cultures

Japan
Arab Countries
Greece
Spain
Italy
England
France
North America
Scandinavian Countries
German-speaking Countries

Low Context Cultures

————————————————————–

Source: Hall, E. and M. Hall (1990)
Understanding Cultural Differences

As shown above, Japan reigns supreme in terms of High Context Cultures. This is especially so in the way they market their merchandise –  shown clearly in the following video. It doesn’t make much sense, but it gets the job done.

Japan also places great importance on packaging and attention grabbing graphics as apparent in their products and their highly elaborate traditional clothes.

Yes those are cupcakes. HOW CAN ANYONE BEAR TO EAT IT?! Moving on..

This hilarious commercial from Apple (North America) is Low Context

Lots of dialouge though I won’t deny the occasional visually stimulating characters.

So which kind of commercial appeals more to you? One leaning closer to High Context or those that are straight to the point with plenty of verbal information? GOGOGO!

Oh and buy a mac (:

#4 – Group soup doup moup zoup

Alrightie.

A ‘Group‘, as defined by our dear Sarah, is ”a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent, developing shared patterns of behaviour and a collective identity.”

Y___. (rhymes with 'Dawn')

A ‘Supergroup‘ on the other hand, refers either to ”a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups.” (1960s) or as Time Magazine defined, ”a potent but short-lived rock phenomenon which was an amalgam formed by the talented malcontents of other bands.”

Bow.

Lower.

I don't hear your head and the floor clapping..

As stated above, malcontents (as Time coined) are integral in the formation of supergroups.

Just a lil introduction:

Velvet Revolver

They comprised of the disenchanted members of the American rock band, Guns n’ Roses(excluding Frontman/Vocalist Axl Rose a.k.a 1/2 the CAUSE OF BREAK UP) namely lead guitarist Saul Hudson (Slash), bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum, rhythm guitaristDave Kushner from Wasted Youthand the then part-time drug addict part-time musician, frontman Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots fame.

They went on to gain critical acclaim with multiple Grammy nations and an eventual award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

They then broke up. RWARGH!

Then: Proxemics

More recently: No Love

Audioslave

They are the perfect combination of the lost sheep from another American rock band, Rage Against the Machine(similarly excluding Frontman/Vocalist Zack de la Rocha a.k.a sensitive political activist) namely guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk; and singer-songwriter-GOD’s-gift-to-Man lead vocalist of Grunge pioneers Soundgarden, Chris Cornell. (Yep he was awarded a Grammy for having written and sung the theme song for Casion Royale – ‘You Know My Name’)

Amen.

They too, garnered multiple Grammy nominations and many awards and became the first American band to rock the streets of CUBA amongst other achievements.

They then broke up. Double-you-tea-effort!?!

Better days

Sooo, what happened?

Both groups cited irreconcilable differences, mainly due to tiffs between the respective frontmans and other members.  In the case of Velvet Revolver, Slash apparently made unwelcomed comments about Scott Weiland’s sensitive personal life leading to discontent between the two. As of Audioslave, Cornell stated the split was ”due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences” and was later revealed that financial disagreements played a major role (Chris Cornell denies this, claiming creative differences).

The reason for the demise of Velvet Revolver remains the failure of dyadic relations between the two more prominent personalities of the band whereas the break up of Audioslave ranges from conflicting  personal goals to stagnation. As to how to resolve their conflicts, I’d think it an impossible task. They were the the epitome of Supergroups and must face the eventual swift end, much like a beautiful spark that explodes into oblivion.

Sigh.

Well maybe, what they needed was a lil love. As Sarah puts it, ”marking membership by looking, acting and even thinking alike.”

schweet.

Mm, probably not.

yum.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed on a switcheroo of frontmen/vocalists though. That’d be awesome.

PSYCHOSOCIAL!

#3 – North-South or North-North (South-South)

Consider these:

Repel

No I will not be touching on sexual orientation today.

Rather, an interpersonal (communication) issue: A relationship based on DISSIMILARITIES and the other built upon SIMILARITIES . Between the two, which will last?

So someone (some nerd) once said: Opposites attract.

Attract

Dissimilarity:

PROS

– Stronger sense of completion

• – Tom Cruise version – ‘You.. complete.. me.’ aww~

– Expended sense of self

– Fosters feelings of uniqueness and specialness

– Strong sense of intimacy after reaching consensus of differences

CONS

– Disagreements and  conflicts

• – Differences lead to arguments that may damage a relationship

– Heightened resistance from family

• – Sociodemographic characteristics – unfamiliar with cultures and personalities

– Discrepancies in personality and attitudes

• – Less likely to have empathetic understanding or appreciation for each other

Some other person also said: Birds of a feather flock together.

when penguins fly

Similarity:

PROS

– Ease of communication

– Validates own perspectives

– More mutual understanding, less susceptible to disagreements in perspectives

CONS

– Boring, stagnant

– Dysfunctional traits are amplified

• – Both introverted – no open communication

…

random thoughts:

i hate this chapter.

can’t help but revert to reassessments of a relationship.

oh apparently its called grave-keeping.

nice.

.

.

nerds are hot stuff aren’t they.

#2 – Hear that? No? Precisely.

Disclaimer: I’m attempting to be relevant to my module this time. So here goes. Fingers crossed.

Egyptians of the past once (or a couple of times) said: ‘Silence is more profitable than abundance of speech.‘

Or as some say: ‘Speech is silver, silence is golden.‘

shhh..hhHUT UP!

So, put simply, silence is awesome in most context (or is it?). It is, however, often used inappropriately or not at all.

Take for example, a teacher is teaching a new interesting topic and has gotten everyone’s undivided attention. Midway through her explanation, a hand shoots up. The teacher acknowledges the student’s desire to contribute to the class and pauses. All heads turn towards this student *hm alright so what’s he got to say*. The student then smiles and exclaims enthusiastically: OH I AGREE!

Annoying sonofa…

Amidst the cold stares, protruding veins on foreheads, and single finger gestures, the student then realises he could have just NODDED silently instead.

Silence is integral in our churches and temples for religious and psychological purposes, our schools for a conducive environment, our homes for countless reasons and many others more. It is also practiced by many in  various aspects like attaining calmness of heart, aiding steady rational thought, paying homage and giving respect to others.  It is common practice to honor the dead with ‘a moment of silence’. This serves to allow people to think and reflect on a passing or any particular tragedy of sorts.

As for the usage of silence in interpersonal relations, one says it all in a song

Ronan Keating – When You Say Nothing At All (1999 Notting Hill)

I’ll just extract the most relevant portion (As an added bonus, it’s beautiful too) :

The smile on your face
The truth in your eyes
The touch of your hand
Let’s me know
That you need me~

Advocating beautiful silence for the past decade

Wow, that’s like Kinesics, Oculesics, Haptics, Proxemics all rolled into one pretty parcel. (Google them or refer to your notes)

Ronan Keating – BAC (GPA 3.9)

All that said, silence is but a small part of  Non verbal communication (includes those mentioned above and much more) despite its extensive influence in our day to day interactions. Although it is revered in many contexts, silence is often not what it is hyped up to be. (golden and all…)

A Tragedy:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1416741,CST-NWS-evanston06.article

Silence at its best and worst.

On a lighter note and a final testimony for silence’s greatness – Please view a video provided below (yes sadly it’s been dubbed) :

CLICK ME ツ – skip to 9 min 50 sec

Silence is so totally Golden

Freddie!!

#1 – Love! Peace! Panda!…?!?

CHECK THIS OUT: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090124/tap-taiwan-china-diplomacy-animals-panda-beb1011.html

In this modern times, the Panda has attained an undisputed rise in status, knocking off the legendary Dragon off its sovereignty as the National Emblem of China.

AND THE PANDA WINS!!..?!

Why, the fudge, could a clumsy, docile, weed-chewing, seemingly sleep-deprived furball do this to the Dragon? The Almighty I-Can-Fly-And-Make-Rain/Earthquakes/Tornadoes/Tsunamis-amongst-many-other-talents-Plus-I-Look-Damn-Bad-Ass Dragon!? Okay, given the Panda can communicate by passing liquid, (ask wiki, not me. It is kind of neat eh! IMAGINE us: Hey guys, stay away from Greg .. I encountered his urinal? Baaaaaad mood today. Apparently his girlfriend ran away with… HOW COOL IS THAT!?!) it still doesn’t scratch the surface of Act of God proportions. (Panda 1, Dragon 0.) So. why? I mean. WHY!?!?

Hint:

Pocky Panda

Got it yet? No? Here’s another:

Slurpee Panda

NO? Ok here’s one with sound:

Oh jeez i love that video.

Awww.. BECAUSE ITS CUTE! Look! Look! Mummy! BEEEAAARR! Yea, sux2bu Old Scaly One.

WELL IM DRIFTING OFF HERE! Another reason would be that.. the existence of Pandas… exist? (so does possible extinction. we’ll get to that later.) So.. Panda’s actually exist. (Panda 2, Dragon 0.) Its much more practical isn’t it? Much more convenient now eh? Easier to present a Panda than to put scaly whiskers on an AIRBOURNE ANACONDA to pass off as Old Scaly One (why yes, I’m sticking to this term) right!? Hence, I get to my point, PANDA DIPLOMACY! *cues awe-inspiring music and a panda growl*

RRRRRAAAAWWHHRRRRRRRRrrright then. *ahem* With stronger bilateral ties between China and Taiwan, Taiwanese oppposition leader, Lien Chan, made a historic trip in 2005 (a first since 1949) to the Mainland to visit the nice folks there. These nice folks then offered Taiwan THE PANDAS! Which was rejected, largely due to Taiwan’s supposedly inability to maintain them. (yes yes i know its stated a tad differently from the link i provided)  Or so some claim. Hm-hm.

Well, nonetheless! As shown in the link provided above, Taiwan has embraced the presence of the pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. (Meaning ‘Reunion’ and ‘Unity’. How apt! CNY’s round the corner! GONG XI FA CAI! moving on..) I find this a really good sign for the future between the two parties as the gift of pandas (PANDA DIPLOMACY) has been long practiced since the 1970s to bridge friendly terms with The United States of America and The Land of the Rising Sun. No problem so far yes? (well not too much) Besides, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (ok I’ll just call them Tuan Yuan now?) are so cuddlesomely cute and awesomely adorable! Think about the Taiwanese Children and the general public who will soon swoon over to the tune of Tuan Yuan’s peace-loving albiet slouthfulness disposition. Everybody loves them. (Panda 3, Dragon 0.) Love = Peace. WORLD PEACE! (hur hur i sound so retarded right now)

Lien Chan: fail.

Well aside from this, the Panda was utilised in the recent Beijing Olympic Games as a Mascot, Jing Jing (forming the ‘ jing ‘ of ” Welcome to Beijing ”). It is also widely known to be the representaion of the WWF, World Wildlife Fund For Nature in the form of the Giant Panda. The Panda is also reflected in Pop Culture in form of  recent advertisments by MTM to promote products (video’s below) and of course, Po the Kung Fu Panda ( Yea he pwnt the black Dragon earlier) , the protagonist of a commercially successful movie: Kung Fu Panda. (d-uh.) Oh and who can forget the dear Pandaren Brewmaster (Warcraft III)? I BRING PANDAMONIUM! As one may already notice, the Panda is potrayed to be the epitome of many good traits. We can only foresee more good press for this gentle behemoths in the coming years. (Panda 23290, Dragon 0.) And in hope, I await for continued LOVE and PEACE for not just China and Taiwan but the rest of the world. Happy CNY Mother Earth and all her inhabitants!

Bless you Panda.

MTM – japanese panda story ( Just watch the first one. Its repeated like thrice? )

I love you too Old Scaly One. You’re bad ass.

(Panda 23290, Dragon… WHO’S COUNTING!?)

#0 – Hello world!

I’ve included links to other COM101 sites that belong to my peers. So when u’re done blacklisting my page. . Proceed with the knowledge that mine’s the only messed up one. Feel free to surf around and provide constructive comments!