Jostein Gaarder - Hello? Is anybody there?

'Yes. You can look at the lonely star when it rises on a new night. The darker the night, the more suns we can see in the sky. During the day we can only see our own.'


As I've always believed, ain't night more beautiful. sTaRs.sUn

Jostein Gaarder - Hello? Is anybody there?
The book someone read aloud to me, last year (...yup, it was still Last Year, not last last year...sigh). the kid book by the philosopy writer.

'I noticed this planet had a moon'he said. 'When you go there, do you travel upwards or downwards?'
'Upwards,' I said.
The first man had landed on the moon only a few weeks before, so I knew what I was talking about.
Mika put his thumb in this mouth again. He took it out because he had another question.
'But when you land on the moon, don't you fly down to the surface?'
I had to think carefully. I nodded. 'Yes.'
'And when you're there, don't you look up at this planet?'
I'd never been to the moon myself, but I'd watched all the moon landing programmes on television. I nodded again.
"So somewhere between this planet and the moon, down becomes up and up becomes down?"

underground, does it matter which country you're in, does it look any different
does the air smell different.

the seats feel different, the carriage looks different, the handlebars are at different locations and heights, the handholds are of a different grip, the people are different, the speed is different, the acceleration is different, the announcements are different

how different are trains in different cities.

1Harborfront-2empty-3outram park-4chinatown-5clarkequay-6dhoby ghaut-7little india-8farrer park-9boon keng-10potong pasir-11woodleigh-12serangoon-13kovan-14hougang-15buangkok-16sengkang-17punggol

NE 11 - Woodleigh

The blue train trundles past, swift, ever moving, constant motion.
The ticker and announcements all fall silent for an uncommonly long period of time, an overdue stop.
Then the tunnel walls change ever so imperceptibly, the ornaments, the colour, all hint of an impending stop.
and a dark shape appears, dimly lit, hollow, silent, a clear expanse of a room. with empty glass doors on the facing side. darkness and emptiness and silence beyond.
the room and the tunnel are both silent and lifeless.
it feels odd. why. because the place isn't abandoned, isn't derelict, isn't condemned.
rather, it is dim, yet fresh, dusty, yet new.
it's odd, really. a brand new place, fully furbished. as new as a display set placed in a window. all parts working, yet dust gathering.
a brand new ghost town. gleaming in the few lights. what are the lights for, maybe so that you won't imagine ghosts.
NEL has been open long, and these two stops are still silent. up and running. in the distant future when these stations might be open, it will never live as the other stations will. we have all been so used to trundling past them insignificant mammoths, unused to their presence and use.

the ghost towns of singapore. the underground caverns which do not exist. the brand new caves.

aren't movies such interesting things. all of a sudden in our lives, out pop this advertising campaign for a movie. the next upcoming BIG thing.
the previews; the reviews; the gala premiere; the sneak for the reporters to write about it; the opening date; the lead actress; the director who has directed this and that, and that; the stunning cast; the monstrous budget; the magnificent scenes; the impressive trailers; the catchy lines; the touching story; the advanced graphics...not forgetting: The Title.
and here arrives another Movie.
and here goes the reviews; the stars; the weekend takings; the rankings; the oscars...(for those who actually last somewhat longer)
but for lesser mortals, in two weeks, crowds peter out, number of screens showing the Movie slowly diminish, and without warning, without a whisper, it disappears. behind the shadow of a New Release, obscured in the fog of a Now Showing.
it disappears. never to be heard again. until HBO, until DVD, until VCD, until normal TV. and it finally takes its last breath...

Pippin's Song

Home is behind. The world is ahead. And there are may paths to tread. Thru the shadow to the edge of night. Until the stars are all alight. Mist and shadows, cloud and shade. All shall fade. All shall fade.

now long has it been since a 'normal' post has appeared on this blog. very.

1.23am. long has sleepless nights dragged on. quickly the sunset. and awake have the nights been. the silence of this half of the world soothes like a squelched static, like a tranquil moon. where have the days been where friends gathered into the night, and laughed their lives away. where have the nights been where sprinkling starlight illuminated faces and shaped silhouettes. for life was meant to be in day. and also in night. and as nature has had it, there are those nocturnal, those of light, and those of both.

wake up pple. the stars shine forever, but not every hour we can witness it.

>>>Julian Date

The number of days since noon on January 1, -4712, i.e., January 1, 4713 BC (Seidelmann 1992). It was proposed by J. J. Scaliger in 1583, so the name for this system derived from Julius Scaliger, not Julius Caesar. Scaliger defined Day One was as a day when three calendrical cycles converged. The first cycle was the 28 year period over which the Julian calendar repeats days of the week (the so-called solar number). After 28 years, all the dates fall on the same days of the week, so one need only buy 28 calendars. (Note that since the Gregorian calendar was adopted the calendar now takes 400 years to repeat.) The second was the 19 year golden number cycle over which phases of the moon almost land on the same dates of the year. The third cycle was the 15 year ancient Roman tax cycle of Emperor Constantine (the so-called indiction). Scaliger picked January 1, 4713 BC on the Julian calendar as Day One. The three cycles coincide every 7980 years (Tøndering).

>>>Gregorian

Portions of this entry contributed by Alejandra Mercado

The calendar currently in worldwide use for secular purposes based on a cycle of 400 years comprising 146,097 days, giving a year of average length 365.2425 days. The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar in which leap years are omitted in years divisible by 100 but not divisible by 400. By this rule, the year 1900 was not a leap year (1900 is divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400), but the year 2000 will be a leap year (2000 is divisible by 400). The total number of days in 400 years is therefore given by

400 X 365 + 100 - 3 = 146, 097


This also gives an exact number of weeks per 400-year cycle.

The Gregorian calendar was constructed to give a close approximation to the tropical year, which is the actual length of time it takes for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun.

>>>Moon Phase & Blue Moons

The phase of the Moon in which it is fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This occurs once every lunar month when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. For this reason, the full moon reaches its highest elevation at midnight. There are months in which no full moons occur. For example, there was a full moon at 18:25 universal time on Feb. 28, 1991. This means there was no February full moon in east Asia and the Pacific, where it was already March. Years in which February lacked a full moon are 1809, 1847, 1866, 1885, 1915, 1934, 1961, 1999, 2018, 2037, 2067, 2094 (Meeus 1995, Odenwald).


When two full moons occur in any calendar month, the second is called a blue moon. The term (in its modern usage) therefore has nothing to do with the Moon's actually color. A blue moon occurs about once in 2.5 years on average. A blue moon can occur in January and the following March if there is no full moon at all in February, as is the case in the years 1999, 2018, and 2037.

There are several other meanings ascribed to the term "blue moon" (the most common being "a very uncommon event"), but the one given here seems first to have appeared in The Maine Farmers' Almanac of 1937. The phrase "blue moon" has been around for several hundred years, but its meaning has changed a few times. The earliest use of "blue moon" meant an obvious absurdity which everyone knew never happened. However, the moon does occasionally turn blue as a result of smoke from forest fires or particles from a volcanic eruption. Since these blue-looking moons were rare but did happen from time to time, the phrase "once in a blue moon" was coined, meaning that an event is unusual, but can happen occasionally (Kibbey). "Blue moon" has also been used as a symbol of sadness and loneliness. That appears to have a history of its own among musicians and songwriters (Kibbey).

The following table lists all blue moons from 1990 to 2010 for dates in universal time. Note that because the full moon occurs at different times (and therefore potentially on different calendar days and in different calendar months) in different time zones, the occurrence of blue moons is time zone (and daylight saving time) dependent. For example, a blue moon occurs on May 31, 2007 in the Eastern Daylight Time zone, but on June 30, 2007 in universal time. Blue moons cannot occur in February, since the Moon's synodic period is 29.531 days, but February is 29 days at its longest (during a leap year).


First Moon Blue Moon
1990-12-02 1990-12-31
1993-09-01 1993-09-30
1996-07-01 1996-07-30
1999-01-02 1999-01-31
1999-03-02 1999-03-31
2001-11-01 2001-11-30
2004-07-02 2004-07-31 *
2007-06-01 2007-06-30
2009-12-02 2009-12-31

>>>Sunrise & Sunset

Sunrise is the time at which the leading limb of the Sun first rises above the horizon. The effect of refraction in the Earth's atmosphere lifts the image of the Sun about half a degree at the horizon, making sunrise about two minutes earlier than would be expected from the actual position of the Sun in space. Refraction and the fact that sunrise and sunset are calculated from the limb (and not the center) slightly lengthen "day" relative to "night."

similar for sunset

>>>Month

The month was originally defined as the time between one new moon to the next, a period now called the synodic month. In the modern calendar, however, there are 12 months in a year, each having a fixed number of days in order to sum to 365 (or 366 in a leap year).

Prior to 46 BC, the Roman calendar, or what has been reconstructed of it, is described as a "mess." The Roman calendar originally started the year with the vernal equinox and consisted of 10 months (Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quntilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December) having a total of 304 days. The numbers still embedded in the last four months of the year are the fossil of this (September, October, November, and December, contain the Latin roots for the numerals seven, eight, nine, and ten, but now fall on the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth months of the year). The 304 days were followed by an unnamed, unnumbered period in winter. The Roman emperor Numa Pompilius (715-673 BC) introduced February and January between January and March, increasing the length of the year to 354 or 355 days. Then in 450 BC, February was moved to its current position.

The number of days allocated to each month follows a complicated scheme in which most months have 30 or 31 days, but the details have been determined by historical precedent instead of logical considerations.


Month :: days :: Etymology
----------------------------
January :: 31 :: Janus, two-headed god of doorways and gates
February :: 28/29 :: Februarius, the month of expiation
March :: 31 :: Mars, god of war
April :: 30 :: derived from Latin verb meaning "to open"
May :: 31 :: Maia, goddess of Spring and growth
June :: 30 :: Juno, goddess of wisdom and marriage
July :: 31 :: Julius Caesar
August ::31 :: Augustus Caesar
September :: 30 :: 7 in Latin
October :: 31 :: 8 in Latin
November :: 30 :: 9 in Latin
December :: 31 :: 10 in Latin

There are also several other kinds of months which are of particular importance to astronomers.


Month anomalistic Draconic sidereal synodic tropical
1994-2000 27.554550 27.212221 27.321662 29.530589 27.321582

The synodic month is the mean interval between conjunctions of the Moon and Sun, corresponds to the cycle of lunar phases. The anomalistic month is the time between perigee passages. The Draconic month is the time between one node passage to the next. The sidereal month is the time between maximum elevations of a fixed star as seen from the Moon. The tropical month is the period from one lunar equinox to the next.

>>>Friday 13th

The Gregorian calendar follows a pattern of leap years which repeats every 400 years. This is true since the number of days in 400 Gregorian years is

100 ( 3 x 365 + 366 ) - 3 = 146, 097


which is an exact number of weeks since it is divisible by 7 (namely, ). There are 4,800 months in 400 years, so the 13th of the month occurs 4,800 times in this interval. The number of times the 13th occurs on each weekday is given in the table below. As shown by Brown (1933), the thirteenth of the month is slightly more likely to be on a Friday than on any other day.

day number of 13s fraction
Sunday 687 14.31%
Monday 685 14.27%
Tuesday 685 14.27%
Wednesday 687 14.31%
Thursday 684 14.25%
Friday 688 14.33%
Saturday 684 14.25%

>>>Day of the week

W = D + [2.6m - 0.2] + y + [1/4y] + [1/4c] - 2c (mod7)
W=0 for sunday.
months numbered beginning with march. dates in january and february considered to be 11th and 12th months of previous year.

>>>Leap Second

Our current system of civil time is based on coordinated universal time (UTC), which is based on a system of atomic clocks. Leap seconds are used to guarantee that UTC does not differ from the Earth's rotational time by more than 0.9 seconds.

The Earth's rotation is decelerating at a rate of about 1.5 to 2 milliseconds per day per century due to the frictional action of the tides. Currently, the Earth is slower than UTC by about 2 milliseconds per day, so every 450 to 500 days the time difference reaches 0.9 seconds. Leap seconds are added to UTC to keep the two times in agreement. The U.S. Naval Observatory is considered to be the nation's official timekeeper. The U.S. Naval Observatory Master Clock is based on averaged values of 60 independent cesium atomic clocks, as well as some hydrogen maser atomic clocks. On the Internet, visit http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/ to see the Master Clock.

>>>Length of Day

The day is (roughly) defined as the time required for the Earth to complete a rotation. The length of the day is not a constant over long timescales (i.e., millions of years), but changes over the course of time as the Earth's rotation slows due to the tidal torque from the Moon. The current deceleration is radians per second squared,

In practice, there are several different types of "days" that are defined astronomically. The solar day is the time for the Earth to complete a rotation including the extra "rotation" provided by advancing in its orbit. This is the "usual" calendrical day, equal to 24 hours. A sidereal day is the length of time which passes between a given "fixed" star in the sky crossing a given projected meridian. The sidereal day is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.1 seconds (or 86164.10 seconds), and is significant for locating objects in the sky. The difference between the sidereal and solar days amounts to 1/365.2425th of a day per day, since even if the Earth did not spin on its axis at all, the Sun would appear to make one rotation around the Earth as the Earth completed a single orbit (which takes one year).


*formula*

giving days = 23.93446965 hours = 23 h 56 m 04.1 s.

In civil calendars, the length of individual calendar days may be adjusted as a result of daylight saving time (by adding or subtracting one hour out of the usual 24) or addition of a leap second.

Julian Day :: 2,452,993.87

The Julian day is the current date and time expressed as the number of days that have passed since Noon on January 1st, 4713 BC. It is used in astronomy since it is very easy to determine the time span between any two events by just subtracting the Julian day. This gets around problems with leap years and changes in the calendar systems used though the ages.

It is a common misconception that the Julian day relates to the Julian calendar, devised by Julius Caesar, but, in fact, the Julian day system was devised by French astronomer Joseph Scaliger in 1582 and is named in honor of his father, Julius Scaliger.

Mon 22 Dec 3:04 PM
Winter Solstice. The Sun reaches its furthest southern point marking the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern. This is also the longest night & the shortest day in the northern hemisphere - opposite in the south.

Mon 22 Dec 8:00 PM
The Moon is at perigee, subtending an angular size of 33' 21" at a distance of 358,337 km (222,660 miles). Larger tides will result.

Tue 23 Dec 8:00 AM
The peak of the Ursid meteor shower. With its radiant in Ursa Minor, the Ursids are visible from the entire northern hemisphere. The meteors may be associated with comet Tuttle, but there are enough differences between their orbits that the meteors are probably an ancient product of the comet. This shower averages between 10 and 50 meteors per hour and most are quite faint. The new moon will aid in observation this year, the best of which will be between local midnight and dawn.

Tue 23 Dec 5:43 PM
New Moon, start of lunation 1002.

Wed 24 Dec
Mercury is at perihelion.

it rains rains rains
daily.
rainy
.

gentle cool.
grouchy thunder.
light festive spirit.
gay heart.

Ayako Maeda In Concert @ Alliance Francaise Theatre

[flute recital]

beautiful ...

0400 reveille
0600 set-off
0730 Changi Naval Base
0800 belly of smallbig Landing Ship Tank
1100 set-sail
1300 South of Town. foggy land.
1500 West. choppers.
1800 on Chinook
180x on Tuas.

I aged one day today.

here's the loonngg menu. full lists of labelled foods available and my opinions!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Centre Table
-sweet potato veloute :orange, grainy, aromatic, weirdy soup
-spicy &sour soup :...
-candied chestnut :toppings for something
-tabasco sauce :red & green
-New Zealand fresh oysters :lots
-lemon wedges :lots
-cocktail sauce :frown
-tuna sashimi :standard
-salmon sashimi :standard
-tiger prawns :red cooked thingys, eeyuck
-green mussels :yucky looking
-wasabi :...
-soya sauce :...

-Slection of Europe Cheese Board :marble board with The cheeses and nice-looking biscuits
-variety of bread basket :bread, nice-looking bread. haha.

salads nonsenses
-apple celery salad :green apple nicely 'cooked', din see any celery
-dried fruit couscous :tastes 'orrible :s
-red cabbage & beetroot salad :me likes red cabbage, beetroot stains, yucky beetroot
-baby mozzarella salad :cubes of cheese, tastes odd, eeky
-saffron & leek potato watercress :interesting potato, odd vegetables
-tea smoked turkey :salty
-smoke salmon :half raw one
-gingered beef carpaccio :thin soft beef. it melted/disappeared/dissolved in my mouth before i knew it
-Chef's Creation 'Chicken' :basically e chef having fun cooking whatever in whatever way w/o needing to name it, coz it's unnameable

-french & italian & 1000 island & vinegratte dressings :wonder what these are for
-pesto sauce :hm. !
-seasonal mesclun salad :expensive kinda salad, with western veg, but not as funky as the 'slad bar'

Main
-panfried baby scallops and prawns :! me grabbed scallops & mussels, which i normally don't eat
-seasonal vegetables :!nice. winter/xmas vegetables are nice and different.
-roasted yellow squash :!nice. squash. crunchy juicy unsquashed.
-Chef Creation 'lamb' :another
-sauteed fillet of salmon with herbs crust :!nice. delicious yummy
-mixed winter root vegetable :stir fried winter veggies
-bone-in-ham with 5 spice :good.
-chestnut stuffing giblet gravy :weirdo thing
-oven roasted whole turkey :xmas food
-sauteed paremtier potatoes rosemary garlic :the name, the name. funky nice potatoes
-alsace coq au vin braised in riesling wine :odd
-steamed white rice :...
-homemade cheese spatzle noodles :jellybean looking and feeling little gobules. cheesy chewy. noodles meh.

Dessert
-chocolate lee cake :!nice. rich choco
-christmas log cake :!nice. even more richy thick chocolate cake
-oreo cheese cake :...
-selection of christmas cookies :pretty looking and nice tasting, perfect for visitors
-selecton of asian sweets :some kueh, ugh.
-rotz grutz :cant rem, no time to try
-cr?me brulee :forgot
-apple strudel with vanilla sauce :din look that nice, and there were more impt things to try
-christmas pudding with brandy :tastes Yucky, must be e brandy. stinks!
-chocolate walnut pudding :forgot
-raspberry tarts :forgot
-Saint Honore torte :forgot, oops, no time lah
-chestnut mousse with rum sauce :big chestnut, refer to brandy. stinks.
-ice cream :!nice
-fruits. :...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so there.
go eat. it's nice. $35 adult. =]

~pre-bday dinner
Les Cafe des Artistes @ The Oriental

.menu as follows

my time is drawing near, it is not far off now

farewell said for farewell sake

-hate/loath/detest/resent being at home-

"HArry potter 3 04.06.2004"

'banks are organisations which lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it'

May 21, 2004. Shrek 2.

"Optic nerves woke the memories, cascading
Into the olfactory senses, twitching even the cardiac muscles."

"There is a friend who might come with me
A compatriot in journeys far
One who I speak to and understands
Of regrets and longings more.
If possible I might invite him thus,
To show my friend the door whence
I once led the way;
To recall the comforting words
Which gave me strength that day;
To walk down the path of memory lane
Watching the trees grow old;
To be reborn, just this once more, whilst
keeping tears at bay."

"Though nineteen years have swiftly passed
  Though a city small I live
Uncut diamonds I have overlooked
   Sunsets I have missed
Even old haunts I have forgotten
   Dear though they have been to me"

3.Why cant happiness stay?

Happiness was too good while it lasted
too good to be true
The flying bird approaches land whichever way it turns
Boundless though the ocean it, tired it has to land

2.Why cant we keep flying around the world and not get old?

1.Why do mirrors reflect in the left-right perpendicular plane?
-full explanation please.

Secret Garden Concert - Secret Garden homepage
Sistic page

You Raise Me Up

Lyrics by Brendan Graham

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... to more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... to more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
And I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... to more than I can be.
You raise me up... to more than I can be.

Mandrake Linux

here goes Linux...

hm that stupid thing doesn't support USB ADSL modems.

Sun 7 Dec 8:04pm
The Moon is at apogee, subtending 29' 25" at a distance of 406,279 km (252,450 miles).

Tues 9 Dec 4:37am
Full Moon, known as the Long Night Moon or the Moon Before Yule.

Fri 12 Dec 1:00pm
Pluto is in conjunction with the Sun.

drawing blood is sooo fun.
blood.
tube.

\backdate\120803

-
though trees not move
but leaves doth fly
white sheen covers
as raindrops fastly die
lightning beyond the building
thunder far in the sky
the veins deep in the body
deep as friendship lies
street lamp in darkness
black path in the woods
far away in homeland
strong roots never shook

Serial Watchers
-
i've been thinking abt some serial watchers. pertaining to channel 8 serials. aint it a monotonous regulated scheduled life. do they thrive on the constant the forcefed the ridiculous the foolish the repetitive. the endless mindless series that are dragged out and empty. serials after dramas after serials, to where.