Happy happy days

Reasons to be happy:

  • It’s the school holidays (never mind I will be in school over the next 2 weeks – a holiday is a holiday, even when it isn’t)
  • Family holiday coming!
  • Green Day Rock Band is coming out!
  • My form class is wonderful!
  • World Cup!

Basically, life is good. The people I love are alive and kicking. I’m alive and kicking. What else can you ask for?

Oh yes. I want an ebook reader.



Perhaps you should read your emails

Nothing is more annoying than to receive spam because people either

(a) are INCAPABLE of reading comprehension of emails.
(b) are INCAPABLE of following simple instructions.

Please, just read your emails. Please.

ETA: Ok this is just ridiculous. STOP SPAMMING ME TO TELL OTHERS TO STOP SPAMMING! This does not make sense. On any level! ARGHHH.

ETA2: I sat down and counted – 95 replies to the initial “spamming-in-error” emails despite being told by the higher-ups NOT TO REPLY. I weep for our future.




Similes? Really?

Warning: Completely random and disorganised thoughts on Six Lives, that SGEM soap opera.

Because the best way to a man’s heart is to improve their English. Oh Six Lives. Are there really people like you out there? Now that they have added Norman, it looks like they are planning to pair everyone up. Why? Maybe MCYS is meddling in this as well. Why on earth would the sister have a crush on Singlish guy? And fridge magnets – I’ll show you mine and you show me yours? Perhaps they are a metaphor for something. I think we have a lesson coming up! It’s almost the halfway line and it’s still so boring. Umm, why do I read it then? Professional interest. And it gives me something to blog other than squeeing over Merlin / Smallville. Oh and Jamie Oliver looks like he put on even more weight on that magazine cover. And of course, the obligatory post on how reading improves your English. The one thing I’m curious about in this psuedo-soap, no one tells me. How did Hui Leng find out about the loss of John’s job?


This is why people think comics are for young boys

Solicit for Amazing Spider-Man #606:

Look out, Spidey! Hot on the heels of his old girlfriend’s trip home, The Black Cat’s back (and front!), sexier and more dangerous than ever! The deck is STACKED as the one woman that loves Spider-Man more than Peter Parker is up to some devilish shenanigans…and nothing bugs Spidey more than shenanigans! BRAce yourself for danger, Spidey! It’s gonna be …umm…sexy?

… sigh …


Six Lives

So, someone asked me about what I thought of the SGEM’s online drama, Six Lives. Since I’ve read all the 3 episodes up so far, I figured I would note down my thoughts on it.

  • It appears to be an interesting concept. I was somewhat intrigued by the first two episodes but I felt the 3rd one was quite bland.
  • I don’t really like English lessons interspersed inside things I read, although I understand why they are there. Perhaps there are others who would learn from these mini-lessons.
  • I like how Singlish-guy has perfect spelling. (Ok, not really. It just amuses me. I think he might spell better than me.)
  • The story so far, really isn’t all that exciting. So two of them are getting married and their friends are helping out in the planning. Yeah … that’s about it. Sure there are some tiny conflicts here and there but hey, it’s episode 3 already and nothing much has happened aside from some minor grumblings from the poor, I-can’t-tell-my-bride-anything groom. Doesn’t make me want to follow them. Doesn’t make me care about what happens to them. I’ll probably read the other episodes only if I am really bored.
  • I still fail to see how this shows me the intoxicating-ness of the English language. I suppose I am impressed by how all of them write in perfect standard English and even bother to correct one another but it’s not really inspiring me to improve my English or my communication skills (but then again, I am not the target audience I suspect). Maybe the intoxicating will come when the Singlish guy writes his poem for the wedding.
  • What I think should be most worrying is the lack of anything in the Singapore blogosphere about Six Lives. A quick google only comes up with 3 pages of results, mostly from the Six Lives’ blogs and the SGEM website. If no one is talking about it, doesn’t that suggest that (a) no one is reading or (b) no one cares? Or maybe everyone is interacting on Facebook and Twitter.

Overall, I  guess it is a good effort to gain the attention of their target age group. It does use the tools that many of them are familiar with. I should ask my students if they have heard of Six Lives.

Perhaps it will appeal to some people. Perhaps it might even encourage them to examine their own command of the language and seek to improve on it.

Personally, I think the reason people need to learn Standard English and be able to use it well, isn’t so we can communicate better. We all communicate well enough without Standard English and communication is dependent on more than just the words or sentences we spout. We need to learn Standard English because of the symbolic power it has.

Nocturne has his own take on Six Lives here.


Various Snippets

Life has been incredibly hectic but the major event that was eating up all my time and energy is over, so yay! Plus it went off well too, so I am so pleased. Very proud and happy with my students. Even though others may think you weren’t all that great, you put in effort, improved and really, that is all that matters.

On a whim, I bought Heartbeat. I got it really cheap too. I quite like the songs, so it was a good buy. I especially like tracks 2, 4 and 9.

Scans Daily is gone! Where do I go for crack Japanese manga now?

Next week is Jason Mraz’s concert. Cannot wait!

Now to get my teaching and marking back on track. I have to run a reading challenge in school. Anyone have ideas?