Right. Exams are over. Results are in approximately 17 days. Wanted to cement that thought. As true with every other post-exam period I find myself contemplating on all the pre-exam plans/routines I set out to for the post-exam only to succumb to the dark side of laziness and being a contented couch potato, TV hogging bastard really. Alas we get a little too critical of ourselves sometimes.

So whats new?

Hmmm...

I've finished reading this book Catch-22 by Heller. Good shit. Its funny in an ironic way. I guess most typical WW2 books would depict the harsh times of war and selfless sacrifice towards country. This is completely the opposite. It focuses on insubordination, struggle to stay alive, basically the other side of the story. Very funny really. It's not typical. Which I love. Definitely worth a read. I find it quite hard to settle into that book. Probably because the author onslaughts you with a whole host of characters. But quite brilliant writing.

Also just finished Catcher in the Rye by Salinger. When I say just I literally mean just. Around 10 minutes ago. For some obscure reason I forgot how to spell minute. Meh bygones. Anyway that book was interesting to say the least. I found the main character rather unbearable but its just good. I don't think its for everyone honestly. The plot was almost like Haddon's book which is too long to type. It starts off as partly gibberish I felt but it took off soon enough. Won't go into details. Can't be bothered.

On a tangent

.
.
.
.

SAFINA LOST!!!!!! WTFKNNMCHCBKNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanted her to kick Serena Williams ass. I like her. Something bout not giving up that appeals to me. Savvy?

And also the Coldplay album's pretty solid. Its different definitely. Its more about sound this album which suits me just fine. Ever notice how songs are almost always about love. That just seems fucked up frankly. But alas they say love makes the world go round. If you believe that kinda shit. Can you tell I'm a cynic?

I was going to blog on how birthdays are for suckers then after much self contemplation I realized that being a cold and heartless bastard and an introverted antisocial won't do me any good. Besides, I've come to the conclusion that birthdays aren't that bad after all and now move on to the neutral side of the for and against campaign for birthdays.

Having said that, what am I going to blog about?

Hmmmm.....*thinking cap on*.........

So if you've been following the news of late the most recent headlines highlights the severe increase in fuel prices. Now I don't pretend I know what happens in Malaysia regarding the sudden fuel hike and Badawi's intention of subsidising fuel. But I can tell you this. Its about damn time. I think we have been living in the illusion of ever lasting fuel for far too long now. But more importantly is cartels take in this sudden increase in prices. Its no secret that they've been sucking us dry like leeches for the past 100 years. Look only at their annual turnover.
ExxonMobil: Turnover of $40 bil.
Shell: $31 bil.

But more importantly, its their inability to innovate thats really causing these price hikes. I was having a chat with one of the environments guy in Uni the other day. He pointed out that had the lobby for Hybrid cars or electric cars been passed in favour of the production of these cars instead of to GM or to ExxonMobil in the States some years ago, we'd prolly be well on our way to these alternative means. But alas, power corrupts power. I think it's just sad that they fail to see the greater implications of their actions I suppose. I guess the top executives aren't really paid to think unless its in terms of dollars and cents. It really is a testament to how much power these companies have. The worst is yet to come I say. Currently we're still doing alright for petrol but if the supply of petroleum ceases all together more derivative products will become too expensive. Think only plastics. Or the various ceramics or semi-conductors. Unless someone like Haber comes out with a cheaper way of making plastics we're in for it.

On another note, there seems to suddenly be a sudden influx of Malaysians in Melbourne. Its freaking me out. Now I live in the suburbs somewhere north of Melbourne. We don't get many Asians here, but lately, there's just so many of them. Lurking in Nando's or over at the meat section of Safeway or Coles. Also, shopping malls are becoming more and more congested with Asians. It's somewhat ironic I guess in a crude kinda way. Heh. The great land down under eh.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CI BAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KNNMCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*pfft*...phew........

Right now thats done with we can begin.

So what to blog about. What do my beloved audience of which seem to be dwindling at an exponential rate much like an e graph accept in this instance the numbers does touch the x-axis in which it would be wrong to call it an e graph anyway but I digress. Screw it. Who cares if I digress anyway. I don't even have a contention to digress from. Thats messed up. Heck I'm not even sure the entire paragraph is grammatically correct. Heh. Right. So....

*thinking cap on*

So I've been reading a bit lately. Besides TV and studying(*pfft* yea right....nearly flunked my micro paper, but alas I don't want to talk bout it) I've been reading a bit. And I don't know if it was subconscious or merely luck, though I think the latter would sound more realistic, I was reading a book by Mark Haddon "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" followed by a "Musicophilia" by the talented Dr. Oliver Sacks. The first one is about an autistic boy who while in the midst of living in his own world pretty much trying to find out who killed the dog at night. And the second book is about music and its various effects on people of all sorts targeting mostly the mentally impaired and the sudden urge of musicality or the loss of it due to life threatening accidents of all sorts. And what I found interesting while reading the books especially the latter one was how mysterious the mind was but also how these people seemed to dare challenge the norm of society almost in a catch-22 way. What struck me was the fragility of our mind. The fact that it takes so little for so much to happen was intriguing. The fact that some of these people he mentions were just fine till they woke up one morning hearing the whole 5th symphony in their head.

He mentions cases by which patients with severe Touretts's or Parkinson's disease who under normal circumstances would be incapable of normal stable mobility would be able to become still when induced by music. He talks about how musicians with Tourette's are able to perform when they get in the grove of it. He mentions one particular case where he investigates a person with severe dementia who is under normal circumstances unable to hold a memory for less than a second having been able to hum entire sonata's and symphonies almost from thin air. In that particular case, he talks about the mind being able to carry out automatic operations if you will despite the severe dementia this person is under. But he then makes the distinction between music and these automatic functions like walking or running and how amongst all the agony if you will he is able to chew, recognise his wife. And I got to thinking how amazing these things are. To actually be seemingly in the point of no return to finally find that one could find some refuge and no less in music seems surreal. This to me seems rather empowering and cynical at the same time. The fact that we can depend on music as a source of comfort even when we seemingly have forgotten the very meaning of comfort I find quiet warmth in but I can't help but be critical over the fact that given the state of mind some of these patients are in, what sort of comfort would comfort be if one can't even remember what it fells like anymore.

Of course he talks about the not so nice side of it where music can be a side effect spawned as a result of sudden mishaps or unintentional accidents which involve primarily the disturbance of patterns within the brain. I won't go into detail but I'll mention this. Studies have shown apparently that people of the more phonetic nations like China or Vietnam are more inclined to having perfect pitch as opposed to their English speaking counterparts. Also, perfect pitch occurs more frequently among kids then in adults and perfect pitch is often not inherited but conditioned. So I guess thats bout it. A good read I'd say but quite a bit of medical jargon. But I find its tailored to non-medical students.

EDIT: Fucking font....

FUCK!!!!!!

micro!!!!!!.....................................