So I just finished reading the The Hunger Games trilogy a couple of days back. I'll admit, I was hesitant to pick up the series at the start, even though it was widely praised and got great reviews. But eventually I picked it up. Mostly because several people at camp started reading it and Mitchell (great guy with lots of good books and a generous heart) decided to lend it to me. So I borrowed the books one by one, read them (mostly at camp) and then got the next one until I was done with the series. The whole process took about two to three weeks. I did not really keep track, although I was not really reading all the time, to be honest the books are quite a quick read, so if you read them religiously and back to back, you should be done in a few days.
Personally, I liked the first person narrative of the series, it is somehow makes the story more intimate, in fact I developed a love-hate relationship with Katniss by the end of the story. The writing can be described as sharp and tightly woven. You basically read the story as though it is a running commentary by Katniss of the events that transpire. Sometimes, it comes off as curt and pushy, but that its what I like about it - it keeps you on edge. There is also extensive use of cliffhangers, in fact, almost every chapter ends in one.
THE HUGER GAMES
The first book of the series, and in a lot of ways the most important one. Has to impress the readers, so that they will read the other two, or rather, has to impress the editor/publisher so that they will publish the other two. I liked this book. The first person narrative was what I noticed mostly of all and Katniss's rude and rather bleak 'voice' added a nice touch to narrative as a whole. This book was mostly about the hunger games itself, the process leading up to it, the actual games and a bit of the after party, of sorts. This book was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat and for reasons I will explain later, the best book of the series. Also, Go Peeta!
CATCHING FIRE
Catching Fire started out well, detailing the aftermath of the hunger games, and how Peeta and Katniss were adjusting to their new lifestyle. It was pretty exciting, especially the arising tension between President Snow and Katniss. The hunger games in that book was kind of surprising really, did not really expect it. But it was really well written, I really enjoyed reading that part. More characters were introduced and the character development was solid. Then again, another twist, when they get rescued by the rebels.
MOCKINGJAY
Mockingjay seemed promising, finally, the focus was not the hunger games but the rebel campaign. it was really action packed and full of twist and turns. The plot was good and I was expecting more, but alas, it ended too suddenly. I don't know what happened. It just ended like it was dropped off a cliff. It left a bad aftertaste. I was so hesitant to start this series and when I did, I was hooked because it was so good in the first two books. Even the third one was good until the end. I would still recommend people to read it. The writing is good and unique still.
7/10
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Cycling at ECP
I know! What a boring title for a blog post, right?
Well no, When most of your days are spent in and around your house, you learn to greatly appreciate things like a bit of biking fun at ECP. Swee Yik was the one who had suggested it. I did not know whether I should go or not, since I had to bring my mum for an medical appointment that day, but since the appointment was in the morning and the cycling later in the day, I agreed to it. And besides, my somewhat new bicycle was getting more action at a clothing stand than as a bicycle.
It was the first time I cycled all the way from my house to ECP, I met Swee Yik along the way and we cycled there together, sharing the lead because none of us really knew how to get there. After a mistake I made that would have led us to the highway, we finally were on the right path and took an underpass to the beach. From there we cycled all the way to the end of Bedok Jetty, where we parked our bikes and just talked about the random things although most of it was centered on our NS and post NS lifes. It is almost the same thing we talk about whenever we meet, but then again, it is currently a big part of our lives that it warrant such lengthy and monotonous conversations.
We spent about ten minutes at Bedok Jetty, after which, Swee Yik decided he wanted to get ice cream and we cycled to a nearby ice cream parlour. Then we made our way home, on which we saw Mitchell, who, because of some classes could not join us, afterwards we parted ways and I finally got my phone a case and a screen protector.
It was a very short cycling session, but it was great in that it reminded me of all the fun things that can be done with little to no preparation, such as cycling along the beach, sometimes we are so absorbed into our own little selfish world that we forget to see the larger picture and the passive vastness of life around us. It is, sadly, something that most of us are guilty of.
Well no, When most of your days are spent in and around your house, you learn to greatly appreciate things like a bit of biking fun at ECP. Swee Yik was the one who had suggested it. I did not know whether I should go or not, since I had to bring my mum for an medical appointment that day, but since the appointment was in the morning and the cycling later in the day, I agreed to it. And besides, my somewhat new bicycle was getting more action at a clothing stand than as a bicycle.
It was the first time I cycled all the way from my house to ECP, I met Swee Yik along the way and we cycled there together, sharing the lead because none of us really knew how to get there. After a mistake I made that would have led us to the highway, we finally were on the right path and took an underpass to the beach. From there we cycled all the way to the end of Bedok Jetty, where we parked our bikes and just talked about the random things although most of it was centered on our NS and post NS lifes. It is almost the same thing we talk about whenever we meet, but then again, it is currently a big part of our lives that it warrant such lengthy and monotonous conversations.
We spent about ten minutes at Bedok Jetty, after which, Swee Yik decided he wanted to get ice cream and we cycled to a nearby ice cream parlour. Then we made our way home, on which we saw Mitchell, who, because of some classes could not join us, afterwards we parted ways and I finally got my phone a case and a screen protector.
It was a very short cycling session, but it was great in that it reminded me of all the fun things that can be done with little to no preparation, such as cycling along the beach, sometimes we are so absorbed into our own little selfish world that we forget to see the larger picture and the passive vastness of life around us. It is, sadly, something that most of us are guilty of.
Friday, May 16, 2014
GOJIRA!!!
I went to watch Godzilla today, mostly because I was very excited about it, the trailers that have been released over the past few months had completely won me over and I could not wait when I found out they were released in Singapore. It was a rush but I managed to get tickets at Shaw Century, the seats were not bad too.
To be honest, I had wild expectations about the movie. In fact I was borderline obsessive, I would refresh ImDB everyday and got really excited when I saw the rating climb as high as 9.3/10. Although it would be short lived.
As I sat through the Transformers trailer that preceded the movie, I kind of went blank. To be frank, I had spoiled myself on some major plot details such as the presence of the MUTOs. But overall the my expectations just before the movie started were almost reduced to zero, except a tingling feeling inside me that said that it was going to be a good one.
The movie started off slow, as it is with most monster-disaster movies, this did not overly concern me, as in a two hour long movie, they cannot dump everything in the beginning. However the plot development was spot on from the start, there was no overly boring moments, even the ‘normal’ and ‘human’ side was tense and kept people guessing. However they got into the action quite quickly, showing the first MUTO quite early on and the destruction it wrecked on Japan and Hawaii.
Godzilla seems to be rather a shy guy in this film, the first few shots of him do not show anything much, except for a full body shot early on and a killer roar, just to let people know that he means business. The first few battle scene between Godzilla and the male MUTO are rather, for the lack of a better word, boring. They were shown in bits and pieces and were not very visually pleasing. However as the movies goes on the battles build up in intensity and visual effects until the huge payoff at the end.
The movie is a visual spectacle, the visual effects are amazing, even among films of this century. The battle scene were especially well done. However, I felt the fights were not ‘big’ enough. Don’t get me wrong, they were good, but I felt they were too short and had little depth. And the build up was slightly inconsistent. Unlike most movies, this movie might have benefitted being a bit longer.
The ratings of the movie have steadily declined, this I expected. With this kind of movie it is hard to have a polarized opinion. People will inevitably like different things. I personally liked this movie, although it did fall short of my expectations, albeit they were insane.
My Rating: 7/10
To be honest, I had wild expectations about the movie. In fact I was borderline obsessive, I would refresh ImDB everyday and got really excited when I saw the rating climb as high as 9.3/10. Although it would be short lived.
As I sat through the Transformers trailer that preceded the movie, I kind of went blank. To be frank, I had spoiled myself on some major plot details such as the presence of the MUTOs. But overall the my expectations just before the movie started were almost reduced to zero, except a tingling feeling inside me that said that it was going to be a good one.
The movie started off slow, as it is with most monster-disaster movies, this did not overly concern me, as in a two hour long movie, they cannot dump everything in the beginning. However the plot development was spot on from the start, there was no overly boring moments, even the ‘normal’ and ‘human’ side was tense and kept people guessing. However they got into the action quite quickly, showing the first MUTO quite early on and the destruction it wrecked on Japan and Hawaii.
Godzilla seems to be rather a shy guy in this film, the first few shots of him do not show anything much, except for a full body shot early on and a killer roar, just to let people know that he means business. The first few battle scene between Godzilla and the male MUTO are rather, for the lack of a better word, boring. They were shown in bits and pieces and were not very visually pleasing. However as the movies goes on the battles build up in intensity and visual effects until the huge payoff at the end.
The movie is a visual spectacle, the visual effects are amazing, even among films of this century. The battle scene were especially well done. However, I felt the fights were not ‘big’ enough. Don’t get me wrong, they were good, but I felt they were too short and had little depth. And the build up was slightly inconsistent. Unlike most movies, this movie might have benefitted being a bit longer.
The ratings of the movie have steadily declined, this I expected. With this kind of movie it is hard to have a polarized opinion. People will inevitably like different things. I personally liked this movie, although it did fall short of my expectations, albeit they were insane.
My Rating: 7/10
Sunday, May 5, 2013
My life in the Singapore Armed Forces till now.
My life in the Singapore Armed Forces till now.
I enlisted on
4 March 2013, or 040313 as the SAF would have it. It was just two months ago. I
arrived early at Pasir Ris Bus Interchange (or PRBI) with my parents. Buses
were charted by the dozens and were waiting for us to board. The morning was
pretty uneventful, mundane almost, but the anticipation on what was to come
kept everyone slightly on edge. We were whisked away to Pulau Tekong by the
both loved and loathed (for book outs and book ins respectively) ferries. First
we were promptly separated from our parents, and were led up a long flight of
stairs where we had to take our weight, since I am from the BP batch and weight
is all the rage there. Once we had our BMI recorded our civilian ICs were taken
away and we were handed our 11Bs, which is just a fancy way of saying “Army
Identity Card.” I was put in Gryphon Company (02/13)
The rest of
the day was classic, having our not-so-tasty meal with our parents, reluctantly
waving goodbye to them, collecting our field and duffel bags and most
importantly, getting our heads shaved, the classic representation of SAF’s
intiation ritual.
The confinement week is almost blur now though it only ended 6 weeks ago. My section and I bonded in a matter of days, they are all pretty awesome guys and by the end of the confinement week we were close enough that someone might mistake us for having been friends for years, but I guess forced communal living with eleven other guys will cause you to develop a tighter version of friendship with those guys. First it was just "Bro" or "Hey" but soon we all learned each others names deliberately and by the end of the first week, everything was second nature.
One interesting thing happened on our first morning, I had accidentally set the alarm way to early and woke everyone save myself, which resulted in the section becoming closer to me, and I was conferred the not-so-longlasting title of "Wake Up Man."
The first 5-6 weeks were mostly just PT, PT and a lot more PT. We did Aerobic Conditioning and the ridiculously fun Aerobics and the ridiculously not-so-fun aqua jogging classes.
And then the day came, the day that we would be presented our rifles.
We waited late into the evening and were presented our rifles during the last light of the day. The day would be the harbinger of my days as the armskote 2IC (humourously so)
And then came IPPT, I wish I could have done better for my pull ups and standing broad jump. But then, improvement is the way.
...
Meet-the-Parents session
Yes! we have this in the SAF too, but then again, we are teenage conscripts, so it is understandable. It was only yesterday. It was rather uneventful, although it was fun to be able to book out with my parents. And we practically did no training for the whole day, which was only until 11am.
This is an extremely short summary of what happened and it is missing a lot of interesting snippets, but you shall have to be content for now.
We waited late into the evening and were presented our rifles during the last light of the day. The day would be the harbinger of my days as the armskote 2IC (humourously so)
And then came IPPT, I wish I could have done better for my pull ups and standing broad jump. But then, improvement is the way.
...
Meet-the-Parents session
Yes! we have this in the SAF too, but then again, we are teenage conscripts, so it is understandable. It was only yesterday. It was rather uneventful, although it was fun to be able to book out with my parents. And we practically did no training for the whole day, which was only until 11am.
This is an extremely short summary of what happened and it is missing a lot of interesting snippets, but you shall have to be content for now.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers.
Assume that there are a fixed number of prime numbers. P1, P2, P3, ... Pn
Let h = (P1•P2•P3 ... Pn)+1
This means h is not divisible by any prime number. (you will get 1 as remainder)
This gives an absurd result as all number greater than 1 are divisible by a prime number.
Hence, the initial assumption is false. This means there are infinitely many prime numbers.
------------------------------------------
Proving for all n<1, n is divisible by a prime number.
Let r be the smallest divisor of n, where r is not 1.
If r is not a prime number, then there exists a v which is a divisor of r, where 1
v is a divisor of r => v is divisor of n
This gives an absurd result as we took r as the smallest divisor of n.
Therefore r is a prime.
Monday, January 9, 2012
For the future.
I am going to be very busy with my academics this year, so all my future blog posts may be in point form for a certain period of time.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Does the human species suffer from low self esteem? And a bit of philosophy.
I am rather accustomed to seeing degrading statements made about the human species, by.... none other than us humans.
Several of these are made by notable people, like Albert Einstein; and not so notable people, like me (Yes, me. And here I am talking about why we shouldn't do it)
We humans, as a species are simply remarkable. Its my believe that we are - by far - the most successful species ever walk the Earth. Think about it, sure the dinosaurs ruled the Earth for 160 million years, but they were still they weren't really a successful species were they, I mean - They were born, they lived, then they died.
Humans on the other hand, have literally changed the face of this world. Think about it, the scale of what we as a species have accomplished is near epic proportions. From some naked, hairy man-ape like thing from the plains of Africa, we have become this. We have harnessed nature itself. What is there to fault ourselves for. Sure, I admit that our selfish attempts to increase our quality of life is jeopardizing the environment, but this about what we have done. The amount of time we have been around ( a few hundred thousand years to a few million ) is near negligible when compared to the estimated 3.8 billion years of life on Earth.
One of the ways for you to get a reality check on the success of the human civilisation - albeit a small one - is to flip through a university prospectus.In fact, I got the idea for this post, from reading a university prospectus. The one I read was the Prospectus 2011 for the University of York.
We came up with all these, and all in like 5000 - 10 000 years. Archaeology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Philosophy, Art, Music, Mathematics, Languages ( and thousand of unique ones too ) Psychology..... the lot.
None of this existed. Yes, Sciences did exist, but not in the form that we conceptualize them today. They were abstract. Dihydrogen monoxide (aka water) could have easily been "Bunga Zinga Mumba". Okay, apart from the comedy the point I am trying to drive is that whilst cells, chemicals and gravity have always (FINE!!!, almost always existed) they were defined by us. 1+1 = 2 -> by definition. Think about it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Similarly, our disciplines, be it physics or philosophy are also in the mind. My yellow could be your blue. But it could be that we accept it as green.
Lets say that the first person to define the colour green saw it as green. Then I came along and now I see that colour. To me its "green" but if the first man had saw it. It would have been his "yellow." If you are not getting this. Don't panic. Its okay. Move on. My world is not yours. So it is perfectly fine.
See the awesomeness (Yes! I am well aware of the fact that the word does not exist) of humans. We have managed to create a perfectly flawed world. Note here that I do not say "flawless" as that would be an absence of flaw i.e. perfect. But we are not striving for perfection here, are we? We are striving for perfect flaws. There is no such thing as conventional current. Electricity is the flow of electrons from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. Still, we vastly use conventional current for all types of calculations. It is flaw that works, it is a perfect flaw, but a flaw nevertheless.
This is a universe that thrives on chaos. It makes no sense to be flawless. Instead strive for perfect flaws. It is okay to be wrong. Sometimes being wrong is right.
What is a metre. What is a length. Think about it fellas. A metre is a metre because we want it to be a metre. If we do not want a metre to be a metre the metre ceases to exist. That is the power of humankind. Now if a cow wants a pile of rocks to become grass... Tough luck, rock is going to be rock. Sure! we can swap the meanings of "grass" and "rock" on every existing dicitionary. But a rock is a rock and grass is grass. Cows cannot live off rocks.
It is mankind's ability to give meaning to the world around it that makes it so remarkable. We shape the world and by induction, the universe. Your thoughts create.
So be thankful that you are human, you are one of the greatest creations ever.
Look, I am seventeen. I have only been here for a short time. And this is what I think now. But as I grow as a person, I may change. Because that is inevitable. Change is powerful and ubiquitous. Five years later, my views, opinions and beliefs might have completely changed. That is okay.
And if you O'reader have differing views or opinion. That is perfectly okay. Being unique is your birthright.
Joy be with you,
Bhalaji
Several of these are made by notable people, like Albert Einstein; and not so notable people, like me (Yes, me. And here I am talking about why we shouldn't do it)
We humans, as a species are simply remarkable. Its my believe that we are - by far - the most successful species ever walk the Earth. Think about it, sure the dinosaurs ruled the Earth for 160 million years, but they were still they weren't really a successful species were they, I mean - They were born, they lived, then they died.
Humans on the other hand, have literally changed the face of this world. Think about it, the scale of what we as a species have accomplished is near epic proportions. From some naked, hairy man-ape like thing from the plains of Africa, we have become this. We have harnessed nature itself. What is there to fault ourselves for. Sure, I admit that our selfish attempts to increase our quality of life is jeopardizing the environment, but this about what we have done. The amount of time we have been around ( a few hundred thousand years to a few million ) is near negligible when compared to the estimated 3.8 billion years of life on Earth.
One of the ways for you to get a reality check on the success of the human civilisation - albeit a small one - is to flip through a university prospectus.In fact, I got the idea for this post, from reading a university prospectus. The one I read was the Prospectus 2011 for the University of York.
We came up with all these, and all in like 5000 - 10 000 years. Archaeology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Philosophy, Art, Music, Mathematics, Languages ( and thousand of unique ones too ) Psychology..... the lot.
None of this existed. Yes, Sciences did exist, but not in the form that we conceptualize them today. They were abstract. Dihydrogen monoxide (aka water) could have easily been "Bunga Zinga Mumba". Okay, apart from the comedy the point I am trying to drive is that whilst cells, chemicals and gravity have always (FINE!!!, almost always existed) they were defined by us. 1+1 = 2 -> by definition. Think about it. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Similarly, our disciplines, be it physics or philosophy are also in the mind. My yellow could be your blue. But it could be that we accept it as green.
Lets say that the first person to define the colour green saw it as green. Then I came along and now I see that colour. To me its "green" but if the first man had saw it. It would have been his "yellow." If you are not getting this. Don't panic. Its okay. Move on. My world is not yours. So it is perfectly fine.
See the awesomeness (Yes! I am well aware of the fact that the word does not exist) of humans. We have managed to create a perfectly flawed world. Note here that I do not say "flawless" as that would be an absence of flaw i.e. perfect. But we are not striving for perfection here, are we? We are striving for perfect flaws. There is no such thing as conventional current. Electricity is the flow of electrons from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. Still, we vastly use conventional current for all types of calculations. It is flaw that works, it is a perfect flaw, but a flaw nevertheless.
This is a universe that thrives on chaos. It makes no sense to be flawless. Instead strive for perfect flaws. It is okay to be wrong. Sometimes being wrong is right.
What is a metre. What is a length. Think about it fellas. A metre is a metre because we want it to be a metre. If we do not want a metre to be a metre the metre ceases to exist. That is the power of humankind. Now if a cow wants a pile of rocks to become grass... Tough luck, rock is going to be rock. Sure! we can swap the meanings of "grass" and "rock" on every existing dicitionary. But a rock is a rock and grass is grass. Cows cannot live off rocks.
It is mankind's ability to give meaning to the world around it that makes it so remarkable. We shape the world and by induction, the universe. Your thoughts create.
So be thankful that you are human, you are one of the greatest creations ever.
Look, I am seventeen. I have only been here for a short time. And this is what I think now. But as I grow as a person, I may change. Because that is inevitable. Change is powerful and ubiquitous. Five years later, my views, opinions and beliefs might have completely changed. That is okay.
And if you O'reader have differing views or opinion. That is perfectly okay. Being unique is your birthright.
Joy be with you,
Bhalaji
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