in case you didn't know of these two whistles... storm whistles and the fox 40 whistles. i got myself a flamin' red fox 40 classic from sanwin in holland village after returning both drumma his rs80n3, as well as terry with his manfrotto tripod. for $8.80 a whistle, i think this will be more worthy of the price for the performance compared to the small mizuno antibacterial whistle that i'm using now.

just saw the tv coverage of smu's move into the city campus. one very bad thing they did - releasing countless balloons into the air. when balloons finally burst (after rising high up, with internal pressure higher than outer pressure), they fall into the sea, effectively littering the environment. worse still, turtles may think the rubber scraps are their favourite food jellyfish, and ingest them and then choke and/or die. BOOO!!!!

well... according to the theme song for ndp 2005... "reach out for the skies..." (click here for the mtv download instead)


models from left to right:
raymond, weibin, yours truly

this time, things went a lot better than my earlier shots, though the heavy downpour in the day almost made a lot of things impossible too. like renting the rs80n3 remote from drumma, and picking up the manfrotto tripod from terry. i'm glad it's all done and over.

here's the locations i'll be at on the following days -
6th august, marina carnival opening
8th august, marina countdown
9th august, yishun

went over to cyclemax to meet xpander and basketboy, to sell off the stx-rc shifters for a token sum. was surprised to see a photo that i took back in 2003, printed out and pinned up on the noticeboard in the shop. got myself a 600ml bottle of finishline degreaser for 20 bucks, somewhat expensive, but since each shop has their own reasons for the pricings, i took it anyway.

met ian krempl and another friend of his while i was riding along dunearn road; later met line7 outside liat towers.

went over for dinner with fishy, and it's time now to get ready for the ndp preview shoot later today. will pick up the manfrotto tripod from terry too; hopefully i can loan an tc80n3 or rs80n3 for shooting later tonight...

apple hong's character in that 7pm show, sure is convincing. i'm convinced that she took voice lessons from the voice artists from the muppet show. she just simply sounds like gonzo on wailing steriods!

this animation series called inuyasha is a great series to watch on artscentral, but the timing is quite late. wednesdays to fridays, 11pm. some links for the show...

http://www.inuyashaplus.com/
http://www.inuyashaworld.com/
http://inuyasha.arabuusimiehet.com/

and a wikipedia entry on it???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InuYasha

if there was a way to survive financially just by shooting sports photos locally, i'll do it. if there was a way to survive financially just by doing maintenance on decent xc bicycles, i'll do it.

i haven't felt anything this way before - servicing a bike is one of those things where i can just let myself being myself - and totally lose myself doing it, enjoying the work; savouring the effort, the headache, the sweat, the grease on the palms. it's something that connects me deeply.

of note, julia just called me and told me she got a puncture just after the rollercoaster in bt; and is safe. i should have inspected the front wheel last night when she fitted it on...

finished fixing up julia's bike and giving it a basic run-over at about 11pm; changed the v-brakeset to the avid single digit 7's; and took out her newer but lower end single digit 5's. seems like my workstand is getting some pretty lot of usage; that's worth the money spent, along with the chainwhip as well as the cassette lockring tool.

reminds me that one week ago, i had to call in the police to free up fishy fang's bike at the serangoon pool...

one of my old colleagues visited my place, and introduced these two sites to me:
http://www.blountk12.org/learninglinks/lesson_plans.htm
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/Math45.htm

as well at this statcounter site. i'll see if i can use this soon...

"At the moment our late payment rate is quite high and MOE monitors schools who have constant late payments every month. Our school is one of them."

huh? so now a school is also run like a financial entity, where payments and the ilk have to be handled by the teaching staff?

i had enough; i'm counting down to the day where i can finally f.o. from the school system. as of today, 29 more months to r.o.d...

and this letter from the health promotion board is such a disgrace:

"If you wish to re-schedule the appointment, please contract us at Tel: 6435-3895, at least 3 working days before the appointed date."

"Appoinment Cards"

and to think these letters are to be distributed to parents via proxy through the schools. what would they think?

just had a look at this blog entry by linda chia, who was featured in the digital life section of the papers, and i agree too, that some bloggers were totally misrepresented when journalists were interviewed. for example, "hawaii five-o" huilin was quoted to say something totally different than what she said during this hot bods section interview/shoot. so now, not all news reporters are that able to pull off a verbatim copy of an interview, or give the news, as they are.

just bought zinn and the art of mountain bike maintenance edition 4 for $47.31 from kinokuniya tonight. also bought the winter 2005 edition of sports illustrated swimsuit special because howard schatz's photos were featured in it.

met jason chow at starbucks after buying the books too; when i was there to get my monthly rhumba frap fix post-shopping.

handbag informed me that my shots were featured in this month's issue of sportmag, and when i picked it up along with the other books, i realized that i made a big blooper of leaving my magic drainpipe in the first photo for the fashion shoot!


left to right:
sportmag august 05 (with my shots inside, tell me if they suck/rock);
sports illustrated winter 2005 swimsuit special;
zinn and the art of mountain bike maintenance, 4th edition

quite an eventful day, actually. especially with the 20k offroad ride in the morning. my handling went poop all over again...

gilbert said something today -
3 chain changed -> 1 cassette change
2 cassette changed -> 1 chainring change

just a rough guideline, nothing specific. your mileage may vary. (ymmv)

met ann, choonwei and monkeygod81 at tiong hin today. coincidentally, it was an impromptu triathletes' meeting as soon later in the evening, jenna, who took part in the 15-19 ladies' age group for the osim tri, popped by with her brother.

i was with the primary 6 em3 class today. it was a tough cookie to chew; some of them are pretty reasonable, but some are just... you don't know why they're doing detrimental stuff to themselves. i even had one paper bullet shot at me. but knowing their esteem wasn't really fantastic, i held back.

for some crazy reason, the principal and vice-principal told me that i can't put the bike in the staff room. and that's considering it does not block/impede anyone doing anything. below is a picture of my messy office cubicle in the staffroom (typical for certain species of unattached male singaporeans) in the office, and mine's right in the corner. does it block anyone? you tell me.



walked around my estate, and came across this aquarium. they were selling this interesting pufferfish - but when i asked, it was said to be of either malaysian or indonesian origin. i'm wondering - are such fish protected by the cites convention? if yes, how did these fish even get into singapore?

the one i saw looks like this species, if i remembered correctly.

walking around, taking a look - it was pretty depressing to see prices being labelled across tanks, dead fish starting to bloat up in tanks where many other half-alive ones are kept. more likely than not, the fish are being kept as a novelty item. why? because nemo was cute?

sigh.

today must be the first day in a long long time when my background came out of me naturally, though in words i must admit i would have a better job that i could do with.

i decided to get the boys from 5c to finish this last nagging question that they left blank in the science workbooks. the unit was on simple machines, and the very last part was on - guess what, gears!

unbeknownst to certain powers; before recess ended, i took my bicycle up to the classroom; and placed it at the back. i had only enough time to pick up my waterbottle and my school laptop before that bell went off; and to the courtyard i went.

i brought the boys up, and i showed them this flash animation (right click and save; or try this url instead) for an introduction to the lesson i was about to have. the boys had a ball of a time!

after the video ended, i gathered the boys to the back of the class; where i did a basic explanation of gears using my bike. hey, nothing wrong about using my personal items to teach boys, right?

then back to the question in the book. the question was about using one input gear, a 10t gear turning anticlockwise, and the resultant effect must also turn another identical 10t gear, not only 3x faster rotation, but also in the same direction! i cajoled the students, led them to deduce the answer, and voila! one of them indeed caught the idea, and used the concept of using two gears fixed to each other on the same axle! mission accomplished! then another boy, spencer, asked if we could mesh (another word i taught them today, nevermind if most adults relate that to filtering/fashion etc) the input gear direct to the large 10t/30t combination gear; to take away the need for the idler gear. hey! this class IS smart! even one of the boys who i'd thought was naughty, was caught in the moment, got enlightened by the design; and was totally immersed in the lesson. i couldn't feel any better, i must say!



when i was drawing the sketches of the gears, some boy(s) said it looked like a planet, and BAM! i told them there existed the planetary gearset - betcha didn't know it, i learnt about it in my national service days as a vehicle mechanic.

i just hunted a few more sites for idler gear information, it may be useful in the future. in fact, one of the sites mentioned that idler gear usage would usually lead to more advanced designs. wow!

http://conexiones.asu.edu/pdfs/idlergears.pdf
http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/education/testpage/idler.shtml
http://www.cpes.vt.edu/lego/files/gears.pdf
http://scnc.bas.k12.mi.us/~mms/Lego/Gears%20and%20Speed%20wo%20answers.pdf

who says you can't use your daily transportation to teach students something in the syllabus?

there are rules - logical ones, and illogical ones. example of an illogical rule, as follows:

vp told me last week that i can't put the bike in the staff room. it doesn't matter to her that it doesn't block anyone. she justified it, saying since "busbays are for buses, carparks are for cars, so bikeracks are for bicycles." i replied her, saying that i only see the logic in it up to an extent. she said there are "rules and regulations", but when i asked if i could read about the rules and regulations anywhere, she had nothing to justify herself. i can't remember right then, if i offered to check with the building and construction authority to find out if there was such a ruling, and not surprisingly she didn't respond to it either.

what's wrong with a bike in the staffroom, if it doesn't dirty the floor more than our dirty shoes carrying some dirt in? what's wrong if it doesn't block the fire access areas? if it dirties the floor, i'm all the more glad to clear up the mess.

so this morning, i was forwarded the message that i need not approach and ask the principal; and that final decision was no-go for the bike in the office. what the fuck?...

maybe the only thing i want to find out is, what's wrong with some what we commonly call "heads" in the civil service. logically speaking, they are illogical. does it too mean, that the man who got paralyzed neck down at tampines/pasir ris because of that "stupidest" device ever invented/designed deserved to get maimed, just because lta decided to have it installed?

misheard on wu bai & china blue's wo ai ni yi wan nian - "wo ai ni yi wan mian" (i love you for one bowl of noodles)

one prize of the day from me - one livestrong band, youth size, for whoever can tell me what's that one word that tells if you heard things wrongly in example, a song, or other aural works. i just can't recall the word - so if you know the word, just key it into the comments box, i'll hold the prize for you.

eh wait. i got it! mondegreens!

i'll offer a few livestrong bands for those once-in-a-blue moon quizzes. or maybe i should take a leaf out of sandra's books and offer it in lieu of a date with yours truly. (eeks, who would want that?)

the brunch ride yesterday was the only wet one for the three i've attended so far - first being kampong chantek, second being seletar. we operated on rubber timing, and the turnout was small - but it's better than nobody turning up. i'll be organizing one later this year, somewhere in the west area. will need to recce, of course!

of note, two interesting articles from national geographic online...

1. giant catfish caught in thailand
2. american national parks rated

on mc today, for sore back. had a odd call from office, about not having paid up for the fabblc event that i attended in late may. oddly enough, i do remember seeing the receipt in the mail - but where did i stash the envelope? the school was the one paying for the course - or am i grossly mistaken?

terry came to my place to pick up my camera, but i missed out the wrongly postdated cheque. 200706... that means i have to wait for one year?

back's not feeling any better. and my eyes feel very out of whack. tired, sticky. something's going downhill from here...

just got myself the park tool gear that i ordered on thursday night yesterday. it's time to start doing serious wrenching!



took out the crankset for the first time ever the bike was assembled in january, and gave a thorough cleaning up for the frame. will repeat with the quintana roo bike tomorrow if i have the spare time...

i finally got myself a proper fast indoor lens - the ef85/1.8. for a lens that's in pristine condition, and with a hoya smc filter for $470. learnt quite a bit from mr lim who was very candid and was generous enough to share some background information about photography in general. i guess if it were possible, this is exactly the kind of people one really would like to meet via clubsnap.

gotta take time to prep my payment...

things people are often heard to say, but usually without noticing it.

"i bought my house for 160 thousand dollars."

when the fact is, you're still gonna commit yourself to slogging to pay off that mortgage/loan till the grave says "hello" to you. i'm intending to keep to the old place that i've called home for the past two decades. no need to worry myself to death wondering when that entire payment will be completed. and no need to worry over renovations etc etc.

and the main thing that steve jobs said at the stanford university - "stay hungry, stay foolish". essentially, the speech he delivered was all about chasing our own dreams.

"Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers." - Steve Jobs

borrowed the ef85/1.8 from a good friend from bedok. after evaluating the photos, it does seem a lot that the 50/1.8 has very, very soft images at f/2. on the other hand, the ef85/1.8 is still pretty tack sharp wide open. will be picking up a ef85/1.8 on tuesday from a mr lim once the paycheck comes in...

need lots of rest. will need to re-evaluate my coffers, to see what i can spend on... and of course, gotta try to work out my budget after i get the set of tools i want to get. most likely, i'll shelve the powerbook 15 plan, and work on getting a 1d mk ii as a primary camera, and use the 10d as a backup. eaddie, give me a call when you read this. you better!


it's not easy to shoot badminton. really!

general consensus from both my good friend who loaned me the ef85/1.8, and mr lim, is that photography is somewhat of a trade where you'd do somewhat better to shoot stuff others don't want to shoot. to an extent, of course!

and i must say, i'm pretty glad i offered to shoot at tampines come national day, because i really suck big time at fireworks!

i "only" have a few things on my biking to-buy list.

park tool sr-1 (US$17.95) or sr-2 (US$27.95) sprocket remover

park tool cc-2 chain checker (US$22.95)

park tool cnw-1 chain nut wrench (US$2.95)

topeak presta valve extender

park tool bbb-1 big blue book of bicycle repair

park tool pw-3 (US$22.95) or pw-4 (US$27.95)

park tool pcs-4 (US$199.95), pcs-1 (US$134.95)or pcs-9 (US$99.95)

just added the online pricing as a guide... though it's well known that prices can be pretty different from usa to here...

argh. the enable program file just plonked itself down on my desk, again. enable coordinator. taf coordinator. subject coordinator. level coordinator. wings programme. sail programme.

effective time in the school hours, already taken up. is there a way out to have personal time? some other colleague told me before, that on a level, we teachers look like we're the only ones scurrying around the school. i wouldn't exactly agree with that if we're strictly talking about during-school hours, but i would strongly agree with that if you're talking about post-school hours. enrichment programmes of every sort are available, but what happens to the schoolwork if you attend?

i need a break. soon.

i had to spend more time on the bike early yesterday morning after reaching school yesterday, because i had the great luck to actually roll across some dog poo after only going over about a 20 meter stretch of grass at about 6:30am. if only i were to be so lucky to get some windfall, i wouldn't mind. the cleaning seemed to work, since my folks didn't complain about any smell at night.

happened to meet evolutionx at tiong hin, while i was there to sit and stare. gotta clear the rest of the payment for a major bike component before i'll be done...

gotta rest really well today - i'll need to be at the padang by 1pm tomorrow afternoon. and the expected finishing time would be 8 to 9pm in the evening. and no thanks to the series of blasts ripping through england yesterday, security around the area will have to be extra, extra watertight. the ioc meeting's scheduled to finish on sunday, so whoever that arsehole who planned the blasts, will probably try to push his luck...

some interesting information about the ndp mobile column - the waves, and the routes.

may be popping down to join the togoparts triathletes at the "easy swim" session and pass them the photos. but uh, my schoolboys are taking part in the national schools' u-11 rugby finals tomorrow. see how la!

met old pei chun classmate, shawn low on orchard outside wisma yesterday afternoon, after i left debby's talk about pulau hantu. met another old vs chum tze wei who's working in mas now, later in the evening after the rehearsal.

currently, i find it really hard to shoot for this year, as compared to last year.

met a couple of ex-vs people at east coast park today, while taking photos at the osim triathlon; managed to get a few shots for a few guys from tgp. learnt too, that one of my p4 boys is the cousin of joseph tan, while sylvia mccully is the mom of jonathan fong! what a small world!

forgot to post this one up. presenting, the fully built up bike, belonging to a crap rider...



by the way, i disassembled my time alium hp pedals and regreased all up. learnt that the outboard dustcap serves more than just keeping dust out. in fact without it, the entire platform of the pedal would slide inboard by 6 to 8mm!