The Foggy Marshland

Something not seen everyday

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:47:51 GMT

Si Bheag Si Mhor - harp tune by Carolan played by Mark Harmer from Mark Harmer on Vimeo.

Something I thought I would never do...

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:13:08 GMT

That is watching an explicit BL anime, and creating a page for it. I tried to convince myself that I was coerced into that but... So I´ll spread the disease even wider *evil smirk*.

Anime Music

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 06:26:00 GMT

I have meant to do this for a while but just finish it yesterday. My anime music lens!

The Nightmare that is Stats

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:19:47 GMT

Well, looks like my uncle's prob lecture is tame in comparison to the current course. Solving mathematical problems used to get on my nerves at times but being uncertain about of what I'm doing is another level. ~~Now I think I know why people involved in stats are cracked~~.

My Gundam 00 Lenses

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:00:01 GMT

As the first season of the series is wrapping up, I make an overview page (call a lenses) for it on Squidoo. ~~Damn you $unrise, you make me behave like an obsessed kid.~~ The wait is going to be long and it's more than certain that there will be a damned cliffhanger, I plan to pull as many non-fan into suffering with me as possible.

Why Is the World Misguided? Where Is It Misguided?

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:52:07 GMT

Trust me, I'm not the type who likes philosophical questions let alone asking one myself. I plagiarize those from the anime series Gundam 00 (those who watch it will remember that they were asked in a weird situation by a ~~stalking~~ weird guy, a reason for me to remember them). After a fair dose of history of religious conflicts + social psychology a.k.a we-are-not-who-we-think-we-are (I have irrational reasoning in choosing courses, I know) last week, they keep popping up in my head and it doesn't help that the aforementioned series is full of those topics. Now all I need is a giant robot (it's better if it's red) to find an answer (I haven't thought of how yet, maybe dropping some asteroids since we have yet to have space colonies though the ISS should be an acceptable substitute).
Nevermind. This post is the result of the dangerous cocktail of ~~reckless~~ over-ambitious course choice and an overdose of anime.
Like Dumbledore of Harry Potter, sometimes I feel the need to get rid of my thoughts/obsession.

Migration to Ubuntu Completed...

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:22:31 GMT

After 3 months of trial, today I finally move entirely to Ubuntu with the installation of Wine and SPSS. Hope things will go smoothly in the future.
No Windows bashing here but Ubuntu pleases me more, aside from the complexities of installing new software.

A Vietnamese Yearly Schedule of Celebrations

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:03:05 GMT

Vietnamese have a lot of traditional holidays during a year, each of which has a unique meaning. Here is my essay on the topic. I hope it will be useful to you.

Titbits about the Lunar Calendar

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:00:47 GMT

In the spirit of the Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year as Western people often say), it should be fun to have a look at the Calendar, the underlying factor of this holiday. Here are a few trivia that I can think of.

_Though it is often called Lunar, the Calendar is in fact luni-solar in that the year and month are defined by the movement of the moon but the arrangement of the months is based on the effect of the sun (i.e. the seasons). The fact that it's quite consistent to the Gregorian Calendar (despite about 1 month difference) proves that. I heard that the Calendar also reflects the movement of the stars but I cannot confirm it.

_A Lunar year can have 13 months. Those years are called leap year and they pop up rather arbitrarily.

_People know that each year "belongs" to an animal of the Zodiac and the year is called after that animal. However, the other part of the year's name, the Heavenly Stem, is no less important. In fact, without it, the people using exclusively the Lunar Calendar cannot figure out which year they are referring to.

_The animals of the Zodiac "patronize" not only the year but also the month, day and hour. In fact, in the past, people in countries that use Lunar Calendar named the hours of the day after the Zodiac animals.

_Each animal of the Zodiac, each element of the Heavenly Stems as well as the corresponding year/month/day/hour are associated to one of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth.

More details of the Calendar can be found here. Most importantly, a happy Lunar New Year for you.

Writer's Block: Chinese New Year

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:41:39 GMT

2008 is the Year of the Rat. Which animal year were you born in?

View 500 Answers

Dragon. The only legendary animal in the list.

Writer's Block: Love This Artist

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:49:04 GMT

Who is your favorite artist?

View 169 Answers

Jules Verne. "Twenty miles under the sea" is the first book that captivated my interest. What child wouldn't love a mysterious adventure together with a mysterious Captain.