Hang on a second...

3 more days to end of 2005. Well 3 days and one second more, says the Paris Observatory's The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service which synchronises Earth's rotation (solar time, used by astronomers) with that of atomic clocks (used by us). Friction caused by tidal action slows Earth's rotation down, causing solar time to be slower than atomic clocks. If this continues, the disparity will cause software used by astronomers to become obselete. To prevent this from happening, Paris Observatory adds or substract a second from solar time every six months. So we'll get to enjoy another second more this coming New Year's Eve.

New Year 'delayed' by leap second

I need 2 more weeks actually, still got lots to finish before the year starts. Well, that means I'll come crashing into 2006 riding on a huge snowball. What a ride.

Realised I have blogged quite a fair bit, have to thank otterman and lekowala for dragging me, kicking and screaming, into this fascinating exercise.

How do one face the coming year? Will you be a butterfly or a silkworm? I'm going to lift a beautiful passage by lekowala for the answer.

From: Rabindranath Tagore, An Anthology, Edited by Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson

"In our highly complex modern conditions, mechanical forces are organised with such efficiency that the materials produced grow far in advance of man's capacity to select and assimilate them to suit his nature and needs. Such an overgrowth, like the rank vegetation of the tropics, creates confinement for man."

"The silkworm seems to have cash value credited in its favour somewhere in nature's accounting department, according to the amount of work it performs. But the butterfly is irresponsible. The significance which it may possess had neither weight nor use and is lightly carried on its pair of dancing wings. Perhaps it pleases someone in the heart of the sunlight, the lord of colours, who has nothing to do with account books and has a perfect mastery in the great art of wastefulness.

"The prudent people, the utilitarian people, say: 'What are these, and what use are these? What does the picture stand for?' I say do not bother about what they are. You do not ask the jasmine what is the philosophy of jasminehood, but when you see the jasmine you rejoice in its beauty, and the wonder and satisfaction is that it should be there at all. Creation is art in its most literal meaning, for it is the meaning of reality."


I'm going to bug lekowala for this beautiful book. Indeed, the most enjoyable time I have moving around is when I'm not trying to compose the scenery for a photograph or when I am not trying to recall the name of a certain plant. The experience of seeing a small herb peeking out from a crack on a concrete pavement is sometimes the most beautiful experiences one can enjoy.

Shall keep the words of Tagore in mind when 2006 comes along.

Will like to wish my friends, my students and students who have become friends, all the very best in the coming year ahead.

Need A Lift?

Saw this beautiful picture by Norbert Rosing this on the national geographic website. Call it Bambi syndrome but I got to post this.

Merry Christmas.

Ubin - Near German Girl Shrine

ubin - Near German Girl Shrine
Originally uploaded by _Cheng Puay.

Had a very nice day last week, bringing some friends down ubin. We went down Chek Jawa, the German Girl Shrine and the nice quarry overlooking the island. Found another nice place near the shrine, it's been recently cleared so grasses and other herbs covered the ground. As we cycled up the small slope, the ground opened up into this nice green oasis with the sky just stretching on forever. Just this nice sea of green and blue and lots of tranquility. Must go back another day.

La Terre vue du Ciel - Earth from Above

La Terre vue du Ciel - Earth from Above
Originally uploaded by _Cheng Puay.

After talking to otterman, felt that I should write a few words about this exhibit.
Walking down Orchard is much more pleasant recently, thanks to this beautiful exhibit of the famous works of Yann Arthus-Betrand.
Yann started off as a game parks guide in the safaris of Africa where he would bring visitors to survey the landscape on a hot air balloon. This is when he discovered aerial photography and slowly taking aerial photographs became his life.
And what a life I must say, to have the priviledge of going to all the corners of the world, documenting stunning vistas of the wondrous works of Nature. What an exciting and yet humbling experience it must be.
Had gone down to view the exhibits a few times and each time I find myself awestruck by the sheer scale of the landscapes, how intricate and beautiful Earth is. Yet, I always walk away sober, for the stories each panel tells is often a sad reminder of how limited Earth's resources are, how poverty is still rampant in many parts of the world and how Man's actions are slowly and steadily erasing many of Nature's wondrous pieces.
Think I have rambled on enough. Go see the exhibit for yourself, it'll be around till 17 Jan 2006.

For more images of Yann Arthus-Betrand - click here.

Booklist

Opened up this entry meaning to make a list of the best books I read this year. Shall rely on my memory for this task.

Fiction
Tony Parson - The Family Way
Jeffrey Archer - A Prison Diary Purgatory, A Prison Diary Heaven, Sons of Fortune
Douglas Adams - The Salmon Of Doubt

Fantasy
Terry Pratchett - Little Wee Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Going Postal,
Neil Gaiman - Mirrormask, 1602, Anansi Boys
Allan Moore - A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, Watchmen

Non-Fiction
General
Lynne Truss - Eats, Shoots and Leaves

Science
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
Jared Diamond - Guns, Germs and Steel
Jones and German - Flora of Malaysia Illustrated

Photography
Tom Mackie - Photos with Impact
Lonely Planet Images Collection - One Planet

new nursery

new nursery
Originally uploaded by _Cheng Puay.

Managed to get the contractor down to set up the mist system for the nursery. While they were laying the pipes and assembling the pumps, I spent the morning shifting the plants down to the new location. It was back breaking work, but one of great value as each little seedling is going to be a great giant in the rainforest one day. For this, what is a little backache? Heh.
The mist system was finally ready in the evening and what a pleasant sight it was to see the plants happily covered with a thin film of life-giving water. Hope they will be happy there.
Meanwhile I can rest easier, the re-potting will commence next year. Hope the plants can wait. I really have no time for the moment.

Deadlines

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." - Douglas Adams

Sparrow which knocked down 23000 dominoes earns musuem place

Why can't they just catch the little fella and release it outside? Having said that, statement by Hans Peeters of the Dutch Bird Protection Agency summed up the issue.
"I just wish we could channel all this energy that went into one dead sparrow into saving the species," he said.

For the whole story:
Sparrow death mars record attempt BBC News
Killed sparrow to go on display By Geraldine Coughlan, BBC News

Shutterfly now has export assistant for IPhoto

Was uploading a batch of photos for my friends and had to use shutterfly. Then realised that one of the pioneers in photosharing has done itself proud by incorporating a export assistant. You can now use Iphoto or your browser to export photos. Well done!

Shutterfly export assistant

HV in morning

HV in morning
Originally uploaded by _Cheng Puay.

Went for a mangrove reforestation meeting with Otterman, Antz, Lekowala and Krish in Sungei Buloh. Before that, met Otterman and Antz for breakfast at holland village. It was around 7 plus in the morning, after a night's rain, the air was cool and fresh, the gradually brightening sky a soft blue, and the streets were quiet and empty. Nice and tranquil.

I love waking up to mornings like this and also finding pockets of peace and quiet in the city, even for a short while. While musing, I wondered, while this is good and nice, if this meeting did not happen, I'd still be at home enjoying my cuppa. These instances may be best savored if one opens up one's senses to soak themselves in the moment.

Life In the Undergrowth - David Attenborough

At 78, Sir David Attenborough is still going strong and has produced yet another astounding series "Life in the Undergrowth".

Check out snippets here

Focus is on invertebrates, one of the most ancient and diverse group of animals.

Special Olympics Singapore

Thanks to my students, I had the privilege to be the photographer for the end of year celebration for the Special Olympics Aquatics programme. I am always deeply moved by the passion of the volunteers, the love of the athletes's parents and of course the unconditional trust and warmth of the athletes themselves.
If living is a chance to help and serve others, then I am indeed very very grateful for such an opportunity to be a small part of this august group.
Thank you volunteers, parents and athletes, have a good holidays and hopefully I can contribute my little bit next year.

Wikipedia tightens online rules

One of the weakness in open source knowledge banks, the posting of wrong information and the insufficient resources to verify the accuracy of information posted. Ideally the concept of knowledge sharing is perfect; but due to the existence malicious, irresponsible and sometimes ignorant characters, one has to exercise some degree of caution when obtaining information from such sites. As usual, just employ the basic rules of good research, always verify your source and go for more reliable references such as printed journals.

From the BBC article -'Wikipedia tightens online rules'

...Unlike content published in magazines, books or newspapers, online information can be posted anonymously by anyone.

Wikipedia has thrived on offering people the chance to contribute to a collective knowledge bank.

Since its launch in 2001, Wikipedia has gathered together some 850,000 articles in English as well as entries in at least eight other languages on a wide range of topics.

Based on wikis, open-source software which lets anyone fiddle with a webpage, anyone reading a subject entry can disagree, edit, add, delete, or replace the entry.

It relies on volunteers, many of whom are experts in a particular field, to edit previously submitted articles.

Mr Wales acknowledged that the new procedures would not prevent people from posting false information but said he hoped it would limit the number of new articles being created.

This, in turn, should make it easier for the 600 volunteers to edit content, he said.

Another related article:
A short lived trial conducted by Los Angeles Times which allowed readers to edit its editorials on its website - Paper's 'wikitorial' trial halted

Run results

Heh I just realised that there is a comprehensive analysis of the entire run on Sunday. We were ranked 7 for total distance covered among educational institutes. Next year we'll have a proper team formed: tentative programme will begin with the vertical marathon, Sheares Bridge Run and ending with Singapore Marathon.

New Mammal Found In Borneo

A new species of mammal, resembling the lemurs, was spotted by biologist Stephan Wulffraat's team at the Kayan Mentarang National Park.

A novel discovery of a higher order animal, at this time and age where habitats are fast disappearing, is certainly exciting news.
Dr Isaac, from the Institute of Zoology in London, commented that the new mammal is most likely to be a viverrid, the family which includes the mongoose and the civets. As to why such a mammal is not spotted till now, two reasons were offered; one is that the mammal may spend a part of its time amongst the trees, which makes it difficult to spot. The other more troubling explanation could be the greater accessibility to the heart of the forest due to more development and road building. I propose another reason, which is the use of high-tech image capturing devices such as infra-red activated camera traps together with more intensive study of certain locations which lead to the mammal's discovery.

Ref:
'New Mammal' seen in Borneo Woods by BBC correspondent Richard Black.

Nice run

Went for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 10km run. On my own, I would never have participated but hey, there are friends running as well, so why not.

At the starting line, all I can see was this long long line of runners waiting for the flag off. There were so many of them that we took 3 minutes to arrive at the starting line after the flag off! Once there is sufficient space, I started the run at the tentative pace, not knowing how long I can last and also trying to see which colleague I can run comfortably with. It was really nice to have the entire road to yourself and running towards the rising sun. After a while, found a colleague with a similar pace and we established a comfortable cadence. It was really an experience to see so many runners running with you, to hear the steady plodding of the running shoes on the road and to see this immense wave of people stretching far ahead of you. Completed the run around an hour plus, not bad considering that I did not really train for it. Well now off to rest my weary legs.

A Twist Of Fate

Watched 'A Twist of Fate' the day before the KL trip, forgot to mention it till I received a review from SRT, citing a report by Neil Humphreys from 'Today'. Neil hailed it as the play of the year. Well this is only the third play/ musical (after the 'Lady in Black' and 'Snow Wolf Lake) I watched this year, I am in no position to judge whether Neil's assessment is true but I did have a good time that evening. Was pleasantly surprised by Adrian Pang's performance, his comical poses was really entertaining and he can sing really well. The character that stole the show was Sheila Francisco, the lady of the house. Her renditions are pitch perfect and I cannot believe that she can master the local accent so well. Her periodic exclamations of 'chelaka!' was really hilarious.

It was a pleasant and enjoyable show. Great acting, fantastic singing, witty lines and accompanied by jazzy light hearted music. Makes one just forget the worries of the day and just savor the moment.