Moving - Arrrgh

Some statistics:
Number of years in current organization: 10 coming on to 11
Number of years in current position: coming on the 3 years
Number of times relocated office in current organization: 6
Number of times relocated office in last 3 years = 4!!!!!

Oh, I also moved house this year, so 2005 is The Year of the Move.

I hate, hate, hate moving. The thing I hate most about moving is packing. Specifically, the sorting part of packing. The decision making - what to keep, what to throw? - is just draining. How much sentimentality to attach to objects rarely seen and never used? Whether to throw away something is there is a remote off-chance that it might be needed in the future?

The thing about

I have bruises, sore muscles and a too much dust in my system. HATE packing.

Maid for Trouble

What is with the recent spate of maids committing crimes? Earlier this year, 2 homesick and clinically depressed maids murdered their employer. A couple of months ago, a woman was found dead lying in a pool of blood and her maid was arrested. Earlier this month, in the now infamous Orchard Road body-parts case, a maid was accused of murdering a countrywoman, also a domestic worker. And just yesterday, the papers reported the story of a maid who was poisoning her aged employer with soap.

It used to be that the papers were full of horror stories about maid abuse. We still get these stories, at depressingly frequent intervals. It is not that the tide is turning, but that the tide is becoming stronger. Foreign domestic workers are the disturbing face of global inequality. Whether victims or perpertrators of crime, their stories show us uncomfortable truths about our society and the world we live in.

How many of us can truly comprehend the poverty that FDWs leave behind to seek employment in our more affluent shores? No matter how empathetic, how can we truly understand their sense of displacement or their feelings of fear and trepidation? Most adjust perfectly well; humans are resilient and adaptable creatures, after all. Yet, there are those who cannot adjust as easily and are plagued by human reactions: depression, despair, resentment and fear. From such human frailties are crimes born.

There are no easy answers, perhaps no answer at all. The problem with people is that, well, they have personalities and feelings. Feelings are messy things that we cannot fix with policies, frameworks or laws. Much less feelings that we cannot truly grasp in full (for which we should count ourselves blessedly fortunate).

If we are merciful, we would wish for a world where poverty does not turn young women into tradeable commodities to be sold abroad to more affluent nations.

Detached, anxious and dangerous to know?

Wow, this is disconcertingly accurate. But they could have used a better word than "detached". I prefer to think of it as "individualist"!

Main Type	Overall Self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

Detailed results from the short version (50 questions)

Enneagram Test Results (Short Version) Type 1 Perfectionism |||||||||||| 46% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||||| 54% Type 3 Image Focus |||||||||||| 42% Type 4 Hypersensitivity |||||||||| 34% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||||||||||| 78% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||||||| 62% Type 7 Adventurousness |||||||||| 38% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||||| 22% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||||| 50% Your main type is 5 Your variant is self pres

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

type	score	type behavior motivation
5	19	I must be knowledgable and independent to be happy.
6	15	I must be secure and safe to be happy.
2	13	I must be helpful and caring to be happy.
9	12	I must be peaceful and easy to get along with to be happy.
1	11	I must be perfect and good to be happy.
3	10	I must be impressive and attractive to be happy.
7	9	I must be high and entertained to be happy.
4	8	I must avoid painful feelings to be happy.
8	5	I must be strong and in control to be happy.

Detailed results from the long version (126 questions)

Enneagram Test Results (Long version) Type 1 Perfectionism |||||||||||| 47% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||||| 54% Type 3 Image Focus |||||||||||| 41% Type 4 Hypersensitivity |||||||||||| 45% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||||||||||| 72% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||||||| 64% Type 7 Adventurousness |||||||||| 34% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||||||||| 32% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||||||| 56% Your main type is 5 Your variant is self pres

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

type	score	type behavior motivation
5	50	I must be knowledgable and independent to be happy.
6	44	I must be secure and safe to be happy.
9	39	I must be peaceful and easy to get along with to be happy.
2	38	I must be helpful and caring to be happy.
1	33	I must be perfect and good to be happy.
4	31	I must avoid painful feelings to be happy.
3	28	I must be impressive and attractive to be happy.
7	24	I must be high and entertained to be happy.
8	23	I must be strong and in control to be happy.

Words, words and more difficult words

This was HORRIBLY difficult! Boy, talk about a reality check for the English Genius. I think I must have guessed half of this and still managed to score quite well. It might just mean I am luckier than the average person who tried this!

Verbal Intelligence Test Results

Sir Francis Galton, the cousin of Charles Darwin, first popularized the notion of measurable intelligence in the late 1800s. Charles Spearman later discovered that all mental abilities tend to correlate together when statistically analyzed. He called this G. Modern researchers tend to agree that there are two kinds of intelligence, crystallized intelligence (learned knowledge) and fluid intelligence (abstract processing ability). Verbal tests tend to measure crystallized intelligence more. While fluid intelligence peaks between the ages of 18-21, dropping after that, crystallized intelligence can increase as you get older and does not degrade (usually) until fairly late in life. According to a number of studies, the correlation between vocabulary and general iq is around .8 (a very high correlation). Congratulations, you obtained a very high score. (Rest is snipped) Your overall percentile is 94% which means you scored higher than 94% of the people who have taken this test. The internet population tends to be more intelligent so your percentile might be higher if the test taking sample was perfectly random. Keep in mind, taking this test more than once will render your percentile score inaccurate because the percentile scoring assumes these questions were fresh to the test taker. The point of this test is to challenge you and show you how you compare to other test takers on a set of novel questions. Consequently, the answers need to be kept secret to protect the integrity of the test.

Left says, right says

Hey, I wish I was less well-balanced. Does this not seem a bit boring?

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (48%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (44%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?(word test)
personality tests by similarminds.com

Left brain dominant individuals are more orderly, literal, articulate, and to the point. They are good at understanding directions and anything that is explicit and logical. They can have trouble comprehending emotions and abstract concepts, they can feel lost when things are not clear, doubting anything that is not stated and proven. Right brain dominant individuals are more visual and intuitive. They are better at summarizing multiple points, picking up on what's not said, visualizing things, and making things up. They can lack attention to detail, directness, organization, and the ability to explain their ideas verbally, leaving them unable to communicate effectively. Overall you appear to have fairly Equal Hemispheres

Measurable Intelligence?

The Visual Pattern Intelligence Test - very well worth trying.

This was an interesting mind-bender. The test creator posted some questions on the results page that are quite thought-provoking. I will get around to answering them later.

First, the results:

Sir Francis Galton, the cousin of Charles Darwin, first popularized the notion of measurable intelligence in the late 1800s. Charles Spearman later discovered that all mental abilities tend to correlate together when statistically analyzed. He called this G. Modern researchers tend to agree that there are two kinds of intelligence, crystallized intelligence (learned knowledge) and fluid intelligence (abstract processing ability). Most non-verbal intelligence tests measure the latter. Some research suggests that fluid intelligence may correlate best to G. Congratulations, you obtained a perfect score. I am researching intelligence and personality so I would greatly appreciate if you would use the comment form below to answer the following questions. What was your childhood IQ measured at? SAT score? GRE score? What is your career or what career do you plan on pursuing? How has your intelligence affected your life? Do you think intelligence correlates negatively with physical attractiveness? Did you have any problems with any of the questions on this test, was it challenging, easy? Include your email if you are open to possibly getting follow up questions. If you would rather think about the questions and answer later, submit your answers via the contact link. Your overall percentile is 99% which means you scored higher than 99% of the people who have taken this test. The internet population tends to be more intelligent so your percentile might be higher if the test taking sample was perfectly random. Keep in mind, taking this test more than once will render your percentile score inaccurate because the percentile score assumes these questions were fresh to the test taker. The point of this test is to challenge you and show you how you compare to other test takers on a set of novel questions. Consequently, I need to keep the answers secret to protect the integrity of the test.

Now, onto the questions.

What was your childhood IQ measured at? SAT score? GRE score?
I never had my IQ taken as a child, so I wouldn't know. I am not in the American education system, so haven't take the SATs or GRE. If online IQ test are reliable, my current IQ would be in the 130+ range, I suppose. It has tested to be as high as 150+, but that was probably not reliable.

What is your career or what career do you plan on pursuing?
I work in an academic institution, mainly doing research. Yes, I do believe that intelligence is part of the job requirement. And I do consider myself fully smart enough to do my job. I do wish I could do my job better, but that has less to do with wanting to be more intelligent and more a desire for having a better memory of things learnt long ago.

How has your intelligence affected your life?
The practical effect is easy to quantify: it got me an education and a job. More intangibly, it made me curious about things and drove me to seek out knowledge beyond my comfort zone. I like to think that I have developed a measure of open-mindedness and largesse of spirit because of that.

I have gone through most of my life knowing that I am of at least above-average intelligence. I did well at school, I quite liked Maths and I absolutely slaughtered the opposition at Scrabble. I won't deny that I am thankful for being intelligent. I am not a genius by any means, and in my line of work, I meet plenty of people who are much smarter and more mentally agile than I ever could be. But I am pretty happy with whatever mental faculties I have been given. It has definitely made life easier, and probably made life more interesting.

Do you think intelligence correlates negatively with physical attractiveness?
Since both physical attractiveness and intelligence are genetic, a negative correlation would imply some sort of embedded physiological encoding. I don't know, I still think that there is a lottery element to genetics, and luck has some part to play in the distribution of looks and brains.

Getting away from the genetics for a while, to some extent, intelligence correlates negatively with the desire to BE physically attractive. Not that intelligent people want to appear unattractive, just that they tend to be more indifferent.

Did you have any problems with any of the questions on this test, was it challenging, easy?
A few were quite complex to work out. But in all cases, once the correct answer had been reasoned out, there was no ambiguity or guessing between multiple choices.

I em a grate speler!

Spelling Nazi You scored 95 Spelling smarts!

Okay so you've either cheated, or you know all the vocabulary rules by now. "I before E, except after c." bla bla bla. Great job. You know how to spell, and you might be a bit anal retentive about it too. Not a bad thing mind you, but I get picked on for it. An answer key is what you're after? http://quizanswerkey.blogspot.com/

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 57% on Spelling smarts

Link: The Everyday Spelling Test written by charlifeathers on Ok Cupid

Shooting Stars

Not so long ago, the entertainment industry had a rather painful fondness for trying to make actors into singers. Just give them a couple of months of voice training, put them in the recording studio and film a pretty music video. Voila, you have a pop star with a ready built fan-base from their acting efforts.

Remember Fann Wong's album, Christopher Lee's EP, Zoe Tay's CD (I think Zoe might want to drop this from her CV)? In Hong Kong, Louis Koo and Flora Chan, among others got into the act. Their recorded efforts were acceptable, their live singing not so much.

With so many musicians struggling to break into the industry, I hate the fact that actors can get recording contracts despite having no training and no discernible musical talent. It is all a cynical marketing ploy and thankfully, there is much less of it going on now.

I thought that there could be nothing worse than forcing actors to be singers. Then I watched Channel 5's "Shooting Stars". Well, there IS something worse - forcing singers to be actors.

Shooting Stars is the "Singapore Idols drama series", starring 5 of the Singapore Idol finalists. We haven't seen all of them in action yet, but of the ones we have seen so far, the experiment with acting singers is a mixed success.

Taufik Batisah
Acting Chops: His acting is perfectly decent. Not a De Niro, but he pulls of "intense" with commendable aplomb. He isn't skilled enough for subtle characterisation, but he does not overact and is quite at ease in front of a camera.
Act or Sing? : Sing, with small acting jobs now and then. With a lot of training and experience, he could get as good at acting as he is at performing, but why not stick to what he does best?

Sylvester Sim
Acting Chops: Ouch! Painful, painful, painful. It's just painful to watch him act. So wooden and utterly uninteresting to watch. Whether in love, worried, angry or upset, his facial expression never changes. And let's not forget the bad diction; he was almost incomprehensible. Just painful.
Act or Sing? : Sing. And never, ever, act again. Never. Please.

Daphne Khoo
Acting Chops:She seems to be playing herself, so this might not be much of an acting stretch. That said, she is natural and unaffected. Her "manja girl" act is likeable and sweet rather than being irritating. She also successfully plays off her fellow actors.
Act or Sing?: Act. I don't much carre for her singing voice, but see real potential in her to act if she wants to pursue it as a career.

Olinda Cho
Acting Chops:The girl has a larger than life personality which seeps through her acting. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but might limit her versatility. Her acting style is rather broad and has a somewhat exaggerated quality. She does show comic instincts and might be more comfortable without a script.
Act of Sing?: Sing, and do a side-line in variety-show hosting. The girl has a great voice which should not go to waste.

A word on the music in the series: Kudos to Ken Lim for letting the kids record the closing songs aired during the credits of their respective feature episodes. I quite like the song that Sly sings (if he enunciated better, I might even be able to figure out what the song is about!). Taufik's and Daphne's (which she co-wrote) are also good generic pop songs, certainly comparable to anything we hear on the radio nowadays.

My MBTI profile

Did the short and long versions and got this both times. I did this a few years back and also turned up an INFP finding. Either variations of MBTI are extremely reliable, or I just haven't changed much.

Based on the scales, I am very strongly introverted and intuitive, strongly perceptive and moderately feeling. No scales where I toe the middle line. Hmmmm, I wonder if this has something to do with being an idealist; the idea of zealous commitment to a position.

One gripe: the 0% on the Intuitive/Sensory scale is a bit iffy, no? I can't be that unobservant!

And INFPs are such a rare bunch. I don't know whether to be proud or worried that we are apparently so unique.

INFP - the Healer You scored 9% I to E, 0% N to S, 38% F to T, and 73% J to P!

You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more feeling based than thinking based, and you prefer to go with the flow rather than having a plan. Your type can best be summarized by the word "Healer", which belongs to the larger group of idealists. You have a capacity for caring that is deeper than most. You strive for unity, are fascinated by the battles between good and evil, and can be something of an idealist. Only 1% of the population shares your type. As a romantic partner, you are usually supportive and nuturing, however, you have a high need for individuality. Harmony is extremely important to you as you are very affected by conflict and tension, which also makes you resist confronting your partner directly about problems. When you get angry, you usually blame yourself, rather than your partner. You can also be stubborn and unyielding when you feel you are being criticized or mistreated. You feel the most appreciated when your partner listens to you carefully. You need to be understood. You need to hear your partner express their feelings, the more often, the better. Your group summary: idealists (NF) Your type summary: INFP

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 7% on I to E
You scored higher than 0% on N to S
You scored higher than 31% on F to T
You scored higher than 82% on J to P

Link: The LONG Scientific Personality Test written by unpretentious2 on Ok Cupid

If I was an American, I would have voted....

I describe myself in my profile as a bleeding heart liberal. That has alwas been more about my stance on social issues, and less and expression of my political idealogy or my position on economic issues.

How accurate is this quiz?

I was an economics major and for a long time, imagined myself to be a conservative, Neo-classical type. Free market, minimum intervention, globalization, liberalization - capitalism all the way! Well, to make a long story short, I started noticing the effects of rampant capitalism, the erosion of resources and the disregard for sustainability. Yes, I advocate Corporate Social Responsibility (don't get me started on that!). I hope that one day, our mantra would not be "being responsible while being profitable" but rather "being responsible to be profitable". I do believe in free trade and am not nearly as critical of globalisation as I could be. I am not quite an economic socialist, but definitely no longer a neo-classicist. Mine eyes have seen the error of my pro-capitalism ways. 25% seems about right.

I believe I am socially quite liberal but admit readily that I can roll my eyes at contemporary social mores. I embrace the theoretical concept of social liberalism whole-heartedly. Everyone on equal footing, everyone has the right to do anything that doesn't break the law, nobody judges others for what they believe and what they do. At the same time, and perhaps hypocritically, I think there are boundaries to be drawn in the real world. Behaviours have spill-over consequences, not all of which are desirable.

Take feminism, for example. I am female and naturally believe in equal opportunities and the right of women to fight for affirmative action to redress the gender imbalance. But I do believe that feminism can cross the line into reverse sexism. We do not need to deny historical patriarchism and invent the Sacred Feminine to validate our worth. The past is what it was - it was sexist and anti-feminist. We also now do not need to objectify men as an expression of our liberalisation. We should not even be feminine-centric and inadvertently or otherwise, discount the contribution of men.

And then there is porn. My brand of feminism doesn't quite extend to glorifying porn as a form of sexual liberation for women. I see the appeal in the argument, but I am still disinclined to regard a career in porn as an expression of freedom and the assertion of a woman's right to do whatever she wants with her body. I don't condemn adult porn; I personally don't condone it, but wherever it's legal, it's a legitimate way to make a living. But porn is not pro-feminist and I wish it wasn't upheld as such.

And then there is religion. People should have the right to believe or not believe whatever they want. No forcing of faith down anyone's throats. But it cuts the other way too - no forcing of atheism down throats either. Just as right-wing religious bigotry is indefensible and stupid, so is extreme left-wing religion bashing, which is usually done in a arrogant and snotty manner. My sympathies are left-leaning, but some of the rabid left-wingers make life pretty hard for the rest of us.

Above all, I believe in secularism of public spaces. And yet, while it would solve many conflicts, I do not wish for the abolishment of all faiths (John Lennon posits that with "No religion", we could "imagine all the people, living life in peace). Religion has its place in our world, whatever my personal skepticism might be. I also do not think it is such a bad thing for atheists and agnostics to study the teachings of comparative religions.

Liberalism within limits, if you will.

So, 65% seems about right.

You are a Social Liberal (65% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (25% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

I know as much as I know

Well, all that reading and those years of education had to be good for SOMETHING? If only so I can score well on tests like this one. Trivia Pursuit, here I come!

you are s-m-r-t! Congratulations! You scored 100!

Scoring well on this test doesn't necessarily mean you're ready for med school, but it does mean that you can function as an ordinary human being and there's a chance you won't end up working fast food all your life. Congrats!

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 83% on coolpoints

Link: The BASIC KNOWLEDGE Test written by sexplosion on Ok Cupid

Emo? I think not.

Taken after a very difficult day, dealing with idiots, double-faced hypocrites and selfish, manipulative bitches. NOT in a good mood at all. And yet, I turned out to be an Emo Kid? I don't know - this seems a bit dodgy to me. The bitches who saw me in action today didn't see a lot of emo. Wouldn't want to waste emotion on them, anyway.

And another thing - just because one doesn't like to be the "life of the party" and prefers the company of a few rather than the boisterous pleasures of mixing with many DOES NOT MAKE ONE A TOTAL INTROVERT. It's not like we are locking ourselves up in rooms and communicating with the world entirely through the Internet. It's not like we get hives when we step into public places. It's not like we can't stand up and even do a spot of public speaking every now and then. It's not like we can't do a bit of schmoozing when we need to. It's not like we can't be friendly and perfectly prepared to talk to people who want to talk to us. Geez, I wish these personality tests that try to establish the Introvert-Extrovert spectrum would be a little more imaginative about the choice of questions. It is ALWAYS about how we prefer our party dynamics. There's a lot more than that to extroverts (and introverts).

And yes, I do consider myself an introvert. But not because I don't like large crowds of people, or mixing with the life of the party types. I am an introvert because I find more mental stimulation in quiet contemplation than in a barrage of conversation. I probably function better in small groups than in large groups. I prefer to understand my own motivations before seeking to understand others. Introversion is not about preference for company, it is about preference for space.

Emo Kid You are 42% Rational, 0% Extroverted, 28% Brutal, and 42% Arrogant.

You are the Emo Kid, best described as a quiet pussy! You tend to be an intuitive rather than a logical thinker, meaning you rely more on your feelings than your thoughts. Not only that, but you are introverted, gentle, and rather humble. You embody all the traits of the perfect emo kid. You are a push-over, an emotional thinker, gentle to the extent of absurdity, and so humble that it even makes Jesus puke. If you write poetry, you no doubt write angsty, syrupy lines about depression, sadness, and other such redundant states of emo-being. Your personality is defective because you are too gentle, rather underconfident in yourself, decidely lacking in any rational thought, and also a bit too inhibited. I probably made you cry, didn't I? Fucking Emo Kid. To put it less negatively: 1. You are more INTUITIVE than rational. 2. You are more INTROVERTED than extroverted. 3. You are more GENTLE than brutal. 4. You are more HUMBLE than arrogant. Compatibility: Your exact opposite is the Smartass. Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Hippie, the Televangelist, and the Starving Artist. * * If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits. The other personality types: The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 20% on Rationality You scored higher than 0% on Extroversion You scored higher than 24% on Brutality You scored higher than 41% on Arrogance

Link: The Personality Defect Test written by saint_gasoline on Ok Cupid

Great for the Ego

You wouldn't know it from my horrendous typos and "keyboard errors", but back in school, I twice won book prizes for English. And here's the proof that I haven't quite regressed into complete illiteracy.

English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 86% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.


My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 62% on Beginner




You scored higher than 46% on Intermediate




You scored higher than 72% on Advanced



You scored higher than 71% on Expert


Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid

The Intuition Test

Well, these results seem pretty "average". I am moderately intuitive; not a science savant and definitely not going to win any Deanna Troi Empath awards, but not in the "thick, insensitive jerk" zone.

More Scientific You have: 62% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and 55% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored about average on emotional intuition and above average on scientific intuition.Keep in mind that very few people score high on both! In effect, you can compare your two intuition scores with each other to learn what kind of intuition you're best at. Your scientific intuition is stronger than your emotional intuition. Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake. Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 29% on Scientific You scored higher than 17% on Interpersonal

Link: The 2-Variable Intuition Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

Behold my Cool Nerdiness!

Should I be flattered, or worried about this? I am WAY above the average for my age on nerd, geek AND dork points.

Modern, Cool Nerd 86 % Nerd, 69% Geek, 47% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd. Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)! Congratulations! Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 96% on nerdiness You scored higher than 90% on geekosity You scored higher than 84% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid

Project Superstar Finale

The good:

• The competition format was well thought out, with the finalists going head-to-head in five rounds ala boxing. Because each round offered a different challenge to the performers, both finalists were really tested on their versatility and technique. I especially liked the a capella and duet/trio singing segments.
• The original song written for Kelvin Tan was very pleasant on the ear.
• JJ Lin was cool, professional and the consumate musician.
• Slight slip-up by Jeff aside, the two co-hosts did a thoroughly professional job. Nothing earth-shattering, but they got the job done.
  
• The also-rans (aka as the eliminated contestants) were energetic and clearly having a good time during their group performance slots. The energy level kept the crowd in high spirit while the finalists were resting or having wardrobe changes.
• We got to see beaten male and female finalists, Junyang and Xinhui singing solo and doing a duet together. Both in very good voice, especially Xinhui. The two of them also had some on-stage chemistry going there!
• Kelvin sang his first two songs very well, and was especially good on his a capella number, with some help from his back-up brothers. When the boy isn't suffering from nerves, he can sound great.
• Kelly showed her all-round performance skills; dancing, posing and singing up a storm. Her range of music was rather impressive - up-tempo, jazzy, R&B type sounds, dance beats and an old-fashioned love ballad. She pulled off her final power ballad MUCH better than I expected. A huge improvement over her ladies' final performance two weeks back.
• The judges being refreshingly frank and critical when the performances called for it. They started out pretty much handing out bouquets all over the place and I thought we were in for a repeat of Singapore Idol' finale. Then they told Kelly she was slightly off during her a capella segment and pointed out Kelvin's lack of proper technique when trying to do R&B riffing. Maybe next year, Ken Lim and gang will be similarly less PC during Singapore Idol?

The not-so-good:

• Anthony Png's continued nonsensical non-jokes. He must be the only person who finds himself amusing. If they do Project Superstar again next year, can they get him changed - or have a no-jokes clause in his contract?
• Kelvin's loss of steam towards the end. His final two songs were quite painful. It was a pity, because the songs were lovely and he just didn't do them justice at all. You could see his visible loss of confidence during the end of his duet/trio performance, and it just went downhill from there.
• On a related note, Kelvin's rather one-dimensional choice of songs. All his songs, bar the duet/trio, were slow-tempo major-key ballads. He cannot sing a string of such songs in concert; there's only so much of sameness that an audience can take.
• The judging which had no effect on the final result. It was entertaining and insightful to hear what the professionals had to say, but maybe they should have left off the part where the judges chose their winners for each round. I think "losing" 2 of the first 3 rounds contributed to Kelvin's breakdown in his final two songs.
• The dancing by the eliminated contestants. They tried hard and they should get credit for that, but boy, some of the lack of co-ordination was not pretty to behold. Worse, some of this people can't keep in tune while standing still, so having them dance and sing at the same time is NOT such a bright idea.
• The unco-ordinated "cheering" of the fan groups. Shouldn't they have rehearsed this a bit more? Kelvin's fans were particularly incomprehensible; whenever they were called to cheer, I heard just a wall of noise, with only two words being discernible - Wei Lian. And I am guessing here.
  

The uncomfortable:

• This is going to sound totally insensitive but I have to say it. Staging this finale at Singapore Indoor Stadium, with all the bright lights, razzle-dazzle and huge audience, highlighted how much Kelvin sticks out like a sore thumb in this competition. Because he isn't able to move much, he looked awkward and lost on that vast stage.
• While the eliminated contestants were prancing around doing their group numbers, I found myself wondering how they would have choreographed around Kelvin if he had been amongst them. Perhaps it was just as well that he was one of the finalists and performed solo most of the night.
• During the duet/trio with JJ Lin and Kelly, Kelvin was put at a great disadvantage. Not only because he could not visually communicate with his partners, but because the style of music was out of his depth. JJ was grooving and riffing, while Kelvin tried valiantly to squeeze some R&B out of his balladeer's soul. It just did not work. Of course, part of the point was versatility, and the expectation was for the finalists to adjust to their singing partners. It just seemed far to much to ask of Kelvin.
• Kelly outperformed Kelvin throughout most of the night, but there was always the feeling that the performances counted for nothing. Even if Kelvin had forgotten his lines and stopped dead in the middle of a song, or had his voice crack, he would still have won. This competition was dead in the water the night that Kelvin survived his horrible "old song with new twist" disaster.

Project Superstar was a great success, if media coverage post event is anything to go by. The marketing types have decided to use Kelvin's blindness as a selling point, which is good strategic thinking, I suppose. I also think it is rather insulting to Kelvin as a musician and an artiste, but he seems quite happy to go along with it. The reality of the music industry is that success can be shortlived, so maybe he is smart to milk it for what it is worth while he can. I wish him well.

Kelly is something of the forgotten woman in this media explosion. I suppose it is difficult to not fade into the background when Kelvin has such a compelling Cinderella story. It is not her fault that she is conventionally attractive and talented and has a typical background. Wholesome normality just does not make good media coverage material. Remember Sly and his mother's legal problems? Or Sly and his ROM debacle with Maia Lee? Kelly needs a little scandal to get the column inches. But she's got her recording contract (and seemingly with the higher profile of the two sponsoring recording companies), her youth and good looks. That is as great a start as anyone could get.

Taxi Talk

I took a cab earlier today and had the pleasure of encountering a friendly driver who kept up a lively line of chatter throughout the 30 minute journey. He referred to himself in the third person as "Uncle" and told me about his wonderful varied career, including a stint as a cook in the navy, 2 years in the tool-die industry, a side-line as a martial arts instructor and almost 30 years of driving a cab.

Then he moved on to other topics; as a taxi driver, he has heard a million stories from his many passengers. Thirty seconds before reaching my destination, he drops a bit of salacious gossip that left me slack-jawed. So much so that we almost overshot my alighting point. Worst of all, I didn't have time to press for more details!!

I am not going to repeat that piece of gossip here. It might be a very nasty piece of slander that should not be spread around. What astounded me is that Uncle has seemed so certain of the truth of it. He even seemed rather surprised that I was not aware of it.

I wish I had managed to get more details about it. I only have one man's certainty, which is mighty convincing but not entirely so. It begs this question - does something become the truth just because a large enough group of people proclaim it to be so? I am Malaysian and in Malaysia, you hear this sort of thing all the time, about famous and powerful people. There is always an "unspoken truth" that "everyone" knows because there are "insiders" and "networks". It gets spread around because we hear it from people we tend to trust and tell it to people who tend to trust us. Everyone ends up believing it, but at some point, nobody remembers who actually originated it.

Does the taxi driver grapevine work like this? Taxi drivers hear so many different things from so many different people. And they tell so many different things to so many different people. Other than the Internet, there might not be a more effective channel to transmit information between entirely unconnected people. It is very powerful, but is it reliable?

I really wish there was a way to confirm this rumour without asking too many different people about it. If I did that, I might just be adding to the weight of "evidence" which is simply this - "so many people have heard about it, there must be some truth to it". And so are urban legends born ....