OMG... I hate the French. I've always wondered why they call it the French Defense. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, the French Defense is a chess opening that is usually passive with the strategic aim of sitting back while waiting for the opponents to over-extend themselves and awaiting the opportune moment to strike back. Sounds kinda sneaky, like Jack Sparrow.
Nevertheless, ever since I quit playing serious chess, I have forgotten how much I hated the French until recently. I have added the Facebook Chess Application and have been playing "correspondence" chess since then. I call it correspondence chess because there is almost no time limit to make your move, and you basically have free reign on who or what you want to consult over your moves. In real chess tournaments, this is not allowed. As an aside, I have played some pretty cool games and managed a decent record of 12 wins, 1 draw and no losses. However, the point I would like to bring up today is that among all the games I have played, I have encountered the French Defense at least 4 times and I am now being reminded of how much I hate it. There seems very little possibility to seize an advantage in the early game if your opponent plays correctly. So that's why I have decided to play 1. d4 for the time being to avoid these ridiculous encounters that simply pisses me off. If you have a way of killing the French Defense, or know an Anti-French System, please, I beg you, let me know about it!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Juno
Many of you may have already watched Juno and most probably loved the movie. While it is only obvious that I loved the movie very much, what I would like to talk about today extends beyond an appreciation of what is one of the wittiest films I've ever seen.I am by no means a hardcore movie critic and will never pretend to become one. After all, being a professional movie critic just means that you would be jobless, if not for your "great" ability to talk about movies. My goal today is also not to talk about the movie, but about Juno MacGuff. There is a secondary goal to this post, but I shall explain later.
If you haven't seen Juno, let me give you a brief introduction to our protagonist today. Juno is better known as the bored and consequently pregnant 16 year-old who searches for the "perfect" couple to adopt her baby after it is born. In her journey, she is confronted with what was under-exaggeratedly portrayed mature decisions while ultimately and obviously altered the course of her life completely. However, among all the qualities that can easily be observed in the movie, the best thing that I love about Juno MacGuff is her witty sarcasm.
But now I shall venture onto a path that has long been left behind; a discussion about looks. There will be at least once in your lifetime, if you're a guy, even if you're a girl, it is possible, that all you could think about are hot girls. Sexy, beautiful women, big kahunas, long legs, Asian-soft skin, or whatever it is you prefer. If you're a girl, and you cannot imagine what the heck I am talking about, maybe Brad Pitt, or for those of you younger girls, Orlando Bloom, or those of you who prefer Asian men, Wu Zhun, can help you clarify this idea.
"Juno?"
"No. It's Morgan Freeman."
So why am I bringing this up? It may seem obvious that Juno is not the sexiest woman/girl alive, or the most beautiful by any means. But there is this attractive aura about her that I just can't help but love. All you have to do is look at the picture on the right and it is clear that she seems like your Average Jane. To me, that is the cool part about Juno. The sweet innocent eyes, the lack of the need to look beautiful to society, doing whatever she wants, saying whatever she wants, being whoever she wants. This is not about Ellen Page. This post is about why I love Juno MacGuff. The slightly messy hair, absence of make-up (or apparently so), and not having to put on fancy clothes to please the world. All this because she is happy to be who she is. I love that she filled Bleaker's mailbox with Orange Tic Tac, I love how she walks around with that big belly, absorbing the stares without a care in the world. Once she decided to have the baby, she was determined to see it through, regardless of what she might face along the way.In many ways, this reminds me of myself. Maybe some of you may contend that I am not as witty as she is or whatever it is, but I feel like I can really relate to Juno MacGuff because that is pretty much who I am. This part about me may seem obvious to you people who have known me for a long time, or who have suffered from your acquaintance with me. I doubt there is really much more to this about me. I like being simple, yet I know I am not. But one thing is for sure, I like to be happy and I do what makes me happy. And that is why I love Juno MacGuff.
I did not forget the 2nd objective of this post. I mentioned I will talk about this later and I am going to do that right about now. If you have been an ardent reader of my ever-meaningful blog, you will know that I have never posted any beautiful pictures, in fact, I have never posted any pictures with my blog (I hate it when people call their blog "useless ramblings"and feel that they do not deserve to be read. At the same time, they are ever so dying to let other people read it. How useless!?) So my secondary goal today is to post some beautiful pictures to decorate my blog, seeing that I have never done it, and also to show that I am not all talk (or type), but I do believe in the appreciation of graphical representations as well, and in today's case, simplistic beauty.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Birthday Bullshit
| Lucky Color: | Amber |
| Personality Strengths: | Compassion, Savvy |
| Personality Weakness(es): | Impatience |
| Successful Career Path: | Fashion |
| Sense of Humor Style: | Slapstick |
| Adjectives to Describe You: | adventurous, enterprising |
| Description: | |
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Election Madness!
Ever since the end of the election, it has been madness. There have been rumors about riots all over the place. People being unnecessarily paranoid. Therefore, to teach them a lesson, and also because I am too bored, I have conducted the following experiment. It's pretty self explanatory if you read it.
The Gullibles:
The Gullibles:
Shihong says:
hey.. riot... got explosion
Shihong says:
damn insane
Jason says:
riot where?
Shihong says:
butterworth
Shihong says:
damn insane
Jason says:
wtf?
Jason says:
penang posers?
Shihong says:
haha.. jus kidding
Jason says:
wtf???
Shihong says:
hey.... riot... got explosion
Shihong says:
damn insane
Zhi Zhi says:
in malaysia?
Shihong says:
butterworth
Shihong says:
damn insane
Zhi Zhi says:
holy crap
Zhi Zhi says:
cos dap won?
Shihong says:
yeah
Shihong says:
damn insane
Zhi Zhi says:
woww
Zhi Zhi says:
that's nuts
Zhi Zhi says:
what was their purpose?
Shihong says:
hey.... riot... damn insane
はん ぶん says:
what riot?
Shihong says:
in butterworth
Shihong says:
got explosion
はん ぶん says:
where do you get the news from?
Shihong says:
serious la
Shihong says:
damn insane
はん ぶん says:
do you have the link to the news?
Shihong says:
not in newspaper yet
Shihong says:
tomorrow
はん ぶん says:
shocking election results
Shihong says:
yeah
Shihong says:
damn insane
はん ぶん says:
the Prime Minister should step down
Shihong says:
got explosion leh
Shihong says:
wtf
はん ぶん says:
whereabout in Butterworth?
Shihong says:
not sure leh
Shihong says:
haha no lah
Shihong says:
im jus kidding
はん ぶん says:
so there's no explosion?
Shihong says:
eh... riot... got explosion
weng soon: loving my Yonex Ti-10 says:
you serious ?
Shihong says:
yeah in butterworth
Shihong says:
damn insane
weng soon: loving my Yonex Ti-10 says:
omg...
weng soon: loving my Yonex Ti-10 says:
racial riots start already
Shihong says:
hey... riot... got explosion
shin.yi the slacker says:
huh? u mean in malaysia?
Shihong says:
in butterworth
Shihong says:
damn insane
shin.yi the slacker says:
oh really?
shin.yi the slacker says:
what kind of explosion?
Shihong says:
some vehicle
Shihong says:
dunno wat they do
Shihong says:
but exploded
shin.yi the slacker says:
wow
Shihong says:
madness
shin.yi the slacker says:
what do u think? should the opposition have not won?
Shihong says:
eh... riot... got explosion
Seng Jiann... says:
? huh
Seng Jiann... says:
serious?
Shihong says:
yeah in butterworth
Seng Jiann... says:
u sure or not?
Seng Jiann... says:
not on malaysiakini news worr...
Shihong says:
hey...riot.... got explosion!!
ohy~ying....aihh says:
wher?
Shihong says:
in butterworth
Shihong says:
damn insane
ohy~ying....aihh says:
how u nie?
Shihong says:
siao liao
Shihong says:
they blew up a car
ohy~ying....aihh says:
harh?whenn was this?
Shihong says:
yesterday only
ohy~ying....aihh says:
news oso din come out/
Shihong says:
maybe too late to print in the newspaper
ohy~ying....aihh says:
ooo...how did u noe?
Shihong says:
ppl tell me
Shihong says:
madness!!
ohy~ying....aihh says:
ooo...ppl spread rumours....
Shihong says:
hey.... riot.... damn insane
∞§∞£ǿя∂¼½∞§∞ says:
where
Shihong says:
butterworth
Shihong says:
got explosion
Shihong says:
eh... damn insane
(after 20 minutes trying to look for the news in the paper and TV)
∞§∞£ǿя∂¼½∞§∞ says:
crazy wan
Shihong says:
hey... riot... got explosion
baby, you can turn me says:
in msia ah
Shihong says:
butterworth
Shihong says:
damn insane
baby, you can turn me says:
u mean where ure at?
Shihong says:
no
Shihong says:
butterworth is in penang
Shihong says:
wtf!~#~!#
baby, you can turn me says:
how i know man
baby, you can turn me says:
butterworth sounds american
Shihong says:
not really
Shihong says:
only brits are so dumb
Shihong says:
madness!!
Shihong says:
got explosion!!
baby, you can turn me says:
then how
baby, you can turn me says:
can anot
baby, you can turn me says:
everything ok?
Shihong says:
they blew up a car
Shihong says:
wtf
baby, you can turn me says:
never happened before huh
Shihong says:
may 13 1969
Shihong says:
that was the last riot
baby, you can turn me says:
hey my birthday
baby, you can turn me says:
ok so how anyone hurt etc
Thursday, March 6, 2008
No Child's Play
Who ever thought teaching chess to 8 year-old kids can involve difficult decision-making and carefully chosen words? There are two issues that I would like to address today.
I think we should all understand that kids like to win. I have in my life only encountered one exception, but I will talk about this later. But let's just accept the generalization that kids like to win. So one of the kids that I have been "teaching" to (out of 8 other kids), is what seems like a beginner among beginners. Just to note, I don't like to use the word "teach" because it's more like sharing to me. It is obvious that he is trying hard and is willing to try hard, but just can't seem to beat the rest of the kids. So on this fine day, his father pulled me aside and told me that he is really trying and asked if I could give him some encouragement. So that troubled me. Firstly, now the parents have expectations on me. I hate it when people tell me how to do my job, at least when I am supposed to be good at it. I don't claim to be something like a Grandmaster or anywhere close to that, but I can say without boasting that I am pretty knowledgeable when it comes to chess. Now to say that I hate this situation would be an exaggeration because he didn't tell me what to do, he just asked politely. So I am just mildly troubled/irritated. Irritated because of the above-mentioned preference, but troubled because I don't know what to do. You see, even years of practice in encouraging girlfriends who needed to be encouraged did not train me to encourage an 8 year-old. How do you tell an 8 year-old who hates to lose, loves to win, that it's OK to lose, and our goal here is to get him to improve so that he can win in the future. For an 8 year-old, the end of the one hour chess session IS the future. Anything else that happens two hours from his arrival at the chess session is a new day altogether. I am not belittling a child's mindset, but merely stating their thought process. Because to him, being better 6 months from now is simply not worth the effort. He wants to start kicking butts now. I mean, if the we invented instant noodles and other magical thingamabobs, who can blame them for expecting instant results?
I tried to think hard about the time when I started chess. What was it like and how did I overcome losing? Maybe overcome is not the right word, because obviously, the way to overcome losing is to win. Hahaha... So how did I accept losing? Why did I get better? How did I get better? This ties back to the earlier point I made about what Kasparov and Abraham Lincoln were trying to say. It is very important to understand ourselves and where we are. I don't mean to preach but some messages just cannot be said enough. I remembered my first tournament. It was the PFS Open 1992. Back then, I could only watch in the sidelines the games played out by Chuah Heng Meng, Eric Cheah and many other "untouchables" who were always playing in the top five boards. To be honest, I didn't even bother watching because there was no way I could have understood the games. But I remember this one game. I was playing against a girl's MSSM U-20 champion. At that time, I was definitely no match for her. I was down a lot of material. With only a queen, bishop and a few pawns left, I set up a mating cheapo on White's g2 square. While barely staying alive, I managed to finally place my queen and bishop in that holy diagonal and got the checkmate that I was pining for 5 moves before that. A cheapo indeed! But of course, before the game, I had no idea she was an MSSM champion and my dad was very surprised that I won. Everything might have changed if I had known. My whole life would have taken a completely different path. I might have played the game knowing that I would lose, and would eventually lose. I would then go on to be an average player not knowing that I have a tricky mind, even as a kid. Or maybe my chess development was fated... Who knows? I'd like to think that it's little moments like these in our lives that are significant, and that we won't realize it unless we think about them.
I was 8 years-old when that happened. Why is it that I can remember only that game from 16 years ago. I don't remember any other game from when I was eight. That game was by no means brilliant. Upon hindsight, the only thing that can explain this phenomena, other than my powerful memory, is that for some reason, I was encouraged by that game. I can safely say that before I came to university, I have received no encouragement or a "well done" from either of my parents. I remember in National Age-Group 1999 where I squandered a half-point lead going into the final round. I drew a game after losing my queen because of the "touch-move" rule. I got over-excited over the idea of winning the tournament with a 10 move combination and in style. What was more devastating was that I could have won after losing my queen but I took a cheeky draw offer. I was so excited about winning that I played the wrong first move of the combination. A perfect lesson on "counting your chickens before they are hatched". Nevertheless, the point of this story was to say that despite this devastating loss, I did not even get "It's OK, you can try again next year". Did I wish I got a word of encouragement or two? I don't know. Would I have been weaker? Because it definitely wasn't OK to lose in a tournament of such importance. By the way, I tied for first place and lost in the blitz playoffs. No "Congratulations" for second place, no "It's OK" for not being first. How did that affect me? Did that make me stronger? Wiser? Most probably so. But I was already 15 then. Half of that lifetime ago, did I think that winning was everything? I loved to win. No doubt about that. But what I am trying drive home is that my experience has not taught me about giving words of encouragement. You lose, time after time, you think about why you lose, and you fix it. That's the kind of education that I got and was expected of me.
So back to the point of this issue, which is, if you can remember, how do you encourage an 8 year-old kid who is trying hard but not getting the fruits of his labor? As I write this article and think about it, the only words of comfort that I can come up with are "The other kids have been playing much longer than you have, and if you keep working hard the way you do, you may well become better than them in no time". Does that even sound honest? Because I hate telling lies, especially to kids. I hate being lied to as a kid. Maybe that's where I get my lying abilities from. Because I get lied to all the time. But that's another story for another day. So if any of you people have any ideas on how to deal with this kid, let me know.
As for the second issue, which is kind of similar to the first, and has the same underlying problem. Another kid in the group who also loves to win, repeatedly asked for my permission to play against the aforementioned kid. Now the reason is obvious because he will get to win all the time. He went so far as to lie to me about not having played against the other kid yet. So this kid is by no means close to being the weakest player in the group. If anything, he is one of the better players. The key difference here is that he does not need encouragement. But the trouble is, how do I explain to him that winning is not everything? To him, winning IS everything. Can I, dare I, should I dash his dreams and desires at a tender age of eight? We all want kids to dream big, be all they can be and all that good stuff. I can't just send the roof crashing down on him and tell him that in life, we cannot beat everyone at everything.
So I did not allow this kid, Brad, to play against the previous kid, Aaron. See the problem when parents try to interfere with my job? Now I don't want Aaron to keep losing, so I told Brad that you can't shouldn't keep playing Aaron if you want to improve. I tried to explain to him the concept of "It's OK to lose" and the main purpose of our chess sessions is to help them improve so that they can win more in the future. I think that even though he understood the message deep down inside, he kept it inside him that he didn't like my decision to not let him play Aaron. I can deal with a kid not liking me or whatever. But how could I have avoided the situation? What could I have said to appease a kid who loves to win, and yet help him to improve? That answer was the best I could come up with, so if you have better ideas, let me know.
That marks the end of the two issues that I had, and now, as promised I will return to the exception of the generalization that I had asserted, which was all kids love to win. So a third kid in this group, Chuck, who in the previous week, intentionally lost to Brad to make him happy. He said to me that well, he would rather someone else be happy since it's not a "real" tournament. By the way, the background story is that I organized a tournament for them and put a prize up for grabs. So Chuck doesn't feel like this is a real tournament because it's not officially organized by some recognized group or whatever. So he decides to let Brad win and I saw him intentionally throw a won game. It wasn't an excuse he gave for losing. I knew he saw how he could have won. I have the ability to see what moves other people are thinking about. When you have played chess for as long as I have, these things just come naturally. I just couldn't understand why a kid would do that because as we know it, "Winning is not everything, it is the ONLY thing!"
Anyway, it's just something to leave you people with. Dealing with children is most definitely no child's play. Man, I can't wait to get a kid a torture him with all kinds of psychological tricks. But that's just me. I am not saying I am ready to raise a kid. I just wanna see how messed up they will become. Hahaha...
I think we should all understand that kids like to win. I have in my life only encountered one exception, but I will talk about this later. But let's just accept the generalization that kids like to win. So one of the kids that I have been "teaching" to (out of 8 other kids), is what seems like a beginner among beginners. Just to note, I don't like to use the word "teach" because it's more like sharing to me. It is obvious that he is trying hard and is willing to try hard, but just can't seem to beat the rest of the kids. So on this fine day, his father pulled me aside and told me that he is really trying and asked if I could give him some encouragement. So that troubled me. Firstly, now the parents have expectations on me. I hate it when people tell me how to do my job, at least when I am supposed to be good at it. I don't claim to be something like a Grandmaster or anywhere close to that, but I can say without boasting that I am pretty knowledgeable when it comes to chess. Now to say that I hate this situation would be an exaggeration because he didn't tell me what to do, he just asked politely. So I am just mildly troubled/irritated. Irritated because of the above-mentioned preference, but troubled because I don't know what to do. You see, even years of practice in encouraging girlfriends who needed to be encouraged did not train me to encourage an 8 year-old. How do you tell an 8 year-old who hates to lose, loves to win, that it's OK to lose, and our goal here is to get him to improve so that he can win in the future. For an 8 year-old, the end of the one hour chess session IS the future. Anything else that happens two hours from his arrival at the chess session is a new day altogether. I am not belittling a child's mindset, but merely stating their thought process. Because to him, being better 6 months from now is simply not worth the effort. He wants to start kicking butts now. I mean, if the we invented instant noodles and other magical thingamabobs, who can blame them for expecting instant results?
I tried to think hard about the time when I started chess. What was it like and how did I overcome losing? Maybe overcome is not the right word, because obviously, the way to overcome losing is to win. Hahaha... So how did I accept losing? Why did I get better? How did I get better? This ties back to the earlier point I made about what Kasparov and Abraham Lincoln were trying to say. It is very important to understand ourselves and where we are. I don't mean to preach but some messages just cannot be said enough. I remembered my first tournament. It was the PFS Open 1992. Back then, I could only watch in the sidelines the games played out by Chuah Heng Meng, Eric Cheah and many other "untouchables" who were always playing in the top five boards. To be honest, I didn't even bother watching because there was no way I could have understood the games. But I remember this one game. I was playing against a girl's MSSM U-20 champion. At that time, I was definitely no match for her. I was down a lot of material. With only a queen, bishop and a few pawns left, I set up a mating cheapo on White's g2 square. While barely staying alive, I managed to finally place my queen and bishop in that holy diagonal and got the checkmate that I was pining for 5 moves before that. A cheapo indeed! But of course, before the game, I had no idea she was an MSSM champion and my dad was very surprised that I won. Everything might have changed if I had known. My whole life would have taken a completely different path. I might have played the game knowing that I would lose, and would eventually lose. I would then go on to be an average player not knowing that I have a tricky mind, even as a kid. Or maybe my chess development was fated... Who knows? I'd like to think that it's little moments like these in our lives that are significant, and that we won't realize it unless we think about them.
I was 8 years-old when that happened. Why is it that I can remember only that game from 16 years ago. I don't remember any other game from when I was eight. That game was by no means brilliant. Upon hindsight, the only thing that can explain this phenomena, other than my powerful memory, is that for some reason, I was encouraged by that game. I can safely say that before I came to university, I have received no encouragement or a "well done" from either of my parents. I remember in National Age-Group 1999 where I squandered a half-point lead going into the final round. I drew a game after losing my queen because of the "touch-move" rule. I got over-excited over the idea of winning the tournament with a 10 move combination and in style. What was more devastating was that I could have won after losing my queen but I took a cheeky draw offer. I was so excited about winning that I played the wrong first move of the combination. A perfect lesson on "counting your chickens before they are hatched". Nevertheless, the point of this story was to say that despite this devastating loss, I did not even get "It's OK, you can try again next year". Did I wish I got a word of encouragement or two? I don't know. Would I have been weaker? Because it definitely wasn't OK to lose in a tournament of such importance. By the way, I tied for first place and lost in the blitz playoffs. No "Congratulations" for second place, no "It's OK" for not being first. How did that affect me? Did that make me stronger? Wiser? Most probably so. But I was already 15 then. Half of that lifetime ago, did I think that winning was everything? I loved to win. No doubt about that. But what I am trying drive home is that my experience has not taught me about giving words of encouragement. You lose, time after time, you think about why you lose, and you fix it. That's the kind of education that I got and was expected of me.
So back to the point of this issue, which is, if you can remember, how do you encourage an 8 year-old kid who is trying hard but not getting the fruits of his labor? As I write this article and think about it, the only words of comfort that I can come up with are "The other kids have been playing much longer than you have, and if you keep working hard the way you do, you may well become better than them in no time". Does that even sound honest? Because I hate telling lies, especially to kids. I hate being lied to as a kid. Maybe that's where I get my lying abilities from. Because I get lied to all the time. But that's another story for another day. So if any of you people have any ideas on how to deal with this kid, let me know.
As for the second issue, which is kind of similar to the first, and has the same underlying problem. Another kid in the group who also loves to win, repeatedly asked for my permission to play against the aforementioned kid. Now the reason is obvious because he will get to win all the time. He went so far as to lie to me about not having played against the other kid yet. So this kid is by no means close to being the weakest player in the group. If anything, he is one of the better players. The key difference here is that he does not need encouragement. But the trouble is, how do I explain to him that winning is not everything? To him, winning IS everything. Can I, dare I, should I dash his dreams and desires at a tender age of eight? We all want kids to dream big, be all they can be and all that good stuff. I can't just send the roof crashing down on him and tell him that in life, we cannot beat everyone at everything.
So I did not allow this kid, Brad, to play against the previous kid, Aaron. See the problem when parents try to interfere with my job? Now I don't want Aaron to keep losing, so I told Brad that you can't shouldn't keep playing Aaron if you want to improve. I tried to explain to him the concept of "It's OK to lose" and the main purpose of our chess sessions is to help them improve so that they can win more in the future. I think that even though he understood the message deep down inside, he kept it inside him that he didn't like my decision to not let him play Aaron. I can deal with a kid not liking me or whatever. But how could I have avoided the situation? What could I have said to appease a kid who loves to win, and yet help him to improve? That answer was the best I could come up with, so if you have better ideas, let me know.
That marks the end of the two issues that I had, and now, as promised I will return to the exception of the generalization that I had asserted, which was all kids love to win. So a third kid in this group, Chuck, who in the previous week, intentionally lost to Brad to make him happy. He said to me that well, he would rather someone else be happy since it's not a "real" tournament. By the way, the background story is that I organized a tournament for them and put a prize up for grabs. So Chuck doesn't feel like this is a real tournament because it's not officially organized by some recognized group or whatever. So he decides to let Brad win and I saw him intentionally throw a won game. It wasn't an excuse he gave for losing. I knew he saw how he could have won. I have the ability to see what moves other people are thinking about. When you have played chess for as long as I have, these things just come naturally. I just couldn't understand why a kid would do that because as we know it, "Winning is not everything, it is the ONLY thing!"
Anyway, it's just something to leave you people with. Dealing with children is most definitely no child's play. Man, I can't wait to get a kid a torture him with all kinds of psychological tricks. But that's just me. I am not saying I am ready to raise a kid. I just wanna see how messed up they will become. Hahaha...
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