Interlude - The first BB lesson of 2008

The Leader oversaw the distribution of the coloured tokens. Each of the four Groups received two round discs -- one green, one red. Once accomplished, the Leader stepped forward to explain the rules of engagement.

Every round, each Group shall choose the colour that they will use. Discussion between different Groups is allowed, but no Group can reveal their final decision until the Leader says so. Points are awarded based on the green-red ratio of the round.

The goal is to score the most points possible.

Table 1: Scoring scheme, based on the number of greens/reds played each round

Tally	Greens score	Reds score
IIII	5	-
IIII	0	3
IIII	0	2
IIII	0	1
IIII	-	0

Murmurs filled the room as the Groups swiftly developed their strategies.

"Let's stick to reds every round; This will guarantee that no other group can score higher than us!" That was Group One's plan, and they made sure nobody else heard it.

Group Two had a different thought in mind. "Guys, the goal is to get the most points possible, not to get more than everyone else. We should all play greens to get 5 points!"

Group Four liked the idea and nodded in approval. There was no visible response, however, from Groups One and Three. The stakes were now high for Groups Two and Four. Do they go ahead with the plan? Can the others be trusted...?

"Hold out your tokens," instructed the Leader.

The Group ambassadors clutched their chosen tokens in their fists and extended their arms. They awaited the signal to uncurl their fingers.

"Reveal."

Eyes darted from hand to hand. Did they make it? Had their investments paid off?

As expected, Groups Two and Four had placed their confidence in their ability to score 5 points, and played green. As for Group One who originally planned to take the safe route, they had been persuaded to work together with the others, and their ambassador held out a green token also.

Things are looking good. The 5 points are now within grasp, since Group Three's token colour was...

Red.

Indignant complaints ensued. "Traitors!"

The Leader smiled. "3 points for Group Three, zero for everybody else. Now decide which colour you will play next."

More murmurs filled the room. Group One took the initiative to speak up this time. "C'mon, work together guys! Everone play green!"

The effects of distrust were becoming evident though. It was taking longer for the Groups to make their decisions.

"Hold out your tokens."

They did.

"Reveal."

Green. Green. Green. Red.

Whilst Group Three had agreed to join in the big plan, Group One had backed out and reverted to their original approach.

"Three points to Group One, zero for everybody else. Next round."

This isn't working! Group Two gave up. They are risking everything to help everyone score together, but all they have succeeded in was to get backstabbed. Their efforts leave them with no points while the backstabbers get the loot. This round is their turn to get something. Their ambassador plays with the red token before hiding it in his hand, and putting the green one out of sight. He smiled and waited for the signal.

"Reveal."

Red. Red. Red. Red.

The Groups burst out laughing, even though there was nothing to be happy about, really.

"Looks like nobody scores anything this round," commented the Leader. He paused for a while before continuing. "We'll go for two more rounds. Make your decisions."

This announcement alarmed Groups Two and Four. They were still stuck with nothing, after three rounds.

"Let's do this! Everybody play green!" Group Four presses on. Whether or not it will make a difference, they don't know. Every Group readies their tokens.

Green. Green. Green. Red. Once again, the calls for collaboration falls on Group Three's deaf ears. There is no stopping them now; no matter what happens in the final round, they would be the top scorer.

In a futile last-ditched attempt to raise their levels, no matter how slightly, every Group played red in the final round. A bad decision for all involved, of course.

Final scores
G1: 3
G2: 0
G3: 6
G4: 0

The Leader began the reflections stage. "Who scored the most points possible?"

Enthusiastically, Group Three raised their hands. It was time for the Leader to drive the message home.

"No. Every round, the most you can possibly score is 5 points. Given five rounds, you could've earned 25, but you only managed 6.

"Why? Instead of keeping an eye on the goal that mattered, you only cared about beating everyone else. You weren't willing to risk losing all your points to help the other groups reach the goal.

"If you're not prepared to risk yourselves, you cannot possibly bless others."

---

Interesting, isn't it, how even Groups Two and Four who were aware of the goal from the beginning, still ended up trying to do what the others did?

---

Side note: I'm horrendously unfit... one lap of kickboarding was enough to make my thigh muscles as stiff as a corpse's. Probably because my cells lacked enough ATP to unbind the motor proteins from the microfilaments.

Yay, I remember my Level 1 molecular biology. Level 2 biochemistry, here I come! ...after 1 more month of holidays from today, that is... ^_^

Of Pokémon songs and life

A few weeks ago, I delved into my ancient Pentium II and fished out some old songs which had entered my life many years ago. Among the beneficiaries of this rescue mission are songs from the Pokémon world.

The Pokémon tunes happened to be among the first which I started really learning by myself. (Except for the occasional other TV theme I found catchy, like Speed Racer and the Gummi Bears.) Just imagine a primary school-aged Sze Howe in front of his computer, belting out tunes at the top of his lungs to out-sing the voices from the speakers. Using one of the songs in my Primary 6 music class assessment got me decent marks too!

Somewhere along the way, Pokémon gradually faded from my playlists, and the songs were never transferred into my new laptop. Hearing them again brings back fun memories of the cartoon, Game Boy and trading card craze!

At this point, I'd like to say that I could listen to the orchestral soundtracks of the movies forever. They were just that brilliant in evoking different atmospheres -- dark, bright, enigmatic, fun... It's been incredibly hard to find out who the composer for each track is, but I think most of them are the works of John Loeffler, who also wrote many of the songs for the albums below. The man's a musical genius. The rest of my post will focus on the vocalized songs, though.

My Pokésong collection slowly grew over the next few years, but it was mostly limited to the above two albums: 2.B.A. Master and Totally Pokémon. Not that it was a real limitation, as there was a remarkable level of variety in style and content within each album alone.

The fun songs
Being Pokémon, the repertoire unsurprisingly contains good ol' sing-alongs which don't have much meaning, but are just for laughs. The Song of Jigglypuff is an energetic example, and is cute too! ^_^ Go on, have a listen. It won't send you to sleep, don't worry.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar to the Pokémon world (gasp!), Mt. Moon is the home of Jigglypuff, and the song's bridge is a list of the attacks the little fella is capable of using.

I was even vigilant enough to memorize some of the Japanese lyrics, without the slightest clue to what the words meant. One of them was Meowth's Song, a ballad with a melody and accompaniment that was greatly likable, despite Meowth's scratchy I-have-a-cold-and-laryngitis-at-the-same-time voice. Can't expect a virtuoso from a cat, I suppose.

I eventually looked up a translation of the song and burst out laughing. Mixed in with the humour though, is a dose of loneliness which does plague people in real life.

The above picture and below translation belongs to tsrockin.com

Meowth's Song (Nyasu No Uta)
In a blue, blue, quiet night
All alone, I philosophize

The crickets are in the bushes
Time and time again
But tonight I won't be eating them

The moon is like an authority
With its circular pattern
How round, so round....

No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on
No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on

Somewhere in the wide, wide universe
There exists another me

Do I also sit by the grass village
Raggedy-raggedy
Strumming a guitar, I wonder?
Am I also singing Meowth's Song, I wonder?

That I'm this lonely
This lonely
Lonely...

I wonder what everyone is doing right now
I wonder what everyone is doing right now

I feel like calling up someone

Whilst unrelated to my problem, I remember using Meowth's song to make myself feel better after getting backstabbed by a friend. It's interesting, really. I'm an advocate for lyrics in the Importance Of Lyrics vs. Importance Of Music debate, but in this case, I looked for comfort in the calming guitar part.

More about the debate in a future post.

The romantic songs
You'd be surprised/alarmed at the sheer number of fiction matchmakers out there ("Ash and Misty belong together!" "No way, it's Ash and May!!!"). Well guess what, I was in the bandwagon too! ^_^ There are 3 Ash-Misty songs that I know of. They aren't in this post, but all 3 songs can be found in in a story I wrote, which is very creatively titled The Songfic Trilogy. (Click on the name if you wish to read it -- You can navigate the chapters using a drop-down menu on the top-right and bottom-right of the page)

Etymology:

• "Fan fiction": Produced when a fan of a TV series/novel/etc. writes their own story based on the original characters/settings
• "Songfic": A piece of fan fiction which incorporates songs

Yes, I wrote a romance story back when I was 14. So sue me.

Alright kids, I want you to form two groups. Group One, you should all roll on the floor and laugh as loud as you can. Group Two, cup your face in your hands and repeat after me: "Awww..."

The third romance song comes from the Christmas album which unsurprisingly does not contain the core of Christmas as we know it. Well, the commercialized and fun-centric version of the Christmas holidays is here to stay.

The music does not live up to the earlier albums either. I didn't listen to most of the songs, but the ones I did hear had a very poor sense of rhythm in relation to the lyrics. Not something you want stuck in your head! It's still upbeat nonetheless, and the accompaniment rescued the songs somewhat.

The friend songs
I really wonder, why are there so many songs about physical intimacy on today's popular radio, but next to none about friendship? Why is it that the topic of friendship comes across as corny?

Pokémon has plenty of dedications to this bond that most of us cherish though, due to the young age of the target audience. Perhaps the kids have the right idea.

Together Forever (chorus)
Together forever, no matter how long
From now until the end of time
We'll be together and you can be sure
That forever and a day
That's how long we'll stay
Together and forever more


Never Too Far From Home (chorus)
Whatever you want, whatever you need
You know you can always count on me
There'll always be someone waiting
'Cause you're never too far from home

Wherever you go, whatever you do
You know we'll be there to pull you through
You know there'll be someone waiting
'Cause you're never too far from home

"Together Forever" is an upbeat one, while "Never Too Far" is more contemplative. Nonetheless, both contain the same optimism. It's sadly come to light that the optimism is for the minority... Humans aren't too efficient at maintaining friendships over the gap of space and time, huh?

The last song of the day has been with me for a long while. I've sung it for entertainment, I've cried to it when I had to leave the friend I was in love with as I left Kuching. Presenting, "The Time Has Come" from Episode 39.

The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)
I close my eyes
And I can see
The day we met
Just one moment and I knew
You're my best friend
Do anything for you

We've gone so far
And done so much
And I feel
Like we've always been together
Right by my side
Through thick and thin
You're the part of my life
I'll always remember

The time has come
It's for the best I know it
Who could've guessed that you and I
Somehow, someday
We'd have to say goodbye

You've helped me find
The strength inside
And the courage
To make all my dreams come true
How will I find
Another friend like you?

Two of a kind
That's what we are
And it seemed
Like we were always winning
But as our team
Is torn apart
I wish we could go back
To the beginning

The time has come
It's for the best I know it
Who could've guessed that you and I
Somehow, someday
We'd have to say goodbye

Somehow today, we have to say goodbye...

I can think of many people who can relate to this song at this moment. I don't think the words describe any of the situations accurately though... More often than not, songs at most only represent something QUITE similar. But the point is, we find ourselves here more often than we like. I seem to be here again, too... but it's my own fault.

I miss you so much, my friend... but I'll remember you always...... >_<

Are children safe anymore?

Y'know, there are times when the lamentations of the older generation, describing safe neighbourhoods where kids do not vanish due to sinister hooded figures, are really appealing. All who think that encouraging kids to "Go outside and play!" is a stupid and irresponsible thing to do, say 'aye'!

Well, Longford Place is still alright... my neighbours are out on the road all the time, playing cricket, footy, and other things that boys do, without their parents worrying about abduction. But then, kids like Madeleine McCann aren't as fortunate. What are we to do...?

What are you supposed to think when come home, expecting your brother to be glued to the TV, but are instead greeted by an empty, eerily quiet house? Trying to convince my friend that her brother was safe didn't work when I wasn't convinced myself. :-/ The fact that both of us were familiar with the way horror movies worked was of no help either. Mental images of bloodied bodies stuffed under beds or limp corpses plopping out of cupboards suddenly became scarily realistic.

Anyone ever felt helpless panic? Or hysterical relief? I think both of us did today. The latter came when a father's reprimanding voice was heard in the background, demanding to know where his son had been hiding. It soon became harder to continue our phone conversation as the air was filled with the sounds of a blissfully-ignorant boy banging away on the drum set.

Little brothers.

Gah.

Update - 28/5/07, 10.37am
For those who don't like cryptic writings, head to Zaneta's blog for a more direct narrative.