Am I talkative?

I was voted 3rd most talkative on Facebook. Two people voted for me! I wonder who... Uh...do you really think I'm that talkative? lol

(for those who don't know this Facebook application, it's not really accurate...it's just based on how many people happened to say that you're more *something* than someone else, in this case, *something* is talkative)

James Blunt trivia

I never thought I'd post pop star trivia, but I heard this anecdote while listening to NRJ (a French radio station) It seems that James Blunt used his NRJ music award to chase away a thief who entered his hotel room. The DJ was swearing that it's true ("je jure sur ma tête..." was the expression he used) so I searched on the internet and found this article:

JAMES BLUNT BASHES BURGLAR WITH AWARD

Hmm...how I wish I could win an award...it'd be a great weapon! lol

Webster

In the Middle Ages, when last names such as Baker and Taylor reflected a person's occupation, what did "Webster" indicate?
A- Weaver
B- Miner
C- Writer
D- Weapon-smith

Answer below, in tiny font.






The correct answer is *A*
A female weaver. A male weaver was called Webb.

L'importance de l'orthographe

Je gagnerai jamais cette bataille. Mais voici un autre exemple: aujourd'hui j'ai reçu la newsletter associative de l'INSA. Ils l'ont envoyée deux fois parce que la première était illisible. Le titre du premier mail était:

newsletter associative - Des laveries (ou pas) et nos voeux

D'accord, c'est le titre de la newsletter. Très bien... Et le deuxième titre?

Newsletter associative - des laveries et des voeux (version qui mache...)

Noooon! J'en veux pas!!!

Bien sûr qu'ils voulaient dire version qui marche...
(on pourrait aussi dire que ce n'est pas mâche, donc le mot n'existe pas, mais quand je vois un mot qui devrait avoir un accent dessus mais qui n'en a pas, j'attribue le manque à la flemme...)

Okay, translation time ;P
Those in red are the titles of e-mails I received. They're from the INSA newsletter. The first one is just the title, but since the first e-mail was unreadable, they sent it a second time, and they added "version that works" in brackets. But instead of writing marche, which means "to work", they wrote mache, and mâche means to chew. Well, I don't want to be chewed!

The contraction of must not is musn’t!

And not mustn’t, even though we see it more and more often nowadays.

Even Oxford says that the right form is mustn’t (it doesn’t have musn’t) but still... I beg to differ.

Yeah, I know that is not becomes isn’t and was not becomes wasn’t. The two words are put together and the o is replaced by an apostrophe. But what about can’t, won’t and shan’t? They’re cannot, will not and shall not, and they do not follow that rule! And we all know that there are lots of exceptions in English, so musn’t is simply one of them!

The problem is that we find mustn’t very often. Way too often, in my opinion. (the same way that appears too often instead of who)

So here’s my theory: musn’t is used less often than can’t, and the misspelling doesn’t change its pronunciation. (unlike shan't and won't) So people misspell it, again and again, until it becomes the norm. And what about Oxford? I’d say that it got tired of correcting people, and decided to adopt the if you can’t beat them, join them attitude. In that case, shame on Oxford!

For the occasion, here's a quote that I absolutely agree with:
Ce n’est pas parce qu’ils sont nombreux à avoir tort qu’ils ont raison. -Bernard Werber
(Just because everyone else is wrong doesn't make them right)

(I wrote a short paragraph about musn't vs mustn't half a year ago.)

My number one job

I just took a right job/wrong job test, and this was on the top of my report:

Wee Pin, based on your unique skill set, the #1 right job for you is a:

Cook / Chef

Avg. salary: $29,000 - $34,000

Your runner-up jobs are:	Avg. salary:
Civil engineer	$83,000 - $95,000
Firefighter	$27,000 - $45,000
Optician	$31,000 - $42,000
Home builder	$38,000 - $48,000
Computer network specialist	$92,000 - $145,000
Forest worker	$44,000 - $64,000
Graphic artist	$62,000 - $81,000

Cook / Chef ?
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ...

Actually I didn't even notice my #1 job at first. I first noticed the table and saw that it started with an engineering field, and I told myself: I'm on the right track. But then I saw that those were runner-up jobs...and Cook / Chef is number one!

Hmm hmm...so what do I do now? lol

Edit: Oh yeah, the report also told me that
if you want to avoid your wrong Job, don't be a:

Security Officer

Oh, okay. No problem. ;P

Euripides

Just wanted to share this joke ;)
(I don't really know who Euripides is, and I don't really care :P)

A man brings a pair of torn pants to a Greek tailor. The tailor takes a look at them and says, "Euripides?"

The man answers, "Yes. Eumenides?"

True Faith

This is a song I heard on the radio. I don't like the video very much, though...I find it pretty weird.



Here are the lyrics:

True Faith by New Order

I feel so extraordinary
Somethings got a hold on me
I get this feeling Im in motion
A sudden sense of liberty
I dont care cause Im not there
And I dont care if Im here tomorrow
Again and again Ive taken too much
Of the things that cost you too much

I used to think that the day would never come
Id see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun...

When I was a very small boy,
Very small boys talked to me
Now that weve grown up together
Theyre afraid of what they see
Thats the price that we all pay
Our valued destiny comes to nothing
I cant tell you where were going
I guess there was just no way of knowing

I used to think that the day would never come
Id see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun...

I feel so extraordinary
Somethings got a hold on me
I get this feeling Im in motion
A sudden sense of liberty
The chances are weve gone too far
You took my time and you took my money
Now I fear youve left me standing
In a world thats so demanding

I used to think that the day would never come
Id see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun...

Random photos

Just a few photos I took with my phone.

I took this one while I was waiting at the counter after my flight to Prague was cancelled. Cute bag, huh? :P


The others were taken in Paris.

Just for fun, I took a photo of the Christmas (and New Year) decorations at the train station. Look closely...near the tracks...


What I saw in a shop ;)


Up-close and personal :P

Cute, eh?

24 hours in Paris

First of all, Happy New Year! May 2008 bring you loads of...uh, whatever you want :P

I went to Paris on the 31st December. It was decided on the 30th, when I found out that Tuan and Paik Ling were in Paris for the New Year. So I went to meet them, and some others at the same time. And I ended up meeting even more people than I expected!

I took a morning train from Lyon, reaching there at 11am after a 2-hour journey. Since Tuan and Paik Ling were visiting the Louvre that morning, I called up Firdaus (an old Angoulême buddy ;P) and he came to town to meet me. I hadn't seen him for two years!

Then I joined Tuan and Paik Ling for lunch (a late lunch, at 3pm!) Afterwards, I called Alvin and agreed to meet up that evening with some others (and that's where I found out that I was going to meet a whole group of people lol) Sia Ven was supposed to come to Paris yesterday as well, but in the end she cancelled on us (ceh! :P)

We went to the Eiffel Tower last night; there were eight of us, in four "groups": me (alone *sniff* hehe, just kidding), Alvin and Gavin, 3 girls (their friends from Prague), and Alex and Kai Lun. I first met up with Alvin and Gavin in the town centre, then we were supposed to meet the other girls at a metro station and walk to the Eiffel Tower together, where we would then meet Alex and Kai Lun. But the girls were delayed and when we finally decided to set off towards the Eiffel Tower (where Alex and Kai Lun were already waiting) without them and let them join us later, they arrived at the station just a few minutes after we left. We were halfway to the Eiffel Tower then, so we waited for them to catch up to us.

Even at the Eiffel Tower, we had difficulty locating Alex and Kai Lun; we were supposed to meet right under the tower, but the meeting place is still pretty huge! (and with quite a lot of people) Well, at least we managed to find each other in the end. (and it didn't take too long ;) )

Surprisingly there was no countdown, just some fireworks before and after midnight. (and lots at midnight :P) We knew when it was midnight exactly 'cos the tower was lit up with lights. I only took one photo of the tower (and none of the fireworks, since it's too difficult to capture the exact moment :/), here it is:

(this is before midnight, at every hour there will be small "lightbulbs" all over the tower)

Some of the others took other photos, including some group photos; I'm waiting for them to send them to me!

The metro service was on all night long for the new year (and it was free starting from 5pm, and was still free this morning), and understandably it was packed. We had to walk quite far to get to a metro station where we could get in (I have no idea why we couldn't go into some of the stations) and even there, we had to wait for the second train because there were too many people and we couldn't get into the first one.

All of us except Alex and Kai Lun went to have some drinks. In fact, we wanted to have some food as well, but the only places selling food were take-away outlets, and we wanted to sit down. What with walking around looking for a metro station, then waiting for a train (that we could get into) to come, then walking around looking for an open bar or restaurant, then waiting for someone to come and take our order, then waiting for our drinks (that was quicker), that took a long time.

So finally, I slept at 5am. Set my alarm for 9.30 'cos my train was at noon. But surprisingly I woke up by myself at about 9am...I was pretty refreshed for a while...until I got into the train. Then I started nodding off...well, after writing down some stuff :P (you'll see what it is later)

Sorry la for disturbing my "hosts", and not meeting the "propriétaire" *sheepish look*

***transition music***

What comes next is what I wrote on the train back to Lyon. When you're travelling alone, you have a lot of time to think because you don't have anyone to talk to. And sometimes you think of some stuff...

Note: This isn't very organised and is half-nonsense anyway, so if you think you understand, take it with a pinch of salt. ;)

There are times when people just say things loaded with innuendoes. And sometimes that leads to you having to decide whether to be offended or amused. In this case I think I prefer to be amused. (this time, at least...) Wahaha...

Thanks to G for the souvenirs :) But AW is jealous pulak... well, I told him so! *evil laugh*

Asked me in a honey-sweet voice whether G got me anything...then wanted to know what it was. Grew all sulky when I wouldn't tell! lol

Note: the thanks is sincere, you know who you are! :D