On the Weather Network website:
Flood Risk for BC Lower Mainland
100 mm of rain is expected to fall on the BC South Coast by Wednesday evening. With snow still covering much of Metro Vancouver, parts of Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley flooding is a serious concern.
*Hello, UBC is already a gigantic lake of campus if you haven't already noticed?*
RAINFALL WARNING: Greater VancouverIssued at 8:28 PM PST TUESDAY 6 JANUARY 2009
TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 80 MM EXPECTED FOR METRO VANCOUVER, SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF EAST VANCOUVER ISLAND AND SUNSHINE COAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 80 TO 110 MM EXPECTED FOR HOWE SOUND AND FRASER VALLEY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 100 TO 130 MM EXPECTED FOR WEST VANCOUVER ISLAND AND THE CENTRAL COAST - COASTAL SECTIONS THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THIS IS A WARNING THAT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
*Oh boy. 10cm of rain. Will UBC ever have a rain day (you know, like snow days where we don't have to go to school)???
Where is all our precious tuition money going to? Non-progressive construction and muddy puddles in the ground?? PAVE the roads so we don't go to school in a giant lake for goodness sake!
Thank goodness for my rainboots.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
I am not an Astrophysicist, but....
Watching the recent Sharp LCD Aquos ads on TV has made me ponder: Is that guy really an astrophysicist? *gawd it took me 3 tries to spell 'astrophysicist' right*
I should have known better. In small words at the beginning of the commercial it says "(His Name), Astrophysicist".. I always wanted to know and today I finally Googled.
But I forgot his name so I just typed in "sharp lcd astrophysicist" in the search bar.
This article came up: (copied directly from here)
I'm Not a Physicist, but I Play One on TV
If you watch television, you might have seen two separate advertisements -- one for high-end LCD televisions and the other for solar panels -- but both are from the same company, Sharp Electronics Corp USA. This summer they began a major advertising campaign for both products, as unrelated as they might seem, as life changing products. Both feature a curious white-haired academician expounding the virtues of Sharp's wares.
The LCD television commercial starts like this,
Seems like you need to be a physics professor to choose the right TV. Luckily, I am one. ...
while the solar panel pitch begins,
I'm an astrophysicist, a star gazer, but here's something cosmic I discovered on earth, ...
Both commercials are narrated by a flaxen-haired, well-dressed man, identified by the caption "Professor Gerard Fasel, Astrophysicist." Who is this man? Is he really an astrophysicist? Read on, you may soon know him better as "Albino Security Guard."
Dr. Fasel is indeed listed on the faculty at Pepperdine University as a "Visiting Professor." His college biography lists courses taught in physics, mathematics and astronomy. He also appears to have teaching ratings at ratemyprofessors.com for the years 2003-2008, so we can assume he has been teaching at least part-time for most of that period of time.
However, according to Dr. Fasel's list of publications in the subjects of physics and astrophysics, his last publication of any sort was in 1995, or 13 years ago. The article, "Dayside poleward moving auroral forms: A statistical study," was published in the respected Journal of Geophysical Research. During his academic hayday of 1992-1995, he published a total of four refereed publications, either as primary author or co-author. All of these publications regard the study of terrestrial aurora, which is in essence a study of the interaction between the solar wind, earth's magnetosphere, and upper atmosphere. By the way, the phenomenon of terrestrial aurora, while very interesting, has virtually nothing to do with what I would call astrophysics, nor with solar-electric power.
But Fasel is much more than an academic! Dr. Fasel's acting career, as listed by IMDB has shown much more activity. In the past six years he has had four significant acting parts, both in television and movies. His next role will be in the movie The Truth About Angels, due out in 2009, where he plays the coveted albino security guard role. I'm sure Rutger Hauer is howling mad that some physicist beat him to the punch!
Sharp Electronics is proud of its spokesperson. In a press release on July 14th, 2008, announcing their campaign, they wrote,
... The commercial will feature Professor Gerard Fasel, a visiting professor of math and physics at Pepperdine University. With a PhD in Physics and a sophisticated and engaging persona, Professor Fasel lends a scholarly credibility to the new solar and LCD commercials.
The important words here are "lends a scholarly credibility." Based on his scientific publishing record, my opinion is that Dr. Fasel is no longer an active researcher in science, and indeed has spent more time acting in the past decade than publishing research papers. I think it's pretty clear that he is not an astrophysicist, since none of his articles discussed astrophysics. For that matter, he has not published work related to solar physics, televisions or solar panel technology either. I don't doubt that Sharp took the time to give Dr. Fasel a tour of the manufacturing plant and its technology development labs, and Fasel probably has a reasonable understanding and appreciation of the physics that goes into the technologies that he is advertising. But judging by his research and teaching history, I doubt that he has any better skill choosing a television or a solar panel than your average Joe Sixpack.
In my opinion, he is simply an actor -- a spokesmodel -- hired by an advertising firm and used to make the company's technology seem more credible. They hired him for his interesting looks, his personality, and yes, the three letters "Ph.D." at the end of his name. Couldn't they just have easily hired him to do a commercial for medicine? Hmm, I think I could write the script...
EXPERT: Seems like you need to have a Ph.D. to understand cold remedies these days. Luckily I have one. ...
Oh Dr. Fasel, will you star in my commercial?
Hahaha. Kids, never believe 100% what you see on TV. Especially commercials.
I should have known better. In small words at the beginning of the commercial it says "(His Name), Astrophysicist".. I always wanted to know and today I finally Googled.
But I forgot his name so I just typed in "sharp lcd astrophysicist" in the search bar.
This article came up: (copied directly from here)
I'm Not a Physicist, but I Play One on TV
If you watch television, you might have seen two separate advertisements -- one for high-end LCD televisions and the other for solar panels -- but both are from the same company, Sharp Electronics Corp USA. This summer they began a major advertising campaign for both products, as unrelated as they might seem, as life changing products. Both feature a curious white-haired academician expounding the virtues of Sharp's wares.
The LCD television commercial starts like this,
Seems like you need to be a physics professor to choose the right TV. Luckily, I am one. ...
while the solar panel pitch begins,
I'm an astrophysicist, a star gazer, but here's something cosmic I discovered on earth, ...
Both commercials are narrated by a flaxen-haired, well-dressed man, identified by the caption "Professor Gerard Fasel, Astrophysicist." Who is this man? Is he really an astrophysicist? Read on, you may soon know him better as "Albino Security Guard."
Dr. Fasel is indeed listed on the faculty at Pepperdine University as a "Visiting Professor." His college biography lists courses taught in physics, mathematics and astronomy. He also appears to have teaching ratings at ratemyprofessors.com for the years 2003-2008, so we can assume he has been teaching at least part-time for most of that period of time.
However, according to Dr. Fasel's list of publications in the subjects of physics and astrophysics, his last publication of any sort was in 1995, or 13 years ago. The article, "Dayside poleward moving auroral forms: A statistical study," was published in the respected Journal of Geophysical Research. During his academic hayday of 1992-1995, he published a total of four refereed publications, either as primary author or co-author. All of these publications regard the study of terrestrial aurora, which is in essence a study of the interaction between the solar wind, earth's magnetosphere, and upper atmosphere. By the way, the phenomenon of terrestrial aurora, while very interesting, has virtually nothing to do with what I would call astrophysics, nor with solar-electric power.
But Fasel is much more than an academic! Dr. Fasel's acting career, as listed by IMDB has shown much more activity. In the past six years he has had four significant acting parts, both in television and movies. His next role will be in the movie The Truth About Angels, due out in 2009, where he plays the coveted albino security guard role. I'm sure Rutger Hauer is howling mad that some physicist beat him to the punch!
Sharp Electronics is proud of its spokesperson. In a press release on July 14th, 2008, announcing their campaign, they wrote,
... The commercial will feature Professor Gerard Fasel, a visiting professor of math and physics at Pepperdine University. With a PhD in Physics and a sophisticated and engaging persona, Professor Fasel lends a scholarly credibility to the new solar and LCD commercials.
The important words here are "lends a scholarly credibility." Based on his scientific publishing record, my opinion is that Dr. Fasel is no longer an active researcher in science, and indeed has spent more time acting in the past decade than publishing research papers. I think it's pretty clear that he is not an astrophysicist, since none of his articles discussed astrophysics. For that matter, he has not published work related to solar physics, televisions or solar panel technology either. I don't doubt that Sharp took the time to give Dr. Fasel a tour of the manufacturing plant and its technology development labs, and Fasel probably has a reasonable understanding and appreciation of the physics that goes into the technologies that he is advertising. But judging by his research and teaching history, I doubt that he has any better skill choosing a television or a solar panel than your average Joe Sixpack.
In my opinion, he is simply an actor -- a spokesmodel -- hired by an advertising firm and used to make the company's technology seem more credible. They hired him for his interesting looks, his personality, and yes, the three letters "Ph.D." at the end of his name. Couldn't they just have easily hired him to do a commercial for medicine? Hmm, I think I could write the script...
EXPERT: Seems like you need to have a Ph.D. to understand cold remedies these days. Luckily I have one. ...
Oh Dr. Fasel, will you star in my commercial?
Hahaha. Kids, never believe 100% what you see on TV. Especially commercials.
What a Good Dream
I had a very very strange dream.
I dreamt I was in a secondary school. With morning assemblies and whatnot.
I think in the dream, I was late for assembly. And crossing some "bridge" which wasn't technically an overhead bridge, more of like a linkway to some building..
Underneath this "bridge" stairs, there was this stairway.. I think I had to walk up this "secret stairway" to get onto the bridge to get to the morning assembly.
I was running late, and I saw a sign that points to somewhere underground, under the stairway.. The sign had always been there, but I never thought there was anything worth looking at there.
But that morning in the dream, I was coming up from the "underground area" up the stairway and supposed to cross the bridge to get to morning assembly.. I glanced at the sign and saw the words "__ _____ ______'s Office".
At that moment it looked like signs outside UBC buildings, blue panels with white words, except with those words on them. I looked up and I see __ _____ ______ walking down to where his office is apparently located and for a moment I couldn't believe my eyes.
Hahaha, I was so happy for awhile then. Forget the morning assembly. LOL!
And then I woke up.
-.-
I dreamt I was in a secondary school. With morning assemblies and whatnot.
I think in the dream, I was late for assembly. And crossing some "bridge" which wasn't technically an overhead bridge, more of like a linkway to some building..
Underneath this "bridge" stairs, there was this stairway.. I think I had to walk up this "secret stairway" to get onto the bridge to get to the morning assembly.
I was running late, and I saw a sign that points to somewhere underground, under the stairway.. The sign had always been there, but I never thought there was anything worth looking at there.
But that morning in the dream, I was coming up from the "underground area" up the stairway and supposed to cross the bridge to get to morning assembly.. I glanced at the sign and saw the words "__ _____ ______'s Office".
At that moment it looked like signs outside UBC buildings, blue panels with white words, except with those words on them. I looked up and I see __ _____ ______ walking down to where his office is apparently located and for a moment I couldn't believe my eyes.
Hahaha, I was so happy for awhile then. Forget the morning assembly. LOL!
And then I woke up.
-.-
FISH prof?
Okay! School has officially started. First class of the day was cancelled cos the prof has to go to a meeting, and ENGL329 at 1pm was super boring.. She went on and on in circles round and round about 2 very simple concepts..
I am glad I made one right decision, at least about dropping ECON356, which is taught by Gordon Munro.
But he looks more like a shrivelled up version of this:
Also, according to Google, apparently he supposed to be a retiree? What is he still doing here?!?!
And I went on ratemyprofessors.com and the reviews were so true! (those points I think are true are HIGHLIGHTED)
- "notes are useful, but the way of teaching is boring and wasted my time to attend."
- "what can i say.. he likes to go on and on in circles to the point where you have no idea what he is talking about..but there is some flexibility with exams and if you memorize the notes they're not that bad"
- "very boring and likes to ramble on. Spends hours on end talking about nothing. Tests are a joke as they are the same as past exams. marking is bit more harder."
- "Very boring...likes the sound of his own voice. So easy you will get a bad mark...because you get so bored of classes you will stop going"
This last review was my exact sentiments: "TOTALLY BORING!!! monotone voice"
And comments like these scared me:
- "I did awful on his midterms just because I wrote more than I should. Everything I wrote on my exams are backed by evidence, but he deducted marks off for any analysis that are over the course requirement."
- "Very Very boring. Just read off slides and notes. Don't need to go to class at all. Midterms and exam are very easy because they were the same as past midterms and finals. Just write the same stuff as in the notes and he will be very pleased. Do not add your own extra explanation!"
- "easiest course at 400 level...but i still did badly on my midterms...because it was just so boring...2 months on fisheries...about 3 weeks to condense everything else...final exams questions were the same questions used for the last 5 maybe 10 years...so i hope i did well...but the wierd thing is, our grades haven't been posted as of yet"
- "he's been using the same Qs for finals for the last 10yrs...so...easy? quite...but he taught fish for 2 months...that's boring"
Sigh, I don't think I could live with him teaching fish in a monotonous voice for an entire semester.. At least I made the right choice of not choosing this renewable resource course, and dropping the international finance course which I have not sat in yet.. It is in an hour and I don't look forward to it but I should still go in case any classes go anymore haywire tomorrow!
I am glad I made one right decision, at least about dropping ECON356, which is taught by Gordon Munro.
Apparently, according to Google, he's supposed to look like this:
But he looks more like a shrivelled up version of this:
Also, according to Google, apparently he supposed to be a retiree? What is he still doing here?!?!
And I went on ratemyprofessors.com and the reviews were so true! (those points I think are true are HIGHLIGHTED)
- "notes are useful, but the way of teaching is boring and wasted my time to attend."
- "what can i say.. he likes to go on and on in circles to the point where you have no idea what he is talking about..but there is some flexibility with exams and if you memorize the notes they're not that bad"
- "very boring and likes to ramble on. Spends hours on end talking about nothing. Tests are a joke as they are the same as past exams. marking is bit more harder."
- "Very boring...likes the sound of his own voice. So easy you will get a bad mark...because you get so bored of classes you will stop going"
This last review was my exact sentiments: "TOTALLY BORING!!! monotone voice"
And comments like these scared me:
- "I did awful on his midterms just because I wrote more than I should. Everything I wrote on my exams are backed by evidence, but he deducted marks off for any analysis that are over the course requirement."
- "Very Very boring. Just read off slides and notes. Don't need to go to class at all. Midterms and exam are very easy because they were the same as past midterms and finals. Just write the same stuff as in the notes and he will be very pleased. Do not add your own extra explanation!"
- "easiest course at 400 level...but i still did badly on my midterms...because it was just so boring...2 months on fisheries...about 3 weeks to condense everything else...final exams questions were the same questions used for the last 5 maybe 10 years...so i hope i did well...but the wierd thing is, our grades haven't been posted as of yet"
- "he's been using the same Qs for finals for the last 10yrs...so...easy? quite...but he taught fish for 2 months...that's boring"
Sigh, I don't think I could live with him teaching fish in a monotonous voice for an entire semester.. At least I made the right choice of not choosing this renewable resource course, and dropping the international finance course which I have not sat in yet.. It is in an hour and I don't look forward to it but I should still go in case any classes go anymore haywire tomorrow!
Monday, December 29, 2008
This is shocking and sad..
Dec 20, 2008
The 40-year-old told reporters outside his church, Renewal Centre, in Serangoon that he was diagnosed with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, or Kennedy's disease.
He had earlier told the congregation about his condition, which strikes one in 40,000 people and is incurable.
Doctors have told him that in the next seven to 15 years, he will face 'physical impairment', but the disease does not affect life expectancy.
Mr Chew, who is married with two daughters, aged four and six, said his legs have become weaker but he is not taking painkillers or medication for the condition.
He said he is trying to live a normal life but has been advised by doctors not to engage in strenuous activities such as jogging.
The 1990 Star Search champion said that he first experienced back pains in 1997. He consulted Western doctors and Chinese physicians and all of them diagnosed it as a slipped disc. But the treatments had no effect on him.
Last year, the pain worsened and spread to his waist.
In September this year, a doctor who attended the same church as Mr Chew referred him to specialists, who finally diagnosed his condition as spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.
He said in Mandarin: 'The doctors told me, 'Chor Meng, you have to start spending more time with your family'.'
The actor is famous for playing the Lobang King in the 1996 Channel 8 sitcom, Don't Worry Be Happy, and the titular character in the Channel 5 sitcom, Mr Kiasu from 2001 to 2002.
He is now seen in the drama, Love Blossoms II, where viewers had observed that he seemed to be limping.
Chew has incurable illness
By Jasmine Teo
The 40-year-old told reporters outside his church, Renewal Centre, in Serangoon that he was diagnosed with spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, or Kennedy's disease.
He had earlier told the congregation about his condition, which strikes one in 40,000 people and is incurable.
Doctors have told him that in the next seven to 15 years, he will face 'physical impairment', but the disease does not affect life expectancy.
Mr Chew, who is married with two daughters, aged four and six, said his legs have become weaker but he is not taking painkillers or medication for the condition.
He said he is trying to live a normal life but has been advised by doctors not to engage in strenuous activities such as jogging.
The 1990 Star Search champion said that he first experienced back pains in 1997. He consulted Western doctors and Chinese physicians and all of them diagnosed it as a slipped disc. But the treatments had no effect on him.
Last year, the pain worsened and spread to his waist.
In September this year, a doctor who attended the same church as Mr Chew referred him to specialists, who finally diagnosed his condition as spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.
He said in Mandarin: 'The doctors told me, 'Chor Meng, you have to start spending more time with your family'.'
The actor is famous for playing the Lobang King in the 1996 Channel 8 sitcom, Don't Worry Be Happy, and the titular character in the Channel 5 sitcom, Mr Kiasu from 2001 to 2002.
He is now seen in the drama, Love Blossoms II, where viewers had observed that he seemed to be limping.
Last night, when he was asked what he was most concerned about, Chew became emotional and said: 'My mum, my wife and my children.'
Oh no this is so sad. I genuinely feel very sad after reading this article. He was one of my favourite local actors.. All the best to him, and I hope he stays strong..Sunday, December 28, 2008
How To Make A Korean Drama
How To Make A Korean Drama
Ingredients:
- 2 male leads (A and B) *one good, one bad*
- 2 female leads (C and D) *one good, one bad*
- an item that symbolizes the token of love
- time, a lot of time
- cellphones (make sure you get the flip kind)
- money (the less there is, the more conflict)
- a conflicting situation
- lots and lots of crying
- just one kiss (at most two)
Procedure:
1) Make sure there is a pre-existing relationship between A, B, C, D but information about the relationship(s) is not fully known across all parties. If there is no relationship that exists, make sure to create one.
2) Communication is mostly via cellphones, with minimal face-to-face contact, unless otherwise specified in the phone conversation, such as, "Shall we meet?" *Remember: Hang up without saying a proper goodbye.*
3) A and B will soon fight over one of C or D, or vice versa. Usually the conflicting situation and money problems come in as well. By this time it is a big mess of spiderwebs of conflicts and relationships.
4) Of course, the love story prevails. The token of love is repeatedly emphasized, especially during the most emotional times. These are also the times when the females tend to cry more, and the males as well. And at last, the confirmation of love between the two parties is expressed with one long lip-locking smooch.
5) After a lot of emotional turmoil, everything turns well like in a fairytale, the good female and male leads always end up together, and the bad ones either go their own way or might end up together with some other loser.. And no, there is no final kiss to seal off the whole relationship. Usually the happily-ever-after just carries on as per normal, making it seem more like a platonic relationship.
* For extra spice and/or excitement, you might want to add in a little something extra, for a kick.. For example, putting a kid into the picture always makes relationships even more intricated. Setting the drama in a corporate environment gives it more ooomph, with rivalry and plotting and evil scheming to steam everything up, adding revenge to the bubbling cauldron of love, hate and emotions..
Ingredients:
- 2 male leads (A and B) *one good, one bad*
- 2 female leads (C and D) *one good, one bad*
- an item that symbolizes the token of love
- time, a lot of time
- cellphones (make sure you get the flip kind)
- money (the less there is, the more conflict)
- a conflicting situation
- lots and lots of crying
- just one kiss (at most two)
Procedure:
1) Make sure there is a pre-existing relationship between A, B, C, D but information about the relationship(s) is not fully known across all parties. If there is no relationship that exists, make sure to create one.
2) Communication is mostly via cellphones, with minimal face-to-face contact, unless otherwise specified in the phone conversation, such as, "Shall we meet?" *Remember: Hang up without saying a proper goodbye.*
3) A and B will soon fight over one of C or D, or vice versa. Usually the conflicting situation and money problems come in as well. By this time it is a big mess of spiderwebs of conflicts and relationships.
4) Of course, the love story prevails. The token of love is repeatedly emphasized, especially during the most emotional times. These are also the times when the females tend to cry more, and the males as well. And at last, the confirmation of love between the two parties is expressed with one long lip-locking smooch.
5) After a lot of emotional turmoil, everything turns well like in a fairytale, the good female and male leads always end up together, and the bad ones either go their own way or might end up together with some other loser.. And no, there is no final kiss to seal off the whole relationship. Usually the happily-ever-after just carries on as per normal, making it seem more like a platonic relationship.
* For extra spice and/or excitement, you might want to add in a little something extra, for a kick.. For example, putting a kid into the picture always makes relationships even more intricated. Setting the drama in a corporate environment gives it more ooomph, with rivalry and plotting and evil scheming to steam everything up, adding revenge to the bubbling cauldron of love, hate and emotions..
Alcohol = $$$
On the train home, this lady was chattering on the phone loudly in the crowd, and everyone heard her conversation. Well, I did anyway. Some parts of the conversation:
- "I'm gonna sleep my New Year's away, just like I did last year.."
- "I'm not even gonna go drinking.. I didn't even drink last year.."
- (the most shocking line of all) "You know, I think I probably saved a little over $2000 this year by not drinking.."
Very very intriguing. So how much have I saved this entire lifetime by not even going near a drop of alcohol? This makes me wonder why I am not a millionaire yet...
- "I'm gonna sleep my New Year's away, just like I did last year.."
- "I'm not even gonna go drinking.. I didn't even drink last year.."
- (the most shocking line of all) "You know, I think I probably saved a little over $2000 this year by not drinking.."
Very very intriguing. So how much have I saved this entire lifetime by not even going near a drop of alcohol? This makes me wonder why I am not a millionaire yet...
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