A is for admire

I have no talent for drawing or any kind of art-linked endeavours. Couldn't even draw a straight line with a ruler. But I love pretty things and these pictures below really speak to me.

These are the works of Ms. Rebecca Mock.

 

My favourite activity in my favourite mode of transportation.

Age doesn't inhibit embracing technology.

 I love the eloquence of her art, elevating something as prosaic as reading on a train or in the outdoors into something whimsical and delightful. The pictures are so evocative, you could almost feel the movement of the train of the warm breeze caressing your skin while you lounge on the balcony. The feel of the grass under you separated by the blanket. You could almost hear the chirp of birds and the buzz of bees collecting nectar in the flourishing garden.

Doesn't her work remind you of the animated pictures and portraits in the Harry Potter series?

M is for Mask

Duplicitious.

Subtle.

Indirect.

Devious.

Women are often portrayed as conniving plotters and vile seducers out to victimise poor, hapless men. From centuries old fairy tales to the latest television hits, pop culture and literature are littered with women who are evil (i.e. has her own agenda that doesn't serve a man's), wily (i.e. respectable intelligence is only for men), bossy (i.e. only men are forceful), and the list goes on.

Why can't women be forthright, many men say. Why can't women be open about what they want and be honest about their true motivations? Why are women always saying A but actually meant B?

Dear readers, we are made that way.

(sic)

Many women grow up thinking that they need to present a certain front to the world. They are expected to be pretty, to be personable, to be nice, to be demure and subservient to the authorities in their life (namely, the men). They have to be a good daughter - do the chores, mind the younger siblings, cook the meals, be home by 6 pm, and come home with bushels of As for the exams. They are expected to be a great girlfriend -  the obedient wife - the undemanding mother.

And if they can't? Well ... fake it till you make it.



Lyrics to the awesome song is here.

Yeah, I'm a sexist

... and I'm not ashamed of it. All stolen from tumblr.

Again, NSFW. What? I'm an adult. It says so on my birth certificate.

Midweek sh*t and giggles

Cause it's not Friday yet and we need some laughs. All gifs are stolen from here.

NSFW, You have been warned.

Writing again, yay!

Ah, muse. Thank you for whispering.

Another story on-going in my head finally expressed readibly. Well, at least a part of it.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

The weekend is on the doorstep, people!



Let's boogie!

Midweek sh*ts and giggles

NSFW. Not safe to view with beverage in hand or in mouth.

You have been warned.

Where is the joke?

 

*laughed*

*and then cried*

History Tuesday

A refresher course video on what happened during the Konfrantasi. Interesting to see it from Singapore's viewpoint.

Bludgeon me bloody

Have you ever entertained fantasies of being Dexter? No, I'm not talking about the serial killer thing, sheesh. Unless you are a violent sociopath, in which case, keep calm and carry on SUBMERGING HOMICIDAL DESIRES.

The lovable serial killing villain has a day job with the fictitious Miami Metro Police as a blood pattern analyst. So what the heck does that mean? The pictures below shed some light on what Dexter does  in his professional capacity.

 

*All pictures stolen from here, original source is this.

Television shows like the CSI franchise sold us on the idea that forensic science can solve almost anything. To certain extent, science have made crime investigation a lot more reliable than the previous method of beating up a suspect until he/she confessed (though it's still applied in parts of the world where civil liberty is still a laughable dream). As much as the television show has done to encourage interest in science, it has as much to do with real-life laboratory practice as porn is to making love. My friends and I often laugh at the insane timeline portrayed in CSI (collecting specimen, tagging and paperwork, sample prep, sample run AND analysis in a single day? Please.) and we mock at the clean chromatography results (yeah, nice, distinguishable peaks from a swab at the freeway. Riiiiight.). Not to mention the awkward pipetting techniques or the blase centrifuging without balancing the rotor. To have someone comment, "You're doing it the CSI-style, aren't you?" is considered as a gross insult.

Science, however, is not infallible; DNA profiling is not the magic bullet of conviction as evidenced by the inability to distinguish the rapist twin from the innocent one (though this may change). Samples degrade, there are issues of contamination, false evidence, specimen tampering and many more. That said, it doesn't mean that you can call a video iron (refer to comment by Tuan Guru Haji Hadi Awang on Anwar Ibrahim's Chinadoll video) and throw science out of the window. DNA technology has helped to overthrow convictions on people wrongly imprisoned for rape and give names and faces to victims of mass disasters. Surveillance technology helped to map the unfolding of the Boston marathon bombing step-by-step. Biometrics have been invaluable in enhancing security protocols as well as identify presence at a crime scene.

However, as more and more criminals and villains get smarter from watching Discovery Channel and use forensic science against the law enforcement, legal technicality gets a lot more convoluted and conviction remains equal parts of science, good investigation, robust prosecution and a huge dollop of luck.