On A Bridge, Unabridged

It is that feeling that appears when one nears the end of a journey not having found what was sought. I sat on a near-empty bus, leaning my head against the window, peering outside for whatever I could gain from Hong Kong. It didn't look like much. I had escaped the grey city for vast, open, grey sky.

Just then, the woman in front of me took out her camera and started taking photos, as if trying to bring back whatever bits of Hong Kong she could from her very last morning in the city. I started observing her to see what she considered photo-worthy, and realised all the photos she took were of apartments. She must not have many of those where she comes from.

Hong Kong Observations

Most people dressed like it was going to snow, even though the temperature was in the 20s.

Hongkies are surprisingly averse to jaywalking. They will wait at the traffic light even if there are no cars.

Watch shops are everywhere, with a very high representation of Rolex.

Chocolate products derived from Valrhona couverture (purportedly) were spotted on many occasions, in relatively cheap places.

Paul Smith stripes were surprisingly high up the most counterfeited pattern ranking, behind Burberry check and Louis Vuitton prints.

The Compleat Man

What are the qualities needed by the compleat man? Whatever qualities you may come up with, you can't deny that the compleat man exudes coolness by the megawatts. In the first part of this series we look at some men in very different fields who can lay claim to true coolness. 

Green Leopards and Purple Wages

I recently read an article about the future of the economy. The writer believes we are headed towards/already in a post-scarcity society, in which money loses its value because almost everything is available for free. Although the state of affairs predicted is contingent on material surplus of the kind granted by mythical cornucopias, it could occur within this century.

A similar scenario is envisaged in the Hugo Award winning novella Riders of the Purple Wage, which was prompted by the 1964 "Triple Revolution" memo. Citizens are entitled by birth to salaries from the government, so work is unnecessary. This leads to the elevation of art in society, presumably because otherwise-unemployed people partake in creative activities.

Hippocrates Geometrica

I was dreaming of the Proust Geometrica again when the question struck me - would it be possible to integrate my interest in design with a career in medicine? Well, why not?

The idea is to have a stylishly and ergonomically designed hospital/clinic catering to rich patients. Through the use of colours and design, the building aims to improve the emotional conditions of patients and staff, which then leads to better health. This is not dissimilar to the concept proposed by the folks over at Reversible Destiny, that our surroundings influence our health. Perhaps they might even be interested in a tie-up, though it is likely most patients would be too sceptical.

Livin' La Vida Siempre

One of the things I value most highly is life (which is, incidentally, why I want to be a doctor). A simple model of life treats it as having two parameters - quality, which may be positive or negative, and duration. This model suggests that what we should aim for is to maximise the value of the integral, i.e. the area under the curve. (Other suggestions may be drawn, such as the value of euthanasia and suicide, but I shall not deal with these, at least not until I decide to post a suicide note here.)

How can we maximise this integral then? One idea, proposed by Arakawa + Gins, is via architecture. Based on an ethics which deems mortality as unethical, and a belief that our surroundings affect our lives, the two have gone about designing buildings which aim to prolong life and eventually reverse human destiny by facilitating immortality. Just as the architecture of the plane helped achieve the dream of flight, so may architecture one day achieve the dream of immortality, they claim. Definitely one of the craziest ideas I've come across, especially considering the English it is expressed in, but it has resulted in some pretty interesting houses, so do check it out here.

Do we actually want to live forever? What price are we willing to pay for it? I have frequently heard the questions, eat/live so healthy for what? You want to live so long for what? Well, good health increases not just duration of life but also quality, especially at old age. Even if you might not think of it now, what about the value of spending more years with loved ones? Of course, most people do value their health, but are doing it wrongly. As diet is probably the main factor contributing to health, here are some of the most common dietary myths: 

Radio Free Kōan

If a radio is on but there is no one listening to it, does it still play music? I say no; sure it produces sound, but music exists only in the mind of the listener, as a complex interaction between perceived sounds in short term memory, experiences musical and non-musical in long term memory and expectation shaped by the above. In fact, it is fallacious to think of music as a complete structure as laid out on a score, which you can examine without temporaneity. Music is heard, therefore it is.

Good music, then, might be that which sustains the listener's attention for its entirety, since only then does the music exist entirely. It is difficult to offer much more considering the diversity of listeners. There are of course listeners who would disagree, preferring music which stays in the background without distracting them. It is debatable whether or not they are truly listening to the music (and hence if they qualify as listeners), but music has been shown in some instances to affect even passive listeners. Whatever the case, everyone can define his own idea of good music.

Top 10 Reasons to Retire in Milan

1 Soccer.
Two great football teams to watch, AC and Inter. Oh right, Benítez is at Inter, make that one great team.

2 Fashion.
It is the world's fashion capital, with menswear such as Cesare Attolini, Etro and Trussardi in addition to the more famous names like Armani and Ermenegildo Zegna. People of style can be seen on the streets as well.

3 Food.
Pizza and pasta everyday, especially with a pizza oven of my own in the garden. Awesome for garden parties or chillax evenings.

10 Years Later – A Commissioned Post

“Right, and how far back do you want to go?” I asked, nodding and jotting down notes.

“Not far, just ten years,” replied the man.

“So, only one passenger? Will that be aisle or window, sir?”

What did he think I was? If I could have built a time machine, I wouldn't be here; I'd have gone back in time to deliver all those esprits d'escalier.

He stared at me. Simply stared at me through glasses that were rarely seen anymore thanks to the work of my colleagues in the Opthalmology department. I sat unmoving.

Scions of a Restless Soul

This is a test. Imagine yourself on a wide avenue. Trees hunch over you as you trudge along, rustling the leaves of red and brown and every shade in between. A cool draught overtakes you, nudges you forward, where you spot in the horizon a figure. At first shadow, then a shape, then an alluring stranger, who approaches and asks, “Excuse me, do you know what time it is?” You smile as you check the time.

What watch do you see? (If you took out a pocket watch, this post has nothing new to tell you. If you took out your handphone, keep reading.)

Which watch stereotype are you?

Lullaby of an Insomniac

I have great difficulty sleeping. My mind just can't turn off thinking, especially in bed. I have some of my best ideas in bed. In fact, it feels as if I would write like the best book ever if I could channel my stream-of-consciousness in bed. Maybe someone will invent a machine that converts thoughts to text in my lifetime. And then everyone will start writing awesome stream-of-consciousness blogs that make no sense to anyone else. Maybe that's why no one will invent such a machine.

The First Post

First, a brief and completely misleading history of football formations:

1877: The 2-3-5 formation was first recorded.
1925: A change in the offside law led to the creation of the WM system (3-2-2-3).
1958: Brazil won the World Cup with a 4-2-4, the first formation to be described using numbers.
1969: Ajax pioneered the use of totaalvoetbal: no formation.
2010: Four One Three Two was started.

So that answers any questions about the origins of this blog. Moving on.