きょうもしあわせ！
15 years ago
0
Romeo X Juliet
I shouldn't be posting at this time, much less still be up at this ungodly hour. But I just have to.
The love story of the year = Gonzo's Romeo X Juliet
The final episode for Romeo X Juliet aired this week, and as expected, it ended tragically. What is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet without the death of our star-crossed lovers??
Although it sounds like a cookie-cutter series, I applaud Gonzo's brilliant re-telling of the story in an interesting adaptation. While they essentially followed every signature events in the original play, each of these events were portrayed uniquely in this series. For example, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet died in the Capulet crypt in a state of high-strung lover anguish over miscommunication and teenage lust. However, Gonzo's version of their death in the Escalus room was rather elegant, in that Romeo fought Ophelia to protect Juliet and his vow to her, and Juliet, in keeping her vow to be with Romeo for eternity, accepted her fate and sacrificed her life to protect the people of Neo-Verona.
While the original Shakespearean play is literally legendary, I like the moral inputs in Gonzo's improvised Romeo X Juliet. The whole series was beautifully summarized in the final line delivered by the character William:
「争い、憎しみ、悲しみ、痛み
それがのすべてを終わらせることができる物
それは。。。愛
人を愛する喜び そのことを
あなた達は教えてくれた」
"Strife, hatred, sadness, pain
The one thing capable of ending all of these
That is... love
The joy of loving another person,
Is what both of you have taught us"
I like how they play with themes such as revenge, justice, naiveity, idealism, innocence, loyalty, responsibility, choice-making, and of course, love. Gonzo was able to drive home their point on these themes by transforming them into the adversities Romeo and Juliet had to face. In this sense, their adaptation has far more depth and maturity in comparison to the original play. Furthermore, Gonzo's Juliet is no damsel-in-distress, she can kick villian butts. However, the best Juliet-sword-brandishing scene would have to be the one where Romeo and Juliet fought each other using their family swords in the penultimate episode. It was a fight not of hatred, but of love.
Apart from the unique story-telling, I also thoroughly enjoyed the animation and soundtrack of Romeo X Juliet. Although the animation at certain episodes were not up to mark, episodes creating great impact were marvelously drawn and animated. The soundtrack is something I cannot describe, but can only say that without it, the whole series would be dead. The theme song, "祈り～You Raise Me Up" by Lena Park was of course excellent and extremely appropriate, especially when it was played in the end, where Juliet requested for Escalus to grant her prayer to save the land she fatefully met Romeo (祈り... geddit?). The voice acting was also pretty satisfactory.
Another thing that I thought was lovely is that Gonzo had cleverly represented the two feuding families with a signature flower icon. The Capulets were the family of Irises, whereas the Montagues were represented by the classy Rose. This floral signature gave a very "Awwww" ending where we see people who hold Romeo and Juliet dear, such as Curio, Conrad, Hermione and William, whilst continuing their lives post-RxJ yet forever commemorating their love with a bouquet of a single iris and a single rose.
The ending of Romeo X Juliet was very well done, and so necessarily tragic that tears had to roll out of my eyes. I would think that the sadness of this tragic tale had been portrayed with greater impact by Gonzo than the original play would have. Those who have not watched Gonzo's Romeo X Juliet have NOT experience the great-ness of the most popular tragic love story of all time. So..... go watch it already!!
Image from Random Curiosity. Please visit them for excellent reviews.
Official site Romeo X Juliet
～みはる～
The love story of the year = Gonzo's Romeo X Juliet
The final episode for Romeo X Juliet aired this week, and as expected, it ended tragically. What is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet without the death of our star-crossed lovers??
Although it sounds like a cookie-cutter series, I applaud Gonzo's brilliant re-telling of the story in an interesting adaptation. While they essentially followed every signature events in the original play, each of these events were portrayed uniquely in this series. For example, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet died in the Capulet crypt in a state of high-strung lover anguish over miscommunication and teenage lust. However, Gonzo's version of their death in the Escalus room was rather elegant, in that Romeo fought Ophelia to protect Juliet and his vow to her, and Juliet, in keeping her vow to be with Romeo for eternity, accepted her fate and sacrificed her life to protect the people of Neo-Verona.
While the original Shakespearean play is literally legendary, I like the moral inputs in Gonzo's improvised Romeo X Juliet. The whole series was beautifully summarized in the final line delivered by the character William:
「争い、憎しみ、悲しみ、痛み
それがのすべてを終わらせることができる物
それは。。。愛
人を愛する喜び そのことを
あなた達は教えてくれた」
"Strife, hatred, sadness, pain
The one thing capable of ending all of these
That is... love
The joy of loving another person,
Is what both of you have taught us"
I like how they play with themes such as revenge, justice, naiveity, idealism, innocence, loyalty, responsibility, choice-making, and of course, love. Gonzo was able to drive home their point on these themes by transforming them into the adversities Romeo and Juliet had to face. In this sense, their adaptation has far more depth and maturity in comparison to the original play. Furthermore, Gonzo's Juliet is no damsel-in-distress, she can kick villian butts. However, the best Juliet-sword-brandishing scene would have to be the one where Romeo and Juliet fought each other using their family swords in the penultimate episode. It was a fight not of hatred, but of love.
Apart from the unique story-telling, I also thoroughly enjoyed the animation and soundtrack of Romeo X Juliet. Although the animation at certain episodes were not up to mark, episodes creating great impact were marvelously drawn and animated. The soundtrack is something I cannot describe, but can only say that without it, the whole series would be dead. The theme song, "祈り～You Raise Me Up" by Lena Park was of course excellent and extremely appropriate, especially when it was played in the end, where Juliet requested for Escalus to grant her prayer to save the land she fatefully met Romeo (祈り... geddit?). The voice acting was also pretty satisfactory.
Another thing that I thought was lovely is that Gonzo had cleverly represented the two feuding families with a signature flower icon. The Capulets were the family of Irises, whereas the Montagues were represented by the classy Rose. This floral signature gave a very "Awwww" ending where we see people who hold Romeo and Juliet dear, such as Curio, Conrad, Hermione and William, whilst continuing their lives post-RxJ yet forever commemorating their love with a bouquet of a single iris and a single rose.
The ending of Romeo X Juliet was very well done, and so necessarily tragic that tears had to roll out of my eyes. I would think that the sadness of this tragic tale had been portrayed with greater impact by Gonzo than the original play would have. Those who have not watched Gonzo's Romeo X Juliet have NOT experience the great-ness of the most popular tragic love story of all time. So..... go watch it already!!
Image from Random Curiosity. Please visit them for excellent reviews.
Official site Romeo X Juliet
～みはる～
By
Miharu
Turning 24
Some XX days ago, I turned 24.
"Nyaa, you got older!!"
"What's the big deal? Age is just a number"
"How's it going to be special? Celebrating?"
"It's just another day what. Work lo. So much data to analyse"
"24-full years. And you have not done anything tondemonai (extraordinary). Very pathetic lehh"
At some level, I think my internal dialogue is amusingly disturbing.
Actually my 24th anniversary on Earth was not that sordid. True, it was just another day. I mean, heck, I always think it's just another day. I spent it working till late at night. However, there are little happy things spread over the several days surrounding the day that marks it my 24th. They are like a handful of fragrant cinnamon dust or a cloud of saffron sprinkled over a plain vanilla (why vanilla??! hmm) sponge cake.
Cinnamon dust #1~ Messages~~!
E-cards, emails, Msn messages, Sms-es, phone calls and other sorts of e-messages reached me when I was still 23 years and 363 days old. Even though I am of the opinion that virtual messages are terribly impersonal and detached, I am still touched by the fact that there are acquaintances who still remembers me as a friend, and their thoughts alone meant more to me than the fancy animated teddy bears break-dancing on the e-cards. Thank you, all of you, who so kindly spent 5 mins of your life to wire me those generous words serving as a reminder of my old age and my ties with you.
Cinnamon dust #2~ Cakes~~!
I have an issue with cakes and candles this year.
In the darkness of data analysis misery, my lab mates lit a candle on a slice of tiramisu and sang me a birthday song. After (another) long day on front of the computer, I had thought to take a break from the numbers and scuttled over to the food corner in the office to dig for some of the very sweet lemon-Manuka-honey candies we purchased several days ago. So engross was I digging that I was oblivious to my colleagues' antics until they switched off all the office lights and presented me with a candlelit-cake whilst breaking into the tunes of Happy Birthday.
So I happily blew the candle after the song ended. You see, that was the mistake. I didn't take note what cake that was.... until the cocoa powder came flying all over, then did I notice it was tiramisu. But it's okay, we laughed it off and jokingly said never to buy tiramisu again for birthday.
What are the odds it will happen again?
Sis bought me a cake when Mum and Dad came down for the weekend to celebrate with me. To my delight(ful horror), ja jaaaang!! TIRAMISU!!! Shikamo, whole cake desu yo!! It was a lovely cake emanating the alcoholic fragrance of Kahlua generously blanketed with exquisitely fine cocoa powder. When the campfire of candles indicating my age were all fired up on the cake, I dreaded the blowing part. But it's a birthday and you have to make a wish then blow the candles, right? There's no escaping the ungraceful end, so I urged Mum, Dad and sis to blow with me. Because, according to the law of physics, if the air velocity comes from all directions at the same angle, the motion of the fine particles layering the cake surface will balance out, hence the cocoa powder won't fly all over (again)... right?
Wrong. We had a cocoa-coated tablecloth at the end of the episode. But you see, that was not the most embarassing thing. The very moment we blew the candles, the snuffed out candles emitted pretty swirls of smoke and.... "BRRIIINNGGGG!!!!!"
The fire alarm went off.
I didn't know to laugh or cry when every other diner turned to the direction of our table and stared at me and my cocoa-scattered tiramisu and the smoke-emitting candles. Suffice to say, I was terribly embarrassed... although having my family to celebrate my birthday with a cake was the best thing I could ever ask for.
The fire alarm rang for like ONE full minute before it was turned off, much to my relief. However, my embarrassment didn't stop there. Less than a minute later, a lady spoke over the PA system: "We've detected a fire signal from within the building. Do not panic. We are now investigating the source of fire and will update all guests as soon as possible."
Again, everyone turned to our table to stare at me and my still smoke-emitting cake.
If not for my gratefulness for my family's companionship... I would have liked to hide myself from those accusing stares. I mean, give me a break! Are the firemen going to come up to evacuate the building armed with a ultra-powerful water hose to find me there sitting with my little smoking tiramisu??? What stupid smoke detector did the restaurant install???Some 5-10 minutes passed before the PA system lady came back on to announce that it had been a false alarm (duhh...) and everyone can go back to their normal lives.
While Dad assured me that there's no way the smoke detector could have been that sensitive (and stupid) to pick up smoke from birthday candles and the whole fire-scare could have been due to some real fire in the kitchen, I find it difficult to swallow the coincidence. I mean, at the exact timing we blew off the candles, some apprentice chef slipped some 10oz olive oil into the firey wok resulting in a campfire which he haphazardly poured two cupfuls of water into, generating volcanic smoke right under the kitchen smoke detector. Guzen?? Nante nai yo...
But it's definitely one birthday I will never forget.
Then my 3rd cake was presented by my friends during our outing last weekend. AM had graciously chosen a mango cake (much to my relief wasn't a cocoa-coated tiramisu again) topped with yummy mango slices. Before they lit the candles in the air-conditioned cafe, I scanned the room warily to check whether (God forbid) any smoke detectors were snooping within the to-be-smoking radius. It was a pretty uneventful 'candle' episode and everyone was happy with a slice of mango cake. Wanting to give everyone (and myself) a slice of the juicy mango flesh, I distorted the jellified surface after which the remaining cake looked nothing like the aesthetically pleasant one presented to me several minutes ago. When I suggested to share the rest of the cake with the kind staff who served us, AM looked at me and politely suggested that I remove the 'ugly' sites I have generated. Ahaha... oops :P
What a cake-y year!!
Cinnamon dust #3~ Companionship~~!
"Love makes the world go round"
That's what philosophers claim. And I suppose they render a lot of truth.
The best gift had been my parents' coming down for the weekend. I had been missing home alot, and it had been such great joy to be able to see them and spent time with them again. I had rushed to the airport to receive them and upon seeing them out at the arrival gate, uncharacteristically, I transformed into the 5-year-old I once was and ran to hug Mum and Dad right in the middle of the international airport. Can't really put into words how happy I was to see them. We had alot to talk throughout the whole weekend and simply enjoy fundamental stuff together, such as lunch-ing on Japanese food, strolling in shopping centres, browsing books and trawling their favorite Daiso! If I had the money, I would love to fly them in more often for relaxing meals together and just doing stuff together. Guess that would have to wait, but I am forever thankful for my family's infinite love and companionship!
I am blessed with not only company from my family, but also from my friends. As age add on to a greater number, I find myself sinking in a world and society where people are incredibly superficial with their feelings towards you. It makes you wonder whether they take you seriously, sincerely, and faithfully. I've come to learn that some 80% don't, but the precious 20% does. And I treasure this 20%. I have high school mates who never forget my birthday, who every year without fail, will send me a note or a card or a message noting they remembered me, no matter which corner of the Earth they are residing now. I have the privilege of the enjoyable company of friends, who had so generously treated me to a movie or a slice of tiramisu or a meal-cum-crazy-boardgame-session or a meaningful phonecall, all of which telling me that they think of me (hope I did not over-interpret their intentions though :P).
To all of you, my 20%, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Cinnamon dust #4~ Cosmic wonders~~!
Have you ever felt like the sky is smiling to you, wishing you a happy birthday? Well, I did.
On my birthday, the weather was gorgeously blue, the sun was beautifully sunny, and the clouds were merrily puffy. The peacefuly green and sturdy trees were puffing oxygen and the gentle wind was especially teasing. Being quite a weather person, a deep sense of serenity and happiness overflowed when I breathed in my little lovely nature-world. It felt like a wonderful (birth)day.
Some several days ago, my colleagues and I were walking back to office from the canteen when we caught sight of a rare and beautiful cosmic display. Deep yellow sunlight was bathing the sky in dusk, but the angle of sunshine was such that it collided with a particular flat-looking cloud, causing the whole flat cloud becoming a prism, emanating the 7 shades of the visible spectrum. It was our first time looking at a rainbow-colored cloud, and it was so pretty and lovely that we just stood at the open-air corridor gazing intently at the twilight for a long time. Such cosmic wonders never fail to stir amazement in me, because such miraculous display often seem like divinity to me.
Cinnamon dust #5~ Boardgames~~!
On CS's recommendation, me and my friends threw our reservations and turned into the screaming, cardgame-crazy kids we used to be. We went to The Mind Cafe for an outing, and this is a quiet nook along the Sg River... until crazy people like us turned up. Sofas and coffee tables were comfortably arranged to give a homey feel and people gather here to play boardgames, card games and the like as a method of catching up with friends. The food here was not fantastic but the things you can do here are pretty wild. There is a wide range of boardgames for all tastes, from brainless Snap-type card games to the brain-power requiring English chess games.
We opted for brainless stuff like charades and card games, and one violent game in particular, was alot of fun and umm... violent. We basically chaotically traded cards to obtain a set of the same color before screaming and grabbing the limited number of bones located at the center of the coffee table. The loser, of course, is the one who did not get a bone. Sounds incredibly brainless, strategy-less, and out-of-the-mind, but surprisingly fun. It does feel good to scream like a kid once it a while haha.
So, it is quite evident my 24th anniversary isn't very sordid, ain't it?
～みはる～
"Nyaa, you got older!!"
"What's the big deal? Age is just a number"
"How's it going to be special? Celebrating?"
"It's just another day what. Work lo. So much data to analyse"
"24-full years. And you have not done anything tondemonai (extraordinary). Very pathetic lehh"
At some level, I think my internal dialogue is amusingly disturbing.
Actually my 24th anniversary on Earth was not that sordid. True, it was just another day. I mean, heck, I always think it's just another day. I spent it working till late at night. However, there are little happy things spread over the several days surrounding the day that marks it my 24th. They are like a handful of fragrant cinnamon dust or a cloud of saffron sprinkled over a plain vanilla (why vanilla??! hmm) sponge cake.
Cinnamon dust #1~ Messages~~!
E-cards, emails, Msn messages, Sms-es, phone calls and other sorts of e-messages reached me when I was still 23 years and 363 days old. Even though I am of the opinion that virtual messages are terribly impersonal and detached, I am still touched by the fact that there are acquaintances who still remembers me as a friend, and their thoughts alone meant more to me than the fancy animated teddy bears break-dancing on the e-cards. Thank you, all of you, who so kindly spent 5 mins of your life to wire me those generous words serving as a reminder of my old age and my ties with you.
Cinnamon dust #2~ Cakes~~!
I have an issue with cakes and candles this year.
In the darkness of data analysis misery, my lab mates lit a candle on a slice of tiramisu and sang me a birthday song. After (another) long day on front of the computer, I had thought to take a break from the numbers and scuttled over to the food corner in the office to dig for some of the very sweet lemon-Manuka-honey candies we purchased several days ago. So engross was I digging that I was oblivious to my colleagues' antics until they switched off all the office lights and presented me with a candlelit-cake whilst breaking into the tunes of Happy Birthday.
So I happily blew the candle after the song ended. You see, that was the mistake. I didn't take note what cake that was.... until the cocoa powder came flying all over, then did I notice it was tiramisu. But it's okay, we laughed it off and jokingly said never to buy tiramisu again for birthday.
What are the odds it will happen again?
Sis bought me a cake when Mum and Dad came down for the weekend to celebrate with me. To my delight(ful horror), ja jaaaang!! TIRAMISU!!! Shikamo, whole cake desu yo!! It was a lovely cake emanating the alcoholic fragrance of Kahlua generously blanketed with exquisitely fine cocoa powder. When the campfire of candles indicating my age were all fired up on the cake, I dreaded the blowing part. But it's a birthday and you have to make a wish then blow the candles, right? There's no escaping the ungraceful end, so I urged Mum, Dad and sis to blow with me. Because, according to the law of physics, if the air velocity comes from all directions at the same angle, the motion of the fine particles layering the cake surface will balance out, hence the cocoa powder won't fly all over (again)... right?
Wrong. We had a cocoa-coated tablecloth at the end of the episode. But you see, that was not the most embarassing thing. The very moment we blew the candles, the snuffed out candles emitted pretty swirls of smoke and.... "BRRIIINNGGGG!!!!!"
The fire alarm went off.
I didn't know to laugh or cry when every other diner turned to the direction of our table and stared at me and my cocoa-scattered tiramisu and the smoke-emitting candles. Suffice to say, I was terribly embarrassed... although having my family to celebrate my birthday with a cake was the best thing I could ever ask for.
The fire alarm rang for like ONE full minute before it was turned off, much to my relief. However, my embarrassment didn't stop there. Less than a minute later, a lady spoke over the PA system: "We've detected a fire signal from within the building. Do not panic. We are now investigating the source of fire and will update all guests as soon as possible."
Again, everyone turned to our table to stare at me and my still smoke-emitting cake.
If not for my gratefulness for my family's companionship... I would have liked to hide myself from those accusing stares. I mean, give me a break! Are the firemen going to come up to evacuate the building armed with a ultra-powerful water hose to find me there sitting with my little smoking tiramisu??? What stupid smoke detector did the restaurant install???Some 5-10 minutes passed before the PA system lady came back on to announce that it had been a false alarm (duhh...) and everyone can go back to their normal lives.
While Dad assured me that there's no way the smoke detector could have been that sensitive (and stupid) to pick up smoke from birthday candles and the whole fire-scare could have been due to some real fire in the kitchen, I find it difficult to swallow the coincidence. I mean, at the exact timing we blew off the candles, some apprentice chef slipped some 10oz olive oil into the firey wok resulting in a campfire which he haphazardly poured two cupfuls of water into, generating volcanic smoke right under the kitchen smoke detector. Guzen?? Nante nai yo...
But it's definitely one birthday I will never forget.
Then my 3rd cake was presented by my friends during our outing last weekend. AM had graciously chosen a mango cake (much to my relief wasn't a cocoa-coated tiramisu again) topped with yummy mango slices. Before they lit the candles in the air-conditioned cafe, I scanned the room warily to check whether (God forbid) any smoke detectors were snooping within the to-be-smoking radius. It was a pretty uneventful 'candle' episode and everyone was happy with a slice of mango cake. Wanting to give everyone (and myself) a slice of the juicy mango flesh, I distorted the jellified surface after which the remaining cake looked nothing like the aesthetically pleasant one presented to me several minutes ago. When I suggested to share the rest of the cake with the kind staff who served us, AM looked at me and politely suggested that I remove the 'ugly' sites I have generated. Ahaha... oops :P
What a cake-y year!!
Cinnamon dust #3~ Companionship~~!
"Love makes the world go round"
That's what philosophers claim. And I suppose they render a lot of truth.
The best gift had been my parents' coming down for the weekend. I had been missing home alot, and it had been such great joy to be able to see them and spent time with them again. I had rushed to the airport to receive them and upon seeing them out at the arrival gate, uncharacteristically, I transformed into the 5-year-old I once was and ran to hug Mum and Dad right in the middle of the international airport. Can't really put into words how happy I was to see them. We had alot to talk throughout the whole weekend and simply enjoy fundamental stuff together, such as lunch-ing on Japanese food, strolling in shopping centres, browsing books and trawling their favorite Daiso! If I had the money, I would love to fly them in more often for relaxing meals together and just doing stuff together. Guess that would have to wait, but I am forever thankful for my family's infinite love and companionship!
The bunny mooncake I bought for Mum, Dad, and Sis! Soft dough filled with deliciously sweet white bean paste and tangy yuzu in the inside... simply an exquisite taste!
I am blessed with not only company from my family, but also from my friends. As age add on to a greater number, I find myself sinking in a world and society where people are incredibly superficial with their feelings towards you. It makes you wonder whether they take you seriously, sincerely, and faithfully. I've come to learn that some 80% don't, but the precious 20% does. And I treasure this 20%. I have high school mates who never forget my birthday, who every year without fail, will send me a note or a card or a message noting they remembered me, no matter which corner of the Earth they are residing now. I have the privilege of the enjoyable company of friends, who had so generously treated me to a movie or a slice of tiramisu or a meal-cum-crazy-boardgame-session or a meaningful phonecall, all of which telling me that they think of me (hope I did not over-interpret their intentions though :P).
To all of you, my 20%, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Cinnamon dust #4~ Cosmic wonders~~!
Have you ever felt like the sky is smiling to you, wishing you a happy birthday? Well, I did.
On my birthday, the weather was gorgeously blue, the sun was beautifully sunny, and the clouds were merrily puffy. The peacefuly green and sturdy trees were puffing oxygen and the gentle wind was especially teasing. Being quite a weather person, a deep sense of serenity and happiness overflowed when I breathed in my little lovely nature-world. It felt like a wonderful (birth)day.
Some several days ago, my colleagues and I were walking back to office from the canteen when we caught sight of a rare and beautiful cosmic display. Deep yellow sunlight was bathing the sky in dusk, but the angle of sunshine was such that it collided with a particular flat-looking cloud, causing the whole flat cloud becoming a prism, emanating the 7 shades of the visible spectrum. It was our first time looking at a rainbow-colored cloud, and it was so pretty and lovely that we just stood at the open-air corridor gazing intently at the twilight for a long time. Such cosmic wonders never fail to stir amazement in me, because such miraculous display often seem like divinity to me.
Cinnamon dust #5~ Boardgames~~!
On CS's recommendation, me and my friends threw our reservations and turned into the screaming, cardgame-crazy kids we used to be. We went to The Mind Cafe for an outing, and this is a quiet nook along the Sg River... until crazy people like us turned up. Sofas and coffee tables were comfortably arranged to give a homey feel and people gather here to play boardgames, card games and the like as a method of catching up with friends. The food here was not fantastic but the things you can do here are pretty wild. There is a wide range of boardgames for all tastes, from brainless Snap-type card games to the brain-power requiring English chess games.
We opted for brainless stuff like charades and card games, and one violent game in particular, was alot of fun and umm... violent. We basically chaotically traded cards to obtain a set of the same color before screaming and grabbing the limited number of bones located at the center of the coffee table. The loser, of course, is the one who did not get a bone. Sounds incredibly brainless, strategy-less, and out-of-the-mind, but surprisingly fun. It does feel good to scream like a kid once it a while haha.
So, it is quite evident my 24th anniversary isn't very sordid, ain't it?
～みはる～
By
Miharu
Data mining
Somewhere in my last post, I expressed relief towards the ending of the mammoth experimentation and how less taxing the data analysis seemed in comparison to the phrenetic data acquisition.
I take back all my words.
Data mining and analysis (for a mammoth experiment) is one hell of a b**ch. Here's an anecdote of the past 2-data-mining weeks to illustrate why.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1
Energetic faces. Rolled up sleeves.
Me : Yosh!! Let's count plates!
SanSan : Remember ya - red colonies, big and small green colonies, and tiny blue colonies. I've printed the record sheet here.
MH : (dons face mask) Okay. I'll count the 24h plates.
Me : I'll count the 48h plates.
P : I'm still counting the 12h plates.
R : (already marker pen in hand)
Me : 'kay, let's count!
4 hours later....
LB : Do you all want to go for lunch?
MH, R, Me : (looks up, eyes glazed)
Me : ...fifty-six, fifty-seven....
LB : I can help you pack :)
MH : I'll go for lunch.
Me : ...fifty-nine, sixty. One hundred sixty. (scribbles number on plate) I'm sooo going for lunch. I'm seeing stars already.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 2
Walks into lab and puts on lab coat reluctantly.
SanSan : Someone should start recording the numbers on the log sheet.
Me : I'm still counting 48h plates.
MH : I'll do it.
SanSan : R can help read the numbers.
R : Okay.
30 mins later....
Me : The small green and tiny blue colonies look the same. Which is strain 3 and which is strain 4?
MH : hmmm....
R : Yea, it's quite difficult to differentiate. Sometimes I just count all small ones as strain 3...
MH : Strain 4 has a little white peak. Strain 3 is slightly mucoidal.
Me : (stashes out an agar plate) So this is strain 4?
MH : (peers at agar plate) Hmm.... yea, I think this is strain 4, that is strain 3.
Me : Does everyone knows?
R : ..... count again?
Me : ..........................
MH : (runs around lab educating which is 3 and which is 4)
2 hours later....
Me : I can't count anymore. My eyes are hurting!
MH : (eyes glazed) Umm.
Me : I'll go plot fluorometre graphs.
5 hours later....
MH : Red - 3. Big - 35. Strain4 - 13. Next dilution, red - 7. Big - 28. Strain 4 - 12....
R : (scribbles furiously)
Me : Excuse me, which hour are you at?
MH : 12h.
Me : ...then 24h and 48h..?
MH : (eyes glazed) Not done.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 3
In office. Looks at plates in the lab. Turns away and plops into chair.
Me : (peers over at SanSan) Still many plates to count?
SanSan : ... and record. Some of the strains 3 and 4 are not distinguished... have to count again. And some numbers are funny. Need to count.... again...?
Me : (moans)
3 hours later....
Hunched over the lab bench with the largest trolley beside the bench, FULL of stinky agar plates and gross bacteria.
MH : .... Red - 15. Big - 166. Strain 4 - need to count.
Me : (looks up, eyes glassy, and brow furrowed) Eeehhh... but it's TNTC (too numerous to count)
MH : Yea, but the following dilution is under countable range, so we need to count these.
Me : (looks at the tiny colonies despairingly and whines) But they are so tiny and.... so many :'(
MH : ...twelve, thirteen, fourteen,....
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 4
Bleary eyes into the office.
Me : Today no more plates to count, right?
SanSan : We will need to incubate the acid agar plates longer because strain 2 is growing very slow.
Me : ....
1 hour later....
Shal : How's the fluorometre results coming?
Me : Still plotting.
Shal : Okay. The colony counts?
SanSan : Still recording. And plotting.
Shal : Okay.
5 hours later....
Shal : Don't you think we should start discussing the results already?
SanSan : (very sien look) I still have a lot to plot.
Me : (eyes on computer, plotting) Umm.
Shal : Let's discuss tomorrow after lunch?
SanSan : Okay.
Me : (still staring at screen) Umm.
3 hours later....
MH : You all want to eat dinner?
Shal : Yea.
Me : (finally lifts face from the computer) Arghh!! How can it not work??!! I need a break from plotting!!!
~~~*~*~*~~~~
Day 5
Morning. Everyone at computer in the office. Agar plates sitting at all the benches and stinking up the lab.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
4 hours later....
LB : Are you all going for lunch?
SanSan : Can help us pack?
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
2 hours later....
Shal : So are we discussing?
SanSan : I still have a lot of graphs to plot. And the numbers are weird! We need someone to re-check the plates.
MH : I'll do it.
Me : We need to take out plates from incubator also right? They are the size of a 10-cent coin now.
MH : Umm. Yea.
Me : Yucks. It smells as disgusting as it looks.
7 hours later....
Shal : So are we discussing?
SanSan : There's still a lot to plot...
Shal : Yea, but....
Me : (brain in screensaver mode) I cannot concentrate already.
Shal : We do it next week, in the morning?
Me : Yes please.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 8
Morning. In office. Agar plates unmoved, stench in lab is getting unbearable.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
3 hours later....
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
2 hours later....
Shal : We still haven't discuss!!!
Glazed eyes looked up. And back down on computer screen.
Shal : .....
2 hours later....
Shal : Let's just stop plotting first and discuss.
R : Okay.
Me : Okay.
SanSan : You all go ahead. I need to finish this plot first. And guess what? We have missing plates.
Shal : ... how?!!
SanSan : Beats me. Can't find them.
6 hours later....
MH : We've been discussing 6 hours in a row.
SanSan : (points at me) She's in screensaver mode already.
Me : I'm not registering anymore. Very tired.
R : Continue tomorrow?
All : Yea.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 9
Morning. In office. Plates still stinking lab.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
4 hours later....
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
3 hours later....
Extensive debate on contamination which lasted almost 4 hours.
Back to plotting.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 10
Morning. In office. Potted plant looking sickly. Must be the stench in the lab.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : Are we discussing?
SanSan : Some of you can go ahead with the discussion....
Shal : Okay, let's.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 11
Morning. P's unhappy.
P : The smell of the lab is awful. Can't you throw the plates yet?
Me : I'll go. (dons face mask and discards all plates in hazard bag) Bleah... stinks so bad.
1 hour later....
Me : The lab's all clean! I enthanol-ed all the benches and the lab!
P : And you are still standing?!
Me : Yea... still sober from all the alcohol! hehe... (looks around in office)
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
6 hours later....
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 12
Morning. In office.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
3 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
2 hours later....
Me : I'll never want to do this scale of data mining ever again T_T
Shal : I know what you mean.
SanSan : I want to do experiments! Not plotting graphs T_T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The dialogue's not exactly word-for-word, but you get the idea.
～みはる～
I take back all my words.
Data mining and analysis (for a mammoth experiment) is one hell of a b**ch. Here's an anecdote of the past 2-data-mining weeks to illustrate why.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 1
Energetic faces. Rolled up sleeves.
Me : Yosh!! Let's count plates!
SanSan : Remember ya - red colonies, big and small green colonies, and tiny blue colonies. I've printed the record sheet here.
MH : (dons face mask) Okay. I'll count the 24h plates.
Me : I'll count the 48h plates.
P : I'm still counting the 12h plates.
R : (already marker pen in hand)
Me : 'kay, let's count!
4 hours later....
LB : Do you all want to go for lunch?
MH, R, Me : (looks up, eyes glazed)
Me : ...fifty-six, fifty-seven....
LB : I can help you pack :)
MH : I'll go for lunch.
Me : ...fifty-nine, sixty. One hundred sixty. (scribbles number on plate) I'm sooo going for lunch. I'm seeing stars already.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 2
Walks into lab and puts on lab coat reluctantly.
SanSan : Someone should start recording the numbers on the log sheet.
Me : I'm still counting 48h plates.
MH : I'll do it.
SanSan : R can help read the numbers.
R : Okay.
30 mins later....
Me : The small green and tiny blue colonies look the same. Which is strain 3 and which is strain 4?
MH : hmmm....
R : Yea, it's quite difficult to differentiate. Sometimes I just count all small ones as strain 3...
MH : Strain 4 has a little white peak. Strain 3 is slightly mucoidal.
Me : (stashes out an agar plate) So this is strain 4?
MH : (peers at agar plate) Hmm.... yea, I think this is strain 4, that is strain 3.
Me : Does everyone knows?
R : ..... count again?
Me : ..........................
MH : (runs around lab educating which is 3 and which is 4)
2 hours later....
Me : I can't count anymore. My eyes are hurting!
MH : (eyes glazed) Umm.
Me : I'll go plot fluorometre graphs.
5 hours later....
MH : Red - 3. Big - 35. Strain4 - 13. Next dilution, red - 7. Big - 28. Strain 4 - 12....
R : (scribbles furiously)
Me : Excuse me, which hour are you at?
MH : 12h.
Me : ...then 24h and 48h..?
MH : (eyes glazed) Not done.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 3
In office. Looks at plates in the lab. Turns away and plops into chair.
Me : (peers over at SanSan) Still many plates to count?
SanSan : ... and record. Some of the strains 3 and 4 are not distinguished... have to count again. And some numbers are funny. Need to count.... again...?
Me : (moans)
3 hours later....
Hunched over the lab bench with the largest trolley beside the bench, FULL of stinky agar plates and gross bacteria.
MH : .... Red - 15. Big - 166. Strain 4 - need to count.
Me : (looks up, eyes glassy, and brow furrowed) Eeehhh... but it's TNTC (too numerous to count)
MH : Yea, but the following dilution is under countable range, so we need to count these.
Me : (looks at the tiny colonies despairingly and whines) But they are so tiny and.... so many :'(
MH : ...twelve, thirteen, fourteen,....
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 4
Bleary eyes into the office.
Me : Today no more plates to count, right?
SanSan : We will need to incubate the acid agar plates longer because strain 2 is growing very slow.
Me : ....
1 hour later....
Shal : How's the fluorometre results coming?
Me : Still plotting.
Shal : Okay. The colony counts?
SanSan : Still recording. And plotting.
Shal : Okay.
5 hours later....
Shal : Don't you think we should start discussing the results already?
SanSan : (very sien look) I still have a lot to plot.
Me : (eyes on computer, plotting) Umm.
Shal : Let's discuss tomorrow after lunch?
SanSan : Okay.
Me : (still staring at screen) Umm.
3 hours later....
MH : You all want to eat dinner?
Shal : Yea.
Me : (finally lifts face from the computer) Arghh!! How can it not work??!! I need a break from plotting!!!
~~~*~*~*~~~~
Day 5
Morning. Everyone at computer in the office. Agar plates sitting at all the benches and stinking up the lab.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
4 hours later....
LB : Are you all going for lunch?
SanSan : Can help us pack?
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
2 hours later....
Shal : So are we discussing?
SanSan : I still have a lot of graphs to plot. And the numbers are weird! We need someone to re-check the plates.
MH : I'll do it.
Me : We need to take out plates from incubator also right? They are the size of a 10-cent coin now.
MH : Umm. Yea.
Me : Yucks. It smells as disgusting as it looks.
7 hours later....
Shal : So are we discussing?
SanSan : There's still a lot to plot...
Shal : Yea, but....
Me : (brain in screensaver mode) I cannot concentrate already.
Shal : We do it next week, in the morning?
Me : Yes please.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 8
Morning. In office. Agar plates unmoved, stench in lab is getting unbearable.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
3 hours later....
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
2 hours later....
Shal : We still haven't discuss!!!
Glazed eyes looked up. And back down on computer screen.
Shal : .....
2 hours later....
Shal : Let's just stop plotting first and discuss.
R : Okay.
Me : Okay.
SanSan : You all go ahead. I need to finish this plot first. And guess what? We have missing plates.
Shal : ... how?!!
SanSan : Beats me. Can't find them.
6 hours later....
MH : We've been discussing 6 hours in a row.
SanSan : (points at me) She's in screensaver mode already.
Me : I'm not registering anymore. Very tired.
R : Continue tomorrow?
All : Yea.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 9
Morning. In office. Plates still stinking lab.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
4 hours later....
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
3 hours later....
Extensive debate on contamination which lasted almost 4 hours.
Back to plotting.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 10
Morning. In office. Potted plant looking sickly. Must be the stench in the lab.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : Are we discussing?
SanSan : Some of you can go ahead with the discussion....
Shal : Okay, let's.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 11
Morning. P's unhappy.
P : The smell of the lab is awful. Can't you throw the plates yet?
Me : I'll go. (dons face mask and discards all plates in hazard bag) Bleah... stinks so bad.
1 hour later....
Me : The lab's all clean! I enthanol-ed all the benches and the lab!
P : And you are still standing?!
Me : Yea... still sober from all the alcohol! hehe... (looks around in office)
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
6 hours later....
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
~~~*~*~*~~~
Day 12
Morning. In office.
SanSan : (plotting graphs)
Me : (plotting graphs)
Shal : (plotting graphs)
MH : (plotting graphs)
R : (plotting graphs)
3 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
4 hours later....
Plotting and discussion continues.
2 hours later....
Me : I'll never want to do this scale of data mining ever again T_T
Shal : I know what you mean.
SanSan : I want to do experiments! Not plotting graphs T_T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The dialogue's not exactly word-for-word, but you get the idea.
～みはる～
By
Miharu
Work & Play
The past week had been, for no better word to describe, eventful.
For the whole week, my lab colleagues and I had been tremendously busy with the massive experiment in a way we have never quite experienced before. Preparation for the experiment started on Sunday morning and transcended to the execution on early Monday morning. A few delays and stalling resulted in the experiment timepoint beginning at 3pm, which means that we would need to be acquiring data at 3am in the morning. Working in shifts, all of us worked around the clock on Tuesday, and in fact, we actually created a record for working 23hrs non-stop. On that day, I had to juggle a 3-hr class on top of experimentation, and for the first time, I practically slept thru the classes. It's like, I know vividly what the lecturers were saying, but nothing registered in my head. If not for the Shiroi Koibito cookies so kindly given to me by Shiyun-san, I would not only be sleeping but also starving through the classes. But hey, I discovered that I still have the stamina to attend classes even without one night's sleep! But towards the evening, I was already very blur and couldn't think coherently, and I almost fell asleep at the confocal microscope. To keep myself awake and warm (the confocal room is very cold!), I made a little picnic of hot Milo and Julie's peanut butter cookies for my colleague, MH and I. Nevertheless, I was quite proud that I could still carry myself until 1am, close to 24hrs of no sleep, although my colleagues kept pointing out my eyes were practically closed and that I look very sleepy. I must have been very tired, because I actually slept till near mid-noon the next day and through the noisy construction work outside my residential block. Amazing.
The following days were not so bad, even though we did work past midnight, making endless serial dilutions and spread thousands of agar plates, we managed to get through with lots of laughter and support for each other. In fact, we'd probably doubled the speed of agar spreading to 200-300 plates/hr and I've never laughed so hard in my life while aliquoting culture for spreading, thanks to YN and Shal for coming up with the 'word game'. Let's spread more acid agar ya :P
With my experience of staying up 36hrs writing thesis months ago behind me, I had thought this episode is peanuts. However, when I suddenly had breathing difficulties one night after work, I started freaking out. I did not think my body's stress response would be that dramatic, but a constricted airway and tight sensation in the chest told me otherwise. Not wanting to risk collapsing of heart attack or the like, I seeked medical consultation the next morning. I was pretty worried about getting a collapse lung (like sis many years ago) or arrhythmia, but the in-house doctor assured me my lungs were fine and my heart ECG was normal. Phew. Not that I felt really stressed out, my it seems my body had hit a limit somewhere there.
Although we worked hard, we played hard as well. To celebrate my colleagues, YN's, departure to France and P's birthday, the whole lab (i.e. plus supervisor) went out for a dinner on Thursday. We dined at a restaurant called Original Sin, under the recommendation by our supervisor. The restaurant serves excellent mediterranean vegetarian cuisine in a chic ambience. The mood was very relaxing, and we had a great time eating and laughing so hard my facial muscles ached. The food was marvellous beyond words (although fattening!!) as we tried a great variety, with everyone ordering a different main course each. I love outings with the lab because everyone is so much fun to be with.
でも！... we still have to go back counting the thousands of plates we spread the next day after the fun dinner. But with all the data acquisition work done, the pace is no longer as taxing, and what's left to be done is data analysis. So, it'll be another week of experimentation, albeit in front of computer making sense of all the data. However, midway our experiment, we discovered contamination in majority of our samples, and there seem to be a possibility of repeating.... hopefully at a smaller scale.
After a week of hard work, I basically just take weekend off lab (no agar plates for 2 days! *shuts eyes*) By doing that, I meant eating out with friends and eat eat eat. Had dinner with my colleagues on Friday night and then another buffet binge with my friends in Chinatown today to celebrate AM's and HC's bday. I know I'll be paying dearly for all the calorie intake these few days, but I so enjoy eating out with friends and laughing the day away. At anytime, I love being in lab, with my colleagues and friends!
Oh, and Happy Birthday to AM and HC! May you both be blessed with happiness and love!
～みはる～
For the whole week, my lab colleagues and I had been tremendously busy with the massive experiment in a way we have never quite experienced before. Preparation for the experiment started on Sunday morning and transcended to the execution on early Monday morning. A few delays and stalling resulted in the experiment timepoint beginning at 3pm, which means that we would need to be acquiring data at 3am in the morning. Working in shifts, all of us worked around the clock on Tuesday, and in fact, we actually created a record for working 23hrs non-stop. On that day, I had to juggle a 3-hr class on top of experimentation, and for the first time, I practically slept thru the classes. It's like, I know vividly what the lecturers were saying, but nothing registered in my head. If not for the Shiroi Koibito cookies so kindly given to me by Shiyun-san, I would not only be sleeping but also starving through the classes. But hey, I discovered that I still have the stamina to attend classes even without one night's sleep! But towards the evening, I was already very blur and couldn't think coherently, and I almost fell asleep at the confocal microscope. To keep myself awake and warm (the confocal room is very cold!), I made a little picnic of hot Milo and Julie's peanut butter cookies for my colleague, MH and I. Nevertheless, I was quite proud that I could still carry myself until 1am, close to 24hrs of no sleep, although my colleagues kept pointing out my eyes were practically closed and that I look very sleepy. I must have been very tired, because I actually slept till near mid-noon the next day and through the noisy construction work outside my residential block. Amazing.
The following days were not so bad, even though we did work past midnight, making endless serial dilutions and spread thousands of agar plates, we managed to get through with lots of laughter and support for each other. In fact, we'd probably doubled the speed of agar spreading to 200-300 plates/hr and I've never laughed so hard in my life while aliquoting culture for spreading, thanks to YN and Shal for coming up with the 'word game'. Let's spread more acid agar ya :P
With my experience of staying up 36hrs writing thesis months ago behind me, I had thought this episode is peanuts. However, when I suddenly had breathing difficulties one night after work, I started freaking out. I did not think my body's stress response would be that dramatic, but a constricted airway and tight sensation in the chest told me otherwise. Not wanting to risk collapsing of heart attack or the like, I seeked medical consultation the next morning. I was pretty worried about getting a collapse lung (like sis many years ago) or arrhythmia, but the in-house doctor assured me my lungs were fine and my heart ECG was normal. Phew. Not that I felt really stressed out, my it seems my body had hit a limit somewhere there.
Although we worked hard, we played hard as well. To celebrate my colleagues, YN's, departure to France and P's birthday, the whole lab (i.e. plus supervisor) went out for a dinner on Thursday. We dined at a restaurant called Original Sin, under the recommendation by our supervisor. The restaurant serves excellent mediterranean vegetarian cuisine in a chic ambience. The mood was very relaxing, and we had a great time eating and laughing so hard my facial muscles ached. The food was marvellous beyond words (although fattening!!) as we tried a great variety, with everyone ordering a different main course each. I love outings with the lab because everyone is so much fun to be with.
でも！... we still have to go back counting the thousands of plates we spread the next day after the fun dinner. But with all the data acquisition work done, the pace is no longer as taxing, and what's left to be done is data analysis. So, it'll be another week of experimentation, albeit in front of computer making sense of all the data. However, midway our experiment, we discovered contamination in majority of our samples, and there seem to be a possibility of repeating.... hopefully at a smaller scale.
After a week of hard work, I basically just take weekend off lab (no agar plates for 2 days! *shuts eyes*) By doing that, I meant eating out with friends and eat eat eat. Had dinner with my colleagues on Friday night and then another buffet binge with my friends in Chinatown today to celebrate AM's and HC's bday. I know I'll be paying dearly for all the calorie intake these few days, but I so enjoy eating out with friends and laughing the day away. At anytime, I love being in lab, with my colleagues and friends!
Oh, and Happy Birthday to AM and HC! May you both be blessed with happiness and love!
～みはる～
By
Miharu
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