Nothingness

November 26th, 2008 at 1:26 · Filed Under Mathematics, Philosophy · 2 Comments 

I tried to blog nothing at all this month, but turns out I have something to write. Behold the mighty addiction of blogging. I look at blogging at another way other than getting my rants across the world. But, this is not the purpose of this post. Nope, I am not going to write about blogging. Yes, I am going to write nothing!

Why am I writing and then saying myself write nothing? To be precise, I am going to rant about nothingness.

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Kung Fu Panda

November 19th, 2008 at 22:53 · Filed Under At Home, At the Movies, Days in My Life, Family, Philosophy · 1 Comment 

Just finished watching Kung Fu Panda with LA and kids. It is a really nice comedy with good meaning. My boys like to watch animation and Dmitry has been asking me many times, “Daddy, when can we watch Kung Fu Panda?” Finally, there it is.

The CG animation has brilliant colors and Chinese culture cleverly blended into it. I think it is the best CG animation ever that involves many great complexity. I am not going to talk or comment about this movie because it has been released in cinema sometimes ago. It is pointless for me to review it now. But one thing which has caught my attention is near the end of the movie. Po’s goose father Mr. Ping, tells him about the secret of the secret recipes of the noodle soup. Ping says, “The secret of the secret recipe of the noodle soup is nothing at all. There is no secret recipe.” (I hope I get the line correct, I am lazy to play the video again). Then Po realizes why the dragon scroll is blank. He then defeats his enemy, the much feared Tai Lung, with his determination and courage together with a little enlightenment.

The moral of the story, there is no secret recipe to become success. Courage, determination, faith, hardworking, persistence, strive and a little enlightenment are the secret ingredients of success.

Oh yeah, I forgot, a dream and a miracle are also secret ingredients in the secret recipe. So, dare to dream for a miracle and realize it.

For those who have not watched the movie, I strongly recommend to have a watch. You will certainly have a good laugh.

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New books in my collection

November 14th, 2008 at 0:01 · Filed Under Books · 3 Comments 

While I was browsing a local bookstore two Sundays ago, I stumbled upon a rather rare but very interesting book. After careful browsing and evaluation, I decided to buy it thinking that our kids would benefit from a book like this. I remembered that none of my math teachers ever told us why we learned math and its purpose in life. That is my motivation to buy such a book. Yeah… Blame the teachers. I bought this book so that our kids will not blame the teachers. If those teachers in my time did not tell us why we should learn math and its purpose, I don’t think teachers in my kids time will ever tell that to them. Those close friends and readers who have been following my lampoon of the Malaysian education system will understand better my thinking.

The title is “50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know” by Tony Crilly. Tony is Reader in Mathematical Sciences at Middlesex University. 

I was in Kuala Lumpur for a business trip this Wednesday and I came across another two great books. I bought them of course. One is “A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: The Essential Scientific Works of Albert Einstein” by Stephen Hawking. I always wanted to read Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. Both Einstein and Hawking are my favorites. This is also a great collection for my bookshelves. It will certainly take me a lot of time and neurons to digest the entire book. I expect to read it many times over. Definitely not for my kids at this moment but can be a good inspiration for them.

The other book is “Scientific Writing: A Reader and Writer’s Guide” by Jean-Luc Lebrun. Although it is not the best book, in my opinion, it certainly is one of the good books. It will be useful for my undertakings and it is also a great book for bed time reading.

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Busy

November 1st, 2008 at 9:13 · Filed Under At Home, At Work, Blogging, Days in My Life · 1 Comment 

Dear family, friends and readers,

If you have noticed, I post less starting October. Perhaps some of you are wondering why. Yes, you are right, I am busy working on my research and the thesis. Please continue to check my blog regularly and all comments are welcome. I will check and reply comments and will write new posts when time and ideas sneak in. I will be writing selectively rather than random thoughts.

Thank you for your patronage.

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