Now that my classes are over and I have nothing to do, it’s time to upgrade my bookshelf. I randomly picked this up at Fully Booked. What do you know, a book dedicated to Archimedes of Syracuse, the most accomplished mathematician of his time! It was written by Willam Noel, Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at the Walters Art Museum, and Reviel Netz, Professor of Ancient Science at Stanford University. This book tells the story of their attempts to restore the Archimedes Palimpsest, containing treatises of Archimedes. They also have a website for the project itself.

I should say, I salute the team restoring this manuscript. I can sympathize with the authors regarding the state in which they found the manuscript. Why, they almost erased Archimedes’ works to oblivion! I wanted to kill the scribe who scraped the parchment and turned the manuscript into a prayer book. (Figuratively, of course. The scribe who did this is already dead.) A few pages even had forgeries painted over the entire page! It seemed impossible to retrieve Archimedes’ text, but somehow they did it. All I can say is, wow.

I was fascinated with the techniques they employed to read the Archimedian text underneath the forgeries and the prayer text. I know enough multivariate analysis to understand the concept behind principal component analysis, the method they used to differentiate between the prayer text and the Archimedian text. Now, I am regretting that my notes in Image Processing are scattered somewhere in my drawers.

Of course, the math enthusiast in me followed the proofs of Archimedes as presented in this book. And I have to admit, I was surprised with his arguments. Archimedes could have easily formalized Calculus during his time! He was just too engrossed with his thought experiments, and that’s why the credit goes to Newton and Leibniz for developing Calculus. Makes you wonder how far we could have gone if Calculus was developed during the time of the Greeks. Ahaha.

But my favorite part of this book was their discovery about Stomachion. I used to own puzzles similar to this one, and I’ve yet to complete all of the figures that could be made on these pieces. I was just as surprised as the author was when they realized the combinatorics behind the game Stomachion. I have little patience for combinatorics, and I was just amazed when they figured out that there are 17,152 ways of arranging the pieces of the Stomachion to form a square. Wonder how did they come up with that number? (Without cheating, of course.)

Reading this book made me realize just how influential Archimedes is in the development of Mathematics. Thank God that some of his work survived. Good luck to the members of the Archimedes Palimpsest Project. And many thanks to the owner of the manuscript, for making all of this possible.

The Madness of Joker

It was said that Heath Ledger used to shut up on his hotel room all alone just to internalize the character of Joker. And I have to admit, his portrayal of Joker is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I didn’t read the comic book, so my character profile on Joker was based on the animated series and the previous Batman movies. I thought that Joker was just the happy arch-nemesis of Batman. It was actually the first time that I was able to feel his madness, brought about by the corrupt society represented by Gotham City.

The Joker is probably the smartest villain Batman ever encountered. He appears to be spontaneous, but his plans are actually intricate, having multiple objectives. He exists to spread his madness to the people of Gotham City, and show them the corruption of the entire system. His best plan, in my opinion, was to blow up the hospital in order to get to Harvey Dent. He completed Harvey’s transformation from a virtuous district attorney to a vengeful villain, Two-Face.

I admire the way that the story was developed. It was lengthy, I admit, and I bet that most viewers will find it boring. But what stimulated my senses were the themes presented about human society. Take for example the social experiment regarding the two boats, one filled with ordinary citizens and the other filled with convicts. I might have lost my trust for humanity, and I actually thought that the ordinary citizens will blow up the ship filled with convicts. I was just as surprised as Joker was when the man supposed to press the detonator backed out at the last minute. But I can’t help but admire the character of the convict who threw the detonator out of the window. How I wish that all people were like him. But then, I am dreaming.

Batman’s Role in Gotham

As a kid, I always thought that all superheroes are good, and it wasn’t clear to me why the people of Gotham City regarded him as a menace. It was only after watching this movie that I realized that what Joker said was actually true: You either die as a hero, or live long enough to find yourself the villain. Makes you wonder why Batman continues to fight for the sake of Gotham City, even if people condemn him for being a vigilante. Maybe it’s another form of madness, and Gotham should be thankful that he is the complete opposite of Joker.

Winning Lines

Batman: Why do you want to kill me?
Joker: I don’t want to kill you. What would I do without you? You complete me!

Joker: Why so serious?

This movie tells us the tale of a group of Pisay students in the 80s, near the time of the EDSA Revolution. This movie was directed by Auraeus Solito, a Pisay alumnus himself (Batch 86). One of the main characters, Liway, is also a Pisay alumna (Shayne Fajutagana, Batch 07). I was surprised myself when I saw my former students in the film.

So how do I find the film? I love it. It gives a sneak peak of the Pisay experience, and I found it amusing that for each character in the film, I could find a counterpart in our own batch. This is also true according to some of my friends from other batches. This is some proof that Pisay students think alike, in some sense. I was a bit surprised myself. Haha. But what separated it from our own Pisay experience perhaps was the fact that this took place at the latter part of Martial Law.

The movie was divided into four smaller parts, one for each school year. It gives us a peak on how the characters developed during their four years of stay in Pisay, amid the political crisis back in the early 80’s. It was only then that I realized that Pisay was also one of the schools who fought back during the Martial Law. According to Jun Sabug (a Pisay alumnus), the last two schools to be reopened after declaring Martial Law were UP (well, that’s a given) and PSHS. Wow.

First year. The students, fresh from their elementary years, were so used to the fact that they are the best. And indeed, some of them will tend to look down on the students who are called “alternates”: students who failed to make it to the quota, but was able to get in because some students forfeited their slots. But this usually stops at the end of the first quarter exams. Most students realize that they are “average” now that they have classmates who are also like them. Sometimes, even the alternates dominate the academic scene.

Second year. Supposed to be the most difficult year of the Pisay experience. And yes, some failed to adjust to the Pisay environment, and they are kicked-out from the school if they do not meet the required grade. It might be a bit harsh, given that there are so many reasons why a student will not pass a particular subject. But that’s the way Pisay works. They are being paid to get the best Science and Mathematics education in the country, so they have to work hard for it. And I would also agree that some students who were kicked out from Pisay did well in their respective schools. They might have been kicked out of Pisay, but it does not follow that they are bad students, academically speaking. It’s just not meant for them to be in Pisay.

Third year. This is the year before the EDSA Revolution. The story is now politically motivated, as the character of Liway was introduced. Liway is the daughter of a political activist, and is good in Social Sciences but not good in Chemistry. She was paired to Andy, who is good in Chemistry. At first, they are annoyed with each other because they are forced to work together, but eventually, they came to understand each other. Love was just beginning to blossom when Liway was forced to leave for the Netherlands, because his father had to hide from Marcos.

Fourth year. Students were beginning to think of their plans for the future. We strongly suspect that this part is the life story of Auraeus himself. As Pisay students, we are forced to take a Science or Engineering course in college because of a contract we signed before entering Pisay. This was the subject of a lot of debate among Pisay students, and I even remember an article written by Jessica Zafra about it. What if during the course of your Pisay experience, you realize that you are not meant for a Science or Engineering course? But we all know Auraerus’ response to that question. He made Euri take Theater Arts instead of Biology.

It’s amazing to hear my adviser’s stories about Pisay. He’s a batchmate of Auraeus, and they did have a batchmate who had to leave for the Netherlands. They also had a batchmate who died because of cancer and did not graduate. And in fact, this movie was dedicated to that batchmate of theirs.

I wonder when will they release the game, though. Blizzard announced Starcraft II a long time ago, and they have yet to display the new Zerg units on their website.

For the meantime, let this video satisfy your bloodlust. Enjoy!

I was particularly interested with Episode 345, where Conan confronts the Black Organization. The Japanese title is “Kuro no Soshiki to Makkou Shoubu Mangetsu no Yoru no Nigen Misuterii” (黒の組織と真っ向勝負満月の夜の二元ミステリー). It’s been a while since I’ve watched something that is totally engaging. Usually, I have a general idea on who is the culprit, having watched a lot of episodes of this series. But the plot totally blew me away, I never saw it coming. Amazing.

The main story is about a murder that took place aboard a “Ghost Ship”. Vermouth, a member of the Black Organization, sent an invitation to Kogoro Mouri and to Conan Edogawa, hinting that a murder will take place. You would think that it was just a normal murder case, and Shinichi will solve it in the end. But it was just an elaborate plan to separate Conan from Haibara, in order for Vermouth to kill her. But Conan was two steps ahead of Vermouth. I knew that something was off from the moment that Shinichi revealed himself. If he knows that the Black Organization was involved in the murder, why bother to reveal himself? I never expected that it was actually Hattori Heiji who boarded the ship, and Conan was elsewhere, going after Vermouth.

I was extremely annoyed with Haibara in this episode. Aside from the fact that she is an ungrateful brat for not accepting the kindness offered by those people around her, she almost jeopardized Conan’s entire plan because she just had to show up. Come on! She might be in love with Conan for her to do that, I don’t know. She might have felt guilty for dragging them into this mess with the Black Organization, but she should just focus on surviving if she really wants to help out. She is the only link that Conan has, and her death will only put Conan back to square one. Its not as if this is the first time that she pulled a stunt like that, it gets boring. She was extremely lucky that Ran was there to save her ass. Which was probably what the creators intended in the first place.

I was a bit glad that it was Ran who saved them in the end. I can’t help but admire the scene, where Vermouth was unable to shoot her “Angel”, the person who saved her life once even if she is a criminal. I was actually stunned when Shinichi said this line:

Is a reason necessary? I don’t know why you would kill someone, but as for saving someone, a logical mind isn’t needed, right?

This scene really had a lot of impact on me, and I realized how strange human nature can be. Indeed, this saying is true: “You reep what you sow.” Who would ever expect that Shinichi and Ran has an ally in the ranks of the Black Organization? All it took was saving her life, even though she didn’t deserve it.

Edward Cole is the owner of a hospital, and he is at the top of the world when he finds out that he has cancer. As he was confined in his own hospital, he met Carter Chambers, an automobile mechanic and Jeopardy-addict. You can say that Carter is one of those smart guys who didn’t get lucky in life. Now faced with the fact that he has only six months to live, he recalls a former professor who gave them an assignment of creating a bucket list: a list of things that they wanted to do before they died. Edward was excited upon discovery of this list, and he invited Carter on a road trip to fulfill the items in the bucket list.

I’ll have to commend Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in this movie. They are simply superb. Even if the plot is not the most original of the lot, and even if most of the lines are cliché, the actors were able to bring you to experience a wide range of emotions. And the ending was just perfect. It’s a rare treat to see such a majestic sight.

Honestly, that movie made me wish that I had lots of money so I could afford to go on a journey like that someday. That got me thinking on what items I would put in my own bucket list. Come to think of it, maybe I was inspired by the movie because of my current situation. I wonder, what would I include in my own bucket list?

I have to admit, the animation is really kick-ass. Because if this, I can say that it is worth watching in the big screen. Seeing the interaction between Lyra and Iorek will make any kid want a white bear as a pet. They are really cute, and powerful. And I really like the battle scene between Iorek and Iofur. It was nicely done, you could almost feel every blow that they deliver to each other. I half-wished that the battle scene lasted longer than that.

I can see why Dakota Blue Richards was chosen to play the part of Lyra. She played the part very well. In fact, it feels as if she came straight out of the book. Really, really nice. Her acting saved the whole film and made it bearable.

Nicole Kidman is awesome as Mrs. Coulter. As always, I should say. No wonder people are drawn to her. I was a bit disappointed with Lord Asriel though, because he had very little exposure. The relationship between Lord Asriel, Mrs. Coulter and Lyra was not explicitly stated. Maybe they deliberately left that out? My guess is that people might not understand why they are acting like that.

Maybe it’s because of the fact that I’ve read the book, but I find the plot a bit disconnected. They were mentioning the Dust and daemons in passing, when in fact this is the central theme of the books. Maybe the scriptwriters are afraid of the controversy that it would cause, seeing that the book is a bit dark. No wonder the script is so messed up. Sad.

They definitely left the ending hanging, implying that there would be a sequel. However, I’m a bit hesitant with this. If they toned this down to prevent the controversy, how will they present The Subtle Knife? This book is definitely a lot darker than the first one. They might change the story altogether, maybe write a different story and call it The Golden Compass Part 2. We’ll just have to wait and see.

It was slightly better than expected. I was extremely entertained with the way they chose the Spartan babies. After watching 300, my friends and I always thought that one major requirement to become a Spartan is to have nicely sculpted abdominal muscles. Haha.

They focused a lot on gay humor in this film. Who wouldn’t, if there are lots of half-naked guys on the screen? My companions were hinting that this is precisely the reason why I wanted to watch this film. In all honesty, I didn’t really expect it. It was just a nice surprise.

The movie dragged on and I think they overdid it towards the end. The jokes are so corny, and I’m afraid that we were not able to relate to some of them. After all, we’re not Americans. Our brains just turned to mush while trying to figure it out. Sad, really.

Final verdict: Not really worth watching. Just watch it online, there’s bound to be one kind soul who would post it somewhere. We watched it in the big screen just for kicks. As Simon Cowell would say, “It’s forgettable.”

Okay, so the plot was really predictable. Jane was always the bridesmaid but never the bride. She is contented with helping her friends during their special day. She loves her boss but never really had the courage to tell him how she feels. She went bonkers when she was faced with the fact that she had to help out in the wedding of her boss and her sister. Meanwhile, she met this cynic writer who turns out to be the author of the wedding articles she loves so much. They fell in love, they fought, but eventually ended up together. The end.

What made the movie so appealing is the humor. I was really amused when Jane had to attend two weddings on the same night. And she was the maid of honor in both weddings. Whew! We were laughing our heads off while watching her go from one wedding to another.

I was really amazed with her collection of dresses. I remembered my own collection of gowns from the formal events that I attended in Pisay. I can understand why she kept all those dresses and why she only wore them once. It’s not really about the dress itself, but rather the memories that you had while wearing that dress.

Call us hopelessly romantics all you want, but watching that movie made Dinah, Joyce and me imagine our own dream weddings. Wahaha.

Maybe it’s because the others are squeamish, or maybe it’s because I’m being sadistic (to compensate for not being able to express my thoughts as much as I wanted to), but I was laughing while Johnny Depp was killing all those people. I mean come on, it’s obviously fake blood, it even looks like paint. When the judge approached Todd at the end, I can’t wait to see how he would die. Hell, I even said, “Stop the singing and just kill him!” Wahaha.

I figured out right at the start that the woman who keeps on bugging them was Todd’s wife. And to think that Todd killed her in the end. Fate can be cruel sometimes. I was even wondering if he would kill his own daughter, but Johanna was saved when Mrs. Lovett screamed.

I loved Mrs. Lovett’s statement right before she died. It was the most logical statement made in the film.

I never lied sir. I only said that she drank poison, but I didn’t say that she died.

Lesson learned: Never assume things. Haha!

I really enjoyed watching the film. Maybe it’s not as bloody as 300, but it satisfied my bloodlust just the same. Hehe. What also made it amusing is the fact that it seems to be a reunion of sorts for the cast of Harry Potter, with the presence of Snape, Pettigrew and Bellatrix. And of course, Johnny Depp was awesome. As always.

I had this crazy idea that maybe the people from Math should do an adaptation of Sweeney Todd. I almost rolled on the floor laughing when I was thinking of who will take the roles of Anthony and Johanna. @_@