龙门　　：：　Dragon Gate

I'm back, to find that some spammer scumbag has spoofed my email address. If you've received an email that appears to be from my address, it's not. Sorry, and please don't mail me about it!

Heard today that one reference has been sent. According to that referee's secretary, it's excellent. I wouldn't have expected anything else, to be honest, but it's nice to know!

I'm away for a few days from tomorrow. I'm the odd position of not knowing if my job will still exist when I get back (funding issues, not my performance!), so ... well... whatever. Even if it does, events of the last few days guarantee big changes in my life in the near future. And no, I can't give you any details!

Back next week. See you then.

Well, that's it; all of the documents, photocopies and so on have been posted. I've been waiting all day for the "doh! moment" when I realize that I forgot to include something really important, or sent it to the wrong address, or something, but it hasn't arrived. So that's it - not much more I can do now except gently remind my referees to send in their forms. Found out today that neither has done it yet, grrr.

I think I'm doing the right thing. It unnerves me that most of the books and websites recommend applying to four or five courses. I've decided to apply only to one: I don't want to spend a heck of a lot of money and almost two years of my life on any old MBA just for the sake of it - I want to follow a course that covers the fields I really want to learn, and NTU's MBA is basically the only one.

Heh - it also spooked me a bit to see "Joey" getting into a dialog on his blog with the admissions officer from one of the colleges he's applying to. There are certainly people from .sg domains looking at this page. Are any of you adcoms from NTU? Hi there...

Which reminds me - I didn't add comments to this blog because I kind of liked the idea of being a blog left open for other people to read, rather than "The Carp addressing the Masses". Hmm. You know, maybe that would make a better bye-line than the current one under the masthead...

I was really excited to read this article about organ regeneration on Wired news. Granted, it's typical Wired hype about a field of research still in its early days and yet.... gosh, the possibilities here.... This is such promising work; expect to see a lot of money going into this field over the next few years.

I wrote here at the end of August, wondering how things would go when globalization and outsourcing started to affect the affluent, white-collar workers in the West. This article by George Monbiot in the Guardian gives some indication of the number of jobs affected, and puts it into some historical context.

A related article in the Straits Times talks about American patients going for treatment in Singapore and, flight included, finding it cheaper than treatment at home. I've seen similar articles about medical tourism in Malaysia, South Africa, and Russia. So, nurses from the Philippines go to the west because it's cheaper to import them than to train nurses locally, while western patients go east or south to get cheap, high-quality treatment. Who said medicine can't be globalized?

Referencing the same Goldman Sachs report that I mentioned the other day, Eddie Lee of the Straits Times givesa useful overview of how the BRIC economies are advancing up the global ladder.

Well, the die is cast. My application to NTU has been sent. I was struggling with my essays right up until the last minute - the 300 words on a failure was very difficult to express, while the 300 words on an example of leadership had to be rewritten completely after a colleague, who is already studying part-time for an MBA, gave some very good comments. The 100 words on why an MBA, and why now, though true, don't strike me as convincing, so goodness knows how the admissions people will find them! I'm still not really happy with the essays, as you can see, but I just think that I've reached the point where further tinkering will only make them worse, not better. I have to mail some supporting documents and payment, and then I'm done. I think one reference may already have been sent. I had to mail the form and a copy of my resume to the other referee, and UPS seem to have lost it, so that will have to be sorted out, but it should only take a couple of weeks max for that reference to reach NTU. Not much to do except wait, then.

There's something special about going to a late-night movie showing - getting off the last train as the crowd is running to catch it, walking through cavernous malls where the shops are all long shut, and only occasional individuals and small groups can be glimpsed in the distance, on other levels...

So, Kill Bill. I enjoyed it, but it was rather anti-climactic after all the hype. The much-discussed buckets of blood didn't make me bat an eyelid (except at one point, where a female character unexpectedly had an arm severed). Plenty of other reviews have already pointed out that it doesn't have the strong dialog of Tarantino's other films; I came out feeling that this film is all in the foreground - that is, I'll often go back to see a film a second time because I felt that there were things I'd missed. Not in this case.

Uma Thurman is good - and very physical - as The Bride, but for all the accepted wisdom that she is Tarantino's new muse, I really felt that the star of this film was Lucy Liu as O-ren Ishii. She gets all the best shots, and even the most character development. I think this definitively proves that her star is rising. Of course, I'm not exactly unbiased, here. Julie Dreyfus is also a real find, and looks great in what appeared to be a Chinese man's cheongsam. I hope that we'll see more of her in other films.

Attended a recruitment event for NTU this afternoon. Not much information that I hadn't got from the web site or the MBA Tour, but some interesting chats with faculty afterwards.It was quite odd, in a way. At the MBA fair, people were interested in all sorts of different colleges; today, I found myself looking around and thinking, OK, so this is the competition - I wonder who'll get in...

Saw my first Christmas trees of the season afterwards. This isn't even a Christian country; why so early, for goodness' sake? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question; fill in the rolling eyes and shrugged shoulders yourself!)

Off to see Kill Bill tonight - I can't wait!

It's remarkable how we can take our bodies for granted. I've been aware of a general discomfort in my lower back for some time, and also -since starting to run on the treadmill in the gym - that I tend to carry my weight on my right leg. Earlier this week, I decided to address the first issue with a few Qi Gong sessions, concentrating on the Ming Meng point (point 63 on this chart). The results are quite astonishing - it has got rid of a muscular tension I wasn't really aware of, which was causing me to carry my pelvis awkwardly. My posture has visibly improved, and I'm now carrying my weight properly, relieving my leg. The downside is that my left leg is a bit weak, and the sessions in the gym since then have strained a sinew or something on the back of my left hip, close to the bone. That will mend, though, and the benefits should remain.

I am delighted by China's successful launch of a manned space mission. The response in Western media (well, blogs) has been interesting, ranging from "Go, China!" from space enthusiasts, to "Well, it was all done using Russian technology" from those who still believe that the Chinese are incapable of innovation. Why did China do it? Apart from prestige, I have my theories. Firstly, of course, the US has made it quite clear that it intends to militarize space, not just with the anti-missile defense, but also other plans (that's the best link I can find, but there have been more recent announcements about space-based precision weapons). Of course, China needs to quickly develop its orbital presence so as not to be left vulnerable. Secondly - bearing in mind that China takes a long view - I would be very surprised if plans are not at least being considered to look for hydrocarbon-rich asteroids, or lunar/martian deposits. Space-based mining is inevitable, and the first country there will have a huge advantage.

Goldman Sachs have released a research paper examining the BRICs - the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China - and their projected growth up to 2050. Interesting reading.

Lots of quotes today:

How the fuck did I get here? I set out in life not to do any harm. To have friends and to be well thought of and do all those regular things. And instead I find myself at the absolute opposite end of that equation. How the fuck could that happen? There's something really fucking wrong.

DBC Pierre, Man Booker prize winner, interviewed in the Guardian.

[I]ncreasingly, far too many South Koreans for US comfort are now inclined to contrast a George W Bush administration, whose zigzags and posturing have increased risk on the peninsula, with a China subtly positioning itself as a friend to all and active peacemaker. As ever, Beijing is playing a long game. Time and economics are on its side. For the US to lose its slot as Seoul's top export market is no big deal. But to lose South Korea to China? That would be careless, and serious. And it could happen.

Aidan Foster-Carter, Re-Orienting: Seoul's new No 1 market, Asia Times Online.

Also from ATOL.

With Afghanistan daily slipping into more anarchy and chaos, United States authorities, aware that they are unlikely to ever bring stability to the country by military means, continue to explore political avenues that ultimately could pave the way for them to withdraw from the country.

US explores its Afghanistan exit options.

Astrogirl's blog led me to this CNN article on US consumer indebtedness, which follows this Guardian article on UK debt arrears, and this article on how homeowners are unprepared for interest rate rises. I've referred to a few articles before, but this Straits Times article, and this one from Prudent Bear, rehash the point that the current US policy towards the dollar-yuan exchange rate promises to raise interest rates. This is why I continue to feel rather pessimistic about the outlook for western economies...

A few interesting links:

• Charlie Stross is giving up his regular magazine column. His reasons are kind of similar to why I want to get out of computing: in so many ways, the thrill is gone. I was right there in the first wave as the web went mainstream, when the only browser available was Mosaic. All through the mid-90s, and before the boom went crazy, there was a real feeling that this was something new and really exciting. We were helping people conect with each other, opening up horizons. Now, it's settled down and though there are still plenty of visionaries doing great stuff, what I do has become, well, commodified. I need new challenges.
• Although, there are still pleasures in being a sysadmin. Had to laugh out loud at today's User Friendly. Ah, so true....
• Prosthetic limbs controlled by thought are closer than expected. I need to do some research into investing in this field. Oh yeah - I want to do an MBA, so I won't have any money...
• This is rather ghoulish - a searchable database of US casualties so far in Iraq. Infinitely sadder, of course, would be the larger database of innocent Iraqi civilian casualties, but who's bothering to collect that data?

Back to my favorite coffee shop today; still working on my essays. My first drafts sucked. I know why I want to do an MBA, but picking out the best reasons and explaining them in less than 100 words is not easy! The other two were easier - 300 words each. I think I'll have to look at them all at least twice more, so they should be ready to go by next weekend.

Not a fun week all told. I've long considered my boss to be a PHB, but this week he truly excelled himself. The details don't matter, but I was at one point about an hour away from resigning over the way he treats his staff, and was amusing myself by composing the most vitriolic resignation letter possible whilst remaining absolutely true to verifiable facts. That would have been interesting because, truthfully, I am absolutely irreplaceable at this point, and the entire project would certainly have collapsed. Now I'm calmer, and able to be more philosphical; who of us is perfect, after all? But I will be glad to leave this job. After I've got my references, of course.

Oh dear. Lucky Goldstar is unhappy with his International Political Analysis module at INSEAD:

It is the height of irresponsibility to present four views of international relations, but refuse to say which is more effective. It is intellectual laziness and has no place at an academic institution.

Well. I don't want to start a blog war (as Salaam Pax puts it) because I really enjoy reading Lucky's journal and it's been very useful as I mulled over whether or not to apply for an MBA. Having said that: HAHAHAHAHAHA! If that's what he considers to be the height of irresponsibility, well, he's led a sheltered life, surely. Putting that aside, I simply don't understand his point. Granted, I haven't seen the course contents, but I just don't get what he expects. With courses such as accounting, for example, you have a starting point of 1+1=2, and from then on, either the math is correct or it's not. Politics, however, is messy. The actors' motives are opaque, regardless of whether the actor is a state, an NGO, or a business entity. You can't run lab tests as you could for negotiation analysis etc. Your information is always incomplete. Theories of international relations can help give some insight, but to expect that any given one is definitively " the most effective" is naive.

OK, rant over. As I say, I really enjoy reading Lucky's blog, but that entry just left me astounded.

On to other matters. I attended the nearest MBA Tour. My three top choices were all there. The International University of Japan were a disappointment. I don't know why, but they just didn't give the impression that they were excited about their course... So, off the list. (That link used to work, but their server seems to be down at the moment; I'm including it in case they come back online). Hong Kong University of Science and Technology were very interesting. The course and location are attractive and they've got a good ranking. I may still apply, but attractive though it is, the course doesn't quite fit my interests - and that's more important to me than ranking. So, the last one was Nanyang Business School. Their course is exactly what I'm looking for and while they don't make the world rankings, they've got a good regional reputation. They are now easily my first choice. An honorable mention has to go to Hawaii Pacific University. I hadn't heard of them before the day of the fair, but wow, Hawaii... Some interesting modules, but not the Asian focus I'm looking for. And it's in Hawaii... Their brochure is great: how can you not find a student profile attractive when the MBA student in question points out that she spends half of every day surfing? Wah! Anyway, enough dreaming of Polynesia: it's Singapore and NTU that are my top choice now.

I've spent the afternoon sitting outside an old cafe, drafting application essays and drinking slow cupfuls of cardamom-flavored Turkish coffee as lazy Arabic beats play in the backround. A half-grown ginger cat with a golden bell on a red collar has occupied another chair on the sunny side of my table (I'm in the shade), completely ignoring me as cats do. A small girl came and annoyed it with her fan for a while but eventually she went away, and the cat could resume cleaning its paws and sharpening its claws on the rattan seat. I know I've been mentioning cats a lot lately; it's not deliberate, but they keep on doing things that are worth noting.

Just around the corner from that cafe is a shop that sells, amongst other things, leopardskin fezzes, which are so amazingly kitsch that I nearly bought one. Since I can't imagine any conceivable situation in which I might actually wear a leopardskin fez, however, I didn't buy one.

I'm reminded that I wanted to mention the books I used for preparation for my GMAT. I bought The GMAT for Dummies and GMAT CAT Testbuster. The Dummies book was OK for the chapters on preparation and the AWA, but after buying it from a bookstore I checked the reviews on Amazon, which warn that some of the answers for the maths questions are wrong, so I didn't really trust it enough to use it much. The REA book was pretty helpful on a couple of things, and the mock tests on the CD-ROM were very handy (and run on my Powerbook, unlike the CDs with many other books, which are Windows only). The REA book definitely gave value for money; the Dummies book not so much.