Open for Discussion: Utilitarianism

Recently got this picture from thadguy.com, a sarcastic but creative site created by an American blogger (credits for him!). It tells us about the utilitarianism in America: the literal definition, the examples along with the moral consequences, and the figurative conclusion. Here, you can check the picture by yourself:

How is it? Good? Bad? Complicated? Or easy to understand? Personally I think the case represented on the picture also happens in Indonesia, my developing country located in Southeast Asia where corruption, bribery, and money laundering prevail. And sadly there's no real effort which can stop it from happening, as the police, government, and other important organizations are sometimes the ones committing them. What a mess.

And that's my opinion. What is your personal opinion of this picture? Share it :)

Today's Lyric to Delve

New Soul by Yael Naim

(Background Soundtrack of NUMB3RS Season 5)

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take.
But since I came here,
Felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...

I'm a young soul
In this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake
But why all this hate?
Try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make

la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la...

This is a happy end
'Cause you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong?
This is a happy end
Come and give me your hand
I'll take you far away

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take.
But since I came here,
Felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

I'm a new soul... (la, la, la, la,...)
In this very strange world...
Every possible mistake
Possible mistake
Every possible mistake
Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes...
Take take take take take... take a mistake
Take, take a mistake
Take, take a mistake
(oh oh oh oh...)
[fade out]
(oh oh oh oh...)

Song Interpretation (summarized from songmeanings.com):

This song is about the struggles a person new to a country has to endure: Making mistakes, experiencing new and frightening things, and trying to be accepted into a society that doesn't (try to) understand them. New soul representing new beginnings and such.

Yael Naim herself being French, moved to Israeli at age 4.

October's Favorite Album (1): Science & Faith

Days ago I downloaded a full, new album of The Script, Science & Faith. And guess what, I can't stop listening the entire songs till this minute (in fact, I'm typing this post while listening to them)! Great tunes, catchy but easy-to-understand lyrics, and absolutely killing chorus. The theme of this new album is still about love and woman through the man's perspective (because the vocalist is a male, so do the other personnels), mostly focusing on heartbreak suffered by the man's counterpart be it from the presence of another person or some gruesome arguments.

Because of that focus, sometimes I wonder if I've made a mistake by listening them. The lyrics, directly, or indirectly, portray the woman as a cruel being who has no understanding of what the man feels. Hello, in reality, it's the man who acts as the cruel being, not the opposite! What makes me more frustrated is that there're no new songs sung by a woman singer who is capable to counterattack this lyrics. Underline the word new. Some of them, like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift who have also released a new album in this quarter of year, mostly talk about the sweet memories of their high school years or the nice attitudes of their boyfriends. If only I'm a song-writer...

Back to the topic of The Script, I personally think that this album is perfect for the brokenhearted men as it gives you insight that there're men out there having the same bitter fate as yours. Women? If you do not care of being stabbed and appreciate great music and lyrics, just try it! Or just change the man's perspective into woman's perspective, will be more interesting that way.

Recommended songs to listen: Nothing, Science & Faith, Long Gone and Moved On, Dead Man Walking, Walk Away (5 out of 10)

Personal Rating: 4 out of 5

October's Wishlist

Just a "small" list of things I want to do or get before October ends. Here they are:

1. Get a company to approve my make-a-Balanced Scorecard-voluntary application. The first priority, get none and I'm sure I'll fail the Sales Management class. Goodbye 4,00 GPA!
2. Get more money, don't care where it comes from as long as it's legal. Need it to: buy some wanted things (not really sure I need it, but well, desires win) like BB, external HDD, and some fashionable stuffs; set up a saving account for a better future; and pay some debts. What a list.
3. Get a free ticket for attending The 7000 Miles Orchestra and Pesta Blogger 2010.
4. Can attend Ranking 1 or any other quiz-themed variety shows. Just wanna test my luck and intelligence.
5. Win some competitions that I wanna join this month.
6. Get high TOEFL Score from a test that I will do in a week or so. Not sure for its credibility though, as it's an institutionalized test not an international one.

And that's all. Some of them are impossible, yes, but it's not a sin to dream or wish higher than your capability right? How about showing some care by praying that I'll get them? :D

Today's Quotes, Gotten from Criminal Minds Season 1 Episode 1

Here is one more thing that makes me fall in love with Criminal Minds: Almost every episode of Criminal Minds begins and ends with a quote! And the damn good ones they are, criminal-themed but can be implemented in every aspect of life. Here is a comprehensive list of the quotes from Season 1, Episode 1:

"The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."

-Author: Joseph Conrad

"All is a riddle, and the key to a riddle... is another riddle."

-Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Try again, fail again. Fail better."

-Author: Samuel Beckett

"Try not. Do or do not."

-Author: Yoda

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can look, the farther forward you will see."

-Author: Winston Churchill

"When you look long into an abyss, the abyss look into you."

-Author: Friedrich Nietzsche

What about the nest episodes? Are they equipped with quotes too? Yes, they do. And I'll post in in another day, can't spoil too much or I have none left to be posted ;)

Criminal Minds: The New Side of FBI

If you're a self-proclaimed detective-themed movies addict, you must know this TV series that has been aired since 2005. The concept of Criminal Minds is quite similar with CSI, as the core idea is FBI versus criminals (does it always?). But there are also some major differences that make this series more appealing to me: It centers on BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) team of FBI working together in catching criminals or saving victims by understanding, even doing an in-depth analysis about the beliefs, emotions, feelings, and behavioral intentions of each criminal.

For readers who do not have strong stomach and thriller hater, I suggest you to avoid ever watching this series as some episodes contain very bloody, gore scenes and disturbing M.O.(modus operandi). But if you're looking for a thrill, and your love for detective-themed stuffs is stronger than your hate of blood, Criminal Minds is a perfect movie for you.

Here is a picture of Criminal Minds team from Season 6 (yep, it has six seasons already, quite popular right?). The characters are as follow: (from left to right) Dr. Spencer Reid, a shy, logical, and serious genius with an IQ higher than 180; Emily Prentiss, a nerd agent with fluency in some languages; Derek Morgan, an agent with black belt in judo an other martial arts; Aaron Hotchner, the most experienced agent starting from the founding of BAU; David Rossi, also a high experienced profiler; Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, an agent acts as the team's liaison with press; and the last but not least Penelope Garcia, a technical analyst and credible hacker (yes, hacker).

Eventually, as other TV Series do, some characters are replaced by new members. If you only watch Criminal Minds until Season 2, be aware that in the next season a major change of team line-up will occur. Even by only comparing the aforementioned Season 6 characters with the characters playing in Season 1 too, you'll notice differences here and there. I don't want to give up any spoilers though, so if you're interested, just watch it. And remember to never, ever, access wikipedia to read the summary before watching it. Will lose the fun.

A Comeback, A New Blog Concept

Have you followed the timeline of this blog, you'll come into conclusion that I've been neglecting it for a year or so. Honestly, no post at all! What are you thinking?! Well, before you judge me as an incompetent, indiscipline, and an 'ababil' with no respect of blogging world, let me put a defense by explaining the motives of its abandonment:

• I forgot the password of this blog.

Lame reason huh? But that's the truth. Driven by a desire to protect my blog better, I decided to use word-combined-with-number password instead of my usual choice of word. It worked at first, but as memory loss was a common occurrence last year... well, you can guess the rest. Don't worry for this time though, I've learned from my mistake by picking a simpler password. Doesn't mean that you can hack or worst, crack this blog; do that and I'll hunt you to death :))

• I had lots, tiring homework given by insensitive lecturers and busy university days.

Who ever loves homework? Certainly not me. One is okay, two is... enough, but more than two with only a week as the deadline? NIGHTMARE. That was happened to me last year as the impact of taking accounting-themed lessons. The fact that the lecturers are crazy psychos with no toleration of mistake, no matter how small it is, didn't help either. And don't forget the stingy problem in marking the homework and exam papers!

As for the busy university days, here I refer to my past position as a staff of a student society engaging specifically in academic stuffs. That's when I had a pile of responsibilities: taking care of seminars, interest groups, and other big academic events. It was fun, sure, I got more friends, connections, and meaningful experiences, but as I had a little endurance after suffering a typhoid for about two to three weeks, I started to regret the decision of ever applying that position. And whenever you regret a thing, that thing becomes a chore for you. The fun was gone, replaced by misery :(

Does the situation become better now? Gradually, yes. By retiring from organizations through default way not a letter of resignation, I have more time to rest or even indulge in other activities without feeling burdened of anything. Sure, I still have stingy lecturers (damn accounting-themed lessons), but they are quite competent and communicative in explaining the lessons so that I can enjoy them thoroughly!

• I had bad connection of internet.

How come you update your blog without the connection of internet? By praying to God? Very unlikely. You need it badly, dude, even for replacing the header. And that's something that I didn't have last year: I had no modem and didn't have any clue how to utilize the wifi facility of my campus. All has changed though, as I have bought a modem (though the signal is on and off, put the blame on the provider) and yippie! Finally I can access the wifi facility! Hail Mr. Chris for helping!

Enough with reasons, I think an introduction is in order as I've deleted my previous posts to better implement the whole new concept. Starting from my trait: Perfectionist by nature and English-literatures adorer, writing blog post with a nice, flowing sentences and good grammar in English is my passion, not a liability. However I realize that I am not a British or American citizen or even a citizen from any countries using English as primary language, so the chance of doing mistakes is large. Therefore, I wish you, as the readers, especially the one who has an expertise in English to correct my mistake, either by commenting below this post or PM-ing me. I'll be very grateful :)

And what about the new concept? What is it? Well, maybe I should've called it new concepts as the amount is more than one. They are the ones who will color my blog starting from today: novels and fictions, detective-themed movies, wolves, the campus life, and scholarships. What a mix, yes, but that's where my interest lies.

Greetings,

Riska