Wherein things start to get complicated... who's playing who in this game?

Poor unsuspecting Nick, getting caught up in the Darling affairs. It's obvious to see how far he's fallen since the start of the series, where he was idealistic and moralistic. Now he's been chosen as VP of the Darling Company, defending the possible killer of his dad and thinking "it's not really so bad"... as Lucy Liu's character Nola Lyons says, now Nick George is the Darlingest Darling of them all. 

Of course he thinks he's doing all this because he can prove that Tripp is the real killer and he can 'control' the Darlings, but oh Nicky, any Darling could out-manoeuvre you anyday.

There's a lot of intrigue in this episode - Tripp sets Nick up to take the Letitia case with Brian's help, then sets Nick against all the Darling kids by picking him as his successor and making them think that Nick made that decision. Wonder what Tripp's game plan is? Does this help him keep Nick at arm's length, or was it just manipulating him for a bigger plan?

Brian especially would be the most cheesed off by the successor decision, given that he hates Nick to begin with and now has been completely, especially after their 'bonding' in jail. He's the one to get Nick on board taking Letitia's case, by pointing out that Tripp is the one with the motive but will be impossible to get unless... well he totally manipulates Nick into taking the case here, but one does wonder if he actually has something against Tripp?

My choice for successor was either Brian or Karen. Brian because he's the most sensible of the lot, and Karen because she's the smartest... well she can be if she wants to be. She is the one who handles the Darling foundation, and under that flighty exterior, can really be tough as steel. Please show, don't turn such an interesting and strong woman into a beguiled lovesick one!

But now, is Karen really enthralled by Simon Elder? He totally sets her against Nick by reinforcing that Nick dismisses her and then pulls a weird reverse psychology thing with Nick by making it feel like he's trying to get Nick to choose Karen. really odd? With Karen running the Darling Company, Simon Elder would benefit most since he 'controls' Karen and we all know it's not a love thing on his end now, so... why? I suspect he's trying to take away her logical side - Nick. By setting them against each other, he bends her more and more to his will. Crafty~

Patrick still loves his Carmelita. I doubt very much Carmelita was killed off since Ellen said 'taken care of', and am kind of hoping she will make a sudden appearance in future episodes - that should be interesting.

Jeremy's moved on from Lisa pretty quick to Nola Lyons, pit bull public prosecutor (does Lucy Liu have an attorney face? She was in Ally Mcbeal as well...) who talks a little like a hipster; 'icky' and 'gross' aren't exactly lawerly talk, no? Anyway she gets involved with Jeremy, then blows him off when her identity is revealed, then he persuades her into sex again by telling her no one will ever find out. Well we all know that everyone's going to find out, just a matter of when and how compromising. Would Jeremy sabotage Nola for the sake of his mother and family? He seems a little too nice for that, but I wouldn't put it pass Tripp to use that info to his advantage when he does find out. Also, you never know. Jeremy is a Darling after all.

Juliet on an island somewhere? I wish she was still a series regular, I kinda adore her, kooky bimbo and all. Her 'free radical' comment never fails to make me laugh.

And Lisa, poor Lisa standing by the wayside (where's KiKi? hardly see her anymore) and watching Nick get swept off his feet. That baby ain't happening anytime soon man. Will she stand by Nick? Or will she leave him as Nick's mum left Dutch? This marriage is definitely on the rocks, stay tuned~

L’ouvrage se veut en effet une nosographie précise, scientifique, basée sur des études statistiques et serait donc capable d’un repérage diagnostic distinct des troubles mentaux. S’il présente effectivement un aspect athéorique qui tient lieu d’argument de vente (le DSM étant de ce fait utilisable par tous les professionnels quelque soit leur orientation), on notera que malgré tout une conception biologique de la psychopathologie domine et que le behaviourisme s’impose majoritairement. De façon assez secondaire, nous relevons également que la conception en terme de structure et son corollaire, la partition en névrose, psychose et perversion, son totalement absent de la classification.

Nonobstant ces quelques aspects qui tiennent lieu de traces idéologiques (de l’ordre de lapsus ?), on se propose d’accepter l'affirmation selon laquelle le DSM-IV serait athéorique. Je crois que nous pouvons même considérer de façon raisonnable que l’American Psychiatric Association vise sincèrement tel idéal de neutralité théorique et idéologique - allons plus loin, supposons même que cette neutralité théorique a été effectivement atteinte. La volonté de se débarrasser des vieilles divisions théoriques afin de proposer un livre avec lequel tout le monde pourrait être d’accord n’est pas sans rappeler le concept de postpolitique de Jacques Rancière. En effet, considérer que la politique (ou, dans notre cas, les métiers de la psyché) doit se défaire des oppositions idéologiques revient à aseptiser le débat, à le priver de son efficacité et de sa dynamique polémique. Cette tentative d’imposer une ère post-théorique a comme effet l’abolition de toutes les théories. Le projet qui consiste à faire cohabiter des théories aussi hétéroclites que le cognitivo-comportementalisme, les thérapies systémiques, les thérapies centrées sur la personne, la psychanalyse, l’ethnopsychiatrie… revient à les invalider toutes en niant les oppositions radicales qui ne manquent pas d’exister entre les unes et les autres. Il apparaît ainsi par contraste que tout positionnement théorique qui s’opposerait au DSM n’apparaîtrait que comme radical. Le parallèle avec la politique est que les seuls à maintenir une activité politique vraie sont l’extrême gauche et l’extrême droite, tandis que la droite, le centre droit, le centre gauche et la gauche maintienne un débat délavé fait de concessions, de compromis dans l’optique d’une politique pragmatique et efficace. Aussi, dire que le caractère athéorique du DSM est une erreur revient automatiquement à défendre une position radicale vraie, fortement critiquable dans ce contexte post-idéologique dominé par un égalitarisme démocratique des idées.

Le revers obscène de cette athéorie est qu’elle demeure malgré tout une position théorique. Présentée comme allant de soi (s’élevant par là au niveau d’un trait culturel), son évidence n’en cache pas moins une position théorique qui mérite d’être attaquée ou défendue. Ainsi, derrière le masque athéorique du DSM s’entraperçoit une théorie latente dont l’effet pervers est d’opérer l’annulation des théories rivales.

Pour varier autour du thème de l'athéoricité du DSM, nous proposons de rapprocher de notre débat la question de la jouissance. Quelle modalité de jouissance (phallique ou autre) se révèle dans la volonté de noyer dans une équivalence des théories les différentes psychologies ? A première vue, le rejet d'une théorie qui dominerait toutes les autres relève d'un refus d'une jouissance phallique, c'est-à-dire un rejet de ce qui se soutiendrait d'un point d'exception. A l'opposé donc, l'idéal d'un livre qui serait totalement hors de la théorie unique mais dans toutes à la fois, renvoie à une modalité toute autre que phallique d'organiser la jouissance des lecteurs et utilisateurs de ce manuel. Soit, une autre façon d'exprimer qu'est forclose la dimension symbolique des théories englobées par un système prétenduement athéorique.

Dans une perspective révolutionnaire (n'ayons pas peur des mots) : l'établissement d'un lieu athéorique qui s'imposerait et contiendrait toutes les théories alternatives prive celles-ci du débat d'idées vrai. L'effet de ce lieu athéorique (ou panthéorique) est l'établissement de l'Un et du Même et l'effacement de l'altérité. Pour que l'émancipation d'un tel carcan soit envisageable, il faut au contraire qu'il y ait du Deux, il faut qu'une altérité radicale et singulière émerge en contraste du livre tout pas théorique... En somme, il faut refuser la participation de la théorie et de l'idéologie que nous supportons (sont-elles si nombreuses à le pouvoir ?) à l'aplanissement qu'opère l'athéorisation compromettante (relevant du compromis).

After a much shortened Season 1, Dirty Sexy Money returns to our screens with a delectable Season 2, and what a whopper this season starter is!

It's 6 months after we last saw them and begins with a birthday party thrown by the Darlings for family lawyer Nick George, wherein Tripp's words always have some hidden meaning, Patrick gives the 'eye', Brian's had a bad tan, Karen seems to be ignoring Nick (?!) and Jeremy and Juliet are absent.

Then we recap the 48 hours prior and it all starts to make sense.

DIRTY

Patrick's missing trannie lover Carmelita is still on his mind, and current wife Ellen is not having any of it. Driven to drink, she goes crazy upon realizing Patrick's still looking for her and takes a poker to his glass shower. Man this woman has serious anger issues, first shooting Patrick in the leg, now attempting to kill him?

She slips on the glass and water and bashes her head on the sink, leaving her in a pool of blood, but not before telling Patrick that she had Carmelita taken care of... ooooooh. You would think that would incite Patrick to keep her alive so he can find out more, but no, while she's bleeding to death on the floor, Patrick calls Tripp who calls Nick who washes his hand off the dirty deed, leaving hapless driver Clark to dispose of the body the next day. Poor Clark.

And the sudden arrest of Letitia for Dutch's murder? Wow that was surprising! Totally didn't see that one coming.

SEXY

Jeremy's still enamored with Lisa as he rides up to her place in the cutest bright red scooter. They are quite cute together, and in her moment of weakness Jeremy manages to swoop in and kiss her, which results in them being caught by Nick. Lisa does manage to fend him off and Jeremy's all depressed, but he totally gets hit on by a smoking hot Lucy Liu (who apparently plays an attorney, yet again) and get it on in his limo. Ah, to be rich and have a limo at your disposal. Poor drivers, wonder what Clark has seen and heard all his time as the chauffer...

Lisa did something to her hair, no? It's very sleek and very pretty on her. The nonchalant Nick punch of Jeremy was hilarious. Just whopped him and walked off. Coolness~

Nick and Karen have such an interesting dynamic - they're the first people they each turn to when they have problems, despite them having such a complicated history and present. The 'birthday suit present' scene in the office? Hilarious. As Karen says, it's not a bad combination, just bad timing.

Karen's in love with Simon Elder! Just when you think that perhaps she's finally found love (after Husband #4), it turns out Simon's been playing her all this while. Ooh, drama, who's double crossing who? Lovely blue dress in the party scene. And the bangs look quite good on her, though she did look strange  and really old in that scene where she's in her bra on Simon Elder's lap.

MONEY

Karen decides not to hand over the secret formula and gives Tripp the crystal swan (poor days reminder) instead? Intriguing. A show of love for Simon and defiance against Tripp, or some other message to Tripp?

So who fast-tracked Brian Jnr and Mum's passports? I'm pretty sure Brian was the one who held them up, but they never did tell us who foiled his plans. Signs point directly to Tripp since Brian defied him, and while he denies it, I think it sounds like a very Tripp thing to do. Speaking of which, the part where Brian refuses to counsel Ellen because he doesn't want to smile and nod and he'd rather more jobs like the one where he went to Munich to close down the factory and that firing people was fun, I laughed out loud. It's so Brian!

Still, undeterred by Nick's refusal to help his 'family', Tripp still gives Nick a gigantic yacht. And Nick still accepts, albeit with some hesitation as Lisa looks on in horror and realize he just might be following the Dutch route after all.

Exciting! what happens next week? Is Letitia guilty? How does Simon-Karen play out? Also, Lucy Liu who?

Wasn't "Long" Before they were all gone

The DQM (Daves Quality Meat) Dunks dropped at Dover Street Market today I was able to get Pairs in Purple & Blue. 

Shout out to "Baracus" for the info!

Purples are my favorite

The Next Drop is apparently set to be this Saturday at the Nike Sportswear 1948 Pop-Up-Shop In Shoreditch with an expected higher retail price
Limited 
...Keep Your eyes peeled

Had a first look at the new Nike x Slamjam Air force 1's (Optical Force) set to drop at London's Dover Street Market this Saturday (4th October).

They will be going for about £120

Dover Street Market 

I ran the Fuel Level wire to the fuel pressure sensor. I spent 20 minutes looking for the fuel level wire when I was ready to run it to my tank, I was completely stumped and thought Stack sent me the wrong wire loom. Because Stack conveniently labels all the wires, I quickly found my mistake. I gave up after I found my mistake, I wasn't in the mood to re-run a wire when I had Finance homework to do (real hoot too!).

Still need to finish wiring. But it is spotless.

Heated the neck up, pulled the steel fitting out, rethreaded for 12x1.5 and stuck a -6 cap on it. I didn't have access to NPT taps. Much better than a ghetto black rubber cap that's hose clamped on. I must point out the surface of the water neck. I massaged the metal a bit and took out any casting marks. The bolts were all cleaned up before being reinstalled. That's the level I take it to.

My new Sparco quick-release steering hub arrived along with a new steering wheel.

Sparco 345 steering wheel. I'm a bit skeptical about the suede, but I'll try it. Coupled with the Sparco quick-release this steering wheel is a lot closer to my body for a more comfortable position. From test fits it seems that my knees also clear it.

I converter my vacuum line on my Tial BOV to 4AN. No particular reason, just wanted to try something different.

Admittedly I've never really been a hand person (other than sometimes scanning left rings fingers (which we all know mean relatively little anyway)) but its interesting to read Delany describing his infatuation with different nail-biters and watch the description approach nearer and nearer to an actual fetishistic sexual inclination.  According to the lovely psychiatric doctors charged with delineating health standards in the DSM the "real" (read: clinical and reifying) word for fetish is paraphilia.  The awkward part of this disorder (which falls under a larger umbrella of related sexual disorders) is that the clinical description falls widely outside of what most people would consider fetishistic inclination or behavior.  Delany is describing a characteristic, that to him, is a key component of sexual attraction and one that most certainly helps instigate sex.  Just like some people (ah...) can't stand it when someone wears boxers or only enjoy sex when power play is used to disrupt the unspoken dynamics of a relationship, Delany is expressing what is technically (according to the DSM) healthy sexual behavior that in most circles would be considered a fetish, freakish or both.  But how is it that the DSM is actually past this mark and doesn't absorb him as a deviant?  Because the definition of paraphilia requires a dependancy on the behalf of someone on a certain object, interaction or some such other sexual system for it to be pathological.  To fall within pathological behavior a particular fetish has to interfere with a persons ability to interact with the world around them, inhibiting the development of a healthy, adjusted and truly fabulous life.    

In an incredibly round about way what I was trying to get at (and then lost sight of and just kept going) is that most people (yes...I know that "most people" is sketchy but I'm a little hungover and not nearly smart enough to argue the point anyway) experience sexual attraction and/or arousal to key signifiers that connote sexual compatibility.  From bitten nail beds to muscles and beyond sexually "normal" people exercise the same benchmarks that the kinkiest of fetishist's do, often at a scale and intensity that is very different but none-the-less distributes their sexual drive across certain points of interest...or what you could call fetishes.  

Haha...oh man.  Does any of that make sense?  Onward and Upward!

So in order to play catch up, I'm making summary lists.

Things I've recovered from: The Demartini workshop, a speed reading course, December 2nd draft, January 1st draft, February pre-planning, dramedies at work, intrapersonal conflicts - but nothing too serious.

Things coming up:  exams, department re-structures, hectic work projects for '09, exams, weddings, baby showers, birthdays, farewells, exams.

Things that keep me up at night:  time management, the new work projects, Christmas time (huge family, lots of present buying which needs thoughtful planning), not falling apart before the holidays or the financial year end, endless ideas about the future, my future in media.

Stuff that made me smile: my boo (always my boo), playing dress up at work, Dirty Sexy Money and my cats slash children, posing for the poh-poh-zoaww.

Things that made me LOL: messing with my cats, Will &Grace re-runs (I heart you Jack McFarlan), The Office (Dwight on his recorder), drinks after work, attempting my second ever chocolate mousse and it came out looking like pudding, Eric Cartmen's fake tourettes, my team at work addicted to the Para-Olympics and then Dirty Sexy Money.

I'm tired, but obviously not tired enough.  I went on a speed reading course to help out with the studies - boy what an improvement, plus my mind maps rock hella good.

Today was successful.  Tomorrow I start revision for Psyche, YIKES.  *Blehh* then we have ANOTHER frikkin' wedding - it's pretty lame for me these days because our wedding is no where near in sight, so I'm over being envious of other people's lame-oh weddings and giving birth to their offspring... while I'm doing things differently ie. paying off our bond and getting my degree!

Too much writing, not enough pictures.  Time.  It all boils down to time.  Countdown to Nov 14th.  My last exam, then I can get my life back *grins*

We've had two theme days at work in two weeks - we're totally vain.  Anyhooow, this was in celebration of Spring on Sep. 1st - we dolled ourselves up in white and posed for about 100 photographs.

This is my manger.  We heart her to mucho, and I'll openly say it to the whole world:  if it wasn't for this woman, there would be no M-Net schedule, N-O-M-N-E-T-S-C-H-E-D-U-L-E.

(Our other dress up day was for the Dirty Sexy Money launch - we could fill a tabloid magazine with our circus act!  I'll post the pics soon.)

Hundreds of researchers have tried unsuccessfully to prove that women are more likely to have mood problems premenstrually than at other times. University of British Columbia researcher Christine Hitchcock says, “Something like half of women say they have premenstrual problems, but when you ask them to keep daily ratings of their moods, the data don’t reflect that.” Another study showed that men identified PMDD symptoms in themselves as commonly as women did.

I'm always a little bit on the fence with stuff like this, because I have known some women who get knocked the fuck down by their periods. I also know that during my period, I am likely to burst into tears over something trivial at least once.

On the other hand, if I am busy at work, and if I have just had a fight with a friend, and if the house needs cleaning, and then something trivial happens, I am also likely to burst into tears at least once. It seems, to me, to have more to do with being taxed than being bloody; that is, getting all bloody and cramped is awfully taxing, and piles that extra little bit of luggage onto the rest of life. And the women I know who get knocked the fuck down are down with physical symptoms; literally, they are bleeding too much to get out of bed. Which has a predictable effect on one's mood.

I am also kind of on the fence because I have conflicting feelings about the DSM. Classifying disorders has a lot of advantages, which I won't get into because it's a whole nother post; the classification process, however, requires a lot of boneheads and douchebags to weigh in with erudite opinions on the homogay vaginae. But really now. When you classify a disorder that literally half the population on earth suffers from, you probably need to redefine what you mean by "disorder." Maybe it's not normal, or natural. Maybe the ladyparts aren't supposed to be so long-suffering. Well, you know, maybe we should have been sea apes, and walking on land or watching television is unique and horrible in all the world. But it's what we do, as a whole, as a group, as a species, so maybe it's not sick anymore.

This all reminds me of what my abnormal psychology teacher told me about sociopathy. You may not know it, but there's no DSM entry for sociopathy. There are diagnostic tests for it, and doctors can talk about treating it, but officially, it's not a disorder. And it never will be. Because if we were to take this group of symptoms -- little to no care or compassion for others, a belief that the "rules" do not apply to oneself, an inability to empathize, aggressiveness -- and call it a sickness, we would not have a single healthy CEO or politician left in all the world. Sociopathy, despite what we think of it when it leads to people like Ted Bundy, represents a set of characteristics we envy and consider strong and good and right. These are characteristics that are compatible with what we define as success.

And, I'll take it that extra step: the characteristics that make up sociopathy are characteristics we define as ideal masculine traits. This is not to say this is how men are, only how we ask them to act if they want to be called men. To whit, one diagnostic test for sociopathy, which helps gauge empathy and caring behaviors (or lack of them), has a significantly higher threshold for women. That is, on a scale of 1 to 100 (100 being very empathic), if a man scores below a certain number, he's considered to have so little empathy he could be a sociopath. To be considered a potential sociopath, women must score below a much higher number, because whether or not a woman is actually empathic, she'll have been trained to exhibit more empathic behaviors, because empathy is considered appropriate to her gender.

What I'm saying is, there are two disorders here that affect such a large number of our population that it belies the meaning of "disorder," a term that indicates an abnormality. Two disorders that seem to call a majority of the world "abnormal" -- which, the last time I boarded the logic train, really makes "abnormal" the new "normal." The disorder that pathologizes women gets a green light. The disorder that pathologizes men gets a movie industry, and a bailout.

Nah, dia adalah sie publikasi di acara PMBR Gamais dan yang lebih penting lagi, beliau adalah bagian dari keluarga unik,Departemen Syiar Multimedia, Gamais ITB. Berikut adalah karya-karya beliau.

ini logonya:

ini maskotnya

dan ini cover proposalnya

coba kalian perhatikan design proposal. Ajib. itu buat sendiri lho

Btw, kalau saya melihat deain-desain dia, saya jadi ag minder kalau nampilin desain buatan sendiri. Secara desain saya, ehm, cukup abstrak sehingga hanya segilintir orang yang bisa melihat unsur keindahan serta emosi dari design tersebut.

Saya juga merasakan hal yang sama di kehidupan saya di Gamais. Berbulan-bulan mata dan hati saya tertutup terhadap betapa berharganya anugrah yang telah Allah berikan kepada saya: gamais.

Tanpa sadar ketika saya membuka diri saya terhadap teman-teman saya, saya begitu silau atas kehebatan mereka. Mereka sungguh sangat hebat!! Saya mencoba mengingat kenangan-kenangan saya bersama mereka semenjak bertemu di Oasis 2005, dan saya tersenyum.

Banyak sekali hal-hal yang secara tidak langsung telah mereka ajarkan kepada saya. Mereka mengajarkan saya untuk berfikir besar, untuk menghargai orang lain, dan lain-lain.

Sejenak saya menjadi sedih, karena mereka begitu berbeda dengan saya. Akan tetapi (setelah membaca blog kang army) saya teringat bahwa saya masih menjadi bagian dari mereka. Saya masih menjadi bagian dari keluarga mahasiswa Islam ITB.

Setahun yang lalu uchup pernah protes terhadap saya ketika saya mengatakan: "sesekali saya ingin mengerjakan sesuatu dengan baik"

tapi kali ini saya akan berkata "Kali ini saya akan merencanakan sesuatu yang hebat, dan akan mengerjakannya"

saya benar-benar akan bekerja keras, membaca buku, tilawah, sholat malam, belajar dan mengerjakan PR dengan baik, membantai soal ujian, membangun jaringan ke banyak pihak, mengkader staff-staff saya dengan baik, menghemat pengeluaran saya, mempelajari hukum-hukum agama saya lebih dalam lagi, bersikap lebih dewasa, tidak takut lagi akan amanah yang diberikan oleh bos-bos saya, mengurangi waktu tidur, membuat konsep pelatihan yang baik dan hadir di pelatihan yang mengundang saya (yang ini belum tentu), datang ke setiap rapat yang mengundang saya (jika tidak bentrok), dan akan membantu saat mereka membutuhkan.

Karena seperti mereka, saya adalah pahlawan

http://www.logic-masters.de/DSM2008/index.php

Eine Übungsquali ist schon verfügbar. Damit kann jeder, der zum ersten mal teilnimmt insbesondere das Procedere (Aufgabe herunterladen, Passwort zum Öffnen abrufen, Lösungen eingeben) testen und sich mit den Aufgabentypen vertraut machen (es gibt nicht nur Standard-Sudokus).

Vielleicht sehen wir uns bei der Endrunde? ;-)

Today I replace my upper stainless steel fuel line with the pro-lite line. I cut myself on that ss shit and remembered why I spent the extra money on the pro-lite line.

Ummm... I thought my Shearer manifold looked crappy, must be my computer screen. Yea, that's it!

Just another picture.

EvoIII oil filter housing. After waiting a couple months for this gem to arrive from Japan I got it mounted. No more factory sensors, I re-threaded a port and mounted my Stack temp sensor in there.

Everything turned out just fine. The threads on the block turned out to be OK and everything works.