CNY - A recount

A sea of red and yellow burst from the bus, flowing as a single body into the school gate. I blended into the crowd, a simple task as I was just as colourful as everyone else. Saying hi to friends and wondering why the student behind me wore black on Chinese New Year came next. As a student, expectations of me include total compliance and a certain level of "enthu"ness. Of course, this wasn't the case for most of the student body and only a precious few were truly showing the Chinese New Year spirit, which strangely resembled the actions of someone who had just discovered an ant's nest in his clothes. 7.40am. 2 hours later, the time was 7.45. There are not enough letters in the word "slow " to describe the speed time passed. Finally we were permitted to move, the mass migration of students to the hall where we reluctantly took our places again. A stuffy atmosphere filled the area, and I envied the teachers who sat in the privileged position under the fan. The performance started soon enough, and I busied myself in reading a book before the programme REALLY got started. As it turns out., the programme never really got started. Although it was entertaining to see teachers dressed up like Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson, my attention was never truly captured. The Chinese Orchestra segment was quite nice, and I whistled t the pitch of a dog whistle and watched everyone turn around in confusion. The wushu segment was also nice, watching the performers do dangerous stunts with various sharp objects was entertaining in the least. But the most anticipated, greatest moment had finally arrived. The moment everone waited for with glee. Every tick of the clock brought us closer to that crucial time. Dismissal.

Appendix the useless organ? Maybe not

I'm sort of spamming posts now because they are all due tomorrow, something the English teacher failed to mention. As I care fully pondered on what to write about, it suddenly hit me that people enjoy reading things that capture attention. Isn't that a surprise? So naturally I thought of a controversial topic that makes people shocked (no, I'm not talking about Toyota). Well, truth is that I'm a creationist (don't believe in evolution), and I actually do research on it. Call me a nerd, but the human appendix isn't really useless. Yay. Here's the link if you want to see more: http://creation.com/your-appendix-its-there-for-a-reason. Nice URL right? Anyway, for those who do not already know, the appendix is either a small, worm-like organ located at the under the gut or the section at the back of a book. We're talking about the first one here. Most people think it's useless, but actually the appendix is part of the immune system, it's function? To repopulate the gut when disease wipes out all the good bacteria. It may also help to identify between good and bad bacteria. Now that you've heard my dumbed-down explanation, here's what the experts have to say:

"Today, the appendix is recognized as a highly specialized organ with a rich blood supply. This is not what we would expect from a degenerate, useless structure.

The appendix contains a high concentration of lymphoid follicles. These are highly specialized structures which are a part of the immune system. The clue to the appendix’s function is found in its strategic position right where the small bowel meets the large bowel or colon. The colon is loaded with bacteria which are useful there, but which must be kept away from other areas such as the small bowel and the bloodstream.

Through the cells in these lymphoid follicles, and the antibodies they make (see box below), the appendix is ‘involved in the control of which essential bacteria come to reside in the caecum and colon in neonatal life’.⁶ Like the very important thymus gland in our chest, it is likely that the appendix plays its major role in early childhood. It is also probably involved in helping the body recognize early in life that certain foodstuffs, bacterially derived substances, and even some of the body’s own gut enzymes, need to be tolerated and not seen as ‘foreign’ substances needing attack."

Wow. I think I just exceeded my word count. So today you have learnt something new so smile and share it with the world! (If you would prefer a less biased source, go to this website: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-the-function-of-t

Zzz? Blogging again? I Forgot...

I'm not sure how people can bring themselves to blog frequently. Seriously, it's a whole lot harder than it looks. Blogging may have been a good way to write about life last time, but times have really changed, and blogging has to move aside to make way for social networking like Facebook and Twitter. I remember reading an article on this somewhere, but sadly the memory of the exact location has fallen to the ravages of time. So I googled "blogging decreases in popularity" but found nothing until I went to the next page, where the first result was:

Blogging Decreases Among Teens, Young Adults | TopNews New Zealand

 I'm not from New Zealand and I doubt this link will actually be clicked so I'll just sum up...

In 2006, 28 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 and young adults ages 18 to 29 were bloggers, reported the survey results released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.

Well, problem solved. Apparently the great Blogging has fallen to more convenient ways of communication like mobile phones and tweets. So now I question the point of blogging, and if the teachers give assignments, shouldn't they be on facebook and twitter? Not in my lifetime. As far as I know, blogging won't die without a fight, but hey, as long as I get extra credit for blogging, I don't mind one bit ;p