Boone Day/Pink Tomato Festival (Arkansas)
2004-06-07 @ 11:35 p.m.
Just came back from a round of cards, where I won with astonishing frequency. I suspect the people present were actually more seasoned players than I am. The laundry's drying all over the room, including about half the bed. It'll be a miracle if I can pack everything up come Friday... Opening Ceremony and Keynote Address
Have forgotten most of what was said by the minister. I was suitably impressed by the assiduous and industrious folk all around me, who were listening with rapt attention and jotting pages of notes down. I only remember that the Q&A session saw its usual share of silly/predictable/hackneyed/uninspired questions. The reception was good though! After having had all four meals, plus the reception and tea, allow me to assure you that the following ranking is absolutely true - reception, tea, dinner, breakfast, lunch, supper. (Actually, the last four are such close calls they might as well be lumped together as "no guest of honour" meals!) Parallel Presentations 1 (Q&A tally: ACJC 7, SAJC 5, NYJC 4)
I've developed a stupid theory that says the top-ranked JC in any particular session is the one who'll get hammered during the Q&A session. It happened to ACJC, but that was probably because their topic was pretty controversial, about the falling birth rate and all. The guitarist was cool though. I like his voice, even if he does sound like a prick at times when he asks questions. I thought the presentations were all very creative, nothing like what Mr Rollason painted them to be. Kind of made RJC's look too serious, despite it boasting the trappings of your typical MTV music video. Parallel Presentations 2 (Q&A tally: RJC 10, YJC 9, MI 5)
I was, and still am, totally disgusted by the behaviour of some students from JCs which are best left unnamed. Out of 10 answers given by Benuel and Daniel, only two were graciously accepted. The others were either challenged before the presenters had even finished giving them, or were met with outright contempt. I was particularly peeved with the very last question, posed by a certain Sarah Chiang. To describe the scene, I quote Wei Liang, "ACJC waves the white flag, but Sarah Chiang fights on." I'm amazed that the two of them didn't blow up, though Benuel was coming dangerously close. Heard there was a long line of people waiting to apologise to Benuel at the end... Why do they all hate us so much? Is it some innate insecurity/jealousy bred into non-Rafflesians? Or does everyone derive a perverse pleasure from taking us down? It can't be the former, because my groupmates didn't ostracise me. (Quite the opposite, I felt like I was being too cool.) Is it some hive mind that kicks in whenever we gather as a collective group? That's really pathetic, not to mention immature. For heaven's sake, grow up! Hell, the vultures didn't even leave one of their own alone. They were blatantly tearing down YJC's presentation. Okay, so it had its flaws. Still, if you're going to pick a fight with RJC or pick on YJC, at least do it with more subtlety and finesse. Leave a good impression, even if you're going to bitch... Operation Ha! Ha!
Nothing funny about this one. It was, frankly speaking, a flop as a telematch. We played, like one game! Allow me to amuse you. An object is placed at a certain distance, which the group has to retrieve without crossing over the starting line. Our group made it till 225 cm. We really pulled together during this activity. Funny how competition breeds this "us versus them" mentality. We were all praying for the other teams to fall... This week: Cat Week
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