So yesterday I was working on the research report. And this little portion of it required me to look for research papers which stated that bananas contain Auxin. So the document was really really hard to look for cause the search engine kept turning up results for the effect of auxins on bananas, not the presence of auxins in bananas.

And finally I found a website which had this sentence that I needed: Bananas are curved because of the phototropic chemical Auxin which makes them grow towards the sun.

So I was really happy and excited that I had finally found the reference that I needed, so I clicked on that search link. And it brought me to this webpage: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1690846

Okay, the reference turned out to be some freaking comparative essay between Bananas and Katanas, wtf! In case you're too lazy to open the link above, here's the page:



"Bananas and Katanas: A History, And Comparative Essay

You may have once thought that Bananas and Katanas were not particularly similar. Late one night though I had a thought; maybe they aren't? I immediately began to mentally note down similarities and differences between the 2 objects.

The Banana

Definition
from http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=banana

Ba·na·na
n.
1. Any of several treelike Asian herbs of the genus Musa, especially M. acuminata, having a terminal crown of large, entire leaves and a hanging cluster of fruits.
2. The elongated, edible fruit of these plants, having a thick yellowish to reddish skin and white, aromatic, seedless pulp.

The Banana tree is actually not a tree. Strictly speaking it's a herb, the stem of the tree does not contain the substance we know as wood. This would lead one logically to believe that the banana itself is actually a herb. Not so. The banana itself actually contains seeds, but because it's commercially grown the seeds have been genetically modified enough so they are barely noticeable. So in fact the banana is a fruit and a herb.
According to the July 2000 edition of New Scientist, we share half our DNA with that of bananas. Makes you think really.
Bananas are curved because of the phototropic chemical Auxin which makes them grow towards the sun. Bananas like most other plants contain Chlorophyll which has a green pigment, this absorbs the green from natural sunlight and is used in photosynthesis. When bananas ripen, we see them turn yellow. This process of turning yellow is a result of the deterioration of the membrane of the chlorophyll. Once the protective membrane is gone, various enzymes act on the Vitamin A in the banana to produce its yellow colour.

Nutritional Information (100g) (Information will vary per banana)
Calories 95.0kcal
Carbohydrate 23.2g
Protein 1.2g
Fat 0.3g
Fibre 1.1g
Vitamins:
A 3ìg
B1 0.04mg
B2 0.04mg
B6 0.36mg
C 10mg
E 0.3mg

The Katana

Definition

Japanese swords are measured in `Shaku'. Each `Shaku' is around 12". Blades longer than 2 Shaku are considered to be katanas. A katana "is only a katana if it is worn blade-up through a belt-sash" (from wikipedia.org)

Here is a labelled picture of a katana: http://www.blades-uk.com/images/links/swordinfo.jpg

A Brief History

The katana (pronounced ka-ta-na) is a curved single-edged sword traditionally used by Japanese samurai. According to legend, the Japanese sword came into being around AD 700, and was invented by a man named Amakuni. The first recorded production of a katana was around 200 years later in AD 900. These swords were used regularly in bloody Japanese battles until the 15th century where guns effectively rendered the sword useless. The Japanese were reluctant to give up their technology so easily, and while guns still ruled the battlefields Katanas were still made albeit more decorative than functional. When the dictator Tokugawa Shogunate came to dictatorship he isolated guns and gunpowder and removed them from circulation. This lead to the rise of the Samurai as the top of their feudal cast system.

In 1853 Commadore Matthew Perry dragged Japan kicking and screaming from their isolationism to the real world. Funnily enough guns came back in a big fashion. The Haitorei edict put a stop to this banning all guns and swords and once again the Samurai class were all but crushed. They hated the edict and took arms and the resultant uprising against military dictatorship. They re-enstated their once figurehead emperor and nationalism rampaged through the masses. All this nationalism lead to World War I and the general abolition of Samurai. During the American occupation of Japan in WWII the Samurai Class was completely disbanded and concequently the use of Katanas was no more.

Katana Composition

The katana consists mostly of Iron and Carbon, often known as Carbon Steel, but often has traces of manganese, copper, titanium and tungsten.

Similarities and Differences

The Words: Banana and Katana have the same number of syllables and the vowel sounds used are the same in each word. Note: I am basing this on my own accent (Thames Valley). This may not of course apply to you.

The Shape: Both have a half crescent shape. If you hold either correctly, the pointy bit points towards you. There are 2 reasons for the Katanas shape; the first is that the curved outward shape is stronger (demonstrated in Car Windscreens and The Surface Tension of Water). The second is that the samurai were often found on horseback and it's easier to slay thy enemies with a curved sword. Bananas are curved because of the phototropic chemical Auxin which makes them grow towards the sun.

Diet: Aside from all sorts of vitamins, the banana is an excellent source of potassium. The highly volatile metal ironically helps us regulate our blood pressure and maintain our bodies' fluids.
The katana is an excellent source of Iron.* Iron mainly flows about our blood, giving its red pigment to the Haemoglobin. Haemoglobin as we know ferries around oxygen in our bodies. Without Iron, haemoglobin can't do its job; adults become sluggish and lethargic, while children suffer from ADHD-like symptoms. Iron is also crucial to proper muscle function.

Exports: Bananas are a major export of such countries as Dominica, Columbia, Guadeloupe and Panama. None of these countries are terribly renowned for exporting katanas, nor is Japan for its banana exporting. In this way at least they are dissimilar.

Beauty: It is my belief that every single thing that nature has created is beautiful in its own way, be it aesthetically, functionally or evolutionarily. Only things that man create or destroy are unpleasing to experience. For example the city of Slough in southeast England. Katanas by reputation are things of beauty. Each one is painstakingly folded and refolded, the hilt is decorated lavishly and the sword itself is engraved at the hilt.

Colour Change in Production: The banana changes from green to yellow as it ripens (explained above). The sword changes colour too, the metal is heated to the point where it glows red then hammered into shape.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*When licking katanas, I advise you lick the blunt side.
Note well; I will not accept responsibility for injuries caused by licking swords or anything else you do as a result of reading this Writeup."



Argh, the little background information and history about the Bananas and Katanas were okay. But at the end where they had the similarities and differences between the bananas and katanas, I was just like !!!!!!!!. I swear I wanted to pull out all my arm hair already.

K nevermind. I did manage to find the proper reference I needed after all, and the webpage did let me have a little laugh, heh.



I didn't attend school today. Have a fever/headache/strong detest to going to school when there's double-block chinese. And well, my day was pretty much wasted away but I did get some work done and a pretty good rest. Today was a pretty bad day to not attend school cause now I need to give 4 letters of absence to the teachers. 1 to the form teacher, 1 to the PE teacher, and 2 the the respective 2 Options teachers. Gah.

Gah, it's already evening and I still haven't started on my research report. Great.

Another hot day today, despite the heavy rain in the morning. The heat gave me quite a headache. Spent the afternoon having lunch and then accompanying my dad to look for a camera. So it's kind of a day gone since I didn't do anything school-related today. Darn it.

Maybe I'll get to the report later. Maybe. ><. I don't even know when it should be due. Shucks.

Currently my computer is lagging like crazy. Whatever I type over here never appears until 3 seconds after I stop typing. Crap. Actually the computer has been lagging like crazy for the past 2 weeks. Really annoying. I think it's my dad's little evil plan to try to force me to reformat the computer since I didn't want to reformat earlier.Now I think I'm gonna have to back-up about 12GB of my files, including 7GB of music. Argh. Thankfully I have a 40GB external hard drive. It's gonna take ages to transfer the files into the hard drive though.

Anyway, my brother and I are planning to get an xbox. So we're gonna go crazy saving for quite some time. Therefore, people who owe me money, please pay up now! Thanks.

I detest today's timetable. PE is right before CLE and it's usually held in the hall or kschee so we all have to wear our pinafores over the sweaty icky pe attire. And because of that, when the sweat eventually dries off, your skin feels so freaking sticky and gross.

Had RS meeting with mrlim after school today. Bah, lots of changes have to be made to the RS report draft. While most of the rest of the cohort has finished RS like, 5 months ago, we still haven't even submitted our final report. ><

Badminton with yikai and nat (and sheena for a few minutes) later. That was pretty fun but it added on to my stickiness. So by the time POF class started I was so sticky and sweaty and smelly and red. Thankfully class was on rocket-launching so it was outdoors in the field. That, of course, further added on to the stickiness factor.

So after school, by the time I got to bsh for training I was already 40 minutes late. Training was rather slack, coming to think of it, but I felt like I was going to die even after only 1 set of multishutters. :l.

Bad experience trying to get home after training today. I was in the middle of the bus queue and waiting for the 410 and suddenly I realised that I forgot to bring my wallet. I decided to leave the queue by climbing out from the back since the left and right were already so packed full of people. The people around me were giving quite _ looks, but well it's not like my exit caused any harm to anyone though I think it would really look rather strange. Not the extent of strange that would deserve a _ look though.

So I decided to resign to fate and walk home. Then on the way through j8 I met kuoying and borrowed 55c. : D. In the end I caught a bus home. Except when I boarded the 410, I was like, oh crap, since the bus driver had to be The One. That particular one. The _ particular one. So she demanded for my ezlink card or else I'd have to pay 90c. So I was like(in chinese),'huhhh, but I forgot to bring my wallet (that's why I have no freaking ezlink card) I'm a freaking student." And all she did was to shake her head and stare at me. Argh, this is the 3rd time she's doing this to me okay and during the other 2 times I was in uniform. Do I look like an adult? Crap. And even an adult wouldn't wear a school uniform just to pay 55c for a bus ride.

Okay lor. So I have to go and borrow lor. I actually wanted to demand for the 55c that I dropped into the coin machine back and just walk home after all, but screw it(since I can't get the coins back). So I had to be thick-skinned and ask some lady for coins. She seemed pretty reluctant and I even called her twice before she finally responded. Oh poor lady with a black face, I'm so sorry I made you 35c poorer today.

Back home. Feeling crappy about RS Report. (and Studying for Math Test, to some extent.) K, I'm going to cool off and eat&drink this coconut my mum plucked from the coconut tree downstairs.

Remains of the smiley.

Walked around wheelock place for a while though the shops were all closed. On our way there, we found this:

Underdog!

Took a closer look at it:

Sing-nga-purr?

Had one hour of math lesson and then went for Options class. L&P was spent watching The Shawshank Redemption. Was pretty interesting but towards the end of the lesson I was going to explode already. ><

Went to the library later to find Nat and we went to the canteen to eat before the next class. POF was pretty okay but I'm already starting to get a little confused with the calculations, argh. We went to launch rockets after that and my group's rockets were all zzz cause yikai rowena and I were just fooling around for the entire lesson and laughing about our rocket's noobness. Our rocket never flew past 3m while other rockets flew like 8m++. -__-. Tomorrow we're launching rockets using some kind of water pressured pump or something so our rocket should be better.

I'm down with a flu + cough since yesterday. Slept practically the whole of yesterday away.

Today's lessons passed pretty quickly. Had a pretty good rest last night but I was strangely still dozing off during math for the first time this year. After school, Nat and I just hung around in class doing work and for the most of it, we were distracted by the "Hello Panda' and flicking it to and fro. After that we added a little wall to it so it became like a 'Hello Panda jump over the wall' kind of game.

Options later. Had POF (which was half gone by the time lesson started, since the sec1s left the classroom so late) and then went to the tennis courts to play tennis with Elaine for a while. The weather was so freaking hot and I got slightly sunburnt just from being under the sun for half an hour. Elaine got chaota though, heh heh.

AIC later and we couldn't find the classroom. By the time we found out lesson was in the AVA room, only 40 minutes of lesson was left.

K, I think I'm going to go type my 'achievements' (Huh, what achievements?) for the testimonial. How nerve-wrecking.

I daresay that I was half-asleep throughout the whole of today. Fell asleep during AIC class today, gah. I hope I didn't miss out on much. Argh I feel so lethargic but I managed to finish the 3 entries of the POF logbook. Okay I did take a 2 hour nap earlier but now I think I'm tired again.

First lesson of Law&Punishment starts tomorrow and I hope it isn't boring or else I'll CMI and fall asleep in class again or something.

On a random note, a7x's 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet' sounds so raw. A little like EPs and a little messy. But they improved by leaps and bounds by the time their next album came out. :)

Oh man, we're having netball carn practice so often now that I think I don't have enough shorts to sustain throughout the week. Crap.

First week of school. I've been returning during the late afternoons or early evenings.

I managed to change my POF class so I end at 4, 3.30, 4.30, 3.30, 4 on the respective days of the week now.

Options have been pretty slack so far. POF requires a logbook as part of the graded assessment and there are no notes given, bah. And the AIC one is just plain confusing cause of the many facts and information and well, basically the lack of contextual knowledge.

The first week has been rather uneventful. Math test on Wednesday was horror. There were 4 questions and all 4 were pretty screwed. On Friday we had PE lessson and Nat and I played tennis and we hit the ball out of the whole court 4 times and had to go down to the first level to get the balls/get the sec1s to throw them back up to us. We're getting better at tennis. At least we can get a few rallies going now. Had math lesson after PE. I shall quote from Nat's blog since I'm rather tired and annoyed after Internet Explorer hung on me 3 times in a row.

"math was cool! mr teo practically let us off half an hour early. clee and i went down to the canteen and realised that we needed to lose weight (tshyeah whatever) cause when we both bent to the side to pick up some stuff i dropped, the whole table lifted up on the other side and almost flipped over. hilarious stuff. and then crystal did more noobish things and we couldn't stop laughing."

Philo test after that was okay but someone kept sniffing throughout the entire thing and it was pretty annoying. Argh. One of the most annoying things during tests other than the irritating sound of heels and teachers staring at your work.

Hung around in class for a while after the test and Nat was using the computer so I went over to see what she was doing and she offered half of her seat to me. I didn't realise that she had moved her chair more to the side so I just fell all the way down. T_T. (Yes, yes. Noob, noob. Oops, I did it again.)

Went to Temasek Poly for POF to build some glider thing. They demonstrated how to construct the model plane in like, 5 minutes? And then we assembled our own planes in about 15 minutes in groups. Spent the next hour++ trying to fly the planes individually. Very very very slack. I actually thought it would be a pretty intensive workshop. Dang, should have left earlier man.

Had to go to school really early on Saturday for netball carn training. Was okay I suppose. Went to eat lunch at Hans with Peiting, Yumin, Yanyee, Dharsh, Yuxuan and Tianfei after that. Mass was okay and choir night prac was pretty tiring.

Sunday. Woke up late. Had lunch. Went home for a while and borrowed air pump from my neighbour to pump the class netball. Went to Nat's house. :D. Took a 165 from Upper Thomson and it was really really unexpectedly fast. I took only 20 minutes or so to get to her place. We spent most of the time watching tv, and watching the a7x All Excess dvd. :D. Ate ice cream waffles after that for dinner and we watched a little more tv before I left.

Okay, now I'm back here and thinking about the POF logbook. The weekends passed too quickly. Darn it. I don't want to go to school tomorrow.

right arm + stomach muscle aches.

now I can't even laugh properly. :

school's actually starting soon. dang. term4's going to be such a screw-up. argh. at least the september holidays was kind of a nice holiday cause it was the first time in a long, long, long, long time that I didn't have to return to school.

argh. I hope that I can swap POF classes.

ARGHHHHHHH#H#() U)G#()TG( U)#U()R)U(#FOIA FOAMKFAALMK_T#@.

wth do these things happen altogether?

dammit.

options timetable just came out today. the earliest i finish lessons is 4pm on monday. and from tuesday to thursday i end at 6pm. friday, 5pm. @#(&^%. the only positive thing is that i got all the options that i bidded for. currently my timetable is like

monday - 2 to 4 (Arab-Israeli Conflict)
tuesday - 11 to 1 (Law&Punishment), 2 to 4 (Arab-Israeli Conflict), 4 to 6 (Physics of Flight)
wednesday - 4 to 6 (Arab-Israeli Conflict)
thursday - 11 to 1 (Law&Punishment), 4 to 6 (Physics of Flight)
friday - 4 to 5 (Physics of Flight) [waste of a friday, crap.]

i think normal lessons like chinese, math and pe end by 11am? so im going to have to burn most of my afternoons at starbucks or something, drinking coffee while waiting for the option lessons to start. wow.

sucky timetable. great, now i look forward to term4.