Sunday, October 15, 2006
The introductory Evolution lectures so far have been pretty inspiring. I still find it quite amazing that I am now studying a subject which has occupied such a central position in my biological fascination for so long a time. Interestingly, our first lecturer has expressed his fervent wish that we are groomed to be Cambridge's proponents of evolutionary biology. An expectation too high, no? Hehe.
And lest my evolutionary speculation ever goes into overdrive during coursework, here is a fascinating paragraph which I plucked out of a text in the library.
Evolutionary speculation constitutes a kind of metascience, which has the same intellectual fascination for some biologists that metaphysical speculation possessed for medieval scholastics. It can be considered a relatively harmless habit, like eating peanuts, unless it assumes the form of an obsession; then it becomes a vice. The most appropriate response to such speculation, if it is plausible and logically constituted, is an Italian rejoinder, of which the amicable cynicism cannot be adequately translated:
Se non e vero, e ben trovato
If it is not true, it is certainly fortuitous
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Zhenzhi informed me two nights ago of a full section in Life devoted to articles and write-ups on the state of the Singapore salsa scene prior to the Singapore International Salsa Festival (SISF), so after having logged in to Straits Times Interactive, I discovered several familiar faces within the inset photographs to my pleasant surprise.. :)
Almost immediately, I realised the significance of this section. No doubt, salsa has been making its waves felt of late especially amongst the younger generation of working adults, but never ever has the dance form enjoyed such publicity. The gauntlet to the young generation of Singaporeans has now been thrown down with the delectable spread of articles on Our Dance, our fiery passionate dance of life. The jury is out on whether this publicity boost (and SISF) will elevate salsa to a level beyond what we have ever known. Is it a suitable time, then, to move out of our little La Rosa Negra and occupy a larger enclave among the lay population?
It is a time of great upheaval and change in the scene, and I already can see a next generation of salseras and salseros coming to the fore. And it is definitely an exciting time for us all! I only wish I could be there in town over the next three years to see the changes first-hand.. :( But as it is, I can only rely on accounts leaking out from the scene back home, and I shall return as quite an international dancer, hopefully to further enrich the scene by that time.
--------
And I miss dancing bachata so much.. Too much, in fact. Roar!
And lest my evolutionary speculation ever goes into overdrive during coursework, here is a fascinating paragraph which I plucked out of a text in the library.
Evolutionary speculation constitutes a kind of metascience, which has the same intellectual fascination for some biologists that metaphysical speculation possessed for medieval scholastics. It can be considered a relatively harmless habit, like eating peanuts, unless it assumes the form of an obsession; then it becomes a vice. The most appropriate response to such speculation, if it is plausible and logically constituted, is an Italian rejoinder, of which the amicable cynicism cannot be adequately translated:
Se non e vero, e ben trovato
If it is not true, it is certainly fortuitous
--------
Zhenzhi informed me two nights ago of a full section in Life devoted to articles and write-ups on the state of the Singapore salsa scene prior to the Singapore International Salsa Festival (SISF), so after having logged in to Straits Times Interactive, I discovered several familiar faces within the inset photographs to my pleasant surprise.. :)
Almost immediately, I realised the significance of this section. No doubt, salsa has been making its waves felt of late especially amongst the younger generation of working adults, but never ever has the dance form enjoyed such publicity. The gauntlet to the young generation of Singaporeans has now been thrown down with the delectable spread of articles on Our Dance, our fiery passionate dance of life. The jury is out on whether this publicity boost (and SISF) will elevate salsa to a level beyond what we have ever known. Is it a suitable time, then, to move out of our little La Rosa Negra and occupy a larger enclave among the lay population?
It is a time of great upheaval and change in the scene, and I already can see a next generation of salseras and salseros coming to the fore. And it is definitely an exciting time for us all! I only wish I could be there in town over the next three years to see the changes first-hand.. :( But as it is, I can only rely on accounts leaking out from the scene back home, and I shall return as quite an international dancer, hopefully to further enrich the scene by that time.
--------
And I miss dancing bachata so much.. Too much, in fact. Roar!
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