There's a Social Studies exam tomorrow. There's also my Chinese Paper 1. It's 11.23 P.M. I'm still up, watching TV. So bite me.

I believe that if all the other people who are also taking the exam tomorrow takes this seriously, I would finally realise my fantasy of losing half my weight. Maybe more.

I spent an hour from 10 watching David Blaine. Which trick I loved the best? The one he said originated 2500 BC from a magician named "Didi": Yanking the head off a chicken, and then somehow putting it back, into a live and healthy chicken that it was.

If he lived in 10th century Europe, he would be burnt at stake for the practice of witchcraft. Maybe because people in the past simply refused to be amazed and hated seeing the amazer have this smug look on his face.

Maybe.

I sat through the commercials anyway, because I was, in a sense, too lazy to get off. Then I saw another ad for another charity show. Wow. This one's for cancer patients. Minimum donation? $6. You know I miss the times where the smallest one was $2 and the largest, $10. Now the largest can be any amount. This one's $50. I'm really starting to wonder how soon it would be when there was a charity show every month. And how the celebrities would find the time off working for money to come raise money for the patients for free. Unless, of course, they get paid for these.

This is what I call "emotional blackmail". They keep advertising, they keep pleaing, they keep telling you to "do your part". We sure do. Then another show pops up. We give some more. No problem. Then another one, and another one. One after another.

That's a lot of ones.

"So why 'emotional blackmail'? It's nothing bad. It's charity, for crying out loud. You make it sound like a crime."

It's so vague, isn't it? They keep showing you the images of the patients, how pitiful they are. They conduct interviews with these patients. They tell you, "please, help these people". The cancer show says "a little help is better than a lot of pity".

What are they trying to say? I don't know about them, but my interpretation of all these pleas and messages and how the people pester you on the streets? When they say "don't be like that". You think, "I have to give him my money or risk being branded as unkind. That's socially unacceptable! I cannot afford something like this."

They exploit on the one big weakness in all of us: Face.

All of us want face. When you don't donate the guys looks at you like you should burn in hell for this. When you do, hey, you should do it anyway. Like it's your responsibility.

That's all I'm saying for this.

There's this joke that goes:
In the first year of marriage, he speaks and she listens.
In the second year, she speaks and he listens.
In the third year, they speak and the nighbour listens.

Apparently there was a fourth line, that goes:
In the fourth year, their lawyers speak and the judge listens.

I thought it was quite good. Anyway. It still have that exam tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I'll be needing it.

To end this whole damn thing off, here's a quote I heard from the David Blaine show:
"For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. for those who do not, none will suffice." - Joe Dunninger