I Finally Graduate Today!

I graduated from Queens College today with a BA from Anthropology!

Today's Commencement was shit, it rained like no one's business. We all got wet sitting outdoors at Commencement. You think they would give us indoor sitting, right? No.

Anyways, enjoy the pictures.

(Hello Goodbye) I don't know why you say Goodbye, I say Hello

I wrote a goodbye note to some of my college friends. My graduation is next Thursday, thought some of them might wanna know they wouldn't see me again next semester. Though I'm pretty OK at this moment, I am pretty sure I will be a bit emotional come graduation.


Some of you might know that this is my last semester at Queens College. In about a week, I will be walking at the Commencement, graduating with a BA in Anthropology (and if I get a B or higher grade in my thesis, I'll be graduating with High Honors).

I consider myself quite fortunate to have met all of you during my brief academic travel. You guys are great, and I will cherish the memories we have spent together. The laughter, the cry (some of you), the advise, the pranks and most of all the quality time imparted on me. Even though I've met some of you for a brief moment, the course of time had forever changed.

My stay at Queens College taught me a lot, suffice to say many things that a 28 year-old still lacks (and I hope some of you finally realized how old I am). I managed to pull through and hopefully in the future I can look back and laugh at how silly I was.

After graduation, I will be traveling for a bit. After that I will prepare for my GRE and start my grad school application. Academia is not done with me, and neither am I. I still don't know 100% where I would like to go for grad school but hopefully a brief vacation will clear things out. I don't know if I stay in NYC but I know for most of you this is not the last you will hear from me.

Do keep in contact through Facebook or email me (Raymondho80 at gmail.com) if you want to. This is not a Goodbye, it is a Hello for many more years to come.

Yours,
Ray

Anthropology Department: Awards and Honors Ceremony

Today was my department's Awards and Honors ceremony. This is an annual event where graduating seniors and also juniors are being recognized of their academic achievements.

I was awarded 3 awards: Honors Award (for graduating with higher than a 3.5 gpa in Anthropology), Thesis Honors Award (for writing a Senior Honors Thesis) and Service Award (for being the President of the Anthropology Society).

I'm pretty stoked that I am being recognized for the things I do and my academic achievements. If I manage to get a higher grade than a B for my Senior Honors Thesis, I will graduate with High Honors in Anthropology!

The Picture of Dorian Gray

"The only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and the fulfillment of the senses, before my beauty fades away ... or will it ?"

Good Things Come In Two

Hooray, Yays and Yippees!

Yesterday, I was contacted by the moderator of anthropology.net and primatology.net to start guest blogging on his sites. I'm stoked! The moderator has been reading my blog since I started writing on The Prancing Papio and he liked what I wrote. I guess this will give me more exposure, academia and internet-wise.

If you feel like I have been neglecting this blog, I haven't. It's just that the extreme amount of workload for my last semester and my senior honors thesis is really bogging me down. I tend to prioritize my blogging time on The Prancing Papio, just because it's one of those things that I am passionate to talk about.

Second good news. I got a letter today from my department (Anthropology) and they told me that I am receiving an award in two weeks! I don't know what award or honor I'm getting because the letter never mentioned it. Nevertheless, it's good news.

Hobbits In The Haystack: Homo floresiensis And Human Evolution

Cross-posting this from my Primate Blog: The Prancing Papio. Enjoy!


The 7th Human Evolution Symposium, Hobbits in the Haystack: Homo floresiensis and Human Evolution was held yesterday at Stony Brook. Turnouts were great despite damp and rainy weather. Convened by Richard Leakey, the symposium was an all day event where researchers share their findings on Homo floresiensis. The highlight of the symposium is the first ever complete cast of LB1, or Flo and a host of Homo floresiensis researchers.

The symposium ended with questions and issues for discussion by Richard Leakey. Then, the floor was opened for general Q&A session with the panel. I will write about each presentations tomorrow, I'm currently swamped with school work!

"Accepting it (Homo floresiensis) will require us to rewrite the textbooks." - William Jungers, Stony Brook University.

Here is a list of topic presented by speakers during the symposium:

"Hobbits in context: life, times and death of Homo floresiensis" by Michael J. Morwood, University of Wollongong, Australia.

"Digging up Hobbits: The Excavations at Liang Bua" by Thomas Sutikna, National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology, Indonesia.

"Stone Tools and Hominins on Flores" by Mark Moore, University of New England, Australia.

"Whence Homo floresiensis? Clues from the brain." by Dean Falk, Florida State University.

"Her Teeth Were Sharp, Her Gums Were Raw, and Spit Was Dripping From Her Jaw: The Little Things That Make Us Human" by Peter Brown, University of New England, Australia.

"Why the Tiny Wrist Bones of a Hobbit Tell Us So Much About a Big Chapter in Human Evolutionary Theory" by Matthew Tocheri, Smithsonian Institution.

"The Hobbit Shrugged: The Shoulder of Homo floresiensis and its Implications For Human Evolution." by Susan Larson, Stony Brook University.

"Can Island Dwarfing Explain Hobbit Body Size and Shape?" by William Jungers, Stony Brook University.

"Virtual Hobbits and Health in Homo floresiensis" by Charles Hildebolt, Washington University in St. Louis.

A list of what Richard Leakey commented and asked during the symposium:

We should be careful when using Lucy as model for comparison because Lucy is not representative of the Australopithecine species in general.

We don't have Homo erectus feet in our fossil record. The fossilized foot prints that were found in Ileret, Kenya has been suggested that it was left behind by Homo ergaster, an earlier version of Homo erectus.

There should be more discussion on the types of dating methods used on Homo floresiensis and the artifacts found in association with it.

There should be more discussion and research to link lithic materials to the Hobbits, or Homo floresiensis.

What were the geographic isolation of Flore? How did the Hobbits ended up in Flores?

Were there large carnivores in Flores or lack thereof? Hobbits have ape-like feet that were built for walking but not for running. Did they survive despite that because they have no need for speed to get away from predators?

Philadelphia: Day 3

Today's weather was great in Philly and apparently everyone had the same idea as we did. Go to the Philadelphia Zoo! The exits and ramps leading into the zoo was packed. Oh yea, people from Philly don't know how to drive ... every intersection you can see a few cars blocking the box so the traffic from another different can't really go through. The zoo was of course packed and there were long lines on the ticket counter. Good thing I found out about the William Way LGBT Community Center event and bought tickets online. It's gays in the zoo day, LOL. The zoo was fun, got to see a lot of animals up close but I wouldn't say all their enclosures and exhibits seem humane to the welfare of the animals.

Had dinner in Chinatown. This time we went to Penang, a Malaysian restaurant. Food was great ... can't believe we went to Philly and the best meals we had were at Chinatown, LOL. Took the train back to NYC around 8ish PM. Excited to get the fuck out of Philly.

Remember, Philadelphia is not for the faint hearted and definitely not a place for a white kid like me.

Philadelphia: Day 2

I'm drunk so I'm gonna try my darn-dest to blog (I also can't feel my fingers, LOL!)

Went to Chinatown again this morning. Walked around and took pictures of the area. Singapore Vegetarian Restaurant was great. I recommend the Singapore latkes and Singapore satay. Also went to the gay area ... around 12th St and Spruce St. Got some shopping done and checked out the William Way Community Center. Naked Chocolate Cafe on Walnut street has good chocolates. I ordered the sipping chocolate (it's actually a cup of melted chocolate: milk or dark).

For dinner, we went to Sam's Samosa. For $9.99, you get the all-you-can-eat buffet. Food was so-so but cheap. Ended the night at Venture's Inn. It's a pretty chill gay bar/restaurant.

Philadelphia: Day 1

Left f0r Philadelphia on Amtrak this morning, arriving at the 30th St Station a little before 11AM. Checked in to Club Quarters and then headed to Wagner Free Science Institute via the SEPTIC, I mean ... SEPTA. The SEPTA station at Walnut-Locust is fucking scary! It's has a long creepy area leading to the turnstile ... definitely not THE station to be at night. We took the SEPTA up to Wagner Free Science Institute and soon realized that the area surrounding the museum (Temple University/Cecil B. Moore) is kinda like 125th St.-Harlem. I wouldn't advise going there alone or late at night.

Grabbed lunch at The Draught Horse. Pretty good place to grab a bite. My buffalo shrimp and peppercorn burger are delicious! From there, we took the SEPTA again to The Liberty Bell. It was OK, it's one of those places that history buff dream to go but for me it's just another "touristy" attraction. Went to Shane Candies, for some yummy chocolates and The Franklin Fountain to quench our thirst. Vance ordered a raspberry soda and I got a lime rickey. It's delicious.

Went to Chinatown for dinner. Saw reviews for Siam Restaurant and people were raving about the place so we decided to give it a try. The food was gross, the worst Thai food I've ever had! DO NOT EVER GO THERE!

Tomorrow is shopping/walking around day. I hope I find the part of the city where everyone is white. Did I mention that Philly is fill with black people? Yuck.

Rice-capades, part deux

Went up to Connecticut to Nate's for the weekend. Weather wasn't co-operating, rained on Fri and Sat. Trip to the Roger Williams Zoo had to be canceled and trip down to Watch Hill, Rhode Island was cut short. Still, I had a lot of fun with Nate.

Went to Roger Williams Museum of Natural History and Planetarium instead of the zoo on Saturday. It rained really hard the whole day. That place was grimy and kinda stupid. $2 admission, what do you expect? If you are in the area and it's raining and you want something to do ... then the museum is for you. The tour takes about 30-40 mins coz the museum is rather small.

Malaysia's New Prime [Pig] Minister

So since I pretty much severed ties with the country I was born in, I rarely ask or read news from Malaysia because frankly ... I just don't give a fuck. However, a few days ago ... maybe a week or two even, someone told me that Malaysia has a new Prime Minister. Who cares right? So ... check this out. Apparently the new Prime Minister is none other than Najib Tun Razak. Yes, the pig that vowed to bath the keris with Chinese blood in his anti-chinese speech in 1987. Granted it's 20-some years ago but this pig is just one special fuck. Not that I care what becomes of that wretched country I used to call home but I just feel bad for all the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia that are still treated like they are immigrants. What will his policies be? Will he even care about "minorities"? Probably not.

Who cares anyway? A pig will always be a pig. Babi.

Can you ever forget who you were?

It's hard but someone gotta do it ... I might not be the only one, I swear there are more like me who doesn't seem too happy with their past lives. Past lives as in events in your life that you no control over. Why ... that's the question that always pop in my mind. How ... that's how I plan my next move.

My cousins asked when I'd come back to Malaysia. I told them that first and foremost, it's "go to Malaysia" not "come back to Malaysia" because that is not a place I want to go back to first of all and second of all, that place do not belong to me anymore.

I have this idea that if I stop speaking Chinese I'd forget it. I want this idea to work, but it doesn't. It seems like my subconscious is adamant that I remember who I was and my conscious is fighting to suppress it. What do I get? Sleep talking in Chinese. When I let my guard down, it tries to come out.

Can you truly ever forget who you were? If you can, I'd like to know how.

Sorry Girl, I'm Gaaaaaay!!

Apparently the Blue Duck is a very endangered species, only three breeding individuals are left in the UK; 2 males and 1 female. Imagine what the people in charge of the breeding center thinks when they found out the the 2 males are actually going ga-ga over each other!

Read the article here!

The rare male ducks that are quackers for each other... meaning the breed could die out in Britain. Photo from dailymail

Busy Busy Busy

So I haven't blogged in more than a week! I've just been too busy trying to finish up my observations and then starting to write my senior honors thesis. Class work have also picked up. I just finished my first exam for Anthro 260 last week, still haven't written the paper that's due on the 23rd for Anthro 320. I dread that class ... I can never understand cultural anthropologists.

Prospect Park Zoo: Hamadryas Baboons

The hamadryas baboons at the Prospect Park Zoo are divided into two subgroups. Subgroup #1 consists of 6 members; a one-male unit (OMU) with a female and their offspring. Subgroup #2 consists of 4 members; a OMU with three females. Subgroup #1 is dominant over subgroup #2.

Subgroup #1

Ben is the leader male of subgroup #1 and also alpha male of the Prospect Park Zoo population. You can tell Ben apart from his mole underneath his left eye.


Mimi is Ben's female. She is the mother of Fifi, Fadi, Neji and Ken. She is always near Ben and you can distinguish her from the rest of the females because she has a bigger belly and yellower fur. She is actually a hamadryas and olive baboon hybrid!


Fifi is Ben and Mimi's daughter. She has a scar on the middle of her back and she is always seen with Ken and Neji.


Fadi is Ben and Mimi's eldest son. He likes to be alone most of the time and can be seen near Neji a lot to groom him or be groomed by him.


Neji is Ben and Mimi's middle son. He is a troublemaker. He has a scar on his lower left cheek. Neji likes to play with Ken and Fadi. Sometimes you can see Neji trying to herd Pam away from Leo.


Ken is Ben and Mimi's youngest son. He is very energetic, much like any other children. Ken likes to hang around with Neji and Fifi.


Subgroup #2


Leo is the leader male of subgroup #2. He is lower ranking than Ben. Leo has a fuller and longer mane than Ben and Fadi. He is always seen with or close to Jenn, his favorite female.


Jenn is Leo's female. She is higher ranking than Anne and Pam, and she is Leo's favorite. She can be seen with or near Leo most of the time. Due to obsessive grooming by Leo and her old age, she looks rather mangy.

Anne is Leo's female. She is lower ranking than Jenn but higher ranking than Pam.

Pam is Leo's female. She is the lowest ranking of all females. She is easily recognizable by her short tail. She is herded away from Leo by Neji at times but she doesn't seem to mind as she enjoys grooming and getting groomed by Neji.