Teacup Pigs..... and Crazy Dictators

Brace yourselves for a full onslaught of adorable-ness that would make even Josef Stalin melt into a puddle of evil-dictator. Hilter would shed tears of joy as he nuzzled these little folks (before the Dwarf activists come screaming for a lawsuit, I have to clarify that I'm not talking about little people) to his Chaplin-mustached face. Even Kim Jong Il would be in such a good mood that he pardons all the Americans from hard labor.

Seriously though. Sentenced to hard labor? Isn't that what every other North Korean civilian is doing on a day to day basis. Basically, if you're caught in N Korea, you're punished by receiving their citizenship.

Kim Jong Il: "You pesky American journalists! Stop illegally coming into our land of glory and awesome! We're so damn amazing and you just want to steal all our secrets! You're not making me give up my 'Dictatorship for Dummies: How to Run a Country into the Ground' self-help book!'

Journalist: 'Uh, your people are starving to death right in front of my eyes. In fact, there goes another one right there.'

Kim Jong Il: 'He's just resting his eyes.'

Journalist: 'Uh, no, your soldiers are already carrying away his body.'

Kim Jong Il: 'Fucking Americans! You're gonna regret this! Make no mistake: you will be put through so much torment, you'd wish you were never born! You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna make you live like one of us!'

Journalist: 'Nooooo!'

Boy, I really do digress. I was going to talk about cute little teacup pigs, but crazy dictators seem like such an intriguing topic now. I hope that journalist's story ends well.

The lastest fad in the pet world comes in the form of adorable little pigs. This species of pig can only grow to roughly the size of one's palm, due to some genetic modification. Right now, though, they are only available in Britian, and cost around a thousand dollars per piglet. Only one farm in the whole of Britian sells these lovable animals, and the owner demands that you buy two at one go, so that they can keep each other company. She apparently does background checks as well, to make sure the owner can care for these pigs properly, and have plenty of time to play with them. I know right. Snobbish bitch.

Come to think of it, if there was gonna be that much drama, I'd rather get a kid. At least kids can give you that satisfying sense of self-contentment when you yell at them.

Kelly down. Next up: Celine

On April 27, I've finally fulfilled the long time dream of seeing a mega-singer in concert. Damian, Greg and I, armed with our $173 Premier Tickets (suck it, 60 dollar cheapos!) made our very hurried way to the Singapore Indoor Stadium at 7.40pm, and was guided through the very exclusive Premier Entrance (I'm trying to break the world record of the most uses of the word 'premier' in a sentence) by the Premier Ushers and shown our Premier Seats. The customary condescending-pitying-mirthful glance was tossed to those with less fortunate seats, and they reciprocated with a delicious aura of jealousy.

We settled down into our seats at row 8. The familiar tingling sensation creeped up my spine when I realized how close we were to the stage. Pleasant smiles to those walking by us to their even better seats, as I project hateful thoughts towards those sons-of-bitches.

Thankfully, there was no local band masquerading as the opening act. The lights went out, blanketing the 5000 strong audience in pitch darkness. Blaring drums started tapping out a deafening beat, and the crowd roared in pure ecstasy as the spotlight illuminated the original Idol.

'Tear up the photographs, bring yesterday back around.." Kelly opens the show with All I Ever Wanted, the title track off her latest CD, and the song the tour was named after. The atmosphere was frenzied and exhilarating, at least for the three of us. We bounced and fist bumped to every song, and sang along to Kelly's impeccably strong vocals.

Most of the songs in the setlist are from the newest album, and only 1 was from My December. The highest points in the show were the times when she encouraged audience participation. The crowd sang along to Breakaway, Because Of You, I Want You and Since U Been Gone, and the feeling was absolutely magical. My favourite moment was when she did an acoustic medley of songs not too familiar with the mainstream audience, but hardcore fans would know and love. Damian and I were almost the only ones who screamed in approval when she launched into Just Missed The Train and Addicted.

Kelly's artistry is apparent, and she did ingenious mash-ups of songs. Midway through If I Can't Have You, she incorporated Kylie's Can't Get You Out Of My Head. She also did a mash-up of crowd favorite Use Somebody with Alanis Morrisette's That I Would Be Good.

My other favorite performance was Walk Away. It was towards the end of the show, and most of the crowd were already exhausted from all the jumping and screaming. The three of us, of course, remained high like we were on drugs. But when Walk Away started, the crowd all got on their feet again and the energy just skyrocketed. I now understand the appeal of familiar songs in a concert. People like rocking out to what they've been listening to for ages, and only a few would appreciate her branching out and doing interesting, though unfamiliar improvisations.

The final song of the night was My Life Would Suck Without You, and even the parent chaperons of the kids beside us stood up and bounced along to it. She performed a total of 20 songs, setlist as shown below.

1. All I Ever Wanted
2. Miss Independent
3. I Do Not Hook Up
4. Impossible
5. That I Would Be Good (Alanis Morissette cover)/Use Somebody (Kings of Leon cover)
6. Breakaway
7. If I Can't Have You/Can't Get You Out of My Head (Kylie Minogue cover)
8. Never Again
9. Lies (The Black Keys cover)
10. Acoustic Medley
    1. Just Missed The Train
    2. Low
    3. Addicted
    4. Gone
11. Behind These Hazel Eyes (Acoustic)
12. Save You
13. I Want You
14. Don't Let Me Stop You
15. Because of You
16. Walk Away
17. Since U Been Gone

Encore:

1. Already Gone
2. Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes cover)
3. My Life Would Suck Without You

Wish You Well

As a huge fan of crime-fiction novels, I was naturally an avid reader of the work of the masters of such genres, such as Jeffery Deaver and David Baldacci. I love the high-octane pace of super-charged thrillers, and the world of deception and law-enforcement. This was why I had been putting off Baldacci's 'Wish You Well', an old-fashioned coming-of-age story that was unlike anything he had written before. I only picked it up after I was done with all his available crime-genre books at the library, expecting it to be a huge snore-fest.

As it turns out, day-to-day drama can be just as shocking and devastating as the larger-than-life crime extravaganzas Baldacci's accustomed to shaping. The story begins with a car crash, killing the father of 12 year old Lou and 7 year old Oz, while leaving their mother in a coma. Lou initially held her mother responsible for the death of her beloved dad, for her parents had been arguing prior to the crash, and was ashamed for being resentful at her own comatose mother.

The Cardinal kids, with their unconscious mother, was sent to live with their great-grandmother in rural Virginia. The mountains was their father's childhood home, and although he uses the rustic environment of the Virginian mountains as the setting for his novels, he had never once returned to visit. Louisa, Lou's namesake and the kids' great-grandma, is a strict but loving woman, and graciously takes the three into her humble home. Thrown into a completely foreign surrounding, the city kids slowly learn to adapt to an environment without electricity and tap water. Louisa teaches them the ways of the mountain, and the children gamely chip in with the farm work.

A recurring theme in the novel is 'wishing'. Diamond, a wild, free-spirited native boy tells Lou and Oz of a haunted wishing well, and intones that in order to make a wish, one must give up their most treasured possession to the spirits that haunt the well. One of the most touching scenes in the novel sees the 7 year old Oz sneaking to the well in the dead of the night, away from the gaze of his sister's cynical attitude towards the supernatural, and leaving his teddy bear by the well, while praying for his mother's recovery from the coma. Unbeknown to him, Lou had followed him there to keep an eye on her little brother, and she broke down in sobs by the well after Oz had left.

Lou and Oz finds a friend in Diamond, an orphan who is seemingly independent. His infectious and joyous attitude makes him an utterly lovable character, and his own misinformed views towards Christianity shows us that one doesn't need preachers or churches to have faith. Diamond's claims that 'seeing how God sends an angel to protect him every time he's baptized, he has it done as many as 9 times and hopes he has a whole regiment by now' made me laugh out loud on the MRT. Diamond is a refreshing comic figure in a novel that threatens to overwhelm with grief. I shoulda seen it coming, though; Baldacci often makes his readers love a character, then brutally kills him off. Diamond abruptly met his end in a natural gas explosion, in a scene that left me breathless with anger (towards the miners for illegally mining for natural gas, and towards that bastard Baldacci for doing this to me).

The novel shifts seamlessly into a courtroom drama towards the end, as their lawyer friend battles it out with a ruthless gas company that wants to turn the Virginia mountains into an industrial site. As Louisa's home is situated at the prime location, the company wouldn't buy the land from the various owners unless the old bird sells. She steadfastly refuses, and her barn was set alight by vengeful neighbors seeking to make a profit from this sale. Louisa was shocked into a stroke, and the company sees this as an opportunity to proclaim her mentally unfit to make this decision about selling her land. The courtroom battle that ensues was both captivating and thrilling, showcasing Baldacci's talent for fast-paced action even in scenes where people are just talking.

This is one of the few novels that have managed to bring me close to tears. However, as my closer friends know, unless a dog dies, my eyes are staying tear-free. Still, there were moments when I was on the brink of succumbing to the heart-wrenching struggles of the Cardinal children. Humor was abundant in the novel, side by side with the moments of tragedy. As Baldacci said in the book, humor can drive a point much stronger than brute force. The characters were flawed and vulnerable, and to see them rise against the odds when everything was stacked against them was a truly uplifting experience.

And Then There Were Two

The full list of the colleges I applied to will probably never see the light of day, so I can pretend that I merely applied for those schools that offered me a place. It's a very communist oriented mechanism going on in my brain, I know. Report the successes with much gusto, and shoot anyone who gets wind of the failures with equal enthusiasm. The ones that didn't make it must be covered up in a web of lies and deceit so thick that anyone trying to find out the truth would be lost forever in my maze of deception.

Which is why, right now, I am happy to report that I have also applied for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and they have.. (as Barney Stinson would say) wait for it.. accepted me.

The weird thing is, I didn't even finish sending them the stuff they keep hounding me for. They were hounding me for my A-level grades, but by then I had already accepted my offer to Purdue, so I just ignored their emails (which were, funnily enough, sorted into my 'junk' folder). I guess they just decided that the As didn't matter all that much (which it totally doesn't. Come on, Amherst, take a leaf outta Purdue's book will ya), and sent me an invite. They even threw in a 6k per year scholarship out of benevolence (0r desperation).

This university is apparently situated in a rural setting. I don't know what made me think I wanted to study there. When I think rural, I think shady old taverns with smelly innkeepers and drunkards of dubious origins. Everyone'll be dressed in medieval peasant clothing, tearing chunks of chicken off with their teeth. Now I'm pretty sure I don't want to, although the bar fights and booze seem lovely.

I guess they won't be seeing this shady drunkard there come Fall.

Kelly Clarkson - April 27

It's finally happening. It's as if the Concert-Gods above are answering my prayers, because on the 27th of April, 2010, I would be coming face to face with Kelly Clarkson.

Face to face might be exaggerating a little bit, but 8th row comes pretty close. How awesome it would be if I stood out from the crowd because everyone from rows 1 to 7 are too short to matter. So, Concert-Gods, this is my second prayer to you. Make those bastards pay for buying the seats closer to Kelly, for come April 27th, they shall be known as the ones-who-did-not-matter-for-there-is-someone-freakishly-tall-in-row-8.

I can totally picture it. Kelly would be up on stage, singing 'My Life Would Suck Without You', and see me there, standing in a sea of people who did not matter, and our eyes would meet as she points to me while she sings the word 'you'. The stadium would quieten down around us, and all the 'ones who do not matter' would fade away. Mind you, Kelly, there's no need for any pointing during 'Never Again', 'Walk Away' and 'Since U Been Gone'. That's just being mean.

I just love how interactive she is with the audience. Hopefully, she wouldn't encounter that many singlish-ers on her way to the stadium, or she'll be under the impression that the locals speak an alien language unbeknown to the rest of the world, hence cutting down the 'audience-interaction'. After all, that was what happened to Beyonce.

On a totally random note, an English teacher at JJ once tried to be 'in' and pronounced her name as 'Bee-yons'. She even had the nerve to do the, 'Oh, you guys are 18 and you don't know her?', complete with the 'Damn I'm Cool' hair-flip routine. Her expression when I corrected her was just priceless. Sigh, I miss loser teachers.

There's something intriguingly hypnotic about how the most mundane things, when said by an idol, suddenly becomes the most hilarious and interesting topic in the world. I don't want to hear a starbucks waitress talk about how she finds the smell of coffee really aromatic, but lord help the coffee beans if Kelly said that in her concert, for I'll track every last bean down and sniff the crap outta it. Bad puns and lame jokes can somehow crack a whole stadium up when the right person says it, but when the ostracized, ugly kid says the exact same thing in class, all you wanna do is watch as the vultures tear his dead body apart. Dead because you also watched as the big kids squeezed the life right outta him.

In this day and age, it's actually ironically refreshing to watch a singer do what a singer is supposed to do - sing. Here's a real singer who doesn't have to put on disturbing costumes, breathe fire, shake her junk across the stage or cartwheel onto the stage to sell tickets (yes, Gaga, I'm talking about you). In a world where the extravagant spectacle has become more of a draw than the 'singer' herself, it's nice to see someone who can deliver the goods with what she's born with - her voice.

GarageBand - God's Gift to Mac Users

As per tradition, my Dad would give a 'Going to College Present' to the child going to college. In my sister's time, eight whole years ago, she got a Toshiba laptop (one that I subsequently destroyed with misuse. I blame Toshiba for not making them more shock resistant.) I requested a MacBook, and after an IT-Fair, 1588 dollars and much drama at the stall with installing the casing, the MacBook was mine.

I am now the proud owner of the most wondrous laptop in the world. And the basis for that claim lies in GarageBand.

GarageBand is a program that allows the user to record instruments and voices, much like how a recording studio does it. You can edit and layer the vocals, upload mp3 instrumentals, give effects to the voices.. Best of all, the quality is so pristine and unspoiled. You can do the song in parts, and make changes to the places where you don't like. It gives you the freedom to be as perfectionist-ic as you want.

And so, hunched over my laptop and belting out tunes was what I spent the majority of my days doing. It was liberating to be able to experiment as much as possible - I could just delete that phrase if it was not done 'just right'. I can feel the Barbra in me emerging. Pity there isn't a sound engineer I could yell at.

Speaking of sound engineers. I'm so glad I wouldn't have to go back to that dim witted idiot we went to the other time. Instead of making our lives easier, he was forcing us to be the real producers, making us direct him through every last detail. I rarely make outlandish claims, being the humble, down to earth kinda guy that I am, but I very firmly believe that I'm doing a much better job than he ever did. Damian and I did a complex Mariah within 45 minutes, while a song with the 'real' engineer took an hour and a half.

The problem now with Mac is that it doesn't support a proper messenger. I'm being forced to install Windows XP alongside with my OS just so I can use a real MSN. For all their technical wizardry, you'd think the Apple folks would have figured out how to support web-cam in their Messengers.

I realized that I am sinking deeper and deeper into Apple-reliance. Makes it so much harder to curse their products if you're using it.

The Purdue Essay

This was the essay I wrote for my Purdue application, and I thought it would be another great opportunity for me to rub it in everyone's faces. The topic I chose was: If you had a second chance -- the opportunity to do something over and do it differently -- what would you choose to do over and what changes would you make? Of course, I made most up most of what I wrote. I did go teach English over in China, but I hardly had any of those 'epiphanies' or 'experiences'. We sang songs and had a good time, basically. Damian, evil as he is, suggested I write it at this angle, and write it I did.

I walked through the gates of Nanping High School with a mixture of anticipation and apprehension. I was beginning my one month stint at Nanping High, a high school in China I volunteered to teach English at. I was thrilled about fulfilling a fantasy I always had; to be a teacher. At the same time, I was worried if I would be well received by the students. I knew that this was probably one of the only instances in my life where I would be given such a prime opportunity, and I did not want to waste it. I was determined to teach them the best I could.

I guessed I knew there was going to be a problem within minutes of entering the class. I had initially expected the students to have a sufficient standard in English, but what I had encountered instead was a classic example of a classroom-trained second language. Sure, the students were able to read and write, but it was all very inflexible, and their oral and listening skills were not as refined as it could have been, if they had learnt the language in an English speaking environment instead. Ignoring the warning signs, I forged on with the material I had prepared. I had worked too hard on this, and was too caught up in my fantasy, to give up now.

At that moment, I sincerely believed that I was doing a good job. I pronounced the verbs clearly and expressively, covered the bulk of my planned work, my classes were attentive, I got along admirably with the teachers and the students even asked me along for their outings. Fueled by this delusion of success, I quickened the pace of my classes and lectured with even more vigor.

I only realized my mistake a week before I was scheduled to return to Singapore. A student asked me a question regarding the use of a word I was sure I had covered. I decided to quiz the students on some of the other lessons I went through, and the response was both disheartening and alarming. It suddenly hit me that I wasn’t teaching them anything with my full-fledged battle-mode style of educating. By overloading the students with too much, they had ended up with next to nothing.

On retrospect, I should have encouraged them to ask more during class, and to actively participate in lessons. My classes involved only me and my voice, reading the notes to, as I now know, myself. It was only after I began interacting more with the students, engaging them, encouraging them to participate more in the class, did I see an improvement. I have now come to learn that students can only learn well if they have experienced the joy of ‘connecting-the-dots’ themselves, and it is fruitless to have someone else do it for them.

The 'Friend'

Honestly, is there anyone who would rather be 'just a friend'? We would assume, of course, that the ones I'm referring to are those you actually are attracted to. Physical attraction does play a big part in a relationship, and it is time people start admitting how superficial we all are. You think ole Madge got together with Jesus Luz 'cause of his brains and his sophisticated sense of humor? It is laughable how some think they are of a more superior standing, just because they can 'see past the physical' and 'focus on the true, inner beauty'. We all know these very same people would dump you in a heartbeat for someone better looking.

But I digress. The topic of discussion today is the 'friend' issue. Isn't it a real kick in the balls when someone you want convinces you to be 'just friends'? And isn't it bordering on lunatic how they try to twist it in a way that makes it sound like it's a *better deal*, because friends are more valuable than lovers? Cut the crap, floozy. You'll jump in bed with the next model-wannabe that walks by, and you know it.

You wanna know the best part? When the person you're sure you're in love with, we'll call this person Taylor (the ambiguity of the gender makes this story relate-able for people of any gender and any sexual-orientation. I am *such* a dedicated writer.), starts talking to you about Taylor's relationship woes. Taylor has now moved into the stage we call 'delusional sister-hood', where said person is convinced the both of you are now best buddies, and so has no qualms about sharing every last excruciating detail.

On one hand, you really wanna be a good friend to Taylor. After all, you *did* say "Of course we'll be good friends, silly!". Who's the silly one now, I wonder. It would be cruel to leave Taylor out there for the wolves-of-dating-nightmares, where he/she would be mauled alive by his/her own imagination. However, you start thinking and double-thinking every thing you say. You don't want to say something that completely crushes Taylor, neither are you willing to offer the solution to solve the problem. Trust me, I've tried throwing a lifebuoy to a sinking couple, and boy is it hard. Not as hard as reeling the lifeline back in before they could grab it. I watched them struggle with a twinkle in my eye and a song in my heart.

Even better than listening to the various dates, is picturing what they did. Oh wow, are those fantastic to imagine or what. And you know tearing your own eyes our wouldn't help, cause it's all swirling about in your head. If you're feeling extra masochistic, you can even ask for the little tidbits of details, which Taylor would gladly serve up. Y'all are buddies, after all, where's the harm in a tiny bit of over-sharing. Right?

Sooner or later, the hateful, troublesome thing known as morality kicks in. The heroic thing to do would be to 'give them your blessings', because you want Taylor to experience the best he/she can. If you can't give Taylor what he/she wants, then the natural thing to do would be to let someone else have the chance to make him/her happy, while you sit at home and feel like a mosh-pit of crap. Aww, I'm so glad he/she is happy now, because of my selfless love for Taylor. What. A. Load. Of. Bullshit.

I say we screw that loser attitude.

Humans are selfish because we are smart. Being selfless gets us nowhere. You heard me. Tell that little bitch to at least have some sense to not plunge the knife where it hurts (though truthfully speaking, stabbing anywhere hurts.). The time for sitting idly at the side is over. Obama didn't say "Oh, dear friend McCain.. You know what? The presidency would really mean a whole lot to you, and I want you to be happy. So, you should go ahead and take it." He was a go-getter, a 100 percent-er. And undoubtedly he can reach the top. Yes, I know, I'm an extraordinary poet. (Mariah, please don't sue for plagiarism, okay?)

It's a jilted-lover eat new-romance world, honey, so if you want your new little something-something to work out, it's not a good idea to look for your 'new best friend' to talk about it. Among the ashes of those burned budding-romances, the 'friends' will rise again. And the world will fear us. Bow down and kiss my hand!

I am waayyy drunk.

"We can still be friends, right?" If by 'friends', you mean someone who is dedicated to bringing your romantic world to an apocalyptic, explosive ending, then sure, we'll be best friends.

'Friends'. Ha! That's a good one.

Henderson Waves

It was a spontaneous decision on my parents' part. I do miss those spur-of-the-moment stuff we used to do as a family. I wonder when exactly did we stop going out. When my sister and I were younger, we would have these exploratory car rides around Singapore, where my dad would drive randomly into the most ulu corners of the island. These all happens at night, of course, where the thrill factor is amplified by many times. I remember once, when I was around 6 or 7, we were going through this dark forest-y place and my sister shouted, "有坟墓!", which means, there's a cemetery. I screamed and promptly burst into tears. Such joyous memories.

I was reminiscing about all that, as Dad drove us (Mom and I) to Henderson Waves, a 274 meter-long pedestrian bridge that spans Henderson Road to connect Mount Faber Park to Telok Blangah Hill Park. All that was from the National Park Board website, of course. Apparently (brace yourselves for another bombardment of stolen information), "at 36m above Henderson Road, Henderson Waves is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore." The car was parked in this little car-park beneath the bridge, and we trekked up the winding path up to the actual bridge.

According to the website, the bridge is described as having "distinctive wave-like structure consisting of a series of undulating curved "ribs". These “ribs” also double up as alcoves providing shelter to the public." They seem to have forgotten the little fact that the "ribs", as they lovingly call it, have empty spaces as wide as a person's head (trust me, I've tested it out) in-between them, so it isn't much of an effective shelter. Both sunshine and water is able to easy pass through. Thankfully, we had the good sense to go there after nightfall, so at least we didn't have to brave the sweltering heat.

I've had to actually see the bridge before I got the name. I had been thinking it was extremely weird to call a bridge a 'wave'. Doesn't exactly give you much confidence in the bridge's stability, does it. What they were trying to do was to create this wave-like pattern at the side of the bridge. The full wave is only visible from the back of the bridge, while only the top parts of the wave is visible when you're on the bridge itself. The whole structure is wooden and does look quite fluid, which is a plus point. The curved sides of the bridge gives me a curious desire to lie against it and roll about, while shouting 'I'm surfing on the waves!". If only there weren't so many people around.

People. I know Barbra said that people who need people are the luckiest people in the world, but do we really need people needing people in the most obscene ways possible, while on display right at the top of the 'tallest pedestrian bridge in Singapore" ? It churns my stomach to see couples (barely outta their adolescence) cuddling underneath the 'wave-shelter-that-has-too-many-holes-to-count-as-a-shelter' shelter. I'm pretty sure there are laws against such graphic fondling, and to witness them with both your parents at your side is just plain mortifying. It took so much effort to pretend as if I didn't want to join in.

The place does look quite pretty at night, with soft glowing lamps lighting up the bridge, and it would be a lovely place to go with a significant other. Aiming spit bombs down at the Henderson Road motorists is just too romantic to pass on.

Ranking Obsessed

Back in the day, when I was convinced I wouldn't make it to a ranking-worthy school, the motto would be 'rankings are for suckers". I would launch into a spiel about how rankings does not affect the quality of the education, as some of the good professors that contribute to the high rankings can't teach well anyways.

All that has changed. Ranking. Is. God.

Granted, I still think rankings does not have a direct relationship with the education received, but the prestige that comes along with a highly ranked school can't be denied, either. When you go out working, people immediately recognize the more talked about schools, whereas a degree from some ulu college wouldn't be valued as much. Plus, there's always that thrill you can get when ranting off numbers, which is what I'm about to launch into.

So, according to the QS World Universities Rankings 2009, Purdue (the school I'm in. Ha!) is the top 87 school in the world. Fine, so NTU has a slightly higher ranking of 73, and NUS has an obscenely higher ranking of 30. That's alright and all, but in America, people think Singapore is a province of China, which defeats a lot of the purpose of having a well-ranked local U. It's amazing how these people can produce the top few colleges in the world.

Today is A-Levels results day, and I can barely wait to go to school and be a complete snarky bitch to my teachers. I didn't need their little predicted grades to make it after all. Stingy bastards.

Can you tell? I'm practically bursting with sunshine and positivity.