What do you call Men who attend to the supernatural?
Bomohs, Faith-Healers, Superman?
My vocab of these Men with ‘higher powers’ are so limited that I don’t know really what to call of them, but I’m pretty sure that they have a name for whatever it is that they do.
And whatever it is that they’re doing, I’m certainly not feeling 100% comfortable blogging about it alone in my room, while one of these Men attended to one of his supernatural calling, in my Sis’ room and the crowd are silently anticipating outside.
That’s right, apparently a portion of my family, especially my Sis, has been spooked by stuffs, of which explaining what they are is the least that I’d like to do right now.
These stuffs are so attached to her that she’s barely got a good night’s sleep.
She keeps complaining about it and I guess Dad’s finally got in the ‘Professional’ for some assistance.
Always leave things to the professional right?
Fortunately for me, these stuffs that’s spooking my Sis isn’t spooking me much — is it due to my nonchalant attitude towards these beings?
I do believe in these things, but my third eye tells me that there are worse things to bother about, such as ascending bills, piling workloads and the myriads of websites to update.
At this moment, there’s plenty of noise outside the room, but mostly of adult voices chit-chatting and overlapping one another.
In the distance of my room I happen to hear that they’re talking about bikes and mangoes!
Bikes and mangoes? Well I can’t see the relation either.
But I guess the Superman is done with his Supernatural calling, of which I happen to glimpse a little bit of Silat or upper body Kung-Fu gestures, and it was quite cool actually — a little bit like Neo, in the Matrix, mixed with C3PO.
I hope I’m not degrading him or anything, but because that’s what it looks like, and I hope he’s managed to remove whatever-it-is-that-spooked-Sis’-room and that she can finally get proper rests at night, without hearing funny voices, sensing funny presences or feeling funny tugs of the blanket.
I’m not sure if all these sound scary to you, but if my brother was around, I’m pretty sure he’d go, “Woah, exciting seh!”.
Yup, that’s my brother for ya, and he believes in these supernatural stuffs.
Just like I do, but unfortunately for these stuffs, I happen to ignore them a lot — or am I Third Eye Blind?
Third Eye Blind? Ooh, That reminded me of something..
In any case, here’s a classic.. Third Eye Blind’s Jumper.
Browsing through Youtube and found a little gem here, and that’s some sort of an understatement.
This is something that I really feel is damn worth looking at, especially for people in management, people going into management or people falling out of management.
This is it — the video that you wished you’d seen 10 years ago, which would’ve changed the You today.
Or you could still change yourself 10 years later, or maybe earlier.
Let’s be honest, anyone who’s materialistic will never find enough content to satisfy their desires, but looking at it from the other angle, anyone who’s simplistic will probably never work hard enough to prosper, where in other words it’s called being lazy.
It all really boils down to a few things or factors right?
As suggested by the video and me adding a few factors of mine, it really is about mastery, recognition and contribution.
Mastery – what do you really want to be good at?
Recognition – finding the right people who appreciate what you do, and excelling at it.
Contribution – giving back to the ones who needs a helping hand, more or less akin to paying it forward.
I’m no scientist, sociologist or economist and that’s why I’m pretty sure that there could be a few more factors to be added into this list.
Anyway, did you enjoyed the video with its delightful hand-sketched comics?
I wished I was brilliant enough to draw spontaneously and comically like that, but I know better than to embarass myself with my doodles.
Or would you like to see ’em doodles of mine and start laughing your ass away?
Nah, I’d thought so, and meanwhile, hoped you’d just gained a little piece of newfound knowledge from watching this video here.
It’s certified, I’m a full fledged Apple fanboy these days as I failed to curb the enthusiasm of owning its product, especially the iPhone, which have turned out to be a revelation indeed.
But first, a quick point out on how Apple’s products have never ever changed, not applicable to cosmetics and applications of its products, but in terms of usability design over the years.
It is this very deeply intricated grasp of what makes a good design truly makes it stand out as one of the greatest love brands in the world, in this era, of which hasn’t been an accident either.
Is it too much to have to call its products, the forbidden fruits?
Certainly not.
Anyway, I knew the iPhone is truly an excellent toy, yes I referred to it as a toy back then, and I wasn’t that interested in getting myself one of these toys, simply for the sake of having it.
I’d rather get something that’s functional, practical, works-as-its-meant-to and, especially so, fuss-free plus easy maintenance.
Getting the Macbook Pro was a no-brainer and despite its immense pricetag, which was really hard for me to swallow, it was a pill I swallowed nonetheless and I’m glad I coughed up that little bit more.
In return, the MBP proved to be an astounding workhorse that I simply couldn’t push to its limit any more than I could, say, for a Dell or Asus laptop.
Website development, surfing the net, FA creations, blogging, entertainment, office productivity, photo management and even something as simple as file management, have been one helluva blast, an experience which I doubt the Dell or Asus could have ever emulated.
Oh, no more viruses and spywares to worry about as well.
Where 99% of forbidden fruits are overrated, Apple and its products, make up the 1% that overwhelms, overperforms and overachieves.
The iPhone has since ceased to appear a toy to me. It is a serious tool and you better believe it.
It came to me by chance to me, when the M1 sales personnel slow-talked me into upgrading my phone plans, and it has usurped its way as, not one of the best phones I’ve had to experience, but THE best phone I’ve had.
SMSes don’t feel like SMSes anymore — it’s now chatting or conversations, and it’s become personalised and deeply, and easily, manageable.
The iPhone is also an entertainment outlet (youtube and videos, ipod, photos, camera, thousands of games), an informational outlet (safari, maps, weather, clock) and a personal management inlet (calendar, notes, contacts, voicemail, sms) as well.
Though I may seem to be listing its basic features here, where almost every other smart phones seem to possess, but that’s where the similarities end.
Apple’s designs make it stand out from the rat race, and it encapsulates the gist of what a good design should be — functional, aestheticised and just damn fun.
Like the forbidden fruit, they (Apple’ products) appear tempting, lustful and one that you simply have to see and use to believe.
The ease of use that comes with Apple’s products isn’t purely coincidental, but a well researched and executed process, and it’s turned out to be a model that almost every other company have been scrambling to emulate.
That’s what lovebrands or lovemarks do, they inspire through design and make lives easier and, in a way, fun, usable and productive.
Sadly, most companies are in a race to create a product, where no doubt it’s fun, that takes a turn for the worse in usability, and then sales take a decline.
They should have focused in creating products in the mould of the forbidden fruits, which sell themselves really.
Companies can save a lot this way right?
Less ads, less marketing, less promotion and I mean less, not zero, although in Apple’s case, it does seem to be non-existent.
Like seriously, when was the last time you saw an advertisement poster or banner for Apple’s products hanging along walkways, perched on railings or plastered onto walls?
5 minutes, think about it, so when was the last time you saw one?
Just like that it snapped, the ankle gave way and positioned itself awkwardly, maybe because he jumped and tried too hard and landed badly, and immediately the players reactions were to gesture for a call — an ambulance.
It arrived duely, not after the unfortunate player had spent 20 odd minutes lying in the middle of the pitch, under the unforgiving hot sun.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you see it, a few guys flanked him and did their best to provide shade as well as fanning a piece of cardboard for air.
And that was how my 2nd game in two days ended, prematurely, and on both occasion, my team conceding 6 goals.
Oh, it sucks badly to lose, but it happens now and then, but the manner of this morning’s loss felt less weary than yesterday’s league game with Skopets FC.
This morning, it was a team, playing for each other and pushing each other, and how miserable it felt yesterday after the team disintegrated and whined internally, cos we were 5-2 up and in control before losing everything in the second half.
That feeling of thinking that everything’s going to be okay, but in the end it’s all screwed up, and its beyond your control, well it’s beyond terrible.
It’s terrible, horrendous and catastrophic when Men gives up, and Skopets FC gave up yesterday.
Ironically, it was a haphazard collection of bunch of uncles and young men from all walks of life and nationalities that enlightened me, during this morning’s game, where even though we were losing, it was a graceful loss.
There were no whining, no finger-pointing, no rush-of blood to the head tackles (unless you count the events that led to the ankle breaking) and it was a fun social game of soccer, the way it was meant to be.
I really don’t know what the future holds for Skopets FC, following this dejection, and I think someone mentioned about us taking a break from soccer, just to straighten out our minds and, hopefully, our team spirit.
If there’s anything that wins or loses games, it is team spirit.
Without the team, there’ll be no spirt and without the spirit, there’s no team.
Oh well, another loss, another knock on the chin, but gotta look forward to the final league game of the season now, and that’s next week.
And I have no idea what I’m gonna be spenind my Saturday afternoons with when it’s over.
Maybe I could write a book.
“What to do when someone breaks an ankle during a soccer game.”
Poor chap. Wish you recover well, and on the bright side, if any, he’ll be getting a lot of MCs.
It’s been a long while since I’ve heard of Paramore and a llittle bit or maybe more, since Riot! in 2007, the band takes on darker foreboding themes.
Brick, Boring Brick talks of dissociation when face with life’s problems and somehow it feels close to me.
Like how when faced with a conflict/trauma, I choose to dissociate personally from the problem and instead work towards the solution, it may seem well and smart, but when you think that dissociation are what Military and Illuminati employs in their bigger Agenda, it gets creepy.
Dissociation has slowly ingrained itself in my veins ever since the setback of a beloved’s passing, and perhaps at the sudden and untimely manner of her passing traumatised me so much that I was vindicated whenever I dissociate.
Is that good?
Now, I feel myself disconnected to problems and troubles, and instead of feeling emotionally drained whenever conflict arises, I’m able to dissociate and move on, or promptly come up with a solution.
Is that good?
Do I not care? Do I not bother? Do I not even feel a pinch?
Is that good?
Actually I do, I care, I bother and I certainly feel the pinch but I won’t brood over it or forget to put cat food in a bowl because of it.
I get up and get things done. I get going and get into action
Time is extremely precious.
In this music video, Hayley Williams (Paramore’s lead vocal/keyboardist) faces conflicts and dissociates by transforming her mind into a child that wanders into a castle where bundles of happy thoughts awaits her.
But, as we later finds out, the castle’s smiling portraits and characters turn sinister, sooner or later, and there’s only so much that the child can run away from. In the end she gets buried alive.
Before anyone says what an abusive video, the child burying graphics can actually be taken as the burying of Hayley’s ‘child’ persona that runs away from problems — that she’s burying ‘her’ because she’s facing up to the conflicts and not running away anymore.
Because sometimes, running away won’t solve anything and you’ve got to ‘bury that child’ and face reality.
Dark, dreamy, foreboding video concept, but interesting, thought-provoking and challenging as hell.
“Babalu have been fighting bears all his life.” — Amir, in The Kiterunner, in memory of his Father’s legacy.
“Sometimes your whole life boils down to one insane move.” — Jake Sully, in Avatar, being, um, sanely insane.
“Then we will make poles. Very long poles.” — William Wallace, in Braveheart, when asked what to do against the English Army’s cavalry.
“I give up forever to touch you. Cos I know that you feel me somehow”. — Johnny Reznik sings of giving up immortality(or certainty) to be able to touch and feel, in City of Angels.
“What would I ever do without you.” — Frodo Baggins, in Lord Of The Rings, in appreciation of Sam’s unwavering camraderie.
“Life is like a box of chocolates.” — Forrest Gump, in Forrest Gump.
“Ged.” — Sparrowhawk, in A Wizard of Earthsea, calling out, in realisation, to his real name when he meets the shadow/darkness/fear that stalked him everywhere.
The emotional scars disappear, the exhaustions expire and all the stubborn strengths subside as she appeared fragile, as fragile as the quivering glow of the candlelight, but most of all, and at that moment and in that frame of time, she was all I’d ever wanted for her to be — peaceful and oblivious.
Belle slept like a baby.
Switched off the cartoon box, put away the rigid frame glasses, that always make her eyes seem a set smaller, and then I whisked a portion of her fringe to the side.
I bent lower and, as soft as I possibly knew how, smooched her goodnight, for I knew I couldn’t stay for much longer, even if the drizzling rain playfully drizzled on, and even if she was too tired to hear my whispers.
The lingering cough and wheezing breathes made it hard for me to say anything much, and It wasn’t the ideal conditions for me to stay on either, but an option which I wished I could have chosen.
It’s way past 2am and I had a hunch that someone needed me more.
Like a brother who won’t mind a helping hand while tying the knot.
Yes, he’s the bridesgroom and his wedding feast is this Sunday, another night to go after tonight, and I could sense that he was caught in a teeny tiny knotty situation.
You know that a bridegroom is having a tough time when the guestbook that he orders online, comes into the mailbox in A5 size.
“I didn’t know, the text was too small.” He, the bridegroom, my brother, the anything-goes-fella, would say to me, without me even asking about it. “I thought that they were all of the same size!”
You see, you see, he could really use a helping hand, especially when things like this happened with just 1 more night to his big day.
So I offered instead of signing on guestbooks, we’d have guestboards! Huge, 3ft by 3ft posterboards where guests can scribble and doodle their well wishes at the wedding hall’s entrance, as seen in the image above.
And where I offered 3 pcs, he requested for 5 boards! Kasi betis, nak paha pulak1!
It feels good that at last I’m contributing something to his preparations, because, seriously, it feels sucky that I’m not really helping out much.
And then he suggested that we recced the halls.
Like a bridesgroom, who’s travelled too far and made too many decisions, he resigned with a grateful, satisfied comment, at the end of the recce.
It is superb! Eloquent, yet simple and modern at the same time.
Black + Turquoise + White does turn out to be good choices for a wedding hall deco after all.
Thus I shall not go on about how I thought the wedding hall could be beautified and balanced out, but the truth is that it really was ample and nice, plus it was still ongoing and unfinished, so those thoughts of mine were better placed in reserve.
Surreally, everything glistened magnificiently in the night.
The colours, the props, and the misty atmosphere combined perfectly, and I’m sure my brother wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Maybe my Sister would’ve had second thoughts? She had to trim Pandan leafs through the night!
This was taken after we cut out the final leaf, but it wasn’t this way earlier, because earlier it looked like a pack of ‘overgrown ferns’, that threatened to make your hands numb and eyes sore.
On the bright side, the fragrance it oozed smelt like the perfect wedding, and not even the thoughts of intimidating ferns couldn’t slow us down!
So she was cutting up the leaves when I got home at about 3am and, had I not grabbed the red big pair of scissors, sat beside and starting trimming along, I bet that she’d still be trimming till the morning sun peeks into the living room.
Miraculously we managed to avoid trimming our own precious fingers, while we chatted away, both in our drowsy voices and wondrous minds — she was wondering how it’s going to be like when she begins work this Monday, while I was wondering if I could have stayed, had I brought my pyjamas along.
So no pyjamas, but just my biking raincoat, and it was enough to allow me to drift home to render these little packets of aid, gladly.
Nothing much, but at the very least, I hope it eased a troubled mind a little bit more.
Now that those minds have been put to ease, I guess it’s time for me to feel at ease — time to sleep!
I’m here hoping that my cats don’t suddenly jump on me because it’s already 6am now, which is about the usual time that they expect to see food in their bowls.
BUT, I suppose that they won’t be seeing much in their bowl till it’s afternoon. Now that’ll twist their tails in a knot!
– – – – – – – – – –
1. Kasi betis, nak paha pulak: Malay idiom which candidly refers to someone who asks for more than what he’s being offered. Literally translated as “Offered the (leg) calf, now the (leg) thighs are wanted.”
Do you remember the day you woke up, knowing that the rest of the day is all yours to be spent in any manner that you choose it to be, and where you don’t even have to worry about how the office is coping with you not being around?
Wait a minute, what am I saying, pfft, there are no such days. Right?
Oh wait, I just remembered that there does exists such a distinct day — the only problem being that that’s the day that you won’t ever wake up again, and where others will bury you under a fresh pile of sand and rocks.
Fortunately there are ways for you to come close to achieving that day (No not the funeral one), and these ways are called, get ready now, eliminating the clutter in your life.
Sadly I’ve been gathering clutters all my life, and I know its bad but I find it hard to get rid of them, but I think I’ve to learn to move on and let go.
To choose and to discard. To search and to destroy, or whatever it is that you want to call it.
Of course all these simply to cater to new priorities in life, where sometimes life throws you a curveball when you least expect it.
In short, I get scared shit easily, and takes the convenient way out, but I find that it’ll only come back to haunt me, and I’ll only feel miserable and regretful as the days pass by.
Curveballs are nasty, just ask any pitcher or batter, and you don’t know whether it’ll spin left, right, up or down, and the only sure outcome is that it’ll spin out of control.
But I’ve found my curveball recently and hell am I chasing it, giving my all and not letting it slip away.
Go ahead, let it spin out of control, let go.
So she feels she’s not worthy of another opportunity to be loved and to love, but I feel that there’s another point of view — that everyone, and anyone, is entitled and worthy to be loved and to love, and if there’s anyone that I know of who deserves such celebracy, it’s her.
Everyone has the same opportunity and resources in this life, and those who ignore, evade and deflect, continues to huff and puff, while those who chase, develop and share gains unique–be it good or bad–life experiences.
So what is this letting go all about?
Well, like I said, priorities come and go, and there’s only so much time that I have in a day, and that means some of my priorities have to be let go to accommodate new ones.
And, like I said, chase curveballs, but don’t chase blindly or you’ll get lost.
For starters, I don’t think I want to continue with TeeDojo, and since it’s hogging quite a percentage of my resources, it’s only apt that I let it go.
Two ways to go here, 1) I sell away the teeshirt website rights, or 2) I start giving away free tee shirts over the internet!
You know, between you and me, I’m really tempted to just giveaway the tee shirts. Maybe have a contest, a poll or something like that.
I really don’t have the time to go through all that selling/marketing thingy, or maybe I’m too tired to do so.
In any case.. Know anyone who wants free tee shirts?
While we’re still lingering around the subject of movie posters, I took a quick check in my memory drawer of the war related movies that has captivated me ever since I was young.
And I’m still young, by the way.
So what makes a great war movie? I don’t know, but I sure enjoy reliving through these flicks and wouldn’t mind watching it over again.
I stumbled upon a few sites with movie posters, and so I thought, why not?
Here’s a quick recap of the posters, of what I’d thought would make up my best 10 war movies, followed by my summarised thoughts.
Troy: All these destruction, for a lady? Damn worth it.
300: Makes chasing death look too cool.
Black Hawk Down: Sometimes shit happens.
Enemy At The Gates: Playing dead to stay alive.
Saving Private Ryan: All these destruction, for a man? Damn worth it.
Zulu: Sometimes you gotta stop, retreat, and applaud the bravery.
Avatar: All these destruction, for a floating rock? *Puts on 3D glasses*
Braveheart: Freedom!!!
Lord Of The Flies: Kids aren’t so innocent after all.
The Hurt Locker: A different kind of drug.
Takes a breather..
And these are the war movies that I certainly don’t mind sitting through a few hours to experience all over again.
In this music video, Hayley Williams (Paramore’s lead vocal/keyboardist) faces conflicts and dissociates by transforming her mind into a child that wanders into a castle where bundles of happy thoughts awaits her.
Yes, 
Recent Comments